Hi friends, this is a speech that I used in the NCFCA (National Christian Forensics Communications Association) this past year. I wanted to post it because I never want to forget the Great Commission, and I thought the more I did to remind myself of it, the harder it would be to forget! I hope it inspires or at least encourages you to keep spreading the gospel and supporting those who do full-time!
Baron Van Welz was a German nobleman; he was privileged and wealthy. Yet when he died, he was little known; little cared for; and filled a mere humble grave in Dutch Guinea. How could this happen to someone of such great wealth, titles, and influence? The Baron deeply wanted people to go to the mission field, yet many of his contemporaries preached that missions should be local rather then international and even taught that it was wrong to bring heathens the gospel. Because he saw the need for missionaries when many other Christians and theologians of his day did not, he renounced his title, land, and money so that he might serve God in Dutch Guinea. He said these words, “What to me is the title 'well-born,' when I am born again in Christ? What to me is the title 'lord,' when I desire to be a servant of Christ? What to me to be called 'your grace,' when I have need of God's grace and help? All these vanities I will away with, and everything besides I will lay at the feet of Jesus, my dearest Lord, that I may have no hindrance in serving him aright.” (Welz)
According to the article “A Signal of Need” by Michael Bronson, about 149,000 people who have never asked for Christ’s forgiveness will die today. (Bronson) God has called us to reach these lost people for His glory; yet all too often we allow trivial things to become hindrances from serving Him. Sometimes I wonder if we allow security and wealth to become poor substitutes for the joy of serving Christ. However, as Baron Van Welz realized, there is no title, nor riches, nor comfort that could ever compare to the precious treasure that comes from serving Christ. Today, I would like to talk about the command to be mission minded, the cry for missionaries, and the call that every Christian has toward missions.
The first reason that we should be concerned with missions is because God has commanded us to be. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus says, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV, Matthew 28:19) Though this verse is well known, most Christians fail to live it out to the radical and life changing extent that Jesus intended it for. Here, Jesus commands all His followers to go and tell others how wonderful it is to be His disciple! But why does God command us to spread the gospel to the rest of the world? I believe God places Christians willing to follow Him on the mission field for two main reasons: to save the lost, and to glorify Him. First, God has called people to the mission field for the unsaved. John Keith Falconer said, “I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.” (Falconer) You and I, too, have only one candle to burn. Our whole lives will be lived for a purpose. What do you want that purpose to be? Do you want to use your life to show a dying people the gospel? That is one purpose of missions. Another reason for missions is for the glory of God. Because ultimately, missions is about showing people God’s grace so that they will praise God; we should show others the gospel because God so deserves to hear praises from every person that He created in His image. That is why God has commanded missions.
The second reason we should be concerned with missions is because there are millions who are crying for the gospel and perishing without ever having heard it. In fact, according to the Orthodox Christian Mission Center, “It is estimated that 28% of the world’s population has still not heard the Gospel in a way that they can respond to it affirmatively or negatively. In other words, over 1.8 billion people today have not been presented with the Gospel message.” (Orthodox Christian Mission Center) That cry is painful, isn’t it? That cry that takes place every single second from someone who is dying without the love of Christ? That cry that we as Christians just don’t hear because we just don’t care enough. Most of the time we just don’t think about the global spread of the gospel. We’re so concerned with living our own lives here and now that we don’t think about how Christ will be spread among the nations. About six months ago, my family and I returned from Nagoya, Japan after living there for almost a year. We attended an international church. Our pastor there, Michael Oh, missionary and President of the Christ Bible Seminary, said these words that changed how I thought of missions: “Think about it – you could JUST AS EASILY have been born in the slums of New Delhi or as the son of a Shinto priest. If you had, knowing what you know today, would you not have wanted someone to cross oceans, lands, and cultures to bring YOU the Gospel?” (Oh) All too often, people who have never heard the gospel become just a statistic to those of us who have. We forget that they are real people who are crying for the gospel, and we forget to care. About a year and a half ago, my parents and I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Haiti. We stayed at God’s Littlest Angels Orphanage, a Christian orphanage that cares for about 170 children. The children there are hungry for attention. Several of them have AIDS or other diseases. While at the orphanage one day, we were upstairs with one of the young American missionaries, and the toilets began to overflow because of a plumbing problem. We were standing there in sewage water when she turned to us and said, “Even after living at the orphanage for six years, I still wake up every morning thinking what a blessing it is that I can be here.” At first, I actually couldn’t believe it when she said that. I mean, I could see realizing that God wanted her there. But she said that she was in awe of the fact that God had allowed her to go to Haiti, the filthiest and dirtiest place I’ve ever seen. How could she say that? I believe it’s because she had her eyes so fixed on Jesus that His love for the children became her love for those children. She had heard the cry of children who needed to hear about God’s love; and she chose to respond to that cry even if it meant giving up earthly comfort and treasures. She knew God had called her to Haiti and she responded to that call willingly. And that leads us to my final point today—the call to missions.
There’s a story of a young girl who shamelessly told her Aunt one day, “I don’t have much interest in missions at all!” Her patient Aunt replied, “No, dear, you can hardly expect to. It is just like getting interest at the bank. You have to put in a little something first before you get any interest. So it is with missions, the more you put into it of your time, or money, or prayer, the more your interest grows. But something you must put in-- or you will never have any interest.” (Elbourne)
If you don’t have any interest in missions, it may be because you haven’t given enough towards it to receive interest, and right now I would like to discuss with you the call that every Christian has towards missions, towards prayer, and towards giving. First of all, I’d like to ask you a question: if God so called you, would you give up everything here in America to be a missionary where few know the true Savior? Another call we have is the wonderful privilege of praying for foreign missions. Please pray every day for missionaries that you know, and for the spread of the gospel all over the world. Praying for foreign missions helps align our hearts with what God wants for missions—the more we pray for missions, the more our hearts desire to spread the gospel the way God’s heart does. Finally, every Christian is called to give to missions. Let us be like the widow in Mark 12:42, who gave her only two copper coins. The point was not how much she gave, but that everything she had she was willing to give up for the Lord. He didn’t need her gifts, and likewise, doesn’t need our gifts. He allows us to give so we can step out in faith and sacrifice. When we give to the point of sacrifice, that’s when we can say, “As much as I want this, it absolutely pales in comparison to how much I love you, Lord.” I would encourage you to give to the point of sacrifice—just like the widow.
Baron Van Welz made a decision that would be considered by many a foolish one. He chose to abandon his wealth, titles, and success to bring the gospel to heathens. Yet he showed no sorrow in doing that—rather, he was joyful that he had rid himself of those “hindrances” from serving Christ. Comfort and security in America are such alluring things. It is so easy to be distracted by them. But as Baron Van Welz realized, the sacrifice of them is so worth it. By all means, I would ask you to pray and give toward missions. But would you also pray and ask the LORD if He is asking you to go? We all have only one candle of life to burn. Would you rather burn your candle in a land already filled with light or a land that is flooded with darkness?
Showing posts with label Gospel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gospel. Show all posts
Friday, September 23, 2011
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sold out for Jesus
A few months ago, I was thinking about Vacation Bible School. That's not so strange. You think to yourself. She's ALWAYS talking about VBS. Why shouldn't she think about it? But bear with me a moment. This was one of the rare times that I was thinking of VBS in a non-positive way. In fact, you might almost call it a negative way. Why? Well, because, I bought into this lie that you and I both have heard everywhere. I was thinking that the lie was truth. I was thinking one day, that if only someone else would lead this VBS, he or she could do such a better job than I could. For instance, if someone who was really musically talented led the VBS, the kids could sound like a professional choir! Or if someone who was really talented at crafts led the VBS, she could help us save a ton of money on crafts and they would look great! Or if someone who knew his neighbors well led the VBS, we could have more neighbor children join in. These thoughts went on in my mind, and as you can probably imagine, I thought of more and more scenarios in which people who had talents that I don't have led the VBS, which would help it be better.
This, my friends, is not only ridiculous considering I can't really help the fact that I don't live around here and know neighbors here or that I'm not very great with crafts, but it's also one of the worst lies that Christians could ever believe! Think about it. If we believe that God can only use us when we have certain talents or abilities, we'll think twice about volunteering both in the community and in the church body. You'll stop telling people about God if you don't think you're a great evangelist. You'll stop teaching Sunday School if you don't think you're a natural-born teacher. If you're not incredible with toddlers, you'll stop volunteering in the nursery. If you don't have a "passion" for cooking, you might stop setting up snacks after church or for Bible Study. You don't think you're great at traveling, so you stop going on mission trips. Imagine, even, if everyone who didn't think that he was a great listener stopped attending the Sabbath day service!
These may sound like extreme cases, but it's the truth. What if we waited for God to give us the full dose of talent that we would like before serving Him? Listen to the wise words of the apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 1:26, "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised thing-- and the things that were not-- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him." God has chosen those who are FOOLISH (me) and WEAK (me again) so that He can show His perfect power clearly, if I am only willing to be used by Him. As 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
If God can delight in using my insufficiency to show His aptitude and sovereignty-- then the least I could ever do is be willing to serve Him.
I don't just want to serve God-- I want to be sold out for Him. I want to be so sold out for the Lord that, no matter what else, my talent doesn't matter, my resources don't matter, my strength doesn't matter-- but that all these things pale in comparison to how great and awesome my God is!
I suppose I made it sound above as if I don't think it's important to have gifts. That's not it at all! God is the giver of all good gifts. He gives us all talents and abilities to SERVE HIM. But. If we're always concerned with waiting for someone with more talent to step up to the plate, we'll stop serving God where He wants us. One of my favorite verses is 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."
I don't think the author is saying that being able to speak well is bad, but rather that it's not where our faith should be. Our faith shouldn't rest on the fact that someone says or does things well, or in our abilities, or even how well we think some ministry opportunity will go.
Where, then, shall we put our faith?
In Christ Alone.
This, my friends, is not only ridiculous considering I can't really help the fact that I don't live around here and know neighbors here or that I'm not very great with crafts, but it's also one of the worst lies that Christians could ever believe! Think about it. If we believe that God can only use us when we have certain talents or abilities, we'll think twice about volunteering both in the community and in the church body. You'll stop telling people about God if you don't think you're a great evangelist. You'll stop teaching Sunday School if you don't think you're a natural-born teacher. If you're not incredible with toddlers, you'll stop volunteering in the nursery. If you don't have a "passion" for cooking, you might stop setting up snacks after church or for Bible Study. You don't think you're great at traveling, so you stop going on mission trips. Imagine, even, if everyone who didn't think that he was a great listener stopped attending the Sabbath day service!
These may sound like extreme cases, but it's the truth. What if we waited for God to give us the full dose of talent that we would like before serving Him? Listen to the wise words of the apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 1:26, "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised thing-- and the things that were not-- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him." God has chosen those who are FOOLISH (me) and WEAK (me again) so that He can show His perfect power clearly, if I am only willing to be used by Him. As 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
If God can delight in using my insufficiency to show His aptitude and sovereignty-- then the least I could ever do is be willing to serve Him.
I don't just want to serve God-- I want to be sold out for Him. I want to be so sold out for the Lord that, no matter what else, my talent doesn't matter, my resources don't matter, my strength doesn't matter-- but that all these things pale in comparison to how great and awesome my God is!
I suppose I made it sound above as if I don't think it's important to have gifts. That's not it at all! God is the giver of all good gifts. He gives us all talents and abilities to SERVE HIM. But. If we're always concerned with waiting for someone with more talent to step up to the plate, we'll stop serving God where He wants us. One of my favorite verses is 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."
I don't think the author is saying that being able to speak well is bad, but rather that it's not where our faith should be. Our faith shouldn't rest on the fact that someone says or does things well, or in our abilities, or even how well we think some ministry opportunity will go.
Where, then, shall we put our faith?
In Christ Alone.
Special Acknowledgments
Hello friends! Well, today marks the third day of non-VBS-- meaning it's the third day since VBS has ended. Since VBS started exactly one week ago, I guess there is no time like the present to thank the people that helped me with this so much. :) Without you all, VBS would have been significantly different (in a bad way. :)
~I guess I'll start off with someone who is dear to my heart-- someone who helped me start the VBS, who has been there every step of the way, who has encouraged me so much in my walk with the LORD and who has helped me every single year with VBS. The kids might know her as "Mackenzie" or the "Song leader" or the "Assistant teacher," because those are just a few of her jobs at VBS. This person, of course, is Miss Haley Kovach. Thank you for teaching about missionaries too! Thank you so much dearie!! And we'll have many good laughs yet over things that happened at VBS!!
~Okay, moving on. Thanks so much to Grandma Bonnie. Thank you for coming up with the pyramid and for everything else you did. Thank you for suggesting VBS all that time ago-- I love doing it and I'm always blessed.
~ Grandpa Ken. Thank you for actually constructing the pyramid!! It was awesome!! Thank you for making that camp site too, I don't know what we'd have done without it.
~ Mom and Dad-- thank you for giving me this opportunity to come back so this VBS could happen. Thank you for the money for snacks, and for your prayers. I love you both!
~"Miss" Anne Rendle. Thank you so, SO, SOOOOOOOO much for being Percy in the skit (you are hilarious and amazing) thank you for helping me with everything I needed help with, and thank you for praying with me and encouraging me! You're a blessing!
~ "Miss" Keely Rendle, thank you for all your help. Thank you for being great with the kids (Remember last year, before you were even a 'helper' Sam wrote on his craft "Sam and Keely".... need I say more?) ;) And thank you for playing Joe Johnson. You are a great "sorta villain" haha.
~ Raymond Dokupil. Thank you for all of your work playing Albert. I think you were the favorite character among the kids!! And thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to stay for the full time many days!
~ Hannah Dokupil-- I'm so sorry you got sick. How are you feeling now? Anyway, thank you for coming at first despite being sick. You are a trooper! And thank you for being Carson. :)
~Grace DeBusschere, I'm so glad you could come, even for a short time!! You are a blessing to me and to everyone.
~Sophia DeBusschere. Thank you for all your great help and for being a lot of fun. :) I had a great time with you and I was blessed to see you with the children.
~Curtis Kovach, you deserve one of the biggest thanks of all, for stepping up to the plate of Carson with only a few hours notice. You're amazing.
~But first and FOREMOST, this whole post really belongs to God. Because He is my very greatest friend, the ONLY source of true peace, and it's only by His will that this VBS ever happened. And as long as "Doane Vacation Bible School" continues, it will be only because of Him and all for Him. I love you, dear Lord, most of all!!
Thanks everyone!!!
~I guess I'll start off with someone who is dear to my heart-- someone who helped me start the VBS, who has been there every step of the way, who has encouraged me so much in my walk with the LORD and who has helped me every single year with VBS. The kids might know her as "Mackenzie" or the "Song leader" or the "Assistant teacher," because those are just a few of her jobs at VBS. This person, of course, is Miss Haley Kovach. Thank you for teaching about missionaries too! Thank you so much dearie!! And we'll have many good laughs yet over things that happened at VBS!!
~Okay, moving on. Thanks so much to Grandma Bonnie. Thank you for coming up with the pyramid and for everything else you did. Thank you for suggesting VBS all that time ago-- I love doing it and I'm always blessed.
~ Grandpa Ken. Thank you for actually constructing the pyramid!! It was awesome!! Thank you for making that camp site too, I don't know what we'd have done without it.
~ Mom and Dad-- thank you for giving me this opportunity to come back so this VBS could happen. Thank you for the money for snacks, and for your prayers. I love you both!
~"Miss" Anne Rendle. Thank you so, SO, SOOOOOOOO much for being Percy in the skit (you are hilarious and amazing) thank you for helping me with everything I needed help with, and thank you for praying with me and encouraging me! You're a blessing!
~ "Miss" Keely Rendle, thank you for all your help. Thank you for being great with the kids (Remember last year, before you were even a 'helper' Sam wrote on his craft "Sam and Keely".... need I say more?) ;) And thank you for playing Joe Johnson. You are a great "sorta villain" haha.
~ Raymond Dokupil. Thank you for all of your work playing Albert. I think you were the favorite character among the kids!! And thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to stay for the full time many days!
~ Hannah Dokupil-- I'm so sorry you got sick. How are you feeling now? Anyway, thank you for coming at first despite being sick. You are a trooper! And thank you for being Carson. :)
~Grace DeBusschere, I'm so glad you could come, even for a short time!! You are a blessing to me and to everyone.
~Sophia DeBusschere. Thank you for all your great help and for being a lot of fun. :) I had a great time with you and I was blessed to see you with the children.
~Curtis Kovach, you deserve one of the biggest thanks of all, for stepping up to the plate of Carson with only a few hours notice. You're amazing.
~But first and FOREMOST, this whole post really belongs to God. Because He is my very greatest friend, the ONLY source of true peace, and it's only by His will that this VBS ever happened. And as long as "Doane Vacation Bible School" continues, it will be only because of Him and all for Him. I love you, dear Lord, most of all!!
Thanks everyone!!!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Gospel According to YOU
If none but you in the world today
Had tried to live in a Christ like way,
Could the rest of the world look close at you
And find the path that is straight and true?
If none but you in the world so wide
Had found the Christ for his daily guide,
Would the things you do and the things you say
Lead others to live in this blessed way?
Ah friends of Christ, in this world today
Are the many who watch you upon your way,
And look to the things you say and do
To measure the Christian standard true.
Men read and admire the Gospel of Christ
With its love so unfailing and true,
But what do they say and what do they think
Of the Gospel according to you?
You are writing each day a letter by men-
Take care that the writing is true;
Tis the only Gospel that some men will read,
The Gospel according to you.
Had tried to live in a Christ like way,
Could the rest of the world look close at you
And find the path that is straight and true?
If none but you in the world so wide
Had found the Christ for his daily guide,
Would the things you do and the things you say
Lead others to live in this blessed way?
Ah friends of Christ, in this world today
Are the many who watch you upon your way,
And look to the things you say and do
To measure the Christian standard true.
Men read and admire the Gospel of Christ
With its love so unfailing and true,
But what do they say and what do they think
Of the Gospel according to you?
You are writing each day a letter by men-
Take care that the writing is true;
Tis the only Gospel that some men will read,
The Gospel according to you.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
A Revival
For Easter I received a book called Though Waters Roar. All in all it was interesting, but far too sad for my taste. Anyway, that's not the point of this post. In fact, I only bring this up because the last few pages of the book are more than worth reading. Basically, this book is about a girl during prohibition helping her poor friend who was tricked into transporting alcohol from Canada to a saloon in the States. However, the friends have two young children and they cannot risk getting thrown in jail because the husband will never get a job and they are broke already. Long story short, that's where the heroine-- Harriet-- comes in. Harriet volunteers to deliver the alcohol herself under the condition that they agree to never, EVER, do anything like that again. Gratefully, her friends accept her offer, but in an unfortunate turn of events, Harriet is caught with the alcohol on her way to the saloon and thrown in jail. After she proves that she is not in to make money for herself by helping the police capture the still, she is freed and she goes to her grandma to tell her about what has happened. The problem? Her grandmother has fought for prohibition and against alcohol almost her entire life because her husband was an alcoholic.
All right, sorry that took so long. Now we have finally arrived to the part that really matters. At almost the end of the book, Harriet's grandmother tells her, "Jesus' harshest words were for the moral guardians of His day-- the Pharisees. They wanted to dictate morality, too, but Jesus called them hypocrites and whitewashed tombs. It isn't our calling as Christians to write laws that force people to live moral lives. As much as our communities might need it, and as bad as things are, imposing our morality on others isn't the answer. It doesn't work. People may be forced to give up alcohol, but they are still going to hell. That's our calling-- to bring people to Christ-- not to force them to behave the way we want them to or to solve all their external problems." She goes on to tell Harriet about different laws in the past that couldn't make people's hearts change. The Emancipation Proclamation set the slaves free, but it couldn't make people treat the former slaves as their equals. Prohibition could make drinking illegal, but if people's hearts were evil then it wouldn't really make a difference. They would still be wicked.
Now, please don't get me wrong, I do not say this or repeat this because I believe we should never have laws. God has laws, and I believe that our country should hold laws that uphold the laws that God gave. I believe this sincerely. What I am saying, however, is that laws do not change people's hearts. If one made all the laws in the world, it would not change the hearts of the people whose responsibility it was to uphold these laws. Only God can change hearts, and we must be willing to share the incredible news of the gospel with others, through evangelism and discipleship. Do you think that it's possible that sometimes Satan might distract us by getting us so involved in other causes, whether noble or not, that distract us from our ultimate goal-- to tell people about Christ and become like Christ?
I used to pray sometimes that God would change some laws in America. That He would change American's standards-- because it's always nice to live in a more moral society, right? But you know what I'm praying for now?
A revival.
All right, sorry that took so long. Now we have finally arrived to the part that really matters. At almost the end of the book, Harriet's grandmother tells her, "Jesus' harshest words were for the moral guardians of His day-- the Pharisees. They wanted to dictate morality, too, but Jesus called them hypocrites and whitewashed tombs. It isn't our calling as Christians to write laws that force people to live moral lives. As much as our communities might need it, and as bad as things are, imposing our morality on others isn't the answer. It doesn't work. People may be forced to give up alcohol, but they are still going to hell. That's our calling-- to bring people to Christ-- not to force them to behave the way we want them to or to solve all their external problems." She goes on to tell Harriet about different laws in the past that couldn't make people's hearts change. The Emancipation Proclamation set the slaves free, but it couldn't make people treat the former slaves as their equals. Prohibition could make drinking illegal, but if people's hearts were evil then it wouldn't really make a difference. They would still be wicked.
Now, please don't get me wrong, I do not say this or repeat this because I believe we should never have laws. God has laws, and I believe that our country should hold laws that uphold the laws that God gave. I believe this sincerely. What I am saying, however, is that laws do not change people's hearts. If one made all the laws in the world, it would not change the hearts of the people whose responsibility it was to uphold these laws. Only God can change hearts, and we must be willing to share the incredible news of the gospel with others, through evangelism and discipleship. Do you think that it's possible that sometimes Satan might distract us by getting us so involved in other causes, whether noble or not, that distract us from our ultimate goal-- to tell people about Christ and become like Christ?
I used to pray sometimes that God would change some laws in America. That He would change American's standards-- because it's always nice to live in a more moral society, right? But you know what I'm praying for now?
A revival.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
If the Gospel Is Boring, What Is a Cause for Excitement?
“If [the gospel] is dull, then what, in Heaven's name, is worthy to be called exciting? The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused him of being a bore-- on the contrary, they thought him too dynamic to be safe.”
~ Dorothy Sayers
~ Dorothy Sayers
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