DROWNING

I have a healthy fear of the ocean. It’s the darkness of it. The enormous depth. The multitudes of creatures that swim beneath the surface – all capable of killing you instantly.

I don’t mind the shore. In fact, I love going to the beach and walking barefoot in the sand. I love the feeling I get when I hear the ocean waves and take in the endless horizon where waves and sky blur into one. My soul feels refreshed on the shore. I am safe. The dangers are few.

But if I go deeper I risk pain, and death. The riptides have the power to thrust my body out to sea. The jellyfish and the urchin threaten me with their sting. The shark and the eel and the sea snake can end my life with a single bite. Even the gentle whales terrify me with their immense size and power.

One of my earliest memories is of riding on my father’s shoulders as a young boy. He was walking out into the ocean with me on his back. “Are you touching the bottom, daddy?” I asked every few steps. “Yes,” came the answer. “I’m touching the bottom.”

Eventually we were far out to sea. My mom and my grandmother were small specks on the horizon. “Are you touching the bottom, daddy?” I asked again in disbelief. “Yes, son, I’m touching the bottom.”

But then the wave came. It hit us from behind as I was looking back towards the shore at my mom. One moment I was riding on my father’s shoulders in the warm Florida sun, and the next I was swallowing salt water, tumbling over and over again in the blinding foam.

I don’t remember how long I was under. But then I felt my father’s hands grab my arm and pull me to the surface.

My father and I sputtered and coughed as we bobbed on the waves. He was holding me tighter now. Tighter than I can ever remember him holding me before. I looked into his face and saw the fear. The panic subsiding, slowly replaced by pure relief. He started to laugh as his emotions shifted. He had his son back. But in my little heart his laughter sounded like a mockery.

“You lied,” I shouted. “You said you could touch the bottom, but you lied.” Then I started to cry. He pulled me closer and tried to comfort me, but if I could have I would have swum away from him in my anger.

Maybe that’s part of why I fear the ocean? At a young age I tasted firsthand how unpredictable it could be and how quickly it could snatch you from blissful serenity and thrust you into an unexpected encounter with mortality.

Last night I had a dream about the ocean. It threatened to swallow me alive. I felt that same taste of real fear just before I woke up. Then I lay there in the darkness and heard the voice of God in my ear. “I’m calling you into the depths,” He said. I knew that there was danger, and suffering, and pain, and even death beneath those dark waves. “This is not a metaphor. This is not a spiritualization. The pain and the suffering and the death are real.”

For nearly half an hour I lay there and considered these words. I admitted my fear. I confessed my preference for the shoreline, for the sand beneath my feet. I kept hearing the voice of God urging me to follow Him deeper into the dark depths.

The danger is real. The suffering is real. The pain will be real. The death will be real.

“Follow me,” came the voice again.

I got up from my bed and wandered into the den. I dropped to my knees and kept listening. How could I agree to this? How could I refuse? My decision to follow Christ was made a long time ago, but now it was being challenged again.

What if my cross was really about dying? What if following Jesus actually meant letting go of everything; my wife, my sons, my safety, my own breath? What then? What now?

I can tell you that my response was not immediate. I can tell you that the answer wasn’t automatic. My one request was for my sons. I wanted to know that they would continue to walk with Jesus after I was gone. I couldn’t ask the same for my wife, because I didn’t know if my decision was something we might experience together or not. But if she remained behind, my prayer was that she would be comforted.

It is God’s mercy that I do not know exactly what I am saying yes to. If I knew exactly then there is a very good chance that I would never agree to following Him that far. All I asked was that Jesus would go with me and that He would meet me in person when the ocean sucked that last lungful of air from my body.

This time I know that my Father has me in His grip. I know He will never let me go. I know that He can be trusted to carry me all the way home, safe at last to that other shore.

One last breath…

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TRUTH IS A PERSON

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

When Jesus said “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” he was not making any general statements about the power of truth to improve the quality of our lives in any generic sense.

In other words, Jesus is not suggesting that the phrase, “Yes, those pants DO make your butt look remarkably huge” has any power to set us free. Truthful statements are not what makes us free. If that’s what Jesus meant he would have said, “Speaking the truth sets you free” or “Hearing truthful facts will make you free.” But that’s not what he said. He said, “You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”

So, what was Jesus implying? He was saying that Truth is a person, not a statement or a fact. His actual statement was related to being someone who follows Him – a disciple. If, Jesus says, "you hold to my teaching” (or take my words seriously enough to actually try putting them into practice), then you will be my disciples, and if you are my disciples..."then you will know the truth”.

So, being a follower of Jesus is a pre-requisite for “knowing the truth.” If you know this person, Jesus, (who is Truth) then he will make you free.

He makes it much clearer when He says:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

See? Jesus is the Truth. The truth is a person. Not a fact. Not a statement. The truth is a living, breathing person that you and I must get to know. Why would we want to get to know this person? Because if we know this person, He will set us free. How do we know Him? We start to follow Him and become a disciple. We become someone who actually tries to put his teachings into practice in our lives. Then we will know him, and then we will be set free because we have entered into a relationship with the truth.

“So, if the son sets you free, you will be free, indeed.” (John 8:36)

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THE GOSPEL: TO GO!

Back in August of 2012 I receive an email (see below) from Randy Legassie. He's a Canadian missionary teaching in a training school for pastors in Kenya, working with an independent African-based denomination which has done some significant evangelism in the past - from about 40 members in their inception in 1947 to well over a million in five different East African countries today.

Randy asked me if he could use my book, "The Gospel:For Here or To Go?" as a curriculum to train these pastors at the school in Kenya. They don't have the money to purchase individual copies of the books for each student, so Randy asked if they could have permission to photocopy the PDF version and pass them out to the students.

Of course, I gladly said "Yes!"

Today, Randy emailed me to let me know that they started their class this week and that 11 of these students have received a copy of my book (literally, a photocopy because they don't have the funds to purchase these books), and they are beginning to use it to train them to share the Gospel of the Kingdom in their community.

I'm so blown away!

Not sure how God will use this resource in the future, but already this same little book has been translated into French (also in Canada) so there's a great potential for it to reach many others.

Here's the email I first received from Randy in 2012:

I downloaded and read your ebook, The Gospel: For Here or To Go?...and found it a very helpful tool for understanding the reality of evangelism today. That is important because I am a Canadian missionary teaching in a training school for pastors in Kenya, working with an independent African based denomination....However, they too are discovering that the old ways don’t work and are struggling to find how to get the message out. One of the courses I teach is evangelism and I have been exploring the cultural shifts and talking about ways to do evangelism that are bout effective and Biblical. I would love to be able to use your book as a text when I next teach the course in January but there is a problem.

Although the denomination is big, they are a rural-based denomination, which in East Africa translates as poor. The students don’t have money for texts, let alone computers and tablets. I was wondering if I could have permission to print out your book and make a photocopied version for each student—in January, I anticipate 9-10 students, with a another class of 22 coming the next year. I have access to mission funds for the photocopying.

I work with Canadian Baptist Ministries (cbmin.org) and am currently teaching at the Eastern Kenya Integrated College in Mitaboni, Kenya. EKIC is owned and run by the Africa Brotherhood Church, with its headquarters in Machakos, Kenya.

Thank you, first of all for your book, from which I will be drawing ideas for the course (with appropriate citations, of course—I also teach ethics) and for your consideration of this request.

Randy L.

**

Here is the email I received from Randy this week:

 

Hi, We have begun our term here in Kenya and I distributed copies of your book to the11 students in my evangelism class.

 

They were excited to receive them and wanted me to thank you for allowing them to have this resource. Our students are poor as is the denomination and this book represents a valuable resource for them.

 

I will let you know later in the term how they respond to the book, Thank you again for your permission to use the material.

 

-Randy Legassie .

**

 

I'll be praying for these eleven students as they go through the book and learn how to share the Gospel of the Kingdom in Kenya.

 

BONUS VIDEO:

African Brotherhood Church in Machakos, Kenya

 

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THE WORD OF GOD IS A PERSON.

When we read about “The word of God” in the new testament, this isn’t usually a reference to the Bible or to scripture but to a person who is known as “The Word of God” or Jesus, the Messiah.

There are a few references where Jesus talks about the Old Testament scriptures as “the word of God” but those are the minority. Often, the term “word of God” is used to describe the sharing of the message of the Gospel, but in many instances the term is used to talk about a person, not a book that (at that time) had not been written yet.

For example:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” (John 1:1-4)

This verse, obviously is equating the "Word of God" with God, but then we read:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Now the "Word of God" is being identified as someone who became flesh and made his dwelling among men, namely, Jesus.

These verses below are also examples of the phrase "Word of God" being used in reference to a person (Jesus):

“Then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

In this verse, the "Word of God" can't mean "the Bible" because it wasn't written yet. At least, not the parts being referred to here (i.e. "the Gospel").

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:11-13)

Probably the most overly quoted verse about the "Word of God" and usually in the context of written passages (the Bible) instead of what it was meant to - a person (Jesus).

Jesus is "alive and active". Jesus "penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, etc." Jesus is the one who "judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." A book can't do those things, even a book as awesome as the Bible.

“I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” (1 John 2:13-15)

Again, the "word of God" that lives in you and me is not a book. It's a person and that person is Jesus.

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.” (Revelation 6:8-10)

People were not put to death because of the Bible. They were persecuted for faith in the person of Christ, who is the word of God.

“He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.” (Revelation 19:12-14)

In case there was any doubt, we are told that Jesus' name is "the Word of God." We also see that John, who writes the most about this subject, affirms that he is exiled for his faith in Jesus, not because of a book that hasn't been written yet:

“I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 1:8-10)

So what? You might ask. Why does any of this matter? Because the apostles wanted us to understand that it was important to have a relationship with a person named Jesus, not with a book that they were in the process of writing down.

Jesus even warns us not to fall in love with a book, even with the Scriptures:

"You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me, but you refuse to come to me for eternal life." (John 5:39-40)

The Word of God is a person. His name is Jesus. Get to know Him.

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LOVE IS A PERSON.

Love isn’t a concept. It’s not a feeling. According to the Bible, love is a person, and that person is God.

In the first epistle of John we read:

“The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-9)

“God is love, and the one who abides (lives) in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:15-17)

As I was reading through the first epistle of John recently I realized that there’s not much debate about the topic of love. See, once you establish that God is love and then you point out that we are commanded by Jesus to love one another, and to love those who do not love us in return, there’s only one thing left to do – love others.

Debating love and analyzing love and creating a strategy for love is mostly useless. Other than actually practicing love, there’s not much else to do about it. Maybe that’s why there are so few debates about these little epistles by the Apostle John?

So, God is love. This means that love’s origin is God. Apart from God there is no love. And by “love” here we do not mean the earthly, selfish, conditional love that most of us have grown up with. No, we mean the ultimate expression of love that is expressed in the Greek language as “Agape”. It is a love that is unconditional. It is a love that is based on the character and nature of the One who is loving, not on the one who receives that love.

In the Gospel of John, penned by the same author, we read where Jesus proclaimed:

“If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

Paul places an exclamation point on that by saying:

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:8-10)

That means that if God is love, then Jesus is also love.

So, to know “love” we have to get to know the person, Jesus, who is love incarnate.

It also means that if we are like Jesus, then we will be loving as He is loving. That’s why He said, “They will know that you are my disciples (followers) if you love one another.” (John 13:35)

When we obey Jesus in this area of love we declare that we belong to Him, and we also express to Jesus that we love Him in return.

Love is not an emotion. It is not a feeling. It is a person. His name is Jesus. Get to know Him.

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WHY I HATE GOING TO CHURCH

It would be very easy to post a very long list of reasons why I hate going to church, but the main reason is that “going to Church” is a sad excuse for “being the Church” and those who follow Christ are called to be the Church, not to attend one.

In other words, “going to Church” involves having a meeting about Jesus. Whereas “being the Church” involves meeting with Jesus and allowing Him to do the speaking, the teaching, the leading and the directing.

Going to Church is about assigning people specific functions, and often involves compensating them financially to do so, while the majority of people sit and observe them.

Being the Church involves every single person using the gifts that God has provided them with to serve one another, where no one person is considered greater or smarter or more spiritual than anyone else. In fact, we’re all equally miserable apart from Christ, so our desire to meet with Him and to hear from Him is magnified because we understand that without Him leading us, and teaching us, and speaking to us, we are completely hopeless.

Jesus did not die for an organization or a business model. Jesus died for a people (ekklesia) that He could call His own. He wants relationship. He wants love. He wants to be known. Most of us can relate to that.

God made us with the ability to know Him, and even placed a craving within us to seek Him out. He is not far away. He wants us to find Him.

This is exactly what the New Covenant was all about – “I will be their God and they will be my people.” [Hebrews 8:10]

What people need most today is not religion. They do not need another Church. They need Jesus. They need to meet the God who would rather die than live without them.

Forget going to Church. Go to Jesus. Be the Church. Embrace your identity as the Bride that Jesus died to redeem. 

Learn to hear His voice. He wants to speak to you. He wants you to experience the kind of life you could only dream about. That life is found only through knowing Jesus.

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I FORGIVE

It’s one of the very hardest things in the world for most of us to do – Forgive.

Yet, Jesus commands us to forgive others, and not only to forgive them, but to forgive them in the same way that we have been forgiven by God. That’s a lot of forgiveness. In fact, it’s complete forgiveness that let’s go and forgets, as if the wrong doing never even took place.

But that’s not all that Jesus has to say about the topic. I hope you’re sitting down for this.

Jesus actually says that he won’t forgive us if we don’t forgive others.

Yes. He really does. Right here:

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." - JESUS (Matthew 6:14-15)

Whoa Nelly. Is Jesus suggesting that his forgiveness to us is conditional? I’ve never once heard a single sermon on such a thing in my entire life. How can that be?

Perhaps Jesus is forgetting that "if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness"? (1 John 1:9)

And what about the fact that the Psalms tell us that "as far as the east is from the west, this is how far he has removed our sins from us"?(Ps 103:12)

What’s Jesus talking about here? How can he say that we can’t be forgiven of our sins unless we first forgive others of their sins against us?

The reason is very simple: Unforgivness is a sin.

So, if we hold a grudge against someone, that is a sin. If we refuse to repent of our sin, and if we do not stop practicing this sin of unforgiveness, we cannot be forgiven of it.

In order to receive forgiveness, we have to honestly confess our sins to God and we need to repent of these actions which hurt our relationship with God - and which also hurts us as well.

As hard, or even as impossible, as forgiveness can sometimes be, we have to learn to forgive anyway.

“There is someone that I love even though I don’t approve of what he does. There is someone I accept though some of his thoughts and actions revolt me. There is someone I forgive though he hurts the people I love the most. That person is me.” - C.S. Lewis

See, this is why Jesus also commands us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Because we give ourselves permission to do horrible things and still consider ourselves worthy of forgiveness and mercy. That means we need to love others enough to consider that they, also, are worthy of being loved and forgiven and shown mercy.

Now, the truth is, we are no more “worthy” of forgiveness than anyone else is, including the ones who have harmed us. But Jesus doesn’t give us any room to argue. Our forgiveness is tied to our forgiveness of others.

Let’s repent of the sin of unforgiveness and extend the same grace and mercy and love that we want so much for ourselves.

Forgiving others unlocks you from the prison of bitterness. It also sets you free to receive God’s forgiveness.

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PARADISE EARTH: WHAT IF THE MAYANS WERE RIGHT?

Anthony Mathenia has survived the apocalypse and he's written a book about the experience.

Perhaps I should say that Anthony has survived an apocalypse of faith as a former Jehova's Witness, and his new sci-fi book, Paradise Earth, is an allegorical re-imagining of his experiences as told through the eyes of someone who survives the apacalypse.

His book, an intriguing exploration of ruined society and enduring humanity, adds an interesting twist of faith on the subject.

In his own words, Anthony shares his inspiration for the book and what readers can expect to find between the pages of Paradise Earth.


What inspired you to write a post-apocalyptic story about faith?


I was raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses and remained an active member until I was disfellowshipped for apostasy -- questioning their practices and doctrine. Because of my religious upbringing, faith has always been linked with the apocalypse. Like a lot of people, I believed my religion was absolute truth. And like a lot of people, I started asking difficult questions later in life that I was unable to get answers for. As part of this questioning process, I began to wonder what if everything a person hoped for was false, and if it was, what that would do to the individual. As I write in the novel, "The problem with expectations is that in the end we don’t always get what we hope for."


Also, the apocalyptic setting mirrors the themes. Paradise Earth is about personal death and rebirth. Just as the earth is "born again" through a cataclysm, so too the narrator is reborn through his own trial.



Was it painful to return emotionally to your experiences as a JW?


Definitely. Writing Paradise Earth was an act of personal catharsis. It was an attempt to encapsulate thirty years of life in a high control religion and put it into perspective. In many ways Day Zero is a distillation of Jehovah's Witness beliefs. It follows a lot of ugly tendencies to their logical conclusion. It's horrific at times. For example, it's one thing to believe that God is going to slaughter everyone on the planet, it's quite another to live through it. Within the story, the narrator begins to understand what is written in Amos, "Woe to those who are craving the day of Jehovah!"



How autobiographical is this book?


I think Paradise Earth: Day Zero is very true to the Jehovah's Witness mindset if not the exact experiences. Their homogeneity of beliefs it a matter of organization pride. One of the reasons I chose not to name the main character in this volume, was to allow him to exist as a proxy for any number of Witnesses, struggling with doubt and holding onto a fading hope for the future. I definitely see echoes of my own crisis of faith in him, but his experiences are unique.




Do you see this book more as an allegory of escape from cultic deception or as a metaphor for an individuals survival and escape from adversity in general?


Personally, I think it would be a mistake to characterize this as just a novel about getting out of a cult. As the first volume of a series, Day Zero contains an element of that, but it is simply the starting point of a much bigger journey.


In that way it mirrors what I found in my own life. At the same time I was put out of the Jehovah's Witness religion, I discovered that many others were also leaving other institutional churches. This movement among Christians was well documented in George Barna's book Revolution. However, I think it is bigger than that. I even see the rise in atheism among the young as a reflection of what is going on. We are going through a time period where people are willing to leave indoctrination and start asking questions. I'd like to hope that we all end up with some answers.


It will become more clear in the next two volumes, but ultimately Paradise Earth is a story about ditching all sorts of mental barriers to make a more pure connection with something bigger.



Was it challenging to sell a book about life as a JW after the end of the world?


Surprisingly, no. I shared the manuscript with Curiosity Quills Press and they were very enthusiastic about it. They recognized that it had much broader appeal, beyond former members of a niche religion. Once I was assured that they would give me the room to tell the the story I needed to tell, I was happy to sign with them.



What sort of responses have received from readers.


I knew that those with a Jehovah's Witness background would get this story. The welcome surprise is how this book has been embraced by those from other backgrounds. They have recognized that I'm actually telling a very human story. They have pointed out that even if the intricacies of the religion are unique, the actions and feelings and emotions of its adherents are very familiar. And even though this book has an undercurrent of spirituality, I have had great response from the non-religious. It is very accessible for thinking persons of all sorts. That is exciting!

How can people buy this book?

 

The book is available in print and various ebook formats from online booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

 

What might readers expect in the next two volumes?
Paradise Earth was originally conceptualized as one novel, but early on I made the distinction to break it up into three parts. The entire work acts as contemporary retelling of Genesis creation narrative. Day Zero is prehistory, or "in the beginning" as in the Bible. The next volume is Week One, just after the apocalypse, and it will follow the congregation as the new world reveals itself. They certainly have their own idea about their paradise earth, but they may find that it doesn't perfectly match up to the reality of a destroyed world. That volume aligns with creation days one through six. The final volume, Forever After, acts as the day of rest. I won't spoil it, but I'm hopeful for a happy ending. In short the next two volumes will offer more grim horror, but not without some optimism. As in many of my novels, the light always overcomes the darkness.

 

**

About the Author
Anthony Math­e­nia is a nov­el­ist and free­lance writer. He is the author of Hap­pi­ness: How to Find It and Par­adise Earth: Day Zero. His travel writ­ings have appeared on vagobond.com and other places. His works deal with themes of the search of per­sonal iden­tity and the lib­er­a­tion of the human spirit from oppres­sive high con­trol groups. He grew up in a reli­gious cult and sin­cerely apol­o­gizes for wak­ing you up on Sat­ur­day morn­ings in order to recruit you.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Paradise Earth

When the ground quakes and blaz­ing balls of fire fall from the sky, a reli­gious sect inter­prets it as the ful­fill­ment of long-held prophe­cies fore­telling the end of the world. The mem­bers flee to their reli­gious sanc­tu­ary, believ­ing that this global cat­a­clysm is the por­tent of a new par­adise of eter­nal happiness.

Inside, one cold and starv­ing man strug­gles to hold onto his hope for the future. He’s sac­ri­ficed every­thing for his faith in the prophecy, includ­ing his fam­ily.

As the tor­tu­ous night drags on, he strug­gles to hold onto his hope for the future and grap­ples with a life­time of beliefs, and expectations.

If he sur­vives to see the par­adise earth, will it be worth it?

Par­adise Earth is a decon­struc­tion of faith at the end of the world and beyond. The first vol­ume of the tril­ogy, Day Zero, was pub­lished by Curios­ity Quills Press on Decem­ber 21, 2012. Week One and For­ever After will follow.

CAN GOD "DVU" THE WORLD?

Translator Lee Bramlett was confident that God had left His mark on the Hdi culture somewhere, but though he searched, he could not find it. Where was the footprint of God in the history or daily life of these Cameroonian people? What clue had He planted to let the Hdi know who He is and how He wants to relate to them?

Then one night in a dream, God prompted Lee to look again at the Hdi word for love. Lee and his wife, Tammi, had learned that verbs in Hdi consistently end in one of three vowels. For almost every verb, they could find forms ending in i, a, and u. But when it came to the word for love, they could only find i and a. Why no u?

Lee asked the Hdi translation committee, which included the most influential leaders in the community, “Could you ‘dvi’ your wife?”

“Yes,” they said. That would mean that the wife had been loved but the love was gone.

“Could you ‘dva’ your wife?” Lee asked.

“Yes,” they said. That kind of love depended on the wife’s actions. She would be loved as long as she remained faithful and cared for her husband well.

“Could you ‘dvu’ your wife?” Lee asked. Everyone laughed.

“Of course not!” they said. “If you said that, you would have to keep loving your wife no matter what she did, even if she never got you water, never made you meals. Even if she committed adultery, you would be compelled to just keep on loving her. No, we would never say ‘dvu.’ It just doesn’t exist.”

Lee sat quietly for a while, thinking about John 3:16, and then he asked, “Could God ‘dvu’ people?”

There was complete silence for three or four minutes; then tears started to trickle down the weathered faces of these elderly men. Finally they responded.

“Do you know what this would mean?” they asked. “This would mean that God kept loving us over and over, millennia after millennia, while all that time we rejected His great love. He is compelled to love us, even though we have sinned more than any people.”

One simple vowel, and the meaning was changed from “I love you based on what you do and who you are,” to “I love you based on who I am. I love you because of Me and not because of you.”

God had encoded the story of His unconditional love right into their language. For centuries, the little word was there—unused but available, grammatically correct and quite understandable. When the word was finally spoken, it called into question their entire belief system. If God was like that, and not a mean and scary spirit, did they need the spirits of the ancestors to intercede for them? Did they need sorcery to relate to the spirits? Many decided the answer was no, and the number of Christ-followers quickly grew from a few hundred to several thousand.

The New Testament in Hdi is ready to be printed now, and twenty-nine thousand speakers will soon be able to feel the impact of passages like Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, ‘dvu’ your wives, just as Christ ‘dvu’-d the church.…” I invite you to pray for them as they absorb and seek to model the amazing, unconditional love they have received.

As God’s Word is translated around the world, people are gaining access to this great love story about how God ‘dvu’-d us enough to sacrifice his unique Son for us, so that our relationship with Him can be ordered and oriented correctly. The cross changes everything! Someday, the last word of the last bit of Scripture for the last community will be done, and everyone will be able to understand the story of God’s unconditional love.

Article by Bob Creson.
Reprinted from Wycliffe inFocus

*READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE>

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Have you ever noticed that Jesus never really answered anyone’s questions? In fact, his usual response to a question was to ask another question of his own. This behavior suggests that Jesus is quite comfortable in the presence of people who ask questions. So much so that He would seemingly rather send people away still clinging to their questions than to enlighten them on the spot and provide the answers they seek.

This is in stark contrast to the Church today which seems to relish the idea of providing answers to people, even if those people aren't asking any questions.

I can’t help but wonder what might happen if Christians shifted their tactics from providing verbal answers to everyone and instead started behaving more like Jesus. What if we simply invited people to get to know Jesus for themselves. See, Truth isn't information. Truth is a person. Jesus is the Truth, and that means that to know Truth (the person) you will have to enter into an ongoing relationship with Him.

However, one might also expect to not ever completely “know” the Truth completely. That is because Jesus, the person, is also God, and that means that Truth cannot ever be fully and completely known on this side of eternity. And I kind of think that this is how Jesus prefers things. Because, based on what we can observe about Jesus, he seems to prefer the company of those who lack wisdom and are hungry for truth, rather than to spend time with those who believe that they already have all of the answers and only want to broadcast the solutions to everyone around them.

If I'm honest, I've spent a lot of my Christian life trying to be the guy who has all the answers. The Pharisees had all the answers too. They loved the status that being an "answer person" gave to them among all the seekers around them. However, the people around them still had questions, apparently. Because when Jesus shows up they ask Him a lot of questions. The funny thing was, when Jesus refused to answer their questions but instead gave them another question to consider, they looked at Him as someone who had authority that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law (the ones who supposedly had all the answers) did not have.

I can remember hearing someone at a conference ask a question of the speaker. I knew the answer and I was expecting to hear this person explain everything, but instead the response given was, "That is a great question. I'm sure we'll explore that as we continue throughout our day."

At first I wanted to raise my hand and provide the answer. But, thankfully, I held back. Afterwards I went up to the speaker and I asked him why he hadn't answered the man's question. He looked at me and said, "Because the answer to that question is a key to the Kingdom. I can't give it to him. He needs to find it himself."

Later that day this same man raised his hand again and began to share what the Lord had been speaking to him about this same subject. As he spoke he started to break into tears. Those around him began to pray for him. He had found the key to the Kingdom. It was beginning to turn in his heart. 

Maybe that's why Jesus loves questions. He loves to reward those who earnestly seek Him. He loves to show Himself to people who are hungry and thirsty for His presence. 

If you could ask Jesus one question, what would it be? Knowing that He is likely to never answer that question, what do you think your response should be? How can you search out the answer for yourself? 

Maybe, the answer is to get to know the "Truth" (the person) a little better?

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THE GOSPEL: FEAR OR FULFILLMENT?

I can hardly believe it, but there are Christians today who are not convinced that preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ is as effective as preaching a gospel of fear, and fire, and eternal suffering.

If I hadn’t heard it myself, I wouldn’t believe it, but when a Christian brother responded to my assertion that the Gospel is “Good News” and that it’s about finding fulfillment in the marvelous person of Jesus by arguing that no one really needs Jesus today because they have great jobs and nice cars, I was flabbergasted.

Now, when I say that the Gospel is about discovering real life in Christ, I’m not talking about health and wealth or money in the bank. The life that Jesus came to give us was His own life. In fact, the life He gives us is the only real, actual “Life” in the universe. What we call “Life” today is simply existence and temporary breath. So, to say that those without Christ do not “need Christ” because they have “great jobs and nice cars” is to miss the point entirely.

Not only is it wrong for a Christian to miss the real hunger and desperation that every human soul experiences without Christ, it’s especially sad to think that we Christians might miss the extravagant treasures of Christ ourselves and settle for a God who is distant and two dimensional.

Never mind that most of us have come into Christianity by way of a Gospel that dealt mainly with our selfish desires to escape eternal torment, and that emphasizes the transactional elements of the atonement rather than the relational experience of knowing and loving Jesus with all of your heart, and all of your soul, and all of your mind.

Or, maybe we shouldn’t disregard that? I think that Christianity in America suffers from a serious misunderstanding of the Gospel message that Jesus himself came and died to preach. That Gospel was not about saying a prayer so that you could go to heaven when you die. No. The Gospel that Jesus preached and that the disciples preached was about the Kingdom of God which was wide open to anyone and everyone here and now.  It was a Gospel for the living, not only for the day after you die.

On New Year’s Eve I spent some time sharing this with a brother in Christ who affirmed my convictions about the glorious riches of Christ. As someone who has spent some time dealing with his own issues, and has found Jesus at work in the recovery community, he agreed that people without Christ are desperate for all the things that are found only in Him. “Instead of trying to scare people into submission to Jesus, we should offer people the only true source of peace, of love, of life, and of hope," he said. "Those are the things people are dying for today. They need those things right now, not later on after they’re dead.”

Amen? Is Jesus the best thing in your life? Are you constantly in awe of His goodness? His faithfulness? His astounding love? If so, then share that same “Good News” with everyone around you who has yet to discover this marvelous, vibrant, extraordinary person we know as “Jesus”.

“Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” – (Eph.3:8)

Let's not reduce Jesus into a one-dimensional tool for escaping hell. He's so much greater than this. He is our example, our friend, our Good Shepherd, our daily bread, our High Priest, our Intercessor, our brother, and our Lord. We are compelled by scripture to love Him, to serve Him, to seek Him, to know Him, to obey Him, to follow Him, and to declare His excellent greatness to every creature.


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THE POWER OF WEAKNESS [Print Edition] Now Available

I'm excited to offer the all-new print edition of my book, "The Power of Weakness", which includes two new chapters and a Foreword by author Ross Rohde (Viral Jesus) along with updated chapters.

THE POWER OF WEAKNESS by Keith Giles

Price: $9.99

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE ONLINE>

Ships in 3-5 business days

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Ever wish you could be a great man or woman of faith like you read about in the Bible? Turns out, God loves to do extraordinary things through ordinary people. In this book, author Keith Giles explores this Kingdom principle of the power of weakness in the lives of people like Moses, Gideon, Samson, Solomon, Peter, Paul, and even Jesus, to help us understand how we can unleash the same "power of Christ" in our own lives.

BOOK RELEASE PARTY:

For my Orange County friends, I'm planning a book release party in mid-January. Details on that soon. 

RESTING IN THE ONE WHO RESTS IN ME

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matt.11:28)

As I've been reflecting lately on the Sabbath rest of God that we are promised in Hebrews chapter 4, and throughout the scriptures, it has occurred to me that this idea of rest isn't just about us.

Our resting place is in Christ, but where is God's resting place?

“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?" (Isaiah 66:1)

We know that when King David wanted to build a house for God he was told that God would build Himself an acceptable dwelling place, and He promised to accomplish this through the Messiah who would come from David's lineage.

But when Jesus arrived there was already a very glorious Temple standing in the center of Jerusalem. So, what Temple did Jesus build? He built the acceptable house "not made with human hands" that is made of "living stones" - the Church. We are the temple of God. We are His resting place.

"In that day the Root of Jesse [the Messiah] will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious." (Isaiah 11:10)Where does God dwell? In His Father's House, or in the household of God, which is the Church.

"I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15)

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household." (Ephesians 2:18-20)

"Christ is the Lord over his own house, whose house we are if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end." (Hebrews 3:6)

So, while you and I find rest in Christ, the beautiful symmetry of this is that God finds His rest in us.

"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode (dwelling) with him." (John 14:23)

The beautiful thing, to me, is that I am resting in the One who is resting in me. His greatest desire is to find a home in my heart, and my joy is found in resting within His loving arms.

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." (Revelation 21:1-3)

You and I were made to provide an acceptable resting place for the Creator of the Universe. He has prepared a place for us within Himself where we can know we are loved and at rest.

Together, we rest in one another.

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WILL WORK FOR REST

“Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:11)

The author of Hebrews makes reference to another paradoxical Kingdom concept in this passage when he says that we who have received the promise of God and heard the Good News of the Gospel need to work as hard as we can at entering into God’s rest.

At first blush, it seems strange to emphasize the need to work hard, or to “strive” (as some translations render this word), in order to receive God’s promised Sabbath rest. But, from a Kingdom standpoint it really does make sense. Let me try to explain.

This specific verse comes after a series of thoughts that originate in chapter 3 about how the sins of disbelief and disobedience keep us from entering into God’s promised rest. But there are two additional concepts that the author introduces in chapter 4. One is that we need to rest from our own works, (as God rested from His works on the seventh day), and that we should rest in His finished work (which was accomplished by Christ as our Messiah upon the cross). Or, as he says:

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:9-1)

So, there are probably about three kinds of rest being discussed here; the rest of God on the seventh day of creation, the rest from our own works to achieve salvation, and the rest that is accomplished by Christ for those who place their trust in Him. Or, if you will, for those who are resting in His finished work upon the cross.

So, why is it that we are encouraged in verse 11 to “make every effort to enter that rest” if the whole point is to rest from our own works and to enter into the Sabbath rest of God?

Perhaps what the writer is trying to tell us is that it’s hard work to remain in this place of resting on God’s finished work. Most of us are very accustomed to doing stuff for God. It’s very difficult for us not to define our Christianity by all the things we do for God, i.e. - “Didn’t we cast out demons in your name?”, etc.

When Jesus went to the home of Martha and started to teach his disciples, Martha’s sister Mary famously stayed in the living room with the men and sat at the feet of Jesus instead of helping out in the kitchen. When Martha eventually complained about this, Jesus responded by saying that Mary had chosen the best and most necessary thing by sitting at his feet and listening.

Now, taking this passage in Hebrews into consideration we can see that Mary was working very hard to remain at the feet of Jesus. Think about how difficult it was to stay there with Jesus when she knew that a woman’s place (especially in that male dominated Jewish culture) was in the kitchen. Imagine how hard it was to ignore the clash of dishes and the exasperated sighs of frustration coming from her sister in the next room? When you reflect on all of these factors, you can see how hard it was for Mary to strive to remain at rest near the feet of Jesus rather than to get up and go to work in the kitchen with her sister Martha.

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)

So, while we need to rest in the finished work of Jesus, we also need to strive to resist the temptation to work for things that are already accomplished for us by Christ.

As if that weren’t hard enough, (or perhaps it’s simple, depending on your perspective), the writer of Hebrews ties all of this together with the concepts of being obedient to Christ and how putting our faith into action is part of what qualifies us to receive this promised rest. At the beginning of chapter 4 he begins by saying:

“For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest…” (v.2-3)

And he concludes in verse 6 that:

“…those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience…”

So, to put it all together, we should obey the Lord Jesus (which sounds like working, I know) in order to enter the Sabbath rest of God which is all about giving up on our efforts and work in order to rest in Christ and His finished work.

Got it? Probably not.

See, I believe this is actually a seemingly paradoxical Kingdom principle, one where we obey Jesus by resting in His indwelling presence, and we enter into His rest by resting in Him. Or, to flip it around, we do not make the mistake of working hard to gain something that Jesus has already given to us.

It’s disobedient for us to continue working for God’s approval or favor when He’s already declared it finished. We don’t keep trying to drive nails into a house that’s finished. We don’t keep trying to paint a masterpiece once it’s hanging in the gallery. That’s foolishness, and it’s technically vandalism.

We need to trust that Jesus really does love us, and that He really does live within us, and that we have already received the promised rest because of what was done before we ever even knew His name.

What’s really hard work for most of us is to hang on to that perspective and not allow anyone to take it away from us. We are already loved. We are already filled with God’s presence. We are already the children of God. We are already resting in the finished work of Christ.

Let’s rest in Him and take upon ourselves that easy yoke and that light burden that is offered to those who trust in Him. Let’s remember that without Him we can do nothing.

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LOVE INCARNATION

I was reflecting on Jesus’ statement in Matthew 25 that the “least of these” are the ones that He identifies Himself with the most. And then it occurred to me that if we (the Church) are the hands and feet of Jesus, (actually His Body in this world), then we are Jesus whenever we go out and serve and love the “least of these” around us.

So, that means we are Jesus to the least, and the least are Jesus to us in that holy moment of loving and giving and serving and receiving His love.

 

Maybe that’s why I love serving others so much? It’s where I feel most like Jesus, and it’s where I meet Jesus in the faces of others, and it’s where Jesus meets me as I share His love with those He most identifies with in this world.

 

But that’s not all. I also started to ponder the term “the least of these” that Jesus uses to describe the poor, the broken, the imprisoned, the outcast, the immigrant, and the hungry. What did He mean by that phrase? Does Jesus really consider these people to be “the least” among us? Are they second class citizens who are only fit to be pitied and fed like helpless puppies? I doubt that very much. Especially since Jesus says that they are somehow the embodiment of Himself in this world.

 

The “least of these” are like Jesus. So, does that mean that if we consider the poor and the immigrant and the imprisoned to be “less than” the rest of us, this is how we really feel about Jesus?

 

Maybe what Jesus really meant by the phrase “the least of these” is that they are, like Him, worthy to be loved and honored as fellow human beings?

 

We know that Jesus left His throne in Glory and stepped down into humanity to become not only “one of us” but intentionally poor, “taking on the form of a servant”, “he became nothing” (see Philippians 2) and, on purpose, placed Himself into the womb of a poor, peasant girl named Mary.

 

This same Mary who was amazed that God would be “mindful of the humble state of his servant” (see Luke 1:48), and who couldn’t afford to bring the required Lamb sacrifice into the temple when it was time to dedicate her son, but had to bring two doves instead – the caveat made for those who could not afford a lamb. (see Luke 2:22-24 and Lev.12:8)

 

We have to remember that in the Kingdom of God things appear upside down to us. It’s not that they really are upside down. It’s this world and our way of thinking that needs to be turned right side up.

 

So, when Jesus says that the poor are “the least of these”, He’s using language that our untrained minds can comprehend. He wants us to be sure that we know exactly which people He’s talking about; He means “the poor in the eyes of the world.” (see James 2:5)

 

But those whom we call poor are, in actuality, the rich in God’s economy. They are the blessed ones. They shall be filled. They shall inherit the Earth. They shall receive the Kingdom of God. They will laugh. They will be satisfied.

 

You know who really are "the least" among us? The rich. The proud. The famous. The self-sufficient.

 

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets." (Luke 6:24:26)

 

Remember the poor. They are the VIP’s in God’s organization. They are the very ones that Peter, James, John and Paul all agreed they should always remember whenever they went out to preach the Gospel or to plant new churches; something that Paul "had been eager to do all along." (see Galatians 2:10)

 

When we follow Jesus’ commands to love and serve the poor, we enter into a holy communion established between Jesus’ hands and feet (the Church) and Jesus’ heart and soul (the least of these).

 

We get to be Jesus to the least, and the least get to be Jesus to us. This is all part of God’s amazing plan to destroy the evil systems of greed and selfishness in this fallen world; to overcome evil with good, and to confound the wise with foolishness.

 

Don’t miss your chance to love subversively and overthrow the powers of darkness with compassionate acts of sedition today.

 

Let the Kingdom come!

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THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT

“…For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13)

While many Christians are quite familiar with this verse above, we tend to separate the very last sentence from the rest of the context in which it is said. We simply say:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)

I used to believe this verse meant that whatever I wanted in my life, God would make it happen if I just had enough faith. Instead, the verse is saying that God will give me the faith and the strength I need to be happy and content – even if He never gives me what I’m asking for.

See, in the original context, Paul is talking about being content in every situation – whether in plenty or in want. He is not trying to tell us that we can do anything we like as long as we have enough faith. Usually we quote this scripture as a mantra for getting the things that we hope God will allow us to have. But, when Paul talks doing all thing through Christ he's speaking of trusting God so completely that his circumstances have no effect on him. His peace is not dependent upon his circumstance. His confidence in God is not changed by the environment he's in. He is fully resting on God and his joy is not influenced by what people say about him or how much money is in his pocket.

A better paraphrase of this verse might me: "I can endure anything life throws at me, even if I never get my way or live out my dreams, because the power of Jesus lives in me and all of my hope is in Him alone."

Now that is more like it. Paul wants us to understand that he’s discovered a real secret of the Kingdom of God. It’s how to endure suffering and to be filled with joy no matter what our circumstance might be.

Elsewhere, Paul revisits this secret contentment, saying:

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Tim. 6:6-10)

Here, Paul flips things around to make a point about how our lack of contentment can rob us of our joy and plunge us into “ruin and destruction.” So, what should we do? We should strive to love God and to obey Him and to be content with all that He has already provided in His mercy.

I remember praying to God once for an incredibly lucrative opportunity to come my way. As I reasoned with God about this I said, “God, I know I don’t deserve this blessing…” and then the thought immediately came to me, “You’ve never deserved any blessing in your whole life.” So, then I changed my prayer in midsentence and said, “Ok, God, I just ask you to open this door for me, if it’s your will.”

Our attitudes should be the same about the blessings we receive from God. If we have food and clothing that should be enough for us. Everything else is a bonus.

There’s another popular verse of scripture that we tend to divorce from its contextual relation to contentment:

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Take the inverse of this statement for a moment and you’ll see how powerful it really is. What if the author of Hebrews had said, “God may leave you and forsake you one day, therefore you’d better grab as much money as you possibly can and continually seek after more and more.”

If we are always seeking contentment in our stuff, or in getting rich, what we are saying with our actions is that we do not trust God.

The fact that God won’t leave us and will never forsake us is meant to teach us to let go of our stuff and  to trust Him with everything. Only those who doubt God’s faithfulness and enduring love will seek security in the things they own.

See, God has promised to never leave us or to forsake us. Therefore, let us rest contentedly in our Father’s arms knowing that He is right here with us and that He has nothing but the best in mind for those of us who love Him and place our trust in Him alone.

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