The traditional church year begins very shortly. Often the Sunday readings are taken from the beginnings of the Gospels. I find the opening four chapters of Matthew fascinating. (There is a major section break at 4:17. Greek readers will find the same phrase, or slight variations of it, at 7:28, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, and 26:1.)

Ten times Matthew quotes from the Old Testament Scriptures. Seven times are direct fulfillments of prophecies. Three times are Jesus quotations in the temptation. Matthew has an important message to share. He is very deliberate about crafting the story so that his Jewish readers will receive the message well.

I believe the church today poised at an advent. It is technically possible for this generation to see a translation program started in every language still needing one. God’s Word given in a language and form that the readers will receive well. Will we have the intention to do that? I pray we do.

It’s coming up soon. November 11 is the worldwide day of prayer for Bible translation.

Mark you calendar.

Here is a short video clip on prayer that might help direct your thoughts.

And here is a short video about the impact that the Bible makes in the lives of others.

Does your commitment to pray wane over time? It did for Nikki, then she started again. Watch her story.

Other ideas to stimulate prayer for the Bible-less people of the world can be found here.

I’m reading Os Guinness’ The Call right now. It is a book worth reading.

The chapter that shares the title of this post talks about recognizing that all we have comes from God. All we have has been given to us.

Perhaps that is somewhat easier for someone like me to experience. I am a “faith missionary.” My income is based on gifts given to Wycliffe or LBT to support our participation in this ministry. The gifts are a reflection of the value people place in mission rather than the value they place in the specific labor we produce.
I have labored in many vocations and callings (all directed at getting God’s Word into the hands of people yet without it): as a translator; as a student in graduate school; as a computer systems analyst; as a middle manager; as a CEO in a mission; as a consultant to missionaries. At no time did my labor ever affect the amount I was paid.

It is an odd feeling. I can work an 80 hour week or a 35 hour week. There is no real correlation between that and whether I take home enough money to take my wife on a vacation.

It makes me recognize in a unique way that what I have is a gift. A gift from God. Often given through the hands of family and friends. A gift for which I give thanks to God and to those who share their gifts with us.

I choose to think thanks.

I’ve read more of the Worth Keeping book – and been talking about it with my staff.

It takes years for the average missionary to make a firm decision to be a missionary, build a supporting team,  and complete their training to go out. We certainly don’t want to see all that effort lost because they did not have the support they needed to manage cross-cultural stress, or because some difficulty forced a change of assignment location or job.

If we were to lose just 5% of our staff each year from preventable issues, we would be losing about 200 people this year alone! That is not acceptable. Why? It means that for thousands and thousands of people, the Good News of Jesus will again be delayed. For many, another generation will die without hearing God speak to their hearts.
If the Good News is good, we must share it.

Check out my most recent book reviews. When I travel, I tend to get more time to read.

I’ve been combing through several great management books lately. You’ll see several with scores of 8 or so. That, for me, is a good score.

If you have ready any of these books, leave a comment on what you thought on them!

I’m reading a book entitled worthKeeping: Global Perspectives on Best Practice in Missionary Retention. It is quite good. Unfortunately it isn’t for sale on Amazon, so you won’t see it on my reading list.

This book is based on extensive research on missionaries and mission agencies. It studies retention and attrition. Why is this a concern? We want to keep good missionaries working productively for as long as possible.

The authors look at many factors to see if there is any correlation to attrition. One of the first factors is the size of the mission agency. Small organizations (especially those with ten or less field staff) lose almost half their missionaries within three years of service. The annual attrition rate is 17% for that group.

Larger mission agencies from “older sending countries” like America lose, on average, 6.3%. I did a quick check on our statistics. Wycliffe has been losing less than 5% for the past several years. That is great!

As I read, I’ll post more about the book.

One of the things that Brian McLaren writes in his book A New Kind of Christian is that salvation isn’t an event, it is more of a process. I like the way he expresses it. He writes,

…maybe salvation isn’t something we “get” and then consider the option of joining God in his grand mission. Salvation is what we experience and spread in the process of joining God in his grand mission. Of course this is not a works/earning/self-justification thing — it’s all about God’s grace from start to finish. But the focus moves me to God, from my plan for myself to God’s plan for the whole world (not just [the] “wonderful plan for my life”).

This focus continues in odd ways throughout the book. Sometime reading it you think he is rather liberal and wishy-washy. But I don’t think he is. Rather his focus is on living in a relationship with God.

Another thought provoking theme is that the church should not be based on a consumer model. (In that model we make it attractive so that people will join and be part of the club.) Rather the purpose of being “in church” (in a community of believers) is to allow us to be part of God’s mission to the whole world. God loves the world, not just me. And we wants me to be like him – loving the whole world.

I rated this book an 8/10. Perhaps I should have said 10/10 – it has caused me to think a lot! But since I’m still thinking – the grade is still out. I’m trying to apply this hard thoughts to my own life.

In my book review section you will notice that I am now reading A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey. Unlike many books I read, I can’t just plow through this one. It has much food for thought.

The section I just finished read: “He [Neo, one of the characters] said that if the new kind of Christianity we had been dreaming about wasn’t radically generous, it was a waste of time. I responded by saying that it seemed like an overstatement to me, but he was adamant: ‘We live in the most affluent culture in the most affluent period of human history. If we can’t discipline ourselves to learn the joys of generous living, I think we’re an embarrassment to the gospel.’” (Just previously in the story the pastor character had learned that Neo lived on 75% of his income, saved 5%, and gave away 25%.)