Category: Gospel and Culture

Uganda – Street Kids

Posted on July 16, 2009

We went to a street kids home called Save Street today. Moving. Conditions are poor; spirits are rich. Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Some days they don’t get a meal, but they are happy, learning the gospel, and in school. They did traditional dances for us, we took pictures, played games, I gave a short message. We sang with them and prayed over them. Sweet children without parents. The pioneer of Save Street, Innocent, was a street kid years ago and chooses to still live with them. Such love and commitment to the gospel. Amazing.

On top of all that, they are starting a church on the premises that reaches out to the surrounding community. Remarkable. They need prayer, financial support, and encouragment. Thank God ACL sent us here. THe team is loving Uganda well, and being changed by all of this. Thank you all.

Pray for our pastoral training and evangelistic visits over the next four days in remote villages.

WIth you in the Gospel,

Jonathan

Mission to Uganda

Posted on July 13, 2009

Austin City Life is sending a team of five to Uganda tomorrow. We will be training church planters and working with orphans and street kids. Although some of us have traveled quite a bit, none of us have been to Africa, much less Uganda. We expect to learn a lot from the kids and the adults, Christians and pastors. We also hope to forge a long-term partnership with an orphanage and church there. We also have partners here in the U.S.:

We are partnering with Acts 29 on the field by connecting with J.D. Senkbile, Africa          Director for Acts 29. The international mission of Acts 29 is expanding significantly. We are glad we get to be a part of this very important part of God’s Mission.

We are partnering with DGM to take theological resources to under-trained pastors in rural areas. DGM generously donated about 600 books.

I serve on the board of H.E.L.P. and we hope to partner with them to promote long-term orphan care.

Fight Club, the booklet

Posted on July 8, 2009

After a two month delay, I was able to pick up the Fight Club: Gospel-centered Discipleship manuscript again. I have now finished the first draft. Several people are reviewing it. I will then edit it and we should be about two weeks away from going live with it. We will epublish it free first at The Resurgence, with a print on demand option. We are also working on a website that will expand upon the book through interaction, blogs, and articles. Then we’ll look to publish it hard copy. Here is a description of the chapters from the Introduction:

Chapter One lays out a biblical case for fighting the fight of faith, which I hope stirs you up to fight the fight of faith. Once the fighting begins, it is easy to slide into fighting people instead of sin. We start beating one another up with judgment, fighting the wrong things with the wrong motives. We fight against the church instead of with her.

Chapter Two explores where we go wrong in our fighting by uncovering legalistic and licentious patterns in discipleship.

In turn, Chapter Three calls us away from these extremes into a gospel-centered discipleship. With the gospel at the center of discipleship, we can live as Jesus intended—fighting the good fight of faith which leads to true change. However, if weren’t not careful we’ll start to fight on our own. Failure to grasp the community focus of the gospel can cut us off from the grace God gives through his people, the church.

Chapter Four reminds us that discipleship is a community project because the gospel is community focused. Jesus created and redeemed us as people in relationship, people who need one another in the fight of faith. Instead of fighting against the church, we can fight with her, to live a life that is motivated by all that God is for us in the Spirit and the Son.

In conclusion, Chapter Five offers a practical way to apply the gospel to everyday life. It is a call for Fight Clubs—small, simple, biblical, reproducible groups of people who meet together regularly help one another keep the gospel at the center of their discipleship. Fight Clubs have been crucial in my life and my church. I hope and pray that you’ll find them helpful too, that you’ll form a Fight Club and start fighting with the church, in the gospel, on mission, for the glory of God.