Bible Quiz The answers are at the end of the blog. Have fun!!
According to the Bible, are these statements true or false?
1. Creationism is an aberration of Genesis and limited to a few passages in the Bible. 2. God created man because of a need for fellowship.
Dear Prayer Warriors,
In 2 Corinthians 12:15, Paul writes that “I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls.” As El packs for our move inland to Baminda for the next two weeks, I thought I would share with you some reflections on the life of the missionary in terms of our firsthand experience. Paul often recounts in his letters the varied experiences he faced on the mission field. How else could the churches know how to pray? We, too, want to share with you some of the life we live as missionaries in the hopes it will better equip you to pray for us.
1. It is a hard life “Have you been sick?” We hear this a lot when we come back from the mission field. It is on my mind as I have once again spent the night, bathed in sweat, too weak to even crawl to the toilet, alternating between intense vomiting and intense diarrhea. This question often asked me upon my return springs from a loss of weight, from the harsh conditions and in the case of our ministry in Russia – the lack of sunshine. The aging process itself adds to this. I recently mentioned to Eleanor that it was easier to ferry 50–70 lbs boxes from the house to the airport and then through multiple airports and customs at age 45 than it is now at age 61. Good friend Dr. Chip McWilliams has often reminded me that trans-continental flying is inherently unhealthy. Evidently there have been many studies dealing with blood clots and other ailments linked directly to frequent long-haul flying. Our diet is, at best, suspect - primarily due to the fact that our systems must continually adapt to a whole new range of bacteria and food preparation. Environmentally, secondhand smoke is a concern, especially in Russia, where most public areas and restaurants are filled with smoke. Environmental pollution also takes its toll as most countries we travel in do not have strict water, soil and food testing. These realities are exacerbated by the fact that our mission ministry entails multiple trips a year. Cathy Purcell, wife of missionary Blake Purcell, pointed out to us during a recent ministry trip in Russia that we continually repeat the hardest aspects of missionary life. She said that for her, the hardest part was the flight over, the jet lag, the initial adjustment to the bacterial, environmental, weather and time changes, but once that was over, they could settle in. She pointed out that we, on the other hand, repeat these difficult stages multiple times every year.
2. Life does not stand still “Where have you been for the last three months?” Not an uncommon question asked to me when I obviously am unaware of a current news item or political, entertainment or religious topic. Life does indeed continue on when we leave the country. This seems like a little thing, but it can be disorienting. Returning in May from the mission field, only to find the December newspaper entertainment section on the back of the toilet, is a good example. When we leave, Christmas decorations are still up. Upon our return, the Wal-Mart shelves are stocked with Easter bunnies. We decorate for Easter in January or for the fall in July because we know if we don’t do it before we depart, the opportunity will slip past us when we get back. Restaurants, movies, church, children, grandchildren and more have leapt forward. In our mind, time stood still, but we find movies advertised as "coming soon" now long past, TV series have come and gone, family events fly by. For us, the ones who leave, it as if time pauses, but when we return, we are welcomed by the fast pace of change in America.
3. Out of sight, out of mind Now don’t get me wrong. It is not that we are not loved; it is just that after a while you fall off the "lists." This is just natural. People get used to your being gone. I understand this reality - you can’t have it both ways. I think this is hardest, though, on Eleanor. Bible studies begin or end while we are on the field, people come and go, marriages, funerals, birthdays, social groups form and disband. All of these are a natural transition to most but are continually catching her by surprise. To regularly need to re-insert herself into church and social settings can be trying. We are not there to read the church bulletin or calendar. We are not getting the mail with announcements. Often we do not even have internet connection. People get used to us being off the radar. Even when home, we are always visiting. There is really no solution to this existence; it just is.
4. “This is not our home” Hebrews 11:13 reminds us that “all these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” When on the mission field, we have to continually remind ourselves that we are foreigners. Our ability to stay in the country is precarious, at best, and dependent upon entrance visas which always have an expiration date. This lifestyle of being the constant guest, the universal visitor, helps us to understand Paul’s insights into the reality that here on earth the Christian is just that – a temporary guest. Nothing has helped me to better understand, embrace and own the teaching that my citizenship is in heaven and not here on earth than our mission ministry. On the mission field, you are loved, appreciated, and living out your day-to-day life. At times, it almost seems as if this is your home, yet you can never quite let down, there is always something to remind you, something to snap you back to reality. This place is not your home, you are a foreigner, and you are going to have to leave. This is how we are to live here on earth, as well, and being a missionary has been a great blessing in helping me to grasp this teaching of God the Holy Spirit.
5. “Missionary?” Two key verses come to mind when I think of "missionary work." 1 Thessalonians 1:9 describes how "they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,” and Acts 4:12 reminds us that "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." I have noticed over the last 15 years that “missionary” has become a weirder and weirder term. When people ask me what I do and I reply, “I am a missionary,” you can see the startled look in their eyes and quizzical expression. It has become a conversation stopper. This is exacerbated by the fact that we are not digging wells, we are not building schools, we are not practicing medicine - we are converting the lost and teaching the Word of God. We are the old school missionary, the ruiner of cultures, the destroyers of indigenous religions, the type of missionary who inserts himself into a country or culture that already has its own religion and seeks to change it. When asked, “You don’t try to destroy the existing religion and replace it with Christianity, do you?” My reply is a confident “Yes!!” Even in the church, my teams are frequently asked by fellow members as to why they are witnessing and teaching rather than doing other "good works."
(End of Part One, Part Two will be posted next) By His mercy, II Corinthians 4:1 Rev. John S. Mahon Director: Grace Community Int. – Yaoundé, Cameroon heading inland to Baminda ' Answers to this week’s Bible quiz
1. F – Creationism is so prevalent in the Bible, that to reject the doctrine of creation is to reject the revelation of Holy Scripture. A simple review of this incomplete list of passages in the Bible which refer directly to creationism can lead to only one of two conclusions - either they are true and God did create the world in seven days or the Bible is so full of this particular myth that it renders the authority of Scripture invalid. If the Bible could be so wrong in so many places on this issue, then it cannot be trusted in other areas. See Genesis 1:1–27; 2:1–4, 7-8, 18, & 22; 5:1-2; 6:7; 9:6; Exodus 20:9-11; Deuteronomy 4:32; 10:14; 32:6, 15, & 18; 2 Samuel 2:8; 2 Kings 19:15; 1 Chronicles 16:26; 2 Chronicles 1:12; Ezra 9:6; Job 9:5–10; 26:7; 28:25-27; 38:4–11; Psalm 8:3–6; 19:1; 24:1-2; 33:6–9; 50:1; 66:5; 74:13–17; 75:3; 78:21-22 & 34; 86:9; 89:11-12 & 47; 90:1-2; 93:1; 95:4-5; 96:5 & 10; 102:18; 103:25; 104:5, 24 & 30; 115:15-16; 119:90; 121:2; 124:8; 134:3; 136:5–9; 139:13; 144:5 & 10; 146:6; 148:5; 147:8; 149:2; Proverbs 3:19-20; 8:26-31; 14:31; 16:4; 17:5; 30:4; Ecclesiastes 12:1; Isaiah 17:7; 27:11; 37:16; 40:26 & 28; 41:20; 42:5; 43:1, 7, & 15; 44:24; 45:7-12 & 18; 48:7; 54:16; Jeremiah 6:22; 10:12 & 16; 26:5; 27:11; 31:35–37; 32:7; 33:2, 20, & 25; 51:15 & 19; Ezekiel 21:30; 28:13 & 15; Hosea 8:14; 12:3; Amos 4:13; 5:8; 9:6; Jonah 1:9; Zechariah 10:1; Malachi 2:10; Matthew 2:10; 6:30; 19:4; Mark 13:19; 15:15; John 1:3 & 10; Acts 4:24; 17:24; Romans 1:20 & 25; 8:39; 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 11:9; Ephesians 2:10; 3:9; Colossians 1:16; 1 Timothy 2:13; 4:3-4; Hebrews 1:2-3 & 10; 2:10; 4:3; 11:3; 12:27; 1 Peter 4:19; 2 Peter 3:5; Revelation 4:11; 5:13; 10:6; 14:7
2. F – Nowhere in the Holy Scriptures does God ever refer to His need for fellowship with man. Nor is there any teaching in the Holy Scriptures that such a need was the purpose for creation. Two of God’s immutable, unchanging attributes are that He is both self-existent and self-sufficient. In so being, He has no needs. Man, however, has a desperate need for God’s fellowship. It is grace and mercy which cause God to meet this need of man’s, but it does not spring from any need on God’s part.
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