“You are now entering the mission field.” This message has been posted above the exits doors of countless church buildings. And there’s a lot of truth in it. Perhaps now more than ever, as illustrated by David Wells:

“The United States,” writes Gordon Melton, “is currently home to more than 1,500 different religious organizations – churches, sects, cults, temples, societies, missions,” each the primary focus of spiritual allegiance for its adherents. Some of the more conservative Christian groups continue to speak of America as a Christian country, or at least that it should be… The reality, however, is that America is the world’s most religiously diverse nation now and from a Christian point of view it is as fully a mission field as any to which churches now are sending their missionaries. This is true, not only because of the arrival of these new immigrants with their diverse religions, but also because of the post-modern decay in American culture.” (Above All Earthly Pow’rs, p. 108)

This doesn’t undermine our great need for foreign missionaries, but it does remind us of the spiritual darkness of our own country. It should also cause us to rethink our strategies for global evangelism. Let’s not be deceived into thinking America is a “Christian nation.” Time is short, and the need for the gospel in America is perhaps greater than ever before.

Here are some of my favorite quotes (or paraphrases) from the 2008 Together for the Gospel conference and Band of Bloggers seminar. You can download all the messages for free on MP3 at the T4G website.

“According to John 17:13, If you denigrate doctrine, you are a killjoy” – Ligon Duncan

“Christ’s blood creates a deeper lineage than our genes” – Thabiti Anyabwile

“Soft preaching makes hard people. Hard truth will make a soft person” – John MacArthur

“We have the only profession in the world where we can take no credit for anything we do” – John MacArthur

“It’s not about how cool you are. It’s about how clear you are.” – John MacArthur

“An evangelistic spirit unmoored from theology will lead to liberalism” – Mark Dever

“Pastors have the only job with a report card that comes after we’re done” – Ligon Duncan

“The gospel could not be more kind. It is grace and kindness to tell the truth and then make provision for it.” – Al Mohler

“Jesus was the ultimate obscenity” – R. C. Sproul [This statement still sends shivers up my spine as I consider the curse Christ bore on my behalf. See 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13]

“The pure gospel is the only hope we have, and it is hope enough” – R. C. Sproul

“After preaching, we should feel dissatisfied (which motivates us to grow), but not discouraged (which reveals pride)” – C. J. Mahaney

“There is an interconnectedness to the gospel. When you deny penal substitution, you eventually reject other fundamental doctrines as well” – Al Mohler

“Let your ministry have a radical, risky flavor” – John Piper

“Yes, Christ and His work are a means to something (justification, sanctification, glorification). But more importantly, Christ becomes my end. The ticket becomes the treasure. Christ is our final reward.” – John Piper

“The sweetest fellowship with the Savior is the fellowship of suffering” – John Piper

“When preparing for a sermon, I pray, ‘Lord, show me what’s there, and help me feel what’s there.’ We need both the light and the heat.” – John Piper

“In suffering, the possibilities of making much of Jesus are staggering.” – John Piper

“Let the cross overshadow everything you write in your blog” – Tim Challies

“Always check your heart before you hit the post button” – Tim Challies

Kirk Cameron recently published a biography called Still Growing. I enjoyed reading this review by Tim Challies, and thought you might as well. It gives some interesting details about his life as a movie star, and how he came to faith in Christ. Kirk now spends much of his time doing evangelism alongside Ray Comfort through the Way of the Master.

I think “hidden text” is one of the most under-appreciated features in Microsoft Word. It’s become an invaluable tool in my weekly lesson planning and Bible teaching. First, let me explain how to create hidden text, and then I’ll demonstrate how to use it.

To create “hidden text,” you first need to select the text you want to hide. Then go to Format > Font. A little window will pop up, and one of your “Effects” options is to create “hidden text.” Once this button is checked, your highlighted text will be hidden both on your screen and in your printed documents. However, you can easily view hidden text on the screen by clicking the “Show/Hide paragraph” button on the Standard toolbar.

Why is this helpful? I first heard of this feature a couple years ago while reading a discussion thread by some teachers. One of the teachers said they used “hidden text” when creating a True/False or multiple choice test. They would create the test with blanks, and then “hide” the answer key right in the document.

It then occurred to me – I could use the same trick to create a Bible lesson handout with blanks, then include all my answers and lecture notes in the same document as hidden text. This saves me the time of having to create two separate files: one for the teacher and one for the students. You can view a sample document here. Again, you can toggle the hidden text on/off by clicking the “Show/Hide paragraph” button. To print a document with hidden text visible, go to File > Print > Options > Include with document: hidden text.

I’d encourage you to experiment with “hidden text” a little bit. If you find yourself starting to use it regularly, you can create a simple keyboard macro to save time. First, go to Tools > Macro > Record New Macro. Name your macro something like “hiddentext”. Assign a keyboard shortcut (I use “ctrl + w”). Once the macro recording has started, click on Format > Font > Hidden text. Then click the red square to stop the macro recording. That’s it! You’ve created a new macro shortcut. You can now create hidden text at any time simply by clicking “ctrl + w”. One further tip: to distinguish hidden text from visible text, I like to put my hidden text in blue. You can add this step into your macro recording so that “ctrl + w” will hide the text and change color to blue all at the same time.

Note: Hidden text should not be used to store sensitive information, because it is easily made visible.

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions.

Our Sunday School class has been going through an inductive Bible Study by John Stott on the Book of Acts. When looking at the prayers of the disciples on those days between Christ’s ascension and Pentecost, Stott comments,

[Jesus] had promised to send them the Spirit soon (Acts 1:4-5, 8). He had commanded them to wait for him to come and then to begin their witness. We learn, therefore, that God’s promises do not remove our need for prayer. On the contrary, it is only his promises which give us the warrant to pray and the confidence that he will hear and answer. (Acts: Seeing the Spirit at Work, p. 12)

Another great example of this promise-prayer relationship is found in the Babylonian exile. For centuries, Israel had rebelled against God with her idolatry and immorality. God was slow to anger, but eventually disciplined His chosen people. Yet even this discipline was for a season. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God promised His judgment would only last for seventy years:

You have not listened to Me, …Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north…This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation… (Jer. 25:7-8, 11-12)

For thus says the LORD, When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. (Jer. 29:10-11)

A whole generation later, after Israel’s captivity and Babylon’s destruction, the prophet Daniel discovered God’s promise and prayed for God to fulfill His word:

In the first year of [Darius’] reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. (Dan. 9:2-3)

Notice that Daniel did not take God’s promise of deliverance for granted, but humbled Himself before God in prayer. And according to Ezra, God graciously answered Daniel’s prayer and finally fulfilled the prophecy given through Jeremiah so long ago…

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom,…” (Ezra 1:1)

There is a lesson here for each of us today. Just as the early disciples prayed for the promised Spirit, and just as Daniel prayed for God’s promised deliverance, so we too should pray often for the fulfillment of God’s promises. For example, we should:

• Pray that Christ will continue to build His church (Matt. 16:18)

• Pray that people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation will hear and receive the gospel (Matt. 28:19-20; Rev. 5:9)

• Pray that God will deliver us from temptation (1 Cor. 10:13; Matt. 6:13)

• Pray that Christ will return soon (Jn. 14:3; Rev. 22:20)

May God’s promises increasingly instruct and occupy our prayer life. Only then can we know with certainty that we are praying according to His will, and that He will answer our prayers (Jn. 14:13, 15:7; 1 Jn. 5:14).