France is needy

I was visiting the hospital a few days ago, and a church member asked about my recent mission trip. Another person asked, "Where did you go on a mission trip?" and when he heard it was to the suburbs of Paris, France, he said, "I thought when you said you went on a mission trip that you went somewhere needy."I understood what he meant. Paris is a beautiful city. Everybody wants to go there to tour. And yes, we saw the Eiffel Tower at night, flashing on the hour with sparkling lights. We saw the beautiful whitewashed cathedral of Montmarte on the hillside overlooking the city. We climbed on top of the Arch de Triomphe and took pictures in all directions. We saw the glitter and gold of the Palace of Versailles.So I understand why the man thought we did not go to a place that is needy.But let me tell you what else I saw. I saw a new Muslim mosque under construction, and I saw two large apartment buildings that are full of Muslims. A Baptist pastor said that people are afraid to go there and share the gospel. I went on the streets handing out gospel tracts with Baptists in the town of Colombes, France, and I saw a Muslim man who said he had been to the Baptist church and liked their worship, and I saw another Muslim man who insisted that Christians worshiped three gods and did not want to listen to their explanation of the Trinity. I saw many people turn away our witness and I heard a missionary explain to me that ten years ago 15% of the French were practicing Catholics, but today it is 8 to 9%, and she thinks in another decade it will be zero. And only 4% are Protestant, with just 1% evangelical Protestant.I took four Christian policemen with me and visited the police station in Colombes. I saw policemen who had no nametags and who take off their uniforms and wear civilian clothes when they go home, for fear of reprisals against them because their are policemen. I saw one Baptist policeman who told our Christian policemen that he felt alone as a Christian, and desperately needed their encouragement to share his faith and live a faithful Christian life when he did not know any other policemen who profess faith in Christ.I saw a vibrant Baptist church in Colombes, France that is overflowing with children, mostly from African immigrant families, and the church has no room for them-- just a few tiny classrooms above their old sanctuary, a small building with sofas out back and two tiny modular classrooms-- yet they attract hundreds of children and youth and share Christ with them. After what I saw, I would say that France IS needy. Needy to hear the gospel.

The Unchurched Next Door

I recently finished reading The Unchurched Next Door by Thom Rainer. I had previously read his books Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Simple Church, and I found his research to be very illuminating in those books. The same is true of this book.
For this project, Rainer had a team of interviewers conduct extensive one-on-one surveys with unchurched Americans from a wide variety of backgrounds. Rainer classifies them into five categories of unchurched. These are classified on the "Rainer scale" from a U5 (highly resistant and antogonistic to the gospel) to a U1 (high receptive to the gospel.) His researchers found that only 5% of Americans were U5's (antogonistic), and that among the remaining 95% of the unchurched, the majority would likely come to church if somebody they knew invited them and offered to go with them into the building. Here was the most interesting statistic in the book-- Answers to the question, would you be likely to go to church if invited:
U5 (antogonistic): 0% very likely, 20% somewhat likely, for a total of 20%
U4 (resistant but not antagonistic): 17% very likely, 45% somewhat likely, for a total of 62%
U3 (neutral): 23% very likely, 63% somewhat likely, for a total of 86%
U2 (receptive): 46% very likely, 51% somewhat likely, for a total of 97%
U1 (highly receptive): 52% very likely, 45% somewhat likely, for a total of 97%
Over and over again, Rainer pleads in this book for Christians to invite their friends to church. His plea needs to be heard.

Rick Warren on Hannity & Colmes

I criticized Joel Osteen for failing to mention Jesus in his Wednesday night interview with Fox News' Hannity & Colmes about the California wildfires. Well, on Thursday night they interviewed Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose-Driven Life. (You can watch the video here.) Warren didn't mention Jesus, either, but the focus of his interview was different. The interview with Osteen asked theological questions. The interview with Warren asked him what his church was doing, since three of the fires are raging around Saddleback Church, and Warren told how his church is a shelter, is feeding firefighters, and has sent out 100 chaplains to do counseling.

By the way, on Thursday, California Southern Baptists fed 10,000 people in San Diego who were affected by the fires.

Osteen discusses California wildfires - all smoke, no fire

Last night my wife and I were watching Hannity & Colmes on Fox News, when suddenly who should appear to give religious consolation to the viewers, than Joel Osteen and his wife, Victoria.
They asked the Osteens how people suffering in the California wildfires can find hope. The Osteens talked about trusting God despite trouble, being better rather than being bitter, staying positive, and not blaming God. What they said was fine, but it was what they did not say that struck me. Not once did they mention Jesus Christ. They were on the air for several minutes, and were asked multiple questions by both Sean Hannity and Colmes. The door was wide open to share the gospel, but they never did. Despite being asked about the meaning of suffering and how to find hope, they said nothing about the cross. Nothing about the resurrection. Not a word about Jesus. I guess they didn't want to offend anybody.

10,000th visitor

Riddle: They call it a library, it looks like a barn, but its really a museum. What is it?

It's the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C. While on our vacation, we decided to spend Thursday morning visiting the Billy Graham Library. When we arrived, they told Mary that she was the 10,000th visitor since it opened on June 5, 2007. They took several pictures of us, and gave us a gift bag with books by Billy Graham and Ruth Bell Graham, and a souvenir mug, t-shirt and cap.

We really enjoyed our visit. Everything is free. We first saw the Graham family homeplace where Billy Graham grew up, and got a picture of our family with Billy's picture in the home. Then we visited the library itself (a museum that looks like a barn in honor of the Graham's farm home). The main feature in the library is an hour-long interactive theater program. You move from room to room as you watch videos and see displays remembering the ministry of the man who has preached the gospel to more people than any other human in history. While honoring Graham, the library's focus is upon Christ. More than anything else, it is a celebration of how God worked through one man to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. I took the picture from the inside of the library looking out through the cross-shaped glass entrance. Through the cross you can see the family home.

It is well worth a trip to Charlotte to see the Billy Graham Library. We're glad we went!