Mark Rogers

Mark Rogers is a Ph.D. student in historical theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. A former college pastor and associate pastor, Mark is the editor of "Glimpses of Christian History."
 

Mar

30

2010

Mark Rogers|5:30 AM CT

Resources for Training Short-Term Mission Teams
Resources for Training Short-Term Mission Teams avatar

One of the most important ways to ensure a peaceful and fruitful short-term mission trip is to train and prepare your team well. Here are four helpful resources for preparing your team:

God’s Heart for the Nations



This Bible study will help your team put their brief mission trip in the context of God’s big mission. It combines passages from the Bible with challenging questions that demonstrate God’s heart for the nations and His passion for his glory. It also includes verses to memorize, people groups to pray for, and help in applying the biblical themes to everyday life.

Lesson outline:

  • Introduction – Before You Get Started

  • Lesson One: For the Glory of God

  • Lesson Two: God’s Blessing and Purpose

  • Lesson Three: God Impacts the Nations as He Blesses His People

  • Lesson Four: The Psalms and Prophets Reveal God’s Heart for the Nations

  • Lesson Five: Savior of the World

  • Lesson Six: His Call to the
...

 
 
 
 

Mar

23

2010

Mark Rogers|4:51 PM CT

“What Else Can We Do Besides Send Short-Term Mission Teams?”
“What Else Can We Do Besides Send Short-Term Mission Teams?” avatar

Miriam Adeney asks this question in the recent book, Effective Engagement in Short-Term Missions: Doing It Right, edited by Robert J. Priest. At the end of her chapter she argues that people do not have to travel across the world to gain a heart for a people, a vision for mission work, or to participate in what God is doing around the world. But people do need “a sense of relationship with those on the field” and a sense that their “money is being used in worthwhile projects.”

At the end of the chapter, she offers six suggestions:

1. Make It Easy to Know a Missionary

Adeney shares from her own life story:

“When I was ten years old, Don and Faye Smith spoke in the Sunday morning worship service in my church. They had founded Daystar University in Kenya. Studies of communication-in-culture were their passion. Already at age ten, I knew that...

 
 
 
 

Mar

16

2010

Mark Rogers|5:00 AM CT

Doing Short-Term Missions Right
Doing Short-Term Missions Right avatar

In 2005 approximately 1.6 million Christians from the United States went on a short-term mission trip. That number represents a lot of ministry, cross-cultural engagement, time, and money.

If you are involved in leading or organizing short-term mission trips, you should take a look at Effective Engagement in Short-Term Missions: Doing It Right! (Pasadena: William Carey, 2008). It is edited by Robert J. Priest, a professor of mission at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and is filled with 22 helpful chapters on nearly every aspect of short-term missions. There are chapters dealing with cultural issues, the relationship of short-term and long-term missions, forging healthy and humble partnerships between churches, specialized trips such as medical and business trips, legal and liability concerns, and ways to improve the impact of short-term missions on participants.

From the Introduction, by Robert Priest:
Seminarians preparing for youth ministry will someday be expected to plan, organize and lead short-term
...

 
 
 
 

Mar

10

2010

Mark Rogers|6:40 AM CT

A Gospel Opportunity in Japan
A Gospel Opportunity in Japan avatar

Michael Oh and Christ Bible Seminary (for more on Oh and this ministry, see here) recently began a 90-day prayer campaign. They have a short window of opportunity to purchase a strategically placed ministry campus in downtown Nagoya, Japan. The total cost of the building will be approximately $1.2 million, down from $3.3 million two years ago. Oh would appreciate our prayers this Wednesday (today) at 9:00 pm (ET), when they will be meeting with the owners and real estate agents. They are hoping to negotiate the price down even more if possible.

John Piper recently called attention to this need, saying of Michael Oh:

I love his vision for Japan. As a Korean this commitment has the Christ-like flavor of reconciliation and risk. I would like for you to know him and, if God leads, support his...

 
 
 
 

Mar

09

2010

Mark Rogers|6:00 AM CT

Ethical Church-Planting
Ethical Church-Planting avatar

J. D. Payne, the director of the Church Planting Center at Southern Seminary, writes:
I have been troubled by what I believe is a missiological malpractice among many church planters today. If we say we are Kingdom citizens living by a Kingdom Ethic, then that Ethic must govern all of life, including our church planting philosophies and methods.

Payne proposes 11 ethical guidelines for church planting. Here are the first four:

  • Guideline #1:  Since the global need for the gospel is so great, unless God reveals otherwise, we will begin our ministry among people with the greatest need and with a high level of receptivity to the gospel.

  • Guideline #2:  Since the world consists of four billion unbelievers, with two billion who have never heard the gospel,
...

 
 
 
 

Mar

02

2010

Mark Rogers|1:38 PM CT

Praying with One Another: Lessons from the Life of David Brainerd
Praying with One Another: Lessons from the Life of David Brainerd avatar

David Brainerd (1718-1747) was a missionary to the Native Americans of New York. He died of Tuberculosis in Jonathan Edwards’ home. Two years later Edwards published The Life of David Brainerd, which consists almost entirely of Brainerd’s journal entries. Brainerd’s Life has been influential on countless missionaries after him. It had a major impact on people like William Carey, Henry Martyn, and Jim Elliot.

One of the instructive elements of Brainerd’s life is how much time he spent in prayer, not only by himself, but with other Christians. For example:
Sept. 10, 1742: In the afternoon, prayed with a dear friend privately, and had the presence of God with us; our souls united together to reach after a blessed immortality.

Dec. 11, 1742: I rode to Bethlehem, came to Mr. Bellamy’s lodgings, and spent the evening with him in sweet conversation and prayer.

Dec. 23, 1742: I rode to New-Haven, and there enjoyed
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Feb

23

2010

Mark Rogers|12:09 PM CT

Praying for Church Growth: The Prayers of Donald McGavran
Praying for Church Growth: The Prayers of Donald McGavran avatar

Donald McGavran (1897–1990) was the founding dean of Fuller Seminary’s School of World Mission. He and the church growth movement that he started are sometimes pilloried in reformed circles. Though his teaching and movement had weaknesses, we can learn much from his life and writings (I was delighted to see him quoted positively at Kevin DeYoung’s blog a couple of weeks ago).

The main thing I find helpful about McGavran is his deep passion for Christ and for the spread of the gospel. This passion is most evident in the prayers he prayed at the beginning of each class he taught. The Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College has preserved twenty-five of his prayers from a 1979 course at Fuller. Here are a few:

A prayer of thanks for missionaries:
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we give You thanks for the great army of apostles and missionaries and pioneers
...

 
 
 
 

Feb

16

2010

Mark Rogers|6:50 AM CT

A Peculiar Proposal
A Peculiar Proposal avatar

Adoniram Judson, the first Baptist missionary from America, married Ann Hasseltine on February 5, 1812. They boarded a boat 2 weeks later and headed to Burma, where they had a rich marriage and a fruitful ministry.

A month after he met her, Adoniram wrote Ann a letter asking for permission to be her suitor. This was close to what we would call a proposal. She did not answer it for several days. When she finally did, Ann evaded the question, saying he would need to ask her parents first. Here is the letter Adoniram promptly sent to her dad:

I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to

...

 
 
 
 

Feb

09

2010

Mark Rogers|8:22 AM CT

The Persecuted Church in Burma
The Persecuted Church in Burma avatar

Adoniram Judson and Ko Tha Byu (“The Karen Apostle”) brought the gospel to the Karen people of Burma in 1828. Revival came and thousands from this animistic people were saved and baptized. Now 40% Christian, the Karen people are suffering and they need our prayers.

Christians receive harsh treatment in Burma (also known as Myanmar), where they make up only 4% of the population (89% are Buddhist). According to a thorough report from Compass Direct, “Printing of Bibles is restricted, and churches are destroyed on a regular basis.” Last January, 100 churches in Rangoon were forced to close. If a Chin or Karen (two states with high Christian populations) Christian wants a job or promotion, they are often told to convert to Buddhism first.

The persecution goes far beyond closing churches and discriminatory hiring practices, however. Over 150,000 Karen and Karenni people have fled to refugee camps in Thailand—over half are...

 
 
 
 

Feb

02

2010

Mark Rogers|5:09 PM CT

Gospel Growth in Japan
Gospel Growth in Japan avatar

Last February Michael Oh, a missionary to Japan, gave a powerful sermon at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors, titled “Missions as Fasting.” In it he tells of his call to missions, describes the need for the gospel in Japan, and outlines his ministry there, before giving a moving challenge to forsake present comforts for the global exaltation of Christ. If you listen to it, your heart will grow for Japan and the glory of Christ!

D. A. Carson has described Michael Oh as “a remarkable young man, being used by God in ways that are wisely breaking all kinds of molds in Japan.” Molds need to be broken among the Japanese people, the second largest unreached people group in the world. After nearly 500 years of Christian witness, the evangelical Christian population is only 0.25%. Missionary work is legal there, but many missionaries labor for years and...

 
 
 
 
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