1. PEOPLE WHO FORGET DISHONOUR FOUNDERS AND FATHERS.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. Genesis 9:22

One of the commonest occurrences is the forgetting of the contribution of fathers and founders. Our Lord Jesus knew that He would be forgotten by the church, so He instituted the ritual of Holy Communion so that we would remember Him.

Recently, I was preaching to the leaders of student churches at the university. I called for the leader of a particular church. The leader stepped forward and I asked, “Do you know that I started the church you are pastoring?” This pastor looked surprised and answered, “No, I never knew.”

So I informed him about how I spent two and a half years of my university life praying, fasting and preaching till his church was established.
This Christian leader had no idea how I had been maligned and criticized for establishing his church. But such is the lot of fathers and founders. Their contribution is often forgotten. Unfortunately, in so doing, many set aside the ideals and vision the founders had.

One day, a brother who had set up a mass choir returned to his university campus to pay a visit. He was greeted at the door by an usher who, obviously, did not know that he was talking to one of the founders of what he was enjoying and managing. He was treated as a common stranger and ushered unceremoniously to
the very back of the hall. Such is the lot of the founder!

Many churches do not remember their founders. The memory of the founder dims as the years go by. His name is pushed away and anything that reminds them of him is erased. New pastors want to remove the concept of the “Founder’s Day”. The new pastor wants the picture of the founder taken away.

The current pastor loves to be seen as the luminary who achieved everything on his own. Such people have forgotten the work that the founder did for the church to come into existence. The work of a founder and the apostle is the most difficult job of all.

Paul said of founders:
… I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men 1 Corinthians 4:9

The founder’s work is buried in the ground and many do not see it. Many founders are scarred and wounded individuals. They receive the largest amount of criticism and the least amount of appreciation. The families of apostles and founders are not exempted from
this treatment. They are often set aside and forgotten. The family may have paid an equally high price for the founder to lay the foundation he did.

Upon the death of founders and apostles, many are moved with compassion for their families and declare that they will set up foundations and trust funds for them.
Sadly, with the passage of time, the passion for setting up these foundations and mobilizing the money that is needed fades away. The family of the founder is left to fend for itself and to fight for survival.

The Forgotten Founder
I remember one founder who died and left behind little children and a pregnant wife. He also left behind a thriving ministry with many large churches. Years after the death of her husband, she was without sustenance and help from the church he had founded.

In desperation, his wife remarried. One day, I asked, “Who did the founder’s wife eventually get married to?” I must admit that I was stunned by the answer. I was told that this great founder’s wife had married one of her husband’s servants. I thought to myself, “She must have been desperate.” I remembered one of the churches of this great founder that I had preached in. It was large and prosperous.

I wondered if these large churches could not take care of this widow. Such is the lot of founders – so easily forgotten and so easily dismissed from memory. The Forgotten Ideals Perhaps it is even more painful when the founder’s ideals are set aside. I once read about a great founder and found no comparison between what he believed in and what the church he had founded was practising.

I visited the grave of this great founder and was taken on a tour of the founder’s home by the caretaker. One of the last comments the caretaker made was indeed very sad. He said, “This great founder would be very sad if he rose from the dead today.” “Why?” I asked.

He continued, “Most of the vices he fought against are the ones that currently plague the church he founded.” Sadly, the founder’s ideals had been set aside. Even though this founder’s name is certainly not forgotten, his ideals and vision have been set aside.

The danger of all this is that the curse of dishonouring fathers will follow the current leaders.

Ham Forgot
It is an important principle to honour fathers. Ham, the black son of Noah, broke this principle and dishonoured his father. It is the curse that followed that governs large sections of the world’s population.

Across the world, the inability of the black man to rise above the state of servanthood can only be explained by a curse. Others may differ in their view and I can handle that, but I find it difficult to explain the state of Africa and black people, in general, except by interpreting it as the curse of Ham. This severe curse came
about when a young man forgot the contribution his father had made to his existence.

And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. Genesis 9:22

Ham forgot that it was his father, Noah, who heard from God and obeyed the call. Ham forgot that he did not know God well enough to hear the voice that commanded to build an ark. Ham forgot that if his father had not built the ark he would have drowned along with the rest of the world. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving

of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Hebrews 11:7

Ham forgot that God had judged Noah to be a righteous man. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). Ham forgot that he was alive only because of his “drunken” father whom God found righteous.

Ham forgot that every man of God has a right to be naked in his own tent. Ham forgot that he himself was, sometimes, naked in his owntent. He forgot too many things and he paid dearly for his lack of remembrance.

Today, the black man can scarcely rise out of the waters of worldwide despisement.

2. PEOPLE WHO FORGET BECOME DISOBEDIENT.
Jeroboam was chosen by the Lord to replace Solomon. Jeroboam, a “nobody”, was picked to replace the ruling lineage of David and Solomon; the two greatest kings of Israel. This honour was done to Jeroboam because Solomon had gone after idols and worshipped false gods.
And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces: And he said to JEROBOAM, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:) Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father. 1 Kings 11:30-33

Somehow, when Jeroboam became the king, he forgot why he was chosen in the first place. He forgot why God had chosen him as the replacement of the lineage of David and Solomon.

He forgot the most important thing and disobeyed the Lord in exactly the same way Solomon had. Notice the passages, which reveal both the privileged calling of Jeroboam and the subsequent repetition by Jeroboam of Solomon’s sins.
And JEROBOAM said in his heart, now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons
of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1 Kings 12:26-32

Will You Remember God?
Sometimes, you wonder if Christians can stand to be blessed. Can they ever handle the blessings that God has? I remember a Christian brother who was elevated to the high offices of government. The Lord blessed him with prosperity and power.

My first contact with him was several years before when we had a crusade in one of the cities of Ghana. We had to relate with him because he was the president of the Scripture Union fellowship of that town. We had to borrow some equipment from him. I remember how he came for the crusade and I remember his attitude. We felt like immature zealots in his presence. We wilted under his strict, moral, Christian eyes!

Years later, whilst watching television, I noticed that he had been promoted to one of the highest political positions in the country. I said to myself, “Wow, a Christian is deep into politics… ! I hope he can stay on course with the Lord.” But that was not to be. The years went by and this fellow backslid terribly. It became apparent that he had put aside his faith.

Unfortunately, he also became ill and died suddenly. One day, I spoke to a pastor who ministered to him before he died. This pastor told me how this Christian politician had come to his house in the middle of the night demanding that the gate be opened to him. The Christian politician was now terminally ill and knew he was dying. He had come to see the pastor in the middle of the night because he could not breathe and he could not sleep.

He confessed his sins to the pastor and told him how he had forsaken his Christian wife and gone after other women. He cried and told the pastor how politics had even led him into occultism. Sitting in the pastor’s home at one o’clock in the morning, he wept sore and asked for forgiveness for forsaking God. Alas, this man died a few days later. When I heard this story, I marvelled and considered how people forget their Christian commitment when they are elevated in this life.

Such was the story of Jeroboam who was picked from nowhere and elevated to the throne. He forgot the God who had picked him up and placed him on the throne. Unfortunately, Jeroboam disobeyed God at the first opportunity. Paul declared that he knew how to stay close to God whilst poor and also when rich. This is the secret that Christians seem to lack – how to remember God when they are promoted.

Paul said,
I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. Philippians 4:12, NASB

3. PEOPLE WHO FORGET BECOME PROUD.
Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, how glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD. 2 Samuel 6:20-21

Sadly, many people forget how they came to be in privileged positions. However, this was not one of David’s problems. He always remembered where the Lord had lifted him from. He knew that he was a “nobody” picked from looking after sheep and lifted to the throne of Israel. This made him grateful and worshipful even when his kingship was established.

Ousted Politicians
Unfortunately, many Christians forget where they came from. I have needed help from the government on many occasions. Sadly, these powerful politicians had no time for an insignificant priest like me. Even Christians forget their heritage and place politics above their Christian faith. An interesting development, however, has been the turnaround in attitude by some of these people after leaving office.

Somehow, these politicians seem not to “know” you when they are in power. Yet they become so chummy and friendly when they are out of office and have lost their glory. A true friend is someone who will remember you when he is up there. Sadly, most people forget others when they are blessed. I have had powerless past politicians ringing me up and chatting with me as though we were the fondest of friends. They called me by my first name and claimed that we were the best of buddies.

When I have met them on flights and in other settings I always got the same response. I have been invited to lunches and dinners
by unseated politicians. I never honoured any of these invitations because I did not regard these people as genuine friends. If they were genuine friends they would remember me when they were in the pomp and splendour of their offices. God has shown me that there is no need to suck up to pretentious politicians. He will take care of His work with or without their help.
David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee. 1 Samuel 17:37

4. PEOPLE WHO FORGET CAN EASILY GET DIVORCED.
Unfortunately, many people forget the words they spoke to each other during their marriage ceremony.

“Till death us do part,” they say boldly. They declare, “For better or for worse.”
Others vow, “In prosperity and in adversity we shall live
together.”

Many pronounce, “Many waters cannot quench our love. Neither can the floods drown our devotion.” They assert, “If any man will break up this union, it will be
Satan.”

Yet many of us try to break up this union. We have forgotten that we said that it would be Satan who would attempt to break up the union. Does this mean that if you try to break up your marriage you are Satan? Forgive! Forgetting what you have said can go against you greatly. Most couples do not remember what they said to each other.

Many wives forget how they proclaimed, “From this day forward, I shall love you and I shall give myself to you.” Years later, when they are in bed with their husbands, they forget how they said, “I shall give myself to you.” Now, they do not give themselves to their husbands. When they exchange rings, they say, “Let this ring be a symbol of our love for eternity.” Unfortunately, the ring has become a symbol of sadness, bondage and quarrels.

One of the main reasons for divorce is forgetting what we said to each other. Most of the time the promises are made in our youth. By our middle age, we have forgotten what we said in our youth.

God is against those who do not remember what they said in their youth. The Bible refers to the wife as the “wife of your youth”. In other words, she is the woman you liked when you were young, zealous and full of love. The Scripture urges you to remember the words of your covenant.
Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. For I hate divorce, says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says
the LORD of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” Malachi 2:14-16, NASB

5. PEOPLE WHO FORGET BECOME PRESUMPTUOUS.
And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: SEEMETH IT BUT A SMALL THING UNTO YOU, THAT THE GOD OF ISRAEL HATH SEPARATED YOU FROM THE CONGREGATION OF ISRAEL, TO BRING YOU NEAR to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?  Numbers 16:8-9

The rebellion of Korah is of particular note because Moses rebuked Korah for his presumption. Presumption is “the arrogant assumption of privilege”. When a person becomes presumptuous, he is too confident in a way that shows a lack of respect.

When people are fortunate to occupy certain positions, they often do not realize what a privilege they have. Moses recognized this sin in Korah.
Korah had the privilege of being a Levite and a leader of the congregation. Yet he spoke the rudest words to Moses, the servant of God.

They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for allthe congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” Numbers 16:3, NASB

Moses asked him whether he did not cherish the honoured position of a leader. He asked him, “Seemeth it a small thing to you?” I realize how people consider privileges as small things. They take them for granted and speak rudely to people who are way above them. This rude speaking is the cardinal sign of the presumptive spirit.

The Confident Pastor
Years ago, I noticed a brother who had the potential for being in the ministry. His pastor did not recognize his calling, but I did. In fact, his pastor told me personally that he was amazed that I could think of making somebody like that into a pastor. But I gave him an opportunity to be in the ministry. Then I trained him and appointed him as a pastor.

After some years, this brother became established in the ministry. Then one day, he dropped a bombshell and told us that he was leaving. He left our church, planted a church nearby, persistently invited our church members to leave us and join him; and virtually built his church by dividing ours. Soon, his new church consisted of many of our former members who had “migrated” to his new church. As you can imagine, this led to some conflict.

I had several exchanges with this fellow, some of which were not pleasant. One day, during one of our exchanges, he pointed out to me that what I was complaining about was unavoidable and that he could not help it if our church members were being attracted to his new church (which he had planted not far from ours). In other words, I needed to cure my insecurities! This dear pastor pointed out to me that I myself had planted churches all over the place without apparent regard for their closeness to other churches.

He also pointed out to me that I had started churches with people who were members of other churches. He went on and put a direct question to me, “Why do you contradict yourself?”

Then he advised me to come to terms with the realities of pastors leaving my church; otherwise I would fight with everyone that ever left. I was amazed as he continued, “You appointed me as a pastor and I honoured that appointment with my sweat and money. I owe you nothing further.” He finally warned me saying, “I
hold you personally responsible for anything that happens to my marriage.”

He Forgot but I Remembered I thought over these sayings for a long time. I considered how prosperous and wealthy he had become over the years and how he confidently rebuked and advised me today. But I also remembered how years ago this brother (who was now rebuking me) was an impoverished, illegal immigrant who could not afford his own lunch. Now it seemed a small thing to him to have been lifted from his former state to where he currently was.

He could not remember his starting point; that is why he spoke confidently and in a way that showed a lack of respect (presumption).

You see, we all start from humble beginnings. I started my life and ministry from a very low point. What matters is not how low your starting point was. What matters is how well you can remember your lowly starting point! I realized that this brother had forgotten that he might never have become a pastor if he had not met me.

Perhaps, he had forgotten how I encouraged him to go into the ministry.
It seems he had forgotten how I chose him and sent him to a particular country, which he knew not.

He had forgotten that he would never have had the wife he had if I had not told her to marry him.

I remembered when his wife asked me about him. She did not want to marry, and especially she did not want to marry him. But I convinced her and told her that he was a good person.

Before he married her, I had such authority over his wife and she would have done anything I told her. In those days, the words and advice I gave to her were like the oracles of God. Whatever I said was what mattered.

Through his marriage which I sponsored, this brother had now become a member of a well-known family and enjoyed the privileges, financial wealth and inheritance of that family.

It seemed that all these had been forgotten by this brother who now said he owed me nothing!

Perhaps I would have to join Paul in saying, “I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.” This brother said that he owed me nothing. But Paul said to Philemon that he owed him his very life.

I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to thee how THOU OWEST UNTO ME EVEN THINE OWN SELF besides. Philemon 19

It is always interesting to watch the sons of Korah rebuke their fathers. They love to put the fathers in their place. It seems a small thing to them. All that their fathers have done for them seems to them like nothing.

It is only because people forget where they were and who they were that they speak great swelling words of arrogance. Please do not repeat these errors. They are written for our example.
And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? Numbers 16:8-9

6. PEOPLE WHO FORGET BECOME REBELLIOUS.
And Samuel said, When thou wast LITTLE IN THINE OWN SIGHT, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? 1 Samuel 15:17
Saul did not remember to obey the Lord when he was lifted up. Samuel reminded him that he was nobody when God called and anointed him. Apparently, he had forgotten how little he was at the beginning.

The Wind Is Against You

People rebel against those who set them up because they do not remember how they came to be where they are. I remember a brother who rebelled against his General Superintendent. He was sent to a foreign country to plant a church. After the church grew and became successful, this brother decided to dissociate himself from the church that sent him. I visited the General Superintendent and he spoke bitterly about this missionary.

I was amazed to hear that this brother had written him a nasty letter telling him to back off his ministry. He told his pastor that he owed him nothing and that he had
done nothing for him. The General Superintendent was very angry as he narrated the story of this ungrateful and forgetful son.

As we talked, he said, “This fellow was one of my house boys (domestic servants) who I raised up.” Then he pointed to the ground and showed me the spot where this fellow would pray along with some others.

“This fellow belonged to a group of nobodies I helped. I welcomed them into my house and gave them a place to pray in my living room. I trained them in the ministry,” he said. He described how he had used his influence to get visas for this young man (in Africa, it is a miracle to obtain a visa for a European country when you do not have a substantial or wealthy background).

Then he lifted his fingers and cursed the man, “The wind is against him.” Because this boy had forgotten where he came from and who had helped him, he received a curse that night.

One day, a year later, I happened to see this forgetful minister in a shopping mall. He had gone shopping with his wife and had filled his trolley with saucepans, frying pans and other household items. He was living happily ever after with his wife, far away from his angry General Superintendent.

As soon as I saw him, I remembered the fingers that were lifted up and the curse that the wind was against him. And it came to pass that the wind was indeed against him!

As time went by, the wind dismantled his church and his congregation scattered! I would meet his prized members and financiers and they would tell me they were no more with him.

This same wind blew him into adultery and obviously destroyed his marriage. The wind continued to blow until it had blown away his wife and children. The wind blew him out of the country to which he had been sent. The wind blew him over the seas and far away into obscurity. This is the wind that blows the
forgetful and rebellious ones away!

7. PEOPLE WHO FORGET BECOME SECOND-RATE MINISTERS.
Remembering what you have been through greatly improves your preaching and writing skills. Many people are boring preachers because they never give us real life accounts of what God has taken them through.

It is the ability to remember that makes the difference between a good preacher and a bad one. You will be surprised at how attentive the congregation becomes when you start to tell them a real life story.

The Apostle Paul remembered his experiences in great detail. He would often tell the stories to anyone who would listen. In his letters, he described his background in great detail. He narrated his experiences and even remembered the different emotions of
each season.

Paul Tells Agrippa about the Damascus Road Experience

And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities. While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.
And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

And I said, “Who are You, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Acts 26:11-15, NASB

Paul Tells the Galatians about His Early Ministry But when God, who had set me apart even from mymother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. Galatians 1:15-18 (NASB)

Paul Tells the Philippians about His UpbringingAlthough I myself might have confidence even in theflesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the
church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Philippians 3:4-7 (NASB) Paul Tells the Corinthians about His
Personal Problems Are they servants of Christ? – I speak as if insane – I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.

Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have
spent in the deep.
I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many
sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” 2 Corinthians 11:23-27, NASB

Paul Tells the Corinthians about His Feelings For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have
set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, NASB
Become a better preacher! Remember your life’s experiences and share them! Do not think that your life is uneventful and boring. Do not think that you have no interesting life experiences to share. That is a deception. Begin to remember and talk about the little things that God has brought you through. I promise you; your ministry will come alive and your preaching will be anointed!

8. PEOPLE WHO FORGET LACK THE COMPASSION NEEDED FOR MINISTRY.
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Matthew 9:36

The story of the Good Samaritan illustrates this reality. I am certain that forgetfulness leads to a lack of passion for true
ministry. Levites and priests passed by filled with the knowledge of God. But they did not have compassion. When the man with compassion came by, he was moved and saved the brother who was half-dead. This world is half-dead, waiting for us to come and save them. We have the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only hope of this world!
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had COMPASSION on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two
pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him,

Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour
unto him that fell among the thieves? Luke 10:33-36

The modern inventions of television, radio, cassettes, CDs and the internet have made Scripture more available than ever before. Sadly, the increase of Scripture and the availability of this knowledge have not resulted in more of God’s compassion.

The compassion for souls is almost absent whilst the love for treasures and finances is at its peak! The sad reality is that the evangelization of this world will not be accomplished without compassion. But how can we have compassion when we do not remember what it is like to almost go to Hell?

Paul Remembered

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. Romans 10:1

The Apostle Paul was moved with compassion because he remembered people who were just like him. He remembered his own relatives who lived in darkness. He remembered how he was almost not saved himself. At a point, he wished he could kill himself so that they would be saved. “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:1-3).

Having the kind of compassion needed for ministry goes along with the ability to remember. People have no compassion because they do not remember. One day, I met a millionaire who had established a large prisons ministry.

He told me how he had been thrown into prison for several years and then had been released miraculously. After being released, this man could not forget his experience in the prison.

The Lord used him to establish a nationwide prison ministry, which touched the lives of thousands of prisoners. God expects you not to forget what you have seen, heard and experienced.