Message from Dr. Willmore
FOR ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST
Philippians 1:21
I believe the secret of the Apostle Paul's success as a Christian is found in this statement, For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Paul was a single-minded, passionate Christian.
Dr. John Phillips, the Bible Teacher and author of Exploring commentaries wrote: Everybody lives for something or someone. Many people, if they were honest, would sum up thier goals in life with statements like these: 'For me to live is pleasure; For me to live is wealth; For me to live is power or position or prestige.' All such goals fell short of Paul's goals.
Saint Augustine of Hippo, an early Church Father, before he was converted to Christ lived a sinful and reprobate life. After Augustine came to Christ he wrote these words: Oh God, Thou has made us for Thyself and our souls will find no rest until they find their rest in Thee.
Again, I quote John Phillips: We have been created to bring joy to the heart of God. Any lesser goal in life can never bring a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. In giving pleasure to the Lord, we fulfill our deepest and most basic needs in our lives.
I am often asked what I am about as a pastor. People want to know what my passion, my vision, my mission is! Well, without any hestitation I can answer that question. My deepest and abiding burden for Christians in the 21st century is that they might know Christ and be able to say, For me to live is Christ. And I know, someone reading this article thinks I have contradicted myself when I speak of Christians needing to know Christ. No my friend, I know exactly what I said. Yes it is my burden is for Christians to know Christ. I am not speaking of a salvation experience here. I am not questioning whether or not people are born again. To be fair, I think many who think they are saved are actually not born again. There is no fruit or evidence that they are. But that is not my subject at this moment. I am saying that there are thousands upon thousands of 21st century Christians who are active in the busyness of the church who do not have an intimate, personal, growing, passionate knowledge of Jesus Christ. They know about Him. They know the church lanuage. They know church...but they do not know Jesus. You see, when a person comes to know Jesus Christ in a deeply personal...and growing way, their whole life changes. It is no longer about just doing religious and church stuff to try to be a good Christian. No, a thousand times no! Life becomes centered on a Relationship...not a Religion. Life is about a Person...not a Program. Such a life has as its goal the Pleasure and Glory and Blessing of the Lord.
For me to live is Christ!
BR
SECRETS TO SPIRITUAL PROGRESS
In 1969, as a seventeen year old senior in high school, I was, in the providence of God, introduced to the message and ministry of the deeper life. God used a handful of senior adult aged people who drew me close and poured their lives, their testimony and their witness into my life. I have fond memories of attending a "Second Monday Night" meeting each month in the home of Ralph and Myra Hammond. I will not take time to describe the details of this relationship, but please allow me to say that it was an unlikely one. The Hammond's were noted people of position and influence. I was a little country boy with country boy ways. (I accept my connection with Ralph and Myra as one of the greatest manifestations of the providence of God I have experienced in my entire life.) It was in Ralph's and Myra's home that I was introduced to many of the great expository, Christian Life preachers in the world. The "Second Monday Night" meeting method of teaching and mentoring probably would not be well received today, especially by a seventeen year old who had known Christ as personal Lord and Savior for only one year. About a dozen or so invited guests (students) would gather in the large den of the Hammond home on the second Monday night of each month and await Myra's introductions and instructions. A reel to reel tape player (remember, this was 1969-70) was located near Myra's chair. A reel of tape was loaded and ready to play. The tape contained a sermon by one of the noted preachers I mentioned previously. Most of them were from England. Among the preachers we heard were Stephen Olford, Alan Redpath, Stuart Briscoe, G. Allen Fleece, Geffory King, and others. Each sermon was an exposition of a passage of Scripture and each sermon exalted the Lord Jesus Christ and each sermon called for a decision by all who heard it. Myra told us the speakers name and the aim of the sermon we were about to hear. The player was turned on and the little band disciples (of ages ranging from 17 to 70) sat with open Bibles, open notebooks and open hearts...and open minds and for one hour or more listened to "heavy" exposition of Scripture. Yes, I said one hour or more. When the sermon concluded Myra turned off the player and and for next few moments instructed us in what we had just heard and how to apply it to our lives. A short refreshment break was taken, cake and coffee or soda was enjoyed and then the disciples and their mentors returned to the den where the player had been reloaded with another sermon, usually by a different preacher from the first tape, and the process was repeated. Today, 43 years later, I am still feeding on what was put into my life in those "Second Monday Night" meetings where the Word of God was preached via an old reel to reel tape player while a dozen to twenty people sat scattered across a den intently listening to every word that came from the player and from our mentors.
I miss those days. They were simple days. A Bible, a notebook, a tape player, a loving hostess and mentor. Today everything has to be high tech, complicated and comfortable. We want to microwave our Christian life and have a simple app to push for whatever info is needed at the moment. The western church today is large, fancy, and appealing. We have coffee shops, strobe lights, powerpoint, media projectors, smoke machines, rock bands and come as you are (no matter how immodest that may be) mindset. We can draw a crowd, but are we making disciples? We can entertain, but can we transform lives? We can make people feel good and comfortable, but can we make them feel the guilt of their sin before a Holy God and a conviction that compels repentance? To me, these are the important questions.
The challenge to pastors and Christian leaders today is not just what a young generation does want, it also is what an older generation does not want. Both extremes can have radical implications on the advancement of God's Kingdom. There needs to be a revival today centered on the question: What does God want? I spend alot of time listening to what people want...or what they don't want. But, the real question is: What does God want? When was the last time we asked that question.
In preparation for a sermon on Joshua chapter one I read the following passage in "Victorious Christian Living" by Alan Redpath, (p.43-44). Keep in mind the context of this statement is Joshua's role in leading God's people into the Promised Land. "If a man is truly born again of the Spirit of God he will never be lost. I believe in the abiding security of the believer. Of course I do, provided he is a real believer, which means a man who has committed his life to Jesus Christ. But at any moment in my Christian life I can look into the face of the Lord Jesus and say to Him, 'Lord, I have gone far enough now. I can't stand it- this conflict is too big, the war is too intense. Lord, I have come far enough in my personal separation and in my Christian life."
Redpath continues with the following quote: God has His best things for the few who dare to stand the test; God has His second best for those who will not take His best; It is not always open ill that risks the promised rest; The better often is the foe that keeps us from the best.
On August 3, 1969 I surrendered my life to God's call to preaching ministry. The "Second Monday" meeting and my youth pastor, Steve Franklin, and my pastor, Dr. Forrest Hicks, and my Grandmother Tarvin all had a significant role in my decision. In 1970, I claimed Galatians 2:20 as my life verse. I had learned that the crucified life was the only life that pleased God. Early in my pastoral ministry I claimed Colossians 1:28-29 as my ministry verses. Paul's words state my personal convictions regarding the ministry to which I have been called: "Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect (mature) in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily."
My consuming passion as a pastor is to see members of my flock grow and mature into Christlikeness. It is my earnest desire to preach and teach and lead in a manner that will afford all under my watch the opportunity to enter into the "Promised Land" of the Christian life.
I am indebted to Dr. Stephen Olford, Dr. Robert G. Witty, the message and ministry of the historic Keswick Christian Life Convention and to a host of godly friends God has put into my life along the way who have mentored me along the way.
To God be the Glory.
Roger Willmore
