Hello, friends......

Somebody said "God created man in His image & man returned the favor". God also created the Church according to His design.......& man can't help but add just a few teensy-weensy finishing touches.  So, it was encouraging to recently view a doc called "American Gospel" on Netflix. Maybe you heard about it. AG slams the prosperity gospel.....& the real Gospel is presented clearly. Every Christian should watch & pass the word! Then call Netflix to thank them. Apparently, as a result of AG, Todd White repented a few weeks ago! He'd been a prosperity teacher closely linked w/Kenneth Copeland. The prosperity gospel is nothing new......Read 1 Timothy 6:3-10.

Listen to this funny song by a Christian artist who was popular a few years back. It's about prosperity teaching. 

Seems our unfettered freedom has enabled the pursuit of "extracurricular" obsessions in many corners. The prosperity church twists verses on blessing while liberation theology emphasizes escaping poverty, all the while excluding the actual Gospel. Although polar opposites, both position themselves to be economic utopian escape hatches.........And liberalism pushes way past the boundaries of exegesis & Grace w/its numerous moral compromises accompanying.  A false socially-conscious righteousness is enhanced by offering "affirmation" & "inclusion" at the expense of God's Holiness. On the other hand, hyper-fundamentalists often seek to fortify their righteousness by whom they exclude & make jump through hoops. This righteousness often requires dying on every hill at the expense of souls. 

No wonder the world looks at the Church w/suspicion. The Greatest Commission is to worship Jesus but the Great Commission is to make Him famous. And service is how we are to render that. As I understand, the premise of tax exemption is that Churches provide valuable services to the community. (Read 1 Peter 2:12.) Because so many have been ALL about their eccentric hobby horses & have lacked real service, it's understandable why this perk is frequently resented from Main Street to the halls of Congress.  The Church became irrelevant because we chose to be irrelevant.....opening the door to these distractions. Heresy came into the American Church for 2 reasons that I can see: 1) Matthew 18 was not practiced & 2) we are spoiled, frankly. No wonder we get excluded in public life so often. We should not seek persecution, but I think that is what it will take to imprint maturity onto us....& as 1 Timothy 4:1 says, "....some will abandon the faith"....It is scary & exciting at the same time.....If doctrinally sound Christians start serving, we will dominate & the larger ecclesiastical landscape will change as a by-product. This is how cultures eventually are transformed...... 

.....On that theme of transformation.....Refugees/immigrants in western countries are finding Jesus at a rate which probably rivals the rates of the native born. I believe that, just like the jealous Jews of Romans 11:11, these people will make the dead & snoring western Church jealous. I call this "The 11:11 principle". Any future revival in the West will at least be dominated, if not led, by them. I am encouraged by the likes of Nebuchadnezzar, who, in Daniel 4:37, learned to worship the True and Living God......."Comrade Duch" also gives me hope. (Please read the story below. This war criminal reportedly turned himself in after converting to Jesus.)


Comrade Duch, from Khmer Rouge to Christian, alone to ask for forgiveness
Accused realised the enormity of his deeds when he embraced Christianity. For PIME missionary the demand for forgiveness is a “something new” in Cambodian history as people try to see themselves as part of a greater whole. 
Phnom Penh (AsiaNews) – Kang Kek Iew, also known by his nom de guerre Comrade Duch, a former head of Security Prison 21 or S-21, has asked for forgiveness, expressing his “heartfelt sorrow” to the people of Cambodia for his crimes. In doing so he is taking a step that represents a major change in a country still inhabited by divisions, whose people are still reticent to face up to the massacres perpetrated by the Khmer Rouges when they were in power.
Comrade Duch, who ran the infamous S-21 prison where some 17,000 Cambodian died between 1975 and 1979, is the only Khmer Rouge leader to have admitted his role in torturing and killing civilians. 
His step follows a personal journey that led him to convert to Christianity in 1996 after befriending a Cambodian-born Protestant clergyman, a journey very different from that of Pol Pot, the fanatical ideologue and leader of the Khmer Rouge regime, who died without appearing before the court, or the other four leading figures of the former Maoist regime on trial—Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Nuon Chea—who have also not owned up to their crimes.
Hun Sen, the current prime minister of Cambodia, is also a former official of the Khmer Rouge regime, and has dismissed with scorn any suggestion that he should appear before the tribunal, saying that before that ever happens he would see it starve of money. 
Kang Kek Iew’s hearing, which was broadcast live across Cambodia, was closely followed by Cambodians, generating all sorts of reactions. Many excused the guilt of the past, simply saying that everyone was just following orders.
For Duch coming to grips with his crimes and his demand for forgiveness began in 1996 when he became a Christian after befriending a Protestant clergyman in a village near Battambang.
Listening to Rev Christopher LaPel’s sermons, the former head of Prison S-21, who had concealed his true identity under the name of Hang Pin, expressed a desire to be baptised.
“He changed totally after receiving Christ—180 degrees,” said LaPel in an interview to Times magazine. “He turned from hatred to love. He said he had never felt love in his childhood or when he grew up. So when he turned to Christ, love filled his heart.”
In retrospect, there were signs pointing to Duch's real identity. “Before he received Christ, he said he did a lot of bad things in his life,” LaPel recalls. “I don’ know if my brothers and sisters can forgive the sins I've committed against the people,” Duch said.
LaPel lost friends and family in S-21 too, but said he had “no personal hatred for the only member of the Khmer Rouge to have confessed a role in the movement's killing machine.”
Fr Alberto Caccaro, a PIME missionary with ten years in Cambodia, said that Comrade Duch’s confession is even more significant now. 
“Acknowledging one’s guilt is how we see ourselves before God,” he said. “Many people were positively surprised by his confession, which strikes a different note from the rest.”
Cambodians have in fact not yet begun the process of reviewing the history of what happened in the 1970s when almost two million people died under the Khmer Rouges before the latter were driven from power. After that Cambodians turned the page in favour of modernity and “focused solely on material interests and individual well-being.”
“People have a hard time seeing themselves as part of a greater whole,” Father caccaro said. “Even in everyday language they tend to hide guilt. Admitting one’s responsibility is a no no—people would rather choose self-indulgence.”
Even thought bringing Khmer Rouge leaders to trail “will not remake Cambodian society,” “individual actions” like that of comrade Duch can be the “starting point for a more in-depth look at history.”
At the same time “we should not turn comrade Duch into some kind of saint,” said the missionary, “but his personal story, the timing of his confessions, and the realisation of the crimes he committed are something new for Cambodia.”
For going beyond mere forms of godliness.......and the nations, 
.....Just another witness to His Glory.

Hello, all.......

Hopefully, you've been finding creative ways to minister at this time. Zoom, etc. are blessings! 

The topic of human rights is amped up again. Of course, our own Civil Rights Movement rose out of our ugly history w/slavery.  But, did you ever consider how people in the First World still benefit from slavery? If we talk about slavery in our past, we can't ignore slavery in 2020......Speaking of tech luxuries like Zoom, you're quite possibly benefitting from what amounts to Congolese slave labor this very moment. Your cell phone/computer likely has rare earth minerals mined by slaves in the Congo. What should've been a national blessing had a lot to do w/the Congolese civil war, which claimed over 5 million lives. The sin of modern slavery is still deeply entrenched in our world & we're all sullied by it. I really hope you read the article below.....

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/oct/12/phone-misery-children-congo-cobalt-mines-drc

I'm not minimizing America's original sin, but only aim for the big picture.......Slavery has tainted all of history...........Don't forget how America long depended on China for cheap stuff. Pardon my speculation, but might there be resentment for how corporate America has conducted business? Is it payback time for cheap labor's race to the bottom?.....not to mention China's extreme pollution? (Ever heard of the "oxygen bars" in China.....where people pay to breathe a few minutes of fresh air? Our throw-away society contributed to this.)  Could this be one of the reasons they now steal American intellectual property w/no compunctions? And could it be that the lack of communication on the Corona virus was partly fueled by all of this?......We don't think twice about how we benefit every day from those human rights abuses....because that slavery is offshore & out of sight. We have helped create Socialist & Capitalist monsters, alike........Yet another reason we should be giving the lion's share of our gifts/offerings to Christian humanitarian work. ALL AMERICAN CHRISTIANS, REGARDLESS OF COLOR OR FINANCIAL STATUS CAN GIVE TO GOSPEL BASED HUMANITARIAN WORK.....WE ALL HAVE AMERICAN PRIVILEGE THAT WE SHOULD BE USING TO BENEFIT THE 3D WORLD.  Not suggesting vows of poverty, but vows of generosity. We have enough buildings. It's time that Christian America heeds James 5:4. 

​The pic above is of a group of believers from the "I" country in a Greek refugee camp. The de facto pastor is my friend, who hosted me in the "T" country next door last year before their little Church relocated. I got connected w/him via his cousin, who attends the local I Church w/me. Last Sunday, I was encouraged to hear what he's doing now. Most of the camp's 150 I residents are believers now, coming out of "that other Abrahamic religion". W/many residents from so many places, there's constant chaos in the camp as there's little oversight. There have been murders & rapes in the camp....even perpetrated on young boys.  This horror goes unreported in the news. Pray for them. 

They've been pooling their money to rent a small house outside the camp for 250 Euros a month. Such a small amount.....but very affective when strategically used. It's their Church. The details are unclear, but our "I" Church will be paying the rent & supporting him as he can't work due to Covid. I suggested that our next step might be to see if we can't generate industry/economy in that camp w/some interest-free micro-loans. As little as $100 can buy something like basic tools for a refugee. Micro-loaning also preserves dignity, as they already feel so much shame. If we do this, it won't be right away but if anyone knows how to start something like this, pls contact me. 

For the nations, the rights of workers everywhere and more bang for the buck......

......Just another witness to His Glory.