My Mission in India

I first went to India in March of 2002. I wasn’t sure why I was there but I was anxious to hear from the Lord. I felt strongly that he had a plan for me in that place.

As we left the train station in Bangalore that day, a decade ago, we rolled past a little shanty town of people living in conditions worse than I had ever seen. The poverty and destitute condition of the little village touched me deeply. My first response was to feel bad because I have so much and those people have so little. Sitting on that train I asked, "Why Lord, was I blessed with being born in America and these people were born here with little hope and an uncertain future?”

As the train left that poor village behind, the Lord began to speak to my heart, and what he said surprised me. He told me that where a person is born and how much opportunity they have for a successful future is of little consequence. He said that I was missing a bigger picture, the thing that really mattered. He said that whatever opportunities we have on this earth are inconsequential compared to what we do with what we have been given. Each of us has been given a life to live and in the economy of eternity not much will matter in the end except where each person decides to spend their eternity.

In that moment I realized that the best I can do for those living in those shanty towns with their mud huts and blue tarp roofs was to give them a better choice for where to spend their eternity.

As I pondered these thoughts I realized that this was why God sent me to India. He sent me with a message of: “I love you, and if you will receive me, then I will prepare a mansion for you in heaven where you will be with me always.

The message hasn’t changed over the years. Village to Village Ministries, Inc. has raised over a quarter of a million dollars over the years. Many thousands have heard God’s message of love and over 40,000 have received the savior and secured their heavenly home. All honor and praise to Jesus!

The Future of Israel

The future of the Jewish people seems bleak as the leaders of Iran speed toward their quest for a nuclear weapon. They have revealed their intent to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth and there seems to be little moral courage in the world willing to stop them.

 

When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.  —Dan 12:7

Is there a future for Israel?

 

The Jews have always been a stubborn people.  Over and over again they have turned from God and gone their own way.  Over and over again Jehovah has brought them under judgment and withdrawn his hand from them.  Over and over again they have cried out from their misery and he has come to their rescue.  He has repeatedly restored them and yearned for them to be his people only to have them fall away again as soon as they were restored.  It’s a repeating pattern  all through history.   

When the Messiah came and  wasn’t received by the Jews, Jehovah took his hand off of them and turned to the church.  But God’s love didn’t give up on the Jews. God interrupted his dealings with the Jewish people to bring them to a place of final purification.  He has gathered them to the land he gave them with the ultimate plan to redeem them for all time.  The nation of Israel today is mostly pagan.  Atheism is the most prevalent religion in modern Israel.  Even those who would call themselves religious are bound up in tradition and liberalism.  There is little spiritual life in Israel today.

But someday soon God is going to bring upon his chosen people the ultimate judgment leading to the ultimate redemption.  He is going to literally bring hell on earth to the Jewish people.  They will groan under the torturous rule of the Antichrist. Some of the Jews will begin to search the scriptures looking for answers to their plight.   

I was on a plane years ago seated between a Jew and a Mormon.  It was an interesting flight. In a conversation with the Jew, he said that he didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah but maybe he was a forerunner of the Messiah.  I told him that I thought that was an interesting theory.  When I asked him how he would recognize the Messiah when he came, he said that he wasn’t much of a scripture reader but he supposed the scriptures had a description of the Messiah.  I opened my bible looking for a verse that I could give him and found Zechariah 12:10:

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced.

I believe that in the time of great trouble that is surely coming, some Jews, some modern day Daniels, will search the scriptures to find an answer to their terrible suffering. They will read verses like this and the Holy Spirit will open their eyes and they will see Jesus.  They will gasp, “It is Jesus! He is the Messiah!”  These modern day Daniels will cry out to Jehovah with a prayer of repentance and acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is waiting for that moment.  He has amassed his army at heaven’s gates and when the Jews cry out to God one more time, he will burst in on this old world and evil will be eradicated in one fell swoop.

When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.

Whatever you can give God, it isn't good enough.

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, 'Here I am, I have come — it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.'" —Ps. 40:6-8

These verses seem a little strange at first. What was wrong with sacrifice and burnt offering? Sacrifice and offerings are things we can give God. What is it that God really wants? God says, “I’m not interested in what you can give me or any sacrifice you can make for me. What I want is to pierce your ear.” What’s up with that? To understand this we have to look to the Jewish law concerning servants or slaves:

"If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year he shall go free without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. But if the servant declares, “I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,” then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life." —Exod. 21:2-6

God doesn’t want your sacrifice, isn’t interested in your good works, and won’t be impressed by your obedience. He isn’t concerned with how often you go to church, how much money you give, or how well you obey the “rules” with your human effort. Frankly, when lined up with God’s holiness, everything you have to offer God is like filthy rags to him. God doesn’t want what you can give him; he wants YOU. He wants to hear the words from Exodus on your lips. “I love my master, I will not go free.” Forget about being acceptable to God because of your work ethic. The age of sacrifice and offerings is over. This is the age of ownership.

God is Doing a New Thing

I'm having more fun than Rocky does when he breaks into the dog food bag. I've been teaching and preaching for 35 years and when I retired from pastoring a year ago I wasn't sure what I would do with God's Word that still burned in my heart and begged to be shared. I wasn't sure if I would have an outlet for that passion. I started writing and publishing books mostly as a way to have a legacy for my grandchildren so that they could read about the spiritual insights that the Lord had been giving me for so many years. I published the books and put them on sale at Amazon.com not really expecting books based on God's Word to be a big seller. I believed that the Bible had fallen into disuse and disrespect in this post modern world. I was wrong! Customers have downloaded almost 40,000 e-books in the last 8 months. In my retirement I am reaching far more souls with God's word than ever before. I have a new book "Psalms, The Sunrise of Hope" that will be released in October. Things are moving fast. I want to build a tribe of like-minded people who love God's Word like I do and want to connect in cyberspace To help each other grow strong in our love of God and his Word. Comment on this post and let me know what you think. God is moving. Comment on this post with your name and e-mail address and we'll take it from there.