I am troubled about some of the things that I see today.  More people than ever are attending church.  More mega churches than ever.  More than 1200 in the US.  But our cities are no better.  Our children are not staying in church.  They graduate from high school and it seems they also graduate out of our churches.  Divorce is as high inside our churches as outside and sometimes higher.  Probably the most troubling to me is we seem to be further than ever from reaching our world with the Gospel.  What’s going on?  Jesus said that we were chosen to GO and bring forth fruit and that fruit was to remain.  Is that happening?  Why?

I fear that we have fixated on the THINGS of God.  We have merged so with the externals – programs, methods, facilities and etc, good things all yet we look to these things in nearly an idolatrous manner to the point that we have crowded the most important to the background – out of the picture.  Where is God in all of this? 

In Psalms 119:57 the Psalmist cries “My portion, Jehovah!”  He is making an amazing declaration.  When Israel entered the promised land and had driven their enemies from the cities and it finally came time for the land to be divided everyone was given a portion.  Each tribe had their part.  But when it came to Aaron and the Levites they were told that they did not get a part like the others.  The Lord was their portion.  That was all.  That was enough! 

So in verse 57 this was his cry.  My portion – Jehovah!  He wanted God Himself.  Nothing could be better!  For to have God was to have all!   Though that may sound simple it is easily missed.  God is often missed as we busily serve.  He is often missed as we attend church.  He is often missed in the busyness of our lives. 

The Psalmist comes to this great and important discovery by means of God’s Word.  He loved the word as we should.  He diligently kept the word (vs 56-57; 60).  In the word he sought the face of God with his whole heart (vs 58).  We too often want only the easy way, to give only part when it requires the whole of us.  As he discovers God as all he needs, he reaches a monumental turning point which would change his very life and destiny (vs 59).  When God becomes our portion we are freed from the wicked (vs 61).  When God is our portion we are lifted to a new level of thankfulness (vs 62).  When God is our portion we discover others who have found the same turning point that we have (vs 63). 

Give up your small ambitions.  Go for the greatest part.  Push past all the things that call you to settle for good things without reaching what is BEST. 

My portion!  Jehovah!  He is found and known through his word.  (Col 2:9-19)  We know him in Christ.  Never settle for less.  Make Him your portion!

The Death Of Deputation.  Part II

Since the first part of this post went out I have received many excellent responses and contributions of thoughts and ideas about this subject.  This is something that I have been thinking about for some time.  Very obviously by the responses we realize that there is really no quick or easy fix.  unfortunately it is like so many other things in life, we avoid it or ignore it until it is all over us.  I sat down two years ago with a director of a mission group and we talked about some of these very problems.  He and those in his office are probably more aware of the gravity of this situation on behalf of the all missionaries in all areas than we are.  We don’t know all the crisis phone calls and the resignations first hand as they do.   When I spoke to him two years ago he said that stateside pastors were primarily  interested in deputation and church supported missionaries and that they would not react well if their missionaries became “part-timers” working jobs, etc.  His point was very valid.  When a man seeks support the pastor and church  want to know that their mission dollars are going to support a “full-time” missionary.  We have all met pastors who are sensitive about missionary support levels.  This is one of the reasons that missionaries are a bit closed about informing anyone of their level of support.  They realize that even if they have a modest support that it may be larger than the pastor’s salary.  So one thing we may want to do is to began to address some of our concerns and suggestions with our home pastor first and then some of our closer pastor friends. 

Again, speaking of no quick and easy fixes, some recent research done specifically for Independent Baptist churches reveals that we are not starting enough churches.  We knew that didn’t we?  We are planting Independent Baptist churches at a 1% rate per year or about 140-150 churches a year.  This is not enough to even keep up with the population growth in the US, not to mention the need for a stronger base to handle new support for world evangelism growth.  Just to keep up with the population growth we would need to plant 500 churches a year.  But again in our present post modern climate it is difficult to forsee this type of growth to create the “bigger pond” that is needed. 

Historically many of our missionary heros like  Adonirom  Judson, William Cary, David Livingstone and etc. were very entrepreneurial when necessary to be able to continue their work when their sources of support dried up, changed, were dropped or delayed.  They worked as translators, diplomatic mediators, authors, book venders and more so that they could continue and expand their work.  We all know other groups today who make good use of their vocations in missions.  Some fields may tend to be more open to this than others.  But I believe that with good research and opportunity we could really help ourselves and the whole missionary structure.   I would advocate that instead of just seeking a part-time job for our wives or for ourselves that we investigate if there is something that we can enter into that would have strong evangelistic possibilities. 

After studying the Scripture I have come to strongly believe that the Apostle Paul was vocational ( a tent maker ) intentionally.  I believe that he plied his trade in order to interact with the public and to be in the market place so that he could be brought into contact with those who would respond to his testimony and his witness to the Gospel.  In our modern context I believe the possibilities are manifold.  I have friends who have various enterprises on their fields, language schools, consulting businesses, coffee shops, bookstores and many other things.  Many of those are in restricted access fields yet in reality some of these or other ideas would work even better in a less restricted environment. 

On a personal note, seven years ago my wife and I opened a free medical clinic in Jupiter, FL as a ministry of our Spanish church plant there.  This was primarily to help the immigrant population (largely Guatemalan and Mexican migrant workers).  We began small with just a few volunteers and have seen this grow until we have over 100 volunteers and we see over 3000 patients a year.  Since the recent economic problems here in the US with many loosing their jobs and health insurance the demographics of our patients have drastically changed as well.  We now see nearly as many local Florida residents as those of the immigrant population.  This has been a tremendous evangelistic blessing to our ministry.  Our church is full of former patients who we first witnessed to in a clinical setting.  We have also had some other tremendous side blessings through this ministry.  We have a tremendous witness within the medical community.  Many of our volunteer doctors are Jewish.  I spoke to a Jewish Mission board in Chattanooga and they told me I have contact with more Jews than their missionaries who work in our area.  We also have a tremendous outreach to the educational community.  Universities from as far away as Miami  and Fort Lauderdale as well as local institutions send their medical students for their hands on training to our clinic.  This has given us even more evangelistic opportunities.  This endeavor is supported through local private and public (not government) donations.

As a result the missionaries which we have trained and sent out from our church in south Florida are now opening extension clinics in Guatemala and Haiti.  They have seen the good will this has produced in our community and the evangelistic opportunities it has opened up.  As their new churches are able to do so they want to start their own medical ministries.  They know this will evangelistically and financially help to support their ministries too. 

A word of caution:  Ten years ago I would have never considered any kind of ministry or outreach like this.  I felt that I would have the main line denominations do all of that “service evangelism” etc.  I would just preach the Gospel and witness.  But while we were in Cuba we organized Carelink International as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit to use as a platform for our ministry.  We were able to get tons of medicine and medical equipment into the country.  This helped our ministries there.  My mind began to open up to these possibilities.  We all know the dangers that are involved.  We cannot let the tail wag the dog.  We have to continually battle to keep the main thing the main thing, to guard our priorities.  But we have to do that anyway.  Some battle with hobbies – too much time on the links or on the computer.  Some with study – never leaving the office.  And more. 

I am sure of one thing.  We are commissioned to go and teach all nations, baptizing them and teaching them.  We have the promise of the presence of Christ with us and we are to keep doing this until the end.  So we better get our heads out of the sand before it is too late and do whatever we must do to strengthen the things that remain and to be faithful to our calling unto the end.

I want to begin by saying that I am not advocating for the death of deputation, I am merely making a report on what appears to be a rising reality.  I thank God for the two occasions in 1980-82 and 1996-97 that I traveled to do my “deputation”.  These were joyous occasions of learning to trust God, making new friends, gaining hundreds of prayer partners and gaining a financial base of missionary support that has allowed us to serve the Lord down through the years.  Our deputation, like with most missionaries, was a proving and testing time.  A time that prepared us for the even more difficult times ahead in our ministry.  Again, I truly thank God for those times and the wonderful results it brought into our lives.

There is, however, a troubling trend that I am sure many of you see as I do.  We know that deputation has never been easy but recently there are some things that have made it even much more difficult and time consuming.  Not so long ago the devalued dollar in many of the foreign fields began to cause the resignation of some missionaries and the return of many to try to strengthen their support base.  As they returned and tried to arrange meetings they found that sometimes their diminishing support could not be strengthened because there were already many first time missionaries on the deputation trail.  They found many churches with mission hearts but their mission programs were already stretched to the limit.  Then came more economic problems.  Many Americans in various parts of the country saw their plants closing and they were loosing their jobs.  Missions giving began to lag.  In some churches the support had to be dropped or partially cut to continue support.  We have heard for years that we must have more new churches to continue to grow in our missionary outreaches.  Now in many places churches are struggling to keep their local ministries going and have difficulty seeing how they can support missions when they can’t pay their own bills.  What could be the result?  The death of deputation?

I want to quickly say that my heart is crying not only because of the struggling missionaries on deputation.  My heart does go out to these families who have “forsaken all” and are following the Lord trying to get to their field of mission.  But these are merely symptomatic of deeper problems that are looming on our horizon.  I may address some of these later, but my main purpose for the moment is to write to my fellow missionaries about deputation.  As I look at the things I have mentioned I realize that there are other pieces of this puzzle that I have not included, but that I believe could draw the stranglehold on deputation even tighter.  Many new church plants today are taking on a different model than they did in the past.  Now I am for church planting.  That has been my work for the past 30 plus years.  But what if things do change in the next few years?  How will that affect the missionaries?  Some research groups offer studies that show church models, church attendance and church donations will drop over the next few years.  One research shows that the primary means of spiritual expression and experience for people in 2000 was that about 70% of them attended a church model like most of the churches we are familiar with and from whom we have gotten our support.  But they predict that by 2025 only 30-35% will attend these same church models.  That means a lot of change.  Could it mean the death of deputation and worse?

None of this should really surprise us.  We have been able to look at other countries like the United Kingdom as a vivid example of the diminishing attendance and diminishing spiritual power and the effect that it has had on them.  Twenty five years ago I wrote a paper entitled “The British Isles, Museum of Christianity”.  In this paper I chronicled how that only a remnant of Christianity was still evident in the UK.  I visited the “museums” of Wesley, Bunyan and others.  What I found was little more than wax and antiques.  Do we think we can fare better than the UK?  I know some would site that church attendance is UP in the United States and that we now have more mega churches than ever before but we also cannot see that these are having any real significant spiritual impact. 

So as a fellow missionary asked me as we were having this discussion, “what do we do?”  Good question!  I guess I will say first of all that we MUST strengthen the things that remain the best we can.  We can preach and warn and work to restore real New Testament ministry with its dynamic spiritual power back into our churches.  We certainly can trust God.  I am not writing this so that we can become morose or loose hope.  I also think that we cannot wait until it is too late to do what we have to do to keep our ministries open and viable.  I think we need to put some plans in place or begin some things that will help us stay on the job.  I think we need to plan that if we are still in the ministry in the next few years we may have to be finding some creative ways to support our ministries.  Does that sound fatalistic?  I hope not but I do want to sound realistic.

John Piper in his book “Don’t Waste Your Life” gives an illustration of a couple who had retired early from their jobs in the northeast and retired to Punta Gorda, FL.  They were living the good life.  Cruising out in their 30 foot boat and collecting sea shells.  Piper says he wonders what Jesus would say when they showed him how their life had been spent.  What will you leave behind?  What will your legacy be?  What will you say to Christ when you stand before Him?  As people pass by your coffin how will they assess your life’s work and accomplishments?

Some work their entire lives to leave behind a monetary inheritance, a healthy bank account to be divided up among their heirs.  Some will leave behind buildings, houses, lands and material properties.  What will you leave behind?  It was said about John Wesley after he died that he left little behind.  He had given away 30,000 pounds.  He had ridden over 250,000 miles on horseback.  He had preached 40,000 sermons.  What did he leave behind?  A few books, a worn out clergyman’s gown and the Methodist Church.   Churches and chapels with 135,000 members and 541 itinerant preachers.

What will you leave behind?

Many are wondering how can we reach people in these post modern times.   The masses seem to be completely disinterested and put off by churches.  They seem too far away for us to reach them.  Many are attempting unbelievable things in the name of Christ and His church to try and have a relevant appeal.  I believe that in this attempt to be relevant that they have and continue to merely COPY a myriad of things from building styles, clothing, deportment, music and more.   And sadly, these are all poor copies. 

As an example of our poor copies many began to copy the cathedral builders.  The great world and state religions which built their buildings on the most prominent location.  Their architectural shrines were indeed awesome, but none of that could save a single soul.  From the humble beginnings of the upper rooms and houses we bought into the crazed idea that a building was the only way to have a church.  This has continued until no one even remembers what the church really is and that whether in the open air, in a home, a storefront, a rented office, it is just as much a church as if it were surrounded by the four walls underand impressive ceilings of a cathedral.  Millions are spent on these copies that have little impact in order to reach souls around the world.

Some began to copy the Pentecostals with their wild fire. They saw that with their music and their star quality guests that greater crowds would come.  We felt as long as we could hold to our biblical doctrine it would not be a problem to copy their methods.  But we should have been better students of history to know that it doesn’t take long for our methodology to effect our theology. 

Some began to copy the Liberals with their political correctness.  They began to neutralize their message.  They were afraid they might offend if they were not always positive.  They didn’t want to turn anyone off by preaching agains sin, evil and perversion.  Taking a new PC stance they soon lost their power.

Some kept their eyes on the world and seeing the effectiveness of Hollywood, Nashville and New York’s ability to make a splash, draw a crowd and influence people they began to copy their ways.  They threw out the hymns and hymnals.  They took off their ties and put on blue jeans and sneakers.  They visited the tatoo parlors.  They spiced up their pulpit language.  They put on a show.  They entertained.  All the lights, all the smoke, all the glitz.  The problem is now no one  can really tell where the world’s show ends and the church’s show begins. 

So we have copied and copied until no one remembers what the original looked like.  Can we wonder why so many are confused and disenfranchised?  Is it any wonder people don’t trust the church?  Is it any wonder that our message has become diluted, that we are powerless and we are loosing more with each passing generation?  We must get back to the ORIGINAL!  Stop copying!  Get it straight from the book!  God gave us the plan to reach people and it will work in every generation and in every culture.  Do we believe the Bible?  Then we must put away all the modern textbooks from all the church growth and marketing gurus and preach and teach the Gospel publicly and from house to house.  We must take the risk and suffer persecution if necessary.  Take criticism!  We must be a bit old fashioned.  Dust off the old Bible.  Use it!  The Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation.  The Holy Spirit still convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment!   The preaching the cross will always be foolishness to those who are perishing but it is still the power of God to the saved!  I believe if we spent even a fraction of the time giving the Gospel publicly and privately as we do copying everything that comes down the pike we could see a difference.  Let’s take a new look at  the original plan that God gave.  It will work!  It is backed by His promise!

No one ever likes to be rebuked!  And today people seem to be even more sensitive and resistive to being rebuked than ever before.  That sensitivity begins when we are very young and as we get older it seems our resentment to rebuke grows with us.  But “rebuke” is an important part of the development of our lives both morally, socially and spiritually. 

For preachers God’s Word says we are to preach the word, reprove and REBUKE.   Some of today’s “preachers” argue that they do not want to offend anyone by rebuking them about their sin.  “Your Best Life Now” seems to be only reachable by plastic smiles and pleasant platitudes.  But sometimes to have the best life God intends for us we need to be rebuked.  I trust God’s word on this and I trust the examples of Jesus Christ.  He taught and led his disciples to be men who turned the world upside down and preached the Gospel to every creature under the sun.  For these men to develop into the calibre of men who could do the work of the Great Commission they at times needed to be rebuked.  And we do too! 

When Peter got his eyes off the plan of God and tried to insert his own will into things he was strongly rebuked by the Lord.  When Peter or any of us cannot discern God’s plan and try to push our own way, a rebuke is needed.  We must  pay attention to God’s plan. 

On another occasion when the disciples wanted to call fire down from heaven Jesus rebuked them.  Perhaps all of us at times have felt like we wanted to do the same.  But when we forget about the grace that is needed to work in a sinful, wicked world we need to be rebuked. 

I know if we are not careful we can major on the negatives.  All of us prefer not to be rebuked.  But when needed I hope I will be sensitive to be rebuked through God’s Word, by the Holy Spirit and through the faithful preaching by a man of God who is still preaching the word, reproving, rebuking and exhorting with all longsuffering and doctrine.

In Matthew 16:1-13 we read of the Pharisees and Saducees coming to Jesus to tempt him.  He calls them hypocrites!  He knew their thoughts and intentions and that they only hoped to discredit him - it wasn’t happening. 

But all of that grew into a great teaching lesson.  In the midst of this the disciples had a startling discovery.  They had forgotten bread.  Have you ever done something like this?  Forgotten something important?  Something necessary?  But the worst part and I think the truly notable point was – not that they had forgotten the bread – their food, but that they had forgotten earlier, vital and life changing lessons that they had been taught.  These lessons (the feeding of the multitudes) should have been at the forefront of their thinking and it should have been something that had changed them forever! 

But alas, the disciples both them then and us today, seem to have difficulty discerning what are the most important things.  Case in point:  Remember in John 4 when the disciples had entered the Samaritan village to buy food.  When they returned they found Jesus had been busy dealing with the woman by the well.  He had served up living water that gave life changing and eternal blessing.  But the disciples couldn’t get past their own issues.  They wanted him to eat.  He stated that he had meat to eat that they knew nothing about.  Ok!  They asked “who gave him something to eat?”  They didn’t get it. 

Do you see how we sometimes can’t seem to get off the earth track?  His ways truly are higher than our ways.  Thank goodness he is patient with his disciples, but he does rebuke us.  He calls us down for our faithlessness, forgetfulness and foolishness.  He wants us to grow!  He wants us to learn! 

This discourse was about learning.  We need to learn.  If we don’t learn we will fall for bad doctrine (teaching).  So what are some of the lessons we can learn with these disciples in Matthew 16:

• Don’t forget the great things the Lord has already done for you in your life.
• Don’t get sidetracked from the main, and eternal issues in life.
• The spiritual matters are more important (eternal) than the fleshly needs (temporal).
• The Lord often uses simple examples to teach us vital spiritual lessons.   
• Don’t miss good things from the Lord by jumping to wrong conclusions.   

There was a lesson in the leaven.  Let’s learn and grow!

In the last post I told you about what I was seeing as I am visiting Haiti.  These are no new sights for me.  I have been here many times.  I have seen it in other countries too.  But one thing I have found is that it is never enough to just look.  In Luke 10 we see the man who had fallen among thieves, was robbed, wounded and left half dead by the side of the road.  The priest passed by and the Scripture says “he saw him” but passed by on the other side.  Then the Levite passed by and it says “he looked on him” and passed by on the other side.  Looking is never enough. 

Many see the poverty.  Poverty is never just physical, it is also spiritual.  It is the result of sin.  The devil, described as a thief in John 10 comes to steal, kill and destroy.  Just as the thieves in Luke 10, he steals the raimnent, taking away his dignity.  He wounds him and leaves him half dead.  The result of sin and the ravages of the devil are not difficult to see.  But looking at the problem, passing by the problem, ignoring the problem is never enough.  Something more is needed.

WWJD.  What would Jesus do?  What did he do?  He of course is the Good Samaritan.  What do we see him doing?  He didn’t just look.  He never just looked.  When he saw this sin ravaged world what did he do?  Look!  No, that was not enough.  He came!  So the Good Samaritan looked, but didn’t pass by as the others, he came to where he was. 

What was it that caused him to look, to come and to minister?  If we look at the text in Luke 10 we see that this entire story was told to illustrate the command that says we are to love God and love our neighbor.  The problem is of course, many today, even some reading this post are like the lawyer who was willing to justify himself.  Many WILL NOT LOVE as they should.  They say, “who is my neighbor?” 

So it seems evident that to love them is key.  And of course this means that if we do like the Good Samaritan it is more than words.  And sometimes love is costly.  To be a Good Samaritan meansthat you are willing to pay:

• the cost for his mission - “as he journeyed”
• the cost for supplies – “bind up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine”
• the cost for transportation - ”set him on his own beast”
• the cost for lodging – “brought him to an inn”
• the cost for miscellaneous needs – “whatsoever thou spendest more”

Yes, it is costly to love like Christ.  Sad, but most try to justify their selfishness, their inactivity, their lack of love.  They don’t want to leave their comfort zone.  They don’t want to exert any energy.  They want to keep all for themselves.  More for leisure.  More for entertainment.  More for pleasures.  Save it for retirement security, for a rainy day.  But looking is never enough!  We must LOVE!   Looking can be free.  Loving COSTS!  (John 3:16)

As we rode from the airport in Port au Prince toward the orphanage in the ravine area of Girardo and then onto Gressier for our Pastor’s family camp I could not shut out the poverty all around me. I struggled with my thoughts. What a poor nation! Poorest in our hemisphere. A sadness closes over me as I think of the great needs here. I want to help. Where can one even begin.

We stop by “My Father’s House” orphanage in Girardo. Most of the 89 children crowd around us and look up to us with their sad, sallow eyes. They are living in inadequate, close conditions. They get only enough food to stay alive, but hardly thrive. We are able to deliver underclothing for all the children, a gift from Word of Life Baptist Church in PA brought by Rick and Mary Kay Paquette. We also deliver and place on the wrists some Gospel bracelets made by the children of Cornerstone Independent Baptist Church in Enola, PA in their VBS. We explain the story of the Gospel that it represents. This church also gave $2000 to help with the home. We and they are so thankful for every gift. It all helps.

Then I look at the budget. We need $2637.00 for school uniforms so the kids can start school next month. We need money for 89 pairs of shoes. We need $2198.00 for the school and kindergarten tuition for the children. We need $2004.00 for books and school supplies. The total is close to $10,000.00. Oh yes, we can’t forget that we also need enough money each month to feed the children and pay for the 13 workers and staff.

We love on the children for awhile. We give out some rare treats. They are having fun, Frances and Mary have especially enjoyed holding the youngest children on their laps, but it is time for us to leave for now. We continue on our trip to Gressier. Bad roads, filth, broken down hovels. We pass a couple of homes where the people have gathered a few sticks to roast themselves an ear of corn. That is their supper. We finally arrive at the camp. By Haitian standards it is wonderful. At least those who join with us this week know they have better prospects of finding something to eat here at the camp. They may sleep on the floor, but that is no different from their home. They will have little or no electricity, normal for them. They are still poor. When I leave they will go home. They will try to eat. They will try to survive.

Looking at poverty.   What can I say to these poor people? How can I help? Will I be able to say anything that will make any difference in their lives? Will I leave them better or worse for my visit? I want you to put yourself in my place and think of what you would say or do. I will leave you to consider your response until my next post.

 For all of our years in ministry our mission has been simple:  getting the Gospel into the next towns.  Mark 1:38 has not only been our motto, it has been our life – going into the next towns.  We are all about evangelism, discipleship, training, and church planting.  I hope we can continue for as many years as the good Lord gives us.  We live for this.  We get up everyday to see how we can get the Gospel a bit further into the regions beyond us. 

Today I talked to several of our pastors to check on the work that is going on in their areas.  What a blessing to hear of their faithful evangelism and the plans they have and how the Lord is blessing.  Keep praying for these men as they serve the Lord.  Keep praying for us as we personally go out to open new works, as we help the pastors we have already trained in their work and as we train and prepare others to go on to yet other fields.  I spoke with one of our pastors in Cuba today about the burden he has to open a new work in Ecuador.  My heart was filled with joy and emotion as I realized how they are living for the Great Commission.  These are pastors in a communist country, working in harsh conditions, with much persecution, but they are thinking about how to get the Gospel out to other places far and near. 

Today I get to – notice I didn’t say I have to – I get to go and train some of our men and mentor and help them become what God has called them to do!  Praise the Lord!  Yes, this is what we live for … to go … to preach … to yet another town.  www.baptistevangelism.org