 | Pastor Dave grew up in northern New Jersey in a very diverse cultural area. He attended Central College in Pella, Iowa received a BA in sociology and psychology. He was an offensive guard for their NCAA Div III National Championship team in 1974. In speaking for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he sensed a call to full time ministry. Meeting is future wife Sandy at Central, went to Michigan to finish her college while Dave started Western Seminary in Holland, Michigan. Dave married Sandy in 77 and completed his Masters of Divinity degree in 78. Pastor Dave’s first church was in Fort Lee, New Jersey, home of the George Washington Bridge. Their three children were born there and he also served as a Police and Fire Chaplain for the city. In February 1991, they came to Wichita to start Harvest Community Church. In 2006, he received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Covenant Theological (Presbyterian) Seminary in St Louis. During that year he gained a daughter-in-law with now 2 grandsons of 3 years and 6 months old. Besides Pastoring at HCC for the past 20 years, he has been Director of the SCSD & WPD Police Chaplains for 11.
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Religion
2007-12-01 09:11:00
Is it really true that more than half of all people are not saved?
here are several verses in the Bible that deal with how many people are saved. Matthew 7:13-14: Enter through the narrow gate. The gate that leads to damnation is wide, the road is clear, and many choose to travel it. But how narrow is the gate that leads to life, how rough the road, and how few there are who find it! And Luke 13:24: Try to come in through the narrow door. Many, I tell you, will try to enter and be unable. Do these mean that more than half of all people are not saved?
Answer: This of course is a deduction that some make from these passages for several good reasons. No one can know how many will be saved except the Lord Himself. The Bible does say there will be a “great multitude” from nations and generations who are saved in Revelation 7:9. However, in the Matthew 7 passage the emphasis is on how difficult it is for man to set his pride aside, die to the worldly ways and totally rest his faith in Christ’s grace for salvation and bear the fruit of righteousness in his life. The narrow way is costly, at times lonely and narrow. The world’s way is wide and easy. “Everyone is doing it.” The limiting amount in this passage comes when Jesus says, “few there be that find it.” With good reason “few” in the original language is an absolute and means small in number because as Jesus said there are all kinds of things in the world preventing people from finding it. He lays out three in the Parable of the Sower, the devil, trials and pleasures/cares of the world. In others places he speaks of false teachers and religions.
In our passage in Luke, the emphasis stretches us in another direction. It talks of complacency and taking God’s offer for granted. Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders of His day who had a false sense of security in this parable known as the Narrow Door. They had Jesus with them in their midst but never trusted Him. Then the day comes when the time is up to enter the party and the master of the house (God), closes the door and there is no more opportunity to give one’s life to Jesus or enjoy the party. They’re left out in the cold. Personally I’ve seen this happen several times but one time most vividly. One night, doing street evangelism, I spoke with a half drunk young man on a basketball court about Jesus. He said he was interested but too young and had a lot of life to live before he did that. The next night he was killed in a motorcycle accident. Sadly, many also put off the most important decision of their lives by putting a lot of other things ahead of the decision and never receive the gift of eternal life. When we see the picture that Jesus paints in these two passages, we can see why one can have a pessimistic view on the amount of people who will be saved in the end.
The key for the Christians is to continue to invite friends into a saving faith with Christ. If you are letting things or the timing keeping you from giving your life to Christ, don’t delay. “Don’t be foolish. This night your soul will be required of you….” Luke 12:20
