AUGUST 2014
Why The Boy Cried Wolf
By Dr. Stephen R. Phinney Forward By Dr. John Woodward A Personal Journey Into The Exchanged Life Not long ago, I was strongly encouraged to write my autobiography by four of my mentors. Being hesitant to take on such a project, through much prayer and counsel, I decided to follow such encouragement. You see, as most people, I was very uncomfortable placing my writing emphasis on stories about myself. After wrestling with this idea, the Lord opened my eyes to a very simple fact: “You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God” (2 Cor. 3:2-4). One of these mentors stated that unless people know who you were and where you came from—readers, today, find it difficult to trust where you want to take them. I cannot tell you how much sense this made to me. With him saying that, I moved forward with the project. Well, that project has turned into a 300+ page autobiography.
The uniqueness of this writing is that the Lord led me to write my story in and around the primary principles depicted in the IDENTITY MATTERS CONFERENCE. With that, I have become comfortable that my life’s lessons will provide our readers with a richened message of “Not I, but Christ” in and through each of the stories told about my journey A Personal Journey Into the Exchanged Life. Throughout the remainder of the year, I would like to give you snippets of my story before the book is published. I will begin my story by offering the following allegory to Why The Boy Cried Wolf, which comes from the parable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” (public domain). There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, "Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!"
The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top of the hill, they found no wolf. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces. "Don't cry 'wolf', shepherd boy," said the villagers, "when there's no wolf!" They went grumbling back down the hill. Later, the boy sang out again, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!" To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help him drive the wolf away. When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, "Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don't cry 'wolf' when there is NO wolf!" But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more. Later, he saw a REAL wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!" But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't come. At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him weeping. "There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, ‘Wolf!’ Why didn't you come?" An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village. "We'll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning," he said, putting his arm around the youth, "Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth!" This Greek fable communicates a very powerful principle regarding “nobody believes a liar…even when he is telling the
Charles Phinney
Samuel Chase
Phinney Crest
Lelah Phinney
Steve & Jane with Grandchildren
Steve in Youth
truth.” One of the key ways Satan diminishes future prophets of Truth is through messing with their childhood – particularly forming a fleshly pattern of the child crying wolf. Permit me to share this story one more time; but this time, in a paraphrase I believe the Lord gave me. There once was a boy who was called to be a prophet of the Living God who was restless, lacking love and acceptance. The boy had no idea of his calling by the great Shepherd. The Shepherd wanted to train the boy in taking care of His sheep, but the boy was constantly distracted by rejection. Then one day, while the great Shepherd was training the boy, he realized that the only time the people paid attention to him was when he was in trouble. So he cried out, “Help, I’m in trouble! I’m in trouble, I need help! The wolf (enemy) is chasing me!” The people came running to help the boy drive the enemy away. But when they arrived at the place of the boy, they found no enemy. The boy found great pleasure in the urgency he saw on their faces. “Don’t exaggerate little boy,” said the people, “When there is no trouble!” The people walked away from the boy labelling him a ‘little liar.’ Later, the boy cried out again, “Help, I’m in trouble! I’m in trouble, I need help! The wolf (enemy) is chasing me!” To his excitement, he watched the people come to his rescue to help him in his time of trouble. When the people saw no trouble, they sternly said, “Save your call for help when there is really something wrong! Don’t cry out for help when you do not need it!” But the boy found great comfort in their coming to his rescue and watched the people retreat in disappointment and frustration. Later, the boy had real trouble, for he saw the enemy (Satan) of the great Shepherd prowling around seeking whom he may devour. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and cried out, “Help, I’m in trouble! I’m in trouble, I need help! The wolf (enemy) is chasing me!” 2
But this time, the people thought the boy was just trying to get attention, so they didn’t come. The boy, not knowing what to do (but knowing he couldn’t count on the people), cried out to the great Shepherd. The Shepherd saved the boy and chase the wolf (enemy) away. As time passed, the people wondered why the shepherd boy in training hadn’t cried out for help anymore. They all went to check on him and found the boy was content and filled with joy. Being curious, the people asked, “Why the change little boy?” With great excitement the boy said, “I found the great Shepherd, He rescued me!” “We don’t believe you boy!” With that, the people walked away in disbelief of what the boy had said. Later that night, the boy went to the great Shepherd and asked, “Why didn’t the people believe me when I told them about You?” Then the great Shepherd gracefully said, “Nobody believes a liar…even now that you are telling the Truth!” This was my life story for many years. In this book, I will be sharing my heart as to why I did cry our “wolf.” This Greek fable was written in the 13th century. History tells us that it was a child’s story to communicate what happens when a boy grows up lying; and once converted to Christianity, no one believes what he has to say about the Shepherd who saves, nor the fact that the enemy is chasing the sheep of the Shepherd. We do not know if the original author was gaining his insight from the original teaching given to us through the prophet Isaiah, but here is the passage: “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:19). More Next Month . . .
IOM DONORS & SUPPORTERS: By Lester Wehyee Greetings from me, my wife, and all the kids here at the orphanage in Liberia to you all indwelt children of God in Jesus name. Amen. The idea of caring for orphans and the less privileged is to keep the need at the forefront of our minds. God called me to be a blessing to children in general through His service. There are many reasons that led me to caring for the orphans and widows in our area. I would like to share with you a couple of those reasons of why we established the IOM New Hope Orphanage Outreach in Africa. 1. First and foremost, I want to let you know that I am an orphan by nature and I know what it takes to be an orphan. I went through a lot of pain when I was growing up living with relatives and non-relatives! I had a deep desire to be educated, ill-respective of all the difficulties and hardship that I underwent living with people who did not know me. I was beaten, tortured, slept with hunger many days, never had clothes to wear, and never remembered eating any decent food when I was a child or young adult (10-25 years of age). I became an orphan because both of my parents deserted me. However, I kept on pressing forward because I knew what God had in store for me in Editorial Comments: Kathy Hill, CO editor@iomamerica.org Entire content of this publication is under © supervision of IOM America 2014 Reproduction permitted when entire publication remains intact. Digital view or copies can be obtained online at: click here All Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963,1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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helping widows and orphans. 2. Secondly, the country in which I lived went through a bloody civil war for 15 years with many of our parents being killed. I was 12 years old (1989) when the civil war started. While I was seeking refuge to the Ivory Coast (one of our neighboring countries) with my grandparents, we were arrested to be killed by local rebels. They had a mandate that any boy child 15 years of age or younger must be killed without investigation. During the moment of my execution, there was a 4 year old little girl watching the rebels carry me off to be executed and started to cry in front of the rebel commander. As she was crying and praying for me not to be killed, immediately God answered her prayers. Instantly, God set me free from the hands of the killers. From this day on, I developed the mindset that the faith of a child was the key to faith in Christ. I knew that day, I must care for them no matters what the cost or conditions of persecution. The big question I had to face was should any human despise children or hate them? My answer was an obvious “no.” God gave me a particular interest in the children of Liberia. I knew without question that children who receive the indwelling life of Jesus are capable of becoming leaders and God-fearing adults. I am passionate in serving God in saving the next generation from the streets – all those who are without care, who are used for human trafficking, drug smuggling, criminal activities, and often become useless in society. I know full well that God can save and redeem them and show them who they can be in Christ. Brothers and sisters, Christian friends, the reason IOM & I established this orphanage program in 2010 is to SAVE THE CHILDREN, spiritually and physically. If you step up to help us, I will make it my duty to send you monthly newsletters to update you on our progress and share personal stories of the children. I thank you for your interest in the work that our team is a part of here in Liberia. We presently care for over 500 children and we could use your help! We are all eternally grateful for you taking the time to read my story. A special thank you goes out to our new partner, Beads of Hope—a new ministry started by a 12 year old in Sterling, Kansas. It is through ministries like this that we are able to care for the needy children entrusted to our care.
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH:
By Pastor Bruce “DOS” Carter - contributing writer & VP Digital Communications for IOM America A pastor & friend of IOM & Digital Ministries in Nigeria and I were discussing the great power of Google Earth. I commented-"Only the military of large countries can monitor "live real-time" eavesdropping. The public can only monitor it virtually after the fact...B.G.A.K--"BUT GOD ALREADY KNOWS." You know, NOTHING surprises Him. “Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, ‘Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?’” (Mark 2:8). Jesus perceived their (Scribes and Pharisees) thoughts and was very aware of their foolish reasoning. He accurately asked them--"Why do you reason so foolishly in your hearts?" Instantly knowing in His Spirit that they reasoned this way within themselves, He continued to tell them the truth. In His Divine Nature, in and by which He knew ALL THINGS, He knows even the most sacred thoughts of men's hearts. And as soon as the above thoughts were conceived in the minds of the Scribes and Pharisees, they were perceived by Him, and He told them so. Without thinking it all through, they so reasoned within themselves. That's why He said to them, "Why reason ye these things in your hearts?" (Holy Bible, King James Version, public domain); thereby, reproving them, not for reasoning and concluding in their own minds, but that none but God can forgive sins. “And some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This fellow blasphemes.’ And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, ‘Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up, and walk?” But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ - then He said to the paralytic, ‘Get up, pick up your bed and go home’" (Matt. 9:3-6). “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
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