How to recognize God’s voice and respond in obedience.

 

I was driving down a busy street when my cell phone rang. Fumbling for my phone, I snatched it up and pushed it against my ear.

“Hello?” I was greeted with loud static. Through the electronic interference I could barely make out the muffled sounds of a woman’s voice. I strained to hear her words.

“Hello? Who is this?”

Suddenly, the static evaporated and the loud, ominous tone of an irritated voice came through crystal clear.

“It’s your MOTHER!”

Certain sins and failures are all but unforgivable: Near the top of the list is not recognizing your mother’s voice when she calls. It took awhile to redeem myself for that faux pas!

The experience I had reminds me of most Christians. They heartily identify God as the most important person in their lives. Yet, when asked about the last time He spoke to them, their faces register distant gazes, and they reminisce about their conversion experiences. The sad truth is, many Christians struggle to recognize the voice of their Savior.

Jesus said, “‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me'” (John 10:27, NIV). We should know our Shepherd’s voice. How else can we follow Him to green pastures and still waters? (see Ps. 23:2). Yet, even Christ’s closest disciples could be disoriented to His voice.

After one particularly disappointing encounter with the disciples, Jesus lamented: “‘Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? … Do you still not understand?'” (Mark 8:17-18, 21)

What prevents us from hearing what God is saying? We can be distracted by Satan, by worldly thinking and even by our own desires. All three of these compete for our attention and threaten our allegiance to God’s voice. That’s why it’s crucial for every Christian to know the difference between God’s voice and these counterfeits.

Satan’s Voice 

Can you imagine a soldier in combat who could not tell if the voice on his radio belonged to his commanding officer or his enemy? The Christian’s life has too much at stake for him to be fooled by Satan’s lies.

Whether you are working on your marriage, choosing a new job or guiding your kids through adolescence, you must know the difference between a word from God and a lie from the forces of darkness. Understanding some basic truths can help you differentiate between the two.

God’s voice and Satan’s are fundamentally different. Certainly, the father of lies is cunningly deceptive, but there will be a qualitative difference between what he says and what God says.

First, the Bible will always verify what God tells you. On the contrary, Satan will subtly undermine and throw into question what God has said in Scripture.

Second, following God’s voice will bring Him glory. Satan will promise to bring you glory.

Third, God’s voice will lead you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him (see Matt. 16:24). Satan will encourage you to affirm yourself, to avoid a cross and to follow your own desires.

Fourth, God will guide you to build up the church. Satan will lead you to sow seeds of discord among God’s people.

Fifth, God’s voice will be absolutely true. Satan will taint his message with untruth (see John 8:44). He is the master of half-truths.

Sixth, God’s voice fosters humility. Satan’s voice produces pride.

Finally, God’s voice exposes sin, bringing a sense of conviction. Satan tempts you to justify sin and to make excuses for your behavior.

The World’s Voice

The world embraces sinful, selfish values that are opposed to God’s ways. Jesus said of His disciples: “‘ … the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world'” (John 17:14).

Christians are to live by a different standard than unbelievers. But if we
are careless, we will inadvertently succumb to secular values without even recognizing what has happened.

Sometimes we accept the world’s voice because it seems like common sense. For example, society recognizes career promotions, fame, wealth and material possessions as marks of success. God measures our success by our obedience (see Matt. 6:19-20).

The world admires those who fight for their rights and don’t get pushed around. Jesus emphasizes loving our enemies, not overpowering them (see Matt. 5:38-41). He urges us to surrender our rights, not cling to them. Our generation expends great effort to avoid suffering. Jesus said His disciples would suffer as He had (see John 15:20).

The world elevates physical beauty to the point of idolatry. The Bible says those who share the gospel with others are beautiful (see Rom. 10:15).

The world says be strong and finish first. Jesus said be meek and the last will be first (see Matt. 5:5; 20:16).

The world says God helps those who help themselves. Jesus said, without God, we can do nothing (see John 15:5).

The world says look to our strengths. God wants to magnify Himself through our weaknesses (see 2 Cor. 12:9-10).

The world concedes that everyone has enemies. Jesus instructs us to set everything aside and to be reconciled with anyone we have offended (see Matt. 5:23-24).

As Christians, we recoil at blatantly sinful practices such as sexual immorality and crime. But we are far too casual about the subtle, ungodly messages that saturate the world we live in. We deceive ourselves to think we can fill our minds with ungodly movies, TV programs and magazines and yet remain untainted by the world’s viewpoint.

We are fools to think we can walk unscathed in the middle of a sinful world without clear direction from our Shepherd’s voice.

Our Own Voice

One of the most harmful voices we hear is, in fact, our own. If we really crave something, it’s easy to convince ourselves God wants us to have it too. After all, it’s the desire of our hearts! (see Ps. 37:4)

When a commitment becomes more costly than we anticipated, we conclude that God wants us to free ourselves from our burdens. After all, we are weak and heavy-laden! (see Matt. 11:28)

Modern Christians are rationalizing themselves right out of their marriages. They argue that God never wanted them in that marriage in the first place and now He is “releasing them from their errors.”

If some people are to be believed, God changes His mind at a dizzying pace. He tells them to take the “perfect job,” then quit it a month later for a better one! He directs them to enroll in college, then determines they can’t bear the workload, and He leads them to drop out. He calls them into ministry, then decides a less demanding occupation would suit them better.

Christians can be tempted to view God as someone who sees life the way they do. They try to fashion God into their image rather than listening to what He is saying.

One of the most common practices of well-meaning but misguided Christians involves the idea of open doors. Of course God does open some doors to us and close others. But we err in our focus. The door is not the important thing; God’s voice is.

For example, if a door of opportunity opens, such as an attractive job offer, some conclude that it must be an invitation from God. If a promotion, transfer, leadership position or even a marriage proposal presents itself, some assume God must be behind it. They will pray, “Lord, close the door if this isn’t Your will!”

The truth is that not every open or closed door is a sign from God. The Word bears this out. Sometimes an open door leads to disaster and God does not close it. Read about Adam and Eve or David. Each of them paid a steep price for walking through a “door of opportunity.”

Likewise, if a door appears tightly shut, it doesn’t mean God does not want you to proceed. Consider the Israelites at the edge of the promised land. We need to take our focus off the doors and put it back on God. We need to be experts at recognizing God’s voice, not watching for open doors.

It can be easier to enter an open door than to develop a relationship with God. Some Christians seize whatever opportunities come along and wonder why God doesn’t bless their choices. It is far wiser to listen to God.

Hearing God’s Voice

There is no easy formula for recognizing God’s voice. The key is the relationship. If you are married, think back to when you first married your wife. You loved her but you probably didn’t know her very well.

But through the years, as you shared hardships and successes, you learned to understand each other. In the early days of your marriage, you probably missed many cues she sent your way–her tone of voice, her expression, her silence, her nervous manner. All of these clues might have been shouting volumes, but you missed them!

In time, though, your relationship with each other deepened. Now you know what every tone of voice means! Now you recognize the signs that she is hurt or frustrated. Now a sideways glance or a raised eyebrow tells you exactly what she is thinking.

All good relationships require both quality and quantity time. Your relationship with God is no different. Casual, careless time spent with God will produce a shallow Christian life. However, investing the effort to walk closely with God will lead to a deep and satisfying relationship.

How do you cultivate an intimate walk with God?

The first step is obvious: spend time in His Word. You have at your fingertips the sacred record of how God has related to people throughout history. Read your Bible! Study it! Memorize it! Meditate on it by prayerfully pondering a scripture passage until God clarifies its meaning and applies it to your life. The best way to safeguard yourself from Satan’s lies, the world’s temptations or your own faulty logic is with God’s revealed truth.

The second thing is as obvious as the first–pray. There is a world of difference, however, between saying prayers and communing with God.

Don’t be satisfied with surface praying. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you talk with God at a deep level. Learn to listen when you pray. After all, prayer is meant to be a conversation, not a monologue.

Keep in mind that what God has to say is infinitely more important than what you have to say–and He already knows what you are going to say anyway. Yes, He wants to hear your heart cry, but His voice is your life. Listen for it and pay attention to what you hear.

Third, learn to recognize God’s activity in your circumstances. He often speaks to us through the ordinary day’s events, while we are driving or eating, but we tend to miss His message.

Recently, my 18-year-old son, Mike, discovered he has diabetes. I was shocked! As I sat next to his hospital bed seeking to comfort him, he excitedly shared with me all the ways God had been preparing him for that fateful announcement.

He told me God had been gently getting him ready all that week. He exclaimed, “Isn’t it cool the way God works!” Certainly my son heard a plethora of voices during that tumultuous time, but I am so grateful he has learned to recognize God’s voice in the midst of the commotion. In a moment of crisis, it made the difference.

The fourth way He guides us is through fellow believers. Wise Christians don’t isolate themselves.

They trust God to speak to them through others. Tragically, some people have reacted in anger when God used a fellow church member to communicate His truth. I have seen men weep as they confessed that God spoke to them through their wives, but they refused to listen.

It is critical to develop meaningful relationships with other believers so we can hear what God is saying through them.

God has been speaking. He wants you to listen. Take time this week to pay close attention. You may be amazed at what you hear!

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Richard Blackaby, Ph.D., is an international speaker on Christian
life, spiritual leadership and revival, and mentors leaders through the Spiritual Leadership Network and works
with Christian CEOs of major companies in the U.S. He co-authored Spiritual
Leadership and Hearing God’s Voice with his father, Henry, and is the
former president of the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane,
Alberta.

Can’t seem to find a purpose for your life? It could be that you haven’t embraced the muscular side of your faith.

 

Many men in the church today are missing something. They are unable to handle the blazing arrows that fly sizzling at their hearts. They are ill-equipped to handle the unsavory side of leadership, such as standing up for what is right when it is within their power to do so (see Prov. 3:27).

They lack the inner lion that needs to roar to protect others, the way the apostle Paul roared at false teaching that threatened to choke the early church. They lack the steadfast power they need to combat a world at war with truth.

These men are one-dimensional: too soft and pleasant for the challenges ahead that demand combat boots rather than penny loafers. Their personalities are all sweetness without any jalapeño.

And it is a real shame that stronger men who see this don’t say something. But, then again, that’s the problem with a lot of us Christian men today: We almost say something.

Fear is the enemy of masculinity, and a mission-driven life won’t go far as long as fear’s in the driver’s seat. Fear makes you live life small. We are used to hearing how perfect love casts out all fear (see 1 John 4:18). But the opposite is also true: Great fear casts out love. Fear terrorizes our souls because it stops us from loving deeply, which is the greatest commandment. When fear’s in control, you can’t get to the best form of love because you’re too guarded.

Many Christian men overdevelop their gentle side, based on a caricature of Jesus that is actually a work of fiction. Jesus was good, but the record shows that He wasn’t always nice.

When I saw this rugged side of Jesus, it changed my view of Him and of masculinity. I realized that I was missing something profound. It threw me into a period of soul-searching and fear-confronting prayer.

I was humbled, and admitted my weakness and need. That’s one of life’s biggest surprises, isn’t it, to see your weakness turned into strength? (see Heb. 11:34)

I sought counsel wiser than my own. I began to feel optimistic, which is essential if you’re going to embark on a mission. For the first time in my life I felt whole.

When men free themselves from the false expectation that says they should only behave in a pleasant manner, a way Jesus did not behave, they will likely see their missions grow, as did pastor Stephen Brown. In No More Mr. Nice Guy: Saying Goodbye to “Doormat” Christianity, he writes about the day he realized that he didn’t have to be nice all the time:

“I found myself free. I didn’t have to please everybody; I didn’t have to be guilty all the time; I didn’t have to smile at everybody; I didn’t have to come up to everybody’s expectations; I didn’t have to be a kind, nice, sweet pastor.”

Biblical masculinity is the engine on your plane called “Mission” that will help you gain greater altitude. Except, today there are two layers of thick tape over the switch that turns it on: one from a culture that vilifies masculinity and one from a church that fears it as well.

We believe for a number of reasons that we’re not allowed to use that engine’s power because somehow it may go astray. Someone may get hurt from its raw force. This is a legitimate concern, but one that also ignores that loads of people are getting hurt when the power isn’t used.

This power must be run through a filter, otherwise we get stuff such as cable’s The Man Show. Fruitful masculinity is not about feeding one’s ego or sordid appetites. It’s not about bagging more money or women, driving fast cars or covering bald spots–the empty-calorie appetizers that consume some guys’ days and cheapen their lives.

This filtered and redeemed power leads to a mission-driven life that is marked by purpose, meaning, adventure and integrity. A mission that makes your soul soar because it’s in harmony with God’s will and blesses others with a life lived imperfectly well.

You’ll know it’s godly boldness because it shows courage, love, power and self-discipline (see 2 Tim. 1:7). It’s not an excuse to push people around.

So how do you know that your mission is ignited by genuine masculine power and vitality? Here are some powerful indicators:

Does it challenge the status quo? Writes Rick Bundschuh, “An energy that breaks the status quo should be expected when the Spirit of the One who overturned tables pulses through the veins of men who serve him.”

Does it work with the pain and passion in your (gulp) heart? We guys are so accustomed to ignoring our hearts that we forget–or maybe we don’t even know–that we’ll need the passion, insight and instinct that comes from the heart in order to help our missions grow.

The enemy wants to steal your heart, rendering you ineffective like a boat with a dead motor. Through the help of the Holy Spirit, your pain can be a redemptive force for good–if you allow yourself to experience it and learn from it.

But many guys don’t want to really feel, and they think this debilitating condition is somehow masculine. We forget the shortest and one of the most profound passages in the Word, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35, NIV).

Yet, if we could outsource our feelings the way we outsource payroll, we would. Our passion and pain can show us the truth we are meant to share, and this truth will come to us through our hearts, a vital source of masculine power and discernment.

Does it work with what’s at hand? There’s a practical side to masculinity that should be heeded, especially since the mind of a man tends to dispose him to live in the future, suspending his chances for a mission-driven life now. We sometimes believe that we must scale some grand summit in the future when the world really needs our redemptive mission–mistakes and all–now.

For most people, there will be no single act of greatness, but there can be great meaning and purpose when we acknowledge that ministry begins where Christ said it does: in loving God and our neighbors. There’s much room for blessing others.

Does it forego comfort? You will have to sacrifice to fulfill your mission. You will probably need to strip your life of some comfort, such as hobbies (which often don’t deliver the enjoyment they advertise, so buck up), in order to see your mission grow.

There’s something inside a guy’s heart that respects lean living that resides close to the marrow of life, which is in accordance with the simpler living advocated in 1 Timothy 6:9-11. If lean living doesn’t invigorate your masculine sensibility, then it’s probably dormant or neglected.

Reducing your material load is like smelling salts: it clears your head, leaving more room for ministry thinking. This truth doesn’t come from hippies. It’s from God.

If you’re low on the masculine traits that Jesus exemplified, don’t whip yourself. They are usually learned while you’re young. If you didn’t get them, it’s not your fault. Ask God to supply them.

One of the ways He will likely do this is to hook you up with a Christian man who has them, either in person or through books and videos. But, I warn you; he may not behave in ways “good” Christian men do. He may seem a little odd at first, iconoclastic even (think John the Baptist), and he may recommend stuff you haven’t heard before.

Masculinity is the key to forming your mission, and, harder still, completing it. It is that very side of you that most churches won’t help you to cultivate. May God help you fulfill your mission by embracing the muscular side of masculinity … the way Jesus did.

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Paul T. Coughlin is a “recovering nice guy” and the author of Secrets, Plots & Hidden Agendas: What You Don’t Know About Conspiracy Theories (InterVarsity Press). He has been interviewed by C-SPAN and The New York Times as an expert on conspiracy theories.

The memoirs of Hudson Taylor remind us of the risks and rewards of obeying the call.

Shortly after my conversion, I retired to my own chamber to spend time in communion with God, pouring out my soul before Him. I was a child under the age of 16, but I remember the occasion well.

As an outlet for my love and gratitude for God, I sought for Him to give me a self-denying service, no matter what it might be.

I put myself, my life, my friends–my all–upon the altar. A deep solemnity came over my soul with the assurance that my offering was accepted.

Then the presence of God became real. I stretched myself on the ground, lying silent before Him with unspeakable awe and joy.

Within a few months the impression was wrought into my soul that the Lord wanted me in China. I knew this work might cost my life.

I told my minister that God had called me to spend my life in missionary service to China.

“And how do you propose to go there?” he inquired.

I answered that I did not know, but it seemed probable that I should go as the 12 disciples had–without money or documents, relying only on God.

Kindly placing his hand upon my shoulder, the minister replied: “Ah, my boy, as you grow older you will get wiser than that. Such an idea would do well in the days when Christ was on earth, but not now.”

I have grown older since then, but not wiser. I am more than ever convinced that if we were to take the directions of our Master and the assurances He gave to His first disciples more fully as our guide, we should find them to be just as suited to our times as to those in which they were originally given.

The Ocean’s Challenge

On September 19, 1853, at the age of 21, my time arrived to leave for China. My beloved mother came to see me off from England.

We knelt down and she prayed. For my sake, she restrained her feelings as much as possible. Then we parted.

My mother followed the ship as it moved toward the dock gates. When we passed through the gates, the separation really began.

I shall never forget the cry of anguish wrung from my mother’s heart. It went through me like a knife.

Until then, I had never known what “for God so loved the world” really meant.

The voyage was tedious. On one occasion, a four-knot current carried us rapidly toward some sunken reefs. All hands endeavored, without success, to turn the ship’s head from the reefs.

“Well,” said the captain, “we have done everything that we can.”

“No,” I replied, “there is one thing we have not done yet. Let us each retire to our cabins and pray the Lord to give us immediately a breeze.”

The captain complied. I had a good, but brief, season in prayer and felt satisfied that our request was granted. I could not continue asking God, so I went up again on deck.

Sure enough, the corner of the mainsail began to tremble in the coming breeze.

“Don’t you see the wind is coming?” I exclaimed to the first officer. “Let down the mainsail and let us have the benefit!”

In a few minutes we were plowing our way through the water.

Thus, God encouraged me before landing on China’s shores to bring every variety of need to Him in prayer. He gives the help that each emergency requires.

A New Mission Field

On landing in Shanghai on March 1, 1854, I found myself surrounded with difficulties that were wholly unexpected. A band of rebels had taken possession of the native city.

One night a battle appeared near, so I climbed up to a little observatory I had arranged on the roof.

While there, a cannonball struck the ridge of the roof, showering pieces of broken tile all around me. The ball itself rolled down into the court below. Had it come a few inches higher, it would have spent its force on me instead of on the building.

Those sleepless nights brought feelings of isolation and helplessness. But what circumstances could have rendered the Word of God so sweet, the presence of God so real and the help of God so precious?

They were times, indeed, of emptying and humbling. But the experiences strengthened this proven promise: “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Josh. 1:5, KJV).

One dull and wet day a year later, I felt assured that it was the will of God to preach in Taizhou, a city on the Yangtze River.

Our native teachers did their best to persuade my companion, the Rev. J.S. Burdon, and I not to go. But, we determined that, by God’s help, nothing should hinder us.

On our way, we passed through one small town of 1,000 inhabitants. Here, in the Mandarin dialect, I preached.

Afterward, I heard one of the natives repeating these truths in his Chinese dialect!

How thankful to hear a Chinese man, of his own accord, telling his fellow countrymen that God loved them! That one moment repaid me for all my trials. If the Lord could grant His Holy Spirit to change the heart of that man, we had not come in vain.

We approached Taizhou, but before reaching the city gate, a tall, powerful man seized Burdon by the shoulders. At once 12 or more brutal men surrounded us, then hurried us into the city at a fearful pace.

I was soon in a profuse perspiration, scarcely able to keep pace with them. The tall man knocked me down, seized me by the hair, took hold of my collar so as to choke me, and grasped my arms and shoulders, making them black-and-blue.

There was nothing else to do but quietly submit and go along with our captors.

Quarrels arose as to how we should be dealt with. The more mild of our conductors said we ought to be taken to the magistrate’s office. Others wished to kill us.

Having succeeded in getting my hand in my pocket, I produced my Chinese identification card. After this, we were treated with more respect. I demanded the card be given to the chief official of the place and that we be led to his office.

Oh, the long weary streets that we were dragged through! We finally stopped at the magistrate’s house.

I leaned against the wall, bathed in perspiration, with my tongue cleaving to the roof of my mouth. Around the doorway a large crowd had gathered. Burdon collected his remaining strength and preached Christ to them.

The magistrate promised us respectful treatment and a safe return to our ship. We then finished distributing our books quickly and left the city in quite a state. Early in the evening we got back to the boats safely, thankful to our heavenly Father for His gracious protection.

What Took So Long?

On another occasion, I was preaching the glad tidings of salvation when a middle-aged man stood up in the crowd.

“I have long sought for the truth,” he said earnestly, “as my fathers did before me, but I have never found it. I have traveled far and near, but without obtaining it. I have found no rest in Confucianism, Buddhism or Taoism, but I do find rest in what I have heard here tonight. Henceforth, I am a believer in Jesus.”

This man was one of the leading officers of a sect of reformed Buddhists in Ningpo.

A short time after, I accompanied him to a meeting of his former sect. There, to his former co-religionists, he testified of the peace he obtained in believing.

Soon after, one of his former companions was converted and baptized. A few nights after his conversion he asked how long this gospel had been known in England. He was told that we had known it for some hundreds of years.

“What!” said he, amazed. “Is it possible that for hundreds of years you have had the knowledge of these glad tidings in your possession, and yet have only now come to preach it to us? Oh, why did you not come sooner?”

A whole generation has passed away since that mournful inquiry was made, but how many, alas, might repeat the same question today? In the meanwhile, countless millions have been swept into eternity without an offer of salvation. How long shall this continue and the Master’s words “to all nations” remain unheeded?

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Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) was born in Liverpool, England. His ambition as a teen was “to evangelize all China.” At the age of 33, he founded the China Inland Mission. Today, there are an estimated 13 million Christians living in China.

Why are so many Christian men today defeated by sin? It’s because they’ve never enlisted for spiritual battle.

Like so many typical churchgoing guys, Ben admits that he struggles in his relationship with God. He tries to maintain a consistent prayer life, but too often he sleeps through his alarm and ends up having morning devotions during his harried commute to work. He made Bible study a goal, but he keeps falling asleep while reading the Word because he feels so tired after a hard day at the office.

Then there’s that nagging lust problem. Ben once confessed to a friend at church that he peeks at online pornography. What he didn’t admit was that he regularly entertains sexual fantasies–and that these impure thoughts trigger continual guilt. As a result of his shame, he withholds feelings from his wife–which is causing an uneasy coldness in his marriage.

Sound familiar? If Ben’s predicament isn’t your own, I’m sure you know some guys who have a similar problem. As I have spoken in various churches throughout the United States during the last two years, I’ve met hundreds of Bens–guys who want to please God but who feel they’ve sunk too deep in their own failures to reclaim their lost spirituality.

Many men live their Christian lives in the proverbial hamster’s cage, running on a wheel and going nowhere. They’re convinced that God must be ready to give up on them if He hasn’t already. Because they view God in this distorted way, they back away from His mercy rather than pursuing it.

As a result, a huge percentage of God’s men are spiritually debilitated. They’ve disqualified themselves. The shame that hangs around their necks gets heavier by the day, so that they eventually become immobilized. And that’s just where the devil wants them.

In recent years, some strong voices have been calling out to the American Christian male–beckoning him to come out of his defeated condition.

Promise Keepers challenged men to crawl out of the pit of failure by renewing their spiritual commitments and by acknowledging their need for moral accountability. More recently, in 2001, author John Eldredge challenged us to reclaim our latent masculinity by learning how to be Wild at Heart. Additionally, Stephen Arterburn challenged Christian men to wrestle their sexual addictions by facing what he aptly calls Every Man’s Battle.

I agree with Promise Keepers, Eldredge and Arterburn that American Christian men must climb out of this pit and get ruthless with sin. But I also know that many men who stood at a Promise Keepers altar and vowed to walk in faithfulness to God are now struggling again. A guy can try to become “wild at heart,” but it doesn’t guarantee that his recharged masculinity will translate into measurable spiritual victory.

Frankly, I think it’s odd that we as Christian men go hunting in Colorado or fishing for trout in Vermont in order to reclaim our lost sense of masculine adventure. And as much as I support efforts to get men free from lust, I don’t think the battle can be won simply by talking about the problem and counting how many times you masturbated or had a lustful thought in the last week.

We’re missing something: Jesus already commissioned us to the greatest adventure and the greatest battle of all time. He called us to reach all nations with the gospel. He called us to share Christ. He called us to claim spiritual territory for Him. That is “every man’s battle!” It is by enlisting in that battle–and by determining that we will be used by God in the lives of others–that we break the cycle of defeat.

The challenge of ministering to a lost world should be enough to make us wild at heart. After you’ve led someone to the Lord or helped a guy overcome a life-controlling problem or seen your life impact people from another nation, you simply won’t have time to fool with your puny little problems.

The Call to War

I was 18 years old when I gave my life to Christ and asked Jesus to fill me with the Holy Spirit. A few days later I experienced what I realize now was a supernatural vision. At the time, I thought I was just seeing some vivid Technicolor thoughts.

In this vision I was riding on a horse, and Jesus was riding on His steed in front of me. Both of us were dressed in primitive armor, complete with swords, shields and bronze helmets. We were crisscrossing what looked like an ancient battlefield, and I had the sense that I was serving Jesus as an apprentice warrior.

When we arrived at our camp, Jesus unfolded a leather map and began to point at various places as He explained tomorrow’s battle strategy. I remember thinking at the time: This is so awesome. I get to actually be with Jesus in the battle. Being near to Him was the most thrilling part of the whole vision.

It would be several years before I would read any books about spiritual warfare or come to understand that Christians have been given authority in the cosmic conflict with hell’s forces. Yet, this vision marked my life immediately. I knew from that moment on that I had been called by God to engage in this war and that Jesus would lead me every step of the way.

My first spiritual battles were fought in college, when I was part of a campus ministry that was aggressively winning students to the Lord. I learned in those days that there is nothing more exciting than seeing someone give his or her heart to Christ. Later, after I began a career in journalism, I tried to stay active in lay ministry, whether it was leading a home group in my church, discipling younger Christian guys or simply sharing my faith with people who don’t know God.

In more recent years, the Lord challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone, and begin to speak in churches and at conferences. At first I tried to employ any imaginable excuse for why I shouldn’t obey the call. (Lord, I’m not the right guy for this assignment. You know I can’t preach good enough. You know I shouldn’t travel away from my family. Yadda, yadda, yadda.)

In the end, I surrendered and have been doing lots of weekend ministry trips. I swallowed my fears and ripped up my excuses. Today, the thrill of seeing people’s lives changed is so much of a rush that it sometimes keeps me up at night.

Recently, my travels have taken me to China, Nigeria, Europe and Latin America. God has opened doors for me to speak to underground Chinese evangelists, abused Guatemalan women and a group of 8,000 African pastors. And the more I step out into the unknown and allow God to use me, the more passionate I become about the Great Commission. Next year I’m hoping the Lord will send me to minister to people in closed Middle Eastern nations.

I can’t get enough of the adventure. While I used to say, Not me, Lord. Now I say, Here I am, Lord, send me!

We must adopt this kind of ministry mind-set in order to walk in victory. Although I am plagued with a lot of insecurities, I had to learn to see myself as a warrior–as someone God could use to “tread on serpents and scorpions” (see Luke 10:19). And I’ve learned that when I see myself this way, I am catapulted into a new realm of victory over sin.

That doesn’t mean I don’t stumble anymore. I have wrestled with lust, and I have confessed my failures to trusted friends. Godly accountability is essential for personal holiness.

But I’ve learned that all the accountability in the world will not work for you if you have not taken on a ministry mind-set. You can’t win the battle with sin while sitting on the sidelines. It’s only when you’re in the trenches that you will see a breakthrough in your personal life.

In recent years, I have gleaned deep inspiration from some men in the Bible who were godly warriors. These guys excite me because I know their lives were designed by God to be models for us.

1. A timid man made valiant. Joshua was most likely a timid guy because God often challenged him to be “‘strong and courageous'” (see Josh. 1:6,7,9). Yet, after he had an encounter with “the Captain of the Hosts of the Lord” (see 5:13-15), Joshua led God’s people through endless battles. In fact, he never stopped fighting, even in his old age.

Joshua reminds me that I cannot fight in my own strength. But if I listen to the Lord, and stay close to His heart, I will be able to evict devils from their hide-outs and claim territory for Christ’s kingdom. If you don’t have a warrior mentality, perhaps it is because you have not yet seen Jesus as your Mighty Captain.

2. An insecure man who became a commander. Gideon had a serious inferiority complex. When the angel came to him and said, “‘Hail, mighty warrior!'” (see Judg. 6:12), his response was basically, “Who, me?” He was the last guy any of us would have picked for a winning team.

But after Gideon encountered the fire of God, he was transformed into another man. He stormed into his father’s house, tore down the idolatrous image of Baal and then stood up to his relatives who threatened to kill him. Then he led a band of 300 scraggly men to overthrow the enemies of Israel. God can turn wimps into warriors!

3. The passionate giant-killer. David’s life is full of lessons for us as men. His valor in the face of Goliath reminds us that we, too, are called to attack demonic giants–even when other Christians seem intimidated by the prospect of conflict. David’s life gives me courage in the face of Islam, Mormonism, witchcraft or any other spiritual force that keeps people from knowing the truth of the gospel.

David’s failures also provide some important insights. The reason David fell into adultery with Bathsheba was because he had left the battlefield and was sitting on his roof while all the other soldiers were fighting. If he had been where he was supposed to be, he wouldn’t have seen that beautiful woman taking her clothes off. And he would have avoided the biggest blunder of his life.

What’s your spiritual condition today? Have you folded up your uniform, hidden it in the closet and gone AWOL? If you are struggling with habitual sin, or if you are just spiritually bored, maybe you need to re-enlist.

Start sharing your faith. Pioneer a new ministry. Go on a mission trip. Rip up your excuses. Stir up your spiritual gifts and roll up your sleeves. It’s time for war.

I’ll see you in the battle.

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J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma magazine and the author of 10 Lies the Church Tells Women (CharismaHouse) and other books.

Two African American women who survived breast cancer have started a ministry to help women who face the dreaded disease.
When Dorothy and Lareatha met some years ago, they had no idea they would one day head a ministry together. That was before they discovered they had breast cancer. Both women exercised their faith in God, and today they are helping a city of women beat the dreaded disease. The two meet the needs of African American women in central New Jersey, where too few women with breast cancer know where to turn.

In the late 1990s, Dorothy Reed and Lareatha “Rea” Payne both learned they had breast cancer. “Devastated” is how each felt at first, but through it all they’ve learned God had a plan for them. “Fear engulfs with the word cancer,” says Payne, a six-year breast cancer survivor.

Several days after their diagnoses, each woman began to think differently. After several days of depression, Payne, whose husband, Edison, is the pastor of Travelers Fellowship Baptist Church in Piscataway, New Jersey, concluded, “If we talk our faith in God, then we have to live it.” She had encouraged others, and now she was being tested. She turned to the Scriptures and allowed God’s truth to renew her faith and mind.

For Reed, a five-year breast cancer survivor who worships at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey, there were initial tears and the feeling of weakness in her legs when she learned she had cancer. But she too turned to God, sought prayer and found encouragement in John 10:10: “‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full,'” (NIV). Today she says that through it all God has given her a mission.

Reed is president of the Sisters Network of Central New Jersey, one of 40 chapters of the national Sisters Network Inc. Payne is the chapter’s vice president. Together they manage the office in Somerset.

In addition, they conduct monthly support-group meetings and attend conferences to stay educated about topics related to breast cancer and health insurance. They also speak at women’s ministries and colleges to educate the public and raise awareness.

When the twosome aren’t standing before grammar school students, they interview for cable television and radio, plan and execute a large annual project and smaller monthly projects, raise funds, and offer practical support to members and their families.

In a normal day, much of Reed’s and Payne’s time is devoted to this practical support. They are “on call,” ready and willing to go help out wherever they are
needed. They begin some days by working at members’ homes, helping to ready their children for school–and getting them on a bus or driving them to school. They may receive a call from a member who needs a ride to a doctor’s appointment–or just a friend to go along.

Through these dedicated women, the love of God is demonstrated in the day-to-day routines of life. Women receive help to cope with the details of daily living that have been made more challenging by their additional struggle with breast cancer.

“Getting in there, helping every female, not letting them lose their lives to cancer … that’s what we’re about.” says Payne, the mother of a grown son and daughter and grandmother of three girls. ”

Because of the disparity that exists between health care for African Americans and health care for other Americans, The Sisters Network of Central New Jersey is a valuable resource for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. It provides information about the options available to them. It also is a beacon of hope because it is led by women who have been through breast cancer themselves.

“Sisters … is my heart–helping women, educating women, until I see the mortality rate going down,” says Reed, a former corporate worker who was led to salvation when faced with the responsibility of parenthood. She has one 25-year-old daughter and also raised a niece.

And help women she does. Reed met Fran Parson at church. Parson had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and was asking for prayer. She later came to the Sisters Network, where she received help in selecting a doctor for chemotherapy and information about breast reconstruction.

“You’re going to make this,” Reed encouraged her.

Parson went through the chemo-therapy and had breast reconstruction in July.

Reed and Payne met Meg (not her real name) differently. Meg, in her late 30s with two children, had been made homeless when her landlord lost his house. Because she received $650 a month in child support, Meg was not eligible for social services and had nowhere to go. The Cancer Institute contacted the Sisters Network, asking Reed and Payne to talk with her.

Meg was rather belligerent before her chemo-therapy treatment, but Reed and Payne went with her, taking clean clothes to her and calming her down. Later, after a social worker helped Meg find an apartment, Reed and Payne furnished the place and provided a much-desired television. Meg now is continuing treatment, doing well and enjoying her new living arrangements.

Reed and Payne know what their 40 members with breast cancer go through, but they also know about hope in God and His goodness, as well as hope for a future.

Reed and Payne met through Pearl Grace, who co-founded the Sisters Network of Central New Jersey. It was also through Grace and her struggle with breast cancer that Payne and Reed learned much, as they accompanied her on doctors visits, listened to her questions for the physicians–and their responses–and generally observed.

And Grace seemed to sense God using her to prepare her friends. “Just listen,” she once told them in a doctor’s office, as he was about to answer her question. Although Grace is now with the Lord, she continues to influence, encourage and live on in the hearts and minds of the two ministers she mentored.

Entrusted with the mission, Reed and Payne began funding the work themselves. Later, they received grants that covered the office rent, telephone charges and other minor operational costs. No salaries are involved.

The New Jersey chapter of the Sisters Network was started in 2000. An office lease was signed in February 2001 and the ministry moved in that March. In April 2001 the New Jersey chapter received the National Chapter of the Year Award from Sisters Network. Reed and Payne believe they won because they are serious about making the ministry work.

Additional funds are needed to open a support house for women with breast cancer. A new team member, Bebe Major, was added in September 2002 to help with this vision. Major works on fund-raising projects and at reaching out to churches, trying to make them aware of the Sisters Network and encouraging their support in every way.

“[Reed and Payne] are a very effective team,” Major says of the ministry’s founders. “The weakness of the one is the strength of the other. They’re hands-on people. And they are so consumed and involved with these women.”

When asked why she thought God had given her this mission, Reed says: “Maybe because He knew I would do it.”

“I feel honored that God chose me [to do this work],” says Payne, who became a Christian years ago while being hospitalized and fearing she would die. She is the author of Sisters Keepin’ It Real (Gazelle Press), a book about a young African American woman diagnosed with breast cancer.

Reed and Payne are godsends to the community. Although once diagnosed with breast cancer, these women have continued serving the Lord. He has fulfilled the truth of Psalm 118:17, a verse Reed has applied to her own life over and over: “I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.”

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Catherine Barrier teaches at Rutgers University and founded the Central Jersey Christian Writers’ Fellowship. She is a freelance writer and a councilwoman in Somerset, New Jersey.

For more about Sisters Network of Central New Jersey, call 732-246-8300. Send tax-deductible gifts to Christian Life Missions, Attn: Unsung Heroes, P.O. Box 952248, Lake Mary, FL 32795-2248.

It breaks Joe Loyal’s heart that so many kids today don’t have two parents. That’s why the Georgia retiree now spends all of his time reaching kids in lower-class neighborhoods.
Joe Loyal knows what it means to suffer loss. But it’s the hardships in life, he says, that have made him strong.

“I lost my mom, dad and son in two and a half years,” he says.

A year and a half after his grown son died from a rare strain of pneumonia, Loyal decided to go for his dream of beginning a children’s ministry.

“It made me more determined to reach more people because it made me more dedicated to the Lord,” he says of losing his son. “Since I was able to go through that and not fall apart, it gave me strength to believe I could do some other things that the Lord would be pleased with.”

When the 59-year-old Loyal retired from his job as a food salesman for Kraft, he knew he wanted to begin a ministry for kids, but he didn’t have the $9,000 it would take to buy a van and other equipment. Even though he made no appeals for funds, little by little the money and services came in, until he had the van and everything he needed to begin ministry.

“All of this just fell in place, and I just knew it was the Lord,” he says.

For almost four years, Loyal has been “retired and refired,” he says, thrusting himself headlong into an inner-city children’s ministry that is thriving today. Hundreds of street kids come to play games, get treats, have fun and–most importantly–experience a move of God in their lives. Loyal ministers in 18 to 20 Atlanta suburbs, including his hometown of Athens, Georgia.

Through his Faith Today Ministries, Loyal adds hands and feet to the gospel message, making regular visits to build relationships with kids and their parents.

“We want to establish that we are not a one-night stand,” he says. “We are going to be a force.”

Loyal says it takes six to eight people to promote, set up and conduct the two-hour ministry sessions that often have parents and kids alike giving a standing ovation. Loyal targets lower-class neighborhoods where children either don’t attend church or attend only services geared for adults. His aim is to speak to kids on their own level.

“We present the gospel in a high-energy, high-activity manner,” he says, adding that the kids’ ages range from about 3 to 16.

Loyal and his ministry team are in a needy neighborhood just about every weekend of the year. Typically, they post fliers and give away hot dogs and candy to attract a crowd. Then they amuse the kids with various high-energy activities that include playing games of Bible Trivia, interacting with a Sponge Bob character who tells them how their minds soak things up like a sponge, listening to popular secular songs with Christian lyrics, and other activities that instruct children in the ways of God.

Loyal believes if his team can build a basic moral foundation in children, the inner witness of the Holy Spirit can do the rest. “We’re trying to get kids to understand that there is a God and there is a right and there is a wrong,” he says.

The fact that most of the neighborhoods Loyal visits are in economically depressed areas does not deter him. “I’ve been in projects passing out fliers, and there’ll be a guy in the breezeway selling drugs,” he says.

Some of the kids he’s worked with have actually joined his ministry team. One teenage boy, Shamar, was running with the wrong crowd when God touched him at one of Loyal’s ministry events. God moved, and soon after that Shamar was running the sound equipment for Loyal. Now he’s a regular team member.

“If I tell him I’ll pick him up at 7:30 in the morning, he’s ready, and that’s saying a lot for a 14-year-old,” Loyal says. “Wherever I go, he goes. He’s there to help me.”

Mentoring boys and young men who have no father figures is a key part of Loyal’s ministry. “I firmly believe it takes men to raise boys,” he says. “They need inspiration from the men.”

Loyal says that out of 15 kids in a group it is likely that only two or three of them have both parents. “Some of them say, ‘I don’t even know my dad,'” he explains. “I can relate to these kids. I didn’t have very much growing up, so I understand what it’s like.”

Loyal’s parents separated when he was 13. His father didn’t return home until four years later–crucial years when a teen needs a dad, Loyal says.

But his father embraced Jesus at the age of 79. “He was 80 years old before I ever heard him say, ‘Son, I love you,'” Loyal remembers. “It touched me, and it touched him, too.”

Loyal is always looking for dedicated volunteers, people who will get involved for more than just one or two trips. But Loyal believes many U.S. Christians simply are complacent.

“It’s hard to get people out of the four walls. God wants us to go out there and be the church, not just be a spectator on Sunday morning,” he says.

Community leaders have seen the impact of Loyal’s work. Local businessman Dwain Chambers, a former mayor of Athens, has known Loyal for 20 years. “Joe is genuine,” Chambers told Charisma. “He loves the Lord with all of his heart, and he is committed to doing the Lord’s work.”

Chambers saw Loyal’s inner character come to the surface during the time he lost his son. “He never questioned God,” recalls Chambers, who also says he’s impressed by Loyal’s low profile. “He does not seek recognition. He does his work quietly, and he wants all the glory to go to God.”

In addition to his children’s ministry, Loyal hosts five radio broadcasts a week and visits four or five prisons a month. He also makes regular visits to day-care centers. His ministry addresses issues faced by the poor and transcends ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

Loyal says when he was beginning the ministry, his wife, Shirley, wasn’t sure he could raise the money and develop the organization needed for a successful program. Now, she’s an integral part of the team with him every weekend.

Loyal operates his ministry on a tight budget, but he continues to not solicit funds, receiving only what others give after God moves on their hearts.

Though Loyal is happy with the size of his ministry, he knows he could have a bigger impact with more volunteers. “I’d like to be able to duplicate myself,” he says. “I’d like to find people that will take a step of faith and move into the area of street ministry.”

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Richard Daigle manages public relations for a private company in Atlanta. He and his wife, Jan, have three children.

For more information on Faith Today Ministries, call 706-353-7519. Send tax-deductible gifts to Christian Life Missions, Attn: Unsung Heroes, P.O. Box 952248, Lake Mary, FL 32795-2248.

Jonathan, a 26-year-old friend of mine, recently moved to Jerusalem to attend a ministry school where he will learn how to evangelize Muslims. He has been in the turbulent city for only a few weeks, yet he has already been threatened, spit on and cursed at. “A group of guys even pulled knives on me, and I have to tell you that stirred up some fear,” Jonathan admitted in an e-mail.

I am so proud of this guy. His dream is to venture to North Africa someday as a missionary. Back in May, when I was with Jonathan at a prayer retreat in Oklahoma, he wept as he shared his burden to win Muslims to Christ. When six other men and I laid hands on him and prayed that day, we knew he would be putting his life at risk to obey God’s call. Now he is on the front lines of ministry.

What Jonathan has done is humbling. He bent down low to serve the Lord. To him, ministry equals sacrifice and self-denial. He could have chosen a less
dangerous career path, but he couldn’t deny the sense of urgency he felt whenever he heard about the millions of people who are trapped in Islamic deception.

He had to go. And going required Jesus-style humility.

I wish there were more Jonathans in today’s church. Often when I meet people who are considering “going into ministry,” I probe to find out what they think ministry really is. Too often I discover they are expecting glamour or fame.

In some sectors of the church today we even offer seminars on how to become a “successful” minister. The steps include (1) printing business cards; (2) launching a Web site to “sell product”; (3) hiring an agent who knows how to secure speaking engagements at big churches; (4) learning how to negotiate with pastors for big offerings; and (5) buying a new wardrobe.

I don’t have any problem with a man or woman of God who sells tapes, gives out business cards or wears a nice suit. But sometimes I just want to jump on a table and yell a reminder to everybody: “It’s not about you!”

Somehow we have redefined the word ministry to mean getting instead of giving. In our glitzy world, celebrity pastors teach their disciples that ministry is about first- class seats, limousine service, pampered treatment and a five-figure honorarium.

With this new definition, we judge a man’s anointing by the size of his entourage–which includes one person to carry his briefcase, another to deflect his cell phone calls, another to charter private airplanes and yet another to carry his bottled water.

And don’t forget the bodyguards!

When I asked someone recently why evangelists in the United States need bodyguards, I was told it is “to protect the man of God from the crowds.” Well, we certainly wouldn’t want the man of God to have to bother with those little people, would we?

Speaking of bodyguards, my friend Jonathan in Israel doesn’t have one.
Neither do the selfless people we profiled in this issue of Charisma–real Christians who are feeding the poor, loving fatherless children and caring for prisoners. These unsung heroes will probably never have an entourage, nor do they want one. They don’t want anybody to keep them from the little people.

These folks, like my friend Jonathan, prefer to stay low. Maybe we should let them totally redefine ministry in the 21st century.

From a converted Circuit City store in Florida, Ray Hall, a retired Air Force veteran, sends Christian books and Bibles to inmates nationwide.
At first glance, you wouldn’t think that Ray Hall’s little office could be making that much of an impact.

Then you see the map.

Hanging on a wall in his office is a large map of the United States that’s covered with a sea of red pins. Each pin identifies a location that receives materials from Prison Book Project (PBP).

“It shows that we’re not playing around,” Hall says.

Indeed they are not. Currently, PBP ships Christian books and other materials to more than 1,200 jails and prisons in all 50 states. The nonprofit organization takes thousands of books donated from publishers and sends them to chaplains in correctional facilities. And every book shipped out goes through Hall’s hands.

The 68-year-old retired Air Force veteran from Titusville, Florida, has been sending books into jails for nine years. Working with his wife, Kazuko, he’s written thousands of letters to publishers, read thousands of letters from inmates and shipped tons of freight, all to make sure prisoners around the country who want to learn more about Jesus have the resources to do so.

To understand the significance of Hall’s ministry, all you need to do is read one of the boxes of letters that PBP receives from prisoners.

For example: “My name is Charles Michael. I wanted to let you know I’ve found two of your books here at the chapel library. I liked the two very much that I cried over the second book, Piercing the Darkness. Another reason that I liked them was there were no cussin’ in them!”

Hall started the ministry after having a dramatic encounter with God in July 1994–one he will not discuss in detail. The experience so affected him that in August 1994, when God told him to start providing good reading materials for prisoners, he was too afraid to say no.

“I set a goal of 1,000 books to go to the Brevard County [Florida] Jail within a two-year period,” Hall told Charisma. “The Lord just kind of impressed on me after about three years to ‘keep your eye on the count-giver, not the count.’ So I just drew a line in my book and stopped counting. The count after three years was 39,886 books.”

He says in the two days after he stopped counting, he received 25,000 books, and that “it hasn’t stopped.”

“I’ve seen miracle after miracle after miracle. So when you’re in obedience to the Boss, the Boss does stuff for you. And I don’t know whether He does it for you just to bless you or just to keep showing you He’s the boss or to help you do what He told you to do.”

Hall still does not keep numbers on the amount of books he ships per year, but walking into PBP’s warehouse–a converted Circuit City store–gives you an idea of how many books go through his ministry. Walls of boxes piled to the ceiling cover the floor. Hall says the fewest number of books he’ll ever have in the warehouse at one time is approximately 300,000.

He estimates that a new book will survive 30 readings before it falls apart. Each box contains 45 books, meaning that one box of materials will be read 1,350 times.

“If you do some more math, there’s eight hours average reading time per book, and that’s 10,800 hours of ministry time [per box],” Hall says.

To get the books for those 10,800 hours of ministry time, PBP relies on donations from publishers. Currently, about 30 publishing companies donate books, including Tyndale House, which agreed to a recent partnership with PBP.

“It’s a rare thing. Ray doesn’t get seen, and his name doesn’t appear in neon lights anywhere. But there’s a lot of death row inmates in heaven tonight because of Ray Hall, I can tell you that,” Jerry Furst, of Christian publisher Bethany House, recently told Florida Today, a daily newspaper based in Melbourne, Florida.

“This is not Ray Hall, this is a team,” Halls says. “The publishers who send this stuff in–tons of it, millions of dollars worth–those are people that God has spoken to. He’s signed them up on the team, too!”

To determine where to send the books, Hall relies on the inmates themselves. Every correctional facility PBP ships to has or had a prisoner who originally sent a letter to Hall asking him to send books. Hall then contacted the chaplain of that facility and put it on his list.

But a lack of manpower and money has forced the ministry to stop accepting new facilities. At the same time, there are thousands of unanswered letters from prisoners and chaplains asking for books that sit in the corner of Hall’s office.

“We’re trying to stop the number of places that we send to because we can’t take care of what we have,” Hall says.

Often PBP can’t even ship to the prisons already on its list because it can’t afford to, even though the cost is a moderate $12 a box. When asked where most of the money comes from, Hall is quiet for a second. Instead his pastor, Paul Maze, answers the question.

“He probably would not say this, but I’ll say it. Ray underwrites a lot of this from his own Social Security check,” Maze, the pastor of Evangel Christian Center, says. “There’s been a real struggle to get churches to support this as missions because most churches want an immediate return on their money to some degree. But what we’ve realized is that these people in prison will be our neighbors; they’ll be the people that we’ll meet at the ATM or Wal-Mart or at the grocery store one day.

“We need to invest in the need. There seems to be a great spiritual awakening in the prison system across the United States, and we’re trying to facilitate that move of God through shipping the materials that they need to study and learn,” Maze adds.

“There’s a lot of depressing-type things, but I don’t stay down long. God will provide something,” Hall says.

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Chris Glazier is a sophomore studying journalism at the University of Florida. He served as a magazine intern at Charisma last summer.

For more information about Prison Book Project, call 321-269-4100. Send tax-deductible gifts to Christian Life Missions, Attn: Unsung Heroes, P.O. Box 952248, Lake Mary, FL 32795-2248.

Former prizefighter Charlie Muller now fights with devils in Albany, New York–where he uses a converted ambulance to save souls.
No one has ever seen Erica’s mom. The 13-year-old girl’s father is in jail. So every day for the last year she has walked several city blocks past gangbangers and drug dealers to get to pastor Charlie Muller’s J.C. Club.

Erica takes her 2- and 4-year-old sisters with her to eat the center’s freshly prepared, dinnertime meals. “I wouldn’t eat that much before, and I found out and I started coming here and eating,” the teen says.

Muller feeds hundreds of people like Erica every day. His stationary feeding center, located in the most violent and poverty-stricken neighborhoods of Albany, New York, provides evening meals for 50 to 70 children of all ages, year-round.

But Muller faced heavy challenges from the first day construction began on the facility at 63 Quail St.

“The day we worked on construction to start this building, a young kid was shot dead right here,” says Muller, pointing to a spot close to the center’s door. The 16-year-old boy was killed minutes after Muller’s construction team left the work site. Retaliation occurred the next night when two young men were stabbed on the other corner of J.C. Club’s property.

“We were like, ‘OK, Lord, if this is where You want us to be,'” Muller says.

The young evangelist pressed past all potential barriers and completed the J.C. Club in October 2002.

To add to his arsenal against poverty, Muller takes his feeding program to Albany’s streets. This visionary guy doesn’t wait for the hungry to come to him.

“We make 400 lunches, and we’ll go out and take our vehicles and drive in the worst neighborhoods,” Muller says. A brightly painted, red-and-white converted ambulance inscribed with such phrases as “For Emergency Call Jesus” and “Doctor Jesus” is driven to at least five scheduled locations each weekday, where hundreds are fed during the summer months. With no subsidized feeding program during the off-school months, many kids are left to go hungry.

“One lady told me in the park, before we started doing this feeding ministry, that some of the kids pick out of the garbage to get a meal,” Muller says. “So we’re just doing our part.”

Muller has always done his part, even before coming to Albany.

In his earlier days, the young preacher faithfully served at Faith and Love Fellowship in Rensselaer, New York. Muller’s desire to pioneer a church led him; his wife, Tammy; and daughter Cassie out of their comfortable rural surroundings to look for a church building in the impoverished West Hill-Arbor Hill section of Albany.

Muller initially put in a $90,000 bid for a building with a caved-in roof. During that time, Muller attended a meeting held by Bible teacher Kenneth Copeland while on a Florida vacation with his family.

“Copeland stopped in the middle of preaching and said: ‘There is somebody here that just put a bid on a piece of property. You’re not going to get that. God is going to give you property at 10 percent of what it is worth. You just believe God.'”

Muller took that as a personal word from God. The $90,000 deal fell through after Muller returned to New York.

A week after the Copeland prophecy, Muller heard about an old post office-turned-gymnasium that the bank had priced at more than $400,000. True to the prophecy, Muller, astonishing all onlookers, won the bid at a fraction of the asking price. Muller’s dream church, Victory Christian Church, opened on April 12, 1995.

Friends and family and a lot of curiosity seekers attended Muller’s first church service at 118 Quail St. But when the second Sunday came, three people attended–Muller, Tammy and Cassie. Muller’s fight to pursue his vision had begun.

But fighting is nothing new to this energetic preacher.

At the time of his salvation at age 24, Muller was a 132-pound, semiprofessional boxer representing the capital region of New York at the Empire State Games. His life consisted of traveling, training, fighting and hitting the bars in between.

During that time, friends invited Muller to a home Bible study. “I knew there was something missing in my life,” he says. At the Bible study the Holy Spirit touched the prizefighter. Muller cried for the first time in his adult life, and something inside him changed radically.

“When I got saved, I couldn’t hit anyone no more,” Muller says. But the 46-year-old preacher went from hitting competitors in the ring to fighting against poverty and addiction in Albany’s most deplorable neighborhoods.

Though initially it was sparsely attended, Muller’s Victory Christian Church has grown to almost 200 adults and 70 to 80 kids every Sunday. The love of God is transforming people who society would consider hopeless.

“I took a chance that Jesus could actually help me and give me a reason to live and have some real joy and purpose in life,” says George Fisher, a former drug addict of 30 years.

When Muller and Fisher met, the 44-year-old addict was living in alleyways and on doorsteps. Today he is clean from drugs and oversees and maintains all Victory’s church property. He gives a lot of credit to Muller.

“He is like a father in a way, even though I’m older than he is. He is a good balance between being hard and being soft as far as his counsel,” Fisher says. “He never gave up.”

Fellow ministers in Albany are learning from Muller’s prototype ministry. Youth pastor Paulie Tebbano of Harvest Church in nearby Clifton Park has been taking his youth group to the Albany ghettos every Friday during the summer months for the last three years.

“It really was an [eye-] opener that only down the road there is that much need,” Tebbano says. “It’s basically like a 10-week missions trip. Kids have been totally transformed just to see that they don’t have to go to Mexico or around the world to see the need. It’s right in their own community. I look forward to it every year and so do the kids.”

The team of 20 to 30 youth split up to feed children on the streets and run puppet shows and outreach in some of the parks and lots owned by Victory Christian Church.

Muller’s desire is for other churches to catch the vision of missions for children.

“If I was to look at Houston, or look at places where the Bible Belt is, and they have 10,000 people in their church, they can literally take a city. We’re living week by week, and we’ve done so much with so little.”

Muller says he, Tammy and their daughters, Cassie and Chelsie, are paying a price. “The reason why God brought us here was to literally affect the city. We’re apostling. We’re just beginning to execute the plan that God has.

“Lord, just let us spread this thing into Schenectady and Utica and New York. Let there be missions for children where a child can come. We [the body of Christ] are so mission-minded. But look at the cities of America. Less and less people are knowing Christ. My heart still cries out. There’s just more.”

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Paula Hornberger is a freelance writer based in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

For more information about Charlie Muller’s ministry, call 518-434-6100. Send tax-deductible gifts to Christian Life Missions, Attn: Unsung Heroes, P.O. Box 952248, Lake Mary, FL 32795-2248.

Former drug addict Manuel ‘Manny’ Álvarez is rebuilding lives and transforming the
streets of Miami.
Drug addiction. Alcoholism. Homelessness. These life-threatening realities plague virtually every city in America. Yet how many people care enough to get their hands dirty helping to solve such problems?

Meet one man who does–Manuel Álvarez, the founder of a Miami-area ministry for substance abusers named New Hope CORPS (Counseling, Outpatient, Residential, Prevention Services).

At 76, “Manny,” as he is known, is older than most who have dedicated their lives to street ministry. But his age isn’t stopping him. Because of his tireless devotion, bottomless compassion and unwavering tenacity to follow God’s call into the ugly world of substance abuse, thousands of people in South Florida have been rescued from lives of addiction and homeless poverty.

New Hope’s new residential facility in Homestead, Florida, south of Miami, is much like the lives it is known for saving. It too was utterly in shambles before the ministry stepped in and gave it new purpose.

Álvarez and his staff–including sons Steven and Daniel, as well as licensed counselors Isabel Mesa and Marcos González, and Fried–renovated the place with the help of their clients. Operating on an extremely limited budget, they did it with only hard work, some donations and faith. Today an entire wall of the reborn refuge is lined with filing cabinets stuffed with records of those who have been touched by New Hope.

Each file seems to attest to the faithfulness of an ordinary man who refused to give up after life had bullied him down.

“One thing about my father that impresses me to no end is simply the fact that he never gives up,” says son Steven, New Hope’s program administrator. “He grew up in Cuba, where his mother died at an early age and his father wasn’t around. He basically raised himself and ended up doing drugs. His life really didn’t start until he was born again.”

For years Álvarez was a heroin addict, alcoholic and drug abuser. He was stabbed one time and almost died from his wounds. He’s also been in prison.

Upon his release from a drug-rehab program, he attended a community college–having only a fifth-grade education under his belt. He persevered and at age 65 received a master’s in counseling.

“I really don’t know how I did it. I know God helped me because I had never studied in my life,” says Álvarez, who became a Christian at age 38.

At that point, he started working simultaneously in a Christian drug-rehab program and a secular program called Phoenix House.

“When I was helping in the Christian program, they had the Lord, but I saw their chaotic system and the disorganization of the program. When I was training in the Phoenix House, everything was in order. It was called a ‘therapeutic community’–lots of rules and regulations … very tough,” Álvarez says.

The approach to rehabilitation at New Hope is similar to that at Phoenix House, the primary difference being a central focus on Jesus Christ and the liberation from sin He offers. New Hope offers a balance of spiritual growth and structured living.

“When my dad went to a Christian program, God was there, but the people didn’t have a practical way of applying the Scriptures to their lives–they would just pray and read the Word all says. “When he went to the secular program, they didn’t have God, so they had to rely on themselves–and they created order and organization.

“Dad prayed to God to help him combine. He wanted God to be in it, but he wanted the order as well. That was the birthing of the program.”

Manny Álvarez believes there is no conflict between the standards of the Word of God and the therapeutic community. Both teach self-control, obedience and discipline, he says.

“What we have now at New Hope–it’s not a therapeutic community 100 percent,” he explains. “When you first come into the program … you are projecting who you are. The image that the addict brings is the image of the jungle–‘Here I am. I’m a tough guy’–beard, long hair.

“The first thing we’re going to do is shave your head and cut your beard. You have been hidden in the jungle; now you are getting out of the jungle. They have to submit to the rules and regulations–but then comes the gospel.”

Mesa, who has worked at New Hope for five years and is also an ordained Assemblies of God minister, says the philosophy at the ministry is “to work in the behavior and the attitude.” Many types of therapies in addition to Christian therapy are applied, she says.

“The way [Álvarez] does what he does is God’s way,” says Jere Weaver, a pastor who has led Sunday evening services at the facility for four years. “Manny is a deeply spiritual person, and he holds strictly to the Word. I’ve seen him rescue people who have been through secular rehab facilities two or three times. I’ve seen families regenerated.”

Ex-client Dewitt Blake, now a New Hope program director, calls Álvarez a “father figure.”

“He could ask me anything and I’d do it,” Blake says. “I have unconditional love for this man.”

In addition to its primary resident-addiction program, New Hope comprises other programs, each with a separate focus.

There is the After Care program that allows graduates of the residential-addiction program to rent a room at the facility while they begin taking on the responsibilities of a new job and new life. Sometimes the courts refer convicted DUI defendants to the residential-addiction program. A Christian 12-step program is also held at the facility.

There is a preventive program for at-risk youth that is based at Homestead Senior High School. Students who miss school, misbehave or have slumping grades may be referred to New Hope’s counselors by their high school counselors. At New Hope the teens meet weekly and go through a curriculum that includes Christian principles.

In addition, the facility holds Sunday school every Sunday as well as a morning and an evening service. There is also a Wednesday evening service each week. Daily devotionals, prayers and Bible studies begin every day and every recovery-group session.

That the gospel is the heartbeat of New Hope is no secret in the community. Head Chaplain Jose Hernández of the Miami-Dade County Department of Corrections says he could not have started his own Agape Women’s Center in the 1980s without the help of Álvarez.

“He was a pioneer in getting Agape funded,” Hernández says. “Back then it was unheard of. We were the first religious social-service agency in the state to get funding, and Manny was the director.

“Manny has struggled and fought and worked and made it,” he adds. “It’s a hard business, but he doesn’t give up.”

As for his own ministry, Álvarez has turned down funding that, if accepted, would limit his freedom to share God’s Word with his clients. The struggle to acquire enough money to maintain the programs is perpetual. Although New Hope gets some money from Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, the rest of the money needed must come from other sources, such as grants and donations.

The preciseness of New Hope’s success ratio, which averages between 60 percent and 80 percent, depends on who you talk to and how they define success. Connie McGovern, case manager at Save Our Streets in the community affairs unit of the Homestead Police Department, is glad New Hope is in the neighborhood.

“Having them in town is very promising,” McGovern says. “They’re very much needed in this area–we’re happy they’re here.”

Credit Manny Álvarez’s inimitable tenacity and life of faith as the inspiration for so many qualified people joining his quest to liberate Miami-area lives from the addict’s bondage.

“We’re here because every day he drove or rode a bus one and a half to two hours one way, 10 to 12 hours a day, for years to a tiny office where he made endless phone calls, and filled out applications for grants and licenses to start programs,” son Daniel says. “It didn’t happen overnight. He just never gave up–he stayed true to what God wanted him to do.”

Says Manny: “We have been put in enemy territory … the world of the devil. We’re in a fallen world. We have to persevere. Perseverance means one thing: You fall, get up and get going. You fall, get up and get going.

“One day you don’t fall anymore.”

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Kevin Hrebik is a freelance editor and writer and holds a master’s degree in religion. He had a personal interest in this story, as he too has been delivered from substance abuse.

For more information about New Hope CORPS, call 786-243-1003. Send tax-deductible gifts to Christian Life Missions, Attn: Unsung Heroes, P.O. Box 952248, Lake Mary, FL 32795-2248.