Check this out: it's James Lagos Alexander, a bishop from Sudan. And here's how they do church planting.
So what do we learn from this? It's right to pray for many people to turn to Christ and be rescued by him. It's right to pray for church growth. But we should never expect that to be glorifying to us! Church growth is something God brings about, and if it happens, it won't make 'Wellfield' look good. It won't be so that we can feel nice about it. With growth comes pain. So if we're going to pray for it, we need to know we're praying for God's glory, not our comfort.
As some of us read in Torrey on Friday morning: "Many pray for revival... but many prayers for revivals are purely selfish. The churches desire revivals in order that the membership may be increased, in order that the church may have a position of more power and influence in the community, in order that the church treasury may be filled, in order that a good report may be made at the presbytery or conference or association. For such low purposes as these, churches and ministers oftentimes are praying for a revival, and oftentimes too God does not answer the prayer. Why should we pray for a revival? For the glory of God..."
We've got a lot to learn from the church in Sudan. True greatness is humility, that thinks not of ourselves but the wonderful kingdom of God.
