RICHMOND, Va. — “You say you want a revolution. Well, you know, we all want to change the world....”

Those words come from “Revolution,” one of the Beatles’ hit songs of 1968 — a tumultuous year of mass protests, student demonstrations and demands for change across Europe, America and beyond. It was a heady time for idealists, particularly on the political left. Many insisted on the nonviolent tactics so effectively adapted by Martin Luther King Jr. and the U.S. civil rights movement from the strategy Gandhi used to end British rule in India.

Others, less patient and more militant, advocated using “any means necessary” (read: violence) to overthrow what they saw as oppressive systems. Some supported or even joined Marxist guerrilla movements across Latin America and Asia.

Pop stars aren’t known for their political sophistication. But in “Revolution,” the Beatles warned of the dangers involved in rapid political and social change — even as they led the charge: “(W)hen you talk about destruction, don’t you know that you can count me out.... You tell me it’s the institution, well, you know, you better free your mind instead....”

Wise words for those leading the movements for change now shaking societies across the Arab world. Many worldly institutions are rotten, corrupt and long overdue for tossing into history’s dustbin. But what will replace them?

The institution most in need of transformation is the human mind.

“It’s a dangerous time, because the youth are full of anger,” says an Arab Baptist pastor in one of the Middle Eastern countries rocked by protests. “This is not something new. The youth get this frustration from their parents when they can’t afford what they need to live or to get education. And even for the ones that do graduate, they have the same frustration: no jobs. They take loans from banks and then they don’t find work. That causes them to go to drugs, to steal, to be dishonest, to prostitute.”

Arab Christians, he adds, deal with all of those stresses, plus the added burden of oppression as a religious minority — “especially the evangelicals.”

“As an evangelical church, what we are doing now is praying for more awareness for the people and what they should do at this time,” he says. “At the same time, we are trying to find more [connections] between us, between Christians and Muslims. Pray for policies to change — for more freedom, more human rights, more freedom for the people to choose what they want.”

He is hopeful, but realistic. He places little hope in human institutions — democratic or otherwise.

“My hope is in God, not with people,” he states. “I’m a good reader of (Arab) history.”

A Christian representative based in the region believes the current cascade of events constitutes a “perfect storm,” under God’s sovereign control, to spread His glory throughout North Africa and the Middle East.

The peoples of the region are experiencing “an ever-widening sociopolitical discontent that is moving like a tsunami wave across their communication networks,” the representative says. “Whether they live in the thick of demonstrations occurring in Libya, Morocco or Yemen, or in an apartment complex in Dallas-Fort Worth or Los Angeles, they are anxious and rightly concerned about what is happening across their homelands.

“This visceral dissatisfaction makes people either run from God or run toward Him. Let’s pray the majority of our peoples run toward Him!”

Specifically, the worker asks for prayer that God will be honored and glorified in each country as governments shift and change; that the gospel will spread to millions of families; that disciples of Christ among peoples of the region will multiply; and that believers will “be of one mind and one heart to carry out God’s purposes on earth” during this historic moment.

Revolutions typically take one of three courses, according to geopolitical analyst George Friedman:

• They fail.
• They falter, but sow seeds that bloom for decades afterward.
• They succeed — and create a new order in a nation, a region, even the world.

Pray that the revolutions now sweeping across the Arab world will create a new spiritual order in the minds of men and women, regardless of what happens to their political institutions.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Bridges is global correspondent for the International Mission Board. Ava Thomas, an IMB writer/editor based in Europe, contributed to this column. Visit “WorldView Conversation,” the blog related to this column, at http://worldviewconversation.blogspot.com/. Listen to an audio version at http://media1.imbresources.org/files/123/12370/12370-69197.mp3.)

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GAINESVILLE, Ga. — I once met a man who told me he could increase the “velocity” of my money. I told him I didn’t get it. He said he thought it was over my head. Turns out, he didn’t get it either — his investment company crashed and burned less than two years after our dialogue.

In man’s economy, financial advisors and experts can lead you through any financial need you face; but regardless of their expertise, their wisdom is no substitute for the wisdom of God. When we transfer our hopes to God and His economy, we are to turn first to the Lord and seek His wisdom for all issues, including financial decisions.

Paul warned that in the body of Christ we are not to have any “gurus,” even if they are very capable Christ followers. When he learned that some in Corinth were followers of Apollos, some were followers of Peter, and others were claiming to be his followers, it was time to step in.

He broke through this tendency of man to become reliant upon man with this reminder of Isaiah’s prophecy: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate” (1 Cor. 1:19).

In other words, no matter how wise or intelligent your “gurus” are, they do not compare to the wisdom of God.

For emphasis, Paul gave us a measure of just how ridiculous it is to fall prey to this form of misplaced dependency by saying that God’s foolishness (imagining there is such a thing) is wiser than man’s wisdom (1 Cor. 1:25). In other words, it is a bad mistake to place your dependency for wisdom on any source other than God Himself.

The system we live in tells us to place confidence in money or those who give us assistance with our financial problems. That is why it is so important that we avoid seeing the solution to our financial problems as money or people. Money does not solve financial problems, nor do people. God is the solution to all financial problems, and thus He wants us to place our total confidence and dependency in Him.

King Uzziah sought the Lord and God gave him success. It was during this season of his reign as king that he led a conquering army, built towers, planted vineyards and fields, and was even a noted inventor who designed advanced military machines. But once he became powerful, his pride led him to stop seeking the Lord’s will. Because his dependency was now misplaced, he was afflicted with leprosy and cast out from the Lord’s temple until the day he died.

Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, wants us to seek first His wisdom and His ways so that we do not take credit for anything.

Our pragmatic culture drives us toward a bottom-line results orientation. I can hear many of you saying, “If the returns are good, what does it matter if the source of counsel or the means to get the desired outcome are not godly? Money is neutral.”

The argument is correct that money is neutral; it can be used for good or evil. But when we seek advice, we should go first to Christ in prayer, then to sources who also look to God for their wisdom. As David wrote, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked” (Ps. 1:1).

God warned the Israelites that they would be tempted to forget Him when they experienced financial prosperity. He said, “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God. ... Otherwise, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will grow proud and you will forget the Lord your God.

“... You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth ... “ (Deut. 8:11-18).

The Lord knows that we are easily deceived. We even think that if we keep this misplaced dependency to ourselves (“you may say to yourself”), that we can hide our pride from Him. This is impossible.

The real bottom line to the issue of money is not how successful you are at making it or managing it, it is this: Who provided it? And Who do you turn to for wisdom about it?

When you are truly living in God’s economy, every decision you make is an indication of His Lordship over your life.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Bentley is CEO of Crown Financial Ministries and host of Crown’s MoneyLife™ radio broadcast. To learn more about practical resources including the new Eliminating Debt Video Study, visit Crown.org or call 1-800-722-1976. This article was first published in the November 2009 issue of Money Matters. Cofounded by Howard Dayton and the late Larry Burkett, Crown Financial Ministries is an interdenominational ministry dedicated to equipping people with biblically based financial tools and resources through radio, film, seminars, small groups and individual coaching. Based in Georgia, the ministry has offices in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Africa, Europe, India, Asia and Australia.)

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It was at the 2010 Pastor’s Conference of the SBC in Orlando where Andy Stanley struck a chord with many pastors and church leaders alike. In a unique message, Stanley discussed three principles of leadership that were illustrated by two business decisions and a challenge from Acts 15:19 in which James chastens the early church leaders for creating barriers for those coming to Christ.

James said, “Therefore, I judge that we should not trouble those from the Gentiles who are turning to God.”

The principles of leadership for our day were so on point. While I do not have the space to adequately cover these principles in great detail, I do want to share them in light of this critical time in the life of North Carolina Baptists.

Stanley illustrated his first principle by relating a story from Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-Fil-A. During a very challenging time for their company, young executives were discussing the growing competition and wrestling with how to expand the corporation. Having heard enough, Truett Cathy spoke with a truth that shook the room. “The question is not how to get bigger, but how to get better … You see, only if we get better will our customers demand that we get bigger.”

Stanley challenged us through Truett Cathy’s words to make sure that we are first of all asking the right question: “how do we get better?” Related to the question “how do we get better?” is the need for evaluation of what we do as churches.

This was Stanley’s first principle: the most crucial component of getting better is evaluating our ministries honestly and accurately. This goes beyond mere experience or longevity with a program. In fact, Stanley pointed out that experience does not necessarily make one better, but can actually just create a rut. Honest evaluation is necessary to improving our ministries, or “getting better.”

How do we evaluate ministry? What constitutes effective ministry? Stanley answered these questions with his second principle.

The second principle is also best understood by a story, specifically the story of Intel Corporation. Intel competes in the world of technology, a rapidly changing field in which fortunes can be both made and lost in quick succession. Intel was struggling with finding its competitive niche.

In essence, the corporate leaders were in a position in which they were forced to ask the question, “If we got kicked out and new leadership was brought in, what would they do?” This question then led them to the next question, “Then why don’t we walk out the door, turn around, come back in, and make those decisions?” Andy Stanley then made a piercing statement that was challenging to my heart. He said, “There are times we know what we need to do, but we don’t do it. Why? Because we fall in love with the way we do ministry, and long after it quits working, we still do it.”

The follow-up question is equally piercing. “Do we fall in love with a model of ministry and abandon the Great Commission, or do we embrace the Great Commission whatever the costs?” The second principle tells us how to evaluate ministry, and it is very simple: embrace the mandate of Jesus.

As we evaluate ourselves honestly we can then ask, do our ministries fulfill the commandments of Jesus to His church? Do our ministries fulfill the Great Commission? Might we even find that certain ways of doing ministry, once effective at fulfilling the Great Commission, have actually become barriers to those coming to Christ today?

The third and final principle, as I mentioned earlier, is found in Acts 15. It was here that the early church had to make some decisions. The plea from James is the principle Stanley emphasized: identify and remove any unnecessary obstacles.

Oftentimes in the life of our churches and even conventions, we have some good things we do, but if we are not careful we allow those things to become barriers to truly great things. Jim Collins, in his book, Good to Great, wrote an entire chapter around the premise that “good is the mortal enemy of great.” We must guard ourselves and the ministries for which God has made us stewards from settling for less than what He desires to make us.

Though I heard that message nearly nine months ago, these principles have weighed heavy on my heart as a pastor, and as a leader in our Baptist State Convention. For me, many of these principles are at the heart of our Vision Fulfillment Committee. From its inception, there has been a sense that now is a great time to do some serious evaluation about the effectiveness of what we are doing, and how we are doing it. The resources that God is providing through the churches of the Baptist State Convention are a tool for impacting the world here at home, throughout our nation, and across the globe.

Is there anything that needs to be adjusted in the way we are carrying out the Great Commission? If there has been any great benefit to be found in the economic downturn of the last several years, I believe it has been in the forced consideration of priorities.

Whether it’s a home budget, a church budget, or even convention budgets, most Americans have had to face the experience of how does one adjust when revenue is reduced? Where do you adjust downward? What is the top priority?

Maybe we need to step back and reexamine the purpose behind what we do. All of these questions and considerations have left us seeking to accomplish more than ever, but often with fewer resources than the previous year.

Our budget committee for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has faced that challenge, and through tremendous management of our convention leaders and staff, have navigated these stormy financial times, but not without pain in the process. As a family, my wife and I, along with our children, have at times had to share input, thoughts, ideas, and reasoning to make family decisions concerning some particular priorities.

This experience of the Vision Fulfillment Committee is a chance for the North Carolina Baptist family to get together and simply hear each other share perspectives about our priorities.

It is my hope that every single N.C. Baptist will get to a Vision Fulfillment meeting close to his or her home over the next six months so that individuals can be heard. As a member of this committee, I believe we all want to hear the hearts of men and women across North Carolina about how we can be the most effective state convention in the entire Southern Baptist Convention. 

Five years ago, I had the privilege of attending the installation service and reception for Milton and Gloria Hollifield.

As Milton Hollifield stepped into his role as the new executive director/treasurer, he did so as a man of great vision. He has placed that vision consistently before North Carolina Baptists: “By God’s grace, we will become the strongest force in the history of the Convention for reaching people with the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.” In my opinion, I do not know when I have ever read a more clear and passionate vision for a cooperating body of churches.

In fact, I cannot imagine one of the 4,256 North Carolina Baptist churches or even one of the more than one million total members that make up our churches not buying into this powerful vision. In fact, one of the most powerful mentors of my life, Mark Corts, often reminded me that in any great movement of God, the vision comes from God to the leader. When God wanted to lead the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, He did not call a committee to develop a vision.

He spoke vision into the life of a leader named Moses. When God was ready to give the Promised Land to the children of Israel, He did not call together a committee to develop a vision. He spoke the vision into the life of a leader named Joshua. So, it is critical to note that God has given us the vision through our leader, Milton Hollifield, and we are not looking to change vision.

We are, however, looking to determine if we are “fulfilling” this awesome vision in the most effective ways. This, again, is where you as a North Carolina Baptist need to help answer that question.

The answer may be yes! We may be doing everything in the most efficient and effective way possible. If so, please come to the meeting nearest you and express it. If there are any ideas, any thoughts, or any input into our direction you wish to express, please come to the meeting nearest you and express it. As a convention, we are blessed to have leaders who want to hear from the people with whom they serve together. 

We are living in a rapidly changing society. We have all agreed for years that while our Christ-centered message must never change, our methodology for sharing the message must be constantly evaluated and adapted to engage the culture effectively. I believe there is a great deal at stake in the work of this committee.

At stake may very well be how we fund Cooperative Program and use the resources most effectively. At stake may very well be the support of the next generation of leaders in our state. We won’t, however, just be meeting with “young leaders” or “older leaders,” but all leaders. Everyone is in this together.

At stake is indeed whether giving everyone the opportunity to share is going to be worth the effort. It was impossible due to logistics for the Great Commission Task Force to hold “public hearings” with their full group. As a result, some felt slighted from being able to influence the outcome. 

Let it be clear that the Vision Fulfillment Committee will travel hundreds of miles over the next six months to hear your heart. Please, take the opportunity to come and share in what may just be the most exciting days of the New Testament Church since the Book of Acts.

In the midst of that message that reached my world, Andy Stanley also said, “If you are not on a relentless pursuit to make your church better, you will criticize those who do.”

God help us as the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina to remain on a relentless pursuit to make our convention better and most effective in what we are called to do.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Harris is pastor of First Baptist Church, Charlotte, first vice president  of the Baptist State Convention, member of the Vision Fulfillment Committee, and a former Biblical Recorder board member.)

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Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 3, President Obama made a compelling case for something terribly unusual: humble faith (see story).

Historically, Obama has been reticent to speak at length publicly about his Christian faith.

As a result, he’s faced intense scrutiny by skeptics who would seek to disprove his professed beliefs.

During the prayer breakfast, the president gave more than just a glimpse into his spiritual life — he detailed the how, when and what of his daily prayer life, and spoke eloquently and intimately about his love and devotion to God.

The president explained that his daily prayer life regularly centers around three themes — petitions for strength, humility, and a desire to walk closer with his God, a prayer, he said, that encompasses all others.

Particularly when faced with tragedies such as the shootings in Arizona, Obama’s prayer is to draw closer to God, he said. “It’s in these times that we feel most intensely our mortality and our own flaws and the sins of the world that we most desperately seek to touch the face of God,” he said.

“My prayer this morning is that we might seek his face not only in those moments but each and every day ... that we might every so often rise above the here and now and kneel before the eternal.”

Of his prayers for humility, Obama said in part: “It’s useful to go back to scripture to remind ourselves that none of us has all the answers; (for all) of us — no matter our political party or station in life — the full breath of human knowledge is like a grain of sand in God’s hands, and there are some mysteries in this world that we cannot fully comprehend. As it’s written in Job, ‘God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways. He does great things beyond our understandings.”’

And this is where Obama acknowledged his humble humanity.

“The challenge I find then is to balance this uncertainty, this humility, with the need to fight for deeply held convictions, to be open to other points of view, but firm in our core principles. I pray for this wisdom every day. I pray that God will show me and all of us the limits of our understanding and open our ears and our hearts to our brothers and sisters with different points of view.”

What Obama said Feb. 3 reflects, in both its content and even more powerfully in its spirit, the faith of the state senator who sat down with me six years ago in a Chicago coffee shop to talk about his eternal concerns.

That interview remains the most exhaustive discussion of his spiritual life that Obama has granted to date. It has been dissected and studied by pundits more closely than a fetal pig in a high school honors biology class. Some read it and see what I see. Others read it and conclude that Obama is a charlatan and a fraud, an unbeliever posing as a follower of Christ.

But what I heard in Chicago so many years ago is precisely what I heard again in Thursday’s prayer breakfast address: Obama not only is a genuine Christian, but he is also its rarest kind: a humble follower of Jesus Christ  who is all too aware of his shortcomings and responsibilities, a disciple who places his life (eternal and otherwise) in the hands of a gracious God.

I believe what Obama says about his faith, but he knows many others do not.

“My Christian faith ... has been a sustaining force for me over these last few years, all the more so when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time. What really matters is not what other people say about us, but whether or not we’re being true to our conscience and true to our God,” he said Thursday.

Along with verses of Scripture, Obama laced his address with humorous personal anecdotes. God uses the first lady to teach the president humility when, for instance, she reminds him of “chores left undone,” or questions the “wisdom of watching my third football game in a row on a Sunday.” He prays for strength to carry out the duties of his office, but also for the patience to raise two daughters.

Obama presented himself as a real, human believer — clinging to faith and, sometimes, stumbling. He restated how he “came to know Jesus Christ ...and embrace him as Lord and Savior” more than 20 years ago. But he added, “My faith journey has had its twists and turns. It hasn’t always been a straight line. .... In the wake of failures and disappointments I’ve questioned what God had in store for me and been reminded that Gods’ plans for us might not always match our own shortsighted desires.”

The president concluded his remarks by describing his nightly prayers.

“I wait on the Lord and ask him to forgive me my sins, look after my family and the American people, and make me an instrument of his will.”     

Amen, Mr. President.

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EL CAJON, Calif. — When the whole human race was terrified by sin, death, judgment, and hell, Jesus left the heights of the heavens to journey to earth for the likes of you and me.

In John’s Gospel, the phrase Jesus used for this journey was to “come down.” He said, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man .... For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me .... I am the bread which came down from heaven .... I have come down from heaven ....” (Jn. 3:13; 6:38, 41, 42).

This is the greatest mystery of all time, that God is a Trinity, and that the Second Person of the Trinity should “beam” himself to earth on a sacrificial journey from heaven to earth. He was transported through the womb of a virgin as the sinless Redeemer, completely God and a complete man, for the redemption of the world.

Why did He do it? In recent years, I’ve had to travel a lot, much of it in the air. Travel is exhausting, and the thrill and novelty of it wears off quickly. If I’m going to leave my wife and family and my regular routines of work and home life, there has to be a compelling reason. I’ll go anywhere the Lord leads, but there’s no place like home.

Jesus had a compelling reason for His incredible journey. In John 6:38, He said, “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent me.” One of our favorite texts is John 10:10: “I have come that (you) may have life, and that (you) may have it more abundantly.”

He said that He came, not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. It wasn’t a vacation or a pleasure trip. It was a divine mission of self-sacrifice.

The results
When God’s mercy finds us out, leading us to receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become fellow travelers with Him, for His blood purchases both our passage and our passport to everlasting life.

Our inner, innate sinfulness separates us from holiness and heaven. When Jesus died and rose on the third day, He provided forgiveness for all who would accept Him by faith. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). God sent His Son into the world “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).

This is a message to share with our friends and to pass down to our children. Remember how excited you felt as a child as your family prepared for summer vacation? The packing? The swimsuits and rubber rafts? The snacks and games for the car? Our homes should be filled with the gladness of Jesus, rejoicing in His journey to be with us and preparing for our journey to be with Him. Even a child can participate.

Calvin Miller tells of his own conversion to Christ in his book, Jesus Loves Me. A chum of his went to a tent revival. This boy was a brat, but something happened that changed him. He invited Calvin, so Calvin went.

The preacher’s words flew at Calvin and penetrated his heart. That night, the grace of Jesus Christ reached across the mighty gulf between heaven and earth, and the journey of Jesus became real in a child’s heart — and Calvin Miller has been talking and writing about it ever since.

A Chinese philosopher once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

What a privilege to take a step of faith, trusting Christ and saying: “’Tis mercy all, immense and free; for O my God, it found out me.”

And it’s all because of the journey of Jesus, prompted by His heart of undying love for us.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Jeremiah is the founder and host of “Turning Point for God” and senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, Calif. For more information visit www.DavidJeremiah.org.)

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RICHMOND, Va. — Billy Graham seldom leaves his home in the mountains of North Carolina these days. At age 92, the legendary evangelist struggles with multiple physical ailments. He makes no secret of how deeply he feels the absence of Ruth, his wife of nearly 64 years, who died in 2007. He misses many lifelong friends who have departed this world.

“We’ve come to look on old age as something to be dreaded, and it’s true that it isn’t easy,” Graham admitted in a recent interview with Christianity Today magazine. “I can’t honestly say that I like being old — not being able to do most of the things I used to do, for example, and being more dependent on others, and facing physical challenges that I know will only get worse. Old age can be a lonely time also — children scattered, spouse and friends gone.”

But long life is a gift of God, Graham added. He advises learning the secret of daily contentment in the Lord — and of looking toward heaven. “I know it won’t be long before I’ll be going there, and I look forward to that day,” he said. “Heaven gives us hope and makes our present burdens easier to bear.”

What would he change about his own life if he could do it again? He would spend more time with family and less time on the road. He would study the Word of God more and speak less. He also would “steer clear of politics,” though he doesn’t regret the opportunities God has given him to “minister to people in high places.”

One thing Graham wouldn’t change is his life’s mission: to preach the gospel to all nations. The most urgent challenges of our time aren’t political or economic, he stressed. They are moral and spiritual. Evangelical Christianity has experienced huge global growth since World War II. However, “we need to be alert and avoid becoming the victims of our own success,” warned Graham. “Will we influence the world for Christ, or will the world influence us?”

Success doesn’t just tempt us to the sins of pride, arrogance and complacency. It pressures us to conform, to be quiet about uncomfortable truth — such as the truth that Christ is the only way to reconciliation with God.

It makes us forget (or reject) the truth ourselves, if we ever learn it. Numerous surveys reveal that American evangelicals are increasingly ignorant of the Bible’s basic teachings, increasingly self-centered, increasingly reluctant to say anything that might offend others in a pluralistic society.

The Christian gospel is guaranteed to offend. Read the New Testament and see how it went over in the pagan Roman and Greek worlds. The blood of believers flowed freely. But that didn’t stop them from boldly preaching the Good News.

The tenor of our time, on the other hand, is perfectly captured by columnist Kathleen Parker: “Pray there’s a heaven, but do pray quietly. It can’t be a mystery any longer that the God urge has a disquieting effect on certain members of the human tribe. I share the urge, but have found ways of communing that don’t require converting others, invading countries or shedding infidels of their heads.”

Got it? You can love God inside your head and inside your church walls, but keep your mouth shut in public. If you try to “convert others,” better-mannered folks will put you into the same category as religious terrorists. A disturbing number of self-professed Christians quietly or openly agree with Parker’s smug dismissal of both the Bible’s command to evangelize and the American ideal of free religious expression.

Billy Graham, who has never shied away from respectfully but unashamedly declaring the simple gospel anytime, anywhere, begs to disagree.

“The most important issue we face today is the same the church has faced in every century: Will we reach our world for Christ?” he told Christianity Today. “In other words, will we give priority to Christ’s command to go into all the world and preach the gospel? Or will we turn increasingly inward, caught up in our own internal affairs or controversies, or simply becoming more and more comfortable with the status quo? ...

“(O)ur calling is to declare Christ’s forgiveness and hope and transforming power to a world that does not know Him or follow Him. May we never forget this.” The modern church needs to come to grips with this reality: A faith that isn’t worth sharing with the world isn’t worth having.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Bridges is global correspondent for the International Mission Board. Visit “WorldView Conversation” at http://worldviewconversation.blogspot.com/.)

(SPECIAL NOTE — Thank you for your continued support of the Biblical Recorder site. During this interim period while we are searching for a new Editor/President the comments section will be temporarily discontinued. Thank you for your understanding and patience in this. If you do have comments or issues with items we run, please contact dianna@biblicalrecorder.org or call 919-847-2127.)