Something inside really clicked when reading Thomas Hale's description of the call to missions.
Should we still be sending missionaries? If the answer is "no," then you can skip the rest of this book. But, in fact, the answer is a resounding "yes." Whenever missionaries go on furlough they are likely to be asked to speak on the biblical basis of missions. It's as if people needed to be reassured that missions and missionaries were really necessary. After all, a lot of hard-earned money is flittering off int othose foreign lands, when what the church at home really needs is a new parking lot. Oddly, when it comes to defending their calling, missionaries themselves are among the most inarticulate. Many simplay say, "I was called." And that is the heart of it. It is not "we" who send missionaries' it is God. (Click) Throughout the Bible, God is revealed to be a sending God. He sent Abraham to the land of Canaan; he sent Joseph to Egypt; he sent Moses to resuce his people; and he sent prophet after prohpet to the Jews with both warnings and promises. Finally he sent John to announce the coming of the Messiah. And then he sent his Son. So, what about us? Does he send us too? The answer is "yes." Jesus told us to proay for workers fo rthe harvest fields. The workers are us. Jesus said, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (Jn 20:21). And he means all of us. ... What did Jesus mean by saying, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you"? Certainly we are not sent as saviors. No, we are sent as servants. Jesus "did not come to be served, but to serve" (Mk 10:45). And, in the same way, he is sending us to serve. He is our example. After he had washed the disciples' feet, Jesus said to them, :I have set you an example..." (Jn 13:15).
...Why not just send money to support missionaries from th eThird World? They are a lot cheaper and usually more effective. True. Supporting a Third World missionary costs a fraction of what it costs to support a Western missionary, and the Third World Missionary is often (but by no means always) more effective in evangelism than his Western counterpart. But there are simply not ehough Third World missionaries to do the job alone - even given their increasing numbers. And there are many places Third World missionaries can't easily get to. Sending missionaries is the responsibility of the entire worldwide church: "All nations to all nations." Furthermore, if Western churches were to begin sending only checks, their vital commitment to missions would decrease. Our commitment will only be maintained by sending our own sons and daughters out as missionaries - and ourselves as well. God didn't send a check; he sent his son.
...It is God who opens doors. And he has opened more doors today than there are Christians ready to go through them.
-- Thomas Hale
You know... that whole sending a check idea...the Lord seems to have taught me that yesterday, as you can read in my previous blog. And that's such an important lesson. Money isn't a substitute for service. Money isn't a substitute for the true treasure that we can give to someone God is using us to minister to. Alongside it we can minister to them of the gifts God's given us to use. We can also just very practically give them a hand, which goes a long way. The Lord may not ever allow me to heal someone, but I can certainly carei for the sick when they're sick. I might not be able to put eyes in the heads of the blind as my Lord did because the Spirit doesn't need me to do that, but I can certainly show people the fruit of the Holy Spirit in Christian kindness, Christian love, Christian patience, any time of the day! And with these I'll offer myself to be used of the Lord in any capacity. Including Missions.
"From these [parables] we see that first-century masters expected their servants to do many menial tasks: gather and burn useless weeds and collct wheat into a barn (Matt 13:30), call invited gusts to a wedding feast (Matt 22:3), bund an improperly dressed wedding guest and throw him out (Matt 22:13), bring clothing and kill a fatted calf (Luke 15:22-23), plow and tend sheep (Luke 17:7), and serve food (Luke 17:8). God may expect us to do lowly, ignoble tasks. The servant does not choose his work, the master does. On the other hand, the master could assign ighly responsible jobs. Four times the parables mention tasks that involve authority: collect rent (Matt 21:34), be in the charge of a household (Matt. 24:45), and invest money (Matt 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27). Abraham sent Eliezer to get a bride for Isaac (Gen. 24:2-4). God may call upon His servants to do the lowest or the highest tasks. In four of the parables, the servants are pictured as taking intiiative and even volunteering service. In Matthew 13:27-28, the servants reported to the master after an enemy sowed weeds in his crop. The servants volunteered to pull them up. In another parable, a rich man demanded an accounting of an unjust manager. The manager excused large portions of the debts of his master's debtors (Luke 16:5-7), and so ingratiated himself with the debtors. The master commended his shrewdness. In the parables of the talents and the minas, the servants invested money. Initiative and shredness are commendable within the confines of obedience, both in the menial tasks of the parable of the weeds and in the responsible tasks of the parables of the talents and minas. Also implicit in these is that the good servants worked diligently."
I thought this was so great and I know that T. W. Hunt would appreciate reminding the Church of these important aspects of servanthood and God's Word, but I do want to adhere to copyright law, so please check out his book, The Mind of Christ, here: http://books.google.com/books?id=exsKAAAACAAJ &" title="http://books.google.com/books?id=exsKAAAACAAJ &" target="_blank"http://books.google.com/books...;dq=TW+Hunt&source=an &hl=en&ei=F-G2StC 4EIXO8Qb2isiTDw&sa=X& amp;oi=book_result&ct =result&resnum=4 I myself bought a copy from Amazon a long time ago. It sat on my shelf, but when I began to read it, God's used this man's teachings dramatically to change some of my more fleshly convictions. It'll certainly do this to you also as T. W. Hunt really delivers the Word in his teaching.
I just wrote out an entire blog on Christian giving and got half-way when the page reset. I was being too long-winded. Well, here are the most important parts.
Paul exhorted the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 8 to excel in giving and in another place highlighted how God enjoys a cheerful giver. However, giving isn't to be restricted to just money. I think the Church in the United States, including myself, has made a grave area for just giving money at times when Christian service is really what is needed. Monetary distribution is never to supercede servanthood distribution. I think it's why when in the Gospels Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan didn't just give the guy a bag of money and leave him on the side of the road to just pay for everything. No, he gave him a ride, he lead him to a place to stay, ensured it was safe and that his future needs would be taken care of, spent at least a night on his wounds and caring for him, probably gave him something to eat... that's much more than just a bag of shiny coins that only have 'potential' to help someone.
I think God's given me much more valuable things to give than just money. I'm convicted that I'm not a cheerful giver. I give very grudgingly many times. However, I desire not to just grow as someone who's pleased to give as God's pleased that I give, but to give fully of everything God's given me. My time, my witness of Jesus in teaching, the effort of my hands in servanthood, my participation as a friend or counselor, and yes, my money. But not just monetary value, but every value God's given me that I can share with a body of people. I think this witnesses of God's goodness greatly. My money's no good just sitting in the bank, I agree. And yes, money should be given, and cheerfully as the verse says. But, I'd rather see it in the hands of lost people as Bibles after I'd taken the time to share the Gospel with them. I'd rather see it on the faces of satisfied, full people after we shared a meal. I'd rather see it on the backs of people who couldn't clothe themselves.
I think that Christian service accompanied with monetary giving witnesses much more of the Gospel than just monetary giving alone. And it certainly doesn't replace or substitute it. This is a grace that we should abound in -- the grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8 says that it includes service or ability.
2 Corinthians 8:1-6, "Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing,"
2 Corinthians 8:4-7, "imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. But as you abound in everything - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us - see that you abound in this grace also."
I'm learning from Missions 101 at my church that missionaries don't just need money support. They don't just need material support. They also need prayer support and encouragement support or exhortation. They need letters of encouragement. And prayer, no spiritual work the Christian undertakes really gets done. Because we can do nothing of ourselves except we abide in the Vine, as Christ pointed out even from His own life. This also relates to that post I wrote a few months ago on the guy that fell over backwards in his head at Wal-Mart, wow.
This is why I no longer care to be wealthy at all. And don't plan on retiring as I originally thought of retiring - a vacation. God's given me much more valuable things to give than just money - and things to give than any amount of money can't really buy or prepare for me (like prayer, encouragement, and so forth). I freely give up the pursuit of riches for the pursuit of greater godliness in order to give things that have true eternal value (1 Tim. 4:8, etc.).
From what I've read so far, Reformed Theology is that system of scriptures that primarily teaches God's Sovereignty with comparison to Human Responsibility. So, a Reformed Christian is a Christian that believes that the Bible teaches the teachings (or doctrines) usually associated with the historical event of The Reformation. People who affirm Refo rmed Theology as what the Bible teaches have been traditionally called 'Calvinists.' Calvinism isn't a denomination of Christianity as one would think of Baptists, Methodists, Anabaptists, Assemblies of God, and so on. Rather, it's a system of thought or a theology, a way of reckoning the scriptures. So, you can have Christians who call themselves Reformed Baptists and so on (Christians in different denominations that affirm Reformed Theology). So, a Reformed Christian is someone who believes the Bible teaches teachings&nb sp;associated with the Reformation. This is sort of the same way we call ourselves Trinitarian. But we don't call Trinitarianism a particular denomination or group or class of Christians. Rather, a Trinitarian believes that the Bible teaches that God is triune.
Reformed Christians are traditionally called 'Calvinists' after a theologian named John Calvin, who wrote a work in Church History (The Institutes of the Christian Religion) that includes these teachings. He is recognized with these teachings because&nb sp;his particular treatment of them was so prolific and thought-through. Because of his book, his name is associated with these teachings as 'Calvinism.' However, Reformed Christianity didn't begin with John Calvin. Martin Luther, who is associated with starting Protestantism, was as Calvinist in his theology as John Calvin was! You can say the same about Augustine of Hippo, who lived in the 4th century many hundreds of years earlier. So, it would be an anachronistic fallacy to call it Calvinism and associated with men born before John Calvin. But, it is associated with the Reformation, the event in the history of Christianity, lead by Martin Luther, where the Church began to put an emphasis back on the Scripture's authority rather than the authority of church leaders. Even though Martin Luther was born 50 years or so before John Calvin, he said about Calvin and his works, "Now here's a theologian with hands and feet!" And this is the guy that was associated with starting Protestantism!
Think of it This Way: Most Christians in America today would think of themselves as Evangelical Christians. Do we really understand what Evangelicalism is? Evangelicalism - it is a protestant movement which began in my country, Great Britain, in the 1730s that considers its key characteristics to be: a belief in the need for personal conversion (or being "born again"); some expression of the gospel in effort; a high regard for biblical authority; and an emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Definition taken right from Wikipedia.)
So, an Evangelical is a Christian who puts an emphasis in four areas of their teaching or system of Bible-thought: (1) Conversion, (2) Activism, (3) Biblicism, and (4) Crucicentrism. This is the basis of Evangelicalism. These are four distinctives, or priorities, if you will, in their Bible-teaching. So, when listening to an Evangelical preacher's sermon many times you'll hear him very slowly creep into a message about how someone should be saved and come to Christ (because they emphasize (1) conversion), or you'll hear them all throughout their teaching basing their point on scripture (because they emphasize (3) Biblicism).
Now, let's look at Reformed Christianity, or Calvinist Christianity as it's often referred to: Since Reformed Christianity has an emphasis on the Sovereignty of God and Human Responsibility, its major distinctives or priorities are: (1) Total Depravity, (2) Unconditional Election, (3) Limited Atonement, (4) Irresistible Grace, and (5) Perseverance of the Saints. These are also called the 5 Points of Calvinism. So, someone who would say that these teachings are what the Bible says is sometimes called a 5 Point Calvinist. These teachings also have another historical name - the Doctrines of Grace. The word 'doctrine' just means teaching! So, the 'doctrine' of the Trinity just means 'the teaching of the Trinity.'
So, it's a form of Christianity that puts an emphasis on these five areas. There is a deep history that is associated with how we have these five emphases that I hope to describe in another post later on! But, in my next post I hope to very straightforwardly break down the 5 teachings of Calvinism and how a Reformed Christian derives these 5 teachings from Scripture. :-) Also, we'll delve into its heavy scriptural foundation and Biblical basis. For example, Evangelical Christianity is often associated with John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, and so on. Well, Reformed Christianity is associated with the bottom half of Romans 8, Romans 9, Romans 10, and Romans 11.
Introduction
I'm very gradually being introduced to Reformed Theology. So, this is meant to be a very loving introduction to Calvinism for everyone else, too. :-) I hope and pray that you are edified with the same loving care that God's shown me. Also, I've noticed that there really are no good introductions to Reformed Theology! It's really a shame because it descends from such a rich Christian heritage of loving pastors and teachers such as Charles Haddon Spurgeon, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, and so on.
However, there really is no way to be introduced to what it is or, from really searching around, know what it is without learning copious amounts of Church history or books on systems of theology and the like. So, as I'm introduced to it I'm going to try to track that progress and record it on my blog here. So this is really my introduction to Reformed Theology as well as an introduction I write for other fellow believers.
I'd like to also keynote the controversies it is causing today. I get that Calvinism gets a bad rep. today. However, mostly all of the 'bad' that I'm seeing is on the opposing side. I've seen a lot of hatred come from those who oppose Calvinism. And when I ask them why, they have no other reason than Calvinists themselves, their arguements against the theology or shallow or unbased, and/or they don't really know or understand what Calvinism is yet alone why its so bad. They just see its effects and judge it based on that.
However, I'd like to focus on Calvinism as a system of theology or thought and Calvinism or Reformed Theology in the Bible and what God has to say about the topic rather than just man. This is sorely needed, in my opinion. A lot of the troubles people are having with the reformed system of Bible-thought is that they think its alien to the scriptures and something being brought in, not many Calvinists are really supporting it from scripture but are primarily using Church History first before Scripture (when the Body of Christ responds best to the God-given Holy Bible and Church History to back it up, in priority), and are being told that they're to join the 'Calvinist' club -- not that this is a Bible-based teaching to be believed by all believers.
No one seems to be making things simple for everyone else! No one really knows the Five Point Teaching of Calvinism very well enough to give scriptural reasons for the teachings as to why it should be believed by all the Body! So, this is my attempt on digesting these teachings and showing why they're to be believed by the whole Body.
* I put the introduction at the bottom so that people would read the most important part of this blog first. I didn't want to scare anyone away by my introduction and get the wrong idea before they got the point of it - the definition.
Here's a poem I wrote when I was lost. I found among a bunch of papers for a book I attempted to write once, which started when I was in Middle School. Even the title of it is a Zinger.
Life Is a Fruitless Mobius
Lost in the quaint memory is he, the one that must Bear the pain. Fruitless memories of broken love And mind shattered of grave labor, to his disdain. An odessey, the journey of a nomad in search of Lucrative knowledge. His great pain known Only to Yahwey his ubiquitous father to whom Only he might acknowledge. Why does he waste His youth on the journey to stop for fruitless Adventures of delving in whimsical Lust? Opposites repulsed by his words that scoff at His purity in disgust. Long and treacherous is his Journey of endless formation. For success is not A destination but a journey nomadic for the Consumption of information; adventure forever Forever encircling, stopping not even for death. Odessey that surpasses time, crossing where it Began.
- Isaac D.
You even get a sense of my false view of who belongs to God and who can properly be called His 'child', my distorted view of God the Father, the vanity of my youth, my pursuit of riches and knowledge, my false view of success, my acknowledgement of death as my end, my awareness of my own sinfulness, my longing for some sort of a rest or comfort, my false view of self as good or pure, my brokenness of heart from not being able to find a mate and resorting to lust as a replacement, and the perpetuation of work and toil that I looked forward to as a dismall future for myself. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ that His death, burial, and resurrection was at work to change all of this and give me a lasting joy in walking with Him that changed everything!!! :-)
There's just nothing I can do... I feel completely helpless... Jesus save me from this present hour. And every other hour, for that matter.
When will it all end? This life is hard. :-( Life is amazing, especially eternal life. It is this world that's the main concern. People think I'm speakign in vain when I say that the only one who can save us from it is Jesus. But, that's the only realist perspective anyone can ever have... I turn to the only one who can ransom me from death and this world...
