I'm sharing some burdens That I believe the
Lord has put on my heart concerning the
financial situation and especially concerning the need to
wait upon the Lord more and especially after
the September conference if the Breakthroughs have not
come by then.
It's my prayer that everybody on OM will
be able to hear this tape Though I
know those who do not need English someone
is going to have to help them And
I especially have in mind those that found
the time of waiting after last year's September
conference Which I think was the longest Perhaps
in the history of the work a difficult
time and a time that brought many questions
to their mind.
Let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you that
we can have this opportunity to communicate You
know that in preparation for this I've read
many memos.
I've read many people's personal letters talk to
people and different parts of the world and
I asked Lord that I may Somehow keep
in mind all that I've heard from others
plus what I have seen over the past
years what I sense from you now and
Also some of the basic principles of your
word Lord at this moment We're in this
sort of stage three crisis and we thank
you for it.
You don't excuse anything We have done wrong
that has brought this upon us, but we
thank you for your power to overrule We
thank you for the beautiful lessons.
We have been learning over the past weeks
The reality therapy we have been going through
we know that our tests and our trials
are very small Compared to many people in
your church in various parts of the world
at this time We pray especially Lord that
you would help us to be clear-thinking
keep us from generalizations from overreaction Help us
to see the other person's situation Bring into
play greater reality and 1st Corinthians 13 That
in all things love may be functioning and
operating Lord we thank you for so many
answers to prayer.
We thank you for people that are coming
to know you almost every day Through this
feeble fellowship that you have raised up That
people refer to as operation mobilization.
We thank you Lord for all of our
graduates or exo emers Around the world so
many vital ministries so many millions of people
being reached So many thousands coming to know
you through their Ministries combined we thank you
for the whole body Lord we believe that
Testing and the kind of thing we are
facing now Has an ultimate purpose help us
to find that help us to know the
way ahead We thank you for the oneness
we have in yourself for the unity And
we believe this is going to increase We
pray this in Jesus name Amen, well, I'm
sitting here in the same The same farm
where I made this 25th anniversary tapes Last
July And I hope that each one of
you have listened to those tapes I hope
You'll listen to them again if you have
the opportunity Some of you have written to
me Acknowledging that these tapes were an encouragement
to you and that you're like-minded with
most of that which I shared and I
just want to express my appreciation for that
I Think we have to understand that many
of our problems in OM are linked with
the problem of communication.
We are all over the world Because of
the size of the work the nature of
the work the number of people around 1
,700 plus children There's never enough communication and
often as we're communicating with one person may
be in great depth.
Other people are being missed as we're getting
on top of one little fire perhaps of
gossip or miscommunication or confusion another fire begins
to burn and I believe We need to
be realistic that if we're going to continue
a worldwide trust in so many nations and
so many fronts simultaneously we're going to have
to apply ourselves even more to communication and
basic principles of communication such as avoiding generalizations
and Believing the best until we can get
the facts and even then realizing we may
be wrong or we may not have all
the facts So I'm not sharing this message
to any group of people, but just sitting
here Looking out the window at this beautiful
Little hill or mountain in front of the
house Reminded of those words that if we
had faith as a grain of mustard seed
we shall say unto this mountain remove hence
and it shall be removed and That ultimately
all that I say here can never be
a substitute for faith And I hope that
what I say will increase faith Though I
believe that faith according to Luke 14 Must
often be preceded and has to be preceded
by accounting of the cost Now that doesn't
mean God never answers prayer when we don't
understand the whole cost Perhaps in some projects
that we've gone into if we had understood
all the aspects of the total cost spiritually
mentally physically Financially, we may have gone away
not gone forward I Think some people did
not receive as much as they could have
from the 25th anniversary tapes Because they didn't
take any notes.
And this is why it was also difficult
for them to get specific feedback And I
hope that if at all possible you will
try to take Some notes as you listen
to this I'm especially wanting to Answer questions
connected with why we hold people back After
the September conference and why we hold certain
people back or certain people stay back and
other people go This year after the September
conference was a time of testing a time
of trial more ways than one and whenever
testing and trial comes different people react in
different ways and Certainly, we never want OM
to get to a place where people are
afraid to ask questions Unfortunately, sometimes People not
only ask the questions, but they give the
answers before getting a total picture or a
more balanced picture In the past month since
the September conference in the midst of the
many meetings I've been taking in about 15
Or 20 different nations.
I've been meeting with many OM teams and
often sitting down with them for questions and
answers I've also had fellowship with many OMers
including new recruits.
In fact when I was in Pakistan Made
a purpose to meet with every OMer working
in Pakistan.
I don't think I quite made it Because
I feel it's important for me to be
very very much in touch with New recruits,
even though a larger portion of my time
must be in fellowship with leaders I've also
been able to speak to many many leaders
At considerable length concerning these issues and other
issues and then of course In cases where
personal contact wasn't so possible.
We've had a lot of contact contact through
The post.
I feel strongly that God has given us
as a basic principle that after the September
conference Our overdue bills should be paid This
has proven to be a very very effective
principle for now almost 20 years and Though
I want to be Willing to throw away
to change any principle I Feel through my
own personal study and fellowship that OM would
become very weak and would easily run into
greater problems If we just so easily Threw
away things or change things that have proven
to be effective and that we feel are
based upon God's Word I don't find it
easy at all during the September conference I
think many of you know my own personal
desire would Be to avoid the conference altogether
It's been I guess 20 to 23 years
of such conferences But I'm there because I'm
bought with a price I'm there because I
don't believe my own personal enjoyment or satisfaction
is The first primary factor in regard to
what I do I'm there because in fellowship
with others.
They feel I should be there I'm there
because I love The people in OM the
hardest thing about the September conference is that
we try to do so much In so
short of time and because of course now
there are so many people so many factors
I Think it's very important to realize that
there is a sense a real sense that
we are trying to do far too much
With too few people in too short a
time We had discussed this again and again
But if we look into the book of
Acts we see that they had a very
very similar situation If we look at the
life of Jesus, we see that he had
a very similar situation And it was Jesus
who said the harvest is plenteous and the
labors are few and as long as that's
true As long as the church to a
large degree Remains without great missionary vision and
in some cases in spiritual sleep in other
cases on spiritual tangents Then the situation of
the harvest being plenteous and the labors being
few will continue and we have to be
willing to honestly face The limitations and the
problems that this will cause I think so
easily LM we start blaming ourselves Because we
don't like the idea of blaming others that
doesn't seem very spiritual and Because we are
all most of us very idealistic We're often
also very hard on ourselves.
We long for brokenness.
We long for humility We want to esteem
others better than ourselves And so so quickly
even in a financial crisis we at least
some people quickly Blame themselves or at least
they put the blame largely within OM and
the increase of judgmentalism gossip criticism Generalizations overreaction
pendulum thinking that takes place During a time
of financial crisis, especially when there are overdue
bills Really at times is quite staggering and
If any of you have engaged in that
kind of thing and we all do to
some degree I really pray that you would
listen to what I have to share.
I Don't expect you necessarily to 100%
agree But I hope you'll be able to
agree to the point that we will be
able to move ahead in Oneness of heart
in fellowship and unity when we get carried
away with tremendous discussions On all these different
things and there are many many things that
we cannot all totally agree on within OM
and if we spend too much time in
discussing all this and Rediscussing it and relooking
at it it can drain us of spiritual
mental energy and on a very Practical level
time that could be used more for prayer
for evangelism For serving for helping for giving
ourselves to others There are many voices Coming
at all of us in these days from
within OM from outside OM.
We all read different books We listen to
different tapes.
We come from different backgrounds different churches.
I Believe the degree of unity we do
have on these various issues Especially Ticklish and
touchy issues like finance which often touch the
raw nerve of The self-life, but sometimes
the raw nerve of just practical living not
necessarily the self-life And the fact that
there are so many voices Sometimes it becomes
more and more difficult to listen to some
voices And I'm sure even at the conferences
When some of these very basic things have
been explained and when there were question-and
-answer Sessions some people were not even there
because they were tired of listening to voices
I felt The last couple of years that
often when I was answering important questions and
dealing with important issues For example in some
of the advanced leadership sessions in the leadership
training conference That many of the people that
needed to hear those things and then ask
their questions there But that's one of the
realities.
I have to face and we all have
to face I think it's a problem when
a few of us are giving very basic
orientation and presenting basic facts about finance Answering
some of the tough questions that new recruits
and other people have and yet at the
same time other Leaders who have to answer
those questions later on are not hearing our
answers They're not able to be or they're
not in those sessions one reason is because
they may be out on the front line
of their own field trying to win men
to Christ trying to plant churches and that's
why without love and the believing of the
best and a deep trust and respect for
one another a movement like oh and really
becomes Impossible and This is why of course
as a new recruit you may have heard
something from me at the June conference or
the July conference And you may have heard
something slightly different during the time of crisis
in October with a leader who maybe was
responsible at that time And you may have
heard something different when you got out to
the field I hope that people will not
be overwhelmed or threatened or Destabilized by the
fact that as leaders we don't Have total
final easy answers on all of these issues.
We are constantly wanting to grow We are
constantly wanting to change and yet.
We don't want to easily throw away The
foundation that we sense the Lord has given
to us I've seen how in the work
of the church People can get going in
so many different directions everything can be questioned
and Since in many ways in a lot
of these issues there is no total simple
final answer Some of these questions and even
some of what some may call opposition Could
be valid and certainly some of the Arguments
or thoughts against holding people after the September
conference have a degree of validity And we
have to weigh some of these things in
our minds And some of the other ideas
that are being set forth for a fairly
radical change Have a degree of validity But
the question is what is God's will and
this is not always so easy I Believe
that it is important that in a work
like OM There are still some people Who
are in positions of leadership that can make
final decisions Is a danger in a work
of God That you get to a place
where it becomes incredibly difficult for anyone Or
even any small group to make final decisions
and an OM It is getting more complex
because we do believe that everybody's thoughts and
burdens Should be considered right down to the
newest recruit.
I wish I could speak to you for
an hour on how decisions are made within
OM how we receive input from the men
on the boards of trustees who hold the
legal and final word and final say in
each major field where OM operates And what
these men feel what these men think their
input is incredibly important and many major policies
have been adjusted and Many new policies have
come into being because of the continual input
on a personal level just as much as
on a board meeting level as these men
have input and the oversight and as each
coordinator is In subject to such men Yet
at the same time the work has been
able to move forward because these men trust
and believe in the leaders on the field
where 80% of The planning and Strategizing
if I can use that word and Then
the executing of plans and the follow-up
on those plans must take place Yet at
the same time the newest recruit can express
himself To a major leader in the work
and that major leader in the work is
that the coordinators conference or the conference of
the general?
council when final decisions are made concerning basic
issues and The decision to hold people After
the September conference if Finance has not come
to pay overdue bills is a decision not
made by myself or one or two people
Though some of us have more involvement in
terms of executing it, but it's been made
year after year by the whole body and
Probably this year again, it will be discussed
and that's why one of the reasons I'm
sharing at this time So that we can
have further input so you can know more
of what's on my heart and have a
couple of months to think about it Before
it comes up for discussion because in fact
The decision we make this September it could
be questioned when it should go into effect
And since no one has come up with
any really concrete better plan as far as
I can see We must hold to our
existing policy, even though it may have some
weaknesses, and I believe after you listen to
this You'll agree that the weaknesses perhaps are
not as great as a few people may
think I've already mentioned how this Particular policy
has been of such great blessing So many
times it's been during this time of the
year, even though we've tried to avoid it
before that It's been during this time of
the year when somehow there was more prayer,
more exercising of faith, more realization of what
it was going to take people suddenly realizing
OM didn't have sort of unlimited money and
Luke 14 33 Seems to become more alive
during this month than almost any other month,
and there's many proofs of that again this
year The second point I want to bring
out The first being that this has proven
to be a blessing and it has proven
to work relatively well over so many years
Is that I believe it is one of
God's ways to teach us patience and Reality
and what it is to really wait upon
him We do tend to know him to
be a bit in a hurry I'm probably
partly to blame for that.
We are attempting to do so much We
are thought of by many people in the
outside of them as a very work-oriented
movement.
That's perhaps because they've never been in So
many of the tremendous times of worship and
don't have a balanced understanding of what OM
is.
I think to some degree we must See
that if the Lord holds us back Even
for a longer period of time that it
is to teach us something more of patience
and waiting on him It's interesting how one
leader who was opposed, a leader of an
evangelistic team, opposed to people being held back
Before I could hardly even talk to him
about it Changed his view and shared with
me on the phone this thought that if
young people don't learn it now the beginning
of their Longer-term program on OM, some
of them only are with us a year,
if they don't learn this principle now waiting
upon God praying Seeing specific answers to prayer
before moving then when will they learn that?
When will they learn that?
thirdly Over the years it has proven to
be a valuable time of testing every work
of God needs testing I'm not sure whether
this past year 1982 was a longer time
of waiting than 1963 but 63 was an
enormous test and yet looking back and retrospect
We see that all that waiting and the
hassles the arguments even people leaving the work
even people feeling that OM was finished at
that time was a milestone in this movement
and In some cases people who Drop out
during this period of time.
We've discovered later on.
It was really better that they didn't go
On OM we discover right now.
There are people in some of the OM
countries out in hard situations Leaders are now
writing and saying they wonder if this person
should have come Now there's no easy answer
to that and there's no way forward at
world evangelism without taking a few risks and
For every person who seems emotionally or spiritually
weak that goes to the field and doesn't
make it so well I would say there's
two or three or four in somewhat similar
situations Even though we may not always realize
it who do go on and that's incredibly
important that time of testing in 1963 and
in other years was very important.
I remember that year when We actually left
quite soon because there was urgent prayer There
was great unity and oneness on heart and
it released one of the largest gifts in
the history of the work Most of the
year we do specialize in spending Just look
at the total budget of OM the amount
of literature we have produced over the years
pushing toward 350 million pieces of literature We
have our vehicles We have outreach now into
a hundred nations.
So by God's grace We've been able to
keep the permanent headquarters and bases to about
35 nations I myself have personally ministered in
about 55 nations and I Praise the Lord
that he showed me over the past years
to narrow that down in terms of any
kind of longer-term emphasis I believe that
this problem that we have of sometimes not
getting our teams out fast enough and I
as much as any want to see them
get out to the field as quick as
possible and I believe that You'll see Some
of the ideas I share here We can't
avoid teams having to wait if this is
your goal and your burden Then you are
right on the street that I want to
walk on it and let us do everything
It's one of the reasons I'm making this
state between now And September to make sure
that they're not this mountain of overdue bills
in September I believe with the changes taking
place, especially in the ship ministry and in
India They've just submitted a budget With new
emphasis in terms of control with a new
a stronger emphasis on seeing cash come in
and indefinite breakthroughs for finance before we Order
literature and before we buy literature a lot
of other things linked with the Finance Committee
Linked with what God's been showing us through
boards our boards of directors.
I Believe we will avoid any extended Waiting
with the difficulty and confusion that brings The
end of September and I want that to
be my goal.
I want that to be your goal But
if somehow we fail to do this That's
the key thing if we fail to do
this then we must not Just proceed out
of that conference with everybody going forward to
their various countries Without paying our bills, of
course One dose of reality is that if
we're really honest and we're paying our bills
the way we should There won't be any
money for the travel There won't be any
money for the travel.
So this is not a a sort of
Phony situation that we put people into or
an artificial situation that we put people into
it's a real situation We don't Especially if
we pay the bills as we should we
don't have money to get the teams back
I think a couple of years ago.
I developed a little slogan much travel many
miles little fruit Maybe God is trying to
cut down on our travel.
I Want to share some rather radical thoughts
later on about The fact that it may
not be God's will for so many people
to come back to this conference And when
people do come back they must make sure
they have personally trusted God for all the
finance Connected with the conference and in terms
of any travel it would have to be
above their regular support But I'll get into
that later on.
I Think this problem of having to wait
for some weeks and the problems that are
related with it are small compared To some
of the other problems we could be having
in OM especially if we fragmentize especially if
we lose our oneness of heart in our
unity, especially if no longer anyone is able
to speak out and lovingly enforce basic principles
and policies and And be able to to
give a final word when the crunch comes
and say look the policy is this and
this is the way The leaders feel about
it.
Therefore you cannot do that sometimes I or
Peter Maiden or George Miley or Jonathan McCroskey
or Dennis or someone else has to do
that Creating policies deciding to go in a
particular direction at a coordinators conference or meeting
of the General Council without having someone and
And sometimes it's a group sometimes it's individuals
in consultation with the group who will stand
firm and say this far and no Further
without such people in a movement.
I believe the problems we will go into
Will make anything we have faced up to
now look very small Fourthly let's let's look
at why there are these overdue bills thinking
in terms of last year Let's first of
all avoid generalization These overdue bills are not
just because of one field and this past
year.
It was not just because of the ship
We have to realize certain bills get automatically
paid generally speaking rents Petrol usually we buy
petrol with cash generally speaking Telephone Food Usually
clothing so many things are paid for Therefore
other things automatically get squeezed into the overdue
category Now we have a strategy I believe
for cutting down on this Therefore when we
come to praying for funds, it's very important
to please understand this it often In fact
is overdue book bills and so that we
look at around who has the overdue book
bills But in fact those book bills are
overdue because Hundreds of thousands in cash has
gone out For airfares for food for telephone
for clothing for petrol for our vehicles for
repairs for 25 or more other areas of
expenditures Emergencies summer holidays most of the summer
vacations or holidays that many people in OM
now take and That could cost a considerable
amount of money.
They are all on a cash basis and
So I would beg of you brothers and
sisters not to generalize as to why we
have Such a mass of overdue bills Certainly
one of the factors one of many is
That with all the spending the increased cost
of living The emergency money that's needed for
medical things for for travel This is combined
with the fact that so many people are
trying to function on minimum support Or Now
we have to face it especially families are
Not living if they count especially the ministry
they are involved in they're not living within
The realm of their income now we have
talked about this at great length and I
don't want to go into this now But
we must face the reality that if by
the end of August 50% of the
people in OM are on minimum support and
maybe Maybe a good number of them say
20% are Under that we have quite
a few by August who are down to
almost zero support Yet, they still have to
be flown home.
Even if they are encouraged to go home
to see breakthroughs in their churches This is
why I Don't think one group that's praying
for money in September waiting Should judge someone
else who maybe because of difficult circumstances was
unable to wait for Finance because we're all
together.
We're all eating.
We're all traveling We're all using to some
degree all kinds of facilities Linked with that
the next point under this why are we
overdue is the enormous expense just of recruiting
these people in the first place We must
face as a movement the enormous increased cost
Especially of the kind of operation that we
are dealing with the cost of those prayer
letters, which are the lifeline of communication The
cost of all the other communication in maintaining
a longer term work simultaneously with launching a
short-term work simultaneously with many many other
ministries Going on all at the same time
Therefore it is legitimate when there's a huge
section or a chunk of overdue bills in
September for all of us to sense that
it is our Responsibility even on a very
practical level and during the year It takes
on other implications for example right now those
of us on OM are Under some degree
of strain because a lot of money is
being spent on behalf of the new recruits
their training Even some of the money often
has to pay for the charter flight before
the young people pay that in the office
services the Prayer letters so many things connected
with all these new recruits so in a
sense we are going through some degree of
Strain we have to pray on their behalf
so I don't think if in September there
are more new recruits who are having to
actually wait where they are before going to
the field that they should feel that's unfair
and Personally whenever I've been able to explain
these things with a new recruit It seems
they really understood it and no longer had
any great complaint.
It is more difficult Admittedly to try to
explain it sometimes to leaders who of course
May have a different viewpoint But that's one
of the purposes for this particular tape Though
I don't sense a great amount of disunity
on this matter, and I'm not making this
tape because this is some huge crisis Not
at all In fact most of the leaders
I've already met with and they're willing to
press on with the continuing system especially if
we implement other things between now and then
which is what we are wanting to do
and One of the purposes I'm sharing this
tape is because there's so many related issues
that are going to help us in terms
of praying and in terms of the work
and Because I think it's important for the
newest recruit Who has questions about this to
be able to know what some of us
as leaders are talking about and thinking about
and praying about together Another point just under
why we have Overdue bills often at this
time Is because we've just come out of
a huge summer crusade with enormous expenses and
I feel strongly and I believe most leaders
agree that we must get a greater control
over summer crusade expenses Sometimes a production of
huge amounts of free literature, maybe twenty-five
thirty thousand dollars And sometimes this expenditure is
made without enough people being involved in terms
of praying and trusting and believing God for
that money I Think on the finance committee.
We're leaning It must be so when we're
in stage three But even when we come
out We're leaning so much Strongly toward the
policy that money must be prayed in before
we commit ourselves to large amounts of free
literature and even to some degree highly subsidized
literature in General, there are many things that
we Cannot easily pray the money in in
advance before we go ahead Therefore when we
can trust God to bring in the finance
Before we move forward and therefore avoid presumption,
then we must go that way 15 years
ago when things are much smaller and when
a few people were willing to take a
Spiritually speaking and through prayer a much larger
chunk of the total responsibility prayer and fasting
perhaps that old system could function but I
think And I appreciate your feedback on it
That we must move back more To definitely
seeing financial breakthrough before we go ahead with
expenditure whenever possible And that when in doubt
we need to pray and talk it over
And I believe one of the reasons God
has allowed us into this time of difficulty
is to bring greater control and greater Reality
in terms of expenditure.
We must not allow ourselves to think this
is a good thing.
This will reach so many people It's wonderful
Therefore we go ahead.
No, we have to learn to think this
is a good thing.
It's wonderful It'll reach so many people it'll
accomplish this Therefore we must wait upon God
and see a specific breakthrough in finance that
we may be able to go forward with
that thing Moving on to what I've listed
as my fifth point Our goal should be
to move out within one or two weeks
after the conference as soon as the vehicles
are ready The funds are there for travel
We move out If we want to do
this, we must start now to give greater
consideration to all that's involved and I feel
strongly and shared this with the financial committee
that if by the end of July in
August We are not in a much healthier
situation Financially, then we must take radical steps
Only radical steps in August will keep us
from extreme situations in October and November That
we will not be able to cope with
and handle and that will throw us again
back into all kinds of controversy About who
stays back who doesn't stay back And the
excess money that sometimes is spent in the
midst of all that Therefore I am requesting
and the financial committee It's basically an agreement
that if we are not in a healthy
situation in July and August with overdue bills
Paid that we be ready for some radical
changes We've thought even in terms of not
having a coordinators conference It's a good thing.
We need it.
It builds unity.
I can give 20 reasons why we should
have it But I think in the future
there may be other emergencies where we'd have
to consider such a conference financially is impossible
Bringing leaders in from all over the world
and on top of that the wives Conference
bringing their wives in and often they have
to go back early and separate this costs
a lot of money Therefore considering all the
expenditure for September in the last few days
of August if we're not in a sane
healthy position in August we must take radical
steps and This will demand an emergency meeting
of the financial committee and it will involve
cooperation right across the work Another possibility is
to have the conference this year If we're
still financially in such difficulty only for new
recruits Only new recruits who have seen of
course breakthroughs in connection with finance and then
a smaller number of people Who can train
them the number of leaders we have To
help train the number of people at that
conference in some ways is unrealistic in other
ways.
It's wonderful And we could use even more
But I believe God is driving us to
to deeper reality and to examine different ways
of doing things and I'm convinced that a
smaller number of people Training new leaders Could
handle a much smaller conference in September mainly
for new recruits We've heard that some people
don't want to come back to the conference
Anyway, because they may get trapped there having
to wait on the Lord for money for
a long period of time and that would
keep Them from getting back to their front
lines.
I Think such people need to understand first
of all that if we don't have some
financial breakthroughs including for their own field Some
of these front lines may no longer exist
we cannot put up a building without laying
the foundation a Solid foundation in terms of
our prayer bases our headquarters our prayer bases.
They're mobilizing prayer They're getting out the prayer
letters.
They're processing the recruits They're sending the receipts
to these committed people who give their gifts
if we don't have a solid foundation of
these prayer bases Then some of the action
on the front lines Even in terms of
evangelism May have to disappear altogether It's the
old question whether you want to limp forward
and sometimes in some of our fields We
are limping and there's no simple easy answer
for that Or we don't want to go
forward at all This is a difficult question.
I have been begging brothers and sisters for
the thing the last five years that we
could slow down and Watch our numbers and
emphasize quality more than quantity and yet year
after year people come back from some countries
and tell me they want 25% more
people and we take the people out even
if their support is minimum and even if
we're not sure they can really make It
or have a gift and training for that
particular area.
So that makes it all very very complex
I believe however through extra prayer faith careful
spending Cut back Reality therapy that we can
go into the September conference Facing the kind
of mountain that we will be able to
move during that conference and after the conference.
It will still take a miracle We cannot
move forward on the basis of human reasoning
We cannot move forward just on the basis
of human projection as how much we think
it's going to cost and what is our
income?
That also is not the answer.
We have to trust God for a miracle
We have to believe God for the impossible,
but let's believe God for a miracle in
May June July and August and not consider
October only the month of miracles and If
we haven't seen the miracles if we haven't
seen the breakthroughs in July and August then
let's face the reality of our failure Let's
not just keep postponing the pain but honestly
Make necessary cutbacks even radical changes until we
have the cash Maybe people should not come
back to that conference without seeing specific money
come in for all their travel at the
time rather than saying well if I if
I Total up all the gifts I had
over the last two years.
It shows that I have 200 over the
minimum We shouldn't even think that way We
should think 200 say over the over the
support level and that can count toward my
travel in one way That's true But if
we all think like that then there's never
enough money for all the other endless hidden
Expenses that we tend to always think the
other man is going to pay for We've
had a policy that in countries far away
from Europe people only have to come back
every other year But of course one of
the things that has made this complicated is
that quite a few people want to go
home They really desire to go And the
September conference is a secondary thing.
I Personally feel that many of the very
short visit homes are not productive at least
certain kinds of people They don't have what
it takes.
They don't have the giftedness to make a
short visit home really productive and And such
a visit shouldn't just barely produce enough money
to somehow get back to the September conference
These visits home.
Hopefully even in terms of financial breakthrough will
be bring in far more than that And
this is why I have been stressing with
other leaders that if people are short of
finance That they must think in terms of
spending a half a year or a year
home to do a thorough job of building
up Relationships of seeing men and women turned
upside down for world missions and realizing that
can be as strategic a ministry as going
back to their own country and Attempting from
a weak position to evangelize more people and
to accomplish more out there We must not
think of the whole ministry as a secondary
ministry So that we paint the frontline people
and sort of the real soldiers and those
who are back in their own Countries or
in that kind of building up the foundation
ministry.
They're considered sort of Second-class citizens we
have to be honest in saying that innuendos
come out that do give this idea and
Sometimes it can be very hurtful To the
man who senses a calling to be back
building the foundation in his own country or
in a headquarters office situation We must realistically
each one of us consider our own support
and If it's low we must get in
correspondence with our country leader Or better yet
in discussion with our country leader and then
with our sending country leader To see if
it might not be God's will to spend
a good period of time Going back say
in July or August and remaining through January
or better yet through the next summer to
really see a solid foundation laid a Solid
foundation laid in terms of prayer partners in
terms of church linking that is going to
Produce tremendous spiritual dividends and practical dividends for
the long term It doesn't take time to
lay a foundation Isn't there a danger as
much as we emphasize that OM is not
a shortcut to missions that some come into
OM with the concept that it's a shortcut
to missions and that's why they're unwilling to
take a Substantial amount of time to build
relationships and to get their home church situation
or even to get a home church Some
may say well some people are not able
to communicate when they go home But now
we have so many things that can help
such people Films slides film strips these things
can communicate other people can be brought in
to help Plus on top of that a
lot of people who may not be gifted
in pulpit communication if they're real people who
have the reality that we are talking about
then that can spread on an individual basis
and if it can't Spread on an individual
basis back in their own home country with
people of their own culture the vision love
The message and the reality of being assertive
if that can't communicate and turn people on
back in our own home countries Then we
must ask the question Whether that person has
the the gift and has that which it
takes to communicate in a foreign culture We
might throw in the exception of people who
are in practical skills for example say a
bookkeeper or a mechanic and Some other people
and say well this person doesn't have the
gift of communication even on a man-to
-man basis yet He's an outstanding mechanic.
He's an outstanding bookkeeper He's the kind of
person or secretary that we need on the
field I would say an answer to this
that we are trying to build a total
man We are not trying to have people
who are only bookkeepers only mechanics only secretaries
That might be their major gift and contribution
to the body But it is our prayer
and hope that within OM such people will
get into the word I think most of
them are develop ability to communicate to some
degree and I believe on the other side
often people in these practical realms Have a
greater open door with other people home at
home who are also doing practical things and
Can therefore relate more to that person than
maybe some high-powered preacher or some very
gifted cross-cultural communicator All of us at
one time or other Can be involved in
laying the foundation?
Let's not make excuses Let's move forward in
this area in faith And let's be willing
to slow OM down and slow our own
ministry down even close some fields for a
year or two if necessary to get a
stronger foundation Because ultimately it is not finance
That we need first of all it's spiritual
power.
It's it's the prayer that's going to bring
conviction of sin It's prayer that's going to
soften the ground in the Muslim world That's
the kind of foundation we're talking about Now
without the softening of the ground through the
heavy artillery of intercessory prayer There's there is
the sense that we're going to send wave
after wave of of troops into these areas
only to see them Coming back as as
semi casualties or discouraged.
I Pray that you may Understand and see
what I'm attempting to share at that point
There's no shortcut and if we don't see
these breakthroughs by the middle of October And
let's put the brakes on Let's put the
brakes on and let's wait upon God Some
can wait upon God in their offices where
they're continuing to lay the foundation Process the
gifts others can wait upon God In some
other place where they're preparing to launch out
to the front lines The key is not
first of all where we are But it's
what we're doing at that time Though it
is essential that at least some And I'll
go into this more later at least some
people hold back completely From going forward to
the front lines of spiritual action My sixth
point is actually What I've already gone into
pre-conference emergency action Living on that which
is coming in avoiding getting into indebtedness Perhaps
a smaller conference perhaps cutting the coordinators conference
perhaps cutting the women's Conference and make it
only a new recruits conference I'm only thinking
in terms of one year and only if
we're in an emergency situation By August Which
would be stage three or near stage three
What are some of the objections our time
has quickly passed?
I?
Think most of us know the objections to
the present policy some say that it hits
the new recruits More than other people is
it fair that the new recruits have to
bear the burden that other people have laid
on them I think I have already answered
that and if you haven't heard the answer,
maybe you could listen to the tape again
It is very very clear that we're all
responsible for these overdue bills I think more
this coming year than in the past because
the larger ministry in our midst the ship
ministry Has definitely on a 12 months a
year Heavy controlled situation where they will not
go into the kind of indebtedness they've had
in the past I feel that's that with
great assurance I've talked with George Miley Dale
wrote on and others and I believe God
has just led these shipmen to new ways
of controlling expenditure to new reality concerning not
moving the ship forward and the do-loss
right now is just on a Week by
week month by month basis and without question
They are willing to hold up that ship
if they do not continue to see the
hand of God moving in providing finance Therefore
I do not believe we'll go into October
in any way similar to last year but
it could be because Money is being spent
all over the world and because the home
offices in Right now in terms of bill
credit aren't aren't some of the most difficult
situations the summer crusade The basic food and
petrol everything we have to use the decrease
of giving in some situations May thrust us
into an emergency situation in October We hope
not and the action that you and I
take between now and the end of August
I believe will determine that I think it's
important to understand that even if a lot
of the people remaining back In Belgium and
London waiting upon God and most but if
a lot of them are new recruits Other
people mentally physically and emotionally are with them
And I have found actually that the leaders
who were back in their headquarters Were going
through more agony and pain through this time
of testing than those who were waiting back
there plus the fellow who had to go
out to his country because of some Complexity
like the complexity we faced with the logos
so logos people eventually had to go They
also went through pain and difficulty Because they
didn't like the other the idea of the
other staying back and they're going plus Especially
when people made some remarks to them that
didn't always warm their hearts Therefore the whole
body is involved But in different ways and
of course it's just this kind of difficulty
and the apparent inconsistencies That do test us
and then some cases there are real Inconsistencies
if you know any spiritual movement in the
world including the New Testament Church in Acts
2 3 4 & 5 that had no
Inconsistencies, I would love to know about it
as human beings Especially attempting what we are
trying to attempt there at times will be
inconsistencies.
I Feel that in my particular ministry one
of my One of my jobs is to
try to get on top of any inconsistency
Anything that appears to be unethical anything that's
not consistent with what we believe and what
the word teaches and 12 months a year
most days during that month.
I'm working on that but when 1700 people
launch out as Weak human vessels of God
and this treasure is in earthen vessels.
There will be problems.
There will be mistakes There will be inconsistencies
those of you were at the June conference
in the United States Will remember how I
spoke not on the seven major emphasis, but
the seven major messes in All my orientation
and every new recruit.
I think has had some of it minus
a few I've put the emphasis on the
problems the trials and the difficulties and tried
to bring people into balance Understand what OM
is really like Therefore they will not be
expecting something that we cannot produce Isn't this
always one of the great problems with us
as Christians, especially us idealistic zealous Discipleship types
we expect too much from others We expect
too much from ourselves that often leads us
into the kind of discouragement many people are
facing right now I know him and then
expecting too much from the fellowship or the
organization that we are apart from or we
are part of And I've had someone share
with me recently that in the orientation sessions
Because of their background their way of thinking
their particular brand of narrow-mindedness They only
heard what they wanted to hear in this
person's case it was the discipline the evangelism
the endure hardship and And he liked that
he grabbed on to that and he missed
the emphasis on the mercy of God human
limitations Accepting oneself failure forgiveness.
You can't have one without the other and
So the trials and the problems the differences
of opinion the mistakes that are made during
that waiting period I know some people got
into sin during that waiting period we can
more easily see that we can therefore talk
about that and think That comes as a
result of the waiting period But the truth
is that people have got into sin and
difficulty every other month throughout OM and every
month since the work has begun But we
don't always all see that So wherever there's
a group of people waiting or working they're
going to be problems and once we must
avoid to we must avoid Drawing some conclusion
from those problems in a generalized way and
Face the reality that throughout the year there
are also problems and Mistakes and sometimes we
wonder if certain teams should have even gone
and if certain individuals should have gone But
once we start just going down that road
We soon I believe get into unbelief.
We will soon become over conservative and fail
to have that spirit of faith that willingness
to take risks and That strong conviction that
God has led us that the Holy Spirit
ultimately is in control and that we are
moving forward in his plan and Purposes Moving
to my seventh point Or in which I'm
talking about objections moving on in that Point
I would mention that one of the other
objections Is that this policy hits the evangelistic
teams more than it hits some of the
teams in the headquarters.
I Don't have time to go into this
in detail But I think the devil is
constantly trying to drive a wedge between the
evangelistic teams and The teams who are working
in headquarters or behind-the-scenes situations Let's
first of all realize that some of the
people in the headquarters Demonstrate as much evangelistic
reality, maybe not in terms of hours But
in terms of love and evangelistic zeal as
those out on the front lines in a
full-time Evangelism the great test is really
when a person leaves OM and if a
man has been in full-time Evangelism when
he's been on OM and then returns to
his own church and then does very little
evangelism.
Well, that's reality therapy And I feel it's
only normal as I've already said so I'm
going to cut this short That we have
to lay the foundation first It's so to
me so normal that the person handling the
gifts handling the receipts handling the prayer letters
that he should not always But in some
cases get back to the office to get
the gifts in to process them the prayer
letters the organization that this would take place
several weeks In advance of the teams launching
out in evangelism to me, it's so logical
That it would function that way so that
if those who are waiting in In special
extra times of prayer and often headquarters people
have been involved in that but if there
are more people From the evangelistic side in
that that's just normal and They need to
face the reality of that and I feel
that people in evangelism Sometimes say things that
hurt the people who are working on their
behalf back in the offices many people of
course don't and generally there's still a great
unity between those different groups and in a
great esteem and This particular time of testing
if it happens again Will give us another
opportunity To demonstrate our unity to bear one
another's burden and so fulfill the law of
Christ we started back in New Jersey several
years before we ever got into the Muslim
world and We started back in a number
of other countries in terms of laying the
foundation Building up the prayer partners praying in
the finance before we could launch into you
can name any field you want to name
And then another objection is that the leaders
are not with them Well some leaders are
I think it's important for people in OM
to understand that the average leader in OM
because the harvest is Plenty so laborers are
few the average leader is doing the work
of two or three people and if he
has a family and children The pressure on
his time the demands upon him all the
things that he's supposed to be doing are
more than most people Calculate and some of
the statements that sometimes are made about leaders
because they're not present at a particular moment
I think really do lack balance and love
I Do not believe it's God's plan After
a leader has been away from his family
for weeks and his children even that I
think has to be cut down on Especially
if that man's spending a large amount of
his time previous to this on the road
Recruiting building relationships going to committee meetings.
It would be wrong would be ethically wrong
It would be against our teaching in regard
to the importance of the family to say
that leader now must stay back with the
new recruits for several more weeks most of
the people staying back not all Are single
people there are tests and trials that you
will have the privilege of going through as
a single person Most of the married people
have been through that when they were single
some of them also when they're married You
might ask yourself.
What will you be doing if you stay
in OM?
10 years down the road and in fact
if you didn't believe that we stood for
the protection of our families and esteeming our
families You would not want to stay in
OM longer term Therefore the single person the
evangelistic team member headed for India or Sudan
Or somewhere else should count it all joy
And if for some emergency reason because everything
has to be by negotiation there are exceptions
If suddenly someone goes off and you're left
behind isn't this a chance to esteem that
person is better than yourself Isn't this a
chance to consider?
prayer Has a privilege not a punishment even
prayer in October when we're waiting upon God
And we can't do what we sort of
want to do.
I think it should be thought of as
a privilege Rather than a punishment.
I know quite a few leaders that would
rather be with the team praying I've done
it even at times with my family living
in the back of a truck in Zomiton
They would rather do that then do perhaps
some of the other things they are doing
Keep in mind also that often what leaders
are doing with a small team working around
them on the practical level That's what God
is using on the practical level to bring
in the money.
We don't want to break the arm that
feeds us a lot of people from STL
One of the main sources of income for
the work, especially in India Miss some of
the conference don't get in always on these
extended prayer times because that has to function
as a business 12 months a year It's
a sacrifice.
We have to make we can't do everything.
Oh if we could just Get that into
our hearts we can't do everything Therefore as
some are praying more than others and another
group is evangelizing or working in the office
more than others Together it keeps us as
a body and enables us to go forward
together Another thing that has helped me on
this is the parable Where the man who
works only the last hours in the day
gets the same salary as those who worked
all day Do you remember the protest that
brought?
and I think we sometimes get that kind
of protest in the midst of a September
or October financial crunch and How easy to
look at the other person how easy to
say?
Hey, that's not fair.
I Believe some who have said this is
not fair That is not fair need to
reread that parable of those hired servants a
need to understand that in spiritual work Things
don't always function In a way that the
world would consider it fair it's something to
think about and I hope That we'll realize
That this provides us one of the greatest
opportunities to esteem others better than ourself Let
me summarize now the solutions that I've interwoven
into this Discussion There has to be year
-round reality action discipline and control and We
are working toward that and I believe we
will see the victory on top of this
I think there must be a greater emphasis
on faith.
I'm seeing definite breakthroughs linked with definite responsibility
We must pray and work toward the destruction
of the mentality that someone else is praying
in the money I think it's a great
hindrance to faith if When the Lord is
trying to put pressure on us we start
blaming other people or we start blaming policies
These may be fast and we're willing to
discuss and we're willing to answer questions.
And that's why we have this tape but
ultimately The greater joy and the greater privilege
is what I'd like to call going the
extra mile and love faith believing the best
Especially if we're going to get on and
evangelize the world If we want to spend
most of our times and committee meetings and
discussion reading endless memos and Of course some
of us have to do that more than
others But if we want to get on
and evangelize in the world I feel there's
got to be greater love Greater trust greater
respect yet with that to keep it in
balance Walking in the light That's quite different
from gossip In honesty sharing confronting compassionate confronting
rather than just innuendos gossip general moaning talking
behind people's backs and all that that so
easily gets us into and then another part
of the solution is is This whole area
of personal support ministry support and field support
each field needs to carry their own burden
and yet each field Should look around and
pray to see when the Lord is leading
them to help other fields It has to
be both just like in the personal support
Goal number one is is that people should
have the privilege of seeing finance come in
and answer to prayer the privilege of personal
faith Yet, we also have corporate faith one
of the reasons and we're going to have
to consider increasing the support level But one
of the reasons we are willing to take
people in the first one or two years
on a minimum Is because already we have
plenty to to sink in a sense our
corporate faith teeth Into if you know what
I mean, in other words at present, it
seems to be 80% of the load
maybe 75% maybe a little less is
is is on the shoulders in a sense
of the corporate faith and That we must
come back and be sure we are keeping
enough emphasis on the personal faith Which is
linked with personal full support and what I
call ministry support.
I Feel those of us who have been
in the work longer Must be willing to
take a greater share of the burden.
I don't think that will be accomplished through
just Discussion through making various changes.
I believe we as older mature believers must
face this mountain and Trust God for not
just our support but ministry support and not
quickly cop out and say oh Well, I'd
rather just go get a job for some
that would be a cop-out For some
people going and just getting a job so
you can have the joy of just having
your own money and paying Living in your
own little world.
That would be a cop-out for others.
It might be more difficult.
I think for many it's more difficult To
break to see a breakthrough in full support
and ministry support Even if it takes a
couple of years at least, you know What
direction you're moving in and you'll avoid the
the easy road you'll avoid you'll avoid any
trick of Satan In which he may be
trying to get you away from the divine
calling He has given you to world evangelism
to reaching the unreached people And if we
don't have people with a little holy ghost
stubbornness who are gonna keep banging on that
door and keep asking Whether it be for
their support or for ministry support or for
other breakthroughs for special projects unless we have
people with stick ability and who will knock
and keep on knocking and not be sidetracked
and not be led into Generalizations or rationalization
or blaming others then forget it We're not
gonna reach the unreached people and we might
as well forget about this huge huge Task
of going forward in connection with the Muslim
world Someone may say well this brings us
into guilt.
It brings us into bondage Especially if we
don't immediately see our support come in Well,
here's another opportunity to be tested When our
support is is not coming in God can
teach us beautiful lessons in humility God can
use that as a time to open us
up So we share with others and pray
together and work together to see if there
is some Practical area where the devil has
deceived us that has brought blockage in the
pipeline It takes time and as we work
together in humility Learning God's lessons whether it's
individually or as a whole body Blessing is
going to come Blessing is going to come
If we're going to see this increase in
support Then I believe There's got to be
a death blow to laziness Some have shared
with me that their great problem is laziness
We hesitate to even mention it because we
easily feel so guilty You know some guilt
is legitimate I don't think the greatest problem
in the world is for Christians to be
able to always not feel guilty I feel
and sense greatly that it's normal at times
to feel guilty but as biblical Christians who
know the word it is also normal to
know what to do with that guilt and
And of course sometimes our own personal emotional
problems get very much wound up in these
own policies And that's where people need to
be able to talk things out and when
they need to be able to come to
some balanced Conclusions that's why one of the
main books.
I've been pushing all Years this little book.
I have in my hand David Seaman's healing
for damaged emotions and Next week when I
have my only opportunity to teach the study
program in Bromley.
I'll be talking about emotional and mental and
spiritual survival Because I think that all helps
bring this thing into balance I Believe more
sanctified imagination More initiative more diligence.
I don't think we're we're extreme in those
areas in OM today This will link to
the third thing of ways to See this
mountain moved and that's not to depart from
the literature vision that God has given us
If teams are going to get into situations
where they're no longer Seeing at least some
funds come in through literature, which has been
a vital part of OM going and being
able to function Then they have to trust
God for extra money It's nice to say
now we're gonna have a church planting team
Literature distribution superficial or if you have the
faith for a church planting team or some
other team where you don't see much money
coming in through literature Then certainly you should
have the faith to pay the bills Including
all the general overhead worldwide that is linked
toward that because in the past the the
the small profit from the sale of books
which does add up when you have so
many people is a major factor in dealing
with general overhead and So therefore people could
continue on even though they only had minimum
support But if now we're not going to
have that emphasis on literature sales And we're
going to give up because in some places
it is hard we know in some places
It's not always the best method of evangelism
Then we must face the reality of paying
our own way and seeing God supply direct
cash And that's something I would love to
talk about more To bring this to a
close another one of the solutions which I've
touched on already is an increase of love
and unity Always the basics are more important
than some of the things that may seem
to be Spectacular or seem to be some
quick answer and then giving a higher esteem
to meetings Meetings are important because that's often
where people get the vision for OM and
because after the meeting it's when we have
personal contacts The meeting I had this past
Sunday after the meeting I took some close
friends back to my bus For a cup
of tea and fellowship together That kind of
rich fellowship with this man who stood with
the work for 20 years We can't measure
the importance of that Spiritually for them for
us.
We're together God is putting the brakes on
OM to push us back more into the
laps of some of our prayer partners to
more highly esteem Them and if we did
we'd be more diligent in sending our prayer
letter and the quality of it would increase
and we counted all joy To be involved
on that level we'd be writing more personal
letters.
We'd be making a few more phone calls
Yes, I believe God can take us through
this difficult time May he renew our sense
of sense of urgency.
Do we really believe men are lost?
How easy it is to get caught up
in the periphery issues?
do you get caught up in this policy
and that strategy and to lose our zeal
for souls and How easy it is also
in some cases to begin to hard line
on the area where we may be strong
and Become weaker on the area where we
are weak Maybe you're a stronger point is
prayer.
But how are you doing in evangelism?
And if you are weak in evangelism, we
want to be patient with you Then be
a little careful before you hardline someone who's
weak on prayer We're all different we're growing
in different ways we're all strugglers and as
we have greater patience with one another as
we face life honestly and The fact that
a head down life's road for most of
us are going to be far greater problems
than we ever had last October or November
and God is trying to train us and
Prepare us for those problems and to bring
us into that place of total commitment and
wisdom and balance and maturity So that we
can go right through life not the OM
year program.
That's not the goal right through life walking
in the spirit following Jesus facing life's problems
heading Head on it may mean slowing down
a little bit It may be it may
mean canceling some of our projects.
It may mean pulling back But ultimately it's
going to mean advance for the kingdom of
God Advance for the church and advance for
our spiritual lives.
May God bless you Father we commit these
things to you.
We pray that you would give us a
faith to act We pray that we may
be able to study these things carefully to
examine your word to be convinced in our
own hearts Even though we may not agree
on every little jot or tittle and then
to go forward as a mighty praying believing
army that each month will be a miracle
month not just October or November that each
month will be a month of counting the
cost of of seeing definite answers to prayer
before we just move forward in a presumptuous
way and we thank you for all that
we've learned through this and that you are
bringing us closer together through this time of
testing and And this is beautiful And at
the same time there is so much blessing
and so many are being reached and so
many thousands are coming to know you We're
humbled Lord, and so we fall down and
worship you and ask you a fresh to
crucify self and to teach us what it
is to live in humility at the foot
of the cross with Calvary love flowing from
our hearts and in in a spirit-controlled
way and To at the same time be
able to bounce back when we fail to
really accept ourselves and the limitations of our
own Humanity Lord, we worship you we praise
you for the victory in Jesus name.
Amen