He Must Increase But I Must Decrease

At Influencers, we anoint men as “Men of God.” In the anointing ceremony, the last of three questions is, “do you want to spend the rest of your life learning to become just like Jesus?” Paul’s perspective for God’s answer to this question is in Galatians 4:19: “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.”

The idea that “Christ is formed in you” is either doctrine, reproof, or correction depending on the stage of a Christian’s walk in Christ. What does it mean to have Christ formed in you? There is a book by Richard Foster called Celebrate Discipline. One chapter is “Celebrate Submission.” This verse about Christ’s formation in you has a diagram that begins with me as the priority of my own life. As we progress over time as Christians and as men of God, we decrease as Christ increases. Prior to the point of salvation, it’s all of me an none of thee. At the end of a Christian’s life, it’s all of thee and none of me.

When we’re first born again of God’s spirit of life in Christ, even though we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, we still need to contend with the flesh that we inherited from Adam’s original sin. After we’re saved, we are God’s works in progress, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which he has foreordained that we should walk in them. In the journey of life, He progressively increases while we progressively decrease.

Every man has his own story. Brent was a teacher and assistant principal. He was appointed by his church to teach a Sunday School class. As he sat down to prepare for the first lesson, he experienced the “fear of God.” He heard the audible voice of God saying, “How dare you say that you’ll teach my word. You don’t know a thing about it.” From that day on Brent began to get up early to read the Word to prepare to teach. He learned to treasure this special time in the Word and meditate on what God was teaching him so that he could teach others.

Shortly after he began teaching Sunday School, Brent was invited to hear Dallas Willard at a church conference. The message was about preparing to teach the Word. Willard quoted from John 15 where Jesus said, “I am the vine and ye are the branches. Without me, you can do nothing.” Willard explained that abiding in Christ is like a tree with branches. On Sunday, the branches are the people who attach themselve to the trunk of the tree which is Jesus Christ. On Monday, many of the branches detach themselves from the tree and they flop around on their own for the rest of the week. Then on Sunday, the branches wonder why they aren’t bearing any fruit. The point of the parable is that the responsibility of the branches is to keep themselves attached to the vine in order to bear fruit. Jesus said, “If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”

Like most men, Brent struggled with the “lust of the flesh.” Biblically speaking, lust means over desire. It is anything that we desire over our relationship with God. After he taught Sunday School, the most tempting time each week was Sunday afternoon and Monday. His weekly willful sin haunted him. Brent became a part time Pastor at a small church of about a hundred people who met in the school where he was a full time teacher and assistant principal. He was later appointed principle to a school for at risk children. Because of God’s grace he turned the school around and it became a model of success for dealing with at risk kids. When he was fifty, one of his co-workers passed out and he intervened to help her. This woman had a reputation for seducing men and breaking up marriages. Brent later found out that she had a deep seated resentment for her father who had sexually abused her when she was a child. In her own twisted mind, to get back at her father for abusing her she sought out illicit affairs with any man who had befriended her father.

Once when Brent was alone with this woman, she approached him sexually, tempting him. He saw the face of a demon as she threw herself at him. Brent prayed with some of his elders. Later this woman confessed that she had nightmares of being raped by a demon. She began attending Brent’s church and she and her husband came to salvation. At church, a devout Christian woman agreed to mentor her.

At one point, she resumed pursuing Brent. He said, “If we do this, it will ruin both of our lives.” She continued to seduce him and Brent finally gave in to his lust for her. After Brent preached a sermon that Sunday morning, he confessed to his board of elders and to his wife . They helped him write a letter of resignation and he agreed to enter a twelve step program.

In the program Brent learned that whatever makes you most angry in another person, is the sin that you’re most tempted with. He became acutely aware of this when his anger was inflamed against the President of the United States for the President’s illicit sexual behavior with an intern. Even though he regularly attended the twelve step program, Brent’s personal life deteriorated as he continued to indulge in inappropriate behavior with his subordinate.

To have the word of God formed in you, you have to fight the evil in your own nature of the flesh. The world celebrates the nature of the flesh that is deviant from the Word of God. However, when Christ was crucified, our redemption from the world was completed spiritually.

In the midst of the spiritual battle, Brent could see the hook baited with his favorite food that he craved. Even though he could see the hook, he took the bait anyway. As God said to Cain, “sin is crouching at the door and it desires to have you, but you must master it.” The twelve step program calls it the “slippery slope.” They say that you need to get as far away from the temptation as possible.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 says, “Flee fornication (sexually immorality.) Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

How do you move yourself along the continuum where Christ increases and I decrease? You do it by denying yourself and following him. Ye are servants to whom you obey. Galatians 2:20 says, 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.

Either you’re a missionary or you’re part of the mission field. However, the two are not mutually exclusive. Our first mission field is our own minds. The spiritual battlefield is for the hearts and minds of believers. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (of the flesh) but spiritual to the pulling down of (spiritual) strongholds. Casting down imaginations (carnal thoughts), 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 Christian walk is deliberate, intentional, and purposeful action according to His word. A disciple is a disciplined follower, disciplined to walk in the footsteps of the Lord. The Journey of life is to follow him one step at a time and one day at a time. The transformation from the man of the flesh to the man of the spirit is in Romans 12:1-2:

“I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Jesus said, if anyone wants to be my disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. We take up our cross daily by crucifying the flesh daily as we follow him. It’s easy to follow him when we stay so close to him that he fills our vision as we “choke in the dust” of our brothers in Christ who are choking in the dust of the Rabi.

This is the key to walking with Jesus. When we abide in him, as John the Baptist said in John 3:30, “He must increase but I must decrease.”

And in following Him, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Our Band of Brothers

When Jesus returned to Capernum, the word spread that he was in town. While he was preaching, four men arrived who were carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. Because of the crowd, they could not bring him to Jesus. They went up on the roof of the house and removed the tiles. Then they lowered him through the roof right in front of Jesus so that Jesus could minister to him. Like the four men who helped their paralyzed brother, today’s topic is Brotherhood.

In a Ted Talk Sebastian Junger talks about why soldiers miss combat after returning from a war zone. When they return home they often find themselves “missing in action.” The problem is that war does not have a simple meaning and unifying truth. Men are hard wired to hate war. However, in a room of peace loving people, everyone can find something compelling about war. This is a paradox that needs to be explained.

Sebastian served in an intense war zone in Afganistan where a fifth of the combat was concentrated in a six mile radius. His platoon of twenty men was hold up against the side of a cliff amidst machine gun nests and crude hut shelters. They were completely isolated from the world. The only thing they had was their band of brothers. One hot day after an extended period without combat, a lieutenant came by and said, “someone please attack us today because we’re going crazy without a fight.” Some people say that war is long stretches of boredom punctuated by brief moments of sheer terror.

When the enemy attacks, soldiers enter into an altered state of mind. Young men live for this adrenaline rush. This is why they enlist. They look for something to give them this intense rush.

Sebastian was leaning against a sandbag one day when a spray of sand hit his face. Then he heard the clap of rifle fire a split second later. He mused about the slight angle of attack that would have put the bullet through his head and thanked God for sparing his life.

When someone asked one of his war buddies what he missed about combat his reply was, “almost everything.” Sebastian thought about what he meant by that comment. He concluded that what his buddy missed was brotherhood. Brotherhood is a mutual agreement that you will lay down your life for those in your band of brothers. It means that you’ve got his back and he’s got yours.

One man said that the worst day of his deployment was when a bullet struck his helmet and briefly knocked him out. He could hear his buddies saying “he’s dead”. Before he drifted off into unconsciousness he thought to himself, “I’m not dead.” When he came to a few moments later, he didn’t think about the searing pain of being knocked unconscious. Rather he was wracked with guilt for not being able to protect his men for those few brief moments.

Sebastian realized that if you don’t have anything worth dying for then you have don’t have anything worth living for.

Combat draws many parallels to the Christian life. What combat veterans miss is their band of brothers. The brotherhood is where you fight to put yourself on the line to protect your brother’s back.

The church teaches about fellowship, however brotherhood goes way beyond fellowship. Looking through the lens of church fellowship can blind us to the problems of others. However, Brotherhood allows you to focus in on your brother’s wounds so that you can bind them up and then help him through the healing process. Brotherhood is allowing him to do the same for you since you’ve taken a bullet for him on the spiritual battlefield.

A dictionary definition of brotherhood says, “the state of being brothers.” The Urban Dictionary online says, a friend will talk you out of a fight but a brother will talk smack regardless of who’s right or wrong. Friends have each other in their contact lists, but brothers have each other in their emergency contacts on speed dial. Brotherhood is a relationship bound by blood.

One of the tenets of Influencers is that we band together with likeminded men. God has set us in the body of Christ to serve one another in love. Many men are masters of saying a lot without giving anything away. On the superficial level we can spout platitudes and cliches. We don’t need to fear rejection as long as we keep the conversation superficial. Terry noticed that after a major men’s conference, men miss what they need to do as a next step. After a Promise Keepers conference where 60,000 men attended, Terry found himself on a spiritual high. However a few weeks later, he fell into his old routine.

Many think that male loneliness is a problem outside of church culture. However men are just as lonely within the church. Lone wolf warriors and lone wolf Christianity is a type of punishment. It’s self imposed solitary confinement. The devil’s job is to divide and conquer. He picks off individuals from the flock so that he can devour them at his leisure. He knows that the way to defeat the body of Christ is to isolate individuals. A man alone will never ask another man to pray for him. He will never ask another man for help. When Satan keeps a man to himself, his original deception is still working. His original lie to Eve was, “you’re better off without relationships, especially your relationship with God.” Eve fell when she took the bait, hook, line, and sinker.

Combat veterans don’t miss the blood and guts of war. What they miss is the camaraderie where they know that I’ve got my brother’s back and he’s got mine. We need to understand that we live and die for our brothers and they live and die for for us.

The parallel in the Christian life is that 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.

As brothers of the Son of God, and as blood brothers bound by the blood of our big brother Jesus Christ, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Christian Brotherhood

Terry Miller leads the men’s ministry at Cornerstone Church in Long Beach. One of their three tenets is that every Christian man needs a next step. After a major men’s conference, Terry noticed that men tend to drift away. Men need to know what they should do as a next step in the spiritual battle. In our Influencers band of brothers, we are called to the fellowship of likeminded men who choke in each others’ dust as we together chase after Christ. However, we need an answer to the question in Acts after Peter preached the first sermon to the Christian church: “Men and brethren what shall we do?”

Sebastian Junger in his Ted Talk says that many soldiers find themselves “missing in action” when they return home from war. The problem is that war doesn’t have a simple truth. Most people hate war. However, Hollywood glorifies war and young men are inspired to enlist for action. Sebastian served in Afghanistan in an intense war zone six miles in radius. His twenty man company stayed in this remote area for a month at a time. Some say that war is long stretches of boredom punctuated by brief moments of sheer terror. When the enemy attacks, the soldier enters an altered state of mind when pure adrenaline takes over.

Young men live for the adrenaline rush. Young men look for something to do to give them that rush. This is why combat is so attractive to many young men. One man after his deployment said, “what I miss about combat is almost everything.” What is it that he misses? After Sebastian searched his heart about why he missed his own deployment he came to two conclusions. On the surface he missed the adrenaline high. At a deeper level than the immediate rush, he also missed the mission. The question is “why do we fight?” The answer is that “I’ve got my brother’s back and he’s got mine.” What he missed was “brotherhood.” He missed his connection with his band of brothers. Brotherhood is a mutual agreement that each brother will put his own life on the line for each man in his band of brothers.

One guy said the worst day of his deployment was when a bullet hit his helmet and knocked him unconscious. Everyone thought he was dead. After a few moments he came to. He didn’t think about the searing pain of his concussion. He was consumed with guilt for not being able to protect his men for the brief moments that he was unconscious. Brotherhood means to value your brothers’ lives more than your own. If you have nothing worth dying for then you have nothing worth living for. This is what the brothers in arms miss after returning home.

There are parallels between this wartime experience and the fellowship of Christian men. It’s easy to get addicted to church fellowship and yet run from brotherhood. Fellowship in the church as most people define it is easy. Even though you’re in fellowship with others in the church, it’s difficult to find brotherhood.

There is a phenomenon of male loneliness in our society. Isolation is a major problem outside and inside the church. Even though we may not know each others’ names, we have something in common with our brothers in Christ. However intimate brotherhood is different from casual relationships within the church. Fellowship doesn’t let you see what brotherhood lets you see. Only with your band of brothers is it safe to expose your war wounds of the spiritual battle. Each brother is also bleeding from taking a bullet for you. It’s healing to be able to bind up one another’s’ wounds and to comfort one another while we heal together.

Brotherhood according to Webster’s is “the state of being brothers.” According to Urban Dictionary, a friend will talk you out of a fight. A brother will go toe to toe with you no matter the argument. Brothers are each other’s emergency contacts. Brothers grow together in a bond of love.

It’s easy for a Christian man to become a “lone wolf” soldier in the Christian spiritual battlefield. Isolated individualism is counter to the truth of the body of Christ. Self imposed solitary confinement is called “punishment.” We need our band of brothers within the body of Christ. Brothers are honest with each other. A brother will raise up his brother in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Thank God when our brothers reprove us. Godly correction means to “restore to an upright position.” Even though it’s painful to be straightened, Godly chastisement is part of the truth in proverbs that says, “Iron sharpeneth iron.”

The original sin is when the devil convinced Eve that she would be better off without God. He sowed a seed of doubt about her most important relationship: her relationship with God. The Devil perpetuates this same lie that we’re better off without relationships…without God and without others.

Men and brethren, what shall we do? The next step is the step into brotherhood. Fellowship is safe, however brotherhood is taking the plunge into an intimate, deep seated abiding relationship with a select few. Jesus himself rarely ministered to the multitude. The question is, “who are your three, and who are your twelve?” Jesus had his inner circle of Peter, James, and John. He also had his band of brothers, his disciples who agreed with Peter who said, “we’ve got nowhere else we can go. You have the words of life.”

There are several scriptures about brotherhood. These include: Proverbs 18:24; John 15:13; 1 Peter 2:17; 1 Peter 1:22; Romans 12:10; Ecclesiastes 4:12; and Proverbs 12:17.

As brothers within the body of Christ, in order to sharpen each other as iron sharpens Iron, there are four questions to ask one another:
1. How’s your soul. 2. How’s your walk with God. 3. How are you doing with your family and close relationships? 4. How can I pray for you right now?

These next steps help us bind up one another’ wounds and build one another up within the body of Christ. The follow up to each question is “tell me about that.” Our job is to listen. Our action is in the fourth question: “how can I pray for you?” An important prayer is “pray that God will find me right now in this moment.”

As brothers of the Son of God, we have each other’s backs in the midst of the spiritual battlefield. 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

Category Four

Do you have God’s full assurance of salvation? Assurance is confidence and freedom from self doubt, confusion, and anxiety. It means to be fully persuaded, convinced, and convicted by the object of trust. God’s will is that you should know the hope of your calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints. Most men are motivated by fear instead of faith. God has called us unto full confidence, trust, and believing in Him for His word is Truth.

In years past, preachers used to emphasize the hell fire and condemnation of God’s righteous judgement to convince people to turn from sin. However, there is a balance between God’s justice and his mercy and grace. The pendulum has swung to the other extreme: today’s churches de-emphasize the consequence of sin and iniquity. The question is, “how shall we share the gospel of salvation in a culture that has no concept of sin?” The answer is to share the gospel of salvation and then allow God to convict the hearts of those he has called.

When sharing the gospel, there are two diagnostic questions to determine the condition of a person’s heart. The first question is, “If you died today, where will you spend eternity? ” Regardless of their answer, the gospel of salvation is the key to life everlasting.

The second question is,If you died and Jesus asked you, “Why should I let you into heaven?” What would you say? Most people will answer, “If I’ve done more good than bad, then Jesus should let me in.” Theirs is a works-based system and they think that they are saved by works. However, our works are not good enough to save us from the wages of sin. Without God’s gracious gift of salvation, the handwriting on the wall at King Belshazzar’s sacrilegious drunken party still applies: “thou art weighed in the balances and thou art found wanting.”

There are four categories of responses when people hear the gospel of salvation. These categories are illustrated by Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew 13. Jesus taught in parables so that those who had eyes to see from a spiritual perspective could perceive and understand the truth of his Word. Others understood the parables as a story but those who perceive the truth understand the story in the context of His-Story. Some of the parables were never explained. However, Jesus gives a detailed explanation of the meaning of this parable.

The sower went forth to sow the seed. The seed is the word of God. The seed falls on four types of ground. Each type of soil represents the four categories of people according to their heart’s response when they hear the Word.

Some of the seed fell on the hard packed path. This type of ground represents people who have hardened their hearts so that the seed of the world of God cannot penetrate. They cannot receive the truth of the Word of salvation.

The second response to the seed of the gospel is represented by the stony ground. These are people who hear the gospel and with joy they receive the Word. However, because they have no depth of soil, when the sun comes up the seedling withers and dies. These people fade away when persecution and troubles arise.

The third type of soil receives the seed and then the weeds and thorns grow up and choke the seedling. The weeds are the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. These people have a heart of flesh and not a heart for the things of the spirit. Jesus said, if you love the world the love of the Father is not in you. To turn away from sin we must forsake the world and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance means to turn from myself and unto the Lord.

The fourth category is those who know that they know that they know Jesus is Lord. According to 1 John 5:11, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 14. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:”

Many people think they’re saved but they’re really not saved. Salvation is on His terms not ours. Salvation means to subject my will to his will. It means to make Jesus Christ Lord. Lord means owner. We’re no longer our own…He is.

According to Romans 6:16, “…his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Without Jesus Christ we are slaves to sin. We inherited our sin nature from Adam’s original sin and the wages of sin is death. We’re without God and without hope unless we accept the Saviour from sin. It’s not sin that keeps us from salvation, but rather rejection of the Saviour from sin.

The devil’s best-kept secret in the church today is that it’s not about us, it’s all about Him. It’s none of me and all of thee. For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.

The Old Testament law of sin and death convicts us as sinners. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Grace is a gift given by the one who didn’t need to give it to the one who didn’t deserve to receive it. For Jesus Christ who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Some men will say, “I need to be controlled so that I won’t commit sin.” However, Jesus said, be not drunk with wine wherein there is excess, but be ye filled with the Holy Spirit. The spirit of life in Christ has made us free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)

Oswald Chambers, author of the devotional “My Utmost for His Highest,” said that he was saved as a child. However, years passed before he gave himself wholly to The Lord’s work. He was a tutor in college when he heard a sermon about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Prior to receiving the holy spirt, the bible was dull and uninteresting. God took him to the dark places of his life and soul. He became desperate searching for what he was lacking. Then he read Luke 11:13, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Chambers wondered how could he ask God for his gift with a corrupt heart? He realized that he had to confess with the heart of Christ instead of his heart of the flesh. To get out of his current condition, he had to pray even even though he did not have a clear vision of God. Even though he didn’t “feel the spirit,” he took the initiative and asked God to help him

It’s not our feelings that validate the truth of the Word of God. Rather, it’s deliberate, intentional and obedient confession according to His word. When we come to him with meekness and humility, then he will give us his gift of Holy Spirit. Then when we operate the gift of the Holy Spirit according to His promise, our loving Father will grant us our petition. The spirit will teach us what it means to love with His love.

Category four is those who understand the emancipation proclamation: The ultimate freedom is when he frees us from our selves. 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.

Through the eyes of the spirit of Christ in us, we are witness of our Lord’s resurrection. For by grace are ye saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which he has foreordained that we should walk in it.

For those of us in Category Four who rest in the full assurance of God’s salvation, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
MIchael

Paul’s Post Card to Philemon

Over thirty years ago, Gary was on his way to a mission trip in Europe and stopped at an art Museum in Amsterdam to see Rembrandt’s masterpiece The Nightwatch. As Gary scrutinized this painting he realized that he was standing in the presence of greatness. In the spaces between the huge canvas masterpieces there there were displayed several miniature paintings. The closer he looked the more he realized that these miniatures were also masterpieces. This is like the book of Philemon. In the midst of the gallery of the great Pauline epistles is a little postcard, the book of Philemon. This little postcard is about a runaway slave named Onesimus.

In Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, the author mentions that there were 60 million slaves in Ancient Rome. Some were teachers, others were mine workers or other occupations. For a slave to steal from his master and run away was a death sentence for the slave.

Paul wrote this post card from a Roman prison. Paul travelled from Cesarea to Jerusalem. He had appealed to Rome as a Roman citizen since he had been falsely imprisoned in Philippi which was a Roman colony. Philemon was a slave owner who lived in Colosse not far from Ephesus. His slave Onesimus had stolen from his master and fled to the massive city of Rome where Paul was under house arrest. Onesimus had repented, and became a faithful and trusted believer. Paul wrote a letter to Onesimus’ master Philemon. He told Onesimus to go back to his master and give him this letter.

Philemon 1 says, “PAUL, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer, 2. And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house: 3. Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Unlike Paul’s other epistles, he drops his title as an apostle. He mentions himself as a prisoner and bondslave of Jesus Christ. This was a letter of encouragement. In Verse 7 Paul writes to Philemon, his dear friend and fellow laborer in Christ, “For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.”

When researchers examined what differentiates happy people from unhappy people there was one common factor that stood out: happy people have deep loving and meaningful relationships. A study shows that children who play in close proximity with their mothers are more creative and happier than children who play at a distance. Proximity with our loved ones emotionally, physically, and spiritually is a key to happiness. Fellowship and friendship with like-minded believers in the body of Christ is a source of joy and rejoicing. One of the themes of the Pauline epistles is “fulfill ye my joy that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” (Philippians 2:2)

Verse 8 moves from Paul’s intercession for Onesimus to a plea to Philemon. “8. Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do. 9. yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ— 10. I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, 11. who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. 12. I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, 13. whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. 14. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.”

Paul as an Apostle could have commanded Philemon to accept Onesimus back into fellowship. However he appeals to grace, mercy and love instead of his authority as an Apostle. The Christian life is walking in the power of the Holy Spirit on the razor’s edge between boldly wielding God’s authority and humbly serving others as serving the Lord.

Continuing in verse 15: For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, 16. no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord 17. If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.

Paul’s appeal to Philemon is to receive back his slave as a brother in Christ. In verses 18 and 19, Paul offers to repay anything that Onesimus had stolen. He also reminds Philemon that he himself also was indebted to Paul as a minister of the Word.

Onesimus had been Paul’s loving servant bound by the bond of love. Paul could have been heavy handed and commanded Philemon to receive back his servant. However, the meaning of a bondslave is one who is bound by the bonds of love. The bonds of obligation and authority are only secondary.

Philemon had probably forgotten about his runaway slave. The relationship of slave and owner had been severed long ago. The lesson is that reconciliation is more important than emancipation. Grace and mercy triumphs over judgement. God always honors principle over expediency.

This little letter is an example of the Gospel of Christ. Instead of living according to our God given call, we’ve run away from our responsibility. A slave had one right. He could flee to a friend of his master, not to escape, but for advocacy. This is what Onesimus had done when he entered into fellowship with Paul. Likewise, we run to our Lord and Master Jesus Christ as our advocate. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

The bible doesn’t say whether or not Philemon accepted back his slave Onesimus. However Ignatious while in prison waiting for his execution as a martyr wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus not far from the church at Colosse. In this letter he makes mention of the bishop at the church of Ephesians named Onesimus and quotes verse 11: Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me.

The name Onesimus means “useful” or “profitable.” This is the story of a slave who became “fit for the Master’s use” first as a minister and then a bishop at the church in Ephesians.

How did this little post card end up in the canon of scripture? Of Paul’s prolific writings, the New Testament Canon was compiled in Ephesus. It may have been when Onesimus was a bishop in Ephesus that he included this letter in the canon by the spirit of God to illustrate the meaning of reconciliation. This illustrates that no one is too far gone to be included in body of Christ and to be reconciled unto Him.

The other theme of this epistle is to illustrate the meaning of a bond slave. The world thinks that the word “slave” connotes a form of evil. Biblically speaking, when we’re saved and confess “Jesus is Lord,” this means that he is our Lord or owner and we are his slaves, bound by the bond of love. In the Old Testament law according to Deuteronomy 15, a slave could be purchased to serve his master for six years. Most slaves couldn’t wait to be freed from their obligation to serve. However, some slaves after being freed chose to continue to do their master’s bidding. A bond servant does not serve his master by obligation. Rather, he serves his master from a heart of love. A bondservant was marked with a permanent mark in his ear. This earmark identified him as a willing and loving servant who belonged to his Lord and Master.

The little postcard of a letter to Philemon on behalf of his bond slave Onesimus by his advocate Paul was an example of true freedom in Christ. A bond servant is dedicated to serve his Lord Jesus Christ as a willing slave for his Master bound by the bond of love. We ultimately serve our lord Jesus Christ by serving others for Jesus said, “in that ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

The greatest truth is paradoxical to the wisdom of this world. One such paradox is that the greatest freedom is the greatest captivity… when we surrender ourselves captive to his will. The essence of Christianity is not who we are but rather WHOSE we are! Therefore, according to the lyrics of an old hymn:

Make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword and I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms if by myself I stand, Imprison me within thine arms and free shall be my stand.

As bond slaves of our Lord Jesus Christ, May we ever live to the praise of the Glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Declaration of Dependence

As Christians we celebrate two birthdays… The date that we were born and the date that we were born again. When we were born again of God’s spirit, This was our Declaration of Independence from our selves and our Declaration of
Dependence on our Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise we commemorate the Fourth of July 1776, our nation’s birthday. On this date our nation was born when our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. This was also our nation’s Declaration of Dependence on Almighty God when they pledged heir lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in “a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.” .

Many people have walked down the aisle in church at the invitation to receive Jesus Christ. However, when they continue to commit sin, these people question whether or not they actually received salvation. There has been a shift in our church pulpits from preaching the “bad news” of the gospel: the emphasis on sin, death, and condemnation. However, the gospel is both good news and bad news. How do you convince the world of the need for salvation unless they understand that they are in need of salving? Jesus came to shine the light of the gospel of salvation to convict people of their sin and their need for repentance. He came to reveal the lies and hypocrisy of the religion of his day. He said to the Scribes and Pharisee’s, “in vain do you worship me, you draw near unto with your mouth and honor me with you lips but your heart is far from me.”

Like the Pharisees, Many are offended at the bad news that without Him, we’re hopeless and condemned to death… we’re helpless in our own power to approach the throne of a righteous God.

Jesus didn’t come to save those who thought that they were righteous in their own power. Instead, he came to minister to those who knew they were sick spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally. He came to rescue the ones who knew that they were in need of repentance. To repent means to “change your mind” and to turn from sin and unto the Saviour from sin. Jesus came not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.

There are four types of responses upon hearing the gospel of salvation. These responses are illustrated In Matthew 13 by Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed.

The sower sowed the seed. The seed represents the Word of God. The seed fell on four types of ground. Each type of soil represents one of the responses people have when they hear the gospel. The first type of soil is the hard packed earth. This represents people who have hardened their hearts so that the seed of the Word cannot penetrate. The devil will snatch away the seed before it can enter in. This was the reaction of one thief crucified with Christ who hardened his heart, joined in with the mockers, and hurled insults and accusations at Jesus.

The second type of soil is represented by the stony ground. These are people who receive the seed of the Word and it immediately springs up. However, because they have no depth of soil, the seed cannot take root. As soon as the hot sun appears representing persecution, they wither and die. These are people who go through the motions and walk down the aisle. They cannot live the truth of the Word because the seed of the Holy Spirit has not penetrated their hearts. They are living according to the world’s systems and cannot see from a spiritual perspective. When they encounter trials and tribulation, they quickly turn away from the truth of the Word.

The third category is represented by the soil that receives the Word. However, weeds come up and choke out the word that they originally received. The weeds are the cares of life and riches of the world. Even though those in this category receive the seed of the word with joy, they never bring forth fruit because they succumb to the cares of this world and endure only for a season. Those in Category three have a works-based concept of salvation. They think that they have to help God out and that Jesus’ salvation is insufficient. They have not learned what Peter said when faced with the cares of this world: “casting all your cares upon him for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

According to Luke 6:46, Jesus said, “why do you call me Lord and yet do not do the the things that I have commanded you?” In Matthew 7 they reply, “have we not cast out demons and done many miracles in your name?” Jesus will say, “depart from me, I never knew you, ye that work iniquity.”

The fourth type of soil is the good ground. This type of soil receives the seed of the Word and represents believers who receive the word into their hearts. They bring forth fruit abundantly.

The Devils job is to steal the seed of the Word from our hearts. However, for those in Category Four who receive the word the Psalmist said: “Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it flow the issues of life.” According to Psalm 1, “BLESSED is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

When God reaches down to those he has called, His chosen ones will reach up and grasp his son’s nail pierced hands. When we’re born again and confess “Jesus is Lord,” our prayer will be, “Lord I’m not the man you intended me to be, Lord please make me that man.”

Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock…” The decision is whether or not we believe that Jesus Christ is who he said he is. Either the gospel of Christ is irresistible or it’s not. When those who have been called according to his purpose confess “Jesus is Lord,” and believe that God has raised him from the dead, they are saved. They are made whole, born again of God’s Holy Spirit.

A man with Lou Gehrig’s disease called Pete to meet with him. He told Pete, “I’ve been diagnosed with an incurable disease where I’ll just waste away. I’m thinking that so I won’t be a burden to my wife and children, maybe I should just commit suicide.” Pete recounted the four types of responses after hearing the Word of salvation. Pete asked him, “which category do you want to be in?” His answer was, “I want to be in Category four.”

There are two diagnostic questions to find out the category to which a person belongs. The first is “if you died today, where will you spend the rest of eternity?” Regardless of their response, the Word of God says that there’s one way we can know for sure. According to 1 Thes 1:5. “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost….” John 20:31 says, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

The second question is “If you were standing at the gates of heaven and Jesus said, “why should I let you in?” What would you say?” Again, the answer is in the Word of God. According to Ephesians 2:8-9″. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast.”

Our Declaration of Independence from the power of sin is our declaration of dependence on divine Providence. He alone is our sufficiency for salvation.

As American citizens we have declared our independence from other national powers foreign and domestic. As citizens of heaven we have declared our independence from the power of darkness. As dual citizens, may we with our Founding Fathers pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor on firm reliance upon protection of Divine Providence. This is our Declaration of Dependence on our Heavenly Father for God alone is our sufficiency in all things.

And in our dependence on Him, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Man Up

Steve Smith was a professional golfer for many years. Steve says that when you’re coaching, your job is to fix people’s behavior. In his first golf lesson, Steve shows a beginner how to hold the club. They always say, “that feels really strange.” A coach’s job is to break bad habits. As Tom Landry coach of the Dallas Cowboys said, “I get men to do what they don’t want to do, so that they can achieve what they’ve always wanted.”

Steve met Craig at Influencers Irvine. Steve was looking for what he was missing at mens’ group ministries he had attended. At that first Influencers meeting Steve heard the soft spoken call of God that said, “Son, you’re home.” Even though Steve lives in Palos Verdes he drives to Fullerton every week to fellowship with our Influencers band of brothers.

Some “politically correct” secularists consider the phrase “Man Up” a call to toxic masculinity. Extreme Feminists would say that the term “toxic masculinity” is redundant. The bible says that the world calls good evil and evil good. One of the themes of influencers is that as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for Christ’s sake, for great are your rewards in heaven. To experience true fellowship with our Lord, we must enter into the fellowship of His suffering.

Sales trainers say, “failure is not an option.” This is also what coaches tell their athletes. Steve’s calling to “Man Up” was when God told him to reach his “Hand Up.” Our first response must be to give all to God….casting all your cares upon him for he careth for you. We can either depend on our own pride and our own sufficiency or we can come to the realization that He alone is our sufficiency in all things. “Hands up, I surrender” is not what the world teaches. However when we surrender to him we will understand that “thy strength is made perfect in my weakness, thy grace is sufficient for me.”

What was history’s greatest moment of surrender? The greatest moment of surrrender was when Jesus prayed to his Heavenly Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, “let this cup (of wrath, sin and death) pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.” When Jesus surrendered to his Father’s will at the cross, he became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

To Man Up is to press toward the mark of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. According to Philippians 3:13-14, 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended (already attained): but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high (upward) calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

To Man Up also means to set our affection on things above and not on the things of the world. Jesus said, “Don’t treasure treasures upon earth where moth and rust corrupts and thieves break through and steal. Instead treasure treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

What does it look like to Man Up? One attribute of manning up is that our strength is in God. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength…” Isaiah 49 says, “he gives power to the faint and to them who have no might he increases strength.”

Another attribute is perseverance. Colossians 1:11 says, “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;”. James 1:1-4 says “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

A third attribute is integrity, 2 Corinthians 8:21 says “Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.” According to Psalm 41:12, “And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.”

Overcoming is another characteristic of manning up. Who is he that overcomes the world? 1 John 5:4-5 says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Another aspect of manning up is to do what is needed. According to James 1:22, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Galatians 3:9 says, and be not weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. James 4:17 says, he who knows to do right and doesn’t do it. To him it is sin.

It’s only by God’s grace and mercy that when we sin, we can man up and hand it to him. Manning up is to surrender our will to his will and our ability to his ability. Romans 13:14 says, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” On our own we can do nothing. To man up means that God is our sufficiency in all things.

We all have two fathers. One is our earthly father or the father figure who taught us the Word of God. Steve’s father in the Word said Give up and Give everything to God. God is our Heavenly Father who loves us and will never forsake us. When we man up by surrendering our will to his will we will understand these lyrics of an old hymn:
Make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword and I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms if by myself I stand, Imprison me within thine arms and free shall be my stand.

God exhorts us to Man Up and rise up as men of God. And in so doing may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
MIchael