July 2006: The Three-Handed Gospel
'eTouch' is designed to keep in touch with you and to be a blessing to anyone who has ever served in Youth With A Mission - or who just kinda likes us. .
1. Matters that Matter - The Three-handed Gospel
2. Profound. . . & a bit more Pithy (than usual)
3. Feedback - It's Your Turn
4. Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match. . .
5. Donna's Corner - Being Led by the Spirit
6. inTouch Renewal Gatherings coming up
1. Matters that Matter - The Three-handed Gospel
We talk a lot about the two-handed gospel - the Good News offered in the one hand plus the Good Works extended in the other. So often over the centuries the one hand has been excluded in favor of the other.
In YWAM the crying need for both hands was thrust upon us forcefully in the late 70s when the Cambodian refugees started streaming across the Thai border as they scrambled and clawed their way to escape from The Killing Fields of the appallingly brutal Khmer Rouge. YWAM leaders like Joe & Judi Portale and then Steve & Marie Goode (who are still there 27 years later!) and 700 others, ministered medically and in many other practical and heroic ways in impossibly crowded camps to hundreds of thousands of desperate and homeless people; all in what was then a war zone. Many refugees came to the Lord, even planting churches in the camps, and then often exporting those churches to their new countries of adoption.
This was the two-handed gospel at work, and that refugee work spawned Mercy Ministries, still headed up by Steve & Marie, and now operating all over the world in countless wonderful ways. In almost every human there is a felt need to DO good (though some of those expressions may be misplaced).
Anyone can do this and there are many demonstrations of 'good works' evident in the world today, all the way from CARE (providing food, shelter and clothing in disaster situations), to Saving the Whales.
But I wonder if we as followers of Jesus fail to see that there is a third hand to the gospel. So often we present the good news and do the good things - with all the world watching - yet amongst ourselves we are bickering and squabbling and backbiting (kind of like the early Corinthian Christians). We can totally miss the point that all the good news and wonderful works
are powerless unless we 'be' the gospel as well.
As Eugene Peterson so eloquently and bluntly puts it, are we prepared "to do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor"? (James 3:18 The Message).
This of course IS the good news (loving God and loving each other) -only then will the world believe.
This is the three-handed Gospel: Good news + Good works + Good relationships.
This is the full gospel.
Peter
2. Profound & Pithy
Debt is the past .
"Every Christian a pastor in their street," and, "We need preachers who cansay in 20 minutes enough to feed us all week."... a couple of quotes from Reona Joly at the first Lausanne Staff & Student Reunion, July 2006
Here's something Profound, by Dr John White:
"My definition of Western materialism might appear to exclude Christians.
No Christian would agree (that is, if the matter were put to him or her as an abstract proposition) that matter is all that matters, for our faith negates the assertion. Yet if our behavior (as distinct from our verbal profession) is examined, many of us who call ourselves Christians begin to look more like materialists. We talk of heaven, but we strive for things. "Yet Christians are rarely happy as materialists. Heaven tugs at us too vigorously. We find ourselves apologizing for our new cars or larger houses.
This tug of war renders most Christians ill at ease and at times ineffective."
From "The Golden Cow"
Donna and I had the great honor of knowing John White, who recently took up residence in heaven; his widow Lorrie, who now serves in Israel, is our close friend.
3. Feedback
"We undoubtedly agree the Church's greatest need today is. . . Fathers and Mothers." Ike & Colleen Huber of Canada, who were the only ones to correctly send in a list of our YWAM Associates International Board members. They win a book.
Dan Sneed
Dwight Greiner
John & Sandra Devries
Mark & Jill Herringshaw
Mark Lee
Peter & Donna Jordan
Peter Iliyn
Tom Hallas
Vae & Julie Eli
. . . and added this year - Wes & Janice Reinheller.
(This month's challenge - winner wins a book - is for you to write a paragraph of no more than 500 words that starts like this: "Jesus. . ."
Most creative one wins, as judged by an unbiased panel of one - me; you will be published next time.) "I really just wanted to say MAHALO for keeping in touch and do keep on encouraging people to become fathers and mothers. . . I get so tired of high ambitions and striving, when ALL there is, is to be still and receive." Ciccie Malm, Sweden
"When 'inTouch' used to come in the mail, it would give me a sense of belonging, of not being forgotten. And I feel the same each time I get your eTouch. Thank you so much for your faithfulness." Anita Lopez, USA
4. Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match…
All kinds of websites, chat rooms and more, lay claim to being matchmakers in this techie world. But we have a better way!
The 'Dos and Don'ts' of SRs (Special Relationships) used to be a big deal in YWAM, with all sorts of conditions attached to any developing guy/girl friendship. The conditions were originally designed purely as a protection for any budding relationship, but sadly in some places it led to stifling control over the couples' lives. So the term 'SR' fell into disrepute.
However, SRs are still are a big deal - to God and to those who are involved. And it is Donna's and my great pleasure to announce another SR that has come out of our inTouch Renewal Gathering Camps (yes, we've had quite a few romances spring up over the past 15 years of camps - we've lost count of how many). After about 150 of them in various parts of the world, we've found that it's amazing what can happen when former YWAMers get together in the presence of God in a holiday atmosphere with lots of fun and relaxation and good old YWAM-type teaching.
Oh yes! The new SR. . . It actually developed quite quickly into an engagement; and now there's a wedding coming up in December. These two met for the first time at the Sydney, Australia Camp in early 2005 and then again this past January. Following Camp, a prolonged flurry of emailing, MSN-ing and Skype-ing led to a proposal, which (after duly being submitted to me) was approved - with great joy. Why me? And what choice did I have?
Well, because this is our daughter Laurie who has faithfully served with us in YWAM Associates for all 18 years of our existence. And who is this man, the object of her affections? Australian, Peter Worrall, a long-timer at our Sydney camps (since 1999) who went on to Crossroads in Kona in 2002). He has already joined us on staff in Canada, and believe it or not, he felt God's call to this ministry before he felt the call of love. Really!
Regrettably, we cannot guarantee this sort of thing happening at our Camps, and we're not setting ourselves up as matchmakers. We are also not Club Med!
But can you think of a better place to meet someone who loves the Lord and has a similar missions DNA?
So in December with all three daughters by then in cross-cultural marriages, the score will be. . .
Australia 2 - Samoa 1
5. Donna's Corner - Being Led by the Spirit
Peter has been asking me for my 'Corner' and when I woke up the other day, I sensed God say to me, "Ask them if they are being led by My Spirit?"
It is so easy for us to be led by our minds, which are often fed by the thoughts of others through written or verbal communication. We can be led by our emotions which can easily be influenced by our anxieties, burdens, disappointments and the fear of other people's opinions.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live within us and He will lead us into all truth if we just ask Him (John 14:15-18, 26-27; 16:12-15). We must wait on Him and not move ahead according to our own thinking. (Psalm 27:14; 130:5-6; Isaiah 30:18)
We must keep our spirits built up so we can be led by His Spirit (Romans 8:14-18). Those who are led by His Spirit are sons and daughters of God. We must live by the Spirit and be led by His Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26).
How do we keep our spirits built up? This is what I do:
1. Speak out my love to God and to others.
2. Watch what goes into my eyes and ears and guard the attitudes of my heart (Romans 8:5b). Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires - v6(b) - the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.
3. Have a heart of worship and gratefulness. I find myself having to stand against self pity when I'm tired; and I may even feel 'used.' Jesus said to me one day, you will not feel used if you are led by My Spirit. When I wake up, or when I'm in the car, I play worship CDs.
4. "Hang out" with people who love Jesus and want to reflect Him. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom (2Cor 3:17-18).
5. Read and meditate on the Word. Ask the Holy Spirit to make it become real to me. I love that!
That's what I do; what do you do?
With love & blessings,
Donna
6. inTouch Renewal Gatherings yet to come
Heard at a Renewal Gathering. . . "We're not in YWAM, but YWAM is in us.
" And these Gatherings are dangerous! Read this from Helen Applegate, the wife of Ben, the former Captain of the M/V Anastasis: "Remember at the NZ Camp in January when the Lord told us to get moving, guess what, we did! We said, 'Yes Lord, we will do it,' so without going into all the details, we are back in YWAM. Oh boy, who would go to an inTouch Camp where God speaks?" (Ben & Helen are approaching 80 - from both sides!)
August 19-26, France. For details go to http://intouchcamps.com or contact Roy Jones.
September 6-10, Batam, Indonesia (just spittin' distance and a short ferry ride from Singapore), with David Demian (Watchmen), and Peter & Donna Jordan; Contact Lin at singaporeintouch@yahoo.com.sg
January 14-20, Sydney, Australia with David Demian (Watchmen for the Nations) Contact: Peter West at westfolk@ozemail.com.au
January 20-27, Orama, Great Barrier Island, New Zealand - a Malachi 4:6 kind of Gathering with John Dawson and David Demian (more details soon).
We're still aiming for a prettier 'look' for eTouch (although we are encouraged by two comments about our present layout: "A prettier format would be nice but it's your words that always seem to WOW me!" Janet McGrath, Australia; and this classic: "Peter, it may just be my opinion; but, from my point of view, the format looks just fine as it is! [wink]." Dannie Hawley, a blind medical missionary serving in Africa.)
And finally. . . Please send us email addresses of your friends who would like to receive eTouch.
Did you ever think that YWAM is kind of like Wal-Mart? It's enormous; it's resented by some and misunderstood by others; but lots and lots of ordinary people just keep going there.
Till next time. . . Be blessed,
Peter Jordan
Feel free to use anything from 'eTouch,' in whole or in part, in any way that will glorify God and advance His Kingdom.
