Seeking His Passion

Every Christian father and mother’s heart breaks for the sheep of their little flock that have strayed away. One never ceases to pray for them. Sunday night I preached from Luke 15, the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son… using some ideas from a sermon by AG Supt. George Wood. The lost sheep became lost by his own carelessness. With his face in the grass and never looking up he wandered away from the flock and the care of the shepherd. The lost coin became lost because of the carelessness of someone else since a coin cannot lose itself. Somebody who should have been responsible failed that take care of that coin. May God help us who have the responsibility to care for a few of His precious coins! The son became lost by his own rebellion even though he was part of a family with a loving, generous father. The father was deeply concerned for his lost son. He was not happy with 50% of his family inside his care. The woman was concerned for one coin even though she still had 90% of her coins in hand. The shepherd was concerned over one lost sheep even though he had 99% within the safety of the flock. It is of little comfort to tell a mother whose child has disappeared, “Don’t worry. You have another child.” Would we not be elated to have 50% of the lost in our city all saved and in church? But would Jesus be satisfied? Would we not be proud if we had 90% of the people in our town in our church? We would be on national TV and writing top-selling books. But would Jesus be happy? We would be flying super high if we had 99% of the people in our community saved and in church. But would Jesus be happy? God is not willing that any should perish. Our Good Shepherd will leave His flock and run to the mountains in the middle of a dark night to save that last bleating lamb from the jaws of the roaring lion that is hanging out nearby. God, give us the passion of Jesus!


The Patagonian Bible Institute (IBP) is a beautiful place. It our southernmost Bible Institute in the world I am told. The whole 10 acres was an apple orchard. The Welsh Christians that first settled in this area developed a wonderful system of irrigation powered by waterwheels driven by the river current and lifting the water high enough to run through irrigation canals. One of these little canals runs right through the campus. (Photo) They have had to remove many apple trees to make room for the academic buildings, kitchen, library and dormitories, but there are still hundreds of wonderful apples of all kinds on the 300 apple trees that remain. (Photo) The Lord seems to walk with you when you stroll among the trees. There are presently 59 students studying. They have just added a fourth year. The key figures in the development of this seminary are Martin and Charlotte Jacobson from Kentucky. They are so full of Jesus, so kind, tender and loving and yet so highly structured and self disciplined that they tend to reproduce these qualities in their students. The assistant directors, Eddie and Diana Echevarria, are also among God’s choicest servants. This morning I preached to the student body and staff. They extended the typical chapel time to allow for a good time of prayer. Who knows what God will do with these fervent students? I always say, “Watch out world! Here come the Argentines! Either step to one side or get run over, because they are going places for Jesus!”

Tuesday night I felt impressed to change my prepared message only an hour before arriving at the Rawson church, which is very unlike me. Once again I ministered on Jesus’ passion for the lost. I had no idea that this church had taken a theme for this month: “Seeking His Passion”. There was a strong congregation for a Tuesday night. The photo shows only a small portion of them. Most remained seeking His passion until around 11 PM!

God is treating me well. I still have a voice, not a super powerful voice, but a voice! It’s almost incredible! This week I’m only preaching 5 times. I have three days off to get ready for next week’s Spiritual Emphasis Week at our Mediterranean Bible Institute (IBM) in Cordoba.

Ralph