God's Word in the Bariai Language

Here's one of the coolest things I've seen in a while.  It's a video of the Bariai people of Papua New Guinea receiving a copy of the New Testament in their own language for the very first time (you'll need to download the file to watch it).  Steve and Carol Jean Gallagher, whom Riverview supports as missionaries, have been working on translating the Bible for the Bariai people since 1993.  19 Years!  That's how long it has taken them to learn the language and translate the New Testament in its entirety, in addition to Genesis and Exodus.  What an amazing feat.

Think about this: there is at least one Bible in almost every house in America.  Probably more than one, even.  Most people don't read them, and those who have them almost certainly take them for granted - even Christians.  And here, these people halfway across the globe receive God's word in their own language for the first time.  They parade it through the village, dance around it, and sing songs!  What an amazing sight to behold!  May God bless Steve and Carol Jean for their faithfulness to this translation ministry, and brining God's word to a people who otherwise had no access to it.

The new Bariai Bible was dedicated last weekend on July 7.  Here's a brief written update on the translation project and the release of the new Bible from Steve and Carol Jean:

Saturday and Sunday, July 7 and 8 were great days of celebration for the Bariai people and for us.  On Saturday boats were loaded with the Bariai scriptures containing Genesis, Exodus, and the NEw Testament.  The boxes of books were loaded on a motorboat, but a representative copy was carried on a  special canoe paddled by men in traditional decorations, singing traditional songs.  With great honor, it was taken to the next village.  After being off-loaded, the books were paraded through the village and up the hill to the church.  There the priest declared that the church approves this translation of the scriptures for use and encouraged people to read it.

On Sunday morning, the Bibles were officially blessed by the priest during the church service, and he read a letter of endorsement sent by the bishop.  Again, he told the people that they need to read it and follow it.  We're thankful for his encouraging endorsement.  

The service was followed by a few speeches, a little rain, and then clear weather for feasting, dancing, and singing.  About 100 people bought copies of the scriptures, along with four audio scripture players.  

In my opinion, this is some of the most exciting work the church is doing: sending people out to preach the gospel and make God's word available for all who would like to read it.  Be praying for Steve and Carol Jean, and the kingdom impacting work they're doing on the other side of the world.

The Next Chapter for Steve Saint

A couple years ago I shared this video on my blog.  It features Steve Saint (son of missionary martyr Nate Saint) and the Maverick, a flying car prototype (pictured at right) innovated and developed by his company iTec.  I really appreciate Steve Saint for a few reasons: 1) he's a really smart guy, and 2) he and his company are doing really cool things and innovating new technology for the purpose of using it on the mission field.  They're not doing it for money - they're doing it for the purpose of making missions work more effective and for the purpose of being able to reach those hard-to-reach places on the earth where the gospel has not been preached.

This was the motivation behind the Maverick.  Saint and his associates wanted to create an air vehicle that could take off from tight spaces and that didn't need a landing strip or runway in order to be airborne.  They saw several uses for such a vehicle in transporting goods and supplies into very remote locations, and how medical missionaries could use the car to transport patients from the jungle to a hospital.  Just really cool stuff.  And when you think that these guys are coming up with this stuff for the purpose of expanding the work of the gospel, it just becomes all the more cool.

I just read today, however that Steve Saint was badly injured last week in an accident, testing some new technology developed by his company.  Again, this was technology that would be used in the mission field.  The information about just what kind of technology he was testing is a little vague, but the result is that he has almost completely lost the use of his arms and legs, and that there is swelling on his spinal cord, which, at the time of this posting, he is undergoing surgery to relieve.

He just released this video (see below) yesterday about his accident and the treatment he's going through, and how this experience has changed enforced his worldview and his faith.  Here's a guy who is not wasting his life.  Take a look at this and be encouraged by a man who knows his God and knows his place in God's plan.

Cross-Cultural Definition of Sin

For those of you who have attended Riverview's "Multicultural Kingdom" Sunday School class this past month, here's a copy of T. Wayne Dye's article "Toward a Cross-Cultural Definition of Sin." After thinking about the class today, I don't think I did a good job of representing the ideas that Dye addresses in his article. For example, I think it's safe to say that Dye is certainly not a relativist, nor does he advocate relativism in the article, so if I gave anyone the impression that the article was promoting relativism, then I certainly didn't represent Dye's position well. So you may be better served to just read the article for yourself. I recommend it. And I hope Dye can explain his position better than I did!

Innovation for the Mission Field

Remember Steve Saint? He's the son of murdered missionary pilot, Nate Saint. Steve took up where his dad left off, learned to fly, and got involved in missions. Now he's an experienced flier and entrepreneur who is innovating for the benefit of the mission field. Check this out. This is awesome.

Knowledge and Responsibility

It's fun to watch the way God works in my life, specifically in my theological training. Last week at our church's Easter service I preached a message on the judgment and destruction of three Old Testament cities: Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon. Each of these cities was very wicked, and despite being warned by God several times to repent of their sin, they refused and were judged. In Luke 10, Jesus cites the judgment of these cities as being child's play compared to the coming judgment for those towns and cities that he had personally visited and ministered in, and yet the people did not believe.

One of the main points of my message was that everyone will be held accountable for their level of exposure to God, his word, the gospel, etc. I argued that the more exposure to God an individual has, the more accountable they will be to believe the gospel. Hence the judgment of Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon, and the more severe judgment coming for those cities (Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, specifically) that had heard and seen Jesus but still did not believe.

The obvious conclusion for our world in this day and age is that we are more exposed to the truth of God than anyone before us in history - especially in America. This is readily demonstrated by ritualistic/traditional celebration of Easter. Pretty much everyone goes to church on Easter, whether they're a Christian or not. And guess what? They are exposed to the gospel and the truth of God when they go to church on Easter. Know what that is? Knowledge. Know what comes with knowledge? A responsibility to act on what we know. Also, we have freedom of religion, practically everyone in this country owns at least one Bible (Christian or otherwise), practically everyone in this country has either been to church or heard the gospel in some way, plus we have 2000 years of Christian history that testifies to the truth of the gospel. So when it comes to exposure to the truth of God, I think it's safe to say that we are even more privileged than those who actually saw and heard Jesus when he was on this earth. In other words, I think we're going to be held to a higher standard for our level of exposure to God than any other people in history.

This begs a question, though, that a lot of non-Christians get hung up on: what about people who live in primitive tribes in the middle of the jungle? Will they be judged and go to hell simply because they haven't heard about Jesus? A lot of would-be Christians can't bring themselves to believe in a God that would send "innocent" people to hell. But if we look at scripture, it turns out that primitive tribes in the middle of the jungle don't have any more or less going for them than those in Sodom, Tyre, or Sidon did.

In Romans 1 Paul says that God has made himself known to all people through creation. In other words, it stands to reason that if there is a creation than there must be a creator (the same principle applies to the watch on your wrist - if you have a watch, you have to have a watchmaker. Watches don't just happen by accident.). So the people of Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon (and the primitive tribes in the middle of the jungle) are all exposed to God simply by walking out their front door. In Romans 2, Paul goes on to say that God has written his moral law on the heart of every human being. Paul makes his point by saying that Gentiles (non-Jews) follow the laws instituted by the Jewish faith. How can they do that if they have no knowledge of or participation in Judaism? The only answer must be that there is a Moral Lawgiver who has endowed all men with a knowledge of his law. In other words, when somebody does something wrong, they know it's wrong because God has put his law on their heart. This too, is a way that God has revealed himself to all people.

So then, it turns out that the people of Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon, and the primitive people in the middle of the jungle are all in the same boat : they won't be judged because they've never heard of Jesus (which, don't forget, the people of Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon had not heard of Jesus, nor had they read a Bible, much like people from the primitive tribes in the middle of the jungle) - they'll be judged because they've rejected the revelation of God.

That might sound harsh, but remember this: God is a powerful, loving, and merciful God who can save whomever he wishes, and he is not willing that any should perish. So if someone from a primitive tribe in the middle of the jungle uses his power of reason and realizes that since there is a creation then there must be a Creator, and that he has a conscience that bears witness to his sin, then God is powerful enough to see that person saved. He might send a missionary to them to explain the gospel to them and tell them about Jesus, or he might direct them to a more civilized part of the country where they can attend a church and here the gospel. But the key is to respond to the knowledge that is given to us by God, no matter how much it is, whether a lot of exposure to God (like in America), or just a little (like primitive people in the middle of the jungle).

This is where it's fun to watch how God uses things in my life to teach me and cause me to reflect on his word. Guess what we're studying this week in my "Creation, the Spirit, and the Church" systematic theology class? This very topic. It's been fun to rethink and re-examine my thoughts on this.

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