It is great to connect with the people God has raised up for His purposes at this time in human history. One of those people is Martyn Iles who became known in Australia as God’s spokesperson when he was CEO of Australian Christian Lobby.

Martyn Iles is an effective evangelist, having held successful rallies in several Australian capital cities and drawing thousands, under the ACL banner. In the past, ACL has kept to the task of representing conservative Christians in the public sphere on policy rather than seeing itself as an evangelistic group. It may be that this was a story of a simple mismatch, an enormously talented man who is a gifted communicator who has followed his heart. It may be that a desire to evangelise has moved Martyn Iles away from the priorities of the ACL board. Many Christians will see both sides of that question.

A possible concern has been that the ACL was emerging as an alternative to churches in some respects – for example distributing the Gospel of John to households in the name of ACL rather than through local churches.

Martyn responded to the ACL decision with the following communication to his supporters,

Dear All – I write with significant news that will provoke mixed reactions. After 5 incredible years as managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, the Board has terminated my employment.

I hasten to add that there is no question of misconduct. Rather, the Board has reviewed ACL’s strategic direction and decided I am not the right person to lead the revised strategy, which focuses primarily on political tactics and less on the gospel. Having heard this articulated, I absolutely agree with them that I am not the right person for that vision. I have always been a preacher first, a politician second (or third……).

Please pray for the Board as ACL manages this process, that their decisions will advance God’s will.

Although I think the strategy isn’t the right one, I leave without bitterness. God’s providence works through all things, including our own disappointments.

Meanwhile, I expect God to open another door. Indeed, some things have already started to happen in that regard – more details on that in due course.

*** Great Blessings ***

We now know that God did open up an amazing door for Martyn Isles as he is now CEO of Answers in Genesis, worldwide based in Cinnciatti, Ohio. Martyn and Ken Ham’s recent visit to Australia for the Living in Babylon series was a sold-out event in Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, and Melbourne. Over 10,000 people were impacted by these events.

Make sure you follow Martyn at http://www.answersingenesis.org and get his latest book Who Am I? Solving the Identity Puzzle. I will give a review of it in my next post.