Vision without task is but a dream and task without a vision is but a nightmare. We need both a vision – a dream to inspire us – and action to make it real and meaningful.
I am excited that Grace Theology Press has both a vital vision and a strategic plan of action to help provide a platform for Grace theology, produce theological resources for the Church, and promote Grace School of Theology, which trains hundreds of pastors, missionaries and Christian leaders around the world.
Grace School of Theology has doubled its student enrollment within two years. We are also reaching into the Spanish community in the United States and teaching many classes exclusively in Spanish around the world.
With one fourth of the world population being followers of Islam, we are seeking to reach those in the Muslim community. I am teaching a course on Apologetics to a number of seminary students. (One of them is taking the course live “online” for he lives in Pakistan.) I gave them the assignment of defending their Christian faith to someone who is not a Christian. Listen to my Pakistani student’s response to the assignment this week.
“I think of all the assignments we do, this is probably the hardest one, primarily because I live in Pakistan. People who are in the non-believer category are Muslims, Catholics, Hindus, and Sikhs. Most Catholics do not know what they believe. Muslims are better because they are taught at a very early age about their belief system. They believe blindly in the Quran and its teachings.
While I was considering this assignment I prayed that God would bring along someone that I could talk to. In Pakistan you can’t approach a Muslim about his beliefs or evangelize to him. It is punishable by death. I do have a few friends who are teachers of Islamic faith in universities of Pakistan. I approached one of those and asked him if we could discuss our faiths. I told him that we would want to do it in a friendly manner, and he would not take me to court for anything that I might say that would offend him. He assured me that he wouldn’t be offended by any thing since what he believed in was the best in the world and truthful.”
Talk about living in a counter culture! Most of us do not have to consider being arrested or killed for communicating our Christian faith in our culture. Our problem is that most of us are trying to sneak into heaven incognito and avoid a confrontation of our culture.
Grace Theology Press is also entering into the international scene as we have translated some of our books into Spanish, Russian and Nepalese. We have many more projects in the pipeline in order to produce and provide resources for theological students, pastors and Christian leaders around the world.
We are dreaming a big dream, but we also have a strategic plan of action. If we can help you dream or plan, let us know.
Serving Him with you until He comes for us,
Fred Chay, PhD
Managing Editor, Grace Theology Press
