Today I read through Chapter 19, which covers the laws governing justice in the most severe cases according to Torah—the taking of human life by another human.

It’s popular for people to quote the KJV’s translation of the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not kill.”  However, the Hebrew Bible does not say this. It says, “You shall not murder.”  There is a big difference between the two—which Deuteronomy 19 (among other places in Torah) speaks to.

We find in this chapter that sometimes one could “kill”, without it being “murder.”  That is, what happens if “any one kills his neighbor unintentionally without having been at enmity with him in time past” (Deut. 19:4 RSV)…or what we might call “manslaughter.” Deuteronomy even gives an example (which fans of shows like “Ax Men” or “Swamp Loggers” might be surprised to find embedded in 2^nd millennium BC Hebrew Covenant law!):

“as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies.” (Deut. 19:5 RSV)

That’s quite a specific example…especially for a people who’ve dwelt in the desert for an entire generation! I’m guessing their lack of lumberjack skills at this point in their people’s history would undoubtedly lead to this happening more regularly than one might imagine!

Regardless of the reason for the specific example, the principle that lies beneath it is easy to discern: God is concerned that truly innocent people are not unjustly judged or punished.

God provides cities of refuge for such persons to flee to in order to avoid the potential tribal vengeance that would be the expected result when someone is killed within close-knit honor & shame societies…and which, if left unmitigated, would lead to blood feuds among families/clans that could quickly spiral out of control.

However, we see that God is very much concerned with the opposite case as well—that of premeditated murder:

“But if any man hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and attacks him, and wounds him mortally so that he dies, and the man flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you.” (Deut. 19:11-13 RSV)

But wait…what if the person who accidentally kills someone is charged with actual murder? And what if the person who actually murders someone claims it was merely an accident? How can there be justice??

Ultimately God is the final Judge, and in the meantime, people can (and do!) break His commands and commit many unjust and evil acts. Likewise, many courts have been (and still are!) corrupt and the innocent are unfairly punished for the crimes of the guilty. However, Deuteronomy did provide one caveat which was intended to severely curb such behavior:

“A single witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed; only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained. If a malicious witness rises against any man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days; the judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you. And the rest shall hear, and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity; it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” (Deut. 19:15-21)

Think about this…a person who came forward with capital charges against someone had to be ready to literally stake his or her life on their testimony!

This is actually why the other famous commandment (commonly cited as “thou shalt not lie”) was given as well. It actually says: “You shall not bear false witness”, and is referring specifically to lying about someone else in an official or public format (particularly in a capital trial!).

The God of Deuteronomy is a God who desires TRUTH.

He’s a God who desires JUSTICE.

He’s a God who upholds the INNOCENT.

The final line, the famous “eye for an eye” phrase is one of the most misunderstood sayings in the Bible. Once again I will allow Christopher Wright (who’s marvelous little commentary I’m using throughout this study, which I highly recommend!) to explain:

Possibly no other OT text has been the victim of more misunderstanding and exaggeration than this one, the lex talionis, or law of retribution. This verse, understood in its most literal and vengeful sense, has entered popular imagination as the summation of all OT ethics… Yet it is abundantly clear to any reader of Deut. Alone that such a view is a misunderstanding that totally ignores the ethos of compassion, generosity, concern for the weak, and restraint of the powerful that pervades the book… Contrary to the popular view, the law does not condone rampant physical vengeance but has precisely the opposite intention. It is designed to ensure that penalties in law are strictly proportionate to offenses committed—a perfectly proper and still valid legal and ethical principle. It is very likely that the phraseology was standard and stereotypical, expressing the principle of proportionality, not necessarily intended to be followed literally in all cases (except that of deliberate taking of human life). Other forms of proportionate compensation for injury (e.g., monetary) may well have been acceptable. In Exodus, this seems certain, since injury to an unborn child would not include its teeth! Historians of ancient law suggest that the lex talionis, which is found elsewhere in Semitic cultures, represents a legal development that was actually an improvement on an earlier practice of uncontrolled vengeance… (Wright, NIBC: Deuteronomy, p.226)

But wait…didn’t Jesus quote this passage and overturn it in His famous “antitheses” section of the Sermon on the Mount? Wasn’t He saying that it was time for a NEW standard of justice? Didn’t he do away with the OT law as archaic and unloving?

This is a common stereotypical misunderstanding by many Christians. I suspect that it’s due to people reading the New Testament without a solid foundation in the Old Testament (as is the case among too many NT readers unfortunately!). Jesus in no way abolished or rejected Torah. He even explicitly said so Himself in the very same Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:17 in case you’re curious).

No, Jesus was not doing away with Torah…rather, He was calling people back to its core message in preparation of Him bringing it to final completion and inaugurating the long-awaited New Covenant whereby Torah would be written on the hearts of God’s people (for more on this, see my video “Do Christians Keep the Ten Commandments” over on the “Tough Questions” section of Disciple Dojo’s resource page).

So what about Deut. 19? If Jesus wasn’t contradicting it, what was He saying? Again, Wright offers great insight:

The antithesis set up by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:38-42) was not, then, an attack upon “OT ethics” as a whole. He was saying that the principle governing legal decisions in court cases (which was the legitimate goal of strict equivalence) should not be taken as the model for all behavior in personal relationships and attitudes. It was possible to suffer wrong without seeking personal or legal retaliation and to extend generosity even to one’s enemy. Such transformed behavior within the kingdom of God had roots in the OT (e.g., Lev. 19:17-18). (ibid)

JM

The fallout in the social media and blogosphere worlds has been predictable:

Conservatives cheering for this “victory of righteousness” in the democratic process and Liberals expressing outrage over such “bigotry” and “ignorant” action.

I find myself in a peculiar place on this one.

As someone who leans toward Libertarian principles when it comes to social issues, I wasn’t a big supporter of this Amendment and didn’t think it was necessary (though of course I recognize that in the minds of Conservatives it was most likely a safeguard measure to prevent “activist judges” from legalizing same-sex marriage from the bench). I’m just not very comfortable with the idea of secular government determining who can and cannot choose to live together in a legal manner. I believe if people want to have some type of civil/domestic union (whether gay, straight, or other) I’m okay with that, from a legal/civil standpoint, so long as they aren’t violating the rights of others.

So unlike many of my Conservative friends, I don’t see this Amendment as a victory for “righteousness” in any truly Biblical sense of the term. It may bolster the facade of civil religion, but I don’t think it advances the Kingdom of God in any tangible or meaningful way really.

However…

I have been disturbed by the continued cries of “oppression” and “bigotry” that have been thrown around by my Liberal friends who opposed Amendment One. Borrowing such language from the Civil Rights struggle is rhetorically effective…but is it consistent and honest?

Of course there are likely many who voted for the Amendment because they harbor a genuine hatred of gay people. Such hatred and actual acts of bigotry are indeed sinful and should be repudiated by any follower of Jesus.

But here is my genuine question to all those who cried “bigotry!” and “intolerance!” after the vote:

If Amendment One had limited legal domestic status in NC to “unions of two individuals” instead of “marriage between one man and one woman”, would proponents of plural marriage be justified in being outraged and labeling those who supported it as “bigots”?

If not, why not?

This is not, as many may immediately dismiss it as, the “slippery-slope” argument (remember, I don’t oppose civil unions), nor is it purely hypotheical (as any viewer of “Sister Wives” can attest). Rather, it’s a call for consistency on the part of those labeling others as hateful bigots who disagree with their domestic views.

In other words if proponents of gay couples being legally recognized want their view accepted, then are they willing to accept the view of those who want legal recognition for all mutually consenting adult domestic relationships?

If one’s answer to the above is “yes”, then fair enough and I can respect such a view for its consistency.

But if the answer is “no”…then perhaps it might be worth pausing for a bit of self-reflection next time you get ready to hurl the “bigot/hate” label at those you disagree with.

May we all be loving in word and deed,
 

JM

I can’t say I blame them if these are the responses they get.

What say ye, faithful Dojo readers?

How would you respond??

Please share some things you’d say or points you’d make in the comments section below!

JM

It’s a keynote address by Dan Savage, founder of the “It Gets Better” campaign which seeks to prevent suicide among teens who are bullied and abused due to their sexual orientation.

The audience members are high school students.

First things first:

Bullying of gay teenagers is a real problem that needs to be addressed and combated by everyone who is on the side of justice, love and human dignity!

The pain experienced by GLBT teens is real and the hatred they experience is also real…and it is deplorable!

Based on the life and message of Jesus, I believe that ANYONE who uses passages from Scripture to justify or condone hatred, evil, and violence toward those they deem sinful are more guilty than the behavior they are opposing!

However…

The irony of someone using a bully pulpit to bully those who believe differently than they do is quite striking and should not go unnoticed…and neither should the ridiculous amount of misinformation, verbal harassment of students, and erroneous claims about the Bible being made by this speaker.

Imagine if a Bible teacher had referred to atheist high school students who walked out on him “pansy asses” while he was calling their beliefs “bullsh*t”…

How quickly would such a speaker be demonized?

Yet the above incident goes unnoticed and accepted.

Pitiful.

The sad irony is that with such a speech, Dan Savage reveals himself to be no better than those he is railing against.

If any Dojo readers would like to read a serious and respectful discussion of the issue of same-sex sexual relationships and Scripture, please see this series of posts in which a friend and I debate the issue:

• Two Methodists Discuss Same-sex Relationships and Scripture (Part 1)
• Two Methodists Discuss Same-sex Relationships and Scripture (Part 2)
• Humanizing the Same-Sex Discussion

Also, you can read more thoughts on issues surrounding homosexuality in the following examiner articles and reviews I’ve written:

• African laws on same-sex behavior
• Homosexuality: the elephant in the room
• Elevating the conversation between Christians and the GLBT community

Regardless of one’s view on the subject, it’s important to remember an important truth:

Ignorance + Zeal = Fundamentalism

That goes for those on BOTH sides of an issue.

Blessings from the Dojo,

JM

ps: For those who are interested in a mature and rational discussion of the issues involved in the Bible’s teaching on slavery and same-sex behavior by an excellent Biblical scholar, I recommend William Webb’s book “Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis“.  Webb traces the subjects from the beginning all the way through to the New Testament period and shows that despite common rhetoric by advocates of various positions, the two are simply not comparable in any meaningful way. Personally, I believe that those who equate the Bible’s teachings on slavery with its teaching on same-sex sexual ethics (usually via prooftexting or cursory readings of isolated passages…such as the speaker did in the video above) demonstrates a genuine lack of knowledge about what the Bible actually teaches overall.

In chapter 9, we come to Moses’ retelling of the infamous Golden Calf incident and the Israelites’ continued disobedience…to the point that God literally declared that He was going to wipe them out and start all over with Moses (9:13-14)!

Yet Moses does something that has been pondered by theologians for millennia…

 I lay prostrate before the LORD those forty days and forty nights because the LORD had said he would destroy you. I prayed to the LORD and said,

“O Sovereign LORD, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the desert.’ But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.” (Deuteronomy 9:25-29 NIV)

Moses interceded on behalf of the people, begging God to change his mind and not cast them off forever.

And it worked!

Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time, and the LORD listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you.

“Go,” the LORD said to me, “and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”
(Deut 10:10-11 NIV)

What?!?

God, as many proper theologians constantly remind us, is unchangeable, immutable, impassible, sovereign and has decreed all things in detail from the beginning of time, hasn’t He??

How can Moses get God to change His mind?

I mean, if God knew Moses was going to pray for this and that He would relent from destroying Israel, then why declare that He was going to do so in the first place? Doesn’t this make God a liar??

It’s passages like this one that make me love studying the Old Testament.

Whenever we think we have God figured out, whenever we think we have our Systematic Theology and our Greater Catechisms all lined up nice and neat, passages like this come along and poke holes in our theological constructs.

The God of the Hebrew Bible cannot be tamed into an impersonal theistic philosophical concept.

He is alive.

He is PERSONAL.

Does that mess with your idea of how a self-respecting God “should” act?

Too bad.

According to Scripture, it’s how He did act. And that is what I find so fascinating about the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus.

But, what sense can we make of God acting in this way?

How can Moses’ intercession really result in God relenting from His stated purposes in punishing Israel’s rebellion?

Wright offers the following comments on this section of the text that are well worth pondering:

The text purports to lay before us a genuine encounter between Moses and the God of Israel in which history meshed with prayer in a meaningful way…Both God and Moses appear to be behaving straightforwardly. there is nothing in the text to suggest that God’s anger was overdone for mere effect; no suggestion that God’s threat was a bluff intended to secure a hasty repentance. Psalm 106:23 indicates the critical nature of the event: the threat of destruction was real. Likewise , Moses took God’s words with utmost sobriety. His reaction to the divine wrath was not a patronizing dismissal of authority, “You can’t be serious!” Rather, he recognized that this was a sincere threat that could be countered only with appeal to prior words and actions of the same God. The paradox is that in appealing to God to change, he was actually appealing to God to be consistent–which may be a significant clue to the dynamic of all genuine intercessory prayer…just as God involved Abraham in the “consultation” prior to the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (which also led to intercession, though with a different outcome, Gen.18:16-33), so here God pauses and makes the divine will “vulnerable” to human challenge.

The fact is that, far from human intercession being an irritating but occasionally successful intrusion upon divinely prefabricated blueprints for history, it is actually an integral part of the way God’s sovereignty in history is exercised. That does not totally solve the mystery, but it puts it in proper biblical perspective. God not only allows human intercession, God invites it (in later biblical texts God also commands it), and builds it into the decision-making process of the heavenly council in ways we can never fathom.

Intercessory prayer, then, flows primarily not from human anxiety about God but from God’s commitment to relationship with human beings…Moses was not so much arguing against God (thought doubtless it felt like it), as participating in an argument within God (a tension expressed in Num.14:17-19). Such prayer, therefore, not only participates in the pain of God in history, btu is actuallly invited to do so for God’s sake as well as ours. This is a measure of the infinite value to God of commitment to persons in covenant relationship. God chooses in sovereign freedom to link that divine sovereign freedom to human prayer.

Wright, Deuteronomy, pp.139-140

Read over that quote a few more times and let it sink in, because the idea behind it is one of the most profound theological concepts of all time and has implications for not only doctrinal issues like freewill/predestination/sovereignty/etc., but also for how we pray to the God of the universe.

Go ahead, reread it. I’ll wait…

…

…

…

What kind of God do we actually find in the pages of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament?

A God who allows Himself to be challenged by those He loves.

A God who works all things for the good of those who love Him.

A God who is faithful to His promises…even when that means changing His mind.

If that makes us uncomfortable, so be it. But it’s the God Jesus claimed to worship, love, and embody.

We do well to do likewise…regardless of how much it may mess with our theology.

Blessings from the Dojo,

JM

When you add in anything having to do with religion or ethnicity, the likelihood of generating hate mail increases exponentially.

But usually such backlash occurs after the story has been aired. However, when 60 Minutes aired a piece on Christians in the Holy Land they felt the negative pressure before the story even aired!

Watch the piece below and see for yourself…

[For more web extras, be sure to visit the video page HERE.]

CBS will likely catch much grief from the various Israel lobby groups * and charges of “anti-semitism” will surely be thrown around wrecklessly by those who see any criticism of the State of Israel as an attack on the Jewish people (despite the fact that the two are very different entities!). But I believe CBS is to be commended in this case for letting Palestinians themselves actually speak to the reality on the ground rather than letting the Israeli Ambassador determine the narrative viewers receive.

Too many times the Palestinian Christian voice is ignored completely or dismissed as irrelevant by apologists for current Israeli policy toward Palestinians…yet I would argue that as the most vulnerable of all peoples involved, theirs is one that should carry much weight among the Body of Christ around the world.

Thanks you for doing this story CBS.

JM

* I use the term “Israel lobby groups” rather than “Jewish lobby groups” precisely in order to distinguish concepts of political/state interests from ethnic/religious identity. For more on this, see the book in the link provided as well as this one by Craig Nielsen.

UPDATE: If you would like to join Jewish voices in thanking CBS for airing this piece despite the pressure from lobbyists you can do so at http://thankyou60minutes.org/

Most Christians don’t even realize that NO CHRISTIAN believed in “the Rapture” (as it’s commonly taught in books and movies like “Left Behind” or “A Thief  in the Night”, etc.) before the mid-1800s.

Yes, you read that right. Before Irving, Darby, and Scofield, the doctrine of the Rapture (and the entire way of reading Scripture which leads to it) was not taught or believed by any Church Father or historical theologian.

So how could it be that it would become the dominant view among Western conservative Christians, particularly evangelicals??

Here’s how…

Dispensationalism’s most defining feature is its belief in “the Rapture”, where Jesus will return partially to earth and invisibly in order to “catch/snatch away” (Latin: rapturo) believers before unleashing a hellish 7-year (or 3.5 year, depending on which version one embraces) period known as “the Great Tribulation.” This period ends when Jesus returns for real and visibly in order to reign over the Jewish people from Jerusalem for 1,000 years. Only after all that will he administer the Final Judgment and usher in the New Heavens and New Earth.

Here is a discussion of it from a course I taught a few years ago (with admittedly poorer video quality than the excellent video above!) that gives some more of the influential individuals who developed and then popularized the concept over the past 150 years or so:

And here is the audio from the session of “Apocalypse Now??” which deals specifically with Dispensationalism’s origins:

The Rapture is a great example of how people can read the Bible out of context and come up with something that is exactly opposite of what it actually teaches.

That’s a bold claim…

…so let me offer the video below to illustrate why I stand by it:

So why India of all places?

I’ll let Good Shepherd’s Senior Pastor (and the leader of our trip) Talbot Davis explain…

So what in the world were Chris Thayer, James-Michael Smith and Talbot Davis doing in India over the last couple of weeks?  Quite a lot, actually.

We spent time connecting with our partners in that exotic land — the Orissa Follow Up Ministry & Bible College in the Balasore region and the Love Your Neighbor network in the remote Kandhamal district.  With both groups of village pastors and church workers, we tried to bring the best of how we know to invite all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ.  So Talbot taught about sermon series, sermon design, & healing ministry; Chris gave insights into New Testament history; and James-Michael was his usual brilliant self in teaching all about Genesis Chapter One and God’s covenant with Israel.

…

So because our investment with these Indian partners is so large and because we’re in it for the long haul, we want to spend some time addressing some core issues with all the people of Good Shepherd. Issues like Why India? Why This Part Of India? and What’s Next?

Why India?

A couple of years ago, we decided to go “narrow and deep” in our approach to international missions.  What do we mean by that?  Well, instead of giving support to a large number of missionaries serving in an array of places around the globe (that’s “wide and shallow”), we opted to move to the model of investing heavily in a few leaders in a specific locale to maximize ministry impact in that one place.

Our criteria in selecting a place centered around three issues:  1) it had to be a country where Christianity was NOT a majority religion; 2) we wanted to partner with local ministries already doing good work; and 3) we needed liaisons we could trust.

India fit the profile on all three counts.  Out of a population of 1.2 billion, for example, only 2.5% are Christians.  Most Indians are loyal Hindus with its pantheon of gods and goddesses; in fact, Hinduism dominates Indian culture and national identity.  The people of that land are deeply religious already . . . they simply worship the creation rather than the Creator.  Our experience there parallels Paul’s in Athens:  ”For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.  Now what you worship as something unknown, I am going to proclaim to you . . . “ (Acts 17:23).

In addition, our exposure to the leadership of Bishop Hrudaya in Balasore and Sushant Naik in Kandhamal convinced us that vital ministry was already occurring even in the face of long odds.  Finally, our connection to these two was facilitated by PR Misra who job with Advancing Native Mission is to connect indigenous ministries in need of resources with churches in the Western world who have resources.   PR’s brother JR Misra is a long time part of the Good Shepherd family.

Why This Part Of India?

Out of all the places in India why are we focused on Odisha?  It’s a state that almost none of us have ever heard of — yet it has 41 million people which would make it the most populous in the USA!

We go narrow and deep in Odisha for two compelling reasons:

1.  The ministry of Bishop Hrudaya and the Orissa Follow Up has shown particular effectiveness at reaching the people Indians call “Untouchable” and leading them to faith in Christ.  It’s a beautiful concept, really:  Christians love those into the kingdom those whom Hindus literally will not touch.  I visited one of these “Dalit” villages in 2011; it was a great joy to see that same pastor at this year’s leadership seminar.

2.  Our Kandhamal partners are at Ground Zero of persecution against Christians in India.  In 2008, a wave of Hindu extremists destroyed the homes of over 200 Christian families, killed 40 church members and leaders, and displaced hundreds of others.  The persecution continues four years later, although in ways that don’t get quite so many headlines.  The Kandhamal Christians literally fear for their lives as they gather to worship.  So we have the great privilege of partnering with Jesus’ people who are re-living the persecution that is the backdrop of the book of Revelation — with the same kind of courageous faithfulness to which that book calls us.

By the way in one of our 2011 visits to a Kandhamal village church, we held an impromptu healing service.  The pastor told us at this year’s seminar that a man for whom our team prayed had his hearing restored that day.  Living relationship indeed!

What’s Ahead?

…for 2013 and beyond, we’ll send at least two teams to Odisha a year.  Small teams of committed staff and dedicated laity; teams who can provide medical expertise, discipleship training, children’s ministry, and, of course, encouragement & equipping for village pastors.In addition to that human capital, we who have such financial resources will be sharing with our brothers and sisters who have almost none.  It’s already begun: we’ve funded the repainting and restoration of the Odisha Follow Up facilities and we supplied 30 pastors with brand new bicycles.  Now they won’t have to walk from village to village as they offer Christ.

Our options are wide for future resourcing:

1. A series of bore wells that our Christian leaders will make sure to offer to their Hindu neighbors.  “Living Water” they call them.

2. Motorized transportation for pastors who supervise village pastors.

3. Salary support to bring these indigenous missionaries above the subsistence level in providing for their families.

4.  In the long run, we’d love to provide and staff a medical van which would be used to bless villagers — Christian and Hindu alike — with the gift of life and health.

You can see photos from the trip HERE if you haven’t already.

JM’s Reflections from the trip…

Here are some brief thoughts as I sit here back at home in one of my favorite lunch spots, thinking just how removed I am from where I was 2 weeks ago. They are in no particular order and are in short bullet point format ranging from the trivial to the profound and everything in between:

• Indian food is REALLY good! But only if you’re okay with spicy dishes and picking out bones from any meat or seafood you come across!   It’s also interesting that the portions, even among the lower income folks we ate with, are huge. The plates looked like hubcaps filled with rice, vegetables and brightly colored sauces. But at the same time, the drink sizes were tiny! Plates like hubcaps and cups like thimbles! India is most definitely not the land of the Big Gulp. My favorite dish was Prawn Butter Masala, btw.

• Persecution. The next time I hear someone in America talk about being “persecuted” by things like their town square not putting up a Nativity at Christmas, their child’s school not allowing public prayer before a football game, or the Ten Commandments not being displayed in a courtroom somewhere I may have to smack them (in love, of course!). I just spent 2 weeks with Christians who were beaten, whose churches and homes were burned to the ground by angry rioters, and one whose father was killed for his faith in Jesus. Yet these same Christians stayed and ministered not only to their scattered and fearful congregations…but they also welcomed a number of the perpetrators into their homes and churches, eventually leading a number of them to faith in the very Gospel they so recently persecuted! Of course, you don’t have to take a trip to India to realize that “persecution” for the Gospel is almost non-existent in America…but it sure does hammer home the point if you ever do!

• Driving in India, like in many crowded developing countries, is an absolute adventure! If you’ve ever ridden “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” at Disney World it’s a lot like that. Honking the horn is not a sign of anger; it’s the expected response when approaching anyone 0n the road from behind, as rear-view mirrors are almost never used. Yet despite the crowded and unpredictable conditions, we saw only 2 fender-benders the entire time we were there (which is about half of what one would see driving around any major U.S. city with 1/10th the traffic!). Drivers there are much more aware of the road and of one another…because they have to be! I think drivers here in America pay far less attention to these things (because, after all, it’s rare that you’ll need to watch out for cows, scooters and semi-trucks all on a one-lane street in the heart of a neighborhood here in the States!), and thus get in many more accidents. That’s my theory, anyway.

• Spiritual warfare is a reality. The first week we were there, I felt more darkness and oppression than I’ve felt in years. Anxiety, fatigue, depression and fear rocked me to my core–particularly just before I was to get up and speak. The Bishop and our liason, PR, shared with me how this was very common among many foreign Christians who visit…some even beginning to feel it as soon as they enter Indian airspace on the plane. I’m not obsessed with figuring out the spiritual/demonic forces everywhere I go, nor do I believe every difficulty a Christian faces is due to demons. But I absolutely believe in the reality of the demonic and the reality of spiritual warfare, particularly in cultures so open to supernatural idolatry (as opposed to Western idolatry, which rejects the spirit world as superstition, yet is every bit as consumed with worship of self and material gain).

• “The darkness has not overcome it…” Despite the spiritual darkness found throughout the land, the faith of many followers of Jesus in India shines brightly! Rather than withering under the persecution they experienced, the churches in Kandhamal have flourished. While they often lack a building to meet in, they share the love of Jesus and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit with their neighbors, friends, and family members in their homes and through reaching out to serve those most in need. This is one of the reasons why the early Church thrived in the Roman Empire. Despite persecution, the message of the Gospel broke down barriers between the nobility and the slave. Today this same unity among Christians in India can be seen in the breaking down of barriers between the Brahman and the Untouchable. And like the early Christians in Rome, Indian Christians are bearing much fruit and having an impact that far outweighs their minority status.

• Indigenous is more effective when it comes to long-term ministry. Sending missionaries to a foreign culture is a good thing when the need is there. But empowering and supporting indigenous ministries should be the long term goal in carrying out the Great Commission. To the degree that Christianity is seen as “Western” (which is ironic since the Gospel is thoroughly Eastern!), it will be dismissed by many in non-Western cultures who see it as inseparable from Western imperialism aimed at eradicating their culture. Sadly, this has been the case in many places throughout Church history…but the blame lies with the messengers rather than the message. From the very beginning God has desired to reach all peoples, nations, languages and cultures and the Gospel is most beautiful when seen in its fullness and diversity of expression across cultures, languages, and ethnic boundaries. Our way of doing Church in America is not the standard by any means. The Church in India (and elsewhere around the world) has as much to share with us as we have to share with them. That’s what made this trip so special to me. I shared what I had with them and they shared what they had with me. Iron sharpened iron. The Body of Christ functioned as a body and all parts were blessed and strengthened.

I want to give a special thanks to Good Shepherd’s Missions Pastor, Ron Dozier (my friend and former colleague) and to my two teammates, Talbot Davis (GS’s Senior Pastor and my friend/former boss!) and Chris Thayer (GS’s Director of Discipleship and the man who does a fantastic job heading up the ministries I used to oversee!). No matter how great a mission team is, usually at the end of 2 weeks serving side-by-side you are ready to not be around them anymore–However, this was not the case at all on this trip! Talbot and Chris were a blessing to travel and serve with and while I very much wanted to be back home at times, it was never because I was tired of being around them!

I’m also thankful for our liason in India, PR Misra, and the heads of the ministries in Odisha (Bishop Hrudaya at Orissa Follow-Up and Sushant and Elias at Love Your Neighbor). They were the epitome of hospitality and warmth and I look forward to spending more time serving alongside them in the future.

Most of all, I’m thankful for the hundreds of Indian pastors we met and spent time with who serve faithfully in the face of persecution, poverty, illness and extremely difficult conditions throughout Odisha. These brothers and sisters have faith that I can only hope to emulate and they burn brightly for Jesus in a land of over 330 million gods. Because of their faithfulness and dedication, lives are being changed, untouchables are being touched, families are being loved, and communities are being transformed throughout India. How beautiful are their calloused, worn and battered feet!

One final thing I would ask is that you consider supporting Disciple Dojo financially, if you are able, so that I can continue writing, developing resources, and teaching the Bible. I would like to produce versions of my DVD studies that can be translated into the Oriya language and used by Pastors and church leaders in Odisha. However, I can only do so through the support of those who believe in this ministry and are blessed by it. If this is you then I would welcome your financial contribution of any amount. Checks can be made out to “Disciple Dojo, L3C” and sent to:

Disciple Dojo
13623 Christian Tyler Ct.
Charlotte, NC 28278

Even though Disciple Dojo is an L3C corporation, and thus contributions by individuals are not tax-deductible, the needs are still there. So I ask you to consider how you might help me meet them.

Thanks to everyone who supported me on this trip and I hope it is just the beginning of an ongoing and fruitful relationship between Disciple Dojo, Good Shepherd, and the ministries in Odisha.

Blessings from the Dojo,

JM