There is a gas station/store in a small town near us where old men congregate every morning to shoot the breeze and watch town life happen. In the early morning people hurry to pump gas, women run in to buy a jug of milk, and the foolish mosey in around mid-morning to spend their last few bucks on a carton of cigarettes. The old men sit and watch, and then offer their opinions or criticisms.
A new thing is happening in this one-horse town which has really upset the old guys’ apple cart. For over 3 months there has been an older-old man directly across the street from where they sit, working like a young guy on steroids on what once was a decrepit, abandoned building. This older-old guy has completely overhauled the place and he says, “It will open soon.”
“To do WHAT?” asks the oldest old man on the bench, the same question he has asked every day over the last several months.
“What is he gonna sell? That is what I want to know,” grunts another.
“He says nothin’; gonna sell nothing,” answers the first.
“Just WHY is anyone gonna go into a store that sells nothing?” spits out the next. They all lean back in their chairs when they see the old laborer walking quickly across the road to where they sit. This laborer is Mike Pearl, and they know the routine, so they are ready when he says, “Hey, do any of you want to lend a hand today?” Then Mike hits his forehead as if he remembers, “Oh, yeah, you are all Democrats and Democrats don’t work if they can sit and watch. Okay, never matter (he means “never mind” but “never matter” sounds cool). It annoys the old guys that an older-old guy is working hard labor every day, all day long, right in front of the whole town. It vexes the old guys that they are indeed Democrats. It really stumps them when he says that he is using the building to help folks come to know God.
“How’s THAT gonna work?” one mutters, as a smiling Mike exits the store.
Moses was 80 when God spoke to him from the burning bush and gave him his walking orders. Even for that era, that was old. Well, Mike is halfway through his seventieth year. I thought we would have entered a turning point. And we have. These last six months we have been far busier than we have been in MANY years. Thankfully, when God opens doors, he gives multiplied strength to do the job.Almost every day during the month of March NGJ was handling ministry or business on several continents and many countries of the world.
There’s lots more happening all over the globe, and your support keeps it flowing.
God says when you cast your bread upon the water it will return to you. Someday you will be standing before the throne of God and some strange person will tap you on the shoulder and say, “I just wanted to tell you thanks for the gift you gave. I am here today, along with my whole family, because you gave funds for books to be published and given to prisoners.” Then another will step up and say, “Me, too. I want to say thanks. I was in prison and you came to me by way of a book called Good and Evil. In fact, over a thousand men came to know Jesus through the one printing you made possible.” It will happen. Heaven is not a theoretical place of clouds and such; it is a practical place where people will know how they came to know the LORD, and they will really be glad. God loves thanksgiving just the same then as he does now.
In the harvest of souls, some plow, some sow seeds, some harvest; others publish.
Mark 13:10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.