A Reflection on Prayer on this Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls
    and security within your citadels.’
For the sake of my family and friends,
    I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’ ”

(Psalm 122:6-8, NIV)

Recently, I listened to Dr. David Platt on YouTube preaching about, "The Role of Desperate Prayer in Relenting Wrath.” The sermon challenged me to think about prayer in a different way. Platt tackled God's relenting of wrath based on the intercession of Moses in Exodus 32.

We often wonder why we should pray when God already knows what we need or what is going to happen. Platt’s definition of prayer sheds light on this matter. “God, in His providence,” Platt underscored, “has ordained prayer as a powerful means by which we interact with Him and effectively shape the course of history.” Prayer should not, therefore, be a formality but rather a relentless reality in our lives (c.f. 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray continually.”)

If we want God to work in and through us, we must make prayer a priority in our lives. Believers in the Early Church and Moses in the Old Testament, especially in the relentless way he interceded for the children of Israel in Exodus 32, are examples as far as prayer is concerned. David Platt mentioned that every major move of God in the book of Acts came in response to the prayer of God’s people. Some of the examples of the Power of Prayer in the book of Acts are:

1.       Acts 1—the church numbering 120 devoted themselves to prayer as they waited for the Promise of the Father.

2.       Acts 2—the Holy Spirit empowered all those who were in the Upper Room, and 3000 souls were saved and baptized in response to Peter’s message. What an amazing power in response to the prayer of the saints!

3.       Acts 3—Peter and John went to pray in the synagogue and on their way there, they met a lame man. The power of prayer healed the lame man and brought glory to God.

4.       Acts 4—the number of those who got saved increased greatly because of the prayer and the witness of the Early Church, etc.

Moses as a mediator or go-between between God and the children of Israel, pleaded for God’s mercy, God’s power and God’s glory. He knew that it was only through prayer that God’s work could be accomplished. Of course, God can accomplish His work without the prayers of His people, but what we see in Scripture is that “God wills to work through willing intercessors [like Moses]” (David Platt). We must therefore be on guard against complacency, and the habit of sitting, watching and doing nothing. Instead, we should shape history through prayer. We must at all times be about the Master’s business and we must P.U.S.H. (pray until something happens).

There is so much power in prayer and we often don’t have it, as well as God’s peace, because we don’t pray in the right way. We often pray amiss as the book of James puts it: “When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3). We must learn how to pray and intercede for others from the examples of the Early Church and from that of Moses.

The church today has tended to depend more and more on natural ability and human ingenuity but if we want to change that, we must choose to depend on God's power. Our intercessory prayers for the lost and for God’s work in general will demonstrate our dependence on Him. Our constant prayer must be, “I need Thee, every hour, most gracious Lord.”

When You Suffer for Jesus (1 Peter 4:12-16)

On Sunday, June 22, 2014, Pastor Matthew—the new lead pastor at Northwest Baptist Church, Oklahoma City—shared an encouraging message at All Nations Church, where I lead worship each Sunday afternoon. Sometimes understanding the background of a preacher brings a greater appreciation of the message. First of all, Pastor Matthew, is a mission-minded pastor who has a heart for the nations. In fact, he believes that God has strategically placed Northwest Baptist to reach people in Oklahoma and beyond. 

Secondly, Pastor Matthew has served the Lord in SE Asia and has incredible experiences that include suffering for his faith. He told of a time when they were in a remote mountain village showing the Jesus’ Film and suddenly soldiers with machines guns surrounded them, but God came to their aid. Thirdly, Pastor Matthew is in the process of initiating a merger between Northwest English congregation and All Nations Church. The two congregations will, therefore, meet in the morning together from August this year. This major change will transform NW Baptist into an international congregation reaching the nations for Christ and walking with them to maturity.

When soldiers with deadly weapons surrounded the Pastor and his colleagues, God’s hand of protection was upon them. With a sudden turn of events like this, “it is crucial to know how to react when you suffer for Jesus!” The Sunday message outlined what our response should be when we suffer for Jesus through the utilization of 3 Don’ts and 2 Do’s enumerated and discussed below:

3 Don’ts

1.        Don’t be surprised. 1 Peter 4:12 says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as though something strange were happening to you.” The apostle Peter expressed the truth through this verse and it is the fact that “suffering for a Christian is normal.” The Twelve exemplify it. Some of them were beheaded, imprisoned, and exiled because of their faith. Today, there are Christians in Asia, Middle-East and Africa who are being persecuted for their faith. Facing imprisonment and the possibility of death is no longer a thing of the past; it is current reality, especially as some regimes rise up and become repressive. At the writing of this article, a Christian family in Sudan has been re-arrested after being released yesterday. I hope and pray they are released and allowed to leave the country. The lesson for us is clear:  When we suffer for Jesus, we should not be surprised. Instead, we should remember that other believers around the world are also suffering for the faith and thus, we join them in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings (Philippians 3:10). 

2.        Don’t sin and suffer, then claim to be “spiritual.” The apostle Peter reminded the Christians in diaspora of how not to suffer: “If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.” (1 Peter 4:15). Some, as Pastor Matthew phrased, have a “martyr complex,”—they claim to suffer for Jesus and yet they are following their own agenda. Some in fact suffer as a result of slander and gossip and others due their ill-intended actions that do not express the love of Jesus. The loving thing to do is to go to a Christian that has committed wrong and bring it to their attention in accordance to biblical exhortation (Matthew 18:15-20). The message stressed that we shouldn’t spread gossip about church people and then when we get in trouble for it, we say, “We are suffering for Jesus.”  To gossip about others is as sinful and punishable a deed as other sins (Revelation 21:8). Inferentially, it can be drawn that “not all suffering is a result of Godly living.”  Some suffering results from ungodly living and unloving actions. 

3.        Don’t be ashamed to suffer for Jesus. Continuing with the thought of the previous verses, the Word of God states, “…if anyone suffers as a Christian, he [or she] is not to be ashamed…” (1 Peter 4:16). It is no shame to suffer for being a Christian, even though the world tries to shame us when we follow Jesus. During the time of Jesus’ arrest, the apostle Peter was ashamed of Jesus and denied Him three times. I believe Peter was aware of the struggles and the untold suffering that Christians faced during the time of the Roman Emperor Nero. In an effort to encourage them, as well as believers today, Peter expressed from experience the grave mistake we make when we are ashamed to suffer for Jesus. Warren W. Wiersbe commented on the apostle Peter’s aforementioned statement:

This statement must have reminded Peter of his own denial of Christ (Luke 22:54-62). Jesus is not ashamed of us (Heb. 2:11)—though many times He surely could be! The Father is not ashamed to be called our God (Heb. 11:16). On the cross, Jesus despised shame for us (Heb. 12:2), so surely we can bear reproach for Him and not be ashamed. The warning in Mark 8:38 is worth pondering (The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. Ontario, Canada: David C. Cook, 2007, pp. 922). 

Furthermore, Wiersbe (2007, p. 922) noted how the determination not to be ashamed encouraged the apostle Paul. It encouraged him at three different times, i.e. “when he went to Rome (Rom. 1:16), when he suffered in Rome (Phil. 1:20, 21), and when he faced martyrdom in Rome (2 Tim. 1:12)." Overall, suffering for Christ kills our pride, our sin, and our selfish way of doing things. When we suffer, we are drawn closer to Christ and we don’t want anything to do with worldly pleasures. Consequently, we desire above all else to glorify God in our lives. This brings us to consider two positive things we can do when we suffer for Christ. 

2 Do’s

1.        Be glad! In contrast to the negative responses as far as suffering is concerned, the apostle Peter encourages a Christ-follower to respond in this way: “Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.” (1 Peter4:13, New Living Translation). The best response to suffering is to positively embrace it with gladness as the apostle Paul rejoiced in jail and wrote to the other believers encouraging them to rejoice (see Phil. 4:4-7). When we suffer, we get a chance “to fellowship with Christ, to know Him better and to realize that sufferings make future glory even greater.” When we suffer we should continue to do good work. The apostle Peter wrote to encourage the believers who were dispersed to different countries and were suffering for doing good, saying:

“After all, who in the ordinary way is likely to injure you for being enthusiastic for good? And if it should happen that you suffer “for righteousness’ sake”, that is a privilege. You need neither fear their threats nor worry about them; simply concentrate on being completely devoted to Christ in your hearts. Be ready at any time to give a quiet and reverent answer to any man who wants a reason for the hope that you have within you. Make sure that your conscience is perfectly clear, so that if men should speak slanderously of you as rogues, they may come to feel ashamed of themselves for libeling your good Christian behavior. If it is the will of God that you should suffer, it is really better to suffer unjustly than because you have deserved it.” (1 Peter 3:13-17, J.B. Phillips New Testament).  

2.        Praise God! We should “praise God for the privilege of being called by His name” (1 Peter 4:16). In place of shame, you should “thank God that you bear Christ's name.” In a SE Asian country, in the midst of suffering, some followers of Christ consider it an honor and use the opportunity for evangelizing as well as training leaders for the ministry.

This article calls attention to three things we should eliminate from our Christian witness in relation to suffering for Jesus: 1) Don’t be surprised; 2) Don’t sin and suffer, and claim to be “spiritual,” and 3) Don’t be ashamed to suffer for Jesus. It is also important that we examine two things to embrace as far as our witness in suffering as Christians is concerned, namely: 1) Be glad, and 2) Praise God. In conclusion, then, let’s answer these two questions in response to the message:

1) What’s your current attitude about the possibility of suffering as a Christ-follower?

2)  What kind of strategy have you put in place for suffering for Jesus?

 

 

 

The Importance and Impact of Character on Leadership

Character is not the same thing as reputation. Loren M. Chamberlain states that “our reputation is simply what others think we are, but our character is best seen in the dark when no one else knows what we are thinking, saying or doing.” Though we may think no one sees what we do, we are mistaken. Dr. Os Guinness, in his beautifully written book of the year 2000, “Character in an Age of Image,” reminds us that character is, essentially, “who we are when no one sees but God.”

Since character is much deeper than reputation, it requires our wholehearted consideration and immediate action.  The leadership companion, “Check List for Life for Leaders,” shares some timeless wisdom about the importance and impact of the presence or lack of character in one’s leadership:

Without the bedrock of the trait of character, leaders may achieve success, wealth, and even fame, but they will never gain the respect of those they lead. Instead, lack of character will most likely be “shouted from the housetops” sooner or later through an action that showcases their true nature or through the slow decline of characterless years (2004, p. 42).

Similarly, Guinness underscores that “character is central to good leadership—not just to political leaders, but moms and dads, teachers, pastors, managers, and everyone who influences lives around them." (p.15). A leader’s character is monitored by those who know him and so it is important that he maintains a good character.

In Dr. Guinness’ book, there is a mention of three recurring motifs that are very crucial in the understanding of character, namely: core, consistency, and cost. Firstly, the core has to do with character in terms of the “inner form, or core of a person. Secondly, consistency provides a lens through which someone’s character may be examined rather than drawing wrong conclusions from a single statement or random act.  Thirdly, cost is the price paid for a consistent core-character (p. 15). Oftentimes character is best formed and most clearly revealed in the crucible of testing and that equals the cost.

Seeking to understand character in relation to God offers hope to us. He alone can shape our character in meaningful and lasting ways. Unlike man who looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).  He knows what is going on deep within each of our hearts and He’s able and willing to help us deal with the big and small issues therein. We should, therefore, seek His help in guarding our heart so the issues that flow from it are pleasing to Him (Proverbs 4:23). Similarly, we need God’s power and grace to maintain consistency in our character and not jeopardize our witness as Christian workers. Whenever, we face trials of many kinds, then, we should count it all joy because our character is being formed (James 1:2-4). God allows trials to come our way in order to develop perseverance in us so we are mature and complete not lacking in anything as far as our character is concerned.

References:
Chamberlain, L. M. (2009). Quote on the distinction between reputation and character.  
__________ (2004). Checklist for Life for Leaders: Timeless Wisdom & Foolproof Strategies for Making the Most of Life’s challenges& Opportunities. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books.

Guinness. O. (2000). Character in an Age of Image

The Bible: 1 Samuel 16:7; Proverbs 4:23; and James 1:2-4

   

Let’s take time this LENT to “let go and let God” have full control of our lives!

Ash Wednesday, March 5^th this week, marks the start of LENT or the seven weeks or 40 days of prayer and fasting that precede Easter. During this time, Christians focus on the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection. To heighten the focus, many Christians give up certain foods or meals or things they love most. In fact, some give up TV and Facebook and devote time they normally spend in them to read God’s Word and/or pray. LENT is also a great time to acquire spiritual disciplines that can become part and parcel of one’s life.  

A dear brother underscores what the purpose of LENT is not and what it is. He writes, “The purpose of Lent is not ritual, good works, and earning favor with God.  The purpose of Lent is to focus on why the death and resurrection of Jesus is so important.  The observation of Lent is a choice, not an obligation.” (Eric Ferris).

If you choose to observe LENT this year, you can make the most out of it by considering two recommendations. First of all, make an effort to do new things during the next seven weeks to keep your focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus.  It is important to do new things or to develop new disciplines during this special time of the church calendar. Why is this so? A saying we’ve heard often answers it: “If you do what you’ve always done, you will get the same results you’ve always got.” To realize new results, therefore, we must do new things, e.g. setting time aside so God can speak to us through His Word and thus giving Him an opportunity to do a new thing in our lives (cf. Isaiah 43:18-19).

The second recommendation for ensuring that Lent takes on a new meaning is this: Be sure you understand its meaning and implications for your witness so that you don’t become prideful by comparing yourself with those who are not observing it. There’s a tendency for those who observe to think they are more spiritual or that they will become better than others because of the disciplines they practice at LENT. If it is so—that human effort can earn God’s favor—then, what purpose would the death and resurrection of Jesus serve? From Scripture it is clear that Jesus’ death on the Cross and His resurrection made it possible and guaranteed that we can be free from sin and we can have a personal relationship with God. In other words, Jesus paved the way for us to receive God’s favor and be forgiven of our sins. Overall, it is a humbling experience observing LENT.

The Bible says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you...” (James 4:8, NKJV). Will you take time to get close to God during the next 40 days by preparing your heart for Him to do great things in and through you? The best way to do so is to let go of the things that hold you back from fulfilling God’s purpose and let God have full control of your life and empower you to be fully engaged in His business and bring Him glory.

References:

1.    Eric Ferris’s quote retrieved from http://www.thelentexperience.com/blog/lent-faq/

2.     The Bible. James 4:8, NKJV