Prescott July Conference 2025 | 03 - Pastor Jonathan Heimberg | Tuesday Morning

Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House

Seminar Podcast. This is a special series from

our Prescott Conference that just recently occurred.

The theme of the conference was Into the Unknown

and the scripture for the theme was Romans 15,

20 -21. I have made it my aim to preach the gospel

to whom he was not announced. So this is a powerful

series of... sermons from leaders in our fellowship

to include Greg Mitchell, Joe Campbell, Richard

Ruby, Sergey Golubev, and others along with that.

So please enjoy and listen along to these powerful

sermons from leaders in our fellowship. Slavery

had to be fought. There had to be an aggression

about it. He tried to raise money. He tried to

influence politicians. Finally, He raised his

own army from among his sons. In years before

the Civil War in Kansas, an era called Bleeding

Kansas, he fought a battle, 1856, called the

Battle of Black Jack. He led his sons against

a pro -slavery force in Kansas that some people

have called, as you look back, they say that

was actually possibly the first battle. of the

Civil War. John Brown was an evangelical Christian,

and he said over and over, and I quote, I have

a sacred obligation to strike a death blow to

slavery. Eventually, after losing one son in

battle, another injured, he led an unsuccessful

raid against Harper's Ferry in Virginia. He failed.

He was captured by the state of Virginia, tried

for treason and hung, died as a martyr for the

cause of abolition and in the years preceding

the Civil War. But what's interesting is that

he was widely dismissed by both the North and

the South as a madman. They called him a lunatic.

He died as a martyr. But his enduring legacy

is that his mission to free those in bondage

just might have been the spark that actually

triggered the Civil War and the emancipation

of the slave in the United States. Now, the scripture

that we're going to read this morning is about

another man who very similarly was denounced

as a madman, died as a martyr. But as a missionary,

he changed the world. I want to preach this morning

a very simple message. I don't have any great

deep revelation, but I want to preach about the

madman and the martyr and the missionary. And

I hope if I can do my job, by the time I'm done,

maybe there's one person in here that you'd volunteer

to go and we'd send you out. And that's my aim.

Just so you know, that's what I'm aiming at.

So if you're feeling nervous already, just go

to the bathroom. Acts chapter 26, verse 19. Therefore,

Acts 26:19

King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly

vision, but declared first to those in Damascus

and in Jerusalem, throughout all the region of

Judea and then to the Gentiles, that they should

repent and do the works befitting repentance.

For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple

and tried to kill me. Therefore, having obtained

help from God, to this day I stand witnessing

both to small and great, saying no other things

than those which the prophets and Moses said

would come, that the Christ would suffer, that

he would be the first to rise from the dead,

and he would proclaim light to the Jewish people

and to the Gentiles. Verse 24. Now as he thus

made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice,

Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning

is making you mad. The madman, the martyr, and

the missionary. Let's talk first for a few minutes

about the madman. Now our scripture exposes what

the world thinks of missionaries and of missionary

movements and really of our fellowship. Here

is Festus, this famous outburst. Paul, you're

mad. You're out of your mind. He's accusing him

of being insane. But why? What is the statement?

Verse 19, he says, I was faithful to preach the

gospel to the Jews and to the Gentiles. Now,

we don't know because we can't cross -examine

Festus. But is it possible that the reason he

thought Paul was out of his mind was because

he made this public statement, I am going to

minister to people that are not my own. Because

we know the Jews in that day, they had no dealings

with foreigners. And now Paul says, I am going

to preach to the Gentiles. Is it possible that

that's why Festus thought he was a madman? It's

interesting, that's what happened to John Brown.

Most pro -slavery southerners simply could not

believe that a white man would fight for the

freedom of the slave. In their minds, they were

subhuman. They were little more than property.

And the idea that this white man would, they

couldn't comprehend it. That did not jive with

their view of the world. And so the only conclusion

they can come to, he's got to be insane. But

let's think about the world that we live in right

now. You know, our world talks a lot about compassion,

doesn't it? And that's essentially all it does

on the subject. We talk about it. People post

videos about it. We have seminars about it. We

live in a world where we talk, talk, talk about

compassion, and yet the basic societal ills get

worse every year, don't they? Because our world

talks about compassion, but it doesn't actually

have it. It's only a theory or an idea to them.

And so because of that, they can little comprehend

that you are willing to give up your life to

go minister to people that aren't like you. Every

pioneer in here and certainly every missionary,

you've had that conversation. You're telling

a workmate or someone that you're moving. What

are you going to do? I'm going to go start a

church. You're going to do a what? But why? Do

you know someone there? I don't know anyone there.

Why are you going? You're not the same color

as those people. You don't speak this. They can't

comprehend it because our world talks about compassion,

but they don't have it. And so when someone gets

up on Thursday night, when a young couple stands

up and says, I'm going to give my life for another

nation, the world says, you're insane. We cannot

comprehend what you're doing. So the world dismisses

us as madmen because they must. If we aren't

insane, then what we're saying might be right.

And just like the pro -slavery southerners, They

cannot comprehend that. That doesn't fit with

their worldview. So you have to be insane. But

it's not just the world, is it? It's the church

world too. The religious world sees the missionary

as a madman. You know, in any other movement.

Missionaries, they are, they're the weird ones.

Some of you have met missionaries before. You

know, they're the odd duck. You're like, oh.

Now, I understand as I'm saying that, there's

people going, it's you. Yes, I resemble that

remark. But in the church world, missionaries,

they are the fractional percentage, the marginalized

few. The missionaries never get on the stage

in the church world. They never show up at the

big events. All you get is the superstars because

that's not really what the church world is about.

You know what's fascinating about this man, John

Brown, is that even in the North, even among

many abolitionists, he was dismissed as a madman.

They would not accept his idea of aggressive

abolitionism. But why was that? Why is it that

even though they technically believed the same

thing, why did they dismiss him as a madman?

Because they talked about it and he did it. Right?

If you read the history, there's several fantastic

books written about the Civil War and the years

leading up to it. The Zealot and the Emancipator

is a very good one. But it's interesting. You

read about these northern politicians. They would

give speeches. We need to free the slave. And

someone's like, let's do it. And they're like,

whoa, whoa, whoa. I mean, you know. What I meant

was we need to talk about it. We need to vote

about it. And John Brown's there, let's do it.

So they said, okay, well, hold on there, buddy.

You know, maybe not now, maybe, you know, in

10 years or. And so, because he was doing what

they were talking about, he had to be dismissed

as a madman. Because if they didn't call him

a madman, what were they? They were cowards.

If John Brown was in his right mind, then the

rest were cowards. They weren't doing what needed

to be done. So he had to be dismissed. Listen,

that is just like how the church world regards

us, especially our fellowship, pioneers, missionaries,

any genuine evangelistic movement has to be dismissed

as madmen. We've got to be crazy people. What

do they call us? Radicals, fundamentalists. They

can't just call us Christians. The Bible that

I read teaches me that Christians will lay down

their life for the unsaved. But see, if that's

true, then what does that make the church world?

Cowards. Entitled cowards, as Pastor Torrey preached.

So they have to label us. We have to be mad men.

Did you hear about those crazy people? They sent

who into where? But you know, even within our

church, if you've pastored any number of years,

there are people inside our churches that really

don't care for what we do. There can be a despising

spirit. And every year, every six months, the

drumbeat of church planting, world evangelism.

There's people that they come to church, they

love Jesus, but they don't love what we love.

And it bothers them. It gets under their skin.

They get a little irritated when you get up to

take a world evangelism pledge. When conference

is over and you're raving, oh, you wouldn't believe.

Like, oh, pastor, seriously? We are just a little

bit crazy to them. So let's talk then about the

martyr. Listen, if you want to do anything for

the kingdom of God, you're going to have to give

up something. There's no other way around it.

In our church, one of the things I love is we

do an open question and answer session about

every second month. After a Sunday evening service

is over, we'll put out a box for people to put

anonymous questions in. It's for teenagers and

teens and 20s. So about every second month, I

will spend time. I'll spend one and a half, sometimes

two hours just answering. I got to tell you,

I love answering questions, just sitting with

people. And man, I get questions about everything,

doctrine, the Bible. issues in life. Our community

is filled with violence and abuse. We get deep

questions. Just a week ago Sunday, we had our

last Q &A, and one of the questions in there

was, Pastor, I want to preach the gospel, but

I also want to pursue my dreams. How do I balance

the two of those things? And the answer is, you

can't. Those two things don't get balanced. It's

one or the other. You're going to have to make

up your mind that you're willing to give up something

if you're going to do the will of God. Listen,

sacrifice is the fertilizer of every great thing

that ever grows in the kingdom of God. We don't

get it for nothing. It doesn't just show up magically.

understood this instinctively and he was willing

to give his life for the call. Acts 20, 22 to

24. And see, now I go bound in the spirit to

Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen

to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies

in every city, saying that chains and tribulation

await me, but none of this moves me, nor do I

count my life dear to myself. so that I may finish

my race. What is he saying? He says, I don't

care if it costs me everything. I just want to

do something for the kingdom of God. Isn't that

why we're here this week? Hallelujah. When John

Brown was on trial in Virginia, they tried him

for treason. against the Confederacy. He made

this statement. He said, now if it is deemed

necessary that I should forfeit my life for the

furtherance of the ends of justice and mingle

my blood further with the blood of my children

and with the blood of millions in this slave

country whose rights are disregarded by wicked,

cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit. so let

it be done. Now, while literal martyrdom is rarely

asked for these days, and I'm okay with that,

the spirit of the martyr is absolutely necessary.

Each and every one of us is going to have to

answer the question, What will you give for the

cause? What will you give for the cause? For

some, you're going to lay down your dreams, career

aspirations to pursue the higher calling of the

gospel of Jesus Christ. For some, you're going

to have to lay down established successful ministries

to go and pioneer again or to be a missionary

in another nation. Can we talk for a minute?

I've had the privilege. I am, you know, when

Pastor Torrey is talking about being born on

third base, I think I was born further than that.

I think God knew. Poor Heimberg, man. If I don't

help him, he's not going to get anywhere. I've

been so blessed in life. I was able to be a missionary

so far twice. We first went to India. I want

to be honest with you. That was very easy because

we were young. We had nothing. We had three small

children, which means if we move anywhere, it's

a package deal. They're with us. Let's go, kids.

Where are we going? Doesn't matter. Shut up and

get in the car. We're going to Burger King. Surprise,

it's India. Now, I in no way want to belittle

this. We need young couples that will go. Thank

God. We need young families. I'll go. You don't

even know what you're volunteering for. You just

stand up on Thursday. Yeah, it's me. I'll go.

Do it. We need it. But I want to tell you, that

was much easier. We were in India for two and

a half years, left a church there, came back.

We're in the U .S. for about 11 years. But, you

know, time goes on. We grow up. Our kids grow

up. We had more kids. Kids moved out, get married.

Our first grandchild was born, bought a house.

I was pastoring the church in Gallup, New Mexico,

which is a conference church. There's some kind

of dignity there, like position. I had a good

income, had a great life. People would call me

and invite me to preach for them. You know, when

I went to India, it was an upgrade. It was like,

yeah. I'm not working a job pastoring a church.

You want to be a full -time pastor just like

that? Sign me up. But see, it's a little different

going when you're a little older. My wife and

I, we're very blessed. We have five grandchildren.

And with the exception of six months, we have

never lived on even the same continent as our

grandchildren. See, it hits way different than

when we went the first time. Like I said, I don't

want to belittle the sacrifice of young pastors

that go, but you know, sometimes we need some

experienced ministers that would go. We will

be in trouble if we ever get to the place where

only the young respond. We need sometimes some

men and couples with experience, maybe to go

into a new nation or a new city and break some

ground. Some ministers that you've got some scars

and the wisdom that comes with it to go and pioneer

in a place that maybe a younger man may not be

able to. But the promise is that the spirit of

the martyr has the power to move people. You

know, everyone dies, right? But not all who die

are martyrs. It's how you live that determines

whether or not you die a martyr. John Brown,

when he had finished his trial and he had been

sentenced to hang, he wrote in one of his last

letters to his wife, I am quite cheerful. in

view of my approaching end, being fully persuaded

that I am worth inconceivably more to hang than

to any other purpose. But the reason is he had

a sense of the pulse of what was happening in

the nation, and he knew that one martyr's death

would trigger something. He knew that his death

could galvanize something in the nation. Listen,

when you have that kind of a spirit, you will

make impact not only where you go, but from where

you leave. On Thursday night, listen to me, every

missionary that stands on this stage on Thursday

night, we understand they're going to make impact

in the various nations they go into. But you

need to see there's another impact. When they

stand up and walk down the aisle, they're going

to have an impact here. There's going to be a

young man or a young woman, a convert, who looks

and identifies with them. And they're going to

say, I could do this. If they're going, I could

go. Or they're going to see that you went into

that nation and God will put something in their

mind or in their spirit. Listen, when you give

yourself to do the will of God, it's not just

what is accomplished in your hands, but it's

in the wake you leave, the influence that is

made. In this era when Brown made his reign on

Harper's Ferry, Henry David Thoreau, made this

statement. He said, It was the best news our

nation has ever heard. It has already quickened

the feeble pulse of the North and infused more

and more generous blood into her heart and veins

than any number of years of prosperity could.

I believe that one of the things that makes our

fellowship great, and of course there are many,

But I believe one of the things that makes our

fellowship so great is that it was built by men

and women who left some things to build some

things. Some of our heroes are couples who left

opportunities to go be missionaries. People who

left good churches. All the stories we've heard.

We've heard about Pastor Campbell leaving Chandler

to go to Malaysia. We know of Pastor Payne leaving

Gallup to go to Australia. We know all the stories,

Dwayne and Frostine Renz, when they left thriving

work in Las Vegas to go to South Africa. Even

Pastor Mitchell going to Beachboro twice. They

left, it wasn't like they're sitting around,

you know, listen, every conference pastor has

this experience. You're in conference and someone

comes to you, you just saw their last gold sheet.

You know, there's three people in church, but

they have a family of seven. And he's like, Pastor,

I just really feel I need to be a missionary.

Yeah. You're really feeling like you want a new

church. But see, our fellowship was built by

men that left good churches to go build something

new. It moves us. Because that spirit, it's inculcated

into us. It's in our DNA. If we could do a fellowship

blood test, you would find in there the spirit

of the martyr and that spirit of sacrificial

giving and leaving. So let's talk then finally

about the missionary. When you look at Paul's

life, it is tempting. to get his legacy wrong.

If you were to ask, you know, many Christians,

many disciples, you know, what was Paul's legacy?

We could come up with all kinds of ideas. He

wrote this many books of the Bible. His apologetic

defense of the gospel. He set out key doctrines,

the doctrine of male leadership in the church.

And we could go through all these things. That's

what Paul's legacy was. But if you were to ask

Paul himself what his legacy was, he would say

like he did in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 3. Clearly,

2 Corinthians 3:3

you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us.

Written not with ink, but by the spirit of the

living God. Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets

of flesh. That is of the heart. What he's actually

saying, what is my greatest epistle? People.

What's the greatest impact? Forget the letters

I wrote. Did you ever hear about Onesimus? Have

you met this guy? He'd bring him in. I want you

to meet my latest convert. See, in his mind,

the legacy was the people whose lives he's impact.

If you were to ask your missionary heroes, maybe

do it this week. Go talk to Pastor Olson or Pastor

Campbell or Pastor Greg. Ask these men, what

was your impact in the nations? I'd be willing

to bet you that none of these men would be like,

well, let me tell you about the building I built.

None of these men would be like, well, you know,

there was this many churches. I bet you if you

could catch them right, they'd get that far away

look in their eyes and they would start telling

you stories about people. Every disciple that's

come up in the Prescott Church in the last 20

years or so, we were raised on the stories of

Pastor Greg's. We weren't raised on stories of,

and I preached this amazing sermon. Now he would

tell us, did I ever tell you about Michael Jacobs?

Let me tell you the story when he came into the

church. Now I tell you the story about the guy

that showed up with the knife sticking out of

his head. Because that's still what matters,

isn't it? It's the people. I have a treasure

chest. full of treasured memories I've compiled

over the years, packed to the brim of names and

faces of people I've had the privilege to be

in contact with. Our church in El Dorado Park

runs a rehab, a drug rehab program. It's modeled

after what Pastor Sergei has been doing in Russia

for many years. And there's always guys coming

in. It's a one -year program, so whenever a man

completes his year, we have a graduation. Just

this past week, Monday night, we had our most

recent graduation. Three men were graduating.

There's always a revolving cast of characters

there. Morgan, Jason, and Sudesh. And when they

graduate, we have a dinner. We have them testify.

And Morgan is testifying about his life and the

insanity, the violence, all the chaos, telling

this story. And you know what's crazy? You know

how crazy someone's life is when they tell you

certain stories with a straight face. Some stories,

if I try, but he's like, yeah, so I was smoking

meth. And then we realized, well, we should sell

it. That makes sense. Okay, I have a half Jewish

father. I can get behind the business proposition.

Maybe she'd sell it. It makes way more sense.

Buy it wholesale. Your supply is cheaper. No,

this is, I'm getting off track. So we would go

once a month. We would buy our supply, go, blah,

blah, blah. Yeah, so one time we were going.

It was me and my three friends. We went. It was

a setup. They jumped us, killed my three friends

right in front of me. So I had to run away. Anyway.

And I always tell my wife, when we have the rehab

graduations, I always get emotional. It's just

like, here's this man. He's standing there. He

is sharp. He's got a vest and a tie on. He looks

like Pastor Ruby's about to preach, you know.

He's set, you know. And we do the whole thing.

Afterward, he comes up to me. He says, Pastor,

thank you. And he said, Pastor, you know what?

I think I'm called to preach. You know, this

week, I'll have been a pastor 20 years. And I

want to tell you. I would do it all over again

just for Morgan. I would do it all over again

for any one of these. I would do it again for

a Fabian or a Donovan, Brandon and Crystal. And

I could go on, I could spend all week talking

about the people. Listen, because that's what

matters. So we would deliver people from bondage.

I believe that we are in a precious moment in

church and fellowship history right now. There's

a season of prosperity in much of the Western

world. But at the same time, we see the hint

that some doors might be opening. You know, there's

a guy, his name escapes me at the moment, but

he keeps saying regime change. You know, regime

change in the Arab world right now. oh, what

a harvest field it could open. Hundreds of millions

of people. Listen, we are at a precious moment

where I believe we have the people, we have the

resources, we have the open doors. Africa, the

continent of Africa alone has 21 nations with

no fellowship church. We still have 82 nations

in the world. That's the unknown. We're talking

about into the unknown. It's those places. We

need men and women who will respond young and

old. We need fresh faces. We need weathered,

tried and true veterans who would go to their

pastor and say, I'm willing. I'll go anywhere.

Like Pastor Greg said last night, I'll sign the

bottom of the paper. You just put the destination

on it. I want to tell you, even if the world

forgets your name, heaven will never forget your

labor. Hallelujah. You know, most of the world

has no idea who John Brown is. It's a name lost

to history, even in the United States. If he

is remembered, it's a madman, a terrorist, or

just a footnote. And yet, the impact of his life

is still echoing on to this day. I want to just

kind of tell this story, if you'll give me a

moment. In 1856, three years before John Brown

had really come to notoriety, before he died,

William Steffi wrote a very simple song that

became popular in Methodist churches. In those

days, the Methodists were the ones that were

very... abolitionist -minded in the north. And

it was very popular in their camp meetings. It

was a very simple song. Two refrains and said,

say, brothers, will you meet us? Say, brothers,

will you meet us? Say, brothers, will you meet

us at Canaan's happy shore? And then they would

go back through again and it would say, glory,

glory, hallelujah, forever, evermore. Now this

became popular in the freedmen churches. These

were the freed slaves that made it to the north

because it painted this picture of the kingdom

of God as accepting everybody. Say brothers.

It doesn't talk about where you're born or what

color you are. And so this actually became an

anthem of the abolitionist movement. After John

Brown died, a curious thing happened. They began

to add verses to that song. And it became a popular

marching song for the northern soldiers. Verse

1 of that song goes like this. Old John Brown's

body lies moldering in the grave. While weep

the sons of bondage whom he ventured all to save.

But though he lost his life while struggling

for the slave, his soul is marching on. I want

you to imagine for a moment a company. of Union

soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, marching into

battle with this song on their lips. They would

sing the songs as the cadence to keep time in

their marches. Old John Brown's body lies a -moldering

in the grave while weep the sons of bondage.

Now, we also know that in the North, there were

freedmen companies. There would have been entire

companies. Of freed slaves, now northern soldiers

marching into battle singing that song. Because

John Brown was their hero. The first white man

that gave his life for them. The song goes on.

Verse 4. John Brown was John the Baptist of the

Christ we are to see. Christ who of the bondmen

shall the liberator be. And soon throughout the

sunny south. the slaves shall all be free, for

his soul is marching on. John Brown forgotten

by many, smeared by his enemies. I wonder if

you were a southern soldier for the Confederacy.

Maybe you were a Virginian soldier and you knew

Virginia hung John Brown. He's dead, but what

is that I hear? Are they saying John Brown? And

as they're echoing those voices across those

battlefields, and soon throughout the sunny south,

the slaves shall all be free. I wonder what that

would do in the hearts of these men. You know,

it's interesting to note that they didn't march

into battle singing about Abraham Lincoln. They

didn't march into battle singing about any of

their politicians or any of their generals. They

marched into battle singing about the one man

who had enough gall to lay his life down for

a cause. Then in November of 1861, there was

a small skirmish fought in the outskirts of Washington,

D .C. Julia Ward Howe heard the song and it moved

her. She realized this isn't just... a song about

the emancipation of the slave. This is a song

about the emancipation of mankind. And she wrote

a new set of lyrics. Mine eyes have seen the

glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling

out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are

stored. He has loosed the faithful lightning

of his terrible swift sword. His truth is marching

on. Glory, glory, hallelujah. And if you are

an American or if you follow, you pay attention

to America, you probably know a few more of these

verses, but I'll read just one more. In the beauty

of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea

with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you

and me. As he died to make men holy, Let us die

to make men free. Our God is marching on. We

call this the battle hymn of the Republic, and

we understand it's a song of liberation. Yes,

in context, the liberation of the slaves, but

actually it's the liberation of souls by Christ.

And while John Brown's name is lost to history,

I believe his blood still flows through our republic.

That spirit. I don't care if you call me a madman.

I don't care if I have to die as a martyr. I

have a mission. And I believe that something

very similar is true of our fellowship. Is that

there is a blood that courses through us. It's

the spirit of the madman, the martyr, the missionary.

I want to say to every missionary or missionary

to be, pioneer or pioneer to be, there is no

guarantee about anything. There's no guarantee

that your name will ever be in lights. If you

go this week, if you volunteer to go as a missionary,

there's no guarantee of a soft landing when you

come home. There's no guarantee that one day

people will sing your praises. There's no guarantee

of financial success, but there is one guarantee.

And that is that for every laborer that lays

their life down for the cause, you will make

impact. And one day, it might be said of you,

that while Christ died to make men holy, you

gave your life to make them free. Amen. That's

all I have. Let's welcome our pastor as he comes.