For years, Wayne had the longest running show in Las Vegas and he practically lived in the Sierra Hotel. After God got hold of him and changed his life, he led the owner of the hotel to The LORD. Right before Wayne called me, the owner had called him.
“Wayne, now that I’m a believer, I want to do something for God,” he’d said. “But I’m stuck in this hotel! Do you think Brother Copeland would come and preach a meeting here?”
Wayne told him he was certain I would—and, of course, he was right. I was thrilled at the thought of preaching the gospel in a casino. The whole reason I’m on earth is to bring the good news about Jesus to people who need it. Taking His light into the darkest of places is what I was born again to do.
If you’re a believer, the same is true of you!
God didn’t save you and then leave you here on this sin-plagued planet just so you could sit around and complain about how spiritually dark it is. He didn’t save you so you could sit here waiting for the Rapture and wishing all the sinners would leave you alone.
No, you and I and every other believer have been called, equipped and sent by God into this world for a specific purpose, and in Philippians 2:15-16, the Apostle Paul told us what that purpose is: “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life.”
“But Brother Copeland, you don’t understand the kind of darkness I have to put up with!” you might say. “When I go to work every day I’m surrounded by people who cuss and act ugly and make fun of me for being a Christian. It’s too much for me to handle.”
No, it isn’t. You have the same Holy Spirit living in you the Apostle Paul had living in him, and Paul not only handled more dark situations than you can imagine, he overcame them.
Not Just in Church, but on the Battlefield
Do a background study on the book of Philippians sometime. You’ll find that when the Apostle Paul wrote it he was locked up in prison and surrounded by wickedness at its worst. This fact sometimes puzzles believers. They look at the great victory and deliverance Jesus provided through the work of redemption and wonder why Paul had to go through such hard times.
BVOV : 5
