Reformed Living

Here is a very good book introducing the whys and hows of world missions.  It is especially helpful for the local church that wants a good resource for its own efforts to send or support missionaries around the world.  It includes both a practical study guide for small group use as well as a prayer guide for personal use.

The book is well written by an experienced Missionary and Pastor and is now on sale here-

http://kudospress.com/index.php?/pages/bookstore.html

We had lunch recently in a restaurant just off a busy Interstate highway.  The place was crammed with travelers of every description.  Most were very different in appearance and manner(s) than my wife and me.  We wondered how we could ever relate to these hungry people and give them the Bread of Life. How could we communicate effectively with them.  Probably only one-on-one and then only in a critical situation, such as in a hospital room or ER where we were going through a similar experience and deeper needs were coming to the surface and serious questions were being asked. 

The same thoughts apply to people we see crowding the local Malls or cramming together for a concert or public event here in the City.  Since we do not speak Spanish or Street Slang, we can not communicate much of anything, let alone the Gospel, to most people in our area.  Most of the youth live in a world very alien to ours.  We do not share much in common. We are elderly white and middle class. How can the gap be bridged for Christ?  I do not think it can be.  There are always exceptions, but sharing Christ normally requires a lot of time sharing life in common with those with whom we want to reach for Christ.  In other words, the most effective communicator of Christ in any subcultural group is a convert to Christ from that group. 

This is the conclusion of most Missionary strategists in recent years, and thus priority is now given by American Missionary organizations to partnering with the local church and training local workers because the most effective work for Christ will be done by them with their own people. 

This book by Mark Noll gives abundant evidence of that- /the-new-shape-of-world-christianity-

Alister McGrath, in his Evangelicalism and the Future of Christianity, defined Evangelicalism in terms of 6 controlling convictions (pp. 55-56)  I have added my own comments to his Key Points.

1.  "The supreme authority of Scripture as a source of knowledge of God and a guide to Christan living." (p.55)  Every evangelical church states something like this at the top of its Statement of Faith.  Easily and without doubt, this is the hallmark of Evangelicalism.  Evangelicals are Bible people.  They don't all agree on exactly what the Bible is, other than the inspired, written Word of God or on what it says (or even on the Rules for interpreting it) but what it say is of utmost importance to them.  They own and study their Bibles. They want a Pastor who knows and can teach the Bible,  They want sermons based on the Bible, preferably expositing the text verse by verse.  They want their children to be taught the Bible- Sunday School is of great importance to them.  They are always attending Bible Study classes and groups.  Evangelicals are above all else Bible people.