57 Articles On Biblical Basis of Missions

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www.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org
Ministry Of Grace E-Books

Resources
Dear Reader
Thanks for downloading this e-book. This is not a book
but a collection of articles from the various websties
during my personal reading and writing on Mission to
Muslims. It not only changed my perspective on Mission
from the biblical point of view but also gave me a gloable
understading of World Mission. I thank God He equiped
me and led me to be on Oversease Mission for couple of
years.
As you read I pray that you may catch a vision of God for
His mission to reach to unreach for His Kingdom to
Come .
God Bless you.
Sabir Ali
www.Ministry-
www.Ministry-Of-
Of-Grace.Org
Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

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PART
1
BIBLICAL BASIS OF MISSIONS
GENESIS TO REVELATION: GOD'S HEART FOR THE WORLD

by Todd Ahrend
What verses come to mind when you think of the word, "MISSIONS"? Most of
us are hard pressed to name more than the old faithful Great Commission.
For years our church culture has singled out this passage to be the theme of
our missions conferences and the motivation for those who go. It's no wonder
that our obedience is slow - who wants to hang their future on one verse? The
Bible has a lot more to say on this subject then just the Great Commission.
We need to understand the concept of a Biblical basis for missions. Maybe
you're saying, "The Biblical basis, is there one?" YES! And not only that, but
missions permeates every book of the Bible. It is in fact the theme of the
Bible. If you don't believe that all 66 books can be reduced to one theme,
keep reading. You will see that missions is not your pastor's idea, or your
campus minister's idea, or even your idea...it is God's. Since creation, God
has been interested in redeeming all peoples to Himself. As Christians, it is
vital that we see the world as He sees it. Let's look at the Bible in light of
God's heart for the world, and we will see that from Genesis to the Revelation
He is beckoning you and I and all of His people to join Him in bringing every
people group to His throne. The Bible is not a collection of separate books
with no common theme or story. It is one book with an
Introduction: Genesis 1-11, a Plot: Genesis 12 - Jude, and a Conclusion:
Revelation. Let us begin where God begins, in Genesis. Genesis 1:28 "God
blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth..."

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This is an interesting command. Be fruitful and multiply. Now why wouldn't

God just want the Garden of Eden populated? Why the whole earth? Because
God knew that as Adam would populate physically, he would also populate
spiritually. Can you picture that? The planet covered with worshippers of Him
as Adam and Eve "filled the earth." However, we know that by Genesis 3 sin
had crept in and by chapter 8 the world was not looking good. So as God
floods the earth and starts over, listen to the command He gives Noah, just
after he steps off the ark.
Genesis 9:1 "Then God blessed Noah and his sons saying to them, "Be
fruitful and multiply and fill the earth."
"Hey Noah, don't just populate a city, fill the earth." There it is again, the
command to multiply. So as we come to chapter 11 there should be one
simple question on all of our minds: Does God get the earth filled? Lets keep
reading,
Genesis 11:1-4 "Now the whole world had one language and a common
speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and
settled there...Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a
tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for
ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'"
Can't you hear the talk of the town? "Ya know, we all look the same, act the
same, talk the same, eat the same, and dress the same. Lets just stay right
here and make a name for ourselves. Do we really want to be scattered?"
This does not exactly sound like they are excited about obeying God's
command. Because of man's urge to settle, God is forced to step in and
scatter, filling the earth just as He desired.
Genesis 11:7-8 "'Come, let us go down and confuse their language so

they will not understand each other.' So the Lord scattered them from
there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city."
So as we end the introduction we see that God has a problem: people

scattered all over the earth speaking many different languages. How is He
going to reach all of them? What will He do? Who will He use? The plot
begins.
Genesis 12:1-3 "The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your
people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you...I
will bless you...and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.'"
Hey Abram, leave. Leave your country, your people, your family, your life,
your dreams, your ambitions, your future as well as all that you know and are

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familiar with and go to the land I will show you. Now if you keep reading,
something really weird happens...
Genesis 12:4 "So Abram left, as the Lord had told him."
He leaves. Man obeys God. This is a pretty weird concept especially in
today's world. So Abram is off to establish a nation that will bless all peoples.
Interestingly, this command was not for Abram alone. Watch God continue to
call succeeding generations to reach all nations. Next in line is Abraham's
son, Isaac.
Genesis 26:4 "I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in
the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all
nations on earth will be blessed."
And to Isaac's son, Jacob:
Genesis 28:14 "Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and
you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the
south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your
offspring"
The rest of the Old Testament is filled with God using Israel to make His name
great among the nations. Here are just a few examples: The 10
Commandments
Deuteronomy 4:5-6 "Observe them carefully, for this will show your
wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these
decrees and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding
people.'"
His reputation spread after parting the Red Sea
Joshua 2:9-10 "I (Rahab) know that the Lord has given this land to you
and that a great fear of you has fallen on us...we have heard how the
Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of
Egypt..."
Solomon and his wisdom
1 Kings 4:34 "Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom,
sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom."
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace
Daniel 3:29 "Therefore, I (Nebuchadnezzar) decree that the people of any
nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces... for no other God can save
in this way."
Daniel in the lions' den
Daniel 6:26 " I (Darius) issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom
people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel..."

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For further study see Psalm 33:13-14, 67:1-7, 86:9-10, 96:3; Isaiah 11:9-
10, 49:6, 52:10, 61:11; Jonah 4:11, Habakkuk 1:5, Zephaniah 2:11, Haggai
2:7, Zechariah 8:20-23, Malachi 1:11
As we transition to the New Testament the plot only thickens. Now Christ,
God in flesh, enters the scene and what do we see in the pattern of His life
and ministry? Nothing different. Whether it is taking a longer route to reach a
Samaritan women (John 4:1-42) or healing various Gentiles to teach His
followers (Mark 5:1-20, 7:24-30). Christ in the New Testament maintained the
pattern established in the Old Testament. Here are a few more examples.
Clearing the temple
Mark 11:15-17 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area

designated for the Gentiles to worship and he found people buying and
selling there. As He drove them out saying "Is it not written; 'My house
will be called a house of prayer for all nations'?"
The sign of His return

Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the
whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
Jesus' ministry
Luke 4:42-43 "...they tried to keep him from leaving them but He said, 'I
must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns
also, because that is why I was sent.'"
The mandate to His followers

Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all
creation."
The book of Acts is a testimony of the account of the gospel spreading to the
ends of the earth. It begins with Jesus echoing what He had taught the
disciples for the past 3 years.
Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
As the persecution begins so does the scattering (Acts 8:1), and the Lord
adds great numbers to their missionary force.
Acts 9:15 "...Go! This man (Paul) is my chosen instrument to carry my

name before the Gentiles..."

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The rest of the book of Acts and Epistles give a detailed description of Paul
and the rest of the missionary band struggling to raise up churches all over
the world.
For further study see Matthew 9:35-38, 28:18-20; John 20:21, Romans
10:11-15, 15:20; Galatians 3:13-14, I Timothy 2:4-6, II Peter 3:9, I John 2:2
The introduction: Genesis 1-11, the plot: Genesis 12-Jude, so what is the
conclusion?
Revelation 7:9 "After this I looked and there before me was a great
multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and
language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb..."
It is important to connect what is happening in Revelation with what God
started in Genesis 12 in the life of Abraham. God will do it. There will be a
representative from every nation, tribe, people, and language bowing and
worshipping at His feet. Heaven is multicultural. God is a missionary God, and
from cover to cover He is showing us His mission. Will you join Him in
bringing a representative from every people group to His throne? It will
happen, the only question is will you be a part?
MERCY TO BABEL GOD ANSWERS MAN'S DESIRE FOR

SECURITY AND SIGNIFICANCE
by Steve Hawthorne
Here's a verse you probably haven't memorized, "'Come let's make bricks and
bake them thoroughly,' They used bricks instead of stone and tar instead of
mortar" (Genesis 11:3). Why include such mundane details of a mud pie party
in such an important book? I think that the bricks and tar are important to
understand the story, especially in the context. What had just happened? The
flood. What were the bricks all about? I think it's pretty simple: flood
insurance. Kiln-fired bricks and tar can withstand a lot of water. And check out
the blueprint for the tower. Whatever the point of design, it was going to be
high. You've heard the expression "come hell or high water." These guys were
getting ready for the latter and fairly well preparing for the former by doing so.
The Babel people united in disbelief. They saw rainbows in the sky which
signified that "never again will the water become a flood to destroy all life"
(Genesis 9:15). But they didn't believe it. They wanted to be really sure. Boats
worked, but they were pretty unreliable. People who rode in boats tended to
get "scattered over the face of the earth." So the folks at Babel built a tower.
They like most people had two basic needs: security and significance by
groping for glory: "Let's make a name for ourselves!" (Genesis 10:4).
Through one special family he would reach all the families of the
earth

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Things haven't changed for most people. Today we're still erecting our own
security schemes. Fat IRA accounts and lines of credit give an illusory sense
of insulation from life's traumas. Many people frantically work two or three jobs
just to have enough - way more than enough - for "a rainy day." We crave
significance too. You know what it's like to want a little credit for your efforts.
Some folks thirst for importance on a grand scale. Others just need to be
needed by one other person. Don't we all abhor abject obscurity - or an even
worse fate: meaninglessness? Now there is nothing wrong with being secure
and enjoying significance. God has wired us up for that. But he never meant
for us to find security and significance in our financial achievements or in the
pages of "Who's Who." God watched the brick makers at Babel and let them
get pretty far building their flood escape tower. And then God thought over the
situation: "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to
do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them" (Genesis
11:6). These folks had gotten themselves on a trajectory of disbelief and self-
destruction. If God hadn't done something at this point, any magnitude of evil
would have been possible. Most people think of this as a judgment passage. I
don't think it is. God broke in before he had to do something more drastic, like
he did in Noah's day. He didn't let the rebellion get too far. In fact, this is
probably one of the most stunning acts of mercy. What God did was
beautifully simple. He divided humanity into language groups. And thus God
created a world of peoples, clans, families, and cultures. Humanity was
suddenly much more complex, but beautiful in diversity. And the plethora of
people would never again rise as easily in united rebellion against God. They
would each be preserved as winnable parts of humanity, susceptible to belief
in God, and free to influence other peoples redemptively. God was getting the
world ready for salvation. And in the very next story in Genesis, God mapped
out to one man and his family His strategy for winning the world. He gave the
plan to Abraham.
Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the
land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation And I will bless you;
And I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. I will bless those
who bless you, And whoever curses you I will curse; And all the families of the
earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:1-3).
Now we can see God's plan in all the daring simplicity. Through one special
family He would reach all the families of earth. God wasn't playing favorites.
He was pushing to reach everyone. The Blessing for all families and nations
was both physical and spiritual. The book of Genesis closes on the high note
of one of Abraham's family becoming a tangible blessing to the entire
civilization of that part of the world. Joseph stockpiled grain and blessed the
nations with survival during a famine. The promised blessing is spiritual as
well. The word of God's love is still in our generation. Making progress to
touch directly some of the last of the families or nations to be blessed. The
word to Abraham makes sense in light of the strategic move of God at Babel,
and the perplexing "punishment" at Babel turns out to be a marvelous act of
love when it is connected to Abraham's story. It is God's answer, not only to
the rebellion of Babel, but also to man's desire for security and significance.
How secure do you think Abraham felt leaving home, severing family ties,

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packing up a few belongings and heading out without a forwarding address?

"Where am I going, God?" says Abraham. "I'll tell you when you get there" is
about all God gives for assurance. How's that for security? God actually gave
him much more to go on. Promises. To our way of thinking, promises are just
words. Most of us have to be reminded of promises that we make. Do you
want to live a life of real security? Let God promise you a future, and be ready
to take some risks. There really isn't any other way to be truly "secure." Jesus
said repeatedly that whoever tried to "save his life" (that's shorthand for a life
of striving for safety in one's own devices) would certainly lose it. But whoever
would risk everything on God's promises, to the point of losing what the world
holds dear, would surely find a life of surprising fullness. Amidst the promises
of security, Abraham heard a truly amazing word, and we need to hear it as
well: "I will make your name great." Compare that to the Babel folks trying to
make their own name. Only God bestows true greatness. Do you want a life of
significance? Go for it Abraham style. Abraham's significance didn't derive
from some position he held in Ur, properties acquired, power he amassed or
people he governed. Rather, he was a sojourner whose significance was
found in his relationship to God. The Abrahamic way was to go for greatness,
but only to go for God's greatness! Abraham didn't seek fame or fortune from
God. He made it a habit to glorify God's name before the watching world. Find
security in God's promises. Doing so opens you up to going places and
touching lives that you might not if you lived a "safe" life. When you let go of
your security systems, you get free of anxiety and begin living in anticipation.
Find significance in who you are in God. Let go of superficial ambitions for
small-time recognition and acceptance. Join Abraham in being a blessing to
the nations of earth. You may find yourself blessing others as a missionary.
You may never leave your home, you may preach to thousands, you may
touch your neighborhood with kindness. There's no larger life possible.
WAS JESUS MISSIONS MINDED?

by Gordon Olson
In His ministry to Gentiles
In the beginning of Christ's ministry, He visited Jerusalem and asserted His
Messianic authority by cleansing the temple of the money-changers who had
infested the outer 'Court of the Gentiles' (John 2:13-22). Mark records (11:17)
how a second time at the end of His ministry Christ again cleansed the
temple, quoting Isaiah 56:7 as an explanation of His actions: "'Is it not written,
my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have
made it a robbers' den.'" The global purpose of the temple had been buried
under the crooked commercialization of the outer court. George Peters states:
"The indifference and callousness of Israel in relation to the religious plight of
the nations, and her utter neglect and abandonment of any mission toward the
nations of the world become consuming motives in the seeming violent
reaction of Christ to religious ceremonialism and performances devoid of
compassion for the spiritual well-being of others." Although most of Christ's

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ministry for almost three years was devoted to His own people Israel, there
are a number of significant incidents in His early ministry in which He showed
compassion upon Gentiles. The fourth chapter of John describes his
extraordinary trip through Samaria, the conversion of the woman at the well,
and through her witness the conversion of many other Samaritans also. When
we remember that the Samaritans were despised half-breed Jews whose
religion was also 'half-breed', we can understand how radical this ministry
was. We also read about the Roman Centurion who sent prominent Jews to
Christ to ask Him to heal his servant. The Lord's comment is devastating:
Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. And
I say to you, that many shall came from east and west and recline at the table
with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, but the sons of
the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:10-11).
Not only did Christ meet this Gentile's need, but He contrasted his great faith
with the unbelief of Israel in most dramatic language. On a number of
occasions Christ's ministry brought Him to the borders of Israel, where He
ministered to Gentiles. Across the Sea of Galilee were the ten Greek cities
called Decapolis. Christ exorcised a legion of demons from a man in the
Gerasene area, who was probably a Gentile (Mark 5:1-20). He healed a deaf
man in Decapolis, and He fed the multitude of 4000 men plus women and
children in Decapolis. In the region of Tyre and Sidon in Phoenicia, He cast
out a demon from a Gentile woman's daughter (Mark 7:24-37). There were
probably many other similar unrecorded incidents.
In His teaching
Although we have noted that the focus of the first part of Christ's ministry was
to the Jews, there are strong intimations of a universal thrust to His teaching.
One hint comes in the favorite title that the Lord Jesus used of Himself. More
than forty times in the Gospels Christ used the title, 'son of man'. Although it is
a special Messianic title drawn from Daniel 7:13-14, it also clearly indicates
His identification with all humanity, not just the Jews. He could have used the
title, 'son of David', and others used it of Him, but He preferred 'son of man'.
At the beginning of His ministry, Christ went back to His hometown of
Nazareth and after reading from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue, He claimed to be
the fulfillment of this Messianic prophecy (Luke 4:16-30). When they struggled
to understand how this local carpenter's son could make such a claim, He
rebuked them by stressing how Elijah went to the Gentile widow of Zarephath
and how the only leper that Elisha healed was Namaan the Syrian. This 'put
down' of the Jews and reference to God's blessing on two Gentiles so
infuriated the local people that they tried to kill the Lord. Their problem was
that they were too Jewish. Because of their prejudice, they had no use for
Gentile 'dogs'. The Lord Jesus made His point almost too well, didn't He? In
the Sermon on the Mount, He reminded Israel that they were to be the "salt of
the earth" and the light of the world." He then proceeded to show the Rabbinic
misinterpretations and distortions of the Law which kept them from being
such. In Mark 14:9 He made reference to the gospel being preached
throughout the whole world. The parable of the good Samaritan praises the
conduct of a non-Jew and put the Jewish religious leaders in a bad light (Luke

www.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 10
10:29-37). In Luke 13:28-29 He repeats similar words to that commendation

of Gentiles he had uttered in connection with the Centurion's servant. In the
parable of the great feast in Luke 14:10-24, He spoke about a universal
invitation to be extended. In the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt.
13:36-43), the field in which the sowing takes place is neither Israel nor the
church, but He declares it to be "the world."
The transition from Israel to the Church
It should be noted that the most universal language of Christ comes after His
rejection by Israel as He begins speaking consistently in more universal terms
only in the last few months of His ministry. There is not a precise turning point,
but rather a fairly gradual shift of focus from presenting Himself to Israel as
their King in the first years of His ministry, to predicting his passion at
Jerusalem and speaking of the church in this connection. We must note
several new things:
1. Matt.11:20 - "then He began to reproach the cities in which most of His
miracles were done, because they did not repent." He especially
rebuked Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida because the greatest
abundance of miracles occurred there.
2. Matt. 11:28 - Come unto me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I
will give you rest." This is His first universal invitation extended to all.
3. Matt. 13:10-17,34-35 - Christ began using parables, which He
explained as "mysteries of the kingdom,"- new things "hidden since the
foundation of the world." This includes an age of the word of God in the
field of the world, preceding the judgment of saved and lost.
4. Matt. 16:19 - "...upon this rock I will build my church." The first
reference to the church in the Gospels.
5. Matt.16:21 - "From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples
that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the
third day." This is the first of a dozen prophecies of His passion given in
just the last six to nine months of His ministry. The astounding truth is
that for almost three years of His ministry, Christ never explicitly
mentioned His impending death until Caesarea Philippi.
6. Matt. 20:28 - "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." This is the first
explanation of the meaning of His impending death: a ransom for
many.
His last few months
In those last few months of His ministry after the Lord Jesus began to predict
His death and resurrection and the church based upon it, His language turns
more consistently universal and His global plans are more explicit. In the
Good Shepherd discourse of John ten, for example, He makes reference to
"other sheep, which are not of this fold." He goes on to state: "I must bring

them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with
one shepherd" (John 10:16). The interpretation is straightforward. His Jewish
disciples comprised "this fold." The other sheep which were not of "this fold"
must be Samaritan and Gentile believers. Christ's plan was to unify both
Jewish and Gentile sheep into one sheepfold. This was fulfilled potentially on
the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to baptize all believers
into one body, the church (1 Cor. 12:13). The full historical fulfillment came a
few years later with the incorporation of Samaritans (Acts 8) and Gentiles
(Acts 10-11). The apostle John also records an incident which took place at
the beginning of passion week. Some Gentiles (Greeks), who had already
become inquirers into Judaism to the extent that they had come to Jerusalem
to worship at Passover, wanted to see the Lord. When Andrew and Philip told
him about it, the Lord made extensive comments which are best understood
in the light of this Gentile inquiry. In John 12:23-24 He spoke about His
glorification by reference to a grain of wheat having to die and bear much fruit.
Indeed, that fruit, over the centuries, has been predominantly Gentile. Then
He went on to say: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to
Myself." (12:32) The phrase "all men" in the original Greek language can
mean 'all kinds of men' or 'all mankind.' It also is an obvious reference to
salvation going out to the Gentiles after His death since the context is the key
to interpretation. About that same time during passion week, the Lord had a
heated discussion with the leaders of Israel. He gave them the parable of the
landowner who leased a vineyard to some vinegrowers who mistreated and
killed his slaves and finally killed his son (Matt. 21:33-46). As He applied this
to His own situation, He said: "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will
be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it"
(21:43). Here the Lord is very explicit about this transition from Israel to the
Gentiles in the plan of God. It was clearly caused by the rejection of the "chief
cornerstone" by the leaders of Israel, which was a part of God's eternal plan.
A few days later, the disciples' awe at the beauty of the temple building
occasioned the extended prophetic sermon called the Olivet Discourse. As
Christ described the end-time events related to His second coming He stated:
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a
witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come" (Matt. 24:14). Quite
apart from the issue as to the exact time from of this prediction in reference to
the rapture of the church, it is clear that Christ predicted global evangelization
of all the nations (ethne = ethnic peoples). He could not have been more
explicit. In that same discourse He describes Himself as the King, who after
His return to earth, will judge the living nations (ethne) by separating the
sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:31-46). This scene presupposes the
evangelization of the nations. Thus it should be abundantly clear that the
Lord Jesus did not drop the 'Great Commission' on the apostles like a
bolt out of the blue. He gave them ample warning.

Problem passages
One difficult statement was given on the occasion when He sent out His
twelve apostles as ambassadors to His own nation Israel. "Do not go in the
way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying. 'The
kingdom of God is at hand'" (Matt. 10:5-6). It was because He had a
responsibility to Israel first, that He so limited the ministry of the Twelve. Israel
was to be first the channel of God's message to the world, but they had to be
won first. He couldn't turn to the Gentiles until He had first given them
opportunity to respond to the kingdom message. The second difficult passage
explained by this transition is the story of the Syrophoenician woman recorded
in Matt. 15:21-28. His answer to pleas for the healing of her daughter seems
very narrow: " I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." We all
recognize that He was testing her faith, and she passed with flying colors.
However, His words were intrinsically true at that point in time. He was not
free to devote Himself to the Gentiles until He had fulfilled His responsibility to
Israel. And of course, He did heal her daughter.
TYRANNY OF THE IMMEDIATE: ANOTHER VIEW OF ACTS

1:8
by Steve Hawthorne
"Why would you want to go to Asia when there are so many needy people
right around here?" So reasoned my non-Christian friend as I explained that I
would be going to Thailand soon to do missions work. This was some years
back, but I still remember watching the concerned expression on his face. He
really thought he'd made a tremendous point. He went on in a fatherly tone,
trying to calm what he felt was the farthest degree of fanaticism. He was trying
to reason with me on my level and spare me years of life wasted in what he
thought was the "Christian Foreign Legion." I remember listening to his words
with shock. It wasn't his condescending attitude that bugged me. What really
bothered me was that I realized I'd recently heard a Christian leader offer
roughly the same argument for people to stay at home, at least for a while,
until the neighborhood was well evangelized. It was scary to think about how
many people have gotten waylaid from pursuing missions work because of
supposed greater needs at home. I suppose many get sidetracked out of
confusion. Some are even convinced that the biblical pattern directs people
overseas only after they have taken care of the needs of their home
community. Their biblical warrant for this confusion is usually Acts 1:8, where
Jesus tells his disciples:

...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:8 is commonly misunderstood when it's read as if it follows four stages.
The idea is that these four stages serve as a priority scheme for any mission
endeavor. It usually comes out "home now - nations later." The four-stage
rendition goes like this: First, reach "Jerusalem." That's taken to mean the
city, neighborhood or campus. Anything local will do. Second, reach "Judea,"
often understood as the larger city, or country, or people of the same culture.
Third, reach "Samaria." Samaria is commonly read as the Samaritans, the
cultural outsiders or ethic minorities on the other side of town. Fourth, reach
the "ends of the earth," which is understood as anywhere outside America.
This "home now - nations later" interpretation of Acts 1:8 doesn't work for
many reasons. One starkly clear reason should keep us from using this verse
as a blanket principle to delay ourselves and others from going overseas:
Jerusalem was not these guys' home. Look at what the angels called them in
verse 11: "men of Galilee." The disciples were way out of their element in
Jerusalem. The local people picked them out right away on Pentecost as
being Galileans, just by their accent (Acts 2:7, Matt. 26:73). Jesus actually
gave them clear instructions not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait (Acts 1:4). For
this group of Galileans, that meant "Don't go home." Instead, they were to
stay put in Jerusalem, a mission situation far from their home. Second,
Jerusalem was and is unique. We can't pretend our hometowns are anything
close to being Jerusalem, the holy city of God and the hinge point of all God's
dealings with His people. Jesus said Jerusalem was the geographic center of
God's plan throughout Scripture and down throughout the ages: "Forgiveness
of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem"
(Luke 24:47). Finally, Acts 1:8 doesn't come to us as a command or a priority
principle. It simply states how God's purposes will be accomplished down
through history, we can find ourselves in this verse, but we aren't in Jerusalem
and we aren't in the first century. That special place and time in God's plan is
long past. We are now in the "ends of the earth." The "ends of the earth"
aren't found at the farthest distance from Wheaton, IL. or Atlanta, GA. Jesus is
speaking of places far away from Jerusalem. (By the way, all points in the
United States are farther from Jerusalem than any place in Africa or Asia.) It's
important to note that when Jesus uttered the words of Acts 1:8 He had just
reviewed for his disciples God's entire plan for the world; He traced through
the Old Testament and onward through history until the very end. He pictured
the spread of the kingdom of God, specifying that it all had to start from
Jerusalem (Luke 24:44-47). In light of the big sweep of all that God was doing
for all time and for all the world, Jesus commanded them, "through the Holy
Spirit" (Acts 1:2), to do the most strategic thing, which was, at that time, to
launch the movement in Jerusalem. Christ leads us in the same way. He
gives us the big picture of all God is doing. We have a certain freedom in the
great plan of the ages to attempt to do the most strategic thing we can. But we
aren't left to our own notions of what's important. You and I can expect Jesus
to give us specific guidance regarding our strategic part in the Great
Commission in exactly the same way: "through the Holy Spirit." Jesus' way of
giving us commands can save us from two equally agonizing extremes. If

someone is caught up in meeting the homeside needs when he ought to be

exploring ways to serve overseas, he faces what I call the "tyranny of the
immediate." Here's how it works: Close-up needs such as those in our family
or home church, press in so demandingly that immediate needs begin
molding life-shaping priorities. Certainly, the immediate needs are real and
working to meet them is entirely legitimate. But too often, the close-up hurts
and needs eclipse even greater ones an ocean away. The other paralyzing
extreme is what I call "global guilt." It's a vague but debilitating anxiety that
makes you fear you really aren't doing enough or that you should be living in
some dangerous, dreadful place overseas. World Christians sometimes fall
prey to "global guilt" because they tend to be aware of the astounding need all
over the world. Adrift without specific guidance, people suffering from "global
guilt" just can't believe they're enduring enough hardship to please God. It's
ridiculous, of course, to consider that a tougher or more strategic role in God's
work would make us any more pleasing to God, but Christians have believed
stranger things. In any case, "global guilt" is a set-up for burnout at the heart
level. There's a way to balance the two extremes of being caught up in local
needs and being compulsively guilty about distant ones. We need to be aware
of God's greater purposes and of a broad scope of needs, near and far, while
striving to be in prayer so that we can best hear Jesus' specific commands for
us "through the Holy Spirit." In light of God's will for the entire world, we can
best sense God's will for us.
Beat the "Tyranny of the Immediate"
Of course, there are great needs all around you. What community was ever
so fully saturated with gospel goodness that all Christian workers were out of
business? There always seems to be more to do, but you can't assume that
you're the one to do it. Here are some ways to beat the "tyranny of the
immediate": Inventory close-by needs. Just how extensive are the problems
and opportunities? One thing is sure: they aren't infinite. Banish the myth of
the infinite need along with the silly notion that you are all alone in serving
God. Take stock of all God is doing locally. You could be pleasantly surprised
to discover that God is doing more than anyone realized. Keep informed
about global realities. There really isn't any doubt that the needs are almost
always greater overseas. Try to see any need you are meeting at home in
light of an international counterpart. One lonely child in Chicago is matched by
scores in Cairo. A confused university student in Denver has many like him in
Singapore. A poor neighborhood near Boston looks clean and bright
compared with the slums of Calcutta. Mobilize others. This is the best way to
climb out of the "tyranny of the immediate." By recruiting others to help you
reach your own community, you are putting your contribution into perspective:
you're one servant among many. Not the first and not the only.
Escape "Global Guilt"
How do you escape "global guilt"? Reestablish you spiritual identity in Christ's
love. "Keep yourselves in God's love" (Jude 21) is a good word for those
suffering from the cruel deception that full-time ministry is the only way to
really please God - and that somehow you get extra credit from God for doing
stuff overseas. You might say that some of us are "needient" more than

obedient. "Needient" people carry a lot of the weight of the world, thinking they
have to overachieve meeting needs, both near and distant. Their lives are
easily distorted into a compulsive frenzy of activity. Christians who are
oriented to obey the God they serve rather than to meet all the needs they
see may also work very hard. They often work with great sacrifice, but in
response to Christ's orders. They usually report that it's a joy to labor. Think of
your part as a big gift from God. Don't unwrap someone else's gift. Do only
what God gives you to do. I love what the angels said: "Men of Galilee, why
do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been
taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen
Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). You would think a statement like that would
have made them stand and stargaze all night, but it didn't. They began to act.
That's what the rest of the book of Acts is all about - getting into action. The
word about Jesus' return moved them because they knew they had a part to
play in God's big plan for the entire world. They had the next step clearly in
mind. They probably didn't understand too much of what Jesus meant about
the "ends of the earth," but they bravely returned to the city instead of going
home. And the world was never the same.
THE GLOBAL THREAD THROUGH SCRIPTURE

Aspects of Christ's global cause can be found in every book of the Bible.
Read straight through the passages listed here in one sitting. Watch how this
grand theme weaves its way from Genesis to Revelation. Watch how the
theme comes through, however, in a way that is compatible with each book
and with that books' place in the unfolding of Gods' revelation on the cause.
GENESIS - Through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (12:3)
EXODUS - For all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a Kingdom of
Priests. (19:5-6)
LEVITICUS - The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native
among you, and you shall love him as yourself. (19:34)
NUMBERS - A star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out
of Israel. It shall crush the forehead of Moab and shall break down all the sons
of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed, Seir also, his enemies, shall be
dispossessed while Israel does valiantly. (24:17-18)
DEUTERONOMY - The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as

He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments.... and all the peoples of
the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord; and they shall
be afraid of you. (28:9-10)
JOSHUA - For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you
until you passed over.... so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the
hand of the Lord is mighty. (4:23-24)

JUDGES - I will not drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left
when he died that by them I may test Israel, whether they will take care to
walk in the way of the Lord (2:21-22)
RUTH - Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you; for where
you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people will be my
people, and your God my God. (1:16)
I SAMUEL- This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand.... that all the earth
may know that there is a God in Israel. (17:46)
II SAMUEL - For this I will extol thee, 0 Lord, among the nations and sing
praises to thy name. Great triumphs He gives to His king. (22:50-51)
I KINGS - Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and
wisdom. And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his
wisdom, which God had put into his mind. (10:23-24)
II KINGS - So now, 0 Lord our God, save us, I beseech thee, from his hand,
so that all kingdoms of the earth may know that thou, O Lord, art God alone.
(19:19)
I CHRONICLES - Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of His salvation - day to
day. Declare His glory among the nations. (16:23-24)
II CHRONICLES - Likewise when a foreigner; who is not of thy people Israel,

comes from a far country for the sake of thy great name, and thy mighty
hand.... hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all for
which the foreigner calls to thee; in order that all peoples of the earth may
know thy name and fear thee. (6:32-33)
EZRA - Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has
given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a
house at Jerusalem. (1:2)
NEHEMIAH - Thou art the Lord, Thou alone; Thou hast made heaven, the
heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas
and all that is in them.... Thou art the Lord, the God who didst choose Abram
and bring him forth (9:6-7)
ESTHER - And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom (of
Persia) for such a time as this? (4:14)
JOB - The Lord said to Satan, 'Whence have you come?' Satan answered,
'From going to and fro on the earth.' And the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you
considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth?' (1:7-8)
PSALMS - Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! (150:6)

PROVERBS - By me (Wisdom) kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; by

me princes rule and nobles govern the earth. (8:15-16)
ECCLESIASTES - I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing

can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has made it so, in order
that men should fear before him. (3:14)
SONG OF SOLOMON - The maidens saw her and called her happy; the
queens and concubines also (note: from Solomon's international alliances),
and they praised her.(6:9)
ISAIAH - It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the
tribes of Jacob.... I will give you as a Light to the nations, that my salvation
may reach to the end of the earth. (49:6)
JEREMIAH - And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory
before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for
them and shall fear and tremble. (33:9)
LAMENTATIONS - Who has commanded and it came to pass, unless the

Lord has ordained it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and
evil come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment
of his sins? (3:37-39)
EZEKIEL - And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been
profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and
the nations will know that I am the Lord when through you I vindicate my
holiness. (36:23)
DANIEL - And he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples,
nations and languages should serve him. (7:13-14)
HOSEA - Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the
sea' which can neither be measured nor numbered; and in the place where it
was said to them, 'You are not my people,' it shall be said to them, 'Sons of
the living God' (1:10)
JOEL - Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord
is near in the valley of decision. (3:14)
AMOS - In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair
its breaches, and raise up its ruins.... that they may possess the remnant of
Edom and all the nations who are called by my name. (9:11-12)
OBADIAH - Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom: We have heard
tidings from the Lord and a messenger has been sent among the nations:

'Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!' (vs 1)
JONAH - And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are
more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their
right hand from their left, and also much cattle? (4:11)
MICAH - He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong
nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares. (4:3)
NAHUM - The mountains shall quake before Him, the hills melt; the earth is
laid waste before Him, the world and all that dwell therein. (1:5)
HABAKKUK - For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of
the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (2:14)
ZEPHANIAH - For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to

pour out upon them my indignation, all the heat of my anger; for in the fire of
my jealous wrath all the earth shall be consumed. (3:8)
HAGGAI - And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall
come in, and I will fill this House with splendor. (2:7)
ZECHARIAH - And the Lord will become king over all the earth; on that day
the Lord will be one and His name one. (14:9)
MALACHI - For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name shall be great
among the nations, and in every place incense shall be offered to my name.
(1:11)
MATTHEW - Go, and make disciples of all the nations. (28:1)
MARK - This gospel must be proclaimed to all the nations. (13:10)
LUKE - Repentance and forgiveness of sins must be proclaimed in My name

to all nations. (24:47)
JOHN - There are other sheep which are not of this fold. I must go and bring
them. Then there will be one Shepherd and one fold. (10:16)
ACTS - You shall be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. (1:8)
ROMANS - We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the

obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations. (1:5)
I CORINTHIANS - Then comes the end, when Christ delivers the kingdom to
God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

(15:24)
II CORINTHIANS - For God was in Christ reconciling the World back to

Himself, not counting their trespasses against them. (5:19)
GALATIANS - In Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham has come upon the
nations, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (3:14)
EPHESIANS - His Plan for the fullness of times is to sum up all things in
Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. (1:10)
PHILIPPIANS - That every knee should bow and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord. (2:10)
COLOSSIANS - The Gospel has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it
is bearing fruit and growing. (1:6)
I THESSALONIANS - Your faith in God has gone forth everywhere. (1:8)
II THESSALONIANS - The Lord will be revealed from heaven with his mighty
angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God
and upon those who do not obey the gospel. (1:7-8)
I TIMOTHY - Christ was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen
by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in
glory. (3:16)
II TIMOTHY - I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is
to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom;
preach the Word. (4:1)
TITUS - The grace that brings salvation to all men has appeared. (2:14)
PHILEMON - I, Paul, an ambassador and now a prisoner also for Christ

Jesus, appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in
my imprisonment. (vs. 9)
HEBREWS - But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for
sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. (10:12)
JAMES - Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we
should be a kind of first fruits of his creation. (1:18)
I PETER - Resist the devil, firm in your faith; know that the same experience
of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. (5:9)
II PETER - But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new
earth in which righteousness dwell. (3:13)

I JOHN - And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son as
the Savior of the world. (4:14)
II JOHN - For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not
acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. (vs. 7)
III JOHN - You will do well to send them on their journey as befits God's
service. For they have set out for His sake and have accepted nothing from
the nations. (vs. 6-7)
JUDE - To the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory,
majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
(vs. 25)
REVELATION - Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for
thou hast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe
and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and
priests to our God. And they shall reign on the earth. (5:9-10)
100 WORLD CHRISTIAN QUOTES

"Must you go to China? How much nicer it would be to stay here and serve
the Lord at home!" She made it plain at last that she would not go to China."
- J. Hudson Taylor's new ex-girlfriend
"You can do something other than working with God in His purpose, but it will
always be something lesser, and you couldn't come up with something better."
- Steve Hawthorne
"I have seen, at different times, the smoke of a thousand villages - villages
whose people are without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world."
- Robert Moffat
"The command has been to "go," but we have stayed - in body, gifts, prayer
and influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of
the earth… but 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the
homeland."
- Robert Savage
"While vast continents are shrouded in darkness… the burden of proof lies
upon you to show that the circumstances in which God has placed you were
meant by God to keep you out of the foreign mission field."
- Ion Keith-Falconer

"I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for China… I don't know who it
was… It must have been a man… a well-educated man. I don't know what
happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing… and God looked
down… and saw Gladys Aylward… And God said - "Well, she's willing."
- Gladys Aylward
"Brother, if you would enter that Province, you must go forward on your
knees."
- J. Hudson Taylor
"The man… looking at him with a smile that only half concealed his contempt,
inquired, "Now Mr. Morrison do you really expect that you will make an
impression on the idolatry of the Chinese Empire?" "No sir," said Morrison,
"but I expect that God will."
- Robert Morrison
"Here am I. Send me."
- Isaiah
"And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our
lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives…
and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to
show for the years they have wasted."
- Nate Saint
"Jehovah Witnesses don't believe in hell and neither do most Christians"
- Leonard Ravenhill
"Had I cared for the comments of people, I should never have been a
missionary."
- C.T. Studd
"Young man, sit down: when God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it
without your aid or mine."
- said to a young William Carey
"Oh, that I had a thousand lives, and a thousand bodies! All of them should be
devoted to no other employment but to preach Christ to these degraded,
despised, yet beloved mortals."
- Robert Moffat
"We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a
global God."
- John Stott
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
- Jim Elliot
"A tiny group of believers who have the gospel keep mumbling it over and
over to themselves. Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into

the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story."
- K.P. Yohannan
"I have but one passion - it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the
field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can
be most used in winning souls for Christ."
- Count Zinzindorf
"God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supplies."
- J. Hudson Taylor
"He must increase, but I must decrease."
- John the Baptist
"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for
me to make for Him."
- C.T. Studd
"The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue. It needs no
furlough and is never considered a foreigner."
- William Cameron Townsend
"Prepare for the worst, expect the best, and take what comes."
- Robert E. Speer
"The saddest thing one meets is a nominal Christian. I had not seen it in
Japan where missions is younger. The church here is a "field full of wheat and
tares."
- Amy Carmichael
"I used to think that prayer should have the first place and teaching the
second. I now feel it would be truer to give prayer the first, second and third
places and teaching the fourth."
- James O. Fraser
"It is just as proper, maybe even more so, to say Christ's global cause has a
Church as to say Christ's Church has a global cause."
- David Bryant
"If you are sick, fast and pray; if the language is hard to learn, fast and pray; if
the people will not hear you, fast and pray, if you have nothing to eat, fast and
pray."
- Frederick Franson
"What are we here for, to have a good time with Christians or to save
sinners?"
- Malla Moe
"I tell you, brethren, if mercies and if judgments do not convert you, God has
no other arrows in His quiver."
- Robert Murray Mc'Cheyne

"It's amazing what can be accomplished if you don't worry about who gets the
credit."
- Clarence W. Jones
"Two distinguishing marks of the early church were: 1) Poverty 2) Power."
- T.J. Bach
"Do not think me mad. It is not to make money that I believe a Christian
should live. The noblest thing a man can do is, just humbly to receive, and
then go amongst others and give."
- David Livingstone
"From my many years' experience I can unhesitatingly say that the cross
bears those who bear the cross."
- Sadhu Sundar Singh
"I pray that no missionary will ever be as lonely as I have been."
- Lottie Moon
"All my friends are but one, but He is all sufficient."
- William Carey
"How little chance the Holy Ghost has nowadays. The churches and
missionary societies have so bound him in red tape that they practically ask
Him to sit in a corner while they do the work themselves."
- C.T. Studd
"I have always believed that the Good Samaritan went across the road to the
wounded man just because he wanted to."
- Wilfred Thomason Grenfell
"The more obstacles you have, the more opportunities there are for God to do
something."
- Clarence W. Jones
"Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God."
- William Carey
"God's part is to put forth power; our part is to put forth faith."
- Andrew A. Bonar
"All the resources of the Godhead are at our disposal!"
- Jonathan Goforth
"I feel now, that Arabia could easily be evangelized within the next thirty years
if it were not for the wicked selfishness of Christians."
-Samuel Zwemer
"The Indian is making an amazing discovery, namely that Christianity and
Jesus are not the same - that they may have Jesus without the system that
has been built up around Him in the West."
- E. Stanley Jones

"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a

testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."
- Jesus
"All roads lead to the judgment seat of Christ."
- Keith Green
"Obedience to the call of Christ nearly always costs everything to two people-
the one who is called, and the one who loves that one."
- Oswald Chambers
"Christians don't tell lies they just go to church and sing them"
- A.W. Tozer
"I have said that there is nothing in the world or the Church, except it's
disobedience, to render the evangelization of the world in this generation an
impossibility."
- Robert Speer
"I will lay my bones by the Ganges that India might know there is one who
cares."
- Alexander Duff
"Today Christians spend more money on dog food then missions"
- Leonard Ravenhill
"It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these
facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach
the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a
special call to stay at home."
- J. Hudson Taylor
"We talk of the second coming, half the world has never heard of the first."
- Oswald J. Smith
"God cannot lead you on the basis of facts that you do not know."
- David Bryant
"And thus I aspire to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named
so that I would not build on another man's foundation."
- Paul
"Why do we insist on building the largest and most impressive structures in
our city when people on the other side of town are hungry, jobless and
worshipping in storefronts?"
- K.P. Yohannan
"If every Christian is already considered a missionary, then all can stay put
where they are, and nobody needs to get up and go anywhere to preach the
gospel. But if our only concern is to witness where we are, how will people in
unevangelized areas ever hear the gospel? The present uneven distribution of

Christians and opportunities to hear the gospel of Christ will continue on

unchanged."
- C. Gordon Olson
"I spent twenty years of my life trying to recruit people out of local churches
and into missions structures so that they could be involved in fulfilling God's
global mission. Now I have another idea. Let's take God's global mission and
put it right in the middle of the local church!"
- George Miley
"God provides the men and women needed for each generation."
-Mildred Cable
"Oh dear, I couldn't say that my church is alive and I wouldn't want to call it
dead. I guess it's just walking in its sleep!"
- Church member
"When he landed in 1848 there were no Christians here; when he left in 1872
there were no heathen."
- said of John Geddie
"I am ready to burn out for God. I am ready to endure any hardship, if by any
means I might save some. The longing of my heart is to make known my
glorious Redeemer to those who have never heard."
-William Burns
"At the moment I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once stained
with the blood of cannibalism, now stretched out to receive and partake the
emblems and seals of the Redeemer's love, I had a foretaste of the joy of
glory that well nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall never taste a deeper
bliss, till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus himself."
- John G. Paton
"Save others, snatching them out of the fire."
- Jude
"The evangelization of the world in this generation."
- Student Volunteer Movement Motto
"Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring."
- Jesus
"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists
because worship doesn't."
- John Piper
"His authority on earth allows us to dare to go to all the nations. His authority
in heaven gives us our only hope of success. And His presence with us
leaves us no other choice."
- John Stott

"Today five out of six non-Christians in our world have no hope unless
missionaries come to them and plant the church among them."
- David Bryant
"Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to
preach the gospel of Christ."
- Francis Xavier
"Christ for the students of the world, and the students of the world for Christ."
- Luther Wishard
"We who have Christ's eternal life need to throw away our own lives."
- George Verwer
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue
shop within a yard of Hell."
- C.T. Studd
"When I get to China, I will have no claim on any one for anything. My claim
will be alone in God and I must learn before I leave England to move men
through God by prayer alone."
- J. Hudson Taylor
FINDING YOUR ROLE IN WORLD EVANGELIZATION

by Todd Ahrend
Ingrained in the minds of many Christians is the idea that to be involved in
mission work means one thing only: living overseas long-term. This is an
unhealthy way to approach missions because it excludes most people. Even
those that go long-term will eventually come home and need to appropriate
their vision in another way. If it is an attribute of God to desire the redemption
of all nations, then it must be cultivated into every one of His followers as an
attribute. That is why it is vital to the Church that other avenues of
involvement are explored. The following five habits are not to be viewed in
terms of "which one is for me?" The idea is that a person who prioritizes God's
global plan will do all or most of them.
The main habits are:
1. Going
2. Praying
3. Sending
4. Welcoming
5. Mobilizing

Going: This habit is most commonly associated with missions. In the past and
even still today when someone thinks about missions this is the most natural
association. A definition of the goer is the person physically present, laboring
on the mission field. Going may mean a short-term trip or an extended
amount of time. Ultimately, the goer is willing to completely immerse
themselves in an unfamiliar culture with the intention of furthering the gospel
in that culture. They are innovative, low maintenance, steadfast, and
persevere with little fellowship. In Exodus 3:7-10 God mentions nine different
times to Moses that He is concerned with the Israelites and their condition as
slaves and is getting ready to bring them into the promise land. During this
discourse, God has one reference to Moses. Look at Moses' reaction, "But
Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the
Israelites out of Egypt?" (Ex. 3:11). Sounds like us sometimes doesn't it? Our
temptation is to focus on ourselves and our insufficiency! We think there is no
way God could want us involved and so many of us never enjoy the blessing
of participating. Look at God's reaction; He puts the focus back on Himself in
the next verse, "I will be with you" (Ex. 3:12). Before Robert Morrison left to be
the first Bible translator in China someone asked if he really thought he could
change the 2,000 year problem of idolatry in China, his response, "No I don't,
but I expect God can."
As you begin to consider going on a short-term trip, it will be natural for you to
look at your abilities (or inabilities) and become discouraged. It is at this point
that you must be reminded that "God chose the foolish things of the world to
shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the
things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast
before him" (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). In light of this truth we are all
overqualified!
Praying: If you could ask Jesus to teach you anything what would it be?
Personally, I think I would want to learn how He multiplied the bread to feed
the 5,000! Can you imagine? Well, in all of the scriptures we see only one
time when the disciples ask Jesus to teach them something. The request,
"Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). Isn't it interesting that after knowing and
living with Jesus, their desire was to pattern His prayer life. Maybe after
following Him around for a few years they realized that when Jesus prayed
things happened. Listen to Christ's response, "This, then, is how you should
pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..." (Matt. 6:9-10). Jesus was
saying that when you pray, you should ask God to bring the activity of heaven
down to earth. In other words, pray that what is going on up there, would go
on down here. Well, what is going on in heaven? Right now in heaven all eyes
are on Jesus, as a multicultural worship service is being held. Sound like your
church? This is what Jesus asked his disciples to pray.
Another passage that challenges us to pray for the world is found in Matthew
9:36-38, "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because
they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he

said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the
Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'"
Jesus saw the vastness of lost souls compared to the scarcity of the laborers
and He looks to the disciples and says, "Ask." What a powerful image! Not go,
or preach, or have a conference, but ask. It's hard to read this passage and
not get convicted about your prayer life. Let's evaluate our own prayer lives
and see if we come to God with our desires or if we are concerned with His.
Obviously, we need to pray for ourselves and yes, we need to lift up our family
and friends, but God also desires that we join together and intercede on
behalf of all nations and beg Him to send forth laborers into the field.
Sending: Paul the Apostle has an interesting observation, "And how can they
preach unless they are sent?" (Rom. 10:15). The unreached do not have a
chance at hearing the gospel if there are not people on the home front funding
and praying for those that are going. It is like asking the question, "which is
more important the rescuer who goes down into the well to save a life or the
man at the top holding the rope?" You can't have one without the other. There
was a principle in Israelite warfare, "The share of the man who stayed with the
supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will
share alike." (1 Sam. 30:24-25). Why? Because they are equally important in
God's army.
In our culture we think we are entitled to live at whatever standard matches
our income. Our reasoning is that since a person makes $60,000 a year they
should live at $60,000. When a person gets a raise, their standard of living
gets a raise too! But the World Christian should have a different mindset.
Maybe when a Christian gets a raise or comes into unexpected financial gain
God intends that person to be a resource for someone else! This thinking is
so contrary to our culture.
The role of a sender is not only integral, but diverse as well. The most obvious
aspect of sending is giving of one's financial resources to support a
missionary. But this is certainly not the only facet of sending. A sender may
work in one or all the following specialized roles: logistics, prayer coordination,
communications, research, finances, or re-entry coordinator. A specialist in
logistics deals with the practical side of sending. They deal with packing the
missionary's goods, travel plans, cost and acquirement of items needed on
the field. The prayer coordinator can find specific prayer needs based on
research, missionaries in the field and missions societies. They are also
needed to enlist others in intercessory prayer for the team and organize
special prayer meetings. For prayer needs to be known, a communications
specialist is enormously helpful. It is their responsibility to open lines of
communication to the team so that prayer requests and equipment and other
needs are known. The role of sending is neither glamorous nor easy. The task
of dealing with the day-to-day, behind the scenes tasks of mission work may
even seem thankless, but it is not without reward.

This is a seemingly difficult habit for college students to develop because they
always feel broke! But the point is not the amount that is given. The point is
that they are building a habit of sacrifice.
Welcoming: America is hosting the largest number of internationals of any
country and the world is at our doorstep! Over 650,000 international students
and scholars are studying here from 188 countries of the world. What a
perfect opportunity to extend God's grace and love to the world! And you don't
even have to leave. The Welcomer gets his name from the idea that he
welcomes those from other countries to his country.
The foreigner is close to the Lord's heart. Over forty times in the Old
Testament alone we are commanded to care for the foreigner in our land,
"The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love
him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God" (Lev
19:34).
"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien,
giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for
you yourselves were aliens in Egypt" (Deut 10:18-20).
God reminds the Israelites of their past exile in Egypt so that they will be
motivated to love the foreigners, for they once were foreigners. Similarly, we
should be reminded of our past, how we were foreigners to God and yet he
had mercy on us.
Sadly, as available as this ministry is to college students, it is going sorely
overlooked. Did you know that 80% of the internationals on your campus will
never be invited into an American home? With high hopes they come to study,
but soon realize that the hospitality they are used to is just as foreign to
America as they are. So they live in their isolated community with fellow
internationals and eventually return to their homeland. I wonder what they tell
their friends about this renowned Christian nation.
Everyone can be a welcomer. All it takes is a little time, energy and a
willingness to say hello. There is no reason that Christians on campus
shouldn't have 2-3 new international friends each semester. Can you imagine
how the gospel would spread if that were a reality? At the college where I
worked, there were 80 students from Saudi Arabia who hung out in their
corner of the Student Center. I can remember the first time I took two guys
from my Bible study to meet and get to know them. After a few weeks of just
saying hello and making ourselves available we became part of the group. We
shared the gospel with about 10 of them over the next year. Its amazing to
think of the hardship I would face should I go to Saudi Arabia and try to do the
same thing! Yet here we have complete freedom to share with otherwise
unreached people!
The need for welcoming is great. Brainstorm ideas to show love to the
foreigners among you. A simple beginning step is to initiate conversation with

an international on your campus. There are tons of questions you could ask to
get to know them:
-Where are you from?
-How do you like the food?
-How do you like it here?
-Is English harder than you thought?
-How it is different from your country?
-Are you finding your way around?
-Can we help you in anything?
You might choose a specific group of them to focus on. Here are some
suggested ways to serve them:
-Run errands for them or be willing to take them on errands.
-Invite them over for holidays.
-Practice English with them.
-Invite them to Bible study.
-Invite them just to hang out with you and your friends.
The one who welcomes is willing to serve them and reach out to them in the
hopes that Christ will be glorified. They will see how easy it is to get involved
and soon they will be loving internationals and this strategic ministry.
Mobilizing: A mobilizer is a normal, everyday Christian who walks with God,
yet has a global perspective and stays on the home front to rouse others to
action. Anyone who has a vision for the world has at one time been mobilized.
Whether someone asked them to go on a short-term trip, invited them to a
missions conference, took them to a Bible study on the topic or introduced
them to a missionary, somehow they were recruited. And that, in a nutshell, is
a mobilizer, a recruiter. Mobilizers are out looking for others to enlist in God's
agenda with their entire life. Their focus is Christians who are unaware of
God's global plan and they consistently seek to raise the missions awareness
in creative ways whether it is in a small group or large group setting. Like
Habakkuk, they "Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets so that the
one who reads it may run" (Hab. 2:2).
A friend of mine has a saying that I have adopted. "Every Christian a World
Christian and every World Christian a mobilizer." Think about the awesome
potential in that statement. Every Christian is orchestrating their life around
God's heart for the world and fulfilling the Great Commission and at the same
time passing on that vision to the new believers and next generation.
Unbelievable!

So what exactly are the characteristics of a mobilizer? Bill Stearns and Bob
Sjogren lists 10:
1. Needs to be able to be a servant.
2. Desires to see laborers raised up to finish the task of world evangelization.
3. Possibly has the gift of encouragement and exhortation.
4. Is "apt to teach" but may be more effective in recruiting others to teach.
5. Speaks in front of groups without (too much) fear.
6. Leads others well.
7. Has a general heart for the world, possibly focusing in on one people
group.
8. Sees the priority of waiting and mobilizing others as well as going.
9. Is part visionary - seeing what can happen as God matches empowered
believers with key opportunities of ministry.
10. Is part implementer - driven to see a vision become a reality.
Whether it is just the right missions book or a short video, magazine, agency,
prayer profile, etc. you need to be able to show others resources. I can
remember when I was in college gathering my own collection of tools. I
labeled a manila folder "Mobilization Resources." Now it fills two filing
cabinets! Part of being equipped with resources is being a networker. You will
need to know what God is doing and who He is doing it with. I challenge
anyone trying to cultivate their mobilization skills to help others collect and
learn how to use the resources and material available in missions. As they are
collecting and learning this material they are building a confidence that will
enable them to teach others.
The mobilizer is a key player in the process of raising up laborers. It takes a
burning heart for the world and yet a willingness to stay. It has happened to
every World Christian and every World Christian can do it!

GLOSSARY OF WORLD CHRISTIAN TERMS

AD2000 & Beyond Movement: A worldwide movement of organizations and
individuals dedicated to the goal of "a church for every people and the gospel
for every person by the year 2000." While remaining committed to doing
everything possible to achieve this goal, the movement is not predicting
"closure" or the completion of the Great Commission by end of the year 2000.
Adherent: A follower of a particular religion, church or philosophy. This is the
broadest possible category of such followers and includes professing and
affiliated adults and also their children (practicing and non-practicing) who
may reside in a given area or country.
Adoption (of an unreached people): Making a commitment to an unreached
people until there is an indigenous, reproducing church established among
them. Aspects may include prayer, research, and networking toward church
planting. Sometimes called "people group adoption" or adopt-a-people.
Advocate: People group advocates are individuals who have committed
themselves to one specific people group (ethnic group), to learn about them,
their environment, culture, demographics, status, etc. They pray about how
churches can be established among them. They may network and partner
with others to encourage their involvement.
Affinity Bloc: Families of peoples related in aspects such as religion, culture,
history, politics, and geography. In nearly every bloc there are widely
dissimilar and unrelated linguistic minorities, but often there is one particular
culture that is dominant.
Church planting: Missionary role of evangelism, discipleship and training of
leaders for the establishment of a body of believers, or a church. Does not
refer to a physical building.
Closed Country: Countries that limit or prevent Christian ministry by
expatriates as missionaries. Alternatively they are called creative-access
countries, restricted access countries, closing countries, restrictive countries,
sensitive countries.
Cluster: Grouping of peoples within each affinity bloc which are closely
related peoples and, for strategic purposes, may be clustered together. These
relationships are often based on a common identity of language and name,
but sometimes on the basis of culture, religion, economy, or dominance of
one group over another.
Collaboration: To combine forces to meet a common goal.
Contextualization: Adapting something (a biblical concept, mission method,
etc.) to make it understood within the context of an ethnic culture.

Deputation: Commonly refers to the prayer and financial support rallying that
career and short-term missionaries do before leaving for the field and during
furloughs.
Ethnocentrism: Seeing the world through self-colored glasses, so that your
culture always looks best and becomes the pattern everyone else should fit
into. By no means is ethnocentrism restricted to the majority culture in a
country, but it is a nearly universal tendency among humans.
Ethnolinguistic People: An ethnic or racial group speaking its own language.
A people group distinguished by its self-identity with traditions of common
descent, history, customs and language. Also known as a people.
Evangelicals: The subdivision of Protestantism which generally emphasizes:
1) the Lord Jesus Christ as the sole source of salvation through faith in Him;
2) Personal faith and conversion with regeneration by the Holy Spirit; 3) A
recognition of the inspired Word of God as the only basis for faith and
Christian living; 4) Commitment to biblical preaching and evangelism that
brings others to faith in Christ.
Expatriate: One who has taken up residence in a foreign country.
Field: The location where ministry, church planting, and evangelism takes
place.
Field-based: Strategy determined by those on the field, rather than from
those at the "home," sending, or resource base.
Frontier: Pertaining to unreached areas or peoples.
Great Commission: Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus' final instructions to his
followers to go everywhere to make disciples among every people.
Harvest Field: All who are not true Christians; not part of the Body of Christ.
Harvest Force: Those of the Body of Christ who are involved in a direct or
indirect way in helping to bring in the harvest of souls.
Indigenous peoples or persons: Those individuals or groups who originate
from a particular area; a national, a native.
Joshua Project 2000 Unreached Peoples List: A listing of "country-distinct"
peoples each over 10,000 in population that were chosen by their
ethnolinguistic distinction and their status of being less than 2% Evangelical
and less that 5% Christian adherents.
Martyr: A Christian believer who dies in a situation of witness as a result of
human hostility.
Mission: The loving work of God to bring humankind to himself as the
Church. Secondarily, the overall ministry of the Church for world
evangelization.

Missiology: The study of missions and mission strategies; the theology of

missions; how and why we do missions.
Mission agency: A Christian organization helping to further God's work in the
world. "Mission board" and "sending agency" are virtually the same thing.
Missionary: One who is sent with a message. The Christian missionary is
one commissioned by a local church to evangelize, plant churches and
disciple people away from his home area, often among people of a different
race, culture or language.
Missions Resource Organization: These agencies support the work of field
missions and missionaries by offering information, resources, materials, and
mobilization of the Church.
National: Any person who is from the country to which you are going.
Network: An extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who
interact and remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support.
Non-Resident Missionary: Professional career missionary who is working
towards the evangelization of a particular people or cluster, but resides
outside the group, usually in a city with good international communications
facilities and no surveillance.
Para-church: Refers to a Christian organization independent of any church
denominational structures.
Partnership: An association of two or more autonomous bodies who have
formed a trusting relationship and agreed upon expectations by sharing
complementary strengths and resources, to reach their mutual goal.
People Group: A significantly large sociological grouping of individuals who
perceive themselves to have a common affinity with one another. From the
viewpoint of evangelization, this is the largest possible group within which the
gospel can be spread without encountering barriers of understanding or
acceptance.
Prayer journey: A trip to pray on location for the lost. Team members may
spend extended time prayerwalking, asking God to bring the Gospel to that
unreached people group. It does not entail evangelism or mercy ministries.
Prayerwalking: Praying "on-site with insight." Taking prayers outside the
church walls as we walk through an area. Praying in the very places we
expect to see God bring forth His answers. Usually low profile and
unobtrusive in appearance.
Praying Through the Window: Prayer initiatives developed for the purpose
of worldwide focused prayer for the countries and peoples in the 10/40
Window.

Reached/unreached: A term that is widely used today to describe people

groups and areas that have or have not responded to the preaching of the
gospel. The use of the term has continued despite the faultiness of the
terminology. Strictly, it should be a measure of the exposure of a people
group to the gospel and not a measure of the response.
Strategy Coordinator: One who develops and implements a strategy to
reach a people group, working with a team or network.
Support: The finances and prayer you will need to ask others to give for your
mission trip.
Syncretism: Fusion of differing systems of belief. Mixing Christianity with
heresy (ex. Aaron and the Isrealites worshipping the golden calf).
Synergy: The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their
combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. Cooperative
interaction among groups that creates an enhanced combined effect.
Tentmaker: A cross-cultural witness who works at a paying, usually secular,
job overseas. Often they are able to gain entry into "closed" countries which
restrict traditional mission efforts.
10/40 Window: The area of the world between latitudes 10 degrees and 40
degrees north of the equator in the Eastern hemisphere, covering North
Africa, Middle East and Asia. The window has in view most of the world's
areas of greatest physical and spiritual need, most of the world's least-
reached peoples and most of the governments that oppose Christianity.
Unreached People: A people or people group among whom there is no
viable indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers
and resources to evangelize their own people without outside (cross-cultural)
assistance.
Visa: Gives you written permission to travel in someone else's country.
World Evangelization: The whole Church taking the whole gospel to the
whole world. The goal of giving every person the opportunity to hear the
gospel in a way they understand, to become disciples of Christ, and to join
with others in fellowship without leaving their own culture or people.

PART
14 REASONS FOR MISSIONS
Sometimes I wonder, just like anyone, “Is my work necessary?” As someone

whose job is to motivate people into just getting involved in world
evangelization, I find myself reflecting and learning and adapting to many
different audiences, needs, perspectives – whether it’s one person or a
thousand. Specifically with missions, there are many motivations that God
uses to spark interest in people and move them into some kind of
involvement. Here are fourteen (just because I haven’t thought of #
fifteen…yet).
1) The Promise (Gen 12:1-3) – Because God has promised to bless all
nations (or people groups) on the earth. What better motivation and
encouragement can we have than the understanding that missions (blessing
the nations with the Gospel) is in the sure purposes of God.
2) The Purchase (Rev 5:9) – Because Jesus has already purchased people
from every tribe and nation with His blood. Like the Moravians motivated by
this purchase we should repeat what two Moravians missionaries said as they
set sail for India, “May the Lamb receive the reward of His suffering!” In other
words, He has already purchased them, our job is only to gather in what is
His.
3) Because the Harvest is plentiful (Matt 9:37) – Now this is for all the
numbers gurus out there who are motivated by sheer statistics. Today, out of
the 6.5 billion people on the planet, over 4 billion are without a saving
relationship with Christ. More tragic is that 2.4 billion of these who are lost
have no means to hear the message of salvation through Christ – they are cut
off from the gospel through lack of missionaries, lack of resources, etc. If you

lined them up in a single file line they would wrap around the earth 25 times.
The majority of these people are located in the area of the world known as the
10/40 Window (see map). The harvest is plentiful!
4) Because the Laborers are few (Matt 9:37) – This is probably what runs
through my head the majority of the times I get up to speak. Only one in every
20,000 believers will ever take the gospel to those who are out of reach of the
church. What’s worse than that? Out of all the cross-cultural missionaries in
the world, you would hope that the majority would be working where the
majority need is. However only 2.5% of all the 430,000 missionaries are
working in the 10/40 Window. More laborers are needed.
5) Because the Destiny of the Lost (Rom 1; John 3:18; John 14:6) – Now
this is harder to take in, but I believer the Bible gives us no means by which a
person can be saved other than through Christ’s work, and by exercising faith
in His name. This means not by other religions, not without hearing
specifically about Christ (through evangelism and missions) and not because
they died without hearing. The Scripture leaves no loopholes for those living in
ignorance. All are born in sin, the Cross has real meaning for salvation, and
the Great Commission is necessary for people to hear and be saved. If this
shocks you, you may have been influenced by the universalism that is
gossiped among church goers. In Romans 1 (creation) does exactly what God
designed it to do – it condemns people, leaving them without an excuse and
knowledge of a creator – but not salvific knowledge of God through Jesus
Christ. This makes missions not only important, but urgent.
6) Logically Necessary for Hearing the Gospel Message (Rom 10:14-15,
Acts 8 (Philip) and 10 (Cornelius)) – This goes along with the last one.
Every time someone comes to Christ in Scripture there is a human
messenger involved. It would be great to think that God would draw people to
Himself in the world apart from someone going. He is able, but this is not the
means He has chosen to use. The Church is the means. The Ethiopian
eunuch was reading Isaiah (the OT Bible!) and still God miraculously
transported Philip, a human messenger to explain Christ to him. An angel
appears to Cornelius, a god-fearer. But still Peter must be summoned and
travel all the way to Cornelius’ house to explain the gospel to him before he
could be saved. Why didn’t the angel just tell Cornelius? It would have saved
a lot of time and gas money for Peter – but God used a human messenger.
Missions and evangelism are necessary. I hope we are speaking the
message around us as well – they must hear.
7) The Example of the Church (Acts 1:8, 10, 15, Rom 15:20) – The early
church has given us a model to follow. They went out, sent out their own
missionaries like Paul and Barnabus, and evangelized the Gentiles beyond
the reach of the gospel in their world.
8) The Descriptive Future is Prescriptive for Today (Rev 7:9, Rev 21:24-
26) – Now, it’s tricky but follow this logic. If there are people described in
heaven in the future – it is logical that they must be reached with the gospel at

some point in history. So because we see a great multitude gathered around

the throne from every tribe, people, and nation – we must labor to begin with
this end in mind, bringing it into reality as God uses us to fulfill it.
9) Because We Will be Held Accountable (Ezek 33) – Here is a passage
that will cause you to re-evaluate life. The people of God, meant to be a
blessing to the world, were held accountable for not warning others of the
danger coming. Will believers be held accountable for their obedience to the
Great Commission? It may mean great reward-loss by many Christians for
failing to use what God has blessed them with to bless the nations.
10) Because To Whom Much is Given Much is Required (Luke 12:47-48)
– Here is Jesus’ measuring standard. It’s like a blessing and obedience math
formula. Our accountability may be based on our resources, our
understanding, or our ability – more given equals more expected.
11) Because the Church is the Means (Rom 1:5, Gal 3:14-15, 2 Cor 5:17-
20) – You are God’s ordained means for the blessing of Christ reaching to all
the nations, just like He promised (Gen 12). Jesus has purchased them (Rev
5:9) and commissioned us with the task of gathering them in for God’s glory.
12) Because History Awaits the Fulfillment of the Promise (Matt 24:14) –
Not sure how it’s all going to play out, but if God has promised that all nations
are reached and Jesus says here that the gospel will be preached to all
nations…then the end will come – it just seems logical. The story of history
seems to be arranged on the thread of this mission, even the history we are a
part of today. That is exciting!
13) Because the Glory of God is Yet to be Known (Hab 2:14; Ps 72:19,
86; Isa 11:9) – There are actually about a dozen times that Bible talks of
God’s glory “filling the earth as the waters cover the sea.” God has created
people to worship Him and that worship is being given to other lesser things
right now. Missions is spreading the worship and enjoyment of God to those
who are not currently worshippers, because God’s glory is increased by the
increase of His church in the world. As John Piper says it, “Missions exists
because worship doesn’t. Where passion for God is weak, zeal for missions
will be weak.”
14) The Commands of Jesus (Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8, 13:47; John 20:21)
– And last of all – because Jesus commanded it. Just as Jesus says in John
14:21, "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves
Me,” or 1 John 3:24, “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him.”
I hope we can all stand before him in the end and hear him say, “Well done,
good and faithful servant

WHO CARES
by General William Booth
On one of my recent journeys, as I gazed from the coach window I was led
into a train of thought concerning the conditions of the multitudes around me.
They were living carelessly in the most open and shameless rebellion against
God, without a thought for their eternal welfare. As I looked out the window, I
seemed to see them all... millions of people all around me given up to their
drink and their pleasure, their dancing and their music, their business and
their anxieties, their politics and their troubles. Ignorant-willfully ignorant in
many cases - and in other instances knowing all about the truth and not caring
at all. But all of them, the whole mass of them, sweeping on and up in their
blasphemies and devilries to the throne of God. While my mind was thus
engaged, I had a vision.
I saw a dark and stormy ocean. Over it the black clouds hung heavily; through
them every now and then vivid lightning flashed and loud thunder rolled, while
the winds moaned, and the waves rose and foamed, towered and broke, only
to rise and foam, tower and break again.
In that ocean I thought I saw myriads of poor human beings plunging and
floating; shouting and shrieking, cursing and struggling and drowning; and as
they cursed and screamed, they rose and shrieked again, and then some
sank to rise no more.
And I saw out of this dark, angry ocean, a mighty rock that rose up with its
summit towering high above the black clouds that overhung the stormy sea.
And all around the base of this rock I saw a vast platform. Onto this platform, I
saw with delight a number of the poor struggling, drowning wretches
continually climbing out of the angry ocean. And I saw that a few of those who
were already safe on the platform were helping the poor creatures still in the
angry waters to reach the place of safety.
On looking more closely, I found a number of those who had been rescued,
industriously working and scheming by ladders, ropes, boats, and other
means more effective, to deliver the poor strugglers out of this sea. Here and
there were some who actually jumped into the water, regardless of all the
consequences, in their passion to "rescue the perishing." And I hardly know
which gladdened me most-the sight of the poor drowning people climbing onto
the rocks, reaching the place of safety, or the devotion and self-sacrifice of
those whose whole beings were wrapped up in the effort for their deliverance.
As I looked on, I saw that the occupants of that platform were quite a mixed
company. That is, they were divided into different "sets" or classes, and they
occupied themselves with different pleasures and employment. But only a
very few of them seemed to make it their business to get the people out of the
sea.

But what puzzled me most was the fact that though all of them had been
rescued at one time or another from the ocean, nearly everyone seemed to
have forgotten all about it. Anyway, it seemed the memory of its darkness and
danger no longer troubled them at all. And what seemed equally strange and
perplexing to me was that these people did not even seem to have any care -
that is any agonizing care - about the poor perishing ones who were
struggling and drowning right before their very eyes, many of whom were their
own husbands and wives, brothers, and sisters, and even their own children.
Now this astonishing unconcern could not have been the result of ignorance
or lack of knowledge, because they lived right there in full sight of it all and
even talked about it sometimes. Many even went regularly to hear lectures
and sermons in which the awful state of these people drowning creatures was
described.
I have already said that the occupants of this platform were engaged in
different pursuits and pastimes. Some of them were absorbed night and day
in trading and business In order to make gain, storing up their savings in
boxes, safes, and the like.
Many spent their time in amusing themselves with growing flowers on the side
of the rock, others in painting pieces of cloth or in playing music or in dressing
themselves up in different styles and walking about to be admired. Some
occupy themselves chiefly in eating and drinking, others were taken up with
arguing about the poor drowning creatures that had already been rescued.
But the thing to me that seemed the most amazing was that those on the
platform to whom He called, who heard His voice and felt they ought to obey it
at least they said they did those who confessed to love Him much and were in
full sympathy with Him in the task He had undertaken - who worshipped Him
or who professed to do so - were so taken up with their trades and
professions, their money saving and pleasures, their families and circles, their
religions and arguments about it, and their preparation for going to the
mainland, that they did not listen to the cry that came to them from this
Wonderful Being who had Himself gone down into the sea. Anyway, if they
heard it they did not heed it. They did not care. And so the multitude went on
right before them struggling and shrieking and drowning in the darkness.
And then I saw something that seemed to me even more strange than
anything that had gone on before in this strange vision. I saw that some Of
these people on the platform whom this Wonderful Being had called to,
wanting them to come and help Him in His difficult task of saving these
perishing creatures, were always praying and crying out to Him to come to
them.
Some wanted Him to come and stay with them and spend His time and
strength in making them happier. Others wanted Him to come and take away
various doubts and misgivings they had concerning the truth of some letters
which He had written them. Some wanted Him to come and make them feel
more secure on the rock-so secure that they would be quite sure that they

should never slip off again into the ocean. Numbers of others wanted Him to
make them feel quite certain that they would really get off the rock and onto
the mainland someday; because as a matter of fact, it was well known that
some had walked so carelessly as to lose their footing, and had fallen back
again, into the stormy waters.
So these people used to meet and get up as high on the rock as they could,
and looking toward the mainland (where they thought the Great Being was)
they would cry out, "Come to us! Come, help us!" And all the while He was
down (by His Spirit) among the poor struggling, drowning creatures in the
angry deep, with His arms around them trying to drag them out, and looking
up oh! so longingly, but all in vain to those on the rock, crying to them with His
voice all hoarse from calling, "Come to Me! Come, and help Me!"
And then I understood it all. It was plain enough. That sea was the ocean of
life-the sea of real, actual human existence. That lightning was the gleaming
of piercing truth coming from Jehovah's throne. That thunder was the distant
echoing of the wrath of God. Those multitudes of people shrieking, struggling,
and agonizing in the stormy sea, were the thousands and thousands of poor
harlots and harlot-makers, of drunkards and drunkard-makers, of thieves,
liars, blasphemers, and ungodly people of every kindred, tongue, and nation.
Oh, what a black sea it was! And oh, what multitudes of rich and poor,
ignorant and educated were there. They were all so unalike in their outward
circumstances and conditions, yet all alike in one thing all sinners before God
all held by, and holding onto, some iniquity, fascinated by some idol, the
slaves of some devilish lust, and ruled by the foul fiend from the bottomless
pit! "All alike in one thing?" No, all alike in two things not only the same in their
wickedness but, unless rescued, the same in their sinking, sinking... down,
down, down... to the same terrible doom. That great sheltering rock
represented Calvary, the place where Jesus had died for them. And the
people on it were those who had been rescued. The way they used their
energies, gifts, and time represented the occupations and amusements of
those who professed to be saved from sin and hell followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The handful of fierce, determined ones, who were risking their own
lives in saving the perishing, were true soldiers of the cross of Jesus. That
Mighty Being who was calling to them from the midst of the angry waters was
the Son of God, "the same yesterday, today, and forever," who is still
struggling and interceding to save the dying multitudes about us from this
terrible doom of damnation, and whose voice can be heard above the music,
machinery, and noise of life calling on the rescued to come and help Him save
the world.
My friends in Christ, you are rescued from the waters, you are on the rock. He
is in the dark sea calling on you to come to Him and help Him. Will you go?
Look for yourselves. The surging sea of life crowded with perishing multitudes
rolls up to the very spot on which you stand. Leaving the vision, I now come to
speak of the fact a fact that is as real as the Bible, as real as the Christ who

hung upon the cross, as real as the judgment day will be, and as real as the
heaven and hell that will follow it.
Look! Don't be deceived by appearances men and things are not what they
seem. All who are not on the rock are in the sea! Look at them from the
standpoint of the great white throne, and what a sight you have! Jesus Christ,
the Son of God is, through His Spirit, in the midst of this dying multitude,
struggling to save them. And He is calling on you to jump into the sea to go
right away to His side and help Him in the holy strife. Will you jump? That is,
will you go to His feet and place yourself absolutely at His disposal?
A young Christian once came to me and told me that for some time she had
been giving the Lord her profession and prayers and money, but now she
wanted to give Him her life. She wanted to go right into the fight. In other
words, she wanted to go to His assistance in the sea. As when a man from
the shore seeing another struggling in the water, takes off those outer
garments that would hinder his efforts, and leaps to the rescue so will you
who still linger on the bank, thinking and singing and praying about the poor
perishing souls, lay aside your shame, your pride, your cares about other
people's opinions, your love of ease and all the selfish loves that have kept
you back for so long, and rush to the rescue of this multitude of dying men
and women?
Does the surging sea look dark and dangerous? Unquestionably it is so.
There is no doubt that the leap for you, as for every one who takes it, means
difficulty and scorn and suffering. For you it may mean more than this. It may
mean death. He who beckons you from the sea however, knows what it will
mean and knowing, He still calls to you and bids you come.
You must do it! You cannot hold back. You have enjoyed yourself in
Christianity long enough. You have had pleasant feelings, pleasant songs,
pleasant meetings, and pleasant prospects. There has been much of human
happiness, much clapping of hands and shouting of praises, very much of
heaven on earth.
Now then, go to God and tell Him you are prepared as much as necessary to
turn your back upon it all, and that you are willing to spend the rest of your
days struggling in the midst of these perishing multitudes, whatever it may
cost you.
You must do it. With the light that is now broken in upon your mind, and the
call that is now sounding in your ears, and the beckoning hands that are now
before your eyes, you have no alternative. To go down among the perishing
crowds is your duty. Your happiness from now on will consist in sharing their
misery, your ease in sharing their pain, your crown in helping them to bear
their cross, and your heaven in going into the very jaws of hell to rescue them.
Now, what will you do?

THE OBLIGATION OF THIS GENERATION TO

EVANGELIZE THE WORLD
by John R. Mott (Updated by Jessica Ahrend)
"The Church...possesses a remarkable resource. Think of her membership!
There are not less that 135,000,000 members of Protestant churches."
• Today there are 680,000,000 Bible-believing evangelicals world wide.
This means that for every believer there are only 9 non-believers and
for every unreached people group, there are 583 Christian
congregations.
"With over 500 missionary societies and auxiliaries there are, without doubt,
missionary organizations and societies in sufficient number."
• Today there are 3,970 mission agencies in existence.
• Last year alone, about 120 million people were presented the gospel
for the first time.
• The number of people who are being presented the plan of salvation
every day is now at least 260,274. The average number added to the
body of Christ world-wide is 174,000 daily.
"If only one-fourth of the Protestants of Europe and America should give but
one cent a day toward the evangelization of the world, it would yield a fund of
over $100,000,000..."
• Today, Great Commission Christians (those Christians who are
committed to world evangelization) earn $2.5 trillion in disposable
income. We give about $8 billion annually to missions (about one-third
of 1% of our disposable income). All that would be required to reach
every unreached people group is an additional $1.25 billion - one-
twentieth of 1%.
"It would take less than one fiftieth of the Christian young men and women
who will go out from Christian colleges in the United States and Canada within
this generation to furnish a sufficient force of foreign workers to achieve the
evangelization of the world in this generation."
• About 100 million evangelical believers worldwide are young people.
Just one-tenth of 1% of these would field a force of 100,000 new
missionaries - enough to send a church planting team to each of the
remaining unreached people groups.
"The Bible Societies, not fewer than eighty in number, have translated the
Scriptures entirely or in part into 421 languages and dialects."
• Every 14 days another translation of the New Testament is begun in a
new language.

"There are nearly 80,000 native workers, and their number and efficiency are
rapidly increasing."
• Today, 70% of the world's missionaries are native.
"The greatly enlarged and improved means of communication constitutes one
of the chief facilities of the Church..."
"Of the 400,000 miles of railway lines in the world, a considerable and growing
mileage is already to be found in non-Christian lands. It took Judson eleven
months to go from Salem to Calcutta. The trip can now be made in a month."
• It is possible to travel by air to any part of the world and be there in less
than 24 hours.
"The thoroughly organized news agencies which, through the secular press
bring before the members of the Church facts regarding the most distant and
needy nations, serve indirectly to awaken and foster interest in the inhabitants
of less favored lands."
• Through the internet, it is possible to access information about every
corner of the world, not to mention the countless websites that are
committed to encouraging prayer by providing statistics on unreached
countries.
"The Universal Postal Union with its wonderful organization and its vast army
of well nigh 1,000,000 employees immensely facilitates the work of foreign
missions."
• Today, instant communication with the other side of the planet is
possible through email, cell phones, web-cam and international chat
rooms.
The stats above are adapted from data by David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson of
the Global Evangelization movement.

THE ALIENS HAVE LANDED!

What are we going to do about it?
by Dan Waterman
Aliens have invaded the United States! Millions respond with complete
apathy. This could very well be a headline of the newspapers in most of the
major cities in the United States.
The aliens we are talking about do not have pointy ears and green skin. Often
though they are treated as if they do. These aliens are the thousands of
immigrants, international students, and refugees the USA receives each year.
They are lonely, scared, yet excited and longing to fit into this culture so new
to them.
Many of the countries they come from place hospitality as one of their highest
values, and as for hospitality to foreigners, it goes without saying - it is
essential.
Our Biblical Responsibility
i type You can imagine their surprise when they arrive in a country like the
United States and instead of being treated as visiting royalty, they are
ridiculed, insulted, or even worse, ignored.
As Christians we are often guilty of being the very ones who are ignoring the
aliens in our land. This goes directly against very clear commands from God
in the Bible: "When the alien lives in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien
living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as
yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God." (Lev. 19:33-
34)
"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien,
giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are alien, for you
yourself were aliens in Egypt." (Deut. 10:18-19)
What is wrong?
I have spoken across Canada challenging people to go as missionaries
overseas. Inevitably someone will stand up and say quite smugly, "Doesn't
missions begin in our own backyard?"
To his surprise, I often shout a loud "Amen!" and say, "Yes, let's begin with
those God directed us not to ignore: the widows, the orphans, the aliens
(immigrants, refugees, international students), the homeless, the hungry, and
the prisoners."
If there was uncomfortable shifting in the seats before, the room now sounds
like a game of musical chairs. Why the guilt? Because there are no excuses.
They are our backyards and we are accountable to God for them. Regretfully,

we live in an age when we can piously give to the building fund, sit on a
committee for evangelism, and sing in the choir, while ignoring our Pakistani
neighbor. There are literally thousands of alienated people waiting for some
genuine love and concern.
The story of Tim
Here's one example from my experience. One day, while at the University of
Alberta, a friend and I decided to go sharing the gospel with some people on
campus. We sat down with a young man from Hong Kong named Tim. As the
conversation continued, Tim broke into tears.
Sobbing, he told us how glad he was to talk to us. We were the first
Canadians that had ever talked to him - he had been in the country two years.
Sure he had talked to his professors and to store owners and salesmen, but
we were the first ones to talk to him who were not already so obliged.
I went and visited Tim's home, if you could call it that. It was a room the size
of our washroom. A mattress on bare cement, a dresser, a hot plate and a
television were all it contained. There were several other Chinese students in
the basement who shared his toilet facilities. Tim was not a person given to
weeping, but he cried again when we had him over for Christmas dinner. He
was so glad to be there! He tried a knife and a fork for the first time, and did a
good job. Not only did he enjoy himself, but it was one of the best
Christmases our family ever experienced.
Tim also became part of the Bible study I was leading on campus that year.
He and Lu, a Ph.D. student from Burma never missed a study. I often wonder
how many international students go home every year without meeting an
American who really wanted to talk to them and how many go home without
hearing the name of Jesus.
"Amen, brother! Missions does begin in our own backyard!" The question is,
do you even see the backyard around you?

A MISSIONARY CALL
by Robert E. Speer
What constitutes a missionary call? It is a good sign that men ask this
question. First, because it suggests that they think of the missionary
enterprise as singularly related to the will of God. Second, because it
indicates that they believe their lives are owned by a Person who has a right
to direct them and whose call they must await.
But when we have said these two things, I think we have said everything that
can be said in favor of the question because, far too often, it is asked for
thoroughly un-Christian reasons.
For instance, Christians will pursue a profession here in the United States
having demanded far less positive assurance that this is God's will than it is
for them to go out into the mission field. But by what right do they make such
distinctions? Christianity contends that the whole of life and all services are to
be consecrated; no man should dare to do anything but the will of God. And
before he adopts a course of action, a man should know nothing less nor
more than that it is God's will for him to pursue it.
If men are going to draw lines of division between different kinds of service,
what preposterous reasoning leads them to think that it requires less divine
sanction for a man to spend his life easily among Christians than it requires
for him to go out as a missionary to the heathen? If men are to have special
calls for anything, they ought to have special calls to go about their own
business, to have a nice time all their lives, to choose the soft places, to make
money, and to gratify their own ambitions.
How can any honest Christian say he must have a special call not to do that
sort of thing? How can he say that, unless he gets some specific call of God
to preach the Gospel to the heathen, he has a perfect right to spend his life
lining his pockets with money? Is it not absurd to suggest that a special call is
necessary to become a missionary, but no call is required to gratify his own
will or personal ambitions?
There is a general obligation resting upon Christians to see that the Gospel of
Jesus Christ is preached to the world. You and I need no special call to apply
that general call of God to our lives. We do need a special call to exempt us
from its application to our lives. In other words, every one of us stands under
a presumptive obligation to give his life to the world unless we have some
special exemption.
This whole business of asking for special calls to missionary work does
violence to the Bible. There is the command, "Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature." We say, "That means other people."
There is the promise, "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden
and I will give you rest." We say, "That means me." We must have a special
divine indication that we fall under the command; we do not ask any special

divine indication that we fall under the blessing. By what right do we draw this
line of distinction between the obligations of Christianity and its privileges? By
what right to we accept the privileges as applying to every Christian and
relegate its obligations to the conscience of the few?
It does violence to the ordinary canons of common sense and honest
judgment. We do not think of ordering other areas of our lives on this basis. I
think ex-president Patton of Princeton was representing the situation
accurately when he used the following illustration. He said, "Imagine I was
employed by the owner of a vineyard to gather grapes in his vineyard. The
general instructions were that as many grapes as possible should be
gathered. I went down to the gate of the vineyard and found the area around
the walls well plucked and the ground covered with pickers. Yet away off in
the distance no pickers at all are in sight and the vines are loaded to the
ground. Would I need a special visit and order from the owner of the vineyard
to instruct me as to my duty?"
If I were standing by the bank of a stream, and some
little children were drowning, I would not need any officer of the law to come
along and serve on me some legal paper commanding me under such and
such a penalty to rescue those children. I should despise myself if I should
stand there with the possibility of saving those little lives, waiting until, by
some legal proceeding, I was personally designated to rescue them!
Why do we apply, in a matter of infinitely more consequence, principles that
we would loathe and abhor if anybody should suggest that we should apply
them in the practical affairs of our daily life? Listen for a moment to the wail of
the hungry world. Feel for one hour its sufferings. Sympathize for one moment
with its woes. And then regard it just as you would regard human want in your
neighbor, or the want that you meet as you pass down the street, or anywhere
in life.
There is something wonderfully misleading, full of hallucination and delusion
in this business of missionary calls. With many of us it is not a missionary call
at all that we are looking for; it is a shove. There are a great many of us who
would never hear a call if it came. Somebody must come and coerce us
before we will go into missionary work.
Every one of us rests under a sort of general obligation to give life and time
and possession to the evangelization of the souls everywhere that have never
heard of Jesus Christ. And we are bound to go, unless we can offer some
sure ground of exemption which we could with a clear conscience present to
Jesus Christ and be sure of His approval upon it.
"Well," you ask, "do you mean, then, that I should take my life in my own
hands?" No! That is precisely what I am protesting against! That is exactly
what we have done. We have taken our lives in our own hands and proposed
to go our own way unless God compels us to go some other way. What I ask
is that, until God reveals to us some special, individual path on either side, we

should give our lives over into Jesus' hands to go in that path which He has
clearly marked out before His church.
I want to say one last thing.
I think love will hear calls where the loveless heart will not know that they are
sounding. If there were a hundred little children crying, a mother would be
able to pick out the voices of her own - especially if they were voices of pain
and suffering.
There is a mighty keenness in the ears of love, and I wonder, after all,
whether that may not explain a great deal that one is perplexed over in this
matter of a special missionary call. Is it possible that, in many cases, it is just
a matter of a callused heart, a reluctant will, or a sealed mind?
God so loved the world that He gave. It was need in the world plus love in
God that constituted a call for Jesus. Do we need more than what sufficed for
Him? If they were our own, would we hesitate and hold back?
Let us lay aside all double-dealing, all moral subterfuge, all those shuffling
evasions by which the Devil is attempting to persuade us to escape from our
duty, and let us get up like men and look at it and do it.
Students are old enough to decide to do their duty. They are old enough to
decide to go to college. They are old enough to decide for law and medicine
and other professions. They are old enough, too, to decide this question. God
forbid that we should try to hide from solemn consideration of our vital duty
behind any kind of pretext.
AMY CARMICHAEL'S DREAM

The tom-toms thumped straight on all night and the darkness shuddered
round me like a living, feeling thing. I could not go to sleep, so I lay awake and
looked; and I saw, as it seemed, this:
That I stood on a grassy sward, and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down
into infinite space. I looked, but saw no bottom; only cloud shapes, black and
furiously coiled, and great shadow-shrouded hollows, and unfathomable
depths. Back I drew, dizzy at the depth.
Then I saw forms of people moving single file along the grass. They were
making for the edge. There was a woman with a baby in her arms and
another little child holding on to her dress. She was on the very verge. Then I
saw that she was blind. She lifted her foot for the next step . . . it trod air. She
was over, and the children over with her. Oh, the cry as they went over!
Then I saw more streams of people flowing from all quarters. All were blind,
stone blind; all made straight for the precipice edge. There were shrieks, as
they suddenly knew themselves falling, and a tossing up of helpless arms,
catching, clutching at empty air. But some went over quietly, and fell without a
sound.

Then I wondered, with a wonder that was simply agony, why no one stopped
them at the edge. I could not. I was glued to the ground, and I could only call;
though I strained and tried, only whisper would come.
Then I saw that along the edge there were sentries set at intervals. But the
intervals were too great; there were wide, unguarded gaps between. And over
these gaps the people fell in their blindness, quite unwarned; and the green
grass seemed blood-red to me, and the gulf yawned like the mouth of hell.
Then I saw, like a little picture of peace, a group of people under some trees
with their backs turned toward the gulf. They were making daisy chains.
Sometimes when a piercing shriek cut the quiet air and reached them, it
disturbed them and they thought it a rather vulgar noise. And if one of their
number started up and wanted to go and do something to help, then all the
others would pull that one down. "Why should you get so excited about it?
You must wait for a definite call to go! You haven't finished your daisy chain
yet. It would be really selfish," they said, "to leave us to finish the work alone."
There was another group. It was made up of people whose great desire was
to get more sentries out; but they found that very few wanted to go, and
sometimes there were no sentries set for miles and miles of the edge.
Once a girl stood alone in her place, waving the people back; but her mother
and other relations called and reminded her that her furlough was due; she
must not break the rules. And being tired and needing a change, she had to
go and rest for awhile; but no one was sent to guard her gap, and over and
over the people fell, like a waterfall of souls.
Once a child caught at a tuft of grass that grew at the very brink of the gulf; it
clung convulsively, and it called-but nobody seemed to hear. Then the roots of
the grass gave way, and with a cry the child went over, its two little hands still
holding tight to the torn-off bunch of grass. And the girl who longed to be back
in her gap thought she heard the little one cry, and she sprang up and wanted
to go; at which they reproved her, reminding her that no one is necessary
anywhere; the gap would be well taken care of, they knew. And then they
sang a hymn.
Then through the hymn came another sound like the pain of a million broken
hearts wrung out in one full drop, one sob. And a horror of great darkness was
upon me, for I knew what it was-the Cry of the Blood.
Then thundered a voice, the voice of the Lord. "And He said, 'What hast thou
done, The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.'"
The tom-toms still beat heavily, the darkness still shuddered and shivered
about me; I heard the yells of the devil-dancers and weird, wild shriek of the
devil-possessed just outside the gate.
What does it matter, after all? It has gone on for years; it will go on for years.
Why make such a fuss about it?

God forgive us! God arouse us! Shame us out of our callousness! Shame us
out of our sin!
HOW DO YOU KNOW GOD WANTS YOU IN MISSIONS:

AN EMAIL TO A STUDENT
By Sankie Lynch
Not to long ago we received an email from a student named Chris. This email
was picture perfect because it captured the heart of almost any typical college
student's hang-ups - namely, how do I know God's path for me in missions?
This is a response to Chris:
Hey Chris, Great to hear back from you! I'm so glad to hear that you are
taking some initiative to pursue God's heart for the nations through different
agencies' resources. You are asking the right questions and I'm sure that you
will find that there are opportunities to use your specific skills overseas. You
are right - you can become a World Christian no matter where you are
located. That's a great point and I'm encouraged that you realize that. But I do
want you to remember that the further out of sight the 10/40 Window gets, or
welcoming internationals, or starting prayer groups for the 10/40 and people
groups, or Bible Studies on God's heart for all nations, or mobilizing others
with information, or reading books about the T.H.U.M.B. (Tribal, Hindu,
U=Chinese, Muslim, Buddhist), or educating yourself about God's Word,
World, and Work...the further one gets from these, the more prone they are to
never get involved. We tell ourselves we have "conviction" about certain
things, but I've learned that a "conviction" is something I put action to...not just
thought to.
You asked me a very interesting question, "How could I know if God wants me
involved in Missions?" That is a great question and we are asked that quite
often as we travel. I would like to try my best at answering it for you. Most
Christians in college will spend time studying, playing Play Station with his
closest friends, eating every meal with the same bunch of guys, going to
Christian meetings and small group Bible Studies with only believers around,
figuring out his next step...based upon his long-term desires and plans of
accomplishment, spending his summers investing in his degree or in acquiring
extra money for next semester. That guy would have no way of knowing
whether God would want him to do missions stuff because he would never
expose himself to anything out of his Christian bubble. So, I wonder what it
would look like for God to "get someone's attention." We never actually list
that out. We just think he will somehow let us know. How would God, in a very
practical way, let someone know of His desire for them to be involved? Now,
I'm not talking about a near death experience, a miraculous event, or Gabriel
floating into your bedroom at 3:30 AM with a message. These are the things
that we typically expect in order to be interrupted, though it is an unconscious
expectation. Instead, I wonder if God would write a book to all that follow Him
(Bible) and within this book there would be verse after verse talking about His
desire to see "every tribe, tongue and nation" come to know Him. Then, after

seeing this desire His followers could see that beginning with Abraham, God
uses people to reach people - even continuing to our generation today. Then,
what if God sent people to these followers to educate and equip them with
books, magazines, articles, people group profiles, statistics, countries, and
most importantly...access to go to 170 different places in the world that do not
have the gospel within their language? Can you think of another more
practical way that God could use? Could He be more specific than sending
people to you to get you more involved? What would that look like? What's
interesting is that this would take very strategic and organized plans, actions,
and follow-up. And then, after all this, some would still say they don't "feel"
God showing them what to do. We do so much in life without having to "feel"
God leading us. Sometimes we don't think of how God could lead us in
practical ways...we just think, "it will happen," or "I'll know." I think that much
of our American culture has come to the conclusion that something is "good"
or "God's will" if the outcome looks appealing, envious, or prosperous. I don't
know if that's the picture I see from Genesis to Revelation. I hope you'll look to
see how God may be leading you in practical ways! Sankie
ARE YOU WILLING?

by Paul Fleming
One thing has always amazed me as I have traveled about the United States
in missionary meetings. I have talked to thousands of young people about the
mission field and countless times I have heard them say, "Well, I am willing to
go." It seems strange to me, if there are so many people who are willing, why
the Lord doesn't take some of them if He really wants to reach the thousands
of heathen folks who are dying without the Gospel. Somehow, there are so
many who say they are willing that we must begin to realize if God could only
get one-tenth of the "willing" people to actually go, possibly a lot could be
done about this great job of reaching men who have never heard the Gospel.
It becomes sort of a comfortable saying – "We are willing." Yes, they are
willing, but after a while this begins to sound a little ridiculous. We approach
very few things of life in this way. If we are going to go some place, we don't
say that we are willing to go. It would sound foolish to stand on your front
porch and say that you are willing to go to town. You plan to go, say you're
going to go and get there. It seems useless to talk about being willing.
However, there is a certain measure of comfort in saying this about God's
great job. It makes it appear as though we are waiting on God; and if He
wanted to use us, He could. It can also infer at times that we are completely
yielded to the Lord and that He could do anything He wanted to with us.
Are we hiding behind a poor excuse? Are we trying to make it look as though
we are waiting on God when, in reality, He is waiting on us? Yes, that is
exactly the way it looks.

Not long ago, I went with a friend to visit his sister who was in nurses' training.
As we sat eating in a Chinese restaurant, I asked the young lady if she had
ever thought about giving her life for missionary work.
"No, I hadn't," she replied.
"What would have to happen," I asked, "before you would think seriously
about giving your life for missionary work?"
"Well," she replied, "the Lord would have to do something very special, deal
with me in an unusual way, before I could feel that missionary work was the
job for me." I was curious as to how the Lord had led her into nurse's training,
wondering if He had led her in this same special way.
To this question she replied, "No, I thought nurses' training was a good thing
to do; so I started in at it."
Finally, I asked her if she was saved and really loved the Lord.
"Certainly," she replied.
"And you also feel that your life is on the altar and that you are willing to do
anything that the Lord would want you to do?"
"Yes," she said, "I believe I am willing."
I understood that her nurses' training would soon be finished, so I asked about
her plans as to what she would do when she finished.
"Well," she said, "this may seem strange to you, but I am going into farming."
Again I asked her, "Has the Lord dealt with you in a definite way? Has He
shown you in some special way that this is what He wants you to do?"
Her reply was the same as before: "No, to be honest with you, I just thought it
was a good thing to do."
Then I asked her if it didn't seem rather strange that she could make all these
other decisions pertaining to her life without a special leading from the Lord,
but when it came to giving her life wholly for the Lord's service – for a job so
important to the cause of Christ – she would require a special revelation
before she could do anything about it. Then she made the admission that she
had never thought of it in that way before, and that she was just living her life
the way she thought she ought. Her own desire was more evident than the
leading of the Lord.
One night in a young people's meeting I told the above story, and after the
meeting a big fellow came up to me and said, "I'm the young man she was
going into farming with, but our plans have been changed. I think when she
finishes nurses' training she is looking to the mission field."

Is it true that many people think they are willing? If so, we must ask: how
willing are they? If they are really willing, wouldn't God move them out to men
who are dying without the Gospel? If they are truly yielded, wouldn't He at
least move more of them than He has? Or doesn't He care? If we are going to
believe God's Word, we know He cares. Let's not place the blame on God.
Let's recognize that we have failed to allow Him to do in our lives that which
He wants done.
Many of us are selfish, living for ourselves. We are living for the things we like
to do. We like to entertain the thought that we're willing to follow Jesus Christ,
but the truth of the matter is that it is only with our lips that we are willing.
"This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth and honoureth Me with
their lips; but their heart is far from Me" (Matthew 15:8). If one-tenth of the
people who were willing had given themselves wholly and completely, I
believe the job would have been done long ago. Instead of saying we are
willing to go, why not say, "Lord, if You are willing, I am going"?
This article provided by www.heartofgod.com/frontlines
BORN FOR SUCH A TIME

by John Willis Zumwalt
Let's imagine for a minute that you were born in Calcutta, India. You would be
under the oppression of the worship of the goddess, "Kali." Even today in
Calcutta, human sacrifice is demanded to appease "Kali," which is the
goddess of destruction, murder and violence. Even in today's "enlightened
and educated" environment, that kind of evil continues. Here where Satan's
grip is strong, itchy fingers are on nuclear weapons. That is the place. What if
you had been born in Calcutta? Wouldn't you be hungry and anxious to see
the messenger of the Good News of Jesus Christ? Here in America, we have
a land flowing with milk and honey. It is a land flowing with the blessings of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and there, they have none. Don't you think they
desire the Good News? Don't you think they hunger after Jesus Christ? He is
called "The Desire of the Nations."
I remember this thought hitting me: It's not fair that I was born here and they
were born there. Why is it, for generations upon generations, they grow up in
darkness and die in darkness, and yet I have the blessing of growing up with
the Light. I have the Scriptures and a family that loves Jesus. They took care
of me and brought me up in the Good News of Jesus Christ in a land with
churches all around me. I began asking myself the question, "Why was I born
here and not there?" That is a good question, but I want to ask you a different
one. Why were you born now? Why were you not born 100 years ago, or
tomorrow, or why were you not born today? Why were you born for such a
time as this? The good news is that God has chosen you specifically for this
time. It is not a mistake.

Normal Christianity
I noticed that we have indications that there may be four Joshua's coming to
the next Oak Hill Boot Camp. Who knows if they will all come, but four? What
is God saying? I started thinking about this, and I believe that God is saying,
"This is the kind of person this is the kind of generation that we are living in a
Joshua kind of generation.
You remember Joshua. God said, "He is a man like no other." That means he
is not a "normal" man. We need some people who are not "normal." We can
look around and see "normal," and there is nothing great about it. "Normal"
churches are little more than the Rotary Club. "Normal" Christianity has
reduced the life of God in us and through us to a weekend activity right before
the football game, hardly distinguishable from any other activity.
We need some Joshuas on planet earth who will hear God say, "I want you to
go in and take the land." They will spy it out. They will say, "Yeah, man, there
are giants there, but look at the fruit!" They will say, "We can do it, because
God says we can." What are the giants? Communism, Hinduism, Buddhism,
Islam. You know, Muslims don't like Christians. They kill them. But do you
know what Joshua says? We can do it!!! Why? Because we are mighty? NO!!!
Because God said we could, and He will be with us!
The people of Israel said, "No." They died in the wilderness, but Joshua lived
to lead the next generation into the Promised Land. Friends, I believe this is
Joshua's Generation the people who will see The "Promised" land. We will go
in without fear. We will not be like past generations who dilly-dallied around in
their own affairs, their own business, their own pleasures, concerned for their
own life! But we will believe God and boldly go where no man has gone
before! Go boldly!!! Enter into this promised land!
Generation X
I am on the front edge of what is called Generation X. Do you know that half
of my generation is dead already? They have been wiped out by abortion.
Half of my generation no longer lives. They were cut off. When you see Satan,
on a mass scale, wiping out the babies, you know something's afoot. You
know he is trying to stop something that God intends to do. Moses, you
remember that? Jesus, remember that? We have another situation on our
hands. God is planning something for this generation - to bring Light and
Salvation to the ends of the earth, and Satan is doing everything He can to
thwart God's plan before it ever has a chance to begin.
This is a crucial generation, this Joshua Generation. It is time to go in and
possess the land. We are not responsible for generations that have already
died. We cannot do anything about it. Can we? But we are responsible for the
generation that is now alive. Old to young, we are responsible for who is alive
right now. It is an awesome responsibility. Now is not the time for timidity, for
calmness. Some people would like for me to calm down a little bit, but it is not

the time for kicking back in an easy chair and taking it easy. Now is the time
for aggressively going out and doing that to which God has called us.
The spies have gone in. They have seen the land and said, "It is good." God
has said, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded, and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age." He
commanded that. He didn't say, only go if it is safe to go. He didn't say, only
go if you can come back. He didn't say, only go if it feels good. He said, GO!!!
We should not be satisfied with just our own salvation and relax in that, but
aggressively fight for the salvation of those who have never heard of Jesus
even once.
Time for Timidity
I have a statistic, which absolutely blew me away. I know statistics are
dangerous. People zone out. But when I read this one, I finally understood. I
may have read it before, but recently when I read it, I popped up out of bed,
threw my bathrobe on, and I started pacing. I couldn't sleep for hours after
this. This is the single most exciting statistic I have ever seen. There are 6.2
billion people alive today. Right now, there are more people alive than have
ever died in history! Do you understand? Let me explain. Adam and everyone
else who has ever died, there are less of them than those who are alive today
on Planet Earth! Do you see? We are not just another generation! We hold in
our hands the eternal destiny of over half of God's created beings, over half of
the people He died for on the Cross. It is not the time for timidity. It is not the
time for doing things casually. It is not the time for doing it like our mom and
dad did it. It is time for Joshua to go in and take the land; because if we don't,
we have lost nearly half of all the people that God has ever made.
I wonder - God must have made a mistake in His planning! It has to be! I
know who I am, and you have seen the condition of the local church? What is
He thinking? Where is the Apostle Paul when we need him? Where is James
Hudson Taylor? Where is Samuel Zwemer? Where's William Carey? Where is
Harmon Schmelzenbach when we need him? I am looking at us, and I am
saying, "God, are we the ones to do the job? Literally half of all your loved
people are alive right now, and you have chosen us to do this? We have
minimal zeal for God, minimal love for mankind, minimal commitment it
seems. Us? He has chosen to give to us the biggest task of any generation,
ever!
The Good News is that God is enough! Remember the story of the feeding of
the 5,000? Lest we forget, they did not have any food to give out to 5,000
people. Impossible! And the bread was broken and given. Jesus made it
enough. The little bit we have, the little bit of faith, the little bit of love, the little
bit of zeal and passion, God will multiply and feed His multitudes that He loves
so dearly. He always puts us between the Bread of Life and the masses, and
God will continue to multiply as we, in obedience, hand it out.

He has chosen the weak things of the world - that is an understatement - to

do this awesome task, and I have figured out why: because we will not be
able to steal His Glory! No one will say, "Look what we did; we were so good."
No! We will throw our crown quickly at Jesus' feet and say, "Look what Jesus
did! Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!" He purchased men from every
tongue, tribe and nation and formed them into a Holy Priesthood and into a
Kingdom. He did it!!! Not you and me, because of our brilliance. Where is
Charles Spurgeon when we need him? Where's Moody? Where are these
guys? God chose the humble things of the earth to bring Him glory and to
confound the wise.
Mission Possible
Deuteronomy 32:8 tells us that "He establishes the boundaries of the peoples
according to the Sons of Israel." God has chosen to establish the boundaries
of the peoples of planet earth according to the number of the Sons of Israel.
This principle was established in Scripture. God's plan was to bless the
nations through Israel. There were 70 sons of Israel that went into Egypt, and
God established in Genesis 10 and 11 that there were 70 nations. When
Jesus sent out the disciples to the Gentile (or nation) villages, he sent out 70.
The principle is this: God is not giving us a job that is too big to be done.
Sometimes, I look at it and think "2.1 billion people that have never had a
chance to hear??!!" How are we going to do it with just a handful? How are we
going to do it even if 600 people come through our ministry in the next two
years? It is still 2.1 billion people. Sons of Israel, daughters of Israel, we are
enough, with our Almighty God who can multiply all our activities.
God could have controlled the population growth, couldn't He? Why is it that
population kind of sputtered along at almost nothing and then suddenly in our
generation, swoosh, six billion? How did that happen? God is in control, and
He chose you for this generation. This is a good word! We are not out of our
God's ballpark. We are in the ballpark He chose for us. We are exactly in the
generation and in the time that He chose for us. He believes in us. He has
given us a job and provided everything we need to accomplish it. Airplanes.
Think about it. It doesn't take six months to get to the mission field. E-mail!
You can talk to anybody on the mission field, and they can talk to you. They
can say, "Pray, I'm in a world of hurt and trouble." Technologically, we are set-
up wonderfully.
Financially, we are set-up incredibly. This always becomes an issue. How are
we going to use our finances? I got an appeal from a local institute that is
building a plaza in the middle of its property, so the students can have a place
to get together. It is a nice plaza, and they are putting a nice fountain in the
middle. The fountain alone cost $150,000! A $150,000 fountain! Now, before
you think I am a raving lunatic, think about this. When the rainbow showed up,
God promised not to destroy the earth again by water. He did not say
anything about fire. Next time He is going to destroy it by fire. This fountain is
a temporal thing. I am not short-sighted about the fact that the next generation
will enjoy this fountain with the little investment we are making now, but I am

talking about a real investment. The only things that last forever are those
people that you have rescued from the pit of hell! They have happy Heaven to
enjoy, but this fountain is not going to enjoy happy Heaven. That $150,000,
and all the other ways the Church of Jesus Christ finds to waste His money, is
costing lives on planet earth.
I will tell you what it is like. It is like the fire trucks coming to a five-alarm fire in
a 15-story building. Fire is shooting out of the top; people hanging on by their
fingernails off the edge. Their death is sure. The fire trucks all come up.
Zoom! They are there. Then the firemen get out and start polishing their
shoes. They start making sure the engine looks good. We have a job to do!
We are left on planet earth for one reason! One reason!!! To obey the Great
Commission - to see that every tongue, tribe and nation has a witness of who
Jesus is! Then, and only then, will He have what He desires: people from
every tongue, tribe and nation worshipping Him before the throne forever and
ever.
How we spend our money determines how well we are going to do on this job,
whether or not we will even get the job done. God's money is reserved for this
great moment in time, to save half of the people He ever created. Think about
it. Half of all people ever created are alive right now, and this little bit of money
we have is meant for that purpose. While people go to Hell, are we concerned
over our aesthetic preferences?
It is going to take every one of us, all of us involved in this. He has given us
plenty with which to do the job - personnel, strength, technology, money - it is
not a problem, but it is going to take us all. How in the world will they believe,
unless they hear? How will they hear, unless someone goes to them, and how
will someone go to them, unless we send them. We have to march forward
with greater aggression than ever before. If you are called to go? Then, GO!!!
Don't wait around. GO!!!
If you are called to stay, then STAY and send - aggressively! I am called to
stay. I am called to send. We need lots of help to do this job. A couple of
people cannot do it alone. Just look at my ministry alone - this little thing that
God has raised up. We need people to layout letters on computers for the
missionaries that go out, so people can pray. We need an accountant
desperately. We need children's workers and teachers, cooks or food
coordinators. We need people to work on the grounds.
Think about it: half of all people on planet earth that have ever lived are alive
today in your lifetime. Let us throw off everything that holds us back, the sins
that entangle us, the nice things that slow us down. You know what I'm talking
about. They are the nice things that are not illegal. The Bible does not say,
"Don't do them," but you know what they do. They slow you down from
aggressively getting the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Let's throw them off
and run this race that He has laid before us. He has chosen you for this time.
This time. For such a time, you were born.

MISSIONARIES AND CIRCUS PERFORMERS

I was trying to find insurance for a vehicle I was considering buying. One
company had been recommended to me as having the best rates, so naturally
I thought I would check them out. Their rates were excellent, and while the
saleswoman was taking down all the pertinent information about me, she
asked me my occupation. I told her that I was a missionary speaker. She
responded, "Oh no. I am so sorry Mr. Zumwalt, but our company does not
insure circus performers or missionaries." I did not know how to respond.
What an odd juxtaposition of imagery; those funny people in their spandex
pants and missionaries are in the same category. Do I laugh or complain?
She assured me that those were not her own feelings; she admired
missionaries. It was just company policy: no circus performers or
missionaries. When I think of the circus, I always think of the picture of a
smiling guy putting his head into a lion's mouth. In essence, missionaries,
when they go to the unreached, are walking into the lion's den, and as it is in
the big top, I hear those who are watching whisper to one another, "I would
never do that. Would you go in there?" We need a renewed breed of risk
takers. For today, when most mission agencies and many missionaries are
content to stay where the Gospel has already been proclaimed, God has
called us to go still further where the name of Christ has not yet been
preached, rather than to continue to work where other men have established
a foundation (Rm. 15:20). Frontier missionaries are risk takers going to places
that have been locked away from the Gospel for thousands of years. We need
apostles who will risk it all, like C.T. Studd, who went to China. Though he
was what today would be a millionaire, he sold everything he had and went
out with nothing in his pockets, trusting in his God alone. He staked his career
and his fortune. In his later years, his health failing, penniless, doctors
refusing to permit him to go, his mission agency refusing to send him, yet told
by God to go, C.T.Studd once more staked all on obedience to God. A
gambler for God! He joined ranks with the great gamblers of our faith,
Abraham and Moses, all the heroes of Hebrews 11. He exemplified the true
heart and zeal of Apostolic Christianity: "men that have risked (gambled with)
their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 15:26). Studd, with
solemn resolution proclaimed, "Gentlemen, God has called me to go, and I
will go. I will blaze the trail, though my grave may only become a stepping
stone that younger men may follow." The more I think about it, I like being in
with the circus. Often missionaries feel like they are on the flying trapeze,
throwing themselves across a chasm of faith in finances, hoping there are
those who will catch them on the other side. Or like the high wire balancing
act where the father ends up carrying his family on his shoulders,
missionaries risk everything that is dear and near to them to go where Christ
has told them to go. These are not ordinary people. By all worldly standards,
they may well be insane. I think that Jesus is asking this generation to be
different from normal, to gamble it all, to risk everything. It is not a time to

hedge our bet; it is a time to lay it all on the altar. "He that shall lose his life for
my sake and the Gospel's shall find it." C.T. Studd asked the question, and it
still stands, "Are gamblers for gold so many, and gamblers for God so few?"
WHAT IS A "CONCERT OF PRAYER?"

The term "Concerts of Prayer" comes from the early 1700s, and has been
used in subsequent generations to describe major prayer movements
preceding new global advances of Christ's Kingdom. In The Eager Feet, Dr. J.
Edwin Orr writes: "The Concert of Prayer for revival in the 1780s in Great
Britain and in the 1790s in the United States, and the renewed Concert of
Prayer in both countries…was clearly demonstrated to be the prime factor in
motivating and equipping Christians for service in a world-wide movement
which totally eclipsed the military might of the nations at the battle of
Waterloo. As in the first half of the century (the early 1800s), practically every
missionary vision (from 1858 onward) was launched by men revived in the
awakenings in the sending churches."
Here's one example. A praying businessman, Jeremiah Lamphier started a
noontime prayer meeting in 1857 in the Dutch Reformed Church consistory in
Manhatten, New York. In response to his advertisement, only six people out of
a population of one million showed up. But they weren't discouraged. The next
week there were fourteen and then twenty-three. In a few months there were
concerts of prayer in scores of U.S. cities. This was the beginning of a God-
given prayer movement that became the sustaining foundation for the Great
Awakening of the mid-1800's, reviving the Church and resulting in a worldwide
missionary advance lasting over 100 years.
Today, God has convinced many that the body of Christ worldwide is on the
verge of a wonderful new work of God that will transform their cities, as well
as bring the Gospel to some of earth's unreached peoples. Thus, they can do
nothing else but pray and call others to join them!
Historically speaking, the primary focus of Concerts has been on two major
agendas: Christians prayed for Christ's fullness to be revealed in His Church
to empower them to accomplish the task that was before them. They also
prayed for the fulfillment of His saving purposes among the nations through
an awakened, consecrated Church. The same two-fold agenda prevails today.
And so "Concerts of Prayer" helps describe Christians united on a regular
basis to seek fullness and fulfillment. Extraordinary united prayer is not
determined so much by how long one prays or how often but rather that
Christians do pray, that they pray for those things most on God's heart, and
that they do so together - "in concert."

How Does This Relate to World Evangelization?

Billions still wait to hear the Gospel. Most have no one like them near them to
tell them. In addition, the immensity, complexity, and urgency of the challenge
can create in many of us a paralysis of faith.
But in spiritual awakening God changes this. He brings us face to face with
the Lordship of Christ. The Church rediscovers how fully Christ is Lord of
heaven and earth. We also discover in new ways that He is the Lord of
history, and that He is able to overcome all barriers to His Kingdom's
advance. We view Him as Lord of His Church and Lord through His Church,
able to empower us and work through us to fulfill His global cause. And we
recognize how fully He is Lord of our own lives, able to work through our lives,
without limits, to touch the very ends of the earth.
This discovery brings a decisive devotion to Jesus as Lord that releases us
from paralysis of faith and forms the spiritual dynamic behind world
evangelization.
At a meeting of world mission leaders, Dr. George Peters appealed, "We have
become in missions so wrapped up in technology and methodology that we
have forgotten that missions is number one the releasing of divine dynamics.
Reaching the unreached will, first of all, mean for us not only to lay hold of it in
faith, but to develop thousands and thousands of prayer cells in America and
elsewhere that will commit themselves whole-heartedly to prayer until the
victory will be won. We need spiritual mobilization."
What to pray
• For God to be glorified throughout the earth, among all peoples
everywhere. Tell Him you want this to happen and tell Him what it will
mean to you personally when it does.
• That God would receive greater praise in the earth for what He is
presently doing in the Church, and especially for all he will do through
the Church to reach, salvage and fulfill unreached peoples around the
world.
• That Christ's world mission of love and justice will prevail. It is a life or
death issue. People without Christ everywhere lack any inheritance in
God's kingdom and have no way to receive His salvation.
• For churches to be planted within every people group on our planet
within this generation.
• For new thrusts in world evangelization through the intentional,
sacrificial penetration of major human barriers world-wide.
• For an awakened spiritual hunger among the billions (such as Muslims,
Chinese, Hindus, Buddhists and secularists) who have yet to clearly

learn of Christ. That they may have a new sense of the reality of God
and an unavoidable desire to seek Him.
• For Satan to be bound and fully routed within every nation; that Christ's
victory on the cross would break Satan's hold on peoples and cultures.
• For world leaders and governments, and for the outcome of world
events. All of these can directly affect the free course of the Gospel
within a nation and within a people group.
• For major global issues which impinge on a world mission thrust. They
are part of the moral darkness, which must be pressed back by the
planting of responsible communities of disciples among the billions who
have yet to hear. Such issues include: global hunger, nuclear
proliferation, political and economic oppression, and terrorism.
• For God's people everywhere to see those nearby whose ways of living
differ from them enough to cut them off from the regular witness of the
Gospel; for us to see them and reach out to them.
• For specific people groups who are beyond the reach of the Gospel.
Ask God to give to churches world-wide the wisdom to know how to
reach them.
• That God would raise up hundreds of thousands of new cross-cultural
messengers of the Gospel to be sent out in a variety of roles, by
churches around the world.
• For those peoples and places where the doors are open for hundreds
of more laborers to enter right now. That the doors would remain open
and that the workers would soon be found to walk through them.
• For all current efforts to research and formulate mission strategy, so as
to effectively train and deploy a new generation of missionaries and
self-supporting witnesses.
• For God to raise up a new movement of "senders" world-wide people
who know God has called them to send a new force of cross-cultural
witnesses and who embrace that assignment with the same vision and
sacrifices as those who go.
Suggested Format For A Two Hour Concert of Prayer
Following the pattern of concerts of prayer over the past 250 years, as well as
prayer movements emerging nationwide and worldwide today, here is one
model of a format for a two-hour Concert of Prayer. The approach provides
not only a satisfying experience during a prayer concert, but can be adapted
back in the churches, fellowships and ministries from which we come - so that
the vision and ministry of united prayer may spread.
Here are title basic components for a Concert of Prayer:

• Celebration
• Dedication
• Seeking Fullness
• Testimonies
• Preparation
• Seeking Fulfillment
• Grand Finale
1. CELEBRATION (10 minutes)
o Praise in hymns and choruses, focused on awakening and
mission
o Reports of God's answers to prayers offered up during previous
Concerts
o Prayers of praise for God's faithfulness, for His Kingdom, for His
Son
2. PREPARATION (20 minutes)
o Welcome to the Concert
o Overview: Why are we here?
o Biblical perspectives on what we're praying toward (i.e.
awakening, mission)
o Preview of the format
o Teaming-up in partners and in huddles
3. DEDICATION (5 minutes)
o Commitment: to be servants through prayer and to be used in
answer to our prayers
o Thanksgiving: for the privilege of united prayer and for those
with whom we unite
o Invitation for Christ to lead the Concert and to pray through us
o Hymn of praise
4. SEEKING FOR FULLNESS / AWAKENING IN THE CHURCH (30
minutes)
o In partners - for personal revival

o In huddles - for awakening in our local churches and ministries

o As a whole - for awakening in the Church worldwide
o Pause to listen to our Father
o Chorus
5. SEEKING FOR FULFILLMENT/MISSION AMONG THE NATIONS (30
minutes)
o In partners - for personal ministries
o In huddles - for outreach and mission in our city
o As a whole - for world evangelization
o Pause to listen to our Father
o Chorus
6. TESTIMOMES: WHAT HAS GOD SAID TO US HERE? (10 minutes)
o On Fullness (awakening)
o On Fulfillment (mission)
7. GRAND FINALE (15 minutes)
o Offering ourselves to be answers to our prayers and also to live
accordingly
o Prayer for God's empowerment in our own lives for ministry
o Prayer for prayer movements locally and worldwide
o 0ffering praise to the Father who will answer our Concert of
Prayer
o Leave to watch and serve "in concert"

HOW DO I KNOW GOD'S DIRECTION FOR MY

LIFE?
by Claude Hickman
Some students won't ever find their way to the right path God has for them,
not because of disinterest or disobedience, but because of debilitation: the
paralysis caused by too many options. Paul Borthwick calls this the problem
of "overchoice." With the whole world before you and a passion to reach it,
where do you dive in? Choosing one path seems like leaving behind several
other great options. To a generation where keeping your options open is a
high priority, fitting yourself somewhere into God's global plans seems like an
overwhelming task. I've began to give students this advice, which is more of a
principle based approach to finding direction from God on the journey He has
for you. The process must follow these decision-steps in the succession they
are laid out to ensure meaningful Great Commission decisions and to protect
us from selfish distortions. I just call it the telescope.
In this "telescope," the first lens we look through is leading. This is the hardest
to describe, but the most confirming in our spirit - because it comes from God.
When I say leading I do not mean that you feel "called" to missions and some
are not called. Us missions mobilizers get on edge when you start using this
kind of language, because we maintain that everyone is called to be on
mission with God in reaching the nations. We are all commanded to go -
leading just tells us where to stop. Two main "leading" demographics to begin
with would be 1) a religion group or 2) an area of the world. Do you see
yourself working among Muslims, Tribals, or in an area such as China or
Africa? Many times this decision lens of leading must be learned by
experience. That is why every believer should determine to take at least one
meaningful short-term mission trip in their life. Leading comes from
experience because God clarifies in the midst of obedience, not beforehand.
The apostle Paul tried to get into six cities before God clarified his
Macedonian "leading" to him in a vision (Acts 16:6-10). As Keith Green said,
"God can't steer a parked car." The idea is that we need to move forward, the
rest of the details will come along the way. "Your ears will hear a word behind
you, 'This is the way, walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right or to the left"
(Isaiah 30:21)
When you are obeying and delighting yourself in the Lord's will, there is a
sense in which you can trust the inner leading of your desires - because the
Lord will give you those desires. In the Psalms David writes, "Delight yourself

also in the Lord; and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalms 37:4).
The reason God can give David the desires of David's heart is he had
delighted in the Lord enough that he had become a man after God's own
heart (Acts 13:22, 1 Sam 13:14). They were really God's desires within David.
God is not out to crush your joy in life. If you find yourself desiring to reach a
particular area or religious group with the gospel, the chances are that it is
God's heart being evidenced through yours. Some people get worried about
bad motivations for missions, but Jesus used at least eight motivations for His
disciples to get engaged in reaching the world: Love (John 14:21), Guilt (Acts
20:26, Ezek. 33:6), Hell (Luke 12:5, Matt 13:41-42), Obedience (Matt 28:18-
20), Compassion (Matt 9:36, Mark 1:41), Rewards (Luke 18:29-30), Purpose
(Matt 16:26-27, 1 Peter 1:24), and His Glory (John 15:8, John 17:4). When we
love God, we begin to love the things that He loves. You may find that God is
leading you by the joy you feel in considering a certain path, and joy is not a
bad motivation. "…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith,
who for the joy set before Him endured the cross" (Heb 12:2). This leading is
only the first lens and we get clearer direction from the next lens. Being
strategic?
The strategic lens is what ensures that we are not "building on another man's
foundation" and that we are "finishing the race and completing the task" of
reaching the unreached peoples of the world. The strategic lens asks the
question, "Where in the area or religion group (first lens) is the most strategic
place I can be used." Where is the greatest need for the gospel or greatest
opportunity for its spreading? You might feel the Lord "leading" you to Fiji -
"Yep, I can see myself there." But that might not be the most strategic in
reaching the unreached. I may want to work among Muslims but just because
there are Muslims in Kansas doesn't mean that is the most strategic place to
reach them or that it will impact the unreached peoples of the Muslim world.
Leading is gained mainly by experience, where "strategic" may be gained by
education. This is the lens that filters out a wasted life. There are strategic
ways to be anywhere in the world. Instead of just defaulting to America, we
must move forward in obedience and in that process many may end here for a
purpose bigger than Americans, because of strategy.
The next lens I call "gifting." This is the question of, "Can God use my talents,
career, degree, or skills to serve in this strategic area where I feel Him leading
me?" Right here is where most Christians and students will err, because they
want to flip the telescope. They want to look through the lenses backward. I
remember Steve Hawthorne, a mission mobilizer, relating a long conversation
he had with a young lady about how she could use her Spanish among
unreached peoples. After Steve had exhausted all of his knowledge of
possible unreached people groups in South America, etc., he finally
responded to her saying, "Why don't you stop telling God what you want to do
for Him - and begin by asking God what He wants you to do." You can't look
through the telescope backwards or you get a very small, narrow, limited view
of how God may want to use you. He may want to use your talents, He may
not. It is not a bad question to ask - we just need to ask it third and not first.

Finally, would be the agency lens. What mission agency or sending entity can
train and send me to this area, whether using my degree or not. Again we can
be tempted to look through the telescope backward if we only know of one
mission sending agency, which many only do. It is a good idea to get familiar
with several other agencies that work there just so you can allow God to lead
you based on choice and not default.
These principles for allowing God to lead you should help you in making a
good decision about what to do with your life. Don't give your life to the things
that others can and will do, but to the things that others can't and won't do.
The best thing you can do as you begin to work through each of these is pray
for God's guidance as you plan. Surround yourself with Godly counsel who
share a vision for the world and will be honest with you if you are trying to
serve your own agenda. Allow God to make the North Star of reaching people
from every tribe and tongue the guiding force for all your decisions. With the
end firmly rooted in your heart, and saturated with God's word you can live life
by the compass - making His agenda to reach the nations the decisive factor
in choosing your steps along the journey.
MISSIONS & DISCIPLESHIP

by Claude Hickman
I've noticed something over the past few years as I have labored on a college
campus and traveled the U.S. speaking to college students. Everybody has
his or her bandwagon. Especially in Christian circles, everyone has one
conviction about some issue that they always find a way to bring up, and they
are always attempting to persuade others to their way of thinking. It makes
them feel spiritual. Most of the time they are right and their convictions are
good.
In this student generation, I've seen missions become one of those
bandwagons. Of course I'm not opposed to beating the missions drum, the
problem is that missions has become the 'quick fix' spirituality that some newly
converted, zealous, but unbroken believers have found to be their ticket to the
head of the pack. He reads a book, hears one talk, memorizes some statistics
and jargon- and next thing you know he is criticizing the pastor and every
other ministry because they don't share his world vision. Unfortunately, this
disgruntled Christian is mistaken for a leader and given authority to reward his
puffed up attitude. What went wrong? Was this the way Jesus designed it?
No.
What's missing is discipleship, the process of being mentored and taught the
basics of the Christian life by another human being. It is humbling to be
taught. One of the first qualities I look for in a believer is teachability. If
someone is unteachable, self-reliant, and so independent that they have
nothing to learn from anyone, I don't care how much they know or what they

have done, they are useless. But a lifelong learner is of far greater potential,
even if he knows very little now. Unfortunately most of the students I meet
have no one discipling them one on one. They may be in a Bible study or cell
group that they float into once a week for an hour, but this is not discipleship.
If we look at the life of Jesus we see that he moved his disciples through
several phases. The first is Evangelism, bringing them to believe in Him as
the Messiah. The next phase is Establishing, grounding them in the basics of
the Christian life. After awhile, some followers proved themselves to be faithful
men and were selected for special training, or Equipping. Only after this
filtering process did he Extend them to the nations on their own. Dr. Bill
Jones, Bible professor at Columbia International Seminary, uses the analogy
of first, second, third base, and home plate. A team can have more runners on
base and lose the game. You must have them all. Discipleship without
extending them to the nations is just as empty. You must score. But to score,
you have to round all the bases. That was the Lord's method; evangelize,
establish, equip, extend.
We also see that the early Church modeled this. Just read through Acts and
see the pattern of developing believers, training them and then sending them
to the nations.
Acts
Evangelizing - Acts 2:38,47 "Repent and be baptized...And the Lord added to
their number daily those who were being saved."
Establishing - Acts 2:41,42 "Those who accepted his message were
Baptized… they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
Equipping Leaders - Acts 6:3,7 "Choose seven men from among you who
are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility
over to them."
Extending - Acts 10:34-48 "I now realize how true it is that God does not
show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what
is right."
Evangelizing - Acts 11:20-21 "Some of them went to Antioch and began to

speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus…a
great number of people believed and turned to the Lord."
Establishing - Acts 11:22-26 "So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met
with the Church and taught great numbers of people."
Equipping Leaders - Acts 13:1 "In the Church of Antioch there were prophets
and teachers (trained men)."

Extending - Acts 13:3-4 "So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed
their hands on them and sent them off."
1 Thessalonians
Evangelizing - 1 Thess. 1:4-5 "For we know, brothers loved by God, that he
has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but
also with power…"
Establishing - 1 Thess 1:6 "… you know how we lived among you for your
sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord."
Equipping -1 Thess 1:7 "And so you became a model to all the believers in
Macedonia and Achaia."
Extending - 1 Thess 1:8 "The Lord's message rang out from you not only in
Macedonia and Achaia - your faith in God has become known everywhere."
This was the Lord's method, and the early church's method: Evangelize,
Establish, Equip, Extend.
A friend from a mission agency told me that at their last candidate training,
they were getting ready to show them how to share Christ in a Muslim culture,
when one student raised his hand and said, "Uh... I've never shared Christ in
my own culture." My friend also told me that they send people home all the
time because they are not established or equipped for the work. They have
zeal, seminary degrees and knowledge, but lack the real life model. Without
this grounding the missionary has nothing to reproduce once he goes
overseas except his idea of what a Christian is. He may be able to lead them
to Christ, but as far as knowing how to teach them the basics of the Christian
life, (how to share their faith, scripture memory, Bible study, prayer,
fellowship, accountability), he has no experience to draw from. He has never
seen someone trained in his own life. He is unable to reproduce a growing
Christian that can help others to grow. Even if he does plant a church, the
people will be dependent on him because he lacks the ability to establish and
equip them to lead. Or worse, he will teach them that intellectual knowledge is
the equivalent of spirituality, and reproduce his own independent spirit into
those he desires to train.
The goal of discipleship is to multiply. Jesus could have lead large crusades
to win thousands of people to the Kingdom, but He didn't. Instead He chose to
invest His life deeply into a few faithful men. He knew the result would be far
more impacting for the future if He could train some disciple makers. The
missionary Paul caught on to the same vision. In 2 Timothy 2:2, he exhorts
Timothy to entrust the things he learned from Paul to, "faithful men, who are
able to teach others also." Four generations of discipleship in one verse; Paul
to Timothy, to faithful men, to the others they would train. There is power in
multiplication. If you lead one person to Christ each day for 33 years, that
would be over 12,000 people. But instead, let's say that you lead one person

to Christ and discipled them in a year so that they could go out and win and
train others, and that this process of evangelizing, establishing, equipping,
and extending was built into each one. Even if it just started with you, within
33 years you would have reached over 4 billion people. Jesus knew that this
was a powerful thing to give His life to. There are very few men and women
out there who are reproducing themselves into others. If you find one, latch on
to them. Do you want to see missionaries mobilized and sent out to the
nations? Begin establishing, equipping and extending those around you. It is
your greatest investment.
1. Coleman, Robert. The Master Plan of Evangelism. Fleming Revell, 1994
2. Jones, Dr. Bill. Columbia International University. Class of March 5th 2001.
FASCINATED WITH JESUS

by Wesley L. Duewel
The goal of Scripture is an intensely personal love for Jesus possessing your
whole being. The goal of redemption is your love-relationship, your love-life
with Jesus. Christian living is living in love with Jesus. Prayer communion is
looking lovingly into Jesus' eyes, thrilling to Jesus' voice, resting in Jesus'
arms.
Christ's passionate lovers have bejeweled the history and heritage of the
church. No Christian is greater than his love. Few today realize the intense
devotion to Christ in the early church and in our sainted martyrs. The Holy
Spirit can develop in us just as ardent devotion as He did in those days.
A. W. Tozer once said, "The great of the kingdom has been those who loved
God more than others did." Those who have really looked into the face of
Jesus cannot but be captivated by His love. Too often our love for Jesus is
sadly impersonal. We believe in His Person, we worship His Person, but we
relate to Him far too impersonally. There is too much distance, a tragic
remoteness in our fellowship. True, He is our infinitely holy God and we are
but sin - deformed creatures before Him. He is our Sovereign King, and we
bow before His majesty. But He is also our Savior who loved us with such
everlasting love that He forsook heaven's throne to become the incarnate Son
of Man, to die for us, to redeem us for Himself and make us the special and
eternal object of His love. Indeed, He came to make us collectively His bride
and personally His beloved. Let's humble ourselves before Him. Let's confess
how cool and casual we too often have been in our expression of love to Him.
Let's ask the Holy Spirit to give us a new baptism of love for Jesus. We need
the Spirit's help to love, Jesus as we should. Perhaps we have had too little of
the Spirit's fullness to enable us to love with the personal ardor Jesus desires.
All other passions build upon or flow from your passion for Jesus. A passion
for souls grows out of a passion for Christ. A passion for missions builds upon

a passion for Christ. When Hudson Taylor was once asked what was the
greatest incentive to missionary work, he instantly replied, "Love of Christ."
William Booth's passion for helping the underprivileged, the derelicts of
society, and for world evangelization was built upon his passion for Christ.
The most crucial danger to a Christian, whatever his role, is to lack a passion
of Christ. The most direct route to personal renewal and new effectiveness is
a new all-consuming passion for Jesus. Lord, give us this passion, whatever
the cost!
References Used: Ablaze for God by Wesley L. Duewel This article provided
by http://www.watchword.org/
THE BATON IS PASSED TO YOU... RUN!

by Steve Shadrach
You have a race to run. Which one is it? (Heb. 12:1,2)
You might have more than one; but if you are a World Christian you need to
have at least one. Here are four opportunities that you can look at, evaluate,
and ask God to use you in. Be open to whatever He wants you to do. Be
willing to do anything, anytime, anywhere for Him. That is the definition of the
Lordship of Christ in our life. Now read and pray and take the baton. It is the
race of a lifetime!
1. The GOERS are the front lines warriors
In a sense we are all goers all front line warriors, because Jesus gave us the
command to "go and make disciples of all nations". Somehow though, God's
distribution plan has not worked out so well! It is estimated that up to 95% of
the world's trained Christian workers live in .... good ole' U.S.A. Most people
would be willing to go ... but are planning on staying. We need folks who are
planning on going ... but are willing to stay, if that is the most strategic thing to
do for the Kingdom. Most are waiting for the "liver quiver"(i.e. the emotional
"calling" from on high telling them to be a missionary). It's amazing though,
that is just about the only area of life that we apply this lightning bolt calling
concept to! There are about 600 million active Christians in the world today.
150 million of them are between 22-50 years of age. The estimate is that we
only need about 20,000 cross-cultural missionaries to finish reaching every
unreached people group.
2. The SENDERS are the vicarious rope holders
There are people who would like to be overseas, but feel called to stay and
hold the ropes for those who do go. Out of the 100,000 students who
volunteered for missions from 1890-1930 about 20,000 went and 80,000
stayed at home to help fund them. Think if we could get four laymen to team
up and each take 1/4th of missionaries support, we would make a ton of
progress! Christians' after-tax income in American is between 800-900 billion

dollars. We give 2 billion to missions. That's 1/4th of 1 percent. We spend 10

billion on weight reduction programs and more on cosmetics and dog food! To
be a financial sender you may have to take a radical look at your lifestyle in
order to scale it back and give more to Christ's Global Cause. Senders not
only give, but also pray. They can daily shoot prayer arrows around the world
asking God to raise up laborers, to empower those that are laboring, and
bring about fruit in the unreached areas of the world. You can impact the
world right from your living room! Lastly, senders are involved in personal
ministry. They can disciple others with a world vision and seek to send them
into the harvest field. A World Christian begets World Christians!
3. The WELCOMERS are the ministers of hospitality
There are close to 600,000 international students in the U.S. It's like the Lord
told us to go to the world and gave us all these resources, but we instead
chose to stay and enjoy the comforts of America. "Well", God says, "If you
won't go to them, I'll just bring them to you. Is this close enough?" Our country
has become an international melting pot and yet we rudely neglect to reach
out to these foreigners. Stats show most international students will come here
to study for 4-6 years and NEVER enter (or certainly not eat a meal) in an
American's home. They want to, but aren't invited. How would you feel if that
happened to you in another country? The temptation to get bitter and cynical
is great towards this so-called "Christian nation". We can impact the world
right here in our backyard because the world sends their best and brightest
(the future leaders they are grooming) right to our doorstep. You can adopt
one or more while they are here. Pray for them, love on them, share your life
and faith with them. Let them see what your life, family, and faith is all about.
See what God will do. Send them back with a vision to reach their own
country for Christ.
4. The MOBILIZERS are the strategic motivators
These are the ones who are sounding the alarm. Wouldn't it be more effective
to go and wake 100 sleeping fireman to come and put out the blazing building
than to just stand there alone throwing your buckets of water on it? These are
the ones that yearn to be on the field, but have stayed behind to rally the
troops. They form mission committees at their churches. They get people
praying and giving and going. They organize short and long-term mission
teams. They get books and materials into the Christian's hands. They are
sometimes called "pests" or "fanatics" behind their backs! Ralph Winter,
founder of the U.S. Center for World Missions, says the highest priority within
the Body of Christ right now is for more mobilizers. More men and women in
every church, every town, every campus who will help open people eyes to
what God is doing around the world and helping people plug into their role. A
good definition for mobilization is: "Deploying an army of laborers to the front
lines where they are ordering their lives around the Great Commission".
These are the ones helping believers find their niche as either goers, senders,
welcomers, or mobilizers.

HARVEST IS PAST, SUMMER IS OVER, AND WE ARE

NOT SAVED!
"Jessi come here!" It was my fourth time to call her. Still she, though a mere
ten feet away, acted as though she heard nothing.
So, I swept her up in my arms and walked to the bedroom to give the
customary discipline for disobedience. Jessica was responding with "excuses-
o-plenty," the leading one being, "I was going to, after I was done . . ."
All of us parents know that delayed obedience is not really obedience at all.
It always amazes me how we try to pull the same number on our Heavenly
Father. In a service, several people may feel the undeniable urgings of the
Holy Spirit to serve Him among the unreached, and a year later, when I
return, they are still in the exact same unmoved position. They have wonderful
excuses, but the result is the same: They have not obeyed, and the lost are
not saved. Oh sure, they still hold on to a "some day out there" approach to
getting to the front, but the urgency is not there. They are barely keeping pace
with a stroll through the park, let alone a rescue effort to snatch from the fires
of hell men and women from every tongue, tribe and nation.
It doesn't seem to take much to distract them from this calling, a pastor
pleading for them to stay and minister to the sheep (as only they can, he
assures them), or a financial opportunity arises that shouldn't be missed, or it
just gets hard, and no one seems to understand. Though we will universally
confess that we live in the last days, we act as though there is an endless
tomorrow of opportunity. Do you not hear the cry of scripture? "Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the
valleyof decision." Joel 3:4
When Jesus saw the multitude, he was moved to compassion and action.
When we see them, we somehow resist the Spirit of compassion, and very
few of our numbers ever make it out into the field of action. This delay brings
God no pleasure and costs the souls of countless thousands! A curse be on
all who withhold from doing the Lord's work (Jer. 48:10) and instead squander
their salvation and freedom on themselves.
I once heard from a preacher that God was in no hurry. You might as well say
that God doesn't care for those who are daily dying without ever having heard
of Jesus once. We know that it is not true. He is not willing that any should
perish, and so now He is calling all men everywhere to repentance. I will not
rest, nor does the Spirit of Christ rest, until all His precious children are
brought in. Does a father sleep when his child is in peril? Can God take it
easy when there are billions who have never heard? Can we not be in a hurry
when summer's light is ending and the harvest is far from brought in. "He who
gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, but he who sleeps in harvest is a
son who acts shamefully." Prov. 10:5

As we survey the world - and indeed, see that the harvest is ready, but oh
where are the harvesters - I am chilled by the reality that our incompetence,
laziness and disobedience to His Great Commission may cost us some of the
harvest. A mental picture I think many of us get in our minds is that tomorrow
the world will be in the same condition that it is today. So why rush, why push,
why strain ourselves? But God solemnly warns, '"Behold the days are
coming,' declares the Lord, 'when the plow man will over take the harvesters
and the treader of grapes him who sows seeds.'" Amos 9:13
What am I talking about? Won't time just keep on trucking until we eventually
get around to it in our own sweet time? Even in nature a harvest is not
harvestable forever. Do you not hear the cry of the lost, "Harvest is past.
Summer is ended, and we are not saved." Jer. 8:20
Do we dare delay? Delayed obedience is really not obedience at all.
LOSING OUR HEAVENLY VISION

Paul Borthwick
We sat in a planning meeting for an upcoming student mobilization
conference discussing conference titles. Someone suggested an old theme:
"To Know Him and To Make Him Known." We wrote it down for consideration.
Another tried to build on the worship/missions balance by suggesting "From
Worship to the World." We added this to the list of possibilities.
A third student jolted us out of our malaise when she suggested something
more radical. "If we're trying to mobilize students for the 10/40 Window, why
don't we title the conference 'Come Die for Jesus'?"
We had remained pretty neutral at the first two suggestions, but this option
demanded response. We know that calling people to the countries of the
10/40 Window may mean calling them to their premature deaths, but should
we put this as the title on the conference brochure? After all, it would be
consistent with New Testament history. Of Jesus' disciples (the 11 remaining
after the resurrection), ten died martyrs' deaths and one died of old age in
exile. Should we build our conference on that legacy?
We who mobilize often appeal to people to go in sacrificial service as an
imitation of Christ. We challenge people to "complete the task" in the
dangerous places of the world. We inspire them with stories of the great
sacrifices missionaries in other eras made - missionaries who packed their
earthly belongings in caskets because they knew they would never come
home from their pioneering destinations. But is our heavenly vision vivid
enough to sustain such sacrifice?

In contrast, we find ourselves preoccupied with a this-life-only world-view.

New recruits (at least from the United States) want commitments for
insurance, retirement programs, private schools for their kids and western-
style living accommodations before signing up to go. Missionaries 50 years
ago packed their goods in one or two barrels. Today's missionary requires two
40-foot containers. A Wycliffe veteran in South America summarized it in this
way, "When I came 30 years ago, we expected to leave everything to follow
Jesus; today's missionaries want to take everything with them."
We have become so materialistic that we seldom think about heaven. We
maintain a this-world orientation because we have it so good here on earth. I
fear that we have lost the heavenly vision that undertakes challenges and
makes sacrifices motivated by visions of the reward beyond the grave.
Bernie May, former U.S. director of Wycliffe Bible Translators (which
traditionally attracts the heartiest stock of pioneer missionaries), cites the four
main reasons Wycliffe candidates drop out:
1. They don't want to leave family and friends.
2. They don't want to raise money or live with the insecurity of low
income.
3. They are concerned for health and safety - for themselves and their
families.
4. They don't want to accept the low standard of living associated with
missionary work.
All of these are legitimate concerns, but we overcome them with a vision of
heaven. A heavenly vision strengthens us to endure hardship. Jesus, "for the
joy set before him endured the cross," (Hebrews 12:1-2). A heavenly vision
motivates us for great and sacrificial courage. Paul remained faithful during
his last days in prison even though everyone had deserted him. Why? "Now
there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, will award to me on that day." (II Timothy 4:8). A vision of
heaven detaches us from our stuff.
Unless we allow a vision of the eternal finish line to motivate us - that day
when Jesus will welcome us into heaven with the words, "Well done, good
and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21) - we'll stay bonded to this life. We'll
value health, prosperity and comfort over obedience, sacrifice and suffering
so that someone else might hear the gospel for the first time.
At a conference on "Completing the Task," a speaker who worked in the
Muslim world stated matter-of-factly, "Perhaps we've had so little success in
the Muslim world because we just haven't had enough martyrs." Martin Luther
King, Jr. preached that, "No one knows what they're living for until they know
what they would die for."

Maybe we should stick with the "Come and Die for Jesus" conference title. At
least we won't get any half-hearted attendees who come only for some great
worship.
HELL, IT REALLY IS
by Greg Livingstone
If you are a serious Christian, somewhere along the line, you have realized
that there is existence after death, "in the presence of the Lord" or "in
heaven." But with considerably less comfort, you realize the opposite as well:
that there really is existence after this life, separated from God…hell. Maybe
you are not quite sure if you believe in hell, or if you do, why, but it's one of
those beliefs you secretly hope your non-Christian friends are not aware of.
When I was first challenged with Christ's claims regarding hell, my first
reaction was negative. I figured that if God is a good guy, He must like me.
After all, most people like me. What's God's problem if He can't like me, a
regular guy? Even after I became convinced that the Scriptures are authentic
communication from God, and therefore, not to be trifled with, I had a lot of
difficulty swallowing the words "hell fire." Surely God is clever enough to have
a plan B.
But then I realized how utterly ugly, gross, wicked and manipulative I myself
was, and I saw that the real intellectual problem is not so much why "good
guys" go to hell, but why anybody deserves to have their slate totally cleansed
and be invited to enter the presence of a Holy God. The more I experience
mankind with all his self-centeredness, hypocrisy and dark side, the more I
realize that the biggest intellectual problem is why everybody isn't banned
from the presence of God into everlasting separation.
REAL LIVES HEADED TOWARD HELL
Still, this didn't help much when I landed in Bombay, India in my first
missionary endeavor and faced multitudes of people scurrying here and there,
so thick that I couldn't see the sidewalk. Millions of real people. None of them
Christians. "Could all of these people really be headed for a Christless
eternity?" I asked myself.
Later, while sharing Christ at the American University of Beirut, I befriended a
Muslim from Libya. He came to the brink of the Kingdom. His greatest
stumbling block was, "How can I go back to Libya as the only person who is
right, the only person who is saved? Could it be that the entire population of
Libya is under the wrath of God, headed for 'punishment with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord'?" (II Thess. 1:9).

FACING HELL'S IMPLICATIONS

I know that if God were to invite me to make proposal for a change in His
Constitution - if I could change any of these issues of reality, the cardinal
doctrines of the Christian faith - I would vote to eliminate hell. I mean, who
needs it? Think of the implications of really believing in hell! Before I became
a Christian, I was a fairly carefree guy, nobody to worry about except myself.
After I became a Christian, suddenly I had to worry about 2.7 billion people,
11,000 people groups without a church - most of whom don't even have a
witnessing Christian in their culture who knows their language and could point
them to "the Way, the Truth and the Life." If hell is a reality, multitudes of
people are eternally in trouble.
Why did I become a Christian? Because it made me feel good? No, because I
believed that I would be an ostrich with my head in the sand if I did not. I could
relate to Peter when he said to the Lord Jesus, "To whom else can we go,
You have the words of eternal life."
And why did I become a missionary? Because I'm the missionary type? No
way! But because Christ's way is true. God is not willing that any should
perish and neither am I.
PICTURING THE PLAGUE
Somehow it's much easier to think in the physical realm. If your city was
suffering an enormous plague that left people lying on the streets dying, and
you knew of a warehouse that had the very medicine to save them, how much
guidance from God would you need to know what to do? You probably
wouldn't need to call a conference to decide why these people got the
disease. You probably wouldn't debate whether or not they deserved to die,
it's not likely that you would ask yourself if you had "the gift" to distribute the
medicine. Can you imagine yourself shrugging your shoulders, musing that
"dying probably isn't that bad anyway"? Or can you imagine looking out your
window at the people writhing in pain on the streets and calmly conclude that
what you saw was "God's problem"?
It's quite obvious that any of us would drop what we were doing, grab a bunch
of our friends if possible, head for the warehouse, load up with the medicine,
and go to work. It may be simplistically put, but why is it so difficult to transfer
the picture into the condition of God's beloved creation, mankind?
Still, when we look around us, most of the "good Christians" we know are not
conscious of living in the midst of an inestimable tragedy. Few Bible-believing
Christians seem to have integrated the reality of hell into their lifestyle. It
hardly seems appropriate to wear a sandwich board in the local shopping
center emblazened with "Turn or Burn!" in fact, it's even difficult to "feel" that
our roommate or our neighbor across the street who is such a nice guy is
really destined to a Christless eternity. (This, especially, when you suspect
that he manifests more of the fruits of the Spirit than you do!)

FOLK CHRISTIANITY
Finally, you may be among those who've never had a satisfactory answer to
the constant jeer, "What about all the people who have never seen a
missionary and have never heard about Jesus Christ. Surely God can't be
sending them to hell." Some years ago, I began to realize that my belief
system was based not so much on the Scriptures as on popular notions which
I had imbibed from others in my life. What most of us act upon as our basic
beliefs is in fact what the anthropologists would call "folk religion." In the
United States, Christianity is divided up into countless versions of "folk
Christianity."
The belief systems may range from the haughty, sophisticated New England,
"Please, I cannot conceive of a religion that believes in hell," to Hollywood's
"Somebody up there likes me," to the born-again Jock," who inadvertently
becomes a relativist when he says, "Well, for me when I take Jesus into the
huddle, things go better."
The issue, though, is not what we feel comfortable with, but what is reality.
HELL'S REALITY DEMANDS BELIEF
So why do I believe in hell? For the same reason I believe in heaven. Our
Lord Jesus Christ, who proved that He was indeed the Creator visiting the
earth (with full knowledge of reality), confirmed the contemporary Jewish
belief that indeed there was life after death, and some would spend it in
blessedness, in a place prepared by God for those in right relationship to
Himself. But other "you are of your father, the Devil", Christ clearly asserted
would live forever separated from God, in a sphere of existence prepared for
those who have deserted, either aggressively or passively. They want no part
of God interfering with their own will. Hell is an eternal granting of a wish to
live without the present pressure or need to worship their Creator.
Is hell then to be our primary motivation in giving our lives in total involvement
for the "discipling of the nations"? Perhaps not. The honor of our Lord Jesus
Christ is a greater motivation. But if the prospect of bringing glory to God does
not propel us toward the great goal of "a church for every people," than THINK
about hell!

ISN'T EVERY CHRISTIAN A MISSIONARY?

by Gordon Olson
Frequently one hears it said that every Christian is a missionary - that is, that
every Christian ought to be a missionary. The little chorus puts it, "Be a
missionary every day!" It sounds good, but this kind of fuzzy thinking only
clouds the issue. Every Christian cannot be a missionary, nor should be. But
what is wrong is saying that every Christian is to be a missionary? First of all,
it is just like saying that every Christian ought to be an evangelist. These
statements are so obviously wrong that few Christians would make that
mistake; but as pastors and evangelists are specially called by God for a
ministry of the word of God, just so with the missionary! A missionary is
specially called of God for a distinct ministry. But let us see what the Biblical
data indicates before we go any farther. The root of the words 'mission' and
'missionary' is the Latin verb mitto (I send). But since the Bible wasn't written
in Latin, but in Greek and Hebrew, we need to find the same concept in the
Greek New Testament. The verb apestello has the idea of being sent, and
from it comes the word for 'apostle' (apostolos), which means 'sent one'.
The apostles: the first missionaries
The Lord Jesus set apart twelve of His disciples as 'apostles' and sent them
out to their own people Israel (Mk. 4:12; Matt. 19:1-6). They were sent to
announce that Jews should repent since the Messiah-King had come and his
kingdom was impending. Later God set apart others like Paul and Barnabas
as apostles to the Gentiles as well (Acts 9:19; 13:3; 22:21; Gal. 2:7-9). The
idea of 'being sent' is central in both cases. So the apostles were the first
'missionaries' - home and foreign. But what were they sent to do that ordinary
Christians were not commissioned to do? First, we find that the twelve
apostles had left their secular occupations and devoted themselves full time
as disciples of Christ. Some had left their fishnets and boats long after they
became believers in Christ. Matthew left his tax-collecting occupation. Now
they devoted themselves full time to Christian ministry, as Peter said, "but we
will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4). We
find that Paul and Barnabas and the other apostles normally did the same
when they had financial support from churches. Although Paul worked at
tentmaking in Corinth when his money ran out, when Silas and Timothy
brought gifts from the Macedonian churches, he devoted himself again
completely to the ministry of the word (Acts 18:1-5 NAS) What else
distinguished these missionaries to the Gentiles? The witness of Jews to the
Gentiles involved crossing a cultural barrier. Not only did the Christians in
Antioch begin to cross that barrier (Acts 11:19-20), but Barnabas and Paul
seemed especially gifted in cross-cultural witnessing and were sent out as the
first missionaries (Acts 13:3). So they were being sent to cross both
geographical and cultural boundaries to win Gentiles to Christ (Acts 22:21).
Paul traveled extensively in four Roman provinces during his three missionary
journeys. Apparently he crossed other geographical and cultural boundaries in
his ministry after Acts was written (as we infer from his letters). Although the
oft-repeated saying is true that "crossing the ocean never made a missionary,"

crossing boundaries is an important part of what makes a missionary distinct.

There is another aspect which especially distinguished Paul's missionary
career, which is worth noting. Paul's ambition was to preach Christ where He
was unknown so that he might not build upon another man's foundation. "And
thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that
I might not build upon another mans foundation; but as it is written, "They who
had no news of Him shall see, and they who have not heard shall
understand'" (Rom. 15:20-21).
A definition
Herbert Kane has suggested that although it is not possible to give a flawless,
scientific definition of a missionary, the following one should suffice: In the
traditional sense the term missionary has been reserved for those who have
been called by God to a full-time ministry of the Word and prayer (Acts 6:4),
and who have crossed geographical and/or cultural boundaries (Acts 22:21)
to preach the gospel in those areas of the world where Jesus Christ is largely,
if not entirely unknown (Rom. 15:20). Charles Ryrie has pointed out that we
must distinguish between a general practice in the church and a special gift
which God gives to some in that area. For example, all Christians are to give
financially; only some have the gift of giving. All are to be witnesses; only
some have the gift of evangelism and/or apostleship. Many other examples
could be given. The point then is that all Christians are to witness for Christ,
but not all Christians are called for a full-time, specially gifted ministry of
evangelism. All Christians are to be missionary-minded in obedience to the
Great Commission, but not all Christians can be missionaries in the proper
biblical sense of the word. We cannot all pack up and go! Some must stay
behind and stand behind those who do go. Since a missionary is sent by God,
it follows that a missionary must go somewhere. This is well illustrated from
the events of World War II. All Americans were mobilized for the war effort.
Housewives collected frying-pan oil, metals were collected from cellars and
garages, everybody grew 'victory gardens,' housewives went to work in
factories for the first time. Everybody was mobilized to win the war against the
Axis powers. But not everybody could go into the Armed Services, and not
even all of them could go to the front and personally be in the fight. The same
kind of distinction should be made in the spiritual warfare in which we are
engaged. The total resources of the Christian church should be thrown into
the battle for the souls of men on a global scale, and every member of that
church should regard himself as being involved in the total mobilization
required by such an operation. But not every church member is a missionary.
The devastating consequence
What difference does it make after all? Are we merely nitpicking in our
definition of a missionary? Look at it this way, if every Christian is already
considered a missionary, then all can stay put where they are, and nobody
needs to get up and go anywhere to preach the gospel. But if our only
concern is to witness where we are, how will people in unevangelized areas
ever hear the gospel? The present uneven distribution of Christians and
opportunities to hear the gospel of Christ will continue unchanged. It has been
said that ninety percent of the Christian workers are ministering to ten percent

of the world's population and ten percent are working among ninety percent of
the people of the world. Many Christian leaders have picked up Ralph
Winter's analysis of world need which states that beyond the one-fourth of the
world's population which is nominally Christian, only one-fourth of the world's
people are being somewhat effectively evangelized by cross cultural contact
with Christians. The other half of the world's people are not being reached
effectively because they are isolated from any real contact with Christians.
This is hardly fair to those who have never heard! So in reality the idea that
every Christian is a missionary is a 'cop out'. It avoids responsibility for the
about three billion people who are not being effectively evangelized today. It
means direct disobedience to the 'Go' of the Great Commission!
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY 'MISSIONS'?
Missions is the whole task, endeavor, and program of the Church of Jesus
Christ to reach out across geographical and/ or cultural boundaries by
sending missionaries to evangelize people who have never heard or who
have little opportunity to hear the saving gospel.
Copyright by C. Gordon Olson 1988. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
IS JESUS THE ONLY WAY?

By Jack Rose
A recent fad in the Church, Evangelicals included, is the advocacy of
tolerance. There are those who say, "I thought that all religions accomplish
the same purpose?" While others argue, saying, "I'm a believer, but I'm open
minded." Others, with more compassion, but still lacking in truth will ask, "How
could God send someone to hell without giving them a chance to accept
Christ? How is that a demonstration of a loving God?" These are tough
questions that have perplexed people for centuries and as they, once again,
confront us we should do our best to answer them honestly and biblically. If
the Gospel of Christ is not necessary for salvation, we need to know, so we
won't waste our time, money and energy propagating it, but if it is necessary,
then we must sound the alarm and make ready the Church to carry the "Good
News" to the lost at any cost.
As a Christian seeking to find the truth we must turn to the Scriptures to
investigate what God says about Himself. Before we do that let us first look at
the various religions to see just how different they are from Christianity.
"AREN'T ALL RELIGIONS THE SAME?"
The following are brief descriptions of the world's major religions and how they
differ from Biblical Christianity.
1. Animism- This belief takes many forms. Some animists worship trees, the
sun, a river. Practically all animists live their lives trying to appease different
spirits through sacrifices and offerings. A majority of them live in fear that

some unknown force is going to steal their child or ruin their crop or
mysteriously kill their family. There are about 300 million Animists today
mostly living in Papua New Guinea and Irian Jyra. The Bible is clear about
men who have chosen to worship the creation rather than the Creator. 1 Cor.
10:20 "The sacrifice of pagans are offered to demons, not to God…"
2. Hinduism- Followers of Hinduism can pick from more than 330,000,000
gods to worship. Still, Hindu believers will usually agree that man's good
deeds and bad deeds decide their fate. This balance of our deeds is called
karma. If you have good karma at death, you will be reincarnated to a better
life. If a Hindu does enough, he can escape the wrath of his gods. Verses
such as Jeremiah 10:14-15 clearly demonstrates God's view of idols-"every
goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath
in them. They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment
comes they will perish." As you read the Old Testament you begin to see
God's extreme hatred for idols. Read also: Jeremiah 8, Numbers 25, Ezekiel
8,9.
3. Chinese Beliefs- Many Chinese are atheists because of the Communist
takeover, which denies the very existence of God. Others light incense and
bring sacrifices to their dead ancestors. They feel that if they please their
ancestors enough, then life will go well for them. Again, ancestral worship is
choosing to worship creation over the Creator. Rom 1:21-23 "For although
they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but
their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although
they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the
immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals
and reptiles."
4. Islam- According to the Muslim, Christ never died on the cross, which is a
direct contradiction to the Bible. Instead of Christ's death as our way to
heaven, Muslims follow the Five Pillars of Islam. The Five Pillars are 1.
Reciting the creed (There is only one god, Allah, and Mohammed is his
prophet) 2. The giving of alms. 3. The hajj, a pilgrimage made to Mecca once
in each person's lifetime if they can afford it. 4. Fasting during the month of
Ramadan during sunlight hours. 5. Praying five times a day facing Mecca.
Muslims believe that on one shoulder sits an angel keeping record of our
good deeds, and on the other shoulder is another angel keeping record of our
bad deeds, and at the end of the world, our deeds will be weighed and if we
have done more good than bad, we get to go to heaven. Paul warns in
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can
boast."
5. Buddhism- Most Buddhists are atheists. Buddhism is more of a philosophy
than a religion. They feel that if we can keep from having desires and
emotions, then we will stop suffering. We stop our emotions by following the
eight-fold path. Most Buddhists feel that following these 8 guidelines will
produce enlightenment. The gospel of Jesus is in direct contrast to this idea

that man can attain this on his own. Rom 3:10-12 "There is no one righteous,
not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All
have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who
does good, not even one."
In short, all of the above beliefs are different from Christianity in that while
Christianity is a faith built on grace, (Eph. 2:8-9) these other faiths are built on
works. Christianity says that man could never earn his way to God, no matter
how many good deeds he does, because man can never make up for his sin
against a holy God. (Titus 3:4-5) It is solely by the grace of God in the form of
Christ's payment for our sin on the cross that man is allowed into His
presence. The other major religions of the world are built on the foundation
that man is in charge of his own destiny by the good works that he does or
does not do. They believe that man can earn heaven, or a higher existence,
or enlightenment by following a set of guidelines or doing enough good deeds.
"I'M A CHRISTIAN, BUT I'M OPEN MINDED"
Throughout the New Testament, we can find no example of a Christian who
believed that there was any other way to God than through Christ. No one in
the New Testament Church was "open-minded." If anyone came into the
churches of that time and taught otherwise, those people were called "false
apostles." 2 Peter 2:1 shares with us the consequences of going against the
teaching of Christ: "…there will be false teachers among you. They will
secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who
bought them-bringing swift destruction on themselves." The Apostles clearly
taught that Christ was the only way to salvation. Peter says in Acts 4:12 that
"Salvation is found in NO ONE ELSE for there is NO OTHER NAME under
heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Also, Paul explains in
Galatians 1:8 "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel
other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!"
Interestingly, this teaching comes not from them but from the very mouth of
Jesus Himself, John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes
to the Father but through me." Biblically we see that Jesus Himself was
extremely "close minded." So if you are frustrated by Christians who say that
Christ is the only way or if you are having a hard time embracing this doctrine,
you should understand the origin from which it comes.
"HOW COULD GOD SEND SOMEONE TO HELL IF THEY HAVEN'T
HEARD?"
God is love isn't He? Surely He would make a way for every person on the
planet to have a chance to go to heaven…right? Yes, God made a way for all
peoples to hear the gospel. He chose man to reach man. Taking the message
of the atonement in Christ to the uttermost parts of the earth is God's idea,
Matthew 28:18-20 shows His interest in all peoples. "Then Jesus came to
them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you."

This commission is a command. It is for every believer to play a part in

reaching all peoples with the message of the cross. If all Christians would
decide that this commission is worth giving their lives toward, it could easily
be done in one generation. There are approximately 9,000 unreached people
groups on that planet which means that if we sent teams of eight to every
unreached ethnic group (people group) we would need 72,000 of the well over
2 Billion professing Christians to be long term missionaries. We would need
only one dollar per year from each professing believer to finance our
expedition. God's commission isn't just a good idea. It is a task that is very
accomplishable. Think how fast we could get this message in the hands of
everyone if all Christians would decide that this commission is worth giving
their lives toward.
If you take the "open-minded" theory to its logical conclusion you might not
like what you are saying. If people who never hear of Christ are going to be
allowed into Heaven, then God has made a huge mistake in sending His Son.
If all religions lead to heaven, then Christ died for nothing. If Buddha or Shiva
could get me to heaven then Christ wasted His time and effort coming to earth
and actually dying on a cross for no reason whatsoever.
Some people wonder if only people who reject Christ will go to hell. If this is
true, then the Great Commission was the cruelest command Christ could
have ever given. The safest bet would be not to risk his or her rejection and
instead close down every mission agency so that eventually the message
would die out and everyone would have access. In John 3:18 Christ says:
"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's
one and only Son."
Still some may argue that Christ had to die for the sins of the world, but
people don't have to "hear about Him or believe in Him and that His blood
covers them anyway." Not only does this contradict the many exhortations of
the New Testament, which tell us that we must believe to be saved, but Christ
Himself said in Matt 7:13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that
leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and
narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." It seems if the 2
billion who have never heard of Christ have access, the road is not as narrow
as Christ thought.
These issues that we have tried to wrestle with are not easy and along with
them come some major ramifications. As believers we need to seek the
guidance of the Holy Spirit to allow us understanding into the mysteries of
God. May we not spend our time arguing if another way will do and instead be
obedient to what God's word says and what we read.

KEEP THE FIRES BURNING

By Todd Ahrend
My wife and I were driving on the highway doing about 85 miles per hour. All
of a sudden I saw break lights ahead and a major traffic jam. As we closed in
on the pile up of cars I realized that what I had thought to be a traffic jam was
a terrible accident. The timing was dreadful because just as we were able to
see what was going on they were pulling a dead body from the wreckage. It
was something I will never forget. It impacted me so much that after we made
it through the accident, let's just say I wasn't driving 85. I dropped at least 20
miles per hour. I was far more cautious and attentive. Our conversation took
on a whole new tone. There was something that I noticed though. The farther
removed I got from the lights, the sirens, the bodies, the more I lightened up.
Not only that, I sped up! Why? Maybe my memory is bad. Maybe I was
already thinking of something else. Maybe I let the experience slip away!
So what do traffic accidents, high impact conference experiences, and short-
term mission trips all have in common? All are incredible, life changing
experiences. But the farther away you get from them, the easier it is to slip
back into casual, normal Christian life. Why is this? How can we walk away
from some of the most unique times in our Christian journey and within a
month only have a photo album to show for it? Well, it is probably true that we
all have a little bit of a bad memory and have a little bit more of a busy
schedule. May I make a few suggestions that have helped me along the way?
Get Educated: For me, I know I was pretty behind on anything dealing with
missions. Even though I had been involved in ministry and had been to my
share of conferences, I could not tell you what God was doing in the world,
where the least reached people groups were, or even how to find out the
answers to those questions. One of the reasons it is so easy to lose sight of
things learned at conferences or trips is because we don't have the resources
to fuel the passion that is begun there. We have the world at our fingertips!!
We need to start accessing information and becoming professionals at
knowing the needs of the world. One of those resources is God's Word. It's
the best place to find His heart. Other easily accessed resources include
magazines and websites. I know first hand all the things that are competing
for your time and energy, but make it a priority to pursue to understand the
task remaining. Don't let the needs around us drown what God has begun.
Find Christians who care: You need fellowship. It is almost impossible to
come home from your "mountain-top" and survive alone. You may be the only
one with new convictions. You may be the only person who cares about the
world and about making a change. One of the biggest reasons that you might
find yourself cold, is because there are few like minded people to kindle that
flame. Your parents have a plan for you, our culture has a plan for you, hey,
even your own heart has a tendency to lead you down the selfish path! If you

don't find accountability in other world Christians, you will find yourself
sidelined rather quickly. Maybe you know of a handful, maybe you know of
one. Start a small group or prayer group that you would feel comfortable
enough to honestly share and pray with. This will help you keep the vision
fresh and stirred.
Find Christians who don't care: This one is easy on one hand because they
are easy to come by. It is difficult on the other hand because you will be
challenged to defend your beliefs. Two things will most likely happen. First,
you will become so frustrated with their lack of concern and it will solidify your
conviction even more. Second, you will gain renewed compassion as you
continue to be forced to look back to God as you seek to explain His heart.
Just as you, through a mission trip, a conference, or a retreat had a vision
passed on to you, so it is your turn to pass it on. In the process you will have
your heart strengthened in your own vision.
Getting a passionate, excited heart for God and for His mission sounds hard.
Its not. Staying that way, however, is one of the hardest things you will do in
your journey in Christ. If you will pursue to know more and to fuel your
passion with resources, like-minded people and people you can minister to,
Christ will be faithful to conform you into His own image. And His steadfast
heart for the world will become your own.
Christ will have won a huge victory, when He has won all of you.
LOVE PERFECTED
by Jessica Ahrend
We as Christians have been given very explicit orders as to our relationship
with God. The command comes clearly from Matthew 22:37-38. "Jesus
replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." Of all that
God desires, in fact requires, of us, this command is the most supreme. And
why does the heart of God so desire our uttermost affections? We find the
answer in 1 John 4:16. God Himself is love. He is the creator, definition and
perfect standard of love. His desire is that, with our heart, soul and mind, we
reciprocate His love. From the obedience of this one single command will
come all the fruits of true spiritual life. But how often do we bypass His order
as if the Lord merely suggested that we love Him wholly, while we strive in
vain for spiritual fruit? When we do choose to bypass Him in this way it is not
long before our driving force is not the compelling love of Christ (1 Cor. 5:14),
but the fear of punishment (1 John 4:18). G.D. Watson in his book, "A Pot of
Oil" compares this punishment syndrome to the "Jews in the wilderness who
were not permitted to go back to Egypt on the one hand, and not able to go up
into Canaan on the other, but constantly subjected to marchings and going
about, making little progress, and their very religion grows tiresome." Thus we
see a clear explanation for all the avid church-goers and Bible studiers who

bear no fruit of love for Christ or others. Throughout the Old Testament God is
inviting His children to forsake their ritual Christianity and have an intimate
relationship with Him. "I delight in loyalty more than sacrifice" (Hos 6:6). It is a
classic problem that dates back to the days of the patriarchs and is still, so
subtly, penetrating Christianity today. It grieves God's heart. "Let us keep in
mind that Jesus is very sensitive to any coldness in the hearts of His people.
In as much as His very nature is love, He is keenly alive to any lack of love in
us, and anything else which it is possible for us to give can never form a
substitute for our warmest affections for Him. God loves to be loved." (G.D.
Watson, A Pot of Oil.) Just as He did with the children of Israel, God invites us
to forsake our rituals. Let us allow the Lord to change our hearts and give us
the enabling power to love Him perfectly (Duet. 30:6). Herein we will find the
strength to walk with Him free from the bondage of guilt and fear.
MOBILIZATION THE KEY TO WORLD EVANGELIZATION
by Steve Shadrach
Pollster George Gallup projected tens of thousands of U.S. churches would
close their doors this decade, not because of low funds or programs, but
because of lack of vision. Proverbs 29:18 addresses this: "Where there is no
vision, the people perish." Cad Dudley, Christian leader and missions
enthusiast, spoke of the need to be strategic: "Congregations that intentionally
affect their times have a sense of purpose and a plan; they have a vision of
what God is calling them to be and to do. The person who articulates the
appropriate vision for the church is both the cause and result of a mobilized
church; both the church and the leaders are mutually empowered in the
process."
Not only are churches struggling with catching and keeping their vision, so are
believers who feel called into missions. Estimates are that from the moment
someone first gains a World Christian conviction until the time that person
finally ends up on the mission field is, on the average, seven years. If ongoing
encouragement and practical World Christian discipleship are not
incorporated into people's lives during those seven years, they usually lose
their vision and passion for the world. This is why the late Donald MacGavran,
founder of Fuller School of World Missions, said in his book, A Giant Step,
"Let us furiously organize frontier mission societies in every congregation of
every denomination." He was trying to tell us of the absolute necessity of
people banding together to create, maintain, and follow through on their
mission commitments; and within the Body of Christ, the mobilizer is the one
who can help orchestrate it all.
Dave Sherbrooke is an example of a man who has been “orchestrating” for

years by starting and developing Perspectives on the World Christian
Movement courses throughout Korea—and as a result has seen many
missionaries raised up from this now great sending country. While there, he
also developed powerful small groups called Pre-Candidate Fellowships in
order to coach and mentor the goers, seeking to hand them off to mission
agencies in good shape and ready to go. He is now helping us launch such

fellowships in the U.S. Let us know if you would like to start one!
But in spite of bright spots like Korea, the worldwide fact remains: what Jesus
decried in Matthew 9 - "the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few" - is
still true today. Dr. Ralph Winter, General Director of the Frontier Mission
Fellowship, comments: "Here is a tragic fact: Only about one out of a hundred
‘missionary decisions’ results in actual career mission service. Why? Mainly
because parents, friends, even pastors rarely encourage anyone to follow
through on that kind of a decision. But what if that number could double to two
out of a hundred? The effect would be explosive!" Each year, no less than
200,000 sincere, dedicated people contact one of the hundreds of excellent
mission agencies in this country asking for information about possible service
with that ministry. But the heartbreaking news is that less than 1,000 of those
will ever make it to the field. Why? There is no one to nurture and guide and
equip them to complete the process. In other words, the workers are plentiful,
but the mobilizers are few!
Phil Parshall, missionary and author, described mobilizers this way:

"Someone must sound the rallying call. Those who desire to see others
trained, prepared and released to ministry are known as mobilizers. Mobilizers
stir other Christians to active concern for reaching the world. They coordinate
efforts between senders, the local churches, sending agencies, and
missionaries on the field. Mobilizers are essential. To understand the role of
mobilizers, think of World War II as a parallel. Only 10% of the American
population went to the war. Of those, only 1% were actually on the firing lines.
However, for them to be successful in their mission, the entire country had to
be mobilized!"
What if the Body of Christ could be stirred to action in the same way Parshall
describes America’s total involvement in World War II? Who is going to "rally
the troops" across the planet to understand and engage in the greatest, most
significant battle in all of history: the evangelization of the world in this
generation? In Numbers 10:1-2, the Lord said to Moses, "Make two silver
trumpets for yourself...you shall use them for calling the congregation and for
directing the movement of the camps." One trumpet to call and get everyone's
attention and the other to direct the troops. A good metaphor depicting the
essential role of the mobilizer!
Dr. Winter believes that "the greatest mobilization effort in history is now
gaining momentum, moving ahead with a quickening pace, and with more and
more goals that are concrete, measurable, and feasible." How can we
participate? What are the critical components to get the job done? Winter
claims, "The number one priority is for more mission mobilizers. Why do I say
this? Because I believe there must be at least 40,000 younger adults who
have in the past few years made a missionary decision, but who will never
make it to the field - due to ignorance, indifference, school debts, etc... Only
crash education can stem the downward spiral. Anyone who can help 100
missionaries to the field is more important than one missionary on the field. In

fact, mission mobilization activity is more crucial than field missionary activity."
Quite a statement!
Standing before a crowd of college students, Dr. Winter challenged them,

saying, "Suppose I had a THOUSAND college seniors in front of me who
asked me where they ought to go to make a maximum contribution to Christ's
global cause. What would I tell them? I would tell them to stay home and
mobilize. ALL of them." How in the world can this former missionary say this
with a straight face - trying to talk people into NOT BECOMING
MISSIONARIES? Because the need to sound the alarm is so great. Wouldn't
it be better to awaken 100 sleeping firemen than to hopelessly throw your own
little bucket of water on the huge fire yourself? Yes, some need to go now as
pioneer missionaries. Fantastic—but still others need to exercise the even
more unusual faith to stay back from the field and assist the entire
mobilization process. It is difficult, though, to persuade believers of how
essential mobilization is because churches have found it hard to understand
the rationale for mission mobilizers and therefore are reluctant to help fund
them.
Here’s how Wesley Tullis, formerly a Director of Prayer Mobilization for Youth
With A Mission, helps churches and believers understand mobilization:
"Essentially mobilization refers to any process by which God's people are
awakened and kept moving and growing until they find their place for strategic
involvement in the task of completing world evangelization. Mobilizers are
those who channel key resources, training, and vision for world evangelization
to the Body of Christ. It has been said, that to improperly appreciate and
support the role of the mobilizer is to seriously hinder the functions of the
goer, sender, and welcomer." So, mobilization is not exclusively focused on
just raising up more cross-cultural missionaries. The ultimate objective is to
recruit, train, and connect every believer to their most strategic role in fulfilling
the Great Commission—whatever role that may be!
A mobilizer in simplest terms is one who multiplies, disciples or mentors in

missions. Jesus Christ was a mobilizer. Take a close look at some of the
things He did and did not focus on: 1) He didn't focus on planting churches, 2)
He didn't focus on evangelism, 3) He didn't focus on theological education.
Instead, He focused His ministry on the big picture more than anyone around
Him. His focus was to mobilize others who would carry on beyond Him. While
we definitely need to have people who are "on the front lines," we must also
have a focus on reproducing our lives and vision into others. If we have the
foresight to build a strong core here and now, it will have an exponentially
greater impact down the road—launching tens of thousands of prepared
missionaries to the ends of the earth.
Greg Parsons, Executive Director of the U.S. Center for World Mission,
shares these innovative thoughts: "Missions mobilization is a strategic new
category that churches are increasingly recognizing as key to their global
outreach. It may not be in your church's missions policy....yet, but it is

becoming more and more understood by alert missions thinkers and

strategizers. We are familiar with church planters, evangelists, student
workers, theological educators, but a new, growing category may be the most
important of all... the role of the missions mobilizer. It's really not new, though.
The Student Volunteer Movement (SVM) was probably the most effective
mobilization effort in church history. Most historians agree that the two most
significant people motivating the SVM were John R. Mott and Robert E.
Speer, yet neither of them were ever missionaries on the field." Churches are
now realizing that if you don't have people who work at spreading vision here,
you will probably never have many people who go to the field there! The
struggle is that when churches get involved in sending missionaries out, they
want them to hold "important roles." They use words like "overseas" as if an
ocean makes a difference, or "foreign field" as if it needs to be far away, and
"front lines" as if support personnel are not essential. They don’t recognize
there must be key people here who will stir the troops, declaring, "This is what
is left to be done. Now let’s go do it!" Without them, we lose sight of the big
picture and have no idea how to prioritize mission efforts. In some respects, to
stay and mobilize requires the most faith and vision! In other words, anyone
can count the seeds in an apple. But who can count the apples in just one
seed?
As a point of application, let’s look at how to funnel some resources toward

this strategic group of people called mobilizers. Most churches’ missions
committees are primarily a group of decision makers, trying to evaluate and
choose between mission giving opportunities and distributing the funds
accordingly. Many committees set up categories to help them make those
choices. Usually they will give certain percentages toward local missions,
regional missions, national missions and foreign missions. Sometimes student
ministries or mission agencies are included in the mix, but many times they
are left out. Unfortunately, the group that is almost always uninvited to this
dividing of resources is the mobilizers. If mobilizers are "the forgotten key to
world evangelization" according to Rick Wood, an editor for Mission Frontiers
magazine, "then why is it not the number one giving priority?" He goes on to
say that "mobilization is the most critical ministry to completing the task of
world evangelization, but it is also the most neglected and misunderstood of
all ministries. Without aggressive mobilization we will not see the numbers of
missionaries going to the field that are required to reach all of the unreached
people." If mobilization really is the key to world evangelization, then why are
evangelization efforts there funded at an estimated 20 times higher rate than
the supposedly more strategic mobilization efforts here?
May I be so bold as to suggest a more strategic and balanced way to viewing

the overall missions funding process that includes ALL the key players? The
diagram below might be a way a local church could view and then allocate its
mission dollars:

I am not necessarily recommending that funding should be cut toward the four
geographic areas (four columns) that mission dollars are channeled toward.
But the proposal here is to add two categories that are every bit as strategic to
the overall process. The first is the mission agencies who provide "on the
field" training, supervision, encouragement, and direction to the missionaries.
And finally, an idea whose time has come: mobilization - those individuals and
groups who form the foundation and fan the flame for the entire structure.
These are the men and women who focus on deploying the army of laborers
to the "front lines" where they are ordering their lives around the Great
Commission. Many of us believe these forgotten saints may very well be the
key to getting the gospel to the whole world. Let’s empower them to do just
that!
Dr. Steve Shadrach has launched the ministries of Student Mobilization, The Traveling Teams and The
BodyBuilders and is currently the Director of Mobilization for the U.S. Center for World Mission. He and
his team seek to ignite vision and passion for the World Christian movement in churches, campus
groups and organizations with their powerful multi-media encounter called NVision. For more
information go to: TheBodyBuilders.net

THE MOST COMMONLY HEARD EXCUSES

by Keith Green
The following objections are just a few of the many that Christian groups and
missionary societies constantly hear from prospective recruits for the mission
field. Although many may merely be excuses, we have heard them spoken so
many times as serious statements from well-meaning Christians in response
to the question, "Why don't you get trained to go into full-time Christian service
in a foreign country?" 1) "But I'm not called." You don't know how many
people I've met who have said to me, I agree that more people need to go to
the mission field, but I've never heard God tell me to go." Well, the truth is that
God has already told you to go in His Word. In fact, He commands you to "Go
ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)
That's right - YOU ARE CALLED! In fact, if you don't go, you need a specific
calling from God to stay home. Has God definitely told you not to "go"
somewhere outside your country to preach the Gospel? If He hasn't, then
you'd better start praying WHERE to go, instead of if you should go-for again,
you're already called. 2) "But God needs people to stay here to be a
witness to those lost in America. There's enough need right here!" It is
true that God has called some people to stay right where they are to be
witnesses for Jesus in their daily lives and professions. But again, God is
merciful and just. Since America has only about 5% of the world's population,
then only about 5% of the believers would really be called to stay in this
country as a witness (that's only about l out of 20) while the rest of us should
go into the parts of the world where there are almost 0% believers. (In
Albania, for instance, there are only "a handful" of known believers in the
whole country of 2.7 million people - less than 1/2 of 1/1000th percent!!) 3)
"But God needs people to stay home and financially support those
ministries and missionaries who are already all over the world. In fact,
my church is already supporting some missionaries with my tithes and
offerings." You should never have to worry about there not being enough
Christians staying home to support missionaries. There will always be enough
people around who will not answer the call to go - who will stay home and
gladly just send a check (instead of themselves) to reach the lost. After all,
nothing is easier to give than money (except nothing). This does not mean
that everyone who stays home is selfish and disobedient. As I've already said,
there are some who know they are definitely called to stay, and they are doing
exactly what God would have them do here, while they greatly support other
ministries. I'm just saying that there will always be plenty of people around to
financially support the pitifully few who answer the call and obey God. 4) "But
my family and friends would frown upon me going." "He who loves father
or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me (Matt. 10:57) God is very clear
about whose approval we should seek. It's shocking to me how even Christian
parents react when their children say that they'd like to go for training as a full-
time Christian worker. "A missionary! Are you crazy?" It's as if they've
announced they'd like to be a thief or a prostitute. It is true that God wants us
to honor our parents and love our friends, but He has also made it clear in His
Word that this honor and love must not exceed our love and obedience to Him

and His calling on our lives. We should always try our best to explain God's
call to our families, lovingly and patiently, but the bottom line must be that we
will obey Christ no matter what the cost. We should always try to get our
family's understanding and blessing when God makes our ministry clear to us,
but we must also always be ready to leave "houses or brothers or sisters or
father or mother or children or farms" for His sake "and for the Gospel's sake."
- (Mark 10:29) 5) "But I need to stay here and lead my relative to the Lord
first. If I go somewhere else, how can they get saved?" There once was a
man who wanted to follow and obey Jesus, but he said to Him, "Lord, permit
me first to go and bury my father." Jesus' answer to him was, "follow me; and
allow the dead to bury their own dead." - (Matt 8:21-22) This may sound cruel
of Jesus not to allow the man to have a funeral for his dead father-but most
likely, the man's father had not died yet. The phrase "wait until I bury my
father" was sometimes used to say wait until my father has died." What he
was really saying was, "I'd like to follow You now, but You see, my parents
wouldn't understand. Please wait until after they've died, and then I'll be more
than glad to follow You" Jesus' answer was appropriate "allow the dead to
bury their own dead." In other words allow the unbelievers to take care of
themselves, and follow Me!" Jesus doesn't want us to throw our usefulness
away because our relatives are not yet saved. The greatest witness they can
see is you fully obeying the call of God on your life. Jesus didn't want this
man's father to be buried-He wanted the young man to follow Him, and then
maybe even the man's father would come to know Him too. Obedience is truly
greater than sacrifice (I Samuel 15:22)-when we obey God, He takes care of
all our other obligations. (Matt 6:33) 6) "But I need to get an education
first." I don't believe that God wants every Christian to go to college just
because, "Well everyone goes to college now, unless they're too dumb!" You
shouldn't go to college unless God has definitely called you to go. Just like
everything else in our Christian lives, He's the Master, we're the servants.
He's the General, we're the soldiers. If you're really a Christian, you're at the
beck and command of the King. If you're not at His command, then you're
really not a Christian. Yes, God does call some people to go to college.
Sometimes it's to get training for a ministry calling He's made clear to them.
For instance, if you know what country you're called to, perhaps God would
lead you to learn the language and culture somewhat before you go (although
the very best place to learn is within the country itself-it's a definite "crash
course"!). Of course, another reason God might lead you to college is to
minister to people right there on the campus-as well as to mature emotionally
and spiritually. But be careful! Make sure you're there in direct obedience to
God, or else you're wasting your time-and His. 7) "But I need to get married
first, and then maybe my mate will want to serve God full-time on the
field, rather than me going alone." Nothing could be a more foolish reason
for putting off obeying God now. God does not want you to look for a husband
or wife, He wants you to be married to Him, and trust Him for any mate He
may bring into your life. I know of many single Christians serving Jesus
overseas who are trusting Him for everything. And some of the most beautiful
stories of God's grace I've ever heard are told by couples who went to the
mission field single, and then God led them to marry another whose heart was

also fully devoted to serving Him there. Remember, "Your Father knows what
you need before you ask Him." (Matt. 6:8) Trust Him! 8) "But I have a family
to support. God doesn't want me to neglect them, does He?" The Word of
God says, "Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things
shall be added to you. "(Matt. 6:33) If you can trust God for your needs, you
can certainly trust Him for your family's needs. You would never be foolishly
"neglecting" your family's needs by obeying God's call to go. God will show
you the way. I know of so many families-some with many children-who are on
the field right now, trusting God for their needs while they minister in His
name. I have never heard of ONE occurrence where God didn't meet the
needs of one of His servants and their families. As King David said... "I have
been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or
his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends; and his
descendants are a blessing." (Psalm 37:2~26) 9) But the mission field is
dangerous. God would not have me put myself or my family in danger of
disease or native hostilities, would He?" "Why is the Lord bringing us into
this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become
plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" (Numbers 14:3) It is
all a matter of our priorities-do we look at the temporary or the eternal in
making our choices? It's true that you will probably be in more physical danger
on the mission field than you would be in the suburbs of America, but that is
part of the cost that we need to count when it comes to serving God. The
question should not be, "Will I be kept safe wherever I go?" but rather, "What
is on the Lord's heart for me to do?" If Jesus decided to go the way of least
pain, He would have never gone to the cross. There is no place of greater
blessing for you than in the center of God's will. You must stop to count the
cost, but remember one thing - the privilege of serving God always outweighs
the price. "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it;
but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel's shall save it." (Mark
8:34-35) 10) "Although in the past most countries freely allowed foreign
missionaries to come, most people in other lands now resent them. Why
should I go where I'm not welcomed?" Did you welcome the Gospel before
you were saved? The Word says that we should save some, "snatching them
out of the fire." (Jude 23) Some people just don't want to be saved! That's
exactly why we need to go to them. The more unwelcomed, the better. If they
resent Americans, then you have an opportunity to show them that Christian
Americans can be humble with the love of Jesus in their hearts. For the Word
says, "He who is wise wins souls. (Proverbs 11:30) 11) "But I could not
afford to get the training, and raise the necessary finances to place
myself (or my family) on the field." Don't worry, God will help raise the
money you need. Wherever God guides, He supplies-even if it means helping
you get a job! Problems and worries about finances are usually only a surface
excuse when it comes to obeying God to go. In your heart you know He'll
make a way for you! 12) "But I don't have any special talents or abilities
that would qualify me to be a missionary." Then you're just the person God
is looking for! Sure God can use nurses, teachers, accountants, and
mechanics on the field, but it always blesses God to greatly use the one who

seemingly has nothing to offer. It is this person who has the opportunity of
purely representing Jesus in the endless "common" tasks that are part of the
daily life of a missionary. "When I am weak, then I am strong." (II Cor 12:10;
also see I Cor 1:26-31) 13) "But how could I commit myself for years and
years to go to the field without having a chance to see what it would be
like?" It is true that in past generations a foreign missionary had to make
almost a lifetime commitment before he could go to the field. Then in most
cases, he had to go to college for at least four years, and then seminary for
two to four years before he could even begin his missions training and
service. But today there are missionary organizations that have short-term
programs for people who want to receive training and find out what serving
God in other countries is like. These programs last from a few weeks to a few
years in length. So now there is an opportunity to "take a bow" before making
a much longer commitment. 14) "But God wants me to stay in this country
and prosper. The reason the rest of the world is so poor and
unconverted is because their heathen religions and idolatry have
caused them to live in ignorance and poverty, without God's blessing."
This has to be THE most selfish reasoning I've ever heard for not going-and
I've heard it! Of course they live in ignorance and poverty, that's just the very
reason you should go-to bring the enlightenment that comes from knowing the
truth about Jesus, and to bring them the true riches of knowing Christ. If you
don't believe that the reason God has blessed you with abundance in this
country is so you can be a blessing to others-then you have never understood
the Gospel of Jesus Christ! "Freely you received, freely give. (Matt 10:8) 15)
"I'm just not ready to make that kind of a sacrifice and commitment." Ah!
That's just the point. That's probably the underlying reason for almost every
one of the above objections. In fact, you might just as well have said, "I'm not
willing." You need to decide whether or not you are a disciple of Jesus-that is
the question. If you are His disciple, then you are not your own...you have
been bought with a price." (I Cor 6:19-20) And if you truly love Him, then you
will not feel bondage, you will feel incredible excitement at being chosen to
represent Him in the world! To be a servant of Jesus Christ, an ambassador,
a missionary, is the highest calling a man or woman can attain to! Now what
are you waiting for??

ONE THING ONLY

by Oswald J. Smith
When Jesus left His disciples, nearly two thousand years ago now, He gave
them but one task: namely, world evangelization. I can imagine Him talking to
them something like this: "I am going to leave you and I will be gone for a long
time. While I am absent, I want you to do just one thing: give this Gospel of
Mine to the entire world; see that every nation, tongue and tribe hears it."
Those were His instructions. That was the one thing He told them to do, and
they understood Him perfectly. But what has the Church done during the
years He has been absent? Have we carried out His orders? Have we obeyed
Him? As a matter of fact, we have done everything else except the one and
only thing He told us to do. Jesus never told us to build colleges, universities
and seminaries, but we have done it. He never told us to erect hospitals and
asylums and homes for the aged. He never told us to build churches or to
organize Sunday School, but we have done it. And we ought to have done it,
for it is all important and worthwhile. But the one and only thing that He did tell
us to do, is the one and only thing that we have left undone. We have not
given His Gospel to the entire world. We have not carried out His orders.
What would a man say who had called a plumber to fix his water taps, if he
should come home and find him painting the side of his house? What could
he say? Would he not expect him to do what he had told him to do? Could the
man satisfy him by stating that he thought the house needed painting? Of
course not. Orders must be obeyed. More than nineteen hundred years ago
the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to His Father's throne and sat down at His
right hand. But He has a throne of His own, the throne of His father David,
and He is the legal successor. Whoever heard of a king, who had a throne of
his own, who would be satisfied to occupy another king's throne? Christ wants
to return. He longs to reign. It is His right. Then why does He wait? He is
waiting for you and me to complete the task. He is waiting for us to do what
He has told us to do. Many a time He must say to Himself as He sits there,
"How long, I wonder, are they going to keep Me waiting? When will they let
Me come back? How soon can I return to earth to sit on My throne and
reign?" Here is an estate. The master tells his servants that he is leaving, but
that he will be returning. And while he is gone, they are to bring the entire
estate under cultivation. They begin working around the house. They beautify
the gardens and flower-beds. Next year the weeds grow and again they go to
work, keeping the lawns in perfect condition. Presently one of them
remembers his master's orders. "I must go," he explains. "Our master told us
to bring the entire estate under cultivation." And he prepares to leave. "But,"
they cry, "we cannot spare you. See how fast the weeds grow. We need you
here." In spite of their protest, however, he leaves and begins working in a far
corner of the estate. Later on, two others remember their lord's orders and in
spite of objections they, too, go and cultivate another part of the estate. At last
their master returns. He is pleased as he looks at the flower-beds, gardens
and lawns around his house. But before rewarding his servants, he decides to
explore the rest of the estate and, as he does so, his heart sinks for he sees
nothing but wilderness and marsh. He realizes that there has not even been

an attempt made to cultivate it. Finally he comes to the one man working all
by himself in a distant part of the estate and he rewards him richly. He
discovers the two in still another part and likewise rewards them. Then he
returns to headquarters where his servants are waiting and expecting a
reward: but his face indicates displeasure. "Have we not been faithful?" they
exclaim. "Look at these flower-beds and gardens. Look at these lawns. Are
they not beautiful? And have we not worked hard?" "Yes," he replies, "you
have done your best. You have been faithful. You have labored diligently."
"Well then," they cry, "why are you disappointed? Are we not entitled to a
reward?" "There is one thing you have forgotten," he replies, "you have
forgotten my orders. I did not tell you to work the same gardens and lawns
again and again, year after year. I told you to bring the entire estate under
cultivation, to cultivate it at least once. This you did not do, in fact, you did not
even attempt to cultivate it, and when your companions insisted upon going
and doing their part, you objected. No, there is no reward." Many a one, I am
afraid, will be disappointed. You may be that one. You may have won many
souls in your town. You may have been most faithful to your church, but what
have you done for those in heathen darkness? Did you ever think of going
yourself? Have you ever given your money that someone might go? Have you
prayed? What part have you had in the evangelization of the world? Have you
obeyed orders? Have you done what you could to bring the entire estate
under cultivation? Or have you been satisfied to work in you own community
and let the rest of the world perish? If you want to hear Him say, "Well done,
good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord," and if you want to
receive the promised reward, the diadem or the crown, you had better get
busy and do what you can to publish His Gospel among all nations, or you will
be a missing Christian in the day of rewards. Go then and do your part. There
is something that you can do, and the time is short. It was the whole estate
that had to be cultivated, and it is the whole world that must be evangelized.
"Go ye therefore into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature."
For remember, "The gospel must first be preached among all nations, and
then shall the end come." This then is His answer to their question. "What
shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" That was what
they wanted to know - the sign preceding and indicating the end. His answer
to their question in Matthew 24:3 is found in Matthew 24:14. Here it is: "This
gospel shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations: and
then shall the end come." All His other predictions indicate the approaching
end, this one, the end. Hence the word "first" in Mark 13:10. It is God's
program: first world evangelization, then the reign of Christ. He will return to
establish His kingdom when all nations have heard the Gospel. Let us, then,
do our task: and may we never rest until our work is done.

PASSION FOR SOULS

by Oswald J. Smith
Let us turn to the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter nine, verses thirty-
five to thirty-eight: "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages..." Note, if
you will, that He went about all the cities and villages. He did not settle down
in any one community. Jesus never became a pastor. He was continually on
the go. "Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every
sickness and every disease among the people.
"But when he saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion..." What
about us? What happens when we see the multitudes? Are we, too, moved
with compassion? "He was moved with compassion on them, because they
fainted and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd."
"Then saith He unto His disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the
labourers are few." This, then, is the problem. And the problem of His day is
the problem of our day - a plenteous harvest, few labourers. More heathen
babies are being born than ever before. Now for the solution to the problem:
"Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers
into His harvest."
COULD I STAY IN CANADA?
Years ago, I went through the Bible to see if I could stay in Canada and still
obey God. Would it be possible, I asked myself, for me to enjoy a comfortable
pastorate; never cross the boundaries of my country and still carry out my
Lord's commands? Would God be satisfied?
And as I studied the Bible, I found such expressions as these: "All nations, all
the world, every creature, every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
the uttermost part of the earth." In other words, the Gospel, I discovered, was
to be given to the entire world. Every nation, kindred, tongue, and people,
must hear it.
When I saw that, this then was the question I asked: Do all nations live in
Canada? If they do, and if there are no nations living beyond the boundaries
of the Dominion, then I can stay in my own country, preach the Gospel here
and never once cross the borders; but, if one nation lives beyond the
boundaries of Canada, then I am in duty bound to leave my country, cross the
boundaries and go to that nation. And if I cannot, then I must find substitutes
and send them as my representatives. And if I do neither, I will be a missing
Christian in the day of rewards.
"The field is the world." The United States of America is not the world. Great
Britain is not the world. The field is the whole world. You never in your life
heard of a farmer working in one little corner of his field. The farmer works the

whole field. The United States is but one corner; Canada is but a little corner.
The world, the whole world, must be evangelized. And since "the field is the
world," we have no choice but to go to every part of it. The work is one, and it
must be done, not corner by corner, but as a whole.
The tobacco firms have their agents in the most distant places. Millions of
cigarettes are given away to create new appetites. Do you mean to say that
the reason for it is because there is no longer any demand at home? Of
course not. The demand here - especially since women have stepped down
from the high pedestal upon which they once stood and have taken to
cigarette smoking - is greater than ever. Yet the tobacco firms are already
sending their missionaries into foreign lands. They want new markets. They
are wiser than we are, for that, after all, is God's plan, and we would do well to
emulate them. It has never been God's will that we should remain at home
until the work here is finished. He wants us to go to the entire world, to work
the whole field simultaneously.
My friend, what about you? You know that the Gospel must be given to all
nations, to all the world, to every kindred and tongue and people, to the
uttermost part of the earth. What are you doing about it? What are you going
to do? Either you must go yourself or else you must send someone in your
place, and woe to you, if you do nothing. God's orders must be obeyed, His
commands carried out, and there is no way to evade the issue.
THE BACK ROWS
Do you remember when the Lord Jesus Christ fed the five thousand? Do you
recall how He had them sit down, row upon row, on the green grass? Then do
you remember how He took the loaves and fishes and blessed them and then
broke them and gave them to His disciples? And do you remember how the
disciples started at one end of the front row and went right along that front row
giving everyone a helping? Then do you recall how they turned right around
and started back along that front row again, asking everyone to take a second
helping? Do you remember?
No? A thousand times no! Had they done that, those in the back rows would
have been rising up and protesting most vigorously. "Here," they would have
been saying, "Come back here. Give us a helping. We have not had any yet.
We are starving; it isn't right; it isn't fair. Why should those people in the front
rows have a second helping before we have had a first?"
And they would have been right. We talk about the second blessing. They
haven't had the first blessing yet. We talk about the second coming of Christ.
They haven't heard about the first coming yet. It just isn't fair. "Why should
anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?" You know
as well as I do, that not one individual in that entire company of five thousand
men, besides women and children, got a second helping until everyone had a
first helping.

www.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org100
I have never known a minister to have any trouble with the back rows. All his
trouble comes from the front rows. Those in the front rows are over-fed, and
they develop spiritual indigestion. They tell him how much to feed them; when
to feed them; when to stop feeding them; how long to feed them; what kind of
food to give them, etc. etc., and if he doesn't do it, they complain and find
fault. If a minister had any sense, he would leave the front rows for a while
and let them get hungry for once in their lives and go to the back rows, and
then when he returned they would be ready to accept his ministry, and there
would be no murmuring or complaining.
My friends, I have been with the back rows. I have seen the countless millions
in those back rows famishing for the Bread of Life. Is it right? Should we be
concentrating on the front rows? Ought we not rather to be training the front
rows to share what they have with the back rows, and thus reach them with
the Gospel, those for whom nothing has been prepared?
Do you know that the greatest thing a church can do for itself is to send its
pastor to one of the foreign mission fields of earth? There is no vacation like it.
He will come back a new man; for no one can see the need with his own eyes
and ever be the same again. It will do something to him. He will have
something to talk about. He will be worth infinitely more to the church than he
ever was before. I suggest it because I know what it did for me, and I would
recommend that churches everywhere realize its importance and do it. Let
him see the back rows. Let him see them for himself. Let him see them
waiting in darkness and midnight gloom for the Gospel.
DR. DUFF'S APPEAL
Dr. Alexander Duff, that great veteran missionary to India, returned to
Scotland to die, and as he stood before the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church, he made his appeal, but there was no response. In the
midst of his appeal he fainted and was carried off the platform. The doctor
bent over him and examined his heart. Presently he opened his eyes.
"Where am I?" he cried. "Where am I?"
"Lie still," said the doctor. "Your heart is very weak."
"But," exclaimed the old warrior, "I must finish my appeal. Take me back.
Take me back. I haven't finished my appeal yet."
"Lie still," said the doctor again, "You are too weak to go back."
But the aged missionary struggled to his feet, his determination overcoming
his weakness; and with the doctor on one side and the moderator on the other
side, the old white-haired warrior was led again to the platform, and as he
mounted the pulpit steps, the entire Assembly rose to do him honor. Then he
continued his appeal.
"When Queen Victoria calls for volunteers for India," he exclaimed, "hundreds
of young men respond; but when King Jesus calls, no one goes." Then he
paused. Again he spoke. "Is it true," he asked, "that Scotland has no more

sons to give for India?" Again he paused. "Very well," he concluded, "if
Scotland has no more young men to send to India, then, old and decrepit
though I am, I will go back, and even though I cannot preach, I can lie down
on the shores of the Ganges and die, in order to let the peoples of India know
that there is at least one man in Scotland who cares enough for their souls to
give his life for them."
In a moment young men, all over the assembly, sprang to their feet, crying
out, "I'll go! I'll go! I'll go!" And after the famous missionary had passed on,
many of those same young men found their way to India, there to invest their
lives as missionaries, as a result of the appeal God had made through Dr.
Duff.
My friend, will you go? Has God spoken to you? Have you heard His call? Will
you not answer, "Lord, here am I, send me?" And if you cannot go, will you
send a substitute? It is for you to decide.
Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it
once?
This article provided by www.heartofgod.com/frontline
APART FROM PRAYER WE CAN DO NOTHING

by David Smithers
The Law of Asking and Receiving
Did you know that the Kingdom of God will not come apart from PRAYER?
The unreached will never hear the sweet name of Jesus without the labor of
someone's Spirit-led prayers. Regardless of how things may appear on the
surface, nothing of eternal value is ever released without somebody,
somewhere PRAYING. Because prayer by its nature is often a HIDDEN work,
being done in the SECRET closet, many come to false conclusions. Often
credit is given to the more obvious and outward ministries of preaching or
administration for what has actually been accomplished through prayer.
In spite of appearances, prayer is one of God's primary means of GRACE to
achieve the desires of His heart. Our Lord has sovereignly chosen to govern
His Kingdom by the simple law of asking and receiving. Prayer is not some
human contrivance or scheme, it is the anointed strategy of God. King Jesus
bids us, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the
door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives" (Matt. 7:7-8).
Today the Church and the world are both sin-sick and suffering because
those who call themselves believers have not taken these promises seriously.
"We have not because we ask not" (James 4:2). Hell is larger today than it
was yesterday, because many of us have not prayed.

God has ordained that ALL believers everywhere should expand His Kingdom
through the WORK of prayer and intercession. Jesus has emphatically
instructed us ALL to pray for His Kingdom to come (Matt. 6:10). We may not
all be called to go to the ends of the earth and preach, but every one of us
have been called to GO to the closet and PRAY!
Prayer that Makes a Difference
Yet what kind of prayer does God require from us? Are all prayers as equally
effective? Does a mechanical two minute prayer truly usher in the Kingdom of
God? The Epistle of James teaches us exactly what an effective, Kingdom
prayer looks like. James writes, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he
prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the
space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven
gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit" (James 5:16-18). Effectual
prayer claims the promises of God by FAITH with FERVENT and
UNRELENTING passion.
James 5:18 says that Elijah prayed again and the heavens gave rain. That
has to be one of the biggest understatements in the whole Bible. I Kings
18:41-45 tells us that Elijah prayed not once, not twice, but seven times
before the fruitful rains of revival came. Prayer that truly affects the world
around us is extremely intense and persistent. Like everything that God
requires of His children, prayer must be done with ALL of our heart, ALL of
our soul and ALL of our strength (Deut. 4:29, Deut. 6:5).
The Prayer life of Jesus
Lest some should think that such prayer is only for the faithless or legalistic,
let me remind you that Jesus also gave us an example of this kind of intense
and fervent prayer. In Hebrews 5:7, the scriptures tell us that, "During the
days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries
and tears…" Jesus consistently gave Himself to the practice of agonizing and
fervent prayer. Did Jesus weep and pray with such an intense fervency
because of a lack of faith or because He was experiencing condemnation?
Certainly Jesus had nothing about which to be condemned. Unlike us, He
spent hours in prayer every day and never used any of that time to mourn
over sin or a lack of faith.
Without question, Jesus prayed as no one else has ever prayed. The fervent
prayer life of Jesus was driven by His unlimited vision of ETERNITY (Prov.
15:11). Jesus was consumed with the sight of multitudes of lost souls, past,
present and future, all rushing into the ever growing mouth of HELL (Is. 5:14).
I believe that it was this vision that gripped His heart as He knelt and prayed
with broken cries and hot tears streaming down His face. Is there any other
kind of prayer consistent with such an overwhelming view of eternity? Our
lack of fervent prayer is the direct result of our blindness to the realities of an
eternal HEAVEN and an everlasting HELL. Many of us are still motivated far
too much by the temporal and sensual realm, the things we can personally

see, taste and touch. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Prov
29:18). Where there is no vision of ETERNITY, there is no prayer for the
PERISHING.
Embracing the Broken Heart of Jesus
Prayer opens prison doors and preaching doors. Prayer binds the enemy and
opens the heavens. Prayer is the plow that breaks up the fallow ground for the
Gospel seed. Prayer ushers in the manifest glory of the Kingdom of Jesus
Christ. Therefore, is there really any such thing as a Christian who genuinely
LOVES the souls of men who fails to passionately pray for them? Can anyone
truly preach about the world's unreached millions and then fail to fervently
pray for them? NO, of course they can't, but I am afraid that's exactly what
MANY are doing. Many, out of a false sense of accomplishment are talking
and writing and preaching, while never FERVENTLY praying!
Today God the Father will witness the death of every lost man, woman and
child as they slip into a burning HELL. He will observe every brutal act of child
molestation, incest, murder and rape. Today His heart will be broken and
tormented by every vile act of sin that happens on the face of the earth. Yet
does He turn His head or hide His eyes? No, He purposely sees it all and
WEEPS and grieves.
Today the heartbroken cries of Jesus are echoing throughout the heavens.
Have you ever heard that haunting cry? Do you ever embrace the broken
heart of Jesus? He longs for His Bride to enter into His BROKENNESS
through fervent and loving prayer. The Spirit of God is crying out to each of us
today,
"The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore PRAY…"
(Matt. 9:37,38).
This article provided by http://www.watchword.org/
David Smithers. This article reprinted and used by permission

THE PUZZLE AND THE COMPASS

by Claude Hickman
Students want to live for the most awesome thing that is out there. Most of us
do. We want to count. We want to leave our mark on history. Students have
within them the relentless potential to become world changers, but all this
ability and ambition is actually paralyzing. This generation's worst fear is that
they will choose the wrong path and miss their destiny. They can do
everything, therefore nothing is supreme. Everything is valued, and therefore,
nothing is really valued. They are like the lion and the stool. The reason a lion
trainer uses a stool is that the lion tries to focus on all four legs at once. He
can't do it and assumes he is outnumbered. Eventually, he will back himself
into a corner, helpless against this strange fierce wooden opponent. To try to
fight every leg is, in the end, to fight none of them. This is where most people
go into default mode. At times, when picking a life pursuit, it is easier to just
adopt the first great sounding plan that comes along, or what we have seen
others around us do. When this happens, our old ambitions to impact the
world gets nixed and later played off as silly daydreaming.
Now we have a map. The problem is that many students find themselves so
bombarded with the world's road map to success and happiness that it begins
to sound really rewarding. And as they look around to their Christian friends
and family, it seems that the maps that they have for their lives look curiously
similar to the maps the world is selling. The conclusion: All the Christian life
involves is getting a degree, a mate, a career, a Pottery-Barn house, play golf
on the weekends, and, of course, being a good church goer, tithing, and
tossing God a "thank you, Lord, for my 4-Runner" on Sunday. But that is
about it. Missing God's destiny for your life doesn't happen overnight. The
roots grow slowly and deeply into our own plans. So deeply it takes a major
tragedy to even cause us to question what we are investing our lives in. It is
the millions of small decisions that are not centered around God's global
purpose that produce millions of small Christians who are not living for God's
global purpose.
College students don't need a map for their lives, they need a compass. They
need a God-centered, eternal, fixed, North Star that they can navigate their
life by and toward. A person lost in the forest doesn't need a map he needs a
compass. If only college students knew of a supreme, single, noble endeavor
that arose above all the others and illumined so brightly that all other pursuits
began to dim in their hearts, something that they could give all their passions
and talents and energies toward: a mission. This is where God's agenda to
glorify Himself among every people group and nation on the planet holds its
deepest significance. Joining Him in His plan of world-wide redemption is
where we find our deepest desires and the world's greatest need met in one
pursuit. John Ortberg says, "The secret of life is pursuing one thing." Our
maps in life will change from season to season, but the compass helps us

discern whether our lives are headed toward the right destination. We may be
climbing the ladder, but is the ladder against the right wall? Our lives can be a
means to the end only when we live by the compass that keeps the right end
in mind. With this North Star guiding our agendas, we actually become free.
The compass enables the person lost in the forest to run more confidently and
swiftly and directly toward his destination, with all hope and perseverance and
abandon. Now with the big picture of God's purpose for us on the earth in
front of us, we are free to operate in our gifts and careers as we see how they
serve the greater cause, and we are gripped with hope enabling us to
relentlessly pursue His lost world.
Each of our lives is like a unique puzzle piece that God has shaped and
painted a beautiful design and color. We have a specific place in the big
picture of His kingdom work, a destiny that we were meant to fill. Only when
we see the big picture of what God is doing, and place our lives obediently
into submission to the cause, do we begin to find the most delight in who we
are in our unique, colorful, and specially designed piece. We fit. Pursuing
happiness and world missions are unified in the one. It is truly more blessed
to give than to receive, and only when we become active in giving away this
gospel to the ends of the earth do we experience the greatest rewards of joy
in this life. The secret of life and happiness and destiny and purpose is really
pursuing one thing.
John Piper put it like this, "You don't have to know a lot of things for your life
to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few
great things that matter, and then be willing to live for them and die for them.
The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people
who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by a few great
things. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the
pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll
on for centuries and into eternity, you don't have to have a high IQ or EQ; you
don't have to have to have good looks or riches; you don't have to come from
a fine family or a fine school. You have to know a few great, majestic,
unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things, and be set on fire by them."
J.C. White said, "Most men are not satisfied with the permanent output of their
lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within his followers except
the adoption of Christ's purpose toward the world he came to redeem. Fame,
pleasure and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless
and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of his eternal plans. The
men who are putting everything into Christ's undertaking are getting out of life
its sweetest and most priceless rewards."
Jesus put it like this, "The son can do nothing of Himself, but He can only do
what He sees the Father doing."
And to Martha He said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about
many things, but only one thing is needed."

The fact is that we have one life, one chapter in this unfolding drama, and
there is only time in life for one passion, one destiny. Choose this day your
passion.
RESCUE STATION AT THE GATES OF HELL

by C. T. Studd
C.T. Studd gave up fame and fortune to follow Jesus to the unreached
peoples of China and later Africa. These quotes are taken from several of his
sermons.
"We shall go crusading for Christ. We have the men, the means, and the ways
- steam and electricity and iron have leveled the lands and bridged the seas.
The doors of the world have opened wide for us by our God. We pray and
preach; we bow the knee; we receive; we administer the Holy Communion of
the Passion of Christ; we recite the Creed triumphantly; we are optimists
everyone; we shout Onward Christian soldiers, marching on to war, and then?
. . . and then? . . . we whisper, I pray Thee have me excused!!! What glorious
humbugs we are!"
"Follow Me, says Jesus. I will, we reply, yet somehow forget that Christ
pleased not Himself, deliberately made Himself poor to save others and
became the first foreign missionary. We all pray to be like Jesus, yet refuse to
pay the price."
"Five hundred million heathen have not yet been evangelized, so it is
computed! Yet our great Missionary Societies have reached high water-mark,
and if they have not already begun to retrench they are seriously thinking of
doing so. Meanwhile, the heart of Asia, the heart of Africa, and well nigh the
whole continent of South America, are untouched with the Gospel of Christ."
"Last June at the mouth of the Congo, there awaited a thousand prospectors,
traders, merchants and gold seekers, waiting to rush into these regions as
soon as the government opened the door to them, for rumor declared that
there is an abundance of gold. If such men hear so loudly the call of gold and
obey it, can it be that the ears of Christs soldiers are deaf to the call of God,
and the cries of the dying souls of men? Are gamblers for gold so many, and
gamblers for God so few?"
"My Montenegrins, said King Nicholas, will henceforth spill their blood for their
persecuted compatriots. When shall God be able to say to the devil, Hast thou
seen My Christians of today? No longer do they seek for gold or pleasure, for
honors or ease. From henceforth My Christians will spill their blood for the
love and cause of My beloved Son and the salvation of the neediest of men."
"There are more than twice as many Christian officers at home among
peaceful Britains 40 million evangelized inhabitants, than the whole number of

Christs forces fighting at the front among 1,200 million heathen! And yet such
call themselves soldiers of Christ."
"Yes, when? When indeed shall we see a real Church Militant here upon the
earth? Christs call is to feed the hungry, not the full; to save the lost, not the
stiff-necked; not to call the scoffers, but sinners to repentance; not to build
and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which
to rock Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped
prayers and artistic musical performances, but to raise living churches of
souls among the destitute, to capture men from the devils clutches and snatch
them from the very jaws of hell, to enlist and train them for Jesus, and make
them into an Almighty Army of God. But this can only be accomplished by a
red-hot, unconventional, unfettered Holy Ghost religion, where neither Church
nor State, neither man nor traditions are worshipped or preached, but only
Christ and Him crucified. Not to confess Christ by fancy collars, church
steeples or rich embroidered altar-cloths, but by reckless sacrifice and
heroism in the foremost trenches..."
"I am more than ever determined that no ring or limit shall be placed around
us, other than that of our Lord Himself, To the uttermost parts, To every
creature. I belong and will ever belong to The Great God party. I will have
nought to do with The Little God party..."
"Nail the colors to the mast! That is the right thing to do, and, therefore, that is
what we must do, and do it now. What colors? The colors of Christ, the work
He has given us to do - the evangelization of all the unevangelized. Christ
wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible, by faith in
the omnipotence, fidelity and wisdom of the Almighty Savior Who gave the
command. Is there a wall in our path? By our God we will leap over it! Are
there lions and scorpions in our way! We will trample them under our feet!
Does a mountain bar our progress? Saying, Be thou removed and cast into
the sea, we will march on. Soldiers of Jesus! Never surrender! Nail the colors
to the mast!"
"The difficulty is to believe that He can deign to use such scallywags as us,
but of course He wants Faith and Fools rather than talents and culture. All
God wants is a heart, any old turnip will do for a head; so long as we are
empty, all is well, for then He fills with the Holy Ghost. The fiery baptism of the
Holy Ghost will change soft, sleek Christians into hot, lively heroes for Christ,
who will advance and fight and die, but not mark time."
"Believing that further delay would be sinful, some of Gods insignificants and
nobodies in particular, but trusting in our Omnipotent God, have decided on
certain simple lines, according to the Book of God, to make a definite attempt
to render the evangelization of the world an accomplished fact. For this
purpose we have banded ourselves together under the name of Christs
Etceteras, and invite others of Gods people to join us in this glorious
enterprise. We are merely Christs nobodies, otherwise Christs Etceteras. We
rejoice in and thank God for the good work being carried on in the already

occupied lands by Gods Regular Forces. We seek to attack and win to Christ
only those parts of the devils empire which are beyond the extremest outposts
of the regular army of God . . . Our method is to search and find out what
parts of the world at present remain unevangelized, and then by faith in
Christ, by prayer to God, by obedience to the Holy Ghost, by courage,
determination, and supreme sacrifice, to accomplish their evangelization with
the utmost despatch."
"Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time for waiting
is past! The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In Gods Holy Name let
us arise and build! The God of Heaven, He will fight for us, as we for Him. We
will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the
gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us. Should such men as we
fear? Before the whole world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless,
namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God; we will venture
our all for Him; we will live, and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His
joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner
die trusting only in our God, than live trusting in man. And when we come to
this position, the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign
in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and
dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of
daring faith and works for Jesus Christ."
HERE AM I, SEND MY SISTER

By Paul W. Fleming
We're startled when we realize that many more women than men are applying
for missionary work in foreign fields. While Bible schools and seminaries are
turning out more men than ever in their histories, men seem to be crowding to
the pulpits while the women are doing the men's job out on the tough pioneer
mission fields of the world.
There is not much you can say for the multiplied hundreds of young men who
continue to flood into the ministry and take refuge behind the pulpit while we
continue to let the women in increasing numbers do the toughest job assigned
to Christian soldiers.
What is it that attracts the women in the mission field in such great numbers,
compared to men? What is it that attracts so many men to the ministry in their
home land compared to those who go to the mission field?
Today, we have prepared men to be brilliant, capable, and eloquent and have
emphasized their personalities. Such preparation hardly prepares a man for
the jungles. The little brown or black tribesman is hardly capable of
appreciating such a one's true earthly value.

So it seems that the man, who has worked hard to become what he is, is
evidently too good to be wasted on the heathen and should stay where he is
appreciated. Surely God isn't continually calling 95 percent of the Christian
men to stay while 5 percent pursue the world objective which we, as
Christians, have received from the Lord Himself.
The Church's need is not necessarily more preachers but more obedience to
God's Word. God could surely do something about the ills of our nation if He
found us willing to practice what we preach. Men of such shortsightedness
and with the desire to remain in comfort while leaving others to do the
dangerous job of preaching the Gospel will never challenge lives.
While we thank God for every woman who has made an effort toward
reaching the untouched, we realize it is a MAN'S job. The leveling off' process
must begin.
Either the Church must give more men for front line evangelism on the far
flung battlefields of the world, or we will have a horde of shriveled up pastors
and laymen who are beating the air and dying because they have no vision
that is big enough and positive enough to demand all that they are for God's
front line job.
We men! We are the stronger sex It has always been so! We send our gifts to
mission fields To which the women go. While up the steepest jungle paths A
woman bravely treads, We men, who are the stronger sex, Do pray beside
our beds. When women leave to go abroad The heathen souls to reach, We
men, who are the stronger sex, Do stay at home to preach. While women, in
some far off shack Do brave the flies and heat, We men, who are the stronger
sex In cool and comfort eat. Fatigued and weary, needing rest, The women
battle on. We men, who are the stronger sex, Do write to cheer them on! O
valiant men!-come-let us sleep And rest our weary heads. We shall not be the
stronger sex If we neglect our beds!

SHOULD WE STOP SENDING MISSIONARIES?

Principles for avoiding the corrupting power of
money
by Robertson McQuilkin
"Thank You For Not Coming" read the banner headline in a full-page ad in
Christianity Today. It was a promotional piece urging us to send money, not
missionaries. The rationale is clear:
In most cases, sending just a portion of our surplus $50-$100 each month will
provide support for one full-time national worker. The typical cost to send an
American missionary family overseas is over $50,000 a year the same cost as
supporting 50 or more national workers. Think of what that money could do for
the Kingdom of God!
Admittedly, this rationale is appealing. Nationals have the language and the
culture and they cost so much less. More than 140 organizations are now built
on the premise of gathering and sending money, not people. One of the
largest of the money-gathering agencies reports that it now supports 3,300
full-time workers in over 50 countries.
But what about the dark half of the world where there are no "nationals," no
witnessing church? At least a billion of the lost live among a people where
there is no evangelizing church movement, often no witness at all. For these,
by definition, someone must leave home to reach them. If a foreigner doesn't
go in from the outside they'll never hear the Gospel. The fundamental premise
of the "send money, not people" movement is misguided because there are
no nationals to reach these billion people even if money were sent.
We're told that the Third World missionary movement can handle the rest of
the job since God seems to be bypassing the North American church. We
exult in the move of the Spirit to mobilize a here-to-fore untapped resource,
even if only a fraction of those thousands of Third World missionaries are
going to the unreached peoples. The problem is, though they now account for
half the worldwide missionary task force, the numbers from all sources
combined are wholly inadequate to finish the task. If present growth rates are
sustained by the "new breed" it will take them at least a half century to
complete the Great Commission. More likely, a full century.
It's not just that North American missionaries are still needed to complete the
task, however, the North American church needs to send its own for the sake
of itself, its own spiritual health. The sin of disobedience to the heavenly vision
can't be atoned for with dollars, and the spiritual loss is highly visible in a self-
centered, materialistically-minded people. The original mandate has never
been rescinded. The Pauline role of pioneering is still the primary mission of
the church toward the world. Biblically, no church anywhere can claim

exemption from the mandate until every person has heard with understanding
the way to life in Christ and a church has been established in every
community. Perhaps the solution is to send both our sons and daughters and
our money. True, but we're going to have to rethink how we send money
because sending money to support the ministry of others is very hazardous
for the receiving church. Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission
Board, Southern Baptist Convention, puts it this way:
... it is a mistake to try to accelerate growth by an infusion of financial
aid to build churches and support pastors. One thing inevitably occurs
when North Americans subsidize the work of churches and pastors on
the mission field: potential growth is stalled because of a mind-set that
it can't be done unless an overseas benefactor provides the funds.
Jealousy often develops among the pastors and churches who don't
receive assistance toward those who develop a pipeline of support
from the United States. In the long-term, support breeds resentment,
especially if the support is not sustained indefinitely, because it creates
a patronizing dependency. People are deprived of growing in faith,
learning to depend on God and discovering that He is sufficient for all
their needs.
The church or church leaders that secure a financial pipeline to the USA soon
become mired in an ecclesiastical welfare state, because the send-money
approach, rather than strengthening the souls of national churches, keeps
congregations from becoming "self-governing" and "self-supporting." The
recipients of these funds often suffer the following maladies.
• Believers learn to depend neither on God nor on themselves. Because
they have no need to give sacrificially of their own resources (however
meager they may be), they never gain a sense of ownership. This
postpones the day of true indigenization.
• Leaders become preoccupied with raising North American funds. On a
trip I took to India I was overwhelmed by the many who "worked" me
for a dollar connection. Such a ministry orientation inevitably weakens
faith, corrupts pure motives and compromises leadership integrity.
• Those leaders who can't get to the "pipeline" become demoralized.
They come to believe that the work can't be done without outside
assistance, so why try?
• Believers sue believers. In India, I was astounded to find few churches
or ministries that weren't in the courts at war over property purchased
using American dollars.
• An independent and unaccountable higher class of Christian workers
arises whose stylish life-styles are envied by "unconnected believers."
It is little surprise that the motivation for "spiritual growth" is soon driven
by something less than a hunger after righteousness. Should the donor
seek to hold the recipient accountable for the use of funds to prevent

such problems, the donor would be accused of reverting to the old

paternalistic pattern and roundly condemned.
• Recipients become ungrateful. The ingratitude can take a number of
forms: "Sure, you gave us something, but look how much you still
have;" or, "It's not yours anyway; you owe it to us." When I was
president of Columbia International University, I knew something was
bothering some of the African pastors studying with us. We discovered
it was money. Though none could have been there without great
generosity on the part of some sponsoring mission and the school,
several recounted how they were owed so much more. One pastor
said, "Actually, you should not only fully support us now, you should
support us for the first 5 or 10 years after our return since you have dis-
fitted us for ministry in our homelands."Perhaps the missiologist most
knowledgeable about the hazards of the just-support-nationals
movement is Glenn Schwartz, founding director of World Mission
Associates. In an interview with Mission Frontiers (January-February,
1997) he says:
We believe that churches in the non-Western world can do what
God is calling them to do with the resources which He has put
within their reach. ... I don't think anyone would support that
approach ("just support nationals") if they had gone out as a
missionary to plant churches cross-culturally according to
healthy principles of self-support and then had someone come
along and entice away their best leaders with foreign money.
That is what I call "shepherd stealing." The "just support
nationals" people are doing it shamelessly and on a very large
scale.
The editor of Missions Frontiers, Rick Wood, puts it even more
strongly:
Many churches in the U.S. have bought into this scheme as a
way of getting more "bang for their missions buck." But what
they don't realize is that this "bargain basement" approach to
missions is going to blow up in their faces creating a
dependency on the mission field to foreign funds that is deadly
to the vibrant, reproducing church planting movements that we
want to see within every people. Every church and every people
has the God-given privilege and responsibility of supporting its
own ministry and cross-cultural outreach. Foreign money robs
these peoples of the incentive to give of their lives and
resources to support the ministries of their own churches.
Remember that your giving should always encourage
"psychological ownership"... never do for others what they can
do for themselves. Avoid dependency like the plague that it is.

A number of non-Western church leaders quoted in the same issue of

Mission Frontiers agree with Schwartz and Wood. Bishop Zablon
Nthamburi of the Methodist Church of Kenya said, "The African Church
will not grow into maturity if it continues to be fed by Western partners.
It will ever remain an infant who has not learned to walk on his or her
own feet".
One leader in the Friends Missionary Prayer Band, a leading Indian
mission, said, "It's sad to say that foreign money has caused more
harm than good in Indian missions. The result is culturally irrelevant,
pseudo-Christian leaders and organizations that have long forgotten
their roots".
Atul Aghamkar, an Indian specialist in urban ministries, said, "Western
money continues to make the national church dependent on the West.
It creates a sense of rivalry, greed and competition. It often robs the
national church of its natural potential. When the easy money from the
West is available, very few want to explore indigenous ways of fund
raising".
There are, then, great hazards in giving and receiving. We have not yet
discovered how to use North American funds to assist non-North
American ministry without negative spiritual fallout. For years I have
resisted addressing the issue because I haven't had a clear-cut
solution to offer. But searching for the key to unlock this, the greatest
puzzle in the current missions enterprise, I have become convinced
that the approach needs to be measured against the following four
Biblically-based principles concerning giving and receiving.
Does the giving win the lost?
Paul was willing to become anything to anyone for his single-minded
objective: to win the lost, to win as many as possible, as widely as
possible. Everything he did even to risk-taking and imprisonment was
measured in Great Commission terms. So today, one test for any
missions approach should be its evangelistic effectiveness. Does
money invested promote or retard long-term church growth and
evangelism?
The incredible story of the church in South Korea is instructive. From
the outset, it was the showcase for the Nevius method of establishing
self-governing, self-supporting, self-propagating churches. That may
have meant slow growth at first, but today a third of South Koreans
name Christ as Lord and the church has sent out a missionary task
force of thousands! There are other factors in the growth of the Korean
church, of course, but the foundation of independent dependence on
God is cited by many as the chief factor.

Does the giving encourage true discipleship?

While evangelization is the controlling objective of the missionary
enterprise, it is useless if it doesn't produce Christ-like character in both
the giver and the receiver.
So we must ask if the giving arrangement nurtures generosity, humility,
unity, and compassion on the part of the giver. Is the church being truly
generous if it is willing to send money, but not its own sons and
daughters to the mission field? Like Jesus coming to earth, does the
giver feel a solidarity with, a responsibility for the brother in need, as
Jesus did? Are gifts given from the stance of a benefactor, or of a
servant? "I am among you as one who serves," said Jesus.
I know an American missionary who, burdened by the corrupting power
of the American dollar on giver and receiver, has chosen to live among
the poor of Calcutta, along with his Indian colleague, on $50 a month
for livelihood and for ministry. The balance of any gift income
(unsolicited, by the way) is invested in a poverty-chained people. That
isn't the only legitimate approach, of course, but it is an approach that
models our God's incarnational, personal giving in Christ.
The same question of discipleship must be asked of the receiving
church. Do giving arrangements produce in the receiving church a spirit
of sacrificial giving, of responsible ownership of the ministry, including
the cause of world evangelism, a greater reliance on God, and an
attitude of genuine gratitude among the recipients? If these are not the
results, the money is actually more a taking than a giving.
Does the giver honor the role of the local church?
The New Testament pattern of giving was church-centered, whether

sending people or funds. People gave to their churches from which
Paul received the offering (II Cor 8,9). When these funds were for the
poor, not for the support of his own missionary team, he then delivered
the offering to the church for distribution. The authority Christ invested
in the church is lost when giving or receiving bypasses the church. The
traditional independent mission or the contemporary money-gathering
agency needs to exercise great care, especially when investing in
something other than its own missionary team, not to bypass the
supervisory authority of the church at both ends.
Does the giving nurture generous givers?
God's people are to give compassionately, generously, sacrificially,

joyfully (see II Cor. 8 and 9). Because this spirit of generosity serves as
a fundamental test of the quality of spiritual life, Paul's admonition to
"excel in the grace of giving" is not for the wealthy alone. There is a
special obligation of the wealthy to give (I Tim 6:17-19), but Paul
commends the poor of Philippi for having given generously for the

needs of the poor in Jerusalem. Though this generosity principle

should govern giving, I list it last because the other three are much
more dominant in the commands and examples of Scripture. And yet
many "send money, not missionaries" advocates are, I believe, in
danger of operating from this principle alone to the exclusion of the
other three principles. The primary commands and examples for giving
money in the New Testament center in one group: the poor. The
astounding offerings of propertied people in the church of Jerusalem
were to aid the poor (Acts 4:34-35), and the offerings Paul gathered
from the "missionary churches" were also for the poor in Jerusalem, the
home church. There is a reference to giving to support Paul's
missionary team on the part of the "younger church" at Philippi (Phil.
4:10-19), and there is the incident of Paul asking for financial
assistance for another missionary (I Cor 16:11). But I can find no
instance, let alone any command, to give toward the ministry of another
church. One reason for this is evident. There were no church buildings
or institutions like hospitals or schools, and local ministers were bi-
vocational. If the early church is any model, it seems that paid ministry,
buildings, and institutions emerged only as the church was able to
afford them. From the beginning the small groups were self-supporting,
self-governing, and self-propagating. Apparently the spiritual strength
derived from this independent reliance on God was more important, in
the mind of the Apostle, than was any kind of external subsidy to move
things along more rapidly. Scripture is clear, then, that those who have
material resources are to share with those who lack them. In the New
Testament this was providing the physical needs of the impoverished,
what today might be called "relief" or "development" projects. But when
we take the principle to mean assisting others in their spiritual ministry,
we have no Biblical command or precedent. If we justify the practice on
the fourth principle of the need to exercise generosity, we have yet to
find a practical way to do so without spiritual damage to giver and
receiver. Money is power, it is said, and power corrupts. These Biblical
principles should prove a helpful antidote to that corruption. Note the
order of importance. If we begin and end, as many seem to do, with the
single principle that the haves are to provide for the have-nots, we shall
inevitably be corrupted. At the least we will slow the progress of the
Gospel to the unreached. But we shouldn't be surprised. The church
has been through this before. The church at Jerusalem focused on its
own needs so much that God had to bypass them for Antioch as the
missionary sending church. The dark ages were dark at least partially
because the church was introverted. The Reformation wasn't mission
minded and never created sending structures. But most instructive,
following Edinburgh 1910 the missions juggernaut of the nineteenth
century was sidetracked into focusing on ecumenical unity. The
mainline historic church began to concentrate its attention on
interdenominational and cross-racial unification with financial
assistance from North America, and the evangelistic mission shriveled,
in at least one major denomination to nothing at all. If we shift the

missions focus from reaching the unreached to demonstrating the unity

of the body with financial aid, how do we differ from the ecumenical
mission of the twentieth century? So, do we send money or people?
Certainly we send people and keep on sending them to cross the
frontiers till the task of proclaiming the Gospel to every person within
every people is completed. And we send money to assist the poor and
disenfranchised in our worldwide family. Beyond that New Testament
pattern, I not only find no justification for supporting the ministry of
other churches but also great hazards in doing so. Sharing financial
resources in a way that is spiritually empowering and Great
Commission-completing for both donor and recipient remains our
greatest unsolved problem.
Robertson McQuilkin served as president of Columbia

International University in South Carolina for 22 years, was
executive director of the Evangelical Missiological Society from
1994 to 1997 and is author of The Great Omission.
This article provided by Mission Frontiers magazine. Used by
permission.
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SOJOURNER OR SETTLER?
Sojourning - Learning to live in the epic of God's Story.
By Hatley Hambrice
From the beginning

of time, starting with Adam & Eve, mankind has desired to be a settler. In
Genesis 1:28, God's first command to mankind, He says "be fruitful, multiply,
and fill the earth. In Genesis 9:1, as Noah and his family get off the Ark, God
tells them "be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth." It is clear that our Creator's
desire is to fill the earth with worshippers of Him. As you continue in God's
Story, you find the descendents of Noah, all living together in one city with
one common language, saying in Genesis 11:4 "Let us build for ourselves a
city with a tower, that reaches to the heavens, so that we can make a name
for ourselves, and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." It was
also clear to the descendents of Noah, what God's plans and purposes were.
They were to be sojourners and not settlers, yet they chose to directly disobey
God's desire. In Genesis 11:8 we see that God gets what He desires, whether
men obey or not. For in an instant God scattered these people over all the
earth, confused their language, and they stopped building the city. We see
that it is God himself not man that created the world's nations, the diversity of
cultures, languages, and peoples.
The more we get know God and His Story, we learn that God's Story is an
epic. An epic is a story big enough to live in. Sojourning and being a sojourner
is all about learning to live in the context of God's Story, not trying to make our
own little story. Mankind's search and strive for independence of its Creator
God is evident through the stories of the Bible and even today in America.
The search and pursuit of the American Dream is what life in the United
States is all about, and we are modeling it for the entire world to see. In the
Tower of Babel the people wanted prestige, power, and to settle in one place.
The exact opposite of their Creator God's plan. The American Dream offers
the building of one's own wealth, so that they do not depend on anyone or
anything for the rest of their life. The ability to own land and our own home is

the dream of all people. It is the mentality of the American Dream that keep us
from seeing God work around us.
A Sojourner is a stranger and alien to this world. In Hebrews 11, the faith
chapter shares the stories of the great sojourners of faith who followed God in
their life and in their death. Hebrews 11:13 "In faith died all these, not having
received the promises, but from afar having seen them, and having been
persuaded, and having saluted them, and having confessed that strangers
and sojourners they are upon the earth." All these men of faith modeled a
lifestyle that showed that they understood that they were just temporary
dwellers on this earth. They understood that they were not to setup home on
this earth. These men of faith knew that they were just passing through as
followers of Christ, who is preparing them a permanent residence in Heaven.
These men made decisions that cost them their lives, but used that cost to
invest in their Creator's eternal Kingdom. Jesus prays for his disciples as
aliens and sojourners on the earth "My prayer is not that you take them out of
the world but that you protect them from the evil one, they are not of this
world, even as I am not of it."(John 17:15-16) Jesus was not praying for his
disciples to be taken out of danger, but to protect them in the presence of
danger. Jesus did not pray that they would all live together in a safe place, but
to stay in the dangerous places to build relationships with the unreached. A
sojourner is a resident that chooses to live as an alien, because he knows that
his real home is in heaven with his creator. Their lifestyle reflects that they are
one who abides, a stranger in a foreign land, one who stays for a while,
always moving forward, always growing. A Sojourner is constantly changing,
pioneering, initiating, and trail blazing as a part of Christ's revolution. A
Sojourner is one who sojourns, which means to abide, to live, to dwell, and
live as an alien. Sojourning means to be on pilgrimage, one who views life not
as a destination but as a process, a continuous journey.
In the story of Abram, the power of the story is not about the great things that
Abram did. Abram, was a descendent of one of the seventy nations God
created at the Tower of Babel. When you compare what the people wanted at
the Tower of Babel, to what God promised Abram they are the same. In
Genesis 12:1-3 "The Lord said to Abram leave your country, your people, and
your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into
a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will
be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will
curse; and all the peoples of the earth will be blessed through you." The
power behind the story of Abraham is that through Abraham's faith to obey
God kept His promise to make Abraham's name great, Abraham's family into
a great nation, and to bless all the peoples of the earth for all generations
through him. The story of Abraham is not about him getting to the promise
land, it is about Abraham being dependent on his Creator God. It was God
that changed his name to Abraham, which means father of many nations. The
story is about Abraham leaving all that he knew to follow a God he did not
know, to a place that God had not even told him. Do you feel the extreme
dependence that Abraham must have felt? Abraham was a sojourner, a
Gentile, a man from the nations, who was wealthy, and a prominent member

of his community. God asked Abraham to leave all this stability behind to
follow Him. God is asking us to follow this great example of pilgrimage
ourselves, today in this modern age. The American Dream says we are to
settle, stay close to family, make lots of money, take care of our family, and
have a nice home, with as much security and stability as possible.
From the beginning of time, mankind has been fighting this battle to settle and
not be scattered over the face of the earth.
Are you going to sojourn or settle?
SUPPORT RAISING
by Steve Shadrach
I want to serve God and be obedient to His leading in my life, but I don't want
to....RAISE SUPPORT!
If you have said or thought these words, you are not alone. In fact, most
people living a donor-supported lifestyle will admit that at one time they
probably had feelings much like this. Although this lifestyle is not a popular
one in North America where independence is a high value, it is an essential
part of working for many Christian ministries and mission agencies. For those
who are surrendered to the will of God in their life, it is not a question of
whether you will raise support, but of whether you will be obedient. When that
question is answered, support raising just becomes one aspect of the job that
God is calling you to.
Although it is a huge obstacle to overcome, many people have come to see it
as a blessing. Even though there are stresses and pressures involved in
raising and maintaining a personal support team, I would not want to live any
other way. The bonds that I have formed over the years with our supporters
are priceless. The stories of God building my faith during difficult times could
fill a book. And most of all, when I report to that ministry assignment, there is
a sense of destiny and authority there. There are 50+ others that have paid a
dear price to have me ministering there. I had better take it seriously and give
it my all. That's what I call accountability.
You might be deciding the best way to fund your ministry. Should you be a
"tentmaker" and work a job while ministering or should you raise part or all of
your personal support? Both are biblical, but if you're going to raise support
you will probably have some doubts, fears and questions. YOU ARE
NORMAL! I still get the stomach butterflies each time I pick up that phone to
make a support appointment. If you want to be successful you are going to
need some guidance. I have listed several resources at the end of this article
that would be good for you to purchase and study. But just to hold you over
until you can get to the bookstore I have listed here five keys to raising your
personal support team. This is one of the most exciting adventures (i.e. roller
coaster rides!) that I have ever experienced. So hold on tight and here we go:

The Five Keys to Raising Your Personal Support

1. Understand the Biblical Basis
Take some time to study the Scriptures for yourself so you will know
exactly what God thinks about asking others to give to you and to your
ministry. Some choose to just pray and trust God to bring the funds in.
The great George Mueller did this to support his orphanages in 19th
century London. But it is just as Biblical and requires as much or more
faith to personally invite others to invest. Either way, we have to
understand that God is the source of our funds, not the donors, our
plans or hard work. Scott Morton of The Navigators in his excellent
book Funding Your Ministry Whether You're Gifted or Not highlights
five examples and teachings from the Old and New Testaments about
the validity of God's ministers being supported by others:
A. The example of the Levites (Numbers 18:24)- The Jews gave
their tithe to the priests for support.
B. The example of Jesus (Luke 8:2,3)- Many people supported
Jesus and the disciples.
C. The teaching of Jesus (Mt. 10:9,10)- A Kingdom worker is
worthy of his support.
D. The example of Paul (Acts 18:4,5)- He stopped tentmaking to
preach full time on support.
E. The teaching of Paul (1 Cor. 9:1-18)- He had the right to be
supported by the churches.
Once you have a biblical perspective on this topic of asking for and
living on the support of others, evaluate one more thing: Evaluate your
own giving! Before you can ask anyone else to give you have to be
committed to sacrificially investing in Kingdom work on a regular basis.
Let's practice what we preach!
2. Kill the Giants in Your Own Mind
Remember the twelve Hebrew spies who went into the Promised Land
to take a look before the whole nation was to enter and claim what God
had given them? Only Joshua and Caleb came back ready to invade.
The other ten spies were so terrified of the giants they saw in the land
that they confessed, "we became like grasshoppers in our own sight,
and so we were in their sight." (Exodus 13:33). Instead of trusting God
and moving out with courage, they let fear paralyze them. How they
viewed themselves affected how the giants viewed them. It is the same
way in support raising. The confidence level that we have in our God,
our vision, and ourselves can make us....or break us! All of us have
different "giants" in our own minds that will keep us from beginning and

persevering in the process of assembling a full support team. These

are some common "giants" we must conquer:
A. You or your parents might think support raising is really just
begging.
B. You might think you are not a worthy investment.
C. You might think that support raising is just a "necessary evil" that
must be endured.
D. You might think that people are rejecting you or your ministry if
they say "no".
You must kill these giants one at a time as you fill your mind with the
Scriptures and believe what God has said about you and your calling.
Then you can courageously march in and take the land! Just as God
had prepared the land for the people to simply go in and take it, we
need to believe that God has prepared the hearts of the donors and we
need to walk boldly in faith to find those givers and ask them to join us
in our vision.
3. Pray and Plan
Pray!
Author S.D. Gordon said it well, "Prayer is the real work of the ministry.
Service is just gathering in the results of prayer." We need to bathe
ourselves and our donors in prayer before, during, and after this
process. God will go before you. He will also build a love for your
donors as you pray for them individually.
Create Your Budget!
Include everything you need for your personal needs, giving, saving
and ministry expenses. Seek to balance a lifestyle that will allow you to
maximize your effectiveness with the group you're reaching, but also
be above reproach from your donors on the stewardship of your
finances. If you happen to have school debt, simply include the
required monthly amount owed and keep going. Your donors will
admire you for keeping your promise to pay it back. Plan on and
commit to raising 100% before you report to your assignment. Have a
"when I raise my support attitude", not an "if I raise my support."
Namestorm!
Now that you have turned the whole process over to God you are
ready to begin your planning. Write down every person that you have
ever known during your lifetime. Don't play Holy Spirit by saying, "Oh,
that person would never give." You will be surprised by a few that will
give and... by a few that don't! Also, think of people that have a heart

for student work, missions or whatever group or area you are targeting.
List churches, Sunday School classes, foundations, and corporations.
The bulk of your support, though, will come from the individuals with
whom you meet.
Map Out a Plan!
Divide up all the names according to the cities they live in. Then label
each name "hot", "cold", or "medium" depending upon whether they
probably will give, probably won't give, or that they might give. Next,
pray and seek to attach an amount that you would like to ask them to
give. Don't use a one size fits all plan; instead, base the amount on
what you perceive they are able and willing to give along with the kind
of relationship you have with them. You might feel more comfortable
suggesting a range of giving rather than a specific amount. Either way,
know that the tendency for most people is to ask for too little...not too
much! Remember, there is no cash flow problem in heaven. Americans
alone give over 100 billion dollars to charity each year. God has
instilled in every person a desire to give and you are helping them to
invest in the eternal and thus build up their treasure in heaven. Go for
it!
Plan Out a Map!
Figure out what city you will go to first, second, etc...Schedule it out on
your calendar. If you want to send a letter in advance telling them what
you are doing and that you will be calling, do it. But the key is to call
each person in advance of the trip in order to get the appointment.
Don't let them say yes or no to the giving; your only objective is to get
an appointment with them. Seek to line up all of your "hot" prospects
first, then your "medium" prospects next, and finally (if you have time)
the "cold" prospects.
4. Ask them face to face
This is the key. Jesus says "we have not because we ask not." The
word "ask" is used in the gospels 113 times. God wants to teach us
about asking: Him and others. I have looked at surveys as to why
people give and the number one reason is always because someone
asked them! It is not unspiritual or fleshly to ask. It is biblical, spiritual,
and faithbuilding to ask. Let's not hide behind our fears. Let's walk
toward them and render them powerless! The worst thing that they
could say is, "No". If you just send a letter out or make a group
presentation you might have a 10% response rate. If you send a letter
and then call to ask you might get 25% of people to say yes. But, if you
are willing to sit down eyeball to eyeball with others and lay out the
incredible ministry vision God has called you to, usually well over half
of the folks are pulling their checkbooks out! I've had some tell me they
have never been turned down in an individual support raising
appointment! My research shows that ministries that train their staff to

ask for the gift raise their full budget in less than half the time of groups
that simply share the need, but don't ask. We have not....because we
ask not. Sound familiar?
5. Cultivate the Relationship
Here are the ABC's for having a long and fruitful relationship with your
supporters:
A. Remember it's not fundraising, but "friendraising." You can have
an incredible ministry in their life and you might be their only
connection to Jesus Christ or the Great Commission.
B. Consider tithing your ministry time to your support team: prayer,
writing, calling, ministering.
C. Thank before you bank (when a new person or new gift comes
in). Be prompt and professional in all of your correspondence
and record keeping.
D. Regularly send them well-written newsletters. Share how their
investments are paying off along with some specific prayer
requests. Occasional postcards, phone calls, and visits are great
too. Beware: The main reason people drop off of support teams
is that they do not hear from their missionary.
E. Win, Keep, Lift. When you win a donor they are now on your
team. Keep them on the team by caring for and cultivating them.
Periodically, ask them to consider lifting (increasing) their
monthly or annual gift to you. Campus Crusade had a campaign
where they were asking people to give 1 million dollars to their
ministry. Almost 250 people said "yes"! Research showed,
though, that the very first gift that each had made to this ministry
years earlier had been on an average....a mere $10! Someone
had taken the time to win, keep, and (over the years) to lift!
People will stick with you for life if you will appreciate them and keep
them informed. View them as vital partners in your ministry and you will
gain not only life long supporters, but friends too! One day you will turn
around and realize how blessed you have been and that you would not
want to live any other way! Trust God and begin this exciting adventure
today. You will never regret it!
Resources:
1. Funding Your Ministry Whether You're Gifted or Not by Scott Morton,
Dawson Media
2. People Raising by William P. Dillon, Moody Press
3. Getting Sent by Pete Sommer, Intervarsity Press
4. Friend Raising by Betty Barnett, Youth With A Mission Publishing

Steve Shadrach is the Founder of Student Mobilization. He and his

wife, Carol, and their five children have enjoyed living and ministering
on support since 1986. He takes great pleasure in traveling to different
ministries around the world to lead them through his Personal Support
Raising Boot Camps. If you are interested in a Boot Camp for your
church or ministry check out www.thebodybuilders.net
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GETTING STARTED IN RAISING SUPPORT

by Rebecca Hickman
Five steps for raising support:
1. Biblical Basis
2. Philosophy
3. Tools
4. Getting Started
5. Method
Biblical Basis:
Is support raising biblical? Look up these verses to gain a proper perspective:
Num. 18:24, Deut. 12:19, Neh. 13:10-12, Matt. 10:10, Luke 8:3, Acts 20:33-
35, Rom. 15:24, Rom. 16:1-2, 1 Cor. 9:3-15, 2 Cor. 11:8-9, 1 Tim. 5:18, 3
John 5-8
(Paul was a tentmaker among the Corinthians because they had immature
views about supporting missionaries.)
Philosophy:
1. There may still be some doubt in your mind about raising support.
Think through how you would answer these questions.
o View of GOD: How big is your God? Is he able to provide for all
your needs? Is he able to raise up people to join your support
team? Can God fail you?
o View of SELF: How capable are you? Can God use you? Why
would God want to use you? Are you a worthy investment for
your supporters?
2. Read this paragraph and record your thoughts.

Why does support raising seem so awkward? Is support raising

unbiblical or is it just un-American? Jay Gary says, in his article
"Support Raising," that as Americans, "We are supposed to be 'rugged
individualists' who refuse handouts and stand on our own two feet.
Financial independence is the goal. Some people's problem with
raising support, then, is not that its at odds with any practice in the
Bible. Maybe their problem with raising support has more to do with it
being counter to the American way of life."
Tools:
I. Record progress: Use a spreadsheet to keep track of your progress.
Record who has been sent a letter, who you have called, who has
given you an appointment, and who has received a thank you note.
Use this to stay organized. Be accountable to someone.
II. Portfolio: Create a thin folder that visually explains your ministry and
needs.
III. Prayer: Pray before every support call and appointment. Pray for God's
help and provision. He is faithful to those who humble themselves and
depend on Him.
IV. Newsletter: Write a two-page newsletter about yourself to keep people
informed in a casual way about your ministry and life, and send it to
everyone on your list of possible supporters. Be sure to send another
one to all of your supporters during and/or after your ministry trip.
V. Books: Books that can help you with the concept of support raising are
Friend Raising by Betty Barnett, The Support-Raising Handbook: a
Guide for Christian Workers by Brian Rust and Barry McLeish, and
People Raising by William Dillon.
Getting Started:
1. Brainstorm a list of names: Think of 50-100 people you can ask for
support. This includes family, friends, church members, and anyone
else you know. Write a detailed list that includes phone numbers and
addresses.
2. Make practice phone calls: Tell a friend to let you practice on them and
pretend it is a support call. Act like you are trying to land an
appointment.
3. Plan first few waves of people: Think through the next few weeks and
plan which people to ask first. Have about 7-10 people per wave so
you don't get too overwhelmed.
4. Make a newsletter: Write out some stories about your life, such as what
you are learning from the Word, or what your plans are for the summer,
or how school is going this semester - anything that has to do with your

life and catches people up on what you are doing. Send it to everyone
on your list.
Method:
1. Schedule: Here is a possible schedule pattern of how to begin your
support trail.
o Week 1: Send letters to top ten people on your list of possible
supporters.
o Week 2: Call top ten people and schedule support appointments
for next week. Send letters to next ten people on your list.
o Week 3: Have support appointments with top ten people. Call
people from week 2 and schedule appointments. Send support
letters to next ten people on your list. Call week 1 people to find
out if they have decided to join your team.
o Week 4: Write thank-you letters for each appointment with week
1 people. Have appointments with week 2 people. Call people
from week 3 and schedule appointments for next week. Send
support letters to next 10 people on your list.
o Week 5: Keep going through the process of waves until you
have full support.
2. Referrals: A referral is a name who your contact thinks would be
interested in hearing about your ministry. Ask friends for referrals to
continue your support trail. This is an important part of the process,
because you never run out of possible supporters on your list.
Example: At the end of a support appointment, say:
"There is one other way that you could help me. Could you make a list
of 5-10 people you know who might be interested in hearing about my
ministry?
3. Set Goals: Plan to make about 10 phone calls and send 10 letters a
week, so that you don't get behind on your schedule.

THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE

by Samuel M. Zwemer
The challenge of the unoccupied fields of the world is one to great faith and,
therefore to great sacrifice. Our willingness to sacrifice for an enterprise is
always in proportion to our faith in that enterprise. Faith has the genius of
transforming the barely possible into actuality. Once men are dominated by
the conviction that a thing must be done, they will stop at nothing until it is
accomplished. We have our "marching orders," as the Iron Duke {Arthur
Wesley, Duke of Wellington} said, and because our Commander-in-Chief is
not absent, but with us, the impossible becomes not only practical but
imperative. Charles Spurgeon, preaching from the text, "All power is given
unto Me. Lo I am with you always," used these words: "You have a factor here
that is absolutely infinite, and what does it matter as to what other factors may
be. "I will do as much as I can, says one. Any fool can do that. He that
believes in Christ does what he can not do, attempts the impossible and
performs it."
Frequent set-backs and apparent failure never dishearten the real pioneer.
Occasional martyrdoms are only a fresh incentive. Opposition is a stimulus to
greater activity. Great victory has never been possible without great sacrifice.
If the winning of Port Arthur required human bullets, we cannot expect to carry
the Port Arthurs and Gibraltars of the non-Christian world without loss of life.
Does it really matter how many die or how much money we spend in opening
closed doors, and in occupying the different fields, if we really believe that
missions are warfare and that the King's Glory is at stake? War always means
blood and treasure. Our only concern should be to keep the fight aggressive
and to win victory regardless of cost or sacrifice. The unoccupied fields of the
world must have their Calvary before they can have their Pentecost. Raymond
Lull, the first missionary to the Moslem world, expressed the same thought in
medieval language when he wrote: "As a hungry man makes dispatch and
takes large morsels on account of his great hunger, so Thy servant feels a
great desire to die that he may glorify Thee. He hurries day and night to
complete his work in order that he may give up his blood and his tears to be
shed for Thee."
"An Inverted Homesickness"
The unoccupied fields of the world await those who are willing to be lonely for
the sake of Christ. To the pioneer missionary, the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ to the apostles when He showed them His hands and His feet, come
with special force: "As my Father hath sent Me, even so send I you" (John
20:21). He came into the world, and it was a great unoccupied mission field.
"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (John 1:11). He came
and His welcome was derision, His life suffering, and His throne the Cross. As
He came, He expects us to go. We must follow in His footprints. The pioneer
missionary, in overcoming obstacles and difficulties, has the privilege not only
of knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection, but also something of the
fellowship of His suffering. For the people of Tibet or Somaliland, Mongolia or

Afghanistan, Arabia or Nepal, the Sudan or Abyssinia, he may be called to

say with Paul, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill to the brim the
penury of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake which is the
Church" (Greek text, Col. 1:24; cf. Luke 21:4 and Mark 12:44). What is it but
the glory of the impossible! Who would naturally prefer to leave the warmth
and comfort of hearth and home and the love of the family circle to go after a
lost sheep, whose cry we have faintly heard in the howling of the tempest?
Yet such is the glory of the task that neither home-ties nor home needs can
hold back those who have caught the vision and the spirit of the Great
Shepherd. Because the lost ones are His sheep, and He has made us His
shepherds and not His hirelings, we must bring them back.
Although the road be rough and steep, I go to the desert to find my
sheep.
"There is nothing finer nor more pathetic to me," says Dr. Forsyth, "than the
way in which missionaries unlearn the love of the old home, die to their native
land, and wed their hearts to the people they have served and won; so that
they cannot rest in England but must return to lay their bones where they
spent their hearts for Christ. How vulgar the common patriotisms seem beside
this inverted home-sickness, this passion of a kingdom which has no frontiers
and no favored race, the passion of a homeless Christ!"
James Gilmour in Mongolia, David Livingstone in Central Africa, Grenfell on
the Congo, Keith Falconer in Arabia, Dr. Rijnhart and Miss Annie Taylor in
Tibet, Chalmers in New Guinea, Morrison in China, Henry Martyn in Persia,
and all the others like them had this "inverted home-sickness," this passion to
call that country their home which was most in need of the Gospel. In this
passion all other passions died; before this vision all other visions faded; this
call drowned all other voices. They were the pioneers of the Kingdom, the
forelopers of God, eager to cross the border-marches and discover new lands
or win new empires.
The Pioneer Spirit
These forelopers of God went not with hatchet and brand, but with the Sword
of the Spirit and with the Belt of Truth. They went and blazed the way for
those that followed after. Their scars were the seal of their apostleship, and
they gloried also in tribulation. Like the pioneer Apostle, "always bearing about
in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, and approving themselves as
ministers of God in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in watching, in
fasting."
Thomas Valpy French, Bishop of Lahore, whom Dr. Eugene Stock called "the
most distinguished of all Church Missionary Society missionaries," had the
real pioneer spirit and knew the glory of the impossible. After forty years of
labors abundant and fruitful in India, he resigned his bishopric and planned to
reach the interior of Arabia with the Gospel. He was an intellectual and
spiritual giant. "To live with him was to drink in an atmosphere that was
spiritually bracing. As the air of the Engadine (a favorite tourist ground in
Switzerland) is to the body, so was his intimacy to the soul. It was an

education to be with him. There was nothing that he thought a man should not
yield - home or wife or health if God's call was apparent. But then every one
knew that he only asked of them what he himself had done and was always
doing." And when Mackay, of Uganda, in his remarkable plea for a mission to
the Arabs of Oman called for "half a dozen young men, the pick of the English
universities, to make the venture in faith," this lion-hearted veteran of sixty-six
years responded alone. It was the glory of the impossible. Yet from Muscat he
wrote shortly before his death:
"If I can get no faithful servant and guide for the journey into the interior, well
versed in dealing with Arabs and getting needful common supplies (I want but
little), I may try Bahrein, or Hodeidah and Sana, and if that fails, the north of
Africa again, in some highland; for without a house of our own the climate
would be insufferable for me - at least during the very hot months - and one's
work would be at a standstill. But I shall not give up, please God, even
temporarily, my plans for the interior, unless, all avenues being closed, it
would be sheer madness to attempt to carry them out."
"I shall not give up" - and he did not till he died. Nor will the Church of Christ
give up the work for which he and others like him laid down their lives in
Oman. It goes on.
The Apostolic Ambition
The unoccupied provinces of Arabia and the Sudan await men with the spirit
of Bishop French. For the ambition to reach out from centers already occupied
to regions beyond, even when those very centers are undermanned and in
need of reinforcement, is not Quixotic or fantastic, but truly apostolic. "Yes, so
have I been ambitious," said Paul, "to preach the Gospel not where Christ was
already named, lest I should build on another man's foundation; but as it is
written, they shall see to whom no tidings of Him came, and they who have
not heard shall understand" (Romans 15:20-21). He wrote this when leaving a
city as important as Corinth, and goes on to state that this is the reason why
he did not yet visit Rome, but that he hopes to do so on his way to Spain! If
the uttermost confines of the Roman Empire were part of his program who
had already preached Christ from Jerusalem to Illyricum in the first century,
we surely, at the beginning of the twentieth century, should have no less
ambition to enter every unoccupied field that "they may see to whom no
tidings came and that those who have not heard may understand."
"There is no instance of an Apostle being driven abroad under the compulsion
of a bald command. Each one went as a lover to his betrothed on his
appointed errand. It was all instinctive and natural. They were equally
controlled by the common vision, but they had severally personal visions
which drew them whither they were needed. In the first days of Christianity,
there is an absence of the calculating spirit. Most of the Apostles died outside
of Palestine, though human logic would have forbidden them to leave the
country until it had been Christianized. The calculating instinct is death to
faith, and had the Apostles allowed it to control their motives and actions, they
would have said: 'The need in Jerusalem is so profound, our responsibilities to
people of our own blood so obvious, that we must live up to the principle that

charity begins at home. After we have won the people of Jerusalem, of Judea
and of the Holy Land in general, then it will be time enough to go abroad; but
our problems, political, moral and religious, are so unsolved here in this one
spot that it is manifestly absurd to bend our shoulders to a new load.'"
It was the bigness of the task and its difficulty that thrilled the early Church. Its
apparent impossibility was its glory, its world-wide character its grandeur. The
same is true today. "I am happy," wrote Neesima of Japan, "in a meditation on
the marvelous growth of Christianity in the world, and believe that if it finds
any obstacles it will advance still faster and swifter even as the stream runs
faster when it finds any hindrances on its course."
Hope and Patience
He that ploweth the virgin soil should plow in hope. God never disappoints His
husbandmen. The harvest always follows the seed time. "When we first came
to our field," writes missionary Hogberg from Central Asia, "it was impossible
to gather even a few people to hear the glad tidings of the Gospel. We could
not gather any children for school. We could not spread gospels or tracts.
When building the new station, we also had a little chapel built. Then we
wondered, will this room ever be filled up with Moslems listening to the
Gospel? Our little chapel has been filled with hearers and still a larger room!
Day after day we may preach as much as we have strength to, and the
Moslems no longer object to listen to the Gospel truth. 'Before your coming
hither no one spoke or thought of Jesus Christ, now everywhere one hears
His name,' a Mohammedan said to me. At the beginning of our work they
threw away the Gospels or burnt them, or brought them back again - now they
buy them, kiss the books, and touching it to the forehead and pressing it to
the heart, they show the highest honor that a Moslem can show a book."
But the pioneer husbandman must have long patience. When Judson was
lying loaded with chains in a Burmese dungeon, a fellow prisoner asked with a
sneer about the prospect for the conversion of the heathen. Judson calmly
answered, "The prospects are as bright as are the promises of God." There is
scarcely a country today which is not as accessible, or where the difficulties
are greater, than was the case in Burma when Judson faced them and
overcame.
Challenge of the Closed Door
The prospects for the evangelization of all the unoccupied fields are "as bright
as the promises of God." Why should we longer wait to evangelize them?
"The evangelization of the world in this generation is no play-word," says
Robert E. Speer. "It is no motto to be bandied about carelessly. The
evangelization of the world in this generation is the summons of Jesus Christ
to every one of the disciples to lay himself upon a cross, himself to walk in the
footsteps of Him who, though He was rich, for our sakes became poor, that
we through His poverty might be rich, himself to count his life as of no
account, that he may spend it as Christ spent His for the redemption of the
world." Who will do this for the unoccupied fields?

The student volunteers of today must not rest satisfied until the watchword,
peculiarly their own, finds practical application for the most neglected and
difficult fields, as well as the countries where the harvest is ripe and the call is
for reapers in ever increasing numbers. The plea of destitution is even
stronger than that of opportunity. Opportunism is not the last word in missions.
The open door beckons; the closed door challenges him who has a right to
enter. The unoccupied fields of the world have, therefore, a claim of peculiar
weight and urgency. "In this twentieth century of Christian history there should
be no unoccupied fields. The Church is bound to remedy the lamentable
condition with the least possible delay."
Make a Life, Not a Living
The unoccupied fields, therefore, are a challenge to all whose lives are
unoccupied by that which is highest and best; whose lives are occupied only
with the weak things or the base things that do not count. There are eyes that
have never been illumined by a great vision, minds that have never been
gripped by an unselfish thought, hearts that have never thrilled with passion
for another's wrong, and hands that have never grown weary or strong in
lifting a great burden. To such the knowledge of these Christless millions in
lands yet unoccupied should come like a new call from Macedonia, and a
startling vision of God's will for them. As Bishop Brent remarks, "We never
know what measure of moral capacity is at our disposal until we try to express
it in action. An adventure of some proportions is not uncommonly all that a
young man needs to determine and fix his manhood's powers." Is there a
more heroic test for the powers of manhood than pioneer work in the mission
field? Here is opportunity for those who at home may never find elbow-room
for their latent capacities, who may never find adequate scope elsewhere for
all the powers of their minds and their souls. There are hundreds of Christian
college men who expect to spend life in practicing law or in some trade for a
livelihood, yet who have strength and talent enough to enter these unoccupied
fields. There are young doctors who might gather around them in some new
mission station thousands of those who "suffer the horrors of heathenism and
Islam," and lift their burden of pain, but who now confine their efforts to some
"pent-up Utica" where the healing art is subject to the law of competition and
is measured too often merely in terms of a cash-book and ledger. They are
making a living; they might be making a life.
Bishop Phillips Brooks once threw down the challenge of a big task in these
words: "Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for
tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the
doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle." He could
not have chosen words more applicable if he had spoken of the
evangelization of the unoccupied fields of the world with all their baffling
difficulties and their glorious impossibilities. God can give us power for the
task. He was sufficient for those who went out in the past, and is sufficient for
those who go out today.
Face to face with these millions in darkness and degradation, knowing the
condition of their lives on the unimpeachable testimony of those who have

visited these countries, this great unfinished task, this unattempted task, calls
today for those who are willing to endure and suffer in accomplishing it.
No Sacrifice, But a Privilege
When David Livingstone visited Cambridge University, on December 4, 1857,
he made an earnest appeal for that continent, which was then almost wholly
an unoccupied field. His words, which were in a sense his last will and
testament for college men, as regards Africa, may well close this book:
"For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me
to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so
much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid
back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never
repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity,
the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a
glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view, and with such
a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety,
sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common
conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the
spirit to waver, and the soul to sink, but let this only be for a moment. All these
are nothing when compared with the glory which shall hereafter be revealed in
and for us. I never made a sacrifice.
I beg to direct your attention to Africa. I know that in a few years I shall be cut
off in that country, which is now open; do not let it be shut again! I go back to
Africa to try to make an open path for commerce and Christianity; do you
carry out the work which I have begun? I leave it with you."
When a visiting missions speaker challenged Samuel Zwemer to advance the
Gospel, he and his younger brother both organized a mission to Arabia with
other students at the college they were attending. They left with very slim
chances of survival in the harsh conditions of Arabia, and even slimmer
chances of success among the resistant Muslims. After a few short years of
ministry Peter, his younger brother, died. His first two girls also died in the
harsh, diseased conditions of Arabia, and on their tomb stones Zwemer wrote,
"Worthy is the Lamb to receive riches." After 23 years with the Arabian
Mission in Basrah, Bahrain, Muscat, and Kuwait, and service as the first
candidate secretary of the Student Volunteer Movement, Zwemer began a
career of speaking and writing that radiated out to the Muslim world from an
interdenominational study center in Cairo. A prolific and gifted author, Zwemer
wrote books and articles to challenge the church in Muslim evangelism,
provided scholarly studies on historical and popular Islam, and produced
writings and tracts in Arabic for Muslims and Christians in the Middle East. For
36 years he edited "The Muslim World," an English quarterly review of current
events in the Muslim world and a forum for missionary strategy among
Muslims, complementing this service with personal evangelism among the
students and faculty of Al-Azhar, Cairo's famous training center for Muslim
missionaries. Among his good friends was Oswald Chambers, who died while
serving God there in Cairo. James Hunt observed of this statesman, "He may
be said to have been a man of one idea. While his interests and knowledge

were wide, I never talked with him ten minutes that the conversation did not
veer to Islam..." "The Glory of the Impossible" is taken from His book, The
Unoccupied Mission Fields of Africa and Asia, Published in 1911.
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THE GOAL...AND GETTING THERE

by Todd Ahrend
The goal. What is the goal of mobilization? I have been asking this question a
lot lately; especially since we have just ended our first year of traveling. Most
of us are familiar with the end goal: reaching every tongue, tribe, and nation.
But how do we get there from here? As mobilizers, what is it that we want
students to do? Cross an ocean? Reach out to internationals? Pray for the
world? These all are great things, however, we do not want to mobilize
students to a single activity. If we do, they go back to life as usual once the
activity is completed. Instead, we should mobilize them to a change in
perspective. So that no matter where they are or what they are doing they are
now World Christians. When they come home from the summer missions trip
they know they are not done. It's not a geographical issue, but a heart issue.
A World Christian understands that God's heart is for the world and no matter
where they find themselves on the planet they are furthering His kingdom.
The vision that they took hold of has now taken hold of them. Because it is the
World Christians who will make a difference in reaching every tongue, tribe,
and nation we as mobilizers must see it as our goal to raise them up.
So how do you raise up World Christians? There are three things needed in
order to do this. They must be given motivation, information, and a lot of
attention.
Motivation. Millions of Christian students pass casually through four of the
most important years of their life. Many of whom are involved in college
ministries, and yet the uttermost remains the uttermost. Why? "Without vision
the people perish" (Prov. 29:18). We must understand that very few students
have been introduced to the fact that 3 billion souls are without Christ. Even
fewer students realize that their lives can be used to impact the eternal
destiny of these people. Everything in our culture says, "Get what you can,
then can what you get." "Look out for number one!" Students lack vision and
they need people to speak it into their lives. We need to be people who can
motivate students by sounding the trumpet that life is about more than just
themselves. Whether it is through a speaker at a campus meeting or
conference, through a discipler or friends, the student is exposed to God's
heart for the world. Motivation is always the first step of mobilization.

We cannot stop there. Without information, motivation has a tendency to be

just a good talk from a speaker with a neat personality. If all we give the
students is motivation without information, we run the risk of creating "zeal
without knowledge"(Prov. 19:2). I myself am a product of a good speaker that
left me with no tools. If only he had given me a small amount of follow up, it
would have saved years of struggle! As I travel from campus to campus, I see
this same problem recurring. If we can follow students up with information
regarding mission agencies, prayer resources, magazines, definitions for
terms like "welcomer," "goer" or "mobilizer," etc., then they will be equipped to
start taking steps. The information is already out there, let's put it in their
hands.
Even after information is given, we still may see very few World Christians
raised up. There are plenty of case studies of students who have motivation
and information yet they still do nothing. Why is this? Because everything
around them is pulling for their passion, time, and resources. I am amazed,
personally, at how much I can forget in just one night of sleep. Students are
no different. They desperately need personal attention. The best person to
give personal attention is the one discipling them. Unfortunately, many
students are not being discipled so it falls on us as mobilizers to provide some
of the needed attention through establishing relationships and various
channels of communication. As difficult as it is to pull this task off, there will
never be a substitute for providing attention to college students after the
motivation and information has been delivered.
So what is the goal? Ultimately, the goal is to see the Lord praised in every
nation. However, to get there we need to raise up and equip World Christians
through motivation, information, and attention. If that goal is met effectively,
we will see a mighty movement of ready laborers to finish the Great
Commission in our generation.

BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS ME

There are many who don't like to hear preachers or missionaries talk about
money. I am one of those. If you're like me, then you may want to skip reading
this, because it isn't going to be pretty.
Don't worry, you're not alone, Jesus even turned some people off when He
started talking about money. Remember that really rich, young lawyer?
It is always dangerous for people in missions to speak of money. It is far safer
to stay with other issues. But frankly I can't, for in our giving, the gap between
New Testament Christianity and our American model is exaggerated. Let's
look at some examples . . .
Mission agencies do their best to devise schemes and programs that will not
challenge our worship of mammon. How many fundraising plans have been
launched that convince you that giving can be painless and easy? "A dime a
day keeps John in Paraguay," the poster reads. "With our spare change we
will win the world to Jesus." If we in the missions relm avoid offense and make
it easy for people to give, we will get more nickel and diming the world to
Christ than if we challenge people to dig deep and give, even though it hurts.
Biblical giving isn't painless and discretionary. It is sacrificial. It costs us
something. Yet most of our giving is from our excess. It costs us nothing. The
IRS even rewards us for our charitable giving, allowing us to pay less taxes up
to a certain amount. I am always amazed that people are rarely generous
beyond what they can deduct. I recently heard of a church that can
automatically withdraw your offering from your account, without having to
bother you at all. It doesn't get much more painless than that.
Must giving hurt? Yes. It must cost us something; it must be a sacrifice. Hear
the words of David in I Samuel 24:24, "I will not burn offerings to the Lord my
God which cost me nothing." And neither should we.
Another disturbing trend is the idea that after I am dead and gone, then I will
be really generous and give everything to some great mission agency. God
asks us to be generous now with what we have now. It's as though we're
saying, "Lord, I have taken the talent you gave me and intend upon my death
to will it to the needy." We are really saying, "When I have no more need of it,
then sure, I will let it be used for Christ and His Kingdom." That is the ultimate
painless gift.
You are not responsible for the lost of prior generations who did not hear of
Jesus, nor are you responsible for those who are yet to come. We are each
responsible for the billions who today have no way of hearing about Jesus
without some radical intervention of Christ's servants. When we refuse to
acknowledge the need of the unreached and leave it for after our death, we

condemn our generation to hell. Your saving of your treasure for tomorrow's
generation sends this living generation to eternity without Jesus.
I made a jump. Is the proclamation of the gospel among the unreached
dependent upon your dollars? Not entirely. But to act like there is no
connection is wishfully ignorant. "How will they hear unless there is a
preacher, and how will they preach unless they are sent?" And how will they
be sent without your dollars? Our lack of sacrificial giving is one of the key
reasons that untold millions remain untold.
The task to which Jesus calls us is not going to be finished through painless
giving. So long as we are not sacrificial in our giving, not willing to become
poor that they might become rich, they will never know Jesus. The gap
between the primitive church and our "enlightened" age has never been more
extreme.
Jesus is clear. He says, "Do not store up treasures for yourself on earth"
(Mt. 6:9, Lk 12:20-21).
Somehow I think Jesus is still in His temple watching the offering plate. I
wonder if He would categorize our giving as the widow's mite, given in
poverty, yet given as a joyful sacrifice or like the rich people's offerings, given
painlessly. And if He asked us to sell it all and give the money away, would
we, like the rich young ruler, turn and walk away?
This article provided by www.heartofgod.com/frontline

LOCAL CHURCH: FRIEND, FOE, OR FAILURE IN

THE GREAT COMMISSION
by Paul Borthwick
Dick wants to go into cross-cultural ministry, to go to a Muslim country in
North Africa in a tentmaking capacity. We were catching up on the events of
the past few months since he graduated from college.
In the course of the conversation, I asked what I thought was a fair question:
"Dick, if you desire to go overseas as one of our missionaries, why haven't
you been involved in some aspect of the ministry?"
I expected comments about his being newly graduated or not knowing where
to help or being too busy. I got something else.
"Well," Dick replied, his eyes widening as he got agitated, "this church and all
the churches that I know of don't care about the Great Commission. All I see
are people who are self-centered and preoccupied with their own pet peeves
like the time of the services, whether or not there is child care, and improving
the church grounds, with very little interest in winning the world for Christ."
Dick's countenance changed from anger to shame. He had spoken his mind,
but had forgotten that he was talking to the minister of missions, who
represented both the "self-centered" people and the funding that he needed to
go overseas. I think he expected me to defend my case.
Instead, I simply replied, "Dick, I cannot disagree with your observations,
although I think you have overlooked some fine people and churches. But this
is exactly why I asked for your involvement. We need people like you to be
catalysts towards greater missions involvement while you are here. You see,
Dick, whether we like to admit it or not, the local church is primary in God's
worldwide purposes.
In my conversation with Dick, I pointed out the primacy of the local church in
the Great Commission by highlighting four truths.
Truth #1: The Local Church is Primary in World Missions Because
Jesus Said it is.
The promise of Jesus to Peter (Mt. 16:18) states that He will build His church
and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The image is one of a forceful
organization of believers representing one Kingdom on the march against
another. When the gates of that second kingdom - hell - are attacked, they will
fall.
Who is supposed to be on this attack? Jesus says it's His Church. For each of
us, this manifests itself in the local assembly of believers. The church fails in
its task when it loses the mentality of advancement.
The local church that is a foe to world missions or a failure in doing its part in
the Great Commission has usually degenerated from being a "Kingdom-

advancer" to a "fortress-builder." Rather than taking new ground for Christ, we

spend our time protecting the ground we have.
The missions-minded person who sees this happening in his or her local
church should get involved and try to influence church thinking. Without our
involvement, the local church will plunge deeper into a fortress-mentality, the
missions-minded will become more cynical about the local church, and we all
will move further from Jesus' promise that his Church will defeat the gates of
hell.
The Association of Church Missions Committees (ACMC) publishes a book
entitled The Local Church Can Change the World. The title is not some vain
wish, but rather a statement in keeping with the vision that Jesus has for his
Church.
Truth #2: The Local Church is Primary Because the Body of Christ
is there.
Peer groups and campus fellowships can be wonderful stimuli towards
discipleship and missions but they do not present the whole cross-section of
the body of Christ.
Dick was correct in his evaluation of some Christians as being petty in their
self-centeredness and being opposed to the Great Commission. But these are
still members of Christ's body, the Church. If we are to be faithful to him, we
must be faithful to them by seeking to love and serve them in our desire to
help them expand their worldviews.
The fuller representation of the body of Christ we call the local church also
puts us in the presence of older believers whose accumulated wisdom will be
our training ground for realistic ministry - in this culture or another.
Truth #3: The Local Church is Primary Because It Affords Us
Training and Care.
Do you have the patience needed to persevere for years in a Muslim culture
without seeing anyone become a Christian? No one really knows, but ministry
to the junior highers at the local church can certainly help develop patience.
And will you desire to lead people in another culture to Christ, disciple them,
and encourage them to be "world Christians?" If you plan to do this, you
should take every opportunity to test your skills, methods, and relational
abilities right in your own church.
Local church training may be formal-missions candidate programs,
evangelism training, or teacher training. But the more valuable training may
be the informal character training that comes from loving the unlovely people
at church, persevering with those that are belligerently anti-missions, or
listening to the rebukes from elders at the church.

The prefield formal and informal training is essential in helping potential

missionaries get sent to the field by local churches, but the ongoing care that
a local church can give will help keep the missionary on the field.
Every missionary suffers at times from the "Does anyone know I'm here?"
syndrome. Missionaries who receive letters, packages, or calls from a caring
home church are glad for the relationships established in the sending church
before they left.
Truth #4: The Local Church is Primary Because It is Both the
Beginning and the End of Missions.
In his book, A People for His Name, Dr. Paul Beals identifies a three-part
cycle in the book of Acts regarding the missions effort:
1. Evangelizing non-believers.
2. Edifying the saints.
3. Establishing churches.
As soon as a church was established, the cycle resumed: evangelizing-
edifying-establishing. The problem of the established church is that we
perceive ourselves as being the end of the cycle, but not as the beginning of a
new cycle, i.e. the fortress mentality again.
Some, like my friend Dick, want to circumvent the church and be involved only
at another part of the cycle (evangelizing or edifying), but they fail to see the
fact that evangelizing should emanate from the church and edifying should
lead to the establishment of churches.
Another way to put this same truth: one of the basic purposes of any
missionary endeavor is to establish local, indigenous congregations of
believers. These new congregations like the ones out of which we come may
also suffer from self-centeredness, erroneous priorities, or a fortress mentality
for although the cultural forms may differ, people are sinners in every culture!
The best way to combat these errors in the future is to get experience
combating them in our present local church.
FRIEND, FOE, OR FAILURE?

The local church is it friend, foe, or failure in world missions? Preparing
missionaries will see it as a foe if the spirit of criticism or negativism prevails.
There are plenty of problems in the local church, but it doesn't give any of us
the freedom to avoid the local church to do our own thing.
Preparing missionaries, members of mission organizations, or college
fellowships may see the local church as a failure in world missions, but this
should call us to action, not avoidance. We should get involved and try to
make the church a success in fulfilling its Christ-ordained calling.

The local church is the missionary's friend...a true partner in the sending
process. Jesus established it. We are part of the body of Christ, expressed in
local congregations. We need the training and discipline of life in the local
church because it is local churches that we go to plant.
Rise up, people of God, The church for you doth wait. Her strength unequal to
the task- Rise up and make her great!
This article reprinted and used by permission.
THE RIGHT MOTIVE

by David Adeney
If we believe that God looks on the heart rather than on the outward
appearance, it is vitally important that our service should be inspired by right
motives. The wealthy donors in the temple treasury with their apparently
generous gifts excited the interest of the onlookers. But the Lord Jesus was
not impressed by the men of wealth, for he was watching a poor widow whose
two cents meant infinitely more to God than the ostentatious giving of the
Pharisees. It was not the size of the gift that counted, but rather the attitude of
love which inspired it. Crossing the ocean to take the gospel to other lands
does not automatically indicate a life that is wholly consecrated and pleasing
to God. There may indeed be many different considerations which have
prompted such action. Only God who examines the innermost thoughts knows
whether or not the service springs from pure motives. What then is the
supreme motive that should move Christians to give their lives to preach the
gospel?< /p>
All for the glory of God
To discover the answer we must turn to the One of whom the Father said,
"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." It was His last night on
earth and as He prayed with His disciples He laid bare the deepest desires of
His heart: "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave
me to do" (John 17:4). In these words our Lord revealed the passions of His
life: that God might be glorified. How He hated the hypocrisy of those who
piously expressed concern for God's glory even to the extent of traveling over
"sea and land to make one proselyte," (Matt 23:15) when in reality they sought
only to enhance their own reputation! Again and again He spoke to His
disciples of the Father's glory. "Let your light shine before men that they may
see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matt 5:16). "This is
to my Father's glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my
disciples" (John 15:8). It was this same burning desire that God should be
exalted and given His rightful place among His people that prompted the Lord
Jesus to drive out the money changers and merchants who were desecrating
the House of Prayer with their fraudulent business. His disciples watched in
awe and were reminded of the psalm, "Zeal for you house consumes me"
(Psalm 69:9). As Paul waited at Athens his spirit was stirred when he saw the
city wholly given to idolatry. "Although they knew God, they neither glorified

Him as God nor gave thanks to Him...They...worshipped and served created

things more than the Creator" (Romans 1:21,25). Many missionaries have felt
like Paul as they have watched the devotees of some heathen religion
prostrate themselves before idols. Other missionaries are just as outraged as
they mingle with those who have cast God out of their thinking and worship
only human achievement. A supreme desire for the exaltation of Christ
manifested itself in all the preaching of the early disciples. They rejoiced
exceedingly in the knowledge that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Son of
God and the Savior of all mankind. The majority of the people, however, only
knew Him as the man of Galilee who had been despised and rejected, and
crucified in weakness as a sinner. The disciples longed to defend His honor
and vindicate His claims. And so with every opportunity they proclaimed the
fact that "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ"
(Acts 2:36). Today we "see Jesus, crowned with glory." But by the multitudes
whose minds have been blinded by the god of this world, Christ is still hated,
despised or ignored. If our spirits are not stirred like Paul's with the passion
that Christ be exalted, it is surely because of a lack of true spiritual loyalty on
our part. It is tragically true that the consideration of the unevangelized
millions does not create a sense of shame in the hearts of Christians today.
Christ is not exalted in the dark places of the earth because we have failed to
make Him known. If Christians throughout the world would say from the
depths of their hearts, "be thou exalted," and then go forth with the good
tidings, the task of world evangelization would soon be completed.
Our motive is love
Closely allied to this desire to see our Lord honored and glorified throughout
the world is the motive of love. The first great commandment is that we should
love the Lord our God with all our heart and mind. This does not refer to a
purely sentimental type of love; rather it refers to a willingness to give
ourselves entirely to the One who "loved me and gave Himself for me." It
involves a great desire to do His will and to satisfy Him. Such a love naturally
leads to a consideration of His commandments and a set purpose to obey.
F.B. Meyer tells of a conversation with C.T. Studd who went to China with the
Cambridge Seven, that group of men whose departure for the mission field
created such a stir at the end of the nineteenth century throughout England.
One day before breakfast Meyer entered Studd's room and found Studd
reading his Bible with the candles burning low the following conversation took
place: "You have been up early, " I said to Charley Studd. "Yes," said he, "I
got up at four o'clock this morning. Christ always knows when I have had
sleep enough, and He wakes me to have a good time with Him." I asked him
what he had been doing that morning and he replied, "You know the Lord
says, 'If you love me, keep my commandments,' and I was just looking
through all the commandments that I could find that the Lord gave and putting
a tick against them if I had kept them, because I do love Him." Obedience is
always the evidence of true love for God. This is clearly seen in the life of our
Lord. He prayed, "not my will, but yours, be done." And He was obedient to
death, "even death on a cross." What made Paul a missionary? Years after
his conversion, he described how God had commanded him to go to the
Gentiles; then he added, "I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision." The

Acts of the Apostles is one long record of obedient witness. What caused
Philip to leave the successful work in Samaria? "An angel of the Lord said to
Philip, 'Go' and he went." How was Peter persuaded to overcome his Jewish
prejudices and go to the home of a Gentile? "The Spirit said unto him,
'Behold, three men seek thee. Arise and go with them.'" And he went. Thus
we see that the primary motive in missionary service is not a consciousness
of a great need, but rather a sense of commision- Love manifesting itself
through practical obedience.
The Urgency of Love
The second great commandment involves loving our neighbor as ourselves.
How conscious we are of failure in this respect! If a neighbor has an accident
we do not hesitate to go to help him. But when we realize that spiritually he is
in danger of eternal death, we hesitate to point the way to eternal life. If we
feel little concern for those who live on the mission field all around us, it is not
surprising that the vision of millions perishing without Christ in other lands is
dim and unreal. Once the issue was plain and simple. It was also extremely
urgent. Every minute saw thousands slipping out into a Christless eternity.
They had never heard the gospel; no one had shown them the way of life. But
today the emphasis has changed. Old urgencies are denied or at least
ignored. The Jerusalem Conference of the International Missionary Council
stated: "Our fathers were impressed with the horror that men should die
without Christ; we are equally impressed with the horror that they should live
without Christ." This new attitude was not a complete denial of eternal values
but it did indicate a definite shift from the incentive to preach a Gospel which
saves from sin and eternal separation from God to an emphasis upon
transforming present day society through the abundant life of Christ. This
aspect of the truth must not be lost sight of, but the abundant life is only for
those who recognize that all without Christ are dead in trespasses and sins.
To many it would seem out of date to talk about the multitudes without Christ
as those who are perishing and desperately need the message of salvation.
Even among Christians who are strongly evangelical in their belief, there are
those who no longer believe that the Christless multitudes are eternally lost.
Perhaps unconsciously they have been influenced by the materialistic thinking
and easy tolerance of the present generation. Too often it has led them to drift
away from the confusion that caused the apostle Paul to say, "If our gospel be
hid, it is hid from them that are perishing." Much confused thinking is caused
by a failure to understand the teaching of Scripture on this subject. Some
have thought that this doctrine suggests that a God of love would condemn a
man because, through no fault of his own, he has never heard the good news
of salvation through Christ. This, of course, is not what the Bible teaches. God
never condemns a man for a crime he has not committed or holds him guilty
for the breaking of a law which he has never heard. No man will ever be able
to charge God with being unjust. The clearest statement of the principle of
God's judgment is contained in John 3:19 "This it the verdict: Light has come
into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light."

None left without light

No man is left without a single glimmer of light. "God has not left Himself
without witness," says the apostle Paul. "The heavens declare the glory of
God." The physical universe all around indicates the existence of a Creator.
"For ever since the creation of the world, God's invisible characteristics - His
eternal power and divine nature have been made intelligible and clearly visible
by His words so they are without excuse because, although they once knew
God, they did not honor Him as God or give Him thanks, but became silly in
their senseless speculations and so their insensible hearts have been
shrouded in darkness" (Romans 1:18-21). This means that judgment will be
passed upon all men because they have not lived up to the light that they
received. They are not condemned because they have not heard about Christ
but because they have sinned against a Holy God. On the other hand we may
well be judged for not taking the gospel to them. This is not to suggest that
non-Christians could save themselves by an effort to keep the law. It only
shows that God is not unjust in pronouncing them guilty. It is indeed true that
the Lord is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to
repentance." His love embraces the whole of mankind and His forgiveness is
free to all. If, through the negligence of those who are commanded to take the
glad tidings of salvation to them, they still remain in ignorance and darkness,
the responsibility for their sad plight cannot rest with a loving God but with
those who have refuse to obey His command.
The real question: Our responsibility
We don't know how God meets every sincere seeker. There is much that is
not revealed in Scripture and much that we cannot understand about God's
dealing with man. Certain basic truths cannot be denied, and we dare not
change them in order to provide a doctrine which will be more acceptable to
human reason. Any doubt concerning God's love and righteousness makes us
guilty of the sin of unbelief. Any suggestion that men and women may be
saved apart from faith in Christ constitutes a denial of the divine necessity of
efficacy of Christ's death. We must take our stand with the apostles who said,
"And salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4: 12). And indeed
our Savior stated this fact most clearly in the world, "No one comes to the
Father except through me." We may well say that it is not fair that some
people should have every opportunity to hear the good new while others are
deprived of the light-giving message. But let us not blame God for this
situation. Instead of endless discussion concerning what happens to the
heathen who have never heard, it would be better to discuss what happens to
the Christian who is unfaithful and does not discharge his responsibility to
witness. "When I say to a wicked man, 'you will surely die,' and you do not
warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his
life, that wicked man will die for sin, and I will hold you accountable for his
blood" (Ezekiel 3:18). Paul was deeply conscious of this fact and sought so to
labor that no one could charge him with having withheld the Gospel. "I am
innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you
the whole will of God" (Acts 20:26-27). May we be able to stand as innocent

as Paul, having done all we can to be a part of God's rescue operation. Our
action should spring from our love for Christ, a growing jealousy for His name
among the nations, and an enormous compassion for those outside the
saving grace of that Name above all others. In the very last picture of Paul
given us by Luke at the end of Acts we see him as a prisoner preaching the
Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus. Until the end of his life
he was proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom which Christ had commanded
his disciples to preach "in the whole world as a testimony to all nations." This
concern for the coming of God's Kingdom is the basic motivation for all
missionary service.
WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVEN'T HEARD?

By Jack Rose
This is a good question for Christians to ask. When we ask this question, it
means that we actually care about the eternity of others. Of course, some will
ask it because they think that it is close-minded of Christians to say that Jesus
is the only way to receive salvation. But, because we believe the Bible to be
the Word of God, then we trust that Jesus is the only means of salvation
because the Bible says it is thus. (John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Romans 10:13-15)
Therefore, the topic of whether or not Jesus is the only to salvation will not be
dealt with here. * Instead, we will ask this question: "Since Jesus is the only
means of salvation for ALL of mankind, what happens to those who have
never heard?"
How can people who have never heard of Jesus be saved? The Bible says
that they can not. Does that mean that the only people who can be saved are
those living in Christian nations? No! God has made a way. I must caution us
at this point because it is clear from the Word of God that Jesus is "THE way,
THE truth, and THE life, and that no one comes to the Father but by me.
(Jesus)" So, Jesus is the only one who can save. That is clear, but God has
made a way for people to get to Jesus or for Jesus to get to them even though
they may be in the middle of a jungle somewhere. God will make it possible
for them to have faith in His Son. Let's begin to look at the Word of God and
see how this works. How can God get salvation to those who are not in range
of the Gospel? It will probably, and often does, take a miracle.
Acts 14:17 and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did
good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your
hearts with food and gladness.
We see first that God has never left Himself without a witness on the earth to
all men. All men have seen seasons and rain. All men have tasted food and
been glad. These are witnesses to the fact that there is indeed a God
according to the Bible.

Rom 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His
eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood
through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
We see, also, that men should be able to look at creation and understand the
"eternal power and divine nature" of God. That is almost shocking, isn't it?
That God, in creation, has made it so clear to ALL men that He exists that
they are "without excuse" for not submitting to Him.
As we realize that all men have enough revelation from God to begin to
respond to Him, we should begin to feel hope. God is merciful. That doesn't
mean that is going to open wide the gates of heaven and let all unrighteous
inside, but it means, in this case, that if someone is responding to the
revelation that God has given, then God will give a greater revelation of
Himself. Psalm 19:1 reads that "The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." Two thousand years
ago, if you were living in Asia, you would have looked up and saw a new star
shining. The heavens declare the glory of the Lord, and this new star was
placed there by Him. If, in your wisdom, you began to travel towards the star,
eventually you would have come to Israel, to the region of Judah, and finally
to a little town called Bethlehem. Just as the Lord used general revelation,
such as this star, to guide the Wise Men to the baby Jesus, so He has
continued to guide those that respond to the revelation of God to deeper and
deeper understanding, eventually leading them to the ultimate revelation of
Jesus Christ our savior and the savior of the world. As men and women
throughout the world respond in obedience to what they know of the one true
God, He will reveal Himself in greater ways. Let's look at how this happens in
scripture. Pay close attention to what great lengths the Lord will go to just to
reach one person.
Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow:
Acts 8:26-40
• How did Phillip end up meeting the Ethiopian?
• What revelation of God did the Ethiopian already have?
• Who was the Ethiopian reading about? (Isaiah 53)
• If the Ethiopian was already worshipping God (v.27), why did he have to
know about Jesus?
• How did the Ethiopian respond to this new revelation?
• What all did God do to get the Gospel of Jesus to this one man?Acts 10
• How did Peter meet Cornelius and his family?
• What revelation did Cornelius already have of God?
• How was Cornelius responding to that revelation?
• If Cornelius was a "God fearing man," why did he need to hear about
Jesus?
• What further revelation did Peter reveal to this family?
• What all did God do to get the Gospel of Jesus to this one family?Acts 16:6-
15

• Where did Paul try to go in verses 6 and 7?

• Who stopped Paul from going?
• How did Paul finally find out where he should go?
• What city in Macedonia did Paul eventually arrive at? Who did he meet
there?
• How was Lydia described in verse 14?
• How did Lydia respond to the preaching of Paul?
• What extremes did the Lord go to in order to get the Gospel to Lydia and
her family?
Wow, what a God we serve who will reroute missionaries, send dreams, and
even rebuke Peter to get the good news of Jesus to those who are
responding in obedience to Him. All of our examples here are described as
worshippers and God fearers. Yet, they didn't know about Jesus, so what did
God do? He changed the course of history to get the Gospel to them. Ever
since God redirected Paul away from Asia to Macedonia, the Gospel has
gone west. It moved from Jerusalem throughout the Roman Empire and
Europe, down to Africa, across the ocean to the Americas, and now is moving
across the Pacific Ocean to Asia. Many leading missions teachers believe that
the Gospel will continue this course of spreading until it gets back to where it
started...Jerusalem, and then the whole earth will have the good news of
Christ, and it all started with Paul being led by the Spirit of God to Lydia.
Rejoice, for our God is one who is merciful to the seeker...those who are
humbly responding to revelation. So, how is this still happening today?Listen
to what is being reported about God's miraculous outreaches to those who
can't hear of Him without it:
"More than one-third of the converts to Christianity in Turkey say they came to
Christ because He appeared to them in a dream...a team from Fuller
Seminary in California documented 600 cases in which Muslims found new
life in Jesus because of dreams or visions." Stories of not only Muslim men
and women, but many other lost souls, finding Jesus through miraculous
means are flooding in off the mission field. Many have shared that a man in a
white robe with a beard and scars in his hands has appeared to them and
given them an address or directions of where they can find the TRUTH. When
they arrive at the specified address, they meet a missionary who gives them a
Bible and shares Christ with them. They immediately remember the scars in
the strange visitor's hands when they hear of His crucifixion. God is going out
of His way to get the truth that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world to those
who may not ever hear otherwise. Our God is so merciful. Jesus is the only
way. God will not make another way besides Christ, but God will make ways
for the lost to meet this Shepherd King. Remember, God isn't going to decide
one day to just allow every nonbeliever into Heaven, but to those that are
responding to the light that they have, He is giving more light. In order to be
saved, they need the light of Christ to shine on them. Let us pray that like the
wise men of old, the lost of the world would follow the light of God to Jesus,
and let us think of how we might get the good news to those who have not
heard.

Let Isaiah, 9:2 be our prayer: "The people who walk in darkness will see a
great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them."
SHALL I GO? THOUGHTS FOR GIRLS

By Miss Grace E. Wilder (1887, 5th edition)
The bible teaches women's duty and privilege in Christian work. Women are
included in the admonitions, warnings, and commands given to the children of
Israel. In the service of song they had a large share. All the women went out
after Miriam when she exclaimed: "Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed
gloriously." (Ex. 15:21). "When David was returned form the slaughter of the
Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing."
(I Sam. 18:6). Women had an active part in the equipment of the Tabernacle:
"And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and
brought that which they had spun." (Ex. 35:25).
In the prophets we see them as mourners; in the psalms, as preachers "The
Lord giveth the word; the women that publish tidings are a great host." (Ps.
68:11). The Old Testament records signal services rendered by women; nor
does it close without a prophetic glance at the future enlargement of their
work; "Your sons and your daughters shall prophecy. Upon the handmaids in
those days will I pour out my spirit." (Joel 2:28-29). Add to this the works of
Christ, and women's Christian privileges and responsibilities cannot be
doubted. But just what is our great work as women of this nineteenth century?
Our Savior has died and risen. The door of heaven is open to every poor
sinner. "Whosever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Yet
millions of women know not this wonderful truth. And why not? Christian
women have not told them.
In the selection of His disciples our Savior makes prominent a single requisite;
And Jesus said unto them, "Come ye after me, and I will make you to become
fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets and followed him.'
Prompt obedience was repeatedly the condition of signal blessings. Mary
showed her knowledge of Christ when she said, whatsoever he saith unto
you, do it."
The most vital questions for every Christian women to-day are:
• What would he have me do? Am I doing it?
As to the first, we have a distinct answer in the first chapter of Acts. At the
ascension, as the group of disciples gathered around Jesus, with longings
inexpressible, they must have desired to show their love to Him. The Savior
knows it, and in the solemn moment of parting he confides his one great
desire to those whom he deems worthy to fulfill the sacred trust. "Ye shall be
witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto
the uttermost part of the earth." Before the clouds received Him out of their
sight His last words were, "uttermost part of the earth." What greater legacy

could He have left? Such a trust shows His confidence in our love and
faithfulness. "Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, you
have done it unto me." As these first missionaries walked back to Jerusalem
did they discuss what constitutes a call? Is each one of us included? Or,
where is the money to come from? Ah no; these hearts were intent on their
Master's orders. Obedience was simply a question of supreme love to Jesus.
When Garibaldi had been defeated at Rome, he issued his immortal appeal:
"Soldiers, I have nothing to offer you but cold, and huger, and rags and
hardship. Let him who loves his country follow me." Thousands of the youths
of Italy sprang to their feet. Girls, if we see our work laid upon us with all the
emphasis of a Savior's last wish; if we are honestly asking, Shall I carry the
message of salvation to heathen women? Let the answer be prompted by
pure love and gratitude to Jesus. He knew us when He gave love as our
motive for work. Nothing short of it will keep us faithful and strong.
##
Do you say,
• I want the assurance that I am personally called? "Let him that heareth
say, come." Thank God, this means me just as truly as "Whosever will, let him
come." Our government in dire extremity calls for recruits between the ages of
twenty-five and fifty: what would you say of one who, refusing to go, would
give the excuse that he had not receive a personal call? Living face to face
with the fact that 800,000,000 are without knowledge of Christ, can we ask
Have I a call to tell them of Jesus?
What mean the cries for desolate heathen homes, from hundreds of children
carrying deep gashes and brands made on the tender flesh to bring out an
evil spirit, or the still deeper heart burnings, which come with every added
year of life? What means the mute appeal from India's 21,000,000 widows,
1,500,000 under twenty-four and 10,000 under ten years of age? Girls, is
there not hear a personal call to "carry good tidings, to proclaim liberty to the
captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound"? It was a call,
which reached to heavens and brought down the Savior. Can it do less in a
human heart?
• But I have not a Missionary Spirit. God forbid that we should undertake
this work without the true spirit. Let us not lower our standard; but remember,
"the preparation of the heart is form the Lord." Jesus emphasized the
essential requirement, and "commanded them that they should not depart
from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father." Of the disciples it is
written: "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with
the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brethren." (Acts 1:14).
"Thus saith the Lord God: I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of
Israel to do it for them." We who are young, and tremble in the presence of
soul-work, can rest on Zech. 4:6. How earnestly we would seek the
missionary spirit if we remembered that it is our badge of discipleship. "If you
love me, keep my commandments." "ye are my friends, if ye do what I
command you."

• I fear I have not all the qualifications needful? I Cor. 1:18-31 mentions
five things which God uses: The weak, foolish, base, and despised things,
and things that are not. Why "That no one may glory in his own strength,
wisdom, or power. Moses made excuses until he learned, it was not the rod,
not Moses, but the Lord that was the deliverer. Samson with his jawbone of
an ass, Gideon's armament of empty pitchers, David and his sling, Shamgar
with his oxgoad, Elisha and his staff, Dorcas with her needle, and Mary with
her alabaster box of ointment, are each a standing rebuke to every faint
hearted Christian. Our only fear need be that we are not offering to God the
very best we have.
If we cannot give our thousands, We can give the widow's mite.
But let us remember the widow's mite was all she had.
One who has been a missionary a quarter of a century sends us girls this
message: "if you have given yourselves a living sacrifice unto God, fear not
the foreign field." "Go ye therefore, because all power is given unto Me."
Do you say,
• I can work at home? We certainly would not be missionary candidates if
not Christian workers. But consider "The good is a great enemy of the best."
Are we working for souls entirely dependent on us for a knowledge of Christ?
Could we not do more for our college, our literary circle, our sewing school,
our church, and our home, by enlisting it to support us with its contributions
and prayers, by sending back letters and thus bringing it into closer sympathy
with Christ and his work?
Pastor Harms, instead of getting men from the learned universities, urged
upon his own people- farmers, artisans, and mechanics - the duty of carrying
the gospel to Africa. A ship was built for the purpose, and the first band of
missionaries reached Zululand in 1854. During the following seventeen years
Pastor Harm's parish in Hanover enjoyed on uninterrupted revival in which
10,000 souls were hopefully converted.
As to
• Ties of Friendship, Let us prayerfully read Matt. 10:37. As co-partners in
the work of redeeming our world to Christ, we are to know the "fellowship of
His sufferings." Oh to rise to the holy enthusiasm born of a desire to have the
sufferings of Christ abound in us. Paul viewed souls from the standpoint of the
cross, and so exclaims: "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up
that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake,
which is the church"
We need this enthusiasm. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to make us
realize the value of one immortal soul. We need Him to open our eyes and
hearts to the fact that one thousand years have passed since the command to
disciple all nation was given and three-fourths of our race are still without
hope, without Christ, without God in the world. We need His help to realize
our relation to the worlds redemption; to the fact that while the church has

been gaining some 3,000,000 converts from heathendom, the natural

increase of heathen has been 200,000,000. Praise God, His Spirit is carrying
home these acts, and leading man to say, "Here am I, send me."
Since the last edition of the pamphlet, the missionary awaking among
students has continued, and the movement has grown rapidly. During the
college years of 1888 and 1889, Mr. R.P. Wilder has been again visiting the
colleges, and the list of Missionary Volunteers has grown to 3,847,
representing 240 different institutions, in which were 139 Young Men's
Christian Associations and 78 Young Women's Christian Associations.
Of this number, nearly two hundred young men and women have already
gone to China, Japan, India, and other countries.
Though, out of the 100,000 in schools for the higher education of women in
this country, nearly 50,000 are Christian girls, scarcely 700 of the missionary
volunteers are women, and this when so many fields await the touch of
"consecrated Christian womanhood." Has not the Y.W.C.A. "come to the
kingdom for such a time as this"? Can we not enlist every one of the 600
schools were young women are educated so that unitedly we may undertake
our work, that of carrying the gospel into every zenana and harem? "It
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe"; and it
pleased Him to make woman the first herald of resurrection news. Our Savior
has not left us in doubt as to what He would have us do.
• Are we doing it? The following statistics, though incomplete will help us in
answering this question.
Estimating the heathen population at 850,000,000 at least 425,000,000 are
women and girls. According to the latest statistics the living communicants in
the churches of all Christendom number 31,500,000. 15,000,000 or less than
one-half this total, will not be too large an estimate for lady communicants. We
15,000,000 Christian women ought to carry the gospel to 425,000,000
heathen women.
The 2,163 lady missionaries we are now supporting, both by women's
societies by the General Boards, gives us only one missionary to 700 lady
communicants. If equally distributed, these missionaries would each have a
parish of 196,949 souls; that is, we are providing but a single missionary for
nearly 200,000 heathen women and girls.
In the annual reports of the women's societies no fact is more impressive and
ominous than the inadequate supply of workers. One society has been
looking over a year for a lady physician; another reports but a single new
worker sent during the year. During our late war 500,000 lives were sacrificed
to save the Union: to save the heathen world the whole church of Christ is not
giving 7,000 men and women. Christian mothers, will you not give us up in
such a crisis? Instead of sending us to a studio or a conservatory will you not
support us in harems and zenanas, that we may gather jewels, even King's
daughters, form the ends of the earth?

Do we not need more united effort in this work of reaching 425,000,000

women and girls? Would we not do it faster if English and American girls
exchange thoughts on the subject? If, as has been suggested, we hold a
missionary convention at least once every year? If those of us who are in
schools and colleges petition for a new study, that of missions? And, above
all, if each one of us seeks a baptism of the Holy Spirit, even the power to
lead souls to Jesus? Shall we not all remember the noon hour of prayer, when
all the young people who are interested in the saving of the unsaved millions
abroad, are daily uniting in asking for the evangelization of the world in our
generation?
The president of Smith College writes us, that since the opening of that
college some 250 have graduated; but, so far as he knows only two of these
are in the foreign missionary work. Of Vassar graduates, 695, about a dozen
names could be given as foreign missionaries. Here no record is kept of those
who go. From Wellesley College twenty-one names are given. Even Mt.
Holyoke Seminary, which has celebrated her fiftieth anniversary, can claim
but 150 foreign missionaries during her entire history. The crisis in most lives
comes during college days. Many a student, like Margaret Campbell, has
heard the call to the heathen while still within seminary walls. Is not God
speaking to us, girls, in the present missionary revival among our colleges?
If each lady communicant had one to represent her in the foreign field we
should have 15,000,000 instead of 886 missionaries. History shows that God
has signally blessed woman's work. Many, like Mrs. McFarland, of Alaska,
Miss Rankin, in Mexico, and Miss Sharp, in Africa, have been pioneers. Many
others, as Mrs. Mumford, in Bulgaria, Miss Bella Nassau, on the Ogove, and
Miss Anstey, in India, are standing alone conducting the whole work for a
mission. The number of missionaries sent by the American Board during its
75 years is 786 men and 1,080 women.
In one prominent college there are now one hndred missionary volunteers
who have taken the pledge: "We are willing and desirous, God permitting, to
be foreign missionaries." Seven of their number are already in foreign fields,
and fourteen more are about to sail. Other colleges can report similar bands
of earnest prayerful candidates for the foreign field.
The statistics of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Societies show that eight
societies have given $22,024.31 less in 1887 than in 1886. The total income
gives an average of less than $67 for each auxiliary- the average gain of the
year being $13.75 for each auxiliary. For American societies the average gain
is $9.40.
This is our advance under the banner of Jesus. What is the advance in
Satan's host? Careful statistics tell us that here are some 200,000,000 more
heathen in the world to-day than when Carey went to India. With these facts
must be remembered also another: the majority of church communicant are
doing nothing. The Ladies' Association of Scotland is not alone in lamenting
that two-thirds of the parishes are records as non-contributing to its funds.

Where is the church in England or America in which one-third of the ladies are
obeying Christ's command?
If but 10,000,000 out of our 15,000,000 lady communicants would so work
that during the next fourteen years each would reach one hundred souls, the
whole unevangelized world would hear of Christ before 1900.
In answering the question, Shall I go? Let us remember, dear girls, that failure
to realize or acknowledge responsibility does not diminish it; that woman was
made the first herald of resurrection news. Above all, let us remember the
words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, "Whosever shall do the will of God, the
same is my brother and my sister and mother."
TODAY
Will you not offer yourself today
To the service of the King?
Yourself, redeemed by the Savior's blood,
To the feet of the Savior bring?
Will you not offer yourself today,
While your body and soul are strong?
You know not that God will spare your life;
And He may not spare it long.
While it costs you something to give?
A priceless gift may never be yours
To offer again while you live.
While the Savior needs your life?
It may be that when you would join the ranks
'Twill be the end of the strife.
Today while there is yet light?
For when you would gladly give up all,
It may be eternal night.

-G.M.P.
Famine Children
Grace E. Wilder
We told you of our Famine
Of India's urgent need
Our words not unheeded -
In vain we did not plead.
Your giving was unstinted -
E'en thus we spent your store
We rescued hungry children,
And these brought many more.
We wish that you might see them,
To weak one growing strong:
Sad faces bright with laughter -
While yet not with us long.
Some can now tell of Jesus:
Their wee lips lisp His praise.
And older ones learn daily
To know and love His ways.
But friends - these make us mindful
That love is not mere thought -
Not just a passing impulse:
God's love through action wrought.
Are we to keep these children?
Is asked of us today.
Surely God's love has brought them
Can we - can you - say nay?
A little of Earth's comfort -
Brings heaven's blessings down,

As we amid this number -

Find gems for Jesus' crown
We ask that naught may hinder -
The joy Christ bids you share.
Soon these will be His glory
Whom now He makes your care.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A WORLD CHRISTIAN

by David Bryant
What, then, shall we call this discovery that can change us so radically and
yet make us so healthy? And, what shall we call those who have experienced
it?
By now it should be obvious that all Christians are born again into the Gap
between God's world-wide purpose and the fulfillment of it. But there's more
than one kind of response to that Gap.
Some are asleep, some are on retreat, and some are determined to stand in
the Gap particularly at it's widest end where billions await the opportunity to
hear of Christ for the first time. Some are heading into the "sunrise of
missions" while others huddle in the shadows. Many move along at a sluggish
pace, changing little in the Gap because of their own internal gap-of-unbelief.
Others run the race before them setting no limits on how, where, or among
whom God will use them.
Some are trapped in boxes or pea-sized Christianity full of myths about
missions that rob them of incentive to care about the unreached. Others have
broken through into cause-Christianity, ready to reach out with God's love to
the ends of the earth. They are determined to make Christ's global cause the
unifying focus - the context - for all they are and do in the Gap. Yielded to the
mediator, they are willing to be broken and remolded to fit in the Gap
wherever they can make the most strategic impact. In turn they're growing to
know Christ, obey him, and glorify him as the mediator.
So, what shall we call the discovery that redirects Christians toward the needs
of the Gap? And how shall we distinguish those who have made it?
Some Christians in the Gap are stunted by selfishness and petty pre-
occupations or by a cautious obedience and love reserved for the closest and
easiest to care about. How shall we distinguish the others in the Gap whose
growth in discipleship is unmistakable, with a vitality that comes only to those
who help bring lost sinners from many nations home?

What shall we call this distinct group of Christians who have taken a stand
that says:
We want to accept personal responsibility for reaching some of earth's
unreached, especially from among the billions at the widest end of the Gap
who can only be reached through major new efforts by God's people. Among
every people-group where there is no vital, evangelizing Christian community
there should be one, there must be one, there shall be one. Together we want
to help make this happen.
For a moment, let's call them WORLD CHRISTIANS. Of course, any new term
might be misunderstood. For example some might think I said "worldly"
Christians, not World Christians. By now we know, however, if you are one
you can't be the other. If you are one you don't want to be the other.
No, the term is not in your Bible concordance. Don't worry. It isn't another
cliche like the words of the bumper sticker that reads "Honk-if-the-Rapture
starts." Nor is it an attempt to label some new spiritual elite who have a corner
on a super-secret blessing. Rather, the term describes what all of us are
meant to be and what some of us have started to become.
The term "World Christian" may have been coined first by Daniel Fleming in a
1920 YMCA book entitled Marks of a World Christian. More recently the term
has appeared in publications of such groups as the WorldTeam missions,
Conservation Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, United Presbyterian Center
for Mission Studies, the Mission Renewal Teams, Inc., and the Fellowship of
World Christians, as well as Campus Crusade for Christ and Inter-varsity
Christian Fellowship.
A World Christian isn't better than other Christians. But by God's grace, he
has made a discovery so important that life can never be the same again. He
has discovered the truth about the Gap, the fact that he is already in it, and
the call of Christ to believe, think, plan, and act accordingly. By faith he has
chosen to stand in the Gap as a result.
Some World Christians are missionaries who stand in the Gap by physically
crossing major human barriers (cultural, political, etc.) to bring the Gospel to
those who can hear no other way. But every Christian is meant to be a World
Christian, whether you physically "go", or stay at home to provide the
sacrificial love, prayers, training, money, and quality of corporate life that
backs the witness of those who "go".
World Christians are day-to-day disciples for whom Christ's global cause has
become the integrating, overriding priority for all that life is for them. Like
disciples should, they actively investigate all that their Master's Great
Commission means. Then they act on what they learn.
World Christians are Christians whose life directions have been solidly
transformed by a world vision. This is not a term for frustrated Christians who
feel trapped into the world missionary movement and sporadically push a few

buttons and say they've done their part. Having caught a vision World
Christians want to keep that vision and obey it unhesitatingly.
World Christians are (in Corrie Ten Boom's phrase) "tramps for the Lord" who
have left their hiding places to roam the Gap with the Savior. They are
heaven's expatriates, camping where the kingdom is best served. They are
earth's dispossessed, who've journeyed forth to give a dying world not only
the Gospel but their own souls as well. They are members of God's global
dispersion down through history and out through the nations, reaching the
unreached and blessing the families of earth.
By taking three steps we become World Christians. First, World Christians
catch a world vision. They see the cause the way God sees it. They see the
full scope of the Gap. Next, World Christians keep that world vision. They put
the cause at the heart of their life in Christ. They put their life at the heart of
the Gap. Then World Christians obey their world vision. Together they
develop a strategy that makes a lasting impact on the cause, particularly at
the widest end of the Gap.
Many years ago a World Christian named John R. Mott, leader of the Student
Volunteer Movement that sent out 20,000 new missionaries, outlined similar
steps.
An enterprise which aims at the evangelization of the whole world in a
generation, and contemplates the ultimate establishment of the Kingdom of
Christ, requires that its leaders be Christian statesmen with far-seeing views,
with comprehensive plans, with the power of initiative, and with victorious
faith.
Catch! Keep! Obey! - these are the three steps to becoming a World
Christian.
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOD DOING?

by Bill Stearns
A GLOBAL GLIMPSE OF GOD'S HARVEST TODAY
If there's anything we've learned from the past few years of globe-watching,
it's that the near future holds anything but the expected. Our era on this planet
will not be "business as usual" politically, economically, socially, or personally.
The prophet Habakkuk put it this way:
Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do
something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. -
Hab. 1:5
If the Lord gives it to us by delaying His return, the twenty-first century is
going to be a wild time of spiritual significance. Today He is calling
unprecedented numbers of people to Himself. Suddenly He is packing into
one place, at one time, more valuable human souls than at any other time in
history.

There is something infinitely significant about the time in which we live, so

we'd best keep tuned to the big picture of what God is doing. We can catch a
glimpse of that big picture by keeping up with the latest global trends in the
harvest force and the harvest fields.
The Harvest Force
Here's what's happening in the harvest force:
• Two-Thirds World missions is on the rise. The Two-Thirds World
comprises two-thirds of the world population who also live on two-thirds of the
world's land surface.About one-third of the entire cross-cultural harvest force
is now from the Two-Thirds World. That segment will increase to more than
half of the harvest force by the year 2000. Non-Western missionaries are
increasing at a rate of about 13 percent a year, while Western missionaries
are increasing by about 4 percent.Western Christians are now only one fourth
of the worldwide Body of Christ. Of this number; North Americans constitute
perhaps 10-15 percent of the worldwide committed church. If we think we're
the end-all and be-all of God's global activity, we're missing at least 85
percent of what God is really doing.
• Short-term missions continues to blossom. In the United States alone,
mission agencies sent out more than 31,000 short-term missionaries in 1988
(the last year of reliable data). This was up from about 21,000 just three years
before. The ratio today is even more amazing: Short-termers make up about
50 percent of the North American missions force. It's critical, particularly in the
West, that churches fit short-term outreach into their strategic missions plans
rather than sending out groups and individuals randomly "for the experience."
Unprepared short-term teams are dangerous on the mission field.For
example, a short-term group blitzing through Central Asia was unaware of
local laws. In one country's capital they showed an evangelistic film without
authorization. As a result, the government banned all public Christian film
showings for years to come.
• Non-traditional missionaries are showing God's creativity in bringing the
gospel to every people. Just a few years ago the major requirements for
becoming a missionary were youth, an academic education, and a virtually
perfect past. Yet other cultures often had trouble identifying with these, the
brightest and best the West had to offer.Today is the day of the non-traditional
missionary - the divorcee, the mechanic without a seminary degree, the
retiree, the short-term team of high-schoolers and college students. What
transcends cultural barriers is not imposing credentials but sharing experience
and pain. So missions tacticians are now also looking for single-mother's
grandmas, recovering alcoholics, Christians who grew up on the streets all
kinds of workers who can cross cultural barriers. God is also sending out
teams, which has always been the New Testament model. And He's wise
enough to send teams of friends groups that have already worked through the
frictions and differing visions that so often plague mission coworkers on the
field.What are these nontraditional missionaries doing? They are empowering
churches in other cultures and planting churches in unreached cultures
through

• English teaching
• Water reclamation engineering
• Film ministries
• Relief ministries
• Import-export businesses
• Joining community groups such as traditional dance groups or football
leagues
• Cultural exchange festivals
• Amusement park design teams
• Art exhibits
• Legal consultation services
• Cartooning
• Quilt-making
• Water well drilling
• Hundreds of other activities, as well as the tried-and-true mission ministries
of personal and open-air evangelism, literature distribution, medical
assistance, and radio ministries.
Whoever you are and whatever skills and gifts God has given you, there's a
place for you in cross-cultural ministry.
• New training models are being developed worldwide to meet the crisis of
ministering to a Church that is growing like gangbusters. (For every seminary-
trained pastor across the continent of Africa, for example, there are six
hundred congregations.) Church leaders and missionaries worldwide need
theological grounding and training in interpersonal and ministry skills.The
West's preoccupation with classroom academics is changing to more on-the-
job training in ministry. In the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Indonesia,
for example, students must complete academic requirements, plant at least
one church, and introduce at least fifteen Muslims to Jesus Christ in order to
graduate. The students of that school in the past six years alone have planted
more than six hundred churches and brought more than forty thousand
Muslims to faith in Christ!Schools are going mobile. The old procedure of
pulling potential leaders out of their communities and cultures to get Western-
style schooling at a seminary is fast being replaced by taking the teaching to
the leaders in their own environments. Theological Education by Extension is
successful worldwide, and Biblical Education by Extension is working
particularly well in the former Soviet Union.
• Functional unity is a biblical principle whose time has finally come. The
Body of Christ is coming together as never before. This surge of unity isn't the
old ecumenical mistake of joining together by dissolving all our doctrinal
convictions and distinctive traditions. It's a unity in diversity maintaining our
denominational and doctrinal distinctives while coordinating our ministries so
that the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. What a concept: the
Body with all its various parts and functions working together in the Father's
business.*Technology isn't just for business or education anymore; it's for the
Kingdom. Christians now own more than 54 million computers. Electronic mail
and fifty-six global computer networks now link the Body of Christ on nearly
every continent. Frontiers mission agency, for instance, maintains constant

contact with its hundreds of missionaries across the world. Messages to or

from the teams are instantly linked by satellite with Frontier's international
headquarters in London.Wycliffe Bible Translators, with the help of
computerization, is now starting a new translation every fourteen days,
accomplishing in months translation tasks that used to take years. HCJB
Radio Ministries have developed a "radio station in a suitcase" to broadcast
the gospel message within a forty-mile radius at minimal cost. Today we can
be anywhere in the world within twenty-four hours. We now have tools such
as Campus Crusade's Jesus film. This film has been viewed by nearly half a
billion people resulting in more than 32 million brought to faith in Christ.
The Harvest Fields
Looking at the harvest force is one thing. But what's happening in the harvest
fields? Here are some of the major trends:
• It's a mobile mission field. One hundred million people will migrate across
national borders this year alone, double the number of 1989. The isolated
Kurds - that unreached people of Iraq, Turkey, and Azerbaijan - can now be
more easily reached in their enclaves in Berlin, Nashville, Dallas, and Los
Angeles. In Europe, refugee immigration is expected to top 50 million
refugees, many of whom are from unreached peoples in North African
countries that are "closed" to the gospel. Some estimate that Australia will be
a truly Eurasian country by the year 2000. In spite of tightening quotas, about
a million immigrants stream into North America every year.
• It's a world of cities. By A.D. 2000, 80 percent of the world's population
will live in cities. These newcomers to the cities are often more open to the
gospel than they were in their rural homeland, and it is tactically simpler to
reach them.
• We're clarifying the task. The worldwide task of the Great Commission is
getting clearer. We now know more than ever before about the world's harvest
fields. And we're getting more careful about biblical strategies in reaching that
world. For example, the missions community is quickly returning to the biblical
concept of "people-group thinking" and is moving away from the traditional
view of the world only in terms of political countries. We're seeing the task
more as proclaiming a whole-person gospel. It's a blood-sweat-and tears
battle in the spiritual dimension of "the heavenlies" -a job for the whole
Church, not just a few missions fanatics.
Your World view
When one teen from a Christian high school (class of '94) was asked what he
plans to do with his life, he replied, "Uh, I'm going to get through college, get a
good job, make good money, have a good life, and I guess just hope America
survives. This young man doesn't understand what God is doing in the world
today. God is bringing millions and millions of men, women, and children to
Himself from every people, tribe, tongue, and nation (Rev. 5:9). He is
challenging churches to revive, evangelize, and bless their own cultures. He is
linking up global partnerships between cultures and established churches.
And He is planting churches in every remaining unreached people group on

earth. He is building His Church globally, and the gates of hell are not
prevailing against it.
In comparison to what God is doing, what are many of us doing? We are living
our lives with the same world view as the young man who talks about living a
good life and hoping America survives. The Living Bible paraphrases a
proverb that reflects this view of life: "What a shame. Yes, how stupid to
decide before knowing the facts!" (Prov. 18:13). When we know His Word, His
world, and His work, we can intelligently find our place in our own or another
culture. But many of us are shrinking from the demands of our global era in
the following ways:
Some of us are waiting nervously for Heaven. We're scared to look over
our back fences at the darkness of a world gone wild. We're afraid for our
children. Yet God has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity. Why, then, do we
huddle in our corners, anxiously looking for the return of Christ to escape the
world's dangers? Is that the legacy we want to leave our children? If we live
like this - if we refuse to join with God in what He is doing today-we will miss
the exhilarating rush of true-grit faith and Christ in us.
Some of us are confused. We glance at the crashing fireworks of our era,
scratch our heads, and wonder what's happening. Ralph Winter, founder of
the U.S. Center for World Mission, suggests we're often like dogs trotting
through the Louvre museum - seeing the most incredible art on earth but
understanding nothing. Will we be like the sons of Issachar who "understood
the times and knew what Israel should do" (I Chron. 12:32), or like the
clueless citizens of Jerusalem who "did not recognize God's moment when it
came" (Lk. 19:44, New English Bible)?
Some of us are trying to live Sunday-school-as-usual lives. Head-in-the-
sand ignorance about our mission to the world is one thing. Fiddling while
Rome burns is quite another. With the insight God is giving us about the
harvest fields of the world, we incur great accountability when we do not
respond to the need. King Solomon put it this way:
Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward
slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who
weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will
he not repay each person according to what he has done? -Prov. 24:11-12
Our children deserve more than good Sunday school lessons. Their lives will
not be like ours; they won't have time to fiddle. Now is the day to raise up
radical Christians, believers who are armed and dangerous on a global scale,
soldiers of the Cross who are more concerned about God's heart for all
peoples than they are about their own comfort. The Cause needs believers
who are prepared to give their right arms for the Kingdom. Specifically, the
North American Church needs a vision beyond itself.

The Church with a Vision

As we follow Jesus, we tend to focus on our own next step: Where is He
leading me next? Am I growing properly as a Christian? But Jesus often
shook up his disciples' preoccupation with themselves. His command is
startling: "Open your eyes and look at the fields!" (Jn. 4:35). It's reasonable to
watch your step in a field, of course. But it's also stultifying if that's the range
of your vision. You need to look up and out!
We're walking through the middle of a wonderful, terrifying, exciting,
challenging, ripe harvest field of diverse cultures. And that perspective is
crucial to see how our walk with Him fits in with His great, worldwide plan.
Especially in North America we believers need to get better at lifting up our
eyes. If we interpret our discipleship in Jesus Christ only in light of what we
see in our own backyards, we're going to miss the historic miracles happening
around us as He continues to make disciples of every nation.
In this breathtaking sweep of history, let's not keep our eyes on our own feet
to the extent that we miss the beauty of the whole Body, fitted and joined
together. Building itself up in love from Novosibirsk to New Jersey.
Let's recognize God's moment.
WHAT IS WORSHIP?
By Todd Ahrend
This question has been on my mind for quite some time. What a hot topic
within ministry groups today. It is so easy to jump on a bandwagon especially
when it seems to be the right wagon. I would like to pose a thought in regards
to worship and our culture.
"What a great worship time," a student says as he leaves the large group
meeting. Oh how often we hear that today. Students especially, when they
think of worship immediately think of singing. "What a great worship time" is
really "What a great singing time." "I didn't like that group because I just didn't
like their worship," ever heard that before? For some campus ministers their
frustrations are that students plug into the group who has the best guitarist. "I
hope my drummer doesn't graduate," a campus minister cries. The majority of
students today have reduced worship to a talented band.
What might be happening is that we bring in good musicians, it draws a crowd
and we say "Look, people are coming, it must be God, everybody is
worshipping!" No, everybody is singing and the majority leave lacking. Why?
Because the students come not to lay down their sin and suffering, but to
forget it for a while.
Pop in a Vineyard CD and drive down the road. No different than when I was
a nonchristian and I couldn't stand quietness, it's just now I Christianize it, turn

up my radio and zone out while I drive. Isn't it amazing how many will go to a
worship conference and not a missions conference. Culturally, the first
revolves around singing and the second revolves around giving up your life.
As I search the scriptures I love what the apostle Paul says about worship.
Romans 12:1-2 "Therefore I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is
your spiritual act of worship."
If you cornered Paul what would he say in regards to worship? I don't
necessarily think he would say it is a singing thing. According to him worship
is a holy living issue. To turn away from pornography, that is worship. To take
every thought captive, that is worship. To lay aside your dreams and talents,
that is worship. To forgive each other, that is worship. To walk out of the
church more like Jesus, that is worship. Next time we worship God we don't
have to go buy a CD with some slow songs on it, instead we need to tie
ourselves on the altar and present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice.
THE MISSIONARY CALL

by Gordon Olson
It has been common in modern missionary circles to talk about a 'missionary
call'. Although there was little agreement as to what that 'call' consisted of or
how to define it, there was general agreement, until a generation ago that
such a 'call' was needed to become a missionary. Missionary leaders
struggled to clarify the confusion related to a call and eliminate the many
myths surrounding it. For example, Harold Cook wrote the following in 1954:
To sum up: (1) a special divine call is not necessary to witness for Christ
beyond the national border; (2) the striking vision that Paul received at Troas,
the so-called "Macedonian call," was not his missionary call, nor is it typical of
such a call; and (3) the call to missionary service is not necessarily associated
with a definite field at home or abroad.
It might seem from this that we have completely ruled out the idea of a call.
But that is not so.
Later, however, he goes on to say, "Sometimes in order to see the matter in
its proper relationships, we might do well to drop the word call and speak of
this as a matter of guidance." He goes on to give the testimonies of seven
great missionaries and show that there is no pattern or mold into which they
can be forced, nor can we get a definition from their experience.
Herbert Kane is more definite: "The term 'missionary call' should never have
been coined. It is not Scriptural and therefore can be harmful. Thousands of
youth desiring to serve the Lord have waited and waited for some mysterious
'missionary call' that never came.

The biblical doctrine of 'calling'

How can we find out the reality of the 'missionary call'? Do we take a cross
section of missionary experience? Of course not! We must go back to our
sufficient authority: the Bible. The major usage of the word 'call' in the New
Testament is the call to salvation. It would seem that the Apostle Paul used
the word as a comprehensive term to encompass all that pertains to our
conversion to Christ: hearing the gospel, believing, and the immediate
consequence of the new birth, etc. The Apostle Paul also used this word of
his call to apostleship in Roman 1:1 and 1 Corinthians 1:1, but we do not find
any reference to a 'missionary call'!
There are two passages which might be so interpreted. One is Acts 13:2: "set
apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
Note that Saul of Tarsus was called at his conversion to be an apostle to the
Gentiles. Ananias informed him of that (Acts 9:16; 22:21; 26:16-18) and God
later confirmed it long before the leaders of the Antioch church were
commanded by the Spirit to set apart Barnabas and Saul. So apparently this
was just a confirmation of the call to ministry that Barnabas and Saul had
already received. It was not a separate and distinct call to missionary service.
In a sense both Saul and Barnabas were already missionaries working among
Gentiles, but the ultimate dimension to which the Spirit was moving them as
cross-cultural missionaries yet needed to be fulfilled.
The other passage which has been taken superficially as basis for a
missionary call is the account in Acts 16 of the vision of the man of Macedonia
which the Spirit used to lead the missionaries to cross over to Macedonia.
"And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into
Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them"
(Acts 16:10). One of our great missionary hymns refers to the "Macedonian
call," but the fact is quite obvious that Paul and Silas were already
missionaries, indeed Paul was on his second missionary journey. This event
was just part of a process that God used to move the apostles on into virgin
territory.
The key issue then is whether there is a separate call necessary to cross
"geographical and/or cultural boundaries to preach the gospel in those areas
of the world where Jesus Christ is largely, if not entirely, unknown." This much
is clear: that whatever is needed, it is not referred to as a "call." Cook felt we
should refer to it as guidance. James Weber feels that we should refer to is as
direction. Other words like 'appointment', 'conviction' and 'burden' could be
suggested as a basis for missionary service, but it is clear that some sort of a
visionary experience is not needed.
Relative spiritual need
The missionary speaker in the Bible college missions conference was very
blunt: "The need constitutes the call." He went on to illustrate it by having ten
student try to lift the piano by positioning nine at one end and one at the other.
He made his point by saying that the fact that nine out of ten Christian

workers are ministering to the one-tenth of the world which is most

evangelized while only one out of ten workers are thinly spread through the
nine-tenths of the world which has the greatest need; this is appalling. It is as
ridiculous as nine men at one end of the piano ignoring the one poor guy
trying to lift the other end all by himself. After the meeting the students were
very perplexed because the day before another missionary had said, "If you
don't have a clear-cut missionary call, don't become a missionary, whatever
you do. You'll do more harm than good if you go." This missionary was just
reflecting the view of many in the past like Robert Hall Glover, author of
several classic missions textbooks: "Nothing could be more vital to anyone
setting out for the mission field than to be clearly assured of the call and
leading of the Lord in taking that step." On the other hand Glover goes on to
quote some missionary greats on the other side of the issue:
It has been truly said that "a need, knowledge of that need, and ability to meet
that need constitutes a call." It was this logic of facts that appealed to Keith
Falconer, that heroic Scottish nobleman who blazed the Gospel trail into the
"ignored peninsula" of Arabia. He said: "While vast continents still lie
shrouded in almost utter darkness, and hundreds of millions suffer the horrors
of heathanism and Islam, the burden of proof rests upon you to show that the
circumstances in which God has placed you were meant by Him to keep you
out of the foreign mission field." James Gilmour, the brave pioneer among the
nomads of Mongolia, spoke in words no less forceful and convicting: "To me
the question was not 'Why go?' but 'Why not go?' Even on the low ground of
common sense I seemed called to be a missionary. For is the kingdom not a
harvest field? Then I thought it only reasonable to seek the work where the
work was most abundant and the workers were fewest."
Again we must come back to the Scripture. The Apostle Paul strongly
supported the principle of need in Romans 15:20, 23: "And thus I aspired to
preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build
upon another man's foundation, but now with no further place for me in these
regions…" Certainly need must play a prominent part in our sense of
guidance toward a place of ministry. If we have a choice and unless there are
compelling reasons to the contrary, the Christian worker should choose the
place of greatest need! Failure to give adequate consideration to this factor
has caused the incredible inequity in the distribution of workers. As someone
has said with a great measure of accuracy, "Why should anyone have a
chance to hear the gospel twice until all have had a chance to hear it once?"
This may be an overstatement, but it raises a valid question which must be
answered. I suspect that most mission boards would far rather have a flood of
candidates apply and have to screen out a large percentage of unqualified
ones, than have the present shortage of candidates, which sometimes forces
boards to accept too many marginally qualified people.
Today in America we have the spectacle of modest churches receiving
hundreds of resumes from prospective pastoral candidates. Something is 'out
of whack'! Mission boards don't receive even two applications for each
opening on the mission field. They are happy to get even one. Bible colleges
here in America receive many resumes that Bible institutes and colleges

abroad have a hard time filling faculty positions. The ministry is the same
(albeit usually in a different language). Could it be that some mysterious
'calling' is lacking in one case and not in the other?
When Paul co-opted Timothy as a member of his missionary team, it was
because he was "well spoken of by the brethren" in his hometown (Acts 16:1-
2), not because he had a 'missionary call'.
Copyright by C. Gordon Olson 1988. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
WHO IS COMMANDED?
The other day a campus minister asked us to be careful when talking to his
students about missions because, "At NYU, these students are special and
they take their careers very seriously." At first I didn't know what to say, but I
have been thinking of this comment constantly because of the implications
that it left in my mind. I have been given this little speech more than once now
at several of the more prestigious schools we have visited and it finally got
under my skin today. What is that person really trying to communicate? That
students at a certain school or because of the price of tuition are somehow
exempted from the call of Christ seems to be the real underlying thought. Is
that how we are to make decisions? Is the task of world missions only fit for
students at a community college that have average ability or intellect?
I think that the gauge for our calling is found in the worthiness of the person
that is inviting us to join them. When Andy Card received a phone call from
George W. Bush, asking him to become his Chief of Staff - It is unlikely that
Andy Card had to check his calendar and make a prolonged decision about
what to do, even though at the time he was the president of a large
corporation. When the president of the most powerful nation of the earth asks
you to become his right hand man and office out of the white house, working
directly for him as he leads the country and the world - You naturally follow
the call because of the worthiness of the person asking you to follow him.
How much more important is it for us to consider the invitation of the Lord of
the Universe, the King of Kings, to join Him in His world wide mission with its
eternal implications.
If anything there is a greater responsibility on the students that have had an
opportunity for better education because of the investment of their parents
and their intellect and ambition. God has consistently used students in history
that "took their careers very seriously" to radically change the world after
abandoning their hopeful careers in medicine, law, agriculture, science and
politics. It is reasonable that the greatest minds, the greatest talents, and the
greatest innovators of the church will be accountable for a greater not lesser
responsibility in God's cause. To whom much is given, much is required.
Consider for a second the repeated emphasis on the impartiality of the Lord.

And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth,
and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any." - Matt 22:16
But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law
as transgressors. - James 2:9
Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is
not one to show partiality. - Acts 10:34
For there is no partiality with God. - Rom 2:11
But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no
difference to me; God shows no partiality)--well, those who were of reputation
contributed nothing to me. - Gal 2:6
And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing
that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with
Him. - Eph 6:9
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His
chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a
spirit of partiality. - 1 Tim 5:21
If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each
one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; -
1 Pet 1:17
I am simple enough to believe that the disciples followed Jesus, not because
they didn't have anything better to do, but because of the greatness of the one
inviting them. God shows no partiality. His invitation does not consider the
career potential, IQ, the family name, or tuition price of your university. The
decisive factor is the worthiness of the person that is inviting us to follow Him
in reaching the world. The Great Commission has always been a command
for all believers and I cannot bring myself to make exemptions that the Lord
never makes.

THE SUPREMACY OF GOD IN MISSIONS THROUGH

WORSHIP
by John Piper
Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists
because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is
ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the
redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no
more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever. Worship,
therefore, is the fuel and goal in missions. It's the goal of missions because in
missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of
God's glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the
greatness of God. "The Lord reigns; let the people rejoice; let the many
coastlands be glad!" (Psalms 67:3-4).
But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes
the offer of God in preaching. You can't commend what you don't cherish.
Missionaries will never call out, "Let the nations be glad!", who cannot say
from the heart, "I rejoice in the Lord, I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing
praises to thy name, O Most High" (Psalm 104:34; 9:2). Missions begins and
ends in worship.
If the pursuit of God's glory is not ordered above the pursuit of man's good in
the affections of the heart and the priorities of the church, man will not be well
served and God will not be duly honored. I am not pleading for a diminishing
of missions but for a magnifying of God. When the flame of worship burns with
the heat of God's true worth, the light of missions will shine to the most remote
peoples on earth. And I long for that day to come!
Where passion for God is weak, zeal for missions will be weak. Churches that
are not centered on the exaltation of the majesty and beauty of God will
scarcely kindle a fervent desire to "declare his glory among the nations"
(Psalm 96:3). Even outsiders feel the disparity between the boldness of our
claim upon the nations and the blandness of our engagement with God.
Let the Nations be Glad: Used by permission of Baker Book House Company,
copyright 1993. All rights to this material are reserved.

WHY YOU SHOULD GO TO THE MISSION FIELD

by Keith Green
I recently returned from visiting some overseas missionary bases, and I must
say that since returning, my life has not been quite the same. The vision and
goals of our ministry have suddenly changed. The Lord definitely did
something to my heart on that trip. Besides showing me how small my vision
had been, He began to give me a great burden to see the ranks of His army in
the field swell! One of the greatest things God opened my eyes to was how
tremendously evangelized my own country was, while the rest of the world
was barely being reached. As I traveled from country to country, I thought of
the millions of people I was passing through who needed to have the Gospel
of Jesus shown to them in a real way - and yet there was hardly anyone there
to reach them.
As I visited each mission base, I spoke with different missionaries, and picked
up various pieces of literature that told the story of what was being done in
different parts of the world to expand the Kingdom of God. As I read the
statistics, I was shocked - I really had never known how little the need was
being met!
When I returned home, I got hold of some of the leaders of different
missionary organizations and set up some meetings to find out more about
what was being done to fill the need. After these meetings, I decided to do a
study of God's Word (to see what He had to say about reaching the lost in
other countries), and I also read through some more of the missions literature
I had been given. This article is the result of that study, and also a burning
desire in my heart to see 100,000 young people released to the mission field
over the next five years!
SO...WHY SHOULD YOU GO TO THE MISSION FIELD?

1) Because Jesus has told you to go.
"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation." (Mark 16:15)
With these words, Jesus made it clear exactly what His disciples were to do -
they were to spread His teachings in His name, preaching salvation unto the
ends of the earth. (Rom. 10:18) If you consider yourself a "believer", then you
must consider yourself a "disciple" of Jesus - no less called and chosen than
the very first 12 apostles. There are no such things as "1st class" Christians
and "2nd class" Christians - every believer is called to spread the Good News
about Jesus to those who have not yet heard. Jesus' command is definite and
clear - it is His great mandate, His "Great Commission" to the soldiers in His
holy army. We must go, because our great General has commanded us to go.
2) You should go because the need is so great.
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord
of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." (Matt. 9:37-38)

Ever since Jesus first spoke these compassionate words, the supply of
workers in the fields of soul-harvest has always been horribly low. But today
the need is the greatest it has ever been in the history of mankind.
Remember, Hell is not just for the weekend! More people are alive today, and
more souls are at stake, than the total number of people who have ever lived
on the face of the earth in all of human history! This simply means that we can
populate either Heaven or Hell by our obedience or our laziness. There are
over 2,700,000,000 people who have never heard the Gospel at all, and there
are only 5,000 to 7,000 missionaries worldwide, working directly with these
totally unreached groups of people. That means there is approximately one
missionary for every 450,000 of these people! There are over 16,000 different
and distinct cultures and people-groups - even whole countries, where not
one single church is in existence. There are 7,010 distinct living languages,
and 5,199 of them still have no Bible or Scripture translations available in their
own language! Do these figures move you at all? Does it matter to you that an
estimated 80,000 unsaved people die every day (approximately 3,333 every
hour...55 people every single minute!) to face the judgment seat of Christ?
3) You should go because so few Christians are obeying the call, making
the need even greater!
"Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ...how shall they
hear without a preacher?" (Rom. 10:17,14)
Right now worldwide there are only 85,000 workers on the mission field -
working mainly among those who have heard the gospel before. This figure
includes missionaries from all over the world of every nationality. When you
compare this number with the amount of Americans selling Avon or Amway
products, it is staggering. Just in America alone there are 435,000 Avon
sales-people (with 1,280,000 worldwide), and over 750,000 Amway products
distributors, (with over a million worldwide)! Do you realize that these two
companies combined have 14 times more representatives in the United
States alone than the Church of Jesus Christ has in the whole world outside
of America?
And what about the Christian representatives we do have in the world? Only
9% of the world's population speaks English, and yet 94% of all ordained
preachers in the whole world minister to the 9% who speak English. And 96%
of all Christian finances are spent in the United States on 6% of the world's
population. Only 4% of all Christian money is spent on missionary efforts to
reach the other 94% of the world's population! There are over 1,000,000 full-
time Christian workers in the United States; while one half of the world's
population (3 major groups - Muslem, Hindu, and Chinese), 2,200,000,000
people, have only 2,417 full-time Christian workers. As you can see by these
figures, something is definitely wrong. While we in America have
approximately one worker for every 230 people - those who have never heard
the Gospel even once have one worker for every 450,000 souls! Please
forgive us, Jesus, for being too timid to obey You and reach out into all the
world like You have commanded us to!

4) You should go because God gives special anointing and grace to

those who leave their own land, people, and culture to do God's will and
spread the Gospel.
"And the Lord said to Abram, 'Go forth from your country and from your
relatives, and from your father's house...and I will bless you and make your
name great; and so you shall also be a blessing; and I will bless those that
bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families
of the earth shall be blessed.'" (Genesis 12:1-3)
Abram (later to be renamed Abraham by God) is only one of the many people
in the Bible who God used mightily only after he left his own people, his own
land, and his own culture. Look at the travels and ministries of people like
Jacob and Moses - both of whom had to go into other lands to learn from God
and be used by Him.
No matter where you look in the Bible, God always gave a great anointing and
blessing to those who served Him in a foreign land. Look at Joseph and
Daniel. They were the only two men in the Bible who God raised up as
successful, secular officials in foreign and heathen cultures - and they
remained faithful witnesses and servants of God to the very end, and often at
the risk of their very lives! What about Jonah? He was a good example of
someone who didn't want to go to the mission field and preach to heathens!
Stubborn, rebellious, and selfish - and yet God "made him an offer he couldn't
refuse." (I pray that God would freely move like that in all our lives, "helping"
us to make the right decisions about going.)
And then there's the apostle Paul - who had such a burden for his own people
and country, Israel. Oh , how he would have loved a ministry among the Jews!
But what did God say? "Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles." (Acts
22:21) That's what God commanded, and "go" he did. Never was there a
missionary like Paul. Take a look at II Corinthians 11 if you'd like to see a list
of his qualifications: beatings, imprisonments, stonings, mobs, shipwrecks, the
list goes on and on - and so did Paul, obeying his Master who bought him.
From Noah to Abraham, from Moses to Jonah, from Daniel to Paul, God has
always given special blessing to those who, leaving the comforts of home and
relatives, cross the boundaries of their little worlds to bring God's message
and blessing to the nations.
Remember Jesus' words about this subject, "A prophet is not without honor
except in his home town, "(Matt. 13:57)
5) You should go because America (and some other western nations) is
literally drenched with the Gospel, while most other countries and
cultures of the world do not have any continual, relevant witness at all.
"And thus I aspired to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was already
named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation; but as it is
written, 'They that had no news of Him shall see, and they who have not
heard shall understand.'" (Rom. 15:20-21)

It is so true that we here in America are continually bombarded with Christian

witness and ministry. Almost at every turn there's a billboard or a bumper
sticker proclaiming something about Jesus. Turn the dial on your radio at any
time of the day or night, and you've got non-stop preaching. There are several
Christian satellite and cable networks. And there are over 250 different
Christian magazines and publications. In most cities there's a church on
almost every corner. I am not trying to say that this is all bad - a lot of it is
good, winning many souls to Jesus - but as I've traveled overseas, it is hard
for me to believe that it is God's will for there to be so much Gospel preaching
and literature available here, while there is comparatively little or even none in
many places outside of this country.
The world is going to Hell on every continent! Is it God's fault that so few are
hearing the gospel - or is it the Church's? Aren't we who love Jesus
accountable to reach our generation with the gospel? A friend of mine has
written, "this generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of
sinners." If this is true, then each of us must take a good, long look at our lives
and priorities - finding out where God would have us begin to get ready to go!
6) You should go because, as Oswald J. Smith said, "No one has the
right to hear the Gospel twice, while there remains someone who has
not heard it once."
"But if our Gospel be hidden, it is hidden to them that are lost: in whom the
god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, that they
might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of
God." (II Cor. 4:3-4)
Has it occurred to you that Jesus wants every creature to hear the Gospel? If
you had 20 children to feed and plenty of food to feed them all with, do you
think it would be right to give 3 of the children 10 meals, 7 children only 1
meal, and the remaining nothing - causing them to die of starvation? That's
exactly what we're doing with the Gospel in the world today!
Because we believers are so deaf to God's call to go into all nations, we keep
most of God's resources to ourselves! We keep feeding and reaching the
same people over and over again. I am not saying there should be no Gospel
preached in America, I am saying that there needs to be a spreading out of
the soldiers of God, to fight the enemy where his greatest strongholds are -
"where Christ is not already named"!
7) You should go because the time is short. More and more countries
are closing their doors to missionaries and the Gospel, and we must go
now.
"We must work the works of Him who sent me, as long as it is day; night is
coming, when no man can work." (John 9:4)
I constantly hear of country after country where missionaries used to be
welcome, but now the doors are closed to them entering. Though it is true that
many Christians can still go to be subtle witnesses as doctors, teachers,
engineers, etc., the Gospel can no longer be openly preached in many lands.

Although there are still vast areas of the world wide open for foreign
evangelism, such as western Europe, parts of Asia, and most of the Pacific
(Japan, South Korea, Singapore, etc.) there are many other countries where it
is illegal to hold a street meeting or pass out Gospel literature. We need to
sense the urgency of this hour, and obey God by reaching out to those lost in
the darkness "while it is still day."
8) You should go because the Holy Spirit is speaking to Christian
leadership all over the world that it is God's desire for there to be a great
final missionary thrust with the Gospel before the end of the age. It is
His desire that every people should have the Gospel preached to them,
and that the Gospel should be published in every nation and in every
language. And unless YOU get involved personally, there is no hope of
that ever happening in our generation!
"...And you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8) "And this
gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to
all the nations, and then the end shall come. " ( Matt. 24:14) "The Lord
is...patient toward you, not wishing for you to perish but for all to come to
repentance." ( II Peter 3:9)
Is there any doubt in your mind that God wants everyone to be saved? If you
believe this, and you really love Jesus, then WHY are you so timid about
getting involved in this great thrust to bring the Gospel to all the nations? Do
you think that while you're reading this, God isn't grieved that His Church is
being so lazy and disobedient about fulfilling his commission? He knows that
you agree with the Scriptures, and He's listening to every excuse you're
turning over in your mind like, "Yes, I know that more people need to go...but
He just couldn't mean ME! I'm...just not the 'missionary-type'..."

WINNING BY LOSING THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVING

UP YOUR RIGHTS
by Loren Cunningham
Some years ago, my young bride and I were driving night and day across the
United States in our Volkswagen van. Just after dawn one morning, I gave
Darlene the wheel and crawled into the back to take a nap. We were traveling
through the Southern part of Arizona, on our way to Tucson.
I woke to the lurching of our van as it began to roll over and over. A few
seconds later, I found myself thrown out of the vehicle. The dust was still
flying as I looked around me. The van lay on its side totaled. Everything we
owned was scattered on the desert. Then I panicked. Where was my wife? I
found her a few yards away, her head bashed in, her eyes rolled back, she
wasn't even trying to breathe.
As I sat there in despair, cradling her battered head, God spoke to me. He
asked, "Loren, are you willing to serve Me?" I thought and replied, "Yes, Lord,
I have nothing left but You."
Until that moment, I didn't realize that I truly didn't own anything in this world.
We speak of "my family," "my house", "my ministry," "my car," "my reputation,"
but we can lose them all within seconds. These things are given only to us by
God for a time, to use for His glory.
As soon as I said, "Yes, Lord, I'll serve You," God spoke a second time. He
told me to pray for Darlene. It hadn't occurred to me to pray for her, I thought
she was already dead. As I began to pray, she started to breathe and fight for
her life. A Mexican man found us and went for help. An hour later, we were in
an ambulance, on the long trip to the hospital. She was still unconscious, but
God spoke a third time, telling me that my wife would be okay.
Darlene recovered, and we have enjoyed 22 years together since that day on
the desert. But I have never forgotten my promise to the Lord to serve Him.
Giving up our right to the people and things God has given us is at the very
core of Christian discipleship.
We have rights as individuals. The Bible says every good and perfect gift
comes down from the Father (James 1:17). God gave us the right to a family.
God gave us the right to possessions, the right to freedom, the right to our
country, and to other basic blessings. All of these things are good.
The Hindus say the material world is evil, while the Buddhists say that only in
turning away from the things of this world will we achieve reality. Yet God
looked at the earth He created and said, "It is good." And God looks at us and
the rights He has given us and says, "It is good."
Then why is He asking us to give back those rights? Because He wants to
give us greater things. This is a rule of the Kingdom of God; give up

something good and receive something greater. Give up your rights and you
will receive greater privileges with God.
God gives us the right to own possessions. God emphasized the right to
personal property in the Ten Commandments. God wants us to open our
hands rather than tightly clench our fists around what we own. He says we
can't be a servant to money and a servant to Him at the same time. He gives
us the right to own things and then asks us to freely give back to Him that with
which He has blessed us. When we give up the right to spend our money as
we want, and are able to say to God, "Tell me what You want. All I have is
Yours. What do You want me to give back to You?", then we will see God as
our provider. Then we will have the excitement of seeing Him do the
miraculous to meet our needs.
We have been given other rights. We were born to our parents, raised in a
neighborhood and brought up to believe certain things. Our moms fixed food
in a particular way, and those dishes probably are our favorite foods to this
day. Whether we are American, Filipino, or Swiss, whether we grew up in
Seattle or Shanghai, these things are part of what makes us who we are.
When we need something to wear, we buy what we like, probably influenced
by the way others we admire dress themselves. It could be an outfit like the
one we've seen everyone else wearing at school, or if we live in a Malaysian
village, it could be a certain way to tie hand-dyed sarongs. Whatever it is,
we're happier and feel at our best when we dress a certain way, eat certain
foods, live in a certain kind of house and raise our children to do the things
that are important to us.
Even where we go to church is geared to our background, our choices, our
likes and dislikes and our experiences. We may like a plain building for
worship with happy, informal singing and preaching. We may like stained
glass windows and a soaring pipe organ. These are all part of our culture, our
heritage, our denomination, our families, and our upbringing.
Furthermore, we have the right to be an American (or an Australian, Brazilian,
or Russian). We have the right to enjoy our own culture and country. We have
the right to belong to a certain church and other groups that express what we
believe is important. We have a right to live and to talk and to eat.
But if everyone exercises their rights to the exclusion of God's plans for us, a
tragedy of cataclysmic proportions will occur. Millions of people will live their
lives in guilt and despair and will die to face judgment for their sins eternally in
hell. There are more than 2.5 billion people who've never heard the Gospel.
More than 8,000 unreached people groups wait for a Christian witness.
All we have to do to seal the fate of these millions is to stay where we are,
exercising our rights, in surroundings comfortable to us, eating the food we
like, going to the church we enjoy, wearing the clothes suited to us, staying
with friends who talk about what we like to talk about and shutting our ears to
God's cry, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

Jesus gave us the supreme example of giving up everything (all of His

"rights") for a greater goal. Philippians 2 says, "He didn't count equality with
God a thing to be grasped but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-
servant, a slave." Slaves have no rights, and Jesus became a slave for our
sakes.
He gave up the right to be with His Father.
He gave up the right to a home, saying that while the birds have nests and the
foxes have dens, He didn't have a place to lay His head.
He gave up the right to money. He had to borrow a coin from someone for a
sermon illustration once.
He gave up the right to marriage, and the right to His reputation. As far as
most people are concerned, He was an illegitimate baby, raised in a town that
was scorned. The ultimate slur to His reputation came when He, the Son of
God, was called a devil by the religious experts of His time. But Jesus went
further.
He gave up the right to life itself, becoming obedient to death on a cross. For
what purpose? So that God might exalt Him, give Him a name above every
other name, which at His name every knee should bow. But there's another
reason: Jesus was showing us how to live our lives. He was showing us how
to win over the devil, which is the greatest job ever given to us - taking the
earth from Satan and winning it back for God. Jesus was showing us that the
only way to win is to lose; the only way to conquer is to submit.
Jesus wants us to follow Him, losing ourselves and gaining the world. Only by
taking Jesus' example into every part of our lives will we be able to win in life.
He spelled it out for us in Mark 8:34 and 35: "If anyone would come after me
he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever
wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the
Gospel will save it."
The choice is ours. We can hold onto our rights, expect and wait for "our
blessings" (while people are going to hell) and miss out on God's greater
purposes for us. Or we can give them freely back to Him for the greatest
privilege of all - winning this world for the Kingdom of God.

WINNING BY LOSING THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVING

UP YOUR RIGHTS
by Loren Cunningham
Some years ago, my young bride and I were driving night and day across the
United States in our Volkswagen van. Just after dawn one morning, I gave
Darlene the wheel and crawled into the back to take a nap. We were traveling
through the Southern part of Arizona, on our way to Tucson.
I woke to the lurching of our van as it began to roll over and over. A few
seconds later, I found myself thrown out of the vehicle. The dust was still
flying as I looked around me. The van lay on its side totaled. Everything we
owned was scattered on the desert. Then I panicked. Where was my wife? I
found her a few yards away, her head bashed in, her eyes rolled back, she
wasn't even trying to breathe.
As I sat there in despair, cradling her battered head, God spoke to me. He
asked, "Loren, are you willing to serve Me?" I thought and replied, "Yes, Lord,
I have nothing left but You."
Until that moment, I didn't realize that I truly didn't own anything in this world.
We speak of "my family," "my house", "my ministry," "my car," "my reputation,"
but we can lose them all within seconds. These things are given only to us by
God for a time, to use for His glory.
As soon as I said, "Yes, Lord, I'll serve You," God spoke a second time. He
told me to pray for Darlene. It hadn't occurred to me to pray for her, I thought
she was already dead. As I began to pray, she started to breathe and fight for
her life. A Mexican man found us and went for help. An hour later, we were in
an ambulance, on the long trip to the hospital. She was still unconscious, but
God spoke a third time, telling me that my wife would be okay.
Darlene recovered, and we have enjoyed 22 years together since that day on
the desert. But I have never forgotten my promise to the Lord to serve Him.
Giving up our right to the people and things God has given us is at the very
core of Christian discipleship.
We have rights as individuals. The Bible says every good and perfect gift
comes down from the Father (James 1:17). God gave us the right to a family.
God gave us the right to possessions, the right to freedom, the right to our
country, and to other basic blessings. All of these things are good.
The Hindus say the material world is evil, while the Buddhists say that only in
turning away from the things of this world will we achieve reality. Yet God
looked at the earth He created and said, "It is good." And God looks at us and
the rights He has given us and says, "It is good."
Then why is He asking us to give back those rights? Because He wants to
give us greater things. This is a rule of the Kingdom of God; give up

something good and receive something greater. Give up your rights and you
will receive greater privileges with God.
God gives us the right to own possessions. God emphasized the right to
personal property in the Ten Commandments. God wants us to open our
hands rather than tightly clench our fists around what we own. He says we
can't be a servant to money and a servant to Him at the same time. He gives
us the right to own things and then asks us to freely give back to Him that with
which He has blessed us. When we give up the right to spend our money as
we want, and are able to say to God, "Tell me what You want. All I have is
Yours. What do You want me to give back to You?", then we will see God as
our provider. Then we will have the excitement of seeing Him do the
miraculous to meet our needs.
We have been given other rights. We were born to our parents, raised in a
neighborhood and brought up to believe certain things. Our moms fixed food
in a particular way, and those dishes probably are our favorite foods to this
day. Whether we are American, Filipino, or Swiss, whether we grew up in
Seattle or Shanghai, these things are part of what makes us who we are.
When we need something to wear, we buy what we like, probably influenced
by the way others we admire dress themselves. It could be an outfit like the
one we've seen everyone else wearing at school, or if we live in a Malaysian
village, it could be a certain way to tie hand-dyed sarongs. Whatever it is,
we're happier and feel at our best when we dress a certain way, eat certain
foods, live in a certain kind of house and raise our children to do the things
that are important to us.
Even where we go to church is geared to our background, our choices, our
likes and dislikes and our experiences. We may like a plain building for
worship with happy, informal singing and preaching. We may like stained
glass windows and a soaring pipe organ. These are all part of our culture, our
heritage, our denomination, our families, and our upbringing.
Furthermore, we have the right to be an American (or an Australian, Brazilian,
or Russian). We have the right to enjoy our own culture and country. We have
the right to belong to a certain church and other groups that express what we
believe is important. We have a right to live and to talk and to eat.
But if everyone exercises their rights to the exclusion of God's plans for us, a
tragedy of cataclysmic proportions will occur. Millions of people will live their
lives in guilt and despair and will die to face judgment for their sins eternally in
hell. There are more than 2.5 billion people who've never heard the Gospel.
More than 8,000 unreached people groups wait for a Christian witness.
All we have to do to seal the fate of these millions is to stay where we are,
exercising our rights, in surroundings comfortable to us, eating the food we
like, going to the church we enjoy, wearing the clothes suited to us, staying
with friends who talk about what we like to talk about and shutting our ears to
God's cry, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

Jesus gave us the supreme example of giving up everything (all of His

"rights") for a greater goal. Philippians 2 says, "He didn't count equality with
God a thing to be grasped but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-
servant, a slave." Slaves have no rights, and Jesus became a slave for our
sakes.
He gave up the right to be with His Father.
He gave up the right to a home, saying that while the birds have nests and the
foxes have dens, He didn't have a place to lay His head.
He gave up the right to money. He had to borrow a coin from someone for a
sermon illustration once.
He gave up the right to marriage, and the right to His reputation. As far as
most people are concerned, He was an illegitimate baby, raised in a town that
was scorned. The ultimate slur to His reputation came when He, the Son of
God, was called a devil by the religious experts of His time. But Jesus went
further.
He gave up the right to life itself, becoming obedient to death on a cross. For
what purpose? So that God might exalt Him, give Him a name above every
other name, which at His name every knee should bow. But there's another
reason: Jesus was showing us how to live our lives. He was showing us how
to win over the devil, which is the greatest job ever given to us - taking the
earth from Satan and winning it back for God. Jesus was showing us that the
only way to win is to lose; the only way to conquer is to submit.
Jesus wants us to follow Him, losing ourselves and gaining the world. Only by
taking Jesus' example into every part of our lives will we be able to win in life.
He spelled it out for us in Mark 8:34 and 35: "If anyone would come after me
he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever
wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the
Gospel will save it."
The choice is ours. We can hold onto our rights, expect and wait for "our
blessings" (while people are going to hell) and miss out on God's greater
purposes for us. Or we can give them freely back to Him for the greatest
privilege of all - winning this world for the Kingdom of God.

WOMEN IN MISSION
by Marguerite Kraft and Meg Crossman
After the last road ended, there was still a 2-day hike to where the Balangao
people lived. Two single women missionaries were making that hike. The
Balangao, a tribe of former headhunters in the Philippines, continued to
sacrifice to powerful and demanding spirits who caused sickness, death and
constant turmoil. These women, trained in Bible translation, had volunteered
to work among them.
When they arrived, they were greeted by men wearing G-strings and women
wrapped in cloth from home-made looms. It is hard to say who was more
amazed. The Balangao had asked for Americans to come live with them and
write their language, but they never dreamed the Americans would be women!
An old man offered to be their father and was faithful in looking after them.
Besides the work of translation, these women began giving medical
assistance, learning about the spirit world, and answering questions about life
and death. One of them, Jo Shetler, stayed for 20 years, winning her way into
the hearts and lives of the people and completing the New Testament
translation. Because of this dedication, thousands now know Jesus as Lord of
the Balangao.
Jo Shetler, a shy farm girl with a dream, has stirred many with her story.
However, stories remain unwritten of multitudes of women who likewise
obeyed the call of God to serve Him on the far horizons. Many women do not
realize how greatly God can use their giftedness and commitment in situations
such as this.
FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS
The Book of Acts records the account of Priscilla, a woman specifically used
of God to touch people in at least three different nations: Rome, Greece, and
Asia Minor. Apparently a native of the eastern area of Asia Minor, this woman
of Jewish faith lived with her husband, Aquila, in Rome until the Jews were
expelled. When they met Paul in Corinth, they may already have become
believers. They hosted Paul, led a house church, and were assigned by Paul
to disciple the eloquent and committed Egyptian Jew, Apollos, instructing him
in "the way of God more perfectly" (Acts 18:26).
Paul recognized and honored their gifts and they moved with him to the work
in Ephesus. Since Priscilla's name is almost always listed first, the Jamieson,
Fausset and Brown commentary suggests that "the wife was more prominent
and helpful to the Church." It is perhaps more interesting to note that her role
in cross-cultural service, leadership, and teaching were perceived as so
normal they did not require special comment or explanation by the writer of
Acts! Her role seems to have been accepted and expected rather than being
considered either controversial or extraordinary.

IN THE EARLY MISSIONARY MOVEMENT

In the early days of the Protestant mission advance, most women who went to
the field were wives of missionaries. Discerning men recognized that contact
with women in most non-Western societies was impossible for them, so
women had to undertake this responsibility.
These women rarely received recognition for the heavy load they carried,
managing home and children as well as developing programs to reach local
women and girls.
Initially, single women could only go to the field to care for missionaries'
children or serve alongside the missionary family. However, little by little, new
opportunities arose. R. Pierce Beaver describes the work of Cynthia Farrar in
India, Elizabeth Agnew in Ceylon and other single women who began to
supervise women's schools. Quietly, they helped in zenanas and harems.
Doors opened through medical service. Yet their effective work was seldom
publicized.
However, leaders like D.L. Moody, A.B. Simpson, and A.J. Gordon believed in
encouraging women's gifts for public ministry. Both J. Hudson Taylor, founder
of China Inland Mission, and Fredrik Franson, founder of TEAM (The
Evangelical Alliance Mission), saw the need to recruit and send women to
evangelize crossculturally. In 1888, Taylor wrote, "We are manning our
stations with ladies." Throughout its initial history, his mission expected
women, both single and married, to carry out all the missionary duties,
including preaching and teaching.
In Jane Hunter's study of correspondence and published articles from women
on the field she discovered "the vast majority of women missionaries were
motivated by a deep sense of commitment to God, far more than by any
desire to attain personal recognition or power. That type of moving report also
infected women in the churches at home with a dynamic world vision.
Mobilizers such as Annie Armstrong and Helen Barret Montgomery dedicated
themselves to developing missionary prayer groups, raising funds, and
mobilizing Christians to support field work of all kinds.
A NEW WAY OF SENDING
The Civil War in the United States became a catalyst for change in the way
women were sent. After the Civil War, so many men had died that women
were either widowed or unlikely to marry. "This forced women into an unusual
range of responsibilities. They ran businesses, banks, farms, formed colleges
and for the next 50 years inherited a larger role than men as the major muscle
of the mission movement."
Since missionary boards still refused to send women directly to the work,
women simply organized their own boards. First was the Women's Union
Missionary Society. In the years to follow many others were created. They
built women's colleges, specifically to train women for missionary service.

Besides rousing women to go overseas, more than 100,000 local churches

developed their own active women's missionary societies, an unmatched base
for prayer and funding.
By 1910 there were forty-four women's missionary boards in the United
States, many of them within mainline denominations. They had nearly 2,000
women in the field. Their funds were raised above and beyond the regular
denominational mission giving, indicating the phenomenal job of missions
awareness these women's boards were achieving on the home front. Sadly,
as they were persuaded to combine with the denominational boards in the
1920's and 30's, women gradually lost their opportunity to direct the work.
AND STILL TODAY
Overall, probably two-thirds of the total force for mission has been and
currently is, female. Many mission executives agree that the more difficult and
dangerous the work, the more likely women are to volunteer to do it! David
Yonggi Cho concludes from his experience that women are the best choice
for arduous, pioneering work. "We have found that in these situations, women
will never give up. Men are good for building up the work, but women are best
for persevering when men would get discouraged."
Some fear that with the unique obstacles of reaching the Muslim world,
Western women can play no part. Yet in a nomadic Muslim group in sub-
Saharan Africa, a single woman is effectively training Imams (Islamic
teachers) in the Gospel. They perceive her to be nonthreatening, "just a
woman." Building upon a foundation of interpersonal relationship and Bible
knowledge, she does not give them answers herself. She simply shows the
Imams how to find them in the Word. The Lord has confirmed her teaching,
giving dreams and visions to these leaders. As they have been converted,
they are now training many others. She is accepted as a loving, caring elder
sister, who gives high priority to their welfare.
Jim Reapsome's editorial in World Pulse (Oct 9, 1992) advocating more
training and more support for women received an almost immediate letter of
thanks from a missionary to a Muslim group in Southeast Asia He wrote:
Interestingly enough, despite the common emphasis on training and using
men, here in -----, some of the best evangelists are all women! In fact 3 of our
most important coworkers (who are really doing the most cutting-edge
ministry) are women. Interns of Americans, we only have one single man who
made the sacrifice to come here but four single women, with three more on
the way. In the face of chauvinistic Islam, it is good to be reminded that true
Christianity is not chauvinistic, but an equally exciting call to new, fulfilling life
for women and men.
OPPORTUNITIES IN SPECIAL AREAS
In recent years, women have proven themselves excellent in adapting to new

roles in mission specialization. Wycliffe Bible Translators found over the years

that teams of single women did well on the field a far greater number of such
teams successfully finish translations than teams of single men. Elizabeth
Greene, a woman pilot who served in the Air Force in WWII, was one of the
founders of Mission Aviation Fellowship. Gospel Recordings, providing
Christian tapes and records in many languages (using native speakers to give
the Word rather than waiting for a printed translation) was founded through
Joy Ridderhof's vision and effort. Ruth Siemens' creative idea resulted in
Global Opportunities, assisting lay persons to find tentmaker positions
overseas.
Christian women today need to know and celebrate their heritage. We can
study women of greatness who served in Christ's cause and claim them as
our role models. From Mary Slessor, single woman pioneer in Africa, to Ann
Judson of Burma and Rosalind Goforth of China, wives who fully served; from
Amy Carmichael of India to Mildred Cable in the Gobi Desert; from Gladys
Aylward, the tiny chambermaid determined to get to China to Mother Eliza
Davis George, a black woman missionary to Liberia; from translator Rachel
Saint to medical doctor Helen Roseveare; from Isobel Kuhn and Elisabeth
Elliot, mobilizing missionary authors to Lottie Moon, pacesetting mission
educator; from simple Filipino housemaids in the Middle East to women
executives in denominational offices to unsung Bible women in China, the roll
is lengthy and glorious!
That roll, however, remains incomplete, awaiting the contribution of current
and future generations. God's women now enjoy freedoms and opportunities
their forebearers never envisioned. Most small businesses started in the U.S.
are owned by women. Women now hold highly responsible positions in
government, business, and medicine. "To whom much is given, much is
required." How will women of God today harvest such opportunities for their
Father's purposes?
Women, stirred by the task that lies ahead, can mobilize, devoting their skills,
their accessibility, their knowledge, their tenderness, their intuitiveness, their
own distinctive fervor to the work. The pioneer spirit, full of dedication and
faithfulness, which women throughout history have shown will set the
standard. The task is too vast to be completed without all God's people!

YOUR JERUSALEM, JUDEA, AND SAMARIA

By Jack Rose
"
...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you
shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and
even to the remotest part of the earth." Acts 1:8
The above passage is one that is familiar to many Christians as a verse about
missions. We see that Christians will take the Gospel to the ends of the earth,
to every unreached people group. However, Christians often use this passage
as a reason to not do mission work. This should concern or confuse us. How
can a command by Jesus to take the Gospel to the entire world be used to
excuse us from missions? The answer to this question is found in the way that
Christians interpret the verse. Let's look at the two different ways that this
verse can be interpreted and look closer at these views to measure the truth
and validity of each:
View One
This view takes a literal look at the verse. When Jesus says "Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth," He means the literal city of
Jerusalem, the actual regions of Judea and Samaria, and the literal ends of
the earth. In this view, we do not know from this verse if it is meant to be
fulfilled in any particular order.
View One Deconstructed
If we are two believe that Jesus was speaking of literal places in Acts 1:8,
then the consequences are that the early church would have a very specific
plan to follow in beginning to take the Gospel to others. Obviously, we know
from the rest of the New Testament that Jerusalem was reached with the
Gospel as well as Judea and Samaria. That would mean, then, that we are
currently in the "ends of the earth" section of the command, not because any
specific order is given here but because the first three parts of the command
are already fulfilled.
View Two
The view takes a personal look at the verse. Instead of Jesus meaning actual
places, this view interprets Him as meaning "spheres of application." This
view says that Jesus meant to say, "You will be my witnesses, in your
Jerusalem (your family or city,) your Judea and Samaria (your state and
country,) and the ends of the earth. Once again, it is unclear in this
interpretation if there is a specific order to the command.
View Two Deconstructed
If this view of Acts 1:8 is the correct interpretation, that means that every
believer that will ever live should in fact bless their own local and regional
areas and the ends of the earth as well. If Jesus in fact meant, "Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria, AND the ends of the earth," then all Christians must impact
each of those areas personally. No one is exempt from any of these

personalized regions. You must, in this view, be witnesses in your Jerusalem,

your Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth. A cross cultural
missionary must find a way to not only bless the unreached people group that
he/she works among, they must at the same time be a witness to their local
and regional areas back home. Here's where View Two becomes difficult.
Obviously, one can't be in Algeria and Alabama at the same time, so to apply
this verse to our lives as View Two would demand of us, we must find a way
of putting an extra-Biblical (not found in scripture, but made up) order to the
areas of outreach…one must happen first and then another, then another.
This approach often is used by Christians to avoid moving out of their comfort
zones to spread the Gospel of Christ. They will say, "I have to reach my family
(my Jerusalem) before I can reach anyone else," as if to say that every one of
our relatives must first accept Jesus before we can minister to others. Often,
this statement is really an excuse. If you were to ask those who say this if they
are indeed preaching Christ to their family, most would not be able to say,
"yes."
AND not THEN
AND not THEN is a common mistake in reading this verse. Many believers
will substitute the word "Then" for the actually word "And" in Acts 1:8. The
Greek word KAI is fairly specific in its meaning: And. Therefore, we cannot
view this verse as saying, "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, THEN
Judea, THEN Samaria, and THEN the ends of the earth." Instead the verse
reads, "in Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth." The
followers of Jesus are supposed to be witnesses to each of these with no
order given here.
Elsewhere, Jesus does clarify that the disciples are to start in Jerusalem.
(Luke 24:47) So, the question still remains-"Does this mean that we reach out
locally, then regionally, then in global mission, or does it mean that Jesus'
followers would be witnesses in the city of Jerusalem, the regions of Judea
and Samaria, and the literal ends of the earth?"
The Interpretation of the Early Church
Well, we know that the disciples did not take a View Two approach to this
command. They started with Jerusalem instead of their own home region of
Galilee. We see in their actions that they weren't starting in THEIR Jerusalem,
but in the literal Jerusalem. As we follow the early Church, we see that after a
great persecution breaks out, most of the believers in Jerusalem were
scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, (Acts 8:1) and are witnesses to
these areas. If we watch long enough, we see the Lord finally convincing
Peter that He loves all people, not just Israel (Acts 10) and the Apostle Paul is
raised up as a missionary to the Gentiles. Gentiles are non-Jews. Basically, if
you are anywhere besides Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria (Samaritans were
half-jewish), everyone you see will most likely be a Gentile. The ends of the
earth are Gentile nations. The focus of the early Church after Acts 8 is the
Gentile world…the ends of the earth. The early Church, by practice, endorsed
View One.
What That Means for Us

This means that we can not put an order to our outreach. We can't just focus
on reaching those who are still unbelievers in our family, city, or country and
forget about the nations. Jesus, in Matthew 24:14, "This gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the
nations, and then the end will come." The Disciples started in Jerusalem,
spread the Gospel to Judea and Samaria, and then began to move out to the
ends of the earth. Jesus says that the end of history will not come until all
ethnic groups are reached with the Gospel. We have a task that Jesus
expects for us to finish before the end of all things. It entails taking the Gospel
to the ethnicities at the ends of the earth. We have a task! Let's get to it!
CHURCH AND PARA CHURCH: FRIEND OR FOE?

by Dr. Steve Shadrach
A conference championship was at stake on this chilly December afternoon
as these two top teams squared off to see who would advance to a major
bowl on New Years Day in front of a national TV audience. Seventy thousand
rabid fans crammed into the stadium, a neutral site allowing supporters from
both teams to attend. It was a hard fought battle with the outcome determined
on the last play of the game. Being two points behind, and with a last ditch
pass from midfield, the quarterback launched a long spiral toward the end
zone. As time expired on the clock, both the receiver and defender leaped
high to grab the ball, but instead, they smashed into each other and fell, along
with the ball, to the turf. A split second later a yellow flag was pulled from the
referees pocket and thrown high into the air indicating pass interference.
Time seemed totally suspended as the screaming fans waited to see which
team was being called for the penalty; the answer surely producing the
conference champion. At that precise moment a shocking phenomena took
place that defies any mathematicians’ law of averages. One whole side of the
stadium, along with the players, coaches, even cheerleaders all were yelling
“offensive interference!” Amazingly, the other 35,000 fans on the opposing
side of the stadium, along with their players, coaches, and cheerleaders were
wildly chanting “defensive interference!” What an unbelievable coincidence!
The odds must be 100 trillion to one that every single individual on one side of
the stadium would interpret the play one way, while each and every person on
the other half would interpret it exactly the opposite. Incredible!
Not so incredible, you might be thinking, because you and I have both been at
athletic events where we find ourselves either cheering or booing the referee,
dependent upon whether the call was made for or against our beloved team. If
we were honest with ourselves, we would admit that our mind was made up in
advance of the game, predestining ourselves to applaud when something
good happens to our squad, and protesting when a call goes against us. The
reason? Before the contest even begins, we have chosen our allegiance,
affixed our lens, and view every occurrence throughout the game based upon

that bias.
The Games People Play
The only thing that raises our blood pressure to new heights of irrationality
more than sports is theology! Whether it’s the divorce and remarriage issue,
charismatic gifts, or stewardship, we tend to defend our position on many
controversial doctrines based upon our upbringing and particular experiences
rather than an objective, clear headed, inductive study of the Scriptures.
Especially among believers who are in full time ministry, no topic seems to stir
the emotions more than the church-para church discussion. And let’s admit it,
if we have spent our years primarily ministering through a local church, that’s
going to be the lens we have affixed to our perspective. Or if our spiritual
growth or training mainly came through a para-church ministry, that
determines the starting point (i.e. bias) for our evaluation.
So, if that stadium represented the Body of Christ and was now filled with
Christians, what would we have? On one side the Pastors, Elders and
Deacons might be yelling, “The church is God’s chosen instrument! He has
given His authority to us! Christ died for the church, not the para-church! Your
time, talent, and treasure needs to be given here, and no where else! Tell the
para-church people to quit stealing money and people from our congregation!
Now, back off!”
The other half of this stadium is full of para-church workers and participants
pointing across the field and fervently shouting, “You’ve had your chance and
blown it! We’re tired of your mediocrity and bickering! We’re the truly
committed believers, you guys are just playing church! If this Great
Commission is going to get accomplished, it will be because we gathered the
resources and gumption to get it down! Now, back off!”
While both groups are busy trying to defend their position and criticize the
other, the world is going to hell by the truckload. Every ten seconds, 23
people pass into eternity and an estimated 19 of those into a Christ-less
eternity. While wasting time and effort spouting forth our petty prejudices and
insecurities, a broken hearted God weeps, waiting for His children to quit
attacking one another and turn our God given resources toward defeating the
real enemy─Satan.
You may think I’m a spiritual schizophrenic when you hear my story. Growing
up in a huge denominational church, I was later led to Christ by a para-church
worker and was involved in both during college. I attended the largest
denominational seminary in the world, as well as the largest non-
denominational one. I’ve been a pastor of a denominational church, a founder
of three para-church ministries, elder of a non-denominational church, trained
and spoken to hundreds of different church and para-church groups, and to
top it all off, I completed a doctorate in Church and Para-Church Executive
Leadership several years ago! After all this, you want to know my conclusion?

We’re all in this together! We think there are two sides to this fence, when in
fact─there is NO fence!
God: A Computer Geek?
I believe the Lord is grieved by how we Christians have divided ourselves up

into thousands of little categories, splitting and re-forming─many times over
some of the most asinine reasons. How does God keep it all straight? He
must have the latest and greatest Pentium computer to be able to track all the
ever-changing, ever-growing branches and flavors of church and para-church
groups. Working around the clock, cutting and pasting, I can hear Him
exclaim, “O.K., this is a Bible Study here. That’s a new Community Group
there. Oops, they’re calling themselves a Local Church now. Let’s see, that
meeting there is just a Para-Church organization. Oh no, this is confusing.
Now they say they want to plant churches! And what file am I supposed to put
these denominational seminaries and student centers in?”
God does not divide the world up into rich and poor, black and white,
democrat and republican or even church and para-church! No, in reality there
are only two groups: those who are part of God’s family and those who are
not. His energies are directed toward mobilizing His children to reach out to
those are not yet part of His family. All other divisions are man made. You can
parse your Bible all you want, but trying to drive a wedge in the Body of Christ
by creating (and then disdaining) terms like “para-church” is thwarting the
unity that God commands us to seek in Ephesians 4:
• v. 2, 3: “With all humility and gentleness, showing patience and
forebearance to one another in love, be diligent to preserve the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
• v. 4, 5: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called
in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”
Then Paul tells us that all believers have been given spiritual gifts for a
reason:
• v. 12, 13a: “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the
building up of the Body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the
faith…”
To pit “church” and “para-church” against one another is a mistake. We are all
part of His Church. There are countless little c’s (local churches) around the
world and myriads of little pc’s (para-church ministries) that make up the one
Big C (The Church). There’s no class A and class B Christians. Some think
that God had a “Plan A” where He preferred to reach the world through the
local church, but somehow they couldn’t get it done, so He had to resort to
“Plan B”, bringing in the para-church ministries to fill in and finish the job. That
view does not depict the sovereign, all powerful God I know, who set forth His
decrees before the foundation of the world, and is carrying them out with

absolute precision!
There’s Nothing New Under the Sun
Lest you think I’m oversimplifying the situation or trying to cover it up with
sappy sports stories or computer lingo, let’s look at a couple of examples from
the Scriptures. Some of these thoughts are taken from missionary and author
Dr. Ralph Winter, founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission, who deftly
demonstrates how the Bible teaches us there are two structures of God’s
redemptive mission here on earth, not just one, and that both of them
borrowed heavily from their predecessors…
• 1. Modalities
Jesus focused on function rather than form during His earthly ministry. As the
apostles and first believers (who were almost all Jewish) struggled to create a
form (i.e. modalilty) to launch and develop the Christian movement they knew
of only one religious structure: the Jewish synagogue. Even the greek word
for “church” is ekklesia, which was used many times to describe a non-
Christian gathering or meeting (Acts 19:32,39,41; 7:38; Psalms 22:22). The
apostles borrowed this concept and began to start “Christian synagogues” or
meetings where new believers, be they Jew or Gentile, could be built up in the
faith.
In Acts 2:41-47, they experienced a rude awakening at Pentecost, when after

3,000 responded to the gospel, they were forced to create some structure real
fast. This instant crowd of 3,000 baby Christians were in immediate need of
baptism, teaching, fellowship, prayer, not to mention room and board! The
befuddled Apostles grabbed and tweaked the only model they knew to create
tracks to run on─the Jewish synagogue!
These permanent bases of ministry were essential to nourish and strengthen

all believers and were led by generalists, who could help direct and develop
all aspects of the local effort. Later, in the Pastoral Epistles, Paul provided a
number of guidelines how these local congregations were to operate.
• 2. Sodalities
Jesus and the apostles were fully aware that the Jews not only had stationary
bases of operations, called synagogues, but also mobile teams of Jewish
evangelists whose job it was to expand the movement. Jesus described in
Matthew 23:15 how they would “travel around on sea and land to make a
single proselyte.” Later, in Acts 15:21, Peter acknowledged that “Moses is
preached in every city.”
These sodalities (i.e. organized societies) provided the model Paul drew from
as he created his traveling missionary band in Acts 13. After the church at
Antioch laid hands on he and Barnabus, they were “sent out by the Holy
Spirit.” There was no mission board, policy manual, or weekly report to send

in. They simply went from town to town, preaching the gospel, forming
fellowships, selecting leadership, and recruiting workers. In other words, it
was on the job training and they were figuring it out─as they went!
These more temporary efforts were mobile and pioneering in nature, going
where the local churches could not, and were led by specialists─individuals
who had a very unique calling, gifting, or ministry target. An example: Paul’s
traveling team of missionaries was made up of seven men from four different
locations, banding together to establish believing communities in unreached
areas (Acts 20:4).
Just as the Apostles took their cues from the Jews, the Catholics, in
subsequent centuries, tore a page from the Apostle’s playbook when creating
their dioceses (modalities) to minister locally, and monasteries (sodalities) to
extend the movement where it had not yet gone. Today, the Protestants have
developed the concepts even more by producing a variety of effective local
church styles, while continuing to produce new, more specific para-church
ministries, pioneering the gospel in increasingly strategic ways.
Let’s Just Be Friends
My plea is that we work together as friends, not foes. Let’s create synergy by
discovering and playing to each other’s strengths. We could do away with an
incredible amount of duplication and “recreating the wheel” if we would lay
down our pride and cooperate, seeking to draw the best from existing
churches and para-churches out there. There’s no need to compete or
compare. The local churches should seek to appreciate, support, and facilitate
the work of para-church ministries in their area and around the world. Para-
church ministries ought not to operate in a vacuum, but be linking their new
converts to good local churches, where they can have a healthy, long term
source of spiritual nourishment for them and their families.
The Lord of the Universe has called all believers to team up to complete His
purposes on earth. Instead of squabbling over how it should be done (or what
we are going to call it), our lives and resources should be aimed at
accomplishing what is on the heart of God: giving every person on the planet
an opportunity to join His family and forever bring praise and honor to His
name. That’s something we can all unite around!
Here’s the bottom line. God gives us functions to fulfill, not forms to follow.
One Western missionary, who was trying to figure out how to bring the gospel
into a completely different culture, explained it this way: “We are seeking
dynamic equivalence, not formal replication.” In other words, Jesus has given
us marching orders to lead people to Christ, establish them in the faith, equip
and send out workers to repeat that process around the world. Let’s find the
best way to do just that in every nation, tribe, and tongue, not becoming
slaves to traditional forms if they squeeze out the vital functions the Lord want
us to carry out.

I believe God is not that concerned whether we call the form a church, simple
church, para-church, cell group, or Bible study. He has a single over riding
objective, “I will build My Church (big C!) and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it.” He didn’t come to take sides─He came to take over! The challenge
will be to get our eyes off of building our little kingdoms and to give ourselves
completely to extending and expanding His Kingdom here on earth. Know for
sure that there is no limit to what a man can do if He doesn’t care who gets
the credit.*
* I don’t know who first came up with this last statement, but I know it wasn’t
me!
Resources:
1. “The Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission”—an article by Dr.
Ralph Winter in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, published by
William Carey Library, 1999
2. “The Local Church: Failure, Foe, or Friend in the Great Commission?”—a
brochure written by Paul Borthwick for Caleb Project (go to
www.takeitglobal.org)
3. Church and Para Church: An Uneasy Marriage by Jerry White, Published
by Multnomah Press, 1983
Dr. Steve Shadrach is Director of Mobilization for the U.S. Center for World
Mission and President of The BodyBuilders Ministry. He and his family reside
in Fayetteville, Arkansas where he is involved in his local church and para
church!





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GENESIS TO REVELATION: GOD'S HEART FOR THE WORLD

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This is an interesting command. Be fruitful and multiply. Now why wouldn't

Genesis 11:7-8 "'Come, let us go down and confuse their language so

So as we end the introduction we see that God has a problem: people

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Mark 11:15-17 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area

The sign of His return

The mandate to His followers

Acts 9:15 "...Go! This man (Paul) is my chosen instrument to carry my

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MERCY TO BABEL GOD ANSWERS MAN'S DESIRE FOR

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packing up a few belongings and heading out without a forwarding address?

WAS JESUS MISSIONS MINDED?

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10:29-37). In Luke 13:28-29 He repeats similar words to that commendation

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TYRANNY OF THE IMMEDIATE: ANOTHER VIEW OF ACTS

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someone is caught up in meeting the homeside needs when he ought to be

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THE GLOBAL THREAD THROUGH SCRIPTURE

DEUTERONOMY - The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as

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II CHRONICLES - Likewise when a foreigner; who is not of thy people Israel,

PSALMS - Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! (150:6)

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PROVERBS - By me (Wisdom) kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; by

ECCLESIASTES - I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing

LAMENTATIONS - Who has commanded and it came to pass, unless the

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'Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!' (vs 1)

ZEPHANIAH - For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to

MATTHEW - Go, and make disciples of all the nations. (28:1)

MARK - This gospel must be proclaimed to all the nations. (13:10)

LUKE - Repentance and forgiveness of sins must be proclaimed in My name

ACTS - You shall be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. (1:8)

ROMANS - We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the

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II CORINTHIANS - For God was in Christ reconciling the World back to

I THESSALONIANS - Your faith in God has gone forth everywhere. (1:8)

PHILEMON - I, Paul, an ambassador and now a prisoner also for Christ

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100 WORLD CHRISTIAN QUOTES

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"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a

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Christians and opportunities to hear the gospel of Christ will continue on

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FINDING YOUR ROLE IN WORLD EVANGELIZATION

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