CLIFFHANGER

The leader of the missionary society wanted to get the people out to the next meeting. He said he had been reading in regard to a missionary that on going to his church one evening got lost. Not being able to find his way out on account of darkness, he wandered about until he came to a cave. He decided to stay there until morning. On entering the cave, he lighted a match, and there in front of him was a huge snake. turning back to the entrance of the cave, he found a lion standing in his pathway. Now, if you want to know what became of the man , come out to the next missionary meeting.

I couldn't believe what I had read. The price to kill an enemy soldier in World War II was.....$200,000. In more recent times the price to destroy a life in Vietnam was a staggering $500,000. In contrast with these astounding figures, the average cost to save a soul overseas through evangelism was only $654. Even though we can never put a price tag on the life of an individual, nor on the saving grace of Jesus Christ, these figures should make us stop and think.. and weep. The above-mentioned figures show just how far out of kilter our modern world really is. We spend a half-million dollars to kill one enemy soldier on foreign soil. Yet it would take less than $l,000 to save a soul on foreign soil-perhaps that very young man that our money sent crashing to the ground. Something is terribly wrong with our crazy mixed-up world today. Did you know that advertisers stood ready to pay $150,000 for thirty seconds of time for the 1982 NFL Monday night football season? They also shelled out an incredible $180,000 for the same amount of time to hawk their products during the 1982 World Series. I ask the question: If the War-Department and Madison Avenue are willing to pay such exorbitant amounts for ideals that most Christians would question, why in the world isn't the church whose purpose is to save souls and propagate the message of Jesus Christ ready and willing to spend and be spent for a legitimate and lasting cause? Where are our priorities? Where indeed!! Did not our Lord say "For where your treasure is there will your heart be also" (Matt. 6:21) I think I would rather redeem than kill. I would rather save than slaughter. I would rather convert than destroy! I feel that if you give your enemy to Jesus then he will no longer be your enemy. Have you ever considered the fact that if many overseas people could have been converted to Christ by missionaries then, perhaps we wouldn't have been killing them but rather would have been brothers!

At a meeting where someone attacked missionary work, a Jewish gentleman asked if he might say a few words. "A few years ago," he began, "my bank sent me to make some studies of a place in Puerto Rico. It was the worst, the dirtiest city imaginable. It was a real hell.

"Two years ago I went back to that same city. It was entirely new. The change was unbelievable. The houses, the streets, were all so perfectly clean. The taverns had gone out of existence. What had happened, I wondered. Did they elect a new mayor? Was the place invaded by new educators? No. A Christian missionary had come to work among

them and teach them about Christ. I found this missionary and gave him a generous gift for his work. I saw with my own eyes what Christ can do in just a short time." That's the testimony of a Jew as to what Christ had accomplished. But where would these people be if Christ had not come?

There is a story to the effect that a certain society in South Africa once wrote to David Livingstone, "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to send other men to join you."

Livingstone replied, "If you have men who will come ONLY if they know there is a good road, I don't want them."

Fearful scenes are flung our way;

Masses jostle to a judgement day,

led by liars headed for fire;

death they ignore and demons admire;

helpless, hopeless, tricked, but proud --

who will go and love this crowd?

He who bravely met the test leaves for us the scene impressed:

Who will die as Jesus died, calmly setting self aside?

-- Byron Harting

QUOTE: "A missionary is one who never gets used to the sound of heathen footsteps on their way to a Christless eternity"

When H. M. Stanley went to Africa in 1871 to find and report on David Livingstone, he spent several months in the missionary's company, carefully observing the man and his work. Livingstone never spoke to Stanley about spiritual matters, but Livingstone's loving and patient compassion for the African people was beyond Stanley's comprehension. He could not understand how the missionary could have such love for and patience with the backward, pagan people among whom he had so long ministered. Livingstone literally spent himself in untiring service for those whom he had no reason to love except for Christ's sake. Stanley wrote in his journal, "When I saw that unwearied patience, that unflagging zeal, and those enlightened sons of Africa, I became a Christian at his side, though he never spoke to me one word."

William Carey had to overcome great odds to obey the call of God. In "The Challenge of Life", Oswald J. Smith noted that "even the Directors of the East India Company opposed [Carey's] work. Following is the idiotic resolution they presented to Parliament: 'The sending out of missionaries into one Eastern possession is the maddest, most extravagant, most costly, most indefensible project which has ever been suggested by a moonstruck fanatic.'" Smith added, "In 1796, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland passed the following infamous resolution: 'To spread the knowledge of the gospel amongst barbarians and heathens seems to be highly preposterous.' One speaker in the House of Commons said that he would rather see a band of devils let loose in India than a band of missionaries. Such was the opposition to missions when Carey set forth. And yet, he was able to write, 'Why is my soul disquieted within me? Things may turn out better than I expect. Everything is known to God, and God cares.'" William Carey stood the test, and became the father of modern missions.