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Ministry outside the Box
By Rev. Jeff Lutes ('88)
Christian Radio
Dr. Andrew MacRae has been one of the top three most
influential people in my life. My father and Dr. Stuart
Murray of Atlantic Baptist College have been the other two.
This says something of the role of professors as perhaps for
many others they would list teachers in a similar light. An
instructor may not be aware of the profound difference he or
she is making. Dr. MacRae has always taught his students to
think “outside the box.” Both of these teachers have filled
the role of an evangelist in our convention. Simultaneous
with my conversion was a call to be an evangelist. However,
a 1950s concept of what the role of an evangelist is just
didn't cut it. It was extremely difficult to do evangelism
the way perhaps Roy Campbell of our convention would have
many years ago. I did manage to keep rather busy with
approximately twenty-five sets of meetings per year. This
took a toll on my young family as it was difficult to find
financing. After going through a tremendous breaking process
the Lord allowed me to be rebuilt. Subsequent to a
wilderness period the Lord has taken me from ministering to
perhaps 70 people in the run of a week at a church for a
crusade to approximately 7000 people on a weekly basis.
Before, I would come to a town and perhaps not return for a
whole year. Now the Lord allows me to have radio stations
all year long in Halifax, Moncton, Sussex, Amherst,
Charlottetown and Summerside and Lord willing soon with a
repeater radio station for the Annapolis Valley. We operate
three Christian radio stations with licenses for seven
places in three provinces. While most churches in Atlantic
Canada would think of evangelistic crusades as passé God has
not passed us by in that He has allowed a new mode of
evangelism. Christian radio is said to have one third of its
audience made up of those who are outside of the church. So
while evangelistic crusades may be inside the box Christian
radio most certainly is ministry outside the box.
Shopping Mall Outreach and a Christian Bar
Modern churches should not so quickly discount evangelistic
campaigns as being ineffective. We have offices in Uganda,
Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Reports have come in of many people who are being reached
through this method. It is certain that churches in Canada
need to come up with creative ways to reach the lost however
the old paths should not be forgotten. Prior to beginning
the Christian radio stations the Lord used me to operate an
evangelistic outreach center in the Champlain Place Mall in
greater Moncton. People came to Christ on a regular basis.
It had been a dream of mine to have a Christian bar of
sorts. This began in a building above Magnetic Hill where
generally every Friday night we had a different band in to
sing and we served non-alcoholic drinks mixed with ginger
ale. I felt it had moderate success however it was not as
effective in reaching non-Christians as I hoped. So I
relocated it to Main Street, Moncton not far from many of
the taverns and clubs. Again, the effectiveness was
seemingly minimal yet we were taking the Gospel into the
darkness. As a teenager my friends and I would stuff our
pockets full of tracks and go out on the streets Friday
night asking people if we could tell them about Jesus
Christ. Here I am after almost three decades of Ministry
still looking for ways of conducting Ministry outside of the
box. May the Lord grant all of us his continued strength and
grace to reach a lost and hurting world with the
life-changing message of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Rev. Jeff Lutes has three children and three
grandchildren. He is married to Faye nee.
Greenlaw. As president and founder of
International Harvesters for Christ he operates
three Christian radio stations and travels as a
Christian speaker. Presently, he is enrolled in
the Doctorate of Ministry program at Acadia
Divinity College where he received his Master of
Divinity degree. |
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