Doorkeepers in Heaven

Doorkeepers in Heaven

     When the Holy Spirit began to impress upon Sue and me the need to develop a prayer seminar ministry in the early 1980s, we realized that we could not do what we felt was needed by ourselves. As I prayed about the direction to take, the Lord awakened me in the early morning hours. When I began to read the Scriptures in the Living Bible that morning, I saw the answer to our need. In 1 Chronicles 9:22b, I read:  “There were 212 Doorkeepers in those days … chosen because of their genealogies …and appointed because of their reliability.” We needed Doorkeepers (partners) to stand with us. What we could not do by ourselves, all of us could do together. Thus, the Doorkeeper Program came into being. It was on Thursday, July 17, 1980.
     Down through the years, the Holy Spirit has impressed His children to become Doorkeepers. With their prayer and financial support, we have been able to touch lives around the world. We have seen individuals renewed and we have seen churches revived. We have seen many, many men, women, boys and girls come to Christ. Many of the Doorkeepers are now in Heaven. Soon, I want to make a Roll of Memory with each name and date of death.
     Our most recent Doorkeeper to go to Heaven was Loetta Landers. She and her husband, Phil, became Doorkeepers in 1992. I want to share with you the correspondence that I shared with Phil. You might want to print this and keep it in a handy place. Sooner or later, you will be strengthened by this information. This is prepared as a tribute to all our Doorkeepers who now reside in Heaven.

                                                                                                                                                           October 23, 2009
Mr. Phil Landers
Route 1, Box 16
Nowata OK 74048

Dear Phil,
    You have been very much in our thoughts and prayers since we received the news about Loetta’s coronation day (as Dwight L. Moody termed his day of departure to Heaven) on Monday, September 28. Sue and I counted her a special friend who was interested in our lives and in the prayer seminar ministry.  As we read her name on the Doorkeeper prayer calendar month by month, I felt a strong connection. I remember quite well the hospitality that she extended the weekend of February 23, 1992 welcoming me into your home and lives.
     I rejoiced to read your crisp, concise, inspiring statement of faith—“My wife Loetta departed this life Sept 28, ’09 to take up residence in heaven.” This is what God has revealed in His Word. I encourage you to spend plenty of time studying, obeying, and claiming God’s instructions 1 Peter 5:6-7—a command, a promise, and what to do in the interim while awaiting God’s exaltation.
     Keep in mind God’s words: "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then shall you call upon Me, and you shall go and pray to Me, and I will hearken unto you.  And you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:11-13).  Faith means that we believe and trust that which we cannot see with our natural eyes, and never put a question mark where He has put a period — even though our hearts are saddened.
     I have put together some thoughts related to what happens to the Christian when he/she dies. I hope that the Holy Spirit will use these words to encourage your heart. I am enclosing a copy of the April 2006 Reflector that has a article written by the late Dr. Henry Morris entitled “Question: Is Heaven a real place?” This article has comforted me many times and I know it will comfort you as well.
     Keep looking up. One day there will be fullness of knowledge—which we don't have now since we see through a glass darkly.  One day we will see face to face and know fully God's purposes. If there are things Sue and I can do, let us know. We would love to have you visit us in Lynchburg anytime. Thanks for your faithful partnership in the prayer seminar ministry.

Absent from the body, present with the Lord

Thoughts for Phil Landers upon the death his beloved wife, Loetta, September 28, 2009.

      As I think about Loetta’s coronation move from earth to Heaven on September 28, 2009—to tale up residentce in the Father’s house with her Father, her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and loved ones who have gone before, it is encouraging to know that God's timing is His alone to decide. He knows best.  His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways, but His are better in every way than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). In assessing the journey you are going through, I encourage you to focus on some Scriptures, that you might already know, during the days ahead.
    Genesis 2:7 and 1 Thessalonians 5:23.  A person is soul, spirit, and body.  The body is the tabernacle that houses the person who is spirit-soul.  Soul is mind, emotion, and will—the qualities that constitute a person.  The spirit is the part where the control seat is and where the Holy Spirit makes His residence when a person comes to Christ.  The spirit of man died to God when Adam sinned (Genesis 3), but comes alive when a person trusts the Lord Jesus as Savior and is born again (John 3).  The body and soul are not born again, but it is possible—when we allow the Holy Spirit to control our lives—for body and soul (mind, emotions, and will) to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.  That is His goal for all of us. The body is not the real person, but it is the house that we live in. The real person is spirit-soul, and these two should never be separated in our thoughts. When spirit moves out, soul moves out. When soul moves out, spirit moves out.
     The word "death" means separation. It is the time when the person (spirit-soul) who lives inside the body (the real person) makes his “exodus.”  The Christian moves through the first heavens where the birds fly, then through the second heaven where the stars are. and on into the third heaven where Jesus is.  Paul clearly tells us this in 2 Corinthians 5:1,8 when he says that when this earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved (that is, the earthly body), we have a body not made by hands eternal in the heavens (v 1).  He climaxes this by revealing that to "be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord "(v 8). Glory!
     On September 28, 2009, Loetta moved out of her earthly house (escorted by angels), soared through the first and second heavens, and entered into the presence of the Lord in all its glory and splendor — in fact so great it is that "eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nor even entered into the minds of men the things He has laid up for His children" (1 Corinthians 2:9).  At the same time, her death was "precious in the sight of the Lord" (Psalm 116:15).  The real person who moves into Heaven is fully conscious and is substantive. Therefore in Heaven, she will know and be known (1 Corinthians 13:12).  Not only our Lord Jesus Christ greeted her, but a host of friends and relatives also. Above all, she is now home with her Heavenly Father in fullness of joy!
     But that is not the end!  One day the Lord Jesus Christ will return.  When He does, He will bring in the air with Him those who have already gone to Heaven.  Down on earth, the "dead will rise first" (1 Thessalonians 3:13-18), which means that those bodies that have been laid aside will experience resurrection (the word "resurrection" means "stand up straight").  Those resurrected bodies will move into the air and the folks from Heaven will move back into their bodies.  But that is not the end of the story.  At that moment, the Lord will touch those resurrected bodies and make them glorified ones — bodies that will be just like Jesus' body (1 John 3:2-3).  Thus shall we ever be with the Lord!  Praise God!
     Now as for those who are left behind, remember that Jesus promised that He would never leave us "comfortless," a Greek word that literally means "orphans" (John 14:18).  You and I are not orphans because the Holy Spirit is the "Comforter" who came when Jesus returned to Heaven (John 14:16) to be the Paraclete (which is the Greek word translated "Comforter") and literally means One called along side to help — our Helper.  Then in verse 17, Jesus explained to His disciples there in the Upper Room, just hours before His death on the cross, that when the Holy Spirit came that He would be "in" us.  What more can we ask!  Expect the Holy Spirit to represent the Lord Jesus Christ well to meet your every need in days ahead.  You can expect the Scriptures to come alive as never before as the Holy Spirit applies those Scriptures to your hearts.  I know that He will.
     Phil, you and your family will continue in our minds (Philippians 1:1-6), our hearts (vv 7-8), and our prayers (vv 9-11).  May His sweet benediction be felt as never before during these hours that God has brought you to in your earthly sojourn. His grace will be sufficient as you trust  (lean on) Him.
       

A Heritage of Learning

A Heritage of Learning

Cited from Liberty Journal  (Liberty University) October-November, 2009

       Dr. J. Gordon (Jim) Henry, former teacher, Academic Dean and later Vice President of Academic Affairs at Liberty University, visited campus in June, presenting Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. with several items for the school archives.

       Henry was at Liberty from 1972-78 and was instrumental in attaining Liberty’s accreditation through the Southern Association of Schools and Universities (SACS), which was received in 1980.

       “He was the guy who gave Liberty University academic credibility early on,” Falwell said. “He led Liberty to accreditation in record time.”

       Chancellor Falwell said his father, Liberty University founder Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr. was “committed to academic excellence from the beginning” and brought Henry on to carry out the task. “[Dad] wasn’t just interested in being another unaccredited Bible school,” he said.

       Henry presented Chancellor Falwell with the school’s first purpose and mission statement (which he helped write), a personal letter of “Memories of Dr. Jerry Falwell & Liberty University,” the text of his academic dean addresses and his portrait that was used at another institution where he had served.

      In the letter, he talked about the first time he met Jerry Falwell, Sr. and Liberty co-founder Elmer Towns.

      From his office at a college in Kentucky, “The Holy Spirit brought forth an idea that I should learn more about the new college in Virginia,” he writes. “I felt that I should visit Lynchburg and see for myself what God was doing. I attended a Wednesday evening service and met Dr. Elmer Towns. He said that I was the very person that LBC needed to help develop the program.

      “Before leaving Lynchburg, Dr. Falwell urged me to join hands with him. I asked two questions: first, ‘Do you intend to develop a “real” college?’ and ‘Will the college attack other believers?’ His answers were direct. He said he wanted to be a quality academic program and become known as the ‘Harvard’ of the evangelical Christian world. He invited me to listen to tapes of his radio/television programs and see for myself that he did not attack other believers.

       “I left with a contract that included primary duties to help develop the academic program that would merit accredited recognition of (SACS) and, especially a teacher education program so that our graduates would be certified to teach in Virginia. Incidentally, Dr. Falwell told me that my salary would be higher than his salary. He meant business in getting experienced administrators.”

       Mark Hine, Liberty’s current Vice President for Student Affairs, was a student under Henry’s leadership. He recalls how Henry would go out of the way to meet students’ academic needs.

       “He would say in convocations, if we had issues or questions with transcripts, classes for graduation, that he was in his office at 6 a.m. every day and we could go meet with him. I went early one morning. He took my status sheet and looked it over, and was able to help me graduate.”

       Watching the 2009 Commencement from his Lynchburg home, Henry said he was reminded of Liberty’s early graduations; the first four were at Thomas Road Baptist Church, but the fifth was held outside on Liberty Mountain, the future site of the new campus. He writes:

       “As we sat there on the platform that beautiful May Sunday afternoon, Dr. Falwell reached over and took my work copy of the Graduation Bulletin in which I had made my organizational notes. He proceeded to write something in my bulletin and handed it back.”

       Henry presented that bulletin to the chancellor at his June visit. It reads:

       “To Dr. and Mrs. Jim Henry, Your contribution has helped, probably more than any other single family, to make LBC a college. I shall be forever grateful. And Sue—your care for Mom will never be forgotten. —Jerry Falwell”

       (Henry’s wife, Sue, took care of Falwell Sr.’s mother as a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at Virginia Baptist Hospital).

       Henry said Falwell, Sr. had wanted him to accept the position of Executive Vice President when it was created, but Henry declined due to his pastorate at a Lynchburg church. But Henry suggested Pierre Guillermin and the choice was made.

       Henry left Liberty in 1978 to become president of Northeastern Bible College in New Jersey.

The Amazing Nigeria Story

The Amazing Nigeria Story

1987-2009

Preparation—the ground laid

      Twenty-two years ago, January 12-30, 1987, we took a group of twenty-four Baptist pastors to Imo and River States in Nigeria to conduct evangelistic services and provide prayer seminars. I reported this venture as “the most fruitful ministry yet” noting “prayers were answered dramatically.” There were 11,089 recorded decisions for Christ (public professions over twelve years old with informational cards on each). In addition, hundreds of children came to Christ who were not registered. 700 attended the prayer seminars and U. M. Unamba, pastor of the Baptist Church in Owerri, became our first official co-worker called to conduct prayer seminars in Ibo (the third largest tribe in Nigeria). Most memorable was the prayer seminar conducted with the students and faculty at Baptist Bible College. In my mind, I can see the students on their knees praying and sensing the moving of the Holy Spirit. The ground was laid for my interest in Africa’s most populous nation (146.3 million people)—a nation where spiritual warfare is raging, sharply divided with militant Muslims opposing every step taken by Christians. Hundreds of Christians have been killed and hundreds of churches have been burned. Islam is not a peaceful religion; ask the Nigerian Christians.

Read more: The Amazing Nigeria Story

A car for Martin in Kenya

A Car for Martin in Kenya

        Since May, many of us have been praying for a van for Martin. It has been amazing how Martin Shikuku has labored for the Lord in western Kenya (Eldoret, in the Rift Valley) and other parts of Kenya, as well as neighboring nations (Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—without having a car. He has walked, traveled by bus, and sometimes by taxi.

        Several responded to our appeal to help provide the funds for a van. So far, we have received over $6,000—which Martin deposited into a banking account. The bank officials contacted him on Friday, October 9, to commend him on his efforts and to show him a Toyota sprinter saloon car. The bank officials  agreed  to finance the car which is now in Martin’s possession.

        Once there are adequate funds, they will exchange the car for a van. Please pray that his needs will be met. We express our gratitude to all you who have prayed and are praying for Martin, his family, his congregation at Glory Baptist Church, and his work in East and Central Africa nations.