Larry Who

June 6, 2009 · 10:54 am

God’s Smuggler…a Book Review

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There are just a few books I have bothered to read more than once. God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew is one of them.

God’s Smuggler was first published in 1967 and has since sold over ten million copies. By comparison’s sake, the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown sold a little over five million copies and was on the New York Time’s Best Seller’s list for two years. So, as you can see, 10,000,000 copies is a mega-monster, smash-hit book.

Why has it remained so popular for forty-two years? The answer is simple: the book is an inspirational master-piece for us ordinary believers who dream about doing extraordinary works for God.

The hero of the book, Brother Andrew, is a Dutchman without much education and little money. After he gives his life to the Lord, he believes the Lord has called him to be a missionary. His mission field: the Communist countries behind the Iron Curtain.

Now, you must remember that during the 1950’s and 60’s, the Communist countries of Romania, Yugoslavia, Poland, Albania, Russia, Hungary and others were repressive ant-Christian countries. The governments imprisoned people who smuggled evangelistic pamphlets and Bible into their nations.

And yet, Brother Andrew was able to successfully smuggle millions of Bibles into the Iron Curtain countries. He succeeded without always knowing who his Christian contacts would be or what city they were in. He did it under the searching eyes of secret police and soldiers. His KGB file was over one hundred and fifty pages long, and yet, they could not stop him.

He prayed this prayer when guards were ready to search his auto: “Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture I want to take to Your children. When You were on earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see.” And they never did.

For myself, I like to randomly open the book up and read a few pages every now and then. When I do, I’m blessed.

If you need to be inspired, read it. You can buy it here, here and even used here.

If you want to know more about Brother Andrew and his Open Doors ministry, go here.

A Pirate’s Prayer

Francis Drake, Privateer made a comment on one of my posts which contained a nugget of pure gold…a prayer by the Elizabethan pirate, Sir Francis Drake:

“Disturb us Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves. When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little. When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us Lord, to dare more boldly. To venture on wider seas. Where storms will show your mastery; Where, losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; And to push into the future, in strength, courage, hope and love.” (SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 1577)

Amen.

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June 5, 2009 · 9:21 am

Swimming Upstream: “Religious Rules Bug Me!”

A few months ago, I was invited to read and give my opinion on a post written at a web site. The subject of the post was prophets and prophecy.

It was a well-written article…except one sentence disturbed me:

“God does not send lone-wolf prophets into cities anymore, but rather, He dispatches prophetic teams to work with the churches of that city.”

Not being the timid sort, I pointed out the sentence and stated that it was not scriptural. (Keep in mind, this was a long, long article, and I disagreed with one sentence. And actually, I only disagreed with the phrase – God does not send lone-wolf prophets anymore.

Now, one would have thought I had blasphemed the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit with the reactions my comment received. A major author and other writers joined in the discussion, pointing out the error of my thinking.

“God is a team player. He works with churches and not outside of their areas of authority. The only exception would be if the churches of the city are rebellious and disobedient,” they declared in comment after comment.

I disagreed with their conclusions. There were no scriptures to back up their statements. None. Zilch. Zero. My personal belief is that God is Boss! Period.

And if God decides to send one person – or a herd of people – to proclaim His words to the citizens of a city, it’s His choice, not ours. He’s the Big Guy. The Boss. The Lord God Almighty.

God does not have to work within our religious rules or systems, but we need to work within His agenda if we want see changes in our nation.

But if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it – lest you even be found to fight against God. (Acts 5:39)

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s a little of this and a little of that, all written to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.

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June 3, 2009 · 8:36 am

Swimming Upstream: “A Two-Front War Is Unwinnable For America!”

Looking back at the 2008 Elections, I really did not think the Lord would have us Christians fighting a two-front war.

Now, by using the phrase two-front war, I’m not referring to its normal usage: warfare taking place simultaneously at two geographical positions. This strategic maneuver forces a combatant to split its armies, and thus reduces its odds of success.

But instead, I was referring to a two-front spiritual war. On the one front fighting us Christians are Satan and his forces.

Who do you think is backing the Islamic jihadists? Whose backing the homosexual agenda? Or abortion? Or national debt? Or illegal aliens? Or the dumbing-down of our children by school systems?

Hello! Is anyone home? Satan is behind these attacks.

Okay, so why do you think Satan has boldly gone on the offense against America? Maybe, he has inside info, right? What is it?

Satan knows that God is opposing America on a second front. That’s right! We Christians are caught in a cross-fire between Satan who hates us and God who loves us.

And guess what?

Though it looks like we believers should mount all-out efforts against Islamic terrorism, homosexuality, abortion, illegal aliens, national debt and the dumbing-down of our children by school systems, we better drop everything and seek God.

We need to know why God is opposing us. Is it our national sins? Or corporate church sins? Or personal sins?

If we Christians don’t find out the answers to why God is opposing America, our nation is doomed. Period.

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. (Isaiah 55:6)

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May 31, 2009 · 8:35 am

A Thingy That Works

Claire at One Passion One Devotion wrote a little snippet at the end of one of her posts. It was about this thingy called Condron.US. All we bloggers have to do is sign up; and then, more people may end up reading our posts.

So, far it has worked for me. Check it out for yourself.

Swimming Upstream: “Thanks Uncle Phil”

My Uncle Phil flew on a B-24 Liberator during World War II. His ten-man crew survived thirty-five bombing missions over Germany, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Austria.

Survived? Each time the crew took off from their base in Venosa, Italy, they knew one third of the planes would not return. One in three – not good survival odds when you factor in thirty-five missions, right?

On one particular mission, Uncle Phil’s B-24 came under heavy anti-aircraft fire. A piece of flak ripped a hole in the hydraulic reservoir, causing oil to spray all over the cabin area. If left unfixed, the bomb bay doors would remain open and the wheels could not be lowered into landing position.

Valuable seconds ticked off. Something had to be done, or the plane had to be ditched, forcing the crew to use parachutes. A dangerous last resort over enemy territory.

Captain Tom shouted at Phil, “See if you can fix it!”

Looking around, Phil found a small broom. He broke off the handle and made his way toward the hydraulic tank.

Now, under normal conditions, the trek to the rear of the plane was precarious because there was no aisle, just an eight-inch wide catwalk which spanned the twelve-foot aluminum doors. But on this day, the bomb bay doors were wide open and everything was covered with slippery hydraulic oil. Plus, the B-24 was at twenty-eight thousand feet and the temperature was a chilly forty degrees below zero.

Phil unhooked his parachute pack and edged sideways out over the catwalk, much like a high-wire walker in a circus. He reached the leaking tank and shoved the broom handle and a part of his leather glove into the gaping hole. It worked; the leak was fixed.

Did Uncle Phil receive a medal for this act of bravery? No, and to be honest, he did not care. His attitude was, “Somebody had to do it and it turned out to be me.”

To his fellow B-24 crew members, Uncle Phil was the right man in the right place at the right time, a nineteen-year old hero from Waterloo, Iowa.

Thanks Uncle Phil; and thank you to every armed forces soldier that has served and is now serving our nation. We Americans owe you a debt of gratitude for the freedoms which we enjoy today.

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May 22, 2009 · 7:44 am

Swimming Upstream: “Grace Is Not Fair!”

Early in our marriage, Honey and I faced some tough circumstances. Answers were needed…as in now.

I did what I normally do when there are problems: I crawled out of bed early in the morning and sought the Lord. An hour passed. Two hours passed. Three hours passed. And yet, I heard no answers from heaven.

A little before 8 a.m., Honey awakened and walked into the living room. She was wearing pajamas and yawning, stretching her arms in the air. After slumbering over to the coffee pot and pouring herself coffee, she came over to the sofa where I was praying.

“Oh sweetheart,” she said, “I had the best night’s sleep and the greatest dream. Do you want to hear it?”

I nodded. She told me her dream.

And of course, her dream was the answer we needed from heaven for our problems.

Now, is this the only example of my seeking the Lord for hours and Honey seemingly spending little time doing that, but yet, somehow, the Lord favors her with the answers? Oh no! Of course not! I have dozens of examples.

It seems unfair, right? And it is, until you factor in the Lord’s grace.

The measure of grace on my life for prayer and seeking the Lord is different than what Honey has. Period.

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think…(Romans 12:3)

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May 20, 2009 · 2:17 pm

Awesome Quote About Christian Maturity

I read this quote in Post Charismatic, a book which I may review sometime:

If there is anything that characterizes Christian maturity, it is the willingness to become a beginner again for Jesus Christ. It is the willingness to put your hand in His hand and say, “I’m scared to death, but I’ll go with You. You’re the pearl of great price.” (John Wimber)

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May 20, 2009 · 9:49 am

Swimming Upstream: “Sometimes The Lord Is Quiet…So Just Wait”

Right now, in my life, the Lord is quiet. Very quiet.

I don’t think it’s a sin problem on my part; or that it’s a lack of my seeking Him. How can I be sure, right? I have peace in my spirit; there is no churning restlessness within me. Just peace.

Why is the Lord quiet? Over the years, I have learned that when He is quiet, He is about to do something in my life. Maybe change or rearrange something within me. His quietness is sort of like the still before a storm.

Does this mean my life is in perfect shape … with no problems? Oh heavens no! Everything is up in the air. There are loose ends all over the place. Disaster awaits us just ahead if He doesn’t answer our prayers, but what’s new, right?

And yet, He is quiet.

So, what do I do?

Be still, and know that I am God… (Psalm 46:10)

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May 18, 2009 · 8:19 am

Swimming Upstream: “What About The Apostle Peter’s Wife?”

What do you think the Apostle Peter’s wife said when he came home and told her he was dropping everything and following a man named Jesus?

Maybe, something like: “Are you nuts? What about the fishing business? Who is going to run it? And what about my mother? And me? You can’t be serious, right? We’ll starve, won’t we?”

Now, we Christians read scripture and gloss over facts without ever putting our brains in gear. We just assume the Prince of Peace waved His magic wand over Peter’s household and everything fell in place. All nice, neat and tidy. Right?

Maybe, when Jesus healed her mother (Mark 1:30-31), it helped convince Peter’s wife. And also, the other healings at Peter’s house that evening (Mark 1: 32-33) probably helped some, too.

But my guess is that Peter and his wife struggled with his apostolic calling. As in STRUGGLED!!

After all, they were humans just like us, and guess what? We humans who are married struggle with whatever calling the Lord has placed on us versus what our mates expect from us.

Jump to the back of the book of Mark to where Peter denied Jesus (Mark 14:72). Try to imagine how Peter’s wife handled the Crucifixion and Peter’s self-destruction.

Maybe, she said things like, “I told you so. Didn’t I? But no, you wouldn’t listen, would you? You believed everything He said, didn’t you? Now, look at yourself!”

But out of all their possible struggles over Peter’s apostolic calling, we can eventually be encouraged: