Foreword to Harvest

One of the constant frustrations that we as Christians face is that of seeking to know the unknowable. We would like to figure out God's ways. Yet God Himself has said, "My ways are not your ways; My ways are beyond your finding out."

When God desired to bring the nation Israel to the apex of its power, He chose an unlikely person to lead them to this place of glory. From the house of Jesse, in the city of Bethlehem, He anointed the youngest son, a boy named David, whose only qualifications were that he was a shepherd who loved God and reflected on His greatness as it was revealed in nature.

When God wanted to raise up a mighty army for David, He gathered those who were distressed, in debt, and discontented. These unlikely soldiers became David's mighty men and through them, God achieved remarkable victories.

When Jesus wanted to turn the world upside-down by bringing the message of God's love to all mankind, He chose unlikely candidates. Of the twelve, most were fishermen and one was a hated publican. These are certainly not the choices the average person would have made for the task. When God wanted to make an impact on our society, He again chose the foolish things (as far as the world is concerned) to confound the wise; He chose the weak things to confound the mighty.

For instance, in raising up pastors to shepherd Calvary Chapel churches with thousands of members, God did not necessarily look for Phi Beta Kappas from Yale or Harvard. He did not look for magna cum laude graduates with impressive resumes. Instead, God chose people like a Mexican street fighter who had dropped out of high school, a hippie who had gone insane on drugs, a drug dealer who was into sorcery, and a motorcycle gang member to build His churches in the Calvary Chapel movement. God has used many such unlikely leaders to turn worn traditions upside down.

In these pages, you are going to read the incredible, indeed, almost unbelievable accounts of men with varied, wild, and even Satanic backgrounds, with one thing in common. They were touched by the grace of God and now are being used to touch thousands of other lives. As you read, you will no doubt wonder how these men, who for the most part had no formal education for the ministry, were able to go out and build churches ranging in size from several thousand to ten thousand members.

What are the common factors? What are the things they learned that enabled them to experience such phenomenal success in their ministries? The stories you will read are only a sampling of the scores of others that we have watched come into our church over the years, but are uniquely representative of the transforming work of the Spirit of God.

We are convinced that the concepts that the Lord has taught us in forty years of ministry are transferable to others. If followed, these principles can help build strong churches all over the country.

In the book of Acts, we read that at the birth of the Church 3,000 souls came to Christ the very first day. Then the Lord continued to add daily such as should be saved. We are convinced that when the Church becomes what God intended it to be, God will do through the Church what He has always desired to do. Through the power of His grace He will bring in a harvest of souls that can only humble our loftiest plans. Indeed, His ways are not always our ways. He desires to bless us if we will only but hear His voice.

Chuck Smith

Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa