Friday, January 05, 2007

I'm a wimp for Jesus!

Last month I mentioned Geoff Ryan and his network of 614 churches. They have a reputation of being sold out for Jesus, gritty, inner-city and incarnational to the core. That means 614's pop up in the worst areas of Canada and the world and live out Jesus to the lost, last and least. I'm actually going to an inner-city "Urban Forum" conference next week in Atlanta, put on by Geoff & the 614 crew, to learn from others who've been in the ghetto longer than me. You could say that the 614 team are the most wild bunch in Canada, intentionally moving into ghetto's across the country to share and show Jesus' love.

But reading over their latest entry on the 614 blog made me feel like a complete wimp when it comes to the small sacrifices I've made for God. Here is the text about the "Back to Jerusalem" movement in China:
One portion that I found especially encouraging is found on page 290....

Every Back to Jerusalem missionary receives training in several main subjects. These include:

1.) How to suffer and die for the Lord. We examine what the Bible says about suffering, and look at how the Lord's people have laid down their lives for the advance of the Gospel throughout history.

2.) How to witness for the Lord. We teach how to witness for the Lord under any
circumstance, on trains or buses, or even in the back of a police van on our way to the execution ground.

3.) How to escape for the Lord. We know that sometimes it is the Lord who sends us to prison to witness for Him, but we also believe the devil sometimes wants us to go to prison to stop the ministry God has called us to do. We teach the missionaries special skills such as how to free themselves from handcuffs, and how to jump from second-storey windows without injuring themselves.

This is not a 'normal' seminary or Bible College!
If you ever visit one of the places where we are training our Back to Jerusalem missionaries, you will see how serious we are to fulfill our destiny in God. You may see people with their hands handcuffed behind their back, leaping from second-storey windows!
Nothing less is required if we are to break down the walls that separate Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists from knowing the sweet presence of Jesus."
Gulp

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