The priests in the Old Testament were assigned, as were the Levites, to cities. They were required to live there. Priestly ministry was never confined exclusively to the temple. Priests were not to become other worldly. Ray Bakke, sociologist and missiologist, says that twenty-five types of urban ministry can be found in the historical books…
DetailsOne urban pastor used the following procedure with new members. He asked, “How did you come to Christ?” It was not the church to which he wanted to connect them, as much as to Christ Himself. He wanted to hear their ‘Jesus’ story!” He asked a second question, “What were the circumstances that led to…
DetailsThe evangelist Gypsy Smith said, “If you really want a revival…draw a circle on the floor…get in the circle and cry out to God to send a revival to everything in the circle.”[1] Revival begins with us! Christ himself is pictured as shut out of his own church! The door must be broken down from…
DetailsWhat are the barriers to our fulfillment of the Great Commission? A lack of organized prayer for the city. The absence of congregational missional training. The lack of vision or a burden for the lost. The rural mentality, even of city churches. The failure to steward witnessing opportunities – an almost total lack of evangelism…
DetailsGlen Kehrein charges: “Rarely, however, does the church of Jesus Christ work as a healing agent for social strife. Rather, it appears to be a non-player or worse.”[1] We have two options. We can change nothing, telling ourselves that we are called only to be faithful, not necessarily successful, in terms of new converts and…
DetailsThe last command of Christ was to “share the good news” with the world! That is called the “Great Commission.” Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:…
DetailsCan a prayer effort make a difference? Key Christian leaders in India attribute “Praying Through the Window” as the major catalyst resulting in the conversion of hundreds of thousands of Indian Dalits and numbers of Backward Castes. Now, there are twenty-six 10/40 Window nations that are “Gospel-Ready.” This means these nations are open to Christians…
DetailsWhile church growth and conversions here had stalled, they were escalating in other parts of the world. In 1992, it was estimated that more than 95,000 people were coming to Christ every day. That was staggering. It was unbelievable. In 1995, another assessment was made. It was then estimated that 147,000 might be coming to…
DetailsAs discussed last week, the 10/40 window is a section of globe that reaches from ten to forty degrees latitude north of the equator, and west-to-east from North Africa and Southern Europe through the Middle East, India and China. It is home to most of the world’s unreached peoples. During October 1993, the 62 nations…
DetailsFrom 1960 to the mid 1970’s, the common perspective was – “The days of great revivals are over! Expect no great harvest. We are in the days of the ‘great falling away!’” Church growth had stalled. Church attendance was in a steady but accelerating decline paralleled by church closures. America’s churches had reached a growth…
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