This is the first article in a new series entitled From Maintenance to Missional. The title might perplex some readers, so allow me to state at the outset my intentions. Conversion growth in Presbyterian and Reformed churches is virtually nonexistent. In my opinion that should, can, and must change. Hence this call for reformation in […]
Last time, I tried to show that Reformed evangelism is simply biblical evangelism: It emanates from the church, is not necessarily a “pastoronly” job—since the Scriptures identify evangelism as a spiritual gift that’s correlative with but that can also be distinct from the pastor-teacher role—and its power is not in the evangelist, his methods, gimmicks, […]
No area today figures more prominently and more significantly in the world‘s news than the Middle East. The three great so-called revealed religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—began and flourished in the Middle East, and all three are powerful factors in the conflicts and tensions there today. Historical Background – Christ’s earthly life and ministry were in […]
William Carey (1761–1834), English shoemaker and cobbler, is usually considered to have been “the father of modern missions.” Were there Protestant missions also prior to Carey’s time? It is to this question that Rev. Timothy M. Monsma addresses himself in this article. After a brief ministry at Chandler, Minnesota, Rev. Monsma served as a CR […]
Lesson 5: THE SENDING SPIRIT (3) Scripture: Zechariah 4:6; Acts 2:1–4; I Corinthians 2:9-11; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 4:11–16 The great missionary holiday on the church calendar is Pentecost -and with good reason. The Holy Spirit came with the rushing of a mighty wind which filled the house where the disciples were gathered. Upon each of […]
The question is this: Is Evangelism Thrust a strategy for something else, something in addition to or coincidental with evangelism? And what is that something else? That something else that seems to be an additional or related strategy is simply the remaking of the Christian Reformed Church. When the Consultant of Classis Florida for Evangelism […]
Scripture: John 20:19–23; Luke 24:45–48; II Corinthians 4:1–8; I Peter 2:1–10; I Peter 3:8–16 One of the most exciting aspects of the church is its work of missions. Angels in heaven rejoice over every sinner that repents, and so should the church. In this society season we are presenting Bible Studies on Evangelism. It is […]
The Reformed faith has a great future in the South. Population and industry are moving in that direction. On the state and local level the Chamber of Commerce is going all out to attract new industry from the North. Low taxes, a labor force untouched by labor unions. and escape from big city problems are […]
These are exciting days for any witness or evangelist! Ours is a world in flux. A world constantly growing smaller by fast travel, communications media, and scientific achievements. The fearful debauchery of our times has made this moment in history a time of balancing and weighing, of judging and measuring. But along with the problems […]
We read in Revelation 20 that an angel bound the dragon, who is Satan, and threw him into the abyss, where he is to stay for one thousand years (vss. 2, 3). This one thousand years has been called the millennium, which is a Latin word for “one thousand.” Some Christians describe the millennium as […]