Dear brother Hope,
That is quite a testimony! There really is a lot of power in those words "If I perish, I perish", isn't there? What a wonderful attitude of abandonment to the Lord is contained in those words.
You heard those messages in person?! I am jealous! (In a good way!
) Those messages by brother Ian Thomas had a similar effect on me. I first heard them in my home church not that long ago. We all had purchased a copy of
If I Perish, I Perish and we also had a set of the audio tapes. What a rich time we had going through those messages! I really appreciated the way brother Thomas unveiled the flow of the spiritual typology in Esther in a very practical way. What a marvelous picture of the Holy Spirit's transformation work within us. For the record, we also went through brother Thomas' messages entitled
The Saving Life of Christ in a similar way.
Your testimony definitely points out that even in his early days in the U.S., brother WL was not complete in himself. At least in part, he reaped what brother Ian Thomas had previously sown. There really is a marvelous interdependency amongst all believers in Christ, and we desperately need one another. We can not afford to draw lines around those from whom we will receive the supply from the Head and those from whom we will not receive the supply.
May God be merciful to us all.