From The President's Desk...
Dear Partner In Ministry,
First, I want to express my deepest thanks for your support
of this ministry. Ultimately your thanks will come from God,
but we are very aware that you are allowing us to represent
you before Him and the world. It is because of you that we
recently received a note of encouragement from a student at
Jerry Falwell's Liberty University telling us that they are
recommending our web site in their apologetics courses, and
that the student himself was very encouraged by our site's
contents! Without help from you - our brothers and sisters
- we would not be able to counsel and teach in person, via
E-mail, Website, phone, or on the radio waves.
The need for our ministry in our culture was recently brought
home to me very forcefully in two separate, but very emotionally
charged, ways. I want to share them with you.
My Aunt And The Mom Who Drowned Her Children
My Aunt Rosi, who is my age, was close to the Yates family
of Texas where the mother, Andrea, drowned her five children.
In fact, my little cousin Jamie was seen in a photo which
accompanied the recent People magazine story, being held at
the funeral by Russell Yates, the father of the slain children.
This tragic event really saddened me as I'm sure it did you.
They were homeschoolers (so are we) they had four older sons
and a young daughter (so do we), and they professed Christ
(so do we). So, what happened? "Voices" told this
mother to kill herself and her children. I asked about Andrea's
spiritual background and was told that she grew up as a Roman
Catholic but had since been involved with her husband in a
street witnessing ministry. They also were not currently members
of any church. Demonic influence had obviously been a major
factor in this tragedy.
My Aunt Rosi is a very strong Christian lady, raised by my
Missionary Baptist grandpa, and her kindness was heralded
as far north from Texas as my new neighbors' house (very small
world!) where a guest told me she used to live near Rosi and
that she would "bet that nobody in (my aunt's county)
could say she hadn't been of help to them in some way."
When I read my aunt's letter about the murders I felt very
led to talk to Rosi about her friend, Andrea, the mother/murderess.
Of course, she seemed stunned that her friend could have done
this horrible thing. Andrea was a Registered Nurse who specialized
in taking care of cancer patients. She had been valedictorian
of her class in school, engaged in street witnessing and seemed
to be a very loving and devoted homeschooling mother. Again,
so what happened? Rosi was also aware of the terrible depression
that had fallen over Andrea and was regularly praying for
her as she sought comfort and help through psychiatric drug
treatment. Though shocked, my aunt was open to the idea of
questioning whether Andrea was ever really saved, regenerated
or born again because 1 John 3:15 tells us . . . "no
murderer has eternal life abiding in him." This is the
same Scripture I gave after being called to the ICU bedside
of another mother (of 7) who had attempted suicide by drinking
Pine Sol. She had said repeatedly that she just wanted to
"go home to be with Jesus." I asked her how shecould
have assurance of salvation when her last act on earth would
be to murder herself? Someone will say, "But can't a
Christian just go crazy and commit murder?" A teacher
at a Christian college once told me that "a Christian
can't trust God to keep him sane!" I responded, "If
that's true, when He's promised it, then how can you trust
Him for eternal life?" No, the product of God is a sound
mind! "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but
of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2Ti 1:7)
He's also given us eternal life and the Holy Spirit! What
about King David? Wasn't he a murderer? Yes, he was, but he
was not a New Testament believer and didn't have the promise
that the Holy Spirit would always be with him as do we who
believe in Christ. (see Psalm 51:11; 2Co 1:22; Eph 1:13 and
Eph 4:30). His presence drastically changes things on an ongoing
basis! What about Ronald Reagan? Well, he still has the same
sweet character and disposition he always had according to
all accounts and he certainly hasn't been full of murder.
We also don't know for sure if he was born again.
We must not assume everyone is saved just because they sound
"Christian" and are seemingly nice and moral. Donny
and Marie Osmond seem to be very nice people but they are
polytheistic Mormons!! There is a doctrinal as well as an
experiential element that must be checked out. Many times
we also accept people as Christians because we want to be
generous, but other times it can be because we are afraid
of confrontation. It is better to be loving and probe for
the sake of the gospel and the spiritual safety of our friend
or loved one.
"Christian" Daughters Marrying Muslims
Apologetics is a biblically mandated ministry which calls
people to speak of -and confront - doctrinal error. The urgent
necessity of this type of ministry was brought forcefully
to me again during a recent speaking engagement.
Over the weekend of June 30-July 1, I filled the pulpit at
Kings Camp which is owned by the Reformed Church of America,
and I spoke on the Christian heritage handed down to us by
our founding fathers. During the hours that followed, two
families separate and unknown to each other approached me
and told me that they each had "Christian" daughters
who were raised in the church (one went to a Baptist Bible
college) but had married Muslims and had subsequently converted
to Islam! One was married to an Albanian-American and the
other to an Iranian-American. Tears flowed from both mothers'
eyes. One had hired a detective to find her daughter only
to have the trail go cold down south. I was able to give them
some direction on what to read and what to do next.
Missions Begins At Home!
It is sad to realize that 6-9 million Muslims are now in
America (not to mention the millions of Mormons and JWs and
other false religionists) and there are still some folks who
treat foreign missions as somehow more worthy than, or feel
that support of it should be to the exclusion of mission-field
America! This may be based on national pride, fear or some
misguided form of romanticism. It takes more money to live
and be a missionary in America because of the demands of the
culture. One is more personally expensive than the other.
Still, America is the "goose that lays the golden egg"
for foreign missions. If America ceases to be orthodox in
its spirituality, foreign missions (just from this country
-after all, there are churches in other countries sending
missionaries to America and elsewhere) will certainly suffer
or collapse!
Foreign or home missions should not be an "either/or"
proposition but a "both/and" one. Jesus said "You
will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth"
(Acts1:8 NASV95).Notice that His home city (Jerusalem, where
His Father's house was) and then his local region (Judea and
Samaria) came before (but not to the exclusion of) the uttermost
parts of the Earth?
God's Weapons Of Choice: Praying and Demolishing Arguments!
As you know, we depend on people of God such as yourself
for keeping us in the fight. Not everyone realizes that there
even is a fight going on, nor understands the nature of it.
We don't fight against flesh and blood like the cult leaders,
pornographers, foul-mouthed hate-filled comedians like George
Carlin and Bill Maher, godless politicians and judges, lukewarm/immature
believers nor apostate "false brethren." We wrestle
against "principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness
in high places." It is not primarily a political battle,
but a spiritual one, with Satan as our chief adversary. It
is fought on the battlefield of doctrinal ideas and in the
arena of the souls or minds of mankind.
The Bible tells us our weapons are prayer and the Word of
God itself which is the basis for all doctrinal truth. "For
though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the
flesh (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh,
but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds),
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted
against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into
captivity to the obedience of Christ; . . . We demolish arguments
and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge
of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient
to Christ" (2Co 10:3-5 NASV95 and NIV). The evil spiritual
weapons of our enemies are lies and doctrines of demons (see
1 Timothy 4:1) which spur on the dark inclinations and malice
of the human heart.
Carnal Christians will find any excuse to not get in the
fight and to criticize those who do (usually saying to themselves
"Who me? I'm in the fight!). We must be kind but firm
with our weaker brothers, admonishing them to grow in their
knowledge of Jesus Christ (see 2 Peter 1:5). At different
times in the nearly 18 years of this ministry Satan has used
harshly stated just and unjust criticisms, envy and lies to
try and drive a wedge between us and our supporters. He hasn't
ever totally succeeded but we do have ups and downs in the
battle. Lies, gossip and rumor are his weapons of choice.
If he can just get God's people to think their giving isn't
essential, he's won. We remain a hand-to-mouth faith ministry
and not one that is "based out of Chicago" and "independently
wealthy" as one such rumor had described us.
For example, let's look at what happened last year. Without
my 80 year old mother donating the money for the majority
of materials, along with the presence of volunteer help, we
could never have built the bedroom onto the parsonage that
she now lives in. Satan may well have whispered in some of
our supporters' ears, "They must be well off if they
can afford that! They sure don't need your help!" If
this notion was repeated by human mouths it became Satan's
sinful weapon of gossip! On pragmatic and non-doctrinal or
ethical matters, it is important to remember what Paul said
in Romans 14:4: "Who are you to judge the servant of
another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will
stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand."
A Wonderful Brother Goes Home
We thank God there are those who give of themselves freely
with no strings attached, and with a generosity of spirit
that always encourages and makes you glad to see them. As
I close this section, I would like to mention one such brother
who very recently went home to be with the Lord. He contributed
his labor when he was up to it and procured a couple of very
important items for this ministry. What stands out about him
is that he always did so with a warm mature cheerfulness and
a certain nonchalant, almost boyish, charm. We will miss you,
Woody!
Prayer Requests:
· Please pray for Woody's widow June.
· Please pray for a man who holds to a mixture of
Roman Catholicism and mystical Hinduism. He is
married to a wonderful Christian lady.
· Pray for the very demonized young relative of a
man in our area.
· Pray that contact is made between the missing Muslim
convert previously mentioned and her parents.
· Pray for the salvation of both the Iranian (both
grandparents from Iran are now here) and the Albanian
Muslim families and the grandchildren involved.
· Pray for my Aunt Rosi that the Lord gives her opportunities
to minister to the remaining family of the dead children in
Texas.
· Pray for the needs of my family and the general
fund as we have had a very hard year financially.
We need to be able to keep going or the following prayer requests
are moot.
A Great Regional Missions Opportunity!
Pray that God would provide the needs for the finishing up
of the auditorium. We hope to feature a national Evangelical
author/speaker a month at first (and eventually two a month)
as an outreach to the local region (heavily populated with
nominal mainline denominations, Roman Catholics, Unitarians
and secularists who are 50% indigenous and 50% from the Chicagoland
area) as well as musical events. Towards this end we have
been diligently working. This year alone the following has
happened: plumbing has been completely replaced including
a new hot water heater; 20 gallons of paint have been applied
professionally to the 3,500 square foot ceiling (it looks
great!!) which was first methodically repaired using scaffolding;
the bathroom and entry way has had the old walls and ceiling
stripped down and new insulation put in; all the rotted wood
on the roof overhang in the back of the building has been
replaced complete with metal drip edge; and the back of the
building has been painted as well as all the trim inside the
auditorium. We have had a designated gift for the purpose
of renovating the auditorium that is almost used up. We still
need money for the following: to pour cement for the front
and back porches; for additional wood and drywall materials
for the enclosure of the kitchen area (all kitchen materials
like two refrigerators stove, new 3 bin stainless steel sink
etc.. are already on site); the stage curtain and 3 backdrops;
and furnace and ductwork (we already have the air-conditioning
units needed). We also will need an honorarium budget and
a modest advertising budget for the events that are planned.
Please pray that God would provide for these additional finishing
needs.
In Closing, Another Great Opportunity - For Our Radio
Ministry!
Friends, we have an invitation from Larry Bates, president
of Information Satellite Network, to put our radio program,
Perspective Underground, on their satellite and stream it
from their Website. Their Website has 17,000 document requests
and between 1,000-1,500 new people coming to it daily! They
are asking $550.00 a month to do this. Having our program
on this satellite means that we could then approach the hundreds
of their client radio stations to offer our program for airing.
Please pray for us in this regard and for the general fund
as it has been a hard year and summer. Again, all your gifts
to the ministry are tax deductible, greatly needed and equally
appreciated!
In His Service Gladly,
Rev. Kevin S. Johnson
President
Website: http://www.contender.org
E-Mail: contender@aol.com
PO Box 5761 Rockford, IL 61125
Phone:815-947-2858
Make Your Support Checks Out To: Mount Carmel Outreach
"He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet
shall receive a prophet's reward; and he who receives a righteous
man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous
man's reward." Matthew 10:41
Mount Carmel Outreach
All donations to The Institute For Christian
Apologetics are
tax-deductible, greatly needed and equally appreciated!
Make your checks out to:
The Institute For Christian Apologetics
Send them to P.O. Box 5761 Rockford, IL 61125
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