“John, the staff of Untangled have asked me to teach on Marriage and Family. I am remembering the message you gave the last time you were in Malawi as a guest of the Navigators. Would you came and teach our staff as well?”
I was humbled by this e-mail from David Taylor, the director of Untangled Malawi, a British mission organization dedicated to helping pastors of indigenous impoverished churches become financially independent and self-sustaining. He has an excellent marriage and children who love the Lord. He is more than capable of teaching on this subject. Our ministry is based upon Acts 16:9-10 ”A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, â€Come over to Macedonia and help us’. When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia , concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” No one sends us anywhere, rather we respond to the calls from pastors and ministers, like David, of Untangled. What a joy and privilege to answer the Macedonian Call from one whom I respect as much as this godly man.
One of the reasons I was eager to answer the Macedonian Call by David Taylor was that I knew I would have a packed ministry schedule, centered upon the Word of God and dedicated to serving and building up the local church. I know far too many para-church ministers who are, at best, ambivalent to the local church and in some cases, antagonistic towards it. GCI is uncompromising in its commitment to serve and build up the church. I was impressed by the fact that all the employees of Untangled were either lay ministers in a church or had active ministries as teachers in a local church. What a joy to teach and preach the holy, eternal, inerrant Word of God to such godly men.
“Umzungu, Umzungu” (“white man, white man”) rang out as we arrived for the pastor and lay leaders’ conference on Marriage and Raising Children. Our host shared with us that I was the first white man to preach in this church in a local village. For the next five hours, pastors sat on mats on a dirt floor to hear the teaching of the Word of God on Marriage and Family. (Some had traveled as far as from neighboring Mozambique, while others had begun walking before sunrise to get there on time.)
God’s Word was clearly preached and taught. Many brought their children and I was wondering, given the long day ahead, how the children would behave. A deaconess with a switch assured that the meetings were carried out in a dignified manner. The children all sat quietly during the long day and those, who even appeared to make a disturbance, were given a “training spank” by the deaconess and returned to their seats. The Word of God clearly teaches in Proverbs 23:13-14 – “Do not hold back discipline from the child, Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die. You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol.”
There is a cultural stereotype and bias among many that third world church services will be disrupted by crying and unmannerly children. This is not true and certainly was not the case at the pastor's conference. These children sat very quietly and attentively for hours on end. What is true is that where Biblical principles of discipline and childraising are employed, children are respectful, well mannered and obedient. Where Biblical principles of discipline and childraising are neglected or ignored children are disrespectful, unmannerly and disobedient. This is true whether in a large suburban mega-church in the US or in a mud church in central Malawi. God's Word and the blessings of obedience transcend both time and culture.
We see in Proverbs 23:13 & 14 that the “rod” is a tool of grace. We live, though, in an age where many parents refuse to believe God’s Word in this area. Not only would they remove their child immediately from a church where their child was spanked, but they would in all probability, sue this church and have the pastor or childcare worker reported to the police for criminal charges. Pastors, as well, are loathe to preach or speak of spanking at all, more or less with a “rod.”
I praise God that there are still ministers and churches who refuse to descend to the prophetic level of 2 Timothy 4:3-4 – “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” The myths that spanking is not taught in the Bible, that spanking can be substituted with whatever you desire, that spanking will hurt or damage a child, this and other myths are demanded by the public and, all too often, offered up from our pulpits. Eleanor and I, though, remain committed to a clear proclamation of the holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word of God.
Many pastors and lay ministers took notes on paper bags and scraps of paper they brought with them. There was no restlessness and many thoughtful and deep questions. One thing I noticed – the Word of God, when shared, was accepted unquestionably as the only and final authority in this area. The questions were always the same, “What does the Bible say about…” and when the Word of God was clearly presented, no matter how difficult, that was enough.
David and Andrea open the Untangled office complex to churches and ministries. Their staff all have ministries as well. David and I spoke on purity at a youth meeting. I don’t know who took more notes from David’s message - the teens or me!
Sunday morning, I gave a strong evangelistic message at another local church. After sharing from the Word of God on sin, death, judgment, to be followed by an eternity in Hell, I then gave a clear call to repentance. In this call, I spoke from I Thessalonians 1:9 & 10 and Acts 19:18 – 20. I tried to make it clear that those receiving Christ must be willing to publicly burn all pagan books, idols and objects. I called, as well, for Christians who kept such detested items to burn them as well.
The Sign of True Repentance by the Nation of Israel Judges 6:25-26 Now on the same night the LORD said to him, "Take your father's bull and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down."
The Sign of True Repentance by the Church of Thessalonica 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
The Sign of True Repentance by the Church of Ephesus.. Acts 19:18-20 Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.
A Call To True Repentance by the Church of Malawi… “What if Muslims come to Christ?” – We do not have to be more sensitive and conscientious than God the Holy Spirit. All satanic books and objects should be brought by the repentant and burned. I have no tolerance for the demonic religions of Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism to be linked with Christianity as the great religions of the world. Christianity is the one, only and true religion. All others are false. All others are as evil, wicked and pagan as the Greco/Roman pagan worship of Paul’s time. The number of adherents does not raise Islam, Hinduism nor Buddhism from the status of pagan cult to established religion any more than the number of adherents to Greco/Roman paganism did. They are all satanic, they are all vile and they are all worthy of the same fires as were kindled in Thessalonica and Ephesus.
God greatly blessed the service. Able (a leader in the Untangled ministry and my translator, and church staff) felt there were at least six solid decisions for Christ and with many others repenting. The pastor could not have been happier. He shared with me that he had been fighting the tendency to receive Christ, yet continue to hold on to objects of the old life, especially those of other religions and the occult. He also told me that I was the first minister from America to publicly support him in this area and call for a purging of homes and public burning of these objects.
Eleanor and I have no illusions as to why the teaching and preaching of the holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word of God went out with such power and results. It was and is because of you, our intercessors, who so faithfully and sacrificially pray for us. Please do continue to pray that the fruit will be preserved, marriages and families built up, the churches blessed and true repentance manifested by those who come to Christ.
I close this e-mail, as always, with a deep and abiding thankfulness for your sacrificial and effectual prayers, which empower and drive this ministry ever forward in the cause of Christ.
By His mercy, II Corinthians 4:1 Rev. John S. Mahon Grace Community Int.
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