Paris Reidhead
The philosophy of the day became humanism and you can define humanism this way: Humanism is a philosophical statement that declares the end of all being is the happiness of man. The reason for existence is man's happiness. Now according to humanism salvation is simply a matter of getting all the happiness you can
out of life. This group of my people the fundamentalists that say:
"We believe in the inspiration of the Bible"
"We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ"
"We believe in hell, we believe in Heaven"
"We believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ"
And remember the atmosphere is that of humanism. Humanism says the chief end of being is the happiness of man. And so it wasn't long until we had this, the
fundamentalists knew each other because they said 'We believe these things.' They were men for the most part that had met God. But you see it wasn't long until having said 'these are the things that establish us as fundamentalists', the second generation said, "This is how we become a fundamentalist;"
"Believe in the inspiration of the Bible."
"Believe in the deity of Christ."
"Believe in His death, burial, and resurrection."
And thereby become a fundamentalist. And so it wasn't long until it got to our generation where the whole plan of salvation was to give intellectual assent to a few statements of doctrine. And a person was considered a Christian because he could say 'Uh huh' at 4 or 5 places that he was asked to and if he knew where to say 'Uh huh' someone would pat him on the back, shake his hand, smile broadly and say:
"Brother, you're saved." And so it had gotten down to the place where salvation was nothing more than an assent to a scheme or a formula. And the end of this salvation was the happiness of man because humanism has penetrated. And so if you were to analyze the fundamentalism in contrast to liberalism of a hundred years ago, as it developed, it’d be like this: The liberal says the end of religion is to make man happy while he's alive. And the fundamentalist says the end of religion is to make man happy when he dies.
Until we find something like this;
"Accept Jesus so you can go to Heaven, you don't want to go to that old, filthy, nasty, burning hell when there's a beautiful Heaven up there. Now come to Jesus so that you can go to Heaven." And the appeal could be as much to selfishness as a couple of men sitting in a coffee shop deciding they are going to rob a bank to get something for nothing. It becomes so subtle ... it goes everywhere. What is it?
In essence it is this: that this philosophical postulate that the end of all being is the happiness of man has been sort of, covered over with evangelical terms and Biblical doctrine until God reigns in Heaven for the happiness of man, Jesus Christ was incarnate for the happiness of man, all the Angels exist in the... Everything is for the happiness of man! And I submit to you that this is un-Christian!
Christianity says... "The end of all being is the glory of God."
Humanism says, "The end of all being is the happiness of man." This is the betrayal of the ages!! And it's the betrayal in which we live and I don't see how God can revive it! Until we come back to Christianity. Isn't man happy? And God intends to make you happy. But as a by-product and not a prime product. Now I ask you, what is the philosophy of mission? What is the philosophy of evangelism? What is the philosophy of a Christian? If you’ll ask me why I went to Africa, I’ll tell you I went primarily, to improve on the justice of God. I didn’t think it was right for anybody to go to hell without a chance to be saved. And so I went to give poor sinners a chance to go to Heaven. Now, I hadn’t put it in so many words. But if you’ll analyze what I just told you, do you know what it is? It’s humanism. But I was simply using the provisions of Jesus Christ as a means to improve upon human conditions of suffering and misery. And when I got to Africa, I discovered that they weren’t poor, ignorant, little heathen running around in the woods,
waiting for, looking for someone to tell them how to go to Heaven. That they were monsters of iniquity. They were living in utter and total defiance, of far more knowledge of God than I ever dreamed they had. They deserved hell
because they utterly refused to walk in the light of their conscience and the light of the law written upon their heart and the testimony of nature and the truth they knew. And when I found that out, I assure you, I was so angry with God that one occasion in prayer, I told him that it was a mighty, little thing He’d done, sending me out there to reach these people that were waiting to be told how to go
to Heaven and when I got there I found out they knew about Heaven, didn’t wanna go there. And they (were) loved their sin and wanted to stay in it.
I went out there motivated by humanism. I’d seen pictures of lepers. I’d seen pictures of ulcers. I’d see ``pictures of native funerals. And I didn’t want my fellow human beings to suffer in hell eternally, after such a miserable
existence on earth. But it was there in Africa that God began to tear through the overlay of this humanism. And it was that day in my bedroom, with the door locked, that I wrestled with God. For here was... I was coming to grips with the fact that the people I thought were ignorant and wanted to know how to go to Heaven, and were saying “someone come and teach us” actually didn’t wanna take time to talk with me or anybody else. They had no interest in the bible and no interest in Christ. And they loved their sin and wanted to continue in it. And I was to the place at that time where I felt the whole thing was a sham and a mockery and I’d been sold a bill of goods. And I wanted to come home.And there alone in my bedroom as I faced God honestly with what my heart felt, it seemed to me I heard Him say, “Yes, will not the Judge of all the earth do right? The heathen are lost and they’re going to go to hell not because they haven’t heard the gospel. They’re going to go to hell because they are sinners who loved... their ..sin.. and because they deserved hell. But, I didn’t send you out there for them, I didn't send you out there for their sakes." And I heard as clearly as I’ve ever heard though it wasn’t with physical voice but it was the echo of truth of the ages finding its way into an open heart. I heard God say to my heart that day something like this: “I didn’t send you to Africa for the sake of the heathen. I sent you to Africa for My sake. They deserved hell but I love them and I endured the agonies of hell for them. I didn’t send you out there for them. I sent you out there for Me. Do I not deserve the reward of My suffering? Don't I deserve those for whom I died?” And it reversed it all. It changed it all and righted it all. And I wasn't any longer working for my cup and ten shekels and a shirt but I was serving the living God.
________________________________________
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
The Haystack Revival
It was 1806 and divine circumstances were about to reveal to the world its new unlikely heroes. Samuel J. Mills, James Richards, Francis L. Robbins, Harvey Loomis, and Byram Green were about to decide their destiny. These five students at Williams College in Massachusetts found themselves in a time when revival and awakening were sweeping across America and this small college town. There were many prayer meetings being maintained by students. One, to which these five men belonged, met in Sloan’s meadow north of the college. On a hot Saturday afternoon in August these five left to pray and discuss William Carey’s small booklet, An Inquiry into the Obligation of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen. It was a controversial book that laid on all believers the weight of responsibility of world missions. There were threatening clouds in the distance, but the group met faithfully despite the thunderstorm that was approaching.
As they discussed world missions and specifically the needs in China, their attention was focused so intently on their responsibility to the unreached that they failed to notice the speed with which storm had approached. The young men were too far away to run for adequate shelter and were soon trapped by the angry thunder clouds. Within minutes the sound of the thunder was deafening and the pouring rain and strikes of lightening drove the students to scramble for the first shelter available - a haystack. Even as the storm rolled over the five continued their building discussion. Beneath the cover of the haystack, Samuel Mills, the leader of the group, continued to insist that the gospel must be taken to the lost in Asia.
All were inspired to act by Mills’ passion except for Loomis, who argued that it was too dangerous in China. “We must wait until they are civilized,” he maintained. Samuel suggested that they make it an issue of prayer, and they began to pray over the wail of the storm. All prayed except for Loomis. Mills, remembering the objections of Loomis, prayed, “O God, strike down the arm, with red artillery of heaven, that shall be raised against a herald of the cross.”
Finally after singing a hymn, Mills looked at the others, and over the roar of the drenching rain, and with flashes of lightening reflecting in his eyes, cried out, “We can do this, if we will!” Something broke loose in that moment within the hearts of all five. All pointed back to that moment as the one that changed them forever. The five later consecrated themselves to full devotion to the Great Commission and taking the gospel to all the nations. They felt that it was the job of the American church to send its own missionaries and proposed to the General Association of Massachusetts that the first American missions agency be created, later given the name “The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions” in 1810. Adoniram Judson was among the first five men that the American Board sent to Calcutta, India. Mills went on to inspire the creation of several other mission agencies and works such as The United Foreign Missionary Society, the American Baptist Missionary Union, and the American Bible Society.
This Haystack Prayer Movement became known all over the surrounding area, especially among college students. Samuel had began a group in 1808 called the Society of Brethren, which bound its members together by the single-minded purpose of giving themselves to extend the gospel around the world. Several missions societies began to spring up on campuses all across the U.S. in the footsteps of Mills.
Years later, several women purchased with one gold dollar, the spot of land which Bryam Green identified as the location of the haystack that day. Today the Haystack Prayer Monument stands at Williams college as a reminder of what God did, not only in the lives of the five, but also in the life of Luther Wishard 80 years later. Luther, inspired by the Haystack Prayer Movement, initiated the mobilization of 100,000 college students through the Student Volunteer Movement. That moment in 1806 under the haystack was the spark for the greatest missionary movement that the world has ever seen.
They were ordinary young men - college students. Life forced them to search out their life purpose, maybe before it was too late; before the world had a chance to steal away their passion and talents into other great endeavors; before the roots of careers, and comfort grew too deeply into the American dream. These five had no idea that all of history was watching that day and what weight of responsibility lay on them. God uses moments like this, not to test our hearts, but to reveal them. He is unveiling to us what holds our true loyalty. Neil McClendon says, “Life’s interruptions are God’s invitations.” Heroes like this are made, not born. Let us press on to know Him deeply and know His heart so that in times of testing and interruption it might be revealed that our heart has been replaced with His. Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. Out of the deepening of our passion for His renown and glory will come an overflow: our lives heralding a message to the world, “We can do this, if we will!”
As they discussed world missions and specifically the needs in China, their attention was focused so intently on their responsibility to the unreached that they failed to notice the speed with which storm had approached. The young men were too far away to run for adequate shelter and were soon trapped by the angry thunder clouds. Within minutes the sound of the thunder was deafening and the pouring rain and strikes of lightening drove the students to scramble for the first shelter available - a haystack. Even as the storm rolled over the five continued their building discussion. Beneath the cover of the haystack, Samuel Mills, the leader of the group, continued to insist that the gospel must be taken to the lost in Asia.
All were inspired to act by Mills’ passion except for Loomis, who argued that it was too dangerous in China. “We must wait until they are civilized,” he maintained. Samuel suggested that they make it an issue of prayer, and they began to pray over the wail of the storm. All prayed except for Loomis. Mills, remembering the objections of Loomis, prayed, “O God, strike down the arm, with red artillery of heaven, that shall be raised against a herald of the cross.”
Finally after singing a hymn, Mills looked at the others, and over the roar of the drenching rain, and with flashes of lightening reflecting in his eyes, cried out, “We can do this, if we will!” Something broke loose in that moment within the hearts of all five. All pointed back to that moment as the one that changed them forever. The five later consecrated themselves to full devotion to the Great Commission and taking the gospel to all the nations. They felt that it was the job of the American church to send its own missionaries and proposed to the General Association of Massachusetts that the first American missions agency be created, later given the name “The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions” in 1810. Adoniram Judson was among the first five men that the American Board sent to Calcutta, India. Mills went on to inspire the creation of several other mission agencies and works such as The United Foreign Missionary Society, the American Baptist Missionary Union, and the American Bible Society.
This Haystack Prayer Movement became known all over the surrounding area, especially among college students. Samuel had began a group in 1808 called the Society of Brethren, which bound its members together by the single-minded purpose of giving themselves to extend the gospel around the world. Several missions societies began to spring up on campuses all across the U.S. in the footsteps of Mills.
Years later, several women purchased with one gold dollar, the spot of land which Bryam Green identified as the location of the haystack that day. Today the Haystack Prayer Monument stands at Williams college as a reminder of what God did, not only in the lives of the five, but also in the life of Luther Wishard 80 years later. Luther, inspired by the Haystack Prayer Movement, initiated the mobilization of 100,000 college students through the Student Volunteer Movement. That moment in 1806 under the haystack was the spark for the greatest missionary movement that the world has ever seen.
They were ordinary young men - college students. Life forced them to search out their life purpose, maybe before it was too late; before the world had a chance to steal away their passion and talents into other great endeavors; before the roots of careers, and comfort grew too deeply into the American dream. These five had no idea that all of history was watching that day and what weight of responsibility lay on them. God uses moments like this, not to test our hearts, but to reveal them. He is unveiling to us what holds our true loyalty. Neil McClendon says, “Life’s interruptions are God’s invitations.” Heroes like this are made, not born. Let us press on to know Him deeply and know His heart so that in times of testing and interruption it might be revealed that our heart has been replaced with His. Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. Out of the deepening of our passion for His renown and glory will come an overflow: our lives heralding a message to the world, “We can do this, if we will!”
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Evil in the World
Why is there evil in the world?
The terrorized and troubled world exists to make a place for Jesus Christ, the Son of God to suffer and die for our sins. The reason there is terror in the world, is so that Christ could be terrorized. The reason there is trouble in the world, is so that Christ could be troubled. The reason there is pain in the universe, is so that Christ could feel pain. This is the world that God prepared for the suffering and death of His Son. This is the world, that the best display of Divine love could happen.
-John Piper
Romans 5:8
But God shows his love towards us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Two Dead, Two Wounded, After Gunman Opens Fire Inside Colorado Christian Missionary Center
The manhunt for a gunman who killed two people and wounded two others when he opened fire inside a Christian missionary training facility near Denver dragged on Sunday, as police appealed to the public for help catching a killer on the loose. The shooter entered a dormitory on the campus of Faith Bible Church, a Youth With a Mission training facility for Christian missionaries, in Arvada, Colo., a Denver suburb, at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday and shot four people, killing two of them, before fleeing on foot. The gunman, described by witnesses as a white male in his twenties wearing a dark skull cap and jacket, who may also have had a beard and eye glasses, remained at large, Arvada Police spokeswoman Susan Medina told Fox News.
Authorities used reverse 911 early Sunday to warn residents that an armed and dangerous gunman was on the loose and to lock their doors and windows and stay inside. Police were also asking residents to report any sightings of fresh footprints or disturbances in the snow. About four inches of snow had fallen overnight, and authorities were hoping tracks left in the snow would lead them to the shooter, Medina said.
The four victims were all YWAM staff members, Peter Warren, director of Youth With a Mission Denver, told KUSA-TV. YWAM identified the victims who have died as Tiffany Johnson, 22, of Minnesota and Peter Krause of Alaska. The third victim, a male in his 20s, sustained a bullet wound to the neck and was in critical condition; the fourth victim, also a male in his 20s, suffered gun shot wounds to his legs and was in stable condition. Both were being treated at area hospitals. According to YWAM's Web site, the victims' families had been notified.
Warren said the group was just finishing a Christmas banquet when the shooter entered the facility and asked staffer Tiffany Johnson if he could be housed for the evening. When Johnson told the man that they could not provide him with a place to stay, he opened fire, Warren said.
Warren said he did not think the victims knew the gunman, but that the campus was open to the public for worship services.
A search of the area, both by canine and patrol officer units, had failed to locate the suspect, Medina said. Medina said the search area was quite large, a mix of residences and businesses.
About 50 people were inside the center at the time of the shooting, Medina said. The 45 people remaining at the center were moved to an off-site facility for questioning.
"There's no blueprint for this, we're just going to be honest and pray for one another, cry with one another," Warren told KUSA-TV. "Who knows what was going on in this young man's life," he said.
Mimi Martin, who lives near the center, said she received the warning call at about 9 a.m. warning neighbors to keep their doors and windows locked.
"Why would anybody want to hurt those kids?" Martin said. "I just pray for their families."
People bundled up against freezing cold arrived for Sunday services at the sanctuary, about 300 yards from the dormitory.
Darv Smith, director of a Youth With a Mission center in Boulder, said people ranging from their late teens to their 70s undergo a 12-week discipleship course that prepares them to be missionaries.
He said the center trains about 300 people a year. Youth With a Mission was started in 1960 and now has 1,100 locations with 16,000 full-time staff, Smith said. The Arvada center was founded in 1984.
Praise God He is in control. I can read this and just rejoice and fall to my knees in worship, because of the fact that our Father is still on the throne, and that God had in view, His Son, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Why? For us. In all the horror, pain, terror, and lost in this world, Christ died for it. In a time as now, with the fear of terrorism, suicide, and all wickedness and evil that may come to pass, our treasure, our hope is in Christ. Nothing can separate us from the love of His who died. Christs passion, His duty was to die. To redeem His people, from a world as this. In all trials, Christ is all. He Himself, paid for it. God has a plan, and in that plan, His Son died. God, in that plan has allowed such things as terrorism, pain, trouble, so His Son could pervail over all the evil that this world holds. God has not let the reigns of humanity slip from His hands. His sovereignty is still reigning. His love, power, and holiness is still in charge. In times as this, God will be glorified. In life or by death, His glory will fill the earth and will scream from all creation, and in this....we can say thank you. Thank you Father for your grace and mercy that you have shown to poor sinners as us. In this very fact of His glory being the foundation of our lives as believers should push us to love Him more. His glory is being revealed from His creation, His grace, and even His glory is being set forth by the death of His only begotten Son.
Please pray for the families. Please pray for the man who fired the shots. Please pray that God will be glorifed and His Son will be honored.
The terrorized and troubled world exists to make a place for Jesus Christ, the Son of God to suffer and die for our sins. The reason there is terror in the world, is so that Christ could be terrorized. The reason there is trouble in the world, is so that Christ could be troubled. The reason there is pain in the universe, is so that Christ could feel pain. This is the world that God prepared for the suffering and death of His Son. This is the world, that the best display of Divine love could happen.
-John Piper
Romans 5:8
But God shows his love towards us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Two Dead, Two Wounded, After Gunman Opens Fire Inside Colorado Christian Missionary Center
Sunday, December 09, 2007
The manhunt for a gunman who killed two people and wounded two others when he opened fire inside a Christian missionary training facility near Denver dragged on Sunday, as police appealed to the public for help catching a killer on the loose. The shooter entered a dormitory on the campus of Faith Bible Church, a Youth With a Mission training facility for Christian missionaries, in Arvada, Colo., a Denver suburb, at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday and shot four people, killing two of them, before fleeing on foot. The gunman, described by witnesses as a white male in his twenties wearing a dark skull cap and jacket, who may also have had a beard and eye glasses, remained at large, Arvada Police spokeswoman Susan Medina told Fox News.
Authorities used reverse 911 early Sunday to warn residents that an armed and dangerous gunman was on the loose and to lock their doors and windows and stay inside. Police were also asking residents to report any sightings of fresh footprints or disturbances in the snow. About four inches of snow had fallen overnight, and authorities were hoping tracks left in the snow would lead them to the shooter, Medina said.
The four victims were all YWAM staff members, Peter Warren, director of Youth With a Mission Denver, told KUSA-TV. YWAM identified the victims who have died as Tiffany Johnson, 22, of Minnesota and Peter Krause of Alaska. The third victim, a male in his 20s, sustained a bullet wound to the neck and was in critical condition; the fourth victim, also a male in his 20s, suffered gun shot wounds to his legs and was in stable condition. Both were being treated at area hospitals. According to YWAM's Web site, the victims' families had been notified.
Warren said the group was just finishing a Christmas banquet when the shooter entered the facility and asked staffer Tiffany Johnson if he could be housed for the evening. When Johnson told the man that they could not provide him with a place to stay, he opened fire, Warren said.
Warren said he did not think the victims knew the gunman, but that the campus was open to the public for worship services.
A search of the area, both by canine and patrol officer units, had failed to locate the suspect, Medina said. Medina said the search area was quite large, a mix of residences and businesses.
About 50 people were inside the center at the time of the shooting, Medina said. The 45 people remaining at the center were moved to an off-site facility for questioning.
"There's no blueprint for this, we're just going to be honest and pray for one another, cry with one another," Warren told KUSA-TV. "Who knows what was going on in this young man's life," he said.
Mimi Martin, who lives near the center, said she received the warning call at about 9 a.m. warning neighbors to keep their doors and windows locked.
"Why would anybody want to hurt those kids?" Martin said. "I just pray for their families."
People bundled up against freezing cold arrived for Sunday services at the sanctuary, about 300 yards from the dormitory.
Darv Smith, director of a Youth With a Mission center in Boulder, said people ranging from their late teens to their 70s undergo a 12-week discipleship course that prepares them to be missionaries.
He said the center trains about 300 people a year. Youth With a Mission was started in 1960 and now has 1,100 locations with 16,000 full-time staff, Smith said. The Arvada center was founded in 1984.
Praise God He is in control. I can read this and just rejoice and fall to my knees in worship, because of the fact that our Father is still on the throne, and that God had in view, His Son, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Why? For us. In all the horror, pain, terror, and lost in this world, Christ died for it. In a time as now, with the fear of terrorism, suicide, and all wickedness and evil that may come to pass, our treasure, our hope is in Christ. Nothing can separate us from the love of His who died. Christs passion, His duty was to die. To redeem His people, from a world as this. In all trials, Christ is all. He Himself, paid for it. God has a plan, and in that plan, His Son died. God, in that plan has allowed such things as terrorism, pain, trouble, so His Son could pervail over all the evil that this world holds. God has not let the reigns of humanity slip from His hands. His sovereignty is still reigning. His love, power, and holiness is still in charge. In times as this, God will be glorified. In life or by death, His glory will fill the earth and will scream from all creation, and in this....we can say thank you. Thank you Father for your grace and mercy that you have shown to poor sinners as us. In this very fact of His glory being the foundation of our lives as believers should push us to love Him more. His glory is being revealed from His creation, His grace, and even His glory is being set forth by the death of His only begotten Son.
Please pray for the families. Please pray for the man who fired the shots. Please pray that God will be glorifed and His Son will be honored.
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