I was looking in the...
I was there in the pastor's office.
I forgot my Bible last minute, so he
loaned me his Bible.
Otherwise I'd be a Bible-less preacher.
Here I saw a book on his shelf.
My favorite book.
Well, one of my favorite books.
It's called Grace Awakening.
I know it was available in German.
It was hardback and it was very expensive.
You needed grace just to look at the
price.
God...
God spoke to me through that book.
So when I was writing my own recent
book, my latest book, for the first time
I was writing about world missions.
I was writing about the Acts 13 vision
that God had given me.
I was writing about the 300,000 workers
that we are praying for, for all of
God's work.
I decided to make a major theme in
the book, grace.
This is one of the books, because it's
a small book, that we do have available
here at the conference in big quantity.
And you can get it at a special
price.
And it's about the message of grace when
we're involved in mission and world evangelization.
How to know God's forgiveness in our own
situation, when we make mistakes and when we
sin.
How to allow the Holy Spirit to produce
a grace awakening in our own lives.
So that we know how to forgive people.
So that we know how to be big
hearted.
When people hurt us, we can forgive them.
We can go the extra mile.
We can believe the best.
As we see so many different ways of
going about things.
Even in mission work.
Even in the Muslim world.
There are many different strategies.
And there's a lot of controversy in the
church at this time.
In the United States they're having still controversy
about what translation of the Bible you should
use.
They write whole books on it.
Some will not fellowship.
They will not fellowship with people who are
studying a different translation of the Bible.
And I have no part with you.
Others are fighting over the issue of music.
What kind of music?
There are those that believe that only organ
music is worthy of the work of God.
Organ, organ music.
But there are others believe God is only
anointing guitars.
Guitars is what's the Holy Ghost doing to
them.
Guitars.
But others say no, no, no.
It's this special keyboard.
This is what has the anointing.
Not organs, not guitars.
You're laughing.
I'm glad you can laugh.
Because if you belong in the church, you're
going to do a lot of laughing or
a lot of crying.
Because God's people really do a lot of
funny things.
And when I say that, I can only
repent of some of the stupidity in my
own life.
But I can assure you with all of
my heart after 46 years in the word
of God.
These issues are not what's on the heart
of God.
You can worship with an organ, you can
worship with a guitar, you can worship with
a keyboard.
You can worship in the desert with no
instrument and just bang on your old tin
pot.
And you can worship Jesus.
But we shouldn't allow these things to divide
the body of Christ.
I'm of the guitar church.
No, I'm the keyboard church.
No, the organ church.
I've got an idea.
I'm going to start the global balloon church.
If you don't have your big globe, you
can't come to my church.
When I first started carrying this globe around
the world, I only had a small one,
it was only this big.
And I thought, then God gave me this
bigger one.
We discovered this in Germany.
That's not the reason it has a leak.
It was manufactured out in Asia and they
don't manufacture them anymore.
For those of you who are sitting in
the back, you may not realize this is
a global jacket.
This is the entire map of the world.
It doesn't look very good on me.
It's like the world is flat.
This looks so good when you put it
on a global person.
People say, why do you wear this?
I tell you, I'm not wearing it right
now in order to keep warm.
I'm wearing it for Jesus.
Because I want people to pray for the
nations of the world.
I want us to reach out to Tibet.
Afghanistan.
I want us to reach out to Germany
as well.
Because sometimes it's harder, sometimes, to go across
the street than it is to go across
the ocean.
One of the burdens I have for this
great land of Germany are the Muslim people
that God has brought here.
These Turkish people.
Pakistani people.
Many different nationalities.
Some of them have never had even a
friendly conversation with another kind of German.
Let's be honest.
Isn't it good if we can be honest?
There is racism and prejudice in every nation
of Europe and every nation in the world.
And when I meet a person that is
free from racism and prejudice, then I know
I'm with someone in which a deep work
of the Holy Spirit has taken place.
And I have met such people because they
experienced the revolution of love outlined in the
Word of God.
When I went to Mexico, God gave me
such a love for the nation of Turkey
and the Mexican people.
How could we ever think of them as
being inferior as most Americans do?
When I saw the way Mexicans were treated
by people north of the border who even
professed the name of Jesus, it was a
grievous thing in my heart.
Jesus didn't just die to save us so
we could go to heaven, of course.
That's the heart of the message of grace.
Jesus died to change us.
The Word of God says, if any person
be in Christ, they are a new creation.
One of my other books that we have
on our little display table has been republished
many times in the German language.
Jesus in the Practical Life.
If you've got a few Deutschmarks, I think
it's only 5 marks, get a copy of
this book.
Jesus wants to bring radical change into our
lives.
We will go out from here and embrace
the Turkish people in our town here in
Germany.
We will try to find out where the
mosques are.
And we will go to the mosque and
we will try to be their friends and
listen to them because many Muslims feel very
frightened, much more so in the United States
right now.
And I believe part of the problem we
have in the world today is because Christians
have neglected the Muslim world for this 1
,000 or more years because we've discovered when
you love Muslims and you give them the
Word of God and you spend time with
them some of them come to Jesus and
some who don't come to Jesus they can
still be your friend.
They can still live together in the same
town.
It's only a small percentage, a very small
percentage that become terrorists or fanatics.
But brothers and sisters, if we don't handle
the present situation right if the church especially
does not respond to this huge challenge facing
us in the world then we're going to
be facing many of these Muslims in a
very, very different way.
It's already happening and one out of every
six people in the world is a Muslim.
Just a few weeks ago after September 11th
God in a very unusual way without any
major preaching invitation I didn't have any major
preaching invitation just told me to go to
New York.
I didn't want to go.
I had just come back from the States
a missions conference and some meetings.
I had a mountain of work in my
office in my team that I'm leading and
then I told the Lord I can't get
any cheap flight.
Last minute bookings I won't get a cheap
flight so Lord I'm not going.
But I made a few phone calls and
if you can't stay over a weekend often
you have to pay a lot more for
a ticket.
I did some phoning.
Air India was giving a special offer to
New York City from London.
Round trip for 400 marks and so Monday
afternoon after my Sunday preaching I was sitting
on the Air India jet and headed for
New York City.
I said God why am I going there
and God told me you're going there to
weep.
You're going there to weep.
You see God had saved me in New
York City in a Billy Graham meeting I'll
share about that tonight 46 years ago in
Madison Square Garden.
So New York City had become a big
place in my life.
I used to go there as a young
kid.
I did a lot of stupid things in
New York City.
I climbed the Empire State Building and threw
confetti all over New York City which is
illegal and the police of course got a
hold of me.
Then I had been back there just last
June.
I was speaking at a huge Jesus music
festival in Memphis, Tennessee and my passport was
stolen so I had to go to New
York City one of the few places where
you can get a passport fast and so
I had to go to New York City
which is one of the few places where
you can get a passport fast I went
in early before things were open and I
sat at the foot of the Twin Towers
and had my morning prayer and devotions.
I went in to those magnificent buildings So
on September 11th I was on our ship
Lagos II sailing from England over to the
Netherlands and I saw those images on the
screen I don't think I've ever been the
same.
A friend of mine gave me a special
pass right to Ground Zero when I stood
in front right next to this mountain of
rubbish realizing 5000 people were dead there.
What went through my heart and mind wasn't
all good.
I had lots of struggles especially because the
terrorists were Muslims and I love Muslims.
The main thing in my life has been
the Muslim world.
In OM we do many things but the
priority for over 40 years has always been
the Muslim world.
I was so emotionally moved by this that
even before I went there I wrote an
email letter to President Bush.
I don't do things like this normally but
I felt there may be a spirit of
vengeance rather than just justice a spirit of
vengeance coming upon the American people and other
people.
And I wanted to urge the President or
anyone else who read it and many thousands
of people did to be patient and to
be compassionate and to be forgiving as we
seek justice.
I got a letter, an email from the
White House saying my email was received but
the President was not reading such emails.
Some of his top advisers were saying similar
things and I believe it was an answer
to prayer.
And so many, many weeks a number of
weeks passed before anything was done.
And now when I see the pictures on
the screen I don't know what to say
but I want to commit myself to pray
for the Afghan people once again.
To pray for the Uzbek people just to
the north.
To pray for the Tajik people just to
the north.
To pray for the Pakistanis on the east.
To pray for the Iranians on the west.
Because we've seen what God has done in
Iran.
Through the revolution then through the war with
Iraq a horrendous war with tens of thousands
dead the world hardly even paid any attention.
And yet through all that chaos thousands of
Iranians around the world have come to Jesus.
In the United States there are 50 or
more Iranian churches worshipping Jesus and winning other
Muslim Iranians to Christ.
I wanted to close by reading a passage
of scripture from Matthew chapter 9.
Turn with me in your Bible.
We see the Lord Jesus in verse 35
of Matthew 9 going about the cities and
villages.
We see Him preaching the gospel but we
see Him healing the sicknesses.
And let's read verse 36 and 37 and
38.
When He saw the multitudes He was moved
with compassion on them because they were fated
and were scattered abroad as sheep having no
shepherd.
Then said He unto His disciples The harvest
truly is plenteous but the labors are few.
And then what does God say?
Pray.
Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest He'll
send forth workers into the harvest.
I wasn't from a Christian home.
My grandfather from the Netherlands was an atheist.
My grandfather on my mother's side was Irish,
Scottish and English mixed blood.
I think that mixture is probably toxic.
He was a complete drunk.
And my grandmother divorced him.
And at 16 years of age I was
on the highway to hell.
I'll tell the story tonight.
But this little lady across from my high
school a praying woman who believed those verses
who had a vision for world mission who
received missionary prayer letters from all over the
world and she prayed through those letters.
She heard about me.
I was in trouble in the school.
I was in trouble with the police.
She put my name on her Holy Ghost
hit list.
Not only prayed that I become a Christian
she prayed specifically I would be sent as
a missionary.
Wait a minute.
How about talking to me about that?
She didn't even discuss this with me.
You know even a note a phone call
would have been polite.
New Jersey people are not known for their
politeness.
And then she sent me a spiritual hand
grenade through the mail through the post.
Spiritual hand grenade.
Gospel of John.
And God used his word to bring me
to repentance to get me into that Billy
Graham meeting and almost the same week that
he saved me he sent me as a
missionary firstly to my own ungodly high school.
Let me ask this question.
How many of you are seriously praying about
launching outside of Germany as a missionary?
Not because that's any better than staying here
but it's an important question.
You have sensed the guidance of God on
your life and you're moving out of these
borders to more unreached people.
I wonder would you just raise your hand.
That's a lot of people.
Hallelujah.
Let's pray for them.
Father this is amazing.
This is one third of the people here
who already made a commitment to go.
Lord I believe you're going to help me
change my messages or organize my next two
messages in the light of this tremendous fact.
But Lord we know the way will not
be easy.
We know 50% or more of those
who make this commitment they never actually get
there.
There's a financial mountain to move.
There's a family mountain to move.
There's a local church to be mobilized.
There are other factors in our situations that
have to be sorted out before we can
go.
So I pray for each one of these.
That these will be very special days for
them.
They may grow in wisdom and knowledge.
That they may grow in spiritual discernment.
That we will learn some basic things that
are going to help us make this happen
so that the ends of the earth feel
the impact of this meeting tonight.
Lead them to study the right books.
Give them an Antioch church or an Antioch
fellowship like Acts 13 that will stand with
them.
May they experience supernatural grace.
In Jesus' name.
I hope you'll look at this passage another
time.
Make this commitment to be a man or
a woman of prayer.
And remember what we said in the beginning.
Failure can be the back door to success.
I know God wants to use each one
of you who is here today.
You may feel very weak.
You may feel you've failed the Lord many
times in your own situation now much less
thinking about some spiritual adventure in China.
You can't even handle your little hometown in
Padacubango.
Let me say this.
For 47 years I've seen God using all
kinds of people including many thousands from the
land of Germany in Austria and Switzerland and
all over Europe.
People who never thought God could use them.
They felt they had too many problems.
Especially problems in the area of sex.
And somehow I'm the kind of guy that
goes all over the world speaking about sex.
I shouldn't do it but I do it.
And I'm always getting in trouble speaking about
sex.
I speak about Jesus.
People don't seem to bother.
I speak about world missions.
Many say praise the Lord for the vision
God has given you.
I speak about grace, grace awakening.
Oh, wonderful!
We want more about grace.
But when I start to speak about sex
somehow I get these funny looks especially if
it's in the church.
Speaking about sex in the church even recommending
that married people make sex one of the
great priorities in their life.
And saying that when single people are present
you can be stumbled by this.
I especially got difficulty here in Germany 40
years ago speaking about sex.
I think it was the interpreter he got
mixed up.
500 verses in the Bible about sex.
That's why I speak about sex.
And in my next message I'm going to
talk about sex.
Because if we don't get victory in that
area and I was taught this by Dr.
Billy Graham if we fail in this area
it will be the biggest disaster and failure
of our youth.
And so many people that we have talked
to they feel God can't use them because
they don't have absolute total 199% victory
over all sexual temptation.
And sometimes Christians have more problems than non
-Christians.
Because when they fail they carry around a
ton of guilt false guilt and some maybe
true guilt and they don't know how to
get free from that.
I wonder how many missionaries you know.
I know thousands.
Let me tell you missionaries are very sexual
people.
And that's why in Operation Mobilization we have
produced thousands and uncounted thousands of children.
And certainly who can speak against that?
We even had one man with a Bible
come through preaching against birth control.
Birth control is from the devil.
I thought it was a gift of God.
So we had a little bit of a
conflict.
And as I look back at the places
where he fellowshiped over a 15, 20 year
period he was an older guy.
He's now 90 years of age still going
strong at 90.
This man who's teaching you know as many
children as possible against birth control.
I could tell where he had spent some
time.
Because that family had 6, 7 children.
Operation Multiplication.
Don't worry.
God can use single people as well.
Single people are also sexual people.
And God has a special way of grace
for that if he calls you into that.
And we have something the world knows very
little about.
We have a relationship with Jesus and the
living God which is greater than any human
relationship no matter how great that relationship is.
Some of the most dynamic people I know
are single people.
But they have a deep relationship with the
living God that meet their needs in those
moments of loneliness and struggle.
Would you respond to this passage?
Pray that the Lord of the harvest would
send forth workers.
And I believe missionaries whatever term you want
to use.
Sometimes they're called tent makers.
Sometimes they're called ambassadors of Jesus.
Missionaries are needed as much as ever before.
We're going to talk more about that tomorrow
morning because missions has changed.
We shouldn't be going to the same countries.
A lot of countries now don't need many
foreign missionaries.
Other countries have almost no missionaries.
These are the places we've got to start
to emphasize.
And as we go we as Europeans may
not always be the leaders anymore.
We're not as humble servants and partners of
the churches and the people in those nations
where we go to.
So I'm excited about these days together.
As soon as I say that it's a
bit ridiculous to say that because I've never
had a single non-exciting day since Jesus
Christ saved me 46 years ago so I'm
not about to start tonight.
Why do I say a thing like that?
I don't want to boast.
That would be stupidity.
I'm just trying to say in my funny
way Jesus is alive.
The Holy Spirit indwells you.
That's one of the greatest things that can
ever happen.
And when you get involved in the Jesus
revolution you're going to be excited the rest
of your life.
Of course that's not on the same level.
There can be the struggles.
There can be the doubts.
All of that's part of God's great plan.
You might say, well I made a lot
of mistakes in my life.
I missed plan A.
I got away from Jesus for some years.
I think I missed plan B and missed
plan C.
I've met people who've been through three marriages.
They're probably on plan H.
You know what I say?
Praise God for a big alphabet.
Press on in the grace that is in
you in Jesus Christ.
God bless you.
Amen.