Seasons
2020
commission is an instruction,
command, or duty given to a
person or group of people.
Throughout our history, followers of
Jesus have referred to Jesus’ final
instructions to His disciples as the
“Great Commission.” Probably first
used by Baron Justinian von Welz,
and later made more popular by
Hudson Taylor, the term “Great
Commission” was used to explain
that the words Jesus spoke to His
closest disciples were actually meant
to be obeyed by all Christians from
that time forward. Since the mid
1800’s the “Great Commission” has
arguably become the major tenet of
Christian theology emphasizing
evangelism, ministry, and mission-
ary work. This “Great Commission,”
the Scriptures which contain it, have
been the marching orders of many
evangelists for the past three cen-
turies, including CMA’s founder Herb
Shreve.
Consider its impact on one man,
William Carey. William Carey was
born in 1761 in Northamptonshire,
England. He was raised in the faith
and his father was the local village
schoolmaster. As a young child, he
was naturally inquisitive and had a
great gift for language, teaching
himself Latin. At age 14, Carey
became apprentice to a shoemaker,
and while working managed to
teach himself Greek. His love for
learning led him to study the
Scriptures and it wasn’t long before
he was gathering with others who
shared his interest to discuss their
findings.
By 1785, Carey was appointed the
schoolmaster and pastor of the local
Particular Baptist church. During this
time, he read the Jonathan Edwards’
A
Account of the Life of the Late Rev.
David Brainerd . Brainerd was an
American missionary to the
Delaware Indians of New Jersey.
Carey became deeply concerned
with evangelizing the people of the
world. The Holy Spirit led Carey to
study Matthew 28:18-20. What
resulted was a book, really a ground
breaking missionary manifesto,
titled An Enquiry into the Obligations
of Christians to Use Means for the
Conversion of the Heathens . This
short book argued the command of
Jesus to make disciples of all the
world is a binding order for all
Christians. Carey compiled a list of
people groups known in the world
who were as of yet unreached with
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For Carey,
the Great Commission is an obliga-
tion for all Christians, and all
Christians need to be mobilized in
the evangelization of the lost.
Although he encountered much
resistance, William Carey’s emphasis
on the Great Commission led to the
founding in 1792 of the Particular
Baptist Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen
(later known as the Baptist
Missionary Society and since 2000
as BMS World Mission). Carey, with
two of his children and several
friends, left for India. He would
spend the next 41 years in India
without furlough. His mission could
only count 700 converts in a nation
of millions, but he laid an impressive
foundation of Bible translations,
education, and inspiration for those
who would follow after him. He per-
sonally endured great family
tragedies and betrayals both from
his colleagues and those he sought
to convert. Throughout his life he
saw the people of India, and all peo-
ple of the earth, as loved by God and
worthy of receiving the life giving
Gospel of Christ.
Perhaps his greatest legacy is the
worldwide missionary movement of
the nineteenth century. Missionaries
like Adoniram Judson, Hudson
Taylor, and David Livingstone, and
thousands of others, were
impressed not only by William
Carey's example, but by his words
"Expect great things from God;
attempt great things for God." All of
this missionary passion and the mil-
lions of souls who would come to
know Christ over the past 200 years
are clearly connected to the Great
Commission Christ originally gave to
His closest friends.
For those of us who today are in
the evangelistic motorcycle ministry
called CMA, we can trace our roots
and our mission back to the same
origins. We believe our mission was
directly communicated to us from
Christ Himself, was recorded in
Scripture, and is available for us to
learn from and base our efforts on.
This is why in the ministry of CMA
we place such high emphasis on the
Great Commission. It’s our mission,
directly received from Christ Himself.
CMA
2020 marks the 45th anniversary of the ministry of CMA. At this special time
in our history, we will be focusing on the original mission of CMA at each of
our Seasons of Refreshing events. All members are encouraged to attend
this important event. See pages 24-25 for dates and locations in your state.
By JEROD McPherson