He never made the headlines. He is not on the lecture circuits. To my knowledge, no books bear his name. He doesn't even travel abroad, except for an occasional visit to friends and supporters in the United States. Yet for 35 years he has been an international missionary of Jesus Christ, a modern-day Apostle Paul carrying the simple gospel message to thousands of Muslims, Hindus and others who might never see a Christian preacher in person. He doesn't travel in jets like Billy Graham, or on horseback as did John Wesley. He rides the international mails, witnessing through correspondence … [Read more...]
THE PERFECT STORM
Last weekend (January 2006) daughter Melanie and I were strengthened and encouraged at a spiritual conference conducted in Fresno, California by The Zoe Group of Nashville, Tennessee. Speakers included John York and Gary Holloway of Nashville, Randy Harris and Mike Cope of Abilene, Texas and Leonard (Len) Sweet, who currently teaches at both Drew University in New Jersey and George Fox University in Oregon. Preacher, author and historian, Sweet is best known as a futurist who stands with one foot each in academe and popular culture to advise an emergent church of the twenty-first century … [Read more...]
POSTMODERNISM & JESUS
Somewhere about the time Columbus "sailed the waters blue," a seed of thought began germinating in the minds of many Europeans -- a seed which took root in the New World and sprang into a giant American tree during the next 500 years. This worldview saw "Progress" as the ultimate human goal, with the roads to that goal being Science (providing insight), Technology (providing power) and Economic Growth (providing wealth). That philosophy was "Modernism," and by the end of the 20th century its promises were exposed as false. In its place has evolved a new philosophy, "Postmodernism." Because … [Read more...]
THOSE WHO NEVER HEARD (2)
A gracEmail reader writes, "Our Bible class had a discussion concerning individuals who were not able to hear the gospel before they died. Several stated that all those people would be lost. What do you believe will happen to such according to the Bible?" * * * God's judgment will be completely righteous, for he will judge all people by the light they actually possessed rather than by some standard of which they had no knowledge (Rom. 2:12). Not everyone received the Ten Commandments, or the Golden Rule -- but every human being with moral consciousness has God's revelation in creation (Rom. … [Read more...]
THOSE WHO NEVER HEARD (1)
"What about those," asks a reader, "who, through no fault of their own, never hear the gospel during this life? Must we assume that all such people will finally perish?" * * * It is absolutely true that no one will be saved except through the atonement which Jesus has accomplished (Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5-6). It is also true that many people will be saved by Jesus' atonement who, in this life, never understood that Jesus' atonement had taken place. Christians historically place in that category all faithful people who lived before Jesus, both Jew and Gentile (Rom. 3:23-30). Many Christians … [Read more...]
NATURAL EVANGELISM
One gracEmail subscriber draws back from the thought of approaching strangers to distribute evangelistic leaflets. Another subscriber feels unable to engage in door-to-door "cold campaigning" such as is done by Jehovah's Witnesses but also feels guilty in this regard. A third subscriber rejects such outreach methods totally as being impersonal, insisting that evangelism requires a personal relationship to be genuinely authentic. And a fourth subscriber suggests that not every Christian is gifted to be an evangelist, just as not all are teachers, pastors or prophets. * * * Clearly the … [Read more...]
STAYING ON COURSE
Captain Francesco Schettino was more than two miles off course when the 114,500-ton Costa Concordia hit a reef this January 2012. The impact sent more than 4,000 passengers on the luxury cruise ship into a panic. It sent a still-unknown number of them to their cold and lonely deaths. There is a reason for rules. In a world filled with hazards and threats, they define the approved course. They show the way that is safe. They mark the path we can trust. Our confused society has given rules a bad rap. Torah, the Hebrew word for "law," means "instruction"--always given, by the way, for the … [Read more...]
LIFE NOW AND FOREVER
This final week of 2004 has seen what is perhaps the largest natural disaster in the world's history, following an earthquake under the Indian Ocean more than 740 miles long and having the force of a million atomic bombs. The quake, which jolted the earth's rotation, spawned monster waves called tsunamis which swept across the Indian Ocean, killing (says the Associated Press) more than 44,000 people in eleven countries from Thailand to Somalia. Human life is fragile and precious, in the big picture and in our individual cases. Immortality is Christ's accomplishment and the Christian's hope. … [Read more...]
GOD’S ‘POEMS’ (2)
April/May 1997 -- Yesterday we noted Paul's use of the Greek word poema (from which we get "poem") to describe God's workmanship in Creation (Rom. 1:20) and in his New Creation in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:10). I described the divine handiwork in Creation, which we experienced recently in California. It aawed us into silence and then elicited outbursts of adoration. God's "poem" in his New Creation awed us as well these past eight days. For four days at Pepperdine, we joined an estimated 5,000 believers who packed the Fieldhouse twice each day to worship God in song and to enjoy soul-stirring … [Read more...]
