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S. Lee Homoki
Articles Celebrating 25 Years of Building and Battling By S. Lee Homoki Published: January 22, 2007  Print  EmailThe 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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