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FR VOL. CLV III.... No. 53,543
Ask Max Column
TUESDAY, SEP TEMBER 8, 2009
Printed in Nashv il le, T N
Max Lucado’s New Book ‘Fearless’ Arrives
About Your Fears
Millions looking for encouragement in these fearful times
PAGE 2 Did You Know?... About Max Lucado
PAGE 2
By JOE SMITH
P
astor and bestselling author Max Lucado
has delivered a message that brings hope to our fears. In September 2009, Thomas Nelson will release several Fearless products with the major trade book as the anchor. Max shares this message: “Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear. They’re talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming. The plague of our day, terrorism, begins with the word terror. Fear, it seems, has taken up a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop. Oversized and rude, fear herds us into a prison and slams the doors. Wouldn’t it be great to walk out? Imagine your life, wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, and doubt, what would remain? Envision the day when you can trust more and fear less. Can you imagine your life without fear?”
Max Lucado’s New Release “FEARLESS” Excerpt
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Top 10 Fears of 2009
More on Fearless inside.
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RECENT Poll shows public concern growing As the economy continues to struggle, the public is growing increasingly concerned about losing jobs, not having enough money to pay the bills and seeing their retirement accounts shrink, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. The Associ ated Press
100
75
71%
say they know someone — a friend or a relative — who has lost a job in the past six months because of the Fear of being economy. thrown out of work is so widespread that equal percentages of higher- and worry at least lower-income somewhat workers, about losing 47%, worry a job, up from about losing 28% in 2008. their jobs.
47%
47% 50
New jobless claims fall more than expected
69% 65%
are at least somewhat worried about paying their bills, up from 46% last year.
worry that the value of their stocks and retirement investments will drop, up from 59% a year ago.
53%
aren’t confident they’ll have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, up from 34% in 2005.
25
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER AP Economics Writer
The AP-GfK poll was conducted Feb. 12-17 2009 and involved phone interviews with 1,001 randomly chosen adults.
Attack on police raises terrorism fears By Elena Becatoros The Associ ated Press
ATHENS, GREECE: Greek antiterror police are investigating an attack today against riot police in Athens that severely wounded a policeman and raised fears of a resurgence of domestic terrorism. At least two gunmen sprayed riot police with automatic weapons fire outside the Culture Ministry before dawn today. Authorities said the attack may be linked to an extreme left-wing group that fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the U.S. embassy in Athens two years ago. The shooting was a severe
escalation in violence even after Greece was hit in December by its worst riots in decades, sparked by the fatal police shooting of a teenager on Dec. 6. For two weeks after the 15-year-old boy’s death in Athens’ often volatile Exarchia district, masked protesters frequently attacked police with gasoline bombs and rocks in near daily riots but caused no serious injuries. But police officials and politicians say the perpetrators of today’s attack, which also took place in Exarchia, were shooting to kill. ‘’They wanted to kill someone in uniform. They sprayed our colleagues with gunfire,’’ said Stratos Mavroidakos, the head of a police officers’ association. ‘’People were instigated into taking this action by the prevailing climate,’’ Mavroidakos added, referring to the violent
New jobless claims fell more than expected last week but are stuck at elevated levels, while the number of people continuing to receive unemployment insurance approached 6 million, setting a record for the 10th straight week.
The government data released Thursday bolster recent projections from the Federal Reserve and private economists that the nation’s job market will remain weak into next year as companies purge thousands more workers. The Labor Department said
Greek special police forces prepare to retaliate (above).
Continued on Page 8
‘The Fearless Times’ Going Online Only TheFearlessTimes.com Many newspapers are recognizing that their subscribers are preferring to read their news online. Readers of The Fearless Times will be pleased to learn that they can now enjoy their news in its new and improved glass half full web-based format,
www.TheFearlessTimes.com.
This site will feature uplifting content from Max Lucado’s new book Fearless. It will also provide vehicles through which readers can dialog directly with Max Lucado about their Fearless stories or ask Max for advice in how to combat their own fears and anxieties. The site will also feature the Fearless DVD and other online resources as consumers navigate these troubled times. The Fearless Times is pleased to present what the consumer is looking for — good news in an accessible format. TheFearlessTimes.com will go live in June 2009.
World Stock Markets Drop By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ The Associ ated Press
World stock markets fell Thursday amid pessimism about the Obama administration’s plans to fix the U.S. banking system and restore the overall health of the world’s largest economy. European stocks were also undermined by a raft of disappointing earnings. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 58.82 points, or 1.4 percent, to 4,175.44, while Germany’s DAX declined 96.81 points, or 2.1 percent, to 4,433.28. The CAC-40 in France was 45.08 points, or 1.5 percent, lower at 2,982.64. Sentiment in Europe, already depressed by further losses in Asia earlier, was hit by the news that a number of companies across the continent reported worse than expected earnings and predicted further difficulties for the months ahead. In Britain, drinks maker Diageo warned that its profits for the 2008-9 fiscal year would be lower than previously anticipated because of the global economic slowdown, while BT PLC, the telecommunications company, issued its fourth profit warning in the space of just six months as a result of further one-off charges. Meanwhile in France, EDF, the world’s biggest nuclear reactor operator, reported a 40 percent drop in net profit last year, due mainly to a provision related to changes in the regulation of power rates. And carmaker Renault SA swung into the red in the second half of the year and said it expected the outlook to darken further this year as the economic crisis continues to ravage car sales. “There are no green shoots of recovery; with profit warnings, continuing bad news on the global economy, there is a risk that equity markets will continue to lose ground,” said Neil Mackinnon, chief economist at ECU Group. The raft of grim corporate news in Europe comes as the markets have largely given the thumbsContinued on Page 6 demonstrations in December when youths chanting ‘’Cops, pigs, murderers!’’ clashed with riot police, set up burning street barricades and torched banks and stores. ‘’This is what happens when you have 12-year-old children at demonstrations calling police ‘murderers,’’’ he said. ‘’These events have set us back 20 years.’’ Authorities say more than 30 shots were fired — at least 27 from a Kalashnikov-type automatic rifle, and another four from a 9 mm caliber weapon. The attackers also threw a hand grenade. Policeman Diamandis Matzounis, 21, suffered two gunshot wounds and was listed in critical but stable condition. Ballistics tests showed both firearms had been used in attacks before, police said. The 9 mm weapon was used in Continued on Page 12
Fearless Message Spreads As messages of Fear are spreading the globe, it is being counteracted by a movement to combat it. Max Lucado is leading the charge with his new book . where he encourages people to trust in Jesus and to fear not in times of trouble. Cities like Beijing, São Paolo, Mexico City, Sydney, Los Angeles, London, Johannesburg, and many small communities are being changed by this fresh message for our tough times. See page 3 for the full story.
Several of the page 1 stories and images are original copyright material purchased from the Associated Press and other media sources by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All other images and stories in pages 2-4 are copyrighted by Thomas Nelson, Inc. 2009.
THE FEARLESS TIMES, TUESDAY, SEP TEMBER 8, 2009
ASK MAX What Are Your Fears? Max Lucado is the Minister of Writing and Preaching at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, TX. His column this year will be focused on the topic of “fear” and how Jesus can help us. but I hate my job and feel stuck in it. Most of my friends have good solid jobs, are married with kids, and seem successful in society’s terms. My fear is that when I’m 45 I’ll be in the same place, living in regret, and wondering what happened. I guess this would be life’s worst-case scenario for me. What should I do? -Zach, Chicago, IL
Dear Max,
I am a mother of three and have this overwhelming fear about not being able to protect my kids. One day they are sick, the next day one falls on the jungle gym and breaks his arm, and then one comes home crying after being teased by an older child. To top it all off, I was watching a talk show the other day about children getting cancer. I just can’t take not being able to keep them from getting hurt. It’s driving me crazy! What do you suggest I do Max? -Deborah, Birmingham, AL Deborah, What you are going through is not uncommon at all. You may be a Navy SEAL, a multi-million dollar investment broker, or the Secretary of State, but it doesn’t matter. Every parent melts the moment he or she feels the full force of parenthood. Denalyn and I had many moments as parents when we didn’t know what to do. But we can take our parenting fears to Christ. In fact, if we don’t, we’ll take our fears out on our kids. Fear turns some parents into paranoid prison guards who monitor every minute, check the background of every friend. They stifle growth and communicate distrust. A family with no breathing room suffocates a child. Remember Jesus’ words to Deborah, to “fear not” when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Take a breath. Embrace prayer in these times, for it can be the saucer into which your parental fears are poured to cool.
Dear Max,
I am 28, single, and am struggling with life and expectations. I dream of a better life
Jason, These are real fears, born out of legitimate concerns. Yet left unchecked, they metastasize into obsessions. The next time you find yourself facing this worstcase moment, do this. Verbalize your angst to a trusted circle of God-seekers. This is an essential step. Find your version of Peter, James, and John as your trusted and best friends. And most important, verbalize your concerns to God. Putting worries to words disrobes them. They look silly standing there naked. The big deal and good news is this: you needn’t live alone with your fear.
Dear Max,
The 1990s was an amazing time for the industry in which I worked. I was able to buy a huge house and get a fabulous new car. I even started collecting artwork from around the world. Things sure have changed in the past few years. Now my company’s sales are dropping like a rock, and I keep hearing talk about another layoff. I’m sinking and need help. -Tom, Atlanta, GA My friend Tom, I feel for what you are going through and see it every day with those at Oak Hills, our church. If there were no God, trusting in your money and “stuff” would be the only appropriate response to an uncertain future. But there is a God. And this God does not want his children to trust money. Our world has brought us up to believe that money will answer it all. The accumulation of wealth is a popular defense against fear. Since we fear losing our jobs, health care, or retirement benefits, we amass possessions, thinking the
more we have, the safer we are. The resounding and recurring message of Scripture is clear: God owns it all. God shares it all. Trust him, not stuff! I’ll be praying for you Tom as you and many others are going through this. Fear not!
Dear Max,
My health has not been the best these past few years. I try to stay in shape but the recent death of a couple of my friends has me worrying daily about how I will face my own death. How do I cope with these thoughts? -Jonathan, Sweetwater, TX Jonathan, Oh, death is one that will definitely knock on our door. When I had heart surgery in 2007, I had some of my most honest of talks with God, so it has been fresh on my mind. Before that surgery, I offered up this prayer: “I’m in good hands, Lord. The doctors are prepared; the staff is experienced. But even with the best of care, things happen. This could be my final night in the version of life, and I’d like you to know, if that’s the case, I’m okay.” I’m writing you today, so Jesus must think I have more work to do. Let me comfort you with what Jesus tells us about death as his promise. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me . . . There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you.” Your final glimpse of life will trigger your first glimpse of him. How can we be sure he will keep this pledge? The answer rests in the Jerusalem graveyard. If Jesus’ tomb is empty, then his promise is not. Jesus experienced a physical and factual resurrection. And because he did, we will too! Jonathan, die with faith. Allow the resurrection to sink into the fibers of your heart and define the way you look at the grave.
Max Lucado’s Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear. Fear. It’s all over the headlines these days. Fear of financial collapse, terrorism, war, disease. How can we deal with so Jana fears in a Muntsinger many time of global BOOK unease? BestREVIEW selling author Max Lucado, who has been writing for more than 20 years, taps into our fearful modern psyche. He examines the complexities and complications of fearful living and offers a vision of fearless living in his new book, Fearless: Imagine Your Life With No Fear (Thomas Nelson, September 2009). As I read Fearless, I wondered if Lucado had been listening in on my prayers or reading my journal. He had me pegged when be addressed the fear of disappointing God and the fear of not protecting my kids. And I was surprised to discover I also identified with fear of dying, fear of global calamity, and a fear that God is not real. But I was also powerfully encouraged by
imagining a life of fearing less. Part of the strength of Fearless is how relatable it is. Max doesn’t come across as some “holier than thou” pastor with all the
answers, just a humble man sharing how his own faith has helped in re-shaping his fears. Lucado shares sweet stories about raising his own daughters, he recalls his wayward dog Molly, and he reveals the recent grief of his older brother’s death. He even divulges his honest thoughts before a recent major heart surgery in the chapter that addresses fear of dying. Fearless is Max Lucado at his best – every word chosen with care; witty, yet dead-on serious at just the right moment; clever stories that make his point clear; creative re-telling of Bible stories. Recommend Fearless to anyone facing change, illness, job loss, financial insecurity or the unknown. In other words, this is recommended reading for the world at large.
Fearless Worship Fearless Worship is the companion CD to the compelling new book, Fearless, from New York Times best-selling
author Max Lucado. The album features the well known voices and songs in worship music today. Big Daddy Weave, Travis Cottrell, Lenny LeBlanc, Cindy Morgan, Nicole C Mullen and many more join voices with Max Lucado in walking a life free from fear… a life abandoned to the One who will shoulder it all. From Morgan’s majestic “Praise the King” to the surrender of Mullen’s “On My Knees,” Fearless Worship will lead you into His presence where you will begin to trust more and fear less! For more information visit fearlessworship.com.
Dear Max,
Dear Max,
you may have heard things about my country, Uganda, in the past few decades. We have had tyrants rule our country, and so many good people have been killed. Most of my family has been separated or killed during these attacks. Why is the world like this? -Solomon, Uganda
I’m not sure I even believe in God. I am a bio-medical engineer, so in my field we approach things by empirical evidence. My colleagues and I discuss God and science quite often. I watch the news everyday as well and witness the utmost atrocities around the world. From what I can see, how could God even exist in this world? -Jason, New York, NY
Solomon, Contrary to what we’d hope, good people aren’t exempt from violence. Jesus has a word or two about this brutal world: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28). Jesus’ disciples faced similar circumstances. Jesus had just told them to expect scourging, trials, death, hatred, and persecution. In such dyer circumstances, courage emerges, not from increased police security, but from enhanced spiritual maturity. Think about Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King and what they had to go through. Evil may have her moments, but they will be brief. I pray God will spare you such evil. May he grant you a long life with courage and the ability to trust him with every step.
Jason, I’m a fan of the great Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis respectively wrote those and were some of the brightest of their day and at the top of their game at Oxford University. They were friends and often discussed some of the same things that you do today with your colleagues. C.S. Lewis in his youth was a militant nonbeliever, devout in his resolve that God did not exist, for no God could stand for such a disaster as we call human existence. Dismissing God, he turned his attention to academics, excelling in each field he studied. He began reading the New Testament and studying this man Jesus Christ. In his conversations with colleagues he “began to know what life really is and what would h a v e been lost by missing it.” The change revolutionized his world and, consequently, the worlds of millions of readers. Now, what caused C.S. Lewis, a gifted, brilliant, hardcore atheist, to follow Christ? Simple. He came in touch with Christ’s body, his followers, and in tune with his story, the Scriptures. Questions can make hermits out of us, driving us into hiding. Yet the cave has no answers. Christ distributes courage through community; he dissipates doubts through fellowship. He never deposits all knowledge in one person but distributes pieces of
the jigsaw puzzle to many. When you interlock your understanding with mine, and we share our discoveries with them . . . When we mix, mingle, confess, and pray, Christ speaks. I suggest that you, Jason, have those conversations with friends, put your fears aside, read the New Testament, and ask God to reveal himself to you.
Dear Max, I don’t know what it is, but I’m in a situation of when it rains, it pours. Nothing is going right in my life, and I just can’t handle it. What do you suggest I do? -Isabella, Puerto Rico Isabella, I can tell you’re feeling overwhelmed with what life is throwing at you. And when we’re overwhelmed, we tend to focus entirely on our problems. Of course, we can’t be oblivious to these challenges, but we can counterbalance them with long looks at God’s accomplishments. Remember when Peter was on the boat and asked Jesus to make him walk on the water? He focused on Jesus and was walking, and when he focused on the storm, he began sinking. Do whatever it takes to keep your gaze on Jesus. Remember this when you feel like life’s overwhelming challenges are in front of you. Feed your fears, and your faith will starve. Feed your faith, and your fears will. And lastly, do not forget the ultimate promise: “I am with you always, to the very end of the age“(Matt. 28:20 NIV). I will pray for you, Isabella, that you will embrace this promise when the storms come raging again. Go to TheFearlessTimes.com to enter in your questions for Max. Max will be able to select one or two every week to answer. Subscribe to The Fearless E-Newsletter to be alerted about new content on the site and to learn more about ways to share this message with your friends, family, and your community. Follow Max on Twitter at Twitter.com/MaxLucado
Max Lucado’s ‘Fearless’ Teachings on DVD By BRENDA SMOTHERMAN
Pastor and best-selling author Max Lucado is taking a public stance against fear, urging people to see that finding solutions to people’s worries are easier than they think. With the Fearless DVD-Based Small Group Kit (Thomas Nelson, September 2009) Lucado is helping families, small groups, and churches explore and discover spiritual solutions to the growing minefield of fear in our culture today. In this six-part DVD series
he offers hope and serenity by helping people react to threats with faith instead of alarm. Sources close to the author note that Lucado is proving that everyone can trust God in these scary times by drawing from Jesus’ past encounters with people who faced frightening situations. When people identify what they’re afraid of; and face fears of not mattering, disappointing God, death, global calamity, and God getting out of your box they
Fearless Inspires Tallest of Smalls By Beverly Phillips
Max Lucado delivers an encouraging message for children. When you feel like you’re the smallest of smalls, Jesus’ love can make you feel like the tallest of talls. This fullcolor children’s book is inspired by Chapter 2 of Max Lucado’s new book, Fearless. A delightful rhyming story about the TooSmalls who live in the Stiltsville. Every evening at six, the Too-Smalls meet in the square where they hope they’ll be picked to receive stilts to strut about above the stilt-less masses below. They come to see if they matter—if they’re awesome, if they’re pretty, if they’re clever, or funny. Ollie, the smallest of too-smalls, pleas to be picked. He wants to be like the high-ups of Stiltsville who are proud of their stilts, the ultimate status.
can then truly imagine a life without fear! Those seeking peace in turbulent times can join a Fearless group by contacting their local church or seeking tools from a local book seller.
“Did You Know” …about Max Lucado
• Over 1 in 10 Americans have read a Max Lucado book. • Max was a missionary in Brazil in the 1980s for five years. • Max has over 65 million books in print. • He loves strawberry cakes! • Max speaks fluent Portuguese. • His books have been published in over 30 languages. • He has 13 million-copy bestsellers. • Max has been a published author for almost 25 years!
But once he gets stilts, oh how it hurts when he stumbles and tumbles and loses his stilts. That is . . . until he meets Jesus who chose low over high telling him, “Keep your feet on the ground. You matter already.” Releasing November 2009
• His Hermie and Friends animated children’s DVD series is an international bestselling children’s series, second only to Veggie Tales in the inspirational category. • Max has a line of Hallmark/ Dayspring cards and gift products. • His favorite Bible character is David.
Exclusive Excerpt from Max Lucado’s ‘Fearless’ Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? — Matthew 8:26 You would have liked my brother. Everyone did. Dee made friends the way bakers make bread: daily, easily, warmly. Handshake—big and eager; laughter—contagious and volcanic. He permitted no stranger to remain one for long. I, the shy younger brother, relied on him to make introductions for us both. When a family moved onto the street or a newcomer walked onto the playground, Dee was the ambassador. But in his midteen years, he made one acquaintance he should have avoided—a bootlegger who would sell beer to underage drinkers. Alcohol made a play for us both, but although it entwined me, it enchained him. Over the next four decades my brother drank away health, relationships, jobs, money, and all but the last two years of his life. Who can say why resolve sometimes wins and sometimes loses, but at the age of fifty-four my brother discovered an aquifer of willpower, drilled deep, and enjoyed a season of sobriety. He emptied his bottles, stabilized his marriage, reached out to his children, and exchanged the liquor store for the local AA. But the hard living had taken its toll. Three decades of three-packs-aday smoking had turned his big heart into ground meat. On a January night during the week I began writing this book, he told Donna, his wife, that he couldn’t breathe well. He already had a doctor’s appointment for a related concern, so he decided to try to sleep. Little success. He awoke at 4:00 a.m. with chest pains severe enough to warrant a call to the emergency room. The rescue team loaded Dee onto the gurney and told Donna to meet them at the hospital. My brother waved weakly and smiled bravely and told Donna not to worry, but by the time she and one of Dee’s sons reached the hospital, he was gone. The attending physician told them the news and invited them to step into the room where Dee’s body lay. Holding each other, they walked through the doors and saw his final message. His hand was resting on the top of his thigh with the two center fingers folded in and the thumb extended, the universal sign-language symbol for “I love you.” I’ve tried to envision the final moments of my brother’s earthly life: racing down a Texas highway in an ambulance through an inky night, paramedics buzzing around him, his heart weakening within him. Struggling for each breath, at some point he realized only a few remained. But rather than panic, he quarried some courage. Perhaps you could use some. An ambulance isn’t the only ride that demands valor. You may not be down to your final heartbeat, but you may be down to your last paycheck, solution, or thimble of faith. Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear. They’re talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming, breakouts of al Qaeda cells. Some demented dictator is collecting nuclear warheads the way others collect fine wines. A strain of Asian flu is boarding flights out of China. The plague
of our day, terrorism, begins with the word terror. News programs disgorge enough handwringing information to warrant an advisory: “Caution: this news report is best viewed in the confines of an underground vault in Iceland.” We fear being sued, finishing last, going broke; we fear the mole on the back, the new kid on the block, the sound of the clock as it ticks us closer to the grave. We sophisticate investment plans, create elaborate security systems, and legislate stronger military, yet we depend on mood-altering drugs more than any other generation in history. Moreover, “ordinary children today are more fearful than psychiatric patients were in the 1950s.”1
Fear, it seems, has taken a hundred-year lease on the building nextdoor and set up shop. Oversize and rude, fear is unwilling to share the heart with happiness. Happiness complies and leaves. Do you ever see the two together? Can one be happy and afraid at the same time? Clear thinking and afraid? Confident and afraid? Merciful and afraid? No. Fear is the big bully in the high school hallway: brash, loud, and unproductive. For all the noise fear makes and room it takes, fear does little good. Fear never wrote a symphony or poem, negotiated a peace treaty, or cured a disease. Fear never pulled a family out of poverty or a country out of bigotry. Fear never saved a marriage or a business. Courage did that. Faith did that. People who refused to consult or cower to their timidities did that. But fear itself? Fear herds us into a prison and slams the doors.
Wouldn’t it be great to walk out? Imagine your life wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, and doubt, what would remain? Envision a day, just one day, absent the dread of failure, rejection, and calamity. Can you imagine a life with no fear? This is the possibility behind Jesus’ question. “Why are you afraid?” he asks (Matt. 8:26 NCV ). At first blush we wonder if Jesus is serious. He may be kidding. Teasing. Pulling a quick one. Kind of like one swimmer asking another, “Why are you wet?” But Jesus doesn’t smile. He’s dead earnest. So are the men to whom he asks the question. A storm has turned their Galilean dinner cruise into a white-knuckled plunge. Here is how one of them re-
Imagine Your Life Without Fear Solve the clues by completing Bible verses found in “Fearless” by Max Lucado.
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membered the trip: “Jesus got into a boat, and his followers went with him. A great storm arose on the lake so that waves covered the boat” (Matt. 8:23–24 NCV). These are Matthew’s words. He remembered well the pouncing tempest and bouncing boat and was careful in his terminology. Not just any noun would do. He pulled his Greek thesaurus off the shelf and hunted for a descriptor that exploded like the waves across the bow. He bypassed common terms for spring shower, squall, cloudburst, or downpour. They didn’t capture what he felt and saw that night: a rumbling earth and quivering shoreline. He recalled more than winds and whitecaps. His finger followed the column of synonyms down, down until he landed on a word that worked. “Ah, there it is.” Seismos—a quake, a trembling eruption of sea and sky. “A great seismos arose on the lake.” The term still occupies a spot in our vernacular. A seismologist studies earthquakes, a seismograph measures them, and Matthew, along with a crew of recent recruits, felt a seismos that shook them to the core. He used the word on only two other occasions: once at Jesus’ death when Calvary shook (Matt. 27:51–54) and again at Jesus’ resurrection when the graveyard tremored (28:2). Apparently, the stilled storm shares equal billing in the trilogy of Jesus’ great shake-ups: defeating sin on the cross, death at the tomb, and here silencing fear on the sea. Sudden fear. We know the fear was sudden because the storm was. An older translation reads, “Suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea.” Not all storms come suddenly. Prairie farmers can see the formation of thunderclouds hours before the rain falls. This storm, however, springs like a lion out of the grass. One minute the disciples are shuffling cards for a midjourney game of hearts; the next they are gulping Galilean sea spray. Peter and John, seasoned sailors, struggle to keep down the sail. Matthew, confirmed landlubber, struggles to keep down his breakfast. The storm is not what the tax collector bargained for. Do you sense his surprise in the way he links his two sentences? “Jesus got into a boat, and his followers went with him. A great storm arose on the lake” (8:23–24 NCV ). Wouldn’t you hope for a more chipper second sentence, a happier consequence of obedience? “Jesus got into a boat. His followers went with him, and suddenly a great rainbow arched in the sky, a flock of doves hovered in happy formation, a sea of glass mirrored their mast.” Don’t Christ-followers enjoy a calendar full of Caribbean cruises? No. This story sends the notso-subtle and not-too-popular reminder: getting on board with Christ can mean getting soaked with Christ. Disciples can expect rough seas and stout winds. “In the world you will [not ‘might,’ ‘may,’ or ‘could’] have tribulation” (John 16:33, brackets mine). Christ-followers contract malaria, bury children, and battle addictions, and, as a result, face fears. It’s not the absence of storms that sets us apart. It’s
whom we discover in the storm: an unstirred Christ. “Jesus was sleeping” (v. 24 NCV). Now there’s a scene. The disciples scream; Jesus dreams. Thunder roars; Jesus snores. He doesn’t doze, catnap, or rest. He slumbers. Could you sleep at a time like this? Could you snooze during a roller coaster loop-theloop? In a wind tunnel? At a kettledrum concert? Jesus sleeps through all three at once! Mark’s gospel adds two curious details: “[Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on a pillow” (Mark 4:38). In the stern, on a pillow. Why the first? From whence came the second? First-century fishermen used large, heavy seine nets for their work. They stored the nets in a nook that was built into the stern for this purpose. Sleeping upon the stern deck was impractical. It provided no space or protection. The small compartment beneath the stern, however, provided both. It was the most enclosed and only protected part of the boat. So Christ, a bit dozy from the day’s activities, crawled beneath the deck to get some sleep. He rested his head, not on a fluffy feather pillow, but on a leather sandbag. A ballast bag. Mediterranean fishermen still use them. They weigh about a hundred pounds and are used to ballast, or stabilize, the boat.2 Did Jesus take the pillow to the stern so he could sleep, or sleep so soundly that someone rustled him up the pillow? We don’t know. But this much we do know. This was a premeditated slumber. He didn’t accidentally nod off. In full knowledge of the coming storm, Jesus decided it was siesta time, so he crawled into the corner, put his head on the pillow, and drifted into dreamland. His snooze troubles the disciples. Matthew and Mark record their responses as three staccato Greek pronouncements and one question. The pronouncements: “Lord! Save! Dying!” (Matt. 8:25). The question: “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38). They do not ask about Jesus’ strength: “Can you still the storm?” His knowledge: “Are you aware of the storm?” Or his know-how: “Do you have any experience with storms?” But rather, they raise doubts about Jesus’ character: “Do you not care . . . ” Fear does this. Fear corrodes our confidence in God’s goodness. We begin to wonder if love lives in heaven. If God can sleep in our storms, if his eyes stay shut when our eyes grow wide, if he permits storms after we get on his boat, does he care?
Fear unleashes a swarm of doubts, anger-stirring doubts. And it turns us into control freaks. “Do something about the storm!” is the implicit demand of the question. “Fix it or . . . or . . . or else!” Fear, at its center, is a perceived loss of control. When life spins wildly, we grab for a component of life we can manage: our diet, the tidiness of a house, the armrest of a plane, or,
in many cases, people. The more insecure we feel, the meaner we become. We growl and bare our fangs. Why? Because we are bad? In part. But also because we feel cornered. Martin Niemöller documents an extreme example of this. He was a German pastor who took a heroic stand against Adolf Hitler. When he first met the dictator in 1933, Niemöller stood at the back of the room and listened. Later, when his wife asked him what he’d learned, he said, “I discovered that Herr Hitler is a terribly frightened man.”3 Fear releases the tyrant within. It also deadens our recall. The disciples had reason to trust Jesus. By now they’d seen him “healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people” (Matt. 4:23). They had witnessed him heal a leper with a touch and a servant with a command (Matt. 8:3, 13). Peter saw his sick mother-in-law recover (Matt. 8:14–15), and they all saw demons scatter like bats out of a cave. “He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick” (Matt. 8:16). Shouldn’t someone mention Jesus’ track record or review his résumé? Do they remember the accomplishments of Christ? They may not. Fear creates a form of spiritual amnesia. It dulls our miracle memory. It makes us forget what Jesus has done and how good God is. And fear feels dreadful. It sucks the life out of the soul, curls us into an embryonic state, and drains us dry of contentment. We become abandoned barns, rickety and tilting from the winds, a place where humanity used to eat, thrive, and find warmth. No longer. When fear shapes our lives, safety becomes our god. When safety becomes our god, we worship the riskfree life. Can the safety lover do anything great? Can the riskaverse accomplish noble deeds? For God? For others? No. The fear-filled cannot love deeply. Love is risky. They cannot give to the poor. Benevolence has no guarantee of return. The fearfilled cannot dream wildly. What if their dreams sputter and fall from the sky? The worship of safety emasculates greatness. No wonder Jesus wages such a war against fear. His most common command emerges from the “fear not” genre. The Gospels list some 125 Christ-issued imperatives. Of these, 21 urge us to “not be afraid” or “not fear” or “have courage” or “take heart” or “be of good cheer.” The second most common command, to love God and neighbor, appears on only eight occasions. If quantity is any indicator, Jesus takes our fears seriously. The one statement he made more than any other was this: don’t be afraid. Siblings sometimes chuckle at or complain about the most common command of their parents. They remember how Mom was always saying, “Be home on time,” or, “Did you clean your room?” Dad had his favorite directives too. “Keep your chin up.” “Work hard.” I wonder if the disciples ever reflected on the most-often-repeated phrases of Christ. If so, they would have noted, “He was always calling us to courage.” Continue reading this excerpt at www.TheFearlessTimes.com.
Fearless Chapter LIST 1.
Why Are We Afraid? 2.
The Villagers of Stiltsville Fear of Not Mattering 3.
God’s Ticked Off at Me Fear of Disappointing God 4.
Woe, Be Gone 1 Fear of Running Out 5.
My Child Is in Danger Fear of Not Protecting My Kids 6.
I’m Sinking Fast Fear of Overwhelming Challenges 7.
There’s a Dragon in My Closet Fear of Worst-Case Scenarios 8.
This Brutal Planet Fear of Violence 9.
Make-Believe Money Fear of the Coming Winter 10. Scared to Death
Fear of Life’s Final Moments 11.
Caffeinated Life Fear of What’s Next 12.
The Shadow of a Doubt Fear That God Is Not Real 13.
What If Things Get Worse? Fear of Global Calamity 14.
The One Healthy Terror Fear of God Getting Out of My Box 15.
Conclusion
Fearless partners
Top Ten Fears of 2009
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1. Speaking in Public 13
ACROSS 1 All ______ to him, praise forever. 4 Why are you fearful? O you of little _____. 5 Don’t be troubled. You must trust God, now _____ in me. 9 And the _____ I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubles or afraid. 12 The Lord is my light and ______. 13 I am with you ______, to the very end of the age. DOWN 1 Whatever you ask for in ______, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Answer Key available at www.TheFearlessTimes.com
Mexico, Honduras, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria and spreading!
2. Heights 3. Insects/Bugs
2 _____, and do not be afraid. 3 Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but to trust the Lord means ______. 6 The Lord is my portion, therefore I will ______ in him. 7 Don’t be afraid. Just ______. 8 Take ______, son, your sins are forgivin. 10 These little troubles are getting us ready for an ______ glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing. 11 I tell you the _____, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.
United Kingdom, Canada, China, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Spain,
4. Lack of Money/ Financial Security 5. Terrorism 6. Sickness/Harm 7. Death 8. Flying 9. Loneliness 10. Government/ Authority
FEARLESS MESSAGE SPREADS Max Lucado’s “Fearless” is being translated and distributed to all ends of the earth. People are using this message of inspiration and courage to combat this fear we see in the world. www.TheFearlessTimes.com
Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear.
They’re talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming. The plague of our day, terrorism, begins with the word terror. Fear, it seems, has taken up a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop. Oversized and rude, fear herds us into a prison and slams the doors.
Wouldn’t it be great to walk out?
Imagine your life, wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnetover your heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, and doubt, what would remain? Envision the day when you can trust more and fear less.
Can you imagine your life without fear?
TheFearlessTimes.COM
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