Pre- & Post- Salvation Disciples are Being Made

Most of the stories we would humbly share fall into this category: disciplemaking.  We do not doubt His leading our ministry when salvations are not plentiful.  Just doing evangelism here would mean no one would be on-hand to explain obstacles to placing trust in Jesus for salvation.  It would also mean new believers would have a poor concept of the life God is calling them toward on earth.  Ultimately He wants to see believers grow and reach others with the gospel - places that Bruce, Janet and Michele do not have access to.  

We don't always ask spiritual questions the first time we meet someone.  We serve them in little ways, and trust God for what to say and when.   

"R"

Backstory: Six years ago we knew this 17 year old who was homeless, orphaned, under the influence of a Wiccan, and on drugs. We studied the bible with him occasionally over a period of months and years. Last year he came downtown to tell us how he accepted Christ and was baptized at Court Street Christian Church. After a few months he quit going regularly.

This month: He has a girlfriend who has stayed in Pastor Tyler's home for pregnant girls at risk. Their baby is due next month. He has a job with the State of Oregon even as a felon and pays for his own apartment. This Sunday, his girlfriend is throwing him a surprise party. To celebrate what, I ask? "To celebrate R getting his GED, graduating also from his drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, and ending his requirement for having a parole officer." Wow - God has really changed him!

"S"

Backstory: The meekest person we know. Covered in tats and totally intimidating visually, yet totally gentle. He is 34. We didn't know this till this year but he is mentally disabled to some degree. He spent years asking for work with us. We prayed for him to get a job. He got one and he worked 6 days a week and we practically never saw him again for about four years! He came down one time and said that he wish he had free time to meet people and have community, but they weren't even paying him minimum wage (Garten). I suggested that we start helping him find a new job where he could make more than $700 a month. Bruce and I kept tabs on job openings. He got himself a temp agency and is now a janitor at two places including a church. S likes working at the church.

This month: He got into a conflict with a woman server at Craftworks. We know her too, and she knows what we do downtown.  She is super goth and she supports our work. S wouldn't let it go. Janet said we had an obligation to disciple him in this.  I said, "We believe God wants to say to you, 'Let it go, S.' Jesus in the Bible once told a story. The story goes like this. There was a man who once owed a whole year's wage to a rich man and he went to that man and begged him to be released from the debt. The man let him go. Then that man found another person who owed him a hundred dollars and he choked him and said, "Pay up!" The rich man found out and marveled that he would be stingy after having received kindness and threw him in jail. S - forgiveness is hard. We have to go back to the cross. Remember what Jesus did. He gave up His life and shed his blood when you and I were His enemy. And he is now calling you to be forgiving to others. It's not easy. But when you have been forgiven a bunch, it is easy to feel forgiveness to others." He listened deeply, but we don't know if he is accepting Jesus more and more and just doesn't have the words to say it. He listens and he seems strengthened and affirmed but he can't admit it very often. Our plan is to pray fervently for God to intimately demonstrate ministry again to S, so we can point to Him as alive and his God. Then after S believes God is real and loving him, maybe we can call again for S to lay down his life for God.

"W"  

Backstory: Not new to us.  He is 34 now.  Six years ago he used to be high on drugs and yell downtown on the corner.  He was a Christian.  He wanted prayer for a job.  We prayed and he got hired as a dishwasher at Red Robin!  He was so proud, and he is off drugs.  There is a lone ranger minister of Jesus who walks around downtown who is well-to-do and his name is Tony.  Tony looks for ministry.  Right before W got hired, he encouraged W to stay off drugs.  He promised to buy him a whole new set of teeth for $4000.  W feels like a million bucks and tells all his co workers about Jesus and the power of God, constantly.  He tells everybody about Jesus, just like he was standing on the corner before, now sane and passionate... and with an amazing smile!

This month:  He came downtown to say that Red Robin is promoting him to line cook and that they bought him a $400 bicycle for transportation.  He is a very happy man.

"G"

Backstory: This dude!  G is a bad guy.  We knew him three-four years ago.  "D" told me that he was dealing drugs and pimping women at the Motel 6 on Hawthorne, where he was living with many others, and someone else told us about the drug dealing.  He used to tell us about his parents.  

This month:  G was in prison for the last two years!  Now he is 22.  We never stopped praying for him.  He sat there mostly silent, but he seemed to genuinely be touched by the fact that we were so thrilled to see him again.  He brought a girlfriend, and we don't know her story yet.  The police woke them up where they were sleeping and they came right to our table to talk about it.  He connects well with Bruce.  I hope we can get back into hearing more from him.  We pray that God's Spirit of repentance follows him.  Unfortunately, many times when we see progress, Janet and I note that Satan comes and doubles his efforts for a long period of time afterward - I saw him downtown yesterday, extremely high with his girlfriend and yelling at someone.  He is even less with it than ever.

"F"

Backstory:  F is another precious one.  He is 30.  We discipled him intensely for about a year.  He has a special connection to Janet, because both of them are poets.  They both are looking for ways to grow in life through writing.  He came to us the first day and said, "I was wondering if I could sit with you.  I am a Christian but I have been worrying that because I am guilty of wrong things, would I bring evil with me to you all?"  He hadn't been a Christian long, and had yet to enter a church.  WOW, he grew so fast!  He read John 1 for first time because we shared it and said, "Whoa, that's deep!"  We loved every minute with him and he grew and grew.  Everything that Janet said to disciple him he believed and took into his soul.  Till one day he was drunk....  And he came into the coffee shop and made a scene.  He was asked to leave and we supported the shop management's decision.  He never came back after that.  We were worried that something terrible had taken over his life.  We kept praying fervently about a year.

This month:  Bruce says he saw F at WinCo in south Salem.  They talked super briefly but he looked like his normal self.  We praise God!  We want him to continue growing either with us or others... but mostly we wish to know that he is okay.  And he is.  SO good to get news.

"M"

A new to us kid during this last month's time, 19.  Not homeless.  A Christian.  Has ADHD.  Trying to understand his breakup with his pregnant girlfriend.  Wanted to know what the bible says about marriage.  Glad to have someone to have pray for him, and wasn't currently in any bible study.  

"B"

Another new kid that has come to know us in the last month; 22.  Also not homeless, but his father says he has three months to find a new place.  He is trying to get a better job and brought his resume to us so we can read it.  Bruce keeps tabs on job openings and builds relationships with business owners and told him two good places to apply.  He says he is a praying person and we told him we will be praying for him!

"J" 

Backstory: Currently 26.  We have known him for six years.  There used to be a self-proclaimed prophet downtown, a kind of Hebraic law follower who believed correct Hebrew language interpretation grants salvation.  J listened to this self-proclaimed prophet at the same time we were testifying about Jesus.  In addition, J's worldview is very pantheistic.  But the false prophet left for Washington State awhile ago and we get to hear what J really believes.  He's a philosopher who invests in bitcoin and wants to live off the grid and by all means I believe he can.  He won't work for corporations, or get a job of any kind.  He had been storing his materials for inventions at his mom's house in West Salem.  He makes unique devices and sells them.  

This month:  He had asked Bruce and Janet and I for help putting money on a storage unit, because she gave him a limit to keeping his things with her.  He collected bottles for a whole month and got a total of $90, so we all said that since he was doing something to come up with the money, and because we believe in his projects and inventions, we would cover the remaining $30.  So on a Friday I drove my truck around all day.  There was a delay to getting the unit - his ID card was expired.  We hemmed and hawed leaning against the truck.  "Oh, I know, I think the Salvation Army helps with IDs!" he said.  I said, "Oh yeah!  It's not the Salvation Army, it's the United Methodist Church.  Let's go!"  Instead of going right in, he wanted to talk.  

We talked for 45 minutes about the gospel - it was almost as if he felt like it was the way to repay me for helping.  But I did most the listening.  He has gotten even more distant from God since the Hebraism.  He said people are different and they don't all fit into one mold.  That was what he found uncomfortable about churches.  And I said, "Churches know that.  They do what they do, well, but they also support people like Janet and Bruce and myself.  This is why we sit downtown.  Because we know that you can follow Jesus in a way that looks different and is appropriate for you and your rhythms and lifestyle."  I continued, "Just remember, your quest for God is good, but if you can bring it under the authority of Jesus Christ, there is a Spirit there and a blessing that is true that you will notice and it means that God is really alive.  The only people who regularly pray to God are those who hear something back.  Hebrews 11 something says everyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  And Jesus was pretty exclusive about God; He said "No one comes to the Father except through me."  So if you could take some time, I know you've read the Bible a lot, but take some more time to get to know Jesus in the Bible, and I believe you'll start to notice that God is alive."  It took all day, but we got his ID and the unit!      

We are on-hand to make disciples with them throughout the week, even when we are not gathered in our small group on the street.  This places His kingdom at the center of the stuff of life, which is the place He is looking to make disciples. 

Even more significantly,  we regularly pray and believe God in the supernatural.  Janet and Michele pray every week together for these young adults and we pray individually.  

Without prayer, much of what we do would be powerless and of the flesh - but - God sustains and leads us in ministry all the time and we praise God for it!

The Gospel is Preached

We know the small handful who are totally resistant to believing in Jesus -- they are far away in a land where they don't believe in anything and don't want to talk about it.  Yet every time they come downtown, usually with their friend who brought them there, they watch and listen while we disciple their friend.  They hear the powerful stories of what God is doing for the person they thought they were only casually hanging out with.   The ways of God tickle us to no end!

Almost every kid we know cares and respects what we have to say about God and takes it to heart.  This is a wide-open field, and few institutions are filling that need for disciplemaking.

"Z"  

Backstory: Just had a birthday; 29. We met Z about 3-4 years ago as a buddy of D's. He got to know us while D was applying to Meduri Farms in Dallas. Not a believer in any God. Back then he said he was really impressed that we cared so far for D. After a few weeks he surprised us, "You know, I ended up going to your church service last Sunday, because I liked what you guys are doing." (Many of them expect accolade from us when they declare they went to church.) We told him that's great that he went to church, but going to church isn't really the goal as much as it is being known and knowing others when you're there, and growing closer to God regardless of where you hang out. He lived at the UGM for several months. I was impressed with him: he held a job in warehousing at Home Depot. He rode his skateboard out to Kuebler Rd. every morning at 3 A.M. And he was building his income so he could afford an apartment. He talked much about his ex wife and son, who he missed terribly. It was because of addiction that he lost those relationships, so now he was sober even while at the UGM.  After many months around us he acknowledged that sin is real and that he has committed them and suffered with guilt over them. He emphasized the guilt so we continually pointed him back to the cross and gave him the assurance only Jesus's shed blood can provide.  He was taking it in.  "I know you're not a believer, Z, but Jesus died and shed His blood just so you could know - the spirit that He gives you is the Shame-Taking Spirit.  He wants you to be free from shame, and the way that happens is you leave your sins at the foot of the cross and believe what He says; you are now His child.  I hope that that makes sense to you right now and brings you comfort!"

But he got that apartment and disappeared after this, for awhile. Then he came back recently, dating a new girl who physically abused him in the doorway of the coffee shop as we watched. I shared the gospel out front with this gal, and after I listened to her and recommended she move on, I went back in to Z and said, "let's get your restraining order today," and Bruce went with him to make sure it got done. Z couldn't stay away from her, and occasionally he was on drugs and homeless again. Two months ago, he asked me to drive him to his grandpa's house. Z asked, "Would you wait here? I am going to ask him if I can stay with him for a couple of days, so I can hide from [my ex-girlfriend]." He came out - grandpa said no. He got in the car and began to cry, and didn't know where to go next. He said he has been sleeping for two weeks under the dining room table at his mom's house, who also uses drugs and has a boyfriend who doesn't like him. He felt hopeless. I said, "You, sleeping underneath a table, is so sad, doesn't that make you interpret your self worth? It must, so let me tell you: you cannot listen to your circumstances or look to [your ex] for significance. God has come to declare your worth: His Son died on the cross for you. For your sins, which you say you regret, and even for broken relationships and issues you can't seem to press through in life. So when someone in this world offers you something crappy, no one is going to be there to remind you like I am telling you now: you must choose what you will listen to. Either God, who paid the ultimate price for you and doesn't judge you for where you're at, who set your worth by giving His own Son, or, these things around you. And you just declare to the world out loud what Jesus has done for you, because there is power in it! When we have these "groundhog days" - you know, like the movie where you wake up and nothing gets better? God lets us have these so that we will turn to Him for abundant life. He holds it for you. You MUST turn to Him to find it.  It works the same way for me and everyone else." He calmed down and received some sense of security.  I watched him leave the car. "Whose set your value, Z?" I asked him before he left. He said, "I know." I promised myself next time I saw him I was going to invite him to trust Christ. Unfortunately, he was in jail for two months.

This month: Z got out of jail and called us the next day. Talking a mile a minute, so determined to do well. I said, "You know what, Z?  I believe you!  I believe you can do it, because I know you and how much follow-through you have.  There is only one thing I think that could be even better than watching you set goals and accomplish them.  Do you want to know what that is?  It's to lay these things before God and rely on His strength to carry out right things for you.  He has even better consistency and his burdens are light.  That's the only way you can do better, and I believe in you.  You can do this!"  Z apologized to Bruce and Janet and I about letting us down. I said, "We just want to support you Z, so call us." I asked him to read Matthew 6:25-26 and he said he would. I feel he is close to salvation!  In fact, I would be surprised if when I ask him to accept Christ, He would not testify that he already has!  He did mention also he had news to share with me "about God" but I forgot to ask.

We call these "snapshots" of the last 6 weeks, because that's true - we can think of another time this month where another believer "W" - (whose story is in the discipleship post), brought "R" (another R-named person) and "C" - two young adults, both unresponsive unbelievers, who sat and listened to stories of miracles and glorifying of what God has done in the life of W.  This is the same pattern in which Z has come to be discipled by us after being brought around by "D."

Caring for their Well-Being

"M"'s testimony this month:  "When you guys bought me a birth certificate, that changed everything!"

We are humbled day after day that God uses us to actually stop real-time suffering from happening....

Through material giving... and through the singular power of God in the impossible!

"D"

Backstory: Now 26; we've known him since he was 19. As a 19 year old he wouldn't accepted Christ. Then he did the following year when he was 20. But he would shy away from scriptures. I prophesied over him and told him, God says "I put the lonely into families" Ps. 68:6. He began to call for little reasons and we continued to pour God's identity into him, for a couple years. At 19 he refused meth because it caused him paralyzation on one side of his body at 17. But at 21 he fell back into that lifechoice. He still called because he was hungry or cold or sick, asking for a small thing to relieve his suffering. I'd preach while he was high. I'd bring him dinner. One time Ben and I rescued him at night. He was so afraid and begged on the phone that someone come rescue him. The word on the street was there really are people after him; it isn't all his paranoia from drugs. Ben and I were scared, actually, but it was super dark and we didn't see anyone near him where he was hiding.  His parents and brother have come to our home with D to meet us. Another time he got caught unprepared for rain in the winter. He asked me to drive him behind some businesses in West Salem and he looked for choice cardboard in the dumpsters and then put them in my car. Then he asked me to drop him off with the blanket I brought and the cardboard in a secret place where he sleeps. The next morning, the cardboard did nothing to stop the rain and, soaked and cold, he asked for help with laundry so he could warm up.

We almost had him placed at Bridgeway, once. He went to jail on trespassing for a couple months. In jail he was sober. There he began to testify to others how God was a Father. Began to draw images of His glory which he later shared. Prayed on his own. Had a favorite Psalm!  Was in and out of jail, still on meth. Started calling less and less. We kept praying that God would watch him and not let him destroy his life or someone else's. It's been a year or two where he just doesn't call or come see us, at all.

This month: D appeared and sat with us. He has been jail-free for months now, he said. This can only mean his addiction is not so severe which therefore stopgaps him from getting into criminal trouble. He looked immaculate. He listened to our stories and most importantly he was completely sober. He's taking showers at the mission and still sleeping in Wallace Marine. Janet, Bruce and I spoke to each other afterward - it seems that D came just to prove to us that he could take care of himself properly. Or to check his own internal sense of progress. That was confirmation of God's ministry on D. He's doing alright. Praise God.

"R"

Backstory: 61 years old. We have known him for six years, and about 18 months ago he developed lung cancer. He had only been an Easter/Christmas Christian. We told him we were praying for him. Within 6 months they said he was in stage 4 and had a year to live. He had chemo, but as soon as he was able to drive, he came back to see us. We are floored that he comes to see us when he is deathly sick, because we play a role in his life I suppose. He had lung surgery and the prognosis wasn't good.  We prayed, and then after his lungs were almost clear, cancer had now formed in his brain. We saw him very infrequently, in between two brain surgeries for two cancer bouts, and recoveries. He thanked us for our prayers. Janet is concerned when he isn't around for many weeks, and commits us to pray intensely. R says, "I won't do any more chemo. Whatever quality of life I can have I will take." We don't see him for another 4 months. We are worried.

This month:  He appears, telling us and the other motorcycle friends down at Starbucks what is happening to him: He is cancer-free. Back at work. Healing well. Driving a car! THAT IS NOT WHAT WE THOUGHT WOULD HAPPEN EVEN THOUGH WE PRAYED! God is amazing, and it makes us crazy. "God is giving me a new lease on life," he says. He knows it was God who delivered him and thanks us for our prayers.

"T"

Backstory:  Bruce has two sons, "S" and an older brother, "T."  S adores T. We have never met T and never heard about him till this month, though S has come to be part of our group for years.

This month:  T, 50, went into the hospital for pneumonia and they ended up doing an immediate quad bypass heart surgery after finding a bad state. Afterward his heart was bleeding out, and his lungs quit working, so they intubated him. He was in a coma and his brain began to not respond. We prayed.  Two days later, his heart stopped internally bleeding. (They didn't know why it was bleeding even though they opened him up to look for where.) But he was still not responding for over a week to anything and the brain and heart weren't coming out of inaction. The wife said, "It's been a week on life support and I think it's time to give up and pull the plug," but before they did, someone saw his leg move one time. So we prayed and next week, his heart started running itself! They were still debating whether he was going to stay a vegetable. I prayed by myself at home, "God, you just have to help T. You have to." Bruce came downtown and said, "He's awake!! But he can't talk; he can only make gestures. S said, 'I love you, bro,' and T blew him a kiss." Now he couldn't move any of his arms and legs. Bruce went back and told S, "Michele prayed, 'You have to, God!' I guess God listens to Michele." I said, "God is amazing and I am so glad He listens when we really need it!" Now he is in physical therapy recovering the use of an arm and talking and walking. We tell this story all the time in front of the unbelievers who sit with us this month. Lol. God is good!

"N"

Backstory: N is a parking meter enforcer downtown for the City of Salem. He is 60. We have been friends on a name-basis for years. He has been working, walking 8am-5pm shifts full-time as a meter reader for 30 years. Our friendship has always been light because he is supposed to keep walking and not stand and talk or show favoritism. But in the last year, he has arranged his breaks so that he can sit with us for about 5 minutes and most days, we get that long to visit. We make sure to get him water on hot days. We never get to share the gospel with him because we never have enough time, so we haven't been sure how to develop the opportunity.

This month: N revealed that his wife has developed breast cancer, so he is planning on taking time off. "Do you have family or friends who can support you?" No, he says. He hasn't developed any friendships, he admits. He could only think of calling his mom, and he did, but his mom stressed him out. "Can I give you my phone number?" I ask. That way if he needed anything he can always text and I can offer to help with something. Sure, he says. He plans to take a couple weeks off for his wife's surgery and care. I said, "can we pray for you?"  Yes, he says, he used to have a church a long time ago. So Janet and I stand up and pray over him and his wife, "P." He is a bit awkward about the prayer. He texted us updates as the surgery happens and we prayed for them both everyday.  After his first week of taking care of his wife, he planned with us to come down as a civilian to sit "with my friends downtown," and did that yesterday for a whole hour, since he has all this time off and P is recovering well. It was like a floodgate!  He opened up on things he had been accepting for years and years:  No friends.  Not even talking to his family!  No church.  He has been living in depression and a deep fear about losing his job (he has back issues and walks all day), for years.  And now - he is starting to believe differently. He has reached out to his extended family and they have been supportive this week, and almost scolded him for not staying in touch. He admitted that a church had come around with P's situation of being hospitalized: "My spiritual family is the Kingdom Hall."  Wow. So much momentum here, and I have no idea what's going to happen, next!  All I know is, here was this poor man, suffering and lonely and feeling the burdens of the world.  But we knew his name and greeted him walking by us for years, and it is becoming so much more!

Praise God that he sees those who are cut off and hurting, and He lets us join in the work He is already working to supply for these precious ones!

A Year's Recap of Downtown Meet Up

One year ago I was meeting my street friend at Starbucks, and I thought it was just a conversation between herself and I.  But the people around us joined in our conversation agreeing, "Yeah, we should follow Jesus."  I realized here was a community of people!  Immediately I asked them what they thought it would look like for God's Kingdom to be manifest on the street.  A year later, this is still our formative question when we visit.

Janet, wife to John, the facilitator for the Perspectives course, came soon after with me downtown and we have become ministry partners.  There is no way I could have done this without her.  We hold one another accountable to carrying out the missionary principles we've learned in that course.

This community of people on the street are a mix of religions and backgrounds, but they all show up to take care of those in need.  When someone is thirsty, they buy a drink.  When someone is hungry, they've brought cookies.  When someone doesn't have what they need for homeless living, they find a way to help them out.  They help them fill out job resumes and refer them to people who are hiring in Salem.  All of this Good Samaritan work was already happening... what was missing was a sense of authority in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit to transform souls.

I queried if they believed that we have the opportunity to be the church not only in a building, but here in real life.  Our daily lives now count.  The gospel speaks to every situation.  We are learning together how to proclaim the gospel to one another's lives.

Last Thanksgiving our group decided we would put on a meal for ourselves and a few of our guests. We held it at Salem First Baptist Church in the CLC Cafe which faces the Skate Park. Unfortunately, word got out at the UGM and there was a line outside the door! Somehow we fed 60 people that day, when we had only planned to provide for 30!

During that meal I came across an old friend from when I took the Foundations course with Pastor Greg. I remembered his name instantly! After getting saved and coming to our church, he ended up homeless because his criminal record made him difficult to hire.  We were so glad to see one another again!

We have experienced two supernatural healings this year.  One was a friend who went in for symptoms of pancreatitis, but as he was having tests done, his condition cleared up as we were praying.  Another was with a friend who has stage 4 COPD.  He also has a series of other chronic concerns.  All of his chronic conditions except one were completely resolved (he still remains slightly low thyroid), and his ability to absorb oxygen through his lungs has improved, not worsened!  We have prayed in faith for God to demonstrate His power in physical trials.

We have seen three people surrender their worldliness to Jesus.

A man has admitted over time that he has been coming downtown for seven years to gamble after fighting with his parents.  He grew up Methodist and last week had a new song on his lips.  He changed the words from the hymn, "At the Cross"...

At the cross at the cross
When I first saw the light
And He took all my gambling away
It was there by faith I received my sight
Now I'm happy and joyful everyday

He continues to admit how every time he has the temptation to gamble, he literally imagines how he has laid this temptation at the feet of Jesus and He leaves it there again.

Another 22 year old young man would cry every other time we saw him because he longed to be part of his father's life.  He had been seriously abused by his mother and hasn't seen his father since he was 8.  We prayed and I met separately with him and his girlfriend and proclaimed that God's plan was to reconcile all men unto Himself, and you too must be reconciled to God.  He laid the problem before his Heavenly Father and now consistently admits, "I know that God is going to help me, and I don't feel like I need to call my dad's phone number constantly."

A 22 year old woman has been discipled this last year through two fistfights on the streets.  We have met with her separately and the whole downtown community has taken part in proclaiming the truth to her that our aim is to glorify Jesus, not be known for hosting trouble.  She has seen God work powerfully for her.  She was banned from downtown during our Thanksgiving meal, but we prayed and respected the law.  She called her police officer and asked permission to attend SFB during our meal outreach, and he permitted it!  This meal was so important to her and so was being with her people.  "I just love to walk through the doors of my church," she said of SFB, "I can feel close to God here."  She consistently brings her friends to church services and dinners.

Two men have taken the gospel vibrantly back to their families.  Their grown children and grandchildren have visited our group and brought snacks to help serve the hungry teens that come by.  They've confessed their distance from God.  They are talking about attending church once more, and their God-given dreams that they've put off.  One son went back to Court Street Christian Church and arranged to walk with his daughter through the waters of baptism.

"The bread man."  A year ago we didn't know his name. Like clockwork at 3 pm he stops and honors a member of our group by delivering a slice of great harvest bread. He would never say a word and never stay. One day, he actually stopped and talked! He shared that somehow his bike wasn't stolen, and while he didn't give God the glory, I have a feeling he knows! Now, whenever he stops he gets a hug and I ask, "Do you have any more amazing stories to share?" He reflects, and finds something of blessing in his life... and then walks away.

Janet and I marvel every time we depart.  It's as if our God-radar is on for life, and He is bringing ministry our way no matter how mundane the day might appear!  We are giddy, besides ourselves.  If we were working out of the flesh of good intentions, there is no way people would be coming to Jesus like this!  But Jesus has given even women authority on earth to obey the great commission.

On Thursdays we pray-walk downtown, past the Statesman Journal, the Capitol, the Courthouse, etc.  Janet impresses on me that nothing of His Kingdom happens apart from prayer!  On Tuesdays we meet one hour early so those who have interest in kingdom living can orally become acquainted with the biblical narrative. We have shared communion right on the street. We are raising one potential elder who belongs to this community. There is an energy and excitement. All have asked me what church I go to, and they have spoken deep respect for SFB and our pastors and inquire about our service times. Most importantly, Janet and I are not the only ones passionately following Jesus. Having tasted and seen that the Lord is good, they meet as ministers of the same whether or not she and I are there.

I am learning about bold faith. I am learning not to be discouraged when our group is small or seems to become more ungodly or there are no salvations. I am learning how to proclaim the gospel to all of life.  Ephesians 3:14-21

Possible Faith vs. Impossible Faith

What is possible faith?  What is impossible faith?

Possible faith - When we trust God to do something that human beings can do, but may not do by their own self-determination and strength.  We're insecure and we're gambling that we can succeed in the trial, so we pray.

Impossible faith - When we trust God to do something only God can do.  It is just like a dead person who comes back to life four days after dying.  The clinically deceased coming back to life four days later is impossible even by today's technological standards.

What are some possible prayer requests God can supply?

Raise money.
Build buildings.
Feed and clothe those in need.

Stuff from the ordinary of life.  The ordinary matters obviously, and we need God's attention there too.  When He takes care of these things for us, we are happy and we get to glorify Him.  Unfortunately, faithless humanitarian organizations can also do these things.  The amount of money the average Christian tithes to their church is just under three percent - which is identical to how much the average American gives to charitable causes.[1]  Possible faith can plant doubt in both saints and the watching world about what really is at work - human will, or God's will?

What are some impossible prayer requests that God must do for us?

Forgive sins.
Raise the dead.
Regenerate the soul of a man into a new creation in Christ.

This creates in me a thirst for the impossible.

Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”  And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee. Mark 1:27-28

We have been hearing lessons learned from the megachurch movement.  New buildings do not equal new disciples of Jesus.  This is why the main thing must be the main thing.  Disciplemaking- meaning making followers of those who are not currently followers - must be the focal point.  At times we all need material goods in order to represent God well and bless others.  But I've noticed how material stuff actually changes the relationship we have with God and with people - it makes God feel used, it makes people feel something short of dignified.  Disciplemaking actually costs very little, if no money at all.

Those who are called to serve Salem must go after the lost.  There is a gate marked "impossible" calling us out of where we often attune our time and energy.

"But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Mark 2:10

Jesus accompanied His movement with impossible requests being fulfilled.  Does He expect the same for us?  Yes!  He expects the impossible, not only the possible, to be done among those who make disciples:

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.  1 Cor. 2:4-5

Demonstration of the impossible.  Something bigger than what humans can possibly do.  This is how Jesus taught God to us.


Lord... if you do not fill my cup it will be empty!



[1]  Cheap Church: Learning the Labrynth of Bi-Vocational Living and Church Leadership by Hugh Halter

An Unexplained Healing

Listen to this!

•  This Soul on the Street has been mentioned before in our update posts. He is an older man. He has a chronic illness in stage 4. After routine blood work, his doctor scheduled him an appointment.  Usually the doctor adjusts medications over the phone but this time they asked him to come in face to face to discuss the results.

All they wanted to do was tell him good news!

He was told he would be chronically anemic -but he is no longer anemic!

He was told he would be chronically low potassium - but he is no longer low potassium!

His blood pressure and cholesterol came back perfect!

He has been hypothyroid for years and years and they cut his dose to 1/3!

But that's not all.  He had another appointment leading up to last week regarding his chronic illness.  Today he told us this:

"For two and a half years I have gotten no worse in being Stage 4.  This is a progressive disease, so the fact that it has not worsened is atypical.  Today they told me that I have actually gained back some of my function.  I'm scoring better than I did two and a half months ago!  I know this is because God is still trying to show me that He has plans for my life."

A year ago I tuned in to the webcast of the Verge 2013 conference in Austin, where I watched this video:



It changed me.  It changed what I wanted, out of being a Christian and serving Him.

I have been looking to pray specifically for God's restorative miracles in the lives of the Souls on the Street.  It has been hard at times to pray with faith and with the authority the Father gives us because of the Son of God.  There are waves where the Spirit has made me obedient.  I am just thankful that sometimes my prayers resemble the Christianity I see in scripture. Ephesians 1:20-21; 2:6,

He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named.... ...and [He] raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus....  

He is sharing this dominion over every spiritual force, freely given to us through faith in Jesus Christ. Unbelievable!!


Jesus, Praise You!  You are the King.  I long to see Your power, I long to see you glorified.  God without you we can do nothing.  We can ask You for our needs, we can share Your Words.  But only You give the increase.  Thank you for being there in the spaces between our prayers.  Thank you for keeping our hearts on course.  Please continue to show Your might through real people, real stories of transformation.  Thank you for meeting my needs specifically this week as well!

Prayer as a Woman Giving Birth

Kinda hilarious how coarse the Bible is, sometimes, right?  T.M.I.!!

Lord, in trouble they have visited You,
They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.
As a woman with child
Is in pain and cries out in her pangs,
When she draws near the time of her delivery,
So have we been in Your sight, O Lord.
We have been with child, we have been in pain;
We have, as it were, brought forth wind;
We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

I am absolutely filled with wrong attitudes like these!  This kind of prayer was self-focused.  There is nothing wrong with asking for God to help; the point is that this was the bulk of their relation with God.  The by-product?  They had all the pains and symptoms of a woman about to give birth, but what they delivered was bodily gas.  No baby.  Eew!!

How many times have I labored with no fruit?  Something is missing.  John 15:8,

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

I am constantly using my busyness for God to "make up" for something lacking in me.  Eew!  It just isn't about me!   Christian tasks are not meant to fill in the gap left by my failings.  Matt. 5:20,

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Not hating lands, homes, possessions, even our own children and spouse and parents for the sake of the fruit in Jesus Christ will leave us with impure motives.  I repent, a lot!  In my heart, these repentant prayers go something like this: "God, I know You walk with me through this suffering.  In the meantime, will You act in power for my friend, for this city?"

We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth.
Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

The loud noises of labor pains built expectation of impact in the culture.  This scripture describes a kind of Christianity that does not impact beyond its own people-boundary.  We will not give birth in the world if we wait for the city to come on to a church campus to be exposed to Him.  We must have sojourners from our city walk with us through life in order to give birth.  But we need more than just sojourners from the city.  Isaiah 66:7-9,

'Before she was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her pain came,
She delivered a male child.
Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.
Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?' says the Lord.

If you've grabbed some sojourners - meaning - some unbelieving, post-Christian people, that's awesome.  You've made them privy to your labor pains of life lived for God.  But there's still something left wanting.  To give birth without labor pains, that is what I long for.  Out of all of life's struggles, bearing fruit might be the one effortless pursuit.  I'm ready!  What in the world is this??  It is a reversal of God's curse on Eve in Genesis 3.  Zion is citizenship in the Kingdom of Christ.  Though our ultimate experience of easy birth will be in the Kingdom of God, I believe that if we press into this Kingdom promise, with an eye on the city, He will give it to us today.


Jesus, forgive me.  I want fruit, and I'm spinning my wheels.  This is not what you designed.  Can you let me enter in to effortless fruit bearing?  By the grace stored for me in Christ Jesus?  Teach me to make my life small, teach me humility.  Help me to glorify you.  Teach me to abide in Your love so that I will bear much fruit.  I trust you to do as your Word says, and I am so happy to watch you at work!  Help me to remember to stay in Your love and joy!

Prayer Walking

Galen Currah from People of Yes has made himself accessible to us.  He recommends prayer walking as a way to start a church plant.  He has said that many times they pray to bind Satan in a neighborhood and that hungry people ready for the gospel will receive it.  Many times people have exited their homes, approach the team who is prayer walking, and ask them questions about God.

This person of peace, this Gospel seeker, begins a whole new church plant with his or her entire network of family and friends.

We haven't been prayer walking lately but hope that as the weather turns for the better we can do it more regularly.  I hope to boast in God and not in ourselves.  I am not awesome, or a great Christian because of the religious things I do.  I want to continue to write about what God does.  I write to invite and encourage.  

Do you believe that you have the power within you to start your own church?  It's true!  Will He not give you the power and authority to do exactly what He commands?  Of course!  Jesus commanded us to go make disciples who make disciples.  This is a church - a community of people whose legacy is obedience to God.  This is what these street Christians are looking for; this is what they believe in the depths of their soul.  It is why they are on the street.

On the People of Yes website it says,

The irony of our age: many people who avoid the big brick church down the street crave precisely what Scripture requires… 

• Warm, relational atmosphere, serving one another in love (1 Cor. Chapters 12 and 13),

• Lively music that everybody sings (the last two Psalms), 

• Interactive discussion of God’s Word (the many New Testament “one another” commands such as “teach one another” and “exhort one another”),

• Experiencing Jesus’ Presence rather than merely learning abstract truths about Him (1 Cor. 14:24-26).

Father, please be with us today.  Show us your presence.  Show the people on the streets of Salem, your Presence.  Let us enjoy who you are.  Let us see who you are.  Let us have ears to hear.  God, cause those who are willing to repent to be joined to us, and us joined to them, in the joy of your Holy Spirit.

Authority for Women, Part 5

If you decide to live in limbo land like me, with one foot in the church door working complimentarily with appointed overseers, and another foot in high rebellion for the sake of righteousness, I will warn you it's miserable for awhile.  You're "discipling down," you're "discipling up."  You're calling people to get out of the system and plugging people back into the system.  Nobody likes you.  Nobody understands why you're both angry and loving at once.

Why stay?  Why bother them?  Why bother yourself?

KING JOSIAH HAD AUTHORITY

As King, Josiah had all the authority he could want - what he wanted to know was God's opinion on how he should next lead the people.  Even those in authority need assurance, they need inspiration, they also need revival.  They need someone outside the structures of what is, to speak the truth and to demonstrate it.

It is good for tender hearts to be collected in trust and love.  Although "discipling up" can be the most difficult kind of love to give away, it is the most rewarding.  If you want to be faithful to the church as you embrace a calling others cannot understand, I will hold your hand as you grit your teeth.  What you are doing is the most noble kind of thing.  Thank you for your leadership when no one else comprehended it.

The members of the Body need one another.  Overseers need the truth, because they bear a heavy burden.  They are godly people too, who, if exhorted, will be thankful for someone bold enough to promote God's will, and godly, powerful leaders like David and Josiah recognize it in women like Abigail and Huldah.

FOR WOMEN WHO FEEL GOD POINTING AT THEM

Start now with God's authority, and obey.  The approval of overseers comes later after you get your ball rolling.

Yes, on paper Jesus was respectful to send healed people in to the system in the prescribed ways, back to the very ways and rulers who were rejecting Him.

But what was most deeply on Jesus' heart?  What is this really all about?

Is it all about the lost?
Is it all about the backslidden?
Is it all about my personal calling?

Actually it's not about any of those.  Significance and purpose is derived from the church.

(Just as what you found you tolerated at church drew you to lead in Christ's authority, the church just goes to show you it gave you the direction in mission by pointing your hope back to Christ.  You wouldn't have heard your calling if you hadn't hung out with fellow worshipers.  How clever is Lady Wisdom!  See how we catalyst-types learned to be annoying?  We learned from the best!  We learned it straight from the Bride of Christ herself.)

We have got to have a love for the church.  It has to drive all that we do.  We don't win lost people if the church has lost its vibrancy.  We don't win the backslidden if the church has lost its vibrancy.  Our personal calling doesn't have its complete impact if the church we depart from has lost its vibrancy.  We don't lead our children well if their bigger picture of what it means to be a Christian, in the local church, has lost its vibrancy.  It is through the church that Jesus is accomplishing His mission.

One lone hero, one great rogue Christian visible to the world at large isn't enough to win back the culture to Jesus.  If all of us don't make it, none of us will.  Ephesians 3:10,

...now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places....

Calling and authority must be wielded in such a way to mobilize the larger body of Christ.

Authority for Women, Part 4

Huldah proves I don't need to be a lot of things in order to serve Christ.  Gender ought to be irrelevant, as should probably a lot of factors such as a seminary degree.

Part of me wants to cry, if God gives authority to do that which He calls us to do, what are we waiting for?  And yet at the same time I'm contradictory, I'm desperate to warn that it's not that simple.

I have had people tell me I care far too much about what people think who don't understand what God has called me to do.  They are usually those who've discovered that authority and power come directly from God Himself.  They're outside the usual church structures doing what they love, speaking back to me in limbo land.  They don't like me.  They're frustrated that I don't just keep it simple and obey Jesus.  They don't get why I stay.

I have had people tell me I care far too little about what leadership believes is important.  The way this is verbally expressed in church culture (not specific to my life) is "Well you may be called to do that, but I don't know if you can do that here."  So their best recommendation is to skip around churches in town, looking for a backer.  Yes, that obtains unity and peace for God's people.  But the ends do not justify the means (unfaithfulness).

Nobody likes me because I don't accept either of those.  It is absolutely wise not to ruffle feathers of godly men and women.  And yet it is godly to ruffle Kingdom feathers.

"DISCIPLING UP"

Remember Zacchaeus?  He hung out in the tree, gathering who Jesus was for some time before he had a change in heart.  This is typical discipling, "discipling down."  But leaders need time to take things in, too.  They need to have time to listen and observe.  Overseers of church need "tree-time."  They are no different.

On paper, consider Jesus.  When he healed people, He commanded them to go show themselves to the priest, as prescribed by the laws of Moses.  He commanded others to follow all the laws, be approved to enter society again through the God-ordained channels.  His ultimate passion was blessing the people and blessing the community of God by sending back people made well.  Yes - He told them the truth about God's commands.  However He still had respect for God's leaders.  Many of the leaders rejected Jesus, but not all.  Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, two temple authorities, eventually joined this Kingdom movement.  His respect bore fruit in the leadership.  We call this "discipling up."

Women are very familiar with another scenario they are often called, to "disciple up."  1 Peter 3:1-2,

Wives, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the Word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

Consider Abigail.  She had a husband who was a fool.  She was accustomed to being sought out by the servants in her household to bridge the gap of her husband's poor choices.  When she heard that David was nearby and in danger, she was quick to bring in true righteousness.  Nobody told her to do what was right; she did it under the authority of God alone.  She went out to meet David.  Did she tell him what to do?  No way!  She bowed in respect and waited to speak.  Even David had lost his head and was making the wrong decision.  And while Abigail saw that and wanted to stop it, she was quiet and submissive as many times as a man decided to take the lead.

Let's evaluate the wisdom of the counsel "you can do that, but you can't do that here."  It teaches us to be unfaithful to our local assembly.  Where would a godly wife be if she didn't remain faithful to an unbelieving husband?  Where would Israel be if Christ put away His inheritance for another nation who would say yes to Him?

This is why I believe that there are scriptures such as "women should be silent at church" and "I do not permit a woman to teach a man or be in authority over a man."  I believe that women are not in authority when a man shows up, ready to lead.  During those moments, a woman's godly response is to respect the leadership and authority given by God to men.  It is part of MY sanctification to remain in unity with the church in which I was born.

But that doesn't mean I'll forget my calling.

Authority for Women, Part 3

Why do I do what I do?

There was some unnecessary frustration due to confusion about how I obtain authority for ministry.  I'm glad to be rid of that!  But I can't form ministry referenced out of a perfect vacumn.  My zeal will be contexualized to other ministries out there, for better or for worse.  I do those things which God has wired me sensitive and responsive.  Yet because of Huldah, I unconditionally can say I do what I do because I am called.

I can imagine someone asking, "You say you lead when you see things that are overlooked.  Why do you focus on what is not being done?"  My answer: Somebody is called to spaces that haven't gotten the same attention, and that somebody is me if I am to walk in the Light.

Frame it differently, like God did to King Josiah; 2 Kings 22:19,

"... because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the LORD.

Josiah's men found a scroll of unattended commands while they restored the temple.  King Josiah took one crucial step before gathering all the people and making vows to obey God.  That step was consulting someone with the gift of prophecy.  Those with the gift of prophecy are most deeply concerned that people know and do God's will.  They are ambassadors of reform and change and godly growth.

He was 26 when he bypassed both Jeremiah and Zephaniah to ask Huldah.  He needed assurance before he implemented what he felt God would have him do in response to the text.

Why in the world would a man choose a woman when two men were available?  I can only conclude that it is because gender simply does not matter.  What mattered is that they exhibited tender hearts toward the disobeyed portion of God's commands.

AUTHORITY - WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

if you hear it, it's your authority in God

But wait - she uses authority over a man.  Paul forbade that.  Where did she get this from?

I've heard that question before.  The leaders of the temple questioned Jesus where He got His authority.  "By what authority do you do these things?" they asked Jesus.  He said, "Where did John the Baptist get his authority?"  They could not.  Here John was, doing righteousness without being raised through the channels provided in the local assembly.

There are two sources for authority.  One comes from overseers, another from God Himself.

Overseers are God-empowered leaders over His people.  That is what the temple system was set up for in the giving of the laws of Moses.  It is also what we find in the New Testament as a mandatory feature to any body of believers calling themselves a "church" - there must be elders, spiritual overseers, who we submit to as those who will give account for our souls.

Therefore it makes sense that the leaders of the temple ask for Jesus' "church-community pedigree."  In simple English they might have said, "We ought to know who you are, and you ought to want our approval.  Because God gave us to be the leaders of righteousness."

But they are not the only leaders ordained by God for ministry.  God can do whatever He wants, and He also chooses people outside His own structures of ordained overseers.

In what context does God appoint leaders outside of His own leadership structures?  When there is righteousness undone, authority comes directly from God, Himself, to His servants.  Matt. 5:19-20,

Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

"Who knows if you were appointed for such a time as this?" Esther was asked.  Only David looked out from his home of cedar to the tarp covering the Ark of God and said it should not be, and planned the Temple.  Nobody told Moses to intercede for Israel when they angered God, but Moses begged God to relent from His wrath.  Nobody told them to do it.  No other person in authority gave them the job.  But there these saints are, standing in the gap.

Where are the gap-standers of this generation?  I want to meet tender hearts like Josiah, eager for God's will.  Where are those who are ready to enter into tension because God has called them to stand up for "the least commandments" in our culture?

How do we navigate conflict with God-appointed leaders as we embrace our calling?  Part 4.

Authority for Women, Part 2

Being a girl is not easy.  Don't believe me?  Read this!

I have been angry.  Seeing how I looked to Deborah and Jael as the rare models for women in authority, I can figure why.  How confusing it is to try and lead and yet desire the authority from men to lead, yet they aren't immersed in my passion to take over the calling that I want to pass off to them one day?  Does that even make sense?  What a mess!

Huldah's outstanding example leaves me a little baffled.  I ask myself, do I still want to lead?

If my ministry is not in reference to anyone else's ministry, do I still want it?

What is innately, me?  I have observed my heart for the last couple of weeks.  I see someone around town and wonder if they know how awesome God is, how worthy He is of trusting and obeying!  I still envision Christ followers doing their own brand of the life of God in Christ.  I have found myself crying over the city of Salem as long as I can remember being a believer.  But the anger, well, I also innately have that too.

Specially intrinsic to me, I don't need to lead - but if someone is overlooked somehow and no one else is taking care of it, that's when I become a leader and I will take care of it.

COMPASSION & ANGER - THE SAME POINT

Emotions are an indication of calling.  Compassion drove Jesus.  Occasionally anger did too.

Most of the time Jesus didn't relate His work to the ministry of others.  A man with leprosy asked Jesus if He was willing to cure him, and Jesus was moved with compassion and said, "I am willing."  When Jesus looked over the city of Jerusalem, He was moved with compassion to gather and comfort the people.

Sometimes Jesus referenced His ministry to what others were up to.  He was angry while standing in the Court of the Gentiles.  He said "My house shall be a house of prayer!"  Something important was left undone.  This scripture means that outsiders should be in His courts themselves, offering prayers to God from every tribe and kind and collection of people.  It is the picture of a world-wide revival - that was God's plan for His temple.

What really lies underneath anger, anyway?  Pain.  Brokenness.  In the article Uncovering the Pain Behind Your Child's Anger from Focus on the Family, contributor Shana Shutte points out that anger is a response to pain, and that Christians sometimes teach children that it is not okay to express anger.  Instead, God commanded that Christians be slow to anger, and not to sin in their anger.  Anger submitted to God for its ultimate resolution is called "zeal."

What about you?  We all experience feelings while embracing our ministry.

"He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14).  Whether you have compassion or anger, being broken over what breaks God's heart is worth the price.  Does it come out like sympathy, standing in the gap, going to places that are dark and being satisfied by God's will to do so?  Then you're alright.  What is our responsibility if not to rebel against the absence of God?

I doubt men will ever go through all the stress Christian women do regarding authority.  It is so complicated!!!  I've certainly hemmed and hawed with women at the various issues involved.  Part 3.

Authority for Women, Part 1

I get to write about my life again!  This is great.

This Christmas was amazing.  I was praying about leadership, and God answered me.  The next morning God opened my Bible at Hezekiah.  I read about the evil Mannaseh and then godly Josiah.  I drank my coffee, and turned the page.  The title of an insert caught my eye: "Female Prophets" [1].  Here is what it says:

Huldah played a significant part in the history of Israel, although she appeared only once on the stage of the nation's history, during a time of religious defection.
In Jerusalem, King Josiah of Judah initiated renewed interest in the Book of the Law, and Huldah participated in the subsequent spiritual revival.  She was the wife of Shallum, who was 'keeper of the wardrobe' (possibly either royal robes and attire or priestly garments and vestments.)  They lived in the Second Quarter, a newer section of Jerusalem which developed as a westward or northern expansion of the old city (perhaps somewhat like a modern-day suburb).
Huldah, not Jeremiah or Zephaniah (both of whom were active as prophets during this time), was consulted when the king instructed the priests to "inquire of the LORD" as to the meaning of the Book of the Law, a scroll that had been found during the work of restoration and cleaning in the temple.  It was significant that with the number of prophets living in Jerusalem at that time, the priest Hilkiah and the rest of the king's advisors turned to a woman for a word from God.  This nullifies the reasoning some use to suggest that God only uses women for ministry when no men are available.  Obviously, whether in a private audience or in the presence of the congregation, God used Huldah to bear testimony and deliver a message from Him to the high priest and to the king (22:14-20).
The tradition of female prophets is mentioned only sporadically in the Old Testament, but Huldah is not the only one highlighted.  She is in good company with Miriam and Deborah (Ex. 15:20, Judg. 4:4); however, another female, Noadiah (Neh. 6:14) was a false prophet who worked against the people of God.
The regard for Huldah's own integrity and authority as a woman of God made her validation of the recently discovered Book of the Law all that was required for immediate action on the part of the king.  Her message was not her own, but from the Lord.  The fact that the phrase, 'Thus says the LORD,' is repeated four times in her short prophecy emphasizes that Huldah understood her responsibility and opportunity to be a channel through whom God delivered His word (22:15-17, 19).
All of the reforms set forth by King Josiah were based on the word of God as given to a woman.  Huldah was apparently so well known as a woman of God and so highly trusted with regard to her understanding of God's Law that for a time her nation's whole religious consciousness and practice were re-ignited in faithfulness to God.  Huldah, a deeply devout woman, made her God-given spiritual gifts available to God, and she was obedient and faithful to deliver the Word from God to her people.

Well - this is very different!

Remember my post titled, "The Dispatching and Disbanding of Deborah"?  I wrote it a few years ago.   I believed until now that women lead in the absence of men.  This means that if I have been given a calling by God, it's because somebody had not reached the potential their job required or was absent from their job.

I used to believe that if I have authority, it's borrowed; on loan.  It is a stewardship and the real deal belongs to someone else.  My ministry is to be "returned to owner" as soon as a worthy candidate becomes available.  I was actually okay with stewarding authority, because I really don't need to be a leader.  I don't feel like it's something I HAVE to do or be.  I prefer others to lead.

But here is the corrective truth in black and white.  Godly men who wrote my Bible's footnote have interpreted God's Word in this passage, saying that women lead regardless of the circumstances based on their gifting - period.  A woman's leadership is without reference to the capacity and availability of men.  I also read the passage for myself and agree.

This makes much more sense - because I knew that God gives authority directly to believers, which takes us to PART 2.


[1]  Radmacher, Earl D.  (2007) NKJV Study Bible, Second Edition.  Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Exiled in Hope

I haven't written because I have dabbled over this post for awhile.

I have Post Traumatic Stress; some less serious variety of it.  PTSD is a problem of how memories are stored in the brain.  When a person perceives a life-threatening situation, the mind decides to face it or not.  A long time ago my mind decided I would not face it, so it did not store memory properly.  I have reconciled memories and events in terms of my soul and my walk with God.  But the way I processed trauma has not fully been resolved.  Because the mind does not allow time to critically think about the trauma, the distress always seems nearby, and unfinished.

The mind takes memories and stuffs them away.  Post traumatic stress doesn't regularly disrupt me because I have put a large buffer of ignore around it - but the consequence is that I also ignore the stories of where God ministers to me.

This problem is glamorized by Hollywood and is found in the plot of countless movies.  Here is a good example.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

A lot.

In some ways PTSD has blessed me, like a thorn always does in the most unpleasant of ways.

This close company of distress keeps me out of trouble.  It is like a whisper of wisdom saying, "temperance." There are days when my pride could shoot through the roof, but because the sense of suffering still seems near, I sober up fairly fast.  There are days I am tempted, but because trauma seems like a recent companion, I don't obey it.  Trauma is more persuasive and pervasive than fleeting temptation and pride.

It brings focus and mission.  Vibrant is how precious life is.  Every day has the emotional aura of a wonderful and precious gift.  I am not the only Christian who has found direction from distress.



If the silver lining sounds self-righteous, let me say that one day you must wake up out of the nightmare of bad circumstances and ask the Father, "What is all of this for?  Can you make something beautiful out of ashes?"  He does, and He will.

A wound is to remember what we were made for.  Wounds insist at all times through God's Word that offenders become family.  This takes considerable boldness, but God's rules of Kingdom life make the impossible, hope.  It is joy to take my friends and introduce them as the most important people in my life.

NEVER FULLY HEALED

I rarely deal directly with trauma, even though it seems nearly tangible.  Someone else can look at my story and say, "Why is it such a big deal?  I don't understand why you can't just get over it."   This is what God's Word says.  Lam. 3:13,

How shall I console you? To what shall I liken you O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare with you, That I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is spread wide as the sea; Who can heal you?

The author J. R. R. Tolkien was deeply impacted as a soldier by the wasteful death of trench warfare in WWI.  When he penned the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the character Frodo laments at the end,

How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand there is no going back? There are some things time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep that have taken hold.

Jesus is the model for wounds never fully healed.  When He was raised from death, He might have been fully rehabilitated of the wounds He received.  But the marks were left.  Why should He forget His joy - the children He died for?  His wounded hands are the hands that embrace in evident love.

wounds insist at all times that offenders become family

Both His resurrection and His suffering are part of His identity.

If you have found the suffering of Christ I hope you also have been tenacious to obtain the resurrection of Christ.  Do not believe the lie that there is no hope, or that all is lost.  God keeps it as your favor in His eyes. God is writing it out beautifully through the pages of your ministry.  As Francis Chan illustrates, you can have either a routine of fear or a routine of glory for God, but you cannot have both.

PTSD IN THE BIBLE

In the book Lamentations by Robin A. Perry, the connection between exile and life as refugees and PTSD have been pointed out.  (You can read along here.)

...the poems of Lamentations display a wide range of responses to trauma.  We see shock (1:4), denial (3:39), isolation (1:2, 9, 16, 21), anger (2:20), bargaining (2:18-19, 3:40-42), depression (5:15), memories of happier times (1:7), shame (1:8), search for the guilty (4:12-13), laying blame (5:7), weeping (3:48-51), and controlled grief (in the act of writing the poems).

Lamentations describes God's daughter Zion sitting in the dust, while all her children are hungry and lost to her.  She has been forced to leave her land.  She is crying in the punishment, worse than that done to Sodom.  The suffering runs so deep that the mind and soul cannot handle it or even face it very well.  It is the kind of devastation that enters into the place where she lives.  Unimagined trauma is just the variety that causes PTSD.  Lam. 4:12,

The kings of the earth,
And all its inhabitants of the world,
Would not have believed
That the adversary and the enemy
Could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

Jesus was prophesied as a "Man of sorrows and acquainted with our grief" (Is. 53:3).

BAND OF THE EXILES

Have you been displaced from a life of normalacy?  It is estimated that 18% of abuse victims and 10% of Veterans develop post traumatic stress.  But distress comes to more than just these.

Have you known someone who cries unexpectedly after losing a spouse?  Grief over losing a loved one is a form of trauma.  Divorce is a similar variety of traumatic loss.  Do you know someone who suffers from chronic illness?  We must choose how to face deeply unpleasant memories.  Long after the event has ended, trauma shows up in our days without any warning and makes a mess of our hearts.  If you know someone who has been through grief, or extreme change in life, or witnessed something traumatic or served in the armed forces, the best thing you can do is encourage them to let the emotions flow when they come.  Encourage them to let the memory come back.  Face the recollection of events and do not avoid the memory.  In this way, you can prevent the mind from shutting down the memory and leaving it unprocessed, frozen in its traumatic power.

Psychology can lessen but prayer mends.  When we lose a loved one, it is not ok.  It will never be ok.  The same goes for all other varieties of trauma.  In the movies, hope is expressed through guns, violence and revenge.  But prayer is the only way to restore what was originally ruined.  Prayer is, at its basic function, rebellion against the status quo.  When we rebel in prayer, He makes us agents not of wrath, but of redemption; real, true redemption, not just for later but for right now.

Steve Saint's father was a missionary who was murdered by Mincaye. Mincaye later became a Christian. Steve forgave Mincaye and he became a part of Steve's family. They go everywhere together, sharing the story of what God has done.

TRAUMA INSTRUCTS HOPE

God lovingly uses bad experiences to remind us in the deepest way that this world is not all we need.  Bold faith is the cure for fear.  Ps. 137:4,

How shall we sing the Lord’s song 
In a foreign land?

As my mentor once said, "How - indeed."