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- Place Of Rest Balance & Love Sp Harvest 1981
Place of Rest Balance & Love Sp Harvest 1981
George Verwer

George Verwer (1938 - 2023). American evangelist and founder of Operation Mobilisation (OM), born in Ramsey, New Jersey, to Dutch immigrant parents. At 14, Dorothea Clapp gave him a Gospel of John and prayed for his conversion, which occurred at 16 during a 1955 Billy Graham rally in New York. As student council president, he distributed 1,000 Gospels, leading 200 classmates to faith. In 1957, while at Maryville College, he and two friends sold possessions to fund a Mexico mission trip, distributing 20,000 Spanish tracts. At Moody Bible Institute, he met Drena Knecht, marrying her in 1960; they had three children. In 1961, after smuggling Bibles into the USSR and being deported, he founded OM in Spain, growing it to 6,100 workers across 110 nations by 2003, with ships like Logos distributing 70 million Scriptures. Verwer authored books like Out of the Comfort Zone, spoke globally, and pioneered short-term missions. He led OM until 2003, then focused on special projects in England. His world-map jacket and inflatable globe symbolized his passion for unreached peoples.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the speaker reflects on the value of time and the importance of prayer. They express their concern about the presentation of divine truths and ask for forgiveness if anything inappropriate was included. The speaker encourages the audience to pray about dedicating two years of their lives to serving in another nation, citing the effectiveness and biblical basis of short-term missions. They also emphasize the need for spiritual victory and the importance of putting on the whole armor of God. The speaker concludes by highlighting the balance and example of Jesus, who both ministered to others and took time to relax and eat.
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Sermon Transcription
Is the sound of the wind like a victory song? Listen now, let it rest on your heart. Is the sound that I heard from the heavenly king? Is the sound of the clash of swords? Is the sound of his victory song? But my creator, create in me That river of water, that flows full and free. Let it bring life to the dead in stagnancy. Spring up o'er and flow on out of me. Oh God, my creator, create in me. He calls to the throne. Creator, create in me. Just gently and sensitively and honestly as a prayer. Creator, create in me. Let it bring life to the dead in stagnancy. Spring up o'er and flow on out of me. Let it bring life, spring up o'er. And just to finish our time of worship, let's turn to number 38. My tongue will be the pen of a ready writer, God looking for a people who are there to speak for him. In every situation, not with a formula, but as from him to share his compassion with the world. So let's stand up and sing number 38. In the silver rustling leaf of the leaves of the tree, The spirit of the Lord has come down from the earth. Church and city suffer as the winds of poverty sweep. Time for time is spent in faith, but faith is hard to find. This is not a time for decoration. The Word of God's the world and everywhere. The church is here for healing and creation. We love the name of Jesus for his name. My tongue will be the pen of a ready writer. God looking for a people who are there to speak for him. Let's now just pray and ask the Lord to help us with these three messages. Living God, I just praise you tonight for the privilege of being here. I thank you for all the people you have brought together. I thank you, Lord, that you use ordinary people. I pray for any that may feel a special problem or burden or feel lonely or confused. Minister to them, Lord, and speak to us from your word that we may obey you. We thank you for all these books that we can take and give to others. One of the greatest privileges for investment we can ever have. And we believe that through what you have done here and are doing, the ends of the earth will feel the impact. We really believe that. Help our unbelief, O God, that we may not be nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible. That we may go where you want us to go and do what you want us to do. Speak to us, O Lord, from your word, we pray now in Jesus' name. Amen. Turn with me to the book of Mark, chapter 1. Any translation except the Jehovah Witness version. We find the Lord Jesus in verse 16. Now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said unto them, Come after me, and I will make you become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets and followed him. Notice that. In your translation it may say immediately. At once they forsook their nets, their work, and followed him. And when he had gone a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who also was in the boat, mending their nets. And straightway he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and they went after him. This actually happened. It actually happened in history, just like the crucifixion, just like the resurrection. Then over in chapter 2, again the Lord Jesus went forth again by the seaside. And all the multitude came unto him, and he taught them. Jesus was a teacher. That's why I've appreciated the ministry of teaching. And I've appreciated the fact that the teaching in this harvest week has been given priority. I think it's wonderful. I think the music is wonderful, but I think the teaching of the Word of God is a priority, and it has been given priority. And I believe it's a great victory. Praise God for it. Jesus was a teacher, and he taught them. And he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office, and he said unto him, follow me. And he arose and followed him. We often sing Jesus Christ the same today, yesterday, and forevermore. And it's true. It's from the book of Hebrews. And Jesus is in our midst. And as believers, it's even more wonderful. Jesus is in our hearts. And I believe Jesus is moving among us tonight. And he's wanting to speak to us, some of us, because he will speak in different ways to different people. But he's wanting to speak to some of us in the exact way he spoke to these fishermen. He's wanting to say, follow me, and you will become fishers of men. And he's wanting some to respond tonight and determined to leave their nets. Even your lovely job, your lovely career, and to follow Christ and become, as some people put it, a full-time fisher of men. I don't like the term full-time, because I believe every Christian is full-time. But I think you know what I mean. Let us get it very clear in our minds that some people down through these 2,000 years, from this very day that Jesus called these disciples, have been called out, or led out, or guided out, in some cases kicked out, to follow Jesus in whole-time evangelism, or church planting, or ministry of helps. And today there is, especially overseas, an unbelievable lack of people who are willing to follow in this road. Unbelievable. And the number of missionaries from Britain has dropped in the last few years, again, about 2,000. Now that isn't as negative as it may sound, because it's a miracle that we have kept so many going out to follow in the steps of those who have gone on in previous generations. And then there are some who are going out, especially some short-term and with smaller groups, that may not be in those statistics. Statistics generally are not accurate. But, oh, beloved, and I can't go into this in detail, that's why I've mentioned some of these books. The harvest is plenteous, the laborers are few. They are the words of Jesus. In Turkey, among 40 million, there are only 80 laborers. There are areas of north India where there are no laborers. There are no laborers. The city of Calcutta would have 1%, 1%, beloved brethren, and that's not a very good comparison, of the witness of London, and I consider London an unbelievably needy city, and hope some of you will catch the vision to go there. And if we say that of London, how do we talk about Calcutta with 9 million souls, or Bombay with 5 million souls, or Kathmandu, or Bangkok, or Paris, where there's more students in the university alone than all the colleges and universities in England. Just in Paris, and the Christian Union there is smaller than some little, small Christian Union in some college. It's unbelievable, isn't it? And France is your Samaria. The Word of God says, Acts 1A, Ye shall be my witnesses, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, ye shall be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. So many people share with me how they experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit in their life. And we need a reminder from God's Word that the Holy Ghost will bring a holy go. And you can see that clearly in the book of Acts. Every one of us, I believe tonight, as we plan to go home soon, I believe we will go home and we will be either evangelizing or fossilizing. Stephen Elford said this, It is characteristic of our natural sluggishness and laziness to put off the work of evangelism. By cunning calculations and clever rationalizations, we talk ourselves out of the urgency of the task and the demand upon our time, talents, and tithes. How we need to ask the Holy Spirit to rid us of the prejudice, the indifference, the unbelief, and the hard-heartedness. And I'm concerned. I'm concerned. I listened to a cassette tape about two years ago from a particular man in which he belittled mission organizations, in which he made missionaries sound like embezzlers, and said the most negative things. And he was a man of God. Now God has a definite way for us when we get upset and we feel another brother has really gone astray. We get out a letter or we pick up the telephone. We don't start gossiping against him. We don't start backbiting him. We phone him or we call him or write him or make contact. And so I phoned this brother up and I had a wonderful conversation. He said he was sorry that tape was distributed around. It was a message for his own fellowship. His own thinking was actually changing. Meanwhile, I think that tape did a lot of harm. And I find everywhere, young people especially, with the most crazy ideas about missions, what missionaries are, whether they're even needed anymore, and what kind of people are needed as missionaries. Other people, and this is unfortunate, attack different aspects of missionary work. Some attack short-term work. Others attack this. Others attack that. I believe there is a danger, as Billy Graham once said to a group of ministers in Chicago, there is a danger that we are taking the sword of the Spirit, and instead of launching a great offensive to reach the world for Christ, we are taking the sword and we are turning on one another and we're carving one another up. We need each other. I really believe that OM needs Youth for Christ. I believe YWAM needs OM. I believe Campus Crusade needs InterVarsity. I believe the house churches need the more established churches, and the more established churches need the house churches. I believe John Stott needs David Paulson, and David Paulson needs John Stott. We need one another. And as I listened to Roger Foster last night, and he spoke about those strangers in our midst, my own heart was greatly warmed, because I'm a stranger. I have tried to be British for 18 years. Utter disaster, like many other areas of my life. The greatest thing that could ever happen to me is if I could be accepted just as being English. I tried it when I first came here. I had a rather razzle-dazzled suit. I looked very American. And a very English fellow came and he said, You can't possibly wear that suit, young man. And he put on a black suit. It was way too big. I had to wear suspenders, which you call braces. And the first conference I ever went to, there was Bill Bathman and Tony Stone. Now it goes around Dr. Tony Stone. And some of them were dressed like clowns. Lindsay Glegg was there. Of course, he's very English. He's with the Lord now. And of course, I discovered the hard way certain things. Don't generalize about British people. Don't generalize. There are all kinds. Believe me. And I think just here this week, the range of people that I've met, just as they say in some places, almost blows your mind. I'm a stranger, still a stranger in your midst. And one of my greatest burdens, one of my greatest burdens is that somehow we may have a greater love and appreciation and respect for one another and may not make generalizations about one another or quote one another out of context or put one Christian organization up against one other or put foreign missions up against home missions or Bible memory work against Bible meditation or any other thing. But we will see the greatness of our God, how he works through different people in different ways. Two men that I've received some teaching from, one is Bhaktsingh, one is Dr. Francis Schaeffer. The more I studied, the further they seemed to be apart. I thought these men are in two totally different worlds. And I always longed to get them together. And we got them together in Lausanne at the World Congress on Evangelism. And I think somebody actually took a picture of Dr. Schaeffer and Bhaktsingh. Dr. Schaeffer, just one of 30 differences they have, is very strong in apologetics. You know his great apologetic teaching. Bhaktsingh does not believe in apologetics. He just preaches the simple, basic gospel and lets the Holy Spirit handle everything else. And he's planted about 400 churches. And as I've studied so many men of God, about 300 of them, there are many apparent contradictions. There are also real differences of opinion. That's normal. Don't be confused or overwhelmed or discouraged by different men saying different things. We are human beings. God brings great unity often in the midst of diversity. And as I studied more and prayed more and sought God often in prayer and fasting about this, I saw how God was actually working through these different men in different ways. And there was not as much contradiction as I thought. That has so helped me. Because I became so confused through different voices. I read many different magazines, many different books. And I just hope you will understand. And I just pray with all my heart that the work of Youth for Christ and BUZZ and these other great movements in Britain will go from strength to strength. I've now made this my home. I long for revival. I long for the gospel to go to the ghettos and to every level of society. And yet I pray at the same time we would not forget the word of the Lord to go into all the world and preach the gospel, Jesus said it, not me, to every creature. The Apostle Paul had this vision. He had this burden. It's expressed in Romans 15-20. Look at Romans 15-20. These are important verses. Yea, Paul is speaking. So have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation. That's 2,000 years ago. And then look at 1 Corinthians 10-16. 1 Corinthians 10-16. Paul expresses his great burden in the first century to preach the gospel in the regions beyond. Did you see that? To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. It is the will of God that the gospel go to the whole world. Now, when we hear that, we tend to think, well, we've heard about Korea and church growth in Korea. Two million people come for a conference. Wow, we don't have that in England. Here we are, a measly couple of thousand. Six and a half thousand. Six and a half thousand people in two weeks have been in this tent. Or we may talk about Brazil, a church in Brazil with 30,000. Yes, there are other countries, maybe about 15, that have a much greater witness than Britain. Not necessarily a stronger church on a per capita basis, but certainly a much bigger witness. Brazil, Korea, the Philippines. One or two sections like Andhra Pradesh in India where Bakhshin is, which makes very little impact on other parts of India. Because India is 700 million people, 20 different states, 15 different major languages. It's like a continent. People only realize that. So there are the Brazils. There are the Koreas. Hallelujah for what God has done in those places. But there are the Turkeys, the Afghanistans, the Italys, the Spains. Lands like that, that you can read about in that book, or at least on those cards, which is almost the first time ever I've given those away free. And you will discover that these places have a fraction of the witness that we are privileged to have. I was amazed, as David Paulson said, there were 100,000 cells. Did he say 100,000? 100,000 cells of believers. Even if it were half of that, it's overwhelming. I was amazed as I read that program. And what a valuable thing that is. What a valuable thing that little booklet is. I've read right through it, not every word, but page after page. And I was reading this article by Eddie Gibbs. Church growth. God is working in Britain. The tide is changing. And we pray that the tide will not stop, beloved, at the English Channel, but will go out across the world. And I give this challenge out to pray, every one of you to pray, about giving two years of your life in some other nation. I believe it has been proven that this kind of short-term work is sensible and biblical and practical and realistic in the light of the world in which we live in today. When we started out in short-term work 23 years ago, it was almost unheard of. We were attacked. We were criticized. We were mocked. That was one of the greatest blessings God ever gave us. You learn so much from that. Today, almost every mission society has short-term work. That's amazing because now there's so many different places you can go, so many different groups you can join. Youth with a mission has come along. They're bigger than Operation Mobilization. And yet we still get all the people we need, 450 from Great Britain alone, the largest number of any nation in the world, even more by far than the Americans and the Summer Crusade, 450 from this country. You don't have to tell me the tides turn, but it's only a beginning. And as you and I go out of here, Satan is going to counterattack. Those of you who will volunteer to be leaders, Satan is going to counterattack you. That's why I want to get that book into your hands. Those of you who have made new commitments of your life, those of you who have been filled with the Holy Spirit, Satan is going to launch an attack. And one of the reasons we invite people to come with our particular fellowship for a year or two is not because we think they're great apostolic missionaries, but it's to give them an on-the-field intensive training program. And that's true of a number of the other groups as well. Would you pray about that? You say, well, isn't that for special spiritual people? Isn't that for those that, well, they must have at least read through the whole Bible before they can go on that? Man, we'd really be in trouble. Or they must have led at least one soul to Christ in their hometown. Look, even Jesus didn't get anywhere in his hometown. People say, you shouldn't witness in France until you witness in your hometown. That's not necessarily true. That's one more generalization to put people into a guilt trip. And if there's any area where we have adults, where we as adults have failed, is our gift to put young people in a guilt trip. Especially when they want to do something. Every one of us who's an adult and who's been in God's work has made plenty of mistakes. Plenty of mistakes. And as adults, believe it or not, we're still making them. And I pray that you will not be paralyzed by fear of failure. Paralyzed by the sense of inadequacy. Or because you failed the first time you tried to evangelize your own neighborhood. Or you failed the first time you tried to share anything in your local assembly. And all you got were buckets of cold water at the door. Or eyes, which is worse. But that somehow you will go into the Word of the Lord. And you will take hold of verses. Like that verse in Philippians, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The Mormons have 30,000 men on their two-year program. 30,000. They've won 100,000 souls in Britain to Mormonism. 100,000. They're growing. And they have one of the toughest messages to preach in all of England. They even preach the forsaking of tea drinking. Can you imagine going around preaching this? It's a miracle. Thousands of them have been killed. That one little false cult is trying to mobilize 100,000 men by the turn of the century. They want 100,000 short-term men. I don't know what they do with their women. I've never figured that out. On the field. When we think of the size of the Christian church, whether you call yourself a believer, an evangelical, a brethren, a Baptist, whatever you call yourself, I feel ashamed. I think it's good sometimes to feel ashamed. And yet there's a joy in my heart that the tide is turning. There's a joy in my heart that there are many, many Christian leaders now across Britain. There are many right here on this platform that have a world vision. And they're praying and they're believing God. And that will be the main thrust of our prayer meeting again tomorrow morning. And praise God for the increased attendance we've had. And for the strongholds of the enemy that are being torn down, both in individual lives and in nations that we're claiming for Christ. And I believe the tide is turning and we are going to see this army of workers go. First of all, many out for training, for exposure, for learning about cross-cultural communication. Out of that, God will lead some to make a life work out of missionary endeavor. Others will go back into the local church. Pastors, leaders, elders, many men who have been trained in OM in those early days, 17 years ago, are leaders in house fellowships and local churches today in Britain. Most people who go in our work don't go overseas. Because God isn't leading that many all of a sudden just to run out. Not everybody has God's guidance or gift, whatever you want to call it, to spend their whole life in the middle of Saudi Arabia or India. But most people, especially when they're young, they can, on a team, under supervision, working with the local churches, be effective helpers and learners to forward the job. People so mocked at our work in France in those early days. 25 million tracts. Oh, what a joke! Who knows? God isn't going to use all that literature. 15 churches were planted in the wake of that tract distribution. 15 living indigenous French assemblies. And we hope to see many more. That's only one country. Young people, that which may appear to be superficial, may in fact be the beginning of great things. And I pray that we may see this army raised up and sent forth. I pray there may be many who sense the Lord Jesus standing in front of them tonight, saying, follow me, I will make you a fisher of men. And I pray if he speaks, that you at least will seek counsel. There's a special counseling area in the disco, just for people who want counsel about Christian service. The other counseling area is more for spiritual problems, recommitments, having someone to pray with to seal something that the Spirit of God has done in your life in these days. Would you pray about that? You say, well, I'm not the missionary type. Forget it. Forget it. I've been preaching up and down Britain for 18 years. I have found very few British people that love this country as much as I do. Very few. If that's a false post, well, mark it off as one of my dumb statements. But I cannot tell you how much I love this country. It's history. It's heritage. What God has done here. Your people from the Isle of Lewis, where I've had wonderful times preaching to the most southern part. And I believe God is going to do something very special and real here in the coming days. I really, really believe that. But as I've gone on all these journeys, I have not found many missionary types. I've been on the mission field supposedly for 23 years. A lot of my time when I'm not in England, in India, the Middle East, or on one of the ships out there, do I appear like the missionary type? I probably would have been rejected by a mission society as unstable. They send these long missionary forms out. I've looked at some of them. They're scary. That's why you need to go on OM first. We can get you in the back door. We've got a lot of connections. But really, some of these psychological tests that some of the missions are giving, not all of them. It's more of an American thing. I've got a few problems over there. But several pages. How do you sleep at night? Do you cut your toenails? And all these different questions. I get nervous just looking at some of these forms. That is not the only route to the mission field. God has many different ways. But I pray, I pray with all my heart, you'll study some of these books. You'll ask God to take away some of these prejudices. You'll realize that this idea that you're not a missionary type is just rubbish. God will make you. God will mold you. God will grow or work through you that you will grow. And many times you'll never know until after a period of time. Now as we move forth as a mighty army, whether it's in Britain or whether it's overseas, Satan will counterattack. And in closing, I want to very quickly share with you some of the tactics that I've seen Satan trying to use to stop people. My third message, which I'm not going to get to at all, is how to persevere. It's called survivalship. Have you ever heard that word? It's a new word. I just made it up some time ago. Survivalship. You see, when I first launched out, I had the idea that a Christian, a spirit-filled man, a victorious man, were always living up here. I cannot explain to you how extreme I was about 18 years ago. And I just, you know, God had to humble me and break me. That's a long story. But over the years, as I studied God's word, as I fellowshiped with many people, I realized that there are soaring days. There are those days when we're soaring on the wings of eagles. We're just caught up with praise and power. I have many days like that, from 6 in the morning to 1 in the morning, nonstop, every minute, filled with power and love, just going through. And I discovered, after some years, that there are other days when you're not way up there. You're in a valley, and the enemy is moving in. And there's doubts and fears, struggles, questions, difficulties. And on those days, you need to remember William Carey, who said, Give us plotters. There are plotting days. And through studying that and reading the men of God, and their problems, their weaknesses, their failures, and every man of God has had failures, I developed a teaching called survivalship. How to survive anything that Satan can throw at you. I'd love someday to share that with you. Do you know where you can find it? It's all in the New Testament. Basic principles of survivalship. How to stand against the enemy. Allow me in closing to share just specifically some of the fiery darts that Satan will use at you the moment you walk out of here. Because it is a real warfare. It says in Corinthians, The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty unto God to the pulling down of strongholds. Do you believe God's word? Then you must believe that command. And we're told in Ephesians chapter 6, memorize the chapter, that with the shield of faith, we can stop the fiery darts of Satan. We're told in Peter that Satan is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We're told in Corinthians, very clearly, be not ignorant of Satan's devices. Be not ignorant. That's why I share these things. Number one, I warn you to beware of the fiery dart of impurity. Lust. Impurity. And if you haven't got that area of your life sorted out, if you don't know the way of victory over lust, whether it's the lust of the mind, the lust of the eyes, whatever, it's not time to go into detail. I think it's been covered well in one of the seminars. But if you haven't got victory in that area, you're confused, you're defeated, I pray that tonight, you may determine to put on the whole armor of God. You may go into that counseling room and perhaps share with someone an area where perhaps you've been beaten down or confused and pray through and believe God for the victory. That doesn't mean everything will be easy. That doesn't mean you won't have some difficulties, but it will mean that you at least know what direction to walk in. We can't accomplish the whole journey in one week, just like when the ship Lagos sailed from Swansea over to North America. That took a long time, but at least the captain could get the ship going in the right direction. You can't accomplish everything this week, but you can make sure your vessel, your life, your body, is headed in the right direction. That's why we have counselors. And there is a way of victory over lust. There's a way of power. This was the greatest single battle in my Christian life as a young Christian. My pornography went up in flames very easy, but what about my mind saturated for 10 years with lust trips? That has been a never-ending battle, but I learned the way of victory through the blood of Christ, through forgiveness, through meditation on God's Word, through discipline, through the power of the Holy Spirit, through all the means of grace. And when you're in an intensive battle in your Christian life, it's not one means of grace. It's all of them. Praise, worship, the Word, prayer, the blood of Christ, the cross, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, sharing with others. Oh, how I'd love to talk for an hour on every one of those things, because so many Christians are ignorant of the armor and the weapons they have as a believer to stand against the fiery darts of lust or whatever else may be attacking you. It may be bitterness. It may be jealousy. It may be fear. It may be fear, sister, worry. Beloved, the Word of God says, this is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith. I love to sing that great song. Faith is the victory. And victory, and please understand this, or you could become very confused and even more extreme. Victory includes knowing what to do when you sin. Praise God for that, or I wouldn't be here. Because I'll share something in great honesty. Since I became about 35 years of age a few years ago, the battle has gotten unbelievably, unbelievably difficult. Then I picked up a book called The Middle Life Crisis. I found it really hard to think that I was now in the middle years that just about shorted all my circuits. I kept looking at the mirror. Help! And I picked up this book, Middle Years Crisis, and what a crisis that was. I put it down. I'm going to wait another 10 years. And so I decided to take up golf. I've been over on this golf course while all you running around, see, getting the spiritual balance. I managed to get in some golf. People can't believe it. I've had letters. Stuart Briscoe wrote me a letter. You know Stuart Briscoe. He thinks one of the greatest things George Forever has ever done is playing golf. Lindsay Glegg tried to persuade me to play golf 17 years ago when I first came here. It took 17 years to get in. And I want to tell you, those of you who are zealous, those of you who are intensive, those of you who want to evangelize the world, if you don't learn to relax, if you don't learn to take it easy at times, if you don't learn to just unwind a little bit, whether it's golf or rock climbing or yodeling or banjo breaking or whatever, you sooner or later, you are going to be, you're going to be popping. And as I studied the Lord Jesus, and I've been speaking on this in my seminar, I saw this balance. I saw the Lord Jesus giving food. I, for a while, thought eating was unspiritual. I ate very, very little. That's not why I'm thin. This is because I have a high-octane, high-combustion engine. But I really thought, you know, eating, you can't believe what I fed my wife the first two weeks of our marriage. You wouldn't believe it, so I'm not going to tell you. And I never gave her any money, all money for Bibles, all money for Gospels. I'm not going to give any money, a little Max, a little rice, you know, a few other things. Students save cereals in the university and send them down to us. Then I came into balance. Praise God, I gave my wife 50 pence. I said, spend it however you want. Feel free. Satan is going to attack you and he's going to try to get you into extremes. He's going to try to get you off balance. A.W. Tozer said, the more zealous Christians more easily get led astray. I beg of you in these closing moments to think about this spiritual balance and work toward it in your life. Because if you don't, four or five or six years from now, you will be one more extremist or one more casualty. And if you're a leader, it means you'll lead a whole group of people into extremism, which is one of the greatest hindrances to world evangelism in Great Britain today. Beloved, we are in a warfare. The enemy will counter-attack through impurity, through unbelief, through extremism, through materialism, which has already been spoken to, and through other things that I'm sure you've heard about this week and you've read in the Word of God. Beloved, I believe with all my heart that God has brought us together here for a divine purpose. And I believe it's a moment of decision for many of us to put our hands on the plow and to say to Jesus, I shall never, by your grace, ever turn back. To say, Lord Jesus, I'm willing. At least we must say that. I'm willing to go where you want me to go. For others, you've already said that. Tonight will be a moment in which you begin, by faith, to take some initiative, sanctified initiative. Because without faith, it's impossible to please Him. And to begin pushing doors toward Christian service or toward overseas service, by faith, because you love Him and you want His will. And as you do that, holding high the shield of faith, you'll be able to stop those fiery darts. And if I, and I know I can speak for most of the leaders, can ever be a help to any of you, you have our address. We're part of the body. And we believe that God wants to use every one of you for His glory. We really believe that. Let's pray. I'd like to take a moment for silent prayer. For us to pray prayers of commitment in our hearts. Some about overseas service. Some are very young. Maybe it's just God's broken your will and now you're at least willing. You're at least willing and you're ready to move and push some doors. For others, it's simply to decide by faith, as we spoke about two nights ago, to be filled with the Spirit. Somehow you still miss that and you need to pray a prayer of faith. Oh God, fill me with your Holy Spirit. That Holy Ghost, that will bring a holy go and holiness at the same time. For others, it may be just a simple renewal of a commitment made already. For others, it may be a determination to turn away from extremism and spiritual off-balance-ness in your own life. We're all different. So just pray your own private, personal prayer. Please, don't waste this moment. Time is so valuable. Pray your prayer. Oh God, I believe you have spoken tonight and I really feel in so many ways this was a poor presentation of these divine truths that your word is so filled with. Forgive me, Lord, if anything has got into this message that just should have been left out. Lord, this treasure is in earthen vessels and maybe some of the earth has got in the way tonight. But oh Lord, we pray together now that we may see you and that we may surrender our lives to you in a deeper way and that also we come into greater freedom and greater balance and greater liberty. Deliver us from introspection. Deliver us from some of these guilt trips we so easily put ourselves into. Deliver us, Lord, from any area of extremism that we may walk a balanced, peaceful, and restful life through your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we believe that truly we are crucified with you and the life we now live, we must live by faith. Minister, Lord, to anyone who feels lonely, anyone who feels confused, anyone who feels this is just too much for them. Just personally bless them. Lead them into the counseling room or somewhere where they can get help and prayer. And may your Holy Spirit move through this camp in a mighty way that many may come into newness of life, the fullness of power, and that place of rest and balance and love. Oh, God, we thank you. You have met us in this hour. We praise you and we worship you through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Place of Rest Balance & Love Sp Harvest 1981
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George Verwer (1938 - 2023). American evangelist and founder of Operation Mobilisation (OM), born in Ramsey, New Jersey, to Dutch immigrant parents. At 14, Dorothea Clapp gave him a Gospel of John and prayed for his conversion, which occurred at 16 during a 1955 Billy Graham rally in New York. As student council president, he distributed 1,000 Gospels, leading 200 classmates to faith. In 1957, while at Maryville College, he and two friends sold possessions to fund a Mexico mission trip, distributing 20,000 Spanish tracts. At Moody Bible Institute, he met Drena Knecht, marrying her in 1960; they had three children. In 1961, after smuggling Bibles into the USSR and being deported, he founded OM in Spain, growing it to 6,100 workers across 110 nations by 2003, with ships like Logos distributing 70 million Scriptures. Verwer authored books like Out of the Comfort Zone, spoke globally, and pioneered short-term missions. He led OM until 2003, then focused on special projects in England. His world-map jacket and inflatable globe symbolized his passion for unreached peoples.