All posts by Bob Rasmussen

New members enjoy retreat!

Recently our three new team members gathered with director Bob Rasmussen for module one of our orientation. We met in Eugene, Oregon. Here is a brief glimpse of our time together.

 

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The tired traveler and the taxi man

I heard a cool story today and want to pass it along to you.

A man flew in from a country in Asia. He was a Muslim. He had flown many long hours and was exhausted when he arrived. He was supposed to be picked up at the airport by someone, but when he landed there was no one looking for him. He waited for a long time, wondering what to do in this strange new land.

A member of the Ethiopian church in Seattle was driving taxi that night. He saw the stranded traveler. Approaching him, the Ethiopian asked the immigrant if he could help, even offering to give him a ride and let him stay overnight at home.  The traveler gladly accepted, spending not just one night but two. The next day, the Christian helped the visitor contact his friends, who came for him.

Some while later, that visitor decided to visit a church in Seattle. When he entered, he looked up on the platform and who was preaching that day but the very taxi driver who gave him transport and lodging! He soon declared that whatever that taxi driving preacher believed is what he wanted to believe also. And he placed his trust in Christ.

Let’s keep our eyes open for ways we can welcome the stranger. Our loving actions, even when small, send a clear message!

 

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Have we succumbed to a moderation gospel?

Have some believers rightly rejected the “prosperity gospel” only to embrace an equally dangerous lifestyle heresy?

I was reading about Barnabas, the missionary colleague alongside the apostle Paul, and was struck by the fact that Barnabas first appears in the Acts account as a generous donor toward the compassion ministry of the first church. As a land owner, Barnabas could have taken a fiscally justifiable approach and hung on to his asset (the land) so as to donate what profit the land produced. Instead, Barnabas sold the land and gave sacrificially. Further, he did not give on condition that his wishes would be respected, but laid his gift at the apostles feet, releasing control (Acts 4:37).

Here is what I conclude from watching Barnabas: Tweet This  The obedience that makes a cross-cultural missionary is the same obedience that makes a sacrificial giver. And sacrificial giving may be the entry point to the world of mission, as it was for Barnabas.

But I wonder if many of us have subconsciously concluded that God has asked us to give, not sacrificially, but moderately. Our evidence? Just look at the capacity God has given us to achieve and maintain our comfortable lifestyle. Are not my skills God-given? Did He not make my education possible? Did God not give me the opportunity to work and save? Surely the way of life I enjoy is what God wants me to maintain with a grateful heart.

Having rejected the prosperity gospel have we succumbed to a moderation gospel? Barnabas shows us that sacrificial giving stems from the same kind of obedience as leaving home on mission. Dependence on God’s supply did not begin when he and Saul left Antioch as the first missionaries (Acts 13:1-3). It started back home when he heard about the need to feed the poor, pulled out the title deed to his land and put it on the market.

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If Jesus called a prayer meeting

Well, my title oversells my post. All I am saying is that a prayer meeting for mission at my home recently was really fun because we had several nations represented. Made me think of Jesus… when He got angry with the money changers in the Temple, the thing that ticked Him off was that the commercialization of worship had taken over the court of the Gentiles so they were excluded from worshiping God. Little wonder Jesus turned over tables shouting: Don’t you know my Father’s house is a house of prayer for all the nations!

Here is a picture of our recent prayer time. We prayed in 5 different languages. What a #NearFrontiersTREK.

2016-02-04 20.20.45

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All Lives Matter – John Perkins

Thanks to Mosaic Church in Little Rock Arkansas for sharing this video clip. Dr. John Perkins is a statesman and a prophet for today’s church in America. His suffering as a black man in a white man’s world, his encounter with the love of Jesus Christ, and his calling believers to long-haul reconciliation make him one of the great leaders of this time. Here is a 6 minute segment well worth watching. Please do

2016-01-10 Dr John Perkins Clip from Mosaic Church on Vimeo.

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