Are You Nyctophobic?

Nyctophobia –that’s the fancy term for fear of the dark.

Like many children, my son occasionally claims nyctophobia when he doesn’t want to fall asleep. Funny how that works.

I imagine, however, that my son’s nyctophobia is nothing compared to the ancient Egyptians experienced during the ninth plague.

In Exodus chapter 10, we find Moses near the end of calling upon Pharaoh to “let my people go.” At this point of the story, God has already unleashed 8 plagues on Egypt: water to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, diseased livestock, boils, thunder & hail, and locusts.

In verse 21, God instructs Moses to “stretch out his hand toward heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt.” Then he adds, “a darkness to be felt.”

I’m not sure if I completely understand what God meant by “a darkness to be felt,” but I’m fairly certain it is frightening. Whether it was felt by its accompanying fear and intimidation, or whether it had an actual physical presence is uncertain. However, this we do know: it was so dark that verse 23 says nobody rose from his place for three days!

The darkness was not only felt, but it was also debilitating!

Sounds like the darkness of sin, doesn’t it? Perhaps you have experienced the “darkness to be felt” manifested by the darkness of sin. Maybe even today, as you experience temptation, the darkness of sin is felt near. Or perhaps you sense it as you think on the manifestation of evil around the world in various newspaper headlines.

Just like the darkness in Egypt, sin debilitates and blinds us. Sin creates more problems, leads to more sin, breaks up relationships, interrupts our relationship with Christ, and plagues us with guilt and frustration.

The interesting thing about the account of the ninth plague in Exodus 9 is that while the Egyptians were paralyzed in debilitating darkness, “the people of Israel had light where they lived” (v. 23b). I’m not sure exactly what that looked like. Did they have halo-like lights follow them everywhere they went? Was there one general light over their section of town? Did each Israelite house have light?

No matter how it worked, it paints a powerful picture of the light of Christ in a dark world. Jesus said, ““I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

The light of Christ illuminates truth, provides direction, and brings freedom. No more need for spiritual nyctophobia!

Navigate FAQ’s

I have had some wonderful conversations related to my book, Navigate. The following are five snippets from those conversations.

 

You seem to emphasize Scripture as the primary means of navigating God’s will. Are you saying that God doesn’t use situations, relationships, and feelings to guide us?

No, actually, I believe God uses all sorts of things to guide us. However, that doesn’t mean that we are to discern His will from those things. There is a difference between God’s using something and us understanding what He is doing. God providentially places us in situations and relationships and gives us feelings as a way of guiding without us ever realizing His divine reasons.

 

You make the point that emotions can be misleading when making decisions. Are you saying that we should ignore our feelings?

Absolutely not. God has given us feelings and emotions for a reason. In fact, God even uses the language of emotions to describe His own feelings toward certain things in Scripture.

Pretending that faith has no relationship with feelings is a dangerous extreme. At the same time, Acting as if faith is ruled by feelings is just as dangerous.

A biblical approach sees feelings as indicators of what is going on inside of us. We must use discernment to understand whether our feelings are rooted in sin (bitterness, anger, jealousy), rooted in righteousness (compassion, righteous indignation, etc), and/or rooted in the Holy Spirit’s resonance with Scripture that we have meditated upon or memorized in the past.

 

You discourage people from reading too much into circumstances and events. Are you saying that not everything has a purpose?

Not at all. I believe “all things” are working together under God’s sovereignty (Rom. 8:28). However, the Bible never suggests that we have to understand all things. In fact, it says just the opposite –“The secret things belong to the Lord our God” (Deut. 29:29).

 

Your ideas about how God leads people into ministry is a little different from what I have heard from others. Are you saying that God does not “call” people into ministry?

I am not denying that God “calls” people into various ministries or professions. Instead, I am just saying that a call is not necessarily composed of extra-biblical revelation. Instead, it is more likely evidenced by God-given desires, gifts, qualifications, and skills.

 

Does your emphasis on decision making downplay the role of the Holy Spirit in leading believers?

Of course not. I believe the Holy Spirit works with the Sword of the Spirit (the Bible) while illuminating our minds to understand God’s Word and providing wisdom to live out the principles and teachings of God’s Word.

What is a Catch 22?

Life is full of dilemmas. Many of them are solvable, but occasionally we encounter situations that are logically impossible to solve. For instance:

  • Without experience it is difficult to obtain a job. And, without a job it is difficult to obtain experience.
  • A person who needs to make a purchase will need credit. But Credit will require the person to make a purchase.

You probably recognize these as situations commonly referred to as a “catch 22.” But, do you know where that phrase originated?

Joseph Heller coined the term in his 1961 novel entitled, “catch 22.” The novel focused on a series of unsolvable logical dilemmas encountered by servicemen during World War II.

For instance, pilots in the novel are told that they may stop flying missions if they are insane. However, when they claim insanity to avoid flying, the military psychiatrists declares them sane and fit for flying because they expressed a sane desire not to fly into danger. Did you catch all of that?

Throughout the Bible, we find plenty of catch 22’s. The greatest of which is the fact that we are all born into sin. The catch 22 of sin manifests itself in several ways. Here are two:

  • The more you learn of your sin, the more you realize that you can’t do anything about it.
  • The more you realize your need of righteousness, the more you realize you cannot attain it.

Eventually, you must come to the point where you echo the words of Isaiah or Paul saying, “Oh wretched man that I am,” “I am a man of unclean lips.”

The only way out of a catch 22 is for someone from outside of the situation to intervene. For example, if you need experience for a job, and need a job for experience, you have to wait until someone from outside will intervene by giving you a job without experience.

The same is true in the case of our sinful condition before God. From a human standpoint, it is a truly unsolvable logical dilemma. However, Christ entered our world from outside of our sinful condition. He took on flesh but knew no sin. He is the only hope for our catch 22.

By substituting His life for ours on the cross, He took what we deserved –death. But three days later, He conquered the grace by rising from the dead.

Jesus offers a way out of our sinful dilemma. He offers to take our sin and give us His righteousness.

The Bible says:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

(Romans 3:23-26 ESV)

I Kill Flowers

Early in the Spring, I decided to plant some flowers to give my yard some color. I spent an afternoon working in the flowerbeds to get everything “just right.”

In the weeks and months afterward I faithfully watered my plants.

Fast-forward three months: Last week, I pulled up half of the plants –they were dead and dried up. I couldn’t figure out why my plants died in the midst of constant watering. (Of course the weeds in my flowerbeds are doing just fine!)

I did a little research (which just means searching Wikipedia) and came across something interesting about watering plants. It turns out that the best practice for watering plants is to go straight to the roots and avoid watering the leaves. Why? Two reasons: 1) the roots absorb water much better than leaves and 2) prolonged moisture on leaves can lead to disease.

Now, I’m not sure if that really is why my plants died (it could have been the fact that I planted them in shallow depths). But it does bring up an interesting principle: the best place to water a living organism is at the root. Or, put another way, “If you want the fruit, water the root.”

Of course, watering leaves is easier and less time-consuming than watering roots. The leaves are easily visible and aboveground. You really don’t have to lean over or pay much attention to get them wet.

On the other hand, to water the roots of a plant, you have to go out of your way, make yourself uncomfortable, and focus your attention on a smaller target. But the extra effort is worth it.

In our role as disciple-makers, it is easy to settle for watering leaves.  “Leaf opportunities” are aboveground, easily visible, and less demanding. For instance, it’s a lot easier to lecture to a Bible study class or preach to a crowd because you can “get in and get out” without a lot of extra effort. The leaves are gathered for a specific amount of time –all you have to do is provide the water –not a lot of focus is required.

But when disciple-makers determine to water the roots, they have to pay attention. Roots are harder to find. You have to search them out. Pouring focused attention into a few faithful disciples is much more difficult than broadcasting a general message to the masses. Discipleship requires more time. Disciple-makers must be prepared to answer questions, go out of their way to serve, and be available at unannounced times.

Couple that with the fact that “watering the roots” is rarely glamorous. It usually goes unnoticed and unappreciated by others. But, it is where the greatest potential lies for healthy Christ-like growth.

Did you ever notice how Jesus occasionally turned away the leaves (masses) to focus on the roots (apostles)? (see Matthew 14:22) What about the fact that the majority of the Gospels focus on his ministry to the twelve?

Don’t get me wrong, Jesus did spend time teaching the crowds and showing compassion towards them. (don’t think that I’m bashing sermons or Bible Study lessons) However, His main emphasis focused on a select group of men whom He would develop like roots to His kingdom work. To paraphrase Robert Coleman, Jesus focused on a few in order to win the world.

Jesus even used a “plant” illustration to explain His strategy in Luke 13:18-21. “He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

Others may have scratched their heads at why Jesus would spend such an inordinate amount of time with a few men. But Jesus saw the bigger picture. He was watering the roots in order to grow the fruit. The tree of the kingdom would grow massively after His departure from the earth.

Sure, He could have focused all of His time on the leaves –there were plenty of crowds who followed Him everywhere. It would have been easier to say things once to thousands than to repeat it for a few. However, Jesus knew that the crowds, like leaves, are not equipped to absorb His teaching the way the roots are.

Later, in the book of Acts, the Bible records the fruit of His faithful watering. At Pentecost, a massive harvest of fruit was yielded as 3,000 were converted. Frequently the book of Acts uses the word “multiply” to describe the production of fruit in the early Church to the point that the apostles were referred to as men who “turned the world upside down.” Jesus’ “Kingdom tree” was branching out and growing at a rapid rate –all because He started with the roots.

Isn’t it interesting that churches are full of “leaves” that show up for weekly watering without ever growing? (kind of like the flowers in my yard) The church today is not stagnant for a lack of water. Instead, churches that struggle to grow today may suffer for a lack of focused watering –straight to the roots.

So what can be done? How do we shift to watering the roots?

1)    Focus on individuals. Corporate meetings are great (and biblical) but not when they are to the exclusion of small, intimate community in which relationships allow for focused attention on disciples.

2)    Identify your key roots in your church. Start with those who have the greatest potential to disciple others. Water those roots first and teach them to do the same.

While we may not all be able to develop thick, colorful flowers in our lawns, we’ve all been given an opportunity to help the Kingdom branch out into a beautiful tree! Now, get started. Its time to water the roots.

The Recurring Dream I Dread Most

I have a recurring dream that won’t go away.

It’s the last day of my senior year in High School. I show up for class eager to graduate that night. After the bell rings, the teacher asks for our final assignments. I panic because I suddenly realize I haven’t been to class in months –and I certainly don’t have the assignment she is asking for. The rug has been pulled out from under me –I’m exposed and I’m ashamed.

I don’t know what life events are behind my dream (I really did attend class in High School). But I know that I hate the feeling of being exposed and ashamed that I experience in the dream.

The first mention of being exposed and ashamed in Scripture occurs in Genesis 3:10 when Adam and Eve realize their nakedness and hide from God. (That brings up another embarrassing recurring ‘school dream’)

The root of shame is sin –not exposure. In fact, exposure wouldn’t be an issue if it wasn’t for the fact that we are sinners. We all have things that we are scared to let others discover about us. But can you imagine the confidence of knowing you have nothing to hide –nothing to be ashamed of?

You don’t have to imagine. Christ took our nakedness and shame to the cross. He bore our sin so that we might have his righteousness. In fact, Revelation 3:18 describes Christ’s gift of righteousness to us as white garments to cover our nakedness and shame. Consequently, Romans 10:11 explains that, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

The fact that we no longer have to be ashamed changes the way we live. Just look at Paul’s life.

Paul had plenty of sin that could be exposed. After all, he spent a significant portion of his life persecuting Christians. However, after his conversion, Paul never let the threat of shame alter his zeal for living out the gospel whole-heartedly –even in the midst of persecution.

So it’s not surprising when Paul writes “I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (2 Timothy 1:12).

Paul starts by saying “I am not ashamed.” He had received Christ’s righteousness. There was no more fear of exposure because it would only point others to the cross of Christ.

This freedom from shame is so powerful that it enabled Paul to endure suffering and persecution. For instance, in Acts 13, Paul preached in the synagogue at Antioch Pisidian. His message was so popular that the entire city gathered to hear him preach the next week! But when some Jewish leaders (who were intimidated by his message) saw the crowds, they literally ran Paul out of town (Acts 13:45,50). Talk about being exposed –he had nowhere to hide.

So did he quit? No.

Paul set out to preach in another town. In the next chapter of Acts, Paul arrived in Iconium and began preaching in the synagogue. Just like at Antioch, his message stirred up a mob –only this time they threatened to stone him. So, Paul left (Acts 14:5). Was he running away from persecution? Hardly.

If Paul were like many of us, he would have determined that he had suffered enough for the kingdom of God and that retirement was in order. However, Paul just walked right back into the fire. This time, he traveled to Lystra. Same song, third verse. And this time they stoned him. In fact, the Bible says his opponents thought they had killed him (Acts 14:19).

So why did Paul seem to embrace this suffering? Because he was not ashamed of the gospel.

This bold confidence was not based upon a personal preference or opinion. Instead, Paul says it was based upon what he believed: “I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.”

Paul knew that no matter what his opponents did to him, they could never take away what Christ had given him. Why? Because Christ –with the same power that defeated death and the grave- would guard his salvation.

So you and I have no reason to be ashamed. Our nakedness has been clothed by Christ’s righteousness –and nobody can take that away from us –And that’s not just a dream!

Some People…

If you have served as a pastor for any significant period of time, I imagine you are familiar with the phrase “Some people.” It always shows up in sentences such as:

  • Some people are saying…
  • Some people asked me….
  • Some people were wondering…
  • Some people think…
  • Some people are concerned…
  • Etc.

Of course, 99% of the time, “some people” turn out to be the person speaking to you.

I think Nehemiah experienced this sort of thing when Sandballat told him,

It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews plan to rebel. This is the reason you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king and have even set up the prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf: “There is a king in Judah.” These rumors will be heard by the king (Nehemiah 6:6-7).

In other words, Sandballat was saying to Nehemiah, “Some people believe that you and the Jews are conspiring to rebel and that you want to be king.”

But Nehemiah wouldn’t give Sandballat’s rhetoric the time of day. I love the way Nehemiah describes his own response in verses 8-9:

Then I replied to him, “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.” For they were all trying to intimidate us, saying, “They will become discouraged in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, my God, strengthen me.

Nehemiah knew that Sandballat was hiding behind “some people” in order to initiate a personal jab. So, Nehemiah called him on the carpet.

Personally, I’ve never been confident enough to tell someone using the “some people” phrase that they were making it up. But, I have come across a few responses that will help clarify the situation.

The next time someone goes into “some people” mode on you, consider trying one of the following responses:

1)   Ask them, “Who are these people?”

2)   If they claim to be protecting the people’s identity, tell them that you would be happy to talk directly to the people who are concerned if they will simply approach you.

3)   Thank them for their willingness to be the “conversation middle-man,” but then explain that your personal policy is to speak face to face with people.

4)   Explain that you do not want to place the burden of them having to represent your intentions.

If these kinds of responses turn your Sandballat away, rejoice!

If it turns out that they really were speaking for someone else, perhaps this approach will lead to a face-to-face conversation with the actual person who is concerned.

Either way, it is better than playing the “some people” game.

Perhaps you have other responses and approaches that have proved helpful in these situations. Would you share them? “Some people” might like to hear your input!

Walmart Doesn’t Sell This Fruit

Grocery shopping is not my favorite activity in the world. And yet, I seem to end up at Wal-Mart every day.

Its not that I don’t have a great system for keeping a shopping list (I’m actually a really detailed list maker), but the craziness of life just keeps throwing more and more of those urgent “one item shopping trips” my way.

So, whether I have my usual list (already written in order of items as they will occur on the shelf from the back to the front of the store), or I just have one item to grab, efficiency is always my goal. I want to get in and get out as fast as possible.

I recognize that my eagerness for speed and efficiency does not lend itself to socializing and pouring into others as I encounter them while shopping –and that is for another blog…

Today, however, I want to talk about what happens at the end of the shopping adventure… that’s right… the phrase we all dread: choosing a checkout line.

For me, choosing the right line is a science (that I haven’t mastered). Forgive me for stereotyping, but I analyze each line for length, number of carts (not people), average shopper age, number of items in each cart, speed of the line, age of the checker, and overall look of competence in the checker. Whew… you can see why I dread going through the exercise every day.

It’s a lot like going into a construction zone on a multi-lane highway. You have to pick a lane and just hope that it’s the fastest.

But, like the highway scenario, my checkout-line-choice-system rarely works. Which, as funny as it sounds, is a great tool of sanctification in my life.

For instance, two days ago at Wal-Mart, I was approaching the checkout lines at the same time as another man. He chose his line and I chose mine. I was certain I had him beat.

Would you believe (true story) that he finished before me? Not only that, but he apparently forgot an item. Believe it or not, he went back, picked up an extra loaf of bread and checked out a second time before I checked out the first time!

Meanwhile, I’m witnessing two “customer service representative” conferences in front of my line while noticing a lady with more than 20 items in her shopping cart ahead of me.

So how does all of that work toward my sanctification? By reminding me that only God can change my heart.

I can act patient all day long. You know what I mean –smiling when the lady turns around and says “sorry” as she pulls out 20 coupons and asks for a manager to verify whether an offer is still good, or giving a fake chuckle as the little boy drops a bottle of Cairo syrup ahead of me in line causing a massive “clean up” effort.

Anyone can act patient on the outside. The real issue is what is going on inside.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty good at covering up an angry heart with a fake smile or masking impatience with a deceptive look of serenity.

While I can change my outward appearance, only God can change my inward disposition. As hard as I try, I can’t make my heart be patient. But God can.

The Bible describes patience as a “fruit of the Spirit,” not a fruit of the flesh (Galatians 5:22). Its something that God grants us by His Grace. He grows these Christ-like attributes within us throughout our life making them accessible for our use in honoring Him.

And He is pleased when we pray and ask for the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives. Remember, Jesus said, “What father among you, if his son asks fora fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13).

Not only that, but Jesus commands, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4).

The growth of spiritual fruit in the life of a believer is just like the growth of physical fruit. We rely entirely upon God for the seed, water, sunlight, and miracle of life (even in plants). However, we are responsible for planting, tending, and harvesting. In other words, we can’t sit back, stew in our impatience and say, “God will change me when He’s ready. Until then, I have a free-pass to be a jerk.” Instead, we must begin tending the fruit He is growing in our heart.

So what do I need to add to my shopping list today? “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

Lord, help me tend the fruit you are developing in me –even in the checkout line at Wal-Mart.

I Don’t Vacation Well

Recently, I spent some time on vacation. I had been planning and looking forward to the getaway for months.

Finally, I arrived. I checked into my hotel, grabbed my backpack full of books and headed to the pool. This is what I had been waiting for.

Only, it wasn’t the way I had envisioned it. I had been anxiously expecting a few days without having to ponder issues, decisions, strategy, and planning. And yet, as I sat there, miles away from home, reading my book in the sun, my mind wouldn’t stop thinking about work.

I always have a pen with me when I read. And it didn’t take long before I was finding every free space in the book I was reading to write notes -not about the book, but about work! I couldn’t escape.

Then it hit me, I don’t vacation well. Don’t get me wrong -I love the idea of vacation, but I fail terribly in the implementation of vacation.

And it’s not just scheduled vacations away from home that I struggle with. I struggle daily just to find healthy margin at home in which I can rest. Maybe you can relate to the frustration of wanting to rest, but suffering from an overactive brain that won’t stop thinking about work.

Rest sounds so good, and yet so hard to attain.

Spiritually speaking, this battle is fundamental to our understanding of salvation. Christ calls us to find our rest in him (Matthew 11:25-30) and to cease our striving (Psalm 46:10). We know that our salvation is dependent upon Christ’s work, and not ours. Yet, we find ourselves striving again and again to earn our standing before God.

In other words, we love the idea of “grace through faith and not by works,” but we fail terribly in the implementation of a grace through faith lifestyle.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a spiritual striving that we must be actively engaged in (Phil. 2:12), but it is a striving that takes place because of God working in you -not you working to earn a right standing with God.

Even in the midst of our greatest spiritual battles, we must -in the deepest sense- be at rest in Christ. Otherwise, like Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they find rest in thee.”

When we truly find our heart’s rest in Christ alone, our lives will enjoy the abundant life of grace. We might even enjoy vacation a little more too!

 

Fan the Flame With Power

For most pastors, the greatest influence in their ministry (other than the divine work of the Spirit through the Word of God) is not Bible College or Seminary –it’s the people whom God has used to invest in them.

For me, the list gets lengthy. It includes my parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, Sunday School teachers, pastors, mentors, friends and my wife. In fact, I have said on many occasions, that I learned more about disciple-making from my wife than from anyone else.

The men and women of the Bible were the same way. From Jethro & Moses, to Elijah & Elisha, Scripture reveals how God intricately wove lives together for the purpose of mutually encouraging their faith and increasing their maturity in Christ. And through those discipleship relationships, God inspired normal, everyday people to pursue extraordinary acts of ministry.

Just think about Paul’s words to his protégé, Timothy.

II Timothy 1:6-7 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Why does Paul mean when he tells Timothy to “fan into flame” his gift?

In verses 1-5, Paul talked to Timothy about the discipleship relationships of Timothy’s life. Paul talked about the fact that his grandmother, Lois and his mother, Eunice had both discipled him in the faith. Paul discipled Timothy for probably about 15 years in his missionary journeys as Timothy was along for the ride. All of these discipleship relationships were overlapping and were becoming a beautiful tapestry coming together in the life of Timothy to make him the minister that he was.

Then, verse 6 begins with the word, “For…” It’s a way for Paul to link those relationships to God’s sovereign plan –Its like Paul is saying to Timothy, “He put all of these relationships in your life that have shaped you in the minister that you are today.” As a result, he says, “…I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God…”

What gift of God? The gift that was given to you “…through the laying on of my hands…,” Paul’s hands. “…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” There is a link between the discipleship of Timothy and this reason that Paul wants him to fan into flame the gift that he has given. Let’s see if we can uncover the reason.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, or Ephesians 4, reveal that there are different gifts given to different people. The gifts of mercy, prophecy, hospitality, and administration are all specific gifts. All of the gifts are to be used in ministry. So every believer, if we are speaking in general terms, receives the gift of ministry.

We see this gift of ministry mentioned in verse 6 when Paul says that this was given to Timothy through the laying on of Paul’s hands. What is going on here most likely is what we would call an ordination service. An ordination service is where either a pastor or a deacon comes before the church, and the church lays hands on this man.

It is a symbolic gesture to recognize that God’s hand is already on the man. When we talk about ordaining somebody, we don’t really have the power to ordain. What the service really ought to be called is a recognition service, because we are recognizing that God has ordained this man. In the same way, Paul is saying to Timothy to remember when they had this service, and he laid his hands on him and the church recognized him as a pastor. They set him aside in a way that everyone would understand that he has been ordained by God to be a pastor. The gifts that they recognized he had at that time, those gifts are to be fanned into flame.

But this is not just for pastors and deacons. Those are not the only people in the church who are to fan their gifts into flame. Instead, every believer has a gift of ministry.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

You can imagine Timothy’s reaction in light of Paul’s massive personality – “Paul, I don’t think that you understand that I don’t have what you have.” Paul precluded this argument and just says, “For God gave you a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

Thankfully, Timothy could look back at his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois and see an example of two godly women who had exercised a spirit of power and love in his own life. How blessed Timothy was to have these two ladies fan their own gifts of ministry into flame!

You and I also have this opportunity. God has gifted every believer for ministry in a unique way. And no person’s gifting is better than another. We are all called to fan our gifts into flames and to use them boldly –not in the spirit of fear, but of power and love!

Even more, we have the opportunity to inspire others to fan their gifts into a flame. I am so thankful for all of the people who have encourage me along the way to embrace the spirit of power and love in ministry rather than to hide behind a spirit of fear. May God help me -and you- to do the same for those whom we may influence.

Gotta Serve Somebody

You are a slave to anything you can’t (or won’t) stop thinking about.

By definition, the person to whom you are enslaved has power over you. Spiritually speaking, we all enter this world as slaves to sin (Romans 3:23), “following the prince of the power of the air,” Satan (Eph. 2:1).

Slave masters are very careful to guard against uprisings and rebellion amongst their slaves. They use tools such as shackles, chains, and whips to ensure that no slave escapes their control.

Satan is no different. The person enslaved to sin has no power to liberate themselves. Their only hope is an outside liberator –one who has power over sin.

Of course, the only person who has the power to free us from the chains of sin is Christ Jesus.

Herein lies a beautiful paradox: Freedom from sin is only found by becoming a slave to Christ.

Paul states it this way in Romans 5:17-18:

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

It is important to notice the difference between the two slaveries Paul speaks of. The slavery to sin was not chosen. Before slavery was outlawed in the United States, if a child was born to slave parents, that child –by no choice of its own- was born into slavery. In the same way, spiritually speaking, none of us chose to be born into sin. Still, we were all there in Adam during the fall. None of us can escape our sin heritage.

But slavery to Christ and His righteousness is different. Instead of being born into Christ, we are re-born into Christ. We enter salvation by faith –not fate.

Whereas we had no choice but to be born into sin, Christ offers us an opportunity to choose freedom from sin.

One may ask, “but why must I become a slave to Christ –why can’t I simply be a completely autonomous being?” The answer is simple –we were created to serve Christ and to find our utmost freedom and joy in Him!” Biblically speaking, there is no such thing as complete spiritual autonomy.  Like Bob Dylan said, “You gotta serve somebody.”

This is not a forced slavery, but instead a chosen slavery. It is much like indentured servitude –a voluntary service to a master.

This is a wonderful contrast from slavery to sin for several reasons:

1)    Whereas Satan worked to destroy you, Christ works to sanctify you.

2)    Whereas Satan will betray you, Christ will never leave you or forsake you.

3)    Whereas Satan is the father of lies, Christ is the truth.

Practically speaking, as a child of God, you have the wonderful benefit of a master who loves you and fights for you. Jesus is a master who cares for his own and protects them.

So when you find yourself tempted to return to your old master –whether it is through your thoughts, actions, attitudes, or desires, remember; Christ is your refuge and freedom. In the midst of your struggle run to him for protection –he alone has the power over sin and death. Cling to him.

Flirting with temptation, or ignoring temptation is never fruitful because you cannot remain neutral. For that reason, when temptation comes, your best move is to run to your master of righteousness and freedom. Submit to him. Pour your efforts and energy into prayer and supplication.

In verse 19, Paul says it this way, “ For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.”