Menefee's Mind

FYI

2008-9-08T22:43:00-0100

I'm switching to Blogspot, or Blogger, as my host. The link will still be on the Menefee's Mind (menefeesmind.com) site as Brian's Ramblings, but if you have a leed or subscription to this page, you will not get notifications of posts. So check out the new page (same name) and subscribe to it. -Thanks

a wide brush for a big project

2008-9-01T20:38:00-0100

I feel like I need to follow up on some of my more recent posts. Tact is not always one of my strong points, and it's been pointed out to me that my tone has been selfrightious and ungrateful. For that I am deeply sorry. I by far have no right to claim any kind of "holier than thou" attitude. My partial education, minor investment and little summer trip in no way make me an expert, hero or honored veteran. And I would not be who I am or where I am with out the help of family and friends. I am forever indebted to you in love.

If my tone was judgmental and offensive, it was not directed (by me) at any one person, group or church. I can not speak for churches in other countries, but the Church of America (which includes me) has a problem. It doesn't take much research and insight to see that things are terribly out of balance. No, I don't have a simple solution, but we have an abundance of resources: people, books, money and more. Yet, millions on the other side of the globe are not hearing the Gospel, and it's been this way for generations.

Robert Speer said, "There is nothing in the world or the Church -- except the church's disobedience -- to render the evangelization of the world in this generation an impossibility." That was around 1930, far before the Internet and the current age of communication and other technologies, so it remains true all the more for this generation.

Paul commented to an Aug 10th blog well by saying, "...people here do not see the need; they do not have their eyes open. Most people here are too wrapped up in the 9-5 grind and have numbed themselves with entertainment. And yes, their greatest quest and ambition is more of the same; career ambitions and entertainment..."

The debate about weather or not all are called to go or some are called to stay is not my concern. My concern is the job is not getting done and that more people need to get involved. But the problem is not only lack of funding; it is far more a lack of people going. Again, I'm painting this picture with a wide brush, and I understand that there are needed and productive ways to minister here in the states.

But I tend to share the mind of James Gilmour, who said, "I thought the matter out, and decided for the mission field; even on the low ground of common sense I seemed to be called to be a missionary. Is the kingdom a harvest field? Then I thought it reasonable that I should seek to work where the work was most abundant and the workers fewest. Labourers say they are over-taxed at home; what then must be the case abroad, where there are wide stretching plains already white to harvest, with scarcely here and there a solitary reaper? ...in place of seeking to assign a reason for going abroad, I would prefer to say that I have failed to discover any reason why I should stay at home." --www.wholesomewords.org/missions/msquotes.html

The Irresistible Revolution

2008-8-30T20:19:00-0100

If you haven't read The Irresistible Revolution, I highly recommend you do so.
Here's a blurb about it:
"Many of us find ourselves caught somewhere between unbelieving activists and inactive believers. We can write a check to feed starving children or hold signs in the streets and feel like we've made a difference without ever encountering the faces of the suffering masses. In this book, Shane Claiborne describes an authentic faith rooted in belief, action, and love, inviting us into a movement of the Spirit that begins inside each of us and extends into a broken world. Shane's faith led him to dress the wounds of lepers with Mother Teresa, visit families in Iraq amidst bombings, and dump $10,000 in coins and bills on Wall Street to redistribute wealth. Shane lives out this revolution each day in his local neighborhood, an impoverished community in North Philadelphia, by living among the homeless, helping local kids with homework, and "practicing resurrection" in the forgotten places of our world.Shane's message will comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable . . . but will also invite us into an irresistible revolution. His is a vision for ordinary radicals ready to change the world with little acts of love."

You can find more of his stuff at this link.