Level Four Friendship

Jerry Leachman has ministered for the last thirty years in Washington, DC. Among his many ministries, he served as chaplain for the Redskins and as a minister to national media broadcasters in DC. He and his wife Holly recently moved to Colorado west of Pueblo. Pete and Jerry have been lifelong friends ever since they worked together at a Christian school shortly after Pete graduated from Auburn and Jerry from Alabama. Jerry considers Pete as a “Level 4 Franchise Player Friend.”

According to the Word of God there will come a day when men’s hearts fail them because of fear. As men of God in the spiritual battle, we must look unto our commander in Chief. God never honors fear, he always honors faith. According to Isaiah 40:10-15 and 26-31: “Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13. Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
14. With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
15. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.”

26. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28. Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and”“the young men shall utterly fall:
31. But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

God encourages us to look up into the heavens for the heavens declare the handiwork of the Lord. A famous image from the Hubble Telescope is of the Sombrero Galaxy 38 million light years away. This is one of billions of galaxies that have been discovered. Who are we compared to the vastness of God’s created universe? There is a picture from the Voyager spacecraft as it left the solar system. The picture shows a pale blue-green dot in a stream of sunlight. This little speck of dust is an image of the earth taken from the vantage point from the heavenlies. Who is man that thou O Lord, art mindful of him?

According to John 1, all things were made by him and for him. Revelation says that Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. One of the last words of Jesus before his crucifixion was, “I call you my friends.” He offered us friendship. There are four levels of friendship. The first level is an acquaintance. This is someone you see every day between classes at school or at the water cooler at work.

Level 2 friendship is a team member. These are the ones you work with in pursuit of a common goal. The next Level 3 is a social friend with whom you seek discretionary time. You agree to meet together. You can share some information with them and then they’ll fill in the blanks. They don’t need a lot of explanation.

A lever four friend is a “franchise player” friend. This is a person who’s committed and can never be traded. He’s always in the game and has a covenant commitment to a mutual relationship. Most men are “users.” They say of a relationship “what’s in it for me?” Users treat their “friends” nicely because they think they can use you to get something they want. However, a level four friend according to the Word is “a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” He always has your back and will never forsake you. You can fake friendship, but you can’t fake showing up.

The central teaching of Christianity is friendship. Christianity is a true friendship “relationship” with our Lord Jesus Christ. Every godly trait is a characteristic of a world class godly friend. These are friends who don’t flame out. These are men who cross the finish line with you. The first characteristic of a franchise friend is that they “buffet evil in your life.” They warn you of things that you can’t see in your blind spots. Thank God for a friend who will reprove you and correct you…one who’s excited about making you successful as a man of God. If you surround yourself with wise friends, then you’ll learn wisdom.

When tragedy hits, most men are completely alone. Franchise friends will never leave you or forsake you. Jerry recalls that four years ago, he had an appointment on Capital Hill and was feeling woozy with heartburn and light headed. He called his wife and told her he was taking some antacid before his appointment. She dropped everything at a conference she was attending. When she met him, he slumped to the floor. He passed out so she rushed him to the hospital. He heard the Lord say, “calm your spirit.” As he came in and out of consciousness, he heard the doctors say, “he’s so calm.” He doesn’t recall losing consciousness but the doctors told him that he had a massive heart attack. His heart stopped twice but they brought him back. Jerry remembers thinking that he would die that day. He didn’t think about his worldly accomplishments. He was totally alone. All he could say was, “Jesus.” Then he remembers seeing a light and felt a shock that felt like being hit by a torpedo. His medical team said that this was when they shocked him to get his heart restarted. When he woke up there were two people in his room, his wife “smoking hot Holly,” and Dan Roberts his friend from childhood. He had sat by Jerry’s bed for three days and three nights without eating in constant prayer. That’s a level four franchise player. What kind of friend are you? Do you have a friend like that? A level four friend will stay by your side during a crisis situation.

If you have a lifelong friend, call them and meet with them. This is a friendship like David and Jonathan. Level four friends are generational. They give their lives for the grandchildren of their franchise friend. Never let time, distance, or money come between you and your level four friend.

Jerry said to his mentor that his heart felt like it was cooling off. His friend said, “pray that God will warm it up.” You need to be a world class friend in order to have level four friends. The Lord will bless you with level four friends if your prayer is “Lord light my heart afire to be a level four friend.” Start with your family. Write down your level four friends. The first one is your wife. You honor them privately and publicly. Two of Jerry’s are his first son Josh and his daughter Eugenia. Another is his younger son Tucker. Pete is also one of Jerry’s franchise friends. Another is his friend Dan Roberts who stood by his side.

A few weeks after his heart attack ordeal when his children visited him, Jerry told them that he thought he would die that day. That’s when he realized that the only thing that really matters is “only Jesus.” The best level four friend is Jesus Christ.

Psalm 24:7-9 says, ““Lift up your head, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 8. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.”

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear… What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.

May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Fight the Good Fignt

It’s important to spend time alone with the Lord. Pete is thankful that he was able to spend some time in Colorado with his friend Jerry Leachman to reflect on the series of messages God has for our Influencers Band of Brothers. God reminded him, “just do what you’ve been doing and teach what you’ve been teaching.” We believe in a Sovreign God who has a design for his men of God. However, the devil also has schemes and designs to ensnare God’s men. We have a choice in the spiritual battle. Our job is to keep our eyes fixed on our Lord Jesus Christ.

These are the times that try men’s souls. Paul’s letter to Timothy contains God’s revelation about men in the last days. According to 2 Timothy 3:2-5, “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3. Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof”. How do we combat the enemy’s spiritual army? The answer is in the next phrase: “from such turn away.” We must turn away from the powers of the darkness of this world and unto our Lord Jesus Christ.

This sounds like today’s generation. The darker the night, the brighter the light of the word of God shines. In the midst of the spiritual battle, we can choose either to fight the good fight or to acquiesce to the devil’s schemes and become casualties of war. Casual Christians are casualties in the spiritual battle.

The devil’s design is to take men off the spiritual battlefield. The devil’s ploy is to fire fiery darts into the hearts of God’s spiritual warriors. According to Ephesians 6, the defensive armor is the shield of believing faith whereby we are able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one. The devil’s fiery darts are fear, doubt, anxiety, guilt, and discouragement. The battlefield is in the mind. These fiery darts are designed to break down spiritual strongholds through unbelief. However, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (of the flesh) but spiritual to the pulling down of spiritual strongholds. We must defend the spiritual strongholds of our minds by believing faith according to the Word of God; casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (according to his Word), bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

The devil is the deceiver and the accuser. His ploy is to focus on the stragglers in God’s flock. He picks off the sheep who separate themselves from the flock. Our fellowship of believers is designed to strengthen one another with the connection of brotherhood within the body of believers.

The devil has emasculated and convinced men of this world that they are worthless, insignificant, relegated and marginalized… that they don’t really matter and are worthy of guilt, shame, fear and death.

The devil’s ploy is to defeat America as a God fearing nation. The world says that America is falling apart. However the Lord is soverign overall. From God’s perspective, things aren’t falling apart; they are falling into place.

If America looses her Judea Christian foundation, then America will disintegrate from within. This is the fulfillment of Paul’s prophecy in 2 Timothy 3. When men turn their hearts away from God and become lovers of self instead of lovers of God, they will proceed down the path of the devil’s destruction.

The devil uses the Godless spirt of death and destruction to subvert the hearts and minds of individuals. In the midst of the spiritual battle, we must understand that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness from on high. Our challenge is, having done all to stand. According to Ephesians 6:10-14, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (schemes) of the devil. 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

How do we engage the spiritual battle? How do we take the fight to the enemy? The offensive weapons are the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and prayer. When our confidence is in the Lord, then it is God who works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Jesus said, that until you die to yourself, you cannot live for me. If you have nothing to die for then you have nothing to live for. As the Apostle Paul said, “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” For I was crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live, I live by faith in the one who loved me and gave himself for me.

If God must break our heart in order that we might be conformed to his will, then thank him for breaking our hearts. He’ll pick up the threads of our broken hearts and weave them together again. Pete lamented after the death of his wife Suzan, “Lord, I feel like I loved her more than I loved you.” God answered Pete’s prayer with a word of encouragement: “You loved her because you loved me, you loved her with Christ’s heart behind your heart.” We cannot love others without the love of God. For truly our fellowship is with God our Father, his son Jesus Christ, and then those we love within the body of Christ.

A disciple is a disciplined follower of his lord. The question is, “do you want to spend the rest of your life learning to become just like Jesus? A man of God is God’s man. His identity is in his Lord Jesus Christ. Lord means owner. It’s not who we are but whose we are.

Our bond as a band of brothers is the blood of our big brother Jesus Christ. He shed his innocent blood for us…in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly. He who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him.

And as we fight the good fight standing in His strength alone, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of his grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Relegated and Marginalized

Jesus often repeated what he said to his disciples. The word of God needs to be reinforced over and over. 1 Timothy 4:15-16 says, “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. 16. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” To meditate means to focus the mind deeply for a period of time… To think about it over and over.

The Journey of life is one step at a time. A Sabbath day’s journey was the distance that one person could walk on the Sabbath day. The word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We can only see the step in front of us as we walk with him one step at a time. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring….but he does. We cannot make a promise for tomorrow. However we can commit to the next step. Then when we look back on our journey of life, we can reflect on what’s really important. For most men, what’s important is to perform…to work hard day after day to support our family. Upon reflection near the end of life, many men say that they would have worked less and spent more time with their wife, children, and the ones they love.

Women have a hard time finding men who are not confused about who they are… men who can lead them with the Lord’s authority. Oswald Chambers said, “when the crisis comes and courage is required, God expects his men to be the reliable ones. The crisis has come.” A crisis is a time when action must be taken to avoid a catastrophe, a complete breakdown, a calamity…a radical change for the worse. In the last times there will be cataclysmic events that will be difficult to bear. However as the Apostle Paul said, thy strength is made perfect in my weakness, thy grace is sufficient for me.

When Bill Bennet wrote “The Man Book” he said, “men in our culture have been marginalized. They have been relegated into insignificance.” God gives us opportunities to rise to the challenge to press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Men in each generation have a choice to accept God’s challenge or to be marginalized, relegated, and exiled into oblivion. In every generation there are “men who won’t lead and women who won’t follow.” Men who fall into the devil’s snares of this world are taken captive by the enemy at his will. God allows crises and tribulations so that men are confronted with a stark choice: to either trust in the Lord with all their hearts and lean not unto their own understanding or to allow the devil and his minions to marginalize and relegate them into insignificance.

When men rise up and believe the truth of the Word of God, the society will flourish. The encouragement is to “hold your ground.” Our call toI arms is, “This is the hour of battle. This day we fight, we bid you stand in His power, ye men of God.”

As men of God, we’re called to influence the world. The devil’s ploy is that the world would influence us. Either we’re active or passive. Either we actively engage in the spiritual battle or we will be defeated when we become passive targets. Casual Christians are casualties in the spiritual battle. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places.

How do you grind America down? The communist party planned specific actions in 1992 to undermine America. The first step was to destroy the family by promoting cohabitation instead of marriage. Next they would put the children in public institutions to indoctrinate them with a godless world view from preschool. They supported a “feminist movement” to turn women against men and encourage women to voice their grievances to undermine and destroy the institution of marriage. They planned to present homosexuality, sexual perversion, and promiscuity as normal and healthy. Then they would break down cultural norms that encouraged excellence, reward for hard work, thrift, and respect for family, God, and country. They wanted to infiltrate the press, radio, Internet communication, television, the movies, government and higher education. Finally they planned to discredit traditional family values and support easy divorce to destroy the family institution. The fight is for the hearts and minds of individuals. The philosophy of Communism is to denounce God and his Word…to convince the people that there is no right and wrong so that their godless communist and socialist doctrines could prevail.

In a scene in the mini-series, The Band of Brothers, one shell shocked soldier was cowering in a bomb crater in the midst of enemy fire. His commanding officer ran up to his side and said, “what’s the matter?” The terrified soldier sobbed, “I’m afraid of dying.” The commander said, “that’s your problem… you think you’re going to live through this. If you consider yourself dead, then we’ll win this battle.” As Jesus said, “You need to die to yourself to follow me.” In dying to self then we can live unto him.

The spiritual battle rages on. When the Japanese started defeating the islands that were held by the British empire, the Royal Navy was not prepared. In order to defeat the enemy we have to take up the offense. The offensive weapons in the spiritual Arsenal are the Word of God and Prayer.

The enemy’s troops are lovers of self instead of lovers of God. According to 2 Timothy 3:2-5, “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3. Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof”. How do we combat the enemy’s army? The answer is in the next phrase: “from such turn away.” We must turn away from the world and unto our Lord Jesus Christ.

The victory in the spiritual battle starts in our own family. We’re called to love our wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. A man of God asks for forgiveness when he falls short. We cannot reconcile with our wives until we are both reconciled to Christ. He alone is the one who reconciles for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Then when we meet our wives at the foot of the cross, a threefold cord is not quickly broken. For truly our fellowship is with our Lord Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father and one with another in the household of faith.

To secure the victory in the spiritual battle, stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ has made us free…that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Choose Life

Seth Gruber has been called to deliver a message on behalf of unborn children. In ancient times pagans sacrificed their babies on the altar of their pagan god Molech. They thought that these “postpartum abortions” would appease their heathen god and avoid his wrath though the sacrifice of innocent lives. In every generation 2 Corinthians 4:4 rings true: “In whom the god of this world (the devil) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Today in America we’ve aborted over 60 million unborn babies upon the altar of so-called “women’s choice and women’s rights.” The adversary calls good evil and evil good. God always honors life, not death. The pro abortion movement frames the issue as “pro choice.” However the choice is between life and death. All human life is sacred for Jesus Christ said, “The thief (the devil) came not but for to steal, Kill, and destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” In the pro choice debate the choice is simple: choose life.

Eugene Cho said at a recent conference, “I think abortion should remain legal.” He made this statement at an evangelical convention and yet there was no outcry in favor of saving the lives of the unborn. The moral justification of abortion is equivalent to the moral justification of slavery before the Civil War…that one person had the so-called “right” to own another person as property. How can Christians respond in the spiritual battle to save the innocent lives of the unborn?

Pro-life advocates have no unified message and no unified movement. However, the pro-abortion movement has a government funded unified message from Planned Parenthood. The head of Planned Parenthood said, “Our organization is dedicated to the core mission of providing access to abortion for all women.” The governor of NY said that he would make sure his state introduced legislation to enshrine Roe v Wade as state law, and that every woman would have the legal right to abortion on demand. In contrast one legislator introduced a bill to define late term abortion as the killing of an innocent human being. There were only three legislators who voted in favor of this bill.

Pro lifers claim that abortion is wrong because it violates ethical ideals….that all life is sacred and worthy of honor and value. On the other hand, Pro abortionists think that there is no ethical ideal, but that ethics are relative to the value of the individual. They think that it may be wrong for you but it’s right for me. However, some things are objectively wrong. It’s always wrong to take an innocent life. Some truths are absolute. As Christians we must remember Jesus’ words: Sanctify them with thy word, thy word is truth.

The United States needs to repent for its sin as a nation for having embraced abortion as a right. What men and cultures define as human rights are often godly wrongs.

As a parent, if your young son asked you the question, “can I kill this?” your logical response to his question would be, “what are you asking about killing?” If it’s a cockroach, the answer would be “yes.” However if he’s talking about his little sister, obviously the answer would be “No.” The question is, “what is it that you’re asking for permission to kill?”

The science of embryology teaches that the unborn child is a distinct, living, and whole human being from the moment of conception. Distinct means that the unborn’s life is separate from the mother’s life. The argument that women chant “My body, my life,” is erroneous according to embryology. The unborn child has separate and distinct DNA from the mother from the moment of fertilization. Whole means that from conception, every unborn child has everything they need to realize their full growth and biological development. The science of embryology shows that an embryo is an individual human being distinct from his or her mother. Who we were prior to birth is the same potential person we were after birth.

Ethics is different from science. To understand “right and wrong” we need to understand why an unborn human life is as valuable before birth as after birth. The ethical and moral reasons for valuing the unborn are summarized by the acronym “SLED”. What are the differences between the born and the unborn? S stands for size. Even though the unborn are objectively smaller than the born, neither is morally less valuable. L stands for the level of development. Obviously the unborn is less developed but not less valuable. E stands for environment. The unborn lives in a different environment, its mother’s womb. However, physical location has no bearing on an individual’s worth as a human being. D stands for degree of dependency. Even though the unborn are dependent on their mothers, they are no less valuable than newborn babies who are also dependent on their parents for the necessities of life including nurture, food, shelter and clothing.

Each of the above arguments are ethical reasons for the equal value of the individual both before and after birth. The case for life is simple. It only becomes difficult when we are indoctrinated and confused by the world’s philosophies. If the culture doesn’t teach us to protect babies from being killed in the womb, then we need to educate the culture that pro life is the ethical and moral stance. Today there are more people working full time to kill babies than to save them. This is because killing the unborn is profitable and there are vested interests in funding the abortion industry.

However, we can be ambassadors to advocate for the innocent unborn. Seth Gruber’s ministry is Life Training Institute. This ministry is dedicated to delivering the message that the only ethical, moral, and scientifically objective choice in the pro-choice debate is this: choose life. To support their ministry or to subscribe to their news letter their website is www.prolifetraining.com.

Our exhortation is to beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. In the fight against evil, we must engage the spiritual battle. The battle has been taken to us by the adversary. As spiritual warriors, the battle is for the hearts and minds of men and women. At the end of the battle, the choice is simple: Choose truth over compromise and life over death.

And as we fight the good fight, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Spiritual Battle

We need our brothers in the body of Christ. It’s easy to become casual about important things we’ve read in the Word of God. When we meet with our Christian brothers we’re often reproved by the Holy Spirit when we don’t apply the Word that we read. The armor of God in Ephesians 6 is one such passage about our spiritual battle. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness from on high.

We don’t need to volunteer to find ourself in the midst of a spiritual battle. The adversary has taken the battle to us. The devil’s ploy is to take men of God off the spiritual battlefield. He works in the cover of darkness. When we fail to see with Christ’s eyes behind our eyes… without spiritual perception and awareness, the devil distracts us to focus on the wrong thing. He diverts our attention with illusions and shiny objects…the things of the world that take our minds off the things of the spirit. His deception will cause us to sin and fall into his snare when lose our focus on our Lord Jesus Christ.

There’s a video clip from a PBS production called “the ghost battle.” In WWII there were decoys set up to deceive Hitler’s army. While the Germans saw tanks and heard war sounds, these were actually props to deceive the enemy and to distract Hitler’s forces from the actual allied army.

Likewise, the world is surrounded by a spiritual battle. Prayer and the word of God are two of our offensive weapons in spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6 contains our defensive and offensive arsenal in the spiritual warfare.

There is a record in the Old Testament of a behind the scenes look at the spiritual battle. This record is in 2 Kings 6:8-17: “Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. 9. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down. 10. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. 11. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? 12. And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. 13. And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. 14. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.

15. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16. And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”

The Syrian king thought that there was a spy within his camp who was telling the king’s war plans to Israel their enemy. One of the king’s men advised him that the prophet named Elisha was telling Israel the king’s battle plan even down to the details he discussed in his bed chamber. The king sent his great army to intercept the prophet. The prophet’s servant panicked. Elisha said to his servant, “the forces that are with us are more than the forces that are with them.” Then Elisha prayed that God would open his servant’s eyes so that he could see God’s vast heavenly host ready to fight the battle on Israel’s behalf.

In Ephesians 6, Paul by revelation gave the church specifics about the invisible spiritual battle and the weapons of our spiritual warfare. According to Ephesians 6:10-14, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (schemes) of the devil. 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;”

What does it mean to have your loins girt about with truth? This is a reference to the “belt of truth.” In preparation for battle, a Roman soldier would take the four corners of his tunic and tuck them into his belt so that he could run to the battle lines. This was called “girding up your loins.” The belt held the sheath for the soldier’s dagger. This belt also kept the breastplate tight and held the shield in position so that the soldiers on the front lines could “lock shields” in a defensive position. The belt was like a tool belt that held the soldier’s weapons of warfare.

The main tactic of the battle plan is “Know your enemy.” Our first defense in the spiritual battle is the Word of God. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual to the pulling down of spiritual strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4). Worldly weapons are considered “common sense.” However, the very next verse says spiritual weapons are uncommon: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…”

The battle is not against people or worldly circumstances and situations. The battle is spiritual. To those who walk according to the spirit and not according to the flesh, everything is spiritual. The battle is to uphold the truth of the Word of God for the glory of God. The Word of God is truth and our Lord Jesus Christ is the meaning of the Word for he said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh to the Father except by me.”

The battle lines have been drawn in our culture, our nation, our churches and our worldly institutions. The weapons of the world are deception, deceit, strife, contention, doubt, fear, temptation, and compromise. For each of the devil’s schemes there is a spiritual tool from the belt of truth of the Word of God. Ephesians 6:15-18 list the other types of spiritual armor that we’re commanded to put on so that we can stand against the schemes of the devil: “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

The light of truth will reveal the devil’s schemes and the armor of God will protect our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord.

In the midst of the spiritual battle, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Discipleship in Brotherhood

Last Friday, Terry Miller’s message was about Brotherhood versus fellowship. Brotherhood is another level of connection beyond friendship. Both brotherhood and fellowship are biblical concepts. According to Romans 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestination to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” We are brothers of the Son of God bound by the innocent blood of our big brother Jesus Christ.

Part of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ is learning to see the spiritual battlefield from the eyes of the spirit… with Christ’s eyes behind our eyes. In 2 Kings 6:8-17, “Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. 9. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.

10. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. 11. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? 12. And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.

13. And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. 14. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.

15. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

16. And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”

In the spiritual battle, our challenge is to see things from our vantage point seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus with Christ’s eyes behind our eyes. Without the holy spirit that we received at the new birth, we are blind to the spiritual battle that rages behind the scenes.

There’s a difference between Christian brotherhood and Christian fellowship. Christian brotherhood is similar to what soldiers experience with their band of brothers during combat. When Sebastian Junger returned home from his deployment in Afghanistan, someone asked one of his brothers in arms what he missed most about combat in Afghanistan. His answer was “almost everything.” Sebastian searched his heart to find out why he also missed “almost everything” about combat. He knew he missed the adrenaline rush but at a deeper level, he concluded that what he really missed was “brotherhood.” Brotherhood is a mutual agreement that I’ll put my life on the line for my band of brothers and that they will do the same for me.

One combat veteran said that the worst day of his deployment was when a bullet hit his helmet and knocked him unconscious. Before passing out, he heard his men say, “He’s dead.” He thought to himself “I’m not dead.” He said that when he came to, he didn’t even notice the searing pain. He was consumed by guilt that he wasn’t able to protect his brothers during the brief time he was unconscious.

A line in the movie “stand by Me” says, “you’ll never have friends like you did when you were twelve.” When men grow up, they meet each other to do things. They go to ball games, go hunting, fishing or barn-raising. These activity based gatherings are why men meet together. This even includes church and small group meetings. These interactions are based on activities and not friendships. Men rarely get to know each other and what’s going on in their brothers’ lives. Each activity based interaction will not allow for an emotional connection with the other person. However, brotherhood produces an emotional attachment and an interpersonal relationship.

Disclosure of who we are and who we are not creates the connection with another person. Casual Interactions do not allow us to know each other’s hearts. The lack of an emotional connection causes many men to settle for isolation and insulation. Isolation means that I’ll separate myself from the crowd. Insulation means that I’ll meet with the crowd but isolate myself from personal intimacy. Men are good at building walls to separate their hearts from others. They erect these walls because they’ve been hurt by letting others in. This fear-based wall building exercise keeps men insulated and isolated from intimacy and from connection with a band of brothers.

Terry made some changes at his Men’s ministry at Cornerstone Church in Long Beach. He found that when he instituted his first men’s breakfast, the attendance increased from about 150 to 345 men. Then he arranged a men’s conference on marriage where 250 men attended. Next, he invited a navy seal as a guest speaker on a Monday night where 400 men showed up. Terry discovered that it’s not hard to get guys to attend a meeting. What’s hard is getting men to connect.

Terry often wondered why Influencers meetings produce men who are arm in arm while singing praise and worshiping together. He understood that there was something missing at Cornerstone. He concluded that his mission should be to build a culture of men ministering to men for discipleship. He knew that he needed to teach them that each Christian is, as the bible says, “an able minister of the New Testament.” Discipleship is the way to build brotherhood. There’s a tool that Terry put together by inspiration to help men step up into discipleship. He called this tool “Iron Sharpeneth Iron” from Proverbs 12:1. This is his four question guide for meaningful conversation to bring men into intentional interaction. The first question is, “how’s your soul.” The second question is, “How is your walk with God?” The third is, “How are your relationships with close friends and family?” The fourth question is, “How can I pray for you right now?”

These four questions lead to genuine interaction. It gives men specific actions….a step by step method to build discipleship. The four words after a person responds to each question is, “tell me about that.”

To disciple a brother in Christ simply ask him, “will you meet me for coffee?” At coffee just ask the four questions from “Iron Sharpeneth Iron.” In one meeting with a brother from his church Terry asked, “how’s your soul?” His response was, “I’m so sad.” Then Terry said, “tell me about that.” He shared for twenty minutes why his soul was sad. Then Terry asked, “How’s your walk with God?” His response was, “It doesn’t exist.” When he got to the fourth question, Terry asked, “How can I pray for you right now?” His request was, “Pray for me that God will find me.” He knew that he was lost and had confidence that God would find him. Terry prayed as he had requested. About five minutes later, he texted Terry, “I’ve found our conversation very intriguing.” Four weeks ago this man called Terry and said, “when I went to Cornerstone Church with my wife I walked by the prayer room and I did it.” Terry asked, “what did you do?” The man said, “I think I committed my life to God.” Terry said, “tell me about that.” Terry is looking for a brotherhood relationship with this man. Men connect with men if they listen to meaningful conversation about their lives. They connect with other men who have earned the right to pray for them because they cared enough to listen. This is the starting point of discipleship.

Jesus went through all the towns teaching, preaching and healing. When he saw the crowds he was moved with compassion for them because they were harassed and were helpless like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”

Like veterans returning from combat, we Christians are in a spiritual battle. According to 2 Kings, Elisha prayed, “Open the servant’s eyes so that he can see the spiritual battle.” There’s a pitched spiritual battle raging behind the scenes and the Lord’s army is fighting for us. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness from on high. Men need an action plan…a battle plan in the midst of the spiritual battle. These four questions are a step by step tactical action plan in the fight for the hearts and minds of men of God.

As we fight the good fight with our band of brothers In the midst of the spiritual battle, May we ever live for the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Marriage Vows

There is a problem in the United States when it comes to marriages. In Orange County the divorce rate is 74%. In civilizations that have come and gone, the precursor to the demise of the society was the demise of the family. Marriage between one man and one woman is sacred before God and men. The most sacred part of the marriage ceremony is the marriage vow. According to Ecclesiastes, “Do not take a vow unless you are committed to keep it.” Jesus Christ himself was committed to keep his vow to his Heavenly Father: I always do my Father’s will… not my will but thine be done.

The marriage vow is to commit one to another as husband and wife in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, in good times and bad, ’til death do us part. All men are prone to quit…to give up and give in to the lusts of the flesh and the temptations of the world and of our sinful nature. In the best marriages, we don’t keep our vows, rather our vows keep us. Our vow is a matter of integrity…it’s who we are and what we do.

In cultures that thrive, there is great respect for the family and willingness to sacrifice individual rights for the good of the marriage relationship and the family unit. The first step in the disintegration of the society is when individuals begin to assert their individual rights instead of subjugating their own rights for the sake of the family. The first symptom of the downward spiral is that families tend to isolate themselves into clans to protect their individual family members. This alienation tends to make enemies of other clans. When family rights wane and the society values individual rights over the family unit, the family structure will atomize and the society will fly apart. The culture loses its reverence for the sanctity of marriage and the cohesiveness of family. The value of the marriage vows are lost and the birth rate declines. When individual rights supersede the sacrifice and value of the unity of the family, this undermines the support that holds up communities, states and nations. The result is that the society crumbles. The nation without in tact family units is bound to disintegrate,atomize and fly apart.

Hosea, God’s prophet was commanded by God to take a prostitute for a wife. When she returned to prostitution, he bought her and took her back even though the community thought that she should be judged for her sin and condemned. The story of Hosea and his wife Gomer was an illustration of Christ’s love for his church…for all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to our own way.

Hosea 2:19-20 says “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. 20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.” Despite Israel’s turning away from God and committing spiritual adultery with other gods, the lord said, “I will marry you forever.” Jesus is committed to his bride Israel even though they continued to commit adultery. Hosea’s wife Gomer was a picture of Israel’s unfaithfulness. This is also an illustration of God’s love for his people even when they are unfaithful. Peter asked Jesus, “How many times shall I forgive my brother who has wronged me? Shall I forgive him seven times?” Jesus answered, “not seven times but seventy times seven.” In other words there is no limit to God’s forgiveness.

When Jesus confronted the crowd gathered around to stone the woman who was caught in adultery he said, “he who is without sin may cast the first stone.” The crowd gradually slinked away. When there was no one left, he said to the woman, “go and sin no more.”

Part of a Christian’s marriage vow is, “til death do us part.” When Pete was grieving for the loss of his wife, God reassured him, “Even though you grieve for your wife, Remember the forty nine years of joy that you were able to share together.”

Even though God is a God of grace and mercy, he is also a God of his Word. When the culture embraces the lie that our own selfish rights are greater than our promise to commit ourselves to our marriage vows, God will allow the culture to disintegrate. A culture whose conscious is seared with a hot iron calls good evil and evil good. Our job as committed Christians is to “stand in the gap” and sound the alarm by upholding the truth of God’s word. Jesus said, blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil falsely for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven.

What are the characteristics of a committed love, bound by the bonds of holy matrimony? One kind of love is a pursuing love. Love seeks the object of love, regardless of the response of the other party. This is the way God pursued us for in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. The love of God does not depend on love in return. God loves us because it’s his nature, not because we love him in return. We cannot love on our own… we can love only through the nature of the spirit that we inherited when we were born again of His spirit. This is the true spirit of the love of God. Sacrificial love is a joy when we love with the spiritual love of God. When we love with His love, there is nothing that we would rather do than to serve God by serving the ones we love.

Faithfulness is another aspect of love. Israel continued their practice of spiritual adultery by breaking the first of the Ten Commandments: thou shalt have no other Gods between your face and my face. Jesus said, “seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these (other necessary) things shall be added unto you.”

Forgiveness is also a divine characteristic of love. To err is human but to forgive is divine. God forgives us not because we deserve it but because forgiveness is part of God’s nature. Jesus said that to know and understand that we have been forgiven we must forgive others. Unforgiveness will break our relationship with God. Therefore, if you bring an offering to God and have not forgiven your brother, first reconcile with your brother and then come back to God’s altar with a clean heart. Then according to 1 John 1:9, “for if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Hosea shows that God has called us to be committed to our marriage vows. Like God forgave Israel for her habit of going a-whoring after other Gods, we need to forgive each other for our unfaithfulness in body, soul, and spirt. May our prayer be, “Lord teach me to love the same way that you loved me.” As the apostle Paul said, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

As we love our wives as Christ loved the church, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael