Author: Billy

The death of Jesus may have seemed like a disaster to the disciples, but it was no surprise and no accident to God. Jesus said of his own life in John 10:18, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.”
Who was really in control on that day some 2000 years ago?

When the mob came to the garden to arrest Jesus, He met them and asked, “Who are you seeking?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.
Jesus said, “I AM,” and 600 men fell on their backs at just the word of His mouth.
He asked again, “Who are you seeking?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied,
I suspect a bit nervously.
“I am He,” Jesus told them, “but let these go,” speaking of His disciples, and allowed them to lead him away.

Then Peter decided to fight, and pulled out a knife and cut off the servant of the high priest’s ear. Jesus told him to put the sword away, healed Malcus, and explained that if He wanted to, He could call down 72,000 angels to deliver Him. There was a bigger purpose in what was happening.
All the divine power and fullness of God dwelt in Him, and at any moment He could have uttered a simple word and wiped out those who came to kill Him. But He yielded His own life and endured what was coming.
All the while they were mocking Him, He kept silent. When they blindfolded him and struck Him, and asked Him to prophecy who it was that hit Him, he knew full well who it was, but took the beating. They pulled out His beard and inflicted many other injuries upon Him, yet He quietly endured.
They whipped him publicly, tearing His flesh open with every blow, and still He did not retaliate, even though it was within His authority and power to do so.

At any moment, He could have cried out, “It’s too much! They’re not worth it!” But He took the punishment. Isaiah 52:14 gives us a glimpse into the excruciating agony that He suffered. “Just as there were many who were appalled at him — his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness.”
What do you suppose was on His mind while they drove spikes through his flesh and pinned Him to the cross? What sort of unimaginable love does anyone have who could bear that kind of pain, yet still with his dying breath, plead on behalf of His torturers, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing?”
What gave Him the strength to suffer beyond imagination? Hebrews 12:2 tells us. “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
He was looking ahead at the joy set before Him. What was that joy? Heaven? No, He already had heaven and all the majesty, power, glory, and worship of untold thousands of holy angels even before He came. He could have returned at any moment and escaped the punishment of the cross.

The joy that was set before Him was you.
There was no other way that you or I could have our sins atoned for and make it to heaven. Jesus atoned for them with His own pure, sinless blood. By His blood, we have the forgiveness of sins, and can be given the gift of eternal life.
Jesus stepped in between us and God, and paid the price for our sin. He died so we wouldn’t have to.

Don’t make the mistake of picturing Jesus as helpless and defenseless on the cross. John 10:18, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.”
It was a selfless act of immeasurable love that put Him there. His love for you.
How do you respond?

A few nights ago, as my 12 year old son sat at the computer, he suddenly asked, “Hey dad, how much money do you have?” I shrugged my shoulders at him, wondering where this was going. “I have $1,750,” he said excitedly, but then acknowledged, “but it’s just on my game.”
For the last few months, he has been putting all kinds of time into growing his account on that game, but the problem is that it’s all fictitious! In reality, it’s worth nothing!
I’m reminded of all the hours people spend developing characters on games like Call of Duty or World of Warcraft, only to realize in the end that it really means nothing. You may earn some temporary respect from other people in the online gaming community, but it’s a virtual reality that actually is useless in the real world. Ultimately, at the end of all that work, you pull the plug and it vanishes, and you’re still left with a real life to live. Why waste time building something that means nothing?

All the pursuits of your life and my life, apart from Christ, will prove to be just as useless and futile when these bodies we live in die and our eternal soul leaves this life for the next. All of our toys, our money, our prestige, and anything else that we worked so hard for will vanish and we will stand empty and naked before Him who created us.
Ultimately, there comes a point when it’s ‘Game Over’ for every one of us. Then what good are all those things? What will become of everything we worked so hard for?

This is what Solomon lamented over when he cried out, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!” He was saying that it’s all useless. After describing how he had withheld nothing from himself and enjoyed all the riches and pleasures this world can offer, he says in Ecclesiastes 2, “17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? 23 All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.”

Pretty depressing! Here’s a man who attained all of the things the people of the world chase after, and in the end he found it to be empty, unfulfilling, and meaningless.
If that’s really all that life is about, then there’s no hope for anything other than to enjoy what you can before you die.

That’s why the gospel is such good news. Jesus comes on the scene and gives us a sense of worth, a sense of purpose, and a sense of meaning that extends beyond the grave.
Instead of spending our time, resources and talents on useless worldly pursuits that come to nothing, He tells us to invest in the kingdom of heaven.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matt 6:19
The apostle Paul, after giving his own life in service to the gospel, said this, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Tim 4

One day, you will close your eyes for the last time on earth, and you will step into eternity. The only thing of any value that you will carry with you is what you have invested in God’s kingdom. Which life are you living for?
We can easily see the futility in wasting hours of our time building characters in a virtual online world that carry no worth in real life, but aren’t we doing the same thing when we spend our lives on earthly things that have no eternal value?
You get one life. Do something that really matters!

On Monday I dropped my wife’s car of at the mechanic to get the brake pads replaced. I knew it was time because they were sensitive and I could hear the distinct screech of metal on metal when I drove it.
When we picked it up, she left with the car while I took care of the bill.
Within minutes, she pulled back into the parking lot looking white as a ghost. “There’s something wrong with the brakes,” she said. “They’re not normal!” She had almost run an intersection and hit a pedestrian.
The mechanic and I both took it for a short ride, but there was nothing wrong.
After talking it over with her, we came to realize that she had become so accustomed to slowing and stopping with worn out, touchy brakes that grabbed as soon as she hit the pedal, that she thought something was wrong when they operated like they should.
What she had grown used to and considered normal was actually not normal and potentially dangerous if continually ignored.

I remember how it felt the first time I went out of my way to actively go out and do something radical for God. I had been a Christian for a little while, but I had gotten used to knowing that I was saved, but not really living out my faith in real ways. I went to church and Bible studies, read my Bible and prayed, but that’s not the same as actively serving.
I remember thinking that we were crazy for going into downtown Portland at night to find people to minister to. This was definitely not the norm as far as I was concerned, but I knew it was right. It was amazing, and I have never been the same.

I realized that I had grown so accustomed to a comfortable Christian lifestyle, that I didn’t even know that God had saved me for so much more.
We are so used to minding our own business as Christians, that we forget what the church is supposed to look like.

We think the guy who holds pro life signs in front of an abortion clinic is a fanatic, but is our silence on the issue and our once a year vote really more effective?
We think the family that lives within their means and gives generously is out of touch with a materialistic society that is in debt up to their eyeballs, but which has God called us to?
We think the person who refuses to watch a Hollywood production that intentionally distorts God’s word is a legalist and a prude, but how did Jesus handle those who misled others by twisting the Scripture?
We think the Christian who takes his family on the mission field to reach the world for Christ is foolish and irresponsible, but is the American dream consistent with the great commission?

There are some things that the church should be doing but has been asleep on for so long that when someone actually does them, it doesn’t seem normal. But what is ‘normal’ supposed to look like?
I am examining my own life today to see where I need to align myself more with God’s word. I’m challenged by a lot of areas where I have been lazy or indifferent.
I dont want to get so used to doing things wrong or not doing them at all that I am surprised when I see them done right.

Do you desire to please God enough that you would examine your own life, and make the changes that need to be made?

Recently, I had to fill out an application to rent a house, since we just sold our home and need a place to live while we build a new one. I was really surprised by the amount of information required for the screening process. I guess they want to make sure that I pay my bills on time and that I’m not some sort of criminal or crazy person.
Similarly, I also recently applied to become a local chaplain with an international Christian organization. They also had a lot of qualifications that needed to be met in order to be considered for the position.
If you’ve ever applied for a job, for a loan, to get into college, etc., then you can identify with my experience.

Thank God that He doesn’t do the same thing with us in order to be accepted into His family. You don’t see signs hanging over the doors of the church that read, “Apply within”, and when we come to Christ, there’s no waiting period while God looks over our qualifications, our credit record, or our criminal history. He already knows that you and I are major screw-ups. He doesn’t have to dig too deep into our past to find dirt.
The very thing that holds many people back from approaching God, their shame, embarrassment, and guilt over their past, is the very reason we so desperately need Him, and is, in fact, the very reason He sent His Son to die in the cross.
The most famous verse in the Bible reads, “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16
He offers forgiveness and salvation to anyone who will come and receive it.

In Luke 5, when Peter first encountered Jesus, and realized who he was dealing with, he freely confessed, “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” He knew he was out of his league with Jesus. He was ashamed of who he was and who he had been.
But Jesus didn’t reject him! Instead, he said, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you’ll catch men,” and that was the beginning of Peter’s walk with the Lord. He was accepted and given a new calling.
Jesus took an unqualified, uneducated, sinful fisherman and transformed him into a dynamic powerhouse for the kingdom of God!

When God called you and saved you, He didn’t do it just to forgive you and leave you as you are. Like Peter, you may have no qualifications. The only qualification you have is that you’re a sinner, which makes you qualified for the blood of Calvary’s cross.
God cleanses you and removes your guilt and shame, and then He makes changes in your heart and mind so that you become transformed into the man or woman of faith and power that He designed you to be in Christ. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become brand new.”

You don’t need a glowing recommendation letter or a resume filled with your church attendance records or good works to be accepted by God. You don’t need to prove your worthiness to Him.
It’s the blood of Jesus that makes you worthy of the life God offers. He’s ready to forgive and receive you as His son or daughter, because of the sacrifice of Jesus. He wants you, and He sees the potential of what you can become in Him, regardless of your dark history. If He can do what He did with Peter, imagine how He might use you!
Will you yield to Him today? Will you give up trying to impress Him, and simply rest in Him?
It takes a step of faith to let go and do it. Go for it!

Imagine that the worst has happened to our world and a pandemic disease with a 100% fatality rate infected every living person. There would be mass hopelessness and despair as death mercilessly swallowed up one life after another.
Imagine also a man who discovered the cure, of which only one dose would immediately reverse the affects of the disease in anyone who took it, no matter how advanced their infection had become.
He gave unlimited free supplies to his friends and told them to go into all the world and share it with everyone and save them from certain death.

But there was a mixed response. Only a few of them actually carried out their great commission.
Some of them spent all their time and money erecting great monuments and built beautiful buildings to honor the man who discovered this wonderful cure, but left little or no time to actually give the cure away.
Some of them spent all of their time in solitude, studying the writings of the man and the process of how the cure was formulated, even disputing among each other about how the cure should be taken and whether its effectiveness is really permanent. They insisted that years of study were necessary to be able to administer to cure to others. But they, too, spent very little effort in actually giving the cure to those who were perishing all around them.

Some of them intentionally kept the cure to themselves. Afraid of being reinfected, they refused to go near anyone carrying the disease, and only associated with people who also had been cured. They did everything they could to avoid the sick people.
Others were too busy carrying on their own affairs to be bothered with the plight of their families, friends, and neighbors. Day after day, they passed person after person who desperately needed the cure they possessed. But they didn’t stop to help. After all, life is too busy. Who has the time to rescue a dying person?
Still others were too insecure to give the cure away. Fearing rejection, they thought no one would believe them or even be interested in healing, so they ignored the cries of the sick and dying, tried their best to blend in, and kept the cure to themselves. A few of them consoled themselves with the fact that they kept doses of the cure on them in case anyone asked why they looked different than everybody else.

Then there were those who faithfully and earnestly spent their life diving into the heart of infected zones and giving the cure to as many as they could. All their resources were directed towards this noble cause. Masses were healed and set free by their heroic efforts.
Tragically, rather than enjoying the company and support of the rest of those who were healed, they endured the criticism of those who didn’t share their passion for saving the dying world. But they persevered and pressed on, introducing the cure into new areas, pioneering efforts to reach even the most remote people groups.
Motivated by compassion and love, they selflessly spent their own lives, sparing no effort to reach those who were perishing, and reached the world with the cure.

What if such a world existed? Could you imagine if such a story were, in fact, true? Imagine that, Christian. Imagine it.
Is not the gospel news worth spreading? Is not the blood of Christ the ultimate cure to a fate worse than death itself?
In Mark 16:15, Jesus told us, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Are you sharing it? How are you doing your part in reaching your world?

Every couple of years I have to replace my alarm clock. Why? Because I’m not a morning person. I don’t like to be woken by annoying sounds.
What happens is, as I try to stay asleep as long as possible during the alarm every morning, I gradually train myself to ignore that sound. Eventually, I get to the point where I can sleep through the alarm without it even bothering me anymore.
And that’s when it’s time for a new alarm clock, with a different sound to rouse me from my sleep.

That’s what it’s like when you and I harden our conscience. At first, you may be faced with temptation and in your mind there are alarms going off loud and clear, saying, “Don’t do it!”
But if you suppress that voice, it gets dimmer and dimmer until eventually you get to the point where it doesn’t even bother you anymore.
Something you couldn’t imagine yourself doing 6 months or a year ago is now something you don’t even feel bad about. The sad thing is, because the feelings of guilt are gone, many people delude themselves into thinking, “God’s accepted it”, when in reality all that has happened is they have become separated from God, and thier conscience has been hardened to the point that it no longer affects their choices.
The Bible describes this as “searing the conscience, as with a hot iron.” (1 Tim 4) It’s a scary place to be, because in that place, a person has lost sensitivity to holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

What we want to have is a tender conscience, that hates sin and longs to do the will of God. When faced with temptations, a healthy tender conscience will convict us immediately of right and wrong, and will either keep us out of trouble, or send us directly to the foot of the cross when we have stepped out of bounds.
As Ray Comfort puts it, the conscience is like the referee who keeps us playing by the rules, but don’t be surprised if the referee walks off the field if his whistle is continually ignored.

How’s your conscience? Are there things in your life that you have made allowance for because you’ve suppressed or silenced the voice of your God-given conscience?
Confess it, forsake it, and awaken that sleeping conscience. It’s there for your good.

I don’t know anything at all about farming.
My wife and I were staying with her parents, who at that time had many acres of blueberries that they farmed. Early one morning, my father-in-law asked me to come out and help him prune the bushes. I didn’t even know what ‘pruning’ was, so I declined, because I didnt want to look like an idiot. I didnt mind a little bit of work, I just didnt have a clue how to do it. But he persisted, so eventually I caved in and joined him.
He handed me some pruning shears and started me off on a row of bushes right behind him, gave me a quick lesson on what he expected, and left me to myself. I had no idea what to do. All the branches looked the same to me, so I figured I’d do the least damaging thing. I started clipping away the smallest branches.
After about an hour, he came to check on me. I seriously thought he was about to have a heart attack. I ruined a lot of bushes! I kind of suspected that I wasn’t doing the best pruning job he had ever seen, but I didnt know that I was actually clipping away the very branches I was supposed to be protecting.
The whole point of pruning is to cut away useless branches and allow the young shoots to grow and bear more fruit. Someone who knows what they are doing carefully and intentionally prunes those branches that do not bear the desired fruit so that the nutrients will go to those branches that do, and so he will have a greater harvest.

God does the same thing to you and I. Jesus said this about God’s pruning of us in John 15:1,2 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
You and I are branches of the true vine, Jesus Christ. We are supposed to be bearing fruit in our lives for God.
Those of us who bear no fruit, Jesus says will be cut off! Yikes! Do you bear fruit for God, or are you a useless branch? Scary thought if you are spending your life on yourself.

For those of us who do bear fruit, He prunes us. Like a master gardener, He cuts away those things in our lives that don’t bear fruit for Him. Things that aren’t even necessarily sinful, but just use up our time, talents, and resources. There are many things in my life that God has taken away simply because they were getting in the way of what He wanted to do with my life.
We may wonder at the time what He’s doing when He’s cutting something out of our lives, but He has purpose behind His pruning, and the purpose is so that we bear even more fruit. It might be painful for a moment, but in the end it will yield a greater harvest of righteousness.
The cool thing about God is, unlike me, He doesn’t cut something out and then say, “Whoops, I didnt mean to do that!” God isn’t a rookie. He knows what He’s doing.

Are you going through some pruning? Is there something in your life that God is cutting away but you are fighting it? Ask yourself, will you be able to bear more fruit for God in the end? You can trust Him, friend. His purpose is for your good.

I had the chance to go to one of those talent search auditions last week. I came home from the gym on Saturday and my kids were telling me they heard about it on the radio, and they all wanted to go give it a try, so I called them and set up the appointment. It’s put on by an agency based in Seattle looking for talented people that they can get into show business.
We arrived at the hotel, thinking it was going to be a quick, in and out experience, but were surprised to see hundreds of hopeful candidates, eagerly waiting for their opportunity to impress the judges with their acting, modeling, and singing skills. I was really surprised by how seriously a lot of them were taking it. There were little kids with make-up caked on like supermodels, wearing expensive clothes. People were sitting around playing guitars and practicing their singing while we waited. I felt like we were on the set of American Idol. My kids and I were just showing up to goof off, so I felt a bit underprepared.
The main judge got up and addressed the whole crowd before the auditions, and basically told everyone straight up that they had been doing this a long time and they could recognize real talent when they see it, and not to be disappointed if they aren’t selected. All the make-up in the world, all the flashy clothes in the world, all the singing lessons or acting lessons won’t help if you don’t have the right stuff to make it in the big time. They know who has the stuff to make it and who doesn’t, and out of the whole group, very few of us would receive a call back. Fair enough. I could understand that, but I could tell that a lot of these kids were heading for a serious let-down (as well as a lot of parents).
What a bummer. Go give your best shot, and be told that you aren’t good enough.

We laugh at this kind of stuff, like when we see people who think they are something when they are nothing. I know this because there are reality shows where millions of people watch contestants who suck stand before the judges and get told “No”. But this isn’t limited to people’s talents. We are all the same.

I see the same, unfortunate thing in the area of acceptance before God. As an evangelist, I meet people of all ages in the church and in the world who really do think that they have what it takes to impress God and make it into heaven. Most people honestly think that they are pretty good, and that if and when they ever stand before God, He will see that their lives were lived in a good enough way to gain entrance into heaven. At the same time, there are many in the church who are working really hard at accumulating lots of good works that they think will make them a shoe-in on judgment day.
Sadly, God is much harder to impress than a simple talent search judge. If it depends on talent, good looks, genetics, charisma, or good works, not a single one of us would ever get selected. No one would get in. There is only one way in, and the great news is that anyone can go in that way, but no one is getting in on their own merits.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, but by me.” He’s the only way to heaven.
He also said, “All that the Father gives to me shall come to me, and he who comes to me I will in no wise cast out.” In other words, if you come to Christ, He’s not going to turn you away! Thats the promise of Jesus Himself.
You don’t have to nervously approach God, wondering if He’s going to look at your qualifications and talents, rub His chin for a while and decide if He really wants you. There isn’t a panel of judges who will give you two “Nos” and one “Yes”, or two “Yesses” and one “No”. He has already proved His love for you and His desire for you to be saved by going to the cross.

When your sins are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you came from or what you’ve done. A humble person who comes to Christ for forgiveness and salvation gets selected and accepted every single time! He offers you a new name, a new nature, a new family, and a new destiny that far exceeds anything this world has to offer in wealth or fame or fortune.
Forget Hollywood, I want to go to heaven!

Tuesday morning we had the opportunity to sleep in a little bit, because we did not have to be at the SCY pastors conference until 10:00. SCY stands for South Chennai Youth. Its a group of young pastors who started getting together several years ago when they were all youth pastors, but since then many of these guys have become senior pastors as well.
We try to have at least one meeting with these guys every year. Twice in the past, we rented out a resort for the day and had them bring their wives and spent an entire day with them, including meals, games, fellowship, and plenty of good teaching. But this year we did not have the extra $1000 in the budget, so we met with the guys at one of their churches, and had two 1-hr sessions. Zach spoke first, teaching about enduring hardship as good soldiers of jesus Christ, giving examples of lessons he learned in the last year of ministry. Then I spoke on a few different points that help me keep an attitude of humility in ministry, spring boarding off of a quote by Warren Wiersbe. “Ministry is not something we do for God. Ministry is something God does through us.”
We received a lot of feedback form the pastors pretty much immediately following the meeting. The subjects we discussed happened to be the exact thing that was pressing them the most at that time in their ministry. Its always pretty cool to find out that God has worked it out like that and used you to be a blessing or an answer to someones prayer. We think we are just sitting down and preparing something of substance that we intend to share, but God in his providence is setting it up so that we can speak for Him into people’s lives. What a blessing for all of us, and an opportunity to give Him the glory He deserves. Praise the Lord!

In the evening, we had a meeting at City Rock Church, which is a relatively new church in Chennai. The meeting Tuesday night was geared towards young people from late teens to early twenties. The same people we taught at the BUILD conference we instrumental in setting this event up. They brought in a bunch of fired up youth and had them bring non-Christian friends to the event, where we had some excellent music, some funny skits, great dancing, and gave them the gospel. The music was really cranked up and loud, and the skits were a hit with everyone. Then they did some cool dances.
Music and dance are a big part of Indian culture. Any movie or television show you watch is like a musical, with dance scenes about every 10 minutes. So these young people have a group that meets and comes up with dances that incorporate a gospel message into them. Its pretty cool to see.
Linda gave her testimony to the kids, and I preached a short gospel message to them. Around a dozen or so of them responded to the call of salvation, and prayed to receive God’s forgiveness.  This was a really great night for us. We are exceptionally passionate about reaching the younger generation with the gospel, and getting them excited about following and serving Christ. It has been amazing working with them this week and seeing them bearing fruit for God’s kingdom here in Chennai. We look forward to continuing to work with them over the coming years.

Wednesday is our last day in Chennai. This morning, we had a pastors conference at Christudoss’ church. We have been having conferences there every year for the past 4 years, and he packs the place out every time. Pastors come from as far away as Pondicherry, which is about 160 km away.  This year, he requested that the theme of the day would be evangelism. Obviously I was thrilled to speak on that topic.
Apparently, a lot of the pastors and churches in India are not very zealous when it comes to outreach. He told me that a lot of the pastors are content to just minister to their people and not be bothered with reaching the community with the gospel. Its sad when people fall into the trap of just doing the cliquey church thing and forget that the reason we are here as the church is to be the light of the world. Sound familiar?
In the first session, I spoke on the importance of evangelism, and how our love for God and love for people should motivate us to obey what He says and preach the gospel. I gave many verses to them and stressed that God has called us to GO in to the world.
In the second session, I continued on by reminding them of the fate of the ungodly, talking about the reality of hell and the eternal judgement of the unsaved. Compassion for the lost should swallow our fears and give us a sense of urgency in getting the gospel out.
Then I gave them a bunch of Scriptures on biblical evangelism. That is, how to actually share the gospel, and give the whole counsel of God when you do it. Its extremely important that we share the biblical message of the gospel, and not a watered down or corrupted version that ends up hurting more that helping those we intend to win.
Honestly, I thought that this would be pretty boring, elementary stuff for these men, but they really appreciated the teaching. Many of them confessed that they had grown lazy or complacent when it comes to evangelism, and were convicted and committed to becoming more zealous in soul winning.

That is it for ministry on this trip! We have a few hours left until we head to the airport, so we are currently packing our bags and getting ready for the long flight home. We have a 4 hour flight to Dubai, a 3 hour layover there, and then a 15 hour flight to Seattle. Its pretty amazing when you stop to think about the fact that in just 22 hours, you can travel quite comfortably to the other side of the world. 150 years ago, it would have taken months to complete such a journey.  The modern day missionary has so many advantages that the church has never known before. I thank God that He has chosen to use our teams year after year to fulfill His work.
Thank you for your prayers and support. We are so grateful that you have partnered with us in this ministry. We are the lucky ones who get to be here, but we wouldn’t be without you behind us. You have an equal share in the rewards of this ministry. We thank you and bless you for it.

Today is Sunday, so we spoke at two different churches in the morning. Zach, Linda, and Bill went to Josh’s church, while I went to Caleb’s church with Bryan. I can’t really say much about what happened with the others, since I wasn’t there, but I will tell you a little but about Calvary Ministries in Vandalur, where Bryan and I went to speak.
We have held crusades two different years in this village. The first time was back in 2007, when we had them outdoors in  afield at the back of the village. There were several thousand in attendance, and there were lots of people saved as well as many testimonies of miracles that the Lord did.
Then we held them again in Vandalur in 2011, only this time we held them indoors. Just a week before the event, the local police shut down our plans to have them outside again. We felt defeated at the moment, but wouldn’t you know it, it was part of God’s plan to keep the crusades alive. Caleb found a building to hold the crusades, and we had them there instead. On the weekend of the event, it rained hard every night. We would have been rained out if it had not been for the police shutting us down!
This is also the church that is taking care of the gypsy kids who were abandoned by their parents. The day care center is a ministry belonging to this church, and is something we have been financially supporting for a few years now. So, we have had a great relationship with this church. 

The pastor approached me afterwards and offered me an honorarium. This is the first church in India to do so, and I refused to take it. Actually, I was pretty surprised by it. We come to bless these churches and support them in any way we can. They are extremely poor people here, and there’s no way I was about to take money from the church. But the pastor insisted over and over again. I continually refused, until finally I could see that I was actually going to offend him if I didn’t take it. I was deeply humbled by this gesture of appreciation. I really makes me realize how much they value our commitment to come here. This is a church that we will continue to work with, as they are just as passionate about fulfilling the great commission as we are.

Sunday evening was our last night of crusades in Chengalpett. As usual, the crowd was the biggest of all three, swelling tonight to about 1,500 people.  That’s not the largest of crowds that we have drawn, but this year we had about half the budget, so we weren’t able to do as much advertisement or hire the buses like we have in the past.

But 1,500 people is still a fantastic crowd for sharing the gospel, so no one on the team or in the local leadership

has felt any discouragement at all. We have all been increasingly excited each night to preach the good news to people in this community.
Bryan shared his testimony before I preached the gospel. I used texts from Colossians 1 on who Jesus really is, and also from Luke 4 to tell them why he came. Hundreds rose to their feet when it was time to respond to the altar call. Its amazing when you’re standing on there and you see all these faces eagerly calling out on the name of the Lord.
After the prayer of repentance, we invited them once again to come forward for individual prayer, and as u
sual, the front of the alter was soon crowded with people looking for the touch of God on their lives and their problems. It took a while to pray for each and every one of them, but we didn’t mind at all. We were prepared to stay as long as it took.

Since it was the last night, we hung around with the worship band and jammed out for a few songs, and also hung out with the pastors and enjoyed plenty of hearty handshakes and good fellowship as the night grew long.

There was a testimony that came in about Saturday night. A woman came to church Sunday morning and stood up to the microphone to speak. She talked about how she had a difficult past that she wasnt able to let go of, and that she had feelings of loneliness and worthlessness. She was depressed and was ready to take her own life. She decided she was going to commit suicide, but first she went to the crusade on Saturday night to see what it was about. Then Linda got up and shared her testimony of how God saved her out of a life of misery and destruction. She said that her story was similar to Linda’s, and that she knew that if God could deliver Linda, then she could have faith in God as well. She has committed her life to Christ, and has decided that she can live and not kill herself! Wow! What a blessing. If Linda was wondering why she’s on this trip, there is not doubt about it anymore. God used her to literally save a life, and also to save this woman’s soul!

Monday is a day that we had a small pastor’s conference in the morning with about 15 pastors. It’s a small pastors fellowship that meets once a month to pray for the local community and support each other. We had a single, 1 hour teaching, which Zach gave, and had a lunch with them. The pastors talked briefly with us after the Bible study and shared how it personally spoke to them. I always enjoy these meetings because we it allows us to get a feel for how the ministry is going here. Most of these guys have been senior pastors longer than Zach or I have been in ministry combined, but they always seem to be blessed by our presence, and we are always blessed by theirs.