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Today’s guest blogger is Jim Quigley, who is leaving this Saturday for Peru for a mission trip.
 
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.(Ephesians 3:20-21)

I can hardly believe it, but in just a few short days, I will be on my flight to Peru and soon after that, on a boat going deep into the Amazon jungle.  Wow, it gives me a rush just thinking about it!  Truthfully, it hasn’t quite set in that I will be in another country as far away from civilization as one can be.  No cell phone towers.  No Wi-Fi.  No Google or Facebook.  Just God, nature, and His sheep, some of which have gone astray.  Oh yeah, and mosquitoes…lots of mosquitoes.  Even though it hasn’t fully hit me yet, I’m getting very excited about this trip.  I’m excited for the opportunity to be a blessing to others who have no means of paying me back.  I’m really looking forward to being disconnected from civilization, far from the buzz of Blackberries, constant emails, and the busyness of American culture.  But I am most excited to see what God is going to do through my group on this trip to bless this Amazonian tribe. 
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“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’” (Revelation 6:9-10)

 What I’m going to share below is graphic and beyond words in its horror. I don’t share it to be sensationalistic, but to ask a simple question: What do you do with this? How do you personally handle the knowledge that there is this kind of evil in the world? How does it affect your thinking, your actions, and your faith? Please consider, and share your thoughts below.

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“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Today’s post is a favorite story of mine, taken out of Jim Cymbala’s Fresh Power. Cymbala is the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, and has written many wonderful books about the power of God to transform lives. This story is a testimony to the verse listed above, and is especially encouraging for all who give their life in service of the gospel.

Back in 1921, a missionary couple named David and Svea Flood went with their two year-old son from Sweden to the heart of Africa – to what was then called the Belgian Congo. They met up with another young Scandinavian couple, the Ericksons, and the four of them sought God for direction. In those days of much tenderness and devotion and sacrifice, they felt led of the Lord to set out from the main mission station and take the gospel to a remote area.

This was a huge step of faith. At the village of N’dolera they were rebuffed by the chief, who would not let them enter his town for fear of alienating the local gods. The two couples opted to go half a mile up the slope and build their own mud huts.
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Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mark 10:21)

This past week, I’ve been reading through The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns, the President of World Vision. World Vision is an excellent Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. The title of his book references his contention that if your faith in Jesus has no positive outward expression, but is simply a personal and private matter, than there is a hole in your gospel. God’s vision is a community of people who have been transformed by the gospel, transforming the world into the kingdom of God.

The book is remarkable as well as challenging. I was especially moved by the story of how Richard left his job as the CEO of Lenox, the manufacturer of fine china and tableware, in order to take his position with World Vision. As I read Richard’s story, I was particularly struck at how persistent, yet gentle, God was in calling Richard to his position at World Vision, and how fearful and unequipped and undeserving Richard felt for the role. I have found that it is so easy to look at people in a position of leadership and influence and assume that they are among the strong and confident ones who have always had it together, while the rest of us normal people struggle and fail and never feel up to the challenge. That is why it is always so encouraging to hear someone like Richard be honest about his resistance to the life God wanted for him, but how God nevertheless continued to lovingly lead him.

Richard’s story went something like this – Read more »

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

In our pluralistic society, it is one thing to have faith in the God of the Bible and to commit your life to being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  But it is another thing entirely to be a missionary and to spend your life trying to live out Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:18-20, to go and make people of other nations, cultures, and faiths disciples of Jesus Christ.  Seeking to “convert” people, while true to the last words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, will win you few friends in the world, where thinking your religion is superior to another is in many minds one small step away from being a terrorist. 

 But if Jesus was right, and if His life, death, and resurrection is the only cure for our broken world, then we have a lot to learn from those fearless men and women who devote their lives to reaching those who have never heard of Jesus, even if they may be anonymous or even hated in the eyes of the world.  One such man was Ralph Winter, a great man of God who died this past week at the age of 84.  I would encourage you to learn more about this man and his contributions to the modern missions movement and to the kingdom of God (you can learn a lot about him at www.ralphwinter.org).  Let me briefly share two of the ways Ralph Winter impacted the kingdom of God.
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