Tag: God
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The Long Road to Rapid Movements
In the article, I reflect on how so-called “rapid” movements actually take years of faithfulness. I talk about the kind of leaders we really need—not polished pros, but ordinary disciples who just keep following Jesus through all the highs and lows. For me, it’s never been about speed. It’s about staying faithful and letting God…
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Obedient Unto Death
This poignant piece reflects the heart-wrenching reality of injustice and persecution faced by Christians around the world. The AsianRoughRider passionately expresses anger towards the perpetrators of such atrocities, but also emphasizes the ultimate triumph of Jesus Christ over evil. He encourages practical actions, through prayer, serving those around them, and supporting policies that promote religious…
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Movement Leaders: Next Gen Catalysts (Spoken Word)
Someone once asked me this question,“What is a leader of the next generation?” Are they forged through the fires of social experimentation?Or are they found in the institutions of formal education? Neither… Movement leaders are formed by the Spirit of God First and foremost, God is the hostSalvation’s by grace through faith so that no…
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Christmas and Religion is for Suckas
If you grew up in the USA as a refugee or immigrant from another country then you probably, like me, got duped into thinking Santa was going to bring you presents. Being born on Christmas Day I thought I had it made. But when the gifts never came I realized the truth, that Santa couldn’t…
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Modern Day Slavery, From Fear to Freedom
Slavery comes in many forms. It exists in every culture…even among tribes in Southeast Asia. I had never seen a tribe so remote. After 2 hours of motorbiking and 3 hours of boating we finally arrived in a small village along the river. The houses sat on stilts, the roofs were made of thatch and…
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4 Christian Responses to the LGBT Community
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states this week leading to a mixture of responses and heated discussions – my wife and I included. As missionaries on the other side of the planet we can’t help but think of the missiological implications, “How will this affect the faith…
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The Greatest Injustice: Not Loving Those Who Hate
A few months ago I was I sitting in a small wooden boat in Southeast Asia with some of my closest friends and teammates. We were trying to find our way up river through a maze of thousands of dead trees rising up out of the water. The naked trees rose high above our heads…
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A Story of Hope: From Afghanistan to San Diego
Ghaffar was furiously digging a hole through a prison wall in Pakistan. His life depended on it. Over three years ago the Taliban captured him, an Afghani refugee, on his way to the United Nations refugee camps (UNHCR) in Turkey. He was separated from his wife, Shabana, and their four kids. He remembers how much…
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Chapter 9: Locked Up
On my second day in Juvenile hall I watched a Mexican cholo get his head smashed into a table by a big black kid. The poor guy was caught unaware from the back and was being pummeled into the ground while the black kid kept screaming, “Don’t ever talk bout my momma! Don’t ever talk…
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3 Reasons Why Social Justice Will Not Change the World
For those of us who followed the news in 2014 it was a depressing year. Images of violence, racism, government coups, injustice and world-wide evil have wracked our brains and broken our hearts. As we look at our lost nations, communities and target people groups we have to ask ourselves an important question. What is…
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A New Way to Do an Old Thing in a New Year
Sharing our faith with lost family, friends and strangers can be a daunting task. We all know that we should be good witnesses of the most important message in the universe – that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose again – but none of us have the evangelistic gifts of Billy Graham.…
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Dear Tobias…What’s the Worst & Best Thing about Being a Missionary?
November 23, 2014 Hi Tobias, We’ve never met before but I’ve heard a lot about you from some mutual friends. My wife and I spent this past weekend with some missional families stateside and I know God has broken our hearts for the lost, especially for those in the 1040 window. I just wanted to…
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The Lack of Mission in the Missional Movement: Let’s Just Tweet About It
These days everyone has the vernacular down. The word “missional” has been trending for the last 15 years among post-modern, culturally sensitive followers of Jesus. We’re changing the way we communicate with the un-churched by trying not to sound so religious. That’s great, but changing what we say versus changing what we do are two…
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Is the Gospel Worth the Risk?
I was on a skinny wooden boat recently traveling up river to a remote cluster of villages we had never been to. We’ve only seen these villages in our minds as we prayed for them and on satellite images surrounded by mountain valleys. We were determined to get there despite the fact that we didn’t…
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What Next? The 4 Stages of Launching Church Movements
As church planters, “What next?” is probably one of the questions we ask the most. What do we do after reaching the lost? How do we make disciples and train them to train others? How do we form groups and catalyze a movement of reproducing churches? There are so many methods and answers out there…
The Asian Rough Rider 