20150725-Seek His Face -Late David Wilkerson

Ps 27:7 "My heart tells me to pray to you, and I do pray to you O Lord" [KJV]

In my previous blog on what happened 17 years ago, I chose the verse Ps27:7 from the NIV version which says " My heart says of you "Seek His face ! Your face , LORD, I will seek"

Kind of interesting in the different versions. One says seek the other says pray.


Whatever it was, while I was searching for an appropriate song on "Seek His Face" for the previous blog (Which is quite often for me to load up a nice song in blog for the similar topic), I found none.  Nevertheless, my eye caught this late David Wilkerson's sermon on "Seek His Face". It was about 40 min long so I just happened to listen to it tonight about about 10:30pm.

To my surprise, what I had blog earlier came hitting hard with similiar sharing by late David.  Coincidence once again? Well, it resonated in my heart with those terms of seeking His face, Facebook and technology that steal the time away from our Lord.

The sermon perhaps was one of the last sermon preached by this 79 year David Wilkerson at that time. He passed away in  in a car accident.

[May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011]

A very good hear . Only 40 Min.  May the Lord stir the burden in our hearts once again to SEEK HIS FACE and to PRAY to HIM ! Oh what a sermon! Be Blessed! 

Leonard Ravenhill (late David's good pal's quote " Preachers don't pray"....regarding revival :)

20141014: WDIC #1: NYC - GRACE -David Wilkerson Quote

Introduction from the book , David Wilkerson - THE MAN WHO BELIEVED "WHAT DO YOU SEE? my father asked.

This book (just released in Aug 2014) is written by his son Gary after his father's death in 2011.He was in his 80s then.  The late David Wilkerson ministered for more than 65 years ! Founded Teen Challenge, Times Square church.  His monumental book - The Cross and the Switchblade , has sold more than 16 million copies worldwide.

Yet reading this book on the way back from Washington DC after a miracle purchase of this book in Columbia, in a christian bookshop in a suburb off DC , was revelationary. Shocking too.  

Because of the uniqueness of how this book which I wanted so much landed in my hands in such an unusual manner (my previous blog), I am treasuring the experiences of such a man of so much faith in our God.

Thot that the actual quote taken from a leaf from the Introduction would make great food for thots for many - especially those serving in "full-time" ministry. We are all full time ambassadors for our YHWH in various capacities that He had placed us in.  Unfortunately, much spotlight and responsibilities are often thrown at hired "full-timers" nowadays. But this is a book for all of us.  Those who believe in YHWH or those who thot they believe and yet not experiencing the fullness and abundance of what the Father had done for His child.

Page 29-30 Extract:
" The revelation of my fathers's lifelong struggle was stunning to many.  'I preach a lot about the love of God nowadays, and it was David who had the greatest influence in my life fro that 'says Bob Phillips, who copastored with my father at Times Square Church.  'It's based on what I learned from him in his years as a pastor, not just from his preaching but from how he believed and lived.'  Like so many others who worked closely with my dad, Bob never would have guessed this struggle to be my father's deepest.

From the outside, those who understood my dad's early life would say he never stood a fighting chance.  Yet , characteristic of my father, a few decades ago he set himself on a journey to correct things within himself.  At that time, in the 80s, he was still busy traveling the world as an evangelist.  Yet his own soul was dry; he had become weary of preaching the same messages to crusade audiences.  Between those events, he began reading a stack of books given to him by a discerning friend, author and preacher Leonard Ravenhill.  These were classic works that had endured the centuries, most of them written by Puritans, names many of us have never heard of.  As my father dug into those treasures, his heart opened to a new revelation of Christ.  Grace awakened him, coming alive in a way he had never known.  The old books stirred him once again to study the Scriptures cover to cover, this time with a new understanding of the gospel.  As he explored the full extent of the finished work of Christ, he experienced joy.

Toward the end of his life, my father confided to me that he still struggled to know whether he was loved.  He couldn't escape completely the emotional cobwebs, but he was seeing more and more clearly the work that Jesus had done for him.  In my last conversation with him, he told me of how deeply he had probed, how he had scoured every page of every writing he could find on the glorious subject of God's covenant grace.  And yet I could see in his eyes there was a yearning for more.  There things he still wanted to know about the depth and breadth of Chris's finished work.  That's when he urged me to dig deeper in my own search on the subject, not to be satisfied but to go farther.  It was as if he were saying ' I got a late start.  I want you to have it better.  I want my grandchildren to have it better.  Don't ignore the truth.  If you catch it now, it can save you years .  Son - do you see?

A few weeks after my father's funeral, my brother-in-law sent me the last book that Dad had left open on his study table.  It was a classic work by Thomas Brooks.  Almost every page was underlined and highlighted with comments filling every open margin.  There was my father, nearly 80 years old - after 65 years of serving in ministry - still yearning, still reveling in the gospel of Christ, its glories never ceasing to unfold new beauties of assurance. 

In this way, my father was like Paul,  With every achievement, his estimation of himself had grown smaller.  Earlier on, Paul went from strength to strength in is accomplishments for the gospel.  In AD55 he wrote to the church inCorinth that he was no less than any of the other apostles.  Two years later, he wrote something very different to the Ephesians, stating, ' I am the least of all saints' Finally in his last known letter, Paul wrote ' Ia am the chief of sinners'

That was my father.  In the beginning of his ministry, David Wilkerson was a crusading young zealot, making a massive imprint on the world for Christ.  Later , as he gazed hard into his own brokenness, he realized " I am dependent on God for everything" and he offered genuine encouragement to others in their sufferings.  By the end of his life, amid his anguished battle to know love, he claimed "I can do nothing.  He did it all 'It is finished'"

Here is where God's work in my father began.  Let me tell you what I see"

Quoted : From Gary Wilkerson

Reflections
This is part of the book's introduction.  Kind of shocking right?

Ministry . Zeal. 

At the end of the day....what do you see?

Love.  Grace.  Joy.

Remembering Rainbows. 

His covenant of love , grace and joy

Do you experience His Love?

Do you experience His Grace?

Do you experience His Joy?

A simple checklist for today.

If any of them is checked with a "NO" then gostan balek kampong...back to the Cross and remember what Jesus said it first "It is finished"

20141026_Rainbows & Book chaser of David Wilkerson in USA to Canada Ps25:14

Ps25:14 "The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him and he will show them his covenant" -KJV
Ps 25:14 "God-friendship is for God-worshippers, they are the ones he confides in" -The Message


This verse spoke to me during this longest ever vacation that I took for a long while. Simply because rainbows depict His covenant with His children.  Shakespeare quote" My heart leaps for joy when I behold a rainbow" Isn't this what makes your heart leaps for that simple free joy as you 'catch' that rainbow? It is that kind of father and child heartbeat.  You simply just knew it. 

This is the testimony of the faithfulness of my covenantal YHWH as I begin with this memorable rainbows painted in the skies in USA - Canada during this trip from 12/10/2014 - 28/10/2014

Do you know this late David Wilkerson? This is the blog which I have been following as part of devotional readings.  But he passed on in 2010 in a car accident. However his blog is still kept alive by his son Gary who wrote this book about his dad which was just released in Aug/ Sep 2014.

So here is the testimony to begin with ....

When John told me about going to NYC,  I was so curious to find out what this city was all about- Lady Liberty (which is actually also called ISIS surprisingly) and the well known arty creative people are , homosexuality is highly promoted in this city of "freedom - do as you like",  the famous Wall Street bulls and bears ,  the 'twin towers' WTC shocker of 9/11/2011,   the 'romantic' Empire State where "Sleepless in Seatle" was shown......  

Before I even knew about this trip , on 15/8/2014 , I wrote  wanting to buy online the book on late David Wilkerson - written by his son Gary. But the postage was high and so they did not send over. Much as I wanted this book which was only launched recently, I even asked my pilot friend to check when his next flight to NYC would be & he had graciously agreed to try to get it for me in his next flight. Well, before this happened, I was in NYC for the first time due to a sudden vacation plan with another couple! That was how sudden this trip came about!

Our time in NYC was only a 2 days trip before we drove up north to Toronto.  On 13/10/2014-I googled and it was one of my intentions to visit this Times Square church.  However, after watching the Jersey Boys in one of the theatres on the last nite in NYC, I decided to walk to the next block where the church was. Unfortunately, it was already past 9:30 and so it was closed. Only managed to take a photo.

[August Wilson Theatre presenting "JERSEY BOYS -The story of Frankie Valli and the FOUR SEASONS,  on the 40th plus West street , Broadway , NYC - Times Square]

[ Times Square Church on the next block of street at 51st West Street]

I am a rainbow chaser.  And on this trip, my personal angel sent by our dear Father gave me THREE awesome rainbows! 

1. The first was at WTC on our 2nd day in NYC.. John first sighted it and pointed to me! 

2. Then the second was on route from Boston to Montreal- I couldn't catch it as we were in the car, but oh boy, I was so excited as I knew there would be a rainbow as it was drizzling and the sun just peeped thru the clouds in moments!  I think I am quite good now at catching rainbows .LOL.

3. But the strangest one was when we were in Washington DC- the last leg of this long trip.  Just as we were walking past the Washington DC monument behind us, I happened to turn my head and to my surprise , the sky was a slight patch of purple dash and there hidden on the left of the monument was a tiny little quadrant of a rainbow! I kept telling JOhn - this is the strangest rainbow at the time of the day! No rain, super sunny and yet rainbow!And with the Iphone- I captured it!

U know the Lord must have heard my inner desires to wanting to read about this late David Wilkerson.  This is my memorable testimony which would stay with me in years to come - apart from the 3 awesome rainbows sighting.  The one I saw at WTC was kind of uplifting cos it was kind of sad walking around those two big black holes where the twin towers used to stand. The one on route to Montreal was an expectant one - I just knew there would be one so that I can point out to my friend's wife who was beside me in the car. So it was the third one that cause me to view it was the strangest among the strange.

Reflections

I could only now look back and give thanks and rejoice.  We did not stay in Washington DC itself but an hour away in a little suburb called Columbia in Maryland state.  On Friday nite, the last but 2 days on this long vacation, John and I decided to take the car out ourselves while the couple friend went back to the service apt to rest.  And in this so called little shopping area , we found out that Walmart was not there but there were rows of little shop units.  JOhn pointed to me there was a christian bookshop right ahead of us and so we decided to go in to take a look.  At the counter, I asked them for this book - the guy went thru the PC and then told me it was only available in Spanish! So well, I told him, nope - I needed the english one. Deep in my heart, I found it weird - u know- here is America- USA= English english english and you carry that book in Spanish? LOL.  So I decided to walk around and hey presto = I found that book! I took it to the counter and the guy kept telling me - how in the world did his inventory system showed it was it Spanish? And we laughed!

But to me, it was no laughing matter. Deep in inside- I told myself - hey went to internet, no order taken, went to Times Square - too late and it was closed. And right in the nowhere in an obscure little suburb, despite the initial Spanish hoo ha - I still managed to get it! Woah! I can only be so humbled that it was never a human effort but a divine one. This is a divine exchange once again.  And the fact is known, The Lord wants me to read what the son Gary wrote about his father David! LOL.  It is like the divine exchange between the Cross and the Switchblade (Late David's first written book in 1963 about the drug guy Nicky Cruz who turned to Christ ). Late David went from Pennsylvania to NYC to confront the gangs who ran the streets.  He had seen the photograph of the 7 teens who were the members of a gang called Eygptian Dragons and were tried for the murder of Michael Farmer. Crazy David wanted to say something in the Court that day and was thrown out. That began Wilkerson's lifelong mission to the rejected and ignored.  Todate his monumental book, THE CROSS & THE SWITCHBLADE , which chronicled the conversion of gang leader Nicky Cruz has sold more than 16mio copies worldwide.  He foundered Times Square church and he shocked his staff when he had the vision from the Lord the day before Black Monday 1987 - he and a team went to Wall Street and they witnessed a horrific bunch of traders in tears that very day when the stock exchange simply crashed.  

WHAT DO YOU SEE? LEE KUA SI MI??

So on sun 26/10/2014, we were travelling back from DC to NYC to catch our nite flight back to spore, I read this whole book from its first chapter to it last 16 in the car!.  In the opening introduction was the question the late David asked his son Gary "WHAT DO YOU SEE?" For me, this book was very interesting as it wrapped up my USA trip. I began to appreciate NYC TimesSquare and its several states much better as I read thru the eyes of this narative done in this book.  Perhaps with such short time in the city, I was not able to fully appreciate the place. Wished I read it earlier before I came, but guess it is still the Lord's sovereign timing.

I am so glad that I am so loved by the Lord as seen from His ever signs of his great covenant.(To get 3 rainbows just in these 2 weeks was abundance blessings!) Ps 25:14 was a personal verse to me in this trip.  A man like late David who ministered widely touching millions yet was questioning about if ever God ever loved him at all was rather quite a shocking revelation as Gary his son wrote about what his dad shared in the moments in his sunset years as he stepped down in his life ministry.  

So now my longest vacation had ended today, WHAT DID I SEE? Ha Ha

I think I see His Beauty all around me. His everlasting love of covenant for his beloved ones.  Rainbows are indeed a sign of HIs love . He painted it in Genesis after the great flood promising never to do that again. He had the rainbow shining around the great throne in Revelation.  He is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the Last. 

Never ever ever ever doubt His love for his Beloved children.

Be that God-worhipper that He desires so that He will confide in us.  

Isn't  that most awesome revelation that we need to time out and spend time with our Heavenly FATHER and not to be too caught up with other worldly techy distractions that crowd out our simple life? Time to slow down and stroll with Him in the park, throughout the 4 seasons in our life.  ( (Ever wonder how Frankie Valli got his group name "Four Seasons" - go and watch the movie or musical to find out! It was very funny !) He paints a different picture for each season in our life. If only we can embrace and understand the sign of times.  Get ready our hearts to welcome Him anytime anywhere anyhow. Be ready.  Are You?

In the bible, it says that we may have ears but do not hear, eyes but do not perceive.  Lee Kua Si Mi? What do you see? It has nothing got to do with our pair of natural eyes but that of spiritual eyes.  Can you see ? That is the question...