The following is Part 5 of 6 from a booklet by Rev. Blake Purcell titled Swords into Plowshares, Three Dimensions of Bringing Peace on Earth (and Ukraine)Isaiah 2:1-4, 11
Part V. How Shall We Then Live?
Ok, hopefully the Holy Spirit through the Word has acted on your heart. He is saying “Jump”, and you are saying, “How high?” Let me suggest the following warm-up exercises:
1. Respect and honor for God’s ways and servants. When Christians begin to really believe that the Gospel through the Church is the only true, ultimate, long-term, peace-keeping force in the world, then the CIA and FBI and Marines and Special Forces of every nation, and you, and I will go up to every international missionary we meet that serves in a war-like culture and say, “Thank you for your service and doing the real job!” And missionaries will begin to be looked upon as formal ambassadors of the Prince of Peace, and His house-palace, the most powerful government on earth. They will be called something like, “Mr. Ambassador, sir,” because that is what they are.
When we begin to take the world, the sacrifice of Christ, and world-peace seriously, we will be following in the footsteps of the Anglican church's missionary in Baghdad, Andrew White. Called the “vicar of Baghdad”, he is the president of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East. Leaders in the Middle East have used him in high-level negotiations determining life and death, partially because of his office and titles. The respect his own Church gives him and the $300,000/month giving they keep up, to support his church and clinic, has greatly enhanced his impact and opened doors for the Gospel. Of course, his job is ten times more dangerous than most missionaries, so he deserves any title he can get. Click here to find out more.
2. Believe all of the above, plus Isaiah 58:10-12,
If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
If we get sacrificially involved in the Word going forth from Jerusalem to see the nations flow into the mountain of the house of the Lord, God promises us we will see one thing in our lives: God’s blessing. Our devotional life will improve. Our jobs get more enjoyable. You will love your wife and kids more, especially if you take them with you every year on the mission field. Our churches will grow in depth and quality. I have seen this happen repeatedly. I can say that this has happened to churches I have visited like First Baptist, Archer City, Texas, All Saints, Pella, Iowa, All Saints, Springfield, MO, and John Piper’s Bethlehem Church, Minneapolis, MN (which I have not visited).
3. Learn prayerfully, and pray intelligently for God’s peace and God’s way in the world on a daily basis. You can do this by going to the Operation World website and praying over one country every day. Of course, start with Russia by clicking here. Also, listen to this excellent sermon by John Piper on missions. Follow that to his church’s website to hear some of the best teaching on the history, why, how and what of missions.
You belong to God. He made you. You exist for Him. The unwasted life is the life that puts Christ on display as supremely valuable. A God-centered theology has to be a missionary theology. There are only three kinds of Christians when it comes to missions. Zealous goers, zealous senders, and the disobedient. 2.6 Billion people live in unreached people groups. (They do not know who Christ is.) It seems to be woven into the very fabric of our consumer culture that we move toward comfort, toward security, toward ease, toward safety, away from stress, trouble, away from danger, and it ought to be exactly the opposite.
Say to God, “Lord, move me toward stress, toward trouble, toward danger for the sake of Christ’s glory and peace on earth.”
5. Finally, take ownership of some part of a ministry outside of your own culture.
Do not shotgun your resources to many missions. Every mission portrayed in Acts and the Epistles is a strategic one displaying total commitment to it until it is successful. We will never mature as a world peacemaker if you do not own a mission. Take ownership of one. I can give you an example of one that needs taking ownership of and that you and your family or church can change radically for the better today. Pastor Timur Aninkin has been pastoring his Russian speaking Reformed Church of the Savior in Riga, Latvia since 1998. They have 10 folks waiting to join the Church when they can move out of the 10X20 foot room they currently worship in. Today, you can take responsibility for giving and raising the $1,000 it would take monthly to be able to pay for renting a public facility and giving Pastor Timur a salary that allows him to do the work to grow the church. $1,000 a month can change the destiny of the only Reformed Church among the 1 million Russian speakers in Latvia. Click here if you would like to support Pastor Timur, or any of the other SRS pastors and ministries.
Click here to continue to Part 6.
Click here to continue to Part 6.
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