Post 118 / The Next Language
November 29, 2022
God’s Winks
[Act 17:30 KJV] 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:
[1Co 15:34 KJV] 34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak [this] to your shame.
Recently I was asked to speak to a conference of pastors. I could not tell them how their sin might be linked to the many unreached people groups in their country but I was able to tell them how that played out in my life.
In 2015 I was Mayor of the Matanuska Susitna Borough in Alaska. Friends were encouraging me to move up politically (i.e. run for governor of Alaska). It was at that point that God got my attention and made me seriously consider that if God was first and His Kingdom was paramount, what should I really be doing with the rest of my life that counts for eternity? What was I specifically prepared for that few others could do? What would be most strategic for His Kingdom – not my kingdom.
Those questions caused me to go back to Colombia and evaluate recordings I had made over 50 years earlier. I went back to the Chimila and the Embena in Northern Colombia and found believers where there had been none and Christian brothers that spontaneously called me “Pastor.” The Embena actually asked me to come back and make recordings in yet another language that they were trying to reach with the Gospel.
It didn’t take long to realize that in spite of the torturous physicality of those efforts and the total medical collapse of our family forcing our departure in the early 70’s, those seeds that were planted with the Gospel in the form of 78 RPM records were easily the most fruitful accomplishment in my life to date.
That awareness triggered my determination to return to Colombia to finish the 10 languages that were yet unrecorded. By now everyone in GRN knows that that step set me up to be in position in GRN to focus not only on ten languages in Colombia but on thousands that are waiting worldwide.
My response to the call of God to Kingdom-wide ambition instead of personal ambition is where my sin of not responding could have been at the expense of “many not having the knowledge of God.”
Consequently I divested of cattle, machinery, property, a business, and political ambitions in Alaska. To not do so would have been socially acceptable to even church folks, but for me it would have been sin and for the Kingdom – loss.
Like I told the pastors recently, “I am not in a position to tell you what in your life or church might affect a world without the knowledge of God, but you need to take that possibility seriously.”
Paul mentioned in the sermon in Athens that God had winked at their past ignorance. We can all give testimony to God dealing similarly with us. However, there comes a point in our relationship with God and the Kingdom where we are not in ignorance and God is not going to indefinitely wink at our lapses.
If in the Kingdom or in the mission or in all of our relationships we foster a spirit of disunity or display a lack of love for another brother, we are hindering God’s blessing and power and the inevitable result of that is the Gospel falling short of being planted where God wants it to grow.
God Bless,
Larry DeVilbiss | Executive Director
Global Recordings Network USA
If you are interested in learning how to share links on social media that will promote use of our recordings and the Gospel in general, please contact RolandHeck@GlobalRecordings.Net