Video Ministry – May 2023

Here is a link to our You Tube channel.  In the top row you will find both our Video Book Reviews as well as our CORE Convictions Videos on various topics related to Biblical teaching, Lutheran theology, and Christian living.  You will find these videos in the order in which they were posted, beginning with the most recent.  In the second row you will find links to the Playlists for both sets of videos. This month we want to feature two videos – a CORE Convictions Video by LCMC pastor Kent Groethe and a Video Book Review by NALC pastor Stephane Kalonji.

AN ANATOMY OF CONVERSION

BY KENT GROETHE

Here is a link to Pastor Groethe’s video.  He is pastor of an LCMC congregation in Arizona and is former editor of the Connections Magazine.

Many thanks to him for this video in which he shows that the story of Cleopas and a friend on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 is an Anatomy of Conversion.  It is a paradigm for how God works saving/justifying faith in a person.  Pastor Kent speaks about each part the Spirit, the Word, and the proclaimer has in this encounter. 

STRANGERS NEXT DOOR: IMMIGRATION, MIGRATION, AND MISSION

BY STEPHANE KALONJI

Here is a link to Pastor Kalonji’s video. He is pastor of an NALC congregation in Texas.

Many thanks to Pastor Kalonji for his video review of this book, which was published by InterVarsity Press in 2012. Strangers Next Door is one of the many books written by J.D. Payne. Throughout this book, the author emphasizes a diaspora missiology. He brings together Holy Scripture and facts about immigration and migration, and challenges Christians to share the gospel with the peoples of the world who have migrated to the West.

Why are the majority world’s people migrating to the West? Payne contends that there are three principal reasons: Flight from war, search for higher paying jobs, and study. He notes that many of the migrants coming to the West have not been reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ and are, therefore, a ripe harvest field for gospel outreach. Basing himself on biblical stories of migrations, Payne argues that migration was part of God’s salvation plan from the beginning of creation and not an after-thought after the sin of Adam and Eve.

In response to the presence of migrants and immigrants in the West, Payne challenges western Christians to be intentional about reaching out to them with the gospel, beginning with those who are most receptive to it. He argues that if introduced to the gospel, migrants and immigrants can become missionaries to their own people. To accomplish this outreach, Payne proposes a strategy he calls R.E.P.S.: Reach, Equip, Partner, and Send. He concludes that “Global migrations provide a Great Commission
opportunity for us and our churches.”