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When Helping Hurts

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(#AmazonAdLink) I recently finished reading a book called (#AmazonAdLink) When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. In it they write about the great damage that churches and missionaries can do at home and overseas when we try to “meet the needs of others” in our mission activity and outreach endeavors. It was a real eye-opener for me, to see that there might be a better way to do “missions.”

For example, they have a whole chapter on rethinking Short Term Missions.  In one part of the chapter, they write that in many “Majority World” countries (aka “Third World”), we could fund a full time national evangelist there for $1540 per year. The average Short Term Mission (STM) from the US to those same countries runs between $20,000 and $40,000 for ten people to go for two weeks. “The money spent on a single  STM team for a one- to two- week experience would be sufficient to support more than a dozen far more effective indigenous workers for an entire year. And we complain about wasteful government spending!” (p. 173).

This doesn’t mean there aren’t benefits to Short Term Missions, but they can and should be done in a much different way. Consider also that in 2006, US churches spent $1,600,000,000 on Short Term Missions (p. 161). Do you think this was a good use of that much money?

As another example, consider the following quote from a ministry leader in a Latin America:

The indigenous staff in my organization lead weekly Bible studies with children in low-income communities. These Bible studies are just one aspect of my organization’s overall attempts to bring long-lasting development to these broken communities. After a short-term team conducts a Bible study in one of these communities, the children stop attending the Bible studies of my organization. Our indigenous staff tell me that the children stop coming because we do not have all the fancy materials and crafts that short-term teams have, and we do not give away things like these teams do. The children have also come to believe that our staff are not as interesting or as creative as teh Americans that come on these teams (p. 169).

Sad, huh? But imagine the report that this team brought back to their home church about all the children they ministered to!

The book abounds with such information and ideas, so please, if you are involved in the mission board of your church, are helping plan a mission, have teenagers going on a mission, or are thinking of going on a mission trip yourself (even if it is just to the local homeless shelter), (#AmazonAdLink) you must read this book.

Kings and the Kingdom

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Some people aren’t very happy with where the government is going. But that has always been the case, no matter who was in power. In such situations, what should be done, if anything?

In Luke 3:19-20, John preached against King Herod for how he married his brother’s wife (She was also his niece). We can imagine John and his audience thinking (and maybe even saying among themselves) that if the Messiah was going to rule and reign from Jerusalem, then King Herod would have to be deposed.

John had been preaching about fire coming to destroy those who rebelled against God, and many probably looked at King Herod as the epitome of wickedness in Israel. Surely, if judgment was coming, it would begin with King Herod.

But shockingly, it is John himself who ends up in prison. This was not the way the promised Kingdom was supposed to begin! He is confused, as are his disciples. Later, from prison, John sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus to explain Himself (Luke 7:19). Why is Jesus partying while John sits in jail? Herod should be in jail, not John.  We can almost hear John’s thoughts: “I preached about a coming judgment, but it wasn’t supposed to fall on me!”

Jesus basically replies that John needs a new paradigm for how the Kingdom will look (7:22). The Kingdom, says Jesus, is not about conquest and the destruction of our enemies, but about healing, grace, and forgiveness. It is about restoration and redemption. If we do overthrow our enemies, it will be through love and kindness. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “We destroy our enemies when we make them our friends.”

So, like John, are you experiencing a fiery trial (cf. 1 Pet 4:12)? Don’t be surprised at such things, for judgment begins with the house of God (cf. 1 Pet 4:17), and the promise of Jesus is that in this world we will have trouble (John 16:33). Realize that the trial you are experiencing is to refine and purify you for God’s purposes. And currently, His purpose is not to overthrow leaders and governments. Rather, His purposes are for you to bless the world and do for for the world what leaders and governments never can.

God’s justice is displayed, not in riches and royalty, but through service and sacrifice. Do you have criticisms of the way the world is going? Fine. But rather than look to leaders to change direction, start doing in your own community what needs to be done to restore justice and right all wrongs.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 3:15-22.

The First 30 Years of Jesus' Ministry

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If Jesus came to be the savior of the world, why did he spend the first 30 years of his life doing nothing? There were people to heal! Scriptures to teach! Miracles to perform!

Imagine all the people who probably died, right there in the region of Galilee, during those 30 years, without ever hearing the Gospel! Without ever knowing that the Savior of the world was there, living just a few miles away! Why would Jesus “waste” 30 years of His life when so much ministry could have been done?

All of us who are called to preach, teach, and serve others feel the same way from time to time. “I can’t wait another five years! I have so much to teach! So many ideas! There are so many people all around me who need to hear the Gospel. I’ve got books to write, minds to change, people to serve! If I don’t do it now, I never will!”

For some people, that may be true. Maybe God does want you to get out there and get to work right away. But I think that for most of us, including Jesus (and Joseph, Moses, David, Paul, etc), there is something God does in our lives during the “back burner” years that cannot be accomplished any other way.

I love how William Barclay explains all this (Luke 1975:39f). The quote is long, but it’s worth reading (Let me tell you…it hit me HARD today).

This passage begins with the most suggestive statement. It tells us that when Jesus began his ministry he was not less than about thirty years of age. Why did he spend thirty years in Nazareth when he had come to be the savior of the world? It is commonly said that Joseph died fairly young and that Jesus had to take upon himself the support of Mary and of his younger brothers and sisters, and that not until they were old enough to take the business on their own shoulders, did he feel free to leave Nazareth and go into the wider world. Whether that be so or not, three things are true.

(1) It was essential that Jesus should carry out with the utmost fidelity the more limited tasks of family duty before he could take up the universal task of saving the world. It was by his conscientiousness in the performance of the narrow duties of home that Jesus fitted himself for the great task he had to do. …It was because Jesus faithfully performed the smallest duties that the greatest task in all the world was given him.

(2) It gave him the opportunity to live out his own teaching. Had he always been a homeless, wandering teacher with no human ties or obligations, men might have said to him, “What right have you to talk about human duties and human relationships, you, who never fulfilled them?” But Jesus was able to say, not, “Do as I say,” but, “Do as I have done.”

Tolstoi was a man who always talked about living the way of love; but his wife wrote poignantly of him, “There is so little genuine warmth about him; his kindness does not come from the heart, but merely from his principles. His biographies will tell of how he helped the laborers to carry buckets of water, but no one will ever know that he never gave his wife a rest and never—in all these thirty-two years—gave his child a drink of water or spent five minutes by his bedside to give me a chance to rest a little from all my labors.” No one could ever speak like that of Jesus. He lived at home what he preached abroad.

(3) If Jesus was to help men he had to know how men lived. And because he spent these thirty years in Nazareth, he knew the problems of making a living, the haunting insecurity of the life of the working man, the ill-natured customer, the man who would not pay his debts. It is the glory of the incarnation that we face no problem of life and living which Jesus did not also face.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 3:23-38.

Finding Your John

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Who do we look to for solutions to life’s problems? Who do we look to for answers to life’s questions and issues? Politicians? Religious leaders? Fox news correspondents? Radio show hosts? Hollywood? Sports starts? Pop singers? Oprah? Glen Beck?

And if your answer is “God” or “the Bible,” whose understanding of God and the Bible do you go by?

Maybe the real question we should be asking ourselves is, “Who does God gives the answers and solutions to?”

For that question, Luke 3:1-14 provides an interesting answer. In these verses, Luke reveals that God’s solutions to life’s questions and problems did not come from rulers or religious leaders or those with power, prominence, money, and authority. Instead, the word of God came through a poor and relatively unknown man living in the wilderness: John.

It is John who showed the people how to live under the rule of a corrupt government and religious system. It is John who explained to the people how to live lives of generosity, honesty, and integrity.  He was a nobody, but God used Him to call the people back to God’s way of living.

Do you know a “John” today? I know some people who might fit the bill, but you don’t know them, and that’s the whole point. It is partly due to their lack of fame and power that qualifies them. They don’t live in mansions, ride in limousines, or appear on TV. But God uses them to bring wisdom into my life. A few of them aren’t even Christians (*Gasp*)!

Who do you have tha that God uses to speak to you? If you don’t have somebody, don’t look to TV or D.C. Instead, find someone who is weak, despised, and foolish (1 Cor 1:27-28), and hang out with them. You never know…maybe you’ll find your John.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 3:1-6 and Luke 3:7-14.

Even Jesus had to Learn

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It constantly amazes me how many Christians think that serious study of Scripture is “optional.”

When challenged to read and study, many will answer, “Oh, that’s for pastors and professors. I just want to love God. And besides, the Bible says that ‘knowledge puffs up.'”

There is no other area in life where such logic would be accepted.

Can you imagine telling your wife, “I don’t really care to read the notes you have written to me, or really get to know who you are, what you like, and how you think. I just want to love you, and all the knowledge about you will just get in the way”? Since when does knowledge about your loved ones hinder your love for them?

How long would you last at your job if you told you boss, “I don’t really care about knowing how to do my job. Right now I love my job, and think that if I learn how to do it better, I might not love it any more”? You’d be out on the street before the end of the day.

Even with something like sports. Have you ever heard a sports fanatic say, “I love watching sports. I don’t know much about the teams, the players, or even the rules, but I sure do love sports! If I had to spend time reading and learning about the games and the players, it would ruin my enjoyment! So don’t bother me with all those stats and numbers”?

All this is crazy talk…except in some Christian circles. In some churches, it is considered “spiritual” to ignore serious study of Scripture. Oh sure, they may talk a lot about the Bible, and may even memorize large portions of it, but attempting actually learning what those passages mean is frowned upon.

Of course, what many don’t realize is that even Jesus studied. Even Jesus had to learn the Scriptures. In Luke 2:41-52, there are several references to the fact that Jesus learned (from His parents and from the Jewish priests, scribes, and Pharisees) what the Scriptures meant and how to live them.   

And if that’s true, how much more do we!

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 2:41-52.

Haiti and Patrick

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Please pray for a friend of mine named Patrick. He is Haitian, and so far, has over 40 family members who were killed this week by the earthquake in Haiti.

Some of them actually lived here in the states, but were down there for a mission trip. The hotel they were staying in collapsed, and all of them died. Both he and his wife lost their parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins…pretty much everybody.

One thing to be thankful for is that his wife and three children did not go on the mission trip, and so they are safe.

Internet Seminary

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Want to increase your Biblical knowledge and strengthen your theological foundation?

Join me online at Internet Biblical Seminary! I will be facilitating a few classes there soon, Doctrine 1, Doctrine 2, and Romans & Galatians. And best of all…it’s FREE!

At the site, just register on the left. As part of the registration, there is a drop down menu to select which organization to come in under. Select “Rocky Mountain Bible College.”

Once you are registered, sign up for “Doctrine 1” (prerequisite for Doctrine 2) or “Romans and Galatians.”  And guess what? The notes for Doctrine 1 and Doctrine 2 includes Charles Ryrie’s Basic Theology.  

Even if you are not able to take these courses, please pass this website on to as many people as you can…church friends, missionaries, family members, etc. These classes are being taught worldwide, and are designed so that those who take the classes can then turn around and teach them to other people. This is true biblical discipleship…but Internet style!

See you in class!

Simeon’s Salvation

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In Luke 2:25-35, Simeon states that after a lifetime of waiting, he has seen the Lord’s “salvation” and so can die in peace. He is referring, of course, to Jesus, but what does he mean by “salvation”? Is it “going to heaven when you die” or something else?

In my commentary on this passage, I wrote this:

Throughout biblical history, when people spoke and wrote about salvation, they were referring to physical deliverance from some sort of temporal calamity, such as sickness, premature physical death, enemies, and natural disasters like storms, floods, and famines. In the case of Israelites like Simeon, they most often thought of salvation in the way it is used in prophetical passages like Isaiah 40:5 and 52:10. Salvation is the time when God would deliver Israel from enemy occupation, and restore her to her rightful place among the nations, with the Messiah ruling and reigning over the entire world from Jerusalem (cf. Green 1997:145). This is what Simeon had in mind, as confirmed by what he says in verses 31-32. Forgiveness of sins (national and personal) was definitely a part of this, but only as a prerequisite to the permanent and perpetual deliverance from enemies that Israel hoped and longed for.

In other words, I don’t believe Simeon was thinking, “Finally! Now I can die and know that I will go to heaven!” Instead, he was thinking, “Finally! The one who will deliver Israel from Rome is finally here! I can die in peace knowing that deliverance is coming for my people!”

What do you think?

P.S. I have turned off comments for this post, so if you want to weigh in on what Simeon meant, please do so over at the commentary. You do have to register, but it’s easy and free!

Poor Jesus

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Jesus and His family were poor. In the commentary on Luke 2:21-24, I point out how Joseph and Mary make the redemption offering for poor people. The same was true when Mary went to offer the purification offering for herself (Side note: though poor, she still sacrificed and obeyed God. Being poor was not an excuse for disobedience.)

But why does it matter if Jesus was poor or rich?

In my study today on Luke 4:18 (not yet posted), I looked into how the first mission task of Jesus was “to preach the gospel to the poor.” It should go without saying (but sadly it doesn’t) that “the poor” were poor people; not rich people who were “spiritually poor” (as often preached in many churches.) The word used there refers primarily to beggars.

It is important to recognize that Jesus was physically poor (cf. 2 Cor 8:9), because this means that when He “proclaimed the gospel” to the poor, He was ministering among His own people. He was not some rich person proclaiming spiritual platitudes to “lift the hearts of the poor.” Poor people don’t need their hearts lifted as much as they need their bellies filled.

Jesus ministered among people He could identify with.

I don’t think the point for us is that we all need to become poor. All of us, I’m sure, could be more generous then we are to help meet the needs of others, but that is not the proper trajectory for this idea of Jesus being poor. Instead, the point is that for ministry effectiveness, it helps to minister among those we can identify with. For example, a sports fanatic shouldn’t try to minister to bookworms, and vice versa.

So what are your experiences? Where have you had trials and hardships in life? Are there other people around you who have experienced the same thing? Maybe God wants you to minister to them.

If you have some ministry ideas, post them below in the comments.

Anyone still here?

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Yes, I’m still here. It’s been a month since I posted anything. I’ve been busy. Hopefully, someone is still reading…

My Bible commentary writing is going slow. I spent three hours today on “to preach the gospel to the poor” in Luke 4:18. Talk about a trap-filled verse! My conclusion shocked me a bit. If I ever finish with that section, I tremble a little just thinking about posting it! Maybe I’m wrong in my conclusions, but if so, that’s what the interactive commentary is for. I hope you all weigh in!

Regarding the posts on this blog, I think I need to get it up current with the Grace Commentary blog. I find that most of my “devotional” insights come to me as I study and think about a particular verse. If I get caught up here with what I am studying and posting over there (at gracecommentary.com) then these posts here will maybe be more relevant, thought-provoking, and fresh.

So my goal over the next 2-3 weeks is to get myself “caught up.” Enjoy the ride!

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