This week marks the celebration of Thanksgiving. Turkey, dressing, and desserts will be devoured on Thursday. Families will gather to eat and give thanks. But why? For Americans, we give thanks for many reasons, not least of which is our freedom to live in a land that is free (for now) to worship without the... Continue Reading →
The Gospel, Missions and October 31
October 31 is a day of great celebration among Christians. We anticipate, or at least we should anticipate, this day every year. This day marks a great recovery of the gospel. No, I am not referring to Halloween, but the Reformation. On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses... Continue Reading →
Missions Strategy: Establish Churches
As the world’s population continues to grow, the birthing of new churches is greatly needed. Empowering through prayer and evangelizing the unreached are necessary components of Great Commission faithfulness, as I have previously discussed. The third necessary component of GC faithfulness is establishing churches. As one examines the book of Acts, the strategy of the... Continue Reading →
Missions Strategy: Evangelize the Unreached
When Great Commission faithfulness begins with fervent prayer, as I wrote about last month, it leads to bold gospel proclamation (e.g., Acts 4). The second component of Great Commission faithfulness is evangelizing the unreached. Peter preaches his second sermon at the temple area in Acts 3. Chapter 4 describes Peter and John being arrested for... Continue Reading →
Missions Strategy: Where to Begin?
There are 7 billion people on plant earth. Approxiately 3.9 billion have never been reached with the gospel! It’s easy to become numb by numbers. But each number, whether it be 1 or 1 billion, represents people in need of the gospel of Jesus. If people are really lost without Christ and face an eternity... Continue Reading →
Embracing Europeans with the Gospel
Europe is a place rich in scenery and history. In fact, Europe is a place rich in Christian history. Unfortunately, that Christian history is all but forgotten by Europeans. With 800 million people in Europe, it is estimated that 99% are lost without Christ. 99% lost! That reality might strike you as surprisingly as it... Continue Reading →
The Call and Commission of a Disciple
It does not take one long to see the seriousness and magnitude of Christ’s call to discipleship as one examines the call of Christ’s early followers. In fact, Jesus calls His followers to radical living. Well…I may say normal living because all Jesus followers are called to this kind of living. Furthermore, this call of... Continue Reading →
A Night with Nik Ripken
Last Friday I had the privilege to attend an event hosted by Redemption Hill Baptist Church (RH) called God’s Leading Edge: The Front Lines of the Great Commission. RH invited veteran missionary and author Nik Ripken to share about his experience serving God in hard places throughout the world. He is most recently noted for... Continue Reading →