"What's Wrong with Those People?"

Often when crossing the globe with the gospel, one stumbles upon strange and even godless customs and practices among the people. Sometimes the travelling missionary or evangelist may even leave theese places feeling fruitless or even a sense of failure. These emotions may stem from the hardness of the soil where he has gone to preach. Those in the arid regions of the world will often reject the goood news of Christ at first exposure. The people have hardly known the unsearchable riches of Christ and are likely to show apprehension at first glance. Such is the case when taking the gospel to a people that have been been trapped by false religions and by the unbiblical traditons of their ancestors.

In watching the the news media from Europe and America, and seeing the distress found in parts of the world least evangelized, some might say either consciously or otherwise, "What's wrong with those people"? Hearing of a mob attacking a church and burning it to the ground sounds so egregious. Thinking of a Hindu man drinking the urine of a cow as means of honoring this supposed sacred beast leaves those of us in the West puzzled. We are not better than others, but we are awed by the un-Christian practices seen in areas of the world in which the gospel has not yet found root. We find ourselves questioning how any rational human beings could abuse themselves and their fellow man in ways they do.

Baptism in NE India

In March of 2022, I had the blessing of representing both the Savior and our local church in Florida as I carried the gospel message to India, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan on a three-week tour that included preaching in 23 churches, 3 Bible Colleges/ Institutes. as well as showing gospel films in regions known primarily for Hinduism and Islam. God blessed with 543 saved and 45 new converts being baptized. Most of these accepting Christ had little or no exposure previously to a sound explanation of what is biblical salvation. The absence of our missional involvement in this region of the world has left teeming millions ignorant of both scriptural truth and saving light.

If we are going to truly make a difference in the world unaffected by the gospel of Jesus in 2022, we must change our way of thinking. We must move from asking, "What is wrong with those people"? to instead asking, "What is wrong with ourselves"? The church of Jesus Christ in the West must begin to wonder, "Why haven't we done our part to carry the message of salvation to places unreached?" We need to rethink our evangelistic stategy and make a priority of reaching the unreached of the Middle East and parts of Asia. We must redesignate funds and time to do so if we want to be serious about this endeavor. There has to be a purposeful determination by our churches and pastors to think beyond the next phone call, email, or prayer letter which comes by mail in order than we might strategize our missions commitments. We must ask ourselves, "Where is the gospel needed most?" The groping of those in the darkest corners of the planet will continue to be unheard if we don't listen intently for their cries. So long as we take our annual missions trips to Mexico and the Philippines to the neglect of the hard to reach regions, we are sure to fail in having a global approach to missions. 

Rooftop Church in Pakistan

I may have the reader lost by now, so allow me to make my point through an illustration . When I was in Bible College in the late 80's I heard my mentor and the founder of the school say, "In Jacksonville, Florida there is an estimate of 500 Baptist churches". I have lived here in this region for more than 3 decades now, and know from my experience that his statement is an accurate assessment.  It is hard to say how many fundamental churches there are in the US entirely. Probably there are somewhere between 6,000 to 10,000 Independent Baptist Churches and about 50,000 Southern Baptist Churches in the US alone. This would not include Bible Churches, Evangelical Churches and others that are committed to proclaiming the gospel of salvation by grace through faith alone. These totals are in a state of decline, but when compared to much of the world are still gargantuan. When one even compares the level of evangelical or gospel-centered churches in places like Kenya, to regions where I viisited in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia, there is just no comparison. Kenya has between 3,000 to 4,000 Independent Baptist Churches alone. Compare this to Pakistan, a

land of 220 million, and one has to be shocked by the dirth of evangelism in this 5th largest nation on the planet. Though churches do not typically publish their location and programs in the predominately muslim world due to security issues, qualified and knowledgeable sources tell us that in this land known for its mountainous and rich culture, there are only a handful of truly Christ-centered churches.

Due to the void of Biblical truth in Pakistan, the people have missed being exposed to the peace that only comes through Christ. As Paul said in II Corithians 4:3, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost". In man's lost estate, he cannot find peace. He will find himself hopelessly grasping at straws in search of an inner contentment. Due to poverty and sometimes illeteracy a society can be fooled into chasing after this hope in vain places such a superstitions, and ancestrial fables. In the end, a life of doom and despair will be the lot of millions. The "hidden" gospel will remain "hidden". The frustation of the people will run over into the streets, blaming the corrupt government, competing tribes, and even the Christian missionaries who came to show them the truth in Christ. 

Baptism in Pakistan

We have the the TRUTH. The solution to dispelling darkness is more LIGHT!!! It is our calling and commission. We must take by force the places overcome by darkness through means of carrying the LIGHT of Jesus to them. If we fail to bring this radiant love of God, and the people continue to grope in a perpetual darkness, then we must ask ourselves, "What is wrong with us?"

"You Can't Lockdown the Gospel"

"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:" II Thessalonians 3:1

Preaching in Kurdistan

I pray my posting of this sounds more challenging to your spirit than simply another preachers' rant. I don't often feel led to write a blog that sounds motivated by frustration with those who serve in ministry. I guess I may suffer from "Covid19 Lingerings". This is likely because I have heard what seems the whole of society blame anything that fails on the pandemic for the last 18 months. If you lose your job, blame it on Covid. If your children fail in elementary school, it was Covid. People aren't getting saved at church, Covid. Noone is tithing, Covid. Buses are still parked in the garage on Sunday, Pastor is preaching online after one year, Choir loft is half full, Wednesday night prayer is cancelled. It is all the unfortuante results of this unending coronavirus, Covid!!! 

Seems like noone wants to take ownership of their lives anymore when we all have the enjoyable excuse of "Playing the Covid Card", Nowhere is this more ripe to me as when it comes to the matter of World Evangelism and Missions. I have met numbers of missionaries that have spent the last nearly two years in a ministerial hiatus. "We can't go back to our field because of Covid". Churches and pastors even here in the US are still pondering whether it is safe to begin the "outreaches" and "soulwinning" endeavors they once deemed essential. The testing and vaccintation requirements have all but stifled the Great Commission worldwide. But it doesn't have to be be that way. I spent the entire12 months of 2021 trying to prove to myself that the Gospel can still preached agressively on foreign soil even during an unprecedented crisis. 

Ministering to School Kids in Nigeria

I decided early last year that the Lord helping me, I would not roll over and play dead to this struggle that we face. The millions of souls persihing at an all-time high deserve to have a Gospel Witness. God wants and needs voices to "cry aloud" in these end times. While apathetc evangelists, missionaries, pastors, and laymen continue to hunker down from the fear of man and disease, the Lord longs for His Word to have "free course". The Gospel is the most powerful message on earth and can change the heart disease of any reviled sinner. However, truth can "fall in the street" when we do not procalim it. Truth can be unprofiable when it is not lived. 

So early on in 2021 I made a conscious decsion that I would not remain a part of the sidelined crowd that watched a world die without Jesus while they isolated themselves behind masks and international borders. God in His grace allowed me to preach the gospel on the streets of my hometown of Middleburg, Florida while also travelling abroad  seven times into thirteen various countries during the LOCKDOWN and see the salvation of 7058 souls. These were souls saved in Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, Peru, Liberia. Nigeria, Iraq, Brazil, Guyana, Finland, Russia, Estonia, and Uganda. I don't mean that people from our church or people I know went to these places.. I mean in a span of ten months I travelled to each of these locations and preached, witnessed, baptized, showed Jesus Films, ministered in schools, all during a worldwide pandemic in which others determined to STAY HOME. To be sure, I have been Covid19 tested with painful swabs more than I want to remember. I have taken the vaccination, though I have natural immunities from being positive with the virus one year ago. I have jumped through what seems a thousand hoops to get in/out of nations and public venues showing my vaccination card, heatlh declaration, passport, and every other form of documentation to health officials in these LOCKED DOWN Covid hotspots. But I would gladly do so again and again for this purpose, that the Word of God might have "free course".

Sunday Service in Panama

People need Jesus more than ever. Preacher, stop playing defense! Stop hiding in the barracks. Stop excusing the pandemics of laziness and cowardice. Say like the Apostle Paul did from prison, "I can do all things through Christ". The lost world needs us in the game. Lockdown the governments, schools, businesses, and industries, but never let it be said that the Church of Jesus Christ was LOCKED DOWN. You can't LOCKDOWN the Gospel. Let's storm the gates of hell in 2022 and rescue the perishing,