[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":90},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Falways-remember-why":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Falways-remember-why-surround":79},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":11,"columnName":61,"date":62,"description":17,"extension":63,"image":64,"meta":65,"minRead":66,"navigation":67,"path":68,"postType":69,"publication":70,"publicationUrl":64,"seo":71,"stem":72,"topics":73,"__hash__":78},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Falways-remember-why.md","Always Remember Why",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10],"Matthew","John",{"type":12,"value":13,"toc":57},"minimark",[14,18,21,24,27,30,33,36,39,42,45,48,51,54],[15,16,17],"p",{},"It's a time of unprecedented opportunity for world missions. Air travel makes it possible to \"go into all the world\" in a matter of hours, not weeks. The Internet can penetrate Iron Curtains and Islamist strongholds. Opportunities abound to learn new languages and experience different cultures. International travel is commonplace. Youth ministers lead their students on short-term mission trips to gritty urban neighborhoods and exotic locations overseas. Unprecedented amounts of information about evangelism and church planting methods can be found in books, magazines, and college courses.",[15,19,20],{},"But why do missionaries go in the first place? Do they go because they can't cut it back home? Do they go because they're trying to impose Western values on other civilizations? And why do the rest of us send them? Do we support missionaries simply out of habit? Out of guilt?",[15,22,23],{},"I know churches that give 20 percent or more of their total budget to support global ministry. Why be so generous when there are lots of worthy causes in their own backyard? I know senior adults who have made a fortune in the business world, but their main financial goal is not their own personal comfort but expanding the kingdom of God. I know sharp, talented young adults who could achieve success by any worldly measure, but instead they have chosen lives of sacrifice, serving the poor in obscure mission fields. Why would anyone want to do that?",[15,25,26],{},"Why do missionary parents bring up their children in a foreign culture far from the support of grandparents and the rest of their extended family? Why do Bible translators endure grueling years of language study? Why do church planters venture into spiritually uncharted territories to establish outposts for the gospel? Why do missionaries choose to face culture shock, homesickness, physical illness, and the humbling experience of raising financial support?",[15,28,29],{},"Why go when it's safer and easier to stay? Why go when the world thinks you're crazy and even some of your friends in the church don't get it?",[15,31,32],{},"Why, indeed?",[15,34,35],{},"Missionaries go out of obedience to Jesus who said, \"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them . . . and teaching them\" (Matthew 28:19, 20).",[15,37,38],{},"They go because they understand that people are lost without Christ, Heaven and Hell are real, and eternity is forever. Jesus said, \"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me\" (John 14:6).",[15,40,41],{},"They go because the love of Christ compels them. They realize they too would be lost without the saving grace of God. They see the restless throngs the same way Jesus did: as sheep who need a shepherd.",[15,43,44],{},"They go because they envision the incredible joy of seeing individuals saved and communities transformed by the power of God.",[15,46,47],{},"They go because they're inspired by the example of the New Testament church, which sent out missionaries with prayer and fasting and then joyfully welcomed them back home to celebrate the progress of the gospel.",[15,49,50],{},"They go because they understand what Jesus taught: \"Freely you have received; freely give.\" \"Give, and it will be given to you.\"",[15,52,53],{},"It's a great day for world missions. I just hope we don't get so caught up in all the books, classes, mission rallies, and short-term trips that we forget the reason for it all.",[15,55,56],{},"I hope we remember why.",{"title":58,"searchDepth":59,"depth":59,"links":60},"",2,[],"First Look","2006-10-01","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Falways-remember-why","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":17},"articles\u002Falways-remember-why",[74,75,76,77],"Biblical Theology","Church Leadership","Intergenerational Ministry","Discipleship","AIPR0eTt0TeCubnZ7jRwmMKZhad6RJXmriJq6085LWg",[80,85],{"title":81,"path":82,"stem":83,"description":84,"children":-1},"All Sufficient Grace for Even Me","\u002Farticles\u002Fall-sufficient-grace-for-even-me","articles\u002Fall-sufficient-grace-for-even-me","On an arid Arabian mountainside, a shepherd took a hard look at himself and asked, \"Who am I to be a leader?\" After all, he wasn't a good public speaker, and his hot temper sometimes got him into trouble—including one time in the past when he killed a man who was mistreating one of his countrymen. Was God's grace sufficient for Moses?",{"title":86,"path":87,"stem":88,"description":89,"children":-1},"Always the Same","\u002Farticles\u002Falways-the-same","articles\u002Falways-the-same","At exactly 8:00 a.m. on December 29, 2002, engineers hit a switch and imploded Cinergy Field, reducing it to a pile of rubble.",1790466136123]