Fanatic or Frightened Sheep?

"God's real people have always been called fanatics. Jesus was called mad; so was Paul; so was Whitfield, Wesley, Moody, Spurgeon. No one has graduated far in God's School who has not been paid the compliment of being called a fanatic. We Christians today are indeed a tipid crew. Had we but half the fire and enthusiasm of the Suffragettes in the past, we would have the world evangelized and Christ back among us in no time. Had we the pluck and heroism of the Flyers, or the men who volunteered for North or South Polar Expeditions, or for the Great War, or for any dare-devil enterprise, we could have every soul on earth knowing the name and salvation of Jesus Christ in less than ten years. Alas! What stirs ordinary men's blood and turns them into heroes. makes most Christians run like a flock of frightened sheep. Militants daily risk their lives in furtherance of their cause, and subscribed of their means in a way that cried "Shame" on us Christians, who generally brand the braving risks and fighting against odds as a "tempting of God." - From "The Chocolate Soldier" by C.T. Studd

The Deity of Christ

"If Yahweh is our sanctifier (Ex. 31:13), is omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-10), is our peace (Jud. 6:24), is our righteousness (Jer. 23:6), is our victory (Ex. 17:8-16), and is our healer (Ex. 15:26), then so is Christ all of these things too (I Cor. 1:30; Col. 1:27; Eph. 2:14). If the gospel is God's (I Thess. 2:2, 6-9; Gal. 3:8), then that same gospel is also Christ's (I Thess. 3:2; Gal. 1:7). If the Church is God's (Gal. 1:13; I Cor. 15:9), then that same church is also Christ's (Rom. 16:16). God's kingdom (1Thess. 2:12) is Christ's (Eph. 5:5); God's love (Eph. 1:3-5) is Christ's (Rom. 8:35); God's Word (Col. 1:25; I Thess 2:13) is Christ's (I Thess. 1:8; 4:15); God's Spirit (I Thess. 4:8) is Christ's (Phil. 1:19); God's peace (Gal. 5:22; Phil. 4:9) is Christ's (Col. 3:15; cf. Col. 1:2); God's "Day" of judgement (Is. 13:6) is Christ's "Day" of judgment (Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16; I Cor. 1:8); God's grace (Eph. 2:8-9; Col 1:6; Gal. 1:15) is Christ's grace (I Thess. 5:28; Gal. 1:6; 6:18); God's salvation (Col. 1:13) is Christ's salvation (I Thess. 1:10); and God's will (Eph. 1:11; I Thess 4:3; Gal. 1:4) is Christ's will (Eph. 5:17; cf. I Thess. 5:18). Because of this kind of identification, Paul could say that he was both God's slave (Rom. 1:9) and Christ's (Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:10), that he lived for both the glory of God (Rom. 5:2; Gal. 1:24) and for the glory of Christ (II Cor. 8:19, 23; cf. II Cor. 4:6)." ~Walter Elwell, (Originally published in "The Deity of Christ in the Writings of Paul")

Souls Souls Souls

“I care not where I go, or how I live, or what I endure so that I may save souls. When I sleep I dream of them; when I awake they are first in my thoughts…no amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition of brilliant and stirring eloquence can atone for the absence of a deep impassioned sympathetic love for human souls.” -David Brainerd

...and it was worth it all.

A supporting church pastor asked one of his missionaries, David Hosaflook, to counsel him about how he could challenge his American church to be more serious and active in the Great Commission cause. Hosalflook responded with this reply…

1) Let them know the incredible difficulty of "leaving houses and lands ..." for the Gospel. It's easy to feel the tingly sensations of missionary surrender by listening to a well-crafted, musically-powerful missionary DVD in a climate controlled auditorium and then hearing an impassioned sermon. But turn off the A/C when you preach the sermon. Pump in the smells of body odor and strange food and cigarette smoke. Blast some insipid Balkan or tribal music in the background. Talk about depression and loneliness and pain and smog and threats and fears and danger and discomfort and frustration about the illogical grammar. Talk about there being 10 Demas-es that rip your heart out for every Timothy that is faithful. Talk about pouring out blood, sweat and tears and seeing the harvest come in slower than you thought it would. Talk about missionary kids struggling to adjust and forever becoming "third-culture" people -- neither being culturally American nor Timbuktuan. Missionary sacrifice is overwhelming. This isn't in the fine print -- it's plastered all over the New Testament -- but we fail to present this side because we don't want to sound like we're bellyaching. War is Hell.

2) Let them know the incredible reward of doing all this for Christ's sake. Talk up the "joy" that was set before Christ at the cross. Talk up eternal treasure. Mention the party thrown over the 1-in-100 rescued from destruction. Overshadow the immense difficulties of missionary sacrifice by the overwhelming rewards in eternity. Make them jealous for God's glory and tell them how incredibly amazing it is to see God turn on the spiritual light in a pagan's heart. Let them imagine how tear-jerkingly awesome it is to hear a sinner calling upon the name of the Lord, after being convicted by the Holy Spirit through someone as unworthy as them. And even in the absence of such conversions on a large scale, let them know that there is great fulfillment in knowing that, amidst the pagan sounds and oppressive darkness, you have been sent as a light, lit by the Light. And though no one come, though no one heed, you are there, and they know you are there, and HE knows you are there -- and HE is there with you. Always. Until it's all over and you go to your final sleep saying, "I left it all on out there on the field -- and it was worth it all."

The Most Pleasant Life

"You have been asked to take notice of the sayings of dying men - this is mine: that a life spent in the service of God and communion with Him is the most pleasant life that anyone can live in this world." ~ Matthew Henry

Not your body

If abortion is really about a woman's right to do what she wants with “her own body,” why is the baby in her womb a different blood type than her body and why does the baby scream when being chopped to bits while the mother feels nothing of the blade or vacuum?

The Gospel does not need to be Contextualized

"While witnesses do need to present the Gospel through culturally-relevant modes of communication, we must never forget that the message itself is already relevant to all men, everywhere, at all times. The Gospel does not need to be contextualized for non-Western cultures because it is already supra-cultural. Its message will always collide with man’s sinful pride and every cultural expression of that pride. Conversion is never accomplished through the merging of Christianity and culture (syncretism), but rather by calling 'all men every where to repent' (Acts 17:30)." ~ Kevin Brosnan