John MacArthur gives a brief synopsis of the work of the church as it relates to culture and society. In this short video, he shares part of his life story and where he was when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.
In the second video, Dr. MacArthur answers some questions as it pertains to social justice and the role of the church in society.
Many of you know that missions is near and dear to the hearts of my family and I. Before today, I had never seen this video, but it shows the truth of what it means to pay the price to worship and to serve Christ.
Philippians 1:21 – “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
This is a very good testimony from a brother in Christ, Ryan Haines. We have shared some material from Ryan before on the issue of homosexuality. He has a ministry called The Gospel Training Ground. I recommend listening to this video, especially if you have children who are far from God.
Dear Friends,
I would like to share a very special letter that I received this past Sunday. By brief word of explanation, this came from a young man around 28 years old who was recently converted out of Is1am. His entire family, with the exception of one brother, all remain Mus1ims at this time.
Because of the war and the education system here in Liberia, people can actually take several years to get through high school. Many are in their 20’s and 30’s before they can afford to complete and gain their high school diploma.
Because of the sensitivity of those who minister in predominatly Is1amic areas, we will refrain from using his name. This young man is growing every week in his understanding of the Scriptures and is…well, I’ll let you read his letter to me which I have transposed just as he wrote it.
Thanks for praying.
*************
Dear Borther Mark,
How are you doing: hope all is Well with you and your family.
You may not understand why I writting you this letter, but if you do not understand, remember me. (He is reminding me who he is again because this was passed to me through one of the other men I am training. This is one aspect of Liberian culture to deal with another through somebody you respect.)
I am using this opportunity to inform you about the hard work you have done for me. I was in darkness, but now am walking in light. Through you my life will improve because of the bible class.
I understand that you want to open bible school in Gbarnga.
I will be going back to school in Gbarnga to complet my high School and I want to be part of this bible school in Gbarnga, because one day I want to become a missionary in my country Sierra Leone.
God bless you.
Signed,
Atheist Matthew Parris wrote an interesting piece entitled As an Atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God. Here’s one quote from his article:
Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.
HT Grace Blog
It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home.
– Hudson Taylor
1832 – 1905
“‘Not called!” did you say? “Not heard the call,” I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.
– William Booth
1829 – 1912
“If missions languish, it is because the whole life of godliness is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is not obeyed, until the will is lost by self-surrender in the will of God. There is little right giving because there is little right living, and because of the lack of sympathetic contact with God in holiness of heart, there is a lack of effectual contact with him at the Throne of Grace. Living, praying, giving and going will always be found together, and a low standard in one means a general debility in the whole spiritual being.”
1856-1887
Your Sermon of the Week is For God So Loved the World by Brad Buser. Brad, a long time missionary to Papau New Guniea, challenges you to consider world missions as he smases most of the common excuses people employ to resist going into all the world, including “There are needs here,” “If God wants me there I guess I’ll end up there,” and the infamous but all too common: “I haven’t been called.”
While vast continents are shrouded in darkness . . . the burden of proof lies upon you to show that the circumstances in which God has placed you were meant by God to keep you out of the foreign mission field.
– Ion Keith-Falconer
1856-1887
Thanks to The Desert Pastor for e-mailing this video to me. Who would have thought a sharpie marker and a piece of cardboard could be such an encouragement?
For those contemplating missionary work in West Africa, (or anywhere else for that matter), you will be greatly encouraged and deeply touched by this video.
The video on YouTube does not contain audio; if you prefer the audio version (recommended) then watch it on this link.
From the website:
Missionaries aren’t superheroes. That’s for sure.
Those of us who work in West Africa were once school teachers, retirees, engineers and coffee baristas. We’ve struggled with sin, physical handicaps, broken families and the stagnant Christian life. We had fears of moving overseas, learning new languages, catching strange diseases and raising our families in a foreign country.
We are transformed.
We all have a story of how God has renewed our lives and brought us to His service, sharing the Gospel with West Africans who have never heard.
We want to share our stories with you — on cardboard — and show you that in Him, anyone is worthy of The Call.
If we intend to answer man’s greatest problem—his separation from the eternal God—with rice handouts, then we are throwing a drowning man a board instead of helping him out of the water.
– K.P. Yohannan
Modern man unconsciously holds highest the humanistic ideals of happiness, freedom, and economic, cultural, and social progress for all mankind. This secular view says there is no God, heaven or Hell; there is just one chance at life, so do what makes you most happy. It also teaches that “since all men are brothers,” we should work for that which contributes toward the welfare of all men. This teaching–so attractive on the surface–has entered our churches in many ways, creating a man-centered and man-made gospel based on changing the outside and social status of man by meeting his physical needs. The cost is his eternal soul.
– K.P. Yohannan
