Advice to Missionary Candidates by Adoniram Judson

To the Foreign Missionary Association of the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution, N. Y.

DEAR BRETHREN: Yours of November last, from the pen of your Corresponding Secretary, Mr. William Dean, is before me. It is one of the few letters that I feel called upon to answer, for you ask my advice on several important points. There is, also, in the sentiments you express, something so congenial to my own, that I feel my heart knit to the members of your association, and instead of commonplace reply, am desirous of setting down a few items which may be profitable to you in your future course. Brief items they must be, for want of time forbids my expatiating.

In commencing my remarks, I take you as you are. You are contemplating a missionary life.

First, then, let it be a missionary life; that is, come out for life, and not for a limited term. Do not fancy that you have a true missionary spirit, while you are intending all along to leave the heathen soon after acquiring their language. Leave them! for what? To spend the rest of your days in enjoying the ease and plenty of your native land?

Secondly. In choosing a companion for life, have particular regard to a good constitution, and not wantonly, or without good cause, bring a burden on yourselves and the mission.

Thirdly. Be not ravenous to do good on board ship. Missionaries have frequently done more hurt than good, by injudicious zeal, during their passage out.

Fourthly. Take care that the attention you receive at home, the unfavorable circumstances in which you will be placed on board ship, and the unmissionary examples you may possibly meet with at some missionary stations, do not transform you from living missionaries to mere skeletons before you reach the place of your destination. It may be profitable to bear in mind, that a large proportion of those who come out on a mission to the East die within five years after leaving their native land. Walk softly, therefore; death is narrowly watching your steps.

Fifthly. Beware of the reaction which will take place soon after reaching your field of labor. There you will perhaps find native Christians, of whose merits or demerits you can not judge correctly without some familiar acquaintance with their language. Some appearances will combine to disappoint and disgust you. You will meet with disappointments and discouragements, of which it is impossible to form a correct idea from written accounts, and which will lead you, at first, almost to regret that you have embarked in the cause. You will see men and women whom you have been accustomed to view through a telescope some thousands of miles long. Such an instrument is apt to magnify. Beware, therefore, of the reaction you will experience from a combination of all these causes, lest you become disheartened at commencing your work, or take up a prejudice against some persons and places, which will embitter all your future lives.

Sixthly. Beware of the greater reaction which will take place after you have acquired the language, and become fatigued and worn out with preaching the gospel to a disobedient and gainsaying people. You will sometimes long for a quiet retreat, where you can find a respite from the tug of toiling at native work -- the incessant, intolerable friction of the missionary grindstone. And Satan will sympathize with you in this matter; and he will present some chapel of ease, in which to officiate in your native tongue, some government situation, some professorship or editorship, some literary or scientific pursuit, some supernumerary translation, or, at least, some system of schools; anything, in a word, that will help you, without much surrender of character, to slip out of real missionary work. Such a temptation will form the crisis of your disease. If your spiritual constitution can sustain it, you recover; if not, you die.

Seventhly. Beware of pride; not the pride of proud men, but the pride of humble men -- that secret pride which is apt to grow out of the consciousness that we are esteemed by the great and good. This pride sometimes eats out the vitals of religion before its existence is suspected. In order to check its operations, it may be well to remember how we appear in the sight of God, and how we should appear in the sight of our fellow-men, if all were known. Endeavor to let all be known. Confess your faults freely, and as publicly as circumstances will require or admit. When you have done something of which you are ashamed, and by which, perhaps, some person has been injured (and what man is exempt?), be glad not only to make reparation, but improve the opportunity for subduing your pride.

Eighthly. Never lay up money for yourselves or your families. Trust in God from day to day, and verily you shall be fed.

Ninthly. Beware of that indolence which leads to a neglect of bodily exercise. The poor health and premature death of most Europeans in the East must be eminently ascribed to the most wanton neglect of bodily exercise.

Tenthly. Beware of genteel living. Maintain as little intercourse as possible with fashionable European society. The mode of living adopted by many missionaries in the East is quite inconsistent with that familiar intercourse with the natives which is essential to a missionary.

There are many points of self-denial that I should like to touch upon; but a consciousness of my own deficiency constrains me to be silent. I have also left untouched several topics of vital importance, it having been my aim to select such only as appear to me to have been not much noticed or enforced. I hope you will excuse the monitorial style that I have accidentally adopted. I assure you, I mean no harm.

In regard to your inquiries concerning studies, qualifications, etc., nothing occurs that I think would be particularly useful, except the simple remark, that I fear too much stress begins to be laid on what is termed a thorough classical education.

Praying that you may be guided in all your deliberations, and that I may yet have the pleasure of welcoming some of you to these heathen shores, I remain

Your affectionate brother,

A. JUDSON Maulmain, June 25, 1832

Copied by Stephen Ross for WholesomeWords.org from The Life of Adoniram Judson by Edward Judson. Published by Anson D. F. Randolph & Co., 1883. Appendix D.

What Does a Campus Pastor Do?

Borrowed with Love from Tim Stevens of leadingsmart.com. I thought this would be helpful to see for those many friends that I know that are Church Planting or thinking about Multi-site.


What Does a Campus Pastor Do?
I'm pretty excited that we have hired our first Campus Pastor. I'll introduce you to him after our church has a chance to meet him in a couple weeks.
But have you wondered what the job of a Campus Pastor looks like? Here is a glimpse of what we believe is the ROLE of a Campus Pastor...
Catalytic Leader: Able to rally people to a cause.
Team Builder: Can build teams and identify high capacity leaders to build more teams.
Relational Leader: Friendly and approachable.
Talent Scout: Always on the lookout for new leaders and volunteers.
Total Quality Manager: Looking for ways to improve; sensitive to misses; committed to excellence.
Communicator: The primary host, greeter and vision-caster of this congregation.
Cheerleader: Encouraging volunteers and staff constantly.
Carrier of the DNA: When you cut them, they bleed the mission, vision and values of GCC.
Solution Specialist: Able to identify problems and find solutions.
Staff Champion: Cares for the spiritual, emotional, and familial health of campus staff.
Pastor: Has a heart to identify leaders and build systems to care for the congregation.
Reproducer: With the entire staff, reproduces leaders, followers of Christ, and campuses.
Download the entire job summary for free: Download campus_pastor_job_summary_short.pdf

Cowboy Roundup pt1

Before I can post a Sunday wrap up I need to give a Sunday Wrap up from the SBTC Cowboy Church Planters Conference. In truth, can’t post all that I experienced in one post. Overall it was the most encouraging and equipping conference to training I think I have ever been to. Jim Gatliff, SBTC shared ministry strategist, Bro. Curtis and his Church, Branded by Christ Cowboy Church, 5592 Highway 110 North, in Rusk (yes, that is a plug for them) were great hosts and really put on a great conference. And this is not just to brag about their swinging bank of the great BBQ (It came from Lufkin BBQ which is just down the road from Diboll, Praise the Lord!)

Better planters and pastors from the cowboy church movement could not have been chosen

When was the last time you saw a pastor in the pulpit with at knife strapped to his side that was easily a foot from end to end

These men did not have an alphabet soup of seminary degrees but they taught with equal authority and passion to any professor that I have had. And I had I have had some of the Best.

Every pastor/planter there is a great mentor which is something that is lacking in ministry. I wished one of these men was close by to be a mentor to me!

I would safely put these men up against some of the nation’s conference speakers. Hands down they are the real deal.

Almost every planter/pastor volunteered themselves and their church of help you with the ministry God was starting. They we willing to come and put on play days and rodeo for you to show you how and model them for your church. This goes way beyond the typical work book discipleship and equipping that happens in the traditional church.

Not only did I get cowboy church training, I got great resources, an idea for a Christmas sermon for something a planter said (Born in a Barn), had the epiphany for two church plant names (Christ Providence Church and Vaquero Baptist Church)

More to come – I was greatly inspired and encouraged by this conference. I took a great deal of note and wrote down even more of my own unique thoughts.

A Church on Every Corner

Back in Sept of '07 Step Child of Missions Misunderstood wrote this about the current church planting status as when should understand it. Great words that need to be headed. Even the comments left on his site are worth reading.

I recently read an interesting thing about Wal-Mart. It seems that in cities across the country, Wal-Mart stores are up-sizing from their regular old large retail centers to shiny new extra-large "Super Centers." In many cases, these new stores are right next door or across the street from the old stores.

The problem is that the distinctively Wal-Martian building design and layout (you know, gray and blue big-box warehouse with two main entrances and a chain-link fenced-in "garden center" on one side) makes it difficult for any other retailer to use the old buildings. So the old stores are sitting empty.

Some communities are now requiring that new Wal-Mart stores be built with future use in mind, with store designs that are more easily subdivided for varied uses should the current Super Center ever vacate to build, I don't know, what's bigger than a Super Center?

For some reason, this reminds me of church buildings.

Western Europe is home to thousands of church buildings. Cathedrals, basilicas, chapels, and temples that were once full of devout religious people now sit empty in every part of the continent. In the U.K., Some have been converted to pubs. In Italy, many are used a museums. At least European church buildings are pretty to look at.

In one hundred years, what will have become of your church building?

Whenever I try to encourage Americans to be church planters, they almost invariably say something like, "There's already a church on every corner." The problem, of course, is that these people are mistaking "church building" for "body of believers."

We certainly don't need more church buildings.

the goal is ...

“Relevance is not our goal. It is just a tool. Our goal is not to be relevant to culture. We want to be distinct from culture.”

Gary Long, pastor of Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston, TX

a sign of the times

Wow what a sign!!!!

Wrapped Crap - watch the vid to get it

A couple of weeks ago a young lady named Jill visited our Church to share her previous mission trip and about her upcoming one. My heart had been both burdened and bothered about Christianity in Africa and Ethiopia. The commonly refer to the theology of Africa as being a mile wide in believers but only a inch deep in teaching, other places the Africa faith is described Spiritually as mile wide and an inch deep. Prosperity is growing leaps and bound, but I am afraid that when the teaching can hold, that Christ followers will turn to Islam as the becoem and gry and feel that Christ has failed them. I am really bothered by this. I have spent some time reading on the net and it only get worse the more I dig. Listen to John Piper as he calls it like he sees it and it is.

Nice ...

Temperature Rising


from Jumaine Jones at Limeade…quenching the leadership thirst

I’m in the middle of preparing for Sunday’s message. We will be looking at Ephesians 5:21-33. I was truly awestruck as I read of how Christ sanctifies and cleanses her bride by the Word. As husbands, we owe it to our wives to wash them with God’s Word. We can’t prepare a great meal on Sundays, and leave our homes famished. As the head, the husband establishes the spiritual temperature in the home. Where lives are hurt, the water is too hot. Where there’s distance and lack of intiamcy, the water is too cold. Where there’s unconditional love and true devotion, the water is warm. There’s nothing like having a warm, loving atmosphere!

Missionary Jumaine Jones who is planting The Bridge knows the guy in this video. Pure smoothness and a funny video too. the guy is very talented and has a great sense of humor to boot!