The last weekend in July, I traveled to the St. Louis area and spoke at the St. Peters, MO congregation. On Sunday night, I visited with the Collinsville, IL congregation. I was able to attend the 50th wedding anniversary party for Bill and Judy Schwegler as well.
*********************************************************************************
“Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
A Work of the Chestnut Mountain Church of Christ, Chestnut Mountain, Georgia USA
*********************************
PLEASE PASS THIS REPORT TO THOSE YOU THINK MIGHT HAVE INTEREST IN OUR WORK!
*************************************
COME ON IN, THE WATER’S FINE
Romans 10:15
The need for preachers is great. Our present preacher shortage is undeniable and the supply of faithful gospel preachers continues to shrink each year. When we compare the number of men now preaching with the ever-increasing world population, we see the enormity of our task. Do we have an impossible task before us? Absolutely not! (Philippians 4:13).
A Work of the Chestnut Mountain Church of Christ, Chestnut Mountain, Georgia USA
*********************************
PLEASE PASS THIS REPORT TO THOSE YOU THINK MIGHT HAVE INTEREST IN OUR WORK!
*************************************
COME ON IN, THE WATER’S FINE
Romans 10:15
The need for preachers is great. Our present preacher shortage is undeniable and the supply of faithful gospel preachers continues to shrink each year. When we compare the number of men now preaching with the ever-increasing world population, we see the enormity of our task. Do we have an impossible task before us? Absolutely not! (Philippians 4:13).
The Local
Evangelist
Someone has rightly said, “when you get a good preacher, you had better keep him.” A sound preacher and a good worker is getting harder and harder to find. In the minds of many members, preachers have a soft life. The concept is set forth that preachers are paid too much for too little work. The truth is: “you cannot pay a good preacher too much, and anything you pay a bad preacher is too much!” Some think the only reason men choose to preach is because they cannot do anything else. If a man is a good preacher he preaches because he cannot keep from it. Someone said, “if anything can keep you from preaching, then do not preach.” This is the kind of dedication a man needs to meet the challenge of the work.
Someone has rightly said, “when you get a good preacher, you had better keep him.” A sound preacher and a good worker is getting harder and harder to find. In the minds of many members, preachers have a soft life. The concept is set forth that preachers are paid too much for too little work. The truth is: “you cannot pay a good preacher too much, and anything you pay a bad preacher is too much!” Some think the only reason men choose to preach is because they cannot do anything else. If a man is a good preacher he preaches because he cannot keep from it. Someone said, “if anything can keep you from preaching, then do not preach.” This is the kind of dedication a man needs to meet the challenge of the work.
If preaching is such
an easy life with such outstanding pay and fringe benefits, why is there such a
critical shortage? To those who believe preaching is “a piece of cake,” I would
say, “come on in, the water’s fine.” There is plenty of room for
you.
The Foreign
Evangelist
When we turn our thoughts to the foreign mission fields, the words of our Lord come to mind (John 4:35).Not only does the foreign evangelist have to deal with most of the problems and frustrations of the local evangelist, including having to deal with false doctrines and false teachers, he has a multitude of additional problems. There is the constant concern about keeping up his support, learning a new language, and adjusting to a new culture. He has to worry about his family adjusting as well. The family is separated from the extended family and friends by thousands of miles and at least one ocean. All of these things add to the burden of the missionary.
When we turn our thoughts to the foreign mission fields, the words of our Lord come to mind (John 4:35).Not only does the foreign evangelist have to deal with most of the problems and frustrations of the local evangelist, including having to deal with false doctrines and false teachers, he has a multitude of additional problems. There is the constant concern about keeping up his support, learning a new language, and adjusting to a new culture. He has to worry about his family adjusting as well. The family is separated from the extended family and friends by thousands of miles and at least one ocean. All of these things add to the burden of the missionary.
While he is
agonizing over the millions of souls that have not yet had the opportunity to
hear the gospel even one time, there are those back home who say, “Boy, it must
be nice to go over to another country for a two or three year vacation.” Once
again we answer, “come on in, the water's fine.” Go to Europe, England,
China, Africa, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, South
America, Japan, or Taiwan for the next ten years or so. With so few missionary
families in the field, we can certainly use you.
The
Responsibility
Who has the responsibility to solve this critical preacher shortage in the world? Paul tells us the church is the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). We need elders who have the faith and vision to encourage young men to prepare to preach the gospel. We need men who desire to enter the greatest field of labor in existence. We need parents who will rear their children with evangelism in mind. One of the causes of the shortage of preachers has been parents who have discouraged their sons from preparing to preach because they want them to be “successful.” Do they want them to be successful like the rich men described in the New Testament? (Luke 12:15-21; 16:19-31; Mark 10:17-22). There is no greater success than faithfully serving the Lord (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Until the church fulfills its responsibility, we will continue to have this problem.
Who has the responsibility to solve this critical preacher shortage in the world? Paul tells us the church is the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). We need elders who have the faith and vision to encourage young men to prepare to preach the gospel. We need men who desire to enter the greatest field of labor in existence. We need parents who will rear their children with evangelism in mind. One of the causes of the shortage of preachers has been parents who have discouraged their sons from preparing to preach because they want them to be “successful.” Do they want them to be successful like the rich men described in the New Testament? (Luke 12:15-21; 16:19-31; Mark 10:17-22). There is no greater success than faithfully serving the Lord (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Until the church fulfills its responsibility, we will continue to have this problem.
Seven Billion
Souls
There are billions of people who have never had the opportunity to hear the gospel of Christ. They will be lost if we do not reach them with the truth (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). “For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14-15).
May each one of us recognize our responsibility to get the gospel message to the world. Come on in, the water’s fine! JMG.
There are billions of people who have never had the opportunity to hear the gospel of Christ. They will be lost if we do not reach them with the truth (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). “For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14-15).
May each one of us recognize our responsibility to get the gospel message to the world. Come on in, the water’s fine! JMG.
***********************************
Materials Available
Materials Available
There are sixty Chinese lessons currently posted on
YouTube. You can access them at: http://m.youtube.com/user/TheCoJC.
I update my Facebook page all the time. Be sure to check my Facebook wall for
pictures and news about my trips and activities. Be sure to check out my
website: www.grubbchinese.org. http://grubbmissionwork.blogspot.com
is my blog address. I post my monthly report there too.
************************************
SPEAKING SCHEDULE
SPEAKING SCHEDULE
2015
August 16 – Groveport, OH
September 8-29 – Taiwan
October 17 – Mission Forum – Forest Park
October 30-December 7 – China and Taiwan
2016
May-June – Indonesia/CABL
September – Taiwan
Nov. – Dec. – Singapore/Malaysia
2018
Apr. 22-25 Gospel Meeting – Collinsville, IL
– John M.
Grubb
