Learning Obedience: Embracing Suffering

By David Ryser

“Teach him what?”

These words were spoken to me by my father when I was about six years old.  He was looking at me as if I’d just grown a third eye.  I suspect he looked at me like this a lot when I was growing up.

But I particularly remember this incident because it later helped me to understand a certain scripture and apply it to my life.

We were at the supper table.  My parents were discussing the family dog.  This dog had been brought into our home to be trained as a seeing-eye dog.  My dad had agreed to train the dog.  The dog would eventually serve a blind child.  So the dog was placed with our family to be trained and become accustomed to children.

His training had hit a snag.

The dog had developed a bad habit.  Nothing my dad tried had broken this habit.  When anyone would drive in or out of our driveway, the dog would chase after the car.

Chasing cars is an undesirable quality in a seeing-eye dog.

I listened to my parents discuss this problem for awhile.  Finally I spoke up with typical six-year-old overstatement, “I hope that dog gets run over and killed!  That would teach him!”  My dad got the strangest look on his face.

“Teach him what?”

We don’t learn lessons by dying physically.  Usually, we learn by living.  The only way the dog would become a seeing-eye service animal was to learn obedience.  If he failed, he might make a good family pet.  But he would never fulfill his higher purpose.

If we are ever going to walk in our God-ordained destiny, we must learn obedience.  And learning obedience involves suffering.

According to Hebrews 5:8, Jesus learned obedience through the things He suffered.  I don’t think this refers only--or even primarily--to the cross.  If a person is destined to die on a cross, it seems to me that he would do well to learn obedience beforehand.  He would be trained by life experiences in preparation for fulfilling his ultimate calling.

So how did Jesus suffer in life?  And how did His suffering prepare Him to be obedient to the call of God?

A good part of Jesus’ suffering originated from the circumstances surrounding His birth.  Joseph and Mary were not married when Jesus was conceived.  In the eyes of the people in His hometown, Jesus was an illegitimate child.  Imagine the scorn and ridicule Jesus and His family had to endure.

But we don’t need to merely speculate.  An understanding of the Bible and culture gives us plenty of clues concerning Jesus’ sufferings.

In Luke 2:41-50, we read about an incident in Jesus’ life that occurred when He was twelve years old.  This would have been about the time of His bar-mitzvah.  I am told that in Jesus’ day, a part of this ritual involved the father parading his son through the streets of the village and proclaiming, “This is my son!  I’m proud of him!”

But this parade was reserved only for legitimate sons.

Imagine Jesus’ pain.  And the pain of His parents, both of whom knew the truth concerning His birth.  It wasn’t fair!  It wasn’t just!  It was wrong!

But it happened anyway.

So now Jesus is in the temple at Jerusalem beginning to do the work He was called to do (Luke 2:49).  “I must be about my Father’s business” is a particularly poignant statement when we are reminded that Jesus had no inheritance in Joseph’s home.  Ordinarily the eldest son would inherit the family business and be responsible to provide for his family upon the death or incapacitation of his father.

Jesus was the eldest son.  But Jesus was illegitimate.  He was denied His inheritance, which then fell to the next eldest son.

Ouch!  Wounding!  Pain!  Suffering!  And it wasn’t even true!

Jesus left Jerusalem with Joseph and Mary, and went back to Nazareth.  He submitted to their authority.  He worked at a business He would not inherit.  And He was denied the opportunity to begin His heavenly Father’s business for 18 years!

Have you been denied the opportunity to fulfill your God-given calling because you were under authority?  Was it painful?  Did it hurt?  Did you chafe with frustration?  Did it make you bitter?

Who needs this?  Jesus did.  So do we.

Jesus was denied the father’s public pronouncement of approval at His bar-mitzvah.  But He received it at His baptism.  “You are My beloved Son; In You I am well pleased” (Luke 4:22b, and again in Matthew 17:5b).  He was denied His inheritance, but was also freed from the responsibility of it.  When the time came to begin His earthly ministry, Jesus was not stuck working in a carpenter’s shop.  He was free to do the Father’s will.

And He received an inheritance from His heavenly Father (Hebrews 1:4).

The things Jesus suffered did not destroy Him.  They prepared Him and positioned Him to fulfill His destiny.

The same is true for us.

The subject of God-ordained suffering--and its benefits--was a common topic of apostolic preaching and teaching (Acts 4:22; James 1:2-4; 5:10, 11; 1 Peter 1:6-8--among others).  It is not so common in the tripe that passes for preaching and teaching in the modern American Church.

How can we develop godly character and minister God’s power if we won’t embrace suffering?

Suffering is not evil.  It is uncomfortable.  It is unpleasant.  It is painful.  But if we embrace it, suffering will act as a tool of God to make us what we are destined to be.  And it will enable us to do what we have been called to do.

Just like Jesus.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Bibliolatry (Part 2): Tearing Down Our Idols

By David Ryser & Tim Speer

The preacher held up his Bible and thundered, “You can stand on the Word of God!”

I am blessed...and cursed...with an over-active imagination.  As the preacher dramatically made his point, I could not help but picture myself standing on my Bible.  Why would anyone stand on a Bible?  I thought it would be an excellent way to ruin a perfectly good Bible.

Actually, there is a great deal of truth in that thought.

The Bible was not written so we could stand on it.  This is true spiritually as well as physically.  The Bible itself tells us that it is not our foundation. Jesus Himself, and only Jesus, is our foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11).

So how is it we find ourselves standing on a book?

From the earliest times of the Protestant Reformation, the majority of people who identify themselves as Christians have been People of the Book.  The Bible is one of Luther’s two pillars of the Christian faith:  sole fide, sola scriptura (By faith alone; by scripture alone).  A common faith in Jesus and a belief in the Bible as God’s Word were supposed to unify all Christians.  A common faith in Jesus certainly unites all Christians.

So why are there thousands of Protestant denominations?

Denominationalism is not a new thing.  The apostle Paul had to deal with a primitive version of this problem (1 Corinthians 1:12).  But we have taken denominationalism to a much higher level.  Why are there so many denominations if we all agree that we must place our faith in Jesus and that the Bible is the Word of God?

Because we can’t agree on what the Book says.

If we were standing on Christ, we would be much more unified.  We are divided because we are standing on the Bible.  And we can’t agree on what the Bible says.  Our differences over interpreting the Bible have justified division, in our minds, because we have made the Bible the foundation of our faith.

We have put the Bible in the place of God.  We have become bibliolaters.

Setting up idols in the place of God is not a recent development.  Biblical examples abound.  One such example involves the bronze serpent that Moses was commanded to make during a plague of poisonous snakes among the people (Numbers 21:8, 9).  The people afflicted with the snake bites were told to look upon the bronze serpent.  Those who did so were healed.  The bronze serpent was used as a tool by God to bring healing and deliverance to His people.

What a blessing.  Or was it?

The people of Israel kept the bronze serpent as a reminder of the healing miracle God had performed in the wilderness.  They even had a name for it:  Nehushtan.  Over time, Nehushtan went beyond being a reminder of what God had done.  It was put in the place of God.  The people of God began to worship Nehushtan, and it had to be destroyed (2 Kings 18:4).

What God had done came to be equated with God Himself.  We can make an idol of anything.  Even the Bible.

Too many of us have put the Bible in the place of Jesus.  We have become bibliolaters.  But what can we do?  How can we tear down this idol?  We cannot--we must not--destroy the scriptures.  The Bible is the living Word of God (Hebrews 4:12).  It is His written expression of Himself.  It will not pass away until it is fulfilled (Matthew 5:17, 18) and we are living eternally in the presence of Jesus.

We need the Bible.  But we must use it lawfully.

We need to understand that the Bible is not Jesus.  The Bible is a sign that points the way to God.  It tells us where we are going and how to get there.

But it is not our destination.

Imagine you are traveling along the road and come upon a man who is clinging to a road sign.  The sign reads:  St. Louis 50.  You stop to assist the man.  You ask him, “Are you ok?”  With a big smile, he answers, “Oh, yes!  I’m so blessed!  I’ve found St. Louis!”

You begin to suspect the man is deranged.

You try to convince him that he has found a road sign pointing to St. Louis, but that he is not yet in the city.  An argument ensues.  You ask, “But if that’s St. Louis, what does the ‘50’ mean?”  He answers, “Maybe it’s his age.”

You get back into your car, lock the doors, and go on your way.  But you don’t tear down the sign.

We need to listen to what the Bible says about itself.  The apostle Paul tells us that “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).  The Bible assists us in finding God, but we must find Him if we are going to receive His life and salvation.  We can be people of the Book without being people of the Spirit.

We need to be both.

If we are not careful, we will become like the young lady who is head-over-heels in love with her fiancé.  And he loves her.  He writes to her every day.  She treasures his passionate love letters and never tires of reading them over and over.  One day he comes to visit her.  She is in another part of the house reading his letters.  Try as he might, he cannot coax her out of her room to be with him.

After a time, he leaves.

She has missed out on spending time with the love of her life.  Why?  Why couldn’t she have put the letters down for a few minutes and spent time with her fiancé?  Could it be that she has fallen in love with his letters?

There is a time for reading…and there is a time for fellowship.  Both.  Each in its time.

We must be careful about what we give ourselves to.  We will contend for the thing we love. Are we passionate about a movement or a ministry?  Have we given ourselves to a teaching?

What do we love?

We are called to be the Bride of Christ, not the Bride of the Bible.  If we are betrothed to Jesus, but give ourselves to anything else, what does that say about us?  There are not over 30,000 denominations because we are divided over Jesus.  There are over 30,000 denominations because we are divided over the Book.

We are contending passionately for a book.  We have given ourselves to a book.  What does that make us?

Adulteresses.

The Bible isn’t the problem.  The condition of our heart is the problem.  We need to tear down the idol in our heart.

Read the Bible.  Cherish God’s written Word.  Receive its instruction.

But love only Him.

By the way, have you ever wondered how Peter, John, Paul, and the other early Christians loved God and did mighty works in the name of Jesus…without the New Testament?

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Bibliolatry: The "Christian" Sin

By David Ryser

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“According to John 1:1, Jesus is the Word.  And the Word is the Bible.  When you are reading the Bible, you are holding Jesus in your hands.  The Bible is Jesus.”  The preacher made his point using logic I had learned in a Junior High School math class:  if A=B, and B=C, then A=C.  Apparently the congregation had attended the same math class because they received this “revelation” with great enthusiasm.

I left the church service greatly troubled and conflicted.  Troubled because I know Jesus is not a book.  Conflicted because I knew that to sort this out, I would have to touch the third-rail of Christianity…the Bible.

Since the days of the Protestant Reformation (an unfortunate term, since nothing was reformed), the Bible has held a central place in the Christian faith.  This is not an altogether bad thing.  The Bible is the written Word of God.  It is a living source of revelation (Hebrews 4:12), and is the major authority in matters of faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16, 17).  We all have experienced the quickening of the Holy Spirit in our hearts as we read the Bible.

But Jesus is not a book.

I know from personal experience that it is possible to increase in the knowledge of the Bible while drifting away from Jesus.  Shortly after becoming a Christian, I entered Bible College.  I studied the Bible for the next 6 years.  At the end of that time, I knew the Bible from front to back.  But I also lost my intimate relationship with Jesus.

Because Jesus is not a book.

I am not the only person this has happened to.  In Jesus’ time, all Jewish males learned the scriptures.  But those who became scribes devoted their entire lives to studying the Bible.  They knew the scriptures.  When the magi came to Herod seeking the Messiah, the scribes were consulted to find out where He was.  And they knew where to look for Him (Matthew 2:1-6).

So why didn’t they go to see Him?

Perhaps it was because they knew the Book, but they didn’t know the Author.  They were looking for the Messiah, and even knew where to find Him, but they didn’t act upon what they knew from the scriptures.  They never went to see Him.

Is it possible that the scribes had fallen in love with the Bible and fallen out of love with God?

Jesus is not a book.

The Pharisees were also people of the Book.  They, along with the other Jewish people, searched the scriptures because they thought that in them they could find eternal life (John 5:39a).  But they were blind to the One that the scriptures revealed (John 5:39b).  They did not come to Him and receive the life they sought (John 5:40).  Instead, they opposed Him and ultimately had a hand in killing Him.

How did this happen?  Could it be they had fallen in love with the Book, but then killed the Author?

Jesus is not a book.

Suppose I were to write and publish my autobiography.  You want to know me, so you buy the book and begin reading.  You learn all about my life, my likes & dislikes, and my thoughts.  Do you know me?

I am not a book.

Suppose my book tells you how to contact me.  Instead of contacting me, you excitedly continue to read on, hoping to find out more.  And my book contains a wealth of information about me.  You keep on reading and learning.  Do you know me now?  A person can increase in learning without coming into knowledge (2 Timothy 3:7).  In order to know someone, we must meet and experience them.

I am not a book.

Now suppose I come to your home to visit you.  You are in another part of the house reading my book in an attempt to get to know me.  If you continue to read, but do not come to where I am to meet me, you will never know me.  You may know a great deal of information about me, but you won’t know me.

I am not a book.

The apostle John tells us that he wrote his gospel so we might put our faith in Jesus and receive life (John 20:31).  Reading about Jesus is not enough.  We must act upon what we have read and experience Him.  John’s gospel is not Jesus.  It is a message about Jesus designed to motivate and guide us to meet and experience Him.

Jesus is not a book.

Worshiping a book, any book, is a form of idolatry.  Idolatry, by definition, occurs when we place something or someone in the place of God.  Anything can be made into an idol.  Even a book.  Even the Bible.  The Bible is God’s written Word.  It is an expression of God, but it is not God Himself. When we worship the Book, we have become bibliolaters.  The Bible has become an idol standing in the place of God within our hearts.

We cannot be intimate with a book.  More accurately, we should not be intimate with a book.  Intimacy with a book is weird.  Intimacy with a book is pornographic.

Jesus is not a book.

How many times have we been exhorted to stand upon the Word of God?  As if the Bible is the foundation of our faith.  The Bible itself teaches us that it is not our foundation…Jesus is our one and only foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11).  Without Jesus, our Bible is nothing more than paper, ink, and imitation leather.  The Bible’s power comes from the One who stands ready to perform His Word and who breathes on the written Word to produce the life of God in us.

Worship God.  Read and cherish His written Word; but be sure to meet the One the Book points to, and have a relationship with Him.

Jesus is not a book.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Jesus is King: Even if I Didn't Vote for Him

By David Ryser

“You won’t believe what I just saw!”

I had phoned Tim after seeing a bumper sticker on a car.  I enjoy reading bumper stickers.  Some manage to say so much in so few words.  Especially during an election season.  I find the stickers are far more clever than the candidates.  The sticker read:  “Elect Jesus King of Your Life.”

In the days following, Tim and I had great fun with this.  I phoned him one day and asked, “Have you elected Jesus as King of your life?”    He answered, “No.  I’m a member of the opposition party.”  I laughed!

But, one day, I stopped laughing.

The more I thought about that sticker, over time, the more it troubled me.  The message seems benign enough.  However, it points to a subtle, but dangerous, attitude in the American Church that is inconsistent with the Gospel.

This attitude is, in fact, Gospel poison.

Where does this attitude come from?  Perhaps it originates in our democratic political process.  In our country, we elect our rulers.  We have a choice.  We choose people to represent us.  We choose a president to lead us.

And in our churches, we are exhorted to choose Jesus.

I’ve lost count of the number of church services I have attended where the preacher exhorts the congregation to “make Jesus the Lord of your life.”  Make Jesus Lord of my life?  I have the power to make Jesus Lord?  And what is He if I choose not to make Him Lord?

Since when are kings elected?

The Kingdom of God, as with any other Kingdom, is ruled by an unelected King.  (In biblical times kings ruled as lords, as absolute monarchs, and exercised the power of life and death over their subjects.) The King is Lord over everything and everyone in His Kingdom.  He makes the rules--and He enforces them.  His word is law.  His decisions are final.  He does not solicit the opinion of His subjects on how to run the Kingdom.  A kingdom is not a democracy.

Jesus reigns supreme.  The fact of His Kingship is not in dispute.  His status as King is settled.

But I have some power, right?  Even if I can’t make Jesus King, I do have the choice of whether I will be His subject.  What if I decide not to be a subject in His Kingdom?  What if everyone on earth decides to reject Him as King and refuses to be part of His Kingdom?  Then is He a King?  King over what?

Actually, Jesus has already faced this challenge.

In John 6:26-65, Jesus preached a message that offended even His followers.  As a result, most of His disciples abandoned Him…except for the Twelve (verse 66).  Jesus turned to His remaining twelve disciples and asked them, “Do you also want to go away?” (verse 67).  What would Jesus have done if they had decided to leave?

He would have chosen twelve more disciples and started over.  He doesn’t need us.

I know that sounds harsh, but it’s true.  God loves us passionately and values us highly, but He doesn’t need us.  He is not diminished in any way if we choose not to be part of His Kingdom.  The Kingdom of God, like any other Kingdom, is about the King…not the subjects.

The Kingdom of God is not about us.  The Kingdom of God is about Him!

Jesus is King.  Nothing I do will make Him King, and nothing I do will topple Him from the throne.  My service to Him does not establish His Kingship.  I do not serve Him to make Him King…I serve Him because He is the King.  He is the King whether or not I serve Him.  He doesn’t need me.

The Kingdom of God only needs the King.  Subjects are optional.

So where does that leave us?  We have the honor of being invited to be part of God’s Kingdom.  And not just as servants, but as children of the King.  We have the privilege of being co-laborers with the King in the advancement of His Kingdom on the earth (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:1).  We can choose to be a part of the Kingdom, but we can’t elect the King.

Jesus is Lord.  Jesus is King.  He is King over all of the kings, and He is Lord over all of the lords (Revelation 19:16).

Even if I didn’t vote for Him.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Another has Fallen: So What's New?

By David Ryser

Recently another minister, along with his ministry, has fallen.  Who?  Does it matter?  Church leaders have been dropping like flies from the beginning of the Church. (Examples abound, both in the Bible and in Church history.) Thousands have fallen.  Time permitting; thousands more will fall.  Our usual response is to rally around the minister and seek his restoration.

This is good.  Restoration, with humility, is commended in the Bible (Galatians 6:1, 2).  I believe that we in the Church have too often been guilty of “shooting our own wounded” when it comes to dealing with people (leaders and others) who have fallen.  And I also believe that God is bigger than our mistakes…and even our sin.  Even if we have miserably failed God, He is able to heal and restore both the person and the situation for His glory.

I also believe that God desires to restore His fallen people to their purpose and ministry in His Kingdom.  I acknowledge that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29; although, in context, this verse is not speaking of individuals).  Our mistakes and sin are not bigger than God.  His purpose for us, and the gifts given to accomplish that purpose, remains unchanged regardless of our failures.

The Bible is full of stories about people who failed and were restored.  David is perhaps the prime example, but there are others.  If God can restore an adulterer and murderer, He can restore anyone.  Even the incestuous drunkard Lot is ultimately declared righteous (2 Peter 2:7, 8).

No one is beyond the power of God to restore.  The apostle Paul wrote about God’s grace and goodness toward him, even as people he had arrested for being Christians were rotting in prison...the ones who were still alive.  A former slave ship captain penned the words to the hymn, Amazing Grace.

How about you?  What’s your story?

God does not throw away people and their ministries just because they fail.  As His children, we are called to act like Him.  We are privileged to be agents of forgiveness, healing, and restoration (2 Corinthians 2:6-8).  .

But are we doing it for the wrong reason?

My friend, Arla, describes the problem eloquently when she writes that the restoration process seems to be motivated by the belief that “the world needs what [name of minister] can do.”  She notes that our justification, and ultimately our motive, for restoration is that God needs both the minister and his ministry.  In fact, the Kingdom of God needs neither.

That’s cold!  That’s awful!  But is it?

Here’s what I think is cold and awful.  I find it disgraceful to value a person merely for their anointing and gifting.  I’m troubled that my brother is being valued as a commodity rather than as a human being.

It disgusts me when the ministry is valued more than the person.

Ministers and ministries are a-dime-a-dozen.  People are priceless.  Can’t we value our brother for more than just his title and his function?  And what about his family?

What’s wrong with us?  We act all concerned for the Kingdom of God as if our brother’s fall has harmed it in some way.  Certainly the work of the Kingdom has suffered a bit, but the Kingdom itself has not been damaged.  The King is still on the throne.  The King still rules.  Even if every one of us falls, the Kingdom will stand.

The Kingdom of God will thrive without our brother’s ministry.  The important thing now is that there be genuine repentance and healing.  This takes time.  It doesn’t happen in days, weeks, or even months.

It may take years.

The ministry may need to die. God is able to resurrect it.  This certainly is no time to be soliciting funds to keep the ministry alive while the restoration process continues.  And I don’t need constant updates replete with gruesome details or “happy talk” concerning the process.  It’s none of my business.  Let the particulars of the restoration be kept between God and those directly involved.

My job, if any, is to pray and believe God.

Grace with accountability is what is needed now.  I’m trusting that all concerned will choose to walk the narrow, difficult, and painful path to true restoration.  No shortcuts.

My brother is worth it.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Nothing has Changed?: Everything has Changed

By David Ryser

“We don’t allow coffee in the sanctuary.”  This was my introduction to Jim, a member of a church in Mobile, Alabama.  Later in the day, I realized that meeting Jim was the reason God had sent me to Mobile.

In fact, meeting Jim is one of the best things that has ever happened to me in my entire life.

I thought I’d gone to Mobile to be with my friend, Bill, who is powerfully gifted with an apostolic anointing.  (He is also quite gifted prophetically, so you don’t want any hidden sin in your life if you are going to be around him.)  Bill was ministering at the church over the weekend and had invited me to come and hang out with him.

It seemed like an innocent enough invitation at the time.

I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life.  God had slammed the door shut on my previous life and ministry.  He was working (very diligently, it seemed to me) to transform me into the image of Christ.  (No, He’s not finished…He’s never finished.)  God had showed me that except for the Jesus in me, there wasn’t anything about me He particularly liked.  And He showed me that there wasn’t much of Jesus being manifested in me.  So while He loved me passionately, He didn’t like me very much.

I’ve discovered that I appreciate some revelations more than others.  (I’ve also decided that I would be able to hear God more often and more clearly if He would just flatter me more.)

The transformation process is painful.  And it doesn’t always go smoothly.  Jesus said that the godly path is narrow (Matthew 7:13, 14).  He neglected to mention it is also bumpy.  During this part of my faith journey, I was particularly discouraged.  I had embraced the pain of God’s correction.  I really had no choice if I loved Him.  I also accepted God’s discipline because there was a hope of a new life afterward.  At times I could see some change in me, but then my behavior and attitude at other times would cause me to wonder if there had been any change at all.

There were times when I was so brokenhearted and disappointed in myself that I pleaded with God just to give up on me.

But I kept coming back to Him for further transformation.  Where else could I go?  It had hurt me when He told me He didn’t like me very much.  It had hurt me when He took my ministry away from me.  It had hurt me as He revealed me to myself.  But what choice did I have?

Where do you go when the only One who can heal you is the One who wounded you?

Did I mention that transformation is painful?  Self-improvement is so much easier. Perhaps this is why there are so many self-improvement books in our Christian bookstores.  And there are a bunch of them.  If they removed all of the self-improvement books from the shelves, Christian bookstores would be nearly empty.

They could always continue to sell artwork and relics, I suppose.

Anyway, back to Mobile.  On the way to church on Sunday morning, Bill and I had stopped off at a coffee shop and picked up large cups of coffee.  I was nearly finished with my coffee when we arrived at the church.  Finding no trash receptacle outside of the church, I carried my cup inside.

Big mistake.  Or was it?

The outer doors of the church led directly into the back of the sanctuary.  I was standing about one-third of the way deep into the room talking with one of the church elders.  It was then that Jim came by to say hello.

“We don’t allow coffee in the sanctuary.”

I didn’t notice that the elder’s mouth was hanging agape in stunned disbelief.  I smiled at Jim and said, “I’m sorry, brother.  Where can I throw this away?”  He pointed to the back of the sanctuary in response.  I made my way to the back of the room, found a trash can, and disposed of my coffee cup.  I returned back to where I’d been.  Jim smiled, said “Thank you,” shook my hand, and walked away.  I continued my visit with the elder.

I promptly forgot about the episode…until God brought it up again.

A few minutes later, God reminded me of my encounter with Jim.  Then He spoke to me.  “So nothing has changed, huh?”  Suddenly I realized everything had changed.  I had not been offended by Jim.  I had not been tempted to be offended and then fought with everything that was in me to exhibit the love of Christ toward Jim.  It had not even occurred to me to be offended by Jim.  I was not offended because, at that instant at least, there was nothing in me to offend.  For those few moments, I was manifesting (in my words and actions) the life and love of Jesus in me.  Everything had changed.

By the way, I’ve discovered along the journey that every time I’m offended, I am in the wrong.

Jesus lives in me and expresses Himself through me!  Wow!  Do I still make mistakes?  Of course I make mistakes.  I make lots of mistakes.  Plenty of times I display my old nature.  Don’t you?

The only place I know of on earth where people are always decent, in order, and mistake-free is the cemetery.

After God spoke to me, even over such a simple thing, I was filled with His peace and joy.  I was encouraged to continue with the process of transformation.  This determination has carried me through some dark days since then.  I’m still disappointed with myself from time to time; but since that day, I’ve never again been tempted to quit.

Thanks, Jim.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Son or Bastard?: The Difference is Discipline

By David Ryser

I was driving 70 miles per hour on an interstate highway when I had the following vision. It hit me with such strength and clarity that I lost sight of my surroundings for several seconds.

I am not one who has a lot of experience with visions.  God seems to speak to me more often through other means.  I’m not complaining, but I’ve often thought it would be fun to have what some call an “open vision” where I would see into the spirit realm and be unaware of what was going on around me.  I would not, however, have chosen this particular time and place to have such an experience.

I saw myself as a small child.  I was about four years old.  I was standing before the throne of God with a broken toy in my hand.  I knew the toy represented my life.  It was broken.  I looked up at God, held out the toy to Him, and said, “Daddy, can you fix it?”  He took the toy from me and laid it aside.  I climbed up into His lap and held on tightly to Him.  He didn’t say a word.  He just put His arms around me and held me while I cried until I had no more tears left to cry.

How did my life get to be such a mess?

A few months before, my life was great.  I had everything I ever wanted.  I had been powerfully affected by coming into contact with a genuine move of God.  I was experiencing God at a level I never did before.  I was doing what I was made to do--teaching in a School of Ministry.  The presence of God would show up in the classes and He would move mightily in our midst.  I had the privilege to go overseas and minister.  Signs and wonders followed.  My future in the ministry never looked brighter.

 Then the whole thing came crashing down.

I was at a weeklong conference in Toronto and looking forward to encountering God and having a good time in His presence.  I was expecting to receive God’s further guidance for my ministry.  The week started off well enough; but as time wore on, it became evident that God wanted to speak to me about my character rather than my ministry.  I began to struggle with this unexpected turn of events, but God brought the argument to a close by making two statements and asking one question.  My response was, “Uh-oh…busted.”

When God spoke that to me at the conference, it was as if I could hear a door close in the spirit.  Yes, God opens a door that cannot be closed, but He also closes a door that cannot be opened (Revelation 3:7b).

In that instant, I knew that my life and my ministry (as I had known them) were over.

You see, I had been living as if Hebrews 12:5-8 was not in the Bible.  We are the children of God, but He wants us to become mature sons.  The road to sonship is paved with discipline. (The root word of disciple is the same as for discipline.)  Fathers only discipline their own children.  They do not discipline other people’s children.  If God does not discipline us, we are not His children.  And certainly not His sons.

If we are not God’s sons, then we are spiritual illegitimate children (“bastards”--Hebrews 12:8; KJV).

Why does God discipline His children?  He does so for the same reason that an earthly father disciplines his children.  The purpose of discipline is to develop character in the child.

I’ve discovered in this season of my life that God is far more concerned with the quality of my character than He is in my anointing, calling, and gifting.  Although we highly esteem anointing, calling, and gifting--and promote and exalt people based upon these--God does not regard these as highly as character (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).  In fact, bragging about our anointing, calling, and gifting is a lot like bragging about having a derriere.

Why do people not brag about having a rear end?  Because everybody has one.  It’s nothing special.

If you tell me you are anointed, called, and gifted; all you have done is told me you are a follower of Jesus.  All of Jesus’ followers are automatically anointed, called, and gifted.  It’s nothing special.

All Christians have butts.  Who cares?

I’ve been in the religion business for a long time.  I have never seen anyone fail in ministry for a lack of anointing, calling, and gifting.  I have, however, seen hundreds fail for a lack of character.

Character counts.

This is why the apostle Paul, when writing to the young apostles Timothy and Titus, speaks at length about the importance of godly character when appointing pastors and other church leaders.  In enumerating the qualities of people who are qualified for church leadership (1 Timothy 3: 1-13; Titus 1:5-9), Paul does not speak at all about anointing, calling, and gifting.

Why?  Are these not important?  Do we not want our leaders to be anointed, called, and gifted?  Of course we do.  The reason Paul does not mention anointing, calling, and gifting is because these things are assumed to be present already in these people.

I am not qualified for ministry or church leadership simply because I have spiritual buttocks.  And neither are you.

So what should we do?  We are anointed, called, and gifted for a purpose.  If we are ever going to fulfill our purpose in God’s Kingdom most effectively, and in a way that glorifies God and is a blessing to others, then we need to submit ourselves to the discipline of God.  If we do, we will grow to become mature sons of God.

The Church already has enough bastards masquerading as sons.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com