Mar Apr 2018

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March/April 2018

V O L U M E

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N U M B E R

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New Testament Christianity in the Present Age IN THIS EDITION:

Fearful Courage How Deeply Will We Let Him In? What it Means to be Forgiven Staying Fresh and Alive for the Long Haul

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Mar/April 2018 • Volume 81, Number 2

21st CENTURY CHRISTIAN MAGAZINE (ISSN 1048-4124, USPS 699-980) is published bimonthly by 20th Century Christian Foundation, 2809 12th Avenue S, Nashville TN 37204-2507 Periodicals Postage Paid at Nashville TN and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 21st Century Christian Magazine 2809 12th Avenue S, Nashville TN 37204-2507

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, PLEASE MAIL CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO: 21ST CENTURY CHRISTIAN MAGAZINE P.O. BOX 40304, NASHVILLE, TN 37204

SUBSCRIPTION PRICES: $17.95 for 1 yr $32.95 for 2 yrs $47.95 for 3 yrs COMBINATION PRICES: $27.95 for 1 year for both 21st Century Christian & Power for Today BUNDLES: $2.50 ea for 10+ to 1 address for 1 year SINGLE COPY: $5.00 each for individual magazines ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Headquarters, published bimonthly by & owned by: 20TH CENTURY CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION Business correspondence to: Mark M. McInteer • (615) 292-4739 21st Century Christian Magazine 2809 12th Avenue S, Nashville TN 37204-2507

Other correspondence & inquiries to the Editor: 21st Century Christian Magazine, attn: Bob Chisholm 12700 Preston Road, #210 • Dallas, Tx 75230 Copyright © 2018 by 20th Century Christian Foundation. All rights reserved.

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Publisher & Executive Director: Mark McInteer Founding Editors: The late M. Norvel & Helen Young Managing Editor: Bob Chisholm

Associate Editors: Shelli Meador Sherry Jackson Contributing Editors: Ken Durham Pam Money Harold Hazelip Howard Norton Don Hebbard John York Barry Packer Harold Shank Emily Lemley Jerry Rushford

Layout & Design: Angie Maddox

Photos & graphics sources used: stockunlimited.com designpics.com iclipart.com graphicstock.com depositphotos.com freeimages.com morguefile.com wikimedia.commons.com flickr.com (cc images)

~ 21 st Century Christian

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In thisFeatured issue...

Articles F E AT U R E S

Editorial

+ Additional Thoughts

How Deeply Will We Let Him In? ~ Bob Chisholm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A Word About

A Word About The Cards You've Been Dealt ~ Harold Duncan . . . . . . . 8

Hope

Fearful Courage ~ Virgil Fry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Voices

William Tyndale ~ Carolyn Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Walk With Me

Fear Me ~ Bob Chisholm & Prentice Meador. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Spiritual Formation

Vigilance and Surrender ~ Jackie Halstead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Reflections

Preparing to Find Treasure ~ Josh Allen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

A D D I T I O N A L T H O U G H T S What It Means to be Forgiven ~ Rubel Shelly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Hamburgers, Pizza, and Churches ~ Tom Norvell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Unity is More Than An Illusion ~ Milton Jones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Take It Easy ~ Ivan Benson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Staying Fresh and Alive for the Long Haul ~ Jim Martin. . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

I Need More than Me! ~ Phil Ware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Making God Look Good... Regardless ~ Ron Rose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

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constant faith question for all Christians is, how open will we be to God? How deeply will we allow God inside? William Temple has written: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” — that is always the relation of God our Redeemer to our souls.… He waits till we open the door of our hearts to let in His love, which will call our love out. He never breaks down that door. He stands and knocks.… There are many of us who have opened the front door to Him, but have only let Him into the corridors and staircases; all the rooms where we work or amuse ourselves are still closed against Him. There are still greater multitudes who have welcomed Him to some rooms and hope that He will not ask what goes on behind the doors of others.

But sooner or later, He asks; and if we do not at once take Him to see, He leaves the room where we were so comfortable with Him, and stands knocking at the closed door.

— From Personal Religion and the Life of Fellowship

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We can keep God out altogether; we can allow him to walk only the hallways of our life; or we can open every room to him. It’s our choice. And so, using a powerful story from Jesus, let’s ask some honest questions about keeping God out, or letting God in.

~ 21 st Century Christian

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Editorial

By Bob Chisholm

Some Never Let God In

(Mark 4:4,15) As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

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· Why will God’s word never take root in the hearts of some? · Why do some hearts become rigid and hard? · What could soften a stiff and inflexible heart?

Some Do Not Count The Cost

(Mark 4:5-6,16-17) Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

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· Why do some initially follow God, only to later leave their faith? · What faith challenges are the most difficult for you to endure? · What can be done to deepen a shallow faith?

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Some Will Not Put God First (Mark 4:7,18-19)

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.

18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things, come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

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· In your daily life, what competes most with God’s activities & concerns? · How can “busyness” damage individual faith? · Why is “worry” so destructive to personal faith? · What does an “unfruitful” life look like?

Some Open Their Lives Completely To God (Mark 4:20, Luke 8:15)

Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.

15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering, produce a crop.

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· “Hear The Word”

What most helps you to hear and really get into God’s Word?

· “Retain The Word”

What helps you to keep what you have been hearing from God?

· “Persevere With The Word”

Where and how does Satan attack your faith?

· “Produce From The Word”

What does Jesus mean by this amazing harvest?

New converts? Good habits? Godly character qualities?

There is no doubt that God wants to inhabit every room of every life.

And there is no doubt that He will strengthen and refresh every life that is open to Him. But that’s the question:

Are we open and are we open completely?

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BOB CHISHOLM Managing Editor Blog: theshapeoffaith.org

~ 21 st Century Christian

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What It Means To Be

Forgiven

By Rubel Shelly

S

he was one of England’s best-known novelists and secular humanists. Shortly before she died in 1988, in what John Stott calls a “moment of surprising candor,” Marghanita Laski said this on television: “What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me.”

The fundamental notion behind the biblical notion of forgiveness is letting go. It is as if a huge policeman chased you down, caught you securely by your collar, and turned you around.

Looking into each other’s eyes — with you scared to death and him firmly in charge — he smiles and says, “I’m letting you go. Try not to do that again.”

Another part of forgiveness is pardon. This time, you need to imagine that things have gone much further than in the scene above. You have been caught, tried, and found guilty. Then you’ve had the book thrown at you. You are on death row, sentenced to die, and waiting for the dawn of your final day You hear the ring of footsteps and are gripped with the terror that you are about to be led to your death. When the steps end at

your cell door, the warden smiles and says, “You have been pardoned.

You are free to leave whenever you wish.”

More realistically for most of us, perhaps, is the idea of having someone remit or cancel a debt. Suppose your MasterCard statement comes by mail tomorrow. “Oh, no!” you think to yourself. “This has been a tough month, and I can’t even make the minimum payment.” So you open the bill only to see “Paid In Full” stamped in red across it. There is a note saying you are the lucky winner in a random drawing that pays someone’s bill in its entirety each month. Your face breaks into a broad grin, and the weight of the world is lifted from your shoulders.

Roll all these notions together in one word, and it comes out forgiven.

God has paid your debt with his own funds. He had you “red-handed” and chose to let you go. He has come onto death row with a pardon in hand and announced that you can go free.

Pity the person with no one to forgive her. If you are forgiven, celebrate your good fortune and tell others the wonderful name of your benefactor.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Rubel Shelly has served as a longtime minister, former Rochester College president, and is currently professor of philosophy and religion at Lipscomb University.

Reprinted with permission from www.rubelshelly.com.

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T

he book 700 Sundays is an autobiography written by Billy Crystal. The title refers to the number of Sundays shared by Billy and his father, Jack Crystal, who died when Billy was 15.

It is a powerful and heart-warming depiction of his growing-up and adult years, his parents, siblings, extended family members, and a host of friends, many of whom were accomplished jazz musicians and vocalists. It is a wonderfully entertaining read.

A Word About T he

Throughout the book, Crystal refers to the cards he was dealt as he made his way through of life, some of which were unexpected, painful, and gut-wrenching.

But near the end, he looks at his most important cards. He creates the image of himself sitting at a card table across from God, who has dealt him five cards, face down, on the table in front of him.

I pick up the first…

"May be five foot seven." Oh, come on.

I turn over the second…

"Lose your father when you’re 15."

Can I get another card?

My third card…

"Have your mother her entire life."

And the fourth…

"Marry an incredible woman, have two beautiful daughters, and now your first granddaughter."

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~ 21 st Century Christian

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d T he Cards You've Been Dealt

by Harold Duncan

By Harold D. Duncan, PhD

A Word About The last one …

"Get to do what you’ve always wanted to do since you first made them laugh in the living room."

I hold the cards in my hand.

He stares me down.

I look at them one more time, but I don’t really have to.

"I’m going to stick, and I’m going to raise you everything I have.

What do you got?"

I stare at him with confidence, waiting for God to make his move.

He stares back.

I smile. He folds…

He can’t beat me.”

Of course, we all know God is never trying to beat us. In fact, He has been on our side every step of the way.

We have all been dealt cards we did not want, cards that have been very painful. But there are other cards, good cards, winning cards!

Remember, the “game” is not over. Cards are still being dealt.

Don’t forget to look at all the cards in your hand!

• • • • • • • • • Harold D. Duncan, PhD, is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Visit him @ haroldduncan.com prestonplacecounseling.com.

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Fearful C

by Virgil Fry

I

know fear. Low-grade or full-blown anxiety. Fretful worry. Recently, I cleared out a stash of papers from 2006, the year my wife Caryl was on dialysis. Reviewing the list of multiple doctor visits, hospitalizations, and medications surfaced intense feelings deeply buried in my psyche. The fear, the anxiety became my unwelcome companions again for a while.

William Cowper, a well-known 18th century poet, knew fear as well. He periodically suffered nervous breakdowns due to the ravages of severe depression. One such episode led him to pursue drowning himself in a river.

Taking a horse-drawn carriage in Olney, England, the taxi driver surmised Cowper’s suicidal mindset and feigned getting lost in the fog. Cowper eventually fell asleep. Many hours later, he was delivered back home.

Refreshed, he took his spared life as a gift, a sign from God. And that led to the writing of the hymn still sung today:

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, the clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head. ~ from "God Moves in a Mysterious Way"

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Similarly, Scripture is replete with this divine message: “Fear not.” More than 80 times in the Bible, we hear the words “Be not afraid.” Rabbi Jesus

~ 21 st Century Christian

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Hope

l Courage brings this assuring message for us to hear from God’s lips in the 12th chapter of the book of Luke...

Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends.

The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself. ~ Luke 12:32, The Message

Jesus is a clear-eyed realist, knowing that fear can serve us well in emergencies. Fear forces us to problem-solve quickly, to consider what resources we have to survive danger. Subsequently, though, previous traumas we’ve experienced can, if unacknowledged, continue to revisit us often.

Ongoing fear cripples us. Projecting unknown possible catastrophes that rarely happen depletes our energy. Such fear robs us of the precious present. Fear kills our creative spirit full of gratitude for our blessings. Fear fades as we remember to embrace the full gifts of God’s grace and mercy in the scariest of places.

Mark Twain knew hardship and tragedy. His personal response was this jewel: “Courage is not the absence of fear…it is the ability to act in the presence of fear.”

Lord God, take my fears, those based on reality, those based on “what if” conjecture, and reshape my spirit around your words “fear not” into your deeply known assurance and presence. Remind me, Lord, again and again, to “be not afraid.” Amen.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Virgil Fry is the Executive Director of Lifeline Chaplaincy in Houston, Texas, and author of Rekindled: Warmed by Fires of Love.

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I

can remember the first “store bought” hamburger I ever ate. It was from Dad’s in Hope, Arkansas. I think we could get 5 for $1. The burger consisted of a bun, a thin hamburger patty, onions (lots of onions), and mustard. You could eat in by going to the window, ordering your burger, and sitting at a picnic table on a sawdust floor under the tin roof attached to the main building. As I recall, the menu consisted of these items: hamburgers.

If they had other items, I never knew it. The burgers were greasy and you usually smelled like onions after eating a burger. If you went to Dad’s, you knew what you were getting. They did hamburgers well (at least I thought they did.) It was a big deal for my family to “eat out” at Dad’s.

Things have changed. There are not many Dad’s around. Restaurants that once specialized in certain items have changed. One burger place advertises

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more about gourmet coffee than burgers. It seems that a number of burger places are more interested in promoting their fish sandwiches or their chicken sandwiches. One very popular pizza place highlights their brownies, not their pizza.

When watching some perfume or cologne commercials, you must watch very closely to understand what is being advertised. With some, even if you watch closely, you may still not understand. The same is true for some automobile commercials. I often find myself after some of these ads saying, “Whaaaaat?”

Things have changed. Is it too much to ask for hamburger businesses to sell hamburgers? Before I get too carried away with my nostalgic lament, let me admit that folks in my profession may be equally guilty. I wonder if people looking for a church might ask the same question, “Whaaaaat?”

Type “churches in my area” into your web browser and see what you get.

Most likely, you will have numerous options for additional searches— churches of all names and sizes and brands. If you investigate further, you are likely to find even more puzzling

~ 21 st Century Christian

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information. This church focuses on this. This church focuses on that. This church has this kind of worship. That church has that kind of worship. This group emphasizes these things. That church emphasizes those things. This church boasts of being big enough for everyone to find a place. That church boasts of being small enough for everyone to feel at home. This church has this kind of preacher. That church has another kind of preacher.

“Whaaaaat?”

Don’t misunderstand. As much as I would enjoy a good ol' Dad’s hamburger (or 5 for $1), I am glad we have other choices. My tastes for burgers have changed. The same is true for spiritual needs. Churches that met my needs as a teenager or young adult would not have the same appeal today. Churches that offer me spiritual nourishment might not offer much worthwhile to someone decades younger than me.

The diversity is good. We like options. We value choices. We are all different. We have different needs and tastes and preferences.

There is one thing, however, that I believe is constant and necessary

as we scan the globe for a spiritual community. What is it? Christ.

Paul said it as he explained his situation in prison when he talked of different motives and different preaching that was going on. “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice” (Phil 1:18, NIV).

That is what I look for in a church.

Christ is preached. That is one thing I will not compromise. Christ is preached. That is one of my goals for where I preach and teach. Christ is preached.

Styles change. Preferences differ.

Opinions are cheap. The emphasis we place on different methods and approaches to sharing the message are going to vary according to the context of the community and the make-up of the church. But please, I beg you, let Christ be preached.

This week, I hope you find a good burger, a nice slice of pizza, and especially a church where Christ is preached.

• • • • • • • • • • • Tom Norvell is a Christian counselor, speaker, author, and life-coach. He has served several campuses and churches for over 40 years.

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D

o you like magic tricks? You know, the illusions? My favorite is the rings. You know where those seven rings are, and they are solid. And right before your eyes, they put them together and take them apart. It is not a miracle, but it sure looks like it.

I went and bought some rings years ago to learn to do that illusion. I won’t give it away, but the key is where the rings are in your hand. Those rings always have to be in the right place.

God used an illusion like that in the Old Testament. It wasn’t a miracle. It was the simplest of magic tricks — a simple sleight of hand. That is what God asked Ezekiel the prophet to do to show the greatest of lessons.

Ezekiel is told by the Lord to take two sticks and to mark them with the words “Belonging to Judah” and “Belonging to Ephraim.” These are two of the tribes of Israel. One would be representative of the Northern kingdom

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~ 21 st Century Christian

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Ezekiel 37:15-22 15The

word of the Lord came to me: 16"Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.

18And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ 19say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of

Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. 20When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land.

22And

I will make them one

nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.

that fell to the Assyrians in 721 B.C. and had since lost its identity. The other would be of the Southern kingdom often called Judah. (Ez 37:15-16)

Then Ezekiel is told to take one of them in his right hand, concealing one end of it in his clenched fist. Then he is to take the other stick and join it to the first stick, end to end. And it will appear as if there is just one stick, because the place where they are joined is in his hand. (Ez 37:17) The point is this: The old divisions of the North and South can be abolished, and they can be united in God’s Hand. (Ez 37:18-21)

Was this the goal for Israel’s people? Sure. But don’t we need unity today where we live? Whether it is racism, political differences, or divisions at church—we need to come together. (Ez 37:22) We can be one. Where and how do we become one? In His Hand.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Milton Jones is president of Christian Relief Fund in Amarillo, Texas.

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By Ivan Benson

“T

here is no music in a rest – but there is the making of music.”

Thus John Ruskin begins his beautiful treatise on rest.

Sometimes rest is imposed upon us; for example, when we are sick or unable to pursue our normal tasks for one reason or another. Other times, we choose to rest; we deliberately step out of the rat race of our busy lives and pursue a time or activity that rejuvenates us, re-creates us. Either way, the rest can prepare us for what comes next in life.

This rest may be just the ticket for you today; the very thing you need. If so, pull off onto a sidetrack and rest. Just … rest. There is no destination for you. No place you have to be. No goal you have to achieve.

Try to focus on the following little things: · the feel of the air on your face · the taste of your food or drink · the rising and falling of your chest as you breathe ever so gently and calmly

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~ 21 st Century Christian

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Let’s be Monks, Shall We? One of the most restful things I ever did was spend a weekend at a monastery in Georgia. I don’t know how many monasteries offer this kind of thing, but in January 2008, I drove several miles to a nearby monastery and checked into a simple but adequate room for a weekend stay. I had made a reservation, of course, in advance. This particular monastery accepted whatever amount of payment you could make for the weekend (although they did suggest a modest amount). I had a room with a bed and a sink, and showers were down the hall. They supplied three nice meals per day in the cafeteria, but there was a strict “no talking” rule there. There were classes one could attend and various religious activities in the sanctuary, but you were free to spend your time as you pleased.

I read, wrote, prayed, ruminated, strolled, and explored the buildings and grounds. A heavy snow began to fall my first full day there. The weekend was absolutely beautiful in every way. I gained insights about myself that were phenomenal, and I left rested and rejuvenated the day I departed, in spite of the ice that made travel a bit precarious. An inexpensive weekend that my wife encouraged me to spend in a rather unlikely place turned into an absolute joy.

Rest !

It’s the one thing we all desperately need, but seldom engage in. It’s hard for an athlete to take time off from his/her exercise regimen. It’s like pulling teeth to get someone who feels the demands of his/her job to just stop working. We always feel that if we rest, others who are not resting but forging ahead might leave us behind.

When we finally fall into bed at night, we often affirm Mark Twain’s assertion about modern man; i.e., that he gets “the sleep that does not refresh.”

We just refuse to slow down, don’t we? Until it is forced upon us, that is.

Until health or emotional concerns reach critical mass, and we are made to deal with issues that could have been resolved more easily with rest.

Modern human beings seem to have a penchant for separating themselves from themselves, ignoring feelings, overlooking symptoms, denying themselves the proper time and space to get in touch with themselves without distraction. The tortoise and the hare have a lesson to teach us all, don’t they?

Now, where is the nearest monastery? The nearest quiet stream? The closest little park with green grass, trees, and a bench for sitting?

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I offer the following tips:

• Start out slowly. That is, make your rest stop only 5 or 10 minutes long at first.

• Pay attention to the weather, the feel of the air around you.

• Remember to breathe.

Rest: Illusion or Elusion?

Rest is as elusive to me as almost anything I know. I have to work at resting, and that seems bizarre to me. Our lives are just crazy sometimes, aren’t they? We rush to get ready in the morning, timing our showers, eating in a huff, racing out the door, and trying to manage traffic as we drive to work or school. (As if we can manage traffic. Whew!)

We decry the cultures that don’t emphasize time and the importance of punctuality. Then we take our blood pressure medicine and hurry to the gym where we try to counter our lack of exercise and poor eating habits. If anyone interrupts our planned sequence (or even hints at slowing it down), we avoid him/her like the plague. We have become runners (in our minds) even in situations designed to recreate us, rejuvenate us, refresh us. Maybe I am alone in these feelings. But I suspect not.

There have been a number of times when I have truly experienced rest. And each time, I have vowed to return to the sweet, relaxing, and self-recreating atmosphere I found. And yet, I migrate toward the hurried instead. I have a penchant for speeding about, accomplishing, making progress.

After reading some Deepak Chopra some years ago, I found myself more aware of my surroundings, the air in my lungs, the feel of my muscles working as I strolled, and I sensed a congruity I had seldom felt before; I felt renewed and refreshed and alive.

Then I returned to my normal way of functioning. I suppose I feared that too much wonderfulness and congruity would cause me to be unproductive. And so I returned to the rat race.

I really want to learn how to rest. At least, I think, I do. How about you?

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Blood Pressure Stress is something I was raised with; something we are all raised with, I think. We cannot eradicate it, but we can certainly learn ways to diminish

~ 21 st Century Christian

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it. Medical professionals are all over the map when it comes to stress. Some read it into everything; some practically disregard it when developing a diagnosis.

I am convinced that stress was a major contributor to my wife’s first three miscarriages. I think it was partly responsible for an unexplainable rash I had back in the 1980s at a time of severe emotional upheaval. Stress and a lack of proper sleep, they work hand-in-hand, a tandem arrangement to be avoided at all cost; a tag team of wrestlers that are hell-bent on destroying any vestige of rest for which one might long.

It may seem counterintuitive, but I think we have to work at resting. That is, we have to plan for it sometimes; arrange it; make it happen. Of course, there are times when it falls upon us. I’ve had this happen in the outdoors on occasion: on a camping trip or hike when you find yourself overwhelmed with beauty, engulfed in a scene so serene that it draws your spirit into a restful glen. But most of the time, it comes by design; intentionally chosen moments meant to bring refreshment to our psyches.

The body responds to the rest we provide. The blood pressure drops, the pulse calms, the breathing settles, and the muscles relax. There is an almost elastic quality to a body/mind that is rested. It can be pushed to peak performance, stressed to endure hard circumstances, and then it can return to a steady state of rest and peace when it is not being called upon to perform. It is like an easily stretched rubber band—springy, flexible, and resilient in your hands.

Rest can also provide us with the time and emotional openness to ruminate, to meditate, to intimately consider the inner lives we live.

Whether or not we invest in our inner life, or avoid our inner life, the body will eventually tell the tale. I want the tale it tells to be a good one.

Restoration in Sand Have you ever stood on the ocean shore and let the tide wash up on your feet and ankles? The longer you stand in one spot the more your heels and toes sink into the moving sand. It is unearthed below your feet, sometimes rather quickly. If you stay where you are, you will gradually be totally engulfed by the sand as you sink deeper and deeper down.

Erosion is no respecter of persons. The beach is a great place to see erosion at work. But we can see it in our lives quite easily as well. Several sleepless nights in a row, and you and I can feel the effects of physical and emotional erosion quite keenly. The day-after-day drag of a demanding

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job can bring it on, too. The toll of emotional strain caused by the death of a loved one, a chronic illness, or a broken relationship can wash the proverbial sand right out from under our feet. We sink deeper and deeper, deeper on down until we feel the burden of each step we take, each task we perform, each decision we make.

We need restoration.

We need relief.

We need respite.

Rest is as natural and necessary as work; it is not a last resort, not a resignation, not a sign of defeat. Each time you close your eyes and lay prone for hours in sweet repose, you are recharging your human batteries, rejuvenating the psyche, rebuilding the worn muscles of your mind and body. Just as erosion is natural, so is rest—substantial rest.

The sand is restored on the beach each day. The smooth, firm surface provides enough stability for morning joggers to traverse the compacted tiny grains with confidence. Restoration is almost magical; healing and strength return when one experiences a substantial measure of relief in his/ her life.

Have you ever considered all the things rest helps? Rest helps muscle growth, weight loss, nutrition, heart health, mental health, and general physical well-being (just to name a few). Learn to embrace your rest as tenaciously as you embrace your work; it is an integral part of your life.

Rest brings strength to your work and tasks, and your work can bring meaningfulness to your rest.

If your work is the sun, the moon is your rest; they work in concert with each other. Day and night, day and night, the dance repeats, verse after verse. One leads and the other follows, step, step, step; their marriage is a romantic and beautiful love story. They were never meant to live alone.

The tide will come eventually. It has either just departed or is about to return. But you do not have to fear the tide. And you do not have to fear its erosive nature. Rest is on its way.

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Rest: Getting a Foothold Today, I got to experience the second pedicure of my life. And it was grand!

The first one was several years ago when I was still in my 50s. My wife and daughters took me for a surprise pedicure, knowing I would love it. But I was not so sure. You see, I have never been a big fan of my feet. Don’t get me wrong! I rely on them, want them, need them, etc. But I’ve never felt

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comfortable showing them off to others. I’ve always thought my feet were a bit ugly.

My family was right, of course. Once I got beyond the trauma of showing off my corns, odd toenails, and funny-shaped big toe bones, I loved it. Truth is, the woman working on my feet couldn’t have seemed to care less what they looked like. She just worked and worked to make them cleaner, and to make me comfortable in the process.

Today’s experience was just as wonderful; perhaps more so. Because this time, I had less shame to deal with; I was able to relax and enjoy the experience.

Pampering. That’s what a pedicure is all about in my estimation. The warm and fragrant bathing in the initial phase, then the delightful segments including callous removal with a pumice stone, the use of moisturizing creams with massage, and warm towel wraps – all combine to take your feet to pedi-heaven. The upshot of it all is that blood pressure lowers, breathing settles, and the body slithers into the recesses of the massage chair like water effortlessly fitting the contours of a pool.

The foot massage is amazing. Each toe gets its due; each “little piggy” (as we used to sing to our girls) “goes to market” and is treated with the utmost care and respect while there. Honor is given to one of the body’s least beautiful parts, like the ragged pauper being fed a sumptuous meal as he sits in a gilded high-backed chair and is waited on by servants dressed in their finest!

I know I went in and out of sleep several times during that hour— testimony to the fact that I not only felt safe and secure, but I was also unquestionably at ease both in mind and body. To truly rest—I mean, to settle the mind and body to such an extent that rejuvenating rest is accomplished—that is a byproduct of the pedicure.

When I left the pedicure today, my feet felt like they were walking on a cloud; such was the result of all of that foot pampering. And although I will still struggle a bit to justify doing something like that again in the future for myself, I can now see that my reluctance to pamper myself in this way speaks volumes about my restlessness.

Pamper yourself a bit. You may find that rest will find you when you do.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Ivan Benson is an author, singer, guitarist, storyteller, and voice-over talent in the Atlanta,

Georgia area. He has lived in Tennessee, Arizona, Arkansas, Ohio, Montana, and Georgia. He is married to his best friend and is the father of two children.

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WilliamTyndale W

The beginning of the Gospel of John, from Tyndale's 1525 translation of the New Testament.

by Carolyn Wilson

illiam Tyndale was a scholar, theologian, and reformer who translated one of the first English language versions of the Bible. He was born in Gloucestershire, England, around 1494, was educated at Oxford, and later became an instructor at Cambridge.

During his time in Cambridge, he became convinced that no one should have to study so long just to be allowed to study the Bible and maintained that every believer should be able to read the Bible in his own language.

At Oxford and Cambridge, he studied with humanist scholars who were influenced by the ideas of the Reformation and became known as a man of virtue and good character. He was also knows as a man of unorthodox and radical religious views. Martin Luther, who was a major influence in his life, especially influenced him. Unable to make his way as a chaplain in the established church, he went to London hoping to find support for translating the Bible into English. Failing to achieve this, he left for the continent.

It was in this phase of his work that he visited Luther and wrote extensively on studies in scriptures and continued work on his translations.

In 1525 in Worms, he printed the first English translation of the New Testament.

Within a year, copies had been smuggled

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Voices into England in shipments of flour and cotton.

Tyndale then began work on an Old Testament translation, but as the English copies were confiscated, he was captured in Antwerp in 1529 and denounced as a heretic. He went into hiding to Tyndale, before being strangled and burned at the stake in escape execution Vilvoorde, cries out, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes". during which time Woodcut from Foxe's Book of Martyrs (1563) he wrote a treatise critical of the divorce of Henry VIII. In 1535, he was betrayed and handed over to Belgian authorities where he was convicted of heresy. After 17 months in prison, he was strangled and burned at Vilvoorde Castle in 1536. His last words were “Lord! Open the King of England’s eyes.”

Tyndale’s translations became the basis of key future Bible translations and it is estimated that most of the King James Bible is Tyndale’s. Four years after his death, King Henry VIII asked for English translations to be published and these were heavily based on Tyndale’s original work.

At the time of his death, several thousand copies of the New Testament had been printed; however, only one intact copy remains today in the British Library in London. It is the first vernacular English text of any part of the Bible to be so published. Tyndale introduced new phrases and words into the translations, believing that he wanted to translate the essence and spirit of the original Greek versions, but also wanted to avoid the tendency to follow the dogma of the church. He expressed this in the following words:

I never altered one syllable of God’s Word against my conscience, nor would do so this day, if all that is on earth, whether it be honor, pleasure, or riches, might be given me.

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William Tyndale

The Law and the Gospel are two keys.

The Law is the Key that shutteth up all men under condemnation, and the Gospel is the key which opens the door and lets them out.

I will cause a boy who drives a plow to know more of the Scriptures than the pope.

For if God is on our side, what matter maketh it who be against us, be they bishops, cardinals, popes, or whatsoever names they will?

Christ is with us until the world’s end. Let his little flock be bold therefore.

My overcoat is worn out; my shirts also are worn out.

And I ask to be allowed to have a lamp in the evening; it is indeed wearisome sitting alone in the dark.

Do you know who taught the eagles to find their prey? Well, that same God teaches his hungry children to find their Father in His Word.

We do not wish to abolish teaching and to make every man his own master, but if the curates will not teach the Gospel, the layman must have the Scripture, and read it for himself, taking God for his teacher.

God’s goodness is the root of all goodness; and our goodness, if we have any, springs out of His goodness.

The Church is the one institution that exists for those outside it.

There is no work better than to please God; to pour water, to wash dishes, to be a cobbler, or an apostle, all are one; to wash dishes and to preach are all one, as touching the deed, to please God. 24

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Voices in Translation

Voices

It is impossible to preach Christ, except thou preach against antichrist.

Let every man of whatsoever craft or occupation he be of…serve his brethren.

Marriage was ordained for a remedy and to increase the world and for the man to help the woman and the woman the man, with all love and kindness.

All that I do and suffer is but the way to the reward, and not the deserving thereof.

The Scriptures sprang out of God. Here is also to be noted, that the cause of the institution was to be a memorial, to testify that Christ’s body was given and his blood shed for us.

In the old covenants, the people were sprinkled with blood of calves without, in their bodies, to bind them to keep the law; else we were bound to just damnation, for the breaking of it.

The church of Christ is the multitude of all those who believe in Christ for the remission of sins, and who are thankful for that mercy and who love the law of God purely, and who hate the sin in this world and long for the life to come.

By grace I understand the favor of God, and also the gifts and working of his Spirit in us; as love, kindness, patience, obedience, mercifulness, despising of worldly things, peace concord, and such like.

I perceived how that it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth except the Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue.

Collected by Carolyn Wilson, retired Director of the Beaman Library at Lipscomb Univ.

She continues her involvements in the book world and devoting more time to reading and writing.

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Walk With Me: Fear Me

By Bob Chisholm and Prentice Meador

21st Christian Magazine is featuring portions from the book, Walk With Me. This thematic/devotional study of the Gospel of Mark was co-written by our current editor, Bob Chisholm, and our former editor, the late Prentice Meador, Jr.

We hope it will inspire you to greater spiritual growth and a more determined effort to walk with Jesus and deepen your faith.

If you are interested in owning a copy of Walk With Me, visit www.bit.do/WalkWithMe or contact 20th Century Christian Publishers at 1.800.251.2477.

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Consider four stories: The first is a story of statistical fear. A cartoon shows Johnny coming home from school one day and finding a note from his mom that says:

“Dear Johnny, please feed the cat, lock the door, fix a sandwich and make sure the pistol is loaded in case of burglars. Love, Mom”

The sad fact is that there are 1,200,000 children like Johnny. One out of three of these children say they regularly have bad dreams and they are very afraid to be alone. It is a story of evil.

The second consists of accounts of teenage violence, which has become so savage that it has spawned a new word: “wilding.” · In New York City’s Central Park, a woman jogger was brutally beaten and raped by teenagers,

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Walk With Me Each day: · 3 children die from child abuse · 15 die from gunshot wounds · 27 children die from poverty · 95 die before their first birthday. · I n Brooklyn, New York, three · 2,699 are born into poverty teenagers attempted to set fire to · 3,288 run away from home. a homeless couple. After failing · 8,189 are reported abused or with rubbing alcohol, they finally neglected. succeeded with gasoline. · 49,322 children are in public · I n rural Missouri, three teenagers juvenile correctional facilities. killed a friend — out of curiosity! · 100,000 children are homeless Again, the stated reason for this · 135,000 bring guns to school violence was, “Because it’s fun.”

This story also is a story of evil.

The “wilding” story is a story of evil. all between 14 and 17 years old. When asked why they had attacked her, one of the teenage suspects replied, “It was fun.”

The third story is about a child abuse hotline and a full-page ad that said, “Nearly one million children would be glad to call the number below. Except they are busy being beaten, neglected, and molested.” Every 47 seconds, an American child is abused.

The ad reminds us that child abuse is up 80 percent in one decade. In this single statistic, we learn where the teenage “wilding” story has its beginning. It was born out of abuse and neglect where the violated grow up to be violent.

Consider the plight of children in our country.

The fourth story is about two boys who grew up together.

They were friends. They played together. They went to the same school. And both of them discovered evil at about the same time. But one learned to talk about it with interested parents, while the other hid it. They grew up with very different views of evil.

Today, one of them still copes with evil. He had early training and he learned to love good and to resist evil. He learned to confess evil when it occurred and to receive help.

The other young

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man never really coped with evil.

Instead, he welcomed it. He learned to hide evil when it occurred in his life until he finally didn’t care who knew. Evil always had an unobstructed channel in his life. It became entrenched.

I knew him. I was the friend he played with. He would have been my age, but he’s dead.

The story of Jesus is a story of encounters. Most of the time, we think of His encounters with people.

But he also encountered evil.

In Mark’s description, the term translated “evil” in the NIV and “unclean” in the KJV literally means, “the opposite of good.” Take a few moments to read the following stories of Jesus’ encounter with evil. · Jesus drives an evil spirit from a young man (1:23-26). · In the evening, Jesus drives out demons, drives out evil (1:3234). · Jesus states that his purpose is to preach and drive out demons (1:39). · Whenever the evil spirits see Jesus, they cry out in terror (3:11-12). · Jesus helps a man possessed by a legion of evil (5:1-20). · The Twelve are sent to preach,

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heal, and drive out evil spirits (6:7-13). · Jesus helps a woman whose daughter is possessed (7:24-30). · Jesus drives an evil spirit out of a man’s son (9:17-29).

These are encounters with evil spirits. And while there is more that we don’t understand about evil than there is that we do understand, still we can make some observations: First, for one who regularly said, “Don’t be afraid,” these clashes are filled with fear. The confrontation between good and evil always brought terror to the surface.

Second, evil spirits always recognized Jesus. In fact, the stories reveal that they recognized Him long before anyone else did. In the first encounter, the evil spirit said, “I know who you are—the Holy One of God” (1:24). In the next occurrence, Jesus “would not let the spirits speak because they knew who he was” (1:34). Evil recognized Jesus and cried out in terror.

Third, up to this point, evil always could be driven out. Every confrontation had the same ending—exorcism.

But as the Gospel of Mark turns the corner, the encounters with

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evil spirits begin to thin out. The concentration is heavy in the first half of Mark... · Three encounters in chapter 1. · Three encounters in chapter 3.

But then, the clashes begin to decrease... · One encounter in chapter 5. · One encounter in chapter 6. · One encounter in chapter 7. · One encounter in chapter 9. · There are no evil spirit stories after chapter 9.

The conflicts with evil spirits seemingly began to decrease as Jesus approached Jerusalem.

Possibly, Mark is just reporting fewer instances. Yet Matthew, Luke, and John also tell the story of Jesus in the same way.

When Jesus turned south to go to Jerusalem, His encounters with evil spirits diminished and then stopped.

But notice that His fight with evil did not stop. Instead, it intensified.

Jesus then faced an evil that was more entrenched.

In fact, the closer Jesus came to Jerusalem, the less He encountered evil that could be driven out. This evil had fully permeated life. He encountered no foaming mouths or twisted bodies there.

The merger of evil and life had been successful.

What evil fits this description?

This is the picture of the religious establishment that Jesus confronted more and more as He approached Jerusalem. Earlier, Jesus had dealt with children who wanted the evil out of their lives. And when the evil was gone, it left a widow’s daughter (7:30) and a man’s son (9:26-27) whole.

Even before these encounters, Jesus healed a man whose fight with evil was so great that when Jesus asked the name of the evil spirit which possessed him, He was given a number equal to that of an entire Roman army unit: “My name is Legion [six-thousand]” (5:9). But this man wanted the evil out. And when Jesus sent it out, it left a new missionary (5:19-20).

But all that had been before. Now, as Jesus approached Jerusalem and entered the city, He began to encounter an evil that was so entrenched and so blended with human life that He didn’t even attempt to cast it out. Mark first mentioned this more deadly kind of

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evil when Jesus healed a man with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath (3:1-6).

Jesus sensed the evil in the Pharisees who “were looking for a reason to accuse” Him (3:12), and He confronted them. Their first reaction was silence. They were stubborn. The evil had so permeated their lives that they did not want to let go.

Their second reaction was to plot His murder (3:6). Evil was so ingrained in them that while they criticized Jesus for healing on their holy day, they used that day to plan a killing.

Later, Jesus battled with Pharisees and Teachers of the Law who traveled the distance from Jerusalem to Galilee to look for a reason to criticize (7:1-23). They found it: Jesus ate the wrong way.

Jesus again confronted the evil: “Your hearts are far from me” (7:6).

“You have let go of the commands of God” (7:8). “You nullify the word of God” (7:13).

Yet though He exposed their evil as “unclean” (v. 20), He did not try to drive it out because they embraced it so tightly.

How different is the demoniac who ran to Jesus and fell on his

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knees wanting the evil to be taken out. Or the mother who brought her little girl to Jesus and begged Him to take the evil out. Not so with these religious professionals. They accepted evil.

In fact, they show that evil works well with religious prestige and community recognition. And by the time Jesus reaches Jerusalem, He encounters a religious evil that lies, manipulates crowds, brings false accusations, pays off traitors, and orchestrates his murder This evil, though not as dramatic as the earlier possession cases, is more entrenched, more at home, and much more deadly.

Now, why take this negative tour of Jesus’ life? Why stop to look at the dark side of life? One crucial reason: We live in a dark world. It was the world Jesus lived in. And we won’t see or understand his good news until we see and understand our own bad news.

We can learn much from Jesus’ encounter with evil. Consider these lessons: God Can Drive Evil From My Life If I Want It Out Jesus’ brother wrote, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the

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devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Evil was afraid of Jesus early in the story because it was resisted. It was not wanted.

But if I give evil a home in my life, even my religion will become twisted and deadly. God will not work in my life against my will. I must resist Satan and submit to God. Evil Can Become Entrenched In Our Lives First, we no longer resist evil.

Next, we allow evil into our lives.

Eventually, we begin to welcome evil and even begin to look for new forms. And when evil becomes established, the fear begins.

Did you notice how early in the story, the demons cry out in fear; but later, the fear is shared? · Herod is afraid of John (6:20). · The priests fear Jesus (11:18). · The teachers of the law fear the people (11:32). · The religious leaders fear the crowd (12:12).

You see, when evil finds a home, fear also finds a home. But when evil is resisted, Jesus’ message, “Don’t be afraid,” begins to make sense.

Decide to give the fear back to Satan by making evil homeless in your life.

Evil Can Become Entrenched In Religion Who resisted God? Who lied?

Who killed Jesus?

It was the religious establishment.

Being a religious person is no guarantee that evil will not infiltrate a person’s life. Evil has a long history of harmonious cooperation with religion.

A minister once conducted a seminar in St. Louis for people who had been burned by religion.

It served as a bridge to God. It provided a place to begin talking about God. But the minister didn’t mention God during the entire three-night seminar.

After one of the evening sessions, a couple came up to him and expressed their appreciation for what they had been learning. Then, with a puzzled look, they asked, “But do you really think you can have all of these good things without religion?”

The minister answered,

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“Yes ... but not without God.” The couple looked surprised and said, “You are the first person we have ever heard distinguish between religion and God.” That night, an important lesson was taught. One form of religion can love God and resist evil, while another kind of religion can plot the murder of the Son of God.

Good Is More Powerful Than Evil C.S. Lewis is the author of The Screwtape Letters, a revealing fiction about the correspondence between Screwtape, a senior devil, and his nephew, Wormwood, who is in tempter-training school. After writing the book, Lewis was asked if he really believed in the devil. He answered:

Now if by “the devil” you mean a power opposite to God and like God,

self-existent from all eternity, the answer is certainly No.... God has no opposite.... The proper question is whether I believe in devils. I do. That is to say, I believe in angels, and I believe that some of these, by the abuse of their free will, have become enemies to God and, as a corollary, to us....

Devil is the opposite of angel only as Bad Man is the opposite of Good Man. Satan, the leader or dictator of devils, is the opposite, not of God, but of Michael.” (From, The Joyful Christian by C. S. Lewis)

Satan is a fallen angel who can never match the power of God. God is infinitely more powerful than any evil. But as we have seen from these stories in Mark, God works through

my choice, my confession, and my commitment. Evil may be powerful, but He who epitomized the greater power of good says, “Don’t be afraid.”

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Bob Chisholm, in addition to serving as editor of 21st Century Christian Magazine, is the Spiritual Formation Minister for the Prestoncrest Church of Christ in Dallas Texas.

The late Prentice Meador, Jr. (1938-2008) was the former editor of this magazine.

He taught at UCLA, the Univ. of Washington, SW Missouri State Univ., and Lipscomb Univ.

He served as preaching minister in churches in California, Washington, Missouri, & Texas.

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Xxxxxx

M

any of us are very busy, overcommitted, and burdened. Some of us feel as if we are carrying the weight of it all on our shoulders. And yet, we want to stay fresh and alive for the long haul.

Taking steps to stay fresh for the long haul is important because too many people crash and burn.

Perhaps there have been too many disappointments and too many meetings in which the unthinkable happens. After a while, you become angry, bitter, and cynical.

Some of us know what it is to be angry. We are resentful of what

happened behind closed doors in a church meeting, resentful of being treated unfairly, resentful of being underpaid, resentful of unkind words. Or you are just tired. You are tired of being the point person. You are tired of having to be the responsible adult.

Some of us know what it is to feel self-doubt. You went to

seminary and worked hard, but your ministry just hasn’t gone the way you thought it would.

You hear some of your fellow ministers say their churches are doing well. Yet, so many of us

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are ministers who are disappointed and confused about the way things have turned out.

Some people begin to feel entitled and complacent. We feel like we deserve a life better than this. We may begin taking some shortcuts. Maybe these are shortcuts to quick pleasure. These moments of quick pleasure may become a secret. We rationalize that we deserve this after all we’ve been through. (Sounds like a rationalization from the father of lies.)

Some of us know what it is to feel lonely. To not have real friends. To feel as

if no one in the church knows what we are going through or dealing with.

In the meantime, some of us may realize that we really have not invested in our marriages in earlier years and we may not be that close to our wives/ husbands.

A few suggestions that might be helpful to staying fresh...

• Invest in lifelong learning. Sometimes we recognize that the world has changed. However, we are just too tired to retool and we wonder how we could have the energy to do this. Read. Listen to good podcasts. Take a class. Do something that will help you grow.

• Invest in praying the Psalms. For a season, I read five Psalms aloud

each morning and used them to help me pray. I underlined every word that described a name of God, a characteristic of God, or something God did. This practice greatly enriched my prayer life as I found myself praying for what I otherwise would not.

Notice how Jesus lived his ministry. Notice that he walked away from ministry at times to pray. He even spent a whole night in prayer as he sought to make a decision. When Jesus was alone with God, he found the wisdom and awareness of when to say “no.”

Richard Foster wrote in Celebration of Discipline: Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people or gifted people but for deep people.

• Invest in your own emotional health. Deal with your emotions as Paul

admonishes us in Ephesians 4:31: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger,

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brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”

When we don’t deal with our emotions, this neglect will be seen in a variety of ways:

> We may become very demanding people. > We may quickly leave when there is conflict. > We may develop a pattern of manipulating others. > We may become quick-tempered, exploding at times. > We might live with the constant anxiety that we are going to lose the approval of others.

Perhaps I am constantly explaining myself, questioning myself, defending myself, blaming others, or withdrawing from the people around me.

Eventually, we lose the emotional fire in our gut.

• Invest in relationships.

· Give time and energy to your family. It is smart to put your family time on the calendar as an appointment. Don’t make a big deal about it, just do it. · Surround yourself with a few people who add something to your life. Who is it that adds energy, life, and vitality to your life?

· Cultivate healthy relationships outside the church. Too many of us live in isolation. We are friendless and sometimes feel like we have no one with whom we can really talk. That is how some of us get into trouble.

It is important to nurture same-gender relationships and remove the isolation.

Finally, it is in our weakness that we learn to rely on God. In your weakness, you are exposed. Maybe others can see that you don’t always know, that you are not always strong. Maybe you sometimes struggle at work. Yet, could it be that this is the moment to rely on God (2 Cor 1:8-9)?

This may be our finest hour as we learn to rely on God. • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Jim Martin has served churches in Alabama, Missouri, and Texas.

He serves as vice president at Harding School of Theology, in Memphis, Tennessee.

You can read more of his writings on his blog www.godhungry.org.

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Part 2 of

a 5-Part Series...

J

esus promised, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20).

Let the words of this promise settle into your heart. Jesus, who calmed the raging winds and waves of Galilee, has promised to be present with us.

Jesus, who turned a little boy’s fish sandwich into a feast for a multitude, has promised to show up and join us at our gatherings. Our all-powerful Savior, who stooped to wash his disciples’ feet, has promised to be present at the Table, sharing the bread and the wine with us. Matthew wants us to know that Jesus, in his earthly ministry, is Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23).

them” (Matthew 18:20 emphasis added).

This promise of Jesus is astounding.

Yet we can miss the radical delight of this promise because we’ve heard these words so many times before and because many of us have only experienced watered-down versions of spiritual family. Listen to this promise again; this time, entering into the moment as Jesus makes this promise to the disciples he knows he will leave behind on earth to carry on his work:

Yet, Matthew doesn’t stop with this promise of Immanuel in Chapter 1: Three more times, Matthew will emphasize Jesus as Immanuel, God with us. The last three come as promises from Jesus himself. Today, we want to look at the promise in Chapter 18, where Matthew helps us hear Jesus’ promise about being present in genuine spiritual family: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with

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by Phil Ware

So how can I read the gospels as more than just daily Bible reading I check off my to-do list?

· Even when there are only a few of you, two or three, this promise of Jesus’ real presence is true. · When you gather to honor me, to invite me into your presence, to trust in my power, and to long for my presence, this promise is true.

· No matter where you may be when you gather in my name, this promise is true.

· And here is my promise: I will be with you. You can experience Immanuel — God truly present among you!

Jesus’ promise does not mean that he abandons us when we are alone.

The Lord promised to never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6) and Paul assured us that nothing could separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:32-39). Yet Jesus is speaking to something vital and necessary for our lives to be full. We need others! Not just any others, but we need others who share our faith, our journey, and our Lord. The whole of the Bible declares it; so let these few reminders call you to it.

God announced to the hosts of

heaven that it was not good for the first person to do life alone (Gen 2:18).

Jesus sent out his disciples two by two because it was not good for his disciples to do ministry alone (Mark 6:7; Luke 10:1).

The strongest servant of God I can find was the apostle Paul. He is seldom found alone, and when he was alone, he didn’t do well. In Athens, he didn’t wait for Timothy and Silas to return and help minister and was laughed out of town and humiliated (Acts 17:14-16; Acts 17:32; 1 Corinthians 2:3-4). And in his last imprisonment, he begged for Timothy to get to him as soon as he could (2 Timothy 4:11-18).

The Lord is present in a special way when we gather in his name with other believers and the power of the Lord is present (1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 5:4). You can call this gathering a community — that’s the politically correct term these days — or you can call it by a more biblical term, like family or fellowship or the gathering together of the Lord’s people.

The Lord is present when this

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gathered group, no matter how large or small, calls on his name and sees Jesus and his spiritual family as the main reason for gathering (1 Corinthians 1:2; Matthew 18:20).

When this happens, Immanuel — God is with them!

Yet for this promise of the Lord’s presence to be fully experienced, this gathering of family must have the character of an authentic Jesus fellowship. The context of Jesus’ promise is all about the character of genuine spiritual family. There is something about living this kind of “Jesus life” together that enables us to experience the very presence of the living Lord Jesus.

So what are these elements of genuine family, authentic fellowship, and true spiritual community?

Thankfully, Matthew recorded four core elements for us in the verses surrounding Jesus’ promise. To experience Immanuel in spiritual family...

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I have to reach out and rescue those in trouble (Matthew 18:10-14). Like a shepherd that goes in search of his lost sheep, I must be willing to go out and find those who are part of my family or flock whom I know are in trouble (James 5:19-20).

In Jesus’ fellowship, I am my brother’s (or sister’s) keeper.

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I have to hold those who sin accountable and work to redeem them (Matthew 18:15-20). Rather than gossip about them or condemn them in some other way, I am responsible to go, to help my friend see the error of his or her way, and to bring that friend safely home.

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I must forgive those who sin against me, and I must do so generously from the heart (Matthew 18:21-35). Jesus has forgiven me with sacrificial generosity and great love; I must do the same with others who have wronged me.

Over the years, I’ve often wondered why we have neglected to teach about I have to be accountable for the very real presence of the living my actions and my influence Lord among us when we gather in (Matthew 18:6-9). The issue Jesus is his name as his spiritual family. My talking about here is my influence on spiritual hunch is that there are two others toward sin. I am responsible for primary reasons. the influence of my sin or the abuse First, this kind of spiritual of my freedom in Christ that could community, this kind of genuine cause a new believer to sin. Living in community means I take seriously the family, and this kind of authentic fellowship is hard and also politically impact of what I do on those around incorrect. While most people yearn for me.

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~ 21 st Century Christian

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close community, most don’t want it Our desperate need to to come with this kind of scrutiny and experience Immanuel, God with responsibility. Many today push others us, and to know that God is real and away and don’t want anyone sticking truly among us. his or her nose into their “personal” Our desperate need for this kind business. It is easier to avoid them — of fellowship and spiritual family or flame or shame them on Facebook to be true and not just talk.

— than it is to live in this kind of costly, The desperate need of those honest, forgiving, redeeming, and outside of Jesus to find a place open fellowship. where they can be real, loved, forgiven, Secondly, the images that Jesus accepted, yet challenged to be what uses here are off-putting to a society Jesus has called them to be. where anything goes and we are to be So let’s not water down Jesus’ hesitant to have any standards to our relationships or friendships except the promise in Matthew 18:20...

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acceptance of everything. Look at the strong language of Jesus here:

· Putting a donkey-sized millstone around our neck and being thrown into the sea (Matthew 18:6). · Gouging out our eyes or cutting off our hands if they lead us to sin (Matthew 18:7-9) · Being thrown into the fires of Gehenna (Matthew 18:8-9).

· Being handed over to the officer of torture in a prison (Matthew 18:34)

Jesus is using a common rhetorical device called hyperbole.

But don’t read that as meaning exaggeration. Jesus is using shocking language to communicate the urgency and importance of the message he is sharing. He wants to shock us into listening because of what is stake: Mar Apr 21cc 2018.indd 39

Where 2 or 3 gather in my name, there am I with them.

Jesus isn’t talking about “going to church.” The Lord is inviting us into a wild and reckless family of loving commitment to each other — a spiritual fellowship that risks to lovingly confront, radically forgive, and responsibly recognize our vital connection to one another.

Years ago, I heard a story attributed to the ancient rabbis. There were two brothers who loved each other very much. They each farmed half of the land left to them by their father. One of the brothers married and had a family.

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The other brother remained single.

As each looked at how the Lord had greatly blessed him, he knew he had to share his blessings with his brother.

experienced laughter and delight, realizing the great love they had for each other. Then they embraced with tears of great joy and appreciation.

Where their tears of joy fell and So late one night each week, the blessed the good earth, the LORD married brother would sneak out God decided that this was where the in the middle of the night and take Temple must be built; for the LORD a sack of grain and put it into his dwells at the place where loving brother’s barn. “The LORD has blessed laughter and delight fill his people me greatly,” the brother thought to with joy and appreciation. himself. “I have been blessed with Jesus’ promise takes the truth fertile land, good crops, and a great harvest. I have a family and am blessed of the rabbis’ story one step beyond: Immanuel’s presence, the with so many things. Surely I must share these blessings with my brother dwelling of God, is not a place, but a people — a people who live in who does not have a family.” So he would set out and put the sack of grain authentic fellowship, in genuine family, and real spiritual community. into his brother’s barn.

These are the people among whom And late one night each week, the God lives and in whom God dwells! unmarried brother would sneak out Do you want to really experiin the middle of the night and take ence Immanuel? a sack of grain and put it into his brother’s barn. “The LORD has blessed Do you want Jesus’ presence to be me greatly,” the brother thought to real for you and those whom you love? himself. “I have been blessed with Jesus promises us that Immanuel fertile land, good crops, and a great can be and will be found when we harvest. I have all of these great come together as family who live in blessings and no family to support. genuine fellowship. Let’s not settle Surely I must share these blessings for anything less than the living Lord with my brother who has this family among us! responsibility.” So he would set out • • • • • • • • • • • • • • and put the sack of grain into his brother’s barn.

Phil Ware works with churches in

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As God would have it, one night on their way to the other’s barn, the brothers met, each with a sack of grain. In their collision, they first

transition with Interim Ministry Partners.

He is the editor and president of HEARTLIGHT

Magazine and the author of VerseoftheDay.com and aYearwithJesus.com.

~ 21 st Century Christian

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Spiritual Formation

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he author C.S. Lewis has had a significant impact on my theology. I have benefited from his wisdom in different ways throughout my life. When I was a child, I devoured The Chronicles of Narnia and learned about goodness and the triumph of good over evil—the character formation that takes place as the selfishness of Edmund and Eustace is curbed; the kind, innocence of Lucy that is rewarded.

Vigilance and Surrender

by Jackie Halstead

As an adolescent, I was convicted through the conversion of C.S. from atheist to Christian. I relished his thinking in Mere Christianity.

When I lost my daughter in a stillbirth, I read Grief Observed and my pain was normalized.

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There are many ways Lewis has been used as an instrument in my journey.

I am grateful to God for his life and his ability to capture his thoughts in writing. One work that has been on my mind of late is The Screwtape Letters. It is a series of letters between a demon, Screwtape, and his nephew, Wormwood. Screwtape coaches his protégé in the ways of tempting.

Wormwood has a “patient” that he is assigned to bring to damnation.

He waxes and wanes in his success with this individual. The part that has been on my mind is his dealings with his patient when the patient becomes humble. This is a misfortune for Wormwood and he asks Screwtape what he should do. Screwtape advises him to make the patient aware of his humility—even proud of it.

Christ invites us into a way of being that involves living the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Each of these is a worthy goal and a manifestation of the kingdom. Yet as we grow into these characteristics, a temptation is to be aware of and proud of our achievements. The incorporating of the fruits of the Spirit is entirely a grace from God. We achieve nothing by will power—our role is to make ourselves available for God’s shaping. This is how the Christian disciplines work. They place us in God’s presence. Abba Moses, one of the desert fathers, said, “Go to your cell and your cell will teach you.”

What stays from the advice of Screwtape is that of a balance between vigilance and surrender. It is a paradox. I am vigilant in attending to my relationship with God. I commit to the disciplines and in “going to my cell.” In this vigilance, I am aware that it is not my power, but God’s that is at work. I, at times, recognize the ways that God has changed me. This is thrilling to me! Or I might be aware that I am being fully used by God; that all my mind, soul, and strength is occupied in Kingdom work. How wonderful! Yet, I must fight the temptation to take credit. How quickly my notice is drawn to me. Even in my rejoicing, my attention is drawn away from the One whose work I want to join. I let go of my pride and control again and again.

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Thomas Merton shares the tale of a woodcarver as told by Chuang Tzu. Read it with an eye to his surrender:

~ 21 st Century Christian

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Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand

By this time all thought of your Highness

Of precious wood. When it was finished,

And of the court had faded away.

All who saw it were astounded.

All that might distract me from the work

They said it must be

Had vanished.

The work of spirits.

I was collected in the single thought

The Prince of Lu said to the master carver:

Of the bell stand.

"What is your secret?"

Then I went to the forest Khing replied: "I am only a workman:

To see the trees in their own natural state.

I have no secret. There is only this:

When the right tree appeared before my eyes,

When I began to think about the work

The bell stand also appeared in it,

you commanded,

clearly, beyond doubt.

I guarded my spirit, did not expend it

All I had to do was to put forth my hand

On trifles that were not to the point.

and begin.

I fasted in order to set

If I had not met this particular tree

My heart at rest.

There would have been no bell stand at all.

After three days’ fasting, I had forgotten gain and success.

What happened?

After five days,

My own collected thought

I had forgotten praise or criticism.

Encountered the hidden potential in the wood;

After seven days,

From this live encounter came the work

I had forgotten my body

Which you ascribe to the spirits.

With all its limbs.

from The Way of Chuang Tzu

by Thomas Merton

My vigilance is to remain in relationship with God through the disciplines The more I know God, the more I am aware of the vastness of God’s love. I rest in God’s embrace and forget all else. I surrender the offering of my little life and God does the shaping.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Jackie L. Halstead, PhD, LMFT, is the president of Selah: Center for Spiritual Formation located in Nashville, Tennessee. She works full time with Abilene Christian University in their online Marriage and Family Therapy program. Jackie’s website is www.selahspiritual.com.

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By Ron Rose

Making God L Preparation We have a choice.

About this time of year in 1988, a doctor who called himself a “Definitive Diagnostician” stood over my bed explaining the exploratory surgery scheduled for the next day.

I had been in that drab hospital bed for 15 days and they were no closer to knowing what was wrong with me than they were when I arrived.

I needed Dr. House. I got “Mr. Rose, we are going to take slices off your liver until we find out what’s wrong.”

Before he left the room, he added, “I need to tell you that you have a 50% chance that the problem is cancer. If it is, we’ll have another talk.”

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He turned and walked out the door. He said CANCER! Lyn and I

~ 21 st Century Christian

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were stunned. We hugged in silence and she headed home. I cried. I argued. I prayed. I listened to praise songs for hours and then just before midnight, I surrendered.

Eyes wide open, in that darkened room, I looked up, face to face with God, and for the first time in my life, said aloud, “Okay, God, if I live, I’m going to live for you and make you look good. If I die, I’m going to show people how to die making you look good. Either way, I’m going to make you look good.” It was my choice.

And in a gentle quiet voice, God said, “You’re going to be fine.”

They found a pesky anaerobic bacteria and removed it along with all of its cousins.

Faith changes our choices, regardless.

I may not agree or like it or

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Xxxxxx

We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us 2 C O R I N T H I A N S 1 : 8 ­- 1 0 , N LT

d Look Good...

Regardless

understand it, but my God stands by me because He wants to be there — not because I’m strong or good or confident — because He cares. And, yes, He still speaks.

Faith isn’t about my wishes coming true, nor is it about understanding why something happens. Faith is about finding God in the moment and accepting his presence regardless. Faith chooses to see a bigger picture, not just God’s presence, but my place in the next chapters of His Book of Life.

Inspiration

On June 20, 1985, Jack Carter, his son Dave, and his grandsons, Dustin and Caleb, set out on a muchanticipated wilderness camping trip in Yellowstone National Park. On

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their journey across the lake to their staging site, a freak storm came up and within minutes, they were capsized and tossed into the frigid, 35-degree water. They were only 75 yards from the shore, but regardless of how hard they tried, the wind and water seem to push them farther and farther from land.

Jack and little Dustin ended up together, clinging to a floating seat cushion; but Dave and Caleb were lost.

After a while, the waves calmed a bit and Jack and Dustin began to feel a surge of hope. “We’re going to make it, Grandpa, We’re going to make it,” Dustin kept saying.

The water was just too cold.

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Soon Dustin’s words were slurred and less frequent. Jack kept urging Dustin to keep talking, but in the end, it was too much for him.

“I tried,” Jack said, “to keep Dustin’s face out of the water. I thought I might be able to revive him once we reached the shore, but I couldn’t grip him tight enough.

We were only a few yards from the shore when he slipped out of my frozen hands and into eternity.”

After more than three hours of fighting to stay alive, a wave finally drove Jack against an old tree and he was able to gradually make his way out of the water. He found a makedo shelter between two fallen trees and fell asleep.

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Early the next morning, he made his way to a ranger station and within hours, he was transported to Yellowstone Hospital. “I watched, almost indifferently, as the doctors worked to restore my circulation and body temperature,” Jack remembered. “They seemed to care a whole lot more than I did.

Occasionally, one of them remarked about my strength and how it had saved me. I was too weak to tell them how wrong they were. I could only remember that moment when my fingers could no longer grip and I lost my hold on Dustin. I could still see Dustin’s face sinking into the

water as my strength had failed.”

The Carters had been so eager to begin their wilderness adventure; now only Jack remained.

Looking back, Jack says, “God gave my son and my grandsons the ultimate adventure; they got to go home to heaven. And that same God gave me a tragedy to share that will give people hope. If God can help me through this, He can help you through anything.” He made a choice.

Faith sees past the pain. Faith demonstrates God’s presence, His story, in the toughest times, regardless.

Motivation Search your past for forgotten moments, tragedies; those difficult times when God changed your heart, opened your eyes, gave you comfort, and put His fingerprints on your life.

Find someone who will listen and tell your chapter in the never-ending story of the God who is always there.

Make the choice. Live to make God look good, regardless!

• • • • • • • • • • •

Ron Rose is a Senior Faith Coach at Faith Coaching Network. “Faith Notes” is a resource from the Faith Coaching Network found online at www.facebook.com/FaithNotes. This article was reprinted with permission.

~ 21 st Century Christian

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Reflections

A

bout three years ago, a California couple spotted the edge of an old can on a path they had hiked many times before. What they found inside the can would change their lives forever.

In an interview with ABC, the anonymous couple described their discovery. “We saw an old can sticking out of the ground on a trail that we had walked almost every day for years. We were looking down in the right spot and saw the side of the can. We bent over to scrape some moss off and noticed that it had both ends on it,” the couple said. Poking at the can was the first step in uncovering a buried treasure of rare coins estimated to be worth $10 million.

The discovery itself is a fascinating tale, but its most compelling element was a comment the couple made as they reflected on their find: “[We] never would have thought we would have found something like this. However, in a weird way, [we] feel like [we] have been preparing [our] whole [lives] for it.”

I think there’s some truth to that statement. In one way or another, we’re all preparing to find (or find more of) some kind of treasure. It’s in our DNA. We were made to treasure, to pursue, to love something bigger than ourselves—something that we believe will give our lives meaning, purpose, and value. But it always comes with a choice.

Jesus tells us that we were created to steward the purposes and glory of God into all of the world, and we get to choose whether or not we invest our lives in that. We can choose the treasures of a man-made kingdom that offer much but deliver little, or we can chose to yield our lives into the hands of a Father who knows exactly what we need.

But you only have one life. Jesus says to choose wisely.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Josh Allen is the Associate Minister of Adult Education at Brentwood Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee.

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