God is a Missionary God

In our first session this week at Perspectives Andy Kampman gave two talks that examined how God’s heart for the nations saturates the entirety of scripture. The following are a few of my reflections regarding this session.

Those of us in the United States tend to be ethno-centric in our perspective.

In other words we tend to limit our vision for evangelism and life to what we know and understand in the United States. Our conversations, attitudes, and personal mission statements should incorporate a vision for worldwide mission. We also must be aware that our wealth makes us venerable to complacency in this regard.

God’s has a cohesive plan for the redemption of all peoples.

The cohesive picture of God’s agenda from Genesis through Revelation is refreshingly simple and clear. Simply put, he desires all peoples to know and follow him. Certainly ethnic Israel has a unique role in the fulfilling of God’s agenda; however, the agenda is still the same.

Our worldwide perspective should affect the way we live.

We should all participate in the cause of world evangelization. Here are a few ways this should/could be done:

• Pray regularly for missionaries, nations, etc…
• Give sacrificially to the cause of world evangelization
• Go on short and/or long term mission projects
• Teach and openly pray with our children and grand-children, that they would be vitally involved in God’s agenda for the nations
• Never retire. Of course, one can retire from a profession, but one must never retire from being a minister of the gospel and taking an active role in local and global outreach

I am sure there will be future related posts as I continue to work through this course in the next several months. I am praying that God will work upon my heart through Perspectives. I have much to learn.