As part of our journey to a Spanish-speaking, Argentine ministry, Mars Hill-Buenos Aires, is now Iglesia Asamblea de Dios PrÃÂncipe de la Paz (Prince of Peace Assembly of God). We are still 100% committed to the vision God has given us to plant a multicultural, Samaria-driven Church. Our location has also changed from the more prosperous northern suburbs to the shantytowns in the south of Buenos Aires. Specifically, we are forming a new community in Villa Soldati, Villa #3. More information will be posted here soon. To subscribe to our email updates, please leave a comment below with your name and email and we will add you as soon as possible.
This morning, while enjoying a Café con Leche (coffee with milk), I learned a powerful lesson in relocation and repentance. Last month, I recommended a book titled Doing Reconciliation by Alexander Venter, a Vineyard pastor in South Africa who formed a blended community called Johweto. While reading the final part of his book, he shares what the reconciliation process was and how it worked in their community. One of the first steps of the reconciliation process is the recognition and repentance from racial conditioning and sin. According to Venter, relocation must proceed true repentance because “it is only when you cross barriers in society that you begin to recognise your own conditioning as you see the plight of others…from the first time I became aware of the divides in South Africa, and crossed them, I was more and more motivated to go further and further into a life of repentance. Johweto became a journey of repentance as I saw the plight of the oppressed. I realised that my privileged and racial conditioning was so deep that it would only be worked out of me by sustained involvement with the other side” (Doing Reconciliation, p. 227).  The Bible calls this kind of deep repentance metanoia, which means to turn around by changing your mind, your ideas and view of things.
Venter’s reconciliation process goes something like this: relocation, repentance, relationship, reconciliation, restitution, and restoration. True repentance naturally leads us into relationship, and relationship leads to reconciliation, etc. The problems begin when we talk about relationship, reconciliation, and restoration without first having gone through true repentance (2 Cor. 7: 10-11). Then our kingdom message about building blended churches and communities comes off as irritatingly judgmental or, worse yet, just another politically correct theory.ÂÂ
 Often, when I speak about the issues of race and prejudice, the tension in the audience is palpable. Either people get it or they don’t. And you cannot understand this message of racial reconciliation until you have crossed over and relocated. How do we relocate? It can begin with a simple trip to the video store. Rent Hotel Rwanda, Sometimes in April, or Crash. At least begin to relocate your mind outside of your living room. Better yet, volunteer in an inner city food kitchen or become involved with your church’s inner city ministry.ÂÂ
During this Christmas season, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. He gave up His power so He could empower us! Leaving His heavenly throne for a humble stable is the ultimate in relocation. If you are a Christian, Jesus lives inside of you. The real question this holiday season is whether you allow the Jesus in you to….relocate.
During my time in Santiago, I received a number of prophetic words about our ministry. One of the values that Mars Hill shares with the Vineyard is the deep desire and hunger for the presence of God. We believe in the supernatural. One of the ways God’s presence expresses itself is through visions and prophetic words. Nearly all of you know that God called us to Argentina with a supernatural vision of “Patagonia, Go!” In Chile, a number of people felt that the Holy Spirit was giving them a vision or word for our ministry. I will try to relate those words to you as best as possible. They were all given in Spanish but I will try and write them as completely as I am able. It is also my desire to refrain from too much commentary as we are still “processing” the impact of all this.
From José, a pastor in Santiago: “Brian, thank you for sharing what is in your heart about racism and prejudice in the church today. Your message from Galatians 2 has greatly impacted my heart. While I was listening to you, I felt the Holy Spirit was giving me a vision of you preaching this message of unity to numbers of churches throughout South and Latin America (note: he knew nothing of my relationship with Pastor Scott Hagan and Blended Church Network). Your ministry, too, is not unlike that of the Apostle Paul. God gave you a supernatural call and, like Paul, you have been subject to a time of challenge and testing in the desert. But, Brian, the Holy Spirit is saying that your time in the desert is nearly through. After 2 years in Argentina, God is preparing to greatly expand your ministry by preaching this message of unity throughout South America.
The Holy Spirit is also saying that you have been subject to this time of testing and perseverance because God is going to begin to send your way many, many people who have been deeply involved with witchcraft, tarot, and other types of alliances with Satan. Your time of testing and perseverance was to prepare you spiritually for the battle you will face in this new aspect of your ministry. But, like the Apostle Paul, you have been supernaturally called and annointed for this task. Your message of preaching the unity of the kingdom of God will also be combined with a special annointing to destroy the works of the kingdom of darkness.
From Lorena, a friend of my roommate in Santiago: “Brian, I feel the Holy Spirit is telling me that your time in Argentina has been one of increasing isolation. It is no fault of your own, but of the circumstances that have happened over the last few years. The Holy Spirit wants you to know that a lot of the things you have been worrying about are for nothing. Because you haven’t had a strong group of people surrounding you and praying for you in Argentina, the devil has been able to trick or deceive your mind. I feel the Spirit is saying that it is very important for you to maintain these relationships you have formed with us in Chile. When the devil can get you to a place of isolation from other believers, he can deceive you into worrying or thinking about things you shouldn’t.”
My (Brian) time in Santiago last month was a pivotal time for me personally as well as for the ministry. I arrived on a Thursday and was greeted at the airport by a huge swarm of “taxistas,” or cab drivers. After a half hour of intense negotiations, I finally arrived at a decent price with a driver who could take me to the church. I spent most of the day exploring the city and the culture. The best part, by far, was discovering a little known place called Starbucks. God is good. On Thursday night, I was invited to a men’s group when I had the opportunity to share about racial unity in the Church. It was a powerful time together as we discussed Paul’s confrontation with Peter about the racial problems between the Jews from Jerusalem and the Gentile Christians in Galatia. We had church leaders from Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina all present and talking about God’s dream for a unified Church.
On Saturday, Pastor Tri Robinson from the Boise Vineyard shared in some detail how he grew his church from 12 families to over 3,000 in weekly attendance in the last 10 years. It is an amazing story. On Sunday, I had the unique opportunity to spend the afternoon with Tri and the pastor of the Santiago Vineyard, Roger Cunningham. One of the main outcomes of that time together was the need for Mars Hill to transition to a Spanish speaking ministry. We all agreed that it was too difficult to maintain an English-speaking congregation and do the discipleship that is necessary to train future leaders and church planters. Most foreigners who attend an international, English-speaking church stay for an average of 2 years. One of the things I learned at this conference was that the discipleship cycle (from 1st time visitor to elder or church planter) can last up to 7 years. The 2 years we have with people is not enough time to properly teach, train, and prepare people for ministry
One of my favorite novelists is the 19th century Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Although some of his larger works (The Brothers Karamazov) have earned him international acclaim, I cherish some of his short stories, the most famous of which is Notes from the Underground. He also penned a work entitled The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. As I was studying our lectionary passage for this coming Sunday, John 6: 51-58, I thought of this story. This passage of the Bible borders on the ridiculous. And, to my dismay, many commentators refer to this as one of the most difficult passages to preach in all the Bible.
At first glance, this passage appears to have cannabalistic overtones. Over the last few weeks, we have looked at Jesus as the bread of life, and now He is exhorting us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. The words in the Greek make his statement even more shocking. In all accounts of the Lord’s Supper his body is referred to as soma, but here Jesus uses the word sarx, or flesh. Rather than use the traditional word for to eat, Jesus says trogan, or to munch, a much coarser word. What is Jesus referring to here? Is there a eucharistic meaning? Or a foreshadowing of his death? Join us this Sunday at 10.30 as we look at the dream of another ridiculous man, Jesus.
Allure. A quick perusal of Google will quickly show you that we use this word to market everything from sleek sports cars and perfume to lingerie and magazines. Dictionaries define allure as the power to entice or attract. Our Scripture passage for this Sunday comes from John 6: 35-51. In the midst of the discussion with the crowds, Jesus explains that nobody will come to believe in Him unless the Father (God) first draws them.
The Kingdom of God is a mysterious thing. It isn’t easily explained. You can’t make a soundbyte out of it. It doesn’t fit with our consumeristic culture, but we are unmistakably drawn to it…it is alluring. There is also a sense of the word “allure” that connotes something that is dangerously intriguing. I’ve just listened to a message from Erwin McManus (Lead Pastor of Mosaic in California) on the subversive intentions of Jesus. Throughout His ministry, Jesus’ harshest words and criticisms confronted the institutional, religious order. As Pastor Erwin says, if Christianity in its contemporary state is what Jesus died to create, then it isn’t worth believing (my paraphrase). What did Jesus want us to believe? What couldn’t the crowds understand in this back and forth dialogue with Jesus? Please join us this Sunday and discover more about “The Allure of the Kingdom.”
I remember when I was first introduced to the fascinating work of the Russian-French artist Marc Chagall. It was a bitterly cold winter in January 1988. It was with a group of Calvin College students studying philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto, Canada. On this particular day, we were touring a reformed Jewish synagogue in the city. While we were waiting for our host to arrive, we were admiring some prints they had hanging in their conference room. I wandered over to a group of girls, and asked, “Which artist is this?” To which they only responded with hushed giggles and one laughed out loud saying, “Can you believe he doesn’t know who Chagall is?” The next day I had my revenge. We were having a passionate class discussion about metaphysics and epistemology and she put forward an argument (which I can’t even remember now) that I quickly destroyed in front of the whole class. I actually made her cry. Every time I think about Marc Chagall I can’t help but think of this story. Standing in that conference room, even after the taunting, I became intrigued with his work.
His desire to paint was first expressed to his mother. He describes it this way, “One fine day as my mother was putting the bread in the oven, I went up to her and taking her flour-smeared elbow I said to her, ‘Mama, I want to be a painter.’ ” There is just something about fresh bread in the oven. Maybe it was his mother’s creativity in the kitchen that released his own desire to create, to paint. Maybe it’s the feeling when you walk into an Argentine panaderia or a Panera Bread store in the States. It’s a place of comfort, creativity, and relaxation. This week, I will be preaching on John 6 where Jesus says that He is the bread of life. But the people couldn’t understand what He was talking about. They were more interested in the ancient miracle of the manna. Come join us this Sunday. Taste and see that God is good!
Este es un lugar en donde podemos discutir y hablar sobre todas las cosas que estan parte de nuestra communidad mars hill. Puede encontrar algunas enseñazas, sitios y libros recomendados, y pensamientos trata de temas tal diversas como: teologÃÂa, filosofÃÂa, literatura, la lucha contra racismo y prejuicio, adoración, etc. Sin embargo, los más importantes son tus comentarios. Esperamos que encuentres la fé, la esperanza, y el amor de Jesús a traves de este blog.
