I met Avery Willis in the early 1980’s at a conference where he was teaching his discipleship program, MASTERLIFE.  I was impressed by his deep spirituality, warm spirit, and unpretentious intelligence.  I was also gripped by his message.

Avery had been a career missionary who had developed his discipleship methods on the mission field.  What he discovered was that new believers were hungry to discover principles and procedures that would help them experience the life-transforming power of Christ even after the conversion experience.  MASTERLIFE was born to accelerate the growth of new believers at the time when they are most open to spiritual truth—immediately following their conversion to Christ.

Somebody found out what Avery was teaching and recognized that churches and believers in America desperately needed this same emphasis.  Avery allowed his materials to be published and promoted by Southern Baptists and he and MASTERLIFE soon became almost household names.

Avery became a Vice President at the International Mission Board and continued promoting the life of prayer, Bible memorization, and spiritual formation that are inculcated in MASTERLIFE.  Anybody who spent more than five minutes with Avery learned that these principles were not just sermons he put in print—they are the stuff of his life.  Avery lives and breathes communion with God and a passion to reach the world with the gospel.

Now Avery is fighting the battle with leukemia.  He has been in Houston receiving treatment for a few weeks; but every day he cranks out a journal entry and posts it for anyone to read at caringbridge.org (you can go online and read his journal entries and the story behind his illness at the CaringBridge website.

A recent entry is typical of the kind of thinking that has characterized this godly man for all of his life.  The theology and spiritual perception in these words cannot help but strengthen some of you who are facing a similar struggle right now.  Even if you are not in this crisis now, you soon will be.  You’ll need to remind yourself of insights like this.

Here are his comments from Friday, February 5, 2010, written from Houston, Texas:

“Some have said, ‘Why don't you ask for a certain number of years.’ I believe that every one of my days is already ordained-Psa. 139:16.  (God knows already how many of you and how much you are praying in faith and will act accordingly.)  I would love to be active until 80 and Caleb is my hero asking for ‘his mountain’ at 85. But I don't want to be a Hezekiah who prayed for and got 15 years only to lay the ground work for the Exile by showing off his treasures.   

God knows my days and it has been my prayer for more than 55 years for Him to help me to number my days and apply ‘my heart unto wisdom’.  In my early 30s I had a premonition that I would die at 37. So I have always lived with the urgency to use every day for the Lord.  Obviously I didn't die then but I have continued to work as if I don't know I have another day (and we never do).  Some would dub me a workaholic but I am just living with a passion to reach the world and glorify God.  That is not work. I do have hobbies but I don't let them take more time than I think I should give.  At best, our days are few on the earth and I still believe in getting ready to serve forever in heaven. Every day is a precious gift from our Loving Father.”

I am praying for Avery and Shirley right now.  I would like for God to heal him or let his illness go into remission so that he can have more years to stir up Southern Baptists to live passionately for Christ.  I am praying that EFBC will catch the infection of revival praying and urgent evangelization that have characterized Avery for all the years I’ve known him.  

I am praying for my own heart.  I don’t want to fire blanks when I preach and pray.  I want to be hot-hearted, Spirit-intoxicated and purpose-focused.  I want to live a “mastered” life—under the sovereign and gracious sway of the Master—the Lord Jesus.

Alan Day, Senior Pastor