Lost in Translation

Por San Juan Crisóstomo s. IV.

Queridísimos, es una cosa muy buena la lectura de las divinas Escrituras. Da sabiduría al alma, eleva la mente al cielo, hace al hombre agradecido, nos impulsa a no admirar las realidades de aquí abajo, sino a vivir con el pensamiento puesto allá arriba, a realizar todas nuestras obras con la mirada fija en la recompensa que nos dará el Señor, a dedicarnos al trabajo de la virtud con gran entusiasmo. Gracias a ellas, podemos conocer la providencia de Dios, siempre dispuesta a prestar auxilio; la valentía de los justos, la bondad del Señor, la grandeza de los premios. Nos pueden impulsar a imitar fervorosamente la piedad de hombres generosos, para no adormecernos en las batallas espirituales y para confiar en las promesas divinas antes de que se cumplan.

Por esto os exhorto: ¡leamos con mucha atención las Escrituras divinas! Alcanzaremos su verdadera comprensión si nos dedicamos siempre a ellas. No es posible, en efecto, que quien demuestra gran cuidado y deseo de conocer las palabras divinas se quede en la estacada. Incluso si no tiene ningún maestro, el Señor mismo entrará en nuestros corazones, iluminará nuestra inteligencia, nos revelará las verdades escondidas; será Él nuestro Maestro en lo que no comprendamos, con tal de que nosotros estemos dispuestos a hacer lo que podamos (...).

Cuando tomamos en nuestras manos el libro espiritual, hemos de poner en vela nuestro espíritu, recoger nuestros pensamientos, echar fuera cualquier preocupación terrena. Dediquémonos entonces a la lectura con mucha devoción, con gran atención, para que se nos conceda que el Espíritu Santo nos guíe a la comprensión de lo que está escrito, sacando así gran utilidad. Aquel hombre eunuco y bárbaro, ministro de la reina de los etíopes, que era un hombre importante, no descuidaba la lectura de la Escritura ni siquiera cuando estaba de viaje. Teniendo en sus manos al profeta [Isaías], leía con mucha atención, incluso sin comprender lo que tenía ante sus ojos; pero como ponía de su parte cuanto podía -diligencia, entusiasmo y atención-, obtuvo un guía (cfr Hech 8,26-40).

Considera, por tanto, qué gran cosa es no descuidar la lectura de la Escritura tampoco durante los viajes, ni yendo en carro. Escuchen esto quienes ni siquiera en su propia casa admiten que haya que leer la Sagrada Escritura, con la excusa de que conviven con su mujer o militan en el ejército, porque están preocupados por los hijos, dedicados al cuidado de los parientes, o comprometidos en otros negocios.

Ese hombre era eunuco y bárbaro: dos circunstancias suficientes para que hubiese sido negligente. Otros factores eran su dignidad y sus grandes riquezas, y el hecho de viajar en una carroza, pues no es fácil dedicarse a la lectura cuando se viaja así; más aún, resulta costoso. Y, sin embargo, su deseo y su celo superaban cualquier impedimento. Hasta tal punto estaba enfrascado en la lectura, que no decía lo que muchos repiten en el día de hoy: "No entiendo lo que contiene, no logro comprender la profundidad de la Escritura; ¿por qué, pues, voy a sujetarme inútilmente y sin fruto a la fatiga de leer, sin que nadie me guíe?". Nada de eso pensaba aquel hombre, bárbaro por la lengua pero sabio por el pensamiento. Creía que Dios no lo despreciaría, sino que le mandaría alguna ayuda de lo alto, con tal de que él hubiese puesto lo que estaba de su parte, dedicándose a la lectura. Por eso, el Padre benigno, viendo su íntimo deseo, no le descuidó ni le abandonó a sí mismo, sino que le mandó enseguida un maestro.

Este bárbaro está en condiciones de ser maestro de todos nosotros: de quienes llevan una vida privada, de quienes están enrolados en el ejército, de quienes gozan de autoridad. En una palabra, puede ser maestro de todos; no sólo de los hombres, sino también de las mujeres -tanto más que siempre están en casa-, y de los que han elegido la vida monástica. Aprendan todos que ninguna circunstancia es obstáculo para leer la palabra divina, que es posible hacerlo no sólo en casa, sino en la plaza, de viaje, en compañía de otros o cuando estamos metidos en plena actividad. Si nosotros hacemos lo que está en nuestra mano, pronto encontraremos quien nos enseñe. Porque el Señor, viendo nuestro afán por las realidades espirituales, no nos despreciará, sino que nos mandará una luz del cielo e iluminará nuestra alma. No descuidemos, por tanto -os lo ruego-, la lectura de la Escritura.

Tomado de Estudios bíblicos de la red

Several things have come together in the last month that have caused me to evaluate the books that I read and how I read them. I went to a conference at BILD International here in Ames, which challenged me on this topic. I read a post by Kevin Bauder called "Give Attendance to Reading." And I've been talking to my brother Josh, who is working on a master's degree in English from the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities.

Let me share a few things I've learned.

We should turn every book we read into a resource. In other words, we should have a system for saving the insights we receive from any book. Jeff Reid, the president of BILD, has a good set of points that this resource should include from each book.

• Bibliographical info


• Statement of main idea/thesis


• Description of core concepts


• Diagram or chart of key ideas (if applicable)


• Summary of key issues and questions: What are the "disturbing" issues or questions that the book raises for you? List at least two issues and several questions that come to your mind about each of the issues. These main issues and questions can be used later to engage others in discussion about the book.


• Significant quotes


• List of growth and development ideas that come out of your reading of the book

This information needs to be stored in a retrievable format. I'm using Mendeley Desktop for this task, although you could just as easily save it in Word.

The benefits of doing this for every book you read are obvious. Why didn't I start this about ten years ago? I also think that every pastor and missionary should read How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler. It was revolutionary for me.

Dr. Bauder writes about having a plan for reading. He reads regularly from six categories: biblical studies, theology, philosphy, history, fiction/literature, and miscellaneous. As a missionary, I would include a category on Colombia and another on Spanish, but I'm sure his system could include those two categories.

The idea of the trivium in classical education has an interesting application to the reading of books. The trivium includes three aspects: grammar (understanding the basic principles of any subject), logic (analyzing the subject), and rhetoric (expressing your ideas on the subject). This applies nicely to the reading of books, especially more difficult ones. We must first understand the book, which means we must read it through. Then we can analyze it, and finally we can express our view of it. Usually we skip ahead the the third level without doing the hard work at the first two levels. This also means we need to read books multiple times (if they're worthy of it).

The third level of rhetoric requires the interaction of other people. I can see a wonderful application of this stage towards ministry training. We can engage our disciples and interns in Socratic-type discussions of important books during their time with us. We all develop more depth of understanding and wisdom as iron sharpens iron.

This focus also lends itself very well to reading the "Great Books." Of course the Great Book is the Bible, but other books have stood the test of time. As Adler says, the Great Books are "over our head" by definition and therefore stretch us as we reach towards understanding them.

This approach also guards us from meditating too much on the latest fads in ministry. The Great Books have endured precisely because they are not faddish. We do have to occasionally read popular books because they are influening people (I'm struggling through The Shack right now), but I think that our long-term impact will be greater if we focus on reading books that have endured.

Well, I hope this post has been helpful. I know that I've been opened up to many new possibilities in reading as I've pondered these resources and ideas.

I just presented a 50 minutes session today in two missions classes at Faith Baptist Bible College on graphic arts for missionaries. If you're interesting in the topic, you can download the two sets of notes I used:

Basic Design Concepts by Dr. Wayne Haston

Graphic Arts for Missionaries by Jonathan Boyd

My dad hired fishing guide Ross Crowe for a day on Rainy Lake on Thursday. Believe me when I say it was the best walleye fishing I've ever had! We caught over 50 fish in total, and I think that I landed about 20. We had to throw back about 7 because they were in the slot size (about 20-23 inches each). Ross takes you to the best spots and has great equipment and had just the right hints to help us catch fish. He showed us where to find the walleyes (hidden reefs not on the topo maps are best), what bait to use (minnows on orange/red/black jigs), what rod to use (sensitive graphite), and how to fish (use a Lowrance sonar to find the fish and stay in one spot no more than 20 minutes because there are only so many active feeders).

Well, after the thrill of victory on Thursday, Dad and I took Holly out on Friday. I figured that we could give her a little of our experience. Wrong! Can you say "agony of defeat"? We got basically skunked (Dad caught a baby walleye) and came back wet and cold.

This made me think about ministry. Why is it that some churches flourish like the fishing with Ross, while others languish like our experience yesterday? I obviously don't have any definitive answers, but here are a few of my thoughts. (Note: These are not formulas to success, rather they are emphases that lead to God's blessing. He's ultimately the One who blesses or withholds his blessing.)

1) How central is the gospel to your ministry? The more we can center our lives and ministries on the gospel (the fact that Jesus died for our sins), the more we will see God's blessing. Now, numbers don't give us a good indication about how central the gospel is to a given ministry. I know that some ministries in difficult countries (e.g. Germany) may be more gospel-centered than a ministry with big numbers in an "easier" place of ministry (e.g. Brazil). My question is, "How gospel-centered is the average member in my church?" In other words, when a conflict comes up, does your average member think about the cross, or think about other things? What motivates our members? It should be the love of Christ in the cross (2 Cor. 5:14-15), but I'm afraid that's far from many people's minds on a regular basis.


2) How well are you working as a team in your ministry? The longer I serve as a missionary the more I see that one guy cannot build a ministry like a team can (even Paul worked with a team). Are we looking for qualified servants in our churches and training them for ministry? Are we handing over ministries that do not match our gifts and abilities? Are we humble enough to work with a team and hear them tell us what we're doing wrong?


3) Are we passionate about Jesus Christ and the ministry we're involved in? I've seen a number of churches in which it seems that no one is passionate about anything (except maybe sports). I tend to be a fairly laid back guy, but I've realized that I need to grow in passion for Jesus Christ and ministry. I'm asking God to change me. I'm not content with where I'm at.

We also need to be passionate about the location and people we are called to serve. As one writer said, you need be able to say "Give me [insert your location here] or I die!" This passion for Jesus Christ and a love for the people should translate into a passion for evangelism. Just as we caught a lot of fish with Ross, we should long for a sould harvest in our communities. It's happened before; why can't it happen again?

These are just a few things I've been thinking about as a result of our fishing trip...

Acabo de encontrar unos mapas de ciudades de Colombia (como Mapquest) que se pueden usar para encontrar las direcciones:

Mapas Publicar

We just got back from our whirlwind trip to Colombia. All we had to do was touch down so they could stamp our passports, but we tried to use the time as profitably as possible.

We ended up staying an extra night in Newark because they offered us $400/person in credit, hotel, and food for the night because the flight was overbooked. Not a bad deal.

We arrived late on Thursday night and spent Friday resting because Lucas got sick from the change in altitude.

On Sunday I preached at Grace Baptist Church in Chia... wow, my brain didn't want to work too well in Spanish, but people said it was okay. Later we ate lunch at the pastor's house. Pastor Daniel has had his share of struggles in the ministry but things are looking up.

We visited our friends Alfredo and Juana in Tenjo and had a refreshing time with them. We visited a number of other friends during our time in Chia.

Conclusion: We enjoyed our time in Colombia, but it was clear that our burden for the country has changed. We felt like visitors in Bogotá and Chía because our burden has moved to the coast. I can't believe that it's only about 5 months until we go back! I'm more excited than ever about beginning a new church plant on the Colombian coast.

I'll be facilitating the first online course ever offered by our seminary in Bogotá through the Horizon International Schools (ABWE's distance education entity). I'm pretty excited as the course looks very well-designed. It's on the panorama of the NT. I'm looking to only have ten students as this is the pilot course we're offering. The course runs for 15 weeks, starting on September 1st.

http://moodle.horizonintl.org/
Look at the link below that says, "Español - Bogotá" (haga clic en el vínculo de abajo que dice "Español - Bogotá").

Voy a dirigir el primer curso por internet que nuestro seminario en Bogotá ofrece. El curso empieza el 1 de septiembre y va por 15 semanas. Si quiere inscribirse, por favor comuníquese con Claudia en la Denominación Bautista en Bogotá.

Aquí está la descripción del curso:

Por siglos la Biblia ha demandado los mejores esfuerzos de los que la estudian. Es nuestro privilegio unirnos a la legión de estos eruditos, conforme iniciamos un estudio sistemático sobre la literatura del Nuevo Testamento, la cual relata la historia de Cristo y sus apóstoles. Si nos entregamos a la tarea de todo corazón, cosecharemos beneficios eternos al adquirir una comprensión de la obra de Dios en el pasado y el presente. Cada libro del Nuevo Testamento, sin excepción, testifica de Jesucristo. Por lo tanto, queremos que nuestro estudio tenga como resultado una relación personal más profunda con el Cristo resucitado. Como Pablo, queremos "conocerle" (Filipenses 3: 10). En la medida en que lo conozcamos mejor, seremos enriquecidos personalmente y nuestras vidas harán un impacto cada vez mayor para Dios.

We had a great week of camp at Bass Lake Camp in Winnebago, MN. Thanks for your prayers! I was noticing that being in your home culture makes things easier for communication. I could say "aunt" with the MN pronunciation and no one would look at me funny.

I've also been thinking about cultural adaptation and location. I could work in any part of Colombia and adapt. I'm a missionary to Colombia. But I don't know if I could work anywhere in the U.S. because it's my country and I've developed ideas and prejudices about certain regions. Or to put it more positively, I would really struggle with certain regions. I would constantly be fighting the culture. I've recently heard of several pastors who've had this problem. You can't expect to move from the South to Iowa or Minnesota and not have a bit of culture shock. Things are just different.

This is another reason that cross-cultural missionaries are needed. Many times the "locals" are blinded to the needs or unwilling to meet them. Take the example of hispanic ministry here in the U.S. How many churches are reaching out to them? For many it's a stretch that they're not willing to make. I was excited to hear that First Baptist in Austin, MN has started an outreach to hispanics and now has over 50 in attendence on Sundays!

May the Lord stretch us all to reach people with the gospel... even if they're from a different culture.

We'll be at Bass Lake Senior high camp next week. Please pray for the following four sessions that I'll be leading (Tuesday to Friday).

Class outline – 4 class sessions

• The gospel should be the center of life and ministry.
• The cross is the key to peace with God and growth in God.
• Colombia is a beautiful country with a great need for the gospel.
• Missionaries are normal people who’ve been called to share the gospel in another culture.

Here are some prayer requests for the students:

• That they will feel more profoundly their sinfulness.
• That they will feel overwhelmed by the grace of God in the gospel.
• That they will feel more interest for Colombia and her people.
• That they will feel that if God calls them to missions, they will gladly surrender themselves to him.

I didn't want to forget where this tool is located on the web... It's fantastic for getting a color scheme that impacts. I've just been thinking about designing a church website, so I was looking at some color schemes. Oh, it's also a fun toy.

Color scheme designer