Upward Call

I don't pretend to be a missions expert, but the church has to start somewhere. The Lord has been teaching me more and more about missions since 2015, and I've spent a lot of time  in the last two years   exploring  this important aspect of the church's life. Since Elynne and I are planning to migrate soon to study at TMS, I don't have much time to share what I've been learning with others. So in the next five months, January to May, I'm holding a weekly "Missions Study & Prayer Group" (MSPG) to equip them to help in the church's developing missions program. For overviews and links to all the lessons in this ongoing series,  click here . Disciples can easily be confused regarding mission's relative importance to worship. Consider the following quotes from a biblical preacher that, when compared, may lead to confusion: "[Worship] is our supreme duty for time and eternity—to honor, adore, delight in, glorify, and enjo...

I don't pretend to be a missions expert, but the church has to start somewhere. The Lord has been teaching me more and more about missions since 2015, and I've spent a lot of time  in the last two years   exploring  this important aspect of the church's life. Since Elynne and I are planning to migrate soon to study at TMS, I don't have much time to share what I've been learning with others. So in the next five months, January to May, I'm holding a weekly "Missions Study & Prayer Group" (MSPG) to equip them to help in the church's developing missions program. For overviews and links to all the lessons in this ongoing series,  click here . It is important to distinguish between the terms ‘mission’ and ‘missions’. Some theologians use “mission” to refer either to God’s mission in the world or Christ’s commission to the church. Meanwhile, “missions” refers to whatever the Church does toward fulfilling its commission. Therefore mis...

I don't pretend to be a missions expert, but the church has to start somewhere. The Lord has been teaching me more and more about missions since 2015, and I've spent a lot of time  in the last two years   exploring  this important aspect of the church's life. Since Elynne and I are planning to migrate soon to study at TMS, I don't have much time to share what I've been learning with others. So in the next five months, January to May, I'm holding a weekly "Missions Study & Prayer Group" (MSPG) to equip them to help in the church's developing missions program. For overviews and links to all the lessons in this ongoing series,  click here . Unfortunately, my equipment failed while recording this session, so there's no video available. Andy Johnson in his book, Missions: How the Local Church Goes Global, gives this bit of sage advice: “The heart for God-glorifying missions starts with joy in the gospel. Our churches must fi...

I don't pretend to be a missions expert, but the church has to start somewhere. The Lord has been teaching me more and more about missions since 2015, and I've spent a lot of time  in the last two years   exploring  this topic. Since Elynne and I are planning to migrate soon to study at TMS, I don't have much time to share what I've been learning with others. So in the next five months, January to May, I'm holding a weekly "Missions Study & Prayer Group" (MSPG) to equip them to help in the church's developing missions program. For overviews and links to all the lessons in this ongoing series,  click here . Introduction WHY ARE DEFINITIONS IMPORTANT? Our fast-paced society is geared more toward action than reflection. When it comes to ideas, ‘new, innovative, and practical’ are more appealing that ‘deep, clear, and precise’. The only “definition” people are interested in is high definition TV! Similarly, it seems to me that m...

I don't pretend to be a missions expert, but the church has to start somewhere. The Lord has been teaching me more and more about missions since 2015, and I've spent a lot of time in the last two years  exploring  this important aspect of the church's life. Since Elynne and I are planning to migrate soon to study at TMS, I don't have much time to share what I've been learning with others. So in the next five months, January to May, I'm holding a weekly "Missions Study & Prayer Group" (MSPG) to equip them to help in the church's developing missions program. For overviews and links to all the lessons in this ongoing series, click here . INTRODUCTION The Story of Redemption It’s possible to think of the Bible like a pearl necklace – just a bunch of pearls strung together. There’s teaching about this and that doctrine, but they aren’t related. But reading through the Bible, you see that there’s one story that connects the whole Bible...

In a previous post , we said a bit about how helpful prayer lists can be and why I use PrayerMate, in particular. Today, I want to share some of my favorite features of the app, and how it helps me maintain a prayer list that is both accessible and balanced. My Favorite Features Clean Look PrayerMate has a very clean, minimalistic look that doesn't call attention to itself. Cards PrayerMate stores each prayer item as a "subject" which functions essentially like a card. If that's hard to imagine, think about two different ways of keeping a pen-and-paper list. The traditional way is to have bullet points on a single piece of paper. But it's difficult to take out, modify, or rearrange items. A second way is to write down each item on an individual index card. This allows you to change a few items without having to re-write your entire list! PrayerMate functions like an electronic version of the index card system, and I love it! Catego...