Good morning to you and good to be,
you know, here with you again, and I
always look forward to these opportunities.
I regard Pastor Joe, a real brother to
me and a friend, and this church, a
fellowship that we feel very close to, so
many reasons that I'm glad.
And John Beers, my colleague, we both came
here yesterday, and as Pastor Joe said, there
are a bunch of materials out there you
can take.
If you have the money, you do pay.
If you don't have the money, please steal
them.
You are given permission to do that, so
you don't have to worry about paying for
it.
We do have, what do you call, a
school of discipleship, which is a year-long
program we have in Dallas.
We take young people from the age of
18 and on, invite them to come and
spend a year with us.
They live with people.
We got some 160 plus people on the
staff.
They live with us and study and learn.
Part of the time we send them overseas,
and their lives are so completely turned upside
down for good.
And we encourage you to go to our
website and look for that, and also maybe
the materials that talks about it.
If parents, you want to get rid of
those kids for a year, good opportunity for
you.
I want to share with you a few
minutes the gospel of Luke chapter 14.
And in some ways, you know, I remind
myself that I'm speaking to my brothers and
sisters.
I'm not a traveling evangelist trying to get
you to do something big or money, give
me this and that.
I just want to share some thoughts with
you, knowing that you as a church, you
are experiencing a new life in the Lord,
and there is such hunger and thirst, and
God is working here.
So whatever I say to you, please receive
it as an encouragement, inviting you to continue
the journey as we all want to follow
the Lord.
You understand my English?
Thank you.
I just want to make sure that you
don't miss that.
Luke chapter 14, beginning with verse 25.
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus and turning
to them, he said, if anyone comes to
me and does not hate his father and
mother, his wife and children, his brothers and
sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot
be my disciple.
And anyone who does not carry his cross
and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Verse 33, in the same way, any of
you who does not give up everything he
has cannot be my disciple.
They are strong words, strong words of Christ.
And listen to these statements, a friend of
mine, that may erode these.
The American church is experiencing a crisis.
For years we have preached a cheap gospel
and peddled a soft savior.
We have taught salvation without self-denial and
crown without the cross.
We have created a world that is so
confusing and chaotic that the unsaved, they have
no clue what this is all about.
Our instant salvation message has dishonored God and
confused men.
Our faulty seeds have produced a flaky harvest.
What a pitiful crop we are reaping.
As Americans, believers, as American believers, we spend
hours watching television but minutes watching in prayer.
Are hungry for the sports page but have
little taste for the word.
Spend more money on pet food than on
four missions.
Love to feast but hate to fast.
Welcome God's message but are weary of his
burdens.
Is this what Jesus died for?
Is this our new life in him?
Stop for a moment and think.
Anyone who spends more time playing video games
than seeking God in prayer has no right
to call Jesus Lord.
Anyone who takes delight in today's perverted soap
operas is serving another God.
Anyone who cannot die to sports for a
season is worshipping idols.
Anyone who loves the world, the word says,
will not experience, will not understand the love
of the Father.
1 John 2.15. It is time for
some serious soul-searching.
What kind of born-again experience have we
had if it calls for almost no personal
sacrifice, produced virtually no suppression from the world,
and breeds practically no hatred for sin?
How can we claim to be born from
above?
Where's evidence of a new life, a new
nature?
We say, just confess Jesus as Lord and
you are in.
He says, not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord, will enter in the kingdom of
heaven, but only he who does the will
of my Father in heaven.
Those are convicting words.
I remember first reading, I said, my goodness,
they are strong words and they are.
My brothers and sisters, as long as Christian
life remains your life and my life, we
will not understand Christ or the New Testament.
Christian life is not my life, it is
his life.
Blood was the price the Lord paid to
purchase you.
And therefore, we are told, reckon, make sure,
accept it, that you are not your own
any longer.
You have no right to run your life
the way you want it.
Your body, your soul, your spirit, it's no
more yours.
And only that kind of recognition that makes
us to come to the place of total
abandonment on a perpetual basis that allows us
to get to know him fully and be
the kind of people that he wants us
to be in our generation.
I was reading a quotation from H.
A.
E.
It's quite interesting.
Listen to this.
He looks today as he has ever looked,
not for crowds drifting aimlessly in his track,
but for individual men and women whose undying
allegiance will spring from having recognized that he
wants those who are prepared to follow the
path of self- renunciation which he took
before them.
You know the chorus, my Jesus, I love
thee, I know thou art mine.
For thee, all the follies of sin, I
resign.
My precious redeemer, my savior art thou.
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, it
is now.
And I think the call the Lord gives
to us continually is a higher call to
come up higher and understand him so we
can be those people in our earthen vessels
that he can live out his life in
our generation.
A whole bunch of people, they were following
Christ, a crowd, a multitude, and he turned
to them and simply said, wow, what a
big crowd.
But then he said this statement, if you
want to be mine, if you want to
follow me, then the cost is you must
love me more than your own life.
You want your own very life, you must
love me.
Supreme love for Christ.
And I think unless we come to the
place that nothing and nobody matters other than
him, we will not enter into his life
in the fullness.
Growing up in my home back in southern
part of India as a small boy, I
used to hear my mother quote this Bible
verse a thousand times.
I didn't know what she was talking about.
Psalm 73 verse 25.
Whom have I in heaven but you and
on earth I desire no one and nothing
beside you.
I thought something wrong with the head because
I did not know what she was talking
about until I grew up a little older,
I realized this was a Bible verse.
And I remember almost every morning she would
be up two or three in the morning
and spend next two, three hours on her
knees praying.
And she never sat on a chair, she
sat actually on a mat on the floor
and she had this, you know, pulled the
sari and put it on her head and
she would be praying.
And after those hours, she would wake up
the whole family for what we call the
family prayer.
And by the way, it's my mother that
led me to the Lord when I was
eight years old and prayed for three and
a half years every Friday fasting that one
of her sons would go and serve God
and happened to be the least and the
last in my family, the Lord called me
to serve him.
But you know, the thing about her, I
always remember what intense devotion and love she
had for the Lord.
And she never disclosed so much of her
private work, only after she became a pastor,
and she never disclosed so much of her
private work, only after she became a pastor,
and she never disclosed so much of her
private work, only after she became a pastor,
and she never disclosed so much of her
private work, only after she became a pastor,
and she never disclosed so much of her
private work, only after she became a pastor,
and she never disclosed so much of her
private work, only after she became a pastor,
and she never disclosed so much of her
private work, only after she became a pastor,
and she never disclosed so much of her
private work, only after she became a pastor.
She left us and died in 1990.
At the age of 84, her sons, my
goodness, how deep her work was with the
Lord.
And this is what she said.
When I am dead and gone, the only
thing I'm going to leave behind is my
wedding ring and the earring and the gold
chain my husband gave me when he married
me at the age of 2019 I want
you to sell these items and give the
money to preach the gospel among people that
never heard my Jesus name I want to
meet them also in heaven And I I
someday I hope to write a little booklet
on our life, but I'm telling you a
Life that is so devout to Christ.
There was no dichotomy in it There's no
Sunday one day and Monday different day and
Tuesday.
No, it was total absolute Abandonment and it
came out of her love for Christ more
than anything on earth or anybody and My
brothers and sisters I pray that you will
continue to grow in the love of the
Lord and love him more than anything and
anyone One of our Staff members in Dallas
was visiting one of our Bible colleges on
the mission field and ran into this young
man and Talked to him about his life
story and found out while he was studying
in college He gave his life to Christ
and his parents threw him out of his
house.
He had one sister he lost everything he
had lost his family all alone had to
leave his home because He loved Jesus and
he ended up at our Bible College So
this staff person from us talking to this
young man asked him Are you not?
sad that you lost your family and your
wealth and Your education and all these things
and this young man responded.
Yeah, I am kind of sad But If
I'm given the opportunity to do it again,
I rather have my Jesus Than anything and
all things and my only dream is that
someday they too Will come to know the
Lord Jesus Christ and he said I love
him more than anyone anything in the world
and the disciples Jesus said Unless you love
me more than anyone anything in the world
You cannot be my disciple.
Are we able to reckon with that?
It was in 1973 Gisela that's my wife's
name she was leaving India for Afghanistan and
then on to Iran and back to Europe
and We talked about getting married and you
know when you fall in love The whole
world is mystical You know 300 telephone bill
a month all all doesn't becomes three thousand
thirty thousand dollars and I remember as she
was leaving India for Pakistan Afghanistan, we had
this brief conversation It was one of the
most painful conversation I ever had with anyone
in my life.
I said Islam I Need to tell you
something She said what?
As hard and difficult it is for me
to say this I Wanted to know as
you leave me and as I go on
my way if We ever come to realize
that this is not what the Lord want
from us Please understand With pain we will
embrace the decision and for you if you
ever find out During this absent, this is
not God's will for us to marry.
Please.
Let me know We made that agreement and
She left I went into my room.
I said what a fool you are This
is the most irrational stupid thing you can
say to someone And I had to talk
to myself.
I was 23 years old at that time
But later when we get married and It's
been a long journey and We continue to
affirm to each other That our love for
Christ is more sacred Than for each other
and when my kids were growing up My
life was not easy.
They were in Dallas Danny and Sarah and
I had a travel sometime three four weeks
non-stop from place to place speaking and
And when I leave one of the saddest
thing was sometime my daughter would say I
want my daddy I want my daddy and
she would be crying and They all three
come to the airport and see me off
and I'm gone again and later I found
out Gisela will never cry at the airports,
but she'll go home in the room.
She will cry And she will tell the
kids, you know Daddy is able to do
this Only because we let him do it
And you know what daddy is doing he's
telling people about Jesus and the missionaries and
so many people need to come to know
Jesus and Because of that and and we
should thank God and pray for him and
those kids grew up year after year Never
never once hearing my wife saying what am
I going to do?
I don't know what to do.
He's gone again all the problems this and
that no No wonder when they finish their
studies, they both said we want to be
missionaries serving God and Somebody asked my son
When he was in Nepal, what made you
do this thing?
You could be living in Germany in America
anywhere and all those things and one of
his answer was oh We just grew up
seeing how much our parents followed the Lord
They never told us to do one thing.
It just so happened your children your brothers
and sisters your family members They are looking
to see something what living for and dying
for and That What they will see in
you Your love like I saw in my
mother is going to impact them more than
you can imagine You know about Jacob in
the Old Testament When you hear his name
you think what a crook he was I
think he was too until God changed him
But you know, he fell in love with
a girl Her name was remember Rachel but
the problem us Laban Who was father-in
-law said yeah, you can marry Rachel, but
the dowry seven years you had to work
Seven years working for a girl and he
did but then he gets married and wake
up to find out It was a wrong
girl That only work over there not here
and And then he gets mad at Laban
say what on earth are you done to
me you creep What are other words he
used He said son don't get so excited
No problem.
I think Laban was a Indian No problem.
What do you mean?
No problem?
What do you want I want Rachel All
right, so no problem seven years More All
those years he worked like a slave but
the Bible says It looked like just one
day Because he loved Rachel Let me ask
you a couple of questions not to put
you on a guilt trip or condemn you
anything like that How hard it is for
you to give up watching those television programs
That you shouldn't How difficult is for you
to say this is it I will not
listen to those music anymore How difficult it
is for you to say this friendship?
This is not something I will maintain any
longer How Difficult it is for you to
take that day two or three to fast
before the Lord How difficult it is for
you to say I'm going to look at
this catalog anymore because enticing me to spend
money To buy things that I don't need
to impress people that who don't care anyway
How difficult it is for you to say
not to sin That you grapple with that
nobody knows about I Tell you the answer
is not legalism The answer is not fear
the answer is not saying that if somebody
ever find out what will happen to me
No, I Keep falling in love with him
over and over and over again He gets
sweeter each day as the days go by
all the love Between my lord, and I
I keep falling in love with him over
and over and over again You say It's
not mystical But all spirituality is mystical I
I Encourage you to start spending 10 15
20 minutes with the Lord alone and Talk
to him, and he will talk back to
you increase that half hour I Encourage you
to get an alarm clock to wake you
up Maybe two in the morning or whenever
oh your flesh will hate it.
I destroyed half it as an alarm clock
in my life and I found out my
flesh It's not my friend and I get
up and wash my face in cold water
and I found myself years ago.
I still like to lay on my bed
and pray, but I dragged my body to
the living room or somewhere I can kneel
and Open the scripture and say Lord.
I embrace suffering in the flesh I'm not
going to be a friend of my flesh.
I want to buff it to my body.
I want to know you Please help me
Lord It was a journey, but still I
am the journey But you see my brothers
and sisters The scripture says unless you deny
yourself and pick up the cross Couple of
weeks ago when I was in India speaking
to a group of Believers and I said
you know You can pray all you want
do all you want to become godly and
spiritual you will not unless you understand the
responsibility of doing spirituality Abraham was justified not
just by believing but also he engaged he
took decision and He said this is what
I'm going to do There is a responsibility
rest upon us to make choices decisions and
our own personal life and our flesh will
always fight against us, you know, I I
Mean, I'm certain we are all in the
spiritual warfare Especially if you seek to follow
the Lord But there are times we blame
the devil for everything under the Sun The
devil did this to me did it to
me and all those things and the poor
devil sometimes says I have nothing to do
With this thing stop blaming me.
The problem is our self-centeredness it's a
bigger problem we deal with than the demons
and the devil often and I think It
is like a little kid that is given
a toy and it'll grab hold of it
I don't want to give it up But
then you give a better toy a bigger
thing and the kid the child will grab
that the same way The more you get
to know the Lord the more he spent
time with him the more you fall in
love with him you understand the joy that
comes from knowing him and his presence and
Trusting him so completely and see how he
carry you along like that dry leaf in
the wind You'll be so surprised.
It's the most beautiful life in the whole
wide world And I think this is definitely
the call the Lord gives to us We
choose to embrace this road Amy Carmichael Most
of you I'm sure read some of her
writings someone who knew the Lord intimately and
One time she prayed this prayer From prayer
that asked that I may be sheltered from
winds that beat on thee from fearing when
I should aspire From faltering when I should
climb higher from silken self or captain free
Thy soldier who would follow thee From sudden
love or softened things from easy choices weakenings
Not thus our spirits fortified not this way
when the crucified from all that dims the
Calvary Oh Lamb of God deliver me Give
me the love that leads the way the
faith that nothing can dismay the hope nor
disappointments tire The passion that will burn like
fire.
Let me not sink to be cold Make
me thy fuel flame of God And of
course these disciples the Lord Asked to follow
him As much as they love him more
than life and embrace the cross They also
will experience the pain the loneliness the difficulties
the Misunderstanding that comes from following the Lord
who want suffering nobody Nobody this is what
I like to share with you.
I hope you remember this You will not
be able to understand the depth and the
meaning of godliness Until you have come to
the place of looking at the present your
wealth your health your relationship and all that
you have and you are about in this
life from the Perspective of eternity Now you
go to the airport and we all do
wherever we have to show them our ID
am I right The driver's license or passport
or something and there on it.
You'll find your date of birth the time
you were born or the year You know
yesterday I was sitting at the airport we
landed here in Philadelphia and I was waiting
for John to pick up the suitcases and
and The three or four people they were
there, you know, this people are rolling them
on the wheelchair you know the people who
could not walk and I looked a couple
of these ladies and And I sat there
imagining how these ladies looked and behaved and
acted when they were 20 years old And
I just imagined how vibrant full-on life
and Going after everything they went after whatever
but now crippled up Sitting in those wheelchairs
and I pray that none of you end
up like that I don't want end up
like that, but please understand We are heading
very fast To a place That we will
not Be able to have what we have
today life Will soon be over Hundred years
now we are not here.
So when you look back Into time from
that perspective you realize as Paul said these
light afflictions are nothing Compared to the glory
that is to be revealed in us.
Paul what on earth you're talking about?
When I read 2nd Corinthians, I read about
hunger and starvation rejection betrayal No money no
food no clothes to wear shipwreck being stoned
and you talk about almost you lost your
mind at a you know narrows break down
couple of times and These light Afflictions and
difficulties and you said nothing and he will
say If you only could see What I
see If only you know what I know
on the inside you will say the same
thing my dear brothers and sisters Following the
Lord will cost you something it will cost
you misunderstanding betrayal and People think you are
stupid and crazy.
I never forget one time when I came
back home to see my mother The way
she dressed the old clothes she was wearing
I was so mad and so angry And
I said mother what madness caught in your
head Don't you see people in our community
will think that we don't take care of
you you're putting cow dung and shame on
us mother I was really angry with her
preachers can't get angry and I never forget
this incredible smile her eyes so bright You
know this small frame of her see looked
at me and said you little boy.
You don't understand nothing Someday you will understand
She never disclosed her private walk of Giving
away everything she had to preach the gospel
It's a lonely walk where her own son
who is a mission leader couldn't even understand
and abuse her for the way She didn't
have fancy clothes on her, but she was
exchanging all For the sake of preaching the
gospel and reaching the lost world People around
you will think Why you keep on driving
this old car?
Why you don't have these new things or
why you are not having all the social
life And how come you know you are
fasting more than you're eating food, or how
come you don't do this?
I mean I mean Listen, please listen to
me when you stand before the Lord your
husband and wife and your Friends and children
and nobody is going to be there with
you you alone will face him not to
be Condemned and judged, but just to hear
from him what he will have to say.
Oh, what a beautiful thing It will be
for him to say My daughter I just
wait until you get here I'm so glad
you are here my son Thank you for
walking with me all alone, so glad you
are here But then you will know it
didn't happen without suffering without pain without difficulties
But it's worth it Because our life on
earth as you know is so very brief
before we know it It is over Other
day I was At this place to do
my exercise, and there's a man there who?
Helped me to do the right things and
all those things you know I'm trying to
stay alive So I can continue to preach
the gospel so And I and when he
told me do ten more times.
I said I don't like you He said
I know, but he would like me later
You know The difficulties we go through in
following the Lord the time of fasting or
prayer or giving or whatever you do or
Humbling yourself or seeking forgiveness or coming clean
be honest.
It's all difficult painful But I assure you
in the long run those difficulties will turn
into beautiful beautiful experiences with the Lord and
This is a journey the Lord is calling
us for I Remember the day I turned
50 by the way I was going to
tell you this so this man The gym
asked me So how old are you?
He should have known that I thought I
said I'm 60 he said what I Think
he was lying to me, then he said
you look a 40 I Like that sound
But I remember the day I turned 50,
and I took that day And I said
Lord It's been a interesting journey with you,
and I love it How many more years
I have left I did not know and
I want to Hear something from you this
day and I was alone and Late in
the afternoon It was interesting thing I Didn't
see him I didn't hear him with my
ears, but it was so real And he
said son A few more years left Get
to know me and you know to keep
in mind In all my 43 some years
of serving God I Have taken two vacations
and one was last year with my wife
and my children and grandchildren We went on
the ship was a weird thing you can
do, but it was quite interesting seven days
But before that we took a three days
vacation.
I don't know how many years ago and
Three meetings during that time My life revolves
around one thing the Lord and his kingdom
and nothing else I live for and as
Paul said I labor and very hard And
I expected for the Lord to say something
like this I'm glad you spend this whole
day with me.
I Know Your journey been one of the
Most difficult and you work for me you
labor for me two billion people wait to
hear my name and thank you for doing
what you're doing and and Move forward and
this and that and all kind of affirmations
What's a weird thing he didn't say any
of those things He simply said Son just
a few more years Get to know me
and I cried I sobbed I wept And
I realized once again He was saying work
is important The whole world need to hear
my name that's important Your sleepless nights and
fasting and agony.
It's all very important but son What I
ask you Love me more get to know
me better and my brothers and sisters What
makes us What we are who we are
as disciples of the Lord it is not
activities and work we perform But his life
Flowing through our earth and vessels This you
will never know unless you Spend time with
him So may I make just a few
recommendations.
Hopefully some of them are practical you can
do them Average Christians in America The study
shows spend less than eight minutes a day
in prayer that means a whole bunch of
them do nothing Would you consider asking the
Lord for grace and make a decision to
take Maybe an hour a day just to
be with the Lord Please stop reading books
about some new things that you need to
learn No, this is a time you got
your Bible and you and Jesus Practice that
and you'll find the joy and it will
cause it increase more time and Maybe it
will become two hours a day Then see
if he can take a day of the
week for fasting No, he will not die
if he fast a day if you die
Heaven is a better place Why you fast?
Way to help you to lose some weight
But don't worry about that part But you
say Lord this is fast Before you why
Lord I want to see you.
I know you You'll feel hungry.
If you add two three four days, you'll
find it a little more easier But if
you take a week or something like that,
you will find after a couple of days
things get a little easier And I encourage
you to enter into a world of Spending
time with the Lord getting to know him
in that way And I please I encourage
you don't feel guilty and bad Because you
are not doing it now or you don't
know how to do it but someone like
your shepherd here that Walked with the Lord
and know the way I'm sure you will
learn more how to go about doing that
The second thing I will ask you to
do What is godliness?
What is knowing Jesus?
It is just being honest The the only
way you can really know him is to
be honest When I say I was given
the revelation of God he began totally honest
he said I'm I'm lost I am undone.
I just I don't know what to do
See the longer you pretend to be spiritual
by using the right words and doing the
right things and this and that we will
live in our world of superficiality and being
honest and and Transparent before the Lord and
before one another that makes us to become
more real before the Lord and The third
thing I would encourage you one of the
worst enemy that We have in our following
the Lord is the love of comfort and
materialism whether you know it or not The
amount of time You spend shopping around buying
things on sale and crowding your life with
stuff that Just hurts I do not know
anything that bothers or hurt hinders people than
the love of material things Anything money can
buy to make life more comfortable and ease
keep on going after that, you know life
Keep it simple and So you will find
it easier to do out your time for
the things of the Lord and I pray
that your journey When this comes to an
end you will say Lord, it's been a
good journey and that's what you want Thank
you for listening Thank you for opening your
hearts to the Lord and my prayer is
that the Lord will draw you close to
him and he will Amen