We went to Estes Park last week as we often do in March – but, truth be told, next March, it might be Arizona! Temps were below freezing the first few days, and we arrived in snow. Anyway, it’s always nice to be in the mountains, and on Friday we decided to take an “easy” hike around Sprague Lake, near where we were staying. It’s only a mile, perfectly flat, gorgeous mountain views, what could go wrong?

We didn’t know that over half the trail was still snow-covered! Well over a foot in some places.

No problem, we have snowshoes and poles, right? Well, yes and no. The poles were in the cabin. After all, who needs poles on a flat hike? The snowshoes were in the car, and we didn’t go back for them.

We were equipped…but not equipped. Equipment doesn’t do any good if you don’t use it! Robert Lewis wrote in The Church of Irresistible Influence, that his members were asking, “Equipped for what?” That’s when they decided to be more active in the community.  

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry… (Ephesians 4.11, 12, ESV, emphasis mine)

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13.20, 21, ESV, emphasis mine)

God uses [the Word] to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. (2 Timothy 3.17, NLT, emphasis mine) 

Paul’s sharing his history with the Galatians contains this intriguing paragraph:

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and (Peter) and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. (Galatians 2.7 – 9, ESV) 

Some people are better with religious insiders, others with religious outsiders. We don’t know why Peter should consider his ministry as being only to Jews. God sent him to the Roman centurion Cornelius in Acts 10. On the other hand, Paul was highly trained in Judaism (see Acts 22.3), but he was chosen to go to Gentiles (see Acts 22.21).

God can and does send anyone anywhere. Consider David Wilkerson, a small-town pastor in Pennsylvania, who went to New York City in 1958 to preach to Puerto Rican street gangs. From the Teen Challenge official history:

Led by incredible faith, David Wilkerson made a seemingly bizarre step from his country pulpit in 1958 to the streets of New York City, where a murder trial of seven teenage boys churned society’s antipathy toward them. Even Wilkerson was bewildered by his sense of compassion but, in spite of doubt, he followed the Spirit’s prompting to help the boys.

Wilkerson’s outreach to gangs in New York led to the development of Teen Challenge. From our simple beginnings, Teen Challenge has grown to over 200 locations in the US and over 1000 around the world. The explosive growth of Teen Challenge continues to be a true move of God.

Amazing.

What part of Acts 1.8 do we not understand? That said, here is Peter, going to Jews, primarily, while Paul goes to Gentiles, primarily.  I have been more effective working with church people. Friends of mine are more effective with complete religious outsiders.  

God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. (1 Corinthians 12.18, ESV)

We are starting Galatians in our 5x5x5 reading plan. Galatians is another “Jesus and” book – this time focused purely on Jewish laws including circumcision. Paul jumps right into it. Anything different from what he preached to them is “another gospel,” and if you’re touting it, to hell with you. 

Let me be blunt: If one of us—even if an angel from heaven!—were to preach something other than what we preached originally, let him be cursed. I said it once; I’ll say it again: If anyone, regardless of reputation or credentials, preaches something other than what you received originally, let him be cursed. (Galatians 1.8, 9, MSG)

Preference is one thing. If we’re going to sing, a music style is required, and yours might be different from mine. Dress codes vary from culture to culture and from one historical era to another. No problem. Just don’t make a requirement out of any of it. 

In telling his history, he reveals something about religion: it is something you can competitively advance in:

For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. (Galatians 1.13, 14, ESV)

But “relationship” is not a competitive sport as Paul makes clear in Philippians (writing about the same topic – the Law):

…circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. (Philippians 3.5 – 9, ESV)

I’m sharing lessons learned from the memorial service of my long-time friend and mentor Skip Gray.

Philip Louis “Skip” Gray, October 18, 1930 – November 13, 2021

Yesterday, I reported some of the one-liners that the speakers shared.

Jerry White, former International President of The Navigators, who was mentored by Skip, gave us some of Skip’s history. Here are a few snippets:

Skip was one of the founding fathers of the modern-day Navigators: 1956 onward…He embodied one-on-one discipleship, investing in people for their good…He gave 68 years of service to The Navigators:

• He helped with fund-raising to buy Glen Eyrie back in 1953
• He was on loan to Campus Crusade for Christ (now called CRU) and Youth for Christ.
• He served at every leadership level we have: area director, regional director, US/Canada Director, Glen Eyrie Director – I think he served in every capacity except for the print shop and the kitchen!
• He loved field ministry spearheading ministries in Dallas, Pasadena, and Costa Rica [Skip remained fluent in Spanish. Less than 10 years ago, I took him to preach in a Spanish-speaking church I was working with.]
• In 1988 he started a ministry to medical doctors, which continued until his passing. [Many of those doctors were at the memorial.]

One of those medical doctors shared that Skip’s goal was for them to survive medicine with their family intact. Skip encouraged them, “Tell your wife, ‘I love you,’ every day.” The doctor said that Skip’s four convictions that he continued to impress on them were:

• The sovereignty of God
• The inerrancy and authority of scripture
• The worth of the individual
• Grace and the atoning work of Christ

In addition to all the good words, two aspects of the service were especially meaningful to me. Skip and Buzzie had three children (“We didn’t have four because I read that every fourth child born in the world is Chinese.”) Ken Gray was the oldest, and June and I remember seeing him at our earliest Navigator conferences in the late 60s. Ken might have been 14 at the time. Ken lives in our area and attends church with a good friend and long-time disciple Barry Weber. So I’ve seen Ken several times over the last few years. Ken also has very serious cancer.

Ken’s son Philip (named for Skip) was the first to read scripture. Notice in this picture how much he looks and even preaches like Skip! (And he wasn’t even preaching – he was just reading scripture.)

I was very moved to see Ken there. From a recent health update, I wasn’t sure he’d live until the memorial service or if he hadn’t passed, he’d be too weak to attend. I had prayed that God would heal him or at least allow him to be there. And he was.

Ken started by explaining, “One year ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. They gave me six months. So I’m six months past my expiration date!” He also explained that in addition to cancer, he had two ruptured Achilles tendons. That’s why Philip is standing there with him and why Ken is holding on to the microphone stand.

Ken said he went to many memorial services with his dad where Skip would say (quoting Yogi Berra), “You should always go to other people’s funerals; else, they won’t come to yours.”

I think it was Ken who mentioned Skip’s living out 2 Timothy 3.10:

But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose… (NKJV)

Skip didn’t impart doctrine (teaching) only, but lifestyle and purpose. He impacted thousands, including June and me.

Jerry White closed his remembrances with Hebrews 13.7:

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. (ESV)

Thanks for going on this journey with me. There are lessons to be learned at memorial services!

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7.2, ESV)

I wanted to pass on a few highlights of Skip Gray‘s memorial service from Sunday, March 20, at the Great Hall in The Navigators’ Glen Eyrie Castle. You can watch the service in its entirety, and if you have 90 minutes, I recommend you do so. You will enter into the heart of a man who was wholly dedicated to God and to investing in people – one-to-one discipleship, a hallmark of Navigator ministry. I’ve already shared the outline of the sermon.

Skip was master of the one-liner, and most speakers referred to that trait. About using one-liners, Skip said, “People remember one-liners better than they remember long-liners…A sermon does not have to be eternal to be immortal.”

Here are some of the one-liners folks shared during the sermon:

• John 12.24: as a follower of Jesus, I have no rights.
• Jesus lived life at 3 mph: he walked wherever he went
• Bitterness is a pill you take and hope the other guy dies
• Jesus said, “Take up your cross daily:” that’s almost every day!
• You can spend your life or invest your life
• Loners don’t make it
• Life is like a baggage carousel; your name is not on every suitcase
• You teach what you know; you reproduce what you are
• The crucifixion: Pilate relased a guilty man and condemned an innocent one. Later, God did the exact same thing. Pilate did it to save his own skin. God did it because he loved the world.
• There were four women in Matthew’s genealogy: three were Gentiles with bad moral reputations. Matthew passed over the likes of Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel to communicate that God cares about the weak, the abused, the marginalized, and the sinful.
• When Jesus’ heart stopped, I was delivered from the penalty of sin. When Jesus’ heart started again, I was delivered from the power of sin. When my heart stops, I will be delivered from the presence of sin.
• Pharisees prayed, “I thank God that I am not a woman, a Gentile, or a slave.” The first converts in Europe [see Acts 16] were a woman (Lydia), a Gentile (the jailer and his household), and a slave (the fortune-telling woman).
• Perspective: Goliath could dunk flat-footed. Saul said, “He’s so big, he’ll kill us.” David said, “He’s so big, I can’t miss!”

In keeping with Skip’s philosophy of “less is more,” I’m going to stop here. I think that’s enough to meditate on: choose one! More memorial service highlights tomorrow.

¹  The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
²  To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,
³  to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴  to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—
⁵  Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,
⁶  to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. (Proverbs 1.1 – 6, ESV)

We left off yesterday with the simple introduction to Hebrews 13. “Let brotherly love continue.” Some of us like to wrestle with the complex stuff in part because we’ve learned that as long as we’re debating scripture, we’re not actually putting it into practice. But Hebrews ends with the same sort of practical instruction that occurs in much of the New Testament. Here’s how it starts:

• Let brotherly love continue.
• Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
• Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.
• Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
• Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
• Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. (Hebrews 13.1 – 5, 7, ESV, bulleted for clarity)

Just basic, practical stuff: love, be hospitable, visit the prisoners (see Matthew 25.35, 36), be faithful in marriage, be content – not covetous, and remember your leaders.

By the way, “remember your leaders” for what? Their way of life and their faith. If I’m a leader, then how I live is more important than what I say. More about that tomorrow, perhaps with a tie-in to the Skip Gray memorial service.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4.1 – 3, ESV)

The writer of Hebrews has tried to make clear early and often that Jesus came to deliver us from religious systems. In chapters 5 – 9, for example, he compares Jesus to Melchizedek and contrasts the Melchizedek priesthood with the Levitical priesthood. The Old Testament priests served in buildings by administering rituals. Melchizedek met Abram outside with no ritual other than serving him “bread and wine,” apparently without fanfare.

It seems that he takes a last run at it in Hebrews 12 beginning with verse 18. He contrasts a physical experience of “thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast” (see Exodus 19) with a spiritual one:

But you have come 

• to Mount Zion and 
• to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and 
• to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and 
• to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and 
• to God, the judge of all, and 
• to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and 
• to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and 
• to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12.22 – 24, ESV, bulleted for clarity)

What is this list? Why is it being contrasted with Exodus 19? It’s spiritual as contrasted with physical. We might be drawn to the spectacular demonstrations of Exodus 19. (The Israelites weren’t drawn; they were terrified!) But God says it’s the spiritual manifestation of God’s Kingdom that counts.

In the middle of this, I’m trying to understand verses 26 – 27. The Message helped me:

At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The phrase “one last shaking” means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk… (Hebrews 12.26, ESV, and 27, MSG)

What’s God shaking and why? He’s performing a “thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk…” My friend Hanh, a Jesuit, calls it “scaffolding.” One needs scaffolding to build a house, but after it’s built, the scaffolding is removed. In religious circles, we love our scaffolding! In most cases, I like MY scaffolding, but I’m not so sure about YOUR scaffolding! 

A friend of mine, a Lutheran, said to me years ago, “Bob, it’s trappings. We all have trappings.” He’s right, Hanh is right, and the author of Hebrews is clear. The trappings and the scaffolding and the historical and religious junk have to go. 

And what’s left?

…the unshakable essentials [standing] clear and uncluttered. Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire! (Hebrews 12.27 – 29, MSG)

I don’t know all that that means nor even what this housecleaning might look like, but Hebrews 13 contains the “so what?” After 12 chapters, essentially, of theology – the theology of Jesus is better than angels, than Moses, than the law, than the priesthood – and we need to quit focusing on the trappings and do what? Live life! More about that tomorrow.

Let brotherly love continue. (Hebrews 13.1, ESV)

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2.19 – 22, ESV)

A couple of weeks ago, June and I were having lunch with two widow friends, one of whom just lost her husband in January. The new widow, a strong, lifelong believer, asked where we thought her husband was “right now.” Some sort of limbo, “soul sleep,” or can we say he’s consciously in God’s presence in heaven now?

I’ll have to admit that I haven’t studied this in detail although I did read Randy Alcorn’s excellent 800-page book Heaven, which I strongly recommend. I don’t remember Randy’s exact answer to that question, but I lean toward consciousness and enjoying the presence of God and those who have gone before:

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. (Philippians 1.21 – 23, ESV)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses… (Hebrews 12.1, ESV, following the “Faith Hall of Fame” chapter)

This position was bolstered at last Sunday’s memorial service for my friend and long-time Navigator hero, Skip Gray, who passed last November at the age of 91. I may share some things from that service over the next few days, but let’s start with the sermon, preached by a pastor I didn’t know, Ron Rushing. He says he actually got the outline from Skip when Ron was getting ready to preach a funeral a few years ago. Here’s the message:

• I know where Skip is – with Jesus in heaven
• I know how he got there – by following Jesus as THE way
• I know I will see him again.

[Jesus said, ] “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14.6, ESV)

I think this will be the last of this little series relating to Russia. We’ve looked at Truth, Courage, and now, with a stronger biblical emphasis, Faith. Our readings last week ended with Hebrews 11, which you may remember is the “Faith Hall of Fame” chapter. You might want to read it in its entirety.

I’m going to skip over the first part, which defines faith nicely in verses 1 and 6, and mentions a number of famous Bible characters and their ACTS of faith. We know from James 2 that faith is defined by action, not just by a set of beliefs.

• Abel
• Enoch
• Noah
• Abraham
• Sarah
• Isaac
• Jacob
• Joseph
• Moses
• (Joshua – not named) – Walls of Jericho fell down
• Rahab

I want to look at the hard section of Hebrews 11, verses 32 – 38, bulleted for clarity:

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith 

• conquered kingdoms, 
• enforced justice, 
• obtained promises, 
• stopped the mouths of lions, 
• quenched the power of fire, 
• escaped the edge of the sword, 
• were made strong out of weakness, 
• became mighty in war, 
• put foreign armies to flight. 
• Women received back their dead by resurrection. 

—And there is a big break, right in the middle of verse 35— 

Others 

• were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 
• suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 
• were stoned, 
• were sawn in two, 
• were killed with the sword
• went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

I’m praying that Ukraine is on the top half of verses 32 – 38! “…quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”

But there are some already experiencing the bottom half. If there’s any faith in this war, it’s in Ukraine. There are believers there:

Even now, there are Christians in Ukraine living this out: packing churches and singing hymns in a metro station. Volunteers who hosted “Night to Shine” events with the Tim Tebow Foundation are now evacuating special needs families with their own trucks and gas. Indeed, there is life everywhere. In Christ, there is Life, abundant life, even in the darkest moments. – Breakpoint, March 18, 2022

Hebrews 11.32 – 38 is clear: there are no guarantees in this life. Sometimes the good guys lose. But the word is clear:

You need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion. (Hebrews 10.36, MSG)

I wrote yesterday about the importance of truth and suggested that one of the ongoing issues of our day is the Russian government continuing to lie to the Russian people. I just finished a novel, A Train to Moscow, set in the Soviet Union from just after World War II (in Russia, the Great Patriotic War) through the late 60s. The protagonist, a young girl who becomes an actress can’t figure out the discrepancies between what her grandfather hears on the daily radio news and real life. If we’re harvesting record crops, why is none of it in our city? Here is a particularly poignant section:

In the summer of 1959, her first summer in Moscow when she was admitted to study at the drama school, a miniature America sprouted up in Sokolniki Park outside the city, the American National Exhibition that Sveta and Sasha waited three hours to enter. They had already read what Khrushchev said to the US president three weeks earlier, when the Expo opened. In another seven years we will be on the same level as America. When we pass you along the way, we’ll wave to you. With the rest of the curious crowd, they gawked at the world they were promised in only seven years: cars laden with chrome, cameras that dispensed instant pictures, films that were not banned, stainless steel refrigerators, robot vacuums, and a machine that washed your dirty dishes in less than thirty minutes… they stopped in each of the four model kitchens to watch a baking demonstration and then, when the American women in aprons, whether by accident or by design, turned their backs on their plates of finished little cakes called brownies, they grabbed as many as they could, like everyone else around them, and, their hands sticky with chocolate and sugar, raced to the next exhibit.

…When we pass you along the way, we’ll wave to you. Well, two years have passed since we were supposed to overtake America, and she hasn’t seen one dishwasher or a single brownie. – Elena Gorokhova. A Train to Moscow: A Novel (p. 288, 289). Lake Union Publishing. Kindle Edition.

This world of lies still exists, and Monday, March 14, someone decided to do something about it.

A television producer at the Kremlin’s flagship network Channel One, Ms. Ovsyannikova at first thought she would join antiwar demonstrations on the streets of Moscow. Her son, fearing she would be arrested, hid her car keys.

Then she settled on a more audacious plan. As the evening news broadcast was starting on Monday, Ms. Ovsyannikova got up from her desk. Flashing her ID badge she passed through two security checkpoints and breezed past a final guard at the studio door.

Bursting into view behind the show’s anchor, she shouted, “Stop the war, no to war.” Before the camera cut away, she flashed a poster, before millions of viewers. It read: “No war. Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. They lie to you here. Russians against war.” – Wall Street Journal, March 15, 2022

Courage. There’s no other word for it. Courage to stand for truth. My friend, the Russian-born mathematician Dr. Alexander Soifer, said something like “Don’t judge people by their passports. She is an example of a courageous Russian standing for truth.”

It’s not likely that the brave lady is a Christian believer, but God bless her! And God bless the courageous people of Ukraine who are standing up to Russian aggression. More about that from Hebrews 11 tomorrow.

Who through faith…quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. (Hebrews 11.33, 34, ESV)