Keeping a well balanced Biblical Ministry is not necessarily an easy thing to do. It is easy to come short of the truth, and it is easy to run past the truth. Many come short of the truth, while others go beyond the truth. I must confess that I have not always found it easy to keep the desirable well balanced Biblical stands on many doctrines. It is easy to start chasing rabbits and get sidetracked. Hobby horses and tangents abound, that can cause us to digress from the true stand that we should be taking. Good friends in the ministry can cause us to be influenced to digress from where we ought to be in doctrine and practice.

This article is not an attack on anyone, but is being written to remind us all that there is a danger in failing to stand on the solid word of God. There may be some who will be offended by it, but we only want to warn Christians and Pastors of the danger. Young preachers are especially vulnerable in this area of their ministry. Older brethren are not immune to it. We are not pleading for compromise, but rather for us all to stand firm on the teaching of the Bible. I must confess that 40 years ago, I thought I knew a lot more, than I truly know today.

Every driver knows that it is essential to drive your car in the correct lane of the highway. If you veer too far to the right, you end up in the bar ditch, and this can be dangerous. On the other hand if you veer too far to the left, you either end up in the path of oncoming cars, or end up in the ditch to the left. Either way you go can lead you into great danger. I have ended up almost going to the right too far, and almost ending up in the ditch. There have been a few times that I have almost ended up in the lane going the wrong way, or going off to the left and going to the ditch. This almost happened when I was carrying 18 credit hours in Bible School and working full time on a job to support my family. Thank the Lord for looking after me in my foolish days.
Some may be tempted to think that I am making a case for a middle of the road sort of doctrinal ministry. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every driver should know that driving your car straddling the yellow line is one of the most dangerous places to drive. I am advocating that our ministry should be on the right side of the theological highway and in the proper lane.

Years ago someone asked a well known preacher, "Will the Pentecostals get to heaven?" After he thought for a moment, he said, "Yes they will, if they don't run past it." We know that no one is going to run past heaven. If the Pentecostals believe the doctrine that they preach, they won't even get close to getting there in my opinion.

The Bible does tell us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. If that is true, and it is, then that means that His doctrine and His will are not going to change. On that basis we are warned not to be carried about with the many strange doctrines that we are exposed to in this world. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the hearts be established with grace . . . " (Heb. 13:8-9)

We should be aware that there are moving trends in theological doctrine. This is the only way that we can account for the rise of liberalism, cults, and other unscriptural doctrines. In real life, we cannot control the blowing of the wind. If we could, we would stop the blue northers that come out of Alaska and Canada, such as we have recently experienced. By the way, where are those cold north winds in July and August when we need them? In the last ten days while we have been covered with ice and snow, a little global warming would have been welcome. (Where are you, Al, when we need you?) If we could control the wind, we would not be bothered by the sandstorms that sometimes come in the spring in West Texas. Of course if we could stop that, this area would get too crowded soon.

We cannot stop the winds of false doctrine from blowing in our day, because we are living in a time of apostasy. We can keep from being swept along in the grip of the winds of false doctrine. We know that this is possible, because the Bible speaks to this. "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ," (Eph. 4:14-15)

If we study the above Scripture, we find that there are cunning and crafty men that are ready to use the sleight of men to sway us away from the truth. (Sleight is to cheat as the crooked men cheat with dice and cards in order fleece their innocent victims of their cash.) The only way to defend ourselves from the winds of false doctrine, is to grow up spiritually in the faith, and be willing to stand against them.

We must be grounded and settled in the faith, if we expect to be able to stand on the truth. Otherwise we are likely to come short of the truth, or run past it. "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister." (Col. 1:23)

I will give some instances where people are either coming short or running past the truth. These will not necessarily be given in the order of most important.

It would seem that all independent Baptists would believe that God is sovereign, and that salvation is by grace, and not by human merit. If God is not sovereign, then man, or the devil must be sovereign. Either that or the evolutionists are right, and it all happened according to their terrible theory, and there is no salvation needed. It is in the area of salvation that God's sovereignty produces great disagreement among brethren. It is certain that the Lord is the author and finisher of our faith. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 12:2)

Don't hold your breath until I settle this dispute among the brethren. This has been a point of contention for hundreds of years, but I do believe this is an area of doctrine where we are in danger of coming up short or running past.

Let me illustrate what I am talking about by giving you a real experience of a missionary. I recently received a missionary prayer letter from an independent Baptist missionary in Europe who believes the TULIP doctrine, commonly called the five points of Calvinism. While working in one country he has had some contacts in another country and has been there to try to disciple a man. On a recent trip there he found that this man had been influenced by another teacher. Let me quote directly from his experience as was stated in his letter.

Speaking of the man he is trying to disciple he said, "he is still adversely influenced by men who deny the Word of God. These men are of the opinion that everyone who does not believe all five points of the TULIP doctrine is lost and those who would consider them Christians are lost even if they believe in all five points. This self-proclaimed theologian also claims that only those who believe all five points and understand the doctrine of imputed righteousness at the moment of salvation, can possibly be saved. I explained to , that this is salvation by doctrine and not Grace. I further pointed out to him that since he did not believe ALL of the five points when we first made contact and since I considered him a saved man at that point, we would according to this heresy both be lost. It is a shame that every idiot with a heresy to proclaim, is certain to have a Website to confuse young Christians."

How anyone could believe that you have to believe the five points of Calvinism to be saved is beyond me. Did the woman at the well in John 4, understand and believe all of this? Did the Philippian jailer understand and believe this? The answer is obvious. It is NO!

This is an example of how men can run past the truth. When a man runs past the truth, and stops and calls his position truth, there will also be someone who runs beyond his "truth" and come up with something further and further from the truth. This is how cults and weird doctrines are started, and there will never be an end to it.

The point is, let your Bible be your guide and compass, and you will never end up in the false doctrines of men that run past the truth.

The premillennial second coming of Christ is certainly taught in the Bible, and we believe His coming will be before the 7-year tribulation. Of course there are many that come up short of believing this doctrine. Some people when they start running to this doctrine, end up in running past the truth. We have witnessed in the last 15-years, a rash of authors and books who have been setting the date for this glorious event. Of course any Bible student should know that this is forbidden in the Scriptures. Never mind that year after year their date setting proves to be wrong. They simply come up with another date the next year.

Some of these folk had a wonderful time with Y2K the year of 1999. They were just sure that some great event was going to take place January 1, 2000. They predicted that our whole society was going to shut down, because computers wouldn't work, they claimed. The government would not be able to operate and all the functions of commerce would come to a halt. They wrote their books, bought their food along with power generators, etc. We debunked that in the pages of the Plains Baptist Challenger. I halfway expected that there might be another flurry of predictions for 2001, when they finally learned that the third millennium would not start until January 1, 2001. I guess they got burned so badly on January 1, 2000 that they were too busy licking their wounds. Of course it was not only the premillennialist that were involved in this, but some postmills and amills got caught up in the error of a false prediction.

This running past the truth can be illustrated by a letter that I received this week from a woman in Roaring Springs, TX. I will quote the letter without using the person's name.

"The Year 2001
"RE: Coming World Events: Arrival of a SON OF GOD

"The year 2001 is very exciting as we can expect the arrival of a high-ranking Son of God in the near future. Just when I do not know.
"Perhaps this Son of God will ask many persons to assist him as he leads us to new spiritual heights and improved world conditions." (It was signed.)

It is obvious that this person has been following some cult leader. This is revealed by her calling this coming person, as "a Son of God," "a high-ranking Son of God," and "this Son of God." Jesus Christ is not "a Son of God," He is the Son of God. He has no rivals, and He is coming back at His own time to receive the dead in Christ, and the living Christians. The letter writer is confused and has missed the truth of the Second Coming entirely. Beware of coming up short of the truth on His Second Coming, or running past it.

There is only one Bible in the English language that Christians ought to be using. It is the King James Version, and NOT the New King James, New International Version, New American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, or any of the other plague of new Bibles that we have seen in the last Century. In the last 50-years dozens of false versions have been produced, promoted, and sold to the people who do not know the truth on this issue. The new bibles are based on liberal scholarship. The liberals do not even believe the bible in the first place. They do make a living trying to destroy the true word of God. Those who use these bibles have come short of the truth.

God gave His Word by divine inspiration and without any error of any kind. He promised over and over again that he would preserve it. "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." (Psa. 12:6-7) There are many other verses that promise preservation.

There are others today that are running right on past the truth on this issue. After coming to the knowledge that the King James Bible is the right Bible, there are some that run right on past the truth. Some of them believe that the KJV translators were inspired, and that it corrects the original manuscripts. They are simply running past the truth.

There are other examples that we could give, but these suffice to show that it is dangerous to come short of the truth or to run past the truth. Let us stick with the teaching of the Bible.

"According to a report in the November (2000) issue of Church & State, the first Hindu priest on Sept. 14 offered a prayer to begin the legislative day in the U.S. House of Representatives." (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 11/05/00) This quote is taken from an article entitled, "Religious Tolerance a Matter of Respect, Not Agreement," by Beth Pratt. There is much difference between respecting a person and granting them the right to their own beliefs, and respecting false religion. The Roman Catholic House of Rep. Chaplain invited a Catholic nun and a Hindu priest in September to offer prayers in Congress. Catholics worship Mary and Hindus worship multiple deities or gods. A wide chasm of difference exist between the worship of the true God and other religious practices. I pray that the reader will understand that the position I present is totally about religious practices and not primarily about the people involved in the practice.

God's inspired Word ably sheds light on false relgion. "What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? Nevertheless, I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils." (1 Cor. 10:19,20) Paul makes it clear that idols and devils (demons) are closely associated. The Hindu priest was asking his idols to help America. Although we are to respect others and their freedom to worship as they see fit, we are far from obligated to respect their false religion.

The message of religious unity at all cost is at an all time high. The push for ecumenism among evangelicals has opened the floodgate of inclusiveness to all religions. Religious tolerance has become the topic of many religious writers. The name of God has become an all- encompassing term in religious circles. Even in the middle-of-the-road Christianity it seems to matter little whether the one referring to God is Hindu, Muslim, or Christian, God is the same deity and equally shared by all. The conclusion is all are serving the same Supreme Being in their own distinctive manner. Nothing could be further from the truth.

When the Muslim prays to Allah, a monotheistic god, a god that does not exist, he is not praying to God the Father in the name of His Son. The Muslim religion has its own system of intolerance of true Christianity. Their claim is, "There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is his messenger." Nor is the Hindu when he prays to his 320 million gods depending on God the Holy Spirit to make intercession for him. (Rom. 8:26) Hindus believe in reincarnation. They believe human beings can live several lives. The new birth is foreign to their thinking. It is replaced in their reasoning by rebirth repeatedly until some mystical life cycle stops.

Pope John Paul II on a visit to Morocco in 1985 said, "We believe in the same God, the only God, the living God . . . " (Chr. News, 1/25/99) The Pope likely does not know any better since he knows nothing of the Lord Jesus Christ being the one and only way to eternal salvation. (Acts 4:12) The Muslim Allah is not the father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor is the Hindu Buddha.

How does the God of heaven feel about this? "Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any." (Isa. 44:8) Earlier in the same book God made it clear that there had never been nor would there ever be another God but Him. (Isa. 43:10) The Bible says, "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature. . . ," not if any man be in Hindu idols or the Muslim prophet Mohammed's Allah.

Some will ignore the fact that I am not writing about any individual, but about false religion. I will likely be charged with being unloving, unknowing, and unconcerned about lost souls. One attribute of those who followed the Lord in both testaments was identifying and separating from false religion.

It cannot be denied that God had instituted a proper service to Him early in human history. Abel's sacrifice pleased the Lord God, and Cain's sacrifice did not. God did not tolerate the unsuitable religious offering of Cain. Abel lost his life because of his stand on proper worship of the true God. Seth was God's replacement for Abel in our first parent's family. Some years later the Genesis record reveals that men "begin to call upon the name of the Lord." There was a definite difference in the route of life taken by the descendants of Seth and that of Cain.

In the first 1,600 years of time not many of Adam's family followed the God of heaven. Some like Enoch walked with God. It is said of others that they found grace in the eyes of God. In their life there was no toleration of false religion. Noah, the preacher of righteousness held his spiritual ground with no toleration of the ungodly crowd surrounding him.

Nimrod separated himself from the true God by building a tower to create a name for himself and his followers. He created his own edifice and humanism was his god. By this, Nimrod denied the God of heaven and soon found out that God would not tolerate his behavior. (Gen. 11)

God commanded Abram to leave his native land and follow him. It was understood that Abram would not bring the idol worship of his homeland with him. Abraham's involvement in Canaan was not with the gods of that land but he built an altar unto the Lord between Hai and Bethel (the house of God).

Abraham's posterity was called out of Egypt and told that God would execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. (Exo. 12:12) They were to make no idols or standing image when they entered the promised land. Israel often tolerated and soon participated in false religious practices and was taken captive by idol worshiping nations. What a sad condition to be caught in the "snare of the devil" and "taken captive by him at his will." (2 Tim. 2:26 )

Elijah was less than tolerant of the false religion of Baal. (1 Kings 18) He demanded an answer from Israel why they would "halt between two opinions." If the LORD was God, they should follow him, but if Baal then follow him. Israel had become so tolerant of false religion that it made little difference to them whether their nation followed God or Baal. This hairy old prophet wearing a leather garment minced no word about where he stood.

The author of the article above (Beth Pratt) would likely agree with at least one point of Hindu belief. Point #9: "I believe that no particular religion teaches the only way to salvation above all others, but that all genuine religious paths are facets of God's pure love and light, deserving tolerance and understanding." (Emp. added.) Hindus believe in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each individual creates his own destiny by his thoughts, words and deeds. The Hindus may tolerate with understanding the rights of believers in Christ, yet their doctrine previously stated will take multitudes to eternal hell. I do care about deceived souls who without Christ have no hope at all.

The preaching of the forerunner of Jesus would have offended more today than in his time. John the Baptist came preaching repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only means of eternal salvation. He in no way softened his message against false religion. Those even who were tolerant of him and even desired to become a part of his `movement' were strongly opposed. Hear John's directive to them: "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." (Matt. 3:7-9)

Jesus had the same message for the same religionist. He called the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites. (Matt. 15:7) Jesus warned His disciple to beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. (Matt. 16) Although these were left to their own beliefs their theology was not tolerated by the Lord.

When Peter and John preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead, it kindled outrage in the camp of the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees. (Acts 4) The only conclusion in the life of these apostles, "We ought to obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)

Paul made his position clear at Athens as "his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry." (Acts 17:16) In doing so "He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection." (v. 18) Paul loved them enough to preach the truth and point out their religion as false. He observed their devotions and said they were "too superstitious," or more religious than others. (vs. 22,23) Their religious practices may have been centuries old, yet they were severely detrimental and soul damning. Paul was anything but broad-minded about their false religion but loved them enough to point out their religious error and preach to them the saving Gospel of Christ.

The Lord's church referred to under this subhead is a Baptist church holding to New Testament doctrine. Not every Baptist church cleaves to the doctrine of Christ in service to God, separation from the world, and the seriousness of eternity. There is an avalanche of acceptance of ecumenism even among Baptist. Many Baptist churches have joined Bill Hybels' Willow Creek Association in order to enhance church growth. Billy Graham's praise of the Pope has led others to trust in the false claims of Catholicism.

Peter's charge in 1 Pet. 2:17 is applicable to the Lord's churches today. "Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king." Placing a high spiritual value on the souls of rulers and men is a chief responsibility. We are commanded by the Lord to love our enemies. To pray for them is both an obligation and privilege. However, tolerance of false religion by His church is far from being acceptable to the Lord. Casting out the bondwoman and her son because she is not heir with the son of the freewoman, is not a popular position. None-the-less the churches of Galatia were commanded to do just that. (Gal. 4) These churches were petitioned to avoid doing "service unto them which by nature are no gods." (Ga.l 4:8)

Although Hindu writings say, they are tolerant and understanding of other religions their actions speak otherwise. Christianity Today, 12/7/98 reported the Hindu nationalist wanted all foreign missionaries working in India to leave the country. Do I feel all those involved in false religion should leave America? No, but I do not have to accept false religion. False religion has no place in any nation under God. Is that too narrow? The Lord commanded His church to go into all the world and make disciples, baptize and teach them in His name. (Matt. 28:19,20) The old testament principle of declaring "his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations" is the responsibility of His church today. (1 Chr. 16:24)

The writer of Psalm 86 recognized there were other gods. He also acknowledged there were none like the Lord who made all nations. "Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name." (Psa. 86:8,9) The intolerance of the nations "whom [He] made" is fully realized in Rev. 15:4: "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest." It will not be the Vedas or the Koran, but His judgments, the Bible, that will be made manifest. The nations that refuse to accept the true God are now traveling a perilous journey. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." (Psa. 9:17)

Toleration of false religion soon leads to acceptance, acceptance to involvement, involvement to connection, connection to eternal destruction. Although morality in many false religions may exceed that of many so-called Christians, the outcome of forsaking the true God of heaven is eternal death. Because "the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation." (Jer. 10:10) Eternal life is found only in the true God and His son, Jesus Christ. "...this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3)

As Editor of the Plains Baptist Challenger, I am pleased to print the above article by Bill Mosley. We hear a lot about religious tolerance, but those who promote it the most, are very intolerant of the beliefs of Independent bible believing Baptists. These promoters of religious tolerance are very intolerant of the truth.

Many are being deluded by the Hindu religion. On Jan. 9, 2001, Paul Harvey told about a religious gathering of Hindus that will take place soon in India. It will be held on the banks of the Ganges River, where they will take holy baths in its very cold waters. Some 70-million people from all over the world are expected to camp out there in tents for 42-days. A number of seekers from Hollywood are going for this event, including Demi Moore and Madonna. I did not catch the names of the other celebrities that are going. Hollywood is a cesspool of sin and immorality. Square feet by square foot, it would be difficult to find any other place in our nation that could equal Hollywood for ignorance of the truth. They show it in almost every movie that they make, and their practice of immoral behavior is flaunted for all to see. Many of them belong to cults and false religions. These going to worship with the Hindus are just one more example of religious ignorance.

Just this week we have learned that the rulers of Afghanistan have announced that if a Moslem converts to Christianity or another religion, that person will be put to death. If a Christian in that country seeks to make a convert out of any Moslem, they will be put to death. Yet this same country shelters the greatest terrorist in the world. His name is Usama Ben Laden. He is responsible for many of the attacks that have been launched against the United States, including the suicide bombing of a U.S. navy vessel recently. How is that for religious toleration? Yet, the Moslem people are allowed to immigrate to the U.S., build their mosques and spread their religion. You will be given a first class education in intolerance, if you try to spread Christianity to any Moslem country.

"Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest" (Luke 10:2).

"And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none" (Ezek. 22:30).

We face an overwhelming shortage of sound Bible believing, separated, dedicated, unaffiliated independent Baptist preachers. In my opinion, we are facing a crisis that could be very dangerous to the cause we represent. These preachers are badly needed for missionaries, for pastors and assistant pastors. "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few . . . " It was true in the days of Jesus, and it is true today. I don't have the answer to this problem, but I have some serious questions. Why do we have this problem?

Not so many years ago, many independent Baptist churches had young men surrendering to the ministry in good numbers. That is no longer so in most cases, but there seems to be a few exceptions.

Some churches spend many months seeking for a pastor without any success. Some of these churches are well able to have a full time pastor. We promote home missions, and we should, but at the same time there are small churches with good prospects for the future that are dying. Why? They cannot find a preacher that is sound, that is willing to sacrifice and labor to build a church for God. There are countless cities in our land that have no sound independent Baptist church. In many instances, there are people there that want such a church, but where are the dedicated preachers who have the vision to do the work?

I personally know of an independent Baptist church that is presently seeking a full-time assistant pastor. For many months they have not been able to find a separated sound preacher to fill the opening. [If anyone who is qualified for this ministry is interested, they may call E. L. Bynum for further information. My number is: (806) 744-4443.]

There are mission fields all over the world that need sound missionaries to carry the gospel to them, and to build churches. Thank God for those who have surrendered and are going, but ten times that many would not fill the need. I go to quite a few Bible and Mission Conferences all over the country. In most cases the preachers who are in attendance are middle aged and old aged. I can think of only a couple of exceptions to that problem. Thank God for the faithful middle aged and older aged preachers, but brethren many are swiftly passing off the scene. How long can we survive if this continues?

This article is not meant as attack upon any person, any more than it is an attack upon myself. It is an attempt to explore some of the possible reasons, and to cause us all to think about what we can do to remedy this situation.

Could it be, that we have failed to pray as Jesus instructed? "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest" (Luke 10:2). He told us the solution, and I am not sure that most of us are following His instruction as is given in Luke 10:2. Maybe it is time that we challenge our churches to pray earnestly about the need for laborers. Maybe it is time to have real prayer meetings rather than a very short time devoted to it on Wednesday night. In these desperate times, is it not time to pray desperately to the God of heaven on these matters? I know every Christian should labor in the harvest field, but especially do we need to pray that God would call men to preach.

Could it be that the flood tide of sin in our nation is destroying the moral fiber of our nation and of our churches? We need to pray about the deadly plague of sin that is drowning our nation in entertainment, and in education, that is nothing but toxic sewage. This is destroying the youth of our nation, and drying up the supply of those that might be called to the ministry. Movies portray wicked fornication and adultery, and the TV industry follows in their steps. Our youth are allowed to watch such garbage, and their hearts are swept up in the flames of lust. This is very often true even among our youth and adults in independent Baptist churches. When Christians feed on garbage, the result will be garbage in their lives, and garbage flowing from their lives. (Garbage in, garbage out.) Most young people have access to computers, and in many ways that is worse than the movies. Explicit pornography is easily accessible on the World Wide Web at no cost to the viewer. The spiritual and moral cost is enormous, and its effect is destructive.

Could it be that our churches have been turned into play houses, rather than houses of prayer and worship? This will never produce godly youth, or faithful preachers of the gospel. Many churches excuse the youth from the Prayer Meeting service on Wednesday night. They can be found many times back in the building doing little more than playing. Some are in the gym or in the parking lot playing basket ball. There is far too much segregation of children from serious study and worship of God. How will they ever be challenged to be serious about serving God? Why do we treat children and young people as if they are incapable of being serious and learning the great truths of God?

Could it be the preaching of easy believism with no repentance, has created a large number who are not really saved? If this be so, then we cannot expect dedicated servants of God to be found among them. They will not have a desire to dedicate their lives unto God for service, and neither would they be accepted by the Lord. Preachers must get back to preaching that salvation is more than a human experience by human effort, but that it is a mighty work of God. It is more than a human decision, but it is a new birth.

Could it be that a compromised message is failing to produce godly Christians? There is a lot of soft peddling when it comes to preaching on sin. This kind of preaching will never produce consecrated Christians that will be ready to give their lives to God. It may produce numbers of people, but they will not be dedicated servants of the Lord. When there are influential members, there is a temptation to hold back in preaching the whole counsel of God. When there are worldly members who are good givers, this will silence many preachers on the naming of sin. There is no excuse for not preaching separation and personal holiness. If more of this was done, it just might challenge people to live godly lives and that more of them would surrender to preach.

Could it be that we are not challenging our people to be ready for sacrificial service unto God? If there is not a challenging message like that of Jesus and Paul, how will our young men be encouraged to enter into the most important things of life. The passion and fervor must be in our message, if men are to rally to a great cause. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Rom. 12:1-2). Where are the people who are hearing and accepting this challenge from Paul? Conformity to the world insures that a person will not labor for God.

Could it be that too much psychology has crept into the message and programs of our churches? Psychology is foreign to the message of God and will surely quench the work of the Holy Spirit. If we would only come back to using the Word of God to answer the questions and problems of life, instead of relying on psychology, it might make a tremendous difference in the number that would surrender to preach. We don't need this man made system of dealing with people, but we just need to follow the Bible. Even Christian psychology is heavily loaded with secular psychology which is atheistic and anti-God.

Could it be that Christian schools are not producing dedicated youth who are willing to follow the Lord? Because of the rottenness of most public schools, many churches have started Christian schools. This is not a criticism of the Christian school concept, and if anything we need a lot more of them. Many of them are dependent on volunteers and low paid teachers. This causes them to end up with all female teachers or almost all. This is not healthy when higher grades are added. Thank the Lord for godly women, but young men need some male role models. The church should predominate in its rule of the school. All too often, it is the school that seems to run the church.

Could it be that too many parents do not want their sons in the ministry? They may want them to follow in the footsteps of their parents. They may want to keep them close to home. After all if God calls them to a distant city, or even to a mission field, they will be far away from the parents. Some do not want their children in the ministry, because they want them to have good paying jobs, and they have heard about the hardships of the ministry. I personally have known people that did everything they could to keep their son out of the ministry, and to keep their daughters from marrying a preacher. This sometimes ends in great disaster for the children. What if God the Father had not been willing to send His Son into this sin sick world? If He had not, where would we all be today? We would be on the road to hell where we would spend eternity. We are thankful that God the Father was willing to send His Son, and that the Son was willing to go. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). We live in a greedy world that tempts us to want everything for ourselves, and to sacrifice nothing for God.

Could it be that we are failing to inspire the youth to dedicate their lives for a great cause such as pastoring or being a missionary? The call of God is the greatest call in the world. It may bring hardships, but it will be worth it all, when we face God. To work for the Lord is the greatest and most rewarding work in the world. Our forefathers came to this country and went through great hardship to carve out homes in the wilderness. They faced danger and death, and if they had not, where would we all be today? Somebody must surrender and go, if souls are to be saved, and the heathen reached with the gospel. "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" (Rom. 10:14-15).

Could it be that churches, pastors, and parents are all instrumental in keeping young men out of the ministry? I am not saying that all three are deliberately trying to do this, but it may be working out that way. We need to listen to the prophet Amos as he comments on the reasons why there was a shortage of prophets and Nazarites. "And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD. But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not" (Amos 2:11-12). God had called prophets and Nazarites, but they had been hindered from answering God's call. We find that they had induced the Nazarites to drink wine. This means they were led into worldly, sinful, and unseparated living. It does not have to be wine, but any sinful and unseparated lifestyle will do the same thing. Some had told the prophets not to prophesy. This resulted in men who were called to be Nazarites and prophets being hindered to the point that they did not surrender. I believe that God is calling men to be preachers, pastors, and be missionaries, but they are being hindered from surrendering. Think about that for a while.

Could it be that we have relied too much on Christian colleges and Bible institutes to train our surrendered men? Many of us have had the experience of sending young men off to some Bible college, institute, or seminary to be trained for the ministry. In many cases, this has been a disaster. We have had the experience of sending a young man away to one of these institutions to be trained. The young man was filled with zeal to win souls and preach the gospel. Then someone in that institution encourages them to go into being a music, educational director, or counselor. Or they may instruct them in things that do not become sound doctrine. Thus the young preacher is side tracked from his calling, and he may very well end up working in the secular world. I have personally had some of these young men come back home all confused about their doctrine. A few times I have had them come back to me, and ask me to retrain them in Bible doctrine, because they know they are confused.

Could it be that we have overlooked the Biblical place where preachers are to be trained? We should just follow the example of Jesus. He called His disciples that were soon called apostles. He trained them for the ministry in about three years. Oh yes, the false teachers called them unlearned and ignorant men, but they did a great work for God. Men surrendered to preach under the ministry of the apostle Paul. He trained them as a ministers of the gospel. They often traveled with him and learned as they ministered. He sometimes wrote letters of instruction to them, such as those written to Timothy and Titus. Their training may not have been recognized by the religious world, but they turned the world upside down. "And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also" (Acts 17:6).

There are helpful materials available that will help any God-called pastor to train men for the ministry. These can be used, but we must always remember that the Bible is the greatest training material that can be found. This will cause pastors some extra work, but is not this a part of what God called you to do?

I have not written the above thoughts to be aimed at any person. I am not a know it all, and I am certainly open to suggestions that are Biblical. May the reader be led to seriously think upon the reasons why the needed preachers are not available. We know that preachers have to be called by God, but I do not think that it is God's will that this shortage of God called men exists. May we be motivated to obey the Lord in what he commanded. "... pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest . . . " (Luke 10:2).