Question-Comment: I am writing about your response to Paul Monye of West Africa. As someone who has lived in West Africa, I know how extremely expensive it is for a single person to invest in a good computer and LCD projector. Only very well off people have computers, most people have the occasional access to a computer via an Internet cafe. That's why its much easier to have and use Biblical materials in paper format. It would have been better to direct him to organizations which might be of  help (e.g. DAILY BREAD has a lot of local organizations in Africa). This is just a criticism, you don't need to print this on your website.

Thanks.
-Kate
B'ANN WROTE:

Hello Kate,

Thanks for WRAPping with us.  We have chosen to put your WRAP up on the Web because it gives us opportunity to make a very important point. 

I do not know if Brother Monye's financial situation is destitute or not. However, I do know that if the Church (i.e., not the church buildings or fragmented organizations called denominations, but the born-again individuals who have the Spirit of Christ abiding in them) had not been lulled asleep down through the years by men who wanted to divide and use them for their own agenda, then it would be more than able at this point to help build a community building for the use of the believers in each community in Africa (and the rest of the world) and install a LCD projection device and all the computers that they might need!

Think about it!  How wonderful it would be if every church building in America were simply known as the community church of the local area and they all were comprised of born-again believers who were led in their daily activities by the Spirit of Christ.  In such an atmosphere, removal of prayer and Bible reading from our schools would not have even been considered.  There would be no need for expensive government programs to combat the widespread use of drugs among our youth.  There would have been no door left open for the ungodly Family Planning Organization to walk through with its anti-family agenda.  The divorce-court dockets would not be flooded and today's single-parent family phenomena would not exist.  Hollywood would have found no place for its violence and degradation of sex. I could go on and on, but as to Brother Monye's request for Bibles, there would be no need; for if the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ were one as He planned it, the combined resources of the believers would not be scattered and misused, and the evangelistic needs of Africa would have already been met!

And think about this!  When the Lord Jesus comes in the clouds to gather up His own, He will not go around the world gathering up this or that denomination and leaving the others, but He will come to gather His born-again disciples out of an unbelieving, ungodly world that will be filled with people who will have "a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (II Timothy 3:5).

We do not write this to oppose the true Body of Christ for IT is the work of Christ. 

Matthew 16:18b
"...upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

This is written, however, with the hope that it will play a part in waking the end-time Church from its slumber so that it might pray "Is it I, Lord?" and put its hand to the plow and help its Master with the work at hand--that is, the saving and establishing of souls instead of the perpetuation of religious factions and self-serving, charismatic individuals.

DON WROTE:

Hello Kate,

I, too, thank you for your WRAP for it gives me a chance to point out something that has been bothering me. 

Because the Church has not been flooding Africa with the printed Bible, unscrupulous people have been using the void to create a black market for Bibles--getting Bibles for their supposed "ministries" and then selling them on the street for what they can get out of them.  This, of itself, does not alarm me as much as it would if there were no Bibles at all reaching the hands of the people in the area.  But in addition, this void has opened the doors for con men to go one step further in their attempts to get Bibles to sell--i.e., getting them through illegal means.  A case in point has to do with a WRAP AROUND that we received recently which was written in a bossy tone of voice--ordering us to send 500 Bibles to this certain party who would pay for them immediately.  The whole tone of the Email was "urgent."  I didn't feel good about it in my spirit, so I tabled the WRAP for another time.  A week or so later, I felt led to deal with the WRAP and searched the internet with the fellow's name.  It seems that I wasn't the only one receiving this Email, and someone had attempted to fill the man's order only to find that the credit card number used for the transaction had been stolen.  (To bring yourself up to date with these types of scams, type "Bibles stolen credit cards" in a good search engine.)

My concern is the attitude that this atmosphere in certain parts of Africa seems to be creating in the church world--i.e., because people running the black market are making money from the Bibles, then we should not send Africa any Bibles.  To me, this deserves the sincere prayers of the Church and some Spirit-led action by those in positions to move Bibles to Africa. 

Thanks again for WRAPping with us.

Don

By the way, I searched the Internet for "Daily Bread" and found many entities.  If you could let me know just which "Daily Bread" people should contact in their search for Bibles, I'll put the information up on our pages.  Also, if there is anyone reading this who is associated with an organization that can help get the printed Word to Africa--feel free to send us your Email address, etc., and we will post it for our brothers and sisters in Africa.

Think about it! In the 50’s, men did not curse in public for to do so labeled them as a "low-life." Today, our movies and our society are not only filled with curse words but with a vulgarity that can only be described as "a shame" to any nation. In the 50’s, parents felt duty bound to protect their children from violence. Today, violence is big business in Hollywood; and the grossest movies seems to gross the most money from the box offices. Unfortunately, it is seemingly impossible to keep ones children from this blight! In 1950, the thought of sodomy was repulsive and any who had sunk that low were so filled with remorse and shame that they hid their practice "in the closet."  Today, as we’ve just seen in the recent election, almost 50% of Americans either practice sodomy or approve of those who practice the shameful act. It is general accepted that when a minority grows to 15% of our population, they gain political clout; so, how can the last election be seen as a victory for the proponents of "right?" IN TRUTH, we’ve won nothing; for if we have four more years like the last 50, our nation will truly be like Sodom and Gomorrah.

In addition, like poor Lot, the Church will find itself totally without a testimony and their "righteous souls" (i.e., those that have been washed in the blood of Jesus) will be vexed daily as they look on the evil around them. And even more grievous, like Lot, the Church will watch as its families are overcome by the corruption around them. The Church is supposed to be God's voice on earth and it has to deal with the following Scriptures. Make no mistake about it.  Christians everywhere will be held accountable for the way they perceive/present these directives from the Word of God for they are not a directive from man.

Leviticus 18:
4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.
...
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Nor can man ignore the account of Sodom and Gomorrah as though it never happened, for God saw fit to have it recorded in His Word!

Genesis 18:20
Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
...
Gen 19:28
And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace

And for those who think that Sodom and Gomorrah is just an Old Testament tale that the New Testament Church can ignore, consider these words from the New Testament.

Luke 17:29
But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

Romans 1:
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Let’s consider how we got to where we are. Since the ‘50’s, our families, our news media, our entertainment media, our educational system, our government leaders and agencies, and our way of life in general has been under attack by the powers of darkness. The only defense/protection available to them has been the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It alone is called of God to be the floodgate that is supposed to hold back the sin that continually tries to come in like a flood. But in the 60’s and 70’s, instead of being the floodgate it was called to be, the Church had become so worldly that it was hard to distinguish between it and the world. Because God cannot look upon sin, during this time, the Church, for the most part, became a powerless entity. It was during this time that deluded/ unscrupulous persons began filling the pulpit and proclaiming their "every wind of doctrine" —preaching what the people wanted to hear and "tickling their ears" in the doing. Serving Jesus became a matter of attending church services and giving of tithes so that these preachers could continue living in the manner to which they had grown accustom.

Church, it is time to wake up! As James put it:

Perhaps these words from one the songs that the Lord has given my family says best what I’m trying to say.

When we see sin become another standard
And the church is just another way.
When we see great evil surround us
Saint and sinner it is time to pray.

It's time to lift up feeble hands to the work;
And strengthen what remains in the way.
Put your hand to the plow,
Your feet on the path,
Fix your eyes triumphant to the sky;
And lift your head, your redemption is nigh!

Church, it is time to reconsider what it means to serve the Lord. God calls few to preach/teach, but He calls all to "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Let’s be truthful. How may times in recent years have those in the world had reason to glorify God because of what the Church has been doing? This being the case, isn’t it time for a change? Serving God is so simple that even a child can do it. Going to a good church is good. Having a giving heart and being benevolent is good. But it is even more simple than that. It is time to go to our pray closets, to ask God to convict us of our sin so we can confess and forsake them, and then ask God to use us daily to help meet the needs of those around us. REMEMBER, God’s harvest is people and if we cannot love and serve the people around us that we can see, then how can we say that we love God Whom we cannot see. In a sense, serving God is an attitude similar to "praying without ceasing." If we keep our minds stayed on God, He will send us someone to love. This is how we serve God. This is how we build a dam against sin. This is how others see Jesus.

Church, let’s not be deceived into thinking that we have won a great victory by this last election—but let’s do take back America for Jesus. And let’s do it with the weapons that God has given us. Let’s do it with prayer, faith, and love—the fruit of those who have read the Word of God and truly heard what it had to say!

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