Quiet Leadership and the brain - Thomas B. Czerner

Quiet Leadership

Your Brain Craves Patterns and searches for them endlessly

Thomas B. Czerner (2001)

Scientists have discovered that our brain is a connection machine. Or to be more specific, the underlying functionality of our brain is one of finding associations, connections, and links between bits of information. our thoughts, memories, skills, and attributes are vast sets of connections or “maps” joined together via complex chemical and physical pathways. I will call these connections maps from here on as it’s short, memorable word: however you can replace this word with circuits, wiring, or neural pathway if you prefer. 

To give you a sense of complexity of these maps, imagine a topographic map of one square mile of forest, on a sheet of paper one foot square. Add in the specific details of all the animals living there, from the microbes to major mammals, and the complete specifications of every plant, fungus, and bacteria. Include in the details of each object its size, shape, and color, smell, texture and a history of its interactions with every other object, and then include a snapshot of this information for every moment in time going back forty years. That should give you a sense of how rich these maps are. As it turns out, our brains are made up of maps, and maps of maps, and maps of maps of … you get my drift. These sets of maps are created through a process of brain making over a million new connection every second between different points. Quite something. 

So every thought, skill, and attribute we have is a complex map of connections between pieces of information stored in many parts of the brain. For example, the idea of a “car” is a complex, ever changing map of connections between our cognitive or high-level thinking center, our deeper motor skills center where our hardwired activities are held, and many other regions in the brain. The map for car for you might include links to the name and shape of every car you remember, the memory of your driving test including the look of panic on your instructor’s face when you nearly sideswiped that truck, the sound of your car when it is running smoothly, your understanding of how an engine works, the history of cars, and even remembering where you left your keys.

Consider what happens when we are trying to think. When We process any new idea we create a map of that idea in our mind, and then compare in subconsciously in a fraction of a second to our existing maps. If we can find solid enough links between the new idea and our current maps, if we can find connections, we create a new map that becomes a part of the layout of our brain: this new map literally becomes part of who we are.

Our brains like to create order out of the chaos of data coming into them, to make links between information so that our lives make more sense. We feel more comfortable surrounded by order, we feel better inside symmetry, where w can see how everything is connected. Thus we are constantly making links between maps to form new metamaps. A field  called Gestalt psychology has done significant research on how we look at situations and make meaning out of them.

One resecpected theory for why our brain likes to make everything fit together is that our maps help us predict the outcome of situations more easily. In On Intelligence, Jeff Hawkins, founder of Palm Computing , puts forward that our predictive abilities are the attributes that differentiate us most from the rest of the animal kingdom. The first time we use a new computer we’re confused as to where the shortcut buttons are: after a few days we have a mental map for how to hit them, and could do so with our eyes closed. The more hardwired our maps are for repetitive task, the more w’ve freed up our working memory for higher-level task.

Let’s go back to what happens when we create new mental maps. You can tell when you are going through this process yourself because you will probably stop speaking and start picturing concepts in your own mind. You can tell when other people are going through this process: their eyes become glazed, they reflect, and they often look up or away into the distance. When we are processing complex ideas we tap into our visual center: we see ideas as flashes in our mind’s eye.

We’ve all had the feeling of that sudden “aha” moment. It’s a moment when various ideas that were not linked before come together to form a new idea. It feels like we’ve seen something new. This is the moment of creation of a new map. There is a big release of energy when this new map forms, even though energy was required up front to connect the dots. There’s a tale about Archimedes, who after an insight about how to solve a scientific challenge, leaped out of the bath and ran through the streets naked shouting “Eureka!” such is the impact that insights can have on us.

When we create a new map we feel motivated to do something, and our face and voice change. When you watch for it, you can see that the act  of creating a new map is a specific event. It’s possible to pinpoint the exact moment it occurs. This is the moment of breakthrough, a moment when we see an answer to a challenge or problem. We’ll explore the anatomy of these aha moments further in the chapter called Dance Toward Insight, where we’ll go into exactly what happens in the brain during the few seconds before, while, and after we generate a new idea.

Consider what happens when we want to think a new thought, process a set of idea, make a decision, or unravel any kind of issue. For example, as a manager you might want to increase the sales in your division but are not sure you have the right people on board. Or as an executive you need to decide whether or not to confront a manager about their poor performance. In each instance we need to crate a new map in our brain. We literally have to “think things through for ourselves.”  It is important to realize this is still the case even when we are told what we “should” do; unless that “should” fits exactly with our existing maps. However, the creation of the new map releases substantial energy along with various neurotransmitters, and even changes the brain waves occurring. There is a sudden, strong motivation for action.

So let’s stop for a moment and reflect on the ideas I have put forward so far, and see what they might add up to.

To take any kind of committed action, people need to think things through for themselves;

People experience a degree of inertia around thinking for themselves due to the energy required;

The  act of having an aha moment give off ht kind of energy needed for people to become motivated and willing to take action

I become clear why our job as leader should be to help people maker their own connection. Instead of this, much of our energy going into trying to do the thinking of people, and then seeing if our ideas stick. As you will see in the next insight, this is usually a big wast of human resources. (And I mean that in every send of the word.)

There is a new world to explore here. If we are trying to help other people think, we might develop a whole new set of skills -- such as the ability to create the physical and mental space for people to want to think, the ability to help other simplify their thinking, the ability to notice certain qualities in peoples thinking, the ability to help others make their own connections. These are some of the most important skills that leaders must master today and central to being a Quiet Leader.

Purpose in life

Find something you would die for,

And live for it.

Inspector Morse: S1E2

Lewis: We should have arrested Martin straight away
Morse: why
Lewis: Morse's law, you said 'there's a fifty fifty chance who whoever found the body did the deed.
Morse: That isn't Morse's law. Morse's law is there is always time for another pint.

George Gorner on Norman Vincent Peal

I think Paul is appealing but Peal is appalling

George Gorner on Norman Vincent Peal

- TM, Liberalism,

Winston Churchill to the Canadian Senate

Author: Sir Winston Spencer Churchill

Date: December 30, 1941

Situation: Speech to the Canadian Senate and House of Commons, Ottawa

This is no time to speak of the hopes of the future, or the broader world which lies beyond our struggles and our victory. We have to win that world for our children. We have to win it by our sacrifices. We have not won it yet. The crisis is upon us....In this strange, terrible world war there is a place for everyone, man and woman, old and young; service in a thousand forms is open. There is no room now for the dilettante, the weakling, for the shirker, or the sluggard. The mine, the factory, the dockyard, the salt sea waves, the fields to till, the home, the hospital, the chair of the scientist, the pulpit of the preacher from the highest to the humblest tasks, all are of equal honour; all have their part to play.

Janet Reno on A Cultist or Christian

"A Cultist is one who has a strong belief in the Bible and second coming of Christ; who frequently attends bible studies who has a high level of financial giving to a Christian cause; who home schools their children; who has accumulated survival foods and has a strong belief in the second amendment; and who distrusts big government. Any of these may qualify (a person as a cultist] but certainly more than one [of these] would cause us to look at this person as a threat, and his family as  being in a risk situation that qualified for government interference."

Attorney General Janet Reno, Interview on 60 minutes, June 26, 1994

- Cultist, Conspiracy, Christian life, World View, Secularism,

William Carey on Perseverance

William Carey

When I left England, my hope of India=s conversion was very strong; but amongst so many obstacles, it would die, unless upheld by God. Well I have God and His Word is true. Though the superstitions of the heathen were a thousand times stronger than they are, and the example of the Europeans a thousand times worse; though I were deserted by all and persecuted by all, yet my faith, fixed on the sure Word, would rise above all obstructions and overcome every trial. God's cause will triumph.

- Mission, Perseverance

David Wells - God in the Wasteland

Date: 1994

Author: David F Wells

Source: God in the wasteland

Image and appearance assume the functions that

character and morality once had -David F. Wells

Steve Camp - Living in Laodicea

From the Album Fire and Ice by Steve Camp

O Lord Take your plow to my fallow Ground

Let your blade dig down to the soil of my soul

Before I become dry and dusty

And Lord I know there must be richer earth lying below.

For I've been living in Laodicea

And The fire that once burned bright I've let it grow dim

and The very one I swore that I would die for  

all has been forgotten as the world has become my friend.

We have turned from your laws trying to find a better way

Each man does today what is right in his own eyes

we will pay the price for our sinning we can never know true livin

we've exchanged his truth for lies

We've been living in Laodicea

and The fire that once burned bright we've let it grow dim

and The very one we swore that we would die for has all been forgotten as the world's become our friend

It's no small of a thing that he's done for you,

by shutting the gates of hell up on a Cross

We were sentenced once but now we are pardoned

and he chooses to use us though we fall

So while were living in Laodicea

keep the fire burning bright don't let it grow dim

For the very one we swore that we would die for he must not be forgotten

fear the world become a friend

For the very one that we swore that we would die for he must not be forgotten

fear the world become a friend

- Lyrics, Mission

Mission Quotes

1. “I have but one can of life to burn and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light”  John Keith Falconer

2. It is high time to make known the glad tidings in these dark regions of sin and spiritual bondage. Samuel Marsden

3. We have all eternity to tell of victories won for Christ, but we have only a few hours before sunset to win them.  Anonymous GOC

4. Its amazing what can be accomplished if you don’t worry about who gets the credit. Clarence W. Jones

5. If we are going to wait until every possible hindrance has been removed before we do a work for the Lord, we will never attempt to do anything. TJ Back

6. “Brother, if you would enter that Province, you must go forward on your knees.” J Hudson Taylor

7. Here am I, Send Me! Isaiah

8. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Jim Elliot

9. I have but one passion – it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world: and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ. 

      - Count Zinsindorf

10. I used to think that prayer should have the first place and teaching the second. I now feel it would be truer to give prayer the first, second and third places and teaching the fourth. James O. Fraser

11. This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Jesus 2 –32 – forever

12. We talk of the second coming, half the world has never heard of the first. Oswald J smith

13. His authority on earth allows us to dare to go to all nations. His authority in heaven gives us our only hope of success. And His presence with us leaves us no other choice. John Stott

14. Tell the students t five up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ. Francis Xavier

15. Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.  CT Studd

16. Will the heathen who have not heard the Gospel be saved?… “ It is more a guestion with me whether we who have the Gospel and fail to five it to those who have not, can be saved. CH Spurgean

17. The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed. 

-CH Spurgean

18. I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light" -- John Keith Falconer

19. "God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply" -- Hudson Taylor [ video ]

20. "God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him" -- Hudson Taylor

21. "The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed" -- Hudson Taylor

22. "If I had 1,000 lives, I'd give them all for China" -- Hudson Taylor

23. "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God" -- William Carey, who is called the father of modern missions [ more info ]

24. "The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become." -- Henry Martyn, missionary to India and Persia

25. "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" -- Jim Elliot, missionary martyr who lost his life in the late 1950's trying to reach the Auca Indians of Ecuador [ info on video ] [ brief biography ]\

26. "We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the same measure in which we have received it" -- P.F. Bresee, founder of the Church of the Nazarene

27. "In the vast plain to the north I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been" -- Robert Moffat, who inspired David Livingstone

28. "Can't you do just a little bit more?" -- J.G. Morrison pleading with Nazarenes in the 1930's Great Depression to support their missionaries

29. "Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us." -- Keith Wright

30. "The Bible is not the basis of missions; missions is the basis of the Bible" -- Ralph Winter, U.S. Center for World Mission

31. "Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." -- C.T. Studd

32. "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him." -- C.T. Studd

33. "No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once." -- Oswald J. Smith [ more on Oswald Smith ]

34. "This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth!" -- Keith Green

35. "There is nothing in the world or the Church -- except the church's disobedience -- to render the evangelization of the world in this generation an impossibility." -- Robert Speer, leader in Student Volunteer Movement

36. "If you found a cure for cancer, wouldn't it be inconceivable to hide it from the rest of mankind? How much more inconceivable to keep silent the cure from the eternal wages of death." -- Dave Davidson

37. "If God calls you to be a missionary, don't stoop to be a king" -- Jordan Groom (variations of this also credited to G. K. Chesterson, Thomas Carlyle and Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

38. "World missions was on God's mind from the beginning." -- Dave Davidson

39. "Let my heart be broken with the things that break God's heart" -- Bob Pierce, World Vision founder

40. "No reserves. No retreats. No regrets" -- William Borden

41. "The reason some folks don't believe in missions is that the brand of religion they have isn't worth propagating." -- unknown

42. When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying, "You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages." To that, Calvert replied, "We died before we came here."

43. "Someone asked Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved? It is more a question with me whether we -- who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not -- can be saved." -- Charles Spurgeon

44. "God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him." -- Hudson Taylor, missionary to China [ video ]

45. "The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time" -- Carl F. H. Henry

46. "Our God of Grace often gives us a second chance, but there is no second chance to harvest a ripe crop." -- Kurt von Schleicher [ Apple pickers' parable ]

47. "Missions is the overflow of our delight in God because missions is the overflow of God's delight in being God." --John Piper

48. "You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving." -- Amy Carmichael, missionary to India

49. "Only as the church fulfills her missionary obligation does she justify her existence." -- Unknown

50. "As long as there are millions destitute of the Word of God and knowledge of Jesus Christ, it will be impossible for me to devote time and energy to those who have both." -- J. L. Ewen

51. "The mission of the church is missions" -- Unknown

52. "Sympathy is no substitute for action." -- David Livingstone, missionary to Africa

53. "The command has been to 'go,' but we have stayed -- in body, gifts, prayer and influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth ... but 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the homeland." -- Robert Savage, Latin American Mission

54. "People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives ... and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted." -- Nate Saint, missionary martyr [ devotional thoughts ]

55. "We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God." -- John Stott

56. "Believers who have the gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves. Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story." -- K.P. Yohannan, founder of Gospel for Asia Bible Society

57. "We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first." -- Oswald J. Smith

58. "Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ." -- Francis Xavier, missionary to India, the Philippines, and Japan

59. "The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity." -- Mike Stachura

60. "'Not called!' did you say? Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face -- whose mercy you have professed to obey -- and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world. -- William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army

61. "It is not in our choice to spread the gospel or not. It is our death if we do not." -- Peter Taylor Forsyth

62. If God's love is for anybody anywhere, it's for everybody everywhere. -- Edward Lawlor, Nazarene General Superintendent

63. "Never pity missionaries; envy them. They are where the real action is -- where life and death, sin and grace, Heaven and Hell converge." -- Robert C. Shannon

64. "People who don't believe in missions have not read the New Testament. Right from the beginning Jesus said the field is the world. The early church took Him at His word and went East, West, North and South." -- J. Howard Edington

65. "It is possible for the most obscure person in a church, with a heart right toward God, to exercise as much power for the evangelization of the world, as it is for those who stand in the most prominent positions." -- John R. Mott

66. "In no other way can the believer become as fully involved with God's work, especially the work of world evangelism, as in intercessory prayer." -- Dick Eastman, president of Every Home for Christ (formerly World Literature Crusade)

67. "What's your dream and to what corner of the missions world will it take you?" -- Eleanor Roat, missions mobilizer

68. "We can reach our world, if we will. The greatest lack today is not people or funds. The greatest need is prayer." -- Wesley Duewel, head of OMS International

69. "Love is the root of missions; sacrifice is the fruit of missions" -- Roderick Davis

70. "Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love" -- Roland Allen

71. "I have seen, at different times, the smoke of a thousand villages - villages whose people are without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world."            - Robert Moffat

72. "The command has been to "go," but we have stayed - in body, gifts, prayer and influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth…But 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the homeland."            - Robert Savage

73. "While vast continents are shrouded in darkness…the burden of proof lies upon you to show that the circumstances in which God has placed you were meant by God to keep you out of the foreign mission field."            - Ion Keith-Falconer

74. "I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for China…I don't know who it was…It must have been a man…a well-educated man. I don't know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing…and God looked down…and saw Gladys Aylward…And God said - "Well, she's willing."            - Gladys Aylward

75. "Brother, if you would enter that Province, you must go forward on your knees." 

           - J. Hudson Taylor

76. "The man…looking at him with a smile that only half concealed his contempt, inquired, "Now Mr. Morrison do you really expect that you will make an impression on the idolatry of the Chinese Empire?" "No sir," said Morrison, "but I expect that God will."            - Robert Morrison

77. "Here am I. Send me."            - Isaiah

78. "And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives…and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted."       - Nate Saint

79. "Jehovah Witnesses don't believe in hell and neither do most Christians"       - Leonard Ravenhill

80. "Had I cared for the comments of people, I should never have been a missionary."       - C.T. Studd

81. "Young man, sit down: when God pleases to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid or mine." 

           - said to a young William Carey

82. "Oh, that I had a thousand lives, and a thousand bodies! All of them should be devoted to no other employment but to preach Christ to these degraded, despised, yet beloved mortals."      

            - Robert Moffat

83. "We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God." 

      - John Stott

84. "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." 

           - Jim Elliot

85. "A tiny group of believers who have the gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves. Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story." 

           - K.P. Yohannan

86. "I have but one passion - it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ." 

           - Count Zinzindorf

87. "God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supplies." 

           - J. Hudson Taylor

88. "He must increase, but I must decrease." 

           - John the Baptist

89. "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him." 

           - C.T. Studd

90. "The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue. It needs no furlough and is never considered a foreigner." 

           - William Cameron Townsend

91."Prepare for the worst, expect the best, and take what comes." 

           - Robert E. Speer

92. "The saddest thing one meets is a nominal Christian. I had not seen it in Japan where missions is younger. The church here is a "field full of wheat and tares." 

           - Amy Carmichael

93. "I used to think that prayer should have the first place and teaching the second. I now feel it would be truer to give prayer the first, second and third places and teaching the fourth." 

           - James O. Fraser

94. "It is just as proper, maybe even more so, to say Christ's global cause has a Church as to say Christ's Church has a global cause." 

           - David Bryant

95. "If you are sick, fast and pray; if the language is hard to learn, fast and pray; if the people will not hear you, fast and pray, if you have nothing to eat, fast and pray." 

           - Frederick Franson

96. "What are we here for, to have a good time with Christians or to save sinners?" 

           - Malla Moe

97. "I tell you, brethren, if mercies and if judgments do not convert you, God has no other arrows in His quiver." 

           - Robert Murray M'Cheyne

98. "It's amazing what can be accomplished if you don't worry about who gets the credit." 

           - Clarence W. Jones

99. "Two distinguishing marks of the early church were: 1) Poverty 2) Power." 

           - T.J. Bach

100. "Do not think me mad. It is not to make money that I believe a Christian should live. The noblest thing a man can do is, just humbly to receive, and then go amongst others and give." 

           - David Livingstone

101. "From my many years experience I can unhesitatingly say that the cross bears those who bear the cross." 

           - Sadhu Sundar Singh

102. "I pray that no missionary will ever be as lonely as I have been." 

           - Lottie Moon

103. "All my friends are but one, but He is all sufficient." 

           - William Carey

104. "How little chance the Holy Ghost has nowadays. The churches and missionary societies have so bound him in red tape that they practically ask Him to sit in a corner while they do the work themselves." 

           - C.T. Studd

105. "I have always believed that the Good Samaritan went across the road to the wounded man just because he wanted to." 

           - Wilfred Thomason Grenfell

106. "The more obstacles you have, the more opportunities there are for God to do something." 

           - Clarence W. Jones

107. "Expect great things from God. Attempt great thing for God." 

           - William Carey

108. "God's part is to put forth power; our part is to put forth faith." 

           - Andrew A. Bonar

109. "All the resources of the Godhead are at our disposal!" 

           - Jonathan Goforth

110. "The Indian is making an amazing discovery, namely that Christianity and Jesus are not the same - that they may have Jesus without the system that has been built up around Him in the West." 

           - E. Stanley Jones

111. "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come." 

           - Jesus

112. "All roads lead to the judgment seat of Christ." 

           - Keith Green

113. "Christians don't tell lies they just go to church and sing them" 

           - A.W. Tozer

114. "I will lay my bones by the Ganges that India might know there is one who cares." 

           - Alexander Duff

115. "Today Christians spend more money on dog food then missions" 

           - Leonard Ravenhill

116. "It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home." 

           - J. Hudson Taylor

117. "We talk of the second coming, half the world has never heard of the first." 

           - Oswald J. Smith

118. "God cannot lead you on the basis of facts that you do not know." 

           - David Bryant

119. "And thus I aspire to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named so that I would not build on another man's foundation." 

           - Paul

120. "Why do we insist on building the largest and most impressive structures in our city when people on the other side of town are hungry, jobless and worshipping in storefronts?" 

           - K.P. Yohannan

121. "If every Christian is already considered a missionary, then all can stay put where they are, and nobody needs to get up and go anywhere to preach the gospel. But if our only concern is to witness where we are, how will people in unevangelized areas ever hear the gospel? The present uneven distribution of Christians and opportunities to hear the gospel of Christ will continue on unchanged." 

           - C. Gordon Olson

122. "I spent twenty years of my life trying to recruit people out of local churches and into missions structures so that they could be involved in fulfilling God's global mission. Now I have another idea. Let's take God's global mission and put it right in the middle of the local church!" 

           - George Miley

123. "Oh dear, I couldn't say that my church is alive and I wouldn't want to call it dead. I guess it's just walking in its sleep!" 

           - Church member

124. "When he landed in 1848 there were no Christians here; when he left in 1872 there were no heathen." 

           - said of John Geddie

125. "At the moment I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once stained with the blood of cannibalism, now stretched out to receive and partake the emblems and seals of the Redeemer's love, I had a foretaste of the joy of glory that well nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall never taste a deeper bliss, till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus himself." 

           - John G. Paton

126. "Save others, snatching them out of the fire." 

           - Jude

127. "The evangelization of the world in this generation." 

           - Student Volunteer Movement Motto

128. Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring" 

           - Jesus

129. "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't." 

           - John Piper

130. "His authority on earth allows us to dare to go to all the nations. His authority in heaven gives us our only hope of success. And His presence with us leaves us no other choice." 

           - John Stott

131. "Today five out of six non-Christians in our world have no hope unless missionaries come to them and plant the church among them." 

           - David Bryant

132. "Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ." 

           - Francis Xavier

133. "Christ for the students of the world, and the students of the world for Christ." 

           - Luther Wishard

134. "We who have Christ's eternal life need to throw away our own lives." 

           - George Verwer

135. "Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell." 

           - C.T. Studd

136. "When I get to China, I will have no claim on any one for anything. My claim will be alone in God and I must learn before I leave England to move men through God by prayer alone" 

           - J. Hudson Taylor

137. "God has huge plans for the world today! He is not content to merely establish a handful of struggling churches among each tongue, tribe and nation. Even now He is preparing and empowering His Church to carry the seeds of revival to the uttermost ends of the earth." 

           - David Smithers

138. "The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity." 

           - Mike Stachura

139. "Answering a student's question, 'Will the heathen who have not heard the Gospel be saved?' thus, 'It is more a question with me whether we who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not, can be saved.'" 

           - C.H. Spurgeon.

Sami Dagher - The Evangelist is Faithful in a Hostile World

Sami Dagher

The Evangelist is Faithful in a Hostile World

Key Reference: Revelation 2:811

I am so happy to be in Amsterdam. I have wonderful memories of this

place. In 1971, I was invited to a conference like this. At that time, I

was working in the hotel business. After one week of hearing Dr. Billy

Graham preaching and presenting the needs of the world  especially in

Europe and the Middle East  I was touched by the Lord, and I

accepted the challenge to serve Him. In 1973 I resigned from the hotel

business and started church planting. We were three people at that time  me, my wife, and one

other person. By the grace of God, we have six churches now in Lebanon: four in the Arabic

language for the Lebanese; one for the Sri Lankan people in my country; and one for the Sudanese

residing there. We also have a Bible school to train people in Lebanon so that we can send them

all over the Arab world with the message of Jesus Christ.

So far we have sent a missionary to Africa's Ivory Coast, as well as shortterm

missionaries to Iraq. Now we have an Iraqi man who is continuing ministry in that

country.

All of that comes as the result of obeying what the Lord had said to me in Amsterdam almost

twentynine years ago. My prayer is that you have been listening carefully to the voice of the Spirit

during your time here, and that you will obey what the Lord has said to you.

The subject I have been assigned to speak on is "The Evangelist is Faithful in a Hostile World."

You have heard many preachers this week, and today you are going to hear another preacher. In

my heart I have but one wish for you this morning: I wish that the Lord Jesus Himself would be

able to stand here today in the flesh and teach us about this subject. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Wouldn't you like to hear a message from the mouth of the Lord Jesus?

Beloved ones, this wish would be very heard to fulfill, because when the Lord will come again, He

will not come as a preacher or as a teacher, but He will come in great glory to judge the living and

the dead. But let me assure you, even if He were to come as a preacher, He would not change

one Word of what He has said before. For it is written, "I am the LORD, I do not change" (Malachi

3:6). Because He is God and He changes not, His word will never change.

The passage that we have just read is a message from the Lord Jesus after resurrection to the

angel of the church of Smyrna. In His message, He encourages the angel, and He gives him some

directions and orders. He says to him: "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life"

(Rev. 2:10b).

Dear brothers and sisters, we evangelists are stewards of the mysteries of God. And a steward is

entrusted to be faithful in all situations of life, without exceptions. There is no excuse for

unfaithfulness. This morning I have a few thoughts I want you to know:

I. Hostility is expected whenever we take a stand for Jesus.

In John 17:14, Jesus prayed to the Father, saying, "I have given them Your word; and the world

has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."

Paul says, "All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12).

According to the teaching of our Lord and the teaching of the Holy Spirit, there is no escape from

persecution, because we are hated by the world. All of us face different persecution  mental and

physical. And we have to be prepared to face it. Jesus tells us, "A servant is not greater than his

master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20).

Many times, we as believers are ashamed to speak out for Christ. We are ashamed to carry our

Bibles because of the pressure and persecution of the world. Why? Because we have not been

prepared for this kind of pressure or this kind of persecution. Our problem is this: when we present

the gospel of Christ to other people, we usually only portray a picture of peace, stability,

happiness, and joy. As a result, new believers are often shocked when they face problems,

suffering, pressure, and persecution.

Of course we do have peace, joy, and happiness in Christ. But we must explain what that means

to the people we are trying to reach. What kind of peace are we talking about, what kind of joy are

we talking about?

We should know and make clear to our listeners that the peace and joy that we have in Christ is

not a guarantee for us against hardships, sufferings, and persecutions. Again Jesus says, "These

things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation;

but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

So in Him we have peace. In Him we have victory. But in the world, we shall have tribulations.

Jesus made it very clear that the world would hate us: "I have given them Your Word; and the

world has hated themY" (John 17:14a). We are hated by the world not because we are bad, but

because we have the word of God.

We are not only hated by the world, but we are also strangers of the world. Referring again to that

same verse: "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of

the world, just as I am not of the world" (John 17:14).

If we were from this world, the world would have loved us, because it loves its own. But we are not

of the world: our goals are different and our nature is different. We are partners of the divine nature.

Dear brothers and sisters, we are strangers in this world.

What does a stranger expect in a foreign land? We all know that a stranger in a foreign land

expects to face trials, problems, and suffering. All of the prophets and saints who have gone before

us have all confessed to being strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They had a trial of cruel

mockers, they were stoned, and they were slain by the sword. It is written that the world did not

deserve them; but they stood faithful to the word of God to the end  in spite of suffering and

persecution (Hebrews 11:38).

So, the first thing we should know is that hostility is to be expected whenever we take a stand for

Jesus. This brings me to my second pointY

II. The upright life of the evangelist gives him respect in a hostile world.

Dear brethren, listen carefully. If we want to escape some of the suffering in a hostile world, we

should live an upright life. Living an upright life gives us respect and reverence in a world that is

hostile to the gospel.

Paul says in Romans 13:3, "Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil." He goes on to say

that if you don't want to be afraid of their power, do that which is good, and you will receive their

praise.

We have been serving in an Arab country for nearly ten years. The people of that country believe

that they have suffered a lot at the hand of the Christians. They look to the Western world as a

"Christian" country. They accuse the West of killing their children and destroying their homes and

their future.

In the beginning, we faced a lot of difficulties. They watched our every step. After a long time, they

discovered that our only goal was to show them the love of Christ. We did not have any hidden

agenda, and we were not looking for profit or material gain. They came to trust us, and they gave

us permission to give tens of thousands of New Testaments in the streets of their cities. To our

surprise, by special order from their president, the Jesus film was shown on national TV, and

some 20 million people watched it.

The reason for the difficulties behind proclaiming the gospel in the Middle East is not only the

fanaticism of other religions, but also the life and the behavior of those who profess to be

Christians. Instead of being a blessing and a light to others, they are stumbling stones.

I encourage you to walk worthy of our calling. As God's word says, "As you therefore have

received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him" (Colossians 2:6).

Daniel lived in a country whose system was hostile to his religion and his faith. He was watched

day and night by his enemies, yet they could not find a fault to be used against him. He was

honest, and he was loved by the king despite his different religion and faith. In the end, his

enemies trapped him, and he was put in the lion's den. But he stood faithful to the end. What was

the result? God moved on the scene and saved Daniel. And the king gave a decree saying, "No

other God should be worshipped but the God of Daniel." I challenge you to be as Daniel and to

stand alone.

In front of our eyes, we have a man who has lived for Christ. His upright life has given him respect,

dignity, and reverence of all people. Dr. Billy Graham's life is an example to every one of us. He is

not ashamed of the gospel of Christ in a modern world. He believes that the gospel is the power of

God unto salvation, and he practices his belief in a hostile world. He is faithful to God's calling,

even though he faces hostility.

Hostility does not necessarily come from rulers and government. Hostility might even come from

friends, neighbors, or family members. The Lord said, "Be faithful until death and I will give you the

crown of life" (Rev. 2:10b). By being faithful and living an upright life, Dr. Graham kept the dignity

and integrity of the gospel of Christ. As a result, he has gained respect and reverence even from

his enemies. He has prayed for kings and presidents, and he has prayed for the whole world.

Dear brethren, it is true that we are strangers and pilgrims in this world. It is true that we are hated

by the world. But our duty and our responsibility is to be the light of this world and to pray for

those who oppose us so that they might come to the knowledge of Jesus our Lord and so find

peace.

In the Old Testament, there is a command from God to His own people. In Jeremiah 29:7 we read:

"And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to

the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace."

Paul in the New Testament gives us a similar command in 1 Timothy 2:2: "[Pray] for kings and all

who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." If

we as believers live this kind of life, we will make a difference in the world.

You might say, "We have prayed. We have lived a godly life and we have shown them the love of

Christ, but they still persecute us. They are still opposed to us. What can we do?" That leads me

to my third pointY

III. You should know that faithfulness for the Lord and His gospel is a divine request in

spite of hostility.

Jesus said to the angel of the church of Smyrna: "Do not fear any of those things which you are

about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested,

and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life"

(Rev. 2:10).

Dear believers, a day will come when people will kill us and actually think that they are doing a

service to the Lord. Be faithful unto death, be faithful to Christ, and be faithful to the Word of God.

Jesus is saying, "Fear not. They are going to put you in prison and they are going to persecute

you. Be faithful."

God's problem with the inhabitants of the earth is their lack of faithfulness. He said in Hosea 4:1:

"Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord brings a charge against the

inhabitants of the land: 'There is no truth [faithfulness] or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.' "

God has a court case with the inhabitants of the earth. To be able to have a court case, you need

charges. What are the charges against the inhabitants of the earth?

No faithfulness on the earth

No mercy or love on the earth

No knowledge of God on the earth

There are three charges, but the first is unfaithfulness. God forbid that it be said of us that we are

not faithful. Jesus says to be faithful until death, and He will give you the crown of life. When we

hear about the believers who lived under communism and how they were faithful until death, we are

proud of them and we have a great respect for them. May the Spirit of the living Christ help us to

be faithful to death, as well.

You might ask, "Is there a way that will help us to keep up our courage in a hostile world?" Yes,

there is, which brings me to my fourth pointY

IV. The only way that will help us to keep our courage is to remember that JESUS HAS

ALL AUTHORITY AND POWER.

Jesus says in Matthew 28:18: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

Dear brothers and sisters, we are serving the Lord of glory, the almighty God. We have to

remember that Jesus has all power and authority in heaven and on earth. Not one hair will drop

from our heads without Him knowing about it.

Remember that He is the One who wrote by His hand on the wall of the king and terminated

his kingdom.

Remember that He is the One who sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions so that

they would not hurt Daniel.

Remember that He is the One who walked in the furnace fire with the three Hebrew

children.

Remember that He is the One who gave the order to the water of the river of Jordan to stand

like a wall.

Remember that He is the One who stood at Lazarus' tomb saying, "Lazarus, come forth."

Remember that He is the One who ordered the storm and the sea to be silent.

Remember that He is the One who rose from the dead.

Dear brethren, isn't He worthy to be trusted? Isn't He worthy that we should even die for His sake?

How can we be afraid when we remember these things? How can we be afraid when we look at the

empty tomb?

Be faithful until death. Death is not an enemy anymore for the believer. Death is the way that will

take us to our eternal home. Death is the channel through which we will see Jesus. As it is

written, "While we are at home in [this] body, we are absent from the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:6).

One day I was going to a Bible study, and I went through a town controlled by the Druzes' militia.

Two men riding on a motorbike approached me. The one in the back pointed a gun toward me and

waved me to stop. So I stopped. He then came down from his motorbike, sat next to me with his

gun pointed to my side, and said, "Drive!"

When we got off of the main road, I was really afraid. They took me to a building far away from the

town, and within minutes I found myself in a locked room. They took everything from me except

my New Testament.

I prayed and then I opened my New Testament to read, but I was shaking like a leaf. I couldn't

read, so I prayed again. I thought that God would help me, but to my surprise, my fear just grew.

Then I kneeled down and really poured my heart before the Lord. At that moment, this verse came

to mind: "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." I kept repeating this verse in

my mind.

Suddenly I was separated from the love of my wife, my children, my church  and even from life

itself. I stopped shaking and I was only thinking, "I want to see Jesus!" At that time, the door

opened and they took me for questioning. I was like a lion.

To cut a long story short, while they were questioning me, a gentleman came to the room. The

men all stood for him and saluted him. He gave an order that I be sent back to the room. After a

half hour had passed, a young man came back with all my papers and said, "You can go." He was

trying to take me out through the back door, but I told him that I wanted to go through the front to

see the same people who had questioned me and to thank them for letting me go. So I left from

the same door I had entered. I went back to those people and thanked them. Then I promised to

come back to drink a coffee with them the next week. The second week I returned with a Bible and

a letter explaining the way of salvation to them.

Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life.

Paul, facing imminent persecution, understood the importance of his life ministry, but he also

realized what an incredible blessing it would be to be with Christ. He writes, "But if I live on in the

flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard

pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better"

(Philippians 1:23).

Dear brothers and sisters, do not be afraid of physical death. Jesus says, "Do not fear those who

kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body

in hell" (Matthew 10:28).

With that being said, let me give you one final principle that will help each of us to remain strong in

a hostile worldY

V. The evangelist needs wisdom from heaven above.

The evangelist needs wisdom to know when to speak and when to be silent. It is written in

Ecclesiastes 3:1: "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." Then

further down in verse seven we read, "A time to keep silence and a time to speak."

We have to know when to speak and we have to know when to be silent. If we speak when it is

time to be silent, it is dangerous; and if we are silent when it is time to speak, it is also

dangerous.

We need wisdom from heaven above. James 1:5 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of

God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Pray for wisdom, and do not delete from your account the work of the Holy Spirit or forget the great

promises of God. Do not forget this precious promise from Jesus: "Whatever you ask the Father in

My name He will give you" (John 16:23b).

Our problem today is that we have lost the greatest weapon against Satan and against all of our

enemies. I say it with sorrow in my heart  in these days we have lost the power of prayer. We

have neglected this great weapon, which was given to us by God. All the prophets of the Old

Testament and the saints of the New Testament triumphed over the world by prayer.

Elijah was a man like us, and he prayed that it would not rain for three years and six months  and

it did not rain. Later he prayed for rain, and God sent rain.

Joshua prayed for the sun to stop until they finished the battle against their enemies, and God

answered his prayer. And to be able to answer his prayer, God had to change the solar system! It

is written in Joshua 10:14: "And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord

heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel."

Beloved, let us go back from this conference determining to gain back this power which has been

lost, and to pray without ceasing. Pray and believe that our Lord is able. Pray and ask the Lord to

fight for us as He fought for Israel in the times of old.

Let us go back from this conference remembering that we are strangers and pilgrims on

this earth.

Let us go back remembering that we are hated by the world, but loved and sent forth by the

Lord.

Let us go back remembering that our behavior and our upright life will give us respect,

dignity, and reverence.

Let us go back remembering that Jesus has ALL authority in heaven AND on earth.

Let us go back remembering that we can obtain wisdom from heaven above when we ask

for it.

Let us go back remembering that we possess the greatest power on earth  the power of

prayer. And let us remember that the power of the Holy Spirit is ours when we honor Christ.

May the Lord richly bless you.

Amen.

This Amsterdam 2000 speech text is under copyright. The author has rights protected by

international law. This text is not for reprint or republication. The message actually delivered at

Amsterdam 2000 may have differed significantly from this text.

E. Stanley Jones - The Gospel

"An Individual Gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body; and a social gospel without an individual gospel is a body without a soul.

One is a ghost and the other a corpse"  E. Stanley Jones

Mission Skit/Sketch

Psalm 23 for the Unreached

Helping a New Generation Enter a New Land

Psalm 23 for the Unreached

Purpose:

To vividly demonstrate the hopelessness of unreached people groups.

Instructions:

Two people stand facing the audience.  The Christian (A) reads Psalm 23 from his/her Bible.

Someone from and unreached people group (B) says his/her lines from memory.  For more visual

impact, person B can dress in clothing of another nationality.

A: The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

B: I have no shepherd.  I want and am in need.

A: He makes me lie down in green pastures.   He leads me beside quiet waters.  He

restores my soul.

B: I have no one to feed me in green pastures.  I find no rest.  I have no one to lead me

to quiet waters.  I have no one to restore my anxious and despairing soul.

A: He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

B: I find no one to guide me in right ways.  I don't know where to turn.

A: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for

you are with me.  Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

B: As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, evil surrounds me.  I am terribly

afraid, for no one is with me to comfort me.

A: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head

with oil.  My cup overflows.

B: I have no feast prepared for me; I am overwhelmed by my enemies.  No one anoints

my wounds to heal them.  My cup is empty.

A: Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life...

B: All the days of my life are filled with uncertainty and disappointments...

A: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

B: And I have no home for eternity.  Will I dwell in the house of evil forever?

                                            The End

- Mission, Skit or Sketch,