July 8, 2009 by johngoetsch
The first revival meeting I ever preached was in Rock Island, Illinois, back in the early 1970s. The church had another evangelist coming to preach to their adults but wanted someone to hold a children’s crusade in conjunction with that revival. I gladly accepted. That week the workers did a fantastic job of bringing boys and girls. God was at work. Children were being saved nightly, and I was having the time of my life.
One night after I dismissed the children, I was walking across the parking lot to the main building to say goodnight to the pastor when I suddenly felt a tug on my coattail. I turned around, and there stood a little six-year-old boy by the name of Matt Webb. He had ridden one of the buses to the service. His clothes were crumpled, his hair matted, and tears were trickling down his dirty face. He looked up at me and said, “Mister, does God love me too?” I’m sure glad I didn’t have to tell Matt that night that God only loved important people and that Jesus only died for a few. I’m glad that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Scripture doesn’t qualify the lost; it just says in Romans 5:8 that He died for sinners. (I think we all qualify.)
I will admit that to me much of the world is not very lovable. We see people in every culture turning away from God and living in wicked sin. Like Jonah of old, it is easy to develop the attitude that the world deserves God’s wrath and judgment. But the Bible states that “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). In fact, right after that wonderful verse, God states, “For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” In 2 Peter 3:9 we read that “the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Paul agrees in 1 Timothy 2:3–4 when he writes, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Read more »
Tags: Calvinism, El Salvador, Soulwinning
Categories: Soulwinning •
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February 17, 2009 by johngoetsch
In life there is nothing more consistent than the passing of time. We attempt to slow it down and even at times make it stand still, but it is undeterred, steadily marching onward. Benjamin Franklin said, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.” Time is irretrievable. You cannot repeat it or relive it. In life, there is no such thing as instant replay. The minutes that travel with us each day have eternity wrapped up inside them. How are you using yours?
The metaphors God uses in the Bible to describe our lives are sobering. In James 4:14, He calls life a “vapour.” In 1 Chronicles 29:15, He describes it as a “shadow.” In Job 7:6—a “weaver’s shuttle.” In Job 9:25 He likens life to a hurrying messenger or “post.” In Isaiah 40:6–7, the prophet declares: “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.”
Unless the Lord returns first, each of us will one day find our way to a cemetery. At the head of the grave our family will place a headstone with our name, date of our birth, and date of our death. Between those two dates will be a tiny dash. It won’t take the engraver of the stone long to place that dash there, but it will represent our entire lives. Just as God said—our lives will be reduced to a simple dash.
What we do with that dash is completely up to us. The story is told of an old Norwegian who had kept very careful notes of his life in a series of notebooks he kept on the shelf of his business. On his eightieth birthday he went to the store and pulled the books from the shelf and began to compute his life. He was surprised to find that he had spent five of his eighty years waiting for people. He had spent six months tying neckties, three months scolding children, and eight days telling dogs to lie down and be quiet. When I read that rather humorous account, I wondered if he ever took a few minutes to listen to the Gospel and pray the sinner’s prayer. If he did, I wonder how much time he had spent in church, in prayer, reading his Bible, or telling others about Christ. Read more »
Tags: Investing, Soulwinning
Categories: Investing, Soulwinning •
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June 10, 2008 by johngoetsch
Where have all of the orchards gone? I tell you, we have destroyed them! You and I are responsible. The fruit trees have been hewn down and destroyed, and we are suffering from malnutrition as a result. “We wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; in transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment” (Isaiah 59:9b-15).
For 150 years America has managed to live without a national revival. Had it not been for the First Great Awakening of the 1740’s, America as we have known it, would have never been born. The fearless preaching of evangelists in the early days of this country kept the nation on its knees before God in times of war, difficulty, corruption, and vice. In the darkest moments of our history, God has raised up mighty preachers to thunder His Word in church houses, barns, and town squares. In days of expansion and exploration the camp meetings, brush arbors, and tent revivals kept our focus on God. A couple of generations ago, nearly every Christian would testify of a life-changing decision made in a revival campaign held in a local church. Read more »
Tags: Fruit, Investing, Money, Soulwinning
Categories: Fruit, Soulwinning •
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January 16, 2007 by johngoetsch
Years ago I was preaching a revival in Iowa. While I was there, I met a man by the name of Bill Maxwell. Bill was in his forties and was mentally handicapped. Through the course of hearing the Word of God, Bill had trusted Christ as his Saviour. However, due to his handicap, he was very limited in what he could comprehend. I bought Bill a Bible, since he did not have one, and as a result, we became instant friends. Knowing he could read to a degree, I asked him from time to time if he was having his daily devotions. The answer always came back—“Yes.”
One day, I was sitting in my office and the secretary said there was a call from Bill Maxwell. I picked up thephone and Bill said, “Brother Goetsch, I was reading my Bible, and I found this awesome verse…you need to see it!”
I said, “Bill, I would be glad to see the verse. Tell me where to find it.”
He said, “Okay, turn to John. It’s in chapter three.”
I said, “Alright Bill, I’m there. Which verse are you looking at?”
Bill responded, “Verse sixteen.” Then he started to read, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
He said, “Isn’t that a great verse? Everybody ought to know that verse!” Read more »
Tags: Calvinism, Compromise, Soulwinning, Sovereignty
Categories: Soulwinning, Sovereignty •
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November 17, 2006 by johngoetsch
From time to time I hear people criticizing Fundamental Christianity as too negative. They often point to the “legalistic” rules of the Bible, the “hell fire and brimstone” preaching, or the conservative lifestyle of its followers as reasons for rejecting the message of God. The very word Baptist, or fundamentalist, or even Christian scares them. They fear that an acceptance of Bible truth will make their life miserable and lonely.
Recently, I was preaching the 30th year anniversary for Pastor Jim Bailey and the Bible Baptist Church in Ukiah, California. On Saturday morning, I joined the church family as they were endeavoring to knock on every door in town for the Anniversary Sunday. The pastor dropped me off at some apartment buildings, and I started down the short entrance to the building to knock some doors. As I approached the first building, a middle-aged woman came out of her apartment. I greeted her with a friendly, “Good Morning,” but she brushed past me, scowled gruffly, and uttered a few choice words. I chalked it up to her probably having a rough morning and proceeded to the first door.
When I got to the upper floor of the second building, I could see across the street from the apartments where I was working. I noticed this same lady sitting in a chair in front of a small white building that appeared to be some kind of a business. I thought, “Maybe I’ll get a chance to speak with her again if I cross the street on my way back to the car.” When I finished the apartments about an hour later, I headed across the street, but to my dismay, she was gone. Read more »
Tags: Emerging Church, Soulwinning
Categories: Soulwinning, Uncategorized •
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