On Eagles' Wings Pt 15 — Don Courville

Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increases strength.

Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.

We welcome you again to On Eagle's Wings, a ministry of encouragement to the pastor, to the local church, to the believer, to walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. We also want to encourage you, if you haven't received Christ, to consider the Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him as your Savior.

We'll be sharing some things with you today that I trust will be helpful to you and encouragement to you in your ministry and your walk with the Lord. So get your Bible. If you have time, maybe you're busy running around, getting ready to go somewhere, go to church, but you might be able to grab a little sentence here or thought there, something to encourage you.

The Ministry’s Call to Encourage Pastors and Churches

We just want the Lord to be first in all you do and say we want Him to be glorified. We trust that He will be glorified by this program, On Eagle's Wings. I just got back last week or so from a trip back up into the north, up into a revival meeting working with Evangelist John Musser with Gospel Revival Ministries.

I'm the field representative and the crusade coordinator for this ministry. And we try to minister to local churches. And also we have an international ministry to pastors and to evangelists in other parts of the country, our world, I should say, going into 17 countries so far.

And the main thrust of this ministry is to give them literature. We send out a packet of literature to many of these men. That have nothing. And many of them, if they can get a Bible, it's just an exciting thing to them.

We've been seeing a real movement of God over in Africa. And I have right in front of me a stack of letters from some of these pastors and evangelists as they write and share their hearts and what's going on in their lives.

It's sometimes heartbreaking to read these letters. I thought I might read one with you today, maybe share one or two about what God is doing in other parts of the world. Sometimes we get to looking at our own black cloud that we've got around and we get discouraged.

We look at our church or our family or even ourself. And it's good to get a worldview about what God's doing. I believe in our country that we're definitely seeing some interesting things happen. You can't even keep up with it, I don't think, prophetically.

I was talking to a director of a radio station, an owner-manager of a radio station today, and he said that Jack Van Ippe is trying to get on the air and get all that he can to share about what's happening with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.

This is significant. And with the Russians opening up and letting things happen over there in their country, I believe also with many other spiritual leaders and Bible teachers in our land that this could be a setup, a trap, though.

I don't believe that we'll ever be able to trust the Russians. I was just reading in Ezekiel 38, 39, and 40 this morning how they are going to come down yet and try to destroy Israel. But things that are happening today are key.

Following the Lord Through Personal Surrender

We need to keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ very closely. We need to watch him and see what he's doing and let him do what he wants to do in our lives. Myself, the reason that I'm with you today is because I've just let him do what he's wanted to do.

And I've found that I'm always thrilled with the Lord Jesus Christ. I may not understand what he's doing all the time. I may not sometimes like what he's doing, but I'm never dissatisfied with the Savior.

I've found it's always best to let him be the Lord in everything. It was in 85 that God met me in revival back up in a small town in Nebraska, Gordon, Nebraska. I was pastoring a small church back up there and sort of in the boonies, you might say, and had been pastoring the last 15 years in Wyoming and Nebraska in sort of desolate spots where there wasn't much for good work, good Bible preaching.

And I like that. It was hard, but the competition wasn't there as far as a lot of churches goes. It's mostly just the devil there for competition. You're going to have him anywhere you go if you're going to serve the Lord.

But while we were out there in western Nebraska, God did something in my life that I haven't got over yet, and I don't think I ever will. He met me in revival. I was a bitter pastor. I didn't know it.

All I knew that there was something wrong. And he met me and broke me and cleansed me and made me a new man. And out of that breaking and that humbling that he was able to do with me has come a different ministry.

At first, I traveled around giving my testimony to other churches and other pastors, and I evangelist John Musser going in ahead of him doing pre-Crusade work and meeting with pastors. And I did that out of my church.

And a year ago, the first of December, one year ago, God asked me if I would let go of my pastorate. And he had been bringing me up to this point. He had been dealing with me over the last few years about letting go of things and abandoning me, being abandoned to him.

And I'd had to let go of a house. And then he told me to let go of my reputation and to let go of my salary. And my church was growing at that time. And sometimes they didn't understand, especially when I came in and said that I felt like God wanted us to resign our salary and just live by faith, let him take care of us.

And they didn't want to do that at first. And we're reluctant. But they agreed that if God was in this, then that's what they wanted to do. And so God continued to make me let go of things and be willing to let go of different things.

And finally, the hardest one was a year ago. It was actually September 1st when the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that God wanted me to resign my pastorate. And that was hard. I had thought about it and prayed about it for a month and then turned in my designation.

And then two months later, which was the 1st of December back in 88, I was through being the senior pastor in the church, then went through the process of finding a new pastor. And it wasn't that complicated because they just moved my dear brother, Wes Lavery, in to be the senior pastor.

He was my assistant. And so after a couple of months, then they voted him in to be the pastor. And he's there now. But God then directed me to just back off. He wanted me out of the area. And so we moved down to southwestern Missouri, out in the woods, back in the backside of nowhere.

God opened up a place for us to stay temporarily in a home. And that's where we've been since March of 89. And it's during this time that God has been taking me deeper into this thing of being abandoned to him just to let him supply our needs.

I'm a missionary now with Gospel Revival Ministries. I'm the crusade coordinator and the field representative. And you don't get sometimes a lot of offerings. Sometimes we don't have crusades. For weeks or and so we just rely on God and we've learned that he is sufficient.

And it's been a good cleansing time and a good restoration time for our family. We have five children and we are getting to know our children in a new and deeper way. And our relationships with them are deepening.

And out of this, God has raised up this radio ministry of reaching out to pastors and churches to encourage them. And it hasn't been easy for me to back off. I've been doing a lot of traveling and a lot of ministering.

I was busy in my church and busy here and there. And then just to back off into seemingly obscurity has been hard. But now God has opened up more doors and and as the days keep rolling in these dark days, I'm getting more excited.

I think we need to be excited about Jesus Christ. If we don't, we'll begin to get discouraged as we look around at all these things that are happening, all the bad things, all the negative things. And I don't intend this ministry to be one that focuses in on all those bad things.

I would like, and I've shared this before, just to take this time to do nothing but teach the word. But I'm finding that God wants me to be an encourager to the pastors out there that are faithfully teaching the word.

And let me encourage you, pastors, hang in there. I'd like to meet with the pastors in this area sometime. God has been prompting my heart to share some things with you. And maybe sometimes we can somewhere, maybe you can invite me to meet with you somewhere and I can share with you what God's doing and what God did in my life that so changed my life.

Revival Through Prayer, Fasting, and Repentance

We're finding that pastors are desperate for revival. They're desperate to see God do something in their own lives and in their own churches. And we have found by experience that there's spiritual, scriptural laws that we can apply that will bring about a revival.

Now, what we need in our land is an awakening. This is where only God really brings about a revival or an awakening. But there are laws that we can apply, simple laws, especially the laws of prayer and fasting and waiting on God and calling upon him and searching our own hearts for cleansing and confession, making restitution, dealing with all known sin in our lives.

These type of things. And then some other things we'll be sharing with you. But God has been doing some things. I was up there in Michigan, just north of South Bend at this crusade recently, and we saw God do some wonderful things.

Our youth night when we had the teenagers there, a pastor's son got saved, tired of all of his rock and rebellion. And he turned to Christ as his savior. We were at a Christian school and John preached there and shared a strong salvation message, a large Christian school.

And somewhere between 50 and 70 came forward for salvation. We were not even ready for that. We didn't have enough prayer packets for him. But I would say a large number of those received Christ as their savior.

Just an amazing thing. And while we were up there too, a godly man in our nation went into a coma. A man that I highly respect, he went into a coma. His name was Dale Faisenfeld, the director of Life Action Ministries.

And after our Sunday night meeting was over, John and I stopped by the hospital where he was and went into the intensive care and went into the room where he was. And Dale was laying there in a coma. He went into that coma about almost about four or five days earlier, I think.

And we went in with some friends of his and we prayed there with him. Of course, he was unconscious. And it was an awesome thing to me to be in the presence there of that godly man. And then 30 hours later, approximately 30 hours later, God took him home.

This is significant. Why did God take a man like him, a key man in the revival movement in our country, at a time like this? I don't know. But God's doing things. My friend, we want to be in on it. We need to be getting ourself ready.

A Holy Church Awaiting Christ’s Return

When Christ comes, we don't want him to be rapturing our church. If it's a harlot church and often sin and playing games and bickering and we've got bitterness and gossip going on, we don't want him to come when we're like that.

I believe that he wants to come and receive his church up as a glorious church. This is why we're here, to encourage you. Now, let me share this letter that I have in front of me. It's just one of many.

If I can read his writing without stuttering through it too much here, he writes, Dear beloved Musser, greetings to you in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Brother John, I'm sorry to have kept long to tell you that I was unable to attend the seminary.

I gave you the address and the pledge to you last year. And now I'm schooling in one of the Bible institutes in a state in Nigeria called Kaduna. And it's going to be a year program. I do want to tell you, though, that I always hold you high before God.

You see, your revival sermon sent to me had been a blessing to me and to other ministers who have listened to them in this direction. I would want you to send me more of your audio tapes and crude and complete concordance.

I need it badly now. My fiance was very grateful to what you sent to me last year, and she said I should send her regards to you. And he gives her name and says a few other things. Now, this is a second letter from him.

Persecution and the Need for Christian Literature

Here's another letter. Sir, grace to you and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. I receive information about your ministry from a friend who resides in Kano State, Nigeria. I came here in the year of 1981 to establish this branch of National Evangelical Mission.

From the time we came to this land until now, we have passed through a series of persecutions in the hands of our counterparts, the Muslims. For eight years, we have been worshiping God in the desert.

They chased us from one house to another until we finally got a place and pitched our tents in the desert area. Last year, they came to the desert while we were in fellowship and burn our tents with fire.

By the grace of God, they did not touch any life. But after the burning of our tents, they came to my house and brought all my belongings and set them on fire. And indeed, they were looking for my life.

This just goes on and on and on. On the letters, how they they share how they are persecuted and driven from their land and they they write for material, they want materials. One brother said, My greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you for the gospel material sent to me from Gospel Revival Ministries. My heart was filled with joy when I got the materials. The books sent to me were my were my earnest expectation from the Lord.

Not only that, but the contents of your letter to me nourished my soul and gladdened my spirit. As I went through the wonderful books you sent to me, I was on fire and I praised the Lord that the spiritual fire I got from the books would something about encouraging other believers.

I think he said here it's hard to read his writing and also nonbelievers around me by this special grace of God. According to your letter dated and he gives a date on it. I will do my best to tell brothers and sisters in Christ here in Cano State.

We're writing them information about how to request material and some different things about that. I like the one about this one pastor. He said I didn't really intend on reading so many of these excerpts, but this one he says, sir, it was a big revival in my soul the day I read some books from your ministry.

Then I really became interested in the materials from your ministry. Please, sir, I would like you to send me some books on Christian living magazines, tracks, and also one thing which I deem important in my Christian life.

That is a Greek dictionary for the New Testament. May God bless you and your ministry. Well, these these men write. One man wrote a said Calvary greeting in Jesus name. Exactly a week ago, I suffered a loss of all my household property in a fire incident which took place when we when no member of the family was available.

A minister who visited the family to console us gave us your address to write for help. More specifically, in replacing some of the textbooks I urgently needed to start with again. And they are a good Bible commentary of Vines Expository Dictionary, the New Testament words and the strong concordance and a good Bible dictionary.

These books, if at all found anywhere in Nigeria to buy, I won't have money to buy them. Your sacrificial help is highly needed. Faithfully, and he gives his name. Many of these men, I haven't read one of them yet that ask for money.

All they want is Bibles and books so that they can preach and they're reaching out to literally thousands of people over in that country. It's amazing that the Muslims are getting saved like this from the Muslim religion.

And not all of them are Muslims, but a large number of them are. I lived in a Muslim country. I lived in Turkey for a year and a half and it was hard. You couldn't just share Christ with someone. It was dangerous.

You might get in trouble. One man wrote back. He says, Dear Brother Musser, Calvary greetings to you in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I like words to thank God for giving you such caring and loving spirit.

I just wouldn't know how to start thanking you for the precious thing you've done for me, which passes human comprehension. I was dumbfounded and non plus stretching my hand to receive the package from the hands of the postmaster in the post office.

I was really excited. I came home shouting and leaping, praising God. Anyhow, several believers heard about the good news and the love of God in action came and came trooping to my pad. I like his terminology, trooping to my pad.

In fact, many have taken your address to write you. For years I became a Christian. I have not received such a monster package from any fellow overseas. Well, all I have got to say is God to reward you hundredfold in Jesus name.

Church Growth Through Sacrificial Ministry

I would like to give you information about my ministry. I am an associate minister with evangelist O .C. O 'Keeffe, director of Faith Life Bible Fellowship, which began some few months ago with 20 to 30 members.

The director had been away for almost three months preaching in the states through invitation by some ministries. You see, Brother Musser, I will be leaving my present station for another about twelve hundred kilometers off.

It is called I know state. He goes into that and that's actually the response to that first letter I started reading to you. And then he goes into how difficult it is to get some books. He says the Vines Expository Dictionary came right on time.

We believers here find it difficult in getting religious materials and study aids because of my country's economic depression and other things like that. Please keep me posted. I still need more of your messages and other helpful study aids.

May God richly bless you. Well, these letters go on and on. One pastor said that they had they have a little cell churches, but the whole total number in their area was like sixty thousand. And they start off with just one man said he started off with just him and his wife.

He preached to her and he opened the window so the neighbors could hear and those passing by. And he preached to her and the family. And then within a year they had around two hundred in his little church.

Are we seeing conversions like that in our church in our churches in America? Well, I don't think so. We're just not seeing that type of thing. It breaks my heart. To see us sort of playing games, we have all the wealth, we have all the Christian literature.

And these have so little over there. They live in poverty. We've been invited to go over there. And John Musser, the director of Gospel Revival Ministries, of which I'm the field representative and crusade coordinator, we're we're praying right now about going over there.

We know it costs us about four to five thousand dollars to go over there and have a crusade. These men are begging us to come over and teach to them. We're talking about teaching the pastors and the evangelists over there.

They're begging us to come over and teach them. It almost be like setting up a temporary Bible school, come over and teach them. And they go out with boldness and win literally hundreds and thousands to the Lord.

And they're busy. They give everything they have. It's like the New Testament, just like the book of Acts again. And here we sit in America with all the money. One of the things that we're trying to do is collect books and Bibles at our last church.

When we had the crusade, we went home with maybe a hundred, two hundred pounds of books and Bibles that people gave us. And then we pray for postage to send these books to them. Well, you pray for us in this ministry.

You pray that God would use this to reach these dear people over there. My friend, if your heart doesn't go out to them, you've got a hard heart. Maybe you're not even saved. And we pray for you. We care for you.

Christ’s Presence in a Sinful and Troubled World

There's so much hate and bitterness and murder and gossip and slander going on in this world. Unkindness, cheating, lying, stealing. It was a fresh breath of air when the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth, when he walked among men, there was God in their very presence.

One of the disciples said, show us the father. And he turned to him and said, Thomas, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. What we need is Christ. When you have Christ, you have all you need. And we have hard things to go through in this country, missed all of our abundance.

Some of us are not real rich and some of us don't have much food. But we have Christ and he's adequate. He's sufficient. Let me encourage you to let him be the Lord of that area that you're struggling with.

Maybe you're fixing to go to church this morning and there's someone there that you just can't stand to face or pastor. Maybe you're going and your heart is so heavy and burdened down. Let the Lord take it.

Let him lift you up. He's the Lord, it's his church anyway, you're just the servant, the pastors to spend most of his time in prayer and ministry of the word to to others by visiting them and and preparing that word and sharing it publicly.

Don't let yourself get too distracted with many things. You folks that have a godly pastor that's faithfully preaching the word, relieve him. Of things that are weighing him down, those extra things. Like Mary and Martha, when Jesus was in the home, there is Mary sitting at Jesus feet and Martha was running about doing those other things, but one thing was needful.

The Cross, Salvation, and Freedom from Sin

My friend, we need to get back to the simple basics of letting Jesus be the Lord of our lives. Well, I didn't know which way we'd go today in this program. I wanted to share some things with you from Moses that you could use, but maybe next time I can share those things with you about his fears.

You see, I like to take the life of someone in the in the Bible and show you the cross. It was there at the cross that all of our sins were paid for. It was there at the cross when Christ died for us, that we were set free from the penalty of sin and from also the power of sin.

Have you come to the cross? Have you come to the Lord Jesus Christ? My friend, he's the only one that counts. I've been a lot of places and done a lot of things. I've been in businesses and and done all kinds of things and traveled the world, been in all the countries.

But let me tell you, nothing satisfies like Jesus. Jesus Christ is wonderful. Turn it over to him. Let him set you free. Let him be the Lord of everything you do. Why don't you let him be the Lord of that problem that you have?

Why don't you let him lift you up on eagles wings?