Gentlemen,

Daniel sent an email that I have copied below and would like to offer a response. Because of the events of the day, the last issue might be the most pressing.

To be clear about “evangelist”, it is literally to be a messenger of good news. Check a Greek dictionary and you will see “euaggelistēs” is literally “good messenger”. We are to deliver the message of the Gospel, but not make conversions.

You can see this in Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”

We are not called to make proselytes or conversions, but fellow disciples. Matthew 28:19, what we know as the Great Commission, is not a call to make conversions, but disciples. And it is not a disciple of us, but fellow disciples of the Lord. A disciple is a student, and we are not the teacher as the Lord alone is (Matthew 23:20). The command to us is to make fellow students or disciples. Fellow disciples encourage each other. We also challenge each other, and then verify the challenge (Acts 17:11).

Considering Paul being let down in a basket (Acts 9:25), it should be noted that those that wanted to kill him were the Jews. Clearly it is not all Jews, as that would include the disciples who helped him escape, as well as himself. In context it was Jewish leadership, specifically religious leadership. I contend the issue is not being a biological Jew, but being religious leadership, irrespective of the religion or more broadly belief system. Where we see Jews, Sadducees, Pharisees, or the like it is often to be taken allegorically in the same way we see Hagar and Sarah in Galatians 4.

Is this applicable today to religious leadership? Leadership of a Jewish persuasion does seem to find its enemies today. Ask a Palestinian in the country of Israel. Ask a Christian living in the Gaza Strip. Last check there is still over a thousand of them. Or ask the family of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Christian reporter shot dead now admitted by the Jewish military. Then there is Islamic leadership. Last check the weekly beheadings in Saudi Arabia continue, occasionally peaking above 40 in a day. Some are those that have embraced Christianity. That is state sponsored, but there are probably more cases where it is simply a mob that attacks an individual, family, or community due to their embrace of Christ. Acts 19 shows an analogy of this. There are also the atheist leadership who can be less than friendly. Try to proclaim Christ at a Pride rally and check to see if you have a pulse afterwards.

But then there is Christian leadership. We read about the Crusades which targeted the Muslim community, but then there were the Inquisitions that targeted those who were not the right brand of Christianity. We know about the Roman Catholic Church’s persecution, including the threat of death, to Martin Luther. But the follow-up was Luther and his followers doing the same to others. At the same castle where Luther translated the Bible into German, the treatment of Fritz Erbe by Protestants leading to his death was less than kind. This is also seen with the relationship with the Anabaptists of the day.

Is it any different today? Just from my own experience alone I can describe numerous cases where I was or continue to be ignored and abandoned by Christian leadership. I can give examples of them turning to the state, see 1st Corinthians 6. Even where a church, specifically Meadowview Presbyterian in Lexington, NC, via the Davidson County Sheriff, sent the Cleveland Police to my door as an act of intimidation. Solomon was right, there is nothing new under the sun (Ecc 1:9).

When it comes to Pakistan, it is probably a minority in the US that has any idea of the history of that region, the Muslim and Hindu tension that resulted in the countries of India and Pakistan. Perhaps the same or less know of the recent issues about the government and removal of Imran Khan. He directly accuses the US for his overthrow. Considering the number of countries the US has had a direct involvement in overthrowing, the odds are high that it is true. Add to that the number of stories we hear about the difficulties Christians have in that country told by individuals or organizations, and we could feel a real concern and perhaps a desire to help them leave. However, there might be more to consider.

Even small countries have a diversity in lifestyles within groups in the country. In the US, which admittedly is large, probably most have no idea about the differences in culture here. Someone living in the inner city of Chicago or Baltimore would feel very out of place in rural Texas or Wyoming. Place someone from an Amish community in San Francisco and there would be more than a bit of a cultural clash. So is the follower of Christ safer in Brooklyn or Islamabad?

With that in mind is it more loving to try to get a Christian individual or family out of a country to the US and the radical shift of culture, or support them in their culture with perhaps assistance in moving to a more hospitable location where the lifestyle is what they know?

Let me heartedly endorse the idea of reaching out to foreign students. For roughly a year my wife and I hosted a weekly gathering of two to three dozen students in our home sponsored by ISI (International Students, Inc.). I still fondly remember a gentleman from Nepal who wore a tie made of wood segments. A conversation with a gentleman from China made it clear how easy it is to believe our country and our lifestyle is better than theirs. That is hard to substantiate, and even more not the point when our goal is to reflect Christ well. Our goal is not get them out of their club into ours, but encourage them as fellow creations of God. If the Lord draws them or not, we must unwaveringly reflect Christ well and our proclamation is unambiguous, not marketed. We must live “love your neighbor as yourself.” Why should we do that? The next part of Leviticus 19:18 is “I am the Lord.” It is the Lord’s command and we have no option but to obey Him.

Then there is the really touchy issue of what is a Christian? Is it simply someone who was born that way, a member of an institutional church, or simply makes that selection on a checkbox on a form? Or is it someone who has a relationship with our Creator? I know for certain that I cannot say who will stand before the Lord redeemed. Who would have said the thief on the cross next to Jesus would be redeemed? Who would have picked out Saul, the persecutor of the Way, who the Lord renamed to Paul, would be redeemed? Who would pick me? Who would pick you?

Is there any way to have an idea of what it is to be a follower of Christ? Yes, it is called the Bible. So do we make our case from the Bible? Can we express the veracity of the Bible beyond a simple “I believe”, or my denomination states? In our hearts do we honor Christ the Lord as holy? Are we always ready to give an answer to anyone who asks for the hope that is within us? Can we do it with gentleness and respect? For reference that is 1st Peter 3:15 from memory with a slight change to make it a question.

Finally there is the communications issue that Daniel concluded with. The technology is simple and straightforward, but it simply is a tool sitting on the shelf because there is a nice new shiny one that is so cool you have to have it, but we will ignore how you will be owned, or as the hacker would write “pwned”.

I have previous used the example of the “2000 Mules” documentary that shows evidence as to how the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Typically the first thing that comes to mind is dependent on which side you are on politically, but you are missing the point. How was the evidence gathered? By cellphone tracking data! Ignore the politics of the video and take serious note of how they got the data. The vast majority of the population in the US, which does NOT include me, has and carries a cellphone. It doesn’t matter if you are on a call, you are tracked continuously.

A good example of the impact of this is when the country of Israel found someone who tested positive for Covid19, they would contact all parties they were physically near, such as walking down the street. How did they know who they were? From cellphone tracking data. Examples like this are now endless.

Can you provide the same phone services without tracking? Yes. Will anyone offer it? Does anyone care if it might cost them a cool feature?

I still have not worked out an elevator pitch for this project, but now yet another issue has come up. Development takes time, and I have this eating habit. 9 years ago a project allowed me to survive while staying with ShofarNexus, but not thrive. A proposal was put on the table today to return to the project and perhaps this time thrive. So a decision might soon be approaching.

I would much rather barely survive and deliver ShofarNexus with someone else deeply involved in the project than return to a healthy income. But after years and years, that someone else remains elusive. Who is he?