Arminian vs. Calvinist

From ChurchLaughs.Com

Scholar of the Scriptures

"The church seem always to be swinging between extremes: 1) to use the sword and power, or 2) to accommodate the message to culture and deny Christ's divinity. This why theological education is important. We need to be good scholars of scripture and listen to the Holy Spirit interprent scripture through the ages. Whe Jesus sent out his disciples, we are reminded that He breathed on them the Holy Spirit! (John 20:22) Not new methods, but a new indwelling of the Holy Spirit is what is bringnig men and women to Christ worldwide."

Denton Lotz, General Secretary of Baptist World Alliance

Ten Commandments for Dynamic Teaching

I'll be teaching Bible in the next two weeks and I have to admit that this task is hard to do. I'll be teaching church leaders from different tribes and what makes it difficult is the language barrier. Here I want to share with you an interesting article from my sister about teaching. The first 3 relate to the teacher, the next 3 relates to the teaching process and the last 4 focus on the learner’s response.

1. Power of the Spirit—thou shalt depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish spiritual goals (1 Cor. 2:10-15).

The biblical understanding of teaching and learning process, it is the Holy Spirit who teaches, indwells, enlightens, and empowers both the teacher and the student. He is the teacher (Jn. 14:26). He does not only guide the student into all the truth, He is the truth (Jn. 16:13; 14:17). The help of the human instrument and the structure of situations may be designed so that there may be a time to study but the Spirit alone affects the learning. The Spirit helps the learners reassess and change their understandings, attitudes, values, and motives. To appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit, one needs to have (1) a prayerful preparation—for understanding the Bible and for sensitivity to the learner’s needs; (2) prayerful presentation—for effective use of methods; (3) prayerful follow-up—for achieving lasting results in the pupil’s lives.

2. Example of the Teacher—thou shalt be what you expect your pupils to become (1 Tim 4:12)

there are two indispensable things that an effective teacher counts on: (1) the power of the Holy Spirit and (2) the proof of the holy life. The teacher needs to know and embody the truth.Know the truth. Dedicated incompetence is still incompetence. The teacher needs to know the truth in its biblical framework, seeing God as the source of all truth (Co; 2:3).

As a teacher he will have as his goal the experiential knowledge of Christ in whom all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom dwells (Col 2:3), the one in whom all things consists (Col1:17) and the one who is the truth (Jn 14:6). The teacher will further appreciate the limitless scope of the subject matter. He will be inspired by the magnitude of his task—that is the unveiling of the glory of God in every phase of the curriculum.

Embody the truth. The most compelling method is the embodiment of the truth—living a life of Christlikeness. The quality of teaching is not only the impartation of information but the impartation of one’s life as well as what one believes. The ideal teacher is described by Lawrence as whole mind into his preparation, whole soul in his presentation, and whole life into his illustration.

3. Relationship of Love— thou shalt demonstrate Christian love for your pupils (1 John 3:23).

The Spirit is the enabler for the teacher to embody the truth, He is also the one who engenders Christian love (Gal 5:22). Building a loving relationship with the student is time consuming—and sometimes costly. But be reminded that our Master teacher never gave anyone money. He rarely gave them food. He gave them love and service. He gave the greatest gift of all. He gave himself (Jn 4:4). Love brings life to a dead doctrine. By this all men will know that you are my children if you love one another (Jn. 13:35).

4. Methods that Involve—thou shalt select appropriate methods to get the attention and hold interest (Jn 4:7)
It was said that one can know the good teacher from a novice teacher in just two minutes. The new teacher looks at the notes, and the proficient teacher looks at his class. A dynamic introduction gains interest and suggests, “let’s not get bored today!” Methods are employed to catch attention and hold interest. Involvement brings fullest result to any teaching-learning experience. Teachers need to develop the skill of creativity as a teaching tool.

5. Communication with clarity—thou shalt choose words and concepts that are clearly understood (1 Cor 2:4, 14:9)..

Good communication begins in the mind of a teacher. Sort out precise messages and determine how to project such thought into the mindstream of the students. Graendorf summarizes some guidelines to expedite communication: (1) Step down the high voltage of thought so that it can be grasped and appreciated by the students (Jn 6). (2) Avoid technical words if common ones can carry the message. (3) Clarify simple words when there is danger of misunderstanding (Jn 21:15-17). (4) Use multi-sensory approach if it will expedite learning. Use visuals.

6. Pattern of Appreciation—thou shalt move from the known to the unknown by easy, simple, natural steps (Jn 4:7-29; Heb 5:12).

One of J. Herbart’s greatest contributions to education is Apperception. It is the idea of connecting new ideas with the old. John emphasizes the need to adapt teaching to the pupils’ developing maturity (1 John 2:12-14). Paul adapts new truths to former concepts, shown in the way he uses figures of speech and illustrations. Jesus employed the same principles in his parables, illustrations, and visual aids. Teachers are being encouraged to present lessons small enough for students to follow. Do not give too much information too fast.

7. Joy of Discovery—thou shalt stimulate discovery, not mere listening (Ps 34:8).

Gregory once said, “Knowledge cannot be passed on from mind to mind as apples are from one basket to another, but must in every case be recognized and rethought by the receiving mind.” Education is about finding the truth, first by the teacher and then by the student with the guidance of the teacher. It is the teacher who opens the gate for learning and understanding. It is a dynamic situation wherein the teacher may ask a question which lights a fuse.

Discovery learning needs preparation. The teacher needs to: (1) focus on the learner’s need; (2) identify the relation of the study to the felt need; (3) select methods that will involve the students in participation, evaluation and application.

On the other hand, the learner needs to: (1) identify the relation of the study to his need; (2) study the Bible to find solutions, and observe how the Bible appeals to his personal interests, problems, and needs. But the teacher continues to guide. This kind of learning gives the satisfaction describable as “the joy of discovery.”

8. Appeal to the Heart—thou shalt elicit emotional response by the pupil (Rom 10:10).

The teacher needs to be aware that after the students have already recognized and interpreted the truth in their mind, a deeper response must be expected. Depth is experienced in what is called, “belief in the heart” (Rom 10:9; Eph 1:18).

The common mistake a teacher often commits is to believe that the learners know exactly what to do. On the contrary, learners do exactly what they want to do. It is the teacher’s role to make use methods that will appeal to students and make them respond positively to the lesson. The balance approach to touching the mind, the heart, and the will must be taken into consideration.

Many teachers are uncomfortable to bring down the lesson to the heart level of the student. Unknowingly, the heart is usually the driving force for the human will to respond. Jesus as the Master teacher used stories to elicit a response on the emotional level. He used parables to elicit response from the hearers (Matt. 13:34).

9. Response of the Will—thou shalt give sample opportunity for volitional response (Jn 17:17).

Truth when learned properly produces result. Evidently, an effective learning experience touches the mind, the heart, and the will. The student finds a need to act. It is the role of the teacher to provide the suitable stimuli in order to elicit the expected positive response. Ideally, the response may include the learner’s entire personality. It is advisable to provide ample time for the student to respond to an appeal to the heart. Make sure that at the end of each lesson, the teacher has left room for the Holy Spirit to work—and to allow the student to express such change in conviction.

10. Living Demonstrators—thou shalt help the pupil to embody the lesson in everyday living (James 1:22-25).

The teacher in general should be able to let the leather-bound Bible to be transported into shoe leather relating Bible facts to human acts. Impressions need to be consummated into expressions.

Life needs to reflect the truth that has been acquired. Learning is completed as the objective truth becomes the subjective experience of the learner.

The teacher’s skill is not only measure on the facts imparted but more on the character formed in the students. Developing a person is the aim. That development is to desire for each of the learners becomes a true disciple, follower of Christ, acknowledging His lordship, and conforming in his image.

The Bible teacher reaches for such an ambitious goal, however, one needs to acknowledge the facts, that, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5), and just like the claim of Paul, “I can do all things through Him” (Phil 4:13.

Missionary Kids

While teaching Sunday school, my wife asked her pupil what they would want to pray for. One of the children, a five-yare old daughter of a Filipino missionary answered, “I pray that my Tatay (Father) can buy an airplane so that we can go back home to the Philippines.” The answer was funny, but it expresses what a typical MK feels, they’re missing home so much. They miss their lolo and lola (grandparents), their cousins, their friends, and their home.

I look at my children and I sometimes get depressed for putting them in a situation they don’t exactly like. I’m not certain about their future. We don’t have a mission agency that gives us an assurance that they can go on with their education. Getting them to college in the future seems an impossible task for us, much more, the certainty that they will finish their high school here.
Although they have local friends here, most of the time I feel that my children are lonely. They didn’t have the chance to enjoy the friends that they might have if they are studying in a regular school. They won’t enjoy JS prom, or sports event among other. I just pray that everything would turn out to be okay for them.

On a positive note, here's a short article about missionary kids. MKs tend to be open-minded and tolerant of many diverse cultures. They often feel more at home in culturally rich environments and can be "homesick" for their foreign home. Their knowledge of a country and its culture typically exceeds language fluency. In many cases, MKs know more about a particular country, its history, geography, politics, etc. than the nationals of that country. Upon returning to their home country, MKs possess unique skills that can be helpful to academics and governments. Because of their international experience, they often have a much broader worldview than their peers. This broader worldview can also lead to mixed emotions about their passport country and its foreign policies.

MKs may not be aware of many of the pop culture influences within their passport country, yet are able to discuss, in great detail, world politics. They may be able to name the best places to get good food at any of 25 different international airports, and yet not be aware of the most popular television show in their passport country. They are likely to be able to mentally calculate the exchange rate of up to 5 different currencies yet not be able to identify the sport that a given athletic team plays. These things can cause awkwardness when they return to their passport country.

I’m hoping that there would be a ministry in the Philippines that would cater specifically to children of their missionaries.

Care for the lost like Jesus did (2)

The second lesson to learn from these stories is that God’s love and care for us is individual and personal. We are not just a part of a family or a tribe or a culture or a nation. We are individually known and loved by God. God doesn’t look upon us as a mass of people. He sees each of us as a person. God is not impressed with high percentages or a 99% success rate. God is not like a businessman who rights off a certain percentage of loss and rejoices in the 99% he still has. God goes in search of the one that is lost, and doesn’t give up until he finds him.

What is its implication to us as missionary? How do we imagine the gospel will spread in Thailand or in Myanmar? How will 108 million people come to know the gospel of Jesus Christ? With such big numbers of people it’s tempting to think in terms of mass communication. How do we get most people to hear the message of the gospel in the shortest period of time, and with the most efficient and cost-effective methodology? We look at maps and population demographics, we pray for dramatic revivals and people movements. We count the number of converts or baptisms and calculate our success. None of this is inherently wrong.

But God looks at individual people. He knows their name, their past, their deepest regrets and their most proud moments. He loves them enough to spend time searching for them as if they were the only person here in all Thailand.

In our sophisticated multi-media world of mass communication we sometimes forget that the best way for the gospel to spread is not from one person to thousands of hearers, but one-to-one. Jesus set the model for us by sitting and socializing with the lost and sinful people. He gave them time to observe good news and to experience the love of God. It radically changed their lives.

Walter Hendrichson, in his book Disciples Are Made Not Born, describes an interesting comparison between a dynamic evangelist who wins 1000 people to Christ a day, and an average Christian who manages to lead only one person to Christ over the course of a whole year.

At the end of year one the evangelist has 365,000 converts the average Christian has just one. However, lets suppose that in that one year the average Christian not only introduces a new convert to Jesus but also disciples and trains him to the point that in year two his new convert is able to do the same thing—lead one person to Christ over a 12 month period. At the start of the 2nd year the disciple has doubled his ministry—the one has become two. During the second year they both go out and lead not 1,000 people per day to Christ but only one person per year. At the end of the 2nd year there are four people. The process is much slower that the evangelist who now has 730,000 converts. But note that the slower process is producing not just converts but disciples who are able to reproduce themselves. At this rate of doubling every year the disciple leading one person per year to Christ will overtake the evangelist numerically somewhere in the 24th year.

That which at first looks like very slow process eventually becomes the most effective.

There’s a third lesson we can learn from these stories of Jesus. We should spend time with lost people. Jesus was criticized by religious people for spending too much time with lost people.

The attitude of the religious leaders in Jesus’ days towards those they labeled as sinners was really sad. They assumed God didn’t want to have anything to do with them. They were lost and hopeless and unredeemable.

Jesus got a lot of criticism from religious people because of the company he kept. His response was simple: people who are well don’t need a doctor. In other words, spending time with those who are lost and stuck in sin is God’s priority. God doesn’t only rejoice with those who are found, he came to seek and to save who are lost. Lost people matter to God. So, he deliberately left the security and sanctuary of godly community in order to spend time with those who needed him most.Lost people often don’t know they are lost. It takes time and patience in becoming their trusted friend before they can understand their need. This is the condition of millions of people here in Thailand they are unaware that their relationship with their creator our God is severed.

How do we reach them? Jesus would say: the answer is simple; you spend time with them. You deliberate become their friends and you eat with them and socialize with them. You deliberately choose not to spent all your time with fellow Christians, and instead become friends with the poor and destitute and sinners.

Here is one of the greatest missiological challenges facing the church in the 21st century. Most followers of Jesus no longer have friends who are non-Christians.

Why is this a missiological challenge? Because most people who become followers of Jesus do so through a friend or relative who introduces them. Some years back the Institute of American Church growth conducted a survey of 14,000 Christians. They asked them the questions: What or who was responsible for your coming to Christ and into your church? Some said they had a special need. Some said they just walked in off the street. Others listed the pastor. Some indicated a special visitation program. Others mentioned Sunday School. There were those who listed evangelistic crusade, or a special program the church had. Finally, some listed a friend or relative as the primary reason they’re a Christian today and part of their church. Then they put percentages; the results were amazing:

Special need 1-2%
Walk in 2%
Pastor 5-6%
Visitation 1-2%
Sunday School 4-5%
Evangelistic Crusade 0.5 -1%
Church program 2-3%
Friend or relatives 75-90%

Here’s the challenge: Unless we who know Jesus are willing to step outside the comfort and security of our Christian community and make friends with unbelievers, we are in the last generation of the church. This is primarily how the gospel spreads.

It is also the model Jesus set for us. He treated every individual as an object of love and care. He took the risk of friendship with sinners and outcasts. He got to know their names and wasn’t put off by the circumstance. He loved people, and saw the power of God change their circumstance.

Let us be friend to those lost people whom the Spirit of God is pursuing. If all our friends are followers of Jesus, if all the people in our neighborhood are already Christians, maybe it’s time we moved.

This is adapted from Dr. Brian Winslade's message at the 7th Asian Baptist Congress.

Care for the lost as Jesus did (1)

God put us a burden to reach the lost in a country other than our own. He put a burden in our hearts to go to the unreached people here and tell the people here that they are lost if they don’t believe in Jesus Christ. My wife and I attended a short mission training course and every time we will pray for Buddhist people in Indochina, we could not help but become so emotional. We would cry praying for them. We know for sure that we have been called to go overseas mission four years before we actually left. Why did it take four years?

For one thing, we could not muster enough support for the trip and for our living expenses as we minister here. The Southern Baptist denomination in the Philippines just doesn’t have the structure and the capacity to send overseas missionary. It doesn’t even have any program or platform that we can utilize as we come here. Nevertheless, we trust God that if he wants us to go, we will follow. And now we are here and the rest is history.

Now I believe the challenge for us is how are we going to do mission without an organization that can provide us a good ministry platform? How can we reach lost people and eventually make them believe that they need to believe in Jesus Christ because he alone can save them?
The answer: We only have to look at lost people just like Jesus did. In Luke chapter 15 verses 1-15, Jesus told a series of stories about the lost.

1Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. 8"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

The first story is about a sheep farmer. Being a shepherd in Jesus’ day was a little different. It wasn’t an easy job. Good pasture was not plenty so that shepherd would take his flock where it could be found. There weren’t fences to contain sheep so they would wander and get lost or fall over a cliff and hurt themselves. Sheep are not smart, so it wasn’t unusual that they get lost. It was not unusual for a shepherd to find a lost sheep for some distance even risks his own life to bring the sheep back to the fold. He would not stop until he would bring the sheep back to the village which at that time collectively owned the flock. The return of the shepherd with the lost sheep in his shoulder would bring joy and celebration to the whole village. Jesus was saying, that it is what God is like. God is like a shepherd who wonders the hills searching for lost and injured strays.

In the second story Jesus talks about a woman who loses a silver coin. Today it would not be hard to look for a lost coin inside our house. But during those time houses were dark inside, the only light would come from a small window. The floor was probably beaten earth covered with dry reeds. The woman would have lit a lamp for extra light and then swept the floor in the hope that she might see light reflects off it, or it might make a noise as she moved it.

There are two reasons why a silver coin would have been worth the search. First, it represented a lot of money for a poor woman. To lose it meant hunger. Secondly, it may have sentimental value. One of the marks of a married woman in those days was a headdress made of 10 silver coins linked together by a chain, like my wedding ring it declares a commitment in marriage. Maybe the chain had broken and she could only find nine coins.

The picture Jesus painted was of someone desperate and determined to find it. This was a coin of huge importance; she would turn the house upside down until she found it. Jesus was saying, that is what God is like towards those who are lost. He values lost people like a woman searching for her coin.

So what are the lessons Jesus wanted us to learn from these two stories? Several come to mind. The first is that lost people matter to God. The gospel of the message is that God goes to unbelievable lengths to find lost people.

This was a radical new thought to the religious teachers of Jesus day, who criticized him for eating and socializing with people who were sinners. To their way of thinking, people who don’t live by God’s rules are ignored. God only cares for those who stay close to him. Those who are lost are beyond the scope of his love and mercy.

But according to Jesus, the reverse is true. God’s love and care for lost sinners is immense. He pursues them until he finds them, and when he brings them home all of heaven celebrate.

This is adapted from Dr. Brian Winslade's message at the 7th Asian Baptist Congress