Discipleship--Not A Sure Thing

I was up well before the chickens this morning.I picked up a friend at the airport. He traveled here, to Guam to attend our Ministry Equipping Conference. This year's conference is on disciple-making. My friend has been involved in working with others, especially teens, encouraging them to follow the Lord. Working with people isn't like working with clay. We people aren't nearly as moldable. Nor are we like concrete or plaster. If you can manage to get concrete into the right shape for a few hours, it will hold that form for many years. No, when God created us, He gave us a will. If we exercised our bodies as much as we do our wills, we'd be in much better shape. My friend is broken-hearted. Some of those with whom he has been working have chosen another path. My friend isn't the first to face this problem. The Apostle Paul experienced the same sadness as my friend when he commented to Timothy, "Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me" (2 Timothy 4:10). When Jesus asked Peter and the others, "You do not want to go too, do you?" it was an acknowledgment that they could turn away if they chose to. Following the Great Commission of our Lord, is not like cutting out Jesus-followers with a disciple cookie-cutter. It's more like wrestling or trying to get somewhere in a small boat in the midst of a big storm. The outcome, from where we sit, isn't clear. If I start passing on what God has given me to another, do I have any guarantee that they will turn out right? No, absolutely not. But there is likely someone in my sphere of influence whom I can influence. Maybe I'm the only one who can. If I don't teach them, pray with them, do life with them, and encourage them to follow the Lord, then for sure they won't. My friend will be around a few days. I'll probably quote Galatians 6:9 to him. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." It's STTA.

Why Christmas? #4

Why did Jesus come? #4

It is good to look around and see the way Christmas is celebrated in different lands. It is surprising to some of us to realize that for well more than half the world a white Christmas is ridiculous. Here on Guam, there is an event that has been going on for decades,Operation Christmas Drop.  An Air Force specialist told me that participating in this annual event is a highly desired opportunity. Kathy found out about another local Christmas tradition. Some new friends of hers told Kathy that they couldn't go anywhere on Christmas morning because the Baby Jesus might come by. They were probably referring to this practice. Around the world, Saint Nicholas has evolved into a personage very much associated with Christmas. His image has morphed into various shapes that fit the various cultures.  In the USA we are familiar with the image made famous by Clement Moore in his poem. Consider though: In the UK, Father Christmas wears a hooded blue cloak. Father Frost, in Russia and Ukraine, is accompanied by young women, snow maidens, rather than elves. The Dutch Sinterklass rides a white horse instead of a reindeer propelled sleigh. In parts of Germany, it is a female, Christkind, who brings gifts to good children.   Around the world, Christmas, and the various traditions associated with it, have taken on looks and feels that are at home in those places. I'm not saying that we are any more likely to find the truth behind Christmas in those other lands than we are in the jangling of sleigh bells in an American shopping mall, but looking at Christmas around the world does serve to remind us that Christ did not come for just one nation or people. He came to call out a people from every people group. Not only did Jesus come. He sent. The task He began is not completed. As we celebrate Christmas 2017, let's do so in keeping with Christ's mandate to make disciples where ever we are and go. Where ever you are, MERRY CHRISTMAS. It's STTA (Something To Think About).

My tiny sacrifice helps me see the bigger one:

Something To Think About The Cost of Discipleship:

I’ve read about those hearty missionaries who packed their belonging in a coffin, because they didn’t expect to return.  The folk who first came to the region where I am living, would book passage on a ship, be rowed ashore at their destination, and then they would figure it out.  Relatives would marry, children would be born, and loved ones would die.  These faithful servants wouldn’t know until, sometimes years had passed.  The fact that I’m sending this over an internet connection, from my comfortable apartment, certainly indicates that what I’m doing bears almost no resemblance to what those pioneers did. Almost--the “almost” was driven home the other day when I received news from my pastor that a good friend had died.  I remember sitting in his living room chatting with him about a month ago.  He was a man in his eighties, but just a babe in Christ.  I had known him for a number of years.  He had been a “prayer project” for Kathy, me, and a number of others.  We rejoiced when he put his faith in Christ.  His health had been in decline.  He had enough problems to keep a whole class of medical students busy for a semester.  As I looked at him that day back in his home in Virginia, I knew there was a strong possibility that I wouldn’t see him again in this life.  There was a pull.  Maybe I shouldn’t go after all. Just yesterday I read the words of the Lord Jesus to a would-be follower, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:60, NIV).  Various interpretive spins have been put on the statement.  I think it is likely that the man’s dad wasn’t dead, yet.  Often Jesus answered not only what people said, but what they thought.  It could be that the son’s concern was not related to future grief, but to present greed.  He needed to be there to make sure his inheritance was secure.  Clearly the Lord’s words need to be put in the context of His overall teaching about the cost of discipleship.  He spoke about denying one’s self, cross-bearing, and a willingness to make all other relationships secondary to devotion to Him.  Clearly, the cause of Christ is supreme. The next time I see my friend he won’t have a cough.  He’ll extend his arm fully—something he was not able to do for as long as I knew him—to shake my hand.  That grasp will allow us to pull one another into an embrace.  We’ll have a cup of heaven’s best coffee, and catch up a bit.  There will not be the least doubt that it was right for me to tell him good bye that day in Virginia.  “I might not see you down here again.”  It would be really cool—and just like I’m sure there will be coffee in heaven, I’m confident it is a place where cool things abound—it would be really cool if about then somebody came by and told about some impact my work here on the other side of the world had in their life.  I can see the twinkle in my friend’s eye as we enjoy that moment.  It’s STTA

An Army of Volunteers at Work:

I have the privilege of serving the Lord in a really great church.  One example of CBC's heart for ministry is this morning twenty-five CBC-ers are waking up in Schroon Lake New York.  Though the Adirondacks are a beautiful place to take a vacation, these folk aren't there to relax.  They are investing a week of their lives in the ministry of Word of Life.  WoL operates Bible Camps, a College level Bible Institute, and assists churches around the world in reaching and discipling young people.  I'm looking forward to hearing reports on what this crew accomplishes. The fact is, though, these people aren't the only ones from my church who are on mission.  I've got a day full of appointments, including one to encourage an old friend with serious health needs.  A number have already started their work day.  As I type kids are on the bus headed for school.  There are neighbors we need to reach out to, kids who need a mentor, folk everywhere crying out for someone to love them, opportunities to show the love of Christ in practical ways. Matthew 28:19 says the followers of Christ are to go and make disciples.  We tend to emphasize the "Go."  Really the going is kind of assumed.  Wherever you go be in the disciple making business.  Live deliberately in such a way that you point others to Christ. Wherever "here" is for you, for me, there is work to be done for the Lord.  I'm looking forward to hearing about how the Lord uses my church family wherever we are. It's Something to Think About.

The reached become the reachers to the unreached:

A couple of days ago I told you about some new friends I met.  If you missed it click here.  (I know I was supposed to get back to you yesterday, but you know . . .) It was my privilege to meet representatives from GIDI, The Evangelical Church of Indonesia, while I was in Palau.  The Palauan Evengelical Church was celebrating the 85th Anniversary of the Gospel coming to their Islands.  The Evangelical Church of Indonesia is just over 50 years old.  You can read a bit of the history here.  (At left the two groups meet to sign the mission agreement.) Both groups have a commendable zeal for sharing the Good News about Jesus with others who have not heard.  Palau is a tiny nation, about 20,000 in population.  Indonesia is a Muslim country.  In both places the church is new, and still has internal issues to sort out.  Yet, these are people who take seriously the Great commission to make disciples of all nations.  The two groups are partnering to reach out to the unreached on the Island Papua, (New Guinea) Indonesia. Even newer is a church among an even smaller, younger people group.  My friends and associates Doug and Dorcas Williams have been instruments in God's hands to reach out to the Awa, a tribe that lives in the Highlands of Ecuador.  I have met Paulino and Milton, the Elders of the church there.  Both of them are first generation Christians.  In a few weeks they will be leading the Awa for the first time, ever, without any assistance from missionaries.  (At right is a group of Awa children at one of the meeting places of the Awa church.)  They have already been taking steps to reach out to Awa communities where the Gospel has not yet been taught. So, what am I doing with the opportunities God has given me? It's Something to Think About.   To find out more about CBC at our website. God's Story in His Own Words. a message composed of nothing but Scripture that presents the flow of Divine Revelation from "In the beginning," to the final "Amen." You can find the most relevant message of all time here.

What the World Needs:

Something To Think About, What the World Needs: 2/28

It's doesn't take a news junkie to see that the world is in a mess.  Words like genocide, refugee, militants, and mass-starvation have become way too familiar over the past few years.  Cities on fire, angry mobs in streets, and children with blank faces and emaciated bodies have become way too common as images that daily assault us.   Luke is a historian.  When we read his gospel and his history of the early church we get some idea of the world in which the Good News about Jesus first made an impression.  It was a world where on one occasion the disciples told Jesus about some  Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.  (Luke 13:1)  When you read some of the central chapters of Acts you can see the lines of refugees leaving Jerusalem, persecuted for their faith.     “Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1–2)  Luke's friend Peter writes about the struggles of these displaced persons, the victims of religious cleansing, working hard to make a new life in a new place.  Peter addresses them as "Those who reside as aliens." The Roman Empire of 2,000 years ago was not unlike our world today. If we could back to that world we would observe many needs:  People needed housing, food, medical care, and education--again very much like our world. You can't spend much time in the New Testament, though, without coming to the clear understanding that above all those things, and, in many ways, as that which would lead to a solution for those problems, people needed the Lord. They still do. I'm not saying we shouldn't seek to feed the hungry and house the homeless. We should--especially when those in need are helpless children.  What I am saying is we need to make sure we don't neglect what is most important. This bad news world needs to hear THE GOOD NEWS!   It's STTA. Explore this Good News here.

The US government just closed twenty-two embassies in Africa and the Middle-east.  It seems the chatter is intense.  Lots of bad guys saying bad things about us.  A number of officials and observers say it is similar to what we recognized--mostly in hindsight--before 9/11/01.  I have found it kind of interesting that even those one would expect to pile-on in criticizing the current administration have been reluctant to criticize the closures.  The name "Ben Ghazi" comes up often.  We don't want that again.  

As polite as diplomacy is, it is also dangerous.  Representing one nation in the midst of another can be quite hairy.  Those of us who follow Christ areambassadors.  We represent the Kingdom of God in the midst of a realm that "lies in the power of the Wicked One"  (1 John5:19).  

That is not the kind of thing that can be done with the guarantee of safety.  I know people whose loved ones have died in taking the Good News to those who haven't heard.  Even some of my preacher buddies, who serve in the comfort of the Bible belt, have been treated pretty shabbily.  I heard, just yesterday, about one who after some pretty shameful treatment just quit.  My son was asked to leave a country because he was engaged in proclaiming Christ.  I met one of his associates who just recently was also invited to leave.  Careers have been stymied and even ruined, and young people are socially ostracized--no small concern if you are sixteen years old.  So, do we just put a sign on the door letting the world know that we are shutting down until the opposition subsides?

 

 

Let's ask the Apostle Paul, who was beheaded, or Peter who was crucified, or John who lived in exile.  Our Lord warned us that it would not be easy here in the land where He was crucified.  (John  15:20)

No, we need to proclaim Good News in the face of bad news.  In fact the bad news serves to illustrate why the world needs to hear the message.

 

 

 It's STTA