One More Sleep

Tomorrow I board a plane here in my city – fly to Calgary, Alberta where I will have lunch. Then at supper time I will board another plane and fly to Munich, Germany. There I will have breakfast which will really be supper. Then quickly on another flight to Moscow, Russia where I will have supper which is really breakfast. My internal clock will be a bit confused by the jet lag and the 9 hours dofference in time. It is even worse coming home but that is another story.

When going overseas to minister a person has to be really flexible. This morning I found out that our living accomodations in Moscow are no longer available and so we are looking for another place to stay. That’s okay – someone is working on it and I don’t arrive until Wednesday evening their time. Things will work out somehow. Meanwhile there is much to occupy myself with here – packing for 20 days (always pack for an extra 2 days in case flights don’t connect, or the weather changes and grounds you), locating materials to teach while there, banking… the list is up to 15 items (I wrote the list while traveling yesterday to minister in two places … driving allows for thinking and planning time).

Meanwhile – we have added another staff member to Ralph Howe Ministries – someone to help us with translating manuals and teaching materials. It has been a long search to find someone who is trustworthy, will do a good job, is willing and able to fit into the way we work, and someone who is not only a good translator but who my administrator can work with as he will be managing the work load and delegating what needs to be done. So, our budget continues to increase -as does my faith to believe for the needed monthly income.

13 years ago I prayed and ask the Lord to open the doors of the nation of Belarus to my ministry. It is not an easy nation for non-Russian speaking people to enter – especially if you are born again and are going to preach the gospel and minister salvation. This summer I ministered to two young people – a young man and a young woman. Both seriously committed and talented believers – leaders already. As they were leaving the camp a little earlier than most others I spoke with them to find out that they were brother and sister, they were from Belarus and that their father was a pastor. I briefly mentioned my prayer about ministering in their nation. The invitation to do so came in by email on Thursday of last week. I answered it and, of course, agreed to go. Dates are being negotiated. We have orgainized dates that I am available to minister overseas right through to January, 2012 and already we are booking into the end of 2010 before the year has even begun.

We have learned how to get connected while in Eastern Europe. We managed emails and internet the last time – with an investment in a new and better phone. It took several trips into the city near where we were ministering to get the right settings in the laptop computer – but we were successful. This means I don’t come home to the pressure of 300+ emails (15 a day that need to be answered – the rest, delete). This is good as often I am 50 to 100 behind when I leave for one of these trips and take them with me to answer while sitting in airports.

I am working hard at sorting out priorities and time frames and delegating so that I can manage all that seems to arrive on my desk and on my heart. Has not been easy. It is an ongoing struggle – and struggle is the right word. However, I have a new laptop (last week’s focus in the spare time) as the old one was fried and no longer holding a charge. So, we will need to program this new and faster one to do the email thing once I arrive in Moscow. The other hopeful thing is that I traded up to a new Blackberry and with a Sim card (which I purchased) I am told it too will now work in Eastern Europe – pulling in my emails. So, it is hopeful I will be able to stay in touch and current and communicate with others while away.

I am believing that we we will be able to iron out any glitches in the technology very quickly upon arrival so that I can post the daily blogs I always write while away… and then, if you want to, you can stay up-to-date with what is happening with us and through us (and to us, at times) and pray for us if so led to do so by the Holy Spirit. Please pray for strength (spiritual and physical) and wisdom and that many, many lives will be permanently impacted by the 15 days of ministry (services 3 times a day, every day). We want nothing except that God would be glorified and the Kingdom advanced in the country of Russia and the country of Georgia. Thanks.

Just one more sleep – and then it is on the road again…

Apostolic and Prophetic – Exciting

We live in an exciting season in the life of the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ.

For many years – both during the days recorded for us in the Bible and in many different seasons since the close of the canon of Scripture – the voice of the Lord was not heard; prophecy did not flow readily among God’s people.

1 Samuel 3:1 states: “And the Word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” And, of course, we know from the book of Proverbs that “where there is no prophecy the people perish (are unrestrained, run wild).”

So, during Samuel’s earlier days the people were very rebellious. But later, when he was functioning in the role of a prophet, people began to hear more frequently from God and major changes were quickly forthcoming.

Today – we need to embrace the prophetic gifts as well as the main ministries of apostles and prophets who flow regularly in these gifts. We need to hear God speak whether to individuals, local churches, regions or nations … it is imperative that we know what the Lord is saying to His people in these last days. And, He reveals His plans regarding the nations beforehand to those who minister apostolically and prophetically (Amos 3:7) so that they can speak to the Church and prepare believers to minister powerfully and supernaturally during the rapidly changing times in which we live.

We, of course, need to always judge the prophetic. We also need to examine the life of the prophet and apostle and the fruit arising from their ministry as Jesus warned us of many false apostles and prophets in the end times.

I am thankful for the gifts of prophecy and recognize that we live in an awesome time in the Lord. We, like the sons of Issachar, (1 Chronicles 12:32) know ahead of time what the Lord is about to do (the times and the seasons) and thus are prepared to minister the gospel of salvation in the midst of this fast-paced, every changing human landscape.

The harvest is truly readyand we are the laborers. EXCITING!

Working With Little With Great Results

Here in North America we must admit, if we are honest with ourselves, that we have so much and we do so little with it. As individuals, as Christians, we have an abundance of materialistic goods and a great deal of things that would be called “luxuries” in just about any other part of the world. As believers we have buildings to worship in, comfortable seats to sit in, and lots of personal space when we go to worship or study the Bible with other believers. We have so much – and yet, in many cases, we do very little with it other than entertain ourselves and make ourselves feel good. Harsh? I think it is often the truth and reality but we simply don’t want to admit it as we may be forced to change something and we are comfortable as it is right now. Of course we are, we are on the good end of the stick.

Now, in other places there are fewer people calling themselves believers – in fact, just a handful of Christians and they are often persecuted and shut out of normal, everyday life. They have little personally and are working, as believers, with so little and yet – when we hear what is happening we are astonished as they are obtaining such great results for the Kingdom.

One story crossed my study desk the other day … and, in part, it states…

Bombay (now known as Mumbai) is a huge city in India with a population of over 18,000,000 people. The slum in the city – the Dharavi slum – has more than two million inhabitants. In the midst of the slum there is a gospel church preaching Jesus. Bombay Prayer Band, founders of this assembly, works out of very small facilities and on a shoe-string budget. Their office is five by five feet. The Bible School classroom holds up to 25 students for the classes being held there daily and this is simply an area about 12 feet by 15 feet. In spite of these limitations many graduate every year and go out to plant churches in many of the states in India … Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Predesh, and Bihar just to name a few.

Wow! Working with so little and seeing such great results. My bathroom is bigger than their office. My study (not my office) if bigger than their classroom. Interesting when compared generally to North American Christianity … where we have so much and yet, in most cases, so few are coming to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and very few believers are sharing the Gospel and even fewer have ever led anyone to the Lord since they themselves met Him. And, dare we mention, the amount of complaining that goes on and how discontented we are because others seem to have bigger and better … and yet, look in the other direction and you see smaller and “not better” – yet far more significant results for the Kingdom of God.

How do we turn this around? How do we learn to focus on what really counts – on the goal – and not on all these other things which will, one day, be totally insignificant? How do we make better use of what we have been blessed with? How do we harness everything we have been literally blessed by God with for His glory? How do we change the direction we seem to be heading from accomplishing little with so much to working with what we have and accomplishing great things for the Lord?

Ah! That’s the key word I think – LORD! We need to make Him Lord and submit to His will, yielding everything to Him for His use and for His Kingdom. Lordship is the key – and it is what is missing in many believers today… THOUGHTS?

Iran and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

There are many opportunities today to proclaim Jesus is Lord and to share the Gospel of salvation with those who desperately need to hear it.

However, to take advantage of these opportunities can, at times, take a great deal of effort, involve a season of learning and preparation, as well as being costly in terms of time, effort and money. We must be, as followers and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, prepared the pay these various costs of following Him and doing as He has commanded us to do.

I was struck by the comment of an Irian believer who ministers the Gospel in his own nation where the need is great and the opportunites many – although dangerous to do so. He said … “The wall is broken, but we as Christians have to be ready to bring the right message.”

Mehdi (the Iranian Christian missionary) has met Jehovah’s Witnesses who are becoming skilful in the Farsi language in order to share their faith with Iranians.

“I ask myself,” ‘Where is the vision of the Church?’ We need more fisherman to be raised up for Iran.”

Here is an Iranian Christian – working as a missionary to his own people and nation – wondering about the state of the Church and its readiness to “pay the cost” and reach the lost at all costs. Yes, he is a little biased as this is his nation and his people … but his question is a valid one for us to consider today in the midst of the absolute luxury and wealth that we live with here in North America. And, those who proclaim a false gospel, a false Christ and a false Holy Spirit are ready and willing to pay the cost to spread their message of death – how much more should we be willing to rise up and share, on a daily basis and everywhere, the message of eternal life.

He goes on to state (about Iran): “My country is killed by religion. They are so thirsty. The people need a relationship with God. Now is a good time to share the Gospel with Iranians.”

My thought as I read this – and not to take away from the urgency he feels and communicates – is that every nation needs to hear the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not the North American version of the Gospel where we tell people that “God has a wonderful plan for your life” and list all the benefits (valid as they may be) … but the true Gospel of taking up daily the task of telling others about their sin and the need for godly sorrow and repentance so that they can be truly born again and enter into a living and dynamic personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and do the things that He calls us – commands us – to do.

The need is great in Iran – no denying it. Listen further to Mehdi (the Irian national who is sharing the Gospel with his people) … “Iran has some serious social problems – in Iran, herion is cheaper than cigarettes, and reports estimate that 50% or more of students in university are either experimenting with or affected by drug usage. Prostitution is also a bad problem, with 800,000 prostitutes registered in Iran. Some prostitution in Iran is legal, because Islam, Iranian-style, allows men to have part-time wives, for an hour, days, weeks or even months at a time.”

The need is great in every nation. The harvest is ripe and ready but the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send workers … and then be the first to volunteer as the answer to your own prayer. Take seriously, if you are not already doing so, the mandate the Lord Jesus Christ gave to His Church to “go into all the world and share the night-and-day difference that Jesus has made in your life” (Matthew 28:18 and 1 Peter 2:9 The Message Version).

The Week After Next – Russia

[To get a fuller picture of this mission trip you might like to read yesterday’s blog]

We (my interpreter / administrator and myself) fly from Moscow to the city of Mineralnye Vody in Georgia (part of Russia – or a break away province and separate nation depending on who you speak to). They call this the Caucasus …

We arrive on the 8th of October and tour our first location. It is Piatigotsk city and they have a neat tourist attraction called the “Honey Waterfalls” and so I am going to be tourist for the first few hours as we get to know the new area and the hosts of the upcoming week of events and ministry.

On the 9th and 10th I will be in Essentuky city at the “Christ Savior’s Love” Church where we begin a school for approximately 40 leaders. The “school” is let out for the Sunday – no classes or sessions – and I will be in Kislovodsk city at “The Love of Christ” Church where I will be ministering on the topic: “The Church” and, of course, ministering prophetically.

Then back to Essentuky city for the remaining two days of the school – October 12 and 13th. On the 14th we will share fellowship with the local leaders and tour the foothills of the Elbrus mountain range.

Then early on the 15th we fly back to Moscow and, switching flights, heading back to Canada after a few hours to debrief and plan some future ministry.

Now, one thing to remember, is that these plans can change quickly and nothing is set in cement … not even quicksand. It is all very fluid and one must be very flexible. There is an old YWAM proverb: “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken.” I am very flexible.

Events get planned on the spur of the moment. Some other pastor hears about us and the ministry and wants to meet with us to discuss possibly coming to their area of the country or world on a future trip. People need to be prayed for – healing is needed. A local church is having some problems and they would like some prophetic insight from the apostle / prophetic man… There is always so much to do and so much that needs to be done.

So, although each trip gets well planned and, in my own mind there is too much “free time,” it never works out that we have much if any free time as something always fills the time frames… and sometimes the spontaneous is more fun or more beneficial than what we have planned to accomplish. God is the God of the suddendlies and suddenly we find ourselves in a different place with something to do or someone to see that we had not planned – and it is simply not a coincidence – it is a God-thing every time!

So, please, if the Holy Spirit leads you – pray for these two weeks of ministry and travel … that God would be glorified in all that we do and that many of His people (and many unsaved) will be ministered to powerfully by the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit – especially prophecy. Thanks.

Next Week – Russia

In 8 days I will be boarding a plane to fly to Russia (via Calgary, Canada and Frankfurt, Germany) where I will be working for two weeks ministering God’s Word – preaching and prophesying. This will be my first visit to this nation but already I feel in my spirit that it will not be my last.

Of course, international plane travel is not glamerous. In fact, it is very tiring. I will head to the airport at noon on Tuesday and will arrive in Moscow, Russia at 8 p.m. on Wednesday night. The rest is air travel, waiting in airports and working my way through customs and security checks a number of times as well as a 9 hours time difference.

After meeting my hosts in Moscow as well as my interpreter (paid staff member who is my administrator for our Eastern Europe outreach here at Ralph Howe Ministries) at the airport I will be taken to where I am staying. Unpack, catch up on the latest news of what has changed regarding our two weeks of ministry, prayer and then bed (please). No ministry to people the first night (new rule). The next day (Thursday) will be partly getting my bearings, discussions (fondly known as business meetings), and some time with my administrator who is also a friend. We need to touch bases personally and catch up on any news since our last weekly Skype time together.

In the afternoon the first day we will be meeting with a Russian Orthodox priest (new contact) and his wife for fellowship and then an early supper with them. After supper – a meeting with his leadership to teach and prophesy. Guess which one they really want? They would like me to prophesy over the individual leaders as well as over their movement (their choice of words). Done! Love doing just that. Their church is called “Blessed House of the father”.

Friday – a tour of the Kremlin and then, in the afternoon, another meeting. This one is with a Pastor Alexei (someone else I have yet to meet) and his church “Father’s House”. Saturday morning is still unscheduled (according to my latest updates – not an unusual situation) and we have a number of things that are possibles (always) … but by 4:00 p.m. we are in the thick of things ministering for the rest of the day and evening in a public service in the city.

Sunday morning we are at Maxim’s church in Krasnoarmeisk city for a morning service. He is the young leader who taught the kids a workshop on break dancing at the August youth camp in southern Ukraine where I was teaching recently. He is the youth pastor and we will be ministering to his rather large youth group. Then at 2:00 p.m. we are on our way to our main event for the city of Moscow … a 4 day school (a number of churches involved in this major event) which starts Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. and goes until Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Topics – The gifts of the Holy Spirit, Gifts in the body of Christ, How to recognize one’s calling and destiny, How to move in the gifts of the Spirit, and team work. As well, what is a person suppose to do with a prophetic word that they have received.

So, this will bring me to the end of the first full week of travel and ministry. At this point we have a night to rest (fancy word for debrief and plan the details of the next week) and pack as the next day we head to the airport to fly out to the Caucauses…

More on that tomorrow – enough boring details for one day.

Your prayers during this next 8 days would be appreciated – preparation, packing, planning, last minute details, passport back from embassy in Ottawa (on tim, we hope) where it is getting a visitor visa put in to it, etc. As well, pray for all those involved in the various ministry venues – that the Lord would minister mightily to everyone involved in whatever way He wants to and use whoever He desires … We want only His will to be done.

Been With Jesus?

If someone were to look at you tomorrow morning as you go into work or go about whatever events your day involves – would they recognize that you had been with Jesus. I mean, would they know you had been in His presence at worship today and sitting listening to His Word with an open heart? Would they be able to spot that you started your day (tomorrow) in His presence and thus are walking in His power?

Whoa! Tough and probing questions. Yes they are. But, that is what it will take for us to impact the world for Jesus one person and one relationship at a time. In the book of Acts it states that the enemies of the early Church “recognized that they had been with Jesus.” In the early Church the believers stated, “we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard”. (Acts 4:13b and Acts 4:20)

Nothing less will do. You cannot argue someone into the Kingdom. You cannot teach someone enough that they will want to be born again and thus enter the Kingdom. You can, however, share what you have seen the Lord do in your life recently and what you have heard Him say to you about the day you are now involved in. This is a current “now” testimony of what the Lord is accomplishing in and through you today – not yesterday and not 20 or 30 years ago. Fresh daily manna.

Acts 4 goes on to say that in spite of persecution and the threat on their very lives they “continued to speak the word of God with boldness” and that “great power” and “great grace” was upon them all. (Acts 4:31, 4:33). Upon all of them – not just the apostles or the leaders but upon every believer. No wonder they impacted the world and “turned it upside down” and were considered to be radical revolutionaries everywhere they went. They had spent time with the Lord, been personally changed and now went out with confidence and power to change their world one person at a time.

That is still God’s plan today.

Can You Cary On a Decent Conversation

I am old enough to remember when a cup of coffee cost you five cents – that’s right $0.05 – and the cup was bottomless. The refills were free. Like other major earth-shattering events I can remember where I was when the price went up. I had just arrived in Chicago by train from Toronto and somewhere during the overnight train ride coffee had doubled in price to ten cents and I was outraged.

Bought a coffee recently? Well, the price is around $1.65 for a large coffee (no refills) and as high as $6.00 for a speciality coffee with addatives and flavouring. And, across my nation there are numerous chains of shops that sell coffee as their main money maker and they do make money – Starbucks, Tim Horton’s, Second Cup, Robin’s, McDonalds, Java Express just to name a few that I am familiar with.

In fact, when getting an early start and going on the road early in the morning driving to another city – I stop at one of these places to buy “one for the road” and seriously wonder if anyone makes coffee at home anymore. These places are standing room only and the line-ups of people waiting to buy a cup are amazing – even the drive-thru is backed up for blocks (you can’t expect people to get out of their cars, afterall, until they have had that first cup of caffine).

So, day after day people sit in these coffee shops – even the ones that stay open 24 hours a day (I admit – I stop in and have a decaf coffee when arriving back in my home city late from a trip out of town) – and carry on conversations. I have sat many times waiting for my next appointment to arrive and listened to the conversations that go on. Most people simply “pass the time of day” and talk about nothing of any signifigance. They chat about the weather (it is regular and large today), the latest sports brawl or scandal, the political wranglings going on in Ottawa (borning – seriously boring) or in Washington (seriously pointless) …

What if – and I know it is a big “what if” … What if we were to invite our friends and family out for a coffee. Question: does anyone still invite a neighbor “over for a coffee” – you know, invite someone for a coffee in their kitchen? Sorry, I digress! What if we purposely invited people out for a coffee and chatted about something important with them – like share Jesus with them … the night-and-day difference He has made and still continues to make in our lives. Maybe, just maybe, someone will get saved, you know, born again.

Statistics prove this to be true … In a recent “New Christians Survey” – Dr. Gary McIntosh of Talbot School of Theology found that…
59% of new believers surveyed came to Christ through family or friends
47% of new believers were Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964)
40% Gen-X (or Baby Busters – born between the mid-1960’s and the late-1970’s)
17% Builders or seniors (over 60 years of ago

All very interesting. But, the most important statistic – and the one that really grabbed my attention – is that 64% came to faith as a result of a conversation with a believer.

Can you drink coffee? Can you carry on a fairly decent conversation? Are you a born again Christian? Good – welcome to the evangelization of North America. Go for it! Welcome to the wonderful adventure of winning the lost and seeing people birthed into the Kingdom of God.

So, all we need to learn how to do is to politely switch a conversation from talking about things that are really not eternally signifigant (weather, sports, politics, ourselves) to things that are really important and seriously vital. And, folks, that is not really all that difficult. In fact, it can be done within 3 minutes of the conversation beginning. But, that’s for another day and another blog.

Attractional or Missional

I believe in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and the resulting “power to be My witnesses” that a born again believer receives along with this experience or encounter with God. I believe this is a second encounter with God – the first being when a person is born again and the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you. Here, in the Baptism, the Holy Spirit comes upon the person and saturates them with His presence and power (Acts 1:8 and the meaning of the word baptism).

I believe that we have been empower to “be His witness” and that this is different than, although includes, “going withnessing” or “doing withnessing”. Jesus didn’t tell us to “do witnessing” but to “be witnesses” and so it is something we are to do as we live our daily lives and not something we simply tack on to an already busy life … “Oh, it’s Tuesday night which means we have to go out witnesses as it is outreach night at the church.” Yet, for the seven days since the previous Tuesday’s visitation / evangelism night you have not shared Jesus with anyone.

As we go about our very active, engaged, and busy lives we are to look for opportunities to witness and tell others about Jesus … by words and by deeds. We are to to do more than “look for” opportunities that the Lord seems to be opening up for us – we are to “make opportunity” to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to intentionally open doors for ourselves; ask questions or make comments that change the direction of the conversation turning it towards spiritual things – especially Jesus. Remember, we represent and share a Person (Jesus) and not just a set of life principles or a specific doctrine or religious group.

We are to be intentional about this – every day and in every thing that we do. This is the real reason for the rest of the things that we do in our daily affairs.

Now, let’s be honest – some of us keep hoping that people will simply ask us about Jesus and then we can openly share about our love for Him and the night-and-day difference He has made in our lives. We keep hoping that someone will notice that we are a believer and ask us about our faith – in other words, initiate the conversation. We keep hoping that maybe they will ask to come to church with us or simply show up one Sunday. This is “attractional”. We are hoping that whatever we do or say will “attract” them to Jesus and the Gospel. It doesn’t normally work this way. Few notice what you are doing or even listen to what you are saying in the regular daily affairs of life. Few will be attracted to the Gospel and the Savior.

Jesus said we were to “go into all the world” which is “missional” – not “attractional”. Don’t wait until they are attracted to the message by your lifestyle. You would be surprised how many simply don’t notice what you do and how you live. Instead, go into your every day world of activities and events, connections and relationships and intentionally share the Lord Jesus and the need for being born again with people. This is being “missional”.

The Lord came on a mission – to seek and save the lost. We are sent on a mission – each and every day as we go about our normal daily activities and events – to seek and save the lost. It is not just something we “do” but it is something we “are”. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in your world…” (Acts 1:8). “Be” a witness … not just “do” witnessing.

So, today, determine as you leave to buy your groceries or fill up your vehicle with gas to “be a witness” and swing that regular, normal conversation around to Jesus and tell others about Him. Not as difficult to do as you first may thing and you will be pleasantly surprised how receptive people really are to a loving presentation of the good news – the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So, attractional or missional? Another way to say it? – Intentional or accidental?

The Youth and Universalism

Yesterday I was mentioning the shift in worldviews that we, as believers today, need to be very aware of when speaking to the younger generations about the Lord and His Gospel – the power of God unto salvation.

Today … let’s look at the youth of today and their sincere (although sincerely wrong) belief in universalism. Statistics prove it – today’s youth – the Millennials – born after 1980 – embrace universalism.

The reason – the church is in a state of crisis and the signal we are sending and what we are saying sounds both broken and blurry. It is as if the youth have changed from analog television to digital receivers and the church is still broadcasting in analog. This became apparent to me as the United States of America just went through the adjustment with their television signals … where all older televisions needed to be equipped with a box to be able to receive a digital signal as all television broadcasters have now stopped broadcasting in analog.

So, our problem is partly (and only partly) that we are sending out an analog signal and no one has rabbit ears to pick the signal up as they have – like the television signals – adopted to the digital age… and one of the places or beliefs that the signals they are receiving from the world’s philosophies and idealologies point them directly to universalism!

We need to become HD (high definition) believers – churches – leaders…

1> We need to present a crystal-clear picture of the gospel: a loving God who repudiates sin while loving the sinner.

2> We need to create and maintain a direct interaction with the culture, sending out a righteous transmission of God, family, marriage, morality, righteousness and justice … not just engaging culture but transforming it.

3> HD Christianity requires programs, systems, institutions and communities that can all facilitate clear and viable transmission of the gospel via multiple screens. – social, physical, intellectual, communal – touching the needs of the people.

I work with young people here in this nation and in other nations. I think I relate well to them and understand their hearts and heads … their hopes, aspirations, fears and pressures. I enjoy being with them as, for me, it is refreshing and invigorating. And, I see a real hunger in the young adults of today – a hunger for substance, signifigance, purpose, and for spiritual things.

They are not looking to the Church for any of this and we should not blame them. Because most of this cannot be found in the Church that we see today. We are sending all the wrong signals … and even when we send the right signals we are sending them in ways that they are unable (or, at least, unwilling) to accept. Time for some major changes if we hope to ever win this current “listening audience” to the Lord.

The message we share never changes but the methods we use to share it are not sacred and thus must adjust to the culture, times and seasons we find ourselves in. If we hope to impact the current youth and young people today we need to start broadcasting in high definition.