Tested by Defiance

1 Samuel 17:24-25

Our enemies will defy us, and sometimes our friends will, too! Goliath defied the army of Israel – out of a proud and evil spirit. 1 Samuel 17:25 says, “So the men of Israel said, ‘Have you seen the man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel...’ ”

Defiance can be defined as everything from outright insubordination to passive lack of cooperation, from boldness in the face of evil to insolence toward servant leaders. The fruit doesn’t always indicate the root. There can be different causes for the same kind of behavior.

A wise leader discerns what type of defiance they are up against when people resist their leadership. There are emotional processes at work between people that can cause people to react to one another, like ice bergs colliding in the sea – the biggest issue is often what is unseen in the area of emotions and sensitive areas of ego and identity.

Sooner or later, you will meet a person who will defy you, or you may feel you must defy a person. The temptation is see defiance only as sinful rebellion, and not see more deeply what causes the rebellion, or what role we might play in provoking a person to rebellion and defiance. Most importantly, a discerning leader prayerfully discerns how God wants them to respond to the someone they see as defiant. Below are ten examples of ‘defiant’ behavior in the Scriptures, and ten different motivations for people’s defiance to leadership.

Ten kinds of defiance:

1. The Goliath defiance – deceived, evil defiance

2. The John Mark defiance – youthful, homesick defiance

3. The David defiance – sexual compromise defiance

4. The Absalom/Micah defiance – wounded child defiance

5. The Saul defiance – insecure leader defiance

6. The Jonathan defiance – wise leader defiance

7. The Bethsheba defiance – discerning spouse defiance

8. The Barnabas defiance – “stand up to a pushy leader” kind of defiance

9. The Apostles defiance – resisting ungodly leadership defiance

10. The Sloth’s defiance – the defiance of a lazy man

Courage and Security

Someone wrote to me after listening to my 3 minute podcast on Saul and his struggle with lack of courage and deep insecurity. I wrote back with some practical suggestions that have helped me on my journey. Here they are:

1. I cried out to God for revelation of his love for me as a father and for understanding of who I was to him...

2. Godly men laid hands on me and prayed for revelation and for healing from deep wounds and insecurities - and kept on praying for me over time

3. I started on a journey of exploring the Father's love through prayer and scripture meditation. I took hold of my place in Christ by faith as Paul describes in Ephesians 1 and Romans 5:17b

4. I started identifying lies i was believing about myself and started speaking God's truth over my life. A great help to me at that point was the book, The Search for Significance by McGee. I saw lies in that book that I had been believing.

5. I prayed every day for a new revelation of the spirit of adoption and rejoiced in it by faith.

6. I learned every day to confess negative emotions to God that I had toward people - hostility, fear, hurt, jealousy - and to receive by faith the Father's love. I learned to confess the sin of negative emotions without condemning myself but as simply the result of working through my heart issues.

7. I got involved in reaching out to others with the gospel - it is impossible to get over insecurity and lack of courage without going on mission with God to make him known to others all around us. Boldness and courage are the result of obedience, not the other way around.

I hope this is helpful. I describe these processes in much more detail in my books, The Father Heat of God and Finding Friendship With God.

Samuel Style Leadership Versus the Saul Style of Autocratic Leadership

A lot of people have written to me in the last few days asking me to share more about the Saul Syndrome. Rather than focus on a negative leadership style, I would prefer to share about the positive strengths, the life-giving strengths, of Samuel's leadership, and in the days and weeks to come, I will write and podcast more about David's leadership. I have learned a lot about the strengths of Samuel in his interactions with Saul and David in first seventeen chapters of 1 Samuel. Below are some of those qualities, what I am calling the "Samuel Style" of leading. Samuel was a man trained in God's School of Leadership. He was a man who responded early to the voice of God - and he not only obeyed God, but he internalized that obedience into an inner security and confidence that allowed him to lead in a godly, confident, strong style of leadership.

1 and 2 Samuel is about leadership.... and 1 Samuel 17 is a unique and special chapter about leadership. David followed in the footsteps of Samuel...he followed in the footsteps of his mentor, in the “Samuel Style” of proactive leadership. The “Samuel Style” of leadership teaches us that leadership is primarily a mindset, an attitude, a healthy self-confidence that is imparted to others. People can hold a leadership position, but without this mindset, a person becomes a keeper of the prison walls, not an innovator and creator and liberator with God.

The Samuel Style type of leader is someone who has clarity about his or her own God given life purpose and goals, and therefore, someone who doesn’t become confused or lost in the emotions of others swirling about them. The Samuel Style leader is a person who can separate from others while remaining connected to them, they have their own identity but can connect to the hearts of other people by respecting them, engaging with them in healthy debate, loving them, and seeing their strengths – as well as their weaknesses. Samuel Style leaders build bridges of loving respect between themselves and other people.

A Samuel Style leader has a healthy self-confidence in the sense that they know who they are and what they want to do in life. That enables them to maintain a Godly, emotionally healthy perspective on what God is up to in their nation, their culture, their city or neighborhood, their church and their work or family. They don’t get thrown off-balance by the emotional issues of others, including those who are corrupt or violent or victims. They are able to manage well their own responses to the responses and reactions of people. Therefore, they are able to take stands at the risk of displeasing others without becoming manipulative. No one does this easily, but most leaders who are healthy, inspiring leaders ...do this ...and continually improve their capacity to do it.

When a self-directed, initiative taking, imaginative person is consistently being frustrated and sabotaged by others around them, like Saul did to David, we can be sure they are surrounded by Saul-Syndrome people who are highly anxious risk-avoiders. They are fearful, insecure, reactive, and anxious. These are persons who are more concerned with good feelings than progress and breakthroughs...they hold others hostage by the “victim” mentality of their culture, often because they themselves are being held-hostage by victims.

David was a man who was not a prisoner or victim of the armies raging against his nation, nor was he a prisoner of other people’s insecurities and relational issues, nor of the giant who was defying him and his people. He was not held hostage by the overpowering presence of fearful leadership modeled by Saul. David was a leader, a confident, imaginative person who followed the example of Samuel.

Samuel Style Leaders:

1. Confident in themselves – they know their own goals and purpose

2. Permission giving to others

3. Values based – Samuel style leaders don’t rely on rules and policies but values and relationships, they don’t try to control behavior but teach values behind behavior

4. Positive and encouraging - Samuel style leaders see the potential in others, like a young David, people that others overlook

5. Lead by an inner sense of what God is saying to them – and encourage others to hear God for themselves as well

6. Not sabotaged by the relational issues of other people – they carry on obeying God and pursuing the goals they have in life and don't let the emotional swirl of unhealthy relationships around them undermine them

7. They don’t make the problems of others their problems, and they don’t allow others to make their personal problems their problems

8. They take responsibility for themselves and allow others to do the same Samuel learned his style leadership even though God placed him under Eli, a weak and ungodly older leader. Samuel learned true submission, not the doormat kind of doing anything a leader asks of you without thinking for yourself.

Godly submission is an attitude of respect, honor and willingness to serve another person. SUBMISSION IS NOT being CONTROLLED, but submission doesn’t have good fruit in our lives until we can obey leaders when we disagree with them, without making a big fuss about it.

Healthy submission allows us to connect to the heart a leader and follow what they ask of us out of respect for them. Submission is not blind obedience, but an attitude of honor and respect. With this kind of submission, you can submissive, or what God has called you to do.

If a leader is an autocratic, controlling leader, at some point, God frees us from that leader, like God freed Samuel from Eli and freed David from Saul. We can tell the difference between godly, strong willed, assertive leaders like David and Samuel, and a controlling, autocratic leader like Saul, by contrasting the lives of Samuel and Saul, or contrasting the leadership style of Saul and David. Just because a leader is assertive and strong willed does not mean they are controlling.

Both Samuel and David were strong leaders who expected submission, but they were not controlling leaders. The qualities of a Samuel Style leader I describe above will help you set goals for yourself for being a healthy, confident, godly leader, and not a controlling leader. Being secure in who you are in Christ is the most important thing you can do to be that kind of leader.

How Do You Recognize A Leader That Can Change a Nation?

By human standards, David was not qualified to be a leader. He was too young, too untrained, too “wrong family”. David became a warrior...but his tender spirit was his defining trait (See The Maxwell Leadership Bible, page 340). David was defined as a man by two things:

• tender heart - he spent time alone with God in tender intimacy to build a personal relationship with God

• tough spirit - he was made tough and could fight God’s battles as a warrior that God could call on to fight his battles

David began his leadership journey as the last of the family hierarchy, the one on the bottom. While his brothers looked down on him, God lifted him up. When his family bypassed him, God did not. God sees who you are, God sees who we are as a nation, and he doesn’t forget his promises to us. God sees the young leaders He wants to bring out and He uses you and me to do that. God uses intentional relationships to disciple His future leaders.

David’s life demonstrates this truth: faithfulness in small things is rewarded by God, faithfulness in physical things - for David that was taking care of the sheep - is rewarded by spiritual rewards, and faithfulness serving another man’s plans and vision, is rewarded with your own spiritual responsibilities to take care of for God. Faithfulness results in larger assignments of influence and greater responsibilities of leadership.

David grew into a warrior one step at a time: he first fought the lion and the bear, then he fought Goliath, then the Philistines. And that is still how he grows young leaders, one step at a time, one battle at at time.

How do you recognize a David in our midst? 1 Samuel 16

1. Don’t look at good looks - verse 7

2. Don’t look at his family or race - verses 8-11

3. Don’t look for existing recognition - verse 8-9

4. Don’t look at his past - verse 11 (keeping the sheep)

5. Don’t look at what others look at - verse 3

God On Mute

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" What an alarming question for God to ask God. No word from heaven. No miracle. No sign except the darkness itself in the middle of the afternoon. Jesus legitimatized for all-time the need we have for exclamation. He demonstrated that the explanation may not come when we think we need it most. Although we will never suffer In the way Jesus did on that day, there are Good Friday seasons in all our lives when pain, disappointment, confusion or a sense of spiritual abandonment may cause us to ask God the ultimate question, "why?"

Pete Grieg, from God on Mute

God on Mute is one of the best books on prayer. I love Pete's honesty - it is one of the most authentic books ever written.

People Group Definitions

Below are some important definitions to help us think about making disciples of all nations in Africa.  A people group is a distinct tribe, ethnic group, or race. Examples in Africa are the Fulani, Xhosa, Hausa, Yoruba, Oromo, Berbers, Larim, and Somali’s. There are 100 million Arabs in Africa, and over 65 million Berbers. There are 30 million Hausa in Nigeria, Ghana, Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Sudan and Ivory Coast. There are 30 million Yoruba in Nigeria and Benin.

- An “unreached people group” is a people group that does not have a sufficiently strong church among them to evangelize every person within their tribe/race/people. For a people group to be reached, a reproducing church must be planted in that group that is strong enough to evangelize every person in their group.

- An “unevangelized people group” is one where every person has not yet heard the gospel in a language they can understand. For a people group to be evangelized, every person must hear the gospel.

- An “unengaged, unreached people group” is one that no one is committed to reaching with the gospel. For a people group to be “engaged”, some person or some other people group or a church must commit to reaching that people by planting a growing, multiplying indigenous movement of churches among them.

- There are 926 distinct unreached people groups in Africa’s 55 countries. There are approximately 1.1 billion people in Africa. Over 300 million people in Africa are Muslims who have never heard the good news of Jesus. 

The Gospel of the Kingdom

Introduction: In the inter-testamental time, the time between when Malachi was written and Matthew wrote his gospel, there was no prophet to speak for God – or from God. During this time, a longing grew in the hearts of the people of Israel, a longing not only to hear from God, but also for God to rescue his people. The longing of the people was likened to the time when David reigned. His kingdom was a time when:

1. Their enemies were defeated

2. Worship was restored

3. Their was peace and prosperity

In the writings during this period of time a phrase was coined, words were found to express the longing of the people of God. They spoke of a kingdom to come that was liked David’s kingdom, but far greater than David’s. They called it the “kingdom of God…”

When John the Baptist appeared suddenly, prophesying and speaking for God, there was great rejoicing. The people asked him if he was the one who was going to usher in the “…Kingdom of God…” His response:

“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”Matthew 3:11

So when Jesus came striding on the scene, and spoke these words,

“The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

The people knew what Jesus was saying. The time of their waiting was over. God was getting ready to break in and deliver them. They believed…

1. Their enemies were going to be defeated

2. Glorious worship was going to take place in Jerusalem

3. A time of unparalleled peace and prosperity was going to break loose upon them

Each of the three gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, begin with this story. The disciples made the connection. God sent a prophet to prepare the people for one ushering in the kingdom of God. Jesus was the one who had come to deliver his people.

But then things went bad. The one who preached the kingdom, who stirred their hearts to great heights of expectation, disappointed them. The very Roman soldiers he was supposed to overthrow, arrested him. He was killed on a cross, where Moses said blasphemers and law breakers were to be put to death.

The Great Misunderstanding: the kind of kingdom God was setting up. They wanted a power kingdom, a kingdom that would free them from the Romans and feed their stomachs.

The Greater Misunderstanding: the kind of king who ruled in the kingdom of God.

The people of Israel thought the messiah king was coming once. They did not foresee that he would come two times, first to introduce his kingdom, then to finally establish his kingdom. They believed when Messiah came he would set up his kingdom on earth. Period. End of Story. The age of the future would suddenly invade this age, and history would end.

The spiritual leaders of Jesus day believed the kingdom of God was coming for them, to bless them, to prosper them, to set them free. They did not see it as a kingdom for others, a kingdom for the poor, the powerless. They did not see themselves as the oppressors that God’s kingdom was against.

What kind of kingdom is the Kingdom of God? 

• The kingdom of God is an already – and a not-yet kingdom. We live with tension: the king has come but has not fully come. He came as a servant, he will come as a mighty warrior. He heals sicknesses, but we still live with disease and death. He defeated Satan, but he still prowls around, seeking people to devour. We live in this tension of being between…most theological error comes because people try to force the kingdom to fully come NOW. Demand healing NOW, they demand Satan be bound NOW, they demand prosperity NOW, they demand gay marriages be banned NOW.

• The kingdom of God is an under kingdom – not an over kingdom. There is no such thing as a Christian nation NOW. We have two glaring examples of that not working in our immediate past: South Africa and the United States.

• The kingdom of God is a grassroots kingdom – not a skyscraper kingdom. There is an incredible growing, grass-roots movement taking place all over South Africa. I find it in every town and city in this nation. People caring for those impacted by AIDS. Job schemes. Savings clubs. Housing initiatives. Business training programs. Not a few, scores, hundreds, maybe thousands of tens of thousands. Examples:  Out side Durban in a squatter camp a small band of young people living among AIDS impacted people. Mama Gladys in Port Elizabeth. A home for babies in Johannesburg. Every church is involved. Many business people. Living Hope in Cape Town. A white family moved into Mamelodi, then bought a burned out school building and now run a home for disadvantaged children. A Professional hunter named Rufus in the Eastern Cape who attracts clients from America so he can take them into the villages of the Transkei.

• The kingdom of God is an every day kingdom – not a one day a week kingdom. Bill and Ann Eames – Hope Crafts. Neil and Mandi Hart in PE.

• The kingdom of God is a full time kingdom – not a part time kingdom. Wendy Ryan – journalist who started a sewing class, that turning into a business that has grown out of control.

• The kingdom of God is a church based, disciple making kingdom – God sends his church into every sphere of life to advance the kingdom by making disciples and transforming society through life on life discipleship. The church has it’s greatest impact will goes into the world, not by asking the world to come to it. It is an incarnational kingdom...

• The kingdom of God is a horizontal kingdom – not a vertical kingdom. John Broom – retiring from Meadowridge Baptist now meeting with businessmen who are burned out and fed up with hype and religion but want to do the kingdom. Sunday church is half-time, and the game is played all week in the market place, the education classroom, the government office, the sports field, and in the factories, mines, and offices where people meet people

Conclusion: What is happening in this country could gain enough momentum to transform the whole nation. What does that kingdom based, discipleship oriented , local church driven transformation look like? Not power and control over the government, not erasing all sin and passing laws to control the hearts of the unredeemed, but life on life influence, small communities of faith, and large celebrations of believers celebrating what god is doing all week long in their lives.

What it does mean is a movement Jesus followers, spontaneously growing and multiplying, led by ordinary people who are making disciples, gathering in homes and shops and soccer fields and schools, equipping leaders, and planting simple churches that are not dependent on buildings or theological specialists.

Transformation means a grass roots movement that becomes so pervasive you can change laws because you have changed so many hearts.

Transformation means servant leaders who lead by example, by their tireless efforts to serve and uplift the poor and oppressed.

Transformation means a change in the way people treat each other. A transformed South Africa is a South Africa where crime goes down because poverty has been removed from our nation, every family has a home, every child has a decent education, and every person has a job. Transformation means Christians get off their back sides and form street committees to watch out for each other, not waiting for big brother to do it for them.

Transformation means …

-       Holistic not dualistic spirituality

-       Apostolic not hierarchical leadership

-       Simple every day church, not complicated, performance church

-       Incarnational not attractional mission

-       Membership through belonging not just believing

I am amazed how many people believe in the priesthood of the believer, church is people not buildings, and God calls us all to obey the great commission, yet fall back into old paradigms of mission and church as soon as the conference finished.

God wants your life to make a difference now. Don’t wait for permission to do something, you have been given the power to do something!

Change

Change. Few people like it. Except those who thrive on change, such as visionaries, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. In today's world, change is normal due to the rapidly expanding availability of information on the internet and the global nature of the world economy.

There are three dimensions to change:

Arena of change - the circumstances

Agenda of change - what God wants to do

Agents of change - The people God uses to bring about change

We often confuse the three. We can blame people, the agents of change, when God is actually using people, even our critics or enemies, for his agenda. In Acts, God used Roman emperors to bring about change in the church. Circumstances can be an agent of change, such as health, death in the family, a job loss, and other factors in life. Difficult circumstances can bring us to the river's edge: shall we take the risk and cross over, or do we wait for the current to die down and go forward slowly on safe ground? Perhaps, we don't go anywhere... just stay here where is it is predictable and safe?

Examples in the book of Acts of the arena, the agenda and the agents to bring about God planned change:

- Acts 4:1-35

- Acts 6:1-8

- Acts 7:54 - 8:8

- Acts 16:6-15

Discernment is required... do you have grace to carry on? What is God up to?

Some questions to ask as you wrestle with the question of transition and change:

Are you experiencing the peace of God’s spiritual fruitfulness where you are?

Are you utilizing your God given spiritual gifts to be the person God created you to be?

Have you lost grace for your present circumstances?

Are you experiencing a "holy frustration" that is preparing you for a transition to the "other side of the river?"

Are you reacting to the agents and arena of change in your life?

Randy Alcorn on Heaven

"We must work to resist the bewitching spell of naturalism.  Sitting here in the dark world, we must remind ourselves what scripture tells us about heaven.  We will one day be delivered from the blindness that separates us from the real world.  We'll realize then the stupifying bewitchment we've lived under."

Randy Alcorn, "Heaven"

Randy Alcor on Heaven

"The truth is exactly opposite of naturalism's premise… in fact the dark worlds lamps are copies of the sun, and it's cats are copies of Aslan.  Heaven isn't an extrapolation of earthly thinking; earth is an extension of heaven, made by the Creator King."

Randy Alcorn, "Heaven"

Saul's Rebellion and Rejection as King

An individual, a family, a local church congregation, and a nation can lose their calling and and forfeit their destiny if they rebel against the Lord long enough and consistently enough. 1 samuel 15 is an example of God withdrawing his calling on a man’s life, and the impact God's judgment has on the nation. It is one thing for a nation to sin, but it is another matter for the church to sin against their nation by ceasing to pray and believe God for their nation. The United States and South Africa are both in great danger, not mostly from of crime and corruption or moral decay in society, but from Christians who run in fear or speak in criticism against their nation and it’s leaders.

Notice the progression in Saul's great failure and removal as the king of israel:

1 Samuel 15:1-3 - detailed obedience is required of Saul in a very tough assignment of discipline and standing against evil.

1 Samuel 15:4-9 - partial obedience is disobedience in God’s eyes; Saul saved the best for himself

1 Samuel 15:12 - Saul erects a monument to himself. Disobedience leads to deception and self-exultation.

1 Samuel 15:11 - Saul is rejected by God to be king

1 Samuel 15:12 - Saul lies to Samuel about his sin

1 Samuel 15:15 - Saul blames the people for his lack of courage of conviction

1 Samuel 15:17 - Samuel acknowledges that one of the problems is that Saul suffers from inferiority and insecurity, “though you are little in your own eyes...” but he is still responsible: “were you not head of the tribes of Israel?”

1 Samuel 15:20-21 - Saul again blames his followers for his fear and disobedience

1 Samuel 15:24 - Saul acknowledges the root of his sin was the fear of the people and that he obeyed their voice, not God's voice.

1 Samuel 15:26-28 - Samuel declares that on that day, Saul has lost his kingdom, and God is now judging him for his sin.

1 Samuel 15:33 - Samuel slays the king that Saul was to have killed

1 Samuel 15:34-35 - Samuel never saw Saul again to the day of his death.

1 Samuel 15:35 - The Lord was sorry that he made Saul king.

With sadness, I can clearly remember when the Lord removed me from leadership. I was a young man, barely 29 years old, when God spoke to me in a time of turmoil and division in our community, and said because of my impatience and harshness toward people, he was removing me from leadership. My period of service to the Lord was ended, there and then.

For three hours I wept before the Lord, knowing my heart was more like Saul's than like God's heart. I felt God's displeasure, that he was sorry he had made me a leader over the people I was serving. I was impulsive, defensive, angry, and demanding of people. God was displeased with me. With this revelation, I repented deeply, I asked God to forgive me, and while I was in that place of brokenness, after three hours of repenting, the Lord said to quietly to me, "Now, I will restore you". It was a turning point for me. I experienced the sober reality that God is serious about obedience and about serving His people with the right heart.

The Saul Syndrome

Can a leader or nation lose their calling and destiny? 

There is more than one example in Scripture of this happening. King Saul in the Old Testament is but one example. Saul suffering from a pattern of inner brokenness and outer rebellion that caused him to lose his kingship. He suffered from what I call the "Saul Syndrome". Here is how it works… a vicious cycle of in security and rebellion: It starts with a lack  of identity, which leads to deep inferiority, which produces cycles of crippling insecurity, which results in rash acts of impulsiveness, which deepens into independence and rebellion = the Saul Syndrome cycle, one inner issue leading to another, and to another.

1 Sam 9:2, 10:23 - There were two polar extremes in Saul, the flesh and the spirit battled for control in his life; Saul lost the inner battle but won the leadership prize through outer appearance and stature; he was tall and good looking, he possessed charisma of personality, but inside he was insecure and lacked identity of who he was as a man of God.

There are seven consequences of the Saul Syndrome: 

Contagious lack of courage - Both courage and cowardice are like a virus; the people catch what the leader carries in his or her heart. Saul would not fight Goliath, but David did - 2 Sam 23 - David inspired the armies of Israel to fight, but Saul inspired them to inaction and fear. Where a  leader with courage leads, people follow.

Fearing what the people think, leading to acts of religious piety to impress people. Without courage it doesn’t matter how good your intentions are. See 1 Samuel 15. Saul offered burnt offerings to the Lord, but it was an act of disobedience and cowardice - he tried to impress the people, not obedience to the Lord. The sacrifice the Lord requires is a sincere heart and a broken spirit.

Running from opportunity. Godly courage empowers you to do what you are afraid of doing in the natural - Saul hid among the baggage when it was time to time to come forward to be anointed king - 1 sam 10:22

Jealousy of others. But where there is courage, we break free of the slavery of insecurity and possessiveness. Saul was jealous of David because of lack of inner courage and confidence in who God had called him to be.

Indecisive. When leaders have courage the people will have commitment.  There are some decisions leaders make without hearing God tell them to do it, it is simply the courageous thing to do. Those kind of decisions are the result of inner core values birthed in a person through testing and trial, and staying close to God.

Fear of letting go of the past to embrace change and a new future. A leader with courage will let go of the familiar to face a new future.

Disloyalty in relationships. The Saul Syndrome produces unreliable leaders.

"The 10 Second Rule"

The snippet below isn't something I wrote - just something that really resonates with my heart so I wanted to share it… A simple rule for a revolutionary life!

“What does it actually mean to follow Jesus? Simply put, it means to believe Jesus’ message and obey it. So, why is it we don’t obey more often than we do?

Years ago I noticed that during the course of my day I’d have an impression from the Holy Spirit to do something I was reasonably certain Jesus wanted me to do. It would be an impression to either do something good for someone or refrain from doing something wrong. It might be to stop for a car broken down on the highway, speak to a co-worker about Jesus, or simply turn off my computer before I ended up at a site where no Christian should go.

Almost simultaneously I would sense another voice whispering to discourage me. “You don’t have time to do that – helping that person could get messy – you can’t afford to help them right now – stand up for your rights – you deserve it – it’s okay, once more won’t kill you.” If I listened to this other voice and thought about it long enough, the moment for obedience would pass, often to my relief. It finally dawned on me that by procrastinating on being obedient to Jesus, I was unintentionally teaching myself the habit of disobedience. Why is that?

Why did I hesitate? Because I knew that most decisions to obey would cost me something – time, money, embarrassment, inconvenience, or a momentary pleasure denied. By choosing not to obey Jesus, I avoided all of that! So the reason I wasn’t more obedient to God? Without hardly thinking about it, I automatically counted the cost and the price seemed too high for me. Then a decade ago a lay pastor from China taught me a simple rule that could break that cycle:

The 10 Second Rule:

“Just do the next thing you’re reasonably certain Jesus wants you to do.”

Disciple Making & Church Planting: God's Way to Transform Nations

 I recently wrote an article for Mission Frontiers.  This is an excerpt with a link to the full article.  

Jesus bypassed the cumbersome religious structures and irrelevant worship practices of his day, and started something living and organic. The word “organic” is a good one to describe a spontaneously reproducing simple church movement because it describes something that grows naturally, without artificial additives. It consists of elements that exist together in natural relationships that make growth and multiplication possible. That is how a simple church movement grows: it is not a top down hierarchical organization, but a movement held together by people who share the same vision and values. I have observed that successful churches in the conventional church model can actually be a hindrance to a simple church planting movement.

Notice the way Jesus got the disciples exercising gifts of leadership from the outset, before they were “ready.” Jesus didn’t wait for disciples to be born again, baptized, trained theologically and supervised under a safe religious system with guaranteed controls before He was involving them in leadership. He got them out telling others about Him within a few weeks of being with Him (Matt 10:1–14). He led the movement He began from underneath, very quickly involving the disciples in leadership assignments without mentioning positions or titles. He had a radically different paradigm from that of the religious leaders of His day, and of our day as well. He was training them to lead before they were actually born again, in our evangelical understanding of what that means. After all, the journey of discipleship doesn’t start when a person comes to faith in Christ, but long before.

To keep reading, please go here.

How Do I Protect My Heart With So Many People Coming and Going in My Life?

Many years ago I was talking to the Lord about getting close to people.......only to have them leave and go somewhere else.  The Lord spoke so clearly to my heart and told me if I'd be faithful to love people and give myself to them, He would give me more friendships than I could handle.  That has certainly happened!  One of my biggest frustrations in life is that I can't keep up the level of sharing and communication with all my friends in the way I'd like because I have too many!!!  A wonderful problem.  Our grumpy next door neighbor accuses us of running a BnB without legal permission because he can't believe we have so many friends that come visit. :)  If he only knew.....the ones who have come are just a drop in the bucket!

Some years later I was at another turning point.  My life was so full (wife, mother, friends, leadership responsibilities, traveling/speaking, writing) that I felt I couldn't keep up with everything.  I wondered what should stay/what should go/how did I decide.  Derek Prince was with us.  He made a statement that answered my questions.  He said that we live in a world that presents so many challenges and opportunities.  One question everyone had was "what do I invest in?"  (with our time, our resources, our money)  He said the answer is easy - always invest in people!  That's what God does.  Everything else fades, but investing in people lasts for eternity.  So simple.

Once these foundations are in place.....then the hard part comes. :)  Working with and relating to people!!  Unfortunately criticism and disappointment will always be there in some way or at some level.  If we want to accomplish something, then we'll be the object of criticism at some point.  If we don't want to be criticized, then we can do nothing.  We probably should expect it and be ready......easier said than done.  Even Jesus himself couldn't please everyone!!  A big key is finding our security in our walk with the Lord - not in whether people are happy with us or not.

I've been taught and have learned to "hear" the criticisms and ask God if there is any conviction from Him in them.  If I'm wrong, I need to make it right (often easier said than done too because the criticisms tend to have a hurtful "barb" in them).  But many times there is an element of truth - that's why we have to take them to the Lord. If it's unjust criticism (often from someone's pain or insecurity), then we need to try and "shake it off."

Of course we have to forgive!!  One more thing that's easier said than done.  But it's an act of will and by doing it, it will bring healing to our hearts.  We need to be careful not to attack back, when those who leave are offended by us.  We need to be on guard that bitterness doesn't enter in.  Again I was taught to think of the needs of the person who is criticizing - why would they say this?  What does it reflect in them?

We can only be hurt to the extent and depth that we love.  If we love deeply, we can be hurt deeply.  It's a risk - but a good one to take. :)

If we've been disappointed and hurt, it's important to respond in the opposite spirit.  Easier said than done, but that is the clear goal to work toward. Forgive the person, pray for the person, look for ways to encourage and bless the person, ask God to see them as he sees them.  This brings healing to our hearts and allows us to move on without carrying the offense with us.

More important than what people say is what God knows about us!  Very few have been more criticized in the Bible than Noah.  God said of him in Gen. 7:1 - "I have found you righteous in this generation."  Quite a commendation.

Well......all this kinda poured out of me in response to a recent email from a friend, and Floyd suggested I post it here in case it would be a blessing to you as well.  I don't know if any of it is helpful, but I decided to go ahead and share it.  It was a good reminder to me as well!!!

Why Are So Many People Going To Hell?

A friend recently asked me, “If there are seven billion people on the planet, and one billion are Christians, why are so many going to hell? That means six out of every seven people are lost. Doesn’t the Bible teach that God wants all men to come to repentance?”  

Good question. And it came from a sincere heart of compassion and concern for people.

My response was to share seven Biblical truths that have helped guide me as I have considered this question:

1. God is righteous and loving, and we can trust him to judge all men fairly. Abraham said, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is right?” God knows the hearts of all human beings and he alone can judge them - and he will judge them lovingly and truthfully. We can trust God to judge righteously and this trust in God is the heart of our relationship with God.

2. God judges people based on what they know to be true and what they do with that knowledge of the truth he has revealed to them, not on what they don’t know. To say it another way, God will not judge people based on what they don’t know about Jesus, but what they do know and if they have lived up to the truth they have. The Bible says of Jesus in John 1, “The true light coming into the world enlightens every man”. This does not mean Jesus is in every person, it means he pursues and seeks to reveal himself to every person to the point that they turn to him for forgiveness of their sins. In Romans 2 Paul says the laws of God are written on the hearts of every human being, and it is that knowledge of truth that forms the basis of how God judges people.

3. Scripture, not our emotions, guide us in how we think about heaven and hell and God’s judgement. Most arguments I have heard against hell have been based on emotion, not Scripture. I have heard many people argue from their feelings, not revealed truth, when they consider this topic. Naturally, it is right to feel deeply about the big questions of life. We should not be cold or indifferent to matters of life and death, of justice and mercy. But arguments and statements that begin with subtle accusations against the character of God will not lead us to the truth. Questions about God’s trustworthiness, or doubts about the rightness of eternal separation from God, though understandable, are not sufficient in themselves to form our beliefs. If God exists, and if he has created us, and we have all sinned against him, he has the right to judge us.

4. Everything outside hell and eternal separation from God is the grace of God to us.  We have all sinned and the just result of our sin is God’s judgement. Everything we receive outside hell is the grace of God. That is not just a handy formula to cover the problem of evil and suffering in the universe. It is true truth. It is true even if we traveled on a spaceship to another planet. Romans 1 says we have all done three things with the truth of God: a) we have suppressed the truth 2) we have exchanged the truth about God for lies c) God has given us what we demand and that is to leave us alone, to withdraw from us and turn us over to our evil devices. To receive anything but judgement from a loving God is his gift to us, not something we deserve.

5. It is the will and intense longing of God for every human being to consciously experience forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. God’s purpose is to reveal his mercy in Christ through the cross, and for each of us to consciously enjoy forgiveness through trusting Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. God uses many “means” (circumstances, people, supernatural interventions, dreams, miracles, hardships) to bring people to salvation, but the Bible makes it clear that God wants us to know who and how we are saved. He will work through the cultures and religions of people to save them, but he also wants people to know what is true and not true about their cultures and religions.

6. God will not override our free will in seeking to lead us to salvation and forgiveness of our sins. God respects us enough to allow us to choose to be with him for eternity, or to reject him. To force us to be in his presence forever could be a greater cruelty that hell itself.

7. If we obey the truth we know, it will lead us to more truth, and eventually to the truth that God offers forgiveness of our sins through Jesus and his death on the cross. One way to see this, is to recognize that there are redemptive analogies in every culture, i.e., pictures of God’s forgiveness in Christ, that when pursued, these redemptive analogies lead to the person of Jesus himself. Jesus casts a “shadow” (a limited revelation of who he is) on all cultures and peoples; if people follow those shadows, they will lead to the historical God-man Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Bible.

World Mandate 2011

 I am excited to have the opportunity to share at the World Mandate Conference in Waco, Texas, September 16-18. World Mandate is a conference for anyone who loves Jesus and wants to know more about his heart for the nations of the world! Located in Waco, Texas at Baylor University's Ferrell Center, we have people of all ages from all over the country who gather together for this weekend to worship Jesus, intercede for the nations, and hear from speakers who have lived out the mission of Jesus all over the world.  The conference will be focused on the passion that Jesus has in his heart to reach the nations. We believe this is a passion Jesus wants to place in every believer’s heart, whether or not you ever live in a foreign country. World Mandate exists to help believers become more aware of what Jesus is doing in the earth! Join us for this powerful weekend!  For me details, see the World Mandate website.

Why Evangelicals Should Stop Evangelizing

There is a must read post by my friend Carl Medearis on CNN about why we should stop evangelizing and start talking about Jesus. I encourage you to read it and give me your feedback. It is provocative, engaging and of critical importance. Carl makes some very important distinctions we should give serious thought to... 

Many evangelicals have turned their faith into a religion that they want others to join, which Carl believes - and I agree - is not why Jesus came to earth nor what he taught while he was on the earth. 

If more people learn to initiate spiritual conversations about Jesus that lead to mentoring people to faith in Jesus and growing in their faith with others in new faith communities, something exciting would happen on this planet. That is what we are about in All Nations. 

Carl believes Jesus transcends all religions and calls people to himself... and when they respond to him, that Jesus allows that person to grow in their relationship with him while they are still in their mother culture and religion. By staying in their religious and cultural context people are able to lead many more people to faith in Jesus; in effect they become bridges to Jesus. 

The opposite approach to staying in your context when you come to faith in Christ is referred to as "extraction" - i.e., it is best to extract people from their culture and religion. The belief behind this practice is that people will fail spiritually if they stay where they are, they are too weak; and they will compromise theologically, they are too ignorant. 

Sally and I have left people in their context when they journey to faith in Christ since we started working in the drug dens of Afghanistan and the streets of Amsterdam. We saw prostitutes and drug addicts stay where they were, grow to be powerful men and women of faith, and lead many others out of their addictions and brokenness. They didn't continue in their sin, but they stay in relationship with those they knew and loved, their family and friends. It was hard for people, true enough, but people developed a more mature faith grounded in the culture where they came to faith. It is sad to see people lose contact with family and friends and adopt a new "Christian" culture that cuts them off from the very people God wants them to influence. 

We wouldn't say to a banker or politician to leave their culture and vocation if they came to faith. Why? Because we believe God is big enough in this person to help them overcome temptations of greed or power and live faithfully as a follower of Jesus where they are. Yet, we immediately assume a Muslim or street person must leave their life situation. 

Church planting movements are exploding on our planet today, and one of the reasons is church planters and disciple makers have learned the power of a changed person remaining where they are to influence others for Jesus. 

In the end, it comes down to a matter of trust. Do we trust the Holy Spirit in people? Do we trust God to work in their life context? The reality is, whether we trust God or not, God is working in the lives of millions and millions of people right where they are - all over the world. 

Perhaps it is time for some of us to catch up with how God is reaching and changing people to follow His son Jesus, without them joining a religion called Christianity. Regardless, please follow this link to go straight to the CNN article by Carl Medearis if you would like to read his article and give this some more thought. 

Amusing, Insightful & Honest Church Planting Report from Zambia

5 months ago Mandate Schools sent a team for 6 weeks. One young guy – just a normal church kid back home – did something heroic. He met two families broken with sin, shared a message of hope for a better life, and baptized the men as repentant converts. The women remained skeptical.

Yesterday I sat with these two families (the women are no longer skeptical), sharing a Bible story with them that I will later share with our weekly “Leaders Meeting”. They will assist. They are being trained to lead their own Bible study at their home. Another family is being trained in the next village, and another in the next. Our short term goal is to get one Convert led Bible study in each village that all of our disciples from that village may participate in. Eventually many more such simple churches may hive off from that one. Our method – MAWL: Model, Assist, Watch, Leave.  This is part of our “100 year strategy” – training converts to lead “church” in their homes.

The Leaders meeting that they were to assist in – well, again it became a hilarious, unpredictable event of attempting by all means – and we have exhausted many means – to get the meat of the gospel powerfully ingrained in lives. We tried (a second time) a Storying method where each person makes hand signals for a line of the story, then with much group repetition the story is memorized (in theory). Not that this method does not work – many have usesd it with great success. But again we find that either well intentioned teachers of Methods are exaggerating their own stories for personal glory (yes, there is pride even in missionaries!) or we are somehow not able to do what others have done because of our inadequacies or the difficulty of the people group we are working with. (In fact we heard a report that the International Mission Board (of the Baptist Church) – a cutting edge board that has in recent years reworked it’s strategy after exhaustive research to focus more on simple church planting methods which we have also adopted – has made a statement concerning the Lozi people of Southern and Western Zambia, that they are one of the most difficult groups to work with, and therefore have adjusted their strategy to reach them.)

So – back to the Leaders Meeting – after working hard at memorizing that passage we all sat and started with questions – first comprehension of the story itself, but then questions of understanding of the life messages in the story. It was the simple story of Phillip running to the chariot and instructing the Ethiopian about Christ and the resulting baptism. Sparks flew! The New Apostolic Church teaches infant baptism, that a person is saved by baptism (not faith), and that at baptism the person is born again and filled with the Spirit as the apostle imparts it. However, none of them feel assured of going to heaven – perhaps a teaching  to allow them to extort more indulgences from them. The whole group openly discussed the conflicting views. One person in particular seemed to be arguing the NAC positions. But by the next day we heard from that person that he went to work and told all his friends that in fact their understanding of baptism and impartation of the Spirit were totally false! We will see how many want to be baptized in two weeks at our Celebration Service.

By Dan and Regina Bumstead

A Story from the Field

From a church planter in a key area:

I am busy working on a newsletter, but I thought I’d tell you this story - as this has made my day last week!

In the clinic we started praying with patients as we are able, often asking God for a Word of knowledge or picture or scripture that He wants us to share with them. Several weeks ago we prayed with a family — especially for the one lady (lets call her Zite) who has been married for 3 years and can’t get pregnant. Her husband often talks of getting a 2nd wife. We have also prayed and shared with their extended family on another occasion. Last week it worked out that the girls who assisted me the 2 months that Lindsey is away, couldn’t come to work. So I decided to ask Zite to assist me. She and her husband were fine with it, even though I can’t pay her for her help. She understood the work quickly, and is quick to see the needs around her in the clinic.

Last week Wednesday before we started to work, I shared with her about what God is showing me the past few days- especially about hope and faith.

We read together from Rom 8: “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

I continued by sharing about Abraham’s life, and we spoke about what she learned about God through this story.

Suddenly she asked me - can you pray for me! I said ‘yes - for what?’ She said her back was aching. I thought - wow! This is the 1st time here where someone asked me out of her own for prayer. Immediately she asked if Sarah could also come and pray with us - I guess because the previous time we were 3 people praying for them. Sarah had just left the centre, but I still prayed with her. After I prayed, she asked me: ‘What did you see?’ I said: ‘Nothing’. I asked her - what did you feel? She said: ’ I felt so much peace/ was relaxed’ I asked whether she usually feels this way, and she said: ‘No, I just felt this way when you prayed for me’. Wow!!! Jesus is just so real! Again she asked me -’ what did you see?’ I then realized she thinks I see pictures every time I pray with people!! :) So I explained that I don’t always see pictures - sometimes, but not always - and just as people often communicate in different ways to each other- whether it is eye to eye, or on a phone, or with a text message, God doesn’t communicate with us every time in the same way. Then she said ( which was where I just wanted to laugh - and will for sure be always one of my highlights) ‘So what hour/time do you usually see these pictures?’ Hahahaha! This was so sweet.

I explained further about how God walked with Adam and Eve, how there was relationship, and not religion. I continued sharing a bit about the fall, and then what Jesus came to do, and how He then poured out His Spirit on those who believe. And that God didn’t stop talking- He desires to communicate with us - and we can learn how to hear His voice.

We also read John 6:44-51 - where Jesus says He is the Bread of life, and how God is the one who draws all men unto Him, and teaches them.

I can just sense her hunger and brokenness, and that she has really been touched by God. But so often I have seen where it is like the seeds that fell on the rocks, and just as quick as it grows, so quickly it withers away.

Please pray with me for Zite and her family - that God will be the protector of every seed. And that I will not pressure any conversation, but will just be listening to God’s Spirit. That I will be quiet when I need to be, and be talking to her when I should. I trust God for opportunities that she can get more exposed to His Word - as I obviously don’t want to be the one to whom she will look for answers - that she will not see me as some sort of ‘medium’, but be looking to God as her source, and be spending time in His Word.

I just realized again last night - I am just here, witnessing what God is doing, and seeing how He is using others’ prayers to prepare the ground. So keep on praying, it is not in vain - God is busy! He never disappoints!