By S. Lee Homoki
Published: January 22, 2007
The word “house,” as used here in Scripture, is so general, but it has
many applications. For example: an ordinary dwelling, a temple, a place
of worship, a family, or the building of a gospel ministry such as
Bible Doctrines to Live By, Inc., can legitimately be represented as a
“house” - as I am doing in this article. Also, the injunction is
perfectly clear and conditional that, “except the Lord build it,” the
success, prosperity or blessing of this or any other enterprise is
“vain” - to no avail. No matter what our investment of time or talent
may be, all our work will not gain the approbation and blessing of God
unless it is done in the strength and power of the Lord. If anything is
worthwhile, lasting or praiseworthy and is ever accomplished, it will
be entirely based on our dependence on God.
As a gospel ministry, Bible Doctrines to Live By, Inc., has taken
care to make sure that Jesus Christ is our foundation and chief
cornerstone. Our “building” upon this foundation, brick by brick, has
been by following the Biblical blueprint: “Precept must be upon
precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a
little, and there a little” (Isa. 28:10). We believe that by precept
and example we may best manifest God’s grace and provision to convert
sinners and establish their souls by “rightly dividing the Word of
Truth.” Our ministry name, Bible Doctrines to Live By, is intended to
reflect that design. We are Bible fundamentalists. We maintain an
immovable allegiance to the inerrant, infallible and verbally-inspired
Word of God. We are dispensationalists who endeavor to teach the whole
Word of God from a Pauline prospective – believing that this is the way
whereby the “house” of God is built up. On the other hand, we have
pledged ourselves to do battle with whosoever and whatsoever might
oppose the truth. We have taken our stand against any and all forms of
modernistic or liberal theology that denies Christ His deity, despises
His shed blood, or mixes grace and works, or Law and the Gospel.
These
past years have indeed been a process of building and battling. After
25 years of ministry in the pastorate, I was faced with a new challenge
and call of God on my life. I had loved, and still miss, many of the
blessings, duties and disciplines of the pastorate. But God challenged
me to “shift gears” - to pioneer a new ministry into the uncharted
wilderness of publication and itinerant preaching. Those days were
bathed in prayer. We had no idea where this was going to take us, where
we were going to live, or how we were going to live! We only knew that
God had called us and that it was His responsibility to provide – and
He did!
A phone call brought us - my wife Darlene, son Steve,
daughter Cari and myself - to Grand Rapids, MI where we found lodging
in a mobile home park. It seemed that once we took that first “leap” of
faith, God kept the excitement and adventure at a fever pitch as our
needs were met. A small, tabletop printing press was donated and
another friend purchased an electric typewriter. Within a week, Bible
studies were being published on our kitchen table and distributed as
fast as we could print them! Another phone call brought an invitation
to hold a weeklong Bible conference (Crossroads Crusade) in
Pennsylvania. To the praise of God’s grace, that one week of meetings
brought in additional “crusade” requests, filling up 25 weeks the first
year! In the meantime, my wife and kids and a number of friends kept
the little printing press hot - cranking out and distributing the
gospel literature!
During the infancy of our ministry, we sought
fellowship and accountability with an established ministry of like
faith and vision, but our approach was repulsed being viewed as a
duplication of effort and competition. The idea that we could be
“missionaries to America” with a literature and itinerant evangelism
ministry appeared foreign to them and at times a “joke” to be
ridiculed. Again, a battle raged within. What was I to do? Where did I
fit in and what about the call of God on my life? I had never passed
this way before. I had never read any “How to…” book on launching a
ministry! I knew only that God had called me. My dilemma and
disappointment, however, was turned into a blessing when a Christian
lawyer, unknown to me then, and with whom I have not had contact with
since, recommended that I follow an independent path of ministry. With
his help, we were “incorporated” and officially recognized as Bible
Doctrines to Live By, Inc., in April, 1981, our first year of ministry.
Little did I realize this would be a major blessing and source of
ministry that has allowed me access to hundreds of Bible-believing
churches, both inside and outside of the “Grace Movement” – churches
that have a passion for the evangelism of the lost.
No, we have not
seen thousands and thousands saved through the preaching of the Gospel
of Grace, but we have seen hundreds and hundreds saved! The thousands
and thousands of miles traveled, energy spent, sacrifice of the saints,
and prayers have not been in vain! Our literature, some printed in as
many as 13 different languages, has not reached millions and millions
of people but it has reached thousands and thousands in many parts of
the world - please give God praise and glory! He is still in the
soul-saving business and the gospel is still the “power of God unto
salvation.” God has been so faithful and wonderful! He has confirmed
His call on my life and ministry over all these years. Only eternity
will reveal how well this “house was built.” My level of praise and
excitement to God for allowing me to be a small part of His plan is
higher now than ever! Oh, the wonder of His grace that allows any
Hell-deserving sinner to not only be saved by His grace, but even
allows him to serve Him by grace – unearned and undeserved!
I have
no delusion about what happens when you labor earnestly to follow the
“blueprints” laid out by the Apostle Paul, the “wise master builder” (1
Cor. 3:10) who said, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”
(Eph. 6:12). Paul further testified, “Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I
have been in the deep” (2 Cor. 11:25). Yes! There are battles to be
fought! They go together – the building and the battling!
Over the
years there have been many battles in the course of preaching the
gospel! I have been shot at, my life has been threatened more than
once, and our home was violated by angry church members. I’ve been
cussed at, accused, lied to and about, cheated, thrown in jail, and
even had a whole congregation gather outside the church with the
pastor’s warning, “They are going to beat you,” that kept me from
falling prey to them.
I think one of the worst battles was in
1984. I had finished a week of crusades. On the final Sunday, I had
preached five times. I was extremely tired. On the way to my next
engagement, I grew deathly sick. I have no idea how the short,
three-hour trip took eleven hours, or how I woke up in my driveway
unable to speak. Darlene and the children could tell that something was
wrong and took me to the hospital. It was there I discovered that I
could not speak coherently. Furthermore, I found that I could not read
or write. I cannot, to this day, explain the depth of despair and
confusion that gripped both my body and soul when the doctor announced
that I’d had a stroke! I thought I’d lost my mind! The only comfort I
had was when I discovered, lying on a hospital bed, I could still
rehearse, silently in my head, the many Scripture verses that I had
memorized over the years. Deep down inside, I feared I would never
preach again. Once more the battle raged within my soul. What would
happen to me? I didn’t know what to do. Since being saved at the age of
fifteen, I’d never wanted to be anything but a preacher of the gospel.
In desperation, after being released from the hospital, I went to my
bedside in the motor home where I knelt. There, day after day, I poured
my heart out to the Lord and literally begged him not to take away the
one thing closest to my heart. I asked Him to let me preach again! In
time my heart was comforted and I knew my request would not be denied.
During the months that followed, I regained my speech and ability to
read and write again. Bless God! It was a frightening journey – a trial
of my faith – a battle from which God gave the victory.
To confirm
God’s grace and answer to me at the most unlikely time – a time when no
one would ever think of investing time and money in what appeared to be
the death of a ministry – a man I had never met before knocked on the
door and inquired, “I heard that you conducted a gospel ministry here
in your home. I have come to see if there is anything I can do to
help?” Before he left, he had given $5,000 to purchase a much-needed
collating machine. Later he invited me to his office and said, “You
need more space for your print shop than what’s in your basement.” (For
five years we had conducted our ministry from the basement of our
home.) He said, “If you’ll say yes, I will build you a building to use
until I need it to expand.” What an encouragement! What a Godsend! What
a demonstration of the grace of God and graciousness. This new building
became our ministry home for fifteen wonderful years. It was an
incubator for growth and outreach. God “built the house”!
This
ministry has never been a “one man show”! Hundreds of people have
prayed and sacrificed to support this ministry. We are reminded that
God says, “Neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that
watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he
that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward
according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye
are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:7-9). It has
been a great joy and comfort over the years to be assured that we are
partners in building – not forgetting, too, the great part that has
been played by the labor and sacrifice of our staff and BDTLB Board and
Advisory Board.
As our ministry experienced growth and continuing
needs, the time came when we were again faced with the necessity of
finding a new building to house the ministry. Again, it was a great
trial of our faith. There were many unanswered questions. It was
obvious that the where-with-all could not be met based upon what we
knew about our human resources. We were forced to our knees, but we
took refuge in God’s promise to “supply all of your need according to
His riches in glory” (Phil. 4:19). And He did throgh the sacrifice and
gifts of so many people and in so many wonderful ways!
Now, in the
year of our 25th anniversary, we take great joy in calling attention to
the “Publication and Evangelistic Headquarters Building” and the
maturing ministry it houses. There is no explanation for its existence
except that it stands as a monument to the grace of God – 1-1/2 acres
in the middle of a prosperous industrial park, fully furnished,
staffed, and paid for!
Well, as you can imagine, with our new
BDTLB building, and the growth and expansion in the ministries, there
are also times of “battling” connected with it. There is the constant
struggle with getting Truth Aflame and Bible Briefs finished, meeting
the printing schedules and deadlines, equipment breakdowns (and lost
printing time), lack of personnel to get the job done in the home
office, keeping up constantly with new technology, and, of course, the
tremendous task of coordinating the speaking schedules of Evangelist
Lee and Associate Evangelist Joel. Then, too, we cannot forget the
great financial burden connected with all of the various ministries of
BDTLB. But through it all, we can honestly say – The Lord has blessed,
and continues to meet each and every need. Our total dependence is focused on Him.
Should
the Lord tarry, we are facing the future, being confident that God has
led us thus far by faith and His supply and He will do it again to the
praise of His grace. Yes, we anticipate future tests of our faith and
the accompanying battles. Even now, as we speak, we have in view some
rivers to cross, mountains to climb, and miles to travel. We will
continue to face the need to build and battle. I invite you to come and
celebrate with us in the goodness and faithfulness of God.
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