One of the pastors taking part in Revelation Today Boston found himself in the center of a dramatic rescue last week.

Just hours before Friday night’s Revelation Today Boston presentation, Pastor Cesar Perozo, who pastors two churches in his hometown of Stoneham, Massachusetts, was in a public park when he witnessed a car drive off a street and into Spy Pond, a few miles away in Arlington.

“I had to do something to save whoever it was in that car,” Cesar told me.  He dived into the 103-acre lake and swam towards the car, which was drifting further away from the lake shore. 

“For a moment I didn’t think I’d be able to get out to her. The car ended up about 50 yards from the shore. The challenge was that I couldn’t swim like I normally did because my clothing was dragging me down.”

Understandably, the 68-year-old driver was afraid. “She kept telling me that she couldn’t swim and wanted to stay in the car. As I opened the only door that wasn’t submerged, water rushed into the car.  I kept telling her, ‘I’ve got you, I’ll help you.’ I knew I only had a few seconds before the car went under. There was no way she was going to survive if I didn’t get her out.” The water was forty feet deep where Pastor Perozo was attempting the rescue.

Fatigue set in as Pastor Perozo took hold of the lady’s hand. “For a moment I didn’t think I’d be able to get her out. I was so exhausted. My muscles felt like they were seizing up. Then as I took hold of her she slipped out of my hand.”

At that time, two other men arrived to assist with the rescue. “Between the three of us we got her back to the shore. I’m just so glad she’s alive. I’m praising the Lord for that.”

Cesar told me that when they all were safely back on shore, it was a special feeling to be able to hold the hand that only minutes before had slipped out of his. “Knowing she was safe—that was a great feeling.”

The story of the rescue has been covered by newspapers, websites, and television. 

As a pastor and evangelist Cesar Perozo has given his life to doing all he can to save others. Just a few days ago his mission as a rescuer took on a whole new meaning.

And he wouldn’t normally have been in the area. “I was there on a friend’s recommendation to check out photography locations for the church school. God had me in the right place at the right time.”

That evening, the Revelation Today meetings continued in Stoneham and around Boston.

Is there someone God is looking to use you to reach, to make a saving difference in someone’s life? Be sure you’re ready to offer the gift of life when the opportunity to do so arises.

To view a news report of Pastor Perozo’s dramatic rescue, click here.

To watch the Revelation Today presentations from Boston, join us Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30pm Eastern.

Adam Ramdin is a pastor and the Youth Director of the North England Conference, based in Nottingham, Great Britain.

Most players would be happy with just one. Some of the best players ever will get a handful. Some of the greatest players to grace the world stage will get to double digits. The most ever won by a male is 17[1. Switzerland’s Roger Federer has won 17 Grand Slam singles titles.], while two women have both won 22.

At the US Tennis Open in Flushing Meadow, New York in September, the talk was whether Serena Williams would win again, to take her to 23 Grand Slam titles. Although her loss in the semi-finals left her tied with German Steffi Graf, most observers believe it’s a matter of when and not if the 35 year old Williams will win title number 23.

When someone who is such a prolific winner comes along, sports watchers have the chance to witness a living legend. Inevitably the question is raised: was Serena Williams simply born a good tennis player? Does she have a natural advantage over others that makes her better than everyone else?

Whilst many subscribe to the theory of a natural born sportmans/genius, others do not. In his 2011 book, Bounce—in which he studied sportspeople such as golfer Tiger Woods, as well as Serena Williams and her tennis-playing sister, Venus—author and former Olympian Matthew Syed concluded that there is no such thing as a naturally gifted sportsman. Syed proposed the “10,000 Hour Rule.” That is, in order to become an expert a person must do something for a total of at least ten thousand hours. 

As young girls, the Williams sisters would spend hour after hour on the concrete courts of Compton, California, honing their skills under the tutelage of their father. With no experience in coaching and without modern equipment, Richard Williams would bring a shopping cart filled with tennis balls to practice. In one training exercise, Williams would place a traffic cone on one side of the tennis court and have his daughters repeatedly hit tennis balls at the cone. With a baseball bat.

Such dedication to a particular task will inevitably produce good results. But doing something again and again, for hours and hours is not in itself enough to produce excellence. For example, many people driven a car a total of ten thousand, twenty thousand or even thirty thousand hours but have become worse instead of better at driving. There is a difference between intentional practice and doing something on autopilot. 

While the theory regarding how excellence is produced holds true in many cases, it falls short in explaining Christian growth. While God gives talents and opportunities, believers have a responsibility to use their talents in order to multiply them.

Many people who have gone to church for longer than 10,000 hours don’t become spiritual experts. That is, they don’t experience corresponding spiritual growth. That’s because there is a difference between treating church attendance and spiritual things as if we are driving a car on autopilot and intentionally seeking to grow in faith in Christ.

Do we actively pray that the fruit of the Spirt will be seen in our lives? Are we intentionally trying to reach out to people who are less fortunate than us? Are we endeavoring to show love, kindness and respect to people we don’t know?

Too many people spend their Christian life on cruise control, calling themselves Christian but not living an intentional life. Make it a goal that you will actively seek to be a true follower of Jesus in thought, word and deed.

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).

As a father I’ve often tried to visualize the touching image of parents bringing their children to Jesus to be blessed. Well, I don’t have to visualize it anymore, because our team of medical and dental professionals experienced it firsthand this week. Parents and even grandparents streamed into our five clinics with their children and grandchildren to have them “blessed” by the foreign Christian doctors and dentists.

Most of these children’s health ailments were minor, but in a country where health care to the poor is limited, these ailments can become much more serious. With much compassion in their hearts, our practitioners examined each child carefully, explaining to the concerned parent or grandparent what was happening, and what continuing care the child would need. Before the visit was up, just like Jesus, they laid their hands on each child and prayed. In many cases the guardian would tear up and then leave with a big broad smile. Truly a moving sight.

One of our clinics is located right next door to practicing shamanists. Shamanists believe in the world of good and evil spirits and practice divination and healing. Yes, kind of spooky. Well, even these interesting neighbors brought their children to the clinic. There, they were introduced to the love of Jesus through the kindness and warmth of our clinicians. Who knows what will happen next with this family and all the others that came to our clinics, but I’m a firm believer that a great way to a person’s heart is through their children.

Keep praying for the people of Mongolia that more and more of them will accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The God of Daniel chapter 2 is alive and well in Mongolia!

Some of the drivers transporting the It Is Written volunteers to their work sites are non-Christian. That’s the case for Orgil, the driver for the team going to the orphanage. If you think this name looks hard to pronounce, trust me, it’s even harder when you hear a Mongolian say it with all throat sounds involved. Consequently, our young volunteers decided to give Orgil an English name: Liam. Our driver loves the name and tells everyone now that his name is Liam. Liam, who speaks a fair bit of English, has connected so well with the group that he has become more than just a driver, he’s become a helper and translator at the orphanage.

In the evening, the orphanage group attends the It Is Written Bible meetings at one of the churches. Of course Liam drives them there and instead of simply waiting in the van, he himself has started attending the meetings to the delight of everyone. Yesterday, Liam made a startling admission to one of the volunteers. He explained that a few weeks ago he had a dream that he thought nothing of at the time. In that dream he said that a group of people would give him a new name, an English-sounding name. In that dream he also saw the very logo that It Is Written uses. Wow! If that doesn’t give you chills?! The God of Daniel chapter 2 who powerfully revealed the future in a dream is at work in the life of a young man in Mongolia.

Please pray for Liam as we prayerfully continue to witness to him. One of our other drivers is also becoming very interested in what we are teaching from the Bible. We thought we came to minister to the poor, sick, and destitute of Mongolia, but maybe we actually came to minister to our drivers. God is good.

One of our volunteers Jamey, left, with Liam.

This was supposed to be just another typical Mission:Mongolia trip. We planned for about 30 volunteer health professionals, working in three locations. God had other plans. We are now in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, with 66 volunteers who have traveled from the United States, Malaysia, Canada, and Switzerland—working in six locations! Amazing! Four of the locations are church sites in areas of the city of Ulaanbaatar where health needs are great. The fifth location is in an abandoned schoolhouse in a part of the city where local people simply shake their heads when asked about it—it’s where the poorest of the poor live. The last location is an orphanage where the younger members of our volunteer group are doing a children’s program.

Sunday was our first day of action. The team dealt with the expected push-back from the enemy of God, whose desire is our failure. But by God’s grace and power, the first day’s challenges were overcome and everyone returned to the hotel with a tired smile on their face. My favorite part of the day is the evening when I get to listen to everyone’s stories.

One story that particularly sticks in my mind is about how one of our physicians literally saved a little girl’s life. This little girl came in with her grandmother because she could not hear well from one ear. The doctor who saw her happened to be an ENT (ear, nose, and throat doctor), and after a close look discovered a tumor beside her eardrum. He recognized it as a of rare tumor called cholesteatoma—and if left untreated will lead to meningitis and eventual death probably within a year. The grandmother, diagnosis in hand, was thus directed to immediately take the girl to the city hospital for the appropriate life-saving procedure.

Everyone who visited our clinics was invited to our evening meetings that included wonderful music, a children’s story, health messages, and Jesus talks. It was a very long but great day for all. We can’t wait to see what blessings God has in store for us today!

On a cool April evening in Edinburgh, Scotland, I stood with a group of onlookers waiting patiently for a glimpse of Prince Charles, who was in the historic city attending a government function at St. Giles Cathedral. While doing my best to keep warm as the temperatures steadily edged downward, I struck up a conversation with a genial, gentle-looking local, who appeared to be in his early forties. There had recently been elections in Scotland and he told me he worked in Edinburgh, for the Scottish electoral commission.

Seeing as we were standing outside a cathedral, it wasn’t surprising that our conversation switched quickly to religious themes. I mentioned the plummeting membership numbers in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and asked him what he thought the reason was[1.In the second half of the twentieth century, church attendance in the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland dropped by well over 50 percent. Between 2010 and 2013 alone, membership dropped by 7.5 percent.].

Religion has played an enormous role in Scotland’s history. Protestants battled against the teachings and authority of the Roman Catholic Church, and the church fought back with a vengeance. Martyrs perished within view of where I was standing. The great reformer, John Knox, born and raised just 40 miles east of Edinburgh—denounced the Queen of Scotland, railed against the unbiblical teachings of the Catholic Church and literally pounded the pulpit just meters away from where I was standing. Knox identified the Roman Catholic papacy as the antichrist of Bible prophecy and advocated that the Bible be the sole rule of faith and practice for Christian believers. Yet today only 50 percent of Scots even identify as Christian. Scotland is now a profoundly secular country.

I asked this stranger why he thought that was. His answer was straight forward.

“The church has stopped being the church.”

I asked him to elaborate.

“In the past, the church upheld the Bible,” he explained. “The church was unapologetic that the Bible was the Word of God and that people were to be guided by its teachings.”

“But now?” I asked him.

He pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose before answering.

“Today, the church is more concerned with social matters. What the Bible says and how the Word of God applies to our lives and how people ought to live…  It’s just not what the church majors in now.”

And what he said next really struck me.

“In trying to reach secular people, the church has itself become more secular.”

“But shouldn’t the church be trying to reach the lost?” I countered. “Shouldn’t methods change when society has changed so much?”

“Yes, of course,” he shot back. “No question. But the church no longer has a distinct, biblical voice. In trying to reach the world it has become like the world. It no longer stands for anything. The church has stopped being the church.”

“The church has stopped being the church…”

As we talked it became apparent he was much less interested in seeing Prince Charles than was I. It turned out he was a Christian who attended a church not far from where we were standing. He described it as a church with a biblical focus, not extraordinarily well attended, but passionate about the Bible and fervent in faith in God.

We discussed methodology, and recognized together the challenge of reaching the varied minds of our complex, secular world. This man—whose name I never learned—acknowledged that the church needs to stay relevant in a changing world, but made what I thought was another important point.

“There’s nothing more relevant than the Word of God,” he said. “And when the church deviates from that, and waters down the Bible’s teachings, and abandons the Bible’s plainest statements because it wants to appeal more to the world… Well, look at what has happened in Scotland.”

I made notes about our conversation as soon as he moved along. I didn’t want to forget what he had said to me. I reflected on what he told me, and I had to conclude that he was right.  In Scotland, and in many other places, the church has stopped being the church. And when it does that, it consigns itself to irrelevance and impotence.

It’s true that when it comes to sharing the gospel, Scotland is a difficult territory—like the rest of Britain and the rest of Europe. And the rest of the modern world. And… But winning souls isn’t easy work and never has been. It wasn’t easy in the times of the early church, and with the devil at the top of his game, it shouldn’t be expected that it would be today. Yet it ought to be remembered that God hasn’t called the church to numerical success. He has called the church to faithfulness, and He has promised that as His people are faithful, “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).

E.M. Bounds wrote years ago, “The church is looking for better methods. God is looking for better men.” And while today we’d express that sentiment in slightly different language, Bounds’ words hold true. We live in a world where people are distracted by so many things, many of them good. In much of our world, the Bible isn’t the go-to place for guidance about life. Jesus’ words aren’t the default standard for society. We’re in a serious battle with a skilled enemy for the souls of Earth’s inhabitants.

But if we’re going to see God’s work done, the church cannot stop being the church. The Bible is still the answer to the challenges facing our world. It is as relevant now as it has ever been. The teachings of Jesus still provide the only logical understanding of where we come from, why we are here, and where we are going. There is still power in the Word of God. If the church compromises that, “Well, look at what has happened in Scotland.”

The police controlling the crowd were extremely good-natured and bantered with the locals and tourists who were gathered. Prince Charles soon emerged from an imposing stone building and climbed into a waiting limousine. As the car drove away, Prince Charles looked at me and waved! I’ll remember that.

But what I’ll remember most is the words of the amiable stranger who stood with me in the crowd and said some of the most important words a minister of the gospel might ever reflect on.

“The church has stopped being the church.”

Religious freedom is easy to take for granted.  In the western world you can read a Bible—or not—believe whatever you want about God and attend the church of your choice. Or no church at all. But it’s easy to forget just how much religious freedom cost.

Recently, I was in St. Andrews, Scotland, filming an It Is Written television program, when  I noticed the initials “P.H.” spelled out in cobblestones on a street.  Many people who visit St. Andrews today do so in order to visit the famous St. Andrews golf course, considered to be the home of golf. The ruins of the St. Andrews cathedral and castle are also popular attractions, as well as the university itself—the place where Prince William met his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, known then as Kate Middleton. Yet the story behind those cobblestones speaks to one of the most important gifts God has ever given the world.

While studying in Paris, a young Scotsman named Patrick Hamilton was exposed to the teachings of Martin Luther.  He returned to Catholic Scotland a few years later espousing the doctrines of the Reformation, and quickly found himself on the wrong side of the establishment. In 1527, knowing he would be tried for heresy, Hamilton fled to Germany. But months later he returned to Scotland, and was soon summoned to appear before a Catholic council. Hamilton attended the council having been assured his life was in no danger; but that assurance was worth little. Archbishop James Beaton had Patrick Hamilton executed, burned at the stake outside St. Salvatore’s Chapel at the University of St. Andrews.

At the age when a person is typically getting established in a career or completing a master’s degree, Patrick Hamilton was standing boldly for his faith. He died aged 24.

A third of a mile from St. Salvatore’s Chapel—and the location of Patrick Hamilton’s demise—are the ruins of St. Andrews castle, and more initials paved into the ground. The GW visible on East Scores Street marks the spot on which Cambridge–educated George Wishart was hanged and burned at the stake by the same Catholic Archbishop responsible for the death of Hamilton. Wishart was only 33-years-old when he was put to death. Like Hamiton, he was executed for his Protestant faith, and his unwillingness to yield his conscience to the dictates of the ruling (Catholic) church.

What’s interesting about Wishart is that he knew all there was to know about Hamilton and his gruesome death. Even though Hamilton’s initials weren’t paved into the ground at that time, Wishart knew exactly where and how and why Hamilton died. Yet he didn’t back away even slightly from his commitment to the Bible.

In other words, he knew his faith in God and his insistence on believing and teaching the Bible would likely lead to his death. And he believed and taught and preached the Word of God anyway.

While there are parts of the world where to be a Christian means to risk your life, in the western world being a Christian rarely means even being inconvenienced. In many places being a Christian is a positively good thing, even helpful for one’s reputation or standing in the community. In the West, we don’t know the persecution some are going through. Faith doesn’t cost nearly as much as it cost Hamilton and Wishart.

And maybe—in some ways—that’s not really such a good thing.

A Chinese friend once told me he believed the end of persecution against Christians in China would be disastrous for the church in that country. In some parts of Europe, church leaders reported declining commitment to God as prosperity and the influence of the West increased.

Scotland was once a proudly Christian nation. Today, less than half of Scotland’s 5.3 million people identify
as Christian. While tourists flock to Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital, and walk the streets once walked by the great reformer John Knox, it seems little thought is given to matters of faith. A small, raised, round platform—a monument to martyrs not far from St Giles’ Cathedral—is located close enough to bars and restaurants that it serves mainly as a congregating point for drinkers and revelers. Early on Sunday morning when I left Edinburgh, the monument was littered with beer bottles and covered with paint. Close to that monument is Greyfriars Church, where the Scottish Covenanters made a bold stand for their biblical faith and where not many years later a large number of Protestants were imprisoned. Many were executed.Others were sent away into slavery. Reminders of the battle for religious freedom stand witness to the great opportunities we have—and so often waste—to use religious freedom for the best possible purposes.

It cost a lot to be a believer in 16th and 17th century Scotland. Many paid the supreme price.

Your religious freedom was purchased at an enormous cost. According to the Bible, there is coming a time when religious freedom won’t exist. Today, God isn’t calling many people in the West to die for Him. But He calls everyone to live for Him.

It have never been easier to be a follower of Christ and His word. 

Maybe, in some ways, that’s what makes it difficult.