Welcome to the August 8th edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
The Story of My Week
Over the past weeks, I have realized that I wasn't pursuing intimacy with God as I used to do once upon a time.
And I decided to actively address this.
It's no use knowing I have a problem and not doing anything about it.
I developed a simple plan.
In the mornings, I focus on the functional aspects of my devotional life - intercede for people, read my bible, declarations over the nation, etc.
In the evenings, I spend more time lingering in God's presence and staying there because I want to go deeper.
I realized something - the fear of God is not the greatest fear in my life. I need to fear God more than any other thing I’m afraid of to live fully under the cover of God.
I want to fear God more.
To fear and not be afraid.
That's the mystery of intimacy with God.
I'll keep at it.
Things I Learnt
1-As God Creates a new Order: A friend of mine sent me a message earlier this week. He said God had been asking him to start a faith-based initiative and he had been pushing it away.
That morning, a level of clarity had hit him about it and he knew it was time to start it. He wanted me to be praying for him.
A part of me was glad, another part of me was concerned that he might start just following the popular models he saw around.
I didn’t want to prod him too much so I just shared the information about someone else who was doing a faith-based initiative in a not-too conventional approach.
There was something they had in common - they were both running professional careers outside clergy-based roles.
The model most of us have embraced is that our faith-based initiatives must either be a church providing spiritual value or an NGO meeting social needs.
I think God is creating a new order.
Many people in clergy roles are now more focused on talking about business, productivity, personal development, and similar matters.
It seems like God is now raising people in non-clergy roles to focus on the missing important matter - spiritual matters.
I look forward to seeing how things evolve in the coming days.
2-The Challenge of the Christian Life: One thing I have done since I started as a Christian is to read accounts of other Christians living out their faith in difficult circumstances.
I would read about Christians under communism (China, Russia, etc), Christians in difficult Muslim countries, and the likes.
Their stories help to put whatever little challenges I am going through in stark contrast.
I am currently reading The Insanity of Sacrifice: A 90 Day Devotional by Nik Ripken and Barry Stricker. The devotional is to help you align your heart with God's, seeing the role sacrifice plays in the life of every follower of Jesus Christ.
Nik Ripken is a leading expert on the persecuted church, having researched extensively in more than seventy countries. He is also a veteran missionary of thirty years (primarily in North Africa and the Middle East).
I'd like to share one of the stories he shared this week about a meeting he was part of in East Africa.
"One of the pastors at that gathering served in Iran. He was invited to share about what God was doing in his country. He was told he would have about fifteen minutes to talk. Two hours later, this pastor was still telling us stories about the marvelous and unbelievable activity of God in Iran."
"The testimony of this man included specific details. He was surprisingly open in using the actual names of people and in naming specific places. Normally, there is restraint in what can be shared openly, but this Iranian pastor sensed a freedom to tell the truth openly in this setting. Even as he talked, others at the meeting interrupted him several times and told him to be careful, but he insisted on continuing to tell his story. That day, we heard stories about the activity of God in Iran that we had never heard before. More to the point, we heard stories that day about the activity of God in Iran that we never could have imagined."
"Two weeks later, after we had all gone our separate ways, we learned that this pastor from Iran had disappeared. His mutilated body was found near his home in Iran. This leader who had been so instrumental in God’s work in Iran—and so open about details in our meeting—had been murdered. At the time, it was unclear exactly what had happened."
But five years later, at a meeting in another part of the world, we learned that someone from inside another secret gathering had betrayed this Iranian pastor. Someone who sat at the table with other believers, someone who listened to the stories of God’s activity, someone who sang the songs of worship with the gathered group, someone who joined in prayer, someone who claimed to be a follower of Jesus—had betrayed this man of God inside of Iran. And the pastor from Iran paid the ultimate price for that betrayal."
"We cannot think about that story without thinking of the story in John 13. Sometimes in the stories of faith there is a character named Judas. And whatever the motive of Judas, the outcome is betrayal."
The man kept speaking because he sensed freedom from God to tell the truth openly. It encouraged at least 1 person there - which is why they wanted him to keep talking.
But it also cost him his life.
And this is sometimes the cost of doing God's work the way God wants.
But that is not the end of the story. The next day Nik writes further.
"Months after that initial gathering in the small town in East Africa, another pastor in Iran was preparing to lead worship back at home. On that day something very special had been planned: dozens of Muslim Background Believers were preparing to be baptized."
"For followers of Jesus who come out of Muslim backgrounds, baptism is a cataclysmic event. It is, we might say, the point of no return. Before baptism, Muslim family members and friends assume that people showing interest in Jesus are, perhaps, simply going through a phase. The assumption is that, once they come to their senses, they will walk away from Jesus and return to their traditional faith."
"With baptism, however, a line is crossed. And it is baptism that typically opens the door for the fiercest persecution and oppression. At that point, the persecution and oppression might come from the government authorities, but it will most likely come from family members—who will be seriously dishonored, embarrassed, and scandalized by their family member who has decided to become a follower of Jesus. It is typically baptism that sets severe persecution in motion."
"On this particular day, thirty-five Muslim-background men were ready to be baptized. They had gathered in an open setting with their church family. This was a public place. These believers could have been following Jesus for several years. They had been trained and taught and mentored. They knew what it would cost them to follow Jesus. And now they had reached the moment when they would cross the line and receive baptism—the point of no return."
"Already in the baptismal pool, the pastor was explaining to his church what baptism meant. His wife was holding his cell phone at the time when a call came through. She handed the phone to her husband. In that moment, on the phone, he was told that the mutilated body of the Iranian pastor, who had spoken so boldly at the meeting in East Africa, had been found. In that moment, he learned what had happened to his dear friend and fellow pastor."
At the very moment that he learned of this horrible death . . . he was explaining to those several dozen Muslim Background Believers what it would cost them to be baptized. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he now told them that this cost is very real—and he told them what had happened to his beloved pastor friend. Significantly, the slain pastor was not merely his friend; he had also been the dear friend and mentor of these people waiting to be baptized. It was their teacher and friend and pastor who had been killed. "
"The man in the baptismal pool said to the believers already in line: “Our dear friend is dead. He has been killed for his love for Jesus. Are you ready now to be baptized . . . now that you truly know what this will mean for you?” Without hesitation, one by one, the believers walked into the water . . . seeking to be baptized . . . knowing exactly what it would mean for them."
I ask myself - What does standing for Jesus Christ mean for me?
I want it to keep meaning more for me.
Postscript
May you find the courage that comes with your faith to stand for Jesus when the difficult trials of faith come. And may your faith shine like stars during that season, glorifying Jesus. Amen
Tata
Tola - The Everyday Disciple
I help Christians like you who want to live intentional lives incorporate their faith into everyday life so they can make Christ-focused decisions in all areas of life and truly live to make an impact and make God happy.
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