Preaching Jesus Christ

Well, we're back in Dallas.  It was a 25 hour drive but we made it!  We've been back here for about three weeks and are waiting for the birth of our forth child. He should be here any day now and then we'll be off to India next month.  It's been a blessing to have this time to seek the Lord in prayer and spend more time in the Word before we head off.  I've been staying in touch with Brother Vali and getting some of the details worked out...  well as much as is possible over the internet and without being there.  Much of what we'll be doing and what it will look like we won't know until we are actually there. But we know that God will lead us and order our steps as we continue to follow Him.  We do know that we'll be focusing on preaching the Gospel to Muslims and going to villages that have no Christian witness.  By this I mean that there are either no Christians or no established local fellowships.  So what does evangelism look like there?  Just like it should anywhere else.  I've witnessed one on one, open air preached, gone door to door...ect.  No one way is the only way to preach the Gospel.  One has to listen to the Lord and be led by the Spirit.  When we preached in South Dallas we primarily did open air preaching followed up by one on one conversations.  When we were in Mexico it seemed like in the area we were in it was very beneficial and fruitful to go door to door preaching.  Many times the best way is all of the above.  It comes down to being led by the Spirit of God, continuing in prayer, and MOST of all knowing that Salvation is of the LORD.  If one does not realize that Salvation is the work of the Lord from Start to Finish they for one are in error and then usually end up being extremely frustrated.  They are in error because they do not understand the nature of Salvation.  And they will be frustrated because they think that somehow THEY must get men who are dead in their sins to believe the Gospel.  There is nothing more frustrating than talking to a totally depraved man (all unconverted men are), who has no desire for God, and trying - in yourself - to get Him to believe the Gospel.. and not realizing the salvation is a supernatural and sovereign work of God.   God is the one who draws men to Himself (John 6:44, John 6:37), He opens their minds to understand the scriptures (Luke 24:27, Acts 16:14), He grants repentance (Eph 2:8, 2 Tim 2:25), and He gives the New Birth (John 3:8, John 1:13) .  It is all God.   Though we preach and labor in prayer we are simply the instruments and means that God uses to accomplish His will in bringing men to repentance and into the kingdom of God.  What a privilege it is that we can lay down our lives for the One who brought us so great a Salvation at such a great cost!  It is our hope and expectation that through the preaching of the Word God will receive the Glory He is due from our lives and from those who hear the Word of God.  We pray and ask that you would join with us in prayer that God's Grace would be glorified and magnified by men and women turning from the Muslim faith being saved, sanctified and justified by the blood of Jesus Christ!

In addition to outdoor street meetings and evangelism we'll be holding pastors meetings to edify and encourage those who are already laboring among the unreached.  We'll also be working together with some of these brethren coming along side them to support them in their work to plant churches in the villages they are preaching in.  We plan on renting a small two bedroom house to live in.  This will be near some of the brethren that we'll be working with.  We'll then travel from the town we live in to preach in the villages.

The fellowship we'll be working with is made up of about 25 believers.  There are a couple brothers there who speak English and will be able to translate for me.  Also exciting is there is a sister in the Lord who speaks English who will be able to translate for Lisa.  She'll be able to hold meetings with the women and exhort and encourage them in the faith.  Lisa will also continue to home schooling our children.  We just purchased the new lessons for the next year and will be taking the material with us. 

A friend of mine was able to help me get a discount on the airline tickets.  There are five, soon to be six, in our family so getting a discount on the airline tickets is great blessing.  We plan on purchasing them after the baby is here.  Lord-willing we're planning on leave sometime towards the end of next month.

We hope that you will continue with us in prayer during this time of preparation. 

Since I have a little more time between now and when we leave I plan on writing a little bit more on the blog..maybe sharing some short exhortations.  As Paul said..what he longed for in Romans 1, that we should desire to be comforted by our mutual faith... so please feel free to leave comments or email anytime. 

I hope you'll listen to this comp below by Leonard Ravenhill.  May it challenge you and cause you to look to Christ.

AGONY

http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?lid=16733

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