Wouldn’t expect anything less from Platt, but here’s a great video on universalism and the spreading of the Gospel. May we be struck with the awesome implications of this video by diligent application and devotion to the mission.
Do We Really Believe What We’re Saying? from The Church at Brook Hills on Vimeo.
Yesterday AM’s sermon, Wordy Prayer, from Jesus’ words on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:7-8) is now online. Basically, I understand Jesus encouraging us to not get too hung up on the content or linguistical make-up of the prayers. Many were encouraged that I formed a new word during the sermon “cakeness”. At any rate, hopefully the sermon helps people to go hard after the Father Himself in prayer.
In the evening, we continued our work through Thabiti’s What Is a Healthy Church Member? (IX Marks)
Finally, our weekend at Crestview included a visit from missionaries we support in Brazil. The Bacheller Family visited us and updated on their current ministry. We enjoyed good fellowship with them for the entire weekend and many in our church had the privilege of hosting them for a meal. Thanks to all in the church who made this a possibility.
The Africa Inland Mission urges us to Pray for Sudan. Here’s the need:
Sudan – Africa ’s largest nation – needs our prayers. A referendum to decide whether the already semi-autonomous south will secede from the north is scheduled for January 9, 2011. This land has already seen two million die as a result of over two decades of civil war between the north and oil-rich south. Pray that this will not happen again.
We are urged to pray for:
• Please pray for peace and acceptance of the results of the referendum, whatever they may be.
• Pray for those organizing the referendum; that all preparations will be made in time, and that the process would be fair.
• Pray for Sudan ’s leaders: President Salva Kiir in the South, and President Omar al-Bashir in the North.
• Pray that AIM ministries in Sudan will be able to continue, and that God will continue to open doors for more outreach in this nation that so needs the Prince of Peace.
• Pray that the Church in Sudan will play a large part in the reconciliation process in Sudan and that it will take the lead in holistic development.
• Pray for AIM’s team of missionaries who currently serve in southern Sudan and desire to stay.
Will you join others in praying for these needs.
Elrond and Sheree Wedel are a young couple from our church that recently moved to Arizona to work with the Navajo Indians at a mission. In an email today, Elrond informed everyone that they now have a blog. Here’s the link:
Continuing their Movie Mondays segment, Sojourn Community Church Pastor Daniel Montgomery talks Mission this week. It’s excellent…
Mission 101 from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo.
You might have heard of Michael Oh, he leads Christ Bible Seminary in Japan. I was able to hear him live at the 2009 Desiring God Pastor’s Conference. We had a student attend Urbana ’09 and he spoke there as well.
It seems there’s a short window of opportunity to purchase a strategically placed ministry campus in downtown Nagoya, Japan. The total cost of the building will be approximately $1.2 million, down from $3.3 million two years ago. Oh would appreciate our prayers this Wednesday (today) at 9:00 pm (ET), when they will be meeting with the owners and real estate agents. They are hoping to negotiate the price down even more if possible.
John Piper recently weighed in on this.
Here’s a video discussing the opportunity…
https://videopress.com/v/wp-content/plugins/video/flvplayer.swf?ver=1.18
(HT: Mark Rogers)
Last year, at our Missions Conference, we had Freddy T Wyatt in from the Gallery Church, NYC, NY. You might remember our weekend was almost snowed out, but we were able to gather and hear from Freddy on Sunday night. Here’s a video shout out from Freddy to us…
Crestview Bible’s New York Minute from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.
“Not called!” did you say? “Not heard the call,” I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world. (William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army)
(taken from the latest issue of HeartCry Magazine, Vol 62, p.3)
This volume also features some amazing quotes by Spurgeon on evangelism as well as a sermon from him entitled The Missionary’s Charge.
Yes, we are back from our trip to visit the Stickels in North Carolina. There are many things I’d like to say to many people on the heels of this trip, so here goes…
David Stickel is an amazing artist. You must check out his website.
I appreciated getting to know both David, his wife Julie, and their family (Rochelle, Sean, Daniel, Christiana, and Jubilee). They live an amazing life of devotion to God and service to others.
I appreciated all the many who fill up what is missing at Crestview in my absence. This includes people opening up doors, making coffee, running sound, working with the musicians, preaching (Josh’s sermon, Is There Any Hope? is now online BTW), and countless other small things that make the weekend work.
I think that many of us are prejudiced towards internationals, and we need our eyes opened afresh to Gospel realities and categories so that we can relate to them in a way that pleases our Father. This is one of the big lessons that sunk into me this weekend.
At any rate, I should be back with regular posts here soon. Thanks for your patience, prayers and encouragement as this traveling has taken place.
…from Kevin DeYoung…
1. Are we supporting 1 Timothy 4:16 kind of people?
2. Are we supporting ministry in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth?
3. Are we striking the right balance of word and deed in the ministries we support?
4. Are we giving priority to long-term missionaries?