Where is Tim?

I will be away from home and the office from February 23 to March 13.  Ouch! 

If you need to contact me, the best way is to send me an e-mail. 

It is actually possible to phone me, but it costs me a lot to get your call.  You also need to adjust for the time difference.

 

If my phone is off, I will be checking my voice mail messages at the office.  You can leave me a message at +1(925)935-7640 and I should get it within a day or two. 

 

Here is where I will be.

 

Guatemala

February 24: In Guatemala visiting friends.  Ricardo and Elisa Hernández (Guatemalan serving in Senegal), Ciria Yela (fomerly PMI-USA, now living in San Cristobal, Alta Verapaz), Gerber López (Director of Agencia Misionera América Latina and sender of missionaries), David and Dora Amalia Ruiz (President of COMIBAM), Jorge Mario Ramirez (Administrator of the Church of God Center (IDEC) ).  Sleep at the home of Pedro Samuc from Santiago, Atitlán who promotes the use of the Scriptures in Mayan languages.

 

Costa Rica

February 25:  Fly to Costa Rica in the morning for a week with a short-term mission team from Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church who will be working at Roblealto Bible Home (for children), founded by the Strachans (founders of our mission, LAM) 75 years ago

February 26:  Preach at Iglesia Bíblica Nazareth in San José in the morning, Lunch with Cliff and Linda Holland, and preach at Iglesia Bautisa El Bosque in Zapote in the evening.

February 27 & 28:  Work with the Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church team at the Children's Home

March 1:  Visit ESEPA and possibly teach a Perspectives Course.  Visit friends Pablo Mauger, Olman Montero

March 2:  Spend the Day at Roblealto.  Carlos & Yamileth Abarca (Latin America Coordinator for PMI) and Stan Jeter (CBN News/Mundo Cristiano www.MundoCristiano.tv) should be joining us for lunch.

March 3:  Visit San José with WCPC team.

March 4:  Debriefing and departure for Guatamala 

 

Guatemala

March 4:  I spend the night at Hugo and Rhoda Morales' home. 

March 5:  Travel to Granada, Spain via LAX and London.

 

Los Angeles

March 5:  Spend the day with Carlos España between flights.

 

London

March 6:  Arrive 12 noon at Heathrow and leave 16:15 from Stansted.  Arrive Granada around 8pm

 

Granada, Spain

March 7-9  Executive leadership team of PM Internacional, led by Allan Matamoros. 

March 10  Meetings with PMI friends and colleagues for discussing a variety of shared tasks.

March 11  Travel to London

 

London

March 11-12  Weekend with my friend Bertil Ekstrom, (World Evangelical Fellowship--WEA--Missions Commission and former President of COMIBAM), who is working on his doctorate at All Nations Christian College.

 

HOME!!!!!

March 13 Fly home from London to San Francisco.  Finally!

 

 

 

Pipes or Piper? Jesus and the response to Muslim outrage

I love this article by John Piper. His comments about Jesus can point us to the way ahead in a world that is in grave danger of dramatically increased violence and of a great reduction in human hope about the future.

Whenever more news comes out about a new and more violent reaction by some Muslims against the West, I worry some will use the news to justify a violent response of our own. We say, "they are closed. They leave no room for dialogue. They hate us. It's either kill or be killed," etc.

When we look inside Western values for something to help us face the Islamic challenge and assure a better future than constant war, we get stuck. The geopolitical option soon looks like the only way out of the mess we are in. But the geopolitical option has serious trade offs (war, loss of freedoms, the risk of increasing alienation between the West and Islam, etc.).

Attempting to preserve the Western value of toleration, some suggest dialogue will help. A first reading of Daniel Pipes' most recent article "How the cartoon protests harm Muslims" seems, at first, to recommend this option.

He begins by outlining how Muslims and the West are increasingly "disengaging" in many of the areas important to maintaining geopolitical relations: commerce, investments, intergovernmental relations, tourism, immigration, foreign aid, education, etc.

There is a serious "wall of separation" separating Muslims from Christians. While I don't always agree with Daniel Pipes , I agree with his premise that the path the world is taking will lead to greater disengagement. The Islamic world will increasingly disengage (with some hostility) from the West and the West will disengage (also with hostility) from the Islamic World.

He would probably agree that disengagement between Islam and the West can be harmful for the future of humankind.

Nonetheless, we have to ask ourselves some questions:

• What good will dialogue do?
• Why should we expect that exposing more Muslims to Western ways will cause those Muslims to appreciate Western ways. This is a big leap especially when intellectual foundations radical Islam were laid by Muslim clerics and others who have lived in the West and been exposed to "the best the West has to offer." Why would we expect the same sort of contact to produce different results in the future?
• Do we really think that increased contact between Westerners and Muslims will change Westerners and make them more open to Islam?

I question whether Pipes is offering dialogue at all when he writes: "For everyone's sake, it is important that Muslims begin more successfully to negotiate their path to modernity, not to isolation." This is not dialogue. It is a one-way conversation. In this conversation, the West offers the solution and Muslims are "free to take it or leave it".

Would it ever be possible to get all the parties to agree to rules of dialogue like those offered by Daniel Dennett (clearly from a western perspective)? What reasons would any of them have to do it his way?

If you think about it, it is next to impossible for the secular West to offer true dialogue. It isn't open to changing itself. The West would just not be the West any longer, if it bowed to Islamic demands.

In spite of the failures of dialogue, I do think Christians should actively and intentionally break down the barriers keeping Muslims and Christians from knowing each other. Why? Do I think it will work? Won't increased violence between Muslims and Christians be taken as proof that breaking down barriers didn't work? Will this, like all the failures in the relationship of Islam and the West over the last 1300 years, be just another reason to lead the West to defend its interests by using political, economic and military power?

Christians should seek out Muslims and accept their friendship. I believe God Himself wants to take an active part in such friendships. He is actively making himself known when people meet and get to know each other. He is actively at work when people follow in the steps of Jesus.

Piper's article tells us why Jesus changes the rules of the game. There is danger in John Piper's article, though. Christians can use John Piper's arguement to say "Jesus is better than Mohammed, so you should be a Christian." It does not follow that Christians are thus better than Muslims. Muslim resistance to Christian arrogance is not persecution. Under the circumstances, Christians should be careful not to blame Muslim for "resisting" the gospel. The true problem is not resistance, but lack of contact. The vast majority of Muslims have never met a Christian. It would require time, intentionality and effort for them to meet and understand the rare Christian who is willing to bear insults for their sake like their Master did.

If Christians read Piper's article and choose to live as Jesus did, leaving their comfort and privilege to go and to live out their discipleship in Muslim communities, God will make Himself known to all of us. Both Christians and Muslims will get to know Him better. This should motivate Christians. We will know God better only when we are willing to follow Him and bear insults in Jesus' name, even to the point of wasting our lives through the kind death that can follow the insults.

"End of the Spear" and the struggle between Islam and the West

I went to see The End of the Spear today. Wow!

Go to the site and click on Behind the Spear and read it.

You dare not miss the first lines of the narration of the movie. It poses the question, can mankind, from different cultures, ever hope to get along? Can we live together without killing each other? The true story of the movie, though painfully violent, left me hopeful.

I am less hopeful about the current violent reaction to the cartoons that were published in Denmark insulting Islam and the Prophet. I don't think freedom of speech should give license to people so that they can insult and blaspheme.

On the other hand, the reaction that the media says is going on in the Muslim World is incredible. For those who have no hope in Jesus, and whose hope is that the West will prevail, this reaction should be frightening. Just look at the pictures in the link above. This could well be used to justify more war against Muslims. People in the West would be justified to think that their way of life is threatened by these attitudes.

The confusion among Western leaders about how to react to this is incredible. Religion just seems to throw us all into a tizzy. We don't understand it.

I read an article by Daniel Pipes in which he thinks outloud about what this means. Is this the clash of civilizations that Huntington was talking about?

Perhaps this will serve to remind us that the Kingdom of God is represented neither by the imposition of Western ways nor by the victory of Radical Islam.

The statement in the Pipes' last paragraph

It is a tragic mistake to lump all Muslims with the forces of darkness. Moderate, enlightened, free-thinking Muslims do exist. Hounded in their own circles, they look to the West for succor and upport. And, however weak they may presently be, they eventually will have a crucial role in modernizing the Muslim world.

contains a sub-text implying that "modernizing" the Muslim world is the path to peace. If we all just shared the same presuppositions of the Modern world, then all would be well and mankind could live at peace.

There is debate about whether moderate Islam is even possible or acceptable in Islam. I do not know. I am not a Muslim scholar. I do suspect, though, that modernization is not the hope of humanity.

At best, modernization is just one step along the path of humanity's violent history. Though it is a step that has been pretty comfortable to me, it may actually lead to the death of humanity (read CS Lewis, especially the science fiction).

Fortunately we know the end of the story. Anything that leads to death will be destroyed and replaced with the New Jerusalem (Rev 20,21).

This is what we are working and praying for. Keep praying.

Did you ever think how important it is to have a boss?

I have been working with my Latin American friends to organize PMI's ministry in the USA for about 4 years now. Just like in the American Express commercial about startups, starting a US version of a ministry created and led by Latin Americans can be a lonely business.

In spite of living 20 years in Latin America and having adopted many Latin American ways, I am still a gringo and I live in the midst of Gringos (echo Isa 6). I get to "visit" Latin America and sometimes experience it right here in the USA among my new immigrant friends.

Setting up an organization and a ministry that is relevant to Anglos, Hispanics, Brazilians as well Muslims, to immigrants in the USA, to residents and to people who have never been here, is a huge challenge. To set up an organization that honors them and honors God, one that is based on obedience to God and challenges other people to hear God's voice and obey Him, this is an additional challenge!

There is a group of people who stand with me in a special way as I do this.

What they do for me is so very important. They listen, they pray, they support, and they tell me how to do my job. If I didn't have them, I might be floundering.

Having a good boss is so important! And I have two sets of them.

One set of my bosses are the Latin Americans who run PM Internacional from Spain. I love working for them and with them.

My other boss is the Board of Directors of the US organization of PM Internacional (we call it PMI-USA for short). This last weekend they spoke clearly and honestly into my life. If I can do what they said, I will be more effective in ministry and more balanced as a person. If it works, I imagine Lois will be grateful!

This group of people sacrifices time and money and works hard so that Latino Christians can become friends with Muslims and they pray for the Spirit of God to make Himself known in those friendships!

That kind of commitment is humbling. I am grateful. I need what they do for me and for the rest of the family of PMI around the world. But I never feel like I deserve it.

What do Muslims think of us? revised 1.23.06

Yesterday a friend asked me if I would help him in a presentation he is making, by answering the question: What do Muslims think of us?

I agree that it is important for each of us to listen well enough to know the answer to this question, but I am not sure that I am the person people should be listening to.

Ideally, we should be listening to Muslim friends and that what we think of each other is part of a real friendship. But, given the realities of the barriers between Muslims and Christians, barriers that limit both the instances and depth of personal relationships between Christians and Muslims, this question, and its counter question, what do we think of Muslims?, we cannot come up with accurate answers very easily.

Before I get into some possible answers to the question, it is also worth noting that the question itself is highly reductionistic. Think about the following:

• How can one dare think of an answer that would work for all 1.3 billion Muslims in the world today? Do all Muslims think alike? Do some Muslims like Christians and hate Westerners?
• When we ask what they think of "us", who is "us"?
• Are we asking what they think of Christians or what they think of Westerners?
• Is there a difference between a Westerner and a Christian (I think there is!!!)?
• Is there a difference "in the Muslim mind" (I beg forgiveness for even using that expression) between Christians and Muslims?
• How can one dare think that it is possible to discover the answer that the 1.1 billion Muslims would give when they don't have a friendship with a Christian? Who is going to ask them?

Assuming the question is what do Muslims think of Christians? might help us focus on the real issue: If the 1.1 billion Muslims who do not have a friendship with a Christian have an opinion about Christians, what is it based on?

It is a common thing for Christian missionaries to say that Muslims consider the terms "Christian" and "Westerner" to refer to the same people and values. So that they think that the sex and violence in Hollywood movies is a reflection of Christianity, or to conclude too quickly that Westerners who visit their countries are Christians and that their behavior reflects Christian values, or even to say that the West's "war on terrorism" is a continuation of the Crusades and a reflection of Christianity's hatred or fear of Islam.

If Muslims do not know Christians (or, more importantly than those who are Christian in name, they may never have met people who seek to be followers of Jesus) it could be easy enough to think that Western Culture is Christian Culture, just as we think Middle Eastern Culture is Muslim Culture when in fact there are many Arab Christians and, in fact, most Muslims are not Arabs.

I could go on. The point I want to make, though, is that Muslims are probably as ignorant of Christians as real human beings as Christians are of Muslims. Our impressions of each other are formed through different means and are part of the great wall of separation and hostility that has characterized Muslim/Christian/Western relations for 12 centuries.

It might be important for us to understand where Muslims can draw from to form an opinion about Christians or about Westerners.

• Islam has a place, in its holy book (in the Koran) and in its theology, a place for Jesus, the founder of Christianity. Muslims are forced to answer for themselves the questions, who is Jesus? Is the Bible accurate?
• The opposite is not true. Mohammed is not in the Bible and most theologians, unless they specialize in comparative religion or in the encounter of Christianity with other religions, do not have to worry about the meaning of Mohammed's life and religious claims or even about the Koran.
• Mohammed was married to a woman from a Christian background and Mohammed lived among pagans, Christians and Jews. Though most Christians today would consider the forms of Christianity he encountered heretical, Muslims have an understanding that their version of monotheism is better than Christian or Judaism. In fact, for them, it is based on God's corrective and final revelation of His Word, the Koran.

Getting to an answer to the question...

Words in Islam that refer to Christians:

• people of the book recognizes the revelation about Jesus that was entrusted to Christians. The Injil (New Testament) is a true revelation, though Christians are accused of changing it to promote deceptions they made up after Jesus died (such as that he is God). Nonetheless, this description is positive.
• infidels describes Christians as NOT believing the truth about God as revealed by Mohammed and expressed in the Koran.
• dhimmis is the name for Christians who, in Islamic society, are allowed to continue to follow their Christian faith.

Christians are both tolerated and protected by Islamic law. This creates an interesting situation. Muslims can legitimately claim that they are more tolerant toward Christians than Christians are toward Muslims. At the same time Christians can rightly argue that Islamic freedom of religion does not include freedom for Muslims to become Christians.

Why the double standard? Perhaps it is related to the belief held by many Muslims that as each country, region or people group submits to Islamic law, the world gets closer to a world that will finally be in harmony with God's design. The forward march of Islam can be seen by some Muslims as an irreversible sign of the grace of God. Under such a vision, it is easy to understand how there might be freedom to become a Muslim, but none to stop being one!

So, having made this long discourse, can we find a one sentence answer for the question: what do Muslims think of us?

Here are some one sentence answers:

The western system has come to an end primarily because it is deprived of those life-giving values which enabled it to be the leader of mankind.

--Sayyid Qutb in Milestones, p8, 11

Why do you not acknowledge our prophet?

--man on the street, Morocco

Why won't you allow us into western society?

--immigrants from the Middle East

You Christians are better Muslims than we are!

--a frequent comment by local Muslims to Christian humanitarian workers in their communities

many Muslims view the West
as the source of colonialism, racism, and immorality while Islam
is viewed as the fount of equality, justice, and godly civilization

--Bernard Adeney-Risakotta in SojoMail Nov 13 2002

I began to think to myself, how could such a man be condemned to hell [for not being a Muslim]

--Mehdi Abedi in Debating Muslims: Cultural Dialogues in Postmodernity and Tradition

So...

I think finding an answer to the question can be a fruitful endeavor, but I hope we can do it with careful attention to our own motives and methods:

• I know this was not my friend's intention when he asked the question, but it is important that when we ask what Muslims think of us that we do so honestly. If our answer will be an excuse to either love them, or hate them, we will have forgotten God's proactive stance toward humans and we will be reaction.
• If we are asking the questions so as to merely study about them (to enter into the debate about the legitimacy of orientalism), we should be careful that we not do this as an alternative to actually meeting, knowing and engaging individual Muslims about the things that are important to us and to them.
• Our biggest challenge is to break down the walls of separation that keep us from knowing Muslims and them from knowing us. These walls keep us from knowing our Muslim neighbors and from accepting them into our lives. These walls keep us from being a bridge over which the Holy Spirit can make the living Jesus we follow known to Muslims.

The peace of our world today is directly affected by geographic and social barriers that keep Muslims and Christians from knowing each other at the personal level. Most Muslims go through life without meaningful contact with the few Christians who live among them and Christians are unaffected by the few Muslims in their part of the world. Muslims who know no Christians and Christians who know no Muslims make our world more dangerous.

By avoiding each other, we do nothing to reduce the violence inherent in both the West's war on terrorism and in Jihad, fighting in the way of Islam for the world to submit to God.

But, breaking down the barriers is not a panacea. Getting people together can cause clashes as much as it can cause reconciliation. It is, however an essential first step if we are going to be experience the fulfilling of God's goal to reconcile all humanity in Jesus, make His good gifts available to all peoples and put an end to injustice. That happens when Jesus followers and Holy Spirit carriers live in close contact with people who haven't been introduced to Jesus yet or touched by God's Holy Spirit.

Perhaps the most important question I can ask myself: what do I think of Muslims? Is what I think of Muslims in line with what God thinks of Muslims? Am I willing to go out of my way to be a friend to Muslims here and around the world?

Summary:

What to Muslims think of us? Ask a Muslim.

What do we think of Muslims? We need to ask ourselves the hard questions.

As for what God thinks of Muslims. Maybe we need to ask Him!

My birthday

Today is my birthday. If it dries up enough, Lois and I will go out to Point Reyes for a nice walk. Tomorrow Angela and Shaun will join us for dinner.

later...

Point Reyes was great. We started at the south trailhead of the Coast Trail, turned toward the beach at the Palomarin trail and went down the beach. We picked up a bottle that looked like it had spent a lot of time at sea!

Unfortunately, it didn't have a message in it. But that would have been a little hard to do because the screw on cap was still sealed!

It had barnacles on it and it looks like it is a little crooked, that is, the base is not straight, so when you sit it on a table, it leans a little to one side.

Best of all, it doesn't have any brand markings or names on it, and it looks a little crude in its manufacture. We got the idea that it is not from the USA.

So we brought it home in hopes of figuring out its story some day (right!). Since the theme is "getting old", it works for a hopeful retirement project (still a long way off!).

Afterwards Lois took me to Caffè Trieste in Sausalito for a bite to eat complese with a live Jazz band and Marimba. Along with the Marimba the guy waiting the tables just gave me the feeling that I should go up to him and say, "Usted ¿De qué parte de Guatemala es?" But, by his looks, you might wonder if he spoke Spanish. ¡Qué el lector entienda!

This is the way I like to celebrate my birthday.

One man one goat

Sorry about posting twice in one day. But I couldn't pass this one up. Click on the link and go to picture number 4.

We are fighting for "One man, one vote." But "One man, one goat" may have at least as much to do with the future of humanity according to Isaiah 60:1-7 as does democracy!

How I got started thinking about Islam

On a trip to Dakar, Senegal, I came across an artist who paints on the back of glass. I found this picture interesting and asked the artist about it. He said it was Abraham and Ishmael.

That was the first I was ever exposed to this interpretation of the life of Abraham. I have used this picture to lead me to try and understand what God thinks of Muslims and of Christians. This seems to me to be even more important than what Christians and Muslims think of God, though that is of fundamental importance, too.

A quick look at the Atlas the other day reminded me that we westerners do not see the world in terms of religion. Our way of evaluating a country or a region is to ask how many goods and services they produce. Or to ask what language they speak. But at least the Atlas's I looked at had no map of religions. But what people think about God is proving to be important, at least in today's world. People are killing each other over that.

In the Abraham/Ishmael/Isaac story, one that is important to approximately 1/2 of all humans on earth today, we can see how what God thinks of humans is important. Read Genesis 22.

Or read this article about the Feast of Sacrifice by Gilchrist. I think the article is marvelous.

May God continue to take initiative in each of our lives and may we be open to what He wants to do. Without that, we are lost and so are our children.

More on the hope for humanity's future

I don't want to get the focus off the question that I raised at Eid: "What is important for the future of humanity?"

I got a lot of comments on that posting. Make sure you read the comments. That's where I say a little about what I believe is important for the future of humanity. My hope depends on Christians and Muslims living next to each other and developing a relationship in which God has a role. There are many ways this can happen, but it seems to me that we are doomed to jihads followed by crusades followed by terrorism followed by "just wars", ad infinitum unless we can figure out how to break down the "dividing wall of partition". For that you may want to take a look at Paul's letter to the Ephesians.

It is not easy to imagine how this is going to happen!

We I did get one very interesting reply to my posting was an article from the Internet regarding whether the son that Abraham offered was Ishmael as is popularly believed among many Muslims or if it was Isaac as the Bible declares. It is from a Christian polemical site, so it would be interesting to know if thinking Muslims actually agree with what is written there.

This of course gets into a polemic that can degenerate into an arguement about "who is right". While one may be right and the other may be wrong (or did Abraham offer both sons and have this experience twice?), such polemic hasn't been able to settle this question during the last 1300 years. If our disagreements continue define our relationship, the future of humanity is at risk.

I don't think that is what God was thinking about when he rescued Abraham's son, whoever it was. What was He thinking?

Dick Hillis

Lois and I spent almost all day Saturday remembering a man of God whose life touched ours profoundly: Dick Hillis, the founder of OC International. When we went to Brazil in 1977, we were sent out under OC International.

Dick Hillis died on December 14 and his memorial service was January 14. It was an all day affair with BOTH of his families (he and his first wife, Margaret, had 6 kids and many many grandchildren) including the OC family. It was wonderful to reconnect with many precious friends and fellow travelers, since we were part of the OC family for 16 years! Read the link!

Here are some things I heard that challenge me:

• When OC started out, Dick surrounded himself with people in their 20's and built the mission with their help. One said: "Even though we were in our 20's, he expected us to do our jobs well. He gave us jobs that were over our heads. He praised us when we did well and he confronted us when we didn't. He expected hard work and he expected God to guide us. He always took the hardest job.
• Dick told us, I will give you 10 days to decide whether God is telling you to join us in Taiwan. Get counsel from people who know you well. Bathe everything in prayer. Find examples, especially Bible examples, of people faced with a similar decision and learn everything you can from that example.
• He wanted to build the church by building a foundation under national leaders. Raise up others so that they will be successful.
• Spend yourself on a cause that will outlive your own life.
• If you are going to make it as a missionary, learn to laugh at your mistakes!
• Dick was there when I was in trouble or hurting.
• He served, not to be great, but to make others great.
• "Where are all the men? 80% of missionaries are women. You men are all chickens!" (He said this to High Schoolers at Mt Hermon before WWII.

What stood out to me most was that he was a fork in the road person. His challenge changed the course of the life of many people. And this was because he had a great love for Jesus that was noticeable to all, and that he depended on God to enable him and to take ordinary lives and use them in extraordinary ways.

I was reminded of his favorite verse (2 Cor 4:5) "we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake."

I hope I can follow His example!

Eid and hope for the future of Humanity.

Ever since I was introduced to the Muslim world through my Latin American friends, I have had a special fascination with Eid, the Muslim holiday that was celebrated yesterday.

Eid, by its place in the Islamic calendar and by the things that are done on Eid, can remind Muslims each year that their ancestor Ishmael was spared death because God provided a substitute (yes! that is their variation on the story of the rescue of Isaac in Gen 22).

My fascination (and my hope) grows when I read in Isaiah 60:7 that God promises that the rams of the children of Ishmael will be "acceptable on my Altar".

Does that refer to the rams in these pictures of the Eid holiday? Take a moment to look at them.

Islam can be a challenge to our Christian faith. For many Muslims "devotion" to God is critical for the future of humanity and they see Abraham’s willingness to offer his son as a supreme devotion to God.

Our Christian faith says that Jesus is critical for the future of humanity.

What do you think is critical for the future of humanity?