School shootings shouldn’t be a regular occurrence, but they seem to be. In nearby Denver, two high school administrators were shot by a student they were patting down to see if he had a gun! You can’t make this stuff up. Then shortly after, we had a woman(!) killing three 9-year-olds and three administrators in a small Christian elementary school in Nashville. That one felt close to home for obvious reasons.

Christianity Today posted an article written by a victim of a school shooting: Taylor Schumann was injured in 2013 when a gunman opened fire at New River Community College in Virginia. She wrote this article in 2019 about “thoughts and prayers.” Here’s how it starts:

As a shooting survivor, I believe in action. At the same time, I believe in the power of prayer. I know firsthand what living through a shooting does to a mind and what a bullet does to a body, and I believe that my recovery and healing is a direct result of prayers that were prayed for me.

It is easy to feel powerless in the aftermath of a mass shooting. As we mourn the lives lost in El Paso, Dayton, and every other community where gun violence is an everyday reality, it can seem impossible to find the words to pray.

Being a survivor doesn’t mean I can singlehandedly solve the crisis of gun violence. What I can offer, though, is insight into some specific ways to pray for survivors as one part of our response to gun violence.

I recommend her article in its entirety. Here is her list of what to pray for:

• Pray for physical wounds, pain, and future treatments.
• Pray for their invisible wounds.
• Pray for wisdom for doctors, nurses, and all medical specialists they encounter.
• Pray for shielding from photos and information of the shooter.
• Pray against nightmares and for the ability to sleep and rest.
• Pray for financial provision for medical costs and other needs.
• Pray for guidance and support during the legal process.
• Pray they would have a strong support system for the long haul.
• Pray for support from other survivors.
• Pray against re-traumatization after other shootings.
• Keep praying.

To the last one she adds:

If I can convince you to do just one thing on this list, I hope it is this one. Keep praying. For many survivors, including myself, the day of the shooting is not the hardest day. The hardest day comes later, when you are confronted with your new reality in the aftermath. When the cards stop coming, when people stop asking how you are, and when the news cycle changes, you begin to feel forgotten and isolated. People praying for you months and years after the shooting is a significant way to show support. – Taylor Schumann, August 4, 2019

…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints… (Ephesians 6.18, ESV)

I’ve been going back and forth with myself on whether to write about the case recently argued before The Supreme Court: Can the Post Office Force a Christian to Deliver on Sunday? The linked editorial, published in the Wall Street Journal on April 17, 2023, covers the details and legal ramifications, not just for Christians, but for people of all religions. Naturally, I don’t want America’s historic commitment to freedom of religion eroded. (And that’s the position of many editorials I’ve read in Christian outlets such as World Magazine and Christianity Today.)

That said, I believe Christians have the right NOT to exercise all of their rights! I don’t want to criticize this particular brother who is a committed Sunday observer, who hired on with the Post Office before there were Amazon-mandated Sunday deliveries, and who even transferred to a Post Office 50 miles away to avoid Sunday deliveries. He seems to be a good man. People are comparing his stand with that of Chariots of Fire hero Eric Liddell. And we have Paul’s clear instruction:

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it…. (Romans 14.5, 6, NKJV)

In a perfect world, Amazon wouldn’t be pushing the Post Office to make Sunday deliveries.

But God has people in all kinds of arenas, many of which are 24/7 operations. No one asked me whether or not I wanted to work on Sunday when I manned a radar site in the Air Force. Hospitals need nurses, Christian or not, on Sundays, and I’m glad we have police and firefighters working on Sundays, protecting our lives and property.

For someone to refuse to work on Sunday requires someone else to work on Sunday, and I can’t imagine that in an organization like the Post Office that anyone wants to work on Sunday. So what is the loving thing for a Christian to do? Fight for all he’s worth to protect his “Sunday purity”? Or lovingly give up his rights so he can do his fair share?

And of all the issues to take a stand on (and we have many options today!), Sabbath keeping might be of lesser importance. Jesus was frequently accused of violating the Sabbath. For example,

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. (Mark 3.1 – 6, ESV)

Jesus equated NOT working (healing) on the Sabbath equivalent to doing harm.

We are blessed with rights in this country that people in other countries can only dream of. But having a right and exercising it are not the same thing. I’m just suggesting there are options.

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. (1 Corinthians 9.12, ESV)

My son Matt has always loved fishing (like his grandfather, not his father!). A few years ago, he arranged (and June paid for) a guided fly-fishing trip for all the Ewell men on the Red River in Arkansas. It was a wonderful time: I’ve never caught so many fish. 

Afterward, I recorded these observations comparing the guide’s approach to teaching fly-fishing and disciple-making:

• The guide’s purpose was not to catch fish. His purpose was to help me catch fish.
• He provided training. Not a lecture but a demonstration. IDEA: instruction, demonstration, experience, assessment. 
• He was not afraid to introduce technical terms: cast, mend, strip, but he also used learning devices, “Coca-Cola” for rhythm, for example.
• He expected me to be able to do what he taught, but he also was not upset by mistakes. He was always encouraging. He never put down.
• With respect to evangelism, we decided that we didn’t “miss” a fish, “the fish didn’t want to play.”
• Also with respect to evangelism, we have to go to where the fish are. They don’t come to us. 
• One more observation on evangelism, we have to speak the fish’s “language.” We have to provide bait that looks like food the fish likes. Not what we like.

There were a lot of things about fly fishing that I didn’t learn:

• How to drive the boat
• How to operate the remote-controlled trolling motor
• Where on the river the fish are, how the water depth affects what we do, etc.
• What kind of flies to use
• How to tie flies

In fact, he said, “There are a hundred lessons in fly-fishing; this is lesson 1.”

More observations:

• We didn’t talk about fly-fishing; we fly-fished. Teaching/learning was in the context of doing.
• The guide fishes by himself some days. He’s a practitioner, not just a guide. In order to be a good guide, he must also stay in practice.
• The disciple-maker helps people be disciples and make disciples themselves. The disciple-maker’s role is to help others succeed and “do ministry.” Not just do all the ministry themselves.
• The disciple-maker trains, but he trains in skills, not just technical knowledge. He teaches how to have time with God, how to make disciples. He doesn’t merely tell people what to do, he shows them how to do it:

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.” (Matthew 28.19, 20, NKJV, emphasis mine)

• The disciple-maker introduces enough Biblical language for the disciple to get started, but he doesn’t burden the disciple with a bunch of technical theology, a lot of which is outside the Bible and not necessary for real life.
• The disciple-maker develops easy-to-grasp tools to help disciples learn quickly (e.g., the wheel, the bridge, The Navigators’ 2:7 Series, etc.)

We could learn a lot from Greg, the fly-fishing guide!

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4.18, 19, NKJV)

I want to close this series with some thoughts on “the Bible.” We’ve already pointed out that prior to the early 300s, there was no “the Bible.” There were people proclaiming that Jesus had risen from the dead.

And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. (Acts 4.33, NKJV)

Given that we have a Bible today, does one have to believe all of it to become a Jesus-follower? Or, as a friend of mine puts it, “Have we made the Bible the fourth member of the Trinity?” Do you have to believe in Jesus AND the Bible?

People have written books on this sort of thing including John Lennox, whom I mentioned a few days ago. I highly recommend his book Seven Days that Divide the World, especially if you’re wondering if someone strongly committed to the authority of scripture can avoid getting caught up in debates about particulars of how, for example, God created the universe. Some would say that if you don’t believe in creation in six 24-hour days, you don’t believe the Bible, but John would argue otherwise.

As I wrote yesterday, Billy Graham chose to stake his faith on the authority of scripture, to “believe his beliefs and doubt his doubts.” The power of his ministry is unquestioned. On the other hand, I have worked with a lot of people over the years, trying to help them grow in their faith and help others do the same. I have found that those who approach the scripture with a skeptical or questioning attitude don’t do as well as those who choose to believe and submit.

I told my friend, “When you have figured out how to disciple someone without the Bible, let me know.” I have just not seen a lot of fruit from teaching that stems from a weak view of scripture. People have tried, for example, to extract the teachings of Jesus from accounts that include his miracles. Among these is the so-called Jefferson Bible by Thomas Jefferson:

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, commonly referred to as the Jefferson Bible, is one of two religious works constructed by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson compiled the manuscripts but never published them. The first, The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth, was completed in 1804, but no copies exist today. The second, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, was completed in 1820 by cutting and pasting with a razor and glue numerous sections from the New Testament as extractions of the doctrine of Jesus. Jefferson’s condensed composition excludes all miracles by Jesus and most mentions of the supernatural, including sections of the four gospels that contain the resurrection and most other miracles, and passages that portray Jesus as divine. – Wikipedia

I’m reading Matthew right now, and if you took out the miracles you wouldn’t have much left. The Sermon on the Mount does take up chapters 5 – 7, but many chapters are nothing but one miracle after another. (See, for example, Matthew 8 and 9.) I choose to believe the Bible even, as Billy Graham said, there are parts I find difficult to make sense of.

That said, our faith should not be in “the Bible” but in the God of the Bible who raised Jesus from the dead. Our “daily time with God,” which certainly should include Bible reading, should be fellowship with God. My friend and Navigator mentor Skip Gray used to say that some people fellowship with a habit – not with God.

But circling back around, those of you who know me and read this blog regularly know that I operate from the presumption that the Bible is true and ought to be believed and followed. That’s why I close each blog with at least one Bible passage.

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4.4, NKJV)

Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15.16, NKJV)

The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119.130, NKJV)

I wrote yesterday that the fact that people wrote about Jesus and his resurrection is compelling evidence that there was a resurrection since none of his followers expected him to come back to life. But there are some for whom that evidence is insufficient. Bart Ehrman comes to mind. Dr Ehrman is a very popular professor of New Testament at the University of North Carolina. A professor of NT who doesn’t believe the NT.

My friend Rob Webster knows Dr Ehrman from Rob’s time as a Campus Crusade representative at UNC. I asked Rob the other day, “Bart is a graduate of Wheaton! What happened to him?” Rob explained that when Bart was a grad student, a professor made a notation on one of his papers, “What if the Bible is just wrong here?” Bart had never considered the possibility that the Bible could be wrong, and he has devoted the rest of his life and career (so far) to proving just that.

Do you know the name Charles Templeton? How about Billy Graham? You may not have heard about Templeton, but in the late 1940s, he and Billy Graham were both traveling evangelists for Youth for Christ. Thousands came to faith under the preaching of both, and some said that Templeton was a better speaker than Graham. Here’s how his bio begins:

Charles Bradley Templeton (October 7, 1915 – June 7, 2001) was a Canadian media figure and a former Christian evangelist. Known in the 1940s and 1950s as a leading evangelist, he became an agnostic and later embraced atheism after struggling with doubt. – Wikipedia

What happened to him? Same as Bart Ehrman: he began to have doubts about the scripture. His friend Billy Graham began to experience the same doubts, but Billy went for a walk in the woods to figure out what to do. Unlike Bart and Charles, Billy came to a different conclusion as told by his grandson Will Graham:

One night at Forest Home, he walked out into the woods and set his Bible on a stump—more an altar than a pulpit—and he cried out: “O God! There are many things in this book I do not understand. There are many problems with it for which I have no solution. There are many seeming contradictions. There are some areas in it that do not seem to correlate with modern science. I can’t answer some of the philosophical and psychological questions Chuck and others are raising.”

And then, my grandfather fell to his knees and the Holy Spirit moved in him as he said, “Father, I am going to accept this as Thy Word—by faith! I’m going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word!” – The Tree Stump Prayer

Others, and maybe Billy himself, have condensed this commitment to:

I have beliefs and I have doubts. I have decided to believe my beliefs and doubt my doubts.

I have made the same commitment, and I renew it regularly. More tomorrow.

For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? (Romans 3.3, NKJV)

I mentioned the other day that I had read a book on creation by John Lennox. I read it because Andy Stanley mentioned it in his sermon series The Bible for Grownups. I recommend the series, the main point of which is that our faith is not in “the Bible” – there was no “the Bible” until the early 300s. Our faith is in Jesus, specifically in his resurrection:

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. (Acts 4.33, ESV)

Andy makes the point that if there were no resurrection, there would be no “the Bible” (specifically, the “New Testament” which was bound with the Hebrew scriptures to make “the Bible”) because no one would have written about Jesus. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, there would have been nothing to write about nor would there be anyone to write it because none of his followers expected a resurrection.

The existence of the New Testament is as simple and compelling proof of the resurrection as there is, I think. Of course, that proof doesn’t work on everyone, and I want to talk about that tomorrow.

In the meantime, Paul’s testimony was clear:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Corinthians 15.3 – 8, ESV)

We reminded ourselves yesterday that Jesus called his followers into a relationship with him. Moreover, Jesus had a goal for those relationships: that they would become like him. Back in Matthew 4, what did he say to Peter and Andrew?

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4.18, 19, ESV)

“Follow me, and I will make you…” Jesus didn’t want a mass of passive fans but a cadre of trained men. Men who would do what he was doing.

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. (Matthew 4.23, NKJV, emphasis mine)

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. (Matthew 9.35, NKJV, emphasis mine)

Teaching, preaching, healing. That’s what Jesus was doing. But he couldn’t do it all, and the well-known solution follows immediately:

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)

There’s a labor shortage, and who got to fill it? His disciples – his students. Again, they weren’t called to be spectators but participants:

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease… And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. (Matthew 10.1, 7, 8, NKJV)

He sent them out to preach and heal, same as he was doing.

I was at a denominational conference once, and a pastor came by my table where I was displaying discipleship materials. “Study the word, and preach the word. There is nothing better than studying the word and preaching the word!” I responded, “I can think of something better.” Shocked, he asked, “What would that be?” I replied simply:

Teaching someone else how to study the word and preach the word.

“I never thought of that,” he said. I hope he did.

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

PS I have written before about my struggle to improve my golf game. It’s fun to watch the pros compete. The recent Master’s, for example, where one of my favorite golfers, Jordan Spieth, came in fourth. But there’s someone more important in my golf life than Jordan Spieth. It’s Tyler one of our local pros and my golf teacher. You won’t see Tyler on television, but he said to me during a lesson the other day: “My satisfaction is seeing you hit the ball well.” That will preach!

For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 3.8, NKJV)

I read Matthew 9, which includes the call of Matthew, the tax collector, the same day I received an email from a fellow in ministry. As usual, he reported on one of his speaking engagements, including the number of men who indicated they wanted to receive Christ. I’ve been in such a meeting with this man, who afterward in a newsletter reported on our event and said that eight men wanted to follow Jesus. Eight! I was one of the people in charge of the event, and I don’t know who those eight men were. No one does.

Jesus didn’t seem to operate that way.

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. (Matthew 9.9, ESV)

I’ve already written about the call of Matthew, especially the way it’s presented in The Chosen. Peter was aghast that Jesus called Matthew. “This is different!” he told Jesus. To which Jesus responded, “Get used to different.”

What struck me this time was that when Jesus invited Matthew to join him, he was entering into a relationship with him. He would be rubbing shoulders with a despised tax collector. Just as he was rubbing shoulders with ordinary fishermen.

Back to the public speaker in paragraph one. I’m well aware that traveling speakers (I am one sometimes) can’t have a personal relationship with everyone in their audience. But, surely when someone allegedly makes a profession of faith, we can do something to connect them with someone local who can have a relationship with them. Someone local who will also make sure they have a growing relationship with Jesus.

I don’t believe we can disciple people en masse any more than we can teach someone to play the piano by taking them to concerts.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15.12 – 15, ESV)

Something just happened to me similar to something Queen Victoria is said to have experienced! Really?

There’s a famous story involving Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland. His real name was Charles Dodgson, a mathematician. Here’s a paragraph from his bio on Wikipedia:

The overwhelming commercial success of the first Alice book changed Dodgson’s life in many ways. The fame of his alter ego “Lewis Carroll” soon spread around the world. He was inundated with fan mail and with sometimes unwanted attention. Indeed, according to one popular story, Queen Victoria herself enjoyed Alice in Wonderland so much that she commanded that he dedicate his next book to her, and was accordingly presented with his next work, a scholarly mathematical volume entitled An Elementary Treatise on Determinants.

This story may not be true, but something similar just happened to me. I read (on Kindle, of course) a marvelous book on creation by John Lennox:

John Carson Lennox (born 7 November 1943) is a Northern Irish mathematician, philosopher of science, Christian apologist, and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford University. He is also Pastoral Advisor of Green Templeton College and Fellow of Wycliffe Hall. – From the author’s bio on Amazon.

John’s book Seven Days that Divide the World is a marvel. I highly recommend, especially if you’re wondering if someone strongly committed to the authority of scripture can avoid getting caught up in “young earth”/”old earth” controversy and whether or not God created the world in six 24-hour days.

Not long after I read the book, when I opened my Kindle, it presented me, as it always does, with a recommendation for a book it thinks I might like:

The Theory of Infinite Soluble Groups by…you guessed it, John Lennox. Now I am a mathematician, and I know what “groups” are, but I don’t know and don’t care to know anything about “infinite soluble groups.” By the way, Dr. Lennox has written other books that I would be interested in. For example, Cosmic Chemistry: Do God and Science Mix?, but Kindle didn’t recommend any of those.

Is there a point? Maybe this harmless recommendation from Amazon reminds us that these predictive marketing algorithms have flaws. That I don’t have to read everything that’s recommended to me. That in an age of endless distractions, I have to choose wisely what I do with my time and money.

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5.15 – 16, NIV)

The famous “Sermon on the Mount” takes up chapters 5, 6, and 7 of Matthew, and as I read chapter 5 the other day, a central theme emerged. One of my math professors might have called it an “obviosity.” (Wow, I just found out that’s really a word!) Anyway, what’s obvious?

Jesus expects his followers to be different from other people.

Really?

• Salt

Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth... (Matthew 5.13, MSG)

• Light

Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world… (Matthew 5.14, MSG)

• Righteousness that EXCEEDS that of the scribes and Pharisees:

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5.20, ESV)

For example (Matthew 5.21 – 48):

• Don’t just not murder, don’t even be angry
• Don’t just not commit adultery, don’t look lustfully
• Don’t divorce your wife because you’re tired of her
• Don’t make vows because your word is your bond
• Don’t take revenge, submit
• Don’t just love your neighbor, love your enemy also
• A lifestyle that’s different…that’s MORE:

And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? (Matthew 5.47, ESV)

My friend Bill Mowry just posted an article on Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren. In it she quotes Augustine supporting what I’m writing here:

. . . following Augustine, [who] argues that to be alternative people is to be formed differently — to take up practices and habits that aim our love and desire toward God.

We are to be “alternative people.”

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 5.16, ESV)

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. (Philippians 2.14, 15, ESV)