A couple years ago a youth pastor requested to use our ranch near Yosemite for a summer youth retreat. We had been waiting on the Lord to show us his purpose for it so we agreed. They proposed to make the needed improvements and we would make the property available. We had a large cedar barn, built like ones a hundred years old, with the haylofts up top. With the equipment and ranch junk moved out it would be an excellent meeting place. So they prepared a budget to make the necessary conversions of sleeping areas, bathrooms and kitchens and pour concrete on the remainder of the barn floor. I cautioned him, though, about managing the water.
We had a good well for the mountains which produced five gallons per minute, but I told him that he should not have more than 60 to 75 people at a time. We had owned the property for sixteen years and the well had never failed us even during some years of severe drought. Nevertheless, we had some discussions about buying a water tank to store up surplus at night.
The work began on Memorial Day weekend and was proceeding on schedule. At beginning of July, the pastor brought his staff up to do the final preparations for the camp which was to begin the last week in July. They had only been there a couple days when the well ran dry. He called the well company out to check it and they said it was now down to less than one gallon per minute. A trickle.
So now he had a real challenge. Almost two hundred kids had paid for camp with sixty five due in less than three weeks and no water. Not only did they have to come up with the money to drill a new well, but get a well driller to do it in time. Fortunately, the caretaker was friends with a local well driller and it was arranged that he could drill on theTuesday before the Friday camp was to begin.
The money was raised and so it remained to where and how to do the well. With the little time remaining it was impossible to relocate the water lines and electric to a new location so they decided to drill about twenty feet away from the old one. There was no way of knowing if water was below, but experience said that water was more likely at a greater depth than the existing 190 feet. The cost to drill was $11 per foot so the budget provided for a 300 foot well.
So all was ready for the drilling. During that time the staff continued to pray that the driller would find water. The Lord had made it clear to me that I was to stay out of this, so I had prayed that He would provide all of the water needed for whatever it was that He had planned for the place. But, Tuesday the well driller did not show up. Instead the road was filled with bulldozers and fire fighting equipment.
A forest fire had broken out about two miles to the Northeast. This was quite serious, because if the wind changed from west to east, there was no break between the fire and our ranch and there was a great deal of highly flammable brush. So the camp staff had a new concern for prayer as did I, but I had a great peace about this, for I knew the property belonged to the Lord.
The fire continued to burn, but the wind held so that not even smoke or ash came toward the ranch and on Thursday the well drillers showed up and began to drill. All was proceeding well with the new shaft down to 180 feet, but no water yet. Still, the other well right next to it was 190 feet so we did not expect much yet. Then, the drill bit broke.
Here they were on Thursday afternoon with no water, a forest fire, two dry wells of identical depth, work has stopped and at 7:00 AM the next morning sixty five kids are leaving the church to go to camp. More prayer.
The following morning brought good news. The fire was contained in the river canyon and the well driller came with a new drill bit and began to drill again through the solid granite of the mountain. He had only gone a couple feet and hit quartz. It is the quartz veins that are porous and allow the water to flow. This appeared to be the same vein as the old well. Then, at 239 feet they hit a gusher. Large amounts of water in a deep vein of quartz. The drilling continued to 300 feet but nothing but more granite so they stopped to test the well. The driller said that he thought the flow was 30 gallons per minute! This was huge. One rarely ever gets such volume in the mountains. Further, he said he was unable to calculate it accurately because the water was flowing in faster than he could measure it. Apparently the Lord has big plans.
About 2:00 PM the pump was installed, the pipes connected to the water system and all was ready. A few minutes later the first vans arrived.
Great praise report. But that is not the end of the story.
Though this occured three years ago, this morning I woke up thinking about it. Why, I thought, did they drill a whole new well only 20 feet from the old one, instead of drilling the old one deeper. At $11 per foot the new well would have cost $2,000 less, $2,500 less if the drilling had stopped when they hit water. The reason was the well house.
You see there was a plywood shed over the old well. Not in very good shape, but it had a sound concrete foundation. The shed could have been replaced all new for less than $500. So a similtude emerged.
When the well went dry, the church was surviving on small jugs of lukewarm water that were filled from the old well over which was built a house. Unknown to them, only 50 feet down was more cool, fresh, flowing water than they could ever drink. But, to reach it they had to drill deeper on faith. There were two ways to drill. The most costly way was to leave the existing well house intact and drill outside the house to a greater depth than before. It would be far easier to deepen the old well, but to do so the existing wood shed needed to be torn down to its solid concrete foundation. Then, the well could be drilled deeper. Once, the water began flowing again, the wellhouse could be rebuilt anew.
There is always more water available. The only question is how deep one must go and count the cost to get there. The water from the new well is cold and refreshing even on the hottest days. It flows out of solid granite. Water from the rock.
The camp the next year forgot all about the well water. It was taken for granted. They were no longer thirsty. The following year the retreat was moved to a new location and was entitled "Back to the River," the Colorado River that is, great for water sports: houseboats, water skiing, jet skis. Water play, not water to drink. Once again they drank out of jugs; they were no longer drinking water from the rock.
The caretaker's house up the hill and the barn down the hill are on the same water supply. If water is used in the barn the pressure in the house slows to a trickle. In order for the occupant of that house to be assured of constant water, we will have to dig deeper. I will pay for this well, but I have a great advantage. Someone before me has already explored the depths of the rock, I know where the river is because I have listened to the reports of the spies that went into the land. I know the river is only 50 feet down, so I will tear down my wellhouse to the foundations, drill and rebuild. The cost for me will be less for I have heard and heeded the testimony of those before me. I believe this is where Jesus would say, "He who has ears let him hear."
John 4:10-11
10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, "Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
11 She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?
Fifty feet down, but first you must tear down your house.
For Those Who Don't Know That They Don't Know
Mat 7:21-23
(21) "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
(22) "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
(23) "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
NOTE: Current selection is below introduction
Jesus ended what we now refer to as the Sermon on the Mount with these words. Few Christians have not heard them, yet I fear fewer still have taken the time to ponder the implications. Jesus is warning professing Christians, for they are the only ones who call Him Lord, that not everyone who call's Him Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father in Heaven will enter. Further, he warns that these will be many and these many will be very surprised. Look what they say: "Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name and do many wonderful works?" Jesus does not deny the works, He merely declares that He never knew them and to depart from Him. I believe that these are the most devastating words that anyone could ever hear, that they had been deceived or (more likely deceived themselves) with religion.
If you have put your trust in a doctrine or creed, a catechism, a baptism, or your assent to a "sinner's prayer" you may find yourself upset at what I have written here. But, is it MY writing your are upset with? I have merely pointed out the obvious that Jesus Himself said. However, if you are upset I fully understand how you feel, because I have been there and my question became "how do I know if I know?"
I grew up in a devout Baptist family. My parents believed what they understood of the scriptures. They believed the preacher and taught me what they believed. I believed them too. After all, I had good reason to believe them, for I cannot ever recall either of my parents ever telling a lie to anyone.I did what was required and expected of me. I walked the aisle at 11 and was baptized. I believed in Jesus by hearsay and thought nothing of it. I believed because I had no reason not to believe the teaching, but I did not know God, nor did I have any inkling that one could. Certainly there was no evidence around me that I could see that anyone else did. Except maybe the preacher. He said God spoke to him and I had been taught that preachers were special; that they were “called.”
I had been told that I was a sinner and that I was lost, yet Jesus had died on the cross for my sins and if I believed that and accepted Jesus as my personal savior that I would go to Heaven when I died. So I believed this, as I had no reason not to, and for the 18 years I spent in the Baptist church I heard very little beyond this basic message. Sure we should cheerfully give to the church, and do service in the church, but even if I didn't I was assured of my "salvation" and it could never be lost. If I was saved, I was always saved they said. So while further reading of the Bible and serving was a good thing, there seemed to me to be little point to it since I was already assured of going to heaven when I died.
Since it had been my habit since birth, the first two Sundays at college I showed up at the 1st Baptist Church where it seemed I was invisible. The third Sunday I slept in instead and then proceeded to do the same for 30 years, except when my parents visited. During those years I began to be schooled in the heart of man. As I said, I was raised to be very trusting and had little experience with deceit and betrayal.
That changed suddenly upon graduation when my first boss cheated me out of $4,000 that I had borrowed from my parents to invest in the company. Within two months I was a newly wed with no job and no money. The money was all spent before he even raised it. Confused, I confronted him. How could he do this knowing that I had to borrow this money from my parents? I never forgot his answer: “It was a business decision for business reasons.” He didn’t even blink. I knew then that if I was going to be able to play in this new game of business that I had some toughening up to do.
Thus, began 30 years of working for Laban. I learned that every contract could be disputed and breached no matter how clear the language. I learned that employees would kill profitable ventures for their company out of jealousy and I became convinced that I must be one of only two or three people in the country who could read and write with understanding. My sport and life was business and I meditated on it those 30 years day and night. Literally. And, I got pretty good at it and succeeded for many years on almost everything I put my mind to. I had complete faith … in myself. Then, in 1994, I entered into a new business venture that should have be the best of all, but no matter how hard I strove, the goal was always just one step out of reach. I was making bricks without straw but didn’t know it. But, I continued to labor, for I had never failed to achieve something that I set my mind on and this should have been a very good venture.
After four years of this, about 2:30 in the morning I suddenly woke up with a start as I heard a voice say “It’s time.” My heart leaped with inexpressible joy (that is the best I can do, for I have nothing else to compare to it) and I felt a warmth flow over me from head to toe leaving a coolness in its wake. I remember weeping and saying “It’s all true.”
The first thought that hit me was that my dad had died and was on his way to heaven. I was so convinced of this I fully expected the phone to ring from my mother informing me of such, but when the day dawned there was no call. This still amazes me, but when that call did not come, it was like this experience never happened. I remembered it, yet here I had just had the most profound and unique experience of my life but when what I had reasoned it to be did come about I paid it no further attention. This is what happens when faith is not present. The experience alone is not enough.
Two months later, I was laid low with an extreme case of bronchitis. I was very weak from lack of sleep and I began having a series of night visions and other experiences which I have no name for, except they were more real than “real” and had something to do with the Kingdom of God and Christ's coming reign on the earth. At the end of this week I was hospitalized. When I got out I was humbled and shaken.
The doctors explained my experience as a hallucinatory side effect of my anti-biotic, but I could not shake the notion that all these things had something to do with God. I was like Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind where he cannot shake the vision of the mountain. He is drawn there even though he does not know what to expect and goes even at the threat of death. He MUST go. This is the state I was in when I reentered “the Church.” Something had happened to me. I was sure God was involved and I was looking for answers in the church and in the Bible. I became like Dreyfuss sculpting his mashed potatoes into the vision of the mountain. I had seen, but men looked like trees walking around. I needed a second touch. I had to know.
This began what I call my tour of the seven churches, the first stop of which was an apostate Methodist Church where I quickly saw that the pastor had no clue. I would ask him questions about the Bible and was greatly alarmed to learn that he knew less about the Bible than I did and I had not cracked it in 30 years. Weren't these guys "called?"
So I began to move from one high place to the next seeking the true church. I had no awe of men any more, church leaders or not, and I began reading the Bible for myself. As I did, I began seeing that virtually every familiar passage had its meaning twisted out of context. These were not difficult passages either. I found great distortion and disagreement on the most elementary teachings. I thought "if they are wrong about the things that seem so simple, why should I think they are right about the deeper things?" And, as I read, I found voluminous material that I had never heard discussed, much less preached from the pulpit.
Yet, ironically, as my distrust of religious men grew, my trust in God grew, for it was clear that He was the One showing me the error. I knew Him. He was now my Teacher and I needed no other. He was real and present. When I prayed, there was a Presence and my prayers were answered. Some before I finished speaking. There seemed to be a new life stirring within me. I could feel it, like a woman with child feels her child stir. He opened my eyes and I could see that He was directing my path, in real time, and I wanted Him to do so. Even when the path got exceedingly difficult, I had wanted to stay on it. Where else could I go?
There was a time when I was very reluctant to share my experience. I figured most won't believe it and I was afraid that the ones that did might have their faith upset if they had not had a similar experience, but now I don't think that was of the Lord. You see, there is a big difference between a belief that is the product of reason and that which is received by faith. If we have seen Him and have received that by faith by revelation, we cannot be shaken by the discrediting of a doctrine or teaching.I began to read some of the writings of godly men who have already gone on with the Lord, and found their testimonies to be similar. Consider this quote from A.W. Tozer:
If you have to be reasoned into Christianity, some wise fellow can reason you out of it! If you come to Christ by a flash of the Holy Ghost so that by intuition you know that you are God's child, you know it by the text but you also know it by the inner light, the inner illumination of the Spirit, and no one can ever reason you out of it.When I was a young man I read most of the books on atheism. I had my Bible and a hymnbook and a few other books, including Andrew Murray and Thomas a Kempis, and I got myself educated as well as I could by reading books. I read the philosophy of all the great minds - and many of those men did not believe in God, you know - and they didn't believe in Christ. I remember reading White's Warfare of Science with Christianity, and if any man can read that and still say he is saved, he isn't saved by his reading, he is saved by the Holy Ghost within him telling him that he is saved!
Actually, many of those philosophers and thinkers would take away all my "reasons" and reduce me to palpitating ignorance. On the basis of human reason, they would make a man just get down and walk out and toss his Bible on a shelf and say, "There goes another one!"
Do you know what I would do after I would read a chapter or two and find arguments that I could not possibly defeat? I would get down on my knees and with tears I would thank God with joy that no matter what the books said, "I know Thee, my Savior and my Lord!"
I didn't have it in my head - I had it in my heart. There is a great difference, you see. If we have it in our heads, then philosophy may be of some help to us; but if we have it in our hearts, there is not much that philosophy can do except stand aside reverently, hat in hand, and say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty."
This my purpose for writing this, that you should know that you CAN know and once you know there is no teaching can ever shake it, for you no longer trust in WHAT you believe but in WHOM you believe and like Paul you can say, "For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He can keep that which I have committed unto Him until that day." We have an unspeakably rich inheritance awaiting us in Christ, but many, like Esau, are trading it for a bowl of soup.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
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