Poll on Missions

be careful here, you could defeat your own train of logic with this thought.........the countries now banned from missionaries are the ones which are intolerant of any other religion or belief system. Thus it could very logically be argued that we were banned because we were effective, and that made the oppressive gov't nervous.

 

There is a reason when missionaries were once allowed and are allowed no longer.

 

yes, and in actuality it is usually because the country doesn't want to accept any other religion within its borders.........especially Muslim countries and Communist countries...

Now, if we were kicked out of Switzerland....ok, maybe.....

 

I have to disagree that missionaries are no longer allowed in some countries is a sign that they were doing things wrong. I believe it is because they were doing things right!

As well, many of the countries that now do not allow missionaries do have Christian communities because missionaries once served there.

Take China for example, CT Studd, Hudson Taylor and many hundreds of others went there and laid a foundation. Now, without missionaries being allowed into the country (in most circumstances) Christian churches still thrive.

As far as I know China stopped missionaries coming in at the same time they stopped ALL non-Chinese coming into the country. It probably kicked off during the Boxer Rebellion but then got cemented with the growth of communism.

The Stams were a young, talented missionary couple who went to China arond 100 years ago. They were murdered by the government army but the locals were devastated! The Stams were much loved and very often locals want missionaries.

And what is necessarily wrong with organised evangelism (I take it that is what you mean by 'institutionalized evangelism')?

Even the 12 apostles Christ divided into three groups and each group had a leader. Christ was organised and sent out His apostles.

Just because the word is not in the Bible does not mean we do not do it. The old example of the word Trinity comes to my mind.

Finally, growing up there were many churches in town, Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Christidelphian, liberal Baptist and so on. But you know what, none of them ever told me the Gospel, they never invited me to their services, they never gave me a tract - essentially, they did not care.

Now, maybe they were sat in their halls preaching the Gospel, maybe they had some truth, but I never knew. It took a missionary from Georgia USA to fly 3000 miles away from home, family and friends. It took a missionary giving up everything he had to come and give me the Gospel.

SOME Calvinists will probably go with the board that stopped William Carey in the beginning by saying "If you were gonna be saved you would have been saved with or without that missionary". I'll not get into that now. But if that missionary had not come and given me th Gospel I doubt I would have ever heard the truth!

All I know is that some churches stayed in the comfort of their buildings and never cared for my soul, then a missionary who loved God and loved souls brought me the Gospel. I thank God for missionaries and missions.

 

never mind...this post deserves no response.

 

The boards are unbiblical; if you feel called to go on a mission.......just go. The Lord will provide. Don't wait for the board to give you the OK.

 

And we all know the following things from the above statement:

• 2 Hesitations 3:27 is the reference that condemns those who help churches co-ordinate missions efforts. It's cross-referenced with 1 Confusions 8:9.
• It is impossible for God to..
  • Lie
  • Sin
  • Provide for missionaries through a missions board.
• God doesn't call missionaries. Boards do.

As you can tell, I disagree quite strongly with the post I quoted. IMO it is not scripturally accurate; it limits God; and it fails to understand the nature of a missionary's call...and the process by which most missional churches follow in recognizing, facilitating, and providing for such.

 

A.B. Simpson said: No man should hear the gospel twice, till every man has heard the gospel once.
In reality, or even ethically, what right do we have to hear the gospel over and over again, when there are literally millions that have never heard it once. In America there is hardly an individual that does not have that opportunity because of information-saturated society with all of its various media outlets--the gospel is spread, and it is freely available available to anyone who wants it.

In other nations it is suppressed, perverted, and completely unknown. Is it fair? Or just? Perhaps not, but for that reason God has laid the onus upon those of us who are believers and do know the gospel to take it to those who do not have the gospel that they might be saved.

If boards are not necessary, and you believe the Lord will provide then so be it. I am impressed with your faith. But faith without works is dead. Put your faith in action. Be a missionary to those nations that are in greatest need. Nations like Saudia Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and many other such nations. Go, tell them the gospel. Use your own funds. Go by faith. Let the Lord provide. May the Lord keep you. But always remember that "faith without works is dead." Is your faith a living faith or a dead faith." Are you willing to put feet behind it?

 

I say "pish tosh." I've always wanted to say that!

Can we do anything the Bible does not explicitly condemn? If so, what are our issues with baptism for example? Or with smoking marijuana for that matter?

 

Are we allowed to condemn what the Bible doesn't condemn...
If so, then the the Bible is no longer your standard, but something else is.

Sin is sin... And the Bible tells us what sin is.

The Bible is our standard.
Adding sins to the Bible is adding to the Bible. Guess what, this is a sin.

 

Why not? Where exactly do we draw the line? The Bible does not explicitly condemn using indoor plumbing, but we all pretty much agree that it is okay to use. I think you are trying too hard to split hairs. You don't believe in missions or mission boards, but accept the idea of planting new churches. Frankly I don't see much of a difference. Which is fine, you are free to your own opinion, but you have made some pretty bold claims that you have yet to back up with any real facts.

As for marijuana use, I would think that would fall under having a "sober mind".

 

Once again, stated much better than I ever could. :thumbs: (prolly why your the pastor and I am not, that and the whole woman thing)

 

My mistake. Thank you for the clarification.

 

No, I haven't been called to be a missionary. If I was, I'd go where I was called to go though.

 

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

I would suggest, that in the light of the command of Christ, that if one has not received a definite call to remain at home, then he already has received a call to go. The command in the Scriptures is to go into all the world, not to remain at home. Unless one has received the call to remain at home, he has already been called to the mission field. The question now only remains, "Which one."

 

I thought Jesus said "IT" is finished ? So do you mean He really has not done any saving ?

 

Is that a serious question?