fulness
Greetings in the name of the Most High God, El-Elyon na Adonai. Hallelujah, Jesus Christ is LORD, “and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).
Having just returned to North Carolina after a long, long journey, a word comes to mind as I consider all that has recently taken place and look forward to the year ahead: FULNESS. FULNESS is the measure of my joy and gladness as I reflect upon the 10,000 miles of driving, the public preaching of the Gospel that took place on 22 college campuses, in 25 cities, and at Hoover Dam; and the sweet fellowship that FPGM enjoyed with other faithful brethren called to “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression” (Isaiah 58:1). All of this began back on October 29th and came to a bittersweet conclusion on the streets of Hickory, NC this past weekend. Thanks for your prayers as we traveled and proclaimed the Gospel of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amidst all the preaching, there were 22 “run-ins” with law enforcement. Some officers were honorable, some were vile tyrants, and many, I am sad to admit, were woefully ignorant of the law. Yet, by God’s grace, there were no formal arrests, and two brothers that had been detained (one in Santa Fe, New Mexico and the other in Eugene, Oregon) were eventually released. The Constitution of the United States won out (at least for now), the Word of God went forth with free course, and FULNESS thereby describes my gratitude to Almighty God. Thanks to Michael Marcavage of Repent America (www.repentamerica.com) for his legal advisement and tireless aid offered in many of these run-ins. Mr. Marcavage’s ministry has proved itself a real blessing going all the way back to this year’s Oktoberfest in Hickory, North Carolina. Interestingly, a ruling handed down by the 3rd Circuit Federal Court of Appeals on June 16th in United States v. Marcavage proved useful as it allowed us to preached the Gospel on the public sidewalks at Hoover Dam. Several years ago, I tried to jog down those sidewalks with a Christian flag and was apprehended by the police. They put me in a squad car and escorted me off the scene. This time, they tried the same as we walked down the sidewalk singing praises and preaching with Scripture signs. We refused to capitulate citing United States v. Marcavage; the police backed off; end of story.
FULNESS also characterizes the measure of spiritual fruit from our Out West Campus Preaching Tour. Thousands of Gospel tracts were distributed; the preaching produced countless fruitful conversations; many that didn’t own a Bible received one; fellow believers were enjoined and encouraged unto boldness in evangelism; faithful evangelists were exhorted and sharpened by each other’s words and ensamples; local church bodies were edified and often joined in the work; a brother was baptized in Lake Mead outside Las Vegas; and entire communities were upbraided with truth in these ominously dark days.
Anticipation regarding our needful return to Nepal has reached a level of FULNESS that will only find relief when our feet touch the ground in Kathmandu. Please pray for us as my family and I make preparation in the coming weeks. Lord willing, I will be heading over the first part of February to travel with Bishnu, FPGM’s Nepali National Partner, to a very remote part of Nepal’s West for 2-3 weeks. We have been trying to plant a church in this district where there are only a small handful of believers. Upon returning to Kathmandu, I hope to find a place to live and then bring my family over. We will stay as long as the Lord allows. Please pray that the Lord provides a place for us to reside; I have had feelers out for awhile with no real returns. Also, by the way, I had been requesting prayer regarding Bishnu’s support level in previous posts. This had taken a plunge months ago as a result of his spiritual integrity and loyalty to FPGM. All praise to the LORD, for He recently made up enough to cover the difference for the next 10 months! Notwithstanding, please continue to lift up Bishnu and his family. As we have been busy here on the college campuses, he has been busy preaching the Gospel in Nepal. A short time ago, he and another brother preached openly and distributed many Project Jagerna Scripture portions at a huge religious festival near the birthplace of Buddha. In fact, so much literature distribution has taken place of late that we had to forward the funds last week to print 10,000 more Nepali Gospels of John and 10,000 more tracts. Since 2008, more than 160,000 Project Jagerna Scripture portions and almost 70,000 Gospel tracts have been printed; and more than 90% of these have been freely distributed to Nepali-speaking peoples all over South Asia and in other locales around the world. Interestingly, I actually ran into some Nepali-speaking people on my recent preaching tour. A Sherpa family in Crested Butte, Colorado and a couple of young men in Denver heard the Gospel and received the Scriptures in their language. May the Word not return void in these lives.
With regard to our labor in Nepal pray for FULNESS in terms of provision. At the current rate of distribution, we will soon need more printing funds (see PROJECT JAGERNA for more information). With regard to local transportation for us and Bishnu’s family, we are praying for another motorcycle. FPGM’s current one, I fear, has reached the end of its life. Finally, travel expenses associated with getting me and my family to Nepal will be exorbitant. The Lord will have to provide between now and February if we are to go. The cost of gas on the recent preaching tour actually ate into a bit of our plane ticket money. Nevertheless, I rejoice:
As Ken Fleck and I were preparing to leave Boise, Idaho and make the long drive back to North Carolina, faced with rising gas prices, a Romanian believer we had met on the campus of Boise State invited us over for Sunday lunch. This brother and his precious siblings fed us and compelled us to visit their church that evening. Of course, such delayed our travel until the next morning. Yet, the Lord was in this. That night, each of us preached, and that precious fellowship gave of their finances to aid us in our journey. That money was just enough to cover gas expenses all the way back to my house and for Ken’s subsequent trip back home to Michigan. In fact, I rolled into my driveway with a quarter of a tank remaining. The Lord never guides where He does not provide. There is FULNESS in His paths.
Another FULNESS, my friends, is concerning; and of it I must speak: a nauseating FULNESS in my spirit much like one feels in his gut after finishing off a fried seafood platter at the beach on a 100-degree summer afternoon. Yes, the recent journey was fruitful; yes, the preaching was a blessing; yes, the Word of God went forth in boldness and with power; yet, my spirit is nauseatingly full of America and fed up with her: her boasting in her sins (Isaiah 3:9), the vile and wicked men and women in her halls of government (Psalm 12:8), the apostasy in her pulpits (Jeremiah 6:13-15), her law enforcement that promotes evil instead of restraining it (Romans 13:3-4), the foolishness of her foolish citizens who think freedom comes from the military instead of the hand of Almighty God (Psalm 20:7), her “yeah, but . . .” churchgoers that act as enemies of the Bible and the preaching of the cross (John 16:2-3), and the rampant hatred of the biblical Gospel that infests her big cities, her small towns, and her university campuses (Psalm 9:17).
Like Thomas Jefferson, I am nauseatingly full and fearful: “I fear for my country when I reflect that God is just, and His justice does not sleep forever.” God Save the United States! Two days ago, I went up to the public sidewalk that abuts a local shopping center to proclaim Jesus the Christ to Christmas consumers consumed with consumerism. The apathy was astounding, and I left weeping as my mind at once flooded with disturbing images from the past couple of months:
A policewoman in Kearney, Nebraska telling us “Don’t you ever come back to this town” simply because we had shared the Gospel with a few outside a local bar
Mockers dressed in KKK outfits and preaching a spaghetti-monster god at the University of Wyoming
The presence of that vile, iniquitous, pro-abortion (i.e. pro-murder) U.S. Senator Bennett with his arrogant demeanor in the very plaza where we preached at the University of Colorado on Election Day
Countless F-bombs and blasphemies from the mouths of self-professed “Christians”
A man in Cheyenne, after merely being offered a Gospel tract, responds by slapping at the preacher’s face and threatening his life
Students tearing up Gospel booklets and burning Bibles at the University of New Mexico
Tyrannical police in Santa Fe who claimed that offensive speech (e.g. calling homosexuality a sin) is not protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
Handmade signs held aloft by students at Western State University that read: “I Love Weed and Porn,” “Trust Humanity,” and “Jesus Never Judged”
Blatant porn all over the streets of Las Vegas
Cheers and Ayes from college students when asked, “How many of you would sell your souls for fornication?”
Mobs of sodomites in San Francisco’s Castro District cursing God and glorifying their vile affections
Street people in Berkeley spitting on the preacher, splashing gutter water in his face, tearing up his microphone, and stealing a case full of Gospel materials
Market vendors in Portland, Oregon hiring homeless people to beat on five-gallon buckets to drown out the preaching of the cross
Laughter from police officers when a street preacher is threatened with violence
Boise State football fans responding to the preaching of the Gospel by shouting “Boise State football is our god!”
Death threats in response to the preacher proclaiming “Freedom doesn’t come from the military; it comes from the hand of God” (i.e. in agreement with President James Madison, author of the U.S. Constitution)
A faithful preacher doused with beer by hate-filled onlookers
Being told by a church staff-person at Rhema Bible Church that “This is not a time for preaching the Gospel; we are trying to reach out to the community” and then being kicked off the property for distributing tracts and holding a sign that said “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all Sin" at a free public-access Christmas lights event
Students trying to stir up racial strife at Sacramento State University in response to the preaching of the Cross
Corrupt police in Hickory, North Carolina profiling street preachers, videotaping their evangelism for close to an hour, and standing idly by as threats were made against their lives
Representatives from so-called campus “Christian” ministries shouting over and openly praying against the preaching of the Gospel
Christian opposition that usually began with “I agree with what you are saying but not how you are saying it” and more often than not culminated with “You can’t believe the Bible; it’s just a manmade book” . . .
. . . And therein, my friends lies the problem with this once great nation lately become a spiritual Babylon, an immoral Sodom, and a tyrannical Egypt: The Bible is no longer the authority in the church, and it is therefore blasphemed in the street. Andrew Jackson, a great American General and our 7th President, once said in reference to the Holy Scriptures: “That book, Sir, is the Rock upon which our republic rests.” Alas, ‘tis forgotten and no longer so. God Save the United States!
Yes, I walked away from that shopping center with the above images forefront in my mind. Momentarily, I despaired and determined: “I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name” (Jeremiah 17:9).
BUT . . .
“His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary of forbearing, and I could not stay” (Jeremiah 17:9).
In a day when the Communist Party in America is known by two names (Democrat & Republican) and a despicable Senate sells out the American people and the free peoples of Eastern Europe to Russia before those elitist pigs go home for Christmas, all I know to do is to keep preaching. And, like Esther the Queen said, “if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). “Yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel” (II Corinthians 9:16). They can take away our freedom; they can take away our lives; but they cannot take away the ultimate FULNESS:
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).
Praise be unto God for His unspeakable gift!
Be it known, however, unto all this Christmas, especially the arrogant God-haters of America: That same Jesus who was born in a humble manger will come again to judge the world in righteousness:
“Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (Jude 15).
Fellow-believers, keep an eye on the eastern sky. May our redemption be today.
Before signing off, let me praise God for all the faithful street witnesses, fellow Americans, the Lord seems to be raising up around this nation, even amidst gross darkness. Fellowship and partnership with many of you over the past year has been a priceless blessing.
Below, I have posted some video footage from the campuses and the streets. May the Lord be glorified and fellow believers be edified thereby.
Merry CHRISTmas and a God-honoring New Year to you all!
Jesse Boyd, President Full Proof Gospel Ministries