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MISSION STATEMENT:
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1. The first major purpose of this site is to help enable the flow of the Holy Spirit's life-giving power and guidance into as large a number of Christians as is possible, enlivening their walk with the Lord and thus bringing about a spiritual unity within the entire body of Christ across denominational lines. This site helps the Christian reader to accomplish that by providing him or her with a quality selection of connective expository Bible studies taken from and based on meditative studies in the Word of God. How does one grow spiritually by studying the Word of God in this manner? The Word is spiritual food for the soul. Jeremiah 15:16 states, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." Jesus states in Matthew 4:4 "But He answered and said, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.'" George Muller states in his autobiography, The Life of Trust, "...it is as plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is, to obtain food for his inner man. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man. We should take food for that, as every one must allow. Now what is food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God, and here again, not simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts. We may therefore profitably meditate, with God's blessing, though we are so weak spiritually; nay, the weaker we are, the more we need meditation for the strengthening of our inner man. By the blessing of God I ascribe to this mode the help and strength which I had had from God to pass in peace through deeper trials, in various ways, than I had ever had before." Mr. Muller goes on to say, "How different, when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon one!" This site is chock full this kind of digestive study of God's Word that goes from the beginning to end of whatever epistle or gospel that's being presented. And the reader should try to learn how to study the Word on his or her own in like manner, spending time to meditate on what is being read, and asking God's direction and inspiration, just as the pastors who gave these expository studies did in preparing these studies. So now, dig in and feast on the meals prepared for your inner man or woman. So in this first category what does this site provide? I can divide what is provided into two main resources. All genuine spiritual growth is a by-product of these two resources. Personal, and as a result, church growth occurs because these two main needs of the Christian are being met. I like to call these the two main pillars of spiritual and church growth. The first need and pillar is having an effective prayer-life. The second is being thoroughly fed in the Word of God. My primary focus and effort is to continue to constantly provide more quality material in the area of Pauls epistles and the gospel and epistles of John, so as to help further the spiritual growth of the readers. This area is primary gospel of Christ information that when studied and applied will deepen a Christians understanding and walk with Jesus Christ (Yeshua to our Messianic brothers and sisters in Christ). The topical studies on prophecy (about 5% of this site) are secondary to this purpose, and only included as a side dish for Christians, and to highlight to non-believers the veracity and authenticity of Gods Word so that they might believe.
2. The second major purpose of this site is to educate Christians about Jesus' primary mission which he gave to the church and all believers in Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:6-9. What is that mission? Read it for yourself. Matthew 28:18-20 states, "Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" Acts 1:6-9 states, "So when they met together, they asked him, 'Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?' He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on [upon] you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Jesus prophecied in Matthew 24:14 that we as Christians would ultimately accomplish this goal set before us by him over 1900 years ago. Matthew 24:14 states, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." [Verses 15-25 shows what end Jesus is talking about, the end of the age, this evil age of man under Satans evil influence.] In one word, what is the mission Jesus gives all Christians, his body of believers, to accomplish?--Evangelism, personal, local church, national and international. This site provides vital educational tools that help the believer know how he or she can evangelize on a personal level, as well as how to help support local church evangelism, and evangelism at the national and international levels as well. (See "What is Evangelism?" section.) What is the Gospel of salvation? see, http://www.unityinchrist.com/misc/WhatIsTheGospel%20.htm
Were in the last days. September 11, 2001, Katrinas devastation of New Orleans and the Luisiana coast, the tsunami and huge earthquake in Pakistan are merely the opening salvos of whats to come. Society is morally crumbling. The gospel is freely given to us (if you have to pay for it, somethings wrong). Salvation through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ is also a free gift to all believers. Jesus paid a very high price for this salvation we enjoy, he paid with his very life. The only thing Jesus asked us to do in return for all this is that we Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to everyone--and for those that believe and are baptized, we are instructed to teach and disciple them into the body of Christ (paraphrase of Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15-16). But how in the world can I help do that?, you may be asking yourself. Some of us may have an opportunity to evangelize to a friend or acquaintance now and then, but taking the gospel to the ends of the world, theres no way I can do that, youre probably thinking. I know Jesus paid a horrible price for my free salvation, but theres no way I can take the gospel to the world. Well, not alone you cant, thats for sure. I propose a very simple and unique plan for giving, one that if followed by a large percentage of Christians using this site, would revolutionize the body of Christ in the field of evangelism and Christian care-giving (which is a key part of evangelism too). Heres how a lot of people, each providing a steady but small, almost insignificant amount of money on a weekly basis can move mountains in causing the gospel of salvation to be preached worldwideboth by word and living, caring example. I call this plan the $5.00 a week plan. A whole host of quality Christian evangelical and teaching ministries have sprung up around the world, and a lot of them are non-denominational or inter-denominational. They all serve to spread the gospel and help nourish and disciple Christians around the world. But the big question is, how do we concentrate our giving-power in such a way that will make it extremely effective? Heres the answer, and its simple. Below are listed three major non-denominational international evangelistic organizations that are totally above reproach. If every believer using this site for spiritual nourishment, stirred by the only major request Jesus asked in return for his free gift of salvation, were to give a mere $5.00 a week on a rotational basis to each organization listed below (so each received $5.00 a month), each organization would receive multiple thousands of dollars a month. These amounts may seem insignificant but when the hundred of users of this site all do the same thingweek by week, month by month it will add up to many thousands of dollars a month, and hundreds of thousands of dollars a year! The amounts may seem insignificant to you, but this is a major way we can be united in our giving to cause the gospel to make a HUGE IMPACT on this evil world. And when this gospel of the kingdom? Makes a huge impact on this evil worldit will hasten Jesus Christs 2nd coming (cf. Matthew 24:14-15). Just within the past year (2005) hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and most of coastal Louisiana, a killer tsunami hit the southeast Indian Ocean countries, killing millions of people, a killer 7.2 Richter-scale earthquake killing upwards of 45,000 people and displaced millions, just as winter is coming on them. Samaritans Purse must be getting pretty hard-pressed to help all of these people in the name of Jesus with so many disasters occurring within one short year. Churches in Borneo that didnt exist 30 years ago, that do exist today due to evangelism (with some help from the JESUS Film Project), have lent aid in the wake of the killer tsunami. But these international evangelistic organizations are basically starved for funds in the wake of recent events, and these events are only going to increase, as prophecy shows. We must be about our Fathers business. Considering all this, are you up to $5.00 a week? The three major international evangelistic organizations that are attempting to blanket the world with the gospelin both word and deeds of Christian care-givingare listed below:
Week one $5.00 donation
1. EVANGELISM: Campus Crusade for Christ International's JESUS Film Project (http://www.jesusfilm.org) . To learn more about this major international evangelistic tool, click on http://www.unityinchrist.com/evangelism/excerpts_isawjesus.htm and http://www.unityinchrist.com/evangelism/whyjesus.htm. Many Christian churches and denominations now support this worthy organization, and many Christian churches are being planted around the world as a direct result of their efforts coupled to the Lord's massive calling of people through the JESUS film. Their address is THE JESUS FILM PROJECT, PO BOX 628222, ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32862-9841. To learn more from them click on the above hypertexts. To donate, see http://www.jesusfilm.org/giving/index.html
Week two $5.00 donation
2. CHRISTIAN VERSION OF C.A.R.E.: Samaritan's Purse. Online: http://www.samaritanspurse.org ."To learn more about this incredible work of Christian caring and evangelism log onto their site, email them and ask if they could send you Franklin Graham's autobiography, which will thoroughly describe this work of God and how it got started. They will send it free of charge." To preview that book, log onto http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/evangelism/samaritan_purse.htm
Week three $5.00 donation
3. Gospel For Asia: Online: http://www.gfa.org . To read excerpts from K.P. Yohannan's book about Gospel For Asia, log onto http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/evangelism/worldmission.htm This book will be sent to you free of charge by contacting Gospel for Asia and asking for a copy. ($5.00)
Week four $5.00 donation
4. Mission Aviation
Fellowship, P.O. Box 3202
This is an abbreviated description of some of the three major international non-denominational evangelistic organizations and one organization that lends support to all of them, Mission Aviation Fellowship.
[For an alternate for Jews for Jesus, donations can be made to.]
Our Job Assignment from Jesus
If you are a Christian, Jesus, Yeshua has given us a job to do. There’s no getting around this fact if you know the Bible. Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and (1) teach all nations, (2) baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost [Spirit]: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen’” Jesus has given us this job to do in two parts. I don’t know if you noticed, but taking the gospel to the entire world doesn’t result in the entire world being called and becoming believers. And by the context here, the ‘gospel’ being talked about in these verses would be the ‘gospel of salvation’ because it leads people to conversion and baptism. For any of you who have had any experience in evangelism, local or otherwise, you sow the Word, the Gospel of salvation, and a few at best respond. But Jesus said here we are to sow the gospel of salvation to the entire world. That’s the first part of the assignment Jesus has given us to do as believers. Now when you sow the gospel of salvation through evangelism, some do respond. Here is where the second part of this verse comes in, this is the second part of this job Jesus has given all of us to do. What happens when someone responds to this evangelism and comes to the Lord? You disciple him or her. What does that mean? It means you go about “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” This means you go about teaching them out of the Word of God, you nourish them in the Word. Now some people are involved heavily in this within their local church ministries, the ministries of the church they attend. If that is where your talents lie, then that’s where Jesus wants you. You don’t have to go out and be part of an evangelistic team. Just like an army, which has many specialized tasks and specialists in it, so it is within the body of Christ. Other’s may be no good at teaching, but they’re awesome at evangelism. But in general Christians, believers in Jesus, Yeshua, are given this two-part command, and it’s sort of like a mission statement for the whole body. But it’s also an individual mission statement for the believer too, in that the believer in Jesus, not only directly, but in their tithes and offerings are to support the assignment Jesus has given all of us to do in Matthew 28:18-20.
Jesus said we’d finish the
assignment
Now in Matthew 24:14 Jesus prophecied that we would, as a body of believers, the body of Christ, succeed in accomplishing his assignment for the Church. He said in verse 14, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” What end? Read Matthew 24:15-31. I think most believers that have been around for awhile would recognize Matthew 24 as a description, a prophecy of Jesus, about the coming tribulation (World War III, essentially) and the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. So, Jesus prophecied that we’d get our job assignment accomplished, finished, before he came back, and just before the start of World War III. Do you think the body of Christ as it stands today can do that? That’s a good question. What is the body of Christ like today, what does it look like? What is it composed of?
Snap-shot of the body of Christ
Now it doesn’t take a believer who has been a believer for any length of time to notice that the body of Christ appears to be in sad shape. First there are many differing denominations, some that have been around for a long time (and they tend to not be as on fire for Jesus or obedient to his commands, they’re the liberal denominations and churches). They started out as fiery revivals full of born-again believers, and as Charles Stanley remarked, as time when on (hundreds of years in this case), they become denominations where most of the members are ‘born-into’ the church, but not ‘born-again’. And then the body of Christ has newer revivals that are on fire for the Lord, at the beginning of their life-cycle, full of born-again believers. Many Evangelical groups fall into this category. What you are viewing is the life-death cycle of a denomination. The Church History section of this site shows a few of these denominations, but all at their beginning, when they were on-fire revivals (not yet considering themselves a ‘denomination’). Then there are the Sabbatarian Churches of God, a tad bit legalistic, yet filled with Holy Spirit filled people. And then you have the recently revived Jewish branch of the body of Christ, the Messianic Jewish revival of God. God within the past 40 years has revived the long-dead Jewish branch of the body of Christ, dead since 325AD. He has done this through the amazing grace and power of his Holy Spirit, who drew roughly 500,000 Jews to believe in Jesus, Yeshua as their Messiah. (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/IntroChurchHistory.htm and http://www.unityinchrist.com/messianicmovement/messianicmovement.htm.)
Can the body of Christ, as it exists
today, accomplish the assignment Jesus gave us to do in Matthew
28?
The problem: How do you get this hodge-podge group of denominations calling themselves “the body of Christ” to go about fulfilling the job assignment Jesus gave all of us to do? For one, each spiritually active denominational part of the body of Christ, upon close examination, may already be playing an active part in the fulfillment of the job assignment. But first, most would say, ‘Well, unity in the body is essential before we can get anywhere near finishing the job. It takes cooperation.’ Yes, that is true. But most forget, unity already exists on a spiritual level well above and beyond mere doctrinal differences. Most doctrinal differences occur from one or another group not having a perfect understanding of Bible doctrine, and so many disagree on the finer points of doctrine. Also, over time, the older denominations have drifted apart on understanding, or liberalized on points of doctrine, drifting away from the original Biblical intent and proper understanding of God’s Word. So the unity we should be seeking should be sought between the newer denominations that are on fire for the Lord, and Holy Spirit indwelt denominations, rather than those that are more ‘born-into’, these older denominations. They’re almost dead, so leave them be, is probably what Jesus would advise. But true unity in the body already exists that supercedes and blasts through all denominational lines and barriers. That is the unity we all have by and through the Holy Spirit who indwells each believer. Sadly, many in the older denominations no longer have the Holy Spirit indwelling them, the vast majority of them, I’d say. But to help the living part of the body of Christ achieve more of this spiritual unity, a discipling or teaching ministry that nourishes the body of Christ above and beyond denominational lines would help the body of Christ strengthen spiritual unity by stirring up the Holy Spirit who indwells each and every one of us, regardless of what denomination or Christian evangelical group you belong to. That is the first major mission of this website, as seen in the beginning of this Mission Statement. But even with unity of the Spirit being strengthened across denominational lines, this will not necessarily lead to inter-denominational cooperation on major evangelistic efforts. The Baptists have their own major evangelistic organizations, as do all the other groups, all demanding the loyalty of their own members. This is a question that bothered me while I was in the beginning years of being inspired on how to construct this website. The more I learned about the differing parts of the body of Christ, the more confused and discouraged I became at the seemingly impossibility of the assignment for this disunited group calling itself “the body of Christ”. The Greek city-states, all disunited and squabbling, at times were more united when facing a common threat or assignment than we are today. How Leonidas and Themistocles defeated Xerxes was as much a part of divine miracle as it was skill and bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. We need the same skill, bravery and divine assistance.
Building blocks for success
But the Lord has through some of the major denominations that are alive and active, created some interesting evangelistic organizations that will help solve the problem of how to evangelize the whole world. I would say there are maybe five or six major international evangelistic organizations that have been specifically created to be non-denominational or inter-denominational. I chose five for this website to promote. Each one supports a major evangelistic assignment that is aimed at a unique or specific target audience. These organizations are above the denominational barriers, and have already achieved a certain degree of support from across the wide expanse of the body of Christ. They, and they alone hold the real key to success in accomplishing Matthew 28:18-20 around the world. You know the organizations, because they were mentioned in the first part of this mission statement. Again, they are 1) The JESUS Film Project, 2) Samaritans’ Purse, 3) Gospel for Asia, 4a & b) Mission Aviation Fellowship, and “Jews for Jesus”. Creating a major inter-denominational cash-flow to these organizations would go a long way to accomplishing the job Jesus gave us all to do, and we may not have much time left to do it. That’s our job. We can all do this job of evangelism and discipling on our own church congregational level, but the overall mission is a worldwide assignment and it is BIG. The solution seems oh so simple, yet out so far out of our reach to accomplish. How so?
One more problem in our way
Most denominations, demanding the loyalty of their members, prevent this cross-giving to these major international evangelistic organizations, unless that organization actually came from their own denomination. Example, Billy Graham’s son, Franklin, took over the management and command of Samaritan’s Purse when it’s founder died. So the Graham’s, being Baptists, sort of command the respect and have achieved a wide level of support for Samaritans’ Purse from Baptists from all over. Still, they need far more funds than they actually have at any one point in time. The same goes for The JESUS Film Project, run by the Calvinist churches. They garner funds from their denominations, but these are still not sufficient for the huge job they are trying to accomplish, spreading the Gospel via the JESUS Film around the world in the local languages of all indigenous people groups (and the JESUS Film is totally free from any denominational ‘interpretation’, just the straight unaltered Gospel of Luke put to film). Gospel for Asia supports tens of thousand of local evangelists on the Indian subcontinent. “Jews for Jesus” is one of the major international evangelistic organizations reaching the worldwide Jewish population, and yet it operates on a financial shoe-string. Mission Aviation Fellowship is a connective missionary organization that supports missionaries worldwide, as a flight-support team, just as our sky-train boys supported the supply of allied forces during WWII. Yet they operate on a shoe-string as well. The solution would be to get all the denominations that are on fire for the Lord to support the $5.00-a-week program outlined earlier in this Mission Statement. But that so far has been an impossibility. Each denomination demands the loyalty of it’s own members for the funding of their own evangelistic projects. Yet $5.00 a week is a mere trifling amount. Even a person who can’t afford to tithe to their church could afford to give this amount on a weekly basis. But it takes leaders from the top down to put the program into gear and get it moving. But how?
editor UNITYINCHRIST.COM
related links: http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/IntroChurchHistory.htm, plus check the upper nav bar for the older as well as the more recent denominational revivals. http://www.unityinchrist.com/messianicmovement/messianicmovement.htm details the amazing and meteoric revival of the Jewish branch of the body of Christ, within the extremely short historic span of 40 years. http://www.unityinchrist.com/history2/index3.htm for an interesting research article going into the early history of the Jewish branch of the body of Christ. http://www.unityinchrist.com/evangelism/1.htm for a very interesting out-of-print resource on how the principles and strategies of war apply to the evangelistic information war we are waging. The upper nav bar shows the various international evangelistic organizations, and how successful they have been, and why they need our support.
Sincerely,
Peter F, Benson |
