Author: Jon Gauger

He was born in a broken neighborhood in East Los Angeles. When his parents divorced, his heart and home were broken. Statistically speaking, Frank would likely never amount to anything but trouble.

Yet God had his hand on Frank. After graduating from a Christian university, Frank sensed a call to evangelism and scheduled a series of meetings in the summer of 1961.

Yolanda remembers. She was 15, babysitting at the home of a liberal mainline pastor’s family. “I honestly don’t think he was saved,” Yolanda recalls.

But Yolanda was spiritually hungry and wanted to study the Bible. When she mentioned that to the pastor, he handed her a flyer advertising a week of evangelistic meetings at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles.

The pastor offered to drive Yolanda and her friends to the school. She smiles, recalling, “It ended up that we had nearly 25 kids and it took several vehicles.”

Speaking that night was a young trumpet-playing evangelist named Frank Gonzales. His music was bright, his message was clear: apart from Christ, there is no hope for salvation.

That very night, Yolanda received Christ, as did ten of her friends. As for Frank Gonzales, he went on to share Christ with people all over the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala.

But the remarkable thing about Frank was that he didn’t do this ministry alone. He assembled teams of college-aged kids (like Yolanda) to travel with him and sing and share in week-long outreaches that included sports, door-to-door witnessing, and evening concerts and preaching.

Notably, many of the team members Frank took only be described as broken. They came from troubled families, were former drug addicts, or had social issues. Frank loved them and discipled them all.

Team members attended class every morning. My wife Diana, who traveled with the ministry for three years, recalls. "We were taught theology, Scripture memorization, and personal evangelism. Frank was absolutely committed to our growth."

 

By the time Frank died in 1994, he had discipled more than 4,000 young people, and many thousands more were saved at churches and other meetings where he spoke and played.

The world said that Frank would never amount to anything. But God whispered otherwise.

Maybe you feel broken at this very moment. Broken emotionally, relationally—maybe spiritually. You might have a broken past, a broken track record. And every voice you hear seems to say, “You’ll never amount to anything.”

But God whispers otherwise. Search the Scriptures and you’ll discover the undeniable: Christ loves to use broken people.

Just ask the thousands of people touched for eternity by the broken boy from the broken neighborhood in East Los Angeles.

 

 

 

 

 

Six-year-old Emma possesses a charming urge to give gifts. As a nature lover, her gifts are often like the one she presented me last week: a leaf.

But leaves don’t last, and that’s a hard lesson for little ones to learn. I suspect it’s a reality most of us adults struggle with, as well. Whether we’re blessed with little—or a lot—we want the good stuff to last forever. But…

• Leaves don’t last forever.
• Flowers don’t last forever.
• Looks don’t last forever.
• Dream jobs don’t last forever.
• Health doesn’t last forever.
• Houses don’t last forever. 
• Spouses don’t last forever—not in the earthly sense.

These are all wonderful gifts. But we love them too much when we love them more than God and insist they never go away.

We seek a “forever” quality in our gifts, but will find it only in the Giver. Consider, we are pilgrims passing through, not hoarders hanging on.

Our misshapen hearts, deformed by the fall, seek fulfillment in stuff that doesn’t last, rather than a Savior that never leaves. And the whispered refrain of our Heavenly Father is to love the Giver more than the gifts.

You want forever?

• Heaven is forever.
• Christ is forever.
• Souls are forever.
• The Word of God is forever.

Let’s learn to long for these—and not lesser gifts. 

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!   

–2 Corinthians 9:15

It was barely six o’clock in the morning, but the sun was so high—and the humidity with it—sunglasses seemed to beg for their own wiper blades.

Humid or not, Jack launched into his Scripture memory work. In his hand, he held a laminated card featuring the text of Psalm 27. He was working on verse eight:

When you said, "Seek my face," my heart said to you, "I shall seek your face, Lord.

Again and again, Jack worked that phrase over as he hoofed his way toward the office: “I shall seek your face, Lord. I shall seek your face, Lord.” And then a distraction seized his view—a very young, very trim jogger lady whose too-few clothes were too tight.

Jack said, “Immediately, this verse seemed to shout at me: “When you said ‘Seek my face,’ my heart said to you, ‘I shall seek your face, Lord.’”

Rather than linger or leer, Jack turned away and quoted the verse—out loud. And he did so again and again until the jogger had passed. Looking back on that moment, he quipped, "Ya know, it’s hard to quote Scripture and gawk at a jogger.” 

He's got a point! But not just ANY point. Jack was using the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God! It's for moments exactly like this that God has given us the Scriptures.

Ephesians 6:17 urges, "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." We would not need a helmet or a sword if there were no battle. But fight we must because the war is on.

While it’s nice to celebrate Jack’s win, one victory is hardly the end of the conflict. Jack will surely need to reach for his Sword again. And so will you and I.

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11

Photo by Ricardo Cruz on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you snack between meals? Probably.

Americans spend 135 billion annually on snacks—almost $500 per person. And get this—44% of us spend more on snack food than Netflix. Snacks account for more than a quarter of U.S. food and beverage spending.

As a toddler, our daughter Lynnette was the poster child for snackers. It got to the point where my wife set out a Cheerios-inspired yellow bowl with snacks to tame Lynnette's appetite. She snacked her way through the day. And so do many of us.

But are we that hungry for God's presence? How many of us PRAY our way through the day?

It was the old radio preacher Bob Cook who I first heard share that phrase, which is anchored in Ephesians 6:18,  "Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints." In other words, this verse is saying, "Pray your way through the day."

Before you open the mail—say a prayer. (There could be good news—or bad!).

Before you answer the phone—say a prayer. (You don't know who might be on the other end of the call, desperate for encouragement).

Before you hit “send” on that text or email—say a prayer. (You might end up NOT hitting send!).

Before you walk in the door after work to greet your spouse—say a prayer.

(You don't know what they've been through, what comfort they need).

Yes, we need times of extended, quiet prayer with God—say first thing in the morning. But the temptation (for me at least) is to then “check prayer off the list.”  Instead, let’s learn to pray our way through the day.

I’m hardly a Jedi knight at this, but when I choose to live this lifestyle, I am…

         •        More at peace

         •        Less irritable

         •        More poised to notice others’ needs and encourage them.

Pray your way through the day. Try it! It feels like you're having an extended conversation with Jesus—like you never really leave his presence. Isn't that the way we're supposed to live the Christian life?

Thomas Watson reminds us, “The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel.”

Pray your way through the day!

 

 

https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/education/2024/state-of-snacking/

https://talkbusiness.net/2019/12/americans-spend-almost-500-annually-on-snack-foods/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/44-americans-spend-more-snacks-130215223.html

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2024/02/09/many-americans-are-snacking-more-but-looking-for-bargains-in-the-snack-aisle

When it comes to antisemitism, the last 30 days have been ugly.

Justin Kron of the Kesher Project put together the following assessment of the last 30 days:

• Kanye West—an artist with a following of nearly 30 million people, more than double the global Jewish population—released a song and music video titled “Heil Hitler.” 
• Mosab Abu Toha, who denied that hostages were abducted on October 7th, won a Pulitzer Prize.
• A student at Temple University recorded himself ordering bar service with a sign that reads "F*** the Jews," which went viral on social media. After being publicly chastised by Dave Portnoy, the bar owner, somebody created a fund to help the student cover any legal fees he might incur in defending his "free speech."

• The premiere of Bring the Family Home, featuring Jewish rapper KoshaDillz and his efforts to encourage peaceful dialogue with anti-Israel protestors, is canceled by the host theater in Chicago just 3 hours beforehand due to "safety concerns." Thankfully, another theater quickly stepped up to the plate, allowing people to attend the premiere. 
• Tom Fletcher, the UN's under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, during a BBC interview, stated that "14,000 babies [in Gaza] will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them," which was entirely untrue. Nevertheless, multiple mainstream media outlets and social influencers, including former news anchor Katie Couric, quickly parroted the lie to millions around the world.

• Two days later, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, both Jewish followers of Jesus who were planning to get engaged the following week, were maliciously gunned down by a pro-Hamas terrorist from Chicago while they were walking out of an event at the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., for the ‘crime’ of being Zionists. Many then took to social media to defend the shooter's actions as justified resistance.

• Just last weekend, during a peaceful march in support of Israeli hostages at the outdoor Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado, Mohamed Sabry Soliman used a "makeshift flamethrower" and launched Molotov cocktails that burned twelve victims.

Again, all of this (and more) has happened in just the past month. Yet many in our country act like antisemitism isn’t a serious issue and that people like me are just being dramatic about it.

But Justin Kron reminds us it is a serious issue, and as followers of Jesus—a Jewish Messiah—and people called to love our neighbors, we must not remain silent. Let us not pretend that antisemitism is someone else's problem. The Church must stand up. Not only in our prayers but in our pulpits, classrooms, and daily conversations. We must teach our children, disciple our congregations, and challenge our culture to confront this evil.

One way you can step up is by getting the word out about the upcoming release of OCTOBER 7: BEARING WITNESS TO THE MASSACRE this September. I’ve seen the trailer—and it might just leave you breathless. Learn more at october7film.com.

The good news? Romans 12:2 assures us we can “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21) and truly make a difference. Why not start today?

Thanks to Justin Kron and the Kesher project for their tireless work. Visit kesherproject.com

 

 

 

 

Do you like to fish?

About 60 million Americans do—women and men. And we shell out a collective total of 115 billion dollars annually on fishing lures, fishing boats, and fishing trips.

I've been on four unforgettable half-day fishing charters. But could I be frank with you? I know very little about fishing—almost nothing!

However, I've observed that invariably, the captain knows the right place, the right time, the right bait, and the right technique! The captain scans for fish, baits the hooks, sets the downriggers—he does it all.

With a typical half-day morning charter, you get up at 4:00 am to drive to the marina, so you're already tired. Then you take some Dramamine to prevent motion sickness, and now you're trashed!

I’ve been so sleepy that I’ve dozed off standing on my feet, and the captain has had to yell out, “You’ve got a fish! Crank it in!” So, I wake up, haul in the fish, and feel like a hero for reeling in the “big one.”

But it really isn't me doing the work! I merely wind in the fish for which someone else did the prep work. The captain just lets me be part of the adventure.

That’s a pretty good picture of what God has in mind for you and me regarding making disciples. We can't save a single soul. But He knows the right place, the right time, the right bait, and the right technique. Better yet, He longs to have us join Him in His mission of fishing for souls.

On a fishing charter, the captain never uses just one pole. There are ten or more! Why? Obviously, you significantly increase your odds of catching a fish when you're casting for more than one.

Translation: If all you have is one unsaved friend, neighbor, or coworker, your world is too small! Let's build lots of friendships with lots of unsaved people. By all means, hang on to your Christian buddies—you need them to help anchor you to Christ. But your ocean must include unsaved folks, too.

Jesus called us to be fishers of souls. Who are you fishing for?

You don’t need to be great at it. But you do have to get at it!

Your Captain—and your adventure—are waiting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What does heaven sound like? This week, I think I heard an excerpt.

The Bible offers a surprising amount of detail about what heaven will look like: Streets of gold. Gates of pearl. Walls of precious stones. The River of Life.

But what about the acoustic side of things—the sound? Revelation talks about saints singing Hallelujah. And Christians through the centuries have been convinced there'll be harp music. Revelation mentions seven trumpets played by seven angels, along with loud peals of thunder that help us imagine the voice of God.

But last weekend, on a beach in Jacksonville, Florida, I was given a preview of another sound that will be heard in heaven. More than ten thousand people from the Church of Eleven 22 gathered to witness and celebrate the baptism of 1,958 believers.

There were many columns of hundreds of people—and getting them all baptized took the entire afternoon. But as we celebrated this step of obedience with my niece, you could not escape the sound: clapping, cheering, rejoicing, praising.

Every single person was celebrated by a cluster of folks surrounding them in the waves. This choice to stand with Jesus, be identified with Jesus, and follow Jesus—was enthusiastically (loudly) affirmed.

I can’t help but think this, too, is an audio snapshot of heaven. A soundscape of eternal applause, endless cheering, unflagging rejoicing. That’s what heaven will sound like.

What a fabulous (non-ending) day that will be!

And I heard a sound from heaven, like the roar of rushing waters, and like a loud peal of thunder.

—Revelation 14:2

 

The attacker stealthily inched his way forward. Finally, in range, he bashed Max on the back of the head—a blow sufficient to give him a concussion. When Max's friend Michael attempted to help him up, attackers broke Michael's wrist, requiring surgery.

It all happened on November 6, 2024, on a public plaza at one of Chicago’s most respected campuses, DePaul University. Though police know there were two attackers, only one has been arrested, while the other is still at large. The attacker they did arrest wasn’t even a student.

So, what was it that fueled this assault? What was there to hate about Max Long and Michael Kaminsky?

They are Jewish students, one of whom has served his time in the Israel Defense Forces (ironically defending his nation after the October 7 attack in Israel).

While Max and Michael have always been willing to engage in respectful dialogue, their attackers wanted to silence them. But the story gets uglier. In speaking with the two of them, I learned that there were other students on that plaza when the assault took place. And what did those students do? They fled. No help. No rescue.

Worse, a lawsuit claims that a DePaul public safety officer stationed just a few feet away at the time did not intervene when Long and Kaminsky were attacked. At that point, a different Public Safety Officer stopped one of the assailants but then inexplicably let him go, the lawsuit claims.

And the harassment has not ended. Long's face has since appeared on flyers around the campus, calling him an "IDF Butcher who got what he deserved."

Ironically, this attack occurred within inches of a statue adorned with a caption asking, "What are you doing for justice?"

Since when is cowardice justice? How can we call ourselves followers of Jesus and not be outraged by this attack? If our society continues to tolerate this sort of thuggery, you can be sure that Bible-believing Christians are next in line.

Enough is enough. It’s time to speak up and stand up. Our Jewish friends and neighbors deserve nothing less.

He has told you, mortal one, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dark side of repetition is numbness. When we hear things often enough, we cease to hear them. What should be foreground becomes background. Given time, even the profound becomes mundane.

Perhaps that’s why I was taken aback by the simple declaration eight-year-old Ava wrote recently. Scrawled on a scrap of paper were these words: “I Love Jesus—and He Loves Me.”

We pepper our prayers and praise music with the first half of Ava's message, "I love Jesus." But how often do we ponder—really contemplate—the second half of her message, "And He loves me.”

I suspect that many of us know this is “supposed” to be true, that it is biblically and theologically accurate. We believe all this in our heads. Yet, we struggle to feel it in our hearts.

If you were raised in a "performance-based" home, where doing and achieving opened the doors to acceptance and love, you might well struggle to believe, "And He loves me."

Be at rest! Christ really does love you. He says it over and over again. Remember that God chose to demonstrate or prove His love dramatically: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). What's more, 2 Timothy 2:13 assures us, "If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful." In going to the cross, He loved you with everything He had!

But back to the first half of Ava's declaration, "I love Jesus." How do we know that we DO love Jesus? Is it the words we say, or the feelings we feel?

Jesus Himself gave us the litmus test in John 14:15, “If you love me, obey my commandments.” Which means, it’s not about the words we write or the songs we sing. Jesus spells love O-B-E-Y. Much obedience equals much love.

Do you love Jesus? How much?

Recently, I picked up a copy of The Hypochondriac’s Guide to Horrible Diseases You Probably Already Have. It is equal parts informative and hilarious. From the back cover:

Do you suffer from insomnia?

Not good…soon your whole body might attack your brain.

Are you bothered by a persistent fever and swelling?

Beware…maggots are likely crawling beneath your skin.

Have you noticed skin tenderness and discoloration?

Yikes…a small horn is probably going to sprout from your head.

 

Funny—for sure. But there’s nothing humorous about the sickness afflicting many Christ followers today. Let me explain.

We've just experienced the Easter season. As believers, we did our best to focus on Christ's sufferings when we…

• Winced at His beatings
• Flinched at His whipping
• Cringed at His crown of thorns
• Grieved at the nails bashed through His hands and feet

But when this same Jesus asks us to make disciples by telling others about Him and all He did on the cross, we often respond with:

• “That’s not really my spiritual gift.”
• “It just makes me uncomfortable.”
• “Others should do this—but not me.”

Talk about sick!

Whether by words or inaction, we tell Jesus, “No thanks,” we are stomping on His highest hope for us—and His world. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” is the Great Commission, not the Great Suggestion.

What if we dropped the excuses and chose one friend or neighbor—just one—that we committed to praying for (asking for their salvation) every day for a month? And what if we asked God to show us simple ways to connect with them and show them some love?

You don’t have to preach a sermon or blast your Bible at ‘em. Just share a snippet of what God has done for you, or something from His Word.

It’s spring! So, plant a seed and pray a prayer. Then watch the adventure unfold!

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

-Jesus, John 14:15