The apple doesn't fall far...

Micah's school had a talent night last weekend. Micah wanted so badly to do a comedy act, but he was a little shy to do it alone. So with the help of Mom, Asher, Claire, and Dad (on drums), Micah stepped up to the microphone and had them rolling in the aisles. Where DOES he get that amazing sense of humor?

(Um, it's from me, his hilarious dad, in case you couldn't figure it out. From me.)

You stay classy!

So, we're doing our year-end author presentations right now. Fifteen minutes per student to talk about the author he/she has been studying all year. Overall, the presentations have been excellent.

One student shared this quote by realist nature writer Jack London, and even though he is probably the farthest thing from a "Christian thinker," I thought it worth sharing.

“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”

The future of outreach to Muslims

There are myriad reasons to pray for missionaries in Muslim contexts. The work is hard, the fruit is often little, and the sacrifices are many. No doubt the rewards for such work and the eternal significance of those who come to Jesus are worth every bit of struggle. But an ongoing debate is a particular point of prayer.

Because Muslim communities are so hard to join as an outsider and so hard to become a Christian within, various strategies have been taken by missionaries throughout the years. A helpful scale for contextualization strategies has been formed by missiologists, starting with C1 and ranging to C6. A C1 church or approach to evangelism is akin to creating a Western church (with little or no cultural context) inside a Muslim community. A C6 church or approach is when faith in Jesus Christ is completely secret, there are few secret church meetings, and the “believer” is totally Muslim to an outsider. A C1 church is impossible in closed countries, and so missionaries have moved down the spectrum through the years. Some even use C5 or C6 strategies in the most difficult environments.

This has sparked much debate among missions groups in the West. C5 or C6 groups are accused of betraying the Gospel and diluting the truth among Muslims. While those who encourage a more traditional approach to missions among Muslims (pushing for a C1 or C2 tact) are accused of withholding the truth from people who live in these closed communities because of their refusal to contextualize the Gospel. The debate is often vitriolic, and prayer is essential to keep the focus on saving the lost and not on winning arguments.

One thing is sure: the Gospel is advancing. Turmoil in the Middle East recently and the youth movement in those Islamic countries could mean hope for an openness towards religious freedom in the future. In every politic movement, a careful eye should be lent to the ramifications that the fallout will have for Chrisitianity. This shrinking planet will never see Islam fade away; it will be a part of each one of our futures. But the Bible has promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against the growth of the Church. I hope the stories of this past week gave you a small glimpse of that victory that’s spreading around us.

Baptize me

Since closed countries don’t allow official “Christian missionaries” entry, most workers have a primary identity as business people who will contribute to the economy of the nation. They carry on self-sustaining and successful business in order to have a platform for reaching the lost. Similar to a lay leader in the United States in that they have a “secular” day job, these folks are nevertheless missionaries because they’ve crossed culture for the expressed purpose of reaching Muslims.

One woman went about her daily business only to be interrupted by a 19-year-old girl she’d never before met. The girl bluntly demanded to know what Christians believe. Seeking some context, the missionary learned that the girl’s father had recently been baptized in the United Kingdom and this piqued the girl’s interest.

The worker had been trained in an evangelism technique of teaching through the Old Testament with Muslims, and she had only gotten through Deuteronomy when the girl interrupted. “I want to be baptized.” The missionary balked and told the girl that she needed to hear the whole story first. But the girl then proceeded to fill in the blanks. She knew she was a sinner, she knew that Jesus was the answer for the sin of Adam way back in Genesis, and she knew that the claims of Islam were false in light of the Bible. A half-hour later, after the girl had supernaturally given a perfect confession of faith, the woman agreed that the girl should be baptized. The father would be returning from the United Kingdom soon, and he could oversee her conversion and what that would mean to her place in their community. Her story isn’t finished yet.

God loses

My biggest hobby is following college football. And the biggest story of college football the past six months has been the allegations of wrongdoings at Ohio State University, one of the most bitter rivals of my favorite team—Penn State. Attention first was on five players who sold football memorabilia for cash, tattoos, and marijuana. Then, it turned out that OSU’s head coach—Jim Tressel—knew about the illegal actions for almost a year, didn’t punish his players, and then lied to the NCAA by claiming his program was infraction-free. While the NCAA’s investigation was just beginning, Sports Illustrated went in and did some digging. Depending on who you’re talking to, what they found was either enormous or tiny. Whatever the case, the allegations were enough to cause Tressel to quit and to allow OSU to distance itself from the wayward coach.

As I read the Sports Illustrated article, the thing I found most galling was Treseel’s bold proclamations of faith. Since he was a rival coach, I certainly didn’t want to give him the benefit of the doubt at first. I had Christian friends who were OSU fans, and they told me about the “legend” of Jim Tressel—a father-figure for struggling youth, a Bible-reading mentor of men, and an honored figure by Athletes in Action and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. On the other side, I had heard of rumblings about Tressel’s checkered past at Youngstown State and his laissez faire attitudes towards unscrupulous boosters and greedy players. With few hard facts behind me though, I chose to believe the best about Tressel. As his team beat Penn State seven of the past nine years, all I had was my jealously of OSU’s success under a man I thought to be a solid leader in a difficult profession for integrity.

But it turns out that Tressel was a hypocrite. He didn’t walk the walk. His success was built on lies. SI laid out nearly three decades of past transgressions by Tressel and made a strong case for his greatest successes being built on immoral athletes (who were enabled if not assisted by an immoral coach). His championship QB Ray Isaac at Youngstown State, his championship RB and WR/CB Maurice Clarett and Chris Gamble at Ohio State, his Heisman Trophy-winning QB Troy Smith, and his #1 recruit and two-time bowl winner Terrelle Pryor—all found guilty of NCAA infractions involving money under Tressel’s watch.

Christianity isn’t just about morals, but Christ does ask us to follow a higher standard when it comes to the way we act. And while there are plenty of coaches and athletes who can keep a low profile regarding faith, Tressel was one who built his image on his faith. He wanted to be a bearer of the high standards of Christ. He wasn’t shy. But he should have been. Or else, he should have pushed rule-breaking boosters away from his players in the 1980’s. Or kicked his free car-receiving player off of the team, thus losing his team the national title in the 90’s. Or made his star RB go to class and empty out his pockets in the 2000’s, which probably would have cost him another national title. Or made sure no one was giving the nation’s top recruit cars and money to get him to attend OSU in 2008 (instead of PSU, Michigan, and Oregon).

It’s not that Tressel never did anything good. He surely impacted players positively in various ways. But if he had acted with complete integrity from the beginning, he would never have won. And it was winning that led to Tressel to the pinnacle of both fame for his coaching prowess and notoriety for his impeccable Christian character. But it’s hard to win with integrity in sports. Sad to say, but God lost one this week.