Flashback Favorite: The tunnel-vision trap

The tunnel-vision trap
Originally posted on June 13, 2019

Tunnel vision is almost never a good thing, and it can be an easy trap to fall into if we get wrapped up in the troubles of this world.  Politics, in all nations, is a mess – but we fret and twist and turn and argue about them.  Overall, humans haven’t taken great care of the environment, and we can get sole-focused worried about correcting our influence.  We inflict pain on each other, on a scale that ranges from our nearby neighbors and that reaches other countries – and they do the same back to us.  Watch any news broadcast, and it’s easy to get wrapped up in someone else’s tunnel-visioned issue being presenting at that moment.

Christians are also capable of falling into this tunnel-vision trap.  We can get so wrapped up in church issues, community issues, and even just the day-to-day grind that we forget about the larger picture God is painting.  God’s plan for humans started at Creation and stretches all the way into Eternity Future. 

Thankfully, God left us reminders.  During his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul discussed how our present identity in Christ relates to our Eternity Future:

Romans 8:16-18
The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children also heirs – heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

The troubles of this world and the suffering we all encounter – personal, health, and for being a Christian – can really bog us down.  We can easily become tunnel-visioned on all that is wrong with the world and wonder if any of this “Christian stuff” is worth it.  But when we keep this glory-filled future in mind, our perspective changes and we begin to see the world around us differently.  If fact, Paul also tells us that the creation itself is also looking forward to the revealing of that glory in us:

Romans 8:19-21
For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it – in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.

When Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world, all of creation was frustrated, muted, and corrupted – and it hasn’t been fixed yet.  At times in nature, we seem to get a glimpse of a deeper beauty, or the potential for something greater…but that notion is fleeting at best.  However, when God brings humans back to the perfection we were created for, the creation will be liberated as well.

Romans 8:22-23
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.  Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as firstfruits – we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

Both the creation and Christians are yearning for this future renewal.  This longing for newness will be fulfilled.  Until then, it is good to recognize our desire for our eternal home with Christ.  It keeps today’s difficulties in perspective:

Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

We met at the community table

A few weeks back, our youngest son came to visit for the weekend before my wife’s birthday.  On Sunday, after church, we decided to go out to eat.  We were all craving breakfast food, and we eventually ended up at First Watch.  We had been there a couple of times before, and the food is excellent.  But as we walked up, I groaned.  They were obviously very busy, and there were people waiting outside for a table.  I really wasn’t in the mood to wait for what looked like at least an hour, but we went up to their reception desk to ask anyway.

The place was packed.  Waiters and waitresses zooming around everywhere.  “Yeah, it’s going to be a while,” the reception lady told us.  Then her face changed, like she got an idea.  After looking back over her right shoulder, she asked us, “You only have three people, right?”  “Yes,” I said.  What she offered next completely caught me off guard.  “Well, you could take a seat at our community table.  There are three seats open there.”

I had no idea what a community table at a restaurant entailed, but I was happy to grab a seat and get some food.  She led us back to a long, tall table with four tall chairs on either side.  There were two women facing each other at one end and a family of three at the other.  Just enough room for my wife and me to sit across from our son. 

We were completely surrounded by strangers; close enough to bump elbows and have to shift drinks and plates around so everyone could manage their food.  Everyone politely smiled, saying hellos and good mornings.  The waitress brought us menus, and as we scoped out what we wanted, we realized that our new neighbors had already ordered some of what we were considering.  That right there started multiple conversations about recommendations and personal favorites.  From that point on, you would have had no idea that the people sitting around the community table didn’t know each other just an hour ago.  Sometimes the conversation involved everyone, other times three different discussions were happening at once.  We talked about colleges (our son and the family’s daughter were going to different local universities), travel (the father was from Italy), career choices (the lady to my wife’s left was in the army, the mother to my right had held a variety of interesting occupations), and sports (football vs futbol)…anything that helped tell the story of how we all ended up a community table, eating breakfast for lunch on a Sunday in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Everyone else at the table finished before we did, and we ended up leaving before anyone else came to the community table.  We left with stunned smiles on our faces, wondering exactly what we had just unexpectedly experienced.  We couldn’t quite wrap words around it, but we all agreed – that was cool.

Experiences like this make me think that I got a glimmer of what heaven is going to be like.  There are going to be scores of people we’ve never met – each with a life story of how they ended up there.  The tie that will bind all of us together will be that we believed in Jesus for eternal life (John 3:16), but how we came to that point and how God worked in our lives will be fascinating. 

The same John that recorded John 3:16 was later given a vision – a revelation – of what the future of humanity will be like.  When thinking of our community table breakfast, one of things John saw comes to mind:

Revelation 7:9
After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.

What a sight that will be!  I can’t wait to see it…and I’m also looking forward to eating at that community table!

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Clear as mud?

One of my grade school teachers had a habit of asking us this question after she taught a new concept to the class: “Clear as mud?”  And to be honest, none of us knew what she meant.  Finally, one day, after another round of blank stares, she explained that if something was “as clear as mud” then we didn’t understand what she had been teaching.  But if we actually did understand, then she expected our reply to “Clear as mud?” to be “No, clear as water!”

Looking back, it was a little ironic that her question “Clear as mud?” was actually clear-as-mud to us.  We didn’t understand her question that was asking us if we understood her.  We knew all the words she used, but we didn’t grasp the concept she was communicating.  We would never have guessed the response that she was expecting back, either.  It was almost like she was speaking a different language, and she assumed that my classmates and I already knew the lingo.

If we’re honest, we Christians often do the same thing my teacher did.  There is a certain church-y lingo, a bit of Christianese that creeps into our speech.  We throw around phrases like “traveling mercies” or “hedge of protection” or “born again” as if we expect the non-Christians within earshot to understand. 

Just remember to guard your heart when you walk your witness and say your PTLs. 

And if you understood that last sentence, you should also understand what I mean…that someone outside of our church buildings will not get it, but when they hear those foreign phrases, the one thing they will understand is that they are an outsider.  Our words matter, so if we have the opportunity to tell someone about being a Christian, we need to be able to explain it without all the Christianese.  The good news of the gospel can be hard for someone to grasp the first time they hear it, so let’s not burden them with clicky, overused phrases.

We even see an example of this with Jesus, when a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to speak with Him one night.  During their conversation, Jesus tells Nic:

John 3:3
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Now, you might feel like telling me “See!  Jesus started the “born again” phrase.  Why can’t I use it?”  I’m not advocating that we don’t say born again – our problem comes from our assumption that they will either know exactly what we mean, or that we expect them to feel the weight of these two words “born again” and want to immediately be born-again.

When we look back at Jesus’ question to Nic in John 3:3, we need to recognize that in the verses that follow, Nic doesn’t get it.  He doesn’t understand Jesus’ analogy, even after Jesus provides more explanation.  For Nic, the analogy is clear-as-mud.  So instead of hammering away with the phrase born again, Jesus changes His approach and references an event from Israel’s history, one that Nic would be familiar with:

John 3:15
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”

Nic would have caught the reference to the bronze snake that God told Moses to create and mount on a pole (Numbers 21:4-9).  If someone was bitten by a poisonous snake and they looked at the bronze snake, they would recover.  Nic would have recognized that by looking at the elevated bronze snake, the bitten Israelite would have believed that God would heal him.  This was Jesus’ point – those who looked to (or believed in) Him would have eternal life, just like those who looked to the bronze snake for healing received it.  With His next sentence, Jesus gave the most clear-as-water statement about how to become a Christian:

John 3:16
For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

That statement is what all the analogies and references were getting at.  When we believe in Jesus for eternal life – He gives it to us.  We don’t have to “ask Jesus into our heart” or “give our life to Christ” or pray certain words in a certain order. 

Let’s keep it as simple as He did: Believe in Jesus for eternal life. 

It’s a free gift, with no strings attached and no muddy phrases.  Instead, let’s be clear as water.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Finding hope as the world grows dark

The world news headlines are crazy right now, aren’t they?

Israel is at war with Hamas.  Hostages have been taken.  No one knows if other countries are going to get involved or if it’s all just political posturing.  Protests are happening around the world and people are taking sides, some pro-Palestinian, some pro-Israel.  Everything around the situation is tense.

In the US, Republicans and Democrats can’t get along.  Shocking, right?  But over the last few years, party in-fighting is become just as vicious as the fights that happen between the two major parties.  There appears to be no end in sight for this kind of behavior.

AI is going to take over the planet in the next 10 years.  No one knows how, outside of jokes and memes, but the serious thinkers are quite scared of the potential disruption to nearly every industry.  And let’s not talk about what will happen when countries start using AI against their enemies.

Homelessness is reaching peak crisis levels in several major US cities.  No solution is perfect or simple, and governments who stall will only allow the situation to worsen.  Drugs, crime, mental illnesses, and a variety of other tough topics make the homeless crisis a complicated and disheartening predicament.

Those are just four topics I quickly pulled off of a news app on my phone.  There are plenty more stories to choose from.  National stories, local stories, personal stories…the more we look at the world around us, the harder it seems to find answers.  The more we read or watch the news, the darker the world becomes.  It’s difficult to think through any one of these problems, but to have all of them happening all at once?  Totally overwhelming.

The Sunday School response to all these situations would be to simply say, “Jesus is the answer!” And while many would roll their eyes, scoff at the suggestion, or question how Jesus would deal with the complex issues of our times…what if a person who lived through similarly tough times was making that claim, would it change our response?

I’d like us to consider the life of the apostle John.  He wrote 5 of the books in the New Testament – one gospel, three letters, and the book of Revelation.  John's gospel was likely one of the last books of the Bible to be written. Many scholars date John writing it in the late 1st century, even into the early 90's. Why is that significant? Because by that time, the world had changed a lot since John was following Jesus as a teenager in the early 30's. He lived through the Christian persecution primarily by the Jews in the 40's and 50's, but persecution had become common among the rest of the non-Jewish world as well.  He saw Jerusalem destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD and his people scattered among the nations.  Roman politics would make our current political issues look like playground disputes.  During John’s lifetime, the Roman emperor has changed every 10 years or so, with each one bringing significant fluctuations in personality, rulership, and attitude towards Christians.  Rome was a very pagan country and did not allow any challenge to the emperor’s rule.  On top of all of this, Rome as a country and as a governing body has only gotten stronger during John’s lifetime…and John still writes:

John 1:4-5
In [Jesus] was life, and that life was the light of men.  That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

That's a lot of hope and trust right there. Regardless of the growing darkness John has witnessed, he still points to the light that was not overcome.  In this light, John found life, and he shared it with anyone he could. 

Did John stop the “evil empire”?  No.  In fact, he was exiled at one point.
Did John put an end to persecution? No.  He experienced it himself.
Did John see the restoration of his home nation? No.  Israel was decimated during his life.

However, despite all this darkness, John insists that Jesus shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome Him. 

When we check out the news and look at the problems in our world today, it’s easy to get caught up in finding a human-driven solution to try and fix everything.  It may be counter-intuitive, but following John’s example will bring us towards real resolutions.  John focused on the light, not the darkness.  This doesn’t mean he just fixated on positive, fluffy thoughts and ignored everything else.  His statement above doesn’t allow that.  Instead, John recognized that the light came from the life of Jesus.   

The life of Jesus isn’t something we can simply imitate…we can’t do that in and of ourselves.  However, Jesus will give us His eternal life when we believe in Him for it.  A little later in his gospel, John records this promise of Jesus:

John 3:16
For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

No need to imitate what God freely offers for us to possess.  Believe in Jesus for eternal life, and He gives it to you – it’s as simple as that.  And when you have that eternal life, you can be the same kind of light that Jesus is in the darkness.  The darkness is still there, but we won’t be overcome by it.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

An old story example (part 1)

I don’t imagine that you’ve spent much time reading the Old Testament book 1 Chronicles.  Don’t worry, no judgment here…I’m not in it very often, either.  And if you’re like me, when you read through any Old Testament book, it’s very tempting to just skim past the genealogy sections, right?  So-and-so begat son-of-so-and-so, name-I-can’t-possibly-pronounce had a son with-another-name-I-can’t-pronounce.

However, genealogy sections were vitally important to the ancient Israelites.  Knowing where you came from had significant influence on your social standing.  Even though we can’t trace our own lineage back through those genealogies, that doesn’t necessarily mean those sections are empty of anything useful for us church-age believers.  While there are a lifetime of stories behind each name…oftentimes, there are interesting stories couched in between the lists of family lineage.  As the Apostle Paul said, the Old Testament is available to us for examples and insight into the God who loves us (1 Corinthians 10:11).

So, I want to share with you two little stories I found amongst the genealogies.  I think you’ll find them as interesting and as informative as I did.  We’ll look at the first one in this post and the second one in the next post.  The first story shows three of the twelve tribes establishing themselves in the Promised Land, but the local inhabitants weren’t willing to just hand it over.  As you read the following five verses, look for the reason why the three tribes were successful:

1 Chronicles 5:18-22
The descendants of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 warriors who could serve in the army – men who carried shield and sword, drew the bow, and were trained for war.  They waged war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab.  They received help against these enemies because they cried out to God in battle, and the Hagrites and all their allies were handed over to them.  He was receptive to their prayer because they trusted in Him.  They captured the Hagrites livestock – fifty thousand of their camels, two hundred fifty thousand sheep, and two thousand donkeys – as well as one hundred thousand people.  Many of the Hagrites were killed because it was God’s battle.  And they lived there in the Hagrites place until the exile.

Over 44,000 warriors…that’s a lot of skilled fighters; however, that wasn’t the primary reason they won the battle.  The three Israelite tribes were victorious because they cried out to God in battle…He was receptive to their prayer because they trusted in Him.  Despite their numbers and strength, their winning strategy contained two humility-filled steps: crying out to God and trusting in Him.  Not only did they seek God’s favor and assistance, they were counting on Him to fulfill the promises He had made to all the Israelite tribes (see Genesis 12, Genesis 26:3, Genesis 28:13, Numbers 34:1-12 for a few examples).

Since God had promised the land, the three tribes knew they couldn’t obtain the promise fulfillment without God’s involvement.  After the battle was over and the three Israelite tribes had won and taken control of the land, they recognized that it had been God’s battle all along.

Now, of course, us modern-day believers cannot claim this promise from God.  We’re not Israel, and God isn’t going to move us all to Palestine.  That said…what a great example this is for us…we can take this little snippet of history and be reminded that God fulfills His promises.  God keeps His word.  People may have lied to us.  Others may have let us down.  Our God isn’t like that.  He doesn’t leave us in the lurch.  He won’t forget.  God is good for His word, every time.

So, what promises are you crying out to God about?  What promises are you trusting in Him to fulfill?  We can’t do it on our own, no matter how skilled we are.  If you need a reminder, here are a few to consider:

Matthew 11:28-30
Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take up my yoke and learn from Me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

John 5:24
Truly I tell you, anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

Hebrews 13:5-6
Keep your life free from the love of money.  Be satisfied with what you have for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.  Therefore, we may boldly say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?”

There are many more promises available to us, and I encourage you to look for them as you read through the New Testament.  But let’s take the Old Testament story as our example, alright?  Cry out to God and trust in Him to fulfill the promises He’s made.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Adoption is forever

After adopting a child, it is common for the child to struggle with a fear of abandonment.  Even after being placed into a new, loving home, they experience this nagging apprehension that at some point, the rug will be pulled out from under them again.  In their minds…if their birth parents rejected them (usually for an unknown-to-them reason), then what’s to stop their adoptive parents from one day doing the same thing?

Typically, this fear isn’t something that is clearly expressed.  Instead, it can surface at various points in childhood, adolescence, or even into adulthood.  Some examples include: behavior issues at home or school, hyperactivity, eating disorders, significant difficulties with interpersonal relationships, or even sleep issues.  It is also possible for an adopted child to move toward the opposite extreme – trying to do everything perfect, to be so incredibly “good” in the hopes that their new parents will never have a reason to abandon them.

The bad behavior is what receives the most attention and treatment attempts…but even if the child’s external performance improves, the deep-worry of potential rejection is often not addressed.  An adopted child at the other end of the behavior spectrum is unlikely to have their deep fears discussed, since it would be easy for the new parents to take such “good” behavior for granted.  However, the child’s insecurities are often shown in their depressive or anxious reactions when they do make a mistake.

To quote one adoption expert, “Young children do not understand about the legal permanency of adoption.”  The most impactful response to the child’s abandonment fears, however they are expressed, is a consistent showing of unconditional love and a constant reminder of who they are within their new family.

Which leads me back to thinking about all of us who have been adopted into God’s family.  Do we, too, struggle with a fear of abandonment?  Do we fear not being “good enough” for God to keep us around?  Are our struggles – difficulties with interpersonal relationships, eating disorders, addictive behaviors, outbursts of anger, anxiety, and the like – are these rooted in the fear that God will one day reject us?

I gently challenge you to consider your struggles, and look deeper to see if there isn’t an underlying trust issue between yourself and God.  It’s certainly possible you’ll need help to do this.  Think through this with a friend, talk to your spouse, or speak with a counselor.  We need to be honest with ourselves and determine if our drive for “Christian perfection” or “Christian rebellion” comes out of a deep-seeded worry that God’s love has a limit.

While I can’t walk with you through this important self-analysis, I would like to offer some truth to consider as you explore your heart.  The Apostle John started his gospel with this clear statement of adoption:

John 1:12
But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name

John’s entire book was written to present the clear message of how we become God’s adopted children.  He never mentions any other condition, only to believe in Jesus for eternal life.  He even said so as he closed out his book:

John 20:30-31
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book.  But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

Paul reiterated this point when he wrote to the believers in Rome.  Paul goes to great lengths to explain that eternal life cannot be earned, we cannot do any work for it – it is solely a gift:

Romans 6:23
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord

Later on in the letter, Paul also discussed the historical effects of Israel’s rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.  However, while describing how God hasn’t given up on the nation of Israel, he dropped this little nugget of truth:

Romans 11:29
God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable

Did you catch that?  God’s gifts are irrevocable.  Once He gives them, there are no take-backs.  No returns.  Once God gives you eternal life, He doesn’t retract it.  Once adopted, that’s it…you’re in.  You couldn’t earn your way into God’s family, and there’s nothing you can do that will get you kicked out.

You don’t have to live your rebellion or your perfection out of a fear that God might abandon you.  Once you believe in Jesus for eternal life, the matter is settled.  You are adopted – forever.  You are now part of God’s Forever Family.  This is legally permanent, according to the God of the Universe.

Keep Pressing
Ken

Fully adopted

A common saying in American culture is that “We’re all God’s children.”  This phrase is usually spoken as a soft-voiced platitude when attempting to stop a discussion about someone else’s poor behavior. 

However, we don’t find anything like this statement in the Bible.  Instead, we read that when someone does something wrong – tells a lie, commits murder, or anything in-between – we are revolting against our original design.  The Bible makes it clear that we are creatures living in rebellion to our Creator.  Nevertheless, the Bible does tell us it is possible for us rebels to change sides – for God’s creation to become God’s children.

How that happens was discussed in last week’s post.  We found that Jesus talked about it often, and His disciples echoed the same theme in their later writings.  The Apostle John concisely explained it at the beginning of his gospel:

John 1:12
But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name

When we believe in Jesus for eternal life, we become one of God’s children.  We are adopted into God’s Holy family. 

But after this moment of adoption…then what happens?  Our life’s circumstances are largely the same.  We’re still interacting with the same people we were before we believed in Jesus.  So, how are we supposed to navigate this life now that we are officially one of “God’s children”?

Many authors in the New Testament deal with what a Christian’s life looks like in this new family setting.  Most of the Apostle Paul’s letters are of him answering questions of what God expects His children to do, and Paul gives guidance on how God helps us.  This is especially true for his letter to the church in Rome.  The point of this letter is to tell believers how they can avoid God’s punishment (referred to as “His wrath”) in our lives here on earth.

In Chapters 6-8, Paul honestly discusses the difficulties we face with the internal war between us living selfishly and us living rightly.  It is a conflict between our past way of life – referred to as “the flesh” – and our new way of life – referred to as “the spirit”.  Paul repeatedly encouraged them to make the right choice, and at one point reminded them of the characteristics of the new life they had received when they believed in Jesus:

Romans 8:15
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.  Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”

The Aramaic word Abba would be equivalent to our English word “daddy”.  As adopted children of God, we no longer have to be afraid of God…instead, He has become our loving father, one that we can reliably call out to for help.

For further explanation of how Paul’s Roman readers would have understood this adoption process, here is some additional detail from Manners & Customs of the Bible:

Among the Greeks and Romans, when a man had no son, he was permitted to adopt one even though not related. He might, if he chose, adopt one of his slaves as a son. The adopted son took the name of the father, and was in every respect regarded and treated as a son. Among the Romans there were two parts to the act of adoption: one a private arrangement between the parties, and the other a formal public declaration of the fact. It is thought by some that the former is referred to in this verse [8:15], and the latter in verse 23, where the apostle speaks of “waiting for the adoption.” The servant has been adopted privately, but he is waiting for a formal public declaration of the fact.

In Romans 8:19-22, Paul discusses how the created world has been corrupted by the effects of sin, that even nature longs to be set free.  And then he compares nature’s longing with our own longing to be fully free as well…as you read the comparison, look for his second mentioning of adoption:

Romans 8:23
Not only that [the creation wants to be freed], but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits – we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

When we believe in Jesus for eternal life, the private adoption takes place.  We immediately have full access to our Father, and we have all the access and privileges of being one of His children.  However, the formal, public adoption proclamation has not yet taken place.  At that time, the flesh we currently fight against will be the body that is redeemed.

As we wait for that day, and as we navigate this still sin-soaked world, remember that we have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”  You have every right to do so, and be confident that God always takes care of His children.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

He believed in me

From 2006 to 2009, I was in a musical production put on by my church.  It was an annual play performance which focused on Jesus’ last week, leading up to His death, burial, and resurrection.  It was simply called “The Passion”, and it had been performed for many years.  For the years I was involved, I had the part of Judas.  I had a few speaking lines, and (thankfully) no singing parts.

By the time 2009 came, I was an established cast member, and I looked forward to the start of “Passion Season” which began with rehearsals in mid-January and ended with the last performance on Palm Sunday.  However, unbeknownst to me, this year was going to be different…and much harder.

About a week before our first rehearsal, I was playing a pickup game of basketball.  I had a step on my defender as I cut across the lane – but I felt a sudden pop in my right calf, almost as if part of the muscle had “unplugged” for a moment and went back in.  I went down like someone had shot me.  I got back up, but soon realized that I couldn’t put any weight on my right leg, with the pain and nausea quickly increasing.  A trip to a Quick Care facility and a visit with a Sports Doc a few days later revealed that I had three partial tears in my right Achilles and a small tear in my calf.  If my calf hadn’t torn, it’s likely that I would have had a complete Achilles tear.

Since all three tears were less than 50% across the tendon, surgery was not required.  Instead, I had to use crutches and a walking boot while attending a lot of physical therapy.  When I told “The Passion” director about my injury, he asked if I would be ready to go by performance week.  I assured him that I would be able to perform my part as I had in years past.

As the months went on, I hobbled around the stage in my walking boot, trying my best to work out the blocking and timing of the performance along with my fellow actors.  Physical therapy was exhausting, but I was making progress.  My therapists knew the importance of my part in the play and did everything they could to get me ready, including special pre-performance PT sessions that were akin to an athlete getting specialized treatment before a big game.  All of the showings went very well that year – with over 10,000 people attending altogether.  I still had a little tightness in my right leg, but I was able to manage it in a way that no one would have suspected that I had sustained a serious injury just a few months prior.

During the cast party, I asked the director: “Hey Dave.  I’m just curious, but what was your Plan B if I wasn’t able to rehab in time?”  We had never discussed me having an understudy, so I was trying to figure out who he would have tapped at the last minute if I had a setback or a reinjury.  His answer shocked me:

“I didn’t have a Plan B.  I believed you when you told me that you’d be ready.”

You could have knocked me out of the chair with a feather.  He took the word of a guy on crutches that in three-ish months, I would show up and play a principle character’s part for 10,000+ people to see the most important story ever told.  And he did so without a net.  No understudy.  No backup plan.  Think about the risk he took!  Think about the trust he had in me to fulfill my word!

Dave believed in me. 

This is a perfect example of what Jesus expects from us in order to join His family.  Jesus promises eternal life to those who believe in Him for it.  There are no other conditions.  Not repentance, not turning from sin, not confession, not promising to “do good deeds” or “go to church” or “give money to the needy”.  Over and over again, we see Jesus offering eternal life to those who would believe in Him.  Here are a few examples:

Luke 8:11-12
This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.  The seed along the path are those who have heard and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

John 1:12
But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name

John 3:16
For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 6:40, 47
For this is the will of My Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day…Truly I tell you, anyone who believes has eternal life.

Here are some additional examples with the apostles reiterating this same message:

Acts 11:17
[Peter speaking about the Gentiles:] If, then, God gave them the same gift that He also gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God?

Romans 3:22
The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction [between Jews and Gentiles].

1 Timothy 1:16
But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate His extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

1 John 5:11-13
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  The one who has the Son has life.  The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

There are so many more examples I could have shared, but I think you can see the recurring theme: If we believe in Jesus for the eternal life He offers, He gives it to us.

Jesus is good for His promise.  We don’t need a “Plan B”.  There is no backup plan.  We can trust Him to fulfill His word.

Eternal life is available, all we have to do is believe in Jesus for it.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

An undeserved seat at the table

If you study Scripture long enough, you’ll begin to see that patterns emerge.  Themes about God are repeated at various moments in history.  Prophecies are fulfilled, but sometimes more than once and within different generations.  Oftentimes, God’s actions and stories from others people’s lives in the Old Testament are a foreshadowing of something yet to come.  I was introduced to one recently that I want to share.

King Saul had decided to kill David, whom God had already chosen to be Israel’s next king.  Saul’s son Jonathan was David’s best friend, despite knowing that he – the expected heir to the throne – was being passed over.  At one of their last face-to-face meetings, Jonathan and David affirmed their friendship and that it would continue throughout the generations of each other’s families. 

The Bible never explicitly says how long David would be on the run from Saul, but many commentators estimate that it was between 4 and 8 years.  Eventually, Saul and Jonathan died in a battle against the Philistines, and we learn this about Jonathan’s family:

2 Samuel 4:4
Saul’s son Jonathan had a son whose feet were crippled.  He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel.  His nanny picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame.  His name was Mephibosheth.

As time passed, David became king, took control of the nation, recovered the Ark of the Covenant, and subdued Israel’s enemies.  However, he had not forgotten his promise to Jonathan.

2 Samuel 9:1-5
David asked, “Is there anyone remaining from the family of Saul I can show kindness to for Jonathan’s sake?”  There was a servant of Saul’s family named Ziba.  They summoned him to David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

“I am your servant,” he replied.

So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family that I can show the kindness of God to?”

Ziba said to the king, “There is still Jonathan’s son who was injured in both feet.”

The king asked him, “Where is he?”

Ziba answered the king, “You’ll find him in Lo-debar at the house of Machir son of Ammiel.”  So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.

It was normal practice for the new incoming king to kill off all descendants of the previous king, in order to assure there were no challengers to the new king’s throne.  So it’s no surprise that Mephibosheth (I’ll call him ‘Shef’) was living his life in secret in a place like Lo-debar.  The name debar translates to either “pasture” or “thing”.  Given that the term “lo” is a negative, Shef was hiding in the last place that anyone would look – a place with “No pasture” and “Nothing” to offer. 

Much to Shef’s horror, I’m sure, he was still found out and summoned to the new king’s palace.  It is unlikely that he was alive the last time his father and David spoke.  It’s entirely possible that he did not know what kind of friendship they had.  Although David had told Ziba that he planned to show kindness to him, could he be really sure that was the case?  How much anxiety did he have as he made the journey to Jerusalem?  I can easily imagine him being a sweaty bundle of nerves by the time he arrived in the king’s palace.

2 Samuel 9:6-8,11-13
Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, fell facedown, and paid homage.  David said, “Mephibosheth!”

“I am your servant,” he replied.

“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “since I intend to show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan.  I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul’s fields, and you will always eat meals at my table.”

Mephibosheth paid homage and said, “What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me?”…So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table just like one of the king’s sons.  Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica.  All those living in Ziba’s house were Mephibosheth’s servants.  However, Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem because he always ate at the king’s table.  His feet had been injured.

Shef received unmerited favor from the King.  By the law of the land, King David was not expected to allow Shef to live, let alone give him property, servants, and a place at the king’s table!  Shef had moved from Podunk to the Palace, from mud pit to marble, from nothing to being treated the same as one of the King’s sons.  Shef didn’t deserve this.  He couldn’t have earned his way up to it, either.  Even though he remained physically crippled, he was still welcome.

The parallel I was recently shown is that this is how Jesus treats us.  We’re crippled in our sin-soaked state.  We don’t deserve His favor.  We can’t earn His forgiveness.  And yet…Jesus still offers eternal life to anyone who believes in Him for it.  Once we accept that gift…His unmerited favor…we, too, have a seat at the Father’s table.  We are treated as a child of God, with all the access and privileges for those of that status.

But, just like Shef…we’re still physically broken.  Our bodies are flawed.  The older we get, the more we become aware of that fact.  David couldn’t fix Shef, but one day, God promises that we will have resurrection bodies. 

If you have believed in Jesus for eternal life, take a moment and thank Him for your seat at the table.  Then be on the lookout for opportunities to invite others to join us.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

An unusual God-planned meeting

Not to get all mystical on you, but have you ever felt like God was prompting you to do something or say something to someone? 

Maybe it was obvious, to help someone right in front of you.  Perhaps it was just to be somewhere specific.  Either way, how did you respond?  Did you shrug it off, wondering if you’re a little crazy…or did you actually do it?

Let’s take a look at one time God planned a specific meeting for a specific person…but He needed to get someone else to a specific place in order for it to happen:

Acts 8:26-29
An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.)  So he got up and went.  There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury.  He had come to worship in Jerusalem and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud.

The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.”

This is now the second time we’ve seen God tell Philip to do something.  The first was just to go to a specific area, with no directions beyond that.  While the second direction was a bit more specific, notice that God didn’t tell Philip what to say or how to say it.  Because he acted in both cases, Philip must have recognized that it was God communicating with him.  Philip had such a close relationship with God that he could recognize these promptings.  However, the person Philip found in the chariot might have surprised him.  Not knowing exactly why God sent him here, Philip offers to help the man.

Acts 8:30-35
When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?”  So he invited Philip to come up and sit wit him.  Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this:

He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb is silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will describe his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth.

The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about – himself or someone else?”  Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning with that Scripture.

The eunuch believed in Jesus for eternal life and had Philip baptize him at the next body of water they came to.  At the end of this account, we read that the Ethiopian eunuch went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:39).  We don’t see this man again in Scripture, so we can only guess at what happened when he got home.  I’m certain he told the story of meeting Philip.  A man in his position and influence would have been able to share his experience with many people and…who knows how far into Ethiopia (or even into Africa) the good news about Jesus was spread!  I look forward to hearing the rest of this story when I get to the other side of eternity.

But going back to the start of our story – meeting the Ethiopian man wasn’t part of Philip’s plan for the day.  Since God had to tell him to go to the desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza, it’s safe to say that location wasn’t on Philip’s agenda.  But God desired to reach out to this one man, and by following God’s promptings, Philip was able to partner with God in doing so.

An Ethiopian official worshiping in Jerusalem was not a typical sight – so there must have been others along the way that influenced him so that he was ready to believe in Jesus for eternal life when Philip presented the gospel.  I’m certain there were many people in the Ethiopian’s story that directly or indirectly fueled his curiosity about the one true God.

I hope your relationship with God is as close as Philip’s, so that you can recognize God’s urging in your life.  Maybe you’ll be the one to share the good news about Jesus with someone else.  Maybe you’ll be one of those who helps prepare them to hear the good news at a later time from someone else.  If you’re not sure if you’d recognize God’s promptings like Philip did, then the best way you can develop that is to spend time with God.  Scripture reading and prayer are the two best ways of getting to know God better, a third great way is to hang out with those that know God better than you do.  It's the same approach to getting to know another person – spend time with them and their friends. 

Get to know God better, and you’ll recognize the Holy Spirit’s promptings to meet others where they are.  Who knows whom you’ll meet and how you’ll be able to partner with God?  Well…God does (and that’s kind of the point).

Keep Pressing,
Ken