NOT EVERYTHING CALLED MISSIONS IS MISSIONS. My understanding of missionary work is formed by the Book of Acts. The clear pattern there is evangelism, discipleship, establishing churches, and training pastors / elders. When I came to my present pastorate I studied the list of supported missionaries and discovered that of 16 entities only two were on this program...
The Consequence Of The Great Commission
Modern believers have convinced themselves that spiritual maturity is based on information and that it takes a long time. However, if one follows the New Testament pattern, mature disciples were made in short order. They were tested by persecution and stood! The secret was the absolute insistence on personal obedience to the demands and expectations of Scripture. This is the forgotten side of the Great Commission in many churches today.
How To Plant A Church
Empowered Non-Staff Leadership Marks Church Planting Movements Around the World
Realizing Biblical Outcomes When Planting Churches Cross-Culturally
The Church Planter's goal in leadership development is to see God-exalting independent Baptist churches with trained national leadership. This outcome is not realized by chance. The church planter must demonstrate openness, communicate, and have the humility to give and receive correction and criticism. (Phil. 2:1-18)
Church Planting: Discipleship From Day One
Planting New Churches
If the churches missionaries plant have terminal life, after ten years their field will have 100 churches. If the missionaries die or return home, the number of churches remains static, for they do not plant other churches. The same ten missionaries, by planting churches that have germinal life, will in ten years have 5,110 churches in their field. If the missionaries die or return home, the churches will continue to multiply, because they have germinal life.
How Do You Measure Missions?
It’s always been frustratingly difficult to appraise missionary ventures. What if Adoniram Judson’s church had pulled him off the field after nine years of what seemed to be fruitless work in Burma? It was the next twenty years that were so incredibly fruitful, and today there are hundreds of thousands of believers in Burma.
The Challenge Of Developing A Strong Indigenous Church Planting Movement In Africa
From the picturesque thatch-roofed villages to the bustling metropolises Africa is a study in contrasts. Africa is the continent where the number one killer is still mosquito-born malaria yet it is the place where the first heart-transplant was successfully carried out. Twenty-first century Africa is dominated by Islam in the north and Christianity across the central and southern regions yet African Traditional Religion remains the primary theological grid.