I’m reading John 18, which contains the proof text for The Truth Project:

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18.37, ESV)

The Truth Project is certainly a good series, but I’m not sure I’d choose John 18.37 as THE single reason Jesus came. There are several verses that speak to Jesus’ purpose:

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19.10, ESV)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 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 3.16, 17, ESV)

…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3.8, ESV)

Why did he come?

• To seek and save the lost
• To save the world
• To destroy the works of the devil

All of which he did through the cross. But BEFORE the cross, we have this provocative statement:

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do…I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. (John 17. 4, 6, ESV)

What work did Jesus accomplish before the cross? Investing in men who would tell people about it!

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1.8, ESV)

For the law was given through Moses; grace AND truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1.17, ESV, emphasis mine)

Here is yesterday’s mantra:

Walk with God, invest in people, and help them do the same

And investing in people doesn’t mean only trying to help believers be more effective disciples. We invest in people before they become believers. In today’s climate, that may involve more than just sharing some true but “canned” gospel presentation. The problem is that we are “post-Christian” in America (and Europe). Or as some say, “Christendom is dead.” Not “Christianity is dead,” but a culture built to support churches and church attendance, such as the one in the South when I grew up in the 50s and 60s, is dead.

No one articulates that principle better than the late Tim Keller in this article written shortly before his death: Lemonade on the Porch (Part 1): The Gospel in a Post-Christendom Society. Even if some of us know that things are different now, we don’t always grasp the implication. These paragraphs capture it:

The U.S. had no national state church (though some states did) yet there were powerful social expectations that a “real American” went to “the church of their choice.” 

That meant two things at least. First, it meant that most people felt “attending church is a good thing” and therefore it was not that hard to get them in the door, especially for holy days (Christmas and Easter) or for major life transitions (weddings, funerals, baptisms). Second, when they did attend, preachers could assume that nearly all the visitors had four fundamental beliefs: 1) there is a personal God who created us and who judges us, 2) there is some kind of objective moral standard by which we are judged, 3) no one lives up to that standard perfectly and so we need forgiveness, 4) there is an afterlife, a heaven and hell. If you think for a moment of these beliefs as “dots,” then evangelism for centuries in the West has consisted of simply connecting the dots. Ordinarily this was done by increasing listeners’ sense of guilt and presenting Christ as a solution. Here’s how that may happen:

“You want to be sure you’d go to heaven when you die, right (dot #4)? And you know that will only happen if you live a good life, right (dot #2)? But I can show you that you are not good enough, that you do not live up to the moral standards, and you know in your heart that you don’t, right (dot #3)? Well, God (dot #1) sent his Son Jesus to die in our place and take the punishment we deserve so we can be forgiven and given eternal life as a free gift. Then you can be sure you are right with him. And here are the Bible passages that support this message of salvation I am giving you.”

This is how evangelism has been done in the West and in the U.S. for centuries and, with regard to its basic theological content, this message is perfectly true and accurate. But how does it fall upon the ears of someone who never lived in the forecourt—who lacks any of the “dots?” – Tim Keller

Paul certainly presented the gospel differently to Jews, who had a background in what we call the Old Testament, and pagans. We need to do the same.

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. (1 Corinthians 9.19 – 22, ESV)

So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, TO THE GOD NOBODY KNOWS. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with… (Acts 17.22, 23, MSG)

Yesterday we reminded ourselves from John 17 that Jesus has left us “in the world.” Clearly, we are to be “in the world but not of the world” (John 17.16 – 18), but what are we to be doing?

I was writing a short note to a couple who have been involved in a disciple-making ministry, going back to when June spent time with the wife when she was in high school! I wanted to close the note with something pithy and encouraging, and before I knew it, this sentence came out:

Walk with God, invest in people, and we’ll do the same!

I said to myself, “That describes our life and ministry as well as anything, especially if I modify it to include the generational piece:

Walk with God, invest in people, and help them to do the same.

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 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 2.1, 2, NIV)

For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel. (Ezra 7.10, NAS)

I was reading Jesus’ extraordinary prayer in John 17 the other day and was struck by a recurring theme:

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world…I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours…I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one…I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them…I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world…My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. (John 17.6 – 18, NIV)

It’s about “the world.” After all, “God so loved the world…” (John 3.16)

• The disciples came from the world.
• Jesus came to the world but is leaving soon.
• The disciples are “still in the world” and need the Father’s protection.
• The world hates Jesus’ followers.
• But Jesus is leaving his followers in the world.
• The disciples are to be “in the world but not of the world.”
• Jesus is sending the disciples “into the world.”

Jesus’ plan for the twelve and, by extension, us, is not that we withdraw from the world but that we stay in the world, on a mission to the world. Doing what? Stay tuned.

In the meantime, we have Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount:

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5.13 – 16, ESV)

I probably shouldn’t post this because I really don’t like to be critical, but a few days ago a brief news report juxtaposed with my reading from John 15 got my attention.

A particular denomination wrapped up its annual (or something) meeting by clarifying positions on a few eschatological issues. (Eschatology is the study of “last things” like the Second Coming.) There are a lot of variations of such teaching revolving around the timing and nature of certain events. I don’t want to get into the details of this group’s positions: they are widely but not universally held. That is, there are plenty of Bible-believing, Jesus-loving people who would have different positions.

That’s why some verses from John 15 caught my eye:

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15.8, LSB)

“Bear much fruit” and so prove to be my disciples. Not “have all your doctrinal positions accurately defined.”

Here are some more…

¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love…¹²  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you…¹⁴  You are my friends if you do what I command…¹⁶  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷  This is my command: Love each other. (John 15.10 – 17, NIV)

There are a lot of things more important than how we define our eschatology.

• Obedience, verses 10, 14
• Loving each other (even those who might not share your particulars on escatology!), verses 12, 17
• Bearing fruit, verse 16 (and 8 quoted earlier)

As a well-known pastor said once, “A focus on end times is a distraction.”

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1.6 – 8, NIV)

A few days ago, the blog Bird-Brain? asked why, instead of “normal” progression from infant -> children -> young adults -> parents…

…in many churches the pastor looks out and sees a sanctuary full of baby birds, beaks open, saying, “Feed me! Feed me!” and both the pastor and the people like it like that?

Blog reader Laura McGlothlin’s answer was:

Hmmm, great question!
Because making disciples takes lots of time, hard work, and patience? Maybe it’s easier just to nurse them along!

Good answer. Maybe it’s an example of the Shirky Principle, which I just discovered the other day. What’s the Shirky Principle, you ask? Here’s an explanation by Sahil Bloom:

The Shirky Principle, named after writer Clay Shirky, states, “Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.”

In simple terms, companies (or people) have a tendency to avoid fully eliminating the problem that they sell a solution for, lest they become obsolete.…Potential examples of the Shirky Principle in action:

• Pharmaceutical companies see more money in treating lifelong illness than in curing it.

…

• Personal trainers make more money from clients remaining slightly unfit than from clients who become fit and no longer need their services.

And maybe we can add something like:

• Some pastors would rather their members stay untrained so the pastors can be the permanent authority figure.

This attitude, of course, is in direct violation of 2 Timothy 2.2 in which there are no permanent learners. Learners progress to become teachers:

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. (NIV)

Speaking of Vision and Execution with respect to Mount Rushmore, I’m looking back on my Blog Log (yes, I have a list of all blogs!), and I’m shocked I didn’t write about the Hoover Dam that we visited when we were in Las Vegas last February. Built from 1931 – 1936 while Mount Rushmore was being carved (1927 – 1941), the Hoover Dam project is an incredible feat of engineering, persistence, and plain hard work:

Such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned the dam over to the federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule. [“Six Companies” was the creative(!) name of the consortium that built the dam] – Wikipedia

The workforce consisted of 3,000 – 5,000 men, and we were told they had two days off per year, Christmas and the 4th of July. It was during the Depression, so men needed the work. Read the whole article. The technical details are astounding from temporarily rerouting the Colorado River, to pouring the concrete incrementally and figuring out how to cool it. It goes on and on. It was a massive project.

A total of 3,250,000 cubic yards of concrete was used in the dam before concrete pouring ceased on May 29, 1935. In addition, 1,110,000 cu yd were used in the power plant and other works. More than 582 miles of cooling pipes were placed within the concrete. Overall, there is enough concrete in the dam to pave a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York.

The dam is worth a visit if you’re in the area, about an hour’s drive from Las Vegas.

I admire what can be done with a “can-do” spirit and men who are willing to work as part of a team. Today, with all our advanced technology, we probably couldn’t find the workers nor could we jump through all the legal and bureaucratic hoops to do such a thing. Seems a shame.

The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” (Genesis 11.6, NIV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1.8, NIV) – And they were Jesus’ witnesses to the ends of the earth…without radio, television, Internet, air travel, all the things we have at our disposal!

I began yesterday’s blog thinking I would tell you about two urgent prayer needs, but I wanted to go in-depth on both, ergo: two blogs!

Our pastor, Dr. David Jordan-Irwin, who answers to “Pastor Dave” is a wonderful pastor – not because he’s a fantastic speaker, but because he has a fantastic heart. I wrote about this before. Please take time to read, especially my conclusion to a vignette of his ministry:

There was a time I would have assessed the quality of a sermon by the depth of Biblical insight, clarity of the outline, and effectiveness of the delivery. No more. How about the ability of the pastor to actually apply the scripture to a real-life situation, showing by example how to love others and live out the gospel? 

Pastor Dave is sick. His wife, Becca, also a pastor, was diagnosed with breast cancer a year or two ago. She has come through just fine. In the meantime, Dave has ignored or pressed through pain that he had…until he couldn’t. Here’s a portion of a note he wrote to me after asking me to preach on September 3:

Bob, for Becca and me, this is definitely a season like no other…not sure if you heard the encouraging news from our time with the Pancreatic Clinic. The team thinks I may have two different cancers which if true may mean…that the pancreatic cancer hasn’t metastasized (the other in the Colon). (I can’t tell how often I’ve heard, “Medicine is not an exact science.”)   This is why I now qualify for surgery which is scheduled for next Thursday (August 3rd). I was preparing myself for Chemo treatment, now I’m preparing for surgery (removal of the tail of the pancreas, spleen, and 1/3 of the Colon – this will then be followed with chemo treatments). Appreciate your prayers (both yours and June’s) as always!

Well, the surgery on August 3, serious as it was projected to be, didn’t go like that. They opened him up, took one look, and closed him up again. The cancer was everywhere. They’re talking about chemo now, and I haven’t had an update since.

Pastor Dave and his wife, Becca

It’s going to be a rough go. Please join me in praying for a miracle. Dave is one of the good guys. We’d like him to stick around a little longer. It’s what Paul wanted, not for himself, but for the Philippians:

I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 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. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. (Philippians 1.19 – 26, ESV)

I don’t normally devote space in this blog for prayer requests, especially for people I know and you don’t, but it seems that death or the threat of it is all around.

I’ve written before about my long-time Navigator friend Mike Schmid, first-class guy who’s been battling cancer for several years now. Here’s the blog I wrote July 5, 2021. Of late, he’s been doing better until this update that came in yesterday. As always, it’s positive in tone in the midst of what he calls “the storm.”

Since my last update we have had some smooth sailing, improved health and expanding ministry. Then suddenly we were hit by a “furious squall” and our little boat is being swamped.  Please join us in calling out to Jesus for us like you have so many times in the past. 

Recently Lorelei has had a procedure to ease her endless sacroiliac pain and the injections have helped but she is still having some pain.  Then in early July skin cancer was discovered and she had MOHS surgery and will have another procedure in mid-August to remove more cancer.  It was a chance for me to care for her as she has so tenderly cared for me through my long cancer journey.

Then, last week I had an MRI and it was discovered that cancer has spread to my brain.  The tumor is deep, so surgery is not a good option.  On Monday, 14 August I see a radiation oncologist to assess my next plan of treatment.  

When caught in life’s terrible storms we can quickly go to Jesus who alone can bring the rescue we need in the midst of raging seas.  Now in our storm, as the first disciples on the stormy sea of Galilee, please go to Jesus with us.  Please tell Him of this tempest and listen with us for Him to again say, “Quiet! Be still!” (Mark 4:39)

We are so thankful for God’s unending grace and God’s love shown to us through you.  Your words of encouragement, gifts and faithful investment in our continuing ministry are touches of Father’s love.

We are thankful too for you who pray for, encourage and help us continue in ministry with all the strength God so powerfully gives us.

Please join us in prayer for Mike and Lorelei. I have another urgent request about another of my heroes. Stay tuned.

Some of God’s best people have gone through tough times. Here’s what Paul said:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4.7 – 18, ESV, emphasis mine)

Yesterday we looked at Mount Rushmore, a finished project (at least it was declared to be finished when the four presidential heads were done). Near Mount Rushmore is the Crazy Horse Memorial, a monumental statue, which is planned to be 641 long and 563 feet high and look like this.

A model of the Crazy Horse Memorial

It is not finished. In fact, very little of it has been completed. Started in 1948, the head of Crazy Horse wasn’t completed until 1998, 50 years later.

Here’s how it looks today. The face (97 feet high) and outstretched arm (over 220 feet long) are done.

I have mixed feelings. I admire a gigantic goal, but it seems that on some level it ought to be doable. On the other hand, just because it’s not finished now, doesn’t mean it will never be finished. For example, St Peter’s Basilica in Rome was built between 1506 and 1626, 120 years.

Speaking of 120 years, some people believe that the 120 years referred to in Genesis 6.3 is the time it took Noah and his sons to build the ark.

Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” (ESV)

Like the Crazy Horse Memorial, Noah’s Ark was a family project with no outside funding and took a VERY long time.

Global rebellion calls for global response. God tells Noah that he is going to destroy everything on earth. Then he gives Noah the blueprints for a massive building project that will call on every known feat of human engineering and technology to build an ocean-worthy ship. Within a society that used only small boats to navigate rivers, the ark defied all existing categories of engineering. By sheer size, it exceeded all practical use. And by sheer necessity, it forced Noah to begin blazing new paths in engineering and technology in a building project that would require over a century to complete. – Tony Reinke, God, Technology, and the Christian Life, pages 33 – 34.

And like Noah’s building project, the folks working on the Crazy Horse Memorial are using the time to educate people on Native American issues and culture.

…God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. (1 Peter 3.20, ESV)

…he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. (2 Peter 2.5, ESV, emphasis mine)