Independence: Could it be dangerous?

I was just taking a few minutes today to ponder what Independence Day means to me. It certainly means many things, but mostly I guess it represents the liberty we enjoy as Americans and the terrible price that liberty costs. For some reason, most of us go through life seldom if ever thinking about the costs of the freedoms that we enjoy each day. They are freedoms that MOST of the world simply does not know.

But what struck me most was I started to think about the whole concept of independence. I was struck by the thought that if we are not careful we might be tempted to transfer the whole concept of independence into our spiritual lives.

You see, in our physical world independence is a sign of growth, maturity. It is a sign that one is able to cast off on their own, fend for themselves, handle life on their own apart from their parents. Not so in the spiritual realm. Independence is a sign of immaturity, not maturity. Independence is a sign of rebellion against our Father not a sign of intimacy or trust.

For followers of Jesus, the more we grow in our relationship with him, the more dependent we become, not the more independent. So enjoy your day with family and friends, have a grilled hotdog on me. But be careful from taking the precepts of man and ascribing them to the precepts of God. It can be a dangerous thing. The wisdom of man is folly next to the foolishness of God. We’re not even close!

Simplicity!

Have you ever taken the time to sit and ponder the benefits of simplicity? The Sweet thing and I are in the middle of getting ready to move again. We decided to get an early jump on it and go thru and look at all the things that have started to clutter our lives. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to just accumulate stuff…. Clothes, shoes, furniture, tools, electrical wires, CDs fo just about every kind. They clutter our lives. My question is why might that not be a good thing?

I think it might not be good because simplicity is an obstacle to greed. It seems to be a law of nature that the more one has, the more one wants. We buy stuff, then we buy stuff to put the previous stuff on or in. Then we have to clean ad maintain not only the stuff, but the stuff that holds the stuff. Then we have to buy insurance for the stuff just in case a fire or a, natural disaster or a burglar decides to take that stuff from us.

For me I have noticed that the more stuff I have the less time I seem to have for the really important things I need to be doing for our King. The more I have the less flexible I am. In the end, I think I have discovered that for me when I am not vigilant over my heart, rather than possessing things very quickly things possess me. The dictate to me who much I need to work, how much I need to play, where I can live, which relationships I can foster, what I can give away, what I can keep.

I was struck this morning when I did a little word study on the word “simple” or simplicity. It finds its origins in the greek word for “single-mindedness.” That may be above all a good reason to keep it simple, so that we might be single-minded for our King. I am not presupposing that everyone wrestles with these matters like I do, but for me it is a serious matter.

I think that I am going to adopt the same practice as watchman Nee. Watchman Nee once said that the way he conquered materialism in his life was by making a lifetime commitment to only buy something for himself when he had enough money to buy two. When he would have enough money to buy two, he would buy one for himself and one for someone else. For some reason that really resonates with my heart.

Let’s pursue simple, single-minded lives, devoted to following Christ and making disciples for Him.

Pain is our Teacher

I read a great quote the other day by a South Korean General named Choi Hong Hi, it went like this, “Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to go to his class.”  I really contemplated it for a bit. He is right! We do just about everything we can do to keep from going to his class. Think of all the machinations that we come up with to skip the class of pain…..! It is really amazing when you think about it. We have developed an entire industry out of it. We will go to great lengths to avoid having to attend the class of pain.

What kind of pain am I talking about. It would be simple enough if I was just talking about physical pain, but it goes much deeper than that. I woke up with strep throat this morning. It hurts. I found myself laying in bed praying to God to spare me the pain. I had so many other things that I needed to do and this would be a distraction. I simply did not have time for the inconvenience of pain in my life today. Funny thing though, as I was driving back from the doctors office I found myself humbled by the need for a healer; humbled by the fact that I am really only one heart beat away from death on any given day. I was reminded of a lesson I learned as a young second lieutenant in the US Cavalry years ago. “pain is my friend, it is what let’s me know I am still alive.” Get that. Pain is what let’s us know we are still alive. How counter that runs to our understanding of pain.

I am probably the worst person in the world to write a blog posting on pain. I have pretty much lived a life free of pain, especially in comparison to others. I wake up daily feeling good. But how many lessons have I missed in life because of my lack of pain. Sounds kind of masochistic I know, that that does come to my mind from time to time. I have even had thoughts that maybe I experience so little pain because I simply do not have the character to handle it.

When I look at many of the strong people I know, it becomes quite obvious that their strength was forged in the fires of pain. I know few if any people who really have strong character who have not had to go thru great pain in life. To go thru intense pain and come out stronger is an incredible act of mercy and grace on God’s behalf.

Many of us who seem to have little pain in life only know little strength of character. Am I advocating going out and conducting self inflicting pain on your self? Heaven forbid NO. But what I am advocating is…. praying to our Father for the strength of character that only comes thru pain, asking for His strength to endure, and the patience for pain to work its supernatural work in us so that we might walk with the giants of old in faith, in strength of character, and in true grace.

In closing ponder these scripture passages and allow them to challenge your understanding of how our Father,  who loves us dearly, understands pain.

Job 5:18 “For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands also heal.” 

Job 6:10 “But it is still my consolation, And I rejoice in unsparing pain, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One.”

Rev. 21:4 ”…and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”  

For certain this will not always be so. One day all pain will cease. But for now, it seems that Pain is your friend, it is what let’s you know you are still alive. So live then!

Do your Job!

I am reading the book of Colossians this morning and with each reading I gain a deeper appreciation for Paul’s relationship with the Church at Colosse.  How he must have loved them. But what struck me this morning was a small phrase at the very end of the Book. You get all the way to the Chapter 4 verse 17 before you hear Paul give a very personal yet directed appeal. Tell Archippus:  “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.” 

I find this amazing because here in this short letter Paul gives one of the most amazing Christological treatises. He gives us a glimpse into the very heart of God for His son Jesus Christ. He then goes on to give a powerful plea to shed the bondage to human regulations and to embrace  the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. After that he discusses some incredible guidelines for Godly living and then lays out God’s mind for Christian households. He finishes his epistle with last instructions concerning devotion to prayer and our actions towards outsiders.

Finally, he gives final greetings and then as if it was almost a post script Paul writes Tell Archippus:  “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.”  It makes me almost want to say Wow! where did that come from?

This is just a personal conjecture but perhaps Paul was reminiscing in his mind over a private conversation he had with Archippus, where Archippus was telling him how he was feeling about a particular ministry that he felt God was calling him to and preparing him for. But whatever it was as Paul ended this letter to the brothers and sisters at Colosse under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, Paul was prompted to write these words, Tell Archippus:  “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.” 

Maybe he was prompted to write these words because he had something to say to you and to me… TODAY ….this day. Maybe, just maybe today we would hear Paul write, Tell _______________:(put your name here)  “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.” 

I will have to be honest with you. I think that one of the most dangerous state of affairs today among the body of Christ in the West is that so few of us are really completing the work that we have received from the Lord.

How about you? Be honest with yourself…. are you completing the work that you received from the Lord? I know many who are not even sure they know what that work is. One thing is for certain, you can’t complete something if you do not know what it is you are supposed to complete. Trust me, God is not hiding it from you. He is loning for you to discover it.

I think it is possible that for some of us God may not be showing us what he has for us to do because he knows we will not do it even if he does. God knows that if he does show us and then we do not do it, we will have to undergo discipline. Meanwhile God longs for us to walk with him so closely that he is able to tell us (anything) and we…..simply obey.

Do you know the work God has prepared for you? If not,….. why not? My dear friends, we hold our personal agendas way too close to our chests. We concoct these personal agendas and then convince ourselves (and anyone who will listen) that they are  God’s will. Look hard at the purposes of your life. Do they connect with the purposes of God? Or do they simply allow you to get along meeting the minimal requirements for a successful life.

Reject the minimalistic lifestyle my dear one! Go for broke! Lay it all down! Sell your possessions, give to the poor, make God’s purposes, your purposes, settle for nothing less than all He has for you.

I think I am hearing God say today….Tell David:  “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.” I am saying to God today…… I will,… please give me the strength, the wisdom, and the patience to fulfill all you have in store.

How Plumb is your life?

Plumb…. that is a word we don’t see used so often any more. In the dictionary it defines “plumb” as the test for the  vertical straightness of a line. In other words is a wall straight to form. I was reading in the book of Amos this morning and came across a most curious passage. Amos 7:7 “This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand.” In verse 8 he goes on to say,…“Amos 7:8 And the LORD asked me,  “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said,  “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. 

What a frightening thought! I do not fear that God has concluded that he will spare us no longer. But what I do fear is that if he decided to put a plumb line along side my life what that might look like. God’s ways are perfect, his teachings are immutable. He has left us no vagueness about what our lives should look like. He has even told us He will give us all that we need to live the life he intends for us to live.

Why then would most of us (and let’s be honest, we know that most of us would fail the plumb test miserably) fail the plumb line test? Why, if we have been given all that heaven has to offer to pass the test, would we fail?

Perhaps we do not fear enough. Perhaps we misunderstand what Paul tells us in Philippians 2:12-13 ”So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; Phil. 2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

How about you? Are you working out your salvation with fear and trembling? Or are you like many of us hoping that we don’t understand that verse to mean what we really think it means. It just challenges my understanding of a gracious God too much to be true.

I guess what I am feeling is that perhaps we are losing a little bit of our perspective on just how God, God is. He is a God who demands righteousness, not suggests it. He is a God who requires His children to walk in holiness and godliness, not just wishes for it.

You and I might do well to do a little more shaking in the presence of our God. What do you think? What does that look like? You tell me…..

Are God’s Ways, man’s ways?

So often we want to take from the world the world’s methods and the world’s techniques to accomplish the purposes of God. That may be ok……if there is no scriptural guidance already given to the believer. When it comes to understanding how to carry out the will of God in our lives there seems however to me to be a plethora of scriptural guidance. My experiences tells me that if I take my methods and techniques from the world, then what usually results looks a lot like the world and generally it will amount to nothing more than a world size effort that I will achieve.

 If I take my methods and techniques in the form of Biblical principles and teachings from God’s Holy Word then the odds are very high I will achieve God sized results. I frankly, have had to learn this the hard way. So much of what I have attempted to do over the years has been built on human reason, human logic and human passion and zeal rather than the principles written in the Word of God.

 

If there was a Doctors degree offered in Doing the right things the wrong way…I would be Dr. Dave today. The world’s way is not God’s way. Jesus tells us that “the flesh profits us nothing.” (John 6:63) Nada, not even a little. Nothing means  NO… Thing. Zilch.

 

I have discovered that relying on the world’s methods only leads us to: 

 

1. Half solutions ( that do not solve the true problem)
2. Results that appear to be successful, but lack real substance
3. Frustrated reliance on material resources
4. Disappointment in superficial relationships built around faulty vision
5. Non-biblical leadership structures

 

I am sorry to say that I have either participated in and/or seen all the above in one form or another. I am concerned that today so many ministries are using so many of the world’s ways that they are missing what our Father really has in store. So much of  ministry work today lacks anything even resembling the hand of God.

What are you doing that can only happen if God shows up and does it? What are you doing that will be successful even without prayer, fasting, dependence on the hand of our Father? If you and I are brutally honest with ourselves we would probably have to conclude that much of what we do we do in the flesh…. and the flesh profits what? …..nothing!

 

Are you a Sojourner on this earth or a settler?

I have been struck lately by the reminder that we are not called to be settlers here on earth. I hear often, David when are you going to settle down and stay in one place? I do not believe that I am called to that. I am not certain what that means, but I am certain that we are all called to be pilgrims, sojourners here on this earth and not simply settlers. Settling pulls at us like gravity. The desire to settle should be a constant reminder to us of the reality that we have a home and we are not there yet.

Let’s take a look at the Apostolic teaching on this matter. 1Pet. 1:17 “Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.”  Here Peter clearly tells us how we are to live our lives here on earth ….. as strangers. Another english word which could be used is the word sojourner. I like that word better. We are on a journey. It is a journey leading us and all who follow to the throne of Christ Jesus. What an adventure we are called to live! Don’t let the world settle you. It is relentlessly pulling at us telling us to settle.

Here are a couple of other passages here we see this lived out.  Heb. 11:13  “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.”  

We must never forget that we are not residents here on this earth. We are here to learn to love our Father and to bring Him glory as His ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor 5). We have a task to complete, a destiny to fulfill, a King to honor. Beware of the traps that the evil one sets to lure us into complacence. It is a like a long dark sleep that quickly gets bogged down in consumerism and boredom. Our lives are meant to be filled with the joy and peace of our Father. Nothing you will find on this earth will satisfy that longing. Only He can and will.

We have a great cloud of witnesses which have gone on before us….Heb. 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated Heb. 11:38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. 

Let us not fail to live up to what we have already attained (Phil 3:16)

Who are these LastReached peoples…. why do they matter?

The matter is quite simple to me, but I am having a hard time convincing others that this redemptive plan of our Father is so incredibly dear to his heart. Let me share my reasoning. Jesus tells us in Matt 24:14 “This Gospel of the Kingdom will preached to the whole wold as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” It appears it has been on the heart of our Father since the beginning of time that all the nations (panta ta ethne) have an opportunity to hear of the saving grace through faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This desire burns deep within the bosom of our Father. For God do loved the world…. whatever God does is perfect, including this perfect love for his creation. Jesus it says “came to seek and to save that which is lost….” Luke 19:10 That was his purpose for coming, to bring salvation to all who would believe. In another passage John tells us….”The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8  If the son of God came for this purpose then how should we also be clothed with this same purpose. What else do we have to do that could possibly be better than joining with our Savior King in his life’s core purpose….. Redeeming his creation?

I am convinced of this….that Jesus will come again when all the nations have had an opportunity to hear the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. (Matt 24:14) I will even take it one step further (because the scriptures do as well). Not only will all nations have privilege to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, there will be a remnant from every one of them as well.

John sees a vision from Jesus in Revelations 7: 9 “….After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;…” John paints a picture here where every nation (ethne) will be represented before the throne worshipping Christ. What an incredible picture that it is!

I have had a dream for years…. I was out in the fields somewhere….I was kneeling with a man who lifted his head and said he wanted to follow this Jesus I spoke to him of. Immediately, with the shout of the Archangel a trumpet sounds and Christ comes to take his children home.

My question to myself and to you is this…. will there be a last one saved? If so, then why are we not fully and passionately engaged in seeking out that person? What keeps us from fully engaging our lives into the one thing that will bring about a conclusion to this time on earth? 

Let’s cast off all the things that hinder us from joining with Christ in His redemptive purposes and seek out those lost sheep that he is waiting for,…. whom he longs for… to be saved.

Night Watch

Stay tuned for the unfolding of the “Night Watch.” It will be an integral part of the Last Reached Initiative.

A Goal and a Vision

This may sound like you are jumping into the middle of an on-going conversation but you are not. Well maybe sort of. But do not worry, you will be up to speed in no time at all. Some have been asking me what are the goals of Pure and Simple Devotion and what are the goals of the Last Reached Initiative? Well here goes. So what are the goals of the Last Reached Initiative? They are simply this: to be obedient to the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ by taking the Good News of his love to every nation (ethne) that has yet to hear. Now that is pure and simple!

What is our vision? To make disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples who continue to make disciples to the ends of the earth until Jesus comes again. In a nutshell: to make an unbroken chain of disciples and disciple-makers ad finem (to the end).

What might be the Last Reached Initiative Strategy? Here it is: to pray, to seek, to pray some more, to find, to pray yet some more, to encounter, and then to pray even more. That’s the strategy pure and simple.

Perhaps I am overusing the phrase pure and simple, but that is simply a piece of my journey. I have done some pretty crazy stuff over the years that was any thing but simple and I have done it with a heart that has been anything but pure. Not any more. I got broke somewhere along the way. I hope that never goes away. I once heard a friend say, never trust anyone who doesn’t walk with a limp. I think I am starting to understand.