Do Not Trouble Ourselves With The Lost?

“Let us remember how very soon the missionary character of the Church was forgotten, and the Church, instead of obeying the commandment of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations (in fact, that it was chiefly a missionary association), neglected this great and important calling... It is astonishing how a commandment so simple and distinct, and how a duty which you would have imagined would be eagerly greeted by the impulse of gratitude, of affection, and of compassion, was forgotten for so long a time, in the churches of the Reformation especially. Now we are accustomed to hear of mission work among the heathen nations, and to find that a great multitude of people are interested in it, and regard it with respect; but it was only at the commencement of the last century, and with great difficulty, [that] the attention of the Church was roused to this important duty; and even in the... Church of Scotland there were a number of ministers who thought that the state of heathenism was so utterly corrupt, and that there was so much to be done in our own country, that it was altogether a Utopian project to think of converting the idolaters, and that it was not our imperative duty to trouble ourselves with their wretched condition."

(Adolph Saphir (1831-1891), Christ and Israel)
Submitted by Jurgen Schulz

Missionaries love Dirt, Right?

“A missionary in Africa was once asked if he really liked what he was doing. His response was shocking. "Do I like this work?" he said. "No. My wife and I do not like dirt. We have reasonably refined sensibilities. We do not like crawling into vile huts through goat refuse... But is a man to do nothing for Christ he does not like? God pity him, if not. Liking or disliking has nothing to do with it. We have orders to 'Go," and we go. Love constrains us."

(Love is a Costly Thing, by Dick Hillis, Our Daily Bread.)

Submitted by Jurgen Schulz

Demonic Forces Of This Age Have Met Their Match

"There is . . . no place today for a Church that is not aflame with the Spirit who is the Lord and Giver of life, nor any value in a theology; which is not passionately missionary. If there throbs through the Church the vitality of a living union with Christ—and apart from this the Church has no claim to exist, no right to preach, it is merely cumbering the ground—if the Church can indeed say "It is not I who live, it is Christ who lives in me," then the dark demonic forces of the age have met their match, and the thrust of life is stronger than the drift of death. A Church that knows its Lord and is possessed by its Gospel cannot but propagate creatively the life that is has found. A Christian who is taking his faith seriously cannot but evangelize.

(“A Faith to Proclaim”, James S. Stewart, p. 11,12 Regent College Publishing , 2002)

Submitted by Jurgen Schulz

Hindu declares Propagation is Central to Christian Faith.

“An interesting incident took place when India’s new constitution was being passed in the National Legislature. In the portion where it says that each individual has “the right to profess, practice, and propagate his faith,” that word “propagate” was a question mark to many In the midst of it a Hindu said, “To the Christian it is inherent to propagate his faith. If he is faithful to his faith he must propagate his faith. So if you do not allow him to propagate his faith you do not allow him to profess and practice his faith.” That argument swung the situation and it was adopted."

(“The Word Became Flesh”, E. Stanley Jones. Abingdon Press. 2006, p. 313)

Submitted by Jurgen Schulz

Math & Amnesia!

I was working on my masters course on the laptop at the kitchen table. Tim (13yrs) came by after he supposedly completed his math. I guess Tim left a few blanks on his page so Lynn sat down at the table beside me with Tim to explain a few concepts. As she explained one problem he put his head on the table and said, "I can't do this I have math Amnesia!" I tried not to laugh. However after 2 minutes I could not contain my giggles any longer and burst out laughing. Lynn and I both rolled over. Tim said all serious like; "It's not a joke. I really do have Math Amnesia."

I think I have Amnesia about a lot of things, and there are a few things I'm going to voluntarily add to the list.

"I Saw What I Saw" A Reminder of how much we Care!

Mission is about WHOM to believe in! Truth is a Person, not a Proposition!

"E. Stanley Jones tells the story about an unbelieving doctor who lay dying. A Christian doctor sat beside him and urged him to surrender, to have faith in Christ. The dying doctor listened in amazement. Light dawned. And he joyously said, “All my life I have been bothered with what to believe, and now I see it is whom to trust” .... I heard a story about a young non-Christian man who was studying English and was using one of the Gospels for reading. He suddenly got up in the middle of a lesson, paced up and down the room, and said, “These are not the words of a man, these are the words God!""

("The Supremacy of Christ", Ajith Fernando. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 170-171)

Best Way to Promote Missions- Join God in what he is doing!

"Lack of interest in mission is not fundamentally caused by an absence of compassion or commitment, nor by lack of information or exhortation. And lack of interest in mission is not remedied by more shocking statistics, more gruesome stories or more emotionally manipulative commands to obedience. It is best remedied by intensifying peoples’ passion for Christ, so that the passions of his heart become the passions that propel our hearts.......Efforts to provoke interest in mission are often based on bad news- natural catastrophes, complex humanitarian disasters, unreached people groups, oppressed and exploded minorities, urban or suburban problems and civil wars. These things are important, but the gospel begins with, "I bring you good news of great Joy!"".... I must confess I once challenged and provoked people into mission using statistics similar to those mentioned above. I’m not at all suggesting that these are not real needs. The point is this: How shall we respond to these needs? Good-hearted people always want to respond with compassion and kindness. We worked ourselves into exhaustion with exhortations to give more, do more, be more, care more, serve more, love more, sacrifice more. As fruitful as this could be, something always seemed to be missing......Not surprisingly, this commitment to the missionary enterprise of the Church produces exhausted servants. The tasks are so great and our resources appear to be so small.... people can not handle relentless exposure to catastrophes and crises....we must change how we communicate missions opportunities. Instead of relying entirely on presentations of need, we must begin inviting people to participate in God's Work."


("Beyond Duty".Tim Dearborn. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 90-92)

Mission Forerunners Faith- Remember them! Be inspired by Them!

"Africa, especially, was a forbidding continent. All mission outreach to Africa prior to 1775 had totally failed. Of all Catholic efforts, all Moravian efforts, nothing remained. Not one missionary of any kind existed on the continent on the eve of the First Era. The gruesome statistics of almost inevitable sickness and death that haunted, yet did not daunt, the decades of truly valiant missionaries who went out after 1790 in virtually a suicidal stream cannot be matched by any other era or by any other cause. Very few missionaries to Africa in the first 60 years of the First Era survived more than two years. As I have reflected on this measure of devotion I have been humbled to tears, for I wonder—if I or my people today could or would match that record. Can you imagine our Urbana students today going out into missionary work if they knew that for decade after decade 19 out of 20 of those before them had died almost on arrival on the field?"

("Four Men. Three Eras, Two Transitions", Ralph D Winter. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 255)

Finishing the Task in our Life Time?

"God has entrusted to us the continuation and the consummation of the task. Here is the thing that thrills me. We have come far closer to the finishing of this mission than any previous generation. We have done more in the last century and a half in worldwide evangelization than all the preceding centuries since the apostolic age. Our modern technology has provided printing, automobiles, aeroplanes, radios and many other methods of expediting our task of carrying the gospel into all the world. Previously unknown languages are being reduced to writing. The Word of Cod has now been rendered, in part at least, into over 1,700 languages or dialects, and the number is growing yearly. Here is the challenging fact. If God's people in the English-speaking world alone took this text seriously and responded to the challenge, we could finish the task of worldwide evangelization in our own generation and witness the Lord's return."

(The Gospel of the Kingdom" George E. Ladd. Perspectives on the world Christian Movement, 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California. pg 75)

Worship is the Goal of Mission

"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because Worship doesn't....Worship therefore, is the fuel and goal of 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."

(John Piper. "Let the nations be Glad", Perspectives on the world Christian Movement, 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California, pg 49)

Early Attitudes about Unreached people!

"When he (Hudson Taylor) suggested that the inland peoples of China needed to be reached, he was told you could not get there, and he was asked if he wished to carry on his shoulders the blood of the young people he would thus send to their deaths. This accusing question stunned and staggered him. Groping for light, wandering on the beach, it seemed as if God finally spoke to resolve the ghastly thought: “You are not sending young people in the interior of China. I am.” The load lifted."

("Four Men. Three Eras, Two Transitions", Ralph D Winter. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 257)

Erased our History!

"Man has virtually erased his own story. Human beings as far back as we have any record have been fighting each other so much that they have destroyed well over 90 percent of their own handiwork. Their libraries, their literature, their cities their works of art are mostly gone. Even the little that remains from the distant past is riddled with evidences of a strange and pervasive evil that has grotesquely distorted man’s potential."

("The Kingdom Strike Back", Ralph D. Winter. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 195)

Apostolic Passion. Planning to Go - but Willing to Stay????

“Apostolic passion.” therefore, is a deliberate, intentional choice to live for the worship of Jesus in the nations. It has to do with being committed to the point of death to spreading His glory. It’s the quality of those who are on fire for Jesus, who dream of the whole earth being covered with the Glory of the Lord. I know when apostolic passion has died in my heart. It happens when I don’t spend my quiet time dreaming of the time when Jesus will be worshiped in languages that aren’t yet heard in heaven. I know it’s missing from my life when I sing about heaven, but live as if earth is my home. Apostolic passion is dead in my heart when I dream more about sports, toys places to go and people to see, than I do about the nations worshiping Jesus. I have lost it, too, when I make decisions based on the danger involved, not the glory God will get. Those who have apostolic passion are planning to go, but willing to stay."

("Apostolic Passion", Floyd McCling. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 185)

If I Should Perish?

My last meeting with Iranian pastor Haik Hovsepian was especially memorable. For many years he had served as a shepherd for the churches in Iran, always declaring the gospel wisely but openly. As we parted we shook hands and he said to me, “Brother Andrew, when they kill me it will be for speaking and not for being silent.” He said “when.” He did not say “if.” He knew he would be killed. The next month he was murdered.

He had suffered for his faith for years. He was killed for his faithfulness to declare it. He was a rare and precious man, but he was not alone. There are millions of beleaguered Christians living in areas where their faith costs them greatly. It cost them most when they proclaim their faith.
As they suffer with Christ, they become the message by saying, “I am willing to die for Him and I’m willing to die for you because that is what He did!” I’m convinced that we are living in what appears to be the the most cruel period of history. More people suffer for Christ’s name than in any other generation. "

("If I Perish", Brother Andrew. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 179)

EE- Taow - A Whole Village Believes In Christ!