Missions – Part 4 Lawson Perdue and Delron Shirley

  Welcome, friends, to the broadcast. I’m so glad that you’ve joined us today. I have my good friend, Dr. Delron Shirley from Teach All Nations Missions with me today, and we’re actually talking about world missions. But I want you to know that God has a very special part for you to play in reaching the world with the gospel of Jesus. Stay tuned and blessings. Friends, it’s so good to have you with us today. And I’m so pleased to have Dr. Delron Shirley. He’s been a friend for years and years. Praise God.

 

  Amen.

 

  35 years or something like that right now.

 

  Oh my goodness that.

 

  36 years.

 

  That makes us both feel a little old doesn’t it? Count that back.

 

  Oh, well, you’re doing great. So we appreciate you, and I’d ask you to come and just share some, we’re talking about world missions, but you’re so full of great stories. And we were actually talking a little bit before the broadcast. I know when I think of Dr. Lester Sumrall, I remember a few of the scriptures he shared, a few specific things, but I remember more stories that illustrated a principle that’s from the Bible. In fact, Jesus used stories to illustrate a principle. And actually, if you look at it, when He talked about these parables, He said, “I teach in parables.” I think there’s a reason.

 

  Exactly.

 

  Because the believers, the disciples, they could get the spiritual principle behind the story, and they had understanding and revelation from the spiritual side, but even the unbelievers that were there, they could learn from the natural principle of the story. So He could minister to everybody there, in one way or another.

 

  You know, the Bible is 70% stories and narratives.

 

  That’s awesome.

 

  70% of the Bible is story form. And that’s because God knows that we relate to a story. You know, you go to flip on the television, and more likely you’re gonna watch a movie than to turn on a documentary, or somebody teaching, or I mean, you know, because we all gravitate towards stories.

 

  It’s amazing, in fact, we recently, the last movie Barbara and I went to outside was a Christian movie, a documentary. But we had been on Daystar, and when we were on Daystar, they had as a guest that same day, John Piper, who is very different than us, doctrinally, but he was sharing his story about how he was either on the way to church or on the way home from church, and he got run over by a semi, and he was in a little car, and he died for an hour and a half. But then God raised him from the dead. He was literally mad at God for a while for raising him from the dead. So I’ve told this to a few people, and it’s encouraged ’em actually, because they’ve lost a loved one, so on and so forth. But anyway, I was sharing on, Barbara, we were sharing really about Barbara’s book, “Imparting Success to the Next Generation,” and I was talking about something Dr. Sumrall said about granddad planted the tree, and then the son sat in the shade of the tree, and then the grandson cut the tree down, so we wanna get it to the third generation. And he really connected with that. And so he was talking to me afterwards because, even though we may be doctrinally a little bit different, we still believe the same Bible, we still believe in the same blood of Jesus that washed us from our sins, and the same Holy Spirit, so God is good.

 

  Amen. Yeah.

 

  So you wanna tell a story about India.

 

  Well, before the story, let me just tell you a couple of other things. You’re talking about being doctrinally different but having the same foundation. I just dealt with a situation this week with somebody who was having an issue, and I said, “You know, we can have unity even if we don’t have unison, uniformity.” I mean, even as long as we know the foundationals, and we know, like you were saying, the blood of Jesus, and being born again, and all that. I said, “We can have unity, even though we aren’t necessarily uniform in everything else that we believe.” And talking about the gentleman who came back after having seen Heaven or whatever, my uncle died and the doctors resuscitated him, and he said, “That was the most disappointing moment of my life when I opened my eyes and I was back on Earth.”

 

  Oh, wow. That’s quite a story.

 

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. But anyway, the story about India, this goes back a long way. This was back before internet. This was back before cell phones. This was back before satellite. The only way you could communicate between the US and India was either by landline telephone. They had a cable that went from New York to London, and then another cable under the ocean, then they had another under the ocean cable that went from London to, well, they call it Mumbai now, back then it was Bombay. And so you had to book a time when that you could be, use that one cable at the same time that there was availability on the other cable. Anyway, and so many times, it would take a day, two days, or whatever for them to be able to organize for a cable. And so getting a communication to India, that was the only way you could do it. And if the person in India had a phone was another big issue, which a lot of people didn’t. So, anyway, I was going to India, and the airline changed my schedule, and there was no way I could let the people in India know that I wasn’t gonna be there on the day and at the time that they were planning to meet me. So I flew all the way to India, having no idea how that anybody, I was ever gonna find anybody when I got there. And I mean, you talk about having reason to be worried, that was a, that was really a big, big hurdle. Anyway, so I arrived in India, and at the airport, the little porters, wanting to carry your bag for a few rupees, they were all gathered around, everybody trying to grab my bag and trying to talk me into giving them a few rupees to carry my suitcase. And I was clenching onto my suitcase for dear life. No, you aren’t taking my suitcase, I don’t have anywhere to take it to. This just was going on for a long time. And then finally there was this one little boy, I imagine he was maybe not more than 16 years old, and I just finally said to him, “Look, I, the people that I’m supposed to meet aren’t here. They don’t know that I’m coming today. I have no idea where I’m going or whatever. If you can tell me where there’s a hotel and how to get to it, I will let you take my bag to the bus to get on the bus to go to the hotel.” So he ran away, and a couple minutes later he came back and he says, “Well, there’s this, you go over here on this bus stop and you go so many stops, and at this particular stop, six or seven stops down the road, you get off and there’s a hotel right there.” And so I gave him a few rupees, and I got on the bus and I went. I still don’t know how to get ahold of the people that are supposed to be, I’m supposed to be ministering for. I’m just lost, anyway. And so then I go to bed, sleep a couple of hours, it’s in the middle of the day, but of course, in the middle of the day in India a is the middle of the night in the US, so I’m exhausted after traveling, so I went to bed, it was probably about 2:00 in the afternoon.

 

  2:00 in the morning here.

 

  Yeah, anyway, I sleep a couple hours, and then all of a sudden there’s this banging and wailing and all kinds of commotion going on. And I jump out of bed, I don’t know what planet I’m on at that moment, in that condition. And I look out the window, and there’s a Hindu funeral going on outside my window. Now, Paul spoke of those people who have no hope, and he says we aren’t like those, but the people who don’t know Jesus, are not like my uncle and not like John Piper, they don’t have anything to look forward to after their death. But anyway, so there’s this wailing and grief, and oh man, and that’s my welcome to India, to experience that.

 

  Hear all this racket.

 

  Out of a dead sleep, to jump up and find that. But anyway, so finally I said, “Okay, well, I might as well just get outta bed and put my clothes on, and just go see where I am and what this place is all about.” I got out of the hotel, I walk down the street two blocks, two blocks away from the hotel. I look up, and there is a big sign across the front of the building, “Church of South India Headquarters.” Well, the Church of South India is who had invited me to come to minister.

 

  That’s amazing.

 

  I ran into the front lobby, and the receptionist, I said, “Do you know Santana Krishna?” And he was the pastor who had invited me. And she said, “Yeah, that’s his office right there.” Can you imagine? I’m in this huge city,

 

  It’s amazing.

 

  with millions of people, hundreds of guest house, hundreds of hotels, and this little porter at the airport had told me to go to the one hotel that was two blocks away from where I was supposed to be.

 

  That is amazing.

 

  The Bible tells us that if we trust in the Lord, He’ll direct our paths.

 

  Amen.

 

  Not to lean onto our own understanding, but let Him direct our paths. And wherever we’re going around the world, whatever we’re called to do, and even in our own neighborhood, even in our own community, if we know how to not lean on our own understanding, not try to figure it out our way, but to let the Holy Spirit lead us, He’ll direct our paths, and we’ll always be at the right place at the right time so that we can do the right thing.

 

  You know, I had a story somewhat like that. I had a missionary friend, I had for years, I supported for years. He did mission work behind the Iron Curtain, and also in Africa, Australia, all around the world. He had married a Chinese missionary’s daughter. But I was going, in 1994, to meet him, and my flight was delayed into Frankfurt. He was gonna pick me up, he lived in Luxembourg, in Frankfurt, Germany, but my plane was delayed for like eight hours. And I thought, I had no cell phone, he didn’t have a cell phone. How am I gonna meet him? How am I gonna tell him? Anyway, I land there in Frankfurt, I’m praying, I’m asking God to help me. Praise God. God helps us. And I have no longer landed, got off my plane, and I hear this announcement over the loudspeaker, “Would Lawson Purdue please come to the meeting point?” I’m like, where’s the meeting point? And I look up and there’s this big red dot, and I thought, well, that must be it. I walk over there and there he is. He said, “Well, I got, I had to go to Belgium and take care of some business, so I went on over there, and then I came here.” It was like the perfect time. And God had it all worked out.

 

  Amen.

 

  And He always does. And so, praise God, we’re gonna come back in a few seconds. It’s not gonna be too long, kind of a short break, and we’re gonna be sharing more things that will encourage you, how you can hear the voice of God, how you can trust in the Lord. He can direct your paths. He can get you where He wants you to be. And you know what? The Holy Spirit knows no bounds or time. So stay tuned. You’re gonna get some great information when we come back after this break, blessings. Friends, we’ve been sharing about world missions, but we could not effectively reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ without the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. And so our special offer this week is “Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.” We have downloadable audios and downloadable videos on our website, absolutely free, blessings. I want you to know that paradise is not found in the lifestyles of the rich and the famous. Paradise is found through knowing Jesus Christ. And if you don’t know Jesus, you are poor, you are poor spiritually. You may have a lot of money, but spiritually you are bankrupt if you don’t know Jesus. Friends, I’m so glad that you stayed with us, and I’m so honored again to have Dr. Delron Shirley with me. I’m just allowing him to share. He’s had so many stories, traveled to, oh, about 70 nations of the world, preaching the gospel. It’s exciting, living for Jesus.

 

  Amen. It is. Yes.

 

  So, just go ahead, share what’s on your heart.

 

  All righty, well, I wanna share a little bit, not so much about my personal experience, but about one of the really most interesting people I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet, and that was Mother Theresa.

 

  Oh, that’s awesome.

 

  Yeah, my wife and I were in Calcutta, and she has written this book, “Women for the Harvest,” and one of the characters in the book that she talks about is Mother Theresa. So she’s always had tremendous respect for Mother Theresa. So we’re in Calcutta, and I said, “Well, let’s just go see her.” And she says, “Go see her?” And I said, “Yeah.” And so we found out where the convent was, and we got our transportation and got across the city. So we just knock on the door, and the next thing I know, one of the nuns comes over and opens the door. And we said, “Would it be possible for us to meet Mother Theresa?” And she says, “Well, actually, she’s in a committee meeting right now. Our directors of the organization,” the order, they call it in the Catholic church, “are having a meeting, and we are planning for our annual retreat. And so she’s tied up with that, but come in and have a seat and let me just ask if she can see you.” And so we came in, we had a seat. This little nun disappears and comes back a few minutes later and she says, “Yes, Mother Theresa will be right out.”

 

  This is amazing,

 

  Honestly, you know, Nobel Peace Prize, one of the most, well known people around the whole world, and she’s in a meeting with her top staff, and she stops the meeting to come out and to talk to total strangers. And so we’re sitting there, talking with Mother Theresa. And she says, “So now, what kind of ministry do you do? What do you do?” And I’m thinking, oh my lord, I’m talking to Mother Theresa, and Mother Teresa’s asking me what I do.

 

  This is amazing. Anyway, and so we had this nice conversation with Mother Theresa, and then after a little while, I said, “Well, we wanted to give a donation to your ministry.” And she says, “Oh, no, I never touch the stuff.” And she called over one of her associates and she said, “She will help you with the offering that you wanna make.” And so we gave the money to the associate, and they wrote out a receipt and everything, very, very formal approach. But Mother Teresa says, “Oh, I never, I never touch money.” Then she says, “But I have something I want to give to you.” And so she had a little medallion that had the Holy Spirit dove on it, little necklace sort of thing, and she gave it to my wife. And she said, “Do you have the Holy Spirit?” Oh, wow. This is amazing.

 

  Yeah. And we said, “Yes, we do have the Holy Spirit.”

 

  Oh, yes.

 

  And she says, “I do too.” And then she says, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go back to my meeting.” So that was that. I mean, we were nobody, nobody knew who we were or anything, and Mother Theresa stopped what she was doing to welcome us and to meet us and to greet us. Well, a couple of years later, I’m back in Calcutta, and so I go back to the convent, and when I got there, there is a handwritten note on a piece of notebook paper that had been pulled out of a notebook, with the little spiral binding threads still on it, taped to the front door. And it said, “Mother Theresa is not receiving guests today because she’s in prayer.” And that so impacted my life that there is a place where that nothing should interrupt us. Nothing should take precedence when we are spending time in prayer, when we’re with God.

 

  With the God of the universe.

 

  Yes.

 

  Amen.

 

  But other than that, it doesn’t matter if you are in the middle of a board meeting, people are important, and we should always respect people. We should always be open to people. We should always be willing to minister to people. Mother Theresa, Paul says, he says, “Let no man think more highly of himself than he ought.” Mother Theresa was in the place that she could have thought very highly of herself.

 

  But she’s tremendously humble.

 

  Yes.

 

  You know, the scripture that’s been coming to me is Jeremiah 33:3. Of course, you know that.

 

  Oh yeah.

 

  “Call on me and I will answer you, and I will show you great and mighty things that you do not know of.” And it’s amazing, when we walk with God, the places He takes us, the people we see, the things that we get to do. I marvel, I marvel at what God has allowed me to do, I marvel. And think about this, that the God of the universe takes time to speak to us.

 

  Exactly.

 

  And give us inspiration, to give us direction, to give us counsel. And thank God, He shows us the way, and He directs our steps. So amazing experiences that you’ve had. I’m just amazed at my own life and the things that, again, God has allowed me to do and be a part of.

 

  Well, the scripture says that our gift will make a place for us and bring us before great men. The gift that we have, it may be a gift of teaching, it may be a gift of exhortation, it may be just the fact that we are the sons of God, but that gift of being a son of God brings us into places where that God wants us to be.

 

  Amen. Yeah, it’s tremendous. We are his children. Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God. They’re the sons of God.” The Lord leads us, praise God, into His covenant. He leads us into who we are and what we have. He leads us into his plan and purpose for our life. And God’s plan for us is better than our plan any day.

 

  Oh, Lord, oh yeah.

 

  So we just need to stay connected to Him and let Him direct our steps.

 

  Yes.

 

  I know one of the scriptures, you’ve talked about it, but Proverbs 3:5 6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” And it’s amazing to see how God directs us, how He guides us, in big things, in small things, and when we listen to hear His voice. Praise God, that’s something we ought to talk about. How can we hear the voice of God?

 

  Oh, okay. Good.

 

  So we hear the voice of God through His word, through His spirit, through the peace of God, through godly counsel, and through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That’s the five ways that I’ve identified that I can hear the voice of God. And maybe we’ll talk about that in tomorrow’s program.

 

  Okay.

 

  We’ll see. It’s so good to have each and every one of you. We’re so glad that you’re here, so glad that you’ve taken the time out of your day to listen to the broadcast. I hope these broadcasts are encouraging you to become a part of what God is doing around the world. We’ve been talking specifically about missions. I’m so glad I love missions. And even though I’m a pastor here in the United States, I’ve got to be involved a few times going to different places when God has allowed me, and got to be involved quite a bit in giving and receiving, sowing into missions, praying for different people. And it’s just amazing. And the life, the plan that God has for each of us is really amazing when we surrender to that plan. Some people think, well, if I surrender to God, He’s gonna take me someplace I don’t want to go. No, you’re gonna want to go there.

 

  Yes, absolutely.

 

  I mean, the best life is a life of surrender.

 

  Exactly.

 

  I mean, it’s really, the good life is the life of following Jesus.

 

  Absolutely.

 

  And you know, Jesus said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” And whatever God makes us, whether He’s made us a banker, or a lawyer, or a doctor, or a teacher, or a welder, or mechanic, wherever we are, we can become a fisher of men. I know Dr. Sumrall, one of the first messages I heard him teach in person, he shared on Andrew and Peter and how there’s only one person recorded in the scripture that Andrew won to Christ, and that was Peter. But then Peter won thousands of people. So I named my middle son Andrew, and I named my youngest son Peter. So praise God, the gospel’s amazing. Pray for the people before we go.

 

  Amen, Father, we just thank you so much for the audience that’s tuned in today. And Father, we just believe you that the words that we are sharing and the examples that we are sharing are not going to return void, but that you’ve promised that every word would accomplish the thing whereunto it was sent, and right now, in every heart, Father, I thank you that you’re giving vision, you’re giving direction, and you’re giving determination to become the man or woman of God, to do the work of the Lord that you have called each one to do. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

  I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in, that you’ve been part of the broadcast. If you need prayer today, personally, I want you to give us a call. We have trained prayer ministers that are here, that are ready to receive your calls, whether it be for salvation or healing, or to receive your personal prayer language, or whether you wanna become a partner and help us share this gospel all around the world. Thank you and God bless you.

 

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