A moving experience

Dear friends:

The most moving event of my life concluded today. In the past 40 years I have been to many meetings and conferences, but this topped them all.

It was a three-day, two-night pastors conference, Beyond All Limits, in Orlando. Some 5,000 pastors from all over the U.S. were in attendance, and some 10-12 million all over the world attended by satellite, including over a hundred Bible colleges and seminaries. It was probably the most powerful event for pastors, focused on the Great Commission, in history.

I am not a pastor but I was privileged to attend. By God's amazing grace, the host gave me my wife and me a personal invitation, insisting that we come. I hesitated because I don't like long meetings, but totally out of character, I sat riveted to my seat for three days, transfixed most of the time. No doubt, it was God who wanted me there because I was so blessed. I cannot count the times that I wept because of the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, and my awe at the marvelous ministry gifts displayed by the speakers. My handkerchief stayed wet. It was a pivotal time in my life.

The purpose of the event was to provide networking and instruct and motivate pastors to help fulfill the Great Commission through Spirit-filled, Christ-centered Bible preaching and proclamation of the gospel.

The marathon array of top speakers was awesome. Here are a few of the 40 names:

1. Bill Bright, founder and chairman, Campus Crusade for Christ International.

2. Joseph Stowell, president of Moody Bible Institute.

3. Tommy Barnett, pastor of First Assembly of God, Phoenix, AZ.

4. James Merritt, president, Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Fellowship of Joy, near Atlanta.

5. Thomas Trask, General Superintendent, Assemblies of God.

6. Jack Hayford, pastor emeritus, Church on the Way, Van Nuys, CA.

7. Charles Stanley, pastor of First Baptist, Atlanta.

8. Tony Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, Dallas, TX.

9. Kenneth Ulmer, pastor, Faithful Central Bible Church, Inglewood, CA (this black brother can preach!)

10. Anne Graham-Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham.

11. Bill McCartney, founder of Promise Keepers.

12. Bob Reccord, president of the North American Mission Board, SBC.

And on and on. Worship was led by nationally known musical artists, such as Karen Wheaton and Steve Green. See www.beyondalllimits.org.

For the purpose of future networking, the inauguration of the GLOBAL PASTORS NETWORK was announced. This may evolve as the most powerful tool for preaching and evangelism in the history of the church. It will be a major resource for pastors worldwide and will be in many different languages. For example, Real Networks, the number one media player on the Internet, which has more than 250 million members worldwide, is creating for the GPN the first ever 24/7 Video/Audio Channel completely devoted to pastors worldwide. The GPN will provide on-demand teaching and training to ministers in multiple languages. Also, Sky Angel, the number one Christian Direct Broadcast Company, has agreed to provide a 24/7 "ministers only" channel.

This is powerful. I recommend you tell all your pastor friends about this. More information is available at the Web site in progress: www.globalpastorsnetwork.org.

What has all this got to do with Bible prophecy? Surprisingly, Bible prophecy was hardly mentioned. Bill McCartney did mention that it seemed to him that Matthew 24 is being fulfilled right before our eyes. He said he once asked Bruce Wilkinson (author and president of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries) if he agreed that we are seeing Matthew 24 being fulfilled, and Bruce said that he did, indeed, agree.

Also, Israel was not mentioned, although the Israeli Ministry of Tourism had a booth there, and I conversed with the attendant. He gave me a beautiful lapel pin with both the American and Israel flags on it.

My take is that most of the people are aware of the times in which we live, but God has burdened them with the imperative nature of the Great Commission and they are truly pouring out their lives to that end. That is their calling and I greatly respect that.

Moody Bible Joseph Stowell did brilliantly describe our post-modern culture, saying that on 9-11 the culture moved from secularism to paganism -- now god-oriented, but "any god will do" (except the God of the Bible). He has found the name Jesus a strict no-no at ecumenical gatherings. At such a gathering he attended in Chicago, a so-called Christian minister exhorted everyone to shed their exclusive dogmas for the sake of unity. He received a standing ovation from those present. Everyone stood and clapped, that is, everyone but Stowell. He remained seated, because, he said, "They wanted me to forsake my Jesus."

Dr. Leonard Sweet, theology dean at Drew University, humorously struggled with what we should call unbelievers, whether it should be lost, unsaved, unchurched, or what. He decided the best word was "normal," pointing out that in our society they are normal and "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise." We are the abnormal, or crazy, he said. The Greek word for foolish is "moraino," where we get the word "moron"! Oh, halleluyah, that I am counted among the abnormal and crazies! I am a fool for Christ, and His moron. What a privilege!

So, whenever Jesus comes, there is a powerful remnant that will be found fulfilling His command to go into all the world to preach the gospel. I was honored to have been around a few thousand of them for three days.

Let me leave you with this. On the final day, Thomas Trask gave a moving message on the need for a passion for souls, how multitudes are otherwise heading for an eternal hell, lost forever. He urged an overflowing love and passion for them, as Jesus had. And Jesus gave His life for them. I wept again.

Let us have an overriding passion for souls. Let this passion drive all that we do, and never allow us to be discouraged. Just one seed planted in someone's life can later be reaped to eternal life.

Jim