God-Given Missions Potential

I was speaking recently to the pastor of a small Kentucky church that was doing a great job engaging their local community with gospel focused ministry. I celebrated all that God was doing and how exciting it was to witness the congregation’s concern for their neighbors.

I then asked my pastor friend about the church’s missions involvement nationally and internationally. To my surprise and disappointment, he shared that they were too small to do anything internationally, but hoped someday they could. I reminded my friend that God had gifted his church with missions potential and that it was possible for a small church (his terminology, not mine) to be engaged strategically in international missions.

Here are some of the things I shared that every church should consider.

Adopt a missionary – work with the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s missions strategists or the International Mission Board to discover a missionary they can adopt. Adoption is a beautiful word that describes the strong relationship between missionaries and churches who pray and encourage them in their ministries. Adoption provides a heightened awareness and a strengthened commitment to missions, personal relationship with an active missionary, regular communication and occasional Zoom calls or pre-recorded videos played during a worship service.
Partner with others –planning and implementing an international missions experience may seem daunting to one church, but partnering together with other churches or the local Baptist Association makes going a real possibility. Multiple churches can share resources and provide strategically gifted volunteers when one single church can’t.
Provide housing and transportation when missionaries are state-side – most missionaries will return to the state every 3-4 years and remain here for a couple of months visiting family and taking care of ministry responsibilities. A church can turn an unused parsonage into a missions house for visiting missionaries. This makes their time in the states so much more restful. Contact Kentucky WMU to learn more about how to provide a missions house for missionaries.
Pray for missionaries and the nations – this is the most important way to support those God has called to serve as international missionaries. It is something that every church can do. Pray for the spiritual, physical and mental health of missionaries serving, and the lost people they minister to. The mission of advancing the gospel is the great work of the church, and prayer is the engine that moves it.

God has equipped your congregation with gifts, talents and resources that are of extreme value to missions engagement and advancement of the Great Commission. A church of any size can be involved in international missions, but whether they do so is up to them. Every church has exciting missions potential – no matter its size. Will your church measure up to its potential?

Insubordinate Witnesses

I recently overheard a conversation among friends about a company that fired an employee after he refused to follow the demands of his supervisor. I chimed in that “he deserved his punishment” and shouldn’t have been surprised since he knew what was expected of him when signing on for the job.

Several days later while preparing for a missions workshop in our state, I read again the familiar Acts 1:8 passage, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”.

While the concept of insubordination is often linked with the military, it can as I’ve already referenced, also occur in the workplace. But does it occur in the church?

Webster’s dictionary defines insubordination as “not obeying authority or refusing to follow orders”. Before being taken up into heaven, Jesus gave final orders to His apostles, and to us in Acts 1:8. Has the church failed to obey His authority and refused His orders?

I’m not an attorney, but as I understand it, there are several characteristics that must be present before a situation can be considered insubordination. First of all, the order must be clear and in the form of a verbal or written statement. If Jesus had said, “I suggest that you guys consider being witnesses after I’m gone,” it would not be considered an order or a command to follow. God made sure that this command was recorded in the scriptures to ensure that we would understand His expectation of us.

Additionally, if it’s insubordination, the order must be proper and cannot violate the law. Being His witnesses doesn’t violate the law, at least in very many places in the world. But it definitely doesn’t violate God’s law. It only seems appropriate, that if His message is going to go to the ends of the earth, His followers must be the ones to take it.

I don’t know of a church that has directly refused to be His witness. Yet many members have done their own thing and failed to be witnesses of Christ in their community, state, nation or world. However, whether direct or indirect, it’s still insubordination if the order is not carried out. So, are you guilty of insubordination or are you actively involved in carrying out the command given by our authority, Jesus Christ?

Why Are We Going?

The summer months are usually busy with activity as groups go on mission to share Christ. In years past, mission trips were typically only taken during the summer when school was out. But many more groups are exploring other times of the year for engaging in volunteer mission efforts, like fall break and Christmas vacation. Many collegiate ministries will raise funds and travel out of state or internationally on mission trips during spring break. And believers of all ages will spend a week or more of their summer this year on a mission trip with their church or family. But why is it that we are going?

We’re quick to call everyone going on the mission trip a missionary, but is that really true? Is it possible that some individuals go on mission trip as a tourist and not a missionary? You may be asking “what’s the difference”, so let me explain. Yes, both are going, and perhaps to someplace new, but their “why” in going is dramatically different. Tourists go because of the place. However, missionaries go because of the people and their need for Christ. Jeff Iorg, in his book, “Live Like a Missionary”, addresses this very subject, suggesting that a “missional Christian prioritizes impacting people – not going places – as his or her ultimate objective.”

Yes, God does call us to go and make disciples and many times that involves traveling to another state or country. But always, God’s focus is on the people who need a relationship with Him, not the place. I’ve encountered Christ-followers who considered where they were going on their next mission trip by where they’d not yet been. Almost as if they were checking states or countries off a map to see how many different places they could go on a mission trip.

My prayer is that every Christ-follower would be on mission and willing to go wherever God leads. But let the emphasis be on “where He leads” and not where we want to go. There are already enough tourists traveling around. God is calling out missionaries who will go forth and engage lost people with a boldness to share Him.

Ministry Involvement Doesn’t Always Equal Missions Engagement

A comment I hear often from church leaders is “we are really involved in missions”. As leader of the KBC’s Missions Mobilization Team, this is an exciting and encouraging phrase to hear. It is music to my ears, at least initially. I say initially, because as the discussion progresses, I sometimes discover that while the church may be involved in some wonderful ministry activities, they are not necessarily engaged in missions.

A 2018 Barna report (Translating the Great Commission) shared that 27% of churchgoers say they have participated in missions in the past year and 62% say they have donated financially to missions. But how do they define missions?

The word missions comes from the Latin word, “missio”, which means “to send”. But as my conversations with church leaders reveals, missions doesn’t mean the same thing to all and sometimes it doesn’t have anything to do with sending members to share the gospel with those who are unreached.

Since “missions” is defined in different ways, let me share with you a definition that the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s Missions Mobilization Team has agreed upon. Missions is “advancement of the gospel by those who are reached among those who are unreached, often involving the crossing of cultural, geographic or language boundaries.”

We may be giving resources to meet human needs or involved in community ministry, but those things may or may not be missions. So, how does a church determine if what they’re investing in is really missions? Here are some questions to ask to determine if what we’re doing or giving to is really missions.

1. Are those doing the work or participating in the experience Christ followers?

2. Is there intentional gospel sharing in the activity or experience?

3. What boundaries are being crossed in-order to share the gospel?

4. Who are the lost that the gospel is being shared with?

Feeding the hungry is a good thing and meets a real need, but is there gospel intentionality? Helping to paint a widow’s home or building a ramp for the disabled is a selfless act of service and appreciated, but are boundaries being crossing and the gospel being shared? Yes, it’s okay to plan and implement a sports camp this summer and it is missions when we use it as a tool to reach an identified lost people group.

While the methods and resources used in missions engagement may have changed, what missions is, hasn’t. Ministry involvement doesn’t always equal missions engagement. Is your church missions engaged or simply ministry involved?

Caring Enough to SEND Our Very Best

One of the most recognized and trusted advertising slogans in the world is “When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best”. This phrase is more than just a slogan for Hallmark, it was a business commitment for the distinctive card company. When Ed Goodman, a Hallmark sales and marketing executive, wrote the words on a 3×5 index card in 1944, he was trying to capture the essence of why Hallmark stood as the very best in the world. Little did Goodman know just how much pressure the slogan would put on the company to be the very best and second to no other card company.

Thinking about this slogan, I wondered, do we send our very best to show we care? I don’t mean do we send Hallmark cards. What I mean is, do we send on mission the very best from our church to show a lost world we care?

The God we serve is a sending God. Nearly every time He speaks to someone in scripture, He is sending them on a mission. From Abraham to Moses to Paul, to us, God’s people are always being sent into the world on mission. God showed He cared by sending His best and only son into the world to save us. Jesus is referred to as “sent” forty seven times in the New Testament. Clearly, God is a sender by nature and cares about us.

After His resurrection, Jesus passed on his identity to His disciples: “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). Like his disciples – we too, have a responsibility to send our very best.

We read in Acts 13:1-3 that after prayer and fasting, the church at Antioch sent Barnabas and Saul out on mission to share the Gospel. They did so in obedience to Jesus’ command to go and the Holy Spirit’s leading. Make no mistake about it, the church sent out on mission two of their best because they cared for those who had not yet heard the Gospel. They correctly believed that people who don’t know Christ as Savior and Lord will suffer God’s judgement. So why would they not seek to share the Gospel with those who need to hear it? Barnabas and Saul were strong leaders and faithful teachers, but the church didn’t try to talk them into staying. Rather, they cared enough to send out two of their best churchmen because they cared for the unreached. Our failure to send out the very best from our churches to serve on mission or start a new church speaks to our lack of care for those who have not yet heard the Gospel and experienced the grace of Christ.

In the same way the slogan put pressure on the Hallmark company, I pray the example of the church at Antioch will put pressure on our churches to send the best members out on mission. Let’s show the lost world we care by sending our very best to share the Gospel with them.

Give a Gift They Won’t Return!

We have officially entered the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. There is shopping to do, cookies to bake, activities for the kids and presents to wrap. Giving someone the perfect gift can be a hard thing to do. Do I really know what they need, or more importantly what they would want? It’s dangerous to give clothing when I don’t know their size and electronic presents quickly became outdated. And what do you give that special someone who already has everything they need and want.

I’ve spent many hours looking for just the right gift to give, browsing online and in stores, asking others for suggestions and sometimes even coming right out and asking the recipient what it is they’d like to have. All because I desire to give that special gift that will be appreciated and remembered. One that is meaningful and loved because I’ve thoughtfully selected it. A gift they won’t return!

Here’s an idea. A donation to a ministry or non-profit on behalf of someone won’t be returned and it’s making more than just the honoree happy. This kind of gift blesses the giver, the honoree and the ministry or organization that receives it. Sounds like a win to me. However, not just any organization will do. What you decide to give and who you choose to give to will determine just how happy it makes the honoree.

If you want your gift to be well received, and I know you do, it’s important to give to a ministry or organization that connects with the interests and desires of the honoree. For example, someone concerned about needy children would appreciate you giving to a ministry that provides after-school tutoring, meals and spiritual instruction. Someone with an interest in gardening might greatly appreciate seeds or chickens given in their honor to an international missionary teaching sustainable farming. You might consider giving so that young girls in Ukraine receive an education and hear the gospel. Wouldn’t it be exciting to know that a gift was given to help provide clean drinking water and the Living Water to quench the thirst of those in Africa? There are so many kinds of gifts that can be given to your loved ones that simultaneously meet the needs of others.

Why not make a lasting difference this year at Christmas by giving a gift that won’t be returned. Here are two organizations you can trust to help you give the perfect gift this year at Christmas.

International Mission Board – https://www.imb.org/give/projects/

SEND Relief – https://catalog.sendrelief.org/

Where are You in the Mobilization Process?

You’ve more than likely heard or used the term, missions mobilization. But what does it mean? It has been defined as assisting local bodies of believers to identify, train, and send global workers out to fulfill the Great Commission. It is the primary goal for the team I serve on. We also describe it this way – helping Christ followers understand, embrace, and participate in the Great Commission.

Some people mobilize without realizing they are doing it. A person may tell a friend about the community ministry he’s involved in or invite someone out for coffee with a church planter who is sharing about the new work. Others consciously work to involve believers in mission trips or local ministry opportunities.

There are two primary stages to the missions mobilization process and both are necessary because they depend upon each other as the process continually repeats itself. The first stage raises awareness, educates and inspires vision and passion for missions. A person is likely introduced to this stage of mobilization when he hears a mission conference speaker or the testimony of a returning missions trip participant. Hopefully he or she comes away reminded about God’s love and concern for the whole world and senses personal responsibility to join in the task. But he also probably senses a need for more practical training about how to apply what he has heard to his life.

The second stage of missions mobilization provides the practical information and guidance people need to transform their mission desire into meaningful involvement. An example of this would be www.kybaptist.org/GO which helps people actively serve by providing details on mission and ministry opportunities; or www.kybaptist.org/DR which tells how to be trained and equipped for responding to disasters in Kentucky and beyond; or www.kybaptist.org/go/options which provides guidance to people exploring international missions.

Both stages are equally important to the success of passing missions onto the next generation of believers and getting people meaningfully involved in God’s plan to impact lostness in our world, beginning right here in Kentucky.

Each believer may find himself at a different place in the process, but ALL Christ followers should be in involved in missions (Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:19-20). In what stage of the missions mobilization process do you find yourself at this time?

Both…And!

I had the opportunity last week to spend several days in eastern Kentucky alongside disaster relief volunteers who were providing help, hope and healing following historic flooding in thirteen counties. I saw families who had lost everything, literally everything except the clothes on their backs. Homes were washed down river, cars destroyed, personal possessions lost, and everything left behind covered in mud. Flood insurance is almost non-existent, and families are overwhelmed and uncertain what to do next. The question was raised in a discussion with someone who had come to help, “are we here to help them recover from the flood or share the gospel?” The answer is Yes!

Caring for the needs of others is not an option for Christ followers. Jesus demonstrated this by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, casting out demons and raising the dead. If we are going to identify with Him, then we too, must love our neighbors and help those in need.

However, preaching the gospel is not an option either. Jesus said I was sent to preach the kingdom of God to others. We too, have an obligation to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16). Furthermore, those who are lost can’t believe and call upon Christ to be saved unless they hear the gospel preached (Romans 10:14).

So, which was more important to Jesus, caring for the needs of others or preaching the gospel? I don’t know that he had a preference. We find that Jesus preached and cared for others everywhere he went. Every time Jesus sent out the disciples, He commanded them to take care of the needy as they preached the gospel.

We understand from scripture that after Jesus’ return to heaven, the disciples followed His example of simultaneously preaching and caring for others. We observe in the life of Jesus and the disciples, that caring for hurting people provides opportunities for preaching the gospel. Jesus didn’t send some of us to preach and others to do disaster relief or community service.

Helping mud out a flooded home is complimentary to sharing the gospel. Blending the feeding of a family in a shelter with telling them about Jesus is God-honoring. Providing a place to shower or do laundry can easily be mixed with listening to others and sharing how we’ve found hope in Christ.

A healthy balance between meeting needs and preaching the gospel can be so effective in reaching the lost. Success of this approach is evidenced in the sixty-four (64) lives that have come to faith in Christ because of the flood recovery efforts in eastern Kentucky in the last several weeks.

Remember the question that prompted this post – “are we here to help them recover from the flood or share the gospel?” I’m not saying that caring for the needy is equal to sharing the gospel. But both are important because they are expected of Christ followers. They are two sides of the same coin and there will certainly be synergy and life transformation when we do both together, just as Jesus did.

Praying for Our Neighbors and Community

Matthew 22:36-39 – “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

This is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible because loving your neighbor as yourself is the second greatest commandment, after loving God.

Jesus calls us to love our neighbors and most of us actively try to do that by meeting their needs and showing love in tangible ways. But another valuable way we can love our neighbors is by praying for them.

I have often found myself so caught up in helping neighbors with their needs that I forget to pray for them and the community we live in. While the work I do with them, or even for my neighbors is important, nothing is more important than the prayers I pray for them.

Hudson Taylor said “when we work, we work. But when we pray, God works.” Through prayer, God invites us to work with Him for the well-being of our neighbors. It is God’s way of giving us a stake in His Kingdom building work.

We want good for our neighbors and the community we live in, but too often we rely on the work of our hands instead of partnering with God and seeing things really happen. I must confess that prayer is sometimes the missing element in my attempt to care for neighbors and bless my community.

Let me suggest the following ways that we can pray specifically for our neighbors and the community we live in.

Pray that God would …

Give neighbors a hunger and thirst for God and His Word.
Heal the emotional wounds of people living in my community that relationships between neighbors would be made right.
Remove any racial or social barriers that exist between neighbors.
Destroy poverty in the community and grant economic growth to meet the financial needs of families.
Deliver the community from alcohol and drug addiction.
Drive out all occultic influence and evil activity in the community.
Strengthen families in the neighborhood and bless each home.
Provide opportunities for sharing the gospel so that many would hear and receive Jesus.
Give believers a deep burden for the lost and an increasing desire to share the gospel with them.
Bless the pastors and churches of the community, granting them power and protection as they minister.
Deliver the believers in this community from self-centeredness and indifference toward those who need Jesus.
Transform the homes in this community so that they will be Christ-centered.

THANK YOU Lord for placing me in this community and for what You are doing to bring about Your kingdom here. I pray that my neighbors in this community will come to know you!

As the World Watches – There is Something We Can Do!

As the world watches, Ukrainians are being invaded by Russia and forced to flee from their homes. While the actual numbers are believed to be higher, it was reported today by national news sources today that 365 Ukrainians have been killed and 759 have been injured. We’ve seen the videos of families crying and praying as shots are fired and shells dropped in or near their homes. The world is watching as mothers and children wait it out in subway stations or bomb shelters throughout the Ukraine. It’s so heartbreaking and perhaps even traumatizing.

Many have denounced the actions and feel strong emotions toward those responsible. I’ve felt that too. But I want to do more than feel, I want to help. But what can I do? Are there things I can do to help those that are experiencing isolation, hunger, physical pain, death of loved ones, unemployment and loss of shelter? The answer is yes. There are two primary ways we can help at this time in the crisis:

Prayer – prayer is the best way to face anything, especially a crisis. Prayer is a real connection to God and helps us as we petition God on behalf of others. God encourages us to cry out to Him when there is trouble. “Call out to me when trouble comes. I will save you. And you will honor me.” (Psalms 50:15; Psalm 91:15).

Here are some specific ways to pray:

Pray for peace, asking God to bring an end to the violence and tension between these countries.
Pray that God will redeem this situation by drawing people to himself.
Pray those in the crisis will place their hope in Christ rather than governments, a powerful military or diplomacy.
Pray that leaders will exercise wisdom and seek God about decisions being made.
Pray for the safety of soldiers and their families while separated from them.
Pray for the 1.5 million refugees who have been displaced that are now seeking safety, shelter and food.
Pray that Christians in both countries will stand strong and boldly proclaim their faith as it is tested.
Giving – giving is a way for us to bless those in the crisis as we’ve been blessed, and we certainly have been! Donating to relief efforts encourages a grateful and generous spirit in us as we determine in our heart to give and help others who are in need. “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

There are many organizations receiving financial gifts on behalf of the Ukrainian crisis and to whom you give is of utmost importance. Here are a few things to consider before writing a check or making a charge on your credit card:

Research the organization you are giving through to ensure they are credible and have boots on the ground that can carry-out the response effort.
Consider becoming a partner to the organization and giving over the long haul because relief and recovery efforts may take months, and sometimes even years.
Support an organization that was there before the crisis and already invested in the people. Unfortunately, charities come out of the woodwork following a disaster and many don’t have the local network, infrastructure or relationships to efficiently and effectively distribute aid to victims.
Make sure that the organization you are giving to is a registered non-profit with the state regulator. If you wish to receive a tax deduction for your gift, make sure that they are registered with the IRS as a tax-exempt organization. You can check this out at: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/tax-exempt-organization-search

The Kentucky Baptist Convention (www.kybaptist.org/ukraine) is an organization collecting financial aid on behalf of the Ukrainian crisis. It is the organization that many choose to give through because it meets all the criteria outlined above. They have partners on the ground already providing aid. To date, our nationally partner, SEND Relief, has already dispersed almost a million dollars in aid. We have boots on the ground meeting needs because we were there prior to the crisis and have plans (Lord willing) to still be there when the dust settles. Additionally, a small portion of the financial aid received through the KBC will be used specifically to aid Ukrainian refugees who settle in Kentucky. If Ukrainian refugees don’t settle in Kentucky, any dollars withheld will be forwarded to our national partner, SEND Relief.

I can’t imagine being forced out of my home, community or country. But if it happened, I would find encouragement and strength in knowing that people everywhere are praying for me and giving financially toward my recovery.

Kentucky and Beyond

Christ followers, under the power of the Holy Spirit, will tell everyone about Him. (Acts 1:8)

Eric Allen