God Forgive Me...

As I have been in Nairobi my team with TLI has been able to teach over 50 lay leaders from the Anglican Church in the City. The city is about 5.5 million people and the Anglican Church one of the better churches doctrinally in Nairobi (Reformed in Confession), seems to be dying rapidly, with only 107,000 estimated members in the city. There are other Reformed churches in the city but the Anglican church is struggling. Many of the Lay Leaders would blame such things on Bishops and Priests, however, they were all challenged by the National Leader of Church Army Africa, that they were the problem. They were not the ones preaching the Gospel, they are the ones who run the church, because they cannot be transferred or anything, they are the leaders of the Anglican Church, for they do the majority of the ministry. I want us to be praying for the Church.

Many of the reasons these leaders are not able to preach with authority and boldness, is because they are not trained. Many of them have not had training in 20 years of more. They know the Bible when it comes to knowing where things are and memorization better than I do, however they are not strong in theology (how the bible works as a continual story of God revealing himself), expository preaching, or how to apply the Scriptures to life today. These are key things that most Reformed churches in America have as their foundation. Therefore, I am guilty as many of us in the U.S. of not doing ministry when we have all the head knowledge. And the Church in Africa is guilty of doing ridiculous amounts of ministry with no foundation, in alot of ways. I pray and hope that this will change in me. God has convicted me of this.

Another great conviction of mine that created an excitement in me is the opportunity to teach and preach against the Prosperity Gospel (Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, etc.) that has run a muck here in Africa and all over the world. This message that God will bless you materially and relieve our suffering because we are God's people. This Gospel is false and is a heresy of the American Church that we have exported to the World and greatly in Africa. It is sad that as many of these lay leaders we have worked with have had a great lack of training they have fallen victim to this prosperity Gospel. Many of these pastors know that it is wrong but were not sure how to refute these teachings. One of the areas we touched on within our theological training is that of how do we deal with money and suffering in God-Centered Living. This were great topics for them and many have now seen that they do not have to struggle to appease God or have more faith for God to love them more. They now see that the Gospel is something to rest in, that God is our provider, protector, and reconciler. I praise God for this opportunity.

I have been over joyed with the love that has been shown among these leaders to want to see the church reach out to the community and see their city transformed by the Gospel. I pray that our teachings can start a revival here in Nairobi to see the true gospel message proclaimed and that God may be glorified with seeing many who have gone astray come back to bow at His feet, and not the feet of lying heretics and money.

Praise be to God, the God over All, and the joy of my life...

This may just be random thoughts and I am sorry for the lack of structure for this blog but these are just things on my mind and I do not have time to at this moment to edit my thoughts and structure this.

For some Video on the Prosperity Gospel and to see it exposed please follow the next to links to hear how this false gospel is being spread around the world...my God have mercy on us...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTc_FoELt8s (John Piper on the Prosperity Gospel)

http://vodpod.com/watch/2456148-the-prosperity-gospel-in-africa-justin-taylor (a documentary)

Let’s see…

Today has been one busy day. Melisa and her dad took me to the airport in Charlotte at 5am, caught a flight from CLT to ATL and then a connecting flight from ATL to MSP. Once I got to Minneapolis we headed to Chipotle after all the team got there and had a great time as we drove to Bethlehem Baptist Church (John Piper’s Church). We met at Bethlehem and introduced ourselves as well as, went over a few things for the trip, and had a great time of prayer together.

After that, we headed to Darren (our team leader’s house) after “paying homage” (just kidding), as we drove past Piper’s House, and had dinner and time together. We also had a great time of looking over the first few days of teaching material that will be covered with our brethren of lay leaders of Church Army Africa. Please be praying for us as we are striving to decide what specific things are important within our teaching material. We hope that we are humble and open to what ever and how ever the Spirit leads. Also be praying for us as we begin to head out tomorrow and have a safe trip across the pond and above the Nile to Nairobi, Kenya. Thank you for your support and prayers.

Grace and Peace,

Josh

Heading out in the morn...

Hello Supporters and Blog Followers,

I am overwhelmed right now the way God has provided through many of you. God has been so gracious to me as I have been preparing for this trip. God has provided greatly through many brothers and sisters in Christ and I praise him for that. I am so grateful for your support of the furtherance of the Gospel. I especially want to thank my Ekklesia church family that have helped me grow spiritually and helped much through prayer and financial support. I have never been part of a church that has been so mission-centered, which helps me to see greatly that we are Gospel-centered as a church family. But, I want to thank everyone for their support with prayer and financial support. Thank you for joining me on this trip.

This trip is really, where my heart is when it comes to the mission field. I am hoping that this will be the first of many trips that are made to help in supporting the church around the world through teaching and growing leaders. There are many churches in the States that are growing disciples and helping people grow in Christ and become church leaders, but this is not as easy in the majority of the world, especially with the majority of the church being non-westerners. Many of the resources we have here in the States are easy to get our hands on with excess money and bookstores on every corner. Training Leaders International has a heart to see this change in that leaders all over the world are able to have the resources and teachers needed to help grow Gospel-centered church leaders.

Therefore, how you can continue to help support this mission and work of the Gospel is to continue to pray for me as I head to MN tomorrow morning and then to Kenya Friday. Pray that God helps all of us to teach boldly but with great humility, the topics at hand, and to remember all that is to be covered. Pray that at any opportunity we have that we can also evangelize many and see people come to know Christ as more than their savior but their treasure. Pray also that traveling goes well and that the team works great together.

I am hoping to update you all as much as possible, so keep your eye on my blog and if you have skype, message me on their if the Lord leads you. Thank you again and I will see you all soon.

Grace and Peace,

Josh