Friday, February 27, 2015

What Is Your Field? (and prayers needed)

This blog, like our radio show, will be a place to focus on digging deep into God's Word and also discussing, at times, things going on with Youthquake. It may deal less with Youthquake than our show because this blog reaches a national - even international - audience much more easily. That's because the forum - Blogger - is international and thus more easily accessed by those outside Northeast Ohio.

This blog, unlike our radio show, is free. Please pray for us to get a staff car quickly, or even a ministry van, so we can continue the work,; or, that the one we have can be repaired very economically. We must pay for air time on the radio, something even I (Doug) didn't realize till I started volunteering as part of it. (Edited to add, got minivan in Feb. 2016,still can use funds to pay for radio show, increase it.)

You may have wondered where we minister - though most readers will have figured Canton means "Canton, Ohio" I presume that some of you pictured another Canton. (Not necessarily China's, either - I chuckled as I glanced at a few and discovered that Canton, Michigan, passed Canton, Ohio in population several years ago. Of course, Ohio fans will perhaps joke that a football scoreboard is where it counts. :-))

True Christians should love to have fun, like with the above - we should have the most fun of all because we're forgiven and have a personal relationship with the Creator Himself, who made this world perfect and loves us even though we chose through out own free will to bring sin and death and suffering into the world. We don't need to fall for the world's definition of fun. Dedicated followers of Jesus Christ simply have Him on the throne of their heart. We make jokes referencing things like the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry above with the understanding that such things aren't as important as Jesus in our mission fields.

Yes, whichever field you are on, you have a responsibility to others to share His love and forgiveness.

"But, wait," you may say, "I'm not on a foreign field, I'm here at home."

I once led someone to Christ - he went from head knowledge of Jesus to heart knowledge, receiving Jesus' forgiveness for his sins by faith - in an airport during a flight delay. Our field is literally wherever we are at the moment, in that respect. It may be praying with a waitress in a restaurant who has just gotten some bad news, it may be helping an elderly neighbor with groceries, it may be one of many things where we minister to others through our love and kindness, rather than focusing on ourselves.

However, in another respect, our mission field is where we work, live, go to school, worship, etc.. It's those places where others see us day after day, and where we must show that consistent example of Jesus Christ and His love, mercy, and forgiveness, but also His being clearly distinct from the world's system and standing for the absolute truth of the Bible. He lived in the world but He was not of the world, and we must be that way, too, so people see a difference.

Occasionally, we branch out, of course. Our radio show has been heard by and had response from people in different states, and this blog could even reach different countries. Who knows how someone may be led to serve the Lord becasue the Spirit worked in them after reading this. When we get those chances, we must act on them, letting God lead us to the right way to handle each situation; looking prayerfully for that person to share Jesus with instead of complaining about a flight delay, in the example above.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Modern Nicodemuses Come By Technology

here's one of those stories that might not make it onto the radio, but which is very related to our "Persecuted Church show of August 19. And, it's a good one to start, because it's all about searching for the Truth of the Gospel.

The Gospel is integral to our Statement of Faith - found on the Youthquake site. It is so simple a child can understand it, yet can be examined so deeply that one can spend a lifetime learning of how wonderful God's love is for us that caused him to lay down His life for our sins. As First Corinthians 15:-3-4 says, "Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.

What amazing love, that God himself manifested Himself as fully God and fully man, Jesus Christ. In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.(Galatians 2:9) And, this Jesus died to take the punishment for each of our sins, He took our place onthe cross, and he was buried and he rose again the third day.(1 Cor. 15:3-4)

And yet, in some areas where there is extreme persecution of Christians, where there is extremely works based attitudes combined with rulers who want nothing to do with the amazing Grace of Jesus Christ, in those places people suffer and die for their faith.

We are each only a single, sincere prayer of repentance away from eternal life. And people seeking to know the freedom that Christ gives - freedom from fear, freedom from terror, freedom from guilt and shame - must sometimes come the way Nicodemus did to Jesus in John 3.

Now, while Nicodemus came by night so he wouldn't be seen, these people come to places like Global Media Outreach, where I (Doug) am one of numerous online missionaries. One recent one put in his comment "telecharger." Given the country he was from, I realized that might be so that if someone peeked at his cell phone they would only suspect that he was looking for technical support. Please pray forr this man's salvation and spiritual growth.

Thankfully, we are still free in this country to share the Gospel, but we must be active in doing so while we can. the Lord has each of us here in this day and age so we can sahre that plaina nd simple truth - that we are saved by grace "through faith, and that not of ourselves - it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast."(Eph. 2:8-9)

So, take advantage of times you are stuck in an airport by a delayed flight, or just out somewhere and the Spirit leads you to share the Gospel. Be a loving, Godly person so they can see evidence of Jesus in you, of course, but share it. And, let the Holy Spirit in you as a believer lead you to those who are seeking. Then, listen, and if they share problems, lovingly explain as Jesus did to the woman at the well, that that emptiness or pain or whatever else they feel, Jesus can fill those holes in they will only trust Him to do so, by simple faith.

Because, in this world we will have tribulation, but we can be of good cheer, Jesus Christ has overcome the world.(John 16:33) And, He will help them overcome, too. he won't always make out circumstances better, but He will guide us through them so we can show His love to others and let Him be glorified in this dark world.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

hello from Doug at WNPQ's Quest for Truth

Hi. I'm Doug Fowler. Host Mark Sowick and I love doing our Quest for Truth radio program. With Greater Canton Youthquake founder and director Sal Varsalone, we have produced many interesting shows. They can be heard here. We hope you'll enjoy Youthquake's entire site.

We hope to be able to continue our show, but even if financial concerns prevent that for a while, we want to actively engage with our listeners and hopefully meet new followers along the way. We will continue to search for truth; the truth of God's Word.

This blog will have a number of topics, some of which will hopefully one day be part of our radio program. If we can figure out how to do podcasts or other things, we will. :-) We are not technologically savvy, though. We are just two guys and a Bible as Mark likes to say. - or three guys and a Bible when Sal joins us. Still, whether or not we figure out how to post anything more than words, in the meantime, we hope you will enjoy reading.