1988: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text ACU Press

Abilene Christian University Digital Commons @ ACU Lectureship Books Lectureship, Summit, and Ministry Events 1988 1988: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text ACU Press Juan A. Monroy Howard Norton C. Philip Slate Dan Coker See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.acu.edu/sumlec_man Recommended Citation ACU Press; Monroy, Juan A.; Norton, Howard; Slate, C. Philip; Coker, Dan; Broom, Wendell; Cope, Michael; Anderson, Lynn; Lucado, Max; McGuiggan, Jim; Lightfoot, Neil; West, Earl; Willis, John T.; and Ferguson, Everett, "1988: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text" (1988). Lectureship Books. Paper 36. http://digitalcommons.acu.edu/sumlec_man/36 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Lectureship, Summit, and Ministry Events at Digital Commons @ ACU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Lectureship Books by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ ACU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors ACU Press, Juan A. Monroy, Howard Norton, C. Philip Slate, Dan Coker, Wendell Broom, Michael Cope, Lynn Anderson, Max Lucado, Jim McGuiggan, Neil Lightfoot, Earl West, John T. Willis, and Everett eF rguson This book is available at Digital Commons @ ACU: http://digitalcommons.acu.edu/sumlec_man/36 MISSIONS IN CRISIS: CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY MISSIONS IN CRISIS: CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY being the ****************************** Abilene Christian University Annual Bible Lectures 1988 Published by AC-U PRESS 1634 Campus Court Abilene, Texas 79601 © COPYRIGHT, 1988 Abilene Christian University No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Abilene Christian University. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN: 0-915547-X8-8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Theme Speeches Missions in Crisis, Juan A. Monroy 8 The Battle for the Mind of Man, Howard Norton 42 Where Do We Begin?, C. Philip Slate 52 Compassion in an Apathetic World, Dan Coker 68 World Christians, Wendell Broom 86 The Madness of Our Missionary Message, Michael Cope 100 The Crisis in Missions, Lynn Anderson 114 Christ’s Love Compels Us, MaxLucado 132 God’s Self-Imposed Mission, Jim McGuiggan 146 Biblical Forum Exegesis of Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, Neil Lightfoot 162 Instrumental Music Controversy in American Church History, Earl West 176 The Use of Instrumental Music in Old Testament Worship, John Willis 192 Jewish Religious Music in the First Century, Everett Ferguson 208 PREFACE The lectures and Biblical Forum presentations con- tained in this volume are those which are given at the 70th Annual Bible Lectureship at Abilene Christian University on the theme: “Missions in Crisis: Challenge and Oppor- tunity.” Christ died for all the people of the whole world. No matter what the color of skin or social standing, the gospel is for every creature. But present, popular missionary methods will never evangelize the world. We cannot hire enough men and raise enough money to supply all the church needs of the whole world. Until missions becomes every Christian’s task, the goal of world evangelism will never be realistic. The primary purpose of the Annual Bible Lectureship is to further the cause of Christ in the world. The Lecture- ship Committee seeks each year to bring outstanding men and women of God to the campus to speak on the most relevant and helpful subjects facing the people of God. It is hoped that these lectures will be helpful not only to those who were able to attend in person, but also, through this volume, to thousands of others for years to come. CARL BRECHEEN Lectureship Director JUAN ANTONIO MONROY Address: Apartado 2.029, 28.080—Madrid, Spain. Family: Wife: Mercedes (Her- rero) Monroy. Children: Yolanda, Loida, Monica, Zoraida. Education: Journalism De- gree. Work: Newspaperman; 1964, Highland Church of Christ— Herald of Truth Radio speaker. Other Fields of Special In- terest: Written 20 books; Chairman, Protestant Defense Commission; Co-author of Spanish Law of Religious Freedom. Abilene Christian University Lectures MISSIONS IN CRISIS by Juan A. Monroy Yale and Harvard Universities have just published a study of people’s tendency to live alone in the United States. One out of every nine grown-up citizens does not share his or her home with anyone else. A sixth part of house owners, either men or women, do not have company other than pets. Since 1960 the number of “solitary people” has tripled in this country. In 1986 there were twenty-one million American adults living alone. Every day there are more widowers, more divorcees, and more women who have given up marriage in order to achieve their professional aims. Some live alone because they are in the habit and some do so because they have no alternative; but the tendency to live alone is increasingly high in the States. I cannot find a better simile than this to illustrate the enormous crisis the Church of Christ’s missionary program is going through. Is the Church of Christ in America forgetting the notion of universality the New Testament Church had? “America is for Americans!” claimed James Monroe in the middle of the last century. Isn’t the Church in America saying today: “Christ is for us?” Be careful! America is only a drop of 300 million people in an ocean of five billion. This is Christ’s commandment: “Open your eyes and look at the fields” (John 4:35). 10 Abilene Christian University Lectures Look at the Bible's fields. Look at geography’s fields. Look at history’s fields. Look in the history of mankind. L MISSIONS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT God is not an individual. He is a three-member family. God wants neither individual, nor family, nor national ghettos. God looks at and sets his heart on the world. 1 — From Adam to Abraham The first eleven chapters of Genesis, from Adam to Abraham, talk about a constant communication between God and all human beings. With Adam He had a personal communication. God spoke to an individual who represented mankind. With Noah He had a universal communication. God saved a family and condemned the rest of humanity. The Tower of Babel represented a transcultural communication, which was the first linguistic need. 2 — Israel’s People With Abraham’s call, the formation of Israel’s people began. God made it clear that the choosing of Israel was not the aim itself but the means to reach the world. He said so to Abraham: “All people on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). Some centuries later, through the prophet Isaiah, God reminded Israel of the purpose of His choice: “I will also Missions in Crisis 11 make yon a light for the Gentiles* that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). 3 — Jonah’s Book Jonah’s book confirms the thesis of God’s universality according to the Old Testament. Jehovah is Lord of the universe and is interested in all mankind’s salvation. He commanded Jonah to preach the message of repentance in Nineveh, which was more than 620 miles away from Palestine. Instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah tried to flee from the Lord to Tarshish, which is on the Atlantic coast of Spain. God’s missionary notion is clear and transparent in the Old Testament. II. MISSION'S IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 1 — Jesus Christ, the Great Missionary Jesus Christ covered the huge distance between heaven and earth in order to confirm God’s love for the world, according to John 3:16. Being the supreme standard for missionary work, Christ acted consistently: “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18). Christ did not think of the world as a cosmos, as a terrestrial head, but as a space where millions of human beings dwell. Before returning to the heavenly place where he came from, Jesus commissioned His disciples so that they were able to spread His doctrine all over the known world. 12 Abilene Christian University Lectures World evangelization was not a child’s game for Christ. He regarded it to be so important that His commandment appears persistently and with different nuances in the four Gospels and also in Acts. According to Acts 1:8, Christ wants Christians to go even to the ends of the earth. 2 — Missionary Vision of the Early Church The Christian Church in the first century is an example of responsibility and dynamism for missionary work. After Stephen’s death, the disciples “preached the word wherever they went” (Acts 8:4). Some newly converted Christians, who became notorious missionaries, joined the first disciples; they were Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Mark, Apollos, and, above all of them, Paul. Paul’s missionary activity was so powerful that he said to the Romans in his letter: “From Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the Gospel of Christ. .But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions. .when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through” (Romans 15:19-24). The enormous missionary impulse which was developed in the second half of the first century was not only due to individual initiatives but congregational efforts were also essential. The Church in Antioch is a good example and a model of the missionary Church. III. MISSIONS IN HISTORY In our religious vocabulary, “mission” means an organized effort within the local congregation in order to Missions in Crisis 13 expand the Christian faith. The early Churches wanted the number of Christians on earth to be as high as the stars in the sky or the sands of the sea.

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