We interrupt this blog series for our annual anniversary announcement: 54 years today, or, as we’re counting now, our 648th monthiversary. We’re blessed to be in love, following Jesus, and enjoying good health. Here we are a couple weeks ago on “Bible Point,” a small mountain on the property of YMCA of the Rockies at Estes Park: 0.8 miles one way, 500-foot elevation gain.

¹²  The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³  They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴  They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,
¹⁵  to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Psalm 92.12 – 15, ESV)

Here’s a great follow-up story to yesterday’s Labor Day observance. Do we understand that we can do great work AND great ministry at the same time? Rudy is an IT guy in Indonesia. He and his wife, Donna, are carrying on an active Navigator disciple-making ministry while doing excellent work in the IT world. My friend Bulus Bossan of Nigeria (living in Colorado Springs) writes:

I often yearn to hear stories of God showing up in the corporate world. We hear of corruption and hindrances to people doing business ethically, and many Christians have been compromised or have failed. My heart’s desire has been to see Christians in business who are bringing the Kingdom of God near in spite of all the challenges there. Do we have testimonies of God coming through for his people in the midst of the challenges of an unhealthy environment? In Rudy and Donna, I found a very big “yes!” 

Rudy and Donna are ordinary people, so they are doing the normal things most Navigators do, but with an additional job. They are living out our vision of “ordinary people, in many walks of life, who are joyfully leading integrated lives.” They are bringing the Gospel to people in their natural networks, showing the difference that God makes in their lives.

Rudy has been able to combine extensive responsibility in the work world with very significant responsibility in the Navigator ministry. He is now in the process of co-founding a startup company. Earlier in his career he was the CEO for Indonesia over a large IT security distributor headquartered in Europe. In 2016-2017, he was voted Best CEO in all of Asia Pacific for his company. – Bulus Bossan, International Vice-President of The Navigators: Ordinary People Living Our Our Calling in the Workplace: Rudy and Donna Manurung

I commend the article in its entirety. It ends this way:

I asked Rudy and Donna what has kept them going, both in their Christian lives and in their commitment to ministry, while keeping a full-time job. They don’t see tension between those two worlds; they see synergy. Rudy told me that what he learned and applied was not unidirectional (learning from the Bible and blessing the workplace). He has also applied ideas from the corporate world to ministry. Rudy and Donna live an undivided life. They treat their colleagues like family by serving them, and they also invite people into their home and involve their children in ministry. God has given them close communities as they live out an authentic faith in front of everyone in their lives. 

Rudy and Donna find encouragement from Psalm 16. They point out that God directs our lives (verses 5-6); he can and does speak to his people so we should spend time in the Word listening to him (verse 7); and he will never leave us so we can entrust ourselves to him (verses 8-9). With this kind of simple and undivided trust, Rudy and Donna have been a blessing to their community and nation.

From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. (Genesis 39.6, ESV)

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3.23, 24, ESV)

Happy Labor Day!

It’s a day worth honoring ALL work, from the people who have an idea, develop a product and build the factory, to the people who work in the factory, to the people who provide the raw materials that the factory uses, to the people who transport the materials to the factory, and all the people who deliver the finished product to stores and homes. It takes them ALL. Thank you!

Consider the lowly #2 pencil:

Somebody had to cut down the tree (that’s real wood in there!). Someone mined the graphite. Yellow paint comes from a certain combination of minerals that someone mined and others put together. There’s a little piece of metal and an eraser. Someone had to build the machine that put all those pieces together under the watchful eye of the folks in the pencil factory.

And here’s the miracle: all that raw material and workmanship, and you can buy a box of 320 them, pre-sharpened, for…wait for it…$29.99. Is that not amazing? Less than 10 cents per pencil. It boggles the mind.

Thank you, workers! ALL of you. You are continuing God’s work in the world.

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1.31, ESV)

I need to write some lessons learned from I Corinthians, but first a bit of whimsy with a point: are we aware of how much of the scripture we eagerly embrace versus how much we ignore? Chapters 11 – 14 are filled with things we just never talk about. For example:

• How many of our churches require women to cover their heads? (1 Corinthians 11.1 – 16)
• How many of us believe that EACH of us is given a manifestation of the Spirit? (1 Corinthians 12.4 – 7)
• Which of these manifestations from 12.8 – 10 is yours?
  • Word of wisdom
  • Word of knowledge
  • Faith
  • Healing
  • Miracles
  • Prophecy
  • Discerning spirits
  • Tongues
  • Interpretation of tongues

• Do any of our churches practice the form of gathering described in chapter 14? 

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. (1 Corinthians 14.26 – 33, ESV)

• Some of our traditions don’t require the women’s head covering of chapter 11, ignore all the manifestations of the Spirit in chapters 12 and 14, would never dream of a spontaneous Spirit-led gathering, yet strictly hold to women being silent in the church, in part because of the very next two verses in 1 Corinthians 14.

The women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. (1 Corinthians 14.34, 35, ESV)

• And some of the traditions that do exercise gifts of prophecy and tongues have had women preachers for decades!

Go figure. “The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it!” Really?

• Can we exercise humility because none of us understands and practices all of it?
• Can we cut each other some slack for the same reason? 

In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity. – often attributed to John Wesley but first written in the early 1600s by Rupertus Meldinius, an otherwise unknown Lutheran theologian. (It’s not inspired scripture, but it’s not a bad practice!)

Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls… (Romans 14.4, LSB)

Here’s a feel-good sports story that illustrates an important lesson. Wynton Bernard, of the Colorado Rockies baseball team, made his major league debut on August 12, legging out an infield single, stealing a base, and scoring on a sacrifice fly. So what, Bob?

Bernard is 31 years old, he’s in his 10th season of professional baseball, he played 863 minor league games. This is his first chance in the major leagues. You can read the whole story here. Here’s how it starts:

Denver folks needed to cheer Bernard, who had given them a good cry before his debut. Late Thursday afternoon, Bernard shared his dream becoming reality via a video call with his mother, Janet Bernard, after being informed by Triple-A Albuquerque manager Warren Schaeffer that he was, indeed, getting the call to The Show. That emotional call was then shared with the world.

And the debut was magical. The scene of Bernard beating out a grounder to third was slightly awkward at first — due to first-base umpire Alex Tosi initially calling him out. But this is a feel-good story, remember, and after a replay review confirmed Bernard actually beat Josh Rojas’ throw to first, it sent both him and Rockies fans into euphoria. He’d later swipe second base for good measure.

According to STATS Inc., at 31 years and 322 days old, Bernard became the oldest player to get a hit and steal a base in his Major League debut since the Cardinals’ Joe Delahanty on September 30, 1907 (31 years, 347 days). – Thomas Harding, MLB.com.

You can see a video of his hit and the rest of the inning here, capturing the excitement of his teammates as well as the announcers. In his first 15 games, he’s batting just under .300, so he’s off to a good start. I hope he does well.

He persisted until he succeeded. There’s a lesson for us all.

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.14, ESV)

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. (1 Corinthians 9.24, ESV)

There’s a simple lesson in 1 Corinthians 12: we’re not all the same! Profound.

⁴  Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
⁵  and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;
⁶  and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
⁷  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ( 1 Corinthians 12.4 – 7, ESV)

To EACH is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. We could write a month of blogs on that alone. Church members generally believe that to the clergy a manifestation of the Spirit is given. But it’s EACH.

Paul goes on to use the human body as an analogy. No one part is sufficient. Sometimes football announcers are careless in attributing too much significance to the quarterback. If the “big uglies” on the front line don’t block for him, he’s worthless. If his receivers can’t get open and catch the ball, he’s worthless.

Our new friend Rod Carew from yesterday’s blog on focus has something to contribute to this discussion. Jason Gay asked him why the Major League batting average is so low. Rod’s response was clear: everyone is trying to be a home run hitter:

They’re trying to get everyone to hit the ball out of the ballpark, whether they can do it or not. These kids aren’t using their heads and understanding what kind of hitter they are. 

Luis Arraez with the Twins started off good, hitting the ball all over the place. Then all of a sudden, he hit a few home runs and started swinging up. I was in Minneapolis and I spoke with him: “What are you doing? Hitting six to seven home runs is not going to be of any value to you. Getting base hits and getting on base and scoring runs, that’s where your game is. Don’t fall into the trap … trying to lift the ball and hit home runs.” – Rod Carew, as reported by Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2022, emphasis mine

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. (1 Corinthians 12.18, ESV)

Sometimes, when delivering a series of messages at a conference or even a single presentation, I suggest a technique for applying lessons learned. Often people are inspired when they hear a speaker and are tempted to try to put several things into practice at once. I discourage that attitude with a little talk about focus. I show a picture of Clyde Beatty, the great circus lion tamer, and I ask:

What’s the significance of the chair?

The simple answer is that the lion is looking at the tips of four chair legs, which confuses the lion. He doesn’t know where to look. Too many things to focus on. I explain that this is what happens if you try to apply more than one thing from a sermon, a presentation at a conference, or even a book. We can do only one thing at a time.

So I encourage folks, even if they have three or four things they feel they need to work on, to pick one. Just one, and work on that.

Interestingly, Jason Gay, sportswriter for the Wall Street Journal, recently did an interview with baseball great Rod Carew, now in his 70s. Rod is a batting coach with the Minnesota Twins. Rod teaches what I just said:

The bad thing about video today is a lot of kids look at themselves and want to correct everything. Pick out something, work on it and then something else, and maybe the next day, you go back and work on that. – Rod Carew, as reported by Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2022, emphasis mine

Rod had another comment worth sharing that applies to our Christian walk. Stay tuned.

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)

This one thing I do… (Philippians 3.13)

Thinking about our favorite speakers, whom would you choose to reach someone like the co-founder of a Satanic movement in South Africa?

A South African Newspaper reports:

Riaan Swiegelaar, a former reverend at the South African Satanic Church (SASC), stepped down from his position on May 30, 2022.

Sometimes our focus on big-name speakers carries a subtle message that most of the heavy lifting in ministry in mission is done by those people. So how was Riaan reached? Here’s the way he tells it as reported in The Maravi Post.

“I’ve never known unconditional love in my whole life and up to today, there’s only four Christians in my whole life that have shown me what unconditional love is. I want to thank those four people. Words cannot express what you have done for me.“

…

He pointed out that love was shown to him during a time when he was a monster and an ugly person. In mid-May this year, Swiegelaar gave his last interview as a member of the SASC on the CapeTalk radio station. Following the interview, a woman working for the station, whose name he would not reveal, came to him and demonstrated God’s love in an unexpected way.

“I told her, ‘I don’t believe in Jesus and I don’t believe Jesus Christ exists’ because I didn’t. She came to me after the interview, after I said that and she hugged me and she held me in a way that I’ve never been loved. That’s all she did. She just said it was nice to meet me in person. A week later, on WhatsApp, through her status, I saw this woman is a Christian. I’ve never had a Christian do that…I’ve never experienced a Christian show that much love and acceptance unconditionally … after I said the things I said, she did that. That stayed with me.”

A week later, Swiegelaar was performing a satanic ritual by himself which he said was geared towards gaining more power and influence as a Satanist. He said:

“I did this ritual and I opened myself up and Jesus appeared and I was extremely cocky and I said, ‘if you are Jesus, you need to prove it.’ And He flooded me with the most beautiful love and energy and I recognized it immediately because that woman at the radio station showed it to me. That’s how I recognized the love of Christ.” – (I recommend the article in its entirety.)

I’m indebted to my friend John Ed Mathison, whose weekly blog of July 27, Who Fixes the Broken?, put me on to this story. John Ed observed:

Please note that it was the witness of a wonderful person who didn’t judge or condemn, but simply allowed the love of Christ to show through her. Jesus uses people to bring people to Him.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. (Romans 2.4, ESV)

And Jesus?

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” (Luke 7.34, ESV)

Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2.6, ESV)

Back to 1 Corinthians, one of the first problems is division over who their favorite speakers are:

For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1.11 – 13, ESV)

He circles back to it in chapter 3:

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. (1 Corinthians 3.5 – 8, ESV)

But what’s the real problem? Why quarrel over who your favorite speaker is? For us, it’s not so much within a single local church although it could be. There are any number of nationally known preachers, and we all have our list of those we like, those we don’t like, and, of course, many we know nothing about. The real problem is not so much our preferences but our pride in those preferences. Paul gets to that in chapter 4:

I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? (1 Corinthians 4.6, 7, ESV, emphasis mine)

It’s like our favorite sports teams. It’s fun when our team wins. I derived a lot of joy from watching the Colorado Avalanche hockey team win this year’s Stanley Cup. But pride? I wasn’t out there. I’ve never even been on ice skates! If you rooted for another team, does that make me better than you? Of course not! And listening to a particular preacher doesn’t mean a thing unless you’re putting the Word into practice, even if it’s Jesus!

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7.24 – 27, ESV, emphasis mine)

I have one more blog on our time in Delta, Colorado, earlier this month. My first engagement was a 7:30a breakfast with the men. Pastor James’ introduction went something like this:

Men, we are pleased to have with us this morning, from The Navigators, Bob Ewell, an ordinary guy who serves an extraordinary God!

I don’t think I’ve ever been introduced as “an ordinary guy.” After all, I have an earned doctorate, served 20 years in the Air Force, had my own statistical consulting business for 10 years, and went into “paid Christian employment” in 2001. That’s what people usually say. But I like “ordinary guy.” After all, that’s what the religious leaders said about Peter and John:

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. (Acts 4.13, NLT, emphasis mine)

I told the men something like this:

Men, I really appreciate being called an ordinary guy…because I am. When I went into vocational Christian ministry in 2001, the church that hired me specifically liked that I was a layman. No seminary training. But guess what? As soon as I joined the staff as “Minister of Discipleship,” I wasn’t a layman anymore–not in the eyes of the church people I was trying to work with. So thank you, James, for introducing me as “an ordinary guy.” If I can do what I’m talking about, you can too.

And so can all you readers!

Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’” (Amos 7.14, 15, ESV)

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 1.6 – 8, ESV)

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1.26 – 31, ESV)