Everybody Has a War to Fight

Well, the unprecedented TV coverage of the war no need asking which war has our nation transfixed on the events that are unfolding in the Middle East. I think we're so absorbed with the war against Iraq that it's easy to forget that every day people who are not necessarily in the battle zone have their own personal wars to fight right here at home. You know, when you're watching the Iraqi war 24/7 on NBC or Fox you forget that people have wars right here. For example, the single parent fighting the fatigue that comes with raising children alone.

How about that war? And especially now with so many men and women deployed that has added almost to the single parent family of those who are single for a time anyways raising children by themselves. Very difficult. How about the person struggling every day with an addiction of some kind or a sinful habit? What about that war?

Or those that have to endure suffering from illness or old age and the ones who are on call as caregivers 20 fourseven. You don't know what a war is until you have to take care of someone all day and all night every day, 7 days with no break. That's a real war. And the many couples that are fighting to keep their marriages and family intact. So the list goes on and on with individuals who battle pressure at work, students trying to finish school and find jobs, single adults hoping to meet the person that they will marry.

The list of personal challenges is endless. No matter what happens in the conflict in Iraq, there are personal wars going on here stateside as well. This morning I'd like to talk to you about 1 such personal war and that's my own. The battle that has come into my life, the war that Lise and I are called on to fight, is the subject of this morning's lesson. Now before I discuss this, I I want to review some of the points made in several sermons that I have preached in the last few weeks.

These contain clues to what I will talk to you about today. In the sermon entitled Billions and Counting a couple of weeks back, I try to remind you that despite the attention and noise the military war was causing, we, Christians, needed to stay focused on the war that we as Christians were called upon to fight. And that is a spiritual war against the antichrists of this world. I told you that our spiritual war was 1 that needed fighting, needed people to go into battle because sin will destroy all people since all are guilty of it and will be condemned for it. You gotta go into the battle to save souls because souls are being lost (Romans 3:23).

We need to fight this battle because Jesus Christ is the only savior who can redeem lost sinners (Acts 4:12). I feel badly for those who die as suicide bombers. For what?

And we need to fight because the gospel is God's power to grant people the Holy Spirit and the eternal life and power that the spirit brings. Romans chapter 8 verse 10 and 11. In this lesson I reviewed with you the many technological and spiritual tools that God has provided us in this age that enable us to actually go and preach the good news to every soul on this planet.

In the end, my point in that lesson was that the war begins and ends with ourselves. What we're willing to do in order to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world, The war begins and ends with ourselves. Now in the sermon the following week, entitled The Miracle Catch, the objective was not to focus on the spiritual war that we've called on to fight, but rather encourage soldiers for Christ to have faith. In this lesson based on Jesus providing Peter with a large catch of fish, against all odds, against conventional wisdom, a miraculous catch of fish based only on Jesus's word. In this lesson, I was attempting to demonstrate a basic principle that all Christians need to know.

And that is, if they put their nets out by faith, God will provide the catch. In other words, if we respond to God's call and command in faith, he will provide us all the things we need to answer his call. So the story of Peter's response to Jesus highlighted the kind of person that would make a successful fisher of men. Today, we'd say the type of person who would be a successful soul winner for Christ. In this lesson, I showed you what the Bible said.

What the Bible said that these kind of people would need to be like. In looking at Peter, we said that a soul winner, a fisher of men, so to speak, had to be willing to obey Jesus at his word. This person had to be sensitive toward their own weaknesses and sins. In order to be sensitive to the weaknesses and sins of other people and see their great need for the gospel. And people like this needed to be prepared to leave everything to follow Christ into deeper ministry.

Now, when you put these 2 lessons together, the message is this: There's a spiritual battle going on in this world that we as Christians have been called upon to fight. Those who respond to that call need to have confidence that whatever Jesus asks us to do in this battle, he will provide more than enough resources to complete the job. Now, I said at the beginning that everybody has a war to fight in order to remain faithful to Christ. All kinds of wars to fight. As single parents, as caregivers, as protectors, as students, young marrieds, families, business people, artists, so on and so forth.

Everybody's gotta fight. Even ministers, believe it or not, have wars to fight. And mine has become clear to me in the last few months. You see, the sermons about spiritual warfare and letting down your nets in deep waters were as much for me as they were for you. The challenge for preachers, of course, is to preach where the gospel is most needed.

To preach where their skills and experience can best be put to use. I have known for a long time that as a person born and raised in Quebec, Canada, converted and trained in Montreal, having spent 10 years planting and building churches there, that 1 day I might go back to help the small and struggling churches that remain. For a time I believed that I could finish my career here in this wonderful and growing church located in beautiful, sunny, warm San Diego. And then perhaps help the churches in Montreal after my retirement. I even tried to sink roots here and buy a condo to feel more at home and solidify a long term stay.

Some of you even helped Lise and I do this and we appreciate your generosity and your kindness so, so much. But as I look at the growth here, as I see the resources that we have here, the many workers that are on staff and volunteer, I'm struck by how poor and weak the church in Montreal is by comparison. At Kenyon View, I am providing a measure of leadership and ministry for a wealthy congregation in Southern California that has 4 full time ministers, and 3 full time and 2 part time office and maintenance employees, and 7 elders, and 10 deacons, and over 40 designated ministry coordinators, and 550 members, and a budget of 12 $1, 000 every single week. But in the province of Quebec, where I come from, where there are 6 a half 1000000 people, there are only 3 full time preachers serving 6 congregations. Here at Kenyon View, our weekly giving is greater than what all of the churches give together for an entire month in the province of Quebec.

Since 1958, when the 1st New Testament Church was planted only in 1958, in Montreal, there has only been 1 person, only 1 person coming from Quebec who is bilingual, meaning speaks English and French, educated at a Christian university in ministry, experienced in both missions and pulpit ministry. And that person, believe it or not, is me. I'm the only 1. This is not a boast, this is a sad fact. And so when I compare the strength and the size and the resources of Canyon View with the condition of the struggling little churches in Montreal, it becomes evident to me where I need to be in order to produce the most good for the gospel.

Add to this fact that there are no other missionaries, no other mission efforts, no mission teams that are being formed or even planning to go to the province or to the city of Montreal. It becomes extremely important not only to go there, but to serve as our advocate for this work among the churches and the colleges in the United States who supply foreign missionaries to different countries around the world. In the end, the encouragement to not be afraid, to get into the spiritual battle and trust the Lord, even if he takes you out into the deep waters of faith, spoke most loudly to me. It may have spoken to you but it was speaking most loudly to me. The battle is most fierce and the workers are fewest in Montreal.

It's a place where progress is slow and you are forced to live and work by faith 1 day at a time because nothing, believe me, nothing concerning the church ever comes easy in that place. And so all of these thoughts turned over in weeks of prayer and seeking the Lord and discussion with brethren in Montreal and the elders here at Canyon View have brought Lise and I to the conclusion that we need to return to the mission field in Montreal to help the brethren with the work there. Now, the timing of course couldn't be worse, could it? I mean this is what people have told us when we share the news with them they say, This is a collection of things that I've heard. They say things, Hey, there's a war on.

It's not a good time to talk about missions. Haven't you seen the paper? They say, Hey, the economy is down. It's not a good time to go out and try to raise money. It's not a good time.

What about the work here at Canyon View? It's going so well. We're growing. Don't leave while things are going great. And then another 1, another 1 that said, Aren't you a little old to be going off to do mission work?

You should be saving for your retirement. You should be establishing yourself with some property. Get some equity going. Don't Don't rock the boat. It's too risky.

And I hear what I've been told and I can't help but wonder if there is ever a good time to do mission work. I mean, there are and will always be wars and rumors of wars. Jesus told us this. And whether the economy is up or down, isn't it the Lord who provides? And should I leave Kenyon's view when things are going badly?

Would that be better? You have all the resources you need to maintain the growth momentum that you have. You simply have to keep serving and remain faithful to the Lord. And as far as it being a foolish thing for an older guy to go into the mission field, it seems to me that in Acts chapter 13, the leaders in Antioch chose experienced men like Saul and Barnabas to go preach to the Gentiles, not kids. I believe this is 1 of our problems today.

The experienced workers stay home and we send the young men and women fresh out of school to the mission field. I think we've got it backwards. So it's true, there is never a good time to go into the mission field. There's always something in the way. Not enough money.

Kids are in school. Next year. Next year. I think the thing I heard the most was, Next year would be so much more convenient. But Jesus' command to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations doesn't have any qualifiers such as go when you feel ready, or go when it's convenient, or go when everybody seems to approve of it.

He simply says go. Or as in the Greek, as you go. Hey, you don't have to remind me that this is not a good time to go. There is a war on. And I'm going to a place where they speak French.

Think about it. Not a popular language. And money is tight, and yet the Lord calls me to go. So, Liza and I go, and we go now because the gospel has power to save in good or in bad times. It has power to save in war or in peace.

We go because the need is great and will only increase in time. We go because Jesus promised that no matter what, he would be with those who go at his command. This means that even if this time is inconvenient, and this time is difficult, and this time is risky, Jesus has promised that if we go, then he will be with us in our mission. And so, we go with confidence therefore because Jesus has promised that he will provide, and he will lead, and he will bless us for taking him at his word. Okay.

By this point, there are probably a lot of questions that you have about this, and I want to answer some of them that I think you may be thinking of, because we're too large a group to start a Q and A. We don't have time. So let me answer some questions ahead of time a little bit. Okay? We'll save we'll save on that.

And of course you're free to visit with me or call me. I'll be happy to visit with you at any time on a personal Some of the questions first question that I got first 1, when are you leaving? Well, our departure time is based on us finding a sponsoring congregation and the necessary financial support. Lise and I will do what all missionaries have to do in order to go into the mission field. I don't know if all of you are familiar with this, but if you're a missionary and you want to go into the mission field you have to go to different congregations.

You have to find 1 congregation willing to sponsor you to oversee your work, to be your base. And then you have to find congregations that are willing to supply finances so that you can be supported in order to do mission work. So that's what we're gonna do, we're gonna start knocking doors. Now 1 of our elders, Daryl Davis, will come up in a moment to explain what the missions committee and the elders have decided to do as far as the Canyon View, involvement is concerned. The furthest time limit for our remaining in San Diego will be September of this year.

But if support is in place we probably will leave earlier. Another question: Who's gonna replace me? Yeah, thank you. Again, Daryl will speak to this issue but I know that the elders are putting forth, putting together a pulpit ministry search committee and will begin reviewing candidates and so on and so forth as the situation develops. Just to reinforce and encourage you, Barry Day is remaining here and Tim Sibley is remaining here, so not to worry about that.

Maybe 1 other question here before we close out. Will I be a lame duck preacher? Will I be a lame duck preacher? In government when there's a transfer of administration, there's a period of time, where the outgoing administration still holds office and titles, but it doesn't have any real power. We call this a lame duck presidency or a lame duck administration.

In the church, this doesn't happen because the power resides in God's word. And the responsibility for leadership rests with the elders, and the elders are not going anywhere. And all parties have only 1 head, and that is Jesus Christ who is never out of power, never transferred, never replaced. I came here about 2 and a half years ago with a clear purpose and a clear task. 1st, to maintain the strong pulpit that had been held by John W.

Smith and the gospel preachers that came before him. I had to continue the tradition that you had here of a strong pulpit. Secondly, I was here to help create and install a ministry system that would enable this congregation to reach a greater potential for ministry than it had achieved in the past. Since then, new staff has been hired and trained. A ministry system that integrates members, coordinators, deacons, ministers, and elders in the work of the church has been created and implemented.

And we see the results of this today. Over 100 identified ministry categories with over 40 coordinators, 9 deacons, 7 elders, 4 ministers, 5 support staff in place, functioning smoothly together, all in 1 integrated ministry system, using a language that everyone understands. Attendance is up to a point where 2 services are necessary. Our bank account, our giving, our mission budget is higher than it has ever been in the history of this or any congregation associated. In addition to this, Canyon View has a mission statement, it has a clear set of goals, It has a plan for the future that if followed will also take you to the next level.

And so the Lord has blessed our work here so that we can leave with a clear conscience and a sense of satisfaction knowing that the things that were set before us have been accomplished. So while I remain for a time, I will be busy setting things in order, preparing my ministry teammates to carry on effectively without me, and laying plans for the next work that the Lord has called on me to do. So there's no lame duck time or lame duck person. I will be ministering to you until the last day that I am here. Now what makes this difficult is that we have come to appreciate this congregation and a lot of people here, you make friends in two and a half years you get to know people, you get to love people. Please understand that this situation becomes easier to accept when we realize that this is what evangelists do in the New Testament. We say our mission statement, we strive to be a faithful new testament church. That's our mission statement.

Well, New Testament evangelists plant churches. They organize and build them up. They train leaders and then they repeat the process in other churches. Sometimes an evangelist will remain with 1 congregation for a long period, but more often than not it's for the time that the work requires and then they move on. My prayer is that your elders and ministry leaders will continue to feed and encourage you to minister the word of God to yourselves and to the community around you.

My hope is that you will maintain the rate of growth and maturity that I've experienced with you in the short time that I've been here. And my request is that you remember us in your prayers and that you enable us with your giving to bring the gospel of Christ to a place that is very poor in spiritual blessings in comparison to yourselves. My message is complete today only if I invite once again those who need to put on Christ in baptism or confess his lovely name in repentance. If you need salvation or restoration or assistance from the church, then I do encourage you to come forward now so that our elders may minister to you in the way that they have in the past.