Following the Call of God

Cooper was a career military officer, a flight surgeon. He had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, soon to be commissioned full Colonel, when at age 40 he resigned to enter the field of wellness and preventive medicine.

It was a hard decision. His wife, Millie, was pregnant, and he had no financial backing for the new enterprise. A Dallas city father, a multimillionaire, denied Cooper his 1.2-million-dollar request.

“Stay in the Air Force another seven years,” he advised. “Don’t risk giving up your benefits.”

The reasons were mounting as to why Cooper should stay put. Yet when he and his wife prayed, they concurred that it was the Lord’s leading.

There was no lending agency willing to put up more than $100,000, since Cooper’s net worth was less than $25,000. But the young doctor persisted. Finally Joe McKinney, President of the Tyler Corporation, agreed to make a loan of $1.2 million.

I’m sure Joe McKinney feels a wave of satisfaction today when he thinks about the thousands, maybe millions, of people who have benefited from Cooper’s philosophy.

At that time, though, the obstacles for Cooper seemed to proliferate daily. Some respected Dallas doctors scoffed at his idea. He was called before the Dallas County Board of Censors to defend his position. Some medical men were pressing to restrict his practice, and even fractured the truth about him, claiming that he had been dishonorably discharged from military service and only had a Ph.D.

Had Cooper wanted to give up at this stage, he would have had no shortage of excuses. But he and his wife were certain that God had called them. So they prayed and persisted until the impossible was accomplished.

Their original vision had been for a modest office employing eight or ten people, but that goal was dramatically surpassed. Today his staff numbers 220. Adherents to Cooper’s wellness philosophy live and work in more than 50 nations. His books have sold more than 30 million copies in 41 languages and Braille.

The Cooper Clinic and Aerobics Center are the focal points of attention for medical, sports, and educational leaders from nations on every continent, including those behind the Iron Curtain. World leaders — among them medical men — come to him for their annual physical checkups. Only out of deference to their right to privacy do I refrain from naming some. Suffice it to say, hardly a day goes by when their names aren’t in the news.

Today Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper continues to embody this book’s formula — trust, organize, persist. He is a man of God, in a marriage made by God. His wife, Millie, shares his trust in God and his determination to see his goals achieved.

Talk about organization! I have never been to any offices where things run more smoothly or promptly. The entire operation is a model of organizational excellence.

Persistence? His annual budget today is more than ten times McKinney’s original investment.

Dr. Cooper’s is a big success story. It measures what can be done when somebody decides to trust, organize, and persist.

Of course his impossibility isn’t the same one you’re facing. But can you honestly say it was easier for Dr. Cooper than it is for you?

Do you really have any more right than he to make excuses?

Are you content to wallow in helplessness when other people, in situations as hard as yours, have managed to turn impossibility into possibility?

Most important, do you think Jesus was joking when He said all things are possible to you if you believe? No?

Then be careful what you call IMPOSSIBLE!

John Haggai

The Shepherd's Voice

The Shepherd's Voice

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."1

I read about a shepherd from the Scottish highlands who, whenever he went out to take care of his sheep, would take his young daughter with him. The thing she enjoyed most of all was hearing her father call the sheep who always came to him. As the years passed she became a beautiful young woman and went to live in one of Scotland's great cities—Edinburg or Glasgow—to make a life of her own. At first she wrote home to her parents ever week, but in time her letters dropped off and soon she stopped writing.

Rumors filtered back that somehow she became involved with some unsavory characters. On one occasion when one of the boys from her hometown ran into her by accident, she totally ignored him. When her father heard this, he went to the city to look for her.

For days on end he looked for her. He looked in the slums, rows of houses, markets, taverns, and everywhere in between to no avail. After all of this searching he became very discouraged with the thought that he had lost his daughter to the evil city.

When leaving to return home, he remembered how his daughter always loved to hear the voice of the shepherd calling out to the sheep. "So he turned around and on this quest motivated by his sorrow and his love, he began to stalk the streets. His voice rang out the shepherds call. The citizens of the city all looked at him as if he had lost his wits. It wasn't too long as he walked the streets of one of the degraded neighborhoods that inside one of those houses, his daughter sitting among the vermin who had led her astray heard his voice. With great astonishment on her face, she heard that call of the voice of the shepherd, the voice of her father calling out to her. She leaped up and rushed out to the street and ran into the arms of that old shepherd, her father. It was then that he took her back home to the highlands of Scotland and brought her back to God and to decency and modesty."2

I wonder if any of our readers today can identify with this farm girl in that you have wandered away from God. If so, I urge you to stand still long enough to examine your life and listen with your heart to the call of Jesus, God's Shepherd Son, who is lovingly calling you to return home to him and again follow in his way.

1. John 10:27 (NKJV).
2. Adapted from a sermon by Philip Harrelson, "The Voice of the Shepherd." Cited on SermonCentral.

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Dick Innes

Keeping Very still

ice and sawdust

Before refrigerators, people used ice houses to preserve their food. Ice houses had thick walls, no windows, and a tightly fitted door.

In winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the ice houses, and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer.

One man lost a valuable watch while working in an ice house. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn't find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile.

A small boy who heard about the fruitless search slipped into the ice house during the noon hour and soon emerged with the watch.

Amazed, the men asked him how he found it.

"I closed the door," the boy replied, "lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking."

Often the question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are being still enough, and quiet enough, to hear.

In this busy generation, it has become harder to be still and spend quality time with God.

Unless you develop the habit of spending time with God daily, you'll continue to struggle.

Remember: Habit is the key to your continuous spiritual growth. 

Don & Dawn

Burn the Bush, Collapse the Walls and Still the Waves

Once there was a man who dared God to speak.

“Burn the bush like you did for Moses, God and I will follow. 

Collapse the walls like you did for Joshua, God and I will fight.
 

Still the waves like you did on Galilee, God and I will listen.”

And so the man went and sat by a bush, near a wall close to the sea and waited for God to speak.

And God heard the man , So God answered.
 

He sent fire, not for the bush, but for a church.
 

He brought down a wall, not of brick, but of sin.
 

He stilled a storm, not of the sea, but of a soul.

And God waited for the man to respond.
 

And he waited …
 

And waited …
 

And waited…

But because the man was looking at bushes, not hearts; bricks, not lives; seas and not souls, he decided that God had done nothing.
 

Finally he looked at God and asked, “Have you lost your power?”
 

And God looked at him and said, “Have you lost your hearing?”

A story by Max Lucado, from A Gentle Thunder : Hearing God Through the Storm

The Banana Argument

Ray Comfort using the Banana Argument

Ray Comfort of 'The Way of the Master' holds up a banana and continues with, "Behold, the atheists' nightmare. Now if you study a well-made banana, you'll find, on the far side, there are 3 ridges. 

On the close side, two ridges. If you get your hand ready to grip a banana, you'll find on the far side there are three grooves, on the close side, two grooves. 

The banana and the hand are perfectly made, one for the other. You'll find the maker of the banana, Almighty God, has made it with a non-slip surface. It has outward indicators of inward contents - green, too early - yellow, just right - black, too late. 

Now if you go to the top of the banana, you'll find, as with the soda can makers have placed a tab at the top, so God has placed a tab at the top. When you pull the tab, the contents don't squirt in your face. 

You'll find a wrapper which is biodegradable, has perforations. Notice how gracefully it sits over the human hand. Notice it has a point at the top for ease of entry. 

It's just the right shape for the human mouth. It's chewy, easy to digest and its even curved toward the face to make the whole process so much easier. 

Seriously, Kirk, the whole of creation testifies to the genius of God's creation."

Check out

The Way of the Master

The Cambridge Seven

The Cambridge Seven
C.T. Studd, M. Beauchamp, S.P. Smith,
A.T. Polhill-Turner, D.E. Hoste, C.H. Polhill-Turner, W.W. Cassels

I have been preaching a sermon that uses the Cambridge Seven as models of faith. These men had served their generation and now it is our turn to serve ours. The bible is clear that God watches over lives that serve their generations. King David is a very good example:

For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. (Acts 13:36)

David served his generation and he was known as a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). In the same verse, the bible says that 'he will do everything I want him to do'. Even David made a lot of mistakes, he was still an obedient servant of God.

Looking at the 1800s, little known stories of heroes of faith were being created by committed servants of God. In 1881, Harold Schofield who was a young missionary doctor, serving in the northern province of Shansi, China, was suffering from typhus. He was bed-ridden but that did not stop him from praying. He asked God for a replacement, knowing full well that he may not recover. He prayed that God will send graduates from England's top colleges to evangelize China. On August 1, 1883, Harold Schofield went home to be with the Lord. This dear brother was only 31 years old.

Did God answer his prayer? Yes, In February, 1885, Schofield's prayer was answered as seven Cambridge students volunteered to leave behind cosy lives of wealth and privilege to serve God in whatever way they were led. These men became known as THE CAMBRIDGE SEVEN. They were namely:

1. Charles Thomas Studd
2. Montagu Harry Proctor Beauchamp
3. Stanley P. Smith
4. Arthur T. Polhill-Turner
5. Dixon Edward Hoste
6. Cecil H. Polhill-Turner
7. William Wharton Cassels

At the commissioning service of the Cambridge Seven, they said, "Pray that God may keep us faithful".

These seven inspired thousands of others to think seriously of missionary service. Included among the Cambridge Seven was C.T. Studd, captain of England and the finest cricketer of his day - if he could give all that up, then so could anyone! Many were inspired to serve God. In 1885, there were only 163 missionaries serving in China Inland Mission. By 1890, that number had doubled and by 1900, there were 800 active missionaries serving God in China through China Inland Mission. That represented one-third of the entire Protestant missionary force of those days.

Here are some details of what happened to the Cambridge Seven:

William Wharton Cassels (1858 - 1925)

William worked in China for 10 years and then returned to England in 1895 where he was consecrated as the new Bishop of a new diocese in Western China. He then returned to Western China — he ministered here until his death in 1925.

Stanley Peregrine Smith (1861 - 1931)

Stanley was sent to North China. Here he learned the Chinese language and soon became as fluent a preacher in Chinese as he was in English. He died in China on January 31, 1931.

Charles Thomas Studd (1860 - 1931)

A famous England cricketer - he was sent home because of ill health in 1894. Later he worked in India and Africa and was the founder of WEC. He died in 1931in Ibambi, Belgian Congo.

C. T. Studd was the one who penned this famous quote: "Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell". When he was old, some of his critics asked him to go home and retire. Studd refused, He said, "God has called me to go, and I will go. I will blaze the trail though my grave may only become a stepping stone that younger men may follow".

Cecil Polhill-Turner (1860 - 1938)

Cecil served God in North West China and also Tibet. He and his wife were nearly killed in 1892 in a riot. In 1900, his health failed and was sent home to England. He made seven prolonged missionary visits. In 1908 in Sunderland he became the leader of the Pentecostal Missionary Union and was greatly used in the formation of the Pentecostal Movement in Britain.

Arthur Polhill-Turner (1862 - 1935)

Arthur was ordained as a minister in 1888. He moved to the densely populated areas to reach as many people as he could. He remained in China throughout the uprisings against foreigners and did not leave there until 1928, when he retired and returned to England. He died in 1935.

Sir Montagu Harry Proctor Beauchamp (1860 - 1939)

In 1900 Montagu was evacuated from China because of the uprisings but returned again to China in 1902. He then returned again to England in 1911 and served as a chaplain with the British Army. His son became a second-generation missionary in China and in 1935 he went back to China; he died at his son's mission station in 1939

Dixon Hoste (1861 - 1946)

Dixon succeeded Hudson Taylor as the Director of the China Inland Mission and for thirty years, he led the Mission. He retired in 1935 but remained in China until 1945, when he was interned by the Japanese. He died in London, in May 1946 and was the last remaining member of the "The Cambridge Seven" to die.

Dixon said, "The man who does not learn to wait upon the Lord and have his thoughts molded by Him will never possess that steady purpose and calm trust, which is essential to the exercise of wise influence upon others, in times of crisis and difficulty."

These faithful men had served God for their generation. Their testimonies proved that when lives are fully committed to the Lord, they will create great impact upon their generation for the kingdom of God. May God raise up more faithful men and women to serve our generation.

By Rev Albert Kang

For further reading, please check out these publications: The Cambridge Seven by J.C. Pollock; A Cambridge Movement by J.C. Pollock; C.T. Studd: Cricketer and Pioneer by Norman Grubb; Student Volunteer Movement (notes) by Charles Mott.

Ruling By Being Obedient

In the eleventh century, King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch. He made application to Pryor Richard at a local monastery, asking to be accepted as a contemplative and spend the rest of his life in the monastery. 

"Your Majesty," said Prior Richard, "do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king." 

"I understand," said Henry. "The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you." 

"Then I will tell you what to do," said Prior Richard. "Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you." 

When King Henry died, a statement was written: "The King learned to rule by being obedient." 

When we tire of our roles and responsibilities, it helps to remember God has planted us in a certain place and told us to be a good accountant or teacher or mother or father. Christ expects us to be faithful where he puts us, and when he returns, we'll rule together with him. 

Steve Brown, Key Biscayne, Florida.

Our Unique Call

So many terrible things happen every day that we start wondering whether the few things we do ourselves make any sense. 

When people are starving only a few thousand miles away, when wars are raging close to our borders, when countless people in our own cities have no homes to live in, our own activities look futile. 

Such considerations, however, can paralyse us and depress us. Here the word call becomes important. We are not called to save the world, solve all problems, and help all people. But we each have our own unique call, in our families, in our work, in our world. 

We have to keep asking God to help us see clearly what our call is and to give us the strength to live out that call with trust. Then we will discover that our faithfulness to a small task is the most healing response to the illnesses of our time.

Henri Nouwen