Experimental Religion?

Posted on by May 2, 2012

(I started writing this article 3 years ago, but abandoned it for fear of being misunderstood. I’m older now and I’m OK with being misunderstood.)

Perhaps your initial response is to recoil at the rather unusual title of this article. That would be a natural and understandable reaction. Those two words put together have several strikes against them right out of the box.

‘Religion’ is considered a four letter word in religious circles today. It’s a guaranteed ‘amen’ when a preacher says “I’m not into religion, I’m into relationship!” Well, amen. You’ve said it, I’ve said it, all God’s children say it nowadays. I try not to anymore. If by ‘religion’ one means man’s terminally hopeless and universal attempts to discover, define and appease God by our own efforts and on our own terms, then of course, religion is futile. Bonhoeffer spoke of the need of ‘religionless Christianity’ and used the Tower of Babel fiasco as an illustration of our religious efforts.

‘Experimental’ conjures up images of chemistry lab, mixing elements that were probably not created to be in the same ceramic bowl at the same volatile moment. So ‘Experimental Religion’ sounds like a wreck fixin’ (about) to happen.

But let’s slow down and think through this before we throw out a perfectly delightful term from historic and classic Christianity. As some of you know, I like to imbibe from the old wells of the faith dug centuries past which have stood the test of time, the Reformers (16th Century,) the Puritans (17th,) the Revivalists (18th,) and Spurgeon and his contemporaries (19th.) I read books that speak of the revival of religion when everyone understood that to mean the Christian faith and that alone. And ‘experimental’ simply means, or meant experiential. Therefore, translated, ‘experimental religion’ is a vital, living, dynamic faith in Jesus. It is spiritual intimacy with Christ, to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. Experimental Religion is exactly what you are looking for, the Spirit-initiated cravings of your innermost being.

Now we all understand that the particular term we choose is not the crucial thing. But we all long for a walk with Christ which is more than cerebral. Dead orthodoxy (believing all the right stuff without the power thereof) does not compel us, the love of Christ does. The fruit of the Spirit is experiential, having to do with human affections, that is, emotions.

We don’t need to sacrifice head or heart. We can’t afford to. It’s possible to be theologically correct (“My Calvinism’s better than your Calvinism…or Arminianism or Dispensationalism, etc.) and at the same time be spiritual IPECAC (vomit inducing agent.) Others may tend toward a different extreme, being spiritual livewires and theological goofballs. Does the idea of balance here appeal to you? If so, that’s where the old paths can give us some help. For example:

Help me to humble myself for past evils, to be resolved to walk with more care, for if I do not walk holily before Thee, how can I be sure of my salvation? (Puritan prayer)

In all your course, walk with God and follow Christ as a little, poor, helpless child, taking hold of Christ’s hand, keeping your eye on the mark of the wounds in His hands and side. From the wounds come the blood that cleanses you from sin and hides your nakedness under the shirt of the white, shining robe of His righteousness. (Jonathan Edwards)

Oh brethren, be great believers. Little faith will bring your souls to Heaven, but great faith will bring Heaven to your souls. (Charles Spurgeon)

I am ashamed that I have done and suffered so little for Him that hath done and suffered so much for ill and Hell-deserving me. (John Newton)

Return, O Holy Dove, return, sweet messenger of rest. I hate the sin that made Thee mourn, and drove Thee from my breast. (William Cowper)

That’s Experimental Religion.

I spent all of January in South Texas witnessing to Spanish speaking folks, most of February in Guatemala. Terri and I are in Port Arthur, Texas right now and until further notice reaching out to Hispanics from Central and South America and Mexico who live in this area. This is in between trips out of the country. I was in Mexico in March.

Love in Christ,
Dan

March 13, 1962

Posted on by April 10, 2012

This newsletter will not go out for a week or two, but it is important to me that I write it today, March 13, 2012.  Fifty years ago today, I was born again.

My parents had not been raised in church.  They might have been to a funeral or wedding in a church building, but that was the extent of it.  When I was about four, Mom and Dad decided that I needed to be raised differently.  They must have seen by then a clear illustration of the doctrine of human depravity (me) and recognized they were going to need some help.  I like to think I was used of the Spirit as an evangelist unawares to bring my folks to Christ!  They visited several denominations and settled on First Baptist, Nashville, Arkansas, Bro. Lonnie Lassater, pastor.  My recollection of Bro. Lonnie was a huge pile of catfish bones in front his plate.  That man could catch and eat some fish.  He was also a fisher of men.  Mom and Dad were saved in his office.  I also distinctly remember having a crush on the Lassaters’ daughter, Wynonne.  She was an older woman, maybe seven or eight.

Within six weeks, with zero knowledge and tremendous hunger for the Word of God, my Dad was called to preach the Gospel.  So, I grew up in a Southern Baptist pastor’s home.

But God has no grandchildren.

My first remembrance of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life was at the age of six.  An evangelist, the only one my Dad ever used (besides me) was preaching a revival meeting at our church, Bradley Baptist, Bradley, Oklahoma.  He had us bow our heads, and then raise our hands if we wanted to be saved.  I bowed my head, I raised my hand, I went to the front of the church with several others when he invited us to do so.  No one paid any attention to me that I remember.  Actually, I thank the Lord today that no one did, that no one led me a prayer or told me I was saved.  I wasn’t ready.  I know people who really were saved at that age and even younger, our oldest son, for instance.  But it was just the beginnings of awakening for me.

Conviction of sin came and went for nearly four years.  But for several months during my ninth year, the intensity built to an excruciating crescendo until I thought I might literally die without Christ.  I’m not saying everyone has to have the same kind of experience, I’m just telling you mine.  The last few weeks before my conversion were unbearable.  I really don’t know how I survived those days mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually.  And I cannot explain it.  With just a little thought today, fifty years later, I can still feel the utter anguish of soul.  I simply cannot find the words to describe it.  I remember a few days before I was saved, lying on my back on my twin bed in the parsonage, in the middle of the day, crying and begging God to save me.  But He didn’t, not yet.  I have no idea if any one else knew I was struggling, but I know no one had an inkling of the spiritual war going on in me that I thought was going to destroy me.  I used to imagine myself in Hell, on my knees, with flames all around me, praying, and hoping that after a few million years, God would have mercy on me and allow me to go to Heaven to be with my family.  Not very good theology, but it was real to this nine year.

It was another revival meeting, a Wednesday night.  The assistant editor of the Baptist Messenger, the Oklahoma state paper, Leland Webb was preaching.  He later became editor of Commission Magazine.  He gave the invitation.  My Dad, the pastor was standing in front of the Lord’s Supper table waiting to receive any who might come.  I was on the front row, just to my Dad’s left, close enough to reach up and touch him.  I thought I was going to explode! I wanted Jesus more than life itself.  I started to stand up and tell my Dad I wanted to be saved.  Someone behind me grabbed me by the shoulder and forcibly pushed me back down.  I turned to see who it was, and there was no one even close to me.  I have no adult explanation for that.  Use your imagination; I did as a nine year old.

The invitation closed.  A closing prayer was offered.  At the Amen I ran out of church and rushed home.  The parsonage was in the same yard as the church.  I went through the screened-in back porch and in the back door to the kitchen.  I don’t know how she beat me home, but Mom was in the kitchen preparing the preacher, the singer and my Dad something to eat.  I said. ‘Momma, I want to be a Christian.’  That’s all I could get out verbally, but four years of conviction and spiritual agony came gushing out.  Mom took me by the hand, led me through the dining room, through the double French doors into the wood floored living room, past the fireplace, to the other end of the room.  She sat in an over-stuffed chair and I sat on a large footstool at her feet. She took her old King James Bible and explained the Gospel to me.  She prayed.  Then I prayed.  I was born all over again! It was for me, and is for everyone who has experienced it, the greatest miracle of all.  I realize the following statement is not true for many, if not, most believers.  But I have never had a moment’s doubt.  For some reason, the Holy Spirit chose to grant me perfect assurance right from the start.

I just wanted you to know.

In the love of Christ,

Dan Grindstaff

The Progress of a Pilgrim

Posted on by November 22, 2011

You who have been reading my newsletters over the years, have no doubt noticed a recurring theme: REVIVAL. You know this is not just a hobby for me. Nor is it a hobby horse I ride occasionally. Nor is it a dead horse I continue to beat. It might even be accurate to call it an obsession, and I believe it is a magnificent obsession. Revival is not a subject one goes to seed on, neglecting the more ‘practical’ aspects of the Christian life. It is a reinvigorating of all the aspects of our walk with the Lord Jesus. Revival is accelerated sanctification. It is a return to our first love, a new hunger for the Word of God, a craving for prayer and intimate communion with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a joy in meeting together with fellow believers, a broken-hearted compassion for the lost, an overflow of praise, an insistence and a jealousy for the Glory of God in all things. Revival is a renewed love for the doctrines of the Bible, especially the doctrines concerning the grace of God in salvation. Revival is a return to New Testament Christianity. In other words, it is the Christian life raised again to the level of the Book of Acts. Am I obsessed with that? Absolutely; for myself, my family, my church, my country, and some countries I have been privileged to visit. Some nations are experiencing a certain level of Revival, especially where intense persecution is present. But even these nations need an unprecedented effusion of the Spirit.

Perhaps you heard about the toddler in China that was run over by a vehicle. A security camera reveals that 18 people passed by the dying infant before someone finally stopped to offer assistance. In response the Chinese government is now trying to come up with ideas, a government program, to instill moral values in the people of China. Before you cast stones, think for a minute about parallels in the United States. We hear often the declaration, ‘You can’t legislate morality.’ Well, that’s basically what laws are for, beginning with the Moral Law of God, the 10 Commandments; the law and it accompanying punishments restrain the acting out of immorality, to an extent. But the Law of God, the laws of the land, or government programs (communist or free) cannot change the human heart. Only the transforming power of the Gospel can do that. I’ve heard anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000 are coming to faith in Christ in China daily. In other words, it’s so massive a movement that no one can keep up with it. 80% of the Christians in China are first generation believers. It’s breathtaking what God is doing there. But there are 1.3 billion souls in China, most of whom have never heard the name of Jesus. China needs a sweeping, nation-wide Pentecost.

We recently conducted a Biblical Evangelism Conference in Mexico. For years I have been saying that it appears the Lord of the Harvest is laying the groundwork for something big in Mexico, strategically positioning His laborers/warriors all over the nation, raising up champions for the New Testament Gospel. One message I preached at the conference was The Message IS the Method: Trusting the Power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit, from Romans 1:16. I dealt with the easy-believism theology and the shallow, manipulative methods added to the Gospel that American Christians export to the world, including Mexico. A man who has been pastoring for 31 years, shared his testimony with us a couple of days later. He had ridden a bus all the way across the country to come to this conference. He had been troubled in his spirit for 3 months. He would ask his wife to pray for him. She would ask, ‘What do you want me to pray for you?’ He’d tell her, ‘I just don’t know. I just don’t know what’s wrong.’ Mexican men don’t cry. I understand that’s a sweeping generalization. But you must understand Mexican machismo. But this dear man told us, weeping profusely, that after 31 years in the ministry, he was born again while I was preaching. I am not ashamed of the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, for IT (not our human additions/methods) is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. He said to us, ‘Now what am I going to do? I have to go back to all those churches and tell them.’ I told him I believed the Father would use his testimony to spark a Revival in all that part of the nation. Mexico needs a Revival and Reformation. I don’t separate the two.

Can anyone possibly not see that America needs a Spiritual Awakening? A Reformation and a Revival? And do we not understand that it must begin in the churches? And do we not remember that are churches are made up of individuals, some true believers, some who only think they are, and some who know they really aren’t? And are you not in one of these categories? If you are lost, you must repent and believe the Gospel. Now. If you are saved, you doubtless are like me, crying out for Revival for our nation and for yourself. I’ll never be satisfied with anything else or anything less.

This pilgrim craves more progress.

Dan Grindstaff

Eritrea

Posted on by October 4, 2011

Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also. Heb. 13:3

If you had a close family member that had been falsely accused, arrested without evidence and incarcerated without a trial, you would be up in arms, would you not? You would pitch an absolute fit, hire lawyers, go to the media, call your representative, get all your friends to stage a protest, appeal to the President, just for starters, and rightly so. If you were in America. If you found out your relative was being mistreated in any way, if their living conditions in prison were inadequate, if their food was unfit to eat, if the guards were abusive, you would turn up the heat, you would be frantic, even in a frenzy to make it stop immediately, and rightly so. If you were in America.

Well, I hate to inform you of this, but your brother and your sister have been arrested under such circumstances and are suffering horribly right now, only the conditions are much worse than I have described. Beatings, torture, rape, starvation, no medical treatment and despicable living conditions and other details I will spare you, are daily realities for your brothers and sisters in Christ in many countries around the world.

In communist Eritrea, bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan and the Red Sea, about 2000 of our family members, people we will spend Eternity with, are suffering unspeakably. Many are being ‘housed’ in metal shipping containers. Stop a moment please and allow that picture to sink in. You and I don’t know them, we’ve never seen their faces or heard their names. We don’t know their children, many of whom are living with them in these conditions. But don’t let this reality escape you—they ARE our brothers and sisters, in a relationship deeper, longer lasting and even more significant than our ‘real’ family members. Take that seriously and personally. Jesus does. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”

Let me offer a couple of practical suggestions.

First, get on the mailing list for Voice of the Martyrs. Box 443, Bartlesville OK 74005-0443. 877-337-0302. www.persecution.com. Inform yourself. Get your church or Bible Study group involved.

Second, do you have any chronic or recurring aches or pains? Major, minor, nagging, irritating, distracting? Make a commitment to the Lord to allow your discomfort to remind you to pray for the Persecuted Church around the world. Every time you are aware of pain, pray for someone who is suffering for the cause of the Gospel and the Name of Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you and to help you make it a habit.

November 13, 2011 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. The Scripture reveals that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for His Church. When Stephen, the first Christian martyr was dying, Jesus stood up. Let us join Him in interceding for and standing up for our suffering brothers and sisters.

What I Learned from Facebook

Posted on by September 3, 2011

Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way.                                    –Psalm 119:37

Early this summer I finally gave in and entered the 20th Century. I got on Facebook as a ministry tool. I had been told of the benefits. I have seen some use it effectively in this way. I just signed off of Facebook. Here is my last post:

NOTICE: I would love to communicate with any of you, the old-fashioned way, email or the Web, www.revivalyearnings.org. However, I have decided that Facebook is not best for me. I love being in touch. But I have to be responsible to the Lord for the stewardship of His time. Also, I’m sure no one will feel so free to be profane, vulgar, crude or offensive on my email.

It’s been an eye opener to say the least. No doubt, I am a dinosaur. We don’t even get TV reception; haven’t had it for several years now. Therefore, when I am in a place where a television is on, I am stunned. Maybe Puritan would be a better word for me. That was originally a slur, and probably would be intended that way today if used to describe me. So be it.

I assure you this is not a case of feeling ‘holier than thou’. Quite the opposite actually. Most of the people on my Facebook would call themselves Christian and would therefore, I assume, desire a life of holiness. I cannot speak for others, I’m simply not free to use the language others do, or recommend the same movies or books or music or TV shows. Decades ago, I went to an evangelist’s house to visit. He was one that I considered the premier Southern Baptist evangelist at the time. I looked up to him. He met me and another friend at the door with a Penthouse magazine in his hand, said he was doing research for a message against pornography. I remember thinking that he must be way more spiritual than I was; I certainly couldn’t handle that. Turns out he couldn’t either. Think the worst.

My definition of vulgarity is outdated, no doubt. One day I may have enough nerve to spell out some of the ‘borderline words’ that I believe have long since crossed the line unnoticed. Someone slipped in during the night and changed all the labels. These are words that originally denoted sexual functions and body parts and bodily functions and now are common parts of speech. I’ve even seen some of these words as adjectives for God. I realize this is done in ignorance, and in that sense, innocence. But sometime, somewhere, somebody has to say something!

I’ll give you an example. You may think it totally innocuous. It was my ‘cuss word.’ Quite sometime ago the Holy Spirit convicted me of it. My hammer on the thumb word was ‘dadgummit!’ If you think through it, it’s just another one of those alternative words for taking God’s name in vain.

The main reason I’m signing off of Facebook is grief, deep, bitter disappointment. To me, Facebook is a parable of American Christianity. Remember, most of my ‘friends’ are Christians, self-proclaimed. I’m not judging, just observing. The standards of holiness have been lowered to non-existent among church people. In response, I wrote an article, My Greatest Fear, which has since become a Gospel tract. You can find the article on my website. My greatest fear is that some of my friends and family members, and church folks across the nation are deceived into thinking they are saved when they are not.

Culture changes. Language evolves. God’s Word does not.

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:29-30

Your friend in Christ Jesus,
Dan Grindstaff

Buckhorn to Autlan

Posted on by August 7, 2011

FROM 33*01’59.01”N   108*41’29.5W  (4743 ft.)
TO 19*4601.51”N  14*21.57.94’W  (3012 ft.)
TO 39*54’15 17”N  116*24.26.69”E  (159 ft.)

In other words, from Buckhorn, New Mexico to Autlan de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico to Bejing, China.

I just got back from a month in Mexico, 34 days to be exact. We handed out about 2000 Gospel tracts I designed.  I preached to the Assembly of God church and a Charismatic ladiesgroup, with invited lost people, both meetings in Ajijic and made up of gringos. I preached in a Pentecostal church in Chapala, a Baptist church, a youth group, a Pilgrim’s Progress study group (about Evangelist) and a prison, all Mexicans and all in Autlan; preached twice in Mexico City, preached in the open air in the plaza and in a Fundamentalist Baptist church, both in Cardel, Vera Cruz. Of course, we witnessed everywhere we went.  I assisted in a baptism in the Gulf of Mexico, was immersed again myself by a rogue wave and lost my new glasses, which I just got to replace the ones I stepped on a month ago. I LOST MY GLASSES IN THE OCEAN!  I said “Lord, You know all things; You know I can’t replace them again, and You know where they are.”  I didn’t even ask.  Five minutes later, one of the ladies we had just baptized found them.

It rained every day I was in Mexico; was cool and comfortable.  We even drove through a patch of freak snow on the way to Vera Cruz.  It was very hot in VC, but we made the baptism last as long as possible.

I was able to initiate three Pastors Conferences, one in Vera Cruz in October, one in Autlan in November and one for next year in Guadalajara. See the agenda I laid out for the conferences below.  A very, very productive trip.

My First Time

September 11-24 will be my first time to go to China.  I have been praying for China for years, especially for the persecuted Christians. I won’t be able to say much about the trip, before or after.  Just know I’ll be doing what I do. You’ll be praying as you always do, please.  Not to sound too mysterious, but emails travel the world rapidly and have been known to fall into unsympathetic hands. I don’t want to put any of our friends at risk. I’ll let you know what I can when I get back.  The trip costs $2500.

Thank you for your prayers, your support and your friendship.  If you would like a real life example of how crucial, how life and death your prayers are, email me personally and I’ll fill you in.

Biblical Evangelism Conference

   (The Theology and Practice of Preaching the Gospel)

THEOLOGY

The Holiness of God and the Unbending Demands of His Righteous Law
The Radical Corruption of the Human Heart
Judgment and Hell
The Atonement
The Work of the Holy Spirit in Evangelism and Regeneration
Repentance, Faith and Perseverance

PRACTICE

The Free Offer of the Gospel
The Message is the Method: Trusting the Power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit
Every Christian an Evangelist
Calling People to Repentance and Faith
The Pastor as Lead Evangelist

Love in Christ and for the souls He purchased,

Dan

Revival: all the fullness of God

Posted on by July 13, 2011

Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest.   Isaiah 32:15

So tremendous has been this sense of awareness of God, that I have known men out in the fields, so overcome that they were prostrate upon the ground.   Duncan Campbell

Rain down, you heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together.  I, the Lord, have created it.   Isaiah 45:8

A Revival means days of Heaven upon earth.   Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.  And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.  Joel 2:28-29

The Spirit like a mighty rushing wind seemed to sweep all before it; the youth, the middle aged, the man of years fell prostrate at the Cross.    Second Great Awakening

Everything will live wherever the River goes.  Ezekiel 47:9

Revival is a community saturated with God.   Duncan Campbell

I indeed baptize you with water, but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

A revived church is the only hope for a dying world.   Andrew Murray

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.   Luke 11:13

Every great awakening and plentiful harvest of souls has proceeded from the same Spirit, sought by the same importunity of beseeching prayer.  Therefore, pray for the Spirit!

J.W. Alexander

Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.  Luke 24:49

It may be said without qualification that every man is as holy and full of the Spirit as he wants to be.  The problem is not to persuade God to fill us, but to want God sufficiently to permit Him to do so.   A.W. Tozer

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father…’for you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now…you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto Me.’   Acts 1:4-8

Revivals are among the charter rights of the church.   E.M. Bounds

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.   Acts 2:1-4

Extraordinary religious awakening and simultaneous conversion ought not to be regarded as peculiar to the day of Pentecost, but as part of the ordinary working out of God’s great purpose of grace, for the conviction and conversion of the ungodly, and for ultimately ‘bringing many sons to glory.’   Robert Murray M’Cheyne

An awareness of God, a consciousness of God seemed to hover over the very atmosphere!  The very atmosphere seemed to be charged with the power of Almighty God!  That is Revival!   Duncan Campbell

We cannot be guilty of any excess in our endeavors after Him.  Nay, we ought not to be satisfied with a little of the Spirit, but to aspiring after greater measures so as to be filled with the Spirit.  Matthew Henry

Ask God to make you all that the Spirit of God can make you, not only a satisfied believer who has drunk for himself, but a useful believer who overflows the neighborhood with blessing.   C.H. Spurgeon

The mercy of God is an ocean divine, a boundless and bottomless flood;

Launch out in the deep,

Cut away the shoreline,

And be lost in the fullness of God.

A.B. Simpson and B.B. McKinney

May the Lord Jesus bless you richly with all spiritual blessings.

Dan Grindstaff

The Richest Man in the World

Posted on by May 31, 2011

It’s difficult to convince an African preacher in the bush that I’m not rich. After all, they reason, I had the money to fly around the world to get there. Yes, I explain that God’s generous people provide for me to come there and that it’s not my money. Therefore, they think, all my friends are rich. No, most of the gifts that come to me are like the $10 from the retired pastor and his wife who have known me since I was eight years old and pray for me every day. Priceless! But then that $10 might equal the African preacher’s monthly salary. It’s pointless to try to explain that the little trailer my wife and I live in is smaller than his mud hut. No complaints. We have electricity and running water. He doesn’t. And he may have taken in several orphans off the street in addition to his own five kids. So, I guess I am rich.

In fact, I’m wealthier than I thought.

Listen in on this conversation between my five year old grandson and his Mom, my daughter:

Bear  “Momma, I think Grandpa is the richest person in the world.”
Mom  “Why is that, Buddy?”
Bear   “Because he gets to tell people about God and Jesus.”

Yes, I certainly do. And yes, I am exceedingly, abundantly wealthy. I wouldn’t trade places with anyone. By the way, thank you for enabling me to spread the treasury of Heaven among the nations, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  “Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift!”

I’ll be preaching a Spiritual Awakening Conference in Tucumcari, New Mexico, at Immanuel Baptist Church, June 11-12. Then I’ll be in Mexico for about a month. When I am home, I need and want to be busy preaching Spiritual Awakening Conferences. Contact information below.

I have no hope in politicians of any party being able to turn things around. I have great confidence, and therefore great hope, in the power of God and the willingness of God to pour out His Spirit on our churches in Revival and on our nation in Spiritual Awakening. Someone asked me why a certain godly man dropped out of the Presidential race and what that meant for us. Of course, I don’t have a clue about other men’s decisions, but I repeated what I’ve said many times: we are never going to elect a messiah to save America. The only Messiah was elected from eternity past, the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world. Whether He is going to save America as we have known her, or what other providential circumstances will have to occur to turn us around, of course, I wouldn’t know. I just know we have no other options, but to repent as a Church and cry out to the Lord God for mercy. It doesn’t take a prophet to see we are hanging over Destruction by a rapidly fraying thread.

Around the Last Supper table, the disciples each asked, “Lord, is it I?”  The answer today would be to each one of us, “Yes, you are the one with your hand in the dish.”

If the spiritual health of our country, if the pouring out or the withholding of the Spirit, if the giving or restraining of mercy, if Revival and Spiritual Awakening or the withdrawal of the Spirit depended on your repentance, your brokenness, your contrition, your prayers, what kind of shape would we be in? Well, I guess that’s our answer, because that’s the kind of shape we’re in.

I receive all kinds of emails and forwards from Christian individuals and organizations cataloging the evils of our government and asking me to sign petitions and write my congressman, and of course, forward the forwards. But I don’t get any urging me to pray that God would convict church members of their lostness and carnality. Judgment begins in the house of God. Many church folks need to get saved. Others need to repent that there is no discernable difference between their lifestyles, clothing, movies and language and that of their heathen neighbors.

Jesus said to render what is owed to the very government that had Him crucified. Paul said to pay taxes and to honor the government that had him beheaded. But both blasted religious hypocrisy. The problem in America is not in the White House, it’s in the church house.

“If My people who are called by May Name…”

In the love of Christ,

Dan
Psalm 2:8

PO Box 57
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My Greatest Fear

Posted on by April 21, 2011

Compare these two sets of quotes.

  • “I asked Jesus into my heart when I was a child.”
  • “I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior.”
  • “I prayed a prayer after my pastor.”
  • “I went forward during a revival meeting.”
  • “I remember crying.”
  • “I was baptized.”
  • “I joined the church.”
  • “I know I’ve kind of been backslidden, but after all, ‘Once saved, always saved.'”

Now these.

  • “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
  • “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven.”
  • “Pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”
  • “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
  • “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me.”
  • “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
  • “I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
  • “Make your calling and election sure.”
  • “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”

And finally, one by Spurgeon.

“If a man professes to know the right thing to do and yet refuses to do it, you are not to pamper his presumption, you are to tell him he is not saved!”

My greatest fear is that our churches in the United States are infested with lost people, that many of the people I have ‘led to the Lord’ over the years do not have a spiritual clue, that many of my friends and family members are under a delusion, a deception that will follow them to hell.

Be convicted, get mad at me, call me a fanatic, but whatever you do, do take this personally and very seriously. Your soul is at stake. And it breaks my heart as I write thinking of some of you specifically.

The current mood of tolerance demands we allow each other to believe and behave according to our personal preferences. But judgment at the last day will not be characterized by tolerance. God has been tolerant with us, allowing us to breath His air, occupy His space; He has given us the gift of time, time to repent and follow His Son with all our hearts. But patience has its limitations, and we will all have to give an account.

More quotes.

  • “By this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.”
  • “He who says, ‘I know Him’ and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.”
  • “He who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk as He walked.”
  • “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
  • “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
  • “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.”
  • “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”
  • “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.”
  • “By this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

There are many more.

Do you love the Word of God? Do you feed upon its pages and by its truths? Does the Spirit nourish your soul? Do you crave Biblical preaching and teaching that exalts Christ? Do you love the Lord Jesus with all your being? Do you hate your own sins and the corruptions of your heart? Do you long for sweet fellowship with believers with the same spiritual affections? Are you pursuing a life of holiness? Do you desperately want and pray for and work for the salvation of others? Do the thoughts of Heaven create a heart-longing for home? Is prayer a pure delight? Is the Cross exceedingly and increasingly precious? Are you joyfully willing to give all for Christ, including your own life?

If not, what makes you think you’re saved and are going to Heaven when you die? Because you cried and walked an aisle and prayed a prayer years ago?

If a decades old emotional experience is all you have; if you have no ongoing spiritual reality, no genuine communion with the Spirit of Jesus, no discernible growth in holiness and Christ-likeness…

Don’t count on it. Please.

Madala

Posted on by April 3, 2011

In the last couple of years, I’ve had the privilege of preaching the Gospel in public and private schools in The Philippines and several countries in Africa. This is in addition to work in Mexico. I’m constantly amazed at the openness and receptivity of these precious souls to the Lord Jesus Christ. In every case when I come to the story of Jesus dying on the Cross for sinners and when I challenge them to repentance and faith, there comes a holy hush over the crowd. Sometimes, especially in highly Muslim areas, there is some giggling and mocking, but most of the students display a very quiet reverence.

But Zimbabwe was different.

I’ve never been in a more spiritually sensitive and thirsty nation. The holy hush that I’ve come to expect was almost immediate, in every setting, indoors, outdoors, elementary, high school or college. I almost always start with some humor to establish rapport; I don’t think it was necessary in Zimbabwe. It seemed that the Holy Spirit was just waiting until I was through joking around to come upon the crowd.

Also, I’ve never preached to so many in such a short time. In a recent article, I told you that in 2010 I preached to 18,000+. In Zimbabwe, in eight days, I preached to 14,382! Our national evangelists who set these meetings up with the schools had a letter from the Ministry of Education granting us permission “for the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” in the schools of Zimbabwe. No restrictions. And the local school officials welcomed us with open arms, endorsed us before the students and often summarized and amened our message when we were through. The Lord of the Harvest truly set before us an open door that no one can shut.

“That was a remarkable experience. The students left different than when they came in.” Teacher at Ilhathi High School

Mauku Primary School. 1289 students. School song: Jesus Loves Me. Said the Lord’s Prayer just like when I was in elementary.

Eveline All Girls High School. 1200 students. After invitation, shouting, almost screaming praise of joy.

Sizane High School. 1200 students. Overwhelming response to the Gospel, some weeping. Head Master told students, “Now we ought to be able to go the whole year without a pregnancy.”

Emakhandeni Secondary. 800 students. Before we started, police led a boy away in handcuffs. He had stabbed a student in the back with a screwdriver. At the assembly, the principal said, “We are very sad today. The devil has set up camp in this school.” We ran him out.

Downtown Bulawayo, introduced a 12 year old street beggar girl to Jesus. Her name, Rumbidayi, means “praising.” 12,060.

MEXICO CITY April 7-10. 4 messages on Revival to pastors.

Thanks for sending and praying,
Dan Grindstaff

P.S. They called me “Madala,” a term of highest honor and deepest respect. OK, it means ‘old man,’ but they meant it respectfully!!