A Possibility Thinker

I'd like you to give a warm welcome to Peter Daniels. Thank you very much. I'm surprised that so many came back. It's going to be a little different tonight. I had not prepared for this in this particular way. I thought I was just doing an evening service. And so I've had to restructure some of the things that I thought that I would say. And I feel as though I'm just sort of wobbling my way through. So if I tend to jump and hop and so on, it's because I've put stuff together that I really want to share with you. But it will be different. You see, the gospel, the Christian church must be awakened from their slumber because never before in the history of international economics has there ever been an opportunity to capture the business highways of the world. And it may never happen again. And I believe this could be our opportunity. You see, we are in a unique moment in history with the uncertainties of international trade. Many businesses are unconnected and under threat. Most countries are involved in industrial protectionism. Most banks and lending institutions are overstretched. Every national identity is being blurred. Immediate gratification is a watchword. And governments seem to be powerless. The World bank appears to have no compass and is desperately short of money. And the OPEC nation are forever changing the rules. And the European Union appears to be in disunion, while the United Kingdom remains a derelict empire. And I'm sorry to say it, but the United States of America is losing its grip. And so I have to ask the question, what is our response? Well, the Chinese word is a double syllable word. It's called danger and opportunity. And we have observed in recent years, our sporting heroes shame us, our politicians lie to us, our business leaders cheat us, our banks overcharge us, our criminals laugh at us, our judges ignore us, our police cannot protect us, our hospitals and schools and universities in desperate need. Our theologians have lied to us, the trade union movement threatens us. Our mass media treat us like garbage receptacles. The Muslims are trying to eradicate our soldiers that are being used for target practice on foreign fuels. Where's our sense of outrage? Why aren't we saying something? Why aren't we, the Christian Church, making some response? I think the Good News Bible sums it up succinctly in Isaiah 33:7, where it says brave men are calling for help. The ambassadors who have tried to bring out peace are crying bitterly. The highways are so dangerous that no one travels on them anymore. Treaties are broken, agreements are violated, no one is respected. It almost sounds as though we're reading this morning's newspaper. You see, at this time, I believe, when sin and debauchery and vacillation, fear and division hold us back. We need to revisit the times and the words of a man called Dietrich when he stood almost alone against the atrocities being carried out by the Nazis in Germany under the authority of dictator Adolf Hitler, while many of the leaders of the church of all echelons were cowardly raising their hands in Nazi salute, he wrote to his pastoral friends with these words, and I quote, he said, we have been the silent witnesses of evil deeds. We have been drenched by many storms. We've learned the art of equivocation and pretense. Are we still of any use? And I think we have to ask ourselves that question. Are we still of any use? Never in the history of the world have we had so many people claiming to be Christians, but it's ineffective now. We indeed are in an unusual time in the history of global events. We have before us in this modern, fast moving world an iconoclastic body of fanatics boasting world domination. And they are infiltrating our legal systems, our schools, under the guise of compromise and seeking to manipulate our culture, proclaiming a religion stained with blood and carnage, warning those who challenge their claims and demands with protests and threats inflexible to the extreme, in evil, in intent, with the preparedness to sacrifice the flower of their youth to create terror, while frightened old men hide in safety within the higher echelons of their leadership while they are protected by a seemingly impregnable fortress as they manipulate a shaky doctrine while they are protected from harm, we say nothing about it. We hide behind our Christian ease. We have before us a hideous monstrosity with the absence of mercy that acknowledges no boundaries. And they are mistaken in the belief that we Christians are paralyzed by fear, impotent, powerless, incompetent, shattered, demoralized, and that we cannot challenge them. Who do they think they are? They've tried it before. They crucified us upside down, they stoned us, they beheaded us, they burned us at the stake, they threw us to the lions. And we're still here. Don't they understand? Are there scholars so inept that they ignore the pages of biblical history? We are the heirs of God's promise. We hold within our souls the title deeds of everlasting life. Our God is in omnipotent. It was he who parted the Red Sea and the river Jordan. It was he threw a shepherd boy, killed a giant called Goliath. And crushed an army. It was our God who appointed kings and deposed tyrants. It was our God who threw a trumpet sound and a shout they collapsed the walls of Jericho. It was our God who destroyed an empire with Gideon's 300 men. It was our God who, through a man called Abraham, built a nation. It was our God who turned a valley of dry bones into an invincible army of. I mean, who the heck do they think they are? Who they think they're dealing with here? I mean, we must win in the marketplace. We must win in the universities. We must win in the law courts. We must win in the media. We must win in the government. We must defend our faith, our churches and our families. To the last drop of sweat, to the last dollar, to the last argument, to the last word and, if necessary, life itself. No more vacillation, no more backing down. And just as God spoke to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy, he said, you have skirted this mountain long enough. Turn northward. We are in desperate need of a change of direction. And I want to do something tonight. What I intended to do rather than give you that little introduction. I was just getting rid of a few things in my system. But I think there are things that need to be said. And I want to talk to you about a man called Caleb. I warned my daughter when she was having her fourth child. I said, don't you understand that every fourth child born in the world is Chinese? But when Caleb was born, I ran into a mountaineer's hut. I bought a mountaineer's hat. I wanted him to be a mountain climber. And I want to read to you. You don't have to open your Bibles. I'll read it to you. It was Caleb speaking in Joshua 14, 7, 13. And this is what he said. He said. And I like to put it in the context of how it actually happened. You can imagine, oh, Caleb here at 85 years of age and saying, I was 40 years old when Moses, a servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. And I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt. But I wholly followed the Lord, my God. So Moses swore on that day, saying, surely the land where your foot is trodden shall be your inheritance and your children forever, because you have hope, wholly follow the Lord, my God. And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive as he said, these 45 years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses. While Israel wandered in the wilderness. And now here I am this day, 85 years old. As yet, I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me. Just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now, therefore, give me this mountain. Give me this mountain now. This has a deep renaissance to my own life. At 45 years of age, I was struck down with leukemia. I was falling asleep in the afternoon. I couldn't keep awake. One day, as I started to fall asleep, my Bible slipped out of my hand and I read these words, words. And I was 45 years of age that said, thou has kept me these 40 and five years both to go out and to come in to make war. Now God, give me this mountain. And I had, at 28 years of age, written my life goals down right up to my 85th birthday. I ran out to my wife. I said, surely God has spoken to me through his Word. Everything will be fine. And when I get well, I'll have a medal struck. It'll be in gold and silver and bronze. It'll show Caleb standing before a mountain with his muscles rippling. And it'll say, God, give me this mountain. And I'll give it to people around the world for achievement, for encouragement. Nelson Mandela has one, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, the great literary giant in London, Malcolm Muggeridge, and many, many others. And I want to share some concepts with you tonight on.