Missions Conference Notes

Over the past few days, we have been participating in a missions conference.  The speakers were great.  Here are a few quotes that I was able to get written down.

From Dr. Joe Arthur I heard, "Little is much if God is in it, and God will get in it if you give Him what you’ve got."

I wrote down several quotes from Dr. Tommy Ashcraft, a missionary in Mexico.  Here are some of his:

Teens in Guatemala singing about taking the gospel to the world. 

The only dream a Christian has a right to dream is to take the gospel to a hidden corner of the mission field. 

The average church member only gives $2.00 a week to missions.  That won’t even buy a Happy Meal at McDonalds!  

You have not given sacrificially until you give something you will not be able to replace. 

We complain about waste in government, but if we use any dollar except to further the gospel, it is wasted. 

What right do we have to ask a missionary to change his lifestyle in order to go to the mission field if we are not willing to change our lifestyle to send them? 

Dr. Mark Smith said,

The person sitting in your seat is the one who needs to surrender. 

Our city is not unreachable. It is just unreached.  

I came away challenged, eager to share the gospel more and excited to be part of the work that God has left His people to do.  I am both humbled and amazed that I get to be part of something that actually changes people's lives!

Do not confuse obscure preaching with deep preaching

The basic thought expressed above has been percolating in my mind on and off for months. Today I read an opinion piece in the Bangor Daily News by Stephen M. Walt. He is a Harvard professor and has been writing for decades. His article on poor academic writing included the phrase "many academics tend to confuse incomprehensibility with profundity". Aha! He is right, in academic circles and in religious circles. I believe I have benefited by this principle. I have preached a sermon that poorly presented a theological truth and been praised as "deep".

As I transitioned from a preaching ministry into a teaching ministry I considered what lessons learned from my own failings could be communicated to my future students. This is one of them. Do not confuse obscure preaching with deep preaching. Our job as preachers is to make clear the truths of the Scriptures, not obscure them. I know there are times when emergencies preclude us preparing as well as we want to. I know there are times when the passage we have chosen does not yield its fruit in due season. I know there will be a broad spectrum of doctrinal understanding in our congregations. My point is do not let this become a routine event!

“So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.” (Ne 8:8-9 AV)

Our job is to cause the people to understand the passage. Not always an easy task, but a needful one.