This letter was written to me from a dear brother who is a major leader in a good size American church and current cross cultural missionary in Africa. Please read it slowly and carefully, then asking God our Lord how this affects you and your family.

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Dear Marc,

Until you’ve lived outside the U.S. for awhile, you don’t fully realize how upside down everything is.  I caught a glimpse of it on short-term mission trips, but I realize it fully now.

In America, things that are not at all important, are made to seem like they are very important.  This is not just in the worldly culture surrounding the Christian, it is in the Christian culture.  Other things that are very important are made to seem like they are insignificant.

Okay, you are probably wanting examples right now.  Entertainment for example.  Americans are entertained to death by sports and movies and TV and you name it.  It is amazing how much of our society is consumed with entertainment.  Entertainers make the most money of anybody in our culture for a good reason.  We are HUGE entertainment consumers.  That huge endeavor adds very, very little to anyone’s life.  In the final analysis, it has almost NO long-term value even in a temporal society. 

The rest of the world sees America as [Read more…]