Note: I have the utmost respect for Pastor John Piper. I respect him very much as a pastor and a teacher of the Word. I have read many things about the Alpha course, not all of them favourable. I have spoken to someone who has taken the course. I am inclined very much to take Pastor John Piper’s stand on the Alpha course. I will just be taking notes.
Luk 10:1-4 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. (2) And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (3) Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. (4) Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
Col 1:28-29 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. (29) For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
A warship was docked after months at the sea. The crew stayed up until the wee hours. Two sailors went back. The was a fog. They could not find they way back. The admiral who could not sleep was walking. They asked him whether he knew how to get to the ship. Recognizing the two sailor, the furious admiral ask them whether they knew who he was. One sailor told the other, “We are in big trouble, we don’t know where we are and he doesn’t know who he is.”
A video clip was shown on the life stages of a person. The question posed: is there more to life than this?
An introductory video of the Alpha course is then shown.
Two persons were invited on stage to give testimonies. Of all the good things the course has done for them, I wonder if the same could not be done by any other programs. We should not confuse the work of the Holy Spirit with a benefits of a course.
When asked how they got into the course, both of them started with “it’s a long story but I will make it brief / short.” How very standard.
The 2nd one said she was given a proper introduction to God. I wonder what the course told her about God’s wrath and his other attributes.
Another video clip is shown of a person giving testimony of the Alpha course in a cell group.
Mr. Foo was sent by his church (FGA, KL) to start this program. The mission of Alpha Malaysia is to get everyone involved. The strategy is to equip and enable. The three areas of focus are the church, the family and the youth.
Paradigm Shift
There needs to be a paradigm shift to change evangelism from an event to a process. (A mic is given to Mr. Foo at this point as his mic was not working properly.)Also, from Pulpit to Pew. Evangelism is not a slide of our lives. It should be done in every opportunity.
The Luke passage is the last leg of the Lord’s ministry. Jesus first mentioned the harvest in John 4. The churches typically think about harvest in terms of events. In Matthew 9, Jesus mentioned the harvest again and this time he mentioned the labourers are few. Here in Luke, Jesus organized 72 people and sent them out.
What time and whose time?
Jews were hostile to the Samaritans. Galileans were held in contempt. Yet Jesus said the harvest was ripe for those two groups of people.He said that again about the neglected people in Luke.When we understand this (God said to those we hold hostility / contempt / indifference that the harvest is ripe), we begin to understand that it’s no longer a matter of what time but rather whose time. In Luke 10, after saying the harvest is ready and the workers were few, he told the 72 to go. We read about ‘ask and go.’ It’s not ask or go. For a long time, people think if they can do they go, if they cannot go they pray, if they cannot pray they give. We are all called to be disciple makers. It is not a choice among being a follower, a disciple or a disciple maker.
As he travels around Malaysia, Mr. Foo saw sufficient resources to carry out the Great Commission. Before Facebook, socialogists think we will meet 10,000 people in our life times.
Jesus asked them to go without a purse, i.e. don’t bring money. The sandal = another pair for comfort. They were also not to bring food (bag).
If we wait until we are secured, comfortable, have more food and we know how to greet people, we won’t go.
In Dec 2008, the world almost went bankrupt. Matthew Paris, wrote on Times Online that “As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God. Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa’s biggest problem – the crushing passivity of the people’s mindset.”
Two paper starfishes are given with the weekly bulletin. A video clip of the starfish initiative is shown. The moral is “I bet is made a difference for ….”
Reader’s Digest ran a poll and revealed the greatest fears of Malaysians is being alone. The global poll results showed men is more afraid of losing their good looks than women.
We are asked to write a name on the two startfishes, one to stick on the board in the church and one to stick to our Bible. We are to pray for them constantly until they come to Alpha.
Pastor Mike took over at this stage. Boards which I saw him carrying when I was sitting in the Dream Centre were pushed out. We are asked to put down the contact number too. They will be contacted.
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