True Identity: We are Strangers In a Foreign Land
/The reality is, Christians are interlopers. We are strangers and foreigners.
BY ED STETZER
As Christians, I believe we should always be more driven by our missionary identity than we are by our national identity, our political identity, our environmental identity, our social identity, or even our church identity.Don’t get me wrong. We ought to love our church. (I know I love my church.) And the Church (with capital C) is the bride of Christ, destined for eternity with God. But here on earth we must face the reality that our culture is not to be our primary identity.Our culture is a mission field. We must see ourselves as people on mission. This is not our home. This is our mission field. Therefore, we all must see our vocations as mission—as kingdom work.
Strangers in a foreign land
First Peter 2:11 tells us that we are strangers and exiles. This land is not our home. But part of the challenge is that a lot of people want to fight for their homeland instead of acknowledging that we're supposed to have the mindset of foreigners and exiles.Let’s put this into the facts that we know about our population. If the percentage of people who are nominally Christian is shrinking and nominal Christians become Nones, then we are dwelling in an increasingly secular land.As a result, we need a reemphasis on gospel clarity. Being labeled Christian no longer means a ‘social Christian’, but instead is someone who's been changed by the power of the gospel, if indeed you have. This is a vital theological shift in the way we are viewed and should view our land.Understanding these shifts is necessary in part because we live in an age of outrage. People in our land get ticked off over things that they don’t like. This calls us to gospel clarity. And missionary identity, seeing ourselves as strangers and temporary residents, is what will pull us towards showing and sharing the love of Jesus as we should.
We are a convictional minority
At one time, we were perceived (incorrectly, I think) as a religious majority. Today, we're a convictional minority. This is key, because when you're a convictional minority, you don’t fit in the mainstream of culture. We are statistically a minority of people in our culture who think differently than the mainstream culture. We are not walking around thinking, We're the majority. You're going to do what I say. You're going to accept all my standards.A lot of people still think Christendom when they think American, Candian, British, or whatever. They believe they need to take back the country, because it's theirs and others are interlopers.The reality is, we are the interlopers. We are the strangers and foreigners.When we think like a convictional minority, we'll engage culture less with "You owe me" and more with “How can I engage you the culture we are in via the mission we are on?"Christendom has died. Not Christianity, statistically, but Christendom.The prevailing idea of a Judea-Christian worldview is no longer something we can take for granted. We are in a post-Christendom age. Our focus must now be more on mission, evangelism, and the like.Sorry, Christian, we are not birthright owners. We are exiles. Many sincere Christians have seen America as a new Israel. When Ronald Reagan said, "We will be as a city upon a hill," some saw some divine relation to a specific nation. But, let’s be clear: Reagan wasn't quoting the Bible; he was quoting John Winthrop standing on the deck of the Arabella in 1630.God loves all people. And perhaps we have great responsibility because we occupy “a great land between two great seas” (another Reagan gem). But we are not the new Israel. Our covenant relationship with God is no covenant like the Old Testament.Sure, we can pray, "Lord, heal our land," but 2 Chronicles 7:14, where God says, "If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, I will hear from heaven and heal their land," is not about us. It’s about ancient Israel in the time of King Solomon, who was about to go off the deep end into idolatry.We need God to heal our land, but we don't have a land in the same way as King Solomon.
Stop the Israel thinking
We've got to stop the Israel thinking, which is, This is our place, our home. Instead, we must consider that we are foreigners and strangers in exile. It's someone else's home. We're not Israel. We're Israel in exile.Jeremiah 29:5 speaks to those like us in exile. Sure, plant gardens and grow, and flourish, and more. But always remember you’re in Babylon.This makes all the difference. Why? Because only then will we have exile thinking and gospel focus. We begin to think about our mission to engage a culture that God loves and wants to redeem and restore to himself.Ed Stetzer holds the Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College, is executive director of the Billy Graham Center, and publishes church leadership resources through Mission Group.This article was republished with permission and originally appeared here.
Actress Alley Mills, perhaps best known for her role as Norma Arnold, the mother in the coming-of-age TV series "The Wonder Years," is unashamed to talk about Jesus Christ. However, while she was still a Buddhist working in Hollywood, she was more concerned about what people thought about her than she does now, she told The Christian Post in an exclusive interview (May 28, 2013).BY ALEX MURASHKO"This town is driven by ego," said Mills, who currently plays Pamela Douglas in the soap, "The Bold and the Beautiful." She adds, "The more confidence you have when walking into a room, which is really about ego – that, much more than the depth of your heart, is what gets you a job." The question is always, "Can you hold your own in a room?"Mills said that she had good survival skills as an actress before becoming a follower of Jesus 15 years ago, but that her priorities are much different now. She gives her Christian testimony in church and has talked about it in Bible study, but has never spoken to the press about her journey of faith prior to her interview with CP.The actress grew up in New York, both the city and outside the city, and was mostly raised by a caregiver. Her parents, a father that was a television executive and a mother that was a magazine art editor, were "rabid atheists," she said. They later divorced."From the age of a teenager, I was always seeking something outside what the real world was. I had a yearning for meaning," said Mills, 62. "That's why I became an actress in school. I went away to boarding school when my parents got divorced. My childhood had not been happy."I was always searching. I became a Buddhist in my twenties when I came to Los Angeles. I met a group of people who I really loved," she explained.Being a Buddhist was part of her spiritual journey, she said. "I was a Buddhist for 20 years. At a certain point, in my late 30s I began to get unsettled about Buddhism. and the major thing was I felt like I needed to be grateful for this incredible creation … I've always loved nature. I've always been a hiker. I love the wilderness. I didn't realize it was God then, but I now do."Her uncertainty began to grow as she realized that chanting "to a law in the universe" was beginning to not work for her. She was also concerned that some of the Buddhist leaders were "becoming a little bit egocentric."A shift in her life began, she says, when she went to a Lutheran school's church service because it was recommended that as grandparents (Mills is married to actor and author Orson Bean) who are helping to place their grandchild in the school, they should attend."There on the wall [of the church where service was held] was a very old picture of Jesus and it was the same picture that the woman who raised me, my whole childhood, had by her bed," she said. "It was as if I was hit by a thunderbolt. I saw that picture and I suddenly remembered everything that I had not remembered at all about Mary (her caregiver) raising me pretty much from the age of two. She was a devout Christian. She was an African American. She kind of rescued me from a very crazy caregiver we had at that time, and always took me under her wing."Mills continued, "She would rock me in her rocking chair. She had a huge Bible and would open up her Bible and read to me. And I remembered everything when I saw this picture. I remember when I used to walk to school and that Jesus was with me, that he was my friend, that I wasn't afraid anymore, because I was a very anxious child. Mary would pray with me all the time. I snuck out to Sunday school. I had my own Bible with my name on it because I sang in a school choir. My parents didn't know."She said she completely forgot about this part of her childhood probably because her parents forbade the caregiver from teaching from the Bible at a certain point. "I remembered that happened in front of me when I was about six and she stopped reading me the Bible, which was awful. It must have broken her heart," Mills explained. "Unfortunately, she died before I became a Christian. I am convinced she prayed for me every day."She said the transition from Buddhism to Christianity at the point of remembering her past seemed logical."Nothing went against what I believed as a Buddhist. It was all like a missing link, because I had remembered what Jesus had been to me – just this incredibly humble and kind friend who brought peace to my heart as a very little girl … but I sobbed and I sobbed," she said. "She (caregiver) was the most incredible role model of my whole life. When I saw that picture everything came back to me."Later, Mills asked the pastor of the Lutheran school church if it was okay for her to attend even if she was a Buddhist. He told her it was fine just as long as he could have meetings with her and her husband over coffee."That pastor is still my husband's best friend and he baptized me 3 to 4 years later with my grandson," she said. "That was the beginning of a change in my life. It was a continuation for me… Buddhism was sort of a step. People worry about [Buddhism being the wrong spiritual path]. That's true, people can become complacent and remain stuck… but it wasn't for me, it was a step."
These are the people I reached for Christ for a period of three years. From 2008 to 2010, I was a full-time extra who worked on many films, TV shows, and commercials. During this time, I was able to evangelize and give tracts out to many people I worked with on set, some of whom included famous celebrities. This was an adventurous, and often times scary, time of my life.When I went into the entertainment field, it was not initially to do any sort of evangelism. I went in to pursue my high school dream of becoming a film director. I used the acting platform for getting exposure in Hollywood. In an unusual turn of events, it was there that I truly met the Lord and found a newfound passion, which was to advance the kingdom agenda in Hollywood.While working on a TV show at Universal Studios Hollywood I met a Christian who was a fellow background artist. He was really no ordinary guy. He was an on-fire believer who was Great Commission focused. He spoke to half of the people on set about Jesus and gave them gospel tracts so fearlessly. I was impressed and got a chance to hear both his salvation testimony and his outreach efforts in Hollywood during the previous five years.This man, Jonathan, evangelized even famous celebrities. The list includes the likes of Dan Aykroyd, Orlando Bloom, Will Smith, Jackie Chan, Annette Bening, Ed Harris, and Steven Spielberg. He even told me of an encounter he had with Harrison Ford on a movie called Crossing Over, where he gave Harrison a gospel tract (from Living Waters Ministry) and was asked to leave the set later on.I thought, "This was crazy stuff!" But I was curious and wanted to know more. I learned more about the gospel and the importance of evangelism through Living Waters Ministry, via the TV show The Way of the Master. It convicted me so much that I knew that instead of being disobedient I was supposed to be doing what I have been called to do as a Christian. I thought, "Why was I living so much for myself when other people who don't know Christ will spend eternity in hell? Isn't Jesus suppose to come back soon?"That's when I gained a new desire to evangelize the lost. I no longer saw my film career as a priority. The saving of lost sinners was and is more pressing. Over the course of the next two-and-a-half years, I started to verbally preach the gospel to others on set and to give out gospel tracts to them. I started to evangelize celebrities myself. I thought, "Who else was going to reach them if people like me don't? How many of them actually have Christian friends who can tell them this kind of stuff?"It had been two years of joyful moments and challenging times. There were some people who were receptive to my work. Everyone from security guards to singers like Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20) and William Friedkin (director) showed interest. But there was also some heat that came on me at times. One time, I got seriously scolded by a Production Assistant for giving a gospel tract to actor James Wood while filming an episode of the now defunct show Shark. Nevertheless, I pressed on, but it wasn't easy.The most memorable story was, of course, the Brad Pitt incident, which I have shared on many media outlets. We were working on the movie Moneyball at the Sony Studios in Culver City. At the end of the shoot, around 12:30 am, I went up to Brad when he was about to head back to his trailer. I gave him a gospel tract with the “million dollar bill” design. Interestingly, it was the Living Waters edition that had his cartoon caricature on it. He took it and said that he was going to look at it later. As I left the set, I was able to also give a gospel DVD to the cinematographer, Wally Pfister.WATCH VIRAL YOUTUBE VIDEO: "ACTOR LOSES CAREER AFTER EVANGELIZING BRAD PITT" BELOWAbout 10 days later, I received a letter from Central Casting, stating that I got terminated. They provided no reason, but I can only guess that it was because of this incident. It just shows that when the gospel is presented, people will either love it or hate it. But that was the price I was willing to pay to see the lost come to saving faith in Jesus, especially when I was in Hollywood. I continue to pray for many of the famous actors in the business.Since my termination from Central Casting, I have moved onto other endeavors, which has led me to where I am today, as teaching pastor of Grace City LA. The Lord was able to open up opportunities to tract celebrities outside of set, the most recent occasion being Wilem DaFoe and Gwen Stefani.This, as well as many more stories, can be found in my book 
Since day one, we also started evangelism, which is one of the pillars of our philosophy of ministry. We have had an exciting door-to-door ministry in which we systematically visit houses, apartments, parks, and even religious establishments next to our church to proclaim the good news of the gospel to our neighbors. We have also experimented with creative ways to connect with Angelenos in the community. The most recent idea was a 
We had no idea what the reception was going to be. This coffee idea was something that I heard as a suggestion when I was at an old church a couple years ago, but nobody ever acted on it. It turns out this test run was a success. Many people came to our station to grab some free coffee - both hot and iced. All the business cards ran out. People asked about the whereabouts of Grace City LA. AND three people even prayed to receive Christ as Lord and Savior!This has definitely been one of my most enjoyable outreach events. It was a hot spring Saturday, but our enthusiasm to connect with people and witness for Christ made it all worth it. There are a few things we will modify, but Grace Cafe is something that we plan to be a permanent, ongoing ministry for Grace City LA. We see it as an excellent way to serve the community, bring smiles to many faces, and to expose them to Christ.Our start date will be May 5 (Saturday). We will experiment with new drink options, such as Ice Coffee or Thai Ice Tea, made from scratch and from the best quality ingredients. We want to be able to replicate the quality of the drinks you find at cafes and refreshment shops in the area. And to offer it all at no cost. The best way to keep updated on our schedule - time, location, and menu - is to follow our 
In what promises to be a fascinating look at overcoming extreme conditions and circumstances while competing in “the most difficult endurance race in the world,” Godspeed - The Race Across America Documentary is coming to theaters across America for one night only, May 22.WATCH TRAILER BELOWHollywood film and television producer Brian Bird, whose writing and producing credits include The Case for Christ and Captive, is promoting the movie as his next faith and family film. Bird also serves as executive producer and head writer of the wildly successful Hallmark original series, "When Calls the Heart," (2013-present), and was Co-Executive producer and senior writer for five seasons on the hit CBS series, “Touched By An Angel.”Godspeed is the true story of two average guys, Jerry Schemmel and Brad Cooper, fulfilling a dream to compete in the world’s most grueling and demanding bicycle race—The Race Across America—a seven-day, 3,000+ mile trek across 12 states from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans, producers state on the movie’s Facebook site.Race Across America (RAAM) is one of the most respected and longest running ultra-endurance events in the world. RAAM is seen as a pinnacle of athletic achievement not only in cycling circles but the greater sporting community as well.“There is no other race in the world like RAAM,” Godspeed film makers said. “ There is no race that combines the distance, terrain and weather; no other event that tests a team’s spirit from beginning to end. The Race inspires everyone who has been a part of it - racer, crew, staff and fans alike. RAAM is the true test of speed, endurance, strength and camaraderie, the ideal combination of work and play.”
I thought opening up about my sin and shame would result in the end of my ministry career. But what I found was a deeper experience of God’s grace. Walking through the principles and steps of Celebrate Recovery®, I found I really was powerless to control my life and that I wasn’t alone in ministry, even as a young pastor. I learned in a deeper way that God really did care about me personally and that I had the freedom through Christ to live as God wanted me to. But more than anything, I learned that my struggles with porn, alcohol, and shame over past decisions were a result of thirsting for love, affirmation, and acceptance in things that could never satisfy. I have come to experience through Celebrate Recovery that God is the way, the truth, and the life, and all of my longings and desires are satisfied in him.I am so thankful that God led me to Celebrate Recovery. It has completely changed my life, my marriage, my ministry, and my relationship with Jesus Christ. I have found freedom from porn, and God continues to peel back more layers of my heart in order to make me more like him. I’m not “out of the woods,” but with the help of my forever family and the tools God has given me through Celebrate Recovery, I know I can continue to grow closer to him each day. Thank you for letting me share.Published with permission from 
“Ultimately, the answer for that stat is adoptive families, safe families, Foster Care, but the question is not what do families do, but what does the church do? So we came up with this campaign called Brave where churches create catalytic events in partnership with the local community to actually get the girls at risk of trafficking and say, ‘Hey, we think you are the solution and not the problem.”She adds, “I feel it’s a time when the Church has an answer with the sacredness of humanity. That every life matters to God because everyone was created with the sacred image of God inside of them, and so to acknowledge that, to recognize that, means that we fight things like slavery and trafficking and injustice.”[bctt tweet="It’s a time when the Church has an answer with the sacredness of humanity. That every life matters to God because everyone was created with the sacred image of God inside of them. - Danielle Strickland #humantrafficking " via="no"]
Although Bieber did not headline at Coachella, his appearance led to several "side note" stories, including 
It is this model that begins with individual men, small groups, and movements that can provide positive results in cities such as Los Angeles today.“There are social justice issues that will not be resolved by money, education, more politics or more activism,” Luck said. “They will be resolved by transformed men who stop buying prostitutes, who start fathering their families, who stop beating their women, who stop committing violent crimes and felonies, who stop killing each other, who stop divorcing and start staying with their women, and start bringing life and health to their city on a large scale."He explains that the men documented in the Bible (Acts) who became followers of Christ became spirit filled and in this process they started changing, enabling them to “love, heal, and bring God’s justice in the city.”He adds, “The miracle people witnessed in the city of Jerusalem was men taken over by the Holy Spirit and that created a tsunami of salvation and collateral blessing and transformation across that city.”In addition, opposition from others came then and will now. Such a movement of activated Christ followers in today’s times will produce “a massive blowback by evil.” As Luck said, “They go together.”To counter the opposition and tackle social injustice it will take a “dangerous good movement of spirit empowered men” or a movement of “dangerously good men,” Luck said. 
Preach the Truth
Had the race continued, the ensuing battle between the two could have clearly reflected the current divide that's visible not only in the nation at large but within the Christian community in America.A race between actress and former FOX News political commentator Stacey Dash and Compton Mayor Aja Brown could have been an opportunity to raise the current "liberal Christian" versus "conservative Christian" debate to another level.Could-ah. Should-ah. Would-ah.
One week after Dash announced her withdrawal, Brown announced that she is dropping out of the race as well for the 44th Congressional District. Brown's decision was centered on the fact she is pregnant with her first child.“I am excited and blessed to announce that my husband of 14 years and I are expecting our first child,” Brown said in a statement released Thursday evening, April 5. “We are overjoyed at the opportunity to become parents and look forward to starting our family.”Family commitments supersede her ability to run for higher office, Brown said in the statement. She said she will continue to focus on the issues facing Compton.Just a little under a week earlier, Dash had dropped out of the race.Brown, who was featured at the Together LA 2015 conference, announced her run for the district in early March. Nanette Barragán is the current Representative of the district which includes parts of San Pedro, Wilmington, North Long Beach and south Los Angeles.Dash, who appeared on CBN News several years ago, gave her testimony of coming to faith in God during a segment, 
Three of my favorite lines in the movie brilliantly illustrate what our culture needs from the church today:
David A.R. White is an actor, producer, and founder of 