How do we do missions? How do we overcome the prejudice of the age in which we live? This is a question that millions have asked since the days of the Apostle Paul. In many ways we’ve gotten away from the original meaning of this ‘going out’ into the world. Why do I say that? Because many who go out do so in their own strength and in their own might. I spent quite a bit of time in various countries and I made a lot of mistakes during that time. I also observed a lot of things I didn’t like. One was that being from a rich country like Canada few people could believe that I was not a rich person. I was constantly asked for money from those who were honest to those who were scammers. The problem is I could not say the words of Peter “Silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I thee...” My prayers for healings seemed to have little effect. In fact I ended up being sick more then the people around me. This is a common theme among most missionaries in third world countries is that they end up being sick a lot. They learn to live with it and endure it.

Yet I don’t believe its supposed to be this way. I can’t say its just about healing and miracles yet that must be what Christ intended for us. They were signs to the unbelievers that this person has something they don’t have. When they pray people are delivered and people are set free. These are gifts of the Holy Spirit. Gifts intended to be given to those in need.

So what is holding us back? I have asked this question to God for a long time now as I have probably endured more sickness and disaease then any half dozen people. If I can answer this question and signs follow would it not be something that would win others for Christ? Though I do have many of the answers I am still left struggling against several impossible obstacles. First I am not yet free of these problems and second I have not been able to tell others.

Yet the world not only has to see but they must also hear. They are the Doubting Thomas’ which fill our land and the Christian church really has not been able to change this situation in a powerful enough way. If you look at Western Countries the fact is they are the ones that need the missionaries. Christians are losing ground right and left and it is happening on a daily basis.

Fighting with human methods has its place but generally speaking it is a limited fight. After all you are dealing with something that is much stronger then Gods desire...the human will. Humans tend to follow their own plan, their own desires and their own will no matter what God may want for them.

I am reminded of a friend I had many years ago who was an avowed atheist. He told me that he loved arguing with Christians. There was a lady from across the road who was an indomitable Christian who came over every few weeks to argue with him about the faith. The atheist spent hours studying scripture so he could argue his points. He took great glee in it. I came into he and his wifes life in a different fashion. We both had a love for rocks and fossils and I’d also come over every few weeks and we would chat about these things and about poetry. We would sit down for cookies and tea and I became good friends. He only tried to argue with me about my faith once and I refused to participate. I wish I could say that I won him for the Lord but he died refusing to change. Yet he said to me one day after I’d befriended them for well over a year, “In all my years you are the first real Christian I’ve met” I do not say this to praise myself but to point out a fact that many of our methods have failed. We can’t possibly win others by force feeding them with human methods. We will fail and become a laughing stock. We must instead work in the leading and by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

We must turn to prayer so that we can deal with the spirits that are over the territories we travel to. If we are given that authority and the people still reject us then we must be willing to move on to another territory and let judgment fall where it may. Even Jesus spoke of shaking the dust from our sandals. Have we forgotten this was the Son of God instructing us?

It comes down to realizing the battle we face for souls is not just with the people but with the corrupt spirits that hold these souls in prison. How can we have that authority until we are sanctified and purified? Grace is not a toilet nor a doormat for our sins. She is like a pure woman we are instructed to love and cherish. It is by grace that we move forward spiritually and begin to win the battles, overcome the law, and gain access to the true fruit of the spirit. It is then we will begin to win the battles in a powerful way and see true growth in our lives and in the lives of those we are called to win.