Personal stories from Ian’s life that are included in Gems and available to read and search as stand-alone stories here.
God in Charles Finney
When Charles Finney toured a textile mill in New York State. As he walked through the mill he approached a woman operating a loom. As he came toward her, she stopped her work. As he came closer she began to tremble. As he came still closer, she erupted in tears and finally fell to her knees and cried out to God for mercy. Finney had not yet spoken a word. Ponder this.
Yehiel Dinur
Without Christ we are nothing. Another of Ian’s stories: Yehiel Dinur, was a Jew who survived Auschwitz. Dinur was brought face to face with Adolf Eichmann during the Nuremburg trials. That moment of confrontation was watched by the media. What would happen when Dinur met Eichmann again? All eyes were watching. Dinur broke down sobbing. Because he was confronted with a monster? No! Because he remembered the hatred? No! Because he saw the incarnate evil in Eichman’s face? No. Because it brought back memories? No! Dinur when asked said, “Because "he was just like me. I expected a madman but he is like me." The horrifying thing is that Eichmann was not a monster, it is that he was ordinary. Like you and me!
I Finally Appreciate - Ostraca
When I first came across this years ago, I was doing some digging in the Word on this verse and its surrounding context when at the same time I watched a movie on the story of Masada. Masada was a mountaintop fortress in the days of Jesus which was besieged by the Romans for two years and finally fell into their hands in AD 73. (I know I should write CE but I refuse) Nine hundred Jewish defenders had resisted 10,000 crack Roman troops for two years. When it was finally inevitable that the Romans would break through, the Jewish inhabitants made a mass suicide pact. The movie depicted the events and at the moment of decision they caste a vote as to whether they would die at their own hands or fight the Roman to the death. How did they caste their vote? The movie depicted them taking an old earthen ware jar in the corner and breaking it into pottery shards and then using those to caste their vote. At the time I had a sense that that act was somehow connected with what I had been studying in the Bible and so dug into and found treasure in jars of clay. Didn’t know anything about Jars of Clay (the Rock band) at that time. They weren’t even formed. A good name for a Christian band though.
Jars of Clay’s song “Worlds Apart” is very interesting. It has a very powerful meaning. It’s about sin and how nobody is to be blamed but themselves. The song is focused on confessing our faults and asking for forgiveness, asking God to break us and tear our world apart in order to have a new life. It makes me wonder if they indeed know what Ostraca are all about.
A few years after finding the link between the ostraca and 2 Cor 4:7 I shared the truth at a Wycliffe devotional in Australia while we were being trained as Bible Translators. Bruce Hooley, one of the lecturers, shared with me his poem Masks. I have asked Bruce for permission to share it with you gemmers. Maybe I am breaking with tradition in sharing the lyrics of a song at least once with each book I Gem. This time not a song but a poem. Same diff, just no music.
My Glimpse of the Souls of People on the Street
We need to see people and evaluate people from God's point of view and not from our human point of view. We did indeed at one time view Christ from a human point of view. I certainly did and how wrong my evaluation was. I have told you already (Bible Gem 323) about the day I saw the car next to me backing out without a driver. I have told you how God used that experience and that moment to download gigabytes of thought into my spirit in a nanosecond. "He seemed to say to me just like with the car, you have see from a new perspective. My perspective! I was instantly aware of God's perspective on the souls of people and what God wants of us. We see people as flesh and blood. But we now know from this larger part of 2nd Corinthians it is the inner man, the spirit part which will last forever. That is the part that is being renewing. How much time do we spend looking, admiring and taking care of the outer shell. But the outer shell is wasting away. The outer shell is fading fast. It is not going to last. Instead of spending so much time looking after the appearance of the body, start taking more care over the part that is eternal. That's where the treasure is.
That day sitting in the car outside the salon waiting for Tania I "saw" spirit beings walking around. They looked very different from the outer shell. Some small shrivelled little spirit beings came from outer shells that were huge, immense. But the size of the spirit within was miniscule. Indeed the Word of God tells us that man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart, the inner core. How's your inner man doing? Is he being fed? Are you nurturing the inner man or are you carelessly allowing the inner man, that spiritual, eternal part of you to shrink day by day while paying more attention to beautifying the outer shell? Are you grieved when you see that man or that woman is heading for a Christless eternity? That is how God feels about it. All day long His hands of love are held out to a stubborn and obstinate people. Does that trouble you? Do you think twice about it?
Give Me the Ring Back
The Tomato Man - PNG
I met a man in the back blocks of Papua New Guinea while on a survey. We (five of us white strangers) arrived at a remote village unannounced at dusk. The people proceeded to clear out a house and clean it to allow us the use of it for the night. They took their last chicken and cooked it so we had something to eat. After the meal I got into a conversation with an old man. He asked me if we had tomatoes for the trail the next day. [Tomatoes are good as a vegetable that has high water content when hiking]. I told him no. He invited to go with him to his garden so he could give me some tomatoes. I declined the offer knowing PNG gardens are far from the village and it was already approaching 10.00 pm. Also it's hard to follow a Papua New Guinean through the bush in the dark. As I was leaving with the others on the trail the next morning this man came up to me carrying a bundle of tomatoes as we made our way out of the village,. He had gone to his garden for me in the middle of the night and had come back early with the tomatoes to make sure I had something for the trail. Me, a white stranger he would never see again and all of my friends. I suspect he gave all he had to care for us. Go ye and do likewise.
Don't Rob Me of the Blessing of Giving
Many times it is the ones who can't really afford it who give. Why is that? One woman who "begged us for the privilege of sharing" in our ministry reacted strongly when I said, "We don't expect you to give money to us. We know you can't afford it." Her response was to say "Ian Vail, don’t you rob me of the blessing of giving. If I chose to give to you and Tania then you need to be willing to accept it. I consider it a privilege to give and support you. So don’t rob me of the privilege and the blessing." Oh how true that is. Read the other story I included in Bible Gems 253 (under the Romans Gems) as well if you need convincing. It is indeed a privilege to give when the Lord wants us to do so. Don’t rob yourself of the blessing.
Bibles For China
But whatever you do, finish what you started. So many of us purpose to do something and then don’t get around to it. Follow through while the passion to give is there. I told you in Bible Gems 253 of how in 1980 I received a substantial amount of money from a salary rise that was backdated in high school teaching in New Zealand. We planned to replace our aged car. But we attended the Sunday night service and heard Eddie Cairns talking about the need for Bibles in China. How they were planning to take a million bibles into China for the believers there. We both felt convicted to give the whole of the amount that we receive from the backpay to Bible for China. Tania said to me, "I have the cheque book in my bag. When should we give it?" I said, "Now. Let's do it before we change our minds." We knew us. There are times we purpose to do something but we don’t move past the purpose stage to the action. Action the things you plan to do. If we had waited, who knows. There may well have arisen a "need" of our own that would dissuade us from giving to the cause of Bibles for China. Finish what you started. Do what you purpose in your heart to do.
Can I Have it Back?
The Lord has taught us many times that we have to be open handed with what he gives us. It is not our money. It is His, we are only stewards. He has done that by giving us sums of money and then asking if we would give it back to Him. "You mean all of it Lord."
"Yes all of it Ian."
"But we have been praying for $500.00, we should at least keep that much for what we need."
"Do you trust Me for what you need or not?"
"Yes, Lord you can have it all. We trust You."
The next day He pours out twice as much a yesterday. You can trust Him implicitly. Respond when He tells you or whispers to your heart.
You Could Be The Answer to That Need
God will generously provide all you need. You will always have plenty left over to share with others. I don’t know how it works because the mathematics of it don’t compute. There have been many times when we have seemingly not had enough to give but when we have given there was always enough in the "pot" to provide our needs even though we have given much of it away. I don’t understand it but I know it works. In fact we are in the midst of exactly that right now. Simply because I paid attention to the things I was writing in Bible Gems. Well actually because God said, "See what you have written, now do it." I said five Gems ago "Don’t give to those who are likely to give back to you; give to those who can't give to you." That day I was reminded of a situation of a poor family who didn't have enough to pay for a second operation for their daughter. God said to me, "you could pay for the operation. You wrote that today, you can be the one to pay for the operation." We did it with a grateful heart to be able to bless others. And it doesn’t really matter that we need to pull in our belts to enable it to happen. We will rejoice in plenty or in lack. Both situations are fine and acceptable in God's hands.
You're Hopeless
We all have ways of thinking and responding. They are conditioned by input we have received. Let me illustrate with the following simple example. I may have been told by my father (and indeed I was) that I would not amount to anything. One comment does not necessarily turn into a stronghold of thought but it may. However if that thought is added to from another sources then the connected thoughts in our head strengthens its hold on us. Add my father' s comment to those of a woodwork teacher telling me, "You're useless kid." Another significant person in my life telling me "You're hopeless." these three now become connected and strengthen each other. A stronghold is now building where each criticism adds to the last. All are acting together to convince me of my inability, my looks, my intelligence etc. This is the concept of a stronghold. It translates into a world view or a set of habits that frame who I am. Before long I begin to believe the words. I can become what I am told I am, the way I think about myself influences my perception of my gifts and abilities or lack thereof. It becomes the way we act out of compulsion.
Really, Neo-Nazis Surfacing Again in Germany
Naziism in Germany is a repeat of what that area has been experiencing for centuries, since the time of the Vandals, the Goths and the Huns. From then until now, neo-naziism is raising its head in Germany again. How can that be? It's a spiritual stronghold, probably related to territorial spirits. This can happen on the country level or it can be the destructive behaviour set that keeps repeating in the family generation after generation. It is all to do with habitual action that is generated by patterns of thinking that are entrenched. This kind of behaviour is hard to break. It's a stronghold. When I was in Frankfurt on my way to a conference I decided to walk around the city centre to get a feel for the city while I waited two hours for my train connection . While walking around the central city block and on the street parallel to the main street I happened upon a gang of neo-Nazi youth, complete with skin-heads and swastikas. They were menacing and threatening in their attitude to all they passed. I got thinking how could this happen in a modern Germany that has been through two world wars. Simple, it is a territorial spirit surfacing generation after generation.
Is There a Better Way of Getting the Notes for a Lecture You Missed?
The way Basil Brown would describe it I thought was helpful. He asked what we would do if we missed the lecture the next day. We told him we would get the notes from a friend. He asked us if there was a better way. We said of course, “Get the lecture notes directly from him.” He said there is a better way. What is it? The answer is to get the notes from everyone in the class. If we had everyone’s notes he told us we could reconstruct the exact words that he had spoken to the class the day before. One person would get the first sentence perfectly but not the second sentence. Another would get the first partially and the second also partially. Someone else would capture the second sentence completely. In such a process we could reconstruct the exact words that were spoken. We could even go one better again if we wanted to and that would be to get the notes from the students who did the class last year. If we did the same with their notes we could not only get the words he said to the same class last year but we could track any changes that he introduced from year to year. Even if we got the lecturers notes directly him from we would not necessarily have the exact words he said. He may well have departed from the notes. Added some more explanation extra to what he had in the notes or skipped some and told the other students this wouldn’t be in the exam.
That is the kind of power that is available to us with the 29,000+ documents we have of the New Testament in existence. By comparing documents of the New Testament we can track accurately what has happened to the text of the New Testament over time. This is the skill or approach of Textual Criticism: Mapping and determining the changes or alterations to the New Testament over time.