Standing in the Gap

After more than two months now “standing in the gap” with livestreaming Sabbath worship services from our home studio, and with the greater awareness that the society around us is overtly becoming not “church friendly” in both legislation and practice, we can be comforted and compelled by Jesus’ prophetic words that the church He’s building is and will be in an environment where “the gates hell” are notoriously evident. Thus we stand leaning into the headwinds of the times we live in on the promise and the power of the Holy Spirit, discerning each moment and embracing each challenge with alacrity. We’ll continue improving each week’s livestreaming, in one small way or another, and are patiently and faithfully working behind the scenes to advance His Kingdom and His righteousness. Media we know today plays a significant role in this.

When we started media streaming two decades ago, little did we realise the cacophony of dissonance emanating from tens of millions media sources and their many keyboard warriors. I recall someone twenty years ago saying, “One day, your video work will be swallowed up in ten thousand video channels.” It was hard to imagine back then. The surety of navigating the journey ahead is to simply focus on the calling and then, in the words of Jordan B Peterson recently, “Shield yourself from bad news sources.”

John Classic
By John Classic

Visual Gospel

We’ve just returned from the International Ministerial Congress meeting of the Church of God (Seventh Day) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was a wonderfully inspiring time together with leaders from Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, USA and Mexico.

Among the numerous presentations shared was one I titled “A Visual Culture Demands A Visual Gospel”. Our work for the past 17 years has been to share the gospel using media streaming, and I believe we’ve barely scratched the potential this has for introducing the gospel to millions and millions of people in South East Asia and beyond.

A missionary must understand the culture to which he or she is sent. To ignore the language, customs, religion and more if we’re to effectively convey and minister the gospel is to fail before we’ve started. Today’s culture is increasingly immersed in multimedia. The film industry and media generally are powerful influencers at every level of society, affecting attitudes and social mores.

IMC_Malaysia

The disciples of two millennia ago understood this. Matthew wrote his testimony with a Hebrew audience in mind. Paul preached to those in Athens, understanding the Greek culture of the day. What about us, today?

May we have ears to hear where God is sending us, eyes to see the harvest ripe, and a heart and hands to minister where God beckons.

(For additional photos of the IMC meeting, please visit our gallery).