Skip to main content

The Harvest is Plentiful

With my age of 84 and Bessie’s death on September 18, 2010 at 91, I have spent more time thinking about death. This is not really new because on 26 September, 1950 I lost five of the men in my battle station on the USS Brush. That evening I conducted the funeral for the man who died in place of me. We buried him at sea. I was 22 years old.

I was able to speak at Bessie’s memorial service on Oct 14, 2010. She had asked me to preach the gospel. It was a great joy. I also preached the gospel at that first funeral 60 years earlier. There was a big difference. I am almost certain that fourteen of the sixteen men who died that day were not saved. Little had received Christ a few days before we hit the mine, and Fisher, when he was dying, asked me to pray for the other wounded men.

I want you to think about those people who die without Christ. In warfare we think of the people we are shooting at as the bad guys. They may be bad guys. In wars with communists, Muslims, and nations made up mostly of non-believers in Christ these men die without being saved. However we are also a nation made up of people more than half of which are not saved. When Americans die on the battlefield, some will go to the same Hell as the Muslims, and maybe under greater judgment. In wars in the 20th century, more than 100 million people were killed, more than half of them civilians, and the overwhelming majority not saved. In the same century the rest of the population of the world, times two, died from murder, disease, suicide and old age. Again, the overwhelming majority were not saved.

I rejoiced with Bessie going to be with the Lord and I am looking forward to being with Christ. I can say with Paul,
 
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.” (Philippians 1:21-26)

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'” (Matthew 9:36-38)

 
More people want into the Kingdom than there are Christians who want them in.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Old

This is a post for those who are getting old or considering themselves old, from 65-100. Right now, I am 91.* I will be 92 in October. I have my own house, but I cannot live in it alone because of my physical inability to move around. One of my sons lives with me. All of us will have to make some adjustments. That includes money, relatives, your own ability and willpower to stay independent, etc. My advice is if physically and financially you can live independently, you should certainly do that. If you do, you will still need to have visits from your family frequently. You need your family. Even if you don’t need them to take care of you, you need them for the fellowship. The more fellowship you have, the longer you’ll live. If you can stay independent do it, but only if friends and relatives can see you often. In my case, I can’t walk, and I can’t do much physically. So, whether I like it or not, someone else has to get me up, get me showered, and get me dressed. I am blessed to have

Why Is Obedience So Hard?

There are several reasons why obedience seems hard. I will comment on some of them and then speak positively on how obedience is easy. We think: 1) Obedience is an infringement on freedom. Since we are free in Christ, and obedience is somehow contrary to that freedom, we conclude that obedience is not good. Yet we know it is good. Thus, we become confused about obedience and are not single-minded. 2) Obedience is works. We who have been justified by grace through faith are opposed to works; therefore, we are opposed to obedience. 3) We have tried to obey and have failed—frequently. Therefore, the only solution is to disobey and later confess to receive forgiveness. It is easier to be forgiven by grace than to obey by effort. 4) We confuse obedience to men with obedience to God. Although these are sometimes one and the same (see Romans 13, 1 Peter 2-3, Ephesians 5-6, Colossians 3, and Titus 2), sometimes they are not the same (see Colossians 2:20-23, Mark 7, 1 Timothy 4:1-5, a

Three Types of People Christians Aren't Loving

There are three types of people in the world that Christians do not love with the Gospel . The first type are the people we witness to but do not love. The second type are the unbelievers that we do not witness to. The third are people we love but do not witness to. That sounds like doubletalk. Let’s change it. 1) We witness to people we love. 2) We love everybody and witness to them with love. As Christians, we have the fruit of the Spirit—love. We are commanded to love our neighbors and our enemies. The first thing is to have the love. The second is to choose to love our neighbors and enemies. Sometimes we can’t make the choice because we have lost the fruit of the Spirit, love. We lack the fruit of the Spirit of love because we are under the chastening of the Lord because of unconfessed sin. In order to get the love back, we must confess sin. Once we get the love back, we can choose to love our neighbors and enemies and preach the gospel to them.   Written December 22,