Technology and the Future of Evangelism in Africa

Kato Mivule, blogger at Yesu Mulungi, posted a fascinating article on the rapid rise of technology in Africa and its effect on gospel ministry. The article specifically highlights the pay-as-you-go mobile phone phenomenon: Africa currently has 300 million mobile phone subscribers; it is expected to jump to 790 million in four years.

Coupled with the surge in mobile phone usage is the recent placement of fiber optic internet cables around the perimeter of the continent, enabling high-speed internet connections to inland cities.

The final factor that Mivule highlights is the growing African middle class. Though not wealthy according to Western standards, more and more middle-class workers are able to buy DVDs, laptops, and other gadgets.

He then asks the $10,000 question: “Is it a good thing then that we are having such developments in Africa?”

His answer involves several factors: accountability to prosperity gospel preachers; the need for African churches to utilize new technologies for the spread of the gospel; and the need Western missionaries and African pastors to seriously consider how these technological advances change the minds of their current and future audience.

Read the entire post.

HT: Brigada

Other resources on use of mobile phone for evangelism:

• Mobile Phone: The Potential for Evangelism (detailed post by Internet Evangelism Day on aspects of using mobile devices to share the gospel)
• Hello Africa (fascinating documentary [by a non-Christian organization] on the use of mobile phones in Zanzibar)
• Mobile Missions International (documentary on using mobile devices to share the gospel)

Posted in Missions Resources, Strategy in Missions, World Issues, culture | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

Travel and Access Possibilities: 1st Reason to Advance in Missions

It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)

There has never been a time like the present for easy and rapid access to the world. Those of us who have known missionaries of the last generation and who have read stories of past missionaries’ experiences in travel are aware of what tremendous difficulties those missionaries faced to get to their destinations, and how many of them never even thought of a furlough.

William Carey left England to go to India, never to return to his homeland. Even when I was in college I knew of missionaries who were contemplating an ocean voyage of many weeks to get to their missionary destination.

In contrast, my own experience as a missionary, which started later in my life, has been remarkably different. I have been with Bibles International for fifteen years, serving as a translation consultant for translation projects throughout the world.

Before I began, I had visited two other countries in my life, Canada and the Bahamas. I did not even own a passport. In the last fifteen years the number of countries I have visited has gone from 2 to 34, and I have filled up two passports with extra pages and many visas and stamps.

Of those 34, I have been in 13 for the purpose of Bible translation, and the rest have mostly been visited in the course of getting to the Bible translation projects with which I have worked, in 29 different languages. The longest trip I take to get to any of our translation projects is three days, including travel by car or truck from the landing strip to my final destination.

When I started 15 years ago, e-mail was just beginning to be available; now it is nearly universal. Even the field we have had the most difficulty maintaining communication with, Chad in Africa, now has e-mail access. I have called my wife by cell phone and by satellite phone from many remote parts of the world.

We have e-mailed Bible translations and other materials related to that work from numerous places in the world, and I have even conducted a translation checking session by means of a satellite telephone with a missionary on the other side of the world. What a day we live in!

Though the amount of travel I do is not typical of many missionaries, the access possibilities are available to all who will use them for God’s glory and the salvation of souls. I am reminded of the words of the song “Macedonia” [also published under the title "The Vision of a Dying World] by Anne Ortlund:

Today, as understanding’s bounds
Are stretched on every hand,
O clothe Your Word in bright, new sounds,
And speed it o’er the land.
Lord Jesus Christ, empower us
To preach by every means!
Lord Jesus Christ, embolden us
In near and distant scenes.”

Glenn Kerr, guest author for the MM Blog, provides 10 reasons why local churches should advance in their effort to start indigenous church planting movements in regions that do not have a gospel witness.

Glenn J. Kerr is chief translation consultant for Bibles International, the Bible Society of Baptist Mid-Missions. He has worked as a consultant for 15 years, being involved with translation projects on five continents and about 28 languages.

He has a master’s degree in Hebrew and Semitic Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has done graduate studies in linguistics at Michigan State University, and is currently in doctoral studies through the University of South Africa.

He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Bible translation and related linguistic subjects on an adjunct basis at three Bible colleges and universities in the US as well as his consulting work overseas.

Posted in Serving as Senders, Strategy in Missions, guest author | Posted by glennkerr | Print This Post |

10 Reasons to Advance in Missions Today

Glenn Kerr, guest author for the MM Blog, provides 10 reasons why local churches should advance in their effort to start indigenous church planting movements in regions that do not have a gospel witness.

The reasons range from ease of travel to the benefits of being English speakers, from the spread of Islam to the rewards of heaven.

Stay tuned to the MM Blog as we post Glenn’s “10 Reasons” over the next 10 weeks.

Posted in Announcement, Serving as Senders, Strategy in Missions, guest author | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

Is it Safe To Be a Missionary?

Dave Hosaflook tackles this question with some challenging, yet helpful, thoughts over at his MissioMishmash blog.

His more recent post “Does Election Preclude Tears for the Lost?” addresses an equally tough reality: trusting in God’s sovereignty, yet grieving for the peril of the unregenerate.

Posted in Pioneer Missions | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

Prepare for Urban Ministry—Be a Country Parson

I came across an interesting blog post while preparing for my urban ministry workshop at the recent SGI National Conference. Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC and a leading proponent of city ministry, shared his advice for young men wanting to gain ministry experience-be a country parson. Here’s an excerpt:

“Many young leaders perceive that the ideal first ministry position would be a position on the staff of a large church with an older, mature pastor to mentor them.  The limits of this model are several.

You can’t teach a younger pastor much about things they aren’t actually doing.

And in a large church they aren’t a) bearing the burden of being the main leader, b) leading a board of elders, c) fund-raising and bearing the final responsibility of having enough money to do ministry, d) and doing the gamut of counseling, shepherding, teaching, preaching.

In a smaller church as a solo pastor you and only you visit the elderly, do all the weddings and funerals, sit by the bedside of every dying parishioner, do all the marriage counseling, suspend and excommunicate, work with musicians, craft and lead worship, speak at every men’s retreat, women’s retreat, and youth retreat, write all the Bible studies and often Sunday School curriculum, train all the small group leaders, speak at the nursing home, work with your diaconate as they try to help families out of poverty, evangelize and welcome new visitors to the church, train volunteers to do some (but not all) of all of the above tasks, and deal with the once-a-month relational or financial crisis in the church.

No amount of mentoring can teach you what you learn from doing all those things.”

Though there may be weaknesses to this approach (e.g., learning on the job as a senior pastor means your congregation suffers the full force of all the mistakes of your learning process), I think it’s at least worth noting that a leading urban ministry advocate recognizes value in country ministry.

As I have mentioned before, the legitimate passion and desire for urban ministry should not be pitted against rural ministry. Rather than seeing them as either/or, we must view them as both/and.

- Ben Edwards

Posted in Urban Ministry | Posted by bedwards | Print This Post |

Life Article on Five Martyred Missionaries

Google Books allows you to search old editions of Life Magazine. Click here to view the original January 30, 1956 Life article on the death of the five missionaries at the hands of the Waudoni and to read the responses of their widows.

*If you have not watched the documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor you should. It is an excellent portrayal of God-given grace to forgive and love even our enemies.

Posted in Missions Resources, Pioneer Missions, World Issues | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

A Ten-Millimeter Bolt in the Road

The road up the mountain was the worst I’d ever seen, but then I’d never been on such an adventure before.  This trip to India and the foothills of the Himalayas was my first experience overseas.  A year before, I had begun helping Bibles International as a volunteer, preparing translation helps for the Old Testament.

Now I was on a short-term mission trip, experiencing firsthand a dramatically different culture and dramatically different work from my usual occupation of repairing musical instruments.  My unique preparation in Greek and Hebrew years before had given me this remarkable assignment.

I came to India to attend a workshop to help native translators correct and complete their translations of the Bible.  Several times our bus had crawled past other buses and trucks on narrow curves and in crowded villages.

But reaching our destination and accomplishing our goals had more than made up for the difficultly in getting there.  My three-and-a-half-week session in the foothills of the Himalayas proved life-changing; I told the Lord while there that I would commit my life to Bible translation.

After much work, many unforgettable experiences, and many sad goodbyes to newfound brothers and sisters in Christ, we left the northern India mountains for the first step in our long journey home.  The first leg was the most dangerous.

Though the roads were paved, the rugged mountains were not particularly tamed.  On many curves I could not see the road beside the bus, only the steep drop-off.  The bus driver was careful, but we had to maneuver around road repair crews and other buses and trucks coming up the other way.

Then when we had reached the village of Haldwani at the foot of the mountains, it happened.  I heard a loud bang and felt the bus shudder toward the edge of the road.  We’d blown a tire.

There were wide shoulders in this village and we got off the road relatively easily.  We found ourselves stopped within a hundred feet of a tire shop!  There the large rear dual wheel was pulled off and repaired.

I got out of the bus to see what had caused the flat.  Protruding into the tire and still lodged securely in its tread was a ten-millimeter bolt, about five inches long.  The bolt had entered head first even though the hex head of the bolt was about an inch across!

I realized that the bolt was an example of God’s providence and protection.  He does not keep the “bolts” of life from sticking into our tires.  If he did, people would become Christians just to get the “accident insurance.”

But God works all things together for the good of his children.  Our tire hit the bolt — not on the treacherous mountain curves — but on the plains, in the town, just up the road from the tire shop.  It doesn’t always work out that smoothly, but God’s care is always evident.  We can trust him with our lives.

I have reflected often about friends and acquaintances, pastors, missionaries, church leaders, and other dedicated saints who have gone through the fire in the course of God’s service.

Sometimes what they and I have encountered was definitely much more than a bolt in the road - such as the day we laid my younger sister, a missionary in France, into the loving arms of her Savior.

Sometimes we think God should pick up all the bolts that lie in our way, but God’s plan is to put us on the road — with the bolts.  The fact that there are bolts in the road makes it no less the road of God’s purpose.

And even if the bolt should prove the end of the road, God’s purpose for the saint will be fulfilled.  Peter said that the testing of our faith is much more precious than gold, and that it is the testing that shows the genuineness of our faith, and the genuineness of God’s faithfulness.

The start of my journey to be a full-time Bible translator was not without a “bolt in the road,” and yet I knew God would lead me every step of the way and accomplish His purpose.

Glenn J. Kerr is chief translation consultant for Bibles International, the Bible Society of Baptist Mid-Missions. He has worked as a consultant for 15 years, being involved with translation projects on five continents and about 28 languages.

He has a master’s degree in Hebrew and Semitic Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has done graduate studies in linguistics at Michigan State University, and is currently in doctoral studies through the University of South Africa.

He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Bible translation and related linguistic subjects on an adjunct basis at three Bible colleges and universities in the US as well as his consulting work overseas.

Posted in Guest Contributor, Pioneer Missions | Posted by glennkerr | Print This Post |

Linguist Glenn Kerr: MM Guest Contributor

In an effort to provide greater diversity to the Missions Mandate Blog, translation consultant Glenn Kerr will provide missions articles as a guest contributor.

Glenn is uniquely gifted as a linguist, professor, student of the Word, and husband to his lovely wife Becky. As his summary below reveals, Glenn has traveled extensively in an effort to aid in the accurate translation of God’s Word into the “mother tongue” of various people groups.

Glenn’s articles are drawn from his years of experience as a language consultant and teacher. He draws from unique experiences in northern India, the central African country of Chad, and 32 other countries to which he has traveled on translation assignments.

In the midst of all of his translation work from his Grand Rapids, MI office and abroad, he invests in the lives of rising linguists and gospel ministers on college campuses. It was on one of these college campuses where I first met Glenn. Linguistics 101: the hardest, yet most rewarding block class of my undergrad studies. (Sorry Dr. Smallman [another  missiologist]. Your Cross-Cultural Communication class was a close second!)

What I respect most about Glenn is not his firm grasp of the biblical languages, or his passion to stir young people to give themselves to Bible translation, or the fact that he can spend his morning devotion time in his Greek/Hebrew Bible (and actually commune with God through it!). These are all true.

But what I most appreciate about Glenn is his humble, tender heart before God. Often in class he was moved to tears retelling the story of a national brother reading from God’s Word for the first time in his own language. Glenn’s eyes lit up when he talked about all of the resources that the English-speaking church has at her disposal and the great stewardship that God has given us.

I trust that Glenn’s articles will open your eyes to the world of Bible translation and its place in the fulfillment of the Great Commission through church planting movements. And I pray that you will consider what role God would have you and your church play in the crucial task of giving the Word to the heart language of the peoples of the earth.

-Tim Aynes
Director, MM

He has a master’s degree in Hebrew and Semitic Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has done graduate studies in linguistics at Michigan State University, and is currently in doctoral studies through the University of South Africa.

He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Bible translation and related linguistic subjects on an adjunct basis at three Bible colleges and universities in the US as well as his consulting work overseas.

Posted in Announcement, Pioneer Missions, Serving as Senders, Strategy in Missions | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

Book Famine in Iran

According to Elam Ministries:

It is illegal for the church in Iran to print or sell Persian Christian books. One would-be publisher was told by a government officer that anyone producing Christian literature deserves to be executed. Some try to photocopy material, others use the internet, but most books have to be smuggled into the country.

The demand for Scriptures far exceeds the supply. An added problem is the shortage of literature in the Persian language. The Arab world has 10,000 titles to choose from, but Iran has less than 400. Children have under 20 Christian books.

Elam is doing their part by translating over 80 books into Persian (also known as Farsi). But there is still much work to be done. Do you know someone who is competent in Persian and could serve as a book translator? This is an excellent ministry opportunity for them to use their gift for the glory of Jesus and the edification of the Iranian church.

Posted in Announcement, Missions Resources, World Issues | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

Death Toll of Christians in Jos, Nigeria Clash Hits 48

CDN:

LAGOS, Nigeria, January 27 - Two pastors and 46 other Christians have been confirmed killed in the outbreak of violence 10 days ago in Jos, Plateau state in Nigeria, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

In the Muslim/Christian clash, triggered when Muslim youths on Jan. 17 attacked a Catholic church, 10 church buildings were burned and 27 Christians are still missing, CAN officials said at a press conference in Jos today. Police estimate over 300 lives were lost in the clash.

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) accused the state General Officer Commanding, Major-Gen. Salleh Maina, and some soldiers of taking sides in the clash.

“Soldiers were seen in some parts of Jos watching Muslim youths shooting Christians and burning places without any efforts to stop them,” according to a PFN press statement.

Read the entire article.

Posted in Persecuted Church, World Issues | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

Practical Advice for Sharing the Gospel

JD Greear offers some helpful advice on how to effectively share the gospel with your neighbors, co-workers, and even strangers.

His response to the question “How do you initiate Gospel conversations with people you interact with on a daily basis (waitresses, etc)?” :

Here are a few things I practice.

• I frequent the same places. People in our society don’t respond well to strangers, so I try to eat, drink coffee, buy gas, get my car worked on, and shop, etc at the same places. Relationship is not essential for evangelism, but it sure helps. At most of those places I mentioned people know me by name. Inevitably a chance comes up to pray for them, ask about their lives, invite them to church, etc. For example, several of the people from my local coffee shop have started to come to our church, and a few have become believers and gotten baptized. My mechanic has recently attended our church.
• Where relevant, I leave BIG tips. Especially if I know someone is having a bad day. I’ll jot a little note and tell them I’m praying for them.
• I ask people, sometimes, how I can pray for them. Most people don’t mind to be prayed for, and if they don’t want to talk, they answer shortly and I let it drop.
• I invite them to church. Over and over.
• When in a conversation, I use an acrostic I learned years ago to help guide the conversation. F- Family; I- interests; R- Religion; E - Evangelism. Yes, that can seem wooden, I know… but it can also help you move a conversation along. Sometimes in talking about religion I’ll say, “Do you feel like you have a relationship with God?” I get the most interesting responses back to that question. And usually, it provides me a chance to tell them my story… how I grew up in church but came to know God personally later. As I talk about how I came to know Christ, I make sure to give the Gospel along the way. People don’t like to be preached to, but they do like to be asked their opinions, and they do like to hear your story.
• Bill Hybels has written 2 great books on this subject called Contagious Christian and Just Walk Across the Room. Highly recommended.

You might be surprised to see him recommend books by Bill Hybels. These are actually excellent books on practical advice for building redemptive relationships. While MM would not endorse Hybels’ soteriology and ecclesiology, he has some good things to say about making and maintaining contact with lost people.

HT: JT

Posted in Missions Resources, culture | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

Accepting Jesus

Ray Ortlund shares sheds some light on what we’re really proposing [or should be proposing] when we ask someone to “accept Jesus.”

His conclusion:

That kind of person [read the entire post for context] can “accept Jesus” in either of two ways.  One way is to invite him onto the committee.  Give him a vote too.  But then he becomes just one more complication.

The other way to “accept Jesus” is to say to him, “My life isn’t working.  Please come in and fire my committee, every last one of them.  I hand myself over to you.  I am your responsibility now.  Please run my whole life for me.”

“Accepting Jesus” is not just adding Jesus.  It is also subtracting the idols.

Read the entire post.

Posted in Missiology, Theology and Missions | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

The Reverse Prism of the Gospel

Yesterday, during the evening service at Inter-City Baptist, Pas. Pearson Johnson concluded a church planters’ presentation of his ministry in Hamtramck, MI with a challenge to consider the prayer (the salvation of men and women), the hope (that the good news of Jesus is for every person), and the duty (to send preachers of the gospel to those who have not heard) that Paul presents in Rom 10:1-17.

Towards the end of the message, he spoke of the gospel’s power to unite all types of peoples in Christ, using the picture of a reverse prism. Listen to an excerpt below:

The Gospel as a Reverse Prism

God is building His church through the “foolish” preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, bending all the diverse wavelengths of His created peoples into a single, glorious beam.

“Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! … For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen”

-Rom 11:33-36

Posted in Theology and Missions | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

Foreign Kidnap Victims in Yemen Alive

Back in June of 2009, we highlighted the tragic story of the death of three Christian aid workers in Yemen. Six members of the kidnapped group were missing.

Recently, a Yemeni government official announced that the six kidnapped workers are alive. There whereabouts and other specific details are not known.

The Christian human rights group Middle East Concern listed six prayer points regarding this situation. They are as follows:

a.      The missing six will know the peace and presence of Jesus and will be released unharmed shortly

b.      They will receive enough healthy food and keep warm during the cold nights

c.       If separated, the three children will be reunited with their parents soon

d.      Efforts to negotiate their release will be successful

e.      The families and colleagues of those missing and murdered will know the peace of Jesus amidst the intense uncertainty

f.        Efforts to end the violence in Saada province will be successful and the root causes addressed

g.      All expatriate Christians in Yemen will know the Lord’s guiding and protecting at this time, in particular in view of the latest Al Qaeda threats

h.      The perpetrators will be convicted by the Spirit and drawn to the forgiveness, love and true life offered by Jesus.

Thousands of miles away from this action, there is not much that we can do for them. But we can pray, asking our Father to glorify Himself through this situation.

Complete article from Middle East Concern.

Posted in Announcement, Persecuted Church, World Issues | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

2010 SGI Conference Resources

All the media resources from the 2010 SGI National Conference are now available for viewing/listening and downloading. An mp3 recording and a brief summary article is available for each plenary session. The workshop media include a summary, the notes, an mp3 recording, and PowerPoint slides (when applicable).

All of the conference media can be accessed under the Resources page. On the Resources page, click the “Audio” button. The media from the 2008 SGI Conference and the Mission 2000 Conference are also on that page.

Link to the page: 2010 SGI National Conference Media

Due to the nature of their ministries, the notes and recordings of the workshops presented by speakers who minister in restrictive access nations are not available online.

Posted in Announcement, SGI National Conference | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

Prayer for Haiti

In the wake of the tragic events in Haiti, we need to continue to pray that God would be glorified and add to the church those whom He desires to save.

About 16 months ago we posted an article at the MM blog after the devastating hurricane Ike ripped through Haiti. The article  offered commentary from Dave Coats, a former missionary to Haiti, on life in a volatile country.

His article, though composed over a year ago, contains relevance in light of the recent earthquake. His description of the effects of a damaging storm on the life and ministry of a church is particularly instructive.

Read Dave Coats’s article and pray for the work of the gospel in Haiti.

Posted in Strategy in Missions, World Issues | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

Revised Version of “For the Sake of His Name” Hymn

Chris Anderson, the composer of the new missions hymn “For the Sake of His Name” that debuted at the ‘10 SGI Conference, recently released a revised version of the song. He altered the text slightly and has posted a new printing format for the song.

If you downloaded an version of the song to use for your church or school prior to 1/13/2010, please download the new version with the word change.

Download “For the Sake of His Name” hymn: Church Works Media: Hymns page

Chris’s discussion of the ideas behind the writing of the song

Read Chris’s explanation of the revised lyrics at his My Two Cents blog

Posted in Announcement, Missions Resources, SGI National Conference | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

To Proselytize or Not to Proselytize?

We don’t typically comment on political news here at MM. But recent events regarding a journalist and his public opinion about the difference between Buddhism and Christianity warrant some coverage.

In case you haven’t seen the clip, Brit Hume, a senior political analyst for Fox News, made a strong statement on “Fox News Sunday” regarding Tiger Woods’ faith in Buddhism. He said that Buddhism “does not offer the kind of  forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith,” and he proceeded to urge Tiger to turn to the Christian faith.

In a Christianity Today article posted last Thursday (1/7), Brit provided an excellent answer to the following question:

CT: Some people might say, “What about Christians like Ted Haggard or Mark Sanford?”

Brit: I don’t think I would blame Christianity for the failings of people like that. Christianity is the right religion for people like that. Christianity is a religion for sinners. Christianity is not about the salvation of perfect people. Christianity is a way for people who are not perfect to be saved. What Mark Sanford needs is not less Christianity. He needs more of it.

While his view of the local church seems weak, (see page 3 of the CT interview) Hume has confidently stood for the faith in a very unpopular public manner. I trust that he will continue to do so in all areas of his life, not just in front of a rolling camera.

In another well-crafted article, Trevin Wax shoots down 5 possible objections against Mr. Hume’s outspoken opinion regarding the superiority of the Christian faith.

I recommend that you check out Trevin’s points and consider what you would say in a public forum such as that in which Mr. Hume found himself. What would you say to your Buddhist coworker? What about to your Catholic neighbor? Or how about your agnostic uncle?

That is where reality hits home. It is easy to yell, “Amen Mr. Hume” from the couch, but what will you say when the “Tiger Woods” of your world asks you what you think of his faith?

Posted in World Issues, culture | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

On Guard Against Pride

The post-SGI Conference week is here. I’m filling out paperwork, finalizing details, and reflecting on the blur that was last Monday-Wednesday. As I reflect on God’s gracious work, I am reminded of Pastor Doran’s closing admonition (last 5 minutes) to

be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might, [because] our God is a God of truth and righteousness. He is stronger than any foe, and He has given us armor. Stand in His armor. Take it up. Put it on. Because the devil cannot penetrate that. If you will depend on His strength and dress in His armor, you will stand firm and Godly ambitions placed in your heart will come to fruition. Godly committments made under the authority of His Word, by His Spirit, will bear fruit that will resonate for God’s glory for all eternity. Stand firm by depending on Him and dressing in His armor.

My prayer is that all attendees would continue to stand, to persevere in their love for the Word and commitment to put on the armor of God. The biggest danger we face after times of spiritual renewal and excitement is pride. The sly serpent would love for us to turn a worshipful, edifying experience into a platform on which pride can perform. We must fight this temptation and look to the cross of Jesus for proper perspective.

Just before I sat down to type this post I read a letter from a God-centered ministry regarding King David and the destructive pride that followed his chain of successes. A few paragraphs in the middle of the letter gripped my mind as we come off a wonderfully-enriching SGI conference:

Had a man ever been so blessed by God? Every promise to him had been kept. Everything David touched had flourished. Never had Israel as a nation been so spiritually alive, so politically stable, so wealthy, so militarily powerful.

And at the peak of this unprecedented prosperity, David had committed such heinous sin. Why? How could he have resisted so many temptations in dangerous, difficult days and then yielded at the height of success?

Almost as soon as the question formed in his mind he knew the answer. Pride. Monstrous, self-obsessed pride.

These words served as a sobering reminder to me that I need to be on guard against the subtleties of pride, attacking it at the root with gospel truths. May this serve as a warning to you, too, to be on guard against putting confidence in the arm of the flesh. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might!

Posted in SGI National Conference | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

SGI Conference Summary

At the conclusion of the final plenary session Wednesday evening, January 6, I presented a summary of the 2010 SGI National Conference. Below is the  manuscript of the summary, posted for the benefit of MM readers:

Approximately 340 attendees from 5 continents have gathered for the 2010 SGI National Conference. (6 including Australia. An MK from Australia pointed out that we failed to represent the continent of Australia at our Global Café. You’d think that at a missions conference we’d get our geography right. That will be corrected before the 2012 conference!).

We have absorbed 9 hours of preaching and 8 hours of teaching (5 rounds of 8 workshops; 40 hours total). We worshiped the Lord in song for nearly 1.5 hours. We prayed corporately and privately for an hour. We fellowshipped and networked over 1200+ cups of Starbucks coffee in the Global Café.

These past 2.5 days we have heard about the remote regions of Bolivia, Cambodia, and the Phillipines and the bustling multi-ethnic hub which is Luxembourg.

We’ve heard of opportunities to minister to Muslims in Morocco, Central Asia, and even in our own country. We’ve learned about the training of nationals in Tanzania and Chinese pastors in East Asia.

We’ve learned of the need for contentment from a veteran lady missionary. We’ve been reminded of past gospel ministers such as C.T. Studd, John Paton, William Carey, A. T. Pierson and others.

We’ve looked at the successes and failures of past missions movements.

And, perhaps greatest of all, we’ve been challenged to put on the whole armor of God and to stand firm.

Before you go, I’d like to leave you all with a few practical points:

1.       Read missionary biographies. Allow the Lord to use the lives of departed servants to touch your life for His cause. Nearly every plenary session, and quite a few workshops, referenced the lives of past missions heroes. Avail yourself to these gold mines.

2.       Remember that God is your Shepherd and that He will lead you and make your path straight. (This was the theme of Matt Hoskinson’s exposition of Psalm 23.)

3.       Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers.

4.       Evaluate your own life. Remove all distractions from knowing and making God known.

5.       Mobilize! You are the greatest missions mobilization ministry. Stir your friends at school, church, and home to give themselves to the cause of the Great Commission.

6.       Pray for the laborers in your midst: conference speakers who minister on the mission field or in their churches here in the States.

7.       Walk humbly with your God.

I look forward to seeing many of you on your university campus, in your church, or at the 2012 SGI National Conference!

But some of us in this room will, Lord willing, be serving on the mission field by January of 2012, ministering the gospel for the sake of His Name.

Thank you for coming and giving us the privilege to minister to you as you sat under the ministry of the Word.

Tim Aynes

Director, Missions Mandate & SGI

Joe Tyrpak provided excellent summaries of the ‘10 SGI Conference plenary sessions and workshops at the MM Blog. A couple others provided commentary throughout the conference.

The audio from the conference is now available for download. But it’s not the same as being there. Make plans to join us in January of 2012 for the next SGI National Conference!

Posted in Announcement, SGI National Conference, Serving as Senders, Voices from the Past | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

10 Ways to Encourage a Misisonary

Mark Rogers, over at the Gospel Coalition blog, posted “10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary”:

1.  Pray for them and let them know that you are doing so frequently.2.  Send “real mail.”

3.  Pray for the people the missionaries serve and not only for the missionaries and their families.

4.  Recruit others to pray for the missionary’s area of service (city, people group, etc.) or for the missionaries themselves.

5.  Go visit them with the purpose of serving and encouraging them in their work.

6.  Send them updates and pictures of you and your family (by mail or email).

7.  Ask questions about their work.

8.  Continue to be a Christian friend and continue to minister to them.

9.  Support them financially.

10.  Seek to encourage them when they are on stateside assignment.

Read the entire post.

Posted in Serving as Senders | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

What I Took from the Workshops

I attended four workshop sessions during the conference. Every one of them was spiritually-challenging, intellectually-stimulating, eye-opening, and creativity-inspiring.

Rather than giving summaries of the full workshops (like I’ve done with the plenary sessions), I’m going to give my lasting impressions.

1. Tim on Europe (9:30am Tuesday)

With the bright projection screen displaying numerous graphs and maps, the classroom’s low lighting (which left Tim’s face bearly visible), and the sobering discussion of Europe’s religious darkness, I felt a bit like I was sitting with seventy other soldiers in a military strategy debriefing. Tim’s basic goal was to explain Europe’s religiously diverse landscape, consider the current options on the table for greater religious unity in Europe, and then present the planting of local evangelical churches as the only way to counteract the darkness.

Tim’s alliterated explanation of Europe’s history was helpful and memorable in diagnosing “How We Got Here”: Reneaissance (12-15th C), Reformation (16-17th C), Reason (18th C Enlightenment), Romanticism (19th C), Revolution (20th C), Repopulation (late 20th-21st C).

Tim’s analysis of the post-Christian European mindset was eye-opening. He taught that Christian conservatism (Christian in the broadest sense of the word) has been replaced with a post-Christian mindset that is actually hostile to traditional Christianity believing that no truth exists, morality is subjective, man is a product of evolution, marriage is a social convention, human life is subject to the state, self-fulfillment is the supreme good, tolerance for neighbor is the golden rule, there is no life or judgment after death, and sacraments have been replaced with a spirituality without guilt. Tim’s comparison of “The American Dream” with “The European Dream” was also eye-opening.

Tim spent a lot of time analyzing the weakness of Roman Catholicism in Europe. Despite the fact that 32% of Europe’s population is Roman Catholic, Catholic baptisms, weddings, and ordinations to the priesthood are steeply declining, while sexual abuse scandals are more popular than ever. In addition he reported that it’s common to hear someone say, “I’m a Roman Catholic and an atheist,” or, “I’m a Roman Catholic and a Buddhist.”

Tim spent much time reflecting on the popular religious trends in Europe. In doing so, he interacted much with Marc Luyckx Ghisi’s philosophy of transmodernity, which declares that differing worldviews and religious perspectives are like pieces of a pizza which has no center, no common truth. “What we call truth is actually a void in the middle of our cultures.” Tim pointed out that the pizza concept is actually a Buddhist view. Here are the most significant trends:

1. Secularism (the economy, the militant atheism of Dawkins, the escapism of entertainment, temporal indulgence, and technology)
2. Islam (It’s estimated that by mid-century, one in five Europeans will be Muslim. What is attractive about Islam? Europeans, especially traditional Roman Catholics, may find Islam attractive is because of its works-orientation, its persuasive power of conviction, its opposition to European decadence, and its intimidation.)
3. Buddhism (currently 3% of Europe)
4. Esoteric spirituality (there is a strong resurgence of ancient paganism, Wicca, Neo-Druidism, New Age, Occult; all of this strongly undergirds Europe’s interest in ecology)
5. Pseudo-Christian Cults (JWs, Mormonism-which is declining, Seventh-Day Adventists which are becoming more mainline Protestant in Western Europe)
6. Interfaith dialogue (I didn’t realize just how widespread this is among non-Christians: The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, Charter for Compassion, Karen Armstrong’s emphasis on compassion and the Golden Rule, Global Ethic Foundation by Hans Kung, Fatima Interfaith Congress in Portugal, the Gulen Movement in Turkey, Elijah Interfaith Institute of Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Comprehensive Dialogue of Civilizations, the EU has been sponsoring these interfaith dialogues since 1995)

The final impression I was left with was the true “unity within diversity” that a local evangelical church creates. Tim proposed that sound local churches must not mind their small numbers and the fact that they’re wrongly perceived as cults. Instead, they must aggressively train leaders, take responsibility for the next generation, and seek to establish small congregation’s which evidence a thriving unity around the Gospel within the great diversity of ethnic backgrounds.

2. Pearson and Ben on Int’l Campus Ministry (1pm Tuesday)

This workshop opened with convicting statistic after convicting statistic. For example,

• The number of foreign students in the U.S. are staggering (e.g., India has almost 84,000 students in America, China has over 67,000, etc.).
• 59% of the international students in the U.S. are from Asia.
• These international students are widely distributed in the U.S. between CA, NY, TX, MS, FL, IL, PA, MI (each of these states has more than 20,000 international college students).
• Nearly 2/3 of the international student population are from countries within the 10/40 window.

In other words, the mission field is right in front of us, and I haven’t opened my eyes to see it! Pearson pointed out how strategic these opportunities often are, considering that most of these students will either (1) return to their homelands and be revered as leaders or (2) they will stay in the States and rise to prominent positions in the here.

Pearson’s methodology was instructive and encouraging: it doesn’t take a secret agent or a missiologist to be able to connect with international students. You just need to be a normal Christian, with a normal family, with a heart for the Great Commission and for lost people. Our obstacles tend to be (1) language/culture, (2) fear, and (3) busyness. Ministering to international students in my area needs to be a priority in my schedule. We must have confidence in God’s provision of power in the Gospel message, others-focused love, and self-discipline to arrange our priorities and time.

Ben’s portion of the workshop focused on Inter-City Baptist Church’s efforts to reach out to the international student population at Wayne State University (about 10 miles from ICBC) through Campus Bible Fellowship (www.cbfwsu.org). This ministry began seven years ago when a pastor at ICBC simply asked the WSU Office of International Students if he could invite a few students over for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Ben explained several ways that CBF reaches out:

• Every Sunday an ICBC van brings students from campus to church.
• Every Monday there’s a Bible study in the student center (these aren’t restricted to int’l students. This is intentional because non-native English speakers tend to be more comfortable in conversations where there are many native English-speakers).  Ben said that the goal for every student to be involved in a Bible Study, but there’s no pressure in that. If someone is interested in a Bible study, the goal is to work through Genesis 1-3 (God, Creation, Sin), John 1-3 (Who is Jesus? Why Did He Come?) and Romans 1-3 (Sin, Salvation in Christ) in a year.
• Every Wednesday night there’s a Bible study at WBF house on the WSU campus.
• There’s a literature table in the WSU Student Center with many Chinese and Arabic pamphlets.
• Every Friday there’s a ladies’ luncheon at the WBF house. After 2-3 years about 10-20 ladies come weekly. Each luncheon includes a recipe and meal-prep instructions from the hostess. After luncheon, the attendees are invited to come to a Bible study typically using a Bible story book, and then an English lesson.
• Every other Saturday evening, ICBC hosts indoor soccer games in the gymnasium. A Gospel message is given at halftime.
• ICBC offers its members as “English Language Partners.” Ben explained that English Language Partners don’t need to be grammar instructors. Rather, they need to be able to carry on a conversation in English.
• There are a few WBF annual trips (e.g., Creation Museum, Cornmaze, two birdwatching hikes, etc.).
• Annual Furniture Giveaway. ICBC invites students to the church in order to give them furnishings for their apartments (e.g., chairs, sofas, silverware, plates, etc.).
• ICBC always gives special invitions to the international students for special church events (Christmas concerts, 4th of July fireworks, etc.).

I learned from Ben the importance of good communication with the Office of International Students. Ben said that CBF has been diligent in keeping the OIS informed regarding all of their activities, especially giving email follow-ups for the events they host. Ben said that, over time, the OIS has become very helpful, complementing on a few occasions, “You’re the best campus group we work with.” I must be a more diligent communicator in ministry!

3. Rob on Dependency (4pm Tuesday)

 This session was informative on the positives and negatives of financial dependency. Rob’s approach was to summarize and compare two complementary books on the subject of dependency in Christian ministries:

• Glenn Schwartz’s When Charity Destroys Dignity: Overcoming Unhealthy Dependency in the Christian Movement
• John Rowell’s To Give or Not to Give? Rethinking Dependency, Restoring Generosity, & Redefining Sustainability

Here’s the tough questions with which Rob wrestled: “How do I be generous, but not cause problems with my generosity?”

The main things I took from this workshop were (1) the need for pastors and missionaries to be aware of how many problems money causes on the field, (2) the need for missionaries to commit to “only doing what only I can do,” and (3) the need for missionaries to be patient with and tolerant of mistakes that nationals make.

One experienced missionary ended the workshop with the Amen-like comment, “Every missionary must read Schwartz before going to the field.”

4. Ben on Sending Churches (Wednesday 1pm)

After some very helpful instruction on Israel’s global mission in the OT, Ben articulated that the NT concept of missions starts in the church, is funded by the church, is intended to plant new churches, and then comes back to the church to report.

The book of Philippians shows how church planting is all about Gospel partnerships. Paul’s gospel partnership involved partnership in prayer (1:5), proclamation (1:7), hardships (1:30), short term trips (2:25), finances (4:15-18), and lifestyle (3:17; 4:9).

Ben emphasized that the need for the short-term trip was generated not from the base church but from the frontline. In other words, the NT short term trips were very different from short-term trips today. Ben urged that we should base short term trips today on the same thing that it was based on in Philippians 2: a need on the frontline, not the desire of the base church (for more, see Ben’s other session on short term trips).

Ben urged that local churches must take to heart John’s commands to support God’s servants “in a manner worthy of God” and to “do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren” (3 John 5-8). In a manner worthy of God means, “we should treat these servants of God in the same way that we would treat God Himself” (see Doran’s, For the Sake of His Name). This means that local churches have to get good at providing the services that missionaries need.

After discussing how “Missionary Closets” are often “demoralizing” experiences for missionaries and missionary deputees, Ben suggested that churches consider helping missionaries with actual needs: their children’s education during summer breaks, professional development on furlough, Christmas gifts (even for the missionaries’ parents), donation of frequent flyer miles, international phone minutes or phone service setup, automobile maintenance, strategic planning from gifted organizers in your church, and other thoughtful personal gifts (e.g., church prayer videos, flowers, etc.).

By the way, for anyone wanting to learn how to do rabbit trails well, let Ben teach you by example. His frequent rabbit trails were the best part of the workshop–very edifying and always advancing the overall goal of his workshop! “Squirrel.”

Posted in Missiology, SGI National Conference, Serving as Senders, Short-term trips, Strategy in Missions, Urban Ministry | Posted by joetyrpak | Print This Post |

Tenth Anniversary Hymn

One of the highlights of the 2010 Study Global Impact Conference was singing “For the Sake of His Name,” a hymn written specifically for the occasion (this is the 10th anniversary of the conference). I’ve included an mp3 from the congregational worship on Tuesday night, the first day that this hymn was sung congregationally.

The hymn is written by Chris Anderson, pastor of Tri-County Bible Church in Madison, Ohio (and my pastor!), and Greg Habegger, music pastor of Burge Terrace Baptist Church in Indianapolis.

You can read more about “For the Sake of His Name” here, get the text for the hymn here, or download a free pdf of the 4-part hymn arrangement here. If you’re interested in investigating more hymns written by Chris and Greg, all of their published hymns are here.

The climax of the final stanza, a future glimpse of Jesus’ throne engulfed in loud praise from the lips of ransomed sinners, is particularly moving:

Look to the Throne for the sake of His name;
Think of the throng who will share in His reign.
Some for whose souls we pray
Will share our joy that day,
Joining our song for the sake of His name!

Posted in SGI National Conference | Posted by joetyrpak | Print This Post |

SGI Audio Download

A portion of the audio from the plenary sessions and workshops from the 2010 SGI National Conference is available for download on the Resources page of MM. More to come…

Posted in Announcement, SGI National Conference | Posted by taynes | Print This Post |

Plenary Session 9 - David Doran

David Doran concluded this jam-packed three-day conference with a message on Ephesians 6:10-17, passage the conference’s main them.

The Main Point

I am of the persuasion that every section of Scripture has a unifying topic, and that the goal of a good reader is to discover it. Despite our popular notions, I would argue that the main point of Ephesians 6:10-17 is not armor. Armor is merely a picture to help us to understand the main point. The main point is repeated four times (6:11; twice in 6:13; 6:14). The main topic of this paragraph is standing, or standing firm. What does standing firm mean in this context? Paul seems to be answering the question, “How can believers stand firm?” This is confirmed by looking at the commands and results (do this and this will happen).

If the question behind this text is, “How can believers stand firm?” then how does Paul answer it? In two ways. First, we have to allow God to do a work in us (6:10 could be more literally translated, “Be made strong in the Lord.”). Second, we must put on the armor of God (6:11, 13). So the main point of the paragraph is this: the believer stands firm by depending on the Lord’s strength and dressing himself in God’s armor.

The Armor

In what sense is it the armor of God. Is it the armor that God Himself wears? Or, is it the armor that is from Him? The first option doesn’t seem to fit with some of the pieces (e.g., in what sense would God wear a shield of faith?). It seems better to see the armor as offensive and defensive strategies that God has graciously given to us to protect ourselves against our enemy.

The Enemy

Growing up in a materialistic society like America, we have a hard time . We are naively foolish if we don’t recognize that we have a powerful, unseen enemy who is always ready to attack us, always scheming (6:11) and strategizing to make us fall. Sometimes the tactics of Satan include very subtle temptations like encouraging us to enjoy good things in inordinate amounts or at inappropriate times. Sometimes his subtleties include slight, but ever-growing relational bitterness. Further, Satan’s attacks are strategically timed (consider Luke 4:13). In view of this very real, very subtle, very strategic spiritual conflict, we must dress ourselves in the armor of God.

It seems that the young, fledgling Ephesian congregation was a strategic beach head for the outreach of the gospel throughout the Gentile world. Therefore, it seems that it was a priority target for Satan’s attack. Remember Aachan. Remember Ananias and Sapphira. Satan’s assaults are strong and frontal.

The Immediate Concern

Here is my concern tonight. God’s doing awesome things at this conference. My fear is that many godly intentions will never be carried out because Satan will attack, and some of you will be unprepared for the battle. I’ve seen unprepared friends get attacked. I’ve witnessed churches go from attendance of 1200 to 100 in a week. I’ve seen mission field work going one Sunday and not going the next Sunday. I’ve seen missionary families disintegrate. That is why Paul says what he says!

But don’t let these considerations make you want to retreat, to take a nose-bleed seat in the battle. Jesus has stepped on the neck of Satan. “It is finished!” Stand in His might, in the might of the work Jesus finished on the cross! Our God is stronger than any foe! Be strong in Him! Stand firm by depending on Him and by dressing in His armor. “When faced with trials on ev’ry side, we know the outcome is secure, and Christ will have the prize for which He died, an inheritance of nations.”

Posted in SGI National Conference | Posted by joetyrpak | Print This Post |

Conference Worship

As much as I’ll remember the preaching at this conference, I’ll remember the delightful times of congregational worship. The congregational singing has been particularly sweet. This is due, no doubt, to the well-chosen hymns (thank you, Ben Russell!), streamlined service orders, focused times of corporate prayers, and very effective reading of Scripture (thank you, Dan Winnberg!). The orders of worship have been as follows:

Monday Evening
“O Church, Arise”
“Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness”
“Before the Throne of God Above”
Isaiah 59
“Thou Art Worthy”
“O Great God”
“Speak, O Lord”
Tim Jordan on Ephesians 6:10-14

Tuesday Early Morning
“Come, Thou Almighty King” (stanzas 1-4)
Matthew Hoskinson on 1 Cor. 1:18-31

Tuesday Late Morning
“For the Sake of His Name” (conference anthem)
J.D. Crowley on Acts 1:8

Tuesday Afternoon’s Concert of Prayer
“Come, Thou Fount”
“Worthy of Praise”
2 Thessalonians 3:1-2
Prayers of Consecration (personal and corporate)
“Lord, I Need You” (second stanza: “Lord, We Need You”)
Prayer for Revival and Renewal (one-on-one, small group, and congregational)
“As the Deer”
Prayer for the Advance of Missions and Evangelism (one-on-one, small group, and congregational)
“Here I Am, Lord”
Prayer of Surrender (personal and corporate)
“There is a Redeemer”

Tuesday Evening
“Across the Lands” (stanzas 1-3)
“O Church, Arise”
“Soldiers of Christ, Arise”
Ephesians 6:10-20
Missions Report on “Turning Point” (a missions-mobilization gathering believers in Luxembourg) followed by Corporate Prayer
“For the Sake of His Name”
“I Will Glory in My Redeemer”
“Nearer, Still Nearer”
Mark Minnick on Romans 15:15-25
“Complete in Thee” (new tune)

Wednesday Early Morning
“How Firm a Foundation”
David Doran on Colossians 1:24-29

Wednesday Late Morning
“In Christ Alone”
Matthew Hoskinson on Psalm 23

Wednesday Mid-Afternoon
“All for Jesus”
Mark Minnick on Romans 15:24-32

Wednesday Late Afternoon
“My Jesus, Fair”
J.D. Crowley on Ephesians 6:15

Wednesday Evening
“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”
“For the Sake of His Name”
Isaiah 10:33-11:9
“Look Ye Saints, the Sight is Glorious”
“Jesus Shall Reign”
Corporate Prayer
“Beneath the Cross”
“The Power of the Cross”
“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
David Doran on Ephesians 6

Posted in SGI National Conference | Posted by joetyrpak | Print This Post |

Plenary Session 8 - J.D. Crowley

After a bit of playful picking on Mark Minnick’s amazing collection of signed books (listen to the mp3s of his sessions), J.D. Crowley preached his second plenary session on Ephesians 6:10-20.

The Religion with the Best Story Wins

Ephesians 6:15, “As shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” We’ll meditate on the There is no other religion in the world that has a story that compares with ours in glory. There’s no 2nd place or 3rd place. Before I tell you our story, let me tell you their stories. Here are the stories of Scientology, Mormonism and Buddhism. (You’ll have to listen to the mp3 for the excerpts.) Now listen to our story as I read from the pamphlet, Two Ways to Live.

My goal in this session is to motivate you with the power of our story, and to urge you to consider the wisdom and necessity of telling all of it. I want to help you put your shoes on.

Do You Have Your Shoes On?

I want to focus on the unique word that’s here: preparation (or, readiness). Many of us enter every day without this readiness. We remember our jackets, backpacks, breath mints, laptops, books, iPods, wallets, etc. But we forget our shoes on. Although we’re in a war, we’re not prepared with the gospel of peace. “Gospel-ing” takes a lot of preparation.

Stories and Their Propositions

We must get good at telling the whole story from the beginning to the end. I want to convince you that you must tell the story, not just the propositions from beginning to end. For example, the three little pigs teaches these various propositions: “Hard work and preparation pays off.” “Laziness brings disaster.” “Listen to your mother.” “It’s a dangerous world out there.” These are propositions. Knowing these are essential, but these are not what we tell our kids. Our kids don’t go bed begging us to tell them more propositions. 

(J.D. gave a funny illustration of telling The Lord of the Rings through propositions.)

The Stories are Critical to Understanding the Propositions.

Let me make it clear that I am not making fun of propositions! Propositions are essential. And propositional evangelism has been very effective over the last century. But propositional evangelism is only effective if those whom you’re evangelizing have a basic understanding of the storyline of the Bible. My message is this: “Don’t just strip the story and tell the propositions. Tell the whole story with the propositions.” If you asked church leaders in Cambodia, “How do you know that God is holy?” It’s likely that they would point you to a Biblical story that evidences God’s holiness (Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the garden, God on Sinai, the cross).

When Cambodians have watched The Jesus Film, they frequently say things like, “I feel so sorry for Jesus,” or, “Jesus must have done something very bad.” This is because they’re watching it through a Buddhist storyline/worldview. D.A. Carson explains in his essay, “The Biblical Gospel”:

Thus the gospel is integrally tied to the Bible’s story-line. Indeed, it is incomprehensible without understanding that story-line. God is the sovereign, transcendent and personal God who has made the universe, including us, his image-bearers. Our misery lies in our rebellion, our alienation from God, which, despite his forbearance, attracts his implacable wrath. But God, precisely because love is of the very essence of his character, takes the initiative and prepared for the coming of his own Son by raising up a people who, by covenantal stipulations, temple worship, systems of sacrifice and of priesthood, by kings and by prophets, are taught something of what God is planning and what he expects. In the fullness of time his Son comes and takes on human nature. He comes not, in the first instance, to judge but to save: he dies the death of his people, rises from the grave and, in returning to his heavenly Father, bequeaths the Holy Spirit as the down payment and guarantee of the ultimate gift he has secured for them—an eternity of bliss in the presence of God himself, in a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. The only alternative is to be shut out from the presence of this God forever, in the torments of hell. What men and women must do, before it is too late, is repent and trust Christ; the alternative is to disobey the gospel. This storyline and its connection with the gospel. This story-line, and its connection with the gospel, could be fleshed out in a number of ways. But the point is simply this: the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ makes sense in the context of this story-line and in no other.

In both Acts 14:8-18 and Acts 17:22- Paul had to counter worldviews in his articulation of the Gospel. This is also how the book of Romans begins. In chapter 1 Paul explains creation and the fall. In chapter 2 he teaches about the Law and conscience. The worldview foundations of creation, fall, Law, and conscience must be laid before a non-Christian can understand Romans 3:23 (which is where “The Romans Road” begins).

A Caution: Don’t Reject the Propositions.

There’s a popular movement called “The Orality Movement” which I must warn you about. Though there are helpful aspects (recognize that many people cannot read). However, they often urge us to tell stories and never use propositions. Rather, we must tell the stories, and tell the propositions–explaining what they mean and why they’re significant.

The Bible stories are powerful in revealing the gospel to sinners. Are we using all the tools that God has given us to articulate the gospel?

Posted in SGI National Conference | Posted by joetyrpak | Print This Post |

Plenary Session 7 - Mark Minnick

Mark Minnick preached again on Romans 15 in his second plenary session.

Forward on Your Knees: Progress by Prayer

Regarding a difficult, unreached province of China, Hudson Taylor told Jonathan Goforth, “Brother, if you’re going to go into that province, you’ll have to go forward on your knees.” Goforth already had a strong conviction regarding the necessity of prayer. He had been influenced by A. T. Pierson’s book The Crisis of Missions (published from an 1885 Student Volunteer conference in 1885). The final chapter of the book is entitled, “An Appeal to Disciples Everywhere.” Here are two excerpts:

If at some great center like London or New York, a council of evangelical believers could meet, to consider the wonderworking of God’s providence and grace in mission fields, to insure fields now unoccupied from further neglect, and to arrange and adjust the work so as to prevent needless waste and friction among workmen, it might greatly further the glorious object of a world’s evangelization; and we earnestly commend the suggestion to the prayerful consideration of the various bodies of Christian believers, and the various missionary organizations. What a spectacle it would present both to angels and to men, could believers of every name, forgetting all things in which they differ, meet, by chosen representatives, to enter systematically and harmoniously upon the work of sending forth laborers into every part of the world field!”

They were appealing to believers everywhere to send their leaders to a TBD conference for missions strategizing. But while Pierson was calling for planning, meeting, and much administrative-type work, he combined with it this strong emphasis:

But, above all else, our immediate and imperative need is a new spirit of earnest and prevailing prayer. The first Pentecost crowned ten days of united, continued supplication. Every subsequent advance may be directly traced to believing prayer, and upon this must depend a new Pentecost [Pierson is probably speaking figuratively]. We therefore earnestly appeal to all fellow disciples to join us and each other in importunate daily supplication for a new and mighty effusion of the Holy Spirit upon all ministers, missionaries, evangelists, pastors, teachers and Christian workers, and upon the whole earth; that God would impart to all Christ’s witnesses the tongues of fire, and melt hard hearts before the burning message. It is not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord, that all true success must be secured. What we are to do for the salvation of the lost must be done quickly; for the generation is passing away, and we with it. Obedient to our marching orders, let us ‘go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature,’ while from our very hearts we pray, ‘Thy kingdom come.’

Grace, mercy and peace be with you all.

Done in convention at Northfield, Mass., August 14, 1885, D.L. Moody presiding.

Pierson’s Conviction. Goforth’s Conviction. Paul’s Conviction.

That’s the book that had predisposed Goforth to his conviction regarding the necessity of prayer. But that conviction didn’t begin with Pierson. That conviction is Pauline.

Let’s return to Romans 15. The first paragraph involves strategic planning (15:23-29), while the second paragraph involves prayerful dependence (15:30-32). Here is the archetype pioneer missionary, and he is requesting for the prayer of God’s people. What is your reaction to that? That’s amazing! The apostle Paul is asking the simplest of Christians to pray for him.  The most uniquely-gifted, spiritually-mature, God-exalting, Spirit-empowered, experientially-successful missionary desperately needs Christians’ prayers! There is no question that Paul was called by God! No Christian has ever experienced the direct revelations from God that Paul experienced (Galatians 1:16)! No part of church history has ever recorded a more successful era of gospel advance than Paul’s missionary journeys! I say all of that to give weight to this reality: the greatest of God’s servants considered the prayers of God’s people to be absolutely essential!

(Pastor Minnick recommended that every attendee do a personal study of the several passages in the NT in which Paul requests believers to pray for him.)

What Did Paul Ask Believers to Pray for Him?

First, Paul urges believers to pray for his safety (1:31, “…that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea.”). Five of the NT passages in which Paul requests the prayer of believers include his physical safety.

Secondly, Paul asks believers to pray that his ministry would be received (1:31). He’s referring to the offering that he’s collecting among the Gentiles to provide for the needy Jewish believers in Jerusalem. This gift involved God opening the hearts of the Jewish believers to be receptive to the gift and, in doing so, accomplish something much greater: evidence the unity of Jew and Gentile in Christ for the glory of God.

Thirdly, (although it’s not immediately in this passage, it is in many other passages) Paul requested believers to pray for his boldness and clarity in preaching (2 Thessalonians 3:1; Colossians 4:3-4; Ephesians 6:19-20). We need to realize that, no matter how thorough our preparation, there will be spiritual warfare going on when we preach or teach the gospel. Boldness and clarity come as a result of prayer.

Paul Urged Believers to Agonize in Prayer.

During the late 19th Century, the missions emphasis of the Student Volunteer Movement was accompanied by the holiness emphasis of the Keswick Movement that often stressed a passive “resting in Christ.” During a sermon entitled, “Resting by Faith in Christ,” a Keswick speaker challenged his audience, “I dare any one to show me a verse of Scripture that commands us to wrestle in prayer.” R. A. Torrey, who was in the audience, muttered under his breath, “Romans 15:30.” Romans 15:30 commands us to agonize in prayer (compare it with the example of Jesus in Luke 22:44).

In urging us to agonize in prayer, Paul is not teaching that God is reluctant to answer or that our agony will earn us the answer. Our agony in prayer (in my experience) relates primarily to warring against our unbelief. Because of our native unbelief, prayer becomes an agony.

Were These Prayers for Paul Answered?

We’ll look at two passages to answer that question. The first is 2 Corinthians 9:12-13. This text teaches us what Paul wanted to happen. 

“For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ.”

By the gift of money, Paul wants the Jews to be so persuaded of the work of God in the Gentiles so that they will be united with them in heart. The second passage, Acts 21:17-20, records what happened.

“When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God.”

Prayer answered! But, remember, there were two other requests: safety and boldness. Were those answered? In every chapter for the remainder of the book of Acts, Paul is a prisoner. But when I get to the last page of the book, Paul’s in Rome. And that was the itinerary (Romans 15:24, “I hope to see you [in Rome].”). It took him a few years, but he made it. Look at the last two verses of Acts.

Even if Paul had not gotten to Rome, God still would have answered prayer. God does not always answer as we request. We must believe that whatever happens is the answer to our prayers. Whether God answers with “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait,” we must trust that God does answer. In this work of advancing the gospel, we must learn to go forward on our knees.

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Plenary Session 6 - Matthew Hoskinson

Matthew Hoskinson’s second plenary session, entitled “Our Shepherd” from Psalm 23, was moving and comforting.

I hope that this conference has been motivating for you as your eyes have been fixed on the gospel opportunities ahead. I don’t want to bring reality back to you too quickly, but the fact is that most of you will be back in college classes in a week or so. Many of you will be saying, “Why does God have me here? Am I ever going to get to the field? What am I going to be doing in five years? Why don’t I have clearer direction?” These sorts of questions and concerns reveal a fundamental need that we all have: we need a shepherd. 

Psalm 23, the “Psalm of the Crook” is the second of three Christological psalms. It sits between Psalm 22 (”The Psalm of the Cross”) and Psalm 24 (”The Psalm of the Crown”). Psalm 23 teaches us that our God is our Shepherd, worthy of our trust, worthy of our pursuit.

1. Our Shepherd is the Provider for His People

“Jehovah is my Shepherd” (23:1). Jehovah identifies God as the independent, immutable, covenant-keeping God. Shepherd, in Hebrew, is not merely a noun, but a participle emphasizing God’s activity as our shepherd (i.e., “God is the one who is shepherding me”). After a few years in pastoral ministry, I came to realize that I had a flawed view of “undershepherding.” I viewed Christ as the “CEO-Shepherd” under whom I worked as a manager. In fact, Christ is the Shepherd. Any shepherding that is accomplished through my ministry is not done by me, but by Christ. The one shepherding the sheep is Jesus. Anything that I do that He uses is His work.

Notice the singular my. David doesn’t say, though it would be true, “The Lord is our shepherd,” but “The Lord is my shepherd.” He provides for me so well that “I lack nothing.” Do you feel that way? Do you feel that you lack nothing? As you assess your life, what do you think you need right now that you don’t have? Money? Time? Better health? Why do I feel like I’m in need when I, like David, have God as my shepherd. It’s because God is graciously leading me to Himself. What I really need is not money or time. What I really need is Him. If you don’t have something right now it’s because you don’t really need it. God is using your inadequate resources to show you that you really need only Him.

As our Shepherd-Provider, God provides us with rest. He Himself is our ideal resting place. By green pastures we’re taught that God leads us to places that we would want to go, places that we desire and find delightful. In those places we find rest, not just physical rest, but, more so, spiritual rest (cf. Matthew 11:28). Haven’t you felt rest in your soul as you have seen Christ freshly this week? To be at rest is to be in Christ’s presence. Notice that God sometimes causes us to lie down. Parents have to make sure that their toddlers get sleep often by repeatedly walking them back to their beds and causing them to lie down. A few years ago I learned from Michael Barrett that “in the order of God, rest always preceeds activity. Before we go to work, we must realize that the success of God’s eternal purpose does not depend on me.” We must rest in His presence.

Secondly, God provides us with revitalization. This is why it’s so critical for me to be in the presence of Christ. I must be more concerned with fellowshiping with Christ than I am with doing something for Him.

Thirdly, God provides us with guidance. In our personal guidance, God stakes His glory. As a Christian, God’s name is affixed to me. For His own glory, God promises to lead me in the right paths. Some Christians have very clear visions of what God is calling them to do. Others have very little idea, and, sometimes, envy those who have the greater clarity. (You have to listen to the mp3 to hear Matthew’s story of God’s “windy guidance” of he and his family, including how “God gave a nerdy youth pastor a nerdy youth group.”) God, our Shepherd, is leading us in the right paths for the sake of His name.

The right paths down which the Lord leads us often go “through the valley of deep darkness.” Sometimes our shepherd brings us right there, and it’s the right path for His name’s sake. God determines that the path of His sheep is often not “bright and sunny.” Consider the end of Hebrews 11: you might be like those who stopped the mouths of lions, or you might be like those who suffered flogging. And which I am is not my choice. I am not shepherding myself! When I signed up to live my life for the sake of God’s name, I surrendered my option of choosing where my path leads.

In valleys of deep darkness, David says, “I will fear no evil.” He does not say, “I will suffer no evil.” God will not remove the calamities of my life, but He graciously removes the fear. The conscious awareness that “the Lord is with me” is what removes the fear.

Lastly, God provides us with protection. The rod was a club, the staff was a crook. The one was for defense, the other for control. The one was to protect from the enemy without, the other from the enemy within. These realities comfort us in the deepest and darkest of trials. This is your God. He is the Provider for His people.

2. Our Shepherd is the Host of His People

Our Host gives us blessing and joy. “In the presence of my enemies” has the idea of “to the astonishment of my enemies.” My enemies are confounded as they look on God’s blessings on my life. Further, God anoints us with oil, an OT picture of prosperity and blessing. “My cup runs over” shows that these blessings saturate me. In all of these images, think in terms of the Giver, not the gifts. It’s not that God has given us all the good things in life; it’s that He has given us Himself.

Finally, our Host gives us love, love for a lifetime, love for eternity. God’s steadfast love is not “tagging along” behind us like an annoying little sibling. Rather, it’s hunting us down every day of our lives. Every morning I wake up, regardless of whether or not I have a conscious thought of God, God’s love is hunting me down. Lamentations 3:23, “His mercies are new every morning.”

I can’t tell you what your path is, but I can tell you, “This is your Shepherd.” And if the Lord is your Shepherd, do you really need to be concerned with what you’re going to be doing in five years? This is our Shepherd, worthy of our trust, worthy of our pursuit.

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Plenary Session 5 - Dave Doran

David Doran, conference host and pastor of Inter-City Baptist Church in Allen Park, Michigan, preached on the nature and goal of gospel ministry from Colossians 1:24-29.

In Colossians 1, in order to explain his credentials for confronting the Colossian church, Paul unveils the nature and purpose of his ministry: it was a sacred stewardship of sacrificial service aimed at the perfection of the church.

A Sacred Stewardship

Clearly, Paul’s ministry was “from God” (1:25). As God’s steward, Paul saw himself as commissioned by God and accountable to God. Although Paul’s stewardship was unique, everyone of us is given a stewardship from God for which we will be accountable to God as His servants (4:17).

Notice that this is a stewardship of a mystery (1:26). This is one of the two major interpretive issues in the passage. When the NT uses the word mystery, it’s not like we use mystery (e.g., a mystery novel). It means something that has been hidden but has now been revealed (1:26). In Romans 11 Paul reveals the essensce of this mystery: a partial hardening of the Jews in order that the Gentiles might be saved. The OT clearly predicted that the Gentiles would find salvation in Israel’s God, but if you read through most of the OT, it seems to always reveal the Messiahreigning in Israel and the Gentiles coming to Him there. Then we come to NT’s unveiling of Jesus Christ, and it seems to be opposite: He is commissioning His apostles to go out to the Gentiles. That’s not what we expected. Why is it like this? Paul says, “Because a partial hardening has happened.” We who are in this room this morning should rejoice. It’s because of that mystery that we are saved.

Paul, in particular, was the steward of that mystery. Yet we have an extension of that sacred stewardship. Ultimately we are an extension of Paul’s words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2. Our stewardship is to proclaim the message of God’s love in Christ and Christ’s coming kingdom.

Of Sacrificial Service

The apostle constantly engaged in toilsome labor to fulfill his calling (1:29). Paul had both a sense of urgency and intensity about the work of Jesus Christ. He lived his life as if he was in the last part of the fourth quarter. He realized that he lived in a world that was passing away.

He also joyfully endured sufferings and afflictions to fulfill his ministry. Most immediately Paul is probably referring his current imprisonment. What does Paul mean when he says that he is “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (1:24)? This is the second major interpretive challenge in the passage. First, we can eliminate any thought that Paul may be thinking that he is contributing to the redemptive sufferings of Christ. Other NT texts are absolutely clear that Christ’s suffering was sufficient and final (e.g. Hebrews 1:3, 10, 12, 14, etc.). After ruling that out, there are two other interpretive options, both of which involve the union of Christ with His church. (When Saul was persecuting the church, Jesus asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” The church’s afflictions are Jesus’ afflictions.)

One possibility is that Paul views the afflictions of Christ and His people as a preordained amount that needs to be “filled up” (like Revelation 6:9-11). In this case Paul is saying something to the effect, “There is a determined amount of suffering that Christ’s church must endure, and I am doing my part in filling up that amount.” This is a viable option, but not the one I think is correct (Christians use this interpretation either to view suffering as the responsibility of other Christians, or to indulge in suffering as if it’s going to hasten the Lord’s coming). I think he’s saying something simpler than that.

Turn to Philippians 2:29-30 (compare also with 1 Corinthians 16:17). Both Philippians 2 and Colossians 1 refer to some kind of deficiency. Despite the fact that we often think of deficiency negatively, in Philippians 2 Paul was viewing the deficiency as the absence of the Philippian congregation, the fact that they couldn’t be with him in person. It was this “deficiency” that Epaphroditus was filling. Similarly, in Colossians 1 Paul seems to be saying, “Jesus is not bodily present, but I am suffering for His sake.

The suffering that Paul is enduring is, in a sense, should be expected by every believer (2 Timothy 3:12). Any approach to Christianity that seeks comfort and avoids suffering is not, in fact, Christianity. It’s walking down “the broad way” thinking that it’s “the narrow way.” Whether we stay or go, whether we’re a missionary or pastor, whether we’re in vocational ministry or not, everyone who follows Christ chooses a life of suffering. The suffering of many Christians (e.g., Paul) is costly, and Christians, like Paul, should rejoice in that privilege.

If we are padding our life to prevent ourselves from experiencing the sufferings of being a Christ-follower, then we are seriously skewed. We must realize that God calls every Christian to suffer, and we should be willing to joyfully embrace these sufferings for the glory of Christ. 

For the Church’s Perfection

Paul’s goal was “to presenting everyone perfect in Christ” (1:28). This is an eschatological goal (1:22), probably fitting in with Paul’s concept of presenting the church to Christ as a bride ready for her groom (Ephesians 5:25-27; 2 Corinthians 11:2). So Paul’s driving consideration is for the future of the church. In other words, his picture is bigger than just “let’s get something done today.”

Paul’s concept of perfection is complete conformity to Jesus Christ. This is God’s eternal purpose for those whom He has saved (Romans 1:29). Paul desires this perfection for the church because God Himself desires this perfection for them. That perfection comes about as we faithfully articulate and apply the person and work of Christ. This is the message for the church, and this is the message that we take to the world.

Posted in SGI National Conference | Posted by joetyrpak | Print This Post |