Brother's Retreat

          

This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in a Christian men's retreat that I did not have to organize or host. Since 1993 God has given me the opportunity to coordinate at least forty small scale men's retreats. While I thank Him for the privilege, and thank the many brothers who have joined with me in them, it was nice to simply enjoy the time. Our brother Nathan did an excellent job of hosting despite this being his first brother's retreat. There were six of us in all, a blend of younger and older men, introverts and extroverts. Sanford shared a solid message on the dangers of falling away, concentrating on 2 Thessalonians 2, while I spoke on the challenge of following Jesus in discipleship.

We had times of prayer and fellowship. One brother, Mark, has a gift of asking edifying questions that others might wish to ask but don't. Late Saturday evening we watched a film by Voice of the Martyrs, about eight teenagers from the US and Australia who visited the persecuted church in an Asian country. They were decisively impacted by their experience there, so radically different from our comfortable western form of Christianity. As Sanford and I returned home I said, “We may not ever go to a place like that; at least we need to pray for and supply them with Bibles.

One situation which particularly struck the teens was the exuberant worship that they discovered among people who could be arrested, beaten and imprisoned for their faith. I have observed similar enthusiastic expression of worship in both Brazil and Ghana.

Making Friends ?

As I reflect on the fruit or lack thereof in my walk with Christ over the past few years, one realization is that I have not been making disciples in the sense that Jesus commands. He said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you...” (Matthew 28:18-20a) A disciple is a learner, one who follows Jesus, and one who obeys Him. The disciple abides in the Word (John 8:31-32), loves others (John 13:34-35), bears much fruit (John 15:8), and denies himself. (Luke 14:26-33)

Although I have spent considerable time with a number of people with the intent to disciple them, I recognize that my underlying goal was to become friends with them. This was in response to my own needs for relationship. Although friendship is a wonderful thing, it should be a by product of the discipleship, not the purpose. We are not truly doing the Lord's will if we make friends but do not produce disciples for the simple reason that Jesus never tells us to make friends. In fact, the concept comes up only on rare occasions.

In John 15, Jesus refers to believers as friends of his but couches this in terms that do not resemble human friendship. He says, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:14) As humans we do not think of friends as those who command and we obey them.

The reality is that far more Christians desire friendship than discipleship. May we become true disciples, and may God provide us with those who truly desire to follow Jesus.

Anarchy & Rebellion

    One of the major cultural beliefs in American society is the importance of individualism. No one tells me (or anyone) what to do. We are the captain of our ship, the master of our fate. We are against any kind of authority. When we come to Christ we bring this mindset with us. A wise mature brother who served as a life long missionary said to me many years ago that the last thing that Christians accepted was the Lordship of Christ. At the time I thought he was nuts. Everyone knows that. But how many actually practice it? How many truly submit to His Lordship? As Jesus asked, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord but you don't do what I say?" (Luke 6:46) How many times can we as Christians rationalize or justify not doing what the Bible says before Jesus is no longer Lord of our lives? And if He is not Lord how can we truly be His followers? "That if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved." (Romans 10:9)
     I have come to believe that the origin (naturally speaking) of this anarchy and rebellion in American culture and much of the American church lies in the founding of the country. Romans 13 makes clear that "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except what God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." (Verses 1,2)
    The colonists rebelled against the authority of England which God had established. Their independence was won through a bloody war. The government subsequently established which allowed slavery led to a far greater and bloodier war. In contrast Canada did not rebel against Great Britain. They were spared the punishment for rebellion and won their independence peacefully in 1867. Slavery was outlawed there along with the rest of the British Empire in a peaceful manner in 1838, in large part due to the efforts of a British Christian Parliamentarian named William Wilberforce. And six trips to Canada in 2012 persuades me that they are a much more irenic culture than that south of the border. The difference is palpable.

Where does culture come from?

Culture can be defined simply as the beliefs and behaviors of a particular group. Where do these come from? Naturally speaking we could say that some come from academia, others from media, others from people that we know. But what is the origin of these thoughts and ideas? I believe the Bible provides an answer to this question. 1 John 5:19 states, "We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." (ESV) Galatians 1:4 speaks of "this present evil age." (ESV) 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god (little g) of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ..." 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 reads, "The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them strong delusion, so that they may be believe what is false..."
    What is the activity of Satan? In John 8:44 Jesus calls him the "father of lies." Earlier in 8:32 Jesus says that it is the truth that sets people free. So we live in a world filled with people who are under the power of Satan, blinded in their minds, and under strong delusion in this present evil age. So cultural beliefs and behaviors are ultimately determined by the god of this world, the devil. This is why I am so concerned about culturally based thinking and acting. What is the antidote? To be filled with and put into practice the truth of the Word of God as revealed by the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was tempted by the devil in Luke 4, He responds with Scripture. Satan was tempting Jesus with power, authority, glory, and pride- all culturally valuable. Jesus did not succumb.

The Only Hope for the Church is Jesus

As I reflect on the events of the past two months I am struck again by how difficult it is to live in a way that is pleasing to Jesus. "So whether we are are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him." (2 Corinthians 5:9) I should not be surprised because He said, "Apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5b) We are so feeling driven, and culturally bound. I look at the crashing and burning of home based groups in the region in which I live. I see the lack of true discipleship- the kind that turned the ancient world upside down. The only hope for the Church is Jesus.
   May the Holy Spirit give us a balanced perspective of who He is. Many people like what He says to the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:20. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." What a wonderful promise. The same Jesus says in Revelation 3:19, the verse immediately preceding, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent." Are we willing to accept both?
   I am no longer a "house church" guy. I want to be a disciple and to disciple others.
Finished reading the Old Testament in Portuguese. Am now starting on the NT for the fourth time. Have also begun a new computer program (Pimsleur) that concentrates on speaking and listening.
    The only hope for the Church is Jesus.

Personal Relationship in love and truth

    Christians talk quite a lot about the idea of a personal relationship with God; rarely do we discuss the actual experience of that relationship. We may say something about prayer or reading the Bible, and both are good and necessary. But what is it actually like to be loved by God and to love Him, to know Him who is truth? (John 14:6) Because we are human we tend to look at things from a human perspective. This sometimes results in a Santa Claus type God, who exists to meet our needs and to do what we want. But He is not one dimensional. Yes, he does desire to bless us and give us good things. On the other hand, he does not promise immunity from suffering or persecution. I sometimes see God as a blend of love and truth. Understanding Him as one or the other alone leads us to a situation like that of a person walking on one leg. The use of crutches may make that possible but it certainly is not how God created us.
     Ephesians 4:15 says, "Instead, speaking the truth in love..." 1 Corinthians 13, the chapter specifically about love, says in verse six, "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth." 2 John 3 says "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, who will be with us in truth and love." And 3 John 4, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." Jesus prays to the Father in John 17:17, "Sanctify them by your truth; your Word is truth." He promises to send the Spirit of truth. (John 16:13) And "whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:8)
    Seeking to have the Holy Spirit reveal this blending of God in truth and love is at the foundation of my personal relationship with God. He is neither a stern, distant figure waiting to whack me with a celestial ruler at my first imperfection nor is He the permissive, do whatever you want figure who winks at my imperfection. Instead He is an intensely personal, relational Person who has made every possible loving effort to see me become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:29) "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness (or image) of His Son, that He might become the firstborn among many brothers."  (All quotations NIV)

Missing Ingredient Part 3

Note to Readers:  The first 2 parts of this theme are several days back
    In recent posts I have expressed my belief in the importance of the apostolic ministry. If anyone is still with me on this, one question is how would a believer recognize this gift functioning in someone else? What are the characteristics? In over forty years of walking with Christ, I have only known two apostles personally. The rest of my reflections come from the Scripture.
     Probably the most important quality is humility. Paul refers to this in Acts 20:19 when he says that he has "served the Lord with great humility...". Peter references the same quality in 1 Peter 5 when he calls himself a fellow elder, rather than an apostle in verse 1, not lording it over the flock (v. 3), and again in verses five and six. Humility comes from a true revelation of whom we are in contrast to who God is.
     Another is breadth of vision. In Romans 15 Paul writes that he has preached the gospel "from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum (modern day Croatia). (Romans 15:19) In verses twenty-four and twenty-eight of the same chapter he expresses his desire to go to Spain, the western end of the Roman world, where the lingua franca is Latin rather than Greek. The apostolic ministry is not confined to local or even regional areas. Its true parish is the "ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
     Yet another is prodigious love. God's love flows through them so powerfully that people are swept along as if they had fallen into a flooded river. The two I have known have suffered in their childhoods yet through God's love have triumphed over their adversities.
     They act like a coach to a sports team, recognizing that they can't and should not try to do everything. Rather they help others to operate in the gifts that they have been given. They smooth the ruffled feathers of people who tend to see things very differently. Apostolic workers are not very detail oriented because they are looking at the big picture. And they are itinerant, typically traveling much of the year.
    The above is not in any way exhaustive but is a snapshot.