"People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as 'missionaries'. They forget that they, too, are expending their lives...and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted." Nate Saint
"The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity." Mike Stachura
Passion = whatever a person is willing to suffer for.
A person who apostolic passion plans to go but is willing to stay if the Lord so directs.
"If we as a church are disobedient, it is not ultimately the cause of God and the cause of world missions that will lose; we will lose. We can be drunk with private concerns and indifferent to the great enterprise of world evangelization, but God will simply pass over us and do His great work while we shrivel up in our little land of comfort." John Piper
"The Gospel is only good news if it gets there in time." Carl Henry
"I am mobilizing martyrs these days...What I am asking you parents to do this Saturday at our church is to bring your children to the Muslim Awareness Seminar to instill in them a mindset that will enable them to die for Jesus someday. So don't bring your kids if you don't want that to happen." John Piper
"Having seen all of this, you can chose to look away, but you can never say again, 'I did not know'. William Wilberforce
Too often we read the Bible like it is about us - a self-help manual, if you will - when in reality it is about God. God is the main character of the Bible and He exists solely, exclusively to reveal and to radiate His glory.
Psalm 147:4 says "He calls the stars by name..."
There is an estimated 200 billion stars which means, if we were to name them, it would take over 6,000 just to shout out each one of the stars names.
The Bible predicts the future like no other book: Jesus Himself fulfilled over 300 prophesies alone.
"Missions exists because worship doesn't." (Piper) Our motivation of doing "missions" is to bring God the greatest glory.
Man was created and told to "rule and go global" (Gen. 1:28) in order to take back the "Kingdom" (that Satan invaded/invades) as image-bearers of God.
- Adam and Eve were the 1st appointed toward the "take back the Kingdom" movement
- After the flood, God launched the next major "take back the Kingdom" movement through Abram
Many people have this picture of becoming a Christian:
Jesus saves your drowning soul from the raging waters and plops you onto a "cruise ship" of such where there's easy sailing, good food (ie. potluck church dinners), constant fellowship and community with others who have been saved, lots of laughs and good times, comfortable living spaces with each other and nice, wholesome Christian entertainment...separated from other "boats" where people don't live along with your beliefs and ideals, etc.
In actuality, when you become a Christian:
Jesus saves your drowning soul from the raging waters and plops you onto a BATTLESHIP with the most powerful commanding officer in existence - your creator and savior - that continues to shape and mold you into His army that is currently engaged in the greatest war of all time.
The war is raging...whether you acknowledge it or not. What is your role in the war?
- At home, using finances and time to supply the army?
- Engaging on the frontlines?
- Being help as a prisoner of war by the enemy, enslaved in your addictions and shortcomings?
- Are you protesting the war, claiming it is unjust and shouldn't be existing?
- Simply living your life in denial as if it isn't happening...nothing about the way you're living testifies to a world at war?
John Piper - "Don't Waste Your Life" (8 minutes)
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