BURLINGTON, Ontario, Canada, August 20, 2002 — He's a remarkable man; a successful man by any standard. And David Mainse, Canada's premier television evangelist, would be the first to credit God and His Word, the Holy Bible, for that success.
Asked about his greatest accomplishment, Mainse says simply, "Being in the will of God. You cannot possibly be more successful in life than to be in the will of God." And Mainse believes that key to being in the will of God, is being immersed in the Word of God.
Mainse has never doubted God's call
Celebrating a milestone of 40 years of television ministry this month, Mainse says emphatically, that in the four decades since he first sensed it, he has never, never doubted God's call to enter Christian broadcasting.
"It was the fall of '61, and I remember a new television station came to our area in Pembroke, Ontario. Norma-Jean and I were pioneering a congregation in Deep River. While we were there, we talked about exploring a way to visit people in their homes, and carry the message of God's love to them in a personal way. Television provided that means," said Mainse.
Crossroads was the name given to Mainse's first program - a weekly 15-minute show that followed the late night news. Today, Crossroads Christian Communications Inc. produces the daily, live program 100 Huntley Street, as well as shows for children, teens and multi-lingual productions. The Crossroads Family of Ministries includes a 24/7 telephone prayer and counselling line, a children's summer camp ministry, a school of broadcasting, and a new 24-hour, independent commercial television station called CTS.
Times of testing
Photo: Crossroads Christian Communications
David Mainse, founder of Crossroads Christian Communications and host of "100 Huntley Street", a Christian television show broadcast daily across Canada, celebrates 40 years in TV ministry.
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Even considering the span of 40 years in which to accomplish the work, that's a dramatic record of achievement; a record that indicates God's blessing upon Mainse and his ministry. But the Christian life is a life full of ups and downs. And Mainse says the Lord has used the down times to remind him of his need to fully depend on God.
"I've never thought that God has abandoned me. I've recognized that God has allowed us to be severely tested at times, and in the midst of that testing there has been a tendency to be discouraged. However, the sun has always risen the next morning, and the Lord has always come through to resolve whatever crisis we have faced. God has used those times as the means for turning up the fervency of my prayers, and then the Lord has responded to those situations."
"I've always longed to be more of a man of God"
When asked to reflect on what he would do differently if he had the chance, Mainse responds with humility. "I've always longed to be more of a man of God - to know Him more. And if I had, because God works through our free will, He would have been able to work more than He has. Now, don't get me wrong. I am grateful, and I praise Him for what He has accomplished. God is not limited by us, but He chooses to work as we allow Him to. But by my humanness, there may have been times when I didn't allow Him to work (as much as He could have) and He could have accomplished more."
Tell that to the more than six million Canadians who have called the Crossroads ministry centre for prayer, or the more than 90,000 people who have made first time decisions to follow Christ, motivated by the television outreach. Lives have been changed, transformed even, and Mainse knows it.
Acts 2:47 b
One of the Bible verses that he says has been a significant encouragement to him in ministry tells of how God grows His church: Acts 2: 47(b), "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
Perhaps it is his age (65 last August). Perhaps it is the preacher in him; or maybe just the father (Mainse and his wife have four grown children and sixteen grandchildren). But when asked for his advice for future generations of media-bound Christians, Canada's premier television pastor is not lost for words.
"Take advantage of all the excellent educational opportunities for media work that are out there. Take advantage of all of the opportunities there are to learn. Develop creative skills - which you cannot learn from out of a book. Creativity is a gift from God. Develop entrepreneurial skills. When it's for the Lord, one needs to attempt things, things that might seem humanly impossible. Be willing to fall on your face. If you're always holding back, unwilling to make mistakes because of pride, then you're not liable to do anything terribly creative. Then soak it all in prayer - much, much prayer - so that it's coming from the mind of the Lord, and not from your own mind - so that you'll be able to pick up His thoughts. The way you get the thoughts of the Lord: you read, learn, digest the Holy Word of God, and then you begin to think His thoughts by the Holy Spirit that are expressed through the Scriptures and Jesus Christ the Living Word."
You could call it David Mainse's recipe for success.
Source: Patricia L. Paddey, Bible Network News
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