by Jason Joyner | Oct 8, 2012 | Biblical worldview, Blog, books, IJM, International Justice Mission, Mission Monday, reviews, social justice
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
The words of the prophet Micah are spoken in churches all over the world. Believers love this simple declarations of what Jesus asks of His people.
Christians try hard to walk humbly with the Lord. We strive to show mercy to people. However, we often ignore or struggle with the clause of “acting justly.” Especially for Western Christians, the command for justice is flat-out missed or simply misunderstood.
There is a new move of the Spirit, awakening His people to the need to provide justice for those who cannot speak up for themselves, to proclaim freedom to the captives, to minister to the widow and orphan. It is a slow burn, but it is exciting to see the embers leaping into flame in various places of the body.
A new spark is being provided by the new book
The Just Church by Jim Martin of the organization
International Justice Mission (IJM).
IJM has been fighting for justice for many years now and is one of the leading organizations battling injustices like forced labor, human trafficking, sexual exploitation of women and children, and modern-day slavery in all its forms.
Jim Martin has been working with them after transitioning out of the pastoral role in his church, becoming a church liason with IJM. This experience made him especially qualified to write The Just Church.
This book is a challenge to the body of Christ to reclaim the lost aspect of Micah 6:8 and to actively act justly in the world. There are other books that try to awaken Christians to the need of justice and to expose the problems of modern slavery and other forms of bondage towards vulnerable peoples that is easy to overlook in our daily lives. The Just Church is a book that takes the church on journey to forming a viable justice ministry to compliment evangelism and mercy ministry.
The book is laid out in three sections. The first section establishes a theory that faith doesn’t really grow without significant risk and suggests that justice ministry is a needed part of the church and can help develop a healthier discipleship in His people. The second section takes the reader through a practical journey on establishing a justice ministry in the local church. It isn’t a step by step approach, allowing for the individual characteristics of any body guide the process. The last part of the book is a series of appendices with Scriptures on justice, resources for following through, and study materials. Each chapter ends with a QR code that can be scanned by a smart phone or tablet, leading to a video with Jim summarizing each chapter’s main point.
It is well-written with an easy conversational style. Jim lays out the challenges inherit in this type of ministry and doesn’t sugar-coat it. It won’t be easy. But he recognizes the hope that is out there for people if Christians will rise up and stand in this gap, so the book is infused with this balance of challenge and hope.
Any critiques are minor. The videos are a very nice multimedia touch in this day and age – but I’m a fast reader so I’d rather not slow down and watch a movie. Those who like this feature will be pleased. Also, sometimes the book seems too much like a selling tool for IJM. I realize Jim works with them and is most familiar with their work, but there are other fine organizations out there doing similar work as well. This isn’t a big issue, and I support IJM financially myself.
Overall I am thrilled to have had a chance to read this book and see the new horizons coming in the fight against injustice. The need is starting to become known in the western Church. The Just Church takes the movement to the next step and provides a practical tool to those churches looking into how they can join in the justice ministry sphere. It isn’t for special groups like IJM or others listed on my links on my blog. The Bible speaks very clearly about God’s love of justice and it is every Christian’s responsibility to see the threefold thrust of Micah 6:8 walked out in the world today.
I’m thankful to Jim Martin and IJM for their work. I did receive a preview copy for promotional purposes, without any expectation of a positive review. My endorsement is heartfelt. The Just Church is a powerful tool in the battle against modern injustice. I highly recommend it.
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by Jason Joyner | Oct 2, 2012 | Blog, Half The Sky, human trafficking, International Justice Mission, Mission Monday, social justice
Computer problems are not conducive to blogging.
With that out of the way, I wanted to quickly point out a couple of resources for people interested in justice issues and fighting things like human trafficking.
Half The Sky is a two part documentary on the plight of women worldwide, as there are so many instances of oppression on women throughout the world. The documentary shows things like rescuing girls from brothels, providing learning opportunities, and exposing the issues that affect so many women in the world. It is airing on PBS tonight and tomorrow night. It looks to be a powerful way to show the needs of fighting for women without rights or opportunity. Like the title implies, half of the population is treated less than human and is discriminated against in too many ways, especially in the Two-Thirds World.
Next week is the launch of the book The Just Church written by Jim Martin of International Justice Mission. I’m reading it to help promote the launch and it is challenging so far. I’m planning to have a review of it next week.
Two quick items to let people know about. These are major things in the world today. I believe they are very close to God’s heart, even if Half The Sky is a “secular” production.
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by Jason Joyner | Aug 27, 2012 | Blog, evangelism, Jesus, links, Mission Monday, Verge Network
I’ve been following the Verge Network on Twitter (@VergeNetwork) all summer. They post some thought-provoking articles on missional life and discipleship. You have to pay for full access, but some gems have popped up on the free side.
This inteview by Rick Warren of Asian church planter Ying Kai is eye-opening and simple. When doing evangelism:
- Tell a story
- Don’t ask for permission to share
Check out the video in the link below for the explanation. Makes sense, and I’ve tried it. It works!
http://www.vergenetwork.org/2012/05/29/simple-ways-to-share-your-faith/
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What say you? Have you found any successful ways to share your faith?
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by Jason Joyner | Aug 20, 2012 | Blog, community, culture, Mission Monday, missional, organic church
Sometimes our culture sets us up against God’s will for our lives.
As we continue walking out the Outreach Saga in the local park, we’re learning things all the time. We are meeting next to a low-income housing complex of 100 or so units. In getting to know the people there, I’ve noticed that they have their own little community there.
Since it is an area of low resources, the people have learned to pool together to help each other out. They spend more time interacting. Sometimes they have conflict, but living so close together they live differntly than a lot of suburban Americans.
We’ve been blessed to be accepted by a group of them, and they come on Sunday evenings to fellowship, to talk about the Word, and to encourage one another.
My point in this post is the contrast to how individualistic we are as Americans. We are taught to do things independently. Pull youself up by your own bootstraps. It sometimes is a sign of weakness to need someone’s help.
American Christians play into this. We talk about “our walk with God” as an individual thing. We forget that we are called to be part of a body, a family.
I don’t think this is God’s will for us. Certainly I have to answer to God for my own actions, and I have a relationship with Jesus. The ancient world used to think solely in the concept of the clan or tribe, and the individual didn’t matter. According to Thomas Cahill’s book The Gift Of The Jews, the idea of an individual relationship with God, an independent reckoning was revolutionary.
Western culture has taken this too far. We are built to need one another. I know some people would rather be hermits. My mother could leave work on Friday and not talk to another soul until Monday morning and it would suit her just fine. She said liked it, but I would argue she let herself get into a mindset that she wasn’t really created for.
I would argue that the Western idea of individualism and the Eastern focus on community over a person are extremes, and that the Biblical ideal would foster a strong personal relationship with Jesus in a healthy community of believers that encouraged and exhorted one another.
I’m glad that we’re learning as much in this process as the people that are joining us in the park. When you don’t have a lot, you have to work together with other more. I’m encouraged by their example, and I hope Christians can wake up to the value of having brothers and sisters in Christ that keep us accountable and build us up. Yes, people can hurt you, but the blessings of opening up far outweight the risks in the long-run.
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by Jason Joyner | Aug 6, 2012 | Amazon, Blog, human trafficking, Mission Monday, take action
The e-publishing revolution is allow a lot of people to get their words out there. Unfortunately, there are some people who say awful things and shouldn’t have such a platform.
Through Love146 I found out about a book on Amazon available via Kindle that talks about the “age of consent” in countries around the world. This disgusting work even has a chapter that specifies the *lowest* ages, and mentions one country that has no consent age for sex!
These are children who are being sexually exploited, pure and simple. There is no romantic consent going on here. This book is being used by pedophiles and abusers in the Third World.
I’m not going to name the book to give it more publicity or search engine fuel. However, I am going to ask you to take a minute and go to the Love146 Task Force page and do one of the steps listed, at least, to help ask Amazon and Jeff Bezos to take this horrible thing out of their store.
According to a letter you can print out and send to Mr. Bezos, this type of campaign has worked before. Please help to fight the scourge of child sex trafficking. I know we are asked on the web to do things all the time, but this only takes a minute, and will help cut down on the demand for such terrible crimes.
Jesus said that if you do such things for the least of these, you’re doing it for Him.
Thanks and peace be with you.
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by Jason Joyner | Jul 23, 2012 | Blog, I ain't got nobody, Mission Monday, missional, organic church, Outreach Saga
My mom had her share of corny jokes.
One of her favorites was, “Do you want to hear my ghost song?” Then she would sing the first couple lines from the song, “I Ain’t Got Nobody.” No. Body. Get it. Never mind.
Well, I think in the body of Christ we act too often as if we “ain’t got no body.” In that, we don’t let the body do what it needs to do.
Our little Outreach Saga in the park has been going for about 7-8 weeks now. When we first started, we concentrated on building some relationship and gaining the trust of the people. We shared Jesus when we could, whether through conversation or deeds. The last few weeks we have transitioned to having a little more organized Bible study together.
Now, “organized” has a different meaning for what we’ve been doing relative to most people. In this case, it means we gather in a circle and start with reading a Bible story or a few verses. Then we have discussion. That part has lasted about 1.5 hours the last two weeks. No agenda or specific sermon to go through. We’re opening it up to questions and sharing from our hearts.
The awesome thing about this is that we’re seeing our group be the Body of Christ. I’m kind of the leader of our study time, since I have a big mouth and am not afraid to get the ball rolling. The problem is that I don’t necessarily have all the answers for the questions we’re getting.
Last night several people shared. People from the park have questions but also chime in with thoughts. Others from our original fellowship stepped up with their testimonies and words at the proper times.
I’ve had some great opportunities to go to a wonderful Bible study program, to teach and use my gifts in the past. This doesn’t mean I have it all figured out, or have the right words for every situation. Far from it!
I was so blessed last night to have others willing and able to share and use their gifts and testimony to touch others. I needed them. I couldn’t do it myself (not that I would ever want to!).
More and more in our Outreach Saga I’m seeing the wisdom in 1 Corinthians 12-14. Jesus created us as a body for a reason. We need each other. Don’t be afraid to use your gifts from God. He gave them to you for a reason – to be shared with others.
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If anyone has questions about what this whole Outreach Saga is, feel free to let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them. It’s an interesting journey so far!
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