A lot has happened over this past weekend
and there's a lot of things we'd like
to share.
I think one thing you have to become
accustomed to on this team is that it's
impossible to keep up on all the news
and try not to get upset or irritated
with someone when maybe they don't inform you
about something because so much is happening.
And it's just difficult.
And there'll be times when those of you,
because we do meet separately on Monday, those
of you in STL will have some news,
some item to pray, and those in ICT
won't know much about that.
And there'll be other times when it's reversed.
Don't worry about that.
Don't suddenly think, oh, ICT has more news
than STL.
Well, I'll tell you, ICT may have more
news, but you sure got more money.
But maybe we'll sell some of our news.
But we, in many ways, the ministry of
ICT and STL are very distinct, very distinct
and very different.
As Christians, we love to emphasize our unity
and our similarities.
Sometimes we're unrealistic about the differences that we're
facing in our particular work.
Many of us, for example, in ICT are
hardly ever in Bromley.
So that is a little different from some
of you who may have to report in
here five days a week.
This is one of the reasons for this
little retreat because this retreat, one of the
goals is to get to know one another
as we're so often traveling.
Turn with me to 1 Peter 5.
I want to talk about God's grace.
You know, sometimes the challenge of OM and
of the New Testament can become pretty heavy.
I've listened to some of the study program
tapes.
Most of my study program I received through
tapes and books.
This weekend alone, I went through several different
tapes on my way trying to listen to
all the messages of the conference, main messages
of the conference for itinerant evangelists.
Akbar Huck, Billy Graham, Faisal Kavangiri, these are
always good people for study program.
And I, however, have listened to also some
of the tapes of study program here.
And, of course, I think many people who
come to teach us, they have a burden
on their heart.
They don't just want to study and teach
line on line.
They want to challenge us with something.
And I think at times in OM we
get many challenges.
And if we listen and if we're sensitive,
we can almost have to live in a
perpetual state of repentance as blow after blow
is given to our heart.
And I think it's important to know when
the challenge is coming strong that there is
grace.
William MacDonald, I remember him preaching 20 some
years ago here in London at one of
our conferences.
He wrote the word grace, I think he
wrote it down, G-R-A-C-E,
and then he did under the G, God.
Under the R, riches.
Under the A, at.
Under the C, Christ.
Under the E, expense.
It's a good way to remember what grace
is.
God's riches at Christ's expense.
Now I always appreciate when it's study program
time that everybody has their notebooks out.
I'm glad that some do.
The rest, please, do not develop the bad
habit of coming to study program time without
your notebook.
Because we're not here just to try to
stimulate you for an hour so that maybe
you can make it through the day or
get you just to wake up.
We give these things, according to 2 Timothy
chapter 2, that you can give them to
others.
Everybody in OMST, ICT is in leadership training.
How many of you men think maybe, possibly,
possibly someday you're going to become a husband?
Any of you?
Uh-huh, several candidates.
Several already are.
And those of you who may possibly become
a husband, therefore you have to provide some
leadership in your home, which is more difficult
than leading an OM team, I can assure
you, as a fellow failure.
How many of you are thinking that maybe,
by surprise, not six at a time like
the lady in the north of England, you
may have a child?
Anybody think that might happen?
Okay, some of you haven't decided about that
yet.
Therefore you will be a leader.
You will be a leader in your own
home.
Therefore it's good while you have this opportunity
of exposure to people who have had, in
some cases, like old characters like me, 23
years of marriage and 28 years of leadership.
You may learn something and then the idea
is that you can give that to others.
You can share that with others.
That's one of the reasons we want you
to write these things down.
Memory is feeble in terms of what it
can bring in instant replay.
It's fantastic in terms of what it can
capture and keep.
All right, let's read the Scriptures.
Chapter 5, let's read the whole chapter.
To the elders among you, I appeal as
a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's suffering,
and one who also will share in the
glory to be revealed, be shepherds of God's
flock that is under you or under your
care, serving as overseers, not because you must,
but because you are willing, as God wants
you to be, not greedy for money, but
eager to serve, not lording it over those
entrusted to you, but being examples to the
flock.
And when the chief shepherd appears, you will
receive the crown of glory that will never
fade away.
Young men, in the same way, be submissive
to those who are older.
Excuse me.
Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because
God opposes the proud but gives grace to
the humble.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand that
he may lift you up in due course.
Cast all your anxiety on him, because he
cares for you.
Be self-controlled and alert.
Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a
roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Incredible words, aren't they, really?
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because
you know that your brothers throughout the world
are undergoing the same kind of suffering.
And the God of grace, who called you
to eternal glory in Christ after you have
suffered a little while, will himself restore you
and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
To him be the power forever and ever.
In the Authorized Version, it says God resisteth
the proud and gives grace to the humble.
Let me just read that, just to bring
a little comparison.
All right, Peter, go ahead.
Verse 7.
I've meditated on many, many times.
Verse 5.
In like manner, ye younger, submit yourselves unto
the elder.
Yea, all of you be subject one to
another.
Be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the
proud and giveth grace to the humble.
God giveth grace.
Some of us may be a little worried
about things that are coming, even little things.
I know people that find it difficult to
go through the Christmas season when they're not
at home.
I know a little about that struggle, since
I've hardly been home for Christmas for 30
years and have strong sentimental, nostalgic instincts that
oftentimes even cause me to wonder if I
missed a turn along life's road that had
kept me away from my parents and my
home for most of my entire life.
You see, O.M. was built around making
use of your Christmas for evangelism.
The whole challenge of O.M. in the
early years was forsake thou the Christmas tree
and follow us to Mexico.
And there were many tears.
Many parents opposed this, the thought of their
child not being home for Christmas, going to
Mexico with some unknown group to give out
Christian literature didn't exactly warm the Christmas tinsel
stored up from the previous year.
I think most of us realize there is
no particular biblical basis for Christmas.
I've never found anybody able to defend it
too well yet from the Scriptures.
I think you also know that there's quite
a segment of Christians that don't believe in
Christmas at all.
I almost got into that camp as Balimar
Aguilar, our first Mexican worker, is an avid
follower of that teaching.
Herbert W.
Armstrong, a leader of a false cult, by
the way, is in that camp, as many
other false cults are.
I personally don't feel it's worth arguing about.
Somehow this tradition has got into the church
that they celebrate Christmas.
I think God can use it just like
many other traditions if it doesn't get extreme.
Unfortunately, it does get extreme and it's commercialized
and it's just dragged into the ground.
But it's certainly a good time of the
year to give out tracts.
I've been giving out my Christmas tracts lately.
One I've been wanting to get rid of.
I don't know how I got it.
It's absolutely about the weakest tract I think
I've ever read.
It's got a nice picture on it.
Well, I've been leaving some of those on
the train seats.
But I find that Christmas time, people often
receive a tract, especially as you get close
to the day and you can say, Happy
Christmas.
Over here, by the way, you generally say,
Happy Christmas, rather than Merry Christmas.
Anyway, I don't want to get into that.
But there may be other struggles that you
are going to face in the coming weeks.
And it's so easy to become anxious.
You know, if we give all kinds of
teaching in this work and don't teach people
how to deal with anxiety, much of it
will be counterproductive.
I've seen people with fantastic knowledge of the
Word, fantastic zero, even relatively disciplined, yet unable
to deal with anxiety.
And all the rest, what will it mean?
Because if you're not able to deal with
anxiety in your life, it can undermine everything
you're doing.
I've been having to deal on the phone
again yesterday with a woman on the verge
of an exoemerant, nervous breakdown.
And it's been a difficult, difficult thing.
She's calling from a foreign country.
It's costing her a fortune.
I'm trying to get her linked up with
someone locally.
You know, there are never enough counselors in
the work of God.
I mean, you can always find counselors that
are willing to take your money, but it's
hard to find counselors, enough counselors, who have
spiritual balance and wisdom, to just take all
the people in the church who have needs.
Now, of course, many people today are afraid
to go to a counselor.
I believe the greatest mistake I've seen some
people make, especially married couples, is because of
their pride, unwilling to go for help.
Just feeling, oh, we'll just claim the victory
for the Lord.
I've seen those type, their marriages hit the
wall like a 50-ton truck going over
a cliff.
The Bible says, God resisteth the proud and
gives grace to the humble.
And sometimes we have to humble ourselves and
go to someone and acknowledge that we're not
getting the victory.
We've been claiming, we've been praying, we've had
the leap experience, we've had the O.M.
experience, we've had the touch, the warm touch,
glow on the end of the nose experience,
but somehow we're still not making it.
And some of you may, of course, pray
that the Lord would also give you that
kind of ministry.
The first qualification of a counselor is to
be a good listener.
So that's not too hard.
Some of you, I'm sure, are better listeners
than I am.
My wife tells me I'm a very poor
listener.
Trying hard.
Dealing with anxiety.
God giving grace.
It's so incredibly important.
What are some of the hard experiences that
you may face in your day-to-day
living where you're going to have to claim
grace?
And where I believe and I've seen how
God can give grace.
I've just listed a few.
Because I wanted this to be very practical
because we hear about grace, God's riches at
Christ's expense.
We know we should appropriate God's grace.
That means God's help, God's active love, God's
lifting us up.
In fact, that's the term it uses here.
That He may lift you up in due
time.
This is a new international version.
Phew!
So God wants to lift us up when
we're in a difficult time.
One of my great burdens, as you know,
for OM, is that we face life head
-on.
We face life as a reality.
And I think that's just so important when
we're in OM.
Let me give you a few of the
things where I think some of us may
have to claim grace in a special way.
Number one, I've listed when you feel your
parents don't really love you.
We always get some in OM who are
not doing well in connection with their relationship
with parents.
Your relationship with your parents will affect you
all of your life.
You cannot run away from it.
On young women, there may be some things
that you don't like in your mother.
There's a good chance you're going to have
the exact same thing in your life, so
don't get shocked.
Don't get shocked.
And young men, there may be some things
you don't like in your father.
And you get very upset when you see
that same thing creeping up in your own
life.
God can give grace to face the reality
of your childhood experiences, of your home background,
no matter how difficult.
There may be someone here has been raped,
maybe by your own father.
You think that's uncommon today?
You obviously haven't been involved in counseling too
many people.
You may have been beaten.
You may feel neglected.
One of the reasons so many young people
feel betrayed by their parents is because they
were generally, as children, sensitive, idealistic, and we
have it brainwashed into us as children that
adults behave in one way, in the adult,
mature way, and children behave naturally like children.
Just the fact that those words communicate different
things.
Don't be childish.
Be mature.
Mature communicates that older people are mature.
And even this verse a little bit communicates
this because it says we should submit ourselves
to those who are older.
I thought for a while this meant, you
know, older in the things of God.
But other Bible expositors say this is referring
to age.
Maybe we can have an argument over that.
The fact is that no matter how mature
your parents were or are, they're human beings.
Now, if they aren't believers, I mean, you
can only expect, of course, inconsistency of behavior
and other difficulties.
Maybe coming home drunk.
Maybe doing things that really hurt you very,
very deeply.
These childhood experiences are quite important.
And it may be that in your subconscious,
deep down in the heart, use an old
biblical term, there's a sense that your parents
don't love you.
And there could be, there may be the
possibility that deep down you have never forgiven
your parents for something they have done against
you.
Maybe you felt they loved your brother more
than you.
It's always a nice warm feeling.
Or maybe you feel they loved somebody else
down the road more than you.
Or maybe you feel the dog got a
better deal in the house than you did.
You tried to get biscuits and got your
hand slapped and the dog seemed to get
his biscuits every time he barked.
I just believe that as Christians we can
appropriate God's grace.
Is there any water around here?
Somebody get me some water.
I have a cold, tradition.
God can give grace.
Your parents probably do love you, but they
probably have emotional struggles with certain things perhaps
you do or certain disappointments connected with you.
Hard on a child for something he does
because they have that same thing in their
life and are unable to totally justify it
or bring it into perspective.
God can give you grace.
Some of you are probably from broken homes.
Don't allow the enemy to push you into
the puddle of self-pity.
A high percentage of people on planet Earth
now are from broken homes.
You're not some kind of special weirdo.
There is no reason for you to feel
now you are hindered.
Latest reports from some psychologists indicate that the
old concept of young people from broken homes
having less chance in life than those from
stable homes, actually this is now being questioned.
Some recent statistics show that many, many outstanding
people and even percentage-wise are coming from
terrible home situations.
And many people from so-called good stable
home situations are not doing so well.
You know, it's hard to prove things from
case histories because there are so many different
types of people in different cases.
But please, claim the grace of the Lord
for your background.
Don't deny it.
Lane Adams in his amazing book, I'd be
happy to send you a copy, Why Is
It Taking So Long To Get Better?
brings out some of the psychological implications of
Christian growth.
I personally feel this is not emphasized enough
in some books on sanctification.
The psychological factor is almost left out.
That's why, to me, without studying Watchman Nee's
biography, you can never understand Watchman Nee's teaching
because he never put all that in practice
himself, neither has any man who's ever lived.
And Watchman Nee got himself in terrific difficulties.
He was excommunicated from his church.
He went through all kinds of struggles.
He was a very human person.
He got sucked into the Taylorite exclusive brethren
for a couple of years.
That's when he came to this country.
Then he broke bread, went to Keswick, and
then broke bread at Honor Oak.
And that's when the exclusives completely excommunicated him.
And they have a communications network where within
a day they can completely cut a person
off worldwide.
Taylorite brethren, by the way, are quite strong
in the Brownlee area.
And it's just so often that books, heavy
books on sanctification, are written before people have
major failures in their life, therefore they couldn't
incorporate those failures.
Watchman Nee wrote those three volumes on spiritual
leadership or spiritual life, three huge volumes.
We were the distributors of those.
We introduced those to Britain.
We still feel there's a lot of great
material in them even though it's rehashed Jesse
Penn Lewis, Austin Sparks, and a few other
people.
By the way, I talked to Mr. Sparks
on the phone the other day.
It's interesting that David Wilkerson in his last
newsletter put the whole newsletter given over to
the teachings of Austin Sparks.
Who's the founder, by the way, of this
Unroke Fellowship, which is now no longer a
movement in Britain because it never took off,
but it's just another local church.
But his wife, still alive, she's 80-some
years of age, very strong prayer supporter of
OM.
God gives grace in connection with these struggles
we have in relationship with our family.
Some of you are going to go home
Christmas.
Those who are not able to go home,
you shouldn't hold that against people.
If they live close by, it's quite easy
to go home.
It's not too expensive.
It's harder to explain.
The closer you live, the harder it is
to explain to your parents why you're not
coming home.
That puts us often into question.
Are we a cult?
I think more important than ever, and I
used to be strongly opposed to anybody going
home for Christmas.
I used to work everybody right through, including
Christmas Day.
It's still more or less a habit in
my own life.
But I do take my hours off.
I actually played golf last Christmas.
But I believe when you're within range, and
when possible, and you go home, it provides
a fantastic opportunity to put into practice in
a much more difficult environment some of these
principles, at least more difficult for some people.
And whatever you do, don't be disappointed if
you have a few failures.
I would go home as a young Christian
with all my goals and all my newfound
power, Holy Spirit power and sanctification, and the
crucified life, and I'd last that two days
before I'd get in some kind of a,
a bit of a bust-up with my
father and my mother.
And then I'd feel so guilty, and I
thought, I'm not changing.
What's the purpose of all this?
Bible college, I'm the same old loudmouth, hyper
-reactive, hostile character that I was when God
found me.
God gives grace.
And often the difference is that we're convicted
of what we've done, and therefore we humble
ourselves and even say to our parents, look,
I'm sorry for saying that.
That's the thing we wouldn't so often do
years ago, when our pride locked in place,
and we expected our parents to come, and
they would apologize.
Maybe if they apologized, maybe we'll also apologize
a little.
And of course, you could go on for
weeks like that.
Number two, another area where you need a
lot of grace, is when you try very
hard to do something, and you fail.
That's a great experience.
Have you had that experience?
Maybe you'll have that around here, in SDL,
ICT, you try really hard to do something,
and you fail.
But, a normal experience in life, don't let
it throw you off.
God can give grace.
Number three, when someone, especially a friend, gossips
about you.
Have you ever had that experience?
We've had whole households here in Bromley just
blown right in two through that.
Two people were becoming close friends.
Then, the third party got involved, and, this
party said, this party here is saying something
about you.
You thought this person was your friend.
How would that person ever say something negative
about you?
They're your friend.
I'll tell you.
Because, they are human beings.
Human beings are, to some degree, subject to
changing moods.
Any of you ever change in your mood?
Of course you do.
And when we change in our moods, we
sometimes say things that otherwise we wouldn't necessarily
say.
I got a fantastic quotation passed on to
me the other day by Gary Dean on
this thing of demanding too much, expecting too
much, demanding, in a sense, too much so
-called consistency.
I don't know where it is right now,
but, I think there is this danger in
Christian work.
We expect too much from one another.
We don't want to really accept our friends
and one another as failures.
And then move on from there.
And I just believe it's, it's an opportunity
to appropriate grace.
If someone gossips against you, whatever you do,
don't just keep that in your heart.
Don't go around thinking, this person has said
this against me.
Now you have it against them and you
carry that on week after week.
Why don't you just talk it out?
And when you talk it out, use the
question method, not the accusation method.
That's why maybe in the past you've had
trouble talking things out.
You've used the accusation method.
Use the question method.
Say, look, I just heard that maybe what
I did the other day, it hurt you,
maybe it didn't, but I just heard that,
and if it did, look, I'm really sorry.
I didn't mean to say that.
I didn't mean to do that.
Or something along the lines, oh, you know,
I heard that you were offended by my
changing mattresses with you last week without asking
you.
And, you know, I'm really sorry about that.
And I just think it's so important to
talk things out.
And yet the way we talk things out
is just as important as talking it out.
Walking in the light without love can be
very, very hurtful.
O.M., over the years, has always had
a few walking in the light extremists.
And, you know, boy, remember around doing anything,
there, there, Calvary Road in their back pocket,
wombo!
And people have just been blown away.
Some people have a more sensitive nature and
temperament who have never faced up to perhaps
some of these problems in their life.
And the first person who walks in the
light with them, you know, you can get
too much light.
The first Super 8 movie I was about
to make, the guy had one of these
special lights that's only supposed to burn for
three minutes and then you turn it off.
He had forgotten that.
He just left it on.
Boom!
The thing blew up in my face.
Really, it was a miracle that I didn't
have a lot of glass in my face.
And I think that walking in the light
must be accompanied by sensitivity, by wisdom, by
love.
Don't think you've got to talk to everybody
about everything that's on your mind and heart.
Especially some people who don't understand these teachings
at all.
Maybe your own parents are not going to
be able to handle it.
I've had, we've had people on a run
go back to their parents and major walking
in the light.
Ten things I haven't been able to stand
about you, your mother.
God just laid it on my heart to
share this with you.
Mother's never even heard of this theology terminology.
So we need a lot of wisdom.
And if you find out there are some
people gossiping about you, God can give grace.
Number four, when a leader you have confided
in it breaks confidence.
That's another type of problem, isn't it?
I know people of cases, I can't remember
specifics right now, but I know it's happened.
They shared something very confidential with the leader.
It took them a lot of struggle to
do that.
And then, at least they thought, in some
cases it happened, the leader broke confidence.
Remember, when time passes, if you're a leader,
it is hard to remember what is shared
in confidence and what is not shared in
confidence.
The wise leader will keep some notes.
But, I don't think people purposely break confidence,
but I think as human beings it's impossible
to guarantee 100% confidence.
One of the reasons I am fairly good
at keeping confidence is that I have so
much that I decided just to be careful,
you know, completely, that all the information I'm
carrying around.
But, I know that it's very difficult because
oftentimes we don't realize what we're doing and
we actually think we're helping somebody.
When someone shares something with me that I
feel the leader directly over them should know,
I try to say to that person, you
go tell him.
Or, I get permission from that person.
For example, we have a policy about people
with a homosexual problem.
That if they have a homosexual problem, they're
still allowed to stay in Atlanta.
By the way, there are many missions that
will not take people with homosexual problems.
But, we would like to, you know, have
it in the light.
That doesn't mean everybody, but the leader.
We just had another major crisis in O
.M. over this out in Asia.
This person who got involved in this, we
just didn't know about it, therefore we couldn't
help.
Now, the question is, if someone shares a
homosexual problem, which is something you generally, of
course, keep in confidence, it's good, especially, suppose
they share it with me, and I'm not
the leader over them.
It's good if the leader over them, responsible
for them, knows this problem.
And I think the best thing is the
leader who's counseling to say to the person
involved, look, you go to him and share
it with him.
He will understand.
And he will be able to, perhaps, help
you.
It can be true in a number of
other areas as well.
Don't, don't allow the enemy to ground you
up into powder because you find out that
some confidence has been broken.
We're way too protective as human beings about
our reputation.
We're way too worried about what people think
of us.
And we need balance desperately in that area.
Number five, when someone you have won to
Christ, loved and helped, turns back.
That's one of the first big experiences I
ever had in life.
Because I immediately was into winning many people
to Christ, even as a very young Christian.
And so immediately I was being hurt deeply
by people going on for Christ and then
going back.
So don't let that devastate you.
There will be casualties in the spiritual life.
There is no guarantee that someone is just
going to go on from victory to victory
no matter what follow-up plan you use,
no matter how loving you are, no matter
what you do.
The more you can do to help them,
the better.
The greatest evangelists and soul winners of all
times have had individuals who they gave a
lot of time to and then turned back.
It's a hard experience.
And maybe your own brother, maybe your own
sister.
But God gives grace for that experience.
And you must appropriate that grace.
Number six, when a friend that you have
loaned something to, say your car, that you
put a lot of time, effort and money
into, goes out and crashes it.
Have you had that experience yet?
That's just a little practical experience in life.
Maybe with your hair dryer.
Maybe with something else.
You've got this vision for being unselfish.
And so you decide to let somebody use
one of your little possessions, maybe your Walkman
or your tape recorder or your bicycle, and
boom, they broke it.
So easy when something goes wrong to overreact.
I will never loan anything out again.
I will lock everything I have in my
cupboard.
Again, there are great opportunities in semi-community
life.
We're in semi-community life here.
We have privacy and there are things where
this community takes a lot of wisdom.
The very fact that we are coming together
as a group to do something big and
real creates hazards.
If you were living alone on an island,
you would not have some of the hazards
you have here.
Right?
You would have other hazards, depending what else
was on the island.
Every environment, every environment has built-in hazards.
And we all become very conscious, don't we,
when we're on OM, we become conscious of
OM.
OM becomes almost like a person.
I hear people talk about OM just like
a person.
And it's a terrific scapegoat.
Anything that's gone wrong, OM, it's just like
male chauvinist drivers.
When everything's gone wrong, it's a woman driver.
It's a woman driver.
It's a fantastic scapegoat.
It's a normal part of human nature.
So the very fact that we're sharing vehicles,
the very fact that we're sharing premises, and
a lot of other things, there will be
some of these things happening.
We want to work on this.
We want to be better stewards.
And we need challenges along that line.
We need to put it into practice.
But you know, learning how to accept the
spoiling of your goods.
Ever heard that terminology?
Try the New Testament.
Learning how to handle the spoiling of your
goods.
I have found that a trial in life
myself.
Being tight somewhat by nature.
Wanting to be careful.
I have found that a difficulty.
Number seven, when you've lost something valuable after
fervent prayer, alerting the whole body to pray,
claiming in the name of Jesus the return
of that item, it doesn't show up.
You know, we always get the testimonies about
answers to prayer.
Somebody's lost something and praise the Lord, God
answered prayer, I found it.
What about testimonies for prayers that weren't answered?
We're not honest enough sometimes, aren't we?
To really say, well, look, you know, I've
prayed now for four weeks for my watch
to return and it hasn't returned.
I'd love to talk about that sometime.
But one thing we know, God gives grace.
God gives grace.
It's always there.
There is no temptation given you that is
not common.
And God will provide a way of escape.
You have to choose that way.
I used to think that verse indicated automatically
you would just escape the temptation if you
were walking in the Spirit.
No, you still have to choose the way.
It's there.
The grace is there.
You have to choose it.
It's an act of faith.
You've got to use your mind.
You've got to use your will.
It's not sitting back in your bed saying,
O thou grace of God, come thou upon
me.
It's a step of faith.
It's believing.
It's like Lloyd-Jones says, speaking to yourself,
speaking to yourself.
This is the way I'm going.
There's the river of grace.
I'm going to drink from that river.
God gives grace.
Number eight, when you felt you had the
victory over a particular sin and then you
fall again.
There's no young man who at one point
in his Christian life hasn't felt he had
total victory over a particular area and then
fallen again.
The disappointment of that failure can easily throw
one into the pond of despond or self
-pity.
Self-pity is one of the most subtle
forms of self-love.
And we then blame God.
Why hasn't God delivered me?
So many people I counsel are in that
syndrome.
Why hasn't God delivered me?
I prayed about this.
I fasted and prayed about this.
You see, all the fasting and all the
prayer in the world doesn't dehumanize you.
It doesn't turn you into some kind of
computer.
You still and I still have the great
capacity to fail.
And victory in many areas of the Christian
life is an ongoing battle.
An ongoing struggle.
Number nine, when one you truly love gets
ill, you pray hard and so do other
people and that person dies.
This is dealt with in Edith Schaeffer's amazing
book Affliction and on many other books.
There's not time to go into it.
Just two other points.
When you have wrong feelings towards someone, work
hard to get the victory and fail finding
it even harder to love that person.
Any of you feel you have an irregular
person in your life?
Have you read Joyce Landorf's book Irregular Person?
I'm just in this book now.
It is amazing.
The insight this woman has into relationships.
By irregular person, she means someone that no
matter how hard you try, somehow you just
can't.
It just doesn't work.
It may be among your own family members.
I have seen this philosophy of the irregular
person in the church, in OM, all these
years I have never been able to nail
it down the way this woman nailed it
down.
I've always seen it.
I've even taught something about it.
But I've never been able to put my
finger on the way she has.
And you know, I'm not just talking about
first and second year OMers.
I'm talking about people who have been on
OM 15, 17, 20 years.
Don't think being on OM 15 years makes
you spiritual.
You're still human.
You're still going to fail.
This is why whole missions break up into
two.
Because the new recruits are all expecting so
much from the leaders.
They're still human beings, maybe going through greater
struggles in the 30s than they ever faced
when they were 19.
I certainly had more struggles in my 30s
than I did in my 20s.
I mean, in my 20s I was just
like some pellet shot from a gigantic cannon.
And I'm sure I had some problems.
I don't remember.
But life changes.
And I think many men face enormous problems
when their children become teenagers.
And they no longer can just say, do
this, do this, go here, go there.
They just go.
And then they're mouthing back and they got
their own counter philosophies and all kinds of
interesting things.
And I just think oftentimes a younger person
in the faith is used if God didn't
minister to someone else who may be older
but they're still human.
They're still failures.
They're still sinners.
And it's so sad when Christian movements break
in two because the newer generation is so
disappointed in the older generation.
We easily underestimate people or overestimate.
Again and again I hear people overestimate.
Oh, he's a great man of God.
Oh, he's a spiritual Christian.
Oh, he's this or she's that.
Or we underestimate.
Find the balance in evaluating people.
Very difficult.
It's easy to go by first impressions.
I know people just write somebody off.
First impression.
Especially if they have a hyper view of
their own gift of discernment.
Just write some guy off.
Oh, I love sometimes to fellowship with those
people and give them a few facts that
maybe they didn't know about that particular person
they may have just written off.
Don't write anybody off.
Jesus didn't.
He had Judas on his team.
And we just need a lot of wisdom
in that area.
And then my last point.
When someone openly belittles you and shows you
are wrong in something.
That's hard, isn't it?
Rule number one is that you should not
belittle people.
Put them down.
Put their nationality down.
Put their person type down.
Put their denomination down.
Now don't get hyper about it because it's
hard to live in life without being belittled.
And it's good to learn to laugh at
yourself a little bit.
Don't think people are always picking on you.
Don't think, Oh, I've got such a tremendous
disability.
Nobody understands my disability.
You know, there are most of us have
disabilities.
Emotional disabilities can be greater than physical disabilities.
And the man who looks like he has
it all together later on in life they
discovered he had a great area of weakness.
Everybody's reveling these days that John F.
Kennedy had a great weakness for women.
Interesting.
Now that he's dead now everybody can pick
over and decide what he's made out of.
But, you know, if great people in the
world and even Christians have these weaknesses you
shouldn't be surprised if you come up with
a few.
And if somebody in an off moment when
maybe they're in the flesh or maybe when
they're under some particular pressure they belittle you
they humiliate you God can give grace even
for that.
God gives grace.
He resisted the proud and he gives grace
to the humble.
These are just a few experiences some of
you have already had.
Some of them are further down life's road.
And isn't it great to know whatever experience
may come upon us even today God gives
grace.
That's what the Christian life is all about.
God's grace.
God lifting you up.
When men have knocked you down when you've
knocked yourself down God lifting you up.
God putting you back on the highway of
blessing.
Let him do that to you.
Let him do that for you.
Every day of your life.
Let's pray.
Father we thank you for your grace.
Grace that lifts us up in time of
need.
Abundant grace.
As the burden grows greater the grace grows
even greater yet.
And we thank you for this.
And we praise you.
And this day we want to appropriate grace
for hard situations for difficult relationships for sin
or mistakes for things that go wrong.
Help us Lord at the moment of crisis
maybe to just get a moment away or
maybe into the foxhole of our own mind
and appropriate grace for that situation.
In the family in the warehouse behind the
wheel in the routine of life.
We ask in Jesus name.
Amen.
May the grace of God be with you.
Amen.
Is there any announcements?
Otherwise if we could go.
Yes.
A little bit early this week but on
Saturday we won't be having any evangelism like
usual.
But what we will be having is a
sort of a drama workshop type of thing.
So for all of you who have been
involved in a drama group for some time
since you were here or anybody else who
would like to come along and just try
your hand and see what turns out.
We will be doing a number of different
things running through some of the sketches we
have got.
We have got a couple of guests from
the Rotterdam Free Church who have done some
drama for the Mission for London Family Day
and things like that.
And in the summer they will be coming
along and showing a few of their sketches.
We know a few mind exercises things like
that and perhaps a bit of improvisation That's
Saturday morning.
Okay.
I want a few minutes over so if
you could be diligent in going to work
you might save me some difficulty.