Illustration 1—The Wheel
Jesus, the Center
What is the purpose for the wheel illustration? This ideology will drive your teaching and application of the principles found therein. Do you believe the wheel teaches what Christians should do? Does it exemplify the basics of Christian living? Or does it merely illustrate what everyone ought already to know? For me, the Wheel is the foundation upon which one-on-one discipleship is built. If my goal in sharing it is not to engage the hearer in a life-long cooperative relationship whereby we make Christ the center of our lives, then there is no point to it beyond education.
John writes, “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands… This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did” (1Jhn2:3-6). If you want to follow Jesus, then the first step is to fall in step with His walk. In basic training one of the first tasks taught to a soldier is marching in formation to a cadence that establishes a unified pace. We conform to the will of our leader by marching in step with our comrades in formation. Paul writes, “Join with others in following my example... and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you” (Phil 3:17). Remember that a disciple is someone training to become like his Teacher (Luk 6:40). If you want to make disciples, you must be willing to set the example, sing out His cadence, and asks others to, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”
Remember that the Wheel is the catalyst from which all other illustrations are birthed, so though you may feel like expounding upon Jesus as Savior and Lord, resist knowing that you have the weeks ahead to invest in this person’s life. For now, the goal is to convince them to carry their cross and follow you as you follow Him.
Jesus, the Word
If discipleship is about training, then investing in the Word ought to be our first lesson. But what if they don’t believe this Bible is God’s word? “You must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2Pt 1:20, 21). We know the Bible is God’s word because the Spirit who wrote it through people lives also in the people to whom it is written (1Cor 2:11-14). Typically, the people we find interested in Bible study do not, however, struggle with believing Scripture is God’s word. Instead, they don’t live as though their belief is true.
“The Word was God… the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (Jhn 1:1,14). If the Bible truly is God’s word and if the Word is Jesus, then how can we say we know Jesus if we do not know His word? Using Luke 6:40, ask, “Who are you a disciple of?” If we must be trained to become like Jesus and if the Word is useful for training then what are you doing that would be considered training in His word? This sets us up for plenty of follow-on illustrations to be shared in the weeks to come including the Training Plan, the Cornerstone Reading Plan, and the Parable of the Sower, but for now, our goal is to get them involved in our ministry. If you are not already actively involved in an inductive Bible study that seeks to train disciples to become explicators of Scripture rather than interpreters of it, then stop here. The rest won’t do you much good.
Jesus, the Word two
Hebrews 5:11-14 tells us that teachers eat solid food, Scripture studied first-hand, but the immature drink milk, “you need someone else to teach you.” Discipleship is about training others to obey everything He has commanded us by ingesting His word for ourselves. It’s at this point that I remind the Christian that he or she has a choice; you can participate in a “Bible Study” where studying the Bible is optional or you can study His word and teach us what you’ve learned. Because of this, I lose far more than I keep.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Navigators’ Design For Discipleship series of Bible studies, let me tell you why I use them for this training process. The first six books are a deductive study with a gradually increasing difficulty level in subject and time consumption. The last book is an inductive verse by verse study of 1Thessalonians. I tell them that the goal is to work from answering man-made questions to asking God questions! Once they complete book seven, there’s no need for Bible study books any more. They are trained to study the word of God.
But they have the choice: either attend a “Bible study” where one person has actually studied the word, you listen to what they say, and then you and your fellow hearers provide 5 minutes of feedback and 30 minutes of hanging out or you can study the Bible and teach us what the Lord has taught you. If you want to train them to know God’s word then you got to train them to study God’s word and not man’s word about God’s word.
Talk to Jesus
God tells us that there are only two commands a person must obey in order to fulfill the requirements of Scripture; love God and love people (Mt 22:37-40). The vertical spokes train us to love God while the horizontal are about loving people. Prayer is the top vertical spoke pointing upwards to God because it is our primary means of communicating with God. Prayer can be silent or audible; done while walking, sitting, kneeling, cooking, driving, eating, sleeping (?), with others or alone. Because of its ethereal nature, prayer is difficult to order into a training plan. Therefore, our primary concern here is not how they pray or even when they pray but rather, what God wants from their prayers.
“If you remain in me and my word remains in you, ask whatever you wish” (John 15:7). There are conditions to prayer, the first of which concerns God’s desire for me to know His heart just as prayer is our way of sharing our hearts. A person who studies a book to learn life’s lessons will not be thought crazy, but a person who talks heavenward to a Being they believe exists despite the objections of others, is either loony or certain their voice will be heard. But just as surely as we want God to hear us, He wants us to hear Him.
“When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen” (Zech 7:13, 14).
Sharing Jesus (with the Lost)
This spoke is also known as “Witnessing” or “Evangelism” and presents the second great command, “Love your neighbor,” as it refers to those outside the family of God. Jesus told His disciples, “Follow Me… and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt 4:19). This simple command is quite convicting when shared as a challenge: If I follow Jesus then I will…? (fish for people) And if I do not fish for people then am I a follower of Jesus?
Though there are varying methods for evangelism ranging from confrontational to service to invitational, the one which is most like Jesus’ methodology is the simple offer from a disciple to a lost soul, “Follow me as I follow Christ” (1Cor 11:1). If your ministry is already about personal discipleship, then the person you are sharing the Wheel with was likely invited personally, one-on-one, by either you or someone else in your group. They followed that person to this fellowship gathering and are now one step closer to becoming disciples themselves. All they need is someone to show them the way more excellently. Witnessing is about fishing for lost souls, and there are plenty of follow-on illustrations for this (I’ll share a couple), but once you catch them they aren’t fish anymore. Instead, our goal is to train them to become what we are; fishers of men (and women).
Sharing Jesus (with Christians)
“Fellowship” is a generic term that has been universally applied to varying “Christian” activities ranging from Bible study to basket weaving to television watching to praying. When Christians gather, we call it “fellowship,” religifying it into something “holy” and therefore fulfilling His command to love one another. Ask your listener if fellowship is about what you do or who you are? If two atheists study the Bible, is that fellowship? If two Christians talk about science, is that fellowship?
If fellowship is about who you are rather than what you do, then who are we (or better said, who are we becoming like)? As disciples our goal is to become like Jesus and Jesus’ only new command given to His eleven disciples was to “love one another… as I have loved you” (1John 13:34). In what way did Jesus love His disciples that differed from how He loved everyone else? He discipled them! This just happens to coincide with His great commission, “Go and make disciples… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19). What did He command them to do? Discipleship is not only our ministry, it’s His command.
From this spoke comes not only other supportive illustrations to include One-on-one and the Temple, but also the practicality of our ministry. That is, you will be demonstrating personal, one-on-one discipleship as you teach him or her about it. But first, they must be convinced to obey.
Loving Jesus
Can you earn God’s love? Christians who first hear you share this illustration will inevitably tell you “No, God loves everyone no matter what.” Non-Christians might tell you that if the Christian God was real, then He would have no need of our love. Our job is to explain the complexity of truth.
“If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father’s commands and remain in His love” (John 15:10). Our Father loved us enough to send His Son to die for our sins. Praise God, but listen to the rest of the Gospel story, “And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again” (2Cor 5:15). If we claim to live in Jesus then we ought to walk like He did and He tells us that obedience was required in order to remain in God’s love. I love my three girls regardless of their shenanigans, and when they disobey me, my love for them does not alter, but people’s perception of my fathering ability will. Not only outsiders, but even my own children will think they can live without my rules and yet remain within my loving grace. When we disobey God, we shame His name before others, but when we obey Him, we show Him our love. Ask your hearer; do you love God? Then prove it by obeying His command to make disciples.
The completion of the Wheel ought to end with the preceding challenge and the ever important promise to follow up. “Thank you for your time, and if you want to learn more, then I’d love to sit down and share with you another discipleship illustration.”
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Humble Thyself...
HUMBLE THYSELF IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD
Whether He Saves…
“And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace”* has been shared as the Gospel message for years before the “God loves you so accept Him” version appeared. The Bible tells us, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil 2:10,11). We Christians know that those who do not confess our God now will one day depart to a place where teeth are gnashed with much weeping, but does our knowledge ignite unbelievers’ fearful trepidations? If they are anything like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, it won’t. Their reply to such a challenge was this; “We have no need to answer you… our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand*.” But their faithfulness to their God did not depend only upon salvation, “But if not, be it known to you… that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image*.”
I have great respect for those willing to believe their “god” will rescue them from the fiery furnace we Christians call “Hell,” but I wonder if their faith will stand even when their gods (or lack thereof) do not save. Can they say, “We will not serve your God or worship Him?” According to His word, they will worship whether He saves them or not. Is my faith in God strong enough that I can say the same? “Lord I will serve you whether you save me from my troubles or not. I will serve you whether the flames singe my flesh or not.”
“When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned… for I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isa 43:3).
* Dan 3:6, 16-18
I am Nothing…
Can you believe that these words, “How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom” (Dan 4:3) were spoken by the king of Babylon? Nebuchadnezzar looked at all he had accomplished and said, “I.” This was the same for Job who boasted that if he had an audience with God he would, “give an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach Him” (Job 31:37). Nebby was dispatched from the world of men until his nails were like bird’s claws and he ate grass like it was a salad bar. Then when his reason returned he praised God in the heavens and said, “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing… for all His works are right and His ways just; and those who walk in pride He is able to humble” (Dan 4:35, 37). Job’s answer to God was far more self-reflexive, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5,6).
I told my friend the other day that to trust in God, you must lose your trust in man. Because I know that I often fail myself, I also realize that everyone else in this world will fail me as well. No one cares for me as much as I do for myself, apart from One who was willing to sacrifice all for my pitiful soul. Those who truly came face to face with God, experiencing His power personally and not merely hearing about Him second-hand, inevitably look at themselves and think, “I am nothing, but my God is everything.” Our Jesus walked through the fires of Hell whether we wanted saving or not in order to free our souls from torment. Like Nebby and Job, I look at that kind of love and despise myself, knowing that God alone loves me enough to go through Hell to save me.
Found Wanting…
Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, witnessed the writing on the wall as he drank from the Lord’s sacred vessels, and “his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together” (Dan 5:6). Calling Daniel in for an interpretation, he received an accepted rebuke, “But when his [Nebby’s] heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne… And you his son… have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this” (Dan 5:20,22). Part of the writing read, “You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.” Belshazzar was murdered that very night knowing his life was found wanting in the sight of God.
“But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isa 66:2). We all know that humility is the one attitude adjustment God demands more than any other. That’s why God sent His son, not merely as a sacrifice for our sins, but as an example of humility. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who being in very nature God… made Himself nothing… humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Phil 2:5-8). No matter what you or I do, we will be found wanting, we will be singed by the fire, and we will be nothing compared to God. We have only one option; humble thyself in the sight of the Lord. We do this by obedience, by trusting God rather than man, and by walking just as He walked.
Whether He Saves…
“And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace”* has been shared as the Gospel message for years before the “God loves you so accept Him” version appeared. The Bible tells us, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil 2:10,11). We Christians know that those who do not confess our God now will one day depart to a place where teeth are gnashed with much weeping, but does our knowledge ignite unbelievers’ fearful trepidations? If they are anything like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, it won’t. Their reply to such a challenge was this; “We have no need to answer you… our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand*.” But their faithfulness to their God did not depend only upon salvation, “But if not, be it known to you… that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image*.”
I have great respect for those willing to believe their “god” will rescue them from the fiery furnace we Christians call “Hell,” but I wonder if their faith will stand even when their gods (or lack thereof) do not save. Can they say, “We will not serve your God or worship Him?” According to His word, they will worship whether He saves them or not. Is my faith in God strong enough that I can say the same? “Lord I will serve you whether you save me from my troubles or not. I will serve you whether the flames singe my flesh or not.”
“When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned… for I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isa 43:3).
* Dan 3:6, 16-18
I am Nothing…
Can you believe that these words, “How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom” (Dan 4:3) were spoken by the king of Babylon? Nebuchadnezzar looked at all he had accomplished and said, “I.” This was the same for Job who boasted that if he had an audience with God he would, “give an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach Him” (Job 31:37). Nebby was dispatched from the world of men until his nails were like bird’s claws and he ate grass like it was a salad bar. Then when his reason returned he praised God in the heavens and said, “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing… for all His works are right and His ways just; and those who walk in pride He is able to humble” (Dan 4:35, 37). Job’s answer to God was far more self-reflexive, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5,6).
I told my friend the other day that to trust in God, you must lose your trust in man. Because I know that I often fail myself, I also realize that everyone else in this world will fail me as well. No one cares for me as much as I do for myself, apart from One who was willing to sacrifice all for my pitiful soul. Those who truly came face to face with God, experiencing His power personally and not merely hearing about Him second-hand, inevitably look at themselves and think, “I am nothing, but my God is everything.” Our Jesus walked through the fires of Hell whether we wanted saving or not in order to free our souls from torment. Like Nebby and Job, I look at that kind of love and despise myself, knowing that God alone loves me enough to go through Hell to save me.
Found Wanting…
Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, witnessed the writing on the wall as he drank from the Lord’s sacred vessels, and “his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together” (Dan 5:6). Calling Daniel in for an interpretation, he received an accepted rebuke, “But when his [Nebby’s] heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne… And you his son… have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this” (Dan 5:20,22). Part of the writing read, “You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.” Belshazzar was murdered that very night knowing his life was found wanting in the sight of God.
“But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isa 66:2). We all know that humility is the one attitude adjustment God demands more than any other. That’s why God sent His son, not merely as a sacrifice for our sins, but as an example of humility. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who being in very nature God… made Himself nothing… humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Phil 2:5-8). No matter what you or I do, we will be found wanting, we will be singed by the fire, and we will be nothing compared to God. We have only one option; humble thyself in the sight of the Lord. We do this by obedience, by trusting God rather than man, and by walking just as He walked.
Monday, October 29, 2007
What is Discipleship
WHAT IS DISCIPLESHIP?
It is Training in Righteousness
What is a disciple? “A mathetes (disciple, student, pupil) is not above his teacher but everyone who is fully trained will become like his teacher” (Lk 6:40). Simply put, a disciple is someone being trained to become like someone else; someone like Jesus. Paul writes in 1Cor 9:24-27, “Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training… Therefore I do not run… aimlessly… No I beat my body and make it my slave.” If discipleship training were anything like physical training, then our traditional efforts to become like Christ would be like defining walks to the bathroom as training for a marathon. “It’s still exercise,” I might say, though you’d likely retort, “Yeah, but you’ll never finish the race with that sort of training.” When someone says, “I’m training for [fill in the blank],” they typically mean that they have rearranged their lives, made some sacrifices, and committed themselves to a program designed to help them attain their goal. A marathon runner will inevitably run because he wants to win the race. A disciple of Christ will inevitably do what Jesus did because he wants to win a crown. Many today train by osmosis by gaggling around the buffest guy or fittest gal they can find and hoping that the healthy person’s strenuous flexing will lead to their physical growth. “I’m training to be a disciple of Jesus by listening to [insert favorite speaker] preach God’s word.” If we’d scoff at the notion of qualifying our workout through another’s physical training, then isn’t it obvious that something more than listening from the pews is required for those training to become like Christ?
It is Training by His Word
Jesus’ first criterion for His disciples is; “If you hold [Greek meno-to remain or abide] to my teaching you are really my disciples” (John 8:31). To abide in His teaching means that the presence of His word must be a consistent influence in my life just as hunger for food daily drives me to eat. “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread” (Job 23:12). Do I study the word to the detriment of my belly or do I ignore the word in favor of my fleshly hungers? “Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2Tim 3:16,17). Are you a disciple? Then the plan is to be taught God’s word. To be rebuked by God’s word. To be corrected by God’s word. To be trained by God’s word so that you might do God’s work. “By this time you ought to be teachers… who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:12-14). Are you a disciple? Then you will teach His word to know it. You will obey it by allowing its principles to find fruition in your life. You will be known by your adherence to His word. Are you studying it for yourself? “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God” (John 8:47).
It is Training with His People
Jesus’ second criterion is His only new command, “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34, 35). He explains this more explicitly later in the evening, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:13,14). What does He command? “Love each other as I have loved you” (15:12). We are His friends if we obey His command to love His people by “teaching them to obey everything [He] has commanded [us]” (Mt 28:19,20). We fulfill the second criterion by helping our brothers achieve the first criterion, “abide by His teaching.” Yet some will say, “My Christian friends do help me grow in Christlikeness.” If you want to train for a marathon and your friends are consistently volunteering their assistance through frequent pizza parties, late nights playing Halo 3, and encouragement to run on your own as they lounge on the couch, then will you ever achieve your goal of finishing the race, let alone running in such a way as to win the prize? Are you a disciple of Jesus? Then who is your friend training you to obey His commands? To whom are you that kind of friend? If you’ve ever lifted weights, then you know the power of your friend’s mighty finger as he guides that shaking bar from your chest to its final resting place. Who is pushing you when your flesh says “Quit?”
We will all imitate someone. We will either become a pew warmer watching others flex their spiritual muscles or we’ll take the things we have heard in the presence of many witnesses and entrust them to reliable men also qualified to train others (1Cor 4:16,17; 2Tim 2:2). Are you a disciple? Who is your Paul and who is your Timothy?
Its Training Will Yield Fruit
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples” (John 15:8). If the first two criterions represent our discipleship, then fruit bearing is inevitable. If we do not live by His word nor love our brothers by helping them to live by His word, then we might be “like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (15:6). Yet someone will say, “I am not called to this ministry.” “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation… All this is from God, who… gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2Cor 5:17,18). If you are “in Christ,” then the lack of calling is no excuse for disobedience. Yet someone will complain, “My schedule will not allow it! Perhaps next semester or when I graduate.” “Listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow’… why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow… Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (Jas 4:13-17). Will you be any less busy tomorrow than you are today? If you know what needs to be done today and do not do it, God calls that “Sin.” My lack of time will not excuse my disobedience. Lastly, “God loves me, so why should I?” Oh, foolish question! What motivated Paul to achieve the criterion of a disciple of Christ? “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him… Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men” (2Cor 5:10,11).
It is Training in Righteousness
What is a disciple? “A mathetes (disciple, student, pupil) is not above his teacher but everyone who is fully trained will become like his teacher” (Lk 6:40). Simply put, a disciple is someone being trained to become like someone else; someone like Jesus. Paul writes in 1Cor 9:24-27, “Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training… Therefore I do not run… aimlessly… No I beat my body and make it my slave.” If discipleship training were anything like physical training, then our traditional efforts to become like Christ would be like defining walks to the bathroom as training for a marathon. “It’s still exercise,” I might say, though you’d likely retort, “Yeah, but you’ll never finish the race with that sort of training.” When someone says, “I’m training for [fill in the blank],” they typically mean that they have rearranged their lives, made some sacrifices, and committed themselves to a program designed to help them attain their goal. A marathon runner will inevitably run because he wants to win the race. A disciple of Christ will inevitably do what Jesus did because he wants to win a crown. Many today train by osmosis by gaggling around the buffest guy or fittest gal they can find and hoping that the healthy person’s strenuous flexing will lead to their physical growth. “I’m training to be a disciple of Jesus by listening to [insert favorite speaker] preach God’s word.” If we’d scoff at the notion of qualifying our workout through another’s physical training, then isn’t it obvious that something more than listening from the pews is required for those training to become like Christ?
It is Training by His Word
Jesus’ first criterion for His disciples is; “If you hold [Greek meno-to remain or abide] to my teaching you are really my disciples” (John 8:31). To abide in His teaching means that the presence of His word must be a consistent influence in my life just as hunger for food daily drives me to eat. “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread” (Job 23:12). Do I study the word to the detriment of my belly or do I ignore the word in favor of my fleshly hungers? “Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2Tim 3:16,17). Are you a disciple? Then the plan is to be taught God’s word. To be rebuked by God’s word. To be corrected by God’s word. To be trained by God’s word so that you might do God’s work. “By this time you ought to be teachers… who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:12-14). Are you a disciple? Then you will teach His word to know it. You will obey it by allowing its principles to find fruition in your life. You will be known by your adherence to His word. Are you studying it for yourself? “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God” (John 8:47).
It is Training with His People
Jesus’ second criterion is His only new command, “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34, 35). He explains this more explicitly later in the evening, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:13,14). What does He command? “Love each other as I have loved you” (15:12). We are His friends if we obey His command to love His people by “teaching them to obey everything [He] has commanded [us]” (Mt 28:19,20). We fulfill the second criterion by helping our brothers achieve the first criterion, “abide by His teaching.” Yet some will say, “My Christian friends do help me grow in Christlikeness.” If you want to train for a marathon and your friends are consistently volunteering their assistance through frequent pizza parties, late nights playing Halo 3, and encouragement to run on your own as they lounge on the couch, then will you ever achieve your goal of finishing the race, let alone running in such a way as to win the prize? Are you a disciple of Jesus? Then who is your friend training you to obey His commands? To whom are you that kind of friend? If you’ve ever lifted weights, then you know the power of your friend’s mighty finger as he guides that shaking bar from your chest to its final resting place. Who is pushing you when your flesh says “Quit?”
We will all imitate someone. We will either become a pew warmer watching others flex their spiritual muscles or we’ll take the things we have heard in the presence of many witnesses and entrust them to reliable men also qualified to train others (1Cor 4:16,17; 2Tim 2:2). Are you a disciple? Who is your Paul and who is your Timothy?
Its Training Will Yield Fruit
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples” (John 15:8). If the first two criterions represent our discipleship, then fruit bearing is inevitable. If we do not live by His word nor love our brothers by helping them to live by His word, then we might be “like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (15:6). Yet someone will say, “I am not called to this ministry.” “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation… All this is from God, who… gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2Cor 5:17,18). If you are “in Christ,” then the lack of calling is no excuse for disobedience. Yet someone will complain, “My schedule will not allow it! Perhaps next semester or when I graduate.” “Listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow’… why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow… Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (Jas 4:13-17). Will you be any less busy tomorrow than you are today? If you know what needs to be done today and do not do it, God calls that “Sin.” My lack of time will not excuse my disobedience. Lastly, “God loves me, so why should I?” Oh, foolish question! What motivated Paul to achieve the criterion of a disciple of Christ? “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him… Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men” (2Cor 5:10,11).
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The Annals of Mike or How I Came to Know Jesus
Chapter One- The Annals of Mike
“Yeah, but Masterchief is much cooler,” Barny’s eyes bulged like his brain was trying to make a point.
“Still, Tom Clancy’s stuff is more realistic,” I said with my finger on the Bible.
“Realistic!” Barny said, “Mexico attacks America, a group of rough and tough elite soldiers calling themselves, “Rainbows,” and some sixty year old elder with a deep voice busts up hundreds without breaking a hip? Yeah, that’s realistic.”
“O.K.,” I touch his shoulder and check his heart rate as the nurses look into the room, “You’re right, Halo is a much better game than Clancy’s. Wish you could play.”
“Me too.”
“Well,” I opened my Bible to Jeremiah 29:11, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’” It was the word “future” that made me cry.
Barny isn’t a real person any more than that farmer in Jesus’ parable who tosses seeds on the path, on the rocks, and in the weeds is, but like the soils, he is the embodiment of all who have ever heard or shared God’s message with this sinful man. Throughout the course of this book, I would like to tell you our story and allow you to witness what this verse means to me, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but also our lives as well” (1Thes 2:8).
I met “Barney” when I first entered military service in the Fall of 1992 and found myself shanghaied by the government to the faraway land of Fort Benning, Georgia. He was my bunkmate, which meant he slept on the bed above me while I lounged underneath his shadow in more ways than one. You see, I had first heard about Christ only a few weeks before while sitting in the home of Pastor Raz, a supplanted Puerto Rican who still considered Spanish his primary language. Together, we listened to Hurricane Andrew tear through downtown Homestead, Florida in the safety of his living room with his wife and three children and my mother and sister keeping us company.
“Miguel,” he shook me from my sleep the morning after Andrew finished his business, “You come with me?”
“Yeah,” I listened to the silence for the first time I could remember. No television, no birds, no people, only the whispering sobs of those so happy to be alive they only now realized what they lost.
As we navigated past the fallen trees, torn up street signs, and gawking citizens down Interstate 95 from Miami to Homestead, what once was a twenty minute trek now took over two hours. Several places were impassable while several others were impossible to ignore. We witnessed flipped semis, cars resting in living rooms, pieces of trailer homes miles away from the park, and faces so stunned they had nothing to say. That is, everyone except the members of Pastor Raz’s church.
“Hola, Pastor,” she said with a hug. “You want something to drink?”
We looked into her house from the driveway and saw the refrigerator sitting next to the bathtub.
“No,” Raz said, “We don’t want to put you out.”
“How is your family?” She asked us both.
“We were fine, fine, but how about you?”
He spent several hours travelling from member to member, picking up broken pictures of loved ones long past, shouting hallelujahs when they found bibles, crying when their lives were all they could salvage. I watched with an ever-increasing knot in my belly knowing that home wasn’t going to be the same any more.
The roof of our house was torn from the sides, my car wedged tightly against the wall, our tree holding my hammock miraculously intact, but our stuff, what took a lifetime to collect, was soaking wet and broken into memories. I remember his words when he touched my shivering shoulder, “God has a plan in everything.”
That night, the hammock was my bed as I gazed up at the shining heavens listening to the nothingness of the last remaining quiet evening and thought to myself, “Why? You took away my father through divorce. My home through this hurricane. And my pride through poverty. I have nothing but these clothes. I am nothing but what I lack.”
As my head turned away from the heavens, I saw my mother through the broken window of our living room, kneeling down with my sister offering a prayer through a tearful smile. My eyes drew upwards and I asked, “Can I have what you’ve given them?”
I told Raz what I prayed about the night before and he took me by the shoulder, Bible in hand, and told me what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
“Yeah, but Masterchief is much cooler,” Barny’s eyes bulged like his brain was trying to make a point.
“Still, Tom Clancy’s stuff is more realistic,” I said with my finger on the Bible.
“Realistic!” Barny said, “Mexico attacks America, a group of rough and tough elite soldiers calling themselves, “Rainbows,” and some sixty year old elder with a deep voice busts up hundreds without breaking a hip? Yeah, that’s realistic.”
“O.K.,” I touch his shoulder and check his heart rate as the nurses look into the room, “You’re right, Halo is a much better game than Clancy’s. Wish you could play.”
“Me too.”
“Well,” I opened my Bible to Jeremiah 29:11, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’” It was the word “future” that made me cry.
Barny isn’t a real person any more than that farmer in Jesus’ parable who tosses seeds on the path, on the rocks, and in the weeds is, but like the soils, he is the embodiment of all who have ever heard or shared God’s message with this sinful man. Throughout the course of this book, I would like to tell you our story and allow you to witness what this verse means to me, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but also our lives as well” (1Thes 2:8).
I met “Barney” when I first entered military service in the Fall of 1992 and found myself shanghaied by the government to the faraway land of Fort Benning, Georgia. He was my bunkmate, which meant he slept on the bed above me while I lounged underneath his shadow in more ways than one. You see, I had first heard about Christ only a few weeks before while sitting in the home of Pastor Raz, a supplanted Puerto Rican who still considered Spanish his primary language. Together, we listened to Hurricane Andrew tear through downtown Homestead, Florida in the safety of his living room with his wife and three children and my mother and sister keeping us company.
“Miguel,” he shook me from my sleep the morning after Andrew finished his business, “You come with me?”
“Yeah,” I listened to the silence for the first time I could remember. No television, no birds, no people, only the whispering sobs of those so happy to be alive they only now realized what they lost.
As we navigated past the fallen trees, torn up street signs, and gawking citizens down Interstate 95 from Miami to Homestead, what once was a twenty minute trek now took over two hours. Several places were impassable while several others were impossible to ignore. We witnessed flipped semis, cars resting in living rooms, pieces of trailer homes miles away from the park, and faces so stunned they had nothing to say. That is, everyone except the members of Pastor Raz’s church.
“Hola, Pastor,” she said with a hug. “You want something to drink?”
We looked into her house from the driveway and saw the refrigerator sitting next to the bathtub.
“No,” Raz said, “We don’t want to put you out.”
“How is your family?” She asked us both.
“We were fine, fine, but how about you?”
He spent several hours travelling from member to member, picking up broken pictures of loved ones long past, shouting hallelujahs when they found bibles, crying when their lives were all they could salvage. I watched with an ever-increasing knot in my belly knowing that home wasn’t going to be the same any more.
The roof of our house was torn from the sides, my car wedged tightly against the wall, our tree holding my hammock miraculously intact, but our stuff, what took a lifetime to collect, was soaking wet and broken into memories. I remember his words when he touched my shivering shoulder, “God has a plan in everything.”
That night, the hammock was my bed as I gazed up at the shining heavens listening to the nothingness of the last remaining quiet evening and thought to myself, “Why? You took away my father through divorce. My home through this hurricane. And my pride through poverty. I have nothing but these clothes. I am nothing but what I lack.”
As my head turned away from the heavens, I saw my mother through the broken window of our living room, kneeling down with my sister offering a prayer through a tearful smile. My eyes drew upwards and I asked, “Can I have what you’ve given them?”
I told Raz what I prayed about the night before and he took me by the shoulder, Bible in hand, and told me what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Friday, October 19, 2007
ACTS OF RANDOM KINDNESS (A.R.K.)
In the Evan Almighty movie, this was what “God” meant by “Build me an A.R.K.” In reality, it is a self-proclaimed “nonreligious” foundation (www.actsofkindness.org) that promotes kindness within our nation and acts as a delegate to the World Kindness Movement, an organization whose goal is to increase the world’s capacity of kindness and compassion. They also give away free puppies, hugs, smiles, and a pocket full of rainbows. Though the humanistic endeavor to be kinder to your fellow man is honorable and even commanded by God, “Be kind and compassionate to one another” (Eph 4:32), as an end, that is be kind in order to encourage compassion, is just not good enough for Christians. For Christians to consider acts of random kindness equivalent to “Therefore, be imitators of God” (Eph 5:1—the verse that follows 4:32), is akin to believing the placement of a dollar in the offering plate is the same as making disciples of all nations.
“But, Mike, surely this isn’t a problem in Christianity.” Check out this website, http://www.arkalmighty.com, and you see that many Christians believe that “selfless, unexpected acts of kindness… [will] help others understand God’s gift of love and grace to all people.” I read a bulletin this past week advertising a mission trip to Central America in which the ministry will consist of random acts of kindness. But why would it be a problem for Christians to promote kindness?
“For God so loved the world,” means that God loves all people, right? What if God fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed strangers into His home, clothed the naked, and visited the sick and imprisoned and yet still sent them to eternal torment, would we call that, “love?” Matthew 25:35-40 is used often to support community outreach with the reminder, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” But are random acts of kindness what God sent Jesus to accomplish?
“Be imitators of God,” Ephesians 5:1 commands us, “…And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us.” When did Jesus feed the hungry? Did not the five thousand return only to hear these words, “Do not labor for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life” (John 6:27). When did He provide drink for the thirsty? Instead He says, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever” (John 4:13,14). When Jesus welcomed strangers it was with this commission, “Follow Me,” unless they were sick, then He healed them and told them, “Go home to your family.” When did He clothe the naked or visit the imprisoned? Yet, Jesus commanded His disciples, “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). If Jesus example of love did not consist of these humanitarian services, then what did He do for His disciples?
“Go and make disciples of all nations,” must mean more to us than go and be kind. If the purpose of our kindness is to demonstrate God’s love, then we have truly missed the mark by defining God’s love as relief from temporal inadequacies. When you serve, do you share the Gospel of “believe and be saved,” or the Gospel of “Take up your cross and follow Him?” Do you tell them to read the Bible as you pass them a cup of cold water or do you train them to study God’s word as you pass onto them the commission of God. Do you build them houses or do you build them into the temple of God? Friends, it is a great accomplishment for a sinner to turn his kindness into reproductive compassion. But we saints are not commissioned to be kind. We are called to make disciples. And that’s not a random act.
“Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off” (Rom 11:22).
“But, Mike, surely this isn’t a problem in Christianity.” Check out this website, http://www.arkalmighty.com, and you see that many Christians believe that “selfless, unexpected acts of kindness… [will] help others understand God’s gift of love and grace to all people.” I read a bulletin this past week advertising a mission trip to Central America in which the ministry will consist of random acts of kindness. But why would it be a problem for Christians to promote kindness?
“For God so loved the world,” means that God loves all people, right? What if God fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed strangers into His home, clothed the naked, and visited the sick and imprisoned and yet still sent them to eternal torment, would we call that, “love?” Matthew 25:35-40 is used often to support community outreach with the reminder, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” But are random acts of kindness what God sent Jesus to accomplish?
“Be imitators of God,” Ephesians 5:1 commands us, “…And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us.” When did Jesus feed the hungry? Did not the five thousand return only to hear these words, “Do not labor for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life” (John 6:27). When did He provide drink for the thirsty? Instead He says, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever” (John 4:13,14). When Jesus welcomed strangers it was with this commission, “Follow Me,” unless they were sick, then He healed them and told them, “Go home to your family.” When did He clothe the naked or visit the imprisoned? Yet, Jesus commanded His disciples, “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). If Jesus example of love did not consist of these humanitarian services, then what did He do for His disciples?
“Go and make disciples of all nations,” must mean more to us than go and be kind. If the purpose of our kindness is to demonstrate God’s love, then we have truly missed the mark by defining God’s love as relief from temporal inadequacies. When you serve, do you share the Gospel of “believe and be saved,” or the Gospel of “Take up your cross and follow Him?” Do you tell them to read the Bible as you pass them a cup of cold water or do you train them to study God’s word as you pass onto them the commission of God. Do you build them houses or do you build them into the temple of God? Friends, it is a great accomplishment for a sinner to turn his kindness into reproductive compassion. But we saints are not commissioned to be kind. We are called to make disciples. And that’s not a random act.
“Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off” (Rom 11:22).
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
A Candle Funny
Mrs. Donovan was walking down O'Connell Street in Dublin when she met Father Flaherty.
The priest said, "Top o' the mornin' to ye! Aren't ye Mrs. Donvan and didn't I marry ye and yer hoosband 2 years ago?"
She replied, "Aye, that ye did, Fadder."
The Father asked, "And be there any wee little ones yet?"
She replied, "No, not yet, Fadder."
Father Flaherty said, "Well, now, I'm goin' to Rome next week and I'll light a candle for ye and yer hoosband."
She replied, "Oh, thank ye, Fadder." They then parted ways.
Some years later they met again and Father Flaherty asked, "Well now, Mrs. Donovan, how are ye these days?"
She replied, "Oh, very well, Fadder!"
The priest then asked, "And tell me, have ye any been blessed with any wee ones yet?"
She replied, "Oh yes, Fadder! T'ree sets o'twins and 4 singles, 10 in all."
He then responded, "That's wonderful! How is yer loving hoosband?"
She replied, "E's gone to Rome to blow out yer candle."
[forwarded by Marty Walker]
today'sTHOT============================
The worst thing about censorship is ****** ** ********!
=======================================
PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com
The priest said, "Top o' the mornin' to ye! Aren't ye Mrs. Donvan and didn't I marry ye and yer hoosband 2 years ago?"
She replied, "Aye, that ye did, Fadder."
The Father asked, "And be there any wee little ones yet?"
She replied, "No, not yet, Fadder."
Father Flaherty said, "Well, now, I'm goin' to Rome next week and I'll light a candle for ye and yer hoosband."
She replied, "Oh, thank ye, Fadder." They then parted ways.
Some years later they met again and Father Flaherty asked, "Well now, Mrs. Donovan, how are ye these days?"
She replied, "Oh, very well, Fadder!"
The priest then asked, "And tell me, have ye any been blessed with any wee ones yet?"
She replied, "Oh yes, Fadder! T'ree sets o'twins and 4 singles, 10 in all."
He then responded, "That's wonderful! How is yer loving hoosband?"
She replied, "E's gone to Rome to blow out yer candle."
[forwarded by Marty Walker]
today'sTHOT============================
The worst thing about censorship is ****** ** ********!
=======================================
PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
WHAT NOT TO LEARN FROM EVAN ALMIGHTY
Have you seen Steve Carrell’s movie yet? As a movie, it’s clichéd, feel-good, slightly humorous, and one our family could watch together with only one instance of “hope they didn’t hear that.” But as a depiction of “God,” the viewer has to be weary of a few things if they think Morgan Freeman represents the God of the Bible. Not to say that Christianity was what the producers had in mind, but rather, because I’ve heard of several churches using the movie to promote “mainstream” Christianity. For instance, there were advertisements for churches to buy bulk seating while it was in the theatres and the first preview presented was from the new VeggieTale movie, of which I’m extremely excited. If you saw it, can you point to some things that though acceptable to spiritualist should not be acceptable to Christianity?
Here’s the first. In the movie, a book entitled Ark Building for Dummies, provides a narrative for the author, God, who has over six billion children. It is a common belief today, even within Christian circles, that everyone is a child of God. Is this what you believe? “No one born of god makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God… whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother” (1John 3:9,10). The Holy Spirit is like an adoption agency that unites us with our Father (Rom 8:14-17) and we all know that nonchristians do not have the Spirit and therefore, are not children of God.
The second misconception about God is based upon the first. Evan asks God, “You wouldn’t drown everyone , would you?” We remember from the first movie, Bruce Almighty, that “God” can’t force anyone to love him though he loves everyone equally. After all, if everyone is God’s child then what Father would ever send His child to eternal torment? An atheist came to our study last night and I used this analogy to explain the Biblical view of God’s dealings with His creation: if a child comes to my house and is not adopted by me and is unwilling to live by my rules, then I cannot discipline him as I would my own (Heb 12:5) but must instead escort him out of my home (as God did to Adam and Eve). If we are God’s children, we live by His rules, not ours. If we are not, then we live by our rules and not His.
You can learn a lot from movies, but be careful what you hear. You just might be held accountable to it.
Here’s the first. In the movie, a book entitled Ark Building for Dummies, provides a narrative for the author, God, who has over six billion children. It is a common belief today, even within Christian circles, that everyone is a child of God. Is this what you believe? “No one born of god makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God… whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother” (1John 3:9,10). The Holy Spirit is like an adoption agency that unites us with our Father (Rom 8:14-17) and we all know that nonchristians do not have the Spirit and therefore, are not children of God.
The second misconception about God is based upon the first. Evan asks God, “You wouldn’t drown everyone , would you?” We remember from the first movie, Bruce Almighty, that “God” can’t force anyone to love him though he loves everyone equally. After all, if everyone is God’s child then what Father would ever send His child to eternal torment? An atheist came to our study last night and I used this analogy to explain the Biblical view of God’s dealings with His creation: if a child comes to my house and is not adopted by me and is unwilling to live by my rules, then I cannot discipline him as I would my own (Heb 12:5) but must instead escort him out of my home (as God did to Adam and Eve). If we are God’s children, we live by His rules, not ours. If we are not, then we live by our rules and not His.
You can learn a lot from movies, but be careful what you hear. You just might be held accountable to it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
