Sunday, February 26, 2012

Examining Acts 1:8

Even though I presently serve as a missionary, there is a pastor’s heart that beats within my chest with a strong desire to see the local church walk in victory with the Lord.  Therefore, my thought processes are not only missiological, but ecclesiological and pastoral.  It is my privilege to help mobilize local churches for global missions and develop a comprehensive mission strategy.
A comprehensive mission strategy takes into account all 4 geographic regions outlined by Christ in Acts 1:8; namely, our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and uttermost parts of the earth.  We have been traditionally taught to think of our Jerusalem as our home city, our Judea as our State, our Samaria as our nation or region and the uttermost parts is self-explanatory.  I certainly agree that the local church must be simultaneously involved in conscious efforts to evangelize all 4 regions.  However, I do want to challenge our understanding of this passage to lift one area out as a priority.

As conservative evangelicals, we endorse a hermeneutic or method of interpreting the bible that takes into account the culture, language and context in which the passage was originally written. We do this in an effort to find “authorial intent”.  That is, what the author of the passage intended us to understand by his words.  Let’s use this message to try to understand Acts 1:8.
When Christ spoke these words, the church was non-existent in Jerusalem, not to mention the other 3 regions He highlights.  So, was He saying that the disciples were to take the gospel and therefore the church to places where it was not?  You bet he was!  He still is. Therefore, the priority in missions is those places where there is no access to the gospel because there is no church.  That was and is Christ’s inherent focus in the Great Commission.
Today in missions, we speak of unreached people groups.  What does it mean to be unreached or even worse, unengaged?  An unreached people group is defined as those groups where less than 2% of the population is Christian.  Unengaged people groups have no gospel witness present within their culture.  So, I ask you, where should the priority in missions lie today?
I agree with the principle that lies behind the 2% threshold that defines a reached or unreached people group.  Once 2% of a population becomes Christian, the 2% can theoretically reach their culture and people with the gospel without “foreign” assistance.  Therefore, let’s hold to our hermeneutic and missiology and stop spending the majority of our time and resources on “reached” nations and people groups.  Let’s embrace the intent of Acts 1:8 – Getting the church to where no gospel witness exists and finally fulfilling the Great Commission.
Please give me your thoughts.  To comment on the blog, you must sign in through your email based search engine or through google.  Let’s talk!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

BCF Press Release

BCF CHALLENGED BY CHAPEL SPEAKERS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 6, 2012



Students, faculty, and staff of The Baptist College of Florida (BCF) in Graceville have been greatly challenged by the messages of Wayne Briant, Daniel Akin, Jimmy Dukes, and Richie Allen throughout the first few weeks of chapel.

Press Photo
                                       BCF Alum and Founder of LINC-UP
                                      Missions, Richie Allen, Preaches Feb. 1

Allen, founder of LINC-UP Missions, Inc., an organization that mobilizes churches in the United States for church-planting partnerships in Brazil and other unreached places, preached in chapel on February 1. Illuminating the verses found in Psalms 34, Allen proclaimed the importance, intensity, and passion of the word "magnify" and how Christians should relate to our God who is omnipotent, all-powerful, invincible, supreme, omnipresent and omniscient.
For more information about BCF and the 10:00 a.m. chapel services, including the complete chapel schedule for the semester, call 800-328-2660 ext. 446 or visit baptistcollege.edu.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

The Lord Keeps Us Busy

Ever so often, the Lord does things that are so remarkable until they change the direction of life and ministry.  This happened with me most recently when He showed me the biblical foundation for missions.  This Copernicus understanding moved me for the pastoral ministry to the mission field.

Previously, I had assumed that missions were man-centered and motivated by the lostness of man.  However, Scripture overwhelmingly purports that the Great Commission is God-centered.  We are motivated to reach the nations because of the greatness of God.  He is worthy of the worship of ALL the nations.

Even though we, as LINC-UP Missions, Inc, are the "new kid" on the missions block, God has demonstrated His pleasure upon, and faithfulness to, our efforts.  It can only be explained by the fact that we are committed to accomplishing what is deeply embedded in the heart of God.  Therefore, He has moved mountains in order to resource and bless us with viable opportunities.

January 22-25, we preached a revival with a missions emphasis at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Patterson, GA.  Pastor I.B. Boyette and his people are a wonderful blessing to us and our ministry.

February 1, we were on the campus of my Alma mater and partner in missions, The Baptist College of Florida.  We are always blessed by preaching in chapel services and reporting what God is doing on the frontlines.

February 5, we will be at FBC Folkston, GA with Bro Randy Jacoby and his people.

February 12, we travel to Quincy, FL to preach at Antioch Baptist Church.

February 17, our Board of Director meets to officially appoint the Jessup family as missionaries to Iceland and the Scandinavian countries.

February 28 we head back to Brazil to get back on the frontlines.

To God be the thanks and glory for what He is doing!