RECENT FAILURES AND SUCCESSES

The last two weeks have been unusually busy for me. We had our annual Bible conference at the Church, which required much preparation and time. Of course I still had to keep up with all the mowing. Steve and his family were here for the conference and stayed on thru today. They are leaving this morning, and to be honest, I can't hardly stand to see them go. It looks like I'm gonna be a weepy, clingy old man. Anyway, I haven't accomplished some of the things I had hoped I would, but on the other hand there have been some small accomplishments. Here's how I see my failures and accomplishments. I'm sure I'm over-looking some of my most glaring failures, but I've had 53 years of practice at it.

FAILURES:

Started okay, but failed to post reviews of the messages preached in the Bible Conf.

Took some pictures of speakers at the Bible Conf., but failed to post them.

Took pictures of Gordon Cloud during a luncheon with Steve and me, but failed to post them.

Tried to upload a video from You Tube and failed... twice.

Failed to read the blogs that I normally read every day.

Failed...again to make my children and grandchildren know how important they are to me, and how much I love them.


SUCCESSES:

Posted a review of the first message of the Bible Conf.

Uploaded pictures of J.D. Hatfield.

Moderated the conference without preaching before and after each sermon.(Almost)

Convinced Pastor Jimmy Strickland, one of the conference speakers, to help me mow two mornings strait. I might have him come back and preach a whole week this summer.(grin)

Begged, borrowed, dickered, and traded to successfully acquire two Chevy trucks.

Bro. Jim Hatfield and Bro. me

Bro. Jim Hatfield and Bro. Steve Weaver

No, Halloween didn't come early this year. No, these are not production photos of another "Scary Movie" sequel. These are pictures taken last night featuring world famous pastor/writer/blogger, J.D. Hatfield. Bro. Jim graciously consented to allow his picture to be taken with pastor Steve Weaver and yours truly (me). I can't speak for Steve, but I feel that my years of struggle to become successful in ministry has (have?) finally paid off. I am on the pinnacle. There is nowhere to go but down from here.

Seriously, though, it was a blessing to meet and fellowship with Bro. Hatfield. My impression of him, from far too short a time together, was:

He is passionate about God.
He is passionate about the Word of God.
He loves the People of God.

If you are not currently reading Voice of Vision you should start now.

Bible Conference Summaries

I haven't had time to post the summaries of the services as I intended, therefore check out my son Steve's excellent summaries of the services thus far. You can access his posts by clicking here.

REVIEW OF 1ST MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE CONFERENCE

We had a wonderful day on Sunday as we began our annual Bible Conference at the Way of Life Baptist Church. We enjoyed some Good singing by the River Jordan Quartet. The singing was great, but the highlight of this gathering was and is the preaching of the Word of God. Our souls were both fed and made hungry for more of God's precious truth.

The first message was by Pastor Jimmy Strickland. He preached from 2Cor. 7:2-16, showing to us the tender, pastoral heart of the apostle Paul as he wrote about how he had commanded the Church at Corinth to exercise Church discipline.

Paul had written to the Corinthians a letter of rebuke (1Corinthians) to correct some serious errors of both doctrine and practice. One very serious moral failure with which Paul dealt was that described in 1Cor. chapter 5. It was an example of gross, open sin that needed to be addressed by the church. However the Corinthians had not dealt with this sin. On the contrary, they were "puffed up" (v.2) and even "glorying" (v.6) in it.

Bro. Strickland helped us to see into Paul's heart as he wrote again to the Corinthians about this matter, only this time, not to rebuke them but to rejoice in the fact that they had received his instruction, obeyed it, and had made this matter right.

Paul had been grieved in his own spirit because he had had to write such a harsh rebuke to them. He didn't want to do it, but he had to do it. Bro. Strickland made the application of this by telling us that very often it would be much easier on a pastor to not have to deal with sin. It would be much easier not to practice Church discipline. It is not something that the pastor just wants to do. He leads his flock to exercise discipline because it is necessary for the spiritual health of the Church.

Also, Bro. Strickland spent a good deal of time dealing with the distinction between "godly sorrow" and "the sorrow of the world"(v.10). Another great theme of this message was the cause and effects of true repentance .

My review doesn't do this excellent message justice. Everyone seemed to agree that this was probably the best treatment of this passage that we had heard. My own personal reaction was:"Shoot! I wish I'da said that!"

I wish I had time to tell you about Bro. Steve Weaver's sermon on Nehemiah ch. 8 and Bro. Howard Estep's message on the Kingdom of God, but I gotta go mow. I'll try to write about the others later today if possible.

BIBLE CONFERENCE AT WAY OF LIFE BAPTIST CHURCH

We have a Bible conference beginning this coming Sunday thru Wednesday. The guest speakers will be:

Pastor Steve Weaver from Lenoir City, Tn.

Pastor Jimmy Strickland from Clarksdale, Miss.

Bro. James Shutt from Savannah, Tn.

Bro. Howard Estep from Elizabethton, Tn.

Most of these men are not widely known, but they are faithful preachers of God's Word.

The only one who is widely known is Pastor Steve Weaver. I probably couldn't have gotten him to preach in such an insignificant place as this, but I know stuff on him. He'd better preach good, or I'll tell it. Wait a minute...He knows stuff on me too. Never mind.

IT'S MY PARTY

It's my birthday and these guys threw me a surprise party early this morning. We had a delicious meal of grub worms.

I'M HURT

I was pretty excited about the previous post. I thought it might resonate with some, surprise others, or at least generate a little bit of discussion. However, almost none of the above happened. As a matter of fact, according to my site meter, almost no one even read it. To be honest, that stings a little.

I offer my sincere thanks to the 4 or 5 of you who read it. I know it was long. I too am often guilty of either skimming or just plain not reading over-long posts. I guess I got what I deserved...

Do you feel sorry for me yet? Well, then READ THE STUPID THING!!!

ARE THE HEATHEN HUNGRY FOR THE GOSPEL?

As an Independent Baptist intimately involved in missions, I have heard this assertion made on many occasions: "The people in (you supply the name of the country)are hungry for the Gospel." This claim is most often made in the hope of encouraging people to give financial support to a missionary or to a mission project. The missionary often backs up his claim by showing pictures of people eagerly accepting tracts, or he tells of the numbers of professions of faith he has had in evangelistic outreaches while on the field. Since independent missionaries are always in need of support, he seeks to put an image in the minds of his audience of multitudes of previously un-evangelized people clamoring for the Good News of salvation.

I don't mean to sound cynical here, but I think that the statement mentioned above, if examined by the Scriptures, will be seen to be false. Let me say right up front, that I DO believe:
A) That the Gospel is to be preached to everyone.
B) That Jesus has sheep in every people group and every language group. They are His sheep, and when they hear His voice, they WILL come to Him.
C)That there are times when the Spirit of God begins to work among people, through the faithful preaching of the missionary, so that numbers of people are swept into the Kingdom of God in a very short time.

However, I am compelled to say that both Scripture and my own experience disproves the assumption that unregenerate men are hungry for the Gospel. The Word of God is clear, at least to my understanding, that men in their natural condition are "...dead in trespasses and sins..."(Eph.2:1). The Bible says in Jn.6:44"No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him..." Also in Romans 3:11, Paul quotes Psalm 14:1-3 and 51:1 when he gives this Divine assessment of man in his natural condition: "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." Since the Word of God is our final authority, these passages make it abundantly clear that, even though many will be eager to accept a free Gospel tract, their attitude toward God and His Gospel may well be a different matter.

In my own personal experience, I have seen how this false assumption has been perpetuated. In January of 1984 I moved my family to Mexico to work with some veteran missionaries who had been on the field for a long time. They already had a large work going, so we were able to start to work immediately with them. They were good and sincere people. They loved the Mexican people and sacrificed much in order to bring the Gospel to them. I do not criticize them personally, however I am critical of their methods.

Being located in the northern part of Mexico, this work was easily accessible to church groups who wanted to visit a missionary and experience, first hand, what goes on on the mission field. When a group of visitors would come, the lead missionary would plan the time so that there would be very little time for rest. He would always make plans to take them to a village where we had never been before. This wasn't difficult because these remote villages abound in Mexico. He would always take a film, presumably to make it easier to get permission from the village chief, to have a service there. We would go around to all the houses witnessing and inviting the people to the evening service. The missionary would begin the service with a 'thank you' to the jefe for allowing us to have the meeting, and to the people for coming. Then he would start the movie(The Life of Christ or The Burning Hell or something similar). At the mid point of the movie he would stop the projector and tell the people that a pastor from the United States was going to speak to them about the Gospel. The Preacher would step forward and preach in English as the missionary interpreted in Spanish. This was strategic, in that the people wouldn't leave because they wanted to see the rest of the movie. When the preaching was concluded, the missionary would restate the Gospel, then ask:" How many of you want to go to heaven when you die?" Or, "How many of you want to be saved?" Usually a large number would raise their hands, sometimes the whole bunch would.(Even Catholics want to be saved and go to heaven when they die.) They would be divided into groups and be instructed to repeat a prayer after the missionary. To the missionary's credit, he did say,"If you meant that prayer you are saved."

While this is happening, the visitors are walking in the clouds. The pastor is thinking,"Man! I preached and a whole village got saved! That would never happen in the U.S. Just wait till I tell the folks back home about this." He, along with the rest of the group go away with the impression that this is the common, every day experience of missionaries. He goes back home and tells his Church and everyone he knows," In Mexico the people are hungry for the Gospel. We need to get all our resources channeled into this work because they are getting the job done!"

What this poor mistaken pastor doesn't know is, that a few days later, when a rookie missionary like yours truly, would go back to that same village(without films or gringos) to follow up on those professions of faith; it was almost impossible to get even one or two to come together for another preaching session. What happened? They seemed so eager at the first presentation of the Gospel. Why aren't they as enthusiastic now?

There are many minor reasons why they aren't willing to continue in their profession of faith. Some of them, no doubt, only came because of the novelty of the situation. They lived lonely, difficult lives, normally, and this was a welcome diversion from the daily grind. Others probably made a profession of faith simply because it seemed everyone was doing it. Still others, assumed that we were preaching the same thing that they had always heard. After all, we used the same terminology and names that their religion used. However, when they told their priest about what they had heard and done, and found out from him that it was not consistent with the teachings of Roman Catholicism, they abandoned their profession.

Those are minor reasons. The main reason, however, is that they had not been enlightened by the Holy Spirit as to who Jesus really is and what He demands. They had not been convicted of their wretched and hopelessly lost condition. They had not been irresistibly drawn to Him by the Spirit in repentance and surrender to His Lordship. There is no substitute for that. That only comes through faithfully praying for His power and anointing, and by the faithful proclamation of His Gospel, which is "...the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes..."

I don't like to say it like this, but I feel that I must. Both the villagers and the visitors became unwitting participants in the perpetuation of a false assumption. The assumption that it is much easier to "get people saved" in foreign lands. The reason many missionaries encourage this false-hood is financial.It speaks of quick results. That is what we want in our American Churches, and we will pay well for them. The truth is, that even on the foreign mission field, they need the same patient teaching, the same convicting work of the Holy Spirit, the same miracle of grace that so-called 'Gospel hardened' Americans need.

I know this has been a longer than normal post. There are still many things that I could say on this subject, but I guess I had better conclude for now. I want to close this post by sharing with you my reply when people would ask me how the people responded to my ministry on the mission field. I said:"They normally respond to my preaching exactly like Adam and Eve, after they had sinned, responded when they heard the Voice of God in the Garden of Eden: They try to hide in their own religion. Every once-in-a-while, though, He will follow them and call them to Himself."

SON OF GEARHEAD, CAN THESE PARTS CRUISE?

...and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of Chevy parts... and lo, they were very rusty.('37 Chevy Service Manual)

WHY DO I DO LIKE I DO, DO, DO?

I am sure that by now everyone has heard of the arrest of astronaut Lisa Nowak on charges stemming from her cross country trip, allegedly for the purpose of harming a romantic rival.

I talked to a friend, this morning, who is closely involved in the shuttle program and has close contact with the astronauts. He, like everyone close to the case, expressed his shock and surprise at the actions of this young woman saying, " Something must have happened. She must have had a mental crash or something." He went on to tell of the remarkable work that she had done while on her earlier shuttle mission. This, I think, was meant as added evidence that some sort of break down must have occurred that caused her to act in the way she did.

I said,"My response, of course, is from a theological perspective. No matter how well educated and how well trained one is, or how much good one has done for humanity, according to the Bible, we are all sinners by nature." That includes all of us, not just the ones who have acted out publicly. We do bad things because we are bad.

Don't get me wrong. Miss Nowak might really need some psychological help. However, the fact that the possibility of committing unthinkable acts lies within the nature of everyone of us, should not be ignored. The cure for that is not psychological, but spiritual.

It seems that every time the media reports a moral failure in some celebrity or some spiritual or political leader, they report, almost in the same breath, that that person has entered counseling or rehab. This, very often, is nothing more than an attempt to shift the blame from one's moral character to either mental break down or chemical dependency. This is not only blame shifting, but it camouflages the real problem, which is sin.

You can counsel sin. You can suppress sin. You can try to control sin. You can even re-define sin as mental illness, or blame it on some dependency. But the only way to finally and forever deal with sin is to repent of it.

No one asked me for it, but I would give this advice to Miss Nowak or to anyone who has come face-to-face with the reality of their own depravity:
1) Seek Jesus through the the witness of those who know Him or through His Word.
2) Confess her actions as sin and herself a sinner.
3) Repent first of all privately before God, then publicly.
4)Surrender to the Lordship of Christ, trusting Him alone for salvation.
5) Identify herself with a body of faithful followers of Christ where she can be nurtured in the faith.

It is quite possible that, if she did that, she would find little or possibly no need for psychological help.

ON PRAYING FOR LOST LOVED ONES

I said this in a previous post: "...we always practice what we really believe." The same can be said in this way: What we really believe governs our actions and attitudes. In no way is this truth more clearly and readily demonstrated than in our attitudes and actions concerning the lost.

As in-errantists we say that we believe all of the Bible is true. Even the unpopular parts like those that describe the sure and certain punishment of those who reject the Gospel of Jesus. However it seems that our actions and attitudes toward the ones who are sure to be the objects of the righteous wrath of God, don't match the horror that we profess to believe, that according to scripture, they are shortly to endure.

Jesus taught that hell (that's a word rarely heard from modern pulpits) is so horrible, that one would be better off to cut off his hand, or foot, or even pluck out his own eye, if through the sins relating to these, he would be cast into hell (Mk.9:43-48). What a terrifying prospect; to think of a place where there is no rest from the torture of eternal fire. Where the mercy of God will never again be experienced, and where the hope of a better tomorrow is always disappointed. It is a friendless and lonely place where their torments are the due reward of a wasted life and foolish rejection of the offer of grace.

This whole thought process became more clear to me last night and this morning as I thought on the wrath that abides on one who is near and dear to me. According to God's Word, the path that she is traveling is the "broad way...that leads to destruction" (Matt.7:13). As I prayed for her, I was rebuked in my spirit for how lightly I have taken the reality of her doom. Do I really believe that hell is a real place? Do I really believe what the Bible teaches about it? Am I really convinced that, at any moment, she could step into the abyss of eternal agony? If I really do believe it, where are my tears? Where are the hours of agonizing prayer for her soul?

Being a Bible believer, I know that there will not be a single soul in hell for whom Jesus died. However, I also know that God often uses the prayers of His people to melt the heart of the sinner. This is why I feel rebuked in my spirit; because, though I know these things, my heart is strangely lethargic, and lacking in the passion that should be the evidence of my knowledge.Especially when it concerns one that I love.

Here is the agonizing question that is tearing at my heart right now: How would I be able to go into my comfortable, climate-controlled house, lay on a soft bed with over-stuffed pillows and go to sleep, knowing that one that is dear to my heart is, at that very moment, screaming in torment?

The time will come when our loved ones will be forever beyond the help of our prayers and our tears for their souls. May God grant that we would have a passion for their souls now, while there is still hope, like we surely will have then, when there is no hope.

SHOOT ANOTHER MONKEY, I'VE BEEN TAGGED AGAIN

It seems that, after experiencing the pith and power of your humble blogger(that's me), the world is curious as to how I keep the sharp edge on my wit and wisdom. Therefore, from time to time they tag me in a not-so-subtle attempt to discover my sources. Well, my friend, it won't work. My smarts are my own. I only read the writings of others to see if they got it right. Anyway, here 'tis.

HERE ARE THE RULES:

1. Grab the book closest to you.

2. Open to page 123; go down to the fourth sentence.

3. Post the text of the following three sentences.

4. Name the author and book title.

5. Tag three people to do the same.

HERE IS THE TEXT:

Instead of additional coal, according to L.P.Kirwan, each ship made room for a 1,200-volume library, "a hand organ, playing 50 tunes," china place settings for officers and men, cut-glass wine goblets, and sterling silver flatware. The officers' sterling silver knives were particularly interesting. The silver was of ornate Victorian design, very heavy at the handles and richly patterned.

THIS IS THE BOOK:

"LUKE VOLUME TWO: THAT YOU MAY KNOW THE TRUTH" by R.KENT HUGHES

I TAG:

R.C Sproul, Al Mohler, John Piper. Yes, they are all faithful readers of this blog. You didn't think they were just born smart, did you?

WHAT KIND OF CHEVY TRUCK WOULD I BE, IF I WERE A CHEVY TRUCK?

The other day, I took a quiz to see what kind of Chevy truck I would be if I were a Chevy truck. They seemed to think that I would be a 2007 Silverado S/S. They don't know me like I know me. This is much closer to the truth. A 1935 Chevy pick up.
I don't want to leave the Ford lovers out. If I were a Ford truck, what would I be? Broken down! Hee, hee.

EXCUSES, EXCUSES

This week I am in Astatula, Florida. I am preaching each morning in a Bible conference at the Astatula Baptist Church. For that reason, I haven't had time to do a really for real post. I do, however, want to continue posting on some of my experiences and challenges as I served on the mission field. At some point, I intend to do a post on how to pray for a missionary. I realize that is nothing new, but I want to put in my two cents anyway.

Stay tuned and, if you have a moment, pray that our Lord will use me this week to glorify Him.

MISSIONS AND THE SUFFICIENCY OF GOD'S WORD #2

As promised in the previous post, I want to explain how difficult it can be to try to build a work for God on the mission field while being faithful to the conviction that His work can only be accomplished through prayer and the ministry of the Word.

My convictions on this matter were severely tested in many ways. One way in which they were tested was by my own selfish desire to hurry things along. This desire is particularly deceptive because it often masquerades as a desire to accomplish things for God's glory. However, by prayerful examination, it becomes clear that it is more akin to a desire for my own glory than for God's glory.I confess that in the pride of my heart, I longed for the gratification of a pat on the back for a job well done. Although I knew that if I would just be faithful to work in God's way, He would reward me; still, it's nice to be appreciated by men too. There is always that image in the back of the missionary's mind of being able to return to the states and tell of his accomplishments and his exploits to the amazement and the congratulations of his audience. This temptation must be resisted though, knowing that at the moment we win the approval of men, we loose the approval of God.

My convictions were also tested by the "apparent" success of those who didn't share my understanding of how missions should be carried out. There was an occasion when a group of Pentecostal missionaries came into the town in which we were living. They were there for about a week having "evangelistic" services each night. When they left at the end of the week, they had a church going with a pastor (who just one week before was an unsaved Roman Catholic) and a fairly large congregation.

Now that will make you examine your methods! I was not having that kind of instant success.That drove me back to the Word and prayer. In prayer, the Lord reminded me of the parable of the sower and the soils in Matt.13. He reminded me that plants in unprepared, rocky soil spring up quickly, and that weeds grow where there is no cultivation of the soil, but a fruitful and desirable crop requires hard work and careful cultivation. So, I survived to plant on for another day.

My resolves were tested by other missionaries also. Although we didn't live near other missionaries, there were others within a two or three hour drive. One who had been on the field for more than twenty years, sent word that he wanted to talk to me. When I went to his house, he began to show me the statistics he had been keeping on the responses to his ministry. He pointed out that the numbers clearly showed that the response was much greater when he showed films than when he preached. He said:"Based on these numbers I am changing over almost exclusively to movies in my evangelism." He went on to offer his services to me, to show his films in my works to help me get more results in my ministry.

That kinda put me on the spot. I didn't want to be critical of his ministry, but at the same time, I felt I had to refuse his offer. "Why not?" he said. "The numbers speak for themselves. Don't you want to have more people saved?" (My opinion on that question would require another post, so I won't go into detail here.) I said; "Of course I want to see more people saved, but I determined when I came to the field, that I wanted to see if God would still build a 'work' through prayer and the preaching of His Word alone like He did before movies were available." This is no exaggeration. He exploded! He verbally attacked me, my ministry, my motives and my methods. I tried to remain calm, as I said;"Brother, if you are convinced in your heart that this is the way God is directing your ministry, then I will not criticize you for it.(I guess I kinda lied on that one, because I have been critical of his methods.Sorry!) However that is not the way God has directed my ministry so thanks, but no,thanks."

Mission work is spiritual warfare, folks; and..." the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." (2Cor.10:4 )

MISSIONS AND THE SUFFICIENCY OF GOD'S WORD

I made this assertion in the post entitled"Why Would a Calvinist Go To The Mission Field?": "The Calvinist knows that the Word of God is sufficient and powerful enough in itself to effectively bring men to Christ. This I say by experience: He may be the only preacher on the field who has complete confidence in the power and sufficiency of the Bible he preaches to accomplish God's holy work."

I can say this by experience because I have been there and have personally witnessed the bag of tricks that many men use on the mission field in order to get results. Pragmatism is alive and well in modern missionary enterprise. Our supporters demand results. Quick results. And we had better produce them, or we will be in danger of loosing our financial backing. Men like Carey and Judson who labored long before seeing their first convert would not fit in well with modern missionary expectations.

I certainly don't intend to try to present myself as a model missionary. While on the field, I fell far short of my own expectations, not to mention God's standard. However, I can only speak of my own experiences and my own understanding of how missionary activity should be carried out according to the Scriptures. In this post, I want to give you a brief look at a few of the principles that guided my efforts on the mission field.

#1. Jesus said ..."I will build my Church..." Therefore, I will labor according to the principles of His Word knowing that He is faithful who promised.

#2.All through history, God's men have succeeded in ministry using the means of prayer and the preaching of the Word. Therefore I will use those means only, knowing that whatever is accomplished will be His work and not mine.

#3.Paul said in Rom 1:16 " For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." The Gospel of Christ is sufficient to bring men to saving faith. I will trust it's power and resist the temptation to try to "help it" by any artificial means.

#4.The results are His business, not mine. He has commanded me to go and preach, so I will go. If, through my preaching, people are saved, I will praise Him. However, if I obediently go and faithfully preach, and no one is saved, I will still praise Him because the results are His business. My responsibility is only to obey, not produce results. I can't save anyone anyway.

Please don't assume that it is easy to be faithful to these standards. they were severely and often tested. Tomorrow, the Lord willing, I will relate some of the ways in which these convictions were tested.

A COUPLE OF GOOFY LOOKIN' PICTURES

These are the grandpuppies. This is the closest I was able to come to a good picture of them all together. As of today there are 8 of them, but Steve's wife, Greta could deliver #9 (a girl) at any moment.

This is a picture of the 3 stooges . I don't know what they are laughing at. They are usually more solemn and respectful.

OKAY I'M BACK!

Actually I've been home for over a week, but I have had sermons to prepare and deliver as well as 2 weeks worth of grass to mow. The blessing of living in Florida is that you get to enjoy lawn care year round.

Also I'm preparing to preach a Bible conference in Astatula, Fla. later this month. All this is difficult for a lazy guy like me.

Hopefully I'll get a new post up by Monday. Thanks for being patient with me.

MAY I HAVE THIS FOR CHRISTMAS, PLEEEESE?

Just asking.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM PARADISE

Merry Christmas and happy New Year to all my blogbuddies. Hope you all get to spend time with your families this week.

Jan and I are headed to Tennessee on Tuesday. Elizabeth and her two boys are going along with us so, the Lord willing, the whole family can be together one more time. That is such a rare thing these days.

Let's remember to pray for and give thanks for our troops who are fighting our enemies "over there" so we don't have to fight them over here.