Month / April 2010

by johnkking

Two Remarkable Conversations

One was a young Jewish lady who is training to become a nurse. She said, “Africa is calling my name.” The other was a mother of a six-year old daughter who told me, with tears in her eyes, “No, I cannot picture myself in God’s lap hearing him say, ‘I am proud of you!'”

I traveled to Dallas two days ago to hear news of great things God is doing in Asia. While there I led a devotional for the group. We looked at Ephesians 1:15-23 and Ephesians 3:14-21. Both texts model great intercession and discuss the fact that being on mission with God requires divine power. Paul prayed that the churches planted through the Multiplying Ministry he launched from Ephesus, throughout Asia, would experience God’s “incomparably great power for us who believe” (1:19).

Paul also prayed they would grasp the vastness of Christ’s love so they would “be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (3:19). Imagine that! Jesus’s love can produce the fullness of God in us. Then, Paul states a mind-blowing promise–God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (3:20). I am claiming that promise!

Claiming his promise brings me back to those two ladies I mentioned earlier. The first one was in her twenties and had a bubbly personality. She quickly said, “This is only my second flight! Are you a frequent flyer?” I briefly mentioned some of my international flights. She really perked up when I mentioned Africa. “Africa has my name!” she said excitedly. After finding out she was in nursing school, I told her she could do much good in Africa.

Eventually the conversation died down and she pulled out her book. I got out my Kindle and returned to Neil Cole’s book, Church 3.0. After a while I noticed she had fallen asleep. Later she woke from her nap as drinks were being served.

When we returned to our earlier conversation I said, “My first international flight was to Israel.” She really became animated. She told me she was a practicing Jew and was excited she would be able to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land next year. She started asking questions about my trip. I was able to describe some of the remarkably unique characteristics of the tiny strip of land we call Israel.

Before traveling there I did not realize you can stand on a high point in Jerusalem and see the borders to the north, south, east and west. I pointed out to her that this narrow land bridge connects Eur-Asia to Africa. Because of the desert to the east, all the land routes passed through this region. God had called Abraham and his people to this hallway between the largest landmasses of the world. “What an awesome way to put his people on display for the nations!” I praised him. She said, “I never thought about it like that.”

Then she turned to tell me that her parents were divorced and her mom had recently converted to Christianity. Her mom was baptized in Israel on a trip last year. Now she said that her mom wanted her to read the New Testament to be “well-rounded.”

I said, “Well, with the exception of Luke and Acts which were written by a Gentile, the rest of the New Testament is the largest block of Jewish writings from the first century.” I proceeded to tell her that the first four books tell the story of Jesus for the sake of communicating it well to four different people groups. Matthew writes for a more Jewish audience. Mark tells the story of Jesus for Romans. Of course, Luke writes for Gentiles. Then John seems to tell it for a more Eastern mind-set. She asked, “Now which one was for Jewish readers?” I told her it was Matthew, the first one and gave a few illustrations. She seemed intrigued. We were taxing into DFW airport, so our conversation ended.

On the return flight I noticed that the lady sitting next to me had on a jacket with a Belmont University logo. I said, “Oh, are you a student at Belmont?”

She said, “No, I have worked there for seventeen years!” So I asked if she was on the faculty and she said, “I am an adjunct faculty member, but I work full-time in the recreation department.”

She asked about my work and I told her that I had gone to a conference in Dallas because of my work training indigenous church planters in Africa. She seemed interested so I shared the four questions we train them to use when they facilitate Discovery Bible Studies. After she asked a question I told her that the third question about obedience is where inner transformation takes hold. When she showed and openness to hearing more I shared the S.P.E.C.K. questions that can help us discover how to obey any passage. As I got to the third “P”–“Is there a Promise here that I can claim?” I mentioned the promise in Ephesians 3:20 of God’s willingness and ability to give us more.

A question popped into my mind, right at this point. I asked it–“Can’t you just picture yourself crawling up in God’s lap to ask him for something and hearing him say, ‘You make me so proud!”?

As she fought back the tears she said, “No. I know he exists, and I know he is able, but I am not worthy of that. He is Sovereign and he can do what he wants. I don’t want to risk asking for something he does not want to give me and getting a ‘No.'”

My heart just ached. But I had solid confirmation that she is churched. Sovereign is a word you only hear from church people. It turns out she is a pastor’s wife for a church that has been shrinking from 70 to 50 since they have been working with them.

I reminded her of Jesus’ story about the Prodigal Son, pointing out that the younger boy was not worthy of Papa’s extravagant grace. While he’s practicing his “I’m unworthy” speech his dad is running to receive him back as his son.

I returned to finish the letters “E.C.K.” Then I asked, “Does that make sense? Can you think of somewhere you might do that kind of study?”

“Well, I was actually thinking about that and had begun to think maybe I could do it in a Bible study with some of the girls who work for me. We employ over 100 of our students. Up until two years ago I always did a Bible study with some of them. Maybe I can start one using this approach this fall.”

Our flight landed and we started to de-plane. Since I had an aisle seat, I stepped out and back to allow her and the lady across from my seat out. We walked through the plane, out to the concourse. She stepped aside to let the other lady go by saying, “I will wait on my co-worker.” As I passed, she said, “Thank you.”

I said, “I will pray that you find a Lady of Peace–one of those girls who works for you who will be willing to invite her friends for the study. That way you can harvest grapes and bananas, rather than apples and oranges.”

Wow, I have never had one conversation like those, let alone two. Isn’t it just like “The Impossibility Specialist” to give me these two interactions? I praise Papa for the Holy Spirit leading me through these conversations! I do pray the first lady reads Matthew and finds her heart burning in her. I pray the second one finds a Person of Peace and experiences the joy of God’s pleasure as she uses this awesome group harvesting strategy!

by johnkking

I am a Professor of Record

Last week something special happened. It was the fulfillment of a dream from more than thirty years ago. I made the right choice twenty years ago when I chose to release the dream at that time.

You see, when I attended Bible college the greatest influences on me were professors, not preachers. Yes, I ended up being a preaching minister, but my dream in college was to become a professor. I actually only knew one man who was a full-time preaching minister while I was in college. The peopel who influenced me most were college professors. It’s no wonder I graduated with a dream of being a professor.

My early plans were to pay off my student loans and move to Memphis to attend Harding Graduate School of Religion and earn a Masters degree. But that was 1980 and high inflation was causing a recession that made finding employment very difficult. After applying at several businesses I heard about an opening at a rural congregation where I had preached some during my junior year in college.

While evaluating whether or not to accept the work when it was offered I remembered a statement from one of my professors. He said, “Boys if you have to choose between two works, go where you believe you can do the most good. I accepted the position. Little did I know that while working there for almost five years I would meet and marry my wife and earn a Masters degree. Sometimes God blesses your dreams through avenues you would never imagine.

As we moved to Maryland in 1985 it appeared my dream of becoming a professor was drawing closer. I would work with a congregation in Maryland and try to get admitted to a PhD. program in Philadelphia. Two things arose that altered this plan. First, our son was born and second I discovered I needed additional hours to be accepted to doctoral studies. I started working on some classes and realized that the rigors of education where challenging while serving a congregation and caring for my growing family. I decided either my family or my ministry would suffer if I enrolled in the program I had planned on taking.

For the next fifteen years I poured myself into being a dad who was invovled in the lives of my children. Home, church, school and sports were places where we spent time interacting. I was present for most of their events because I chose to forgo the additional schooling.

Six years ago, God started me on a remarkable journey. Late in 2003 my wife and I attended a fund-raising dinner. I never would have dreamed that this would be a way God would alter my course. I met three people that night who have become very significant friends–Jerry Trousdale, David Watson and Terry Neu. I will tell you more about Jerry and David in later installments, but this blog has more to do with Terry.

Terry Neu is a regional coordinator for Perspectives on the World Christian Movement classes here in our part of the country. Jerry taught some classes that Terry organized and took me with him to two of them and I enjoyed the stimulating discussions. I bought a reader and workbook at the first one and started working through the material. It was a godsend because I knew a young man in jail who wanted to take a college level course while incarcerated. While he did not earn credit, he was able to work through that material after I purchased a set for him.

Eventually Terry encouraged me to serve as the host of a Perspectives class here in Murfreesboro. I audited the course and also taught lesson four. Every semester since then I have taught at least one of the classes. Now I have a new title through Perspectives. I am a Professor of Record for the Perspectives classes that are taking place this spring.

Who would have thought I would serve as a professor of a missions mobilization class? God has fulfilled another dream related to me and education. I am enjoying the ride. Next month I will be teaching a two-week class at a Bible college in Zambia. Wow! It is amazing where God has taken me.

Dream big dreams! If you will give them to God, he will fulfill them in ways you could never imagine. One of the great results is he gets the glory.

by johnkking

Conspicuously Spiritual, but…

Last week I posted something old and something new. First, I posted an article I wrote in 2006 that described what happened when I first taught a group of church planters in Sierra Leone to do 3-column studies. I had seen a reference to such an approach in a file on my mentor’s web site. No one had ever shown me how to do one. It just sounded like a format that could be easily implemented. (Of course I promptly complicated the process by envisioning ways to make it easier to get people to do a 3-column study, but God corrected my error.)

Then I wrote about God’s directives for any new king. That passage from Deuteronomy caught my attention because I have recently been training Americans to do 3-column studies. It gives me a text that directs leaders to write out Scriptures and then spend time every day meditating on the implications for their realm of influence.

Let’s spend some time evaluating the purpose of each of the three columns. The first column slows me down and causes me to hear the words. I must do this or I will be unable to complete the second column. Even when I used to cut and paste the text into the first column, I always had to re-read the passage numerous times to understand how to state its meaning in my own words. Writing the passage out has me handling the text. It gives me a measurable activity that indicates I have spent time with this word from God.

The second column provides proof that I have used my powers of observation. I can answer the journalists questions (Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?). By restating the passage I verify to myself that I can help someone else hear its meaning. There are many passages that I find this to be harder to accomplish than I earlier imagined. Sometimes the more familiar I am with the passage the more difficult I find the second column to be. If I cannot put it in my words, then I do not understand its meaning. If I cannot restate it I cannot share it with someone else. While column 1 is for me, column 2 is for others. It prepares me to speak a word from God into the life of another person.

David Watson has shocked many believers by saying, “People don’t want your religion! They don’t! Now if you are truly spiritual, some of them will want to be around you, but they don’t want your religion. You have to be conspicuously spiritual without being obnoxiously religious.” I really wanted to argue with him when I first heard that statement. It was a blessing that I could not because I was listening to it on MP3 recordings. After I got beyond my initial response I began to think, “You know the word ‘religion’ generally has to be qualified in Scriptures.” The first text I thought of was the one in James where he says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). The use of “pure and faultless” warns us there is impure and fault-filled religion.

Conspicuously Spiritual

This part of David’s affirmation made perfect sense to me. This is what Jesus was talking about when he described the good deeds of disciples lived out in the open. He said that our lives should be so ministry-filled that people see what we do and give God glory. Jesus said,”You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). Conspicuously (readily seen) spiritual (God-like in nature) is to be our hallmark.

Without being obnoxiously religious

Here is the hard part. How much and what kind of religion will others find obnoxious? Should I really give other people the right to judge my actions? How can I avoid being obnoxious in the eyes of others?

The key, in my judgment, is giving people the freedom to opt out at any point of a discussion. One of the best ways I know to do this is make a statement like, “I learned something new about God yesterday.” Anyone who hears me say this has the right to question, ignore or scorn my affirmation. If she/he is curious then there will be the question, “What did you learn about God?” By asking me this, I am being given permission to pursue the conversation a little further. If she ignores my statement, then she is not open yet. If he scorns my comment then I know he is closed to spiritual discussions with me at this time. To push the discussion with the later two will be viewed by them as obnoxiously religious because they have opted out.

With the person who queries me I will need to use care. So far, all he/she has communicated is curiosity about my affirmation. This person may just think I am crazy. He may wonder if I am hearing voices. She may be curious whether or not this is a trap. I suggest you just give a brief statement that summarizes what you studied. For example, I could say, “I learned God want me to hand write my own copy of the law.” Now the ball is in this person’s court. My response will give him/her the opportunity to decide whether or not to proceed further. As long as I do not dump a whole load of judgmental-ism our conversation can go as far as this person is willing.

What I am looking for in the conversation is permission to help this person discover God’s character for himself/herself. I know it will be best if this discovery process can happen in a context of this person’s significant relationships, but I first need to find out whether or not there is a willingness to participate in a discovery process.

By writing out column 2 I am preparing myself for that kind of dialogue. I am discovering something about God that is fresh, new and intriguing for me. My passion for this new insight is more likely to capture the favorable attention of another person, especially someone on whom God’s Spirit is already working. (Jesus describes such an individual as “a person of peace” in Luke 10:5.) I believe we need this kind of process to help us be conspicuously spiritual without being obnoxiously religious.

Column 3 prepares me to obey the passage I have written and paraphrased. It pushes me to open myself to being convicted by the Spirit of God. It reminds me what the Lord authoritatively demands of my life. It pushes me to be honest with God, myself and another human being (I will share at least one of these with my small group and expect them to ask me next week how I did being obedient). This column pushes me to stop deflecting the passage by spending my time discussing what others need to do to obey it. Column 3 tests my honesty and integrity. It gauges whether I am a wise man or a fool (Matthew 7:24-27). Am I going to show Jesus my love for him by obeying him? Am I going to play the fool by hearing him and then refusing to apply the word to my life?

Let me return to the Sierra Leone story for just a few moments. It looks likely that every village in the nation will have a church by the end of 2010, or at the latest 2011. When that happens this will be a remarkable example of saturation church planting. This is happening because thousands of people are hearing God’s word and being obedient. Using 3-column studies (among the literate) and teaching S.P.E.C.K. to everyone, especially the illiterate, they are being equipped to hear and obey Scripture. The Anglican bishop of Sierra Leone calls my friend every three days or so to tell him about his personal devotions with 3-column studies and about the exciting things happening in the Anglican church as a result of CPM. In addition to training every leader in his own fellowship, my friend has trained military chaplains who are going into the civilian communities to serve, and planting CPM-type churches among civilians. Civilians are also coming onto military bases to participate in the churches there.

Since late 2005 God has used these people and study methods to shine beacons of light into a nation that only recently came through a horrible civil war (the movie Blood Diamond was based on the war). Imagine what can happen to our lives through this process.

by johnkking

“Write for Himself”

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 jumped out at me yesterday! Since I have read the Bible through for each of the last 25+ years, I know I have read this passage at least 25 times. But there was a phrase I had never paid attention to before.

Yes, I know the text did not change, but my thinking has. This is sort of like when you purchase a new (at least to you) vehicle and you begin to notice how many people drive the same make, model and color. They did not all rush out the same day to purchase their automobiles. Your information sorting grid opens to allow you to notice that particular car.

Lately I have been training several different groups to use 3-column Bible studies. In February I traveled internationally to train people to do such studies. I have introduced a small group focusing on making disciples to use the study strategy. I expose guys in the local jail to do such studies. Tonight I will meet with four more to introduce them, also. With all these experiences a swirl at this time, I finally saw this “new-to-me” insight in Deuteronomy.

Through Moses, God tells the people of Israel that there will come a day when they insist on having a king to lead them. He gives directives and warnings. Such a king will be susceptible to leading the nation away from their allegiance to God. He will be at risk of trusting in his ability to fight battles, gain wealth and/or enter into pacts with the surrounding nations rather than staying true to the covenant with Yahweh. But the king is told to do something to protect his heart from being lead astray by pride, wealth, power or even his wives:

“When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel” (Deuteronomy 17:18-20).

Did you catch it? Probably not, unless you know me pretty well. If you have been with me in one of those trainings lately, you might have noticed it too.

Upon ascending to this position of power, “he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law” (Deuteronomy 17:18). One of the things I am training people to do is to write out the Word of God in their own handwriting. I am admonishing they do this as a form of spiritual discipline. We (especially in the Western world) experience what I call “Spiritual Attention Deficit Disorder” and it is SADD! Television is rapidly eroding our capacity to be attentive. We long for interruptions and will create them if necessary.

Due to this condition we are unable to meditate on the Word of God. We will pay men well to chew it up, and spit it into our mouths so we only have to swallow it. We become enraged by those who would dare to expect us to do our own reading, our own meditating, our own study. We tell ourselves and others that we are “too busy.” The truth is we are too lazy and too distracted!

Could anyone in Israel be busier than a newly anointed King? Are you responsible for the oversight of hundreds of thousands of people? If not, please consider what God wants leaders to do—write out Scriptures, keep them with you all the time and read from them every day.

Did you notice the three fruits that will be born from such meditation? Moses says:

1. You will learn to revere the Lord.
2. You will learn to carefully obey his commandments.
3. You will avoid pride.

As I noted in my last post, which was written almost five years ago, there is a great value in writing out sections of Scriptures. When you do that and couple it with re-phrasing it in your own words, you have to read it numerous times. The task demands focus. It disciplines us to stick with a passage. Then take it to a third action—writing out the things God is calling you to do to obey this text. To help you with that process I challenge people to start all their sentences in the third column with the two words, “I will…” Here I write out what I will do to be obedient to what God is directing.

Kings and Chronicles would contain different stories if God’s will had been done by her leaders. Too many rejected God’s right to reign in their lives and lead the nation into sin.

How would you combine Deuteronomy 17:18-20 with 1 Peter 2:9? Do you remember that one? Here Peter makes that beautiful affirmation regarding our identity, “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

We like the idea of being kings and queens with Jesus! We like the sound of being seated with him on his heavenly throne! I am convinced we will do a better job at what Peter is talking about when we practice what kings are supposed to do.