I was really wrestling with what I should
speak on tonight.
I find it very frustrating when there are
so many things that are on my heart
to know what to speak on.
I thought of speaking on victory in Christ
and really looking into the Word about this.
Then I thought that's really something that should
be communicated to everybody.
You know, I'm not just in a leaders'
conference, though I know there are many guests
and other friends here for the evening meeting.
I really believe there is a victorious life.
And I believe a lot of the other
things we've talked about this week are meaningless
if you're not experiencing a victorious life in
Jesus Christ.
Our main concern is not to communicate to
you how to preach, how to line up
meetings, how to lead a prayer meeting, how
to write a prayer letter.
If you don't know the sufficiency and the
power of Jesus Christ in your life.
And in many ways, we would love to
almost make that the theme of the whole
conference, victory in Jesus Christ.
Maybe we could put that in big letters.
Though starting tomorrow, I believe we'll be meeting
downstairs in the big auditorium because of the
earphones.
It'll be a little cooler there as well.
It's rather warm in this room.
Then, as I was wrestling through this, I
thought that really I'd rather speak about true
spirituality.
This is very much on my heart.
What is true spirituality?
It's not mainly things that we do or
activities that we get involved in.
I don't think it's mainly a series of
disciplines that we somehow manage to develop.
And I hope that in this conference we
can deal very clearly with this issue of
what is true spirituality.
Once I summed it up, in first, it's
knowing God.
Second, it's knowing yourself and what to do
about yourself, which goes into victory.
And thirdly, it's knowing others and having a
relationship with them.
Of course, that covers a lot of territory.
Anyway, the third subject won.
And that's what I'm going to preach on.
It's more difficult because it's more easily misunderstood.
I'm going to speak about the unique aspects
or the uniqueness of Operation Mobilization.
Now, it can be misunderstood because, of course,
it will sound like I'm pushing OM.
And, of course, in one sense, I am.
It would be rather insane to have a
leader of a movement who didn't believe in
the movement.
And I don't think we should pretend that
we are excited about this work we're in.
I haven't been in it for 17 years
because of the salary raises or other fringe
benefits.
And I believe that God raised up this
work despite us.
And I believe when that little lady prayed
years ago, God heard her prayers.
Even for the sake of Brother Case, I
would just inform him that the work in
Europe, if he wants to date OM in
Europe, which is good because that's when we
took on the name and it's a very
good concept, was 1961.
But by the time anything exploded, and that's
when Roses came in, and that was a
very separate explosion in itself, that's 1962 in
the summer.
But the name OM was given to us
the summer of 61, and the first fall
conference was in the fall of 61.
And then the teams launched out, recruiting for
summer of 62.
But I believe God heard this woman's prayers.
And I believe God has raised up this
work just as he has raised up many
other works.
And in no way, and what I'm saying
tonight, am I trying to run down anyone
else.
They have strong points and weak points.
We have strong points and weak points.
We are all learning from one another.
But I think there are some of us,
even in leadership, that don't even know what
our strong points are supposed to be.
And so pretty soon we won't be a
movement with strong points and weak points.
We will be a movement with only weak
points.
And then we will be in trouble.
And I want to speak about what I
feel should be some of the strong points
of this movement.
And therefore of our lives.
Now, I know the mind of some people.
And you may be thinking that by now
in this conference we should be given more
of a completely Christ-centered message that will
wonderfully lift us up to the Lord and
bless us and reveal more of him in
us.
Now, I know this message.
I have read this message.
I have preached this message.
And those of you who are here for
three more weeks will get some of that
ministry.
But I felt that for this Leaders' Conference,
though I hope this message will glorify the
Lord, that I should stick on this subject,
a sort of spiritual message, and I hope
it's not misunderstood, the uniqueness of OM.
What are some of the things that are
a little unusual or unique that God gave
us and is still giving us because we're
still learning.
And as we hear these things, we should
ask, is this reality in my life?
Is this what I want?
You see, I don't have many opportunities to
speak to my beloved leaders.
And so as I speak, though I appreciate
some of you are new leaders and I
want to keep you in mind, I also
am burdened to share with those of us
who are locked into this work on a
longer term, some of these things.
And I hope you'll understand.
One other clarification.
All through history, long before OM came along,
there were individuals who already emphasized these things.
So it's nothing new.
They were certainly, in most cases, not a
majority group.
There were also organizations and missions that emphasized
some of these things.
Some perhaps emphasizing something and another group other
things.
And linked with that, of course, there have
been individuals and groups that certainly have demonstrated
some of these points far greater than we
ever have.
And we just praise God for them.
We have had the advantage of being able
to learn from the mistakes and errors of
so many who have gone before us.
And this is where literature has played such
a vital role in forming the mentality and
the spirit of Operation Mobilization.
As we have learned from such a great
range of men, from Hudson Taylor to Billy
Graham, from Amy Carmichael to Eugenia Price.
I think, however, that we have to acknowledge
that these points that I'm going to review
are not generally emphasized in the Church as
a whole.
And that is what I'm interested in us
understanding.
Because, for example, the China Inland Mission had
a very basic and similar policy, or we
have a similar policy financially to theirs.
Not exactly the same, very similar.
Does not mean that it is not unique.
Because in many, many countries and in many,
many places people have hardly, the average Christian,
hardly know anything about what the China Inland
Mission taught.
You know, and of course, we soon all
know who Hudson Taylor is, we all know
who George Mueller is.
But even in Bristol, when I was preaching
a couple of years ago, I took a
survey and only 15% of the people
in the meeting had read George Mueller of
Bristol.
That was in Bristol.
Much less the rest of the world.
So, I hope you understand that.
It will help me communicate.
First of all, the uniqueness of our attitude
toward material possessions, money, faith, believing God, that
whole area.
Very, very important.
There are so many scriptures that come running
into my mind.
I think especially of the teaching of Jesus
in the Sermon on the Mount.
And it would be good to perhaps just
look at that for a moment.
Just in the way of remembrance and to
feed our minds on the Word.
I'm so happy I now have my Bible.
The Lord Jesus spoke more about these things
than most people imagine.
Turn to the Sermon on the Mount.
Chapter 6, verse 19.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust doth corrupt and where
thieves break through and steal.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where
thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.
Going on over to verse 24.
No man can serve two masters, for either
he will hate the one and love the
other, or else he will hold to one
and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money.
And then it goes on, the cure for
care.
In verse 25 through verse 33 are absolutely
glorious and beautiful verses in God's Word.
Look at verse 28.
Why are ye anxious for raiment, your clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow, they toil not, neither do they spin,
did I say unto you.
And even Solomon in all his glory was
not arrayed like one of these.
On it goes.
O ye of little faith.
Verse 31.
Therefore be not anxious, saying, What shall we
eat?
What shall we drink?
With what shall we be clothed?
For after all these things do the pagans,
the Gentiles, seek.
For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of all these things.
This perhaps has been the most upsetting aspect
of OM.
And if anybody thinks that I have changed
my viewpoint on this subject, they obviously have
not fellowshiped with me much lately.
I believe stronger than ever that the ideas
God gave us concerning money, concerning lifestyle, concerning
forsaking all, concerning esteeming others better than ourselves,
concerning living on the barest essentials, concerning all
this area, I believe more than ever before
that this is God's way.
And believe me, more people are seeing this
in this particular generation than almost ever before.
New books are coming out and new aspects
are being discussed and one of the most
important, significant statements at the Lausanne Congress on
Evangelism was that the Evangelical Church must repent
and also must go back and develop a
more simple lifestyle.
Men like John Stott have been a tremendous
demonstration of this and praise God that this
was brought into the Lausanne Congress.
A missionary friend of mine out in Asia
and I was speaking to him recently shared
how he felt he must move out of
this tremendous bungalow and live in a small
flat among the people in Bangladesh and he
said one of the things that helped him
was the statement and covenant he signed at
the Lausanne Congress.
And anybody who puts their pen to that
covenant as I did and doesn't go out
and make a greater effort for a more
simple lifestyle is a hypocrite.
Better not to sign it.
We know men in Scotland years ago signed
the famous covenant.
Cost them their lives.
They were covenanters.
I wonder how many of us would have
signed that Lausanne Congress if we knew that
every name was taken off that list and
put on somebody's hit list to be exterminated
as soon as possible.
We may have thought twice about signing such
an evangelical and powerful covenant.
I was in the question and answer session
with Dr. Schaefer when he was asked whether
he signed it.
People know that Dr. Schaefer is conservative to
say the least, at least in doctrine.
Difficult to say that his lifestyle is completely
conservative.
And he answered that he had signed it
after bending the covenant drafters to a stronger
statement in regard to inspiration of scripture.
He himself signed that covenant.
I hope during our conference we can make
this covenant available for you to read.
Maybe some of you will feel burdened to
sign it.
God gave us this burden, I guess, 17,
18 years ago to develop a simple lifestyle,
to practice community living to an extent where
practical and possible without legalism.
To share, to give all, to sell our
possessions, Acts 2, Acts 4, and a number
of other examples.
And it upset a lot of people.
I hope to bring copies next week of
a little book called Christian Devotedness.
Very upsetting.
William MacDonald's ideas, to a great degree, have
their original source in Christian devotedness and the
teachings of Anthony Norris Groves and George Mueller.
I think Mueller married Groves' daughter.
Somewhere there's a link.
And I hope if you get the chance
you can re-read True Discipleship in the
days to come.
It's not the whole truth.
Only part of the truth.
The whole truth is in this book.
But it's an important truth.
It is still basically unique, not totally.
Especially people who literally begin to practice.
Paying lip service is one thing.
But to practice simple lifestyle, to practice living
on the fairest essentials, to give maximum for
World Evangelist and for others, to get involved
in selling out as a joyful event, as
a joyful expression of your faith in Jesus
Christ, is not yet the order of the
day, even in the church.
I think most of us realize that.
And then, of course, on top of that,
especially for those that feel led to go
into Christian service, which I don't even like
that term, this whole area of believing God.
We don't believe everybody should be praying in
funds for themselves.
There are some who are called to work
in a secular occupation who will only be
called to pray in funds for others.
Don't know if you've thought that one through.
But as Oswald Smith tried to emphasize in
his teaching, it's not how much you can
give, even as a man sitting in the
secular world working for the Rolls-Royce company.
It's not just how much you can give.
It's what can you believe God for.
So I do not believe that praying in
funds is just for a few odd bods
who are going out to India.
I believe the whole church should have this
ministry.
However, the man working in the secular job
has the privilege of giving all that he
prays in.
Whereas when we pray in money, we have
to use some of it to survive on.
We have brothers in OM that have secular
jobs on the field.
And yet they're still praying in money for
the nationals, for literature, to advance the work.
When we first started talking in 1961 about
producing faith, people didn't know what we were
talking about.
Producing faith.
Contrary to survival faith.
Survival faith in a missionary is enough faith
to believe God for the money to keep
him alive.
Housed, clothed.
Producing faith is faith to not only stay
out on the field, but to produce something,
to do something.
To believe God for the money for a
million tracks.
To believe God for the money for some
books that nationals may be supported.
To believe God to open a book shop.
To believe God to open a radio station.
To believe God for a new light bulb.
Whatever else may be the challenge.
That was a very important emphasis.
God especially gave us, really, through a dear
elderly Spanish man.
We had it somewhat before that, but he
clarified it in a book that I think
has gone out of print.
We must not lose this unique emphasis.
We must not presume that it will just
automatically be part and parcel of O.M.
Not so.
Man's materialistic instincts, man's general degeneration towards selfish
living will mean that only by definite acts
of faith, discipline, and recommitment can these principles
survive in a materialistic age.
It will take more than signing a covenant.
It will mean signing some checks as well.
And maybe even more than that.
The second unique emphasis that I want to
mention is our emphasis on prayer.
Now, it is not unique for Christians to
say we should pray.
The uniqueness in O.M. is the general
amount of time or the extraordinary amount of
time that is usually given to prayer.
Now, the moment I say that, I know
the danger.
Spiritual pride.
Spiritual pride is a danger all the time.
All the time.
And we don't want any of it coming
in tonight.
On the other hand, false humility will not
accomplish anything as well.
And there's a danger that because we don't
want that spiritual pride, and we know that
a person who does pray a lot and
gets involved in a lot of prayer and
sees God move through prayer is susceptible to
that, we swing the pendulum way over here.
Let's not have any more long prayer meetings.
Long prayer meetings produce many answers to prayer
and many answers to prayer produce spiritual pride,
so we won't have any long prayer meetings.
If there's anything that's crooked thinking, I would
say that is.
Let us, as one brother told me years
ago, not throw the baby away with the
dirty bath water.
We know there are dangers in extended times
of prayer.
Of course.
We know there are dangers in having two
hours given to prayer every day.
It can become routine.
You know, it may become like eating or
some other thing.
Have you ever found anyone stop eating because
they felt it was routine, legalistic?
People don't seem to get under bondage about
that.
But prayer, if it comes in two regular
intervals, someone will squawk that it's getting legalistic.
It's interesting, in the book of Acts, we
have the apostles going up to a particular
place at the hour, the appointed hour of
prayer.
And so, it isn't just praying.
It isn't just saying we believe in prayer
and opening our meetings with a word of
prayer.
But it's the practice, taking large parts of
our conference and disciplining ourselves, giving it to
prayer.
It's not easy.
There are so many other things we could
be doing, many other pressures, many other good
things.
But believe me, oftentimes, in Christian work, the
good is the enemy of the best.
I believe prayer is the best.
I've had people recommend first aid courses.
I'd love to have first aid courses.
We could also, these days, have special midwife
and prenatal training.
This would be ideal for the way O
.M. is going.
And there are so many good things we
could be doing at conferences.
I would like to teach a course in
rock climbing.
I would like to have a tennis tournament.
We've got a tennis court out here.
I'm trying to get Jonathan to put some
wire around it.
He's too tight.
So we probably won't get any tennis court.
But the good is often the enemy of
the best.
And I feel that prayer is the best.
Worship, praise.
And I believe one of the great mistakes
is to just pay lip service to this.
We've got to give time to it.
Billy Graham interviewed a whole group of missionaries
going to the mission field.
Seventy-five percent of them.
I think it was Billy.
No, I think Billy Graham was just giving
this in a sermon.
I don't think he was doing the interview.
Seventy-five percent of them had no systematic
quiet time.
Cannot be.
We must make time.
In our schedule as leaders, we must make
time so that the team members have time
for prayer.
We must allow team members to go off
for days of prayer.
It's got to be functional.
And I think this is a unique, somewhat
unique emphasis.
We must not allow it to slip.
Teaching people how to lead prayer meetings.
I don't think there's too much teaching going
on in that realm.
There's even less of actually leading them.
One of the things that has amazed me
as I've gone to conferences all over the
world and many Christian leaders have agreed on
this is the relatively little time that's ever
given to prayer.
Praise God for the Indian Church.
The Indian Church has been the greatest demonstration
in some places of really believing in prayer.
The Evangelical Fellowship of India has a whole
week given to prayer.
Can you imagine European Christians getting together for
a week of real prayer?
Even many of our prayer meetings seem to
be mainly overrun with requests and other things
and not much praying.
What is the thing that marks the life
of Bhakt Singh?
Prayer.
He's a weak man.
He's a human being.
Doesn't take people long when they're with him
to see his weaknesses like all Christian leaders.
But he's a man of prayer, a man
of faith.
God has honored that.
What I have learned from that man being
with him, one of the reasons his heart
I believe was linked with some of us,
you know, is because we had such a
similar interest and burden in the area of
prayer.
Why nights of prayer for those people are
just normal course of events.
Prayer chains and 24-hour prayer efforts.
And it's a thrilling thing to see the
simple faith and the life of prayer of
such believers.
Yet the church in general today is so
prayerless.
I don't think I'm being unfair when I
say that.
George Duncan speaking to the pastors at Keswick,
I was listening to his tape, more or
less assumed that most of these pastors had
very little prayer life.
And boy did he speak straight.
He knows pastors.
And my experience with the pastors that have
come to the ship, the Christian leaders that
have come to the ship, it has confirmed
my view that many Christian leaders have very
little prayer life.
It's so easy to become discouraged in praying,
isn't it?
Of course it is.
Samuel Chadwick, that great soul winner, said the
main aim of Satan will be to stop
your prayer life.
If he gets that, whatever else you have,
you don't have much.
I hope we'll re-read in the days
to come that book, Power Through Prayer.
A unique part of our vision in regard
to prayer has been our burden to flood
out all over the world books about prayer.
In fact, right now, a brother is going
to come and quickly give out a list
of books on the subject of prayer.
I think that's Gary Hanson.
Try to do that as inconspicuously as possible
so that everybody can just pay attention and
not worry about this list.
But on this list are books about prayer.
And I hope that you will read them.
We have just sent this list out to
everyone on the British mailing list.
We also have been sending book parcels.
We are in the process, it's a 20
-year program, of sending book parcels to every
missionary who reads English in the world.
We have already sent these parcels out to
hundreds, perhaps it's got to thousands by now.
I think it is past the thousands mark.
And I just believe that God wants us
to do this.
Another, I go through the missionary leaders.
I don't send them behind their backs.
And another leading mission has just sent all
their missionaries, please send us your book parcels.
It usually includes George Mueller, Power Through Prayer,
True Discipleship, one of these lovely green living
Bibles, one or two other things.
We have had over 300 letters from missionaries
all over the world.
Most of them thanking us for these books
and sharing some of the spiritual battles they
have been having in some of these areas.
Do you presume that there is so much
prayer going on in the mission field?
If you do, you obviously haven't been out
there.
Missionaries become very busy, very, very busy.
On the mission field, it takes more effort
to survive than most people think, especially if
you're living alone.
You have your own house and you have
a family and you have this and that,
visas and this.
The time of day is through.
If you get two hours serving Jesus, you're
doing good.
Where are you going to get time for
prayer unless you, by an act of your
will, determined to be a man, a woman
of prayer, you will not be one.
Determination must come in.
The third emphasis that we feel is somewhat
unique and greatly needed in our day is
our emphasis on reaching everyone, reaching everyone.
Now, when you come down to it, it's
really crazy.
I mean, it really is crazy.
And you can imagine how crazy it was
17 or 18 years ago, a little group
of nobodies started talking about reaching hundreds of
millions with the word of God.
Hundreds of millions.
People used to just, you know, a bunch
of exaggerators.
Yet God has enabled us, by His grace,
to put the gospel into the hands of
over 220 million souls in a little over
a decade.
We can start at 62, if you want.
So, this is no small thing and I
don't think it should be despised.
It's impossible to know how many others have
been reached through radio, television, things along that
line.
This has taken place because of this unique
belief that everybody in the world deserves an
opportunity to hear the gospel.
Now, a lot of people will say, well,
you know, I believe that too.
But our whole strategy is built around it.
We don't just say that.
We begin to live in the light of
it.
We begin to think and to pray and
to dream about the next million tracts.
In India, I've just asked the leaders to
approve a plan, which is mainly for the
prayer partners to catch their vision for prayer,
of Operation 10 Million.
It's to produce 10 million tracts in 10
months, in 10 languages.
It is not a strategy for within India,
where they can use the tracts as they
want.
But it's a strategy or a challenge for
us out of India to claim at least
10 million tracts, booklets, leaflets, in the next
10 months.
Believe me, this is unique.
Again, when I say unique, I'm not saying
exclusive.
Others, especially now, are getting a similar vision.
Small groups, churches, even some bigger groups.
But most of our standard mission societies relegate
literature to a very small part of their
program.
Now it is in grief.
And we have learned from some of that.
For example, the Conservative Baptist Mission Society, 18
years ago, put out a film strip called
Mr. Printed Page.
There was an organization formed about 22 years
ago called ELO, Evangelical Literature Overseas, which led
to the establishment of many literature fellowships, like
Evangelical Literature of India and similar fellowships around
the world.
We were influenced by these people.
We were greatly influenced by the Pocket Testament
League, one of the greatest movements to me
of all times.
I was converted to Christ through a Pocket
Testament League gospel.
So, in no way is this kind of
vision exclusive.
And yet, even as we meet with different
ones who are already involved in spreading out
literature, very few seem to really believe that
everyone can be reached.
It can't be all literature because we have
illiterate people.
Of course, someone can read it to them.
And then there's gospel recordings.
In fact, I think we could fairly include
here that one of our unique emphasis coupled
with this reaching everyone is our willingness to
try almost anything at least once.
I'd like to know what kind of evangelism
we have not been in.
You please tell me.
Films, records, plastic bags in the ocean.
We haven't got the balloons yet.
But Bible studies, all kinds of evangelism.
Because we're learners.
We can learn from others.
When the four spiritual laws came out through
Campus Crusade for Christ, we were the first
ones to produce in Europe.
And Campus Crusade, the man who coordinated all
of Campus Crusade for Europe, came to an
OM conference to help us before he went
on to start Campus Crusade for Christ in
Europe, Gordon Klink, a very dear brother.
Whether it be Campus Crusade or IVF or
WEC or CLC or Pocket Testament League, we
want to learn.
That is not totally unique.
But it isn't so often in general practice.
Most groups tend to get what they feel
is their thing, then they pull the shades
down and close the doors.
And you just try to get in.
We've seen how at times we bring speakers
in from other movements to speak at OM.
But not always is there any kind of
reciprocal going back into their movement.
Because they have more of a closed door
mentality, they feel that they have their own
package.
And sometimes people don't want the status quo
disturbed or they don't want people confused.
I know a group of very living good
assemblies in the United States that have told
the people in their assemblies and their young
people, and some of them say they're very
friends of ours, they tell the young people
not to go on OM.
You must not go on OM.
It is not God's will yet.
We are still in Jerusalem.
You stay here and work for us.
And if you think that I get into
these places to speak, there was a big
conference arranged among some of these people.
Last minute, the door was closed by one
of the very strong-minded leaders because they
were afraid that I would recruit for OM
or that I would say things that would
disturb the doctrinal status quo.
People don't want their doctrinal status quo disturbed
with some outsider coming in and dropping some
bomb in their midst about this or about
that.
Personally, I think it's a tremendous thing at
times to have someone come into OM and,
you know, really drop a bomb on us.
We've had it.
I remember when Mr. Rochnocker, forgive the pronunciation,
a Dutchman, came to the ship.
And he belongs to the Labrie Fellowship in
Holland.
I don't know whether he smoked a cigar
the whole time or his pipe, a little
difficulty since we have a no-smoking rule
on the ship, but anyway, for him, we
lifted the ban.
And he proceeded to drop bombs on Operation
Mobilization.
He was fairly tactful.
And people really went away from that meeting
thinking.
Of course, we let Dr. Schaeffer have us
for three days when he first came to
Europe.
And people were wondering, you know, who is
he?
What is Labrie?
He hadn't written any books yet.
He came in and for three days bombed
us.
Took us a long time to recover from
that.
But we ended up very good friends.
And we took a lot of his ideas.
In fact, our early university teams were all
trained at Labrie.
I feel this is a very important emphasis.
I don't even need to use the word
unique.
May not be the best word, but it's
a very important emphasis.
We want as much truth as we can
get.
We want to continue to be learners.
And in the process, we want to maintain
this vision of reaching everyone with the gospel.
I feel that other groups would take on
a greater vision for literature that without much
effort, they could reach ten times as many
people as they are reaching right now.
I think of some of these big meetings
that people have.
And if they arm the people with literature
at the end of those meetings.
Because anything that broke my heart at the
Lausanne Congress was the weak emphasis on literature.
Very little emphasis on literature.
And the book display proved it.
You couldn't even buy books.
You had to order them and they had
to be sent to you.
And they were very...
It just burned my heart, though I praise
God for what there was.
Literature and radio, all the media was thrown
into one section.
And in the plenary, really main sessions, there
is very little emphasis on this.
But there is some.
Track distribution is considered superficial.
How many of us have had it insinuated
to us again and again, that distributing tracks
is superficial?
When is OM going to get into a
real work?
As if the only thing we did was
give out tracks.
Not even 5% of our work anymore.
In 1962 it was a big push.
I don't believe track distribution is superficial.
And when you get to heaven, you're going
to discover many thousands saved because somebody believed
in giving out tracks.
We mean together with all the other wonderful
groups God has raised up.
And to some degree, if a lot of
the groups neglect one kind of evangelism, we
want to emphasize it more.
To me, it's a thrill if we can
be given the jobs that are not so
important.
For example, if Billy Graham comes to Brussels
as he did, he's got that strategic ministry
of preaching.
Others have the strategic ministry of counseling.
We were involved perhaps a little bit in
that.
Others may have the strategic ministry of music.
Others may have the tremendous ministry of organizing
it.
Well, praise God if our part is just
to go down the street, put the invitations
in the postbox and cover every house or
every street in every district.
Somebody has got to do that if the
people are going to get to the meeting
or even find out about it.
So, of course, when groups like that have
a lot of money, they can advertise on
the buses and every other way, which is,
I don't know, perhaps even more effective.
Reaching everyone, we believe this.
This is why we try to save money
because we know that every dollar, every pound,
every deutschmark is so many hundreds of tracks.
We believe this.
We believe that tracks, the gospel, the word
of God is more important in some ways
than food.
You can give a man a meal for
the next 20 years, but eventually he's going
to die.
Eventually he's going to die.
I believe you need to give him the
word of God.
Another one of these unique or significant aspects
of the work is our emphasis on discipline.
And this one really gives a lot of
people the jitters, even within the work.
There's been pressure that we need to cut
down, we need to cool it a bit.
We make people nervous.
People feel they got to get up early.
Some people feel they have to do exercises.
Some people get the idea that if you
don't suffer and endure hardship a little bit,
you're not a disciple.
Such a big emphasis in our day that
you don't want anybody to have a nervous
breakdown.
This is the main thing in your work
is to keep anybody from having a nervous
breakdown and keep...
You don't want anybody to get in bondage.
Boy, that's a terrible thing if somebody gets
in bondage.
Personally, I would rather be in bondage, I
would rather have a nervous breakdown than to
be out of God's will.
We don't seem to get very upset over
the fact that today 150,000 souls slipped
into hell.
I don't hear many people emphasize that.
But if somebody catches a chill because he
gave out tracts in the rain or somebody
gets a little ill because they prayed too
long in the night of prayer, weren't wise,
boy, I tell you, you'll hear it for
15 years.
Now, it is not unique to say we
believe in discipline.
Everybody knows that's necessary.
Billy Graham, speaking at Urbana years ago, said,
if you're not ready for the discipline of
life, forget it, you won't live for Christ.
But it's another thing to so structure things
that people really must learn something about discipline.
Alan Redpath said the greatest problem in the
English church or one of the greatest problems
was blanket victory.
Getting a blanket up off you in the
morning and getting up out of bed.
Blanket victory.
It's true.
Many people have written to me and said
the greatest problem in my life is one,
I can't get out of bed in the
morning.
And that is only one small aspect of
discipline.
Discipline of time, discipline of money.
The constant, not always, but often choosing the
harder way.
Overland, India.
Many other things.
Disciplining ourselves in the area of food.
Disciplining our minds.
This whole emphasis on discipline in the area
of sex is somewhat unique because in many
places it's not even spoken about.
We just presume anybody in Christian service is
not going to get in any kind of
sexual troubles.
So we don't speak and we don't emphasize
the discipline that's needed in avoiding even the
appearance of evil.
The discipline that's involved in submitting to one
another.
All these things are very, very important.
And then, we need to move a little
quicker, the unique aspect of working together on
teams.
A lot of traditional missionary work has been
done by lone missionaries and couples working out
in the middle of nowhere, pioneering.
And believe me, there have been people who
have done that work whose shoelace I am
not worthy to tie.
But I believe for every heroic couple that
you hear about, there are five who never
made it.
There's no books written about them.
They went out there and they worked and
they worked and they got discouraged and they
came home.
Nobody's writing any books.
Now, we go into the book of Acts
and we find again and again Paul working
together on teams.
I don't know if you are aware of
all those verses.
Maybe you ought to just take a look
for a moment at Acts, I think it's
chapter 20.
Verse 3, And there abode three months, when
the Jews laid wake for him, as he
was about to sail into Syria, and he
purposed to return through Macedonia.
There accompanying him unto Asia, Sopater of Berea
of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus of Ansegundus, Gaius of
Derbe and Timothy, and Trichicus and Trofimus.
Forgive the pronunciation.
These going before tarried for us at Troas.
There are a number of other places where
Paul is obviously working on a team.
I don't believe this is coincidence.
The story of the Cambridge Seven.
The story of the young men who died
by the Alc-Indians.
There are many, many examples of teamwork.
Teamwork.
Now I think most missions, of course, practice
this to varying degrees.
But the whole of O.M., basically worldwide,
is teamwork.
Hardly anyone in this work is not on
a team, including most of the leaders.
And I believe this is a very strong
feature of this movement.
Not easy.
Get on with people, live with people, in
the same house.
You don't have to be living in the
same house to be on the team.
But in some cases, of course, it's necessary.
Teamwork.
Exhorting one another, encouraging one another, sharing together,
realizing that though we may be weak, different
brothers on the team, pooling their resources, combining
their gifts, together become a striking force for
God.
Dale Roton is very strong on this.
One of the first things he said when
he went back to the States, I want
a team.
He's battling away to try to get a
team.
Recruited Frank Fortunato, and recruiting others.
A lot more I'd like to say on
that.
I have this, at least in my notes,
linked together with our emphasis on foot soldiering.
This is not considered a minor part of
OM.
Foot soldiering.
Street work, door-to-door work, open-air
preaching.
This is considered the heart of what we're
doing.
Almost everybody that comes on the 7th Crusade,
what do they do?
Door-to-door work.
Street work.
We believe this is important.
There are many other ways to evangelize.
Young people seem to like the type of
evangelism where they can just be part of
the crowd.
Just be one of the group, you know.
Some people get involved in their local church
open-air meeting.
What do they do each week?
Some of them stand and listen to somebody
else preach.
And never really move out.
Others like coffee bar work.
Now this is all good.
But I feel that one of the things
that God wants us to continue to emphasize
is door-to-door work, street work, shop
-to-shop, in which you get literature going
out coupled with personal contact.
I don't believe literature going out on book
racks, or in book shops, or dropped from
airplanes, or off Lagos book exhibits.
Any of these things is a substitute for
literature work done in which there's flesh-and
-blood contact.
So that when a person receives that literature,
there's personal contact.
And with it the time to give to
him if he's seeking the Lord.
Many times in door-to-door work, as
we go we pray, Lord, I sell books
until I meet some hungry soul, and then
it's personal work.
Literature evangelism and personal work must be coupled
together.
Both are the task of the foot soldier.
I've had a number of Christian leaders from
other movements with whom we are in very
good fellowship, to whom we are sending recruits,
tell me they felt this was one of
the most important aspects of the Holy of
Holies.
So many other things we do, many other
groups are doing.
But this, strolling especially door-to-door, is
very unique.
Unless you go over to the Mormons, Jehovah
Witnesses, and these people, who have taken their
ideas from the Bible.
Some of the greatest men of God, like
George Barrows of Spain, and many others, including
people like Bakht Singh, spent their early years,
moving out, in this kind of evangelism.
In fact the whole movement, of Bakht Singh
in India, was built on great numbers of
people moving into the streets, open air meeting,
spreading out.
They also had big marches through the streets,
in India.
And after three weeks, often left a new
church, planted.
Another unique emphasis, that, is not very unique
anymore.
So many others have got this vision.
Some had it, of course, before we did.
But this emphasis, on reaching the closed lands,
and the hard lands.
Now they seem to be now, more interested
in the closed lands, than the hard lands.
I guess it was almost 17 or 18
years ago, God just burdened us for these
closed countries.
We felt this is where we should go.
We felt that, that it was a lie
of the devil, that places were closed.
And we started moving in many, many different
directions.
We still feel this.
There's been a much greater emphasis, in this
over the last decade.
Many others have done much more than we.
But we still feel this is something, that
deserves our thought, and our prayer.
Some of us are continually concerned, about places
like Albania.
One of the most important, challenges in the
early days of OM, and I hope it
will not disappear, is the emphasis on China,
reaching China.
Remember a year ago, or a year and
a half ago, having a special China challenge,
on Lagos, in which we repented and sought
God, over our lack of concern, for this
land, where more people live, than any other
land in the world.
Closed lands, hard lands, places like Turkey.
Before we started out, with this message about
Turkey, there was so little being done in
that country, you could list it in two
pages on your notebook.
God gave us this burden, for Turkey, and
other similar places.
We must not lose this.
We must share it with others.
We must keep producing literature.
I believe one of the important jobs, God
has given us, is producing literature, that introduces
people.
Quite a few very good articles, have been
written, also from magazines, not talking about, personality
-centered, man-glorifying articles, but sensible, down-to
-earth, informative, factual articles, about particular countries.
Not necessarily about OM.
I feel this is an important thing.
Closed land and hard land vision, must remain
an integral part, of this work.
And we need to be seeking God, for
new ways to reach into these countries.
Then there's this strong, somewhat unique emphasis, on
fellowship, honesty, walking in the light.
Now through the history of the church, there
have always been, people who have emphasized this.
But if you know anything about the 19th
century, and quite a few 19th and early
20th century movements, their strong point was not
honesty, and this taking off of the mask,
and emphasizing that even leaders, should just, you
know, be real, and share their problems, and
their worries, and their struggles.
And this has been a very important part,
in OM life.
Though I would say, and I'm sorry to
say this, that perhaps 50% of the
people, at least who come only for a
summer, never do get it.
It's too rough on the ego.
People are frightened, of being known.
Frightened of being known.
Especially people of certain backgrounds, and certain temperaments.
Nobody knows them, and nobody ever will.
Their life is a closed book.
Especially anything in the area of sex, anything
in the area of emotional difficulties, anything that
is not acceptable, to our particular society, and
to the church.
And some of the testimonies, of people at
times, I know I have frightened a few,
as people have got a little bit honest.
And I feel we have a long way
to go in this.
And we know it has to be kept
in balance.
Walking in the light.
Fellowship.
Honesty.
Getting another brother, another sister.
Really sharing, praying together, being open with one
another.
Very, very important.
Many people have told me, they never opened
up to anyone in their life, until they
came on Operation Mobilization.
They thought they were coming on a great
evangelistic crusade.
And they went home, realizing they had been
in God's therapy program.
Learning how to open up.
Learning how to share.
Learning how to communicate.
Learning how to express their emotions.
Rather than bottling them up.
Putting on a little evangelical smile, a little
discipleship smile.
When everything inside is...
And learning how to share true feelings.
I think this is important.
Well, our time is gone.
There are some other things that perhaps, we
could mention.
We just praise God, that by His sheer
mercy and grace, we are still pressing on
with these emphases.
Some of them are not as unique, as
they were before.
It doesn't matter.
Praise God!
That more and more of these things, in
some circles, are being more widely accepted.
We were not the first people to practice
most of these principles.
And we praise God, we will not be
the last.
God is moving in many ways, through many
groups, through many different people.
We know the sum of it all is
the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
To preach the Lordship of Christ certainly is
not unique, though it certainly is not as
widely spread as it should be.
But to get down to the nitty-gritty
of what this Lordship of Christ really means
in seven-day-a-week living, this is
something quite different.
May God grip us with the emphasis of
His Word.
May some of us take a step of
faith to be loyally committed to this vision,
this year.
We are not going to be able to
move as in movement, without loyalty.
We praise God for every exoemer and every
visitor who is taking these principles out into
other spheres.
They shouldn't be surprised if they find someone
else already there who has them more than
they.
But someone else adding more fuel to the
fire will never do any harm.
Now, we encourage this, we want this, but
at the same time, if we are going
to move forward, if we are going to
reach another 200 million souls at least in
the next decade or so, we are going
to need a few men and a few
leaders, maybe more than a few, who are
committed to this vision and who want to
work together with like-minded men in specific
tasks.
May God give us some of those men.
Let us pray.
Lord, when we think of those who have
gone on before us, like Hudson Taylor, and
Mueller, and Wesley, and General Booth, and D
.L. Moody, and Whitfield, and so many others,
we acknowledge a deep indebtedness to them and
to the whole Church and for the remnant
that stood during various persecutions who burned at
the stake for some of these principles and
some of the doctrines that we believe, who
would not move, who were steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in your work.
Lord, though we seem so weak and we
feel so feeble, we would pray in faith
for the grace and the victory in Christ
that will enable us to be that kind
of a man and that kind of a
woman.
Lord, for the true remnant of saints through
years gone by, we know these principles are
not unique.
But for the great mass of 20th century
pew-sitters, these things seem so often so
far off.
Deliver us from a critical spirit.
Deliver us from false ideas or judging.
But at the same time, keep us from
just sitting on the side watching the parade.
By your grace, Lord, take us into the
battle, even tonight, in this night of prayer,
that we may be living testimonies of these
biblical, Christ-glorifying truths.
In obedience to your word, we pray in
Jesus' name.
Amen.