Bob Oehrig, Pastor of Missions & Outreach at Grace Church Roseville named new Executive Director of World Relief Minnesota

Bob is a well known missions pastor in the Twin Cities and currently serves as the Pastor of Missions and Outreach at Grace Church Roseville, where he has ministered for the past 10 years. During that time he has been actively involved in local refugee ministry through World Relief, leading his church’s engagement in the Refugee Life Ministry program in which congregations adopt a refugee family and surround them with help and support during their first year in America.

Prior to serving as a missions pastor, Bob and his wife Donna worked for Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya for 25 years. Initially they served as missionaries on the teaching faculty of Daystar, a theological training school for African church leaders, and for ten years directed Daystar US which supported Daystar University through recruiting visiting faculty and raising financial support.

World Relief is excited that Bob brings a long history of involvement and familiarity with the ministry. He has been a member of the board of directors of World Relief Minnesota and one of his daughters previously worked for World Relief in Mozambique for two years. He also serves on the board of directors of Pioneers, a missions agency planting churches among unreached people groups.

Bob Oehrig succeeds Darrell Cox who had been the Executive Director previously and resigned from the position in June 2011. Please join us in welcoming Bob Oehrig to the leadership of this ministry. He begins this new role in October.

Chaplain Winn welcomes religious leaders from Minnesota to Ft. McCoy

2,400 soldiers from Minnesota will deploy to Kuwait later this month, leaving behind their families and dependents for close to 1 year.

GMAE calls on churches to connect with staff liaisons at Family Assistance Centers in communities throughout the state to offer your help to military family members. (See below)

On July 6 Carl Nelson traveled with 7 other religious leaders from Minnesota to Fort McCoy aboard a Blackhawk helicoptor to visit MN National Guard soldiers from the  First Brigade Combat Team who is preparing to deploy to Kuwait within a few weeks.

Carl Nelson, representing GMAE, visiting soldiers at Ft. McCoy.

Chaplain (LTC) John Morris of the MN National Guard invited these leaders to visit the soldiers and learn about their mission with the goal of mobilizing local congregations to support military family members while their soldiers are deployed.

Of the 2,400 citizen soldiers being deployed from Minnesota, almost 40% of the soldiers are leaving family members at home. As the commanders briefed the delegation on their mission they asked them to mobilize their congregations to help take care of their families.

Religious delegation meeting with chaplains at Ft. McCoy.

GMAE has already been working to mobilize churches. In April we helped Bethel Seminary sponsor a training for pastors called Ministering to Military Families, with instructors from the MN National Guard to help church leaders learn practical ways to care for military families. This seminar will be repeated on October 13 at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie.

Family Assistance Centers

One of the first steps that churches can take is to introduce yourself to the staff liaisons at the Family Assistance Center located near you. (See address and staff contacts here).

FACs are local resource centers for Servicemembers and military family members. The FAC staff provide information and referrals to local resources as well as state and federal military support programs. Centers are located in these cities throughout Minnesota:

Bemidji
Brooklyn Park
Camp Ripley
Detroit Lakes
Duluth
Mankato
Marshall
Rochester
Rosemount
Saint Cloud
Stillwater
St. Paul

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In October 4,000 Christians from every country of the world met in Cape Town, South Africa to discuss evangelization in the 21st century and to identify key challenges facing churches today.

Carl Nelson, GMAE President, was one of 20 evangelical leaders from Minnesota invited to participate in the congress.

One of the repeated themes is that the 21st century will be a century of missions “by everyone to everywhere”. For American Christians this will mean learning to partner with sending churches from Nigeria, India, China, Brazil, Kenya and many other places where churches are thriving. It also means being ready to welcome and engage missionaries coming to the US.

One of the highlights of Cape Town 2010 was celebrating the explosive growth of the church in the “global south” of Latin America, Africa and Asia. Today 80% of all the world’s Christians live in these regions of the world. Reflecting that new reality, this congress was not dominated by American speakers  and issues, rather, many godly and gifted spiritual leaders from other regions of the world were involved in planning, leading and teaching at Cape Town 2010.

You can access resources and watch dozens of videos from the congress online at conversations.lausanne.org.

In a report presented at the NAE Generation Forum in Minneapolis, a total of 64% of unmarried evangelical young adults have either had sex in the past year, or are in a sexual relationship now. One of the observations made by presenters at the forum is that this report shows that evangelical young adults are unsure and confused about how to understand sex and marriage.

View the report here.

One panelist noted how frequently they heard evangelical young adults talk about the pain of experiencing their parents’ divorce and saying that they would never do that to their children. So their opinion was that it was better to live together first to make sure their relationship could work, and then get married.

Another point was made by several panelists that parents need to speak more freely and openly with their young adult children about the benefits of enjoying sex within marriage. While children may receive sex education at school or at church, an open relationship with parents, even after the children become adult and move out of the home, is important to helping young adults develop a positive image of sex as a good gift from God to be enjoyed most within his design.

In response to the misconstrued ideas that Americans – and including evangelicals – have about sex, the the NAE recently published a Bible-based “Theology of Sex” to give pastors, parents and church leaders a guide for talking about “God’s good gift of sex” and how we can honor that gift.

The Theology of Sex is available online, and GMAE has copies available that can be mailed to you upon request.

]]> http://www.transformmn.org/2011/07/evangelical-young-adults-confused-about-sex/feed/ 0 http://www.transformmn.org/2011/06/reimagining-marriage/ http://www.transformmn.org/2011/06/reimagining-marriage/#comments Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:35:53 +0000 Carl Nelson http://www.transformmn.org/?p=1801 Casting vision for a generation that can’t imagine marriage is desirable.

When some of us over-40 folks talk about “defending marriage” with statements like “kids need a mom and a dad” or “traditional marriages are healthier,” we are essentially using an ineffective message.

For the generation of under-30-year-olds, we have to go back further than that; we have to help the re-imagine marriage.

Carl Nelson, GMAE President, and his wife Kari

When we use statements like “kids need a mom and a dad” they reject that as untrue because their experience tells them otherwise. They might have wanted a mom and dad that stayed married, or wanted a mom and dad who didn’t fight with each other, but when they take stock of their life so far — if they have any degree of success and normalcy — they deduce that you really don’t need a mom and a dad to succeed in life. (Sure, it might be desirable, but its not an absolute.)

Even if millennials did grow up in a stable two-parent family they most certainly had extended family members and close friends who did not, and as they assess life through their friends’ experience they reach the same conclusion – kids don’t really need a mom and a dad.

So we have to help the next generation – mellennials particularly but also many gen-xers – to re-imagine marriage. The vision of a conflict-free family with both biological parents married to each other has to be re-introduced to most Americans, along with a compelling vision of its benefits, peace and pleasures.

So how do we do that? I’m open for suggestions.

And the harder the truth, the more generous and lavish the love must be.

Christians are the primary supporters of a constitutional amendment in Minnesota to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Many people do not understand this view that marriage is a special relationship created by God to allow for sexual intimacy, procreation and nurturing family systems. Instead they misinterpret attempts to strengthen the idea of marriage as being discriminatory or unjust and hateful.

We have a lot of work to do to communicate a vision of marriage as God describes it in the Bible, and at the same time demonstrate that we also love and care about people who have developed alternative ideas of marriage.

Even a few Christians no longer understand the original purpose and importance of marriage. In fact, Christian marriages have just as many difficulties as most other couples. But rather than abandon the benefits of marriage, we need to strengthen it, support it, and encourage it.

The primary beneficiaries of stable, loving marriage relationships are children. While other parental models can provide for children – and many single parents work extra hard and sacrifice so much to raise their children alone – we hold on to God’s promise that the best and most fulfilling way for children to grow up, is when they can be in a loving relationship with both their mom and dad, living in the same, nurturing household.

That is a very hard truth that right now is not understood by many people in Minnesota. The harder the truth, the more generous our love must be.

So I agree that amending Minnesota’s constitution may be the best way to strengthen society’s vision of marriage and promote the health and well-being of future generations. But as we move towards that, we have an enormous responsibility to be known first and foremost as people of love.

As Christians, one of our highest priorities is to attract people to Jesus. One of the strategies Jesus gave us to do that is to embody the love of the Kingdom of God.

We can learn from the model given us by Jesus. While Jesus came to earth to convince us of God’s love for us, he also spoke the truth. He challenged racial and cultural stereotypes. He confronted superficial religiosity. But he loved and served the vulnerable, the social outcast, the poor and the needy.

I see two important lessons from the life of Jesus that apply here. First, it was because of his compassionate love and generous service that Jesus’ words of truth were received by his audience. Second, some people never accepted Jesus’ words of truth, but his kindness towards them never changed.

Today it is easy to say “I love you.” But these words are empty unless they are accompanied by actions. As we try to share truth about a God-centered vision of marriage, we need to communicate that truth with a love that is proven through service.

I propose that Christians launch an unprecedented season of service – as has been seen in the recent response by churches in North Minneapolis following the devastating tornado last week – lavish enough to prove to anyone that we are people of love.

Let’s flood Minnesota with acts of charity. Let’s pour ourselves into the lives of vulnerable people, the oppressed and the poor. Let’s exhaust ourselves in love, to care for the homeless, to help single mothers, support teachers in our schools, and to create jobs for the unemployed. Let’s become known as a people who rescue people from sexual slavery, who work for reconciliation, who care for creation, who advocate for immigrants, and build strong communities.

And let’s do this because we are people of love who are transformed by Jesus.

This article was originally printed in the Minnesota Christian Examiner, June 2011.

Speakers at the 2001 Evangelical Leaders Forum

The implications of our faith extend into all areas of life, including our values and attitudes as we approach the end of life.

In May GMAE teamed up with TPT (PBS Channel 2) to host an evangelical leaders forum titled “Preparing to End Life Well: An Evangelical Discussion of End of Life Care Issues”. You can view videos from that evening below, or learn more about the public campaign at www.honoringchoices.org.

Pastors and evangelical leaders from all across Minnesota, and even a couple from Wisconsin, came and discussed how to engage their churches in conversations about this sometimes sensitive topic. Speakers Leith Anderson (Wooddale Church) and Jay Barnes (Bethel University) took the lead in sharing Biblical principles that guide us and give us hope as we “prepare to end life well.” Doctor Ross Anderson and hospice home director Bob Solheim gave insight as Christian professionals.

Participants at the Evangelical Leaders Forum

We knew this was an important topic to discuss – given today’s sophisticated medical technology – but we were surprised by how thankful everyone was that GMAE organized this forum.

One participant wrote later and said:

I am so glad GMAE is bringing this issue to our churches!  I learned so much from the discussion and feel more confident as I help my Dad go through this time.  I wish my church would have had something like this before I went through it with my Mom.  I had to make difficult decisions and as a prolife, Christian, I was concerned about those decisions. I’ve already talked to people about starting a small group.  Our church leaders need to help lead us in this area.

Here are video segments from this Evangelical Leaders Forum.

Leith Anderson introduces the program with passages from scripture and examples of how Joseph and King David approached end of life care.

Jay Barnes continues by explaining how it is important for Christian leaders to help our congregations prepare for end of life issues.

Dr. Ross Anderson, retired Medical Doctor shares a perspective from the medical profession.
Bob Solheim shares his perspective from hospice care ministry.

Feedback from group discussion sessions and Q&A session.

We live in a society suffering from the consequences of misguided sexuality; broken relationships, bitter divorces, father-less children, unplanned pregnancies, sexual trafficking of women and children, and fragmenting family systems, to list just some of the suffering we experience.

Disordered sexuality is at the root of much of this relational conflict.

Article by Carl Nelson

Yet in Genesis we see that when God created us as male and female, and gave us the ability for sexual intimacy, God said is was “very good.” How is it that something God created for good has become the source of so much pain and conflict in our society?

How can Christians rediscover God’s design for the good gift of human sexuality and teach it to our children and share a better vision with society? Unfortunately, when evangelicals have tried to communicate our views about God’s design for human sexuality, our message has been perceived as judgmental and restrictive.

As Staton Jones, Provost of Wheaton College, said in a major address last year on “How to Teach Sex”, evangelicals fail to present human sexuality as a good gift from God because our messages about sex “too often are shame-oriented, ‘just-say-no’ litanies.”

Instead we need to explain that God’s design for human sexuality is “very good,” and by following his patterns we can experience wholeness and fulfillment. And we need to start by sharing this message within our own Christian family.

Regardless of how much society’s views and sexual practices have departed from God’s created design for us, I’m increasingly concerned that more and more Christians don’t understand human sexuality as a good gift from God to be enjoyed carefully according to God’s designs.

Statistics show that 42% of unmarried evangelical young adults (18-29) are in a sexual relationship. 30% of unmarried evangelical young adults have experienced a pregnancy, and 43% of women who have abortions self-identify as Protestant Christians*. The divorce rate among Christian couples is similar to that of the general population. Use of pornography by Christian men is very high. Homosexuality is increasingly viewed by younger Christians (including evangelicals) as a harmless lifestyle choice.

How do we teach the next generation that God’s design for human sexuality is good?

It begins by understanding that God created us as male or female, and while each of us are made in the image of God, neither male nor female alone fully reflect the image of God. Each needs the other. Even in monogamous human relationships, males and females are created to compliment each other.

Furthermore, God created us as sexual beings, and intended for the human race to multiply and expand on the basis of sexual intimacy, and for newly created life to flourish in the context of a loving relationship between a man and a woman.

Dennis Hollinger, President of Gordon Conwell University, does an excellent job explaining how loving, committed relationships and sexual intimacy are to go hand in hand, based on the creation account in Genesis. In his book “The Meaning of Sex” he writes that the four main purposes of sexual intimacy are the “consummation of marriage, procreation, love and pleasure.” He continues, “These are God’s designs for physical intimacy, and our Maker desires that they be held together as a unit.”

To get this right, it is important that we communicate a vision for sexual intimacy that preserves this deepest human connection for the safety of marriage, but also communicate that this intimacy is a way to express love, experience pleasure, and procreate new life.

Sexual intimacy may be the most powerful act in which a man and woman can engage because this one flesh union has the possibility to create another human life. The fact that God allows humans to join him in the process of creating new life – that will either live with God for eternity, or suffer in hell forever – is one of the reasons he provides such clear and necessary boundaries for human sexuality and family life.

It should come as no surprise to us that if God intended for human life to enter the world through the intimate, loving, life-long relationship of a husband and wife that a cascade of problems and consequences emerge when we don’t follow God’s good and perfect plan.

As Christians living in a society that sees sex merely a means for personal pleasure, we need to rediscover God’s created design for our sexuality, and communicate that it is a good gift given to us by God.

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Christian Chronicle, April 2011.

For additional resources, see “A Theology of Sex: Honoring God’s good gift” printed by the National Association of Evangelicals as a guide for pastors and Christian leaders, at www.naegeneration.com/resources. Also listen to related messages by David Clark, Stanton Jones and Dennis Hollinger.

* Data from the National Campaign to Prevent Unplanned Pregnancies, 2009. Summary available at www.transformmn.org.

Imagine what Minnesota would be like if Christians loved their neighbors like Jesus tells us to, and we helped people to meet Jesus personally.

We believe it’s possible! If we take care of our neighbor and love them like Jesus tells us, if we help people meet Jesus, if we reconcile our racial and cultural differences, if Christians put their faith in action and we work together, we can transform Minnesota!

Transform Minnesota is a diverse network of evangelicals extending the gospel of Jesus and his kingdom, and our vision is to transform Minnesota by connecting and mobilizing evangelicals.

But why change our name?

Primarily because we need to do a better job to communicate our desire for people to be changed by a personal encounter with Jesus and to explain the ministry that we do. We had clear feedback that our previous name – Greater Minnesota Association of Evangelicals – was too long to say, and “GMAE” was simply an acronym that didn’t tell people what our mission was. As a result too many people were confused about our purpose.

After much prayer and planning we chosen a name that communicates the re-birth and supernatural change that is experienced when people encounter Jesus. It also expresses our hope that whole communities can be changed through the loving service of churches.

While the evangelical network is concentrated in the metropolitan area, our training, leadership resources and connections extend across the whole state, and our vision is that people everywhere in our state will be transformed by Jesus and that the whole state would experience the blessing of churches extending the kingdom of God to their neighbors.

Still the same!

Even though our name is changing, who we are and what we do will stay the same:

• Connect and mobilize evangelicals to spread the Gospel of Jesus and extend his kingdom.

• Empower churches to reach neighbors in their communities.

• Help evangelicals bridge racial, geographic and denominational differences by forming new relationships within our diverse networks.

• Equip and train evangelical leaders through conferences, forums and leadership networks.

• Model transformational ministry by leading and supporting three affiliate ministries: Damascus Way Reentry Center, New Life Family Services and World Relief Minnesota.

These 4 new members join an outstanding group of leaders who include senior pastors, Christian business leaders and faith-based nonprofit executives, who make up the 21 member board of directors for the Minnesota Association of Evangelicals.

Newly elected to the board are Carolyn Haas, co-lead pastor of Substance Church; Jim Olson, senior pastor of Bethel Christian Fellowship; Matt Brown, Marketing Director of 95.3 PraiseFM; and Sergio Choy, senior pastor of Maranatha Evangelistic World Ministries and President of the MN Latino Pastors Network.

Carolyn Haas, co-lead pastor of Substance Church:

Carolyn and her husband Peter have been in pastoral ministry since 1996, and moved from Believers Church in Marshfield, WI in 2003 to begin Substance Church reaching young adults in the Twin Cities. Today Substance Church is one of the youngest (demographically) multi-site mega churches in the US with multiple weekend services in Fridley, Northwestern College and at their operations center in Roseville. Caroyn and Peter have 3 children, and Caroyln serves as co-lead pastor, supporting the staff and leadership develoment of the church. She says “Peter is such a dreamer, I’m more the facilitator and helper;  I love serving him and helping his dreams become a reality.”

Dr. Jim Olson, Senior pastor of Bethel Christian Fellowship:

Jim Olson has served as the Senior Pastor of Bethel Christian Fellowship for 20 years. With locations near Macalester College in St. Paul and in NE Minneapolis, BCF is called to be a House of Prayer for All Nations and currently has participants from over 25 nations. We house an Ethiopian/Eritrean and a Bhutanese fellowship as well as provide covering for the Haitian Christian Fellowship of the Twin Cities. Jim recently completed a Doctorate of Ministry in Global and Contextual Leadership from Bethel University.

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Matt Brown, Evangelist (ThinkEternity) and Marketing Director for 95.3 PraiseFM:

Matt Brown and his wife Michelle are evangelists and founders of Think Eternity, an evangelistic nonprofit organization.  Matt is the author of Revolutionaries and a widely read blogger at Thinke.org. Their speaking ministry as international evangelists takes them regularly to the ends of the earth with thousands of people who have dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ through their ministry.  Formerly, Matt worked for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and he also currently serves part time as the marketing director for 95.3 Praise FM.

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Rev. Sergio Choy, Senior Pastor of Maranatha Evangelistic World Ministries:

Sergio Choy is pastor and founder of Maranatha Evangelistic World Ministries in Bloomington, MN for 12 years. He has been involved in unity of churches and pastors for most of his time in ministry. Originally from Guatemala he was raised in the US, mostly in California, Hawaii and Minnesota. He and his wife Keren work together as partners in pastoral ministry. Sergio is also currently the President of the Minnesota Latino Pastors Associaton, an emerging ministerial network connecting Latino pastors in the Twin Cities metro area.