{"id":20998,"date":"2019-01-24T14:29:25","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T22:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=20998"},"modified":"2019-01-24T14:29:25","modified_gmt":"2019-01-24T22:29:25","slug":"good-reading-helps-prevent-delusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/good-reading-helps-prevent-delusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Reading Helps Prevent Delusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Lewis and Richard Pierard\u2019s Global Evangelicalism<\/em> (GE<\/em>) is a collection of scholarly essays that examines the impact of globalization and the southern shift of Evangelicalism. They begin with a straightforward definition of Evangelicals who believe in the person of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, the authoritative guidance of the Bible, water Baptism, Lord\u2019s supper-communion, fulfilling the Great Commission, and maintaining relationships in the body of Christ.[1]<\/a> These editors know what they know and ensure that the belief in Jesus Christ is stated at the beginning of their review of Evangelicalism. I hope to leverage their work and apply it to my spiritual warfare dissertation research, missional outreaches, and marketplace ministry.<\/p>\n

First, when I look at the world around me for my dissertation problem I see the influence of spiritual warfare everywhere. Even so, I am still looking through blurred lenses and struggle to see the real threat(s) that Paul warns us about in his Apostolic letters. Who are the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces in heavenly places that we must stand against and wear the armor of God to stand firm and defend in the moment or in the day?[2]<\/a> \u00a0Lewis and Pierard do a good job of drawing attention to Africa and their continent-country-wide recognition of the African Evangelicals daily \u201cstruggle against demonic forces and spiritual evil.\u201d[3]<\/a> I know from personal experience as a missionary pilot in Africa that the people there are more sensitive to the spirit world and do not dismiss, ignore, and marginalize the evil phenomenon as much as Western Evangelicals tend to do. One good example is the Intercessors for Africa (IFA). They recognize and call-out the failure of many African states with a spiritual problem. The IFA uses \u201cprayer to counter the evil forces behind the political agents.\u201d[4]<\/a> I wonder if North American Evangelicals would consider using prayer to overcome their desensitized viewpoints and call upon the power and promises of God to restrain and teardown the negative and evil influences surrounding their work, home, and play.<\/p>\n

Second, regarding missional outreaches, I was pleased to read a conservative position showcased by our editors who used the 1974 Lausanne Evangelical Missionary Conference as an example of the Evangelical Expansion. One presenter, Samuel Escobar from Peru, challenged Evangelicals to protect the \u201cintegrity of the Gospel\u201d while helping finish the Great Commission.[5]<\/a> I really connected with his advice to defend the Biblical pattern of evangelism as he warned about the current evangelical temptation to reduce, marginalize, and \u201celiminate any demands for the fruit of repentance.\u201d[6]<\/a> \u00a0To me, his warning means to exercise care and caution, prayer and discernment, when trying to contextualize the Gospel without maintaining the associated conditional requirements and ethical demands given by Scripture. I pray for the advance of contextually appropriate revivals where Christianity is embedded into the missionary\u2019s local social relationships. I have only witnessed this type of revivalism on small scales, but it is exciting to see and not something we normally see in the West since the revivals like Billy Graham helped lead. Lewis and Pierard describe a multi-country revival in the 1930\u2019s that spread from Rwanda into the surrounding region where I served and flew as a missionary.[7]<\/a> (FYI, I earned my malaria merit badge while serving in Rwanda!)<\/p>\n

Third, this book influences my role in an emerging Evangelical outreach called a marketplace ministry (MM). \u00a0I believe the idea of marketplace ministry lines up with the Evangelicalism movement because it supports and encourages Christians to \u201cactivate their faith at work and develop strategies that will systematically integrate faith and business, without alienating others in the workplace.\u201d[8]<\/a> Simply stated, it is ministry and mission done in and around the workplace. MM is the modern version of what Paul did by financially supporting himself by making tents for the Roman Empire. His vocation allowed him to support himself while also giving him access to hard to reach people, so he could live an incarnational witness, evangelize, start missionary journeys, and plant churches where he lived and worked.<\/p>\n

In comparison to our Lewis and Pierard\u2019s GD other authors Hutchinson and Wolffe wrote a book on evangelicalism and say it is \u201cone strand in a complex matrix of influences\u201d and they prefer to regard it from a historical over theological perspective.[9]<\/a> In Weber\u2019s review of GE he credits Noll, who was cited by our editors, with the most succinct and perceptive definition.[10]<\/a> Veeneman\u2019s review of Lewis and Pierard\u2019s work is short and to the point. He says the editors provide a helpful overview, raise some critical cross-cultural issues, and do a good job defining Evangelicalism for readers from graduate level through professional practitioners.[11]<\/a> Graham says that GE<\/em> offers a good history lesson on the evangelicalism movement and explores the \u201ctricky questions\u201d surrounding denominational differences and gender issues.[12]<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, have any of my reviewers ever heard of \u201cThe Old Deluder Satan Act?\u201d Thanks to this book I learned how in 1647 a Massachusetts Puritan Colony required boys and girls to learn how to read. Their spiritual logic and discernment was that their youth needed education to successfully \u201cfight against Satan; who could less easily delude a person who could read the Bible.\u201d[13]<\/a> I wonder what else we can focus on so that we are not deluded, deceived, and tricked into sin?<\/p>\n

In summary, this book was a good read for me and easily connects with my dissertation, mission, and marketplace ministry focuses.<\/p>\n

Stand firm,<\/p>\n

M. Webb<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Donald M. Lewis and Richard V. Pierard. Global Evangelicalism: Theology, History and Culture in Regional Perspective<\/em>. (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2014) 13.<\/h6>\n
[2]<\/a> Eph. 6:12-13.<\/h6>\n
[3]<\/a> Ibid., 162.<\/h6>\n
[4]<\/a> Ibid.<\/h6>\n
[5]<\/a> Ibid., 57.<\/h6>\n
[6]<\/a> Ibid.<\/h6>\n
[7]<\/a> Ibid., 51<\/h6>\n
[8]<\/a> LaSharnda Beckwith. “The Evolution of Marketplace Ministry: An Exploratory Study of Strategies Used in Business Evangelism.” Journal of Business Studies Quarterly 8, no. 1 (2016): 6.<\/h6>\n
[9]<\/a> Mark Hutchinson and John Wolffe. A Short History of Global Evangelicalism<\/em>. (Cambridge University Press, 2012) 85.<\/h6>\n
[10]<\/a> \u201cDonald M. Lewis and Richard V. Pierard (Eds). 2014. Global Evangelicalism: Theology, History and Culture in Regional Perspective. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.\u201d Studies in World Christianity<\/em> 21 (3): 282.<\/h6>\n
[11]<\/a> M. Veeneman. “Global Evangelicalism: Theology, History and Culture in Regional Perspective.” Choice 52, no. 7 (2015): 1163.<\/h6>\n
[12]<\/a> Christian Graham. “Spirituality & Religion.” Library Journal 139, no. 20 (2014): N\/a.<\/h6>\n
[13]<\/a> Ibid., 217<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Lewis and Richard Pierard\u2019s Global Evangelicalism (GE) is a collection of scholarly essays that examines the impact of globalization and the southern shift of Evangelicalism. They begin with a straightforward definition of Evangelicals who believe in the person of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, the authoritative guidance of the Bible, water Baptism, Lord\u2019s supper-communion, fulfilling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1425,1122],"class_list":["post-20998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-donald-lewis","tag-global-evangelicalism","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20998"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20999,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20998\/revisions\/20999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}