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<\/h1>\nGeorge Verwer image: Facebook.<\/a><\/p>\n By Shane Bennett<\/p>\n You know those people you really wish you could hang out with? Heroes beyond your reach? Maybe you\u2019ll shake their hand or get a picture with them, but there\u2019s no way they\u2019re going to be weekly-get-together, maybe-go-camping-in-the-fall kind of friends. George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization, is like that for me. We go way back: I can literally remember stuff he told me (and 17,000 others) at Urbana in 1983. Later talks and books of his have shaped me in significant ways.<\/p>\n Right now I\u2019m really jealous of the guy. I just read a book he wrote called Messiology<\/em>, and I so wish I\u2019d come up with that term! I love it! I wonder if I was sleeping or deep in a must-watch episode of The Office<\/em> when God was handing out \u201cmessiology\u201d and I missed it. More likely he knew George would hit it out of the park.\u00a0And so he has.<\/p>\n I love this little book and want to do just two things in today\u2019s Practical Mobilization:<\/p>\n Celebrity crush alert: I emailed George to ask for a deal on the book for you all and he wrote me back! Read on, or really, (since this isn\u2019t your first-ever email!), skip down to the end for the deal.<\/p>\n George says, \u201cPut simply, messiology<\/em> is the idea that God in His patience, mercy, and passion to bring men and women to Himself often does great things in the midst of a mess\u2026 Over the course of 57 years in over 90 countries and thousands of churches and other organizations, I have often observed some kind of mess with them. Sometimes clear sin is involved that needs to be repented of. Other times it\u2019s just silly stuff. I have said, and I feel it strongly, that no matter how filled we are with the Holy Spirit, we are still human. Our humanness has its beautiful side and its messy side.\u201d<\/p>\n Pause for a second. Any messes your life and work right now? If you\u2019re at all like me, this probably doesn\u2019t require a lot of mulling over. Likely a few popped into your head instantly. George is right when he says, \u201cWhere two or three are gathered together in His Name, sooner or later there will be a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are five things from this little book that I think are particularly helpful for us as we advocate for God\u2019s purposes among the nations, work in the roles he has given us, and deal with the messes we\u2014and sometimes others\u2014have made.<\/p>\n That God works in spite of and sometimes by means of the messes in our lives rests on the mystery and mercy of a great God. Verwer says, \u201cThe last verses of Romans 11<\/a> have helped me again and again: Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways.\u201d<\/p>\n The stamp of God on creation, on every bit of life we\u2019re connected to, is both broader, deeper, and more subtle than we imagine. In a way that is both stunning and uncomfortable, I\u2019m reminded that I comprehend only the tiniest slice of the great work of God at any moment. I pray for grace to be duly humble.<\/p>\n Joel Osteen? Pope Francis? Nigerians? Hard-core Calvinists? Americans? Apparently, God doesn\u2019t feel the need to have me vet everyone he chooses to work in and through. I don\u2019t get this: How can perhaps-mistaken people be used by a good God to raise up honest disciples? It boggles the mind!<\/p>\n But clearly, the circle God draws and labels, \u201cthese are building my kingdom\u201d is bigger than the one I\u2019d draw, and I tend to think I\u2019m pretty open in this area. I once nearly lost a long-term worker I was recruiting because I was not strong enough on some beliefs. (You\u2019ll have to guess or ask which ones!)<\/p>\n Is it possible we can become so enamored with our view, our dogma, or our history that we assume God does not work outside of it? Is it possible that we waste valuable time writing papers, making videos, holding meetings all primarily designed to point out how other people are wrong? All the while many of those \u201cwrong\u201d people and \u201cwrong\u201d methods are tools in the hands of a wise and powerful God, so intent on accomplishing his purposes of gathering people to himself, that he can and does use them! And we don\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n Neither George nor I advocate that we abandon truth, but rather rejoice in the deeper truth, the mystery of a powerful God who accomplishes his purposes through a more diverse set of humanity than we might be comfortable with.<\/p>\n Seems wherever you look, Facebook, online and print publications, public forums, pulpits and stages, people are constantly being critical. \u201cThis ministry isn\u2019t committed to the Bible.\u201d \u201cThat church is too extreme.\u201d Really, what is wrong with people? Do they not own a Bible? Maybe they never open it. Don\u2019t they have anything better to do than complain and criticize?<\/p>\n Oh, hang on: \u201cLet there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me\u2026!\u201d<\/p>\n It is so easy for me to snip and bite, casually pointing out the shortcomings of some and the extravagances of others. In my younger days, I wasn\u2019t even subtle: \u201cNo Christian should own a Range Rover. It\u2019s just a ridiculous status symbol.\u201d As I\u2019ve gotten older and put childish ways behind me, I\u2019ve sadly gotten more sophisticated in my criticism. Dang it! But God has mercifully reminded me through the valiant Verwer to ease up on knocking people down.<\/p>\n No church is perfect, few supporters respond as quickly as we like, every agency drops the ball, all of us fall short of what we might be. Thank God his grace abounds.<\/p>\n Want to join me in this? Honestly. Not in an \u201cI\u2019m sorry you felt bad when I did that\u201d kind of way. More of an \u201cI dropped the ball; I failed to respond in on time; I lied to you because I was embarrassed about my mistake\u201d kind of way.<\/p>\n There are times when, in an effort to be funny, I say things that are not honoring. Other times I\u2019m arrogant and self-aggrandizing because I want to be looked at and liked. And sadly, I sometimes overlook or demean people because I don\u2019t see how they serve my purpose.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sorry.<\/p>\n I cannot imagine the criticism and abuse George Verwer and his wife Drena have dealt with over the years. One of my favorite leadership quotes is, \u201cIf you want to be a leader, you\u2019d better get used to the sight of your own blood.\u201d I suppose the Verwers know it well.<\/p>\n May God give us the grace to love people when they fail us. When they impugn our motives. When they relentlessly attack, causing pain to us or worse, to ones we hold dear.<\/p>\n This mobilization stuff, this completing the Great Commission, it\u2019s messy. We know that, don\u2019t we? Thank you, George, for the happy reminder that God is big enough, good enough, and intent enough to work out his purposes for us and the world, in spite of\u2014even through\u2014the messes.<\/p>\n In my best George Verwer impersonation, \u201cI beg of you, I implore you, get five copies of this book. Read one, give four away. If you\u2019ll just write me, I\u2019ll send them to you for free, that\u2019s how much I love literature!\u201d<\/p>\n Really though, get this book. If you don\u2019t have any money, ask for a free copy. If you have some money, pay a dollar a copy (10% of the Amazon price). If you have a ton of money, bless George!<\/p>\n \u00bb Email your book request<\/a> (with a shipping address) and transfer funds here<\/a> (attn: Special Projects). Or get the Kindle edition<\/a> for US$.99 from Amazon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" George Verwer image: Facebook. Messiology: Five practical principles for mission mobilizers from OM\u2019s George Verwer By Shane Bennett You know those people you really wish you could hang out with? Heroes beyond your reach? Maybe you\u2019ll shake their hand or get a picture with them, but there\u2019s no way they\u2019re going to be weekly-get-together, maybe-go-camping-in-the-fall … Continue reading Practical Mobilization: George Verwer’s Messiology<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practical-mobilization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7878"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12010,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7878\/revisions\/12010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Messiology: Five practical principles for mission mobilizers from OM\u2019s George Verwer<\/h1>\n
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What Is Messiology?<\/h2>\n
1. We\u2019ll never fully \u201cget\u201d God.<\/h3>\n
2. God didn\u2019t ask me to sign off on who he uses.<\/h3>\n
3. Critical people annoy me to no end.<\/h3>\n
4. I should say \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d much more often.<\/h3>\n
5. Let\u2019s love more, even when it hurts.<\/h3>\n
About the Book<\/h2>\n
About the Book<\/h2>\n
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