Where O Where? It's Over There, or There, or It Could Be Over There

Recently I went to a very large hardware store to purchase a needed product.

I did not know where to look so approached two employees to ask help. They were talking so I waited politely next to them. However, neither acknowledged me, and when they finished talking, both of them walked away in different directions!

So I approached another walking towards me, but he did not stop when I asked him for help to find where an item was located; he simply pointed and said “Over there”. Now where was "there?" as he had pointed towards 3500 or so shelves covering half an acre!

I came to what I thought maybe "there" and asked another worker who said, " I don't know, look on the shelf over there." I went over there, but what shelf?

After 15 minutes looking at several shelves there and there and there, I finally had to leave.

When my wife asked what took so long, she looked confused when I simply said, "I was there and there and there. Where I do not know, but ‘over there’."

​Do we as Christians do something similar to make it difficult for people to hear and know the one place to obtain salvation, forgiveness of sin, redemption, how to go to heaven or do we simply point quickly in any directions and say "over there," or do we take them by the hand and lead them directly to the Savior through the Gospel?

A Few Suggestions Regarding "One Aspect" of the Job Description/Responsibilities of Church Mission Committee/Council Members

Dear Mission Pastors and Church Mission Council Members,

Hello friends. Thank you for your concern for missions and worldwide out reach of the Gospel. May our Lord be praised!

We meet with mission committees worldwide as they ask for help and advice to be effective as a committee.

Over the years we have worked much with them, since the world missions scene is constantly changing and responsibilities of committees expand.

I have written the following simple challenge to committee members to help them understand the importance of their job before accepting a position on a committee.

It may be a little outdated but would you mind commenting on it and add what is needed so I can share with others? Would it also be possible to send me your committee guidelines?

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Suggestions Regarding "One Aspect" of the Job Description/Responsibilities of Church Mission Committee/Council Members:

It is a joy to meet, fellowship, plan and advise mission committees worldwide. Usually members are dedicated men and women of God who serve as volunteers to advance the Gospel to the nations.

It is discouraging sometimes, however, for missionaries on furlough/home assignment to meet with the mission committees of supporting churches and discover the members know little or nothing of the missionaries’ calling, history, life, family or ministry.

The missionaries are asked questions such as, "Where do you serve?" "Do you have children?" "How many?” “How long has our church supported you?" etc.

A missions committee should require certain things of their missionaries such as doctrinal integrity, regular communications, etc.

Equally important for the church leadership and elders is to have simple but important guidelines for each member serving on the missions committee.

As a start here are some vitally important responsibilities:

1. The know the testimony and history of each church-supported missionary.
2. To receive and read the regular prayer and ministry communication newsletters from each missionary.
3. To be familiar and current with the family (each child) of the missionary.
4. To commit to praying for each missionary.
5. To write the missionary regularly (every three months or so).
6. The committee should meet at least every other month to review the ministry of each missionary and to pray, plan, and make decisions for the advancement of world missions.

These are "simple suggestions" for churches and can be adjusted as needed.

Do We Break Christian Fellowship Over Dancing and Drinking?

Let's be careful about cutting off friends, relatives, and, especially, other Christians over matters we may not agree on -- matters (and even personal convictions) about personalities and practices like sipping wine, drinking beer, and dancing.

There are some Christian speakers that I do not appreciate at all, but I have friends who think he is great. So, do we break fellowship? Cannot we fellowship in Christ and still not agree on personalities who we like or do not?

Alcohol helped destroy my family so the day the Lord brought me to Himself, I gave it up immediately! To me it seems as if Scripture teaches that we as believers should not drink, but some of my Christian friends feel they are "free" to do so. (The book of Proverbs teaches that leaders definitely should not drink, and as all Christians are to be leaders and examples in life. Perhaps this shows none of us should drink.) So, do I break fellowship with them or do they break with me labeling me a legalist?

Dancing has hit the church big time – dancing at weddings, parties, etc. it is amazing to see how many Christians know all the modern songs and "dancing moves." Drinking, parties, and dancing were my life; so when Christ saved me, I gave it up! And yes, it still bothers me to see how so many of my fellow brothers and sisters dance at weddings, Christmas presentations, dramas, and even church-sponsored activities. But, my question again is, do I break fellowship with fellow godly believers who feel perfectly fine with "shaking it up a little?"

So dear friends, let's settle these matters in our own hearts, and be careful about separating ourselves from other godly men and women because of personalities or practices.

God's Word says, "Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near." (Philippians 4:5). Today is a good day to be "gentle" with each other!

Christian Wedding or Las Vegas Floor Show?

It is embarrassing to go to some weddings, even Christian ones!

Older and younger Christian women, who have always dressed modestly and appropriately, seem to throw off all restraints at a wedding to dress in scanty attire fit only for burlesque.

Why is this? Why suddenly do they dress like a woman of the street instead of for God and His glory?

Question for discussion: In counseling and planning with couple and their families, would it not be wise for a pastor, leaders and godly women of the church to give some dress guidelines especially for the wedding party?

To ask them, "Is your wedding going to honor Christ and the institution of Christian marriage, or is going to be remembered as a Las Vegas floor show?"

What's All This Expert Talk On Missions (My Way is the ONLY Way)

It is sad to be confronted in the media (face book, blogs, e-publications, etc.) by mission experts which are really just opinions (and, excuse me, just plain dumb, stupid and especially un-biblical)!

At a conference for pastors, one mission leader spoke his opinions which came across very powerfully but were certainly not biblical! However, these opinions were accepted as gospel truth by the many pastors and others present. Even though the conference leaders were contacted about this, they continue to have this 'missions expert' speak often.

It is the false teaching that most countries have sufficient doctors, nurses, school teachers, builders, sports personnel, vocational teachers, etc. so they can handle these areas of need and what we, the evangelical church, only need to do is to send trainers of pastors!

Oh really? Is that what we do in the US, in Canada, NZ, the U.K., etc., just train pastors and forget Sunday school, youth programs, men's fellowships, camps, and retreats?

So in a country like the Philippines, with a population of over 100 million with 90 million still without Christ, with several hundred thousand street children and orphans, unreached tribes, millions of neglected poor in slums, severely violent overcrowded prisons, etc., do we not send missionaries to these needy ones? Missionaries with the Gospel, discipleship, and compassionate care?

Yes, we need hundreds of older missionaries to work with the 41,000 untrained pastors of the Philippines, but also hundreds of additional missionaries to serve with the Gospel and compassionate care among the unreached!

So feel free to share opinions about methods, but remember that your methods and opinions are not to take the place of the biblical and clear teaching of obeying the Great Commission!

Rome Versus the Bible

by Michael Gendron

What would you do if you discovered many of the teachings of Roman Catholicism are opposed to the Bible?

Would you choose to believe the Word of God or the words of men? It is impossible to believe both. (Paragraph numbers in parenthesis are from the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994).

Authority

The Bible teaches Scripture has authority over the church. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16).

Catholicism teaches the Church has authority over Scriptures. The manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church ...to the Pope and to the bishops (100,119).

Justification

The Bible teaches man is justified once by faith and justification provides a permanent right standing before God and results in glorification (Romans 8:30).  To the man who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness (Romans 4:5).

Catholicism teaches man is justified repeatedly by sacraments and works because he loses the grace of justification each time a mortal sin is committed.

The sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification (1446).

Regeneration

The Bible teaches man is regenerated by the Holy Spirit. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body (1 Cor. 12:13). From the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth (2 Thes.  2 :13, Titus 3:5).

Catholicism teaches water baptism is the sacrament of regeneration (1213). The water of Baptism truly signifies our birth into the divine life (694).

Salvation

The Bible teaches man is saved by God's unmerited grace. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith --and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast (Eph.  2:8-9).

Catholicism teaches man is saved by meriting the graces needed for salvation. We can merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for the attainment of eternal life (2010).

The Bible teaches man is saved for good works. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10).

Catholicism teaches man is saved by good works. In this way they attain their own salvation and cooperate in saving their brothers (1477).

The Bible teaches man is saved for all eternity. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. (Eph.  1:13-14).

Catholicism teaches man is saved only until the next mortal sin is committed. Those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell (1035).

The Bible teaches salvation is offered to those outside the church. "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors as though God were making His appeal through us, be reconciled to God" (2 Cor.  5:20).

Catholicism teaches salvation is offered through the Church. Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Church is necessary for salvation. Anyone refusing to enter it or remain in it cannot be saved (846).

The Bible teaches that all sins are purified by the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7).

Catholicism teaches some sins are purified by the fires of Purgatory. They undergo purification in Purgatory, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven (1030-31).

Saints and Priests

The Bible teaches man becomes a saint when the Spirit baptizes him into the body of   Christ. (Eph. 4:11-12).

Catholicism teaches man becomes a saint only if the Pope canonizes him. This occurs when he solemnly proclaims that they practiced a heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace (828).

The Bible teaches every Christian is a priest and a member of the royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).

Catholicism teaches every man needs a priest for salvation. Catholic priests guarantee that Christ is acting in the sacraments which are necessary for salvation (1120-29).

The Lord’s Supper

The Bible teaches the Lord 's Supper is a memorial. "Do this in remembrance of me" (1 Cor. 11:24-25).

Catholicism teaches the Lord's Supper is a sacrifice. The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice...the same Christ who offered Himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner. (1367)

The Bible teaches that believers receive Jesus once, spiritually, in the heart. God... put his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee (2 Cor. 1:22).

Catholicism teaches Catholics receive Jesus physically, frequently, in the stomach. The body, blood ...soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ...is truly, really and substantially contained in the Eucharist (1374-78).

Condemnation

The Bible condemns anyone who perverts the Gospel including the Roman Catholic clergy. If we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! (Gal. 1:6-9).

Catholicism condemns with over 100 anathemas those who believe the Bible instead of the Canons of the Council of Trent. These condemnations are still in effect today.

These thirteen teachings of Roman Catholicism demonstrate how the traditions of men can nullify and oppose the Word of God (Mark 7:7-13). True saving faith is granted by God as people hear and believe His Word (Rom. 10:17). Eternal life can be received only as a gift of God's grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Accordingly, we must come to the cross of Christ with empty hands of faith, leaving everything behind, except our sins (2 Cor.  5:21).

Proclaiming the Gospel

Evangelist Mike Gendron

PO Box 940871

Plano, TX 75094

Phone: 972-495-0485

www.ProclaimingTheGospel.org

Bible quotes: The New American Bible for Catholics.

Catechism references: Catechism of the Catholic Church, @ 1994 by the United States Catholic Conference.

What Jesus Says, He Does

When senators, congressmen, mayors, and presidents run for office, they promise and say many things. As you know most of what is promised is never done. It reminds us of the saying, 'When all is said and done, a lot more is said than ever done!"

This is not so however, with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord of lords and King of kings is absolutely true and honest and fulfills everything He has said. What He says, He does!

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus said that men shall not live on bread alone. He didn't and we try but can't.

He said you shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only. He did.

Jesus said He would preach the Gospel to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recover the sight of the blind, to set free those who are down trodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord; He did all of these.

Also in the book of Luke, Jesus said that He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He did.

Jesus said that He, as the bridegroom, would be taken away from his disciples. He was.

He said that He, the Son of Man, would suffer many things and be rejected the elders, rejected by the chief priests and the scribes, that He would be killed, but be raised up on the third day. He was.

Jesus said that these words were to sink into our ears because the Son of Man was going to be delivered into the hands of man. He was.

Continuing in the book of Luke, Jesus said that as Jonah was a sign to the wicked generation that He, the Son of Man would also be a sign to His generation. He was a sign.

He said, He would perish in Jerusalem. He did.

Jesus said that He will confess us before His Father if we will confess Him before men. He will. He said that He came to cast fire upon the earth. He did.

Jesus said the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, that we are to beseech Him, the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest field. He will if we will obey Him.

He said that He, the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. He has saved. He will continue to save!

Jesus said that heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will not pass away. They haven't and they won't.

Jesus said in Luke 22:26 & 27, "Let him who is the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves." Jesus was the example of true servanthood.

And near the end of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus said, "But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God," He is, friends, He is. The Lord Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God.

3 Practical Steps to Resist the Tyranny of Tolerance

by Jonathan Morrow

Is it OK to disagree with other peoples’ deeply held beliefs anymore? You’ve heard the buzzwords: Coexist. Hate speech. Discrimination. Micro-aggressions. Trigger warnings. Speech codes. It’s becoming obvious to anyone paying attention to the media these days that certain moral and religious viewpoints are simply no longer allowed in our classrooms or broader culture. They are either dismissed without argument as “irrational” or the people who hold these views are publicly shamed or even shouted down. I call this new cultural reality the Tyranny of Tolerance. Read more ...

Is Jesus God?

by Ron Rhodes

Is Jesus really God? There are many cults and false religions today that deny it. What is the truth about Jesus Christ? We turn to the Scriptures for the answer.

Is Jesus really God? There are many cults and false religions today that deny it. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, believe Jesus was created by the Father billions of years ago as the Archangel Michael and is hence a “lesser god” than the Father. The Mormons say Jesus was born as the first and greatest spirit child of the Heavenly Father and heavenly mother, and was the spirit-brother of Lucifer. New Agers claim Jesus was an enlightened master. Unitarian Universalists say Jesus was just a good moral teacher. What is the truth about Jesus Christ? Read more ...

Why Read a Good Book

by Jim Elliff

As an old man Paul directed Timothy to “bring the books, but especially the parchments” on his return trip. Luther, who wrote a book or large tract every two weeks from 1519 until the end of his life, said “Printing is the highest and ultimate gift of God.”

Richard Baxter the Puritan pastor in Kidderminster, England, had a relish for books. He was converted at age 14 through reading Sibbes’ Bruised Reed purchased by his father from a peddler, and “a little piece of Perkins’ Works” which was owned by one of the servants.

When buying books remember the following: 1. Buy only the best books since you will only read a few hundred in your lifetime. When possible seek a recommendation first. Read more ...

Let's Be Thankful for Everything (and Teach our Children to be also)!

I was shocked recently at church. I had complimented a teenage girl on her mother's hard work for the church and she said, "Yes that's my mom, I'm so thankful for her" and then she began to list all the things she was thankful for in her mother, father and sister!

Our 17-year-old grandson is with us for a week (after working six weeks) before returning to his home and missionary parents and last year of high school in the Philippines. Even though our apartment is very small and he needs to sleep on the floor, he not only keeps things tidy and clean, clears the table after meals, runs errands for us, is polite and kind to all (actually talks as a teenager), but he says "thank you" for everything! Wow! Everything! Yes, wow!

If the Word of God says to be thankful in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”), then why, especially as Christians, are we not thankful in everything?

So many never say thanks, especially children and many adults! Even if you hint, they do not seem to know what being grateful is.

Parents, teach your little ones to look you in the eye and say, "Thank you!" Yes, teach them to say "thank you" for everything!

Why? Because the Bible says so, and as a result, they will grow into teenagers and adults who are kind, grateful, happy, and obedient!

If you do not teach thankfulness to your children, they will be considered by others as selfish, rude, discourteous and, therefore, a future embarrassment to you as parents, grandparents, their few friends, and in the end themselves.

Saying "thank you" for everything will help them, especially if they are extremely shy, not to have a privileged attitude (thinking themselves rich and well-to-do).

Teach your children to write thank you notes for gifts and things done for them by others such as teachers, relatives, church pastors/staff, and many others.

The Word of God says to train a child in the way they should go (Proverbs 22: 6). Let's have faith to practice this ourselves to be thankful. And if we are parents, to teach our children and young people to "be thankful!" to all including Sunday School teachers, pastors, youth leaders, etc.).

75 Astonishing Things that Happen at Conversion

by Paul Tautges

What words could we use to describe God’s grace toward sinners like us? Amazing? Yes. Extravagant? For sure. Astonishing? Absolutely!

The apostle Paul was a man who never got over the grace of God…and neither should we. As the Holy Spirit guided him along, he edified the believers at Ephesus by expounding on “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7). I want to do the same in today’s post.

Recently, I spent some time thinking about all that God accomplishes in an instant, at the moment of conversion, and what He continues to work to its ultimate completion in the day we see Him in glory (Phil 1:6). The result was a list of 75 amazing works of God. With a list that long, and interconnected, categorizing them into smaller chunks was quite a challenge. But I finally had to decide on a manner of grouping, inadequate as it may be. 

Take time to meditate on these astonishing realities, personally, or in your small group. I hope this meditation on the riches of God’s grace and kindness in Christ will stir our hearts toward worship and will encourage our spiritual growth. Read more ...

Sent ≠ Forgotten: A Practical Way to Care for Missionaries

by Zach Bradley

When I was six years old my parents accidentally forgot me at church. Both of them had driven that day, and they simply pulled away thinking I was in the other vehicle. Meanwhile, I sat happily on the front steps, waving goodbye to friends. At first the autonomy of it all was pretty cool. But when the last car left the parking lot, I began to feel six years old. We lived only two miles away, but less than five minutes alone was enough to convince me—it stinks to be forgotten.

Now multiply that by thousands of miles and several years. Perhaps you start to get a feel for what missionaries experience when their sending churches lose touch. Read more ...

Why WOULD Anyone Sing in Church These Days?

by Jonathan Aigner

Why don’t people sing in church anymore? 

A quick trip down Google’s memory lane reveals that the internet has been talking about this regularly since at least 2012. And everyone seems to know why.

Nobody knows the songs.

Singing makes men uncomfortable.

It’s just a performance.

We don’t love Jesus enough.

There is truth to some of these points, but the longer I think about this problem, the more I’m convinced we’re asking the wrong question. Instead of figuring out why people aren’t singing, we need to turn around, look at ourselves, and ask, “Why would they sing?”

See, when it comes to our sacred discipline of congregational singing, a lot has changed in our recent history. Read more ...

Reaching the World with the Gospel – Let’s Get On with It!

If missions are not careful, they may become like the old empty cathedrals in Europe. Sidetracked, our main activities could become: building retirement homes, increasing allotments, upgrading insurance, and obtaining nicer offices instead of taking the Gospel to the masses.

 If we get sidetracked with the baby buster, seeker or warfare seminar mentality instead of taking the message of the Gospel to the lost, missions in the future may be nothing more than a shell, possibly with lots of activity but with no spiritual life.

 As we approach 2017, our purpose should be to “Proclaim Him [Christ], admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ” (Colossians 1:28).

All evangelical missions and churches need to plan to evangelize and disciple the millions in India, in lost Europe, Muslim Africa, and the Middle East, as well as the world’s 150 million street children, the 100 thousand children and 400 thousand estimated to be in the sex trade in the Philippines, as well as the major unreached cities of the world. There are over 400 unchurched slum areas of Manila and the over nine million poor of Calcutta. This will take more than “supporting a national worker or needy child” (each of us should do both!).

Churches and missions need to recapture the word “sacrifice” for the sake of the lost. Let’s not wait for the future. Let’s reach our generation now with the Gospel.

Charles Spurgeon said from his bed of sickness, “If you do not wish to be full of regrets when you are obliged to lie still, work while you can. If you desire to make a sickbed as soft as it can be, do not stuff it with mournful reflections that you wasted time when you were in health and strength!”

Why don’t some of us older pastors and missionaries forget about retirement, break out of the “we deserve a break” mold, and give all we have before death for the Gospel’s sake and God’s glory?

We shouldn’t just talk about our heroes such as Paul, C.T. Studd, Hudson Taylor, George Whitefield, David Livingstone, L.E. Maxwell, William Booth, and Amy Carmichael; let’s emulate them!

Missionaries, pastors, and Christian workers today can recommit ourselves to die in the battle if need be with our backs bent under the Gospel plow and our bodies worn out in ministry for the masses who need the Gospel of salvation in Christ. “And for this purpose [we] labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within [us]” (Colossians 1:29).

Why They Don’t Sing on Sunday Anymore

by Thom Schultz

Looking around the church 

last Sunday I noticed that the majority weren’t singing. And most of those who were singing barely moved their lips. The only voices I actually heard were those on stage with microphones.

That’s been the case for years now–in churches large and small. What used to be congregational singing has become congregational staring.

Even when the chipper “worship leader” in contemporary churches bounds on stage and predictably beckons everyone to “stand and worship,” the people compliantly obey the stand command, but then they turn into mute mannequins.

What’s behind this phenomenon?  Read more ...

Can a Non-Christian Play in a Worship Band?

Churches want the best players to play the drums, guitars, keyboard in the worship band. Is it therefore okay to enlist a tattooed, longhaired, rough new believer, shallow Christian or a non- Christian to the band because they are the better musicians?

So often in churches I speak, the members of the band stand apart from the hungry listeners to the Word. They lounge around, take smoke breaks, seeming to disregard the things of God and His Word.

But they are enlisted and hired because they are the best; but are they?

Can you really play to the glory and praise and worship of God if you do not know Him through the Gospel?

Read more in an article, The Tone Deaf Singer… What do you think?

God’s Gift to me of Cancer

Many years ago, I was driving with my son, Robby, and his brand-new finance and the gas tank was empty. I kept asking Robby to stop and get some gas, but he kept saying “Dad, I only use Chevron gas.” We kept driving, passing station after station, and I was really getting worried. Finally we found a Chevron. While Robby filled the car I went into the station to pay. The attendant noticed I was in pain and asked what was wrong. I thanked her for asking and explained that I was suffering from the side effects of chemotherapy for cancer. She asked if it was serious and I said that it was. “Oh,” she said, “I’m so sorry.”

“That’s okay,” I responded; “I do not enjoy cancer, or the pain, but I have to face the fact that I’m dying. However, when I do die, I’ll go to Heaven.” Then I asked politely, “Ma’am, when you die, will you go to Heaven?” “I think so, for I have a relationship with God,” she answered. “What kind of a relationship?” I asked. “well,” she continued, “I’m a recovering drug addict… heroin, cocaine… you name it, I’ve taken it; and without some help from above I wouldn’t be able to make it.”

“Would you like to know for sure you will go to Heaven?” I asked. “Yes, I would,” she answered. Other customers were arriving and the phone was ringing, so I quickly said, “You need to put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone gives salvation. Here is a booklet that will explain.” As she reached to pick up the phone, she thanked me and took the booklet. As we drove away, she was reading.

This quick three-minute conversation all happened as a result of my pain; as a result of cancer. This is one reason I can say that God, my Heavenly Father, has given me sickness-that He has “gifted me with cancer.” Yes, it is for His glory and for my good, but also that others may benefit from God’s mercy and grace as well… such as the woman at the Chevron station.

Tribute to L.E. Maxwell

L.E. Maxwell, founder and late President of Prairie Bible Institute (PBI) was original, colorful, very Godly and one who, like Daniel in his old age, possessed an extraordinary spirit (Daniel 6:1-23). Mr. Maxwell was always in a hurry for God but never rushed. He preached the deep truths of God's Word, but they were understandable and plain to ordinary men and women. He loved his students and we loved and honored him. Even though he worked faithfully in administrating the large PBI ministries, his first love was teaching the Word to his students in the classroom, preaching the Word in the pulpit, and challenging the church to take the Word to the masses of the world at missions conferences.

Some of the sayings of Mr. Maxwell were:

• "The hardest thing in the world is to keep balanced."
• "Faith and life always go together. Believe and behave!"
• 'They have made fun of me all my life. When they quit doing it, I expect it will be because I am backslidden."
• "He is great, and he alone, who serves a greatness not his own."
• "No cross, no crown."
• "A man wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package."
• "If you lay up for rainy days, God will see to it that you get them."
• 'The greatest mission is sub-mission."
• "The Lord guides whom He governs."
• "Hoping for nothing!"
• "Bless the women out there who are doing a man's job."
• "There is no fool like an old fool."
• "Jesus didn't come to make bad men good; He came to make dead men live."
• "Never had the church so much influence over the world as when she had nothing to do with the world."
• "We cannot live in the flesh and do the work of the spirit."
• "Leadership (needed) in missions is not made by education, not won by promotion, but only by many prayers and confessions of sin, and heart-searchings and humblings and self-surrender before God and men."

 One winter when my wife, Margaret, was in her last year at PBI, rushing from one building to another because of the cold, she passed through one of the 'steam clouds' coming out a vent from a steam tunnel under the sidewalk. As she passed through it, she was suddenly face to face with Mr. Maxwell all bundled up and out on one of his walks. He jokingly grabbed Margaret by the shoulders and laughing said, "Are you running on your own steam?"

On a brief trip from the Philippines years ago I visited Three Hills several months before Mr. Maxwell's death. I asked permission of Mrs. Maxwell and Grandpa Bob Sinclair, who helped to care for Mr. Maxwell, for permission to visit him. He was suffering from Parkinson’s disease and needed constant care.

It was difficult for Mr. Maxwell to have visitors, but I was given permission to spend a short time with him. Late one night I had the great honor of sitting for nearly an hour with Mr. Maxwell, the great soldier for Christ, holding both his hands in mine and telling him how much he was loved and appreciated by many, many people around the world.

When it came time for him to retire, I helped him to his bed. I still remember the privilege of gently laying him down on his bed, his strong grip on my hand and his kiss on my cheek.

But what really stands out in my memory of our short time together is that even though he was unable to carry on a conversation, I saw excitement and tears of joy in his eyes as I told him story after story of his students being used around the world and how God was bringing multitudes of people to Himself!

Yes, he appreciated being loved, but he thrilled at the glory of God through missions!
  The extraordinary spirit of Mr. L.E. Maxwell was not only evident in his powerful preaching, his inductive Bible teaching, his zealous labor for God, and his dedication to family, but it was especially his Christlike, God-honoring life. He lived to train disciplined soldiers for Christ.

It was said of the great racehorse Man O'War: "Some horses led him at the first turn, some led him at the backstretch, a few led him at the far turn, but no horse ever led him in the homestretch." Some Christians run nobly at the start of the race, some do well halfway, but blessed is the man who makes a good finish. L.E. Maxwell served faithfully to the end! With the Apostle Paul he could say: I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course" (II Timothy 4:7).

Doug Nichols
PBI Graduate 1966