Over the last ten or so years a large number of men of God have passed away. I was thinking of this when it also occurred to me that there is no one to take the place of these men in the modern Christian church. Then I thought of all the great Christian men who had come out of England in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, but no one was found to take their place either.
The Salvation Army was started in London by William Booth sometime in the mid-1800. From small street meetings it has grown to be the largest Christian Ministry in the World. Before Booth we had John Wycliffe who left us the Wycliffe bible along with William Tyndale who also left us the first English version of the Scriptures. People like Hudson Taylor who spent nearly his entire life as a servant in China for the Lord Jesus was one of the first to understand servant hood as was John Bunyan who published The Pilgrim's Progress. During Booths time we also had such great men of God like Smith Wigglesworth, Stephen and George Jefferies, Howard Cater, Charles Spurgeon, John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield and John Newton.
Today there is no one in England with this type of courage and submission to Gods plan for men. So where are the men of this age? What has happened to the Christian servant who gave up everything for the mission field? I believe that we have a strain of men who are too weak to be of much use to the Masters touch. Modern man has too much on his mind to be of much use to a God who calls him to leave everything and follow him into the unknown. Christianity has also changed into a feel good and have it all religion instead of following Jesus.
In this country the last thirty years have bought death to many of God chosen servants also. Demos Shakarian who founded Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (FGBMFI) passed away in 1993 as did Milton Green and Lester Rollof. Then we had Doctor Bill Bright who founded Compass Crusade for Christ pass away along with Kenneth Hagan who founded Rhema Bible College. Last year it was David Wilkerson who went to be with the Lord, along with Adrien Rogers who I have admired for his honesty and integrity. Oral Roberts who had many controversies but was faithful to the end in his service to the Lord also passed away, as did Lester Sumrall and Doctor Myles Munroe who was a gifted bible teacher from the Bahamas.
What all these men had in common was their commitment to the bible and to God. With the arrival of video games and the internet along with the cell phone, people have had a tougher time finding time to be with the Lord and His Holy Spirit. As I am writing this I have also learned that Andrae Crouche a Christian singer and song writer has died at the age of 72 of a heart attack. One of his songs, To God Be the Glory, was one of my favorite Christian songs.
All of these men will be missed very badly in the coming years for their dedication to the gospel. We will never see the likes of these men again. From what other people in other professions tell me, it seems as if the spirit of the pioneer and the explorer has gone the way of the type writer. Men have become lazy, unfaithful, and irresponsible along with being very insecure. This is not a big deal in the world of commerce and maybe the home, but you could not send a man like this to a God who has been friends with super macho types like Moses or Abraham, and how about the apostle Paul who along with the other apostles died a cruel death at the hands of unbelievers.
Today's Christian man is more interested in having fame and fortune than dying to self and carrying his own cross. They are more like Judas who was a thief and helped himself to what was collected, before selling the Lord for personal gain.
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