The Use of Panta ta Ethne in the New Testament

Our immediate concern is with the meaning of panta ta ethne in Matthew 28:19,”Go and make disciples of all nations.” Since this is such a crucial phrase in the understanding of missions, and since it is tossed about as a Greek phrase today even in non-technical writings, I think it’s important to make all the uses of it readily accessible for the non-Greek reader to consider. Therefore in what follows I will provide all the texts where the combination of pas (all) and ethnos (nation /Gentile) occurs in the New Testament, either in the singular (“every nation”) or plural (“all nations/Gentiles”). The different forms of pan, panta, pasin and panton are simply changes in the grammatical case of the same word to agree with the various forms of the noun ethnos (ethne, ethnesin).
Matthew 24:9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by panta ta ethne because of My name.
Matthew 24:14 "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to panta ta ethne, and then the end will come.
Matthew 25:32 "Panta ta ethne will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." (This context seems to demand the meaning "Gentile individuals" not people groups, because it says that Jesus will `"separate the sheep form the goats." This is a reference to individuals who are being judged as the "cursed" and the "righteous" enter hell or eternal life. (Cf, verses 41, 46.)
Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of panta ta ethne, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Mark 11:17 And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for panta ta ethne '? But you have made it a robbers' den." (This quote from Isaiah 56:7 The Hebrew phrase behind pasin tois ethnesin is lekol ho’ammim, which has to mean”all peoples” rather than “all people.”)
Luke 12:29 "And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 "For all these things the panta ta ethne of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.
Luke 21:24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into panta ta ethne; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (This warning echoes the words of Ezekiel 32:9 where the correspoinding Hebrew word is goyim which mans nations or people groups. See also Deuteronomy 28:64.)
Luke 24:47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to panta ta ethne, beginning from Jerusalem.
Acts 2:5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. (This must clearly refer to people groups rather than individuals. The reference is to various ethnic or national groups from which the diaspora Jew had come to Jerusalem.)
Acts 10:35 but in panta ta ethne the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. (Again this must be a reference to people groups or nations not to individual Gentiles because the individuals who fear God are “in every nation.”)
Acts 14:16 "In the generations gone by He permitted panta ta ethne to go their own ways;
Acts 15:16 'After theses things I will return, and I will rebuild the Tabernacle of David which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins and I will restore it 17 so that the rest of Mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,' (I render the verse at the end which this awkwardly literal translation simply to highlight the fact that this is a quotation from Amos 9:12, which in Greek follows the Hebrew with similar literalness. Again the Hebrew word behind ethne is goyim which means nations or people groups.)
Acts 17:26 and He made from one, pan ethnos of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, (As with Acts 2:5 and 10:35 this is a reference to “every people group” rather than individuals because it says that every nation is made up “of men”. It would not make sense to say that every indivdual Gentile was made up “of men.” Nor does the suggestion of some that it means “the whole human race” fit the meaning of ethnos or the context. )
Romans 1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among panta ta ethne for His name's sake,
Galatians 3:8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "Panta ta ethne will be blessed in you."
2 Timothy 4:17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that panta ta ethne might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth.
Revelation 12:5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule panta ta ethne with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
Revelation 15:4 "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For panta ta ethne will come and worship before you; for your righteous acts have been revealed”
Out of these 18 uses of panta ta ethne (or its variant) only the one in Matthew 25:32 would seem to demand the meaning “Gentile individuals”. (See comments above on that verse.)

Let the Nations be Glad! The supremacy of God in Missions by John Piper Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids MI 2000, pp193

Power in Poverty

Lyrics | Jason Upton lyrics - Poverty lyrics

Power in Poverty

Interview with Ed Stelzer

Couldn't embed the interview, but you can find it under:

http://theresurgence.com/blog

Pakistan

I got this email today:

Today I would like to draw your attention over the distress condition of God's people in Pakistan, the Clashes between Government forces and militants in north-west Pakistan are continuing to uproot people from their homes, with nearly 130,000 people being registered daily as displaced.

The provincial government authorities have noted that the number of uprooted from the Swat, Lower Dir and Buner districts registered in a fast-track process since 2 May has now reached almost 2.4 million people, still these figures are being verified and could change.

We had identified food, safe water, medical assistance and shelter from the sweltering heat as priorities, also recognizing the need for displaced children to continue schooling and for mothers and babies to access special health and nutrition assistance.

There are 250 Christian families affected by these clashes between Govt. Forces and Militants. These families need our support. We are urging the churches and ministries to show their solidarity with the nearly 2 million people who have been driven from their homes by violence in Pakistan’s north-west.

We emphasized the urgency of rising over $30,000 this month to assist some of those affected Christian families by the clashes. As founder and president of ministry, I would like to extend an invitation to work with our organization to in Pakistan to help others, we will sent you reports and pictures after all campaigns.
Please prayerfully contribute and sow your seed in this kind act. You can contribute $ 500 for 10 families and $1000 for 20 families.

Some of our Ministerial fellows has been there to see all these families and they were crying over that situation and asking for urgent help.

Doctrine from true teachers

Taken from the Mars Hill Blog with apologies

TEXT: 2 Peter 1:16–21
PREACHER: Mark Driscoll
RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2009
Introduction: Six Unique Claims of Jesus Christ

1. No one says they came down from heaven but Jesus (John 6:38, 41–42, 60, 66)
2. No one says they are God but Jesus (John 10:30–33)
3. No one says they are sinless but Jesus (John 8:46)
4. No one says they can forgive sins but Jesus (Mark 2:5)
5. No one says they are the way to heaven but Jesus (John 14:6)
6. No one promised to rise from death but Jesus (Mark 10:33–34)

Where can the truth be found about Jesus Christ?

Option #1 – Ridiculous nonsense from people educated beyond their intelligence who make stuff up about Jesus and should be ashamed of themselves and repent before they see Jesus and it goes über bad for them forever (2 Peter 1:16a).
Popular Myths (Lies) about Jesus

* Liberal “Christians” – Jesus was a good man, a prophet, and an example–not fully God.
* Mormonism – Jesus is one of many gods and the polygamist half brother of Lucifer.
* Jehovah’s Witness – Jesus is the archangel Michael, a created being who became a man.
* New Age – Jesus was an Eastern holy man with an elevated state of consciousness.
* Scientology – Jesus was an implant forced upon a Thetan roughly 1 million years ago.
* Levi Dowling – Jesus underwent 7 degrees of occultic initiation making him the Christ.
* Edgar Cayce – Jesus became the Christ after shedding his karma through 13 incarnations.
* Bahai – Jesus was a manifestation of God–a prophet, but inferior to Muhammad and Bahá’u’lláh.
* Buddhism – Jesus was not God but rather an enlightened man like the Buddha.
* Hinduism – Jesus was a wise man like Krishna
* Islam – Jesus was merely a man. He was a prophet inferior to Muhammad.
* The Dalai Lama said, “He [Jesus] was either a fully enlightened being, or a bodhisvatta [a being who aids others to enlightenment] of a very high spiritual realization.”
* Indian Hindu leader Mahatma Gandhi said, “I cannot ascribe exclusive divinity to Jesus. He is as divine as Krishna or Rama or Muhammad or Zoroaster.”
* Dan Brown – Jesus married and had kids.

Option #2 – Believe the Bible.
Written by Eyewitnesses (2 Peter 1:16b-18)

* The gospel writer Matthew was one of the disciples.
* John wrote five books of the New Testament. He was one of the disciples, included in Jesus’ inner circle with Peter and James (John 19:35; 1 John 1:1–3).
* Paul wrote the majority of the books in the New Testament. He lived at the time of Jesus’ ministry. He initially hated Christianity, but was converted after an eyewitness encounter with Jesus (1 Cor. 15:6–8). He also worked with many of Jesus’ disciples.
* James and Jude were Jesus’ brothers and worked closely with the apostles ().
* Luke wrote a gospel account and the book of Acts. He was probably not an eyewitnesses of Jesus’ ministry, but emphasizes his exhaustive research, including interactions with eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1–4).
* Mark wrote a gospel account, and probably witnessed some of Jesus’ ministry. Though he was not an apostle, Mark worked closely with both Paul (2 Tim. 4:11) and Peter (1 Peter 5:13). Some early church fathers say that Mark’s gospel is a report of Peter’s own story.
* Peter was present with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1–8; Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36) and an eyewitness to Jesus’ three years of ministry (2 Peter 1:16).

F.F. Bruce writes in The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?:

One thing must be emphatically stated. The New Testament books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and generally apostolic authority, direct or indirect. The first ecclesiastical councils to classify the canonical books were both held in North Africa—at Hippo Regius in 393 and at Carthage in 397—but what these councils did was not to impose something new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already the general practice of these communities (27).

Written by Divine Inspiration (2 Peter 1:19–21)

The Bible (both the Old and New Testaments) is:

* Prophecy
* God’s light in darkness
* Scripture (truthful, revalatory, without peer)
* Revelation (God’s self disclosure–as opposed to speculation)
* Divinely inspired

Key Doctrinal Concepts
Verbal Plenary Inspiration

* Verbal – The very words of Scripture… (Matt. 5:18)
* Plenary – …in all of Scripture… (2 Tim. 3:16)
* Inspiration – …are from God.

John Elder writes in Prophets, Idols and Diggers:

It is not too much to say that it was the rise of the science of archaeology that broke the deadlock between historians and the orthodox Christian. Little by little, one city after another, one civilization after another, one culture after another, whose memories were enshrined only in the Bible, were restored to their proper places in ancient history by the studies of archaeologists. . .Contemporary records of biblical events have been unearthed and the uniqueness of biblical revelation has been emphasized by contrast and comparison to newly discovered religions of ancient peoples. Nowhere has archaeological discovery refuted the Bible as history (16).

Inerrancy

The Bible is without error (Psalm 19:7; Proverbs. 30:5–6; John 17:17).
Sufficiency

The Bible tells us everything we need to know about God.
Sola Scriptura

Scripture alone is in highest authority, under which there are courts of lesser authority; there is truth to be found outside of Scripture (thanks to God’s common grace and general revelation), but all things are to be tested by the Scriptures.

That's the Spirit!

Listen to three pagans commenting on a BBc religious programme broadcast on Pentecost Sunday:

Chris Moyles on his Breakfast BBC Radio Show talks about the BBC televised Pentecost service: 'That's The Spirit!' from Kingsgate Community Church (Peterborough) singing O, Happy Day by Tim Hughes

FIREPROOF YOUR RELATIONSHIP

I am still enthralled with this movie. I stole this from its home page:



Relationships are wonderful gifts given to us by God. As we read in the Bible, the most-intimate relationship is marriage between a husband and a wife. Unfortunately, relationships today are under more cultural and interpersonal pressure and stress than ever before in our history.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Together, we can make a long-term difference for healthy relationships and marriages … starting with yours!
What can you do to make a difference?
Go to the Movies!
FIREPROOF, an action-packed love story from the creators of Facing the Giants, arrives in theatres this September. This heartfelt movie tells the story of a couple on the brink of divorce … until they discover God’s design for their relationship. Rally with others around opening weekend for FIREPROOF this September … and stand up for marriage and relationships!
Make the Most of This High-Impact Film:
● Plan a special date night to see FIREPROOF on opening weekend
● Invite members of your small group or Sunday school class to see the film with you
● Spend time after the movie at a coffee shop talking about the story and aspects that reflect
your relationship
● Band with others to form a FIREPROOF Action Squad by purchasing an entire opening
weekend show time for your friends, family, and coworkers.
After the movie, go to FireproofmyMarriage.com for information about:
● Understanding God’s love for you and His design for relationships
● Talking through (and listening to) issues in your relationship
● Accessing tools and resources for marriage education and training
● Investing in each other and your relationship
● Resolving conflict in a healthy manner
● Applying the relational principles from FIREPROOF in your relationship
To order FIREPROOF promotional materials, access web tools, or download business-specific resources, be sure to visit www.FireproofmyMarriage.com/couples.

Fireproof

Never leave your partner behind!

The best movie I have seen this year

Fireproof Trailer from LifeWay on Vimeo.

Bombs in Nepal

Just, this morning (Saturday, 23rd May), a bomb explosion has killed two people and wounded at least 12 others at a church in Nepal,

The bomb ripped through the Church of the Assumption (Catholic) in the town of Lalitpur, south of Kathmandu, the capital, on Saturday.

The wounded people have been rushed to a local hospital and police are investigating. A witness who was attending the church service said a bag was left lying on the floor and someone moved the bag to make some space and it just exploded with a loud noise.

A Hindu extremist group, the National Defence Army, left a note found at the scene.
The National Defence Army, which says it is fighting to restore the nation's Hindu monarchy abolished in 2008, has previously claimed responsibility for the killing of a missionary in eastern Nepal last July.

About 500 people were attending a service at the time of the blast. A 15-year old student, Celestina Joseph, and 30-year-old Pabitra Paitri died in the bomb blast. Five of the injured are in serious condition.

Pakistan

During my time at the seminar, I got the following report from friends in Pakistan:


Christian Breaking News from Pakistan
By Pastor John
Another Christian Colony attacked and burnt by Taliban
Karachi: April 22, 2009. The Talibanization of Karachi city; began with attack of armed Taliban on a Christian colony.
The recent attack on Christians here in Taisor town Karachi is a continuity of persecution or maltreatment that started years ago in Pakistan against the church. The attack seemed well organized and heavy firearms were used by many of Taliban to threaten unarmed Christian elders, women and children. The Taliban chalked slogans against Christianity and to accept Islam on Church walls in Taisor Town in night of April 21, 2009 which horrified and harassed Christian residents.

On April 22, 2009, the local Christians took out a peaceful procession in vicinity of Taisor Town to attract attention of local administration for protection of residents but no action was taken nor police guard were provided for protection of the Church.
On April22, 2009, many of the masked Taliban encroached in Taisor Town and attacked Christians with heavy machine guns. The feared Christian locked them in their homes but they pulled elders out on gunpoints and dragged women from hairs in streets and humiliated them.
According to some survivors, Taliban loudly said “You infidels have to convert or Embrace Islam or die and if you want to live here you need to pay JUZIA (Those who were made slaves during the wars they would pay money to the government that is known as JUZIA slaves in Islam). Why you wiped out our warnings chalked out or written on the walls of Church and home doors? How you dared to take out procession against Taliban? We shall uproot/wipe away your infidels from this land.
Some of the men who were in the area they agitated again their attack but they would not listen to them and they opened fires and killed one of the boy of 12 before the eyes of his father like they are being executed. Some of the men were shot on the neck, arms and legs and many other were injured on their resistance.
Police was there on the sight while this firing was going on they didn’t do anything they and people were crying and asking for help and they were watching these things like helpless spectators. After that, ranger came to rescue Christian community after the firing of three hours.
Then they started burning their homes, shops and made everything likes ashes on the ground.
Bishop Javed Nawab and other church leaders including, Pastor Muazzam John, Rev Yaqoob, Rev Farooq Amjad, Rev Robin Raz, and many others took immediate steps to help the Christian they went there to see the things and ground realities as they got telephonic calls from the affected people.
Bishop Rev Javed Nawab (Chairman Gospel Pentecostal Church) condemned the killing and attack on the Christians and their churches, he said,” it’s nothing other than a genocide of Christians here”.
They have press conference there in the Office of MQM 90 that was captured by media but because of the pressure of high authorities it has not been highlighted and brought into light.
Government did not declare anything to help those victimized people those who lost their homes and lives.


Call for Help: All of the Christians around the world are requested to pray for these victimized families so that may God give them peace and protect them from the enemy as they are committed to crush and destroy Christians from Pakistan as they said to come again.And lets stretch our loving hand towards our Christian fellows in these hours of need and help them with our donations so they can reconstruct their homes and can start their business again.
If you people need more information on these attacks and about the families please contact us on this following address. You are requested to talk with Government officials, NGOs and high authorities about persecution in Pakistan for the security of this area and churches.

Cross cultural communication

One of the things I learned in the cross cultural seminar was that the is a very thick filter in the area of communication.
There is a lot of scope for misunderstanding between sending a message and a hearer receiving it.
Here are some of the elements in the filter:
1. The language
2. Non-verbal communication
3. The Way of communication
4. The social structures
5. World view
6. The way we think
7. The way decisions are made

This predestines problems in our church and business meetings!

We also had a go at trying to solve conflicts. We looked at the bible and looked at some practical example of conflict solution in a cross cultural setting. It was very interesting and challenging at the same time.

Cross Cultural Communication

At the moment I am attending a course about cross cultural communication.
It is part of a MA degree that I am trying to obtain.
We spent a long time yesterday learning about conflict resolution in a cross cultural setting. This is very interesting and helps in the work I am doing.
We also learned about the different ways that communication takes place. That leaves a lot of scope for misunderstanding in a cross cultural setting.

Wayne Grudem on Why Theology is important

Wayne Grudem is one of the leading theologian of our day and he explains why theology is important.


Dr. Wayne Grudem Addresses the Advance 09 Crowd from The Resurgence on Vimeo.

Good News from Sri Lanka

After working in Sri Lanka for the past ten years, reporting good news from the island seems to be quite a paradox!
We are helping to set up a small farm in an area where water is in short supply. We have collected funds to build a well. Our friends got in touch with a Western NGO that helps to purify water. They have letf our friends with a number of purifying plants and they are now providing three villages with 350 families with clean water.

Genocide in Rwanda

15 years ago today, the genocide began in Rwanda. It lasted until mid-July and cost around 800,000 lives. The world stood by and watched.
Romeo Dallaire's book "Shake hands with the devil" has the sub-title "The failure of humanity in Rwanda." He was the UN General in Rwanda at this time and tried his best to save as many as he could. In the end he "only" managed to save around 30,000 people, which caused him a decade of depression.
The Canadian is to be commended for his moral and physical courage.
Rwanda is still in turmoil but of a different kind. It is a country that is trying to enter the 21st century, the president wanting to make Rwanda the Hi-Tec centre of Africa. However they are struggling to get young people through elementary school.
We are engaged in building clinic in Rwanda, in a suburb of Kigali. Our expectation is that we will be up and running by May.

Feedback: Pakistan

For about a week last November I went to Pakistan. This was my first time in that country. I was very surprised at the zeal of the Christian I met. They were very lively.
The people who I had the privilege to address were very open and very hungry for God's word. There was a lot of prophecy and God met a number of the people personally. I prayed also with a number of people for healing and was at first quite happy with the results.
However towards the end of my stay, people started coming who were in great need. Blind people wanted prayer for healing. Although I did pray for them, I am not at all sure that anything happened.
This opens a great debate about the question of why some are healed and some aren't. Why I rejoice over the healings that did happen, I was disappointed and in fact discouraged because of the failed healings.
I mean some of the people were desperate.
I left Pakistan and went to Sri Lanka.
I had a dull feeling inside of me that I had actually failed in Pakistan, although at the same time I knew that I could do nothing about it.
Last night - some months later, I had a talk to a friend who had just visited the same people I had. He was enthusiastic and reported to me that many -many more than I had personally witnessed- had been healed physically during my visit. This news really lifted my spirit.
I am learning to trust God more and more.

Fair Trade

Yesterday, I went to see a fair trade exhibition at the new Exibition Centre in Stuttgart.
As the present financial crisis starts to touch our purse, we look for bargins and cheap goods to help us maintain our standard of living. "But where are the goods coming from?" is a question that we need to ask. Lots of good being sold in the West are being produced using child labour, or cheap labour, which provides no protection for employees; some production damages the environment and Western food needs rob land that could be used to produce much more Eastern type food.
I learned at the exhibition yesterday, that even grave stones are produced using child labour.
Of course not all economic goods have a dubious origin. But sometimes paying less can be an expression of exploitation of those already less forunate that we are.

A Break in Egypt

After my bout of malaria, it took me quite a long time to recover. As I wasn't doing very much work during this time, we thought it might be good to take a break and use the time for our annual holiday. Actually we didn't get one at all last year and we were both feeling the strain of this.
We were hoping to go to Malaysia as we had tickets for Singapore and should have gone to Indonesia during this time. However for various reasons this didn't work out.
On a Wednesday evening we decided to go to Egypt and on the Saturday afterwards we were on our way!
We had a week on the beach at the Red Sea and another week cruising on the River Nile looking at some of the graves and temples of the old Pharaohs. This was very interesting.
The Bible reports that God sent a strong East Wind across the Rea Sea to open it up for the Israelites to cross. Well, this strong East Wind is still there. The sun was shining and the sky was blue. The sea was inviting. It was a really nice colour... turquoise and dark blue and light blue, but it was windy.
The time was very refreshing and now I feel that I am back on my feet and have started working as normal during this week.