The Growing Seed

by | Sep 18, 2014 | Growth, Strategic Articles

Perhaps the most difficult concept for the original hearers of the teachings of Jesus to understand was that of the Kingdom of God. Doubtless because of that fact, and its centrality in his message, Christ gave his disciples more parables on the Kingdom than on any other subject.

Many of those parables are short but full of meaning and today we have uploaded an article by John Birch on one of them: “The Growing Seed: Mark 4:26-34“– which explains an important aspect of how God develops His Kingdom.

As John states in his article, the parable uses a simple analogy with which people who lived close to the earth would be especially able to relate, but no matter where we live it’s an analogy we can understand and by which we can grow. Be sure not to miss this exposition of the parable of the Growing Seed, here.

What the Cavemen Learned

What the Cavemen Learned

by | Sep 14, 2014 | Problems, Service, Strategic Notes

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I’m not talking about prehistoric Neanderthal or Cro-Magnon “cavemen” here – I’m actually thinking of two men of God who at different times in biblical history both learned important lessons at the back of a cave.

These men were both successful in their own fields – one a warrior and one a man of religion.  Both were used to life around palaces and nice homes, but both men lost everything they had and fled in depression and fear for their lives – to the back of a cave.

The first man was King David. 1 Samuel 22 tells us that when the jealous Saul stepped up his campaign to kill the young shepherd-warrior, David finally fled to a mountain cave where he holed up in depression, frustration and fear.  The other man was Elijah, and in 1 Kings 19 we see that when the wicked Jezebel threatened his life, Elijah also “caved” under the pressure and ran for many miles, to the back of a cave on Mount Horheb – where he stayed, apparently in fear, frustration and anger.

There are times in our lives when psychologically we find ourselves in the back of a cave, too. We understand that some depression is physically caused and must be treated as such, but sometimes we find ourselves in the dark cave of depression or despair due to discouragement and difficulties.  This is because fleeing to the inner parts of our minds is a very human reaction and sometimes seems like the only way to survive. Unfortunately, it becomes easy to stay there. It’s not that we are comfortable in the cave of depression, but the longer we stay there, the harder it becomes to leave.  That’s why in both biblical stories of God’s servants who fled to physical caves, the first thing we see in the way God turned these situations around was that he commanded both men to leave the cave they were in.

In David’s case, God sent a prophet to David to specifically tell him he had spent enough time in the cave and that it was time to leave.  “… The prophet Gad said to David, ‘Do not stay in the [cave] stronghold’” (1 Samuel 22:5), so, uncomfortable as it was to do, at God’s command David left the cave. We see exactly the same with Elijah.  “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord …’” (1 Kings 19:11).  God patiently listened to the reasons Elijah gave for his depression, anger and fear, but he nevertheless firmly told him to come out of the cave. It probably wasn’t psychologically easy for them, but both men obeyed in faith. They may not have seen a reason to leave the cave, yet once they realized it was God’s will they obeyed.

So, God understands when we sometimes flee to the cave, but he is just as clear in telling us we must not stay there. And God goes a step further – as the wise Physician he is, he prescribes what we need in order to stay out of the cave. In both the stories of David and of Elijah, God prescribed exactly the same spiritual medicine.  When he instructed David to leave the cave, we see the next thing he did was to tell David to go help the people of Keilah who were being attacked by the Philistines: “Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah” (1 Samuel 23:1-2). And when Elijah obediently stepped out of his cave, God immediately told him to go to Damascus and instructed him: “… When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat …” (1 Kings 19:15-16).

God doesn’t just tell us to pull ourselves together and leave the cave of depression. He tells us to leave – and to go help someone who needs help.  Finding ourselves in a “cave” is something that even some of the greatest of God’s servants have experienced, but the way out was the same for them as it is for us.  We overcome this problem only when we realize God doesn’t want us to live in the cave and that his prescription for cave fever is often to go help someone.  It’s as though God knows that the only way for us to effectively stay out of the cave is not just to get busy, but to get busy serving others.

That is how God helps us get our focus off our own problems – by getting us to focus on and help others whose problems are so often so much worse than our own.

What Do You See?

What Do You See?

by | Sep 11, 2014 | Service, The Life of Jesus

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Have you ever noticed, when reading the Gospels, how often we are told that Jesus noticed something, saw something?   We are frequently told that he observed those around him: “Seeing the woman…,” “seeing the man …,” “seeing the people…,” “seeing their faith …,”–even noticing small details of people’s expressions: “seeing he had become sad…” (Luke 18:24).

It is clear that Jesus was observant, and although  his eyes took in no more than those of others, it is clear that rather than just looking at people Jesus saw them in a way that others did not – it is as if he thought about everyone he saw.   Do we have that kind of focus, or do we go through each day so busy and absorbed in our own lives that we are conscious of others, but not clearly seeing them in focus?  The truth is, we can’t love without looking – seeing – comprehending. Perhaps part of the answer is that if we see ourselves as the servants of others, we will see them differently – as Christ did.

The apostle Paul put it this way: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who … made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant…” (Philippians 2:5-7).  Think of an attentive waiter in a fine restaurant, or a rich person’s personal servant. A servant certainly watches those he is responsible for – staying aware and looking out for any need that may occur. And a person’s servant  doesn’t just stop at noticing the need – the servant obviously acts swiftly to take care of it.

That’s what the Gospels show was the natural corollary of Jesus seeing people the way he did – he didn’t stop at seeing them, he immediately responded to what he saw:  “seeing the woman he said …,” “seeing their faith he [healed]…,”  “seeing the crowd he [asked] ‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?’” (John 6:5).  Jesus saw and then acted with compassion according to what he saw.  So seeing people in a focused way was only the first half of what he accomplished with his observant attitude. Always, the seeing led to acting in some manner in order to help those who needed help.

We too can accomplish so much more when we train our minds to really see the people around us, to focus on them and to ask ourselves what do they need and is there a way we can serve them. It’s not just about giving physical things; it’s just as much about seeing people’s emotional and spiritual needs. But it takes a kind of awakening of the eyes to see like that – we won’t do it unless we think about doing it.  Perhaps that’s part of what the prophet Isaiah meant when he wrote: “Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed…” (Isaiah 32:3).  He wasn’t talking about the blind, but those who see coming to really see. That may primarily mean coming to see spiritual truth, of course, but it can also mean coming to see others as we should see them – through the eyes of a servant. 
I Want That Mountain!

I Want That Mountain!

by | Sep 8, 2014 | Warriors of the Way

PictureMt. Everest from Base Camp


Today, Chomolungma, known around the world as Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world,  is regularly climbed due to the availability of modern equipment and our cumulative knowledge regarding  its possible climbing routes.   But throughout most of human history, the  29,029 ft.  (8,848 m.) giant – along with several huge neighboring peaks – remained unconquered. 

It was only after attempts by many others  that the dedicated, unrelenting attack of New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and his Tibetan guide, Tenzing Norgay, resulted in the mountain finally being summited in 1953. A humble and unassuming man, Hillary’s name lives on – and always will – among slayers of giant mountains.


Thousands of years ago another climber and giant slayer, an old man of 85, exhibited the same  kind of unquenchable desire to conquer a mountain region that had proven unconquerable well after ancient Israel entered the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua.   Notice the story:

Then the people of Judah came to Joshua… And Caleb the son of Jephunneh …said to him … “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart … And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses … I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country [“give me this mountain” KJV] of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said” (Joshua 14:6-12).

Not only had Caleb served fearlessly as a spy in his youth, but now after many years – at age 85 – he still remained fearless and full of desire to accomplish the goal he could see set before him.  And it was a daunting goal – not only to take over the rugged hill country area, but also to displace the giant Anakim who lived there. Although he insisted he was still physically able to do the job in his old age, he exhibited humility in stressing that “It may be that the Lord will be with me” (vs. 12) and that it would be by God’s help that he would triumph.  Seeing Caleb’s determination, Joshua blessed him, and he gave him permission to take the mountain area for which he asked. And we learn that  Caleb was, in fact, successful in his attempt to claim the unconquered mountain (Joshua 14:14).

Our goals may not always seem as tangible as climbing the world’s highest mountain or conquering Caleb’s mountain of giants, yet God has given us an even higher  goal – a greater height to climb.  What matters is that we go after our goal with the same determination that won those great heights of history.  We, like Caleb, will be empowered to reach the goal if we stick with it, but – again like Caleb – no matter how long we live,  we must never forget that we want that mountain.
Which Side Are You On?

Which Side Are You On?

by | Sep 4, 2014 | Bible Study

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“We see so much more when we are willing to change our point of view.”

Reading an email,  letter or other message is psychologically simple – we know that someone is addressing us and we “hear” the words of the message as though the person were speaking directly to us. But there is an interesting psychological phenomenon that occurs when we read anything written in the “third person.”  Whether it is a novel,  a story, a news report or even much of the Bible itself, our minds change gear and we look at the story from a different perspective. 

Just as ancient Greek plays had a protagonist (the hero) and one or more “antagonists” – those with whom the hero interacts or struggles – third person writing engages the mind in such a way that, without thinking about it, we automatically “identify with the hero.”  In reading this type of writing it is not that we see ourselves as the hero so much as we accept the hero’s cause, we see things from his or her perspective and what the hero says to others usually carries our approval – we are thoroughly on the hero’s side.

What does this have to do with Bible reading and study?  When we read a biblical story – for example, a description of one of the prophets delivering a message to ancient Israel – it’s easy to identify ourselves with the speaker and agree with his message,  but do we identify with those to whom the message was sent? Ultimately, the depth of our understanding of much of the Bible – and our ability to be moved by it – lies in putting ourselves in the place of the original hearers, not the speakers.  Does Paul write to the Corinthians? Put yourself in the place of the Corinthians – how does what Paul says apply to you personally?  It’s as we think over and  meditate on what the message of the Bible says to its recipients that it can have an impact on us. 

Naturally, when we read the psalms of David or other prayers and hymns in the Bible we can identify with the speaker and it is often helpful to do so, but in those cases it is not “third person” literature – it is more like when we pray or write to someone. But in the case of biblical stories and narratives we need to remember which side of the events we should picture ourselves on, otherwise we are just reading a story.

It’s the simplest principle to apply, but in most cases we shouldn’t identify with our biblical heroes nearly so much as we should strive to identify with those to whom our heroes spoke.