The “Calling” Into Missionary Service, Pt.2

Salt is good, but if salt has lost its savor wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out…

An unsurrendered Christian is like salt without any savor, and as crude as it sounds it isn’t even fit for the dunghill. (Look that word up in the dictionary!)  I myself at my best day am no more than an unprofitable servant, and as such I have no authority to speak for the Lord outside from what my Lord said already. He said salt that has no savor isn’t even fit for the dunghill, but men cast it out.  When the Lord found me, I was not fit for the dunghill, and even to this day my efforts will never amount to any profit for the Lord.  Sure enough the when we surrender to His will, and respond with obedience we will have the savor He gives us the savor to season the world around us.  If we have no savor, no surrender then there will be no potency in our faith only to be cast out in the refuse.  What use is a flashlight that doesn’t work, especially in a dark hour in the time of need?  Even so is the “Christian” who does not pursue Christ, and is powerless to serve the Saviour.

Surrendering to Christ and dying to self  is more than just a slogan or an abstract philosophy to live by.  But there are tangible decisions to be made in order to make living for Christ possible.  The first decision is to love Jesus more than your family, even yourself.  We invest into the things and people we love, whether it seeing to their care financially, emotionally, or physically.  If we are going to be surrendered, savory Christians, then we must willingly place Jesus as the number one priority of our love and affection. The first action of our pursuit in Christ is to love the One whom died for us.  Doing this plunges our hearts further into true discipleship and God’s plan for reaching the world with the gospel.

If surrender to Jesus seems hard for you then meditate on these two verses and their implications.  Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”  It would be excellent advice to read the whole chapter of Matthew 6, however these two verse highlight the majority of objections men hold when coming to Christ.  Of a truth, our hearts follow ourtreasure, but our treasure will never follow our hearts. Only if Christ were our treasure then surrendering to Him would be made simpler, but instead many of us come to ChristI with the baggeland treasure of the world.  What then shall we do?  We should do as Moses did, whom saw “in Christ greater riches than all the treasure do Egypt.”. If there was ere a man whom could live the life ocomfort to the fullest it would be Moses whom grew up in the lap of Egyptian royalty and luxury.  But Moses had his eyes on Christ, and there he believed with the eyes of His heart that there is more to obtain in pursing Jesus than all the treasures Egypt or the known world had to offer. Depo you believe this? Do you desire this life of pursuing Christ?  Then when next you come to Jesus, bring your baggage and treasures with you and leave them at the feet of Jesus.  I’m not trying to sound religious here, I literally mean to grab those things which you have invested in, cars, houses, boats, Direct TV, cell phones, Internet, games, or any other luxury imaginable and trade it in for it’s face value s that you may give it willingly to Christ. A willing gift is key, if giving money or anything else to missions can’t be done willfully, then the gift is in vain and reward forfeit. “Exodus 25:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.” It’s often we find these worldly things to command our hearts rather us commanding worldly things for the furtherance of the Gospel.

A willing gift is necessary, not a gift motivated by guilt, or by religious rules like many cults of this world thrive on, but by the love of Christ which constrains us. “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” for the one who may be offended at Christ and these sayings may remain unsurrendered and unsavory Christian, but for one whom will love his Lord will find their surrender to be an opportunity to pursue Christ and His greater riches

Thoughts insummary:

1. Surrender is the savor of a Christian

2. Surrender evolves tangible decisions, beginning with whom we will love more, Jesus or others.

3. Surrender includes surrendering your treasures willingly, the Lord is not interested in gifts given grudgingly.

4. Man’s heart follows his treasures, placing your treasures in Christ secures your affections in Christ, plunging oneself deeper into the pursuit of Christ and eternal riches.

The “Calling” Into Missionary Service, Pt. 1

Have you ever heard a missionary or pastor talk about their “calling” into to full time ministry?  Typically, missionaries have their version of God’s “calling” to a place to serve as missionaries.  I hope by reading this I may help those who are uncertain of how folks are called, or if God truly does call people into service.

First here is my brief story how I was ‘Called’.  My calling began when I was 14, however I was born again at the age of 9, so by the time I responded to God’s calling at the age of 14, I was already saved, baptized, and faithful to my relationship with God. One week in the hills of southern Ohio listening to preaching from a man whom stuttered, I surrendered my life to God.  This is where my calling began, it did not happen all at once, but God’s plan became more clear to me through a development of truths I needed to learn.  Today I’m a missionary to China, however it would be somewhat misleading to tell you that I am called to China.  The truth is when I surrendered at the age of 14, not only did I surrender to China, but I surrendered to Africa, Europe, the deepest parts of the Amazon, the south pole…. because surrender means just that, I surrendered to whatever and wherever the Lord saw fit to have me.

It isn’t surrender if we ask Jesus first to tell us what it is, then decide whether or not we’re going to do it.  Surrender for me and other average people like me its a choice of faith, not knowing where or what occupation I was surrendering to.  Howbeit it is not out of the range of God’s power to knock someone off their horse like He did with Paul the Apostle, or with Jonah the Missionary, I believe most of us when it comes to Gods calling in our lives will relate to men in the Bible more like Timothy and Titus, rather than the Apostles or Old Testament prophets.  Why?  Because most of us will not see visions, hear voices, walking with Jesus in the flesh, and see dreams.  Neither did Timothy who was a Samaritan, or Titus who were just average men that became missionaries that God used mightily. I note here Timothy was a Samaritan because that makes him an outcast, a nobody, but its guys like these, the fishermen, the tax collectors and others despised by the world whom God delights in using to bring undisputed glory to His name.

I was just an average 14 year old  kid with a desire to know what God wants me to do.  I didn’t see fireworks at anytime, nor did I dream dreams that week, but during the simple preaching that week I realized there was a price to pay before one can know the will of God in their life.  The price is that of surrender, and surrendering everyday thereafter.  Because Timothy had a good report from other Christians in Acts 16, Paul invited Timothy join him in his missionary journeys.  Timothy didn’t see fireworks, or see dreams, he simply had an opportunity, and an opportunity that came because of his established faithfulness to God.  Paul didn’t ask the backslider to join him, he asked a faithful young man.  Now I doubt Timothy was an excellent speaker, or could speak 5 different languages, or a blossoming musician, but he had faithfulness to his God.  Whenever services where being held, Timothy was there.  Whenever their local church gathered for a meal, for work, for preaching or any other activity Timothy was faithful to God.  And because of his good report earned him an opportunity.

Now I assume that it was a desire in Timothy’s heart to go with Paul considering he accepted the invitation!  It wasn’t forced upon him, or coerced.  Paul did not tell him that he would suffer some horrible fate if he chose not to go like many religions coerce their people into service by such measures.  On the contrary the desire was already in the heart of Timothy to go; he didn’t have to drag his feet to go, rather he went with a privileged sense of being chosen. He got to go!

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight thyself also in Lord and He will give you the desires of thine heart.”  Sometimes this verse is wildly interpreted for supporting the heresy of “prosperity gospel” .  But in Timothy’s life it was a promise he received that day Paul invited him for service.  It is impossible for one to delight himself in the Lord (faithfulness) and possess the wrong desires at the same time.  A man delighting himself in the Lord will not receive the desire to gamble for a living, or make a career choice into drugs and alcohol, rather the man who delights himself in the Lord receives the desires from the Lord.  Serving the Lord to him is not a have to matter but it is a get to matter.

Since this is an article and not a book, let me summarize part one of the missionary calling…

1. The calling of God is not often a singular event, but it does begin with surrender.

2. Surrender is to whatever, wherever, and however the Lord wants.

3. Surrender and faithfulness, rather than qualifications are required for God’s calling.

4. When true surrender is present, then there is joy in serving and not out of a ‘have-to’ spirit.

March Prayer Letter 2012

Deputation Update
Our target date to leaving for China is after Christmas of this year! In March we had a full schedule of Missions
Conferences that seem very promising. Thank the Lord for His blessings and His timing, we continue to learn
patience and faith while on the deputation road. April will be just as busy for us, please continue to pray for churches and pastors to be burdened about church planting in the world’s largest country.
Camp and Missions Trips
Vision Baptist Church of Alpharetta, Georgia will be sponsoring a camp for teens and college age young men and women to take time off for a week in Fort Bluff, Tennessee to discover their role in Missions. Several will surrender their lives to a full-time capacity, while others will have their eyes opened to the Mission Field across the street. I’m in great support of summer camps like these, for it is where I surrender my life to the Lord at the age of 14.
Prayerfully consider this camp for your young people, in spite of the long distances for some, it will be rewarding to have your teens return to their home churches more in tune to serve the King. For information on the camp go to: www.bcwe.org or if you’re reading this in an email click here: BCWE Summer Camp for Missions.
Soul-Winning
We had a wonderful time door knocking with Bro. Bailey in Rochester, PA and Bro. Peeler in Weirton, WV. It was an encouragement for me to see God’s people head out and inviting folks to church. It certainly boost my own
confidence when there are folks that come with you! In Weirton we shared a few hours knocking doors with a few first timers, it was a blessing to share that time with them while witnessing and inviting folks out for Easter service! We found that some people are still willing to hear the gospel at the doorstep, and all the doors received the Gospel at least on paper. The Gospel on paper is infinitely better than no Gospel at all!

Feb 2012 Deputation Update

Deputation Update
Praise the Lord for His goodness to us, it seems God didn’t get news that the economy is bad. I’m grateful to serve an almighty God, and that His economy isn’t affected by the worlds. Lord willing we will be in China by Dec. perhaps after spending Christmas with our families. I’m sure there are some truck drivers out there reading this that are going to think, “so what”, but since our deputation began last August we’ve put 40,000 miles on our vehicle, and yet the busiest months is still to come. Thank you for your prayers for road safety and a fruitful deputation.

Eric Li
Pray for Eric as he has moved away to the next phase in his life. Yesterday (Feb. 28th) I spent my last day with him as his mentor. We parted
with an unspoken but obvious sadness. I asked him before he left, what last lesson would he like to learn from the Scriptures, and he replied, “How to win souls.” Pray that God uses him to make many disciples for His glory.

Soul-Winning
We finished January into February with a Mission’s Conference at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Valparaiso, IN. During this conference Pastor
Allen took us missionaries to go door-to-door. This is the first missions conference I’ve been to with soul-winning on the agenda and I’d like to Thank them for that. Not all times do we get to see the fruit of our labor while going door-to-door, however we met a young man (I guess he was skipping school that day, Praise God!) who we were able to lead to Christ. After the conference we went to China Town in Chicago where we met two young men Luke and Pengfei. Luke walked in the restaurant we were eating at and overheard our conversation in Chinese I was having with the waiter, Pengfei. After talking with Luke for awhile, he bowed his head and asked the Lord to save him. We told Pengfei that Luke just received Christ, and he said in Chinese, “Can you let me believe to?”. We sat down with Pengfei, whom is Buddhist, and showed him the Gospel, no doubt the first time he’s seen it. The conflict in his eyes was obvious as we taught him about sin, the authority of Scripture and the One Who died for him. We left him with a Chinese Bible in his hand praying that he’ll be able to receive the Word that was given him.

January Update

DEPUTATION UPDATE
At the end of our 6th months of deputation we have currently 44% of our support coming in. We have no occasion to glory but in God only Who is the provider for His work. We want young people and folks thinking about missions to be encouraged that when we say “Yes” to God, He’ll pay the fare, but if we flee from His presence then we’ll be like Jonah, and we’ll pay the fare. Deputation can be an enjoyable time to put your faith to the test and allow God to show Himself strong for you. We’ve found that God has not only caused us to trust in Him more because of the provisions, but He still has us in His school preparing for His work.
ERIC LI
Eric, our Chinese brother, who has been coming faithfully for disciple-ship every week was baptized into our home church on January 17th. Just before he gave his testimony of growing up with his Christian mother. He said his mother always made him come to church which was a house church in the Fujian Province. During his testimony he explained that going to church was always something he had to do. It was not until recently that he asked the Lord to save him, and it was not until very recently he understood that the true gospel teaches eternal security. Realizing this he bowed his head in our home and made sure of his salvation and was baptized a couple weeks later. Just in the few months I’ve had to mentor Eric its been a blessing to watch him grow and his excitement for the Lord like many young Christians. Eric this past week showed many leadership qualities while witnessing in Warren, Ohio. Eric, Alisha, and I met Pastor James Dittmar of Warren Baptist Temple this past week to begin reaching the Chinese community of that city. We visited nine Chinese run restaurants altogether looking for a starting point for the church to begin reaching out. We prayed that we would meet a Chinese Christian who spoke English that would give the church a place to begin reaching out first with the restaurant, then the rest of the Chinese community. It was a proud moment to watch Eric without being prompted to take initiative to begin conversations with shop owners and the cashiers. God did provide a starting place for the church to begin. We met a Christian owner who has two daughters that are to come to church this Sunday. At this point Eric’s future plans are to start his own restaurant, but I’m praying God will call him to preach!
THANK YOU
Thank you for your prayer and financial support. We are very pleased to not have to wait for China to begin His work. May the Lord bless you for your desire to stand with us in China.

Deputation Update

Deputation Update
I trust everyone had a wonderful Christ-centered Christmas! We’ve enjoyed the time with our family, but Oh how its come and gone and January is upon us with a busy road schedule. Praise the Lord for our fruitful deputation thus far! We are currently at 36% in our  total support and are looking forward to an end-of-the year departure next year. We’re closing in on the time to prep are our passports and other documents needed for entering the country. Please be in prayer over this situation as we will begin to deal with the Chinese embassy, and the folks in China that are involved in getting us the most stable visa available. 

Discipleship & Opportunities For You
This is my brother in Christ “Eric” whom we’ve recently began disicpling. He recently received the Lord as his Savior AND Lord in the past month. He plans to be baptized on New Years Day at our home church here in Logan. He’s from Fuzhou China where many folks from there spend a great deal of money and sacrifice to come the states. Strangely enough nearly ALL the Chinese buffets that I’ve ever been to in the USA are run by folks from this particular city in China. They work hours from 10:30 AM to 10 PM with one day off a week, and only after he clocks off work does Eric have the time to meet with us for discipleship. He’s a young man with a good heart and I trust the Lord will use Him greatly either here or back in China. He will be traveling with me to Warren, Ohio to help deal with the possibility of beginning a new Chinese outreach there. Wherever you are, you probably have a Chinese buffet nearby. Chances are they’re from Fuzhou and their English is minimal. This is a great opportunity for someone to ask the Lord for a burden over these people and offer to teach them English in your home. And yes, you’ll probably have to work around their schedule late in the evening. For step-by-step instruction on how to begin something like this in your home or at church please email me: walzinchina@gmail.com The rewards of seeing these people come to Christ is enough to make you want to do more for Christ. Eric is the 4th soul come to Christ in this particular restaurant.

Christ’s Birthday
We watched as the kids tore into their presents and gifts as we had Christmas at our parents house Christmas Eve. Apart from a warm sweater or a new outfit for school, most of the presents given were things that we don’t really need, but they were given that the one receiving the gift would be happy to receive “what they really wanted” this year. When the wise men presented their gifts to the Lord, it wasn’t out of necessity to help poor little baby Jesus. But the gifts were to honor Him on his birthday, and like the wise men we wish to honor Christ on His birthday. From the Scriptures I gather there is no other gift more impressive to the Lord than His church.

“That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any
such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:27“

When your church takes active steps to plant new churches, go soul-winning, discipleship, support missionaries—you are investing what cheers the heart of Christ the most. There’s nothing more pleasant to His eyes than His church. Don’t neglect Jesus in your gift giving this year!

Getting a Bible while in China

Bibles in China?  Is bible smuggling necessary in China?  Ive often wondered this myself.  I know some places in china would be harder to find a bible than others, but whenever I wanted to buy a bible or even several, I would purchase them from state churches.  Here is an article on the topic worth a look.

http://www.projectchina.org/blog/2008/09/05/bibles-in-china/

Two New Exciting Church Plants!

 

Two new church plants starting by nationals! Praise the Lord!  View thlil ink below about the story and prayerfully consider how you can beinvolved! http://gospelinchina.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/two-new-churches-starting

Just a Thought

We’re in Georgia all this month for deputation and some more church planting training.  Sitting at Mcd’s we got to looking at our records.  By email alone we’ve contact 1,000 churches in a little more than 2 months time.  If each church we’ve contacted supported for 10 bucks we’d be in China no sweat in just two months!  It’s not about the speed of our deputation, but all in His timing.

 

Cause we GET To!

Why Baptist?

Dear Friends,

If you have the availability to come to the scenic land of the Hocking Hills (Logan, Ohio) November 7th through the 10th then please do so because your in for a treat.  Guest speaker James Alter is an expert in Baptist history and will be sharing with us why the convictions, not the methods or outward appearance, makes us who we are.

Here is the information on the flyer:

“Our world is quickly become the one described by the Spirit of God in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” This is not the time to shy away from passionate, biblical, doctrinal preaching.  As Bible-believing Baptist, the foundation for everything we do is found in the pages of Scripture.  Come join us in a conference hosted by Cornerstone Baptist Church as we dive deep into God’s Word and discover who we have been as a people, what we are to do today and what we will be in the future.  You won’t get the truth behind Baptists in your high-school textbooks!”

Have you noticed or even been sucked into the belief that all churches just need to drop their differences, get together and sing kum-by-yah? In order to do that one would have to relinquish the fundamental teachings of Jesus Christ.  Churches everywhere today are turning away from the Doctrines of Christ for the sake of “unity”. Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”  The answer is NO. “Be ye not unequally yolked together with unbelievers.” 2 Cor 6:14.  My dear friends, God’s Word is the ultimate standard for all beliefs, doctrines governing the Christian life. We must go by the book, not change it, or reinterpret what it should say so as not to offend anybody.  If God can’t get it right, can’t preserve it, can’t bring it to pass, what makes you think we can?  God speak in black and white, not shades of gray.  Does your religion teach there are gray areas in the Word of God, in matters of the world and the things in the world? Do you believe the Bible has “many” interpretations (gray areas)?

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.“

2 Peter 1:20.

Does your religion really teach the black and white of God’s Word and reverence of God’s Word above tradition, culture, methods, singing, and teaching?  Does the Word of God (John 1:1) have preeminence in your church or does it become mold-able in the hands of the one who speaks in your services?  Do you ever hear in your religion terms like “this passage of Scripture can be better interpreted this way”?

This conference is not homage to the denomination of Baptist, but the convictions that Fundamental Baptists hold to; that our only hope is to obey what is written on the pages of the Word of God.  That, my friend, is why the ecumenical (all denominations together) spirit is so dangerous, because in order to become buddy buddy with every church on the block, you CANNOT do so without ignoring God’s black and white of God’s Word.  Don’t be duped in believing that “intolerance” towards the teachings of Christ is a bad thing. I’m sure glad God didn’t tolerate our sin or we’d still be doomed in it!  The only hope people have today is Jesus, but does your religion teach the TRUE Jesus? ”

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” 2 Cor 11:3-4

So we invite you to come.  You will feel welcome in our services and you won’t be walking into a spirit of contention or divisiveness. (Unless you bring it with you!)

Come and see the “just balance” between truth, grace, and love where Jesus Christ and the Word of God is taught to have preeminence in all things!