Came across this today in my reading from John MacArthur’s commentary on I Corinthians. I love it.

“Love cannot tolerate wrong doctrine. It makes no sense to say, ‘It doesn’t make a great difference if people don’t agree with us about doctrine. What matters is that we love them.’ That is the basic view of what is commonly called the ecumenical movement. But if we love others it will matter a great deal to us whether or not what they believe is right or wrong. What they believe affects their souls, their eternal destinies, and their representation of God’s will, and therefore should be of the highest concern to us. It also affects the souls and destinies of those whom they influence. Love is consistent with kindness but it is not consistent with compromise of the truth.”

Eagle TV launches its new flagship children’s program, Eternal Land, on Monday, September 6th. Characters Flying Boy and Flower Power lead children on Bible-oriented adventures with three new programs each week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Can you guess which one I am?

Thanks for your support of Eagle TV.

It was just a few months after 9/11. I sat at a restaurant talking with one of my ministry supporters about our Internet outreach to Muslims. My friend looked me in the eye and said, “Tom, I don’t want to reach them. I want to nuke them.”

I confess that when I heard him say this I completely understood his feelings. I felt the same way even though I was, at the time, involved in Muslim ministry. We were all stinging from what happened on 9/11. We wanted justice. We wanted revenge. But there was also that part of me that just wanted to scream, “No!” Iraq has been transformed, but it is still Islamic. Afghanistan has been transformed, but it is still Islamic. The way to bring lasting change to the Islamic world isn’t through the power of our weapons, but through the power of God’s love.

One of the strategies used by Muslims to permeate and transform a community is to build large Islamic centers or Mosques that will, by their size and activities, draw in people from the surrounding area and see them convert to Islam. In fact, we see this happening right now in my host country of Mongolia as a large Islamic center, funded by the Kuwaiti government, is being built in Ulaanbaatar, a city with a majority Buddhist/shamanist population. We ask ourselves, just how many Muslims are there in Ulaanbaatar? One hundred? One thousand? According to the country’s chief Imam, there are more than 15,000 Muslims living in our city, all Khazak. Someone may be a Muslim culturally, but how many “true” Muslims are there, fully committed to the teachings of the Quran and Mohammed’s example? There’s no way to tell, but it can’t be that much, at least not in Mongolia.

If we are honest with ourselves we will have to admit that this is a strategy Christians have also used to reach communities for Christ. Throughout history Christians, especially Catholic Christians, have build large churches or community centers to attract people to their activities and make converts. European history is filled with such examples. In fact, we have a huge Catholic center in Mongolia, yet how many Catholics are there in our city? Not many.

Americans are appalled the establishment of Park51, the Islamic center being built on the so called “holy ground” near Ground Zero where the World Trade Center once stood. The building of the Islamic center is at the very least a very bad PR move by the Muslim community. Yet their goals to spread Islam through such a center is not foreign to history. We’ve done the same thing, many times, to spread the message of Christ. And like the Muslims, we will keep on doing it.

I’m not making an argument for Islam in any way. I hate Islam. I’ve studied the Quran and know the hatred, discrimination, and violence it teaches. Yet my heart cries out in love for the Muslim trapped in such a deceptive and evil system. Should this not also be the cry of every Christian heart? Whether or not Park51 proceeds we will still have a Muslim community in America that needs to be reached and loved to Christ. In this sense, Park51 doesn’t matter. Wherever there is a Muslim, or Buddhist, or Hindu, or atheist, there is a need to demonstrate God’s unconditional love. Who knows, Park51 could serve as a ministry point for those who want to demonstrate compassion and mercy to the Islamic community as a witness to the supremacy of Christ.

I am a missionary. That means that my motivations must go beyond the temporal and political. Personally, I think Park51 is a truly rotten idea. But I don’t want to nuke them either. If we get past the temporal and look at the opportunities before us we may recognize something completely different—God’s opportunity for a new place to reach the Muslim for Christ.

Би нэг судалгааны талаар өнгөрсөн долоо хоногт бичснийг санаж байна уу? Шашны соёлын талаар болон хүмүүс Ийгл ТВ-ийг хэрхэн хэрэглэж байгаа талаар илүү тодорхой мэдэхийн тулд тэр судалгааны дүнг бид Хэвлэлийн Хүрээлэнгээр шашны бүлгүүд тус бүр дээр нэгтгүүлсэн юм. Гайхмаар шинэ мэдээллүүд илэрсэн. Нэр томъёоны талаар Буддын шашинтнууд болон Христэд итгэдэг хүмүүс дараах ойлголттой байх юм. ?Бурхан? ба “Тэнгэр” хэмээх үгнүүд нь Буддын шашны болон/эсвэл бөө мөргөлийн шашны уламжлалт үгс гэдгийг та санаарай. ?Ертөнцийн Эзэн? гэдэг үг нь Христэд итгэдэг хүмүүсийн итгэгч нартаа зориулан анх бий болгосон нэр томъёо юм.

• Буддын шашинтнуудын 79% нь “Бурхан” хэмээх үгийг Буддын шашинтай хамаатуулсан бол тэдний зөвхөн 10% нь Христийн сургаальтай хамаатуулжээ.
• Буддын шашинтнуудын 59% нь “Ертөнцийн эзэн” гэдэг үгийг Христийн сургаальтай холбож үзсэн бол зөвхөн 0.3% нь тус үгийг Буддын шашинд хамаатуулжээ.
• Христэд итгэдэг хүмүүсийн 78% нь “Бурхан” ба “Тэнгэр” хэмээх үгсийг Буддын шашинд хамаатуулсан бол 89% нь “Ертөнцийн Эзэн” гэдэг үгийг Христийн сургаальд хамаатуулж ойлгодог байна.
• Христэд итгэдэг хүмүүсийн зөвхөн 8% нь “Бурхан” гэдэг үгийг Христийн сургаальтай холбож ойлгодог байна. (бодит амьдрал дээр эсрэгээрээ байдаг, гэхдээ энэ талаар дараа ярина)

Христийн сургааль чухам юун тухай өгүүлдэг талаарх ойлголтыг нь асуухад дараах байдлаар хариулжээ.

• Буддын шашинтнуудын 10% нь Христэд итгэх итгэл нь эд баялагтай болохын тухай байдаг гэсэн бол (цочмоор мэдээ) Христэд итгэгчдийн 44% нь мөн ижил ойлголттой байна.
• Буддын шашинтнуудын 20% нь Христийн сургааль нийгмийн хөгжлийн тухай заадаг гэж үзжээ (нийгмийн халамжын сайн мэдээний номлол гэж үү?), харин Христэд итгэгчдийн 17% нь мөн ийм бодолтой байдаг байна.
• Энэ хоёр категорийг нийлүүлвэл Монголын Христэд итгэгчдийн 60% нь Христийн сургаалийг эд баялагтай болох сайн мэдээ, мөн нийгмийн халамжын сайн мэдээ гэж үздэг болохыг харж болно.

Сүүлийн статистик нь их чухал бөгөөд түгшүүр төрүүлж байна. Сайн мэдээний номлолд эд материалын ивээл болоод нийгэм үүрэг гүйцэтгэдэг ч (Хуучин гэрээний амлалтууд болон тэдгээрийн орчин цагийн хэрэглээ гэх мэт) гэсэн эдгээр үнэт зүйлсийг Христэд итгэх итгэлийг илэрхийлэгч гол хүчин зүйл болгож эн тэргүүнд тавих нь хамгийн наад зах нь сүнслэг өсөлт, олон нийтийн гэрчлэлд асуудал үүсгэнэ. Энэ нь сүмийг теологийн хувьд болон зөв зохистойгоор өсч дараагийн шатандаа хүрэх боломжыг нь бас бууруулж болох уу? Теологийн хувьд Итгэгч хүмүүс амьдралдаа Эзэний гүйцэтгэдэг үүргийн талаар нэлээд ноцтой зүйлсийг хэлж байна гэж би бодож байна. Хэрэв сонгууль байсан бол эд баялагтай болох/нийгмийн халамжын сайн мэдээний төрөл илт давуу ялах байсан. Миний өөрийн ажиглалт, эдгээр судалгааны дүнгээс харахад энд Эзэний бүрэн эрхт байдлын талаар тийм ч их заадаггүй, баримталдаггүй нь тодорхой гэж надад санагдлаа.

Шашны сургаалиуд хоорондоо нийцдэг эсэх талаар:

• Христэд итгэгчдийн 53% нь Христийн сургааль, Буддын шашин хоёр хоорондоо таардаг, эсвэл зарим нэг нийтлэг зүйлс байдаг гэж үзжээ. Энэ ч бас нилээд сэрэмжлэхээр мэдээ байна. Христэд итгэдэг болон итгэдэггүй хүмүүст библийн түлхүүр ойлголтуудыг заахдаа анхаарал болгоомжтой тайлж хүргээгүй гэдгийг энэ статистик мэдээ үнэмшилтэй болгож байж болох уу? Энэ бол илүү сайн дагалдагч бэлтгэх болон олон нийтийн мэдлэг боловсролыг дээшлүүлэх ажил жинхэнэ өөрчлөлт авчрах боломжтой талбар юм. Мөн телевиз энэ ажлыг хэрхэн нэмэгдүүлж чадах вэ гэдгийг нилээд хүчтэй бодож үзэх хэрэгтэй.
• Буддын шашинтнуудын 33% нь Христийн сургааль Буддын шашин хоёрт зарим нэг нийтлэг зүйлс байдаг гэсэн боловч 36% нь нийтлэг зүйл огт байдаггүй гэжээ.

Тэд Христэд итгэх итгэлийн талаарх мэдээллээ хаанаас авдаг вэ:

• Буддын шашинд итгэдэг хүмүүсийн 38% нь Ийгл ТВ-ээс авдаг,
• Шашинд итгэдэггүй хүмүүсийн 36% нь Ийгл ТВ-ээс авдаг,
• Бөөгийн шашинтнуудын 31% нь Ийгл ТВ-ээс авдаг,
• Дээрх гурван үзүүлэлт гайхал төрүүлж байна. Гэхдээ хамгийн том эргэлт нь эндээс гарч ирж байна: Христэд итгэгчдийн 53% нь Христэд итгэх итгэлийн талаарх мэдээллээ сүмээс авдаг, зөвхөн 11% нь Ийгл ТВ-ээс авдаг гэжээ.

Бид дээр дурдсан асуудлуудыг авч үзэхдээ сүмүүд Монгол итгэгч нарт тодорхой юуг зааж байгаа талаар албан ёсны судалгаа хийх талаар бодож үзэх, магадгүй хийх хэрэгтэй. Эндээс нэг зүйлийг авч үзэж болох юм. Юу вэ гэвэл, хэрэв Монгол итгэгчид гол төлөв эд баялаг/нийгмийн халамжын сайн мэдээнд чиглэгдсэн байвал, тэгээд тэр боловсролыг сүмээсээ авдаг бол энэ судалгаанд Ийгл ТВ-ийн үзүүлэлт доогуур байгааг энэ тайлж байж болох юм. Учир нь Ийгл ТВ эд баялаг/нийгмийн халамжын сайн мэдээний нэвтрүүлэг зөвшөөрдөггүй юм. Тиймээс, бид итгэгч үзэгчдийн хүсэл хэрэгцээг хангадаггүй учраас тэдгээр итгэгч үзэгчид тийм төрлийн мэдээлэл авахаар өөр газар ханддаг байна гэж хэлж болохоор байна. Эдгээр асуудлуудыг (дэмжилгүйгээр) тактиктайгаар анхаарал хандуулж засч залруулахад туслах (цаг хугацааны явцад) арга замыг олох нь бидний өмнө сорилт болж магадгүй юм.

Дээрх дөрвөн тохиолдолд тавигдсан асуултынхаа хувьд дэндүү том үзүүлэлтүүд байна. Үүний дараа өөр сонин дүгнэлт гарч ирнэ. Судалгааны дүнг олон шашны бүлгээр салгаж гаргасан байгаа. Үүнд бөөгийн шашинтан, шашингүй үзэлтнүүдийг ч хамруулсан байгаа. Нэр томъёоны хэрэглээний хувьд бөөгийн шашинтай гэж өөрсдийгөө тодорхойлсон хүмүүсийн хариултыг харна уу. Нэр томъёоны хувьд:

• Бөөгийн шашинтнуудын 82% нь “Бурхан” гэдэг үгийг Христийн сургаальтай холбожээ, харин “Ертөнцийн Эзэн” гэдэг үгийг 49% нь Буддын шашинтай холбоотой гэж үзжээ. (Энэ асуултын хувьд судалгааны мэдээлэл асуудалтай байна гэж бодож байна. Гэсэн хэдий ч, манай эндэх миссионер найзуудад энэ үзүүлэлтийн талаар хэлэх зүйлс байгаа байх.)
• Шашингүй үзэлтнүүдийн 52% нь “Бурхан” хэмээх үгийг Буддын шашинтай хамаатуулсан, харин зөвхөн 3% нь л Христэд итгэх итгэлд хамаатуулсан.
• Шашингүй үзэлтнүүдийн 60% нь “Ертөнцийн Эзэн” гэдэг үгийг Христийн сургаальд хамаатуулсан бол Буддын шашинд хамруулсан хүн байсангүй.

Нэр томъёог хамаатуулсан байдал нь маш чухал дүгнэлтэд хүргэж байна гэж бодож байна. Хэрэв энэ судалгаа үнэн зөв бол ихэнх Монгол итгэгч нар хамгийн түгээмэл үгийн сонголт болох (Бухан) хэмээх үг нь утга/гарал үүслийн хувьд Буддын шашны үг болохыг мэддэг боловч амьдрал дээр энэ үг хэрхэн хэрэглэгдэж буйг анхаардаггүй гэдгийг харуулж байж болох юм. Судалгаанд оролцогчдын ердөө 8% нь энэ үгийг Христийн сургаальтай хамаатуулсан (энэ судалгаанд) боловч энэ үг нутгийн хэлэнд хамгийн түгээмэл үгийн сонголт хэвээр байна. Энэ үзүүлэлт Монголын сүмийн талаар теологийн болон нийгмийн хувьд юуг илэрхийлж байна вэ? Энэ их сонирхолтой судалгаа болно доо.
Энэ судалгааны үр дүнд бид өөрсдөөсөө нэр томъёоны хэрэглээ, эд баялагтай болох сайн мэдээ/нийгмийн халамжын сайн мэдээ, болон мэдээллийн эх сурвалж хоорондын харилцан хамаарлын тухай олон асуулт асуух хэрэгтэй болж байна.

Хожим надад илүү олон бодлууд төрөх байх. Энд мэдээж хэсэг хугацаанд эрэгцүүлэхэд хангалттай зүйл бичлээ.

Came across this today when reading John MacArthur’s New Testament Commentary on I Corinthians.

“Our advances in knowledge and technology and communication have not really advanced us. It is from among those who are intelligent and clever that the worst exploiters, deceivers, and oppressors have come. We are more educated than our forefathers but we are not more moral. We have more means of helping each other but we are not less selfish. We have more means of communication but we do not understand each other any better. We have more psychology and education, and more crime and more war. We have not changed, except to find more ways to express and excuse our human nature. Throughout history human wisdom has never basically changed and has never solved the basic problem of man.”

Then comes this wisdom from the Bible, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (I Corinthians 1:20).

Eagle TV competitor C1 television recently aired a show about Eagle TV’s translation of Christian programming. The guest on the program evaluated our use of Mongolian language on translated programs like Way of the Master.

The guest on the program, a linguist, had some interesting and even helpful things to say about improving our translation quality. But what interested me was his position on Eagle TV promoting Christianity through television. He noted that since Buddhism and Christianity share some things in common that the terminology that is used should be Buddhist so that the common concepts will be understood by the audience.

Of course, using Buddhist terms to describe Christian ideas is not something that we do on Eagle TV. Can you imagine, for instance, the Lord’s prayer being translated to say, “Buddha, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come…” etc.?

For most of our programs Eagle TV uses terminology known as “descriptive terminology.” This uses terminology which is religiously neutral to describe Christian concepts. We do this because using Buddhist terms to describe Christianity can be confusing to the mostly non-Christian audience. In fact, our most recent survey reveals that most people who associate Buddhist terms associate them with Buddhism, but not with Christianity. Therefore, using those terms to describe Christianity would end up in theological confusion and would do a disservice to both religions.

One of the comments made by the linguist was that since Buddhism and Christianity have so much in common, they should therefore work together for their common objectives. The problem with this thinking is that Buddhism and Christianity do not share anything in common—they are mutually exclusive.

I’ve run across this before. This is usually the argument that is made by people who are ignorant of the deeper issues of religious doctrine; who usually only have a surface level of understanding of the faiths. Because both religions supposedly advocate love, forgiveness, right thinking, avoidance of sin, etc., they can therefore work together on these issues. However, that assumes, wrongly, that Buddhism and Christianity have these things in common. In fact, they do not. The definition of what these things are, are different. Just because someone may use similar terms does not mean the terms mean the same thing relative to both religions. It’s like a Mormon saying he believes Jesus is the Son of God. The definition of “Son of God” under Mormon theology is very different from what it means in orthodox, evangelical Christianity. Only those with a surface level of understanding, or ignorance, can make such a declaration. As for the Mormon example, this is one reason why Mormonism is classified as a non-Christian cult instead of being a branch of the Christian faith. So too, what Buddhism means by common terms is completely different from what Christianity means, and therefore, they—by definition—cannot work together. They are mutually exclusive.

As a mass media organization we are responsible to God for how we portray the Gospel. Sometimes that means separating ourselves from other concepts, which can be a bit controversial at times. Nevertheless, it is necessary if we are going to represent Christianity faithfully and truthfully to the community.

One of the great difficulties of understanding the Trinity is that we have a tendency to want to think of God in completely human terms. We look at ourselves and we think that we are one and therefore since we are made in God’s image, he must also be one. Alas, scripturally, it doesn’t work that way.

The trouble with a unitarian or oneness view of the Trinity is that it attempts to explain God’s personhood within a purely human way of thinking about relationships. We also can, using human-based analogies, attempt to explain God as a Triune being. But our attempt by using analogy cannot convey the fullness of what it means for God to be a Triune being. I’ll touch more on that in a moment. First, we should clarify the existence of the Trinity.

What is the Trinity?

That the Trinity exists, as explained in scripture, there can be no doubt. The Father and the Son are clearly delineated in scripture as being one, yet different persons. The Father spoke from heaven during Jesus’ baptism while the Holy Spirit descended as a dove upon Jesus. This is probably the clearest picture of the Trinity’s existence in the New Testament. Jesus taught his disciples to pray to the Father in Jesus’ name (i.e., authority).

The Holy Spirit is referred to in the scripture as a unique person yet having all of the authority of God that is identical to the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19, I Corinthians 12:4-6, II Corinthians 13:14). He has all of the attributes of personality, just as the Father and Son do, but He uses them of his own authority. The holy spirit teaches, guides, comforts, convicts, empowers, intercedes to the Father, gives gifts, explores the depths of God, etc.

There are too many scriptures about the existence of the Trinity to explore in this short article. Suffice it to say God is three persons, but he is also a unity. In all cases the Father is shown to be God, the Son is shown to be God, and the Spirit is shown to be God—yet all three play different roles in redemptive history.

Where is the Trinity in the OT?

Some people have remarked that the Trinity is a New Testament invention, and that the Trinity does not appear in the Old Testament at all. To this I would answer that that is not necessarily true. While we can make the case that the full understanding of the relationships within the Trinity may not have been completely revealed, we can also demonstrate that all three members of the Trinity are revealed in the Old Testament. Psalm 45:7 reveals two persons of the Trinity, both in Hebrew being referred to as God (Elohim): “Therefore God, your God has anointed you…” The Holy Spirit is the first person of the Trinity to actually be revealed in scripture. He was revealed at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 1:2, “The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The Old Testament reveals, partially, that there were members of the Trinity referred to as Father and Son. “I will be his father and he will be my son…” (I Chronicles 17:13). Though the references to Father, Son, and Spirit are scant in the Old Testament because of the reality of progressive revelation, that does not discount the fact that they are there.

Why is it Hard to Understand the Trinity?

In my observation it seems that it is difficult for many people to grasp just what the Trinity is, because there is nothing truly analogous to the fullness of the Trinity in our human experience—our understanding is only partial. For instance, when we refer to God as “Father,” we do so knowing what a father is. Regardless of whether we had good or bad fathers, the general concept of a father helps us to understand the role of God the Father. Similarly, when we think of Jesus as God the Son we can also understand that relationship. We know what a son is and what a son’s role in a family is. But when we come to the Holy Spirit we get stuck. The Holy Spirit is not a mother and His role and behaviors are not analogous to a mother. Nor is he a son or a father.  The scripture says that he comes forth from both the Father and the Son (John 15:26, 16:28). He is different. He has all of the attributes of the Father and the Son (except that he does not have a permanent physical body, like Jesus does), but he is different from the two. Our analogies to describe Him break down because we have no relationship on earth that is analogous to what and whom the Holy Spirit is. His role is unique among all relationships.

Because of this, I think it is difficult for many Christians to fully grasp the Trinity. That does not mean it is impossible, it simply means that it can be difficult. But that difficulty does not refute the reality that the Holy Spirit is a person, part of the Trinity, equal to its members and yet different in role and function from the Father and the Son.

Why the Trinity is Important?

First, understanding the Trinity gives comfort and security to the believer knowing that God does not “act alone” in anything. Rather, all members of the Trinity are in constant and unbroken fellowship with one another, doing that which pleases each member and reveals more of Himself to the believer.

Second, without understanding the Trinity our knowledge of God would be less complete than it is now. One of the goals of our Christian experience is to “know God” (Philippians 3:8). It is not that we have full understanding now, rather our understanding of God increases when we begin to see him for who he really is. Just as the revelation of God’s person was progressive in the Old Testament, so too our learning about him now, in these New Testament times, is also progressing. The more we understand about God’s person and character, the deeper our fellowship with him. That’s a great place to be!

Third, without the Holy Spirit we would be powerless to live the Christian life. That would be a terrible place to be! He is our seal of faith. He is the one who empowers us to live as both the law and Christ taught. Without him we could not experience the fullness of faith in God. He is essential to our understanding and experience of God. He illuminates our relationship with Jesus, as Jesus promised.

A Warning

We should, however, keep in mind this caution: It is not necessary to have a full understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity in order to be a believer in Jesus (Acts 19:2). This might cause your red flag to go up, but hear me out. When a person comes to Christ, more likely than not, he does not know anything about “the Trinity.” This was true in my experience and probably of every believer I know. What the Trinity is, is an important doctrine and one that helps us understand and experience God, it is not a necessary doctrine for the point of salvation, but it is an important doctrine for Christian growth.

Remember the survey that I wrote about last week? We had Press Institute break down the answers into different religious groups to get a better understanding of the religious culture and how individuals use Eagle TV. There is some startling new information. Here’s what Buddhists and Christians had to say about terminology. Keep in mind that “Burhan” and “Tenger” are traditionally Buddhist and/or shamanist words. “Yurtuntsiin Ezen” was originally developed by Christians for the Christians community.

• 79% of Buddhists associate the word “Burhan” with Buddhism, and only 10% associate it with Christianity
• 59% of Buddhists associate the title “Yurtuntsiin Ezen” with Christianity, and only 0.3% associate it with Buddhism
• 78% of Christians associate the words “Burhan” and “Tenger” with Buddhism, and 89% associate “Yurtuntsiin Ezen” with Christianity
• Only 8% of Christians associate the word “Burhan” with Christianity (this would seem to fly in the face of real-world practice, but I’ll touch on that later)

When asked what they believe Christianity is about:

• 10% of Buddhists said Christianity was about becoming prosperous (prosperity gospel), whereas (and here’s the shocker) 44% of Christians said the same thing
• 20% of Buddhists think Christianity is about societal development (social gospel?), whereas 17% of Christians think the same
• When combining categories we see that 60% of Mongolian Christians think Christianity is about prosperity gospel and social gospel.

That last statistic is significant and alarming. While there is certainly a role that material blessing and society play within the Gospel (such as with the Old Testament covenants and their application in modern times), primarily placing these values as “the” or “a” driving force in Christian expression is, at the very least, problematic for spiritual growth and community witness. May this also undercut the church’s chances of growing theologically and properly into the next generation? Theologically, I think this says dire things about the role that believers think God plays in their lives. If this were an election, prosperity/social gospel categories would win by a landslide. It seems clear to me from my own observations combined with these survey results that the sovereignty of God is not much taught or adhered to here.

On questions of compatibility:

• 53% of Christians think Christianity and Buddhism are compatible or share some things in common. This is also highly alarming. Could it be that this statistic lends credence to the idea that key scriptural concepts are not being carefully unpackaged to both the believing and non-believing audiences? This is an area where better discipleship and community education can make a real difference—and how TV can augment this should be strongly considered
• 33% of Buddhist say Christianity and Buddhism have some things in common, but 36% say they have nothing in common

Where do they get their information:

• 38% of Buddhists get their information about Christianity from Eagle TV
• 36% of atheists get their information about Christianity from Eagle TV
• 31% of shamanist people get their information about Christianity from Eagle TV
• The three stats cited above are staggering. But the big turn comes here: 53% of Christians report that they get their information about Christianity from church and only 11% from Eagle TV.

When considering the problems already mentioned above we should consider, and perhaps do a formal study on what churches are specifically teaching Mongol believers. One thing that might be considered in this vein is that if Mongol believers are primarily prosperity/social gospel oriented, and they are therefore getting that education through their churches, it might shed light on the low number for Eagle in this report, because, Eagle TV does not allow prosperity/social gospel programming on air. Thus, we might be able to say that since we don’t meet that desire in the believing audience, that believing audience goes elsewhere for that kind of information. The challenge for us may be to find a way to tactfully address these issues (non-supportively) and hopefully help correct the problem (over time).

In all four cases above, these were the overwhelming large numbers for the questions asked. But after this it gets kind of freaky. The survey was broken down by multiple religious groups, including shamans and atheists. When it comes to terminology usage, look at what those identifying themselves as shamanists had to say. When it comes to terms:

• 82% of shamanism adherents say they associate “Burhan” with Christianity, whereas they associate “Yurtuntsiin Ezen” with Buddhism by 49% (I cannot help but think that there is a problem in the survey data on this question. However, our in-country missionary friends might have some light to shed on this
• 52% of atheists associate “Burhan” with Buddhism, and only 3% associate it with Christianity
• 60% of atheists associate “Yurtuntsiin Ezen” with Christianity and none associates it to Buddhism

I think that the terminology associations are significant. If this survey is accurate, it would seem to indicate that most Mongol believers know that the most popular word-choice (Burhan) is Buddhist in meaning/origin, but in practice, they don’t care how it’s used. Clearly, only 8% of respondents associate it with Christianity (in this survey), but it still remains the most popular word choice in the vernacular. What does this say, theological and socially, about the Mongol church? That would make a very interesting study.

In light of this survey, we should be asking ourselves questions about the relationships between terminology usage, prosperity/social gospel, and information sourcing.

Perhaps more thoughts from me at a later date. There’s certainly enough here to stew over for some time.

In the last year one of our ministry objectives has been to discover how Eagle TV is impacting the community spiritually. One of our tools is a series of surveys asking the audience specific questions about perceptions of Christianity, Bible knowledge, etc.

Our most recent survey was done in June, and we just got the data in this week. What did we learn?

First off, we discovered that Eagle TV is having a huge impact when it comes to what people think Christianity is. 30 percent of respondents said that they get their information about Christianity from Eagle Television. Only 10 percent said they received their information from churches and 12 percent from the Bible. That’s not really unexpected since only 6.6 percent of respondents identified themselves as Christian, with the remaining 93.4 percent identifying themselves as Buddhist, shamanist, or something else other than Christian. I have to say, a 30 percent impact from Eagle TV is huge. To be honest, I don’t know of any other TV ministry that can claim such a large percentage of impact. In fact, I don’t even know of any radio ministry that rates that way. I don’t say this to boast, rather, it seems truly remarkable to me that Eagle is having that level of impact with its audience.

One of the issues we face in Mongolia is about people’s perceptions of what Christianity is all about. In my nearly 8 years in Mongolia I’ve noticed a strong thread of prosperity Gospel influence among Mongolian believers. For those unaware, prosperity Gospel is a Christian heresy that, essentially, makes the accumulation of wealth and material possessions the primary goal of Christian expression.

I was, however, surprised when I learned that the Mongolian view is a bit more varied than I thought. When asked if Christianity is about becoming prosperous only 10 percent answered positively. But a whopping 39 percent answered that they did not know what Christianity is all about at all! On top of that, 41 percent of those surveyed said that they did not know if Buddhism and Christianity are compatible (they are not).

These responses were shocking. Ulaanbaatar has had a full blown television ministry for 15 years. That’s not to say that everything about the Gospel is dependent upon Eagle TV—it’s not—but it does tell us that there is a lot of work to be done to help educate the audience about what Christianity is. It has been said more than once that Eagle TV made Jesus a household word in Mongolia. Yet that’s just the beginning. The need for a deeper understanding of the faith is huge. That means we have to take a careful look at our programming to see where we can make things even clearer.

One of the questions we asked was focused on terminology. We wanted to know, in general, what terminology people most associate with Christianity, Buddhism, shamanism, etc. We asked this because it is natural for certain words to carry specific historical and conceptual associations. In Mongolia there has been a long controversy about what name to use for “God.” In this survey 70 percent of respondents associated the word “Burhan” with Buddhism. 57 percent associated the title “Yurtuntsiin Ezen” with Christianity. “Burhan” is the term primarily used to identify Buddha, though most of the Mongolian church also uses it to identify God in a generic sense. In this part of the survey there was a natural overlap of 23 percent of those who use multiple terms.

What makes this part of the survey so interesting is that the overwhelming number of respondents did not identify themselves as Christian. Therefore, the non-believing audience is drawing a distinction among terms, to some degree delineating in their minds what they perceive as Buddhist and what they perceive as Christian. To be sure about this we are having a new set of calculations on responses being draw up to clearly identify what the non-believing audience associates between specific terms and ideas, minus the responses from believers.

All in all, the survey has really opened our eyes to some of the perceptions that Mongolians have about Christianity. Yet we also know that we’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg. Further surveys will try and dig deeper about these perceptions and hopefully help us refine our ministry presentations even more. The fact is, with 30 percent saying their primary source of information about Christianity comes from Eagle TV, we have a sacred responsibility to make sure we are getting our presentations right.

Isaiah 65:17 has always been terrifying and puzzling to me. It reads:

“i create a new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.”

Though it terrifies me (which i’ll explain shortly) I am also thankful for it. I think of the minor trials I have experienced. I think of family and friends I have lost that did not know Christ. Even those closest to me. This passage is clear. There will come a point in God’s new Heavenly kingdom that I will never think about these loved lost souls again. In God’s eternal kingdom such thoughts and grief shall be forever wiped away from the minds of the saints.

I wonder, how could I forget those from my past who loved me and were part of molding me, yet they did not know Christ? And how awful for them it will be. They will remember the past. Yet during their eternal torment, they will know that I will not give them a moment’s thought for all of eternity, for none of those never ending years.

I once wrote for a story of mine a bit of wisdom which says that in the future, though we may forget the past, there is one, unceasing, who will always grieve for the lost who refused to be saved. Is it not God himself? Do not the scriptures say that he can never forget those for whom he died?

I thank God for the mercy of forgetfulness. I only wish I could share it with him.