'Missions' Tagged Posts
Missionary or Missionary Worker?
Missionaries must have other workers, long and short term, to assist. Many of these will naturally come from among those who show promise as converts through the missionary’s efforts. Paul, though perhaps exceptional in his management skills, had 38 whose names appear as likely assistants at various times. He was always traveling and laboring with a coterie of faithful helpers. There could have been even more! Some of Paul’s workers were women (18%, according to Schnabel, p. 251), although no…
Profitable Questions to Ask Missionaries and Their Helpers
We were very excited! All those we had developed and sent out for missions (plus one family about to leave) were going to be home at the same time. We knew it might never happen again. One family was back from Peru. Another young lady was just in from the Middle East. And one family, having served previously in South Africa, was headed there soon under our care. We just knew that we needed to get them (the adults) in…
The Role of Timothy and Titus: Apostolic Representatives, Not Pastors
I sometimes hear respected Bible teachers refer to Timothy as the pastor of the church in Ephesus. One of my favorite expositors also refers to Titus as the pastor on the island of Crete. But were Timothy and Titus really pastors? Pastor Titus? Titus is never mentioned in Acts, but his name is found often in Paul’s letters. After Paul was released from his first Roman imprisonment (at the end of Acts, around A.D. 62), he ministered with Titus on…
On Your Knees: Missions Work Thousands of Miles Away
A man once spent twenty minutes and twenty seconds of his life one day looking at two different emails. The first email was from a local store that shared all of its weekly deals. He studied it in detail, not only hoping to find a great offer, but also to see what was new in the world of technology. He took 20 minutes to do this, although he thought often throughout the rest of the day about what he discovered. The…
MOTIVE FOR EVANGELISM?
I was asked, “What should be the primary motivation for evangelism and missions: Love for Christ or love for the lost? The question is an impossible one to answer because it offers a false dichotomy. In the NT, love for others is the way we love God. “How can you say you love God if you do not love others?” James and John and Paul said. Both are always at play. For instance, Paul was so passionate about the lostness of his…