The States for the Holidays

After over three years in the field, we are coming back to the States on October 15th and will stay through the holidays.  We will be spending most of our time in Montana, but will make trips to Idaho, North Dakota and Tennessee to visit family and preach at churches.  Looking forward to what God has in store for our time in the States.  Looking forward to spending time with family and friends, talking about Peru with a few churches we know, hiking in the Montanan mountains that I miss so much, eating good food during the holidays, and hopefully stirring people up to risk everything for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ among the nations.  Hope to see everyone we can.

 

 

God give me a deep humility, a well-guided zeal, a burning love and a single eye, and then let men or devils do their worst! - George Whitefield

Jenny Adams - Unknown missionary on earth, but famous in Heaven

On a recent trip to the jungle I heard a story about a woman named Jenny Adams, who was a missionary in Peru.  Her story was incredible so I researched her name on the internet and virtually nothing was found about her.  She was well known in Northern Peru, but outside of that, most have not heard of her.  She is a perfect example of faithfully serving God will all your strength for your whole life, for God alone.  Since I could not find much information about her, I can only re-tell the story as I heard it.  I have no way of knowing if these details are accurate.

 

Jenny was from the United States and came to Peru as a Baptist missionary.  She fell in love with a Peruvian captain of the army, who later died.  Jenny stayed in Peru, resolved to serve God. 

 

In those days the Independent Baptist church did not allow woman to travel alone since there was a war.  They also required that women wear skirts and have long hair.  Jenny did not obey any of these rules.  One day she disappeared from Trujillo and hiked into a very remote village in the Andes.  No missionary was ever there before, male or female.  She began to teach the people in their homes and many people began to love her.  She taught the men the Scriptures and then told them to preach to the people.

 

One day the people told her that many people in the village assumed she was a prostitute.  Their Andean beliefs were such that any woman with pants and short hair was dishonest and a prostitute.  When she found this out she began to wear skirts and grow her hair out for the sake of the gospel.

 

Over the years the ministry thrived and bore fruit.  She walked everywhere or took a bus or train until someone gave her a car.  One day she picked up some people that needed a ride and was later pulled over by the police at a check station.  They searched her car and found that a bag of cocaine was hidden in a gas can that belonged to the people she just picked up.  Jenny was hauled to jail for transporting cocaine. 

 

Jenny took full responsibility for having drugs in her car, even though she had no idea they were there.  She eventually shared the gospel with the guy who was hiding the drugs and he was saved.  He became a pastor and Jenny discipled him from prison.  I was told that she stayed in prison for eight years.  One day in prison she broke her leg, and because of bad medical attention, she was badly crippled.  After she was released from prison, she was unable to hike into all the villages she once ministered in.  After 40 years in the field, Jenny died on January 17, 2005 at the age of 84.

 

The life of Jenny bore much fruit.  Many of the Baptist pastors in Northern Peru have come from the fruit of her bold ministry.  Jenny is almost unknown in the world, but she is famous in Heaven.

The American Mission Field - Is it wrong to leave?

"I happen to be talking to my pastor tonight about missions. He believes that there are so many lost in our communities in America that our primary mission field is here. It's not that he is against world missions, but sees such a need here that it is hard to justify going across the world while there is such a need right in front of us. What is your opinion on the American mission field?"

 

This is a question that I have heard so many times. I would like to answer this publicly to hopefully kill this anti-Biblical, damaging belief. This is not a new question or a new stance on missions, but a very old one. William Carey was confronted and rebuked for the same reason when he wanted to go as a missionary to India. I will first let Carey answer the question. He says:

 

"It has been objected that there are multitudes in our own nation, and within our immediate spheres of action, who are as ignorant as the South-Sea savages, and that therefore we have work enough at home, without going into other countries. ...That there are thousands in our own land as far from God as possible, I readily grant, and that this ought to excite us to ten-fold diligence in our work, And in attempts to spread divine knowledge amongst them is a certain fact; but that it ought to supersede all attempts to spread the gospel in foreign parts seems to want proof. Our own countrymen have the means of grace, and may attend on the word preached if they choose it. They have the means of knowing the truth, and faithful ministers are placed in almost every part of the land, whose spheres of action might be much extended if their congregations were but more hearty and active in the cause: but with them the case is widely different, who have no Bible, no written language, (which many of them have not,) no ministers, no good civil government, nor any of those advantages which we have. Pity therefore, humanity, and much more Christianity, call loudly for every possible exertion to introduce the gospel amongst them."

 

There are needs in America, Peru, India, and every other country. There always has been and there always will be until Jesus returns. There are lost people in every neighborhood. There are countless people ignorant of the biblical gospel. There are many who need to be discipled. However, you can not compare the needs in America with the needs in other places. America is reached, which means there is a large, sustainable population of Christians that can teach, preach, evangelize, and reproduce biblical churches. Any human being in America can freely seek the true God. He can get a free Bible in many places. He can walk into a church on any corner. He can listen to free sermons on the radio or the internet. There is absolutely nothing hindering him from seeking God, but himself.

 

On the other hand, there are unreached and even un-contacted people groups all over the world who have never once heard the name Jesus, and have never heard of a Bible. Generations of these people around the world live and die without the saving knowledge of the gospel. They have a knowledge of God through creation, but only enough to know that God exists, not enough to be saved. There are many countries where there is no access to the gospel. Even if the people want to seek God, they can't. I don't know all the details about other countries, but I do know some of them in Peru. 

 

Even though by some people's standards, Peru is a reached country. The reality is that there are countless people who have never heard the gospel or of the name of Jesus. I have encountered both in the Amazon jungle and the remote Quechua villages of the Andes. Christianity in Peru is largely represented by the Catholic church, which is far from anything representing biblical Christianity, and the charismatic church, which for the most part preaches a watered down gospel and health, wealth, and prosperity. The majority of Peruvians could not tell you what the gospel is if you asked them the question. They live in superstition and loyalty to tradition. In the more remote parts of Peru there is still persecution for faith in Jesus or the people have no access to the gospel at all. I was in a Quechua village only one hour outside of Cusco and asked a lady if she knew about Jesus. She said she heard the name, but didn't know much about Him. Even though she lives an hour from the gospel, she has only been to the big city of Cusco twice in her life. 

 

To say “It is hard to justify going across the world while there is such a need right in front of us”, is to live in disobedience to the Great Commission of Christ. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus commissions us. He says:

 

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

There is nothing in this command about staying home. I understand that the imperative (command) is not on the word “Go”, but on the word “make.” Jesus assumes that His disciples will obey Him by going into the world to make disciples. The first could read: As you are going into the world, make disciples. Going is not optional. Jesus tells us what to do as we are going into the world.

 

The biblical position on missions should not be to justify going, but justify not going. If you stay home, you better have a very good reason or you are being disobedient to the Great Commission. David Platt said: Jesus commands us to go. He has created each of us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, and I propose that anything less than radical devotion to this purpose is unbiblical Christianity.

 

The disciples were given this command from Jesus, but at first they stayed. God sent persecution, and they were spread over the face of the earth. As they scattered into all the world, they obeyed the Great Commission by proclaiming that Christ is King and making disciples. The gospel didn't stay in Jerusalem, where there were countless needs. All through the book of Acts we see the gospel going forth to the ends of the earth. 

 

Charles Spurgeon said, “Millions have never heard the name of Jesus. Hundreds of millions have seen a missionary only once in their lives, and know nothing of our King. Shall we let them perish? Can we go to our beds and sleep, while China, India, Japan, and other nations are being damned? We ought to put it on this footing, - not, “Can I prove that I ought to go?” but, “Can I prove that I ought not to go?”

 

Every Christian has a mandate to take the gospel to every tribe, tongue, and nation until all the world knows that Christ is the only King. Every Christian must be involved in taking the gospel of hope to places where there is no hope. We must question our salvation if we have no concern for the gospel going to the nations. Again, Spurgeon said: I remember one who spoke on the missionary question one day saying, “The great question is not ‘Will not the heathen be saved if we do not send them the gospel?’ but ‘are we saved ourselves if we do not send them the gospel?

 

Are you not involved in the Great Commission because it takes sacrifice? The pioneer missionary, Paul said, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3). Paul was willing to throw himself in Hell for the sake of the gospel if only some were saved. Should not this be our attitude? Should we not risk everything for the sake of taking the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth? 

 

To justify not being involved in international missions is sin. Oswald J. Smith said that “any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist.

 

How are you involved in the Great Commission? What has it cost you? I will end with a challenge from a book called Paul, Missionary Theologian by Robert L. Reymond. He challenges us:

 

“Now you the reader must decide whether you will become a part of the continuing conquest of the gospel. Will you seriously face the demands of the Great Commission and your responsibility to it? Will you make yourself available to the Lord Jesus Christ for cross-cultural ministry? Before you decide to stay at home and involve yourself in some work here, you must first be able to give yourself good reasons why you may stay at home. Cross-cultural ministry, I would submit, should be given first priority in your thinking. Only when the Lord has made it clear that he does not want you to involve yourselves cross-culturally should you then decide to stay at home.”

Chembo - To Live and Die Without Ever Hearing the Name of Christ

After over 50 hours traveled by plane, bus, car, truck, and boat, we returned safely from another trip to the jungle. Wehrner, a good friend named Anthony, and I made up the team for this trip. We taught and preached in the mountain town of Jauja, the jungle town of Satipo, and the Ashaninka village of Chembo. The church in Satipo is progressing very well and we saw huge improvements. We also were very encouraged by the work in Chembo. It seems that after two years, we are starting to see some fruit from the gospel. 

 

The first trip that we took to Chembo, we found a far less civilized place. We were the first white people to set foot in the village, everyone hid their children from us because they thought we came to steal their “grease”, and our Peruvian driver was taken captive by gun point because he wandered too far from the village. Now, after two years, the village of around 500 people accepts us with no problems. We have exclusive access in Chembo to preach and teach. We are now invited to share the gospel with hundreds of students in the school. We are invited to preach at the community center and to the whole village in the evenings. Chembo has even advanced in technology. The government installed solar panels and lights in each hut and now they have a cell phone tower in the village. This is the first cell tower in any village along the Tambo river that we know of. It is strange to be in a remote Ashaninka village and be able to call my wife each day.

 

Once again on this trip we discovered insurmountable needs for the gospel and heard some sad stories of people living and dying without ever hearing the name of Christ. I put this video together to sum up the trip, since pictures speak louder than words.

 

 

My New Book - The Spiritual Discipline of Meditation

The Spiritual Discipline of Meditation

A Daily Devotional in the Scriptures

 

Today, when we hear the word meditation we immediately associate the term with a New Age practice. Sadly, the spiritual discipline of meditating on the Scriptures has become uncommon among Christians while in contrast the blending of eastern mysticism with mainstream Christian thought has risen to prominence. True, biblical meditation on the Scriptures has been replaced with a self-centered and mystic spirituality.  Overall this spiritual practice has faded with the Puritans. I have found such meditation, understood in a biblical and meaningful way, brings blessing, joy, and spiritual growth. Many Christians read the Bible each day but don't meditate on it. A lack of meditation often results in lack of profit gained from devotions. Many times during devotions, without meditation, the Christian finishes in the same condition in which he started.

I wrote The Spiritual Discipline of Meditation: A Daily Devotional in the Scriptures with two purposes in mind. First, I want to teach people how to meditate on the Scriptures in a meaningful way, after the pattern of the Puritans. Second, I purposefully use a daily devotional format so readers will begin to discipline themselves in meditating on one passage of Scripture each day. Rather than just write about the Puritan form of meditation, I provide practice through meaningful daily devotions. By the end of the book, after meditating for an entire year, the reader will be trained in one of the most important spiritual disciplines.  

I want to recover the lost spiritual discipline of meditation. In doing so, I hope to encourage Christians to grow in grace and truth and to savor the spiritual blessings of God’s Word.

Check out the buying options here:.



 

Endorsements

The Spiritual Discipline of Meditation is a foundational resource that will benefit every believer's walk with the Lord. I recommend it for all those who seek to walk faithfully and see His power to transform their lives through His Word.

-M. David Sills, D.Miss., Ph.D.

Scott Doherty has written a masterpiece on Christian meditation! Knowing and communing with God should be the greatest goal of every human being. This book gives the reader the necessary tools and encouragements to achieve that lofty goal. The pages you are about to read are deeply rooted in the scriptures, they are centered on Christ and are historical in their approach to cultivating an intimate relationship with the Living God.  

Micah Tuttle, Missionary, Peru

In a world of artificial urgency and marketed chaos The Spiritual Discipline of Meditation: A Daily Devotional in the Scriptures is a potent antidote to the roaring pace of life and “bogus spirituality.” Scott graphically warns that many times “without meditation, the Christian finishes (devotions) in the same condition in which he started.” Working through this devotional guide shatters the possibility of this happening.

Joel McCutcheon, Campus Chaplain, The Spanish Language Institute, San Jose, Costa Rica

 

The Puritans were experts at doing what some of them called, “The art of holy meditation”. By this, they referred not to the anti-biblical mysticism of Eastern Religion in which one empties his mind of all thoughts, but to the biblically-mandated practice of saturating one’s mind and thoughts with the truth of Scripture so as to think God’s thoughts after Him. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of life and a million and one things that distract our minds from what is truly important, Scott Doherty reminds us that “one thing is necessary” (Luke 10:42). He does this by calling us to return to the old paths, to the discipline of flooding our minds with the light of God’s Word so that our hearts and lives will be impacted by the power of truth as we draw near to God in intimate communion with His Word. Your soul will be refreshed if you take heed to the burden of this book.

Josef Urban, Missionary, Mexico

This is not just a devotional book to add to your quiet time. It models and teaches the spiritual discipline of biblical meditation. It will encourage and challenge you daily. In addition it will guide you to apply historically tested methods of learning God’s Word and growing in a deeper relationship with Him.

Scott Dollar, Preaching Pastor, The Way, Clarksville, Tennessee

 

Scott’s new devotional book is a wonderful addition to my personal devotional library and will be introduced to my church as well. It is rich, deep and thought provoking and is a wonderful tool to use in training Christians of any age in the spiritual discipline of meditating on God’s word.

Paul Lackey, Pastor, Living Faith Baptist Church

 

The Bible clearly teaches that what every believer needs is to have more faith. But it also promises that the fountain where he can find it is the Bible itself. It is through the constant reading, memorization, and meditation of the Scriptures that God promises to give us the faith we need for our daily sanctification. This is why this book is so important. It will help every christian understand, desire and know how to grow in the spiritual discipline of meditation of the Scriptures. He provides his reader with what has become his personal practice and discipline and shares it with the goal of helping them grow in holiness by meditating daily on the Scriptures. I highly recommend this book to you.

Eduardo Flores, Pastor, Iglesia Bautista Reformada (Reformed Baptist Church) Los Lagos, Costa Rica.

 

In a day where emotionally driven and mystical devotional books abound, this book drives us back to the Scripture where we belong. As the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart”. In like manner, this book calls us to slow down, take small bites, and chew well. I thank the Lord for the ministry of this dear brother and pray this book draws you closer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

John Wallace

 

I was saved over thirty years ago and played the "quiet time" game for many years. I would set my alarm clock and drag myself out of bed...or I hit snooze or just turned the alarm off completely. This was my pattern for the next eighteen or nineteen years. Until Christ changed my heart. The grace that saves is also the grace that sanctifies. Here's my story.

 

On April 3, 2003 at 5:30 in the morning, Christ gave me a heart to pursue him. I was already saved but that morning, he poured his grace over me and gave me a desire to be begin the day alone with him. It has been a rare morning that I have not been able to spend 45 minutes to two hours, sometimes more, in the word and in prayer. I share this carefully because it is all of grace. But I want others to know it is possible, and brings great joy and satisfaction in Christ alone. It's not me, it's not an act of the will, it is pure sovereign intervention in the life of a believer because he is a kind, loving and merciful God. The first 18 years of "quiet time" were all fleshly efforts and that's why I failed. The intention was good but my motives were selfish and therefore sinful.

 

It is with great pleasure I recommend this book by Scott Doherty. He has given us a wonderful tool that by the power of the Holy Spirit, will draw you into the word in a beautiful way. Meditating on Christ and his word is a great gift of God and he has provided, through Scott, a most useful resource.

 

As you begin, let me encourage you to pray II Corinthians 12:9a and ask Christ to crush your own sinful efforts and lead you to rest in him. Plead his mercies, die to self and he will grow you in grace through the word and prayer.

Larry Chandler, Elder, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Atlanta Georgia

 

We live in a day of superficial knowledge and fast answers. What we need is to slow down and immerse ourselves into Gods Word. Brother Scott Doherty’s book “The Spiritual Discipline of Meditation” provides a helpful method on how to dig deep into Gods Word, while nourishing the believer’s soul. I highly recommend this book, as it is beneficial for both personal and family devotions.

Sean Banks, Pastor, Providence Church of Williston, North Dakota

 

Many years ago, I wrote to a friend in Caracas asking him for prayer because I felt I was not overcoming sin in my life. My friend´s reply was: How is your devotional life? I have read books about spiritual disciplines being aware of their importance in our spiritual growth. I even recommended those books, but I still was fighting to apply what I knew was the right thing to do. By the grace of God I eventually learned to find delight in the presence of God through prayer and meditation of the Word. A devotional book like this would have been a great help in those days of struggling because it lets you practice what you are learning. It is my desire and prayer that our Lord use this excellent devotional to show people how to find the treasures hidden in the holy meditation of the Bible.

Alexander León, Pastor, Iglesia Bautista Reformada (Reformed Baptist Church) Los Lagos, Costa Rica