Charles Haddon Spurgeon: The People’s Preacher

This 2010 drama-documentary titled “Charles Haddon Spurgeon: The People’s Preacher”  on the life and ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon is worth a watch.  The drama-documentary sought to  faithfully traced  the conversion and calling of a young C.H. Spurgeon into public ministry of the Gospel. The film also portrayed Spurgeon in  the many trials, successes, failures, joys and pains  that he  went through in his 40 years of faithful ministry as the  “people’s preacher” for the glory of his Lord Jesus Christ . C.H. Spurgeon impacted his generation greatly with the faithful preaching of the Gospel of God’s amazing grace and Spurgeon’s legacy of sermons and writings continues to impact many more generations of preachers and people to this day.

“God does not need your strength: he has more than enough of power of his own. He asks your weakness: he has none of that himself, and he is longing, therefore, to take your weakness, and use it as the instrument in his own mighty hand. Will you not yield your weakness to him, and receive his strength?”  – Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Disobedient Christians vs World Missions

“There are only three kinds of Christians when it comes to world missions: zealous goers, zealous senders, and disobedient. May God deliver us from disobedience!”  

John Piper – A Passion for the Supremacy of Christ—Where He Is Not Named – 3 Nov 96

What is the Great Commission?

“Go therefore into all the world and make disciples.” This is the version of the Great Commission that many of us memorized. However, it leaves out a great deal. To begin with, it leaves out the whole rationale for the commission in the first place. Although it sounds a little corny, a good rule of thumb in reading the Scriptures is that whenever you find a “therefore” you need to stop and ask “what it’s there for.”

When we see an imperative such as “Go therefore,” we need to go back and look at what has already been said leading up to it. There is no reason for us to go into all the world as Christ’s ambassadors apart from the work that he has already accomplished.

The Great Commission actually begins with the declaration, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). This is the rationale for everything the church is called to do and to be. The church’s commission is indeed directed by a purpose (“making disciples of all nations”), but it is driven by a promise  ……………….

The church’s mission is grounded in God’s mission, which he fulfilled objectively in his Son and whose subjective effects he is bringing about in the world through his Spirit. Because the Father sent the Son and then the Spirit, we are sent into all the world with his gospel…..

And God is the original missionary. He was a missionary in creation: speaking the world into being by his Word, in the power of his Spirit. Adam was commissioned to bring the whole earth under submission to God’s righteous rule, but he forfeited this calling. Israel too was called out by God as “a light to the Gentiles.” Yet, “like Adam, Israel transgressed the covenant” (Hos. 6:7). In the fullness of time, however, the Father sent the Son into the world to save sinners. In his post-resurrection appearances to the disciples, Jesus not only preached himself as the center of Scripture (Luke 24:27, 44), he made their proclamation of him part of that mission as well: “‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem’” (vv. 45-47). And after his ascension, the Son together with the Father sent the Spirit at Pentecost. God’s mission, of course, is qualitatively distinct from ours. The triune God is the Redeemer; we are the redeemed. But the redeemed are given the privilege of participating in God’s mission to the world by proclaiming the gospel, administering the sacraments, and caring for the expanding flock of Christ.

The Great Announcement – “All Authority in Heaven and on Earth Has Been Given to Me” By Michael S. Horton

Dramatic Change and Paradigm Shift in World Mission Focus

In a 2010 article from WSJ (see below), the writer who was an observer at Edinburgh 2010 World Missionary Conference opined the “dramatic change” and “paradigm shift” in the focus of world mission today, away from original focus of the commission that Jesus has  commanded to one which is merely a vacation style outreach “to battle the ills of poverty and to stretch their own spirituality.”. This is the sad state of mission boards and its supporting churches which have lost its understanding of the Gospel and that they exist to spread the good news of the  Gospel and to make disciples of all nations for the glory of God.

It appears that 21st century mission boards and missionaries have lost sight of purpose and intent of the Great Commission that the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded all Christians and for which He has promised His power to enable them to do so faithfully: “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt 28:18-20.

How Missionaries Lost Their Chariots of Fire
by Mr. Greenberg-the creator of TheGodBlog.org.

The 1910 World Missionary Conference was a watershed moment for Protestantism. Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, the assembled 1,200 Protestants believed that Christianity was on the cusp of spreading to every corner of the world, and that Christ would come again once every ear had heard the good news of salvation. Their master plan for missions would hasten his return.

But Edinburgh 2010, the centenary conference that concluded last month, drew only about a quarter of the crowd and received attention only from a few Christian publications. The modern master plan was less ambitious as well: a call to global missions and “to witness and evangelism in such a way that we are a living demonstration of the love, righteousness and justice that God intends for the whole world.”

This dramatic change was summed up at a small gathering of academics and missions professionals at Fuller Theological Seminary in late May. “At (1910) Edinburgh, people thought they were going to take over the world,” said C. Douglas McConnell, dean of Fuller’s School of Intercultural Studies in his opening remarks. “And now many of our students wonder if they should even try.”

Indeed, colonialism is dead (thankfully). But the term “missions” itself now carries with it a negative connotation, even in politically and theologically conservative circles. Christians today typically travel abroad to serve others, but not necessarily to spread the gospel.

While meaning well and certainly doing good, this form of outreach has allowed the pendulum to swing too far from 1910. Today, Christian missionaries need to balance both actions and words. The overwhelming majority of American missionaries today are “vacationaries.” Joining mission trips of two weeks or less, they serve in locales where Christianity already predominates.

The purpose, then, of their visit is to battle the ills of poverty and to stretch their own spirituality. According to studies by Robert J. Priest, a missiologist and director of the doctoral program in intercultural studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 82% of short-term missions today go to countries in the most-Christian third of the world. Only 2% land in the Middle East.

The work these missionaries do reflects a paradigm shift—from spreading Christianity, to living it, …………………….missions experts note rising interest in strictly social justice and humanitarian work, even on short-term visits.

…..Unless foreigners explain that they are motivated to help by their religious beliefs, locals may be grateful for the new home but they should not be expected to connect dots that they may not even know exist.

The reality is the Church should be doing both: serving the needy and spreading the gospel. This is what makes the humanitarian work of Christians different than that of the American Red Cross. Both are motivated by the desire to help others, but Christians are spurred by that Jesus thing…………..

by Mr. Greenberg-the creator of TheGodBlog.org.
Read the full article at @ How Missionaries Lost Their Chariots of Fire

By Faith

By Faith

By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation’s grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight

By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the power of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God’s own hand
A place where peace and justice reign

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
With the power to break the chains of sin and death
And rise triumphant from the grave

By faith the church was called to go
In the power of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In every corner of the earth

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith this mountain shall be moved
And the power of the gospel shall prevail
For we know in Christ all things are possible
For all who call upon His name

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

by Keith and Kristyn Getty | from the album Awaken the Dawn

Do We Need To Hear And Believe Gospel To Get To Heaven?

“It would seem that everybody in evangelical Christianity, everybody who is truly a Christian, would understand that the gospel is the heart of Christianity, that the gospel is found only in the Scripture. And that the gospel must be preached to the ends of the earth. ……. The heart of the Christian faith is the gospel. The gospel is found in the New Testament. The foundations of the gospel are found in the Old Testament. And the gospel must be preached to the ends of the earth if people are to be saved. That’s essentially the Christian mission.

“That’s what the church has believed. That has compelled its life. That has been its mandate. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in My name and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” He said it another way. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”……..That has been the church’s mandate. True Christians have always believed that. The true church has always taught that. We have believed and been compelled by the fact that if people don’t hear the gospel, they can’t be saved. And if they aren’t saved, then they’ll spend eternity in hell under the judgment of God. So it is absolutely critical that the world hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. That they not only hear it but that they understand it accurately. That they believe it. That they embrace it for themselves because it is the only saving truth.”

“Compelled by this clear biblical mandate, Christians through the centuries have taken the saving message to the ends of the earth. Generation after generation they have been engaged in doing this. Preaching the gospel to every person on earth has been the goal of the church. I have told you many times that that’s the only reason we’re still here. We’re already saved and sealed for eternity. There’s no reason to leave us here except for this responsibility of evangelism.”

“Now we believe that the Bible is very clear that salvation comes through believing in Christ. Believing in Christ comes from hearing and understanding the gospel. Being able to hear and understand the gospel can only occur if somebody takes the message. And somebody can only take the message if they’re sent with it. And that’s what Romans 10 says, “You’re saved by believing in Christ but you can’t believe in Christ unless you hear about Christ. You can’t hear about Christ unless somebody preaches. And somebody is not going to preach unless they’re sent. And that is our mandate and that has been the mission of the church since the church was born on Pentecost and Jesus said, “You’ll receive the Holy Spirit and you’ll be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth.” Since the church was launched till today, uncounted millions of dollars in every currency on the map of the world and millions of hours of effort and work and millions of Christian people through the centuries have been spent and sacrificed to take the only message of salvation to the edges of the earth. Translation work, rigorous, difficult, challenging work of taking a language that isn’t even written and developing an alphabet and developing a way to write that language and then teaching the people to read their own language when they’ve never even seen it. And then giving them the scriptures and the gospel, leading them to Christ, rigorous work that takes decades and then printing materials in every language, preaching, teaching, evangelizing…that’s what the church has been engaged in since its calling, since the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. An unrelenting effort to use every means available to reach people with the only message that can save them from eternal judgment and that’s the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.“

“Now all of that is bad enough and we’ve tried to address that. But there’s a new wave in the evangelical world that is at least as frightening, if not more frightening. And the new wave in the evangelical world is this, there are some people who are telling us it isn’t necessary to even take the gospel to the ends of the earth. It’s not necessary. People are being saved without it…without it.”

“Well what does the Bible have to say about this? Do we have a biblical case for the…for the exclusivism? Do we have a case for the fact that if you don’t know the gospel and if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ, you aren’t going to heaven?…….The answer to that is yes.“

selected quotes from The Exclusiveness of the Gospel, Part 1 -December 31, 2000 by John Macarthur.

Related Posts;

No Christ, No Heaven. Enter by the Narrow Gate

Christless Christianity: 2010 West Coast Conference – Free Viewing

Presenting the Gospel: What Are The Non-Negotiables For The Gospel?

A “Christianity” without Jesus Christ and the Gospel

The Truth of the Cross: Jesus Christ taking God’s curse and wrath in the place of sinners

The Essence of Gospel Evangelism Is To Proclaim the True Doctrine of the Cross

Who is God and how are we saved? – Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Muslims

Who is Jesus Christ ? – A former Muslim explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Purpose of Prayer: Kingdom Oriented Prayer versus Misuse of Prayer

“I have often said that one of the reasons we feel so weak in our prayer lives is that we have tried to make a domestic intercom out of a wartime walkie talkie. Prayer is not designed as an intercom between us and God to serve the domestic comforts of the saints. It’s designed as a walkie talkie for spiritual battlefields. It’s the link between active soldiers and their command headquarters, with its unlimited fire-power and air cover and strategic wisdom.” (John Piper)

“Years ago, when I wrote Let the Nations Be Glad, I argued that prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom. God is more like a general in Command Central than a butler waiting to bring you another pillow in the den. Of course, he is also Father, Lover, Friend, Physician, Shepherd, Helper, King, Savior, Lord, Counselor. But in this fallen world with devils filled, prayer will function best when we keep the frequency tuned to Command Central in the fight of faith.” (John Piper)

‘In wartime prayer takes on a different significance. It becomes a wartime walkie-talkie and no longer a domestic intercom. Jesus said to his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, in order that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give to you” (John 15:16). Notice the amazing logic of this verse. He gave them a mission “in order that” the Father would have prayers to answer. This means that prayer is for mission. It is designed to advance the kingdom. That’s why the Lord’s Prayer begins by asking God to see to it that his name be hallowed and that his kingdom come. James warned about the misuse of prayer as a domestic intercom to call the butler for another pillow. He said, “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:2-3). Prayer is always kingdom oriented. Even when we pray for healing and for help, it is that that the kingdom purposes of God in the world may advance. Otherwise we have turned a wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic intercom. Let us pray with the apostle Paul, “that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified” (2 Thessalonians 3:1).’ (John Piper, “Driving Convictions Behind Foreign Missions”- Conviction #12—Prayer Is a Wartime Walkie-Talkie Not a Domestic Intercom.)

Evangelism: Faithful Preaching of Gospel in Full

An excellent “must see” video clip documentary on how, Mark and Gloria Zook, a New Tribes Mission’s missionary couple from the US went to Papua New Guinea to share the Gospel with Papuan natives in a remote village.These people have previously never seen the world outside of their village. These people have never heard of God of the bible, the missionaries did not want to jump right into sharing who Jesus Christ is without first providing them the full picture on the Gospel story as revealed by the bible. The missionaries started by sharing with these Papuan natives simple information on the location where the natives lived relative to others in PNG and in relation to the community of world nations. The Papuan natives started to have a bigger worldview beyond their remote village. They realized that there is a much bigger world beyond their village. With an enhanced worldview, teaching the bible and its events began to make much better sense.

The missionaries took great pains to faithfully teach and explain the whole counsel of God, starting from the creation of the world, creation of man and how man sinned against God, the basis of Old Testament revelations in the calling of Abraham and the sacrificial offering of Isaac by Abraham and how God finally provided the sacrificial lamb. Old Testament’s typology were carefully explained and necessity for a perfect sin bearer to atone the sins of sinners and then pointing to God sending His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was faithfuly expounded and the people began to see their sinfulness to be as vile as that of people of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is evident that God moved amongst these people, by His grace, the glorious Gospel’s saving power to shine into their hearts, giving them light and opening the hearts to repentance and faith. The people turned to trust in Jesus Christ and were overjoyed that they have found a Savior in Jesus Christ, they loved Him. This video showed the results of true evangelism, wrought through faithful preaching of Gospel in full and relying on God’s mighty power and promise to save through His Gospel.

Mark Zook – Biography

Mark Zook and his wife, Gloria, were born and reared in Belleville, Pennsylvania. While farming, they were involved in their local church and in correspondence courses through Moody Bible Institute.

They completed New Tribes Mission’s training and moved to Papua New Guinea in 1983 to begin working with the Mouk People. After learning the language and culture, Mark began Bible translation, Bible teaching, and church planting work. He has translated the New Testament and portions of the Old Testament, developed an extensive Bible teaching curriculum in the Mouk language, and trained Mouk believers for the ministry which has been documented in the videos EE-TAOW and EE-TAOW, the Next Chapter. More than one hundred Mouk men serve as pastor-elders, deacons, Bible teachers, teacher trainees, and literacy program workers ministering to the eighteen indigenous churches in the Mouk tribal area. During the time the Zooks lived and worked with the Mouk tribe, Mark also served as a consultant for tribal missionaries.

Upon returning to Pennsylvania in 1997, Mark joined the team that developed new curriculum for the New Tribes Missions Institute. For the next four years, he taught and refined church planting courses. He has presented church planting seminars in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, Argentina, Portugal and the Philippines.

Most recently, Mark co-founded the Worldview Resource Group (WRG), which provides training in cross-cultural church planting methodology with an emphasis on a worldview approach to ministry. Mark’s seminars and workshops are a combination of proven methodology and Biblically-based, practical advice. On December 11, 2004, he received the Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from Lancaster Bible College.

Mark and Gloria live in Belleville, PA. They have two children, Rick and Nichole, and two grandchildren. Rick and his family are church planters in Papua New Guinea. Nichole and her family live in Pennsylvania.