Missions Paul

The message

Acts 10:36
“You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.”

Everything is about the message.
We are people who know this message.
We have heard the message.
We know where the message came from.
Let us never forget this.
It’s not about anything else.
No matter how important.
If the message is not being given and received then there is no purpose for anything else.
The message: you know it.
But is the message correct?
After all there are 330 million gods in Hinduism alone!
Is the Christ message unique to that of the Hindu, the Muslim or the Buddhist?
The answer to that question is determined by how the message answers the following 4 big questions:
Where did I come from?
Why am I here?
How do I know right from wrong?
Where do I end up?
When those answers from those 4 religions are sat side by side then the Christian message that comes through Jesus stands above the other three.
Man strives for utopia, for nirvana, for moksha, to fulfil every word of the Koran, but they fail every time.
The Christian message is:
1. You become one with God through Jesus.
2. You are forgiven.
3. You keep your identity but Christ lives in you and through that identity making it new and real.
Read those magnificent statements again!
Let us fall in love with the message again today.

GOD is everywhere!

Acts 10: 35

“…but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

FROM EVERY NATION.
GOD is moving in the nations, in every nation of the world. God is all over His world. Today in this devotional blog I want you to read some statistics:

“A comprehensive demographic study of approx 200 countries finds that there are 2.18 billion Christians of all ages around the world, representing nearly a third of the estimated 2010 global population of 6.9 billion. Christians are also geographically widespread – so far-flung, in fact, that no single continent or region can indisputably claim to be the center of global Christianity.” pewforum.org

“Missionaries and Christian Workers: In the unevangelized world, there are 20,500 full-time Christian workers and 10,200 foreign missionaries. In the evangelized non-Christian world, there are 1.31 million full-time Christian workers. In the Christian world, there are 306,000 foreign missionaries to other Christian lands. Also, 4.19 million full-time Christian workers (95%) work within the Christian world.
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (2001)

Bible Distribution: Approximately 78.5 million Bibles are distributed globally per year.
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (2010)” Christianity.about.com

“Most of the unreached people groups are located geographically in what some scholars call The 10/40 Window from West Africa across Asia between 10 degrees latitude north of the equator to 40 degrees north. Total Population in 10/40: 4.5 billion people Total People Groups in 10/40: 8,717 people groups. Total UPG’s in 10/40: 5,874 Unreached People Groups totaling 2.75 billion people. 41.58% of all individuals 60% of unreached people groups live in countries closed to missionaries from North America. 1,047 of the unreached people groups are NOT in the 10/40 Window, these total 82,406,000 individuals.” Sources: joshuaproject.net

“A major Christian syndication has provided video evidence to us from their user data around the world which proves that a massive 350 million (!) Muslims live their outward lives as Muslims, on the surface, but have secretly converted to Christianity.The reason for this dramatic transformation in numbers is not due to the Church proselytising Muslims or trying to convince or force conversions. According to the most common Muslim testimonial to their conversion “Jesus appeared to them in dreams or visions” spontaneously and “showed them he was the real prophet”. Others reported miracles and answers to prayers to be the reason for their conversion, by what they claim to be “Jesus” having responded to them. This astonishing figure took us by complete surprise but it is real and have been confirmed by Arab Christian sources and figures. The Muslim population is now 2.08 billion people as of 2013 figures according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In addition to the mass conversion of Muslims in Islamic countries, other reports which have been official for a few years have confirmed that over 6 million Muslims in Africa convert to Christianity every single year. Over 3 million Christians are currently ‘missing’ from Syria in the past 3.5 years and are not included in refugee numbers indicating that they have been killed.” muslimstatistics.wordpress.com

All over the world the Spirit is moving!

From every nation!

No favourites

Acts 10: 34
“Then Peter began to speak: “I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism”

“I now realise”. I love these 3 words. It is a turnaround. It’s is rethinking. A change of mind and of heart too.
Leaders can be wrong! We can think strange things! Taken in by cultural understandings, we sometimes need to grow up in God and say ‘I was wrong’, ‘I now believe this …’
That’s all very well, but it is a lot more difficult when the belief that you are trying to turn against is held by the majority.
For most of the Jews of Peters day they believed that God actually hated the Gentiles and loved the Jews. Think about the following beliefs:
There were 3 things to be thankful for as a Jewish man, you were not a slave, a woman or a GENTILE.
Never help a GENTILE, not at all, no matter how small or how much of an emergency it was. The answer was NO.
Funerals were held for Jews who married GENTILES. They were dead people.

Yes, it ran deep!
Peter once believed all of that.

Interestingly, Peter was part of the discipleship team of Jesus and still he was prejudiced. How was that possible?! He had seen the love of Jesus to every person no matter Jew or Gentile. How could he hold such hate in his heart. But he did and it needed changing, that God has no favourites. He loves equally.
Maybe the answer can be had by asking the same question of those today who are in a discipleship team, who love and follow Jesus, but who look down on other people and condemn them because they are different to them. For example, U.S. Pastor Steven Anderson who after a nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida on June 12th 2016, where 49 gay people were killed actually unbelievably said on national tv, “The good news is that there are now 50 less paedophiles in this world.”
Yes it still exists this hatred towards others.
You might disagree with a person’s belief or behaviour but you are stupid to disagree with God’s love!
May there be many more, ‘I now realise’ moments!

Preparation

Acts 10:33
“So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

Yesterday morning after the Church service, I turned to the Pastor and said, “your people are easy to preach to, when I go to churches I can always tell if they are used to coming ready to hear the Bible being preached, yours certainly are those people.”
I am in Estonia and I went to the church prepared and I met a people who had come to their church also prepared.

Cornelius was prepared and sent for Peter.
Peter was prepared by God and came.
The household of Cornelius was prepared ready to listen.
A preachers dream!
Preparation is everything.
Perhaps more churches can learn from this simple truth.

Joppa

Acts 10:32
“Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.”

There was a day in history when a man of God ran away to Joppa because he denied the call of God on his life. His name was Jonah and he didn’t make it to Joppa!
Here we are today and we are reminded of another man of God, Peter, again known as a denier, staying in Joppa after being used of God with the gospel and especially in the miraculous resurrection of Dorcas.
Jonah the Dove refused to go to the Ninevites with the gospel and headed to Joppa.
Simon the Rock was prejudiced against the Gentiles until God changed him and he left Joppa to go to the Italian family.
Jonah headed out to sea and hit the biggest storm of his life.
Simon stayed by the sea not realising God was about to tip his world upside down.
Which shows that though you may share similar experiences, you can change the story of your life. You don’t have to be swallowed by a fish to put you back on course, you can go to a beautiful place (the meaning of the name Joppa) for better reasons.

He hears

Acts 10: 31
“and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.”

Cornelius was not a Jew nor a Christian. But that didn’t stop God listening to his prayers and remembering his deeds of giving.
Isn’t it a wonderful thought that God listens to the prayers of people who do not know Him.
How many people are praying today right across the world? Many is the answer! Many pray to a God that they do not know. It would be easy for us to say ‘Oh God doesn’t pay any attention to the prayers of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists etc!’ And ‘all their alms giving comes to nothing.’ Of course! It makes perfect sense to us. God listens to us, His people who know Him. He is moved by us not anyone else, especially those who don’t know Him. But what if … ? What if God can hear everyone, what if God can see everything ? That could mean that He has a plan for the whole world. That there are more Cornelius’s yet to find Him.

Minchah

Acts 10:30
“Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me.”

“I was praying at the time of prayer. At 3pm.”
This was not coincidence that Cornelius is praying at the time of prayer.
3pm is Minchah. It means gift, offering, sacrifice, it is the 3pm prayer time and in every case it involved a sacrificial animal.
But he was in his house, so the only thing that was being sacrificed was himself.
He came on bended knee. He prayed in surrender. He wasn’t a Jew but this was how prayers should be prayed and perhaps he did this even more sincerely than those who did Minchah dutifully.. The prayers of Minchah are

Ashrei: based on Psalm 145, it does not ask God for anything, it is purely praise of Him.
Uvn letzion: a prayer which contains the all-important call for the Redeemer to come to Israel.
Amidah: this consists of 19 prayers for God to bless His people.
Tachanun: which was a personal appeal to God from the person praying.
Tzidkatcha: it uses verses like Psalm 71:19 “Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you?”
Alienu: this prayer uses these words, “He is our God; there is no other. Truly He is our King, there is none else”

Cornelius did all the above, he prayed the Minchah, the afternoon prayer. Then suddenly God came …
Knowing this helps us understand that Cornelius was entering into a surrendering of his heart to a God he didn’t really know. He was not one of His people but he was laying his life down as he did probably most afternoons.
Suddenlies happen in these contexts.

Manoeuvre

Acts 10: 29
“So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

Peter came because of the vision. That was the sole reason. God had spoken to him. God had shown him how prejudiced he had become within the Jewish culture. God had changed and prepared his heart so that when the invitation was received he immediately travelled to their home.
When God speaks, however He speaks, it is wise to be ready to do what He has told you. It will lead to an amazing opportunity.
Now Peter wants to know if they too had a similar experience. He knew for them to ask him to come was a big ask. Why was this? What is God doing in this household?
Here we are watching Peter come to the realisation that he is in the middle of the plan of God.
There is nothing more beautiful than knowing that you are an instrument in Gods hands. That He has you where you are. That He has been manoeuvring situations and circumstances, fitting it altogether for His glory and that you are part of that amazing plan! Take a deep breath today, enjoy this moment, He has been working on you for this day. There may just be an incredible opportunity today that reveals this.

Stepping away from what is acceptable

Acts 10: 28
“He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.”

Everyone knew the cultural laws. If a man wanted to remain a good Jew then there had to be no contact with a Gentile. Why? A Gentile was seen to be unacceptable to God. The Jew belonged to God. He had to keep himself set apart to Him. This was demonstrated by who he spent time with. It was also seen by the way he conducted his life. There were many rules and regulations for the Jew, they all had a reason, all were justified and they were all meant to be kept, in order to be a good Jew.
Everyone knew Cornelius should not have asked for Peter to come.
Everyone knew Peter should not have been there.
But God had set this up.
Peter now knew his vision of the food was about the Gentiles not about kosher food. The Gentiles were not impure or unclean because they were Gentile.
More importantly the laws wee not more important than reaching people for Jesus, no matter who they were.
Peter was not breaking Gentile laws but his own. On reaching people for Jesus don’t worry about your own cultural norms, what is acceptable etc. Salvation and Love trumps every time. The church has often tried to stop its members from going into the world and being where the non-churched are. Sometimes the church has created lists of what we can and cannot do and where we can and cannot go. The result was that we stayed behind our buildings praying for the world to change. It didn’t. Let’s continue to associate with the non-churched. After all it is where Jesus would be. It is where He is.

Enter in

Acts 10:27
“Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people.”

Peter went in. The Jew went into the house of a Gentile. It has led some to believe that this is not a story of the conversion of Cornelius but the conversion of Peter. I get it. Peter has understood the vision he received. In an act of repentance he goes in, he steps into the unknown, he does something culturally unacceptable, he moves into dangerous obedience.
And so must we?
We must move in, press in, go into the house of strangers, get out of our comfort zones and be with those who need Jesus. Yesterday I was privileged to be in the homestead of an ex-witch doctor, visiting him with our missionary nurse, it was a huge privilege to walk out of my world and into his much different world than mine. I felt I was where Jesus wants me to be.
Going in often isn’t about oneself, it is about the other person. Jesus sends you and me to enter in today the house of a stranger.