Be Good to Him

(Aunt Marty is pictured here, sitting down. My Aunt Linda is standing with her, wearing the red sweater.)

I always loved Aunt Marty very dearly, although my time with her was always limited. We always lived several hours apart, and only saw each other at family gatherings every couple of years. But she was a part of my life. She saw me grow from infancy to manhood, and every memory I have of her is a precious one.

I knew she was a Christian, and that she loved the Lord; but because I never had much time to spend with her, I never knew the depth of Godly wisdom that she possessed. But I saw a display of that wisdom on February 7 of this year. It was the last time I would ever see her in this world.

We were in her home town, Columbia, South Carolina, for a meeting on deputation. Had she not been in such poor health, she would have come to hear me preach that Sunday. She so badly wanted to see my children, Elisabeth and Judson. So, after church, we stopped by for a quick visit. She was struggling that day- it was everything she could do to sit up in her chair. But she was elated to see the children. After a few minutes, it became obvious that we needed to leave so she could rest. She kissed the children goodbye, and I helped my wife take them out and put them in their car seats.

"I'm gonna come back in and have a quick word of prayer with you, Aunt Marty," I said as I walked out of the room with one of the children in my arm.

My wife stayed in the van with the kids, and I walked back in the house, not knowing that this would be my last visit with Aunt Marty- and not knowing that she was about to say something that would impact my life.

As I entered the room, she was doing something I had never seen her do- she was crying. She knew her time on this earth was short. I sat beside her and prayed with her, holding her hand. After I said "amen", she gripped my hand as firmly as she could.

"You have such a beautiful family, Chad," she said.

"I know, Aunt Marty. God has been good to me."

The next four words she spoke will stay with me as long as I live.

"Be good to Him."

O, that I could live my life for the sole purpose of being good to Him! What power is in those four words! When I reflect on my short life, so many days have been spent doing the opposite of being good to Him. Those days are the darkest of my life. The best days have been those in which I have endeavored to put a smile on His face. O, that I would heed Aunt Marty's advice every moment of every day! May I live my life to that end.

(Repost) What is Success in Soul Winning?

I recently heard a preacher give an account of over 300,000 people being saved in India in one ministry in one year. I must confess, I was a little bit skeptical when I heard that report, but I hoped that my skepticism was wrong. The next morning I went soul winning with this preacher, and I quickly learned that my skepticism was justified.

At our first door, we woke up a young man in his mid-20's. I typically try to be considerate of people, since I am an uninvited guest at their doorstep- especially when I have woken them up! But this preacher was not feeling very considerate that morning.

"Well, we have woken you up this morning!" he said.

"Yes- I worked late last night," replied the young man.

"Well, give me two minutes to show you how you can go to Heaven when you die- you want to know that, don't you?"

"Umm, sure, yeah..." the young man hesitantly replied.

The preacher gave a quick overview of the Gospel, and what happened next blew my mind. Without asking the young man if he understood what had been presented, and without asking him if he would like to receive Christ, the preacher jumped right into, "Bow your head and close your eyes if you would." (I thought, "Well, I guess he is going to pray and ask God to give him understanding.) Then the preacher said, "Repeat after me: I know I'm a sinner...I know I deserve hell...Jesus, come into my heart and save me so I can go to Heaven. Amen."

I must confess, I peeked at the situation while the prayer was taking place. The young man's face was a face of unconcern, and it was obvious that he was just doing this to be polite.

The preacher began giving me tips for soul winning after we left the door: Never ask them if they are 100% sure that they will go to Heaven- if you do that, they have an opportunity to say "no." Always say, "You want to go to Heaven, now don't you?" They have no other choice but to say yes.

The next night, he used his soul winning experience as a sermon illustration. "That young man was SAVED!!!" he shouted while pounding the pulpit. Many amens followed. I sat disgusted, because I do not believe that he was saved. Why? Because a couple of necessary components of salvation were missing; namely the conviction of the Holy Spirit and true repentance.

If the 300,000 Indians were saved in the same manner as that young man, I'm afraid for their souls. Many fundamentalists have reduced salvation to saying yes to a couple of questions and praying a little prayer. I believe they do this so that they can claim to be successful soul winners. But what is true success in soul winning?

I find it interesting that some pastors will use Adoniram Judson as a sermon illustration, praising his life and ministry in Burma; and yet, had those pastors lived in Adoniram Judson's day and had they been one of his supporters, they would have dropped him like a bad habit, because Adoniram Judson did not see his first convert until his seventh year in Burma.

I believe that success in soul winning comes in several forms. Sometimes success is simply sowing the seed. Sometimes it is watering the seed. Sometimes it is reaping the fruit, and having the privilege of leading someone to Christ. Ultimately, we are not the soul winners; the Holy Spirit is.

Where we're going...

The next few weeks have us going all over the place, praise God. What a blessing to see much of the United States before we leave for four years.

Providence Baptist- Augusta, GA

Colonial Baptist- Rogers, AR

New Life Baptist- Dalton, GA

Harbor Baptist- Charlotte, NC

Gospel Light Baptist- Rogers, AR

Faith Baptist- Fairless Hills, PA

Layton Chapel Baptist- Spring Lake, NC

Promised Land Baptist- Gastonia, NC

Cornerstone Baptist- Richmond, KY

Eastside Baptist- Greeneville, TN

Gap Greek Baptist- Monticello, KY

49th Street Baptist- Anniston, AL

Bible Baptist- Gainesville, GA

Faith Baptist- Pikeville, TN

We praise the Lord for opening these doors for us. Please pray for safety and a closer walk with the Lord as we travel.

The Consecrated Lives of Jeff Jupp and William Borden

The word "consecrate" literally means "to place into the hand." When a person consecrates his life to the Lord, he is placing his life in God's hands. I want to describe how God used this word "consecrate" to direct my family to Cambodia.

Bro. Jeff Jupp came to Lancaster Baptist Church during my sophomore year at West Coast Baptist College to present his ministry at the missions conference. The presentation dealt with a little, obscure country in Southeast Asia that I had never even heard of- the country of Cambodia. Bro. Jupp's zeal and passion, along with his stirring presentation, made a profound impact on me. Weeks went by, and I could not stop thinking about Cambodia. Bro. Jupp's son, John, was one of my classmates in college, and was a casual friend at the time. I approached John one day and told him of the profound influence his father had had on my life, and asked him if his father would be interested in my going to Cambodia on a missions trip and working along side him for a few weeks. John's response was, "Absolutely! My dad actually wants someone from the college to come and help him. Just write him a letter and let him know what is on your heart."

Thrilled at the possibility of going to Cambodia, I wrote Bro. Jupp a letter introducing myself and offering to spend a few weeks with him in Cambodia when he arrived. However, Bro. Jupp never read that letter, because just a few days after the writing of that letter, the Lord saw it fit to take Bro. Jupp and his ten year old son home. They were traveling on deputation in Arkansas when they were involved in the fatal wreck. In one day, my friend John lost his father and his ten year old brother. My heart was broken for him, and questions began arising in my heart. "Why, God? Bro. Jupp was going to do a great work for You! What is the purpose in this?" For months I asked this question; and for months I wondered why God had burdened my heart for the Cambodian people, and then taken the very man whose testimony was used to burden my heart in the first place. Little did I know that Romans 8:28 was about to become very real to me.

About six months after the home-going of Bro. Jupp, I attended the Spiritual Leadership Conference in Lancaster, CA, under the leadership of Pastor Paul Chappell. Pastor R.B. Oulette preached the closing sermon, and he preached on the topic of consecration. His final two illustrations that he used to close the sermon were the lives of Bro. Jeff Jupp, one of his good friends, and William Borden. I had never heard of William Borden until that night; and God would use the testimonies of both of these men to profoundly impact my life.

William Borden graduated from high school in 1904 at the age of sixteen. His parents were the owners of the Borden Dairy Company, and William was to be the successor of the family business. For his graduation gift, his parents sent him on a trip around the world: he visited various parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. While on this trip, William, already a devoted Christian, felt God was leading him to be a missionary to the foreign field. He felt a special burden for the Muslim Kansu people of China.

He attended Yale University, and during his time there he was used of God to spark the fires of revival amongst the student body. He had the testimony of a young man of God with wisdom and spiritual maturity beyond his years. After doing graduate work at Princeton, he went to Egypt to study Arabic in preparation for the Muslims in China.

While in Egypt, at the age of twenty-five, he contracted spinal meningitis. Before he ever planted a church, before he every translated a piece of Scripture, before he ever discipled a new convert, he died at the young age of twenty-five.

As I listened to the story of that young man's life, I still asked myself, "Why? Why Bro. Jupp? Why William Borden? Why did they die, when they were going to do so much?" The answer came at the end of Bro. Oulette's telling of the story.

After William Borden's death, his Bible was found. In the front cover, these three phrases were found: "No reserves. No return. No regrets." At Borden's funeral, twelve other men surrendered to take his place on the mission field.

When I heard that William Borden's death was instrumental in the calling of twelve other men, I realized that those twelve men might have never gone had it not been for the life and death of William Borden. Immediately my mind went to Bro. Jupp and his son. I knew that Bro. Jupp did not die by accident. There was a purpose. And I knew in my heart that at least a small part of that purpose involved me. That night, I consecrated my life to the Lord, and surrendered to go to Cambodia. That was nearly five years ago, and I am just as stirred today as I was that night. Praise be to God.

Perfect Love

1 John 4:17 is a verse that God has greatly used in my life over the past few years. "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world." I have read this verse hundreds of times, but it was not until a couple of weeks ago that the Holy Spirit revealed the meaning of the phrase, "Herein is our love made perfect..."

The key is in verse 16: "...he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." God dwells in the believer through the Holy Spirit. According to Galatians 5:22, the first attribute of the fruit of the spirit is love. Now, I believe that we, in and of ourselves, are capable of a degree of love without the filling of the Holy Spirit. Even an unsaved person can love to a degree. But this list of attributes in Galatians 5:22 is only available to the Christian who is filled with the Spirit. But if we are capable of loving without the Holy Spirit, then why is love listed as an attribute that only comes from the Holy Spirit? I believe the answer lies within the fact that there is a degree of love that can only come from the Spirit of God. While we may be able to love to a limited degree, it is the filling of the Holy Spirit that allows us to love beyond those limits, thus giving us perfect love. While we may be able to love our family, it is the filling of the Holy Spirit that allows us to love our enemies.

Romans 5:5 supports this thought. "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." It is amazing that when we are filled with the Spirit, we have access to the same love that God had when He sent His only begotten Son to the cross.

It was this perfect love that allowed Elisabeth Elliot (whom we named out daughter after) to return to the very men that slaughtered her husband and lead them to Christ. And it is this perfect love that we need each moment of each day.

What is Driving Our Deputation?

I have been restless in my spirit because of a nagging question that continues to haunt my heart. It is the same question that haunted the mind and heart of Adoniram Judson, the first American missionary to the foreign mission field. The only difference is that this question did not hit him until he had been in Burma for over a decade- the question has hit me before I have even boarded the plane to head to Cambodia.

Here is the question: "What is the motivation behind my desire to be successful?" Or, more precisely for me, and possibly for other missionaries on the deputation trail, "What is the motivation behind my desire to have a successful deputation?" Sadly, as I take an objective look at my own heart, I must say that my motives are not always pure. There are days when I am driven by the thought of my own personal success. "I have scheduled three meetings today- now I can rest well tonight because I have succeeded."

"Another church took us on for support- man, I am really getting the job done!"

Now, we missionaries would all like to think that we are always motivated by the fact that the people to whom God has called us are waiting on us, and we must hasten to get to our respective fields; and that is good. I still don't know if that is the best motivation either.

I believe the motivation that we should all pray to have as we endeavor to finish our deputation and get to the people to whom God has called us is a heart that is earnestly seeking God's approval, and a heart that is consumed with being yielded to Him.

Here is a tough question. If I schedule ten meetings in one day, but I was so busy doing so that I did not obey the voice of the Holy Spirit when He was clearly leading me to stop and pray for a specific person, was I really a true success that day? Or, if my motivation in scheduling the meetings was to satisfy some egotistical hunger for personal success, was I really a true success?

I like what Paul Chappell wrote in his book, The Spiritual Leader: "Spiritual leaders (missionaries) practice the moment-by-moment presence of God and live constantly with a sense that every moment belongs to God. As God's ambassador, I am on His mission in even the smallest of details and circumstances, and I must listen to His guidance and obey His direction in the minutia of life as well as the big picture."

Here it is in a nutshell. Getting to the mission field is the big picture. Obviously, we would say that God is the One Who motivated us to go to our respective fields. But here is the kicker. Scheduling meetings, going to meetings, mailing out packets, teaching Sunday school classes, staying with church families- all the details of deputation- are the "minutia of life." Can we truly say with a pure heart that we are doing all of this for His ultimate glory? Or are we driven by our lust for success. You know, that little voice in the back of your mind that says, "Wow, they are going to be impressed! You finished up deputation in record time!" May we stay close to the Lord, and earnestly live every day with the thought that we are only successful when we are right in our hearts with the Lord; and pride will not allow that to take place.

God's Economy

A couple of people have commented to me about the discouraging fact that "this is a horrible time for a missionary to start deputation." On the contrary, I can't think of a better time; because right now, I am not trusting in the affluence of the churches, but in the supernatural provision of God.

I have been amazed at several of the churches we have been in while on deputation during this recession. On more than one occasion, churches that have had several of their men lose jobs increased their faith promise commitments by substantial amounts. One church in South Carolina- a church of about 300- jumped from committing $130,000.00 per year to over $200,000.00 this year! "Well, they are probably a very wealthy church to do that," one might say. But this church is feeling the brunt of the economic downturn as much as any. But praise the Lord, the Holy Spirit worked during the missions conference, and the people responded in faith. I believe, according to Philippians 4, that this church is going to be just fine during this economic crisis. Why? Because they are functioning according to God's economy, not our governments economy.

Over these first two months of deputation, God has given us over 20% of our support. He has provided for our every need. He has allowed us to be in some of the best-spirited missions conferences I have every had the privilege of being in.

I have been so encouraged by the faith of God's people. I pray that churches all over America will see this economic downturn as an opportunity to see God keep His promises. We have stepped out by faith to begin deputation at this time, and to go to Cambodia with the Gospel. I pray that pastors and Christians all over America will step out by faith as well, and not take a step backwards in the area of missions, but a step of faith forward. May we learn to function according to God's economy. The number one requirement to succeed in God's economy is faith.