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DEAR PASTORS,
My wife teaches first grade and
school begins for her today. In our home, that has
always been the signal that
summer has come to an end, and a
reminder that the fall program
at church was about to begin.
As I think about these
seasons of life, I am reminded
that for many people, this
summer has completely changed
their lives. I think of those
who have lost loved ones in
recent months, those who have
received hard news about their
health, those who have lost
jobs, families that have gone
through major turmoil, and the
many who live in Iraq, Lebanon,
Israel, or Sri Lanka, just to
name a few places in this world
where life changes by the
moment.
It can be comforting to rest
in the predictability of the
seasons, but it seems like the
older I become the less
predictability I see in life. As
pastors and church leaders, you
have the awesome task of
shepherding people through
myriad life changes and
challenges. I think of this
particularly at this time of
year because it really is, for
all practical purposes, our New
Year. The end of summer and the
beginning of fall really is the
beginning of a “new year” in the
church calendar.
I pray that God might bless
your church in this new year. I
pray that you might have wisdom
to face the incredible
complexity of issues that people
invite upon themselves or fall
into through a series of
circumstances invited or
unsought. May you have wisdom
this fall and direction from God
as you open His Word to the
places that will touch the
hearts and lives of those whom
God has placed under your care.
This is my prayer for you.
- Dave
P.S. One place the “new year”
is most evident in the church is
children’s ministry. See the
Missions Resource section below
for some links to fresh ideas
for your children’s ministry.
Dave’s friend Godfrey
writes from Sri Lanka
(Aug 16):
I am sure you must be
aware of the current
"war" situation in our
country. It began over
the issue of a sluice
gate of the Maavilaaru
irrigation dam being
closed by the LTTE on
July 22nd, claiming
their action was to draw
attention to the needs
of Tamil people living
in the vicinity, in
areas controlled by them
(the LTTE). The
Government sent in
troops to re-open the
sluice gate, claiming
that negotiations to
this end had failed. ...
The resultant heavy
fighting, air strikes,
shelling and deliberate
strategic displacement
of people have created a
huge humanitarian
disaster. Initial
reports indicate that
nearly 42,000 families
were displaced from and
around Mutthur and other
villages in the vicinity
of Maavilaaru in the
Trincomalee district.
Nearly 100 civilians
died in the cross-fire.
The killing of 17 aid
workers from the
Humanitarian agency,
Action Contra la Faim (ACF),
in their Muttur office
is one example. Efforts
by humanitarian
organizations to reach
the Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs) were not
successful due to the
heavy fighting and road
blocks. The need of the
hour, as articulated by
many of those displaced,
was not material
assistance, but an end
to the fighting.
However, repeated pleas
by local groups and the
international community
calling upon both
parties to declare a
ceasefire were not
heeded. After weeks of
fighting and senseless
loss of life, the
controversial sluice
gate was finally opened
with each side claiming
that they opened the
sluice gate!
Since then, the
fighting has spilled
into other areas,
claiming many more
lives, while both
parties claim they are
abiding by the Cease
Fire Agreement (CFA).
Although there is no
official declaration of
resumption of war, the
fighting is very real
and the CFA is confined
to the paper it is
written on. Even the
capital, Colombo, is
rocked by car bombings,
suicide bombings, and
assassinations. The
Deputy Secretary General
of the Government Peace
Secretariat was gunned
down in his home. In
another incident, on the
August 14th, a car bomb
exploded, killing 7
persons. The High
Commissioner of Pakistan
narrowly escaped. In the
early hours of that same
day, in the LTTE
controlled Mullaitivu
area, 61 girls who were
undergoing first-aid
classes were killed in
an aerial bomb attack.
While hundreds have
been killed during the
past few weeks, there
are also thousands who
are displaced. … The
latest reports we have
from Jaffna say that
thousands of families
have taken refuge in
schools, religious
institutions and
community centres of
Thaalaiyadi (our program
area for the boat
project), Aaliayavalai,
Uduthurai (in the
vicinity of our housing
project), in Jaffna and
many other places. In
Batticaloa, many
thousands are displaced
daily. This number is
swelled by the displaced
from Trincomalee
District pouring in to
Batticaloa in large
numbers. In all, more
than 100,000 people have
been displaced in the
last few days. They are
in urgent need of food
and medicine.
Since Saturday 12th
August, telephone
communication with the
Jaffna District has been
cut off. The A9 road
which is the main access
road to Jaffna (which
passes through both the
Government controlled
areas and the LTTE
controlled areas) has
remained closed for the
third consecutive day.
We have lost
communication with our
staff based in Jaffna
for several days. Our
regional offices in the
affected Districts of
Jaffna, Batticaloa and
Trincomalee are our
ready network through
which we carry out our
relief and
rehabilitation efforts.
We appreciate your
prayers and support. In
His service, Godfrey
Yogarajah
General Secretary,
National Christian
Evangelical Alliance of
Sri Lanka
16th August 2006
Back To Top
Captivating: Unveiling
the Mystery of a Woman’s
Soul
by John & Stasi Eldredge
2005 Nelson Books (Reviewed
by Suzanne Johnson) The
three-fold thesis of
Captivating mirrors the
ideas presented in
Eldredge’s book for men,
Wild at Heart. While
Wild at Heart contends
that “in the heart of every
man is a desperate desire
for a battle to fight, an
adventure to live, and a
beauty to rescue,” the
message of Captivating
is that “every woman in her
heart of hearts longs for
three things: to be
romanced, to play an
irreplaceable role in a
great adventure, and to
unveil beauty.” On the
surface these assertions
certainly sound intriguing,
and frankly, almost
exhilarating. It’s no wonder
Christian men (whom Eldredge
diagnoses as bored) and
women (pegged as tired) are
drawn to these books that
promise explanations and
propose outlets for the
desires we feel as men and
women.
However, there is much
about the Eldredges’
reasoning and theology that
should concern the
discerning Christian reader.
I do not pretend to have
anything new to add to the
critiques that have been
written in that direction,
and encourage you to read
an excellent review
written by Donna Thoennes,
Ph.D., assistant professor
at Biola University.
What I would like to
note, however, is how
alarmingly culture-bound
this book is in its
presentation and assertions.
Reading Captivating—and
later discussing the book
with a group of young women
from my church—made me
realize just how much
working with missionaries
has influenced the lens
through which I view the
world. The Eldredges make
sweeping statements about
every little girl and
every woman, and yet
over and over I found myself
thinking things like, “That
statement would sound
ludicrous to a woman in
Uganda,” or “This idea would
be completely alien to a
little girl in Cambodia,” or
“A missionary in Turkey
could produce evidence to
negate that claim in a
minute.”
The problem is that
rather than starting with
God and what he has to say
about himself and about
women in Scripture, the
enduring Word to all
nations, the Eldredges start
with women—and especially
women who exist only in the
novels, movies, songs, and
fairytales of the U.S. and
the West—and then suggest
what their deepest desires
and inclinations tell us
about God. I don’t need to
tell you how dangerous that
is, not only from a
theological standpoint, but
in terms of reinforcing a
kind of religious
ethnocentrism among American
women that says “My
experience of femininity and
how it relates to my faith
in Christ is the norm.” I
realize I sound extreme, but
I do not think I am
exaggerating here. Not one
of the women with whom I
discussed this book—and they
are godly, intelligent
Christian women for whom I
have a lot of respect—had
considered how ill the
Eldredges' arguments would
stand up in another culture
or country. As we talked,
one woman who had been
deeply moved by the book
made the comment, “I felt
like they wrote this book
just for me.” Yes, and
that’s part of the problem.
Though it is easy to
criticize, I do want to say
that one positive takeaway
of Captivating is the
reminder that only God can
satisfy our deepest longings
and desires, for he created
us to be complete only in
him. As women, looking to
the media, to friends, to
our earthly fathers, to men,
or to the mirror to tell us
who we are and what we are
worth will ultimately leave
us disappointed, hurt, and
empty. The authors suggest
that the central question of
a woman’s heart is, “Am I
lovely?” As Donna Thoennes
notes in
her review, “Thankfully,
God loves us out of his own
loving character, not
because we are lovely and
incite that love. This
should be a relief to us.
…Women may think that they
want to be lovely…but true
security lies in the truth
that we are loved in Christ
whether [or not] we look or
act lovely.”
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