August 15, 2024
He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully. (Proverbs 10:5)
I’ve had the privilege of spending the last few days with Jim Cymbala in NYC at his great praying church, The Brooklyn Tabernacle. This church, which he founded with a few people in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the world, has had up to 25,000 people attending on Sundays for years. However, the hallmark is their Tuesday night prayer meetings, which have thousands of the most fervent pray-ers of any church in America. Sadly, it is an anomaly in our American Christian landscape.
We sat with Jim for several hours in his office as he excitedly told us about what he and his church are engaged in right now. He spent a long time sharing that God had recently (at 82) been giving him a passion to do more for the Hispanic people in New York, particularly the immigrants that have flooded their city. So, they have planned a massive event within the month, where they are going all over New York to gather Latinos to bring them into the church for one night to share the good news about Jesus with them.
They will feed them (by giving each a food gift card, which God has remarkably provided in answer to prayer), then sing to them in their heart language and preach the gospel in hopes that hundreds will be saved. “I don’t know where this will go—perhaps in the planting of another Hispanic church—but I know the Lord has told us to do it, and we’re on it!”
STILL ON IT. ALWAYS ON IT.
Jim has never slept in the harvest… and he’s not about to now, at 82. He also spent 30 minutes sitting on the edge of his seat, telling about a homeless man that he has deeply befriended who is now coming to their church and following Jesus—a man who lives in a shelter within a block of the church and has lost some of his mental ability. This has been the testimony of thousands who have been touched in the heart of Brooklyn by this fervent pastor and church over and over again for five decades now.
Jim is not complicated; perhaps the secret to his incredible spiritual success. He looks to his spiritual life deeply, meeting daily with Christ and living in unceasing prayer. He listens to God and simply does what God initiaties and takes his people there. He carries a heart for lost people and will do anything to reach one more. He loves the church and believes it is the hope of the world.
FAITHFUL MEN
In his late 90’s, my father planned a party for his neighbors. He had shared with them individually, but he said, “I’ve got to tell them all why I live before I die.” He carefully prepared a brief word and a nice meal in his home. He prayed fervently (enlisting us and others to join him in intercession) and shared the gospel boldly. He died not long after at 97, but only heaven will record the results of his witness.
The world is not worthy of men to whom passion for Jesus and others is not a passing fad but an enduring, growing lifestyle all the way to the end.
Father, as I grow older, would you help me to be more in love with you and with those you love? May my heart stay humble and tender. May I love lost people for whom You died, not less but more. May I never stop rising early to meet with You. Save me from an increasingly inward, selfish life. Let me not complain about my aches and pains and problems but continually be burdened that I am not doing enough for the One who loved me and gave His life for me. And give me a passion to love people and share with them the one thing that will change their destiny forever. Let me faithfully work in Your harvest, all the way to the end.
December 20, 2024
December 17, 2024
