October 8, 2015 | Imparting Courage

“You have become an example to all … And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever you go we find people telling us about your faith in God.” (1 Thessalonians 1:7-8 NLT)
 
Building bravery
Humans are capable of passing on courage. It is an amazing blessing to see people encourage – literally impart bravery into others. Scripture teaches that as we are sanctified by God we should become more courageous. Then, as “more than conquerors” through Christ, we then are enabled to pass on that mettle. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 commands believers in Jesus:
Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up. (1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV)
Tracy Bush serves with me on our church pulpit team and she summarized the process in a recent note: “Once personal internal change occurs we become ‘agents of change’ to those in our sphere of influence.”
Sapping strength
However, the opposite phenomenon is also possible. 2 Samuel 4 shows that others are affected by one’s cowardice, just as much as by examples of courage. In fact, when a member of God’s community panics he or she can easily bring down the entire group.
When Saul’s son Ish-bosheth heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. (2 Samuel 4:1 HCSB)
Israel’s dismay is connected to Ish-bosheth’s loss of nerve. In the same way, the people around each of us can be utterly unhorsed when we give in to fear.
Which do I do?
It’s a watershed issue. Each day, I either live with such confidence in the Lord that I build bravery in others or my fear helps sap their strength. My prayer for me and you is that we are imparters of courage – part of a mutually-reinforcing circle of trust and confidence.
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October 1, 2015 | Live and Die as Victors

“I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
(John 16:33 HCSB)
 
As Victors
It all began as my boss, Herr Depuhl, and I discussed the evil represented by the Iron Curtain. A few of our students that came to Christ Camp in West Germany travelled from the east and it was heart-rending to send newly-minted Christians back there after a week of camp. [By the way, the Warsaw Pact designs toward Christians are described by sociologist Paul Froese in his very thorough recent book The Plot to Kill God. It’s a remarkable description of the totalitarian Soviet regime of the 20th century and their wholesale persecution of Christians.]
 
What Mike Depuhl wanted me to understand is that for 2000 years the plot to kill God has been the norm. One day, my boss told me to take a day off so that he could show me something important. We drove to the lovely town of Xanten on the Dutch border. Herr Depuhl took me down into the crypt under the cathedral in Xanten. There, he showed me a pile of bones in a glass case and told me their story…
1900 years ago, Xanten was the furthest north colony of the Roman Empire. Over the ensuing years, many there came to faith in Jesus as Christianity spread through the Roman world. But in 362 A.D. Christians were severely persecuted across that province. And in Xanten, a Roman officer named Victor was accused of being a Christian. He proudly confessed Jesus, along with a few of his fellow soldiers. They were killed in the amphitheater. Other Christians saved their bodies and venerated the bones. Even as the Roman Empire retreated and disintegrated…even as wild barbarians streamed in…the Christians remembered their brave brethren. Eventually those believers converted many of the barbarians to Christianity and their children built St. Victor’s church over the site of the martyr’s bones.

Herr Depuhl told me all this and more. Then he said, “You mustn’t think the freedom to run our Christian camp is normal. Nor is your freedom to teach the Bible or even to live as a Christian normal. We are blessed. But this [pointing to Victor’s bones] is normal. We need to be ready to live and die as Victors.”
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September 24, 2015 | Formula For Courage

 

“Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou has finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord. “(1 Chronicles 28:20 NKJV)
 
Faith, love, and a big job
After preaching recently on how we live out our status as “more than conquerors through Christ,” I received these excellent notes from fellow learners:
“One of my favorite verses, 1 Chronicles 28:20, relates David’s encouragement to his son Solomon to finish the task of building the temple. I’ve always read it as a reminder to do the work that God has set before me knowing that God is faithful to protect and provide all that is needed. It occurs to me that if I didn’t believe God then life would be too terrifying to contemplate. If I didn’t have faith I would be frozen in my tracks, immovable. The greater my faith, the more likely I am to take on a seemingly insurmountable task. It also seems to me that love plays an equal role. Great faith might assure me that I am not alone and that a task is doable, but love is what ultimately stirs me to action. I could build a wall against all odds, but why would I if I didn’t love what it was going to protect? Faith + Love + a big job to do = where courage comes from, where it is born. That is where we are given the opportunity to step up for the glory of God.”
“Looking forward to God granting me a BIGGER view of all that He is while comprehending that as big as I can imagine Him, He’s infinitely more.  What a sweet paradox.”
“We believe God’s promise with you that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus!”
“My leg is broken from wrestling with God. Thank you.”
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September 17, 2015 | Burled Wood

 

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, ‘For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. ” (Romans 8:35-37 KJV)
 
Burled wood
I was working on a lesson about the battles of everyday life: overcoming pain, mastering responsibility, staying courageous in a crisis, conquering chronic situations, finding courage to do what’s right – all because of the presence and power of God. It’s an inspiring, if sometimes daunting subject, and on the difficult days perspective really helps.
While praying through my study, I was blessed to receive the note below from my friend Dan Bolin, president of Christian Camping International. Here is the perspective that assists us in conquering the painful battles of life:
While in the Ukraine recently, I spent some solitary time in a thick, evergreen forest reflecting on God’s goodness and the glory revealed in His creation.
Sitting on a mossy log, I observed numerous trees with large burls about 10-15 feet (3-5 meters) off the ground. Above the enlarged and disfigured section, the trees grew straight and tall.
Exploring burls I discovered that they result from an injury, fungus or virus. The damaged and distorted portion of the tree is not pretty. But the wood of a burl is highly prized and of great value because of the beautiful swirls in its grain. In the hands of a master craftsman, wood that has been damaged and marred finds beauty and value it could not have known apart from the pain.
We all face times of heartache and injury. None of us escapes the burls of life for long.  But God is in the business of making all things new. Psalm 23 has four marvelous words that capture God’s heart for His injured and suffering people: “He restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:3)
Don’t waste your pain. Give it to God and allow him to restore your soul with greater beauty and increased value. – Dan
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September 3, 2015 | Doing Life Together

 

“Tychicus, our dearly loved brother, faithful servant, and fellow slave in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are and so that he may encourage your hearts.”  (Colossians 4:7-8 HCSB)
 
Fellow slave
Tychicus is a remarkable person! Paul tells us that Tychicus was a bond-slave of Jesus. “Slave” didn’t mean Tychicus lived in chains. “Fellow slave” means Tychicus is the kind of guy that one can bond with in the service of the Master.
The Greek word is beautiful and telling. What we translate “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος syndoulos. It’s a combo term. Sunmeans “together” and is used of a companion or partner. Doulos is a slave – in particular, one who willingly bonds himself to a master. Therefore, Tychicus is a person with whom one can bond together in willingly serving Jesus.
Is that true of us? Please consider your own soul and no one else. Ask yourself, “Am I the kind of person one can bond with in Jesus’ service?”
Are you a good team member? Or are you coasting behind other’s teamwork? Are you always complaining; always looking for greener grass elsewhere; always stirring up trouble? Do you give yourself to your Life Group or ministry team…or are there always walls there? Is bonding in ministry with your brethren a priority…or just something you tack on if there’s time left?
Tychicus obviously prioritizes his life partnerships in Christ. We should as well.
Doing life
Jon Bloom co-founded the ministry Desiring God, and he had some great insights on this in an old post:
 
If we are old enough and live in a region where we have options, we do choose our church community. But we don’t get to choose who else joins that community.
Invariably, after some time…we must live with leaders who disappoint us and fellow members who see the world differently. Besides their irritating temperamental idiosyncrasies, they have different interests, ministry priorities, educational philosophies, and musical preferences than we do.

“Doing life” with them doesn’t end up looking or feeling like the community of our dreams – our idealized abstract concept. Perhaps we need a change, to find a different church where we can really thrive.

Perhaps. If the defects of the church community include things like ethical or doctrinal unfaithfulness, a change may be exactly what is needed for us to thrive.

But if our restlessness is due to the disillusionment of having to deal with difficult, different people and defective programs, then perhaps the change we need is not in church community but in our willingness to love our neighbors, the ones God has given us to love.

The distinguishing mark of the church has never been its utopic society but its members’ love for each other (John 13:35). And…the glory of this love shines when it is costly and inconvenient.
In other words, we grow deepest and shine brightest when we are like Tychicus. And just in case I haven’t told you lately, it’s an honor to be sunduolos with you.
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August 27, 2015 | Husbands and Wives – The Love Dance

 

“Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 
Husbands, love your wives and don’t be bitter toward them.”
 (Colossians 3:18-19 HCSB)
I recently told a friend that this text can best be summarized as a love dance. Here’s why.
Love
The command for husbands to love is the great Greek verb ἀγαπάω agapao – a form of the wonderful word agape, which represents self-sacrificial love. As Dr. Robertson explained long ago:
Agapao is a strong, non-sexual affection and love for a person and their good as understood by God’s moral character. It is especially characterized by a willing forfeiture of rights or privileges on the other’s behalf. – A.T. Robertson, Words Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. 4, p. 128.
Men who are married, look carefully at that. That is the standard to which God calls and empowers us through His Spirit.
Non-sexual. You don’t just buy flowers in order to have sex. You buy flowers because it’s in your loving nature. You work very hard with God and with your life partner to eliminate the usually-attached motives of sex or desire for respect. Instead, you just shower love and affection because it is your response-ability.
Why is it a stock idea in comedies that wives have headaches and husbands are only nice in order to get sex? Because too few Christian men have displayed agape love!
Mister, if you need to discuss sexual urges with your wife, great. Do so. That is an important, normal, and healthy conversation that should be a regular part of life. But quit tying your affections to anything other than fulfilling your calling to love. As the parallel passage in Ephesians 5 makes clear, you love as Jesus loves – with self-sacrificial agape.
Dance
The command to wives is the word we translate submit – the Greek ὑποτάσσω hypotasso. Another textual expert, Dr. Ceslas Spicq, describes the term:
It may be said that this verb is peculiar to the language of the New Testament, and that “submission,” which should not be confused with obedience, is a major virtue in the Christian…writings…It is to spontaneously position oneself as a servant toward one’s neighbor in the hierarchy of love. – Ceslas Spicq, translated by James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament
A member of our church pulpit team [the group that helps me plan and evaluate preaching] tells this story about learning hypotasso:
I was at a college dance and ended up paired with this guy who could really dance well. A poor dancer at best, I was unknowingly fighting him all around the floor. He kept smiling at me and saying, “Submit. Just partner with me as I lead.” I had never thought about submission like that before. It really is a fun dance together. But it can’t happen if I don’t let the leader lead.
In Colossians 3, Paul is describing responses – husbands responding to wives; wives to husbands. And when we respond God’s way, life becomes a marvelous love dance.
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