Month: June 2014

BOOK REVIEW

/ Ari Rocklin

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Tactics
Author: Gregory Koukl
Zondervan, 2009

Tactics by Gregory Koukl is an easy-to-read book for everyone who wants to become better at talking about their faith with non-Christians.

The book has two main parts. In the first section the author introduces a way of speaking to people that forces those who attack the Christian faith to explain what they believe. This is done mainly by asking good questions that leads the conversation in a certain direction. “The key is to go on the offensive in an inoffensive way by using carefully selected questions to productively advance the conversation. Simply put, never make a statement, at least at first, when a question will do the job,” writes Koukl. The Tactics author has long-term experience in Christian apologetics and he is the leader of the organization named Stand to Reason.

In part two of the book Koukl explains how Christians can find weaknesses in the arguments against The Christian faith. His starting point is clear. Everyone is created by God and lives in God’s creation. Those who do not believe in God will have to create explanations of reality that rules God out. This is often their week point.

Every person who rejects the truth of “the God who is there is caught between the way he says the world is and the way the world actually is,” states Koukl. He has found that most non-Christians are not able to explain what they believe when they are asked.

You may be surprised to know that most critics are not prepared to defend their faith. Many people have never thought through their views and don’t know why they hold them, writes Koukl.

We recommend Tactics for all Christians. It will help the readers to fulfill the calling the followers of Jesus have got in 1 Pet 3:15: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” It also helps the reader to see that the Christian faith is a logical faith.

Tactics is written in a way that engages the reader and it is full of practical, real-life examples. One of them is from the University of California in San Diego. Koukl had heard that the general attitude on campus was that Christians were stupid. He opened his talk to the students in this way:

– “I understand that many of you think that Christians are stupid. Well, many of them are. But many non Christians are stupid, too, so I don’t know how that helps you. What I want to do this evening is show you that Christianity is not stupid.”

Has God stopped moving?

/ Steinar Opheim

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A 25-year anniversary coming up next month will either put God or the global church to shame.

Expectations where high as the 4.300 leaders at the Lausanne congress in Manila in 1989 were finalizing the Manila manifesto. For the first time the great challenge of the unreached people groups had been highlighted in front of leaders from the whole world-wide church. The participants from 173 nations were eager to take the Gospel further and make Jesus salvation known among the thousands of unreached people groups that were known. Leading voices believed that the job could be finished by the end of the millennium.

Now, 25 years later, the task of reaching the unreached in many ways looks just as unfinished as it did for the participants in Manila.

According to Joshua Project close to 7,000 of the world’s 16,600 people groups must still be labeled as unreached. The total number of people in these groups is close to three billion. More than 4,600 people groups are still below the radar of the worldwide church and no one is planning to reach them with the Gospel.

Shame

“We are deeply ashamed that nearly two millennia have passed since the death and resurrection of Jesus, and still two-thirds of the world’s population have not yet acknowledged him,” confessed the participants at the Manila congress.

Who is to blame for the fact that next to nothing has changed in the quarter of a century that has passed by since then? Has God stopped being on the move or does he no longer have a desire to see all people saved? Or is it Jesus followers who have misunderstood the task their Lord gave them or maybe they are just unwilling to fulfill it.

In an article posted on Joshuaproject.net, Kent Parks in Act Beyond points out some reasons why the church has failed to fulfill the Great Commission. Lack of interest is one key factor.

– The emphasis on unreached people groups seems to have resulted in “boredom”among some church leaders – and they seem to want to find the next idea. One Asian mission leader shared that just about the time the Western Christians have succeeded in raising awareness for the unreached people groups s around the world, some seem to have developed “attention deficit disorder” and want to move on to something new, writes Parks.

Lack of friends

Joshua Project estimates that for every dollar of Christian resources less than one penny is directed at reaching unreached peoples. The American-based resource center also refers to a survey done a few years ago showing the likeliness of Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims being reached with the Gospel. According to the survey 86 out of 100 Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus worldwide do not know a single Christian.

John 1:14 states: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (The Message). If God is to continue to be on the move, Christ’s followers may need to be willing to move too.

The summer months often give time for reflection. Could you consider applying for a job, start a business or study in a place where you can reach one of the people groups that has yet to hear the Gospel?

New Resource Website for Tentmakers

/ Steinar Opheim

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The Norway-based resource center for tentmaking named Tent has recently launched its international website at tentinternational.org.

This is an important step in serving the worldwide tentmaking movement in a better way, comments Tent’s managing director Steinar Opheim.

Tent (the word “tent” in Norwegian means “on fire”) was founded in 2000 focusing on recruiting and training Norwegian students, business people and professionals for work overseas.  Over the years the work has become more and more international. The GO Equipped tentmaking course that Global Opportunities and Tent have developed together, is now run annually in several nations. People from Tent have also invested much time and work in serving the fast-growing African tentmaking movement operating under the leadership of Tiowa Diarra who is based in Bamako, Mali.

Tent’s international website will provide resources for current tentmakers and tentmakers to-be. There is also a news section that will give the readers updated info on what is going on in the worldwide tentmaking movement.

– The tentmaking training we provide can be applied everywhere. We will still aim at keeping a focus on the unreached people groups in our communication. It is amazing to experience how Christian professionals and business people are welcome everywhere, even to nations where the religious freedom is very limited. 

Thus we believe that tentmakers is a key group God will use in reaching the whole world with the Gospel, says Opheim.