The World Was His Parish

An excerpt from...

The World Was His Parish

In Memory of Denis Applebee
April-June 2013

The Call staff would like to honor the memory of Dr. Denis Applebee, a great man of God who was a significant part of the magazine for over 25 years through his columns “The World Is My Parish” and “A Window on the World.”

On September 16, 2012, World Gospel Mission lost a great warrior for the Great Commission when Dr. Denis Applebee passed away at the age of 84 at his home in Ivybridge, England.

After his conversion to Christ, Denis had two life goals: to serve Christ and to be like Christ in life. Without question, we can affirm that his life goals were achieved. Denis was a beloved speaker across the United States and around the world, and those who heard him preach—whether young or old—were blessed by the gifts God had bestowed on him.

He loved the writings of fellow Englishman John Wesley. Wesley often told listeners, “The world is my parish.” Wesley’s quote synchronized so well with the role God asked Denis to play that it seemed only natural for his first column in The Call (formerly Call to Prayer) to be titled, “The World Is My Parish.” In his first of many articles for Call to Prayer, Denis referred to Wesley’s statement, “To put myself alongside such a fellow countryman may seem a bold claim as well, but I dare to do so as I answer God’s call to minister to the missionary family of World Gospel Mission.”

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV). Denis truly fixed his eyes on the eternal as he served to build up the church in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and around the world. For us at The Call, we remember a godly man who wrote from his heart out of an intense desire for all people to know the one true Savior.

Pick up Dr. Applebee’s pen and continue writing so that others will know the one true Savior. Write your story of what God has done in your life. (It doesn’t have to be long.) Once written, ask God who you need to share your story with. Set up a time to meet with that person and share your testimony.