If that's you, you need gospel motivation - and now. You see, the standard duty-driven, religious motivation that has crept into the church and taken us by storm simply won't cut it anymore. It's destructive and powerless to bring about any lasting and genuine change. Instead, it tends to produce only a facade of piety, while keeping us indifferent to our inward motivations for obedience. We need gospel-motivation. We need it because the gospel causes us to both repent of our sin and believe in God. The gospel is both something we speak and something we believe. It's both the message and the medium of redemption. In it God motivates us with his unblushing promises. We need those promises because they offer us joy, hope, strength, glory and a place in the kingdom of God - something duty-driven motivation will never give you.

Trusting in your performance is tantamount to trusting in a false functional god to change you. In order to receive the redemptive benefits of change, flowing from the gospel, we must repent of our trust in the false god of self-change and exercise faith in the God of the Gospel. This is not something you do once. This is a life-long endeavor. The Christian life is a constant repenting from belief in false promises and an increasing belief in the true, good promises of God. Promises such as: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities; As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:8, 10-12).

The following words from Paul Tripp are an example of how we may find a new motivation, a gospel-motivaiton.

"When I come to the Lord after I’ve blown it, I’ve only one argument to make. It’s not the argument of the difficulty of the environment that I am in. It’s not the argument of the difficult people that I’m near. It’s not the argument of good intentions that were thwarted in some way. I come to the Lord with only one appeal; his mercy. I’ve no other defense. I’ve no other standing. I’ve no other hope. I can’t escape the reality of my biggest problem; me! So I appeal to the one thing in my life that’s sure and will never fail. I appeal to the one thing that guaranteed not only my acceptance with God, but the hope of new beginnings and fresh starts. I appeal on the basis of the greatest gift I ever have or ever will be given. I leave the courtroom of my own defense, I come out of hiding and I admit who I am. But I’m not afraid, because I’ve been personally and eternally blessed. Because of what Jesus has done, God looks on me with mercy. It’s my only appeal, it’s the source of my hope, it’s my life. Mercy, mercy me!” - Paul Tripp "Whiter Than Snow".

O how sweet that is! While I'm at it, let me encourage you to pick up a copy of Paul's book. Currently, we have a copy of it on our book stall. May God help you pursue growth and change through the gospel alone from this day forward. In the following video, Paul describes the goal of his book.

Paul told Timothy, "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Tim 2:3). Paul suffered and did not expect that things should be any different for Timothy. After all, it was Jesus who said, "A servant is not above his master". If the master suffers, the servant better. In fact, it was Paul who said after he was beaten senseless and left for dead in Lystra, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God."

I love the book of Proverbs. I have made it a habit for years to regularly read it. It has no shortage of council for the lazy man. I was challenged in college to take laziness seriously. Though I was raised with a work ethic, laziness was still very much a part of my life. Finally, a dude discipled me for the first time and began to challenge my laziness head on. We read through the Proverbs. Many of them make the point clear. The lazy man finds is difficult to get up in the morning. He turns over and over as though hinged to his bed (Prov. 26:14). He refuses to go outside and work, insisting that there is a lion waiting for him! Ask this man, "When are you going to rise from your bed?" and he has no answer: "A little sleep a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest" (6:10).

If being confronted with that is not humbling enough, God uses an ant to rebuke us. "Go to the ant you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest" (6:6-8). The reference here to the ant is probably a reference to the type of ant found in the desert. We call them harvester ants. According to scholars, their colonies can consist of up to a millions ants, the vast majority being workers and soldiers.

What is it that these ants can teach us? Well, among other things they teach us unquestioning obedience and hard work. That's life. Life is work. When we look through the pages of church history we can find hundreds of examples of people who labored through sweat and blood their whole lives (some to be martyred) for the sake of the Gospel. One such man is Polycarp, a disciple of John (the disciple of Jesus). I have been reading about Polycarp in the Apostolic Fathers. After serving Christ for eighty-six years, he was finally burned alive for refusing to deny his Lord. He said, "How can I deny him who has never done me any harm?"

I feel motivated by that. Unfortunately, today's Christianity is about success and glamor. The "health, wealth and prosperity" gospel has made major strides and we are suffering as a result. But the "health and wealth" gospel is not just the problem of a christian t.v. evangelist, it has infiltrated itself into all streams and denominations of those who profess Christ. But it's flabby, anemic, and sickly Christianity. In fact, it's worse. At times, depending on how is it expressed, it is another gospel all together. Bonhoeffer was right when he said, "When Christ calls a man he bids him come and die." Eight years after that statement he was hanged by the Nazis.

I want to kill laziness in my life. I will leave you with the words of Jim Elliot to fuel your passion to rid laziness from your life. Just his example is instructive. From his journal, December 31, 1955 it reads,

"A month of temptation. Satan and the flesh have been hard on me. How God holds my soul in His life and permits one with such wretchedness to continue in His service I cannot tell. Oh, it has been hard...I have been very low inside me struggling and casting myself hourly upon Christ for help. Marriage is divorce from the privacy man loves, but there is some privacy none can share. It is the knowledge of a sinful heart."

Four days later he was speared to death by the Auca Indians. He was indeed a man of great discipline and hard work.

As Christians, we all long to be useful and yet we struggle. So what should you do? Run to Christ today for help. In him there is not only forgiveness, but power to live the way God has called you to live. The strength comes from outside yourself. Lean hard on the gospel and then work hard through the strength and power of God's Spirit.

"The Church History ABCs is a fun way for kids to learn about great figures in Christian history. Twenty-six heroes of the faith march through the alphabet, boldly telling their stories in language children can understand. This wide range of characters—men and women from across the centuries, from all over the globe—reflects the breadth of church history and reminds children that these great figures of the past were living, breathing people who lived and died for the glory of God."

The book covers the following figures from church history:

Augustine; Anne Bradstreet; John Calvin; John Donne; Jonathan Edwards; John Foxe; Jane Grey; Hippolytus; Ignatius; Absalom Jones; John Knox; Martin Luther; Monica; John Newton; John Owen; Patrick; Queen Jeanne; Nicholas Ridley; Charles Spurgeon; Tertullian; Zacharias Ursinus; Antonia Vivaldi; The Wesleys; Francis Xavier; Florence Young; Ulrich Zwingli

Some of you may remember the movie “Antwone Fisher” starring Denzel Washington. It debuted, December 2002.  If you’ve never seen it, you should. If you have, you’ll know what I mean when I say it’s deeply moving. But what makes it so good is that it’s based on a true story.

Watch the trailer below.

I was moved in an unexpected way by this movie. The Lord reminded me of the value and joy of participating in faithful, gospel-centered urban ministry. Confession: I do not understand the urban mind or life as I ought. You see, for most of us being urban-minded will only come at the expense of a self-conscious choice to dwell in the city. The reason why is because most of us grew up in the suburbs and that’s all we know. We can’t understand urban life. We don’t understand what it means to live in the Inner City. And we won’t unless we make a concerted and sustained effort. I’ve spent at least 3 years in the inner cities of both Washington DC and Minneapolis. But even at that, I have to confess that I am still far too unfamiliar with urban life. Too unfamiliar, that is, if I hope to be more useful in ministry among urban peoples; or dare I go so far as to say, too unfamiliar, if I care about the plight and condition of so many urban dwellers. The fact is, even if we have no desire to do ministry in urban areas, it would be helpful for us to expand our horizons and see how so many of our neighbors live on a day-to-day basis. In case you don’t know – it’s radically different.  

Have you ever made a conscious effort to become urban-minded? Many churches speak of being urban-minded, but few are successfully engaged in urban ministry. The old adage is in this case correct: “It takes one to know one”. If you’ve never lived an urban life, you’ll struggle to minister to urban people. My prayer for all of us is that God will raise up more urban-minded, urban-experienced individuals to lead us into new vistas of urban ministry.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not discouraged. After watching “Antwone Fisher” I feel more encouraged in the task. Depending on the social demographics of a particular church, I think it would be fair to say that in the case of alot of churches, the idea of being a largely white, upper-middle class, suburban church, only and always, should be unsettling. Churches that are planted in diverse, multi-social, multi-economic, and multi-cultural settings are all the more responsible. However, churches that have to cross town to engage another culture or group of people may not necessarily be excused. God may use that church despite having to bridge many cultural, economic and even linguistic divides. Indeed, he may call some of our churches to do just that. Churches that press into the inner city (no matter how small that inner city is), and gospel-labor with humility among its underprivileged people through time, resources, and energy, can expect to see God at work. It's hard, but great things await us if we will take some conscious risks.

So much more could be said, but let me conclude this way. Consider the following statements, written by a friend of mine, and ask yourself if these initiatives are in sync with your heart.

As a church,

1. We will strive to forge a mutually enriching urban-suburban partnership, in which a significant range of racially, educationally, and economically diverse people feel at home, as they grow in their passion for the supremacy of God.

2. Concerning interracial reconciliation: Against the rising spirit of indifference, alienation and hostility in our land, we will embrace the supremacy of God's love to take new steps personally and corporately toward racial reconciliation, expressed visibly in our community and in our church.

3. Concerning good news to the poor: We will develop new strategies for proclaiming the all-satisfying supremacy of God's love and justice to the poor through a) personal involvement; b) a more welcoming atmosphere; c) local missionary strategies of urban disciple making; and d) equipping missionaries for unreached urban peoples.

Feel free to comment. I would love to hear more reflections on this matter. It raises some important questions. Biblically speaking, what values should characterize an urban/suburban relationship? Practically, what would a suburban/urban partnership look like both short-term and long-term?

Jonathan grew up in Owensboro. He graduated college from Cedarville University in 2002, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts. In the spring of 2003, he moved to Washington D.C. to serve as a pastoral intern at The Capitol Hill Baptist Church. After completing this internship, Jonathan moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota to continue his pastoral training. He was accepted into the pastoral apprenticeship program at The Bethlehem Institute, where he completed his requirements for the M.Div. track. He continued his graduate schooling at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he finished his M.Div. Jonathan is passionate about India, enjoys traveling overseas, preaching, teaching and equipping pastors in various third-world contexts. As an arm of HBC, Jonathan is ministering to Indian families on a weekly basis who have immigrated to Louisville, Ky. He enjoys reading, blogging at The India I Know, French-pressed coffee, Disc golf and just mixing it up with people in general. It just so happens that he is not wasting his tweets either.

Mark grew up in Louisville and became a Christian at age 15. He graduated from Murray State University with a B.A. in Middle School Education in 2003 and married his college sweetheart, Katie. After graduation, Mark moved to Owensboro to be a part of Heritage Baptist Church and train for Christian ministry. He began as a student at the Midwest Center for Theological Studies and later transferred to Reformed Baptist Seminary, where he earned his Masters of Divinity in the fall of 2010. He was called to serve as a pastor of Heritage that same year. Mark works as a 6th grade Social Studies teacher in a local public middle school and earned his Masters of Education from Covenant College in May 2009. Mark and Katie adopted their son, Judson, from Ethiopia in 2008. Mark enjoys reading, writing, playing guitar, listening to music, wrestling with his son, and all things 1980s. Just don't ask him to break dance or moonwalk.

Derek agrees.  On the way to the hospital I ask him, “If you were making this visit alone, what d’ya think you’d try to do?” Derek’s answer is good – he hits a double, but I need to bring ‘em in. So, I set forth some additional goals, suggest a strategy, remind him that things may not go as we plan, park the car and pray. The visit was made. We got to pray with Kevin’s dad, spend some helpful time with our brother in Christ and his mom (showing her Christian compassion) and tactfully share the Gospel. The four of us took a short walk down the hall to the chapel, where I read a verse of Scripture and asked Derek to pray.

On our way back to the church parking lot, I asked my young pastoral student how he thought things went, what we could have done better, what he learned from the experience and if he wanted to sit in on a baptismal interview next Saturday morning. We prayed again for God’s blessing on the visit and said goodbye. As Derek was closing my car door, he said something like, “PT, thanks so much for thinking of me tonight. I learned tons! I have so much to learn but I must confess that experiences like this fire me up to be a pastor.”

The preceding story was partly factual but entirely realistic with regard to the pastoral mentoring component that goes on at The Midwest Center for Theological Studies. MCTS is a ministry functioning within the context of Heritage Baptist Church which serves to equip men who are preparring for full-time ministry. In addition to giving our guys a solid, theological education (“informed scholarship”), we believe God has also called us to mold and shape them pastorally – s.h.a.p.e. (shepherds helping aspiring pastors experientially). We’re so convinced of this responsibility that we actually give credit for a course called Pastoral Mentoring.

What could be better than sitting under gifted and knowledgeable seminary professors? The answer is sitting under gifted and knowledgeable seminary professors who are also your pastors – men who can take you into elders’ meetings, premarital counseling sessions, pastoral care meetings, funeral home visits, sermon preparation, family devotions as well as Starbucks for some “hang time.”

Concerning the council of Jerusalem we read, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). The pastor-professors of MCTS are not Jesus. They just want to be like him, and hope their students will mature not only by hearing from them in the classroom, but by being with them in other settings. If you want to meet the real Derek or Mark or Justin or Brandon or Larry or Matt or…, let us know. We’ll hook you up.

Ted Christman
Pastor for Counseling and Mentoring

“Have you heard God’s blessing to you in your inmost being? Are the words “You are my beloved child, in whom I delight” an endless source of joy and strength?

Have you sensed, through the Holy Spirit, God speaking them to you? That blessing – the blessing through the Spirit that is ours through Christ – is what Jacob received, and it is the only remedy against idolatry. Only that blessing makes idols unnecessary.

As with Jacob, we usually discover this only after a life of ‘looking for blessing in all the wrong places.’ It often takes an experience of crippling weakness for us to finally discover it. That is why so many of the most God-blessed people limp as they dance for joy.”

- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2009), 164.

Today I was reminded once again that I am not God.  Those of you who are reading this are probably thinking, “well I could have told you that!”  However, I’m not so sure that each of us, on a daily basis, do not think of ourselves as little gods.  Too often we assume that what we have planned for the day is the decree of what shall be done.  When we leave home to go to work, we just assume that we will actually make it there alive.  And upon arriving at our destination we do not give God thanks or glory because we had already given an unchangeable decree that we shall go to work.  Such repetitive activities of daily life often lack the thanks to God that we were actually able to complete them.

Today (Dec 30) in Utah it is a rather snowy day.  I left home after eating lunch thinking that I will go straight to work because that is what I had planned.  Roughly 100 yards from my exit I hit a sheet of ice on the freeway and slide right off the road.  My car would have done a 180 if the front end of my car had not hit a snow bank off the side of the road.  I was stuck for roughly half an hour with my car perpendicular to the freeway.  As I sat in my car, I prayed that God would forgive me for thinking that I have the power to bring about my own will.  I assumed I would get to work because that is what I wanted to do, however, I needed a reminder that God is God and I am not.   Shortly thereafter a couple guys pulled up next to me and helped me out of the snow. 

May we daily be thanking God that what we have planned to do for the day actually comes about.

I mean this: If you don’t functionally live in the good of the gospel, you will not be a Christ-like person.

Let me put it another way: If you do not “preach the gospel to yourself,” reminding yourself that before God, because of the righteousness of Christ and by faith in his finished work, you are accepted and loved, you will not make progress in personal holiness.

Let’s look briefly at 2 Peter 1:3-7. Here’s the text:

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What is the point here? Peter’s main point is that we are to, according to verse 5, “make every effort” to become like Christ. That is, we are to supplement our faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love. We are to, in the language of verse 9, “be all the more diligent” to verify the truthfulness of discipleship by proving it in the pursuit of holiness. It is only these kinds of people, those who increasingly pursue Christ-likeness, who will be welcomed into heaven (v. 11).

But, is that all that is here? Thankfully, and joyfully, no! Peter, as always, provides the framework for us to understand our obedience. And, as usual, it is always as a response to the gospel. Notice two “gospel-motivators” for pursuing holiness.

First, verse 5 begins with the phrase, “For this reason…” Those are very important words! They link verse 5 with the motivation provided in verse 4. If we forget this motivation, we will not be given the spiritual resources to fight sin and put on righteousness. What is “this reason?” Peter gives it to us in verses 3-4. God has called us to his own glory and excellence through the knowledge of him. He has granted us everything we need for life and godliness. We have escaped the corruption of the world. God has called us to himself, so for this reason, pursue likeness to Him! We see this kind of logic over and over again in the Bible. But, for our purposes here, notice that it is through believing the promises of God that we make progress in our sanctification. Our sanctification does not begin with (although it certainly includes) our work, but our faith. We must believe and know certain truths about God and ourselves and keep those things in mind, otherwise, our pursuit of holiness will malfunction.

Second, verse 9 gives a reason for why some professing Christians have not made progress in Christ-likeness. The reason given is that they have “forgotten” that they have been forgiven. Peter says, “having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.” If a Christian is not making progress in the faith, growing in holiness and fighting sin, the first question to ask them is not: Are you trying? What are you doing to flee temptation? The first question to ask them may be: Brother or sister, have you forgotten that you have been cleansed from your former sins? Have you forgotten the promises of God? Have you forgotten who you are in Christ?  Then, verse 10 begins with a “therefore…be diligent.”

So, what does all this mean for us practically?

Preach the gospel to yourself. Remind yourself of what God has done for you in Christ. Remember daily his total forgiveness of all of your sins. Remember that God has called you to himself and to eternal glory. And, trusting in those realities, “make every effort” and “be diligent” in going after Christ-likeness. You won’t be holy unless you start here.

 Alex Montoya, in his book Preaching with Passion, describes what he does when his heart has become callus and he no longer hears the cry of the people.  He goes down to his favorite taco stand in East L.A., orders a cup of coffee, sits with his back against the wall, and then watches.  As he sits there, he notices “[a] group of gang-bangers come in for a snack—one in four will die before the age of eighteen; two of the others will end up in prison.  All are doomed to a hard life.  A young mother comes in with her brood of youngsters.  It is obvious that they are poor.  They share drinks. They live in poverty; some will never see a forest or snow.  An old drunk staggers in, begging for a meal.  He is quickly thrown out.  That was somebody’s baby boy.  A mother at one time cradled that man and nursed him.  The poor specimen of humanity has children.  His wife is somewhere out there.  They have long since disowned him, but they have not forgotten him.  He is still somebody’s daddy.  For all I know, he could have been my own.  I look, I listen until I hear their cries, until their souls cry out to me, ‘Please help, I’m perishing!’”

 As I look out my window, it is snowing rather hard.  I cannot shovel the driveway because of my back and my dad can’t do it because of his shoulder.  But I watch as our neighbor comes with his snow blower and gets rid of the snow for us.  I think to myself - “that was really nice of him.”  I am very appreciative that he would do that for us.  As I watch him and others in this cul-de-sac, I begin to hear their cry – “Please help me.  This isn’t enough.  I need more good works to get into heaven.”  It is the cry of one who does not know the grace of Christ.  The next time you go to the store or the gas station, watch so that you may hear.  Parents when you look at your unsaved children, don’t just look at them, but watch them until hear the cry of their souls.  When we begin to hear this cry, then we will begin to pursue others with a holy vigor and proclaim life in Christ to a dying people.

 I want to be a better people watcher. 

 By: Michael Emadi

In Acts 26:29, we read, “And Paul said, ‘I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become as I am, except for these chains.’” These words were spoken in response to King Agrippa’s words in verse 28, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” Several practical observations are worth considering.

 First, Paul’s greatest concern while incarcerated for the gospel was not Paul. This is one of the reasons we love him so much. He was like Jesus in this. He cared not for his own life. He gave himself up for the gospel. He served a higher cause than self-preservation. He had a sense of purpose and calling in life that transcended difficult circumstances.

 Second, Paul did not allow circumstances to deter him from his life’s calling; instead, he used his circumstances to fulfill his calling. He took opportunities to communicate the gospel when others might have only fought for their civil rights. Actually, Paul did both. He did appeal to Caesar, but not to the exclusion of witnessing to those around him in the process (Philippians 1:12-14).

 Third, though Paul was being treated unjustly, he never lost site of who he was in Christ. He was a sinner saved by grace and called to spread the gospel to the lost. He did not allow the sins of others to dictate who he was and what he did.

 Fourth, these words by Paul display a passion and desire for lost souls. In the book of Proverbs, we learn that the wise soul wins souls (Proverbs 11:30). In order to win souls we must first be wise. We must gain knowledge and the facility to use it skillfully. This takes reading, thinking, prayer, training, and practice. Loving our neighbor as ourselves involves desiring their well-being – physically and spiritually. If we are growing in grace, we will grow in wisdom and the ability to articulate the gospel and love others. As we grow, we will become increasingly desirous of the salvation of sinners. We must pray for boldness and opportunities. Often, it is helpful to be with others who have trained themselves to capitalize on evangelistic opportunities. I want to suggest two venues where you can gain wisdom and experience in how to win souls.

 First, attend the outreach meetings at HBC’s 5th Street ministry. This is a great opportunity to get where unbelievers are and on their own turf. Going with others who have been there and done that can help break barriers in our souls to reach the un-reached. It may strengthen your boldness and compassion for the lost.

 Second, plan to go to Louisville with Jonathan and others at least once in the coming year. This is a great opportunity to love others and give yourself away for the gospel’s sake. May the Lord help all of us to become more like Paul, who was like Jesus in his desire for souls.

We tend to look at the cross only from the side.  That is a tragedy.  Tragic because it fails to behold glory; tragic because it fails to wonder at love; tragic because it fails to see the heart of the Gospel.

A “horizontal perspective” of the cross will not reveal the deepest sufferings of Jesus.  Of course the physical agony from nails thrust into Jesus’ hands was real.  And the emotional suffering of man betrayed and abandoned by His closest friends was real.  And the anguish of being unjustly condemned and mercilessly mocked was real.  But to see only these pains is to fail to see the Gospel.

What we need is a “top-down” look at the cross, that is to say a “vertical perspective.”  The most important question we can ask ourselves when we are gaze at the agony that is happening on the cross is not how big the nails are, or how lonely the Savior felt after being abandoned by His friends, or how traumatic it was to be unjustly condemned.  The most important question we can ask is “what is happening between the God the Father and His Son at the Place of the Skull?” 

 What does this “vertical look” at the cross reveal?  It reveals the Savior “Smitten of God.”  It reveals the Father pouring out furious, righteous wrath on His Son.  It reveals the Son suffering the torment for our sin.  Jesus is not like other men when He dies on the cross; He is not like the thieves on His right and on His left.  His suffering is not like their suffering; His pains are not like their pains. On the cross the Savior is absorbing infinite wrath; crushed in the hands of an angry God.

Why?  Because “The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.”  Isaiah informs us that the wrath poured out on Christ was wrath reserved for sinners.  But Jesus dies in their place.  He is tormented for their sin.  He suffers the penalty of wrath as a substitute for sinners.  He endures what we could not and He conquers what we could not overcome.  And by all this “we are healed.”  What a tragedy to see the cross only from the side.  But when we look at the sufferings of Calvary from the top-down we can, with awestruck wonder, say with Paul, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

In thinking about writing on MISSIONS, my first thought was to write something in an admonishing way. This is usually the case with anything written or spoken about missions. Mark Redfern just preached a sermon on orphans and widows. While he was preaching, I thought strangely enough about missions, because I thought how similar the two were. In my opinion, they are two of the most difficult and hard-to-grasp commands we are given. They’re things about which few of us do anything, yet know we ought to. We may dread even hearing about them, because they remind us of how little we are working on these two “near to God’s heart” subjects.  It’s hard to do much beating-about-the-head-and-shoulders, however, because I need admonishing more than any brother.

So this question is the blog. Why is it that most things written on missions are necessarily admonishing? I don’t ever see teachers telling us to pull back on missions for the sake of our health, or stop giving to missions so much because we’re neglecting our families.

It’s also not as if we can’t think of good enough reasons as Reformed thinkers to be involved in missions. The Catholics owned missions for centuries. Now, many countries are evangelized by cultists. We recoil from the theology of both groups, as the theology of the Catholic and cultist murders the soul of the unbeliever. Yet we don’t feel badly enough to try to mitigate their efforts.

I believe there are several reasons why it’s hard for us:

 1) We’re scared of evangelism, even here, and much more so in places foreign to us.

We’re afraid we’ll say the wrong thing, afraid we’ll somehow look foolish or weird, afraid people will not like us. We’re just afraid. But what did Christ say? “… I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20b). Not just as a companion, but as a source of strength. He even told His disciples shortly before that, “Stop being afraid…” (Matt 28:10).

2) We have the wrong idea of who does missions.

We may think it’s only for young people as a career choice, or old people whose kids and jobs are gone. We may think it’s only for “spiritual” people who walk around very phlegmatic and somber, or single people who are unencumbered. Or maybe it’s only for pastors, for men, for women. It’s just for others. But what did Christ not say? He didn’t say “Go therefore, you pastors / teachers / men / young people / you old ones”. He left it where He left it. “Go therefore and make disciples…” (Matt 28:19)

How do we fix this? Lots of ways, but here’s a couple.

Firstly, we don’t have to throw ourselves into missions necessarily. That’s what scares a lot of people. But we have to at least look (ourselves) into it. Start with something very simple. For instance, save the BBC news website  or Al-Jazeera news as one of your favorite places. Pick a country, and just follow it regularly. Pray, with the gospel in mind, for that country as you read about it.

Secondly, we must stop thinking of life as ours. We were not saved to simply pray for peace and safety. I’ve tried to stop praying for those things, because my time here and my family is not supposed to be something I keep walled up with guards surrounding it, as desperately as I want to do that. It is to be invested. Not given away without thought – that would be foolish – but wisely spent on behalf of the Owner to whom it belongs.  We must stop thinking “it’s all or nothing” when it comes to missions, and instead think, “it’s something or nothing”. All of us can do something, can’t we?

 2. In it, the righteousness of God is vindicated. I love the fact that God is just, that He will leave no sin unpunished. If God is not just, we are not safe. However, because the Judge of all the earth can and will do right, we can rest in knowing that His justice will be vindicated. The main way he demonstrates His justice (besides consigning people to eternal hell) is by killing His Son for our sins. Here, God demonstrates His righteousness. All the years in the Old Testament that God seemingly simply passed over people’s sins and they received no consequence is now given a just demonstration. The Cross cries, “This is how just God is.”

 3. In it, the love of God is displayed. When we look at the cross, we see how much God loves us. “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.” And what was “his life?” A life of perfect beauty. The lovely one gave his life for hideous ones. The righteous laid his life down for the unrighteous. The cross cries, “This is how much I love you.”

 4. In it, the glory of Christ is unveiled. If one God-man, in three hours, can atone for a multitude of people’s infinitely damnable transgressions, what kind of Savior must he be? The cross cries, “The Son of God is glorious!”

 5.Through it, God reconciles himself to man. Through the cross, we are reconciled to God, forgiven by God, and find acceptance with God as we believe in Christ. The cross cries, “Be reconciled to God!”

However, by God's grace, beginning Sunday September 6th, we have an opportunity to begin a journey together into what the Word of God has to say to us (HBC) about humility. We are invited to let the word of God have its divinely designed pride-deflating, grace-imparting, soul-edifying, and God-glorifying effect on our hearts. Let's be in prayer for Pastor Ted as he embarks upon this study.