mt937.com Blog

Sorry it has been so long! I’ve been swamped with this Great Commission Training Center project (www.threetrailsranch.org), our recent “Crush Fear” summer projects (www.crushfear.com) and various other ministry issues. God is so good! I haven’t had the team to transfer notes from my journal to this blog but hope to get it all up sometime later this summer. Psalm 37 has been encouraging me a lot over the last few days, I hope it encourages you too. 1 Cor.10:31.

One of our ministry philosophies is to invest our time and energy in low input, high impact opportunities. The goal of each steward, in the parable of the talents (Mt.25:14-30), was to be faithful with the little they had been entrusted with (Lk.16:10, 1 Cor.4:2) making the most of every opportunity to multiply the talents they had been given (Eph.5:16, Col.4:5). The charge is the same for each of us. A good investor makes a lot of money from a little; a bad investor makes very little or even loses what he had to begin with (Mt.25:29) – it is better to turn $100 into $1,100 than it is to turn $1,000 into $1,100 or to lose the $1,000. It is a peculiarity to me that so many ministers are satisfied with the latter option turning very much into very little more. The American Church model is addicted to high input, low impact ministry, throwing the pearls of our energy and time before the swine of the ineffective and status quo, business as usual with few measurable results (if you can’t name numerous people you’ve discipled and trained who are now multiplying to the next generations you are investing your time and energy in the wrong areas); that type of ineffective ministry results in the minister being trampled under foot and torn to pieces (Mt.7:6 – we’ve all been there!). How many pastors have left the ministry because of being burnt out after years of little visible fruit. We are destined for fruit that will last (Jn.15:16) and if we will but abide in Him, keeping His commandments, we will experience fruit in our work and surpassing joy in Him and our calling (Jn.15:1-12). The harvest is ripe (Mt.9:37-38) and we should expect results; when we don’t see them we should not sow less seed but more, and we should sow it in the right place – people (Mt.13, Mk.4, Lk.8). Everything we do requires time and physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual energy (Col.1:29 – I can either squander my own or thrive with His). The goal is to invest our time and energy in a way that multiplies instead of in things that end on a schedule. If I invest one hour and that hour ends at the end of the hour it is an hour I’ve lost forever. If I invest an hour and that hour continues to multiply for many more hours, I and the work I’m called to grow and win! A good investment makes continuing returns, bad investments make one time returns. So here is how you can determine whether you’re investing your time and energy in low input, high impact ministry or vice versa. Quantify the number of hours you invest in each given area and then evaluate how many lives are changed as a result (understanding that lives being changed has little to do with attendance and much more to do with testimonies – Jesus fled the crowds to be with the few – Mt.15:39, Lk.4:42, etc). An example of a low investment, high impact area of ministry for us is the Soularium outreach. All we do is schedule it and invite our students to help (this takes negligible time and energy) – each week 4 to 6 Christian students get to share the gospel with 3 or 4 non-Christians each. The result is staggering – 4 to 6 of our students grow tremendously (changed forever having learned practically how to share their faith) and 15 to 20 non-Christians are exposed to the gospel (changed forever having heard the good news). All this requires virtually nothing from us and has an immeasurable impact on the ministry, with results that multiply long after Soularium ends (some of these same students are now literally addicted to sharing their faith and we’ll run into them during their free time witnessing around town and several now want to enter full time Christian work simply as a result of Soularium). Comparing that to spending hours dragging people to something they don’t want to be at and won’t remember tomorrow illustrates the difference between each type of activity. The bottom line: if you’re to have the impact and influence He created you for you must start intentionally investing your time and energy in people and in multiplication; that in turn will increase your fruitfulness and preserve you, in the ministry, for the long run. Strategically evaluate which of your ministry activities require and drain you the least yet make a significant impact and do more of those activities; also evaluate which activities require and drain you the most while changing few lives and eliminate those from your schedule. Your time and energy are far too valuable – don’t cast them before swine.

Erin and I were listening to the Cardinal game, the other day, when Albert Pujols hit a grand slam. I jumped and yelled in excitement – I rejoiced. In retrospect, I was quite content the rest of the afternoon. I was thinking about this yesterday and it clicked – I don’t think we’re ever commanded to be joyful; joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit working in me (Gal.5:22-23) and I can’t fabricate joy. I can, however, rejoice and rejoicing in Him is the catalyst for a lifestyle of joy. Rejoicing primes the pump of the work the Holy Spirit is already doing in me. Philippians 3:1 and 4:4 tell me to rejoice in the Lord and to rejoice in Him always. Ps.89:16 tells me to rejoice in Him all day long. Rejoicing in God can’t be an issue of passive anticipation (
“I’ll probably rejoice in God at some point today”) but must instead be a focus of active application (intentional and thoughtful praise). Rejoicing in Him, and doing so always and continually, is a command and God always empowers me for what He calls me to; in other words, it is possible to live life constantly rejoicing in Him. Rejoicing in God makes me happy and gives me joy (Ps.68:3) and Paul described this ability to be content “in whatever circumstances” (Phil. 4:11) directly after the command to rejoice always. Rejoicing in Him involves being glad and joyful in Him (Ps.5, 9, 32:11, 33:21, 35:9, 64:10, 66:6, 97:12, Hab.3:18, Phil.3:1) and if I’m not glad and joyful, I’m not obeying God. Ultimately, knowing that rejoicing in Him is a command, I realize now for the first time ever that I should confess not rejoicing as sin. Rejoicing in Him causes me to flourish (Is.66:14) and I rejoice that He revives, renews and restores me (Is.35:1-2, Ps.85:6). I rejoice in Him by seeking Him (1 Chr.16:10, Ps.40:16, 70:4, 105:3), spending time in His presence (De.14,16, PS.68:4), reveling in His love (Ps.31:7), meditating on Him (Ps.104:34 and remember Heb.3:1), rejoicing in Him and His goodness (2 Chr.6:41) with all my heart (Zep.3:14), in humility (Is.29:19) and in awe of Him (Ps.2:1), praising Him, declaring His character and acts (Ps.9:2, 63:11, 64:10, 68:4, 97:12) and giving Him glory (Rev.19:7). I rejoice in the hope I have in Him (Rom.5:2), in His promise (Ps.119:62), in my savation (Ps.9:14, 35:9, Is.25:9, Lk.10:20, 1 Peter 1:6 and remember Ps.51), in all He has done in my life (Jn.16:2) and all He will do (Is.65:18, Joel 2:21), in all He has given me (De.26:11) and all He will give me (Jer.31:12) my inheritance as His child (Is.61:7). I rejoice in the small things (Zec.4:10) and in sufferings (Rom.5:3, Phil.2:17, 1Peter 4:13) knowing God is using each to make me who He wants me to be. I rejoice that He has the victory (Is.13:3), that Christ is being preached and that His Great Commission is being fulfilled (Phil.1:18) and that my reward is in heaven (Mt.5:12, Lk.6:23). I rejoice in obeying Him (Ps.119:14), rejoicing in all that I’ve put my hand to (De.12). This means I have to have good boundaries with the ministry. Ministry can become so overwhelming that at times I forget about the joy I’m promised in Christ, sacrificing it, so to say, for the “greater good” of the ministry, with a 21st century workaholic mentality. I can’t find my joy in fruit in the ministry (although that does bring me joy), but instead I find contentment in having been faithful with what God entrusted to me. I do my part and then trust the results to Him and that brings me joy – my labor in Him is not in vain (1 Cor.15:58). Finally, and very importantly, I am told to rejoice in my wife (Pr.5:18) and taking time to enjoy my wife and family are vitally important if I’m to experience His joy. “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps.118:24). As I rejoice in Him, my joy is made complete in Him (1 Jn.1:4) and no one can take away my joy (Jn.16:22). I rejoice in Him, but He, too, rejoices in me (Is.62:5, Zep.3:17) and that is worth rejoicing in. Phil.4:4 – “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”

2 Kings 6:15-17 – “When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. ‘Oh, my Lord, what shall we do?’ the servant asked. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” We live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor.5:7) but unfortunately, as long as I have eyes and a brain, my sight struggles for control. Like Elisha’s servant, we know theoretically that God is sufficient but then try to make the math work out in our heads. It is easy to say I trust God and then set my hope on human beings who I believe could solve the problem. When we come to a place where no visible solution is available, hopelessness inevitably sneaks in. That’s actually a good thing though. God has to bring me to the end of all false hope in order for me to recognize the only true hope. He effectively pulls the rug out from under me to keep me from stumbling. My hope for healing can’t be in doctors. My hope for provision can’t be in riches. My hope for peace can’t be in the government. I must trust God rather than men (Ps.118:8-9). My confidence must be in Him, not in my own solutions (Pr.3:5-6). If I’m to walk by faith, I must close my physical eyes, ignoring the odds and look instead at an invisible hope (2 Cor.4:18) asking God to open my spiritual eyes that I might truly see (Ps.119:18). I desperately need what Paul prayed for the Ephesians in 3:14-19, the faith and ability to grasp and understand His surpassing sufficiency. I need to do my part, being faithful with what He has called me to, but then, I must back away and trust the results to Him (Pr.21:31). “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has in store for those who love Him.” (1 Cor.2:9). It is precisely when I see no possible way that God then makes the way. God has to convince me it’s over to show me it’s not. I am in a life process of relationship with Him based on trust and that requires learning to see with spiritual eyes. Some trust in physical remedies, foreseeable answers or expected provision, “but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” (Ps.20:7). He is “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” (Rom.4:17).

Rom.9:2-3 – “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race…” Paul tells us this after spending the last chapter describing the context of our relationship with God – He loved me first, motivating me to love Him too (1 Jn.4:19) and His love now compels me to live for Him (2 Cor.5:14-15). Having a heart for God always develops in me a heart for the lost. If I love God, I will love those He loves and will work towards the same things He does, joining Him in His passion and commitment to seek and save the lost (Lk.19:10). As my heart for Him grows, I can’t help but see people the way He does, with the compassion He has for them (Mt.9:36). Apathy about the spiritual condition and future of the lost is tantamount to apathy towards God Himself. If I don’t share His heart to see the lost one, I likely don’t have much of a heart for Him. If I treat His priorities and commands with irreverence and contempt, I can’t reasonably believe I treat Him any differently. It has been said that we only treat God as good as we treat His Word. I believe that holds true with evangelism too: we only treat God as good as we treat the lost. Ultimately, if my love for God is not motivating me to reach the lost with the gospel, I probably don’t really love Him all that much (Jn.14:15).

Rom.9:1 – “I speak the truth in Christ – I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit.” I don’t think there has ever been a time in history when people were more insistent on reality and honesty. This generation thrives on vulnerability – they want to know what is REALLY happening behind closed doors. That is why reality TV shows are such a hit. Yet so many ministries operate in a context of an aesthetically pleasant and realistically dishonest facade, preaching a social gospel designed to please the hearer (2 Tim.4:3), either actively distorting the Truth or passively neglecting and ignoring its uncomfortable and less pleasant commands, in order to build their congregations (Acts 20:30). 2 Cor.4:2 puts it this way, “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” All God calls us to do is be faithful in speaking His Word to people (Ez.3:16-21), trusting Him with the rest. I can’t pick and choose what to say nor how to say it – I must speak the Truth in love (Eph.4:15) and leave the results to God (Jn.16:8-11).

Rom.8:38-39 – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The reason we are more than conquerers (v.37) is that nothing and no one can separate us from God and His love. I have full security in Him – there’s no way to blow this thing. This verse is written to Christians specifically (it is not stating God’s general love for all people, but instead the security for believers). All of chapter 8 addresses believers, adopted children, and this passage concludes affirming that security and the reality that we can’t be separated from His love. Non-Christians are loved by God – nothing could stop God from loving them, but they are separated from Him and His love (Eph.4:18), their sin resulting in spiritual death (Rom.6:23, Eph.2:1-5) – if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 Jn.2:15). God loves those who do not yet know Him but they are actively disengaged and separated from Him and His love for them. The believer, however, having been adopted into His family (Rom.8:15), is secure in that relationship and can never be separated from Him nor His love (Rom.8:1). I often use the analogy of a rescue (which our salvation is, in a spiritual sense). Imagine you are stranded in a rising river. You are about to drown when all of a sudden, a helicopter appears above and lowers you a rope (on a side note, an imminent rescue is always good news). That helicopter represents your Savior and the rope being thrown to you His grace. You take hold of the rope, by faith (all the faith in the world would have left you drowning in the river had there not been grace provided to you to put your faith in). The moment you lay hold of the rope you are rescued – it is by grace and through faith (Eph.2:8-9). Once you are flying away on the helicopter – in the competent hands of your rescuers – your salvation is completely their responsibility, as ours is God’s (Phil.1:6, Heb.12:1-2). No doubt you could ever have about the helicopter, it’s crew or your now past and already accomplished rescue and salvation would cause them to toss you overboard – similarly, even when we are faithless, He is faithful (2 Tim.2:13). Having trusted Him I now have an inalienable right to sonship (Jn.1:12). Paul describes this eternal security in Rom.8:38-39, with a litany of things unable to separate us from God’s love. Two of these stick out to me. First, the present and the future are powerless to separate me from Him. The present and future include all that I am doing now and all I will or might do in the future. My relationship with God is secure regardless of these variables. Second, nothing in all creation can separate me from Him. That pretty much covers everything – including me, a created thing, and as such, I along with the rest of creation, am unable to end the relationship He started with me – neither I, nor anything else, can remove myself from His firm grasp (Jn.10:27-29). The result of this security is an intrinsically motivated love for Him (1 Jn.4:19) and a surpassing peace in that unity (Rom.5:1). Christians must stop doubting and debating their position as His children and instead revel and bask in the heritage we’ve been assured, enjoying Him daily (Ps.37:4) and living to serve and obey Him out of that love (Jn.14:15).

Rom.8:37 – “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Paul answers his own question from verse 35, saying “no,” trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword will not separate us from the love of Christ. He then continues, saying, that in all these things (trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword) and of course the other aspects of this passage, Rom.7:7-8:17, sin and fear, we are more than conquerers through Christ, the latter part of that verse being the most important part. God reminds us, in Zec.4:6, that it is “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit.” The power to overcome is not in overcoming or trying to overcome in my own strength, abilities or resources (Ps.33:17). I don’t remember ever hearing, at my church or any other, that victory is achieved through taking my eyes off the sin, the need, the problem, etc., and putting them instead on Christ (Heb.3:1, 12:1-2). If just trying harder got me where I am, trying even harder won’t do any better (it will likely just multiply the problem). I must let Him transform me and my circumstances from the inside out (2 Cor.3:18), doing the work He started (Phil.1:6). We are MORE than conquerers through Him – our victory in Him is beyond enough, it is all-encompassing (2 Peter 1:3). As I seek Him first, He does the work (Mt.6:33). “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor.15:57).”

The criticism is that the four different gospels have contradictory versions of the resurrection story. These four accounts each have unique information and different but not conflicting perspectives so some initial confusion is expected; upon investigation it all makes sense. Mt.28:2-4 – The guards at the tomb see an angel move the stone and they fall over as dead. Mt.28:5-8 – The women then arrive and see the angel BUT think it is a young man (Mk.16:4-7 – this is typical in the Bible, for example see the story of the angels visiting lot, Gen.19) and hear from him about Jesus’ resurrection. This brings some joy but they are still afraid (Mt.28:8) and bewildered (Mk.16:7). If this had just happened to me I would be equally confused. At first they are so scared they tell no one but afterwards Mary tells the disciples the body is gone (the young man told them Jesus was risen but they’re all emotional wrecks at this point, as I would be, and have no idea what really has happened – all they know for sure is that the body is missing). Peter (Lk.24:12) and the other disciple (Jn.20:3-9) run to the tomb and find it empty as Mary said; Peter (Lk.24:12) and the other disciple (Jn.20:10) then return home, wondering what was going on (again Lk.24:12). The women, still confused, return to the tomb, as anyone would in this situation, to investigate further and find the tomb is still empty (Lk.24:3). Then, 2 angels appear to them and tell them about the risen Christ (Lk.24:4-8 – Mary was a part of this group). Then, contemplating what they have just heard, they leave searching for the risen Jesus in the garden. Mary is walking ahead of the rest of the group when Jesus reveals Himself to her (Jn.20:11-17). Immediately afterwards, the rest of the group catches up with Mary and they too see Jesus (Mt.28:9-10) and He then tells them to go and tell His disciples. Mary (Jn.20:18) and the other women (Lk.24:10-11) then return and tell the disciples of the risen Christ. Jesus later reveals Himself to His disciples (Mt.28:16-17, Jn.20:19-23), Thomas (Jn.20:26-28), 2 followers on the road to Emmaus (Lk.24:13-49), the Apostle Paul (Acts 9 and 22) and more than 500 others (1 Cor.15:6).

Rom.8:36 – “As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’” How can so many Christians, like Paul, fearlessly look death in the eyes yet daily live lives that further God’s Kingdom in the context of imminent persecution? In Jeremiah 46:28, God tells His people, “Fear Not…For I am with you.” That is a command and He always empowers us for what He commands us to. So much of what I fear will never come to pass. French Philosopher Montaigne said, “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened.” 
Fears are usually monsters in my mind that will never materialize in actuality. Pr.22:13 says, “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside!’ or, ‘I will be murdered in the streets!’” Remember FDR’s wise words, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Fear keeps us in bondage.
Fear keeps us from growing.
Fear destroys confidence.
Fear keeps us from winning. Fear keeps me from being who God made me to be.
In Is.57:11, God asks, “whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me…?”
Who would you be if you had total victory over fear?
What is fear robbing you of?
We have to learn to look fear in the eyes and walk through it, in His power.
Pr.28:1 says, “The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”
He has set us free to be free (Gal.5:1). Ps.23:4 tells me, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” He is my stronghold, refuge and security (Ps.18:2). Mark Twain puts it this way, “Courage isn’t the absence of fear – it is the presence of fear, yet the will to go on.” I conquer fear by Fearing God – that displaces other fear.
Mt.10:28 tells us not to fear man, but instead to fear God.
The Proverbs tell us that the fear of the Lord is the source of knowledge and wisdom, it gives strong confidence, it gives and lengthens life, it gives contentment, wealth and honor, it is better than wealth, it teaches us to hate, depart from and avoid evil, neglecting it results in destruction, it comes by accepting His Words, seeking understanding diligently and looking for it as for treasure, we’re told to be zealous for the fear of God and to fear God always. Proverbs continues, saying that the man who fears the Lord will be blessed and the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
I conquer fear by dying to myself experiencing the power of His resurrection (Phil.3:10). Retired Marine Col. John Ripley, with a few hundred men, held off 20,000 invading troops after being given the orders to “hold and die.”
He described the fearlessness associated with dying to yourself saying, “When you know you’re not going to make it, a wonderful thing happens: You stop being cluttered by the feeling that you’re going to save your butt.” When I fully surrender to Christ and die to my self (my own hopes, dreams, ambitions, desires and even my own life) – there’s nothing left to fear, I’m in His hands. I conquer fear by knowing and applying God’s Word (Jos.1:8-9). I conquer fear by Praying (Phil.4:6-7). I conquer fear by taking a step by faith in the power of the Spirit. Russ Akins puts it this way – “If faith had a feeling it would probably be fear.” I always tell our students to get themselves into a situation where if God doesn’t show up they’re dead. It is in that walk of faith that fearlessness becomes a reality. Chesty Puller and his men were surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops in the Chosin reservoir. He famously responded, “We got them right where we want them now, there’s no way they’re gonna get away this time.” I want to have that same attitude about the spiritual battle around me. I want to be more like Daniel – thrown into the lions den in stead of forsaking God and God protected him. I want to be more like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – thrown into the furnace because they wouldn’t bow, and God was with them and protected them. I want to be more like Esther who said “if I perish, I perish,” then trusted God and God saved the nation of Israel through her courage. I want to be more like Gideon who defeated the entire army of the Midianites with only 300 men. I want to be more like Peter and John in Acts 4 and Stephen in Acts 7 who looked death in the eyes and took a stand for Christ turning “the world upside down.”
 Let’s fearlessly turn this world upside down. He is so worthy of our fearlessly led lives of radical obedience to Him.