Missions Websites

John Piper raves about the ministry of Operation World, and for good reason. I had some time to look into their website today. Along with their valuable resources, they have a daily prayer list to highlight various prayer needs in world missions. Today's entry was about Urban Evangelism. I'll quote it here, but you please visit OW to learn more.

For the first time in history, half of the world's population lives in or near a city

Challenges for Prayer
This major shift in population from rural to urban necessitates a radical shift in thinking and strategy among churches and missions reaching out to the unreached

1 Appropriate strategies for evangelizing the major non-Christian cities of the world
2 The urban poor, the biggest single challenge
3 The decaying inner cities of the West. In the midst of affluence many cities have a rotten core.
4 Christians' preconception of missions needs to shift from a 19th Century rural, tribal image to a modern, urban one
5 The mobilization of a trained and efficient work force
6 The essential and effective use of all modern methods of communication
From Operation World Web Site (www.operationworld.org), 12/28/07. Copyright ©2001 Patrick Johnstone

OW also features nations in the news, of which Sri Lanka is featured. Seeing how we shared how Peter just visited that country in mid December, I spent some time reading up on it. The Lord is really needed there, and there is much reason for hope as the Christian church there grows, but they need our prayers. Click here to learn how to pray for Sri Lanka.


This picture features street dwellers in Mumbai, Inda

I also discovered another missions website about a ministry in Asia, Servants to Asia's Urban Poor. According to their website: "Servants to Asia's Urban Poor is an international movement: a network of Christian teams living and working amongst the urban poor in Asia's mega cities, participating with the poor to bring hope and justice through Jesus Christ." What a radical and beautiful concept! To think of Westerners giving up their comforts and wealth to live and suffer with the poor in Asia to reach the lost for Christ! They feature an interesting recent article about a family that conducted an experiment to see if they could live on $200 a month! What an eye opener!

As the Servants site points out, "The urban poor are the largest and neediest unreached people group confronting today's church. We ignore this challenge at our peril: "I was hungry... and you gave me nothing to eat" (Jesus, Matthew 25:31-46)

Please pray that the Lord would lead you to explore these resources and to be obedient to the Great Commission, by praying, giving, or going with the Good News of Christ to all people groups!

Joel Osteen and Why Theology Matters

Good piece on Joel Osteen by the incomparable James R White...

http://www.aomin.org/index.php?itemid=2416

Pletcher Sri Lanka Trip

Peter sent an update on God's work in their mission trip to beautiful Sri Lanka mid December. I'll share that here along with pics he sent. The entire Pletcher family joined the group from their church (a total of 16 adults and 6 children). While in Sri Lanka they spent time in Colombo with a missionary pastor who took them to Kandy, a devout Buddhist city, and then up into the tea country. Everywhere they went, they were well received by the locals and had the opportunity to share the gospel through tracts and passing out Bibles. Their pastors also had the opportunity to speak at several different special services that were held while we were visiting. Here is Peter's email. Thanks to the Pletchers for sharing the testimony and pictures!

"We had a great time and experienced a very open and for the most part welcoming people. We arrived on Wednesday into Colombo for our pastors to speak (Brother Crocker and Brother Moore) to the Tamil service and also to the Sinhala/English service at Colombo Bible Baptist Church where Brother Unruh pastors (these services go on simultaneously at different locations on the Church property). The next morning we left at 8 a.m. and traveled to the city of Kandy which took about five hours. In the city center, we divided up and spent a couple hours passing out tracts. Kandy has a significant Buddhist temple which attracts devout Buddhist from all over the world, as such, the city of Kandy has a strong Buddhist following. We had some who would not accept the tracts or would ask why we are trying to spread Christianity into such a strong Buddhist area but for the most part people gladly accepted the tract and would begin to read (tracts were written in Sinhala). Prior to handing out the tracts, I had asked what the literal translation was on the front cover. We were surprised to find that many of the people could speak a fair amount of English, so when we were asked by a young man who was with his group of friends "Do you even know what this says?" I pointed to the Sinhala on the front cover and acted like I was reading/translating into English. They were all surprised and we enjoyed a laugh.

"We continued up into the Mountain area to a small town of Nuwara Eliya and stayed at the St. Andrews Hotel. This town is about one mile high in elevation so our bus had a lot of climbing to do as we began our day in Colombo which is at sea level on the West coast of Sri Lanka. The cooler 14C (57F) temperature was also welcomed as it never gets this cool when at sea level near the equator. Sri Lanka's 4th largest export is tea and is grown up in the mountain area. It is amazing to see how they use all the land available by terracing the steep slopes. Most of the pickers are ladies who must pick at least 16 kg (35lbs) per day to earn $2. If they pick less than 16 kg of tea their pay is docked but if they pick more, they are given a small bonus. Tracts were also put into plastic bags with small gifts inside such as small lotion or shampoo bottles, pens, etc. Along the drive up, the tea pickers or village people would be along the side of the road for which a packet was thrown out the window. The tea pickers would quickly collect the packet .... this is not a method which can be used in Singapore as you would be fined for littering but was very much welcomed in Sri Lanka.

"On Friday, we went into Kotagala, a tea plantation village, where one of the local pastor's sent out by Colombo Bible Baptist Church has an out reach ministry. The children had already gathered for the Neighborhood Bible Club. Our group helped lead in teaching them some Bible songs and told them the Gospel story (Brother Shanker, the local pastor gave the translation). Afterwards, the children were then taught a game which was played with great enthusiasm. For most of these children, it was their first time to hear that Jesus loved them. After the children's meeting, preparations were made for the evening evangelistic meeting at the other end of the soccer field. A Gospel film was shown and pastor Crocker gave a short message and invitation afterwards. Fifty-nine people came forward to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ! Bro Shanker conducts a Church in a tent which is attached to the back of his house located in Kotagala and will be following up on these decisions. We understand that our group is the first to go into this tea village with such an outreach and we pray that the impact and seeds sown will grow for many more to hear and receive the gospel. Our church had also collected clothing back in Singapore and we left the boxes with Brother Shanker to be used as an outreach ministry to the village people.

"After a long day of travel back to Colombo on Saturday, we were back at Colombo Bible Baptist Church for three services on Sunday with a meal in the afternoon under the tent prepared for all those who attended. We flew out at around 1:30 a.m. Monday morning back to Singapore since I needed to work Monday morning while the rest of our Church group flew back on Tuesday morning. The Lord certainly blessed our trip and by the following Monday morning, the church had already received in the mail responses from 6 different people who had put their trust in Jesus Christ as a result of the tracts passed out. We were constantly reminded of Luke 10:2 "Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest." So many people whom need the Lord and someone to give the gospel message."

By the way, the Pletchers celebrated Morgan's 1st birthday immediately after returning from this trip. Happy Birthday, Morgan!

A Way to Think about Sharing the Gospel

What does a can of Coke have to do with sharing the Gospel? You’ll find out if you keep reading.

Sometimes I write blogs about sermons I’ve listened to. This is one of those. I was recently introduced to Rick Holland's preaching. He is is the college pastor at Grace Community Church and an excellent communicator. You can find his sermons here. FYI - you can also find there some by Steve Lawson and CJ Mahaney.

The Rick Holland message is called "What you must get right to get the Gospel right." Without stealing the thunder too much, I’ll share some tidbits, his four S’s to summarize the Gospel, and finally explain the pop can story.

Tidbits

• Regarding the Lordship: In the book of Acts, which chronicles the founding of the Church, Jesus is referred to as Lord 92 times, and as Savior only twice!
• Works are a response to a salvation given, not a way to get salvation. They’re the caboose not the engine. (Eph 2:10) The fruit and not the root. (1 John 2:3) If you’re a Christian, you’ll live like it!
• On the tension between the sovereignty of God in election and the responsibility of sinners: No one ever went to Heaven by their own choice. And no one ever goes to hell because of God’s choice.

Summary of the Gospel
Holland gave four S’s to help summarize the Gospel so you can share with people the Lord puts in your path!

• Sovereignty. He is Lord, the Creator God. He’s Holy, the only true and unique Living God. He alone is the Sovereign of the Universe. Sovereignty means King. “If you don’t start there the other pieces of the puzzle don’t fit”, explains Holland. He mentioned Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes, “Remember your Creator (Eccl 12:1)”
• Sin (the problem). The origin of sin comes from Adam and Eve. We are born sinners, and then we sin. We’re not born innocent and become sinners after we sin. We’re born sinners. We have personal culpability before God because of our sin. “In the words of my brilliant theologian son," says Holland, “we are in trouble with God because of our sin.” Because of our sin we deserve to be damned to Hell and punished by God. Because of our unrighteousness and His righteousness and His righteous standard.
• Substitution. Once this is established, the Good News can be joyfully proclaimed! God sent His Son to substitute and take the punishment in our place, instead of us, to give us His righteousness. The facts of the cross (1 Cor 15:1-4) come into play here and were fleshed out in the first sermon in this two part series.
• Submission. Because God is sovereign and has rescued us from our sin by substituting His Son for us, He requires, demands, and we have the privilege of, submitting to Him. A faith that believes and a faith that works. “You lose your life as a Christian, but you find His in you. It is much better!” Holland didn’t quote Jim Elliot, but I will: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Pop Can Story

Holland told a great story about a guy who approached those waiting in line to get into Magic Mountain. He had a box of empty Coke cans that had a coupon for a $10 discount to the park printed on them. He would just go up to people and say, “Hey you want $10 off? I can get you $10 off with this coke can!” Holland said, “Ok. Do you want anything in return?” The answer: “No, I just want to help you get $10 off.” Holland later thought, “This guy’s a little weird. But he’s nice. He gave me a $10 coupon and was delighted enough to go to everyone in that line and give it to ‘em. I have eternal life that’s been given to me. That is a gift that we can offer to others. Have you ever been as giddy as that guy in the line over giving the Gospel (Good News) to someone?

Challenge
I’ll close by addressing my two audiences. Everyone falls into two groups:

1. Those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord: Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me (Matthew 28:18)." The fact that you ignore this fact does not make it go away the same way someone on drugs can't make the law of gravity go away if they jump from a building thinking they can fly. Have you dealt with your sin problem (a problem we all have according to Romans 6:23) by believing on the Lord Jesus as your substitute? Have you submitted your life to Him, repenting (turning your back on) your sin and putting your trust in Him as the only way to be reconciled to God? You can do so today! Don’t wait!
2. Those who love Christ and treasure Him as Lord: Are you sharing the Gospel? Are you as giddy as that guy was giving out the pop cans? You have eternal life, don’t keep it tucked up inside of you! You might look silly, in fact Jesus said if they hated Him they would hate us (John 15:18)! But to those who will come to know Christ, you are the bearer of the most important gift that was ever given!

Merry Christmas to all!

"Oh, magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt His name together!" (Psalm 34:3)

Jesus life was the greatest life ever lived

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

-Philippians 2:5-11 (ESV)

Challenge:
Our pastor in the evening service Sunday preached from Philippians 2, the great passage that speaks of Christ's humbling Himself to take on human flesh to a) demonstrate God's love for us (Rom 5:8) and b) to pay the penalty for our sins (1 Pet 2:24)!.

The main points were:

1) Christ is our perfect example of submission
2) Christ is our perfect example of humility
3) Christ is our perfect example of sacrifice
4) Jesus is Lord!

The question for each of these points (1-3) is, if Christ were grading you in your practice of submission, what grade would you be getting? How is your submission to the Lord and to others (see v 3-4 which speak of considering others more important than yourselves)? How is your humility? Are you living sacrificially the way Christ is? How would Christ grade you?
Finally, on #4, in vv 9-11, we are reminded that Jesus is Lord!

The early Christians were often persecuted for not yielding to emporer worship. In fact, many were fed to lions or shredded by gladiators for refusing to say "Caesar is Lord!". Scripture tells us that God gave Jesus the name that is above every name! "Jesus is Lord!"

Romans 10:9 says, "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

This belief includes 3 things:

• You must believe Jesus is God (Immanuel means God with us)
• He is in control of everything even when things seem so uncertain and out of control!
• If you believe He is Lord, that means you're willing to submit your very life to him!

"and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves
but for Him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Cor 5:15)"

God with Us

"If I could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: 'God with us.' We tend to focus our attention at Christmas on the infancy of Christ. The greater truth of the holiday is His deity. More astonishing than the baby in the manger is the truth that this promised baby is the omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth." - John MacArthur

Piper on the New Birth

I've been so blessed by a series of messages John Piper is giving on the new birth, or to use the theological term: "regeneration". My prayer is that you will listen to these messages on this essential topic and that God would speak to you through His word!

There are more to come, but here are the messages available so far:

You Must Be Born Again: Why This Series and Where Are We Going?

What Happens in the New Birth? Part 1

What Happens in the New Birth? Part 2

Why Do We Need to Be Born Again? Part 1