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- Written by: Don Goulding
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. (Matthew 11:12) (NIV)
Seven thousand curious Indians sat before the stage in Ranipet to hear the Americans. A local pastor grabbed my head and rattled my brain as he shouted prayers in Tamil. For what—the demons out? the Spirit in?—I don’t know. When I stepped onto the stage, the interpreter and I got into a holy groove until I went inflammatory.
“None of the Hindu gods have died for your sins.”
He shook his head in refusal to interpret those words. My statement may have incited a riot and prevented the gospel from going out. Because of his wisdom, more than two hundred souls responded when we later gave the invitation.
The gospel is like dynamite. It must be strategically placed to do the most good. Deployed at the right time and place, it blows apart every unholy attachment. Jesus put it this way, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.”
My faith is inspired by those who suffer the temporal devastation of gospel dynamite, and still, they light fuses. The family of a colleague in Nigeria was abducted for being Christians, yet he continues to preach the good news. I was adopted by a Christian village in Pakistan that was burned down by neighboring Muslims, yet they press on telling their hostile countrymen about Jesus. On a subsequent night at the Ranipet festival, my interpreter was struck on the head by a rock. With a palm over his cut, he carried on speaking to the one thousand children gathered around us. Persecution bounces to the feet of these disciples where it fertilizes a ruthless conviction.
Following Christ is not a sappy, weak willed affair. The gospel is perilous to our earthy holdings. Only courageous people lay hold of it and dynamite their hearts free of every entanglement except Jesus.
Prayer: Lion of Judah, blast away everything that weakens my faith.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea. (Matthew 18:6)
God is dangerously protective of children. I didn’t want to mislead any of the eight hundred black-haired cherubs who sat crosslegged before our stage at a primary school in Ranipet, India. They nested against each other in a long narrow room—rows of bright eyes amidst a sea of blue gingham uniforms. The pure face energy put me beneath God’s throne and I knew without a doubt he guarded these innocents.
Our evangelism team leader concluded the program with an invitation to receive Christ.
“Stand if you want Jesus,” he shouted. “One, two, three.”
Every head jerked about to see what they were supposed to do. At first, no one stood. Then, after more translation, everybody stood. The principal told them all to sit while another teacher tried to get only those who wanted Jesus to stand. But it was a Christian school and they all wanted Jesus, or already had him, and still wanted him, so were they to stand or sit?
I was transported to the throne room and felt heaven’s mirth at our situation.
Jesus paid a horrific price at the cross to save us from consternation over the right way to return to God. Stand for Jesus, say a prayer, turn around three times—it doesn’t matter, as long as we come through Jesus. To say otherwise is to doubt Christ’s sufficiency and ability to see into the heart.
The sublime reality is that God is holding a wide-open Jesus fest and every humble soul is welcome.
Prayer: Lord, keep me from the sin of complicating the gospel.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
When you find honey, eat only what is sufficient for you,
lest you become stuffed with it and vomit it up. (Proverbs 25:16)
As we dined on New York steaks with furloughed missionaries to Mozambique and Tibet, the conversation turned to strange baths we’ve had in remote places.
“We don’t usually get a bath but every few weeks. I like it when I can get it, but I’m okay doing without,” a Tibetan missionary said.
Her attitude is vital to a true missionary spirit. God gives special grace to endure hardships while in his service, but we have to go into it with the understanding that the rescue of human hearts is more important than our creature comforts. I think I’ll make that my motto—I like it when I can get it, but I’m okay doing without. It fits most everything in the world.
In Zimbabwe, Dani and I were privileged to have dinner with orphans. The staple is cornmeal mush called sudza. Try as we might, we couldn’t master the African technique of rolling sudza balls so all the bits remained intact. The children giggled as the paste covered our hands and worked its way up our wrists.
The good things of the earth are sticky. They are provided for our sustenance and enjoyment. Yet, if not handled correctly, bits and pieces adhere to our soul and make a mess of us. Everything from food, to money and sports, to family, must be enjoyed within the context of declaring God’s glory. I have to continually roll each gift in thanksgiving or it will begin to stick until I can no longer say, “I like it when I can get it, but I’m okay doing without.”
There is only one thing I can’t live without and that is the Spirit of Jesus.
Prayer: Jesus, my everything, help me enjoy your gifts and remain clean.