One of the key tools Satan has against Christians is “distractions.” While he does use the world, lust of the flesh, and sometimes direct attack against God’s people, He is more often apt to use small distractions to divert our attention away from what should be our primary focus.
It was just a rumor. It was only about seven months after Paul had written his first letter to the Thessalonian church when he became aware that someone or something had shaken their hearts about the Lord’s coming. So, Paul quickly sends a second letter with these words. “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction…” (2 Thessalonians 2:1–3). When the disciples asked Jesus about the end times, He wisely asked a rhetorical question; ““Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes” (Matthew 24:45–46; Luke 12:43). Are we being faithful with the responsibilities God has given us?
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It is so wonderful to our hearts when we discover the perfect unity and harmony in Scripture. Many attempt to discredit the Bible by declaring “contradictions” in the Gospel accounts. Until such persons realize that God has placed His own authority in His Word, they will seek to project their authority over God’s inerrant Word.
The purpose of referring to this issue is that many have turned to prophecy because of the Russia and Ukraine conflict. Jesus clearly told the disciples “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet” (Matthew 24:6; Mark 13:7). Wars and scuffles between nations is to be expected as we approach the end of this age. But that should not to be our occupation! Jesus hinged the end of this age on the proclamation of the gospel. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (24:14). He could not be clearer. The question for us is NOT ‘how are current world events telling us when the Lord will return?’ The question we must ask is, “how quickly can we proclaim the gospel to those nations (ethnos) who have not heard. “In other words, before Jesus Christ will return to earth to reign in millennial splendor, power, and glory, His Gospel must be proclaimed to every tribe, tongue, and nation” (Oswald J. Smith, The Challenge of Mission, page 44). There is another development that God brought to us. GPHD has been translated into Hindi for India. There is a question about whether it can be printed in time for a visit in October. Please pray that this detail will be worked out in time. The same is true for the Nepali translation of GPHD for Nepal. These two countries have the largest number of unreached people groups per capita of anywhere in the world.
It is so important that churches and leaders be equipped with tools that enable them to spread the gospel quickly. This is especially true in cultures opposed to the gospel and Christianity. When the door is opened, we think it is vital to seize the opportunity as Paul did with Macedonia (Acts 16). Jesus made the insightful comment; “We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4). What is true about this observation and when the Lord will return, we do not know when they will happen! This should foster a sense of urgency in us to do the work of evangelism while we can. Remember Paul’s exhortation to Timothy, “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). Do we have this urgency? This evening (5/8), Randy and Pat are leaving Ghana, Africa, and heading to Senegal. We have been amazed how the training through God’s Plan for His Disciples (GPHD) and God’s Plan for His Church (GPHC) has spread from Nigeria to Burkina Faso, Niger, and now to The Gambia, Ghana, Senegal, and Chad. This can only be the Lord! On top of this, Nigeria and Kenya have translated God’s Plan for Young Disciples (GPYD) into the Swahili and Hausa languages. I am in the process of formatting these books in preparation for printing. Tim and Tom have arrived in Cambodia where they are introducing GPHD in the Khmer language. They have been given a very aggressive schedule.
Just today we heard that Laos has opened for visitors. We have prayed for this because the Lao GPHD has been printed and we are hoping to introduce it in person to pastors in Laos. Please pray that travel changes will work out so this tool can be given them. We are also hoping to get Lao Bibles into Vientiane. Many believers do not have their own Bible. This is another urgent prayer request. All mothers have value that God placed in them at creation. For that reason, I am grateful for every mother, but paticularly for those who instilled in their children a love for God and deep commitment to follow the Lord Jesus with all their heart.
Many mothers have been instrumental in preparing men and women of God that learned the value of sacrificial service in spreading the gospel from one end of earth to the other. They were mothers who prayed for their children before they were born, sang songs of worship in their ears, read the Bible to them before they could read, and poured out tears over difficult days and years. They were mothers who kissed their children goodbye as each one left home for school, work, or the mission field and never stopped praying for them. Some mothers would see these sons and daughters return as mature, committed servants of the Lord. Others left the earth never seeing the fruit of their faithfulness. To all the mothers in my audience, I remind you that the future generations will succeed or fail based on your influence. As God honored Hannah in raising Samuel for the Lord (1 Samuel 1-2), so He will honor you for a godly vision. I encourage you to be a sacrificial, faithful mother who fears the Lord. You may never know the extent of your influence but use each day to impact your children (natural or spiritual) and trust God to multiply your fruitful influence. The enormous needs in missions has often gripped my heart and I feel overwhelmed with the task of giving the gospel to every unreached people group. Then I am reminded of one of the most powerful tools at our disposal - PRAYER!
Paul knew this and used prayer often and effectively. E. M. Bounds makes this comment about Paul and his prayer life: “To seek God as Paul did by prayer, to commune with God as Paul did, to supplicate Jesus Christ as Paul did, to seek the Holy Spirit by prayer as Paul did, to do this without ceasing, to be always running the race, and to win Christ as Paul did by prayer - all this makes…an apostle, and a leader for God. This kind of a life engages, absorbs, enriches, and empowers with God and for God. Prayer, if successful, must always engage and absorb us.” (The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds on Prayer, page 550). The great men in missions, those who had the greatest spiritual influence on the Church and spreading the gospel, are those who sacrificed personal time and pleasure to know God’s heart and move His heart to do what humanly they could not do. They were praying people because they knew the purpose and plan of God for the nations. Do we? Our habits will change if we do! It was years ago that Tim started working with Vibol to train pastors through God’s Plan for His Church. Cambodia was one of the stops on my first trip with Tim and Chris in 2007. Vibol is with the Lord, but Tim and Tom leave tomorrow for Cambodia to work with Vibol’s son John. This trip will be different in that they will introduce God’s Plan for His Disciples and our new book, God’s Plan for Young Disciples. Both tools will equip local pastors and leaders to be more effective. Even though there are only 44 people groups in this country, 19 (43.2%) are still unreached. Buddhism comprises 82.2% of the population of 16.9 million people (Joshua Project). These facts underscore the need for the gospel to spread in this area of the world. What can we do?
Pray for us as well. Nothing we do will be effective unless we follow the Lord’s leading and there are persons like you behind us in prayer. I post this blog with great expectancy! In the rush of getting another book in Vietnamese put into a format for printing, I paused to pray. We were having a special prayer event at Lighthouse this evening and wanted to get my heart and mind ready for how the Lord would lead us.
I thought of India with more unreached people groups than any other country in the world. Though we have worked there for many years, the interest seemed to die until recently when a new opportunity has opened for us. I thought about William Cary and Praying Hyde and their intensity in pray for God to do a special work in this dark land where persecution is rising. Then I thought of the stark contrast in Luke 22 between Jesus and the disciples. Jesus felt the intensity of His mission to a point that “His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground”(22:44). While He wrestled with fulfilling God’s will so salvation would be offered to every tribe, tongue and nation, His disciples were “found…sleeping for sorrow, and He said to them, “Why are you sleeping””(45). Are we ‘sleeping’ in an hour of the greatest need? Are we allowing world chaos and personal problems to hinder us from praying for the greatest needs - lost souls? We may not be physically asleep, but we are being lulled to sleep because we do not understand this hour. “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (46)! Every year in America, a day is set aside by some, and it is called the National Day of Prayer. This year it is May 5th. My mail and email gets notices of the day, asking for my help in organizing events on this day, donating to the cause and wanting me to purchase products from their store.
As I thought about this, I immediately thought of Paul’s exhortation on prayer. “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1–4). Paul did not associate this kind of prayer to any particular day, place, or time. He wanted Timothy’s heart to flow out in prayer to God for all men of all levels of life and every nation. This was to be a habit EVERY DAY. As we pray that the gospel will be delivered to over 2,000 unreached people groups around the world, let’s be careful not to limit our thinking and our prayers. Father, make me a vessel that carries the gospel to the nations who have not heard! Though I am not anything close to Paul, there are times his words express so clearly what I am feeling at the moment. Here is an example: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13). God has allowed us to have “Timothys” who developed into “Pauls” because they were quickly formed by the Scriptures and their obedience of God’s Word set them apart for a special work. I am referring to some dear believers in Vietnam. We are humbled to know them and even learn from their example of devotion. They are unshaken by hard times and persecution! Last year I sent them the English file, God’s Plan for Young disciples, and this evening I received back the final Vietnamese translation. As Paul observed about the Philippians, so we see God working in these faithful Timothys “for His good pleasure.” These same brothers and sisters have trained over one hundred groups of disciples in the past few years. We could learn from them! |
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