My son Mark alerted me to this post from Atheists in Kenya Society, which, as nearly as I can tell, is a legit organization promoting atheism and humanism in Kenya. I offer this press release, dated May 30, 2021, with little comment:

This evening, regretfully, the Secretary of the Atheists In Kenya Society Mr. Seth Mahiga informed me that he has made the decision to resign from his position as Secretary of the society.

Seth’s reason for resigning is that he has found Jesus Christ and is no longer interested in promoting atheism in Kenya.

We wish Seth all the best in his new found relationship with Jesus Christ. We thank him for having served the society with dedication over the last one and half years.

The position of Secretary of the Society has been rendered vacant. We are calling upon Kenyan atheists who would wish to join our Executive Committee to send their CVs to info@atheistsinkenya.org.

I’ll be praying for Seth and for whatever influence he has with his former associates in the Atheists in Kenya Society. (FYI, I think Seth’s position has already been filled.)

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. – Apostle Paul (Galatians 1.13, 14, ESV)

I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” And I said, “Who are you, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” – Apostle Paul (Acts 26.9 – 15, ESV)

Every now and then someone captures nicely some of what we’re trying to do in our ministry. Diana Gruver (https://www.dianagruver.com/) wrote a piece called “How Many Hours of Your Week Are Dedicated to God” when she was working with Vere Institute, now closed. You can see her whole article here.

She opens with a memory from her high school days when the leader put everyone on a guilt trip by having them add up the number of hours “dedicated to God” as opposed to sleeping, work/school, etc. For her, less than 5 hours per week in church and personal devotions. Today she understands…

…this exercise, and the guilt it sparked in me, reflected a faulty understanding of life as a disciple of Jesus.

She goes on to say:

But I also find this memory to be sobering because I know there are still faithful Jesus-followers, sitting in church pews each week who are laden with guilt that they aren’t doing more “church things.” They feel guilty for not feeling the call to drop everything and move to a foreign country. They feel less-than for not being able to wake up at 4 a.m. to devote extra hours to prayer. They, to be frank, feel like a second-class Christian for not devoting more time to explicitly “spiritual” endeavors.

These brothers and sisters have no vision for how day-to-day life can be fully dedicated to the Lord. How spending time in conversation with a coworker might be just as God-honoring as time in a Bible study. How doing good work as a health care worker or teacher or parent might be just as valued in the Kingdom of God as attending that extra prayer meeting. They have no imagination to see how God wants to permeate, fill, and transform every part, place, and relationship within their everyday life. – Diana Gruver

I couldn’t agree more. Several years ago I hosted a seminar with Neil Hudson of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC). When Diana wrote this piece, Vere Institute was the U.S. affiliate of the LICC. One of Neil’s key concepts matches Diana’s article. Neil asks church leaders: “How are you using the (at most) 10 weekly hours that your members spend in organized church activities to prepare them for the 110 waking hours weekly that they are living their lives in the world?” (Neil’s book, Imagine Church, is available on Amazon. I strongly recommend.)

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,… (Ephesians 4.11, 12, NKJV)

A fellow Navigator staff member shared this diagram the other day, reminding us all what we’re about.

Moving around the circle clockwise from the 12:00 position, we are

• In the world, evangelizing with a goal of producing a convert – someone who begins to follow Jesus.
• We establish the convert in the basics as shown in the wheel illustration (Christ the center, obedience, the Word, prayer, fellowship, and witnessing) so that the convert is a disciple. I wrote about one way to define a disciple back in January 2020.
• We then equip the disciples so that they become laborers who can be sent into the world to repeat the process.

You don’t have to be Navigator staff to be involved in this process! The mission is for everyone.

But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 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.” (Matthew 9.36 – 38, NKJV)

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28.18 – 20, NKJV)

Sometimes one has to wonder where some church traditions come from. For example, when I was growing up in South Carolina, there were “white” churches and “black” churches, no member of one would visit another. Some were adamant that things were supposed to be like that. That the scriptures don’t support such a view is obvious from just a few observations, beginning with Jesus’ crucifixion:

As they came out of the city, they stopped an African man named Simon, a native of Libya. He was passing by, just coming in from the countryside with his two sons, Alexander and Rufus, and the soldiers forced him to carry the heavy crossbeam for Jesus. (Mark 15.21, TPT)

Rufus is mentioned in Romans 16.13, and if it’s the same guy, we’re talking about a black man in the church. Of course, one of the first targets of extra-Jewish evangelism was a black man from Ethiopia (Acts 8). And there was a black leader in the church at Antioch in Acts 13:

In the church at Antioch there were a number of prophets and teachers of the Word, including Barnabas, Simeon from Niger, Lucius the Libyan, Manean (the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas), and Saul. (Acts 13.1, TPT)

Actually two: Simeon from Niger and Lucius from Libya. So where did white supremacists get off all these years keeping the church segregated? The early church certainly wasn’t. It started with people from all over the world:

And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” (Acts 2.8 – 10, ESV)

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3.26 – 28, ESV)

Here’s one more quick observation from Mark’s gospel. You may have noticed in some translations that verses 9 – 20 of chapter 16 “don’t appear in the oldest manuscripts.” There’s considerable scholarly debate on the subject (and the fact that there’s debate, in my opinion, means that no one really knows whether it should be included or not).

One issue is the promise of miracle signs in verses 17 and 18:

And these miracle signs will accompany those who believe: They will drive out demons in the power of my name. They will speak in tongues. They will be supernaturally protected from snakes and from drinking anything poisonous. And they will lay hands on the sick and heal them.” (Mark 16.17, 18, TPT)

I like that one charismatic preacher who believes not only that the apostles and their followers exercised these powers but that people today could also do so said something like

It says, “The signs follow the believers,” NOT, “The believers follow the signs.” There are too many people who go from one meeting to another to watch someone else heal people. That’s believers following the signs! Why not trust God to work through you too? – I forgot who I heard say that!

But these verses on signs shouldn’t be a problem since every one of them was documented fulfilled in the book of Acts!

• They will drive out demons (See Acts 16.16 – 18)
• They will speak in tongues (See Acts 2.1 – 12)
• They will be supernaturally protected from snakes (See Acts 28.1 – 6)
• They will lay hands on the sick and heal them (See Acts 28:7 – 10 for one of many)

Do we believe in the power Paul prayed for in Ephesians 1 or not?

[That you may know…] what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead… (Ephesians 1.19, 20, ESV)

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)

We’re always challenged to pray, and if you’re like me, you sometimes wonder what we should be praying for. The Apostle Paul gives us some sterling examples, two in Ephesians. I offer the first one here without further comment except to format the text so we can clearly see what Paul is asking for in Ephesians 1.15 – 23:

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

• that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
• having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,
• that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,
• what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
• and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

I was finishing the Gospel of Mark the other day (still on my reading program!) and I noticed the obvious: Jesus set the pace for his new movement by dying.

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. (Mark 9.30 – 32, ESV)

Maybe I saw this obvious fact because I’ve been reading Rod Dreher’s book Live Not by Lies, in which he shows how selfless behavior by believers eventually overcame many totalitarian governments in Eastern Europe. Lenin, Mao, etc., all advanced their movements through violence. Not Jesus. He died (and rose again, of course) and left his followers to spread the movement…

And he said to them, “As you go into all the world, preach openly the wonderful news of the gospel to the entire human race! (Mark 16.15, TPT)

Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful. (Titus 3.14, NASB)

Sometimes it’s useful to remember that even mighty men make mistakes. There are no slouches among men who have made it to the Major Leagues in baseball, including rookie first baseman Will Craig of the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Thursday, May 27, by his own admission, Will “…lost my brain for a second.” Here’s the short version of what happened as reported by Associated Press and posted on ESPN:

With Willson Contreras on second base and two outs in the third inning, the Cubs’ Javier Baez hit a routine grounder to third baseman Erik Gonzalez. His throw to Craig at first was a little up the line, pulling Craig off the bag. All Craig had to do was tag Baez or touch first for the final out of the inning. Baez stopped running halfway up the first-base line to avoid Craig and backtracked toward home plate. Craig chased him. Meanwhile, Contreras rounded third and sprinted home. Craig attempted a flip to catcher Michael Perez, but Contreras slid under the tag while Baez took off for first. Pérez’s throw to first sailed past second baseman Adam Frazier attempting to cover the bag, allowing Baez to race to second.

You can read the whole story here, and see the play here.

This was not even a “rookie mistake.” If I were coaching little league, and one of my 10-year-olds had done that, I would have chewed him out. But that’s not what Will Craig’s manager, Derek Shelton, did. He said:

He made a mistake and that’s it. You don’t option a guy [to the minor leagues] because of the fact he made a mistake. We make mistakes in all realms of life. – Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1.9, ESV)

⁸  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹  He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
¹⁰  He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
¹²  as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
¹³  As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
¹⁴  For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103.8 – 14, ESV)

Yesterday, we reminded ourselves that David wasn’t alone in his battles – he was surrounded by “Mighty Men” as described in a section that begins…

These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he killed at one time. (2 Samuel 23.8, ESV)

The text goes on to give specific “what, how, results” descriptions of some of their exploits:

And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the LORD brought about a great victory that day… (2 Samuel 23.9, 10, ESV)

And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the LORD worked a great victory. (2 Samuel 23.11, 12)

Those were “the three” top mighty men. Then follows a list of “the thirty” mighty men. Only a few specifics are given for them, among them this account of Benaiah:

Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. (2 Samuel 23.20, 21, NIV, emphasis mine)

This was one tough dude! And he wasn’t tough enough to be among “the three” – just “the thirty.” But the one short sentence highlighted above inspired Mark Batterson to write: In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars. I recommend it.

One thing that struck me as I read this section (2 Samuel 23.8 – 39) is that most of these guys and their exploits appear only in this list, reminding us of what I wrote yesterday: God values warriors.

We should remember one other thing, something not explicitly stated in scripture, but it’s plain beginning with David’s encounter with Goliath as recorded in 1 Samuel 17:

David was the first mighty man!

And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17.32, ESV)

The other mighty men were just following David’s example of trusting God and taking action by faith.

…the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. (Daniel 11.32, ESV)

…the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. (Daniel 11.32, NKJV)

We follow a different Mighty Man!

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction…These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “…Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons…” (Matthew 10.1 – 8, ESV)

It’s fitting the day after Memorial Day and before we leave the story of David, which continues through 2 Samuel, we mention that God values warriors. How do we know? Because he devotes the end of 2 Samuel 21 and most of chapter 23 to listing warriors and their exploits. Today let’s look at chapter 21 which answers the age-old question: “Why did David choose five stones when he went to fight Goliath (1 Samuel 17)?” The answer, according to long-time Navigator Skip Gray, is simple:

Goliath had four brothers!

When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint.

• Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him…
• Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the sons of the giant.
• Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
• Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant. So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. (2 Samuel 21.15 – 22, NKJV, emphases mine)

Four giants, each killed by one man, identified by name!

I was teaching an adult Sunday School class once, and one of the attendees objected to some military reference that I made. I replied something like, “My brother, I don’t write this stuff. I just report it!” The Bible is full of stories of battles in the Old Testament and metaphors of battles in the New. God often is looking for people who will fight these battles.

And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”…And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17.26, 32, ESV)

And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” (Judges 6.12 – 14, NKJV)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6.10 – 13, ESV)

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5.4, 5, ESV)