Bryan in AIIAS

There's a story about a flock of geese flying south for the winter. As the birds were heading to their winter destination, an early snowstorm forced them to take shelter. They spotted a farm with an open barn, landed, and took shelter in the barn overnight. The farmer was quite surprised to find that he'd left the barn door open and that the barn was now occupied by a flock of wild geese. But he took compassion on the snowbound birds and provided food for them. The snowstorm lasted several days, and the geese decided to stay put. The farmer continued to feed them. When the storm finally broke, the geese debated about whether or not to continue on their journey. Because the farmer had been so kind, they decided to stay a while. The farmer thought it was quite a novelty to have a flock of wild geese at his disposal, so he continued to provide for them. The arrangement worked for all parties involved, and the geese decided to stay the winter. When spring finally arrived, the...

Today I came across an illustration from Craig Van Gelder’s The Essence of the Church: A Community Created by the Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2001), pp. 99-100. “Growing up on a farm in rural Iowa provided me with an object lesson for understanding the church’s being mission by nature. Each county in the state employed an extension agent to work with farmers…. As new farming technologies, seeds, and fertilizers became available, the extension agents introduced these to the farmers. My dad, like many farmers, was often hesitant to acce3pt the innovations. One of the methods extension agents used to gain acceptance of these innovations was demonstration plots. A strip of land, usually along a major roadway, was selected as demonstration plot, where a new farming method, seed, or fertilizer was used to raise a crop. It was uncommon for farmers to remain skeptical throughout the summer as the crops grew. But there was always keen interest in the fall when crop was harvested. I...