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[music] We should have sung "Lord, Didn't It Rain." [laughter] I appreciate your inviting my associate, Dr. Jack Stanton, to the platform.

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I was looking around for my friend Brother Griggs and I don't see him anywhere. He's been here. I hope that you will pray for us. We need your prayers so very much.

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Some of you who've known me a while know that I have a great interest in our making an effort to win the great cities of America to Christ. I had a real shock at the Baptist World Alliance for the Fox. I had to mention that we went there for the Fox and I sat together on that 747 or something.

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When I discovered that, and you men who are not Baptists, you just have to bear with some of us who are because, boy, you can always tell a Baptist you can't tell him much, you know. I suddenly became aware that there are 31 million Baptists in the world, 27 million of those Baptists live in the United States of America,

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and of those 27 million, the Southern Baptist Convention and the three great Negro conventions make up 20 of those 27 million. Brother Hill, I was interviewed by this young boy from Newsweek magazine

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about the black denominations and about Southern Baptists. And I said that I think we have far more in common than anyone dreams, because we have a common love for the Bible and for the church and for evangelism. I hope that you'll pray for me as a young man coming to this position.

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I don't come as a person that has to try out for it or prove anything, and I came with my flag already up concerning what my attitude is toward you. And I have unbelievable support from the board that elected me and from the man who supervises me. And I pray that God will give us some days, not just when we can meet and discuss,

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but when in the great cities of America we can join our hands and our hearts in ministering to people and in winning lost people to faith in Jesus Christ. And I hope that you'll pray for all of us who have responsibility along this line, as I will pray for you and the enormous potential that you have.

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Tonight's spiritual preparation and the pastor. Listen to one pastor telling a young pastor how he ought to do it. Take your share of hardship like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. A soldier on active service will not let himself be involved in civilian affairs.

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He must be wholly at his commanding officer's disposal. Again, no athlete can win a prize unless he keeps the rules. A farmer who gets his labor has first claim on the crop. Reflect on what I'm saying, for the Lord will help you to full understanding.

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And remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead born of David's line This is the theme of my gospel and whose service I am exposed to hardship Even to the point of being shut up like a common criminal, but the Word of God is not shut up And every time I read the Bible I think of the great teacher at Southwestern Seminary BH Carroll who wrote 17 volumes on the English Bible

00:04:03.140 - 00:04:22.640

He gave those 17 volumes to Pastor I think it was of the st. James Baptist Church there, but one of the great churches there the pastor took it It thanked him and never said anything Later fishing around for a compliment. Dr. Carroll said how did you like my exposition? He said I'll tell you dr

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Carroll you're a great man, but the Bible sheds a lot of light on your books I'm almost of the feeling that the Bible sheds more light on most of our speaking than our speaking sheds light on the Bible I Ever once in a while get around people that can't stand it to use anything but the original Greek

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There's more in the English than I can live with Especially the new English Now what I'm talking about you and evangelism I hope you are not thinking of that revival meeting that you're going to do away from your church

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But that you are thinking of the work of the church in a year-round sort of a basis Too long we have thought that we had a field in which we had a spring crop, winter wheat, and a fall crop, cotton, and in between time, nothing. And evangelism has to be constantly sowing, constantly cultivating, constantly reaping,

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so that there should be every week someone with whom we make the first contact and someone with whom we make the second contact and someone with whom we make that That final contact before they take that step of faith and someone that we're helping down that first week in his Christian life We're not talking about just special events. We're talking about the ongoing

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continuing witness of the church And when I talk about the pastor I am operating from the assumption that the key to an evangelistic church is an evangelistic pastor Now I did not say the pastor is the church. I didn't even say he was the door

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I didn't even say he was the lock. I just said he was the king But he is the key. I Had a great evangelistic pastor in his class many years ago and after he got through speaking he asked for questions Well, when there are questions, there are always miniature speeches.

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So one boy got up and he began to complain about his church. Before he got very far into it, the guest said, "Now, look, son, I don't know how long you've been in this church, but if you've been there five years, don't complain because you caused it."

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The boy sat down. Now, I realize in a church where the pastor has served a quarter of a century, this is a dangerous thing to say because I'm sure he has a list as long as his arm of things

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that people have not done. But I've discovered from talking to his people that the things that are important to him are important to them.

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And the spirit that he has, they attempt to make his spirit. And there is a sense in which the people reflect to a very large degree the feeling and the thinking and the priorities of that pastor.

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Don't come to me after you've been in church 10 years And tell me that you don't have an evangelistic church because it's just another way of confessing your sins in public Now I'll have two points, but I've got seven sub points under the first one and only the Lord knows How many under the second and sometimes I'm like the fellow said he didn't prepare because he didn't want the devil to know in advance

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What he was going to do so he could get up there and contradict it Two points what you are is important in evangelism and the second point the kind of leadership you give is Important and dr. Hill you asked me to do this type of thing. So I'm gonna work down the road on it What you are

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Probably lays the basis for the kind of leadership you give And I would say first of all that you ought to be an authentic person. I I was interviewed in a motel room several years ago at a state evangelism conference by a young man aspiring to be a great evangelist, and he's a boy with considerable talent.

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But he was working at it from the wrong end of the stick. He said, "Now, Dr. Chapin, would you tell me what the people want? Would you tell me what the people are looking for?" And although he didn't say it, I got the very strong feeling that once he found out,

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He was going to tailor his product to fit the consumer And I said to him friend. I think the people want someone who is authentic They want someone who is what God made him. They don't want someone who's trying to be something else. I Think in addition to authenticity a person with a sense of joy I

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I think joy is the note that characterizes the gospel of Jesus Christ and the sharing of the gospel and the revived church and the great revival movements of history So that Paul Sitting in jail all the churches he had ever helped start had forgotten him except one and the association was split in a power Struggle over who was going to get to run it now that the head preacher was in jail

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Could have easily written the lyrics to the song never felt more like singing the blues And yet when you read that book he actually finds himself Saying again and again counted all joy and the theme of that book is joy Now I don't mean joy that's born of ignorance

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There are some people who are happy just because they don't know what the situation really is And when I was a younger preacher, I felt God had called me to tell them what the situation really is Because I felt why should they be undisturbed as upset as I was now when I find someone who's happy because they're dumb I just leave them happy and dumb. I think that's a better combination

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But that's not what I'm talking about Neither am I talking about a person whose sense of joy comes from his unwillingness to get involved in the sticky difficult situations of life someone who's abstracted himself and isolated himself and separated himself I'm talking about a man like the Apostle Paul who looked life in the face and drank it to the fullest and then looked death

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In the face and said I'm not afraid of you. That's the kind of joy I'm talking about a Christian realism that find Not the desire to leave this world but finds in the presence of God in this world the capacity to live with joy I do not think the kingdom will be brought in by frightened people

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nor do I think it will be brought in by essentially angry people. I think it will be brought in by people who feel intentionally but have found joy. A love for people. I spent last night at a meeting that many of you would have envied me for

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had you not had such a great meeting here. I was the speaker at a banquet for Dr. Tom Mastin. and for A.C. Miller and for Foy Valentine and these men who served in the Christian Life Commission of Texas

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my brother, Texas and Foy was sitting there and I thought of a thing Foy said to me one time he said, "Kenneth" if you know Foy, he's a West Texas fellow with some ad noise

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he said, "Kenneth, you know I thought once of going into student work" I said, "Why didn't you?" He said, "I don't like students" (laughter)

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This hasn't always stopped people from going into the work, incidentally. And I've noticed that there have, from time to time, been people who've drawn to evangelism who don't like people. But I would think that any time a man stands to share the gospel

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of a God whose essential nature is love, that that person who's come to know God's love ought to be a person whom the Holy Spirit is equipping to love people. Preaching can survive some pretty sorry exegesis and some pretty unsystematic theology.

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It will not survive preachers who do not have the capacity to love. A sense of calling. A sense of calling. I went to a meeting on the first day of January, heard some young people discussing calling.

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They explained it like this. Look out in the world. You see a lot of things that need to be done. Look at your ability It's just pick something you'd like to do and that's the call of God

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Now let me tell you something that's how you put together a peacetime army, it's gonna be stationed in Caribbean But that's not how you put together an army that's going to Vietnam or Korea or to France Because I've discovered an interesting thing that people that volunteer for the service when the mortar begins to explode and the crossfire Begin and the tensions began to screw down they decide to volunteer for something else. I

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Am of the conviction that the only thing that can keep a man where he would be in a position to share The gospel of Jesus Christ and the little church is to believe that God put him there I Came to Texas seminary from the University of New Mexico. I'm sure I was the first one that ever graduated the university went seminary

00:13:53.060 - 00:14:21.060

I got down there and discovered I was surrounded by people from Baylor University, which I found, whom I found obnoxious, pardon Simmons, only slightly less, and from Howard Payne and all these Baptist schools, and they all knew each other. I didn't know anybody, and I just figured I never would get a church. But you know, on the first Sunday I was there, I went with an association of missionaries, and they had a deacon's ordination at this little church, and I preached, and on Wednesday they called me. And I just said yes.

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I figured with all that competition only God could have even gotten me the call. I just said yes. I showed up on the first Sunday so proud that I'd only been in Fort Worth eight days and now I was a pastor of a Baptist Church within walking distance of the seminary and the chairman of the deacons. I had helped ordain. The Sunday before he introduced me, he said, "Aren't you preachers here?" I didn't vote for him.

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Man, I don't know what a deacon's like where you are, but a head deacon where I've been is something He said I didn't vote for him, but he's here I guess we might as well try to work with him Now let me tell you something I don't know what that would do to you

00:15:05.620 - 00:15:24.380

But that's for all the prospects of going to seminary for me And I went home and all week long I prayed You see I didn't start out with anything Because when God called me to preach I was lying flat on my back in bed crippled as a teenager with rheumatoid arthritis

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with no plans And out of no other compulsion Except a call from God I got up and on swollen legs went back to high school planning to preach the gospel and

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There are a lot of things in this world who do not frighten me There are no people that frighten me But I am afraid, I am afraid to the point of trembling, if I think I may have stepped outside the leadership of that one who called me to preach.

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And as I prayed that week, I did not pray, "Dear Lord, help me to figure out how to get rid of this chairman of deacons." I mean, I'm smart enough and mean enough, I could have done that without God's help. Let me tell you, I only had to know one thing, that's all.

00:16:24.780 - 00:16:46.980

Dear God, is this where you want me to be? And when I walked into that pulpit the next Sunday, I was the most secure young man you ever saw in your life, because I had in my heart the assurance that God had called me there. And interestingly enough, if tonight I were in trouble and needed help, I could call Harry

00:16:46.980 - 00:17:04.920

Tyson and he would come because that chairman of that deacons and I became the closest two people in that church. We're talking about accepting gifts, about gifts. You know, it's a terrible thing what we do to one another.

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in not creating a kind of climate in which each man can be exactly what God made him. You know, if God had wanted 100 Billy Grahams, he would have made 100 Billy Grahams.

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And there is a certain form of unbelief and imitation that borders on rejecting God's gifts. You heard about the young seminary student Said this church, you know, my deacons have met with me. They've accused me of being overly influenced by Paul Harvey

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It's a lie now for a potpourri of today's sermons They're a little slow on the uptake but I Now let me say something when you come to a meeting like this and

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And we hear these men of God come and preach to us I don't know how you feel, but sometimes I wonder what I'm doing in the meeting like this And I know my heart and I know my mind and I know my feet of clay and the only thing That keeps me from trying to compete with every last one of you is the fact that I figured if God had wanted to like

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You he would have made to like Now let me tell you what happens when a man discovers that God has given him gifts And it's a part of God's plan for his friend to use his gifts where God put him Then this liberates him and makes him able to celebrate all the other gifts that God's given all of his other children

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Accept the gift and be unintimidated by the day in which you live You know our little children saying this is the day which the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it But the way we act we think that God made the 19th century and the devil made the 20th century And I am convinced that if the note of celebration, because the early church when they talked

00:19:07.080 - 00:19:22.160

about the coming of Jesus Christ, they said the coming of Jesus Christ ushers in the day of the Lord and this was the note of celebration. And if the contemporary church does not recover a note of celebration, there is not enough evangelistic zeal to do the job.

00:19:22.160 - 00:19:40.200

Because a hand-wringing church cannot preach a gospel of celebration. And we need desperately, we need desperately to recover a sense of celebration. You know what you are, communicate. There is nothing you can do to stop it.

00:19:40.200 - 00:19:49.720

What is important to you is going to come out. What you're thinking about most of the time is going to come out. And the kind of leadership you give. Being is not enough.

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I know people who are fantastic people, but they have almost a Nazi aversion to dirtying their hands with definite leadership and I am convinced that a preacher who's unwilling to take hold and to lead a people will stand and supervise them as they flounder. And I'm talking about a preacher who has a clear goal and communicates this to his people

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in every way that is available. Pastor came to me one time and said, "Doc, would you help me get a man to lead this church in evangelism?" Said I I don't enjoy evangelism and let's get a man as my associate to lead this church in evangelism. I

00:20:30.260 - 00:20:52.120

Said well friend you've got a fairly good size ego So let me tell you something that sense of angelism Is at the heart of the church's mission whoever leads the church and doing that is gonna be the number one man church So the preacher whom God has called should stand and give a very clear

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Signal to the people as to what the goal is and what is central in the life of the church and Use your pulpit to teach and to train the church You can do a series of sermons on the soul winning interviews of Jesus and teach your people more of the theology of evangelism Without their knowing that's the label that's on it that you can possibly imagine

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And I cannot imagine anybody that stands week after week to open this book that would not learn from his master how he dealt with people with the prayer that his people would begin to feel about people the way Jesus did and deal with them accordingly. The book of Acts, it's the story of men turning to God and a church on mission. People becoming familiar with what the gospel is and what faith is and what repentance is.

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I have a feeling that we've overestimated our people's understanding of these basic elements of what is involved in evangelism. and becoming a Christian educator. I think the Sunday School is perhaps the greatest organization in existence for reaching people

00:21:56.380 - 00:22:09.580

within the structure of the church. And yet I've got friends who feel they would be painted if they messed with this. Where else can you get an organization that's already in existence, that meets every week,

00:22:09.580 - 00:22:31.540

that has the Bible as its base, that's run by laymen, that has a built-in group for the cultivating of prospects and for the nurturing of converts? converts. Listen, I became—I hear a lot of this kicking of the institutional church. I became the head of something that wasn't institutionalized once. I was

00:22:31.540 - 00:22:50.740

the president for the North Texas chapter of the Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation. Twelve counties. I want you to know we had free time on radio and free time on TV and free spaces in the newspapers and if we got 60 people together once a year we were doing something.

00:22:50.740 - 00:23:07.900

The thing that is so amazing to me is not how many people don't come to church, but how many people every Sunday of the year come to church and sit in some class and study God's Word. And I think it's time for many of us to become Christian educators and to use that organization

00:23:07.900 - 00:23:24.820

to reach people for Jesus Christ. And I'm not just talking about your adult classes. I'm talking about those nursery workers. Now I'm a Baptist, so you know we're not going to baptize those nursery kids. But we have had to stand two or three of them on cement blocks

00:23:24.820 - 00:23:43.560

to keep from drowning them in the baptistry. We have gotten some pretty young ones. But do you know That when you enroll a little four-year-old baby in the in the four-year-old Department that the concern of those teachers ought to be that that four four-year-old baby have a Christian mother and a Christian father

00:23:43.560 - 00:24:05.060

That's a part of the Sun School's responsibility and during the five last five years of my last pastorate I probably baptized more couples into the James Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth whose children were enrolled And mrs. Parker's beginner department that from any other source because here was a Sunday school worker

00:24:05.060 - 00:24:22.180

That loved these children and a part of her loving was sharing the gospel with their parents This one I'm going to mention I'm going to pick it up in the morning You need to trust your young people with the gospel. They may be Potentially the best evangelist you've got in the church. I'm just gonna park that one pick it up again in the morning and

00:24:22.180 - 00:24:38.300

You need to become yourself a systematic visitor and soul winner and I'm gonna pick that one up in the morning I want to close just with a word of of illustration Because I think when we talk about leading a church, we must not we must not think of gimmicks

00:24:38.300 - 00:24:55.960

We must not think of programs. We must not think essentially of techniques. We must think of persons persons for whom Christ died The week that I became the director of this division we met in Nashville I had been called in and made a part of the planning, but I was nervous and

00:24:56.680 - 00:25:16.860

So in my room there in the Ramada I made several long-distance calls to check to make everybody to make sure everybody I'd invited was coming They were coming on the right day and and you were we gonna meet and everything and in the process of this these two long-distance Those calls I got one operator twice the same operator now I could tell she was the same operator because she was upset

00:25:16.860 - 00:25:38.440

Not upset with me. She was just upset with life with herself. You don't have to wear. I'm an upset person But for people to know you're upset My wife and I'm sure some of you men will understand this some of you women will resent it. But I Can tell the way Barbara puts dishes in the dishwasher if I'm in trouble I

00:25:38.440 - 00:25:58.600

Mean God has equipped the human being with a capacity of nonverbal communication. That is unbelievable And as this little girl was helping me with my call. She was just saying in this nonverbal way I'm a terribly unhappy person So before she plugged me into the last call I said, I'm sorry

00:25:58.600 - 00:26:15.780

I don't have 60 seconds to give you my happy talk Because nobody ought to be as unhappy as you are in a world as exciting as this one is She plugged me into my call without even saying boo, and I thought that was it I hung up phone rang some kids were downstairs that we're gonna be on the program in the next morning

00:26:15.780 - 00:26:25.340

They wanted to come up to the room They we need a little reassurance and before they left they said let's have prayer and in the middle of the prayer the phone rang I took it off the hook, just left it there. We finished our prayer.

00:26:25.340 - 00:26:29.340

I put them out in the hall. I'd forgotten about the phone. I turned around. My phone was off the hook.

00:26:29.340 - 00:26:36.340

I picked it up, thinking I'd get a dial tone. I said, "Hello?" And this little voice said, "Hello, this is your long-distance operator.

00:26:36.340 - 00:26:49.840

I've called for the happy talk." I don't have a 60-second happy talk. I mean, I got a three-hour happy talk, you know. I mean, I just don't have something canned

00:26:49.840 - 00:26:57.520

And I'm gonna give to all the long-distance operators, so I thought I'd get acquainted. I said, "What's your name?" She said, "We're not allowed to tell our name."

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I thought, you know, I bet they're not allowed to call for happy talks either as far as that goes. (audience laughing) I said, "Tell me about your mother."

00:27:04.120 - 00:27:14.640

Well, the story could be a Kansas City story, it could be a Los Angeles County story, it could be a Birmingham story. Mother married, divorced, remarried,

00:27:14.640 - 00:27:27.480

a stepfather now in the envelope living at home, little brothers and sisters, the house was crowded, teenager that was rebelling. He moved out of the home, got a job with a telephone company, moved in with some girls. Some kids came up, a couple of them were drinking, one of them

00:27:27.480 - 00:27:44.160

got stoned and got loud. The police came, arrested them all. The case was coming up Thursday. That's the whole deal. I said, "Look, I'll help you. In the morning, I'll get a pastor and we'll get a lawyer and we'll get some young people. We'll help you." She said, "Tell me about those young people that were in your room." I told her, and she said, "I

00:27:44.160 - 00:27:58.600

want to come and hear them." I said, "No, you don't. It's just a meeting of the state directors of evangelism, just 35 men planning state evangelism conferences, said, "I'd like to come." Said, "No, you don't need to, but I'll get you some help," and we hung up. The next morning I got the help. I called at 8 o'clock to tell her the help was on the way.

00:27:58.600 - 00:28:17.620

She had left for work. When I got down in the lobby, "Jack, you or are you lost?" And one of the men on the staff came up and said, "This young lady here to see you." And there was my little friend, Vicki, the long-distance phone operator. I introduced her to the college students, and they you what was up, but I introduced her to different ones of the directors. They didn't know what

00:28:17.620 - 00:28:32.440

was up, and so the college students sat at one end of the table, the directors here, and I sat at the foot of the table with this little girl. And they thought she was one of my students. They would come over and they'd say, "Are you one of Dr. Chafin's students?" And she'd say, "No, I'm the long-distance telephone operator." And what was so amazing,

00:28:32.440 - 00:28:48.840

that seemed to satisfy every one of them. I guess it just seemed perfectly natural for the long-distance telephone operator to be at that meeting. Now let me tell you what happened. Those men sat and listened to these young students discuss the church.

00:28:48.840 - 00:29:02.280

And they were listening for a program. But I was sitting next to a little girl who couldn't have cared less about programs. She was listening for her life. Literally listening for her life.

00:29:02.280 - 00:29:21.360

And when she got ready to leave, she said, "Kenneth, Dr. Chafin, I don't know what the judge is going to do, but I'm in good shape because I have already discovered there are some people who care what happened to me. Now we're living in a world full of people looking for their life and we're the leaders of churches.

00:29:21.360 - 00:29:45.520

Let's lead our people to share the good news. the United Prayer Movement Choir, Dr. David Gray. Where is Dr. Gray? Oh yes, Dr. Gray, I'm sure they've met you at the prayer breakfast and all,

00:29:45.520 - 00:30:11.520

but a lot of the fellows were not at the prayer breakfast. Would you mind standing so that we may look on your countenance? Dr. David Gray, a great soul and a great movement in this city. We will now have a couple of selections from this fable choir.

00:30:11.520 - 00:30:27.520

(music) (sizzling) [ Music ] (dramatic music)

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(dramatic music) [MUSIC] [ Music ] ♪ Create in me a new heart, oh Lord ♪

00:31:02.280 - 00:31:43.240

♪ Renew in me, oh right spirit ♪ ♪ Renew, renew, renew ♪ ♪ Be new, be new, be new, be new in me ♪ ♪ For I'm here and ♪

00:31:43.240 - 00:32:50.020

♪ Created in thee ♪ [Music] [ Pause ] [ Silence ]

00:32:50.020 - 00:33:21.260

>> We have produced some special types of problems. One of the great problems that we face today, what has become known as the radical student, the radical student in what has become known

00:33:21.260 - 00:33:41.500

as the left movement. In recent years, a large number of our universities and colleges have been attacked and some have been shut down by the student uprisings.

00:33:41.500 - 00:34:41.500

In Berkeley, California, those of you who live in this area may not be able to conceive of it, But in Berkeley, there are over 7,000 young people who live on the streets of Berkeley. They have left their homes and fabulous homes and their apartments, and they now dwell and live on the streets of Berkeley. and they are known as the street people, a community of over 7,000. There are voices who have said, "Forget these people." There's a good evangelical friend of mine who is a great communist fighter in Glendale, and I had a lot of fun with him one day. I was having lunch with him, and I suggested to him that I saw a communist.

00:34:41.500 - 00:35:06.220

communists. I said, "Would you like for me to point out a communist to you?" and he said, "Where is it?" I said, "Wait a minute, now are you gonna save him or kill him?" And that created a great problem for him because at that moment he really wanted to kill him. And so there are voices in this country who are saying, "Kill the

00:35:06.220 - 00:35:48.220

Communists. Kill the left students. Kill the radical students. Burn them up. Shoot them. Get rid of them. Rid of the garbage. But they are the people for whom God sent Jesus Christ to die for. And there is one among us whom God led to give up his professorship at Pennsylvania State. He was then professor of statistics, he holds his PhD, and he now dwells among the free people of Berkeley. And hundreds of them have come to know Jesus Christ.

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And so, our institute this morning will be led by Dr. Sparks of the Christian World Liberation Front. Dr. Sparks. Amen.

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Thank you, brothers and sisters. [APPLAUSE] Thank you, brothers and sisters. It's really a pleasure for me to be here.

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I never expected to speak to a crowd like this. God's led me into a very different group of people, and I've learned to be at home with them. I'm gonna say some things this morning, initially,

00:36:44.200 - 00:37:02.100

which are representative of the youth scene in America today. I'm gonna talk about the work that God has put us in there. And I still don't know how it's all going to come out,

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but I'm trusting God by His Spirit to show us together what He wants us to know and to share together this morning. We went to Berkeley, my wife and I, our four children,

00:37:19.300 - 00:37:38.040

and two other couples just about a year and a half ago with one conviction in our hearts, that God had called us directly into the context of an aspect of society that by and large the Church,

00:37:38.040 - 00:37:47.520

we had neglected. And we'd neglected particularly to this extent. We really didn't believe

00:37:47.520 - 00:38:08.420

that any of them would receive our Savior. And God called us there without us really understanding why, without us understanding what he was going to do, and without us having the slightest idea of what we were going to

00:38:08.420 - 00:38:35.360

be doing. But let me tell you a little bit about the scene in which I live and move. The students who are identified with the radical left in the American element, not just the students, but lots of youth besides students, have a concept of American society which is

00:38:35.360 - 00:38:52.340

quite different from your concept of American society. And they look at that same society and the same things that you see, they see, and they see them meaning different things. Now before I go into those things, I want to point out something.

00:38:52.340 - 00:39:08.300

The American society is probably one of the best that the world knows today. And as human societies go, it's probably as good as any that the world has ever produced. But I'm going to tell you one other thing. It is not a perfect society.

00:39:08.300 - 00:39:33.760

And I'll guarantee you this, it is not a Christian society. That is, in the sense in which God would perfect a society if he controlled every element and every person in it. Now, criticisms of American society are rampant among the youth of today, and really rightly

00:39:33.760 - 00:39:48.280

so. The kids look at the American society and many of them, particularly those who are heavily influence by radical left movements say, "Man, this whole society is controlled by a military industrial complex."

00:39:48.280 - 00:40:12.120

And if you look at it a certain way, it can almost be seen that way, because great corporations control the labor market, control goods, and are largely dependent for their profits upon military contracts. And that's really true.

00:40:12.120 - 00:40:46.840

And beyond that, they say that you and I have our lives controlled by that complex. We're programmed into it by being programmed into careers. Many are resisting careers, particularly in technological and scientific fields today, because they say all who go into those careers are being co-opted by the military-industrial

00:40:46.840 - 00:41:08.160

complex and programmed into careers which are designed to promote the military-industrial complex and to promote American imperialism overseas and to oppress the American people. the working people of America. Now, these are the words which are widely used,

00:41:08.160 - 00:41:19.160

and not without some degree of justification, because you see, it's within the nature of man that men oppress men. And if you can--

00:41:19.160 - 00:41:41.660

Men oppress men largely because they want to promote themselves. And you put others down because you want to be up. And if, you know, if a man can't find anything else, put a man down for you, put him down for this color of his skin. And you'll say, you know, people who have this color of skin, well, you know, they're not quite as good, and therefore they can all be below me.

00:41:41.660 - 00:42:15.340

And the same thing is true with respect to other characteristics also. And these students look at what American society produces and does and says, "The great resources of the earth are being poured into luxuries for a small minority of Americans." And Americans are a small minority of the total population of the world.

00:42:15.340 - 00:42:43.180

And there's a degree of altruism among the kids of America which, to say the least, is admirable. And with these things before them, and with frustrations which come out of the fact that we in America have finally achieved something in terms of affluence.

00:42:43.180 - 00:43:19.160

That is, as a nation, we have come to the point at which everybody in the society can live above a poverty level, if we allow it, and most of the people in the society can participate in some degree of affluence, that is, have some luxuries. And you look at that, And you look at the fact that people are striving for that and you say, "Wow, it doesn't satisfy."

00:43:19.160 - 00:43:44.480

And the kids of America are looking at their parents who have this, whether to a very small degree or to a large degree, and they say, "Man, my parents are digging for this. They spent their whole life digging for it, and what have they got?" Well, they got nothing that satisfies them inside because they're unhappy people.

00:43:44.480 - 00:44:01.860

Well, that's another aspect that gets to 'em. And then they look at the church. They look at us.

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And we ain't no different. And as we look like everybody else in almost every sense, we say we believe in God the Father. We believe in His Son Jesus.

00:44:21.680 - 00:44:35.820

We have received Him, we love Him, we serve Him. And then our lives demonstrate that we serve our own ends because we pour the energies of our lives into the same kinds of things

00:44:37.720 - 00:44:58.720

that the people of the world pour their energies into. And we have no more concern for the people around us than they do. Do we know Jesus? Do we know Him? Is His Spirit directing our lives?

00:44:58.720 - 00:45:27.720

Well, kids are inclined to say, "Upon the evidence, no." And if that's what it is, then they say, "Christianity is not real. There's no God. Jesus isn't in their hearts." And if people as wordy as they about it don't have Jesus in their hearts,

00:45:27.720 - 00:45:47.800

Then where is it? Well, you know, all these things and many others coupled together have led to the youth of America being very easily influenced by people who say, "This society must be destroyed before you're going to get one that's any good."

00:45:47.800 - 00:46:20.840

Yeah, man, they're going at it, and they're doing a pretty good job, and you're helping You're helping them, and the American establishment in general is helping pretty good. The way things are going, I don't think it will be very long before this nation will be pretty much of a second or third or fourth-rate nation, sunk into real depths.

00:46:20.840 - 00:46:57.440

unless there's a change. I'm going to talk a little bit about that change. I'm going to talk about some things that God's done among the youth that we see. I want to paint you now a picture of kids who are influenced by the very kinds of ideas and concepts and attitudes that I've been talking about.

00:46:57.440 - 00:47:18.720

I'm going to take a walk with you down Telegraph Avenue, and I'm very poor at descriptive language, so you're going to have to forgive me, because I just cannot get it together adequately enough to describe to you what I know about the youth of America and about the kids that I live and work with every day.

00:47:18.720 - 00:47:38.720

And somewhere along the line, you may have to forgive me if I cry, because these are kids that I love. You walk down Telegraph Avenue from about Haste Street to the University of California campus at Berkeley.

00:47:38.720 - 00:48:04.000

And it's a crowded street, you can hardly get through. And most of the kids are in old clothes and long stringy hair and not very clean and as Brother Hill said, sometimes the smell would almost drive you away. Because, you know, not only do the kids sleep on the street, but a lot of them sleep in

00:48:04.000 - 00:48:17.360

their own vomit. And there are a lot of kids who are in a really heavy drug thing that you find sitting on the curb somewhere holding their heads. It's a whole scene full of dogs.

00:48:17.360 - 00:48:26.680

Seems like if kids can't find other people who really care about them, they find a dog that cares about them. And all kinds of mongrels gathered around,

00:48:26.680 - 00:48:45.080

moving around, fighting. And the streets are a mess. And you hear kids, a little girl in an old field jacket and ragged pants and bare feet sitting in the corner.

00:48:45.080 - 00:48:58.520

She can't be over 14, 15 years old. She's saying, spare change, spare change. And next to her, a guy standing quietly whispering, lids, lids. Someone else, reds.

00:48:58.520 - 00:49:15.040

And this whole crowded thing is mixed with students in all forms of dress from the University of California. The radicals generally in their blue work shirts and their hiking boots and their Levi's

00:49:15.040 - 00:49:34.000

to identify themselves with the working classes of America. Up Telegraph Avenue, two or three guys will try to sell you the Berkeley Bar and the Berkeley Tribe, which are the two of the more prominent underground newspapers. Somebody will be handing out the Berkeley Monitor, which is another underground newspaper

00:49:34.000 - 00:49:48.000

in the youth scene. Somebody else is selling the Black Panther newspaper, and some chick's trying to peddle the San Francisco Good Times. These are the only newspapers which are read in the U.C. in Berkeley.

00:49:48.000 - 00:50:14.280

You can forget the establishment newspapers and almost forget the Daily California. And by the time you're approaching the campus, several different radical groups are laying laying their leaflets on you, their flyers, which tell about the latest cause that they're really laid into. A women's lib type is passing out notices of a women's lib meeting, women's

00:50:14.280 - 00:50:32.880

liberation. And you cross Bancroft Avenue on the University of California campus and there are about 17 more leafleters laying their leaflets on you. And people laying and sitting all around Sproul Plaza. If it happens to be 12 noon,

00:50:32.880 - 00:50:44.460

there's somebody at the microphone on the campus at Sproul Plaza, laying the latest trip on you. Generally, it's about four days a week these days

00:50:44.460 - 00:50:52.860

at some politico, they land a political trip on you, some radical thing. And the other day of the week, it's the Christian World Liberations Run

00:50:52.860 - 00:51:21.540

with the message of Jesus. maybe about 15 or 20 tables espousing causes of all kinds, you know, like everything from the Free Sex League through Women's Liberation through the Gay Liberation Front to the Radical Student Union, the, oh wow, you name it, they're all there. And you're not going to find a

00:51:21.540 - 00:51:47.620

And you're not going to find very many business suits. There are some professors who wear suits like yours and ties. And tourists, by and large, the students don't dress the way you do. The street people who are also prominent in that scene don't dress the way you do.

00:51:47.620 - 00:52:11.100

With respect to the vast majority of the youth of America, I'd say today most of them don't possess a suit and tie, and if they did have, they wouldn't wear it. And that, by the way, one of the things, you know, lots of people have said to me, "Well, you know, when do you have to dress like that?

00:52:11.100 - 00:52:29.940

Couldn't the people of the scene accept you if you wore a suit and tie and really looked nice and clean shaven? Couldn't you introduce people to Jesus if you looked like that? I suppose you could.

00:52:29.940 - 00:52:56.700

And I've seen people within that context, Christian brothers and sisters. I've seen Christian brothers going within that context in their suits and win acceptance from some people and have an opportunity to witness the sun. But you put yourself at a vast disadvantage when you identify yourself with an aspect

00:52:56.700 - 00:53:24.180

of society that the kids are already turned off to. And with respect to that, there are certain of the things that God has led us to in the Berkeley scene, which I think are extremely important in dealing with any element of any society with any culture anywhere.

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And a strange thing is that he laid this on our hearts and on our heads right about the time that he was calling us to Berkeley. And that's from 1 Corinthians chapter 9, what Paul said to these Corinthians concerning his behavior among the people that God called him to. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and beginning about

00:53:45.020 - 00:54:07.060

verse 20, Paul said these things, "When I'm with the Jews I see them as one of them, so that they'll listen to the gospel and I can win them to Christ. When I'm with Gentiles who follow Jewish customs and ceremonies, I don't argue, even though I don't agree, because I want to help them. When with a heathen, I agree with them as much as I

00:54:07.060 - 00:54:23.660

can, except of course that I must always do what's right as a Christian, and so by agreeing I can win their confidence and help them too. When I'm with those whose conscience has bothered them easily, I don't act as though I know it all and don't say they're foolish. The result is that they're willing to let me help them.

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Yes, whatever a person is like, I try to find common ground with him so that he'll let me tell him about Christ and let Christ save him. I do this to get the gospel to them and also for the blessing I myself receive when I see them come to Christ."

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And he adds, "In a race, everyone runs, but only one person gets first prize. So run your race to win." Well, that's what we went there to do, to run the race to win. We didn't run there to be great paragons of American society, the American establishment,

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and show ourselves to truly be identified with the "good people" of America. We went there to introduce people into God's forever family and let him make them the kind of people he wants them to be. We were instantly reminded of Hudson Taylor when he went to China.

00:55:22.200 - 00:55:36.640

When Hudson Tanner went to China, he didn't wear his business suit. He threw off his American clothes, put on Chinese clothes, and wore his hair like the Chinese did. And he couldn't grow a pigtail, so he got himself a false one.

00:55:36.640 - 00:55:54.160

If I couldn't grow a beard, maybe I'd get a false one. Don't try pulling in the thrill. But listen, God called us into a different culture from that of the straight American society.

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And because of that, we have sought to identify with the people of the youth culture where we are, in every way possible, remembering that we are Christians. We are God's people and we are governed by Him and His Word and not by anybody's societal standards.

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I think that this, by the way, is one of the things that has drawn us close to the people that we live and work with. identified with them has caused us to see lots of their problems, lots of their needs, and really learn to love them. And within that context at Berkeley, we went a year and

00:56:57.480 - 00:57:25.800

ago trusting that God would indeed use us to reach people for Christ. And he showed us some other things. And I'm going to lay these on before I get into specifics. He showed us this. He showed us the passages from the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus said to his close followers, "You're the season that makes

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the world tolerable to God. You're the light of the world. And it seemed to us that this meant, man, you need to be in the midst and really being Him to the people around you. And that's what we're called to be, is His people. You know, we are now all that the world sees of Him. And by His Spirit in us, He shows Jesus' life through us. If we'll

00:57:55.720 - 00:58:28.160

willing. And we really wanted to be available. And then in addition, we were struck by the passage in Matthew 25, in which Jesus gives instructions that man and his people really ought to be feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the ones who are sick and because the ones who are in prison.

00:58:28.160 - 00:59:00.160

So we opened up our hearts and our lives and our homes to the kids God called us to be in. And the third thing was that he showed us that the spiritual gifts and indeed all of our talents, skills, and abilities are meant

00:59:00.160 - 00:59:37.220

to be used in His work in the world, to be poured out to bring people into the family and build up the family, God's forever family. And man, have we been reminded over and over again of this fact. When we received Jesus, we became children, getting a relationship with God the Father. And we are members of a forever family. And we are together, and

00:59:37.220 - 01:00:09.200

we are together forever. You know, I'd like you to look around here among these people. at them. I don't care whether you like their looks or not. Trust God's Spirit to make you used to them because they are your brothers and sisters forever. And I wish I could bring some of our freaks from Berkeley and lay them before you and tell you these two are your

01:00:09.200 - 01:00:46.320

Your brothers and sisters forever now love them. You know, there are several things that are specific about what God called us to do and and could be within the context of the youth scene in America, which I think have their applications in the rest of cultural America as well.

01:00:46.320 - 01:01:06.880

As a matter of fact, they have their applications in your youth scene, first of all, directly. I'll tell you why. What we have seen with respect to the youth scene in Berkeley is a spreading thing. Right as we first went, and I tell people about those that we knew and worked with,

01:01:06.880 - 01:01:34.560

And about the ideas and attitudes in Berkeley, I'd get this, "Oh, well, that's just Berkeley. That's turnout here." I'm really glad we don't have that problem in our community. Well, this summer, by the invitation of a number of people, we've been in cities throughout the United States. And I'm here to tell you there are no more straight kids in America.

01:01:34.880 - 01:02:04.560

least very few. It isn't quite true there are no more straight kids in America, but listen, the tendency is there. And throughout conservative America, you find the same kinds that we have in Berkeley. And maybe if I have a chance, I'll tell you stories about kids who have come to Berkeley from other parts of the country.

01:02:04.560 - 01:02:24.960

Large numbers of those who are in our fellowship in Berkeley now are kids who came, who left their homes in other parts of the country to go to Berkeley and met Jesus Christ there. You know, I think particularly of a group of kids that resulted

01:02:24.960 - 01:02:40.920

from one fellow that we picked up off the streets of Berkeley last December, a young fellow from Wisconsin. We took him into our home. He became a Christian the first day we talked with him, and he didn't really have a place,

01:02:40.920 - 01:02:55.680

and he was just really eager to get into God's Word. My wife and I took him into our home, along with others. We had about a dozen guys living with us at the time. And this young fellow really grew and grace and knowledge of Jesus.

01:02:55.680 - 01:03:15.120

Pretty soon he started writing letters back to his friends, back in his old home. Guys he used to do dope with, you know, and guys who did a little dealing with him here and there. Pretty soon we were finding kids from Wisconsin coming out by the numbers.

01:03:15.120 - 01:03:32.800

And we've got one house in Oakland we call Agape House, which is full of kids from Wisconsin and Minnesota now. as a result of this young fellow and his evangelizing among his old friends back in Wisconsin. As a matter of fact, there are three of them back in Wisconsin right now who are beginning

01:03:32.800 - 01:03:47.520

to work there. Well, you know, what has led to this kind of a thing in Berkeley? Well, the general concepts that I laid down from the Scriptures led to specifics on our part.

01:03:47.520 - 01:04:13.260

Among the specifics were these. We really soon learned that literature had to be a big thing among us. I told you about the literature in the Berkeley scene. From the very first, what we really wanted to have was a Christian underground newspaper. We wanted a Christian underground newspaper in the worst way because we saw the impact of the underground newspapers

01:04:13.260 - 01:04:28.300

in the youth scene there. Well, we didn't have the money to do that right off, or the people. But the leaflets, the flyer kind of thing, we saw we could use. And what we saw was this.

01:04:28.300 - 01:04:56.780

In the secular youth scene, the kids are pouring out their skills, their talents, and abilities into literature, which is getting out into the sea in a context, in a language that the youth dig, are pouring out their skills, their talents and abilities into literature,

01:05:05.900 - 01:05:27.900

which is getting out into the sea in a context, in a language that the youth dig. And so we knew that we had to have Christian literature geared to the kids in their language at a Black Panther rally in San Francisco. This was a free Huey Newton rally.

01:05:27.900 - 01:05:49.420

Now I want you to get the picture. The only Christians at that particular rally, The only Christians who were willing to go at that time was Pat Metriciana and myself. Here's this Italian fellow and me, and we're at a Black Panther rally, a free Huey Newton

01:05:49.420 - 01:06:22.620

rally among all the militants, and we're passing out a leaflet about Jesus. We were scared, but that taught us a lesson. Man, you know, I have never been scared since then, because I learned something about trusting God's Spirit.

01:06:22.620 - 01:06:42.860

In our next leaflet, we did a series of leaflets during that people's fire castle there a year and man leaflets, since then we've distributed a million, over a million leaflets. And these have had a fantastic impact because they've helped to set the stage and the scene to show that there are kids, there are people who are writing in the language of the youth culture

01:06:42.860 - 01:07:03.260

who believe that Jesus is real. And we have learned not only to write them within that context in the sense of the language language and the format, but also to take the situation and take people from where their heads are with respect to a given situation to Jesus.

01:07:03.260 - 01:07:24.060

And if a thing, you know, if it's a war rally, we start talking about war and go from there to Jesus. And that sort of thing has been true with respect to our literature overall, and God God has blessed it.

01:07:24.060 - 01:07:33.460

And then the newspaper. Well, a year ago in July, we were able to get together the first issue of our Christian Underground newspaper. Now, two guys did it.

01:07:33.460 - 01:07:40.640

Another fellow and I wrote every article, put the whole thing together. I had never done a newspaper before, and when we got through, I said,

01:07:40.640 - 01:07:49.680

"If that's the way it's gonna be, "and if we don't get more help, "our newspaper is not gonna be a periodical, "it's gonna be a sporadical."

01:07:49.680 - 01:08:07.700

And you know something? That newspaper had such an impact in the youth scene in Berkeley that we were immediately convinced that it had to become periodical. And kids began to write.

01:08:07.700 - 01:08:32.620

Kids who became Christians in the youth scene. Kids who were using their talents, the talents that God had given them, and their gifts for his work. And I haven't written a single article for the last two issues of our newspaper. God has really given us kids who are doing it—doing the artwork, the cartoons, the

01:08:32.620 - 01:08:50.800

writing, the makeup, and so forth. All that we don't have with respect to us is the money to get it out. All that we ever wait for is enough money. And right now, we've been waiting about four weeks to get out our next issue because, you know, the money hasn't come in yet.

01:08:50.800 - 01:09:07.120

When it comes in, we always get it out. And, uh, that's, you know, that's sort of the way it goes. And you know how that goes. But, uh, in addition to that, he taught us other things about literature.

01:09:07.120 - 01:09:17.240

We, we knew that we had to get the scriptures in the language of the people. Right on. You know, the New Testament was written in the language of the people. Greek was what was used by the Apostle Paul.

01:09:17.240 - 01:09:41.520

So we've been paraphrasing New Testament letters in street English, calling them letters to the street Christians. And God has used those. And we've done a people's medical handbook because the street people needed help with respect to nutrition and first aid and their use of drugs. And that people's medical handbook

01:09:41.520 - 01:10:08.760

has gone all over the country in the youth scene. It got listed in the Whole Earth Catalog, which is a sort of a hip scene catalog, and it's been requested by kids not just in this country, but all over the world. And then we saw, and these were parallel lines of development, they didn't come in any serial order, but we also saw that the kids who were coming

01:10:09.280 - 01:10:22.560

to know Christ really needed a Christian family atmosphere, lots of them. Particularly those who were coming to know Christ off the street scene or out of the radical context. And we had kids who were coming to know Christ who were in a heavy drug house or on the street

01:10:22.560 - 01:10:35.680

or who were in a heavy radical house who needed to get out of the atmosphere they were in and into a Christian family atmosphere. And last summer, my wife and I started taking guys into our house. Now, we have four children and we have a pretty good-sized house, but by December, we had

01:10:35.680 - 01:10:54.800

a dozen guys living with us. I want to tell you something, in addition to the 18 or so of us who were in the house. At dinner, we never knew how many there would be. We still never knew how many we were going to have for dinner.

01:10:54.800 - 01:11:17.240

And I want you to know that I believe that eating together is extremely important. And for non-Christians and for baby Christians to come and eat with you is one of the most important things you can do. That opening up of the most intimate part of your lives as Christian brothers and sisters

01:11:17.240 - 01:11:36.120

is really important to others. And we saw it building up, new brothers and sisters, and we saw it used to draw people into God's family. Now we got three Christian houses in Berkeley and one in Oakland.

01:11:36.120 - 01:12:13.680

And kids are living there, growing in faith, working. And we have seen a number of those who spent time with us there go to other cities to be used by Him there. And then God showed us a little bit about getting together as brothers and sisters. You know, it's really important as brothers and sisters that we get together to really,

01:12:19.240 - 01:12:32.280

Praise God together, get to know each other, and share together. And we decided after we went to Berkeley that those of us who went, the six adults of us who went,

01:12:32.280 - 01:12:44.640

would get together one night a week. We said, well, we'll get together one night a week. And we decided on doing it at the Sparks house. And the first Monday night in April, a year ago,

01:12:44.640 - 01:12:55.000

there were six of us. And we told kids that we talked to on the street and on the campus and throughout the youth scene, here we are.

01:12:55.000 - 01:13:09.840

On Monday nights we get together, come and be with us. And you know, I saw that grow 15, 40, 75, 100, 175. The last Monday night that we held it in my home, that was before we left, we lost the home

01:13:09.840 - 01:13:22.540

because the neighbors didn't dig that kind of people coming around. By that time, we'd been taking all the furniture out of the living room and dining room. We were sitting on the floor, packed.

01:13:22.540 - 01:13:42.540

Living room, dining room, up the hall, up the stairway, about me, all along one side of the house. That was packed. And on the other side of the house, standing outside the window, looking in, were others. And that's how much these freaky-looking kids in the youth scene in Berkeley,

01:13:42.540 - 01:13:50.220

who have come to know Jesus, done on being together. 'Cause our Monday night meeting is no great leader-led thing

01:13:50.220 - 01:14:04.020

with a great spiritual giant at the front, but just the brothers and sisters together, sharing over God's word, sharing our needs and God's work in our lives,

01:14:04.020 - 01:14:39.860

singing together songs that you don't know, mostly, and talking with the Father. And we now have meetings five nights a week in Berkeley in that youth context. Now listen, the same thing has got to happen in your communities.

01:14:39.860 - 01:14:53.420

I don't want to hurt you, but I want to tell you that the kids are not going to come into your churches. They just look at your churches as, that is, they're not going to come in in great masses. You know, some will come.

01:14:53.420 - 01:15:11.140

And you know, you can call me a liar by saying, "Well, we've got some who come." You know, like you can say, "Well, we've got 200 kids who come to our church every Sunday night." Maybe you do, but take a look at that compared to the size of the youth population.

01:15:11.140 - 01:15:30.180

What I'm saying is that the kids are not going to come to your church in great masses. They're just not going to do it. Now, they may do it after they have come to know Jesus and really gotten into the relationship with the Father, you know, really gotten into the relationship with Him.

01:15:30.180 - 01:15:49.280

And they're not going to come here. They don't and they're not. They identify this and the whole formal atmosphere and the formal dress with an American establishment which they don't dig.

01:15:49.280 - 01:16:10.040

Now you can regret that, but it's really beside the point. We're not called to make them like anything. were called to introduce people to the Savior and teach him about the relationship with him, help him grow in the relationship with him and with the brothers and sisters.

01:16:10.040 - 01:16:28.320

And he'll take care of the other things. So men, go out where the people are. And there are those among you who are going to be called to the youth scene in America. You're going to be called to the kids.

01:16:28.320 - 01:16:50.520

And you're going to be meeting in places other than the church. And it's going to be part of the church. The church as a building and the church as a family are two different things. You know, like our people in Berkeley who are members of the Forever Family there.

01:16:50.520 - 01:17:15.360

They're just as much people of the church as you are. Well, what's going to happen is this. As God calls you and you really respond, then you're going to begin to see build up among you groups of this kind.

01:17:15.360 - 01:17:41.720

And building them up, of course, means getting them into the action. There ain't no way that you're going to build up people in the relationship with the Father and their knowledge of Him without getting them into the action. That is, I mean directly involving them in the harvest, in being used by God's Spirit

01:17:41.720 - 01:18:08.640

to introduce other people into His forever family. The reason is that every Christian has got a real desire, whether he knows it or not, a hunger, an ache to see others come into the family, to see others be introduced to the Father, to know Him.

01:18:08.640 - 01:18:28.340

It's a desire which is put there by God's Spirit in you. And lots of Christians try to fill that desire with other things, but they don't satisfy. And you're always digging away at something until you're taking part in the harvest. Well, these new brothers and sisters have to be involved.

01:18:28.340 - 01:18:55.020

You need to be showing them how to pour their skills, talents, abilities, and spiritual gifts into the work of bringing people into the family and building them up. I've said this and I think it's really true, that as Christians in America, we have sold the first fruits of our skills, talents, and abilities to the highest bidders.

01:18:55.020 - 01:19:20.180

That is, for money. And it's time we stopped doing that, pour out the first fruits of all of ourselves into of the father's business and sold whatever we got left for money. And that's where it is. You know, we've got, for example, among our kids in Berkeley, some

01:19:20.180 - 01:19:48.180

artists. I mean, these kids are fantastic artists. They've established a Christian Revolutionary Art Center. And they're pouring their art abilities into producing art work for the using artwork for evangelizing and for building the brothers and sisters together. They do posters. They've got a "God is Love" poster that's really the best poster of any

01:19:48.180 - 01:20:09.460

kind I've ever seen anywhere. Just before I left, I looked at one of the posters which one of the artists has done, which I think has a fantastic message. It shows a little guy all scrunched up with a big rock on his head. And the caption says, "Heavy? Jesus is light." And they do buttons

01:20:09.460 - 01:20:28.540

and bumper stickers. And you may have seen that my shirt has a stencil on the back of it. Yesterday I was wearing one that had the "One Way" sign stencilled on the back. Today I've got one that has a "Jesus the Liberator" stencil on the back. Well, you know, they do this sort of thing. These kids are learning to use their talents. These artists are using

01:20:28.540 - 01:21:04.780

their talents also in cartoons for our newspaper and for other publications. What I'm saying is, get the kids to see that they don't have to conform to somebody else's image of what is the right way to minister, but to trust God and His Word and His Spirit to lead them to do what He wants done.

01:21:04.780 - 01:21:22.920

And we don't want to tie our kids to a culture that may be dying. But we want to tie them to the Savior who lives forever.

01:21:22.920 - 01:21:48.920

I want you to know something else. And that is, when you really begin to get involved in the lives of people, it hurts. Now that may not be new to you. We have never been so involved in the lives of people.

01:21:48.920 - 01:22:06.720

lives of people, as we have become involved in the lives of the kids that we work with in the youth scene. You know, every day is a disaster in Berkeley, and it really is. It's a disaster in the life of some kid, and we work with kids who have been heavy in the

01:22:06.720 - 01:22:25.880

drugs, and you know, some who are miraculously delivered, and some who really have a tough time unloading it. You know, and you got to be willing to take a kid who receives Christ and hasn't learned to trust Him yet with everything, and who stumbles, you know, and you pick him up and

01:22:25.880 - 01:22:52.120

you wipe him off and you set him back on the track again. And you get into the complicated things of people's lives, where it's impossible by human wisdom to dig out solutions. And you love it. One of the things that's been said about the group that we built up in Berkeley

01:22:52.120 - 01:23:16.640

that's important, and it's not our building. God's Spirit has done it and I don't know. I do not understand how it has happened to happen among these kids. But it's said about them in the Berkeley scene, they love one another. You know, a reporter from one of the underground newspapers was sent to expose once and for

01:23:16.640 - 01:23:34.500

all the Christian World Liberation Front for the rightest supported organization that it undoubtedly was. And he came to one of our Monday night meetings. He came, he talked to our kids everywhere.

01:23:34.500 - 01:23:45.980

He sat through a Monday night meeting, and when he got through, he wrote his article. And in his article, he was bound by his commission to be suspicious of us.

01:23:45.980 - 01:23:55.120

He says, "Well, you know, I don't know "where they get their money. "They must get it from H.L. Hunt and the FBI." But he said, "The movement dare not

01:23:55.120 - 01:24:12.700

"come out against these people, because they are people who are moved to tears in prayer. And they pass a hat out of which anybody can take money that wants to. That, by the way, is a common feature at a Monday night meeting.

01:24:12.700 - 01:24:28.700

We pass a hat and we say, "If you got money to spare, put it in. But if you need money, take it out." There's never any money left at the end. But this guy was so impressed that twice in his article he mentioned that.

01:24:28.700 - 01:25:14.500

And he said, "They really do care, and the street people know they love." Well, I've rambled, and in addition to rambling I haven't even begun to tell you the story that I need to tell about that which must be done to give you the privilege of introducing the youth of America into God's first family.

01:25:14.500 - 01:25:59.700

But I want you to take to heart Paul's passage from 1 Corinthians 9 and really let him use that to stimulate your ingenuity in ordering your life and witness amongst the people of different cultures that he calls you to. I'm just going to close with an illustration which will show you the complications of life

01:25:59.700 - 01:26:35.080

that we sometimes get into when we really get into the lives of people. About this time a year ago, a young fellow was an army officer stationed in Germany. His wife, living in New York City, left home to go live in a commune in Berkeley. And she, their marriage hadn't been all successful and she was kind of digging on a sort of a

01:26:35.080 - 01:26:57.760

you know, hip scene sort of deal. She got into a commune in Berkeley. She got to know a young fellow who was living in a ranch communal setting outside of Berkeley, fellow who dropped out of the University of California Law School to join that

01:26:57.760 - 01:27:21.900

commune. He was heavy into Eastern meditational religions and all this kind of thing. They got to know each other real well. And then one day, this guy was walking down the street, and one of our brothers talked to him about Jesus. And you know, no big thing. Didn't get into a heavy philosophical discussion. Didn't

01:27:21.900 - 01:27:40.900

shoot down all of his philosophical hangouts or all of his meditational ideas, just briefly talk to him about a personal relationship with Jesus the Messiah. And the seed was planted, and Brooks began thanking. Well, by this time, he and Debbie were living together in this commune in Berkeley that

01:27:40.900 - 01:27:54.900

she was in. And he got to read the Bible, and he received Christ. And he was so happy about this new relationship with Jesus that he shared it with Debbie. And they had a problem.

01:27:54.900 - 01:28:18.900

Because she received Christ and, wow, they began to see that there were problems about their relationship. Well, their problems became multiplied. Because her husband, John, about that time, was released from the army and he came west looking for his wife. And he found them.

01:28:18.900 - 01:28:44.900

And they introduced him to Jesus. Now they really had a problem. And it was along about this time that they came and started talking to me about what they were going to do about the mixed up condition of their lives. Well, this wasn't the whole of the thing.

01:28:44.900 - 01:29:05.020

Brooks had had a wife with a little baby girl from whom he was divorced, but the three of them were concerned about Jill and the little baby Crystal. They wanted her to know Jesus, so they started taking her everywhere, and lo and behold, Jill received Christ.

01:29:05.020 - 01:29:17.020

Now that's a complication, the poor one. And you know, we can say, "Well, you know, the Scriptures say that's impossible." Now that's a complication, the poor one. And you know, we can say, "Well, you know, the Scriptures say thus and so, go and do this."

01:29:17.020 - 01:29:30.020

It's not that simple. You know, God deals with individual hearts. God works with people. He has His rule for our lives.

01:29:30.020 - 01:29:56.380

And we must deal with these complications in terms of the way in which his spirit does. We counsel for hours, and God began to show them slowly how he wanted to work it out. And it's been worked out, but it's no immediate thing. And you're going to wrap yourselves in the lives of people.

01:29:56.380 - 01:30:16.380

If you're really going to be those who are participating in the harvest, then you're going to have times when you ache for people, when you cry with them and agonize with them, because you love them. Yes.

01:30:16.380 - 01:30:55.500

Father, I really thank you for these brothers and sisters. And I thank you for the privilege of sharing with them the way in which you've led us. And I pray that you'll be teaching them the way in which they should direct and order their lives under the guidance of your Spirit to be harvesters, those who are being used

01:30:55.500 - 01:31:15.820

by your Spirit to draw men and women into your forever family. Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. [ Inaudible ]

01:31:15.820 - 01:31:48.760

>> I am very grateful to call Jack Sparks my friend and my brother. I want to say just another word about him and then we'll be through, and I think I should say it. Here, I went to Berkeley about three months ago, and I was trying to find him on Telegraph Street.

01:31:48.760 - 01:32:04.560

And to be very frank with you, I got scared stiff. And I left there without finding him. Because I had all the food, and as I would walk from block to block, I was just totally afraid.

01:32:04.560 - 01:32:17.800

And I hurried and got out of Berkeley and telegraphed. And then something struck me. And that is there are all of these thousands of people and I'm a call preacher.

01:32:17.800 - 01:32:31.280

And I was even afraid to walk among them. And Jack ministers among them free. The other thing that I'd like to ask some of you here, when have you been witnessing lately

01:32:31.280 - 01:32:47.960

had a black panther out. [LAUGHTER] And yet-- and I would be supposed to be more accepted more than Jack.

01:32:47.960 - 01:33:01.960

And yet, there is a man who is a part of the group that fearlessly, if it's the right or the left, they don't care if it's the right wing or the left wing, because they said both wings are flopping off the same bird.

01:33:01.960 - 01:33:22.320

[LAUGHTER] And the thing that humbles me even more is here is a man with a PhD, professorship at Pennsylvania State, who could be making $20,000 plus.

01:33:22.320 - 01:33:40.200

And I happen to know, personally, that there are times that in his home with his wife, if there's bread and butter, they're happy. For he has given up his whole earnings to serve the Lord.

01:33:40.200 - 01:33:59.160

This movement has no conventional appropriation, no foundational underwriting, no great church contribution. They pray and earnestly await upon the manger. So while we eat our steaks and our prime rib and keep on eating them,

01:33:59.160 - 01:34:18.520

but just cut the slices thin enough to include Brooks Fox. For he is our brother beloved. Now some of you who think that this will not touch you, it may take your daughter to bring you to Jack's farm.

01:34:18.520 - 01:34:39.800

Because there are many, many high pollutant, stuffed people, wealthy people who have to use Jack's farms to find their children in Berkeley. >> Yes. >> And so I think that men like, and here's one of the things that bugs me, and that's one of his words.

01:34:41.560 - 01:35:01.960

And that is when I think about the millions of dollars that's available to the radical destructionists. >> Yes, sir. >> When I think about the thousands of dollars, and I know where I speak, that's going into the program of the left. And then when I see a boy like, stand again, James.

01:35:01.960 - 01:35:19.080

James, who's trying to reach the black militants for price, who's a former member of the Black Panther Party himself, and Dr. Sparks who's trying to reach the radical left, and they can hardly find bread to eat.

01:35:19.080 - 01:35:31.460

It makes me really consider. (audience chattering) And another thing, and I'm through, Jack Sparks is staying at the hotel where I'm staying,

01:35:31.460 - 01:35:42.540

and I had to get up here in the morning at 6.30 in order to go down and meet James Weston so they would permit him to come on into the hotel, so they wouldn't think he was breaking no dynamite in.

01:35:42.540 - 01:35:58.660

(audience laughing) And I don't believe Jack has found a cafe to serve him yet. I walk in freely, but here is a man whose ministry makes me look like I'm doing nothing.

01:35:58.660 - 01:36:12.460

And he can't find a place to eat. because he doesn't appear to be with the Lord. >> Good God. >> So we have some serious reasons to pray.

01:36:12.460 - 01:36:16.220

>> Yes. (electronic whooshing)