Timothy Board, Director of Things to Come Mission

[0:00] But, brother, Romans 15, 13 says, Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

[0:17] Dear ones, in Jesus Christ, we have because he is our living hope. How great the chasm that lay between us, how high the mountain I could not climb.

[0:51] In desperation, I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night.

[1:02] Then through the darkness, your lovingkindness tore through the shadows of my soul. The work is finished, the end is written, Jesus Christ, my living hope.

[1:26] Could he imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such found this place? The God of ages, then found the glory to wear my sin and bear my shame.

[1:46] The cross has spoken, I am forgiven. The King of kings, taught me his soul.

[1:56] Beautiful Savior, I'm yours forever. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Hallelujah!

[2:09] Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah! Love has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. You have broken every chain.

[2:20] You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Hallelujah! Praise the one who set me free.

[2:33] Hallelujah! Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope.

[2:54] Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your very party began to breathe.

[3:05] Out of the silence, the roaring lion. Declared the grave has no claim on me.

[3:17] Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your very party began to breathe.

[3:29] Out of the silence, the roaring lion. He fled the grave. He fled the grave. He has no claim on me. Jesus, yours is the victory.

[3:46] Hallelujah! Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah! Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain.

[3:59] There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Hallelujah! Praise the one who set me free.

[4:11] Hallelujah! Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope.

[4:25] Jesus Christ, my living hope. Oh God, you're my living hope.

[4:36] Oh God, you're my living hope. That's good stuff.

[4:49] Amen... ... So like I said, we are the board family. We serve full-time with Things to Commission as the development director, as I button up my shirt here.

[5:04] So thanks, brother, for reminding me on that lapel mic there. So some of you, I understand, may or may not be familiar with TCM, but that's why I figured, hey, I'll at least provide some visuals here for you this morning.

[5:24] And so if any of the children would like to come forward, or if maybe you're feeling young at heart this morning, young people, feel free, we've got some seats up here.

[5:36] And I'll do my best because I wanted to make sure to share at least some of these pictures with you this morning. Maybe I'll put my computer up here, there.

[5:47] Like I said, I did forget an adapter this morning. So let's make sure this works here. So let's go ahead and open our Bibles to Joshua chapter 4.

[6:01] So, thanks, brother. Let's go ahead and open our Bibles to Joshua chapter 4. Let me share with you about this picture here.

[6:13] Some of you, you can't see it, obviously, in the back, but if you're toward the front, you can see vaguely that it's an old black and white photo here. And if you look even a little more closely, several of the individuals in this picture are carrying an American flag.

[6:34] It's perhaps Memorial Day. There's a horse and buggy there. There's some old folks. Then there's some young whippersnappers, knee-high to a grasshopper there.

[6:47] And so this picture was taken in rural Missouri in the 1930s. Let me share with you a story or two about these individuals.

[6:59] You see this old lady here, classic old lady, grandma, ancient woman picture.

[7:12] And then there's some other young girls over here, kind of the 1920s type of haircut there. And then there's an old man in a white cowboy hat, bushy white mustache there.

[7:29] And you see this manly guy here. His name is Benjamin. Benjamin was married. Had three or four children.

[7:43] And he was antagonistic to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The story goes that his wife was getting fixed up to go to an Assembly of God tent meeting.

[7:56] And he was apparently physically abusive to his wife. And the story goes that he reportedly threw his wife across the bed and just, you know, the type of thing.

[8:10] You're not going to that tent meeting. Some time later, Benjamin, he was dying of pancreatic cancer in a Kansas City hospital.

[8:22] And he had a cousin married to a preacher by the name of Jimmy O'Dell. And Mr. O'Dell went to visit Benjamin in the Kansas City hospital to see about his soul.

[8:40] He's at death's door. To my understanding, it is uncertain whether or not Benjamin ever trusted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

[8:57] Before he died. Hebrews 9.27 says, It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the judgment. Benjamin died. His wife died of tuberculosis.

[9:09] Years later. And their children were divided up amongst the family. And this little boy, here on the horse, and this little girl, being held by her daddy, Benjamin, were raised together by their grandparents.

[9:27] And when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, this little boy right here on the horse, his name is Kenny.

[9:44] He honorably served in the United States Army in the Philippines. And after the war, having grown up dirt poor in rural Missouri, in the 30s, Depression era.

[9:59] Some of you know all about that. He settled in northern Indiana. Steel mills. Lake Michigan. Where there was work. So, Kenny, there, he worked hard.

[10:18] Well, they call him the greatest generation. Built the America which we know today as far as the most prosperous nation in history. And Benny, he, or Kenny rather, he met his wife there in northern Indiana.

[10:36] They got married and they started a family. They had three sons. And the oldest of their three sons also honorably served in the United States Marine Corps.

[10:49] And he was married July 28, 1973. Then in the early 80s, the economic downturn, he lost his job.

[11:01] Some of you remember that. The Reagan era. He lost his job. And then he was able to find work an hour away.

[11:12] Working for $5 an hour at another grocery store. And the Almighty God in His providential hand at work in His life used that commute and used the circumstances of that time to really grab Kenny Board's son, his heart, my dad.

[11:39] Grabbed his heart and providentially drew him onto himself. And my dad began listening to different evangelical Christian leaders on radio.

[11:53] Start reading the Bible. And the Lord used that to bring him into the evangelism team at the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church that we were raised in.

[12:04] And in the plan of God, the Lord used that to introduce my dad to some other guys whose hearts were on fire for the glory of God in Jesus Christ.

[12:19] And they were winning lost souls to Christ and visiting people that sent their kids to Sunday school or VBS at the church and these types of things.

[12:29] They were using D. James Kennedy's vandalism explosion at the time. And the Lord used the instrumentality of those relationships. And they got together in a Bible study.

[12:40] And then a so-called chance meeting with another guy at a radio shack. This guy was used of the Lord to introduce a dispensational understanding of the Word of God into that Bible study.

[12:52] And now, Benjamin Bord's great-grandson is a grace pastor.

[13:06] I share this story of my father's with you this Father's Day. Not necessarily as an indictment, per se, on the ungodliness of my forefathers.

[13:25] But as a testimony of the providence of God at work in our lives. Because whether out of duty or devotion, honoring our fathers is the right thing.

[13:37] And as the promise of Scripture says, that it may be well with you. At the very least, I'm thankful that my great-grandfather was a manly guy.

[13:49] I'm not a cowboy type of guy. But man, I think he just... I'm sure hope and pray that he gave his wife a real diamond ring.

[14:06] Joshua chapter 4. Take a look at this. Joshua chapter 4 verse 19. Follow along your Bibles as you read aloud from mine from the New King James this morning.

[14:18] Joshua 4 verse 19. It says, Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.

[14:32] Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What are these stones? Then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land.

[14:48] For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until we had crossed over.

[15:00] For why, look at verse 24, the purpose of this memorial, these memorial stones, the children of Israel, they came out of hundreds of years of bondage and slavery in Egypt.

[15:14] The Lord thrashed the pagan gods of Egypt. The plagues, the scripture teaches that the plagues of Egypt were Yahweh's indictment.

[15:25] They were Yahweh's judgment upon the pagan idols, the false gods of Egypt, to show forth who is the one true and living God. And he split the Red Sea.

[15:36] They crossed over on dry ground. And then they were going into the promised land. All these squatter nations there. They're laying down the gauntlet there.

[15:49] And they cross the Jordan. The Lord, once again, stopped up the Jordan. They cross over on dry ground. And they set up a memorial as a testimony for future generations as to who God is and what He has done.

[16:07] And look in verse 24. He says, That all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord. All caps. L-O-R-D.

[16:17] That's the Hebrew word. Yahweh. Jehovah. The eternally self-existing God who is the great I Am. The author of Hebrews says, For he who comes to God, apart from faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is.

[16:35] He is the God who is. And He is the God who has spoken. And He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. That's Yahweh. All caps there.

[16:45] It says that As the Lord your God, in verse 24, that the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty. You know, in my fears as to the American evangelical Christian church, as far as conservative believers in Christ, whatever they label or brand themselves as, one of my concerns is that far too many American Christians really don't believe that God's hand is, in verse 24, that it is mighty.

[17:18] It's really easy to be a cozy, comfortable, complacent Christian in America and thinking that God's hand is wimpy, milk toast, pussy, cream puff fatty, or whatever you want to call it.

[17:35] It says, but the word of God, that's why, that's why, especially as Christian men of God and fathers, called of God to sacrificially lead our families in love with wisdom, vision, and courage, we need to get our understanding of the hand of God and the church of God from the word of God, not from any Tom, Dick, or Harry who would say otherwise who are trying to think what the church is or what ought to be.

[18:04] It says right here in verse 24, that the hand of the Lord, it is mighty, why? that you may fear, that you may reverence, that you may adore, exalt, magnify, worship, the Lord, your God, forever, and ever, and ever.

[18:25] Watch this. Turn over to Judges chapter 2. Judges chapter 2, just to the right here. So Joshua, he exhorts the fathers of Israel, hey, you put up this memorial so that future generations, when they come, they ask you, are we there yet?

[18:45] Well, you can get that question too. Like we did yesterday, driving through hundreds of miles of torrential rain, getting weather reports, tornado warnings, take cover and everything, going, it's not very often you have the experience of going 25 or 30 miles an hour on I-70.

[19:06] but thankfully, we made it here safely. But watch this, Judges chapter 2, in verse 7. Now, the book of Judges is really a, the testimony of Israel in a time of tremendous spiritual decline.

[19:25] little to no godly leadership whatsoever was on the horizon. And look at this, in Judges 2, in verse 7, and the Lord raised up judges, and some of them weren't necessary paragons of virtue per se, but they were used of the Lord.

[19:42] It's called grace. Look at verse 7, And so the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which he had done for Israel.

[19:53] Now Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was 110 years old, and they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath-Heras in the mountains of Ephraim on the north side of Mount Gaiash.

[20:07] All right, verse 10. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation after them who arose after them who did not know the Lord.

[20:20] Do you watch it? Do you see that? Watch this. It says in verse 10, When all that generation, the guys who, they were contemporaries of Joshua, and then when they died, there was another generation that arose, verse 10, after them who did not know the Lord, Yahweh, nor the work which he had done for his...

[20:39] They had the foggiest idea of the Red Sea, of the Jordan River. They didn't understand the meaning of the memorial stones.

[20:50] And look at verse 11. Not only did they not understand, but always remember where there is a void, where there is a vacuum of truth, the enemy of our souls fills that...

[21:02] The enemy comes rushing in like a flood, filling it with the falsehood, lies, and deceit of the satanic slush. The enemy of our souls. Watch this in verse 11.

[21:13] Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals, false gods, pagan Canaanite deities.

[21:25] And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers who had brought them out of the land of Egypt and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them and they bowed down to them and they provoked the Lord to anger.

[21:41] They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Astreths. Whoa. What happened? What happened in the course of a generation or two here that these people arose who didn't even remember the Red Sea let alone prior to that what the Lord had done in creation and His judgment upon the wickedness of mankind in the flood.

[22:17] We thought we were in some flood yesterday, weren't we guys? and some of my kids were saying that the farmers have probably given up hope but we need to do we need to pray because a friend of mine in Wisconsin he was saying that a lot of farmers in his neck of the woods are taking their lives because they've lost hope.

[22:39] This generation they arose and they had complete ignorance as to what God had done. Watch this. Turn over to Psalm 78.

[22:50] What happened? What happened in Psalm 78? I submit to you dear ones there was a disconnect there was a short circuit the ball was dropped and something happened there as to the the patriarchs as to the fathers of Israel who apparently neglected well very clearly they neglected their manly responsibility and look in Psalm 78 this right here the historical background of this text of scripture this is the first and the longest of the historical psalms in the Old Testament it recounts Israel's national history lest we forget lest we forget this is a glorious picture picture the little girl being held by my great grandfather that's

[23:51] Dorothy she was my oldest living relative before she died and she was a professing believer in Jesus Christ herself and she's the one who gave me first hand account and testimonies of this picture I emailed this picture to her and she walked me through the testimonies and stories of these ones but look in Psalm 78 lest we forget it says give ear all my people to my law incline your ears to the words of my mouth I will open my mouth in a parable I will utter dark sayings old which we have heard and known our fathers have told us we will not hide them from their children telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he has done for he the children who would be born that they may arise and declare them to their children why verse 7 that they may set their hope in

[25:04] God and not forget the works of God but keep his commandments so here look in verse 4 it says telling to the generation to come who in other words who God is and what he has done that they may arise in verse 6 and declare them would be yet born every one of us have a responsibility to intentionally transmit the truth of God from where it is to where it is not it's called living on mission in Jesus Christ and watch this turn over to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 the apostle of grace Paul he exhorts the church in ancient Thessalonica and we included as members of the church the body of

[26:11] Christ if you're saved this morning by the grace of God through faith in the blazing center of the glory of God vested in the person and finished work of our risen Savior Jesus Christ if you're saved this morning you're baptized at the moment of salvation spiritually into the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ it's the real McCoy it's not the shadow of a Jewish ceremonial ritual in the prophetic program God if if you're saved this morning you're a member of the church the body of Christ and apostle Paul he's writing to brothers and sisters in the church just in a different location than Springfield that's all look at in first Thessalonians chapter two and look at in verse eight here of course we see in verse seven we see this tender hearted affection compassion that the apostle of grace has for these people and he says in verse eight he says so affectionately longing for you we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of

[27:14] God but also our own lives because you had become dear to us it's been said that you can impress people from a distance but sustainable generational impact on people's lives is up close and I'm sure many of you can testify that pastor Wiseman has been at your family table has been in your living room and perhaps has wept and cried and prayed with you or rejoiced together with you over a victory that's pastoral shepherd care and that's a vivid picture of what God has called every member of the body of Christ to do because of who he has called us to be in Christ so if I ask you this morning what your position is you say in

[28:15] Christ so let's try that what's your position in Christ and always remember whatever God calls us to do flows out of the spiritual reality who he has called us to be what's your position in Christ that's good stuff and look at this in verse 9 he says for you remember brethren our labor and toil for laboring night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you we preached to you the gospel of God you are witnesses and God also how devoutly and justly and vainlessly we behave ourselves among you who believe and watch this in verse 11 has you this is good this is really good as far as father's day is you know how we exhorted how we encouraged and comforted and charged challenged sometimes I wonder if as far as American Christians if we're if we're so got a burr under our saddle that any time anybody encourages endeavors to really and challenges us to get off our duff and get in the game that we just get we just fly off the handle and get all bent out of shape and things are you preaching at me we're under grace man and of course we can take

[29:29] Romans 6 14 and misapply it to a variety of circumstances to the point of the thing that hey it doesn't matter I'm forgiven we're under grace it doesn't matter what you say yeah yeah yeah yeah that sounds very pious and dispensational but it's not Pauline this Holy Spirit said through Paul that we acknowledge the truth which accords with godliness sound doctrine properly applied should result in godly living it's doctrine and practice it's not either or it's both and if we're going to be faithful and trusting God and what he has called us to do because of who he has called us to be what's your position in Christ and look at this go on verse 11 he says in charge every one of you as a father does his own children why verse 12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory do we do that verse 11 do we exhort our children and our grandchildren our great grandchildren do we encourage them listen if we don't get the encouragement that we need for our heart and soul in the church

[30:42] I guarantee you you're not going to get it in the world that's not God's design and you know what and if there's a vacuum and a void in the hearts of our children and grandchildren as far as identity and the answers that we need for our heart and soul to liberate us from feeling inadequate to face the challenges of life or insecure or inferior I guarantee you the satanic slush of the enemy will come rushing in like a flood and it will look really cool and really good unless we think oh what happened let's take heed to ourselves so that our progeny for the sake of our posterity is not like what we read in Judges it says how we exhort and comfort and charge every one of you as a father does his own children I'll tell you it takes work if we are going to intentionally prioritize biblical precedence for our family life it's going to take work and

[31:48] I heard like one guy say before our hobbies might suffer our golf game might suffer our fishing regimen might suffer you know sometimes my kids if we're driving to church Sunday morning and we drive by a lake and there's a guy out there on the lake Sunday morning some of my kids they say hey look at he's out there worshiping Dagon maybe some of you just like Dagon is like the ancient Phoenician fish god the Philistines you know like in the judges you know like when they brought in the ark of the covenant Dagon in the temple of Dagon the Philistines there in Gath you know it was on his face then the next day his head and arms were gone and everything but anyway so we Jesus said where your treasure is there will your heart be also yes we have pagan idols even in our culture hey listen fishing's cool but

[32:49] Jesus is better look at verse 12 it says that you would walk worthy of God so I would encourage you I'm going to switch gears here share some pictures with you from our missionaries here one of my consistent prayers and I'll offer this up as a by way of proactive concrete bold action steps for us guys drawn right from this text of scripture pray regularly for wisdom ask God for wisdom a couple weeks ago we got our first teenager Timothy's 13 here and I of course we had fun with that and I told him once I was about his age I was at a sleepover and everything and I was the only guy with armpit hair and I was like oh this is church and so by the time of the end of that weekend I didn't have any left because the rest of the guys were like what's that so we have fun with that but I told Timothy

[33:54] I feel like I really need to spend some more time reading the book of Proverbs need some more wisdom and he came up with a witty comment or something like do you think that I'm going to be like suddenly super wise in my own eyes because I'm a teenager now or something whatever you can ask about whatever he said but pray for wisdom regardless of your season of life we need wisdom to understand the times in which we live through an intelligent comprehensive biblical Christian worldview we're dealing with stuff in our contemporary context in this era of history that C.R.

[34:31] Stamm when he wrote two minutes of the bible it wasn't even on the radar so we need wisdom to understand so pray for wisdom two pray for vision by definition if you're going to be a visionary leader it has to be Lord give me eyes to see vision by definition what that means is being able to see beyond what is to what ought to be and could be by the power of the Holy Spirit you know how many grace churches in America that need pastors right now I mean we have like some twenty grace churches that need pastors and pretty much every church that our family goes to and you guessed it I mean people are asking it's like you want to come to our church I said I just started with things to commission it's like what God has called us to do is to challenge

[35:32] American grace churches that get off their duff and get in the game and challenge young people to surrender to the call of God and the ministry pray for vision and pray for courage when we start our ministry in Wisconsin some seven years ago we were in the midst of the recall election and former governor Scott Walker he had run for president as well the last time around in the midst of when every Tom, Dick, and Harry was doing so as well and so it was craziness in Wisconsin and we're dealing with craziness right now too and maybe you know about that but but anyway so part of it is this we need to pray for Governor Tony ever salvation big way but the issue was in the midst of all that is that any Tom Dick or Harry can moan groan and gripe and complain about what's wrong with the world but it takes courage in tandem with wisdom and vision but courage not just point out what's wrong but be part of the proactive solution catalyst toward positive change pray for courage pray for courage guys and let me introduce you to some faithful servants who are endeavoring to intentionally live on mission in Jesus Christ and so you can't see this real well here but this is a picture of our family we serve with TCM as the development director what that means is we are the point man front man for things to come mission in the United States a couple guys said how you gonna do that wife and six kids and another another guy said well you're actually gonna be able to spend more time with your family because when when this came out last summer my wife looked at and she says absolutely not we can't do that I like you too much well at least sometimes right but but anyway so it's it's father's day right so but but the more that we are looking at the job description more excited we are getting about this because this is this is our heart this is our passion this is our gift this is this is on our wheelhouse and so breaking down the job description really what what we're about here and all of this is right here and uh hey guys go ahead and grab the uh the sign-up sheet and grab some pictures and pens and all that so my uh my boys are gonna get you some good TCM literature here and if you do speaking of if you do not receive our international harvest magazine comes out in spring and fall our most recent edition features full article about about our our ministry first of all reigniting a passion for prayer and mission partnership perhaps years ago joe watkins was here joe he he would often say that you know people say well joe i i can't give you any money but i'll pray for you and he was adamant he said no i would rather have you pray for my my family and i and our ministry then give money because he understood that prayer leads to passion and passion leads action apart from a platform undergirded by prayer he understood that ministry is utterly futile flat and fruitless and so what i'm asking you if you believe in mission pray for mission if you if you believe the exclusive truth claims of the word of god of jesus christ and just as pastor wiseman said years ago at a pastor's breakfast when we were in tip city he says when you remove the exclusivity of jesus christ all urgency of evangelism is gone and if you believe that jesus christ really is indeed not a way just one way to live your life or just one source of truth or maybe as oprah says oh your truth live your truth or just one way now if you believe that he is the way the truth and the life and there is only one god and only one meter between god and man the man christ jesus god in the flesh pray for mission pray for these ones reigniting a passion for prayer and mission partnership but also recruiting we need pastors yes we need missionaries i'd love to give some of you young people or maybe second career folks a job although you know i it's it's not just me but the rest of the board and everything but listen if we don't encourage young people toward ministry who is and i'm not and i'm not talking about just any kind of ministry one of the things i've been encouraged in different ones is that have you ever done something radical and crazy for the glory of god and gone someplace to to to with the explicit purpose of sharing the good news of the grace of god in jesus christ how somebody that has never heard of christ how they can be saved recruiting visionary leaders to live on mission in christ not just over there but also here whether or not god calls you to serve full-time in vocational christian ministry overseas what it does especially for young people it's a tremendous investment in your education and it gives you a vastly different perspective what it means to serve the lord god almighty here in america where we have tremendous need i get it i understand but also revitalizing churches to missionally engage their communities and culture for the glory of god my boys got some pictures make sure you grab some stuff and we got our table out in the in the vestibule there so let me share with you a little bit a little bit more about about tcm some of you guys may not be familiar uh...

[41:20] real well with it and so you can barely see this here but as far as our core values as far as our core values and things to commission first of all grace theology and i'm sure many of you are very familiar with grace theology as far as mid-act dispensationalism and we understand that the revelation of the mystery of god's grace grace was a secret kept hid in god since the world began until the risen lord jesus christ revealed it to and through the apostle paul the dispensation of grace and that the jews and gentiles have been reconciled unto god through one joint body by the cross and that today our missional responsibility is such that that reaching the nations god has always had a heart for the world and in times past read it read the prophets book of isaiah yahweh's heart was to reach the nations through israel but today he's reaching the nations in spite of israel and through the church the body of christ and it's our job there is no plan b and so watch this grace theology and also faith support and what does that mean that doesn't mean that tcm hey we trust god and other missions don't faith support is all about it's a financial term what faith support means you donate one hundred dollars to one of these you know teams i'm going to represent or introduce you to because these people typically don't come to the states but we are and so we represent about 30 cross-cultural missionaries that are rapidly deployed from southeast asia so one hundred percent goes to them and you can connect with these people on facebook except except if they're in a very closed sensitive country where they're communist so right here faith support but also unreached people groups what is that well unreached people groups is a missiological term that means say you live in a city of you know a town there's a hundred people in your town and if only seven of those seven people in town are saved by genuine believers in jesus christ that's seven percent seven percent of the people in your town are christian not just culturally christian but generally born again right and so if only seven percent or less in a locale are believers in christ that's classified as an unreached people group seven percent or less and so what that means is there's not enough critical mass to sustain any type of positive change as far as the gospel is concerned as far as unless people like you and I that have the gospel intentionally transcend cultural boundaries to take the gospel from where it is to where it is not and hence one of our other core values here as far as church planting and our goal when we infiltrate a locale with the gospel is to intentionally plant indigenous churches what that means is that our missionaries are not meant to be the pastors of these churches that they plant but they are to train nationals in our next core value training national training these people establishing them in the faith discipling them and walk with God so that they can take personal ownership of the ministry and reach their countrymen for Christ just as the apostle Paul had a burning heart desire we see in

[44:39] Romans 9 10 and 11 training nationals and lastly cross-cultural that means I heard someone say before it's like you know as far as where we're from we know the people we know them and we know what they're thinking because that's where we're from but over here we had trouble just understanding and part of it is the issue that's the rub is that in order to take the gospel from familiar to unfamiliar we have to intentionally transcend ethnic language geographical food all these barriers because if we don't people will die and go straight without ever hearing of Jesus Christ that's true it's true all the time I can tell you stories I'll tell you one real quick right here there was a lady by the name of Joy in Thailand some friends of ours they were there at outdoor cafe looking at a map they were just doing a survey trip and how to infiltrate this

[45:47] Buddhist stronghold with the gospel of the true and living God in Jesus Christ and this woman wearing clothes just like you and I she walks up and she says speaking in English oh I see that you're new to our city and she offers to drive these guys around in her Ford truck and she's speaking English wearing clothes just like you and I and she's showing them around the city and they stop out of Buddhist temple you know the Buddha is like that golden smiley fat belly dude you know at the buffet you see alright and so she hands these guys some flowers and here you know for the Buddha and you know what would you do if you're in their shoes it's like well she did it herself and they get back in the truck and one of the guys says Joy we don't pray to Buddha we pray to Jesus I'll give you one guess what her next question was who is Jesus and this guy

[46:50] Ben Anderson is his name do you know him our international director based out of Singapore Ben he says Jesus is the God the Bible tells us about I'll give you one guess what her next question was what's the Bible and all this while they're riding in a Ford truck she's dressed like you and I speaking English and Lee Greenwood is on the radio singing I'm proud to be an American I mean this is crazy this is true and she has no idea who Jesus Christ is or like another guy oh is he a movie star increasingly that's becoming the case in America go to listen past seven years we've done an evangelistic after school Bible club in the elementary school and a lot of these kids broken homes and everything you talk about Jesus Christ I think he's got a swear word just said and watch this a little bit of our history here we started back in the 1950s retired missionary to the

[47:52] Belgian Congo J. Herbert Palmer he was a worldwide grace testimony he had some health issues had to come back to the states and he in tandem with a group of college students they went to the Philippines and listen great things happen when young people their hearts are on fire for Jesus Christ and God forbid that any of us should ever put a wet blanket over them because we're feeling convicted oh you just simmer down here son and listen no we want to put fuel on the flame of their hearts as we lead the way ourselves and so they went to the Philippines and because of the second world war Douglas MacArthur elementary school right in the neighborhood my hometown MacArthur was the liberator we were the heroes and their hearts were open to freedom and to the gospel and we sent the gospel and today we have some 500 grace churches in the Philippines we have we have some five Bible schools it is the epicenter of grace ministry in the world and it's to the point now as we see this is a picture of our

[48:58] Troyes strategy the brochure out there it's to the point now that they're in the partner stage we don't send missionaries there anymore they're sending missionaries out and listen right here here's a full map here just some of our fields Philippines is right over here and it's to the point now they are sending missionaries out and some of these teams let me just run through these quickly here we have teams in every nation of Southeast Asia we have a word except for Brunei if you know anything about Brunei I think you can understand why but it would there's still a tremendous need so we are in communist nations we are in Buddhist nations it's crazy and so really what these teams are it's an interdependent cooperation sending the gospel out from where it is to where it is not and some of you have some pictures of these ones and listen these are seasoned grace pastors they aren't fresh newbies out of Bible college maybe years ago you remember

[49:58] Dr. Eddie Bedore pray for him he's got Parkinson's down in Florida that's where we met these guys down in the gulf coast of Florida that was good stuff February Florida we're from Wisconsin so these are seasoned grace pastors this guy right here Dan Brock he was the Filipino version of Eddie Bedore they're in Myanmar reaching these Burmese Buddhists with the light of the gospel there need to go through these quick and they typically don't come to the states for the sake of wide stewardship visa issues and just rapidly deployed go straight to the field and we're responsible for representing them and so this right here we have work in Cambodia I just got done teaching a year at community Christian high school American government if you know anything about totalitarian regimes as far as Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in the 70s in Cambodia because of that these people have no impression their hearts are open to the freedom of the grace of

[51:02] God in Jesus Christ and the Lord is reaping manifold fruit in Cambodia and so we have a team there this is James and Agape Bermejo Myra Micton Julia Lyles there's a picture there and so they raise support from their home country but we also raise support here obviously and this country here I can't have anything about this about these guys on the internet so I'll just be discreet and ambiguous here because this country they actively deport missionaries I mean it is it is it is like Joseph Stalin Karl Marx satanic slush I mean this is no joke this is real and this guy's actually had to pay money just to get his wallet back there and so these faithful servants are reaching out to the gospel and we got all kinds of information on our table about them please pray for them because they really can't even put anything on Facebook it's a challenge just to even get a missionary prayer letter in our home office from them and so we also have a work here in East Timor Starbucks gets a lot of their coffee from this island and this is atypical because they're predominantly catholic there and so the Lord is blessing them with fruit already this is the

[52:07] Arsino family encourage you to pray for them and their children first day of school for the kids at an international school often times that's the way that we have to do things and already even just have a visa to beat in the country as far as an education type of visa and I mean there was a riot that broke out in the street on their way home from school the families split up and just trauma it was crazy and so they're looking for a different place to live in the city of Dilley and this right here is the statue of Jesus in Dilley Harbor predominantly catholic I said so there is some of a Christian worldview and this right here this is another very sensitive nation despite the war this country is still communist and so the Lord is using them they're learning the language and they're reaching out with the gospel and like I said they can't come to the states and so there's a picture of this guy there you can barely see it in the back this right here this is Taiwan because of the crazy political situation there you ask the president of the people's republic of China Xi Jinping he'll tell you yeah

[53:07] Taiwan's ours yes Taiwan's like no we're the real Chinese government it's crazy so because of these things there's more we have more of an opportunity for the gospel than otherwise than we would mainland China and potentially use this as a springboard to infiltrate mainland China and then here we have the team Taiwan the Improsos and Kunonis there and Taipei is high tech is very affluent city the Lord has given us some contacts there so sign up for the print mail connect with them on social media you can harness call them on skype even during a worship service done that before missions committee these types of things and if you do not receive our bi-monthly prayer insert news you can use for prayer I would encourage you to make sure to say hey Pastor Wiseman we need that we need that I would encourage you to put it in early in the first month and late on the second month I put something on Facebook about that the other day and so pray for them pray give go it sounds cliche but it's true please pray please pray and if your heart feels compelled to partner together with us financially by all means we gladly welcome that as far as our family we do just

[54:18] EFT electronic funds transfer you know every month we coordinate with the office and listen all these teams our family we financially support so I'm putting my money where my mouth is if you will alright but also I understand some of you may be in a season of life where it's like you know what as far as getting your house in order as far as legacy gifts and everything and we are deeply grateful and thanks to Commission for the partnership we have with churches like GBC here in Springfield and we have been blessed in manifold measure as far as legacy gifts and to be able to take on a family like ours to be able to do what God has called us to do because who he has called us to be what's your position in Christ and go I'll be in Southeast Asia for a month this fall and leading a short term trip a year from now in tandem with our Southeast Asia Grace Conference our annual event there and just tremendous opportunity and so it is an honor for us to be here and I pray that your hearts are encouraged and blessed and challenged because remember in Joshua chapter 4 where the

[55:28] Lord said that all the earth may know that the hand of the Lord it is mighty that all peoples of the earth might worship fear the Lord your God forever ever may every one of us invest our lives in eternity so that the testimony thereof echoes forever for the glory of God and Jesus Christ let's dismiss us and pray Lord God Heavenly Father we are grateful indeed for your goodness to us and you are greatly to be praised worthy for all you are and all you've done and Lord this Father's Day we're grateful that you are indeed our good good Father and may we be faithful as men to sacrificially lead in love our homes our families and to be your men wherever you have called us to go because of who you have called us to be in Christ and thank you for our wives thank you for our children our grandchildren and Lord may we indeed be men of godly integrity integrity may we be indeed the real

[56:48] McCoy as it were and not a fake Lord we're grateful that our risen Savior is alive forever and may you indeed give us wisdom vision and courage to live on mission in Jesus Christ for your glory in Jesus name amen to heaven