Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Perspectives 541, "Covering the Globe"
Please read and respond to the article, "Covering the Globe," by Patrick Johnstone, found at http://mmcdaniel.jimdo.com/arlington-baptist-college/cross-cultural-ministry/perspectives-articles/. You will be required to respond to at least one other student's comments to successfully complete this assignment. Please ensure that you put your name in parenthesis if you post anonymously.
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10 comments:
over 50% of the world is now urban...wow. The thing that impressed me most about this article is The Urban Challege. And the thing that Johnstone said at the beginning, "no city is too fortified-like Mecca where no Christian is allowed to set foot."
What if we truly had that much faith in God, that we could just walk into the center of Mecca and preach Christ. We need to take the attitude of wether we live or die, as long as Christ is glorified that is all that matters. It's one thing to say that, and a whole different thing to live it.
Philippians 1:20
"According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing i shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death."
There is no doubt that the Word of God needs to be spread more efficiently. Everytime I here all those stats from missionaries it blows my mind. There is much work to be done. It is nice to see what research effort has been at work to help us realize the need. As the article shows us the doors are there to be opened. The fields are truly white and the harvest is great. There is the lack in labours as the scriptures say.
The thing in this article that really was interesting to me was learning about the 10/40 window. It was very impressive to read of Johnstones plan to reach out to the peope groups who are still yet to be reached with the gospel of Christ. He says that not only is this not just a dream but we can reach these people groups in our life time. Not only did he say this was possiable but gave a detailed plan on how this can be done! Johnstone is certainly a vision caster.
I'm with Hawaii and how that we should not be to stinking proud to preach Christ to others no matter the outcome. Also he is very right. It is another thing all together to live that attitude out in our daily lives.
(JJ)
"No valley is too isolated, no island is too distant, no forest is too dense, no mountain is too inaccessible, no city is too fortified, no desert is too hostile" this part really got to me. I was reminded of the "Martyr's Oath," part of which says, "I shall preach to everyone, EVEN IF THEY HATE ME" (emphasis mine). Also, this article helped me understand the "10/40" window, (you're not alone, JJ) a phrase I'd always heard about, but never knew what it actually meant. I was amazed by how many organizations there were that are reaching people, how much effort was put into global missions. There were a couple of things that grabbed my attention in this article, the first of which was that for the Nubian Believers in the Upper Nile, who had been there for nearly 1,500 years, there wasn't a Bible in their language! 1,500 years and no Bible! How did that happen? Who let them slip through the cracks? Evangelism and Discipleship go hand in hand, and someone epically failed!
The second thing was this quote by Viv Gregg, "...to live as the poor among the poor in order to preach the Kingdom and establish the church in these great slum areas..." are we...am I... willing to give up everything and live below the poverty level for the CHANCE that I might lead one to Christ?
As far as Mecca goes..."WE" will never reach Mecca. But if I, if we reach them, THEY will reach Mecca.
There are three challenges mentioned within this article when it comes to spreading the gospel to every nation. The first challenge, the geographic challenge, points out the regions of the world that have little or no Christian evangelization within them. Altogether, these nations are called the 10/40 window. The statistics that are given about the people in this area who have never heard the gospel are truly confounding. The article states that this area within the 10/40 window only makes up 35% of the world surface area, but it makes up 65%, over half (!!), of the world’s population. There is a great need for the gospel to be taken to these different regions in the world and much more is needed to be done to be able to reach all of these nations and the people groups within them. This brings about the second challenge which is the people challenge. Within this part of the article, Johnstone notes the various groups of people within the 10/40 window. He also details the differing types of ministries that have been made available in order to further the gospel to these areas. There have been many advancements made over the past few years that have allowed for people to be reached with the gospel and more to be made in the future. The third challenge presented in the article is the urban challenge. Much of the world has already been urbanized and the need to tell others about Christ in these great cities is just as essential as it is to telling others about Christ in distant parts of the world. This article presented some very eye opening and insightful information about the people groups within the world and especially the need for God’s people to take them the gospel. As God’s people, are we willing and able to take up the challenge of proclaiming the truth to those who have never had the opportunity to hear it? Or will we remain in our comfort zone unwilling to take a step of faith and continue ignoring their need for Christ?
J.S.
in response to james' comment:
Preach to all even if they hate me. Usually, they do not hate you until you start to preach the gospel. This is when it becomes hard to keep preaching. I have also found out i my experience, that the ones that will sometimes hate you the most for preaching the truth...are Christians themselves. Try standing up for what the Bible and the Holy Spirit tells you to do among other "Christians" that just think your being Holier than thou. This is when you have to realize that you dont matter, and God MUST be glorified...even if they hate me.
This article was a real eye opener for me. It shows us how important foreign missions is. This article says that 1.2 - 1.4 billion of the 6 billion people in the world have never had a chance to hear the gospel. That is a lot of people who are going to go to hell. As Christians, we need to reach these people and make sure they hear about the gospel. There are so many young people in our generation who are very capable to go to these unreached people, but yet are not willing to. It is time for us to step up and go reach those 1.2 billion people who are on their way to hell. (Stacie)
This article is truly eye opening..and heart breaking. One thing I really thought was interesting was the geographical challenge. I have heard so many times "no, no, we can't go there, its too dangerous. We can't get there by plane, we'd have to hike through jungles or mountains, etc." or "that place is too hostile, if we went there, there is no way we would ever make it back to America." Is that the kind of attitude we should have? Are those people in those remote, desolate, or dangerous places not worth it? Are we more important than they are? Are we so wrapped up in our ownselves that those people's eternal destination matters in the least bit to us? How sad. There is nothing more important on earth that serving God and spreading the good news of salvation to everyone. Everyone! Why does it matter if you are martyred for the cause of Christ? You know where you are going. Like Jacob said, though, it is easy enough to said, but a whole different thing to actually live that way. But we should. Our perspective on life should be radically different than it currently is. In PL&E, we read a book on evangelism and this story impacted my life so greatly:
A notorious British murderer was sentenced to die. The morning of his execution the prison chaplain walked beside him to the gallows and routinely read some Bible verses. The prisoner was shocked that the chaplain was so perfunctory, unmoved, and uncompassionate in the shadow of the scaffold. He said to the preacher, "Sir, if I believed what you and the church say you believe, even if England was covered with glass from coast to coast,...I would walk over it--if need be on my hands and knees--and think it worthwhile, just to save one sould from an eternal hell like that."
How crazy is it that we have that enormous group of people to witness to and we are doing really nothing to break down the barriers that Satan has on that region. The 10/40 region is a large rectangle that people cant reach. Well they can they just don't want to risk their life doing it. God told us in His word that the world would hate us and persecute and kill but we still have to go. It is amazing to see his goals but what about us. After reading an article like that, it makes me think of what can I do. It reminds me of the movie "End of the Spear" where the missionary says I'm ready for heaven and they aren't. Or Esther where she says I must go and if I perish, I perish. Why are we not saying and doing what those people did to reach the gospel to that 10/40 region. They need education, they need morals, they need hope, but most of all they need Christ and if no one goes then they all perish because of our selfishness.
I agree with John Hardy when it is said that the Word of God needs to be spread more efficiently. I also agree that we need to have and train up more laborers.
Jeremiah 8:20 says, "The harvest is passed, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."
Why are we not doing anything?
Response to James
It is a shame how somthing so important could slip away like that. It is a shame that if we're not careful America's Christianity will slip through the cracks. I agree that there is no place to remote to spread the gospel. Though if we all leave then who will be here to reach the lost.
John Hardy
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