My life has been deeply marked by godly men and women serving God globally. One of those couples is Carlos and Zeza Nogueira who serve with Word of Life in Mozambique. Carlos was a Pastor in Brazil for many years before becoming a missionary. One night while we were enjoying some exceptional Brazilian coffee, he shared with me his thoughts…
Every day the twenty-four hour news channels broadcast world events into our homes, vehicles and earphones. The internet is an informational geyser serving as a never ending resource of someone else’s opinions on any given topic. We do not lack today for information: but what about accurate information? Did you ever watch a news broadcast or surf the net and…
This is a guest blog by one of our “missionary kids” that has some great insights in the midst of crisis. I appreciate Shaela’s transparency as well as her sweet relationship with Jesus and her family. Her parents, Gary and Sandy Parker, have been good friends of mine for over 20 years and have served the Lord faithfully in Brazil.…
After sharing an incredible conference experience with leaders from around the world, it is difficult to simply walk away. Matter of fact, it would almost be a sin to leave without taking time to reflect. I have wasted many hours sitting in conferences filling up notebooks with information. Most of those notes were doomed to never again see the light…
It was a simple illustration. Or so I thought. I never dreamed of it being a difficult concept to communicate. But I could tell by the blank stares I was not getting though. I repeated the words again thinking that a little more emphasis would aid with the communication…still nothing. I promise to finish this story but first let me…
God used Isaiah to speak the truth when others refused to do so, to reach a nation for the true God and make a difference for eternity, and it began with the surrender of his life. We often hear sermons on Isaiah 6 and are well acquainted with Isaiah’s confession in verse 8 of Here am I Lord, send me,…
Ministry linguistics, as I addressed it in last week’s post Ministry Linguistics: Connecting Core Concepts, may be as simple as communicating how two concepts are supportive of each other. However, sometimes the issue is not comparing concepts: it is clarifying terms. If while talking about your favorite sporting event or high school memory, students look at you as if…
The leadership conference in Sydney, Australia, was truly an international student leadership event with leaders representing over 10 nationalities. Their churches are reaching students from numerous ethnic backgrounds with one church alone ministering to 45 people groups of students. I was challenged to see that their student ministries were multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual, but they were drawn together by a…
Ministry should be dynamic and exciting; it is too important to approach casually or passively. Ministry should always be changing because culture constantly evolves. It is imperative that we be anchored firmly in our Biblical Principles while assessing and changing our methods. I recently read While You Were Micro-Sleeping, Fresh Insights on the Changing Face of North American Missions by…
Our perception of a missionary can range from, “someone who is not capable of doing anything else” to “being a select breed that only a few people can ever obtain to their spiritual level.” BOTH of these concepts are wrong! A missionary is a servant of God, called by God and surrendered to God to reach people with the gospel.…