The other day I got a note from a good friend and fellow disciple maker asking this question about someone he’s working with:

Has been a believer for 2 years, but is so busy with school & now work, I may need to update my “software” if he is going to grow spiritually. Any suggestions?

For better or worse, here is my answer. What do you think?

What’s the minimum? We’re all busy, but we find time to do what’s important. I often use Matthew 4.4 in teaching daily time with God: “Most of us find time to eat every day although I suppose that one could dash out the door without eating breakfast.” Then I follow that with Romans 13.14, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ…” But I use the Message: “Get up and get dressed!” I say, ‘You might go to work having skipped breakfast, but no one shows up at work naked…Sorry I didn’t have time to get dressed this morning.’”

I was working with a man named Steve once, and he showed up for our second meeting and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t read this week like you told me to.” So we just worked through his schedule:

– What time do you have to get up in order to be out the door on time?

– So can we back that up 15 minutes so you’ll have time to read?

– And what time do you have to go to bed so you can get up 15 minutes earlier?

I often share that any discipline can go through these stages: drudgery, discipline, delight. Exercise is a good example. As I was sharing this with a group of men, Steve was there. He said, “May I say something? I went through this very progression. Daily time with God was pure drudgery at first. Then I saw the benefits of it and it became a necessary discipline for me. Finally, I came to delight in it. It took two years to reach that point.”

One more thing to help get him started: “You won’t want to do something until you’ve done it when you didn’t want to.” Again comparing exercise, you could answer test questions on the benefits of exercise, but until you’ve experienced those benefits for yourself, you won’t want to exercise. So you have to start when you don’t want to. Compare Hebrews 12.11.

I hope some of that is helpful. The minimum? Anyone can have a 15-minute quiet time and memorize one verse/week. Max Barnett, a long-time Navigator-trained Southern Baptist pastor (he’s 85 now, I think) advocates one verse/week. You work really hard the first day until you can say the verse. Then you review it every day for 8 weeks. The second week, you do another verse, etc. So your daily review consists of only 8 verses. 

Let me know how it goes.

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little. (Isaiah 28.9, 10, KJV)

Yesterday I introduced the possibility that John 1.11 might still be going on today, even in “Christian” churches.

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1.11, KJV)

When I first asked myself how this might be happening today, I didn’t have an answer in mind. A few days later, however, I heard that Jemar Tisby, author of The Color of Compromise, would be speaking in Denver: a local congregation had been studying his book about the American church’s ongoing complicity in racism and invited him to speak this weekend. I already had the book and had read most of it.

Tisby makes the point early and often that Christian churches and Christians, in general, have not been effective agents of fighting racism. By and large they have participated in it. I’ve written about this problem before, but it’s worth a quote or two to make the point that we’re not living out, for example, 1 John 3.11 – 15, might be in order.

On the kidnapping of unsuspecting Africans and their separation from family, Equiano asked, “O, ye nominal Christians! Might not an African ask you, learned you this from your God, who says unto you, Do unto all men as you would men should do unto you?” Black people immediately detected the hypocrisy of American – style slavery. They knew the inconsistencies of the faith from the rank odors, the chains, the blood, and the misery that accompanied their life of bondage . Instead of abandoning Christianity, though, black people went directly to teachings of Jesus and challenged white people to demonstrate integrity. – Color of Compromise, page 30

Here’s a story from the early days of the republic:

One of the founders of the AME denomination, Richard Allen, was born a slave in Philadelphia in 1760. He came of age during the American Revolution and was undoubtedly influenced by the message of liberty and independence circulated in pamphlets and speeches. Having been given permission by his white owner to attend church meetings, Allen converted to Methodism in 1777. He purchased his freedom in 1786 and began preaching in various Methodist churches.

Allen received an invitation to become a regular preacher at St. George’s, an interracial Methodist church in Philadelphia. Despite the racially mixed composition of the congregation, white Christians treated black worshipers as second class. Under Allen’s preaching the number of black attendees increased dramatically. Racial tension increased as well. Allen tried to gain support to purchase a new church building to accommodate the growing number of black worshipers, but white leaders of St. George’s insisted on segregated seating and relegated their darker-skinned brethren to certain sections of the sanctuary. – Color of Compromise, pages 52 – 53

Sounds like a clear violation of James:

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2.1 – 4, NKJV)

Which also reminds us, for what it’s worth, that American churches past and present don’t have a monopoly on bad behavior. It goes back to the first century! And, as a story I told in a blog on purity, I think God is saying, “Cut that stuff out!”

Going back to the original observation in John 1, if Jesus came to some of our (white) churches disguised as a black man, would we receive him? Or, if he challenged us, as he did when he walked the earth, to “Love our neighbor as ourselves,” would we receive him?

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1.11, KJV)

“I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.” Then they also will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?” Then He will answer them, saying, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” (Matthew 25.42 – 45, NKJV)

I’m reading through John, which at one chapter per day, has more content than I can address. I’ll pull some highlights beginning with a startling observation in chapter 1, confirmed in chapter 3:

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. (John 1.9 – 11, ESV)

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 3.19, ESV)

Jesus said later, “I am the light of the world.” We’ll look at that in a few days. But for now, here is the light, but people reject the light. Again, from John 1.9 – 11:

• The true light, which gives light to EVERYONE, was coming into the world.
• But the world did not know him. He made the world, and the world did not know him. Today, people don’t even believe that God made the world. The world doesn’t know its God.
• But neither did God’s own people know God in the flesh when they saw him. Might that be true even in our churches today? Churches have Jesus’ name on them, but do the members know Jesus? And receive Jesus? And embrace his way of life?

Church people, Christians(!), rejecting Jesus’ way of life? Perhaps. More tomorrow.

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother...We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3.11 – 15, ESV)

Something extraordinary happened at the World Series last night – you may have missed it since most of the Series this year is being played in November, and we’re already deep into football season. Anyway, the Astros pitched a no-hitter, only the second no-hitter in World Series history, after Don Larsen’s perfect game on October 8, 1956.

Re last night’s game: Cristian Javier of the Dominican Republic pitched 6 no-hit innings, and three relievers pitched one inning each for the no-hitter. Apparently, Javier throws an “unhittable fastball.”

I remember Don Larsen’s perfect game. I was 9 years old and didn’t see the game, but I remember clearly asking my dad that afternoon, “Did the Dodgers win?” (We are National League fans.) Dad, a former minor league pitcher, replied, “No, but something wonderful happened.”

In those days, the World Series score was the above-the-fold headline. The October 9 edition of The Greenville News the next morning not only had the score but a giant picture of Don Larsen.

I cut that picture out, glued it to cardboard, and kept it for a very long time. There’s more perspective on that game in this blog from last October.

Is there a lesson? In addition to “something wonderful happened” even if it wasn’t in favor of the team I was rooting for, I think the lesson is, “Counts for one.” It’s one game in a best-four-out-of-seven series. Tuesday night, the Phillies set a record of their own with five home runs in five innings, beating the Astros 7 – 0. Counts for one.

Whether you’re coming off of a once-in-a-lifetime triumph, a crushing defeat, or something in-between, it’s good to remember that it only counts for one.

One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.13, 14, ESV)

We continue with lessons learned from Sheep Among Wolves, Volume II, a documentary about disciple-making movements in Iran.

The film was released in 2019, but some of what I heard about the Ayatollah I’m hearing today. An October 6, 2022, editorial in the Wall Street Journal said that the Ayatollah’s actions are a “gift to secularism,” declaring correctly that “religion doesn’t flourish when it’s compulsory.”

But the Iranian believers were saying several years ago:

The best evangelist for Jesus is the Ayatollah. People are finding out that Islam is a lie. They’re 40 years into their “utopia,” and it’s not there…Mosques are empty in Iran. – From Sheep Among Wolves, Volume II

Their philosophy of ministry is that they are always discipling people, even before they become believers. Jesus did. They point out that there was A LOT the original twelve didn’t understand. With a large number of new believers, pre-believers the “church” is messy. But that’s ok:

In the graveyard, there is perfect order. Nurseries are messy. Samson wouldn’t be a leader in our churches: he had character issues, anger issues, and lust issues.

The bottom line?

The “software” of the gospel will not run on the “hardware” of the west in the Middle East. (It doesn’t run well in the US either!)

Again, it’s a film worth seeing on many levels.

Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. (Colossians 1.5, 6, ESV)

As I wrote last year, I don’t know why this is the only “holiday” in which the “eve” gets more attention than the day! Halloween = “All Hallows Eve” or the Eve of All Saints’ Day.

All Saints’ Day is a celebration of all Christian saints, particularly those who have no special feast days of their own, in many Roman Catholic, Anglican and Protestant churches. In many western churches, it is annually held on November 1…It is also known as All Hallows Tide, All-Hallomas, or All Hallows’ Day.

I can’t do better than the writer of the Hebrews:

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 11.32 – 12.2, ESV, emphasis mine)

At a friend’s recommendation, I recently watched Sheep Among Wolves, Volume II, available on YouTube. It’s a nearly 2-hour documentary about disciple-making movements in Iran. Strongly recommend. Here’s a highlight:

The churches in the west are definitely weak in our theology of suffering or martyrdom…In America, we’re trying to make the most of this life. The Iranians are saying, “Forget this life, I’m betting on the next one!” – From Sheep Among Wolves, Volume II

Therefore believers in Iran are more like the folks Peter was writing to:

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed…Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Peter 4.12, 13…19, ESV)

I’ll share another highlight from the movie after All Saints Day.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15.19, ESV)

How do we live in an age where the government seems to make one bad decision after another? (No offense intended: whichever party is in power, at least half the people are asking that question!)

Peter has a word, and remember, when Peter was alive, Nero was the emperor, and the Roman Empire persecuted Christians.

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2.16, 17, ESV)

How well are we doing at keeping these short sentences?

• Live as people who are free,
  • not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil,
  • but living as servants of God.
• Honor everyone.
• Love the brotherhood.
• Fear God.
• Honor the emperor/president/governor…

We move into 1 Peter in our 5x5x5 Reading Plan (don’t ask why the books are ordered as they are…except they’re interspersing the gospels throughout the year). A friend of mine, an English professor, used to say that Paul’s epistle to the Romans was “dense text,” meaning a lot of weighty information packed into a small space. After wading through 1 Peter 1, I don’t think Paul has a monopoly on dense text!

Here’s just a small sample:

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1.1 – 5, ESV)

Elect, foreknowledge, sanctification, obedience, born again, resurrection, inheritance, salvation… Heavy theology! Followed in the rest of the chapter with such topics as endurance through suffering, challenges to holiness and sober-mindedness.

But what grabs me is how chapter 2 starts. After all these heavy topics, what’s the so what?

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. (1 Peter 2.1, ESV)

Common, everyday stuff. As I said, heavy theology, calls to holiness, “purify your souls by obedience to the truth,” etc. What does that look like? Well, for starters, “…put away malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.”

I think God would have us spend less time trying to understand (and argue about!) complex theology and more time figuring out how to put it into practice.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4.31, 32, ESV)

I said I would just hit a few highlights in 1 John, and I have. We close our time in John’s epistles with the messages of 2 John and 3 John. They are simple:

• 2 John is written to a lady, and the message is: don’t welcome or help false teachers.

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. (2 John 1.10, 11, ESV)

• 3 John is written to a man, and the message is: do welcome and help true teachers.

Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. (3 John 1.5 – 8, ESV)

3 John closes with a warning about a guy named Diotrephes:

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. (3 John 1.9, 10, ESV)

Diotrephes:

• Likes to put himself first
• Does not acknowledge John’s authority
• Doesn’t welcome the traveling teachers
• Prevents others from doing so as well

There will always be a Diotrephes!

But there are also people like Gaius (the addressee of the letter) and Demetrius (verse 12) – good guys.

It’s all about discernment, but God helps us with that!

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world…Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4.1, 4, ESV)