Walking by Faith

"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."
Ephesians 4:11-12

The life of someone uniquely chosen to be used in gospel ministry can be extremely challenging. It has been well said that if you can do anything else and be satisfied, then do it, because God has probably not called you into the ministry. Not only is this lifestyle difficult for the one called, it's also difficult on the family. On many occasions I can remember trying to encourage our girls during less than pleasant times of how pleased I was by their positive attitudes. "I know that we march to the beat of a different drummer when compared to other families," I would say, "and I am so thankful that you never complain, fuss, or get angry about the pathway that God has chosen for us." They would always respond with a smile, but I always knew that deep down, the pain was still there. How did I know? Because within my own bruised heart the pain of rejection, gossip, slander, loneliness, and other ways carnal men had treated us, seemed to be an unwelcomed, perpetual guest.

Many years ago, a dear pastor friend, Jim Holcomb, told me this: "Charles, you are a prophet. And with this spiritual gift that God has entrusted unto you, your journey will not be easy. Those who are prophets are often lonely, despised, and mistreated. You know this, you've read their testimonies in scripture. And I've seen the prophet in you time and time again. I've prayed with you when your tears would flow like a river for the lost and backslidden, revealing your tender heart of love and compassion. But I've also seen you stand firm against the lying tongues of those who misunderstood and hated you, displaying a backbone of hardened steel. You're a prophet. Life and ministry won't be easy for you, but always remember this: God loves prophets!" His words were helpful then and remain helpful today. Yet the path of a prophet is still hard.

I'll never forget the words spoken to me by the late Bill Stafford in a Bible conference as he walked to the pulpit following my sermon: "My-my, Bro. Charles, what a message to the church. Amen! You know, son, I've been praying for you throughout my ministry. Yes sir, you are an answer to prayer. Amen! For years, YEARS, I've been praying that God would raise up someone that can make folks mad faster than I can. And you're that man! AMEN! Yes sir, that's the message this modern, apostate church needs to hear. They don't want to hear it, but they need to hear it. Praise God! You're style of preaching, mercy, it'll knock the shout out of 'em, brother. AMEN!" For those of you who knew Bro. Bill, you can hear his voice and see his face, as he tells me this with that big, wonderful smile. I was subsequently blessed to travel around the world with this precious servant of God working in affiliation with the International Congress of Revival. Those are memories that I will always cherish.

Ron Lynch, an evangelist friend from North Carolina, encouraged me years ago as I was entering into a season of itinerant ministry: "Charles, pastors need to hear you. They won't invite you to come to their churches until they hear you." This was long before the use of social media and internet sites made it so much easier to see and hear someone. But following a hard message I preached at a revival conference, where we were sharing the preaching responsibilities, he said: "Charles, I've been telling you that pastors need to hear you. But I'm telling you, man, if they hear that kind of message, they're not going to have you!" 

When I first began travelling back in 1997, my pastor at that time, the late Luther Price told me: "Bro. Charles, the best thing that could happen to your ministry is for you to wake up in the morning and be sixty years old. You are so young and well-dressed; you look like a Philadelphia lawyer walking into a service. Then your voice booms forth with hard messages that a backslidden pastor and a worldly church doesn't want to hear. No one expects a man like you to preach a message like that. Now if you were old like me, they might be more likely to have an open ear." Now that I am in my sixties, I can honestly say that those who have no desire to hear and head the word of God will reject the message and the messenger no matter his stage of life.

I've had people tell me that I should tone it down a bit; that I should back away from addressing prominent sins within the church; and that I should simply seek to be more agreeable, understanding, and gracious whenever I stand before a congregation with the word of God. Well, that might be good advice for someone else, but I'm not wired that way. When Billy Sunday was preaching across America in the early nineteen hundreds, the story is told of how his plain and powerful preaching was upsetting the more liberal minded churchmen and businessmen in a particular city. The committee overseeing the campaign finally decided that they must confront the evangelist about the complaints. In a tense meeting, they said: "Mr. Sunday, there are leading businessmen who have financed this campaign, as well as several of the local ministers, who are all becoming very disturbed by your preaching. They have asked us to speak with you, and to let you know that they believe that you are rubbing the cat the wrong way." Billy Sunday's quick reply was, "Then tell 'em to turn the cat around!" In that same fashion, Jesus said, "REPENT, OR YOU WILL ALL LIKEWISE PERISH!"

An old gospel song used to say, "I've come too far to turn back now." Likewise, beloved friend, I'm not going to change in a vain attempt to win friends and influence people. I plan to preach it (and write it) the way I see it, and I see it through the lenses of eternal, scriptural truth. The Apostle Paul said that we "walk by faith, and not by sight." My plan is to keep on walking, and keep on telling, and keep on writing, and keep on serving, until I see HIM! Hallelujah, and Amen!