Two Travel Days and a Day of Rest

Friday was spent in travel from the States to Lima, Peru. Then, we spent Saturday riding a bus from Lima to Huaraz. We arrived late, tired from the days' travels and hungry. The Rockwells fed us and then sent us to bed.

Today, we attended a Peruvian church, where our team leader Phil spoke on John 13:34-35, charging us to love one another. The Rockwells then treated us to lunch - I had some authentic chicken fajitas.

The weather and the scenery here are fantastic. I hope to post some pictures later.

The afternoon was pretty relaxed. Danial and Phil decided to hike up a mountain, and Taylor and I had the chance to ride up with Larry Rockwell into the village where Larry was hoping to share the gospel with a woman in one of the Quechua villages. We ended up going to someone else's house, where Larry showed a video on creation, read the story of Christ's birth and then read John 3:16-21 from the Quechua New Testament. It was an incredible experience to be a part of, to see firsthand some of Larry's work.

After dinner we met to discuss our team devotional, today's topic focusing on why we are here. It was settled in all our minds that we are here, that the goal of this missions trip and all others, is that God would receive glory from the nations (see Psalm 67:3-5). We then each shared why it was important for us to be on this mission trip. It was a delight to see how God had led the seven of us to come to Huaraz, Peru.

Tomorrow will mark our first day of work. We'll be going up to one of the villages and will have an afternoon VBS. Our craft is making gospel bracelets with colored beads to represent the different parts of the gospel message. We will also be teaching (I'll be covering the Story of the Bible, and Phil will be teaching on Luke 15). we'll also be playing games and performing a skit.

Please pray for us:

• that we would be well-rested and healthy. The altitude has affected me and probably to some extent all of us. So far no other health problems have arisen.
• that we would be faithful to what God has called us to do. We will be serving people of another culture and will be well outside of our comfort zones. We need to be able to pour ourselves into this work and pour ourselves out to the Quechua people.
• that the Lord would bring many to know him. Pray for souls to be saved and lives to be transformed. The gospel is powerful and able to save (Romans 1:16). Pray that by God's Spirit The Quechua will put their trust in Jesus and turn from their idols and spirit-worship to serve the living God (see 1 Thessalonians 1:9)

Thank you for your prayers, and may God use them to bless the Quechua of Peru. Hope to report tomorrow night on how our first day went.

Please Don't Send Me To Africa!

"I will NEVER be a missionary!"

Or so was my plan. I went to Bible college with the intent on getting a pastoral ministries degree. After that, I would work my way to become the pastor of a church and live a nice, comfortable American life.

People warned me not to tell God what I wouldn't do or he would make me do it. But that's just not true. I spent two years over seas, but not because God made me go. God changed me so that I wanted to go.

When confronted with the prospect of going into missions, many objections come.

"There's so much to do here."

"I'm too established to pack up and move."

"I can't go; I don't know enough."

"It's too dangerous."

And on and on.

While there may be some basis to some of these reasons (namely, work to be done at home), I think people too quickly resort to these reasons not to do missions. I think underneath all of our unwillingness to be involved in missions, there's a common, often unspoken thing: failing to submit to Christ's authority.

Christ's authority is the ground of missions. The Great Commission doesn't begin with "Go and make disciples." It begins when Jesus declares: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18-20). So when we do not participate in the command to "make disciples," in essence we are rebelling against the authority of Christ. We are denying that he has the right to give us commands. We're saying that he can't tell us what to do.

Christ's Authority to Build His Church

I do want to briefly address the objections to the danger/hard work of missions. When we read the Gospels, we see Jesus say, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt 16:18). This is not a possibility. Jesus doesn't say that he might build his Church. No, he says he WILL build his church - no doubt about it. And no persecution, no problems, no disaster, no assault from Hell itself will be able to stop him.

Elsewhere, Jesus says, "I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd" (John 10:16).

Notice three things:

1. Jesus has other followers outside of Israel. Who are these "other sheep"? They are the ones that Christ "ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9). His other sheep are all of the people who will believe in him and be saved.
2. Jesus MUST bring them. He will not go on without them. They are his sheep, and he will not be content to let them to be lost.
3. They WILL listen to him. Sure, there will be some who reject the message. There will be those who hate the Gospel and everything that we stand for. But those that are of Christ's flock will hear the gospel and be saved, even if it doesn't happen immediately.

We need not fear the danger of doing missions. And we shouldn't shy away from the hard work of bringing the gospel to the nations. Why? Because Jesus is in charge and HE WILL NOT FAIL!

So Why Not Go?

When I continually refused to consider going into missions, I was acting arrogantly. Subtly, I was telling the risen King Jesus that he could not tell me what he wanted to have me do. I was refusing to participate in the good works that God had prepared for me to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Thank God for Dr. George Murray. He spoke in one of my college classes, and his topic was the Lordship of Christ. But he started by analyzing the Great Commission and talking about all the nuances of the Greek and stuff. It was all old news, as I had done some research on it myself. But then he turned back from the Commission and started talking about the Commissioner. He lovingly reminded us that Jesus is the one who has authority over our lives. He pointed out that most people have a life plan that they expect God to sign off on, but that God wants us to sign off on a blank contract, where he can fill in the terms and conditions as he sees fit.

Hopefully, I have challenged you to do the same, to consider Jesus' authority over your life and his right to have you do stuff that is even painful for his name's sake.

Father, give us all hearts that submit to the perfect will of your Son, and may we walk in joyful obedience. Amen.

How does Christ's authority inspire you? How does knowing that his mission will not fail give you the confidence to do hard things, whether serving the poor, sharing your faith, or carrying the gospel to the nations?

The Beauty and Necessity of Missions

This is post #3 about missions. View my first post and my second post.

Romans 10 contains one of the greatest promises in all of Scripture. Without such a promise, we would all be lost, doomed to a Christless eternity under God's wrath, paying the penalty for our failure to honor and worship God (2 Thessalonians 1:9; Romans 1:18-23). But God was not content to send all of us to hell as we deserve. He gave his own Son to die for our sins so that we could live with him (John 3:16, Romans 3:21-26, Romans 5:8). And he gives us the greatest promise in the world:

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

Who is it for? Everyone. No matter where your from, no matter what you've done. If you are a living, breathing human being (and if you are reading this, you are), then this promise is for you.

What's the offer? To be saved. Given eternal life with God rather than eternal punishment as we deserve. To be given new life and set free from the sin that has cut us off from God. To have the God of the universe look at you and, rather than see your imperfection, to call you righteous.

What do you have to do to "cash in"? Call on him. Acknowledge that he is and will be the Lord and Master of your life. That he is your King. Confess Jesus Christ as risen Lord (see Romans 10:9-10).

There is salvation no other way. Only through Jesus do we find salvation and have access to God (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). So by acknowledging Christ as our Lord, we receive salvation. To not call on him, to not make him Lord and King of your heart is to remain condemned.

Calling on Christ as Lord implies belief. Romans 10:14 makes it clear: "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?" Belief comes from the heart (Romans 10:9-10) and implies not only mental assent to certain facts, but a commitment to and trust in the one being believed. So to believe in Christ and call on him in a saving way, we must trust him, rely on him, cling to him, and obey him. But he is not a hard Master. In fact he even promises that he is gentle and that his burden is easy and his yoke is light (Matthew 11:29-30).

It's no wonder why we call this message "good news!"

Not Great News

This is not good news to everyone though. "But wait just a minute," you say. "You just said that this promise is for EVERYONE. Therefore it's good news for EVERYONE, right?" Yes. And no.

This good news is for every person on earth. But not every person on earth knows it. So what good is the news if you don't even know about it? Is a miracle cure for cancer good news to the person who hasn't heard of it? Likewise with the gospel. The rest of Romans 10:14 asks, "? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?" You can't trust someone you haven't heard of.

Hearing the Good News

We've seen that it's necessary for people to believe and call upon the Lord to be saved. But how do they hear the message? In fact, as Romans 10:14 closes out: "And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"

So here we see the necessity of doing missions. Unless someone goes and takes the gosepl to those who have never heard, they will never believe in Christ. And if they don't believe, they'll never call to him for salvation. There can be no other way for the nations to believe unless people go to them and tell them the good news. Missionaries must go, learn a new language and culture, meet people, preach the gospel, and possibly suffer and die for Christ to take the gospel to the nations.

We are all to be involved in missions in one of two ways: go or send. Goers, as the name implies, go where the gospel is not and take the gospel to people who do not have it. And there are senders - those who pray for and give to and support missionaries. Romans 10:15 makes this relationship clear: "And how are they [goers] to preach unless they are sent [by senders]?"

A Beautiful Calling

Being a missionary is a hard calling. It demands daily dying. It means loss and often suffering on many levels.

Being a missionary is also a necessary calling. Without missionaries, the gospel cannot reach those who do not have it. Without missionaries, the gospel won't spread tot he nations, and the end won't come.

But being a missionary is also (and most importantly) a beautiful calling. Romans 10:15 closes with this exhortation: "As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'" We should all pray to have this beautiful calling and seek possible ways to enter in to it. But if God sees it fit not to call you to go, then rejoice and pray and give as a faithful sender!

What Missions Is All About

This is Post #2 about missions. See Post #1 here.

Why do we do missions? What is the point of spending years - decades even - laboring to take the gospel to the nations and build a church where there is none?

Missions is not about doing good things for others. It is not about giving peoples things they don't have. It is not about sparing people from hell. It is not about doing what Jesus told us to do. These are all great things, and they are all vital to our missionary efforts. But they are not the end - only a means to an end. So what is missions all about?

It's about worship.

John Piper says it better than anyone I've heard say it (outside of the Bible at least):

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever. ~John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad

Missions won't be around forever, but worship will. We see this in the book of Revelation, when missions has ended:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,10 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Revelation 7:9-10)

So when the nations have come, when there some from "all tribes and peoples and langauges" have come, we won't find them doing kind things for others. We don't see them rescuing people from hell. We see them worshiping. This is indeed what we were created to do.

My friend at A Boy and His God summed it up well after he visited Stonehenge:

Mankind was created to worship. What we choose to worship is up to us. Worship like the druids and praise the sun, moon and stars. Worship like the Hindu, a god for every aspect of life. Worship like the entrepreneur and live for money. Worship like the athlete and live for glory. Worship like the atheist, who worships himself.

But we were created to worship our Creator.

Romans 1 tells us that the fundamental sin of the nations (and every person) is the exchange of the "glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things" (v23). Basically, we are condemned because we worship things other than God. Some people worship a concept of God that is not the true God of the Bible (Romans 1:25). These are all forms of idolatry.

So when we do missions, we are calling people to turn "from idols to serve the living and true God" (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

And when we enter in to true worship of the true God, we find gladness and joy Consider Psalm 67:4-5: "Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equityand guide the nations upon earth.5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;let all the peoples praise you!"

King David sums up the call of missions very well in 1 Chronicles 16:

23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and he is to be held in awe above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his place.

The call of missions is a call to worship. It is a call to turn away from worthless idols to the true God and to find delight in him alone. So let's call the nations to eternal gladness in the immortal God!

How do you see worship as the goal of missions? How does worship fuel your desire to do missions? How can you partner with God in bringing the nations to worship him?

What Are You Waiting For?

Many in the early church were left scratching their heads at why God had yet to establish the kingdom on earth. "Where is the promise of his coming?" some would ask mockingly (2 Peter 3:4). After all, at the time of Peter's writing, over 30 years had passed since Christ ascended to heaven. They couldn't help but wonder, "God, what are you waiting for? Let's get this kingdom thing on!"

Two thousand years later, many do the same thing. We have websites with indexes that help us know when the "signs of the times" are being fulfilled. Occasionally we see street preachers with signs blaring "The End Is Nigh! Repent!" We have songs of people ready to get caught up in the sky with the Lord. And naturally some are asking the same question: "Lord, what are you waiting for?"

Peter's answer then and God's answer to us today: "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). Peter then goes on to challenge his readers to live "lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God" (2 Peter 3:11-12). He basicall tells them to speed up his coming.

How Do We Hasten His Coming?
Did you know that we do have a direct part in bringing about the end of the world? Peter hints at it by telling us to hasten the day. But Jesus makes it crystal clear when he says: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14).

This is the work of missions: taking the gospel to the nations. To those who have never heard. To those who are hopeless and without God (Ephesians 2:12). Jesus tells his disciples (and us) "that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations" (Luke 24:47).

The Work of Missions Is Not Done
So if the kingdom's coming on earth hinges on carrying the gospel to the nations, then why hasn't the end come? After all, there are Christians in every country, right? Well, the easy answer is that the work is not done.

The biblical understanding of "nations" is not political and geographical boundaries. In fact, it is better understood as "people groups." Consider also the picture from Revelation 7, where John sees "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages" all joined together and praising God (Revelation 7:9-10). Here we see that it is not just political boundaries that God cares about, but tribal and lingual boundaries as well.

The work is far from over. Check out the following statistics from Joshua Project:
# of People Groups: 16,465
# Unreached People Groups: 6,759
% Unreached: 41.1%

What Are YOU Waiting For?
So let me turn the question back on us. We are asking "What are you waiting for, God?" and he responds by saying, "Charles What are YOU waiting for? I desire worship from all the peoples, and yet so many have not yet heard. I desire them to come to repentance, not to perish without me." That's one reason why I am going to Peru this summer.

How can you be involved in taking the gospel to all peoples?

How You Can Help Take the Gospel to Peru

This week, I just want to let you know about an exciting opportunity coming up for me, and I wanted to let you know how you can help me as I seek to do my part in fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).

On July 30, I will be departing with a team from my church to Peru for a nine-day mission trip. We will be going to the Andes Mountains, to the city of Huaraz, where we will be assisting Larry Rockwell and his family as they work with the Quechua tribe, a people who have heard very little of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Quechua tribe in 2008 just had the New Testament translated into their language. We will be doing some work with the villagers and will also be serving the Rockwell’s in additional ways they might need us. We will return on August 7.

Without your support (both through prayers and through giving), none of this will be possible.

You can support us by praying for us while we are gone. Some things that our team is asking your prayers for:

• Cohesiveness of the team – that we would all be in unity and work together well.
• A vision and heart for missions, especially for the people we will be serving.
• Transformed hearts the Quechua villages where we will be serving.
• Fund raising – that God would provide everything that we need as we plan to go.

Our trip is being funded by donations and by those who are going on the trip. We will be carrying all of the supplies needed for our time there. The estimated cost is around $2000, and I could use your help in raising this amount by July 22.

If you would like to give financial support:

Please send a check payable to "Westminster Presbyterian Church." For the memo line, write "Peru: Charles R. Higham." You can mail the check to:

Westminster Presbyterian Church, 230 Alice Dr., Sumter, SC 29150

If You Want to Follow the Law...Throw Out Your Bacon!

I got involved with a discussion on-line where someone was criticizing Rick Warren because of his "unbiblical" view of homosexuality. Apparently, not equating homosexuality with rape, incest and pedophilia is unbiblical. Anyway, in response, one man wrote "If our country had just laws they would put to death people who practiced any of the three." He goes on to say that if we don't support such laws, then we don't believe that God's law is just. So I decided to put Deuteronomy 21:18-21 to the test, and (surprisingly) he agreed that the government should put the "bad cases" of rebellious children to death.

So if the OT Law is meant to be the norm for every government, what does that mean? Well, dietary restrictions should be enforced (meaning you're in BIG trouble if you like bacon). Oh and the sacrificial system should be restored, for after all, it is God's law, and it is just. Basically, if you've ever sinned, you're screwed.

Paul tells the Galatians: "I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law" (Galatians 5:3). Paul's point is that, by embracing as ideal and required one element of the law, you must then embrace it all. But the whole message to the Galatians is that in Christ we are free from the law!

So then who are we to impose those same laws as the norm for government? Our founding fathers were right to call for the separation of Church and State. How many millions of people would have to be executed each year because they are unable to keep the Law? And we're supposed to say that they deserve to die? I'm having a huge problem with this line of thinking.

Should our government have just laws? Yes. Should our government have laws that protect the weak and punish the criminal? Yes. But should the death penalty be applied to everything?

When the religious law enforcement of Jesus' time brought him a woman caught in adultery, what did Jesus say should happen to her? They were ready to stone her. But did Jesus give them a green light? Not hardly. "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7). Jesus takes us to the heart of the matter: yes sin is horrible and grievous (notice that he didn't say she deserved to live...), but in our fallen and broken state, all of us deserve death and therefore don't have the right to pass such judgment on others.

How long would you survive if the Old Testament Law was in place as the law of the land? How do we balance the need for justice with the need for grace? Should we support the death of anyone?