Episode 267: The Message That Launched a Movement: Dr. Michael Youssef

[00:00:02] How Long Will The Door Remain Open?

[00:00:05] Dr. Michael Youssef This is the thing. I mean, I don't know how the door is going to be remaining opening in America before we hear that the Bible is a hate speech. It's already in some countries like in Finland and other European countries. Certainly, it's beginning to bud in Canada.

[00:00:21] Dr. Michael Youssef Yeah.

[00:00:21] Dr. Michael Youssef So we would love to walk through that door as long as God keeps it open and take advantage of it. Because if we go to sleep, we'll wake up.

[00:00:32] Dr. Michael Youssef And we have missed a great opportunity.

[00:00:34] Dr. Michael Youssef Hello and welcome to Candid, where we never settle for less than the truth. I'm your host, Dr. Jonathan Youssef. Each week, we'll tackle tough issues, answer your hard questions, and take a candid look at the Christian faith. Here we are, and we have our most illustrious guest. You're the reason that Candid exists, Dr. Michael Youssef. Thank you for segmenting time in your business.

[00:01:09] Dr. Michael Youssef Yeah.

[00:01:09] Dr. Michael Youssef It's a busy schedule to come and sit down. This is the first time we're not talking about one of your books, I think.

[00:01:15] Candidate That's good.

[00:01:16] Dr. Michael Youssef So we wanted to do something different.

[00:01:18] Candidate Sure.

[00:01:19] Dr. Michael Youssef Sure.

[00:01:20] Dr. Michael Youssef Sure.

[00:01:21] Dr. Michael Youssef My pleasure. Thank you for having me.

[00:01:23] Today, I want to talk about evangelism, and you were just sharing some information with me about how people are very much intimidated by that term.

[00:01:34] The word, yeah.

[00:01:34] Yeah.

[00:01:35] It's misconstrued, misunderstood, all of the above.

[00:01:39] How about start out by telling us how the Lord fanned that flame in you?

[00:01:46] Well, really, if I'm truthful with my history, it's 60 years ago.

[00:01:54] And it was 60 years ago, that's in 1964, March 4th specifically, when I heard a sermon about the judgment of God.

[00:02:05] You know, so many people come to Christ because of the love of God, and that's wonderful.

[00:02:10] I thank God for that.

[00:02:11] There are some, I even heard about some famous musician who came to the Lord, very vulgar guy, but who came to the Lord and converted thoroughly because he heard a sermon on hell.

[00:02:21] So it doesn't matter which way you come to the Lord.

[00:02:24] I came to the Lord because of a sermon that is about how one day the door of mercy will be shut and grace will no longer extend it.

[00:02:35] So the time is now.

[00:02:38] And I guess because that impacted me instead of leaving the church early as I told my brother I would do, I went forward.

[00:02:47] And from that day on, I've always been motivated, always been burdened, really, to be quite honest.

[00:02:55] It's a burden that I carry that I don't want people to miss out, that if there's a chance, this is the opportunity.

[00:03:03] Now, I believe God is sovereign.

[00:03:05] That's why we pray for God to work in people's lives.

[00:03:08] But also, God uses us as we witness.

[00:03:12] Go and make disciples of the nations.

[00:03:14] Exactly.

[00:03:14] And that is obedience, really.

[00:03:16] But, you know, here's what you said earlier about the word evangelism is so intimidating.

[00:03:22] And I don't like big words anyway.

[00:03:24] But my definition of evangelism comes from D.L. Moody.

[00:03:30] And D.L. Moody was a simple guy.

[00:03:32] He was a real businessman, entrepreneur.

[00:03:34] He was kind of a man's man.

[00:03:36] He was not an armchair theologian.

[00:03:40] And once he said, evangelism is not all that big a term.

[00:03:45] All it means is one beggar telling another beggar where to go and get food.

[00:03:50] And that's just that simple.

[00:03:52] That, you know, I was lost in sin and Christ saved me.

[00:03:57] He can save you.

[00:03:58] Come to him.

[00:04:00] Repent.

[00:04:00] Turn in faith.

[00:04:02] So that's really the simple definition.

[00:04:04] We complicate things at times.

[00:04:06] But generally speaking, I try to be as simple as I can.

[00:04:10] Well, the root word, euangelion, right?

[00:04:13] It means the good news.

[00:04:14] You're just good-newsing someone.

[00:04:15] To D.L. Moody's point, you're telling them the good news of there's in a world rife with bad news.

[00:04:24] There is good news.

[00:04:25] There is good news if you accept it.

[00:04:28] Yeah.

[00:04:29] But it's really bad news if you reject it.

[00:04:32] Well, it is always good news.

[00:04:34] Yes.

[00:04:35] Right.

[00:04:35] And whether you accept it or reject it.

[00:04:37] Right.

[00:04:37] But if you reject it.

[00:04:39] It's bad news for you.

[00:04:40] Yes.

[00:04:40] So it is good news if you avail yourself to that news.

[00:04:46] Well, over the last several years, you have been very intentional about even the specific command of literally going to the nations.

[00:04:57] And you've gone to the nations.

[00:04:59] You've done several evangelistic events.

[00:05:02] Events, yeah.

[00:05:04] Tell us a little bit about those, and then we'll transition to kind of where Leading the Way is heading with that evangelism trajectory.

[00:05:12] It's always the burden of my heart, whatever I preach and whenever I preach.

[00:05:18] But several years ago, I felt God laid it in my heart that I need to go on the road and not just be satisfied with evangelizing through television and radio and podcasts and so on.

[00:05:29] Be in person, yeah.

[00:05:30] I want to be there in person.

[00:05:31] And then God opened so many doors, I literally had to run and say, oh, I can't do all this physically, humanly.

[00:05:38] Yeah.

[00:05:38] And so we were selective.

[00:05:40] And we've seen God do some amazing things in Dublin and Ireland and in Belfast and in London and Australia and Egypt particularly.

[00:05:52] We had a historic event in which we were anticipating 12,000 people.

[00:05:59] And we thought that would be the largest gathering in the history of Cairo.

[00:06:03] We ended up with almost 18.

[00:06:04] For a Christian event.

[00:06:05] For a Christian event.

[00:06:06] You cannot allow to have Christian events outside of a church.

[00:06:09] Or a school, yeah.

[00:06:10] And the largest church would seat a couple thousand people.

[00:06:13] But to have cross denominations, cross boundaries in every sense of the word.

[00:06:20] And then we thought if we get 12,000 and we were planning for 12,000, but then we had over 18,000 registered.

[00:06:28] So we realized we were in trouble and we had to rush and put seats in every little corner and open up new places by satellite and so forth.

[00:06:40] And even though it was broadcast live to millions of homes in the Middle East and Arab world.

[00:06:44] But nonetheless, the physical attendance of 18,000 people, which had never happened before, Christian people or a Christian event, really gave a lot of people encouragement to a lot of believers.

[00:07:00] But also, it made others take notice.

[00:07:04] And just think of, you know, you think of the Great Awakenings and just the ripple effect that that creates for generations.

[00:07:12] Yes.

[00:07:12] You know, thinking of what these events, you know, again, in particular thinking of the Egypt event, what that will do for trajectories of families and not just individuals, but for generations.

[00:07:24] Generations to come, yeah.

[00:07:26] Well, so you have a new five-year plan called the Open Door Campaign.

[00:07:34] Right.

[00:07:34] Tell us a little bit about the seeds of this and…

[00:07:39] Sure.

[00:07:40] I am conscious of the fact that the clock is running.

[00:07:45] Mm-hmm.

[00:07:46] And chronologically, I am not going to be around a long time.

[00:07:51] Mm-hmm.

[00:07:52] And so, under God and His leadership direction and prayer and seeking His mind and His will, realize that as the time is getting shorter, we need to focus.

[00:08:08] We need to crystallize our focus.

[00:08:11] Mm-hmm.

[00:08:11] And we did.

[00:08:12] And so, instead of, you know, 20 things that we're going to do, we focus on three things and three things only.

[00:08:19] Mm-hmm.

[00:08:19] And the next five years.

[00:08:21] Now, if God spares me.

[00:08:22] Now, however, if the Lord takes me home, then you're going to have to do this.

[00:08:28] I sort of already…

[00:08:30] Well, I have to put candid on hiatus at that point.

[00:08:34] I just recruited you.

[00:08:37] Yeah.

[00:08:38] If God spares me and I'm around, I would like to focus on those three important things.

[00:08:46] First of all, I grieve over my adopted country.

[00:08:51] Mm-hmm.

[00:08:51] I genuinely grieve.

[00:08:53] And my wife will tell you that many times I'll be sitting there and I'll see something in the news.

[00:09:02] I don't watch the news very often.

[00:09:04] And I just want to weep over the country, over the condition of the country.

[00:09:09] Not just the country, but the condition of the church in America.

[00:09:13] Mm-hmm.

[00:09:13] It is so grieving to my soul.

[00:09:17] And I wonder how much grieving it is to the Lord himself that 4% of the population have a biblical worldview.

[00:09:26] Mm-hmm.

[00:09:27] I mean, that is absolutely grieving.

[00:09:30] Mm-hmm.

[00:09:30] And how that corresponds with a percentage that identifies as Christian.

[00:09:36] Exactly.

[00:09:36] Exactly.

[00:09:37] Yes.

[00:09:38] And if you go down to whoever claimed to be Christians, that 4% may go up to 12%.

[00:09:45] Mm-hmm.

[00:09:46] But think about it.

[00:09:47] 12% of those who claim to know the Lord have no biblical worldview.

[00:09:52] Right.

[00:09:52] Because they don't read the Bible.

[00:09:53] Right.

[00:09:54] 8%.

[00:09:55] Just think about this.

[00:09:57] 8% read the Bible.

[00:10:00] Yeah.

[00:10:00] On a regular basis.

[00:10:01] Yeah.

[00:10:01] That is very sad.

[00:10:03] So, how would you have a biblical worldview if you're not reading the Bible?

[00:10:06] Yeah.

[00:10:07] And many rely on a little bit here and a little bit there.

[00:10:10] Yeah.

[00:10:10] A lot of superstition.

[00:10:12] And we've just done an interview with Michael Horton.

[00:10:14] And he was giving the statistics of just this idea of the spiritual but not religious.

[00:10:20] And how many Christians, Catholic, Protestant are falling for that syncretism thing.

[00:10:27] Yeah.

[00:10:27] Yeah.

[00:10:28] Yeah.

[00:10:29] By definition, you do not have a biblical worldview.

[00:10:31] Right.

[00:10:31] You have a faulty worldview.

[00:10:33] It's a self-worship, really.

[00:10:34] Self-worship.

[00:10:35] That's right.

[00:10:35] Right.

[00:10:36] The spirituality, as they talk, the buzzword, they talk about it, is my spirit.

[00:10:42] That's really what they're talking about.

[00:10:43] I'm the king and judge.

[00:10:44] I am a spirit.

[00:10:45] Yeah.

[00:10:45] Yeah.

[00:10:45] I arbiter of truth.

[00:10:46] And I make the final decision.

[00:10:48] Yeah.

[00:10:49] Absolutely.

[00:10:49] And it's an idolatry in its worst form.

[00:10:53] And so, I grieve over that.

[00:10:55] So, we wanted to do everything we can, including going on the road in America to present godly

[00:11:04] and biblical worldview and call people to come to Christ.

[00:11:08] So, you've got these citywide events that will challenge local churches, not too dissimilar

[00:11:14] from what you've been doing internationally in terms of – and you and I have this ecclesiology,

[00:11:20] meaning understanding of what the church is.

[00:11:23] Exactly.

[00:11:24] That it's not Michael Youssef goes out on the road and just preaches and then vanishes.

[00:11:27] Absolutely not.

[00:11:28] And the people are left going, what just happened?

[00:11:30] But it's that the church comes in and says, we're going to be here to take the pieces

[00:11:36] and get them connected to be included and be part of the living body of Christ.

[00:11:42] But you're also doing your Finding True Peace evangelistic projects.

[00:11:47] That's –

[00:11:48] Secular television.

[00:11:49] Yeah.

[00:11:49] So, that's going on.

[00:11:50] And most of our listeners have probably seen that if you're watching Fox Business and

[00:11:55] Fox News and all these.

[00:11:56] Yeah.

[00:11:56] I run into people all the time.

[00:11:58] I do too.

[00:11:59] I do.

[00:11:59] I saw your dad on TV.

[00:12:02] Not only that, but I had somebody coming down the elevator of my apartment building this

[00:12:06] morning and they said, can I talk to you more about what you said on that 30-second spot?

[00:12:12] 30 seconds.

[00:12:13] 30 seconds.

[00:12:13] This elderly couple.

[00:12:14] And I said, I'll be delighted to.

[00:12:16] So, you know, and I hope that these people are going to a pastor and saying, you know,

[00:12:21] can you tell me what this is saying about?

[00:12:23] And in every place I went to or I will go to, it will be only as a result of pastors saying,

[00:12:34] we need this.

[00:12:34] Yeah.

[00:12:35] Come, revive us, and then we'll take over and pick up the pieces.

[00:12:39] Yeah.

[00:12:39] And so that's what we're going to do.

[00:12:42] For example, when I was in Springfield, Massachusetts.

[00:12:45] Right.

[00:12:46] Last spring.

[00:12:47] There were 20 pastors from Boston who came down on a bus and came down and they met with

[00:12:54] me afterward and said, Boston, we need you in Boston.

[00:12:57] So we go into Boston in October, 2025.

[00:13:01] And there'll be other cities like Pittsburgh.

[00:13:03] And these are places that you have not been for events, if I'm understanding right.

[00:13:08] Some of them I went and spoke to pastors and the pastor's appreciation lunch or dinner.

[00:13:14] We have rallies, radio rallies in the old days.

[00:13:17] Right.

[00:13:17] But not this type of event.

[00:13:19] And so Pittsburgh is on the docket and San Antonio, Texas and Fort Lauderdale.

[00:13:28] So these are the places where people are saying, yes, we would like to see this happen.

[00:13:33] And any of your listeners can call and say, you know, I'm willing to help bring this to

[00:13:41] our city.

[00:13:41] All pastors that are listening to us right now, you know, they can call me or call us here

[00:13:46] and say, well, we want that in our city.

[00:13:49] So that's something that I am dedicating myself to that I will definitely be committed to in

[00:13:56] years to come as I preach less in the church.

[00:13:59] And I'll do these events more in the coming five years.

[00:14:02] And so needed.

[00:14:03] And I'm just thinking, I've heard of missionaries from Korea and China who are actually sending

[00:14:08] their missionaries to America.

[00:14:10] Oh, absolutely.

[00:14:12] The largest churches in many cities, the largest church in Boston is a Korean church.

[00:14:18] Right.

[00:14:18] And so, yes, I mean, that is happening all over the place.

[00:14:22] Okay.

[00:14:22] So this is your North America campaign.

[00:14:25] Right.

[00:14:25] Second sort of pillar of the three.

[00:14:27] Yes.

[00:14:28] Which has been a burden of my heart for many, many, many years before even leading the way

[00:14:32] and before the church.

[00:14:33] I was involved in another ministry where I was training Christian leaders from the Muslim

[00:14:40] world, the Arabic speaking world.

[00:14:42] So it's always, you know, that's my root.

[00:14:45] So even though I literally, when I escaped from there, I want nothing to do with that part

[00:14:49] of the world.

[00:14:50] But God had changed my heart.

[00:14:52] And so I've been involved almost 50 years now, almost 50 years in the Muslim world.

[00:14:59] So we're going to focus on that.

[00:15:01] We have a dedicated television channel, Kingdom Sat, 24-7, 260 plus million homes.

[00:15:09] And now it's watched in Australia and New Zealand and all over the world.

[00:15:13] And so we're going to intensify that work as well as even make personal visits to these

[00:15:22] places.

[00:15:23] And our follow-up team is beefed up so they'll be available 24-7 to respond to inquirers and

[00:15:31] people who want to know Christ.

[00:15:33] So reaching with the teaching through television, through radio, personal visitation, making sure

[00:15:40] that literature and discipleship courses are going out, similarly to what we just talked about

[00:15:46] in the U.S., the need for churches and follow-up people to come alongside to give support.

[00:15:53] So there's your two pillars.

[00:15:55] And there's a third pillar, which has been around, but maybe hasn't gotten the focus or attention

[00:16:03] that perhaps the other two may have gotten.

[00:16:05] And Jonathan, you remember you have been part of this from the very beginning.

[00:16:10] I remember when you came back from Albania and when you came back from Turkey and when you

[00:16:15] came back from Indonesia.

[00:16:18] My goodness, you went to places that nobody even goes to.

[00:16:22] So remote.

[00:16:23] Very remote.

[00:16:24] And desperate.

[00:16:26] And you brought the need to our attention 10 years ago.

[00:16:30] And we're seeing the incredible success of this little gizmo called the Navigator, where

[00:16:37] thousands upon thousands of people in remote areas, in Indonesia, in Bangladesh, in Africa,

[00:16:45] in Ethiopia, and many other countries, because it's in 28 languages, where they take this thing

[00:16:51] and literally hang it on a tree because it's solar operated.

[00:16:55] It doesn't need plugging.

[00:16:56] It doesn't need electricity.

[00:16:58] And that serves two purposes.

[00:17:00] Not only that reaches us remote people who desperately in need of the gospel, but it also reaches

[00:17:07] the people who may be illiterate, that they can't read.

[00:17:11] Now, we won't say, just send them the Bible.

[00:17:13] Okay, well, great.

[00:17:14] Let's send them the Bible.

[00:17:16] But if they can't read it, what would they do?

[00:17:18] And the lack of Bible teaching in those regions.

[00:17:22] So you may have someone who's been converted, who has a passion and a desire, but there's no

[00:17:27] seminary or a place where they can be taught the Bible rightly.

[00:17:31] And I know that a lot of organizations are starting to do that, which is wonderful.

[00:17:35] But in the meantime, what do you do for those people who are hungry and desperate and don't

[00:17:40] have a pastor who can rightly divide the Word of God, give it to them in their own native

[00:17:46] tongue?

[00:17:46] Exactly.

[00:17:46] That's why one of the pastors in Indonesia, who literally takes a truckload of these and

[00:17:53] goes into different villages, I mean, he's one individual.

[00:17:58] And each one of those has the Bible in it in their language.

[00:18:01] And also, it has about 250 or so messages that I have preached through an interpreter.

[00:18:09] So my voice in English, and then the voice of Bahata Indonesian or Turkish or Hindi or any

[00:18:18] of those languages that we've been broadcasting on.

[00:18:20] Yeah.

[00:18:21] And it's funny, having been to those places, I mean, genuinely, these people are walking

[00:18:25] to the well to get water.

[00:18:27] And they would say, we listen to the teaching as we make our journey to go and get water

[00:18:32] and come back in.

[00:18:33] And if we sit down with a meal with the family, we'll listen to the teaching.

[00:18:37] And it's such a unique tool that the Lord has graced us with.

[00:18:42] Absolutely.

[00:18:43] It's an invention of a missionary from Australia.

[00:18:45] He really got laid it on his heart.

[00:18:48] And with the help of other technicians, we're able to do it.

[00:18:51] Now we're proliferating it, hopefully in the hundreds of thousands, which if everyone

[00:18:57] gives mother's used by 10 people, you're talking about millions, so we'll be able to reach.

[00:19:01] Well, it's interesting.

[00:19:03] Just as I'm kind of looking over these three things, I'm seeing lots of different soil types

[00:19:08] here as I think about Jesus' parable on the soils.

[00:19:13] You think of here in the West, which is becoming rockier and more difficult to penetrate.

[00:19:19] You think of the Islamic world, which has been difficult and hard, but seems to be softening.

[00:19:27] And then you have these remote villages, which seems to be a more fertile ground.

[00:19:31] And yet, the Lord doesn't say, don't sow into rocky soil.

[00:19:36] Only sow where you think the soil will be good.

[00:19:38] He says, no, the farmer scatters the seed everywhere.

[00:19:42] Sure.

[00:19:42] Because you don't know where it will take root.

[00:19:44] And God will take care of the results.

[00:19:46] That's right.

[00:19:47] One plants, another waters, but God gives it.

[00:19:49] Another way to see it, Jonathan, is that we're following the command of Jesus.

[00:19:54] When he gave what is known now as the Great Commission, he gave a sense of priority.

[00:20:01] He said, Jerusalem, that came first.

[00:20:03] Smyrna was right next door at the end of the world.

[00:20:07] Samaria to the utter parts of the world.

[00:20:09] So, we're doing Jerusalem.

[00:20:12] Yeah.

[00:20:13] Then we're expanding a little bit to Samaria.

[00:20:16] And then to the other most remote corners of the globe.

[00:20:21] Yeah.

[00:20:21] And so, following the command of our Lord is something that it's been challenged to me and to obey and how to go about it.

[00:20:32] Yeah.

[00:20:32] But he showed us the way now, so we're grateful for that.

[00:20:35] Yeah.

[00:20:35] And just to bring it all full circle, even the concept behind this of the idea of the open door campaign.

[00:20:42] It originated from the sermon.

[00:20:45] Exactly.

[00:20:45] That brought you into the kingdom.

[00:20:47] Yes, exactly.

[00:20:48] How long will the door remain open?

[00:20:52] This is the thing.

[00:20:53] I mean, I don't know how the door is going to be remaining open in America before we hear that the Bible is a hate speech.

[00:20:59] It's already in some countries, like in Finland and other European countries, where they just said, well, son, the Bible is hate speech.

[00:21:08] And even a member of parliament in Finland was taken to court because she quoted the Bible.

[00:21:14] Then it's happening in Sweden and Scandinavia and many other countries.

[00:21:17] And we don't know how long it's going to be here.

[00:21:20] Certainly, it's beginning to bud in Canada.

[00:21:23] So, we would love to walk through that door as long as God keeps it open and take advantage of it.

[00:21:31] Because if we go to sleep, we'll wake up and we have missed a great opportunity.

[00:21:36] And so, as I get on and the years keep piling up, I feel that I'm really putting my foot on the accelerator now.

[00:21:48] You're grabbing more handfuls of seeds and scattering wider and further.

[00:21:53] The Open Door Campaign, five-year plan to passionately proclaim uncompromising truth in three strategic areas, North America, the Muslim world, and remote villages.

[00:22:05] This is very exciting.

[00:22:07] And we'll be praying for the work.

[00:22:11] Thank you.

[00:22:11] That the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

[00:22:14] And so, we're grateful that the Lord's put this on your heart.

[00:22:18] Well, I'm grateful for you, Jonathan.

[00:22:20] And now I can see that the Lord is going to extend this beyond my life.

[00:22:25] Wow.

[00:22:26] In you.

[00:22:26] Thank you.

[00:22:27] Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

[00:22:30] And if you want more information about the Open Door Campaign, you can visit ltw.org, ltw.org.

[00:22:40] Candid is a podcast from Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.

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[00:23:00] As always, thank you for listening to and sharing this episode.