I have long felt that Jesus’ recruitment of fishermen as His key disciples gave special status to fishing. The fact that He urged them to be fishers of men only further reinforced the importance of fishing. I should confess that I love fishing. One of my greatest joys is laying a fly line out on a…
Whenever I feel frustrated or discouraged as a leader, I turn first to my wife Marla. Several years ago, I felt unable to help a young leader grow in effectiveness, and expressed my discouragement to Marla. I said, “How could Jesus take 12 guys, most who appeared to be unqualified, and turn them into world-changing…
Why Christianity is a Foreign Religion (Part 3) The logic goes something like this… the message of the gospel was entrusted to the Holy Catholic Church. Anyone who becomes a member of the Roman Catholic Church is therefore a Christian and right with God. Since Roman Catholicism is the guardian of Polish culture, everyone who is truly Polish is…
Why Christianity is a Foreign Religion (Part 2) Read Part 1: English Should Not be the Lingua Franca Three years ago, I stood in the sanctuary of a large church in Belarus that had the capacity to seat over one thousand people. Despite the size of the church, its congregation consisted of only a few…
Fifteen years ago, I was traveling home to Poland and spoke to Marla just before boarding my transatlantic flight. Shortly after I boarded, Marla’s mother, Oleta Earles, called Poland from California to track down my whereabouts. The LORD had impressed on her that I was in some kind of danger and needed prayer. Marla assured…
Why Christianity is a Foreign Religion (Part 1) One Sunday, a Swedish Pastor visited our Polish church in Krakow, Poland. He did not speak Polish or English, and there was no Swedish-Polish translator. Therefore, in order for him to preach, the message was translated from Swedish into English and then English into Polish. The thirty minute sermon…
My wife Marla and I moved to Poland in 1991, and over the next ten years worked to understand the Polish language and culture. In the beginning, we discovered the widespread perception that Evangelical Christianity was a foreign religion. Over the last twenty three years, this false perception has also been observed in Belarus, Latin…
There are several issues which have proven to be contentious among Christians. One of them involves Pentecost, and the early church experience of speaking in tongues. Amidst the controversy regarding the work of the Holy Spirit, we can easily lose track of one of the central themes of the passage. Luke states it this way:…
This blog article was supposed to focus on the importance of language, culture and ministry. However, things have happened in my life that have drawn my attention elsewhere. Ten days ago, I had all my plans laid out for the summer: my ministry schedule, fishing trip, get away weekend with my wife, the regular Taco Tuesday dinner with my parents, and…
By the grace of God, I am blessed to be part of a cross-cultural ministry that seeks to transform children in Christ through His church around the world. His grace allowed me to live in Poland for ten years so I could participate in and experience cross-cultural ministry in a variety of situations. In most of those situations,…
