We are looking at my friend Ray Bandi’s pattern for disciple-making through intentional relationships.

• Love
• Pray
• Model
• Teach
• Repeat

Before I get into today’s topic: love, here’s an update on his ablation procedure yesterday, Monday, November 9. Ray wrote:

Doctor said ablation went well. Will get more details later.  I’m feeling well. I’m humbled by the concern of those who prayed for me.  Please thank them.

Yes, thanks to you who prayed. I heard from two of you, and I’m sure others prayed without posting a comment. Now, on to today’s topic: Love. Ray writes:

First, disciple-makers love their disciples just like Jesus loved His disciples. As we read the gospels, we see many ways that Jesus showed His love for His disciples. But one of the key ways was by serving them.  In fact, Jesus told His disciples, “I am among you as the one who serves.” (Luke 22:27) So, that should be the same for us…For example, a few weeks ago, one of the guys I disciple had knee surgery, and he needed someone to walk his dog for the next few weeks. And so, I’ve been walking my friend’s active, crazy dog. That’s what disciple-makers do because we love our disciples in practical ways. – Ray Bandi, emphasis his

A pretty simple concept – simple to understand if not to carry out. It’s been said:

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. – Theodore Roosevelt

We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too. (1 Thessalonians 2.8, NLT)

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I write frequently about all of our responsibility to make disciples by intentionally investing time in people. Paul’s word to Timothy is a key verse:

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.2, NIV)

Paul -> Timothy -> reliable people -> others.

Wait, Bob! Paul was a missionary, and Timothy was a pastor! Yes, but the “reliable people” are the ordinary folks like you and me. “Reliable people who will teach others.” I like to say:

2 Timothy 2.2:  It’s so easy, anyone can do it, even lay people.
It’s so important, everyone must do it, even pastors.

So I am always looking out for ways to encourage people to dive into this, to make the process understandable and accessible. Therefore, I’m indebted to my friend Ray Bandi, who lives in New Hampshire, for passing this on, encouraging me to blog it! I heard Ray share this the first time at the memorial service for Virginia Eims, long-time Navigator, wife of Leroy Eims. Ray had lived in their home for discipleship training.

Ray says that this is what relational disciple-makers do:

• Love
• Pray
• Model
• Teach
• Repeat

That’s it! Love people, pray for them, model godly and missional behavior, teach, and repeat as necessary. We’ll explore these more over the rest of this week.

Here’s a picture of Ray and me from February 2017. And yes, I am standing up.

Also, if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know it generally comes out around 5:30p. Why am I publishing this one early? Because Ray is having a second heart ablation procedure today, November 9, 2020, to try to correct a persistent heart “flutter.” I know Ray would appreciate your prayer that the procedure goes well and fixes the problem. I’d like to see Ray making disciples for many more years!

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. (Colossians 1.28, ESV)

We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy! (1 John 1.3, 4, MSG)

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5.13 – 16, ESV)

I’ve done ministry with Chris Lake of Vere Institute, among other things, promoter of Mark Greene’s book Fruitfulness on the Frontline that I’ve referred to recently. Chris’s ministry colleague, Diana Gruver, wrote the most marvelous essay, putting the election in perspective and reminding us, as I wrote yesterday, there are people we love and respect on both sides. The essay is too good not to share. Here’s how she opens:

When you read this, the election will be in the past tense. The votes will have been cast. And (Lord willing) the results will be in. Some of you will be rejoicing and relieved. Some of you will be mourning, angry, or afraid. Those feelings will coexist in our churches this Sunday. Brothers and sisters in Christ will worship together (whether in-person or virtually), and some will be offering thanksgiving while others are asking “why?”  

That is why I am writing these words today, before I know the outcome of this 2020 U.S. Presidential election. Emotions are running high. Fear is running high. The divides are painful, and they run through our communities, our families, and our churches. And no matter what the outcome of this will be, there will be people in our lives—people that we love—who will experience those results differently than we will. – Diana Gruver, in an essay written in October, published November 4.

Then she introduces some certainties:

I don’t need to know the election results to write this post, because a presidential election does not alter the call of discipleship. Some of the practical ways we work out that call may be different based on election results, but the call itself has not changed. So today, I can write to you about what is still true.

1. God’s Kingdom is secure.
2. We are called to seek the good of the city.
3. We are called to continue the work of discipleship.
4. We are called to be peacemakers and bridge builders.
5. We are called to care for the poor, the oppressed, the needy, the outcast, and the downtrodden.
6. We are called to pray for God’s Kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven. 
7. We are called to continue to preach the gospel.

That’s a good and Biblical list. I encourage you to read the entire essay.

(Supporting #2) Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29.7, NIV)

(Supporting #5) He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” …As the Father has sent me, even so send I you. (Luke 4.16 – 19…John 20.21)

How do you feel about the ongoing saga of the election? As of this writing, we don’t have a declared winner. My son Mark reminded me that in 2000, the winner was not declared until December 13, and that was with only one state in doubt. If we do have a declared winner by the time you read this, you still might find these thoughts helpful.

I know most Americans, including believers, are concerned about the outcome, hoping that “their” side wins. All year, as far back as January, I’ve written that there are committed Jesus followers on all sides. In the last week approaching the election, I saw these three posts:

• Ed Czyeweski, a Christian author who has written books I have found helpful, wrote this blog on why Christians should NOT vote for Trump.
• Two friends sent me a link to this sermon by Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia. It’s a well-articulated, one-hour explanation on why Christians should vote for Trump.
• John Piper, the well-known author and Bible teacher, wrote an essay on why he couldn’t vote for either Trump or Biden. (If you don’t have time to listen to Gary Hamrick’s sermon, you can read Wayne Grudem’s response to John Piper on why he voted for Trump.)

No matter how you voted, you’re in good company, and there are good people who voted differently from you.

Wesley’s rules for voting, that I published early in October, still apply. 

• Vote for the person you judge most worthy
• Speak no evil of the person you voted against
• Take care your spirits are not sharpened against those that voted on the other side

John 13.34, 35 also applies:

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (NIV)

And, finally, we need all remember who is in charge:

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. (Romans 13.1, NLT)

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD;
he turns it wherever he will. (Proverbs 21.1, ESV)

Yesterday, we thought about fruit–the fact that God is looking for fruit and that fruit includes justice and righteousness:

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
but behold, an outcry! (Isaiah 5.7, ESV)

Mark Greene, in Fruitfulness on the Frontline, suggests six ways to be fruitful, and I’ve written about a few of these before. But I’ve never written about Molding Culture, the topic on which I had to preach recently! (You can see the sermon here if you like – it begins about 26 minutes into the October 25 service.) When I reread Mark’s chapter on the topic, the first example had to do with tablecloths! Here’s the story:

Take, for example, a primary school in an urban regeneration area. Lots of the kids are on free school dinners. Many of them have never experienced what it feels like to sit down for a family meal. Now their canteen is a little drab and rather noisy, and the kid zing in and out like Formula One cars refueling in the pits. It’s the way things are done. But Rachel, the assistant head, wanted to teach them that meals are special, for conversation, not just for food, and she wanted to make them feel special. So the school bought tablecloths for all the tables. The change has been remarkable. The tablecloths absorb some of the clatter…and make the atmosphere calmer, more conducive to chatting. But more significantly, the presence of tablecloths instantly communicated that eating together is special and that kids are, too. In the end, the tablecloths enhanced the quality of relationships, the quality of love, between pupils, and between pupils and teachers. -Fruitfulness on the Frontline, pages 120 – 121.

Tablecloths! A little thing that I certainly never would have thought of. Sometimes we don’t do something because we think we can’t do anything big enough to make a difference. But more often than not, God uses small actions. It’s even how Jesus describes the Kingdom:

Jesus taught them this parable: “How can I describe God’s kingdom realm? Let me illustrate it this way. It is like the smallest of seeds that you would plant in a garden. And when it grows, it becomes a huge tree, with so many spreading branches that various birds make nests there.” Jesus taught them another parable: “How can I describe God’s kingdom realm? Let me give you this illustration: It is like something as small as yeast that a woman kneads into a large amount of dough. It works unseen until it permeates the entire batch and rises high.” (Luke 13.18 – 21, Passion Translation)

Have you seen this domino demonstration by Stephen Morris, illustrating a 1983 physics paper that said that a domino can knock over another domino that is 1.5 times bigger? It’s worth a look, only one minute. Nothing illustrates the power of little things better:

Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings? (Zechariah 4.10, MSG)

“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” [Jesus] said. (Matt. 14.17, 18)

Yesterday, we noticed that right after Jesus’ call to repentance (“change your mind and amend your ways”), he told this story:

Then Jesus told them this parable: “There was a man who planted a fig tree in his orchard. But when he came to gather fruit from his tree he found none, for it was barren and had no fruit. So he said to his gardener, ‘For the last three years I’ve come to gather figs from my tree but it remains fruitless. What a waste! Go ahead and cut it down!’ “But the gardener said, ‘Sir, we should leave it one more year. Let me fertilize and cultivate it, then let’s see if it will produce fruit. If it doesn’t bear fruit by next year, we’ll cut it down.’” (Luke 13.6 – 9, The Passion Translation)

If the fig tree represents God’s people (the nation Israel in this context), what fruit was he looking for? Isaiah is clear:

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
but behold, an outcry! (Isaiah 5.7, ESV)

The fruit of justice and righteousness: two of the 6Ms of fruitfulness we have written about before. (These come from Mark Greene’s book Fruitfulness on the Frontline.)

• Model godly character (“righteousness”)
• Make good work
• Minister grace and love
• Mold culture
• be a Mouthpiece for truth and justice
• be a Messenger of the gospel

Tomorrow I’ll share a bit about the importance of little things in molding culture – one of the 6Ms. For today, let’s pray for righteousness and justice…in our country, in the aftermath of the election, and in our lives – it’s the fruit God is seeking.

Manifest your Kingdom on earth. (Luke 11.2, The Passion Translation)

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14.17, ESV)

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4.16 – 19, ESV)

As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20.21, ESV)

I’ve written recently about repentance. It’s not that I want to – it just keeps coming up in my readings. Back on October 1, we focused on the fact that Jesus preaches repentance to his people, us, not the people “out there.” Then on October 21, we considered that repentance is the only appropriate response to preaching. Today, it’s more of the same:

Some of those present informed Jesus that Pilate had slaughtered some Galilean Jews while they were offering sacrifices at the temple, mixing their blood with the sacrifices they were offering. Jesus turned and asked the crowd, “Do you believe that the slaughtered Galileans were the worst sinners of all the Galileans? No, they weren’t! So listen to me. Unless you all repent, you will perish as they did. Or what about the eighteen who perished when the tower of Siloam fell upon them? Do you really think that they were more guilty than all of the others in Jerusalem? No, they weren’t. But unless you repent, you will all eternally perish, just as they did.” (Luke 13.1 – 5, The Passion Translation)

The first thing that struck me is that Jesus did not condemn Pilate for a particularly heinous and gruesome act. Neither did he condemn the construction industry for the collapse of the tower of Siloam.

Instead, he focused on everyone’s need to repent, which The Passion Translation footnote defines nicely as:

Change your mind and amend your ways.

Amend your ways to do what? Bear fruit! Look at the very next paragraph:

Then Jesus told them this parable: “There was a man who planted a fig tree in his orchard. But when he came to gather fruit from his tree he found none, for it was barren and had no fruit. So he said to his gardener, ‘For the last three years I’ve come to gather figs from my tree but it remains fruitless. What a waste! Go ahead and cut it down!’ “But the gardener said, ‘Sir, we should leave it one more year. Let me fertilize and cultivate it, then let’s see if it will produce fruit. If it doesn’t bear fruit by next year, we’ll cut it down.’” (Luke 13.6 – 9, The Passion Translation)

It’s about fruit, and I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow.

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples…You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit… (John 15.8, 16, ESV)

This is the last of our meditations on my friend Randy Raysbrook’s informal psalm of hope. Thanks Randy.

I say nothing.
Lord, you say, “That is a good start.”

Scriptures are clear that often we would do better being silent than jabbering away.

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! (Psalm 46.10, ESV)

And now, finally, GOD answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said: “Why do you confuse the issue? Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about?” (Job 38.1, 2, MSG)

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. (Ecclesiastes 5.2, ESV)

Continuing our meditations on my friend Randy Raysbrook’s “psalm:”

I say, “If I am strong enough, I can achieve great things.”
Lord, you say, “Really?”

Line 1 sounds good. We’re supposed to be strong.

”Be strong in the Lord…” (Ephesians 6.10)
“Train yourself for godliness.” (1 Timothy 4.7)

But it’s not my strength, it’s his:

”Be strong in the Lord and the power of his might.” (Ephesians 6.10)
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4.13)

And even when I’m strong, I don’t achieve great things. We achieve great things together: I, the Lord, with the community. Football is a good metaphor here. Americans like their heroes, the individual stars, which, in football, is usually the quarterback. But the quarterback, no matter how good he is, by himself, is useless. He doesn’t block for himself. He doesn’t throw the passes to himself. He has to have a very good team around him to succeed, including the coaches who make everything work well together.

Clemson University won its game yesterday without Heisman Trophy candidate Trevor Lawrence who was diagnosed with COVID last week. Clemson won not only because the backup quarterback is talented in his own right but also because of the whole team. The rest of the offense. The defense. Trevor doesn’t achieve great things. The team does.

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)

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 4.6, ESV)

He told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness… (2 Corinthians 12.9, MSG)