GMAE

None reach the height of vice all at once

Carl Nelson — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:13:54 +0000

My neighborhood has been plagued this summer with the death of several teen-aged boys, killed as the result of gang violence and teen-age tempers gone awry. It’s terrible.

What bothers me more is that newspapers, within the same paragraph, cite the young man’s unfortunate criminal history and then quote family or friends lamenting how nice of guy he was. He’s remembered as “trying to get things started right” again, or “trying so hard to stay out of trouble.”

What’s wrong in my neighborhood is that young men are dying in part as a result of gang involvement and being tied to criminal lifestyles, yet their family and friends are unwilling to acknowledge that they were not leading peaceful, law abiding lives. At least that’s how it gets reported in newspapers.

I’m sure the mothers of these boys beg their sons to get out of their life of crime and gangs, and then they mourn in anguish when that very lifestyle leads to their death.

Our newspapers and TV reporters would do best to honor these mothers’ wishes by telling the truth – even if it portrays the deceased with a less-than-appealing character. We need to honor the loss of these mothers, and protect younger generations of boys, by speaking the truth.

It’s a tragic ending to a life marked by a pattern of crime and violence.

He’d been in a lot of trouble and was hanging out with the wrong crowd and doing the wrong things.

He lived a violent and angry life that came to an end in a flurry of bullets in a darkened alley.

Now I believe in redemption and transformation. I’m the President of an faith-based organization that has as one of its 3 primary ministries, a re-entry program for men who have served multiple years in prison for often heinous crimes. Redemption and transformation is possible, and it happens.

I know these words are harsh. But I’m angry at the lack of straight talk when someone gets killed, and I think we’ve got to start telling the truth.

Matthew Henry once warned his congregation that “None reach the height of vice all at once.” He meant that the pathway towards even the most hideous evil is long, and marked with many choices to either continue, or turn away.

Stories

Blocks from home, Minneapolis teen killed

Homicide victim was trying for better life

Park Avenue shooting leaves family devastated

GMAE eNews August 4

Carl Nelson — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:54:03 +0000

NAE asks Florida church not to burn Qu'ran; CCDA considers 2012 national conference in Mpls-St. Paul, and more.

Accelerate Prayer & Fasting Retreat

Carl Nelson — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:30:53 +0000

Accelerate Midwest Prayer & Fasting Retreat

Carl Nelson — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:27:11 +0000

GMAE Members Register at Reduced Rate to Hear Jack Hayford

Pastor Jack Hayford will speak and teach at a prayer & fasting retreat, October 4-6 at the Lake Geneva Conference Center, in Alexandria, MN. He will teach in 6 one-hour sessions between Monday evening and Wednesday morning.

GMAE Members click here to register at reduced rate of $39.

General registration, click here.

Multiple denominations and ministries are partnering together with the MN District Assemblies of God towards this historic prayer and fasting gathering. GMAE is please to offer pastors and leaders in our member churches the opportunity to attend at the reduced rate of $39. (Participants may choose from a range of lodging choices, including tenting, when they register. Meals will be served Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, and beverages will be available during the retreat).

Not sure if your church is a member? Click here and search for your church name.

Although many church methods and strategies can accelerate the effectiveness and growth of Christian ministries, none compares to the effectiveness of the ancient plan laid out by Jesus at the start of His own ministry – prayer and fasting. This practice of seeking the Lord through extended times of prayer and fasting is the essential ingredient for an effective and faithful life of ministry.

Dr. Hayford served as the President of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel for many years, leading 38,000 churches in 136 countries with nearly 5 million members. He was also recently listed as one of the 25 most influential preachers in the past 25 years along with Billy Graham, Rick Warren, Andy Stanley and others. Along with times of teaching from the Word of God, there will be much time for rest and personal and corporate prayer. This incredible gathering will be taking place at the beautiful campground facilities of Lake Geneva Christian Center.

Learn more at Accelerate Midwest at www.acceleratemidwest.org

Can you help these refugees?

Carl Nelson — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:20:07 +0000

Last Tuesday night, World Relief staff were overwhelmed by the condition of the refugee family that arrived at MSP airport.

(Learn how to help)

This family of 8 refugees has lived in the Dadaab Refugee Camp in northern Kenya since 1991. That is 19 year living in flimsy shelters, surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards, surviving on meager food rations provided by the UN and other charities.

Refugees in Dadaab Refugee Camp

The children in this family were born in the refugee camp, and the only existence they know is the dry, forsaken desert surr0nding Dadaab. The 3 camps around Dadaab house over 160,000 refugees.

But now they have a chance for something better. If we help them.

Tonya Cook, World Relief’s refugee program manager, says the family seemed so weak and emaciated she was concerned about how their bodies would respond to eating food. They wore the only clothes they possessed, T-shirts issued by the UNHCR.

The condition of these families was so shocking that two Somali women from Minneapolis who were helping to translate, broke down into sobbing cries as they realized the terrible conditions this family had survived, for 19 years.

World Relief Minnesota has agreed to help up to 100 refugees who are being resettled by the US from this camp. They need your help. Primarily they need ministry teams, small groups, or families that will “adopt” one of these refugee families and help them navigate services, enrolling children in schools, and surviving urban life in America.

World Relief has been helping refugees for a long time, but this group is different. They do not have friends or family here already who can help. They have been stuck in a remote desert in northern Kenya and will find it hard to live in a modern city. Their children have grown up without basic schooling and education.

Read more and learn how to help at www.worldreliefmn.org, an affiliate ministry of GMAE.

Evangelical Young Adults Confused About Sex

Carl Nelson — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:27:40 +0000

42% of unmarried evangelical young adults report they are currently in a sexual relationship.

In a report presented at the NAE Generation Forum in Minneapolis, a total of 64% of unmarried evangelical young adults have either had sex in the past year, or are in a sexual relationship now. One of the observations made by presenters at the forum is that this report shows that evangelical young adults are unsure and confused about how to understand sex and marriage.

View the report here.

One panelist noted how frequently they heard evangelical young adults talk about the pain of experiencing their parents’ divorce and saying that they would never do that to their children. So their opinion was that it was better to live together first to make sure their relationship could work, and then get married.

Another point was made by several panelists that parents need to speak more freely and openly with their young adult children about the benefits of enjoying sex within marriage. While children may receive sex education at school or at church, an open relationship with parents, even after the children become adult and move out of the home, is important to helping young adults develop a positive image of sex as a good gift from God to be enjoyed most within his design.

In response to the misconstrued ideas that Americans – and including evangelicals – have about sex, the the NAE recently published a Bible-based “Theology of Sex” to give pastors, parents and church leaders a guide for talking about “God’s good gift of sex” and how we can honor that gift.

The Theology of Sex is available online, and GMAE has copies available that can be mailed to you upon request.

GMAE eNews June 18

Carl Nelson — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:40:20 +0000

Young evangelicals confused about sex & marriage, and more...

4,000 Christians from 200 countries for 10 days

Carl Nelson — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 21:40:41 +0000

4,000 people from
200 countries will gather for
10 days to discuss
6 issues threatening the church

The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, October 16-25, 2010 in collaboration with the World Evangelical Alliance –This Congress will bring together 4,000 leaders from 200 countries to wrestle with the great issues of our time as they relate to the future of the church and the future of world evangelization.

The road to Cape Town 2010
Six core issues at the Congress
How the vision was born: meticulous preparation
International in scope – African in flavor and nuance
Desired outcomes

Learn more about the Lausanne Movement at www.lausanne.org and read the Lausanne Covenant (1974) and Manila Manifesto (1989) that resulted from the previous two congresses.

Also read the online articles previewing the discussions that will take place at the congress on topics including Poverty, Prosperity and the Gospel; Muslim-Background Believers; Whole Gospel, Whole Church, Whole World; and Partnership in Mission .

Why a Third Lausanne Congress?

We are at a point in history where the church faces a world with challenges that we have never seen before. The truth claims of our faith are under attack by intellectuals and the media who have grown increasingly hostile to the Gospel. The resurgence of religious fundamentalism is a development that few anticipated when Billy Graham convened the first Lausanne Congress in 1974. At that time, it was feared that secularism would sweep the world. We must also respond to the impact of globalization, particularly the challenge of mega-cities, the reality of Diaspora people migrating around the world, and the loss of a moral framework in the historically Christian cultures of our world.

Fortunately, evangelical leaders from around the world recognize the need for a concerted response to these challenges. Lausanne is providing the context in which the issues can be addressed in terms of profound theological reflection and in terms of courageous and strategic action.

The four thousand carefully selected participants at Cape Town 2010 will deal with six core issues of paramount importance for the future of world evangelization. Simultaneous to our gathering in Cape Town, people around the world will be able to participate through the Cape Town Global Link. This use of interactive technology will make it possible to have global conversations unlike anything in Christian history.

The road to Cape Town 2010: A Growing Community of Global Leaders Rally Together

In June of 2007, the plans for Cape Town 2010 were officially sanctioned by three hundred and fifty evangelical leaders who gathered from sixty-five countries.

A growing company of evangelical leaders have joined in support of this once-in-a-generation global congress. This global community includes the best minds in the church – leading apologists and scholars, as well as evangelists and leaders from the realms of business, government, education, medicine and the media. It also involves the most gifted leaders – pastors of major churches and leaders of great mission organizations.

In February 2009 a group of 75 Christian leaders from the Twin Cities, including pastors, college presidents and seminary leaders, and evangelism leaders met with Executive Chairman of the Lausanne Committee, Doug Birdsall, to be briefed on the multi-year planning that has led up to Cape Town 2010 and to hear about the incredible collaboration of Christian leaders around the globe who are praying and working together to convene this congress.

Six Core Issues

The Lausanne global leadership has identified six core issues that they believe are the global issues of our day. The first subject focuses on the foundational question, “How do we make the case of Truth in a postmodern, pluralistic world?” In turn, “How do we make the case of the Uniqueness of Christ?” This is a question that must be answered for the next generation. We cannot afford to lose the battle for the mind.

The second issue is considered the most important strategic issue before the Church, namely “How do we respond redemptively to the fundamentalisms of Islam and Hinduism?”

The third issue focuses on the church. It may be that the biggest obstacle to the progress of world evangelization is the church itself. Chris Wright, Chair of the Theology Working Group and International Director of Langham Partnership (John Stott Ministries) has challenged participants to think of nothing less than a 21st Century Reformation.

Issues number four, five and six focus on “Celebrating the New Realties of the Global Church – A New Face and a Fresh Voice;” “Developing a Robust Theology of Suffering and of Reconciliation;” and, “Establishing Priorities for Partnership with Respect to the Unfinished Task of World Evangelization.”

Meticulous Preparation

The vision was birthed in 2004 at Pattaya, Thailand at the Lausanne 2004 Forum on World Evangelization where participants discussed research of 4,000 senior Christian leaders to identify the most important issues concerning world evangelization in the 21st century.

The vision and need for a third global congress became more apparent at meetings in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Kenya in the 2005, 2006 and 2007 that included theology working groups, younger leaders forums and Lausanne work group leaders.

In February 2007 the Lausanne III Exploration Committee traveled to Cape Town, South Africa to explore an invitation from local church leaders to host the congress there and to meet with the Cape Town International Convention Centre. There was overwhelming and miraculous confirmation of this opportunity.

Joined by the World Evangelical Alliance– a network of national alliances in 128 countries representing 420 million evangelical Christians — the Cape Town 2010 Leadership Team began a three year series focusing on the whole gospel (2008), the whole church (2009), and the whole world (2010), discussing key theological and missiological challenges facing the church in preparation for Cape Town 2010.

International in Scope – African in Flavor and Nuance

The composition of the Congress participants will reflect the demographic, theological and cultural realities of the global church. Nearly 70% of the participants will come from the majority world. One-third of the participants will be women. As a forward looking congress, 50% of the participants will be younger leaders – men and women in their late 20s, 30s and 40s. Fully 400 of the participants will come from the realms of business, government, education, medicine and the media.

Lausanne III will naturally be global in its scope and intentionally younger in its ethos. At the same time, we trust that the Congress will reflect the spiritual dynamism and cultural flavor of the host continent of Africa.

Desired Outcomes

The Leadership Team trusts that Cape Town 2010 will shape the agenda and the ethos of the global church for the next generation in three profound ways. First, they believe that the church will be united and strengthened through the shared experience of this congress, which will serve both as a “church council” and as a “global catalyst” for world evangelization.

Second, they believe that the church will move from a sense of increasing ambivalence about the truthfulness of the Gospel to a position of bedrock confidence in the Gospel.

Third, it is their prayer that participants will have a clear sense of priority in addressing challenges and opportunities that require new partnerships and renewed commitments to advance the work of world evangelization.

Indeed, if Cape Town 2010 creates unity, clarity, and priority for world evangelization – along with a new generation of global leaders who are united in shared vision and values in the “spirit of Lausanne”- then the Congress in Cape Town in 2010 will equip the church take a great forward step in the work God has entrusted to this generation’s care.

Strengthening families & protecting workers

Carl Nelson — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 21:09:07 +0000

Carl Nelson, GMAE

There are two important reasons why evangelicals should support immigration reform. Our current system is weakening immediate family units and the wide use of undocumented immigrants in certain industries results in their exploitation and unjust economic gains for others.

I know that many evangelicals have not always been sympathetic to these issues and have instead advocated for strong anti-immigrant policies. For many years I was one of them. But as I have studied the Biblical history of migration (forced and voluntary) and scriptural mandates regarding the foreign born and justice for the vulnerable, together with the value of strengthening families and protecting the sanctity and dignity of human life, I have changed my views.

Undocumented workers, the rule of law and economic justice

To be sure, America has a problem of undocumented immigrants – most of them workers. Estimates range from 11 to 12 million undocumented immigrants, and groups like the Pew Research Center report that more than 96% are employed in our economy.

It is widely understood that the major attraction drawing undocumented immigrants to the US is jobs, and that they represent a significant portion of the labor pool in certain low-wage industries: domestic household service (21%), food manufacturing and agricultural production (14% and 13% respectively) furniture manufacturing (13%) and construction and textile production (12% each). (Impact of Undocumented Workers, The Perryman Group, 2008) (link to PDF).

Many Christians claim the Biblical injunction to obey the rule of law and opine that because undocumented immigrants are law-breakers they should be summarily rounded up and deported. It is true that entering the US and obtaining a job illegally is breaking the law, and Christians should not condone unlawful behavior. However, we are placing the blame solely on the immigrant, when we must also hold accountable their employers who often knowingly accept falsified documents or improperly hire undocumented immigrants – and usually make healthy profits from their labors. We must also hold our whole economic system – and nearly all of us individually – accountable as well, because while we may grumble about illegal immigration on one hand we are simultaneously benefiting from low-cost fresh food and other agricultural products, affordable – and ever larger – new housing construction and the furniture to go in it, and for some people the luxury of having domestic servants in their households or vacation spots.

The Bible speaks often, and clearly, about paying a worker his fair wages, not taking advantage of the vulnerable or oppressed, and treating the foreign born fairly. Undocumented workers are often paid less than minimum wage, harassed, and forced to live in the shadows. Meanwhile you and I, and the US economy, benefit greatly from them.

So one of the aims of immigration reform needs to be a workable system to provide an adequate number of worker visas each year to meet US labor demands, and a system that ensures these workers are not taken advantage of unfairly.

Family unity

I place a high priority on healthy families as a basic building block of society. Loving, intact, nuclear families are God’s best design for nurturing and rearing children and passing on strong societies from one generation to the next.
Throughout America’s history many immigrant families have sacrificed and endured long separation in order to move to this country, or provide an income for their families back home.

Today many immigrant families are faced with two difficult choices; either remain separated from spouses and young children for years waiting “in line” for their immigrant visa, or live in the US as an intact family, but in the shadows, knowing they do so illegally and always worrying that they could be caught and deported.
One of the current debates is what to do with millions of undocumented adult immigrants who now have US Citizen Children. The adults are subject to deportation, but most experts agree that these parents would rather be separated from their children and leave them in the care of someone else and give them hope for a future in American, than to take them back to live in poverty in their home countries.

The long term affects of such a policy would be devastating to American society. It would further weaken the deteriorating family structure in the US. So another parameter of immigration reform needs to be that any solution needs to protect the unity of the immediate family.

I admit that these parameters to do not make for easy solutions. Our economic engine is fueled by millions of immigrant workers. We want to support strong families, but removing millions of undocumented immigrants take away one or both parents from up to 4 million US citizen children. That is the reason why Christians should actively participate in this discussion. We need to openly discuss differing solutions, listen to and understand each others objections, and set aside the political one-ups-man-ship that gets in the way of workable solutions.

Last month a group of 13 prominent conservative evangelical leaders issued a proclamation calling for immigration reform that would among other things:
•   Respect the God-given dignity of every person
•   Protect the unity of the immediate family
•   Respect the rule of law
•   Guarantee secure national borders
•   Ensure fairness to taxpayers
•   Establish a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents

I would encourage readers to learn more ideas for immigration reform that reflects these Biblical values at www.nae.net and read the National Association of Evangelicals “Resolution on Immigration” adopted in October 2009.

GMAE eNews May 19

Carl Nelson — Wed, 19 May 2010 03:19:32 +0000

NAE Generations Forum; Prayer & Fasting Retreat with Jack Hayford; Evangelicals Breaking Immigration Stalemate