Transcript THE FOUR LEVELS OF MISSIONARY DINING

THE FOUR LEVELS OF
MISSIONARY DINING
Author Unknown
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LEVEL ONE:
• You find a fly in your food
and you cannot eat.
• You dump your plate and
start again.
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LEVEL TWO:
• You fine a fly in your food.
• You fish the fly out and keep
on eating.
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LEVEL THREE:
• You find a fly in your food.
• You eat the fly and thank
God for the extra protein.
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LEVEL FOUR:
• You feel cheated if there is no
fly in your food. (“That’s my
fly! Gimme that fly!”)
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FOUR WAYS TO KNOW
THAT YOU ARE AN M.K.
Allan Burney
Alberta, Canada
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YOU ARE AN M.K. IF:
• You can’t answer the question, “Where
are you from?”
• The vast majority of your clothes are
hand-me-downs.
• You speak two languages but you can’t
spell either.
• You read National Geographic and you see
some folks you know.
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EMBRACING THE TRUTH AND
SPREADING THE LIGHT
• We are all missionaries at home at school
at work at play.
• Luke 14: The cost of commitment to our
Lord Jesus vs. feeble excuses!!
• 2 Cor 5:(12): When we are reconciled to
Christ, He gives us the ministry of
reconciliation. We are His ambassadors v20
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2 CORINTHIANS 5:7
• We walk by faith not by sight.
• BIBLICAL FAITH:
I obey the Bible without concern
for the cost, the circumstance or the
consequence.
• Gideon, Joshua, Daniel, etc.
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2 Corinthians 5:9
• We want to please our Lord above all else and
teach our children to please God!!!
• Also: Colossians 1:10:
• Walk worthy; please God; bear fruit;
increase in the knowledge of God.
• We must learn to fear God and teach our
children to fear God. (2 Cor. 5:11, Luke 12:4,5)
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WE MUST EMBRACE THE TRUTH
BEFORE WE CAN SPREAD THE LIGHT
•
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Psalm 119: Emphasis on God’s Truth.
John 17:17: “God’s Word is Truth.”
John 8:32; That Truth sets us free.
Hebrews 4:12: God’s Word is living and
active and sharper than any two-edged
sword. . . .
• Jn. 12:48: God’s Word will judge us.
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PSALM 51:6 God desires for us to
have truth in the innermost being.
• DEUT. 32:47:
• GOD’S WORD IS NOT AN IDLE
WORD FOR US , INDEED IT IS
OUR LIFE !
• (Does our life reflect the reality of God’s
Word being “OUR VERY LIFE”?)
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II TIM. 2:15: Study to show yourself
approved unto God,
• a workman that is not ashamed, handling
accurately the word of truth.
• I Pet. 3:15: Be ready to make defense,
give account, of the hope that is within.
• (Can we defend the faith?)
• Job 23:12: I have treasured the words of
His mouth more than my necessary food.
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MOTIVATION FOR GODLY
LIVING: I COR. 6:20
• YOU HAVE BEEN BOUGHT WITH A
PRICE, THEREFORE GLORIFY GOD
IN YOUR BODY.
• (What motivates you: Power, Prestige,
Prominence, Pennies?)
• COL. 1:27: CHRIST IN YOU, THE
HOPE OF GLORY.
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WHAT IS TRUE TRUTH?
• IS ALL TRUTH GOD’S TRUTH?
• Is there a “way that seems right”, but its
end is the way of death? Prov. 14:12
• Satan’s world system offers a “brand” of
“truth” that seems so right, but ends in
death. (Drugs, immorality, materialism)
• So, is “all truth God’s Truth”, or is God’s
Word Truth?
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In these days of increasing post-modernism
and deconstructionism where moral rela• tivism abounds, we must be ever more
convinced of the veracity of BIBLICAL
TRUTH and not the experiential or
subjective “truth”.
• God’s Word is not just for “access” but
for INSTRUCTION, that the man of God
may be complete, equipped for every
good work. II Tim. 3:17
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WE MUST HAVE A BIBLICAL
STANDARD
• Without a Biblical standard of absolutes
there is no objective norm of right and
wrong, which results in moral relativism,
post-modernism, and deconstructionism,
which displays itself in the contemporary
idea of “You have your truth, and I have
my truth.” Words have only the meaning
that you assign to them.
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WE CANNOT PASS ON TRUTH THAT
WE DO NOT POSSESS.
• We cannot spread the light if we do not
have the Truth engrafted.
• We do what is important to us in life.
• Ideas have consequences.
• GOD’S TRUTH WILL TRANSFORM,
THE WORLD’S “TRUTH” WILL
CONFORM. (Rom. 12:1,2)
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MAN’S WORDS, OR GOD’S TRUTH?
• When we substitute man’s words for
God’s Truth as revealed in His Word, we
become:
• COMPROMISED, NEUTRALIZED, AND
DILUTED.
• The ultimate tragedy of this process is a
wasted life for Christ.
• How will your life count for eternity?
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IDEAS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
• Our Worldview dictates our values which
govern our behavior.
• What is our Worldview based on…..do
we “know whom we have believed, and
are we convinced that HE is able to
guard what I have entrusted to HIM until
that day?” II Tim. 1:12b
• I Kgs. 18:21, Matt. 16:16, Acts 17:17
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What is our message as missionaries?
God is love
Lord Jesus is Creator and Savior (Jn, Col, Heb 1)
He has bought us with a price: I Cor. 6:20
There is salvation in no one else: Acts 4:12
Jesus is the only way to God: Jn. 14:6
We must then “live the love” or there is no reality
to it, only HYPOCRISY.
The Fruit of the Spirit must be shown.
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DISCREDITING THE
MINISTRY
– II Cor. 6:3: Giving no cause for offense
in anything, that the ministry be not
discredited.
• Pride, selfishness, anger, impatience
• We must DIE TO OURSELVES DAILY
• We cannot pass on truth that we do not
have AND do not exhibit!
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MARKS OF A CHRISTIAN
• Godly Character (Gal. 5:22-23): “But
the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. Against such
things there is no law.”
• Excellence (Col. 3:23) Do your work
heartily as for the Lord, not for men.
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INTEGRITY: I Pet. 3:16- 17: Keep a clear
conscience so that those who revile your
• good behavior in Christ may be put to
shame. For it is better for you to suffer
for doing what is right than for doing
what is wrong.
• PERSEVERANCE: James 1:2-4:
Consider it all joy when you suffer
various trials, for the testing of your faith
develops perseverance.
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DESPERATE DEPENDENCE ON
OUR GOD
• John 15:5: “ . . . Apart from Me you can
do nothing.”
• II Cor. 3:5: We are not adequate in
ourselves for anything, but our adequacy
is from God.
• Jerm. 17:5: Cursed is the man who trusts
in mankind and makes flesh his strength.
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AS GOD’S MISSIONARIES:
• WE MUST INTEGRATE
BIBLICAL TRUTH INTO
EVERY AREA OF LIFE.
• We must do the will of the
Father no matter what the cost.
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CONCLUSIONS:
• We must know the times and what to do
about them (1 Chronicles 12:32).
• We must realize that Ideas Have
Consequences (Prov. 14:12).
• Ps. 4:2: How long will you love what is
worthless and aim at deception? (What
will matter eternally….where are our
investments? Time, Treasure, Talents?
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Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil: Isaiah 5:20
• All are eager to corrupt all their deeds:
Zeph. 3:7 (“BAD IS GOOD”)
• They refused to pay attention, turned
their shoulder, stopped their ears from
hearing, made their hearts like flint:
Zeph. 7:11-13 (Rebellion).
• “Taught their tongue to speak lies,
refused to know Me : Jerm. 9:3b
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Help, Lord, for the godly man
ceases to be: Psalm 12:1
• “But they do not know the thoughts of
the Lord or understand His purposes:”
Micah 4:12.
• CONSIDER YOUR WAYS! Haggai 1:7
• RETURN TO ME! Zech. 1:3 & 4
• ACCEPT INSTRUCTION! Zeph. 3:7
• DIE TO SELF AND LIVE FOR CHRIST
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DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH
OR DEFECTORS FROM ?
• Where is our heart? Do we desire truth
in the innermost being? Ps. 51:6
• Have we been so long with the Father,
and yet we do not know His heart?
Jn. 14:9
• Have we been led astray from the
simplicity and purity of devotion to
Christ? II Cor. 11:3
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COMPROMISED,
NEUTRALIZED, DILUTED?
• The wisdom of the world or of Christ?
I Cor. 2:6
• By our flesh? Ephesians 2
• I will set no wicked thing before my eyes:
Ps. 101:3.
• We don’t become compromised or diluted
overnight, it is a process. Godliness doesn’t
happen overnight.
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Ps. 39:4:
• “LORD, MAKE ME TO KNOW MY
END, AND WHAT IS THE EXTENT OF
MY DAYS, LET ME KNOW HOW
TRANSIENT I AM.”
• We choose daily to be conformed to this
world or transformed to Christ (Rom.
12:1,2).
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WHAT ARE YOU CHOOSING?
• Therapy over Theology?
• The artificial over the authentic?
• Entertainment over Entreatment
(of God’s Word)?
• The World over the WORD?
• Passion over Purity?
• Feeling good or being good?
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Professing or Truly Possessing?
• As the frog boils to death in the
increasingly hotter water, are we
allowing our vitality and enthusiasm and
God given gifts to be diluted and lost
rather than to be used for the eternal
glory of our Heavenly Father?
• WILL WE “WAKE” BEFORE WE
DIE?
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Ephesians 2:10
• FOR WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP,
CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS FOR
GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD
PREPARED BEFOREHAND, THAT
WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM.
• Let us do our work heartily as unto the
Lord, rather than for men, it is the Lord
Christ whom we serve (Col. 3:23).
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MOTIVATION TO: WALK
WORTHY (COL.1:10)
• Our motivation to walk worthy should
stem from the appreciation and gratitude
of understanding I Cor. 6:20:
• “For you have been bought with a price;
therefore, glorify God in your body.”
• We must guard our hearts with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.
• Proverbs 4:23
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AS A MAN THINKS IN HIS HEART,
SO IS HE. Prov. 23:7
• Do not love the world, nor the things in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from
the Father, but from the world. And the world
is passing away and also its lusts; but the one
who does the will of God abides forever.
• I JOHN 2:15-17
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ECCLESIASTES 12:15-17
• BUT BEYOND THIS, MY SON, BE
WARNED; THE WRITING OF MANY
BOOKS IS ENDLESS, AND EXCESSIVE DEVOTION TO BOOKS IS
WEARYING TO THE BODY. The
conclusion when all has been heard, is:
Fear God, and keep His commandments,
because this applies to every person.
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Isaiah 42:8
• “I AM THE LORD, THAT IS
MY NAME; I WILL NOT
GIVE MY GLORY TO
ANOTHER, NOR MY
PRAISE TO GRAVEN
IMAGES.”
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And Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, “All power is given unto me in
• heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world.
A-men.”
Matthew 28:18-20
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