It’s Advent Season already, not a minute too soon. I could use a dose of hope, right now. On a personal note, our pastor is being treated for stage 4 pancreatic cancer. We have the prospect of a presidential election where virtually no one wants either candidate. We have ongoing wars in Ukraine and Israel.

These things are not taking God by surprise, and Advent reminds us that Jesus entered into our pain, coming into a world that was pretty messed up then, too.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (Psalm 42.11, ESV)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29.11, ESV)

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3.21 – 24, ESV)

Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope. (Matthew 12.18 – 21, ESV)

I wrote yesterday about our need for an outward focus, and no one expresses it better than a former International President of The Navigators, Mike Treneer. Mike was supposed to speak at the staff conference we just attended, but his wife slipped on ice and broke her hip and femur. His short talk, aimed at Navigators but applicable to everyone, was entitled “Our Call to the Nations.” You can read it in its entirety, but here are some snippets:

He talks about a conference he attended in his native England back in 1967:

I heard veteran Navigator missionary Doug Sparks speak on Matthew 28:18-20—Jesus saying to his first followers: ” . . . All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,…”

Doug, himself, had dropped out of college to go to Formosa (which we now call Taiwan) after hearing Dawson Trotman [founder of The Navigators] speak. Dawson challenged him to go and help lay the foundations of a gospel movement in Formosa in which thousands came to Christ. Then, a few years later in 1956, Doug had gone on to lead the team that pioneered the Navigator ministry in Kenya…

Doug spoke with passion, challenging us as young people to give our lives to the greatest of all life adventures—to multiply disciples of Jesus in every nation of the world. He cast a vision based on his own life experience of seeing lives transformed and spiritual generations birthed. He imagined for us what it would be like to grow old, never having dared to give our lives to something truly significant—to be waiting sadly for death, knowing we had wasted our lives. 

Then Doug pointed out to us in Isaiah 6 the prophet Isaiah’s experience of seeing a vision of God in the temple and overhearing God (within the Trinity) ask, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” (NIV). Doug made the observation that God’s question still stands for every generation to answer, and he invited us there, in that meeting room in Swanwick, Derbyshire, to pray Isaiah’s prayer: “Here am I. Send me.”

Mike found himself discipling students from Nigeria and Kenya (while he was still a student). He continues:

These were the first few baby steps in my eventual calling to pioneer the Navigator work in Nigeria, and out from there into many nations in Africa and the world.

He talks about Navigator history:

Of the first six Navigators on the USS West Virginia, only Jim Downing stayed in the Navy to perpetuate what became the sending base of our movement. The other five all went out into the nations—Lester Spencer into rural North America, Gurney Harris to Africa, John Dedrick to Mexico, Ed Goodrick into academia (he ended up co-creating the concordance for the NIV Bible translation), Virgil Hook went to Tibet, and Jim, even though at that point he had only himself been a believer a few weeks, stayed to become the “inside man” on the West Virginia.

The Navigators are experiencing a bit of division among ourselves with respect to the roles of women in the ministry. Mike addresses this problem, putting it into perspective:

The Navigator movement to which Chris and I have given our lives, and within which God has called us to serve, has never been about arguing doctrinal differences…We are never all going to agree, and our movement has always been outward-looking, driven by the absolute imperative of going to the nations and of multiplying disciples among every people.

And the history of this movement does not begin with Dawson and those first few sailors. It begins way, way back with Abraham and Sarah. It begins with them receiving a promise from God that He would bless them and make them a blessing and that He would bless all nations through them….

How tragic, then, that several hundred years later, when Jesus stood in the temple courts in Jerusalem, among those who in that generation should have been the heirs of those promises to Abraham, Jesus had to say of them: “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers” (Mark 11:17 ESV).

The Jews of Jesus’ day had completely lost any sense of the responsibility to be a blessing to the nations in the way that God had promised in Genesis 12:1-3. They had become so preoccupied with their own petty, self-focused concerns that they were not just passively neglecting their calling to the nations—they were actively opposing it...

When I heard Doug Sparks speak at that conference, I was not worried whether he was a Methodist, a Baptist, or a Presbyterian, whether he was reformed or dispensational in his eschatology, or whether he was a complementarian or an egalitarian [with respect to the roles of women]. As I look back on my later relationship with Doug, I cannot recall ever discussing these things. I did discover, as I worked under his leadership in the years that followed, that he was passionate, not only about the nations, but also about the lordship of Christ and the authority of Scripture over every aspect of life. I also discovered that he was an early champion of women in the Navigator movement, that he encouraged and protected Joyce Turner in her ministry in London (through which my wife Chris was discipled), and I know that he encouraged and championed Esther Waruiru in her ministry in Kenya when others were questioning her contribution.

Mike closes with:

So, I appeal to you, my brothers and sisters, that we stay united and passionate about our Calling to the nations. That we make sure that everyone knows that as Navigators, we are about the gospel to the nations, about disciplemaking among the nations, about seeing workers for the Kingdom next door to everywhere.

It is easy, even for an organization completely dedicated to world missions, to get distracted. And it’s easy for us to focus only on our little corner of the world, as important as that is. But let’s remember that God’s focus is on the whole world, on ALL the nations.

The second International President of The Navigators said this to us at the National Staff Gathering, 2003:

Luke 24.46, 47 says, “He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’” Why did he say, “…beginning at Jerusalem”? Because that’s where they were! You certainly cannot reach the world starting from where you are not! -Lorne Sanney, to the quadrennial gathering of Navigator staff, via video, November 2003

I want to reach the world…starting from Monument, Colorado. Will you join me?

I don’t watch the show, so I’m not familiar with Rob LaZebnik, a writer and co-executive producer of “The Simpsons.” On November 25, 2023, The Wall Street Journal ran an essay he wrote: How to Avoid Being Boring at 60. I thought it was medium weird EXCEPT for his opening adventure, which I quote in its entirety:

Attended a megachurch.

Though I’m a skeptic about all organized religion, I went to a 2,000-person-strong service at one of America’s largest evangelical megachurches and, honestly, saw what the hype is all about. Young, very attractive singers in Bonobos pants and white sneakers launched into soaring rock songs on stage. The pastor was a charismatic woman who told us how, in the story of Joseph, his brothers decided not to kill him but to sell him into slavery. She said, “They thought, ‘We won’t be murderers, we’ll be human traffickers!’” Not John Mulaney-level comedy, but solid stuff for an evangelical church. The disappointing thing, though, was that the crowd just filed back to their cars after it all ended. I wanted to get inside the heads of these people who had such a different outlook on life.

I think Rob lives in California, but other than that, I have no idea which church he attended. The close of this story makes me sad:

The disappointing thing, though, was that the crowd just filed back to their cars after it all ended. I wanted to get inside the heads of these people who had such a different outlook on life.

Those folks missed an opportunity to interact in a positive way with someone outside the Kingdom, someone who was interested in what life might be like on the inside.

In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3.15, ESV)

It’s not just that church… How many of us “just file back to our cars” after a service or interact only with people we know? Ought we not to have our antenna up for visitors, some of whom may be bona fide “seekers”?

Rob was impressed with the church service, but he did not appear to be impressed with the people. There’s a lesson for church leaders, maybe. We spend a lot of time planning “the service” expecting that the quality of our music and our preaching will make a difference. And it might. But if we’re not building a community of people genuinely concerned about those outside the Kingdom, the effect is diminished.

Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul. (Psalm 142.4, ESV)

PS The article ends with “You can suggest items for his list at @rlazebnik on Threads.net.” I was going to write him a note, perhaps suggesting a book by Tim Keller like Prodigal God or The Reason for God. (I was thinking the late Tim Keller because a lot of artists and media people attended his church in New York City.) However, I’m not on Instagram, which using Threads.net requires. If one of you wants to read the entire article and write him a note, have at it.

Yesterday we looked at some suggestions from Deuteronomy 11 on how we might build a life around the Word by keeping it in front of us. Deuteronomy 13 tells us why a foundation on the Word is important:

If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, “Let us go after other gods,” which you have not known, “and let us serve them,” you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 13.1 – 3, ESV)

Let’s look at this carefully to see what’s going on and how it might apply to us today:

• “A prophet or dreamer of dreams” – we have them: charismatic people, some in pulpits, some in television (Someone like Oprah comes to mind.)
• “…sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass” – they are successful. Maybe they’ve built a large church or amassed a huge following.
• “…he says, ‘Let us go after other gods…'” – then there’s a false message. I just read the other day about the death of Carlton Pearson, a well-known (to some!) Pentecostal preacher, mentored by Oral Roberts. He woke up one day and decided that God told him there was no hell. More recently, Rob Bell did the same thing. Andy Stanley, for whom I have had great respect, seems to be moving away from Biblical teaching on sexual issues.

These things happen. Moses goes on to say it could be a family member or beloved friend who tries to lead you astray.

If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,”… (Deuteronomy 13.6, ESV)

Moses’ solution is to just stone them! We can’t do that, but we can and we must quit listening to them. And, as always, the standard is God’s Word, which we must know. Else how will we know when one of these charismatic people teaches it incorrectly?

You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams… (Deuteronomy 13.3, ESV)

…obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 13.18, ESV)

It’s an ongoing danger: Moses addressed it, and so did the Apostle Paul:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1.6 – 9, ESV)

Yesterday we noticed that Moses (and God!) expect full commitment and wholehearted obedience from everyone – not just leaders. In Deuteronomy 11 we get a couple of hints on how to pull that off:

You shall therefore

• place these words of mine on your heart and on your soul, and you shall
• bind them as a sign on your hand, …and phylacteries between your eyes. And you shall
• teach them to your sons, speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall
• write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth. (Deuteronomy 11.18 – 21, LSB, bulleted for clarity)

It’s simple: we have to keep the Word in front of us. Whatever it takes. Scripture memory comes to mind as a practical way to implement this instruction today. Plus talking about the Word around the house.

And Moses doesn’t mind repeating himself!

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6.6 – 9, ESV)

I was struck by two verses in Deuteronomy 10. Moses is continuing to recount his time on Mt Sinai (40 days and nights twice) and his receiving the 10 Commandments, written in stone by God (twice). (Deuteronomy 10.1 – 11) Moses is God’s man. Fully devoted to hearing from God and doing God’s work in the world. And what is the So what?

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good? (Deuteronomy 10.12 – 13, ESV)

What does the LORD require of YOU?

• Fear the LORD your God
• Walk in all his ways
• Love him
• Serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul
• Keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD

In other words, the expectations for the people of God are the same as for their leader!

If you’re a regular reader of The Ewellogy, you know I like to watch sports. When the Broncos or Clemson win, for example, “We win!” Uh, no. “We” don’t. I wasn’t out there. It requires no training or discipline to be a fan.

I think we are tempted to treat our walk with God the same way. We like to watch our heroes: the pastors, the missionaries. We can even support them by coming out to hear them preach or sending them money. We admire their dedication. But God calls us ALL to the same level of dedication. Christianity is not a spectator sport.

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9.23, ESV)

As we decry all the apparent negative directions our culture is taking (e.g., boorish behavior in Congress, in case you didn’t have enough on your “concerned” plate already), what’s our appropriate response?

We might get some insight from Moses’ address to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 9. There is plenty for Moses to be upset about:

Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you…And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had made yourselves a golden calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you….At Taberah also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath. And when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God and did not believe him or obey his voice. You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you. (Deuteronomy 9.7, 8, 16, 22 – 24, ESV)

All that evil. All that rebellion. All that unbelief. What did Moses do? He prayed.

So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the LORD bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time also. And the LORD was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. (Deuteronomy 9.17 – 20, ESV)

So I lay prostrate before the LORD for these forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said he would destroy you. And I prayed to the LORD, “O Lord GOD, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or their sin, lest the land from which you brought us say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’ For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.” (Deuteronomy 9.25 – 29, ESV)

Moses prayed. The same thing that Samuel did when the people rejected God and wanted a king:

And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.” (1 Samuel 12.20 – 23, ESV), emphasis mine)

According to Samuel and Moses’ example, the sin is ours if we’re not praying for our neighbors, our cities, our country, and our world. I speak to myself.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2.1 – 4, ESV, emphasis mine)

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9.36 – 38, ESV, emphasis mine)

Last week when we looked at Jesus’ sending out the twelve beginning with Matthew 9.36, one of the principles was that our mission will face challenges. It’s a hostile environment out there:

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (Matthew 10.16, ESV)

With that in mind, the opening to Deuteronomy 9 jumped out at me:

Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?” Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you. (Deuteronomy 9.1 – 3, ESV)

Remember the sons of Anak? I jokingly referred to them a few days ago in connection with my friend Rick Bereit, who is 6 feet 9 inches tall. But they were no joke to the Israelites. They were scared to death of them:

Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are…All the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” (Numbers 13.31 – 33, ESV)

But Moses is saying essentially, “Fret not.” It’s a good word for whatever difficulty we face. We learned a little chorus decades ago:

Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?
Got any mountains you can't tunnel through?
God specializes in things thought impossible.
He does the things others cannot do.

There’s more in Deuteronomy 9: an important lesson about prayer. Stay tuned.

I’ve written about my friend and Navigator colleague Mike Schmid before. He’s been fighting cancer four years now, but he’s still with us. I wrote yesterday about the importance of giving thanks, and Mike is one who does it, seemingly naturally and joyfully. Here’s his latest Caring Bridge update from November 15. I present it in its entirety without further comment.

In the six weeks since my last update the LORD has done so many “wonderful deeds” (Psa 9:1) for us.

Though this update has been delayed by all that has happened, we were immediately thankful for your prayers on our behalf and for the LORD’s intervening grace to us.

For our anniversary, Lorelei and I shared a severe case of Covid – both of us bedridden for days and though it took me 3 weeks to recover, I did not need to be hospitalized despite my obliterated immune system as a result of the continuing cancer treatments.  Though Covid delayed my treatment for a week, I was still able to receive the infusion.  The LORD has done wonderful deeds!

We were able to drive to TX for our Navigators National Military Muster – a gathering of all  Navstaff reaching the military that occurs only every four years.  I was not expected to live this long, yet the LORD allowed us to see our military Navstaff family once more – a delight.  The LORD has done wonderful deeds!

I was asked to present a keynote message to the conference and though I was not able to speak at all 3 years ago at this time, yet the LORD gave a special grace for me to share my heart with our Military mission family.  The LORD has done wonderful deeds!

We are launching a new men’s intensive discipleship group meeting at 5:30 AM on Mondays – so many wanted to join we had to turn some away.  The LORD has done wonderful deeds!

Just yesterday I completed infusion # 44 and three of the nurses gathered around asking to hear my experience of God’s healing touch through miracle and medicine.  The LORD has done wonderful deeds!

This Friday I have a PET scan to determine the status of the cancer in my body.  After Thanksgiving I have a brain MRI to determine the status of the cancer in my brain.  Thank you for your faithful, powerful prayer for me for so long …would you again pray for the LORD’s healing touch on me?

I will give thanks to You LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of Your wonderful deeds!” Psa 9:1

I said yesterday, we would look at the dangers of not having an attitude of gratitude. Deuteronomy 8, a continuation of Moses’ last words to the Israelites, is filled with warnings: DON’T FORGET!

Don’t forget…by not being obedient:

Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, (Deuteronomy 8.11, ESV)

As you live the good life, don’t forget it was God who gave it to you:

…when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery… (Deuteronomy 8.12 – 14, ESV)

Don’t forget by assuming you generated all your wealth rather than giving thanks to the one who did:

Beware lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.” You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. (Deuteronomy 8.17 – 18, ESV)

And the penalty for not being grateful, for forgetting God and not obeying him?

And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 8.19 – 20, ESV)

I know that theologically, we can’t conflate the US to Israel. However, there are undeniable parallels and opportunities to learn and apply principles. We have no reason to expect God’s continued blessing on us as a nation if we forget about him.

Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. (Hosea 4.1, 2, ESV)