Tag: obedience
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Discipleship Is Our Greatest Protest
The AsianRoughRider challenges readers to move beyond surface-level activism by embracing discipleship, which involves a process of following Jesus that leads to transformation, system change, and fear of God. He contrasts this with performance-based activism, arguing that true protest must embody these biblical principles, embracing a life of radical obedience that reflects the love and…
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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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The Way of the Ninja: 6 Ways to Define Our Missional Role
Every Asian kid growing up has one time played ninja. You take a black t-shirt, wrap it around your head, make some paper throwing stars and hide in the closet to get the drop on your unsuspecting brother or sister. Movies and pop-culture show the ninja to be a bad-ass warrior. But real life ninjas…
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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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Our Gospel Aim: Decisions or Disciples?
Last week some friends and I were gathered around a frail woman who was possessed by evil spirits. The woman and her family had come from a rural village several hours away. They were desperate for help and wanted to turn from spirit worship. They decided to put their faith in Jesus. The moment we…
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Training Trainers: A New Paradigm for Discipleship
No one likes to be told they are doing something wrong, especially leaders, pastors and church planters. We’ve devoted our lives to growing the Church but have we been doing it all wrong? I hate it when I’m wrong. My pride always says that I am right. But my pride can’t argue with results. The…
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Osama Bin Laden and Church Multiplication Movements
One day we Americans turn on the television to find out that Osama Bin Laden is dead. The U.S. President announces that the most wanted terrorist in the world has been double-tapped by a team of highly skilled Navy Seals during a secret raid. That’s so freakin awesome but how did this happen? For more…
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Radical Faith is BS
I love David Platt’s book, Radical. It’s taken the western church by storm and I resonate with anything that upsets the status quo – but the title can be a little misleading. There is no such thing as “radically” following Jesus. It’s only radical because we Christians are content with a surface level faith. Jesus…
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Is Faith in the West Dead?
One day I’m sitting on a sky train in a major bustling city sipping Starbucks frappuccino while the next I’m sitting in a thatched hut in a jungle eating a rare and newly discovered species of squirrel. In both places I get to live life with people who are lost and people who are found.…
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Obeying vs Knowing
I spoon feed my 11-month old son in front of the T.V. His eyes are fixated on Baby Einstein and his mouth is wide open. It’s probably not the most stimulating way of doing it but it works well. He gets stuffed and there’s no mess to clean up. Sadly, this is an accurate picture…
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Don’t Plant A Church
We like to say things like; “I’m a church planter,” “This is our church plant,” or “We planted a church.” As if the Church, a spiritual institution established by the Creator of heaven and earth, actually belongs to us. God’s not in the business of establishing communities of mindless sheep so we can have our…
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Dirty Feet
Sometimes the greatest feeling in the world is having mud in between your toes. Why? It’s because you know you’re taking it like a man and getting dirty is not going to stop you. You understand the risks of riding a motorbike through a jungle in a third world country. You know the rainy season…
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Church Sucks
It’s safe to say that more than half the people on this planet feel that church sucks. They see it as an institution – one that is intolerant, irrelevant, hypocritical and completely out of touch with culture. It’s also safe to say that the other half of this planet have no official opinion of church because they’ve never formulated…
The Asian Rough Rider 