Let me begin by sharing a quote with you that I came across a couple of years ago. This quote is by R. Arthur Matthews and was written in his book, Born for Battle in 1973. His words struck me as almost prophetic as I read them in our post-9/11 world.
Tides of war and revolution sweep the world. Yesterday’s allies are today’s enemies. National borders change overnight.There are hostile forces at large in every country: political ideologies – subtle sinister and spreading – flamboyant nationalism, often menacing in its attitudes to western peoples, and ancient religions in aggressive revival programs.
These all present massive imponderables to those planning world evangelism. Add to these the attitude of many homeland churches. We are being educated to consider ourselves eligible to predetermine the limits of our spiritual sacrifices.
Does the sum of all these factors affect the issue? Let us be sure of one thing: God continues to incarnate His redemptive purposes in human lives.
He still calls, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Let world conditions fluctuate or worsen; the fire of God’s purpose burns on. R. Arthur Matthews was of course describing conditions in 1973, but how much more true are these words over thirty years later?
Matthews knew much about difficulty. He was among the last missionaries in China when the Communist took over, and lived under the constant threat of martyrdom for his faith. Some of his words stand out to me particularly as I write this.
He speaks of world conditions as “massive imponderables” to those that are planning world evangelism. Truly when we choose to dwell upon our current world conditions, the state of the world, the threat of war, hostility towards Christianity and our largely Christian nation it can become overwhelming.
Matthews goes on to describe a sinister plot of the enemy to convince the church that it is OK to seek preservation and “predetermine the limits of our spiritual sacrifice,” as if there was actually room for negotiating.
But, I love how he ends his comments, “Does the sum of all these factors affect the issue?” No, no – let world conditions fluctuate, and they will; let world conditions worsen, and they will. We must be resolved that the purpose of God in the earth among His people must burn on in our hearts.
After the tragedies that struck our nation on September 11, 2001 I wondered how it would affect world missions. The Lord spoke to me and simply said, “Nothing has changed.”
The world was talking about how everything had changed, the world would never be the same, but in the Spirit realm concerning God’s plans for the nations, God’s desire for man’s salvation – nothing changed.
Yet many people have allowed world conditions to dictate to them their level of commitment, their level of giving, even their response to our Lord’s words, “Go ye into all of the world and preach the Gospel.”
The great commission has not been amended, nor has its fulfillment been rescheduled. God’s purpose still burns on. He still calls, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” He still seeks to incarnate His redemptive purposes in human lives – my life and your life.
We have to come to grip with the fact that we are the generation that God has chosen to be alive in these last of the last days. We are the people that God expects to rise up upon the mountain of revelation that has been passed down from generation to generation.
God expects all of our CD series and books, all of our meeting and revivals to produce a faith that will cause us to be triumphant in this hour.
The Scriptures poses a very pointed question when they ask in Luke 18:8, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Will He find you living faithful or will He find you merely existing in a fear-dominated world?
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Randy Mitchell and his wife Jessica have been married for 29 years and have three daughters. They currently live in Minnesota where Randy serves as the International Director of One World Missions. Randy graduated from Oral Roberts University and ministered in a pastoral role for ten years before starting One World Missions. Randy holds an earned Doctorate of Ministry with an emphasis on the Mission of God's People. Randy was an original signatory of the Toyko Declaration in 2010 and serves on the leadership team of the Global Great Commission Network (GGCN). Randy also serves on the Executive Leadership Team for the Global Mobilization Network (GMN).
Randy has served in both a pastoral role as well as missionary role for over 30 years. He has worked to train leaders and mobilize and equip for missions in over 50 nations. With One World Missions, he works with churches and networks of churches in the US and around the world, coordinating and implementing long-range strategy for missions by networking local churches and missions structures. Randy works on a global level to coordinate missions strategy, train church planters and catalyze mission movements.
Randy believes that the mandate to the church of Jesus Christ is missions. He believes missions work is best defined as any endeavor that has as its goal to bring individuals into right relationship with God. Along with evangelism, Randy believes in the necessity of discipleship and the development of local leadership. He believes the Great commission is global and that all believers are called to participate. This is demonstrated in OWM's commitment to catalyzing indigenous movements. God has placed a unique love in the heart of Randy for all the nations of the world. His priority in missions is to build relationships and through these relationships see partnerships arise for the purpose of extending God's Kingdom to all peoples. He believes that lives are inspired and transformed through friendships and that God works in our lives through the relationships we develop. His calling is to inspire anyone available, whether young or old, to reach out into the world with the love of Jesus. He believes that far more can be accomplished by working together than striving alone and for that reason he works to network and build relationships throughout the body of Christ to connect with people passionate about God and His mission.
Randy ministers at Global, regional and local conferences on a wide array of subjects including Mobilizing the Church for Missions, Global Trends and the Impact on Missions, Partnerships and Collaboration, Church Planting and many other subjects pertinent to the last days church. When not traveling to the nations of the world, Randy is studying and writing extensively about Mission and the Church.