Podcast appearances and mentions of Ralph Winter

In a brilliant editorial by Ralph Winter over 20 years ago, he wrote that of all those “called” into missionary service only 1 of 100 make it! Why? Because of the lack of mobilizers, or mentors. This breakout session will consider the WHY, WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN & HOW of mentoring. What is it? Who and what needs to be mentored? And, how can you find the resources that are available? Join us to hear stories, learn insights and focus on your desire to journey with God and to ultimately glorify Him through your medical (healthcare) mission ministry. This session will describe the WHY, WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN & WHY of mentoring. Session recorded on Saturday, November 11th during Session Block #7 at 9:30 AM EST ; speaker: Neil Thompson Session webpage: https://www.medicalmissions.com/events/gmhc-2023/sessions/mentoring-for-future-healthcare-missionaries

THIS VOYAGE, the INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS welcome you back for their seventh season as MARK A. ALTMAN (author, The Fifty Year Mission, writer/producer, Pandora, Agent X, The Librarians, writer/producer Free Enterprise), DAREN DOCHTERMAN (associate producer, Star Trek: The Motion Picture) and ASHLEY E. MILLER (showrunner; DOTA: Dragon's Blood, writer, X-Men: First Class, Thor) are joined for a celebration of the 40th anniversary of STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK by producer RALPH WINTER, actress ROBIN CURTIS and KIRK THATCHER as we engage trans-warp drive and embark on a trip to the Promised Land on an all-new Inglorious Treksperts. Now on You Tube! **TREKSPERTS+ SUBSCRIBERS NOW GET COMMERCIAL FREE EPISODES ONE WEEK EARLY! SUBSCRIBE TODAY AT TREKSPERTSPLUS.COM** **Join us on our new INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS DISCORD Channel at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/7kgmJSExeh⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Don't miss us as the TREKSPERTS INGLORIOUS TOUR 2024 LIVE TOUR continues as we beam down to Galaxycon Columbus, OH!  For more information, go to galaxycon.com. Learn all that is learnable about Star Trek in Mark A. Altman & Edward Gross' THE FIFTY-YEAR MISSION, available in hardcover, paperback, digital and audio from St. Maritn's Press.  Follow Inglorious Treksperts at @inglorioustrek on Twitter, Facebook and at @inglorioustreksperts on Instagram. And now follow the Treksperts Briefing Room at @trekspertsBR, an entirely separate Twitter & Instagram feed. "Mark A. Altman is the world's foremost Trekspert" - Los Angeles Times

Today's HeadlinesChildren in Lebanon find relief at summer camp amid threats of warMissio Nexus 2024: progress, prospects, and the Panta ta EthneSGA meets with leaders in Armenia

THIS VOYAGE, the Treksperts MARK A. ALTMAN (author, The Fifty Year Mission, writer/producer, Pandora, Agent X, The Librarians, writer/producer Free Enterprise), DAREN DOCHTERMAN (associate producer, Star Trek: The Motion Picture) and ASHLEY E. MILLER (showrunner; DOTA: Dragon's Blood, writer, X-Men: First Class, Thor) are joined at this year's #STLV #TrekToVegas convention to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of Star Trek: The Final Frontier by LAURENCE LUCKINBILL ("Sybok"), CYNTHIA GOUW ("Caithlin Dar"), JON SIMPSON ("Young Sarek") and producer RALPH WINTER as we learn what God needed with a starship. Only on Inglorious Treksperts. Now on You Tube! **Join us on our new INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS DISCORD Channel at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/7kgmJSExeh⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE TO TREKSPERTS PLUS TODAY... and get every episode of INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS and our new podcast, INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS presents DECK 78 along with additional bonus content and surprises all season long. For more details, visit trekkspertsplus.com. Don't miss us as the TREKSPERTS INGLORIOUS TOUR 2024 LIVE TOUR continues as we beam down to Galaxycon San Jose, CA and many more this year!  For more information, go to galaxycon.com, creationent.com and comic-con.org. Learn all that is learnable about Star Trek in Mark A. Altman & Edward Gross' THE FIFTY-YEAR MISSION, available in hardcover, paperback, digital and audio from St. Maritn's Press.  Follow Inglorious Treksperts at @inglorioustrek on Twitter, Facebook and at @inglorioustreksperts on Instagram. And now follow the Treksperts Briefing Room at @trekspertsBR, an entirely separate Twitter & Instagram feed. "Mark A. Altman is the world's foremost Trekspert" - Los Angeles Times

THIS VOYAGE, the Treksperts MARK A. ALTMAN (author, The Fifty Year Mission, writer/producer, Pandora, Agent X, The Librarians, writer/producer Free Enterprise), DAREN DOCHTERMAN (associate producer, Star Trek: The Motion Picture) and ASHLEY E. MILLER (showrunner; DOTA: Dragon's Blood, writer, X-Men: First Class, Thor) are joined at this year's #STLV #TrekToVegas convention to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of Star Trek: The Final Frontier by LAURENCE LUCKINBILL ("Sybok"), CYNTHIA GOUW ("Caithlin Dar"), JON SIMPSON ("Young Sarek") and producer RALPH WINTER as we learn what God needed with a starship. Only on Inglorious Treksperts. Now on You Tube! **Join us on our new INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS DISCORD Channel at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/7kgmJSExeh⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE TO TREKSPERTS PLUS TODAY... and get every episode of INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS and our new podcast, INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS presents DECK 78 along with additional bonus content and surprises all season long. For more details, visit trekkspertsplus.com. Don't miss us as the TREKSPERTS INGLORIOUS TOUR 2024 LIVE TOUR continues as we beam down to Galaxycon San Jose, CA and many more this year!  For more information, go to galaxycon.com, creationent.com and comic-con.org. Learn all that is learnable about Star Trek in Mark A. Altman & Edward Gross' THE FIFTY-YEAR MISSION, available in hardcover, paperback, digital and audio from St. Maritn's Press.  Follow Inglorious Treksperts at @inglorioustrek on Twitter, Facebook and at @inglorioustreksperts on Instagram. And now follow the Treksperts Briefing Room at @trekspertsBR, an entirely separate Twitter & Instagram feed. "Mark A. Altman is the world's foremost Trekspert" - Los Angeles Times

Fifty years ago Ralph Winter spoke at the Congress of World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland. He laid out a vision of world evangelization that transformed the perspective on the unreached not as countries or nations, but ethnic people groups. What progress has been made in global evangelization since that moment? What does the remaining task look like? Matthew and Ted interview RW Lewis, who has researched and published a booklet called The Great Progress of the Gospel and the Remaining Frontier Missions Task. 

Salvation only started when Jesus died on the cross, and it doesn't end there. Join Jesus in his ongoing mission to spread this incredible news of eternal life! -Sermon Transcript - As we come to the end of the Gospel of Mark this sermon... next sermon, there'll be one more summary at the end, God willing, we really come to the point of everything. We come to the point of it all. There is a purpose and a reason why God created the universe. We believe in eternity past, that the triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit before anything was created at all, existed in perfect fellowship, in a loving fellowship, one with another. It was not out of need at all that He created the universe but out of a sense of generosity that He might create a context whereby He could reveal Himself to sentient beings, angels and humans who would be able to know and appreciate His glory and be delighted in it and be happy in it and have fellowship with Him. That is why God created the universe. But sin intervened, stepped in. Adam sinned on our behalf. And we all fell in Adam, we all sinned in Adam. We became what Isaiah 9 calls “the people walking in darkness”, the people who do not see the glory of God, do not understand it. But God sent His son to be the light of the world, and He has rescued us out of the dominion of darkness. He's given us spiritual eyes. The eyes of our hearts have been enlightened, if we're Christians. We have seen the glory of God in Christ. We have been saved, we have been redeemed, and though we see only a little of that glory... as it says in one Corinthians 13, "We see through a glass darkly," someday we're going to see it clearly face to face, and that brings us great joy. But why are we still here? Having come to salvation, having received the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith, having received the forgiveness of sins and adoption, why are we still here in this sin-cursed world? I believe that part of the answer to that is we are here for the glory of God in the salvation of others who have not yet crossed over from death to life. We're here to be witnesses. We're here to become fishers of men, that we will be instrumental in the hands of God to draw people out of Satan's dark kingdom. That is part of the reason why we're still here. "We are here for the glory of God in the salvation of others who have not yet crossed over from death to life. We're here to be witnesses. We're here to become fishers of men, that we will be instrumental in the hands of God to draw people out of Satan's dark kingdom." I also believe we're here to grow in grace in the knowledge of Christ to become more and more conformed to Christ, to be like Jesus more and more in our minds, in our hearts and our lives to grow in holiness. Those things are not different from each other. They are conformed together, that we begin to see other people the way Jesus did. When He looked out at the crowds, He saw that they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd, and His heart went out to them, and He said, "The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out labors into his harvest here." That was His heart when He saw them and He saw their true spiritual condition. The text you just heard read is one of five different versions of the Great Commission given to disciples at the end of the life of Jesus on earth. He commands us, His church, His people to go into all the world and preach the good news, the Gospel to all creation and to put people who hear that message at the fork in the road. If they believe and are baptized, they'll be saved. If they do not believe, they'll be condemned. That's the text we're looking at today, that’s the calling. I. Christ’s Mission Continues We come to the point of Jesus' mission, why He came from heaven to earth. Jesus came into the world to save sinners, period. That saving work of Jesus Christ was only begun during His time on earth. When He died and rose again, it only began. The blood of the Passover lamb that dreadful night, the night of the 10th plague in Egypt had to be shed, but then it had to be painted on the doorposts and the lintels of the house for the angel of death to pass over. The redemption by the Passover lamb had to be accomplished and applied. Also, Jesus' blood, having been shed, then has to be spiritually applied to sinners all around the world. That is the purpose of Jesus' continuing mission in the world, the application through the Holy Spirit of God, the application of His shed blood to individual sinners for their forgiveness. That is the work that we are about here at First Baptist Church. The unifying message of Mark’s Gospel, it starts Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” essential to the Gospel message, is the identity of this person, Jesus Christ, declared to be the Son of God. The whole Gospel of Mark unfolds details and dimensions of that truth, that Jesus is the Son of God. The NIV has the phrase, "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Other translation simply say, "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."The word “gospel” means “good news”. The word in English accurately translates the Greek grammar in the simplest sense of, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What does that “of” mean? It's either the good news from Jesus or it could be the good news that Jesus proclaimed, “of" meaning “origin” there; the message that came from Jesus or, as the translation says, it could be “about”. It's the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the end both are true. This is the Gospel that Jesus proclaimed, but it is also the about Jesus Himself. It is marvelous then to think of Jesus not as merely the messenger of a message we now take on and proclaim, the good news that Jesus proclaim, but that He actually is the good news itself. He is the good news. He is the Gospel. In another place in Matthew 13:44, He said this, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hit it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." A treasure box hidden in the fields. I believe Jesus is that treasure, and I believe He is worth selling everything you have in your life so that you can buy that field and own the treasure. Paul said in Colossians 2:3, "In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." When you open up that treasure box, that box hidden in the field, you're going to find all wisdom and all knowledge. But wisdom and knowledge are not the only treasures you're going to find hidden in Christ. We also find perfect love. We find total forgiveness of sins. We find reconciliation with Almighty God. We find access to the throne of God. We find a promised eternal inheritance in heaven for each one of us who have believed. We find, in that treasure box, resurrection from the dead and life forevermore, and infinite other treasures besides. Christ is infinite and immeasurable treasure, most of it hidden from our minds in this world. We'll never get to the 1,000,000th of a percent of the treasure that Jesus is in this life, and therefore I believe in a eternal education, in the glory of Christ, in heaven. Forever and ever and ever we'll be learning how glorious He is. We'll never stop. Jesus is the treasure hidden in the field. The Gospel, the good news, is not merely a message that He proclaimed, He is the good news. His incarnation is good news. His perfect, sinless life, perfectly fulfilling the two great commandments, the only man that's ever done it in history, is good news. His astonishing miracles are good news. His astounding teachings, unlike any teacher had ever lived, is good news. His fulfillment of all of those Old Testament prophecy, fulfillment of prophecy is good news. His substitutionary death on the cross, giving His life as a ransom in your place is good news. His bodily resurrection from the dead, defeating death forever for us is good news. His promise to return to earth someday and establish an eternal kingdom, the kingdom of God is good news. Christ's mission to earth began in His life on earth almost 2,000 years ago, but it continues. Mark starts with a statement, “the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The Holy Spirit's not just saying through Mark that Mark 1:1 is the first of 679 verses that will come in the Gospel of Mark. This is the beginning. I think it's more than that. Rather, it's that Jesus' mission to earth was just beginning with His short, His brief life on earth. It was just starting. Jesus Himself had more work to do even at the end. Luke makes the continuation clear in Acts 1:1-2. There, he says, "In my former book, Theophilus," [Gospel of Luke], "I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach." I love that word, “began”. That was just the start, [Gospel of Luke] of all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day He was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. In our text today, if you look at it, Mark makes it just as clear. Look at verses 19-20 of Mark 16, "After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven. And He sat at the right hand of God. Then, the disciples went out and preached everywhere," listen, "the Lord working with them or worked with them, confirming His word by the signs that accompanied it." There's Jesus up in heaven continuing His work at the right hand of God. This is just the beginning, the beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus is continuing His saving mission to sinners in this cursed world. II. What Christ Commands of the World What does Christ command of the world? There is a command given to the world shortly after that initial statement in Mark 1:1. He gives this command, Mark 1:15, "The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news." That is a command given to the world worldwide. "The time has come. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel." That's the command He gives. It's the command of the Gospel. From Almighty God through His only begotten son, Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, through the church messengers to the world, this command is given, “repent and believe.” The Gospel is good news to be believed, but it's also a command to be obeyed. It is a command from God to sinners that they must obey. Paul picks up on this in Romans 1:5, "Through Him, and for his namesake, we," Paul and the other apostles, "we receive grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience of faith." Or one translation has “the obedience that comes from faith." Faith produces obedience to the king, to God, the king. Again in Acts 17:30, Paul preaching there says, "In the past, God overlooks such ignorance," idolatrous pagan religions, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent." This is a command from God to repent. When I meditate on this and consider myself and my role as an evangelist, I realize I'm an ambassador from almighty God and I'm going to a rebel, I'm not going there begging and pleading and sniveling, I'm going there as a messenger from God, the king who's commanding that sinner to repent. That doesn't mean you have to be mean or harsh or have an angry look on your face, none of that. But the fact is we are messengers of a God who is telling sinners to throw down their weapons of rebellion against His kingly rule. He's commanding them to repent. It's a command. These two commands of the Gospel, “repent and believe.” Those are the two basic commands of the Gospel, repent and believe. What does that mean? Repent literally means to “think differently.” That's the meaning in the Greek. It's the meaning also in the Latin that is the basis of our English word, “repent”. It means to think differently, have a different mind, a change of mind resulting in a change of life, a radical transformation of how you think, resulting in a transformation of how you live. That's what repent means, “to turn away from sin to God." “Believe” means, I think, “to see with the eyes of the heart”. I believe that faith is the eyesight of the soul by which we see invisible spiritual realities. It is the ability to see invisible things and to know that they're true. The invisible truths of the good news, of the Gospel, believe that Jesus is the Son of God, though you have never seen Him and you don't see Him now. Believe that He died on the cross in your place for your sins, though you didn't see any of that. Believe that He rose from the dead on the third day, though the only evidence you have for that is written in the pages of this book. You've never seen it, but you believe that it's true and that He offers full forgiveness of sins to any who will repent and believe. That's what it means to believe the Gospel. The reason for this is there's a sense of urgency. The time has come and the Kingdom of God is at hand, meaning it's right here. There is no time to waste. Time is of the essence. There's an urgency here. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:2, "Today is the day of salvation." We don't know if we'll be alive tomorrow. As James says, "You don't know what tomorrow will bring." You don't even know if you'll be alive tomorrow. The Kingdom of God is at hand, coming. It's right here. It's not distant, it's right here. God, the king here, and He's calling on people to repent. Time is essential. Salvation is eternal, eternity in heaven, a place where there is no more death, mourning, crying, or pain; free forever from those things, an eternity in a world like that, a glorious world. But on the other hand, an eternity of condemnation for those who do not believe, who do not repent and believe. Whoever does not believe will be condemned. Condemnation, Jesus taught, is terrifying. No one in the Old Testament ever taught so clearly about hell as Jesus did in His teaching ministry. He was very, very clear about hell as a place of eternal conscious torment. Mark 9, "If your hand caused you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell where the fire never goes out." Five verses later, "Where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, where existence is upheld by the sovereign God, and so also is the fire that brings about torment." If people say it's just a metaphor, it's like the reality is worse than the metaphor. It's terrifying. Jesus came from heaven to earth and suffered and bled and died on the cross so that people who believed in Him would not have to experience that eternal conscious torment. There is an urgency in this Gospel work. We're surrounded by people who are on their way to hell, surrounded by people who are on their way to being condemned justly for their sins. That's what Christ commands of the world. III. What Commands of His Church What does He command of us, His church? As I said, there are five great commissions, so-called, that have essentially the same message, but they're all different from each other. It's beautiful how Matthew's version is different than Mark's version, which is different than Luke's version, which is different than John's version. And it's different than the version given in Acts 1:8. They're all different, and they all contribute something, but they tell the same basic message. Our version here, Mark 15: 16, Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." He commands us to go and preach. Those are the commands given to the church, to go and proclaim the message. The proclamation of that Word, the proclamation of the words about Jesus, His life, His death, His resurrection, and the theology of salvation wrapped up in Jesus' mission, those words are the power of God for salvation to sinners who believe. Our job is a words task. It's not the only thing we do, but fundamentally, the call here is to proclaim words. Paul says in Romans 10 very plainly, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." The universal statement to every human being in every context. "Everyone who calls in the name of the Lord will be saved." How then can they call on the one they've not believed in? Before they call, like the verse tells them to do, they have to first believe in the Lord Jesus. And how can they believe in one of whom they have never heard? You need the facts about Jesus before you can believe. And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? That's the work of the church, to give them the facts they need to be saved. And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” According to Scripture, we have been sent. Jesus said in John's Gospel, "As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." We are sent. Then a few verses later in Romans 10:17, it says, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Our task is to proclaim the words of the Gospel to lost people in the hope that they will repent and believe those words and be saved. The extent of the Great Commission is to go into all the worlds and preach the Gospel to all creation. That's Mark's version, all the world, all creation. Matthew's is probably the most famous of the five great commissions. Matthew 28, 18-20, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I'm with you always, even to the end of the age." In Matthew's version, it's “all nations,” go and make disciples of all nations, with the end that having become a disciple, they obey all the commands. It's a comprehensive life obedience, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. This is going to happen in all areas of human history. "And surely I'm with you always, even to the end of the age," all nations, all commands all time. In both Matthew and Mark, baptism is an essential sign of discipleship. Mark says it in verse 16, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved." Matthew 28 says, "Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, of the Holy Spirit.” A disciple is a learner, a follower of the master of Jesus, the great teacher. We're disciples. We follow him and not just cognitively agreeing or assenting to his teachings, but with our lives obeying and following his pattern. That's what a disciple is. But in order for that, we have to be obedient to the master, we have to be obedient to the king, and so an initial test of obedience is water baptism. We don't believe that water baptism is essential for salvation because a thief in the cross was not water baptized. Paul says, "God did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel." If water baptism were required for salvation, he would never have made such a careless statement. It's not water baptism that saves. However, having been genuinely saved, justified, forgiven, it is a first step of outward visible obedience to the commands of God, a willingness to do this simple thing. The word “baptism” means “to immerse or plunge in liquid.” To all my friends that think that sprinkling is baptism, it isn't. The word means “immerse”, and so it's a plunging into a vat of liquid, like a garment being dyed or a ship being launched or something like that, it's a plunging in liquid. For us, water baptism is an immersion in water as an outward and visible symbol of an immersion in the Holy Spirit that Jesus has done first. We are baptized by Jesus through the Spirit into one body through our faith in Christ. That baptism, real baptism having already happened, we then do the symbolic water baptism as an outward and visible sign. You don't have to be water baptized to be saved, but no, you can't refuse to be water baptized and think that you are saved. That is a clear essential first step of obedience. That's what we're called to do. The church, we, the members of this local church, and Christians worldwide are called to this great and glorious work. Go and proclaim. Make disciples. Baptize them, teach them, do the work of the great commission. That's what we're called to do. IV. How Christ’s Church Has Obeyed How has Christ's church obeyed? The church has been overwhelmingly and stunningly and gloriously obedient for 20 centuries. That's how we've gotten to this point in which there are hundreds of millions of Christians around the world. It says it right in our text. Look at verse 20, "Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere." It is very easy for us to be discouraged about our failures. I was saying to the staff this week, we were talking about it, it's like massive step down when Jesus said, "As the Father sent me, I'm sending you." The “me" is the only begotten Son of God who the Father chose and sent. He's sending people like you and me. It's part of God's plan to use weak, fragile, sinful, even vessels like us to do this Great Commission. Weak, fragile, sinful, broken people have done incredible things for 20 centuries to spread the Gospel as far as it's gone. In the first three centuries of church history, many unnamed, unknown Christians were willing to risk their lives under the oppressive Roman Empire to spread the Gospel and permeate that part of the world until the Emperor Constantine thought it, at least politically expedient, to declare himself a Christian. Whether he was genuinely converted or not, I don't know. Find out. If you get up there to heaven, you see Constantine, you'll know. But the point is that the Gospel had made such progress at that point that he thought it was at least beneficial. Many of his centurions, many of his soldiers were Christians. It's an incredible, spiritual conquest of the Roman Empire in three short centuries. And since that time, the missionary drive has only continued and expanded. Over the last two centuries in particular, it's been stunning how much progress missions has made. The Gospel spread through the Indian subcontinent, led by William Carey and others, spread through Burma led by Adoniram and Ann Judson and others, spread through China, led by Hudson Taylor and Lottie Moon and others, through Africa, led by David Livingstone and Mary Slessor and many others, through the steamy jungles of the Amazon, led by Cameron Townsend and Jim and Elizabeth Elliot and others, even to Erie and Jaya, led by Don Richardson and Mark and Gloria Zook and others. What an incredible story, the spread of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit has indeed come on the church and empowered the church and enabled us to be His witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Yet for all of that, we must admit tons of failure as well. Church history is a mess. I'm being honest with you. Battles with cults, battles with false doctrine, battles with decades of indolence and laziness. The Crusades, Ralph Winter calls, the most misguided conception of the Christian mission in history. That's big picture. What about individually? Do you not often feel like a failure in this topic? Isn't it easy to feel like a failure when it comes to witnessing? I do. When I look at the tens of thousands that live in the immediate proximity here, and I realize the level of unchurchedness and lostness coupled with high education rates and wealth, prosperity, and then others that don't have those educations or wealth; we're surrounded. They've lived near our church; now they live maybe a little further away from our church, but they're lost. There's darkness there. It's easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged. But this is exactly what Acts 1:8 is all about. You'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you need that power. This is the call. Mark 15:16 is the call to our church now. This is what we're called to do with the rest of our lives in part. V. How Christ Confirms his Word Christ confirmed His word. Look at verse 19 and 20. Marvelous. We see Christ's sovereign power, which is essential to the spread of the Gospel. “After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and He sat at the right hand of God. And then the disciples went out and preached everywhere.” The Lord worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it. What a beautiful picture this is. Jesus ascends, goes through the clouds, the cloud hides Him from their sight. He goes into the heavenly realms, He passes through the heavens, He goes above the heavens. He sits down at the right hand of Almighty God far above the heavenly realms. And Jesus said, "Therefore," in Matthew 28:18, "all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me by God." Or again in Ephesians 1:20-23, "God raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one that come." It's hard to believe that Ephesians 1:21 is actually an understatement when it says, "Far above all rule and authority." Infinitely far above them. That's the great power of Jesus at the right hand of God. God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way. This authority, Jesus' authority, to rule all things is essential to the spread of the Gospel over 20 centuries because every step of the way, the advance of the Gospel has been opposed by Satan and his demons and by human enemies of the Gospel. It's been a bloody advance, it’s been hard. The church is portrayed as taking enemy territory. He said at Caesarea Philippi, "On this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prove stronger than it." The idea of gates is “we're storming the gates.” We're taking enemy territory. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe, but when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and he divides up the spoils. That's Jesus plundering Satan's kingdom. We're part of that. But it's a dangerous, dangerous journey. And Jesus' sovereignty is essential to it. He's able to control the minds and hearts of the movers and shakers in every era of history. Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart is like a water course in the hands of the Lord." He directs it whichever way He pleases. He's sovereign over even tyrants who hate the Gospel. He's able to direct their decisions. He says to the church at Philadelphia in Revelation 3: 7-8, "What I open, no one can shut. And what I shut, no one can open." Isn't that a great statement? “I know your deeds.” He said to the church of Philadelphia, "Behold, I have placed before you an open door which no one can shut." That's an opportunity for that church of Philadelphia to go through that door into Gospel fruitfulness. That's the sovereignty of Christ. The nations, there is nothing before Christ's power. Isaiah 40: 15, "Surely, the nations are like a drop in the bucket. They're regarded as dust on the scales. He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. He sits in throne above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of the world to nothing." Jesus, therefore, is at the right hand of God. He is exerting his authority to spread the Gospel of salvation in every generation. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, delivers that power. The Holy Spirit is the delivery agent of the power of Jesus from the right hand of God down to earth. It is the Spirit. It is by the Spirit that Christ actively works in this present evil age to win sinners and spread the Gospel. He said in John 16:7, "I tell you the truth. It is for your good that I'm going away. Unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And the spirit works that power in us. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes in you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to the ends of the earth." Let's be honest, we are weak, we are frail, we are fearful, we are selfish, we are lazy. Peter's failure, the night that Jesus was arrested, is proof that we are all essentially frail and weak. In just a matter of a few hours, he went from that confident assertion, “even if all fall away on account of you,” to denying he even knew who Jesus was. Furthermore, the parable of the Good Samaritan depicts the priest going by and seeing the bleeding man by the side of the road, and he just keeps on going. The Levite does the same thing; sees the bleeding man by the side of the road, and he just keeps on going. How can we not, when reading the parable of the Good Samaritan with tears and brokenness, see ourselves in those two? Oh, Heaven forbid that you would ever say, "I thank you, God, that I'm not like the priest or Levite in the parable of the good Samaritan." Don't say that. Say, "Oh, God, show me how I'm like that." Especially spiritually, people are broken and beaten down and bleeding by the side of the road spiritually because of their lostness, and we know them. We work with them, we live around them, we shop with them. We are surrounded by that brokenness and that lostness. How can we just walk by on the other side? But that's our nature, isn't it? It's our nature. We need to be honest. It is our nature to be priest or Levite. Only the Spirit enables us to be different. He will enable us to be different. Again and again, He'll enable us to care, to cross over that road, to bend down, to say something to somebody, to ask what's going on in their lives, to get involved in the mess, to get involved in the brokenness, and to win people to Christ. And we will. And we're going to tell the story for all eternity in heaven. It's going to be an awesome story. It's going to be an awesome story. But in the meantime, there's so much sorrow. Jesus wept over Jerusalem's lostness. Paul wept over the lostness of his own Jewish nation. "I speak the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit." Paul said, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish, for I could wish that I, myself, were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people. I would do it. I would lose my own salvation if they could be saved." There's that yearning and that brokenness. Jesus works and works and works and is by His Spirit to make us care about lostness, to care about people on their way to hell, and He moves us. He exerts power, conquering our fears. But He didn't just work in us, He works in them. He powerfully works in lost people, convicting them of their sins so that they can be saved. It says in John 16:8, "When the spirit comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. And He will give them the gift of repentance in faith." The Spirit has the power to do that. It's nothing the person can do for him or herself. The change is so radical, it's like a heart of stone being removed and a heart of flesh being put in. You can't do that to yourself, but the Spirit can. As Ezekiel says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I'll put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." As we're doing this witnessing, we're hoping that the Spirit will do that miraculous regenerating work that only He can do. It's not something we can do. The Spirit works repentance, the Spirit works, faith, and the Spirit calls to His sheep, unconverted elect. But the day has come, the day of salvation has come for them. And it says beautifully in John 10, "My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life. I call them by name, and they follow me." That's a beautiful work, isn't it? Don't you want to be there when that happens? Don't you want to watch it happen as somebody who is walking in darkness crosses over into the light and with tears coming down his or her face that Jesus is my Savior, He's my shepherd? How beautiful is that? The text says that Jesus confirmed His word by signs of the Spirit. Verse 20, "The Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it." The Lord worked with them. What a majestic picture of cooperation. As 2 Corinthians 5 says, "We are, therefore, Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God." We're, again, working together with Him, then “… implore you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” This sovereign power of Christ is working in us. By the grace of God, we are what we are. And His grace to us will not be without effect. "We're going to work for the Gospel," as Paul said, 1 Corinthians 15. Concerning signs and wonders, it's very clear that that happened in the apostolic age. Look at verse 17 and 18, "These signs will accompany those who believe. In my name, they will drive out demons, they will speak new tongues, they will pick up snakes with their hands. When they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all. They will place their hands on sick people and they will get well." Those things all happened. That's not fiction, it's not myth; those things happened. We have a record of it in the book of Acts, many of them, except the poison part. But I'm sure that happened too, it's just not recorded. Paul testified to it as well in Romans 15: 18-19, “I will not venture to speak about anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done by the power of signs and miracles through the power of the Spirit. From Jerusalem all the way around to the Balkans, to Illyricum, I fully proclaimed the Gospel of Christ.” Miracles following everywhere, healings, speaking in tongues, all of those things, even the serpent thing. Amazing. The miraculous signs confirm the truthfulness of the Gospel. In Acts 8: 6-8, “Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. And when the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. There's great joy in that city.” The signs also showed that Satan was being driven out of his throne in people's hearts. Jesus sent out 72 evangelists during His mission, and they returned full of joy. Luke 10: 17 -19, "The seventy-two returned with joy and said, 'Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.' He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.’" I've been thinking about that verse. This morning, we sang about martyrs who died. What's that whole, “nothing will harm you” thing? The martyrs weren't harmed by their death, they were ushered from this sin-cursed world by great sacrificial service, both to God and to sinners, into eternal glory and a martyr's crown. Do you think up in heaven they're thinking they were harmed by their martyrdom? They were not harmed. People were benefited because Tertullian said, "The blood of those martyrs was seed for the church,” and by their willingness to die to themselves, and even physically die, new Christians came. "The martyrs weren't harmed by their death, they were ushered from this sin-cursed world by great sacrificial service, both to God and to sinners, into eternal glory and a martyr's crown." VI. Our Part in This Work What is our part in this work? Obviously the most important thing anyone listening to me right now can do is make certain that you, yourself, have been saved, that you, yourself, have repented and believe the gospel for the forgiveness of your sins. Nothing's more important than that. The time has come. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news. But let's say you've already done that. What now? What is our work? Our work is to share the gospel with near neighbors and distant nations. This sermon and next week's as well, we're going to lay out specifics for FBC's members. The elders of this church are all unanimous that the single greatest area of growth for our church is faithfulness and fruitfulness in evangelism. We want to see far more baptisms happening in a year than we do. We want to see those kind of baptisms that happen in this pattern saying, "I was lost, I met so-and-so from this church, and now I'm here today to testify to my faith in Jesus." I want to hear that. Don't you? I want to be part of that. That's our calling. That's what we're called to do, to be fishers of men. We cannot sit comfortably in this beautiful sanctuary, hearing the Word of God week after week and not pay the price to share it with the thousands of lost people that are around us throughout the week. This area is going to grow. Estimates say we're going to add about half a million people in this region over the next 25 years. Most of those will be lost, unchurched. That's our field to work. This is our area to work. This is what we're going to be held accountable for on Judgment Day. We're called on to do evangelism. What is evangelism? Max Stiles says, "Evangelism is teaching the Gospel with the aim to persuade.” Teaching. We're going to teach concepts about people. We're going to explain theological truths to people who don't understand them. We're going to teach. What are we going to teach? The Gospel. God, man, Christ's response. We're going to say things about God, that He created the ends of the earth and that He's a king and a ruler, and He makes laws. We need to follow them. That man, that we are created the image of God for a relationship with Him, but we have broken His laws and we're rebellious against Him, and we stand in danger of eternal condemnation. Christ, that Christ is the Son of God. He came and lived a sinless life, He died on the cross and rose again. And response, repent and believe, as in Mark 1:15. We're going to teach the Gospel to people with the aim... We're going to have an aim. We're going to focus on winning, lost people to faith in Christ. It's intentional. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the loss. We have to have an aim, a purpose, and we're going to persuade. We're going to win people. We're going to persuade them to repent, to turn to Christ. We're going to use argumentation, we're going to use proofs, we're going to use passion, we're going to use persuasion. We're going to plead. I've never really pled with a lost person before. It's in Acts 2. I do a lot of airplane evangelism. I have yet to be broken down and, with tears, beg a lost person to cross over. Now, I think I probably would get arrested. But there is that passion in our hearts of pleading with people to be saved. Our goal is a culture of evangelism. What does that mean? A culture of evangelism. Max Stiles speaks of communal evangelism where it's a church-wide focus. We're going to hold one another accountable. We're going to strengthen our mutual resolve in evangelism. We're going to learn from each other. How do you do it? How do you do it in the workplace? How do you do in the community? How do you do hospitality? We're going to learn from each other. We're going to rejoice together in successes, and we're going to cry over failures and setbacks. We're going to bond through shared experiences in intense situations. What is a church culture? Isn't culture like shared ideas, shared language, shared behavior patterns, shared experiences, shared expectations? That's what a culture is. A culture of evangelism is motivated by love for Jesus and His Gospel. It's a culture that's confident in the Gospel as the power of God for salvation. We don't need gimmicks, we don't need entertainment, we don't need smoke machines. We don't need any of that stuff, we need the Gospel. We trust in it. It's a culture that understands the danger of this present evil age. A culture that sees people clearly, a culture that pulls together as one, especially in prayer, a culture in which people teach one another what the Gospel is. What is evangelism? What is conversion? How can we best share this Gospel message? That new converts are taught these things, and then they're sent out as messengers themselves. It multiplies. A culture that models evangelism. A culture in which people who share their faith are celebrated and learned from in this church. A culture that knows how to affirm and celebrate new life. A culture that does ministry that feels risky and is dangerous. A culture that understands that the church is the chosen and best method of evangelism in the world. Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for the chance that we've had this week, and God willing that we'll have again next week to look at our responsibility in the Great Commission. Help us, Lord, to be faithful. Help us, oh Lord, to be courageous. Help us to be humble and admit our weakness and our failure. Help us to help each other. Help us to ask each other how you're doing in evangelism. Help us to be involved in the summer's “Let's Go program” of going out on Wednesdays and sharing and being trained and doing prayer walking and doing prayer meetings and just being involved. Help us, oh Lord, to be more fruitful and faithful than we've ever been before. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Gospel must be preached to all nations because God has elected some from every tribe, language, people, and nation to be in heaven. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - Turn in your Bibles if you would, to Mark, chapter 13, and you can also turn as well to Matthew 24. We're going to be looking at both of those places. The Scripture reveals that despite all of its swirling complexity, human history has a purpose. We are moving to a destination. We're going somewhere with all of this. It's not just random chaos, but God has a plan and a purpose. The destination the Bible reveals, to which we're going, is a perfect universe, a perfect world free from all sin and a beautiful radiant city. The New Heavens and the New Earth are that perfect universe and that radiant city is called the New Jerusalem. The Bible reveals that the light source of that new universe and of the New Jerusalem, according to Revelation 21 and 22, is the glory of God, the glory of God. Revelation 21:23 says, "The city”[the New Jerusalem] "does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light and the lamb is its lamp." Again, in the next chapter, Revelation 22:5 it says, "They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light." But what is that? What is the glory of God? In my studies and my meditations, I've thought a lot, it's an important topic. I believe the glory of God is the radiant display of the attributes or the perfections of God. Sometimes it's just brilliant light, as 1 Timothy 6:16 says, "God dwells in unapproachable light." Well, think about that, unapproachable light. How amazing must that be? For this reason, the Seraphim in Isaiah's vision were constantly covering their faces, though they had no sin or guilt, but just in that unapproachable light, the presence of the glory, they were covering their faces. For this reason also, the theophanies, or the displays of God, where God shows up in human history are frequently attended by overpowering light, like in Ezekiel's vision of the likeness of the glory of God by the Kibar River east of Babylon. Ezekiel 1 says, "High above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. And I saw from what appeared to be his waist up, He looked like glowing metal as if full of fire. And that from there down He looked like fire and brilliant light surrounded Him, like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell face down." So radiant, light, brightness connected with the glory of God. Also at the time of the birth of our Lord in Bethlehem, an angel appeared to shepherds outside Bethlehem and it says in Luke 2:9-10, "There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over the flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified." This was a glory of the eye, not of the mind or heart. It was just bright light, and it stunned the shepherds that night. But the glory of God is seen not just in brilliant light, sometimes it's in the radiant display of the perfections of God, the attributes of God woven into the tapestry of historical events. That takes the eye of faith to see it, but it's there. The attributes of God woven into the tapestry of history. The perfections of God, attributes of God, include His wisdom, His power, His love, compassion, justice, patience, kindness, mercy. These are attributes. God has ordained history, the story of history, for this reason to put Himself on display in the sequence of events and unfolding history. He put Himself on display in a history, a story, that He predestined before Christ began, written in His own mind before time began. The sequence of events, this history, has all been written out by the author of history and it's intrinsically connected with the Christ event, the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said in Revelation 22:13, "I am the alpha and the omega. I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end." History is linear, and Jesus is history. Jesus is what the story is all about. The radiant display of the glory of God in heaven, I believe, will consist in part in a retelling of His mighty works in saving His people from their sins and in their individual context all over the world, across the centuries, a retelling of the mighty works of God and saving sinners. I believe it's the most glorious thing God has ever done. His glory is greatly on display in salvation. Revelation 7:9-10 says, "After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes, and they were holding palm branches in their hands, and they cried out in a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.'" "The radiant display of the glory of God in heaven, I believe, will consist in part in a retelling of His mighty works in saving His people from their sins and in their individual context all over the world, across the centuries." Here's a multitude, a huge quantity of people, from all over the world, every imaginable context, standing around the throne of God in heaven praising God for salvation. The specific stories of these individual people that make up these millions from every nation on Earth, will bring infinite and eternal glory to God. A few verses later, Revelation 8:13, "Then one of the elders asked me, 'These in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?'" As I've said many times before, that story will take forever to tell fully. It is so complex, but it is woven through with light, it’s woven through with glory. "These redeemed," who are they and where do they come from? Well, how long do you have? We have all eternity. So, pull up a chair and let's hear the story of how God redeemed this one and that one and the other one from all over the world. Heaven will be filled with the stories of the greatness of God put on display in the amazing tapestry of history that He wove in every century. This is the story of missions. The spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem to the ends of the Earth across every generation of history, that unspeakable glory as before us this morning. We're going to focus just on two verses of scripture. Mark 13:10, right in the middle of our Mark study, and then a parallel verse, Matthew 24:14. Mark 13:10, "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." Matthew 24:14, "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." I want to tell you something about the science of Bible interpretation. The Gospels, there are four of them, three of them basically take the same approach to the life of Jesus. Matthew, Mark ,and Luke. They're called synoptic because they see things from about the same perspective. Then the fourth Gospel, John, comes at it from a different perspective, but they all tell the same thing. We believe that all scriptures God-breathed is perfect, so therefore these are four perfect accounts of the life of Christ, but they have some differences with one another. When we have those differences between, let's say, Matthew and Mark, we harmonize. We don't pit them against each other, we put them together. We try to harmonize, and that's not always easy to do. Generally, I look on it as a two-for-one sale. I'm going to take both statements here as true, and if one of them tells me one thing, He said that and that's true, and if one of them tells something else, He said that, and I just harmonize, I put it together. I. Context: Jesus’ Prediction of the Destruction of the Temple Let's talk about the context here. We're moving through the Gospel of Mark. Mark 13 is Jesus's description of the history of the end of the world and the events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the end of the world. It came from a statement Jesus made in Mark 13:2: "Not one stone will be left on another. Everyone will be thrown down." This was a prediction of the destruction, at least of the Temple, but probably really of the whole city of Jerusalem and focused on the temple. It was the final week of Jesus's life. Things were hurdling to a conclusion, the dramatic turbulent events culminating in His arrest and His trial before the Jewish leaders. His condemnation by them is being handed over to Pontius Pilate for condemnation by the Romans and then His crucifixion by Pontius Pilate and the Romans. So that's where we're heading. Jesus has given a seven-fold denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, the spiritual leaders of the Jewish nation. It's fully depicted in Matthew 23. It's just quickly summarized in Mark. But it culminates in this statement in Matthew 23: 38-39, "Jesus says, 'Behold your house is left to you desolate.'" This is a very important statement—your house is left to you desolate. “Desolate” means “empty." The reason I'm saying that is, "For, I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say ‘Blessed is He comes in the name of the Lord.’" “Not seeing Me again” is the essence of your desolate house. That's what makes your house desolate. Then Jesus dramatically walked out of the Temple, never to return again. The disciples came up at that moment and chose that moment to talk about how beautiful the Temple was. We shouldn't be surprised at this. This is what the disciples, the apostles were like, frequently off message. This is who we are as well. “As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, teacher, what massive stones, what magnificent buildings.’ ‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another, every one will be thrown down.’" That must've been incredibly distressing to them. They come to Him later, privately, when He's out of the city, He's up on the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley, they're out of the city and they're there. As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, Matthew 24:3, “The disciples came to Him privately. 'Tell us,' they said, 'When will this happen and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?’" Matthew 24 and Mark 13 cover roughly the same ground, but Matthew 24, in much more detail. There's almost nothing found in Mark 13 that's not found in Matthew 24, and there are other things besides in Matthew 24, so I have my eye on both. Matthew 24 has the full question the disciples asked and the fuller answer that Jesus gives. The three parts of the question in Matthew 24 are, "Tell us, when will this happen?" And, "What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" The complexity of Matthew 24 and of Mark 13 comes in discerning and kind of to some degree, unweaving the tapestry of Jesus's answer. What is He talking about right now in this part? Is He talking about the destruction of Jerusalem in 870 AD by the Romans? Is He talking about the end of the world? What is it? They weave it through. Jesus, I believe, is giving a history of the world between His First and Second Comings. It's bigger than just the destruction of the Temple. Just to tell you, if you look at Mark 13:10, a key word for me in that is the word “first.” First. "This gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations." First before what? Before the destruction of the temple? That didn't happen. So clearly, Jesus's scope is bigger than the destruction of the Temple. He's looking at, I believe, all history, from the First to the Second Comings of Christ, and He's traveling and traversing that history. Look at verses 5-13, Mark 13. Jesus has said to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name claiming I am He and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There'll be earthquakes in various places and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. You must be on your guard. You'll be handed over to local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of Me, you'll stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them." Here's our focus verse, verse 10, "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given to you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents, and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." Last week, we traced out those thirteen verses and looked at the whole answer. Just to summarize, it begins with a warning against false teaching. He goes from that to a prediction of the ordinary convulsion of events of history, wars and rumors of wars. That happens in every generation, almost every year of history, nation rising against nation, kingdom against kingdom. That's all the time. There'll be famines, earthquakes, various places. He calls all this the beginning of birth pains. The birth pains means a terrible convulsion or pain resulting in something beautiful and wonderful. We're heading to a good destination, but we have a lot of pain to go through first. That's what “beginning of birth pain” means. Then He mentions persecution. They will be handed over to the local councils. They'll be flogged in synagogues. These will be opportunities for them to be witnesses to Him. They will testify to Jesus. "On account of me, you'll stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them." The flow of human history is a canvas on which the masterpiece of redemptive history is being painted. These commonplace convulsions, wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, arrests, trials, all of that is being sovereignly controlled to accomplish the spread of the Gospel, to accomplish the salvation of God's people, to accomplish the glory of God. That's what's going on here. It's amazing how God controls history even down to the micro-level, to achieve His purposes. I found a number of years ago a great example of this in the life of John Calvin. John Calvin is a great reformer who spent most of his life in Geneva, a great theologian, tremendous leader. However, he was not originally Swiss. Geneva is a city in Switzerland. He was French and he was basically a refugee, a religious refugee running for his life because he believed in the Reformation. The Catholic King of France was persecuting what they called Lutherans, and he was running for his life. By this time, he had already written a significant theological work, and he was on his way to the French city of Strasbourg. He had in mind a quiet life as a scholar. He was going to be quiet in his room and eat little bowls of gruel and write theology books, and that was going to be his life. That would've made him happy. He was that kind of person. At any rate, he was a scholar but already well known. Amazingly, en route to Strasbourg, he couldn't go there because an obscure war had broken out between the King of France and Charles the Fifth, the Holy Roman Emperor. It's not at all one of the most famous wars ever. It's one of those wars and rumors of wars that Jesus talked about. But as a result, the straight road to Strasbourg was blocked with troop movements. So here, this fleeing man, this refugee has to divert through the city of Geneva. At any rate, there he is in Geneva, and William Farel, who started a Reformation work there hears that Calvin is there, and he thinks this is just the guy that we need for the Reformation here in Geneva. He was right, but Calvin had no such intention. When Farel came and said, "I want you to work here in Geneva," he said, "No, no, I'm going to go have a quiet life writing books in Strasbourg." He didn't say it just like that, but it probably went something like that. After Farel tried to persuade him and wasn't successful, Farel rose up in what Calvin called intemperate zeal and threatened him with the judgment of God if he chose a quiet life of academia rather than taking part in the Reformation in Geneva. Calvin was wired to fear that kind of thing and said, "Okay, I guess I'll stay in Geneva,” and he did. He was there most of the rest of his life. What's my point? Wars and rumors of wars for a purpose. "Are you saying that God orchestrated a war between Catholic King Francis of France and Catholic King Charles the Fifth, so that John Calvin would end up in Geneva and not Strasbourg?" Yes, that's what I'm saying, and other things too. Other things too, but at least that. That's what God does. Isn't it amazing that history has a purpose? Even as it seems to be churning and random and destructive, God is at work in the midst of all of it. The central work of all of this is, "You will be witnesses for me. You'll be my witnesses. You are going to proclaim this gospel." Look at verse 10, "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." The power of the Holy Spirit is central to this mission. He said, "Do not worry ahead of time what to say, what to speak. It will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit." The Spirit is the driving orchestrator and force of the spread of the gospel, the third person of the Trinity, that is His role and He's extremely good at his job. As Acts 1:8 says, "You'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes in you and you'll be My witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria to the ends of the Earth." In the midst of all this, there'll be a tremendous amount of pain for the witnesses, painful betrayals, family relationships will be compromised. Your own closest relatives will turn their backs on you. "Everyone will hate you because of Me," Jesus says. Intense persecution, and that's what makes this journey so glorious. The courage, the boldness, the suffering, the willingness to pay the price. That's the story. That's big picture. II. A Command in Mark Let's zero in on the command, Mark 13:10, “And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." In Mark's version, Mark 13:10, it takes a command form, effectively. It's a command in Mark. It uses the Greek word “dei”, which means “it is necessary,” but that's frequently a command, a sense of a command. It is necessary for the Gospel first to be preached to all nations. What is the Gospel? The Gospel is the message of the kingdom of God with Jesus as the King of the kingdom of God. He's the centerpiece, he is the King, he's the Lord, he's the Savior. The Gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ and all that that means. That's what the Gospel of Mark has been unfolding all along. It's a message about the kingdom of God, that God is King. "What is the Gospel? The Gospel is the message of the kingdom of God with Jesus as the King of the kingdom of God. He's the centerpiece, he is the King, he's the Lord, he's the Savior. The Gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ and all that means." The kingdom is the spiritual realm where the subjects of the King are delighted to have God as their King, and they're pleased to obey Him and to follow Him. They're delighted about it. God's sovereignty over rebels is a different matter, but the advancing kingdom of God has to do with individuals who throw down their weapons of rebellion and come in gladly under the kingship of Christ. The Gospel is, as we've said before, God, man, Christ, response. That God created the universe, the heavens and the Earth, and as the Creator, He has the right to make laws and rules by which we live our lives. God, the Creator, God the King, God, the Lawgiver and God the Judge. That's God. Man, we are created in the image of God to have a relationship with Him, to have a love relationship with Him and to love each other, but we have sinned. We have broken the two Great Commandments. We have not loved God with all of our hearts, all mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We have sinned. Therefore, we stand under God's judgment, physical death, eternal death in hell. Christ is God's answer to that problem. The Son of God, fully God, fully man, born, took on human flesh. We celebrate it this time of year. He lived a sinless life under the laws of God. He died in our place as our substitute, a transfer of guilt effected. When we believe in Jesus, our guilt put on Jesus, He dies in our place, His righteousness is given to us, and that's the white robes that we're going to stand in on Judgment Day and for all eternity. The imputed righteousness of Christ, that's what Christ came to do. Then the response, we need to repent of our sins, turn away from our rebellion against God the King. Believe in Jesus, trust in Him, and we'll receive forgiveness of sins. That's the Gospel: God, man, Christ, response. It is necessary for that message to be preached, to be proclaimed to all nations. That's what He's saying. That has to happen first, before the end of the world. That's what first, first is tied to the end of the world. Why? Why is it necessary? Why don't I give you four reasons, four reasons why it is necessary for the Gospel. Let's keep it simple, because Christ the King commanded it. We'll start there. Christ told us to do this. These were his last words before He ascended back to heaven. The Great Commission, so-called, which is a commandment to all of His followers, to make disciples of all nations, is in all four Gospels, a different version but in all four Gospels and in Acts. The most famous version is Matthew 28, "Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and Earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age.’" To all nations in all eras of history, that's the Great Commission. It is necessary, therefore, that this happened because it is the will of God and of Christ for us. Secondly, it is necessary because the Gospel is the only way for sinners to be forgiven and reconciled to God. There is no other way. There is no other plan. The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Or as it says in Romans 10:12 -15, "There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then, can they call on one they have not believed in and how can they believe in one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they're sent?" As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News?’” That's the logic of missions. It's a logical work that Paul does in Romans 10, using a series of rhetorical questions, assuming negative answers. The statement is made worldwide, anyone in any nation on Earth who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus in faith will be saved. But how can someone call on someone they've not believed in? They can't do that, can they? No, of course, they can't. No one can believe in someone they've never heard of, can they? No, of course they can't. And no one can hear without someone preaching or proclaiming the message. No, they can't. Absolutely not. And no one can do that preaching unless they're sent out. Hence, the need for missions. That's the logic of missions, and it's the answer to why it is necessary for this Gospel to be proclaimed. Thirdly, it is necessary for the Gospel to be proclaimed to all nations because God has chosen people in every tribe and language and people and nation. They're called the Elect, chosen before the foundation of the world. God wants those people reached. Jesus said in John's Gospel, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. They must be brought in, and there'll be one flock and one shepherd." Those are people, not just Jews, but all the ends of the Earth. God has people out there. There will be people from every tribe, language, people, and nation. It's been ordained. They were chosen in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless and they have to be brought in, and the only way they're going to be brought in is by the preaching of the Gospel. That's the third reason. The fourth, it is necessary for the Gospel to be preached for the maximum glory of God. That's the ultimate reason for everything. It is for the glory of God that this be done. Ephesians 1:11-12 says, "In Him we're also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him, works out everything in conformity to the purpose of His will, in order that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of His glory, that we might be, exist, for the praise of His glory and that we might praise His glory, that we might ourselves notice His glory.” So we will be glory, and we will see glory, and we'll praise Him for it. That's the reason why. Or again, in Romans 15:9, "That the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy." So those are four reasons why it is necessary for the Gospel to be preached. To whom should the Gospel be preached? What we've already said, to all nations. To all nations, the Greek is “panta ta ethne”. The word “ethne” is from which we get the word “ethnic”, and that's the key. We as Protestants, as Evangelicals, we have had a progressive, growing understanding of missions over the last 500 years. Little by little by little, we've understood more and more clearly our obligation in this matter. For the first three centuries, the church just exploded all over the Roman Empire. People were going everywhere preaching the gospel. Apostles, non-apostles, everybody, and it was spreading everywhere. It went as far north as Scotland, it went as far south as Sub-Saharan Africa. There's clear evidence of this. It went as far east as India. It went as far west as Tarshish, which is like Gibraltar. It was all over the place, and the Gospel was spreading. However, once the Dark Ages fell and politics wove together with some form of Christianity, Christendom came about. We had the Crusades, which are the most abhorrent misconstrued incident of mission that's ever been in history; we still paying the price. But there was this mixture of church and state, and it was a mess. To make matters worse, the Gospel itself, for the most part, was lost in a false “gospel of works" religion. The Dark Ages fell, but praise God, the Reformation came and scraped away all that darkness and the Gospel was reclaimed. The Gospel of justification by faith alone, apart from works of law, was shining in those Protestant churches, Lutheran churches, Calvinist churches, the Anabaptist churches. But those folks weren't doing missions initially. They were really just trying to survive. Missions, at that point, was done mostly by Roman Catholics through the Jesuits, who were spreading the power of the Pope and of their Catholic kings, like the King of Spain and the King of Portugal to distant places like Japan and other places. But they didn't bring the true Gospel with them. Meanwhile, the Protestants continued to establish doctrine and to reach their own countries, but not doing missions. But God worked in Protestant churches, little by little, a clearer understanding of our obligation concerning missions in four key steps. The first step, or insight, comes from William Carey. He was a Baptist, a cobbler, a blue collar guy, and he wrote an incredible work called An Inquiry into the Obligation Christians Have to Use Means for the Evangelization of the Missions to the Heathen. Heathen will be pagans or lost people. He was a trailblazer in Protestant missions. The insight is that we Protestants should do missions. We should go to distant lands and share the Gospel. Not just the Jesuits should do that, we should do it. That was step one. Step two came from a leader named Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China. He went on his first missionary trip and just like most missionaries did in the mid-nineteenth century, he stayed on the coastlands such as Shanghai, port cities. He had a vision for the inland regions of China, teeming hundreds of millions of Chinese that had no hope of hearing the Gospel. He founded something called the China Inland Mission. So step number two is, we need to get off the coast and go into the dark heart of Africa, the dark heart of India and of China, and find people there who have no physical access to the Gospel. Step two, inland missions. Step three came from a leader at the end of the 19th century into the beginning of the 20th century named Cameron Townsend. He was a missionary in Latin America and South America. He was working with some tribal people, and they were doing all of their work in Spanish, the trade language. At one point, one of these tribal men said, "If your God is so smart, how come he doesn't speak my language?" Good question, right? Good question. So Cameron Townsend started a ministry called Wycliffe Bible Translators to get the Bible into the heart language of people all over the world, and that work continues to this very day. Insight number four came in the middle of the 20th century from a missionary leader named Donald McGavran, and he began to see that the issue wasn't reaching political nations, like nations that are represented at the United Nations. It had to do with understanding the word ethne as a people group, a group of people characterized by a language and a culture and a heritage and a self-identifying focus. And so that started the people group conception of the work. “Panta ta ethne” means to all people groups. Now, how many people groups are there in the world? No one knows, only God knows. It's very difficult to see lines of border and demarcation between people groups. Donald McGovern did his work in India, and there are probably at least 5,000 people groups, if not more, in India, but there's a lot of overlap. Joshuaproject.net, which you can go and check that out, they say 17,446. As an MIT engineer, I'm like, "I don't think there's that many significant figures." I would say roughly 18,000. or roughly 16,000. I don't think we can get down to 17,446. However, there's a lot. There's a lot of people groups. IMB has a smaller number of people groups. Then you go to the next level, which is “unreached people groups.” What are unreached people groups? It's defined as less than two percent evangelical in that nation. When I was a missionary to Japan, the Japanese were the largest unreached people group in the world, less than two percent evangelical. Since then, they've been superseded by another group. But that's a people group. That's what “unreached” means. “Unengaged,” another U is added, meaning, as far as the IMB knows, there is no effort to try to reach that people group. There's no one working on that, as far as they know. So you've got the UUPG, which is unengaged, unreached people groups. That's the focus. That's where the work should go. It is necessary for us to do that, for the church to do that. It is necessary for us to reach them with the Gospel. And this stands as a permanent command from our Lord and King Jesus Christ. "If you love Me, you'll keep my commandment." That's Mark 13:10, the command. III. A Prophecy in Matthew Look over at Matthew, where it comes across as a prophecy, or perhaps a promise. I'm okay with either one. Look what it says in Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as the testimony in all nations and then the end will come.” So prophecy, promise. What is Jesus saying there? "And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as the testimony of all nations, and then the end will come." The preaching of the Gospel to every tribe, language, people, and the nation is as guaranteed as the end of the world is. They're equally guaranteed. It's going to happen. This is a remarkable assertion by Jesus, more remarkable than not one stone left on another. Picture Jesus on that tiny little rocky outcropping there in the Mount of Olives surrounded by a band of followers that were frequently off message. You know those guys. Surrounded by a very small number of people saying, "This thing that we're doing here is going worldwide, everyone on Earth will hear about this." All peoples on Earth, all peoples, all nations will hear. That's incredible. Effectively, then, “the Jewish conception of their own kingdom will end, the Messianic kingdom, and My kingdom will be established and will reign for all eternity." That's awesome. How does He know that? He knows it because He's God, but He also knows it because the Old Testament scripture predicted that this would happen. God willing, next week, we'll look at Isaiah 49, but in Luke 24, "This is what is written. The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. And repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." It's going to happen. Which scriptures? Many. There are many scriptures. But I'm going to look at Isaiah 49 next week. Isaiah 49, 1 and 6, "Listen to me, you islands, hear this, you distant nations." Islands and nations, distant nations. God says to Jesus, "It is too small a thing for You to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make You," [Jesus] "a light for the Gentiles that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the Earth.” Jesus is actually not saying anything different than Isaiah the prophet said or that many other prophecies gave. Friends, this is a great encouragement. How does a team play if it's guaranteed, if they think they're absolutely going to win? They're going to play better than if they think they're going to lose. How does an army fight if they think ultimate victory is guaranteed? They fight better. We are going to win because Christ is going to win. This gospel is going to win. The task seems difficult. 3,150 unreached, unengaged, unreached people groups. None of them are easy to reach, or they would've been reached. They're in very difficult situations or places. I went through and thought about some of our units. If you guys don't know what the word “units” means, it means either a married couple, like a family or single. That's why we use the word units because some of them are single men and women, but sometimes family. We call them a mailing address or a group, a family unit. That's what we mean by it. I was reading about units in Turkey, 1.29 million practice Shia Islam. They speak North Levantine Arabic, a significant minority in Turkey. Their goal is to keep their Arabic culture alive in the secular Muslim state of Turkey and pass that on to their children and grandchildren. They mix elements of Sufism, which is Islamic mysticism and Shia Islam. Then we've got Thailand, where we have some units, I won't say their names, but they're there working, and there are people there that are following a certain flavor of Theravada Buddhism. Then in Bangladesh, overwhelmed with poverty, where we have another family unit there. People there are practicing Sunni Islam. They're tragically poor, and they're in darkness, in the grip of darkness. When we think about how difficult it is, and how long it takes to learn a language well enough to share the Gospel in it, and how long it takes to learn a culture, and how long it takes to make friendships, and then that whole journey, and then how long it takes to see one person cross over from darkness to light, that's the challenge in front of us. We need to be encouraged. Remember the lesson of the fig tree that we preached on a number of months ago? Mark 11:23-24, "Truly, I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he has said will happen, will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mountain moving, faith-filled prayer is made for the Great Commission. That's the mountain that needs to be moved. Remember what I said about prayer at that time. Prayer is not you giving God an idea He didn't have before or persuading Him to do something He didn't want to do. That's not what prayer is. Prayer is you learning from Scripture what God is doing in the world and asking Him to do what He has decreed and ordained to do but hasn't done yet. That's what it is. God has decreed and ordained that people from every tribe and language and people and nation will be standing in those white robes around that throne. That's what He's decreed. It is encouraging to see the progress of the Gospel. Those other signs, wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, those don't mark anything. They're characteristics of every generation. But the progress of the Gospel, that's like a ticking clock to the end of the world. If you were to put dots on a map all over the world of what we would consider to be healthy Bible-believing, gospel-preaching churches in the year 1550, where would you put the dots? It would be almost all Central and North Europe, 1550. If you advance 50 years later, [1600] you would see more dots in those same areas, but still nowhere else. If you put dots where you had healthy Bible-believing, gospel-preaching churches in 1650, by then you would have to add some North American colonies, in Virginia, and New England, and other places, and more over Europe, but nowhere else [1650]. If you advance another 50 years, many more dots up and down the 13 colonies. Many more dots in Europe, and nowhere else. By 1750, by then you had the Great Awakening, lots of dots all over the 13 colonies that eventually became the United States of America. You have some dots in the Caribbean where some Moravian missionaries went and sold themselves into slavery to preach the Gospel to the slave population there. Then, of course, Central and North Europe, some in the Catholic areas in Europe as well, but nowhere else. By 1800, William Carey's in India. So you put a dot there. But all the rest, just more dots in those same areas. As the new country of the United States spreading westward, there's more dots there, et cetera. In 50 more years, unbelievable. The 19th century, called the great century of missions, and they started to explode. By this time you've got Hudson Taylor in the inland regions. You've got dots in China. You've got a lot more dots in India, definitely dots in Burma. Because by the time Adoniran Judson finished his work, there were 25,000 baptized Burmese Christians. Now in 1850 there are dots all over. And by this time you can start putting them in Sub-Saharan Africa and other places. Add another 50 years, 1900, the great century of missions has ended. You got churches all over Asia, Mongolia, India, Burma, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa. In 50 more years, post-World War II, you've got the Gospel spreading to the islands of South Pacific, Irian Jaya, and Papua New Guinea. Soldiers that had fought there then went back to some of those places with the Gospel. Remarkable. 50 years later, the year 2000, the map's covered with dots, the entire world map. There's not a political nation on earth that doesn't have a healthy church. Not one. All the nations, I don't know how many nations are in the United Nations,230 some odd, all of them have some healthy church planted. But still, you've got those unreached people groups. So big picture, I can't tell you this progression without smiling. We are winning, the Gospel's spreading. The Holy Spirit is good at His job. He puts a compulsion on people, and they go where He wants them to go, and they lay down their lives as He wants them to, and the Gospel spreads. But there's still work to be done. I'm not going to burden you with statistics, that would be hard to communicate. But there's been a kind of a flattening of mission endeavor over the last 10 or 15 years. It's a little discouraging as you look, and it's just a narrow window, but missionary thinker Ralph Winter said, "More of the same will not get it done.” The burden is laid on churches like us and many other churches around the world to recommit ourselves to missions, recommit ourselves to the work left to be done, and to give sacrificially as we are called to do. IV. Applications First and foremost, if you're here listening to this mission sermon, but you came in here not a Christian, your work is to believe in Jesus. No point in talking about missions if you're lost. First and foremost, you've heard the gospel: God, man, Christ, response. I'm calling on you while there's time, repent and believe in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. If you're already a Christian, understand both the command in Mark 13 and the promise or the prophecy in Matthew 24. Take it seriously. This is the command laid on us, but rejoice in the sovereignty of Christ to get it done. Be confident in the final outcome. The Lord is going to win. He will be glorified. I'm looking forward to all eternity of hearing those stories. It's going to be phenomenal. Pray confidently in the spirit of Matthew 9 for more laborers, laborers in the harvest field. Churches like ours send out two precious commodities to the mission field: people and money. That's what IMB does. We gather people, and we gather money from Southern Baptist churches and point them strategically in directions. The Lottie Moon Christmas offering that we take every Christmas, our goal is $150,000. The Southern Baptist Convention exists in part for that. It was originated for that, and it's why we do. It's the crown jewel, I think, of our cooperation with Baptist churches all over the country. We pool resources to do a job too big for any one church to do. We couldn't afford to send very many fully-supported missionaries, just one church, to these various places. So we pool resources with thousands of churches. Truly, 100% of the money you give to Lottie Moon goes to missions. I was a trustee for nine years. What that means is we take more money in than Lottie Moon. It takes more money than Lottie Moon to put those missionaries on the field. I don't know how they tag dollars that go... Whatever, it gets pooled. The point is, the budget is bigger than the Lottie Moon offering. Where does the rest of the money come from? It comes from something called the Cooperative Program, where throughout the year, 12 months a year, we pool resources and a chunk of that goes to missions as well. A hundred percent of your giving goes, and our goal is $150,000. What I always say to you as a member of this church is engage, pray about your financial giving. We also have the opportunity through our home fellowships and through just your own initiative to get to know our friends that are serving overseas. We live in an iPhone or a smartphone world. You can contact them and be with them real-time. I FaceTime with these folks. You can find out what they're going through, support them, pray for them. I'm going to end this time now in prayer, and then we can get ready for the Lord's Supper. Father, thank You for the message that we have heard, the Gospel message of the Gospel going to the ends of the Earth and to the end of time. Now as we turn our hearts to the Lord's Supper, we thank You for the Word that we've heard and for the ordinance we're about to partake in. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Ralph Winter championed the paradigm shift of Unreached People Groups almost 50 years ago, urging the church to focus on the cultures that have the least access to the gospel. Several of the critiques that were offered in the 1970s have recently re-emerged under the banner of deconstructionism. Is missions inherently based in colonialism and white supremacy? Does immigration and globalization displace the need for sending cross-cultural missionaries? Matthew Ellison and Ted Esler discuss the impact of deconstructionism on the future of missions in this episode of The Mission Matters podcast. https://tedesler.substack.com/p/shifting-narratives-of-missions

If your kids like Pokemon, there's a new version of the Bible you will want them to experience!

Ralph Winter has produced some of the most popular films in Hollywood over the past 20 years. He's taking his passion for using new media...

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In this episode Barry chats to Ralph Winter, Managing Director of Moho Resources (ASX:MOH)

This episode is filled with interesting stories of Greg sharing the life of him as mission-mobilizers, where they began the journey when mobilization was not very much heard of. His love for mission resources is evident in his excitement as he speaks of the different materials available. He encourages his listeners to pray for the diasporas and the unreached daily with use of prayer guides. He invites his listeners to engage in missions as a mobilizer, or as an ‘along-sider', through helping other people walk into their global mission. The field is ripe and ready. About Greg Parsons Greg and Kathleen joined the staff of the U.S. Center for World Mission (USCWM) in 1982, now called Frontier Ventures.Greg was the Director of the USCWM from 1990-2010. Now his role as Director of Global Connections takes him around the globe to meet, learn from and serve leaders. Greg also serves as the Chancellor and Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies at William Carey International University. He teaches and speaks in churches and in the course, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. He also writes a regular column in Mission Frontiers magazine, the bulletin of Frontier Ventures. He is working on several books and serves on several boards including Missio Nexus. More about Frontier Ventures Formerly known as the U.S. Center for World Mission founded by Dr. Ralph Winter, FV is the birth place of the Perspectives course, Global Prayer digest, Mission frontiers Magazine, and many more. In 2015 The U.S. Center for World Mission and the Frontier Mission Fellowship were joined together again as one entity, known today as Frontier Ventures. https://www.frontierventures.org/ Powered by Firstory Hosting

Welcome to Episode 6 of The Sync Report Podcast with this week's guest; award-winning film producer Byron A. Martin. 2 Sense  Music presents The Sync Report, where you will meet industry experts and top level songwriters as we pull the curtain back on music placement and scores, build vital relationships and provide real opportunities to our listeners. Listen to indie filmmakers present their latest productions and describe specific scenes as they consider music submitted by our audience. Hosted by music supervisor and former Sony Epic Executive Jason P. Rothberg and the Godmother of Indie Films, Rose Ganguzza, and actor & musician Colin O'Donoghue. Multi award winning film, TV and documentary producer, Byron A. Martin joined us to talk about filmmaking. Canadian based Byron has managed and produced over three-hundred million dollars in productions in over 30 countries and has worked on some of Hollywood's major blockbusters including X-Men, Resident Evil, The Chronicles of Riddick and American Pie.  Under his company Byron A. Martin Productions Inc., Byron has managed productions for many of Hollywood's major studios, networks, and leading producers, including Disney, Sony, Universal, Turner, Bell Media, Lifetime and Crown Media.  Byron has managed numerous feature films for some of Hollywood's leading producers including Jerry Bruckheimer, Sam Raimi, Raffaella De Laurentis, Laurence Mark, John Singleton, Mark Canton, Lauren Shuler Donner, Dick Wolf, Ralph Winter and Don Carmody. In 2011, Resident Evil: Afterlife (3D) was awarded The Golden Reel Award earning over $280 million worldwide making it the most successful feature film in Canadian history.  He has received the Norman Jewison FIlmmaker award twice and has been honored as the Best Independent Film Producer, Canada in 2016, 2017 and in 2021. In 2019, Corporate Vision Magazine honored his company with a Canadian Business Award naming it "Best Canadian Producer 2019" and in 2021 they honored his company with the Media Innovator Award. Byron A. Martin  | Social Media Website Vimeo IG Facebook Twitter IMDB LinkedIn Music. Music from our featured artists for this episode: “Under the city” by: Electron Love Theory  “See You Again” (Ivy States Remix)  by: Nick Cattier & Ivy States  “Reckless” by: JjM (featuring Nomae) “You Are” by Moshin Zaman   “We Found A Way” By: On Wednesday & Vessy Mink  Music is the difference between a good film and a great one.  Please tell your friends about us, and remember to rate, comment, & subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts and across all platforms.   And find us at The Sync Report here TSR Website  Facebook  Instagram Twitter Youtube Linkedin Tik Tok 

In this episode Ralph and Paul have the privilege to interview Ralph Winter. Ralph Winter have proven to be one of Hollywood's most profitable assets, producing motion pictures and television. Winter produced the first X-MEN films, Tim Burton's PLANET OF THE APES, the FANTASTIC FOUR movies, and WOLVERINE: ORIGINS. In 2013 he Executive Produced THE GIVER, starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Katie Holmes, Alex Skarsgard, and Taylor Swift, directed by Phillip Noyce for Weinstein and Walden Media. Also CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON: THE GREEN DESTINY, filmed in New Zealand for release with Netflix and Weinstein, starring Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh. Outside the majors, Ralph has made various indie movies. CAPTIVE, starring David Oyelowo and Kate Mara, based on the true story of Ashley Smith, a single mom, taken hostage by a convict, Brian Nichols, after he escaped from jail. Released by Paramount Pictures in September 2015. Last year in Spain, Malta, and Portugal Ralph finished shooting, THE PROMISE with Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac, and Terry George (HOTEL RWANDA) directing. An epic love story set against WWI and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, this is the story of the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Last year Ralph produced a pilot, ALTERED CARBON ("Bladerunner meets Game of Thrones") as a series for Netflix. And now beginning a movie in Fiji and New Zealand, ADRIFT, starring Shailene Woodley, directed by Baltasar Kormakur (EVEREST, THE DEEP, 2GUNS) for release in 2018. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gwendolyn-black/support

5:50-6:10 “Ralph talks about William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy soliciting his advice” 10:26-10:40 How Ralph Made Sure To Make Himself Indispensable by being the original Amazon Prime13:00-13:30: Work Commitment is vital 23:15-23:47 Changing Times at the Paramount Lot 24:45-26:35 Ralph Worked on Captain Ron 27:46-29:45 The Famous Frappucino Story on X-Men 2 32:20-33:40 This is what a line producer does- he says no. 52:24-53:43 Christians in Hollywood

Lee is joined by movie producer Ralph Winter whose career has involved working on the X-Men franchise, Hocus Pocus, Mighty Joe Young, and much more but today focuses on his involvement in the Star Trek movie series working on The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home, The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country.

Lee is joined by movie producer Ralph Winter whose career has involved working on the X-Men franchise, Hocus Pocus, Mighty Joe Young, and much more but today focuses on his involvement in the Star Trek movie series working on The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home, The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country.

For Episode #100, Ken welcomes back Co-Founder and President of Culture Connection, Inc., Scott Young. To celebrate, the two focus on finding the sacred in the most unlikely places. They follow Scott's career, from a period of spiritual and intellectual awakenings in his hometown of Escondido, CA. From there, Scott completes college and seminary to become a chaplain on several major university campuses. We talk about influencers like Vernon Grounds (then President of Denver Seminary), Harvey Cox, theologians Barth and Brunner, African American Evangelist, Tom Skinner, social justice advocate, and evangelical Rene Padilla, Urbana conferences in the 1970s, Bill Pannell at Fuller Theological Seminary, The City of Angels Film Festival, Andy Warhol, Martin Sheen, film critic Sister Rose Pacatte and Ralph Winter of X-Men and Fantastic Four fame. Finally, they catch up on Scott's journey since our first interview - remembering his son Josh. SHOW NOTESSupport the show (http://thebeachedwhitemale.com)

If your kids like Pokemon, there’s a new version of the Bible you will want them to experience!

Ralph Winter has produced some of the most popular films in Hollywood over the past 20 years. He’s taking his passion for using new media...

THIS VOYAGE, the Treksperts, MARK A. ALTMAN (writer/producer, Pandora, The Librarians, Castle) and DAREN DOCHERMAN (visual effects supervisor, Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Director's Edition) are joined by legendary filmmaker, RALPH WINTER, producer of The Search For Spock, The Voyage Home, The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country who shares incredible, never-before-heard stories about the making of these classic Star Trek films as well as the unmade Academy Years prequel. If you only listen to one episode of the Treksperts this year, make it this one! New episodes of INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS available every Friday. And don't miss our in-depth curated episode audio commentaries on TREKSPERTS BRIEFING ROOM wherever you listen to podcasts. **THIS WEEK ON OUR SISTER PODCAST, it's an all-new audio commentary for "CHAIN OF COMMAND, PART TWO" with special guest BRIAN VOLK-WEISS as we see four lights. Only on the TREKSPERTS BRIEFING ROOM. AVAILABLE WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO PODCASTS.** Learn all that is learnable about Star Trek in Mark A. Altman & Edward Gross' THE FIFTY-YEAR MISSION, available in hardcover, paperback, digital and audio from St. Maritn's Press. And if you're a James Bond fan, don't miss NOBODY DOES IT BETTER, in hardcover, paperback, digital and audio from Forge Books. And coming this July, it's SECRETS OF THE FORCE, an unauthorized, uncensored oral history of STAR WARS! Follow Inglorious Treksperts and Treksperts Briefing Room at @inglorioustrek on Twitter, Facebook and at @inglorioustreksperts on Instagram. #StarTrek #TOS #TAS #TNG #DS9 #VOY #ENT #DISCO #PICARD #LLAP #comics #IDW #Marvel #DC #GoldKey #Discovery #Superman #STTMP #StarWars #WinterIsComing #TWOK #TFF During the pandemic, we are still recording remotely and not in the studio. As a result, the quality of the audio may not be up to our usual high standards. We trust you will nursemaid us through these difficulties. Please stay healthy and safe... and keep on Trekkin' - ingloriously, of course!

Ralph Winter is a film and television producer. He has worked on some classic movies...Star Trek, X-man, Planet of the Apes...and cult classics from my generation like Hocus Pocus and Hackers. We had a chat about the future of film making, crazy Star Trek fans sneaking by security, and the current state of the church. Enjoy the chat!

Coffee with Samso Episode 66 with Ralph Winter, Director of Moho Resources Limited (ASX: MOH)   Moho Resources Limited (ASX: MOH) is another step closer to realising its ambition to mine East Samson Dam   In the junior mineral resource sector continue to blossom in the sunshine of happy investors, Moho Resources continues to gear up to be a self funded explorer. Work continues at the East Samson Dam project to provide technical guidance for their upcoming JORC resource.   In this current episode of Coffee with Samso, Ralph Winter shares with us what is happening with the company since the last time we had a coffee. Here is a list of the conversation,   Drilling confirms consistency at East Samson Dam Exploration work at Burracoppin has started and there appears to be some early success in vectoring mineralisation. Water samples form Empress Springs have shown to be effective in delineating mineralisation models. Ongoing exploration planning for the projects.

Ralph Winter's produced 4 X-Men films including Wolverine, the Fantastic Four franchise, Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, family favorites Hocus Pocus and Captain Ron. A fascinating episode for everyone and anyone who loves Movies!

Hollywood producer and media consultant Phil Cooke shares inspirational career advice and action steps for long term success in your career or ministry. https://philcooke.com Shared first at the 2019 O2 Network Conference at The Bridge Church Denton, this talk includes practical tips from successful people in the film and television industry as well as major ministry leaders to help you finish strong in what God has called you to do.   Please Like, Favorite and Share this video!   Get my new book: Maximize Your Influence – How to Make Digital Media Work for Your Church, Your Ministry, and You https://influencematters.com   Subscribe to My YouTube Channel and Get More Great Advice https://www.youtube.com/c/philcookeofficial?sub_confirmation=1 New episodes are uploaded every other Tuesday. Make sure to Subscribe and hit the Notification bell to be notified when they go live.   Prefer audio? Listen to my Podcast here: https://apple.co/2XbMgDL   Do you have a message or story the world needs to hear? As a Hollywood producer and media consultant, I offer advice for leaders and creatives each week on filmmaking, digital media, publishing, strategy, communication, leadership, culture and faith – to take you from where you are to where you want to be in your career.   Follow me: Twitter https://twitter.com/philcooke Facebook https://www.facebook.com/philcookepage/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/philcooke/ Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/philcookes-podcast/id1439369056  Find out about Cooke Media Group here: https://www.cookemediagroup.com   Other Videos to Watch: Maximize Your Influence – Phil Cooke’s New Book https://youtu.be/Xk4C255iyJs The Power of Serendipity for Creative Teams https://youtu.be/NuYj3fnp0QU 10 Commandments of Starting a Broadcast Television Media Ministry https://youtu.be/T0tfZLqWjsM   Other Great Resources: -Sign up for my blog and get a free eBook at https://www.philcooke.com -Get Phil’s “Unique: The Ultimate Planner for Creative Professionals” https://amzn.to/3m0JRs2 (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support my channel and allows us to continue making videos like this. Thank you for the support!)   -Find out more about The Bridge Denton and the O2 Conference: http://www.findthebridge.com/   *More About This Episode* Career Advice: Inspiration and Action Steps to Finish Well in Your Creative Career or Ministry “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 NIV   What’s the difference between the people who fail and the ones who have long successful careers or ministry? With input from a number of creative and ministry leaders Phil offers practical action steps to help you have a long-term career. Includes tips from Dick Cook, former Walt Disney Studios chairman, Mark Zoradi, CEO of Cinemark, Ralph Winter, producer of X-Men, Star Trek series and more Hollywood film and television, David McFadzean, producer of Home Improvement, Warren Buffet, Oral Roberts and more!   Write things down. Phil carries several apps, note cards and his own Unique: The Ultimate Planner for Creative Professionals to write ideas down as they come to him.   Default to action. Successful people would rather make a wrong decision than no decision at all. As God told Gideons, “Go in the strength that you have…” Judges 6:14   Be willing to take the hits. Take responsibility for bad ideas, stop blaming God, and move on.   Be ruthless about your time. Dreaming is great, but doing is what increases influence. If God has called you to do something significant in your life, you’ve got to say no to things.   For example, Jesus walked away from certain villages and towns. The power of no can clarify your life in ways you can never imagine.   Stop making decisions. Avoid decision fatigue by delegating and streamlining your decision-making process. The worst thing you can possibly do is make a great decision about something that doesn’t matter!   Discover your one big thing. Discover what you were born to do! It’s not about passion, it’s about figuring out what God wired you to do.   Understand the power of your story. Your story matters and how you integrate that story into your work is going to be the key for your breakthrough in your career or ministry.   Remember, God was willing to sacrifice His Son to win your story back and there’s somebody that needs to hear it.

For more information regarding COVID-19 and available health services in Canada, call 1-833-784-4397 or visit canada.ca/coronavirus.  Special thanks to Zencastr who made it possible for us to record this episode while practicing physical distancing in separate locations. Rarely has there been a movie series that got progressively better as each installment comes out. This is even rarer when the series is in fact a spinoff of another movie series. But we think we've found one. Join us as we dive into the highs and lows of the "Wolverine" movies starring Hugh Jackman. Music and audio from "X-Men" is the property of Michael Kamen, Lauren Shuler-Donner, Ralph Winter, Marvel Entertainment, The Donners' Company, and Bad Hat Harry Productions. Music and audio from "X-Men: The Animated Series" is the property of Shuki Levy, Noam Kaniel, Eric Lewald, Sidney Iwanter, Mark Edens, Will Meugniot, Saban Entertainment, Graz Entertainment, and AKOM. Music and audio from "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is the property of Harry Gregson-Williams, Lauren Shuler-Donner, Ralph Winter, Hugh Jackman, John Palermo, Marvel Entertainment, The Donners' Company, and Seed Productions. Music and audio from "The Wolverine" is the property of Marco Beltrami, Lauren Shuler-Donner, Hutch Parker, Marvel Entertainment, The Donners' Company, and TSG Entertainment. Music and audio from "Logan (2017)" is the property of Marco Beltrami, Lauren Shuler-Donner, Simon Kinberg, Hutch Parker, TSG Entertainment, Kinberg Genre, The Donners' Company, Hutch Parker Entertainment, and Marvel Entertainment.  The intro and outro music was created by Cackles and Jeremy Eckert. We thank them for their generous support of this podcast. Check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/batjarpodcast. Invite your friends to like our page! You can contact us at @thebatcookiejar on Twitter or you can send an e-mail to batjarpodcast@gmail.com.

Act One Podcast - Episode 01 - Interview with film producer, Ralph Winter. Ralph Winter is an American film producer who has helped to produce blockbuster movies such as the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Star Trek series as well as I, Robot and Planet of the Apes. His films have grossed collectively over $2 billion (USD). Winter is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (From Wikipedia) The Act One Podcast provides insight and inspiration about the business and craft of Hollywood from a Christian perspective.Support the show (https://actoneprogram.com/donate/)

$100M films or $50K films, Ralph does them both.Over the last 30+ years, Ralph Winter has produced Star Trek, the X-Men franchise, and Fantastic Four while also delving into micro-budget faith-based films such as Captive and Thr3e.He chats with Tanya Musgrave about his experience on big-budget films about the elements that have to be present for the success of small-budget films, and why big doesn't always mean success.Watch the full episodeGet the latest the There To Here: Film & Media Podcast sent to you Find more podcasts from CoLab INC Film & Media Follow us on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter YouTube

Filming on location? Find out what Hollywood filmmakers can’t live without. Producer Phil Cooke https://philcooke.comshares his essential list and what other directors and producers (including X-Men producer Ralph Winter) keep in their location film kit.   Subscribe to My Podcast for more good advice for leaders and creatives: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/phil-cooke-podcast/id1439369056   Prefer video? Watch the YouTube edition here: https://youtu.be/MQtUIHoxaks   Do you have a message or story the world needs to hear? As a Hollywood producer and media consultant, I offer advice for leaders and creatives each week on filmmaking, digital media, publishing, strategy, communication, leadership, culture and faith – to help you get from where you are to where you want to be in your career.   More about this episode: 3 Things You Need When Filming on Location Over the years, I’ve produced and directed programming on location in more than 60 countries around the world.  For producers, directors and any film crew that spends lots of time on a film or video set – particularly in far away places – there are certain things you just don’t leave behind.  Filmmaking novices could do well to learn what more experienced filmmakers consider “must have” items during a shoot.     For me?  The top 3 would probably be my laptop (I’m always writing), a raincoat, and a great bag.  In fact, I’m a little obsessive about bags and have way more than I should.  But on location, a bag is my office, so I’m not afraid to spend money for one that does what I need. So I asked some other experienced professionals what were the top 3 absolutely “must have” items they take to every location.     Here’s a few answers: From Stu Hazeldine, Director of the upcoming feature film “The Shack:”Script in a leather binder. Director’s Viewfinder. Blundstone boots. From Lisa Swain, formerly Production Coordinator on films like “Big Fish,” “Anger Management,” and “Face/Off” and now Associate Professor of Cinema at Biola University:   Sharpie. Swiss Army pocket knife. Chapstick.   From Korey Pollard, Assistant Director of “House,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Nashville,” “CSI,” and “Monk:” Charlie Peacock’s West Coast Diaries. My Bible. AA meeting list.   And when I asked Ralph Winter, Producer of films like “X-Men,” “Wolverine,” “Planet of the Apes,” “The Promise,” and “Altered Carbon” from Netflix, he couldn’t stick to 3 items, but since he produces $100 million plus movies in all kind of challenging conditions, I let him explain: From years of traveling, I build several “go” bags, that are always ready. Probably too much to explain here. But for instance: Snow bag: heavy gear, sweat shirts, sweaters, hats, gloves, boots, various levels of socks, scarves, etc. Hockey size bag, good to –20 degrees. Ready for Fedx with manifest to any country. Computer gear: backup laptop updated exact copy of working laptop; backup drives (3); various cables, power supply for apartment, office, trailer; Apple TV; older but spare Apple Extreme for use in apartment; Blu-ray NTSC drive with USB for laptop (otherwise a problem in countries like Spain, which are PAL); computer repair tools (several packets). Phone gear: separate iPhone 6+ for local sim card (everything else syncs with iCloud and iTunes); phone repair tools and various covers. Passport, Global Entry, Nexus cards; local currency which I have built up over the years; never know when you need cash for taxi, or a favor. Reduce wallet size: I take only specific credits cards that I will use on location, leaving others at home so they don’t get lost. Cards in my wallet I make of and keep copy in office and home, in case of loss. Always carry a pocket knife (good site for this is www.everydaycarry.com ) but this is in packed luggage of course, along with cigar lighter, cutter, etc. – Ralph Winter Everyone’s list is worth considering.  What are the 3 things you can’t live without on a shoot?   Schedule: New episodes are uploaded every other Tuesday. Make sure to Subscribe and hit the Notification bell to be notified when they go live.   Other Great Resources: Ralph Winter’s suggested website: https://everydaycarry.com Sign up for my blog and get a free eBook on creativity at https://www.philcooke.com   Get my “Unique: The Ultimate Planner for Creative Professionals” https://amzn.to/2M2ixNo (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support my channel and allows us to continue making videos like this. Thank you for the support!)   Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already at https://www.youtube.com/c/philcookeofficial?sub_confirmation=1   Follow me: Twitter https://twitter.com/philcooke Facebook https://www.facebook.com/philcookepage/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/philcooke/ Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/philcookes-podcast/id1439369056  Find out about Cooke Media Group here: https://www.cookemediagroup.com

He's produced 4 X-Men movies, 4 Star Trek movies, 2 Fantastic Fours, the Planet of the Apes reboot, The Promise with Oscar Isaac & Christian Bale, and many, many more. Steve Reiter sits down with veteran Hollywood producer Ralph Winter and finds out, how did Ralph get his start, what changes has he seen during his years in Hollywood, what a producer actually does, and much, much more. Ralph's IMDB Page: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003515/ —————————————— Be sure to click 'Subscribe' on your favorite podcast app, so you don't miss an episode and please share this with someone. Get a 7-day free trial of Blinkist: http://holysmokes.club/blink Make a tax-deductible donation via PayPal: paypal.me/holysmokesclub Or learn more about our Patreon support page, check it out here: https://www.patreon.com/holysmokes Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/holysmokescigarclub

Known for X-Men, Star Trek and Fantastic Four franchises, Hollywood producer Ralph Winter’s projects have grossed over $2 billion. In this interview with Phil Cooke https://philcooke.com, Ralph shares behind the scenes stories plus tips for up and coming producers on how to leverage their talents in the film and television industry.   Subscribe to My Podcast for more good advice for leaders and creatives: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/phil-cooke-podcast/id1439369056    Prefer video? Watch the YouTube edition here: https://youtu.be/DjSnJKR5FL4   Do you have a message or story the world needs to hear? As a Hollywood producer and media consultant, I offer advice for leaders and creatives each week on filmmaking, digital media, publishing, strategy, communication, leadership, culture and faith – to help you get from where you are to where you want to be in your career.   More about this episode: X-Men Producer Ralph Winter Interview Ralph Winter shares his journey from making industrial videos to becoming a top Hollywood producer. Find out how to leverage your talents and experiences to become a valuable asset in the film and television industry with these behind the scenes stories from some of his movie successes. Includes tips on team building, casting vision, and finding stories and IP that studios are looking for.   Ralph has proven to be one of Hollywood’s most profitable assets, producing motion pictures and television. Winter produced the first three X-MEN films, Tim Burton’s PLANET OF THE APES, the FANTASTIC FOUR movies, and WOLVERINE: ORIGINS with Hugh Jackman.  In 2013, Ralph Executive Produced THE GIVER, starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Katie Holmes, Alex Skarsgard, and Taylor Swift, directed by Phillip Noyce.  Also CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON: THE GREEN DESTINY, filmed in New Zealand and China for Netflix’s first original movie, starring Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh.     Outside the majors, Ralph has made various indie movies.  CAPTIVE, starring David Oyelowo and Kate Mara, based on the true story of Ashley Smith, released by Paramount Pictures.  In Spain, Malta, and Portugal, Ralph produced THE PROMISE with Christian Bale and Oscar Issac, with Terry George (HOTEL RWANDA) directing.  An epic love story set against WWI and the fall of the Ottoman Empire; this is the story of the Armenian Genocide in 1915.   Recently Ralph executive produced the pilot of ALTERED CARBON (“Blade Runner meets Game of Thrones”) for a series at Netflix released in February 2018. And a movie in Fiji and New Zealand, ADRIFT, starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin, directed by Baltasar Kormakur (EVEREST, THE DEEP, 2 GUNS).   Currently he is producing a series for FX called HUE 1968, based on the book of the same name, about the key battle in the Vietnam War. Michael Mann (THE INSIDER, COLLATERAL, LAST OF THE MOHICANS) is writing, directing, and executive producing this 9-episode high profile series in Thailand, shooting this November.   A graduate of UC Berkeley, Ralph is active in community affairs and performing arts projects, speaks in the US, overseas at universities and film festivals, and serves on several film advisory boards.  He is an active member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the DGA, and the PGA. Follow Ralph Winter on Twitter @rwinter1955   Schedule: New episodes are uploaded every Tuesday. Make sure to Subscribe and hit the Notification bell to be notified when they go live.   Other Great Resources: Sign up for my blog and get a free eBook on creativity at https://www.philcooke.com Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already at https://www.youtube.com/c/philcookeofficial?sub_confirmation=1   Follow me: Twitter https://twitter.com/philcooke Facebook https://www.facebook.com/philcookepage/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/philcooke/ Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/philcookes-podcast/id1439369056  Find out about Cooke Media Group here: https://www.cookemediagroup.com 

Barry talks with Moho Resources (ASX:MOH) commercial director, Ralph Winter.

Average Joe teams up with Ben the Movie Buff to battle 20th Century Fox and writer/director Simon Kinberg's final nail in the coffin for the X-Men film franchise "Dark Phoenix". How does this film continue to mistakes of the other X-Men prequels? What is it about the film that comes off as lazy and ultimately disappointing? What factors influenced the development and production of this movie? Is there anything good about it? To avoid SPOILERS for "Dark Phoenix", skip over 53:23-1:12:32 of the episode. Fast Forward sound effect used in this episode were created by TeenEditingSpace. Check out his channel on YouTube. Music and audio from "X-Men: The Animated Series" is the property of Ron Wasserman, Shuki Levy, Eric Lewald, Sidney Iwanter, Mark Edens, Saban Entertainment, Graz Entertainment, and AKOM. Music and audio from "X-Men" is the property of Michael Kamen, Laura Shuler-Donner, Ralph Winter, Marvel Entertainment, The Donners' Company, and Bad Hat Harry Productions. Music and audio from "Dark Phoenix" is the property of Hans Zimmer, Simon Kinberg, Hutch Parker, Laura Shuler-Donner, 20th Century Fox, The Donners' Company, TSG Entertainment, and Marvel Entertainment. The intro and outro music was created by Cackles and Jeremy Eckert. We thank them for their generous support of this podcast. Check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/batjarpodcast. Invite your friends to like our page! You can contact us at @thebatcookiejar on Twitter or you can send an e-mail to batjarpodcast@gmail.com. 

For decades, missiologists have assumed the priority of the “unreached”—and for good reason—building entire organizational strategies around it. But do we need to redefine this term? Matthew Bennett, Ph.D., former IMB missionary and current Assistant Professor of Missions and Theology at Cedarville University, weighs in. In a recent article, Matthew argues that we've taken the arbitrary 2-percent definition of “unreached” too far, countering that we need to consider both unreached people groups and unreached places. He also argues in another piece that we must shift our focus from “finishing the task” to being faithful in the constant disciple-making mandate. In this interview, we ask Matthew about the history of UPG emphasis and talk about Ralph Winter, Donald McGavran, and how the homogeneous unit principle morphed from description into prescription. Finally, we discuss the importance of unhitching our missiology from a narrow conception of eschatology so that we can focus on our present callings. Nerds, this episode is for you. (And everyone else too, of course. We promise.) Dr. Matthew Bennett joined the faculty at Cedarville University in fall 2017 after serving and living in North Africa and the Middle East since 2011. He currently teaches The Bible and the Gospel, Theology I, Urban Missiology, Contemporary World Missions, Global Theology, and World Religions. You can listen to our preview interview with Matthew here. Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions. Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email alex@missionspodcast.com. Powered by ABWE International.

Terry and Steve take on the "biggest and most ambitious Christian film ever made" with their Left Behind (2000) VHS Movie Review. Can Kirk Cameron save their souls or will they get LEFT BEHIND?!? Quick FactsDirector: Vic SarinProducers: Joe Goodman, Paul Lalonde, Peter Lalonde, and Ralph WinterWriters: Joe Goodman, Paul Lalonde, and Alan B. McElroyBased on Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. JenkinsBudget: $4 millionBox Office: $4.2 millionRelease Date: October 31, 2000 (video) and February 2, 2001 (theatrical)Distributor: Cloud Ten Pictures CastKirk Cameron as Cameron "Buck" WilliamsBrad Johnson as Rayford SteeleGordon Currie as UN Secretary-General Nicolae CarpathiaJanaya Stephens as Chloe SteeleClarence Gilyard Jr as Bruce BarnesChelsea Noble as Hattie DurhamColin Fox as Chaim Rosenzweig Left Behind Summary On an overseas flight to London, journalist Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron) and pilot Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson) are caught in the middle of the most incredible event in history. Suddenly, without warning, dozens of passengers simply vanish into then air. But it doesn't stop there. It soon becomes clear that millions of people are missing from around the world. As chaos and anarchy engulf the world, both men set out on vastly different paths in a desperate search for answers. Based on the New York Times best-selling novel, Left Behind is overflowing with suspense, action and adventure. This riveting motion picture will take you on a spellbinding journey through the most mysterious book of the Bible - The Book of Revelation. TrailersRevelation with Jeff FaheyTribulation with Gary BuseyJudgment with Corbin BernsenPost CreditsLeft Behind Film Project with Kirk CameronMidnight Cry Music Video by All-Star Choir  Trivia-According to the "Making of..." documentary, Chelsea Noble (Hattie), who is married to Kirk Cameron (Buck), was reading the book in bed. Kirk was asleep, but Chelsea was so excited about the idea of turning this into a movie, she started slapping Kirk on the leg to wake him up, and said, "I want to play the role of Hattie!" Kirk and Chelsea then started farming out the idea to find out who might produce the film. -Left Behind was released directly to video in 2000, copies of the film came bundled with a free pass to watch the movie in theaters when it was later given limited release in early 2001. -Most of the cast were volunteers from local churches. -The character of Ivy (Krista Bridges) was created specifically for the films. Ivy does not exist in the novels. -Author Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins originally sold the rights to producer Ralph Winter after he pitched a big-budget, mainstream blockbuster adaptation that would remain faithful to the source material. Winter hired writer Alan B. McElroy to produce a script treatment for such an adaptation but was ultimately unable to generate enough interest from potential financiers or distributors. Winter sold off the rights to independent production company Cloud Ten Pictures, who had previously produced similarly-themed films, thereby ending his and McElroy's involvement in the project. However, both were still credited in the finished film, possibly to generate publicity and add legitimacy to the film. Come back next week for another VHS review! Discuss these movies and more on our Facebook page. You can also listen to us on iTunes, Podbean, and Youtube! Email us at analogjonestof@gmail.com with any comments or questions!

"Produce where you are. Creativity isn't bottled up in some location. There isn't a secret elixir that can only be found in [Los Angeles]" - Ryan Hartsock In this week's episode, we chat with Producer Ryan Hartsock about how to approach filmmaking from outside of the Hollywood bubble and why it's important to produce where you are.  www.bonsai.film/makeit Listen+Subscribe+Rate = Love  Enjoy! Questions or Comments? Reach out to us at contact@bonsai.film or on social and the web at https://linktr.ee/BonsaiCreative #MAKEIT   Links: Five Stone Studios IMDb LinkedIn   Another Version of You (film) Motke Dapp (director) Ralph Winter (producer) Bryan Singer (producer) Tom DeSanto (producer) Micha Simms (filmmaker) Derek Purvis (writer) Unsane (film) Tangerine (film) About Time (film) Sliding Doors (film) Kristopher Wente (actor) Sara Antonio (actress) C.J. Perry (actress) Steven Spielberg (producer) Christopher McQuarrie (writer) Edgar Wright (director) Christopher Nolan (director) Terrence Malick (writer)  

This week we take a few moments to reflect on the passing of comic book legend, Stan Lee. We share how we first discovered his work and reflect on his legacy (and some of our favourite cameos). In preparation for the release of it's sequel, we go into the closest power bar to explore the worlds of "Wreck-It Ralph". How is it that Average Joe has never seen this movie? How many Easter Eggs has Pixel Patch discovered about this movie and it's world? Does the movie appeal to gamers and regular movie goers? To avoid SPOILERS for "Wreck-It Ralph", please skip over 38:24-53:08 of the episode. Music and audio from "Fantastic Four (2005)" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" is the property of John Ottman, Avi Arad, Bernd Eichinger, Ralph Winter, Constantin Film, Marvel Enterprises, Ingenious Film Partners, Dune Entertainment and 1942 Pictures. Music and audio from "Spider-Man: The Animated Series" is the property of Shuki Levy, Kussa Mahchi, Udi Harpaz, Bob Richardson, John Semper, Marvel Entertainment Group, Marvel Films, New World Productions, and ABC-Disney Domestic Television. Music and audio from "Wreck-It Ralph" is the property of Henry Jackman, Clark Spencer, Walt Disney Pictures, and Walt Disney Animation Studios. The Bat-Jar theme song was created by Jeremy Eckert. We thank him for his generous support of this podcast. Check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/batjarpodcast. Invite your friends to like our page! You can contact us at @thebatcookiejar on Twitter or you can send an e-mail to batjarpodcast@gmail.com. 

Actor Gary Ray Moore Gary grew up on stage in Chicago and got the acting bug at a very young age. When he was 7 years old, he followed his performing sister, Debbie, to an acting class at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. He regrets giving up the chance to act with Danny Kaye in the movie Skokie because he was registered to start college classes when shooting began. After graduating from college with a performance degree, he moved to San Francisco. He did not find any stage acting work that interested him, so he took his first camera acting class with Jim Bressi, one of the original Marlboro Cowboy models. Jim also appeared in many films and TV shows and taught Gary to "come down" from the stage, into the camera.Although Gary has hosted an international TV show called The Help at Home Live Show for seven years, does VO, and corporate videos, his real love is film work. He has been on sets with the likes of David Fincher, Kevin Spacey, Ralph Winter, Donald Sutherland, Danny Trejo, Orlando Bloom, Colin Firth, Patricia Clarkson, John Rhys-Davies, Tim Conway, Mel Tillis, and his good friend Tom Lester, who played "Eb" from the hit sitcom Green Acres. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Brittany Hardy  

Ralph Winter (December 8, 1924 – Wed., May 20, 2009) was an American missiologist and Presbyterian missionary who helped pioneer Theological Education by Extension, raised the debate about the role of the church and mission structures and became well known as the advocate for pioneer outreach among unreached people groups. He was the founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission (USCWM), William Carey International University, and the International Society for Frontier Missiology.[1] His 1974 presentation at the Congress for World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland - an event organized by American evangelist Billy Graham - was a watershed moment for global mission.[2] It was during this presentation that Winter shifted global mission strategy from a focus on political boundaries to a focus on distinct people groups. Winter argued that instead of targeting countries, mission agencies needed to target the thousands of people groups worldwide, over half of which have not been reached with the gospel message. Billy Graham once wrote: “Ralph Winter has not only helped promote evangelism among many mission boards around the world, but by his research, training and publishing he has accelerated world evangelization."[3] In 2005, Winter was named by Time magazine as one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America.[2] Dr. Ray Tallman, shortly after Winter's death, described him as "perhaps the most influential person in missions of the last 50 years and has influenced missions globally more than anyone I can think of."[4] This is most likely the first page that you will see when you respond to any of my invitations or messages to you about new episodes of our podcast. For many of you this may be the first time you have heard of a podcast. A podcast is an audio or video file that is accessible through an RSS feed. Like a newspaper that is delivered to your front door, a podcast can be delivered to your computer once you subscribe to it. Each time a new episode is uploaded your computer will be notified that it is available for you to download. Simple, hey? If you enjoyed this podcast it would be good for you to start by visiting our website where all of our podcast episodes are host along with many valuable resources all for free. Go to: http://www.godnetworknews.com If you are an avid podcast listener you can simply subscribe in iTunes to the God Network News Podcast at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/god-network-news/id885322187 . If you want to stay up to date on the latest technologies being used to share the gospel message around the world you need to subscribe in iTunes to the Gospel Gadget Podcast at: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=157335386 that’s all there is to it! Also, we want to remind you to visit an incredible website where you can view and download gospel films in over 600 different languages http://www.indigitube.tv This website also has a section where you can search for audio Bibles in over 1300 different languages! It is amazing, and it is all free! If you’re tired of listening to what the big news agencies are feeding you? Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GodNetworkNews

This week we discuss the latest achievements reached by Black Panther at the box office. What's left for this movie to accomplish? Can the King of Wakanda continue to rule the box office? Prepare to turn invisible and catch fire as we discuss the history of Marvel's first family, the Fantastic Four! How did this dysfunctional family unit revitalize the comic book industry? And more importantly, how come people don't talk about them anymore? Music and audio from "Fantastic Four(2005)" is the property of John Ottman, Avi Arad, Bernd Eichinger, Ralph Winter, Constantin Film, Marvel Enterprises, and 1942 Pictures. Music and audio from "Spider-Man: The Animated Series" is the property of Shuki Levy, Kussa Mahchi, Udi Harpaz, Bob Richardson, John Semper, Marvel Entertainment Group, Marvel Films, New World Productions, and ABC-Disney Domestic Television. Special thanks to Jeremy Eckert for our theme song. Check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/batjarpodcast. Invite your friends to like our page! You can contact us at @thebatcookiejar on Twitter or you can send an e-mail to batjarpodcast@gmail.com. 

Voices in missions today tell us we should all become “global Christians.” In this episode we answer what that means and how to do it—with all the resources everyday believers need to stay informed. If you missed one of the resources or books we recommended, here’s the list: Joshua Project Operation World Mission Network News The Global Missions Podcast Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper Missiology by John Mark Terry Introduction to Global Missions by Zane Pratt, David Sills, and Jeff Walters Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Amy Carmichael: Beauty for Ashes by Ian Murray Borden of Yale by Howard Taylor Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret by Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email alex@missionspodcast.com. Powered by ABWE International.

Kerstin Lindquist, Tahni Cullen, Ralph Winter, Bruce Hausknecht, Rachel Alexander

Kerstin Lindquist, Tahni Cullen, Ralph Winter, Bruce Hausknecht, Rachel Alexander

Dr. Ralph Winter, founder of the US Center for World Mission and Perspectives… said that for every 100 people who made a mission commitment at some point in their lives, only one made it to the mission field. Why? For lack of mobilizers! The same can be said for lack of mentors. What is a mentor? What do mentors offer prospective long-term medical missionaries? Come to this session if you desire a mentor or if you desire to become a mentor. Before the session you may want to familiarize yourself with GMHC’s mentoring service at https://www.medicalmissions.com/community/mentoring . John McVay and I will walk you though this process. This session strives to translate your dreams of serving as a long-term medical missionary into reality.

Bobby Downes has produced more than a dozen feature films for the faith market. Beginning in 1999, Bobby produced his first independent feature film “The Moment After” and its sequel “The Moment After 2: The Awakening”, both of which were acquired by Sony Pictures. Bobby then produced “Mercy Streets” starring Oscar nominated Eric Roberts and again worked with Roberts in “Six: The Mark Unleashed”, which also starred Stephen Baldwin and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Both films were acquired for distribution by Sony Pictures. He subsequently executive produced for Ralph Winter on the adaptation of Frank Peretti's best-selling novel “The Visitation” distributed by 20th Century Fox. And he has also produced “The Lost Medallion”, “The Redemption of Henry Myers”, and “Hoovey”. Bobby’s most notable film was based on the novel by New York Times best-selling author Karen Kingsbury: “Like Dandelion Dust”, which starred Oscar winner Mira Sorvino and Emmy award winner Barry Pepper, and was released by Twentieth Century Fox after winning more than 30 international film festival awards. In 1999, Bobby founded ChristianCinema.com, which is now the largest selection of faith-affirming and family-approved movies online, and the largest independent retailer of faith-based movies in the U.S.

Churches and mission agencies have been thankful for the global work of the U. S. Center for World Mission.  For almost four decades, the Center has been involved in Kingdom advancing labors. If you are familiar with the name Ralph Winter, unreached people groups, or the Perspectives course (to mention a few examples), then you […]

Dr. Ralph Winter said that for every 100 people who made a mission commitment at some point in their lives, only one made it to the mission field. Why? For lack of mobilizers! The same can be said for lack of mentors. What is a mentor? What do mentors offer prospective long-term medical missionaries? Come to this session if you desire a mentor or if you desire to become a mentor. Before the session you may want to familiarize yourself with GMHC’s mentoring service at https://www.medicalmissions.com/community/mentoring . This session strives to honor God by helping you translate your dreams of serving as a long-term medical missionary into reality.

sermon transcript The Darkest Night in History…Christ Shining All the Brighter As we come to Matthew 26:47-56, you heard Tim read it, we come to the tragic and in many ways repulsive account of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas and the forsaking of Jesus by all of his disciples. The arrest of the Son of God by wicked men. And in this account, we're gonna see the sinfulness of the human heart in its darkest colors. But also, by contrast, we're gonna see the glory of Jesus Christ shining radiantly, all the brighter because of the darkness of men. The night that Jesus was born, you know that that night was ripped apart by the appearance of a single angel, and he appeared to the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone all around, and it was a light that was visible and they were terrified by that light. This Was the Darkest Night in History But I say that this night, the night that Jesus was arrested, the night he was put on trial by the Jewish people, there's a different kind of glory that shines. It wasn't a radiant light that shone from his face, but it was a light that we can see by faith. I think we could argue that that was the darkest night in human history. The metaphor of darkness is very important according to the Apostle John; he uses it often in his gospel to speak of the wickedness that there is in the universe. And that night, in particular, was a dark wicked night. How Jesus at the Last Supper gave a piece of bread to Judas, and in John 13:27, it says, “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.” And three verses later, in John 13:30, it says, “As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.” Now, if you know anything about John's Gospel, you know that’s not just a chronological, historical comment. That has a depth to it. It was night as Judas went out to do his evil deed. The darkness is human sinfulness, the wickedness of the human heart. When the alliance between man and Satan reaches its nadir, it's lowest point, Jesus called this a time of darkness. In Luke's account, in Luke 22:53, he said to his arresters, those that were there to arrest him, to seize him, he said, “Every day I was with you in the temple courts, but you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour - when darkness reigns.” Do you hear that statement? “This is your hour when darkness reigns.” And that's why I say, this was the darkest night in human history. We see the sinfulness of Judas's treachery, his betrayal, culminating in maybe one of the most repulsive moments in all of redemptive history: his kiss of Jesus on the cheek. We see the sinfulness of the chief priests and the elders of the Jewish nation, who should have recognized the time of God coming to them, in the person of Christ, but who instead killed him out of pride and out of greed and jealousy. We see the sinfulness of the Roman soldiers in the crowd who are there to arrest the Prince of Peace with swords and clubs. We see the sinfulness of Peter who through unbelief refused to accept what God was doing through Jesus. He could not get it, and was fighting it. Literally fighting it, right to the end. We see the sinfulness of all the disciples who at the human level should have stuck with Jesus out of loyalty and love for him at His hardest time, but instead out of selfishness, fled to save their lives. This was the darkest night in history when the human race arrested, tried, condemned, mocked, tortured God the Son. Christ the Light of the World You know, in the 10 plagues, Moses spoke of a darkness that could be felt, and you can feel that as you read the account from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John of this night. You can feel a darkness.It's a darkness that could be felt, and yet in the center of that, the darkest night in human history, the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot conceal it, it cannot quench it, it cannot hold it back. Light wins here in this account, to the glory of God. Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.” It says in John 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made, without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot conceal it. It has not understood it.” And then 1 John 1:5, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light and in him, there is no darkness at all.” And Jesus Christ is the perfect light of God, an absolutely perfect display of “the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being,” Hebrews 1:3. And to see him is to see the Father, as he said earlier that same night in John 14. Remember how Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” And Jesus said, “Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been with you all this time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’” So, how does this account, how does Jesus put the glory of God on display, on this darkest night? Behold his courage, going willingly to his death at the hands of such evil men. Behold his humility, making himself nothing. And being treated so shamefully, even to the point of death, even death on a cross. Behold his love, laying down his life for his sheep. Behold his authority. If that detachment of angels had come, you would have seen his authority. They would have obeyed him immediately. Behold his submission to the scripture and to his Father's will as revealed in the scripture. Behold his patience in not striking down his enemies though they deserved it, but waiting patiently. Truly his light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot conceal it. Christ's light, I think, shines all the brighter when human sin is at its darkest, doesn't it? By contrast. Just by seeing all of these people, even the best, even Peter and the other apostles, still sinful, we see Christ's light shining all the brighter. Marvel at the Fact: The Son of God Arrested! Just marvel at this fact. Just marvel, at God the Son being arrested. Just think about that. Think about it, as it says in John 18:12, how they tied up his wrist, you picture his hands being put behind his back and it being tied up with some cords. I was just teaching earlier this morning on the Book of Judges. You know how Jesus again and again, says things like, “They repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.” Are you willing to say with me that one greater than Samson was arrested that night? I think so. And Samson, you remember the story in Judges 15, how they bound his wrists and the Philistines came upon him, so enraged and they wanna kill him, remember, and he breaks those things apart like charred flax and struck down a thousand of them with the jawbone of a donkey. So why didn't Jesus do that? If Jesus is greater than Samson, why didn't he break the bonds and kill all his enemies? Well, because he wasn't willing to do that. “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down freely of my own accord. I have the power, the authority, to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back up again. This command I received from my Father.” So, Jesus let those ropes bind him, though they couldn't if he had willed not. He let himself be arrested, he let himself be led away and be shamefully treated. Judas Betrays Jesus With a Kiss: The Darkest Act of the Night (vs. 47- 50) Now, the whole thing begins with this disgusting act of Judas, of Judas bringing this detachment. Look at it in verses 47-50. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss, which is the darkest act of the night. Look at verse 47 and following, “While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them, ‘The one I kiss. - The one I kiss is the man, arrest him.’ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi’ and kissed him. Jesus replied, ‘Friend, do what you came to do.’ And then the men stepped forward and seized Jesus and arrested him.” While He Was Still Speaking So the account begins with the words, “While he was still speaking.” So there's a sense of rhythm and flow here. You have to divide it up as you preach, as you study, it talks about rightly dividing the Word of Truth, and so you take pieces and look at them, but this is a flow. It's a narrative, and so one thing leads right into the next, and the last thing we had was Gethsemane. And Jesus makes the most of every opportunity of every moment to pray. He goes right to the wall on prayer, and as soon as he gets done praying one final time, saying, “Not my will but yours be done,” he goes back, he awakens his disciples. He says, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” And while he was saying that, then the account starts tonight. Now, I think, as you put it together from John's gospel, Jesus went out to meet his captors. I get the picture of Gethsemane being a walled garden and there was a gate of some sort. And so they're ready to come in and arrest him. They're there with torches, they're gonna search for Jesus, they're gonna look for him as though he's hiding under a bush. Of course, it was a full moon, that's the way the lunar calendar worked. And so they're not gonna need to search for him. Jesus goes out, it says very plainly in John 18, “Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and said, ‘Whom are you seeking?’” Who begins, who initiates this whole thing? It's Jesus. So, what was Judas there for? What was his job? He didn't have a job. He was not necessary. Jesus didn't need him. There was no need to be betrayed. He goes out and initiates the whole interaction. “Who are you looking for?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answer. You remember what happened next in John's gospel - if I'm not careful, I might just go preach John right now. But he said, “I AM.” And when he said, “I AM,” God's almighty name, they drew back and fell to the ground. And then Jesus asked them a second time, “Who is it you're seeking?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” And so, twice he makes them repeat their orders. That's how the whole thing starts. And it very much harmonizes with our account here in Matthew. Jesus said, “Rise, Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” So who's taking the initiative? Jesus. Where are they going? They're going out of Gethsemane, they're going out to meet this crowd. Judas, One of the Twelve And so there's Judas, and here he comes with this entourage, this crowd coming to arrest him, and he's just simply identified, it's amazing the power of understatement here, “Judas, one of the twelve.” Doesn't go into great detail, doesn't demonize him. It just says, simply, he's one of the twelve, and I think in that understatement, it underscores the perfidy, the betrayal, the wickedness. He was just one of the twelve. He was there to betray Jesus. Psalm 41:9, “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, the one who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” The Crowd with Judas And with him, verse 47, is “a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people.” So they're ready for a fight. According to John's gospel, it's a spira, a detachment of Roman soldiers, may be as many as 600 strong. If you add a good group of temple police, there could have been as many as a thousand people there to arrest one man. It's really quite amazing because Jesus was the leader of a peaceful discussion group, Bible discussion group in the temple area. I mean, that's it. He didn't have a violent bone at all, and he was a Prince of Peace, and he underscores that, doesn't he? In verse 55, he says, “Am I leading a rebellion? Is this the nature of what you see in me? Am I leading a rebellion that you've come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day, this is what I did, I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. So, why are you armed to the teeth?” Very late at night, perhaps, I would think better, we would think of it as very early in the morning. I don't know, one, two, three in the morning. It's very, very early in the morning. Late at night, it's the dead of night. And this mixed multitude is such a metaphorical picture of the world, as they, this rabble, this huge group of people coming there to do this. Those that knew him were unjust, because he was the only sinless man that ever lived. He'd never done anything wrong. They were unjust in seeking to arrest him. Most of the crowd there was just mindless. They didn't know him. They were just following orders. They were getting a paycheck. And so it is that many of the persecutors in church history are mindless, they don't know Jesus, they don't care about Jesus. They're just following orders and getting a paycheck doing it. And so, in many of the persecuting nations of the world, that kind of thing goes on. People that show up, they just have their orders. They're just mindless, they don't know who he is, they ignore Jesus, the central figure of all of human history, they have no thought about him at all. Mindless. They're also cowardly coming at night rather than in broad daylight because you know that the chief priests and the elders were afraid of the crowds, for they all held that Jesus was a prophet. And this crowd was blasphemous, simply in arresting, laying hands on God the Son. And then comes the kiss. The Kiss Now, what are we to make of this? “Now, the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: ‘The one I kiss, is the man, arrest him.’ And going at once to Jesus, Judas said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi,’ and kissed him.” This is the most repulsive part of this entire affair. It really is disgusting. What do I mean by that? Well, Judas had already received his 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus. The evil signal was in the mind of Judas before he ever got there. “How am I gonna identify him and pick him out? Oh, I have a thought. How about if I kiss him?” I think it was demonic. I think it was Satan-suggested. It's a wicked twist. Now, a kiss is a sign of a loving relationship, it's a sign of friendship. Now, think about the relationship, especially back then, a slave would perhaps kiss the feet of the master, may be a servant, a house servant kiss the hem of the garment, may be the back of the hand. Somebody closer might have a little more intimacy there, but it would be initiated by the one in charge, by the leader, not by the son or the servant or the friend. Judas just goes boldly up to Jesus - in the Greek, it says “kataphileo,” the “kata” prefix means “repeatedly.” It's an intensifier. He really kissed him a lot, right on the cheek as though they were complete equals. And also, it's so hypocritical. He is appearing to be a very close and intimate friend with Jesus, but in that act, he's betraying him to death. It really is disgusting. It's the height of hypocrisy here. Because you know that the other, the twelve didn't know what he was out doing, and so maybe he knew that and thought he could just kind of come back in with a group at this point and be welcomed back in. Jesus, in Luke's Gospel, heightens the irony, the hypocrisy of it. He said, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” He just asks the question. Jesus’ Last Words to Judas But here in our text, in verse 50, he says, “Friend,” and I love this, “Do what you came to do.” Now, I find this interesting because if you couple it with John's gospel, when he took the bread, remember after Satan entered into him, it says in John's gospel, Jesus said to him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” Now, I'm gonna take it this way. Jesus is a King and he's giving a command, and he does it twice. He does it in John's gospel, “What you are doing, do quickly,” and Satan is in him. And here, the same thing, “Do what you came to do.” Who's in charge here, friends? Who's in charge? Jesus is the King, the sovereign of all the world. It's going exactly according to plan. Jesus reigns, even at this moment, even with this kiss. Peter’s Faithless Fight (vs. 51) Matthew, Mark, and Luke Maintain Anonymity… John Tells Us it was Peter Next comes the faithless fight of Peter. After that will come the cowardly flight. But here is the faithless fight. Verse 51, “With that, one of Jesus' companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.” Now, it's interesting how Matthew, Mark, and Luke all retain anonymity for this guy. But we know who it is, don't we? You probably could have guessed anyway, but John's gospel tells us directly who it is. It was Peter that did it. Now, New Testament scholars wonder if at that point, Peter might have been in Roman hands, tried for his life, and these Gospel accounts perhaps sought to protect him from Roman reprisals. That's just a guess. We have no idea, but Matthew, Mark, and Luke don't tell us who it is. Peter Consistently Refused to Believe Jesus’ Words About the Cross But it was Peter and it really is in some ways the final act of a very sad drama in Peter's life. And what is that, it’s that he just couldn't accept what Jesus was saying about his death. He couldn't, wouldn't accept it. He could not believe that Jesus would die. The first time we see this is in Matthew 16, in Caesarea Philippi, when Peter gives his magnificent testimony, his confession of Jesus, remember that? “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Yeah, but, “From that time on,” it says in the account, “Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed, and then on the third day, be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’ Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You're a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of man.’” Well, that's the first indicator we have that Peter couldn't accept it. And it happens again and again, but this is the culmination of the act. Earlier, Peter Had Boasted… .Now He Put His Sword Where His Boast Was Now, earlier Peter had boasted, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And so, I think to prove his loyalty, to prove his words, to make them come true, he draws out his “makhaira” is what it is in the Greek. It's basically like a long fisherman's knife for flaying fish, maybe cutting cheese and bread. That's really what it is. It's not a gladius, the Roman short, strong stabbing sword. This thing isn't going to last long in a sword fight. But he pulls it out and starts swinging wildly. Alright. I don't think he was any more skillful at soldiering than he was clear in understanding Christ's purpose. So he just starts swinging. Remember how Abishai said to David concerning Saul, who was lying there, he had a spear, he said, “Let me pin him to the ground. I won't strike him twice.” I love that. Isn't that great? Don't you love confident soldiers around you? “I won't strike him twice. I got this one.” Well, Peter wasn't in that class. Alright. There was a need to strike multiple times, with Peter, because all he got was an ear. I don't think he was trying for an ear, but that's all he got. We don't know who it is from this account, but John gives us full information. Servant's name was Malchus. And isn't it absolutely tragic what Peter is trying to do? Stop the death of the Son of God for the sins of the world. Do you see how horrible that is? How faithless that is? How he would have been signing his own eternal death warrant by so doing, and ours too, all of ours? Because Christ had to die. Jesus Healed Malchus’s Ear Jesus, it doesn't tell us this in Matthew, but Jesus healed Malchus's ear. Isn't that beautiful? A display of the love that Jesus has for his enemies and his ability to create an ear out of nothing, out of thin air. Isn't that magnificent? A fully formed adult ear. Ponder that. But he does it. Peter’s Action a Symbol of Misguided Faithless Mission in Christ’s Name Peter's action was a symbol of misguided faithless mission in Christ's name, and I'm gonna talk more about this in the application section. But the kingdom of God does not advance by the sword, doesn't advance by killing. No, it advances by dying, either metaphorically or even literally. That's how it advances. We'll get to that more at the end. Jesus’ Perfect Submission to Scripture (vs. 52-56) Jesus’ Command to Peter: Put Your Sword Back in its Place (vs. 52) Here in verses 52-56, and I get goosebumps every time I come to this. This is the most spectacular display of submission to scripture you will ever find anywhere. “‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him. ‘For all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?’ And at that time, Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place, that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.’ Then the disciples all deserted him and fled.” So what we have here, if you just look at it grammatically, you'll look at what's happening, we have a single command given to Peter buttressed by three arguments, three reasons. The command is “Put your sword back in its place.” He then gives three reasons. Reason number one, “For all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Reason number two, “If I were trying to escape death, I wouldn't be using you and your little dagger.” Reason number three, and the ultimate reason, “Scripture commands me to die, and so I must die.” So there's a hierarchical ordering here of his reasons concerning this command. Now, keep in mind that Jesus intended his twelve to escape that night. He wanted them to get away. If you don't know that, then read John 18, putting that account together, Jesus after his second time, remember how he says, “I AM,” they all fall to the ground. Jesus repeats the question, he says, “Who are you looking for?” They answer again, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answers again, saying, “I told you that I AM. If you're looking for me, then let these men go.” And then John tells us incredibly well, “This happened,” John 18:9, “This happened so that the Scripture will be fulfilled,” or so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled, “I have not lost one of those you have given me.” This is Jesus, the Good Shepherd, filtering out the temptations and attacks on his disciples. They couldn't handle being arrested that night, and it wasn't God's plan for them to be arrested that night. And so, he makes a way of escape, like it says in Corinthians that he does, he opens a door and he wants them to run away. He wants them, all of them to run away. Peter is completely off track here, both in terms of God's eternal plan and Christ dying on the cross, and in terms of his own plan that Christ intended for him to go away. And so, he gives the command, “Put your sword back in its place. Stop.” Reason #1: All Who Draw the Sword Die by the Sword Reason number one, “All who draw the sword will die by the sword.” This is actually a pretty famous statement, live by the sword, die by the sword. You hear that a lot. I think that there are different ways to take it, let's take it this way first: Jesus is giving Peter a strong dose of reality by speaking of Peter's death, okay. “The only way, Peter, you're gonna get out of that fight is if I exert supernatural power on your behalf, and I'm not going to do that.” Simply put, “You are outnumbered. Put your sword away.” We'll just take it like that. I look on it somewhat like a hostage crisis situation in like a major city like Chicago or something like that, and some crazed guy has been holding 50 people hostage, the negotiator gets him out of the door and he's there. And as soon as he stands out there and he's talking and they're still negotiating, maybe he's wearing a long winter coat or something like that, and there is interestingly like 60 or 70 laser dots all over his chest and body and all that. You know what they are? Those are sniper rifle scopes and all that. And if he makes a sudden move into his coat, what do you think is gonna happen to him? I don't think they'll be able to find him. Okay, if there's 600 Roman soldiers, they conquered the world, you've got your fishing knife, put your sword away. Alright. Deeper, there's a deeper possibility on this statement: it's a general proverb, people who live a life of violence tend to die by violence. And it's in that proverbial way of speaking, it's generally true that if you live a life of violence, you're going to die by violence. It's just generally true. The measure you use is the measure you receive. So it's a warning about gangs, frankly. If you live by the gun, you may die by the gun. It's a warning about that kind of violence and wickedness. Another angle that is given, and I think it's helpful, is that Peter was acting as a vigilante here. It was unjust that they were arresting Jesus, and it was, but he did the wrong thing with the sense of injustice. He decided to revolt by the sword, and if you do that, you bring government's sword down on you, that's a different sword that may come. If you fight government like this, government's going to fight you. And so you're going to die. So it would be an argument against like in Romans 13:4, “He does not bear the sword,” the governing official, “doesn't bear the sword for nothing.” So, if you try to fight Rome's sword, Rome's sword will kill you. So, even the grossest injustice in history cannot be addressed by taking matters in your own hands in reference to the government, by vigilante action. But now we get to the deeper reasons. Reason #2: If I were trying to escape arrest, I wouldn’t be relying on your dagger! Reason number two: “If I were trying to escape arrest, I wouldn't be using your dagger.” “Do you think I cannot call on my Father and he would at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” Notice again, the language of prayer here, the language of submission, he's always, the Son of God, is always thinking, “I get nothing except what the Father gives me. I speak nothing but what the Father tells me to say. I do nothing but what the Father has told me to do. And if I were gonna get out, I go to the Father and ask him, and I'd ask the father, and he would put at once, put at my disposal,” He says, “More than twelve legions of angels.” Do you see the attitude of submission to the Father here? Even in the Great Commission, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” Nothing comes to anyone except by God. So I don't get those angels if God the Father doesn't give them. But then, just bear with me in one of my engineering moments. Will you do that? Just hang in there with me. Alright. A legion is 6,000 soldiers, generally. Jesus spoke of “more than twelve legions,” that's 72,000 heavenly warriors. He said, “More than…” , so let's round up to 75,000. Okay. We saw in the book of Isaiah, one angel took out 185,000 Assyrian troops. Now, I think that was the angel of the Lord, that was Jesus, more on that in a moment. We're gonna do the math that works out to a detachment from heaven, and it is just a detachment because Daniel said a hundred million angels are serving God. This is a very small heavenly detachment. They would be able, just by math, to take out 15 billion people. 600? No problem. And they would come, with what demeanor would those angels come? They would stand in front of Jesus and be ready instantly to obey anything he commanded. That's what the word says, “That the Father would put at my disposal... “, that's a good translation. “They would be ready to do my will.” Think about the Lord's prayer, may your will be done on earth the same way it's done up in heaven. And we've said before, we did in a parenting seminar, the phrase that “obedience equals all the way, right away, with a happy spirit.” That's what parents should be going for with their kids. That they do, that the kids do everything that's commanded, completely to the standard, and done with a cheerful attitude. Angels do that. So, if the angels come down and Jesus said, “Do you see those soldiers over there? Kill them.” What do you think they would do? “Yes, Lord,” and they'd kill them. And if you don't believe me, then read the Book of Revelation, as angels are pouring out bowls that result in millions and millions, even billions of people dying. But Jesus was not trying to avoid arrest, and his disciples didn't understand that. Peter didn't understand that. You remember how a Samaritan village in Luke 9 would not accept him? Remember, because he was going to Jerusalem. Do you remember how James and John, the Sons of Thunder, wanted Jesus to call down fire from heaven and burn up that Samaritan village, like Elijah did with those who were trying to arrest him, remember? “Do you want us to call down fire?” And Jesus rebuked them saying, “You don't understand my temper, my spirit.” The Son of Man didn't come into the world to destroy lives, but to save them. John 3:17 says that, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save the world.” The Ultimate Reason to Put the Sword Away: Scripture Cannot Be Broken!! Alright. So, we get to the ultimate and highest reason, why? “How then would the scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” Now, just stand in awe of Jesus' attitude toward the Scripture. Stand in awe. There's not a man, there's not a woman, there's not a child in this sanctuary or anywhere on the face of the earth that has a higher view of Scripture than Jesus Christ. I live my whole sanctification, my whole Christian life to get up to somewhat of Jesus' attitude towards scripture. This passage, I have used time and again to deal with college students who have taken college Bible classes at secular institutions. Bible as literature classes or religion classes at Duke or Chapel Hill or other institutions, and the effort of the professor is to shred their faith in scripture, and they come shredded to me. And you know what I do? I spend about an hour or two on one topic, Christ's view of scripture. And I say, “We're Christians, right?” I'm speaking to them as a Christian, I'm not talking to the professor, I'm talking to the person who says, “Until that class, I really believed in scripture, but now I'm struggling. Help me.” Alright. We're Christians, that means we're gonna have the mind of Christ, right? On everything, right. Alright, that includes his view of scripture, right? Right. Let's have Christ's view of scripture. What is Christ's view of scripture? Well, let's start with his temptation in the desert. He refutes all three temptations with, “It is written.” Let's go from that to Nazareth, where he begins his public ministry. There in Nazareth, and he opens a scroll in Isaiah the prophet, where he finds a place where it is written, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” And then he rolls up the scripture and he says, “Today, in your hearing, this scripture is fulfilled.” And how he preaches in the Sermon on the Mount, not the smallest jot or tittle will by any means pass away from the Word of God until everything has been accomplished. How Jesus - they pick up stones to stone him - and Jesus said that, “I've shown you many good works from the Father, for which of these are you stoning me?” “Not because of any good works, but because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” And Jesus reaches for Psalm 82:6, “Isn't it written in your law, ‘I have said, “You are gods?”’ Now, if he called them gods, to whom the scripture came and the scripture cannot be broken, then why are you attacking the one whom God sent into the world?” Psalm 82:6. Didn't he say to his enemies, “You say you believe in Moses, but Moses wrote about me?” When they came to ask him about divorce, didn't he begin his teaching saying, “Haven't you read that at the beginning... “ Haven't you read? From the cross, three out of his seven statements directly had to do with the fulfillment of the scripture, even quote scripture, from the cross. But this is the pinnacle for me. This one verse here, “Scripture says I must be crucified. I must have my hands and my feet pierced, my blood must be poured out unto death. I must fulfill all of the typology of the animal sacrifices. I must die in this way. And Peter, if we fight this, if I call on the angels, then the Scripture would be broken, and I would rather die than that the scripture be broken.” And in verse 56, that's what he's thinking. All this has taken place. That the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. The Disciples Flee “Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.” It was sin for them to do it, but Jesus wanted them to do it. It's a mystery, but that's it. And so they deserted him, they left him all alone. This is a direct fulfillment of scripture, “Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered,” Zechariah 13:7. Applications Come to Christ! Now, what applications can we take from this text? Well, the whole purpose of that arrest that night was so that scripture would be fulfilled, but the whole purpose of the scripture is so that sinners like you and me would be saved. That's why the Scripture is given. “I've written these things to you that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” The purpose of this account is to bring you and me to faith in Christ so that our sins will be forgiven. That's the purpose of why he got arrested, so that he could die and our sins be forgiven. So I'm begging you, don't leave this place unforgiven before God. Don't leave this place unforgiven. Believe in Christ, trust in him. The scripture testified very plainly that he must die. It said in Psalm 22, the same Psalm that begins, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? They have pierced my hands and my feet.” Preached about that on Easter Sunday. That said how he would die, but it's Isaiah 53, that tells us why he would die. It says very plainly, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Has the Lord laid on Jesus your iniquity? If you believe in him, you may be sure that happened. You may be sure that the Lord has lifted off of you all of your sins, all of them, past, present, future, all them and laid them on the substitute, and he shed his blood and died. But God didn't leave him in the tomb. On the third day, God raised him from the dead and by his resurrection testified the price has been accepted. You are forgiven. So, come to Christ. Worship Christ for the Brilliant Light Shining in a Very Dark World Secondly, as all things in Scripture that we get about Jesus, use this account to worship Jesus, he is the light shining in the dark place. The darkness continues until this present day. Worship him for his courage and willingly going to the cross. Worship him for his humility, in emptying himself and denying himself and accepting even death on a cross. Worship him for his love, that it was for love of the sheep that he died. Worship him for his authority, that all of the angels in heaven do his bidding and obey his word. Worship him for his wisdom in reasoning with Peter and reasoning even with his enemies. He's very reasonable; come now, let us reason together. Worship him for his wisdom. Worship him for his submission in submitting to scripture and to his Father's will, even though it meant his own death, excruciating death on the cross. And worship him for his patience, that he didn't strike down his enemies at that moment. Understand the Darkness of Human Sin Also, look at the darkness, study the darkness from this account. See the darkness and wickedness of the human heart and find yourself there. Find yourself in Peter, okay? Flailing around through misunderstanding of God's purpose in the world, doing the wrong thing. Thinking you're serving God when you don't really know what God's doing. Is that ever you? Or is it true that everything you do is exactly what God wants you to do? Find yourself in Peter and say, “Lord, please teach me the lessons of Peter, teach me to study scripture. When Jesus says, ‘I'm going to die on the cross,’ teach me not to be stubborn and rejected. Saturate me in scripture, Lord, help me to know what you're doing in the world so I can be part of it. So I don't draw out my sword and hack wildly and not do the right thing, I don't wanna be like that. And then when the time comes to pray because I'm about to enter into temptation, help me not to fall asleep and be lazy in my prayer life, but help me to pray. As Jesus said, ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.’ Help me to learn the lessons of Peter.” Zero in on Judas’s Kiss Should we see ourselves in Judas? No, he was a reprobate. But maybe just in his action. The problem with the action is the disconnect between the action and the heart. There's a kiss, but there's no kiss in the heart, and so it's just going through the motions. The worst fulfillment of Judas is the concept of unregenerate church members, who are outwardly putting on a show, kissing Jesus by coming to church maybe, or doing other things spiritual, but their hearts are far from him and they really hate him and don't love him and don't obey him. We can imitate that though, even as believers, when we do any kind of act of worship or service or anything, but there's a disconnect in the heart. The thing is, and don't stop kissing Jesus, make sure you're kissing him with your heart and not just your lips, that's all. Make sure that your heart lines up with what your body is doing. Reject the Sword as the Tool of Gospel Advance Reject the sword as the central or even any tool of the gospel’s advance. The sword does not advance the Kingdom of God. Jesus' kingdom, as he said to Pilate, “is not of this world. If it were,” he said, “My servants would have fought to prevent my arrest from the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is from another place, and it advances by other means.” Now, the church has misunderstood this many times. I'm thinking of the crusades. Over two centuries, there were nine different crusades led by kings of Christendom, many of whom were descended from the Vikings and who never learned to not trust the sword, and who thought, “We need militarily to go to Jerusalem and conquer the city by shedding the blood of the Saracens, the Muslims that were guarding the city, we need to go shed their blood and conquer that city.” Ralph Winter from the US Center of World Mission called it the most misguided mission in the history of the Christian church. It was completely wrong. How then does the kingdom advance? Well, John 12:24 gives us the recipe. Jesus said, “Unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself a single seed, but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” Now, the fruit, what does the fruit have inside it? Seeds, right? And so there's a principle, as this fruit grows, you have the ability to lay down your life for Christ. Now, you can lay it down metaphorically by denying yourself and witnessing, evangelizing, doing missions, or you might even be among the select few called on to be a martyr for Jesus in which you'll literally die, as happened in the Roman era and has been happening right up until this present time. And Tertullian said, “The blood of martyrs is seed for the church.” That's how the church advanced, not by hacking and by slicing. Can I give you a little twisted perspective on the Coexist bumper sticker? Coexist. Alright. You ready for this one? I have a whole new way of looking at that bumper sticker. I look on it as a promise from the Pagans to stop killing Christians. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you for stopping the murder of Christians all around the world. Do that, take all the proceeds from that and use it to fight the persecution of the church. What do you think? Do you think they'd accept that as an interpretation of their bumper sticker? Not thinking so. I'm thinking they were thinking about the crusades, and it's really a chastisement of the Christians. Fine, we need to take our medicine. But the fact of the matter is, we Christians, we ought to know what Coexist means, 'cause we study the parable of the wheat and the tares, and we know that we get along with non-Christians in this world, and it's only at the end that the two get separated from each other. We're not trying to kill them, we're trying to convert them. You remember in the movie, The End of the Spear, remember Nate Saint's son? He said, “Dad, are you gonna take a gun when you go meet the Waodani?” He said, “No, son, we're ready for heaven, but they're not. If we kill them, we'll just be sending them to hell.” That's it. It's not by killing. It's by dying. So, next time you see a Coexist bumper sticker, be happy and say, “Praise God.” Maybe the persecution of Christians will abate. Embrace Christ’s View of Scripture Now, here are the real ones, embrace Christ's attitude towards Scripture. Learn to say every single day, this is the inerrant, the perfect Word of God, every jot and tittle, every word in it is perfect. This is inerrant. No professor at Chapel Hill, no matter how erudite he may sound, no professor at Duke, can do anything to shake my faith in this, and it's still like a candle compared to Jesus' attitude toward the scripture. Jesus said, at the time of his arrest, in effect, “I'd rather die than break scripture.” Are you living like that? Am I? Are we willing to submit the totality of our lives to what scripture says to do? Have a high view of scripture. All scripture’s God-breathed, but it's also there to teach you so that you can be fully fruitful in your life to teach and correct and rebuke so that you'll be fully fruitful in your life. And stand boldly, this is gonna get worse. The battle in our culture over the Bible is gonna get worse, we need to be willing to stand on this book and say, “Thus says the Lord” on topics, and be strong with it. Sanctification: Embrace the Angels’ Attitude Toward Serving Christ And then finally sanctification. The same Greek verb is used here as is used in Romans chapter 6. “Do you think I cannot call on my Father and he would at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” What the angels will say is, “Here I am Lord, I'm ready to serve you.” That's what the Greek word means. Paul uses the same word in Romans chapter 6 for sanctification. The essence of sanctification is this moment. “Do not,” This is Romans 6:13, “Do not offer the parts or your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness for sin shall not be your master because you're not under law but under grace.” It's the same, the word “offer” is “put at my disposal.” So you go like an angel and you say, “I am yours to command, what do you want me to do? Take my life and let it be.” Step by step, that's consecration, that sanctification. Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for the things we've learned in this account of Jesus' arrest, and pray, O Lord, that you would take these lessons and burn them in our hearts. Help them to be unshakable in our confidence that the word of God is inerrant, it's perfect, and help us even better than that, to be unshakable in our determination to obey its commands. We thank you for this time we've had to study in Jesus name. Amen.

Today's interview is with David Marshall, founder and director of the Kuai Mu Institute for Christianity and World Cultures and editor of the forthcoming Faith Seeking Understanding: Essays in Memory of Paul Brand and Ralph Winter. He talks about his work and background, apologetics in missions, his latest book, the influence of Paul Brand and Ralph Winter, how the Gospels demonstrate the historicity of the Gospel story, advice for those doing apologetics, and more. Enjoy.

Ralph Winter said that for every 100 people who made a mission commitment at some point in their lives, only one made it to the mission field. Why? For lack of mobilizers! The same can be said of lack of mentors—and the lack of appreciation of the resources that are available to fan into flame serving in medical mission. What is a mentor? What are the resources available? Come to this session to find what’s available to keep you on track for medical mission. As an extra bonus, meet a young medical missionary (not me, obviously) on home assignment to discover how he found a mentor and what this means to him.

Dr. David Cho is the founder of East-West Center for Missions Research and Development. He initiated formation of the Asia Missions Association (AMA) which became the first regional association in the world as well as the Third-World Missions Association (TWMA). He personally trained several individuals who are now international mission leaders. His vast contributions to world mission in several capacities have earned him respect and friendship of many world mission leaders including Dr. Ralph Winter the founder of U.S Center for World Mission. David Cho earned the nickname “Mr. Mission”.