I must follow, if I can

India

On Tuesday night they had a report on PBS about a Jesuit priest in India who heads up a missionary school where he teaches poor children how to play violin, and he only accepts those in the lowest castes (transcript).

It was so awesome! I want to go and help out in any way I can! I sent an e-mail to Twin Cities Public Television, who produced the original story. The next morning, they e-mailed me back and said they had forwarded my message to the journalist who did the report, Fred de Sam Lazaro. Please pray that, if it be God's will for me to do something in this area, he would enable the necessary connections, and also enable me to be more serious about my violin playing in order to be an effective teacher of large groups of eager students.

As of 2:24 PM EST on January 5, 2005, CNN.com is reporting that the death toll from the earthquake-induced tsunamis in the Indian Ocean that hit on Sunday morning has topped 155,000. The organizations listed below are specifically communicating that they have people in the area already with relief efforts that are already underway:

• World Vision
• International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies
• Gospel for Asia
• Partners
• UNICEF

I'm sure there are a lot of other worthy organizations out there, but seems like they're all on vacation and nobody's updating their websites. An official from USAID spoke in a news conference Monday morning along with Colin Powell. By that time they had the disaster listed on their website, but were slow in getting specific. But they are official, and they are helping.

Good stewardship requires us to make sure that the organizations we give to are actually putting the money to use in Asia and not just taking advantage of our renewed spirit of giving. Of these, World Vision looks like they're most on the ball, because they actually have people there in the area and are sending emergency survival kits to the areas affected.

During the month of January, Starbucks is donating $2 from every pound of Sumatra, Decaf Sumatra, and Aged Sumatra whole bean coffee that they sell. As a former barista, I'm convinced that some of the best coffee in the world comes from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which was one of the hardest hit.

And don't forget to pray for the people, too. I just saw a show on the History channel about how just because there are earthquakes it doesn't mean it's the end of the world and Jesus is coming back... What do they know? Imagine yourself in Sri Lanka or Phuket right now. How could you possibly help thinking it's the end of the world?

Updated 1/5/2005, 11:56 AM PST

Author and pastor John Piper has responded to the disaster with an article at DesiringGod.org entitled "Tsunami, Sovereignty, and Mercy."

Another example is the curse that lies on this fallen earth. Those who do not believe in Christ experience it as judgment, but believers experience it as, merciful, though painful, preparation for glory. “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope” (Romans 8:20). This is God’s subjection. This is why there are tsunamis.

Read the full text here. And be sure to follow the permalink to see my list of aid agencies and charities who are already active in the area, where you can donate online.

Western Europe is the new missionfield. According to the Scottish Church Census, only 11.2% of Scots attended church on an average Sunday in 2002. And those who do are mostly old people. This is higher than England (7.5%), but compare this with the U.S. at 40% (Barna), and a 1997 report by the University of Michigan that puts South Africa at 56%, the Philippines at 68%, and Nigeria at a whopping 89%!

One report by Phil Zuckerman points out how drastically this change came about in only a couple generations: "In Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1851, 60 percent of the adult population attended church; in 1995 that was down to 11 percent."

The journalist also throws in some anecdotes from personal experience:

The last time I was in Europe, I was told by two different sets of friends that we would be "going out to the church" for the evening. In both cases (one in Oban, Scotland, and the other in Cologne, Germany) the churches turned out to be religious institutions in facade only; both were former churches that had been gutted and turned into popular pubs and night clubs. Indeed, throughout much of Western Europe--with the unique exception of Ireland--churches are being turned into bars, discos, warehouses, and laundromats. Not only is church attendance way down, but so is religious belief.

The culture has changed so much that people actually have to second-guess what you mean when you say you're "going to church!"

Why are people always trying to make their own god? It's like making a golden calf and calling it Yahweh. I get so frustrated every time I hear about dead religions ordaining gay priests. It's like, what's the point of being religious at all? If you don't believe the Bible, why would you want to be bored out of your mind in dead religion? I don't get it!

According to an article by the BBC, the Scottish Episcopal church (not to be confused with the official Church of Scotland--the Kirk--which is Presbyterian), is allowing practicing homosexuals to become priests!

Perhaps it's time for our Presbyterian friends to stand up again for truth and Scripture. I'm all for freedom of religion, but two dead denominations are not going to further the cause of Christ. Scotland needs revival, and they need a revival that's founded in Biblical truth and Protestant theology. In 1638 the National Covenant was formed in order to protest English religious interference in Scotland. In Shelley's Church History in Plain Language, he says,

The straw that broke the back of restraint within the two kingdoms came when Charles tried to force his high church brand of Anglican religion upon the Presbyterian Scots. He insisted that they conduct their worship services from the Book of Common Prayer....They rose in opposition to the move and joined in a "National League of Covenant." To defend their Church, they dared to take up arms against their king. (297)

But the issue now has the Scottish branch of the Church of England being even more liberal than the English church itself! According to an article on the LGCM website, the Scottish Episcopal Bishop of Edinburgh once said, "I could stock the Scottish Episcopal Church with sexual refugees from the Church of England. Hardly a week goes by when I don't get a letter from someone, usually with a heart-breaking story."

If you missed ABC News' Nightline on Monday night, go to their website and watch it right now. Currently the story is located in the right column, the third one down, called "Facing Famine." If you aren't subscribed to RealNetworks' superpass (I'm not), or don't have AOL (I don't), but have SBC Yahoo! DSL (I do), you can sign in to http://dsl.sbc.yahoo.com and click on "Video" on the upper right side of your page. Once the video panel pops up, look under "News" for "ABC News Nightline" and the "Facing Famine" episode should be right there.

If you are unable to view it, then Google for recent news headlines about it so you can learn about what's going on over there.

There is also a British story on Channel Four about the famine and the Western response (or lack of it).

Then, once you've sufficiently disturbed yourself with the images of starving children, please do what you can to help. If you donate to Worldvision (who already have people in place in Niger helping out), just $20 U.S. will be turned into $140 worth of food which can be distributed to those who need it most.

Matt Hall has put up a really interesting post called "Niche Churches?" on his blog. I've posted a lengthy comment on with some thoughts that I'm going to be including in an upcoming article I'm writing on the whole point of missions (please stay tuned). The other night I wrote for pages and pages and pages. But I have not get covered all the points I want to, nor have I organized the thoughts in some sort of coherent way that would help the average person understand my thought process...

A few weeks ago John Piper hosted a conference in Minneapolis called "The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World". They made some promotional videos for it. Here is one by Mark Driscoll that I found particularly interesting.

In the "conversation" between the "emergent" and "reformed" types, there is a lot to think about, and I think Mark's been thinking about this stuff for a long time, and has some helpful insights.