I came across the book “Let The Nations Be Glad” by John Piper recently, and decided to read the first chapter over the internet. So many things hit me and and stirred my heart as I read it with great anticipation for what God would speak to me about. I have since read the whole book and it has changed how I view missions and reaching those who have never heard the Gospel yet!
Read it here yourself to be both encouraged and challenged:
LET THE NATIONS BE GLAD
“My soul was this day, at turns, sweetly set on God: I
longed to be “with him” that I might “behold his glory.” . . . Oh, that his
kingdom might come in the world; that they might all love and glorify
him for what he is in himself; and that the blessed Redeemer might “see
of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied.” Oh, “come, Lord Jesus, come
quickly! Amen.” -David Brainerd, the missionary to the Indians in New Jersey in the
1740s
“As we seek to find out why, with such millions of Christians, the real
army of God that is fighting the hosts of darkness is so small, the only
answer is—lack of heart. The enthusiasm of the kingdom is missing.
And that is because there is so little enthusiasm for the King.” -Andrew Murray’s Key to the Missionary Problem
Peter Beyerhaus also sees it clearly and calls us to put the glory of God at the center of our life and mission:
“We are called and sent to glorify the reign of God and to manifest His
saving work before the whole world. . . . Today it is extremely important
to emphasize the priority of this doxological aim before all other aims
of mission. Our one-sided concern with man and his society threatens
to pervert mission and make it a secular or even a quasi-atheistic undertaking.
We are living in an age of apostasy where man arrogantly makes
himself the measuring rod of all things. Therefore, it is a part of our
missionary task courageously to confess before all enemies of the cross
that the earth belongs to God and to His anointed. . . . Our task in mission
is to uphold the banner of the risen Lord before the whole world,
because it is his own.” -Peter Beyerhaus, Shaken Foundations: Theological Foundations for Missions
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