Posts

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 leaders? I can’t even help one gifted and talented emerging leader!” My wife graciously responded, “The difference between you and Jesus is that… you are not Jesus!” Jesus developed, inspired and empowered a group of twelve men, who subsequently changed the world. Although we cannot…

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 Roman Catholic. Which means if you are born in Poland, you are a Roman Catholic and stand justified before God. This story line is deeply rooted in Polish culture and is the greatest barrier to the proclamation of justification by personal faith in Jesus Christ. Their culture has been…

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 hundred people. Since the congregation was so small, financial gifts from its members couldn’t even cover the monthly heating bills or most other building maintenance for that matter. I met with the Pastor of the church and he told me in his office that the building had…

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 her mom I was fine and coming home. Unbeknownst to them, at that time I was about 90 minutes over the Atlantic and the plane experienced an engine fire. We had to return to the airport and make an emergency landing. That night, when all…

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 took an hour and a half. During one section of the sermon, the Swedish-English translator referred to the man in Mark 8:21 as having no eyes. She did not know the word “blind” in English. The service was a linguistic nightmare… One of the reasons…

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 America, India and the Middle East. In many of the countries EGM has developed ministry, the general population has developed the notion that Evangelical, Protestant Christianity is a foreign, imported religion. Indians are Hindus, Belarusians are Orthodox, Arabs are Muslims and Latinos are Roman Catholics. In…

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: “Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:10-11 NIV) Like today, it is highly unlikely that people…

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 my calendar of activities. Then my wife Marla drove up to Northern California to visit her mother Oleta, who was sick with the “flu”. They went to the doctor and ten days later she was diagnosed with liver cancer, and was moved to Los Angeles. As I write…