Parable of Tares

As I was talking to my manager Tricia over the dinner in a recent business trip to New Jersey about weeping and knashing of teeth, she showed be Bible verses in Matthew 13 and told me that these verses talked of the judgement of the unsaved people.

Matthew 13:37-43

He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one]; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

I looked up in Blue Letter Bible on the word usage of furnace in the Bible and found the following:

Nave's Topical Bible

FURNACE

Use of

For refining silver

Eze 22:22; Mal 3:3

For refining gold

Pro 17:3

For melting lead and tin

Eze 22:20

For capital punishment, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego cast

into, by Nebuchadnezzar

Dan 3:6-26

FIGURATIVE

Of affliction

Deu 4:20; 1Ki 8:51; Psa 12:6; Isa 48:10; Jer 11:4

Of lust

Hsa 7:4

Of hell

Mal 4:1; Mat 13:42,50; Rev 9:2

Here are the verses that contain the word furnace where the word is used to describe hell:

Mal 4:1

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Mat 13:42

And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 13:50

And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Rev 9:2

And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

Preach

Jesus commanded his disciples in Mark 16:15, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." The other day my brother Daniel and I discussed what it meant to preach the gospel and this morning I would like to think about preaching.

In the New Testament the verb preach is used sometimes without an object and sometimes with an object. Many times Jesus and disciples preached and other times they preached something.

The Strong number for preach in Mark 16:15 is 2784. Here is what I found out from the BlueLetter Bible web site.

Lexicon Results for kerusso (Strong's 2784)
Greek for 2784
Pronunciation Guide
kerusso {kay-roos'-so}
TDNT Reference	Root Word
TDNT - 3:697,430	of uncertain affinity
Part of Speech
v
Outline of Biblical Usage
1) to be a herald, to officiate as a herald a) to proclaim after the manner of a herald b) always with the suggestion of formality, gravity and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed 2) to publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done 3) used of the public proclamation of the gospel and matters pertaining to it, made by John the Baptist, by Jesus, by the apostles and other Christian teachers
Authorized Version (KJV) Translation Count — Total: 61
AV - preach 51, publish 5, proclaim 2, preached + 2258 2, preacher 1; 61

I looked up the verses containing "preach".

Mat 3:1

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

Mat 3:2

And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mat 4:17

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mat 4:23

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Mat 9:35

And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Mat 10:7

And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mat 10:27

What I tell you in darkness, [that] speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, [that] preach ye upon the housetops.

Mat 11:1

And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.

Mat 24:14

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Mat 26:13

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, [there] shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

Mar 1:4

John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Mar 1:7

And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

Mar 1:14

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,

Mar 1:15

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Mar 1:38

And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.

Mar 1:39

And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.

Mar 3:14

And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,

Mar 5:20

And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all [men] did marvel.

Mar 6:12

And they went out, and preached that men should repent.

Mar 13:10

And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

Mar 14:9

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, [this] also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

Mar 16:15

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Mar 16:20

And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with [them], and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Luk 3:3

And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;

Luk 4:18

The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Luk 4:19

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Luk 4:44

And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

Luk 8:1

And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve [were] with him,

Luk 8:39

Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.

Luk 9:2

And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

Luk 12:3

Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

Luk 24:47

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Act 8:5

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

Act 9:20

And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.

Act 10:37

That word, [I say], ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;

Act 10:42

And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God [to be] the Judge of quick and dead.

Act 15:21

For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

Act 19:13

Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

Act 20:25

And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.

Act 28:31

Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

Rom 2:21

Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?

Rom 10:8

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

Rom 10:14

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

Rom 10:15

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

1Cr 1:23

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

1Cr 9:27

But I keep under my body, and bring [it] into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

1Cr 15:11

Therefore whether [it were] I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

1Cr 15:12

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

2Cr 1:19

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, [even] by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.

2Cr 4:5

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

2Cr 11:4

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him].

Gal 2:2

And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

Gal 5:11

And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.

Phl 1:15

Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:

Col 1:23

If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

1Th 2:9

For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

1Ti 3:16

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

2Ti 4:2

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

1Pe 3:19

By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

Rev 5:2

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

So what these many verses tell me about preaching? What was preached by John the Baptist, Jesus and his disciples?

• repentance
• baptism of repentance for the remission of sins
• to repent and believe
  

• gospel of the kingdom of heaven
• gospel of the kingdom of God
• kingdom is at hand
• glad tidings of the kingdom of God
• gospel
• gospel of God
• gospel of peace
  

• Christ
• Christ Jesus our Lord
• Christ, that he is the Son of God
• Christ, that he rose from the dead
• Christ crucified
• God

• word of faith
• word
• acceptable year of the Lord
• how great things Jesus had done for him
• deliverance
• about the woman who anointed Jesus with very precious ointment

Salvation ... by the Remission of Their Sins

Luke 1:77 reads:

To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit as he prophesied about his child who would be called John the Baptist. John would be the prophet and would "before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways" to "to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins".

So do people get knowledge of salvation by the remission of their sins or salvation by the remission of their sins? NLT says, "salvation through forgiveness of their sins" and NASB says, "salvation by the forgiveness of their sins".

I looked up for remission and found following verses:

Mat 26:28
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Mar 1:4
John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Luk 24:47
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Act 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Act 5:31
Him hath God exalted with his right hand [to be] a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Act 10:43
To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

Act 13:38
Be it known unto you therefore, men [and] brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

Act 26:18
To open their eyes, [and] to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Eph 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Col 1:14
In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:

Hbr 9:22
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Hbr 10:18
Now where remission of these [is, there is] no more offering for sin.

After the gospel meeting yesterday some new people said that they came to believe in Jesus through the gospel meeting and in particular they believed in the forgiveness of their sins. Some showed tears in their eyes.

As Jesus and his disciples preached the gospel by preaching the forgiveness of people's sins, I would continue the same. Amen

Mark 14

I have been busy all week and have not been reading the Bible myself. My excuse was that I have been attending the gospel meetings after work and I was so tired during the day to find time to meditate on the word of God.

It was great to attend the gospel meetings and hear the word of God and see some new people listening to the message attentively. I felt good also that I found myself useful as I interpreted the message from Korean to English.

Yet I found dryness and emptiness in my heart. I wanted to read the Bible and have a quiet time with the Lord myself. So here I am this Saturday morning. It is still dark outside and others in the family are sound asleep. I came down to the living room, turned on the fireplace, set in the sofa, read the chapter, and started typing in my laptop.

Several people appear in Mark 14:

1. Jesus
   
2. the chief priests and the scribes
3. a woman who anointed Jesus
4. some who were indignant about the woman
5. Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus
6. Peter who was confident about his loyalty to Jesus but denied Jesus before people three times
   
7. Peter, James, and John who could not stay awake while Jesus prayed

The woman who broke the very precious alabaster box of ointment of spikenard showed that she delighted in the Lord. However there are many in this chapter who did not delight in the Lord as it is seen in their reactions.

Even when I am busy attending the gospel meetings, if I do not delight in the Lord daily, if I do not break my alabaster box and anoint my Lord daily, I become like others in this chapter who did not appreciate the devotion and consecration of the woman.

What happened to those who did not delight in the Lord?

• Some became indignant and Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus.
  
• Peter, James, and John could not stay awake while Jesus prayed earnestly.
  
• When Jesus was arrested, the disciples all forsook the Lord and ran away. One person even left the linen cloth he was wearing and fled naked.
  
• Finally Peter denied Jesus before people and God three times.

I need to break my alabaster box and anoint my Lord each day.

"And they went forth" by Daniel Kim

"And they went forth"

A gospel journey

Two Danny's brought together

In Mark 6:7-13, the Lord charges His disciples not to take anything for their gospel journey. As I was praying over these verses, I did not know if I could really trust the Lord in such a way. Not many days afterward, I met a brother named Daniel Boone through a mutual friend. By God's sovereign arrangement, his car had broken down in Chicago. As we were fellowshipping over coffee, Danny told me of his recent gospel trip. He and a group of others had gone to the Superbowl, and then they were dropped off two by two to preach the gospel at different cities in Florida. This was such a match to what I have been considering recently from Mark 6 that I immediately proposed a gospel trip to him. We had only met a couple of hours earlier, but we were already considering how we were going to spend one week together.

After Danny got back to Ohio, we began preparing ourselves for the trip. We started to fellowship and pray over the phone. We enjoyed Mark 6 together and were inspired to be radical for Christ, just as stated in the Bible. We picked the week of March 28 and chose to go down Interstate 55 from Chicago to Peoria as our route.

Shedding and going:

The exciting day finally arrived. After having a big lunch at my home, we started to shed all the unnecessary stuff. "He charged them not to take anything for the journey except only a staff: no bread, no bag, no money in their belt; But to have sandals tied on; and said, Do not put on two tunics" (Mark 6:8-9). This was a easy trip to pack for. We decided to take only what we were wearing, including our winter coats, and our Bibles, hymnals and my car as our spiritual "staff." My wife sent us off with the encouraging words "Our heavenly Father will take care of you better than I."

We left Chicago at three o'clock on that Monday afternoon. Our first stop was Lockport, Illinois. The first person we ran into was Fernando, a seeking young Christian. He had recently moved from Cicero to disassociate himself from a gang. We had very encouraging fellowship with him. Not only so, he offered to let us stay at his home that night. Since we had just gotten started in our gospel trip, we felt to go preach the gospel and to come back later that night. After a long and enjoyable gospel outing that day, we arrived at his house around 10:30 p.m. Fernando didn't answer the door, however, so we slept uncomfortably in my car, waking up many times to turn the car on and off for heat.

Trial

The next morning, we went to a nearby McDonald's to wash up. I grabbed some salt packets to brush my teeth with my finger. I was proud of my resourcefulness but was nervous about being in there without any money. We had some sense of how homeless people must feel.

In my time with the Lord, I tried not to complain, but it was difficult to hold down my reasonings. I wondered why the Lord didn't feed us like the birds of the air. Ironically, in my daily reading, I had reached Numbers 21 where the children of Israel were complaining to God about having no food and no water. So was I a complaining Israelite, or a bird that needed some food? At least, water was free in America.

Initially, we visited Joliet Penitentiary, looking (unsuccessfully) for a brother who works there. From there we moved on to Lewis University. Students there expressed their negative feelings about organized religion. They were, however, very open to talk about making God real in their lives. We were encouraged by many good conversations. However, we could not deny our growling stomachs and a sense of discouragement. After resting a bit, we decided to continue our journey down Interstate 55.

Proving His Faithfulness

Around 3 pm Tuesday afternoon, we stopped at Coal City. Even though we were tired, we were clear about Paul's words "that if anyone does not want to work, neither should he eat" (2 Thes. 3:10). Therefore we started our door knocking at a farm house next to a dirt road. We met two young men who had grown up in a Christian home. They may have been saved, but they made it clear to us that they were not interested in further fellowship. However they did let us know that their grandma, "who practically lives at the church," may be interested in talking to us.

We looked for her 'church,' but were unsuccessful. So we continued our bread-winning work, door to door. At one of the doors, we met a Christian lady who knew Barb, the radical grandma. We got directions from her and found Barb and other older sisters cleaning the hall. We offered to help, but they seemed to be wary of two grungy young men. Barb, however, was very eager to fellowship, but did not sense our need. Another sister sensed something peculiar about young men eager to help clean and asked if we were hungry. What a welcome word! To our surprise, they had plenty of leftover chicken, refried beans (Barb's recipe), fruit salad, etc., from a funeral the night before. Thus it was at 3:45 on Tuesday that we had our first God-provided meal. We gulped down our food with much thankfulness. We also appreciated Barb's prayer for our gospel journey. God's family is indeed wonderful.

We were so strengthened and encouraged that we marched right into apartments and trailer homes. For us it was no longer bread winning but winning hearts for God. No one can tell us that Americans are closed to the gospel. People are seeking to know God.

Meeting Likeminded Souls

When it got dark, we decided to continue down I-55 to Pontiac. The name was attractive enough. After resting a bit in an empty parking lot, we drove on a main road to look for anything significant. We saw a 'Bible church' with some cars in its parking lot, so we decided to venture in. There were some men practicing music, and others planning an upcoming event. These were not things that we could just jump right in and help with. So, directed by of one of the men, we headed for the Bible study upstairs….which we found was for high school girls. Normally we would not join such a group - it just didn't seem appropriate for two men to join a group of high school girls. But when the girls insisted that we join them, we decided to forget about how we looked. We really enjoyed their fellowship. They were very accepting of us and were truly seeking to know God in His word.

At the end of the Bible study, as we were exchanging email addresses, one of the girls, Abbey, remarked that her parents were tent-gospel preachers. How often do you get to meet a tent-gospel preacher? We were definitely up for that! Her house was nearby. In fact, it was a house we had noticed while visiting in our door knocking. It was different from any other house on that road, for it had a conspicuous cross-shaped window in its front door. That night, we met Abbey's parents, Bill and Jane. They warmly welcomed us into their home. We found out that Bill was once a pastor, but to be true to the gospel and his calling, he felt to quit his job and join a group of traveling gospel preachers. They traveled to different countries and cities to present the gospel. Now, however, Bill and his family are on their own with their tent-gospel ministry. The family lived very simply, trusting the Lord. Sometimes Bill finds work to support their gospel burden. (Once he got together some money and rented a store-front on Easter weekend and then dressed it up like a 'church,' and then preached the gospel to those who came.) The entire family is given to live such a life. They are a fearless and buoyant band who venture into the worst parts of towns to bring the gospel to prostitutes, drug addicts, the poor, etc. They are reaching people who would not normally come to a building called "church."

We heard many wonderful stories of their adventures and their testimony of living by faith. If they were just stories, it would have been like the Prodigal Son coming home to receive the best robe with an empty stomach. But Jane would not stop bringing food as we fellowshipped. Thus it was around 10 pm when we received our second meal of the day. I normally skip breakfast anyway, and the meals came in about three hours later than usual. I must say, the pizza and those miniature egg rolls surely were good.

To our relief, as the night grew late, Bill and Jane offered to put us up for the night. The first thing I asked for was a shower, which was much needed. We slept in their trailer home parked in their yard. To us, it was better than any five-star hotel. The promises of the Bible were starting to come alive to us: "Wherever you enter into a house, there remain until you depart from that place." Our Lord of the harvest was preparing the best itinerary for us, taking care of our lodging accommodations. Laying in our beds, Danny and I were beside ourselves. We praised the Lord from our hearts. I found out that Danny prayed earlier that we would run into likeminded people who would take us in. With God, beggars can be choosey. That night, we slept comfortably in His bosom.

Heart turned to the Lord

On Wednesday morning, I could not but come to the Lord in repentance. I was just overcome by His care for us. I repented of all my murmurings and distrust of Him and re-consecrated my life to Him.

Empowered by His faithfulness

That Wednesday morning we had a very nice breakfast and fellowship with the family and Roger, a fellow co-laborer in Christ. We had very heartfelt prayers for one another. Without our asking, they gave us $90 for the journey. This was especially touching since it was certainly not out of an abundance that they offered. They extended their hospitality to us as long as we needed it. Thanking them, we declined their offer because our adventure was only one week long and our Lord had much more in store for us.

Danny and I agreed that this money would be used as that day's manna. We did not want it to "grow worms," and we expected the Lord to supply us by day by day. The first thing we did was to go to Walmart to buy some necessities: two toothbrushes for 44¢ each; toothpaste for 88¢, a bag of disposable razors for $3.97; and a bag of white tube sox for $3.97. Then we used $20 for to fill the gas tank. The remaining $53 we used for groceries at Aldi's which we divided into ten bags to give to the poor. We set out for the poorest part of the town, which was a trailer park.

The first people we encountered were Santos and Tish. They gladly invited us into their home. We joyfully fellowshipped for awhile, and Santos opened his heart to receive the Lord.

Afterwards, we met many others who were also eager and open. Santos, Danny, and I talked about having a good American-Korean BBQ there in near future.

Around four in the afternoon, we stopped at Burger King for lunch. We had about three dollars remaining to our name. We felt good, as though we had handled our money as wise stewards.

Scared to Death

That evening, we arrived at Bloomington and preached the gospel at Illinois State University. As we were going to our car to rest, we noticed a rowdy outdoor fraternity party. I couldn't believe that they were having a party on a weekday night. When we got to our car, we decided to pray a bit. I prayed a general prayer, and Danny started to pray something about no fraternity kid dying that night. I could not help but be bothered in my spirit. I told the Lord and Danny that I was weak and that I was unwilling to preach the gospel to them. I did not want to die. When Danny heard my cowardly confession, he felt that we must preach the gospel to them.

As we were approaching the fraternity party with desperate prayers, we saw two students observing the party from their porch. We preached to them a sober gospel about not wasting their lives. One of them was very attentive. Afterwards, we jumped right into the party area and started to preach the gospel to small groups of people. One girl was very offended by the fact that we were preaching the gospel to her when she was having a good time. She let us know that she already was saved and she did not need the gospel. But Danny challenged her by quoting Revelation 3:16: "Because you are lukewarm…I am about to spew you out of my mouth." She retorted by saying, "I know I am saved because I already received Jesus into my heart." But Danny, filled in spirit, did not let her go. "Do you not think that you are lukewarm? Because if you are, Jesus will spew you out of His mouth." The girl went away sorrowfully, but I believe it was a healthy word she heard.

Our Bickering

Danny and I were great together. However, on the third day, we started to notice "imperfections" in each other's gospel. Danny's was a hard-nosed "sell all and follow the Lord" gospel. Mine was a much gentler approach. We started to debate, and it got so bad that I felt like quitting, giving up and going back home. By the Lord's mercy, we had enough sense to realize that what we were doing was wrong. We calmed down, talked some and prayed. The Lord was really good to restore our hearts together. We had one more bout like that, but the Lord was faithful to bind us even more tightly because of it. It was a great lesson for us. As we struggle for God's purpose, though we may fight we cannot be derailed. We must come to Christ so that we can fulfill His purpose together. This was our salvation and a real glory to Him.

Life to my Mortal Car

On Saturday morning, in Peoria, I noticed my gas gauge showed a quarter tank of gas. My car can go about 300-350 miles on a full tank. Hence, 170 miles on a quarter tank seemed impossible. However, I had a sensation I was not the one being tested. Rather, the Lord was putting Himself on the spot. We sang hymns and praised Him to turn our minds away from our gas gauge. I have to admit, though, that I was very nervous. When we got to Joliet, the orange empty light turned on. I started to drive on the right lane just in case my car stopped. When we saw the Sears Tower from the southwest side of Chicago, we were on empty. Then when we exited at Irving Park, it was definitely empty. As our car cruised safely into the parking lot, we could not hold back our ecstasy. For a few minutes, we clapped to the Lord because He deserved it. We praised Him and thanked Him for all that He is and was to us. "Oh Lord, what is man, that You bring him to mind? Or the son of man, that You care for him?" (Heb. 2:6).

Before we left on the gospel trip, Danny and I enjoyed 1 Corinthians 9:7-14: "What soldier ever serves by his own wages?... 'You shall not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain.' Is it for oxen that God cares? Or does He say it altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written….So also the Lord directed those who announce the gospel to live from the gospel." I would like to tell the Lord, and I believe Danny echoes me, "Lord, I claim Your promise and command. I do want to announce the gospel all my life. I never want to entangle myself in the affairs of this life. What soldier ever gets a side job to support himself? Oh Lord, as You promised, I would like to exercise my faith to live from the gospel. May this be fulfilled in our lives!"

Daniel Kim

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I've really been challenged in the last year and a half to just take God at His word. I've declared that the book of Acts isn't just for the first century, yet in reality I haven't fully stepped out to live the radical, whole-hearted life that we all read about in the Bible. A few months before I met Dan Kim I was at a meeting in Ohio, and a brother brought up Luke 10, and said, "This is what real Christianity was like. Do you want it now?" In my zeal I said, "Yes!" But in my heart I had doubts. I asked God to make me a real follower and willing to go. After Dan and I decided on this trip I was real excited but had a lot to deal with because of work, and to be gone seven days when I was broke meant a lot. God helped me to trust Him, that He had opened this door. The day before we left I got the time off work, and a check for just the amount to get to Chicago and back.

Being around Dan was a huge encouragement. The prayer and fellowship and just honesty gave me a sense of us actually being brothers and children of the same Father. I looked at Dan as an older brother and was encouraged as much just by growing in unity with him as to evangelize, and get our needs met. While proving God the Bible seemed to be very alive. Verses on the trying of your faith or rejoicing always were so very real. We constantly saw that by ministering to others, you yourself are ministered to. Such pouring out of yourself drains you, so we made many 'pit stops' to get refreshed by God. When you are in the battle you always need God. I found myself no longer asking for God to show me how much I need Him, but actually honestly pouring out my heart saying, "I don't know what I'm doing, and without You I can't do anything. My flesh is weak, but Your Spirit is willing." At times I felt like giving up, but I found that over and over His grace was sufficient. Dan commented on our having arguments; these were a real blessing to me. I learned a lesson I'd learned before but forgot, and it was that it's not about being right in all your doctrine or having one certain method or even being able to quote a bunch of Bible verses. Witnessing is about continually experiencing God's power operating in you, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory! Jesus is unpredictable, but never a man spake like Him! HE IS WORTHY!

A crazy challenge now, being done with this one week trip, is that the disciples in the Bible (that we say we believe) didn't take one week trips. They took a life-long journey on the same path as JESUS…a path of suffering. Let's get caught up with Him and do the same, for all power is given to Him and He is with us always (Matt. 28:18-20).

Dan Boone

for it is not ye that speak ...

But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate; but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

Mark 13:11

I have been meaning to invite a relative to a gospel meeting. I have been thinking and praying about it for some time. Others have been praying for him as well for few months now.

It is 4:42 PM. I need to get up and visit his house. I do not know what I can tell him to move his heart but Jesus says here that it is not me that speak, but the Holy Spirit.

All I need to do is to let the Holy Spirit speak to the relative by visiting him now.

Delight thyself also in the Lord ...

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgement as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

Psalms 37:4 - 8

Will of God

Mark 3:35 says:

For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

What is the will of God? I have been asking this question a lot lately as I may need to make some decisions regarding my job. I talked to several brothers about the matter, prayed about it, and read the Bible to find the answer.

I found John MacArthur's Q&A on the will of God very useful as it summarizes the kind of advices I was hearing from other brothers as well.

1. Be Saved

1Ti 2:3-4
For this [is] good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

2. Be filled with the Spirit

Eph 5:17-18
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord [is]. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

3. Be Sanctified

1Th 4:3
For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

4. Submit Myself

1Pe 2:13-17
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

5. Suffer for Doing Right

1Pe 2:19-20
For this [is] thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory [is it], if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer [for it], ye take it patiently, this [is] acceptable with God.

6. Delight in the Lord

Psa 37:4
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.