THREE WORLDS...Explained, Part Two...

By now, you've heard and seen "Three Worlds" a number of times.


Hopefully you read my earlier blog post beginning to explain "Three Worlds."


Let me continue explaining this revolutionary approach to missions.

In addition to having an in-built system of support and accountability (our Three Worlds Team), we will be living and working within three very different worlds of Christian faith.

And no, I don't mean "Catholics, Baptists, and Church of God folks."


The three worlds of Christian faith are these:


1.) The Traditional Church


2.) The Post-modern/Post-Christendom Church

                             and

3.) The Non-Western/Acts 2 Church

The Traditional Church is the Church in which I was raised, and (largely) the Church in which I have ministered over the past decade. This is the Church that is established and accepted in its local context. People understand you when you say, "I'm going to Church," and they don't automatically look down upon you for doing so. This is the Church that still (largely) exists in the MidWest of the USA. But it is on the decline as the society around it continues to evolve and morph into something other than Mayberry (RIP Sheriff Taylor).

The Post-Modern/Post-Christendom Church is the Church in which we will largely be working in Europe. It is the Church that struggles to exist and maintain its identity as distinctive and holy in the midst of an ever-encroaching surrounding culture of Secularism. The culture around this Church is no longer understanding and accepting of the Church. People are less likely to understand you when you say "I'm going to Church," and if they do, in light of scandals and the ongoing science-faith battle, they are more inclined to look down upon you or write you off as uneducated. This Church has a struggle on its hands to make inroads with the surrounding culture(s) and display the Church to be something positive and something worthwhile in the 21st Century.

The Non-Western, or Acts 2, Church is the Church that is largely comprised of new believers, many from outside "the West," and many who don't struggle to reconcile Christian faith with their historical culture. Faith is easy for this Church and they have little difficulty believing in a supernatural God who works in ways Science and Reason cannot make sense of.

I want to be very clear about something.

All THREE of these expressions of the Church are right.

The issue is not that one's better than the other, and we're trying to support just that one while quietly allowing the other two to fade into oblivion. That's not the case at all! The reality is that since all three exist, we must seek to support and strengthen all three, and allow the Spirit to continue to blow as it will.

Within the context of the Netherlands, and Europe/TME, Christy and I (and Sofie...) will be forced to operate within and minister to all three of these different worlds of Christian faith regularly.

In addition to doing this because it is what the Lord has called us to do, and in addition to supporting and equipping specifically the "Post-Christendom" Church because they need help navigating their secular culture while maintaining their distinctive, holy (Gk.: "set-apart") faith, let me tell you one more reason why what we are going to do is important.

The Traditional Church of Today is the Post-Modern/Post-Christendom Church of Tomorrow.

With the de-evolution of Mayberry here in the MidWest (USA), for example, the Role of, the Identity of, and the Importance of the Church is ever changing as well.

Hopefully what we will experience, and the responsive methods we will develop can be effective in ministering to the Post-Christendom Church of Today in Europe/TME. And hopefully this experience can better lead us to help guide the Post-Christendom Church of Tomorrow, which is currently the Traditional Church of Today.

Stay Tuned for Part Three of Three Worlds Explained.

Introducing Sofie Rose Kihm!

Friends, please meet our new daughter!!!

Sofie Rose Kihm was born on Wednesday 11 July 2012 @ St. John's Hospital in Anderson, IN.

She weighed in at 8 lb. 4 oz., measuring 21 inches. Mom and Baby are both doing great.

We look forward to introducing our sweet daughter to the goodness of the Lord and the people of God.

Tenth Anniversary: DEpendence Day

Ten Years Ago, right now, where were you at? What were you doing?

I'll forever remember exactly where I was on 4 July 2002.

I was in Evert, MI, working at Spring Hill Camp. Lunch had finished, and I had gone with my 7th grade boys to the Activity Field.

Ten years ago, almost to this exact minute, I was lying on the field writhing in agony, unable to move my left leg.

Two surgeries and innumerable PT sessions later, here I am: Ten years removed from shattering my left kneecap.

I wasn't doing anything reckless. I wasn't doing anything dangerous. I was simply running across a field when my quadricep muscles randomly overpowered my left patella and snapped it in two.

And, to be realistically dramatic, my life was changed forevermore.

The remainder of that summer saw me lying on a bed allowing my knee to heal, not bending it or putting any weight on my left leg. I was given ample time to wrestle with God, a la Jacob.

"WHY did this happen to me?!" While that is fodder for much longer writings, allow me to simply say that one thing I learned from this experience is my complete Dependence on God.

While I have experienced much discomfort, pain, inability, random swelling, etc. in my left knee, I rejoice that I have healed to the point that I have, and I am able to do infinitely more than the surgeons told me I'd ever be able to again do.

And every year since, on this day when so many of my friends and family light things on fire and celebrate "Independence," I (quite cautiously, sedentarily, and thankfully) celebrate "Dependence."

In John's Gospel, Jesus says these words: "Apart from me, you can do nothing." While this application is  not exactly what he meant, nevertheless for me there is truth in this statement. I can do nothing apart from God. I am nothing apart from God.

I challenge you on this day to reflect on the importance of God in your life, and to give thanks unto the Creator God for blessing you with all that you are and have.

If I could go back in time ten years, amongst lots of other lessons and warnings, I'd tell my 22 year-old self these reminders: "Be safe. And no matter what, remember that God is with you."

THREE WORLDS...Explained, Part One...

By now, you've probably heard Christy and I say "Three Worlds" this and "Three Worlds" that a number of times.


I know some of you are quite familiar with "Three Worlds," and others, not so much.


HERE is a link to the website for Three Worlds. (I've actually put many links in the above lines, so happy clicking--All roads lead to Oz).


In a nutshell, aside from our specific responsibilities in The Netherlands, we will be a part of the Three Worlds Team.


What this means is that we will be functioning alongside the other Church of God Missionaries working in the region of "Europe & The Middle East." We will be a built-in support and accountability system for one another. Thus, none of us will be working in Isolation.


This is a very healthy method of doing ministry. However, if you have experience in ministry, or are familiar with ministers, chances are you will readily agree that this is sadly quite unusual!


Over the past 7 years of serving as a Senior Pastor in Anderson, IN, I've known entirely too many ministers who experience burn-out, frustration, and develop unhealthy outlets for stress (or suffer unhealthy results of stress). In addition to personal fizzling-out, this wreaks havoc on families. And congregations. And further contributes to a negative view of Christ and the Church.


Part of the Team-based approach of Three Worlds is intended to curb these typical results, and prolong the health of the individual ministers in the region as well as the congregations we will be serving.


Stay Tuned for Part Two of Three Worlds Explained.

So great a Cloud of Witnesses

"You Will Be Discouraged..."

After we were commissioned Tuesday evening, Bob Edwards told us the above quote. But after telling us that we will be discouraged, he said this, "And when you are, remember this night, and remember this cloud of witnesses."

Of course he was talking about the men and women who comprised the 1000+ member audience.

Of course he was also talking about the famous passage of Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11 lists the "hall of fame of the faith," as it's been called,  telling the stories of many men and women of (biblical) antiquity who lived and died as martyrs, that is, witnesses.

The various heroes listed have one thing in common: They lived their lives having Faith in God, and being faithful to God's calling upon their lives, no matter the outcome.

Similarly, the audience was comprised of many great men and women. Granted, I don't know who everyone was, but I do know who many of them were.

There were many of my personal heroes in that crowd, individuals who've faithfully given YEARS to ministerial service; individuals who've faithfully given YEARS to faithful worship and obedience to Christ; not to mention couples who've demonstrated how to faithfully love and honour one another for YEARS.

I am not naive or inexperienced enough to think that we will never be discouraged. I know that Bob shared wisdom when he promised that discouragement will come.

But Christy and I will never forget the night in June 2012 when we were Commissioned to serve as Missionaries. And when we think of that night, we will remember our friends and family who sacrificed to invest in our lives and afford us the opportunities we've had; and we will remember our friends and family who sacrificed their time to celebrate with us, to pray for us, and to send us out in Faith.

Thank you for being in our cloud!

Anointed & Sent Out

Anointed.

Just what does that word mean?

Throughout this day, I personally heard this word used many times. In different ways.

This afternoon, I helped lead a conference @ NAC with Jared Fields and the Camp-Meeting speaker himself, David Aukerman!

The conference was on interpreting "Difficult Texts of the Bible," and we looked at the story of Judges 11:29-40: Jepthah's Daughter.

Amongst many other things, we talked about what it meant for Jepthah to have "the Spirit of the LORD upon him."

We noted the distinction between the role of the Spirit in the Hebrew Testament and the role of the Spirit in our day and age, beginning in Acts 2. In contrast to the ongoing indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers, the ancient Israelite understanding was that the Spirit's presence was more of a transient experience.

It could be here today, gone tomorrow.

Using King Saul as an example, Jared noted how he was clearly appointed by God to serve as King, for a time. But then later he was not "God's man" anymore. In both the Hebraic and Pentecost-al view of the Spirit's presence, "anointing" is the symbol.

After Saul, when David (the shepherd boy, not Brother Aukerman) was chosen by God to serve as the next King of Ancient Israel, Nathan the Prophet visited him in his father's house and he...anointed him.

The oil used in the practice of anointing was to be symbolic of the Spirit of God choosing that individual.

This evening's service saw the Reverend Diana Swoope bringing the Word!

But before this, the worship leader read from James 5, and invited any who desired to be Anointed to make their way to designated individuals who were waiting to anoint & pray over people.

Many people got up and received anointing for a multitude of reasons, I'm sure.

Then when Diana approached the pulpit, she read from Luke chapter 4: The words of the Isaiah Scroll that Jesus read to his hometown congregation.

In this reading, Jesus stated that "the Spirit of the LORD was upon him, for he had been anointed to proclaim good news to the poor..."

She proclaimed to us "The Holy Spirit does not anoint us just to sing to ourselves or make us comfortable." Rather, "The Holy Spirit anoints us to send us out to be a help to this world."

Picking up on the phrase, "the poor," Diana made this interesting statement:

"In the Holy Spirit, there is no Third-World Country."


I can't begin to tell you how many conversations I've had recently about Christy and I being called to serve God in the Netherlands. In this, many times people have commented about this location not being one riddled by poverty and, therefore, "great need."

First off, in stark contrast to the lack of physical poverty, the spiritual poverty is huge.

How do you convince someone they need God when all their needs are met, and they are comfortable?

How do you help them realize God's love for them when life is already going good?

This is precisely one of the main reasons why the Church of God does need the 3 Worlds team plugging away in Europe. Because we, too, have been anointed to proclaim good news to the poor!

Secondly, for Christy and I, today is a big day. Today, Tuesday June 26th, we will officially be Commissioned by the Church to serve as Missionaries.

Why this is important is because it allows the Community of Faith to recognize what God has already done! The Spirit of the LORD has already Anointed us to serve in this purpose and to be sent out as a help to the world!

The Greek word "apostello" translates as "one who is commissioned, one who is sent out with a purpose." And so we are. In 18 hours we will be commissioned so that we can be sent out with this purpose.

Radical Obedience...

I (Daniel) will confess: I love NAC. Really. That sounds like the punchline for a "You Might Be a Pastor/Bible-Nerd If..." Here's My Sign, I guess.

After a service of praise and worship and great preaching, the interactions with friends old and new, I was already on Cloud Nine.

But then it was that time again...the time every summer for the past several that I look forward to so that I can "get my blessing," or find complete Rest and get re-charged: The Heritage Hymn Sing.

It's always such a wonderful time to gather with hundreds+ of (mostly) old folks singing cherished hymns of faith and listening to guys like Arlo Newell tell tales of bygone heroes, men and women of CHOG renown. But this year I actually missed part of it. But it was worth it to see God move.

A friend, who shall remain nameless, aside from the description of being "a poor college kid," came in and tapped me on the shoulder. He saw me and wanted to say "hi" and congratulations on the due-any-week-now baby. Knowing that he would be quite excited to hear about the other big piece of news in our lives, I jumped up and took him outside to talk for a few minutes.

I quickly filled him in on what God was doing and where we were at with it all.

And then he did something I could not have expected.

We talked for a moment about how Hector Gonzalez had spoken of surrendering 100% to Christ, not 50%, not 99%, but 100%.

And he told me how he was learning to do that.

He told me that he felt God telling him to give me whatever was in his wallet to go towards our fund-raising.

And then he opened his wallet and pulled out a wad of cash and put it in my hand.

I quickly shoved it in my pocket and told him that I couldn't even look at it now or count it, or I'd start crying. But I knew that God would bless him beyond all measure for his obedience.

I didn't know the amount, and that's irrelevant. The point is he gave all he had, not because it was some magical amount that "we needed," and not because it was some magical amount that would qualify him to be described as an Elite level of supporter. He gave it all because that is what his Lord directed him to do.

I love when Followers of Christ actually follow Christ. It's so refreshing. Even when it doesn't make sense.

That one act of radical obedience was more than enough to encourage me and send me back out into the world. All from a poor college kid. Maybe my friend, Justin Wallace, is right: "If we're going to change the world it has to start with the college campus."

Anyway, long-story short, I just got home and counted it. Unbelievable. For a poor college kid, working his tail off to pay for school, this was certainly more than just a "widow's mite."

God bless my friend, and all, who actually practice Radical Obedience.