Missionary…It is a Gift!

Ecclesiastes 7; Ecclesiastes 8; Ecclesiastes 9; Ephesians 4
Click Here To Read Or Listen To Today’s Daily Bible Reading

Scripture

Ephesians 4

11 Christ gave gifts to men. He gave to some the gift to be missionaries, some to be preachers, others to be preachers who go from town to town. He gave others the gift to be church leaders and teachers. 12 These gifts help His people work well for Him. And then the church which is the body of Christ will be made strong. 13 All of us are to be as one in the faith and in knowing the Son of God. We are to be full-grown Christians standing as high and complete as Christ is Himself. 14 Then we will not be as children any longer. Children are like boats thrown up and down on big waves. They are blown with the wind. False teaching is like the wind. False teachers try everything possible to make people believe a lie, 15 but we are to hold to the truth with love in our hearts. We are to grow up and be more like Christ. He is the leader of the church. 16 Christ has put each part of the church in its right place. Each part helps other parts. This is what is needed to keep the whole body together. In this way, the whole body grows strong in love.

Observation

Do you have any heroes in your life? I do.

Many of my heroes are missionaries that I know or that I know by reading about them. Here are just a few of my heroes: Lottie Moon, Hudson Taylor, William Carey, Bertha Smith, Tom Thurman, C.W. McClelland, Phil Templin, John Seale, Roy Cooper, and many others that are working in dangerous places like those in the Sudan, China, Algeria, etc. The president of the International Mission Board, Jerry Rankin, is also one of my heroes.

Some pastors and laymen here in the U.S. that have been asked to serve on mission boards sometimes try to tell missionaries how to “mish”, but they have never been missionaries and they don’t have a clue about cross-cultural missionary work. Some of them have only made a few weeklong mission trips or have only made a few visits to the mission field and then want to dictate how mission work should be done. These pastors tend to see ministry from “U.S. colored glasses” and think everything should be done just like it is done in their city or town.

I say let missionaries run the mission boards. Experienced missionaries that understand missionaries and know how to “Mish” let them call the shots. Let pastors pastor their churches and not try to do the hands on operation of our overseas mission endeavors. We have all been given gifts; turn our modern day Lottie Moon’s and our modern day Hudson Taylor’s loose to do their work, using their gifts. Lets give them our support.

By the way, it was Tom Thurman then missionary to Bangladesh, and C.W. McClelland missionary to Africa that God used to call me to missions. They spoke in a World Missions Conference in our church in the fall of 1973 and that was the night God called me to be a missionary and I will be eternally grateful to these men for my life and that calling.

Application

Missionaries must speak up and we must support them!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for every missionary serving you around the world today. They are my heroes. I know that you love them because You only had One Son and You allowed Him to be a Missionary! Help our pastors understand that missionaries are gifted to be missionaries and they need to support them more rather than trying to tell them how to do their jobs. I pray that you raise up strong leadership from among our missionary force that will lead our convention to focus on reaching the world for Christ and away from rule making and rule enforcing. I pray for Jerry Rankin today and his leadership team that you would strengthen them today. They too are my heroes. In Jesus Name Amen.

Today’s "Life Journal" Daily Bible Reading can be found on Line. Click Here!