The%20Poor%20Wise%20Man%20(Woman)%20Who%20Saved%20the%20City

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The Poor Wise Man (Woman)Who Saved the City

• Ecclesiastes 913-16

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Last Night Evangelical Theology for Reaching the
Urban Poor
Incarnation (individual then communal, John
114)
Proclamation (of the Kingdom, Luke 418)
brings Transformation (The Kingdom Of God
transforming Society)
Tomorrow Reconciliation as Foundation of
Citywide Revival and Transformation
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The Poor Wise Man (Woman) Who Saved a City
Once upon a time there was a little city, with
few people in it. And a great king came against
it, surrounded it and built huge siegeworks
against it.

• But there was found in that city a poor wise man.
  He by his wisdom saved that city. But no-one
  remembered that poor man.

• But I still say that wisdom is better than might,
  though the poor mans wisdom is not heeded and
  his words are soon forgotten. Ecc 914-16.

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1. Poor

• Choice of poverty shows his wisdom - he could
  have been rich.
• The cares of the world, the delight in riches,
  the desire for other things enter in and choke
  the word, making it unfruitful.

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Repentance Sacrificial Simple Lifestyle in U.S.

• Earn Much
• Consume Little
• Hoard Nothing
• Give Generously
• Celebrate Life
• Let the cares of the world, the delight in
  riches, the desire for other things go so the
  word might not be choked in your life (Mark
  419).

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2. Wise

• Christ is our wisdom (1 Cor 130).
• The wisdom of the streets is the starting point
  for defining the academic agenda. Action-based
  learning communities.
• Knowing the God of continuous creativity, the God
  of doing, results in an action-reflection
  approach to doing theology. The knowledge of God
  begins in obedience, not books. Academia helps
  interpret the obedience.

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Jesus is the Answer
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Wise in the Knowledge of God

• 3 Main Streams of the Knowledge of God
• Way of Devotion
• Classic Wesleyan Disciplines
• Way of Obedience
• Way of love (1 John 416)
• Way of doing justice (Jer 2215,16)
• Way of Wisdom
• Protestant Apostolic Orders
• Action-based Learning Communities
• Networks of devotional communities among the
  poor.
• Living by faith, and dependence on God to provide

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3. Besieged Cities

• 66 of Kolkuta live one family per room
• 600,000 prostitutes in Bangkok, 600,000 drug
  addicts, 4 churches in 1024 slums
• 300,000 prostitutes in Mumbai
• 1000 new Chinese cities
• Cities Springing up in the Sahara desert from
  nothing.
• Nouakchott, city of the Moors, from 5000 to
  800,000 in 20 years

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4. Saved the City

• One person, one grain, one movement.
• Wesley - Give me a hundred men (or women) who
  fear nothing but God and hate nothing but sin.
• Asissi (4000 evangelists among the poor in 10
  yrs)
• Xavier
• Jackie in Hong Kong
• Cory and the Manila Urban Poor Network
• Viju and Ivan in Mumbai
• What will you believe God for? 1500, 15,000
  converted, discipled, churched, a Bible School?
• Hearts aflame, delight in work, sacrifice and
  suffering, lifestyles of simplicity.
• 
  

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5. But no-one remembered

• His words were not heeded
• He was soon forgotten
• But, well done, good and faithful servant, come
  rule over a city
• A call, a choice, a destiny
• Come walk with us behind Jesus

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Sudan to issue decree against building of
churches in shanty towns

• Khartoum (dpa) - No churches will be built in any
  part of the Sudanese capital without the approval
  of the government if the decree being drafted by
  the Ministry of Social Planning comes into force
  in a few days' time, al-Rai al-Aam daily reported
  Wednesday.
• The shanty churches are constructed by
  war-displaced Christians from southern and
  western Sudan who have settled on the periphery
  of the Sudanese capital.
• They use the churches also as schools and
  sometimes as health centres as well.
• Oct 7, 2002

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Cities Up the Ganges
NAME OF CITY POPULATION ('95 EST) NO. OF CHURCH MAJOR LANGUAGE NATURE OF CITY RELIGIOUS MAKEUP
Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh 982,000 17 1/58,000 Hindi Educational Center Hindus 60 Muslims 35 Christians 2 Evangelical 0.1
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh 700,000 20 1/35,000 Hindi
Batala, Punjab 110,000 20 1/5,500 Hindi, Urdu 50? Muslim, 50 Hindu
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 1,469,000 44 1/33,000 Hindi, Urdu Industrial 8-9000 Christians
Chandigarh, capital Punjab Hariyana 1,138,000 25 1/45,000 Punjabis Beautiful Only planned city 1000 believers
Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh 1,253,000 25 1/50,000 Hindi Punjabi Marathi Educational Center 70,000 Christians, 30 in churches
Jaipur, Rajasthan 2,000,000 26 1/77,000 Hindi (Marawi) Sindi, Madrassi City of Temples 1000 believers Christians
Jalandhar, Punjab 600,000 7 1/85,000 Hindi Producer of Sports Goods
Delhi, capital of India 10,857,000 34 slums 300 1/36,000 Hindi Power centre, Administrativ
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Five Phases to Global Urban Evangelization

• Phase 1 Mobilization of teams of cross cultural
  missionaries to the slums of the 200 mega-cities
  and 1700 least evangelized cities
• 40 cities, 400 workers, perhaps 1200 globally

• Phase 2 Pioneering initial churches in the slums
  of each city
• Manila, Lima, Mumbai, Delhi, etc

• Phase 3 Indigenous leadership and movements
• of 5000-15,000 in each city
• Latin movements, movements in some African cities
  
• 677 in Manilas slums

• Phase 4 Transformation of some slums

• Phase 5 Transformation of the cities

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Communities Produce Movements

• What makes up a multinational pioneering team?
• An apostle and his wife, a pastoral couple, a
  comics designer, a microenterprise extpert, a 55
  year old woman who works with the handicapped, a
  social worker, an evangelist, a childrens
  worker
• 6-12 people meeting every two weeks
• 10-15 years
• 
  Phase 1

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Phase 1b Movements at Home

• Second Order
• Prayer movements
• Third Order
• Earn much, consume little, hoard nothing, give
  generously, celebrate life
• Live simply that others may simply live