China e a poluição

Principles of interpretation

The principles of biblical interpretation are not arbitrary. They are derived from the character of the Bible itself as God's Word written, and from the character of God as revealed in it. We look for the *natural* meaning because we believe that God intended his revelation to be a plain and readily intelligible communication to ordinary human beings. We look for the *original* meaning because we believe that God addressed his word to those who first heard it, and that it can be received by subsequent generations only in so far as they understand it historically. Our understanding may be fuller than that of the first hearers (e.g. of the prophecies of Christ); it cannot be substantially different. We look for the *general* meaning because we believe that God is self-consistent, and that his revelation is self-consistent also. So our three principles (of simplicity, history and harmony) arise partly from the nature of God and partly from the nature of Scripture as a plain, historical, consistent communication from God to men.

John Stott
--From "Understanding the Bible" (rev. edn. London: Scripture Union, 1984), p. 182.

Linhas Emergentes

Missions with Spanish and Portuguese Accents

By Grant McClung

More than twenty years ago, I was given the opportunity to be a part of a delegation of North American observers to a historic interdenominational missions congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

It was called by the Spanish and Portuguese acronym, “COMIBAM ‘87” (“Comibam” meaning “Congreso Misionero Ibero-Americano” or the “Ibero-American Missions Congress”). More than three thousand participants from the wider world of “Ibero-America,” including all of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries of the Americas, as well as the colonial “mother” countries of Spain and Portugal, came together.

Looking back and looking around, we can thank God for what was “then” (1987) and what is “now” (2008). These following seven areas of our Ibero-American world evangelization partners hold great potential for what “will be” in the years to come:

	Then (1987)	Now (2008)
Personnel	limited full-time missionary personnel	a growing percentage of missionaries from Ibero-America
Pioneers	mission to unreached people groups was a dream for most	dedicated personnel opening up and remaining in “restricted access” nations and among unreached people groups
Parishes	some local churches involved in world missions	an explosion of supporting congregations who are praying, giving, and going into world missions
Partners	around sixty Ibero-American sending organizations, with around 1,600 cross-cultural missionaries	more than four hundred sending organizations and ten thousand missionaries
Publications	few Spanish and Portuguese-language missions resources	a proliferation of printed and electronic missions training resources. In my own denomination, we have just mailed my own www.Creyenteglobal.com (the Spanish version of my www.Globalbeliever.com) to over 1,200 pastors and local congregations in the US and Puerto Rico alone.
Professors (Trainers)/Promoters	only a handful of trained missions teachers/mobilizers	a wider array of Hispanic/Latino missions veterans with professional training in missiology and intercultural ministry
Prayer/Missionary Passion	mainly focused on evangelism in Hispanic/Latino culture	a “white hot” missionary fervor for “the ends of the earth”

As a teenager, I had my first short-term missions experience into the heart of Mexico. Now, after scores of missions experiences across Ibero-America, including my own missionary leadership in Spain and Portugal, I can say that “missions with Spanish and Portuguese accents” will be one of the defining trends in the future of world missions. Additional trends and information can be found at such sites as: www.comibam.org and www.comhina.org.

Dr. Grant McClung is an advisor to the Missions Commission of the Pentecostal World Fellowship and is a member of the International Executive Council for the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee, USA).

A Supremacia de Cristo

Recentemente a CPAD publicou um dos melhores livros de sua história, trata-se de A SUPREMACIA DE CRISTO EM MUNDO PÓS-MODERNO, que contêm textos da Conferência Desiring God de 2006, organizados por John Piper e Justin Taylor.

O livro/resumo da conferência contêm a participação de: David Wells, Don Carson, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, Voddie Baucham, and John Piper.

Em inglês, é possível o download tanto do audio e video quanto do livro.

Os dois últimos capítulos são reservados aos pastores emergente-reformados Tim Keller e Mark Driscoll, sobre a Teologização e contextatualização do Evangelho, ou seja, a mão na massa.

Tim Keller diz em " O Evangelho e a Supremaciade Cristo em um Mundo pós-moderno":

"A religião opera segundo o princípio: Eu vou obedecer, por isso, sou aceito (por Deus). O evangelho opera segundo outro princípio: Eu sou aceito, por meio da preciosa graça de Deus, por isso,vou obedecer. Duas pessoas vivendo nesses dois princípios podem sentar uma do lado da outra na igreja, domingo, tentando fazer as mesmas coisas- ler a Bíblia, obedecer aos dez mandamentos, ser ativo na Casa de Deus, e orar- mas por duas motivações complementamente diferentes. A religião motiva a pessoa a fazer o que faz por medo, insegurançae virtuosismo, mas o evangelhoo a motiva a fazer o que faz, por alegria e gratidão aquEle que que é o próprio Deus" (p. 121)


"Correndo o risco de simplificar demais, vou apresentar quatro estágios pelos quais o povo deve passar, da completa ignorância do evangelho e do cristianismo até a aceitação completa. Eu os chamo de:

1. inteligibilidade
2. credibilidade
3. plausabilidade
4. intimidade

Por intimidade, quero dizer conduzir alguém a um compromisso pessoal" (p. 124).