Chapter 4: Discovering Personal Vows
As I was growing up, I wanted to be as effective as possible in leading others to Christ and helping them to grow spiritually. Therefore, when I became aware of a potential temptation that would threaten my effectiveness, I made a vow. The essence of a vow is a predetermined decision to do good or to reject evil so that when a temptation comes up, there is no need to struggle over a decision. The choice has already been made.
A Vow Not to Attend Movie Theaters
Harry Saulnier was the director of the Pacific Garden Mission when my father became the Chairman of the Board. It was affectionately known as the “Old Lighthouse.”
I can still see the horror on my father’s face as he “rescued” me from a sin-laden street in Chicago. He had taken me with him to the Pacific Garden Mission when he was the chairman of their board. I was about 12 years old. After the meeting, I walked down the street, intrigued by what was going on.
In front of one shop was a mounted viewer that required a nickel to see “spectacular sights.” I put in my nickel and pressed my face against the eyepiece. The “spectacular sights” turned out to be very disillusioning, and I felt cheated out of my nickel.
By that time, my father had realized that I was missing and ran out to the street looking for me. I heard him calling out, “Billy! Billy!” and when he saw me, he ran down the street to get me. As I looked up into his grief-stricken face, he spoke words that I will never forget: “This is terrible! I came down here to save these alcoholics, and I lose my own son!”
I did not think that he had lost me, but his hatred of evil had a profound effect upon me. As I got in the back seat of our green Chrysler and looked across the street at the gaudy, glaring lights of a theater marquee, I decided that the movie would probably be as disillusioning as the viewer to which I had just lost a nickel. I quietly made a vow that I would never again go into a movie theater—not even for a “good movie.”
During the past sixty-plus years, that vow has been like a beacon of light. It has been tested several times—even by family members who urged me to go with them to see a Christian movie that was being shown in the local theater.
One of the many benefits that resulted from this vow was the reasoning that since I had vowed to not watch Godless movies in a theater, why should I watch them outside of a theater? This understanding gave me a powerful freedom to say “no” to many things that could have potentially damaged or destroyed my walk with God and my ability to reach young people.
A Vow Not to Kiss Before Marriage
Not only have Bill’s older sisters been a constant souce of counsel for him over the years, his sister Laura has been his secretary for the last 28 years. She is the mother of 6 children, a grandmother of 20 children, and now a great-grandmother as well!
I have been blessed with two older sisters who have had a powerful influence on my decisions for moral purity. When I was about 13 years old, they were talking about a young man from our church youth group.
He had dated one of their girlfriends and kissed her after the date. She was enthralled with his attention and immediately gave her heart to him. A few weeks later, he “dumped” her for another girl. She was crushed and soon walked away from the Lord and into a life of immorality.
As I listened to their abhorrence of what he had done to damage her life, I made a vow that I would never kiss a girl until we were married. God has used this vow not only to keep me from kissing a girl but also to avoid taking advantage of her in other ways.
On several occasions clear opportunities were given by girls that would have violated my moral standards. My first response had been, “Do I want to be married to this girl for the rest of my life?” The answer was always “no,” and then the second response was, “How can I motivate and train dads to protect their daughters from exploitation and immoral relationships?”
A Vow Not to Look at Pornography
I was standing in the corner drug store when I noticed the first display of a new sensual magazine. Instantly, I recalled with sadness the favorable newspaper articles promoting this new publication. I was grieved as I realized that millions of men and boys would be corrupted in their moral standards by opening its pages.
I also remembered the warning of Jesus: “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. [This would also apply to pornography.] If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:28–30).
As I stood there, I wondered what I could do to protect people from this and similar magazines. At that moment the thought came to me, “Suppose that in the future, you were interviewed on a national TV program and asked, ‘Have you ever looked inside this magazine?’ what would you say?”
I purposed then that I would be able to say “no,” and therefore I made a vow that I would never open or look inside of this magazine. God has given the grace to keep this vow and extend it to similar magazines. With the lure of nudity and the invasion of privacy over the Internet, I do not see how it is possible for a young person today to escape the corruption and addiction of pornography without a firm vow to God.
A Vow Not Watch Sensual TV
During a trip to the East Coast, I stayed in a hotel, and while there, I turned on the TV set in my room. I was shocked at the immorality that I saw! I wondered why the Federal Communications Commission would allow this to be aired.
I turned the TV off and made a vow that never again would I turn on a TV set in a hotel room. That vow was made more than thirty-five years ago, and since then I have stayed in hundreds of hotel rooms. Each time, it never even occurs to me to turn on the TV set. To me, it is like a piece of furniture.
One of the many rewards of this vow is having thousands of extra hours to use for profitable activities that will have eternal value.
These vows are among those that I have made to “hate evil.” Each one has been a guiding light on the path of eternal achievement. On the other side, there have been a number of vows that I have made to do things for the Lord and to advance His kingdom.
A Vow to Be Willing to Die For Jesus
One of the most significant vows I ever made took place when I was about 14 years old. The details are still vivid in my memory. I was sitting next to a window in my bedroom reading Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. As I read of the torture and temptations that were endured in order to bring the Bible and its message to me, the thought came to my mind, “Would I be willing to die for the Lord?”
After thinking about the implications of doing this, I bowed my head and vowed to the Lord that I would willingly die for Him and for the advancement of His kingdom.
A significant result took place. Suddenly, I viewed myself as a runner in a race—a race against time. I wanted to get as much done as I could for the Lord before I died. There was no time for frivolous activities or time-consuming sports. I wanted to do things that would count for this life and for the life to come.
This one vow has been a driving motivation and a guiding force in my life. It has given meaning and purpose to live for God and a joy in seeing significant things done for Him.
A Vow for Years of Single Ministry
At about four o’clock in the afternoon, my oldest sister came home from high school. My mother and I were standing in the room when my sister stated, “I learned something very interesting in school today.”
My mother asked her what it was, and she said, “I learned that the average age of marriage for people who get into Who’s Who in America is 28 years old. They spend the best years of their youth concentrating on their achievements.”
Immediately I thought to myself, “If they can do it for secular achievements, I can certainly do that for the Lord’s work.” So right there I vowed that I would wait until I was at least 28 years old before getting married. The race against time now intensified as I worked to get as much done as I could before getting married.
In making this vow, I was careful not to vow that I would never marry. I would never encourage anyone to make such a vow. (See I Timothy 4:1–5.) On the other hand, there are great rewards for those who set aside years for single service. (See Isaiah 56:3–7.)
A Vow to Witness to Others
When I was a teenager, a dynamic soul winner explained the importance of witnessing to others about the Lord. He then asked all of us to make a vow to talk to an average of three people a day about the Lord.
When Bill saw different chalk artists, including Ding Teuling, Dr. Karl Steele, and Phil Saint (the brother of Nate Saint), he realized that this technique could be used to attract the attention of young people in the streets of Chicago and share the Gospel with them.
I raised my hand and made that vow. During high school, I was able to keep it because every year I tried to share the Gospel with all my classmates. However, when my schedule changed in college, I did not keep up my vow. Years later, God reminded me of that vow, and I purposed to “catch up.” I got into my car, drove to Chicago, and began looking for street gangs.
For eight months, I met with groups of young people in various parts of the city and suburbs of Chicago, along with church youth groups and high school gatherings. The ultimate result was the development of a seminar on how to reach young people. It was called the Basic Youth Conflicts Seminar.
Thus, an unkept vow in high school became the motivation that brought about a ministry that has literally shared the Gospel with millions of youths and adults around the world. Without that vow, I never would have had the motivation to be so aggressive in witnessing to others, nor would I have learned vitaL lesson on how to effectively reach young people and their parents; thus, there would be no Basic Seminar.
