LOWER MAINLAND ETHNIC MINISTRIES
NETWORK
VISION...
Discipling the Nations - Seven Influential Sectors of Society Hold the Key
We believe that God has a significant role for the ethnic peoples in our nation in seeing the nation of Canada return to the Lord.
Over and over we hear that God's destiny for the nation of Canada is to bring healing to the nations!
Therefore, we desire to serve and bless those that God is bringing to our shores, whether the ethnic evangelists, church planters and disciplers that God is sending to us, or the ethnic peoples He is wooing to Himself. We have much to learn from each other as we gratefully and humbly serve Him and each other in the unity of His Spirit and in Truth. May God indeed be glorified and see His purposes accomplished in the Lower Mainland and beyond!
By the power and leading of the Holy Spirit, the Lower Mainland Ethnic Ministries Network seeks to effectively partner with Christ-centered churches, schools, businesses, missions, ministries and individuals in order to see ethnic groups in the Lower Mainland, Canada (and beyond) discipled into becoming whole-hearted, total-life worshippers of God. (as in the vision of worshippers before the throne of God in the book of Revelation)
Picture the Lower Mainland with its many diverse people groups, reflecting through their various cultures, personalities and gifts, the exquisite, multi-faceted beauty and character of God - multi-faceted and breath-taking like a rare and perfect diamond - where each aspect of His amazing character is being reflected from Him down to all of us through the various nations/peoples so that we get a better picture of Him!…and then once His character is beginning to be grasped by the peoples/nations, His character is reflected back up to Him through the various expressions of love and heart-worship of each diverse and unique people group, which is what He's desiring from all nations….part of His beautiful artwork!
Seven influential sectors of society hold the keys
From: http://www.uofn.ch/lausanne/society.htm
The seven spheres of influence described below will help us shape societies for Christ. God gave us these handles to use in carrying out Matthew 28 and discipling nations for Him. We believe He is wanting all His people to see the importance of these seven areas and work in them to extend Christ's reign throughout the earth.
Commerce, Science and Technology
The Arts, Entertainment and Sports
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Through families, we are discipling the next generation of every nation on earth. Mothers and fathers are already discipling that next generation, for good or for bad. We can seek to establish Christian homes along biblical patterns that will be light even in places of gross spiritual darkness. I know of one family living in a country totally hostile to the gospel, working in a professional field. Because of strict laws against speaking on religious matters, they are greatly restricted in their witness. But they have reported that even the manner in which the husband relates to his wife and children is having an impact on the people around them. These people are being drawn to the light of Jesus through the role model of this Christian family in their neighbourhood.
Commerce, Science and Technology
===========================
Filthy lucre. Climbing the ladder. The rat race. Even the common terms of
our language show that we basically believe making money is a dirty business.
Can a Christian succeed in business? Does the Holy Spirit want you to win
in the corporate world? Can a rich man enter the Kingdom of Heaven?
Jesus said it wasn't easy. He knew how hard it was to serve God when we are
blessed with material things. When the rich young ruler approached Him in
Luke 18, Jesus looked into his heart and saw that money, not God, sat on the
throne. He told him to give all that he had to the poor and follow Him. Was
Jesus giving a pattern for everyone? Yes, if money is number one, it is an
idol. The Lord will test you, to see if money means more to you than He does.
He may ask you to give away everything you have, more than once. But it may
be God's will for you to serve Him as a missionary in the business world,
blessing you with finances so that you can be a blessing to many others. John
Wesley, writing two hundred years ago, gave us up-to-date advice in his tract
called, "The Use of Money." He urged those who loved Jesus to "Gain
all you can...save all you can...and give all you can!" It's hard to
improve on that advice.
Science and technology are also avenues for Christian service. These are categories
which some Christians have avoided in the past. But true science and Bible
Christianity are totally compatible. Not only that, science and technology
desperately need the spiritual leadership of Christians. Never before has
a society been able to work so many technological miracles, and yet been so
unsure of its moral moorings. We need Christians who will enter these areas
as their mission field.
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Through churches, we are to disciple the nations of the world. How do we do this? I don't believe we are to do it by staying inside the walls of the church and believing it is Christ's Kingdom on earth. Attending church should be like a pit stop for Christians. The race is going on out in the world. The Kingdom of God is in us, and we take it out into the world wherever we go. We come to church again and again to get our tanks filled, to be fed, revived and restored, before going out again into the race to establish God's Kingdom in the world.
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Have you ever said, "Don't get involved in politics! It's a dirty business--no
place for Christians?" If you have, you have been voicing the will of
Satan. You didn't mean to, but you were giving the devil's point of view.
Where did we get the idea that Christians should not run for political office?
We certainly didn't get it from the Bible. We don't even have to turn the
to heads of state of Israel, like David or Solomon. After all, they were leading
a country that at least gave lip service to being God's people. Look instead
at two other examples--men who served in government in heathen countries--Daniel
and Joseph.
These two young men exercised godly principles and conduct and found themselves
as prime ministers. Early in their careers, no political pollster would have
given them any chance of gaining their positions. Daniel was a refugee, a
foreigner, an outsider who didn't play by the rules of his king's court. Joseph
suffered sibling rivalry of the worst kind, met a woman who had a fatal attraction
to him and found himself languishing in the dim recesses of an Egyptian dungeon.
Not exactly the lifestyles of the rich and famous! Daniel, later in his political
career, was thrown into a very small space where he was outnumbered by extremely
large lions who hadn't had their lunch yet.
Can the godly win in the political arena? If it were possible in ancient Egypt
and Babylon, it is possible today--in any country. But if a Christian seeks
to serve the Lord in government, he or she will also have to face a modern
den of lions. God will allow that to purge and build character, as well as
to teach lessons that will later be applied in His style of leadership: Servant
leadership. God is searching for men and women today who choose to give up
their rights and be raised to positions of national leadership. However, He
will only exalt them after He has tested them to be sure they will not end
up like King Saul--taken by the love of power rather than remaining the servant
of all.
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From day-care centers and preschools, to graduate schools in the most prestigious
universities of the world, the next generation is being influenced every day.
This is a precious opportunity--an arena to shape the world for Jesus.
In Iceland during the ninth century, pagan Vikings came ashore and found a
small population of Christians from Ireland. The Vikings made the Irish Christians
their slaves and gave them what they considered a menial job--taking care
of the children. The slaves taught the children and within three generations,
they reshaped a country. In the year 1,000, the people of Iceland voted to
declare themselves a Christian nation.
Christians must be involved in every sphere of education: writing curriculum,
teaching and administrating. Some should remain as a godly influence in public
schools while others lead in Christian schools. Parents are to be active,
too, partnering with the teachers to disciple their children.
=========
Media-bashing has become a popular sport lately. Everyone from right to left
in the political spectrum, as well as many Christians have become convinced
that the media folks are conniving to rob them of their rights. But how many
of us realise that this is a mission field of enormous proportions? According
to a recent poll by Lichter and Rothman of 238 media elite, fifty percent
claim to have no religious belief at all. Only three to five percent go to
church or synagogue regularly.
This is a rate of unevangelised people equal to many so called "closed
countries."
Pick your least favourite news reporter. Get his or her face firmly in your
mind. Then realise that this is a person for whom Jesus Christ hung on the
cross--this is an individual worth the sacrifice of the Son of God.
It is hard to overstate the importance of the electronic and print media in
shaping our society. Why then have Christians ignored this arena, leaving
a vacuum for the unrighteous to fill? We can't complain of the lack of truth
in the press if we are not willing to go among them, carrying the One who
said He was the way, the truth and the life. Again, some will be led to penetrate
the non-Christian media while others work in Christian networks and newspapers.
The Arts, Entertainment and Sports
===========================
Whoa, you say. Surely this is the devil's domain. Isn't Christian entertainer
a contradiction in terms?
I don't know how I got this idea growing up, but somehow I became convinced
that anything fun, anything exciting with movement and colour was probably
sinful.
Example: Really godly people dress plainly; the holiest wear all black (or
all white, depending on the group).
Example: A good joke has no place among truly spiritual people.
Example: Anything is more sacred if it is done soberly, without any emotion.
When at all possible, use seventeenth century language when you talk to God,
like King James English. Better yet, prayers should be said in a monotone,
without any degree of inflection in the voice.
Perhaps you share only part of those ideas, but by and large, this is the
picture we have painted to the world of what it means to be godly. So what
kind of image does this give us about Christians and Christian entertainers?
They must never smile, be dressed all in black, speak in a strange monotone,
and never even move. (Didn't we learn to show respect for God as our parents
constantly remind us, "Sit still! You're in the house of God!")
No wonder the idea of a Christian entertainer strikes us as odd. Again, look
at the scriptures. Do we see a dull God, a colourless God, a lifeless God?
The devil wants us to think fun is his department, but that just isn't true.
Read the book of Revelation and you'll see. There's a rainbow of colour around
God's throne, and the Creator of all energy is not sitting there impassively.
One of my favourite scriptures, in Zephaniah, shows God singing and rejoicing
over us! He celebrates because of the actions of those who love Him. The God
who created us in His image experiences emotions and knows great joy as well
as sorrow. He is the centre of excitement, the author of drama, pageantry,
majesty and beauty.
Any territory which we abandon, Satan will fill. That has happened in the
performing arts. Modern drama was born as a form of evangelism--the Church
created morality plays to teach the truths of scripture to an illiterate public.
We must recapture drama and every form of entertainment for Jesus, seeking
Him for creative ways to show the world who He is.
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This article was taken from chapter nine of Loren Cunningham's book "Winning God's Way", copyright © 1988 by Loren Cunningham. All rights reserved. Published by Frontline Communications, a division of Youth With A Mission; P.O. Box 55787; Seattle, Washington 98155; U.S.A. Used by permission of the author. Discover more about Loren's books, and how you can obtain them and other YWAM publications!
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