Todd Beamer, passenger on Flight 93, September 11, 2001
Time for courage.
The realization of their awful plight had hit enough of the passengers on United Flight 93 to now form a critical mass. Yes, it seemed their fate was sealed, that one way or another they would all perish, but a number of them had determined to at least go down trying. They had even voted on it (Only in America...)! With loved ones or telephone operators on the other side of a phone connection, they had confirmed and re-confirmed the worst: Terrorists were flying hijacked airliners into buildings. And Flight 93 would be next.
They prayed, recited scripture, spoke their repeated “I love you’s” into phones from the back of the plane, and prepared themselves to depart this life in what must have seemed a futile attempt to wrest their destiny away from people bent on hatred and destruction. If nothing else, they might prevent innocent others from being hurt. This airliner would probably not make it home safely, but neither would it crash into the Capitol building or the White House, because ordinary people would do what had to be done, even if it meant storming the cockpit of their own airplane, using a beverage cart for a battering ram.
The smoking hole in the ground in an open field in Pennsylvania was not testimony to their failure, but to their extreme courage. Cornered by death, they chose to fight back, forever becoming heroes in the minds of millions of us. They chose right. “Let’s roll” became the clarion call for a nation about to wake up to the reality of being in a war on terrorism, whether we wanted to be or not. It’s a pretty good motto. It beats whining.
As the seventh anniversary of 9/11 approaches, another drama unfolds on a national scale. A spiritual hijacking is occurring, and just as 9/11 left so many paralyzed by disbelief until it was too late, so this hijacking seeks to render us immobile. Each day that goes by increases the difficulty of our assignment, as windows of opportunity slam shut. Certainly, something is wrong, but we’re not sure what to do about it, and we know ourselves to be unqualified. Someone should do something! Like the passengers on Flight 93, we look around, and realize, to our horror, that if anyone is going to get this thing back, it will have to be us, unqualified, unprepared, scared as we may be. Our great God will help us do whatever needs to be done, but if we’re waiting for the mantel of responsibility to fall on worthier shoulders, we’re fooling ourselves. It’s time for courage. We can cower in the back of the plane, whimpering at what is happening, or we can unite to fight back. If we know the plane is going down, anyway, why not do something? At least we’ll know we tried.
Our nation is hurtling toward destruction. It’s a suicide mission, where Satan’s subjects intend not only to destroy themselves, but anyone else they can control, as well. Rather than sit idly by, thinking that if we’re not in immediate danger, we’re not in danger at all, how about if we do something?!
Let’s take back this plane.
I’m not talking about some kind of violence, where, like the people on Flight 93, we break down the cockpit door to try to wrest back control. I’m not even talking about passive resistance, where we assail the sinful institutions of our society with our about-to-be-arrested bodies, in an attempt to change the laws of our government (I’m not saying this is never the appropriate action, either).
Here’s what I am saying: The time is short, and if we don’t do something, we’re in for a fatal collision. Spiritual terrorists have kidnaped our kids and our national morals and are attempting to fly them into what’s left of the spiritual structure which has held this country together for several hundred years. They are hell-bent on going there, and taking us with them. Let’s not!
What do we have to fight with? The Bible makes it clear, in Ephesians 6. After a not-so-subtle reminder that our fight is not with flesh but with spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, the apostle Paul describes, piece by piece, the armor of a Christian—things like truth and righteousness and faith. The only offensive weapon mentioned is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (v.17). Apparently, it’s all we need.
The final book of the Bible does what God is able to do effortlessly: Talk about the future in the past tense, but with complete accuracy. And the tribute given to the spiritual victors on God’s side in Revelation 12:11 is: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Satan himself can’t stand up to ordinary Christians willing to testify or die for Jesus!
This is what it looks like when the sword of the Spirit is applied. God’s truth is always powerful, whether it is proclaimed from a pulpit, read from the Bible, or printed on a coffee cup. But it is most powerful when it is lived. There is no defense against a disciple of Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who is living out the truths of God’s Word. The word of their testimony defeats Satan! This is how to take back the plane. Allow the blood of the Lamb to change your heart, allow His Holy Spirit to fill your life and totally control you, and live out the power of the scriptures, even in a world that doesn’t know the meaning of the word “holy.” We’ll take it back. We have to. We have to at least try.
When it’s all over, I want to at least know we tried to do something. We didn’t allow Satan to bluff us into thinking we had to idly cringe in the back of the plane while his minions flew us into the very things we love most. Satan is going to hell, but we don’t have to go with him. Let’s take back the plane. “Let’s roll.”
Dave Ness
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 2, 2008
1 Timothy 4
If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:6-8 ESV
Being a good servant of Christ Jesus means being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed, and keeping to that faith, rather than veering off into myths and rules, etc.
If we persist in these basics, really devoting ourselves to them, we will save both ourselves and our hearers!
For a young pastor, the priorities Paul put in place are:
Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture,
to exhortation,
to teaching.
Do not neglect the gift you have...
Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.
Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Christians need to train themselves for godliness!
Command and teach these things.
In the U.S., we have pretty much dropped any kind of standard, when it comes to expectations of a Christian. It would be like saying everyone in the U.S. who professes a belief in football has a right to a spot on a football team. Practice is optional, skill is not important, there is no training regimen, no discipline, and you don’t have to do what some coach says unless you feel like it. It would quickly take all meaning out of football!
What would happen if a few million Christians in America started to train themselves for godliness? The standard would be raised. We would once again be making a difference on the culture around us, rather than blending in and being irrelevant.
We should train ourselves for godliness.
This is clearly not a move toward Pharisaism, confusing manmade rules with spiritual disciplines. Rather, it is a move toward grounding ourselves in the scriptures and the faith, disciplining ourselves to pursue the things which bring us closer to God and shunning the things which distract us from Him. It is a call to use the unique gifts entrusted to us. It’s a call to persevere, in the knowledge that we will make a difference if we just keep following Christ.
Some might think this passage—or even this whole book—is just for pastors and spiritual leaders. I think it’s for all disciples.
Timothy was a young man. Paul counsels him to not let others use his youth as a way to discourage or deter him, but to set a good example, anyway.
This book is written expressly to a young person, so youth can take it at face value, but it also applies to older people. There is never to be a stage in life when we stop growing in Christ.
I’m really glad that the Bible doesn’t make it seem like our main job is just to pick good leaders, hold them to a high standard, and let it go at that. The standard is higher for a leader, but the standard is high for all of us! The standard is holiness, “godliness.” We would do well to pursue it, ourselves, and encourage others to do the same, without sitting in judgment on them. The way to bring about the change is to set the example. That’s a good plan for any age bracket.
We are to be those who have trained ourselves for godliness.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 3, 2008
2 Timothy 1
I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:5-7 ESV (English Standard Version)
Just last week I heard it again—another offer of an organ to give away. The owner was hopeful that perhaps someone in the church would like to receive an instrument waning in popularity with each passing year. (Now if they were giving away guitars!... ) There are plenty of would-be “organ donors” out there, who don’t even want any money for what was once a prized possession—they would just like to get it out of the house and see it put to use. They would be thrilled if someone would accept their gift, treasure it, and most of all, use it! No takers.
Meanwhile, if there is a living organ available (such as a heart or kidney) to donate, there is an anxious line of recipients waiting to receive it, that they might live. One kind of organ is welcomed as life-giving; the other is perceived as having no value.
Passing down faith is like that. If our faith consists mostly of beloved traditions and personal preferences, when we try to give it away, the usual reaction is, “Why would I want that?” What was precious to us often has little attraction to them. On the other hand, if our faith is alive and life-giving, if there is an obvious passion in our lives which fuels our faith, it is much more winsome.
Principle: Without passion, there is nothing worth passing down. Without passion, nothing substantial gets transferred to the next generation.
We need a passion for Christ that appeals to the next generation— something we make sure to pass on, and which we make sure is worth passing on.
We need to stop being ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and be willing to suffer for His Name, rather than trying to blend in and be one with the culture.
Fan into flame the gift of God
Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord
Share in suffering for the gospel
Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me
Guard the good deposit entrusted to you
We’ve been passing down antiques; we need to pass down fire. The antiques represent our traditions, our safe Christianity, our quiet, special memories of little miracles and little victories. Antiques are fragile. They are usually stored carefully away, only brought out for special occasions; the idea is not to use it (because it might break or get damaged), but to preserve it. The nice thing about antiques is that the owner can just go on and live life apart from the antique, and that’s actually the way it works best. Put them in a spare bedroom and close the door. Then just go on with life, in the knowledge that you have a rare, semi-precious treasure that belongs to you. An antique doesn’t ask anything of you. It doesn’t change your life. It doesn’t even want to. It brings you warm feelings of nostalgia and comfort. If you pass it down, your children might treasure it and put it in their own spare bedroom, or they might sell it. They might even use it, but antiques usually aren’t very life-changing, no matter what you do with them.
Fire is different. Even the potential for fire—burning embers—are a dangerous deal. You don’t put fire in the spare bedroom! With fire you get two choices: Put it out, or let it burn, and it will change everything. The nature of the true gospel is not that of an antique, but of fire. We need to pass down the gospel like it was fire, not like it was an antique. Our children and grandchildren need to see a life which has been consumed by the power of the Holy Spirit’s fire. Then we need to take a hot coal from our life and give it to them. At that point, they get to make the choice: Do I let it go out or do I follow the path of my parents? If they’ve seen the fire, they will know what it will do and the difference it will make. They will realize that if they blow on this hot coal, it will spring into flame and it will consume them. If they’ve had a good example, they will know this is a good thing, to fan into flame the gift of God, knowing it will change everything and it will be beyond their control.
Like Timothy, the faith I possess first lived in my grandmother and in my mother (along with practically everyone else I knew in childhood!). They didn’t give me antiques. They showed me fire. More than anything else in life, I wanted what I saw in my mother. The burning ember was so close and so hot that when she handed it to me all it took was one tiny puff and it burst into a flame that wonderfully enveloped my life.
What is our role? To burn for God, and pass it on.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 4, 2008
Hebrews 3-4
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13 ESV
What left the Israelites stranded in the wilderness was their unbelief. What will prevent us from entering the “rest” God wants to give us? Unbelief. Don’t stop believing in His promises!
Here is a mention of the principle of “Today.” It’s referred to frequently in this passage. I’ve had the feeling that there is no revival without prayer, and that it’s not really revival or awakening unless what is happening is DAILY. Here’s a scripture that reinforces that:
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Do not harden your hearts. Three times that statement is quoted in these two chapters. Hardening of hearts seems to be equated with unbelief. Unlike sincere unbelief, this is more a refusal to believe, a choice to not believe. We have quite a bit of that in America. Think of the support for the theory of evolution. Science is after nothing but evidence—until they get to something like the theory of evolution, where the theory doesn’t hold water, but it has to be true!
Another part of this discussion is the place of the scriptures. The word of God is living and active,... (Heb 4:12) Our creeds claim that, for the most part, but is that how we regard the Word, these days? Even among fundamentalists, I see the Bible used not so much as a “living and active” sword which probes the inner soul, but as an arsenal of little weapons to be used to defend one’s opinions, each verse a weapon to be used against fellow Christians! And among those groups which have fallen to biblical criticism, the Bible is a very dull sword, infrequently consulted and always subject to man’s greater knowledge.
Believers in America need to become people of the Word. By this I’m talking about being submitted to God’s Word. This is in contrast to just proof-texting with it to prop up our opinions or defend our theological traditions. Being submitted to God’s Word would include: taking Him at His Word, rather than analyzing everything to death; truly believing His Word to be true; and following His Word in obedience, regardless of the cost or the criticism. This would be a huge change for many Christians. It would also help to make sense of Christianity for the growing gang of non-believers in the U.S. They often don’t know much about the Bible; all they know is that what they see in many Christians doesn’t line up with it! If there were just a humble consistency in following the Word and allowing God to do surgery on our souls, that alone would make a significant difference. Plus, it would make sense! Non-Christians would know what to expect from Christians. Christians would know what to expect from Christians. If we’d quit arguing about who wrote it and what really happened and what didn’t, and whether or not someone’s interpretation is correct, and just live it, we’d make a difference. As it is, we are sometimes like the Pharisees and teachers of the Law in Jesus’ day—knowledgeable as far as what the scriptures say, yet ignorant of the power and unchanged at the heart level. This makes people think there is no power in God’s Word, when they see the “keepers” of the Word living powerless, unregenerate lives.
To avoid hardening of the heart, disciples should stir each other’s faith up every day.
This keeps hearts from growing hard. This helps keep us out of the deceitfulness of sin. This encourages belief and discourages disbelief.
We need to live lives submitted to God’s Word.
We need to draw near to God’s throne, and quit being distracted. We need to lay aside all fears and enter the “rest” promised to those who don’t give way to disbelief. Living in a daily relationship with God would be a new thing for many, many Christians in America. Living in a daily relationship with God and with others would be a new thing for almost all of us!
We are part of the house Jesus is building. Our role is to live in daily relationship with Him, submitted to His Word, committed to Jesus and to one another.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 5, 2008
Exodus 6
Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’” Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. Exodus 6:6-9
God tells people what He is going to do in advance, so they know it’s Him and not just coincidence when it’s over. God made wonderful, loving promises to the Israelites through Moses, but this is what happened:
Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. (Ex 6:9)
The people had no faith at all in God’s promises—but He fulfilled them, anyway!
When it comes to spiritual transformation, hope is helpful, but not absolutely necessary! God just does it, anyway.
We need leaders who would hear from God. If God doesn’t do anything without relating it to the “prophets,” nothing is going to happen until some prophets hear from God! And they’d better not make it up, either! There need to be prophets of God, who focus on not much else except listening to God and hearing from Him. Where is the place for such people in the church society of our day? Who is taking the time to just listen to God?
Moses wasn’t hired to be a prophet, he was hired to be a shepherd. The Israelites didn’t even know if he was still alive. What really set Moses apart from all the other Israelites was that God spoke to him, and he listened and obeyed. Personal encounters with God always set us apart.
Believe God. Pay attention to His promises. Listen to His prophets! (Make sure they’re for real, first).
Don’t let go of our hope.
I think we need to make room for prophets in our church culture of today. They are one of the five “gifts” to the Church mentioned in the New Testament. Why do we think pastors and teachers are important, so we hang on to them, but prophets and apostles are defunct?
We need to bring hope to those who are of a “broken spirit.” They have given up on hope. We need to have enough hope for the both of us, like Moses did for the Israelites.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 8, 2008
Ruth 1-4
But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16 ESV
“The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Ruth 2:19-20 ESV
God is not at all interested in trying to shut people out. The book of Ruth is the story of a young woman of foreign descent, who ends up being in the line of Christ! There is such a draw in this story—it’s all about God’s kindness, demonstrated through the kindness of others.
Principle: The very best cure for bitterness is God’s kindness.
Principle: What God is doing is not often completed in one generation.
Yes, He blessed Ruth and Naomi and Boaz, and they “lived happily ever after,” but what God was really doing was preparing a heritage of character and kindness for David, and establishing the line of ancestry for Jesus. Not only that, but this little story has blessed millions of people throughout the years. We’ll meet Ruth and Boaz in heaven!
Hmm. I’m hoping we don’t need the famine or the tragedies, first! I’m hoping we could be like Boaz, rich but gentle, and most of all—kind! We certainly have the resources and the opportunities. Our attitude toward foreigners who want to come to America could become more kind. Right now, it seems more “weak” than kind. We effectively keep the honest, needy people out, while letting the dishonest, needy people in. And what they get when they come here is sometimes not very kind, either way.
And would I love to see America trying to bless the world, on purpose! I know we already do, much more than we get credit for, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to take some of our bounty and bless others with it, for no other reason than pure kindness? In most cases, I think it would be the most effective foreign policy we’d ever come up with.
Also, there’s a bitterness in America that is deep-seated. I don’t think it’s particularly warranted, in most cases, but it’s there. I see it as a defining characteristic of my county: bitterness. And the cure? Kindness. Before people will have any desire for spiritual transformation, there needs to be an understanding of sin and the Law, but until they encounter God’s kindness, I don’t think they’ll care to know much about any of it. I think it must start with God’s kindness, demonstrated through the lives of His people.
Be a channel of God’s kindness. I can’t think of anything which would be more effective, or more life-changing.
It depends on where we are.
If we’re Naomi, struggling with bitterness, just trying to survive, we need to accept the kindness shown to us and let it restore our hope. Giving glory to God has a way of rolling back bitterness, especially when it’s a sacrifice of praise, rather than just gratitude for good things that have happened to us.
If we’re Ruth, our loyalty is the key to our future. That one decision to abandon the past and commit herself to Naomi and Naomi’s God was the turning point of her whole life. From then on, it brought her into a place of blessing. Plus, God used her to bless everyone around her. It took determination to put it all on the line like that, but it changed everything for Ruth.
If we’re Boaz, our mission is to be a channel of kindness. And rather than focusing the kindness on those from whom we expect to receive repayment, it should be indiscriminate kindness, which just blesses everybody around us. It needs to be like God’s kindness, for it to be most effective.
And if we’re David, we need to hearken back to the character of our ancestors, follow the good parts of their example, and be people of kindness. There are times when we need to think about what our grandmother or great-grandparents would have done, and just do that.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 9, 2008
If God had a bumper sticker, I think it might say, “Stop global whining.”
He must get really tired of it, particularly when hearing it from people who are supposed to be on His side, and who also happen to have been given the most!
We know we have no business whining, especially in America, but it’s also hard to avoid the feelings of frustration. It’s at all levels in the church, but particularly among those in positions of responsibility.
If you’re a frustrated pastor, you’re not alone. If being the leader of a flat-lined or declining church is sufficient cause for frustration, then most of us qualify on that account. If never seeing more than a trickle of conversions is cause for frustration, you have plenty of company there, too. Something like 5% of American churches are seeing growth through new people coming to Christ. For the rest, if there is any growth at all, it’s generally transfer growth—the natural consequence of frustrated lay people!
If you’re a frustrated layperson, you’re also definitely not alone. You look across the street at another church where incredible things seem to be going on, and wish that your church would at least try to compare. Your pastor doesn’t seem to be in the same league with those on television and radio. You attend the church meetings, but sometimes go away with the hollow feeling that the church has gotten itself into the ditch.
You may well be a frustrated former church-goer. Once more, you’re not alone. You simply became worn-out by the foolishness, the materialism, the lack of purpose and vision in what you had come to know as “church,” and you decided, gradually and painfully, that you’d still serve Jesus, but you’d do it on your own. The plan didn’t work out as well as you’d hoped. You left, but the frustration didn’t. It’s still there. Nevertheless, you don’t think the answer is in going back to the same old grind. You’re wondering if there is an answer.
Frustrated Christians in America are not alone. Even those favored few who pastor or attend an alive and growing church need only to venture a few feet from the church steps to encounter a culture increasingly rancid with sin, and proud of it. We’ve pretty much run out of places to run. Where can we move, in order to raise a family in a healthy spiritual environment? Where are the communities that are not only safe physically; they’re safe, spiritually, and the undertow won’t drag down our kids? Obviously, some places are much safer than others, but the family oases are getting few and far between, and even for the best of places, it’s only a matter of time...... unless.
Unless we get a revival. That’s my prayer, and the prayer of many others. I don’t think God is holding back on us. I think this one is up to us. I see America at a crossroads. On one side, too close for comfort, is an ominous cliff. I don’t even want to know how bad it will be if we go over the edge.
Just a little ways ahead, if we choose that direction, is perhaps the greatest revival America has ever seen. It could launch us into an era of blessing unlike anything our nation has known in its oft-blessed history.
I think we have very little time left. I used to think we had less than five years, but that was five years ago! If you feel we are at a crossroads, you’re not alone. On one hand are God’s promised blessings—on the other, terrible disaster. We don’t need some kind of political revolution. We need a spiritual one. If we decide that we want what God has for us as a nation, or even as a Church, I believe He is perfectly willing to pour out His grace on America in ways none of us has ever witnessed. If the Church continues in its self-centered stupor, I’m afraid we’re toast. Our culture needs the benefit of being confronted everywhere they look with real live Christians whose faith actually guides their lives rather than representing an ornament they wear on special occasions. We need God. We need revival, an awakening, a spiritual transformation of divine proportions.
So how do we get one? Where do we find the answers? The most reliable place I’ve ever found for answers is the Bible. I happen to believe that (1) the Bible is true—as in, all of it, and (2) whatever we need to know about spiritual matters is in there, somewhere. A third thing I believe is that if we approach God with our questions, frustrations and needs, He will show us precisely what (if anything) we should do.
I’ve been hammering away on this theme for years in my personal life, with hundreds of pages I’ve written on the topic for my own use. I think the Lord would have me share what I’m learning with others who might be interested. The ministry of “The Puzzle” will be an on-going, daily devotional thought, most of them direct from God’s Word. I’m looking through the Bible, searching for the answers to four questions basic to my life, right now: (1) What are the principles of spiritual transformation? (2) What needs to happen in America? (3) What do we do? (4) Where do we fit?
Don’t you believe that a God who loved the world so much that He sent His Son to us would also make sure we know what to do to see spiritual transformation take place in our own lives and in the life of our nation, if we show Him we’re interested? I don’t have all the answers, yet, but I’m sure I’m looking in the right place for them! God will help us, I know. Jesus came, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He wants this more than we do.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 10, 2008
Esther 3-7
“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14
Complete obedience to God is so very important. The troubles visited on the Jews in the time of Esther the queen are the result of Saul’s incomplete obedience, dealing with the Amalekites. Haman is an “Agagite,” indicating he is descended from King Agag, of the Amalekites. They were supposed to be all gone. Now they’re trying to make sure the Jews are all gone.
The importance of fasting and prayer are emphasized in Esther. Three days of complete fasting—either water only, or perhaps not even any liquids—took place prior to Esther’s coming in before the king. Esther called the fast, too—it wasn’t just left up to people’s personal preference; every Jew in Susa was expected to participate in the fast. After all, it was for their very lives.
Principles: There is never any substitute for complete obedience to God. And sometimes, fasting is needed, too.
Who could call a national fast in America? People have tried. They end up either being ignored, or they come across as “gimmicky.” But if we were in a national crisis, I think there are many who could call a fast, who would be received. We need to step up to the plate, in America. We’re in a fog. While great conflict is taking place all around the world, we preoccupy ourselves with everything from poor Britney Spears to sports to church growth to the economy. We don’t engage in much of anything which is serious. We have the attitude that Esther could have taken, which says, “I’m really sorry this is happening to my brothers and sisters all over the world, but I should be O.K., so I guess my job is to enjoy being queen—after all, ‘God wants me to be happy.’ ”
God has blessed America with unprecedented power, wealth and privilege. We can either do something with what has been entrusted to us, or we can disengage from the rest of humanity. Ultimately, we are going to lose our position at the top of the heap. While we’re still at the top, we ought to do something constructive with all this stuff! Number one: It would bless God, if we chose to bless the world. Number two: If we’re wanting to stay at the top of the mountain, this would be the best way to do it, rather than what we’ve been doing. We would still fall off, eventually, but being kind to others would lengthen our stay, I’m pretty sure!
What would happen if every single disciple of Christ in America found a mission field? What if we got off this silly consumer mentality, where we attend church for what we get out of it, and each of us engaged the world around us as a person on a mission for Christ? If we became a nation of missionaries, it wouldn’t be long at all before the world—the whole world—knew of Christ! We need to be willing to risk it all, for the Lord. Most of us have never done that. Even what I did in resigning a pastorate in order to live by faith was considered a huge risk. It says something about our Christian culture, that living by faith should be considered almost absurd, in the Church community! I thought that’s what the Bible told us to do, all the time! Hmm. We’ve gone a long ways down this road, and I don’t think this is a good place where the Christian community calls home.
The ball is in our court. We can either continue to live in our own little world, fighting battles over whether or not America ever was a Christian nation and vying for the privilege of putting the Ten Commandments back on the courthouse lawn, when I don’t know of a single church that has them on their lawn, or we can step up to the plate, and be an army for Jesus Christ. Each of us has a role to play, if we’ll do it. Each of us has a mission field, if we’ll take it. Each of us is where we are, “for such at time as this,” if we’ll rise to the occasion. If not, God will just get somebody else to accomplish His purpose, but we needn’t think He’ll keep America around just because we’re America, if we aren’t interested in being real disciples of His. Unless American Christians get in the game, I think we’ll be cut off like a dead branch. At least that’s the way it sounds, according to John 15. We’re not where we are by accident. If we choose to take a ‘bye,’ God will still accomplish His purposes, but we will miss out on all the blessings which only come through obedience. We all have a mission, should we choose to accept it.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 11, 2008
Philemon :1-3
Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philemon :1-3
Unless there is true submission to Christ, there will be no transformation. We must get to the point where we’re willing to say, “I’m a prisoner for Christ Jesus.” Church growth tactics, high-quality sermons, programs, education—they are of some use, but nothing changes until there is a submission to God.
We need complete submission to Christ Jesus, not this “feel-good” stuff which “accepts” Jesus Christ as if we were the ones doing the favor, to accept His sacrifice on the cross, rather than the other way around. And it needs to be something where that silly line is no longer emphasized which separates clergy from laity, and makes it so people think discipleship is only a requirement for ministers, along with submission to Christ. (And sometimes, it’s not even expected of ministers!) The Father is calling the whole world to worship and submit to the authority of His Son, not just a few with a calling to “full-time Christian service.”
If the Church in America would submit to Christ Jesus with all of our hearts, we would see revival. We would also see evangelism like we’ve not seen in our lifetime. So be it!
This consumer mentality in the Church is killing us! People have been trained to think the Church belongs to them, rather than to Christ! Christ died for the Church! He purchased it (us) with His own blood. When did the “vineyard” become ours?
Part Two of what needs to happen in America is that believers need to have a church in their house. For generations, we have left it up to the “church,” meaning the organization with the public building, the pastor and all the ministries. That has become the norm, and it’s not! The Church in Acts does not resemble the church of today, in America. They thought it normal that Christianity was practiced all the time, whether alone, in large gatherings of believers, in the public square or in the home. Most American Christians are missing half of that list, and calling it good. If every believing family had “a church in their house,” many, many more people would find Christ, plus it would greatly strengthen the institutional church at the same time. I’m not talking about forming an institution in your house, I’m talking about putting Christianity into practice at the home level.
Submit to Christ Jesus, totally.
Have “church” in our house—all the time.
How many American Christians would ever label themselves “a prisoner for Christ Jesus”? Our commitments tend to be so shallow, we think we’re doing God a big favor to do something like have regular devotions! Or to attend church on a somewhat regular basis! We need to be the kind of folks who are willing to go to prison for our belief in Christ Jesus, and who, even when we’re free, act like His slaves/servants.
There needs to be a church in the house of every believer, I think! For some, that means there are others who come and meet together with you and live life as Christians. For others, I think it just means that we should function as a family for God, with the “programs” of the modern-day church being largely replaced by the one-on-one interactions of the family, serving God together.
For instance, which would be more beneficial to a teen-age daughter, making sure she is plugged in with a youth group from a church, or having one-on-one time with her parents? From what I’ve seen, it would definitely be the latter. If both can be arranged, great! Don’t abandon the established church, but don’t leave it all up to them, either. There ought to be a church in your house.
Had I depended on the organized church, I don’t know if I would ever have even become a Christian. I didn’t have to depend on the church; I had Mom. There was a church in our house. Sometimes the organized aspects of it worked (kind of), but mostly it was the individual interactions of mother and child, plus the consistent example of our father. I learned to pray at a very early age, and never stopped. There was a church in our house. It made all the difference in the world, to me.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 12, 2008
John 8:1-11
“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8:10-11
It’s not condemnation which transforms people, but forgiveness. Sigh. In the Church we’ve dragged a lot of people before the Lord, so He would punish them for their sins. We’ve usually gotten the same response. “Caught ‘em in the act, Lord! Judge ‘em! Let ‘em know they won’t get away with this, anymore!” And Jesus says, “Did I send out a posse to round up runaway sinners? Is that the commission I gave you? Isn’t your job to love these 'sinners' around you, and leave the judging to me? Do you really want this standard applied to your own life? If not, maybe you should be quiet and live under God’s mercy and leave other people alone, instead of trying to do His job for Him.”
The woman caught in adultery was not changed because she was caught by men. Neither was society, except to maybe make it a little more frightening to engage in adultery. The woman was changed forever when she was facing death as a result of her own sin, and the Savior stepped in between her and judgment. He forgave her sin, then told her to take a new direction in life. It wasn’t condemnation or enforcing the rules which changed her life; it was an encounter with a Savior who, instead of condemning sinners, forgives them and gives them a brand new start in life, free from judgment, from sin, from condemnation.
We’re in an interesting situation. First of all, we’re in a society where adultery (and most other sins) are glamorized, not condemned! When sin is celebrated in society at large, we know we’re in trouble. Sometimes it seems a little condemnation might be in order!
So, what was wrong with what the Pharisees did? Was it in condemning adultery? No, that’s a good thing, to say adultery is wrong and not to practice it. What was wrong was not really even caring about whether or not sin was taking place, nor about the individuals involved; they only cared about trapping Jesus in a no-win situation where they could condemn Him as an insensitive murderer or a hypocrite who talked about the Law but didn’t really uphold it, depending on His response. He caught the whole gang in their own trap.
Back to what needs to happen in America. We need to get back to caring about what God thinks, instead of what our culture thinks. In other words, how about if we go back to thinking and saying, even publicly, “Adultery is wrong.” “There is such a thing as sin, and it will kill your soul. Don’t do it.”
Another thing we need to do is to change our approach toward sinners, once we reestablish the reality of sin in the first place. We need to love sinners, like Jesus loved them. We need to extend to them the pardon of Jesus, in His name. We need to leave the judgment—all of it—up to God, and pay attention to getting mercy and forgiveness for our own sins.
Get off the world’s standard and back on God’s. Let’s go by what God says is sin, instead of what the world says it is or isn’t.
Live in mercy. Extend it toward others, without accepting their lifestyles and habits as something to be embraced or rationalized, but for heaven’s sake, leave the judging to God! That includes in political contests. Do the right thing, try to steer society as best we can in the direction of morality, but quit dragging people’s names before God, expecting Him to zap them because we caught them with their hand in the cookie jar. Show mercy! On their way out the door, suggest that they try God’s way, this time.
If we chose to, we could administer the grace of God to people around us, and they’d be glad to see us coming, rather than loathing us because we make them feel like slime, and we seem to kind of enjoy letting them know they’re not as good as we are. We’re the people who are supposed to be lifting others up, so they can reach Jesus’ hand, instead of shoving them away from Him. We need to lose the entire condemnation routine, even while we rush back toward the Word of God as our only standard for faith and practice.
We need to avoid the role of the Pharisee. Pharisees don’t convert anyone to Christ. They only once in a while convert someone to Phariseeism. Jesus has clearly marked out our role: Love these people in my name.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 15, 2008
Acts 1
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 ESV
Acts 1:2 makes it clear who the leader of the Church is—the One who was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
Who is giving commands? Jesus. Who chose the apostles? Jesus.
The apostles were ordered to wait in Jerusalem until they had been given the promise of the Father. They were to await the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ final words to His disciples prior to His ascension:
It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8)
In the same way that Jesus told His followers, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5), He is indicating the necessity of the Holy Spirit before there will be power, especially to witness.
Here’s what was happening with the 120:
All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
The beginning of spiritual transformation is always prayer, isn’t it?
I’m still of the opinion that the whole Matthias thing was a waste of time. I wish they had asked God if He wanted them to find a twelfth man, or at least left God a third option: none of these. Had they done either or both of those things, then I’d be convinced that it was the right thing to add Matthias to the Eleven. To me, the whole thing is just so typical of what happens before the Holy Spirit comes upon people! They mean well, but it all smacks of the flesh, rather than the Spirit.
Us? Wait? You’ve gotta be kidding! This is America! We need to be doing something. And when it comes to finding a new apostle, we know how to do that sort of thing, too, because we’re good at democracy. We’ll have an election.
I wish we’d chase after Jesus the way some glob onto the latest faith healer. We also need to be careful to wait for the Holy Spirit. If we teach people to fake the supernatural, we’re not doing them any favors.
And the Church in America needs, desperately needs, to devote itself to prayer, instead of devoting itself to itself, or just having another election.
Unity is also needed. That will come with corporate humility.
Wait for the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit. Not until we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit are we really empowered for service.
We are to be Jesus’ witnesses, here at home and to the end of the earth.
Instead of just looking up into heaven, we need to get ready for His return!
We need to devote ourselves to prayer, and operate by prayer, rather than by the principles of man.
We need to seek unity by humbling ourselves.
We need to be willing to “not do the obvious,” like replacing a fallen disciple with one of our own choosing. We usually get in trouble when we go beyond Jesus’ instructions to us, and we start to ad lib.
We are the Church, which means we are the Body of Christ on this earth. It means we are the hope of the world, in some ways. Unless the world sees Christ in us, they will continue to be lost.
We are those whom God wants to baptize in His Holy Spirit, if we are willing to wait for the power from above.
We are His witnesses—everywhere.
We are united, through humility, people in one accord.
We are devoting ourselves to prayer. This doesn’t mean we’re lazy. It means we listen to God.
We obey the commands of Jesus, and we don’t go beyond what He has instructed us to do.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 16, 2008
THE CLIFF
It seems to me that America is perilously close to a cliff. If, as a nation, we continue to snooze, and we go over the edge, I don’t even like to think of what may await us at the bottom! There’s also the difficulty in getting back up, again, supposing that we, as a nation, survive the fall. Gravity still being in effect, it’s pretty unusual for anything to fall up a cliff. I’m afraid that if we go over the precipice, only a few survivors will manage to struggle back to the top, and the United States of America will lie in the wreckage heap of history for at least a generation, if not the end of time.But like a football team which is 1-11 on the season so far, we don’t particularly need anyone to inform us that the Church in America is not doing so well, right now. We’re a lot more interested in what to do and how to make it better than we are in armchair analysis of just how bad it is, or whose fault it was. We need hope! And the best place to find it is always going to be in God.
TMI
In teen-code, TMI means “too much information.” It is applied when the conversation gets a little too personal, particularly if adults are present. It is also used by ten-year-old boys when the subject veers toward kissing. Sometimes as Christians, we burden ourselves with “too much information.” This was a problem for the ancient Israelites, “led” by King Saul against their enemies, the Philistines.For forty days, the largest Philistine anyone had ever seen growled out a trash-talking challenge to the Hebrews, taunting them to take him on in one-on-one combat or a suicide mission, depending on one’s preference of term. Who knows? A near-sighted Israelite might have considered going for it the first few days, but after weeks of listening to this, all thoughts of rising up had evaporated and the Israelites were left with a thorough knowledge of Goliath’s favorite derogatory terms for them and their God. All thoughts of resistance had ceased.
Enter David. Shepherd boy, just a kid, idealistic and inexperienced in battle or politics. He’s never even seen a giant before, much less killed one. But compared to the lion and bear David had already dispatched, Goliath must have looked decrepit. And compared to the God from whose presence David had just emerged, the giant must have seemed feeble and puny.
For what David needed to do, it was a case of “the less information, the better.” He didn’t need someone to hand him a Goliath trading card, complete with the giant’s physical stats and records, including the recent surge in his HRO average (Hebrews run off). This was also not the time to head out to battle in “not-being-used-anyway” armor borrowed from his fearful king. David wisely chose to go back to what was familiar and solid—a well-worn sling, five smooth stones, his reliance upon God. The rest is history, in one of my favorite chapters in the Book (1 Samuel 17). Moral of the story? If you defy the living God, you’d better duck, especially if approached by a God-loving kid bearing a slingshot!
Another moral is: Avoid TMI. There’s a lot about the Enemy we don’t really need to know! If we spend most of our time concentrating on how bad things are around us, it’s easy to become transfixed by our problems, when we need to be recharging our spirit around the God who can do anything! Let’s put our focus on God, not our problems. This includes in our personal lives, our families, our churches, our nation and beyond.
Sure, we have problems, and at every level. All the more reason to keep our eyes on God. A favorite professor of mine, Dr. Robert Sawyer, used to say, “If you have big problems, you have a little God. And if you have a big God, you have little problems.”
Amen.
The last I checked, the God who helped David defeat Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 is the exact same God who calls to us, inviting us to live for Him, with the promise of His ever-present support. My favorite verse in the Bible is 2 Chronicles 16:9, which says in part: “For the eyes of the LORD search to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him.”
Do you think the God who came alongside David would come alongside us? It starts with a daily relationship with Him, where we get to know God on a personal level. It continues when we refuse to concentrate on the size of the problem or the lies of the Enemy, and we focus on the truth of God. It ends when we are willing to go out on that limb for God, in the confidence that He will show His strength through us, as we depend on Him. It’s a simple plan, and it beats whining about giants.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 17, 2008
Psalm 1
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1 ESV
God causes a separation between the wicked and the righteous. This separation definitely takes place at the judgment, but even before that, the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord will find himself prospering like a tree by a stream, while whatever the wicked does will eventually come to nothing.
We need people to move over to God’s side! The majority of Americans are here: taking counsel from the wicked, following the way of sinners, scoffing at the righteous. Where do they need to move? Toward God, toward an appreciation for His law, toward a respect and a hunger for righteousness, toward a depth of character which is currently lacking.
We need to meditate on God’s law day and night. Currently, we’re not. We’ve become a nation of biblical illiterates who own Bibles.
We need to break from the pack, and plant ourselves in the Word of God. Then we’ll find ourselves being that tree planted by streams of water, yielding fruit. We need to be People of the Word, who have broken away from the world and the ways of wickedness.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 18, 2008
Psalm 2
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Psalm 2 (ESV)
Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Ps 2:12)
The first few verses describe many Americans, taking counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” (Ps 2:3) God’s response? He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury,... (Ps 2:4-5) Advice to us: Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Ps 2:10-12) Presently, America is pretty much “ruler of the earth.” If we would serve the LORD with fear, if we would take refuge in Him, we would be blessed. If we continue as a nation to try to break the bonds that connect us with the Son of God, and cast away the cords that would tie us to Him, we are going to experience the wrath of God, like we’ve never seen before. It’s our choice.
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice in trembling.
Kiss the Son.
Take refuge in Him.
We are those who take refuge in Christ. We serve the LORD with fear and rejoicing.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 19, 2008
Psalm 5
Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
You destroy those who speak lies;
the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.
For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.
Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
For you bless the righteous, O LORD;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.
Psalm 5 (ESV)
God does not tolerate wickedness and sin.
He does, however, hear the prayers of His people.
For you bless the righteous, O LORD: you cover him with favor as with a shield. (Ps 5:12)
There’s a lot about prayer in Psalm 5. America needs to pray! The “morning” is mentioned twice in this psalm, in connection with prayer. I wonder if the time of day matters, or if it’s just important that we pray.
Evil may not dwell with you. (Ps 5:4) O.K., we’re in trouble! There are several verses in here about God’s judgment on various kinds of wickedness. Are we going to escape this principle because we are the United States? I think not. At the same time, there is within this psalm the promise of protection for the righteous.
Pray! Especially in the morning.
Enter God’s house. Bow down toward His holy temple, in the fear of Him.
Take refuge in God.
Rejoice! Sing for joy.
Love His name.
Exult in Him.
Live righteously.
We are the people who show up each morning, bringing our prayers to God.
We worship the LORD in fear and rejoicing.
We seek God’s direction.
We take refuge in God.
We are the righteous, who care about being right with God.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 22, 2008
Acts 2:1-13
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. Acts 2:1 (ESV)
They were all together in one place. It was important that the disciples were physically together, rather than scattered all over, for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Certain events require that we be physically together, or they won’t happen. This was such an event. Under Jesus’ direct orders, they stayed together.
The meeting on Pentecost was without a human agenda. God planned the whole thing from start to finish! They were just together in a house, and God sent the Holy Spirit upon them with tongues of fire and the sound of a violent wind. The sound of the wind drew a multitude, the Spirit did the preaching, and people heard about the mighty works of God in their own language. It was all from God. None of it was from man. That’s why I think it’s a mistake to try to duplicate what God has done in the past, when the original group didn’t even ask Him to do that! What is not a mistake is to wait on God, together, in the expectation that He will do something. (That is, if we have been told to wait. If we’ve been told to “go,” it’s a mistake to wait.)
The principle from these first verses of Acts 2 is: together. I don’t believe we have outgrown that principle.
There needs to be a coming together of the Church, without an agenda. I don’t think we need another Pentecost; we’ve already had one, plus we’ve had various awakenings, etc., which have followed it. I think we do need something which is from God, and only from God, though. We keep getting manmade imitations of Pentecost, with a little bit of true result and a lot of nonsense, and we keep getting people who rise up to grab whatever glory there is for themselves, with practically none of it going to Jesus. We also still have a lot of competition for who has a corner on the Holy Spirit, or the right doctrine, which are a couple of the themes which keep Christians apart from one another; to come together with someone else would mean “We think you’re right,” and would be interpreted as that by the host group, too.
What needs to happen? I think it is happening to some extent, already, but there need to be gatherings of believers that are completely focused on the Lord Jesus, where there is no leader or group to take the credit, no agenda besides the Lord, no bands trying to break through, no faith healers to display their “power,” no prophets to have an audience...... just a lot of humility and no agenda except what the Lord wants to do with us. I don’t know how Americans “plan” anything like this, or how you get people to come together when there’s no bulletin, no keynote speaker, no plastic notebooks. Instead of planning for thousands, we would probably be better off to stay around 120, and there would need to be a good degree of trust in this group, as well as enough diversity to minimize attempts by any group or individual to try to lay claim to exclusive rights on whatever the Holy Spirit is doing.
I don’t know what is going to happen, or even what needs to happen. I think the focus needs to get off of our peculiarities and differences, though, and back onto Jesus the Savior. And we need to quit this cult of personalities that saps the energy of the Church while we have another hero to watch take a nosedive. It’s not healthy, and it makes us a joke to the world. (Note: I wrote this several months ago, prior to the latest round of public failures).
Let’s focus on Jesus. If He calls us together for some reason, we won’t even need to bring our own agenda or hire a speaker! And if He is the organizer, the meeting is guaranteed to not be a waste of time!
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 23, 2008
Acts 2:1-13, continued
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. Acts 2:1 (ESV)
Are we willing to put our lives on hold, in order to wait on Jesus? I’m not seeing many people who appear willing to do that. In a way, I did it, three years ago, but it also took me a year before I was ready to take that jump!
Are we willing to be together with others for the sake of the Master? That includes those people who rub us in all the wrong ways. That means we’re together, being identified as being “one of them” (even though we’re not) with those who hold very different views from ourselves, who are on the opposite end of the spectrum politically, theologically, socially. Are we willing to lay aside our doctrinal and traditional distinctive’s, in order to humble ourselves and worship with others, as a way to honor Christ?
We need to humble ourselves and come together, in the name of Jesus. We need to keep our hands off God’s glory, and not worry too much when somebody else is grabbing it, but not follow them, either. Jesus is the Head of the Church.
I see so many Christians who are hungry for “Pentecost.” They long to see the power of God, they want to see results, and they’re willing to jump on a plane and go almost anywhere in search of God’s power. But some want to bring back the Holy Spirit as a souvenir. They want power to display to their friends and enemies. There is a hunger for power, but there isn’t so much hunger for God, for an intimacy that puts us down on our faces before Him in recognition of our own weakness. There’s not much humility, especially in the American Church. It doesn’t have to stay that way, though. We can humble ourselves, or God can do it for us—either way, humility is eventually coming to us! I’m thinking the “sooner-rather-than-later, I’ll-humble-myself-so-you-don’t-have-to-do-it-for-me” philosophy is the best approach.
There needs to be an army of disciples who are sold out for Christ, who would do absolutely anything for Him, who are also willing to sit on the bench for 40 years, if that’s what’s required of them. We need to be that army. If we were, I don’t think we would have to worry about God wasting us!
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 24, 2008 (Originally written May 29, 2004)
On Earth as it is in Heaven
It looks like we’re either in for a revival, or pretty much a collapse. Personally, I’d a lot rather see the revival!If God’s will was being done in America, just as it is in heaven, what would we be seeing?
-Not just cooperation between the churches, but a genuine love for one another.
-None of this syncretism business, where we take the idols of society and the tenets of Christianity and push everything into a big pile of beliefs, most of which are irrelevant to people’s daily lives, anyway. Followers of Jesus would be distinct from those who did not follow Christ. You’d be able to tell it by the way they talked, the entertainments they enjoyed, the way they conducted business, by everything.... Right now, it’s hard to tell the difference.
-A passion for lost people. A fear of hell, and of people going there, and a desperate longing for people to be saved.
–A de-emphasis on “self.” Right now, we’ve got self-everything! “Self” magazine, self-esteem, selfish husbands and wives, selfish kids who’ve been raised to consider nothing but themselves by the “me” generation; it goes on and on, but it stinks. Yeah, we’re Western, and we’re independent, but we don’t have to be so selfish and self-centered and call it Christian!
–We’d lose our fascination with this world. In a cold climate, you need a warm place to meet, but when we line our streets with expensive buildings which are half-full and half-paid for, we’re communicating to our community what it is that motivates us, and it’s not them! We seem obsessed with accumulating more stuff to leave behind! (Me, too).
–Mature servants of God! Instead, we have churches brim-full of babies, squalling for more food when they won’t eat, leaving for greener pastures for any and every reason, refusing to grow up spiritually or even try. There are wonderful people within our church bodies, but most of the mature ones are like older brothers and sisters who’ve been left to babysit—it’s going to take all they’ve got, just to keep it together with their own family. There’s not much left over for those outside the flock.
I could go on for a long time on this theme.......
HOW DID THE EARLY CHURCH DO IT?
The Early Church were servants of Jesus Christ, and not much else.Christianity was not something they practiced on rainy weekends, or where allowed by law. When they became believers, it changed everything in their lives—and sometimes ended their lives! Granted, the newness of Christianity helped it to stand out in a time when no one had been “raised as a Christian,” but still, there was a distinctiveness among Christians as opposed to the rest of society which is largely missing, today.
They were exclusive, yet inclusive. The gospel and the love were for everyone—even their enemies, but the fellowship was reserved for those who were committed believers, and “no one else dared join them” (Acts 5:13).
If they had been only exclusive, they would have gradually disappeared, or struggled to preserve their beliefs through subsequent generations; if they had been only inclusive, the distinctiveness would have been lost relatively soon, along with the power of transformation evident in their lives.
Some of our problem is that we get it backwards: We’re inclusive, in trying to reach everybody with the gospel, but when we include the unsaved and the uncommitted, we weaken the bond of fellowship by including them, and there’s no longer a place of sanctuary for anybody where there can be mutual trust. Since no commitment is required of anyone, nobody has anyone else that’s committed to them! (I’m exaggerating here, but not much).
The Early Church did what Jesus told them to do: make disciples (not just “converts”). You can’t make disciples in a mass crusade, or with an altar call, and then call it good. We’ve taken “making babies,” and developed it into a science, complete with the right questions to ask and the right scriptures to memorize, but once they’re born again, what happens? All too often, nothing. Discipleship is a missing concept in way too many of our churches.
Meanwhile, we have an almost unimaginable array of resources at our disposal when it comes to discipleship, with the freedoms to go with them. But the established church is floundering, when it comes to societal transformation. What do we do?
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 25, 2008 (Originally written May 29, 2004)
On Earth as it is in Heaven, (Continued)
Whatever we do, whether it’s through existing structures, brand new ones or some combination, we need churches where:LIVES ARE ACTUALLY CHANGED
Rather than talking about change, it really takes place.
PEOPLE BELONG TO SOMETHING WORTH BELONGING TO
It’s not just an automatic thing, where if you show up, you’re “one of us,” when you really aren’t. There’s a group that you want to break into, because there’s a level of love and commitment there that you need—but it goes both ways, too.
One of our problems as a church has been that we try to commit ourselves to the needs of others without commitment being reciprocal. In this one-way commitment set-up we quickly run out of stuff: Time, money, energy. When we’re dried up, then the uncommitted are gone, to where somebody else is serving free lunch.
DISCIPLESHIP AS AN EXPECTATION
Not just reserved for aspiring ministers, discipleship is the call of every Christian. People should not be the same, spiritually, ten years down the road—they should be maturing and growing.
THE FOCUS CAN BE ON THE LORD, RATHER THAN THE ORGANIZATION
What percentage of the time and resources of the Church goes to the Lord, and what part goes toward maintaining the organization of the church? I’m not sure I want to know. But here are a few things which seem to me out of whack:
-We’re not winning America! The Church is struggling even to maintain itself, and continues to slide downhill with the culture, rather than redeeming the culture, in America.
-The expectations placed on pastors have made it a semi-impossible job, where if you can’t spin ten plates at a time, there’s not much point in applying.
-It takes so much to keep the church going that there’s seldom anything left over for evangelism—and it’s a very rare church which puts it first.
-Our methods are often inefficient and ineffective. For example, the last statistic I heard was that it takes 80 people in the Church to lead one new person to Christ in a year! What mature Christian couldn’t lead one other person to Christ over the course of a year, if that’s all they concentrated on? We can’t concentrate on these things, though, because we’re busy maintaining the structure of organizations which take much more time and energy than we have available, just in order to maintain them. Are they bad? No. There’s a lot about the church that I love, and there are things that I would definitely miss. But the bottom line is, we’re not transforming our society!
Is the Gospel the problem? I think not!!! Some have tried watering it down and making it more palatable for a new generation of pagans, and a few have even attracted a following that way, but it’s only those who stick to the Gospel who see actual changed lives.
Is the structure the problem? I came to the conclusion 18 years ago that any church government worked, if the Holy Spirit was in it.
I think that some of the church structure may be very inefficient, and certainly much of it is time-consuming, etc., but I think the issue lies deeper than church structure. It’s life structure. Even pastors and missionaries sometimes approach the ministry as a “career,” rather than something which they are doing because Jesus told them to. For those not in “full-time Christian ministry,” Christianity is for many a “part-time” pursuit—something to be added in to being a good worker, parent, spouse, and what-not. Just as the average “tithe” of a church-goer is in the neighborhood of 2.5%, rather than 10%, the church gets what is still available after all the other obligations are met for those who aren’t committed, and for those who are committed, the church takes everything that’s there, and if the Lord has something else in mind for someone’s money or time, there’s not much left that’s available after the church gets done with it.
We need people who have nothing else to do except what God tells them! “On earth as it is in heaven.” Most of us, even ministers, are stuck in something that says, “Uh, in a minute, God.”
“YOUR WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN”
What if that was us?
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 26, 2008
Acts 2:14-41
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Acts 2:37-39 ESV
The scripture will be fulfilled! It just will.
Not only was Joel’s prophecy being fulfilled right then, as Peter said; I think it will be fulfilled again, prior to Christ’s Second Coming, in the lives of our sons and daughters, young men and old men. And keep an eye out for signs and wonders.
Peter’s quotation of scripture from Psalm 16 reminds me of the importance of scripture memorization. When it is needed, it’s there! Peter’s first sermon gave him no time to write out some notes or something; he just blurted it out, as God helped him.
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Ac 2:37)
What precipitated this sudden openness to the Gospel?
A number of factors preceded the question, “What shall we do?”
There were the facts of the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Without the reality of these events, the whole thing would have been pointless.
There was obedience on the part of the Church. They had done exactly as Jesus instructed, and gone into Jerusalem to wait for the promise.
There was unity, as the believers stayed together.
There was the coming of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by signs and wonders: tongues of fire, the sound of a rushing, mighty wind, and miraculous communication about God’s wonders. Without this power, nothing much would have happened.
There was the witness of the believers. Each of them was proclaiming God’s goodness to people in their own language.
There was the preaching of Peter, which centered on the fulfillment of scripture, and allowed the listeners to know how this applied to their lives. Peter’s preaching was to a point. He didn’t just relate history or information, and let it go. Peter drove home the conclusion that the Gospel demands a response from people. He got one.
What was it about Peter’s message that was so powerful and life-changing?
*It was built on the foundation of Jesus’ ministry. Many of the listeners were people who had seen Jesus, or at least knew of Him. Jesus had already done the work of salvation. Peter was just telling them about it.
*It was accompanied by the miraculous. Like Elijah on Mt. Carmel, the miraculous has a way of getting people’s attention like nothing else! When you have signs and wonders, people tend to believe whatever you say.
*It was powered by the Holy Spirit. This is not a student wandering through his first sermon in homiletics class. This is a man, formerly cowardly, who now boldly proclaims Jesus Christ to the people. This is not the same guy. People can see that.
*It was not a prepared speech, but a spontaneous witness.
*At the same time, the preparation was obvious:
Peter had been with Jesus, and witnessed His resurrection.
He knew his theology, and could testify about Jesus being at the right hand of God, etc.
He knew the scripture well enough to quote most of Psalm 16, plus a passage from Joel, and make the application effectively.
When people asked Peter what to do, he didn’t hesitate at all, and made it very clear to them what they were to do.
*There was a definite conclusion, and people had to either receive Peter’s words or reject them.
*There was something for the people to do, to show their acceptance. They could be baptized. Three thousand were.
*The message came as a gift to the people. “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” The message they were hearing was that God wanted them to be saved, and so did Peter. Compassion, not condemnation.
*The message was brief, pointed and “hot.” It didn’t drag on and on, loading so much content into it that the message could never get airborne.
*There was supplementary material available. Peter answered their questions, and bore witness, and he kept exhorting them.
This is how to effectively present the Gospel!
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 29, 2008
Acts 2:14-41, (continued)
In America, some of our preaching needs to start from the beginning. We talk about Jesus dying for people’s sins, and expect them to respond, when they are still asking the questions, “Why would I need somebody to die for me in the first place?” “Sin. What’s that?” “I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m a good person.” “What does any of this have to do with me?” and so forth. We’re dealing with sophisticated pagans, like Paul in Athens. Peter had a different crowd than we generally have, today. At the same time, some of his principles would still apply to our situation.
Before people are going to listen to the Gospel in any form, they are going to need some sort of example which gets their attention.
When the opportunity comes and they do listen, I think this is what they need to hear: The message of the Gospel from the beginning. Many aren’t even at the “God created the world” stage of belief. They need to hear at least a capsulated version of the whole Bible, to understand what the deal is about sin and needing a Savior, about what it is to live a Christian life, and the truth about life after death.
We also need to get our act together as far as what they should do when they are cut to the heart and they express a readiness to respond to the Gospel. Right now, someone coming toward faith in Christ could get a hundred different messages about what they should do to be saved! It would depend on what church they were in, and on what day! I’m not thinking we’re going to have some kind of standardized interdenominational booklet or something, but if we could just get to the point where most everybody was at least pointing them toward Jesus, instead of toward their peculiar church doctrines, traditions or practices, or worse yet, some personality, we’d make a little more sense to the world. We could still keep our doctrinal distinctions, but just don’t lead with them. Also, don’t use them as tools to keep people in our own group by putting down everyone with dissimilar views.
I see America as being more in an “Abraham” stage of the spiritual pilgrimage, rather than what Peter had on the Day of Pentecost. The church itself might be ready to respond immediately to some sort of call to repentance, but the world around us still needs to know there is a God, and that we are sinners in need of grace!
We need to lift up our voice and address the world, like Peter did. But first we need to get our souls right with God, be filled with His Spirit, and have something to say! We either don’t say anything, and leave the witnessing to preachers who usually only preach to church people, anyway, or we go blabbing about our latest ideas and idiosyncracies, without even bothering with the Holy Spirit. Either way, the world isn’t getting much out of us that’s helpful. It’s why the Church is considered so irrelevant to the world.
We need to quit relegating the proclamation of the Gospel to those with some kind of training or special “calling.” The prophecy is about our sons and daughters, our old men and women. We need to be open to being used of God to be prophets.
We need to put the focus on Jesus, not ourselves or our institutions, doctrines, education, etc. If we point people toward Jesus, we’ll do O.K. Everything else ends up being a distraction.
We need to approach people with the attitude of Peter. He was very direct, yet he was compassionate. He offered solid answers for their questions. He didn’t glorify himself, but glorified Christ. Peter was preaching not to condemn people, but to help them.
We are people on whom God has poured out His Spirit. That’s why we may see wonders and signs, that’s why we prophesy, that’s why we have power to witness.
We are witnesses of the glory and goodness of God.
We ought to be harvesters.
THE PUZZLE, by Dave Ness
September 30, 2008
What Leads to Repentance
Repentance is like a door which people must go through, in order to enter the Kingdom of God. This is, of course, not a popular door, at times avoided by those within the Church, scoffed at by those outside the Church.
“Why should we be sorry for anything? We haven’t done anything wrong,” say those who wouldn’t mind adding some kind of spirituality to their lives, so long as they don’t have to alter their lifestyle or their personal agenda. True repentance doesn’t give us that option. Repentance means being sorry enough for our sin that we’re willing to forsake that direction and turn around to face a new direction.
While repentance is a basic requirement of salvation, you’ve probably noticed that it can’t be forced upon others. In other words, we can’t make people feel sorry for their sins, and we can’t make them turn toward Christ. There are, however, a couple things we can do which are extremely effective, both with individuals and even with entire nations. First of all, we can pray. Never underestimate the power of prayer! Second, here is a key concept when it comes to repentance: God’s kindness leads you toward repentance. (Romans 2:4)
How does that work in society? I’ve never seen someone become a Christian because someone waved an angry sign in their face telling them they were wrong. What makes people want to change their way of life is when everywhere they turn, they bump into another example of God’s overwhelming kindness, in human form. Prayer and kindness. That’s what works in drawing people closer to the Father. Nothing breaks down walls of bitterness like prayer and God’s kindness!
Pray:
*Repent for your own sins and the sins of our nation.
*Repentance is a gift. Pray that it will be granted to us on a national scale.
*Pray that God will use you as an instrument of His kindness.
Scriptures to read:
Psalm 34:14-18
Romans 2:4-11
John 16:7-11
Servant Connection
Journal