Advance the Gospel

Our Default Setting

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In computer science, a “default setting” is a setting or a value automatically assigned to a software application, computer program or device. When I was in high school I used a program called “Microsoft Word”. When you opened a Word document, the font that was automatically set for you to use was “Times New Romans”. That font was the “default setting”. To use a different font, the user would have to go in and change the font to the one he desired.

So what does this have to do with missions? I think many of us as Christians have a “default setting” of our own. It is to “stay”. If God calls me to the mission field, I will go, but until He does I will stay. That is our “default setting”. Should God desire us to go, He would change our default setting from “stay” to “go”. I think we have this backwards. I think our default setting should be “go” and we should go with the Gospel of Jesus to the nations of the world unless God stops us and changes our “default setting” from “go” to “stay” (or more accurately “send”, but this is a subject for another post).

Is there any Scripture to back this up? Yes. The Great Commission. Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” The very first word is “GO”. It is not “STAY”, it is “GO”. Mark 16:15 says close to the same thing, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Again, the operative word is “GO”.

You may be thinking, “If everyone in my church went to the mission field that would be unhealthy for our church. We wouldn’t have anyone left.” If a church sent out so many missionaries and church planters that they were becoming smaller and smaller, that would be the best problem any church could ever have. I don’t know that this situation has ever existed. What a beautiful “problem” to have.

I encourage you, switch your default setting to “go”. It may be that God will keep you where you are now, it may be that God will lead you elsewhere in the United States or in the world. In God’s program, our default setting should be go. Let us seek to go with the Gospel to every nation, province, city, tribe, neighborhood, village, house, and soul.

What Kind Of Missionary Are You?

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A question I am often asked is “What kind of missionary are you?” or “What kind of mission work are you going to do?”  It’s true, there are all kinds of great things done on the foreign field in the name of missions.  I am thankful for all that is done for people. Wells are dug, children are taken care of, schools are built, educations opportunities are afforded, and lives are made better.  So what kind of missionaries are you?
I think that the Bible is clear in that New Testament missions is church planting and men training.  The book of Acts shows us how Paul went from city to city proclaiming the Gospel and starting churches.  Paul started churches in Thessalonica, Berea, Philippi, Ephesus just to name a few.  The proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus and the establishment of churches is what New Testament missions is all about.
We are going to Argentina to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus and to plant churches that train men, who will go out and proclaim the Gospel and plant churches that will train men who will go on to do the same thing over and over.  There are multitudes of people who are without Gospel preaching churches that will evangelize and equip men to continue the ministry on.  Our desire is that Jesus is made known in all of Argentina and across the world!
We are Gospel proclaimers.  We are church planters.  We are men trainers.

May 2015 Missions Letter

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Blessings and Tragedy

It is amazing to me how we can get so caught up in our own lives that we forget the struggle and trials of others around us.  God has increased our support to just over 50% this month!  We have had churches partner with us this month in world evangelism.  Each week seems to get more exciting!  Leslie and I both have been amazed at how God has answered our prayers this month.  In the midst of all of this blessing, we showed up at a church that we scheduled some months ago.  We were there on Sunday night.  The Friday before, the Assistant Pastor and his 20 month old daughter were in an accident.  She was hurt badly, and at our arrival, she was at the hospital in a very uncertain condition.  The church was heartbroken.  I presented and preached and tried to be an encouragement to a hurting body of believers.  We prayed together for about an hour after the service.  Sadly, little Faith Lawrence passed away a few days later.  We are always grateful to share in the blessings, but we are also to be thankful to share in the tragedies too!  God can use us in both!

Who are the Mapuche?

Their name means Che = People – Mapu = of the land.  These “people of the land” are an indigenous group in Argentina and Chile.  I actually spent a few days with a specific group of Mapuche back in 2012.  The Mapuche’s second language is Spanish (their first language is called “Mapudungdun”). I was in contact with a missionary this month who is working with the Mapuche in the Andes Mountains in Argentina.  He is laboring to see this little-known people come to faith in Jesus.  This reminds me
of how vast Argentina really is.  There are cities, towns, and villages full of people that
need the Gospel.  We need laborers proclaiming the Gospel and training men in every city.

What Do I Do Next?

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Questions That I Am Asked: “I want to be a missionary what do I do next?”

“I want to be a missionary, what do I do next?”  I have been asked this question from time to time.  The answer to this question is totally dependent upon this person’s age, spiritual maturity, training, and experience.  Usually, the first thing someone wants to do when they surrender to the foreign mission field is to figure out what country they will one day go to.  I will tell you that the country you are going to go to at this point is of little importance.  Here are some things that you should do when considering foreign missions.

  • Get involved in your local church.  You may already serve in your church, if so start trying to do more.  Look for jobs to do.  Try to anticipate what your pastor and church leadership needs.  Arrive to church early and stay late.  Volunteer to substitute as a teacher for Sunday School classes.  Ask to become a teacher or an assistant teacher of a class.  Get involved in the ministry!
  • Spend time with your pastor.  Let him know what you believe God is working in your heart to do.  Ask him for counsel.  Meet with him before services to pray.  Serve him.  Learn from him how he does ministry.  Go with him to make visits, funerals, and weddings.  Learn from him how to do the ministry!
  • Get actively involved with the missionaries your church supports.  Most of the missionaries your church supports have email addresses, contact them and let them know what God is doing in your heart.  Communicate with them on a regular basis.  Pray for them.
  • Go on missions trips.  There are few things that will light the fire in a man who is interested in missions like going to see a field where God is working.  Don’t just go to the mission field, but go to visit a missionary on the field.  We have Vision Tours lined up for 2015 around the world where God is using missionaries.
  • Pray and learn about every country around the world.  There are 195 countries around the world.  All of them need the Gospel of Jesus.  You can buy the book “Operation World”.  It will educate you on the need of each country.  A call to any country starts with a burden.
  • Read books.  There are great missionary biographies to read, there are also wonderful books on missions to read.  “The Master’s Plan of Evangelism”, “The Challenge of Missions”, “Mentoring for Missions”, are the names of just a few.  There are also great blogs.  WorldEvangelism.net is a great example of a blog centered around missions.  It is constantly updated and you can learn great things.

These are all good things that anyone can do who is interested in becoming a missionary.  Missionaries should have training and experience.  I pray that God use you at your home church and one day on the foreign mission field.  If there is anything I can to do to assist you, please let me know.  May God bless you as you continue to follow him.