Muslim Evangelism
Posted by wagardner - 28/11/07 at 06:11:00 amI have been on the road and am now in South Africa with missionary Kevin Hall. That has put me pretty far behind on lots of things but I am enjoying the time here and seeing all that God is doing.
I just came across this on a blog and I have not listened to any of the messages but thought that my friends that work with Muslims might want to see if there was any good material here.
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Boldness
Posted by wagardner - 22/11/07 at 01:11:00 amA good friend said the following the other day and I can’t say that I could agree more. I am so glad when I hear a missionary say something like this:
Everyone who has traveled from America or Europe to a Muslim country inevitably learn the “code language” that is used here by the missionaries who are afraid of getting kicked out of the country. Usually that language is learned after consistent scolding for using “bad words” like Jesus, church, and the gospel. I don’t want to be pompous but I’ll risk it and say, “If you can’t say the name of Jesus with boldness where you are going…don’t go!”
Most missionaries don’t use those words even in private in their own homes or out in the woods. They think that someone is always listening. They have been conditioned to fear before they ever arrived here by their organizations. I don’t know if they think someone has binoculars and is reading their lips in English or Spanish or maybe they have been bugged.
So, here is the translation of some of your more common words so you know what to say when you meet some of these missionaries because if you don’t, they may just be likely to hang up on you or walk away from you with no warning:
Missionary- (The worst cuss word in existence) “M” (just simply the letter) or “Macaroni” (seriously) or more commonly “worker”
The Jesus Film- “The J. Film”
The Bible- “The Good Book”
Evangelism- “Sharing”
Preaching- “Talking”
Mission Board- “Company”
Church- “Group” (which I guess is not that far off as a literal translation)
Church Planting- “C. P.”
The Gospel- “The News”
So I know that some of you who read this blog who have visited the Muslim world have bought into this language hook-line-and-sinker. Personally, though, I just simply feel ashamed of myself when I act so obviously ashamed of Christ and my job. So for the record, so you know, when people ask I tell them what I did before I came here: Taught the Bible. When I am on the street or in the presence of Arabs I use every one of those words with liberty in English, Spanish, and often Arabic. When they ask me where I am going on Sunday I tell them that I am going to church. AND I have never said that I nor anyone other missionary is a MACARONI. Sheesh!
I may get kicked out of the country tomorrow but I would rather my days be short and full of impact and courage than many and full of fear and waste.
PS. You can’t teach disciples to have courage (which is any missionaries main job, especially in a persecuted country) while you are afraid to use Jesus’ name…in public…out loud…with courage!
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Success in Life by Spurgeon pages 128-129 in Autobiography 2
Posted by wagardner - 19/11/07 at 04:11:00 pm“ We must be careful as to the line of life we select, our pursuit must be in keeping with our constitutional tendencies. A man born to be a mechanic would never succeed as a poet; and the man with the poetical afflatus would not be successful as a financier. Each man has powers that adapt him to certain work; and he ought to look out for that occupation which will be most congenial with his own disposition. I now that:, if I had been bred a collier or a ploughman, I would still have been a preacher, for I must speak. I feel something like Elihu, when he aid, ‘I will speak, that I may be refreshed,’ I do not regard preaching or
speaking as a task or a labor; it is more like a cure for dulness. I feel that here is something I want to get rid of, so I unburden myself by telling it to thers.
“When you have chosen your pursuit in life, stick to it. Having had a great any young men under training, I have met with some who are —
“‘Everything by turns, and nothing long.’
Some men in. business are just the same; but I would rather be a cobbler, and stick to nay last, than change my calling often, and so be noted for nothing in particular. If a tree is transplanted seven times, it will be a miraculous tree if :it brings forth fruit. The man who is first this thing, and then that, is like a dog hunting six hares at one time, he is certain to catch none. David was a man of great influence, and we must trace’, all his spiritual power to the Spirit of God; but, with respect to what he accomplished, we may learn a lesson from his own words, ‘One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after.’ That concentration was the
source of much of his power. Now, if your energies are allowed to run out in many channels, they will be dissipated, and we shall see no result in the stream of your life; but if you have only one channel for all your powers, it will be deep if not broad, and there may go the galley with many oars, and
from it shall proudly flora: the banner of success.
Spurgeon’s fellow workers
Posted by wagardner - 18/11/07 at 08:11:00 pm“All my church officers are in a very real sense my brethren in Christ. In talking to or about one another, we have no stately modes of address. I am called ‘the Governor’–I suppose, because I do not attempt to govern; and the deacons are known among us as ‘Brother William,’ ‘Uncle Tom,’ ‘Dear Old Joe,’ ‘Prince Charlie,’ ‘Son of Ali’ and so on. These brethren are some of them esquires who ought also to be M. P.’s but we love them too well to dignify them. One day, I spoke rather sharply to one of them, and I think he deserved the rebuke I gave him, but he said to me, ‘Well, that may be so, but I tell you what, sir, I would die for you any day.‘ ‘Oh’ I replied, ‘bless your heart, I am sorry I was so sharp, but, still, you did deserve it, did you not?’ He smiled, and said he thought he die, and there the matter ended.” page 70
“On going into the Tabernacle, one day, I gave directions about some minor alterations that I wished to have made, not knowing at the time that I was canceling the orders given by the deacon who had the main care of the building resting upon him. When he arrived, in the evening, he saw what had been done, and at once asked who had interfered with his instructions. The reply was, ‘The Governor, sir’. The spirit of unquestioning loyalty at once asserted itself over any temporary annoyance he may have felt, and he said, ‘Quite right; there must be only one captain in a ship;’ and for a long while, that saying became one of our most familiar watchwords. I have often been amazed at the devotion of our brethren; I have told them many a time that, if they would follow a broomstick as they have followed me, the work must succeed, To which William Olney, as the spokesman for the rest, has answered, ‘Yes, dear Pastor; but it is because we have such absolute confidence in your leadership that we are ready to follow you anywhere. You have never misled us yet, and we do not believe you ever will do so.” page 71
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Spurgeon volume 2 page 11
Posted by wagardner - 18/11/07 at 07:11:00 pm“Spurgeon said. “I never answer any slanders against myself, and very seldom answer any questions about what I mean to do. I am obliged to be a self-contained man, just going on my own way, and letting other people go in their own way. If I am wrong, I will be accountable to my own Master, but to no flesh living; and if I am right, the day will declare it. God knows how sincere are my intentions even when I may have acted unwisely.”
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The Full Harvest, C H Spurgeon 2
Posted by wagardner - 18/11/07 at 07:11:00 pmIn the Autobiography of Charles Spurgeon there are quotes that just really make me realize that I must work differently than I am currently working. Think on this one for a while:
“As long as there is breath in our bodies, let us serve Christ; as long as we can think, as long as we can speak, as long as we can work, let us serve him, let us even serve him with our last gasp; and, if it be possible, let us try to set some work going that will glorify him when we are dead and gone. Let us scatter some seed that may spring up when we are sleeping beneath the hillock in the cemetery.”
“As for myself, I am compelled to say with solemn truthfulness that I am not content with anything I have ever done. I have half wished to live my life over again, but now I regret that my proud heart allowed me so to wish, since the probabilities are that I should do worse the second time. Whatever grace has done for me I acknowledge with deep gratitude; but so far as I have done anything myself I beg pardon for it. I pray God to forgive my prayers, for they have all been full of fault; I beseech him to forgive even this confession, for it is not as humble as it ought to be; I beseech him to wash my tears and purge my devotions and to baptize me into a true burial with my Saviour, that I may be quite forgotten in myself, and only remembered in him.
What thoughts for you and me. We must leave something to glorify God with after our death.
I also am impressed that even Spurgeon could not or was not satisfied with his own service. But we are taught to realize that we would probably mess it up just as bad the second time.
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Missions Video
Posted by wagardner - 17/11/07 at 03:11:00 amTrent sent me this video.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqfyiDHYMkc&rel=1&border=0]
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Convicting–I have been very guilty
Posted by wagardner - 15/11/07 at 01:11:00 pm[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPJ-xPjrsQ8&rel=1&border=0]
Good video from Jason Holt
Posted by wagardner - 14/11/07 at 02:11:00 pmI really think that this is a good video from Jason Holt. It shows us some of the traditions of Chile as well as calling us to remember our great responsibility of getting the gospel to the world while there is still time.
I also think that Jason is using the video for a really good purpose of getting the message to all of us. You might consider doing something like this.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CklfyBm8Fuo&rel=1]
Accountability
Posted by wagardner - 14/11/07 at 12:11:00 pmEveryone wants to be a leader. However, few are prepared to accept the accountability that goes with it. But you can’t have one without the other. They are two sides of the same coin.
But what does accountability look like? First and foremost, it means that you accept responsibility for the outcomes expected of you—both good and bad. You don’t blame others. And you don’t blame the external environment. There are always things you could have done—or still can do—to change the outcome.
Until you take responsibility, you are a victim. And being a victim is the exact opposite of being a leader. Victims are passive. They are acted upon. Leaders are active. They take initiative to influence the outcome.
From here! Read the rest of the article.
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