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YOUNG ELIJAHS
WE NEED YOU
By Bro. Mark Bullen
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Written at 19 and edited at 41, this is the story of my conversion. I was converted at 15 years old at a youth camp. I had been raised in church, but due to false teaching and my own spiritual dullness, I had never experienced true repentance - didn't know I needed to. At 15 God revealed to me in my spirit through the preaching of the Word that He would not accept less than complete repentance and submission. I clearly remember the prayer that I prayed at the altar, "God, really forgive me this time". I had asked forgiveness before, but never fully committed my will to obey God. God became real in my life, and in the next year, my brother and I started a Bible club in our public high school of over 3000 students. I carried my Bible to every class and served God the best I knew how. I present this in hopes of helping some young person. I'm glad I did what I could with what I knew. I'm thankful I didn't wait around until after college to serve the Lord. I have always thought it a frustration to be required to act upon what you know only to find later that you didn't know very much. But, be it so, God is looking for living faith, desire, and zeal for good works; not perfection in knowledge and method. I only wish every young person had the zeal and desire to please God that I had. God has blessed me with spiritual blessings, which could not have been obtained if I had not strove to obey with all my heart. I am convinced I would not be where I am today in understanding truth, if I had not been faithful in the little I knew when I had the opportunity. If only our trouble in the church were because of too much zeal in the youth, what a glory that would be. The foreword is written by my youth pastor.
Foreword
I remember distinctly that Sunday morning several years ago...gazing around our bustling high school classroom...wondering where in the world would we find our next leadership group. The "old guard" had graduated. It seemed a bunch of relative "unknowns" had swelled our ranks to our present group. A lot of teens, but no one stepping out to fill the teen leadership gap. So it remained that entire school year. Little did I know what the Lord was doing in the hearts of some of those young lives. Little did I know our prayers and work would see a summer camp give birth to a couple of the most dynamic young preachers I know today.
I remember as Matthew, and then Mark related their sense of God's call on their lives. My excitement was tempered with reminders of past short-lived decisions of commitment at camp. Mark and Matthew faced Luke 14:25-33 squarely in the face and unreservedly said, Yes Lord, I will.
Why have these young men been different? The exciting contents of this book reveal the why. Any young person--any adult--serious about their commitment to Christ and to reach the lost will be benefited by the contents of this book. Yes, it is pointed, but it is powerful. You may not agree with every jot and tittle. Good men are entitled to differences of opinion. But I know Mark, he lives what he preaches. I respect him because he is real. You say, zeal without knowledge. I say thank God for any young person with a zeal for God at all in our godless society.
Pay close attention to the Scripture expounded, the personal applications, the real spiritual warfare, and the fruit of their labors. Wow! Can you read with an open heart and not be moved? I thrilled again to read the testimonies I had heard and seen personally; and rejoiced in the great things I didn't even know had taken place. As God's Spirit works through this book, you as I, will find yourself rejoicing, repenting, and recommitting to the greatest thing in the world -- loving our Lord Jesus Christ, and leading people to Him as earnestly and effectively as we can.
There is so much I want to say, but will refrain. In fact, I was so fired up from reading this book, I am now rewriting this foreword. I found myself preaching right along with Mark, and not writing a foreword. Praise the Lord! That's what it's all about. I'll close with this...
I remember a story of a famed mountain climber of yesteryear. Reporters were covering his dramatic ascent to the top of a particularly treacherous and challenging mountain. They watched as far as the human eye could distinguish the climbers form. One reporter returned to his typewriter and wrote, "last seen climbing upward!" I am happy to report of these two younger "mountain climbers" of the faith -- "last seen climbing upward".
Their Youth Pastor, Brother, and Friend
Bro. Rick Cochran
Isaiah 40:31
Preface
From a teenager to a world full of teenagers; I have simply set forth in writing what I wish I had known five years ago. We teens get off easy, because our youth pastors never did a work for God in high school, and because the schools have changed so much, they really don't know what to tell us. I happen to be one of you, and I have put my preaching to the test of living.
O, young person, I beg you from my side of the fence, taste and see that the Lord is good. Jesus is coming back! I cannot remain silent! I know I preach the truth! How long halt ye between two opinions? If God be God, then serve Him.
If the Christian young people of this nation would catch the fire of God, and let it burn in their hearts, we would see a revival like this world has never witnessed before! It is possible. It is! Will you do your part? You may not realize the chain-reaction that you are involved in; but, just remember, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. You will all think that you're the only soldier in action, and feel all alone on your battlefront; yet, in Christ, we will be an efficient, strategically positioned, fighting force. Have you any faith in God? Then let's do it.
My sincere thanks to Matthew Bullen and Alvin Walker for their help in writing and proof reading the manuscripts. Many were the encouraging words from friends who took interest in this work; to whom I am grateful. I deeply appreciate Bro. Rick Cochran writing the foreword, and helping make the whole story possible. Most of all I wish to thank Jesus Christ who gave the idea, the ability, and the strength to complete this task.
Mark Bullen I Cor. 9:16
Chapter One
Heart To Heart
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Jer. 1:6,7
Young Elijah, there is a dreadful problem in our nation today, and I believe that you're the man for the job. As you read this book, I do not want you to be encouraged; I want you to be changed. I do not have wishes that you will admire the contents; but, rather, that you will apply them. Instead of being amazed at the accomplishments, I pray that you will say, "Hey, I can do that!" and even do more. I wish to share with you what God can do with much zeal and little knowledge. Then, I want you to add the knowledge I give with your zeal, and accomplish more for the kingdom of our Lord than we did.
Jeremiah had the same misconception that many young people have today: "I am too young and uneducated to do any lasting work for the Lord." Many Jr. and Sr. high school students are surrendered to the Lord's work, but are waiting around until after Bible college before they begin their service. The problem is this: NOBODY CAN REACH JR. AND SR. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST WITH LASTING RESULTS AS WELL AS JR. AND SR. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS!!!
Have you surrendered your life to Christ at a youth camp, a church, or somewhere else; but there is really no place for you to have a meaningful and rewarding ministry? If so, I want you to seek God in prayer and Bible study while you read this book; and I guarantee that God will deal with your heart.
The Bible says that "Elijah was a man...", but he wasn't just an ordinary man. Elijah was a man who seperated himself from the worldly ways, and wholly dedicated his life to God. In an age where God's people were more concerned with pleasure and comfort than God's reputation, Elijah was jealous for the name of the Lord. His heart ached to see the false religions of the day deceive people and pull them away from the true and living God. He hurt to see people saying that Jehovah was out of style. He was zealous to defend the Word of God, and to show the world that Israel's God was the only true God, the creator of the universe. This hunger and thirst of his soul caused him to be different from the other "Christians" of the day. While there were 7000 men in Israel who did not serve the false gods, Elijah was the only one with the courage to preach the truth!
I believe that in the Jr. and Sr. high, and college age spectrum there are some young Elijahs with a burning in their hearts, but are afraid to express it. They know that Satan is destroying their generation with rock music, drugs, alcohol, immorality, and false concepts about Jesus Christ. They know that people are continually dropping into hell for eternal torment. They know the Bible says, "When I say unto wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand." They know all this, and they can see in the news that Jesus Christ is coming soon; but they have been deceived by the devil that they are not needed, or can make no real impact on the problem. God Forbid!
I beseech you, young Elijahs, to repent of your excuses and be true to the call of God. There is not a Bible college or seminary in the world that can make you a preacher/soul-winner, if you are not one when you enter. If God has called you to preach, then you are a preacher...now! Of Course you need to grow, mature, and learn; but that is no excuse for not heeding God's call. Your're the only Bible some of your friends will every read! Away with Sunday Christianity! Somebody sound the alarm! Hell is real! It has not cooled off! The young people in your school will spend eternity in the lake of fire unless somebody stands up and gives a cry of warning! We need some Elijahs to stand up to the devil, defy his threats, call his bluff, and deliver our young people out of his hands.
My prayer to God is that the following stories and exhortations will grip some young persons' heart — that they will be jealous for the name of Christ, deny themselves, take up their cross, and fight!
Chapter Two
In The Beginning
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” Jer. 2:2?
As a boy growing up in church, I was given the impression that, unless you had some miraculous salvation experience from a life of untold sin, you could never really be great for God. I felt in the back of my heart, since I had no catastrophic conversion, I could never affect a lost world. Wicked lifestyles almost seemed a source of pride when testimonies were given. I couldn’t go from prison to the pulpit. I was rowdy, but my parents and the people at church knew me as a good kid. Nobody told me a Christian teenager was supposed to be that much different than I was; and if they did, I never took it to heart. I was a typical, lukewarm, spiritually lazy, careless, Christian teenager. I knew all there was to know about church (I thought), and wasn’t all that excited about it––no one else seemed to be either. I said my prayers before going to bed, and my heart had been stirred over the years; but I was blind to my spiritual barrenness, Just like the Laodicean Church of Revelation; I thought I had need of nothing, when really I had nothing at all, God was demanding repentance, but my ears were closed to His Spirit.
I don’t believe that preaching alone would have ever jolted me out of my selfish little world. It was more than preaching that changed me, it was a mother’s prayers; the Holy Ghost anointed preaching of a red–hot evangelist; and the mercy of an Almighty God. In the spring of ‘82 Evangelist Jerry Johnston came and preached at the Temple Baptist Church of Albuquerque, New Mexico, There God began to deal with the heart of this lukewarm Christian; yet, as I look back, I was living in a fog of spiritual blindness, I tried to witness to some of my friends, and rebuked my brother for his cussing; but my own life was far from right with God. That summer, though Satan fought hard, God worked it cut for Matthew and I to go to a Christian youth camp. Again, Jerry Johnston was the speaker. Every night we listened and were stirred, but were never changed. We were too busy trying to catch the girl’s attention and protect our well-established egos.
I believe it was Wednesday afternoon, while I was lying unnoticed on the top bunk in the dorm, that Matthew walked in with our youth pastor, Rick Cochran. Standing directly beneath me, one on each side of the bunk, Matthew was asking Bro. Rick how one knows if God is calling him to preach. They discussed it for a while and then left; never realizing I was on the top bunk listening. I don’t remember caring or thinking much about what was said; I just brushed it off as what normally happens at youth camp.
That night Bro. Jerry preached. The topic of the sermon I do not remember, but that night the Spirit of God broke my heart. Letting go of my pride, I walked down the aisle with the other kids. I wept bitterly for God to really forgive me this time, and make a definite change in my life. I didn’t want the “youth camp special”, which only lasts about 1.6 weeks — if you know what I mean. God was real, and I knew He was; but He was not real in my life. As I cried and prayed that God would not allow me to leave the same as I came; the Spirit of God filled me with a determination to live the rest of my life for winning souls to Christ.
What I didn’t realize was that my brother had gone down the other aisle, and had prayed a very similar prayer. God had called him to preach, and he had simply surrendered, instead of fighting it off. I got up and went over to where he was praying with some others. With tears running down my face, I simply said, “I gave it all”. There was nothing more to say. God had not told me to do anything else. That is all He wanted from me, and that is all He wants from every Christian — to give it all. This is the place where all the great heroes of the faith started.
The Spirit of God had allowed us to see our high school’s need for Jesus Christ, and our responsibility to meet that need. Now we had to do something about it. Jerry Johnston had a Bible club in his school, so we figured that was a good place to start. There was never any great revelation from God; in fact, I really don’t remember when or how we decided to start the Bible club. We knew what needed to be done, and just simply set out to do our best.
Chapter Three
Manzano Bible Study
“The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing:
but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.” Prov. 13:4
Whenever you set out to do something great for God, it is always good to find someone to share your vision with — someone you can be accountable to. If my brother and I had not kept after each other, we might have never gone through with our plans. The rest of that summer was designed by the devil to discourage us before we ever got started, but God’s grace was sufficient to sustain us. I really don’t remember much detail between camp and the time that school started. We just worked with our father in his construction business.
School began, as usual, on a Monday. By Thursday of the first week, we had rearranged our classes for our new Bible study. I dropped my sixth period computer class, so we could have Bible study during B-lunch and sixth period. I was no longer working to be a chemical engineer, so I didn’t need that class anymore. Sixth period was a free time for a large majority of the students, so we thought we could catch many who had A-lunch during this time.
Neither my brother, nor I, knew beans about starting a Bible study. When, at lunch, we whipped out our Bibles and announced to our group of friends that we were going to the library to start a Bible study; you can imagine the reaction. But, since we were sort of the leaders of the group, some decided to witness this phenomena really take place. Well, here we were, a bunch of “cowboys” crowded around a table in the library; probably looking like some sort of mini-rodeo. Matthew, being the oldest, began to read John chapter one…and two…and three…. Somewhere during chapter three, I turned to a young man at my end of the table and asked him if he was going to heaven when he died. He didn’t know. I began to explain what Matthew was reading, and then asked him if he would like to know how to go to heaven. He shrugged and nodded. We left the group and went to a conference room. After sharing with him that we’re all sinners (Romans 3:23); that all sinners go to hell (Romans 6:23a); that Jesus died to save him from hell (Romans 6:23b); and that he must repent and call upon the Lord to forgive him and save him (Romans 10:9-13); he bowed his head and asked the Lord to forgive him and come into his heart and save him!
We went home that day on cloud 9½. We told everybody what happened, and called Bro. Rick that night with the good news. My mother told us to start a notebook to keep record of every person who received Christ. That day we started the journal, which is sitting beside me as I type. The first page looked like this:
The Holy Spirit Bible Study
Started August 26, 1982
Ted Chavez accepted the Lord 8-26-82
Charter Members: Matthew Bullen, Mark Bullen, Mike Meyers, Mark Malles, Glen Jorden, John Owens, Ted Chavez, Cheri Pendley, Debbie Greenwood.
Friday 8-27-82 saved
David Watkins (won him to Christ during Spanish class)
Paul Langley
Monday 8-30-82 saved
Micheal Granjean
Wednesday 9-1-82 saved
Jennifer Fox
Friday 9-32-82 saved
Jerry Hicks
Jennifer Taylor
Tuesday 9-7-82 saved
Morris Sanchez
Thus began the Manzano Bible study. We kept a close record of every person who professed Christ until we reached 256 during the second year. We stopped because we were afraid of living on past victory, instead of going on for more. Only God knows who was sincere, and everybody needs the message, so we saw no need to keep it. It wasn’t wrong to keep a record, but it was a weight to us.
EDITOR NOTE: Growing up in the Baptist church, I was taught their soul-winning methods. As with all protestants, they focus on the starting line of the race, while almost completely ignoring the finish line. This is due to their false doctrine of “eternal security”. The most important part of saving a soul is getting them to run the race with a living faith all the way to the finish line. As a youth, I focused on getting them to make a commitment to Christ, but I wish I had emphasized that they must continue and endure in the faith until death. I did tell them they needed to repent and follow the Lord, but I would now make it clearer, if I had it to do over. I just pray God used the seeds I planted in my sincere ignorance. I pointed them to Jesus. If they followed and listened to Him, as they were supposed to, they will be saved.
The first Sunday after starting the Bible study, we announced to our youth department what was happening. This is when Cheri Pendley and Debbie Greenwood, who went to our church, started to work with us. They were a great help and encouragement.
My brother and I began to read, listen, study, and teach every bit of reading material, tapes, and sermons we could get our hands on. We read books like Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, The Life of David Brainerd, Finney on Revival, The Power of Pentecost, and many others. We threw away all of our country music, and recorded off Christian music we got from our grandparents, aunts, uncles, and parents. We had a new future…a new life!
This little Bible club made quite an impact on that big high school. We had a fairly small group of regulars, but they became very dedicated. Not all of them went to our church, but we were a team. As long as a member was not ashamed to go soul winning on campus, they had continual personal revival; but the ones who would not go soul winning eventually fell by the way side.
Young Elijah, you may not ever be a great speaker, and you may never be eloquent or highly educated; but you can be a soul-winner! If you lose your emphasis on soul winning and get out of touch with the lost in witnessing, you’re headed down the drain spiritually. Read Matthew 21:28-31, and decide way down deep in your heart which person you are going to be:
· But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
If you are born again, you will not lie to God; but you will obey Him. Faith and obedience are two sides to the same coin. When God’s will is set forth clearly before a true Christian, there will be obedience. God has commanded us to be witnesses.
Chapter Four
Remembering
He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Eccl. 11:4-6
It is really difficult to allow my mind to ponder the precious memories without tears. God is so good, our meager praises can never do justice to His glory. Needless to say, Matthew and I began to do some heavy duty, personal Bible study. High school students know much more about religion than you may think; and they want some solid answers for their many questions. They wanted to know how Noah got the dinosaurs in the ark! We dealt with Jehovah’s Witnesses (falsely so called), Mormons, Muslims, transcendental meditators, and a large variety of other religious infidels. We had to learn fast or lose the young people who were depending on us for answers. They would go witnessing, and come back with questions they could not answer — we had to have something solid. Between memorizing Scriptures, reading commentaries, and much prayer, we did pretty well; and God used our little Bible study to turn our campus upside down with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
At first, our Bible study lessons were a string of verses on a subject from the Bible. Then, Bro. Rick took some of the young men in the youth group with him to a youth rally in Roswell, New Mexico. On the way down to the church there, he taught us how to make a three point outline for a sermon. After you make the outline, and gather some verses to back up your points, you find some appropriate way to illustrate the truth, and preach your heart out. He didn’t say it exactly that way, but that is what we started to do–It revolutionized us!
Jesus said we should fast and pray for supernatural results, so we did. We set goals to fast until we could lead someone to Christ, and God blessed. When you say, “Lord, I’m going to fast until I can win two people to Christ”, you tend to get quite busy. I think it would do some of our preachers good to miss a few meals to get people saved. Sadly enough, most preachers have forgotten what the “ministry” is all about. There is nothing more urgent than preaching the gospel in the power of the Spirit to a lost hell-bound world.
I can still remember the first time by brother and I stayed up all night and prayed. We read that Jesus prayed all night, and heard that many of God’s great men spent whole nights in prayer; so we had to have it too. Precious memories! We were afraid my mom and dad would hear us, and get upset. Once we thought we heard them coming down the stairs, and quickly turned out the light. We had a hard time staying awake, and an even harder time at school the next day; but God blessed every effort to be great for Him. It is all a part of growing and maturing in the Spirit of Christ. We may have had much zeal and little knowledge, but we accomplished more than all of our critics with all their dead knowledge and no zeal.
The next time Jerry Johnston came to our church for a revival crusade, things were a little different. Bro. Jerry couldn’t get into the public schools with his Life assembly, so we tried to bring the school to the church. The Friday night of the crusade was supposed to be teen-night. We were going to have free pizza after the service, and to promote it we had tickets to pass out. Each ticket had the time, date, address, and told about the free pizza. Our Bible study group passed out approximately 2000 tickets at our school; and about 9% of that showed up at the church. Those who went forward from our school did not last very long as far as I know, but many precious seeds were planted. We were able to reap some of the harvest later on that year.
We would meet for Bible study everyday during lunch and sixth period. Monday was prayer day; Tuesday we witnessed on campus; Wednesday Matthew or I preached; Thursday we witnessed on campus; and Friday Matthew or I preached. The schedule varied as the Lord led in different areas, but that was the normal format. I believe that if a person really wants to do something big for Christ, he will go to every extreme that is a potential for success — within Biblical bounds, of course. It is amazing to see how much energy people can muster to do what they want to do. If your heart is in tune with God, you’ll find all kinds of energy for His work.
Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 tells us not to give up before we even start. We never know what might work, or might fail, unless we give it a fair chance. If it works, and is according to God’s principles, then keep it; if it produces the wrong results, kick it out. When setting out to accomplish something big for God, you rarely complete all that you planned; but you would be amazed how much more you accomplish in trying, than if you had never set out to accomplish what you didn’t accomplish.
The Lord will give you insight for the sake of your position, and the sheep to which you minister. Why wouldn’t God energize His shepherds for the sake of the sheep? He does! If you follow Him, He will make you a fisher of men for the men’s sake. I have most of my old sermon outlines from that first year — God gave me some good stuff! I would preach them again! Sure, you have an awesome job to do. Yes, it is a supernatural work, and cannot be done with natural strength. You do your part and God will take care of the rest. Win souls to Christ, get them baptized, and teach them to win others; that is the job you must focus on!
You know why most men won’t stand up and be spiritual leaders? You are afraid of making mistakes! I bet I have made more mistakes than most Christians in soul winning, but I have won more souls than most Christians. I know I have made more mistakes in prayer and preaching than the average Christian teenager — and had more successes! There are those who will not give you room to make a mistake — those people are usually living a lie. If someone is running from guilt, they will judge your every little mistake. I have started more things that have failed; but the Bible says to give it all a try and something will work sooner or later. Don’t accept failure, and don’t run from it — overcome it!
Chapter Five
Revival
In the Christian life is constant battle.
In Christ is constant victory
In victory is constant Joy.
When God’s people read God’s Word, pray God’s way, live God’s way, and preach God’s way; you have what is termed a revival! As a Bible study we became obsessed with getting people saved. I Xeroxed the chapter, “How To Win A Soul To Christ” out of Hyles Visitation Manual; made small books out of the copies with tape and staples; and passed them out among our study group. God gave us many creative ways to witness to a school that did not allow such a thing.
Editor’s note: We erroneously thought getting people to pray that “sinner’s prayer” saved them for eternity — as long as they were sincere, of course. Protestants have foolishly focused on the starting line of the race of faith, and ignored the necessity of making it to the finish line. This is how we were taught. I just pray God has used our efforts to plant seeds in some lives that will lead them to the real truth of salvation like I was led. If one is sincerely seeking God through the Bible they will overcome heresy and find the truth.
That first year in my English class, the teacher told us we all had to get up and give an advertisement before the class. I took advantage of the opportunity, and gave a great sales talk about the greatest gift offer in all eternity — eternal life. Matthew and I had speech class at the same time the second year of Bible study. We were always being told how narrow minded we were by our liberal teacher. The majority of our speeches were supposed to be problem-solution speeches. Well, that was right down our alley. The problem was sin, and the solution was Jesus Christ.
Many times during the week I would write a note to someone in one of my classes. I would pray that God would give me the right person and the right words; then I would write them a personal tract. Later, after class, if they didn’t write me back during class, I would approach them and ask how they felt about what they read. Let me pause here a moment and say to all the students: “I made good grades while doing all of this.” I do not believe it is a good testimony to make bad grades, unless you have to compromise your Christianity in order to get good grades. The worst grades I ever received were in that speech class — she would have liked to have flunked me, I think.
On two occasions I sneaked into the school halls at night and stuffed every locker, 2415 of them, with a gospel tract. Our school was set up with the lockers outside, but you had to climb over the roof to get into the hall. It seems I remember a story in the Bible where some young men climbed up on a roof to get their friend saved. One time I remember climbing up on a concrete bench and preaching at the top of my lungs to a crowded hall. It did not make a big impact, as I could not speak over the noise of the students; but it did give the rest of the Bible study a chance to witness when they were asked if they knew that nut who was preaching. They also became more bold thinking that if I could do that, at least they could witness one on one. Leader, you have to be over active to get your followers to be average.
I believe that the most effective tool the Lord gave us was a simple T-shirt. We were constantly looking for new ways to preach the gospel to our school. When the idea of this T-shirt came up, we never dreamed it would be so powerful. We bought plain white T-shirts with red collars and sleeves. On the front we put large red letters, which asked “DO YOU KNOW”. That is all it said; but when someone would ask, “Do you know what?”; we would reply, “Do you know when you die if you are going to heaven?”, or, “Do you know Jesus as your personal Saviour?”, etc. It was an idea sent from heaven! I have to admit that after a while it was pretty hard to wear those T-shirts. Once most of the people knew what they were about, they would ridicule and mock. You must have those problems, however, to do something for God.
Matthew and I loved to sing together, and still do. We learned to mimic the professional gospel singers that we listened to, and sung those songs. There were many times that our Bible study group would walk through the student center with us singing gospel songs. They played rock music on our school bus, so Matthew and I would spend many bus rides home singing in the back of the bus to drown our the beat. Believe it or not, all of this so called “fanatical singing” brought much boldness to our group and some souls to Christ. So many Christians are afraid to let their Christianity show for fear of offending the world; but did not Jesus offend the world? Brother, in order for someone to truly be saved, they have to repent…turn…change! If you show them nothing different from what they already have, how do you expect them to understand what repentance is? How do you expect them to feel conviction?
Many young people came just to see what happened to us. The year before we were in the office for fighting, stirring up trouble, and just anything to be “good ole boys”. They changed our bus stop to keep down the fighting the year before; now we were in the office for a different reason — witnessing.
When we would enter into a crowded hall and begin witnessing to two or three people, others would hear and crowd around to listen. Before you knew it, you would have a small congregation, and you would be preaching fairly loud. The problem began when they would start to argue with you and each other, which caused quite a noise. Eventually the narcs (campus security) would come and break it up. All fingers were pointed at us, so we were taken to the office. Of course, we felt like Peter and John, so it only fired us up more. When we would come back from the office, usually our group would be in the Bible study room praying for us. Hallelujah! It makes me want to go back and do it again!
I remember one of the many times I was taken to the office for witnessing or passing out tracts. I tried to share my heart with the assistant principle, the narcs, and a couple of other faculty members. As I began sharing what had happened in my life, the dilemma of my generation, and the truth of the gospel; I began to speak with a broken voice and tears came to my eyes. The two narcs sat there and laughed me to scorn. Yes, it was embarrassing, but mostly for them — that is why they had to laugh and cover it up. They were convicted with the truth from this kid.
Once, when I was called to the office, I had to sit and wait outside of a man’s office until he was through talking with his present problem child. As I sat there and talked to another young man who was waiting, I handed him the last tract I had with me. When I was called into the office of the man, he said it was for handing our tracts, and asked if I had one on me. “Well, sir, I do hand our tracts, but I don’t have one with me at the moment.” What could he say?
I could never write all of the special memories that have come to me from simply obeying God’s command to “preach the gospel to every creature”. I have shared these with you to help you understand that serving God is not easy, but the victory is worth every scar received in the battle.
One day, December 6, 1983, was particularly special to me, so I came home and wrote down some of the exciting events: “Got up this morning and realized the Lord had healed me of stomach flu. The night before at Monday Night Bible Study I was miserable. On the school bus I wanted to witness to Roland, but chickened out. That day at school we had a school assembly, so the Bible study group went witnessing. Most of the students went to McDonald’s during the assemblies, so we went to talk to them. On the way down Angel Chavez and I stopped in the Safeway grocery parking lot to witness to some people. Some boys at a light pole left before we could get to them, and some other boys said they were already saved. As we were leaving to walk back up to the school, a group of ten or twelve girls shouted, “Are you going to preach to us too?” I said, “Can I?” “Do you mind if I talk to you?” They shrugged and blushed. I gave them the plan of salvation and whatever else the Lord gave me to say at that time. After all was said, I asked if anyone would like to be saved — no response. I knew they might be embarrassed in front of their friends, or still embarrassed at me speaking to them. I invited them to the Bible study, and said goodbye. Half way up the parking lot the girls shouted the name of the young Spanish man with me, “Angel!” I told him, bye, and began to walk on, when they shouted, “both of you!” We walked back to where they were still standing in a group. They all looked at each other, and then one girl said, “You tell him.” Another girl spoke up and told me, “We want to be saved”. I told them that they must be sincere before God; and all ten of them bowed and prayed for God to forgive them and Jesus to save them! Praise the Lord!
While speaking further with them, a low-rider pulled up with a couple of rowdy cholos in it. One of the girls knew them and roughly told them to get lost, for we were having a Bible study. I asked them if they wanted to join us, and they seemed to brighten up a few shades. They whipped the car over into a parking spot, and one of them came walking up with a little New Testament. I was able to witness to him, but he said he was saved.
Editor Note: How sad the word, “saved” has become so cheap and easy to claim. This is how I was taught. Thank God I found the truth — read my present teachings on this issue
Later, while waiting to catch the bus home, I saw Roland leaning against a fence. I had chickened out that morning and didn’t talk to him, so now I was determined not to give up. God had convicted me, and I had promised to obey this time. I went up to the fence to talk to him, just as this other boy walked by holding his bloody hand. He had just ripped half of his finger off trying to jump the fence. Roland, overwhelmed with this thrilling event, ran off to see the other half of the finger, which was still stuck in the fence. (My soul, I hate distractions!)
When the bus pulled up, I was the last one to get on, so I just prayed that God would not allow anyone to sit on the left front seat. Roland always sat in the right front seat; but the left front seat was always occupied with the same girl. This day, to my utter amazement, the girl looked at her seat and sat in the one behind it. I’m standing outside even more amazed as I see another girl look at the left front seat and sit in the right second seat. Now, a third girl walks up, looks at the empty seat, stands there for a second, and sits (two in a seat) with the girl in the left second seat. The Lord had saved my seat! The whole bus was full, and yet this seat was empty for me — the last person on the bus! And, yes, I did witness to Roland after all of that.”
Brother, quit running from God! You are missing out on the greatest adventure of your life! “…but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.” Exploits are bold deeds; and Daniel says that you can only do these bold deeds without flaking out when you are walking close to God. Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church. Someone make the battle cry! Someone lead so others will follow! John Wesley said, “God sets me on fire, and people come to watch me burn”. Young soldiers, when are you going to get fed up with powerlessness and cowardice; and take up your cross?! If the church is not advancing in the battle, what is the problem? You’re the soldier!
Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
Chapter Six
That Third Year
Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it:
except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Psalms 127:1
In all of the different ups and downs of the Bible study, I can see one common factor: Revival came in direct proportion to our emphasis on soul-winning. There were times when we got side-tracked with other “good” things, and before long we were headed for dry formalism.
That third year Matthew went off to Bible college and I was left to keep things rolling. We had started a Monday night Bible club that second year called, “Youth On Fire”. Through that we reached some souls for Christ, and many of the young people in our youth department began to get fired up. We had a two hour program: One hour was for recreation in the gym with refreshments, and the other hour was for singing and preaching. But now as this third year came along, the Monday night Bible study was stopped. Things were not quite as exciting as before; but, after all, we are not in this for excitement. Souls still need the Lord, so there is plenty to do.
I was determined to give this last year all I had, since I would be graduating that coming spring. It was hard, for I only went to school half days and worked the other half. The Bible study was small getting started, because many of the faithful members graduated, moved away, or something. One of the boldest soul-winners would not let go of bitterness in his heart toward his father; and, therefore, became a casualty in the battle. Others of our group were split up in the other lunch. Some had been led astray by “deeper life” philosophies, which were actually shallower life philosophies. Nothing is deeper than soul-winning in the power of the Holy Spirit! Some had adopted the “popular Christianity”, where their only concern is to show the world that “Christians can have fun too!” Christian fun is loving Jesus, and that has never seemed rational to this world of selfish men. Others became satisfied with not bearing any fruit. They would rather deny Jesus Christ by their life, than deny the world. All these tricks of the devil nearly destroyed our little army.
I found myself out witnessing alone once again, but again God blessed. This is where God taught me some lessons on the power of prayer; and showed me the deep truth of Psalms 127:1. Since no one wanted to show up faithfully to the Bible study, except Cheri Pendley, I decided to just go out soul-winning when I got the chance. Cheri was one of the first-year members, and so she would pray for me as I would go out and witness. She was a real encouragement with her faithful prayer and enthusiasm to hear the results.
I began to focus on the rough crowd, but nothing was happening. I was known by everyone, and they seemed determined not to listen to this Bible freak. I would be witnessing to someone, and other kids would go tell the narcs that I was causing trouble. I had not even spoken to them, but they just wanted to do anything that would cause me trouble. If I was smaller, they would have probably tried to beat me up. The narcs would come and take me to the office, where I would explain to no avail; and they would tell me to stop to no avail.
God broke my heart, and I pleaded with Him to “Change the atmosphere” so they would listen. I’ve heard of praying people under conviction, and I believe that is what happened. Shortly after pleading with God to change the atmosphere, He opened the doors. Through a chain of events this “bad” crowd began meeting me every Thursday at the baseball bleachers. It seemed that new people would be there every Thursday, though the group did not grow all that much. I would answer questions, preach, and pray with them.
One day while preaching I noticed everyone acting strange toward this one young man. When he stood up I realized why; he was foaming at the mouth. He jumped off the bleachers and ran off. We followed him, but he would not allow me to get near him. I questioned his friends about it, but they didn’t want to talk too much at the moment. I pondered the event in my mind all the rest of the day, and did much praying about it that night. I thought about casting out my first demon, and wondered what would happen.
The next day, just before lunch, I skipped one of my classes and prayed in my car. I struggled in prayer for an hour, not realizing that the battle was being fought right there. Later I would learn that the whole battle had been won during that most strange time of prayer in the car. I had planned on looking the guy up at lunch (his name was Jim). I found out from his friends that morning that they had taken him to the doctor the night before, but found nothing wrong with him. As I got out of my car and started toward the school, Jim and a crowd of boys passed by on their way to Burger King. Jim saw me and gave me a strange look, and rolled his eyes up in his head. I wasn’t sure whether he was goofing off or not, but I knew he wasn’t the day before; and he needed Jesus in any case. I followed him down to Burger King, and caught him as he was coming out with one of his friends.
As I approached the two of them, I was praying that God would bind Satan, and claimed the blood of Christ for power. When I walked up and began speaking to them about salvation, and warning them about hell, they both listened closely. Jim became very mellow, and seemed almost deflated emotionally. I believe Satan had been bound. Shortly after I began sharing the gospel with them, we sat down on a curb, and they asked Jesus into their hearts. As we walked back to school, I learned that they had read the tracts they found in their locker! I tried to encourage them to continue in the grace of God, and answered some questions they had. It was answer to prayer, and I was excited; though I slipped climbing over the fence to bet back to school and punctured my hand on the chain-link. I guess that was just Satan’s way of being a sore loser. My hand was bloody, but I did not have bloody hands, as Ezekiel 3:18 speaks of.
As said earlier, the tract they had found in their locker had been placed there about 2 AM. About January of that year, I had tried to work out a plan to get a tract in every locker. I typed on a piece of paper from 1 to 2415 (the number of lockers). I copied off the paper and gave one to every member of the Bible study. We were going to stick tracts in lockers while no one was looking to turn us in, and then mark that number off our list. We would do this until we covered every locker. I became very impatient very fast with this method, and God gave me another idea. I ordered 3000 tracts from a distributor, and folded them. I put them all in my back pack, and drove one night to the school. At 12:00 midnight I sneaked up to the school, climbed up over the roof and dropped down in with my pack full of tracts. It was cold, so I had to stop and run up and down the hall every 30 minutes or so to build up my body temperature. There were four halls with lockers. After finishing one, I would throw my pack up on the roof, climb up, sneak over to the other hall, drop my pack, and climb down. It took me till 4:00 AM, but I was very thankful I didn’t get caught.
The next day, school was quite interesting, with gospel tracts all over the hall floors. The faculty tried to find out who did it, but nobody had any solid evidence. Christianity is really a blast, if you just focus on getting people saved, and loving Jesus. It worked so well that I did the same thing the next spring, and am planning to do it again this spring. I wish all schools had open ceilings in their halls, we could really start an epidemic! (Note: I don’t recommend this to young people — I was 19 when this was written).
During those three years I had made it a point to witness to my teachers in some way or another. On class papers under my name, the date, and the assignment number, I would always write, “Praise the Lord”, or, “Jesus loves you”, or “Jesus is coming again”, etc. Many times on final exams there would be an empty section of paper at the end of the exam. If I finished with some spare time, I would write a short message to the teacher about salvation and ask for a reply. Some times I would get a reply, and sometimes I wouldn’t get anything; but they got the message.
I talked to my history teacher over and over. I set up times where I met him for his lunch hour, and we talked all lunch. I had high hopes that he would get saved, but he ran from the conviction of the truth. He knew where I stood, and tried to test me in front of people. Every time the class would get into a discussion, he would stop everything and ask for the “preacher’s” opinion. The whole class sighed and rolled their eyes as I told them what the Bible said. You quickly become labeled when you stand for Christ, and the truths of God’s Word. There were times when people I hardly knew would come and ask me questions on issues of life such as girl and family problems. I remember one young man asked me what to do about a broken heart. I told him how Jesus died of a broken heart for him, and how He could heal any broken heart.
There are many ways to get the gospel message to lost people. You don’t have any excuse that will satisfy God for not doing the great work that He has given you to do. Every Christian is called to be a soul-winner. If you are a professing Christian, yet you do not confess Christ before the world as your Saviour, the Bible has news for you:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
I am not against academic education, but I am against those who trust in it for success in God’s work. Young person,
God’s work is essentially God’s work. He works through available bodies. He wants an available, diligent, Spirit filled, Bible saturated, humble, obedient, person who is willing to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him! David tells us that he was wiser than his teachers because he meditated in God’s Word. Love is the key to being used of God. God’s love filling your heart will do more for bringing souls to Christ than any amount of academic training.
What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light:
and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
Matt. 10:27
Get alone with God and let Him teach you out of His Word. Let him tell you what to say, and how to live. Holiness, love, and simple obedience…
Chapter Seven
Young Elijah Beware!
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. I Peter 5:8,9
Many people today, including professing Christians, live a fantasy. They refuse to face the negative side of life. They blind themselves to the future judgment of God, and their present sinfulness. Yet, if we are to faithfully proclaim the Word of God and defeat the forces of evil; we must step out of the fantasy into reality. There is a devil; he is deceiving mankind; and he is seeking to devour you! I have devoted the following chapters to share some practical warnings and exhortations so you might hurtle some of the obstacles we stumbled over.
Discouragement
I once heard Jerry Falwell say that you measure a man’s greatness, not by what he accomplishes, but by what it takes to discourage him. I believe that Satan, as the master deceiver, will use deception to discourage you. Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us that Jesus endured the cross, even though He despised the shame; because He kept His sights on the joy set before Him. He didn’t lose sight of the goal. It also tells us that we can endure by keeping our eyes on Jesus, who is our goal: “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…”
Problems? O Yes! Any time God’s people, through God’s power, attack Satan’s kingdom, he will fight back. Many people don’t understand, though, that “There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man:..” I Peter 5:9 clearly states that the same afflictions are accomplished in our brothers in Christ. We have no right to think that we are alone in our pain. Paul hit it right on the head, though, when he announced, “…I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
In the beginning of the Bible club at Manzano, the librarian allowed us to use one of the conference rooms for our meetings. The next year, however, after we came back from Christmas vacation, they changed the school policy and booted us out. Mrs. H was a nice Christian teacher, and she allowed us to use her room during lunch. Shortly after we started using her room, though, she was informed that she could not allow us to continue doing so. Once again we were out of a meeting place; and in the winter you don’t do much Bible studying outside.
Next, we found out that Mr. P was a Christian teacher. When we presented him the plan, he was quick to accept us as lunch-time occupants of his warm room. I don’t believe we mentioned, however, that Mrs. H was informed she could not allow such a thing — no need for petty details. Well, after quite a while of warm Bible study, we were once again told to leave. It is kind of hard to keep your meeting place a secret when you are inviting the whole school to come. The only place left was in the noisy cafeteria — or out in the cold. On warm days we met out on the concrete benches in front of the cafeteria, and on the cold days we made due with the noise. This didn’t work very good, as preaching, praying, and listening are very hard to do with much distraction, and everyone watching.
At the start of the Bible study I made some song books out of Xeroxed church hymnal pages. Now in the cafeteria, though, with all the noise, we did not use them much. After being mocked and gazed upon while trying to have our Bible study, and sing or preach; many of the kids would shy away from the group. Many times I would get worn down by the pressure, and I would want to crawl in a hole; but I knew that was the time to get alone with God and pray for a fresh anointing of the His Spirit!
Young person, Satan will try everything he can dream up to discourage you. It will not be exactly the same things he used on me, or uses on others; because you have different weak spots. The best thing you can do is learn your weaknesses, and then continually yield them to the Lord for strengthening. Fortify yourself with Scriptures — Renew your mind.
One thing that was very discouraging to me was when other Christians would accuse us of “beating people over the head with the Bible”, or “going around telling everyone they are going to hell”. They would try to exhort us on how to win people with our lives, when they could not remember the last person they had won with their life! The fact is: After you lovingly share salvation with someone, if they reject God’s love, you must warn them of God’s wrath! The Bible tells us in I Cor. 1:21 that, “…it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Friend, if you are not willing to be a fool for Christ, throw away your Bible and quit playing games! The only motive that most people have when criticizing another Christian’s soul-winning efforts is trying to justify their own laziness and cover their guilt. There has never been a great revival apart from preaching on eternal punishment, so don’t be intimidated by selfish hypocrites.
If you are going to win your school for Christ, you must be aggressive. If you’re not above average as a leader, your followers will be below average. What leaders excuse in moderation, followers excuse in excess. You must fight off that discouragement! Sure, it is lonely at the top. Moses was lonely on Mount Sinai, but that is where he saw the glory of God! Do you expect to be encouraged by your Christian brethren? I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed if that is the case. When you step out of the boat and begin to walk on the water with Jesus, as Peter did; you may not hear much cheering from the boat. Actually, the ones left in the boat are making bets on how long it will be before you sink! If you walk on the water for 20 years, some will still say, “O, he’ll sink one of these days.” How Sad! If you are making someone else look slothful by your diligence, they will welcome anything that will slow you down, and justify them.
Jesus had no one to encourage Him; He had to encourage Himself in the Father. King David, when all his people were threatening to stone him, encouraged himself in the Lord his God (I Sam. 30:6). How could they do this? Where did they get the power? Jesus’ half brother, Jude, reveals the secret in Jude 20: “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God”. You must have more inflow from God in private than you have outflow to the world in public. Learn to encourage yourself by praying in the Holy Ghost. Your goal is to please God, not man. So, get alone with God and find out if He is pleased! The first time I heard myself preach on tape was devastating. I was alone, and I took the tape out of the player and threw it on the floor. I couldn’t stand my voice, or the way I spoke. I said I would never preach again. However, I repented, and told God if He really thought He could use me, I was willing to be a fool for Christ. When I first started sharing my testimony after youth camp, I would always get teary eyed and my voice would crack — this embarrassed me and made me angry. Later, I felt I had hardened myself, and couldn’t shed tears for souls; so I repented of that, and asked God to soften my heart again. Don’t allow discouragement with yourself to stop you — you are not your own.
Young Elijah, when you try to get your youth group fired up, expect opposition. Your youth pastor may even throw cold water on you to cool you off (or maybe just keep you straight). Jesus said, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” I believe He was saying, “There is more than one way to skin a cat, boys, so don’t get discouraged.” Don’t butt heads with opposition — outsmart it! Overcome evil with good. Keep doing right, and let God vindicate your work.
A Little Folly
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. Ecclesiastes 10:1
Young Elijah, this may be the most crucial, yet hard to swallow, section of this book. Beware of the opposite sex! Satan is no amateur when it comes to devouring young people. He knows that the best way to ruin a Christian boy is with a girl, and the best way to ruin a Christian girl is with a boy. The Bible gives many warnings to: “Flee youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” Flee! Run! Escape! I thank God that my testimony has not been ruined by Satan in this area; but I’m sure he is still trying. Notice how the verse puts much emphasis on who you follow — wrong friends will cause you to lower your standards. “You are, or soon will be, what your friends are”. Show me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you what you are.
Nothing has distracted, slowed me down, and confused me more than dating girls, while trying to serve the Lord. They were good Christian girls, but I was not mature enough in the Lord to keep the relationship from drawing me away from God’s perfect will. I believe that a young person needs to focus on obtaining a solid relationship with Christ, and let God worry about their future mate. I could tell you not to kiss before your wedding, or not to hold hands; but I am going to give you principles from God’s Word that you can’t argue with. Looking and touching are the two major danger areas when it comes to promoting lust. The Bible says:
“It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” I Cor. 7:1
“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Matt. 5:28
“I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?...Is not destruction to the wicked?...Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?” Job 31:1,3,4
If lusting is sin, as the Bible says it is; then that which promotes lust is also sin. Any willful promotion of lust is sin! The primary aim of the verses given is to tell you not to lust, and how not to. When the Bible says, “It is good for a man not to touch a woman”, it does not mean that you should not shake hands in church, hug your mom, help a lady over ice, or help a lady up the stairs. It says that any touching that promotes lusting is sin! When the Bible says you should not look upon a maid, it says that any looking that promotes lusting is sin! Even if the action doesn’t cause wrong desires in your mind or heart, it may easily cause desires in the mind of the person you are with that cannot righteously be fulfilled until after marriage. Selfish lust and desire after marriage is also wrong — love is giving. Pure desire and love is never for self. Job said that he would not think or look upon a maid for lustful purposes, because he knew God would destroy those who committed such wickedness. You ladies, if you dress in such a manner that tempts your brothers in Christ to look upon you in a lustful manner, you are guilty of defrauding your brothers. Look at all the wreckage in the Bible from immodesty and immorality.
People accuse me of being a legalist or self-righteous; but, brother, there is a difference in being self-righteous, and being Christ-righteous! A person who is self-righteous sets his own standard or righteousness; but a person who is Christ-righteous just simply follows Christ’s standard. In I Peter 1:16 God commands, “…be ye holy, for I am holy.” Let me lay a heavy on you here. Do you know that God is “holier than thou”? He doesn’t have a sorry attitude about it, but facts are facts! If I’m trying harder than you to follow Jesus; and, therefore, my life convicts you; don’t pull me down, you catch up!
After struggling over what was right and what was wrong; after losing my joy because of doubt and guilt; I learned that God has no “gray areas”. Either it is “Christ-like”, or it is not. Either Jesus is pleased, or He is not. Billy Sunday said, “I have no desire to be any more broad or liberal than Jesus, not a whit, and nobody has any right either, and claim to be a preacher…I owe God everything; I owe the devil nothing except the best fight I can put up…I’m in favor of everything the devil is against, and I’m against everything the devil is in favor of…no matter what it is. If you know which side the devil is on, put me down on the other side any time.” Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, which is in heaven is perfect.”
When you stand up for God and begin serving Him, dates will suddenly be readily available. Do not be a fool and say, “O, God is blessing me with these opportunities.” Realize Satan’s strategy and keep your mind nailed down to God’s Word. When the right one comes, God will get your attention, and you’ll not have to doubt and wonder. Do not sacrifice “best” on the altar of “good”.
“Holding faith, and a good conscience;
which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:” I Tim. 1:19
Young Soldier, with all thy protecting, protect your conscience! Paul said that he worked every day to maintain a conscience void of offence before God and man. Sacrificing your conscience is the sure route to shipwreck. You must, however, daily bath your conscience in God’s Word, or it will not remain reliable. You can torture the conscience into believing anything is right if you want to do it bad enough.
I have seen it happen so many times I could cry. A young man/lady gets on fire for God; starts living right; winning souls; gets some stability in their life; and whamo! Some cute blonde or handsome brute changes their zeal into mush. They start to compromise, and the time they spend in prayer or Bible reading goes way down. Listen! When God sees that a mate will increase your effectiveness for Him, then He will supply the right one. Please don’t be deceived; Satan will put forth his best before God puts forth His. Plead with God, “Lord, please don’t allow me to settle for second best. God, I want you to have my best, and I will not settle for any thing less than your #1 best.”
I would recommend Bill Gothard’s material on “friends” and “engagement”. They have been a real stabilizer in my own life. Let me encourage you to set down specific character qualities and standards that you want in a mate. You will most likely want someone who fears God; who wins souls; who hungers for the fullness of the Holy Spirit; who is not sensual, but spiritual; who responds well to authority; who is a hard worker for the cause of Christ; who sorrows over sin; who has a good testimony; and so on.
The Bible teaches that words are cheap, looks are deceiving, but “Ye shall know them by their fruits”. What fruit is their life producing? Either they are gathering souls for Christ, or they are scattering them. Be very careful when you find yourself making excuses for your date’s character!
Here are a couple of suggestions:
1. If your date seeks to raise your standards to a higher level, it is a possibility; but if they try to lower them at all, get away.
2. Bill Gothard sets forth in his “Life Notebook” a prayer for God’s best. Let me share it with you.
“Lord, right now I give you my rights of dating and marriage. When you see that marriage can make me more effective in serving you, then it will be your responsibility to bring the one of your choosing into my life.
Until that time, I will thank you for me being single. Amen.”
Ecclesiastes 10:1 teaches that a person who has a reputation for wisdom and honor can cause that same reputation to stink with just a “little folly”. Christian, the lost world has very high standards for you, but so does God. That is why we need to bring our thought-life under obedience to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4,5 tells us to conquer and lead every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. If you have victory in your thought-life, you will be fairly safe. If your thought-life gets out of line, it is a signal to change something in your life.
Young men, it is imperative that you know how to detect a sensual woman and stay away from her. I believe that this can also apply to girls watching out for sensual men. Proverbs 7:10-27 gives us some clues for detecting a sensual woman. Vs. 10 tells us that they will be dressed to stir your lusts, and that they will be suggestive and clever: Vs. 11- saucy and pert; she has an independent spirit; Vs. 12 — boy/girl crazy; Vs. 13-21 unpredictable responses, persuasive, impudent attitudes, sensually perfumed, flattering tongue, and solicitous eyes. Now look at verses 22-27, and you will see how sad it is when wolves enter in among the sheep. If you are a leader or a follower in a Bible study or church; watch out for wolves, which come to you in sheep’s clothing. “Grievous wolves” are sure to come into the flock. When you suspect a wolf, confront the person with the evidence. If you are right, and they repent, forgive them and forget. If they do not repent, confront them with a witness. If they still refuse to repent, expose them, and have no fellowship with them until they repent. Take the matter to the pastor or leader when it comes to this point, so the whole group may be warned of this person.
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy;” I Cor. 3:16,17a
Last, I want to share probably the most important information in this chapter: The people God ordained to help you find the right mate are your parents — not friends. When you ask for your parent’s honest opinion, and they are doubtful of the relationship, the best thing to do is get out. Even if it is only a temporary break, you need to get away and allow your mind to clear. Love is blind; friends tell you what you want to hear; pastors may not know you well enough; but godly parents will be in tune. You should always have your dates spend time with your parents. If parents are not available, then talk to your pastor.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33
Editor Note: At 41 years old, having been married 20 years, I don’t believe dating is the right way to go about finding a godly mate. We teach “hands-off courtship” where the couple is with family or a godly chaperone and not off in a car alone without supervision.
Chapter Eight
The Old Paths
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
Jeremiah 6:16
This is probably a good place to discuss some thoughts on Christian liberty — something that confused me for a long time. In the Bible there are two principles that help us determine what is O.K., and what is not.
1) In Acts 15:28, 29 the Holy Spirit tells the churches to abstain from fornication, and from meats offered to idols. As a secondary application, if we take fornication to mean all moral impurity, and “meats offered to idols” to represent any activity, style, or attitude that associates us with the wrong crowd; we have a good format to follow. We can ask ourselves, “What is “X” prepared for?” Is it prepared for God’s glory? Or, is it prepared for an idol? Paul, in I Corinthians 8 explains how things can be lawful, yet be meat offered to idols. Let me illustrate this principle: There is nothing wrong with a black felt hat with a pointed top and a flat rim; but, since it associates you with a witch, you shouldn’t wear it. I Corinthians 10:15-33 explains that; if you cannot do it to the glory of God, or it will hinder someone from growing spiritually, or hinder a lost soul from being saved, it is wrong to do. In Revelation 2:14,20 God judges two churches for not following this principle. There were involved in moral impurity, and took part in things that associated them with the “world system”.
2) Romans 13:10 tells us that if you live day by day by God’s love, you will fulfill the law: “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” Love is wanting for others what God wants for them; not what you think they should have. When your life is governed by this love, the law will be fulfilled in your life. Focus on loving Jesus with all your heart, and you will not have to worry about what worldly activity you can get by with — You’ll not want any of it! You will want to be as holy and as much associated with godliness as you can be. You will refrain from everything that does not make others more holy, and you will walk much life Jesus Himself would.
When a person totally sells out to Christ, they will not only lay aside every sin; but, as Hebrews 12:1 commands, they will also lay aside every weight. There are things that are not sinful, but they are weights to your witness and service to Christ. Selfishness is sin; therefore, if you know something would help you to be more effective for Christ, but you don’t do it for a selfish reason, you must repent. Something may be a weight to your walk; but as soon as you recognize it as weight, if you don’t give it up, it will become sin to you. True love will destroy all hindrances to its ability to fully express itself!
God gave us Jeremiah 6:16 so we could determine what is right, and what is weight. If your heart belongs to Christ, you will “stand in the ways and see” about your music, dress, recreation, entertainment, and every other aspect of your life. I believe if ladies would stop and really consider their dress, they would not wear pants and some of the skimpy outfits they wear. After considering the matter of whether girls should wear pants or not, I have determined that I will not date a girl that wears pants (or immodest clothing of any style). First, in Deuteronomy 22:5, God says it is an abomination for a woman to put on that which pertains to a man, and for a man to put on that which pertains to a woman. A girl that wears only dresses will not be in danger of offending the Holy Spirit in this manner. Second, girls who do not wear pants, but only modest dresses, skirts/blouses, or modest culottes, tend to walk, sit, and act more lady-like and godly than those who wear pants. They also receive more respect from men!
I believe if people would stop and really consider their music, entertainment, how they spend their money (which belongs to God), and how they spend their time (which belongs to God), who they hang around with, etc. etc.; they would change their whole lifestyle. If they didn’t then, they would surely do so in order to obey the second command of Jeremiah 6:16: “…and ask for the old paths, where is the good way…” This will really nail you down! Go ask your great grandparents; go look at church history, and find the “old paths” that the saints have trod. You will start obeying Eph. 5:18,19 where we are told what kind of music to listen to: Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs. You will stop watching the corrupt television, and start reading your Bible. You will stop wasting your time and money playing, and start praying. You will start winning souls, while others are setting worldly and materialistic goals. You will throw away your country music, rock music, religious rock (there is nothing Christian about it!), and your irreverent comedy, and start using music to praise God - not please yourself. You will sell your un-needed luxuries, and use your money to win people to Jesus. In short, you will, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Col. 3:2)
Test your activity the same way you test doctrine. First, you test the spirit: “Is this the attitude of Jesus in the Bible?” What is the motive and spirit of those who do this? Then you test the statement: “Is this the message of Scripture? Is the message this gives to others based on the Word of God and Christ’s example? Then test the fruit: “What does this activity produce in the lives of those who participate, as opposed to what better is produced in the lives who do not participate?” Look at those who do it; at God’s Word; at those who don’t do it; and see who is walking closer to the steps of Jesus Christ.
We should consider the spirit, statement, and fruit of all our choices; then, when we find God’s old fashioned way, we should walk therein. “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” If God says the old paths are best, I’m going to lay aside my self-will, and walk in the old paths. Let me say that every time I’ve chosen the old paths, even though everybody said they were outdated, I have found rest unto my soul. Hallelujah for the old paths, where is the good way!
“If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” John 13:17
That which the average Christian should do, those who are in God’s service must do.