Forgive me, my wonderful readers. I’m an imperfect mess, as you will quickly discover the more you read my posts, books, or updates. Fortunately, it’s not about me. Recently I’ve been distracted from my mission and have been focusing on myself. I got stuck with the mentality that everyone following Philip Wilder was following it because of me.
Philip Wilder isn’t me
Okay, well it is me, but it’s not.
I use a pen name not only to protect my true identity but also because it’s a reminder to me that my writing isn’t entirely my own. I couldn’t write anything beneficial or of high-quality if it weren’t for God. I can’t tell you the number of hours I’ve sat staring at my computer watching the cursor line blink in and out. I also can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gotten brilliant ideas the moment after I prayed and asked God to write through me.
So, when you follow Philip Wilder, you don’t follow me.
You are following the mission God has given me and the words he chooses to speak through me. Why does he choose me? I have no idea. Maybe it’s because I know I’m a terrible writer without his influence. However, sometimes I forget that.
It’s not about me or Philip Wilder
Here’s the deal. My mission isn’t about getting Philip Wilder known, or selling a bazillion books. That’s all an end to a means.
The focus is God.
I love God, and I’ve seen him do great things in my life. I’ve also seen the Middle East. I’ve lived life amongst those sooo far from Christian influences. I’ve met people who have literally NEVER heard the gospel before. These are the billions of people on the planet who live in unreached people groups
Let me explain what unreached people groups are.
These are people who statistically will never hear the gospel before they die. Imagine that, not even having a single chance to turn to Christ. That should be an outrage to Christians, unfortunately, we care more about the Patriots deflating footballs. Okay, but the situation gets even worse.
We don’t understand what this means because we have churches all around us and the internet. These unreached peoples have no churches around them, absolutely zero Christian friends, annnnd they either have no access to the internet, or they don’t have any Christian materials in their language.
How are these people ever going to hear the good news?
The fact is, they wont. They are going to die and live in eternal separation from God without a chance to turn around. Why?
Because NO ONE IS GOING TO THEM!
This is why I write
Nearing the end of my time in Middle East I asked God what he’d like me to do next. After a few weeks of praying he spoke to me. He pointed out to me all the people around me who had never heard the gospel and who probably never will and said to me, “Do you know how much I love these people. I died for them. They need to hear the good news. But you aren’t enough. You can’t reach the billions of people around the world who still need to hear. But, you can write. And through your writing, I will wake up the church. I will send my people to those in need. So write for me. Write for them.”
What an amazing calling! I still don’t feel worthy of this. And every time someone compliments my writing and my stories, I feel like I don’t deserve it. And, that’s because I don’t deserve it. It’s not about me. It’s about God. It’s about these still unreached people Groups.
This is why I write, and this is why I invite you along on the journey. Only together can we bring the gospel to all the ends of the earth and make disciples as Jesus pleaded for us to do. God loves these people and he sees their pain. If we love God, we too should learn to love these people.
This is my mission, but we all have a calling from God. What is your mission?
If you don’t know what God’s calling is for you, you should check out my blog Hearing God’s Voice
