Why House Church?

"Why does your family attend a house church?" I get this question fairly often. It is not really about having church in a home. It is more about experiencing and modeling and promoting the biblical principles of...

(1) Kingdom expansion through smaller churches that are more REPRODUCIBLE among all peoples

(2) more thorough discipleship by allowing PARTICIPATION during the church gathering, under the shepherding and oversight of the elders

(3) knowing and LOVING one another more by gathering more like a family and eating the Lord's Supper weekly as a full meal together

(4) STEWARDING financial resources more strategically by giving more to missions.

These principles are easier to apply in house churches. These principles are further explained here if you have 10 minutes to respond to my introductory points about "reproducible churches". Keep in mind that the target audience of this form is Arab believers. If you live in the Kentuckiana area, you are invited to join us any Sunday at 10:30 am. Please pray for our house church and ask God to raise up house church planters in the Middle East.

My Vision... "To Befriend"

Israel will reopen in November and I could probably visit Lebanon by then but it seems most effective to continue developing relationships online and wait until January to visit them. My role in Saudi and Sudan is becoming more clear but please keep praying for even greater clarity. God used the visit to Saudi to cause me to think more about the potential for using native speakers and chatbots in social media evangelism. Please pray for this around the region.

Would you take 5 minutes to pray for these brothers? After reading my prayer requests, you may assume that I have some kind of pastoral role in their lives but I don't. I tell them that I want to be one of their many "good friends" and an "older brother in Christ''. I encourage them to share these prayer requests with an elder in their church. For most of them, it is easier for them to share these things with a foreigner whom they don't have to see on a weekly basis.

I send specific prayer requests via text every week or so. When I'm overseas for 3 weeks, those texts are sent daily and include the names of the guys I'm meeting with. If you would like to receive these prayer texts, reply to this email with "I'm in!" You can always say, "I'm out" later and it won't hurt my feelings.

My mission/vision here.

May Your Kingdom Come

I'm writing from Cairo, Egypt. It has been a good trip but a little sad since our youngest kids got covid last week, then my wife tested positive. Her symptoms have been mild and she has lots of help but it's hard to be so far away. I'll be home soon. 

On my previous trip to the Middle East in May I visited Sudan, where we lived in 2006 and '07 but had to leave after our residency visa was denied. A multiple-exit/re-entry visa for Sudan is not looking possible in the near future. On this trip, I was able to visit a country that I had not visited since 2011... Saudi Arabia. We never lived there as a family but I was traveling to and from KSA to visit the Muslim guys with whom I was engaging in gospel conversation online. In 2012 and '13, I served with a team of mobilizers under the Saudi Advocacy Network, mobilizing the church to reach the 100,000 Saudi students who were studying in the US at that time.

Saudi has changed a lot over the past 10 years. Women now drive, the religious police have much less authority, and I was able to get a multiple-exit/re-entry visa online in a few minutes! Would you ask God to give me wisdom as I process whether or not to add KSA to my itinerary on regular trips to the Middle East? I desire to do so but my role there is unclear for now. Israel is still not open but a Jordanian friend introduced me to several brothers from Irbid with whom I will begin connecting online. I was advised not to visit Lebanon on this trip.

Summertime

Would you take 5 minutes to read this article about modesty?

Conversations online with Sudanese brothers are going... okay. I will most likely not visit Sudan during my September trip but may reconsider if I am able to get the multiple exit/re-entry visa. Please pray for this. It is still not clear whether or not Israel will be open to individual tourists by September. Pray that I would be able to visit friends there in Nazareth like this couple, as well as wisdom whether or not to pursue developing relationships in nearby Irbid, which is Jordan's second-largest metro area.

We are grateful that a friend allowed us to use his lakehouse at Rough River last week for a couple of days. All 8 of our kids were there. Kendra and Trent are busy with their photography business. This will be Sam's last year of running while completing grad school. Anna will graduate from college next summer. Max just got promoted to a supervisor position at UPS. Heidi soon begins her last year of high school online and is working at Wal-Mart. My wife and I prayed for summer jobs for Petra (15) and Henry (14) and God provided! Nehemiah (12) is playing on a homeschool soccer team. The three youngest are all attending a classical school three days a week and running for the Homeschool Tommies cross-country team. My wife will move from being a 4th-grade assistant to teaching KG this year. Lots of swimming at grandparents, cornhole, basketball, fishing, and watching Little House on the Praire this summer.

Taxi Accident In Beirut But Recovering Well

Near the end of my trip to the Middle East last month, I was involved in a taxi accident in Beirut. The elderly driver and I were taken to the hospital but sustained no major injuries. I'm still very sore in my shoulders and neck but PT and massage are helping. A friend in Beirut sent me this news report of another vehicle accident at the exact same location two weeks after my accident. Please offer a prayer of thanks that my accident was not serious and my injuries were minor compared to what I initially thought they were. The single American brothers who hosted me helped with meals, transportation, and allowing me to continue my meetings with Lebanese brothers in their living room.

Please continue to pray for my discernment regarding the feasibility of future trips to Sudan coupled with online conversations with approximately 35 younger Sudanese church leaders whose quality of internet service varies. I'm testing this now and over the rest of the summer.

And if you have five MORE minutes to pray :-) would you pray for these brothers in the Middle East?

Visiting Sudan After 13 Years

From 2006 to 2008 our family lived in Khartoum, Sudan. I was denied a residency visa and therefore had assumed that I should not try to visit. After government changes over the past 2 years, Sudanese pastors assured me that I could visit without bringing unnecessary attention to them. It was a wonderful visit! I stayed in a small hotel in the middle of the market where I spent most of my time the first year learning how to share the gospel in Arabic. To get an idea about what the market is like, you can watch my 5-minute commute to work here. Pray for a few Sudanese believers to have a vision for social media outreach (through Facebook advertising) now that sanctions against Sudan have been lifted. Pray for gospel-centered Sudanese families to plant reproducible churches among all Sudanese peoples. Pray for discernment regarding the feasibility of future trips coupled with online conversations with younger Sudanese church leaders who may have weak internet.

I also visited Cairo, Alexandria, Amman, and will return home soon from Beirut. Pray for ongoing relationships online with the 100+ guys that I have met with individually over the past 3 weeks.

Hear God Speak?

Do you remember the popular Bible study from the early '90s called Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby? It was the first Bible study in which I ever participated. I was 18 years old. From the beginning of the study, it was assumed that born-again believers could somehow hear the "voice" of God. Well, I am no longer persuaded that believers should assume that God “speaks” to us through our thoughts. I have this conversation often with brothers in the Middle East, where the hyper-charismatic movement has influenced many churches.

When God spoke to people in Scripture, it seldom happened and it was clearly God speaking because it happened in supernatural ways (audible voice, angels, vision, donkey). I see nothing in Scripture that says that He cannot still speak to someone in a personal, supernatural way today. Yet trying to subjectively discern whether or not a particular thought we have is the "voice" of God is never prescribed or even described in Scripture, except for the inspiration of Scripture itself as mentioned in 2 Peter 1:21.

Some might say, "But the Bible doesn't tell me who to marry, where to live, or which career to pursue. I need to "hear" from God on those things." James 1 tells us to ask God for wisdom. Romans 12 tells us to discern the will of God by renewing our minds and testing. Philippians 1 tells us to pray for discernment. Then, God will give us the wisdom to make decisions that we ourselves discern will glorify God, along with our understanding of Scripture.

I've been sharing the Arabic version of this short article about "God told me" with several Arab brothers. Would you pray for them to have biblical clarity regarding the "voice" of God? Pray also for traveling mercy to four Arab nations next month.

More Zooming

I received the single-entry visa for Sudan but there are just too many complications to travel to four Middle Eastern countries right now. Almost ten separate PCR tests would be required, flights are limited and expensive, and my Arab friends seem to have varying comfort levels when it comes to visiting with someone who has traveled internationally from a "red country". Thank God for Zoom! Would you take 3 minutes to read here how you and your church can partner with churches in Lebanon to provide relief to so many who are suffering there?

Speaking of Lebanon, please pray for a brother there. He was pursuing a young lady in marriage but she recently ended the relationship, primarily due to some trust issues related to his lack of online purity. He now has online protection and accountability but... he is heartbroken. He also recently took on a different role in full-time ministry online which gives him more opportunities to share the gospel abundantly and follow up with seekers face-to-face.

A few more thoughts about "no grounds for divorce" here.

No Biblical Grounds For Divorce?

Looks like I will need to wait until at least February to visit the Middle East. I'm still waiting for my passport to return from the Sudanese Embassy in DC. Plus, Lebanon just entered a 3-week lockdown due to COVID. So more zooming.

 
In my conversations with Arab brothers, we discuss many issues related to the family. We don't often discuss divorce and remarriage because it is not as prevalent in Arab culture as it is in western culture. I've been persuaded by Pastor John Piper here that there are actually no grounds for divorce, not even adultery. He says that the exemption clause of "sexual immorality" mentioned twice in Matthew is related to fornication during engagement rather than adultery during marriage. However, I'm open to interpret the relevant passages of Scripture differently if persuaded otherwise. (You can view Piper's longer version here which I don't completely agree with.) Also, what would qualify as "sexual immorality"? Does a believer have grounds for divorce if their spouse kisses someone else? What about if they look at pornography daily? Or once? Even though I interpret the Bible to say that neither adultery nor abuse is grounds for divorce, counseling and a redemptive separation would be needed until repentance is proved.

Would you pray for a born-again Egyptian friend who recently committed fornication but is engaged to another woman? I don't think that he is taking this as seriously as he should. Also, would you take a few minutes to pray for these brothers?

For the past few years, I have prayed (but not enough) for a tech-savvy believer who could turn something like this into an online assessment of Christ-like character for counselees. Would you prayerfully consider forwarding this idea to any tech-savvy believers you think could help?

Grateful

For 25 years now, I have been financially "freed-up" to serve in ministry full-time. My wife and I say "thank you" to so many of you who have supported us over the years. Your donations have allowed her to homeschool 8 children. We understand that our arrangement of being under the authority of our local church without a mission organization or a monthly salary is unusual. Yet you continue to entrust us with the stewardship of a portion of your Kingdom dollars.  We are also grateful for those of you who pray for the Arab brothers in our e-newsletter from time to time, and especially for the 75 of you who are praying for specific requests weekly, even daily whenever I am overseas. 

Let me tell you about an Egyptian brother named Samuel. We met 10 years ago when his older sister was in the homeschooling group. (How is it that all roads lead back to this group?!) In his late 20s, his life's ambition was to be a missionary. He is now planting house churches among Syrian refugees in Iraq! Two weeks ago he was stateside and passing through our city, so he stopped for an overnight visit. No mention of a fiance... then recently he tells me that he is marrying an American girl who also serves in Iraq! Please pray for Samuel and Lindsey as they return to Iraq to make disciples among the unreached.

This week I sent my visa application to the Sudanese Embassy. Would you pray Romans 8:28 over my possible trip to Sudan, Egypt, and Lebanon next month? Complications abound.