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Stories of two Native American Men

January 26, 2009 by VolkhardG 1 Comment

He’ll be dead by Christmas, unless…

The following are recollections, excerpts of letters and conversations with Newton Bohanan, Nez Perce, 32. Thank you, Newt for allowing us to tell your story. May it encourage many! Since his dramatic life and death experience Newton has already been a huge blessing to many by his enthusiasm and love for God. Volkhard Graf

I had heard some stories about him, but never met him in person. The descriptions I’d heard seemed to fit the stereotypical picture of a Native American male. He was known as a person who you’d have to be lucky to meet in a sober condition.
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Quotes of Note

January 5, 2009 by admin 1 Comment

Relevant
“The greatest moments of Native History lie ahead of us if a great spiritual renewal and wakening should take place. The Native American has been a sleeping giant. He is awakening. The original Americans could become the evangelists who will help win America for Christ! Remember these forgotten people!”
Dr. Billy Graham

“…we see God working in terms of Jewish culture to reach Jews, yet, refusing to impose Jewish customs on Gentiles. Instead non-Jews are to come to God and relate to Him in terms of their own cultural vehicles. We see the Bible endorsing, then, a doctrine we call biblical sociocultural adequacy in which each culture is taken seriously but none advocated exclusively as the only one acceptable to God.”
Dr. Charles Kraft, Anthropology for Christian Witness, Orbis 1996

The next 10 to 20 years will bring Native cultural expressions to the body of Christ that will be a tremendous blessing to many.
Richard Twiss

Biblical Christianity is never found apart from a culture. It is always part of a culture. The Christianity of the New Testament was a part of the Greco-Roman world of the 1st century. There is no such thing as plain Christianity. Christianity always expresses itself through a culture. It is unique in that it can be expressed equally well in any culture.
Grunlan, Stephen A. and Marvin K. Mayers, Cultural Anthropology: A Christian Perspective. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1988, 244.

“The only way to drive out bad culture is to create good culture. We need to recognize that artistic talent is a gift from the Lord — and that developing those talents is the only way to create good culture.”
C.S. Lewis as quoted at: http://www.breakpoint.org/script4.html

“We know that this nation entered into solemn treaties [with Indian tribes] which have been continuously violated for more than 250 years. It’s a disgrace. It’s an outrage. We must do everything in our power to keep those treaties. Otherwise, the word of the United States government is no good.”
U.S. Senator John McCain, Presidential Candiate

“I have but one passion – it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ.”
Count Zinsendorf

“Without Christ, not one step; with Him, anywhere!”
David Livingstone

“Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”
Jim Elliot, Missionary to the Auca (Waodani)

“Lord, make me a crisis man. Let me not be a mile-post on a single road, but make me a fork that men must turn one way or another in facing Christ in me.”
Jim Elliot

The development of strategies for world evangelization calls for imaginative pioneering methods. Under God, the result will be the rise of churches deeply rooted in Christ and closely related to their culture. Culture must always be tested and judged by Scripture. Because men and women are God’s creatures, some of their culture is rich in beauty and goodness. Because they are fallen, all of it is tainted with sin and some of it is demonic. The gospel does not presuppose the superiority of any culture to another, but evaluates all cultures according to its own criteria of truth and righteousness, and insists on moral absolutes in every culture. Missions have all too frequently exported with the gospel an alien culture and churches have sometimes been in bondage to culture rather than to Scripture. Christ’s evangelists must humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to become the servants of others, and churches must seek to transform and enrich culture, all for the glory of God. (Mark 7:8,9,13; Gen. 4:21,22; I Cor. 9:19-23; Phil. 2:5-7; II Cor. 4:5)
Point 10 of the Lausanne Covenant on EVANGELISM AND CULTURE

“Suffering, if it is accepted together, borne together, is joy.”
Mother Teresa

Who Do YOU Say Jesus Is?

December 30, 2008 by VolkhardG Leave a Comment

Paul and Colin found themselves next to each other on a flight from Denver to Boston. Their conversation quickly got to the “so what do you do?” question. Colin was fascinated to meet Paul, a real-life pastor in a Bible-believing church. Soon they started talking about truth.

Colin assumed that all religions are equally valid and that contradictions between the different belief systems are fully acceptable, because to him absolute truth does not exist. To him, exclusive truth about Jesus was a result of a rationalistic Western worldview. In contrast, Paul pointed out that the idea of one God and exclusive truth came from Middle Eastern thinking:

Somebody Is Watching Out For You

December 30, 2008 by admin Leave a Comment

Big birds, especially eagles have always fascinated me. They are majestic creations to look at whether they are perching on a branch, building a nest or soaring in flight.

In an effort to make my jogging route a little more interesting, (to run in circles somehow doesn’t convey the feeling of making progress), I staked out a new route that happened to pass by an osprey’s (fish eagle) nest. About 200 yards away from the pole on which the nest sits, I heard the warning call of the osprey parent and less than a minute later it swooped down on me from behind. This was repeated several times, leaving only a few feet distance between the osprey and me, until I had cleared the area and was not perceived as a threat anymore.

The Pursuit of Happiness

December 30, 2008 by admin Leave a Comment

The desire to be truly happy is most likely the deepest wish of every human being. When one asks how to achieve that state of happiness opposing ideas and suggestions are given.

Some think happiness is found by throwing off all restraints, by letting nobody boss them around. “No one is telling me what to do”! “No other person, organization or even the government has any right to interfere with my pursuit of happiness”, they may announce.

Others may look for happiness by accumulating “toys”. “If I just could have that car, boat, airplane… I know I would be the happiest person”.

Maybe it is a trim, healthy figure or fashionable clothes that would make you truly happy.

Just a brief look around will reveal whether these methods truly bring happiness. There are many people who seem to have it all, health, houses, and more money than they can ever spend – but are they happy? Sometimes it seems, that the more a person owns the unhappier he or she becomes. Ask the man who was stranded on an island all by himself, with everything his heart could desire and no laws and regulations but his own, whether he was happy. At best, his happiness lasted a short while.

Then there are those who do not concentrate on how they can make themselves happy but instead focus on the needs of others. Curiously enough, they have found true happiness! If you don’t believe me, ask someone like Mother Teresa!

One of my personal champions, Jim Elliott, a missionary to Native People in the jungles of South America penned these words:

“He is no fool, who gives what he can not keep, to gain what he can not loose”! Jim gave up a promising career to bring the life-giving Gospel of Jesus to a remote tribe. While pursuing his calling, he and four other sharp, promising young men literally “gave” their lives. Today, the men who killed Jim and his co-workers have come to know Jesus Christ and lead the Christian Church among their people!

By the way, for a manual of principles leading to true happiness read and meditate on Matthew 5:1-12.

(Permission to reproduce this material is automatically granted on the condition it will be used for non-commercial purposes, will not be sold, and will be distributed for the sole purpose of expanding the Gospel.)

To Know God

December 30, 2008 by admin Leave a Comment

What is God like? What we think about God can be influenced by a variety of facts and impressions. You may look to “church-going people” to get an idea of what God is like. Maybe a TV Evangelist, or a representative of one of our societies esteemed organizations or a letter “To the Editor” in your local newspaper written by someone who calls himself a Christian shapes your view of God. You may or may not gain glimpses of what God is really like from those sources-but where do you get the real thing?

In the Bible, we see God frequently portray himself as Father. We can see his fatherly love in the fact that:

He wants us

We are not biological accidents or illegitimate in God’s sight, even if our parents didn’t want us or our conception was part of an atrocious and sinful act such as rape. God planned your existence!

He loves us

God is neither a “Police-man-God”, waiting to whack us over the head at every misstep we make, nor a senile old “Santa Claus”, who just doles out presents to keep us happy. In Him integrity, justice, compassion and mercy are married in perfect union. His love is seen best in the fact that although our sinfulness required harsh judgment, through his son Jesus, God found a way to both be just and merciful, by placing our punishment on.

He teaches us

Because God loves us, he trains us. This might include difficult things for us, which we may not understand. Consider a human father who “tricks” his young child into taking a bitter tasting medicine. The little child may not understand the fathers reasoning at the time, but the loving father knew it was absolutely necessary for the child to take the medicine to get well. His discipline is often under-appreciated at the time one goes through it-but once the benefits are visible, hurt feelings give way to thankfulness for his insistence and patience with us.

Take some time today and start on a journey to know God more by reading his word and by talking to him! Study the life of Jesus, because the Bible says, that when we have known him, we will also know the Father (John 14:7-9)

What Do You Want On Your Tombstone?

December 30, 2008 by admin Leave a Comment

What a strange question to ask! Or could it be that struggling to find an answer to this question might be quite crucial?

Usually we are so busy with work and activities that we don’t take the time to think through what is really important to us and our unexamined life just dissipates. Do you have a strong sense of purpose and direction? Can you recognize progress and accomplishment in your life or does life “just happen to you?”

To be confronted with these questions can help us bring our lives into focus because it drives us to decide what is valuable and important to us.

Maybe the well being of your family and to be a caring neighbor is an important value to you. To introduce others to Jesus Christ, God’s Son, and to show them that they can have a vital relationship with him should be a value for all true followers of Jesus.

Once we have decided what our values are, we need to consider which changes are necessary to see those values reflected in our daily lives. This will provide us with a goal to aim at and by doing so, our lives will become purposeful and marked by progress and accomplishment.

Jesus taught us to pray: “…Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is good to diligently pray this prayer, however, for the result to occur, we are asked to cooperate with God! “He (God) creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing!” (Ephesians 2:10)

I would like to encourage you to find the “good works” God has prepared for you and to pursue achieving them with his empowerment, help and instruction.

One modern day poet said: “Even if you are on the right track-you’ll be run over eventually, if you just sit there!”

It will be hard work and require faith and tenacity but your life won’t lack purpose and direction anymore and your tombstone might say: Good Work! Job well done!

Who Are You?

December 30, 2008 by admin Leave a Comment

Have you ever noticed, how much western culture is obsessed with Work and Success?

This becomes visible quickly, when we are asked who we are. In a typical western mindset such as my own (German), we are accustomed to identify ourselves by giving our name and occupation, which shows we derive meaning and identity from what we do.

Persons with a non-western mindset, such as Native Americans, Polynesians and people of tribal history in general usually identify themselves by stating their name and family background. Who they come from, their parents, grand parents, their clan and tribal membership identify who they are.

Now to be sure, what we do is not unimportant in either cultural background but it seems to me that we have put the cart before the horse. We try to do before we really know who we are.

The parallels to a Christian’s life are stunning. Often we are trying to identify ourselves by the works we do instead of whose we are.

Our identity as Christians must be rooted in Christ! We become part of Christ’s family by entrusting our lives completely to him, by believing in what he said and did. The works we do as Christians should be our joyful response to the grace we have received from our master and teacher Jesus-but the works are not who we are.

In Luke chapter 10 we read about the disciples coming back from an assignment bursting with a sense of fulfillment and victory. They had seen people healed and set free from bondages, but Jesus encouraged them not to rejoice in their accomplished works but in the fact that their names are recorded in heaven.

Our identity needs to be rooted in the fact that we are members of Christ’s family! Only then will we be really free to do the works of Him who sent us.

No FEAR

December 30, 2008 by admin Leave a Comment

Maybe you’ve seen these two words printed on a popular brand of T-shirt or you even own one. When I first noticed the shirts, I asked myself, whether conquering our fears is as easy as wearing one of them.

If we are honest, we are daily faced with a number of fears. Fear of failure may keep us from ever attempting something great. Fear of rejection may keep a man from asking the love of his life for her hand. You might never get to the destination of your dream vacation because you are fearful of flying. Of course, there are many more: fear of heights, fear of the unknown, fear of loosing a loved one, fears rooted in superstitions or taboos, like walking under a ladder on Friday the 13th, just to name a few.

How we handle or avoid fears will determine to a great deal the quality of our life.

I wondered whether God’s Word has anything to say about the subject of fear. Well, it is said that there are 365 “fear not” words in the Bible, one for every day! Our maker seems to be aware, that fear is a very human problem.

The prophet Isaiah speaks the word of God, saying: “Fear not”! The encouraging part is that he doesn’t just tell us not to be afraid, but gives us solid reasons why. He also lets us know what to do when we are paralyzed by fear.

The Most Important Question

December 30, 2008 by admin Leave a Comment

If you are like me, you probably are more interested in finding answers to your questions than asking them. Life with all its little details and decisions seems to throw more questions our way than we think we can handle. But I am beginning to learn the importance of asking questions because to do so may help steer me in the right direction.

There are many people who make their living by asking the right questions. Lawyers ask questions, trying to unlock information, which might help the accused to be cleared of wrongdoing. Pollsters ask questions trying to feel the pulse of public opinion about an important political or moral issue. Medical doctors ask patients where they hurt and how they can describe their pain in order to come up with the proper diagnosis.

Now, suppose I know what the most important question to ever be asked is, would you be interested to know it? Before you say “yes”, I have to warn you though, because you will be forced to give your personal answer to that question! Okay-you’re sure you want to know?!

None other than Jesus asks the most important question! We first find him posing this same question to Peter, who had just lied about him three times. Today he is asking you and me:

“Do You love me”?

Notice he didn’t ask: “Do you go to Church”? Or “Do you feel spiritual or religious”? Or “Did you do enough good deeds”? Or “Do you call yourself after my name (Christian)”? The measuring stick for having a true relationship with him is whether we love him or not!

God’s Word says that the person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love-so we can’t know him if we don’t love. God’s kind of love is shown by Him sending his son into the world as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

What is your response to the most important question? Do you love Jesus with all your heart, passion and intelligence?

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