December 2006
Dear J----,
Greetings in the most holy and precious name of Jesus. I used to think that phrases like that were
silly sentiment, but the older I get the more I understand how truly precious,
holy and powerful His name really is. It
is the name above every other name. It
is the name to which we have the privilege of worshiping, bowing to and
calling on in a time of need. Jesus has
lent us His name to call for the resources of heaven, to run into in a time of
trouble, to use as a definitive weapon against all the powers of hell. Above
all things – honor the name, love the name, learn the name and use the name of
Jesus. God has placed more in that NAME
than we really know.
I have genuinely enjoyed watching you grow in grace and
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ over the past 1 ½ years. I know you have walked with the Lord for a
long time, but God takes us to places for special seasons in our lives. I believe [our town] [our town]
I wanted to write to you to encourage you as you move into a
new year. God does not wear a wristwatch. He is unmoved by the tiny elements of time
which control our lives – seconds, minutes and hours. He never gets in a
hurry. Time is a man-made concept. A day with the Lord is as 1000 years and 1000
years as a day. Learn to wait. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength. God’s plans are so grand
they can not be accomplished in a day, week, month or sometimes even a
year. God, as the master strategist,
moves satan around like a pawn to accomplish His own agenda. We too are pieces on God’s chess board … not
pawns though, we’re kings and queens, knights and rooks and bishops. We’re the power pieces that get the job
done. You might notice that a chess set
has 8 pawns of limited power (like the devil), however the Rook, knight and
bishop only have two each; and each one of those moves and acts and functions
in a different way.
How much like the gifts and callings of God these are? God using different people in different ways,
moving us around the chess board of this world, forming a strategy of ultimate
defeat for the devil. God, knowing the
power and ability of each piece, knows just where to place us in relationship
to the other playing pieces to affect strategic victory. The grand checkmate comes when the King
Himself returns to finish the devil off once and for all. We will be a part of that glorious victory,
if we do not become weary in well doing.
The Bible tells us that Jesus will descend from heaven with
a shout. It doesn’t say for sure, but it
just might be “CHECKMATE!” I long to
hear, “well done my good and faithful servants.” I hope I am standing close to you when that
happens.
Of all the pieces I think you are a Bishop. The bishop in the Bible is an overseer, one
who watches over God’s heritage. Paul
said that he has espoused the church to Jesus as a chaste virgin. He saw his role as the “best man.” One in whom the groom trusted to take care of
the bride; to protect her and prepare her.
Paul claimed he never touched the bride of Christ for his own
pleasure. Always remember this one thing
- as leaders, pastors, bishops and shepherds - the church belongs to Jesus
Christ. He is a jealous God. Too many
people today claiming to be pastors, prophets, teachers, evangelists and
apostles are using the Bride of Christ for their own gratification. They lust after her affections and
money. They long for the power to
control her, to use her and to make a profit from her. They prepare the church for their own glory,
not for Jesus’. But I trust we are not
like that – you and me. I trust that I
have demonstrated for you (although imperfectly many times) the role of a
pastor: Faithfulness to the Bridegroom to prepare a Bride for His glory.
Like chess, no single piece can defeat the enemy alone. It takes at least two pieces to win. The best
one can do alone is a stalemate. Too
many of God’s people settle for a stalemate; rather than a win. God created the Body of Christ to work
together in unity, we need each other - always have and always will: God made
it so.
When Jesus returned to heaven, He gave gifts to men. He literally broke his perfect divine
ministry into parts we now call the 5-fold ministry. Remember that it is not “your ministry,” but
rather His ministry through you.
Successful strategies on the chess board take each piece’s unique
strength into consideration and use them in conjunction with each other to back
the devil into a corner and defeat him.
So goes the kingdom
of God
It is so much easier (we think) to get talented, like-minded
people. But if we look at the example
of Jesus, he collected an eclectic, ragtag group that was diverse in
personality, philosophy and education.
For the most part they were “ignorant and unlearned fishermen.” But it was noted that they had “been with
Jesus.” There is always the tendency to discount those that God puts in your
care and ultimately on your team. Try
not to “judge in the flesh,” but “judge righteous judgment.” God is a better judge of potential then we
are (since he knows the beginning from the end.)
One of the greatest things you can do for a person is to
believe in them, even when they can’t believe in themselves. I had someone do that for me. It makes all the difference. In order to do that we must see the
overwhelming ability of God to impact and change a person. God can change anyone – look at you and
me. Pray for people until they can pray
for themselves.
I hear one scripture ringing in my spirit for you as I
write.
“For you have need of
patience,
that,
after ye have done
the will of
God, ye
might receive
the promise.” Heb
10:36
There are several key thoughts
here. Of course, the main one is
“patience”. Not our most favorite
word. Patience is probably one of the
most difficult virtues to develop (right after humility). As you become more and more a leader,
patience is an absolute necessity. As leaders our impatience can destroy
people; impatience will slow personal growth in people; impatience that our
grand plans and schemes aren’t moving faster.
Be an example to the flock in all things, especially patience. “Don't let anyone think less of you because
you are young. Be an example to
all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” I Tim. 4:12
Impatience causes us to take short
cuts and make compromises. It can also
cause us to overlook people that might be a significant part of God’s
plan. It can create offenses in us and
others. Always remember that in, general, God’s people are more important than
our goals and plans.
The second important concept in
this verse is “after”. We usually must
do something first. That is where faith
comes in. You will often have to step out on faith. You’ll find yourself convinced of things that
you (and others) can’t see and it will require risk. We often want to know new ventures, radical
ideas and new directions will work out before we start. Therefore it is so much easier to stay with
tradition, because even if it is not really working as well as we like, it is
at least familiar and predictable. God
is raising up people who can not take “church as is” anymore. But keep in mind, if we rush ahead without
bringing people along with us, we still won’t have much when we get there.
We’ll have to step out, take risks
and be willing to be more spontaneous. Religion requires following a
predictable order. Discipleship requires
following the Spirit. Be willing to “do”
before you get to the “receive” part.
But never forget about the receiving part. Hebrews tells us that “He that comes to God must believe…that He is a REWARDER of those that
diligently seek Him.” I believe God
is pleased when we believe for the reward as much as we believe anything else
in His word.
You will find there will be sometimes
you won’t know what to do. That’s
okay. Don’t panic. God will come through. David Wilkerson preached a message I heard a
long time ago titled, The Making of a Man of God. It was about the things God takes us through
in our journey to usefulness. One part
particularly stood out: God will take you through your Night of Confusion. Sir
John of the Cross called it “The Dark
Night of the Soul.”
Thankfully they seem to be
limited, but when you enter one it can be excruciating to your flesh. There are two things to keep in mind
here. The first is that the purpose of
these periods is to totally separate us to God.
All the things that define us seem to disappear and we are left with a
raw dependency on God. This is not a bad
thing, regardless of what your flesh seems to think.
When Mary left and I moved from
Oberlin to LeCompton, everything that had defined my life for several years was
gone. My marriage, my ministry, my
career was all non- existent. I didn’t even have a house to live in. I was reduced to being “a child of God.”
Too often we let external things
define us. God wants us to remember that
our most important role among all the others we have (husband, minister,
employee, manager, father, son, brother, etc) is that of a Son (or Daughter) of
God. That is the thing that must define
everything else we do. It is these “dark”
times that bring us back to that.
The second thing to remember about
the “Dark Night of the Soul” is that “joy
comes in the morning.” Night never
lasts. God is light. He will not leave us in darkness. He will bring us into the light again. I pray you never have to go through “the
night of confusion,” but, with David Wilkerson, I am more realistic than
that. It is just part of the package.
Since I can’t stop it from happening, I wanted to give you some insight on how
to handle it and come through it a better Son of God.
One last thing: I think we can
determine how long our “night” might be by how we respond. Faith, obedience and yielding shorten those
times dramatically it seems. Good luck!
Here are a few things to
remember. An eclectic collection of
saying from me and others:
- Learn
to please people without being a “people pleaser.”
- Have
devotion, not just devotions.
- Don’t
just serve, be a servant.
- God
would rather have servants who lead than leaders who serve.
- Find
a good sheep dog! They are a big
help.
- Everyone
needs three basic relationships: A couple
of Pauls to mentor us, no matter how old and wise we get; A larger group
of Barnabus’ to walk with us as a friends and peers, A few Timothys to
pour ourselves into.
- Worship
passionately, pray fervently, serve faithfully, and believe completely.
- Our
job is to preach the Kingdom, Jesus said He’d build His Church
- If
you are going to be used by God, you are going to be used by people.
- If
your disciples never outgrow you, when you die the church goes backwards.
- “Onward
and upward, further up and further in.”
C.S. Lewis
- “Spiritual
warfare starts with the name of Jesus on your lips and ends with the
nature of Jesus in your heart.”
Frances Frangipane
- If
you can’t run, walk. If you can’t
walk, crawl. If you can’t crawl,
drag yourself along on your bleeding elbows. Just don’t stop and you’ll get there.
- “Every
earthly plan, that be known to man, He is unconcerned, because he has
plans of His own, to set up His throne, when He returns.” When
He Returns, Bob Dillon (Never
forget, Jesus wins and so do we if we endure to the end.)
Well J----, I pray with all my
heart that somewhere in this missive you will have found a few things that will
make a difference, a few things that will change you and a few things that will
radically transform your life and ministry.
Our ministries are pretty much worthless if we don’t aim at transforming
others.
I encourage you to pull this
letter out from time to time and reread it.
You will find at different times in your life different things will
stand out to you as your life progresses through various stages. I trust the Lord to have provided encouragement
and a few answers in advance, even if you are not sure of all the questions
yet.
And now I finish with a prayer and
a blessing.
Dear Jesus, I bring my brother
J----- to you right now. I ask that you
protect him, body, soul and spirit. I
pray that you will perfect that which concerns him. I pray that you will work everything in his
life according to the counsel of your own will.
I place a blessing on him as one ordained by God to do so. I pronounce peace! I speak spiritual authority to him. I pray the spirit of wisdom and revelation
you’ve given me be imparted to him. Open
the Word of God to him as never before.
Grant him patience, love and faith.
Give Him favor with God and man.
I pray that, as John the Baptist, he “prepares the way of the Lord” in
the lives of those he ministers to. But
most of all Father, I ask that you walk with him as a friend and that he comes
to know you in a greater way than ever before.
That he learns to hear your heartbeat and know your thoughts. AMEN!
My Bother J---- be blessed with
all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
Another grape on the vine,
Bro. Steve
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