[To follow The Ewellogy, please click on Leave a Comment above, fill in your name and email, and check the box: Notify me of new posts by email. If your comment is, “Notify me,” it won’t post publicly. If you don’t start to receive the blog by email right away, please write to me at bob@ewell.com, and I will see that you get on the list.]

Jesus clearly told his disciples that their mission was world-wide, for all people.

Make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28.19)

…You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1.8, NKJV)

So why, 10 years after the resurrection, are they still in Jerusalem, and Peter is reluctant to enter the home of a Gentile?

Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. (Acts 10.28, NKJV)

God has to kick-start the missionary movement, and he does it through one man in two ways!

Saul of Tarsus, one of the chief instigators of killing Stephen, is responsible for scattering the believers, breaking up the Jerusalem mega-church. The result is believers out on mission!

And Saul approved of [Stephen’s] execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles, …But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. (Acts 8.1, 3, 4, ESV, emphasis mine)

Then, Jesus chooses Saul to be on his side, and Saul is spear-heading the missionary movement from within!

But the Lord said to [Ananias], “Go, for [Saul] is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. (Acts 9.15, ESV)

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13.1 – 3, ESV)

I’m still contemplating the ramifications of that!

This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? (Isaiah 14.26, 27, NIV) (For judgment in Isaiah but for salvation in Acts!)

[To follow The Ewellogy, please click on Leave a Comment above, fill in your name and email, and check the box: Notify me of new posts by email. If your comment is, “Notify me,” it won’t post publicly. If you don’t start to receive the blog by email right away, please write to me at bob@ewell.com, and I will see that you get on the list.]

It’s that time of year again, and the dog and I suited up to watch Clemson’s first game.

Clemson, as expected, beat Georgia Tech, 52 – 14, but despite what the score might indicate, Clemson looked ragged in spots. Coach Dabo Swinney said, “There were plenty of errors on all sides of the ball that will have to get fixed.” Speaking of the players, Dabo said,

We can give them some truth. They have to receive the truth, and we’ve got to get better.

That’ll preach, won’t it? It’s not enough to be told the truth and to listen to the truth. We have to receive the truth and then act on the truth. I wrote a few days ago that Herod enjoyed listening to John the Baptist, but there was no life-change.

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8.31, 32, NIV)

If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? (John 8.46, NIV)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)

[To follow The Ewellogy, please click on Leave a Comment above, fill in your name and email, and check the box: Notify me of new posts by email. If your comment is, “Notify me,” it won’t post publicly. If you don’t start to receive the blog by email right away, please write to me at bob@ewell.com, and I will see that you get on the list.]

We spent a few days last week at one of our favorite places: the YMCA of the Rockies near Estes Park, Colorado. If you haven’t been there, “YMCA” doesn’t quite capture what it is. It’s a very large property with lodges and cabins: if all the beds were filled, they could sleep 9,000 people! We were in a 2-bedroom cabin, and one of the pluses is we can take our dog.

Mountain views are extraordinary in every direction, but they’re always there. What’s unpredictable is the wildlife. We were told that the bears were unusually active, but we didn’t see any. Here’s what we did see, every morning, every evening, a gigantic bull elk who liked to eat the grass near the recently built Boone Mountain Center.

Bull elks weigh about 700 pounds and are 5 feet tall at the shoulder (with massive head and antlers, we’re talking about 9 feet tall. “Normally” they leave you alone, which is a good thing since it’s walking within a few yards of children in a playground. Note the little girl perched on top of a rock-like structure, presumably for safety. There’s an anxious mom in the background. I’m standing just a few yards away myself outside our cabin.

It’s not uncommon to see a small herd of them in downtown Estes Park! Last November, as we checked in at the Y there were about 30 of them near the Administration Building. When I approached for a picture, this cow was apparently offended and acted as if she could come after me any second. Fortunately, our car was close. This proves that elk ignore you until they don’t!

We like life to be safe and predictable. Often it’s not. Whether it’s wild animals, traffic(!), or weather, we’re as safe as God wants us to be. Last Saturday, six people were injured in Atlanta when lightning struck at the Tour Championship Golf Tournament.

About 15 years ago, our daughter and son-in-law were teaching near Tel-Aviv, Israel, at a time when there were frequent suicide bombers. When tensions heightened, there was an evacuation, and they flew home to Arkansas. Interestingly, the day they arrived, there was an ice storm in Arkansas, and more people died there than in Israel! There are no guarantees.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23.4, ESV)

“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. (Isaiah 43.1, 2, NLT)

Will the wild ox consent to being tamed? Will it spend the night in your stall? Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow? Will it plow a field for you? Given its strength, can you trust it? Can you leave and trust the ox to do your work? Can you rely on it to bring home your grain and deliver it to your threshing floor? (Job 39.9 – 12, NLT–God could have just as easily talked about the elk!)

The voice of the LORD strikes with bolts of lightning. The voice of the LORD makes the barren wilderness quake; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!” The LORD rules over the floodwaters. The LORD reigns as king forever. The LORD gives his people strength. The LORD blesses them with peace. (Psalm 29.7 – 11, NLT)

[To follow The Ewellogy, please click on Leave a Comment above, fill in your name and email, and check the box: Notify me of new posts by email. If your comment is, “Notify me,” it won’t post publicly. If you don’t start to receive the blog by email right away, please write to me at bob@ewell.com, and I will see that you get on the list.]

I like to speak publicly and take every opportunity I can to do so because I believe I have an important message, the one that’s reflected in The Ewellogy over and over: deepen your relationship with God through daily time in the Word, put his Word into action, teach others to do the same. In short: bear fruit!

Therefore, it bothers me when people come up after I speak and say, “Thanks for coming. I enjoyed that.” I’m always nice (I think) and thank them for listening, but what I want to say is, “I didn’t mean for you to enjoy it; I meant for you to put it into practice!” A pastor friend of mine likes to ask, “What particular part did you most enjoy and why?”

What’s scary about “enjoy” is that King Herod was said to enjoy listening to John the Baptist (while he had him locked up in prison):

But Herod both feared and stood in awe of John and kept him safely in custody, because he was convinced that he was a righteous and holy man. Every time Herod heard John speak, it disturbed his soul, but he was drawn to him and enjoyed listening to his words. (Mark 6.20, Passion Translation)

Herod enjoyed listening to John but took no action. It reminds me of when God told Ezekiel:

As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. (Ezekiel 33.30 – 32, NIV)

Biblical warnings against hearing without doing are clear. Let’s heed them!

And [Jesus] said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear…” (Mark 4.24, ESV)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)

[To follow The Ewellogy, please click on Leave a Comment above, fill in your name and email, and check the box: Notify me of new posts by email. If your comment is, “Notify me,” it won’t post publicly. If you don’t start to receive the blog by email right away, please write to me at bob@ewell.com, and I will see that you get on the list.]

While in Estes Park last week we decided to drive through the little townhome community where we sometimes stay when we’re there. Upon turning in, we were greeted by this 8.5 x 11 computer-generated sign:

The sign struck us as neither welcoming nor helpful. Of course, it wasn’t designed to be welcoming; it was specifically designed to be unwelcoming. They don’t like people driving through there, especially looking for something that’s not there.

Even given that the community likes to keep people out, the sign could have been more helpful. In the same amount of space, it could have looked like this:

In other words, instead of telling people what won’t work, why not tell them what will? 

Do we believers sometimes have the same problem? Do we tell people what not to do instead of telling them what they can do? For example, do we rail on and on about the evils of sex outside marriage without telling them of the joys of married life?

Do we forget to tell people Jesus’ positive message?

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10.10, ESV) 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3.17, ESV)

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1.17, ESV) [Not just truth!]

[To follow The Ewellogy, please click on Leave a Comment above, fill in your name and email, and check the box: Notify me of new posts by email. If your comment is, “Notify me,” it won’t post publicly. If you don’t start to receive the blog by email right away, please write to me at bob@ewell.com, and I will see that you get on the list.]

We had dinner recently with a friend from out of town, only an acquaintance, actually, and I’ve never heard one person talk more and listen less. My wife is a saint. In a 2.5-hour “conversation” our friend might have responded to something June said twice, only to immediately go back to what she wanted to talk about.

I’m reading an intriguing book, not finished with it yet, called The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, narrated by a dog. Here’s what the dog said about conversation.

I cannot speak, so I listen very well. I never interrupt, I never deflect the course of the conversation with a comment of my own. People, if you pay attention to them, change the direction of one another’s conversations constantly. It’s like having a passenger in your car who suddenly grabs the steering wheel and turns you down a side street. For instance, if we met at a party and I wanted to tell you a story about the time I needed to get a soccer ball in my neighbor’s yard but his dog chased me and I had to jump into a swimming pool to escape, and I began telling the story, you, hearing the words “soccer” and “neighbor” in the same sentence, might interrupt and mention that your childhood neighbor was Pelé, the famous soccer player, and I might be courteous and say, Didn’t he play for the Cosmos of New York? Did you grow up in New York? And you might reply that, no, you grew up in Brazil on the streets of Três Corações with Pelé, and I might say, I thought you were from Tennessee, and you might say not originally, and then go on to outline your genealogy at length. So my initial conversational gambit—that I had a funny story about being chased by my neighbor’s dog—would be totally lost, and only because you had to tell me all about Pelé. Learn to listen! I beg of you. Pretend you are a dog like me and listen to other people rather than steal their stories.

Listen to other people rather than steal their stories. A good word, which I have been known to violate.

My dearest brothers and sisters, take this to heart: Be quick to listen, but slow to speak. (James 1.19, Passion Translation)

A different context but the same in principle…

And [Jesus] said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4.9, ESV)

He who has an ear let him hear... (7 times in Revelation 2 and 3)

[To follow The Ewellogy, please click on Leave a Comment above, fill in your name and email, and check the box: Notify me of new posts by email. If your comment is, “Notify me,” it won’t post publicly. If you don’t start to receive the blog by email right away, please write to me at bob@ewell.com, and I will see that you get on the list.]

I wrote yesterday that Jesus seemed to be more into kairos time (opportune, appropriate) than chronos time (clock time) and illustrated the concept with a story from secondary education.

Let’s take a closer look at kairos versus chronos in discipleship training.

Way back in the 1920s, Bishop Roland Allen of the Anglican Church wrote a provocative book Missionary Methods, St Paul’s or Ours? One of the methods he decried was his tradition’s around-the-calendar schedule for teaching major concepts over a 3-year period. The problem, as he saw it, was that a concept would be introduced, and a couple weeks later, the church would be on to something else with no regard as to whether the people understood anything. Bishop Allen said something like, “You wouldn’t experience that too many times before you conclude that if church leadership had wanted us to understand that concept, they would have spent more time on it. Since they don’t, people conclude that they’re not supposed to understand.” Again, it’s the inadequacy of chronos-based training. 

By contrast, Tom Bourke, a Navigator, just posted an article for disciple-makers encouraging just-in-time training–kairos-based training, to use our new word. (As an aside, Mike Breen has also written about this approach in Building a Discipling Culture, which he calls a “kairos moment.”)

Tom tells the story of someone he’s training, someone who is already a disciple-maker who needs to share the gospel with someone he’s working with and doesn’t know the famous Navigator Bridge in either version!

Tom writes:

So why did Jeff ask me to help him learn how to share the gospel only after reading the Bible with his friend for a year? Traditionally, a good Navigator would have trained Jeff on The Bridge (and many other things) on the front end. But this Insiders Group is different. They learned how to join Jesus in His work first. This missional living had turbo-charged their relationship with Jesus as they realized they were “in the game” with Him.

Tom goes on to explain industry’s just-in-time inventory concept. Then he concludes:

I’m beginning to think just-in-time training would be a great idea for us. When we front-load discipleship training, we inadvertently send the message that folks aren’t ready to be used of God—yet. Plus, the training we offer comes to life when it can be applied immediately, rather than remaining a theory on a bookshelf or in a computer folder.

I don’t know all the implications of a kairos versus chronos approach, but I agree that too often we communicate that people will be ready after “one more course.” Jesus sent the disciples out before they were ready!

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease…These twelve Jesus sent out… (Matthew 9.37, 38, 10.1, 5, NKJV)

He taught them to pray when they were ready:

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11.1, ESV)

[To follow The Ewellogy, please click on Leave a Comment above, fill in your name and email, and check the box: Notify me of new posts by email. If your comment is, “Notify me,” it won’t post publicly. If you don’t start to receive the blog by email right away, please write to me at bob@ewell.com, and I will see that you get on the list.]

I wrote yesterday that Jesus seemed to be relaxed about time. Not like some of us, especially in the U.S., who are always rushing to get somewhere and trying hard to get more things done.

I’m reminded that there are two words translated “time” in the New Testament. One is chronos from which we get our word chronometer: timepiece. The other is kairos, which has the idea of “the right time.”

Kairos: Time (particular and general); right time, opportune time, proper time, appointed time. (From www.stepbible.org, an excellent resource!)

In the field of education, for example, we’re normally driven by chronos time. One of my Air Force professors, Dr. Dan Brown, liked to tell this story illustrating, essentially, chronos time: most schools’ approach to teaching. He would say:

I attended Catholic school, taught by nuns, and I remember taking Algebra. Before the year was out, we switched to Geometry. I said to my teacher, “Sister, have I learned all the Algebra I need for college?” “No, Daniel.” “Do you think I’m incapable of learning any more Algebra?” “No, Daniel.” “Then if I need to learn more Algebra, and I’m capable of learning more Algebra, why are we switching to Geometry?” “Because it’s February.”

That’s chronos time! We do something because the schedule calls for it.

Jesus didn’t seem to operate that way. I don’t know how this would work out for you and me. I’m just beginning to think about it.

You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time (kairos) has not yet fully come.” (John 7.8, NKJV)

[To follow The Ewellogy, please click on Leave a Comment above, fill in your name and email, and check the box: Notify me of new posts by email. If your comment is, “Notify me,” it won’t post publicly. If you don’t start to receive the blog by email right away, please write to me at bob@ewell.com, and I will see that you get on the list.]

My friend and I had a phone appointment scheduled: he was to call me at 9:00, but, running late, I texted him around 8:50 that I would call him by 9:05. When I finally called at 9:10, I said:

I can tell time; I just don’t pay any attention to it.

Since I am a retired Air Force officer, people expect that I’m on time and have always been on time. The opposite is the case, unfortunately. Someone wrote about me when I was a captain, “Bob was on time when he needed to be.” That’s reasonably accurate! A relaxed attitude toward time has not always served me well, and it’s a poor character trait in the U.S.

In other countries, I may have fared better. I’ll never forget during one of my trips to Haiti, a resident missionary and I were walking to a nearby village one Saturday afternoon when we encountered one of my seminary students coming out of the village as we approached. We all stopped and visited for a few minutes when he said, “Come up to the village with me; I will show you my house and introduce you to my mother.” The missionary said, “Weren’t you on your way to a meeting?” He replied, “Yes, but you’re here now!” Can you imagine an exchange like that here?

Jesus’ ministry was characterized by margin (he always had time for people) and lack of hurry. My friend and Navigator mentor Skip Gray says:

Jesus had a 3-mile-an-hour ministry. He didn’t go jogging through Judea, sprinting through Samaria, and galloping through Galilee. He walked wherever he went.

And I would add, he stopped. On his way to Jerusalem, facing passion week, he stopped twice: once for the blind beggar and once for Zacchaeus. Jesus seemed to have a relaxed attitude toward time!

The blind beggar shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity and show me mercy!” Those who were in the front of the crowd scolded him and warned him to be quiet. But the blind beggar screamed out even louder, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” Suddenly Jesus stopped. He told those nearby, “Bring the man over to me.” (Luke 18.38 – 40, Passion Translation, emphasis mine)

When Jesus got to that place, he looked up into the tree and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry on down, for I am appointed to stay at your house today!” (Luke 19.5, Passion Translation)

[To follow The Ewellogy, please click on Leave a Comment above, fill in your name and email, and check the box: Notify me of new posts by email. If your comment is, “Notify me,” it won’t post publicly. If you don’t start to receive the blog by email right away, please write to me at bob@ewell.com, and I will see that you get on the list.]

I frequently cite Mark 3.14 in the context of Jesus’ training the 12:

And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. (Mark 3.14, 15, ESV)

With him…send out. That’s the strategy. But I just noticed a very good reason for that strategy in the context of Mark 3:

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. (Mark 3.7 – 10, ESV)

It was a mob scene! So it’s no coincidence that right after that, Jesus begins his training program in earnest. If you have more than you can do, don’t work harder, start training people to help you!

A lady we met at Spring Canyon, about our age, who clearly had given herself a lot of people was bemoaning the fact that sometimes she would rather rest than respond to the latest cry for help. I shared with her at the time that we just needed more workers. She shouldn’t have to be the only one in her circle that could minister to people’s spiritual needs.

Later I read the early fruition of Jesus’ training:

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. (Mark 6.7, ESV)

Training. Jesus did it. The Apostle Paul did it and advocated it for Timothy.

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade… After this, Paul …then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila…Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. (Acts 18.1-3, 18, 24-26, ESV)

What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2.2, ESV)