When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor...and Yourself by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert (Moody Publishers, 2009). PB
A situation is assessed for whether relief, rehabilitation, or development is the best response to a situation. Efforts are characterized by an "asset based" approach rather than a "needs based" approach. Short term mission efforts are addressed and microenterprise development (MED) is explored.
208 Pages
Published July 2009
About the Authors:Brian Fikkert is an associate professor of economics at Covenant College, and the founder and executive director of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College.
Steve Corbett is the community development specialist for the Chalmers Center for Economic Development, and an assistant professor in the department of economics and community development at Covenant College.
Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.
Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal in missions. It's the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God's glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. "The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!" (Psalm 97:1). "Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!" (Psalm 67:3-4).
But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can't commend what you don't cherish. Missionaries will never call out "Let the nations be glad!", who cannot say from the heart, "I rejoice in the Lord.... I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O most High" (Psalm 104:34; 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship.
If the pursuit of God's glory is not ordered above the pursuit of man's good in the affections of the heart and the priorities of the church, man will not be well served and God will not be duly honored. I am not pleading for a diminishing of missions but for a magnifying of God. When the flame of worship burns with the heat of God's true worth, the light of missions will shine to the most remote peoples on earth. And I long for that day to come!
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 DVDLet the Nations Be Glad! |  Study GuideLet the Nations Be Glad! | |
Let the Nations Be Glad Group Special
Intended for use in Sunday school, youth groups, small groups, or leadership teams, this package includes the Let the Nations Be Glad DVD and 12 corresponding Study Guides.
The Mission of God's People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission
Series: Biblical Theology for LifeSoftcover, 304 pages.
Synopsis:
In The Mission of God’s People, part of the Biblical Theology for Life series, author Chris Wright offers a sweeping biblical survey of the holistic mission of the church, providing practical insight for today’s church leaders. Wright gives special emphasis to theological trajectories of the Old Testament that not only illuminate God’s mission but also suggest priorities for Christians engaged in God’s world-changing work.
My family was blessed to have the Gibson family in our home yesterday and this morning. AJ has been a true friend and it has been a rich blessing to watch and hear how the Lord has been molding and shaping him in His image. The Lord has blessed AJ with an amazing wife and three beautiful children! Together they have been serving in the Lord's vineyard for a number of years in Monterrey, Mexico. They have a passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ, they are committed to giving of themselves to take this priceless message by means of word and deed to the nations, and they are now serving with To Every Tribe Ministries (TETM), which appears to be an excellent fit. To Every Tribe exists to spread a passion for the supremacy of GodHere are two endorsements worth considering:
among unreached peoples throughout the earth.
I have been acquainted with David Sitton since 1989, when we co-operated together in the Institute Of Tribal Studies at the U.S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, California. I have followed David's ministry of church planting in Papua New Guinea as well as his Tribal Seminar teaching and authoring of important mission resources since then. I highly recommend him and his endeavors for the reaching of the unreached.Don Richardson, Missionary Statesman and best selling author,
(Peace Child; Lords of the Earth
, Eternity in their Hearts
)
Now, please take a few minutes to watch this introductory video and browse through the ministry websiteTo Every Tribe Ministries.
All I have read and heard and watched inclines me to rejoice over the vision and theology and mission of David Sitton. I thank God for his Christ-exalting, God-centered, Bible-based courage to focus his life and ministry on the unreached tribal peoples. Like no one else I know, David Sitton puts his body where his mouth is. The risks are high; the reward is overwhelming. I commend To Every Tribe Ministries for your support and involvement. May the Lord of glory spread his fame through all who partner with this ministry to make a name for Jesus among the nations.Dr. John Piper, Pastor for Preaching and Vision,
Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN
75 years ago today John and Betty Stam, missionaries to the Chinese, were killed by Communist soldiers in a public execution, along with the town doctor, who had pleaded for their lives. The Stams were captured while trying to leave the town of Tsingteh with their 3 month old daughter, Helen. Mrs. Stam managed to hide her baby, who was later found by Christians and returned to America. John and Betty showed the courage of those who know who holds their future. In the words of Mrs. Howard Taylor:Those who witnessed the tragedy marveled, as they testify, at the calmness with which both John and Betty faced the worst their misguided enemies could do. Theirs was the moral, spiritual triumph in that hour when the very forces of hell seemed to be let loose. Painfully bound with ropes , their hands behind them, stripped of their outer garments and John barefooted (he had given Betty his socks to wear), they passed down the street where he was known to many, while the Reds shouted their ridicule and called the people to come and see the execution.
Like their Master, they were led up a little hill outside the town. There, in a clump of pine trees, the communists harangued the unwilling onlookers, too terror-stricken to utter protest. But one man broke the ranks! The doctor of the place and a Christian expressed the feelings of many when he fell on his knees and pleaded for the life of his friends. Angrily repulsed by the Reds, he still persisted, until he was dragged away as prisoner, to suffer death when it appeared that he too was a follower of Christ.
John had turned to the leader of the band, asking mercy for that man, when he was sharply ordered to kneel - and the look of joy on his face afterward told of the unseen Presence with them as his spirit was released. Betty was seen to quiver, but only for a moment. Bound as she was, she fell on her knees beside him. A quick command, the flash of a sword, which mercifully she did not see - and they were reunited.
--Mrs. Howard Taylor. John and Betty Stam: A Story of Triumph (Chicago: Moody Press, 1982) pp. 119-120
Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy.See also-
--Hebrews 11:36-38
When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor...and Yourself by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert (Moody Publishers, 2009). PBPublisher's Description: Churches and individual Christians typically have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty, resulting in the use of strategies that do considerable harm to poor people and themselves. When Helping Hurts provides foundational concepts, clearly articulated general principles and relevant applications. The result is an effective and holistic ministry to the poor, not a truncated gospel.
A situation is assessed for whether relief, rehabilitation, or development is the best response to a situation. Efforts are characterized by an "asset based" approach rather than a "needs based" approach. Short term mission efforts are addressed and microenterprise development (MED) is explored.
208 Pages
Published July 2009
About the Authors:
Brian Fikkert is an associate professor of economics at Covenant College, and the founder and executive director of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College.
Steve Corbett is the community development specialist for the Chalmers Center for Economic Development, and an assistant professor in the department of economics and community development at Covenant College.
Our Sunday School class has been considering a series of lectures titled "The Provocative Church" Graham Tomlin. A couple of weeks ago he began to address the Reformer's lack of missionary effort. He did come back around to explaining that their theology provides a healthy foundation for missiology, but nonetheless, he gave the impression that Calvin and others were too concerned about existing churches to put much effort into establishing new churches.Well, a number of years ago I attended a lecture at RTS (Charlotte) presented by Dr. Frank James on the topic of Calvin and Missions. This was wonderfully eye opening. Afterwards, I did a bit of research to follow up on this matter. I'm no scholar, and I don't have access to Calvin's correspondence, which is where James found the bulk of support for his lectures, but I did find some information on the missionary endeavor to Rio de Janeiro. Here are some links to a handful of articles on the subject.
The lecture I heard is titled "The Calvin I Never Knew." You can download the audio files at itunes (http://itunes.rts.edu/). There are four parts.Here is another article by Dr. Frank James - "Calvin the Evangelist."
Dr. Michael Haykin, a Reformed Baptist and church historian, has an (archived) article at Reformation21 on Calvin and missions.
See also Ray Van Neste's "John Calvin on Evangelism and Missions" in the Founders Journal and Henry R. Van Til's The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1959), page 93.
Here are a handful of links lifted from Timmy Brister's blog:
John Calvin and Missions: A Historical Study by Scott J. Simmons
John Calvin's Missionary Influence in France by Michael Haykin (Reformation & Revival vol. 10 no. 4 [Fall 2001])
John Calvin and His Missionary Impulse by Erroll Hulse
John Calvin the Church Planter (doc) by Frank James
Not, “a typical missionary,” but, “atypical,” not according to type. The Bible tells us that “not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth (1 Cor. 1:26). However, on this day in 1931 a rich man entered the Kingdom of Heaven, having given his life in service to Jesus Christ.
David Livingstone is one of my earthly heroes. For a number of years I had prayed about the possibility of serving as a missionary in the continent he so loved. The Lord has not directed me and my family to do this, but Africa is still on my heart. I have some dear friends serving in this land and I think of and pray for them often. I even chose to give my son the middle name of Livingstone so that I might never forget the land of Africa. We owe a lot more than we realize to the continent of Africa, from Church Fathers, to orthodox developments in Christian theology, to a rich heritage of Christian missions. Livingstone was burdened to open up a way into the heartland of this mysterious continent so that others might be able to join him, follow him, and succeed him in preaching the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ to countless souls trapped in darkness.
Livingstone was born in Blantyre, Scotland on March 19, 1813. He was a hard worker having entered the workforce in the cotton-spinning factory at the age of ten. He was also noted to be an eager student. At the cotton mill he would carry a book with him and read as the machine spun.
Livingstone was reared in a poor but Christian home. His mother worked very hard to make ends meet and his father pushed him to read good religious books. He says of his parents that they took great pains to instill
the doctrines of Christianity into my mind, and I had no difficulty in understanding the theory of our free salvation by the atonement of our Savior, but it was only about this time [16 years of age] that I really began to feel the necessity and value of a personal application of the provisions of that atonement to my own case. The change was like what may be supposed would take place were it possible to cure a case of "color blindness." The perfect freeness with which the pardon of all our guilt is offered in God's book drew forth feelings of affectionate love to Him who bought us with his blood, and a sense of deep obligation to Him for his mercy has influenced, in some small measure, my conduct ever since. (David Livingstone, Missionary Travels and Research in South Africa. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1858. p. 4)As a young man, in his early twenties, Livingstone responded to the missionary call. W. G. Blaikie notes that
It was the appeal of Gutzlaff for China as we have seen that inspired Livingstone with the desire to be a missionary; and China was the country to which his heart turned. The noble faith and dauntless enterprise of Gutzlaff, pressing into China over obstacles apparently insurmountable, aided by his medical skill and other unusual qualifications, must have served to shape Livingstone's ideal of a missionary, as well as to attract him to the country where Gutzlaff laboured. (W. G. Blaikie, The Personal Life of David Livingstone, p. 18)However, it was due to the turbulent climate in China during the days of the Opium War and a providential meeting with Robert Moffat, missionary to South Africa (and Livingstone's future father-in-law), that turned Livingstone's attention toward the needs of the Dark Continent. Moffat wrote of Livingstone's growing interest in Africa as follows:
By and by he asked me whether I thought he would do for Africa. I said I believed he would if he would, not go to an old station, but would advance to unoccupied ground, specifying the vast plain to the north, where I had sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages, where no missionary had ever been. At last Livingstone said: "What is the use of my waiting for the end of this abominable opium war? I will go at once to Africa." (ibid, p. 34-35.)Livingstone spent the next thirty plus years exploring and sharing Christ in the heart of Africa. Near the end of his life he fought and prayed vigorously against the slave trade. In a letter to his daughter dated August 15, 1872, Livingstone wrote,
No one can estimate the amount of God-pleasing good that will be done, if, by Divine favour, this awful slave-trade, into the midst of which I have come, be abolished. This will be something to have lived for, and the conviction has grown in my mind that it was for this end I have been detained so long. (ibid, p. 444)Blaikie's narrative of the last day of Livingtone's life reads as follows:
His people knew that the end could not be far off Nothing occurred to attract notice during the early part of the night, but at four in the morning, the boy who lay at his door called in alarm for Susi, fearing that their master was dead. By the candle still burning they saw him, not in bed, but kneeling at the bedside, with his head buried in his hands upon the pillow. The sad yet not unexpected truth soon became evident: he had passed away on the furthest of all his journeys, and without a single attendant. But he had died in the act of prayer--prayer offered in that reverential attitude about which he was always so particular; commending his own spirit, with all his dear ones, as was his wont, into the hands of his Saviour; and commending AFRICA--his own dear Africa--with all her woes and sins and wrongs, to the Avenger of the oppressed and the Redeemer of the lost. (ibid, p. 446)David Livingstone entered into the presence of his Master on May 1, 1873. His noble, African attendants carefully removed his heart and other viscera, buried them in the African soil, embalmed his body, wrapped it, enclosed it in a piece of bark, and courageously transported it to the coast of Zanzibar. All in all, this labor of love took nine months to accomplish. From the coast Livingstone's body was transported back to England. His remains, after examination and identification, were finally laid to rest near the center of the naive of Westminster Abbey.
For thirty years his life was spent in an unwearied effort
to evangelize the native races, to explore the undiscovered secrets,
and abolish the desolating slave trade of Central Africa,
where, with his last words he wrote:
"All I can say in my solitude is, may Heaven's rich blessing
come down on every one-American, English, Turk-
who will help to heal this open sore of the world."
Articles:
With this holy affection reigning in his heart, the fervent, devoted Christian presents himself a living sacrifice unto God; and counts it a privilege to do and to suffer any thing for the advancement of his cause. He is ready to "endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." In this state, no difficulty discourages; no danger alarms. The sacrifice of property and pleasure; stripes, imprisonment, and death, lose their terrors, and become more attractive, than any earthly good. ... Every degree of success attending the dispensation of the gospel, even a single instance of conversion among the weakest and meanest of mankind, yields him the purest pleasure. But this pleasure only increases desire. His enjoyment of the good already attained urges him on to the pursuit of more. The progressive enlargement of the kingdom of Christ will constantly enlarge the benevolence of his heart. While there is a nation or tribe under heaven not subdued to Christ; the enlightened, fervent Christian cannot rest. His unalterable object is, that the knowledge of the Lord may fill the earth. His heart beats high for the conversion of the world. (Long, 266-67)What caught my attention here was the prophetic nature of these words. Judson certainly evidenced a heart for the heathen, but he continued to increase in this regard. His third wife, Emily C. Judson, noted that in his final year he found his literary labor to be "tedious work" (p. 236). She wrote that, "He longed, however, to find some more spiritual employment, to be engaged in what he considered more legitimate missionary labor, and drew delightful pictures of the future, when his whole business would be but to preach and to pray" (p. 236). He, also, was no stranger to difficulties, dangers, the loss of property, imprisonment, sicknesses, the death of loved ones.
They, by your pious conduct, must be convinced that your religion, that your God, is preferable to theirs, before they will forsake idolatry and embrace the Gospel of Christ. It will be fruitless to tell them about invisible things, about Heaven and Hell, eternal happiness and eternal misery, if they do not see in your christian [sic] conduct what they ought to imitate. You will spend your breath and time in vain, except you let them see the real expression of godliness in your uniform example. The eyes of the Heathen, you will note, rather than their ears, are the avenues by which you can readily have access to their hearts. You must let them see Christ in his missionaries, before they will attentively and patiently hear you display his moral excellency. ... This, then, we emphatically charge you, never, never preach the theory of the Gospel, till you have presented the practice of the Gospel in you own godly example (p. 288-89; emphasis mine).In light of this charge, I found it noteworthy that Emily commented on the beauty of his private life. She noted that,
He had been, from my first acquaintance with him, an uncommonly spiritual Christian, exhibiting his richest graces in the unguarded spiritual Christian, exhibiting his richest graces in the unguarded intercourse of private life; but during his last year, it seemed as though the light of the world on which he was entering, had been sent to brighten his upward pathway. Every subject on which we conversed, every book we red, every incident that occurred, whether trivial or important, had a tendency to suggest some peculiarly spiritual train of thought, till it seemed to me that more than ever before, "Christ was all his theme." (p. 234)Samuel Worcester, the pastor of the Tabernacle Church in Salem, delivered the Right Hand of Fellowship. I love the biblical allusion he drew in regard to these young missionaries when he said, "You stand this day 'a spectacle to God, to angels, and to men'" (p. 297; see 1 Cor. 4:9). Judson, in his life and death, was and continues to this day to be a spectacle to the glory of God.
During the last hour of your sainted brother's life, Mr. Ranney bent over him and held his hand; while poor Pinapah stood at a little distance weeping bitterly. The table had been spread in the cuddy, as usual, and the officers did not know what was passing in the cabin, till summoned to dinner. Then they gathered about the door, and watched the closing scene with solemn reverence. Now--thanks to a merciful God! his pains had left him, not a momentary spasm disturbed his placid face, nor did the contraction of a muscle denote the least degree of suffering; the agony of death was passed, and his wearied spirit was turning to its rest in the bosom of his Saviour. From time to time, he pressed the hand in which his own was resting, his clasp losing in force at each successive pressure; while his shortened breath...gradually grew softer and fainter, until it died upon the air--and he was gone. Mr. Ranney closed the eyes, and composed the passive limbs,--the ship's officers stole softly from the door, and the neglected meal was left upon the board untasted. (p. 245)How remarkably different this account is from that of Judson's "free-thinking" friend who died in misery in a room adjacent to Judson. Throughout the night Judson was tormented by the sounds of the dying man, not knowing who he was, and wondering if he was prepared. The next morning he inquired about the man and learned that it was his atheistic friend. This stunned Judson and caused him to renounce his selfish pursuits. He returned to Plymouth and submitted himself pursuing the will of God in his life.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;____________________
let all the peoples praise you! (Psalm 67:3, 5 ESV)
