What do you think this sparrow thought of me as I held him in my hand this past summer? Was I mean or oppressive? Did I intend to hurt the him? Not at all! I took this picture this summer after I rescued this bird from having enthusiasticly eaten his way inside of a bird feeder. While I had I had this sparrow gently tucked in my hand for a moment, he may have thought of me as his opressor, but actually I was his savior from his own errors. I use this as an analogy because a lot of what we think of God, and thus hear from him, depends on our perspective of him and our relationship with him. Charles Stanley, in his series Listening to God, outlines what determines what we hear when we do listen to him.

What Determines What We Hear?
Psalm 81:7-16

Three primary things:

1. Our relationship with Him. (Example: A lost person will hear God speak to salvation issues.)

The relationship is twofold:

a. Salvation: true salvation is once and for all
b. Identification: my daily, ongoing relationship

2. Our understanding of who He is:

When we go to God, what type of father do we hear?

a. A loving father genuinely interested
b. A demanding father with too high of standards who is ashamed of you?

What kind of friend do we hear?

a. Intimate friend
b. Distant friend

What kind of teacher?

a. Patient teacher
b. Criticizing, condemning, uncompromising, scolding.

What kind of guide?

a. Gentile guide
b. Strict, intolerant

What kind of counselor?

a. Understanding, listening, accepting, loving, unconditional
b. Condemnation, guilt, rejection

What type of provider?

a. Generous, takes delight in prospering his children, wants to bless.
b. Reluctant, stingy, calculating.

What type of supporter?

a. Faithful til the end, reliable, dependable, consistent
b. Inconsistent

3. Our attitude toward him?

a. Wrong: Proud, egotistical, arrogant? We wont hear him.
b. Right:

i. Submissive to his will regardless.
ii. Trusting when these three things are right, we will hear the truth.

image of Dr. Joon Gon Kim with Dr. Bill Bright
scanned from "Until Everyone Has Heard:The First Fifty Years"
by Campus Crusade for Christ

On September 29th of this year, the Christian community quietly lost a huge saint in the faith. Dr. Joon Gon Kim was the national director of Campus Crusade in Korea for the last 40 years. He is the first person to have started a national Campus Crusade ministry outside of the USA. He led his ministry with unshakeable faith, spearheading Christianity’s growth in Korea. Early in life, he was flogged by communists who also murdered his family before his very eyes. However, Dr. Kim forgave the communists and even converted them to Christ. This act of forgiveness paid massive rewards in the kingdom celebrating the heart of Christ. His work in South Korea had massive milestones as EXPLO 74 where 320,000 gathered and later in 1980 Here's Life South Korea which had 3 million. Today, 25 percent of Koreans profess to be Christian and Korea sends more missionaries than any country but the US. So when I say "quietly lost", his passing was only quiet in the US. Below I have attached an article from Steve Douglass that he sent out to former Campus Crusade staff.

From a human perspective, Dr. Kim should not have lived to be even 30 years old. Late in the World War II, he was conscripted by the Japanese army to serve with other Koreans as a human shield against the advancing Chinese armies. He escaped, but then fled through frigid mountain terrain without adequate food or clothing.

But after that, he was captured, beaten and left for dead by the Communists during the Korean War. He was recaptured and almost killed again by the Communists.

Dr. Kim endured great suffering both physically and emotionally. through it all, instead of growing bitter toward God, he drew much closer to God - being refined like fire refines gold.

So it is no surprise that he emerged as a man totally dedicated to God and to the spread of the gospel to all of the people of Korea. Dr. Kim fasted and prayed more than anyone else I have known and was totally committed to holiness of life. (It most go noticed that Steve Douglass worked closely with Bill Bright who annually fasted 40-days near the end of his life for the coming revival. This last statement is quite strong a commendation for Dr. Kim!)

I did view Dr. Kim as "soft-spoken" - until I heard him preach in Korea many years ago. At one of his memorial services, they showed several clips of him preaching. He was very animated and passionate. At times he would elicit from the crowd "cheers" or "chants" for Jesus as Lord and the answer to all of our questions and problems.

His heart burned not just for the evangelization but also the Christianization of Korea. He worked hard for the gospel to spread to North Korea, China and beyond. He constantly challenged people to pray for, give to, and go into missions.

At the World Evangelism Crusade in 1980, 100,000 people committed to being involved in missions. In 2001, a survey was done that discovered that 80 percent of all people working in missions departments of Korean churches had been involved in Korea Campus Crusade for Christ.

Dr. Kim was very well known for his faith. Examples abound, but I will share just one.

I was in the audience of 80,000 at EXPLO 72 in Dallas when Dr. Kim publicly announced the upcoming EXPLO 74. He said it would be in Seoul, Korea, in just two years and hoped to attract 300,000 people. That was almost four times the size of EXPLO 72, and I knew what incredible effort went into that for over two years.

I asked Bill Bright if he thought Dr. Kim was fully aware of what all would be involved in the implementation of such a massive endeavor. Bill said, "No, but he trust God, who does know and can provide whatever is needed."

In the next two years, there were many seemingly insurmountable challenges, but God did provide. More than 300,000 people did attend. And EXPLO 74 contributed significantly to the rapid growth of the Korean church in the years that followed.

Dr. Kim is a superb model for all of us. He walked with God despite severe suffering. His heart burned with a passion to reach the lost. He learned to believe God for the impossible. We would do very well to follow him as he followed Jesus.

Steve

Bob Buford is a Texas cable entrepreneur turned social entrepreneur. He wrote the famous book "Halftime," founded Leadership Network in Dallas, TX and blogs at www.activeenergy.net, which I recommend. I've had several chances to spend time with Bob in Charlotte and Dallas and have gained from each opportunity. Recently he's been writing about rise of social entrepreneurs, many of them forsaking high pay in exchange for high significance. I thought I'd let Bob know how praytel.net fits into the revolution. Here's my reply:

Bob,

I worked on an acquisition for fourteen months-- a sure thing that ended up falling apart when details surfaced. I took some time afterward to ask the Lord what next? I came away convinced that prayer was what matters, for prayer is the means God has ordained to move him.

If we pray and move God how many X is that? There's a bewildering amount of symptoms in the world. A problem here, another there. This new revolution seeks to strike at these problems, and rightly so. Thoreau wrote in 1854 that "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." The closer to the root of the world's problems that these revolutionaries strike, the more powerful will be their movement.

So would not God (or rather, the lack of him) be at the root of these problems? I say so, and that if we wish to "strike at the root" of evil, we must begin with prayer. Why is it then that I would rather exhaust myself with "branch hacking effort" (low - X work), when we are called to pray, which moves God (infinite - X work)? Let's face it though, most of our prayers are non-existent or anemic. We get busy hacking branches, we get distracted, we forget, we get sleepy, we are unorganized. I've always been more effective when praying with others (like with friend and entrepreneur Michael S. of Florida). For now, my part in the revolution, my X, is to get people to reengage prayer. With a small team of other revolutionaries I've developed praytel.net, which is nearing beta stage. It will call people daily at a phone of their choice at a time of their choice and and deliver prayer prompts and prayer space to coach them through fresh, relevant, topics to pray about. They can leave prayer requests which will be routed to others, and others' requests will be routed to them. Ministries or individuals can sign up. It's my small part to gain leverage in the big revolution.

Best,
Ted Budd

I recently joined the Thomas Nelson book review blogger. It allows for me to read new books from Thomas Nelson as long as I review them online. For my first book I chose “Obstacles Welcome” by Ralph de la Vega. I thought this would be a good book for most reader of this blog as it was business book by a Christian publisher.

Ralph de la Vega is the CEO of AT&T Mobility, which in itself is a strong recommendation for a business book. The book focuses in on six major obstacles he had to overcome in his life and how he allowed them to mold him into the person he is today. The stories are interesting drawing you into de la Vega’s life. Interspersed through these examples, he weaves in business principles that are important for the business minded individual. He uses charts and lists to allow these principles to be driven home. There is also a strong encouragement from de la Vega to give back.

As a business book, this is good. It is not the most entertaining or the easiest to follow, but de la Vega is someone who has accomplished a great deal by the main principle of not running from challenges but viewing them as opportunities. His story is very admirable.

Unfortunately, this book should not be on a marketed as Christian. No where in the book does he draw in the leading of the Holy Spirit and gives the encouragement to put work over all else. In one example he said, “between work and the studies, there was little time with my family. What kept me going was the doors I knew it would open to me…” Elsewhere he says sacrifice happens all the time in business. You do it because you “believe there’s a better future for you, and hopefully for your family, in doing so.”

This is a very common business approach to life. I felt it while I was getting my MBA, and there are seasons where this may be the case. This should not be the norm. The order is God, family, then work. Sacrifices are not made to improve your work situation. Sacrifices are to be made when God leads you to them. The rationale of this mindset is that if you can earn enough then you will be better off.

This rationale is a lie. Money is not the answer to all things. The truth is that the more you trust in God the better off you will be because the Creator of the Universe who loves you extravagantly will take better care of you than money. We need to get our priorities straight.

Getting an MBA was definitely a sacrifice for my family, but we felt very strongly God led us to it. Therefore we trusted Him through the process–not in the promised larger salary on the other side. Sacrifice will be required at times, but that decision should be made with your spouse directed in prayer.

In conclusion, “Obstacles Welcome” is a good business book. For those in business or wanting to improve their leadership skills, this book will be helpful to you. The idea that adversity in your life is an opportunity to grow is an important truth to know and walk in. But ultimately climbing the corporate ladder is not a sign of success. The sign of success for the Christian is doing the best you can in what God called you to do. Only God has the right to tell you if you are a success. It is His affirmation we are hoping for, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”