February 4, 2016
Moses Born Again in Malawi
The prophet Jeremiah grew tired of preaching to people who rejected his message. He said, “The word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot” (Jeremiah 20:8-9).
Many WEI teachers can identify with Jeremiah. You send hundreds of lessons to students, and half of them drop out after the first few lessons. Others argue with you. But from time to time, you find a student who is receptive to the gospel—who responds to the Lord and is born again of water and the Spirit. That fills your heart with joy and rekindles the fire that burns within you.
Someone has said, “It is easy to determine when something is aflame. It ignites other material. Any fire that does not spread will eventually go out.”
A church without evangelism is a dying church. The Christian who is “controlled by the Spirit,” indwelt by the Spirit, “led by the Spirit,” helped by the Spirit, and empowered by the Spirit (Romans 8:6, 9, 14, 26; Eph. 3:16) is a Christian whose evangelistic fervor cannot be extinguished.
In 1985, the Times-Reporter of New Philadelphia, Ohio reported that a group of 400 people gathered around a municipal swimming pool in New Orleans to celebrate the first summer in memory that no one had drowned in city pools. The crowd that gathered included 200 life guards. As the party broke up and the four life guards on duty cleared the pool, they found the fully-clothed body of thirty-one year old Jerome Moody in the deep end of the pool. He had drowned surrounded by life guards celebrating their successful season.
Let us not make the same mistake by ignoring people who are drowning in sin and letting them perish while we enjoy life and celebrate our successes.
Thank you, dear friends, for your support and encouragement. We are working together to seek and save the lost. We appreciate you, and we love you with the love of God. —Dick & Maudine
