What God Is Doing — George Verwer

I bring you greetings from the crew and the staff of the ship Lagos. At present, the ship is in Sri Lanka, and from there she will be going back to India. And we just praise God for the many answers to prayer we have seen in this ministry.

God's Power at Work in Global Ministry

Recently, the ship visited Ethiopia, and we also had a program in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Where His Majesty Haile Selassie came and opened the book exhibition and also spoke about the Lord Jesus Christ.

We also had an unusual opportunity in Sudan, and in the Maldive Islands, and we also had.

A program in the Maldives.

The ship also recently was able to visit Penang in Malaysia, where the exhibition was officially opened by the Governor. We are now very much praying whether sometime in the future we should return to Thailand.

We would like you to pray that we may know the will of God. At present, I am living on the ship with my family, and actually this morning I am missing them very much. I more or less wish I was headed back in that direction, but actually I leave tomorrow for Bangladesh and Nepal.

We have had two very outstanding visits of the ship to Bangladesh. I've just come from Vietnam, and it's interesting to see the hunger for the word of God in Vietnam at this time. Also, at present, there's a great turning to Christ in Cambodia.

I was talking to a man who that day before had been having lunch with the former Supreme Court Justice of Cambodia. Some years ago, this man was actually sending Christians to jail because of getting baptized, because of their faith.

This caused him to begin to study the scriptures. Now he has become a devout follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. I would like you to turn in your Bible to the Book of Romans.

Chapter 1, verses that have meant very much to me. Chapter 1, verse 16. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. And it's amazing to see the way God's power is working in the world today. Since God has given me the opportunity to travel and to speak in many countries, I thought I would just share with you some of the things that I have seen God doing in this decade in which we live.

Tom Skinner's Life in Harlem's Gangs

The most important thing is changing individual lives. Recently, I was speaking to a man named Tom Skinner. He was reared in the section of New York City called Harlem. Some years ago, he would have been called a Negro, but today they prefer to be called black, and he is an amazing black person.

He was the son of a pastor.

But like many young people, he decided that religion was a load of nonsense. And soon Tom joined one of the toughest, most ruthless gangs in New York City. There was nothing for these people to stab one another with their knives.

That was the daily course of events. It was not easy to join that gang. It was much easier to join the church. To join the gang, they hung him up on a wooden hook and lashed him 18 times, and if he said anything, he could not join.

Soon he became the leader of that gang. To become leader, you had to challenge the existing leader to fight with knives, and he stabbed the existing leader and took over the leadership of the gang.

To become leader, you had to challenge the existing leader to fight with knives, and he took over the leadership of the gang.

He had 100 men under his leadership who would do anything he wanted them to do. They would go out in the city and have gang wars, and the police often would not bother them. And many, many people were bruised and scarred for life as they used to push broken whiskey bottles into the face of the enemy who attacked them.

People were often killed in these gang wars.

Their lives were dominated by hatred and fear and resentment and vengeance as so many people in the world today.

He was now known as one of the toughest, most ruthless men in New York, with 18 notches on his knife for 18 people he had stabbed.

He was known as one of the toughest, most ruthless men in New York, with 18 notches on his knife for 18 people he had stabbed. He was known as one of the toughest, most ruthless men in New York, with 18 notches on his knife for 18 people he had stabbed.

Tom Skinner Encounters the Gospel

One day he was sitting in his room and he was listening to the radio as he was planning a massive, one of the most largest gang wars ever planned in New York City. And as he was planning this, he was listening to his rock music on the radio.

One day, while Tom Skinner was planning a war with the gang, the largest gang war ever, as he was planning this, he was listening to his rock music on the radio.

Suddenly the music went off and somebody started preaching on the radio and he began to swear and curse, what is this, interrupting my program?

While he was listening to the radio, the music stopped and somebody started preaching. Tom got really angry and started cursing. Tom got really angry and started cursing. Why is this song stopping? And then somebody started swearing.

In cursing, he went to turn it off. But he couldn't do it. He began to listen. That night, Tom Skinner, by that radio, gave his life to Jesus Christ and the power of the gospel came into his heart.

By that radio, he changed the life of Tom Skinner. Tom gave his life. Tom received salvation that night. And he came to receive the Lord as a helper. And he went to his gang according to the law.

You didn't quit this gang without coming out either dead or with broken legs. People didn't just quit the Harlem Lords. That was the name of the gang. Yet that night, he stood before that gang. And in the power of the Holy Spirit, he told them he was leaving and that from now on, he was following Jesus Christ and that they should follow Christ and if they wanted, they could also accept Christ.

And in the power of the Holy Spirit, he stood before the gang and said.

And he walked out. As he walked down the aisle, his number two leader took a knife and was about to put it into his back. He was writhing with anger. But his arm froze in the air. He could not move his arm.

The next day he was converted to Christ. Soon about a dozen more of this gang came to know Jesus Christ and the power of God in their lives. And they began preaching everywhere. Now there are tens of thousands who have come to Christ to have their lives changed through the preaching of this young black man, Tom Skinner.

God's Work Among Young People

That is only one example of the power of God in our decade.

I could give hundreds of other examples.

God is working. I say this because sometimes you meet Christians who are so negative and they feel everything is going so wrong for the church, we have so many problems and the people are not responding and they get discouraged.

But God is working. God is working among young people. In our small work alone this summer we will have about 2 ,000 young people from almost every church moving out in the name of Christ. Many of these young people are from non-Christian backgrounds.

Some of them have been on drugs.

The big thing in the western world today is drugs. And yet we have seen how Jesus Christ is the answer even to the drug problem. Some of their lives are being destroyed by alcohol or by immorality or any one of the other subtle ways that Satan destroys people's lives.

And each one of these young persons is a testimony of the power of God. Another thing that we see as we look around the world today is an increase in work of.

The Holy Spirit and the Fruit He Produces

The Holy Spirit in people's lives. More people are studying and reading about the Holy Spirit now than ever before in history. Every two weeks there is a new book written about the Holy Spirit. And people are discovering the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Of course when Satan sees this he attacks and tries to bring confusion and tries to get people in their extremes. But God is still working.

The emphasis of God is put upon our hearts. There is not so much to talk about the Holy Spirit. Or write more books about the Holy Spirit. But to demonstrate this reality in our practical lives seven days a week in the streets and the offices and where it's hard at times to be a true believer in Jesus.

One of the most important verses in the word of God about the Holy Spirit is found in Galatians chapter five. You know there are probably quite a few things that Catholics and so-called Protestants may not be able to agree on.

But here you will find something that without question we can agree upon. It's what the Holy Spirit produces in the life of any believer, whoever he may be. For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, generous goodness, faith, meekness, self-control against such there is.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, generous goodness, faith, faith, meekness, self-control. Against such there is.

And verse 24 and 25 and 26 should be read together because it's also important. And so the true believer will have these qualities. This fruit will be coming from his life. And the book of Romans says, if you have not the Spirit of Christ, you are not of Christ.

And 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that if we don't have love, no matter what else we may have, orthodox doctrine or whatever other truth, if we don't have love, God says we are nothing. And it has been a thrilling thing to see around the world.

People pay more attention to this love that the Bible talks about on almost every other page in the New Testament. I wrote a small little book for a revolution of love. It was not a very well written book.

And yet now it's gotten into 30 languages. And some mission groups, some churches make all their people read this book as a requirement. Because more and more people of all different groups are realizing our greatest need is more of this compassion, more of this burning love of Jesus Christ operating in our hearts.

I am not saying that doctrinal proof or truth is not important. I'm not saying that.

Thamma-jao, mai-tok-taan yéi-phoot-waa aa-rui-kong-aa-rak-khor-chua-naan aa-pen-rui-ki-mai-mee-kwaa-ka-khan-lai-lai.

Once we say that, we're on a road that has no end.

Mua-taa-laak-maa-aaw-rui-rui-rak-khor-chua-waa-phoot-waan-laaw rao-kwaa-jaa-pai-aa-bon-thaan-non soon-jaa-mai-mee-thaang-thee-jaa-sin-soot-long-daa. We need truth and love.

Rao-tok-kaan-kwaam-jin Rao-tok-kaan-kwaam-rak.

Christian Love as Sacrificial Action

Like salt. The Bible says we are the salt of the earth. Salt is made up of two chemicals. Sodium and chloride. Any one of those chemicals separately, alone, if you take too much, poison.

If we take too much of each of those chemicals, it becomes a poison. But together, in love,.

Something happens in our lives. But if there is no love, we have no meaning at all. The epistle of John speaks more about love than any other epistle. Look at 1 John 3 .16. We all know John 3 .16, but what about 1 John 3 .16?

See, that's also in the Bible. By this we perceive the love of God, because He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. It's not just that Jesus died for us. Of course, that is the gospel.

Christ died on the cross for us sinners.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.

And we can only be saved by trusting in Jesus Christ.

But there is the other side.

Now as believers, we are to go and lay down our lives for one another. And I believe it's the neglect of that that often makes the church so weak in many places.

And what is the other side? The Christian is the one who is laying down his life for others. And what is the other side? What will we do in the next verse?

Such a very unpleasant verse. For whosoever has this world's good, and sees his brethren as need, and shutteth up his compassions from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

You see, the love of God is a practical thing.

It reaches out to those refugees in Bangladesh. It reaches out in compassion for the needs, both spiritual and social, in every area around us in this world that just shakes with suffering and difficulty.

This is what makes us have to travel to other parts of the world with compassion and share our love with others.

My little children, let us not love in words,.

Neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

This is what our generation needs.

Jesus' Compassionate Ministry and the Call to Action

Europe, and many other places, masses of young people,.

And especially the students, have turned away from the church. And I believe one of the reasons, because I was almost among those young people, is because so often they've had words, and talk, and so little action on a practical, personal, man-to-man level.

Jesus was a man of action. In Matthew chapter 9, you can see a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus. Matthew chapter 9. Here you see Jesus going from village to village.

Verse 35. In verse 35, chapter 9, we see Jesus going from one city to another.

Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. He was a man of action. He didn't just sit behind a desk and talk.

He went. And verse 36 explains why Jesus went. He was moved with compassion. He was moved with love. What about us? Is that the motivating, the driving power in your life this morning? Not religion. Of any brand.

It's the love of God. It's the power of God. It's Christ living in us and breathing and moving through us that we may give ourselves to others. Many young people feel the answer is material things. And when trying to get life and to get material things, they discover too late they've lost everything that really counts.

Losing Life to Find True Life in Christ

Jesus said, he who finds life will lose it. You may find success. You may find money. You may become famous. But in fact, you lose real life.

Jesus went on to say, he who loses his life for thy sake shall find it. Have you lost your life?

To find true life in Jesus Christ. That's God's way. But the decision is yours. Let us pray. Our God and Father, we thank you for your holy word. We thank you for the oneness of all true believers who have your Holy Spirit.

And who will be moved with compassion to demonstrate to a lost and dying world the living reality of Jesus Christ.

Do not let us forget these things. Do not allow us to be mere hearers of the word.

Deceiving our own selves. But by your Holy Spirit, by the resurrected Christ, make us stewards. Men of action. For your glory. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.