I know we live in a sound-bite age where words are constantly ripped from their original context. I also know there’s danger in trying to reduce a person or a book or an idea down to one simple statement. Nevertheless, some quotes stick with us and shape the way we think because they provide a memorable summary of something important.
Last Wednesday I taught on missiology at Immanuel. As I prepared, I came across some great quotes from famous missionaries. By themselves, they are not a comprehensive theology of missions. But they do capture important ideas with memorable words.
- “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 Falconer)
- “If I had 1,000 lives, I’d give them all for China.” (Hudson Taylor)
- “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)
- “To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map.” (William Carey)
- “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” (Jim Elliot)
- “Sympathy is no substitute for action.” (David Livingstone)
- “Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell. I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell.” (CT Studd)
- “No reserves. No retreats. No regrets.” (William Borden)
- “Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms.” (John Paton)
- “I love to live on the brink of eternity.” (David Brainerd)
Originally published May 15, 2017 on landoncoleman.com.
Regular Pastor 