Questions & Answers — Warren Wiersbe

You heard about the preacher who dreamed he was preaching and woke up and found out that he was. Well, that's what happens. Thank you for handing in the questions. There may be some more back there that we didn't get.

We won't get to all of these. It gives me a chance to pick and choose, and that's nice, to be able to pick and choose. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this day and for these friends and for the ministries that you have given to each of us.

And we ask, oh God, that you'll guide us during this hour, give wisdom. And we pray, Father, that Jesus will be glorified and your church will be edified as we share together in Jesus' name, amen, amen.

Humility and Freedom in Christian Counsel

Now before I start answering some of these questions, there are several things that you need to know. One of them is that nobody is omniscient. And because I believe a certain way or I express it a certain way, it doesn't mean you have to.

I am no man's disciple, and I don't want anybody to be my disciple. When I look back to the Bible, I get mail from people saying, you are my pastor. I write back and say, no, I'm not. If you die, don't call me.

People would send checks and say, here is my tithe, and we'd send it back. I'd say, no, this is not your church. So just because Wiersbe writes it or says it doesn't mean you have to go along with it.

I've learned that God blesses people I disagree with. I don't know how he can do it. So this is not the law of the Swedes and the Persians. This is the law of the Lord. Just love one another and dare to disagree.

So this session is not an exercise in omniscience. Rather, I'm just going to share from my heart and take what you can and use it. What you can't use, but maybe somebody else can. How did you juggle, during your years of ministry, the matter of your family?

Building a Godly Home and Church

The question seems to be, you've got the church, you've got the family, and there can be tensions there. The best thing that I can do for the church I'm pastoring is to build a godly home. It's one of the requirements for ministry, isn't it?

Having his children under subjection, etc., etc. It's amazing how many of the list in Titus and in Timothy has to do with the home. So the best thing I can do for the church that I'm pastoring is to build a godly home.

The best thing I can do for my family is to build a good church for them to go to. So number one, there is no competition. If I am spending time with my family, I'm helping the church. If I'm ministering to the church, I'm helping the family.

That's point one. Point two, what is it that makes a godly family? Love, truth, and discipline. That's how you raise a godly family. Love, truth, and discipline. How does God raise his kids? Love, truth, and discipline.

What's the best way to have a godly church? Love, truth, and discipline. So that if when I'm at the church and I'm ministering to God's people, I love them, I give them the truth in love, and we exercise personal and church discipline, and then at home I do the same thing, there's no inconsistency.

There's no competition. Now, there are times when we have to say to our children, our wives already understand this, but we have to say to our children, kids, I know we had this planned, but there's an emergency, and dad has to go take care of this, so would you pray for me while I'm gone taking care of this, because you're a part of the ministry.

I remember once we had a birthday party planned, and there was an awful auto accident or something happened that I had to get to the hospital right away. Children understood. Some years later, now that our children are all grown up and we have grandchildren, I made mention at some family gathering that I was sorry I was gone so much.

The kids said, no, we didn't feel that way at all. I could be taken two ways, I suppose. I was very fortunate that Betty was a strong force at home, so that when I did have to be away or there was an emergency, she was there to guide the children, and we always tried to teach the children that they were a part of the ministry.

But we did not say to them, you better be good. You're a preacher's kids. Worst thing you can do. Never give up on anybody in your family. Many a pastor's family has had the stress and strain of a daughter or a son who has become independent.

Some people use the word rebellious. Never, never give up. Pray and wait and keep the doors open because God is going to work. I don't know that we had those kinds of strains. We may have and didn't see it.

But if we did, the Lord overruled our stupidity and helped us, and our children are now doing well, we praise the Lord. I pray every day for our eight grandchildren that God will call them into a service.

Balancing Ministry, Family, and Rest

Now, sometimes we preachers do get too busy. For example, suppose you went to the doctor. Doctor gave you an examination. He said, you know, Reverend, you're going to have to come and see me once a week for three hours for therapy.

Or within one year, you'll be dead. You go to your church board and say, man, here's the situation. They'd say, go and we'll be praying for you. Now, if you can take three hours once a week for therapy at the doctor's office, and they love you for doing it, why can't you take three hours to spend time with your wife or your children?

Because that's just as important. Are you following my logic here? Don't feel guilty. When you're ministering to your family, you're ministering to the church. When you're ministering to the church, you're ministering to your family.

Don't feel guilty either way. We were taking off on vacation. We were getting ready for a building program, or maybe we were already in it, and I think we were getting ready for it. I was worn out. I mean, people don't know what it means to pastor a church.

They just don't know. Bless their hearts. And we were going to leave on vacation, and one of the ladies in the church, who had just well been a man but happened to be a lady. There's one in every church.

She came up, and she said, they're going on vacation. I said, yeah. She said, the devil doesn't take a vacation. Now, I have to watch my sarcasm. My sense of humor is lethal, and I've got to watch. I almost said, well, if he could go with you, he would.

But I didn't. I said, well, the devil hasn't got a body. He's a spirit. So he doesn't need a vacation. I said, furthermore, he's not my example. And I didn't apologize for taking a vacation. And I probably should have taken more than I did.

But don't feel guilty. A hundred years from now, it's not going to make a bit of difference what somebody said because you did this or this or this. Anybody can preach in the pulpit as preachers they can get.

Only I can be the father in that home. Only Betty can be the mother in that home. Nobody can take our place. Not even a babysitter. Not even grandma and grandpa. And therefore, we jealously have to guard that and do what we're supposed to do regardless of what people say.

You worry about what people say, you go nuts. So don't worry about it. Just do what is right. Do what is right. And keep it balanced. Long sermon on a short... Are you planning on finishing the Old Testament commentary before you die?

Writing the Old Testament Commentary

Well, if I do it after I die, it'll have to be ghostwritten. We're hoping to do the Old Testament. We have a schedule. Victor Books has been purchased and is now owned by David C. Cook. And so it's going to become Chariot slash Victor Books.

Next week we'll find out more about it at CBA Conventions. With Victor, I haven't signed the contract, but we have a schedule whereby we will do the Old Testament, but not every verse of every book. Some of it's going to be put together.

The next one that's coming out in the Old Testament... There are 10 out in the Old Testament now. The next one that's coming out is called Be Concerned. It's Volume 2 on the Minor Prophets. Volume 1 on the Minor Prophets has come out.

Be Excited. I think that was called Be Excited? Be Amazed. I forget what my children's names are all the time. Be Amazed. Thank you. The third one is Be Heroic. And that'll finish the Minor Prophets. Then we're going to go back and finish Genesis.

Lord willing. Do Exodus. Numbers. Deuteronomy. Put the historical books together so that we travel with Saul and David and so forth. And then pick up what's left over. And if we get the Song of Solomon, I don't know what I'm going to do.

I was over at the British Keswick some years back, and they were interviewing me in front of this tent full of people. I don't know, 5 ,000, 6 ,000 people. And Billy Strachan was sitting behind me. I don't know if you know Billy.

He teaches with a radio Bible class occasionally, and he's a great evangelist, an Irishman. And the interviewer said to me, do you intend to do Song of Solomon when you do the Old Testament? I think he was joking.

I hope he was. I said, well, if I do, I don't know what I'll call it. And from behind me, Billy hollers, call it. Be careful. Would you select an assistant pastor? Is that a problem? Number one, I would question the resume.

Selecting and Shepherding Assistant Pastors

Have you ever noticed that when you send out for recommendations, you rarely get negative ones? I was on the board of the Evangelical Alliance Mission for 10 years. One of my assignments was to be on the committee that read all of the applications for people who wanted to be missionaries, and look at their pictures and so forth, read their resumes and everything.

Rarely did I find a friend or a pastor who was ever negative. All of their geese were swans. When I interview somebody for staff position, this is going to sound strange, but it's the truth. I go more by my gut level feeling about this person as I talk with him or her than I do anything else.

Now, obviously, if I read in his resume that he had done some wild, crazy thing, that would apply, but I go mostly by my gut level feeling. Now, Ted Angstrom, who's one of the great leaders in Christian management, dear friend of mine, I asked Ted one day, I said, Ted, you've interviewed all kinds of people.

What is your final decision made based on? He said, my gut level feeling. So that's where I'd start. How do I vibe with this person? Do I sense that we're together on this? Now, I'd want to know their spiritual life.

I notice this with churches when they interview candidates. They rarely say, tell us about your devotional life. That's the first question I'd ask. I mean, do you spend time every day in your Bible? How do you read your Bible?

Do you just read any place? Tell me about your personal devotional life. Tell me about your devotional pattern with your family. That's far more important than how many A's did you get in Bible school.

Now, I'm not against Bible school or A's. I rarely give them, but... So I go by gut level feeling as I talk about their spiritual life. Then I ask them what kind of management style they are accustomed to.

Because my management style may not be what they want. There are some assistants who want to be told what to do, when to do it. They want to come in on Monday and you hand them a sheet and say, I want you to report on this on Friday.

I'm not made that way. You know, my management style has always been, look, you are a part of this team. Here are your parameters. Go to it. Just go to it. Use your gifts the way God wants you to use them.

You get in trouble, we'll help you. You do the same thing twice, we'll think about it. Now, that's the way I... If they don't like it, if they want to have a more rigid style, then we aren't going to work well together.

So it has to be your management style, as it relates to their approach to management. And then are they good team people? And you can't get everything. You will not get assistants or associates who can do everything, because you can't do everything.

So I just say, look, these are your gifts. God's trained you this way. Here is your area. Here's your parameters. Go to it. I tried when I was pastoring to meet regularly with staff people individually.

I think pastoring the staff is as much important as pastoring the church, because leadership filters down. I don't like the word down as though the members are there and we're up here, but you know what I'm talking about.

So I'd spend time with them. I'm a walk-around kind of a person. When I was at Back to the Bible, I'd leave my office, just walk around the building, talk to people. How's the baby doing, you know, and so forth.

I found I learned more that way than any other way, because people come to official meetings. You find things out at the water cooler, you know. Now, I did this at church. When I was pastoring, I would arrive at church early, walk around, talk to people like I did here.

Shake hands, talk to them, meet the visitors, just walk around. I've learned more about the church in a half an hour of just walking around the auditorium, chatting with people than I would if I had an official meeting sometimes.

Of course, behind it must be prayer. One of the big problems today is the law tells us what we can ask people we're hiring. That's one big problem. And you ask somebody, look, is there any skeleton in your closet?

I mean, when you were over here, did you do anything that would embarrass us here or could erupt again? And you know what I'm talking about. And that's the difficult part. That's where the Holy Spirit has to lead us.

I thank God for the staff people he gave us. I can't think of one who was ever really a problem. I may have been a problem to them. But I learned a lot from my staff people. I really did. And thank God for them.

Our staff meetings at Moody Church were hilarious. We'd meet at 10 o 'clock on Monday morning and spend the first half hour laughing. You say that's not very spiritual. Oh, yes, it is. Oh, yes, it is.

Because at Moody Church, if you couldn't laugh, you'd weep. And then after we got it all out of our system, we'd pray. I learned this in Youth for Christ. Yeah, you pray. And then we'd talk about our problems.

Evaluating Puritanism and Theological Systems

And do you have a favorite Puritan writer? Well, I may make some enemies when I say this, but I am not a great Devil Kay of the Puritans. I'm not against them. I have them in my library. But I find some of them are very boring.

I know there's a lot of groceries in there, a lot of good food in there. But you've got to plow and you've got to dig so much. That may be good for me. I was preaching through the book of James and I was using Thomas Manton on James.

And I almost resigned from the ministry because, man, if we preached today the style the Puritans had, we'd empty our churches. If anybody comes along and says the Puritans are the model, nobody is the model.

Jesus is the model. The Puritans had as many problems as we had. They had just as much sin as we've got. And don't anybody tell you we have to go back to the age of the Puritans. We don't. Or anybody else.

You're going to go back farther than that. Go back to Pentecost. That would be a good place to go back to. I don't have a favorite Puritan writer unless Alexander White would be considered a Puritan. In that case, he is a favorite of mine.

Do not become a system disciple. Whether it's Arminianism, Calvinism, Dispensationalism, whatever, Puritanism. Don't become a system disciple because we know in part. Nobody knows enough to be able to say, here's God.

This is it. I read Calvin. I read Finney, who disagreed with Calvin. I read Presbyterians. I read Assembly of God. In fact, most of my reading is of people I disagree with, including secular folks. I do a lot of secular reading.

Learning from Failure and Delegating Responsibility

Don't become a devotee of a system. We may get to heaven and discover the system wasn't God's system. Could you share a personal failure you learned the most from? What did Lucy say to Charlie Brown? We learn more from our failures than from our successes.

And Charlie Brown said, that makes me the smartest man in the world. I've made a lot of mistakes. I'm glad our God is a God. You know, the victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings. Series of new beginnings.

And I'm just so glad our God is a God who forgives and said, let's get going again. Come on, let's get going again. We built a new, the Lord helped us build a new auditorium at Calvary Baptist in Covington.

It seated, I think, 1800 people, something like that. It was a big undertaking for us. And then we had to remodel the old building for educational purposes. And you know what that's like? It's like repairing a car while you're going 80 miles an hour down the highway.

That's what it's like. And we had some adult classes that had to be relocated and so forth. And you know, that's difficult. Because adult classes, this is our room. We paid for the carpeting and we put the paint on the wall, you know.

And I got myself in more hot water. I learned a good lesson. The adult superintendent, who was a middle management fellow at Lieber Brothers, sharp guy, came to me one day. And I love people who don't put you up on a pedestal, but who love you.

He came to me one day. He said, how long is it going to be before you quit making a mess out of my department? And I said, naively, but what do you mean? That gives you a chance to think up an excuse.

Well, he said, if you'd let me handle this, it'd be done better. I said, it's all yours. And within one week's time, that man had the whole thing taken care of. I had no right to meddle in that. It was like unscrambling an egg.

That's not my job. And he just stepped in, made it work. And I learned a good lesson there. There are people, many people, in our churches who can do many things better than we can. I had somewhat of a messianic complex.

I just had to do everything. I was glad for that lesson. And I hope I've been following it ever since. Do you ever feel stagnant? Yes, especially when I'm tired. I'm diabetic. It's like an organ recital.

I'm diabetic. And when my energy level gets low, I start biting people. Anybody here know what I'm talking about? Yeah, you know. Okay. I carry my medication with me and so forth. But when I'm tired, I'm very vulnerable.

Spiritual Dryness, Rest, and Renewal

So I've learned I've got to take care of my body. I'm only 67, which is not an ancient age. Somebody wrote me a question about dinosaurs. I don't know how old they think I am. Yeah, everybody goes through dry periods because we're human.

Now, sometimes the dry period comes simply because we've been overdoing it. Psalm 23 says, He makes me to lie down. Sometimes God has to make us lie down. So when I find myself getting tired, regardless of what I have to do or who's on the phone, the most spiritual thing I can do is go take a nap.

Some of you are doing that now, in fact. I've heard people say, you know, I went through sickness. I had a real very sick and I came out so spiritual. I'm just the opposite. I'm not too spiritual when I'm sick.

They used to bother me till I heard A .W. Tozer say the same thing. He said, what I am not well, I am not easy to be with. So when I feel sick, you know what I do? I go to bed, close the door, go to bed, just stay there.

Then he leaves me alone. So you've got to know your own cycle, your own body cycle. And everybody's different. I'm an early riser. I'm up at five o 'clock in the morning. I get more work done between five o 'clock in the morning and noon than I could get done any other way.

But other people aren't like that. You know, I had a secretary once, she said to me, she said, I wish you'd quit talking about people getting up early and having their devotion. She said, if I got up at five o 'clock to read my Bible, I wouldn't be able to find it.

But she was a godly woman. So I said, hey, you just got different makeup from me. Everybody has to know his own. So yes, there are periods when you're stagnant. There are periods when you've got to stop giving out and start taking in.

For example, when you find yourself hitting a stagnant period, call your pastor friend in the nearest church and say, how about switching pulpits a couple of Sundays from now? We can each dig out an old sermon, don't have to prepare.

That'll give me a week to kind of catch up with myself. Nothing wrong with that. Jesus said, not him, you got to watch out for him. Jesus said, come apart and rest. Vance Havner used to say, if you don't come apart and rest, you'll come apart.

So you have to know your own. Yes, we all have stagnant periods. If you read my books, you'll know where they are. And the thing to do is just be honest. Be honest. I remember once going to the board of elders at Moody Church saying, men, I don't know what to preach next fall.

Now, we had to plan our preaching because of the music, the radio, and so forth and so on. I said, I don't know what, I've run out of ideas. One of them spoke up and said, have you ever thought of doing a series of messages on suffering?

So some of our people are really hurting. I said, yeah, you're right. He said, pray about that. I did. And God just opened up to me. Where the book came from, Why Us? When Bad Things Happen to God's People, that came out of that series.

So just be honest. Go to your elders or whatever and say, look, I'm in a dry period. Pray with me. Pray for me. Our pastor's son, when he hits one of these periods, goes off to a monastery, an Anglican monastery in Michigan.

You can rent a room or a cell or whatever they call it. And they'll feed you. If you want to, you can go to the prayers. But he just wants some place where the radio's not blaring, television's not on, telephone's not going to ring, takes his books there.

And in two days, God begins to do things in his heart. My experience has been, often when I get in a plane to fly someplace, I'm up there about 20 minutes and all of a sudden, all kinds of ideas hit me.

It's a whole new atmosphere. And the seed that's been planted, I start to get ideas. And, well, so much for that. You will have periods that are stagnant. Recognize them and do something with them. Are you a Calvinist or an Arminian or a Kalminian?

Calvinism, Arminianism, and Theological Balance

None of the above. I'm no man's disciple and I ask nobody to be my disciple. We know in part. And because we know in part, I'm very much afraid of a system. Now, I have read in Calvin's Institutes. I've not read them straight through.

And I've read Finney and I read a lot of people. I could take the book of Hebrews and I could go through it and teach it from the Calvinistic point of view. I go right back and teach it from the Arminian point of view.

I don't find either terms in the Bible. Extreme Arminianism robs God of glory. Extreme Calvinism robs man of responsibility. Watch out for both. As far as God the Father is concerned, I was saved when he chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world.

And I knew nothing about that. As far as God the Son is concerned, I was saved when he died for me in the cross. That I heard about. As far as the Holy Spirit is concerned, I was saved in May of 1945 when I trusted Jesus as my Savior.

It takes all three. That's Ephesians 1. Blessed be the God and Father who has chosen us. Blessed be the Son who redeemed us. Blessed be the Holy Spirit who has sealed us. Takes all three. Now, an extreme Calvinist will so magnify sovereignty, he'll emphasize sovereignty and minimize calvary.

An extreme Arminian will so emphasize responsibility, he may deny sovereignty. Balance. Blessed are the balanced. The most balanced Calvinist you will ever read is Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Charles Spurgeon was a five-point Calvinist, but not a radical.

He believed in exhorting people to be saved. He wept over sinners. Now, he did not give a public invitation, but that's not the test of anything. That's not the test of anything. Not every baby is born in public.

You make the invitation a test of spirituality, and you're moving beyond Scripture. Our Lord did say, come to me. In fact, in the last part of Revelation, chapter 21, the Spirit and the Bride say, come.

The word does mean come forward. Even Barclay says, this would go right with the practice of giving an invitation. But don't make these things a test of fellowship, please. The text of Bible study is not a big head.

It's a burning heart. Did not our heart burn within us as He opened to us the Scriptures? So, preach Jesus. Don't bring your theological squabbles into the pulpit. That's like bringing Gray's Anatomy into the emergency ward.

These people don't need a book. They need a doctor. And our saints come together, and they've been out in the trenches. They hurt. They bleed. They're hungry. And they don't want to hear controversy. Give them food.

And God never called me to feed the giraffes. He called me to feed the sheep. Harold Linzell said to me one day, he said, you know, I'm praying that God will give me the backbone of a Calvinist and the heart of an Arminian.

Now, generally speaking, I know what he says, and I agree with it. I agree with it. Don't become a systems defender. Just preach the Word of God. Just preach the Word of God. Love people and know what you believe.

There is in America today a quiet move toward reformed theology. Isn't that so quiet? There's a noisy trend. Martin Lloyd-Jones was our friend. Betty and I, every time we were in Britain, almost every time we were in Britain, we'd go to a pastor, and this was Lloyd-Jones.

He preached for us. I got to preach one day at Calvary in Covington, looked out, and there sat Martin Lloyd-Jones. And I was preaching from Romans. Now, you talk about homiletical horror. There it is.

And I've read every volume of his exposition of Romans. Some things I don't agree with, but I love him anyway. We loved each other, and we appreciated each other. Don't make these things a test of fellowship or spirituality, because we know in part.

We know in part. So if you want to ask me, which am I? I'm none, really. I suppose maybe I'm four-fifths of a Calvinist. I don't know. But I don't worry about those things. I just preach the Word and try to be true to what I think God is saying to me.

Renewing the Mind and Resisting Satan’s Attacks

Can Satan speak to our minds, and what are the fiery darts in Ephesians 6? There have been times I have been sitting on the platform of a church waiting to preach, and such horrible thoughts have come to my mind.

But I knew they weren't mine. Luther said, I can't stop the birds from flying around my head, but I can stop them from making a nest in my hair. My hair, they might have a bit of a problem, but I know what he's talking about.

The thing that Paul wants us to do in Romans 12, after we present our bodies, is to let God renew our minds. This is where the Christian life is lived. The heart and the mind. You can't divide people up.

My body affects my mind. My mind can affect my body. I can think myself into high blood pressure. In fact, the doctor tells me that stress will increase my blood sugar. So, the body affects the mind, the mind affects the emotions, the heart.

You can't parcel yourself up into little categories. You know, here's the conscience, and here, I don't know. But God wants to renew my mind. That's why we have our daily quiet time with God. I pray each morning when I get up, I say, Oh Lord, here's my body, and I give it to you.

It's not doing too good, but it's yours. You're in heaven. And here's my mind, I want you to renew my mind. And then I get specific. I say, Oh Lord, cleanse my imagination. That's your creative part. Your imagination is the gift of creativity.

Some people, their imagination is a glacier. Never moves. Cold. They aren't creative. Their preaching sounds like Jameson Fawcett Brown commentary. No warmth, no heart, no creativity. Other people, their imagination is a sewer.

They're preachers. Their imagination is a sewer. It's going to lead to trouble. God wants my imagination to be a clear, beautiful stream. Wherever it goes, there's life. Creativity. Preaching is a marvelously creative opportunity.

But it can be same, same, same every Sunday. Two farmers met down at the market, and one said, How was your church service yesterday? The other one said, Well, same old thing. Ding, dong, ding, dong, ding, dong.

First farmer said, Boy, you're lucky. All we get is ding, ding, ding, ding. You pick up Roget's Thesaurus and look up doll, and they'll say, Doll is a sermon. Why would the world think a sermon is dull?

It should be creative. It's the most creative book in the world. That's another subject. So, I say, God, cleanse my imagination. I've got to write a book today. Cleanse my imagination. Renewal of the mind.

Guarding Thoughts and Understanding Fiery Darts

Now, Satan attacks the mind. There's some things I won't read. There's some things I won't watch. Some things I won't listen to because they affect my mind. I just say no. Just like there's some things I can't eat.

They're not good for me. So, I've got to discipline my mind. And if I find that my imagination is moving someplace it shouldn't, I've got to bring it back by the Holy Spirit. It's a battle. You'll never win that battle completely until you get the glory.

But don't give up. So, the renewing of the mind is important. And Satan does throw fiery darts at us. What are they? Well, when you're discouraged. The Holy Spirit doesn't discourage anybody. His name means the encourager.

Now, the saints will discourage you. The average church needs no fire extinguishers. Wet blankets are walking around to be able to put out the Chicago fire. Well, if you find yourself discouraged, that's not the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit doesn't discourage anybody. He's the encourager, the paraclete. So, if I get discouraged, that's a fiery dart. If I find myself accusing somebody, that's a fiery dart. And if I don't put that out with the shield of faith.

Faith in what? Faith in the Word of God. Say, Lord, you've said it's wrong to do this. And therefore, by faith, I conquer this. It's a battle. But I've found that the more the Word of God gets into my mind, the Spirit of God can work.

The Spirit of God does not work in a vacuum. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God. It doesn't work in a vacuum. I've read these books where they say, now, empty your mind of everything. Now, for some folks, that wouldn't be too hard.

But it's not biblical. You don't have to empty your mind of everything. You have your mind renewed. And the Holy Spirit can do that. It's a battle. But so is the whole Christian life. What does Paul mean when he talks about living by faith?

Tests of Faith and Waiting on God

Well, I think he's referring to where we walk by faith, not by sight. Let me give you four tests of faith. How can I tell when what I'm going to do is by faith? You know, I have a friend who about wrecked his life.

God led him by faith to do this and this and this. And boy, he went bankrupt. Now, I'm not saying everybody goes bankrupt. That's what happened. That's because of unbelief. No, no, no. All I'm saying is, we Christians, especially preachers, can cover up a lot of our own ideas saying we're going to do it by faith.

I was in a Back to the Bible board meeting many years ago when both Mr. and Mrs. Epp, the founders, were alive and they were there. And one of the board members gave a passionate plea to do such and such.

And he said, we must do this by faith. Quietly, Mrs. Epp said, whose faith? That quieted the meeting down. Whose faith? Test number one, can I back it up with Scripture? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Anything I'm going to do that I can't back up from Scripture, the principle of it, I can't do it by faith. Test number two, is it for God's glory? Am I doing this because I want it? Or is this really for God's glory?

Test number three, am I willing to wait? Faith means patience. Through faith and patience, they inherited the promises. Hebrews chapter six. He who believes shall not make haste. When I find myself getting nervous and impetuous, this has got to be done, got to be done now, I know I'm heading for an accident.

Because when God works and it's His way to do it, then we do it by faith and we're willing to wait. If it's a real thing, folks, it'll wait. When I was in seminary, I was pastoring a church. That's a good way to go to school.