Man vs. Wild vs. Religion? Bear Grylls Shares His Faith

As I was reading entertainment news last night and surfing the web, I wondered what was going on in the life of one of the planet’s most adventurous and controversial survival show hosts: Bear Grylls. You see, back in March Discovery Channel announced that it had parted ways with Bear over a “contract dispute.” Despite receiving high ratings, there was something beneath the surface that caused a dispute with Bear and his production company, so Discovery dropped all Bear Grylls productions.

Last night I was just curious and went to Bear’s website to see if he had signed on with another network. He’s working on show ideas, Bear posted on the site, but nothing is ready for publicizing. I read his latest blog entry and at the bottom he posted an excerpt from his new book Mud, Sweat and Tears. It was chapter 25. Of any part of his life of adventure and exploration, Bear chose to post the chapter that describes his decision to follow Jesus. I’ve posted the book excerpt below. Now, I knew that Bear claimed to be a Christian and that he made the sign of the cross whenever he jumped out of a helicopter or airplane but I didn’t know the depth of Bear’s faith. He outlines it below and, I must say, it seems very genuine. Read below:

Chapter 25

From the US edition of Mud Sweat & Tears… enjoy!

 

Girls aside, the other thing I found in the last few years of being at school, was a quiet, but strong Christian faith – and this touched me profoundly, setting up a relationship or faith that has followed me ever since.

Talimena Drive exposes Oklahoma’s mountain majesty

Here’s a link to my latest article, published online at Examiner.com. The more page views my articles receive, the better the compensation, so… will ya help a brother out?

Talimena Drive exposes Oklahoma’s mountain majesty.

Cross-Cultural Observations… at Wal-Mart

Last weekend I devoted myself to reading a book by Duane Elmer called “Cross-Cultural Servanthood” for the next step in my Core Training for Christian Associates. I was preparing my assignments and reports for the “Culture” module of our training and the book was required reading. So I hesitantly put aside my dislike for books and engaged the written enemy for six or seven hours over three days. By the time I finished, I was glad I had read the darn thing. Elmer was a missionary to Southern Africa for years and had many stories to tell about how misunderstood missionaries can be when they fail to properly prepare for their new culture. For example, if a missionary comes into a new culture with an attitude of, “I’m the teacher, they’re the pupil,” the missionary will often be thought of as arrogant. Or if they fail to learn the gestures, customs and histories of a culture, they also will struggle to be accepted. So Elmer proposes a number of ways for missionaries (and believers in general) to approach living in another culture, whether it is Africa or that neighborhood across town. Everything starts in the minds and hearts of the missionary. Developing an attitude of openness, acceptance, trust and learning goes a long way to serving effectively in another culture. As I read, I easily recognized the good and the bad in myself. For example, I find myself too quick to judge based on appearance and too quick to enforce black and white rules in a gray zone. I have a critical nature and that needs to go. I’m getting better but have a lot of growing to do.

In our Culture module of the core training, we walked through the steps that Elmer proposes one by one. One of them deals with observation. I like observation. When I was in Glasgow and Edinburgh, for example, I spent hours walking the streets merely observing. In fact, I spent an entire day doing nothing but traveling around Glasgow and observing. It proved to be a very helpful day in my acclimation to Scottish culture. But Elmer also is adamant that observation is not sufficient to learn a culture. You need to learn from a local who was raised in that culture. In other words, find a friend and ask them questions, seeking their experience. They can tell you whether or not it’s appropriate to make eye contact on a train or give someone a hug. I was blessed to have two amazing hosts in Peter and Natalie Atkins, who graciously answered my barrage of questions and engaged me in great conversation for days. I learned SO much from visiting with them that it helped me to understand what I was observing.

In our Culture training module we had several observation assignments. I did one of them in Edinburgh, sitting on the steps of the old Tron Kirk and watching people go by for about a half hour. I tried not to judge but to instead make simple factual observations. I liked it. Plus, it got me out of the Scottish wind, which can grind a tender soul into fine powder. “Next time, I come with a beard,” I resolved on those steps.

Just today I ran across my old Blogspot blog and saw this posting on observation, written about 16 months ago. It was the last one I wrote before switching to WordPress in January of 2011. When I read it I was humbled. Written five months before I had decided to pursue overseas ministry, I can see elements of Elmer’s book and my Culture module in my simple observations from that day. In spiritual hindsight, I see that my heart was already being prepared for this cultural learning process long before I knew about it. Here’s an excerpt, from December 2010.

 

Observations from Aisle 6

Scattershooting while walking down every aisle in the South Lewisville Wal-Mart… (except I’m at home now because I ain’t got one of them fancy-schmancy phones to post from the road)…

— I enjoy walking around my chosen Wal-Mart for many reasons, one of which is the great diversity of people groups represented there. It’s like a mini United Nations. There are Hindus and Muslims, Jews and Buddhists, Christians like me, and probably some agnostics, too. A couple weeks back I saw some Buddhist monks shopping in the dairy and meat sections. They were in full garb with shaved heads and everything. That was a first for me. I like being around these other cultures perhaps because deep inside I long to understand more about them and, in the process, squelch my own nature to judge them. There are many different cultures on this planet and people from every culture have made their way to America. And my local Wal-Mart. And I think that’s cool.

 

Well, I have one of those phones now and can post on the road. But I still love my longer-distance Wal-Mart for its diversity. I can’t shop there very often because of my present finances but when I do I spend at least 30 minutes just walking around and enjoying the atmosphere. Even if I went in for a gallon of milk.

 

 

 

Of Resurrection and Skeptics

I saw a report on ABC’s Nightline last night about an archaeologist, Simcha Jacobovski, who claims to have found a 1st Century tomb in Jerusalem that contains ossuaries (burial bone boxes) with early Christian carvings on them. The carvings, he says, are of resurrection imagery and language, including a reference to Jonah and Jesus and an “alpha and omega” reference. He says these were early followers of Jesus who believed he would one day be resurrected. If his conclusions are true, the finding would be a major discovery in biblical archaeology. ABC made a big deal about it (as news networks tend to do). The anchor said it could “rewrite” what millions of people believe about the early Christians. Why?

As the late Paul Harvey used to say, here is “the rest of the story”…

Five years ago Simcha claimed to have found the tomb of the human Jesus and his family near this new tomb location, including the ossuaries of Jesus, Mary Magdalene (Jesus’ wife) and a love child. His claims made big headlines then and may have caused some Christians to have indigestion. For Simcha, it was his “big break.” But rational archaeologists quickly debunked his conclusions. The names on the bone boxes were common Jewish names and there was NO provable connection between the names and the Gospel persons. Basically, they said, Simcha saw a name on a Jewish artifact and drew a conclusion. But because this new tomb lies a hundred feet from the other discovery, Simcha has drawn conclusions that the people buried here believed that the Jesus buried just over there would one day come to life. In other words, they bought a lie.

Simcha has many critics. Most of them are scientists and archaeologists. The rest are biblical scholars. Simcha, a secular Jew, used to host a program on History Channel called “The Naked Archaeologist” in which he traveled around Israel basically looking for controversy in the name of science. His particular focus of late has been to tell “the real story” of Jesus through archaeology. Let’s just say that his agenda is not to support scripture.

It always amazes me: For two thousand years people have been trying to disprove the Gospel and for two thousand years they have failed. What does this say about the Gospel? Does it grow weaker or stronger over time?

The Resurrection: A Fantastic Reality

Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed. I had the real joy a few years ago (7! can you believe it?) to preach an “Easter” sermon at Gainesville Bible Church. It wasn’t on Easter proper but during the Easter season. I remember staying up for days studying 1 Corinthians 15, one of the foremost writings from the Apostle Paul on the resurrection of Jesus and what Jesus’ followers can expect post-death. I’m sure I have sermon audio somewhere around but it might take me a while to find it. Instead, I want to share with you the content of that message reformatted into an essay. It’s a bit dry in places, I’m sure, but it covers some of the major objections to the reality of Jesus’ resurrection.

 

1 Corinthians 15:12-28

A friend of mine came rumbling into my office one Friday morning a few years ago, seemingly distraught. He told me that Pope John Paul II was about to die. One news source had even reported his death but then recanted their report later. We talked about it for a while, and then I went home to find out the latest news. When I turned on the television I saw the people gathered in the Vatican, at Saint Peter’s Square, holding rosary beads, prayer books, Bibles, and any other religious object they could find. They were looking up at the pope’s apartment, at several lit windows, to be exact, and hoping that they wouldn’t see the lights go out. If the lights went out, they knew the pope was dead. Not only were the eyes of the people alert, but so were their ears. When a pope dies, the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica ring to announce it. The news commentators were very melancholy in their demeanor. Something big was about to happen and, this time, it wasn’t something people wanted.

I find that death is one of those things that scare people. I know it worries me. It has been intimidating people ever since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Every generation has succumbed to its power by the will of God, and every person has, at one time in life, felt its fear. After all, death is the end, isn’t it? No more living? No more talking to people? Walking with people? Breathing that cool, clean wisp of air that drifts across the plains?

This is what people two thousand years ago thought about death. Sure, there was the thought of an afterlife in just about every ancient culture. The Jews certainly had dreams of an afterlife. But every theory of the afterlife was missing one very important ingredient — the body. Once the body was dead, it wasn’t coming back again. The spirit lived on but the body stayed put.

All that changed two thousand years ago, when one brand new empty tomb threw the whole cosmos into an uproar. Where was Jesus? Where’s His crucified body? What happened here?

Not So Bulletproof

“We are frail, we are fearfully and wonderfully made / forged in the fire of human passion, choking on the fumes of selfish rage

And these our hells and our heavens are so few inches apart / We are awfully small and not as strong as we think we are.”

— Rich Mullins, “Not as Strong As We Think We Are.”

I’ve never been one to think of myself as bulletproof. Tough guy, yes. Invincible, no. For example, I rarely tell people when I’m sick unless I’m really ill, which usually happens only two times a year. But when I get sick, I usually suffer quite a bit.

I’ve heard it said that sickness is a result of the fall of man way back in Eden. That somehow the curse of God on mankind altered our genetic structure to allow deficiencies and subject it to mutations that can harm us. I don’t know about all that genetic stuff but I do know that being sick doesn’t feel natural. And yet it happens to every human at some point of life. So maybe it is natural. In a post-Eden kind of way. Maybe illness is a part of life to remind us of our cosmic place, or maybe of our inability to be divine. To be divine is to be perfect. To be sick is to be imperfect.

My personal “thorn in the flesh” of the last month has been an illness centered in my lungs. When I was leaving England for Scotland the first few days of March I came down with a typical cold, you know, sore throat, fever, weakness, sneezing and the sort. The cold was strong for four days and slowly devolved into a cough. Being overseas and with an agenda, I pushed myself to get from place to place, walking distances all bundled up in the Scottish cold and wind and rain. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t a good thing. The cough and weakness lingered when I got home and remained consistent for two weeks. Then in the days after March 24th I started to get worse. Much worse. The coughing became more violent and the fever rose to scary heights and I started to lose appetite and sleep. I quarantined myself to my little house and finally my sister Jennifer convinced me to go see a doctor. Being between insurance providers, I went to the Minute Clinic and got checked out. The nurse said, “You really need to see your doctor. I’m afraid I can’t help you.” Now even more concerned, I made an appointment with my GP for Monday (his earliest opening) and waited out the weekend in misery. This past Monday I got some insight into my condition. I showed most of the symptoms of tuberculosis, pertussis, and pneumonia. A chest x-ray showed that TB was not likely. Pneumonia was iffy. Pertussis was the most likely cause and so we’re treating my symptoms as being such. Pertussis was most commonly known as “whooping cough” in youths but has since become a illness affecting adults. It’s a severe form of bronchitis that is highly contagious. So I have quarantined myself at home for the rest of the week. The last thing I want to do is infect others. The doc prescribed two medicines and rest. They have helped a lot to make the coughing spells less frequent, allowing me to sleep, but coughing during the spells has become more violent and less productive. You must accept the bad with the good sometimes.

As you can imagine, I’m ready for this illness to cough its last. Then I can get back to a normal life routine and concentrate on my deteriorating back once again. My chest x-ray and height measurement revealed that my vertebrae have gotten much worse in the past year. Sitting for a living has taken its toll, so I’m making an effort to get outside and work for one hour a day in my yard. I just recently planted a garden, in fact.

It seems every month I get reminded that I’m not so bulletproof. I am weak and frail, though wonderfully and intimately made. Isn’t it amazing that our bodies would cease to exist if one molecule was removed from our cells and yet if one molecule is added to our cells our bodies go into fight mode to destroy it. And we usually win. Usually.

To be honest, my own frailty causes me to be more thankful for the health that I’m given and learn to stop trusting myself in order to lean on the eternal arms of Christ, the Great Physician. I can drink vitamin C and take Zinc tablets every day but I cannot prevent sickness. I cannot become bulletproof. No one can. Illness is a part of the fallen human condition this side of heaven. We don’t like it but we must face it. Until the Physician returns… to heal us all.

— John

Thoughts From Scotland

Edinburgh at dusk, as seen from Calton Hill.

For those who were not aware, I spent the past two weeks in England and Scotland, attending a leadership conference with Christian Associates and then visiting Scotland on a research and observation trip. It was an amazing 14 days that proved to be just as emotionally enriching as it was informative.

I started off at Summit, an annual gathering of church leaders, in Hoddesdon, England, about an hour north of London. It was four days of meeting new faces, reconnecting with familiar ones, learning new names and hearing about the church in various parts of the world. Summit was simply amazing. I felt like I belonged. Christian Associates is a big, accepting family more than an organization. The “parents” and the “kids” all want to have a lot of fun in the midst of spiritual growth and missional living, a philosophy that matches mine perfectly. Don’t I enjoy having fun in the midst of ministry? I hope so! Throughout the conference I got a really good “inside” look at CA and I really felt their concern for their staff members and associates. In many ways, CA operates more like a church than a parachurch organization. Like all organisms, CA has its shortcomings, as well, but it is acutely aware of these flaws and is constantly seeking improvement. That’s a sign of a healthy organism.

Scotland was amazing, too. I had been to Edinburgh once before, 14 years ago, and it lived up to my expectations. But what exceeded my expectation was Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland, and place I’m wanting to launch my Scottish life. Glasgow is to consumerism what Edinburgh is to tourism — a center of attention. It doesn’t have the ancient history of the capital but it is an excellent place to see everyday Scottish life. I spent a number of hours walking about downtown Glasgow, soaking it in and making cultural and spiritual observations. I identified several potential mission opportunities and had the great joy of meeting and worshiping with Mosaic Community, CA’s church plant. Glasgow is a very multicultural city. It also has an active nightlife.

Edinburgh is postcard Scotland. It was the seat of kings and queens and still is Scotland’s religious center. However, it has a spiritually dark side. People these days seem to be drawn to what I call “paranormal spirituality” — a strong belief in the afterlife (after-death existence, but not necessarily heaven and hell) that is evidenced through ghosts, evil spirits and medium connections with the dead. Because Edinburgh is so ancient and inspired some of the best “spooky” writers of the past 300 years, it is a pilgrimage site for people interested in the paranormal. There are catacombs and burial places all over the old city and tours launch every day from the area around St. Giles Cathedral — Scotland’s Westminster.

But I also saw glimmers of revival in Scotland’s biggest cities. The Church knows it needs to be proactive in mission, so it is intentionally breaking down denominational and religious barriers to see all of the different demographics reached for Christ. Morningside Baptist Church, for example, has planted 11 different cell groups in Edinburgh. The Free Church of Scotland (not to be confused with the Church of Scotland) has also expressed interest in reaching Edinburgh. Wes White from Mosaic and I met with a Church of Scotland pastor who has a missional heart for Edinburgh. And Christian Associates is exploring the possibility of partnering with these groups and starting a community in Edinburgh. My desire is to eventually be part of this outreach.

When I was staring at a sign for a “ghost tour” I realized that it only takes one light to put an end to a dark room. One small light renders darkness powerless. The more lights, the brighter! Perhaps the best way to reach Edinburgh and Glasgow is to plant lights among in the various groups of the city. These groups include interest genres like artists and philosophers and athletes to ethnic groups to expatriates.

It was a very good trip and I saw the hand of God everywhere. I have a better idea of what I might be doing once I move and the things I’ll need to focus on once I get settled. Finances are still a major obstacle to my being able to transition to Glasgow, as is the visa. I will need to raise at least $3k a month of pledged income. Some of that will come from Highland Productions, my media company, but probably not as much as I want. So I will be relying on you, my friends and associates, a lot over the next few months and into my time “across the pond.” It would be such a great honor to have you partner with me in planting another light in either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Thank you so much for allowing me to go to Hoddesdon and Glasgow. It was a marvelous trip that I pray will pay dividends in the future.

— John