Podcast appearances and mentions of faith like potatoes

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 12th of March, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. I want us to read from the Gospel of John 21:24: “This is the disciple who testifies of these things,…” That was John, he was giving a testimony - the power of personal testimony! I want to say something to you my dear friends. Every one of us is called to testify for what Jesus Christ has done in our lives. I mean after all, that is what preaching is, is it not? I love Charles Swindell, and I read something he wrote once. He said there are different types of people giving testimonies. He said there is the “eager beaver” approach where there is no follow-up. You have got to be saved and that's it and away you walk. There is the “varsity approach” which is all about discussion and talking about the things of the Word but no opportunity for the person to get saved. Then there is the “silent approach”. Well, you have just got to live the life, you have just got to relax and people will see Christ in you but that is where it stops. No folks, he says we have got to be available, we have got to be Spirit-led, we have got to be obedient and timing is so important. We have got to be sensitive and we have got to get to the point and stop arguing. I love that little story of Gypsy Smith, the evangelist (His name was Rodney Smith actually). He used to ride around England in his little painted wagon with his horse pulling that wagon. He would stop on open common ground, and crowds of up to 10,000 people would come and listen to him bringing the word of God. One day when he had finished preaching, a lay-preacher came up to him and said to him, “I really admire the way you just keep on preaching, you never seem to get tired. You know, I have preached the Gospel from Genesis through to Revelation and I am so tired and I have got nothing left. What must I do?” Gypsy Smith said to him, “Just keep telling them what Jesus Christ means to you.” That is what preaching the Gospel is, spending time telling people what Jesus means to you. You see, that is the personal testimony. As you know, we have got a movie called Faith Like Potatoes, that's all it is, it is our testimony, myself, my wife, my family and my friends. Today go out and testify about the goodness of God in your life.Jesus bless you and goodbye.

He risked bankruptcy in planting potatoes in the dust and drought against everyone's counsel, and it yielded a bumper crop. He organised a weekend initiative which grew into 450,000 men gathering on his farm! The Spirit prompted him to call for a prayer meeting and 1.4million people showed up! 80 of his farm-workers were there to witness him praying for a dead lady struck by lightning whom he'd offered to take to the morgue, and she came back to life. Angus takes God as His word, and moves in radical obedience and faith. Get ready for an incredible podcast!Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/t2cmc2TlpWMCheck out angusbuchan.co.za for books or to sign up for his daily Word for Today.An article on the biggest African prayer gathering ever on a farm outside Bloemfontein.---Get daily or weekly Choose Life emails: chooselife.org.uk Join us for Inspired Live with Gladiator Warren Furman: greatlakesoutreach.org/inspired-live Support our work in Burundi: greatlakesoutreach.org/inspired ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠---Weekly episode WhatsApp link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠greatlakesoutreach.org/whatsappWeekly email notification: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠greatlakesoutreach.org/inspiredemail⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more from Simon, visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠simonguillebaud.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠---Produced by Great Lakes Outreach - Transforming Burundi & Beyond: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠greatlakesoutreach.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The Word of God - the Bible - has far greater power and potential to change our lives and the future than most people understand (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God can lead and direct you, save you from harm and the consequences of bad decision-making. It can bring you peace and comfort. It can encourage and uplift you, it can warn you and bring conviction. The Word of God is life-changing (2 Timothy 3:17 MSG).  Like Angus Buchan (see ‘Faith Like Potatoes), we too can discover how everything can change when you really have faith in the Word of God. In the Bible, Jesus told a parable (a story) which illustrates this (Matthew 13:3-23).   Jesus told how the sower scattered seed but had mixed results. Some seed was quickly snatched away. Some fell on rocky ground and didn't take root. Some seed got choked with thorns. In all cases we see there was nothing wrong with the seed being sown - the Word of God - but the difference in outcome was caused by the place onto which it fell.    If you want to be a person who - as the Message version puts it - ‘produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams' then first we need to make sure we do as this word says and are ‘someone who hears the word and understands it' (Matthew 13:23).   We see some very simple points that will help us reap this great harvest by discovering the power of the Word of God:  1. Listen to the Word of God (Matthew 13:23; Matthew 13:34; 1 Samuel 3:10; Proverbs 19:20; Psalm 81:8,11; James 1:19) 2. Understand the Word of God (Matthew 13:23; John 12:16, Luke 18:34; Acts 8:30-31)  3. Retain the Word of God (Luke 8:15; James 1:22-25; Matthew 7:24-29). 4. Expect the harvest according to the Word of God (Matthew 23:13b; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Ephesians 3:20) Apply   1. Listen to the Word of God (Matthew 13:23). Many times, when Jesus was teaching His followers, He said 'He who has ears, let him hear' (e.g. Matthew 13:34). Now of course we all have ears, but let's be real: are we listening to the Word of God? Whilst we might hear the Word at church, in our life groups, at the prayer meetings, are we just letting it wash over us, or are we really listening to what God is saying to us as individuals, as families and as a church each time? In the Old Testament, God called the young boy Samuel. Three times Samuel heard the voice but at first he wasn't attuned to listening to God's voice. It was only when Samuel said “Speak, for your servant is listening” that he received what God wanted to say to him (1 Samuel 3:10). We must learn to listen (Proverbs 19:20; Psalm 81:8,11; James 1:19). God will speak through His word, the Bible. He will speak to you as you pray. He will speak to you through your pastors and leaders. So how good are you at listening? What's your attitude when your boss gives you areas to improve on at work? How do you react when your life group leader highlights something in your character or habits that needs to change? What about when the Bible gives instructions we find hard to follow, like how husbands and wives, parents and children, should treat one another. We might not always like it, but we but we should always listen. You have a Father in heaven who wants to speak to you. Do you speak more than you listen? To God, to your spouse, to others? One of the main obstacles to being a person who listens is pride. We need to get rid of pride. We need to be humble. To not just hear, but to attentively listen to the Word of God. We must create a culture of listening more than we speak.    2. Understand the Word of God (Matthew 13:23). We start by hearing the word, but then we also need to understand it, to know what it means. Time and again the disciples didn't understand what Jesus was telling them (John 12:16, Luke 18:34). Whilst you might be listening, trying to hear what Jesus is saying, do you understand (Acts 8:30-31)? In the gospels, the disciples sometimes asked Jesus: “Explain to us the parable”. We too can go to our pastors, our life group leaders and ask questions. We all need to understand the Bible. You can't just read one part. You can't expect to understand the New Testament if you don't understand the Old Testament. You can't understand grace until you understand the law. You can't understand the greatest commandment to love one another unless you understand the 10 commandments. We need to read the Bible so we can then move to understanding it. So, if you aren't reading your Bible, make that commitment that from today you will. But not religiously reading it because you must, and quickly ticking it off your to do list - we need to meditate on the word of God, to study and pay attention to it. This takes time and diligence to search the scriptures, to think about what they mean, to reflect on them. Of course, all Scripture is God-breathed and we can ask the Holy Spirit - Spirit of truth - to guide us and give us revelation. How a married couple should treat one another, how a family should be ordered, how to keep a right attitude in all circumstances. And there are many excellent study guides which are simple to use and can help you grow in your understanding of the Word of God. Contact us or ask your life group leader if you want some recommendations.   3. Retain the Word of God (Luke 8:15). This parable of the sower is also recorded in the gospels of Luke and Mark. Retaining the Word means that it goes down deep into the soil. The seed didn't go deep enough in the first 3 places it was sown, on the path, the rocky ground and amongst the thorns. It was snatched away, choked, or withered and couldn't produce a harvest. But when the seed hit the good soil, it went down deep. That's what needs to happen when we hear the word of God. It has to really become part of us. We need to retain it. Only then can it really grow (James 1:22-25). Retaining the word means knowing how to apply it in our lives. In another parable Jesus told, he taught that we should all be like the wise man who built his house on the rock, who ‘hears these words of mine and puts them into practice' (Matthew 7:24-29). It's not about us just being able to quote and recite scripture: that's simply head knowledge, academia. Whilst of course that's useful, it only becomes life changing when it goes down into our spirit.   4. Expect the harvest according to the Word of God (Matthew 23:13b). What are you expecting? If the seed of God is in you, it's not that we just have the right to expect a harvest, but that we will see it anyway because the seed sown will produce a bumper crop. The vision of God is a vision of multiplication (2 Corinthians 6:2; Ephesians 3:20). We can expect the harvest to come as we really listen to, understand and retain the Word of God. That's the key to this great reaping. It is how we move from small results to big results. We move from coping to conquering, from enduring to enjoying life. It's how we move from hundreds to thousands. So are you a good listener? Do you seek to understand God's word? Are you retaining God's word in your heart in every circumstance? Are you expecting great things from God? If we do all this, then we will for sure discover the power of God's word and reap the phenomenal harvest.  

The Word of God - the Bible - has far greater power and potential to change our lives and the future than most people understand (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God can lead and direct you, save you from harm and the consequences of bad decision-making. It can bring you peace and comfort. It can encourage and uplift you, it can warn you and bring conviction. The Word of God is life-changing (2 Timothy 3:17 MSG).  Like Angus Buchan (see ‘Faith Like Potatoes), we too can discover how everything can change when you really have faith in the Word of God. In the Bible, Jesus told a parable (a story) which illustrates this (Matthew 13:3-23).   Jesus told how the sower scattered seed but had mixed results. Some seed was quickly snatched away. Some fell on rocky ground and didn't take root. Some seed got choked with thorns. In all cases we see there was nothing wrong with the seed being sown - the Word of God - but the difference in outcome was caused by the place onto which it fell.    If you want to be a person who - as the Message version puts it - ‘produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams' then first we need to make sure we do as this word says and are ‘someone who hears the word and understands it' (Matthew 13:23).   We see some very simple points that will help us reap this great harvest by discovering the power of the Word of God:  1. Listen to the Word of God (Matthew 13:23; Matthew 13:34; 1 Samuel 3:10; Proverbs 19:20; Psalm 81:8,11; James 1:19) 2. Understand the Word of God (Matthew 13:23; John 12:16, Luke 18:34; Acts 8:30-31)  3. Retain the Word of God (Luke 8:15; James 1:22-25; Matthew 7:24-29). 4. Expect the harvest according to the Word of God (Matthew 23:13b; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Ephesians 3:20) Apply   1. Listen to the Word of God (Matthew 13:23). Many times, when Jesus was teaching His followers, He said 'He who has ears, let him hear' (e.g. Matthew 13:34). Now of course we all have ears, but let's be real: are we listening to the Word of God? Whilst we might hear the Word at church, in our life groups, at the prayer meetings, are we just letting it wash over us, or are we really listening to what God is saying to us as individuals, as families and as a church each time? In the Old Testament, God called the young boy Samuel. Three times Samuel heard the voice but at first he wasn't attuned to listening to God's voice. It was only when Samuel said “Speak, for your servant is listening” that he received what God wanted to say to him (1 Samuel 3:10). We must learn to listen (Proverbs 19:20; Psalm 81:8,11; James 1:19). God will speak through His word, the Bible. He will speak to you as you pray. He will speak to you through your pastors and leaders. So how good are you at listening? What's your attitude when your boss gives you areas to improve on at work? How do you react when your life group leader highlights something in your character or habits that needs to change? What about when the Bible gives instructions we find hard to follow, like how husbands and wives, parents and children, should treat one another. We might not always like it, but we but we should always listen. You have a Father in heaven who wants to speak to you. Do you speak more than you listen? To God, to your spouse, to others? One of the main obstacles to being a person who listens is pride. We need to get rid of pride. We need to be humble. To not just hear, but to attentively listen to the Word of God. We must create a culture of listening more than we speak.    2. Understand the Word of God (Matthew 13:23). We start by hearing the word, but then we also need to understand it, to know what it means. Time and again the disciples didn't understand what Jesus was telling them (John 12:16, Luke 18:34). Whilst you might be listening, trying to hear what Jesus is saying, do you understand (Acts 8:30-31)? In the gospels, the disciples sometimes asked Jesus: “Explain to us the parable”. We too can go to our pastors, our life group leaders and ask questions. We all need to understand the Bible. You can't just read one part. You can't expect to understand the New Testament if you don't understand the Old Testament. You can't understand grace until you understand the law. You can't understand the greatest commandment to love one another unless you understand the 10 commandments. We need to read the Bible so we can then move to understanding it. So, if you aren't reading your Bible, make that commitment that from today you will. But not religiously reading it because you must, and quickly ticking it off your to do list - we need to meditate on the word of God, to study and pay attention to it. This takes time and diligence to search the scriptures, to think about what they mean, to reflect on them. Of course, all Scripture is God-breathed and we can ask the Holy Spirit - Spirit of truth - to guide us and give us revelation. How a married couple should treat one another, how a family should be ordered, how to keep a right attitude in all circumstances. And there are many excellent study guides which are simple to use and can help you grow in your understanding of the Word of God. Contact us or ask your life group leader if you want some recommendations.   3. Retain the Word of God (Luke 8:15). This parable of the sower is also recorded in the gospels of Luke and Mark. Retaining the Word means that it goes down deep into the soil. The seed didn't go deep enough in the first 3 places it was sown, on the path, the rocky ground and amongst the thorns. It was snatched away, choked, or withered and couldn't produce a harvest. But when the seed hit the good soil, it went down deep. That's what needs to happen when we hear the word of God. It has to really become part of us. We need to retain it. Only then can it really grow (James 1:22-25). Retaining the word means knowing how to apply it in our lives. In another parable Jesus told, he taught that we should all be like the wise man who built his house on the rock, who ‘hears these words of mine and puts them into practice' (Matthew 7:24-29). It's not about us just being able to quote and recite scripture: that's simply head knowledge, academia. Whilst of course that's useful, it only becomes life changing when it goes down into our spirit.   4. Expect the harvest according to the Word of God (Matthew 23:13b). What are you expecting? If the seed of God is in you, it's not that we just have the right to expect a harvest, but that we will see it anyway because the seed sown will produce a bumper crop. The vision of God is a vision of multiplication (2 Corinthians 6:2; Ephesians 3:20). We can expect the harvest to come as we really listen to, understand and retain the Word of God. That's the key to this great reaping. It is how we move from small results to big results. We move from coping to conquering, from enduring to enjoying life. It's how we move from hundreds to thousands. So are you a good listener? Do you seek to understand God's word? Are you retaining God's word in your heart in every circumstance? Are you expecting great things from God? If we do all this, then we will for sure discover the power of God's word and reap the phenomenal harvest.  

This episode is dedicated to the memory of a dear friend, Cheyene Andrews who recently passed away.  Her life was an inspiration of faith and a testament to how to live according to an eternal perspective.  Dr. Patty shares several stories and the lessons you can learn from them about people who demonstrated amazing faith and left great legacies.  She shares a biblical perspective on pain, suffering and death.  What's the difference between general faith and the wonder working gift of faith?  What are the crowns that can be earned in heaven by the life choices you make on earth?  Jesus will meet you to address your questions about death, grief and the crown rewards in your Experience Jesus encounter time. Links referenced in this episode: New to the Podcast?  Check out the Trailer Episode for the Biblical Foundation for Experiencing Jesus!  https://PattyEJ.Podbean.com/e/trailer-episode-experience-jesus-with-dr-patty-sadallah   The Special Place Encounter Exercise  https://tinyurl.com/j742vpz4   Get Two Free Chapters of the Experience Jesus Book Series  https://pattysadallah.com/free-gift/   Breaking the Bread of My Soul, Bill Johnson  https://youtu.be/LbmKDFcG-vE?si=6AJixXHHlqASeEzD   Pray for Rain Film Clip from Faith Like Potatoes  http://bit.ly/2GzdXC2   For more film clip inspiration check out Clips that Move Mountains: 2nd Edition  https://pattysadallah.com/other-books/#clips-that-move-mountains       Check out all of Dr. Patty's books, journals, and downloadable resources at her bookstore, and don't forget to use the code EJPOD to receive 10% off everything, even the things on sale.  https://PattySadallah.com/shop/   Check out Dr. Patty's latest book- Encountering the POWER  of God: Experience Jesus Book 4 https://pattysadallah.com/product/encountering-the-power-of-god-experience-jesus-book-4/     And please make sure you share this podcast and share how you were blessed by this episode by commenting below!  THANKS!  

This Flashback  "How-To" and "Identity" episode will look at the Holy Spirit's manifestation power gift of faith.  What is it?  How does it work? And, how can you increase this gift in your life? This episode includes a general understanding of all nine manifestation gifts and their relationship with the powerful gift of faith. Dr. Patty shares stories of what it looks like when this gift is released from the Bible, her life, and the lives of others.  Learn what happened and what was learned when Jesus issued a 30-day Gift of Faith Challenge.  What did Jesus have to say about the relationship between the gift of faith and all of the manifestation gifts?   And, learn two Biblical principles that activate the increase your power gift of faith.   Take Jesus' 30-day Gift of Faith Challenge yourself and have Him show you what He wants you to have increased faith in in your life and what it will look like when you boldly exercise this gift.  Jesus shows you an area in your life for which He wants you to pray for the gift of faith to believe for in your Experience Jesus encounter time.   He will also give you a glimpse of what your life would look like with that increase of the gift of faith. Links referenced in this episode: New to the Podcast?  Check out the Trailer Episode for the Biblical Foundation for Experiencing Jesus!  https://PattyEJ.Podbean.com/e/trailer-episode-experience-jesus-with-dr-patty-sadallah   The Special Place Encounter Exercise   https://bit.ly/3cEkYBC 30-Day Gift of Faith Challenge and Tracking Form  https://bit.ly/3qS6D9C Pray for Rain film clip from Faith Like Potatoes about the true story of Angus Buchan   https://bit.ly/2GzdXC2     If you like film clip-inspired stories, that teach Biblical truths,  check out Dr. Patty's award-winning Clips that Move Mountains: 2nd Edition book.    https://pattysadallah.com/other-books/#clips-that-move-mountains   And for all of Dr. Patty's books and downloadable resources check out her bookstore https://pattysadallah.com/shop Other Episodes about the Manifestation Gifts of the Holy Spirit: The Baptism of the Holy Spirit Prayer:  https://bit.ly/3CBmZIl Experience Jesus Episode about the Gift of Miracles https://pattyej.podbean.com/e/how-to-pull-miracles-down-from-heaven/ Experience Jesus Episodes about the Gift of Healing https://pattyej.podbean.com/e/how-god-heals-and-how-to-receive-your-healing/ https://pattyej.podbean.com/e/understanding-and-operating-in-the-gift-of-discernment/   https://pattyej.podbean.com/e/understanding-the-gifts-of-tongues-and-interpretation-of-tongues/     Get Two Free Chapters of the Experience Jesus Book Series  https://pattysadallah.com/free-gift/     Check out all of Dr. Patty's books, journals, and downloadable resources at her bookstore, and don't forget to use the code EJPOD to receive 10% off everything, even the things on sale.  https://PattySadallah.com/shop/     Check out Dr. Patty's latest book- Encountering the POWER  of God: Experience Jesus Book 4 https://pattysadallah.com/product/encountering-the-power-of-god-experience-jesus-book-4/          

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 18th of March, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7“And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.” James 2:23I don't think there is a greater title that one could bestow on anyone than to be called, “the friend of God.” I mean, if you wanted to be known as the friend of a great leader of a country or a sportsman, or a great or famous actor, “So and so is my friend”, that is a great honour, but can you imagine being called “the friend of God”?Folks, everybody wants to be God's friend. Even the devil doesn't want to fight with God. I want to tell you something now, God looked down from Heaven and He saw that farmer, Abraham, and He said, “That man is my friend.” Abraham believed God. We need to walk by faith and not by sight if we want to please God today. Abraham was told by the Lord to leave his farm, to leave all his family in the Ur of Chaldees, that's where he came from, and to go with his immediate family to an unknown destination. That takes faith - just pack up everything and move. Well, I want to tell you something now - that honoured God and then when God gave him a son, he waited for that son. Remember, he was 100 years old. His wife, Sarah, was in her late nineties, and God gave them the most beautiful baby. His name was Isaac. When Isaac came of age, at about 13 years old, the Lord said to the man of faith, “I want him back again.” Abraham did not hesitate. He took the donkey, he took the firewood, he took his son and servant and off they went. Where did they go? They went to Mount Zion, that's right - where Jerusalem is built today, and without any hesitation, he tied his son up because he knew by faith that if necessary God would raise his son out of the ashes, and he was about to kill him when the Lord sent an Angel of the Lord to say, “Abraham, Abraham, leave the boy. There is a young ram in the thicket. Take that and offer that ram up as a sacrifice.” God wants you and I today to walk by faith and not by sight, and He will honour us, He will bless us and He will protect us. That is why I love Him so much. Have you ever heard of a book called, “Faith Like Potatoes”? That's all it is - just do what He says and He will do the rest. That book is in 17 languages, that book has gone right around the world, and a movie was even made from that book, Why? Because by faith, God said to me, “Write your story.”Now, you do it today - write your story!Jesus bless you and have a wonderful Saturday,Goodbye.

And a very good morning to you! It is Sunday morning, 27th March, the year 2022. And this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today."Look, the world has gone after Him!”John 12:19That's right, one genuine miracle equals a thousand sermons, you cannot argue about it - You cannot dispute it! You see, Lazarus had been dead for four days in the tomb, now He is walking around alive. No one could dispute that fact.You will see that in verse 17 of the same chapter. The world has gone after Jesus because He performed miracles as no one else had ever done before. It was not the sermons that He preached. In fact, the only sermon that we know of was found in Matthew, Chapter 5 - the sermon on the mount. It was only recorded once and I believe that it was the signs, the wonders and the miracles that Jesus performed that people saw and followed after Him.The whole world has gone after Him.You know, some people say that miracles stopped happening when the apostles died. I don't believe that at all because in Hebrews 13:8, the word of God tells us that Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Just yesterday I was visited by a school, a class of senior students who are using our little book, Faith Like Potatoes, as a setbook. Obviously, I was deeply honoured and I had the privilege of speaking to them and praying for them. One of the students stood up and said, “Where did you get the name from, Faith Like Potatoes?" I said, "That was a name that Peter Marshall (He was a pastor to the US Senate in America, many years ago.) He came across from Scotland as a printer, studied and became the personal chaplain to the US Senate and he said, “You have got to have simple faith. You have got to have faith that you can touch, faith that you can taste, simple faith like… like potatoes!” Just believe and stop arguing and you will see many more miracles.I stood up at Kings Park Rugby Stadium in Durban and I said, “I am going back to plant potatoes, in a year when El Nino was prevalent and they said, “Don't plant your marginal fields.” I said, “I am going back…” And I planted a crop of potatoes and you know, we had a beautiful crop of potatoes that year.So faith is to believe what you cannot see and the reward of that faith is to see what you believed. That is what Augustine said. Have a wonderful Sunday and Jesus bless you!Goodbye.

It is Thursday morning, 13th January, the year 2022, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today!“And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.” Luke 24:11Now that is when the women came back and told the disciples that the tomb was empty. Then we go to Luke 17:5, where the disciples said to Jesus:“Lord, please increase our faith.”You see, without faith we are not going to make it. We need childlike faith, not childish faith but childlike faith. That is the only way that we are going to complete this race here on earth.You know, my little boy... Well, he is not little now, he has boys of his own. But my young son, Fergie, when he was very small, if I would take him out in an evening and show him a big full moon, bright yellow, and if I was to say to him, “Fergie, that moon is made out of cheddar cheese" and then if he was to meet Neil Armstrong, and he would say, “Fergie, the moon is not made of cheddar cheese. I have walked on the moon. It is made out of rock and dust.” He would say, “No sir, my dad said it is made out of cheddar cheese.” God wants us to be positive. Now, if we look at John 20:25, we will see that Thomas did not believe. He said:“Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”And then of course you know what happened, the Lord just stood straight in front of him. He didn't knock on the door, He didn't open the door, He just appeared. And Thomas fell to his knees and he says:“My Lord and my God!”John 20:28And then the Lord said to him,“Yes Thomas, you say well because you have seen Me but blessed are those who have not seen Me and yet believe.” John 20:29I want to say to you today that we need to have simple faith, simple believing faith. Without faith, we can't please God. You know, there was a Scottish preacher, his name was Peter Marshall. He went over to America and he eventually became the Personal Chaplain of the United States Senate, the Government. He had an incredible ability to speak, he was an accomplished orator. And he said one day to his people:”You must have faith, you must have simple faith. You must have faith that you can touch, faith that you can taste, faith like….faith like potatoes.”We need faith like potatoes! Remember, we wrote a book called, “Faith Like Potatoes.” We made a movie in 2006 called Faith Like Potatoes!Go out today and believe what God has told you and it will change your life.Jesus bless you and goodbye.

“And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” Luke 8:48If ever you and I needed faith, it is in these times, not so? We really need to exercise our faith. Not having faith in faith but rather having faith in God. Mark 11:22 is a good memory verse to start with if you struggle with memorizing scripture. It simply says:“Have faith in God.”We wrote a book many years ago called, “Faith like Potatoes” and a movie was made of it as well. Often, when people hear the title for the first time, they laugh and say, “What does it mean?” Well, I didn't come up with that title - There was a great preacher by the name of Peter Marshall who was the chaplain to the United States Senate. He had a great ability with words and he actually said it. You see, he was stressing the point that we must have simple faith. Real faith, faith that you can see, that you can touch, faith that you can eat - Faith like potatoes. Okay? Not that airy-fairy faith - practical faith!Like the old lady driving down the road, looking for a parking place on a busy shopping day and because it is her life, she just says “Lord Jesus, please, I need a parking place. I am desperate for a place.” And there comes a motorcar reversing out and in she goes - “Thank You, Lord!”It becomes a lifestyle, it must be a way of life. But you know, we have also got to speak it out, not just think it. We have got to verbalize what we are trusting God for. Are you facing an impossible situation in your life today?Well, why don't you exercise your faith? You see, the woman that we are speaking about in the Bible - she had spent all her money. Maybe you have got no money left today. She went to all the doctors and they couldn't help her. She was bleeding, literally, to death. So she went and she pushed her way through the crowd. She got to the Lord Jesus and she said, “If I can just touch the hem of His garment, I will be healed.” And she did, immediately she was healed. Jesus said to her, “Woman go in peace. Your faith has made you well.”I want to pray for you this morning. I just feel, in my heart, I need to pray for you. Maybe you would like to pray this little prayer after me:Dear Lord Jesus,Please forgive me for trying to make a plan.Lord, I have run out of plans. I don't have any left.I need you today more than ever before.Please increase my faith.In Jesus Name,Amen.And one or two of you might be saying, “But Angus, you can't say that!” Of course, you can. The disciples said to Jesus, in Luke 17:5:“Please increase our faith.”Have a wonderful day today as you walk, not by sight but by faith.Goodbye

Originally aired September 17th, 2019.   Pastor Allen has the privilege of sitting down with evangelist Angus Buchan for a long form interview. Angus, whose story is told in the movie "Faith Like Potatoes", has spread the good news of the gospel to millions of people in Africa and around the world. You can learn more about Angus and his ministry at https://www.angusbuchan.co.za/   To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world, click here: allenjackson.com/podcastdonate

This "How-To" and "Identity" episode will look at the Holy Spirit manifestation power gift of faith.  What is it?  How does it work? And, how can you increase this gift in your life? This episode includes a general understanding of all nine manifestation gifts and their relationship with the powerful gift of faith. Dr. Patty shares stories of what it looks like when this gift is released from the Bible, her life, and the lives of others.  Learn what happened and what was learned when Jesus issued a 30 day Gift of Faith Challenge.  What did Jesus have to say about the relationship between the gift of faith and all of the manifestation gifts?   And, learn two Biblical principles that activate the increase your power gift of faith.   Take Jesus' 30 day Gift of Faith Challenge yourself and have Him show you what He wants you to have increased faith for in your life and what it will look like when you boldly exercise this gift. Links referenced in this episode:   30-Day Gift of Faith Challenge and Tracking Form  https://bit.ly/3qS6D9C Pray for Rain film clip from Faith Like Potatoes about the true story of Angus Buchan   https://bit.ly/2GzdXC2 If you like film clip-inspired stories, that teach Biblical truths,  check out Dr. Patty's award-winning Clips that Move Mountains: 2nd Edition book.    https://pattysadallah.com/other-books/#clips-that-move-mountains And for all of Dr. Patty's books and downloadable resources check out her bookstore https://pattysadallah.com/shop    

The past few months have been a period where the Lord has particularly impressed on me the importance of stepping-out in faith with Him.Just a few days ago Lynda shared this verse from Hebrews 11:6 – “And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that He is real, and that He rewards the faith of those who give all their passion and strength into seeking Him.”And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat.Reading Joshua 6:20The Lord told Joshua to tell the people to march around the walls of Jericho seven times, to blow the trumpets, to make a great shout and the walls fell down flat. These were massive walls – an estimated 2 metres wide at the base and more than 4 metres tall - and very well-built, but they fell flat because God told the people what to do, and they stepped-out in faith accordingly.We need to do what the Lord tells us to do and sometimes it does not actually make sense. It does not add up. What is God telling you to do today? It might be something that in the natural seems totally ludicrous, something that makes no sense at all!In John 2:5, we read “Mary then went to the servers and told them, “Whatever Jesus tells you, make sure that you do it!” Under Jesus' instructions the servants filled six stone water pots that each held 80-100 litres, perhaps 600 litres of water in total, and miraculously, that water turned into the finest wine ever.It has become increasingly evident to me over the past few months that we need to do what God tells us to do. No more and no less. Keep in mind that God's economy usually does not work the way we think. One plus one does not always equal two with the Lord. It equals three or four, or sometimes more. We need to be obedient to what God is calling us to.Some years ago, I heard someone refer to the scripture Jeremiah 33:3 as God's telephone number - “Call to me and I will answer you…..” Do this and see where God might lead you? Be expectant for your faith to be built as the Lord leads you into new and exciting places.“Let the faith of God be in you” (Mark 11:22). It is by believing in Him, and by embracing Jesus that we are given the authority to become the children of God.We need to step-out in faith today. Jesus will equip us for the challenges that we are going to face this week, this month, next year. When you call to the Lord as in Jer 33:3 do not be timid, but rather expect something that is so big that if it is not of God it is doomed to fail. Reading Proverbs 2:10 – “When wisdom wins your heart and revelation breaks in, true pleasure enters your soul.” If ever we needed wisdom, the time is now. In a world that has literally gone upside down, where people are scrambling everywhere, where people must make serious choices, they need wisdom. You and I need wisdom. And the source of that wisdom is through the Bible, through God's Holy Word.And we need to be extravagant. If ever there was a time for Christians to stand up and be counted, then now is it, to attempt great things for God and expect great things from God. In the words of the evangelical Christian author John Ortberg – “If you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat”“Why?” you might ask. Well, because the boat is sinking, and it is only men and women of faith that will survive.Nearly twenty years ago I read the autobiographical book “Faith Like Potatoes” by well-known South African evangelist Angus Buchan. The title of this book is derived from the following events in Angus' life-walk with the Lord.Extended and widespread drought conditions prevailed throughout southern Africa. At this time Angus was desperately seeking the Face of God, and he very strongly felt the Lord say to him: “Go home to your farm and plant potatoes.” At the time Angus was leading in prayer a large crowd of thousands in Kings Park Rugby Stadium in Durban, and he told them all that this is what he planned to do. This was an outrageous statement since the land was gripped by drought. He would be planting potatoes into dry, dusty soils on his farm with no prospects for rain anytime soon and with no available irrigation.Why step out on a limb like this? Because people were losing hope, people were panicking, and the Lord clearly spoke to him, “This is not a time Angus to draw back.” If Christ be for you, there is no man who will stand against you.Immediately following the prayer rally in Durban, Angus went home to his farm, prepared the fields, bought the seed potatoes, and proceeded to plant with no irrigation and no prospect of rainfall. His neighbours were extremely concerned for him, “Angus, this will send you one way. You will go bankrupt.” His confident reply to them was, “No, I have a clear word from God”, so he planted those potatoes and as his faith increased he proceeded to also lease neighbouring farms as well to plant potatoes and maize, all the while trusting in God.As I recall it was not an easy growing season, with things being touch-and-go on many occasions, constantly testing the limits of his faith over the months following planting. In the end, however, the Lord came through, and Angus harvested good crops of potatoes and maize when no one else in the region did apart from those farmers with irrigation.Do not be afraid. Seek wisdom. Seek the Word of God. God is on your side. Just listen to what He tells you to do and then be faithfully obedient. As you do what God tells you to do, rest assured that He will see it through. In a time where there is no more normality we need to go to God's Word. Joshua and the Israelites stepped-out in faithful obedience to God's instructions and what happened? The walls fell down.The servants did what Mary told them to do, by instruction from Jesus, and what happened? The water turned into wine.Stand before the Lord with expectation and full of faith, and be prepared to step out with Him well beyond your comfort-zone. Do not be afraid to get out of the boat; you are not going to walk on the water by staying put inside.Questions to ponder?What are you believing God for currently in your life?Recall a time when you stepped-out in obedience in a situation that in the natural seemed “crazy” – what impact did this have on your faith-walk with the Lord?Are you ready when the Lord calls you to “step out of the boat”?

South Africa’s hottest agricultural podcast is back with a bang! This week we catch up with Nezisa Sogoni, a business school and IT graduate turned poultry farmer. In our entrepreneurship slot, agricultural economist Lunathi Hlakanyane talks about the role street vendors play in social distancing food retail in Mzansi as we continue to tackle the covid-19 pandemic. We are inspired by Farmers Choice founder Andile Matukane, who is also known as “the Spinach Lady”. This week farmers have selected “Vusi: Business & life lessons from a black dragon” by author Vusi Thembekwayo as their book of the week. Dr Johnny van der Merwe is also back with the weekly AMT Fresh Produce Outlook on the market, analysing the latest fruit and vegetable prices.

Pastor Allen has the privilege of sitting down with evangelist Angus Buchan for a long form interview. Angus, whose story is told in the movie "Faith Like Potatoes", has spread the good news of the gospel to millions of people in Africa and around the world. You can learn more about Angus and his ministry at https://www.angusbuchan.co.za/   To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world, click here: allenjackson.com/podcastdonate

God's Kingdom Purpose For Man Series- Part 7 "Understanding how to move mountains"   Do you have faith that can move mountains? If not, rest assured - you're not alone. Developing Kingdom faith is a process that most Christians struggle with. We can either seek solutions, or explain it away. We (Elisabeth and I) chose the former. While we, as believers, were all given a "measure of faith", it's what we do with that measure of faith that will determine what we accomplish for the King. So, in this episode, we'll teach you just how you can have the same faith as Paul, Peter, and Moses - and just like them obtain miraculous results in your life. They too were given a measure of faith, but they understood the dynamics and daily working out of their faith. And that, dear friends, is what makes the difference between moving mountains... or moving molehills.   In this episode you will:   Recognize the excuses most believers use to rationalize their lack of faith and/or results   Understand what Paul meant by all of us having "a measure of faith".   Learn the important differences between hope and faith.   Learn how to develop your faith daily into mountain moving faith.   Memorable Quotes:     “When our faith doesn’t yield desired results, we explain it away. We rationalize it.”     “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” ~ Mark [11:24]     “If you don’t have miracles and prayers answered in your life, the fault must not lie with God, it must lie with you.”     “Faith is the oxygen you breathe in the Kingdom of God - you live by it.”     “Did you know the guy who sits on his couch drinking beer all day has the same number of muscles as the Olympic athlete? The difference then lies in the use, training, and disciplining of those muscles.”     “You were given the same measure of faith as the apostle Paul or Angus Buchan of the movie Faith Like Potatoes.”     “Some of us have "Pot Bellied faith" and others have "Six-pack abs faith.’”     “Faith, your faith, is your main kingdom key.”     “All things are possible to him who believes.” ~ Mark [9:23]     “Hope prays for rain, faith digs ditches for water.”     “If hope were the requirement for us to have our prayers answered, all of us would have them answered.”     “Hope always speaks in the future tense. Faith always speaks in the present tense.”     “Hope believes that God can, Faith knows that God has.”     “When we read aloud the Words of God, we make His words our own. And when we make the Words of God our own, miraculous things happen.”     “Your faith will never be greater than your knowledge of the Word.” -Kenneth Hagin       Recommended Resources: (https://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?event=AFF&p=1203735&item_no=186651) God's Promises for Your Every Need - NKJV (https://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?event=AFF&p=1203735&item_no=186651) By Compiled by Dr. A.L. Gill Keep God's promises for you close at hand! In this compact volume you'll find encouragement and inspiration from God's Word on subjects such as: faith, praise, obedience, God's faithfulness and others. Fits easily in a bag or purse. NKJV. (https://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?event=AFF&p=1203735&item_no=65224) Mountain Moving Faith (https://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?event=AFF&p=1203735&item_no=65224) By Kenneth E. Hagin This book teaches... Support this podcast

This week, Eli, Heath, and Noah join forces for an atheist review of "Faith Like Potatoes", the story of the plight of white people in apartheid South Africa. No, seriously. --- Come see us in London! We’re live on Saturday, October 6th, and you can get tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/god-awful-movies-live-in-london-tickets-47591873575 --- If you’d like to pick up a copy of our latest ebook; Diatribes Volume 2: 50 More Essays from a Scathing Atheist, you can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Diatribes-Essays-Scathing-Atheist-Presents-ebook/dp/B06XQTJT4R --- If you’d like to make a per episode donation, please check us out on Patreon: http://patreon.com/godawful Our theme music is written and performed by Ryan Slotnick of Evil Giraffes on Mars. If you’d like to hear more, check out their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/EvilGiraffesOnMars/?fref=ts All our other music was written and performed by Morgan Clarke. To hear more from him, check him out here: https://soundcloud.com/morgandclarke

Today we (and possibly you) learn about the real life man Angus Buchan. Alongside learning about the man, the myth, the legend, we move forward and explore the conventions of Christian movie-making, learn what it takes to farm potatoes, find out how to solve literally every problem in our lives, uncover a lie about corn, and discover a very poor use of tractors. Next time: Ramayan! If you like the show please give us a rating on your platform of choice and you can always visit our website at www.noahssnarkpodcast.com. Send us questions or comments, and we'll respond on the show. We are also on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, and Facebook!

On this episode we ponder the big questions. We're both watching Touched by an Angel for the first time, and there's so much it makes us wonder about. What's it like to feel for the first time? Why does an angel want everyone to want her so bad? How old is Pete Davidson? How do promotions work in Heaven? How are we supposed to feel better about horrible things happening just because someone is watching? Next time: Faith Like Potatoes! If you like the show please give us a rating on your platform of choice and you can always visit our website at www.noahssnarkpodcast.com. Send us questions or comments, and we'll respond on the show. We are also on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, and Facebook!

Introduction So ordinarily, I'd be preaching the next passage in Matthew, parable of the two sons. God willing, I'll get to it next week. I'll allude to it this morning. But this past week, I saw a new film from South Africa called Faith Like Potatoes, what an odd title. It's about a simple South African farmer, a man named Angus Buchan, he's of Scottish descent. He was a man characterized by racism and anger and frustration, brawling, smoking, drinking. A man about which the Scripture says he was without hope and without God in this world. Then he heard the gospel clearly explained, and he gave his life to Christ. He began reading the Bible, praying and seeking the Lord, growing in his new faith. He was struggling to wrestle a livelihood out of the wilderness of the KwaZulu-Natal portion of South Africa. It's a rugged area, and very difficult to make a living there. And soon after his conversion, he found himself in an absolutely desperate situation, working with his foreman, a Zulu man named Simeon, they were purposely burning some grassy areas to clear it out, and the fire got away from them. Started to spread and was spreading at an alarming rate, and there was no water to put it out. They were just beating the bushes ahead of the fire to stop it from spreading but they were losing the battle and he was getting burned. He desperately jumped in his vehicle and drove to get some help and a few more people came in, but it was not enough. And even more terrifying as the fire started to burn out of control, it was heading toward the largest match factory in South Africa, The Lion Match company. And he realized that if it went up and it was his fault, he would be financially ruined, not to mention the danger to human life. He was absolutely desperate. And that day he had read the scripture verse that I preached on a couple of weeks ago. “If you believe, you'll receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” “Lord, we need rain. It's the only thing that's gonna put this fire out, we need rain.” He calls out to Simeon, his Zulu foreman, says, “Simeon, pray for rain. We need to pray for rain.” He said, “But it's not the rainy season.” “I don't care. We need to pray for rain. The Bible says if you believe, you'll receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” He just started praying, “Lord, send rain. If not, we're ruined.” Fire's out of control, it's spreading, but then suddenly out of nowhere, come rain clouds gathering right over this man, and the downpour puts out the fire. Now what would something like that do to your faith? Say, “Oh, Lord, send it, and I'll be a great man or woman of faith. God do that.” I mean, he's in a situation where there's nothing else he can do but trust God. And he just prays. He's not some great man, he's just in a great situation, and he's asking God to do something incredible, send rain. From that moment on, this man Angus Buchan gained a reputation in the area of being a great man of faith and of prayer. Isn't it funny how these things work? And just a short time after that, as his wife and he were preparing to go to bed, some Zulus from the area came in desperation, they're banging on his door. “What is it? What's wrong?” “Portia, our sister has been struck by lightning. Please come and pray for her.” Well, he finds out as he's going there, she's actually dead. And he gets there and she's lying dead on the ground, and he's saying, “What do you want me to do? I don't know what to do.” And no one was with him, he was just there with her and they were on the outside. And he said, “I don't know what to do.” And so he just prayed, mumbled some prayer about her healing, that God would raise her up, and she stood up on her feet. Now again, if you were put in that situation, event one and event two, what would you do? Wouldn't you do the exact same thing the second time? And as soon as she stood up, he said, to her, “I didn't do this, God did. I didn't raise you up, I just prayed a little prayer. It was all I could do, just to pray that prayer.” Soon Zulus pushed in, they were amazed. And one old woman falls at his feet and begins grabbing his leg and he said, “Get up. Get up. I didn't do anything, I just prayed.” Well, in the movie he doesn't do any more faith healings, God doesn't make him a great faith healer, but these two things happen at the beginning of his life. And he realized that God was calling on him to go from place to place and tell them about Jesus Christ. He wasn't a man trained in evangelism. He wasn't trained in doctrine or theology, he was just a simple man and yet he had a vision, and that was that he would go out and begin telling people about Christ. And he had a vision of gathering all the South African farmers in the area to the largest soccer stadium in South Africa, a place that could hold over a hundred thousand people. Ordinarily, he'd have to rent it for about a million dollars. Biggest rock stars would come there, etcetera. And he met with this man, he was sympathetic to what he wanted to do, gathering all the South African farmers to pray for rain. It was the middle of a drought and there was tremendous racial tensions there in South Africa, as you can well imagine, and that they would pray for peace. And also that God's work would be advanced. But God does amazing things and they get the stadium for nothing, just about nothing. And they fill it with tens of thousands of people, and he preaches in a very simple way, of the need to repent and believe in Jesus, for the forgiveness of sins, and simple prayer for rain, and for peace in their country. That's all. But God didn't answer the prayer for rain, at least not right away. And as the time for planting came and started to move on, the land around them was dry as powder. You can imagine the effect of not having rain for that long period of time. And he realized that they were in a desperate situation. And he felt the Lord leading him to plant a crop of potatoes. And his friends and his banker all told him that he would be facing financial ruin if those potatoes, if that crop didn't come up. But as he prayed and he sought the Lord, he just felt this is what he had to do. And he invested all of his worldly wealth into this one crop of potatoes. And then just prayed. Prayed that God would, against all odds and against all science, to some degree, without rain, without water, with the ground as dry as dust, produce a harvest. And it's really kind of amazing, because, unlike wheat or corn where you can see the progress, you just have to wait. You have no idea what's going on below the surface of the ground. And the time came for them to find out what God had done. And he goes out with Simeon, his foreman, and they pray. And Simeon reaches down under the ground, and pulls up a beautiful yellow potato, big round potato. Where the moisture came from only God knows. And there were thousands others just like it. And his wife, in faith, had gone to the village and brought them out to watch the harvest, if there was one. And out they came, and there was in fact a great harvest. And it's a climactic point in the movie, and he's sitting there with some children, some other people, he's holding one of these potatoes, and he quotes that which became the title of the movie. “You need to have a real faith. A faith that connects to real life, that actually produces real things in your life, as real as these potatoes.” Quoting the King James version of that definition of faith, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And so there was substance. The potato is substantial. There was something there, something came as a result of faith. Now, faith has to do with invisible things, trusting invisible God. But it produces visible effects in this world. God has used this man Angus Buchan to start a men's ministry in South Africa that has grown and grown and grown. The first year he just had a vision of having men come to his simple farm there, in that province of South Africa, and 240 men came for prayer and Bible teaching. And the next year, 2007, the number grew to 7,000 men. Last year 60,000 came. They set up the largest tent in the world, a 16-pole tent called Tensile 1. I was interested in that. I studied the tent - you're not interested in the tent, but I am very interested in the tent. Big tent. And if they don't have the side flaps down, they were able to go out to about 40,000. It still wasn't enough. So there are people sitting out in the sunshine, just listening to the preaching and the teaching, 60,000 men. This past May they had 190,000. They're just there to pray and to grow in grace and to see people come to faith in Christ, etcetera, just a simple farmer. After the film was over, and the next day as I was praying, I started thinking about FBC. Started thinking about my ministry here, thinking about you and me. Thinking about what I preached on two weeks ago, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but you can also say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move.” Nothing will be impossible for you. “If you believe, you'll receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Well, that was two weeks ago. Have you asked him for anything? Remember I told you the great danger of that verse is not name-it-and-claim-it and health-and-wealth. It's a danger but not the great danger. Great danger is you will not ask anything based on that verse. You will not know whether you have or not, asked anything based on that verse since then. So I was going to preach on this parable, the two sons. God willing, will do so next week. You know the parable. There's a man who has two sons. “He goes to the first and says, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard.’ ‘I will not,’ he says. But later he changes his mind and goes. Goes to the second son and says, ‘Go and work in the vineyard.’ ‘I will, sir,’ he says, but he does not go.” I was starting to think of it in terms of my relationship with God, God as a father, he has a vineyard. He has a harvest field. He comes to me and says, “Go and work in the harvest field.” Which of the two sons am I? It seems to me that I'm more like the second son that says, “I will go,” but I don't go. I'd like to see God do something incredible here. I'd like to see him do something that none of the church growth people say ever happens. I'd like to see a multi-generational fruitful evangelistic ministry here. I'd like to see senior adults leading others to faith in Christ and bringing them for baptism and discipleship. I'd like to see people my age or a little bit older, people just about retirement age doing the same. I'd like to see career people, people in their 30s and 40s, people with growing families, leading people to Christ, men and women. I'd like to see singles who haven't gotten married yet. I'd like to see young mothers of preschoolers leading others to faith in Christ, bringing them here to have him baptized and then discipled and trained. That's what I'd like to see. I'd like to be involved in a work like that. I'd like to kinda prove that you don't have to have all of the trendy, hot cultural stuff and the music and all of that in order to see something like that happen. If they're right in their theology, they're gonna tell you it's the gospel that converts them anyway, not all that other stuff. I'd like to at least try. My sense is that I feel that if we trusted the scripture and trusted the gospel, we could actually see that happen and we could disprove all the experts. I'd like to at least try because my instinct here is that we're not trying like we could. We haven't really trusted Matthew 21:22 or Romans 1:16 that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. Let's go ahead and give it a try. And then when we disprove that. Will we? We will not. But when we disprove that, then we'll start bringing in all the glitzy cultural stuff, and then they'll be proven right. I don't think that's gonna happen. I think that the gospel is, in fact, the power of God for salvation. And I'm excited to see what God can do here. And I've been here about 10 and a half years, and I think God's done incredible things here. There's no other church on earth I'd rather pastor than this church. I wanna be right here. I wanna be here when God does these things. He's cleared a lot of stuff out of the way. He has established a lot of good things here. Everything's in order, friends. Except this one thing, a regular pattern of people being baptized and then taught to obey everything Christ has commanded. That isn't here yet, not like it will be. And I'm trusting God that it will be. But it's so beautiful. We see the elders, plurality of elders have been established. It is a delight to work with these men, it's a joy. We see the deacons now in place and godly leadership, excellent leadership, getting them out into ministry teams, that's all in place, everything's in place. I kinda liken it to like a pick-up truck by the side of the road with its hood up, and now the tinkering's done under the engine, the hood's down, and we're moving. Okay, but where are we going? Where are we going? And I think we ought to go where Jesus has commanded us to go. We talk about the two infinite journeys, internal journey of holiness, external journey of disciple-making worldwide. And I've said, and I'll continue to say, you can't pick and choose. They have to be done together. If you just do one, you will not have the one you do. You won't have it. Not for long. And so we've got to move out, without giving up our commitment to sanctification, to holiness, growth in grace, we've got to see people brought to faith in Christ, and started on their internal journeys of holiness. That's what I wanna see happen and I think it's going to happen. We've already seen some remarkable conversions this year, especially in the international student ministry. We've seen a husband and wife couple brought to faith in Christ. You have to go minister in Japan to realize just how unbelievably rare that is. Praise God that we're here when God's doing these things. I just want more of it, don't you? I'd like to see those kind of testimonies week after week. I'd like to kind of sit over there in my pew and none of you watch me. I wanna just sit there and cry. I wanna sit there and cry at the goodness of God in that person's life. And then the next week cry a couple more times. Don't you wanna see that? I wanna be part of that. I wanna be part of a church like that. I want 2009 to be the year that this church broke free from its shackles of fear of man. If you were totally free of fear of man, you would be bolder in evangelism than you are. And you say, “Is it really even possible to get that free?” I think it is, I think it is. That's something worth praying for. I'd like to see this be the year in which we grow in this kind of way, in marvelous ways, with people being brought to faith in Christ and baptize them and teaching them to obey everything that God's commanded. I believe that if God enabled us to baptize, what number could I put to it? Does it matter the number? I don't even wanna say a number. But baptize some remarkable number of people. Far more than we've ever baptized before. I don't know if this is a true statement, but for me, I think it would be a greater miracle than if we went down to Duke cancer ward and emptied the place through faith in prayer. Frankly, I think it would be of more eternal consequence, don't you? These are people brought to genuine faith in Christ who will spend eternity with God in heaven. And a greater miracle. That's a mountain-sized, mountain-moving kind of miracle right here at this church, in 2009. Won't you pray for me and pray for us that we would see that happen? I would like to be the son that says “Yes” and then goes and obeys the father. That's the best of both, isn't it? That we would actually assent to what God is telling us to do and then go do it, and see God be powerful. Now, I'm in a group of pastors called The Gospel Coalition, these are some of the great men in gospel work in the US, and it's a privilege to be part of them. One of the pastors, a man named Mark Driscoll, he's pastor of one of the most extraordinary churches in America. Somewhat controversial guy, but he preaches the gospel, he’s reformed in his theology, believes in regenerate church membership. Very, very careful on church discipline, plurality of elders. Remarkable ministry among people that most of us could never reach. These are the unchurched in the most unchurched city in America, Seattle, Washington. Not at all the Bible Belt friends, up there in Seattle. Very interesting city. This past Easter, they baptized 400 people on Easter Sunday, 400 people. They baptized them. I watched some of them on the internet, some of the baptisms. Wow. Now I was talking to somebody and that person said, “Yeah, but how many of them are genuinely converted?” Friends, I don't know. I don't know. But I know him and I know his seriousness and I know he will not baptize anyone who doesn't give a credible profession of faith in Christ. 400 on one Sunday. His church has gone from zero to 10,000 in 13 years. Started in his living room, now it's 10,000 people. Is that gonna happen here? I don't even know that that's a good thing for it to happen here. I know this, it's a good thing for us to see more people baptized than we do and growing in grace in the knowledge of Christ. So I wanna just give you a quick sermon with four brief points. I wanna talk about our motivation, I wanna talk about our message, I wanna talk about our method and our multiplication. Motivation The Glory of God First of all, what is our motivation? Well, what is our motivation for everything? Is it not the glory of God? Isn't that why God spoke this universe into existence? We are here to glorify God. But I believe that the conversion of a sinner from rebellious against God to a son or daughter of the living God, glorifies him greatly. And so it says in Isaiah 43:6-7, “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Bring them. I created them for my glory. Or this in Ephesians 1:11-12, “In him we are also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of his glory.” That's why we're here. Obedience to Christ So we evangelize that God might be manifest or glorified in us, that we might display the goodness of God and the love of God. We also evangelize because Jesus has commanded us to do it. So simple obedience to Jesus, simple obedience to Jesus would have us out evangelizing, trading with the gospel. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will obey what I command.” So just out of love for Jesus, we would evangelize. The Joyful Rescue of Lost Sinners And out of love for others. The second great command is that we would love our neighbor as ourself. There's no greater love that you could show for a neighbor, a lost neighbor, than to share with them the gospel of their only hope of salvation. Joyful rescue of lost sinners. Apart from the gospel, they're doomed to spend eternity in torment under the wrath of God. Let's not forget that for a moment. It says in Revelation 14, If anyone disobeys. If anyone disobeys the gospel, “he too will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur, in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or night” for those who do not believe in Jesus, and who die in that Christless condition. Oh, that should motivate us, that we could be involved joyfully in rescuing them. Snatching them, as it were, from the fire, it says in the book of Jude, and being a human instrument to transfer them over into the kingdom of the Beloved Son. Where they will spend eternity serving God, it says in Revelation 22, standing in the presence of God, seeing his face filled with an in-expressible joy. Oh, what could be better than that, to be involved, to actually be materially involved in that transfer. Oh, how exciting could that be? Joy, it's the greatest joy in life. Third John 4, “I have no greater joy than this, that my children are walking in the faith.” Now, you might say that's a parenting verse, and fine. Fine enough. In any case, it ends up with people walking in the faith. But I actually think John's talking not just, or perhaps even about biological children, but about people he has led to faith in Christ. He is in some sense their father in the faith. He says, “There's no greater joy in my life than to know that they're walking genuinely with Jesus.” It's the greatest, most joyful life there is. Eternally Satisfying Rewards And motivation, eternally satisfying rewards. First Thessalonians Chapter 2, the Apostle Paul said this to the Thessalonian church, “What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and our joy.” When Jesus comes back, Paul says, I'm going to be wearing a crown and the name on that crown will be you, people I led to Christ. You are my crown and I'm gonna glory in it when Jesus comes back. Oh, that'll motivate you. Message Alright, what about the message? What message? Well, we have only one, we have only one. God's given the church two great powers to accomplish the conversion of lost sinners. The first is the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” If you lack power, then ask God and he'll give it to you. You have, if you're a Christian, all the power you need through the indwelling Holy Spirit; power to be a witness. But there's a different power, another power, very much related, but the power for them, for the dead in transgressions and sins, they are dead in their transgressions and sins. The only power there is to raise them from the dead is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel, the righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is from faith to faith, just as is written: ‘the righteous will live by faith.’” A gift of righteousness through the gospel message, that is the power of God for salvation. And there is no other. That's our message. So we have the gospel. What is the gospel? Well, some said, “All you have to do is memorize John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him, should not perish but have eternal life.’” Well, those are most of the salient points of the gospel. But as I've trained people about what is the gospel message, I've broken it into four main headings: God, man, Christ, response. God is the creator of the ends of the earth, created all things visible and invisible. Therefore, He has the right to make laws by which we should live our lives. He has made those laws. The ten commandments, the two great commandments, that we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and we should love our neighbour as ourself. He is a lawgiver as a king, and he will also be our judge. Someday, we'll stand before him and give an account whether we have obeyed those laws or not. That's God. What about us, man? We are created in the image of God, and therefore, capable of having a relationship with God. But we are sinful, every last one of us. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We have violated those ten commandments. We have violated the two great commandments, to love God with all we are, and to love our neighbour as ourself. We stand condemned. And if God doesn't save us, then we'll spend eternity in hell. That's man. What about Christ? God sent his only begotten Son. He became a human being, he took on a human body. He lived an ordinary human life except in one thing: He never sinned. But he was also God in the flesh. And so, He demonstrated this by great miracles: Walking on water, feeding the 5000, raising the sick and the dead. He could do anything, but most of all, he came to die in our place, that he would be our substitute, taking our beating, walking with our cross up that hill, getting struck by the lightning of the wrath of God in our place, that we might be freed from condemnation. Jesus, in our place, taking our wrath, and him offering a perfect righteousness to us. And what of response? We have to believe. By simple faith we can receive this righteousness and we can have all of our sins removed from us. And Jesus having died in our place, we will not be condemned, but we have to repent and we have to believe the good news. There's the gospel, friends. You should be able to share that message in one minute or one hour. God, man, Christ, response. And if you can't, then train yourself. Get yourself ready. Get yourself ready like an athlete, to go out and be used by God. That's the message. Method Daily Lifestyle What of our method? Well, I want to give you three quick things. Daily life, visiting visitors, and our structured ministries. First of all, daily life. Every day, seven days a week, you interact with non-Christians. Every day. Could be the workplace, could be in your neighborhood, could be at the supermarket, gas station, every day. Ask the Lord every day to give you an opportunity to witness today. Ask him. There's a great thing. D.L. Moody said he made a commitment, he would not go to bed every day, would not go to bed until he had witnessed to at least one person. Now, I'm not saying that you have to make that kind of commitment, but God may lead you to do that for a week or a month, something like that. Try it out. And begin reaching out, speaking to somebody. You could be there at the watermelons in Kroger. You're standing there and you're looking at watermelons, and someone else. That's a human being standing next to you. Look at them, they have a face. They might talk if you talk to them, they just might. They might not, but they might. Strike up a conversation. You say, “About what?” I don't know, about watermelons, something. Talk to them. Now, you might say, “Well, I'm ashamed. I'm afraid something might happen, they might persecute me.” Hey, look. If they persecute you, what's the worst that could happen? You'd become the only martyr in church history who died by watermelons at Kroger's. You'd be the only one. And you'd be there in heaven, and you'd be able to say, “Here I am Lord, the only martyr that died at Kroger, near the watermelons, as I tried to share the gospel with that unbeliever and they pulled out a knife and stabbed me.” But, you know, if that individual, through remorse of killing you near the watermelons, ends up coming to faith in Christ, you'll say it was all worth it, and so will God. What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? Yeah, they might be rude, they might turn away, but God's called on us to do this. Let's get active in our daily life, our witnessing. Visitors What about visitors? Well, praise God. Every single week, God brings lost people here to this Church, and I try to preach the gospel every week. But my basic thesis is that more people come to faith in Christ not at church, than at church. Do you think that's true? I think it's true. I think more people come to faith in Christ on a Tuesday afternoon, or Wednesday morning, whatever, than on Sunday, for what I used to be told by my pastor in Louisville, “This is the most important hour of the entire week.” I didn't know whether that was true. If someone was predestined to come to faith in Christ on Tuesday afternoon, that was the most important hour of the week for them. The bottom line is we are called on to get out, to go, but God brings visitors here and you can be involved. Just reach out, say, “Hey, I haven't seen you here before.” “Well, this is my first time.” Take them out to lunch, find out what their spiritual background is. Talk to them, or get involved in our structured ministry to visiting visitors, called Connection Partners. Say, “I wanna be part of that.” Tell Eric Campbell. Say, “I wanna be part of The Connection Partners. I wanna reach out.” Urban Ministries Or it could be, thirdly, the organized ministries of the church, our urban ministry. You heard Matthew at the beginning. It was an announcement, but he was saying he needed people to go out with him, inviting people to go to VBS. Those are witnessing opportunities. Matthew has a lot of great urban ministry opportunities going. He needs laborers for that harvest field. And there are other opportunities here in the urban area. Diana Lyle works at the Club Boulevard School. School's out for summer, but she has a tremendous heart for children, and she displays that by being active in child evangelism fellowship. They do backyard bible clubs all summer long. Talk to Diana. Say, “I wanna get involved, I wanna be part of witnessing to children.” Maybe that's what you have a heart for. Our Caring Center has a ministry with clothing, in which we bring clothing and it’s just incredible. I think more could be made of that ministry. If we went out on the streets and say, “We probably could meet all your clothing needs, but we can do more than that. We can help you come to faith in Christ. We can see you clothed with the righteousness of Christ on judgment day.” I think we can do far more with that ministry if we just had more laborers for that harvest field. Medical Ministry It could be medical ministry. Ron Halbrook was talking about how we could use the dental bus year-round. We need more workers, though. Imagine if every month, we had a dental outreach. We could make incredible connections with people in the community here. They frequently don't get good dental care. And share the gospel while they're waiting. Tell our dentist, “Hang on, don't be too quick 'cause we're right in the middle of good gospel conversation here. Forget the teeth, let's look at the soul.” Share the gospel. Strategic Ministry So there are structured ministries that we could be involved in. Prison ministry. You heard we need people to go out and share. We have the privilege in one prison, 'cause we've been there for decades, of going from room to room and inviting prisoners to come to the Bible study. They won't give any other ministry that freedom. We have that freedom, but we need more workers. There's also a woman's prison ministry, as well. You could get involved in that. International student ministry needs your help. It's been one of our most wonderfully fruitful ministries we have. They teach English to people that are yearning to learn English. But we also share the gospel. And we've already seen, as I've mentioned, some fruit coming from those ministries. Multiplication Finally, multiplication. Well, this is the way that the Lord has ordained that we should spread the gospel through to the ends of the earth, that we would be able to lead an individual to faith in Christ, train them up and then send them out that they themselves would also be able to lead others to Christ. And so, we could become spiritual grandparents and great grandparents and great, great grandparents in the span of five years or 10 years. Multiplication. But it's only as we take that first step of saying, “I am committed to being willing to suffer for the gospel, whatever that means here in America. To lose some of my own comfort of my own pleasure and ease and convenience so that I can share the gospel with somebody today.” If we are willing to do that, we're gonna see God do extraordinary things. Now you have in your bulletin there, a yellow card. It's the homeliest card you'll ever see. We threw it together on Wednesday. We didn't get it professionally printed. It's just a card, is all. But if God has spoken to you today and you wanna be involved in witnessing, if you feel like you need more training that's fine. Our tendency is always more classrooms, more training, I think you probably know enough to already be active in evangelism, but if you feel like you wanna go through God, man, Christ, response, with me or learn some things, whatever. We're willing to do what we can as elders and ministerial staff to get you ready to be witnesses. If you know you already know enough, but you just wanna be held accountable. You say, “There's some people at work I wanna witness to, will you pray?” Whatever. All you have to do is just fill out your name and email. You don't even have to check a box. If you're specifically interested in one of the ministries, check that box. But if God's leading you to do that sometime between now and when we leave in a handful of minutes, just fill out and please write legibly. It's no good if we can't read it, friends, you know that. But just write your name, your email, and say, “I wanna be involved in reaching out with the gospel, I want to be evangelistically fruitful. I don't wanna stand before God on judgment day empty handed. I wanna have some people there that I actually brought to faith in Christ.” Write it down. We'll begin at least, by praying for you. And then as the elders lead, as we think of how best to use the laborers, we're gonna use you. So I like to ask the elders to come forward now, if you would, and stand in the front. I've asked them to come and pray for this church, that we would be fruitful in evangelism, that God would use us in a mighty way and while they come, I'm going to pray first. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for the joy of seeing these high school graduates, for all the labor that has gone into shaping and molding them and preparing them. And Lord, I thank you for godly parents in this church that have a vision for sending out their children, who have been brought to faith in Christ that they would be world-changing disciples of Jesus. Thank you for that, I pray that that would never be diminished by this additional appeal to reach out to the unchurched, and to be father to the fatherless and others, Lord. Help us to be committed to our own children, our families. But God, I do pray that you'd move us out. Make us fruitful. Help us to be bold in evangelism and God, that we would see large numbers of people converted. God, do an astonishing work in our midst here, that we would see many brought to faith in Christ.

Angus Buchan, author of Faith Like Potatoes, challenges us to become more holy, to repent our sins and to stand bold with faith in the authority we have in Jesus Christ.

Angus Buchan, author of Faith Like Potatoes, challenges us to become more holy, to repent our sins and to stand bold with faith in the authority we have in Jesus Christ.