mbjones

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i’m a twenty-something starting this journey called life. i’m getting married in february to my one true love and i have a voice in my head whispering “mission…”

Christianity in Crisis: Reviewed

One advantage of being a blogger is occasionally being sent books to read for free. It’s always nice to get the package in the mail and open it up and find some new tome to check out.

My latest experience with this is the book, “Christianity in Chrisis: 21st Century” by Hank Hanegraaff. I received it quite some time ago but due to busyness in life am just getting around to posting my review. Most of the book opportunities through this publisher don’t excite me too much but this one I did look forward to as it was an evangelical author taking on the rampant prosperity gospel.

Having seen the destruction that abusing the Gospel in such a way produces, I was really interested in this book. Ultimately though I can’t give it too glowing of a review as it was long and tedious, taking to repetition to hammer on points rather than eloquently giving any sort of final solution to the problem. Since being critical and highlighting abuse of God’s word (which Hanegraaff calls scriptorture) was all that seemed to be presented, I felt like the text should have been about a third of the length that it was.

In the end though the warning cries that he makes are good. And it’s nice to see the abuses of scripture that prosperity gospel folks make lined clearly out for anyone interested to see. The prosperity gospel is a threat to God’s kingdom (perhaps one of its biggest in the US) and we’d be wise to recognize this and say something about it. Three and a half out of five stars is the rating I’d give it. Through in a little more grace and perhaps wisdom on building bridges to those ensnared in its lies and I’d raise that rating up.

One more thing that I think is important to note (and I appreciated it being said with in the book): this isn’t a text against charismatics. It’s a text against specific heresies that run in many evangelical circles that extend beyond the charismatic world. I say this because I worried at first that this is what it would be and it is wasn’t.

ps. I’ll get back to blogging about Africa shortly…

Final Day = Crazy (yet again!)

Hello friends — the following letter comes from one of our team members for the South Africa trip (Dalton Pigman).  If you'd like to respond directly to him, I added his email to the cc field (it's daltonwpigman@gmail.com)

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Hello friends and family,
I have been having a great time here in South Africa. The time spent with the Norman and KC team was a really powerful experience. I am grateful for this opportunity that God has provided for me. I wanted to let you know about another opportunity that has recently come up. While working in the townships here in South Africa, I found my self working along side a man named Raymond. Raymond is a black South African here on leadership at All Nations. Raymond was originally planning an outreach to Mozambique with an All Nations team set to depart the 15th of June. Unfortunately for Raymond most of his team was not able to join because of various reasons. The state of the outreach was looking pretty gloomy. 

Just before I met Raymond for the first time another guy from All Nations named Gawie(Pronounced Havi) told me about the Mozambique trip and that Raymond had been scrambling to find the "missing pieces" of his team. Gawie told me that he was almost certain that Raymond would love to have me. It just so happens that the same day that I was to meet Raymond, and talk to him about the trip, he was going to talk to Floyd McClung (The big boss man of All Nations) about canceling the trip. Thankfully I got to Raymond first. When I told him that I was interested, he lit up like a light bulb. He immediately started planning right where he left off. He pulled out a fully packed bag from under his bed and told me "that's all he needed to hear." So now it was only Floyd McClung that we had to face. 

After explaining the situation to Floyd we all had a time of prayer and worship. As if reading my heart, Floyd put his hands on me and spoke in tongues. Soon after he took me in the hall and gave me his blessing for the outreach with one requirement, that I get the blessing of Mike and Kayln Arndt (My hosts and friends). After receiving theirs as well, the time has come to ask for your blessing and support. I will be honest, we already have a ticket. We found a good deal and just snatched it up. We are trusting God for the rest of the support. 

The trip will be 26 days long and will consist of training, supporting, and working along side black African Christian leaders in Mozambique. We will leave the 15th of June. Our vision is to equip Africans to lead Africans. We want to create something sustainable and not reliant on western thinking or westerners. I am asking God for 6000 rand which comes out to about 750 US Dollars. This money will go towards a two way plane ticket, bus ticket, lodging, food, visas, one yellow fever vaccination, and work projects. So if you would like to make a donation you can do so through All Nations. Here is all the information you will need: 

All Nations Capetown
Standard Bank Fish Hoek Branch
Acc No:072110619
Branch Code:03600980
Swift Code: (Put My Name) Dalton Pigman
Email: allnationssa@gmail.com

Thanks and Blessings,
                          Dalton Pigman

ps. you are welcome and encouraged to forward this to anyone else who might know me and be interested in supporting me as I have a limited contact list. 

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Break, pt ii

A major fact of our present civilization is that more and more sin becomes collective, and the individual is forced to participate in collective sin. Everyone bears the consequences of the faults of others.

Jacques Ellul

As I wrote in my previous note, the major issue I’m processing in regards to the recent mission trip my wife and I lead is how to understand and approach spiritual oppression. One aspect of spiritual oppression that I’m beginning to think about more intently is the collective nature of much of sin. By collective, I mean that the sin has moved beyond just the individual and finds itself rooted in the community (either in praxis or consequence). It becomes more than just a singular and willful participation of an individual and instead involves many (including many who might find themselves without a choice in the matter).

When I read the above quote from Jacques Ellul, I found myself thinking particularly of the many children we saw running around every day bound by the trappings of ancestor worship (and sometimes things potentially far worse). In the case of ancestor worship, parents (and sometimes grandparents) tie colored ropes around the belly to ward off bad spirits and somehow invite the protection of their ancestors. I wouldn’t necessarily expect anything less from people who don’t know Jesus or anything about the kingdom of God but what tugs and nags at my heart is that many who call out the name “Jesus!” do participate in the same schemes. Sometimes its willful participation — a “better safe than sorry” approach — and sometimes its not — as when a grandparent forces the old ways upon a child. In either case parents are participating in collective sin — idolatry — and dragging those they love into the middle of it.

I stumbled across the Ellul quote in a book I’m currently reading. Immediately before it was another similar and thought provoking quote:

Individualistic theology has not trained the spiritual intelligence of Christian men and women to recognize and observe spiritual entities beyond the individual.

Walter Rauschenbusch

This cuts to the core of how I currently feel. So much of the spiritual oppression we encountered was wrapped up in spiritual entities and dimensions beyond the singular individual. Last year on the trip (and even the first few days of this trip), I felt blinded to this reality — we saw the sinfulness of the individual but nothing beyond that.

When all you see is the sin inherent in the individual, that is all you can speak to. Any sort of broader prophetic stance against societal, cultural, or other collective sin is automatically neutered. Something broke in us though, I’d say a week into the trip, and our eyes were opened to this and we grasped for some sort of foothole to stand in prophetically against this collective sin.

A lot of what I’m processing is wrapped up in the idea of prophetic standing. For one, I want to live out of a place where my eyes are opened wherever I’m at to collective sin (and its oppressive force). I think growing up in a culture blinds you automatically to a lot of the oppression all around you. For two, I want to live out of a place where I’m actively taking a prophetic stance, whatever that needs to look like (from being will to call a spade a spade to actively calling down the fire of God to consume His alter and enemies to whatever). This isn’t something that necessarily natural to walk in here or a place like Africa. For three…well I’m still working on this. It’s a dynamic something that I imagine I’ll be walking in for sometime (maybe for keeps?)

More to come soon as I process further…

ps. As always — comments, thoughts, stories, etc always welcomed.

Break

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Yesterday I was driving home from a friend’s house, reflecting on the recent mission trip I participated in. The song that came on my stereo brought tears to my eyes as I listened and reflected.

Its words are quite simple:

Where have all the wicked gone? Is there no one left to break you down? Where have all the holy gone? Is there no one to condemn you?

Where have all the wicked gone? Is there no one to condemn you? Where have all the holy gone? Is there no one left to break you down?

Break by Son Lux

One of the big differences between the trip this year and the one last year for me involved experiencing the weight of spiritual oppression. This weight was tangible in a way that it has never been to me before. Our group saw the work of the enemy at many turns; we felt evil’s presence daily going into the township, many times in ways that we haven’t necessarily before.

I think of the boy that my wife’s group encountered — bow-legged and wanting nothing to do with them. Even at an (approximate) age of 5, he writhed and screamed and thrashed at the mention of prayer to Jesus as someone possessed would. I think of a young Masi woman, having just encountered Jesus the day before, weeping and crying out to God: “Jesus is Lord! Jesus is Lord! We need you Jesus! The people of Masi need you!” I think of all of the people we met that drink alcohol to excess because their ancestors come to them and dreams and tell them they have to, of Sydney crying out on the street to Jesus to take his addiction away, of the young man we met on a Sunday morning that just couldn’t put his glass of liquor down to follow Jesus in what He was doing in Masi. I think of the countless numbers that have a picture hanging in their shacks of a man, claiming power greater than Jesus, who tells people that when they pray to his idol, he will heal them.

The strongholds of the enemy in this culture are deep. Ancestor worship — the old ways — are a primary in roads for the work of evil here. The above stories can be traced or linked directly to it. People believe that their ancestors must be feared and worshiped as they come to them in dreams at night and whatever these ancestors say, the people believe they must do. And never is it healthy. These evil spirits most often come desiring people to sell themselves to the bottle, to various drugs, to violence, to unrestrained sex — pretty much anything that breaks them. And people tie themselves to these old ways with bonds that run deep. Even children of believers wear the “protective” knots symbolizing worship of ones ancestors.

And more often than not the “church” in these communities is part of the problem and not anything near the solution. Syncretic bonds have long since transformed what might have once been houses of Jesus into heterodox communities driven by fear of ancestors rather than fear of God above. Perhaps worse yet, some are tied so deeply to the world that likely have no real clue what Jesus incarnated in His time on earth. One long-termer told us how in the township he worked in, a lot of pastors had recently been busted for laundering money through their churches for local thugs.

Then there are false prophets that don’t even make an attempt at being Christian. The man whose picture hangs in many homes — he openly claims power greater than that of Jesus. He just charges people all that they have to access it and even more heartbreaking — steers theme directly away from a real and lasting Hope that many are finding. The day I noticed the oppressive presence of this man in the township was the day all of this started weighing particularly heavy upon my heart. His photo hung in every home we entered that day. The last home we entered was occupied by a young woman who had a week old son and a 6 year old son. The 6 year old was extremely sick with parasites; he’d been throwing up for days and was in pain and there was seemingly no end to his torment in sight. We prayed though. As we prayed, I felt God crying out to be known in Masi and with a blinding realization — I could no longer stomach the picture of the false prophet hanging around the boys neck. We asked the mother why and she told us that it was supposed to ward off sickness, that if one prayed to it and the picture on it, help would come. We proclaimed Jesus to her. She said she knew but the boys grandfather did not believe that and made him wear the idol so she couldn’t remove it. The spirit within me cried out, seeing more clearly than ever the bonds people tied themselves in.

Starting shortly after these events, I started to get sick. The following evening I had a pretty bad fever but it was weird — unlike anything I’d experienced before. My body was sick but I didn’t feel at all sick. I sat through a movie and enjoyed it. I hung out with our team and had a good time. It was odd to me. I asked Juli to pray (a praying wife is a wonderful thing!) and she obliged. She prayed a typical prayer, crying out to Jesus as healer. When she got done I still had a fever and honestly — my body wasn’t any better. Several minutes later I asked her to pray again, but this time to pray specifically for two things: Pray the Lord’s victory against the spiritual oppression happening in Masi (all that I wrote above and more) and that the Lord would protect our team from it as we directly went into battle against the enemy. It was the craziest thing — her hand got burning hot and it was almost immediately that my fever lifted and my body started feeling better.

The next day I brought this up in our group devotional and praise time. We took it to the Lord. There were several Masi residents with us for the devotional as well. It was during this time that the woman I mentioned earlier prayed and weeped and cried aloud, “Jesus is Lord! Jesus is Lord! We need You Jesus! The people of Masi need You!” Hers was a long prayer and I don’t know what she prayed other than that as she prayed in her heart tongue (as did the other ladies). When we had finished, one of our translators commented to me how much he appreciated the prayer time because spiritual oppression is such a deep and rooted issue in Masi.

Having said all of that, I go back to the song above that brought a tear or two to my eyes — Where have all the wicked gone? Is there no one to condemn you? Where have all the holy gone? Is there no one left to break you down? Jesus cuts through all of these chains that bind us. He is more powerful than any false prophet, than any evil spirit or demon, or any church gone astray. When the wicked stand to condemn, when the “holy” stand to break us down — they disappear in the light of Jesus and we are left standing before Him. He simply asks, “Where did they go? Is there anyone to condemn you?” As we stand before Him puzzled, He adds, “I don’t condemn you either. Go from here. Follow me instead of them. My kingdom is at hand.”

Obviously this is something I’m still working out. It’s one thing to know about spiritual oppression in your head; it’s another thing entirely to confront it face to face. If you’ve read this far, feel free to leave your comments, be they about the above stories or how you’ve looked such things in the eye.

Final Day = Crazy (yet again!)

Well — today was another crazy day!  Unfortunately I don't have long to type (about 7 minutes!) but I'll make it quick!
 
This morning at 8 we got a SMS from Mike and Kalyn saying "6 baby whales beached at kommetkie!  They need help!  If you hae swimsuits, come!).  We within five minutes loaded the VW microbus (which comfortably seats 10) with 21 of us and headed to the beach.  They were actually wrong about the number…there were 55!  And they were full grown.  Most of us immediately jumped in the water and started helping trying to drag the pilot whales back into the water.
 
Juli (being the magnificent reporter she is) found the head of the Environmental department for this part of South Africa and got the scoop.  They were full grown. They were waiting on the alpha male to lead the rest out. Some of them weren't strong enough to even get past the breakers.
 
We did what we could and spent a couple hours helping get most of them at least in the water.  As we left all of our team was so excited for the experience.  a) most of us got to touch whales (i helped carry three out to the water, for example) and b) we felt like we were seeing God's redemptive power work in His creation in a way that we hadn't before.  If people like us weren't there to help, they would have died on the beach.  While they are whales and not humans, there is something about stewardship (particularly creation care) that begs us help in this small way. 
 
This afternoon we are tying up loose ends and getting all of the hungry (for Jesus) people that we've met together and introduced in some way to long termers.  Tomorrow we will be saying goodbyes, debriefing, and heading back to the states. 
 
Pray for favor and safety as we finish up and as we travel tomorrow and Monday.
 
Look for pictures too when we get back!
 
Brandon

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Two Days Left!

We have two days left for ministry in the townships! It’s hard to believe!
 
Our time here really has been good! Please pray that we finish strong!
 
Yesterday we had a half day in Masi and a half day off. For the Masi
part, we broke from the normal routine and instead (in our small
groups) treasure hunted. There were many cool stories from this and
I’ll go ahead and recount the two from my group.
 
* Our clues were “pink house” and “shoulder”. Outside of a pink house
we saw a girl in a sling. We asked her if she was having shoulder
problems (she was) and then told her what we were doing. We prayed
for her and she immediately began weeping because she couldn’t believe
that the Lord wanted to touch her in such a way (she was healed —
before we prayed she had no movement and after she could move her arm
once again). She immediately showed us where she lived and asked us
to come back. We invited her to our praise and worship this morning
and she came and is hungry to know more about Jesus.
 
* We were walking and saw another pink house. We knocked on the door
and a guy came out of the next house surprised to see us (he wasn’t
expecting to run into anyone). We asked him if anyone was home in the
pink house (no one actually lived there, he told us) so we told him
what we were up to. He immediately wanted prayer for three things,
two in particular were meaningful: to know Jesus and to have some
assurance of salvation. We explained grace to him, prayed for him and
he is excited about being introduced to long termers to learn more.
 
There were several other cases of healings and curses broken and
people hungry to know Jesus — quite a morning I’d say!
 
For the afternoon we headed to Cape Town (the waterfront area) and
started at a big, nice mall and had a leisurely afternoon doing
different things. Some of the group shopped, some explored the city,
some found quaint coffee shops to relax in. We then had dinner
together and called it a night. All in all — it was a very good
day.
 
As I’ve said before — keep praying! We appreciate it!
 
Looking forward to sharing more with any of you that are interested
when we get back to the states!
 
Brandon

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Going Forward…..

Yesterday was awesome!

In our normal morning devotional time, we (as a whole team — all 30+ of us) felt like Jesus wanted to do something different with our time in Masi.  We ended up praying and worshiping about twice as long and then as a whole group, took it to the streets (and by it I mean Jesus!).  We grabbed the two guitars, left the building and started singing and worshiping as we headed to two specific houses — one lived in by a man named Mfunkedo and another a woman named Angela.  We all felt like the Lord wanted us to press in for healing (Mfunkedo has bad leg problems — he's an amputee — and Angela is an AIDs victim who was likely on her death bed the first day we met her — but not right now!). 

It was such an intense day.  As we walked to Mfunkedo's, people from Masi heard the praises and came out of their houses to join us.  We had quite a troupe by the time we got there.  We then met Mfunkedo and told him what we were up to.  The first thing he told us was that he wanted to know Jesus and asked us right then and then to pray with him about that (which we were excited to do!). We had met him on Sunday and had told him the Gospel then — he wanted to think about it but was ready yesterday!  He prayed and worshipped with us and we spent time praying for his legs.  Nothing incredibly crazy happened there but it did bring the presence of God to that corner of Masi (it's now called the corner of Good Hope by the residents).  People were constantly coming up and pulling team members aside and asking to know more about Jesus, to pray about connecting their hearts to Jesus and to pray for healing.  Several people came from streets away because they heard the shouts of praise to God. 

After several hours (no joke!) we headed to Angela's house and did more the same.  She has improved greatly since we came and is excited to hear about and know Jesus.  While the AIDs might not be gone yet, she is getting stronger by the day (really!  The improvement is amazing!).

As I started with, yesterday was awesome!   But it was also intense (as you can imagine).

As far as prayer points for the remaining days:

* We are all tired.  It's a fact of life that when you run hard you get tired.  Pray that the Lord will continue to be our strength as He's already been.
* Also pray against spiritual oppression in Masi (and South Africa!).  It was even more noticeable today than other days to me.  Every child I saw had the ancestor worship strings tied around their stomachs.  They are supposed to ward off evil spirits by the power of the ancestors but in reality it just brings spiritual bondage to dark forces.  Also, their is a "prophet" who claims that when people pray to his picture he heals (and not by the name of Jesus).  His picture was in almost every home I went into today and one very sick boy had his picture tied around his neck.  It's heartbreaking to see people turning not towards the truth (Jesus!) but to darkness.

Much love from South Africa land –

Brandon

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A Week Gone By…

Limited time, yet again! 

On Saturday we had a great time resting.  We went to Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, the bay with the penguins (where we saw a seal attack and devour a penguin).  Actually when I think about it — there wasn't much resting!

On Sunday we headed into Masi again and had many good encounters.  Speaking from my own team of 3, we met one older woman wanting to start a house church in her home and another man who accepted Jesus into his life for the first time ever.  We also held a baptism ceremony, Africa style, that afternoon.  Look for video as soon as we get back to the states!

Today we went out again and saw the Lord move in many different ways.  It was harder today, but good.  We saw one woman healed of shoulder and ear problems.  She was so excited that she turned around and prayed for her sister who had recently suffered a stroke.  We met many more interested in hearing about Jesus and seriously weighing the call…

Please continue to pray for our team.  Some of our team mates are experiencing sickness (flu and stomach problems are the most common); it's not discouraging us though!  God is still moving in amazing way!

In Christ –

Brandon

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South Africa Nights

Another couple of days have passed and we are developing a rhythm of life while we are here. 
 
We get up daily, have breakfast and individual quiet times and then go into Masi as a team (both Norman and Kansas City folks).  There we have a group prayer/praise/devotional time that generally last from 10ish to 11ish (we are on Africa time after all).  Then we go out into the wetlands, where the poorest of the poor live, to share the Gospel and pray with people.
 
We've already in just a couple of days seen God do many amazing things.  On my group's first day out, we prayed for an older lady with severe stomach and leg problems and she was healed.  Today, a man's leg was healed (he hadn't been able to walk normally in a long time and now can dance and run without the use of a cane!).  And we have more stories of how the Gospel is changing people's lives in real ways.  Where once there was no hope, now they know hope. 
 
Keep praying for us!  We need and covet your prayers!
 
Tomorrow is a day of rest so pray that God would restore our weary bodies and unite us as a team!
And pray that Jesus' kingdom would be made known in this place!
 
Grace and peace to all of you!
 
Brandon

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South Africa Adventures

We arrived safely and without any problems! Thank you so much for your prayers!  There weren't any troubles like last year — everyone is in the country and safe!  

We had our first meeting in Masi today and it was great!  We toured townships and then went into Masi for a few hours of prayer and praise by the wetlands.  It was an awesome time and had many local Masi-ians come and join us.  

I can't write much more now due to time constraints but know that we covet your prayers.  People are still jetlagging and are tired but are excited to see what the Lord is doing.  
When we have more time to write, we'll update again!
Much love from Cape Town, South Africa!
Brandon+Juli

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