“Arise Shine! For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
Behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory shall be seen upon you.”
IS 60:1,2

So much of IS 59-60 is a reflection of our time that it is hard to believe that these words were penned 2800 years ago! Like many of the words of the prophets, though they had an application at the time when they were written, and apply in some ways to every generation, parts are also sealed up until a time of complete fulfillment. That time is now upon us.

Though there has most certainly been “darkness”, even “thick” or “gross darkness”, in every generation, the degree and scope of darkness has become pervasive, ominous, and global in our day in an unprecedented way. Without going into the details of my beliefs on the End Times (my B.Th. thesis was on Paul’s Eschatology), suffice it to say that we should expect greater and greater extremes and contrast to unfold as the End draws near. So while increase in wickedness, opposition, and delusion are inevitable, we must not allow ourselves to be caught unawares. For even as the darkness thickens, light and glory are also being released to us in ways never seen before. The dark will get darker; the light will get lighter. As evil becomes grosser, glory is poured out on us in ways never seen since the world was fashioned.

Thick Darkness Shall Cover the Earth

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness,

so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thess 5:4

Indeed, we are to expect and embrace “the Spirit of glory and of God” to rest/fall upon us (1 PT 4:14). Joel describes the period of the greatest outpouring of God’s Spirit as the “great (or awesome) and terrible day of the Lord” (2:11;31). So is it a great day or a terrible day? Yes! It is a terrible day for some, but it is an awesome day for us. It will be a time of judgment, but also of God bestowing better gifts on His children. In that hour, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (v.32). Nations and Kings who are longing for righteousness will recognize it in us, and will “come to your light…and to the brightness of your rising” (IS 60:3).

We desperately need to hear this. As the persecution and marginalization of Christians becomes more pronounced, and the name of Christ is maligned, as liberties are removed, as aggression against righteousness heightens, something inside of us should be screaming “Hallelujah!” cause we know what this is a sign of, and how it is going to turn out in the end. Yes, it signals a call to Arise and Shine.

“You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring.”     Esther 8:8

Did you ever wonder why God does not just deliver?  It’s not like He is not able!

Haman, the wicked enemy of the Jews, had issued a decree to annihilate the Jews on a given day.  According to the law of the Medes and the Persians, this decree could not be reversed.  As the day approached, hope of survival had grown dim.  Without Divine intervention, the Jews were doomed.  Or were they?

In much the same way, the Enemy has unleashed his evil schemes against us.  While God clearly has the power, ability, and interest to deliver, He doesn’t, or at least not directly.  Instead, He says, “I’ve got a better plan; you do it.  Go ahead, make a decree, as you please, in my Name, and then seal it with that ring I put on your finger.”  God’s intention was never to simply reign; His plan is for us to reign with Him.  We are not just subjects of the Kingdom, we are his co-regents.  God does not just want to show His power to us, He wants to show His power in and through us.

The story of Esther is a great object lesson in the way that God delivers.  Haman represents Satan, or the enemies which are set against us as God’s people, those who oppose us to walk in our destinies, callings and potential.  They seem to have the advantage.  They have influence, and resources, and numbers.  They have become aggressive, arrogant, emboldened.  We can easily become defensive as circumstances pile up against us, which threaten us to bow to discouragement, weariness, or fear.

In many ways, this is also an accurate picture of the culture war we are fighting in many parts of the world today.  We as God’s people are living in increasingly hostile environments.  We face discrimination, injustices, oppression.  Like the Jews of Esther’s time–disdained, underprivileged, rights-deprived citizens of the Persian Empire–we feel the squeeze.  Things which we once took for granted we now have to contend for.  We dream of the old days when churches were a center of social and spiritual life in communities, a time when those who were in the ministry were held in esteem, when the Bible was acknowledged as a standard and compass for how to live, for values, for light.

God, keep us from discouragement, or lips that complain about our circumstances.  We cannot look with nostalgia on the things of the past.  We must not fall prey to the lie that we are losing the battle.  We must not grow passive;  we must not compromise.  We also must not sit around and wonder why God just doesn’t do something.  For if we really understand His ways, we know that none of these things have escaped His notice.   He has not lost some of His strategic advantage.  Despite appearances, His Kingdom is definitely not under threat!  On the contrary, God is the Great Architect, the Conductor, preparing us for greater testimonies, greater wonders, and greater deliverances.  “The meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (PS 37:11).  Our role in this will not be as spectators.  It will not even be simply as participants.  Though Satan may bruise our heel, we are going to crush his head!  These words of Jesus will not fall to the ground:

“Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do…that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”  John 14:12-13

He is moving us into a place where we, like Esther and Mordecai, will step up into a places of authority, of displaying His power, of being instruments of great deliverances, and winners of hard-fought battles.  His word will be fulfilled, in order that the Father may be glorified.

If we are expecting God to just stretch forth His hand and strike down our enemies, and scatter them like smoke before the wind, we do not understand the wonder of His plan which is unfolding before our very eyes.  As it was in the days of Esther, so shall it be again in these Last Days.  God wants to show the world how awesome He is, in us.  He wants to show that He can defeat the many by the few.  He wants to show how the weak will shame the strong.  He wants us to trust in and then use the Spiritual tools and weapons He has given to us to do great exploits.  We cannot look to governments or to the systems of this world any longer to do what the Church is destined to do.

Let us stand in the favor of Esther, and wear the signet ring of Mordecai.  Let us decree those things the Lord shows us and see what God will do to lead us in triumphal procession in Christ Jesus.  Like the mighty cross of Christ, the gallows Haman imagined would mark the end of his enemy became the place where he was hung.  We live in the shadow, legacy, and power of this cross today.  Satan sure thought that he had won, only to discover that God uses the foolish things to confound the wise.  It was not the first time, nor was it the last, that Satan’s “victory” left him “disarmed”, and a “public spectacle” made of him (Col 2:15).

So, beloved, let us never sit around and wonder why God has not yet delivered us.  Romans 8:19 says the creation is earnestly expecting and eagerly awaiting the revealing of the sons of God.  Come on, Church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15), this is your finest hour.

“Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven
is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Matt 13:52

Jesus’ words here are so powerful, so prophetic! May they ring in the ears of this generation, and among a people who are so fixated on the now and on tomorrow that regard for, respect for, and attention to the things of the past is dismissed. Look at how our politicians treat the Constitution if you don’t believe me! Consider that we appear to have learned nothing from 9/11, even though it was less than 13 years ago; how much less are we instructed by Hitler and WWII!

The problem is not just in politics, or our schools, beloved. It’s in our churches! To put it another way, we should not expect to find honor for things old in the world when it does not exist in the church. Jesus spoke these words first and foremost to us. Let the world see His wisdom in and through us, and then let them follow.

I am not suggesting our women get out their Victorian dresses, that we put away our lights and light up the candles, or speak in King James English! Though it is true that there are those who are stuck in the past, or insist that old things are better, it is also true that there are many who can’t sing any song that wasn’t written more than five years ago, and know nothing of the price that has been paid by the missionaries of the past to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. God help us to have both, to embrace both, to seek both, things new and things old. Lord, help us to keep both in balance, that we might be good householders, and see your Kingdom manifest.

China inspires the historian in me. We know of the Great Wall, or the Terra Cotta Soldiers, but there are signs of China’s past all around if you only take a moment to look behind the skyscrapers, literally. I recently worshiped at an altar where the One True God was worshiped since before Christ came to earth. I also drove by an irrigation system in a remote part of China, still in use today, which was built more than 2500 years ago causing a region where over 100 million people live today to become China’s breadbasket.

Chinese recorded history begins somewhere between 42-205 years after the Tower of Babel. The long string of dynasties existed right up until 1911, just over one hundred years ago. Amazing! It shouldn’t surprise us that the prayers for the annual border sacrifice starting from those first Emperors read like parts of Genesis, or even the prophets:

“When The Lord had so decreed, He called into existence heaven, earth, and man. Between heaven and earth, he separated men from all other things, and placed them under the canopy of the heavens. I, his unworthy servant, ask for His favor, to enlighten me as his minister, so that I may ever appear before Him who dwells in the Highest Heaven.”

God has spoken to us about bringing out treasures from “things old”, reminding China of her roots, and calling her back to her destiny. Emperors from China’s most prosperous dynasty, the Tang, had embraced Persian and Syrian missionaries who came to her, to trade, and to preach, along the Silk Road. They became spiritual advisors to Emperors, military leaders, renowned architects, even as the gospel spread to over one hundred cities, yes, funded out of the royal treasuries! A huge monument recording their beliefs, parts of their history, and their activities was commissioned by one of these Emperors and placed on the grounds of China’s ancient palace in Chang’an (Xian) in 781 AD. I have personally visited the monument three times (The Nestorian Stele).

Historian John Stewart writes of this period of missionary expansion:
“Whole peoples with their rulers had become Christians and it seems certain that there were few places in the whole Asia that were not reached at some time or other as the outcome of the marvelous activity of that wonderful church which extended from China to Jerusalem and Cyprus, and in the eleventh century is said to have outnumbered the Greek and Roman churches combined.”

These “old things”, of the influence of Christianity in China, are like a buried treasure which has been buried under the belly of one of her many dragons. Genghis Kahn’s daughter in law, and mother of his grandson Great Kahn Mongke, who became a powerful Emperor himself, was a Christian. Wikipedia says:

“Nestorian Christianity was the primary religious influence in the Empire, and this also carried over to Mongol-conquered China, during the Yuan Dynasty.”

The seed of the Word had been sown in Chinese soil. Many great sacrifices have been made, with missionaries burying their loved ones, even with their bare hands. The blood of many a martyr has been shed. I could say much more, of the wave of missionaries who came influenced by J. Hudson Taylor, and others, until there were more than 20,000 foreign Christians serving in China during the 1920’s. God has not forgotten. We stand and remind Him of past promises given, of inheritances long stolen.

Even as we look forward, we look back. This would be a good time to recount what God has done for you, for your family, in and for your own personal history, as a nation, as a church, as a people. This is sound wisdom, spoken by the Master Himself. We would do well to heed it, that His Kingdom would come to us, until it fills the earth as He has said that it would. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Amen.

http://www.atour.com/religion/docs/20011114a.html#Church%20of%20the%20East%20Worship%20Scripture%20and%20Mission

“Behold I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields,

for they are already white for harvest!” John 4:35

In John 4, Jesus gives us an object lesson in how to reap a harvest. As he begins the weeklong journey from the southern part of Israel to the Galilee district, verse 4 says he “must needs” go through the Samaritan regions which Jews typically avoided like the plague. The result of this unexpected change of course was the Samaritan city of Sychar was completely transformed. Beginning with the sinful Samaritan’s testimony of the Messiah found, “He told me all that I ever did”, it ends with Jesus spending two days with them until they all declare:

“We ourselves have heard Him, and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” (JN 4:42)

Jesus gives us the key to this amazing success in verse 35. He begins by saying, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’?” Why would they say this? Because they were responding to what they could see. There were many historical, cultural, and spiritual reasons to say the Samaritans could not possibility be ready. The Jews had parted ways with the Samaritans hundreds of years before when they twisted their beliefs about God to conform to their rebellious and adulterous ways. In first century Palestine, the animosity was so great that the Jews would walk great distances around their region just to avoid contact. Much could be said about the comment, “For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (JN 4:9), but suffice it to say that Jesus saw things differently, from an elevated perspective.

What do you see when you look over the fields? Obstacles? Resistance? I am reminded of a missionary biography called “Mission Impossible”. A former generation of missionaries had left this hardened, ignorant, bound and burdened people with little hope. If you are honest, you might write a book with the same title when you consider your “mission field”.

I met a leader of another mission group which is also working on college campuses in the very same places our team is working. His estimation of the difficulties reveals a deeper issue. “Students aren’t as hungry as they used to be,” he said. “They are now caught up in materialism, and no longer interested in spiritual things. We really missed an opportunity.” Really? The feedback from our team? “There is so much to do! These students are just so curious, and a day doesn’t go by when we don’t meet people who want to hear about Jesus” How could two groups see such different fields?

Jesus taught us a very simple principle here. If you look at the fields, the timing never seems to be right. You will think it’s too early, or maybe even that it’s too late. The conditions never seem to point to harvest. You look at your unsaved family, or your colleagues, or your neighborhood, and think conditions could not be worse! That is why Jesus told us not to look at the fields. He was quite clear in His instruction. He said “Behold [which was for emphasis, so as to say ‘you better listen to what I am about to say…’] I say to you, lift up your eyes”.

When I was saved only a few months I passed by a church rummage sale, and saw an old painting of Jesus for sale. I bought it and over the next few years until I moved overseas, I hung it on the walls in my rooms. The most prominent feature of the painting to me is that Jesus’ eyes are gazing upward. I believe the artist must have understood something about Jesus that many of His followers have yet to discover, or apply to their lives. The best way to see the things around us are to lift our eyes the One above us.

Earlier this month I went to visit a Christian businessman whose office is on the 48th floor overlooking the central business district of Singapore, and the ocean beyond with its hundreds of container ships parked in the distance as far as the eye can see. Wow, you surely see things differently when you are up high! You don’t hear the sounds of construction below. You don’t smell the exhaust of the trucks. I was immediately challenged with this thought. On what floor do I work? What do I see when I look out my “window”? I don’t want to see what, or like others see. I want to see what God sees. I want to see how Jesus saw. For him, everything began with his eyes lifted. Beloved, that’s where we need to begin.

Jesus saw God was going to do something in Samaria. His disciples did not see it, so when they arrived, all they could think about was getting something to eat! So off they went to the strip to find Burger King. Meanwhile, the true King was about to have an encounter which was the first in a series of events which would lead to a city’s transformation (yes, BIG things do still have SMALL beginnings).

Having seen what God was going to do, Jesus’ “antenna” was raised. Having lifted his eyes to God, he was now looking square at a white and ripened field. Hope and expectation welled up inside his heart. It mattered not that Jews did not have dealings with Samaritans. It mattered not that men did not normally have friendly conversations with women. It mattered not that it was hot, right in the middle of the day. It mattered not that this woman had chosen a sin-filled lifestyle. Jesus was not fixated on the difficulties. He would not entertain the excuses. He would not bow to the fear-causing schemes of the Devil. He had come, sickle in hand, ready to reap.

From this perspective, Jesus did not even only see the woman. He saw and prayed for those “who will believe in Me through [her] word” (JN 17:20). Paul served from this perspective too. While in prison, he praised because he knew that God would visit him with deliverance. Once delivered, he was ready to lead the first person he saw to faith. But not only that, he immediately declared that this salvation would not only impact him, but his family as well. We all know that scripture now, but when you see it in context, you realize that Paul, like Jesus, was not expecting a small harvest when he said:

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:31

This is, of course, exactly what happened. That very night, Paul accepted the invitation to return with the jailer to his house, where he proceeded to lead the whole family to faith and baptize them, to the end that the jailer “rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.” (16:34)

Paul’s lifted eyes gave him faith’s perspective. Jesus’ lifted eyes allowed him to see an impossible situation as one full of possibilities. Beloved, it is the same for us. We have literally reaped thousands of souls among the people group about whom the book “Mission Impossible” was written. May we all learn this simple, yet profound secret. Beloved, lift up your eyes and [then] look. You’ll be surprised how white your field has become.

                        “Unless the Lord builds the house,

                        they labor in vain who build it…

                        Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

                        So are the children of one’s youth.”    PS 127:1,4

Until recently I did not see the relationship between building and having children who are like “arrows in the hand”.  But when this Psalm was read during a time prophetic words were being spoken as we waited on the Lord, I saw it so clearly.  A warrior who goes out into battle and forgets his arrows has certainly done a vain thing!  A builder who does not take into account the next generation is the same.  His work will not last.

The Bible has so many examples of people on either side of this equation.  Some invested in the next generation; some did not.  Did you ever wonder why Joseph is the only one of the 12 sons of Jacob who brought his own children to the bedside of their dying grandfather to receive blessing and an impartation of prophetic destiny?  Joseph was a wise man, to whom God and man (i.e. Potiphar, Pharoah) entrusted great responsibility.  He showed this wisdom in preparing his sons, yes, both natural and spiritual, to continue to build upon his legacy.  He preserved and provided for his whole family when he established them in Goshen.  He bounced his great-great grandchildren on his knees, and he spoke hope and promise to the children of Israel that God would “surely visit you” and restore them to their own land, which of course He did.

Was Elijah the only prophet to prepare a “mantle”, and impart a double portion of anointing on to the next generation?  Why don’t we see this happening among the other prophets?  Or was it only Elijah who placed a priority on making himself available to a spiritual son?  Even his own prophetic “son” Elisha failed.  The man to whom he had committed his ministry, Gehazi, fell prey to greed and spent the rest of his days as a forlorn leper.

Very few kings of Israel’s kings prepared their sons to rule.  The results were catastrophic.  How could Hezekiah, one of Judah’s brightest stars, raise a Manasseh, a king whose evil included such abominations as returning to witchcraft, mediums, Baal worship, and sacrificing his own son to the false god Molech!  Even David appeared headed for a train wreck when Amnon his first son raped his half-sister, only to be killed by his brother Absalom out of revenge, who later led a full-blown rebellion against David, his father the king.  David’s problems continued when he foolishly refused to name an heir, bringing more confusion and even treason in its wings, until he finally established Solomon as his true successor.  David somewhat redeemed himself when he not only crowned Solomon as his heir, but passed PROMISE and PURPOSE to him, gave him PLANS for building the temple, PROVIDED gold and timber and all needed materials to build, and established PEOPLE of skill, wisdom, and authority to complete the work.  At the end of his life, then, David became an example to us all of the importance which must be placed on the next generation.  The temple which was built stood as the symbol and center or Jewish life for the next 400 years.

A Chinese proverb says, “one generation plants the trees and the next generation gets the shade”.  Actually, they get more than shade.  They get fruit, and furniture, and, if you are from Vermont, maple syrup!   But the point is that many are so absorbed in the “important” things they are doing now, that they fail to cast a vision for and therefore prepare for the future.  What a contrast was the ministry of Jesus.  His plan to change the world was focused squarely on 12 men to whom he could pass on promises and power, and then commission to take his message of hope and redemption to the ends of the earth.

Paul appeared headed for the fate of many who had stumbled over this fatal flaw during the initial years of his ministry.  Going it alone, his first attempts in Damascus and Jerusalem ended poorly.  And while there was some fruit from his first missionary journey, it was during his second tour that he realized Jesus’ method was second to none.  He began to assemble a team of young men around him, pouring into them daily for two years with remarkable results, “so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:10).  These young men included:

• Gaius (Derbe)
• Timothy (Lystra)
• Aristarchus & Secondus (Thessalonica)
• Sopater (Berea)
• Erastus (Corinth)
• Tychicus & Trophimus (Ephesus)
• Titus & Luke (Antioch)

The Psalmist said, “Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies” (45:5).  A warrior dared not go to battle without sharpened, polished (IS 49:2) arrows in his quiver.  For him, it was a matter of life and death.  May God help us to also realize the urgency of our having our quiver’s full.  Yes, God, help us to prioritize, and then raise up the next generation.  Amen.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
Because He has anointed me
To preach the gospel to the poor…” IS 61:1

One of the kids came back from school and said the teacher had criticized a ministry that was targeting the rich and upper class of society with the gospel, stating unequivocally that “the gospel is supposed to be preached to the poor!” I realize that this is what this text says, but is that what it means?

Over the years I have come across a number of cases where translations of the Biblical text have led people down some real slippery slopes. The person who had said this was the Bible teacher at the school, so how much more should he have known that the Hebrew word translated “poor” here does not have an economic intent. The word anav conveys the idea of being needy, or humble, or weak. It is the same word which described Moses when he was effectively serving as a redeemer, savior figure over the nation of Israel during the Exodus. It is one of the terms King David often used to describe his heart condition before God, expressing his hunger and intense need for more of God in his life.

I have heard this sentiment spoken of, and seen it written in books, and though there is an appearance of “working with the poor” that sounds spiritual, I have come to believe this sentiment is misguided. The gospel is not for the economically poor; it is for the anav who sit in seats of power and who are wealthy too. Consider for a moment these words to Paul:

“Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before
Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” Acts 9:15

And how he testified obedience to God’s call near the end of his life:

“Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I
stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other
things than those which the prophets and Moses…” Acts 26:22

The Greek word for great is megas, and means persons eminent in ability, virtue, authority, or power. The point here clearly is that Paul was called to reach all people, not just the poor.

So what about Jesus? When He first stood up He opened Isaiah’s scroll to exactly this passage in 61:1. Did the Son of Man, therefore, specifically approach the people in the slums or ghettos of his day? Some may quote Jesus’ words about a camel going through the eye of a needle, or about his interaction with the rich young ruler when he tells him to “go, sell what you have and give to the poor”, and how he “went away sorrowful” (MT 19:21-24). But did Jesus always and only favor the poor in His three plus years of ministry?

In fact, Jesus reached out to rich and poor alike. He loved those in high places, and those in low. The gospel is not just for all nations, it is for all types of people too. His blood was not just shed for people on welfare; it was shed for people on Wall Street too. While Jesus did spend a lot of his time with common folk, spoke parables about servants and people who held lowly denarius-a-day jobs, he also did not rebuke the woman who could have sold her alabaster ointment and given it to the poor.

It is true, many of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen, a class of people considered to be hard-working and yet very ordinary. It is also true that he had a Levi, a tax collector, yes, a man of means, among the twelve. It is true, his greatest conflict was with the powerful religious leaders of his day; but it is also true that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, both of the Sanhedrin, were among His disciples. Jesus did not just minister to the little children, he reached out to a nobleman, a centurion, and a lawyer. In some of His parables he even indicates that sometimes it is those who have less who prove to be less worthy.

One of the most dramatic examples of Jesus’ perspective is when he is literally days from his death and making his final ministry tour, passing through towns and villages to make it to Jerusalem in time for the Passover. The last major city to en route before his famed triumphal entry on the foal of a donkey into the Holy City was the ancient city of Jericho. Known as the City of Palms, Jericho was the richest part of the country, also called the “Little Paradise”. Due to his increasing fame, the outstanding miracles–including Lazarus being raised from the dead–throngs of people were now gathering in the places where they knew he was going to pass. Mothers wanted him to touch and bless their children. The blind, the lame, the infirmed, were certainly among the most hopeful that Jesus would single them out.

The atmosphere must have been electric. The excitement. The anticipation. Would this be my day? To whom did Jesus go? To the bewilderment of every man and woman in the crowd, He stopped and called out the name of a short man by the name of Zacchaeus. Short in stature, mind you, but not small in influence or reputation. Outside of the Roman royals, Zacchaeus was one of the richest men in the richest city in Palestine. A “chief tax collector”, he was the top of the MLM ladder of his time. And yet, on this day, Zacchaeus was the poorest in the eyes of Jesus.

Jesus was not conflicted, nor was he being hypocritical when he chose to preach the gospel to this rich poor man. He was giving us an object lesson in the true definition of poor.

Within a few years of the resurrection, “a great many priests” had become obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7). Among the first leaders of the Antioch church was Manaen “who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch” (Acts 13:1). By the time Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, members of “Caesar’s household” had come to Christ (Phil 4:22). His impromptu “Shipwreck Crusade” had resulted in an island-wide revival following the conversion of Publius, the highest ranking person in Malta (Acts 28:7). Within a couple hundred years, the Emperor himself of one of the most powerful empires in the history of the world bowed his knee to the Savior.

The call of God may lead one to this type of ministry, one to another. Peter was called to the Jews; Paul to the Gentiles. Mother Teresa went to the poorest poor in Calcutta; Ravi Zacharias speaks in the world’s premier universities and at the UN. There are poor people everywhere: in slums, in penthouses. They are in rags, and in Armani’s. God help us to preach to them whoever, wherever, they are. The Spirit of the Lord has anointed you for this. Come on, say it: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.”

Think of It!

“So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham,

whom Satan has bound–think of it–for eighteen years,

be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” LK 13:16

     What a Master! I love how Jesus did the things He did. What a model, example, inspiration! Even as He healed this woman who had been bent over for the past eighteen years from her infirmity, He was seeking an opportunity to minister to the ruler of the synagogue who himself was also bound.

The word translated “think of it” is translated “behold” in other places. The ruler was himself “bent over”. He could not look up to see , so Jesus tells him, “look beyond your silly rules and regulations, beyond the surface, past the religious leaders, and look at this woman standing there straight before you filled with joy and gratitude to God!” His was not to rebuke, but to win a heart, open eyes, and awaken the dead. And it was not just the ruler, but the whole crowd was witnessing this exchange.

What would it take to make me to see beyond all the smokescreens, the habits that rub me the wrong way, the false defenses, the offenses, or the resistance, to see the human face, the one who is crying out from behind the mask? Jesus was saying to the ruler; look, she is a person, not a statistic, and if you just take your eyes off yourself and your rules, you will see that a real person, with real parents and siblings, with a real physical problem which has left real psychological scars has just really been given a completely new lease on life!

Whatever Jesus did, He did with genuine compassion. While people gravitate to the convenience of rules and set responses, Jesus put a human touch on everything He did. Sometimes it was a physical touch. Sometimes it was a word of comfort, or of hope. Sometimes it was a gaze. May we not just go through the motions in life, even in ministry. God help us to “think of it”, to not just see the needs, but to see the people who have the needs; to see people not just as souls, but as souls who are longing to be set free.

Think of it!

“There was a certain disciple at Damascus names Ananias and to him
the Lord said in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’” Acts 9:10

I preached about Ananias this past weekend. I went to the Bible Dictionary in my library to see if it offered any insight about Ananias, and read the following: “a devout man according to the law who befriended Saul of Tarsus immediately after his conversion and conveyed Christ’s commission to him.” Really? I mean, seriously? Ananias risked his life to go to Saul! His motley band had come “breathing threats and murder” to Damascus to wreak havoc on the church there, to chain up the believers, to drag them back 150 miles to Jerusalem so that they could be unjustly charged and then executed.

There are many things I love about this man, but it all starts in the heart. I love that he said, “Here I am, Lord.” I love that he was available. I love that he was ready to obey. I love that the words of the prophet Isaiah when he was called by God to go and preach to stubborn Israel were on his lips. Beloved, this was no wimpy attempt at friendship evangelism. This was nothing less than raw courage.

Whether we realize it or not, the courage of this one man not only played a significant role in the life of Saul of Tarsus; through Saul-turned-Paul-the-Apostle he has had an affect on us all. Think about it: no Ananias, no Paul? So who was Ananias that I would make such a statement?

Actually he only appears in this one passage, a total of ten verses of scripture. He gets no flowery introduction. He carries no impressive title. We don’t know if he ever preached to a crowd of 50, 000, or even a “crowd” of 50. He is not a great Apostle, or Pastor. He does not even appear to be an elder or a deacon, though it is quite possible he at least had a “home group”! All we really know is that he was a “certain disciple”. In other words, he was just like most of us. Or to put it in another way, we don’t have any excuses for not being like him!

To make matters worse, even our Bible scholars and teachers seem to miss the point. This passage says nothing about Ananias “befriending” Saul. They simply want to make Ananias after their own image, rather than falling under a deep conviction because we have embraced such a benign and insipid definition of what it means to truly believe. We think being meek means being weak, when the same Moses who was said to be the meekest man on earth (Num 12:3) returned time and time again to Pharoah’s court to castigate him and demand him to “let my people go!”

How could someone who risked his life to come to a man who, with his posse, had one thing in mind– to beat and bind in chains the Christians of Damascus, that he might “punish them…and compel them to blaspheme” “persecut[ing] them to the death” (Acts 26:11; 22:4)–be portrayed as having won Paul over by befriending him? Seriously, do we really think he brought a box of chocolates with him?!

Ananias did not have a box of chocolates. I’ll tell you what else he didn’t have. He didn’t have a Bible (cause there was no Bible). He didn’t have a Bible school certficate. He had not attended Bill Johnson’s school of supernatural ministry. He probably had never met an apostle, his “church” almost certainly did not have a building, and most likely he didn’t even have a “pastor”. Why, their church could not have been more than just a few years old (Saul was saved within 4 years of the resurrection). So what is it about this small group of Christians 150 miles away from Jerusalem that compelled Saul to even want to go there?

Let me quote from another person who impresses me as having done a lot with a little. In this I mean Daniel. A captive, 16 years or so, torn from his culture, his roots, his relationships, living in an environment hostile to his childhood faith with the only support system being three other teenagers like himself. And yet, we know the “rest of the story”. He said:
“But the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” Dan 11:32

While we should be hugely grateful for the Bible, our Bill Johnson’s, the books, and seminars, and buildings and our Bible schools, these things are not a substitute to knowing God, they are supposed to be a support. The point to know Him. People who know Him are strong, and do exploits. They are not fearful, but fearless in the face of opposition. They know the Lord is with them. They know that they are always led in triumphal procession in Christ.

The other part of the Bible Dictionary quote which disturbs me is that Ananias “conveyed Christ’s commission to him”. Is that really what happened? No. In fact, Ananias entered the house of collaborating Judas and the guards armed with their instruments for inflicting pain and suffering and walked right up to a prostrate, praying Saul, laid his hands upon him whereupon he was immediately healed of blindness, then prayed for him for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. At which point, “convey Christ’s commission,” is a pretty sad description of the truth, which is that Ananias accurately and thoroughly prophesied Saul’s destiny, that he was a chosen instrument, called to be both a minister and a witness, of the Lord to Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel, and that he would:
“know his will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth”
and,
“open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” (Acts 9:15-18; 22:14-15; 26:16-18)

Ananias was one of the disciples in the fledgling Damascus church. While they did not have much, what they did have is an example and a challenge to us all. Consider some of the things that we see in these verses about Ananias:

• He experienced an open vision of the Lord.
• His ears were tuned to the voice of the Lord.
• He knew the importance of the fundamental doctrine of laying on of hands.
• He exercised the spiritual gift of praying for the sick, even for blindess.
• He knew how to immediately lead Saul into the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
• He prophesied boldly and accurately of Saul’s calling and destiny.

While the message of his boldness, his sensitivity to the things of the Spirit, and even his ability to exercise the spiritual gifts are impressive, there is one last thing that Ananias said which impresses me as much or more than the others. You see, despite having “heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints,” knowing that he himself was a target of Saul’s vicious plots to destroy them, when Ananias sees his “enemy” the first words out of his mouth were “Brother Saul.” This is more than a simple gesture of kindness. That he calls him “brother” is itself a declaration of faith, and shows that he harbored no ill-will towards the man who had personally been responsible for the death and destruction of many just like himself. Ananias reveals in these words that he practiced what he professed. He not only DID the work, he did it in the love of Christ.
If I am Saul at that moment, more than my physical eyes are being opened. This guy knows that I have come here to kill, and yet he has reached out to me with tenderness. He has offered me forgiveness. He has accepted me without condition, and made me like one of his own household.

No Ananias, no Paul? Beloved, we do not have to be someone famous. We are not all called to stand before crowds. In the church, there are not many who are called to be Pastors, or Elders, even Deacons. But we can all be disciples. Maybe the only thing that is left is to be described with the only term that Ananias is introduced in this passage. You see, he was not only a disciple. He was certain.  He knew his God.

“The plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed.”  Amos 9:13

God loves to do the impossible. It is His way of silencing dissenters, removing doubt, and building faith in His people who are called to partner with Him in the impossible. When the impossible thing He is doing is regarding the harvest, my heart leaps like a calf from the stall when I consider it.

I remember talking with a Korean missionary couple in Tibet many years ago. When speaking of the enormous challenges in reaching Tibetans with the gospel, I will never forget the simple yet profound words he spoke to me: “Brother, when I was young there was open hostility towards the gospel throughout Korea. But look at Korea today. Crosses light up the skies of the city at night! If God could do it in Korea, He can do it in Tibet.” So true!

In reality, China is another case in point. 37 years ago at the close of the Cultural Revolution, all church doors were closed, Bibles and Christian materials had been burned in pyres all over the country, pastors, evangelists, and Bible teachers had been either martyred or cast into prison indefinitely, and the entire nation had been brainwashed into believing Communism like a religion with Chairman Mao as their savior. Now, according to the US State Department, Christianity is now the number one religious belief in China. Yes, more Christians than Buddhists. Our God is a God of the impossible.

There are things which we do to prepare for harvest. We buy tools and equipment, we build barns, we open markets, we arrange transport, and we forge relationships. There is a need for money, of course, and all would be in vain if there is no laborers. We till the ground. We sow the seed. We call in the recruits and mobilize the laborers. We plan and we pray. And we wait.

“So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters,but God
who gives the increase.”  1 Cor 3:7

This is not an excuse not to prepare, to plant, or to water. It is just an acknowledgement that God is the only one who can cause our labors to have an effect. It is an acknowledgement that there are some aspects of the harvest for which no amount of planning, effort, money, or laborers has any affect. In the natural, there is the factor of weather, or insects, or disease. Spiritually, we may ask “is God shining on it”, or “has He brought the rain of the Spirit”, or “did we sow bad seed”? But when it is all said and done, the fact remains that when God decides it is time to bring a place or a people to harvest, our preparations, though not unimportant, seem of little consequence. He still uses us, and partners with us, but not because He needs to.

Today I read Jonah. God decided it was time to do something in Nineveh. He sought for a man with whom to partner in reaching the Ninevites. Jonah was found, a prophet, one who had spoken for God, one who had prophesied to one of Israel’s powerful kings (2 Kings 14:25). Even though Jonah did not prove to be such a faithful messenger, unwilling and uncaring as he was, God had decided it was time to do something powerful in Ninevah. So He did!

Humanly speaking, it is impossible to imagine that an entire pagan city of 120,000 people would repent and turn to God. But that is exactly what God did. From the greatest (the king even “covered himself in sackcloth and sat in ashes”) to the least of them, they all cried out to God.

Even here, Jonah had barely sowed the seed and a complete and ripened harvest was reaped. Similar accounts are referenced in the New Testament, the Samaritan woman’s whole village came to Christ. The town Tabitha was from turned to Christ en masse after Peter had raised her from the dead. And when Philip preached in Samaria with signs following, the city experienced a revival that the Bible describes as being “great joy in that city”. Each case was not preceded by anything we can really call much sowing, though undoubtedly Tabitha’s good works did a fair bit of watering of the soil in Joppa.

When God decides it is time for a people to come to Him, we get to go along for the ride. Sovereignly, he causes the mountains to “drip with sweet wine, and the hills [to] flow with it” Amos 9:13. When He determines the Tibetans are ready, I want to be there with a sickle in my hand, even if my swinging seems like a man trying to catch all the rain as it falls in his bucket. When He determines the Muslims here, or there, are ready, he will take the small offering we have prepared and like Elijah He will respond with so much fire that the offering, the wood, the water, and even the rocks are licked up by it. When He wants to move, the laws of physics, the element of time, things of natural consequence and effect, go out the window.

I can’t even conceive of what it means for the plowman to overtake the reaper! But I want to be there, to witness the God of the impossible moving in power, in compassion, and in majesty.

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you”

“His Word was in my heart like a burning fire
shut up in my bones…” Jeremiah 20:9

When I read through the scriptures I always look forward to when I finally get to Jeremiah, and not just because I have reached the half way point either! No. It’s because my passion gets rekindled all over again. Talk about a firebrand! He loved God. He loved God’s people. He yearned for God’s purpose/mission to be accomplished. He wept because of the rebellion of Israel. He suffered loneliness, rejection, and imprisonment over a lifetime of service, being completely misunderstood, falsely accused, and sentenced to death. But the flame in his heart never died down, and the Word of the Lord could not be quenched.

Something good about the long plane rides of late is the opportunity to read three more missionary biographies, among which was C.T. Studd, David Bussau, and Paul Brand. If you are feeling low on gas or need a jump start, why not dig into one of these inspiring stories? People of our day and age lack passion because they lack conviction. We are feeding our minds on things which don’t drive us to the cross, or towards His purpose.

There is nothing that we need more in life than passion. By it was can quench a thousand darts. With passion we rise up and labor when no one is watching. We preach when no one is listening. We prepare when there is no lesson to teach. We don’t pray because its time to, but because we have to. Passion cannot be replaced by good strategies, or awesome technologies, or stacks of $100 bills. Whatever it takes, I exhort you, fan into flame passion for God, passion for His people, passion for the lost, and passion for His Word that consumes us even as it consumed Jeremiah.

If it has been a while since you have prayed a dangerous prayer (or maybe you never have), this is as good a time as any! Tell the Lord, “Make me a firebrand for you.” Watch what the Holy Spirit will do.

*This picture was taken of me this past weekend when I was speaking in a Chinese church.  You can see the characters behind me on the wall  : )