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Perspectives Exposure: Reading #2 of 5

by | Sep 16, 2007 | Bible, Books, Church, Missions |

Book_perspectives_exposurePerspectives_exposure_logo_3
I’m continuing to touch base on the readings each of the 5 weeks of our Perspectives Exposure series.

There were 2 articles in Chapter 2 – "Historical Exposure – God’s Story in History."  I LOVED reading these articles.

Here’s a handful of thoughts from the articles.

1. "The Kingdom Strikes Back: The Ten Epochs in Redemptive History"

  • Missionary_ralph_winter
    Hmmm…Moment #1     — Ralph Winter got my mind spinning as he divided redemptive history into 400-year "chunks" starting with Abraham:

    • Old Testament — (1) The Patriarchs.  (2) The Captivity.  (3) The Judges.  (4) The Kings.  (5) The Second Captivity & Diaspora.
    • New Testament — (6) The Romans.  (7) The Barbarians.  (8) The Vikings.  (9) The Saracens.  (10) The Ends of the Earth.
  • Aha! Moment #1 — "In effect…Jesus did not come to give the Great Commission, but to take it away [from Israel who had failed to live our their missionary purpose, & give it to the Church]."
  • Favorite quote — "Once more, when Christians did not reach out to them, pagan peoples came where they were [via invasion].  And once more, the phenomenal power of Christianity manifested itself: the conquerors become conquered by the faith of their captives."

2.  "Pioneers of the Movement"

  • Missionary_cameron_townsend_2
    Ugh! Moment #1     — "In 1792 the British…had been in India for more than 150 years.  In all that time, not one verse of Scripture had been translated into any native language."
  • Ugh! Moment #2 — "A [Guatemalan] Indian who could not read the Spanish testaments demanded to know [from Cameron Townsend] , ‘Why, if your God is so smart, hasn’t He learned our language?’ "
  • Ugh! Moment #3 — "[Donald McGavran] had long realized that much of the work that was being carried out by missionaries was accomplishing very little toward the goal of world evangelism."
  • Missionary_donald_mcgavran_2
    Hmmm…Moment #2     — "McGavran…asserted that the western style of individual decisions was unacceptable to the eastern mind…it is essential that…churches & missions strive to see life from the point of view of a people to whom individual action is treachery…only a rebel would strike out alone, without consultation and without companions."

Post your thoughts/ideas/questions from the readings here.  And keep listening for God’s "still, small voice!"