The Values, Mission, and Vision
VMV
of the
Tent Makers
Our Values are from the Word of God Jesus Christ who pitched[1] Himself as a Tent[2] to cover[3] and fill[4] us with Grace and Truth; therefore we are also sent by Father God[5], on behalf of the Son, enabled by the Great Comforter[6] which is the Spirit, to continue in the world extending[7] the Spiritual Tent.
Our Mission is to go and make discipling[8] communities in our respective vocations which share as well as network together all gifts and resources in the growing Body of churches[9]; and submit to the Great Commission by following the tent makers in the Scriptures[10] in words and deeds.
Our Vision is the coming Tent in Heaven which is the New Jerusalem[11] being realized concretely by the priesthood of all believers[12] in the loving communities, and known to the world in terms of the Great Commandment[13] through the worshipful lifestyle of the tent makers.
[1] John 1:14 and “‘The Word….pitched His tent among us.’ His flesh became the tent……” from Morgan, G. C. (1993), Handbook for Bible Teachers and Preachers, Baker Book House, p. 197.
[2] The Tent is the symbol from Creation to Redemption to designate the place where God dwells with His people, beginning from the Garden of Eden, through the Tabernacle and Temple to the New Jerusalem in Heaven, see Beale, G.K., (2004) The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Temple, InterVarsity Press.
[3] Shame arises from sin. It is the sense of nakedness (uncovered). See Bonhoeffer, D. (1995), Ethics, Touchstone, Simon & Schuster, p. 24-27.
[4] Sorrow is the sense of lack (un-fulfillment) in Morgan, G. C. (1993), The Crises of the Christ, Kregel Publication, p.217.
[5] John 17:18.
[6] John 14: 26; John 15: 26, 27; John 16: 7-14.
[7] Isaiah 54:2 “…..enlarging the place of thy tent…”
[8] “Go….make disciples…and teaching…” in Mat 28:19 is the key element to the Great Commission. When exegeting Mat 28, Pastor Timothy Lin states in his book: The Secret of Church Growth, (1992), First Chinese Baptist Church, Los Angeles“…a church is a school, it needs good students; in order to have good students the following steps are essential: Recruiting, Registering, and Teaching.”
The Capetown commitment, A Confession of Faith and a Call to Action: “Biblical mission demands that those who claim Christ’s name should be like him, by taking up their cross, denying themselves, and following him in the paths of humility, love, integrity, generosity, and servanthood. To fail in discipleship and disciple-making, is to fail at the most basic level of our mission. The call of Christ to his Church comes to us afresh from the pages of the gospels: ‘Come and follow me’; ‘Go and make disciples’”. The International Congress on World Evangelization at Lausanne, 2010.
[9] This is Isaiah 54:2 “…..enlarging the place of thy tent…” in action.
[10] The tent makers in the Scriptures such as Paul, Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18) as well as Bezalel and Oboliab (Exodus 31, 35 & 36) in the New and Old Testaments, respectively. They were called by God and filled with the spirit; worked and ministered as well as discipled for the Word of God (The Torah is also called the word of God) to facilitate true worship.
Their combined examples are as follows:
- All of them formed discipling communities, especially Paul and Bezalel who are most gifted teachers (the top art school in Israel now is named after Bezalel). Most notably Paul’s admonition to Timothy to disciple those who would disciple others (2Timothy)
- All of them engaged God’s people in team networking.
- Their focus was about places of worship and the word of God.
- They were full and/or part time ministers; business people, designers, contractors, builders, craftsmen, artisans, etc.
Technically, Moses who might be the architect (assisted by other designers and constructors) can also be considered as a tent maker.
[11] Revelations 21:3
[12] I Peter 2:8. Also, “The priesthood of the New Testament, therefore, has this as its aim: that the whole world may become a temple and a sacrifice pleasing to God, that in the end God may be all in all (cf. I Cor 15:28)” from On The Nature of the Priesthood, Speech given by Cardinal Ratzinger on October 1, 1990 at the opening of the VIII Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on priestly formation.
[13] The commandment in Mark 12:28-34 is later elevated to The New Commandment that is to love as Jesus loved (John 13:34, 15:12). This fulfills all other commandments and the Law (Romans 13:10b). When Jesus called upon the “Righteous Father…” in John 17, the contexts are Glory, knowledge and love.
[1] John 1:14 and “‘The Word….pitched His tent among us.’ His flesh became the tent……” from Morgan, G. C. (1993), Handbook for Bible Teachers and Preachers, Baker Book House, p. 197.
[1] The Tent is the symbol from Creation to Redemption to designate the place where God dwells with His people, beginning from the Garden of Eden, through the Tabernacle and Temple to the New Jerusalem in Heaven, see Beale, G.K., (2004) The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Temple, InterVarsity Press.
[1] Shame arises from sin. It is the sense of nakedness (uncovered). See Bonhoeffer, D. (1995), Ethics, Touchstone, Simon & Schuster, p. 24-27.
[1] Sorrow is the sense of lack (un-fulfillment) in Morgan, G. C. (1993), The Crises of the Christ, Kregel Publication, p.217.
[1] John 17:18.
[1] John 14: 26; John 15: 26, 27; John 16: 7-14.
[1] Isaiah 54:2 “…..enlarging the place of thy tent…”
[1] “Go….make disciples…and teaching…” in Mat 28:19 is the key element to the Great Commission. When exegeting Mat 28, Pastor Timothy Lin states in his book: The Secret of Church Growth, (1992), First Chinese Baptist Church, Los Angeles“…a church is a school, it needs good students; in order to have good students the following steps are essential: Recruiting, Registering, and Teaching.”
The Capetown commitment, A Confession of Faith and a Call to Action: “Biblical mission demands that those who claim Christ’s name should be like him, by taking up their cross, denying themselves, and following him in the paths of humility, love, integrity, generosity, and servanthood. To fail in discipleship and disciple-making, is to fail at the most basic level of our mission. The call of Christ to his Church comes to us afresh from the pages of the gospels: ‘Come and follow me’; ‘Go and make disciples’”. The International Congress on World Evangelization at Lausanne, 2010.
[1] This is Isaiah 54:2 “…..enlarging the place of thy tent…” in action.
[1] The tent makers in the Scriptures such as Paul, Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18) as well as Bezalel and Oboliab (Exodus 31, 35 & 36) in the New and Old Testaments, respectively. They were called by God and filled with the spirit; worked and ministered as well as discipled for the Word of God (The Torah is also called the word of God) to facilitate true worship.
Their combined examples are as follows:
- All of them formed discipling communities, especially Paul and Bezalel who are most gifted teachers (the top art school in Israel now is named after Bezalel). Most notably Paul’s admonition to Timothy to disciple those who would disciple others (2Timothy)
- All of them engaged God’s people in team networking.
- Their focus was about places of worship and the word of God.
- They were full and/or part time ministers; business people, designers, contractors, builders, craftsmen, artisans, etc.
Technically, Moses who might be the architect (assisted by other designers and constructors) can also be considered as a tent maker.
[1] Revelations 21:3
[1] I Peter 2:8. Also, “The priesthood of the New Testament, therefore, has this as its aim: that the whole world may become a temple and a sacrifice pleasing to God, that in the end God may be all in all (cf. I Cor 15:28)” from On The Nature of the Priesthood, Speech given by Cardinal Ratzinger on October 1, 1990 at the opening of the VIII Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on priestly formation.
[1] The commandment in Mark 12:28-34 is later elevated to The New Commandment that is to love as Jesus loved (John 13:34, 15:12). This fulfills all other commandments and the Law (Romans 13:10b). When Jesus called upon the “Righteous Father…” in John 17, the contexts are Glory, knowledge and love.
The Values, Mission, and Vision
VMV
of
GiftWord
We are the tent makers in arts and letters
on top of the VMV of the Tent Makers,
we have our specific VMV as follows:
Our Values are from the gift of God, the Word who covers and fill us with Grace and Truth by words and signs.
Our Mission is to present this Gift of the Word to the world in multiple formats and various media by forming discipling communities in arts and letters which share and network all our gifts and resources to spread the Gospel, following the examples of the tent makers in the Scriptures.
Our Vision is that God’s Word and His Gospel enlighten the world that is under the influence of the media and their virtual messages with the beauty of the Gift; and that Jesus Christ, the one and only Medium is the Message, the Reality.