Over Labor Day weekend, I lost my phone in the lake.
It wasn’t quite as stupid as it sounds. 🙂
I took a small boat and paddled 3 of my youngest sons out onto the lake. Just as we got near some cousins of ours that were swimming in water about 6 feet deep, one little guy cried out, “I’ve got a hook in my foot!” A treble hook had grabbed his foot from a lost fishing lure on the bottom of the lake. I quickly paddled close, and he grabbed the side of the boat.
Our boat started drifting from momentum and wind. He grimaced and yelled, “It’s still attached to the fishing line!”
I leaped up from my seat in the bottom of the boat to cut the fishing line that now had him tied to the rocks on the bottom — in water that was over his head! As I leaped up, my cell phone clip hit the side of the boat and ejected my (non-insured) phone right into the lake. I watched it bubble down out of sight in the murky water.
You know that feeling when you watch something like that?
Your mind flips through options.
I can’t leave the kid with the hook in his foot. My 11 year old is in the boat with me, but can’t have him jumping in while I don’t know what is down there.
It takes a while to type that, but it all flitted through my mind in a half-second.
I was doing “triage” — quickly
sorting values
deciding what needs action in this moment.
We do this values triage that all the time.
We do it when the phone rings, and we’re with our wife. What’s important now?
We do it when we’re watching Youtube and our kids interrupt. What’s most valuable right now?
We do it when we’re tired and someone wants to talk. What’s most important now?
We also do it when there’s no plan for discipleship, and we have urgent things screaming in our ears, like mowing the church lawn. 🙂
So what is the solution to being able to quickly and effectively triage those moments?
It comes down to one word:
VALUES.
Think about it.
If I had been floating along alone on the lake, I’d have jumped right in. I didn’t want that moment to cost me $800!
But I wasn’t out there alone. I was floating along on the lake with 3 of my boys, who mean more to me than life itself, let alone some stupid phone. I was trying to help another little boy whose life was worth infinitely more than dropping a few hundred dollars.
A solid value system will create the kind of clarity that you need in those kinds of moments.
You desperately need this in order to create a solid plan for discipling your children, for educating new believers in your church, and for so many other activites.
The bottom line is, you’re always going to have OPTIONS. That’s one of the things the world is always going to give you. Infinite options! Did you know that it would take you 6 months to watch all the videos uploaded to Youtube in the last 60 seconds?
I’ve been doing NewStart Discipleship for a little over 2 years now. I just created a brand new module called Discipleship In the Home.
The reason? Values.
It’s one thing to talk about valuing discipleship and creating a culture of discipleship in your local church. But ultimately, you’re going to need to show those values when other important things — maybe even valuable things — have to go to the bottom of the lake in order for your greatest values to shine.
Think through your values.
It will help when the time for crisis triage comes!
I told you a story last week about the young African-American man from my church who came by and asked if he could get a couple copies of the NewStart Discipleship Journal because he was sharing his faith with a couple friends at work. He wanted to use it to help walk with them through their faith journey.
I was so excited.
So, this week, he came back after service, and blew my mind again.
“Pastor, I brought those NewStart Journals back to my apartment, and was looking at it, getting ready to take it to work,” he told me. “My roommate was looking at it, and picked one of them up. He looked through it, and said, ‘Hey, can I have one?'”
About this point, a huge grin is spreading over my face, as you might imagine.
He continued. “So I told him he could, and this guy — he’s not a Christian, honestly he’s pretty wild — he said, ‘Well, we might as well do it together.'”
By this time, I’m grinning so wide, I could eat a banana sideways.
I can’t think of a time when I didn’t want to make disciples — but I never had a plan to do it in a way that could really multiply until I changed my discipleship strategy recently.
I know God’s work is like an iceberg — there’s more below the surface than there is above. But once in a while, it is nice when God gives you a little peek under the surface. It was just what I needed to keep going this week.
What’s keeping you going this week?
Comment below and let me know!
So How Can I get Training to Multiply Disciple-Makers at my church?
P.P.S. AFTER I WROTE THIS… He brought his friend with him to our latest event. This does a pastor’s heart good, to see the disciple multiplication effect starting to happen!
I had one of those moments you “live for” as a pastor a few days ago. It’s always nice when one of those comes along.
Here’s what happened:
A young college-age African-American man came up to me and said, “Pastor, I’m wondering if you could give me one of those NewStart Discipleship Journals you were talking about? Actually, I need two of them. I’ve been witnessing to these two guys at work. I think they’re a ways from coming to church, but I’m wanting to walk with them through helping them get started when they accept Christ.”
💥 BOOM! 💥
I went back to the office, and grabbed a stack of NewStart Discipleship Journals, and handed him two of them.
caption for image
Honestly, I was topping the trees.
IT’S HAPPENING!
IT’S. HAPPENING.
The Apostle Paul said to Timothy, “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (1 Timothy 2:2, ESV)
Did you see it?
Discipleship is supposed to be TRANSFERRABLE and MULTIPLIABLE.
There are 4 generations of Christians in that verse!
Paul
Timothy
Those who are discipled by Timothy
Those who are discipled by those who are discipled by Timothy.
That’s how it’s supposed to work.
The problem is that for years, I didn’t do anything multipliable in discipleship. I trusted in my gifts, my teaching ability, my talking ability, my Bible college education… and I did help some folks. But I couldn’t multiply, because my disciple-making was based on my own ability, and not everyone I worked with could be that person. They didn’t have the background, memory, gifts, or education.
So when I determined, a couple years ago, that I had to develop a system that would enable me to multiply disciple-makers, instead of just add to my list of people… I didn’t know how that was going to go.
BUT IT’S HAPPENING.
For discipleship to be multipliable, it is going to require 2 things:
Clarity – Absolute clarity on what needs to be shared, what needs to be built.
Simplicity – Completely simple methods that are easily reproduced, no matter the education level or gifts of the disciple-maker.
If you can’t hit those two targets, I think you’ll fail at multiplying disciple-makers.
So what’s next to keep discipleship success going?
While I was in the office getting those NewStart Discipleship Journals for that young man, I noticed that I needed to order more from the printing company. So I went and ordered 20 more (at the rate only NewStart Discipleship Members can get, of course. 🙂 )
Because I’m not OK with stopping… when you’ve got a little momentum, it’s time to build on it!
Let’s GOOOO!
Here’s why I’m excited to share this story with you:
Because the most common answer when I survey pastors about their discipleship plan is, “To be honest, It doesn’t really exist.”
If you’re tired of not knowing what your discipleship plan is, then it’s time to be done with that. Honestly, it’s frustrating and exhausting, and I know how to solve it.
GET SOME DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING
I do quite a few discipleship training resources on my main site, NewStart Discipleship. These include 7 different resources to help train you for the primary work that God has called you to: Making disciples!
If you’re up for a 1 hour free training, this is where I teach my strategies for developing a disciple-making culture at your church… specifically a training called “How to be 100% Ready to Make Disciples (And Multiply Disciple-Makers).” It’s what I’m currently doing (and it’s working) at my church.
Thanks for reading!
What “proud pastor” moments do you have in discipleship lately? Comment below!
“I don’t think you should be forced to get your #vaccine. But I do think you should get it freely. I have never done more funerals than I have the last 3 months. This needs to end, and the data clearly indicates that the vaccine is helping.”
A friend and evangelical pastor replied, “I want the vaccine. I think in comparison it is a safe alternative. It seems a lot of what is happening is preparation for global control in other ways but the vaccine is good. But how can I trust anything when everything is built on lies, coverups, and not owning ones mistakes?”
This is such a great question, and is a fundamental one that underlies much of the chaos and division that is visible in our nation and within American churches.
We are truly in an epistemological crisis in the United States.
So first, a quick definition: Epistemology is the name for a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature & value of truth and the means of knowing — in other words, “What’s true, how can I know it, and why does it matter?”
This crisis not new. We have been in one for over thirty years on the progressive side, (to the point that even he/she isn’t knowable), but the crisis has been slower to arrive in the evangelical movement. But arrive it has — and with a vengeance.
Today I’ll deal with
What caused our Truth Crisis
What has sped our Truth Crisis along
How evangelical Christians can begin to escape the Truth Crisis.
What Caused the Truth Crisis in Evangelicalism
Here’s a fundamental truth that you need to understand:
We are being discipled by the political culture as much or more than by our churches.
We need to understand that we are in a continuous process of discipleship by the internet, social media and conservative media.
The Rise of the Fake News movement
Living for 30 years in that environment conditioned conservatives perfectly for the rise of the “fake news” movement. I wouldn’t deny that media bias exists. It undoubtedly does. But the fake news movement deconstructed all sources of authority not just based on truth, but inconvenience and association.
I have been told, after sharing a news story that demonstrated my viewpoint, “Well, that’s CNN.” Other versions of this exist:
“That’s the CDC.”
“That’s the Libs.”
“That’s the Drive-By Media.”
But we’ve bought this lie of “nothing is true if it comes from that source” at a terrible cost. It might be convenient for the short term, to prop up a chosen candidate or party, or to be able to disregard some political discussion that makes us feel uncomfortable during a disorienting pandemic. But in the long run, we’ve just traded one skewed agenda for another.
Note well: Cynical actors, vying for power over the narrative, created the Fake News movement, based on a partial truth, which was widely accepted by conservatives. They did it, not because they cared for Truth, but because they cared for their own power. By doing it, they were able to cement their hold on the minds of one end of the political spectrum.
The subtle acceptance of subjective truth.
Once among evangelicals there was a commitment to objective truth, that truth was outside us, and knowable. The slogan, “Facts don’t care about your feelings,” was a worthwhile reminder of the occasional brutality of truth.
Truth is stubbornly resistant to conforming to our fondest wishes.
But somewhere along the line, we decided that there was objective truth about homosexuality and abortion… but not about vaccines, pandemics, conservative politicians, or QAnon.
In this truth vacuum, we are free to project our desires onto reality, then call it the truth.
This is what we’ve observed (and decried) the activists of the political left doing for 30 years. We have rightly scoffed that our feelings could define ultimate reality… but we’ve bought that line hook, line and sinker in the last 5 years. The reason? Because it was “our guy” from “our party” proclaiming it.
The Deconstruction of Authority
Talk about “Deconstruction” and “ex-vangelicals” is all the rage right now in conservative Christian circles.
But it’s time we talk about the ways in which we have become like and empowered those leaving us… You see, we’ve deconstructed, too.
We have deconstructed “ways of knowing” that have been in existence for centuries: Authority, expertise, statistics, math, science, and more have all paid the price of our deconstruction. What is worse, we have no plan for replacing them, so we’re simply in a fog, in a Cloud of Unknowability. In this Cloud of Unknowability, it’s easy to say things like “everything is built on lies” and “this is clearly a ‘plandemic.'” Suspicions, anger, conspiracies, and more abound.
Authorities around us have made it worse, no doubt, by not being trustworthy, and equivocating about the Truth. Dr. Fauci has done us no favors, and I’m not here to defend his reliability.
How do we get out of the evangelical Truth Crisis?
I would humbly suggest a few steps.
1. Recommit to truth being actually knowable.
It is not enough to ask questions and poke holes. The anti-vax community and other conspiracy theorists only and always attempt to do this. Frankly, evangelicals are genuinely struggling with knowing truth, because we have become like them. This needs to stop.
Deconstruction is easy. Construction is hard.
So, rather than constructing a way of knowing, people have just deconstructed the house they live in, and then acclimated themselves to epistemological homelessness.
Quick example of construction vs. deconstruction:
I’ve had tons of people tell me that I can’t trust the CDC’s stats, or the OK state department of health, because “they have an agenda.” This is classic deconstruction, the tearing down of a source of Truth.
But what would reconstruction require? To truly know the COVID death and vaccination stats… you’d have to create a system that enabled you to call every hospital and assisted living in the country, and collect their data, and compile it into a report.
THAT would enable you to know the truth. But that’s HARD. It’s much easier to deconstruct than to build ways of knowing.
So people stop right there, and just commit to “Well, I guess we’ll never know the REAL Truth.”
2. Recognize that authorities not on my side politically can be sources of Truth.
This requires significant humility in such a polarized environment. We’ve been discipled to disbelieve everything for the last 30 years. We need to unlearn some things.
3. Stop making every mistake or biased statement by recognized authorities a disqualifier for them as a source of Truth.
If every time a commander in the military made a mistake, the soldiers decided to disobey them into perpetuity… we’d never win a battle ever again.
4. Relearn critical thinking.
Few use this phrase correctly. It is often imagined to be thinking critically about your opponent’s views. But classically, it means thinking critically about things you’d like to believe. That’s hard, but healthy.
Looking at what you’d like to believe, and seeing if it holds up to scrutiny is a valuable skill that respects something more than your own feelings about what you’d like to be true.
5. Recognize narrative-driven news is a bipartisan phenomena.
These days, conservatives are using sketchy statistics and selective anecdotes in order to maintain a truly untenable position… frankly, in service of their own political power.
As a quick anecdote about that, someone posted on my Facebook wall short edited clip of a state governor saying they were seeing a 25% rise in hospitalization among vaccinated people. So I took time to do the research. Turns out, it was a rise from 6% of hospitalizations being vaccinated people to… 7.5%.
This kind of silly, out-of-context statement is what we have accused the “other side” of… and here we are.
Look steadfastly at that, and understand it — The person who edited that clip was counting on you not knowing how statistics work, and being unwilling to do the work to check it. That’s narrative driven dishonesty, using an “accurate” statistic.
It’s time we recognize that CNN does it, but so does every other conservative news source.
6. Redefine the battle.
Warfare rhetoric in the political realm has not been kind to conservatives. It is only one step from “we are at war” to “all’s fair in war.”
The goal isn’t simply defeat of our human enemy, but their Redemption. After all, we still “wrestle not against flesh and blood…”
7. Reconstruct Authority as a means of knowing the Truth.
I realize authorities have been untrustworthy at times. But the internet has democratized info in unhealthy ways. All men are created equal, but all opinions are not.
I am aware that political populism has defined as “elitists” all those who have expertise… except a small group that paint themselves as “persecuted” yet somehow are willing to say exactly what the throng wishes to hear. But populism is foolish, and eventually turns on those who lead it (as Robespierre discovered.)
We should generally trust education & expertise. Education and expertise doesn’t make someone always right, but it makes them far more dependable. It doesn’t make them elite. And even if it did, there are few benefits to hating “elitism.”
The truth is that Authority is a wonderful means of knowing the truth. We used to know this as conservatives!
Denominations. Pastors. Doctors. Experts.
Yet, we live in a world where the disorientation has made us doubt that authority is a valid source of knowing Truth. It ought not to be so within conservative circles!
As long as it is this way, we will continually struggle with the ability to know anything… and the disorientation, fog and conspiracies will continue.
In Conclusion
It isn’t really true that “everything is built on lies.” That’s a conditioned response that we can & should reject.
If we make the only source of Truth our own faction, we will live to regret it.
If you appreciate this, I’d be honored if you’d share it on social media.
And if you would be interested in having a way of discipling new Christians that is from classic sources of authority, I’d invite you to download a free copy of the NewStart Discipleship Journal at the link above.
I expect some readers are confused about what entire sanctification means. While testimonies are not the best way to teach theology, sometimes a look at how it works itself out in someone’s life can be helpful. To that end, I’m sharing my story here of how God led me personally toward the doctrine of entire sanctification.
I was raised in a holiness pastor’s home.
I heard this doctrine of entire sanctification preached on a regular basis growing up. While some from my background have talked about entire sanctification as confusing, etc. I never felt this way growing up. My parents kept it relatively simple and unencumbered with baggage of extreme behavior or emotionalism.
I view my journey in holiness as in various epochs.
Entirely Sanctified In High School
I first surrendered my will as fully as I knew how to Christ’s Lordship as a sophomore in HS, after hearing a message by Rev. Marc Sankey on Romans 12:1. As I stood during the invitation, I thought “That’s right. I should do it someday.” I felt as though the Holy Spirit prompted me, “Why not now?” and I obeyed.
I got up knowing that God had accepted my sacrifice of all, and that he had taken it and made it holy to himself.
There were moments of surrender about girls (what high school boy hasn’t gone through that?), career (preaching wasn’t my first choice!), and my definition of success (I wanted to pastor a BIG church).
Can One Lose Entire Sanctification?
As a young pastor, I neglected to walk in the Spirit, and fell into pornography after getting high speed internet for the first time at age 25. Through the faithful discipline of the Lord, I regularly came back repentant, but I lost the assurance of entire sanctification.
I believe that it is possible through continued struggling with disobedience, and a lack of willingness to deal with leftover patterns of self-centeredness. This results in a heart that is “re-bent” toward self & sin. I won’t fully develop that theology here, but that’s what I believe happened to me.
A time of Seeking to Restore the Assurance of Being Sanctified Through and Through
A couple years later, in a time of frustration and I began to seek again during a 40-day season of fasting lunch.
One particular day, I felt especially frustrated and as I walked into my office, the Lord “highlighted” the book Holiness and Power by A.M. Hills on my bookshelf. I spent the rest of the day and most of the next reading the book (which had been on my shelf, but unread), and seeking the Lord.
On the 3rd day, reaching the end of all that I knew to surrender, told the Lord if there was anything else that he wanted me to yield to him, to show me. I knew that I was entirely sanctified by trusting the work of Christ (and not by any surrender of my own). So I pled with the Lord that if there was anything else I had yet to surrender, show me.
If not, I was ready to put my faith in him that the work was (again) done in my heart. Sensing nothing but peace and surrender, I prayed in full consecration to the Lord on the 4th day. I placed my trust in Christ to be “Not our own righteousness, but Christ within/ Living and reigning and saving from sin.”
A renewal of the Covenant of Entire sanctification
There was one more season about 3 years ago, where I felt as though I had failed to progressively be sanctified by putting to death an area of selfishness the Lord had faithfully pointed out to me in my life over time.
I went into a season of frustration and uncertainty, where I was not at all certain of my yieldedness to Christ and his present entire sanctification. This culiminated in a 3-day prayer retreat where I repented of grieving the Spirit and re-affirmed my covenant with Him. At the end of that time of blessing and brokenness, I again laid hold by faith of the promises of God for entire sanctification.
It is important to note that living in this covenant is an ongoing life. There is nothing in the Scripture that teaches that there is no need for covenant renewal in Spiritual growth. In fact, I’d argue that Scripture is clear ( as well as the experience of God’s people) that this is a reality that must be maintained.
I am living with a present assurance of entire sanctification
I believe that Christ reigns supreme in my heart today, and both saves me from sin and keeps me clean in “spirit, soul and body” until the coming of Christ.
I am unaware of any area in my life that I am not in full submission to the will of Christ. This does not, of course, mean that I am beyond improvement or growth, but that my will is bent away from sin and fully bent toward Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
If you are interested in learning more about the Scriptural truth of entire sanctification, I would commend to you my Pursuing Holiness workbook, and the accompanying 40 days of holiness spiritual growth journey. If you wish to hear a sermon on the topic, I am embedding a message on it below.
I’m currently enrolled in a seminary class at Wesley Biblical Seminary, on the Theology of John Wesley. The class has brought me back to some writings of Wesley that I am thrilled to revisit. Specifically, this week, I read Wesley’s essay on “The Character of a Methodist.” You can follow the link to read the essay in full.
“The Character of a Methodist” is representative of at least 3 of the dozen reasons that I love John Wesley’s writings.
Reason #1: Wesley is claiming for Methodists a high standard of holy behavior.
It seems as though in today’s cynical culture, most religious groups tend to dampen expectations that the culture may place on the representatives of their group. The prevailing attitude seems to be “well, we’re all just human, so don’t expect too much — we’re just fellow strugglers trying to learn to live better.”
Yet Wesley seems to run as hard as he can from this sort of celebration of low expectations. Reading his list of claims about Methodist character is nothing short of remarkable! Are not his claim of a Methodist who measures up to this many admonitions and commands of Scripture shockingly counter-culture in our day?
There is room to debate why this resonated culturally, and whether the same attitude and claims would be well-received in our day of well-publicized evangelical failures.
But it is most remarkable, and refreshing.
Reason #2: Wesley is calling Methodists to a high standard of behavior.
While “The Character of a Methodist” certainly contains elements of promotion and polemic, it should not be missed that it was probably first purchased and read by Methodists. Thus, Wesley is first and foremost calling his own people to a standard of holy behavior!
Wesley’s writings were not primarily for theological argument, but for making disciples. Many of his published writings should be viewed primarily as New Christian discipleship tools.
When I was growing up, my dad would frequently reference some element of my behavior that was lacking, and then say, “You were born in the wrong family to do that.” Like a firm dad who deeply wishes to be proud, Wesley communicates his expectations of his people by speaking affirmatively about the character he wishes to see.
It is popular in the self-help literature of our day to create a list of “affirmations” to read (usually in the present tense), such as “I am enjoying writing 1,000 words per day.” These serve as reminders of aspirational values – character traits or disciplined actions we wish to see in ourselves. We may affirmatively state these things about ourselves as means of creating subconscious agreement on this preferred picture of our future.
I cannot help but notice that Wesley describes in
present tense
biblical language
vivid imagery
the kind of holy character he wishes to see in his people. I expect that he is writing affirmatively that which he desires – and expects! – to see when next he visits the Methodist Societies that are reading this tract.
Reason #3: Wesley is calling the entire church to aspire to be biblical Christians.
Far from attempting to create subcultural signals or uncommon behavioral mores, Wesley takes pains in the first few paragraphs to disclaim any of these things. He rejects special speech, or doctrinal uniqueness, or even social/ethical practices as the basis for Methodist character.
Then, in the final paragraphs, he specifically disclaims any sectarian spirit, but invites all God’s people to join hands together around the work of Christ in the sincere and purified heart. This view of reproducing the holiness of God in us as the “end” (goal) of religion is crucial for understanding Wesley’s theology.
I read it and say, “Here’s a man who cares very little about building an organization, but cares mightily about building a holy people.”
“Here’s a man who cares very little about building an organization, but cares mightily about building a holy people.”
Ultimately, Wesley’s “catholic spirit” that comes through in this piece (and others) is not a careless ecumenicism, but a robust call to the basics that ought to unite all God’s people in a whole-hearted pursuit of holiness.
Obviously, this description is “aspirational” in the sense that Wesley did not always find the societies in this good of a condition when he visited (as his journal attests). But he certainly intended to paint a picture of a person who demonstrated the fullness of the Holy Spirit!
If the evangelical church is to gather today in unity, there’s got to be a change of “gathering principles.”
I think that American Evangelicalism is badly in need of a new rallying point.
I’d argue that we in the American evangelical movement have made our rallying point some mashup of “cultural conservatism” and “American exceptionalism” — while a desire for actual holiness has been relegated to the “someday/maybe” list.
What if American evangelical leaders publicly turned from this old way of creating unity, and started saying “here’s the character of a true evangelical — they care about being people of holiness“?
If I never hear that phrase again, that would be fine with me. If you’re like me, your inbox was flooded with companies you had forgotten, reminding you that they still had your email address. They wanted to let you know how they were handling this crisis.
You may not care how “Big Earl’s Rib Palace & Live Bait Station” is handing the pandemic. However, I imagine that you’d be more interested if you received a message from Heaven, giving you specifics on how the Almighty was handling it. I haven’t received any emails from Heaven, but I have noticed a story in the book of Acts that sheds some light on God’s ability to bring good in times of crisis.
1. God allows difficult times to spread the Gospel to new places.
In Acts 11, we read the story: “Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only.” (Acts 11:19, NKJV)
The story begins by referring to the worst persecution the church had experienced in its young life. Before Stephen, there were court appearances, threats, beatings and imprisonment… but martyrdom was an entirely new level of pain. The new archnemesis of the church, Saul, was zealous and systematic in his attempt to destroy the early Church. This new threat put immense pressure on Christians in Jerusalem.
This is the unfortunate truth: Jerusalem had become a comfort zone for Christians. In the first wave of the revival, thousands of people had been saved. All the best churches, all the best preachers, a warm and caring spiritual family, and all the best economic opportunities for Christians; all of these were in Jerusalem! In truth, Jerusalem was becoming more than an incubator of Christianity. It was in danger of becoming a Tower of Babel; a prevention to the spread of God’s Word across the lands.
God, sovereignly, allowing persecution, spread the Gospel-bearing Christians across the ancient world.
Even in times of difficulty, comfort zones are difficult to break. Though the persecution forced them to spread out, most Christians continued to do things just as they always had. They spread the Gospel, but only to those who looked like them and shared their values. They only preached Jesus to those who already understood the 10 Commandments, already shared their faith in Yahweh, and whose genetics were similar to theirs.
I can’t blame them. Things had changed so much, so fast. (A bit like today’s world, right?) After all, it was only a few years since Jesus rose, only a few months since their friend and pastor was killed, and mere weeks since they fled for their lives.
The online space has certainly been the most obvious new area of ministry for so many churches and pastors during this time.
Rev. Shirl Rosengreen, pastoring a Native church in Arizona, recently told me, “I think [this pandemic] it has made our people want church more and it has pushed us to try online services, something we wouldn’t have done if it wasn’t for the virus.”
My heart has swelled with gratitude and respect as I’ve watched pastors preach into a camera, try new avenues of ministry, learn how to disciple a new Christian digitally, and reach into corners of the digital world they would never have touched. They’ve learned new things, broken new ground, and gotten uncomfortable for the sake of the Gospel.
2. God allows difficult times to spur innovation in His Church.
But in the midst of crisis, God brings about the conditions to allow his church to innovate… and some in the Church responded: “But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists [pagan Greeks], preaching the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 11:20, NKJV)
I realize that probably none of you gasped when you read that they preached to raw, pagan Greeks. But I guarantee you it earned gasps when other Christians heard about it. And no wonder!
I’d argue this was the largest, most dramatic innovation in the history of the Christian church! It makes innovations like Sunday School, camp meetings or drive-in church pale in comparison.
One of the fascinating things about this story: We don’t even know the names of the men! When I get to heaven, I want to meet these guys. These innovative men — so passionate about the Gospel, that they saw the need to spread it across racial lines — are literally the reason you are reading this! I’m not Jewish, and you’re probably not either. Neither of us would be believers at all were it not for them. We’d both be lost in our pagan idol worship!
In this time of COVID-19 and all the fear that goes along with it, God’s church has innovated. Pastor Zane Hurst from New Hope Bible Methodist Church in Salina, KS wrote to me with this report: “Multiple people have slowed down and listened while passing by our drive-in services. This social distancing situation has also provided the impetus for our streaming team to greatly improve our livestream offering. Our church was able to complete a much-needed remodel of the platform during this time. We have posted many weekly messages to our youth group Facebook page and drawn interest from youth who hadn’t attended in quite some time.”
God never allows difficult times without sending opportunities for the Gospel.
3. God allows difficult times to spark new Gospel results.
“And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.” (Acts 11:21, NKJV)
God honored the work of these innovative men, and they were blessed with a harvest of new souls. It’s been this way throughout history.
Robert Raikes saw the illiterate children of Glouchester, and the Sunday School was born.
William Booth saw the drunk & homeless on the streets, and the Salvation Army was born.
John & William McGee saw the need for a joint gathering larger than churches could hold, and the camp meeting was born.
When God allows persecution or hard times, He sends the opportunity to bring the Gospel of hope to new places, and minister in new ways.
Pastor Darrell Underwood at Servant’s Heart Chapel in Clovis, NM sent in this report: “We found out our local children’s home lost their milk supply. So we’ve been delivering milk weekly. Also, we watch over a couple of elderly women who live alone and provide whatever they need.”
New openings to serve, new chances to influence. If you see clearly the hand of God in hard times, this is what you’ll see Him doing!
4. God allows difficult times to raise new influencers.
“Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.” (Acts 11:22-24, NKJV)
Barnabas was a good man, doing the Lord’s work. He’d been faithful in serving as a deacon in Jerusalem (Acts 4:36) and made the introductions between Saul and the apostles (Acts 9:27). In fact, Barnabas was a nickname that meant, “The Encourager.” He’d earned the title with his faithful ministry to God’s people in better times. But in this time of persecution, God was about to take him to an entirely new level of Kingdom impact and effectiveness.
The church should be forever grateful for those in Jerusalem who had the insight to send out Barnabas. The mindset of the first person on the scene when new and innovative things are happening is absolutely crucial. His encouragement and leadership in Antioch helped to solidify the work that God was doing in hard times.
How do we respond when crisis strikes and conspiracy theories swirl?
I’ve received multiple phone calls and messages that predicted the invocation of martial law (“within 72 hours”) and suggested the government planned this pandemic, and more.
Some may hunker down, speculate about sinister plots, and mourn on social media about the loss of tradition, freedom and values. We might be tempted to speak frequently of the downfall of common sense and Christianity. We might doubt our neighbor, blame our politicians and predict the imminent rise of the antichrist. But I hope that you and I can purpose to be the kind of Christian that sees new opportunities to lead and that sees new people to lend your voice and encouragement. Those Christians come out the other side of crisis with new effectiveness and new levels of influence with God’s people.
5. God allows difficult times to forge new Partnerships.
“Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” (Acts 11:25-26, NKJV)
Through his spirit-filled walk, Barnabas was enabled to see a potential partnership developing. He recognized that Saul might always be less than trustworthy to Jewish Christians. He also recognized that a Christian with an understanding of the Greek world was needed to capture and grow the Gospel results that were gathering in Antioch. So he set out looking for Saul, which was no easy task in a day before mobile phones. He invested months in forming a partnership that would literally change the course of history.
Saul’s ministry in Antioch was nothing short of powerful. A “great many people” (Acts 11:26) were saved & discipled. Just over a year later, God spoke through the new elder team at Antioch, and called Saul and Barnabas to multiply this church-planting, Gentile-building ministry across the ancient world. Saul took his Greek name, Paul, and the rest is history.
During difficult times, the Church has often seen walls come down between groups, and new partnerships form.
When Wesley was kicked out of the Anglican churches, he formed a partnership to preach the Gospel in the fields.
When Detriech Bonhoeffer was running an illegal seminary in Hitler’s Germany, the fellowship and partnerships he found gave us his classic Life Together.
If we live a Spirit-filled life, we may find this time of crisis to be no different.
Rev. Eric Going, at Whitehouse, TX Bible Methodist Church shared this anecdote with me: “Ironically, even though we’ve been quarantined, the churches in our area have connected and unified unlike ever before to my knowledge. The pastors of four local churches came together for an online community Easter service. It was very impactful to our community, and many have expressed a desire to see our churches do more things together in the future.”
Conclusion
I’m sure it was a temptation for the early Christians to wallow in the fear and uncertainty that come with hard times. But by the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, they rose to the occasion and allowed the pain to transform them into greater men and women.
There is no crisis, no persecution, no pandemic so severe that God will not redeem it for the glory of his Name and the good of his Church. God will use it to produce in you a deeper holiness, and a new vision for his Kingdom! Now, will you allow it to transform you & your church?
I’m not an iPhone guy, but I have noticed while shopping for my wife’s iphone charger (yes, we are a house divided)…🙂 I have noticed that there are fake products out there that may WORK for Apple, but are not made by Apple.
If you’re a mechanic, there are aftermarket parts that may or may not fit, then there are OEM parts… original equipment manufacturer… they just FIT.
It’s the same way in Holiness. The only real thing – real holiness comes from connection to God.
He’s the OEM the original equipment manufacturer… and nothing else will really fit.
Holiness isn’t intrinsic
There is no intrinsic holiness in any person or thing. Most versions of human religion teach that there is “intrinsic” holiness in some place, person, or thing. That this person is holy, because of some quality THEY possess.
This is a holy object, holy rock, holy place, holy ceremony, etc. So we get titles like “His Holiness the Dalai Lama” or “Holy Father” about the Pope. But when the Bible uses the word, that’s not what it means. The Bible teaches that there is no such thing as intrinsic holiness, that exists in a person or place or thing by themselves.
But when God comes into the picture, when he touches or uses something he communicates his holiness to and through that person or thing.
Examples of God’s Holiness communicated to people or things:
Exodus 3 “The ground where you are standing is holy ground.” What made it holy? Was it a special place? No, just a bush and some wilderness ground. But now, it’s holy because God is using it.
Bread is holy if God says it’s for his use.
Oil.
Pots.
Sacrifices.
Day – The created or Mosaic Sabbath.
Gold. Matthew 23:17 Jesus asked the crowd: “Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?”
In the Temple, God says the gold is holy, but Jesus says it’s not holy on it’s own — The Temple makes it holy. Why? Because God has chosen to place his presence there. He’s there, so it’s holy.
God’s Presence, Touch, or Use Makes things holy
God’s presence, touch, or use makes things holy that were not before.
This is also true of people.
When God connects with us, we become holy, his presence in us makes us holy, even though we were not before. God says in 1 Cor. 7, that as a believing wife you make your husband and kids holy, even if they are not believers… basically, I’m in contact with God and that man is in contact with me, he’s in contact with holiness.
Holiness isn’t a static quality, it’s a growing relationship
Like electricity flows, holiness is dynamic.
If God leaves, stops using something, is disconnected from something — it’s not holy. The light goes off.
The first element of holiness is this: that Holiness requires exclusive, continuing relationship with God. Anyone connected to God is holy, and anyone not connected with God is not holy, no matter if they used to be or not.
Prayer for holiness:
Father in Heaven, You are holy always and forever. Holiness flows from you. I praise you for making all that you possess holy like you are holy. I ask that you flow to me and through me, and that you produce in me in this 40 days, greater and greater holiness in every part of me. I want you to own new parts of me, fill new parts of my mind, heart, and attitudes, that I’m not even aware of at this moment. I invite you to show me new places for you to fill. Amen.
Meditation Questions about God’s Holiness:
If I want to be holy, how do I connect with God?
Is there anything hindering my connection with God that brings holiness?
Is it possible for God to make holy more and more parts of my heart and mind by taking possession of them?
A Bible Study for Pursuing Holiness:
What is God’s holiness, and how does God make sinful humans holy? Pursuing Holiness is a 40 Day discipleship journey for growing Christians, taught by Darrell Stetler II, can also be done as a 40 day church campaign. Please visit www.40daysofholiness.com for more details or to take the entire course yourself. There, you can download the Pursuing Holiness workbook, and purchase the course to help you along your journey toward holiness (which is Christlikeness!)
Daily videos on holiness and 130 page workbook
To download the 130 page holiness of God study guide guidebook & journal, please visit 40daysofholiness.com. This holiness campaign will take you deep into the heart of God, seeing the beauty of His holiness, and learning to long for it in your own life. In this 40-day holiness devotional resource, you’ll learn the definition of holiness, how you can become holy, why God expects you to be holy, and how to grow and increase in holiness. We go to the Bible to define holiness, to see what the Bible says about how to achieve holiness, to explore the metaphors in Scripture for holiness.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:3 (NIV)
Revelation 4:8 Each of the four living creatures…. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” (NIV)
What’s the definition of holiness?
It’s appropriate that we take a moment and recognize that the holiness definition is built on the holiness of God. God is holy love, at his core and essence. In heaven, scenes from the Bible tell us that special creations like angels around the Throne of God call out “Holy, holy, holy,” continually. This Trinitarian repetition of HOLY is significant, because it’s 3 in 1, and also because it’s the only thing that’s repeated around God’s throne in this way. He is faithful, he is powerful, he is knowledgeable, but in his essence — he is Holy.
What is God’s holiness? He is separate, other, not like. He is untouched by the faults and weakness and dependence of all other things. He is completely other than His creation. There are only 2 things in all existence: God & the Creation. God & everything else. That utter unique, separate purity is his holiness.
God’s holiness is the source of his other attributes:
Everything else is unfaithful eventually, but God is faithfulness unmixed.
Everything else is dependent & needy, God is completely un-needy, utterly independent.
Everything else has a spot of corruption, but God is purity unmixed.
Everything else has it’s light and darkness, its “yin and yang” — but God is completely unmixed, completely single and whole, utterly alone in his degree of perfection.
This holiness is often expressed as incomprehensible, utterly blinding, terrifying light in Scripture. To be in the complete presence of the holiness of God would literally kill your physical body, as if you had been suddenly transported to 100 miles away from the sun. You couldn’t physically or spiritually take the glory of his holiness.
God’s Holiness is “scary good”
I don’t mean to suggest that God’s holiness is a negative thing, as though it was a source of pain and fear.
On the contrary, the holiness of God is so glorious, so joyful, so explosively brilliant, that it’s beauty and goodness is what is overwhelming. The Bible tells us to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Humans have often recognized that there is a place where joy is so overwhelming that it gets close to something like terror. Like the sheer terror as you’re about to descend the world’s tallest, fastest roller coaster, the joyous terror of his holiness would simply overwhelm you in every way, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
It’s not that it’s so bad it’s scary, it’s that it’s so good it’s marvelously scary.
So where does God get his holiness?
God’s holiness doesn’t COME from anywhere. It is “underived.” It isn’t received from anywhere or anything. God is the fountainhead, the source, the DEFINITION of holiness. Biblically, the word “holy” only means someone who is rightly related to God in some way.
Any holiness in the world — came from God.
Any holiness in an item — came from God.
Any holiness in a person — came from God.
If you achieve any holiness — you can be sure you didn’t create it. It came from God.
So God is holy, He’s the source of all holiness.
And starting today, we’re going to spend 40 days on a discipleship Bible study journeying deep into that holiness, chasing the joy and beauty of His holiness, and letting that seep down into us.
Prayer for Holiness:
Father, you are holy, and I see what that means. Your goodness, uniqueness, and glory is so pure. You are unlike anything, you are purity unmixed, and I am in awe of you. Help me to always have a joyful trembling before the beauty of your holiness. Just let me know you, and let your holiness soak down into my heart and life all throughout this 40 days. Amen.
Today’s Meditation Questions on Holiness:
What is God’s holiness like?
What metaphors for God’s holiness can I think of?
How does God’s holiness give joy?
A PDF Bible study on God’s holiness
Pursuing Holiness (www.40daysofholiness.com) is also available as a church-wide campaign, to enable small or large churches and their pastors to pursue holiness together as a means of discipleship and revival. This valuable Bible study on holiness comes with a 120 page workbook, daily sample prayers for holiness, meditation questions about holiness and sanctification, journaling space, and online tools including 40 daily teaching videos about holiness, and guided prayer experiences to help you in seeking holiness.
Holiness isn’t just Pentecostal or Wesleyan
Holiness is not a Pentecostal concern, or one for the Holiness Movement, the Methodist CHurch or Wesleyan/Arminian followers of John Wesley. It isn’t just for holiness churches! It is for all serious Christians, all students of God’s Word, regardless of denomination or background. If you’re wondering what Methodists believe, or what John Wesley’s theology was, you can certainly find out a lot about it in this video series. But holiness isn’t just a theological exercise, it’s a pursuit of God’s heart, and a replication of his character in the human spirit.
For Darrell Stetler’s other sites, please check out www.newstartdiscipleship.com or www.darrellstetler2.com to find tools for small church pastors, to make their ministry, families and church discipleship more effective.
As someone who cares about discipleship for new Christians, it’s always great to find a company that has meaningful devotional resources. I recently came across the devotional below from Opening the Word. I’ve been aware of the devotionals from Herald and Banner for a while, but didn’t know they had updated them to include my favorite preferred method of reading – Amazon’s Kindle.
The Kindle devotionals from Opening the Word are released quarterly, as part of the Way, Truth and Life Sunday School curriculum,, which is based on the KJV). It’s truly the literature of my youth, since I remember getting their Sunday School material all the way back to the days when Maudine Wilcox was giving me 2 pink jellybeans and the paper each Sunday in Talladega, AL. 🙂
This is better, though. Now I can get daily devotional lessons on the same Kindle where I keep all my books. So when I wake up and realize, I haven’t read my devotional today, all I have to do is find my Kindle.
“For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress,a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat,when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall” Isaiah 25:1-5, KJV
As a youngster, and even through my teens, I loved spending time deer hunting with my dad, even though he had some very strict rules about being in the woods. Specifically, dad allowed no noise in the woods – no talking, foot noise in the leaves, etc. On the day in question, we were on top of a ridge in the Copper Basin of southeast Tennessee – a long, difficult walk from the car. It began to rain. Again, remember the rule – no talking! Dad stood up and motioned for me to follow. No, we were not headed toward the car; instead, we were heading in the opposite direction. No questions – just follow! After we had walked a while, dad stopped, moved behind me, turned my body to face off the trail, and gently pushed me off the trail. After we had walked a few yards, his hands on my shoulders told me first to squat, and then move forward. Only then did I see what he had known all the time. The big tree standing in front of us had a huge hollow hole at the bottom of the trunk! I crawled in, stood up, and he crawled in after me and sat at my feet. Dad knew where there was “a shelter from the storm.” My job was to obey in silence.
I wish I always followed God as implicitly as I did my dad that day. But I confess, in the storm, I often would rather talk – ask questions. But He, better than my dad, knows the place of shelter from the storm. But accessing that place may require me to get down on my hands and knees, and crawl! (by Gordon L. Snider)
“For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion:in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me;he shall set me up upon a rock” (Psa. 27:5).
![Opening the Word Daily Devotional: Summer 2021: The Writings of John by [Gordon Snider Editor]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hFod9wXkS.jpg)