Baptists Committed to World Evangelism

Numbers 14:40-45 “And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. 41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. 42 Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. 44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.” When God told the Israelites to go up into the Promised Land, they were afraid and did not want to go up.  They rebelled against the Lord and refused to go up.  When God told them that they would wander in the wilderness for forty years because of their rebellion, then they decided to go up without the Lord’s blessing.  Their efforts were resisted, and they failed because the time had passed and God was not with them

Check out this incredible opportunity to serve as an intern at my home church: Welcome to a description of the Vision Baptist Intern! Thank you for your interest in serving the Lord Jesus Christ through the ministry of Vision Baptist Church and the Our Generation Training Center. The Vision Baptist Internship provides an opportunity to experience day-to-day life in the Lord’s work while working on a variety of tasks and projects. In addition to normal church and office duties, interns attend weekly lectures, volunteer at special events, participate in tours, and contribute to world evangelism projects.

I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair until now had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm, one Sunday morning, while I was going to a certain place of worship. When I could go no further, I turned down a side street, and came to a little Primitive Methodist Chapel. In that chapel there may have been a dozen or fifteen people. I had heard of the Primitive Methodists, how they sang so loudly that they made people’s heads ache; but that did not matter to me

My brain hurt. I don’t mean a headache, I mean my brain just felt like it had been in a tiny car wreck inside my skull, and was now lying in a ditch upside down trying to remember if it had full coverage insurance. It’s a feeling experienced only by those who have tried to discuss the finer points of theology in a language they don’t really know. It was 2006, and I was sitting in a crowded cafe in Salamanca Spain, surrounded by Spaniards, Danes, Aussies, British, and French, watching an event that unifies people like nothing else: the FIFA world cup

“What is so tedious as a twice-told tale?” asked Homer in his Odyssey. We really don’t mind a twice-told tale if the teller has the skill to make it sound new each time it is told. Wiersbe, W. W., & Wiersbe, D

One of the hardest misconceptions to break in missions is that missionaries are somehow superhuman extraordinary people. I think I do my part in breaking that misconception pretty well: all I have to do is show up in a church and they no longer think missionaries are special… OK, maybe special ED. I enjoy going to the dry cleaners probably more than most: not because I enjoy paying half the price of my suit just to have it cleaned, but because my dry cleaner is a Christian. The first time I went to his store, I invited him to church. His response was AWESOME: “That’s great, I love Jesus too!” The first visit was about 5 minutes of conversation, the next about 10, and yesterday it turned into about an hour.

If you are like me, you have two questions about Johannes Kepler: 1. Why is he holding chopsticks in that portrait? And more importantly… 2. What would 17th century  German scientists think about modern issues? One of the great tools that we have in communicating with people in missions is Facebook, and other social networking

Can you imagine spending long, exhausting days plowing and preparing a vast  field?  Can you imagine then carefully planting your crops and waiting for weeks to see that crop begin to sprout and grow ever so steadily?  See yourself pulling weeds, keeping away the birds and small animals that would love to feast on the tender new shoots.  As the heated summer days give way to the cool fall, you know harvest time is nearing.

The following points come from here. Click to read the original article. The pastor and congregation are ‘stretched’ to preach on and hear about subjects that would not be normally chosen; The preacher and hearers are immersed in one book of the Bible for many weeks and months; It helps to keep passages in context; It teaches people how to read and study their Bibles; It provides a balanced diet and prevents pastors from sticking to their ‘hobby horses’; The pastor does not need to agonize over his choice of text each week; There does not need to be so much introduction and background given each week; The overall argument or narrative of the book is better grasped and understood; It helps people to see the overall plan of Scripture; It encourages people to prepare ahead by reading and thinking about the passage; It emphasizes the centrality and authority of Scripture.

Another devotional from A W Tozer Acts 20:26–27 This is one of the marks of our modern time—that many are guilty of merely “nibbling” at the truth of the Christian gospel. I wonder if you realize that in many ways the preaching of the Word of God is being pulled down to the level of the ignorant and spiritually obtuse; that we must tell stories and jokes and entertain and amuse in order to have a few people in the audience? We do these things that we may have some reputation and that there may be money in the treasury to meet the church bills.… In many churches Christianity has been watered down until the solution is so weak that if it were poison it would not hurt anyone, and if it were medicine it would not cure anyone! Lord, don’t ever let me be guilty of watering down the truth or playing to the crowds, concerned about my “reputation” or “money in the treasury.” Amen. Tozer, A. W.