I want you to turn in your Bibles tonight to the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 6, and deal with just a bit of what I think might be the distinction, if there is a strong enough, that may be too strong a word, but between a missionary and a pastor, or a missionary and an evangelist, you know, we tend to categorize. Well, that guy's a pastor, this guy is an evangelist, and this guy's a missionary. And sometimes we think, well, you know, the evangelist is the guy that gets to travel and makes all the money. And I only say that because I know it's not the pastor. The pastor is the guy that stays at home and takes care of all the problems of people and helps them raise their kid, bails them out of jail when they don't do well. And then the missionary is probably the one who has the least intelligence. Amen? I'm not saying that to be cruel. I just tend to think, and you're looking at me like I'm crazy. If you thought of such a wonderful thing, you'd have gone too. You know? I mean, did anybody feel the call to go to, you know, Muslim country tonight? I'm back there saying, thank you, God. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, that you called me to Toledo. Toledo wasn't such a good idea when they called me there. We've argued about that quite a bit. But I'm thankful that God didn't call me. I don't know whether I have what it would take. Can I just be honest with you? I don't know that I have what it takes. And when I say that, I think sometimes we do a disservice to those that God has led to the mission field, and particularly when we are what the average Christian would have to classify themselves of as one of those who pray when things are inside and in our minds and when you're out of sight and out of mind we don't do much praying and boy how can you go away knowing somebody's going to that place and not spend some time in prayer for what they will face on a daily basis. And so let me encourage you, if nothing else this week, learn to have a heart for those that God has led to a faraway place. I want to talk a little bit tonight about a call and talk to you, if I can, for a few moments. David Livingston said, if a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a heavenly king be considered a sacrifice? And sometimes I think we look at the mission field as, well, God has called me to sacrifice my life, or even as a church member, God's called me to sacrifice some of my hard-earned money, but we don't put missions in its proper priority. I said to you last night, God gave the disciples instructions, go. into all the world and preach the gospel to him as he was closing out the ministry on this earth for that period of time as he was leaving to go back to the Father. He delegated those disciples with the most important job he felt was to be done and that was to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Someone asked Charles Haddon Spurgeon what was going to happen and will the heathen who've never heard the gospel ever be saved? And Spurgeon pondered for a moment and he answered that question by saying, it's more of a question to me whether we who have the gospel and fail to give it to those who have never heard can be saved. Sometimes there's a pretty profound thought in that as we look at those dismal places and realize that very often the reason we are not going is because we can give a thousand reasons why I should stay here and help. Aren't you glad God allowed you to stay here and help? I am. I'm a chicken. I'm a coward. I just want to admit it. And I'm grateful the Lord allowed me to stay on this side. And I've had the privilege of preaching. I think I was counting this afternoon in eight different countries in the course of my ministry. But you realize I always had somebody holding me by the hand when I was there and taking me to the nice spots. And when somebody comes to visit us in Toledo, we try to take them to the two, three spots that will stick in your mind, and we dare not take them to all those other places that are just normal for people who live in Toledo. I think that's probably the same way in other countries. We've been there, we've seen the highlights, we've seen all the exciting things that are pictured in the magazines, and we come home if we're not careful with a real slanted view. of, boy, you know, God could call me here. Well, you probably feel a little differently when he did call you. I asked a missionary one time who'd spent a number of years in New Guinea, and I said to him, what is the thing that stands out to you more than anything about the country of New Guinea? And he said, the stench. He said, no matter where you are in New Guinea, when you fly an airplane and land at the modern airport there in New Guinea, when you step out, they don't have the little towers that come out, you walk down the steps. He said, when you step out of that airplane, you will smell a smell that you will never forget the rest of your life. And it's predominant in the whole country. Just a thought. Isaiah chapter six, verse number one, in the year, that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims, each one had six wings, With Twain, he covered his face, and with Twain, he covered his feet, and with Twain, he did fly. I wish I could comment on that, but I have no idea what these creatures are for and what they... I mean, I know what they do occasionally, but they're just kind of weird. Amen? The Lord had a purpose. That's why he made skunks and other things as well. They're all just kind of weird. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? who will go for us? Then said I, here am I, send me. We love those words, they're very often remembered and recited. We use them in far different contexts than that of Isaiah at this point. We use them usually in happy places and in happy times and in happy opportunities. the things that we get to do that we enjoy. You know, if I said today, who's ready to go to, you know, down yonder to what is the place down there, Disney World, we'd probably all say, here am I, send me. But it was not the place that God was going to send Isaiah for he had no idea where he was going. It was the glory and the grandeur and the holiness of God that caused him to submit his heart to go, may I remind you, wherever God wanted to send him. God did not say, who will go to Mali for us? He said, who will go for us? Isaiah's response was not one of, boy, I'd like to go there, so I'm in. Or, I really don't like that place, but I'm willing to... He just saw the glory of God, and the glory of God was enough. for him to be willing to go wherever God wanted him to go. This is an unusual time. This is the year that King Uzziah died. Prophets have prophesied during his long time on the throne. He was a good king, probably the best that the Jews were going to see in the time of the kings. He was a long-lived king. He was, from a young man, king and had done well with the nation of Israel. He had some problems, they all did. But if you were to have a choice of which dynasty you would prefer to live under, as far as peace and harmony and prosperity, Uzziah's time would probably have been the best. He brought about a spiritual awakening among his people. They had drawn back in measure. closer to God. They did not remain there, I understand, but we don't often remain close to God either. We're, because of our humanity, forced oftentimes to just go back to where we know we should have been. During this reign of Uzziah, Isaiah and Hosea and Micah and Amos will all have their times to prophesy. He lives his life among those that are used of God in a great way. But I want to focus for a few moments on this call that comes to his life. Very often we hear people say, well, if God called me, I would go. If God wanted me to go to Bula Bula Land, it's my place I desire to visit probably more than any, because I use that as a reference more than any other place. You say, where is it? I have no idea, and that's why I like to use it as a destination. But if God wants me to go to Bula Bula land, but the call to missions is not always, as a matter of fact, very rarely, is the call to missions to a specific destination. It is a call to be willing to go anywhere. I say I'm thankful God did not call me to the mission field, but I will be perfectly honest with you. I have come to believe, I don't teach this as a doctrinal absolute, but I have come to believe that every individual called into any type of service for the Lord must first to surrender to go anywhere for the Lord and do anything for the Lord. I think this Isaiah call, this, excuse me, Jeremiah call here, Isaiah call, get it right in a minute, is not only would you like to go and do something famous and wonderful. I think it's a call to will you go to X and will you do Y for me? The unknowns, the variables. I recall early in the time, I was telling my wife tonight, I can remember when God called me to preach. I know some people it's a little more obscure, but for me it never has been. I could take you to the church tonight, if it still stands, I don't even know. I could find the pew for you where I was sitting when God called me to preach. It's that specific to me. When I surrendered to preach, I walked an aisle and I knew with every step that I took that is what God wanted me to do. I was not really thrilled about it. But I had made up my mind beforehand that I was going to serve the Lord if God wanted me. And so when I walked the aisle that night, I knew that His call in my life was to be a preacher. Having said that, several years prior to that, I remember being in a youth camp, Brother Shepard, and I don't know who was preaching. I don't know what they preached on. I have no idea what the invitation was about. But I know God dealt with my heart about missions. Never forgot it. It was as though He said, are you willing to go anywhere for me and do whatever I would have you to do? Sometimes we say that was just surrendering to full-time service. I don't know that it was even that. It was, to me, the dread fear of Bula Bula land. God was saying to me, are you willing to go to the worst place you could imagine, the worst conditions you can ever think about? Are you willing to go there for me? And I had to cross that bridge before I ever got to the place when God said, that's not what I want you to do. This is what I want you to do. I think sometimes we're always willing to get in line for the gravy and the grits, but we're very reluctant to get in the line that's going to have to clean up when it's all over with. I think sometimes we're waiting on God to give us that optional call where we can pick from column A instead of column C. where we can make the decision of, you know, God, whatever you want me to do, if it'll make me happy or wealthy or secure or whatever it might be, I'm willing to go. But the question is not, will you go to X, Y, or Z? The question is, will you go for me? Isaiah had no idea. He just heard the voice that said, not where, but who. Who will go for us? May I say to you, the call to missions is distinct, I think, from the call to being a pastor, perhaps, because it does not involve the specificity for a missionary that it does for a pastor or a preacher. When God calls somebody to preach, you immediately think of a church building and pews and choir and things of that nature. And you kind of have a comfort level that says, okay, yeah, I think maybe I can do that. But the call to missions is different. Because very often missionaries surrender to missions, sometimes years before God gives them the specifics about where and how long and what it's all about. Before they know what the evil alerts They have already said, I will go, but they know there is evil that lurks in a number of places, and so God says, I just need somebody to go, a place to be revealed at a later time. And I say in that sense, the call to missions is not any less divine, but is sometimes far more arbitrary. and the call to pastor or the call to be an evangelist. And some may disagree. You may think God doesn't call you specifically. He did me, so I have to go on what God called me to do. Is that fair? And I gotta believe that arbitrary call is pretty different and pretty difficult. Unlike the offices of the New Testament, of apostle and pastor, Those carry some type of ecclesiastical authority. In other words, the pastor rules, is what the scripture calls it, in a church. It doesn't mean he's a dictator. It just means God gives him a position of authority and he has a right to make some calls because God has put him in a superintending position. His concern are the people of God, and God's obligation is that He feed them and care for them, and He has, because of that relationship, like a parent sometimes, the need to step in and say, we don't do that here. A missionary may become pastoral over time, but nobody's going to meet these folks at an airplane and say, tell us what to do. As a matter of fact, they're probably going to be harder to instruct because for so long they've been on their own. They're not used to having somebody. Of course, if they've been raised in a Muslim country, it might be real easy. You'll have to let me know. But for some people, it's going to be very difficult to go to places where these people are not used to listening to somebody. And so I believe that the call is a little distinct A missionary doesn't go, he's not in charge of anything when he gets off the plane. You can't walk up to somebody and say, I want you to come to my church, and if you'll come to our church, we'll be friendly, and he doesn't have any of those opportunities and abilities. Sometimes he calls them to come and visit in a bedroom or a living room of a house or an apartment where two or three other people are going to. We would have trouble with that in America. Somebody stops you on the street tomorrow and says, hey, we're having a great discussion tonight and it's going to be at 730 and it's in room 204 down at the Howard Johnson's down here next to the railroad tracks. I'm not going. There's just something about me that's suspicious of those things. You know why we build church buildings? Because it takes a little of the edge off. Now sometimes once you get in, that all comes back. I don't know, but I'm just rambling here for a moment. Preachers are given a little authority in the churches that they pastor. Missionaries will develop that over time. But they start in a different perspective. This call from God was not to something specific. It was not to call... I mean, sometimes God calls specifically for kings and for the priests and even nations and gives them authority. But He calls here for... He didn't say, who will run things for me? He didn't say, I'm looking for somebody with great ability to superintend. I'm looking for somebody who can lay down the law. God simply said, I need somebody. And Isaiah said, I'll do it. The heart of a volunteer. You know, we almost idolize that in thought in America. We very rarely emulate that because we're always glad when the guy next to us volunteers. Did you ever breathe a sigh of relief when the preacher said, you know, I need, I need a couple of ladies to work in the nursery. And you go, Oh God, why? Please not. Thank God for sister so-and-so. Well, we only mean that is because sister so-and-so going to care for somebody in the nursery means I didn't have to volunteer for that. I've seen ladies get up in church and sometimes it just happens. Somebody's not there and somebody's sick. Somebody didn't come. And you say from the pulpit, I need a lady that'll go. And you wait almost to that moment in a congregation where it starts to get unnerving. You know what I'm talking about? It's like, oh God, please let somebody volunteer. And then you see a lady, she says, I'll go. And that's wonderful. But sometimes you watch as they leave the auditorium and the face says it all. I'll go, but I'm not really going. I'm really, in my mind, staying right there and saying, how dare you? I'm sure that's not the case in every case, but I know I've seen a few of those looks from people going, I'm going to my death against my will, but if none of you other ladies love God enough to go, I will, which kind of defeats the whole purpose in it. The call that Isaiah receives is not a call that's specific. In a true sense, every believer is entrusted with the Gospel. We can't determine God's response if the message is rejected. The prophet simply went in and he said, thus saith the Lord. Boom! And then somebody makes a decision. And he doesn't have the, yeah but, worked out. Jonah is surprised beyond his life when the crowd responded the way they did. As a matter of fact, it was so against what Jonah was expecting as a prophet, without having any advance warning, other than God said, these people are acting like a bunch of heathen, and I'm going to treat them like a bunch of heathen. And so Jonah goes in and said, 40 days, Nineveh is going to be overthrown. And you'd think he would have rejoiced when they began falling on their faces and crying out to God. And Brother Shepard, I think he was. I think he rejoiced. I think he probably said, thank you, God. Look at the response. But then God said, I'm not going to destroy it. And it became personal then. Because now Jonah has egg on his face. So I think sometimes God is reluctant to give specific instructions for every calling that there is, particularly this calling here. He didn't say, I want somebody to be great. I want somebody to be a loud mouth. He just said, I need somebody to volunteer. And Isaiah said, here am I, send me. He didn't say where. He didn't say to do what. He didn't say, will you make promises? He didn't say, will you? He didn't say anything. I believe in the heart and in the life of every Christian, and everybody here tonight, by the way. Not just young children and teenagers getting ready to live their life, but those who have retired. There needs to be a willingness to answer a call. It's almost as you come through here that God's not really sure of what's going to take place. He just said, I need somebody and God looked out there and He didn't give any specifics and Isaiah says, here am I, send me. The call is arbitrary, non-specific. God sometimes enlisted an individual just to deliver one message to a particular group of people or a particular individual or to go to one particular city or several cities or one nation. There was no blueprint for the life of someone facing this call. But I believe because of that, it is the general call that God gives to every believer. And tonight, I'm not preaching to just preachers. And I'm not preaching to just missionaries. I'm preaching to a lot of folks that are average people in the sense that they're working a job and living life and paying their bills, and some are doing better than others, and some are aspiring to climb the ladder, and some are thankful for where they are on the social scheme. And I think it is to people like that that God said, hey, are you comfortable? I need somebody. And the initial response is, to do what? Wrong answer. Wrong answer. Isaiah said simply, you need somebody? Use me. I grew up in the days of TV shows, so forgive me for the analogy. Maybe you've never seen Welcome Back, Cotter. But if you ever saw the TV show, the sitcom, Welcome Back, Cotter, you will remember Horshack. Yeah, every time, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. You know, I think somehow I get that picture of Isaiah. He's not waiting for the details. He's not waiting for the specifics. He's not waiting for the stories of dangers that wait and lurk. He's not waiting for a promise of wealth and affluence. God said, you know, I need somebody. Ooh, ooh, ooh. I can see Isaiah doing that. Well, what are you preaching for tonight, preacher? I'm preaching to people just like Isaiah. We're willing to say, God, you know, listen, drop me a memo and give me the specifics and the pluses and the minuses and I'll get with several other people and we'll discuss it and I'll get back with you. That's our approach to Christianity. We're not willing until we have done the analysis and put together the spreadsheets and seen the pluses and the minuses to say, well, you know, I could probably do that. I think about Nate Saint that entered the call to South America. And when he finally made his way there, within a matter of minutes, he was brutally killed. He said, he is no fool who gives that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. But he didn't gain anything. He died before he had a chance to witness to his first person. I know the rest of the story, and I know you're Baptists, so you all know that that whole tribe was eventually evangelized, came to Christ because of his endeavor and the stirring of hearts around America who said, if he gave his life, I'll go in his place. That's a wonderful story, but not for Nate Saint. I just wonder if God had said, hey, you know what, I need somebody to go, spend years preparing, learn the Bible, spend their time in Bible school, study the indigenous tribes of South America and the rainforest there, learn their ways and their customs. I need somebody to travel and raise enough money and support to be able to get there. I need someone to convince his wife that she needs to go, I need someone who spends all of that time, and oh yeah, by the way, your ministry is going to last about 30 seconds. You see how that changes from just, who will go for me? And I say to you tonight, I'm not here to tell you God's going to call you to boola boola land. I don't know. But I do know this, God needs some volunteers. The ready force. Those that are ready when God calls, if God calls to go when and where. In the case of Isaiah, God simply indicates that he needs a messenger. One thing. One that's willing. One that's ready. One that's a volunteer. And he says, that's me. I'm your guy. Do we suppose that Isaiah didn't have a vocation? Do we suppose that Isaiah didn't have friends, family? Do we suppose that Isaiah didn't have a dream or a plan for his life? Are you on my page now tonight? It wasn't God had to talk him into something. God simply said, I have a need. And he said, here am I, send me. Have you ever responded to that call? You say, well, I have never heard that call. Well, how about this? How about just you calling God and saying, God, just in case it ever comes up, if you need somebody to do anything, I'm your guy. I'm your girl. God doesn't matter to me where it might be. Does it matter to me what it involves? I just want to be able to have some part of my life, if I live to be old and gray, some part of my life, a story about what God did, because I was just willing to do anything. And if I die young and people think I'm foolish, I know that if I have surrendered to what God's will is, somewhere down the road, somebody will see the value in the sacrifice that I made. The call to missions. I'm not saying there's a greater call for pastors. I think it's a little more specific. I think that the call to missions is a little more arbitrary. because very few guys are called to the specific place. Some are, I'm not saying that they all are not. But most missionaries, it's been my experience, some were in their life, surrendered to go where God wanted them to go, and later on God directed their path. Several times I've met missionaries who set their sights on one particular area believing that's where God wanted them to go and circumstances changed every single aspect of that specific call into an arbitrary destination. And they ended up somewhere and they were honest and said, I never imagined God would put me here. Can I be honest with you? I never would have picked Toledo, Ohio as one of my possible destinations where I would serve the Lord. All I knew, I've said this for years about Toledo, Ohio, is that Saturday night in Toledo, Ohio, is like being nowhere at all. The old John Denver song. That's all I knew. And when I first went to Toledo, I found out that's what they thought of their town too. I mean, you know, I didn't have anybody go, oh yeah, let me tell you. It just didn't happen. God called you here, what did you do? It's like this is punitive, this is one stop from purgatory or whatever, I don't know. But I say that and tongue in cheek, you understand, but I didn't have a real excitement about going. My wife can testify the fact that we had a church in Northern Florida about 30 miles from the Gulf Coast. that called us. I had stopped there and preached for them one evening, and they called and asked us to come there just after I had promised the group that I would come to Toledo, Ohio. What were you thinking? You know, and I can say this, and you understand, hindsight is much more clear. Boy, what a blessing it was that God knew where I needed to be. And God knew if he didn't take some of those other options away and push and pigeonhole that I didn't really want. All of those things had to transpire. I'm glad God didn't say, I want you at 16, I want you to go to Toledo, Ohio and pastor. I'd have said, no, no, no, no, no. I'm glad God just gave me a general call. Will you serve me? Will you follow me? Will you preach my word? And I'll give you the details later. Now, what are you saying, preacher? I'm a church member. Yeah, but I'm just saying this. Are you willing to surrender to God and let Him work the details out? Have you ever given God a blank check? Boy, can I tell you, listen to me. If you give God the blank check, you never have to worry about Him wanting anything else because He's got it all. If you surrender to go to Bula Bula land, then Toledo, Ohio is not such a bad place at all. If you surrender to please the Lord, you can never end up in the wrong place. So I look at the call. It's a little different. It is a call to missions. It is not destination specific. It is, I just need somebody to go for me. Here am I, send me. And then he tells him where and what, but not before he surrendered. As a matter of fact, I suppose if he had told him what he told him after he surrendered, he might not have surrendered. So the important thing tonight for you as a child of God, in your 20s, in your teens, in your 60s, is coming to that place in life where God, I just want you to know, you may want me to work at Whirlpool, that's fine. You may want me to work someplace else. You may want me to go into business on my own. That's okay. But before I'm faced with the temptation, I just want you to know I love you enough. I'd do anything for you. Isn't it funny we boast about friendships that way? I'd do anything for that guy. You're lying through your teeth. But it is such an unusual thing that we're willing to say it even when we don't mean it, because it's something that brings notoriety to our character. May I ask you tonight, have you ever said that to your heavenly Father? The one who gave His Son so you wouldn't have to hurt. The one who lifted the burden of sin so you could feel forgiveness. The one who day by day sets beside you in your loneliest place, and communes with your heart, the one who tells you, I love you, when you can't tell yourself. Are you willing just to say, God, if you need help anywhere, here am I. Send me. Not only do I look at the call, but I look at the personal response. Isaiah's call was not random. He was not a just average Joe. He was, however, trusted, capable, available, and willing. Here am I. Send me. I think God's two greatest requirements for the use of His people is that they be ready and willing. Here am I. Send me. You may be troubled tonight. You may be churning over in your heart or in your mind. God may put something out there and dangle it before you like Bula Bula Land. And you may say, well God, I'll do anything but that. And God will keep raising that flag. But Lord, I don't want to do that. And God will keep raising that flag. You say, well, Lord, I'll do this and this and A, B, and C. I'll take all three, but God keeps bringing you back to Bula Bula land. And very often, when we say, here am I, send me, it's not what we dreaded. And when we begin to make our way toward that destination that he would have us to be at, it gets more and more joyous. And I promise you on everything that is holy and righteous, the God that we serve, when you arrive at the destination God has picked for you, you will say, thank you, God. Thank you, God, for seeing more clearly than I could ever see. Thank you for directing my paths. In all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. I've seen Christians go through difficult times. I've seen them go through traumatic experiences. I've seen them suffer loss. But I've never seen one that was surrendered to God that ever faced any of those things without a song and without joy. We sing, if Jesus goes with me, I'll go. Anywhere but Bula Bula land. I think the call to missions is vital in the heart of a Christian. He volunteered. He didn't offer suggestions. I sometimes wonder whether Isaiah was actually a Baptist or leaned toward Baptist theology because we'd all give him a list. Whom shall I send? Oh, Lord, look here, you know, this guy, he'd probably be good for you, and this guy here, you know, he's not doing much around here. We'd have gone through the list, and we'd have recommended our friends. But Isaiah just said, Lord, if you need somebody, I'm here. I'm here. If he'd have been a good Baptist, he'd have said, well, tell me a little more about what you got. You know, what kind of place is this you need? What is it you need done? I mean, that just sounds like good college sense, doesn't it? Why would I go to college for four years if I didn't know I was going to make $160,000 a year to start out and still never pay my college bill? Anyway, that's another matter. He doesn't ask for any specifics because his heart was in the right place, and because his heart was in the right place, he responded correctly that said, anywhere, anywhere you want me to go, I'm willing, I'm ready, I'm available. God said, well, you know, that's not exactly what I want you to do. Is it worse? No, I wanted you to be willing to do the worst. Because here's what I'm going to do, Isaiah. I'm going to give you a lengthy ministry that covers the lives of a number of kings. They're going to call on you for advice, and I'm going to tell you what to say to king after king after king. You're going to live 60 some odd years as a prophet of God. And oh, by the way, you're going to write the longest of the prophetic books in the Old Testament. The Jewish nation will revere you because I'm going to use you in a great way. And the folks in the church age are going to be absolutely amazed because, listen, you're going to write about not only the coming of the Messiah, born of a virgin, Isaiah 9, 6, but you're going to write about the King that reigns in Isaiah chapter 16. Isaiah, because you're willing to do anything, I'm going to use you. I'm sure there were some heartaches in Isaiah's life. Don't you suppose? Anybody tonight hasn't had any heartaches? Anybody in life that hasn't had any, I wish I hadn't done that? I'm sure Isaiah was not aloof from those things. But may I say this, that is not what defines Isaiah. What defines Isaiah is a man who said, God, whatever you want of me, wherever you will lead, wherever you will direct, I'll do it. I'm the guy. I'm not asking for any commitments or promises from you, but I'm giving you my commitment and I'm giving you my promise that I'll do anything, that I'll go anywhere. Very often I say that's something that occurs in children's church because hearts are tender. That's something, boy, if you tell some of these four and five-year-olds on a Sunday morning, you know, Jesus needs some people to go and die for Him, half the class will stand up. It's because they have a simple heart that loves the Lord above all things. And I sometimes wonder, Brother Shepherd, why we changed our mind. You say, well, preach about missions. I thought you were going to preach about money. I believe with all my heart, if God gets your heart and my heart, money will never be a problem. God said, who will I send To this undefined place, who can I call to go to these unspecified circumstances? Who would be willing to face these undisclosed tragedies that may be ahead? And Isaiah said, I'll do it. And God said, you can't imagine what I got planned for you. I think some of these missionaries might say the same thing. I've seen missionaries that go, and in honesty, they would tell you, I was reluctant. It scared me to death. I really didn't know what to do. But years later, you see what's going on. Cecil Neece was a friend of my wife and I, both of us, and when we knew him, he was in his 70s. He spent the better part of his life in the jungles of South America, down there where Nate Saint was and had been. To the Onawamo Indians, And Brother Nice was not the guy that looked like a tycoon or an exec. He moved kind of slow. I'm not supposing that he did all of his life, but he was up in years when I knew him. White-headed old man. And so I began to chat with him. He was not articulate. He sometimes stammered back between Spanish and English and whatever the language was that the Yanowamo preached or spoken. He just kind of would get a little confused. His health was not good. He and his wife had to come home from the jungles of Venezuela every six months to a year. I can't remember specifically, but they had contracted a disease in their bloodstream and they had to come home much like a kidney patient and go through dialysis for several months every so often just to keep that disease from destroying them. Brother and niece died well up into his 80s, 90s. He never knew anything in his life but living for those Yanowamo people. I remember him showing a slide presentation and he wanted me to see it because sometimes they weren't dressed appropriately, and I'm not talking about nudity, but he had gone down there when they were buck naked. He wanted them to Christ. He said, I wanted them to dress, but I wanted them to prize their clothes, so they didn't just take them off and throw them away somewhere because they didn't need them. So he said, I told them I will give you these clothes. He said, we bought a whole box full of dresses, and we bought a whole box full of pants, and we set them out by the airstrip, and we said, if you'll work for these and help us smooth the airstrip, you can choose. And he said, boy, the whole village turned out. And he has pictures of them they would use wooden tree stumps with. And they just walked around and pounded that little airstrip out. He said the problem was they weren't Americans. And so when it came time for the ladies to choose, they carry the kids everywhere. They buck naked, but carry the kids. And the hard thing about carrying the kids is, you know, you're breaking your back. And he said the women loved the pants because the kids could stick their feet in the pockets. And it's like stirrups. And they could put stuff in the pockets and carry with them. And he said every one of the women put on pants and the men love the dresses. because he said they were bright and colorful and they were orange and purple and gave them room they could run. And he said, I realized after that little fiasco that we were going to have to rethink our whole ministry to the Yanowamo people. I would say to you for every funny story he told, he could have told ten. It would have brought tears to your eyes. He showed me the pictures, and he said, this is Mark. And I thought, well, boy, that's good looking. And this is Luke. And over here, this is Philip. And I said, Brother Nice, all these names, they're Indian. He said, oh, you don't understand, Brother Sal, when they get saved, they want a new name. And they want a name out of this book. And so when they get born again, they choose. He said, I let them choose their own name. And he said, everyone that's ever gotten saved's got a Bible name. You say, well, what is that? That's somebody that began years ago simply by saying, here am I. Send me. Send me. I want to ask you tonight as we close, I'm not asking you to go to Bula Bula. I'm not asking you to quit your job. I'm not asking you to throw your future away. I'm just asking if God needed you, would you go? He never makes mistakes. He always knows what He's doing, and He always picks the very best person for the job, because the very best person is the one He can help. And I'm just wondering tonight, not just the five and six-year-olds tonight, okay, you understand? I know they'd all come. I'm talking about the 14-year-olds and the 15-year-olds that are just too cool for words. If God wanted you to take your whole plan for your future and just drop it in the trash can, would you be willing to do that? Preacher, I just don't think that's fair. I don't either, because he's going to give you more than you've ever imagined in return. There was a day when I thought God calling a 16-year-old boy that wanted to go to a military academy and wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father and be a military officer, that's what I wanted. There was a day when I thought God was cheap. That's why I argued with him for a while. The greatest decision I ever made in my life. was on the back row of a little Baptist church all the way against the wall. And that night I had no specifics. I just said, whom shall I send and who will go for us? And I had argued with him, Brother Shepard, so many times because that thought was nagging me. I said, God, You just find somebody else and I'll do the military thing. I'll tithe and I had all covered. I'll never forget it as long as I live because there was no presence and there was no voice literally. But I believe with all my heart I heard the Spirit of God say, all right, I can get somebody that wants to serve. And the reason I can take you to that place is because that broke me. And I sit here and I'm like, Lord, send me moms, dads, teenagers, college-age kids, businessmen, ladies with great careers. Listen, do you hear the voice? Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? Preacher, are you asking me to quit my job? No. I'm asking you, if God had something for you to accomplish halfway around the world, would you be willing? Well, I want to know where it is. No, you don't need to know. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. Why? Because if He's there, wherever I may be, There'll be great things happening. This is about money, preacher. You need to preach about money. Maybe I should. Maybe I will. But tonight, the reason you struggle with your money is because you haven't answered the first part of that question. If I'm willing to go, if I can say, Lord, here am I, send me, my money doesn't mean anything anymore. And whatever he asks, I'm willing. I'm not telling you he's going to ask you to give a million dollars. I don't think that's the way it works. But I will never struggle with money if I'm willing to go anywhere and do anything. And I'm also telling you that to walk that path is a path that will provide eternal joy and happiness and peace and contentment. I retired. You say, why? I don't know, I was having the time of my life. The best life I could ever have imagined. You say, why did you retire? I believe the Lord said it's time for you to get out of the way. So what are you doing? I'm just enjoying life, knowing, thanking God for somehow taking a crazy 16-year-old kid that didn't know which end was up and saying, will you follow me? Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? I remember the night. I remember the time. I remember the place where I said, here am I. Send me. I thought that was the end of happiness. Boy, was I wrong. Boy, I almost made the worst mistake of my life by not following the leading of God. Don't make that mistake. You say, well, I'm 50. I got my job. I don't care who you are. It's not what your credentials are. It's not what your age is. It's the question, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Tonight, can I ask you, will you answer that question? Let's bow our heads tonight. I think that a good church loves missions. And this is a good church. I think a good church helps to support missions. And this is a good church. But I think in every good church, there are people that hide behind their money and hide behind their giving. And they pick up their prayer cards and they say, I'm going to pray. And it's all a pretense. It's all a means of evading the question, could God use me in some way to bring honor and glory to His name? I'm not here to scare you tonight. I'm here to help you. So I simply ask you this as I turn the service back to the pastor. Have you ever knelt at an altar? And just you and God said, God, I just want you to know, I'm thankful for my life. I'm thankful for your blessings. I'm not complaining. But Lord, I just want you to know, I'm here. And you could send me. If that's your will, I'd be willing to go. You say, well, what difference would it make? Probably none because God's probably got somebody ready to go, but it'll make a difference in your life because you have answered that age old question that God posed to an old prophet that became probably the greatest of all the prophets. And he said, whom shall I send and who will go for us? And Isaiah simply said, you're mine. I'll go. I'll go.