March 2023
The Trumpet
The Trumpet is a monthly paper offered to the good folks of Faith Bible Baptist, Toledo Ohio, and is the work of the pastor. He assembles the articles and edits them as a ministry to his church. We offer it to those who read our Web Site but in a different format than is presented to the Church. The purpose is simple, to generate spiritual thought, and to encourage spiritual discussion within the body. Where credit can be given, it is, but there is no claim of originality. Further, the Trumpet is an avenue of current and future events scheduled for The Faith Bible Baptist Church of Toledo.
May the Lord bless you as you read this month’s issue of The Trumpet.
Pastor Tim Goodman
March 2023
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What Is a Missionary?
Thoughts From the Heart of a Missionary
By Keith Stensaas
Missionary to Uganda
What is a missionary? I have been called one for twenty-one years, and through those years I have heard many different people use the term—from well diggers, to doctors, to school teachers, to veterinarians, to church planters, to orphanage directors, and some whose sole purpose is teaching good hygiene habits. Although they all in some way or another do good things, are they really missionaries in the biblical sense of the word?
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines a missionary as “one sent to propagate religion.” The majority of independent fundamental Baptist churches I have been to on deputation or furlough define missionaries as “church planters,” and often will not support a missionary who does not fit this description. However, where do we get our biblical basis? Who says that a missionary is a church planter? If the Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice, and it is, where do we get this teaching from?
To be clear, the word missionary is not found in the Bible. It was a term that began to be used in the 17th century from the Latin word missionarius meaning, “one who is sent on a mission.” Please do not get me wrong. I am not attacking the term missionary. I call myself one, and I support many missionaries personally through my home church and through our churches here in Uganda. But if this position is correct, it must be based on a biblical definition.
Several years ago, the idea of “lifestyle-evangelism” started to creep into churches; with it, a feel-good philosophy was developed. What used to be humanitarian work has now become missions work, and missions work has become humanitarian work. We see the same thing happening to our military. Many American warriors are not being sent to fight, but to engage in humanitarian efforts. Definitions have become clouded, and missionaries today are confused about their real job description.
There are some of the humanitarian mission groups who accomplish good things, and a few eventually do start a church; but church-planting should be a missionary’s primary objective, not an afterthought. You may say, “What about countries where you can’t get in as a church planter?” I understand that there are circumstances where missionaries have to go in as a businessman or a teacher. But when you interview them, their goal is still to start churches, albeit their activities due to government restrictions are limited. However, in countries where missionaries can enter as church planters, why would we send people to do humanitarian work and then call them missionaries when starting churches is their secondary objective or not their objective at all?
I am not against assisting with education. Church planters help nationals with education. I am not against teaching people how to farm. Church planters teach nationals farming with great success. I am not against helping people medically. Church planters help many with medical problems and finances. I am not against helping orphans. Church planters help orphans, widows, and the poor in many ways.
Ephesians 4:11 says, “And he gave some apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” Biblically speaking, this is the extent of church leadership. Deacons were given to the church, but on a servanthood basis to the pastor and church. We need to have a clear understanding of what these leadership positions are and see if what we call a missionary is found in any of them.
Notice, first of all, the foundational leadership seen in the apostles and prophets. Ephesians 2:20 tells us that the church was built upon the “Foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.” Understanding that the foundation of the church has been laid and does not need to be laid again, we know that the apostles and prophets had their times, but their time and purpose has been accomplished. This leaves us with two leadership positions in the church, which I want to take a closer look at—evangelists and pastor-teachers.
The term evangelist is found three times in Scripture. We have already looked at Ephesians 4:11, but it is also in Acts 21:8 and 2 Timothy 4:5. In these passages, we see “evangelist” mentioned as a leadership position in the church, as a man identified as an evangelist, and as telling someone to do the work of an evangelist. The Greek word for evangelist is euaggelistes meaning a “preacher of the gospel.” Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines an evangelist as a, “preacher or publisher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, licensed to preach, but not having charge of a particular church.”
I would like to submit that although not much is said about the evangelists, we can, through deductive reasoning, get a better idea of what an evangelist truly is.
- He is not just a soul-winner. Before you cut me off here, let me explain: Are we not all to be soul-winners? Is not every man, woman, boy, and girl who is saved called of God to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ? Without a doubt, the answer to that would be yes, but we are not all called to be evangelists. We would not say that every Christian, is an evangelist.
- He is not a pastor. Since he is listed separately in the list of Ephesians 4, it would be obvious that he is something different from a pastor, and for that matter, an apostle, and prophet.
- He must be a man. This is stated in the fact that these are all church leadership roles, of which Timothy states that women are not to usurp authority over men (1 Timothy 2:11-12). Both of the men mentioned in the Bible who were evangelists or who were to do the work of an evangelist were men.
Now, in looking carefully at these church leadership positions we have the following:
- The Apostles and Prophets
They founded the church and gave us the Epistles so that we would know how to behave ourselves in the house of God. The foundation for what we are doing has been laid.
- The Pastor
These men are shepherds over a particular local church. Each local church is to have one, and the local church is to take care of their man of God. They are not to hop from church to church but are to feed and oversee the flock of God as shepherds (Acts 20:28).
But we have a gap between the above two. How do we get from the foundation (the apostles and prophets) to having existing local churches around the world in need of pastors?
- The Evangelist
There must be an evangelist to not only bridge the gap between the two leadership positions but also to continue the multiplication of churches around the world.
There must be a man who builds on the foundation that has been laid, being sent from those local churches and through evangelism, not only brings people to Christ, but also gathers those people together in order to establish a new local church. They then turn that church over to a pastor who has the responsibility to continue the perfection of the saints for the work of the ministry. This is the biblical model given to us in the New Testament as we observe Paul, the great apostle and missionary.
I believe that what we call church-planting missionaries today is what the Bible refers to as an evangelist. If it is not, then where do we get the authority to use the term “missionary” in relation to the church? Every church needs to be sending out evangelists to build on the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, by planting new local churches.
I believe there has been a “muddying of the waters” in our distinction of church leadership. Because we have lost the distinction in church leadership definitions, the world has taken the term “missionary” and has applied it to every occupation you can imagine as long as it is in a different country from their home. I hope this article will help us get back to the Bible in our terminology and to get a clearer understanding in the area of missions.
Missionaries, let’s keep our focus on our purpose: building churches and training pastors to take them over so that we can go on and do it again and again!
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Parson to Person
How many times have you had someone come up to you and tell you, “I have some good news and some bad news to tell you?” The world is full of bad news, and it is refreshing when someone has some good news to share.
The best news anyone can hear is what Jesus Christ has done for him. In 1 Corinthians 15:1 the Apostle Paul writes, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
The gospel has been entrusted to us. When we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, at that moment the Lord entrusted us to spread His message to everyone. In 1 Timothy 1:11 Paul writes to Timothy and says, “According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.”
The gospel must be elevated in our hearts. I believe most Christians would acknowledge that the gospel is the best news anyone could ever share with another person. However, this is just mental consent if it is never transferred to our hearts. In 1 Corinthians 9:16 Paul said, “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” It was not just head knowledge for Paul; the gospel message was in his heart! He wanted to share this wonderful message with others.
The gospel must be shared enthusiastically. Every Christian should enthusiastically share the gospel. We would be excited if we found a lottery ticket on the ground and won a million dollars. We would tell everyone about the blessing that came our way! The gospel is much more important than anything this world can offer us.
In Acts 8, when the persecution went to newer heights and the Christians were scattered, they still witnessed. “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” These believers were fanatical and excited about the opportunity they had to share the gospel. May you and I have the same spirit that these early believers possessed.
The gospel is for everyone. Jesus reminds us that He came into this world and gave His life for everyone! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” You cannot witness to the wrong person.
The gospel is the “Good News” of Jesus Christ. Together, let us be the bearers of “Good News” to someone today!
As we approach spring let’s start thinking about planting seeds of the Gospel and bring a great harvest this summer.
Pastor Tim Goodman
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Invite Someone to Church
By Dave Delaney
Pastor of First Baptist Church
Long Beach, CA
My father was not raised in church. When he was in his early 20’s, someone invited him to a church service. As a result of being invited to church, Jesus changed his life forever. My dad got saved that night, ended up going to a Baptist college and met his wife (my mom). My brothers and sister and I were raised in a Christian home because somebody invited him to church.
Studies show the vast majority of people come to Christ primarily because someone invited them to visit a church service.
It should come as no surprise that evangelism does not happen unless we become intentional about it. So, I’d like to challenge you at the beginning of 2021 to make a simple but significant resolution. Resolve that once a month you will invite at least one person to attend church with you.
According to a Lifeway Research, around 1 in 10 churchgoers (10%) average at least one evangelistic conversation a month. What if we could increase that to 5 out of 10? Or 7 out of 10? Or even better, 10 out of 10?
It’s true, most people we invite will not respond affirmatively. Even for the Apostle Paul, the world’s greatest evangelist, the book of Acts reports that some scoffed at him, others said, “We want to think about it,” but “a few believed.” A few believed! That’s our goal.
If you become serious about inviting others to church, then I would recommend you take the next step and go out of your way to make friends with people you invite by serving them. People will be much more likely to be responsive to your invitation if you show a genuine interest in them and help them along the way.
It’s amazing how much influence we can have, if we will simply be obedient to Jesus’ commands to tell others about Him and invite people to come to His house with us. I never met the man who invited my dad to church, but I am going to hug him one day in Heaven.
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Nothing To Win but The World
A Review of the Book by Clay Cooper
By Stephen Benefield
Missionary to Cambodia
Text: 1 John 4:17-21
There is no shortage today of books on missions, and I have certainly read my share. Aside from individual missionary biographies, there are three books that I have read in recent years which stand out in my mind as some of the most challenging books I have ever read. One of them is Nothing to Win but the World.
Nothing to Win but the World was written by Clay Cooper in 1965. Mr. Cooper was the founder of a non-profit fundraising group for missions called Vision, Inc. This book has a very distinctive flavor because of the era in which it was written. Two major issues from the 1960’s are, heavily referenced throughout the book: The Space Race and The Cold War. Mr. Cooper correctly concluded that Communism was not only an enemy to the political systems of the free world, but that it was also an enemy to Christianity. Consequently, although the topic of this book is the spreading of the Gospel, he made multiple references to the evils of Communism.
While the book is not overly political in nature, there are definitely some fascinating political overtones, particularly in the foreword and the preface. The foreword was a very strong call for all Christians to rededicate themselves to the spreading of the Gospel, and it was written by then-governor of the State of Oregon, Mark Hatfield!
Even more interesting is the preface of the book which is an excerpt from the United States Congressional Record of the 86th Congress. On February 11th, 1959, Walt Horan, apparently a state representative, read an article by Clay Cooper in his speech before the House of Representatives. The title of the article by Clay Cooper was “Missions or Missiles—This World or the Moon.” In his article, Mr. Cooper suggested that perhaps the Communists were getting the U.S. sidetracked with a race for the moon while the Communists’ ultimate goal was to win the world. Here are a few excerpts from his article (and remember—this was read on the floor of the United States House of Representatives a mere 50 years ago).
“Bear in mind it is not something we shoot from earth into the Heavens that is going to save the world. Rather it is that Someone who came down from Heaven to earth one starlit night in the long ago.”
“As a symbol of hope, the fiery launching pad pales in comparison with Bethlehem’s manger.”
“It is cause for amazement to many thinking people that a nominally Christian society should frantically compete with avowed atheists in the moon-race. Let the Reds be first to reach unknown worlds. Let the known world with its known peoples and their known problems be our first concern. Why bankrupt the nation so as to plant the Stars and Stripes on the pock-marked Sea of Tranquility? The Blood-Stained Banner has yet to be lifted over more than half of terra firma!”
“Shall we major in missiles and minor in missions? Shall we invest trillions for one and trifles for the other? Shall we put a man on the moon or a missionary in Martinique? Shall we waken, too late, and realize that while we were trying to gain the moon we lost the earth?”
And that’s just the preface! Now you see why he entitled the book, Nothing to Win but the World.
I love the author’s idea for the main text of the book. There are 27 chapters in the book. Does that number ring a bell? It is the number of books in the New Testament. Every chapter of this book is a truth about worldwide evangelization based upon a verse from a different book in the New Testament.
For example:
Chapter 1 is drawn from Matthew 25:25 (“And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth…”) and makes the case that fear hinders the spreading of the Gospel more than any other single thing.
Chapter 2 is based on Mark 6:7 (“And he called unto him the twelve and began to send them forth…”). This chapter presents a very strong argument that too many men have let women lead the way in the cause of missions, when it is actually men whom God has always used to advance the Gospel.
In Chapter 3 he compares the sending forth of the disciples to the launching of a rocket, taking his text from Luke 24:49 (“…but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”)
Chapter after chapter he follows this same pattern of pulling out one verse or passage from each subsequent book of the New Testament and using that verse to challenge the reader to do more for the cause of Christ. He covers every major topic related to missions including racial prejudice, financing missions, the importance of prayer, only one way to Heaven, what a world without Christ would be like, the chain-reaction of missions, missions logistics, love, and many other topics.
While the illustrations used in this book are largely outdated, the truths contained therein certainly are not. Any Christian would benefit greatly from reading this book. Unfortunately, it is out of print, but there are some used copies available on various websites. Get it. Read it. It will light a fire in your soul.
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How to Become a
Member of
Faith Bible Baptist Church
By Profession of Faith and Baptism
If you will receive Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and follow Him in baptism by immersion, we welcome you into our fellowship.
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You may express your desire to fulfill any of the above by presenting yourself during the invitation at the close of each worship service. Of course, any decision assumes your commitment to being faithful in prayer, church attendance, tithing and participation in our Lord’s work at Faith Bible Baptist Church.