Participants: Ruthie Jacobsen (Host), Liana Kim, Martin Kim
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000392
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00:01 We're glad to see you.
00:03 And today, we are going to talk about 00:04 something really important. 00:07 It impacts all of our lives, a great man of faith, 00:11 and somebody that can be a great lesson to all of us. 00:14 We'll be right back. 00:40 Welcome to "Issues & Answers." 00:42 Today is one of my very, very favorite programs. 00:47 A man who is such a giant of a man of God, 00:51 I love the stories of his faith. 00:54 They have always encouraged me for years. 00:57 And this is one of my very favorite programs. 01:00 I hope it will bless you too. 01:03 This is the story of the life of George Muller. 01:07 He accomplished amazing, incredible things 01:11 in the City of Bristol, England. 01:14 I've been there, maybe you have too. 01:16 And today there are five huge stone buildings 01:21 that are still there as a silent monument 01:25 to the power of prayer, and the faith of one man. 01:30 It is just incredible what God will do 01:33 and it should be an encouragement for us all. 01:35 I'd like for you to meet my guest, 01:37 Liana and Martin Kim from Berrien Springs, Michigan, 01:41 and you like this man too, don't you? Yes. 01:44 I love stories of faith, I love stories of prayer. 01:48 Before we go to George Muller, 01:50 I want to tell you something that is a little more current, 01:54 but it is also a story from Europe. 01:57 A friend of mine by the name of Dr. Michael Hassle, 02:00 whose father used to be Dean of the school of, 02:03 at the Seminary, Dean of the Seminary. 02:06 They told this story in Mississippi last year, 02:10 and I was so incredibly blessed by it, 02:13 it was just such a great story, 02:15 don't tell him this, 02:17 he teaches in the school of archeology. 02:19 And I always thought, oh, how dull, how boring, 02:23 how can anybody be interested in that kind of stuff. 02:27 Old rocks and buildings and stuff, you know, 02:31 how can you get interested in that dry stuff? 02:34 But after I heard him speak a few times, 02:36 I thought, wow, this is really interesting 02:41 and I got very enthusiastic for his field. 02:44 So and his stories were wonderful. 02:47 He said that one year when he was, 02:51 I think at sophomore in college, 02:53 he decided that he wanted to go to Bogenhofen in Austria, 02:58 and take his college work over there 03:00 for one year, so he did that. 03:03 About Thanksgiving, he got a call from his parents 03:06 in Berrien Springs and they said, 03:09 we have planned a wonderful Christmas holiday break 03:13 for you, so you can come home 03:15 and spend Christmas with your family and extended family. 03:19 Now the thing that made this so appealing to Michael 03:23 was that, all, that whole fall, 03:26 they'd had nothing, but dreary, gloomy, 03:30 foggy, and rainy days. 03:32 He said, it was horrible. 03:35 And so, why wouldn't he jump up and down 03:38 because they told him, they were planning a family break 03:43 and vacation at Key Largo in Florida, 03:47 sandy beach, sunshine, and, you know, 03:50 it's just the opposite of what he had been experiencing. 03:53 So he said, well dad, let me think it over and he said, 03:59 I'm enjoying being here with my grandfather, 04:02 but that sounds great. 04:04 And his father said, well, we'll call you back 04:05 in two hours and we'll get the airline tickets. 04:11 So, for some reason he did not have peace, 04:14 he was troubled by this. 04:16 He went over to the girl's dorm and picked up his cousin. 04:19 He had the only car in the family on campus. 04:23 And so he had promised to take her 04:25 and her girlfriend shopping. 04:28 So he picked them up and he went into her room 04:30 and he said, you know, I just had a phone call 04:33 from my parents and they want me to come home for Christmas, 04:36 but I don't know if I should go or not. 04:40 And she said, Michael, have you prayed? 04:43 And he said, here she was a junior or senior 04:47 in high school and she was asking me, 04:50 a college theology major if I had prayed. 04:53 He said, I had to tell her, no, I hadn't. 04:56 So he said, she told me, all right, 04:58 let's kneel down here and pray about this. 05:01 So they did and she said, God just give him wisdom, 05:04 he doesn't know what to do. 05:06 Well, it seem to him like this was a no brainier, 05:09 I mean, where he had been 05:11 and where he had an opportunity to go 05:14 and he missed his family, so he really wanted to go home. 05:18 He took the girls down shopping 05:21 and he went to his favorite store 05:23 which was a huge sporting good store. 05:26 And he said, all the time that he was there, 05:29 he couldn't concentrate, 05:30 he was just walking up and down the aisles 05:32 and nothing interested him. 05:34 And so he said, well, you know, 05:37 he didn't do anything, he finally picked up the girls 05:39 and took them back to campus. 05:41 As he was walking into the dormitory, 05:45 the phone was ringing and it was his father. 05:48 So he ran to the phone and he said, dad, 05:51 I've been thinking about this ever since. 05:54 And his mother was on the phone this time too 05:56 and she said, Michael, we're so excited 05:58 about having you come home. 06:00 We have missed you, this is a long time for us 06:03 to be separated and you're long ways away. 06:06 So we, we're just so anxious for you to come home 06:09 for Christmas, and you know, how they would feel. 06:14 He said, I had prayed about this, 06:17 I've thought about it little bit, 06:19 but he said I heard myself say, 06:21 I don't think I'm gonna come home, 06:24 I think I'm gonna stay and spend Christmas break 06:27 with my grandfather in Austria. 06:30 Now his grandfather was a great man. 06:32 He had been a hero in the Second World War, 06:36 and had been treated very, very badly. 06:40 Hitler's regime, you know, nobody was a winner, 06:44 everybody was treated very badly, 06:47 but he, maybe you've seen the book written, 06:50 I think it's a Thousand Shall Fall. Yes. 06:53 It's written about him, great man. 06:57 And he said, I just think I'll spend Christmas, 06:59 you know, with my grandfather. 07:01 Well, his parents could not believe it. 07:04 They said, this is strange, I can't believe, 07:07 why you would want to do this? 07:09 We, you know, you've seen your grandfather, 07:11 you can go home to his place on weekends, 07:14 but we haven't gotten to see you, 07:16 we need to have you here for Christmas. 07:18 And he said, no I just think I'm gonna stay here 07:23 and when he said that he had peace. 07:26 His mother said, son we already have your ticket, 07:30 we have your reservation, everything is planned, 07:34 we really need to have you here. 07:37 And Michael's father Gerard also said, 07:41 Michael your mother is going to be heartbroken 07:44 if you don't come home. 07:45 You get to see your grandfather all the time. 07:48 And Michael said, no, 07:50 I just think I'm gonna stay here for Christmas. 07:54 So they hung up the phone, talked a little bit more 07:57 and then he walked away, but he had peace, 08:02 he didn't know why, but he had peace. 08:04 And then he went to his grandfather for Christmas. 08:07 During the Christmas break, he got another 08:11 long distance phone call from his parents. 08:14 This time, his father sounded visibly shaken. 08:19 He said, Michael, your mother and I had 08:23 your plane reservations on Pan American 102 08:30 that was the plan that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland. 08:33 Wow! And he said, as I heard that, 08:39 suddenly, you know, I was just breaking out in cold sweat, 08:44 thinking, I could be dead right now. 08:49 But God intervened and did something wonderful 08:53 in my life. So he said, 08:56 now everyday I go to the Lord and I say, 08:58 Lord, strengthen my faith and help me to see, 09:02 why you spared my life? Yeah. 09:05 So, you know, God is still working. Yes. 09:07 And George Muller in Prussia 09:11 it was then where he was born, 09:13 then came to Eastern Germany to study 09:18 and then came to England. 09:20 And tell us a little bit about what he did, 09:22 this is such exciting stuff. 09:25 Doesn't this just interest you and get you all excited? 09:29 Yes, he is the one of my heroes of faith. 09:31 Yeah, George Muller lives in a day and age 09:33 where no one prayed. 09:35 That's right. No one have faith in God. 09:36 That's right. They believed God 09:37 was out there, but that God did not interfere. 09:39 That's right. In the lives of men. 09:40 That's right. And it was God 09:43 who inspired him to pray. 09:47 For the orphans. Right. 09:48 But he said, there are thousands of orphans starving 09:52 on the streets or they would take them into the jails 09:56 or the mental asylums as they called them then horrible, 10:00 horrible places for these children to have to live, 10:03 but at least they had some food and a place to sleep. 10:07 But he said, as much as I want to help these orphans, 10:12 the reason that I'm doing this is to prove 10:14 that God answers prayers. Yes. 10:16 Not, that was his second, the orphans were secondary, 10:21 but the first reason while he prayed was-- 10:24 For God's glory. That's right. To-- 10:26 For people to see that God answers prayer. Yes. 10:30 So what, what, tell us a little bit about that. 10:33 What it got you excited about that? 10:37 It's exciting to know that that there is this God, 10:40 who truly owns the cattle on thousand hills. 10:42 That's right. All the silver and gold and, 10:44 who not only come through in a mighty way 10:47 for certain individuals, but, God gives His promises to us. 10:51 That's right. And when we stepped out 10:54 on faith and we're able to exercise our faith, 10:57 we're able to grow, and we're able to see 11:00 God come through for us. 11:01 And in the beginning of his journey, 11:03 he was only, he would ask God for little amounts, 11:06 of course later on in life that he was able to ask God. 11:09 More. For more. 11:10 And more and more. And that's how it is for us. 11:13 That's right. We grow little by little. 11:15 That's right. And amazing how in his lifetime 11:19 God gave him the equivalent of $180 million. 11:23 Million dollars, $180 million in our money today. Yes. 11:28 And he didn't keep it, he didn't hold it, 11:32 he used it for the buildings, of course, 11:34 he used it for food and to pay the staff. Yeah. 11:38 But he always sent money overseas. Yeah. 11:40 Hudson Taylor and many other people 11:42 and he established schools for the children 11:45 who weren't even there. 11:47 So, it was an exciting thing. 11:48 I love to hear what he did at the beginning of that work. 11:54 First, he and his wife decided they were going to give 11:57 their wedding gifts away and that they were 12:00 not going to keep a bank account for themselves, 12:02 they were going to live just by faith. Yes. 12:06 And they put a box in the back of the church 12:08 where he was the pastor, and he told the people, 12:12 if you feel led by the Lord to donate 12:16 to the pastoral salary then that's all he got. Yes. 12:20 And people told him he was crazy for doing that 12:24 because nobody had very much money, 12:26 but he got more something like four or five times more 12:30 than he would have, if he had relied on 12:34 tithes and offerings. Yes. 12:36 But when he felt that the Lord was leading him 12:39 to this orphan work, he found this house 12:43 on Wilson Street and he got staff and he prayed, 12:47 he prayed for the staff, he prayed for silverware, 12:52 for dishes, for bedding, for tower, everything, 12:57 he prayed for every, and he kept meticulous records. Yeah. 13:01 Amazing! But they went down there 13:05 to the house on Wilson Street and not one child came. 13:09 Do you remember that? Not one child came. 13:12 And he was so disappointed, but his wife Mary said to him, 13:16 and she was laughing, she said, George, 13:19 you prayed about everything else, 13:21 but you didn't ask the Lord to send you children. 13:25 So he said, oh, I didn't, 13:27 I just assumed that the Lord would know that 13:30 I was doing this for the children 13:31 and He would send the children. 13:33 But he learned from that, 13:34 you have to pray about everything. 13:37 So when he prayed for the children 13:39 then they came in huge numbers. Yes. 13:42 What's one of your favorite stories of George Muller? 13:45 One of my favorite stories is later on in life. 13:48 He spent a lot of time traveling around the world, 13:50 and he was on a ship and he is supposed to make it 13:53 to a city for speaking an appointment 13:55 and there was a fog. Yes. 13:57 And he spoke to the captain and the captain says, 13:59 we're not gonna make it there. 14:01 And he says, well I've never missed an appointment 14:03 and he took the captain down and he prayed. 14:07 And he said a simple prayer asking God to remove the fog 14:10 and then the captain was about to pray, 14:13 and he put his hand on a captain saying-- 14:15 First of all, God's already heard the prayer 14:17 and answered, and second of all, 14:19 you don't believe what you're praying for? 14:21 You don't believe save your breath. 14:22 Yes, and they went up, the fog was gone 14:25 and that experience really impacted that captain's life. 14:28 That's wonderful. Yes, it's just amazing. 14:30 And they did arrive on time 14:32 and he was able to speak on time. 14:34 You know, I want to be sure 14:35 that our viewers know you, Liana and Martin Kim 14:39 from Berrien Springs, Michigan 14:41 and you're involved in the South Eastern, south, south-- 14:47 East Asia. Southeast Asia. 14:49 Project. Project. Yeah. 14:50 That's not a tongue twister, 14:52 I don't know Southeast Asia Project. 14:54 The Adventist Southeast Asia Projects, 14:56 it's ASAP for short. 14:57 Okay, and you are working with five countries 15:00 and working with people who have all kinds of needs. Yes. 15:05 And you're seeing God intervened and answer prayers. 15:09 Yes, we have to look to the Lord, 15:11 and so George Muller stories really encourage us. Oh, yeah. 15:14 Really inspire us to look to God in the same way 15:17 to wait on the Lord knowing that if God came through 15:20 for George Muller, He will come through for us. 15:22 George Muller's favorite promise 15:23 was Psalms 81 verse 10, 15:25 "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." 15:28 And that is a promise, I take it to the Lord 15:29 everyday saying, God this is not a promise 15:33 just for George Muller, 15:34 you're not a respective of persons. 15:35 That promise is for all of us, 15:37 and especially in these times with the economic downturn. 15:41 Yes, I remind the Lord of that promise too 15:44 because I say Lord in our work in prayer ministries, 15:48 we pray for money everyday and the Lord provides, 15:52 but I have to remind, I have to take that to the Lord. 15:55 Yeah. We can't just assume that God is on a roll 15:57 and that He is gonna keep providing if we don't ask, 16:00 because the rules of the kingdom are asked. 16:03 Yes. And you shall receive. 16:04 Yes. Seek and you will find knock and the door 16:07 will be opened, so we do have a work to do. Yes. 16:10 But I love the promises, there were two verses 16:14 that he especially liked. 16:16 One was "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." 16:19 The other one was 16:21 "I will give you honey from the rock." 16:23 Honey from the rock. 16:26 Beautiful. And God is faithful. Yes. 16:28 And you know when George Muller, 16:31 first was introduced to scripture, 16:33 he was actually a theology student, 16:38 and he was taking that because his father said 16:41 that's a good career for stability, 16:44 you can make some money and you can take care of me, 16:47 the father in my old age, 16:50 but they had no connection with God. 16:52 It was just like a secular career. 16:57 So he went to this college, 16:59 university but his life was anything but Christian. Right. 17:04 He, you know, would run up huge hotel bills, 17:07 drinking and partying and then, you know, 17:11 runoff without paying the bill. 17:14 And his father kept bailing him out of jail, 17:17 you know, kept paying the fees 17:20 and taking him out of jail but we would beat him. 17:23 Nothing worked for George Muller, 17:26 until he met the God of the scripture. Yes. 17:30 The God of heaven. 17:32 And that's very encouraging to me. Yes. 17:34 That God can take someone with such a wretched past. Yes. 17:37 And bless and fill him with the Holy Spirit 17:41 and George Muller was a man I believe that really knew 17:43 what it meant to walk with God. 17:45 Amen. Liana do you have 17:47 a special verse or a special story 17:50 of George Muller that just touches your heart? 17:53 Oh yeah. I like the story 17:55 that one time George Muller doesn't have anything 17:58 to feed the children, he doesn't have any bread, 18:01 any milk and he was praying for the milk specifically 18:05 and also the bread and then he was praying 18:07 and nothing, there was nothing. 18:09 And then he went outside, he was praying 18:12 and praying and the one, one man came by 18:16 and he said George Muller, you know what, 18:18 I have a lot of milk and then George Muller said, 18:22 thank the Lord, thank you. 18:24 And George Muller said, what happened to you? 18:26 And this guy said, you know, 18:28 I was a driving with a lot of milk 18:31 and my car just broke out in front of your orphanage. 18:35 And I don't know what to do with this whole milk. 18:38 And then George Muller said, thank you Lord 18:40 and whenever I read that story, 18:43 I thought Lord there is nothing 18:46 that you cannot do for me and for us. 18:48 Amen. And, you know, the children, 18:51 there were thousands of children and they never knew 18:55 when there was no food. 18:57 But sometimes, you know, 18:58 there was nothing in the cupboard, 19:00 there was no food at all and yet the children never knew. 19:05 And there was a little girl 19:06 that lived next door to the Muller's. 19:09 And he would go by her house on these mornings, 19:13 when there was nothing in a kitchen. 19:14 And he would say to her, come with me, 19:16 we're going to see how God will answer our prayer. 19:20 Full of faith, nothing could get him down 19:23 because he'd learned that God 19:25 came through over and over and over. Amen. 19:28 And I believe the Lord wants us to have 19:29 that kind of faith today. Yes. 19:32 Because he went out of his way, 19:35 the Lord went out of his way to answer those prayers 19:37 for George Muller, so all of us would be blessed. 19:40 I have a friend in Franklin, Tennessee who as a hobby, 19:47 he has collected everything he could find, 19:49 every single book that's ever been written 19:52 on the life of George Muller. Wow! 19:53 He has a vast library and he goes and speaks 19:58 on the life of George Muller. 20:00 And he said that has been such a blessing in his life. 20:04 I believe the Lord wants us 20:06 to keep remembering these things. Amen. 20:09 Because he just met him over and over and over. 20:13 I went to visit one of those buildings, 20:16 in fact I've been there couple of times. 20:18 And you cannot stand there and see these 20:21 five huge stone buildings without having awe 20:27 in your heart, you are just filled with wonder. 20:31 And during the Second World War 20:33 for an all over England, there were 20:35 underground air raid shelters. 20:38 They the people chose rather than to go underground 20:43 for safety during a bomb raid. 20:46 Yeah. They would rush to those buildings. Yeah. 20:48 And they said God is here, 20:50 we're safer here than anywhere. 20:54 So but when you see those buildings 20:57 and then I walked inside and I saw 21:00 the classic features, beautiful stair, 21:04 winding staircases and the finest wood, 21:07 everything he did for the Lord was first class. 21:11 He said give God your best. Amen. 21:14 And it is just a beautiful story, powerful story. 21:19 And the Lord gave him $180 million. Yes, amazing. 21:25 They called him Robber of the Cruel Streets, 21:29 Robber of the Cruel Streets, 21:31 because the streets were cruel. Yeah. 21:33 These children had lost their parents 21:36 because of the plague and wars and they were just, 21:42 you know, literally out in the cold. 21:45 What stands out in your mind Martin, 21:47 as a crowning experience that you have 21:51 remembered about George Muller? 21:54 I once heard that a news reporter once said Mr. Muller, 21:58 how does it live to live, how does it feel 22:01 to live hand to mouth. 22:03 And he thought about it and he smiled and he said, 22:07 it's wonderful, God's hand, my mouth. 22:11 And I just liked that, it's so beautiful. 22:13 Isn't that good? God is faithful. 22:15 And, you know, the way that he was introduced 22:18 to this, he went to this Bible study 22:22 in somebody's home with his friend 22:25 who was kind of a so, so Christian. 22:29 The friend was hoping to learn the things 22:30 of the world from George, and George wanted to know 22:35 what made this guy tick, because he was kind of a 22:38 Christian but sort of riding the fence. 22:41 So they went to this home, remember? 22:44 And here were some people, simple people who were 22:49 just sitting around in a circle, 22:51 opening God's word and believing what they read 22:55 and then they would get down 22:57 in front of their chairs and pray. 22:59 And he said all of my life, I've never heard anybody pray 23:05 to someone that they thought was listening. Yeah. 23:07 I only thought, I only heard prayer books and recitations 23:13 and, you know, just ritual, 23:17 but not something that came from the heart of somebody 23:20 on earth to the heart of someone in heaven, 23:24 and it changed his life, totally changed his life. 23:28 He said somebody ask him, 23:30 how do you maintain your faith? 23:35 And he said every morning I get up and I go to God's word, 23:40 and I begin and I read the Bible through. 23:45 And however long it takes you to read, you know, 23:48 for or and prayed and he didn't just read scripture, 23:53 but he said I read scripture until the Lord stopped me. 23:57 And he said then when the Lord stopped me, 24:00 I would stop and think about that 24:02 and pray about that verse. 24:05 And we're told the same thing, 24:07 read until you find a scripture 24:09 and then make it your own, 24:11 and then it's alive and powerful in your life. 24:16 And he said, if you get bogged down 24:19 in the Old Testament like Leviticus, 24:22 and some of those books that are--Numbers. 24:24 A little Numbers, yeah little more difficult 24:27 to get through. 24:28 He said read for a while in the Old Testament, 24:31 then read for a while in the New Testament. 24:33 But mark your place, so that you know 24:36 when you're finished and then come back the next day 24:39 and begin at that spot, 24:41 and until you read the Bible through. 24:43 And then when you finished, begin and read it 24:45 through again and when you're finished, 24:48 read it through again. 24:49 And you know God does meet you. 24:53 Yes. In the words. 24:54 Yeah. Of scripture. Yeah. 24:56 He is available here and He is faithful. 25:00 Yeah, I've been encouraged by what George Muller 25:03 has written to be on a Bible reading plan, 25:06 and I know there are some days where God just gives me, 25:08 just exactly what I need to hear. Yes. 25:10 And only He can work it out for me to be, 25:12 you know, reading a certain passage on a certain day. 25:15 And it's just exciting to know that 25:16 the God of Universe, you know, is guiding you. 25:18 I believe that because nobody knows 25:21 what's in your heart. 25:23 Haven't you found that Liana? Yes. 25:25 When you go and open God's word, 25:27 here is something that answers a question 25:30 in your mind or in your heart and nobody else. Yes. 25:34 Knew it anything about it. 25:36 God is so good, He is so faithful. 25:40 I'll tell you a quick story about something 25:42 that happened to us in Oregon. 25:44 I was praying for money for clothing 25:48 for pastors and their wives, 25:49 because pastors and their wives sometimes 25:52 are on a strict budget they have mortgage 25:55 and car payments and tuition 25:57 if they have children and sometimes 25:59 their own clothing waits till the end, 26:02 you know, of the budget. 26:03 So I was praying, but I didn't say 26:05 anything about it to my husband, 26:06 because he was the president 26:08 and he likes to solve problems. 26:10 And I thought, I don't want him to solve, 26:12 I want God to solve this problem. 26:14 And so I was quite, but I was praying everyday. 26:18 Lord I want money for pastors for clothing, 26:20 for pastors and their wives. 26:23 Well, we were at a retreat and a physician came up to me 26:27 and he said, I have $10,000 26:30 and I want to give it to you 26:32 for clothing for pastors and their wives. Wow! 26:34 Nobody that ever said anything like that to me before. 26:38 And that wasn't enough, but as he walked away, 26:41 it gave me faith to ask more, 26:43 so when the check came in, it was for $15,000. Wow! 26:47 And I had to repeat the prayers 26:50 but that happened every year at Christmas, isn't God good? 26:53 Amen. I just believe 26:55 that the Lord wants us to take scripture 26:59 and to take the stories of great men and women of faith. 27:04 And go to Him and say Lord, I believe and I want you 27:08 to make me a woman of faith. 27:10 I want you to make me a George Muller. Yes. 27:14 And just give me the kind of faith that will honor You 27:18 and help me to know You better 27:20 and there is no more exciting way to live. Yes. 27:23 It's like His hand and my mouth. 27:25 Yes. Amen. 27:27 Someone has said that faith is an acronym 27:28 for a fantastic adventurous in trusting Him. 27:32 And that's what it's all about, 27:33 it's an adventure when you trust God. 27:34 That's right, that's right 27:35 and He gives you the peace and joy and hope. 27:38 And He tells you, nothing is impossible, 27:41 nothing is impossible with God. 27:44 He is great and wonderful and He has all power. Amen. 27:48 So what a privilege. 27:50 We're--we're just about out of time. 27:51 But I wanted to say, it's good to be with you. 27:54 Thank you for inviting us into your home. 27:56 And we just hope that you have been encouraged 27:59 and inspired to have faith in God. 28:02 No matter how things look, 28:03 believe and have faith and trust. 28:06 God loves you. God bless you. 28:09 We'll see you next time. |
Revised 2014-12-17