THE BRAVEHEARTED BLOG

the itch

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:49:42 -0600

by Eric Ludy

I got two emails this past week that touched on the simple issue of anonymous Christianity. Oh, neither of the emails were about being anonymous, but rather, they were uniquely crafted to remind me of the importance of it. For those of you familiar with our site, you know that we have produced a pile of videos to go along with it. The production of these videos has been a team effort – and for that matter, an anonymous team effort. Ben Davenport, for instance, was greatly responsible for putting together the video footage that accompanied the “Run” video and the “Come” video. Annie Wesche supplied all the photography for the “Go” video as well as the production talent to make it happen. Nathan Johnson was solely responsible for producing the deeply moving “A Call to Anguish” video, as well as “The Judgment Seat of Christ.” Meggan Murkli has worked behind the scenes writing scripts for many of the Bravehearted Thots, and up until this moment, none of these people has even been recognized for their labors. That’s the way they want it and, to be quite frank, their willingness to remain hidden is just normal Christianity. The work of a Christian is not always anonymous, however, it is more than willing to remain unknown and unapplauded for its efforts.
That said, there is an itch within the soul of men to be recognized for the work we do. It’s not a Christ itch, but rather, it’s a flesh itch. And forgoing the scratching of that “itch” in order to remain unseen and unapplauded can be one of the most difficult tests the human soul can face.
Now I mentioned that I received two emails this past week. Ironically, they both had to do with the videos that our anonymous video production crew has produced. The first email was a bulk email from Tangle (the old God-Tube) announcing a soul-stirring video that they were featuring. Well, it was the “Run” video from our site. Somehow someone had acquired the video and posted it on Tangle. The video has proven very successful on Tangle, ranking as the top video of the entire month on their site. But, here’s where the itch comes in. There was no mention of our team, or the fact that they were the ones that gave birth to that project. There was no mention of all the many hours of hard labor that went into producing it, or of the trials that Ben went through in accessing much of that video footage. In all fairness, at the very conclusion of the video the website address flashes up onto the screen and we have had a significant increase in our website traffic due to it’s success. But why is it that there is an itch? Why does anyone ever feel the need to be recognized? Isn’t it enough to know that people are being edified by our Gospel efforts?
The second email came in from one of our alumni. She had been deeply stirred by a certain video that she had seen on YouTube and she was highly recommending it to me. Well, the video was “A Call to Anguish” that had been produced by Nathan Johnson, one of our anonymous team members. This video had been copied onto someone else’s YouTube channel and had become extremely popular through their marketing. But, ironically, even one of our alumni didn’t realize that it was our team behind it. Again, there was an itch.
I have a hunch that each of you reading this is familiar with this age-old diabolical itch. The question must be asked of us, “Are we in this for our own glory or for the glory of our King?” Christianity is not Christianity is we give sway to the itch and start scratching. Because with every scratch, the person of Christ is removed further from view and we (the ones supposed to be hidden in Christ) are suddenly all that is visible.
To be honest, I’m thrilled that the work of our anonymous video production team is spreading far and wide. In fact, the more hidden our team is, the more rich the spiritual reward.
On that note, I’d like to share a short essay that I read when I was in missionary training school seventeen years ago. These words have greatly altered my life and my perception of a life hidden in Christ. Brace yourself, these words may change you forever.

Other’s May You Cannot
By G.D. Watson

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

If God has called you to be really like Christ in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility and put on you such demands of obedience, that He will not allow you to follow other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.
Others can brag on themselves, and their work, on their success, on their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all you good works.
The Lord will let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hid away in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit for His glory, which can be produced only in the shade.
Others will be allowed to succeed in making money, but it is likely God will keep you poor because he wants you to have something far better than gold and that is a helpless dependence on Him; that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day - out of an unseen treasury.
God will let others be great, but He will keep you small. He will let others do a great work for Him and get credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work you have done, and this will make your reward ten times greater when He comes.
The Holy Spirit will put strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.
So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do what He pleases with His own, and He will not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealing with you. He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and let other people say and do many things that you cannot do or say.
Settle it forever, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that others are not dealt with.
Now, when you are so possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this particular personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven.

For more Eric Ludy stuff visit one of the following websites
www.ericludy.com where he’s dishing out the manly stuff in blog and podcast form
www.discipleship.setapartlife.com where you can find loads of Ludy audio files
www.store.setapartlife.com where you can find all his books, music, and more
www.kiddos.setapartlife.com where you can find out the latest about the Ludy kiddos

what is the gospel?

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:42:18 -0600

by Ben Davenport

The unsinkable Paul, in his first letter to the church at Corinth, stated with relish that the Gospel, and only the Gospel, was the power of God unto salvation.
Most of us have heard that the word Gospel means “good news”; and that is exactly correct. The Gospel is good news! But how can the simple hearing of “good news” possibly be the road to salvation? To find that you have just inherited a fortune is good news indeed; but as we all know money cannot even buy happiness much less salvation. To hear from your doctor that you have a clean bill of health is a good bit of news to receive; but even this will tarnish with time, for it is appointed unto every man once to live and once to die and then, there will come the judgment. Present health is hardly an evidence of salvation or proof that you possess eternal life.
One day our health will finally fail us. And on that day we will each stand before our maker to answer for the deeds done in our bodies. Without Christ, every fleeting fragment of temporal good news that we so gleefully grasped and clung to as a means of happiness and contentment, will pale and whither in comparison to the enormity of our sins against God, our crimes against our neighbor, and our impending punishment in an eternal hell.
In light of this, I must ask not only, what kind of news leads to salvation, but what kind of salvation is it that we actually we need?
At the end of your days, when all has been said and done, and your life on this Earth expires for lack of ability to draw another breath, what kind of salvation do you want to have? When the books are opened and your life, actions, thoughts, and secrets are all laid bare to the judgment of a holy God what is it in that moment that you want to be saved from? Poverty? Sickness? Inconvenience? No! No! No! A thousand times no! Every man and women on that day will pine for only one thing - salvation from their sins! Salvation from that ignoble record of deeds and thoughts so carefully hidden and covered in life that exposes the truth about who we really are! “What was I thinking? What was I doing?” will be the cry of every heart. The things that each of us would be willing to give or do in order to have the record purged will know no limit, but we will stand at our own judgment penniless as paupers with nothing to offer an offended God but tears. In His presence, our best works will appear as dung, and our feigned righteousness as worthless, filthy rags. How could we have ever believed that a few good deeds could ever outweigh the bulk of our sin, erase years of rebellion, or atone for a life of treason? Oh, to return to life, Oh, for a chance to retrace our steps and to live very differently.
Live Differently? Hasn’t that already been tried?
Every New Years Eve people all over this planet make resolutions to “live differently” and year after year they fail. “I’m going to eat less.” “I’ll drink less.” “I want to love more.” I will to be faithful to my wife this year.” I’ll be less selfish and spend more time with my kids instead of my hobbies.” I’m going to forgive.” I am finally going to get my life together.” The list goes on and on. Why do we make these resolutions? Because in spite of our denial that there is any such thing as right or wrong, deep down inside, humans have a God given conscience and our conscience, whether we want to hear it or not, speaks the truth. It speaks to us at night when our friends are gone, when the music has died; when the drugs and alcohol have worn off - or for the church going - after the thrill and fervor of religion has faded away. It speaks and with that voice comes an ache that all the religion, good works, money, alcohol, and sex in the world cannot quench! It is an ache that innately knows that we were created for more than this: more the life of an animal, eating drinking and trying to make merry until the day death comes and sweeps us all away! It’s an ache that knows New Years resolutions are a joke the world over, and that the new year will be exactly like the old because we’ve promised change before and have found that change lies well beyond our reach.
Live differently? History, both yours, mine and the worlds’ has proven that men and women are born separated from God and that we go lying, cursing, stealing, hating, and killing from the womb. Our race cannot change, or save itself from this endless circle of misery and destruction because we have become slaves to our bodies, our lusts and our passions and have lost the ability to do right and shun evil.
But listen.
Listen to the greatest news the world has ever heard!
Listen to the happiest news that has ever fallen upon mortal ears and the most joyous ever proclaimed by angelic tongue!
Listen to what Mathew recorded in the first chapter of the first book of the New Testament. You know, the gospel of Mathew? The “good news” of Mathew?
Mathew’s good news was that there is hope for the sin enslaved Human race! For an angel appeared to a man named Joseph and told him that his soon to be wife, Mary, would bring forth a son and that he was to name the child Jesus, “For he shall save his people from their sins.”
Jesus will save us from our sins. What a thought! Not just from the effects of our sins like guilt, depression, anxiety, fear, and shame but from the source of all these things, the sins themselves! Glory to God!
He came to save us from our sins! Not just from hell and punishment but from the very sins that make us deserving of such punishment and unfit for a holy heaven.
Jesus came to actually save us from our sins not to just forgive us in our sins! The popular Christian bumper sticker reads, “Christians Aren’t Perfect We’re Just Forgiven”. Now, I’m fine saying that Christians aren’t perfect but, “Just forgiven”? Just forgiven? The angel did not say that Joseph was to name the child Jesus, “For he shall just forgive his people from their sins.” The angel said, and I imagine with a smile on his face, “He shall save his people from their sins.” Praise God!
This is just what Luke said in the fourth chapter of the third book of the New Testament. You know, the gospel of Luke? The “good news” of Luke?
Luke’s good news was that there was hope for the sin enslaved Human race! For that very same child that Joseph named Jesus; who was born of the virgin Mary, one day stood as a full grown man in a synagogue in the little town of Nazareth. And as all eyes were on Him, and I imagine with a smile on his face, in a loud voice He proclaimed, to every man, woman, boy and girl, and to every trembling demon of hell, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the Gospel (The good news!) to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised”.
Did you hear that? Did you hear it? The angel told Joseph that God was sending Jesus to save us from our sins and here from Jesus’ own lips He says that the Father had anointed Him to preach the very same “good news” that the angel had delivered to Joseph so many years ago.
Take note, Jesus did not say that He was anointed to preach the good news of how He will give you wealth, health, fame, and an easy prosperous life. No! Nor was He sent to preach the so called good news of lukewarm, modern Christianity that you can now go to heaven while being “just forgiven” while in your day to day life you are still just as vile as you ever were, languishing is Sin’s dungeon of debauchery and filth!
No, Jesus came, and was anointed with the power of almighty God to preach in the ears of every sin enslaved captive the Gospel, the “good news” of deliverance and to set at liberty those that are bound!
He came to not just bring forgiveness to the drunkard who hates his very existence and the fact that he beats the wife he once loved, but to save that drunkard from his drunkenness and the power of sin over his life and to make him into a new creature where old things, the drunkenness, the depression and the rage pass away and all thing become new as a wife finds love and tenderness in a man who had for so long been a continual source of terror and pain.
Paul the apostle of grace wrote to the Corinthians and warned them saying:
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul says don’t be deceived by anyone who tells you otherwise, the drunkard doesn’t need to be “just forgiven” of drunkenness he needs to be saved from the sin of drunkenness or he will not enter into the kingdom of God.
Then he says in the next verse:
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
“Such were some of you”. “Were” as in past tense. Some of you “were” adulterers; Some of you “were” drunkards; Some of you “were” thieves; but now you are those things no longer! Praise God!
You have been washed, but not “just washed”; you have been sanctified, but not “just sanctified”; you have been justified, but not “just justified”; you’ve been forgiven, but not “just forgiven”. And on top of all these things you’ve also been adopted, delivered, altered, translated from darkness to light, changed, set free, and brought form death to life. You’ve been born again! You are not what you were!
That is the Gospel! And that is good news!
It’s not just “good news about anything and everything, it is the good news about Jesus!
It’s not just good news about how Jesus lived a sinless life, or about how He could teach, or about how he could multiply loaves and fishes; it is the good news about how Jesus came to save us, not simply from poverty or suffering but from our sins.
Paul calls this the Gospel of Jesus Christ unto salvation for all who believe.
That’s fantastic!
I want to shout it from the rooftops, tell it in the streets, and sing about it till the Kingdom comes! Jesus has come to save us from our sins.
The sound of that joyous message has rung across this planet for centuries as men and women who have experienced the saving power of Jesus Christ have hazarded their lives, their fame, and fortunes to bring this glorious gospel of Jesus to the ends of the Earth. And there to declare to all who have never heard the good news that 2000 years ago on a bloody cross a heavenly emancipation declaration was issued the moment that the Son of God died to set men free!
I don’t have to be a slave! You don’t have to be a slave! The thief has come for nothing else but to kill to steal and to destroy; but I have good news, Jesus has come that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly!
What kind of news leads to salvation? The good news about Jesus.
What kind of salvation will every one of us need and want on Judgment day? The kind that Jesus came to bring; the kind that saves us from our sins both in this life and the next; the kind that breaks the New Years resolution curse and enables us to live differently today so that when the record books are opened tomorrow we need not be ashamed. A salvation that actually changes us.
So, how does hearing this “good news” about Jesus lead to practical salvation from real world sin? Well, The Bible says that this salvation comes through faith and that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Merely hearing or memorizing or reciting or even agreeing with the Word will help you not one bit. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.
You must believe.
That’s it.
You must believe that what the Word of God says Jesus Christ came to do for you can actual be done. You must believe that it can be done today, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, by faith, and without any works lest any man should boast.
I did not say you must simply believe that Jesus existed, or that he was born of the virgin Mary that, that He died on the cross, or that He rose again on the third day. There are millions upon millions who believe these things and attend church every Sunday and are yet dead in trespasses and sins. They do not believe that Jesus can do for them what he said He was anointed to do, what the angel announced He was coming to do, or what Jesus claimed to have done when on the cross He cried, “It is finished”! And though orthodox and conservative in doctrine they may be, they do not believe or expect that Jesus will save them from their sins, nor that He will radically invade and alter their existence.
They do not believe the “good news” Jesus was anointed to preach.
They do not believe the Gospel.
You must believe.
You must believe the gospel.
Believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto your salvation. We have God’s word on it. Jesus can and will save you from everything that damns you; He even now stands at the ready to pull you not only from the fires of an eternal hell but from the hell that your own sins are forging for you right now, here on earth.
Only Jesus can extinguish the ache within your soul. Nothing else will do. You must be born again. A new life is available to you at this very moment. If you look to Him you will be saved. Do you believe?

Editor’s Note:
Ben Davenport is the pastor of Stone Mountain Church in Fort Collins, Colorado. Visit Stone Mountain for yourself and you will find that “The Gospel” is always on Ben’s tongue. He is, in the truest sense, a bravehearted gospelteer. If you are interested in catching Ben’s thunderous sermons in person sometime, Stone Mountain Church’s main worship service is held at 5pm, Sunday nights, in Old Town Fort Collins at 328 Remington St, on the corner of Magnolia and Remington. But, as I’ve warned many of you, please be aware, this guy preaches even more forcefully than he writes.

then and now - it’s almost unbelievable!

Sat, 4 Jul 2009 16:00:29 -0600

by Shane Idleman

This 4th of July, let’s reflect on how far we have drifted from the original intent of early Americans—“A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do” (Woodrow Wilson). Consider the following:
Then: First introduced in 1766, William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws, served as the legal reference for the Founders, as well as for many early American lawyers. Blackstone’s commentaries were deeply rooted in biblical principles. It’s been said that Blackstone was the first to use the phrase, “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.”
Now: “It is unconstitutional for students to see the Ten Commandments since they might read, meditate upon, respect, or obey them.”
Then: John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, said, “Unto Him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for His manifold and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption and salvation by His beloved Son.”
Now: In 1995, a District judge in Texas decreed that any student saying the name of Jesus during school graduation ceremonies would be jailed.
Then: Noah Webster, the Founding Father of American Scholarship and Education, said, “In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed . . . .” He believed so strongly in this that he often gave Scripture references when he defined words in his colossal work: American Dictionary of the English Language.
Now: Many students are criticized when they read their Bibles in public, or at school. Christianity is challenged, mocked, and ridiculed while most other beliefs are accepted and embraced. Sadly, in order to be politically correct, Noah Webster’s Scripture references have been withdrawn from recent editions.
Then: The Delaware Constitution initially required that everyone appointed to public office must say, “I do profess faith in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ his only Son . . . .” Many other Constitutions such as Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and Connecticut all acknowledged their reliance on God.
Now: Those who run for office and profess a faith in Jesus Christ are viewed as fanatical and/or extreme, and are often criticized by the media.
Then: Early Americans felt that it was impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. They often petitioned God for guidance, direction, and encouragement. Fisher Aimes, author of the First Amendment, openly declared, “Should not the bible regain the place it once held as a school book?”
Now: Bible displays, as well as Ten Commandment monuments, are often ruled unconstitutional in courthouses and other public places. Mr. Aimes would no doubt disagree with these rulings.
Then: In 1790, Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, said this about public schools, “But the religion I mean to recommend in this place is that of the New Testament . . . .”
Now: Most schools avoid doctrines of the New Testament. In Roberts v. Madigan (1989), for example, the court ruled: “It is unconstitutional for a classroom library to contain books which deal with Christianity, or for a teacher to be seen with a personal copy of the Bible at school.” (Granted, courts have ruled that the Bible can be used, in some cases, for historical and literary purposes.)
Then: “The first and primary duty of government is to protect innocent human life” (Thomas Jefferson). “Nobody has the freedom to choose to do what’s morally wrong” (Abraham Lincoln).
Now: If the names of all the babies who have been aborted since the early 1970s were placed on a monument (much like that of the Vietnam Memorial Wall), it’s been estimated that the monument could span over 35 miles. Although many protest war, very few speak out against abortion. The womb is no longer the safest place, but one of the most dangerous. What a travesty!
Unbelievable! And we’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg. It’s extremely disheartening to see how far we have drifted from God’s word. Let us not forget: America did not produce the blessings of liberty and freedom—liberty and freedom produced the blessings of America. Without question, repentance, prayer, and humility before God is our only hope.

Editor’s Note: Shane Idleman says it straight, and that’s why I think he’s a great fit for the bravehearted blog. This particular column was excerpted from his book, One Nation “Above” God and seemed particularly appropriate for Independence Day. If you would like to get more familiar with this guy, then www.ShaneIdleman.com is the place to go.

vegetable theology

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 06:53:55 -0600

by Israel Wayne

Ted glanced around the U-HOP Diner once again and finally spotted his friend Dan. He waved his hand until he caught Dan’s eye.

“Hey Dan, I was wondering when you were going to show up.” Ted looked at his watch. Dan always seemed to have an unspoken aversion to being on time for anything.

“Sorry bro. I got held up. Have you ordered yet?”

“Yep. Cheeseburger, fries and a Coke. It’s the all-American diet!”

“Yeah, well, I don’t eat that stuff anymore. I’m a vegetarian now.”

Ted was stunned. “Man, are you kidding me?! I know it’s been two years since we were dorm buddies, but you used to love cheeseburgers. If fact, remember that burger eating contest we had in school? You won and I was sick for two days. Man, those were good times!”

“Well, that was the old me. Some things change.”

“I guess so, but...vegetarian?”

At that moment the waitress stopped by their table and asked, “So, what’ll it be?”

“Um...I’ll take the chicken Caesar salad...make that ranch dressing, and could I have an iced tea with lemon?”

“Okay, hon, comin’ right up,” and with that she disappeared into the diner’s kitchen.

Ted was visibly confused. “Did you say, ‘Chicken’ Caesar salad?”

“Yeah, so what?” Dan answered with a strong hint of defensiveness in his voice.

“I guess I thought your professors would have mentioned when you got your biology degree that “chicken” is NOT a vegetable.”

“Hey, it’s better than that stuff you are clogging your arteries with!”

Ted took a deep breath. Dan’s approach to conversations hadn’t changed a bit. “Look, I’m not trying to pick a fight with you. I’m just trying to figure out how you can call yourself a vegetarian when you still eat meat. How often do you eat meat anyway?”

“Oh, nearly every day I eat some form of meat, I just try to eat less and I try to avoid the really harmful stuff.”

“So how did you get started on this kick?”

“Well,” Dan remembered, “It began shortly after I left college. I went to a meeting where the speaker was sharing on the evils of fast food, saturated fats and all that stuff. He had me convinced. He was a vegetarian and that night I went forward and signed a pledge that I was going to become a vegetarian for the rest of my life.”

“And so,” Ted chimed in, “You stopped eating meat?”

“Almost. I thought that once I became a vegetarian that it would be easy to stop eating meat, but it wasn’t. It was so hard. I mean, everywhere you go you find it on the menu. So, over time, I basically decided that it couldn’t be done and developed a sense of security that I can eat meat and still be vegetarian, as long as I didn’t eat the really bad stuff.”

“Dan, I don’t know what to say to that. I mean, don’t words have meaning?”

“Yes, of course they do.”

“Well, the word, ‘Vegetarian’ means ‘I don’t eat meat.’”

“I don’t see it that way. I think vegetarianism is more a state of mind. It’s kind of a positional thing. As long as you call yourself a vegetarian, believe that you are one, and try your best to eat as many vegetables as you can, that is all that matters. In fact, most of my vegetarian friends say that eating meat isn’t really a big deal. The main thing is to say you are sorry after you eat meat, and then try to forget about it. It’s like we always say, ‘Once a vegetarian, always a vegetarian!’”

“So you are saying that I could become a vegetarian and not really change much in terms of my diet?”

“Well, I mean, you ought to try, but honestly, I’ll probably keep eating meat as long as I live.”

Ted sipped his Coke and thought hard. He was having a hard time processing his friend’s logic. Finally after what seemed like a short eternity, he summed up his thoughts to his friend.

“Listen, Dan, you and I have been friends for a long time. I’m glad that you have found something that is working for you, but I just know myself. I like meat too much. I know I shouldn’t eat the way I do, and my diet is probably slowly killing me, but I just don’t think I could ever give it up. I mean, even you can’t stop eating meat. So, at the end of the day, I don’t see the difference. Sure, you are eating a bit healthier than me, but ultimately, we’re both still carnivores. The main distinction between us is that I’m not too proud to admit who I really am, and you seem confused to me. I might be more willing to listen if you had more aptitude and less attitude when it comes walking out this ‘vegetarian’ thing.”

Now it was Dan’s turn for introspection. Upon quick reflection, he realized that he hadn’t had much success in getting others to follow his new convictions. Perhaps the lack of consistency in his diet was causing people to doubt his sincerity and the validity of his claims. As Dan continued his meal, he began to wonder if he really was a vegetarian after all.

This story reflects the attitude of many Christians who honestly believe that they can call themselves Christians and yet their lives don’t have to change in any fundamental way.

“For if you are living according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13)

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1-2)

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:6)

Editor’s Note: Israel Wayne is one of those guys with a nose for the glory of God. He can sniff out a bad theology and an idiotic doctrinal turn from a mile away. Usually, those with a spiritual sniffer as excellent as Mr. Wayne’s, tend to be irascible, hard-nosed, abrasive types - but Israel has the rare ability to see clearly and yet respond with the nature of Christ intact. You can visit him at www.WisdomsGate.com where he serves as Marketing Director for Wisdom’s Gate Publishing, or you can take a more personal peek at www.IsraelWayne.com.
Please email your thoughts, questions, and encouragements to Israel Wayne

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bravehearted baby news

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:53:02 -0600

by Eric Ludy

Leslie and I are having a baby. In fact, Leslie’s official due date was this past Saturday (the 13th of June). This is number four for us and, to be quite frank, we are absolutely thrilled about it. I realize that “baby news” doesn’t readily seem to fit the theme of this website (you know, growling for the Gospel truth). Let’s admit it, the topic of babies appears a bit smarmish and soft, however, I would point your attentions toward the choice statement in Psalm 127 that claims that children are as arrows in the hands of a mighty man. In other words, this baby thing is, in God’s humble opinion, the stuff of the bravehearted. So, if you wish to stay abreast of all my latest bravehearted baby activity, please feel free to visit my personal blog, where I am posting regular updates.
Click Here

lite church

Thu, 4 Jun 2009 07:24:25 -0600

by David Ravenhill

Go into any supermarket these days and you will find a vast variety of ‘lite foods’ which offer less fat and fewer calories. While this may constitute smart marketing on the part of food producers, it should not be carried over to the Church.
Some years ago I saw a cartoon in a Christian magazine that showed a sign in front of a church with the following statement:

LITE CHURCH
1 service weekly
13 minutes of worship
10 minute message
No repentance
7 commandments
8% tithe

While I don’t recall the entire sign, this was the gist of its message. I chuckled to myself when I first saw it but have since come to see that this cartoon has now become a reality in many churches.
There is a rapidly growing trend throughout Christendom to be culturally relevant. While I have no problem with using new methodology, I deplore the new message that shuns any mention of sin, repentance, judgment or hell.
I recently spoke with a pastor friend who moved to a major southern city to plant a new congregation. Desiring to sense the spiritual pulse of the city, he spent a few months visiting various congregations. The successful pastor of a growing church told him, “I have several lesbians passing out bulletins. I also have a number of unsaved people in the worship team.” This pastor believed that these people would eventually be converted as they became exposed to the gospel. I assume that these people had been attending for some time prior to being asked to serve. Consequently, I must also assume that in his preaching there was no mention of sin or the need for repentance. Apparently there was no conviction from the Holy Spirit to cause these people to feel uncomfortable in their sin.
As I’m writing this commentary, I’ve just returned from ministering at the annual Pure Life Ministries Alumni Conference. What an incredible experience to see dozens of men—who had previously been involved in every imaginable type of sexual perversion—testifying to God’s amazing grace. These men knew the power of sin, but they had also come to know the greater power of God’s deliverance. To hear them sing about their mighty Redeemer and Emancipator brought tears to my eyes; no professional choir could compare with the genuine gratitude with which they sang.
With the growing popularity of the seeker-sensitive church movement, we are seeing less and less mention of sin. This, in turn, is leading to an overemphasis on the acceptance of people just the way they are – sin and all. Some of our leading theologians have already eliminated the doctrine of hell, leaving people nothing to fear. If we also eliminate sin from our preaching, then there is nothing to repent of or to be saved from. The end result of all this is that we will no longer feel a need for a Savior. This devilish doctrine will surely lead to the eternal destruction of many souls. The very foundation of the Church is being undermined and its very existence is being threatened.
If this is the path we are going to take, then we should change the word Church (ecclesia, which means “the called out ones”) to Arab (the Hebrew word meaning “to mingle or braid or mix”).
May God have mercy upon us all.

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Editor’s Note: David Ravenhill is the son of the late spiritual powerhouse, Leonard Ravenhill. Let me say - there is something special in this Ravenhill gene pool - these guys are fierce lovers of Truth. I deeply appreciate the fact that such men still grace the American countryside. Thank you, David, for your life and testimony. If you would like to connect with David about the possibility of him speaking in your area or at your event - click here.

being a boy

Thu, 28 May 2009 11:55:32 -0600

by Eric Ludy

My four-year-old son, Hudson, was making some global observations yesterday. He does this every now and again. He picks a theme and then just sort of mulls it over in his mind. When he is done mulling, then out flow his pithy thoughts.
His theme yesterday was dress wear, and he had the attentions of the entire Ludy clan as he spoke.
“Gwirls wear dwesses,” he proclaimed as little Harper Grace twirled around in her cute little sun dress.
I agreed with him.
“Bwoys don’t wear dwesses.”
Again, I agreed. I did ponder mentioning the fact that burly Scottish Highlanders wear kilts, but I didn’t want to disturb his momentum.
He paused for a moment, fully digesting this extraordinary reality, and then proclaimed, “I’m weally gwad that I’m a bwoy!”
Well, consider me inspired by my little boy’s declaration. I too am really glad that I’m a boy. That isn’t to take anything away from femininity. For I know for a fact that Leslie is really glad that she is a girl. But there is something hot-wired within my being that loves thunder, dirt, sword-play, treasure hunts, rescue operations, muscle, sweat, and overcoming obstacles. I’m just plain giddy over the fact that I don’t need to act feminine and (to follow Hudson’s line of reasoning) that I don’t need to wear frilly sun dresses.
As a boy I have a challenging road to hoe. The buck stops with me and the onus of righteous responsibility rests squarely on my shoulders. If there is a problem in society, then I’m responsible before God to head the charge to fix it. If there is a problem in my church then yours truly can’t wait around for someone else take up the fight – after all I’m the boy, and therefore, I’m the one responsible to initiate the action. And the same goes for love – I (the boy) am required to be the risk-taker, the foot-washer, and the cross-bearer. In my family I’m required to be the go-to guy when it’s dead of night and baby is crying. I’m required to be law-giver, law-enforcer, and justice of the peace. When danger knocks, I (the boy) am the first line of defense – the one ready to spill and spend my blood for those entrusted to my care.
The boy doesn’t get the luxury of down-time. He’s the stuff of a soldier, and therefore, he’s always on call, always on duty. He is a weapon of defense for Truth, righteousness, innocence, purity, and the vulnerable and weak. And he can never set down his sword, never tune out the battle, and never impair the sharpness of his senses.
Now Hudson doesn’t fully realize what he is saying. He’s “weally gwad that he’s a bwoy,” but he’s still not fully in possession of the Godly understanding on the matter. He doesn’t completely get it yet. And that’s okay. Because right now, he has a bigger boy taking up the slack (aka – Daddy). But very soon he will realize the true privilege of being a boy. And it’s much bigger than not wearing sun dresses or, for that matter, snips, snails, and puppy dog tails – it’s the fact that the boy, in God’s economy, is privileged to be the first to die for the great cause of the Kingdom. When all is healthy in the Church of Jesus Christ, the boys lead the charge – they take the bullets, they defend the weak, and they become the foundations stones of a heavenly kingdom.
I’m sure being a girl is a beautiful, fragrant, romantic adventure. From what my wife tells me, “it doesn’t get any better than being a godly girl.” I think that’s great. But, I’m just plain thrilled to be 100% male. So, in concert with my little buckaroo, I declare, “I’m weally gwad that I’m a bwoy!”
Here’s to wielding holy testosterone for the glory and renown of our King!

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For more Eric Ludy stuff visit one of the following websites
www.ericludy.com where he’s dishing out the manly stuff in blog and podcast form
www.discipleship.setapartlife.com where you can find loads of Ludy audio files
www.store.setapartlife.com where you can find all his books, music, and more
www.kiddos.setapartlife.com where you can find out the latest about the Ludy kiddos

I’m pretty sure Aunt Bee ended up in the other place

Tue, 26 May 2009 06:36:40 -0600

by Steve Gallagher

Aunt Bee is only a television character, of course, but what she represents is a dangerously deceptive mindset that forty years later remains firmly entrenched in our culture. I can remember at least one episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” where Aunt Bee was in church, but I cannot think of one instance of her interceding for people or earnestly talking to others about Jesus. In other words, I never saw any indications that she had truly been converted. As far as I can tell, Aunt Bee wasn’t really a Christian; she was simply a nice lady living in a Christianized nation who went to a “Christian” church. Without question, she personifies the erroneous notion that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.
How strikingly this contrasts with the apostle Paul’s perspective on salvation! In Ephesians 2, he makes abundantly clear the desperate condition of every unconverted person: dead in their sins; following Satan; living in the lust of their flesh; and having the wrath of God upon them.
Nice, little old Aunt Bee? Andy’s Aunt Bee?! Yes!! Truth be told, there is no middle ground. “ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” “There is NONE righteous, no not one.” This includes the Aunt Bee’s of the world.
“Well,” says a respectable church-going woman in a huff, “I’ve lived an upright life since childhood. I’ve never been worldly and I certainly have not followed Satan!” In other words, you are alleging that the Bible is not telling the truth. You are saying that you are a good person and see no need for a savior. Therefore you will not have one.
When I first came to the Lord, I knew an Aunt Bee-type woman. In a comparison of lives, I’m afraid her goodness far exceeded mine. While she was very gentle and kind, I was brash and abrasive. Her entire life had been a picture of decency, while I came out of a life of horrid debauchery. There was just one problem: she was a Jehovah’s Witness—and terribly lost. Certainly, she had always been a nice person, but God looks upon the heart.
I’m convinced that pastors and counselors are continually dealing with Aunt Bee’s who think they are Christians based on their own “goodness.” How do we reach them? How do we break through their self-deception? By preaching the Cross! For it is there that man’s feeble attempt at being good is consumed in the blinding light of God’s incomprehensible goodness. It is only at Calvary that people will see their vile condition without Christ. At the Cross, that inner compulsion to see themselves worthy of salvation is destroyed. It is only then that people will cry out in contrition, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”
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Editor’s Note: I always loved Aunt Bee, so Steve is hitting rather close to home on this one. But leave it to Steve Gallagher to give it to us straight. And it’s true - we don’t want Aunt Bee’s Christianity, we want the Apostle Paul’s rendition. Maybe next time Steve can remove the veneer off of Ward and June Cleaver. I can see the title now, “Leave it to Beaver the Deceiver.” I love Steve’s willingness to give it straight. It’s refreshing. For more straight-talk from Mr. Gallagher, visit www.purelifeministries.org, where he has long served as “the big cheese.” This guy has loads of great books and loads of bravehearted materials just waiting to be mined.

the greatest churches in America

Mon, 18 May 2009 11:39:12 -0600

by David Ravenhill

Editor’s Note: When I first started this blog, one of the guys I wanted to see posting here was David Ravenhill. First of all, he’s a classic bravehearted gospelteer. Secondly, he’s got the coolest British accent you’ve ever heard. And thirdly, he’s a pure blooded Ravenhill - a chip off the old block. I think it is spiritually impossible for anyone of the Ravenhill lineage to live life without a spiritual burr in their saddle, the Gospel on their tongue, and a worn out Bible in their right hand. And David has proven this theory quite true. He’s a father of the faith amidst a generation experiencing a shortage of spiritual fatherhood. So, without further ado . . .
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“How many are you running these days?” or “How many do you have?” are frequently asked questions among ministry leaders. As the numbers are disclosed, the ‘pecking order’ is established. The pastor with the largest congregation is indisputably the ‘top gun’ while those with fewer numbers take their respective positions on the ‘failure-to-success’ continuum.
Why is it that whenever the secular or spiritual media rate ‘The Greatest Churches in America,’ the one overriding criteria for measuring success is membership numbers. We’ve become mesmerized by crowds rather than character.
Speaking of numbers, just this morning I was meditating on what the Lord said to Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 44) God told him that there were two classes of ‘ministry.’ One class was refused access before Him and thus relegated to ministry to the people only. The second group of ministers/priests was chosen by the Lord for His own personal satisfaction. They alone had access into His inner court. God spoke to Ezekiel saying “they shall come near to ME, to minister to ME and they shall stand before ME, to offer to ME the fat and the blood declares the Lord.”
Let us make a clear distinction between these two groups. The ministry of one was public; the other private. One ministered to the crowd, the other to Christ. One group was seen, the other unseen. One had the approval of men, the other the approval of God. All of which begs the question, which had the superior calling? According to today’s standard, those with the largest following would be the clear winners. After all, they have numbers on their side—and numbers are a sure sign of ministerial success, right? Wrong!
Is it possible that even today God still sees two groups of ministers? Does He still retain some for His own personal enjoyment, those invited into the inner court, while others are relegated to the lesser position of ministering to the crowds in the outer court?
One further thought: why were two categories of leaders established in the first place? The Lord revealed to Ezekiel that one group had permitted mixture to infiltrate the camp, thereby polluting His sanctuary. This act of compromise, along with gluttonous idolatry, penalized them from access before the Lord.
I see striking parallels between those in Ezekiel’s day and those in ministry today. Many have adopted a seeker-sensitive approach to ministry because, frankly, it draws the crowds. Sin is seldom mentioned; as for sanctification, it is an unknown word to many believers. God forbid that we should offend someone by telling them to repent and live a holy life. The end result is that many, like those priests of old, have allowed the uncircumcised to enter the house of the Lord. Those who draw the largest crowds, are too often most susceptible to the pressure to patronize the people by ‘tickling their ears.’
Someone has said ‘The one thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history’. Success is not determined by how many people you minister to, but whether or not we, corporately, minister to Him. How successful are you?
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Editor’s Note: David Ravenhill, like his late father, Leonard Ravenhill, is single-minded about Jesus Christ. I absolutely love being around this guy (and not just because of his British accent). If you are looking for a powerful, courageous voice to bring to your church, look no further than the bravehearted Ravenhill bloodline. David has a dignified frock of white hair and the most genteel bearing - but don’t let his British decorum fool you - this guy is pure thunder from the pulpit. If you would like to connect with David about the possibility of him speaking in your area or at your event - click here.

re-imagining God in The Shack

Wed, 13 May 2009 15:31:53 -0600

by Mary Kassian

Editor’s Note: You want to hear some bravehearted banter? Take a look at what Mary Kassian has to say about “The Shack.” I asked Mary if she wouldn’t mind me posting this here in The Bravehearted Blog and she very graciously complied. Leslie stumbled upon this while reviewing Mary’s website for women, “Girl’s Gone Wise.” She simply said, “Beef, this girl’s got the stuff.” Since our much anticipated “Part Two” on The Shack is seemingly stalled in production, we can thank Mary for stepping up to the plate and hitting a home run.
So, without further ado, here’s Mary’s blog post:
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What’s wrong with this picture?

It was at a Maundy Thursday service at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, in 1984, that a four-foot bronze statue of Jesus on the cross was unveiled. But to the shock of the congregation, the image of Christ on the cross was, in fact, an image of Christa. It portrayed Christ as a woman, complete with undraped breasts and rounded hips.
Betty Friedan, the main force behind modern day feminism, predicted that the question of the eighties would be: “Is God HE?” The Christa sculpture was the liberal church’s response to the question. And although Evangelical Christians have been much slower to consider female gendered God imagery, the recent phenomenon of the multi-million best-seller, “The Shack,” indicates that Evangelicals, too, are succumbing to the feminist pressure to image God in feminine ways. It’s a scenario that I predicted almost 25 years ago.
If you haven’t read it yet, and are amongst the un-Shacked evangelical minority, here’s the story in a nutshell. Mack’s youngest daughter Missy is kidnapped and murdered in a remote mountain shack by a serial slime, called the Daisy Bug Killer. Mack goes through a denial-grief-anger-bitterness cycle until he receives a letter in his mailbox from God who tells him to go back to the shack to confront his point of pain and suffering. When Mack gets to the shack he blacks out and awakens to find himself in a cabin complete with a manifestation of the Godhead. But this is no ordinary Godhead.
God the Father, called “Papa,” is a She. An Aunt Jemima pancake cooking Mother. Think Whoopee Goldberg in an apron. And Sarayu, the Holy Spirit with an Assyrian name, is a wispy ethereal female. Think life-sized Tinkerbell emitting rainbows and sparkles. Jesus is a human “male” - the one the three members of the Godhead collaboratively spoke into existence as the Son of God (umm… go figure). Then, in a bizarre twist that defies the orthodox image of the pre-incarnate Christ, another woman, “Sophia” appears as the divine personification of God’s wisdom. And in the end, Papa contributes to the gender-bent confusing mess by setting aside his/her female cross dressing persona for a slightly more familiar masculine one- a grey haired man with a hip ponytail.
Forgiveness and healing from pain is a valid biblical motif - one to which I am profoundly committed. But the way we heal is by running toward the God of the Bible, not by killing off or altering the parts of his character that we find politically incorrect. Not by coming up with an image of a God that is more palatable to our modern-day sensibilities. Not by altering God-revealed truth about the Trinity. Not by thinking we need to “help” God with his image. Over the years, I’ve witnessed thousands of women come to a place of healing and wholeness through the redeeming power of the unvarnished foolishness of the gospel.
The Shack contains terribly wrong concepts about God. Plain and simple. If you think it doesn’t, then you’re well on your way to accepting the image of the Christa on the cross. In a few years, you might be hanging her up in your church. I don’t think I’m overstating the case. In my book I’ve carefully documented the way it happened in mainline churches. The arguments used to justify their feminist Christa are the same ones the Shack uses to justify its feminized version of God. In essence, there’s no difference between the artistic image of a feminized Jesus (a.k.a. “Sophia”) hanging on a cross and the artistic image of a feminized Aunt Jemima Papa god in a book. If the latter doesn’t offend you, then the former really shouldn’t.
I’ve had good friends tell me that I’m missing the point of the Shack. Maybe I am. But maybe, just maybe, they are. Maybe they are getting caught up in the emotion of a heart-wrenching story and are failing to notice the horrendous theology that under girds it. The authors claim that “at its core the book is one long Bible Study.” This isn’t an ordinary story book. It’s a book that seeks to transform people’s ideas about God. The fiction is merely a vehicle for the theology.
How we image God matters. So the image of God the book presents matters. It matters a great deal. I seem to recall that God wasn’t terribly amused when his people imaged him in the wrong way, as a golden calf. If you’re not convinced that we should refrain from imaging God as female, and are interested in understanding more about the feminist theology rampant in the Shack, check into my book, The Feminist Mistake. If you take the time to understand the impact that feminism has had on society and church, then maybe you’ll understand my distaste for the Shack’s feminine god rendition.
When it comes down to it, my primary interest is not to engage in a debate about the merits of the Shack. It’s OK if you liked the book. There are some good messages in it, and parts that I liked very much. And it’s apparently helped people in some significant ways. So that’s the good part. But I do want you to think about the false gender-blended image of God this book insidiously presents. And I do want you to base your thinking about God and masculinity and femininity on Scripture, and not on the spirit of this age. The thing that bothers me the most about the Shack is that it wraps destructive ideas up in an appealing package and feeds it to people who have neither the discernment nor the desire to carefully separate truth from error. Most Shackites don’t have a clue about the magnitude of the implications of messing with Trinitarian imagery.
Here’s the thing. In the Old Testament, God instructed his people to reject female goddess images and images of God as a bi-sexual or a dual-sexual Baal/Ashtoreth-type collaboration. God hated this imagery so much that he had his people destroy it and all those who promoted it. The New Testament Church also fought hard against teachings that sought to incorporate female images of God alongside the male images - the Gnostic heresy, in particular. And now, it seems that the same ideas are knocking once again…. and many are throwing the Church doors wide open and welcoming them in.
What’s the big deal? Why can’t we image God as female? The main reason is that God defines who God is and how we are to image him and relate to him. God has chosen to reveal himself with male imagery. Father is HE. Son is HE. Holy Spirit is HE. That’s not to say that God is male. He encompasses everything that is good about masculinity and femininity. But that doesn’t mean that we have the liberty to think or refer to him as female. That’s crossing a line we have no right to cross.
The gender imagery that God has given us is highly important. It reflects critical truths about the nature of the Trinity. Calling him “she” violates his character and important imagery about the nature of our relationship to him. As C.S. Lewis observes,
Common sense, disregarding the discomfort, or even the horror, which the idea of turning all our theological language into the feminine gender arouses in most Christians, will ask “Why not? Since God is in fact not a biological being and has no sex, what can it matter whether we say He or She, Father or Mother, Son or Daughter?”
But Christians think that God Himself has taught us how to speak of Him. To say that it does not matter is to say either that all the masculine imagery is not inspired, is merely human in origin, or else that, though inspired, it is quite arbitrary and unessential. And this is surely intolerable: or, if tolerable, it is an argument … against Christianity. It is also surely based on a shallow view of imagery. Without drawing upon religion, we know from our poetical experience that image and apprehension cleave closer together than common sense is here prepared to admit; that a child who has been taught to pray to a Mother in Heaven would have a religious life radically different from that of a Christian child. And as image and apprehension are in an organic unity, so, for a Christian, are human body and human soul.
The innovators are really implying that sex is something superficial, irrelevant to the spiritual life… [But] one of the ends for which sex was created was to symbolize to us the hidden things of God. One of the functions of human marriage is to express the nature of the union between Christ and the Church. We have no authority to take the living and semitive figures which God has painted on the canvas of our nature and shift them about as if they were mere geometrical figures… [God images himself as masculine because]…we are all, corporately and individually, feminine to Him.
…The male you could have escaped, for it exists only on the biological level. But the masculine none of us can escape. What is above and beyond all things is so masculine that we are all feminine in relation to it.
(Quotes from C.S. Lewis Essays Notes on the Way and That Hideous Strength.)
There’s a whole lot more to be said about the importance of accurate gender imagery and the importance of honoring and preserving masculine imagery for God. But I’ll leave it at that for now. Hopefully this post has alerted you to some popular false ways of thinking that are both insidious and dangerous. The nearly universal frothing of the Christian community over the Shack shows me how very much the philosophy of feminism has influenced even the Evangelical church.
For those of you who are interested, here’s a more detailed critique of the Shack by renowned Christian reviewer, Tim Challies. Click on the following file to download - The_Shack.pdf.
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Editor’s Note: I’m guessing I’m not the only one impressed with the above piece. Excellent work, Mary. For those of you interested in learning more about this bravehearted lady, you can visit her online ministry for women at www.marykassian.com. This lady has the stuff. She is the founder of Girls Gone Wise, an award winning author, an internationally renowned speaker, and, if that isn’t enough, a distinguished professor of Women's Studies at Southern Baptist Seminary. Okay, this might sound funny coming off the lips of Eric Ludy, but I’m going to just say it. “You go, girl!”

what’s the definition of radical?

Wed, 6 May 2009 13:51:07 -0600

by Eric Ludy

In the 80’s the word “radical” was actually in fashion – or was that the 90’s? Whenever it was, it’s embarrassing to reminisce, because the word these days is anything but hip and in vogue. Today, “radical” is a synonym for “human being with screw loose.” Images of wiry unkempt hair, wild maniacal eyes, and a horrible case of Turrets seem to subconsciously dance through the mind. Let’s admit it – the word “radical” has lost its cool edge and now appears more on America’s Most Wanted posters than on the lips of those that seek to be culturally kosher.
To be honest, I don’t like the word at all. However, a true Christian seeking to live out the plain-spoken words of Christ, is going to be hard-pressed to avoid that unpleasant word from attaching itself to their every action. The word “radical” in relation with bravehearted Christianity is kind of like coos with babies, oohs with sunsets, and blues with jazz – it just kind of comes with the package.
Let me give you a for-instance. Leslie and I just got a letter yesterday from our dear friend, Jolene, in Montana. This girl is serious about her Christianity. She’s sort of a spunky modern-day Gladys Aylward – bravehearted to the core, Christ-adoring, and a lover of the least. Girls like Jolene are considered “normal” in Leslie’s and my worldview. But to this world, she’s, you might say . . . cough . . . ahem . . . “radical.”
Jolene is a twenty-six-year old single girl. Talented and full of energy to change this world. She’s got all it takes to make money, find success, and live this life according to the modern prescription. But there’s something that is sort of messing with her normalcy. You see, Jolene has Jesus. In fact, she has Jesus in a measure that has forever altered her and has made her rather strange to this world about.
So, as the story goes, this girl with so much potential, said to God, “Whatever you wish to do with my life, do it!” And that’s when things started going a bit, how should I say? . . . radical.
Suddenly Jolene was awakened to the foster care system and all the many thousands of kids that are suffering. This young single girl asked God to allow her to help – to do something to make a difference. That’s when Jolene was introduced to Justin, a thirteen-year-old boy, in desperate need of an advocate. So Jolene took this young boy in. Yes, you heard me correctly, Jolene, who is a twenty-six year old single girl took this needy thirteen-year-old boy in as her foster son.
Jolene has been working to actually adopt this young boy for close to a year now. The story is something straight out of a classic Christian biography.
So, this same Jolene sent Leslie and I letter yesterday. It was like receiving a letter from Gladys Aylward herself. Listen to what it said:
Life has been a little wild lately. Last week I got my official letter stating my teaching job has been terminated and this is simultaneous with the beginnings of Justin’s adoption. An interesting combination I must say!
Okay, stop right there. Nothing that far out of the ordinary, right? Yes, the fact that she is even trying to adopt a thirteen year old from the foster care system is a bit over-the-top, but everything else is sort of everyday life for many of us. Well, let’s keep reading.
God is in control of all things, and He will work out all the details. It’s a learning process for sure. At first I found myself using my adoption of Justin as an excuse for being upset over losing my job, but God quickly squashed that. He asked me to take Justin in and He also is in control of my job status. My job is to simply trust and obey.
Now, we are starting to get a bit more “radical” here. This is not the way a normal human responds to such adversity. She seems a bit too calm, don’t you think? Let’s put the recipe together: One cup singleness, one cup needy thirteen-year-old boy, and one cup terminated job. Normally when you mix those three things together you get violent explosions and fireworks displays of dramatic panic attacks – but not in this little bravehearted girl.
Now, I’m going to skip over the part of her letter that details all the miraculous things happening in Justin’s adoption process. It’s great stuff but a little off the topic of this blog. And let’s go straight to the part where she starts professing her feelings about the adoption:
Eric and Leslie – I believe with every ounce of my being that lives will be radically altered through this adoption process.
Did you notice the word “radically” in her last sentence. Her word, not mine.
I am not called to the children only, but rather, to reach out to the lost and broken families. God has also clearly shown that I am to take in the lost and forgotten – the children in danger of “aging” out of the system and being dumped into the world all alone. Not if I have anything to say! I visit the adoption websites daily and the only thing holding me back from having a houseful of dysfunctional kids to cherish are the state regulations. But God is bigger than those. I recently had God challenge my heart. I was determined that I would adopt 20 kids during my time on earth. God has recently challenged me with 50 – foster/adopted children. I can’t wait!!
Okay, does anyone see anything in that last little literary string that is strange and not of this world? This world would call such effusion of emotion and excitement “cuckoo” – they would call it “extreme” – and, let’s be honest, they just might tag it, (ahem) “radical.”
And let me say, if this is the definition of “radical,” then let that stigma also rest on me. And not just me, on you as well. And not just you, but every other Truth-loving Christian who desires to bring fame to their Risen King.
Whether we like the word “radical,” or not, the word is reserved for those of us that come to Jesus and say, in concert with that twenty-six year old single girl named Jolene, “Whatever you wish to do with my life, do it!”
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If you would like to send a note of cheer on to Jolene, then click here
For more Eric Ludy stuff visit one of the following websites
www.ericludy.com where he’s dishing out the manly stuff in blog and podcast form
www.discipleship.setapartlife.com where you can find loads of Ludy audio files
www.store.setapartlife.com where you can find all his books, music, and more
www.kiddos.setapartlife.com where you can find out the latest about the Ludy kiddos

my conversation with Der Furhrer

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:50:25 -0600

by Steve Gallagher

WWII had been all over for nine years by the time I was born, but I’m pretty sure if I had been around at the time, Adolph Hitler would have summoned me to Berlin to advise him on his future course of action.
A good time for this would have been early 1941. By this time, Hitler and the euphoric German people had basked for nine months in their lightning victories over France, Holland and Belgium. If an American minister such as I arrived then, it would, of course, have been accompanied by a great deal of media attention.
Though most people would have been incredulous, I would have been eminently qualified to offer him counsel. After all, with a long personal history of indulging in sin and then helping others out of it, I would have been someone who could reliably predict his inevitable future.
“First of all,” I would have begun deliberately, “in the beginning, sin is exhilarating. Right now you are flush with victory. It seems as though everything will continue to be wonderful. But I’m afraid it is all an illusion. This period of elation will only last for a season.”
“The second thing I must tell you is that sin always leads the person to make foolish mistakes.” This bit of news would have undoubtedly rattled the Fuhrer. “Adolph,” I would say condescendingly, as if speaking to a child, “you and your generals have made some brilliant moves, but I guarantee that your string of victories is about to come to an end. They must, because sin corrupts the mind, which in turn leads to terrible errors in judgment. You can count on making one bad decision after another. I’m afraid there’s no way around it.” (Sure enough, they did in fact make a series of disastrous military blunders and within six months, the Wehrmact lay in icy ruins outside Moscow.)
“The third thing I should probably mention is that sin is a liar.” At this, the little dictator’s face would have grimaced. “It promises so much fulfillment, but in the end, it hollows a person out and strips him of everything decent. It doesn’t take long for the thrill of sin to come to an end.”
“And Adolph, there’s something else, in all good conscience, I must tell you.”
“Yah?” he would whimper.
“Sin always destroys. You and your nation are quickly heading for destruction. You are in real trouble!”
“Vell,” he would fretfully respond, “since I now know vat to expect, can’t I circumvent zese spiritual laws und find some vay around dem?”
“No, I’m afraid not. They are unavoidable. Once sin has been loosed, it cannot be controlled. You will become like a twig being helplessly carried along in a rushing stream. Once you are engulfed in the flow of sin, it is impossible to control it.”
With that, the little villain would have begun frantically pacing back and forth, mulling and fretting over what he had heard. This would be my signal that the interview was over. The tortured author of Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”) was now beginning to see, in horrible clarity, that he was a loser in the most important struggle in life—the one against his own sinful nature. Eventually, the German thug came to see for himself that sin always comes with a terrible price. “Yah,” he would whine. “Sin never pays.”

Editor’s Note: If you can’t tell, I love this Steve Gallagher guy. I think he’s hilarious and at the same time I think he’s dead on center. And I would have loved to see “the little dictator, named Adolph” and “the heavy-weight Gospelteer, named Steve” come nose to nose - it would have been quite a sight. If you are fascinated by this Gallagher fellow, I would encourage you to dig a little deeper into his world. Besides reading any of his twelve popular books, you could check him out at www.purelifeministries.org, where he’s spent over twenty years serving as the resident “der furhrer.”

the job no one wants

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:48:15 -0600

by Eric Ludy

Editor’s Note: Okay, for those of you who still haven’t gotten up the guts to read “The Bravehearted Gospel,” here’s a little excerpt from the second chapter of the book. The second chapter is one of my favorites, and the little piece of it that you now have before you is only one-third of the chapter. So, I’m by no means giving away the farm here. The title of the chapter is “The Job No One Wants - after all, who really wants to end up nailed to a piece of wood?” Enticing, isn’t it?

It’s considered by many that the book of Job is the oldest book of the Bible. Whether it was written before Moses, no one knows, but the story itself seems to have taken place long before Moses’ time. Anyone who has spent time studying the book of Job knows that this book, whereas it is a profound declaration of God’s power and glory - is a rather uncomfortable book to read. Why?
Because we are all afraid of being Job.
Just listen to this story:
And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil?
Now, why in the world God is spending even a moment of His time bantering about with Satan is one of the befuddling things about this story, however, what usually grips our attentions is this whole notion, “hast thou considered my servant Job?” That could easily read, “hast thou considered my servant, Eric?” or “hast thou considered my servant, Hillary?” or “has thou considered my servant (insert your name here!)?”
It’s funny, but whereas most of us would love to be noticed by God, applauded by God, and selected by God for the most important tasks, there is a very large part of us that does not want God bringing up our name in conversation, especially with Satan, the enemy of our souls. After all, for those of us familiar with the story, Job goes on to lose everything – his children, his estate, his livestock, his health, and his dignity, all because of this crazy conversation that in all of our minds was ill-conceived on God’s part in the first place.
Long and short, there isn’t hardly a one of us on planet earth that wishes to be Job. Sure, he sounds like a wonderful man, but most of us are willing to forgo the “wonderful” description to avoid the “misery” that this man incurred.
I have spent a lot of time thinking, studying, and praying about this man’s life. I recognize that there is a part of me that wishes to back away from being made available to God in such a manner. There is part of me that wishes to remain anonymous in Hell. There is a part of me that just utterly resists the notion of publishing my address on Satan’s bulletin board with a message that reads, “Bring it!”
But this cowardly part of me is growing lesser and lesser with every passing month. And there is another part of me that is awakening, finding its legs, and discovering its growl. There is an ever-increasing Bravehearted part of me that is wanting precisely what Job had.
In fact, if I could say it succinctly, I want to be just like Job.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not wishing for the enemy to have unhindered access to my children, my estate, my livestock, my health, and my dignity – but I am wishing for my All-powerful God to have unrestricted license to do with my children, my estate, my livestock, my health, and my dignity anything that He deems fit – for His glory!
The book of Job is a book about God’s glory. We always look at it as a book about an abused man. But this whole drama isn’t about a man, but about this man’s God.
Satan had tarnished both God’s glory and His honor.
Satan was seeking to undermine the faith of the inhabitants of Heaven in their Sovereign King.
Right there at the beginning of the book Satan claims that followers of God, such as Job, only follow Him out of lust and not love. Before all the hosts of heaven Satan threw down the gauntlet, saying that God’s servants only serve because God bribes them with health, wealth and prosperity; thus implying that God was not loved as a benevolent master but was rather, little more than a well-to-do dictator who bought the favor of His subjects with His coin.
Who would answer this challenge? Who would rise to the occasion and wipe the spit from off God’s face?
The answer is – Job.
After all, who else could really do it? Job was the subject in question. Did He serve God for love? Or did he serve for profit?
“Remove your protection from him and he will curse you to your face!” Satan screamed.
But God knew Job. He knew his servant. And he knew the stuff that he was made of.
“Everything he has and everything he is I will place within your hands.” God replied. “But you are wrong. Job is perfect. And he is upright in all his ways. And though you bring all the weight of the world down like a hammer upon him, he will shun evil and he will choose good. You will fail. And he will defeat you.”
God wagered his entire reputation on the faithfulness of one man.
That man was Job.
And he – was God’s champion.
The grandstands of heaven must have hushed with the awe of holy angels as they silently watched while, Satan, the Prince of the Principalities and the Powers of the Air, brought his worst against tiny Job, God’s lone defender in this cosmic conflict.
Those watchers from the portals of glory must have leaned in with anxious expectation as the end of round one was called. Job’s estate lay in ruins, his livestock gone, his wealth taken, and his children dead. Satan stood back panting and winded with effort as he waited to hear the doubt-filled cry of outrage and angst that must issue forth against God from the soul of a man who has suffered the loss of so much within the space of so few hours.
But to the grinding of Satan’s teeth and to heaven’s everlasting joy, the Bible records that Job, God’s man - though beaten and bloody, though vexed and tempted to curse God and die - Job fell down upon the ground and worshiped God saying, “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD..”
The shouting in heaven must have sounded like peals of thunder.
Not only had Job valiantly taken everything that Satan threw at him and not cursed God, but Job had actually blessed him!!
To many an onlooker Job may have seemed to have been struck down without cause. But in reality it was Job who had struck the mortal blow against Satan and against his lies about God and about his children.
With no small grief, God had allowed this man to be spent, without him even knowing why, so that both heaven and earth would know with certainty, from the moment of Job’s triumph over Satan unto the end of the ages, that God is no dictator, and that His servants serve Him for loves sake and for loves sake alone.
Down through the years, many have looked upon Job’s suffering with wagging heads and called it pointless. But heaven knows better.
Job was heaven’s champion.
Job stood when everything in him wanted to fall.
Job had the manly stuff.
Do we?
Could our God lean as heavily upon us? Could we be trusted with such a sacred task as defending the honor of God? Are there those among us of whom God could say, “Satan, you may do your worst but he will not bend; you may bring in your biggest guns she will not break; they have built their house upon a rock and they shall not be moved. They shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not faint. For I know them. They are my sons, they are my daughters, they are my servants, and they will not fail me”?
This is the stuff that changes the world. This is the stuff of the Bravehearted Gospel

For more Eric Ludy stuff visit one of the following websites
www.ericludy.com where he’s dishing out the manly stuff in blog and podcast form
www.discipleship.setapartlife.com where you can find loads of Ludy audio files
www.store.setapartlife.com where you can find all his books, music, and more
www.kiddos.setapartlife.com where you can find out the latest about the Ludy kiddos

are we honoring or denying Christ?

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:41:50 -0600

by Israel Wayne

The bravehearted Christian must endeavor to never do anything in word or action that will in any way bring a reproach upon the name the Lord. How many of us, in the face of peer-pressure have been too afraid to share our faith, or even worse, have denied our convictions because we didn’t want to “offend” someone? Are we here to serve Christ, or the world? Let’s look at what the Scripture teaches about denying Christ:
Matthew 10:32-33 (NASB)
“Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”
Denying Christ is not merely to deny that He exists, but it is to deny our relationship with Him. Simon Peter faced this temptation. Peter was so confident in himself. Jesus had told His disciples that they must deny themselves (ironic isn’t it), take up their cross daily and follow Him. Peter, however, didn’t want to go to the cross.
Matthew 16:21-25 (NASB)
“From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.’ Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.’"
Just before He died, Jesus told Peter specifically that he would be tested. The Bible has informed us, ahead of time that we will also be tested in our faith and allegiance to Christ.
Luke 22:31-34 (NASB)
"’Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!’ And He said, ‘I say to you, Peter, the cock will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.’"
What a blessing that Christ prayed for Peter! Don’t you wish that Christ would pray for you? The Bible tells us that He does. Hebrews 7:25 tells us that our risen Savior ever lives to make intercession for us! Having lived in a human body, as do we, our Lord understands what it is like to be human. He knows our weaknesses. He does not condemn us for our weakness, but He left us an example of overcoming sin, so that we too may overcome.
Hebrews 4:14-16 (NASB)
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”
Rather than looking to Jesus’s example, Peter tried to be strong in his own flesh. This will always bring failure.

WHAT IF WE HAVE FAILED?
Luke 22:54-62 (NASB)
“And having arrested Him, they led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. And after they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. And a certain servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, and looking intently at him, said, ‘This man was with Him too.’ But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know Him.’ And a little later, another saw him and said, ‘You are one of them too!’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I am not!’ And after about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, ‘Certainly this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about.’ And immediately, while he was still speaking, a cock crowed. [61] And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, ‘Before a cock crows today, you will deny Me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.”
How foolish is the human heart?! How unwise our sinful motives?! Peter was willing to deny the Lord of glory to gain the approval and acceptance of an obscure slave-girl! Can you imagine how he must of felt when his best friend and Lord turned and looked at him?
The good news is that the story does not end there. Even though Peter denied Jesus three times, because of his repentance, Jesus did not deny Peter before His father in heaven.
John 21:15-19 (NASB)
“So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?’ (Note from Israel: I believe this is referring to the fish that Peter had just caught and Jesus had just cooked, and the fishing occupation to which Peter was engaged when Jesus called him and the work to which he returned when he thought he no longer had a part in Christ’s ministry.) He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My lambs.’ He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Shepherd My sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend My sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself, and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.’ Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’"
Three times Peter denied that he knew Christ. Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” one for every time Peter denied Him. Jesus restored Peter to fellowship and leadership in His kingdom. What a merciful Savior! He does not seek to condemn, but to restore!

THE SWORD OF JESUS
Matthew 10:34-39 (NASB)
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it.”
I believe the reason Jesus made this statement: “Do not think I came to bring peace,” is because that is exactly what we are inclined to believe. He is the Prince of Peace, after all. The fact is, however, that His word is like a double-edged sword (Hebrew 4:12). Truth is by it’s very definition, exclusive. What I mean by that is that for something to be true, the opposite of that truth must necessarily be false. For example, when Jesus said in John 14:6 that He was THE way, THE truth and THE life, He was saying that all others who claim to be those things, are lying and are impostors. The gospel is something that divides. There are those who humble themselves and accept it, and those who refuse to bow their knee and submit themselves to it. The gospel forces every person to make a conclusion, one way or the other about its claims. Each person must decide for themselves where they stand: with Christ or against Him. That decision to choose Christ naturally places them on the other side of the line from those who choose to reject Him.

EMBRACING REJECTION
When we reject the blood, the cross and the way of Christ, we are not worthy of Him. Yet the temptation is there to throw away all of these eternal treasures for the mere acceptance of a person: a father, a mother, a spouse or a child. Let me assure you that denying Christ will never help that loved one to come into a right relationship with Christ. It is only the gentle rebuke of your obedient life in following Christ that has the ability to reach them. Your fear and insecurity never can.
Matthew 10:40-42 (NASB)
“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you he shall not lose his reward.”
The Lord knows those that are His (2 Timothy 2:19). He honors His faithful servants. He blesses those who receive His servants in Jesus’ name. He gives special blessings to those who give open hearts and open fellowship to those who labor in His kingdom. When you are serving Jesus faithfully, if someone rejects you, they aren’t really rejecting you, but rather they are rejecting Jesus.
2 Tim. 2:11-13 (NASB)
“It is a trustworthy statement:
For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him;
If we endure, we shall also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.”

The confession above was something the early church would quote to remind themselves of the fact that they were a persecuted people.
Jesus Christ has not called us to enter a popularity contest. He has called us to participate in the struggle of the Kingdom of God. We are at war against the carnality of the world, our own sinful flesh and the devil himself. We must remember that we are bought with a price and therefore we must glorify God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:20). There is no greater blessing in life than to live faithfully for our Lord!

Editor’s Note: Israel Wayne is one of the nicest guys I know, and yet he writes articles like this one. God’s given this guy a grand poetic heart, and yet Israel simply refuses to back down when it comes to the hard realities of Scripture. It’s my opinion that we need more men of this “strange” recipe - Godly softness mixed with Godly firmness. As an accomplished author and popular conference speaker, Israel is making a very real impact on the Christian community. And I say, “You go guy!” (Okay, that didn’t sound very manly). To learn more about this bravehearted oddity named Israel, you can visit him at www.WisdomsGate.com where he serves as Marketing Director for Wisdom’s Gate Publishing, or you can take a more personal peek at www.IsraelWayne.com.
Please email your thoughts, questions, and encouragements to Israel Wayne

the shack (part one)

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:42:21 -0600

by Pastor Keroff

Editor’s Note: Does this guy’s name ring a bell to you? Yep, that’s right, it’s the very same Pastor Keroff that played the muse for my inaugural blog entry on this site back on March 16th. It’s kind of like having a celebrity dial in and share his bravehearted thoughts. I hope you all enjoy!

“This book changed my life. I wish I had read it 20 years ago.”
This exuberant testimony was given about a book that is sweeping the country like an Oklahoma tornado (and it’s probably just as damaging). What book could offer such hope and promise of alteration? What book could guarantee such transformation and earn the accolades of thousands?
The book is simply entitled, “The Shack.” The Shack, and its author, has been idolized and criticized. Many articles have been written praising the effects of this book, and many others have been written warning us of its dangers and the heretical underpinnings of the manuscript. Although I could write a whole article warning the reader, as one Christian leader stated, to “Stay out of the Shack,” I have another purpose in mind for writing.
I am a voracious reader. I am a seminarian student, so there are some books I have to read. Then, on occasion, there are some books I get to read. I have been impacted by many different genres of literature. In fact a number of publications have inspired, encouraged, and energized my walk with Christ. I have been influenced by numerous missionary biographies and the true stories of those who have laid down their lives for the advance of God’s Kingdom. In addition, I love to read books that call for radical commitments of obedience, as well as selected works of Biblically accurate Christian fiction.
Nevertheless, only one book holds the promise of changing lives. Only one manuscript has the ability to strengthen individuals and keep us free from the power of sin. Only one volume is absolute Truth and has the capacity to sanctify the heart, soul, and mind.
Hebrews 4:12 declares, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Did you catch what the verse said? The word of God is living and active. The word of God penetrates and discerns. The word of God has the capacity to do heart surgery and to bring about a metamorphosis in our thoughts, actions and words.
In fact, God said in Isaiah 55:10-11, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
The passion in which people are consuming the pages of The Shack is somewhat surprising. The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association lists The Shack as number 2 on their bestsellers list. Because the book has sold over 1 million copies, it has also been granted the Platinum Award by the ECPA. Currently, the book is listed as #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list, and has now been on that list for 46 weeks. According to the author’s website, “The book will soon be appearing in more than 30 languages around the world and in audio versions in many countries as well.” Pastor and author, Eugene Peterson, says “This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good.” This fictional account has caused a revival of sorts in the evangelical church world. Unfortunately, the church tends to be extremely pragmatic. Truth is often equated with success, size or what appears to be “working.”
Nevertheless, we need to go back to the testimony with which we started. “This book has changed my life.” Something is amiss in our pursuit for transformation. As a pastor I long for the moment that one of my parishioners would come to me and say, “You know pastor, I was reading the Gospel of John the other day and it changed my life.” Or, “I was studying the book of Ephesians last week and I have come to a new understanding of who Christ is and who I am in Christ, and I am living more victoriously in my Christian walk.” However, it appears to me that the Bible is no longer exciting enough for this generation. And what’s worse is that the person of Jesus is passé. We need something new, something fresh, something novel.
At Six Flags Amusement Park in St. Louis, Missouri, there is a ride called Mr. Freeze. Mr. Freeze is a roller coaster that takes the rider from 0-70 in 4 seconds. After experiencing this roller coaster with my brother in the late 1990s, I had a revelation of sorts. Various Pentecostal/charismatic revivals were at their full height and frenzy at this time, and it seemed that everyone was trying to outdo each other in regards to strange teachings, bizarre manifestations, and extra-biblical spiritual experiences.
Mr. Freeze is an intense encounter with raw emotion. I was so scared that I saw my life, and my brother’s life, pass before my eyes. And then this revelation came to me. Pretty soon Mr. Freeze will no longer be exciting enough for the masses, and they will have to build something bigger, faster, and more extreme. Mr. Freeze will need to be outdone. I wonder if that’s how people in the church think about Jesus and the Word of God.
The Shack will eventually fade into history and other books will take its place. But it grieves my heart to think that many in the church have not experienced the abundant life that Jesus promised in John 10:10. Perhaps it’s because we have satiated our hunger for God and His Word by filling our minds and hearts with substitute fillers. Listen to the call of the prophet…hear the pleading of the ancient seer: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you…” (Isaiah 55:1-3).
The Apostle Peter exhorted his readers: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2-3). I pray our appetite for what truly transforms and satisfies will return. What we are looking for is in the Secret Place (Psalm 91:1, Matthew 6:6) not in The Shack!

Editor’s Note: There are possibly hundreds of small town pastors like Spencer Keroff speckled about this nation. They are salt-of-the-earth bravehearted warriors for the Truth of the Gospel and they carry a big spiritual stick. Usually these sort of men are overlooked in our modern Christian world because our modern measuring stick of credibility is congregation size and number of published books. But I for one think we should give these humble, small town, bravehearted voices the biggest megaphone. If you want to get to know Pastor Keroff a little better, his church is in Centerville, Iowa. If you are in Iowa or just happen to be passing through, you may want to pay his little Assemblies of God Church a visit. You will quickly discern why I like this guy so much. Oh, and if you want to take a peek at my blog entry entitled, “Paging Pastor Keroff,” click here.
PS - You will notice that this was “Part One” which invites the idea that a “Part Two” is on the way. It is. It may be a few weeks, but it’s coming.
Please email your thoughts, questions, and encouragements to Pastor Keroff

my boy, hudson

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:57:54 -0600

by Eric Ludy

For all of you that have never changed a baby’s diaper, I’m going to give you a supremely valuable piece of wisdom. It’s a bit of wisdom that would have been quite helpful to me in those early days of fatherhood:
When in the midst of a diaper change, be expectant, because there is always more where that came from.
Parenting is full of surprises. Some smelly, some sticky, some hilarious, some quite inconvenient, and some that are pure pleasure.
It’s an amazing thing raising a boy. The surprises are endless. And that little bit of wisdom mentioned above, could actually be applied to far more than diaper drama. It could also be said, when observing a child’s imagination, be expectant, because there is always more where that came from. Or how about giggles, adventures, and grass stains? For better or for worse, they just keep coming.
My four year old, Hudson, is a little dynamo – his brain never stops churning, his mouth never stops motoring, and his body never seems to stop moving. Of course that is not entirely true, seeing that he is flopped on the floor of my bedroom as I write this completely comatose. He was running, jumping, diving, soaring, building, demolishing and then suddenly he was fast asleep. Such is the life of a little boy.
There are a lot of eyes that watch my little boy. Seeing as how I have championed a return to true masculinity, gritty bravehearted living, and hairy-chested heroism – a lot of people want to know how this will pass on to my progeny. Well, one thing I’m certain of is that the epic stuff of the Gospel life is not passed along merely through wise words, parental discipline, and practical life training, but primarily through the awakening and enabling power of God Himself. In other words, I’m dependent upon God to help me in this “Hudson becoming a great man” thing. I can talk-up “great manhood” to him and I can hopefully live it out in front of him, but God still must intersect my little boy’s life and supercharge his soul with the Grace of the Almighty.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Yes, I’m dependent, but happily so.
To be honest, the desire I have for my son to find the fullness of the Christ-life is strong within me. I yearn to see him turn out perfectly manly, with a chiseled heavenly soul, marked by honor and grace, and fueled by a fiery passion for His beloved Christ. After all, what is parenting a boy if it is not to foster such an end?
However, I am wholly confident in the fact that though I can’t make this happen, even through my best efforts, my Beloved God is more interested in this happening in Hudson’s heart and life than even I am, and He has said to me, “Ask, Eric, and I will do the work of Grace in his soul – I will rouse your little boy to rise up as a man – I will do it!”
Parenting as an extension of God’s Grace is a fearful and yet explosively thrilling task. I’ve surrendered my parenting over to my King and He has assured me that if I follow His lead and allow Him to enable me to pray for my kiddos as he prayed for us in Gethsemane, love my little ones just as He loved us all the way to Calvary, and die for them the way He died for us on that tree – that the vestibule of heaven will be open to them and they will discover the intimate touch of Grace upon their souls.
Hudson and I talk about Jesus a lot. But I sense that right now, at the tender age of four, he understands only the wire frame of the Gospel, but he doesn’t grasp his personal need for the power of it. He is constantly around prayer and spiritual discussion, but the deeper concepts of the Faith have not yet grabbed a hold his boyish soul. He could probably answer trivial questions about Jesus, his birth, death, and resurrection, but he doesn’t yet have the substance of Jesus Christ alive within.
As a father, I yearn for that day that I can share in intimate spiritual communion with my son. I want to talk with him about the deeper life, laugh with him about the dazzling beauty of the throne room of Grace, and cry with him over the astounding mercies of our Mighty King.
I know that such thrilling occasions mark my horizons. Such is the beauty, blessing, and bounty of Christian parenting. So I patiently wait and eagerly expect.
Tomorrow morning, Hudson and I leave on our very first “Father/Son grand adventure.” We are headed out to Idaho where I will be speaking at a conference. He very likely won’t be overly engrossed in my message. There is a high likelihood that he will be coloring, doing a puzzle, or living out an imaginary adventure while I’m on stage preaching my heart out. But, oh, what I wouldn’t give to see him lay hold of the things I’m going to be sharing tomorrow night. What I wouldn’t give to know that his heart was burning with the very same fire that I keep stoked within my chest. Tomorrow night I’ll be talking about the Bravehearted Gospel, the life wholly spent for the Glory of Jesus Christ. Is it possible that my four year old might catch the vision of the Cross even though so very young?
It’s an amazing thing raising a boy. It’s a life full of surprises. And wouldn’t it be the most wonderful of surprises to have my little boy come up to me and proclaim, “Daddy, I met Jesus and He took over my life!”
Such joys are heaven on earth. And you can just hear God whisper in those moments, “Be expectant, Eric, because there is always more where that came from.”

Editor’s Note:
Eric Ludy is always bragging about his kids. “Oh, Hudson rode his bike today!” “Oh, Harper picked up a rock and threw it today.” “Oh, did you see it, Kipling drooled today?” It would appear that the poor fellow turned into one of those dads that whips out a ream of family photos every time someone accidently asks, “So, Eric, how are the kids?” He’s confessed that he’s always feared that one day he might actually drive around a mini-van, but word on the street says that he has been holding clandestine conversations about such an uncool investment with a Toyota dealer down in Denver. If he actually goes through with it, we will have to freshly evaluate if he can still continue contributing to a blog with such a manly name to it. I mean come on, The Bravehearted Blog better have bravehearted folks at the helm, don’t you think? Oh, and for those of you that are thoroughly confused now as to who the editor of this Blog really is, I will give you three hints. He was nicknamed “Loogy” in high school. His mom has described his body type as that of a “golfer.” And once, while attempting to shmooze his way into medical school, he misspelled his last name to the head of the program. I think the actual quote was, “Sure, Don, you have a pen? Okay, it’s L-O-O-D-Y.” And if you are wondering, the poor fellow never made it as a doctor. So, if you aren’t totally convinced that this guy’s opinion is good for nothing, feel free to visit his personal website at www.ericludy.com.

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living in a frenzy

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:10:35 -0600

by Steve Gallagher

I’ll get right to the point—I know you’re in a hurry!
A recent AP poll revealed that the average length of time Americans are willing to wait in line at a store before getting frustrated is 17 minutes. It’s worse for phone callers sitting on hold, taking them only 9 minutes before irritation sets in.
This impatience is also seen in our eating habits where the success of “fast food” restaurants has revealed our willingness to forgo quality in favor of speed. And TV programming experts say that the scene must change on the screen every three seconds, or people will become bored and change the channel! Even the more static nature of the Internet is rapidly morphing into a virtual world where the mind must constantly be stimulated with high-speed downloads, scrolling text, and flashing icons.
The prophet Daniel certainly saw franticness as one of the prevailing characteristics of the end times when he wrote that, “many shall run (Heb. shut: rushing around) to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (Daniel 12:4) Sound familiar?
It should go without saying that the flesh thrives in such a fast-paced environment. Interestingly, the third and fourth “fruits of the Spirit” cited in Galatians 5 are peace and patience (listed ahead of such qualities as kindness, goodness, faithfulness, etc.). The writer of Hebrews pointedly wrote: “Ye have need of patience...” (Hebrews 10:36) If this is a necessary admonishment for the average believer, how much more does today’s stressed out pastor need to take heed?
Truth be told, we have lost the ability (maybe even desire) to quiet ourselves before God and to truly hear His voice. It was the solitude found in the vast wastelands of the wilderness (a place of excruciating boredom to modern believers) that produced God-filled men like Moses, David and Paul. Even as recently as a hundred years ago, pastors understood that divine impartation came as they sat still and tarried before the Lord.
While some pastors, authors and broadcasters rack up head-turning numbers through their frantic activities, the wise minister understands that eternal spiritual fruit comes only through abiding in Christ: “…for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
I understand the constant temptation to rely upon my own efforts in ministry. Fortunately, a number of years ago the Lord reproved me for my self-reliance. “Instead of wasting a lot of effort trying to scratch out some success for yourself, why don’t you sit at My feet, wait upon Me, hear My voice and get in the flow of what I am doing?” This word was confirmed later through the words of the prophet, “You have sown much, but harvest little… You look for much, but behold, it comes to little.” (Haggai 1:6, 9)
It is easy to work…but hard to pray. Surfing the internet is effortless…while meditating on Scripture can seem tedious. It is natural to rely upon my own reasoning…but goes against my nature to wait for God’s leading. It is pleasurable to watch television…but so difficult to sit in silence.
The fact is: I fail at this battle regularly. And yet I must remain committed to fighting it. The unseen rewards make the struggle worth it… while the alternative is unthinkable.

Editor’s Note:
Steve Gallagher has been around a long time. That’s a very nice way of saying that he’s kind of old. But, being “kind of old” isn’t all that bad. He’s fully earned all those gray hairs and he’s lugging around some wonderful wisdom that he is eager to pass along to all of us bravehearted upstarts. Steve, when he’s not spending his time writing for this blog, is the president of Pure Life Ministries in Dry Ridge, Kentucky. He’s a prolific writer, authoring over twelve books. In fact, if you closely examine his popular book, Intoxicated with Babylon, you will notice that the above blog sounds strangely similar to a chapter in that book. So, just in case you were starting to get impressed with how much this guy can write, just remember that all his content just might be self-plagiarized. I guess you could call that a secret writing trick for all those that are “kind of old.” I’m guessing everyone knows that I’m only joking. I love this guy and I love the stuff he brings to the table. Kudos, Steve! Keep the good stuff coming!

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withstanding persecution

Thu, 9 Apr 2009 11:28:39 -0600

by Israel Wayne

Very few of us in America know anything experientially about persecution. I was listening to a call-in program for teenagers on Christian radio a few years back. The host asked teenagers to call in and tell their story if they had ever been persecuted for their Christian faith. As I recall the most hideous form of persecution they could muster was a young man who said, “Well, like, you know, some of the other kids in school, like, kinda, uhh, don’t hang around you and stuff if they think you are a Christian.”
My mind immediately recalled stories I’ve read in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Tortured for Christ, or Martyr’s Mirror. While I’m sure it isn’t fun to be ignored by secular peers, I’d hardly call that “persecution.” With that low of a spiritual pain tolerance, it makes me wonder how we would fair if we ever faced real opposition and oppression.

John 15:20 (KJV)
“Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also.”

One of the most basic principles of discipleship is that we are servants, following after our master. The path He chose was that of the cross. We must not think that we will be able to avoid the cross of affliction or persecution in our own lives.

PERSECUTION FROM RELIGIOUS PEOPLE

Matthew 10:16-20 (NASB)
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves. But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the courts, and scourge you in their synagogues; and you shall even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not become anxious about how or what you will speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what you are to speak. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”

The courts were secular, non-religious institutions, but the synagogues were religious institutions. This gives us a clear understanding that the enemies of the true disciples of Jesus are sometimes those who claim to be religious. In fact, throughout church history, some of the fiercest persecutors of God’s faithful disciples were religious people. The Israelites (God’s chosen covenant people) rebelled from God and killed his prophets (Luke 11:47). The Pharisees and Sadducees (the most devout religious people within the Jewish community) condemned Christ and His disciples to death. The Roman Catholic church persecuted and killed the Reformers. Some of the followers of Luther and Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich himself, arrested, persecuted and even killed Anabaptists for their beliefs on baptism and because many Anabaptists refused to fight the Turks.
The Pilgrims came to America to escape the religious persecution imposed on them by the Church of England. In Germany during the 1940s (World War II), many Catholic, and apostate Lutheran churches reported and turned in to the Gestapo the unregistered “confessing” churches who were faithful the gospel. These apostatized churches became propaganda platforms for Hitler and preached the Nazi sermons they were given by the Fuhrer.
In all of these cases God was looking for men and women to be faithful. Richard Wurmbrand was a Romanian pastor who loved God’s word and was faithful to the gospel. When the Soviets took over his country in the 1940s after WWII, Richard and three thousand other ministers were called to a special banquet. They were then told that they must stand and proclaim over national radio how wonderful Joseph Stalin and the soviet party was. (Joseph Stalin reportedly murdered as many as 30 million of his own people! He was a butcher who made his rival Adolph Hitler look tame by comparison.) One by one the pastors stood and denied their faith in Christ by accepting and condoning the actions of such a wicked man. Sabina, Richard’s wife said to him, “You must stand and wipe away this disgrace from the name of Christ!” Richard assured her that if he did not go along he would surely be arrested and perhaps killed. She replied, “I would rather have a dead husband than a husband who is a coward!”
Richard stood and proclaimed his faith and allegiance to Christ alone and began to preach the gospel. The soviets immediately shut off the radio broadcast, but not before millions of listeners heard one more time the truth of God’s word.
Both he and his wife were imprisoned. For the next ten years they didn’t see each other. They were both physically tortured in an attempt to make them deny their faith. They were each told that their spouse was dead. Eventually they were released, immigrated to Oklahoma and started an international ministry called, “Voice of the Martyrs,” educating people about those across the world who are tortured and suffering for their faith. Even faced with the enormous peer pressure of three thousand of their fellow ministers denying the gospel, they stood alone and honored Christ. They were faithful to use the platform they were given to declare God’s truth. From Stephen in the book of acts, to Polycarp, to the Anabaptists whose blood were shed for their faith, history is full of those who stand firm for the gospel, and religious people who think they are doing God a favor by killing and/or persecuting those who follow Christ wholeheartedly.
These are sordid tales of religious history that we would all like to pretend never happened. However, the facts are that God’s people have often had enemies from within and without religious circles.

Matthew 10:21-22 (NASB)
“And brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all on account of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

It is much easier to withstand persecution from someone with whom you have no fellowship. If you are persecuted by a communist or a terrorist or something of that sort, you have a clear sense of their motivation for coming against you. They have a belief system that is contrary to the gospel and they hate the cause of Christ. They may also have a cultivated hatred toward you because of national or ethnic tensions. What makes little or no sense, however, is when the opposition comes from someone you know and love. It is nearly impossible for us to comprehend that someone from our own family, someone with whom we have shared many precious hours of sweet fellowship may turn against us and even seek our death. This is strange indeed, but Jesus said that it would happen.

STANDING ALONE
There are times when we simply may have to stand alone. Being “hated by all” does not seem like something any of us could withstand, but Jesus promised salvation to those who endure without giving up.

Matthew 10:23 (NASB)
“But whenever they persecute you in this city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you shall not finish going through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes.”

While our Lord never authorizes retaliation, vengeance, or returning evil for evil, he does allow for us to remove ourselves from a situation where we are experiencing unprovoked aggression. Jesus’ own parents sought safety for their family when King Herod sought the life of their son. Fleeing to another city or community is something the Lord allows, and even recommends for those who are being persecuted.

Matthew 10:24-31 (NASB)
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. "What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. "And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ‘But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.’”

FEAR IS A SIN
Jesus says, “Do not fear them.” That sounds easy enough, but it is much harder to practice than we might think. The fear of man is so natural to our flesh.

Proverbs 29:25 (NASB)
“The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.”

Fearing man, however, is always a trap. It never brings the freedom we seek, only more bondage. We must never seek our security in the acceptance of others, but in Christ alone. Fear is a sin. We are commanded to fear God alone.

Psalm 56:11 (NASB)
“In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Fear is a refusal to trust God. It is rebellion and disobedience covered in a garment of self-protection and self-interest. God is our defender. To fear is to imply that God is not: All-knowing, all-loving or all-powerful. If God knows all things, desires the best for us (Romans 8:28), and has total control over all things, then even if we find ourselves in the position of righteous Job in the Old Testament, we know that God has allowed testings for His glory and our good.

James 1:2-4 (NASB)
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

In our flesh, it is impossible to consider our trials to be “joyful.” It is only through the work of the Holy Spirit that we can walk as Jesus did, who for the joy that was before Him, endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2).
If we desire to stand when we are facing death for our faith, we must learn to stand in the “little” tests of desiring the approval of men. While I was a bit hard on the young man who called into the radio program, it is through enduring those small challenges that we will build the spiritual muscle and fortitude to stand firm in the face of the really big challenges. The Lord is faithful to test us in small things before entrusting us to truly big challenges.

Editor’s Note:
I realize I said this last time Israel Wayne wrote a blog, but I think it’s worth repeating - I really like this guy! I like the “bravehearted” thoughts rolling around inside his head and stirring in his heart. I guess you could say that he makes me feel somewhat normal. He presents the grand and epic Gospel of our King without blushing and without running public opinion polls. Long and short, we need more Israel Waynes in this world. Yes, he’s an accomplished author and popular conference speaker, but he’s also the most down to earth guy you’d ever meet. To check him out, you can visit him at www.WisdomsGate.com where he serves as Marketing Director for Wisdom’s Gate Publishing, or you can take a more personal peek at www.IsraelWayne.com.

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God builds us for crosses

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 12:28:34 -0600

by Eric Ludy

We’ve all said things that we wish we could retract and somehow cram back into our mouths. Well, I made a quick statement in my latest blog entry (The School of the Prophet) that garnered some extra attention from all the die-hard phraseologists out there. And it was the strangest thing, even after looking back over the statement, I still thought it a good one. However, there were a few amigos who wished they could somehow cram the words back into my mouth (or in this case, my keyboard). To me it wasn’t that controversial of a statement, it just seemed like a rather obvious thing. But often, things that make total sense to us, don’t translate the same to everyone else around us.
I said, “God builds us for crosses.”
Most of those concerned about my provocative statement weren’t concerned about the rest of my blog, in fact they liked it, but they were concerned of what people might conclude if such a statement was left unclarified.
“Ludy, it sounds like you are saying that God erects two pieces of woods, removes some long painful nails from his toolbag, and then delights to crucify us.”
How come when I repeat the words, “God builds us for crosses,” that isn’t what pops into my mind?
“God builds us through crosses,” was a great suggestion from one of my good friends. By exchanging “for” with “through,” that uncomfortable zing can certainly be avoided from the statement. However, the statement would then only partially express what I believe.
You see, whereas I believe that God builds us through crosses, I also believe God builds us for crosses. No, I don’t believe that God seeks to strip us naked, scourge us, torture us, openly mock us, and kill us. Such hellish behavior is wholly the enemy’s business. God isn’t the inventor of crosses, and he isn’t the one who wields them as an instrument of suffering and death. But our God is the One who can take this horrible device of persecution and turn it into a supernaturally charged instrument of life. He takes what the enemy means for evil and turns it to a profound good.
What was Jesus built for?
I realize that there are various things you could shout out as an answer to that question.
“He was built to demonstrate the glory of the Father!” someone might say.
“He was built to live out the human life to perfection so that we could see the perfect pattern of righteousness!” Someone else might add.
“He was built to save us from our sins.” Yet another might throw into the hopper.
All very good answers, and perfectly valid answers to my question. However, there’s something specific I’m fishing for.
Drum roll please . . .
“He was built for the Cross.”
He was built for that One great Day – that Day when the sin of the whole world would come crushing down upon His shoulders. He was built to not faint, to not falter at Gethsemane. He was built to keep standing and march forward with audacity even when betrayed to His face and abandoned by his closest friends. He was built for endurance, for long-suffering, for the awful brutality He would endure at the end of the Roman whip. He was built to go as a Lamb silent unto the shearers. He was built to succeed in the most dreadful of circumstances, the most harrowing of trials. Jesus was built for the Cross. He was built for that decisive moment. He was built to win.
What is a Navy Seal built for in training? For the ease of furlough? No - for the dread of D-Day, the shock of Omaha Beach.
A Seal is built to remain standing under the greatest physical and mental strains. He’s built to be a hero amidst the greatest difficulties when other men might fail. He’s built to come out the other side of that bomb blast in one piece.
What is a football player built for? The comforts of the off-season? No - for the pressures of the Super Bowl.
He’s built for fourth and ten with the clock running down to zero – he’s built for exploits, for the guts to show themselves when the chips are down. He’s built to get that ball into the end zone in the face of the greatest obstacles. He’s built for victory NOT defeat.
What is a Christian built for? For the sweet songs of worship amidst the congregation? For the tender words of love shared between the beloved? Yes, but there is more.
Like Jesus, a Christian is built to win. God doesn’t build his men for failure, He builds them for victory. And so He constructs his men and women out of the stuff that gets them through this life in triumph. He builds us for Gethsemane, for rejection, betrayal, slander, shame, and ridicule. He builds us to keep walking when all around us falter. He builds us to stand Athanasius Contra Mundum when everyone about us sides against the Living God. He builds us to receive the cat of nine tails without forsaking our King and without relinquishing our mission. He builds us for those two pieces of lumber ruthlessly pressed down upon our shoulders and splintering our skin with agonizing pain. He builds us for the enemy’s nails, the enemy’s pain, and the enemy’s worst. He build us to rise victorious, to remain faithful, to not cower in the season of greatest trial.
Now, to be quite honest, in some ways I’m taking a dimension of the Christian life and putting it under a magnifying glass. For, though it is true that God builds us for crosses, He also builds us for the life in-between, which might not always be made of splintery wood.
So, in all fairness, you could say, “God builds us for today!” I mean, after all, what’s the good of being built for some day way in the future, if we can’t even make it through the trials facing us today with triumph and victory? This is obviously why Jesus says, “Pick up your cross daily.” And it would also be fair to say that there is a lot more than crosses that God builds us for. For instance, “God builds us for His pleasure; God builds us to bear much fruit; God builds us to bear the image of His Son; God builds us to be holy; God builds us to worship Him; and God builds us to effervesce with overwhelming love, extraordinary joy, and indescribable peace.”
You see, the Christian life is a bit too grand to stick into one small phrase. The small phrase may be true, but it might only be a piece of an even greater truth.
So, should I have said, “God builds us for crosses?”
I think so. It’s a mighty truth, a stunning reality.
But could I have said it in such a way that didn’t cause a mental trip-up for the phraseologists out there?
Probably.
One of my beloved phraseologist friends suggested, “God prepares us for crosses.”
Hmmm. God prepares us for crosses. That’s pretty well put. It’s true, and yet, it doesn’t carry around all that unnecessary mental baggage causing people to envision God erecting crosses and crucifying His children on them.
Long and short, the grand Truth of Heaven isn’t always that easy to communicate down here in this sin-encrusted world. Words can often be trip-ups rather than tools aiding us in our efforts. However, even though we might not say it perfectly, I think we should still speak it. And if we realize we could have said it better, we simply apologize for our inadequacy, and we say it better the next time. But we live in a world that is dying for lack of Truth, so speak we must, even if our words still lack that final polish.

Visit Eric’s personal blog and podcast at ericludy.com

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compromise - a very troubling trend

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 19:54:07 -0600

by Shane Idleman

Alaskan hunters reveal a gruesome, but telling lesson. Eskimos often kill wolves by dipping a razor sharp knife in blood, allowing it to freeze to the blade. The hunter then buries the handle in the snow with the blade sticking up. Enticed by the scent of blood, the unsuspecting wolf licks the blade. With the taste of its own blood, and the numbing effect of freezing temperatures, the wolf licks faster, unaware that he is slowly killing himself.
In the same way, the enemy desensitizes many of us with compromise. Within time, we, like the wolf, don’t realize that we are dying; dying spiritually. The once obvious “rights and wrongs” have been coated with layers of appealing cultural relativism, and compromise. I’ve witnessed soft porn on Christian websites, questionable movie clips shown during PowerPoint sermons, and Christian youth leaders talk about their favorite sexually charged movie—all under the guise of “relating” to the culture.
We do need to “reach people where they are” in our postmodern culture, Jesus did this masterfully; however, compromise often sends a mixed message when the messenger does not truly reflect the message. The President wouldn’t send Elmo to express his sympathy for a family who lost a loved one in combat. In the same way, we shouldn’t diminish the gospel by compromising the message. As another example, a Christian organization recently used a 30-foot tall, inflated sexual organ to promote a conference educating people about the dangers of pornography. As yet another example, I recently heard about a stripper who became a Christian. She witnessed about Christ while she stripped. While the intentions of the aforementioned might be good, their actions send a very mixed message. I Timothy 4:12 exhorts us to be examples of purity and decency.
I’m not writing this as if I have overcome all the challenges associated with being a Christian—nor do I want to approach this topic with a “holier than you” attitude, but to not be open and honest about this critical issue would be unwise and unbiblical. Before asking if an event, website, promotional idea, or advertisement is “culturally relevant,” we should ask does it glorify Christ? Is it consistent with Christian character? Will it send the right message? Will it cause others to stumble? God wants us to reach out to our community, but not if we compromise when we reach.
Most people are looking for authenticity; even they understand that a compromised life sends a compromised message. A.W. Tozer rightly noted, “Where does Christianity destroy itself in a given generation? It destroys itself by not living in the light, by professing a truth it does not obey.” W. Graham Scroggie adds, “Light and darkness, right and wrong, good and evil, truth and error are incompatibles; when they compromise it is the light, the right, the good, and the truth that are damaged.”
Why so little power and passion in the church today? When truth and spirit-led ministry leave, the church reflects the culture rather than the gospel, and compromise often follows. The church, in an attempt to relate to society, has so popularized the ministry that it’s hard to distinguish the church from the world. In America, we have become a church that is bored with holiness, but who enjoys compromise. We spend very little time with God in prayer and reflection, and humility and brokenness are all but forgotten qualities. As a result, the Holy Spirit is not guiding us; Hollywood is. Granted, there are many Christian leaders, and churches, who are doing an exceptional job (including many in the Antelope Valley), but, as a whole, we have lost our moral compass and have drifted off course. The church should not reflect or imitate the world, but lovingly challenge it while living a life that reflects the message.
Cancer begins with a single cell. In time, this tiny cell consumes the life of the body. The full-blown moral crisis that we are experiencing today began with small compromises that were left unchallenged and unchecked. We would do well to heed God’s principles: Times change, but His standards do not.

Editor’s Note:
Shane Idleman is a fairly new discovery for me. We’ve bantered back and forth a few times, and every time we talk, I like him even more. He’s got that bravehearted grit, that passion for good old-fashioned Biblical living. Why is it suddenly considered “refreshing” to see a leader in Christianity that says, “God says it, so I believe it”? Thank you, Shane, for “believing it” and for proclaiming it from the rooftops! I like this guy and I like the stuff he’s dishing out. To learn a little bit more about Shane’s many books and his impacting ministry, check out www.ShaneIdleman.com.

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God enjoying your book

Wed, 1 Apr 2009 11:07:02 -0600

by Steve Gallagher

Long before I became an author I was an avid reader. I have always thoroughly enjoyed reading a good book—a pastime that continues to this day. However, while I read for the purpose of enjoyment, there are occasions when I stumble upon bad grammar or perhaps a poorly constructed sentence. Be that as it may, the reason I picked up the book was not to find mistakes but simply to enjoy a “good read.”
So it is with the Lord when He looks upon His children. He is not looking at them with the idea of finding fault but simply to enjoy them.
Any loving father understands this phenomenon. Perhaps from his vantage point in the house, a father can watch his 4-year-old son playing in the yard. He could practically stand there for hours glowing in parental love. But if his son should find some matches and start to light a pile of dry leaves on fire, suddenly the father is out the door yelling! As Hebrews says, “Whom the Lord loves He disciplines and He scourges every son whom He receives.” (12:6)
Whether or not you think much about it, your life is an open book to the Lord. As the writer of Hebrews also noted, “all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (4:13) And there may be those occasions when He must correct bad grammar or poor punctuation. But let the child of God never forget that His point for picking up the book in the first place was simply so that He might enjoy it.
Rather than seeing the Lord as a scrutinizing editor, perhaps it would be more accurate to see Him curled up next to a glowing fire on a rainy day, completely lost in what is to Him a riveting story. Yes, your story… a book He considers to be “must reading.”

Editor’s Note:
Believe it or not, this Steve Gallagher character is the very same guy who gave us the blog entry, entitled, Tactic#54 - you know, the post that sounded strangely similar to something that might have emerged from the mind of C.S. Lewis. If you haven’t yet read that blog post, you should (click here). It’s great stuff. However, it’s important to note - Steve Gallagher is more than just a Lewis knock-off, he’s also the president of Pure Life Ministries in Dry Ridge, Kentucky. He’s a prolific writer, authoring over twelve books, but my favorite thing about his resume is that he used to be a no-nonsense cop in L.A. Isn’t that cool? He’s got that one look in his eyes that makes bad guys break down, cry, and confess all their sins. Oh, and If you scored higher than fifteen on the The Quiz, then Steve is the kind of guy built just for your spiritual taste buds.

What happened to the comments? (click here to solve the mystery)

costly grace

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:45:51 -0600

by Israel Wayne

One of the most common terms we hear in Christian circles is the word “grace.” There is good reason for that. It is the means by which Christ saves us. Without God’s grace we would all be doomed and damned for eternity. However, I wonder, how many of us grasp the full concept of what grace is, and what it does?
I grew up in a church that had “grace” in its very name. We sang hymns about grace: “Grace, grace, God’s grace. Grace that is greater than all my sin.” We heard numerous sermons about grace. By the time I was a teenager I thought I had learned everything there was to know about that doctrine.
We were taught that we were all sinners and that we needed God’s grace to be saved. We learned that we could never be good enough to earn God’s favor, or to bridge the chasm of separation (caused by original sin) between us and God.
All of this fit it nicely with our church’s favorite scripture passage (Eph. 2:8-9). It’s funny though how our church somehow never got around to reading the next verse (v. 10)!
While these teachings are all true enough, and vitally important, I had only heard half of the story.

Discovering Costly Grace
Isn’t it amazing how you can be quietly reading your Bible one day, minding your own business, and the Holy Spirit can show up and change your entire life? I had that experience as an older teen when I was reading Titus 2. While I’m sure I had read it before, I had always sort of rushed through it, thinking that it taught mainly about older women teaching younger women, or something along that line.
Imagine my surprise when I read:

Titus 2:11-12 (KJV)
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”

I had to go back and read that again. What does God’s grace teach us to do? Have you ever had a moment in your life where you suddenly realized you’d been scammed? That’s how I felt in that moment. I remember asking out loud, “Do you mean that God’s grace teaches us how to stop sinning?! Why have I never been taught this?”

The Christian Con Game
Our church taught that grace is like a blanket that God throws over our sin so that He can’t see it anymore. I had been taught in Sunday School that we are all currently sinners (even though the Bible never calls Christians sinners) and we will sin everyday until we die. That’s the reality of life. That’s why we need grace. Since God can’t allow sin into heaven, we need grace to cloak our sin so that God doesn’t pay any attention to it.
One of their favorite texts was Romans 7. I remember one teacher saying, “Hey, if the Apostle Paul couldn’t obey God, what makes me think I can?!”(We didn’t bother to read the chapter before or after Romans 7.)
That is truly and genuinely what they taught and I have been in dozens of other churches that teach that same basic idea.
Had we bothered to read the context of Romans 7, and explored the backdrop in Romans 6, we would have read:

Romans 6:1-2 (KJV)
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Romans 6:12-15 (NASB)
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? God forbid!”

The Bible is clear, if sin is still your master, you are NOT UNDER GRACE!

Liberating Grace
Our church didn’t really want to be free from sin. We wanted to sin just as much as the world, we just wanted to get a “get-out-of-jail-free” card so that we wouldn’t receive the consequences of our sin.
My next epiphany was to read 1 John. I read the whole book. I read it several times in a row. I had never heard anything like it. My church NEVER ONCE taught from 1 John. The only verse they ever quoted from it was 1 John 1:9. The rest of the book was ignored. They never taught from James either as I recall.
My final “mistake” (God’s providence really), was to stumble across a book called, “The Cost of Discipleship,” by the German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. When I read his chapter entitled, “Costly Grace,” the deal was sealed. I accepted that I had been snookered by an Evangelical heresy.
I’m thankful that God’s grace forgives me when I sin. I’m amazed that God’s grace saved me from a poisonous mixture of dead works and carnality. But more than anything, I am thankful that God’s grace is transforming me into the image of Christ. I am continually learning to say no to sin and to live a holy life that pleases God, without which I cannot see Him.

Hebrews 12:14-15a (KJV)
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God.”

How can you fail the grace of God? By failing to live the Holy life that God, through the infilling of His Spirit, has enabled you to live.

2 Cor. 6:17-18 (KJV)
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

Clarification
Let me be very clear about what I am NOT saying. I am NOT saying that we earn our salvation. We could never do that. I am NOT saying we are saved through works (thank God!). I am NOT teaching sinless perfection; where once you become saved you can (or will) never sin again.
What I am saying is that Christ’s blood, and the Holy Spirit within you, are powerful enough to save you not only from the consequences of sin, but from even committing the sin in the first place. That is the kind of grace that Christ bled and died to give us. We don’t need a mere spiritual whitewash to cover over the filth of our everyday existence. We need a grace that is powerful enough to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. That is costly grace. That is grace God provides. It is free, but it is not cheap. As Bonhoeffer said, “It is costly because it cost God the life of His Son.”

1 Thes. 3:12-13 (KJV)
“And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: to the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”

Editor’s Note:
I like this Israel Wayne guy. He is sound, he is passionate, and he is manly, but he wields his theological sword with great honor and love. He’s the sort of guy that makes every one around him stronger. Simply put, he’s a class act And to add to that, he’s an accomplished author and popular conference speaker. This guy’s definitely worth a closer look. To check him out, you can visit him at www.WisdomsGate.com where he serves as Marketing Director for Wisdom’s Gate Publishing, or you can take a more personal peek at www.IsraelWayne.com.

the truth is not the gospel

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:16:29 -0600

by Ben Davenport

“Preach the truth.” That’s what they said to me. “Stand for the truth” sounded like pretty good advice at the time. “Know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” That one’s from the Bible. But will the truth set everyone free from everything? No, it will not.
1+1=2 is truth, and to learn this truth will indeed set an individual free from mathematical ignorance, but will it free a heroin addict from her love affair with death? No. Truth indeed will set the captive free, but in reality, people are held captive by different things.
The first intrepid souls who crossed the Atlantic to forge a new life in a new world found themselves instead facing extinction. The pilgrims were perishing for lack of knowledge. They were starving. They knew nothing of North American agriculture and simply could not grow enough food to feed their families. What did they need to survive? Truth? Yes, truth, but not just any truth, they needed native American agricultural truth. They needed knowledge of how to work the soil of this strange and foreign land. Nothing else would do. For a man to come along and see the pilgrims starving in ignorance and then begin to teach them that 1+1=2 imagining that he was liberating them from their predicament because he was teaching them the truth and that the truth would set them free, would be ludicrous!
The pilgrims would have gone to their graves with mathematical truth rattling around in their heads but without the truth that they so desperately needed, the truth that would have put food in their children’s bellies, life in their bodies, and would have kept them upright and breathing.
The man who would help such pilgrims must bring the truth that meets their most urgent need, not the truth that is most conveniently at hand.
The same applies to the message of the Bible. Remember this: The gospel is truth, but all truth is not the gospel. Everything in the Bible is truth, but everything in the Bible is not the gospel. And it is the gospel that Paul said is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe.
1+1=2 is a truth that cannot free the souls of men. We know this. But we often miss that, “Blessed are the peacemakers” is also a truth that cannot purchase one moment of reprieve from the shackles of slavery. Why? Because the particular truth that sets men and women free from bondage is the gospel of Jesus Christ and no other!
You’ve probably heard that the word “gospel” means “good news.” So is just any ”good news” the power of God unto salvation? No. It is the good news of Jesus Christ! The good news that He has come and conquered and now offers to us not only His pardon, but the opportunity to be partakers with Him in His victory; to tread upon the serpents and scorpions within our souls and upon all the powers of the enemy that should beset us.
“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” is truth, but it was truth before Christ came to this earth and died. “Thou shalt not kill” is truth but it was truth before Jesus ever rose from the grave. That it is good for men to pray and to study God’s word is truth but it was truth before the sacrifice of Calvary; and if these truths had the power to set the captive free then Christ died in vain!
The loftiest truths in the Bible can be read, studied, preached, and memorized and will never be lived out unless the glorious truth of the gospel has dawned, bringing salvation to those who behold it.
The man or woman who would help the wandering pilgrims of the human race must bring them the scripture truth that meets their most immediate, urgent and dire need, not the biblical truth that is least controversial, most convenient, socially acceptable, comfortable, or culturally relevant.
What most men and women desperately need, is something that most, especially in the church, think they already have . . . salvation.
The truth that man is hopelessly lost and dead in trespasses and sins is part of the Christian message and must be presented clearly and with love but without apology. It is a truthful and accurate description of the condition of mankind but this truth is not God’s solution to man’s condition and can hardly be called “good news”.
The truth is not the gospel; and it is the gospel of Jesus Christ and nothing else that is the power of God unto salvation.
This is why Paul said, not that he would “preach the truth,” or that he would, “stand for the truth,” But that he determined to preach nothing but Christ, and Christ crucified, glorying in nothing but the cross.
The mere preaching of truth, even biblical truth, apart from the gospel will never save a single soul from the clutches of death.
Christ condemned the Pharisees saying, “You search the scriptures for in them you think you have life; but the scriptures all testify of Me; and you will not come to Me that I may give you life.”
Scripture truth is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. It is the cross of Christ, not the canon of scripture that makes men into new creatures, that speaks to dead men’s bones and causes dust to come to life.
How many professing Christians, both liberal and conservative, have gone to their graves with orthodox, theological truth rattling around in their heads but without the truth that they so desperately needed, the truth that would have put Christ, the Bread and Water of Life into their parched, starving souls, and would have kept them from ever having to hear those chilling words, “I never knew you”.
There are many truths one can learn that will inform, but only one that transforms.
The only transforming truth is the gospel.
The only saving truth is the good news of Jesus.
He has come to be the Savior and Redeemer of all men; of both the atheist filled with facts and fiction as well as the Pharisee filled with Divine doctrine. The Gospel, the good news, to both the Hypocrite and the heroine addict is the same, “He came to save his people from their sins”. And He is now present and ready to save all those who will look to Him and believe.
He is the way. He is the truth. And it is He who is salvation.
Preach Christ.
Stand for Christ.
Know Christ.
The truth is not the gospel. Jesus is.
Never forget it.

Editor’s Note:
Ben Davenport is the pastor of Stone Mountain Church in Fort Collins, Colorado. Thanks, dear readers, to your continued pestering, Ben is launching a ministry website soon. But for now, this is the place to find him. If you are interested in catching Ben’s thunderous sermons in person sometime, Stone Mountain Church’s main worship service is held at 5pm, Sunday nights, in Old Town Fort Collins at 328 Remington St, on the corner of Magnolia and Remington. But, as I’ve warned many of you, please be aware, this guy preaches even more forcefully than he writes.

the school of the prophet

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:46:15 -0600

by Eric Ludy

Christianity is simply not cool. It’s not hip, it’s not en vogue, and it’s definitely not one of those things you claim if you desire fame and popularity to come knocking.
Many in our modern day refuse to accept this inherent foolishness in the Christian package. They attempt to make it something it just isn’t, and in the process create even a cheesier product
That said, there is a segment of the Christian life that carries with it a hue of respectability and social grace. It may not be cool, but at least it’s not inherently foolish. For example, kindness. Kindness for the most part is a universally celebrated character trait that both the secularist and Christian applaud. Integrity is another one. Courage, generosity, hospitality, and diligence could also be thrown into this hopper of thought.
In other words, there are certain aspects of a healthy Christian life that pose no threat to the surrounding world system. They are not foolish, cheesy, repulsive, or seemingly inane. In fact, these certain attributes might actually be commended for their humanistic and humanitarian flavoring. But, whereas some traits might not be foul and offensive, there are others in the fully-orbed Christian life that have a very different effect on this world, and thusly remove every ounce of coolness from the equation.
Take for instance, purity. Or how about holiness, or preaching, or evangelizing the lost with our “there’s only one way to the Father” message?
These oft-criticized attributes of the healthy Christian existence beg the question, “What was God thinking?” But this question only emits from our lips when we don’t understand God’s purpose in constructing His saints to look just like Him.
This might be a shocker, but God doesn’t intend the Christian life to gain the admiration of the world. God doesn’t build us into a picture of His Majesty simply to receive the applause of the masses. He doesn’t mold us with the expectation that this world will swoon before our beauty and grace. Actually, God builds the human life into a picture of His honor, truth, and life, in order to expose the selfishness, the sinfulness, and the profane motivation of all that has not yet been reborn and remade in Him.
He builds us as a contrast.
God builds us for crosses.
A healthy Christian life, shaped after the pattern of Christ in Scripture, is an affront, an indictment, a call to repentance. And even if this “healthy Christian” were to never even open his mouth to audibly speak the message of Christ’s honor, truth, and life – still the mighty message of the Cross is continually proclaimed through his every action – it should emanate from his skin, his smile, and his attitude.
In some ways, at the subconscious level, I’ve attempted to avoid this all-too-clearly-evidenced truth of Scripture, that all who live godly lives in Christ Jesus WILL be persecuted. Note that it’s not “may be persecuted.” Not “will be thought kind of funny.” It’s “WILL be persecuted.” Gulp.
I lived a good portion of my Christian life listening to God as if His words were suggestions. I always thought them good, wise suggestions, however, they were still just suggestions – notions that I weighed in the balance of my own selfish interest and often found wanting.
And for years, I treated this whole “persecution” thing as a suggestion. It’s as if God were saying, “Eric, here’s a couple options. You can live a comfortable life, full of yourself, your ego, your wants, and preserving your pleasures, or you could live a persecuted life, full of Me, my sufferings, my agenda, and seeking my pleasure alone. Which one would you prefer?”
If the true Christian life, as prescribed in Scripture, is merely a suggestion, then no one in their right mind would ever choose it. Who would rather die when she might live? Who would rather forsake everything when he might keep it instead? Who would choose to be hated and despised, when she might otherwise be popular and esteemed?
God knows that we would choose wrongly, if left up to our own decision-making processes. And that is why He doesn’t suggest – He commands and then He enables. He knows that there is only one way to be rescued and that is for us to agree with Him and come into alignment with His way of doing things, and then allow ourselves to be equipped by His very Presence dwelling within us.
The true Christian life, whether we like it or not, is intended to be an offense to this world. It’s a bad smell in the room. It’s that one thing that everyone, in one voice, wants removed from the premises. For its presence causes a sting of conviction, or worse, a forewarning of condemnation. The true Christian life shines as a light into the darkness and, as a simple note of fact, the darkness prefers it dark.
These past twenty or so years, God’s been taking me through, what I call The School of the Prophet. It’s like boot camp for the soul. It’s not learning how to handle guns and hand grenades, no, it’s learning how to handle rejection, slander, betrayal, and cold shoulders. It’s learning how to go as a sheep to the slaughter, hang on crosses and forgive those that seek my destruction. It’s learning how to stand firm even if everyone else around me sits soft. It’s learning to follow God’s lead, even when it’s to the death of my reputation or to the loss of all I hold dear.
Oh, I still have a long way to go, but God has seriously altered the person of Eric Ludy over the past twenty years. From people pleaser to Gospel proclaimer – I’ve been transformed.
Probably one of the number one things I’ve had to learn in this “school,” is that God isn’t suggesting me to follow Him down the narrow Way. He’s saying, “Eric, this is the way, walk ye in it! Don’t turn to the right or to the left! Make sure that cross is on your shoulder and that you are completely dead, and then walk!” He’s commanding me to follow – for my own good!
Such a school may not sound very appealing to you. And yet from personal experience I can honestly say that I have found the vestibule of heaven in choosing to walk this narrow way. I have found that the greater the degree I yield in givenness to God, the greater the liberty of soul I have found – it’s a constant journey into greater depths of His love and grace. I have real joy, real peace, and real confidence for real-world living.
I ask you to consider signing up for The School of the Prophet. Please join me in this extraordinary boot camp. You don’t need a wad of cash to enter, in fact, you need nothing. Nothing, that is, but a broken and contrite spirit yielded wholly to God.
So, dear Christians, lift your goblets of vinegar into the air, for I have a toast to make.
Here’s to being ridiculed, slandered, mocked, abused, and crucified with big smiles on our faces, love in our hearts, and forgiveness ever on our lips!

Visit Eric’s personal blog and podcast at ericludy.com

tactic #54 - abusing spiritual terms

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:28:45 -0600

as preserved by Steve Gallagher

Editor’s note:
My good friend, Steve, discovered something quite unusual a few years back. He found a highly unique stack of letters. He’s never been willing to divulge to me where he found them, and he’s kept them behind lock and key ever since he “supposedly” stumbled upon them. And not until now, has he been willing to bring them out into the open. Yes, this is only one letter, and it’s letter #54 at that, however, if Steve is finally willing to share, I’m not going to bicker about how much he’s willing to divulge and why in the world he’s starting us out with #54. But you can bet that I’m going to continue to twist his arm in order to get more where this came from.
What you have before you is the correspondence of what would appear to be two demons. The writer appears to be named, Toxic, while his understudy goes by the name Pitch. Supposedly, Steve has not tampered with these letters in any way but is relaying them to us in the precise manner he unearthed them. Oh, if only C.S. Lewis were alive to witness this extraordinary knock-off.

My Dear Pitch,
As you well know, one of the great undertakings of our cause is to discredit everything the Enemy does. Since words are the vehicles of communication, we must put forth great effort at using meaningful spiritual terms in a way that will make them ineffectual.
For instance, you surely remember in the beginning of the last century how we launched (at my brilliant suggestion) such a successful campaign to discredit the term love. We completely nullified the effectiveness of the word through overuse. By the time our crusade had concluded, people were using the word to describe their feelings about everything from a sports team to a pet cat. The ridiculous concept the Enemy had put forth in the Bible (Can you imagine people actually treating each other with kindness?) was completely forgotten. Certainly it was one of my greatest feats.
Another important tactic is to compel our subjects to twist the meaning of a word. Do you remember when the word holiness provoked dupes to swear off all the worldly entertainment we were offering them? It was almost a terrible disaster! You know how I won this battle of wits? I found some self-righteous Christians who were only too willing to overemphasize outward things such as wearing makeup or playing cards under the term holiness. By the time we were done with them, holiness became politically incorrect—even in the Church! After that, anytime some preacher would call Christians to live a holy life, we quickly offered memories of excessive rule-keeping as an example of this concept. Once we invalidated it, we were free to usher into the Church all kinds of worldliness through television, movies and magazines. Another great triumph! No wonder I am thought so highly of in the regions of Hell!
I’ll mention one more strategy we can use to destroy the effectiveness of spiritual terms: exaggerating how a word is used. As a prime example, consider how we mauled the term radical in the 80’s. The fanatics used it to describe a completely sold-out mentality for Christianity—a concept that began to really take hold among youth. In this case, we simply began suggesting its use for the most ordinary and even carnal level of Christianity. Before long, every dead ministry, stale sermon and pathetic book was being called radical! Another resounding victory for our side! When those poor dupes tried to use it to describe an utter abandonment to the cause of the Enemy, they found out soon enough that the term had lost its punch.
We must remain vigilant to keep an eye on the Enemy’s most fanatical followers. Whenever you see them brandishing a new word or concept, we must attack it ruthlessly in every conceivable manner.
I realize you’re a fairly pathetic imp, but just keep following my advice and one day you may become as awesome as me!
Your Malicious Mentor, Toxic

Editor’s Note:
Steve Gallagher is more than just the guardian of the letters of “Toxic Advice,” he’s also the president of Pure Life Ministries in Dry Ridge, Kentucky. He’s a prolific writer, authoring over twelve books, which, of course, is one of the reasons why I’ve often questioned the true origin of these supposed “Toxic” letters. I mean, how is it that these letters “just happen” to be found by a guy who writes for a living? Hmmm. This is highly questionable if you ask me. Anyway, Steve’s shady imitations of C.S. Lewis aside, this guy is one of the bravehearted men of our modern day and a worthwhile leader to keep tabs on. If you are looking for men with the manly stuff, look no further than this fuzzy-faced ex-cop who preaches as if today may very well be his last.

God speaks

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:20:25 -0600

By Ben Davenport

I was thinking about nothing the other day. About how in the beginning there was nothing. And about how the problem with having nothing is that nothing isn’t there. When you have nothing you have nothing to work with, nothing to mold, nothing to bless or damn or love. This is how everything began. In the beginning . . .God . . .and nothing. Unfortunately, when it comes to the human soul and the human race, this is still how everything begins. God . . .and nothing . . .and then He speaks . . . and His words are Life!
The problems start when we face the fact that, unlike the rest of creation, men and women are not simply autonomous pieces of matter and antimatter to be whipped around like mindless, soulless ingredients in some cosmic stew. No, when God made man, he made him free. Free to love or hate, create or destroy, yield or rebel. So God speaks. He speaks to man. And the question is: will anyone listen?
The Bible says that Jesus stands at the door; he stands at the door that bars the entrance to the souls of men and He knocks. Then it says a most curious thing. It says, “If any man will hear His voice,” and will respond and open the door, He will come in. I don’t know about you but my mind staggers at this. “If?” “If any man will hear His voice?” He is the King of all kings and the Lord of every lord, the master and commander of all that is. His voice spoke and galaxies sprung into being and stars stood at attention. How could any man not “hear His voice” when He speaks?
The Bible is filled with other oddities that bear on this question. It speaks of men and women who have ears but cannot hear and who have eyes but cannot see. This would certainly be a sad state of existence for anyone to live in. When we meet someone, a child perhaps, who is blind or deaf, we tend to feel pity for their unfortunate circumstance. Why? We have no pity on flowers that cannot hear or for trees that live out the whole of their existence without sight. So why do we pity this child? The answer is quite simple. Flowers have no ears that were meant to hear and the trees have no eyes with which to see and therefore their inability to hear or see is of no consequence. They were never intended to see or hear. But the child, ah, the child has both eyes and ears and that very fact alone testifies that in her deafness and in her blindness, she is being deprived of that which her very constitution proclaims should be hers!
It is one of the gravest travesties that today God speaks with the same voice that once spoke worlds into existence, and yet men who have the faculties to hear continue to wither away, perishing in the silence of their own souls as if He had never spoken at all.
It is a thing to be lamented and mourned that God, the Light of all worlds, appears in radiant sin-shrinking glory at the doors to the souls of sin benighted men who have the faculties to see and who yet continue to stumble and grope in the blinding noonday sun as if surrounded only by darkness.
This describes the damnable condition of the greater portion of mankind. It is called sin. It is our inability to hit the mark that our very constitution proclaims to be our design and destiny. This is our doom. Created to bear the image of God and to have fallen so low in our refusal to serve our Maker that we have become servants and slaves to our flesh to the point that we often bear more the image of beasts than of men, much less God!
This is the universal malady of our kind. It is not that God has not spoken or that His life giving voice is not speaking. He is speaking! The scripture says that the eyes of the Lord search to and fro throughout all the earth. He is seeking after those who have an ear that can hear what the Spirit is saying to the church and to fallen humanity. He seeks for worshippers who will worship Him not out of duty or pretence or ritual, or even for their own eternal gain, but for those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth. He is looking for men, but listen . . .He is looking one man at a time. He is looking for women, but He stands at the door of each individual heart and knocks.
Oh yes, God is still speaking. He is still wrestling with the abyss of nothingness that is the empty wilderness of the human soul. Our trouble is not that God does not speak but that we do not hear. Or is it that we choose not to hear? The scripture says, “If any man will hear His voice.” Here is the key. The word, “will” implies exactly that. Will we hear Him or will we turn a deaf ear to His commands? God told Ezekiel in the third chapter of the book that bears his name, “Israel will not hear you for Israel will not hear me.” The word “will” implies choice. Will we “will” to hear the voice of God? Adam and Eve answered that question with a resounding no. They chose instead to listen to the voice of a talking snake (go figure). God spoke and they willed not to listen, they chose to believe neither Him nor His word. They chose as individuals but they lost corporately. When God confronted them, each tried to blame their sin on the community. Adam pointed to his wife, Eve pointed to the serpent, but God held them each individually responsible even though their individual actions would affect the human community for millennia to come.
We can try and blame whatever we want on our community, the culture, the sinful age in which we live, or on the sorry state of the church in general; but ultimately God is going to hold us each individually responsible for the state of our own souls and for what we did with our life.
There is nothing that we see around us today, whether good or evil, whether revival or revolution, that cannot be traced back ultimately to the choices and actions individuals.
In the beginning there was God…an individual. And in the beginning of our race there was Adam and there was Eve… two individuals. God spoke to these two and He did not stutter. But with the voice of God resounding in their ears they each chose not hear, and the whole of the human community was plunged into darkness. The world was lost one person at a time. Think about it. The world was lost one person and one choice at a time. The world will be saved the same way . . . person by person, choice by choice. And it is no different when it comes to the church.
What do you do when God speaks?
God is speaking. God is calling, but He is not calling to races, or nations, or cities, or denominations, or churches. He is not calling groups or communities or committees to be saved. He does not fill institutions with His Spirit, nor does He call non-profit organizations to be His ambassadors. He is calling to people, to men and to women. He is calling to them. He is calling to us. He is calling to you. He is asking us if we are willing to reverse what Eve began. He is asking us to hear Him and His Word instead of shutting Him out while the deafening roar of our lusts drown out our senses. He is asking us to believe Him instead of the lies that bombard us from every corridor. He is asking us to have faith in Him amidst a faithless generation; to open the door, to shut out the poisonous doubt of the serpent, and to make the exact opposite decision of our mother, Eve. Here we rise or fall. The human community was damned by individuals who lost their faith in God and respect for His Word. The community will be redeemed by individuals who look to Christ and to Christ alone for a life that truly works.
The church of today has followed the well-worn path of our ancestors and has arrived at its low present state not corporately but individually. The church has lost its faith in God and respect for His Word because it is filled with people who have lost their faith in God and respect for His Word. The church as a whole is nothing more than a sum of it’s parts and it will only be redeemed corporately when the people who comprise it return to their first love, or truly find that love for the first time, as they look to Christ and to Christ alone for life and life more abundantly.
For years I have listened as people have prayed for their city or church or family to be brought to spiritual life. But hear me, there is no such thing as corporate salvation, and there is no bulk discount on revival. The cost of the resurrection of one single human soul is the yielding of that soul to its Savior, and none can yield that soul but its possessor. No one can yield my soul but me. You cannot do it for me, nor can I yield yours for you, and God will not make us do it.
A marriage forced and carried out at gunpoint is one that is ultimately devoid of love. We all know that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, but so often we do not remember that He is looking for genuine, freely given, love in return. God will not force us into a heartless relationship with Him and He is even less interested in detached, passionless, ritualistic, dead, cold, dry-as-dust religion, no matter how conservative and orthodox it may be.
So, the ball appears to be in our court. And I do mean our court as individuals. Quit waiting for a revival to come to your city. Quit waiting for a restoration of your culture. Quit waiting for an awakening in the church. God is speaking now! He is speaking to us . . .and His words are life. What will we choose? Who will we “will” to hear? The tree is still in the garden. He has set before us the narrow and living path, but just to the right of that path is still the glittering and enticingly broad road to destruction. Hear His words, “Choose life that you and your children may live.”

Editor’s Note:
Ben Davenport is the pastor of Stone Mountain Church in Fort Collins, Colorado. If you would like more information about Mr. Davenport, please pester him in the comments section below. Ask him why he doesn’t yet have a blog site? Why his church doesn’t yet have a website? You know, irritate him until he yields and cries out, “okay, already, I’ll do it!” In the meantime, Stone Mountain Church’s main worship service is held at 5pm, Sunday nights, in Old Town Fort Collins at 328 Remington St, on the corner of Magnolia and Remington. But, please be aware, this guy preaches even more forcefully than he writes.

paging pastor keroff

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:09:44 -0600

By Eric Ludy

A few months back, I received a very polite invitation to speak from a man named Pastor Keroff. I decided last autumn that, yes, by golly, I was going to make myself available to speak again (at least a few times a year). For the first eight years of our ministry, Leslie and I traveled the world speaking. To be honest, I wondered if I would ever willfully get on a plane again after that stretch of our lives was complete. To many people, traveling the world sounds rather romantic, but to be quite frank, it’s hard work living out of a suitcase.

Pastor Keroff offered an enticing package. He didn’t have the money to pay my typical honorarium and he had a church that was (cough) less than a hundred people in size. Now, typically, the answer from our booking agents of yesteryear would have been, “Uh, do you think you could attempt to coordinate with five or six other churches in order to put on a city-wide gathering?”

But something about this situation was different. Pastor Keroff wasn’t looking for a bone to throw his bored congregation, you know, something to add some spice to their otherwise dull spiritual agenda. His interest wasn’t pastorally passive. This man was hungry for something. Something, that I must admit, I’m hungry for too. He told me that he wants real Christianity, manly Christianity in Centerville, Iowa. He wants to get outside the American Christian way of doing things, and get back to the historic fire, the stuff of old, the blazing holiness of Almighty God come to visit His people.

“I want a solemn assembly, Eric,” he said simply. “I want to understand brokenness before the Throne of God. I want to be laid in the dust. I want whatever is necessary, no matter how painful it might be, in order to see our God gain His place again in His Church.”

I decided to accept the invite for one reason and one reason alone - Pastor Keroff. Just as he is hungry for Truth, for Biblically-governed revival, and the Spirit of God to place a harness about the neck of the modern church – I’m hungry to be around men of such steel and resolve.

I believe the trajectory of the modern evangelical church system is aimed straight into the dirt. Christianity has a serious limp. It’s burdened with a thousand trifling issues that make it nearly impossible for an eager student of the Gospel to get the pure stuff of Scripture without it being first strained through the fine filter of cultural sensitivity, worldliness, off-kilter renderings of Scripture, and post-modern relativism. We’re not spitting out Hudson Taylors, A.W. Tozers, Amy Carmichaels, Charles Spurgeons, Leonard Ravenhills, and George Mullers from our Bible schools anymore. Rather, we have the “Emergent” elite that have taken over the pulpits of our country. For every Pastor Keroff with a hundred hungry souls under his care, we have a Rob Bell delivering his pabulum to tens of thousands who are unwittingly drinking his poison without guard or concern.

The best selling books in Christendom today are “Emergent” books. They have taken the entire system by storm, selling millions upon millions of copies. Barnes and Noble loves them. After all, they sell, but more than that, they sell a rendition of Christianity that actually can fit right into the world without any tension, without all this “Jesus is the only way” stuff standing in the way. Men like Brian McLaren, Doug Padgett, Donald Miller, Tony Jones, and Leonard Sweet have crafted a religion, wholly other than the Christian one they profess, and, like snake oil peddlers, they have sold it to the parched masses of our day.

So, is Pastor Keroff of Centerville, Iowa, the only one of his kind? Is there only one man out there who is longing for the real stuff once again? Is there only one man standing to stem this tide?

Pastor Keroff is a Pentecostal. Yep, that’s right, Eric Ludy went and spoke at a Pentecostal church. And I’d do it again, if there is a Pastor Keroff leading it. I believe that the stuff of Pentecost is the precise stuff we need again in the Church. I just happen to despise as heresy most of what parades under that reckless banner in our modern day. Just as much as there is an Emergent mess, we also have a “Holy Spirit” mess. A mess so deep, mind you, that it’s leaders can’t keep their pants on, their mouths shut, or their doctrine even remotely close to that of the Bible.

I, for one, am tired of this circus act known as the Church. There are honest-to-goodness believers in these messed up churches who are hanging on for dear life on this roller coaster of spiritual craziness. There are countless believers out there that are concerned about what is taking place around them, but they feel like the problem lies with them. In fact, whenever they have voiced their concern, that is precisely what they have been told. “The problem lies with you, Mrs. Fields. The rest of us on the steering committee feel that having a Starbucks franchise in our lobby is precisely what God meant when he said, ‘pick up your cross and follow me!’”

I believe that men, like Pastor Keroff, are rare, yes. But I believe there are more of them out there than any one of us might believe. There might very well be a hundred Pastor Keroffs out there – a thousand, seven thousand – who knows? But each of them feels too small to make a difference. They have all been sold on the notion that their voice only really counts when they get a congregation well over a thousand. But this is simply not true.

Now is the time for all the Pastor Keroffs to arise and let their passion be felt, their voices be heard. I believe that if this mess is going to be cleaned up, we can’t wait for the mega-church pastors to do it. We need the small guys. The guys that don’t yet have so much that they aren’t willing to lose it all for the sake of Christ’s Glory and Fame.

“Paging Pastor Keroff!”

I think that’s a good by-line for this website. We need the small guys to stand up. And that means you. You don’t have to be a pastor to let your passion be felt and your voice be heard. You just need to be willing to be the first one to die. You can’t expect to be patted on the back, but rather, you must expect to be rejected of men, hated, and despised.

You see, this is the reason the church is dying today. We somehow lost the grand notion that following Christ means to join the ranks of the hated and despised. And to get the triumphant church back, we must return to that ancient reality, that gritty thinking, that heavenly-minded living that has always governed the true Church.

I just returned from Centerville, Iowa, where I spent three days with the real-life Pastor Keroff and his hundred sheep. It was a taste of heaven on earth. The town of Centerville is economically oppressed, and the church barely squeaks by financially. But there was such warmth and life there. They didn’t have many of the bells and whistles of the typical churches of our day, but they had a depth of love and conviction of spirit that is hardly ever seen, anywhere. And I would say, that in contrast with the hundreds of mega-churches that I’ve spoken in over the years, this little church has more of the real thing (though they be in Podunk, Iowa) than all the others. And it wouldn’t surprise me, if God picked a man like Pastor Keroff to lead a true revival in this land.

Do we actually think God is going to use a big name superstar that itches for the glory? Do we actually think that God is going to recruit the aid of men that consider congregational dollars over biblical sense? Do we think God searches high and low for magnetic speakers, eloquent writers, and crafty theologians?
God is looking for humble men. Men that do not consider 100 sheep to small for them. Men that think about God’s reputation above their own. Men that aren’t just interested in spiritual power, signs and wonders, and fireworks displays in the sanctuary, but are harnessed by the Spirit to do only that which the Father is doing. Men that pray. Men of purity. Men of holiness. Men that actually believe that God’s Word is, in truth, the Word of God.

God is looking for men that won’t get in the way of what He is needing to do.

Paging Pastor Keroff!

If you are a Pastor Keroff, I want to meet you. If you know a Pastor Keroff then please introduce us. It is my desire that this website be used to connect all those seemingly inconsequential little voices out there into one gigantic roar. I firmly believe that there is an army of us out there. We want the real thing and we simply refuse to accept this modern rendition as the New Testament pattern. The glory of our God is at stake, so let’s stand shoulder to shoulder and fight!

Visit Eric’s personal blog and podcast at ericludy.com