The church exists by missions like fire exists by burning. Emil Brunner
OPERATION WORLD – JASON MANDRYK
From the Publisher: Operation World, the definitive global prayer handbook, has been used by more than a million Christians to pray for the nations. Now in its 7th edition, it has been completely updated and revised by Jason Mandryk with a team of missionaries and researchers, and it covers the entire populated world. Included in this updated and revised 7th edition:
All the countries of the world featured
Maps of each country
Geographic information
People groups within each country
Economic information
Political information
Religious make-up of each country
Daily Prayer Calendar
Answers to prayer
Challenges for prayer
Whether you are an intercessor praying behind the scenes for world change, a missionary abroad or simply curious about the world, Operation World will give you the information necessary to play a vital role in fulfilling the Great Commission.
JPC 60-Second Review: Operation World is an incredible prayer / missions tool for the follower of Christ. Packed with information, needs, opportunities and calls to prayer for every nation under the sun, Operation World is an invaluable daily devotional tool. Set this book by your Bible and use it as a daily prayer guide for missions and the nations. Simply pick a new nation each day, read the comprehensive summary supplied in OW and then pray according to the materials and tools presented. It couldn’t be easier. Or more satisfying. Instead of living with guilt for not praying for missions and missionaries, OW actually provides the schedule and subjects. A great, great tool, don’t miss this one. And be sure to check out their outstanding website for even more up to date information and helps.
Only as the church fulfills her missionary obligation does she justify her existence. Unknown
MISSIONS IN THE AGE OF THE SPIRIT – JOHN YORK
From the Publisher:
Missionary John York is persuaded that God’s desire to redeem and bless every nation on earth is the theme of the Bible; that it is, in fact, God’s mission.
In Missions in the Age of the Spirit, Dr. John York takes us through the missio dei and three key areas: In Scripture–from the Pentateuch through Revelation; in the early church and throughout the centuries; and in the missions tasks and responsibilities of today and the future. In the final section, York guides believers into a fresh understanding of the definition, demands, and devotion today’s missions efforts requires–and how close we are to fulfilling God’s mission.
JPC 60-Second Review: If you can only purchase one book on The Mission, let this be the one. York beautifully blends Scripture, history and devotion in one book that will both challenge you and encourage you. In Missions in the Age of the Spirit, you will clearly see the missions mandate that runs from cover of the Bible: the Bible does not contain the call to missions, the Bible IS God’s call to missions. This is scholarship and discipleship in one volume, a book that will reveal God’s heart and will to you for those who are yet far from him, a book that will call to your heart and will for your response. On a personal note, my wife and I were not privileged to work with Dr. York when we served as missionaries, but do count his son, Paul, a great friend and colleague. Knowing the son has made the words of his father in this book all the more powerful and precious.
We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God. John Stott
PRAY FOR THE WORLD – EDITORS OF OPERATION WORLD
From the Publisher:
For decades, Operation World has been the world’s leading resource for people who want to impact the nations for Christ through prayer. Its twofold purpose has been to inform for prayer and to mobilize for mission. Now the research team of Operation World offers this abridged version of the 7th edition called Pray for the World as an accessible resource to facilitate prayer for the nations.
The Operation World researchers asked Christian leaders in every country, “How should the body of Christ throughout the world be praying for your country?” Their responses provide the prayer points in this book, with specific ways your prayers can aid the global church.
When you hear a country mentioned in the news, you can use Pray for the World to pray for it in light of what God is doing there. Each entry includes:
Timely challenges for prayer and specific on-the-ground reports of answers to prayer
Population and people group statistics
Charts and maps of demographic trends
Updates on church growth, with a focus on evangelicals
Explanations of major currents in economics, politics and society.
JPC 60-Second Review: Pray for the World is Operation World abridged, the short version of the classic missions prayer guide. If you look at Operation World and find more than you can use, try this first step into praying for the world. Same quality, heartbeat and vision.
Loving world missions can be defined simply as the desire for God’s supremacy in all things. John Piper
LET THE NATIONS BE GLAD – JOHN PIPER
From the Publisher:
Let the Nations Be Glad! has provided thousands of seminary students, missionaries, and pastors with a sound theological foundation for missions. Piper now offers a revised and expanded edition of this theological and biblical defense of God’s supremacy in all things.
Drawing on texts from the Old and New Testaments, Piper demonstrates that worship is the ultimate goal of the church and that proper worship drives missionary outreach. He describes prayer as the fuel of missions work because of its focus on a relationship with God rather than the needs of the world. He goes on to illustrate that while suffering is the price of missions, God is worthy of any sacrifice. He examines whether Jesus is the only way to salvation and discusses the extent of the missionary enterprise, seeking to define the scope of the task and the means to reaching “all nations.”
This revised and expanded edition contains updated references to contemporary literature and debates and new illustrations and quotations. This edition also boasts a new preface and a final section devoted to the practical outworking of compassion and worship. Included in this new section is a chapter encouraging passion for God’s supremacy and compassion for man’s soul, based on Jonathan Edwards’s musings on the unity of motives for world missions. Concluding this section is a chapter containing Piper’s reflections on New Testament worship as an inner reality more than an external form.
Let the Nations Be Glad! is essential reading for all those involved in or preparing for missions work and provides inspiring theological reflection for college and seminary students. This book also offers enlightenment for pastors, youth workers, those involved in campus ministries, and all who want to connect their labors to God’s global purposes.
JPC 60-Second Review: Straight up, some pastors are biblically ignorant regarding The Mission. I’ve even had a few tell me they and their churches weren’t called to missions. Imagine preaching and teaching the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Old Testament, the New Testament, The Incarnation, the life of Christ, the Cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Book of Acts, the Church, the life and ministry of Paul, the Epistles, the Holy Spirit, prophecy, Communion, Water Baptism, Discipleship, etc., etc., etc., and doing so without world missions. Nina Gunter writes, “If you take missions out of the Bible, you won’t have anything left but the covers.” Ralph Winter states, “The Bible is not the basis of missions; missions is the basis of the Bible.” Absolutely true. The bible doesn’t include world missions, it is written for the purpose of world missions! Piper explains why and how in this concise teaching on the heartbeat and hands of God in this world. You’ll have to look high and low to find a better apologetic for The Mission. An engaging and encouraging read, you might even find that you enjoy learning about this essential of God.
Missions is the overflow of our delight in God because missions is the overflow of God’s delight in being God. John Piper
STAND IN THE GAP – DAVID BRYANT
From the book:
A Christian is a person who confesses that, amidst the manifold and confusing voices heard in the world, there is one Voice which supremely winds his full assent, uniting all his powers, intellectual and emotional, into a single pattern of self-giving. That voice is Jesus Christ . . .
We need a new context for praying, Bible study, employing spiritual gifts and even for our thinking about missions involvement. That context is the Gap. We need its world dimension for our discipleship . . .
The Christian movement is the story of thousands of World Christians burning with a world vision, disciples who have lived and died standing in the Gap . . .
Who wouldn’t like to end each day, putting our heads on our pillows confidently, saying: “I know this day my life has counted strategically for Christ’s global cause, especially for those currently beyond the reach of the Gospel.” Wouldn’t you?
JPC 60-Second Review: Too often the church separates discipleship and missions as different aspects of the Christian life. Bryant debunks this as he demonstrates that true biblical discipleship is focused on the Christ who so loved the world that He not only died to save it, but that He then sent us out into the world to announce that salvation. On a personal note, God used this book more than any other, outside of the Bible, to call me to Europe. Highly recommended for those who reject private-personal-therapeutic “Christianity.” Read this book to grab some serious, biblical discipleship.
No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once. Oswald J. Smith
THE JOURNALS OF JIM ELLIOT – ELISABETH ELLIOT
From the Publisher:
Jim Elliot was part of a team of young missionaries murdered in Ecuador in 1956 by the Auca Indians to whom they were witnessing. At the age of 29, he left behind a young widow, a baby daughter, and volumes of personal journals written over many years.
In 1978, Revell published the complete and unabridged journals, edited by his widow, Elisabeth, and the journals have stayed in print ever since. And it’s no wonder Jim Elliot was an intelligent thinker and strong writer in these personal, yet universal, musings about faith, work, and love.
The Journals of Jim Elliot is a wonderful account of the life of a man who yearns to know God’s plan for his life, details his fascinating missions work, and loves Elisabeth first as a single man, then as a happily married one. The Journals of Jim Elliot will intrigue fans of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, readers interested in missions, and young people struggling to find God’s plan for their lives.
JPC 60-Second Review: The Journals of Jim Elliot are the Psalms of Missions, without music, for their powerful and also painful look into the heart of a missionary’s missionary, edited and notated by an even more exemplary missionary, Jim Elliot’s wife. Portions of The Journals require the reader to work a bit as we read of the less than exciting details of Elliot’s life, ok, but even these portions serve us well in that they remind us that missionaries are just people; they are sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers – people who feel, think, wonder, wrestle, live and die – just like anyone else. Overall, however, these pages open the heart of God as it beats in the chest of two people – Jim and Elisabeth Elliot – in its desire and commitment to take the Gospel to the world. If you can read these diary entries and not be transformed, the issue is not the book or missions – the passionate wrestling, the calm assurance and the committed action of The Journals will work Spirit surgery in your heart and Spirit action in your life.
Untold millions are still untold. John Wesley
© [2015] — Journey Pastoral Coaching