A friend of mine heard a sermon recently in which he told me the pastor seemed to be measuring discipleship by how many “worship services” one attended – after all, the early church worshipped daily – and by how much time one gave to “discipleship” activities.

I don’t think that pastor could have been more wrong:

• First, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts” (Acts 2.46) isn’t referring to “services;” the temple court was a large place, big enough for them to meet and hear the apostles’ teaching (see Acts 2.42).
• Second, discipleship isn’t only or even primarily about fixed activities that one gives time to, as important as, say, Bible study, daily time with God, church attendance, etc., are. In that case, we’d have to ask, how much time? (I wrote about this last year.) Discipleship is about following Jesus all the time.

Here’s a story our friend Debbie Friley in Florida sent a few days ago that illustrates a “whole life” approach to discipleship. She didn’t quit being a disciple when they transitioned from meeting to share their quiet time to getting on their bicycles.

Tuesday mornings my friend Julie comes over around 7:00. We have our Quiet Times, Cycle and then our “Salt & Light Discipleship” Servant Team meets weekly for extended prayer and planning. Today there were only two of us so we decided to take our prayer and planning on the road….or should I say on the Pinellas trail, cycling. We had not been on the trail for quite a while, because we had been taking other routes.  But today we had more time and the trail is where the Lord lead us…and you will see why. On our way back, we saw a gal curled up in a ball off to the side of the trail in front of a bench.

So of course we turned around and went back to see if she was ok. She told us that she was homeless and that someone had stolen everything from her, wallet, purse, phone etc. Now you never know in these situations what is really true or not, but one thing we knew for sure that God had lead us on the trail today for “such a time as this” and that He was stretching His hand to this gal Amanda, probably in her late 20’s.

So knowing she was homeless I started calling homeless shelters for her but most of them were full or it wasn’t a good fit for her situation. While I was fervently trying to find a place for Amanda to stay, Julie was sharing the gospel with her and I joined in after getting off the phone. She clearly was very confused about God, the Gospel and so many other things. Julie shared some wonderful truths and scriptures with her. Julie asked her if she gave her a Bible to read, would she read it. She declined.

But I will tell you that she heard the Truth & seeds were planted and we are praying that others will come along and share the gospel with Amanda too. I only had $3.00 and some change with me, but I was delighted to give it to her. She said she was really hungry and would love a meal, so we directed her to a restaurant nearby. I called them, gave them Amanda’s name and told them the situation and said that I wanted to pay for her meal. When she arrived she told them who she was and then enjoyed her meal.The restaurant kindly worked with me on this and called me when she left and I paid for her brunch over the phone with my credit card.

So before we left Amanda today, we told her just how much God loved her, we prayed together with her and asked God to continue pursuing her and to meet her needs.

So please join me in prayer for Amanda that she would not forget God’s kindness to her today and that soon and very soon she will meet her true Provider, the Lover of her soul! 

Debbie and her friend living out the story of the Good Samaritan is a way better illustration of discipleship than attending more worship services, don’t you think?

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4.21 – 24, NIV)

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13.34, 35, NIV)

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15.8, NIV)

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned abortion in a blog, and I’m not going to articulate the case for pro-life. Others have done that very well. I just want to make an observation that might help us deal properly with the millions of people who are pro-abortion. They are human beings too, image-bearers who need to be loved and even forgiven because “they know not what they do.”

Let’s just look at this by the numbers (sorry about that, but that’s what mathematicians do!). Roe v Wade was 1973. Let’s say that’s 50 years ago.

• If a teenager was 15 at the time, she’s 65 now, and abortion has been “normal” for all of her adult life.
• If this lady had a daughter when she was 25, that daughter is 40 now, and abortion has been “normal” for all of her life.
• If she had a daughter when she was 25, that daughter is now 15, entering adulthood soon, and abortion has been “normal” for all of her life.

That’s three generations of people who, if they don’t get their values from scripture, draw their values from the culture. Now, all of a sudden, it appears that a right that seems as natural to them as breathing is possibly going away. I don’t know what the solution is, but I’m pretty sure that yelling at them won’t help. And one pro-lifer even argues that there is common ground.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6.12, ESV)

And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7.59, 60, ESV)

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (Matthew 5.43 – 46, ESV)

It is Friday the 13th today…hope you’re getting through it.

Actually, I was born on Friday the 13th (in December) so I consider it a pretty good day!

It’s amazing to me that the most technologically advanced society in the world freaks out about Friday the 13th, and the number 13 in general. Most airplanes don’t have a 13th row. Most hotels don’t have a 13th floor. (They do, of course, but they’re not labeled as such!) Here’s a text I received from my son Mark a few months ago:

Chinese people consider 4 unlucky. We stayed in a “26-story” hotel in Hong Kong, except it wasn’t. There was no 4th floor, no 13th floor (to accommodate Americans!), no 14th floor, and no 24th floor.

For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary… (Isaiah 8.11 – 14, ESV)

Back to the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard after the Kentucky Derby’s history-making demonstration of “the last shall be first,” also part of that parable (last verse of the preceding chapter). I suggested that what the first workers received that the last workers didn’t was a full day of meaningful work.

My friend Rob Webster, contemporary worship leader at Frazer Methodist when I was on staff back in the early 2000s, now Director of Communication at Custer Methodist in Plano, TX, is a creative genius who has just started a blog series, The Story that Writes Us. The second episode is entitled, A Mandalorian and a Theologian Walk Into a Bar – only Rob Webster could come up with this. In this episode, he talks about the Star Wars spinoff, The Mandalorian, and the filming of the Season 1 finale, episode 8.

The short version is that at the last minute they wanted more Stormtroopers, but they had already sent the costumes back, they would have to hire actors, etc., etc. What to do? They called the 501st! What’s the 501st, you ask? It’s a group of people, Star Wars fans, who have formed a volunteer organization to dress up like Star Wars Stormtroopers and make appearances at various public events:

Some fans are content to collect action figures…other fans want to be action figures. Nothing professes your passion quite like building your own detailed costume replica of a classic Star Wars villain, and there’s nothing quite like the feeling that comes from bringing the characters of Star Wars into the real world and sharing the magic with others. – From the 501st Legion website, emphasis mine

So members of the 501st show up to be part of an actual Star Wars television episode. As Rob puts it:

Can you imagine that you are a huge Star Wars fan? You are such a big fan that you even make this armor yourself that looks just like the real thing. And can you imagine what a dream come true it was for these people to realize I’m no longer going to just be dressing up like I’m a character in a movie, I’m going to get to actually be in a Star Wars…production…How incredible is that?

And Rob’s application is, I think, like the workers in the vineyard, especially the 6:00 am guys, ready to go to work:

And I don’t know if we ever think about what it means to live as Christians in this world and how incredible it is that we get to be a part of this story… I had a chance one time to spend some time on a big-budget movie set [Bob’s note: this was The Big Fish, filmed near Montgomery, AL, in 2003], and the extras would be called in, they’d be in costume, and sometimes they’d just be waiting in this tent in costume all day and never really knowing if or when they would even get called to be on camera. But they were prepared…and couldn’t wait for the opportunity to do the thing that they’d been called there to do.

I feel like the Christian life can and should be like that. Not that we sit around and wait. We actively seek ways that we can follow after God, that we can be his hands and feet. But we’re prepared. And when the opportunity comes, we’re ready just like these Star Wars fans. They were trained. They knew what to do. They were ready. And they were so excited that they got to be a part of the story. – Rob Webster, The Story That Writes Us, Season 1, Episode 2

Good stuff. We are called to a great Adventure, called to be part of the story. Back to the Vineyard: the first guys still got the biggest reward: the joy of participation.

When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. “What a huge harvest!” he said to his disciples. “How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!” The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives. (Matthew 9.36 – 10.1, MSG)

The introduction to the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard:

But many who are first will be last, and the last first. (Matthew 19.30, ESV)

I don’t know a thing about horse racing, and I don’t gamble, but we always watch the Kentucky Derby. This year’s, run Saturday, May 7, was special and was a literal fulfillment of Jesus’ words about the first will be last and the last first. One horse jumped into the lead and held it for 3/4 of a mile. Unfortunately, the race is  1 1/4 miles, and that horse finished dead last.

In the meantime, a horse that wasn’t even entered into the race until Friday morning won at 80-1 odds (second highest payout in Derby history). Rich Strike only got in when another horse scratched. On Friday morning, the owner and trainer were planning to let him race in New York on Saturday. Neither the jockey nor the trainer had ever competed in the Kentucky Derby before. Click the picture to watch the race; I don’t think the announcer even saw Rich Strike until he crossed the finish line as the winner.

When asked if he could believe it, the horse’s owner said:

We don’t ever enter a race that we don’t think we can win. If we don’t think we can win, then we go and train some more. – Rick Dawson, owner of Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike

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. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9.24 – 27, ESV)

Train yourself for godliness. (1 Timothy 4.7, ESV)

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

I might be making progress on the parable that is really tough for a lot of Americans: “The Laborers in the Vineyard” of Matthew 20.1 – 16. You know how it starts:

For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. (Matthew 20.1, 2, ESV)

The first thing I did was to convert “a denarius” into today’s dollars. All the footnotes say that a denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer. And the working day in this parable was 12 hours. So let’s say $10/hour x 12 hours = $120.00. And you know what happened. The master went out at 9am, noon, 3pm, and 5pm and hired more workers. Then this:

And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. (Matthew 20.8 – 10, ESV)

Of course, this is where it breaks down for many of us. We think the last guys should have received $10, then $30 for the 3pm guys, $60 for the ones at noon, $90 for the 9am guys, and $120 for the original 6am workers. That would be “fair.”

So what’s the point? Let’s go back through it. What did Jesus say?

• The Kingdom of Heaven is like a master who needed laborers. That sounds a bit like, “The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few.” (Matthew 9.37)
• Some folks jumped into the fray early and worked hard all day. These would be the original twelve disciples.
• Then others joined later, some much later. Of course, it’s just a story, but we have to ask, “Where were the latecomers at 6am?” The ones at 5pm who said, “No one has hired us” could have been out goofing off all day and just went to the pickup place near the end of the day so they could tell their wives, “We were there, but no one hired us!”
• Therefore, we have to conclude it’s yet another picture of grace. It’s hard for us to get past a merit mentality. It was hard for people in Jesus’ day too. This parable is preceded by:
  • The children: “The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19.14) But what had they DONE?
  • The rich young ruler: “What must I DO to inherit eternal life?” (Matthew 19.16)
  • The disciples who had just asked, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” (Matthew 19.27) Look how much we have DONE and GIVEN UP!

So what did the early birds get that the latecomers didn’t, if not more money? The joy of meaningful work. I might say more about that in a subsequent blog.

Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. (Ephesians 2.8 – 10, MSG)

Right after the transfiguration of Matthew 17.1 – 8, where Jesus appears in his glory, talking with Moses and Elijah, we have this exchange:

And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. (Matthew 17.9 – 13, ESV)

“Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.”

John the Baptist had already been beheaded, and Jesus was about to be crucified. In case you hadn’t noticed, things don’t always go well for God’s servants, especially in the short term. Sometimes our harshest critics are religious insiders, not outsiders.

About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. (Acts 12.1 – 3, ESV)

I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes,… (2 Corinthians 11.24, MSG)

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 1.9, ESV)

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there. Thanks for your work: past, present, and future!

I picked this picture of tulips because it reminds me of the tulips I found for June on Wednesday to celebrate not only Mother’s Day but also her completing yesterday a 3-year program of learning to be a spiritual director.

Congratulations, June! Wife of nearly 54 years, mother of 4, grandmother of 8.

And thank you, blog readers, for this indulgence. We’ll be back to our usual fare tomorrow.

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. (Proverbs 31.28, ESV)

Getting back to Matthew’s gospel, there’s a very important verse on which we are sometimes confused:

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16.18, ESV)

The “rock” that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God (Matthew 16.16), is where Jesus will build his church, and there are two things in this verse we often get mixed up:

“I will build my church.”

• We build churches (sometimes called “church planting”) and expect the church to make disciples in some magical way.
• Jesus said, “You make disciples” (Matthew 28.18 – 20), and “I will build my church.”

“The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

• We think the church is huddled up like a fortress while being assaulted by hell.
• It’s the other way around: the church is successfully assaulting the gates of hell.

But that would require the church to be “out there” – not confined to a building. For example, the gates of Jericho did NOT prevail against the assault of the “church in the wilderness.” God’s called-out group of people did not stay huddled up in the wilderness. They charged into the promised land.

The church, filled with trained disciples, is supposed to look like this:

They don’t get in each other’s way. Each one knows his job and does it. Undaunted and fearless, unswerving, unstoppable. (Joel 2.8, MSG)

He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. (Ephesians 4.11 – 13, MSG)

I wrote yesterday about the truth of the highway project between here and Castle Rock. It’s not finished even if the governor declared it finished last December. I just found out there are more serious truth issues, reported by BreakPoint on May 2.

Recently, a colleague noted how a growing number of conservative-minded people he encountered on social media, some of them Christians, were refusing to believe stories about Russian atrocities in Ukraine. Some even rejected that the invasion was an unjustified war of aggression by Russia. When he asked the reason for their doubt, their response was simply because the stories were reported in the “mainstream media,” which has done nothing but lie to us for years. – BreakPoint, May 2, 2022

I recommend you read the article in its entirety, the main point of which is that truth is truth regardless of who reports it. Something isn’t true just because someone I like says it, nor is it false because someone I don’t like says it. As a math guy, I have no problem with the idea of truth. Either your proof is correct or it’s not. Your approach either works or it doesn’t. Even Peter Schickele, creator of the fictitious composer PDQ Bach said, “Truth is truth. You can’t have opinions about truth.” (He said that even while he was lying to us!)

Truth is there, and it is available. Do the work.

¹  My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
²  making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
³  yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
⁴  if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
⁵  then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2.1 – 5, ESV)

For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. (John 18.37, ESV)

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8.31, 32, ESV)