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Take Heed Lest You Fall
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 emphasizes the importance of being committed to sharing the message of Jesus Christ with the unsaved. He expresses concern that many believers are out of touch with reality and not actively reaching out to their neighbors and strangers. The speaker also discusses the need for discipline in various areas of life, such as body, mind, tongue, sleep, food, and thinking. He acknowledges the subtle dangers of pride and the constant battle against it. Additionally, he mentions the importance of maintaining passion for souls and continually repenting to keep the fire of evangelism alive.
Sermon Transcription
Revelation chapter 3. And to the angel of the church in Sardis, write, here as the seven spirits of God, seven stars, says this, I have known your deeds, that you have a name, that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die, for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my God. Remember therefore what you have received and heard, and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write. I think, I think it would be good to read the whole thing. It may seem long, but it's the word of God. He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no man will shut, who will shut and no one opens, says this. I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door. Isn't that so true today? I have put before you an open door which no man can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name. Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them to come and bow down at your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth. I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, in order that no one take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will not go out from it anymore. And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God and my new name. Hear as an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Verse 14. And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write the Amen. The faithful and the true witness, the beginning of the creation of God says this, I know your deeds. That ye are neither hot or neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich, and have become wealthy, have need of nothing. And you know not that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich and white raiments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and the eye salve to anoint your eyes, that ye may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will dine with him and he with me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit of God says to the churches. May God give a spirit of obedience to the reading of His Holy Word, and this is God's Word. You will never understand OM unless you understand that we believe this is God's Word, and it must be the final authority. It must be the final authority over feelings. It must be the final authority over the will. It must be the final authority in your social life, in your financial affairs, in your planning, in your future, in your marriage, over even your intellect, the Word of God. God was speaking to the church through the writer of the book of Revelation, speaking under the authority of the Holy Spirit, and God is still speaking to the church. We're living in a day where on one side we have a group of people that are especially experience-centered and are always emphasizing experiences, and I praise God for the balance of A. W. Tozer in this area, because I tell you, A. W. Tozer was a man who experienced God in the depth of his soul. You read the latest book, one of the latest books we've published, Leaning to the Wind by A. W. Tozer, and you'll know this man believed in experiencing God, and he felt that the great mistake that Bible-believing Christians were making in the fifties and the forties was the propagation of dead orthodoxy, theology without life. Dr. Lloyd-Jones, it's just, well, a book has just come out, he didn't write it because he's in heaven, but a book came out of Dr. Lloyd-Jones' Messages on the Holy Spirit, a very expensive book. I haven't got my copy yet, can't afford it, but it's dynamite. Now Lloyd-Jones led, really, the Reformed movement in Britain, and if you've listened to as many of his tapes as I have, you know that he said many controversial things. I would not be able to agree with them all. He opposed the evangelical alliance, which we are actually in Britain a part of. And he and John Stott openly confronted each other in London on the platform. And of course it's often true of great men of God, they don't get on too well. Something some of us have to learn to live with. But they eventually got a little closer. It surprised a lot of Dr. Lloyd-Jones' followers, and he had a great gathering of people who would come with him in his ministerial meetings. I went to one of them once. And it surprised a lot of his followers when Dr. Lloyd-Jones came to the Doulos in London many years ago. And he spoke a message that was right down what we call O.M. Main Street. A message on spiritual balance. That we want sound doctrine. We need solid doctrine. Some of you, if you're honest, new leaderships in training, you are weak in doctrine. You don't know the basic doctrines of the Word of God. In O.M., we have a doctrinal statement. In O.M., we believe in truth and love. And we're not going to fall into the trap of just thinking, you know, all people with the name Christian, we're all just going to sort of love one another and flow together in some kind of great ecumenical bizarre. Because it does end up very bizarre. We believe in truth, and therefore we have to compassionately disagree with some people. We don't work together with everybody. We have Jerusalem meetings. We had one years ago with a group called Christ is the Answer. They wanted to cooperate with us. We loved them. We met. When they shared what they believed, we said, thank you very much. We'll pray for you. Goodbye. They were very sad. That movement was practicing some very extreme things. And now they have split down the middle. Now we still love them. And we are re-flirting with them. We're re-dialoguing. And we've discovered they have changed. And an ex-O.M. has just joined the Asian section, because they split in two, as a member of their board. Back then they didn't have a board. And dear brother Bill Lowry, the founder, is a brother I love very much. And I allowed him to speak from the O.M. pulpit. But we're not yet to the stage where there can be sort of intensive, you know, kind of cooperation. Now with our brothers and sisters in YWAM, there are also differences between YWAM and O.M., we feel, you know, that we're able to work together. We don't always have the opportunity. But this year I had the joy of working together in depth for the first time with YWAM. O.M., YWAM, Youth For Christ, Think Buzz Magazine, in last day's ministry, Keith Green Memorial Concerts. What a great time that was. And I praise God for many different styles of preaching. I listened to many different men. Some of the great charismatic men, James Robinson, that strict outspoken Southern Baptist, criticizing so many people. God met him in a special way, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was already James Robinson, one of the most famous evangelists in America, spoke to more people in America than Billy Graham. And when the Holy Spirit met James Robinson, he confessed that when he was preaching, he would be lusty after women from the pulpit. He confessed that he'd go to a restaurant after preaching and seeing people saved. And treat the waiters like they were scum, and the waitresses. And he felt as a great Christian leader, he was in the grip of the enemy. I listened to that tape recording at this conference last year. It's taken James Robinson, a good part of his life, to come to the place that God brought OM 25 years ago. We believe that the Holy Spirit makes radical change and delivers men and women from bondage and from sin and Satan and self. And we are not afraid to see people have crisis experiences with the Holy Spirit. And many of our leaders have had crisis experiences with the Holy Spirit, I can assure you, and I am one of them. Many others, and some of them are just as far spiritually, even further spiritually, have never had any one particular crisis, but have had the continual, ongoing process of God breaking into their lives, God breaking into their lives, in their quiet time, in the Word, and through the preaching of the Word of God. One of my gurus or teachers is Alan Redpath. He mixes these two together, and oh my, he has upset a lot of people. But he is still running the race when many of the others have dropped out along the way. Stephen Olford, a little more conservative than Alan Redpath, is another one of our OM favorites. If ever a man could expound the Word, it's Stephen Olford. Just went through some more of his tapes recently. Stephen is way over here, very strong on the exposition of the Word of God. John Stott, very strong on the exposition of the Word of God. George Whitefield probably had as much anointing as all those men put together, a little hard to compare, just a little personal opinion. And every Christian should read the biography of George Whitefield. I read volume one right through 500 pages. I was in the middle of volume two and loaned it out and haven't seen it since. But I'll tell you, when that man preached, 20,000 people in the open air, the Holy Ghost moved in power. And George Whitefield emphasized the ministry of exhortation. And his preachers, he had many preachers. I wrote in the front of my Bible many years ago. I'll see if I can find it. I write so many things here, it's hard to find them all. Lord give OM, here it is, right under the word Holy Bible. Lord, over the word. Lord give 50 men to preach with a mighty anointing within Operation Mobilization. I heard someone, I think I must have misunderstood it. I heard someone say he didn't believe God gave people special anointings. I think he was referring to administration. I wouldn't even agree with that. But I will tell you, if I didn't believe God anointed me to preach, I would fold up right now. Because I tell you, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And I am a weak earthen vessel. 45 minutes ago, I collapsed from a mild case of just being wiped out. Not so much physically tired, because one of the things I did was clean the garbage and the rubbish up around my bus. There was a major airplane attack on my bus last night. I live in an old bus. But when I woke up this morning to go jogging, there were over 30 paper airplanes all around my bus. Now none of them were nuclear armed. But, you know, with my crusade about, with litter, I of course spent the first part of my jogging picking up papers. There were also bottles and tins and other things out around my coach. I don't think they were actually aiming for my coach. I think maybe some of the children had got a vision. And you know, who am I to judge that? When I was a teenager, I went to the highest building in New When the police weren't looking, I released it from the Empire State Building. It was the most glorious sight. The wind picked up all the paper, and every tourist in the Empire State Building was watching my great fanfare. And it was all over. And I was enjoying this, and when these two policemen swept in on me, and I was taken away. The literature and paper at an early age. But maybe the children who threw the planes could come down in the morning and clean it up. But I was, now what in the world was I talking about? Oh yes, I was just sharing how this evening, about 45 minutes ago, I've been talking to so many people, reading so many mob albums. I've talked to the teenagers today. I've talked to all the wives today. That's a blessing, but sometimes just talking to people, you're just tired. And so I just turned on Amy Grant on my cassette recorder and fell asleep for a few minutes and was refreshed. And in my soul, in myself, didn't feel really ready or able to preach. But the Lord has never failed. When I've stood with this word open, with a burden on my heart, He's given the anointing, the grace, the unction, the help. Call it whatever you want. Help is a good word. You don't like anointing. The help of the Holy Spirit. And this is our last night of this conference. And listen, brothers and sisters, God wants to bless you tonight. God wants to do something in your life. You know, I'm with a tremendous emphasis on teaching and learning and training and discipline. We don't want to lose the emphasis on God meeting you. God filling you afresh with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5, be filled with the Holy Spirit. And that's one of the greatest burdens on my heart. When I listen to some of the rather strong messages here that go on and on, God never adds to His word. I believe that. But I don't go as far and I would not agree with people who give the idea God doesn't speak today through His servants. How can we possibly do that? These very men, as they say that, are hoping that God will speak through them so we won't go swinging too far over in this other camp that they don't like. So they're hoping God will speak through them. I believe God speaks today through His servants. But they are imperfect human beings. They easily make mistakes. I'm in that camp. And so it must always be compared with the scripture. Peter Maiden asked us to have a day of prayer last Sunday, and he exhorted us. And if there's anybody loyal and faithful to the word of God, it's Peter Maiden. And he is basically a Bible expositor, where I would be more of a Bible exhorter. But he said, let's have a day of prayer. We need to hear the voice of God. What does he mean by that? You know, good brethren background, I mean, this sounds a little bit dangerous. But we met God in prayer, and He spoke to our hearts from the word, but not exclusively. In practical areas, some practical areas, there's nothing in the scriptures about it. Captain Isaacson shared with me that on the ship navigating through dangerous waters, having to make a decision, of course, using all of his navigation skills, all of these fantastic charts, the help of his men, navigators, the stars. Ultimately, when he had to make a decision, you correct me if I'm wrong, he had to depend upon God. He's navigating a ship. He cannot at that moment open the Bible and look in Kings or Chronicles to get some navigation signals. So in the practical work of OM, we need a voice, a message, a burden, guidance from God. And I want to share with you a message that God gave me many years ago for the leaders of OM. And I had someone type out the notes from the tape. I gave this message to a group of Christian leaders in Florida some years ago, and the Spirit of God just moved through the place. Sometimes people like a title if they're taking notes. And I just call this dangerous, serious dangers facing OM, facing many Christian workers. The Word of God says, take heed. You know that verse? Take heed, lest you fall. Take heed, lest you fall. We looked at Ephesians 6 last night, so we won't look again. There are many other scriptures I would like to read, and I'm very conscious of the time. I think of Isaiah 58, 1 through 7. I could just write down the reference. I shared last night about the conspiracy against Christian leaders. Tonight, I want to quickly share some of the real dangers facing us as a movement. We need your prayers. Some of you are leaving tomorrow. Will you pray? Will you commit yourself to pray for OM? Will you sign up and receive that prayer letter? Will you get that It's Happening in India letter or Pray for Pakistan letter? Don't just get one letter. Sign up for some of these other letters. One of these dangers, as I see them, is a practical thing. I don't think you can find anything here that is contrary to scripture. If you do, you can write to me. Number one, I see the danger of OM getting set in its ways, stuck in its routine, in its particular way of doing things. I see the danger of getting set in tradition. When did I first say that? Deal, a little coastal town in England, September 1965, 20 years ago. Brothers and sisters, if I was worried and burdened that OM 20 years ago was getting stuck and set in its traditions, how much more in 1985? Listen, that which in one particular age can be a blessing in another age can be a curse. And we've seen that in the church of Jesus Christ. I don't know when the church in England first started pew rentals, but when I arrived in 1923 years ago, they were still renting pews. You paid in advance to rent the best pew. No doubt there were some good reasons for that somewhere, but I tell you, there was a day when that became a curse. Today, God has had to bypass some churches because they have been stuck in tradition. They would not move. They would not even change the very hymns they sing. And oh my, the millions of souls, humanly speaking, that have not heard the gospel because God's people have a name that they're alive, but so often they are dead. And there is a danger in OM. Now that we have wider acceptance, now that we have more credibility, now that we have proven something in the area of perseverance, there is the danger that we will have a name among God's people worldwide, but in fact, individually, and maybe as a team, or even a whole field, basically dead. When it comes to spiritual life, the fruit of the spirit, something that begins good in zeal and love under the control of the spirit becomes a tradition, and then it becomes a legalism, and it leads to judgmentalism, backbiting, and confusion, which can destroy the work of God quicker than almost anything else. Secondly, the second danger that I believe OM continues to face is the danger of not walking in the light with one another. This was a major emphasis in OM. I hope it is in your life. Calvary Road was probably one of the most influential books in all of OM. Roy Heshin. I sent Roy Heshin a copy of this financial tape, which I have just made, and he wrote a beautiful letter back to me. Immediately, he responded quicker than most OM leaders. And he wrote a letter back to me, and he said, it seems to me you have answered all of your questions in your own questions. So I guess I'll have to listen to the tape myself. But Roy Heshin had this emphasis, walking in the light. And I want to tell you some of the saddest things that have happened in OM, things that I have wept over, things that have caused me to be angry in righteous indignation, which only God knows those moments that I've had, have because we have failed to stay in the light with one another. Somebody has hurt us instead of going to the brother. We've talked to others. We've gossiped. And the enemy has used that in Operation Mobilization in ways this past two years that I estimate it will take us five years, a minimum of five years for OM to recover from what we have done in that area, sinning against God and one another. And remember, I spent 365 days a year listening, watching, and reading what goes on in this work. I visit every single field in this work, apart from a very, very few, and read every single OMers prayer letter, scanned read that is sent to me, and team reports, and probably about 500 memos per year. So, you know, this is my job. God's given me that privilege, so I know a little bit. And it's one of the great dangers we face in this work. Now, let me just say this. There have been also many victories in this area. In fact, it's amazing that often the struggle, the failure, and the success go on at the same time. And some of our greatest victories have also been in this area. And some of you know that on your team, your greatest failures have been in this area, and your greatest victories have been in this area. When you've been willing to repent, when you've been willing to repent, and you've been willing to take 1 John chapter 1 seriously, maybe we can just look at those verses. 1 John chapter 1. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, we all like to believe that, right? And walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. Verse 6 talks about God being light. Walking in the light is walking with God. In Him is no darkness. It's part of verse 5. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Honesty, openness. It doesn't mean we share difficult, private, complicated sins necessarily in public meetings. We're not talking about that. But it does mean we're in the light. We're not deceiving people. We've had people join OM and deceive us on the application form by not telling us the truth about something. It's a complicated area. Don't think I teach that you arrive to a place where you're now always completely in the light. I hope we've already destroyed in previous messages that perfectionist mentality, but this is our goal. And as the Spirit of God convicts us, walk in the light, in love. Light without love is the most subtle form of darkness. Number three, the third danger I see is the danger of not taking enough time to meet for prayer. Not taking enough time to meet for prayer. In some things, we have increasing numbers of people who in the extended time of prayer, which has got shorter, they still only remain an hour or two and go. I refuse by God's grace to judge those people. If I have a question, I will go to them. I'm just trying to believe that they're not feeling well. They have an urgent responsibility. Some go to send their wives back because they have the children to take care of. Many reasons people leave prayer meetings. So don't get into that judgmentalism. But I will tell you, it is not enough to just show up at the OM prayer meeting. You've got to show up with your heart and your mind concentrating on God, breaking through the barriers, unbelief, laziness, tiredness, pride, overreaction. And I pray that we'll consider the prayer meetings during these days together, the most important meetings of this conference. I think that night of prayer could always be improved. Anything I do or anything I say can be improved on. Anything, as far as I know in all the history of my ministry. But God in our weakness broke through with us here on Wednesday night, and we have seen answers to prayer. Taking time with God. How is your own prayer life? Are you really getting through? Sometimes I'm hesitant to say those things because people immediately, they feel so guilty, and the pendulum swings, and they start judging themselves, and they start thinking, I'm no good. I'll never be a disciple. I'll never be a good OMer. I'm going to go join ET or somebody. It takes time to make a man or woman of prayer, and I pray you'll be patient. You'll be patient. It takes time for a team to develop its prayer life. Be patient with the leader. He's also a learner. Number four, the danger of not being involved in evangelism. I told some of you leaders years ago, I said, look, brother, if you don't get involved in evangelism and stay on the cutting edge speaking to people about Jesus Christ, you are going to have problems. But I will tell you, if you think you're in a movement where people just obey or listen to what I share from the pulpit, you don't know anything about Operation Mobilization because life is not like that anymore. Life is a free-for-all, and when a strong-minded person like me shares something, there's something in certain kinds of people that react against that. That's right. And this movement has had plenty of rebellion. And plenty of rebellion from the very earliest days, 30 years ago, against even basic policies that we have taught and preached. And I will tell you, you're going to find situations in OM where there are men and women who have dried up. And it's going to scare some of you. And every year we have people leave OM because they meet people who are dried up, and it just blows their mind. They're young, they're idealistic, they hear the messages, they believe in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. They believe in New Testament biblical Christianity that tears down strongholds of the enemy, and they're expecting that when they come in this work, they are going to meet anointed men, and broken men, and godly men. And I will tell you, this passion that God put in my heart the day I was saved has never left, and my own preference would be to be in the streets of Brussels this weekend rather than in this conference. But I know from the book of Acts that these Jerusalem meetings are all part of God's ongoing work. But I had this fear 20 years ago. It has been confirmed again and again. Mickey Walker gave an anointed message to us two years ago at the conference. I don't know if we listened to it, but I fear that there are many of us out of touch with reality because we're not committed at least once a week to talking to the unsaved about Jesus Christ, reaching out to our neighbors, reaching out to the people in the bus, in the street, on the planes. They're lost. They're going. You say, why do you have to shout? Look, brothers and sisters, I don't want to shout. My doctor told me I've had two vocal cord operations. Whatever you do, don't shout. Well, I'll try to whisper. Maybe some of you like the silent quiet approach because one thing I understand, there will be no talking in hell. May God fill us afresh in this auditorium tonight, and may we go from this place anointed, evangelists, witnesses. You may not have a big gift of evangelism. I don't see any Louise Palau's around, but you are a witness. In Acts 1-8, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you shall be my witnesses. I'm not going to put you in a guilt trip that you must be a soul winner. You witness. The Holy Spirit is the soul winner. You witness. You share literature, gospel tract, a word of testimony. You know, people think I'm one of these, you know, buttonhole, you know, grab them in the street corners types. People who have gone with me in evangelism, they've been quite amazed. I have a very much indirect approach. I use decoy method evangelism. You know, like having a book on the plane, sitting on top of my Bible, says, you know, what the Bible says about sex. Conversations just open. This is a danger. Operation mobilization today. Do you know that we have situations today where we can end up having more time in a committee meeting than a prayer meeting? More time in a committee meeting than talking to lost souls about Jesus Christ. Now, I can tell you there are many, many, many leaders in O.M. I hope you're among them, of whom that is not true. And we have, we now have 50 anointed men preaching the gospel in O.M. And an army of witnesses, but I'm still worried. I'm still concerned. And so I will speak forth that word. And then number five, the danger of the subtle influences of the lukewarm. That's why I read the revelation chapter three. I think we all know some of the quotations from books like gems from Tozier, the subtle dangers of lukewarmness in order to maintain fire in my own heart, evangelistic seal in my own soul, vision in my own spiritual eyesight. I have to continually repent, continually repent. Many times I have no passion for souls. What do you think? Every time I walk in the streets, I walk into the streets. I may notice a new car more than I notice a lost soul. And I'll tell you something that attracts me a lot more sometimes than lost souls. When I often don't eat much, you know, around five or six o'clock, I preach first. And I come back from that meeting. I arrive at Victoria station, 11 o'clock at night. I'll tell you, I'm not thinking about winning anybody to Christ. Forgive me. I'm trying to decide whether it's Burger King, Wendy's, Wimpy's or Pizza Land. Let me just tell you, there's a time to eat and there's a time to preach. And anyway, we can win all these pizza hut people to Christ. But there is the danger of the subtle influences of the lukewarm. And then number six, because the time is gone, the danger of presumption. This is so subtle. You know, we presume we, we, we, we know the principles. We know what OM believes. We know what the new Testament teaches. We know the leadership manual. We read that through. That's old hat. I tell you, there's many people in OM that don't know what OM believes. Takes time. It's a big movement. It's a complicated movement. We got the whole Bible. We believe the whole Bible. We've got our own interpretations of these scriptures, which we believe God has given us. Don't presume. Get the attitude of a learner. I wrote down here, our attitude is absolutely essential. Sins of the disposition are as deadly at times as the outward more offensive sins. Number seven, the danger of choosing the path of least resistance. Oh, I wish I had an hour choosing the path of, of least resistance. I wrestled with this also to the point of torment. There are other times when we have to change courses, but we must beware because sometimes the easy road is a trick. And I, I know that many of you are not yet married, but when you're married, tremendous pressures will come on you to get bigger houses because that's so much easier, at least within reason. You know, somehow get a newer car. It just seems like such a logical thing. I mean, who can handle if we're busy in the work of God, the crisis of a puncture could spoil your whole morning having to actually repair a tire. And there's so many gadgets today, aren't there? So many things we can buy that make life easier. And I'm not saying we never buy these things because oh, and first goal is in simple lifestyle. It's world evangelism. I've written a whole memo about this, but I believe we need to be aware of just always choosing the road of least resistance. There are times when we have to go, get this, against the tide. And I will tell you, when you marry, you can't force your wife. You can't force your husband. And so I want to give you this piece of single people, whatever you do, don't marry someone who's not like-minded about materialism, about your goals in life, about all these things, these precious truths from the word of God. They may not fully agree with OM. That's not such a big thing if you're not planning to stay in OM, but you know what your convictions are and you need to, by God's grace, marry a like-minded person. Now, I believe that also includes compromise. It also includes growing into maturity. Some of the things that I thought were such, you know, wholly important things at 21, I discovered were just verbarisms. And when they went out the window, there was a cheer in heaven. And then number eight, the danger of listening too quickly to evil reports, especially about other leaders. Again, we have sinned against God in this area. So easy to get something negative about a leader. A child can do that. My children did it with me. We are called to build up these brothers and sisters. And if this message leads to hyper judgmentalism concerning your leader without the facts and without fellowship and understanding and love, then I will have to just say the enemy has pulled a fast one maybe on me. I hope not. Verbal messages are dangerous if you get half the message and leave the other half. That's why I don't like people to take too many notes, because as they're writing the notes, they miss the next two points and go out half-cocked. And I tell you, it scares me when I get the feedback later on. Number nine, the danger of listening too quickly to evil reports, especially about disleaders, leaders and how it brings disunity. Number nine, the danger of allowing our discipline to slip. What about your discipline? People cannot get agreement on whether we should all be jogging a few miles a day, so I'm not going to push that much. But certainly there's agreement, 95% among Christians and Christian leaders, that we need exercise. It may be swimming, it may be your own little program, calisthenics, it may be just intensive walking, one of the best things for the over-50 group, but the body needs exercise. And again, I just read a warning of the number of people who fail to take care of themselves, and in the 40s and 50s, they just automatically have heart trouble. Doctors say 50% of it could be avoided, just a little exercise. Why don't you start now when you're a teenager? Why wait until the doctor comes to you when you're 40, overweight, can't even walk upstairs without somebody helping you? Fifteen minutes of exercise, I've been doing it almost my entire life, can do more for you than you'll ever know. Fifteen minutes. Half hour is better. When I went jogging this morning, I went through the whole book of Colossians. Tremendous. Get out in the fresh air. I ran into a tremendous inspiration. I ran into a whole field of bulls. I mean, they got some unique programs here in Belgium. I was looking around for the cows and all bulls, and they were all looking around for something to do. And, you know, I just kept running. But may God show us the importance of discipline of body, discipline of mind, discipline in sleep, discipline in food, discipline in our thinking. It touches every area of our life. Number 10, the danger of subtle forms of pride. Perhaps the most subtle of all the problems we've had in OM have been linked with pride. The battle is never ended. The methodology of Satan is diverse, and the Bible says pride comes before contention. And believe me, some of the contention we've had in OM has been pride. Pride. Number 11, the danger of slacking off in the war against lust. We justify a little bit of lust. We play little games in our mind. We give up in our battle against little things, and I believe it in some ways is a little thing, like masturbation. We slack off. We let our guard down, and the enemy moves in. Number 12, the danger of neglecting our home. That's right, 20 years ago, OM made this a major principle, and that's why most of the OM homes have been kept together, and most of the OM children are going on for God. And we've seen so much blessing upon our homes. I wish you could have been with me in that meeting with all of our, so many of our married women. What a tremendous time God has given them, or with those teenagers. And number 13, the danger of a cult of idealism. OM's goals and idealism can knock people out. Have you ever been knocked out by OM's ideals? I have. Kierkegaard, a brilliant man, not sure where he ended up theologically, but he said, as Christians, we create an ethic, a set of goals that eventually destroy us. There's a danger if you try to get too far too quickly in your spiritual life, you will create a lifestyle that you yourself will not be able to live with. I did it. I did it. That's why you hear me preaching five times on balance for every time you hear me preaching something like this. Read Dr. Seaman's book, Healing for Damaged Emotions. Read that great book I've been pushing for 20 years, The Psychology of Jesus' Health, Jesus and Mental Health. Read Naramore's books, or Eugenia Price's books, or Tim LaHaye's books. Read books that are just rolling with freedom, that sort of bring balance to the discipleship manual. And beware of the cult of affections and idealism. In closing, I have one question. It's like the old days. The old days, I always went to 10 o'clock. There was a little group that got together, and they won in the election, so I backed down to 9 30. We always used to have two speakers. I also lost in that election, but I hope you'll forgive me. I don't generally go this long, but we had all these special people coming and testimonies, and the message wasn't actually that long, not compared to what I can give if I get going, especially in certain places. But I want to ask you as we close, are you filled with the Holy Spirit? You can't do that in yourself. Oh, and without the fullness of the Holy Spirit, we're finished before we start. God has been speaking to you in these days. You've been to this seminar. You've been to that message on revival. You've heard so much. Where are you right now? You should be filled with the Holy Spirit, rearing to go, all engines on full power. You need to learn a lot more. That's why you're going to stay around a few more weeks, but all engines should be on full power for those who are in leadership. That doesn't mean perfection. It doesn't mean as you grow, there won't be more power. It doesn't mean you won't have to repent tomorrow morning of an evil thought or of your lazy streak. Any of you have a lazy streak? My lazy streak has been on my back my entire life. I'll tell you, if I had my own deep George Verwer way this weekend, I'd go lie down in the woods somewhere, maybe with a comic book, or no, better yet, a couple of good video cassettes. Star Wars Part 6. I don't think it's come yet. There is a time for that, and in my life, it's taken discipline to practice recreation, and I need it, and I have to discipline myself. I will tell you, when you see me pick up my golf clubs and walk out of my office at three o'clock in the afternoon to play golf, usually five o'clock, you get there when the sun goes down, you get half price, and if you play fast, you can get 17 holes in before the sun sets in the summer. If you see me doing that, you know that Jesus has just got a big victory, because there's a built-in mechanism in me that just goes for the work, and the souls, and the preaching. It used to be 900 meetings a year, and the prayer meetings, and the phone conversations, and all that kind of thing, and to get freedom to leave that and pick up your golf clubs and follow Jesus around the golf course in the steps of Lindsey Gregg, and Billy Graham, and Oldford, and Redpath, who all play golf, takes a lot more than I often have, so I only made it a few times in the past months. I am filled with the Holy Spirit. Let's pray. Some of you already guessed it. I'm going to give an invitation for you to simply stand up and make a refreshed, new commitment to Jesus Christ, and to ask Him right now, if you're not sure, or you're somehow in drifting, or somehow lukewarm, to stand up in repentance and brokenness, and ask God to fill you afresh with the Holy Ghost. I'm not going to take long, but I believe some of you, you've had a lot of teaching, you've been doing a lot of thinking, you've written a lot of notes, but if you're honest, you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. And I believe tonight is a night when you need to do business with God. I want right now, as we pray, for you to ask in brokenness and repentance, Lord Jesus. And I've done it many times. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may be your witness, that I may be the leader I need to be, the follower I need to be, and that I may have the strength to deal with these dangers that will face every Christian organization and every Christian leader. If God has spoken to you, you make that step in faith, and I want you just quietly across this chapel to stand as an outward expression of an inward transaction, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. God bless you. God make it real to you, and you, and you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, over there, you, you, you. That is all there is of this recording.
Take Heed Lest You Fall
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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.