Dear Phyllis,
It has been one of the great
privileges of my life to have had access to, and fellowship with, some of God’s
greatest servants on this planet. It is highly significant that in the Song of Solomon
that the first two prayers of the believer are asking the Lord to draw her to
Himself; and secondly asking how to find Him. And the first words of Christ to
His Bride – in response to that prayer – are the instruction how to find Him.
They couldn’t be simpler – “Follow the footsteps of the flock.” If someone
wants to know where the Shepherd is, all they have to do is follow the
footsteps and example of those who know Him and are with Him. If we would do
more of that perhaps we too would know and love Jesus more.
Of the many great saints that
I have known, Louie Isshi, certainly stands out as unique. In 1972 Rosemary was
sick in the hospital in Syracuse , NY
“That is wonderful, but how
many are filled with the Spirit of Christ and know the Lord?” After the first
trite theological answer she thought for a moment and then replied, “Well,
Pastor Isshi is.”
I went to a Tuesday night
Bible study to meet Pastor Isshi. Oh my goodness – what a moment! I asked if I
could speak to him, and he invited me to come to his home the next evening. Being
with him was like taking to Abraham or the Apostle Paul. He was 80 some years
old, and the C&MA denomination had put him out to pasture. To give him
something to do, they made him visitation pastor and gave him a mid-week Bible
study. Very few people came. But that man was so filled with the Spirit of
Christ that every word that came from his mouth was like the breath of heaven.
I sat in his living room drinking for four hours. I only saw him three times but
he left a profound impression on me. The stories he told were astounding. Some
were old and some had happened just a few days before. If I were to describe
Louie Isshi it would be in one word – he
was a man who knew God. Very few do. I never heard him preach a sermon, so I
can’t comment on his ability in the pulpit, but Christ was so dominant in his
life that his messages must have been different.
He told me one time AW Tozer
invited him to come and speak in his church in Chicago Chicago Chicago Moody Memorial Church
Several years later he was traveling
through Georgia
“Yes I am.”
“I was a student at Moody
Bible Institute the year you spoke at Tozer’s church and attended your
meetings. Those meetings were such a blessing to us.”
Louie Isshi was surprised
with that self-introduction and asked, “Could you please tell me what happened there.
You people at Moody and in Chicago
“Yes that is true. We have
access to all the top speakers and are taught solid doctrine. The teaching is very
good. But there was something about your messages that was different. The flavor
was different.”
Yes, of course. It was Christ
speaking through His servant.
Louie Isshi had an unusual
gift and message on healing. He told me how his wife had had surgery shortly
after they were married and an unscrupulous Jewish doctor later apologized to
him, “I’m sorry, but your wife can never have children. I removed her ovaries and
everything involved in reproduction.” Later she had two sons. The Jewish doctor
came to him and said, “As a medical man I can believe in the virgin birth of
Christ before I could believe it was possible for your wife to conceive. I know
for a
fact that I had cut everything
out of her.”
I only spent seven or eight
hours with Brother Isshi but – 38 years later – I could still write pages of
his stories. One particular one had just happened two weeks before I met him.
A young man in his church had
recently been saved. His father was a very elderly man in a nursing home. This
young man asked Pastor Isshi if he would visit his father in the nursing home
to share Christ with him. He replied, “Certainly, I will do that the first
thing tomorrow.” The next day he put on his hat and was about to leave when he
remembered that he hadn’t prayed about this visit. When he prayed the Lord told
him clearly, “No, don’t go.” He had no idea why, but he took his hat off and
stayed home. The next morning before he put his hat on he prayed first; and
again the Lord told him not to go. The third day he spoke to the Lord and said.
“I promised that young man I would go on Monday. It is now Wednesday. If I can’t
go today I would like an explanation why.” This time the Lord gave him the
green light.
When he got to the nursing
home he found the old man to be one mean, tough, old cadger. He tried patiently
for 20 minutes to share with him the salvation of Christ only to be met with cursing.
At length he gave up and was about to walk out the door when he turned around
and asked, “Is there anything I could do for you?” For the first time the old
man’s voice dropped and in a quiet tone he said, “Yes, today is my birthday. A
card just came from my daughter in Sacramento , Calif.
Five years ago I was up in Kunming , China Tibet
After listening to their discussion
for a couple hours I broke in and said, “Fellows, your biggest problem is that you
don’t have men who know God. If you knew the Lord better you would have a lot
less of these problems.”
I know that is a big bucket
of worms. You talk about subjective guidance and you can get into an enormous
amount of problems. As I young missionary, I heard a Nazarene pastor preach one
of the finest messages on guidance I ever heard. When he finished I grabbed my
Bible and went up to speak to him. I told him that was the most frustrating
thing I had ever dealt with in my Christian life. He gave me the best advice I
have ever heard – “Don’t try to get guidance over your head.” Everyone is
different. There are special men like George Mueller and Louie Isshi who walk
very closely with the Lord. He speaks to them very clearly and they follow Him.
But to try to be a George Mueller or Louie Isshi without their intimate
relationship with the Lord and sensitive spirit can lead a person to do some of
the most bazaar things. The Lord alone knows what ridiculous things have happened
all in the name of “The-Lord-told-me-to-do-it”. My foot!
But to follow their example
of total surrender, deep devotion, and a consistent life of obedience and
walking in the Spirit certainly would be an awfully good idea. That is an area
where most of us could improve.
Recently, I have been reading
The Memories of Robert Murray Mc’Cheyne, by Andrew Bonar. Oh my goodness, that
is convicting! When I read of the total commitment, the single eye, and
passionate love he had for Jesus, I am embarrassed to call myself a follower of
the Lamb.
Oh Lord if You only had more
of me. If somehow, by Your grace, it might be possible for You to get a better
grip on my heart; to live in it more fully, and to see that only the will of
the Father is done in me on a daily basis. If I can only have one request, let
it be that Jesus is everything in me. If You would only do this 10% I would have
eternity to praise You. Father, let Jesus be exalted in my life. Amen
Gomen Phyllis, but this is a
desperate issue in my life. Oh to know Him better! Ya’ll pray for me now – he’ah.
bill
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