100 People Network

[from The Gospel Coalition]

This fall, the Desiring God national conference will call on the church to “Finish the Mission: For the Joy of All Peoples” by bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the unreached and unengaged. Plenary speakers for the event—September 23 to 25 at the Minneapolis Convention Center—include Louie Giglio, David Platt, Michael Ramsden, Michael Oh, and Ed Stetzer. Space is limited - if you register today, you can attend for the price of $170.

Previewing this important event, John Piper and I corresponded about the progress and problems of an ever-changing global church. Jesus Christ’s commitment to build his church gives us utmost confidence that he will finish the mission. Yet he grants us the privilege of carrying out this high calling to introduce him to all people for their eternal joy.

What’s the most encouraging development you see today as Christians trust God to “finish the mission”?

Today, and every day, the most encouraging development is the never-ending endurance of God’s sovereign will and promise: “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). The mission will be finished. We should be encouraged no matter what is happening in the world. God is always doing 10,000 things we can’t see.

But if we look to the world through the lens of the word, even there the evidences of God’s faithfulness to finish the mission are many. The Global Network of Missionary Structures reports that “there are over 4,000 known evangelical mission agencies sending out 250,000 missionaries from over 200 countries. This is up from 1,800 known mission agencies and 70,000 missionaries in 1980.”

In many places the fruit of this growth is remarkable. Just to give a few examples, theGNMS points out:

• The last 40 years have seen more Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus come to know Christ than in all previous centuries combined.
• In Cambodia the church exploded from just a handful of believers 20 years ago to more than 400,000 today.
• In Mongolia, the church grew from a few isolated believers, to more than 50,000 in 200 established fellowships in the same period.
• The Koreans alone, who are becoming increasingly frontier mission focused, have a plan to send out 100,000 missionaries in the next 20 years. The Philippine church and the Chinese church both have similar goals.

The ongoing strategic efforts of mission agencies and churches is another hope-filled sign. According to the GNMS:

The Finishing the Task network, which was launched in the year 2003, is focusing on those unreached groups over 100,000 in population which are unengaged. At the time the network was launched, there were 639 groups in this category. By the year 2010, all but 95 had been engaged. The network is now expanding its efforts to those unengaged peoples which are 50,000 in population or greater.

The sharing of information today via the internet means that no one has to work in the dark about what is happening. Strategies of closure (finishing the mission) are increasingly feasible. But in the end the sovereignty of God and the power of the gospel of Jesus, not the feasibility of our human plans, is the rock of hope and encouragement.

With the growth of the church in the Majority World, what’s the most strategic way Western churches can serve these spiritual brothers and sisters?

The Christian church is undergoing dramatic demographic shifts that will increasingly marginalize people who are not eager to be a part of something more diverse and less white.

Philip Jenkins, professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University, has clarified this development perhaps more than anyone else. The new terminology that has been introduced into our vocabulary is the term Global South, a reference to the astonishing growth of the Christian church in Africa, Latin America, and Asia while the formerly dominant centers of Christian influence in Europe are weakening. For example:

• At the beginning of the 20th century, Europeans dominated the world church, with approximately 70.6 percent of the world’s Christian population. By the end of the 20th century, the European percentage of world Christianity had shrunk to 28 percent of the total; Latin America and Africa combined provided 43 percent of the world’s Christians.
• In 1900, Africa had 10 million Christians representing about 10 percent of the population; by 2000, this figure had grown to 360 million, representing about half the population. Quantitatively, this may well be the largest shift in religious affiliation that had ever occurred, anywhere.

Since we are talking about finishing the mission, I would tweak the question: Not: How can we serve the exploding church of the Global South? But: How can we be faithful, fruitful partners in serving the global mission of Jesus to proclaim the gospel of salvation to all the unreached peoples of the world?

Among the many answers to that question would be:

1. wake up to the existence of the global church;
2. don’t think that sending them money to do the mission can replace God’s call on Western Christians to go;
3. don’t assume we can do the mission better or alone, and don’t assume they can either;
4. listen to each other for the distinctive strengths each brings;
5. be informed of the work of others among any group or area you feel called to go;
6. pray for biblically faithful fruitfulness of all missions;
7. be humble and ready to be last—who will one day be first.

In your extensive global travels to speak in venues such as Lausanne last year, what most concerns you about the global church’s commitment to finishing the mission?

My travels are not very extensive, and so my answers always bear some measure of parochialism. The main concerns I feel are:

1. that many younger churches (both globally and in America) feel so focused on their local challenges that global, cross-cultural outreach to unreached peoples (missions) seems impossible;
2. that churches and missions sometimes stray from the purity of the gospel and thus undermine the very aim of the mission: biblically faithful, Christ-exalting, multiplying churches;
3. that worldliness choke the Word and the passion for missions;
4. that the belief in eternal suffering for those without Christ will be lost, and with it zeal to reach them;
5. and that the name of Christ will continue to be unknown and unhallowed for decades to come.

May the Lord of the harvest be manifestly jealous for his name today, and merciful toward the perishing, and may he send millions of workers into field, which is the world.

Collin Hansen serves as editorial director for The Gospel Coalition. He is the co-author of A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories That Stretch and Stir. You can follow him on Twitter.

[from Verge Network]

This is Discipling from The Foursquare Church.

“What would it look like if, as leaders, we focused less on the things that make our churches entertaining and more on making disciples?” This video challenges and reminds us that we are a sent people, called to take the gospel to the world. The grace that Jesus has shown us by coming after us frees us to then seek others. It’s time to rethink how we are making disciples.

[from gmi.org]

You can also download this article here:

 Four Reasons I Don't Pray

Reason 1—I'm Overwhelmed:

With so much pain and suffering in the world, I have trouble thinking about the challenges that people are facing. It is easier not to think about it and definitely easier not to pray about it.

God's Response:

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Reason 2—I'm too Busy:

Praying for the world always seems to get left out of my day. I pray once or twice a day and those times are usually focused on my immediate situation, family, friends and church. I tend to think about global issues during the day when I see the news or am interacting with coworkers. But I struggle to stop and pray at those moments.

God's Response:

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18).

Reason 3—I Struggle to Believe God Will Answer:

Praying for places that are so far away from my everyday life seems pointless. I know I need to invest the time, but sometimes I wonder if those prayers do any good. I can't see the people in those countries and so how will I know if my prayers are being answered?

God's Response:

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15).

Reason 4—I Don't Know Enough:

The problems and opportunities that the people of the world face are so complex. I don't even know where to start many times. I feel that my prayers are just platitudes without any real substance.

God's Response:
"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26).

[Book Review from The Gospel Coalition]

When Missions Shapes the Mission by David Horner | Review by: J. J. Sherwood

“And knowing is half the battle.” That phrase concluded the public service announcement at the end of every episode of my favorite childhood cartoon, G. I. Joe. The hope was that viewers would act for the better once properly informed. David Horner, senior pastor of Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, and council member of The Gospel Coalition, hopes his new book, When Missions Shapes The Mission: You And Your Church Can Reach The World,will will do the same for our churches and spur them into action for the cause of God’s glory in Jesus Christ to be made known across the globe. 

The Local Church and World Missions

This book enters the fray at a time when church’s role in missions has been receiving much attention—Desiring God’s upcoming national conference centers on global missions and world evangelization, and Operation World’s seventh edition was recently published with considerable buzz. Through the use of technology such as social media, many ministries are successfully raising awareness and spreading a passion for the gospel to be proclaimed to the unreached peoples of the earth. There is a swelling excitement in the Western church for God’s name to be known and worshiped among the nations.

So is it superfluous for to write a book about missions shaping our ministry priorities? Unfortunately, current data show our churches are not effectively engaging in missions. So the answer is, no.

Horner insightfully shows that while evangelicals love the idea of missions, much of our involvement lacks depth and breadth, and sometimes even lacks involvement at all! Though effective missions was the goal of church committees and denominational teams and boards, many Christians and churches simply left fulfilling the biblical mandate in the hands of others, neglecting their own role and responsibility. Horner believes this disconnect is due to a fuzzy understanding of what missions actually is. “Missions”, Horner defines, “is God’s plan for reaching all nations with the good news of Jesus Christ by sending his people to tell them about and show them the gracious, redeeming love of a glorious God” (6). Horner not only points to the Great Commission for support, but he consistently equates missions with the Great Commission throughout the book (7, 49, 98, 173, 189). Just how much the Great Commission is equatedto missions may be up for some debate, but certainly, if we neglect missions, then we are neglecting something central to the Great Commission.

The Purpose of the Church and the Challenge of the City

Horner demonstrates what the Bible teaches about God’s heart and plan for the nations. He lays a biblical foundation for pastors to cultivate and sustain sending, kingdom-focused ministries because, Horner writes, “The church has an eternal purpose that must be reflected in our priorities” (233). What is that eternal purpose? Horner focuses on the church as God’s own possession to bless the nations by reaching them with the gospel so that the nations know there is only one God and salvation can be found in him alone. 

Still, some wonder whether every church should try to reach the world. What about our own neighbors and cities, which aren’t truly as Christian as the polls indicate? What about the numerous studies that show the world is becoming more urbanized, leading to new gospel opportunities in our own major metropolitan areas? Horner makes an effort to swing the pendulum back to a healthy center in the discussions centered around the city by aiming churches to be as focused on unreached nations as they are their unbelieving in their neighbors and cities. The Joshua Project says there are 6,933 unreached people groups that total about 2.8 billion people. Not all of these people groups will be coming to our cities or even the major cities in their part of the world. So Horner writes, “God wants us to be as ambitious for the nations as we are for the city in which our congregations are located” (223). The nations may be coming to our cities, but that doesn’t mean we stop going to the nations.

Horner argues that missions should receive our best money, our best people, and our best time, meaning missions will not get any leftovers of the church’s resources. “We have a local address but a global understanding of who we are and why we exist” (230). That will surely raise a debate among many in our circles. But in all this, Horner never makes local ministry second fiddle. He is simply pointing out that many churches have emphasized the local to the neglect of the global, but “Christ never offered us that as an option! His commission is to make disciples by going to all peoples in all places with all diligence” (49). Horner gently offers a biblical counter-balance to the missional discussions. 

When Missions Shapes the Mission is worth the time to read and contemplate, if nothing else, because Horner practices what he preaches. As a young pastor, I found I was being shaped and stretched. It’s full of Bible and rooted in a deep desire to spur the church from navel gazing to gospel proclamation. 

Are we as ambitious for the nations as we are for our neighborhood? Are we ambitious for the nations at all? Through careful reflection on God’s plan for the nations and past missions movements, Horner shows that missions should be the normal way of life for our churches, both locally and globally. So now we know. What will we then do?

[from desiringgod.org]

I was never called to be a missionary, nor was I drafted. I volunteered. No special call was needed. I chose to go; I wanted to go; I was compelled to go. And where I go is always determined by an open Bible and a stretched-out map of the regions where Christ is still unknown and un-praised!

I chuckle when I hear missionaries and pastors talk about “surrendering to the call” of ministry. I always want to ask, “After you surrendered, were you water-boarded, or just hauled off in handcuffs and leg irons.” Was it really necessary for you to be abducted by a heavenly vision before you would go into the work of the gospel?

The missionary call is not like a prison dog that tracks us down, sniffs us out, and hog-ties us for the nations. That is silly-talk and really bad theology. Nowhere in Scripture is a mysterious (supernatural) call a prerequisite before we can respond to the Great Commission. The opposite is actually true.

Don’t Wait for a Call

No aspect of mission is more bogged down with extra-biblical baggage than the “missionary call.”  The clear command of Christ “to go” should be, by itself, sufficient to set you on your way “into all the world. . . proclaiming the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). You can’t go wrong by trying to go. Trust the Lord to direct your moving feet. If you are convinced of your “call” to “stay”, this will only serve as added confirmation that you are right. Don’t fear the risk of ending up some place the Lord doesn’t want you. Too many already took that “risk” when they assumed a stateside ministry or vocation with no confirmation other than their own desires.

Dramatic calls to ministry are the exception. If you have it in your heart to go, then go. Then, lean on the sovereignty of God to get you where he wants you in the harvest. Don’t worry about “running ahead of God.” You aren’t that quick!

Try to Go

Paul tried to go into Asia, but the Lord wouldn’t let him. He then tried to go to Bithynia, but was “kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.” Still, he kept trying to go. I count at least six cities in Acts 16 where Paul tried to take the gospel. It was only then that the Lord gave him a vision of the Macedonian. He woke up the next morning and immediately headed for the regions north, having “concluded that God had called them to preach the gospel in Macedonia.

The heavenly vision wasn’t a “call” to mission, it was specific guidance for missionaries that were already going.

The point?  Don’t complicate the missionary call. Get radical with the going and God will get radical in the specific guiding.

David Sitton is the founder and president of To Every Tribe Ministries. David is a career church planting missionary who lived and worked in Papua New Guinea for 16 years, making first gospel contact with several headhunting, cannibalistic tribes.