The Stage is Set: You Can Be a Hero 

November, 1998

Dear Sanctified Saint,

God bless you richly in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, the Man who is our example of perfect trust in God. It is a privilege to greet you in his name and to know that we stand together with you under his headship in the Body. Our passion is to know him better each day, and to knit our hearts together with you in him.

Last month’s Fall Fellowship in Charlotte was terrific. The theme was "Let Your Light Shine." Mark Graeser, Michael Branch, Mike Steinberg, Greg Paules, Kelly Munro, John Schoenheit, Karen Anne Graeser and John Lynn held forth the Word. The teachings focused on being aware of the culture in which we live and learning how to reach people with the truth relative to their own belief systems. Many saints departed from the weekend very excited about their individual functions in the Body of Christ and about reaching others with the true Gospel. We believe that these teachings will greatly encourage you to let your light shine. As usual, the weekend set of tapes is $25.

In this month’s newsletter, we want to share with you a brief essay by Gene Edward Veith taken from the September 12 issue of World  magazine. We believe it is a concise and articulate overview of prevailing cultural thought, at least in the United States, Canada and much of Europe. We will then offer some insight on this subject that we hope will help you as a Christian to be more effective in your personal ministry of the Word. Following that is Mark & Karen Anne Graeser’s account of their recent visit to Argentina.

In next month’s year-ending newsletter, we will let you know the dates of the upcoming events for 1999 that we have locked in on the calendar. We will also explain to you our revised idea of how our correspondence to you will be set up in conjunction with our Partnership Plan. We will also tell you about the upcoming revision of our bi-monthly publication that has been called Dialogue .

  In the meantime, as we here in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving this month, our hearts overflow with fullness to God for His grace, mercy and goodness in our lives. Chief among those things for which we give thanks is the privilege to be in association with wonderful Christians like you. Thank you for loving God and the Lord Jesus and us. We would be happy to hear from you any time. We love you very much.

Yours in his service,

There was a time when the biblical worldview was taken for granted, when historical acts, the laws of nature, logical ideas, divine revelation and moral principles were all issues of truth. Call this time of openness to outside reality "premodern." The narrowing of the mind began in the 18^th century when "modernists," giddy with the promise of science and the dream of Enlightenment progress, claimed that the only truths were those testable by scientific rationalism.

The modernist confidence in naturalistic reason is now passé; Christians can applaud that. But while many are taking advantage of the decline of modernism to rediscover biblical realism, the cultural mainstream has turned to postmodernism, a worldview that tries to do without truth altogether.

For postmodernists, truth is merely a "construction" by the culture or by the individual. We [each] construct our [own] beliefs, so that what is truth for me may not be true for you. Truth, as they say, is relative. Morality depends on the individual’s choice. Religion occupies a private corner of the brain, as a source of personal serenity, but not a set of truth claims about ultimate reality, much less a relationship with an external, demanding, sovereign God.

The rejection of truth in postmodernism means that attempts to persuade are construed as acts of oppressive power. Since everyone’s beliefs have equal validity, "You don’t have the right to impose your beliefs on anybody else." Logical contradictions are OK. The willingness to change one’s story is a function of the ability to "reinvent" oneself.

In the postmodernist dismissal of truth, image is everything. THE MEANING OF WORDS IS NOT FIXED BUT A FUNCTION OF "INTERPRETATION," SO THAT THE SPEAKER, LISTENER AND SPIN-DOCTORS CAN CONSTRUCT THEIR OWN MEANINGS FOR THEM (Emphasis ours). What matters is not substance, but projecting a positive image.

What an excellent summation of our changing culture. It’s pretty clear that the root of postmodernism is similar to the root of the "New Age" movement, that is, "you shall be as gods." As a little god, each individual can construct his own reality, independent of the one true God’s definition of it. But you know, and we believe history confirms, that people who attempt to live without an absolute standard of truth external to themselves become at least disillusioned and at worst in despair.

Despite the Enemy’s attempts to marginalize Christianity, many of which are unwittingly aided by mythological "Christian" doctrine that makes no sense to most people, we who have been exposed to great biblical truth are duty bound to share with others. As Christians, we are called to "interrupt" the lives of people without a knowledge of the one true God and give them a logical and appealing alternative. We realize that not everyone will agree with us, but we are seeking the seekers , and we honestly believe that the Lord will open the door for a great move of his Word if there are enough believers willing to walk through it. Yes, it will take conviction and courage to stand against the religious and cultural mainstreams, but certainly it will be worth it, both now and in the life to come. In light of what our precious Lord Jesus did for each of us, how can we do any less than give our all for him?

In a tape we heard by a man named J.P. Moreland, titled "The Postmodern Proposal," he suggests three essential elements of a successful Christian witness in our postmodern culture. The first is observable love relationships in the Body of Christ . We believe that effective home fellowships are a big key to a witness of intimacy among Christians. Due to the breakup of families and the corresponding loss of intimacy, many people fear trust and commitment. But, for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, their cynicism will melt in the heat of true Christian love.

Moreland suggests that the second element of a successful Christian witness is a relevant personal testimony . None of us can be a witness of what he has not seen, heard or experienced. The apostle Paul, certainly one who is to be a prime example to us, made it clear that his chief passion was to know Christ (Phil. 3:10). The more real the Lord Jesus is to us, the more credible our testimony of him is to others. The more we understand the culture in which we live, the more precisely we can aim our witness into the hearts of people.

We heartily agree with Moreland’s third point that a successful Christian witness must have substance , that is, a sensible, rational, practical content. If we study the outreach of the early Church, it seems apparent that the heart of their testimony was the truth of God’s Word about the Lord Jesus Christ, rather than "trying to meet the needs of the listener," etc ., etc .

Relevant to these three points, many people today are craving intimacy, but, due to the breakup of families and other relational failures, they believe true intimacy is impossible. Think of the despair in which that will leave them. Also, people are looking for examples of others who truly know God. And finally, people in our postmodern culture are literally "dying" for truth, something constant upon which they can stand amidst the chaos around them. We believe the stage is set for those who know the truth to reach many people with it. They need a hero, and Jesus is The Man. He will reward your heroism in sharing with others the truth about him. Could there be any more noble calling?

Hello! This is Mark Graeser , reporting on our trip to Argentina September 17-28.

It was a very full and action-packed nine days. We returned home very tired, but blessed and inspired by the evident work of God going on in Argentina. Our hearts were greatly comforted and we were strengthened in the faith by our mutual fellowship and shared vision of the Word over the world. The witness of the lives of the people, especially our hosts Hector and Laura Teme and Alejandro and Marisa Marchesan, filled us with joy.

After being delayed a full day en route due to thunderstorms in the Washington D.C. area, we finally arrived in Buenos Aires where we were met by both Hector and Alejandro. Hector and his wife, Laura, were our first contacts in Argentina, and are the leaders of Centro Educacional Christiano  (CEC ). Hector had tracked us down via the Internet, and Alejandro had met with John Lynn when he visited Argentina in July of 1997. Then Alejandro and many others from Ministerio de Reconciliacion,  which he and Marisa have coordinated, participated in the meetings that John Schoenheit had conducted when he was there in March. Our visit was being co-sponsored by both ministries, and we were very blessed by the great cooperation and love shared among the believers from each. In fact, one of the highlights of our visit, for us and them, was a music group recently formed by believers from both ministries. Their music was excellent, and even featured some original compositions that were a big hit.

Since our itinerary had been delayed by a cancelled flight in Washington D.C., the extra day we had planned to get rested and acclimated was now history. Hector and Alejandro took us to Hector and Laura’s in time to eat a little and catch a quick cat-nap before we left for our first meeting at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. There were people there from both Centro de Educational Christiano  (CEC ) and Ministerio de Reconciliacion  singing and praising God. Very few spoke enough English for us to communicate much, but we felt warmly received and blessed by the evident love that the people had for God, for us and for each other. Karen shared first about the urgency of the times and the need to really walk with God. I shared on the character of Christ, beginning with the recognition that the lust of the flesh—or wanting things that God does not say we need—is the foundation of the corruption or sin prevalent in the world (1 John 2:16; Eph. 2:3; 2 Pet. 1:4; James 1:13,14). Then I painted a picture for them of the character of Christ and the reality of walking by the spirit, his nature within us. Soon after this first meeting was finished, we went home and slept, bless God!

The next day we had scheduled a meeting at Hector and Laura’s real estate office where they have made a classroom that seats 50+ people. This meeting was supposed to be for married couples, but since there were many single people there also, we decided to stay on the topic of the character of Christ. I particularly went through 1 Corinthians 13 and showed them the need for the character of Christ to be in manifestation along with the manifestations of the spirit. This dovetails with Matthew 7:15-23 regarding doing miracles and casting out demons in his name, but not knowing him. They were really buzzing with the understanding of the importance of developing the character of Christ in every aspect of our lives, so indirectly the teaching applied to married couples. In fact, we never did meet with just married couples. We either worked with leaders or had open meetings wherever we went.

Monday we had a day off and made a quick visit to downtown Buenos Aires, which is a large, cosmopolitan and cultured city with many European influences. We visited a fancy mall that was full of very nice merchandise at fairly expensive prices. Many familiar brands were sold there, and they even had a food court with a few other symbols of American life—like McDonalds, Wendy’s, Burger King, etc . This was a very "civilized" place!

  Tuesday we left for Zarate to minister that afternoon and evening. The part of Zarate where we went was very poor, and looked a lot like other places we have visited in the third world—makeshift shelters, dirty and muddy conditions and few places with electricity and running water. Accompanying us there were Alex Oliver, Hector and Laura, and Fabian and Fernanda Tuset who met us there. Fabian has been very interested in Zarate, and has been working with Hector to teach the Word to these dear and deprived people. The meeting was held in a community association building, rather rustic but clean and adequate. I began teaching to a group of about 15-20 people, with more trickling in as time went by. When Karen began prophesying later there were about 30 people there, the most they had ever had at a meeting. We found out later that some of the people were from a Pentecostal church in the neighborhood. I emphasized in my teaching that all believers can speak in tongues and be energized in all the other manifestations. I teed up prophecy and Karen went to work, with me adding an occasional word. There were many tears, healed hearts and looks of amazement as the Lord spoke lovingly and personally to each of them.

We were particularly touched by an adorable, dirty-faced little boy about eight, who was so full of life and promise, yet who lived in such heart-breaking squalor, degradation and filth. He heard me teach from outside the door and asked Fabian, "Is that God speaking?" Fabian said, "No, but that I was teaching the Word  of God." The little boy then asked, "Is that man the Son of God?" Fabian said, "No, Jesus Christ was the Son of God." Finally, he asked, "Is that man a friend of God?" Fabian said, "Yes." So the little boy then ran off and got some of his friends to "come hear a friend of God." One of his friends had a wounded face wrapped in a bandage, and he wanted us to pray for this friend. We trust that he was healed.

Later our new little friend opened up and told Fabian that he knew his father didn’t love him because he beat him regularly and was a drug addict. Fabian assured him that God  loved him and knew his situation and would do everything He could to help him. He seemed to believe and be comforted. We could only pray that God would touch his life and heart after we left the meeting and returned to Buenos Aires.

  Later we heard from Geronimo, the Zarate fellowship coordinator, that the next day there was an "explosion" of interest in his fellowship. He had 50 people come to his store wanting to know when that American woman who said all those things to each person was coming back. We are hopeful that the Zarate fellowship will grow and flourish with the help of the Buenos Aires believers who have taken an interest in this impoverished part of their world.

Wednesday we went to Rosario, a city about four hours north. There we met in a nice hotel with about 15 people. I taught on Christian unity, personal responsibility and the character of Christ. Karen again prophesied powerfully until almost midnight and the people went away blessed, spiritually renewed and invigorated. Thursday and Friday evenings we taught on prophecy and demonstrated it for the believers in Buenos Aires. We did a number of things to begin to activate the saints to be more fluent in prophecy, and we are hopeful that they will soon be rising up to boldly and accurately speak the Word of God, both written and prophetic. Some were disappointed that they did not receive a personal prophecy at that time, but we made it clear that our goal was not just that they receive a word of the Lord, but that they learn how to give also.

We were up till about 1:30 a.m. Friday night/Saturday morning, and had to get up at 5:15 a.m. to get ready to meet the bus for Mar de Plata, a city on the ocean about four hours to the south. Apparently a number of the believers wanted to go with us to Mar de Plata to hear more, so they rented a bus. About 30 people went from Buenos Aires to Mar de Plata, where we met first with leaders. At Alejandro’s request, I taught on leadership commitment, in the context of Peter’s struggle to love the Lord in John 21, and Paul’s progression of self-abasement from "less than the least of the Apostles to chief of sinners. I related this "progress" to John the Baptist’s assertion that "I must decrease, he must increase." I shared that the job of a leader is to represent Christ, his ways, his power, his truth, and to do so we must be willing to die to ourselves so there is less of us and more of him.

In the afternoon I taught on Christian character and belief as described in Ephesians 4:1-6. There were many new people in the crowd, so I spoke generally of the appeal of Christianity and the witness of Christians in how they treat one another, even those of other doctrinal persuasions. Then at 6:00 p.m. we began to prophesy to almost 50 people from Mar de Plata, finishing about 9:00 p.m. We stopped to get food and then hit the road, continuing to prophesy to the believers who had come on the bus. We finished at about midnight and then tried to sleep. One of the tires on the bus went flat, so the driver was forced to drive very slowly back to Buenos Aires, where we arrived at about 4:30 a.m. We slept a few hours and had a final meeting at 10:00 a.m. at Hector and Laura’s office. I taught on the voice of the Lord, and the plan of Christ as the purpose of the ages. At the end of this fellowship we had Hector and Laura and Alejandro and Marisa come forward, and the believers gathered around, and many prayed and prophesied for these dynamic and precious leaders. The heart of what the Lord had to say was that these two couples are called to be a bigger part of one another’s lives, and the success of their ministries is tied to the success of their friendship.

We went back to the Teme’s, packed and visited with a small number of people who had come to see us off. They presented us with some gifts, which included two pairs of beautiful dress shoes for Mark from one of the believer’s shoe factory (he had apparently taken one look at Mark’s feet and knew what size he wore). Our flight home was turbulent and bumpy, making sleep nearly impossible. Needless to say, by the time we got home we were exhausted, but thankful for the opportunity to be with the precious Argentinean saints who are doing such a wonderful job of holding forth God’s Word in their beautiful land.

We are committed to serving you the best way possible in every phase of our ministry. This certainly includes the logistics of dealing with you as a "customer." Our goal is professionalism and precision in processing your orders, subscriptions, registrations, etc . Please  tell us right away  if we make a mistake or if you feel we could have done better in any transactions with you. Thank you very much.

Looking for stocking stuffers or that extra special gift under the tree? What could be better than a gift that could change a person’s life? Is there someone you know who would benefit from a book or tape that can answer some of his questions? Give a gift this year that will have long term benefits for years to come. The order form inside of this newsletter is jam-packed with wonderful ideas. Parents—how about getting all of the kids together for Introduction To God’s Heart?  Got a friend who likes to read? How about a subscription to Dialogue  for him? Do you know someone who has a long commute to work? A subscription to the 1999 Bi-monthly tapes is just the thing. Order today and avoid those crowded malls. You won’t be disappointed.