The Worth Of A Soul

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26) The implication of this verse is quite stunning really. You may gain all of the wealth, riches, and treasure that this world has to offer, but if in doing so you lose your soul, then you ultimately are the loser. That is the worth of a soul to one's self. But what about the worth of a soul to God? The soul of a man is worth enough to God that He was willing to give His most precious possession, His only begotten Son, in order to redeem that soul from Hell. The worth that God places upon a soul is undeniable and undebatable. But what about the worth of a soul to you and me? I mean, how much is it really worth to us in terms of time, effort, and money to see that a soul has had every chance to not only hear the Gospel, but come to Christ?

It is one o'clock in the morning, and I can't sleep. I received word tonight that a cancer-stricken woman out in the village where we have a weekly ministry just passed into eternity. I am happy that 11 days ago she placed her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and I am thankful that her pain and suffering are now over. Several of us visited her this past Saturday while we out in the village, and she was in horrible pain. Since then our prayer has been specifically that God would just take her home quickly, and I am relieved in my spirit that tonight He did just that.

As I meditate upon this precious soul who has passed into eternity tonight, little memories keep popping into my mind. Little things that perhaps seemed insignificant at the time, but now in hindsight I believe they played a huge role in bringing this woman to Christ. Although I have known her for about nine years, I am unsure of her name. It is very common here in Cambodia to call someone by a familial title and not their actual name. I call her Ohm (an older aunt). Here are ten factors that I believe ultimately contributed to the salvation of Ohm's precious and valuable soul. Perhaps these thoughts will encourage someone to keep sowing the seed, keep watering the seed, and not be weary in well doing.

Help Us Choose A Furlough Vehicle

We've spent the first several weeks of our furlough looking for a vehicle to purchase. After chasing down numerous leads and driving lots of miles in borrowed vehicles (thanks to generous relatives and friends), it appears that our search is over. We have found a van that will meet our needs and hope to pick it up within a few days. Meanwhile, while downloading some pictures from our camera the other day, I had to laugh at how many vehicles I have taken a picture of this past month. I guess that's to be expected with vehicles "on the brain." So since we haven't given the van owner any money yet, I thought perhaps I should take a poll and see which vehicle you think we should get. After looking through my pictures, here are my five favorites:

Last week, I stepped out of our hotel room one morning to go and preach a Christian school chapel. I saw this limo waiting outside the hotel. I laughed inside and said, "Well, bless their hearts...look what they sent to fetch me."

The Hummer Limo

Introducing A New Book

I have finished my book on the subject of Christian growth, and it is heading to the printer. In this blog post I want to share the story of why I wrote the book and also tell a little bit about the content of the book. For those of you who use twitter, you can get daily quotes from the book and information about the book by following @morethanasavior. More Than Just A Savior will be available this Fall.

(The following is an excerpt from the Preface of More Than Just A Savior)

The idea for this book began two and a half years ago as I was preparing to teach a Bible study to a small group of men in our church in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. My topic for the four-week study was to be “Men and Relationships,” and I was going to teach the first week on “A Man’s Relationship With God.” 

Having been preaching and teaching for years, I had taught many times on that topic, even to some of those very men. But I began to pray and ask God for a new way to present the same old truth – that we need to walk with God. As I studied, read, and prayed, I kept going back and forth between several angles. Did I want to focus on our sonship? Did I want to base this lesson on the Good Shepherd? 

In Their Own Words - 2008 Video

This is the video that we showed to half of our supporting churches back in 2008. The churches that we did not visit in 2008 have not seen this, so I decided to post it on my blog. Although it is several years old, I praise God that the great majority of the faces you will see in this video are still coming to church, growing in grace, and serving the Lord!

We are right now working on our 2011 video which we will show in churches later this year. When our furlough comes to a close, I will post that video for our supporters who we do not get to see this time around. I also intend to post our 2005 video very soon.

Emma Playing The Offertory

Here is Emma Grace Benefield (9 years old) playing "Fairest Lord Jesus" at our church last week. After a year with no piano teacher, it is good to see the girls back into weekly lessons, even if it is just for a couple of months. I'm proud of Emma and all of her hard work on the piano.

Tally Ho The Fox, by Herb Hodges (Book Review)

© Melinda Nagy | Dreamstime Stock Photos

There is no shortage today of books on missions, and I have certainly read my share. Aside from individual missionary biographies, there are three books that I have read in recent years which stand out in my mind as some of the most challenging books I have ever read. I recently reviewed "Nothing To Win But The World", and now I would like to review another one of this trio of outstanding books, "Tally Ho The Fox".

The author is Herb Hodges, a long-time pastor and evangelist. His main premise in the book is that modern-day churches are failing miserably to obey the Great Commission. One of the things I like most about this book is not so much that he says new things (although there are certainly some fresh ideas in the book) but the fact that he says things we already know in such a straightforward and powerful way that you cannot help but be challenged and convicted. He uses outstanding illustrations (many of which I had never heard), and he also has a sharp wit, a dry sense of humor, and a very effective use of sarcasm.

To see the main premise of the book and his engaging style, one must only read a few sentences into the introduction.

"...the typical church (in America) is jammed with "pew potatoes" whose only intent is to come to church, listen to a sermon, and go away, hoping that this course will help to privately smuggle their souls to heaven and help them to have a reasonably comfortable life on the way. Any resemblance between this lifestyle and the Christian life pictured in the New Testament is purely coincidental."

Thoughts From A Funeral

Nobody likes funerals, but I went to a funeral recently which really blessed my heart. Pastor Sakaun is a national pastor here in Cambodia who was led to Christ about 12 years ago by my good friend, Missionary Rodney Ruppel. You can read a bit of Pastor Sakaun's testimony here.

A couple of weeks ago Pastor Sakaun called me and told me that he had just gotten word that his mother had passed away. Of course, I felt sorrow for his loss, but even more so because his pastor (Bro. Ruppel) had just left for the United States for furlough and was not there to encourage him. He told me that the funeral would be the next day, which was a Saturday.  I decided to take a van load of our church folks to the funeral to try to encourage this sweet family, and several things really challenged me.

The first thing that moved my heart occurred before we even arrived at the funeral. We had directions to the village, but did not know how to get to the specific house. I had been told to call when we got to the front edge of the village and someone would come out and lead us to the house. Usually it is not hard to find a funeral or wedding in a small village, because of the portable tent that is set up in the road for the event and the monks chanting over a very loud speaker. As this was a Christian funeral, we knew we wouldn't hear the chanting monks, but I thought perhaps we would see the tent. As we pulled up to the village we noticed the area was thick with trees; thus, we did not see the funeral tent. I pulled to the side of the road to call and ask where to go, and suddenly I heard a beautiful sound wafting through the village - the song "I Need Thee Every Hour"! I turned around and looked at our church people and smiled. "I guess we don't need to call after all." We followed the song straight to the funeral!