LET…. MY…. PEOPLE…. GO !!

Chapter twenty-one

In the last chapter I wrote about my daily postings in Facebook whereby I reach thousands daily with the gospel message. I concluded, “What I do, most in your assemblies can do.” In fact, that is not true. I should have written….

“What I do, most in your (thousands and thousands of) assemblies can do IF they were set free from your religion and IF they returned to “first love” and IF they were so called by the Holy Spirit.”

Evangelicals lost their ability to bear “much fruit” the moment they became evangelicals. Yes, they can and do bear little fruit but far less than their potential. To bear much fruit they must repent of evangelicalism (“commandments of men”) and every other idol, and again place their christianity under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

My gospel message (last chapter) was birthed through relationship. Jesus: “He who abides in Me bears much fruit.” Evangelizing is “much [good, very good] fruit”. Only those abiding primarily in Jesus have the heart and ability to evangelize. Those abiding in Jesus secondarily bear little fruit. (Jesus: “Without Me you can do nothing.”)

I want you to understand my understanding. Millions of christians under your oversight have the ability to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ without leaving their home! Many (most?) have more computer savvy that me and most have more money, but they can’t do what I do! They can’t evangelize! They can’t bear much fruit! Why? Because Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing.” (Without being firmly fastened to Jesus, christians cannot bear “much fruit”.)

The evangelical valiantly tries to bear much fruit but his efforts always lead to frustrating failure. And he cannot identify the problem. He would be insulted by the suggestion that his relationship with the One he calls “Lord, Lord” is feeble. Let’s look at it….

Jesus: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.” Do you agree that love is abiding? And do you agree loving Jesus is abiding in Jesus? If so, you must concede that the one who loves Jesus is “he who has My commandments and keeps them”. And will you also concede that the depth of our love for anyone can be measured by our obedience to that person (persons)?

Jesus: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” The evangelical’s ministry will not bear “much fruit” unless his prayers are answered, and his prayers will not be answered if it is not Christ’s words that abide in him. (“And My words abide in you.”)

John: “He who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk just as He walked.” Jesus walked in obedience to His Father’s words. He did what the Father asked Him to do and spoke the words of His Father. Just as obedience explains His success, disobedience explains the evangelical’s failure.

The evangelical way is little, not much, fruit. I will give two scenarios of evangelicalism at work: first a local endeavor that I think rightly depicts the evangelical way in my city of Kelowna, and second, a very large scenario that involves many thousands of salaried evangelicals throughout North America and beyond.

First, the small picture….

There was a sign outside a nearby pentecostal church that read something like this: “Prayer for Healing, Thursdays 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.” A small group of evangelicals from various assemblies gathered every thursday evening to pray for those in need of healing. Since most (everybody?) have several physical disorders, minor or major, one would think they would be swamped. Were these evangelicals successful? Can evangelicals combine their faith to bear much fruit? Is it true that “we can do more together”?

Soon the weekly gatherings reduced to biweekly. The sign became weathered. Few (very few?) were getting healed so they finally shut it down, but didn’t remove the sad sign. Though the sign said “Prayer for healing, Thursdays 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm”, there were no prayers for the sick on thursdays or any other day. Finally someone removed the sad, weathered sign.

Did these evangelicals bear fruit? Undoubtedly. Did they bear much or little fruit? They bore little, not much. (Jesus: “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.”)

Second, a big picture….

As you know there is at this time an onslaught of perversion sweeping Canada, the United States and other countries, debauchery far surpassing anything in recent world history. This is happening, mostly, on your watch. Yes, on your watch….

You are the leaders (man-appointed, not Christ-appointed) of Christ’s church-on-earth. And the church you oversee is responsible for the condition of the secular world. (For the devil to have his way in the world he must first get by Christ’s church.)

But is the church really responsible for the state of the world? It is hard to come to any other conclusion than yes, yes, yes! If evangelicals had been investing in Christ’s Great Commission as earnestly as in their religion most of the world would be christian instead of pagan. If evangelicals had been taught to embrace John 15:5 they would be “fishers of men”. If evangelicals lived in a war zone instead of a playground the “god of this age” would not be able to plunder our land at will.

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Many years ago I had a very absurd thought, a notion so impossible that I dared not share it with anyone: a newspaper-sized paper that emphasized Kelowna’s need for Jesus Christ and His awesome salvation. In my untamed imagination this paper would use subjects of interest to point to Jesus and be delivered door-to-door.

It took a year or two for the absurd to evolve into reality. The first of ten issues of The Main Issue (Jesus being the main issue) I titled Evolution vs Creation, a controversy of interest to most. The second, Jehovah’s Witnesses: Christian Or Cult? was also a relevant subject because JWs regularly go door-to-door with their false gospel. The third: The Bible: Just Another Book? The fourth: Heaven and Hell. Etcetera, etcetera.

Question: How could a young father of three teens – who had no experience producing or distributing such a paper, who didn’t own and never used a computer, who had no money – successfully accomplish such an enormous feat? Answer: He couldn’t. But…. to quote Jesus…. “With God all things are possible.” And….

And although I, at that time, regularly attended an evangelical church, I managed to stay detached from evangelicalism. And, unlike most, Jesus was my “first love”. And I never sought advice or permission from any one, but deposited myself onto the governance of the Holy Spirit.

In the ninth edition I wrote….

IS THERE SOMEONE OUT THERE??

The next issue of The Main Issue will be the tenth and final publication…. The Main Issue has always been about Jesus The purpose of this article is to find out if there is a group, a church or even an individual that feels led of the Lord to carry on the work of reaching the lost in Kelowna through the newspaper media. How good it would be if there was a persistent voice from the body of Christ – monthly or bi- monthly, year after year – expressing the gospel message.

It has been said that freedom of the press is limited to those who own a press Generally, I feel, the media leads people away from Christ, away from their salvation freely paid for. The power of the press should also be in the hands of the redeemed. There ought to be a voice, a persistent voice crying in the wilderness of humanistic, ungodly voices, pointing the way of salvation.

A paper the size of The Main Issue is affordable for even a small congregation. There is so much talent in most assemblies, talent that could be used to present Bible truths in a compelling manner. One can write, another is an artist, someone has computer skills, one has the finesse to do layout, another can oversee finances. One has an idea, another a testimony, another a prophetic word. A congregation has the the manpower to man phones, answer letters, do follow-up, make visits. And in an assembly there is much prayer power. Sitting in my small office, I wonder, “Is there someone out there?”

Of the 40 to 50 churches in Kelowna and area there was not one response to this suggestion to do as I did. Not one. Every third month or so, over a period of about four years, this non-salaried, non-credentialed, non-charismatic nobody reached our city with the gospel of Christ more effectively than all churches combined – through (and only through!!) the power of the Holy Spirit. Why was there (why is there) almost zero interest in reaching the lost?

I confess I was critical. I was critical because I did not understand what I understand today. None of these churches were capable of “laying up [an abundance of] treasures in heaven”. They each could provide for themselves accommodations, finance a pastor, produce a worship team, maybe a yearly public pageantry, but little more. Scant treasure, yes; abundant treasure, no.