Category Archives: Interviews

Human Sexuality in the Biblical View

“God created our body (man and woman) with sexual needs for the very purpose…Sexuality is God´s design.”

Hoai Truc Huynh

Hoai Truc Huynh

Hoai Truc Huynh was born in Vietnam, where she is living now. She grew up in a Christian family but she attended church without having a true relationship with God. It was until she was 18 years old when Hoai Truc Huynh became a devote Christian.  Then, she responded to God’s calling in her life by enrolling as MDiv. student at “Torch Trinity Graduate University” in South Korea. There, she also involved as a missionary for Vietnamese workers.

After graduating, she went back to Vietnam, where she is mainly involved in teaching ministry. Her students have taken the online classes and some had attended the traditional classrooms. She serves through children´s ministry as well.

Hoai Truc Huynh has the vision and special call from God for the mission field, Christian education, and for imparting Christian thought and culture into the lives of young people.

Tell us what inspired you to write this book “Human Sexuality in the Biblical View”? 

My heart has deeply concerned for today´s young generation of the church and the community, since their values of life have been diverged from the truth and Christian ethics in many ways. Secularism and culture have been sophisticatedly affected their thinking and lifestyle through the influence of books, films, television programs, and social networking sites. Many young people are struggling to seek the answers to their concerns and questions about life and themselves, including sexuality. But the answers which are based on the truth seem to be very rare in the community nowadays. Most of the answers are likely offered by secular psychologists based on hypotheses and human knowledge.

Teaching young people in church – Vietnam

Yet the teachings and instructions based on the Word of God are truly beneficial for mankind and have eternal value. Also, I recognized that understanding about sexuality is a legitimate and necessary need for young people. Last summer, in a survey of a course that truly responded to the needs of young people in my church, they told me that they wanted to learn about sexuality. Then, after the course was done, the young people gave their feedback and said that the course was so good and how much they needed that kind of information and instruction for their lives.

And then, God’s voice came to my spirit and stirred my heart. The Holy Spirit urged me to write the book on sexuality and to publish it so that many other young people could learn from it. I obeyed Him and began writing the book. All thanks to the Holy Spirit! He led me from this astonishment to the other. I was very excited as I could hear His voice by giving me many ideas and thoughts on human sexuality, during my time of meditation on the Bible,  and the time I spent studying and researching about this topic. Finally the book was written in about 60 days!

When the world talks about “sex,” people usually makes fun of it. Movies, theaters, magazines, websites show sexuality in a very distorted way. Then, how we could say that “Sexuality is God´s design”?

Sexuality is a part of the whole being of mankind. To know exactly about it, we need to start from the origin of mankind –Who Am I- because knowing our origin determines our behavior in social life as well as in the way we receive the teachings concerning sexuality on the basis of the Bible. Among many hypotheses of human origin, Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution claimed that mankind is evolutionary animals, in other words, we are evolved from the great apes. If we accept the theory of evolution without thinking out, when it comes to sex and sexuality, we will use sex in a way as an animal does.

On the contrary, if we clearly and rationally determine that human being is the creature created in the image of God as what God has revealed to us in the Bible, we will accept the biblical teaching about mankind. The Bible revealed that in the beginning God made human beings (man and woman) in His own image (Genesis 1:26, 27). In a very complex and miraculous structure of the human body that consists of eight organ systems operating harmoniously to sustain life, God designs the genital system in it. And through the genital system in each gender, sexuality is expressed and carries out its function. God created our body (man and woman) with sexual needs for the very purpose.

The world tries to devalue what God created, so sexuality is often shown in a very distorted way through movies, magazines, humorous stories, and websites. Yet the truth belongs to those who walk in the light. On the very basic of the revealed Word of God, we could say that “Sexuality is God´s design”.

As you know, our young people are currently facing critical problems mostly related to gender and sexual orientation. Nevertheless, it seems like our societies are accepting them as normal (homosexuality, transgender, being part of movements like LGBTI, etc). How do the so called “traditional families” can deal with it, and actually fight against it and protect their children?

Hoai Truc Huynh and her family

Since the fall of mankind, sin has led people into wrongdoing even in their own gender. When it comes to the problems related to gender and sexual orientation (homosexuality, transgender), the secularist view assumes the conditions of early childhood such as education and care. And many scholars share the view that sexual orientation has developed very early in most people at an early age because of the mutual complicated impact of biological, psychological and social factors. Also, in psychological and psychiatric field, some secular people argue that homosexual behavior is entirely determined by genetic factors beyond one’s control. Therefore, homosexuality is not immoral and it is not something that homosexual offender has to be responsible for his or her behavior. Consequentially, it seems like our societies are accepting them as normal. However, the so called “traditional families” need to go back to the Bible, the ultimate truth, in order to find out the right answers to these critical problems or the real causes of them. We must go back to the Word of God to fight against the ideology of this sinful world, or the way-of-thinking of the flesh. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul repeatedly condemned homosexuality. He claimed that these sinful practices are contrary to the natural law of God (Romans 1:26,27). In other passages of the Bible, Paul named homosexual offenders with others terms “male prostitutes” and “perverts” (I Corinthians 6:9; I Timothy 1:10). The Bible says that the end of those who choose to walk in such sexual impurity is to receive eternal punishment, for the Kingdom of God is not for them.

Teaching the new generations – Vietnam

Also, the Bible disclosed the fact that transgender and homosexuality was due to the very reason that although human beings knew God, they did not worship Him as God and desired to follow the foolish thought of their depraved heart. Therefore, God gave them over in depraved and shameful practice.

We must teach our children the truth that unnatural sexual orientation which has emerged in human society since ancient times has not really been a matter of psychology, of education, of gene, or of living environment; it is actually the very problem of human sin, the deliberate rejection of human beings to God and His plan for their life.

Another cause for someone being consistent with unnatural sexual orientation in his or her life is being possessed by demons. Series of sins made sinners unable to inherit the Kingdom of God: “the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers” (I Corinthians 6:9-10), then the Apostle Paul immediately emphasized, “Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (I Corinthians 6:11-NET Bible). The truth revealed here is that while a person is bound by Satan, he or she may be a slave to unnatural sexual desires “passive homosexual partners or practicing homosexuals”.

And until that person is rescued in the Name of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, he or she will be released from homosexuality. Therefore, the cause of these sinful practices is the problem of the spiritual field. It is the possession of evil spirits in one’s life. A person who is possessed by demons and becomes homosexual offender, he or she must be set free in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Does God (Jesus) love homesexuals? If so, are they accepted as such?

As we all know, God loves the sinner but He hates sin, and God had a perfect plan to rescue sinners from sin through Jesus Christ. Similarly, God (Jesus) truly loves homosexuals but he does not accept their sinful acts or their practice.

Is there any hope for this world who transgressed God´s law / design?

Always there is hope for this world who transgressed God´s law / design. Hope is available for those who come to Jesus Christ. God never fails in the place of mankind’s failure. If repentance comes first, hope will follow. Once man brings all his transgression to light and surrenders his life to God, he will be saved in Jesus Christ. Those who expose everything clearly in their repentance before the Lord Jesus will be rescued from darkness from the past and brought into the light of life.

 

“Human Sexuality in the Biblical View” will soon be released in English and Vietnamese. If you are interested in getting this book, kindly contact “Towards Excellence.”

 

In the Home Stretch …in the End of Times!

“God chooses a nation to become the geographical point, where the attention of the world will concentrate mainly in the end of times, and chose the nation of Israel.”

Dr. Armando Alducin

Dr. Armando Alducin, Founder of "New Life for the World."

Dr. Armando Alducin, Founder of “New Life for the World.”

Nearly 36 years ago, Dr. Armando Alducin had a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.
After having studied and experimented with various philosophies and religions he became an atheist, because according to him, no absolute truth could exist in any system of thought.
Happily, through his brother Alejandro and the missionary Emilio Aandereud, Dr. Alducin came to the knowledge of the truth and began his life in the Christian walk.
In 1982 he founded “Vida Nueva para México” [New Life for Mexico], which later on would change its name to “Vida Nueva para el Mundo” [New Life for the World], an organization that is currently bringing the Gospel to more than 55 nations. In fact, along with his brother Alejandro, Dr. Alducin has founded more than 40 churches in different parts of Mexico, the United States, Europe, South America and Israel. His ministry also sustains several missionaries around the world.

Dr. Alducin, how do you see the current picture in the geopolitical framework in relation to the so called “the end of times” stated as such by the Bible?

It is a great blessing to know that 2,600 years ago the Hebrew prophets in the Bible, in a chronological-supernatural way were able to draw us a map, a guide for us to know –those who have reached these times in the 21st century, that we are actually in the end of times of human history.

The prophecies mainly of the books of Ezekiel and Daniel are amazing in the light of the prophecies of the Apostle John in the book of Revelation. The Bible has chosen Israel to be a thermometer, thus, through Israel we can measure the temperature of the world; and we know that the Middle East started the beginning of civilization in Iraq and what is now Syria, which was Mesopotamia back then, and it was not yet divided, and civilization was going to end there.

It is incredible that now in the 21st century, we are right in this moment, in the month of November 2016, where the Middle East is a boiling pot. Now, the civil war in Syria is about to bring about an international social outbreak, in which many nations will have to be involved. It is wonderful, that this does not infuse us Christians any fear. Why? Because we know that these are signs that Jesus anticipated us, signs that were going to be manifested, that we really are in the end of times and we should rejoice. And Jesus said, “When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

So, I think it is the time when the Church and those who are Christians be aware that there is a day of judgment approaching, and that the Lord created us as free and responsible moral agents, and that we have to repent of our sins to stand before the judgment of God some day.

In fact, we are living wars, rumors of wars and natural phenomena like tsunamis, among others. But many people assert, “There has always been the same thing.” What is the answer to that statement: “there has always been the same”, as we are now living that “end of times”?

Wars have always been there, ever since Cain killed Abel, there have been murders and wars; but not ever before the 20th century, the past century, had all the nations of the world been involved in the First and Second World War. And Jesus said in Matthew 24, Luke 21 and Mark 13, that there would be wars and rumors of wars, and that nation would rise against nation. And this has never happened until the 20th century. We realize that this was the beginning of what Jesus in Matthew 24 proclaims, as the beginning of sorrows. In the First and Second World War, the United Nations was formed to try to prevent a Third World War and we know that since the Second World War up until now, the 21st century has seen more than 283 revolutions and coups d’État. Now, with all the technology that we have and with all scientific advances, we are on the brink of an international social outbreak of war in the Middle East.

Throughout history, we know that Israel has been hated by certain groups or nations. In fact, they wanted to exterminate Israel. In that perspective, how should we understand that Israel is the “thermometer of God”?

Many people say to me: “well, why did not God choose the Italians, the Spaniards, why not the Mexicans or the Ecuadorians”? This is the answer:
God chooses a nation to become the geographical point, where the attention of the world will concentrate mainly in the end of times, and chose the nation of Israel. God chose the nation of Israel, because the Messiah was born there, and this is proved by the genealogies of Jesus Christ in Luke and Matthew. Christ is the only person born in history, from whom his genealogy can be traced, from Adam or from Abraham. No other man, no matter what monarchic ancestry he may come from, not even the kings’ origins can be traced.

Jesus Christ proves that by being descendant from King David, from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He was really the Messiah that God had chosen.

Romans 9: 3 – 4 states that God chose Israel so that through the Jews, we obtain the Book of the books,

Dr. Armando Alducin, San Antonio, TX

Dr. Armando Alducin, San Antonio, TX

which is called the Bible. The book that was written in Hebrew and Greek has the earliest record of history, archeology, cosmology, anthropology, psychology, literature, poetry, among others. With respect to this book, I have always asked people and it is one of the questions whereby I like to challenge the scientific, political, philosophical, writers’ audiences, I always say: “tell me,” –and I have 35 years of preaching this message – “Which book do you know is better than the Bible?”; and up until this moment, after 35 years of standing before all kinds of fora and auditoriums, there has not been a single person who has dared to tell me that there is a book better than the Bible.

This is why God chose Israel. And I repeat, to be the point of the prophecies. Right now we realize that Israel is precisely surrounded by 22 million Arabs who are trying to exterminate it, and since 1948 when it became independent as a sovereign nation, 22 million Arabs have not been able to remove or push them to the Mediterranean.

This is to be fulfilled in the prophecy of Amos 9, which states that “they shall never again be uprooted out of their land,” and these are the evidences that the Bible leaves us, history shows that God exists.

Along these lines, there are other sacred writings such as The Quran of the Muslims, the Tripitaka of the Buddhists, and other religions whose followers claim that they are the sacred books through which their god speaks to them and conducts their lives. What should we say to them in the face of the Bible?

When we confront them with the Bible, let us remember the Hindus, they did the Vedas; The Maharani Nasutta; The Muslims, the Quran; The Tripitaka, the Buddhists; and so we can go through sacred books and none of these sacred books contains prophecies. None of them predicted when its founder was to be born. Buddha, for example, before dying, said: “seek the truth” to his disciples, he never said that he was the truth. Hindus have millions of gods. Buddhism is an atheistic religion, because Gautama Buddha did not believe in God; [speaking] of the Quran created by Muhammad, and here, this man’s moral profile is terrible upon marrying a 7 year-old-girl, for God’s sake, psychologically, he tells us that he was a psychopathic man!
No founder of any religion can even compare himself with the person of the Son of God or with the Holy Scriptures!

To conclude, what is your final message in the framework that we have discussed? Your message for our Christian audience and for those who do not necessarily identify themselves with the Christian Faith!

Firstly, I would like to remind all my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ who we have experienced the new birth, about the words of Christ in Luke chapter 21, which states that when we see all these things, let us remember the following: “Let our heart not to be filled with carousing and drunkenness, and the anxieties of life, and come suddenly upon us that day. Because as a snare, Jesus said: ´it will come upon on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man´[at his second coming].”

Dr. Armando Alducin & Cecilia Yepez, at the moment of the interview

Dr. Armando Alducin & Cecilia Yepez, at the moment of the interview

The Church has to understand something, we have a mission: to win souls and to disciple them. Every Christian has to seek a person, someone with whom they can share the Word of God and talk about Christ, to all the people we can, because time is up!
For the people who do not know Jesus Christ, the Bible states that the human being is a sinner and that these sins cannot be eradicated or erased with religions, and that by good deeds we could never obtain our salvation. The Bible asserts that there is a barrier between God and man, which is called sin; and only through the blood of Christ, only through His sacrifice on the cross, it was possible for this barrier to collapse.

This is the message of the Bible given by God to us, He offers us salvation without having to do anything but believe, what Jesus did in our place, on that cross. So, invite Him as your Lord and Savior, repent of your sins; believe that after 3 days He rose from the dead, and from then on, begin to feed yourself spiritually with the Bible, because that is the nourishment of the Spirit of the Lord.

It is important for us that during these times that we are going through, we take God seriously, people must repent in their lives and learn that there is a God who loves them eternally, and that this is perhaps the only opportunity you may have in order to determine the Eternal destiny of your soul!

Missions: Reaching out the World from Where You Are!

“This text [Acts 1:8] actually says that the thrust of mission is where people are they should have access to the Gospel.”

                                                                        Dr. Terry Casiño
TerryCasino-photo1Dr. Terry Casiño was born in the Philippines. He is a theologian, missiologist, educator, missions strategist, and catalyst for global diaspora missiology. He earned his Doctor of Theology (Systematic Theology & Philosophy of Religion) from Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary in the Philippines and Doctor of Philosophy (Missiology & Contextualization) from ACTS, the international graduate school of Asia United Theological University in South Korea.

An international scholar, Dr. Casiño’s works have been published in the UK, South Korea, the Philippines, North America, India, and Australia.

He has served invariably as a minister, lecturer, conference speaker, missions consultant, or researcher across Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and Latin America.

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The following is an excerpt of the Asomavisión TV interview with Dr. Terry Casiño. Courtesy of “De Sobremesa TV Program” and Pastor Pablo Gutiérrez, Producer / Interviewer [Quito, Ecuador].

 

What are your first thoughts about this biblical text (Acts 1:8)?

Acts 1:8 actually is very central to our theology of missions as Church. Because it was a text that was given to the disciples before Jesus ascended to heaven. And Jesus laid out a plan on how to change the world and how to spread the Gospel, using this text.

There are two things that I would like to share about this text.

The first is the scope of missions.

And Jesus said that it started in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. So, mission in this particular text is basically universal. But this text does not talk about priority of mission.

Sometimes we think of Acts 1:8 as something that refers to priority in mission, but this text is not about priority. This text is about mission strategy.

In the original language, the word “ἔν τε” (en te) “both” in English, is crucial for understanding of this strategy. Because it actually says, “beginning both in Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria.” So, the word “en te” is so important. It means simultaneous activities in Jerusalem and other parts of the world.

The second important thing about this text is the thrust of mission, the emphasis of mission.

Some church leaders, for example, would teach that for Acts 1:8 to be fulfilled, then we need to start this from Jerusalem and then move to Judea, and then move to Samaria and then to the uttermost parts of the Earth. But this text actually says that the thrust of mission is where people are they should have access to the Gospel.

In other words, it does not guarantee that if our Jerusalem Church is big that our vision for other nations will be big. Because when our Jerusalem Ministry sometimes gets bigger we get stuck within our Jerusalem and then we forget the other nations, the other people groups.

So, what this text is all about is very simple. That souls or individuals in Jerusalem are equally important with those who are outside Jerusalem, vice versa.

Why to begin in Jerusalem?

Well, Jerusalem is the hub for all this missionary work. Because if everyone goes out of Jerusalem, then there will be no one to support those who are going out.

So, there has to be a strong integration between ecclesiology -the doctrine of the Church-, as well as missiology, which is really the study and the practice of missional work.

And if I add one more…
The text says Jerusalem and all these geographical locations, right?

That is like linear… going in one direction. But today the nations have come to Jerusalem. They’re here in Quito [Ecuador]. The nations are here!

And because not every believer in Ecuador can go to the nations, so God sent the nations here. Then, it is important that we recognize the presence of the nations here, so that we can fulfill Acts 1:8.

You have done missions work in several parts of the world like Asia, Africa and in America, but let me ask you, what motivated you to get involved in missions?

I never thought of becoming an overseas missionary. Because I thought Filipinos, you know, are enough

Pastor Pablo Gutierrez interviews Dr. Terry Casiño. Translated by Cecilia Yepez [Asomavisión]

Pastor Pablo Gutierrez interviews Dr. Terry Casiño. Translated by Cecilia Yepez [De Sobremesa – Asomavisión]

for me. Plus Philippines is beautiful! Just like Ecuador!

But when I was 20 years old I attended a mission’s conference. And I was a very young pastor. It never done on me that there are people who need the Gospel outside my country.

It also never done on me that there are people who need the Gospel outside my own cultural community. But then God sent me to the mountain areas. So I served as a tribal missionary for some years.

So, I started with a tribal group and then God sent me to Japan in 1988. Then God sent me to South Korea in 1992. Then after that, you know 50 other countries more.

But the motivation is basically based on what I saw, you know, outside of my own community.

The hunger for meaning, the hunger for truth. The hunger for something deeper, although they’re professionals, although they’re medical doctors, or lawyers, or engineers, there’s this hunger for truth in their lives.

I’m so much interested in people moving from one place to another. We call it diaspora missions. There are one billion diaspora people in the world!

When you talk about missional diaspora, you are referring to people in general moving to different places for several reasons; you are not actually referring to people involved in missions, i.e. missionaries who are sent off and are financially supported. Could you explain more about that?

Well, the missionaries are part of the global diaspora. All kinds of people who move from one place to another are under diaspora.

There are almost 250 million international diaspora. And there are more than 700 million internal diaspora. Like in Ecuador, in South America, especially in Colombia, there are internal diasporas. People moving from one place to another because of so many factors.

In fact, Colombia has 15% of all these diasporas alone, internal diaspora. And there’re so many diasporas in Lima and also in Brazil, all kinds of parts of the world, especially Europe now.

So, one of my interests is this.
If I cannot go, for example to Peru to reach out to the Peruvians. I reach out to the Peruvians in Charlotte area [North Carolina].

So for example, if an Ecuadorian church cannot go to India. Then that church can reach out to the Indians here [in Ecuador].

Because diaspora means from everywhere to everywhere.

Thinking out loud, from mission perspective, one needs to train the workers who will travel overseas. It is also needed to raise funds and to take care of their emotional area. And this

Dr. Terry Casiño, during one of his conferences in Quito, Ecuador

Dr. Terry Casiño, during one of his conferences in Quito, Ecuador

process usually takes several years of preparation. Based on the Biblical Text (Acts 1:8) and on what you have mentioned on Missional Diaspora, we should not stop going into the world but we should also prioritize the outreach of those who are already in our nations. Is it so?

Exactly, we’re talking about strategy, not priority. Because it doesn’t make sense spending so much money going overseas and not being able to reach out to those people whom we are trying to reach overseas and they’re already here.

And we would always send missionaries overseas. We should! But we should also be good stewards of the funds and resources that God has given us as a church.

Just to give you an example, there are 30 million Chinese tourists at the western side of Europe every summer. And we spend so much money trying to teach our missionaries Chinese language or you know, training them in their culture. And yet, there are 30 million of them right there every summer.

It’s a mission’s strategy!

Your final words for our audience!

Well, it’s very simple. Know that the love of God and the forgiveness of God are offered to everyone.

If you are a child of God, God has called you to serve Him as a missionary. And you should fulfill that mandate.

And if you are still seeking for truth, and if you are not very sure about your salvation, come to Christ! Because Christ is the Salvation for this world. Not your works. But Christ’s grace!

God bless!

Peace and Adversity, Beauty and Pain…just in one place?

“If there is a loving God who created us, then he ought to be distraught at the state of the world.”

                                                                                         Amber Van Schooneveld

Amber Van Schooneveld, writer

Amber Van Schooneveld, writer

 

 

Amber is the senior writer and editor for Compassion Canada. Before, she worked for Compassion International, as editorial manager of writers and photographers in the field. Amber has always had a sensitive heart to the suffering in the world. When she was a child, she would cry when other children would kill ants. Since then, she has moved on to be moved by greater suffering in the world. Amber is the author of Hope Lives and Passport to Prayer, both aimed at helping people know God’s heart for the suffering in this world and to take action. She has a degree in English from Colorado State University and lives in Colorado with her wonderful family.

 

 

 
Is it possible for peace and adversity, for poverty and wealth, for beauty and pain to fill this world at once?
Sometimes, sitting in my peaceful home in Colorado, enjoying the lovely scenery, having a hearty family meal together and watching my children play with each other, the images you watch in the news of war, disaster and extreme poverty can seem inconceivable. How is it that I, even with all of life’s pains, disappointments and inconveniences, can live in such security when so many others, Syrian war refugees, for example, live in such fear and deprivation? It boggles the mind.

Yet we all know that this is indeed the state of the world. But none of our experiences are all good or all bad. Even in my secure and peaceful life, I’m not sheltered from the pain of cancer or suicide. And those living in extreme poverty also can still have the joy of family and the beauty of God’s creation. All, or at least, most of us experience both great beauty and love and heartbreaking pain and loss.

 

In your several journeys throughout developed and developing countries, what has caught your attention in regards to this phenomenon?
Returning home to the US after traveling to a developing country, I’m almost always struck by how

Amber, author of "Hope lives"

Amber, author of “Hope lives”

people don’t realize how good we have it. Living in a relatively affluent place, it’s easy to look around at those wealthier than you and believe that you are just barely making it. Few of us have the context to understand the luxury we live in because we aren’t surrounded by the alternative of people who do not have running water, adequate food, safe homes or access to banking, medical care, insurance or social safety nets.

On the other hand, I’m always struck by how similar we all are, no matter what country we are from. People are people. There are significant cultural differences, but I believe at our core we are all far more alike than we are different. We have the same desires, to be loved, to be safe, and to see our children and families thrive.

 

Is it God’s responsibility (if there is a God) or man’s responsibility for all the tragedies this world is experiencing?

I would say it is both. If there is a loving God who created us, then he ought to be distraught at the state of the world. And the Bible tells us that He is. (For example, In Luke 19, it is recorded that Jesus wept over the suffering that was to come to Jerusalem. And throughout the Old Testament it says that God hears the cry of the oppressed.) So the most challenging question that has ever been asked is, why does a loving God allow so much suffering? It’s not a question I can presume to answer well, and I don’t think it’s one we will fully understand on this side of eternity.

Many Christians have answered the question of suffering by saying that God uses our suffering to strengthen our faith and draw us toward Him. While we know that God uses suffering, both from experience and from passages like Romans 5:3-5, I don’t think this answer is the whole story. It can lead to bad theology, for example, someone asserting that God caused a child to die in order to teach a mother a lesson about faith. For me, the truth that I cling to when staggered by the suffering in the world is that God created a world in which there is free will because He wanted to create a world of loving relationships. For love to exist, free will is necessary, meaning man is free to do both good or evil. God says He has a plan to redeem the evil that is perpetrated in this world, but just like a tapestry that is beautiful on one side and tangled on the other, it is hard to see the sense of so much suffering in our limited perspective.

But throughout the Bible, God says that we are also responsible to answer to the suffering in the world. He calls us to speak out for justice, to break the chains of the oppressed and to help those in poverty. Although we don’t understand why suffering is allowed, we do know that God calls us to be active in stamping it out of this world. In fact, in Ephesians 2:10, Paul says that God has prepared good works for us to do in advance! What a huge honor that God values us so much as to allow us to be His hands in actively bringing peace, justice and equality to the world.

 

As surely we cannot close our eyes and say that this world is a “paradise,” is there any hope?

Amber, in one of her trips, sharing with two little Indian girls

Amber, in one of her trips, sharing with two little Indian girls

Though we can’t fully understand why God allows so much suffering, I often think back to Genesis 16, in which God noticed the suffering of Hagar, a servant. When she was dying in the desert, God saw her need and helped her, which led her to call Him “the God who sees.” In the midst of our suffering, we are never alone. God says He is close to the broken hearted. He sees the pain of the world, He listens to the cries of the oppressed, and He calls all of us to be active in being His hands in offering comfort, succor, love and physical help to this world.

The Threat of Mediocrity

“Nobody was called by God to stand idly; nobody was called by God
to be served. God’s calling in our lives is related to what He wishes to do in us and through us, in behalf of those who surround us. We need to do all for the glory of God, as a result of our lives completely turned to Christ.”

 

Wndell Miranda, Educator, Theologian & Coach

Wendell Miranda –  Educator, Theologian & Coach

Wendell Miranda

Wendell is from Brazil and is 42 years old. He has been married to Jemima 18 years. They have one child, Francisco who is 8. Wendell is educator, theologian and coach. He has been working over 10 years on leadership development projects in the areas of management, strategic planning, human relations, and mentoring. Wendell is also Pastor of the Assemblies of God in Brazil, Director of “Visão de Futuro” Institute and Director of “Libertadora” Radio station.

 

Below a short interview with Pastor Wendell Miranda. We also share a few excerpts from his book “The Threat of Mediocrity.” (Used by permission from the Author).

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You launched recently your newest book named ”The threat of Mediocrity” (“A ameaça da mediocridade” –its original title in Portuguese) . Please, share with us what is it all about?

What we try to communicate is that creating any project, without striving for excellence, it is harmful to organizations and to individuals. It is a real threat when we do something just for doing it, to do something in any way and to consider that as normal. That is what it means.

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”Mediocrity …describes the lack of merit due
to the lack of talent. Mediocrity comes from Latin
and it means ”what is in between”, from the word ´medius,´ ”middle”.
The adjective ”mediocre” means median, the one or
what is medium. Mediocrity indicates what is not
fully lower, but it does not get
the highest of excellence either.”
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What motivated you to write a book like that and why?

I have been motivated since I joined ”Compassion do Brasil,” to think and to develop actions of excellence. That is a very strong legacy for living / sharing together with my brothers from that beloved

At the book launch - Pastor Francisco Miranda, father of Wendell.

At the book launch – Pastor Francisco Miranda, father of Wendell.

organization.

Also, I have been providing suport to some churches, in Brazil, as well as giving lectures and ministering to different audiences. I got bothered for listening and observing many people holding back to some activism, making their schedules and projects by using the ”automatic pilot.” Then, during a conference for leaders, I had the desire to share my vision of being alert and to combat mediocrity.

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“God, I am sure that mediocrity
is a sin, and that it must be faced
as a sin, otherwise we will allow it to dominate our minds and our hearts.”

(John Edmund Haggai)
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We are living in a post-modern society, especially in Latin America. Other countries / continents are even living in post-post-post modernism. Don’t you think that one of the main features of this kind of society is ”mediocrity”?

The fast food society tends to preserve the quantity in detriment of the volume’s quality, without paying attention at the content. I believe that it is possible to develop the binomial quality#quantity, when we reject the mediocrity and we commit ourselves to make our best. A society that values the disposable relationships, has a strong tendency to follow mediocrity and, then, to transform that in a feature.

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”This century has been increasingly showing
the socio-cultural appeal of the ”image overvaluation,”
that it is nothing more than the culture of appearance,
exteriority, superficiality. It is praised when the most important
is what we appear to be instead of what we really are”.

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What do you propose in your book, as a measure of overcoming the mediocrity? What is your advice, especially for the young generation, in order not to get involved in mediocre acts?

The Threat of Mediocrity by Wendell Miranda

The Threat of Mediocrity by Wendell Miranda

I speak a lot about dedication, commitment and integrity. These elements are essential vitamins to combat weakness generated from mediocrity. When you commit yourself, there is engagement, you offer your best. Every morning you must give yourself to your mission and your vocation and at the end of the day you must ask yourself: Did I really do my best?

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”… in searching for excellence we need to give ourselves to God and
to his work wholly, namely, completely, entirely. Living in integrity
is to live in plenitude. God does not want the remains, God does
not want our wastes, God does not want the leftovers;
but God wants us completely for Him, He wants us fully and not just
half, or just a piece.”
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To conclude, you probably wrote some anecdotes in your book, as a way to illustrate that ”cancer” in our society. Please, share some of them with our readers?

Yes! The strong appeal to the ”image worship”! This has generated many unpleasant and fragmented quarrels. This search reflects itself on a daily basis relationship. I can remember about different situations: The leader that was hurt because there was not the expected highlight on his name, on the outdoor advertising, citing his participation at the conference; or the individual that said he would do the task in anyway, because God can understand…Or that one that prepares his report falsifying information, because he understands that the end justifies the means.

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“John Mason said:

*Do more than exist – live
* Do more than hear – listen

*Do more than agree – cooperate
* Do more than talk – communicate
* Do more than grow – bloom
* Do more than spend – invest
* Do more than think – create
* Do more than work – excel
* Do more than share – give
* Do more than decide – discern
* Do more than consider – commit
* Do more than forgive – forget
* Do more than help – serve
* Do more than coexist – reconcile
* Do more than sing – worship
* Do more than think – plan
* Do more than dream – do
* Do more than see – perceive
* Do more than read – apply
* Do more than receive – reciprocate
* Do more than choose – focus
* Do more than wish – believe
* Do more than advise – help
* Do more than speak – impart
* Do more than encourage – inspire
* Do more than add – multiply
* Do more than change – improve
* Do more than reach – stretch
* Do more than ponder – pray”