A friend of ours who lives in Lagos, Nigeria, sent us a video of her teaching recently. She reminded us that ours is a gospel not of word only but power. And power must be exercised in love.

I saw it in Jesus’ life in the stories recorded in Luke 8.22 – 56.

• Satan tries to kill Jesus in a storm, but Jesus rebukes the storm. Who would think that “Let’s cross over to the other side” was a declaration of war? But it was. When they get to the other side, Jesus confronts a demonized man.
• Jesus frees the demonized man, and in the process, thousands of pigs are killed.
• A woman with internal bleeding is healed.
• Jesus raises a 12-year-old from the dead.

Jesus approached the body, took the girl by her hand, and called out with a loud voice, “My sleeping child, awake! Rise up!” Instantly her spirit returned to her body and she stood up. Jesus directed her stunned parents to give her something to eat and ordered them not to tell anyone what just happened. (Luke 8.54 – 56, Passion Translation)

It’s not just the word, it’s POWER. But a quiet power. Unlike today’s “healers,” Jesus ordered the parents not to tell anyone! 

According to Ephesians 3.20, power works in me, too.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. (Ephesians 3.20, ESV)

Here’s a shocking claim by Jesus himself:

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14.12 – 14, ESV)

Verse 12, “greater works” sounds unbelievable, but it is tied directly to prayer in verses 13 and 14. As a friend of mine likes to say, “What would you ask for if you knew the prayer gun was loaded?”

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15.7, ESV)

It came as scheduled. Temperatures had started to moderate in late August/early September, highs in the 70s. Then, back to the upper 80s for us here in Monument (generally cooler than Colorado Springs and Denver). Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday hot, then, amazingly predicted before the hot days even started, SNOW on Tuesday. A 60-degree drop in temperature. As I write, it’s 25 degrees, and we have about 5 inches of snow on the ground.

What are the lessons? First, let’s give thanks for the weather people. We had no way of knowing as late as Monday night that we would awaken Tuesday morning to cold and snow unless they had told us. Second, let’s use “prophecy” to prepare. I unhooked my garden hoses, made sure the snow blower was ready for action, and postponed a couple of meetings. 

The purpose of prophecy in the Bible is not to satisfy curiosity about tomorrow but to change behavior today. When Jonah told the people of Nineveh that they would be destroyed in 40 days, they didn’t get out their calendars, they repented (see Jonah 3). 

The same might be true of “news” and predictions about, say, how long COVID-19 restrictions will last. If I can use the news to prepare, great. If it’s just idle speculation and curiosity, what’s the point?

Third, let’s remember that things don’t always continue as they have been. The weather can turn on a dime. The pandemic reminds us of fact.

They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. (2 Peter 3.4 – 6, ESV)

 

Our pastor shared an illustration I’d never heard before, and it’s too good not to pass on.

A little boy fell out of bed in the middle of the night. When his mother asked him why, he replied, “I think I fell asleep too close to where I got in.” Maybe too many Christians have fallen asleep too close to where they got in! – Dr. David Jordan-Irwin, September 6, 2020

A good word. Perhaps a timely warning.

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God… (Hebrews 5.11, 12, ESV)

Wake up, wake up! Pull on your boots, Zion! Dress up in your Sunday best, Jerusalem, holy city! (Isaiah 52.1, MSG)

Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. (Ephesians 5.14, ESV)

We interrupt the Ewellogy to bring you the (now) annual announcement of our anniversary. 52 years ago today, September 7, 1968, a Saturday, we were married in a simple home ceremony. Afterward, we went to our modest apartment in Clemson, SC, to begin the honeymoon, which is still ongoing. We are blessed.

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. (Proverbs 31.10, 11, ESV)

Yesterday I wrote about incremental growth. Today, I saw one secret to experiencing that growth as illustrated in the woman with the internal bleeding, Luke 8.43 – 48. Here’s the key section:

In the crowd that day was a woman who had suffered greatly for twelve years from slow bleeding. Even though she had spent all that she had on healers, she was still suffering. ⁴⁴ Pressing in through the crowd, she came up behind Jesus and touched the tassel^[c] of his prayer shawl. Instantly her bleeding stopped and she was healed. (Luke 8.43, 44, Passion Translation)

Two things impressed me:

• First, she hadn’t given up. She’d had the disease for 12 years. She’d spent all she had on healers, meaning she kept trying. Finally, she decided to try “The Great Healer.”
• Second, she took action. She didn’t sit by the side of the road to see if Jesus would notice her. She pressed in through the crowd. Faith isn’t passively waiting, it’s taking action.

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2.17, NIV)

A friend asked me the other day about spiritual growth: “Do you reach a point where you say, ‘Great! I’ve made it.'” Answer, no. I know of no athlete or musician, for example, who isn’t always working to be a little bit better.

Growth is what happens when we practice the appropriate disciplines over time. And growth is always appropriate to where we are at the time. For example, acceptable, even exemplary behavior for a 3-year-old might be inappropriate for a 10-year-old. But that doesn’t stop us from being proud of our 3-year-olds.

My recovery from knee surgery is a good example. I can’t “will” it to have the strength and range of motion that I want. But I can do what I’m supposed to do today, and I see improvement nearly every day. For example, when riding my stationary bicycle, at first I just had to put the surgical leg out of the way so I could exercise the rest of me. But later, with the seat raised two inches higher than normal, I gradually could go all the around with the surgical leg, slowly. Then a bit faster. Then a bit easier. Then with the seat only one inch higher than normal, etc. It’s encouraging to see the incremental improvement.

There’s no reason we can’t experience incremental growth in our spiritual lives as well. My friend Ron Bennett likes to tell the story of the first time he changed the oil in his cars without getting angry about something. It’s transformation, day by day, step by step.

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. (Mark 4.26 – 28, ESV)

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3.18, NKJV)

In encouraging people to apply scripture, not just listen to it, I used to say, “No points for hearing only.” One day, a fellow corrected me. 

It’s not “no points” for hearing only, it’s “negative points” for hearing only.

He’s right. Jesus is clear:

So pay careful attention to your hearts as you hear my teaching, for to those who have open hearts, even more revelation will be given to them until it overflows. And for those who do not listen with open hearts, what little light they imagine to have will be taken away.” (Luke 8.19, Passion Translation)

As we move into September and yet another month of COVID restrictions and fears, this blog from Heather Holleman is too good not to pass on. She lists five things that we haven’t lost due to COVID-19:

• Supernatural peace: “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” (2 Thessalonians 3.16)
• Love: “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5.5)
• Purpose: For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2.10)
• The ability to worship. She cites Romans 12.1: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. And I have written that worship has nothing to do with whether or not we can gather in a church building. There are alternatives.
• Growth. Heather writes, “We haven’t lost our ability to learn and grow and mature. We haven’t lost our ability to self-reflect, listen to the Holy Spirit, read the Bible, and pray.” – Heather Holleman, August 30, 2020

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1.6, 7, NIV)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1.2 – 4, NIV)

I wrote yesterday that religion alone isn’t enough to guarantee good behavior. Religious people go to church and sometimes hear the Word preached, but even Jesus said that wasn’t necessarily enough:

The seed that falls into the weeds represents the hearts of those who hear the word of God but their growth is quickly choked off by their own anxious cares, the riches of this world, and the fleeting pleasures of this life. This is why they never become mature and fruitful. The seed that fell into good, fertile soil represents those lovers of truth who hear it deep within their hearts. They respond by clinging to the word, keeping it dear as they endure all things in faith. This is the seed that will one day bear much fruit in their lives. (Luke 8.14, 15, Passion Translation)

There’s a difference between those who bear fruit and those who don’t. Both hear the word. But in one case, the word is choked by anxious cares, riches of the world, and the fleeting pleasures of this life. The other group responds to the word. It is, as I wrote last week, the difference between “showing up” and actual engagement.

Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! (1 Peter 1.22, 23, MSG)

A friend sent an excellent 98-second video from a Harvard Business School professor about what makes “democracy” in general and America in particular work. He closes with this line:

If you take away religion you can’t hire enough police.

There’s certainly truth in it, having to do with the concept that people need to police themselves, to be self-controlled voluntarily, and that dedication to a religion helps.

The problem is that religion in and of itself doesn’t always contribute to a civil and just society. Just yesterday, Doug Nuenke, President of The Navigators, wrote to staff reminding us that our faith must result in proper action:

Is our belief in God’s reign matched with faithful action to bring God’s justice to Earth?

This was the primary conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of His time (see Mark 7:6-13). He rebuked the Pharisees for religious tradition that was empty of Kingdom action.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others (Matthew 23:23 ESV).

Jesus also spoke to the callousness of the Pharisees and Sadducees in the parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37). This story of religious leaders who bypassed practical acts of mercy portrayed what empty religion looks like. – Doug Nuenke, August 31, 2020 (emphasis his)

“Religion” motivated the 9/11 terrorists. “Religion” in India is resulting in increased persecution of Christians by the Hindu majority. And, yes, most of the white people who enslaved black people in this country and continued persecuting them even after the Civil War were in churches on any given Sunday.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1.27, ESV)

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. (1 Peter 2.13 – 16, ESV)