NEW MISSION - OLD MISSION

As you may be aware, Aïda and I left the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ in early July after 26 and 29 years respectively. If you would like to read a detailed explanation as to why, take a look at my July 10 blog post.

NEW MISSION

Sensing that God wanted us to continue ministering in Brazil, we began looking into various mission agencies to see which would be the best fit for us. I even went to the U.S. the last week of July to try to nail something down. After dozens of e-mails and phone calls, we finally settled on a mission agency that we had never heard of before until the beginning of August: PEF (Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship).

Why PEF? We aren't Presbyterian, but we can certainly identify with reformed theology. What really "sealed the deal," however, was the strong evangelistic emphasis that PEF has (hence, it's name!), including open air preaching! You see, CCC made it clear that open air preaching was not to be a part of my ministry on Crusade time. No problem - I did it in my free time. But now I am free to preach to anyone, anytime, anywhere (which just happens to be PEF's motto!).

In addition to my open air preaching PEF accepted us along with the following ministry focus and goals (as mentioned in my July 10 post):

1) REACHING , EQUIPPING and MOBILIZING students, professors and young professionals - interdenominationally - for the worldwide spiritual harvest. REACHING: through what we call "Intentional Evangelism," which is flexible in style and methodology while remaining faithful to biblical content; EQUIPPING: via one-on-one and small-group discipleship and training; MOBILIZING: through accountability to one's ministry goals, short and long-term missions, etc.

2) TRAINING Believers (those in our day-to-day ministry scope - see item 1 above - and local churches) in Bible study methods, theology, Christian worldview, apologetics and "Intentional Evangelism." Most Christians in Brazil have no idea what a Christian worldview is and do not have the basis to defend their faith; bible study and holding a consistently biblical theology are weak areas here as well (as they seem to be in the U.S. too!).

3) Teaching faithful men to do the same (i.e., spiritual leadership multiplication - 2 Tim. 2:2).

OLD MISSION

The past couple of weeks since I've been back in Brazil have been adventuresome, to say the least. Two weeks ago we went on a private, very Catholic campus (i.e., nuns in habits all over the place!) where some evangelical students who want our help study. We're not sure how much we'll be able to do there yet, but we're up for new challenges! We did get to share with a foreign student - Embelina from Cape Verde (off the coast of West Africa and where I directed CCC's first-ever international summer project back in 1998) - who, despite her Catholic upbringing, realized for the first time in her life why she needs Jesus (Rom. 3:23 & 6:23) and demonstrated repentance and faith!

Then on Friday of that same week I met with the student leader of an autonomous Christian campus group who wants our help at his private university! This student - Alexandre - started his group three years ago under the supervision of his home church (Church of the Nazarene). Since he is actively involved in evangelism via Jews for Jesus, I knew I was dealing with someone passionate about reaching the lost. Alexandre has a small group of 15-20 students who meet weekly on a campus that, although Catholic, is very open to the gospel! So we plan on starting to work with his group via theoretical and practical evangelism training as well as discipleship. We'd also like to establish a partnership between Alexandre's church and our ministry on his campus - Cândido Mendes University (UCAM). Needless-to-say, we are very excited over these developments!

This past week I went back to UCAM and tried out a new evangelistic tool - together with Alexandre - that I developed based on the evangelistic presentation on the www.TheGoodPersonTest.net link. One student, Alan (a sophomore Law School student (Yes, Law is an undergraduate major in Latin America!), willingly went through the presentation, agreeing that he had broken God's Law and that he is guilty and deserving of hell. However, what I didn't expect was his level of apathy regarding the possibility of going to hell one day. As a nominal Catholic, Alan said he was willing to risk dying in his sins and "enjoying life" now vs. getting right with God. It was a good learning experience for me on how to approach such apathy in the future, and I don't intend to waste it.

I also preached open air twice this past week, trying out my new foldable stool that I can easily carry in my backpack. I preached in a new location in Rio's business district yesterday: an outdoor amphitheater! I couldn't believe how the sound of my voice - with help from my trusty bullhorn, of course - traveled! As people passed by on their way to catch the ferry or the bus home for the long weekend, I could see their heads turn as they heard my preaching from 80-100 yards away! God's word won't return void (Is. 55:11)! Several people came to listen to my preaching in the amphitheater, and they each received gospel tracts at the end.

Some ask if the open air approach is effective. My response is,"If you're talking about seeing people fall to their knees in repentance and faith before my eyes, no. But if you're talking about God's word going out and being used by the Holy Spirit to convict the hearers of sin, righteousness and coming judgement (Jn. 16:8), my answer would be a resounding 'yes!'"

The following are two videos about campus preacher Tom Short that answer the question: "Does open air preaching work?"

You see, this aspect of evangelism has been neglected by the Evangelical Church for nearly an entire century. In the interest of being "politically correct," the Church's evangelistic philosophy backed away from the biblical approach to adopt a less aggressive approach. Some, like I used to, may think "political correctness" is a product of the 1990's, but in reality it was first popularized in Protestant circles by the liberal pastor/theologian Harry Emerson Fosdick back in the 1920's (I read this somewhere, but can't find the exact reference to support my statement . . . yet.). Eventually Fosdick's persistence, along with the inroads of theological liberalism in America's seminaries, would mean that being PC trumped being biblically honest with people. May we return to the biblical gospel and evangelism again, not worrying about preaching something that might offend. In fact, a biblical presentation of the gospel will always offend some. It goes with the territory!

"Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished" (Gal. 5:11 - NIV).

"Just as it is written, 'BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED'" (Rom. 9:33 - NASB).

"and '

A stone of stumbling,

and a rock of offense.'

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do" (1 Pet. 2:8 - ESV).

WISDOM'S WAKE-UP CALL!

“In answer to your inquiry, I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century (the 20th - my addition) will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.” - William Booth (founder of The Salvation Army)

My comment: Was Booth a prophet or what?!

Spurgeon's Challenge

“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” (Charles Spurgeon)

LIVES - FOR ALL ETERNITY - ARE AT STAKE!

We received the following e-mail from a Christian friend - by the name of Rebekah from Trinidad & Tobago - who has started an pro-life NGO because she and others see the legalization of abortion on the horizon there.

Hi!

As I am seeking to understand what is going on and to separate truth from propaganda, I have been praying and these 2 verses came up in my scripture reading this morning. I was asking myself, "What is wrong with an interfaith project? To what extent do we align or work with the unbeliever?" I have met resistance trying to raise the issue of the Emerging Church with my own pastor and his wife.  In fact, I forwarded this article and she told me, "Jesus dined with sinners." End of discussion.

I prayed, read and came across these 2 verses.  I am emotional and passionate about the things of God, His truth and in not causing any to be deceived, including myself. I was reminded that Jesus spoke the truth and this caused divisions in the world - sheep / goat; wheat / chaff.  Am I being too emotional? 

Luke 12:49-56

"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?"

Here's the answer I sent to her, which might encourage you as you "contend for the faith" (Jude 3)!

Hey Rebekah!

Yes, Jesus ate with sinners, but they were repentant ones! Otherwise, they wouldn't have approached Him. Sin hates being exposed (John 3:20), but a repentant sinner has no problem being in the light. On the common fight for life, I don't see such a problem aligning myself with unbelievers. But when it comes to biblical truth, how can I be aligned with a heretic and an apostate? False teachers were rampant in the Early Church, as they are in the Church today. How did Jesus and Paul deal with them? I'm reading The Jesus You Can't Ignore by John MacArthur (Thomas Nelson, 2009). He points out that Jesus was most opposed to the religious hypocrites of His day. Some misread this and make Jesus into someone against "legalistic" Bible teachers who advocate separation from the world and/or heresy. But Jesus was against those who, in the name of God, took people down the wide path to destruction. I'd compare them to liberal church leaders in the mainline Protestant denominations, to Emerging Church and Contemplative Spirituality leaders (e.g., Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Brennan Manning, etc.), to Prosperity Gospel leaders (Joel Olsteen, Benny Hinn, Paul & Jan Crouch, Creflo Dollar, Todd Bentley, etc.), to any leader who has moved away from orthodox Bible teaching (or is endorsing those who've moved away: Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, etc.), etc. These guys are wolves - albeit, "nice" wolves, in most cases - in sheep's clothing and are thus dangerous! They are leading so many away from solid, biblical truth! They are, frankly, leading millions to hell!

So, keep being "too emotional!" Then, let your "emotions" turn into a determined effort to expose error wherever it may be found in order to alert the Church in T&T! Lives - for all eternity - are at stake!

Go for it, Rebekah!

"Stick & Stir" Videos!

These could be the most important 14 minutes of your time that you've ever invested in something. Watch this video N-O-W!!!

The following video is possibly the most important video you will ever watch on YouTube! If you have always assumed you've been a Christian, is it possible that you've been mistaken? Paul counseled the Corinthian church to, in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?"

B-I-G CHANGES!

It sure has been a while, hasn't it? Sorry! Actually, my blog became the focus of a recent discussion between us and Campus Crusade for Christ's HR department. For that reason I decided to "lay low" for a while.

As the title says, we recently have gone through a major transition. To get right to the point, as of July 2 we are no longer missionaries with CCC! If you're shocked, imagine our shock after 29 years on staff (as of July 1, 2009), in my case, and 26 years, in Aïda's!

Now, you are probably curious as to what happened, so I will quote from an e-mail we sent out to several pastors and missions committee leaders of churches on our support team:

Dear Pastor _______,

After coming to the conclusion that differences in ministry emphases between us and Brazilian CCC were too serious to be ignored any longer, we started the process of transferring from this important nation to Jamaica - with the goal of leaving Brazil by the end of 2010. One ministry emphasis difference, for example, had to do with our style of ministry, which is that of "slugging it out in the trenches" on campus alongside our staff and students; the leadership here, however, wants all campus staff to take a more supervisory role that doesn't fit our personalities and strengths as well.

While we were deciding the best time to announce our transfer plans, unbeknownst to us the CCC leadership here had requested that CCC-U.S. terminate our ministry here in Brazil due to our ministry emphasis differences. Sometime while processing our mutual transfer requests - ours and that of CCC-Brazil - someone in the CCC Human Resources department in Orlando read my blog and concluded that we had incorporated something "incompatible" with CCC into our philosophy of evangelism: that of Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron's THE WAY OF THE MASTER (WOTM - www.wayofthemaster.com ). We didn't agree that WOTM is incompatible with CCC because, here in Brazil, we have seen a great need to make the issue of Law 2 of THE FOUR SPIRITUAL LAWS ("Man is sinful and separated from God...") as clear as possible. For example, most Spiritists (Brazil is the world's largest Spiritist nation.), not to mention students in general, do not believe that man is sinful. So, in an effort to make the gospel as clear as possible by clearly explaining man's sinfulness, we have used some of WOTM's material. We were told that in CCC the focus is on Law 1 ("God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.") and not on Law 2. That was news to us!

We've discovered that in the U.S. there have been some problems on some campuses between CCC students and some students who have adhered to the WOTM philosophy. So, in a way we can understand CCC's concerns; but Brazil is not the U.S.  In fact, most Christians here have never heard of WOTM and its emphasis on the use of God's Law in evangelism and biblical conversion via repentance and faith. But since we were trying to transfer to another country as U.S. staff, the American policy on WOTM became the main issue in our case.

As a result of all this, we were told that our philosophy of evangelism was incompatible with CCC's and that we were being "dismissed" due to "our disagreement" with CCC's philosophy of evangelism. We don't consider it so much a "disagreement," but a desire to make the issue clear. Oh well.

One other area that the Brazilian leadership team mentioned as problematic about us was that we were too concerned about the truth (of God's Word). They said that we were, as a result, being "legalistic." We believe that what was really behind their criticism was the fact that we pointed out some of the Emerging Church trends and authors adopted and promoted by some of the leadership here. Since we both got M.A.'s in Exegetical Theology (from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary in Portland, OR), we'd like to think we have a little more discernment than the average CCC staff member regarding some of the heresies that go hand in hand with the Emerging Church. We found this trend among our leadership truly disturbing, but understandable in light of their church backgrounds and the little information available in Portuguese on the Emerging Church.

Now, being dismissed was obviously a hard pill to swallow at first. We've been serving with CCC since 1980 (in my case) and 1983 (in Aïda's case)!  You may be finding it a hard pill to swallow too.  But you know what? We are actually glad that this happened now! Why? Well, we feel freed up now to pursue God's call in some needed areas here in Brazil - but now as missionaries with another mission agency.

Because we see some really great needs in Brazil and because we have a heart for evangelism and discipleship, we believe that the Lord is not yet done with us in Brazil. We welcome your input on our situation and future, but we are seriously thinking about starting a ministry with another mission here in Brazil with the following emphases:

1) REACHING , EQUIPPING  and MOBILIZING students, professors and young professionals for the worldwide spiritual harvest;*

2) Training Christians in Bible study methods, theology, Christian worldview, apologetics and "Intentional Evangelism;** and

3) Teaching faithful men to do the same (i.e., spiritual leadership multiplication - 2 Tim. 2:2).

I (Bill) am planning a trip up to Houston at the end of July for the purpose of meeting with our ministry partners there to explain in person what we see as the next steps that God is directing us to take. I also hope to replace any lost support due to our transition at that time, as well as gather resources and form partnerships that will help us launch our new ministry once back in Brazil!

One more thing: Although we will be planning out our new ministry over the next several weeks and months, we don't want to give you the idea that we won't be doing evangelism, discipleship and training. On the contrary, we hope to do get something going at a local private university (where Campus Crusade has never ministered), while developing or translating the training curriculum that we will use to equip students, professors, professionals and churches in the areas mentioned above. Believe me, we'll have our hands full as we try to start something from scratch! Exciting times!

* REACHING: through what we call "Intentional Evangelism," which is flexible in style and methodology while remaining faithful to biblical content. Of course, "Intentional Evangelism" includes one of Bill's area of expertise: open air preaching; EQUIPPING: via one-on-one and small-group discipleship and training; MOBILIZING: through accountability to one's ministry goals, short and long-term missions, etc.

** Most Christians here have no idea what a Christian worldview is and do not have the basis to defend their faith; Systematic Theology and Bible study are really weak areas here.

Well, there you have it! This is where we're at now. It's kind of sad to see CCC's leadership reject WOTM, but in light of some of the problems that have been caused for CCC, it's actually understandable. When CCC had problems with zealous tongues speakers back in the 70's, it established a policy for its staff stating that one would have to suspend the public and private use of the gift while on staff. Although CCC never took a theological position on the issue of tongues, it took a practical position on it. In the same way, CCC seems to have clamped down on those staff into WOTM without taking a theological position against it. Hopefully the day will come when WOTM will not be seen as so controversial and will be assimilated into CCC's ministry philosophy. That would be my prayer, at least.

What is ironic in all of this is that all that Ray Comfort did was research into how evangelism was done pre-20th century, bringing back an emphasis on the use of the Law and on biblical conversion via repentance and faith. Although these emphases have been labeled WOTM by many, they actually were the emphases of the Church throughout history - until the political correctness of the 20th century Church.

The Essentiality of the Resurrection!

Yes, Jesus Christ arose! So many of us yawn at these words, but if we would only stop a few minutes to ponder their importance, we would become wide-eyed with interest! Yesterday I FINALLY got to use my "The Resurrection Theories" banner on a college campus here - Fluminense Federal University (UFF). I hung my banner from a tree branch about 30 meters from the student cafeteria exit. Immediately 5 guys walked over, and three stayed to read my banner - a kind of flow chart - while I covered each theory with a large Post It note (I wanted to create curiosity :). I then began to explain, removing the Post It notes one by one, the various theories surrounding the resurrection while using my banner as my outline.

I only had 45 minutes for my debut (due to my need to be at our weekly meeting on campus), but I was able to clearly explain to four students why the theory of the resurrection of Jesus offers the best explanation for the facts surrounding what actually happened on the third day after His death! Each went away not only with a greater appreciation for the biblical account, but also with a clearer understanding of why Jesus died in the first place and the significance of the resurrection: "...if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins" (1 Cor. 15:17). And last, but not least, each heard how they could apply the sacrifice of Christ to their lives via repentance and faith! One of the three original guys - an Engineering student - asked for my e-mail after, while the fourth student came over after the other three left when he heard me say, "Do you realize that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ proves how much you deserve hell?!"

This Philosophy student was heading across campus to class, but made it a point to come back and talk to me. He confided in me that he was raised in a Protestant home - which is somewhat unusual in this predominantly Catholic country - but had abandoned his upbringing because he didn't agree with Christianity's view of God and hell. After spending some time explaining the reasonableness of hell (i.e., just punishment for sin, which is the transgression of the Law) and the Bible's teaching on it (which comes mostly from, of all people, Jesus!), I told him that if he didn't repent of his sins and place his faith/trust in Jesus as his Lord and Savior before dying, he would justly experience that which he believes does not exist. I told him that it really doesn't matter whether we believe something or not; if something exists, our belief or unbelief in it makes no difference. "Your problem," I said, "is that you've created a god in your mind that does not exist. Your 'god' would never send a person to eternal punishment. And you're right! Your 'god' would never do that because he doesn't exist!" He admitted to me that Jesus was cool, so I pointed out that practically all of our understanding of hell comes from Jesus own words. In other words, so much for sweet little "namby-pamby" Jesus, right? He had to get to class, so I encouraged him to continue thinking about the things we talked about, gave him an evangelistic tract and recommended our evangelistic website, www.EveryStudent.com (in Portuguese: www.SuaEscolha.com).

This was the start of what I hope will become at least a 3-day-a-week effort to expound apologetic material open air on the campuses here in order to then clearly explain the students' need for the gospel, not to mention clearly explain the gospel itself!

However, doing this kind of open air "speaking" - at UFF at least - will mean needing to get closer to the students! Thirty meters away has a way of not drawing much attention. I discovered that it wasn't my banner that drew those initial three Engineering students; it was the fact that they were going with three other friends to the grassy area just behind where I had set up shop. So, I hunted around the Center of Niterói after our weekly meeting for a self-standing banner holder. I found one, bought it and tried it out in front of the main bus terminal. WOW! What a difference a visual aid makes! As I stood next to my banner speaking via my bullhorn, people started stopping to read, watch and listen! And when one or two people stop, generally a small crowd will gather. And when a small crowd gathers, a larger one usually will stop. That's what happened yesterday afternoon!

I "spoke" and preached for two hours, drawing crowds of up to 25 people at a time.  The wind made things a little difficult at times, but I estimate that 75 people stopped to listen to all or part of what I had to say. Hundreds more "got an earful" as they passed! Now we'll see what the impact will be on the campuses as I try my new "toys" (i.e., my banner and holder) out on the campuses of Rio de Janeiro after next week. Why after next week? Because, due to two holidays, most universities will only be holding classes next Wednesday. This month we're having several holidays on either Tuesdays or Thursdays, which generally means no classes also on Mondays and Fridays! It's kind of crazy, but that's how things work here. It's nice when we want to have a ministry retreat, however! And it gives us as a family the opportunity to "get away" for a long weekend once in a while.