John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."
Most missionaries present the same goal to their mission board: church planting. They will either start or serve in new churches. And church planting is an effective long-term means of establishing Christianity in an area. The problem is, it rarely works. Almost all new churches fail. In fact, the most successful means of starting new churches, by far, is to have a church split.
Starting a new church is extremely difficult, and the failure rate is extremely high. Different groups use different methods, and most of them don't work. In other words, God doesn't often call Christians to plant churches, but that's what missionaries try to do.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Why Missionaries Fail Part 4
Since neither missionaries nor mission boards know what they're dong, unqualified people are routinely sent to the mission field. What missionaries often don't realize is that God works in certain ways, at certain times, in certain places.
Here in Mexico, I have asked missionaries to teach a children's Bible lesson for me, as I cannot learn Spanish. One missionary, who did an outstanding job, complied one time. Others have told me that God didn't call them to work with children. So those missionaries go home empty-handed, while people who are teaching children's classes are getting something done.
Children's ministries do not carry a lot of status. But if God is making a children's ministry successful, His servants will be blessed if they work in it.
Here in Mexico, I have asked missionaries to teach a children's Bible lesson for me, as I cannot learn Spanish. One missionary, who did an outstanding job, complied one time. Others have told me that God didn't call them to work with children. So those missionaries go home empty-handed, while people who are teaching children's classes are getting something done.
Children's ministries do not carry a lot of status. But if God is making a children's ministry successful, His servants will be blessed if they work in it.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Why Misionaries Fail Part 3
With no Scriptural authority to exist, mission boards usually contain some experienced missionaries who can spot potential failures before they get through. But since most missionaries fail, mission boards are not eliminating enough candidates.
One fellow here in Mexico has been driving a van for years, without pay, for an orphanage. He has accomplished far more than most missionaries in the area, but no mission board would accept a candidate whose only service is to drive a van. I'm a Baptist who drives a van on Sunday for a Pentecostal church, and on a typical week-end I'll bring more Mexicans to church than most missionaries ever will. But no mission board would ever accept me.
A retired doctor and nurse have started a successful Christian orphanage here, but with no experience in the ministry, they are here on their own. And my pastor came here after being rejected by a mission board, took a church running a dozen, and five years later is running over 100.
Mission boards must be doing something wrong, but what is it?
One fellow here in Mexico has been driving a van for years, without pay, for an orphanage. He has accomplished far more than most missionaries in the area, but no mission board would accept a candidate whose only service is to drive a van. I'm a Baptist who drives a van on Sunday for a Pentecostal church, and on a typical week-end I'll bring more Mexicans to church than most missionaries ever will. But no mission board would ever accept me.
A retired doctor and nurse have started a successful Christian orphanage here, but with no experience in the ministry, they are here on their own. And my pastor came here after being rejected by a mission board, took a church running a dozen, and five years later is running over 100.
Mission boards must be doing something wrong, but what is it?
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Why Missionaries Fail Part 2
It helps to understand that the word "missionary" does not appear in the Bible. It is not a church office, and God does not promise to give missionaries to the church. God's Word sets no standards for missionaries, and so there is no Scriptural regulation for this office.
I was a missionary to Massachusetts one summer while I was in college. I spent forty hours a week knocking on doors, plus I ran a bus route. We have a teenager down here now who has lived in orphanages for the past few years, working without pay. Someone else just posted a comment about how she led her first soul to Christ on a mission trip.
And others go on a working vacation, doing less work than they would on a summer job. When they report back to their church, they spread their distorted ideas of mission work to their listeners. A happy congregation is pleased that their young people had a good spiritual experience and misses the fact that they came back empty-handed.
This is one reason why most missionaries, mission boards, and churches that support missionaries don't know what they're doing.
I was a missionary to Massachusetts one summer while I was in college. I spent forty hours a week knocking on doors, plus I ran a bus route. We have a teenager down here now who has lived in orphanages for the past few years, working without pay. Someone else just posted a comment about how she led her first soul to Christ on a mission trip.
And others go on a working vacation, doing less work than they would on a summer job. When they report back to their church, they spread their distorted ideas of mission work to their listeners. A happy congregation is pleased that their young people had a good spiritual experience and misses the fact that they came back empty-handed.
This is one reason why most missionaries, mission boards, and churches that support missionaries don't know what they're doing.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Why Missionaries Fail
When I took a Missions course in college, they presented a "nut" theory as an alternative to what we believed. The "nut" theory held that:
1) Most missionaries don't know what they're doing.
2) Most mission boards don't know what they're doing.
3) Most churches that support missionaries don't know what they're doing.
After six years in Mexico, I'm convinced that all three are true. Successful pastors down here believe they are true. Most missionaries who come down here leave little or no success behind them, and most never come back.
I'll be posting two or three times a week on "Why Missionaries Fail," and I hope you'll join in with comments and suggestions.
1) Most missionaries don't know what they're doing.
2) Most mission boards don't know what they're doing.
3) Most churches that support missionaries don't know what they're doing.
After six years in Mexico, I'm convinced that all three are true. Successful pastors down here believe they are true. Most missionaries who come down here leave little or no success behind them, and most never come back.
I'll be posting two or three times a week on "Why Missionaries Fail," and I hope you'll join in with comments and suggestions.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Stirring Up Your Courage
“Laybawb” is translated “courage” in Daniel 11:25. The word literally means “heart” and refers to both emotions and understanding. Describing a future battle between the king of the north and the king of the south, Daniel tells us that the king of the north "… shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army…”
The king of the north already had courage. He needed to stir it up, but he already had it.
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Courage to Think Clearly
And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Joshua 2:11
This is the only appearance of the word “rhuack” in Scripture. The word refers to the spirit or mind of a rational being. Rahab explained to the two Israelite spies that the fear of God’s power had driven the people of Jericho into irrationality. This helps us understand 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
When a Christian breaks under fear, and begins lying or doing some other wrong, that Christian already possesses the opposite of fear: a spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. But the Christian needs to use it.
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