York - Missions in the Age of the Spirit

Missions

in the age of the

Spitit

John V. York

Stanley M. Horton, Th.D.

General Editor

Springfield, Missouri

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION; NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

2000 by Gospel Publishing House, 1445 N. Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65802. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the copyright owner, except brief quotations used in connection with reviews in magazines or newspapers.

Logion Press books are published by Gospel Publishing House.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

York, John V., 1944

Missions in the age of the spirit / John V. York; Stanley M. Horton, general editor.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. MissionsTheoryBiblical teaching. 2. MissionsBiblical teaching. 3. Assemblies of GodDoctrines.

I. Horton, Stanley M. II. Title.

BV2073.Y67 2000

266dc21

00-035229

To my wife, Joy, in loving gratitude for her untiring assistance in helping this book to become a reality

Contents

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

What missionary-scholar John York has preached and taught on the African continent for the past 25 years is finally in print. His passion, which has influenced countless thousands, has been set down in a volume of richness that may be mined at leisure.

Dr. York is clear about his convictionthat the Bible must be read missiologically. This conviction has been reinforced by 25 years of missionary experience, lived out in a disciplined and ever-sharpening focus on the biblical truth that motivates him. Gods plan has always been a redemptive blessing of the nations. [and] all of Scripture should be read with a view toward its development of the theme of Gods promise to bless the nations (introduction to unit ).

Missions in the Age of the Spirit is a wonderful model of Pentecostal scholarship. It has not been written while removed from the subject matter. Whether in academic settings in the West or in the Bible colleges of Africa, John Yorks passion for the missio Dei is obvious. Because of his firm belief in the authority of Scripture, Dr. York, in unit of this volume, surveys the mission theme present throughout Scripture, which, he affirms, is the lens of continuity which brings the Bible into focus. And what is the logical and proper response to the missio Dei so authoritatively described in the biblical text? Participation.

Not only has Dr. York participated in the missio Dei, he has made it his lifelong passion to challenge every Christian to respond in kind. This is truly scholarship done in Pentecostal fashion. Touched by God we look to the Bible for clarification of what has happened to us and how we must respond. We discover a mission that God has had since before the foundation of the world and an empowerment that compels us to join the missio Dei in Gods redemptive pursuit of the nations. Pentecostal biblical reflection done in the midst of ministry sharpens understanding of the Bible and emboldens further witness to the God who is for all nations.

As we enter the twenty-first century many church leaders and missions agencies across the Christian spectrum wrestle with their tasks shape for the future. At times the challenges of the future have stripped missions leaders of any sense of history, but ahistorical approaches to the future are doomed from the beginning. In unit Dr. York affirms that God has been active in His redemptive mission between the era of the apostles and the era of modern missions. And his historical perspective testifies to the value of understanding the past in order to discern the future, particularly that of mission endeavor.

Unit looks to the future as it describes the Pentecostal missionary ethos, including the personal call and life of the missionary. In these chapters you will glimpse the author himself, whose words are written from a life of missionary experience, a heart for the lost, and a bedrock belief in the necessity of Spirit baptism to empower candidates for the missio Dei. I pray that the passion of John York the missionary found on these pages will correspond to your heart.

Missions in the Age of the Spirit hazards a challenging journey. The biblical insights, the historical and missiological perspectives, and the passionate Pentecostal spirituality may call the reader to accountability. And the final words of this volume may very well echo and re-echo in the conscience: Let all who contemplate Christs mission be filled with the Holy Spirit, be prepared to the fullest extent possible, be confident of divine blessing, and then run to the battle. And run to win!

Byron D. Klaus, D. Min.

President

Assemblies of God Theological Seminary

Springfield, Missouri USA

I will never forget the excitement of missions convention time in my childhood: the films, the booths, and most of all the stirring missionary sermons followed by soul-searching prayer times.

Though a lot of missions work has taken place since then, Christ has not yet returned. Because Christ commissioned the Church to complete His mission to disciple all nations, the logical conclusion is that the missionary task of the Church is as yet incomplete and that its completion should remain the Churchs highest priority. But what is this task? How should it be approached? What contribution can Pentecostal believers make to an understanding of this task and to its accomplishment? These questions inform many discussions of missions, and these are the questions that drive this book.

My wife and I were privileged to work for many years within the training ministries of the Nigerian Assemblies of God. We would likely be happily serving there still had a call not come to direct a training ministry as part of the continental Decade of Harvest thrust. As part of this ministry, I began teaching missions, especially the biblical theology of missions, in graduate programs in both Africa and America. Though other forums began to open for this message, it came as a surprise to me when Loren Triplett, then executive director of the Assemblies of God Division of Foreign Missions, asked me to write this book.

Something should be said about the receptive environment within Africa, where much of this material has been presented to students, teachers, and church leaders. Throughout the last quarter of the twentieth century, the African church as a whole has expanded rapidly. Its almost insatiable urge to evangelize, however, has often been approached with an implicit understanding that missionary senders come primarily from the West while the receivers are those living elsewhere. When those from Africas expanding churches come to grips with the biblical foundations that undergird Christs teaching on worldwide mission, the sense of release approaches an emotion of liberation. The Pentecostal nature of the churches within my experience seems to have specially prepared them for the challenge of missions in much the same way it did the Pentecostal churches of the Apostolic Era.

Two thoughts taken from Pauls missionary epistle to the Colossians further explain the orientation of this book. First, Paul was not reluctant to mention his own calling to Gods mission (). It is in an active quest for this glory that any church may find its mission.