by J. Randal Matheny

At the office, the colleague just turns around and walks off when invited to church.

After the sermon, the whole church files out without a word of compliment to the preacher.

The special series of gospel lessons ends without a single response.

No results. Not a good feeling. The lack of results leaves us deflated, discouraged, or depressed.

Like the lady who called my wife yesterday to cancel our third Bible study. Somehow, we sensed a certain finality to the cancellation.

Man was created by a God who spoke "and it was so." The Lord always fulfills what he intends. My word, says God, "will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11, NIV).

So we are not wrong to want and look for results. In fact, God wants results from our labors. He calls them "fruit."

But not every effort will be crowned with success. Not all preaching pricks the heart. Not all teaching makes converts or convicts of sin or lifts the fallen.

Has some flaw in the process or some failure on our part caused the lack of results?

We may indeed fail in many ways, but no results also is part of God's big picture.

After decades of preaching, righteous Noah saved only seven others -- his immediate family.

God told Jeremiah, before the prophet preached his first sermon, that the people would not listen.

Jesus instructed his disciples to shake the dust off their feet in cities where the message would not be well received.

No results has long been part and parcel of the righteous' experience.

In the midst of no results, God still will make his word effective. "My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please" (Isaiah 46:10). Even the stubborn-hearted will not delay his salvation (v. 11). In spite of rejection, the divine light will not dim.

So when my search for souls turns up no results, I need not get glum. I do need to remember to be faithful myself and to keep speaking the Word. Because somebody, somewhere, will heed the call of God and show the success of the gospel.

To his glory and honor.

by J. Randal Matheny

I returned this morning from giving a four-day seminar on Biblical teachings in the northeastern Brazilian city of Salvador. There, I found

• churches faithful to the words of Christ.

• the gospel being preached in new areas, and churches being established.

• people with a vibrant faith, and joy in salvation.

• dedicated Christian workers who toil under difficult circumstances.

Though I returned drained from the seminar (and two night flights), my own faith was encouraged, my own joy renewed. In a day when we're told that we're a bunch of legalists who are going to die out sooner or later, seeing the church in Salvador tells me different.

According to some bright minds, these people in Salvador can't exist. They tell us smugly that the church can't grow when you preach exclusive salvation in Christ, the necessity of obedience for eternal life, immersion for the forgiveness of sins, and worship defined narrowly according to New Testament patterns.

But then smug faces aren't too bothered by the facts.

Nor by the sound doctrine of the true faith.

So we'll just keep the secret of the sound and vibrant life in Christ seen in Salvador between us. To the glory of God.

by J. Randal Matheny

The craft of writing has often been used as a metaphor for life. Monica Wood's words led me in that well-worn path today:

"Writing happens sentence by sentence. The joy of creative expression lies in finding not a way, but the way - the only way - to say what you mean."

In the same way, life happens day to day, hour to hour. We live in the present, though not for the moment. The joy of expressing that life in Christ lies in finding not a way, but the way - the only way - to live life as God meant it.

You can't rush life, and although you can and should plan it, you can't foresee or prophesy it, much less control it. God is conducting the universe, humanity, history, time, or whatever name you might give it, to its final goal. As wise souls we go with HIS flow, his direction, his conducting of this orchestra as we navigate the knocks, rocks, and locks of the journey. Ours is not a luxury cruise, but a cargo run.

There are as many ways to live the Christian life as there are individuals, for each person is unique. At the same time, within that uniqueness and individuality, all the diversity of human experience funnels itself through the sieve of meaning in Christ. It all comes together in him. Or as Paul says, God makes everything converge in him (Eph. 1:10).

That Christ-focus sprinkles our daily sun with joy and peace, purpose and success.

Under the one Lord and by the one faith, we discover life as it was meant to be lived. One way, exclusive, narrow, steep, and demanding. The only way across the valleys of despair and over the impossible slopes of human achievement. Christ cuts through the jungle tangle of politics, paves over the quicksands of temptation, and calms the turbulent waters of suffering.

Life in Christ fixes the eye on eternity to give perspective to the present. The overpowering goal of the eternal kingdom infuses NOW with energy and hope.

When the avalanche of daily responsibilities threatens to bury us, a simple word of faith steps in. Jesus teaches us to say, "'Move from here to there,' AND IT WILL MOVE; and nothing will be impossible to you" (Matt. 17:20).

The life that matters doesn't just happen. God makes it happen when we place it, when we deposit ourselves, in his hand to guide us along the one way to our blissful, blessed destination.

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me" (John 14:6).

Bible citations from the updated New American Standard Version.

by J. Randal Matheny

A teacher explained the parable of the prodigal son to a group of children. Afterwards, he asked them to write a summary of the story. Here's what one child wrote:

"A man had two sons. The youngest wasn't happy at home, so one day he went far away, taking with him all the money he had. When this money was gone, the boy decided to return home, because he didn't even have anything to eat. When he was close to home, his father saw him and, very happy, grabbed a beautiful staff and ran to him. On the way he found the other son, the good son, who asked him where he was going in such a hurry with that staff. The father answered, 'That terrible brother of yours has returned. After everything he's done, he deserves a nice beating!' The son offered, 'You want me to help you, father?' The father answered, "Yes, I do!' So the two beat him up. At the end, the father called his servant and told him to kill the fattest calf to make a big feast, because finally they managed to fulfill their wish to punish that brainless and ungrateful son!"/1

Maybe the student was inattentive. Maybe his little mind was a bit twisted. Or maybe he just couldn't believe how good the story of the prodigal son really is. (You can read the story in Luke, chapter 15.)

Many of us can't believe it either. It sounds too good to be true.

We can identify with the student's revised version. But we have nothing in our experience with which to compare the original. Because God as Father has no equal.

A full pardon awaits the wayward son or daughter. An anxious Father watches day and night hoping to be able to extend complete forgiveness.

All we need to do is jump out of the pigpen and walk home.

Forget the prepared speech. The Father has been preparing his for a long time:

"All is forgiven!"

Can you believe that?

1/ A. Cencini, Viver Reconciliados: Aspectos Psicológicos (Paulinas, 1987), p. 89. My translation. The author wrote that it happened to a colleague of his.

by J. Randal Matheny

Next Sunday, we're beginning a new work in a major city near us, called Taubaté. This city has 250,00 population, with no church there yet.

Three couples of us met there yesterday, in a home, to worship together and plan ahead. I preached on what it takes to start a congregation from Acts 2. Let me encourage you to read this chapter before continuing.

Some years ago, there was a beginning made to establish a congregation in this city. A lot was bought for future construction. But the work stopped and the beginning died. During all these years, the lot has remained empty.

We are not here to condemn that effort. We are here to consider what is necessary to our effort so that our beginning will not end like theirs.

Let us consider, then, from Acts 2, the beginning of the church of Jesus Christ, what is necessary to begin a congregation that will continue and grow.

First, there must be a message. Not just any message, but the message of Christ. Somebody must preach it. That somebody must be me.

This message, by its very nature, explains what God did in Christ and how a person may receive salvation. It includes exhortation or encouragement to act, to save oneself. Preaching seeks for a reaction, a response.

When the gospel is preached, people convert to the Lord, and God adds them to his church. Thus, a church is "born".

Second, there must be a meeting. The word church, in its active sense, means "assembly, a congregating, meeting." We are the people of God united around the table of the Lord.

The breaking of bread is the number 1 reason for our meeting (Acts 20:7). We meet on Sunday in order that Jesus may drink the new wine with us (Matt. 26:29).

In order to have a meeting, we must have a place, though that is an incidental consideration. Whether it's a building, a home, a school - any place that permits Christians to worship is adequate for the purpose.

Third, there must be a mettle, a dedication of those who preach and meet. Without commitment and consistency, little will be done.

This commitment follows the apostles' teachings and offers up constant prayer for the wisdom and power of God.

This devotion uses physical resources and money for spiritual purposes.

This mettle is not turned aside by persecution, nor broken by discouragement.

Some 10-12 years ago, two couples wanted to begin a congregation in their neighborhood. They decided to begin a study group in one of their homes. They committed themselves to meet every week, rain or shine, to share the gospel with people they would meet.

They preached, they met, they showed their mettle.

Today, they are a large congregation with elders and deacons.

Will you preach the gospel? Will you meet as a church? Will you assume the commitment to fulfill God's mission in this city? If so, there will be not only the beginning of a congregation, but great growth in God's kingdom.

That was the gist of my sermon yesterday.

Why do I share it with you?

First, to point you to the message of salvation in Jesus Christ and the need to obey the gospel (v. 38). If you haven't done so yet, believe in Christ, decide to change your life, and be immersed in water so that your sins may be forgiven.

Second, to remind you, if you are a Christian, that every person, every city, every region, needs the gospel. Preach and meet in a new place with dedication. Only in this way will everyone hear.

Third, to ask for your prayers, as one more city hears the gospel. Our resources are meager, but our determination is sharp, and, more importantly, our God is great and powerful.

We see that in the beginning of the church in Acts 2. And we believe we will see it also in the beginning of the church in Taubaté.