Missions
God has sent his church on mission. Where to go is clear (Matt. 28:19). What to do when we arrive is sometimes muddied by unbiblical ideas.
God has sent his church on mission. Where to go is clear (Matt. 28:19). What to do when we arrive is sometimes muddied by unbiblical ideas.
Too often, mission work supported by Western churches is obsessed with numbers, over-awed by the supernatural, and over-eager for contextualization.
The best thing you can do for missionaries is to make sure you keep your church healthy. They can’t do the work there if churches are unhealthy here.
Low ecclesiology can cause confusion about missionaries’ involvement in local churches where they serve. Should we attend? Should we be members? For many missionaries, the practical answers are “no” and “no.”
Love the gospel, protect it, and guard it. And for the love of all things good and holy, please stop sending missionaries if they don’t.
Too often, a grotesque competitiveness marks evangelical churches. But a Great Commission church does not compete with other gospel-preaching churches.
When you send missionaries and when you partner with others to do so, you are exporting a doctrine of the church. Unfortunately, far too often we are exporting a bad and unbiblical one.
How can "normal" Christians see their sons and daughters board ships and planes and be gone for decades, perhaps forever? The only sufficient answer I have found is this: these saints see past this world.
People often ask me: “Is such and such a good idea in missions?” The reason for this question is that there are thousands of different things going on in the missions world today. It makes sense why pastors are at a loss in sorting through the good and bad. How do we know what amounts to “good” missions?
Here are three practical ways our congregations can be staging areas for gospel advancement into the unreached places of the world.
How can pastors encourage their congregations to appreciate ecclesiological distinctives without discarding a spirit of catholicity?
Your ordinary vocational gifts and talents might be a treasure to a congregation in Malaysia or London or Istanbul or Dubai.
Every person on the planet will live forever. The sooner we accept that reality, the sooner we will pursue missions with urgency, focus, and perseverance.
If you’re not engaged in evangelism and missions, then you don’t really believe in particular redemption.