Lukewarm No More - Part 20 — George Verwer

Boldness Against Spiritual Complacency

I think it's this wimp factor, this wimp factor that's invaded the Christian church that keeps us from being a little more assertive, a little more aggressive. And I pray we may somehow see that and move accordingly.

There's a fiery dart of laziness. There's a fiery dart of intellectualism. There's a fiery dart of disunity. There's a fiery dart of prayerlessness. There's a fiery dart of lack of dependence on the Holy Spirit.

There's a fiery dart of legalism and bitterness. There's a fiery dart of perfectionism. There's a fiery dart of false motivation and unbelief, much less many other things that come sort of from the outside, like the cult.

Yes, as we look at the Promised Land, in the sense being churches planted in every part of the world, there's lots of opposition, lots of opposition. The greater is He that is in us and all that comes from Him.

A United Missions Fest for Houston

I have a dream for Houston. I've come to love Houston. I have a dream. By the way, if you come to London, you go to Houston Station. The main railway station, we've got seven, eight big stations in London.

We're big in the trains. You must come and visit me in England in due course, not all at once. You go to Houston Station. It's spelled with an E. So you get an English person trying to spell your city, and you get a real chuckle.

I have a dream for Houston. I got this dream from Vancouver. Vancouver, Canada, is one of the most exciting cities in North America. In Vancouver, Canada, many years ago, 15 or more years ago, they decided they were going to have a great missions fest.

They would get as many churches as possible, I think they got 30 or 40, to sponsor a United Missions Trust. They'd be able to bring in the best communicators. They'd hire a beautiful auditorium. I remember one that I spoke at was right there, a famous auditorium along the coast, and they would launch a United Missions Fest.

They've been doing it almost every year, maybe every other year, but I think it's every year, for I guess it must be 15 years. And the money that's going out of Vancouver in the missions, the workers that are going out of Vancouver, and they have much smaller churches than we do, is quite stagnant.

Churches still have their own missions conferences. They have their own programs. But they have this mission fest, and it draws 15 ,000, 20 ,000 people. That's the kind of thing we should be having in Houston.

Missionary Vision and Reaching the Unreached

The Lord is worthy. We now have these great men's meetings. Promise Keepers, great. It's at least, you know, it's at least halfway. What about the women? The fact is, as far as I can see, this Promise Keepers thing, again, is a very introspective thing toward our country and toward men and toward the home, and I think it's great.

But if we start thinking about the rest of the world, those of us with a missionary vision are going to want to do some big things for missions. Now, in God's sovereignty, if it happens on a local church level, praise God.

But you see, when you have a big missions fest like that, and we can at this stage only pray about it, then churches that are on the periphery of missions are forced into contact with churches that are on the cutting edge of missions as your church, and that cross-pollinization is used of the Spirit of God, that unity, that united testimony, to get 10 ,000 people praising God, committed to reaching the unreached people, committing to the 1040 window.

Mission Agencies and Cooperation Among Churches

So the workers go out from their own churches. All the mission agencies come together. They must have 50 mission agencies or more come together in Vancouver. Grand Rapids tried a similar thing. It was good.

It wasn't as successful. Other Canadian cities have done it. Colorado Springs tried it. Churches at present in Colorado Springs are in great disarray and great division, so they haven't been able to do so well in Colorado Springs.

Traditionally, in our nation, churches don't get on with each other. I believe it's a sad state of affairs. I'm talking about Bible-believing churches. I'm not talking about liberals, New Age freaks, Christ-denying places, or even extremist groups that believe everybody else except their church is going to hell.

You'll always have periphery groups, but somehow if those who believe in world mission, those who believe the Bible is the word of God, those who want to see something a little bigger happen in our city and in our state and in our nation for the cause of mission, would start dreaming and start praying.

Caleb and Joshua: A Proactive Faith in the Face of Opposition

If somehow we could have some Caleb's and some Joshua's, I believe we could turn the corner in terms of the money and the prayer and the workers that desperately need to finish the task or at least to do what God wants us to do in this generation.

Yes, there are many enemies. There are many problems. And I'm sure to this suggestion I've just made, people could counter with all kinds of problems. But I want to be a Caleb. I want to be a Joshua. I want to be proactive.

I want to dream dreams. I want to have high goals. I want to go to glory, running the race with all my heart. I have a close friend named Dave Hadley. He had a lot of rough things going on in his life.

Remembering Dave Hadley and Finishing the Race

Last time I think I was with him was in Singapore where we spent part of my birthday together. Dave was a deep-sea diver in the North Sea, almost died. Dave was one of the welders on our ship, hour after hour, day after day, stinking copper dams in the bottom of the ship, welding, risking his own health.

Just got a phone call today. My friend Dave, just my age in his 50s, massive heart attack. He's gone. He's in glory. I want to dedicate this little Monday night meeting to my friend Dave Hadley. He died in the race, focused on Christ.

That's the only way. That's the only way a Christian should ever be taken to glory. Let's dream dreams. Let's not get wound up focusing on the problems too much. Let's somehow be proactive as we consider a world of six billion souls, as we consider the 1040 window with thousands of people's groups where the church is not yet born, as we consider the phenomenal invasion of Muslims into Europe and into the United States, as we consider the phenomenal growth of the cults of the new age.

Dreaming and Praying for a Missionary Breakthrough

Let's determine to be Caleb's, to be Joshua's. We delight in the Lord. He'll give us the land. Let's go up. We are able, we are able to overcome. Let us pray. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the phenomenal example of Caleb and Joshua, the vision, the great vision they had.

They saw the problems. They had to listen to all the scared, frightened people, and yet they decided to go forward and be proactive. Lord, you know our heart. You know the problems we wrestle with. You know all the problems I'm wrestling with right across the planet.

Prayer for the Hadley Family and Missionary Work

You know that dear woman, Jo Hadley, who's now alone with her daughter, will be at her husband's funeral in the next few days, and we pray for her and commit her to you. We thank you for her work there in the Muslim world and especially in Jordan.

The years that you gave them in Jordan, in that hospital, serving and loving. The years you gave them in the ships. The years you gave them in Singapore, and we commit this widow and her child to you.

Lord, we want to be proactive by your power. In Jesus' name, amen.