This weekend, I was given the opportunity to teach a class that I love to teach, and that's a class we do here called Discipleship 101. If you don't know already. I love discipleship. I love making disciples. I love seeing disciples grow in their faith, and I love it when I see other people doing the work of disciple-making. But one of the things that we talked about this weekend is the fact that we live in a world where our perspective is based on what we know. For so many of us, it's hard not to focus on the temporary things of this world because it's all we know. It's so hard to maintain an eternal perspective because we don't see eternity with our own eyes right now.

We know it's there. We know that there's hope that waits ahead of us, but we just get so caught up in the things that are happening around us, and we can allow it to bring on anxiety, depression, and anger. And because of this perspective that we have, it makes it difficult for us to see past our noses. What I want to suggest today is to think about the hope that we have to come.

So many times, we get focused on what's here on Earth that we forget that when this is over, 5 billion years from now, what we're frustrated about right now isn't going to matter anymore. The difficulties we're going through right now, they are nothing when it comes to the grand scheme of time. One of my favorite verses, and I shared this with a Bible study group that I met with last night, is Romans 12:12. It just simply says,

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12

I love the verse because it speaks to me personally about things that I deal with. The first one is eternal perspective. Be joyful in hope. There's no reason a Christian shouldn't be joyful, because when we look around at this crazy world that we live in, we know that this isn't the end. We know that there's something far better waiting for us. And we really just need to make it through this and do our best to bring as many people with us to heaven as we can. Then we get to really enjoy the good life when we get to be with our Savior.

The second part is patient in affliction. Again, reminding myself in these times of struggle and trial and hardship, to be patient, understanding this is just for a time. And the final part is be faithful in prayer. It is so important. It is so important that we make prayer a priority in our lives.

I know for many people, prayer is maybe the hardest part of our faith. I can't tell you enough how much God wants to talk with us, how much he wants us to share with him our struggles, our triumphs, how he wants us to just simply share what's going on with our lives. There is something powerful about spending significant time in prayer. And prayer carries a power. When God's people come together and lift up prayers to him, he does mighty things through them.

Let's get back to this eternal perspective for a second.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:1–4

How awesome is that? I mean, really, take a step back and think about that. We have been raised with Christ. When we come to Christ, and we confess, we repent, we believe, we're baptized, we are given this new life, this new beginning, and no longer are we alive to our old selves; we're dead. Dead to that old person we used to be. We're brought to new life, a life that is hidden with Christ. And when Christ comes back, we get to spend eternity with Him. I hope that if you're struggling right now with anything that's going on in your life, whether it's finances, family issues, dealing with the crazy political landscape we're in right now, job issues, whatever it is, keep that eternal perspective.

This may be a hard time right now, but there's something so much better ahead. I hope you're encouraged. I hope you can find strength in that. And I hope that we can focus more on our hope than our problems. Because our God is a God who loved us so much that He sent Christ Jesus to this earth to live the perfect life, to die for our sins, be buried, and rise again, and make that hope tangible for us so that we have this ability to one day spend eternity with Him.

About once a week, we do movie night with the kids. Obviously, these are family-friendly and typically children’s movies. It’s just nice to get all of us on the couch together and cuddle with the kids while they’re still willing to cuddle with ol’ Mom and Dad. A few weeks back, we watched Mary Poppins with the kids, and they loved it. Honestly, what small child doesn’t love Mary Poppins? Their imaginations ran wild throughout the movie, and they were glued to the screen. This week, my wife, Rhea, chose The Return of Mary Poppins. Truthfully, it’s nowhere near as good as the original, but it’s a cute movie for kids and those who love family-friendly musicals. I also have to admit that I fell asleep for a significant portion of the movie. Regardless of my thoughts on the movie, there was an interaction that happened toward the end of the movie that caught my attention.

Michael Banks, the father in the movie (and the little boy from the original), was chatting with a woman who was selling balloons. As he reached to grab a balloon, he said, “I haven’t held a balloon since I was a child.” The balloon lady responded with, “Then you’ve forgotten what it’s like.” “To hold a balloon?” Michael asked. She responds with, “To be a child.” This was such an insightful line, but probably not the way that Disney intended. 

One of my favorite things about children is the awe in their faces when they see something they deem larger than life. Seeing a horse for the first time. Going to Disney and meeting Mickey Mouse. Getting to see the fire department and stepping onto a fire truck. Kids remind us of what it means to be in awe of something. I have to admit, I don’t experience awe enough in my life. Experience can sometimes numb us to recognition of the incredible. 

Hanson’s point in the Red River Gorge has my favorite view in that entire area, and there are a lot of amazing views. However, I don’t find myself as in awe of it as I was the first time I saw it. I remember being completely enamored with what I was seeing as I came out of the trees to get a 360-degree view of the gorge. I almost lost my breath from the beauty. I guess that’s why they call it “breathtaking.” Today, I’ve been there around 50 times, and I still call it my happy place when I need to sneak off for an overnight backpacking trip, but it just doesn’t get me the same way as it did when I first saw it. 

How many of us find ourselves that way with God? It’s not that we don’t love Him, but we’ve become “used to” Him. Our prayers sometimes feel like we’re just talking to the sky. We read scripture, but we do so more out of duty than out of a longing for revelation and knowledge of our Savior. I think it’s safe to say that we all have those moments. Familiarity can sometimes breed apathy, and this is something that Satan loves. He loves when we lose our sense of awe and wonder toward God. That’s why Jesus tells His disciples in the book of Matthew…

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:3–4

It’s so easy for us as adults to let the busyness of our lives and our familiarity with God become a high-level indifference at times. Jesus is reminding us here that we need to keep that awe and child-like trust in Christ. My kids trust me because I’m their father. When I tell them something is safe, they will listen and go with me. When they aren’t sure about something, they know they can come to me to find answers. In many ways, for our children, we are the superheroes in their lives. We come to the rescue when things get out of hand. When they find themselves scared, we are their refuge. This is what God wants from us. Unfettered trust and reliance.

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
Mark 10:13–15

Again, we see where Jesus tells His disciples that we need to receive the Kingdom like a child. I bought my son his first .22 rifle yesterday for his birthday later this month. I had him go with me to pick it up. When the lady behind the counter picked the gun up to show it to me, I let Jack know that it was his. His excitement was incredible. His mouth just opened up as wide as it could, and it looked like his eyes would pop out of his head. My son is never speechless, but he was there. Is that how we see the gift of eternal life? Are we speechless? Are our minds blown? 

When we open up the book of Revelation, we see what Heaven will be like. We realize just how amazing it will be to be in the literal presence of God Himself. 


Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
Revelation 5:11–13

In the words of the late Rich Mullins, “Our God is an awesome God!” We are only seeing a mere glimpse of His greatness while here on earth. I encourage you to take a moment today, step back, and really look at how amazing He is. Allow yourself the chance to be a child and feel the awe of an almighty God Who is worthy of everything. Remember what it’s like to feel overwhelmed at just the thought of His greatness. This is the God we serve. This is the God we love. This is the God Who reminds us of what it means “to be a child.” 

Back in the fall of 2024, I went on my first duck hunt. I didn’t know what to expect. I had a shotgun (that was the wrong one), I had a pair of waders (that weren’t insulated, and I froze), some deer hunting camo (I now know the difference), and a hope to shoot a green-headed bird. We set up in the A-frame blind, threw out some decoys, and we were ready to get the party started. At shooting light, a single duck landed right in front of us, and after about 5 shots, that bird hit the water. I should note that I never took a shot. I wasn’t ready for how fast you have to get up and get after it. 

I thought to myself, “This is a great start. More birds are on the way.” The problem was that there were no more birds coming that day. After a few hours, we packed up and headed home. I never shot my gun once. The conversation was great. I was really enjoying the comradery that morning. However, there wasn’t much to talk about afterwards. Oh, and that duck that got shot? He wasn’t dead. He swam across the pond and up into the woods. We never found that duck. I’m sure there’s a coyote somewhere out there that had a delicious duck dinner on us. 

Twenty years ago, I would’ve decided that this was a waste of time. Who goes out with all this gear to just be ok with coming home empty-handed? Apparently, John Kelley from 2024 would. That trip flipped a switch in me, and I was getting ready to dive in headfirst. Since then, I’ve gotten all kinds of new gear: clothes, blinds, a kayak, decoys, and I got the right shotgun for the job….or two. I’ve also shot several ducks, a couple of geese, and missed an otter. My wife and kids have enjoyed eating fresh duck breasts, and we’ve even had a fancy duck gouda mac ’n cheese. I’ve fallen in love with hunting waterfowl.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned in the last year…..patience. When you see them coming, be patient as you call them in. When they’re on the water, be patient and don’t fire unless they’re in range of your shotgun. And when the ducks aren’t coming, be patient and come back another day. You can’t hunt ducks if you don’t have patience. 

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with patience. I’m one of the most impatient people I know. I HATE waiting for things that I think shouldn’t have to wait on. Ask my wife, she’ll tell you how impatient I can be, but she can also tell you that I have worked hard on it since we’ve had kids. John Kelley of 1997 and John Kelley of 2026 wouldn’t recognize each other. My impatience almost defined me back then. I hurt friendships with my impatience. I lost opportunities due to my inability to wait things out. I even caused issues in my own family from my impatience. Today, I still feel that impatience, but I don’t react to it like I used to. I’ve learned to dial it back and analyze the situation before I blow my lid.

The Bible talks a lot about patience. 


Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
Psalms 37:7

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 12:12

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:25

Three different verses all talking about patience, but they do it in three different ways. In the first verse, David wants something done by the Lord, and he knows that patience is key. Anxiousness and anger won’t make things move fast. Instead, they just make the situation worse. Patience allows us to continue as normal even when we feel anxious.
The second verse focuses more on patience in the midst of troubles. Tribulation will come in our lives, but we must be patient in the midst of it. This one really comes down to focus. When we can focus more on our hope in Christ and spend time in prayer, we can work through those tough times when things simply aren’t going well. For many of us, we need to take that energy that we are putting into our impatience and simply redirect it. What we focus on is typically what drives our actions, emotions, and thoughts. Don’t give energy to impatience.

The third verse has a more eternal focus. As disciples of Christ, we have a hope in something we do not see. We hope for something beyond where we are. Our impatience here comes more from excitement over what is to come. It’s akin to the excitement a child has the night before Christmas, except on steroids. Of course, we can’t wait to spend eternity with Christ, but we have a job to do here. Our focus needs to be on sharing that hope with others.
As disciples, we are committed to the mission of Jesus. That means, even though we can’t wait to be in Heaven, we’ve got to make sure we are filling it up with new believers and training them up to be disciples of Christ who will do the same. 

There’s a reason that patience is a part of the fruit of the Spirit. Each of those things are traits of God Himself, and we long to be more like him. When we need something done, when trials and tribulations come upon us, or when we just want to be with Jesus, let’s remember that we have a mission that we are committed to and a God Who has our back. Take the focus off of our needs and desires, and let’s redirect them toward the goal we have been given by Jesus in the Great Commission.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
Matthew 28:19–20

We are blessed to have something so amazing to be a part of, and when we are focused on that mission, we don’t have the time or headspace to let impatience get in the way.

As long as I can remember in my adult life, I’ve always tried to have the belief that “It’s all good.” No matter what gets thrown my way, I’m ok. Notice, I didn’t say that I’ve always “had” the belief. I said I’ve always “tried” to have the belief. When I didn’t get that first youth ministry that I really wanted, it didn’t feel like it was all good. When I moved to Wisconsin and had the joy of going through a church split that some people blamed me for (we’ll talk about that story one day), it didn’t feel like it was all good. When my father passed away, it certainly didn’t feel like it was all good. 

Life has a way of throwing curveballs at us in life, and my life is no different. I’ve had days where it seems like the world is falling in on me, and the pressure is just too much. There have mornings when I didn’t want to get out of bed and face the day. I’ve been through broken relationships, broken churches, broken promises, broken bank accounts, and, more than once, I’ve felt pretty broken myself. However, looking back, I now realize it was all good. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s 100% true. In the midst of every trial I’ve faced in my life, I’ve been able to come out the other side just fine. Does that mean that all the hurt I faced is gone now? No. Does it mean that I wish I still had some of those relationships in my life? Absolutely. But if I’m truly being honest, I have a great life today. I don’t live with regret. I don’t dwell on the past, but look to what God has been doing and what He will do. 

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

A lot of times, we read that verse as a promise that we’ll get good things: a new job, a huge inheritance from a wealthy uncle we never knew, miraculous healing, or an ex that will come back to us begging for reconciliation. That’s not really what that verse is talking about. We need to think of ourselves more like a clay pot that is constantly being molded into the perfect version of itself. It takes years for perfection. Occasionally, there’s a piece that is a piece that is imperfect and needs to be removed from it. There are occasional cracks that form and need to be brought back together. It may be a little too big and needs to have some clay removed, or too small and needs more clay added. The point is that this potter is longing for the perfect pot, and it doesn’t come easily or quickly.

For us, each experience we have is a correction to the pot. Each painful moment is a crack repaired or an imperfection removed. All of our experiences form who we are, and the end result is the disciple that God is designing us to be. He is the potter, and we are the clay.


But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8

When we realize that these moments of sadness and frustration that come into our lives are simply steps along the way toward what God has designed us for, we can truly say that it’s all good. That doesn’t mean that it’s all painless. That doesn’t mean that it’s all happy. It doesn’t mean it’s everything we want. It does mean that God is working in us and through us to develop us into a people that can withstand the attacks of Satan and come out better on the other side.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:1–5

Each trial, each hardship, each loss is another brick in the wall of our lives and is forming us into the person that God wants us to be. When we give our hearts to Christ, he changes them. He makes them new. He takes our hearts of stone and makes them into hearts of flesh.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Ezekiel 36:26–27


Instead of living in remorse and brokenness, let’s rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that God is doing something much bigger in us. It’s the experiences that God uses to shape us. He takes us at our worst and develops us into the best versions of ourselves. We don’t need to live with worry and anxiety. We just need to trust that God will work all things to the good.

In the words of the late Bob Marley, “Everything’s gonna be alright.” 

I married up. I’m not kidding here. I really, really married up. My wife, Rhea, is beautiful, intelligent, and loves Jesus with her whole heart, but the thing that really attracted me to her is her giving heart. Rhea loves to give. She’s not reluctant in her generosity. If anything, she’s willing to give with no worry of how it will even affect her. 

When I was single and a worship minister over 15 years ago, I would occasionally get a card in the mail with $20 and no name or return address. They always seemed to show up at just the right time, and when things were a little tight. I was always so grateful for this person’s kindness and that they would think about me. Money was tight back then, and that $20 was HUGE!

Fast forward about 3 or 4 years, and I was talking to Rhea about how I used to get these cards and how much they meant to me. I told her how much I wish I could’ve had someone to thank for being so kind at just the right times. It was in that moment that my wife just smiled sheepishly and let me know that she was that mystery person. She knew I’d never take her money, but she knew I could use it and didn’t want me to know it was her sending them. 

That’s my wife, and I’m not the only person she’s done that for. Whenever there’s a baby shower, she’s buying everything for it. If someone is having a birthday, Rhea is ready to go all out. She loves to give gifts, and she loves giving to the Lord even more. 

This past Sunday, she slid off the road on the way to the church because of all the snow. She ended up turning the car around and heading home, because the roads just weren’t safe for her to be driving. When she got home, she immediately worked up a plan for a Sunday School lesson for the kids. The topic? Tithing. The very thing she loves doing, she is instilling in our children. Like I said, I married up. She has taught our kids to love giving. In some ways, they’re becoming little Rhea’s when it comes to that. They love nothing more than to give back to God what He’s blessed them with.

Rhea will never toot her own horn, but I’m going to sound the trumpets for her. She’s a beautiful example of 2 Corinthians 9:7.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7

God loves it when we give in a joyous manner. Truthfully, God loves it when we follow his commands in general with a cheerful heart. Why does He specifically mention giving, though? I would dare say that cheerful givers have a clear understanding of where their blessings come from. Knowing that God is the ultimate provider gives us the ability to have open hands and not closed fists. When we live with the mentality that it’s all His anyway, we tend to be much more gracious with what we have. 

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:25–34

When we understand that God provides it all, and we have nothing to fear, we can live without anxiety and fear. Instead, we can move forward in God’s grace and love. We know that we can trust in God to sustain us. This is what He wants for us. He doesn’t want us to live life as a bundle of crazy over how we’re going to make it from day to day. When we can live with confidence, we can be more generous.

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.
Proverbs 11:24–25

We are designed to worship, and the first form of worship ever was sacrificial giving to the Lord. Let’s keep that tradition going. Let’s live gracious lives that understand where our blessings come from. As the Doxology says, “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.” Let’s give with thankfulness. Let’s give in faith. Let’s give with a cheerful heart.

Every year around Jan 1st, people around the world make sweeping declarations about life change. It can be to lose 100lbs, save more money, pick up a new hobby, or any number of other things. New year, new you, right? Unfortunately, around January 15th, most people have already given up on their New Year’s resolutions. The food was just too tempting. There was this new, shiny thing that I had to get. Learning new things is hard. Whatever it is, it is now a failed experiment. The real issue at hand here isn’t that we fail at these resolutions. It’s that we aren’t actually solving the real issues that cause the need for them. 

The real issue with your health may not be losing weight; it’s probably deeper. Food addiction, anxiety eating, and depression are huge factors that lead to weight gain. Instead of dieting, maybe counseling is the real need. Getting better at saving money is a good idea, but is that really the problem? Creating a budget with stricter lines drawn in the sand might be a better idea and will allow you to save the money you want, while also creating margins in your daily life and bank account. Starting a new hobby happens many times due to boredom. This can also come from not engaging well with family and friends. Instead, invest in those around you and see what happens. 

If we’re all being 100% honest, we’ll admit that we like to treat symptoms of our issues more than get to the core of what our problems are. Many times, we aren’t even sure what the sources of our issues really are. We just keep trying to find the easier route, or at least the one we can identify, to “fix ourselves.” 

In Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7, Jesus gives His “Sermon on the Mount.” In it, he gives instructions on how to live a righteous life. In Matthew 5:29-30, He talks specifically about lust, and what we should do.

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”
Matthew 5:29–30

So many times, we’ve used this as a way to explain how we should remove obstacles from our lives to avoid sinning. That’s not necessarily wrong, but it does miss something pretty big that Jesus talks about in the verse before this. 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Matthew 5:27-28

The last three words of that passage nail the core issue of what we’re dealing with here. He said that the man has committed adultery “in his heart.” You can cut off every part of your body, but if your heart is still sin-leaning, then you will eventually run out of body parts to remove. When we decide to give our lives to Christ and are baptized into His death, burial, and resurrection, something amazing happens; we’re given a new heart. Suddenly, our wants and desires begin to change, and the things of God tend to matter more than the things of this earth. This is even prophesied in the book of Ezekiel. 

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:25–26

When we follow after Christ, He changes us. We are given the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit to lead us, and a new life in Jesus begins. This is the starting line for the disciple. A disciple is someone who is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus, and is committed to the mission of Jesus. That change that we go through is a source change. It’s not a surface or symptom change. You make a speedboat more aerodynamic, slick up the bottom of the boat with silicon, or make it lighter, but we all know the easiest way to make it faster is with a better motor. For the disciple, our hearts are our motors. Our hearts drive everything we do. When our hearts are right, our actions are right, and we long to follow Christ’s commands. 

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows us the point of it all.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Matthew 7:24–27

Let’s not be disciples who let our foundation crumble. Let’s be disciples who understand how important our heart health is. When we get to the real source of all of our issues, we can make real change, and real change is what Christ wants for all of us. It’s really just a matter of the heart.

Back in 2015, I had a friend challenge me to hike Mount Kilimanjaro with him.

I was 41 years old. I was in terrible shape, and yet I still accepted the challenge and decided I was going to do it. And so over the next year, I hiked, and I hiked, and I hiked, and I hiked. Kilimanjaro is not your standard mountain climb. It's not one where you're going to need micro spikes or axes or a lot of the things that you see on Everest climbs.

But instead, it's more of a 17 to 23-mile hike up the side of a mountain. And for the next year, all I did was hike and hike and hike. Now, being 41 years old, I definitely had some breakdown of the body over the course of that year. I had some injuries from time to time, but I gained a love and respect for hiking that I never knew I would. And that love and respect for hiking then turned into a love and respect for backpacking.

And so for the next several years, 10 of them to be exact, I had a passion and a love and somewhat of an addiction to backpacking. I loved it so much, I started a backpacking YouTube channel. I started the Backpacking Podcast with a friend of mine. And to this day, I still do the podcast. It became something that I just absolutely loved.

It was healthy, it was good for my body. But something started happening a couple of years ago. Suddenly, my knees didn't handle things the way they had before. My back didn't handle things the way it had before. I developed a condition called costochondritis, where the ligaments around my breastplate would become inflamed, and it would feel almost like I was having a heart attack in my chest.

As I've grown older, my body has started rejecting me. And now I don't have the ability to do as much hiking as I used to. I can't go out and do 20 miles a day. I can't go out and do multiple weeks during the month of going out, hiking, and backpacking.

It's just not there for me anymore. And that's okay. Sometimes the body works against us. And that brings me to a thought I had after hearing John Welch's sermon here at Leesburg this past Sunday. He was talking about the fact that we are all part of the body of Christ.

Now this is not something he came up with. This is something he got from 1 Corinthians. This is something that Paul talks about, and it's something I think that we should all listen to.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
1 Corinthians 12:12–20

I can tell you personally, when one body part starts to fail, the entire body feels it. As I said, I don't backpack like I used to because my knees don't handle it like they used to. My back doesn't handle it like it used to. I still go out. I just don't go out as often. And I also don't hike as many miles as I used to. It's just a natural digression, I guess you could say, of my body. But in the Church, there's something similar.

All of us have a part to play in the church.

When the church is working at its best, all those parts are working well. If one part isn't working well, the rest can suffer. If a children's ministry is not doing what it should do, then families are not going to want to come to a church to learn more about Christ. And there will be people who don't come to Christ because we had something that was failing in one area, if the preaching on Sundays isn't good, if the teaching overall, whether it's on the stage or in Bible studies, if that is not solid teaching, then the church is failing because people are learning bad theology. It's really important we understand that all of the body parts need to work together.

But a bigger part we need to understand is that each of us plays a part in that. One of the things that caught my ear on Sunday was when he mentioned the appendix. Many people think of themselves as an appendix, basically an organ that if you cut it out, throw it away, it doesn't bother the body really in any way. Well, I'm here to tell you today nobody's an appendix. If you think you're an appendix, you're wrong.

You're needed, you're a part of the church, and we want you here. And so we need to get rid of this mindset that we play too little of a part in the church. One of the things that Jon mentioned was that if you're someone with a smiling face, we need you to greet people in the mornings. If you are someone who loves pushing buttons and technology, we would love to have you in our tech ministry to be involved in Sunday morning tech or even in our social media and the things that we do throughout the week. If you're somebody who has a passion for Christ and you are great one-on-one with others, maybe discipling others is an area you need to look into.

The reality is we all have different things that we're good at, and it's not all up front. Speaking, singing, and using musical talent. So many times in the church, we think those are the main skills. But the truth is, there are so many behind-the-scenes things that are so important to the church, and we can't overlook those. If we go over to Ephesians, chapter 4, we see an example of this.

Again, Paul talks about the body. He talks about the differences between the people who are in the church. He says,

"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes, rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way to him who is the head and into Christ from whom the body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."
Ephesians 4:11-16

We all have a part.

We all have a place that we can play in the body of Christ. Don't overlook your place. As a matter of fact, go looking for it. God can use you. He will use you. We just need to be available. You are not an appendix.

When I was a teenager, like many others, I had a crew that I spent most of my time with. We went to movies, went cruising, got into a little bit of trouble now and then, but most of the time we just hung out. Whether it was listening to music, talking about nothing, or watching TV, we spent a lot of time simply “hanging out.” None of us felt like we had the weight of the world on our shoulders. Some of us worked part-time to make some extra spending cash, but none of us were overly stressed out or worried about the world around us. Van Halen’s next lead singer was more important to us than who the next president was. Who was going to lead the NFL in rushing carried more weight than the world hunger crisis or the AIDS epidemic. Quite literally, we lived some pretty stress-free lives. We didn’t need a reason to hang out other than we liked hanging out. That was enough for us to see each other as our “ride or dies.” 

Fast forwarding to today, I have a lot on my plate, like most adults. I have a family that depends on me to provide for them. My “job” carries eternal significance that I can’t take lightly. I own a house, so we all know what that entails. I also do other things that help provide for my family through video production and podcasting. In the midst of all of that, I need to be present with my wife and kids and be the spiritual leader they need. All of that to say, “Being a responsible adult takes work, and the worry-free teenage years are long gone. Now, if I want to “hang out” with someone, it’s very different. There has to be a reason and a purpose to it. There simply aren’t enough days in the hours to do that. Time is more precious now than it’s ever been, and I can’t waste it like I could when I was younger. 

For us to be in community with people, we can’t just be there “because.” We have to have a legitimate reason to do just about anything. Most of us can’t just make time for everything, so it has to be something that matters to us. So why should community within our church matter? What makes spending time with our brothers and sisters so important? It’s how God designed us, and it’s the primary way that we grow. He never meant for us to try to live this life alone. 

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24–25

Today, we often get so busy with things that genuinely distract us from our relationship with Christ, leading us to believe we have no time for Him or His bride. One of Satan’s best tools to pull us away from the Church is busyness. The more stuff that we can be doing, the less time we have for our church, our community group, or our Bible study. And the less time we spend with God’s people, the more detached we become from God’s people. Ball games, concerts, and home improvement projects, none of them are bad things, but when we put off intentional time with the Body of Christ, we rob our souls of something much more important. Ask anyone who is thriving in their walk with Christ, and they will, nearly 100% of the time, tell you that much of their spiritual growth is due to intentional time with others. 

Being able to bounce ideas off of others, share in victories and losses, or simply have an ear to hear is vital for the growth of a disciple. Everyone in the Church is important to the Church. To think you can do it without that doesn’t seem to gibe with what God’s word says. 

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
1 Corinthians 12:21–26

We are meant to go through life’s many adventures as one body. And that body is here to help us all navigate the rough waters that are this life. Again, we aren’t meant to do this alone, but because of this world we live in, we think we can. Unfortunately, those who try find themselves missing out on one of God’s greatest gifts….others. How do you live out the Great Commission if there aren’t other people? How do you share in each other’s trials if there aren’t others? In a very real way, the Christian life is devoid of real life when we isolate and try to survive alone. So, the big question is, “How do I prioritize living life with other believers?” For most of us, we want to know what we benefit from being more involved in the Church body, and that’s valid. We should receive blessing from being a part of the Bride of Christ. However, we also need to ask what we can provide for the Bride. The Church isn’t meant to be a group of consumers. It’s meant to be full of producers, people who want to bring what they have to the Church and be a benefit for it. 

It’s amazing how much more we prioritize something when we realize we are needed…..and you are needed! We know how important the brain, heart, and lungs are to the body, but a body without fingers can’t pick up anything. An arm without joints is almost worthless. Just because a part doesn’t seem to have major implications for making the body better doesn’t mean it isn’t important or necessary. Without proper valves, the heart can’t work properly. Without the alveoli, the lungs are worthless. And without the many variations of nerves, the brain can’t accomplish much. When we realize the vital parts that we all play in the Church Body, we see why we need to place a higher priority on being present. 

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:3–8

Just as the body will suffer when a part of it is missing, those body parts will always die without the rest of the body. God designed us to work in tandem with each other. He created us to be a better light unto this world by serving as one and moving together. He didn’t just call us to “hang out.” He called us for something greater. He called us for His purpose. It’s on us to stay connected with the body, but we must always remember that we are connected with a purpose. 

As a minister, I have made numerous mistakes throughout the years. If I took the time to write them all down, what you’re reading now would be a three-volume anthology of my bone-headedness. There was a song written by DC Talk in the 90s called “The Hard Way”, and I guarantee it was written about me. I’m someone who will try just about anything, and in my younger years, I wouldn’t really count the cost of what I was about to do. From digging up a half-football-field-sized hole in the church property to having kids ride car sleds down the church stairs, I’ve had a lot of fun doing dumb stuff over the years.  Unfortunately, my dumb decisions weren’t always fun.

At one church, I was dealing with frustration over a finance person who was coming to all of our staff meetings and being hyper defensive and occasionally argumentative when we wanted to purchase or planned to use finances in a way that they didn’t want. Looking back, I think this person really just wanted to be part of the process and felt overlooked. At the time, however, I was frustrated with the constant confrontations. One day, I was chatting with our Sr. Minister about my frustrations and said some fairly inflammatory things about this individual, not realizing that they were within earshot of our conversation. Needless to say, they were deeply hurt and eventually left the church. It was my fault. I made a very bad decision, and it hurt someone. I apologized profusely to them and felt horrible about what had happened. Again, it was all on me. I didn’t control my tongue, and it came back to bite me in the backside big-time. 

I never want to have an experience like that again. To know that I so hurt someone that their whole family pulled up roots from the church and went somewhere else still bothers me. Since that day, I have kept myself in check and try only to be encouraging with others at all costs. If I had been using my brain that day, I would’ve remembered that encouragement is what we’re called to. 

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11

It’s such a simple message, but it is so vital within the Church. To be in community with others, we need to let people know their value to the rest of the body. It’s so easy to point out each other’s faults. Over the years, the Church has gotten quite a reputation for that. We’re often known, whether true or not, to fight amongst ourselves. So many churches have lost track of why we exist that they’ve split over carpet color. Some people place ministers on a pedestal to the point where they’re the fourth member of the trinity, and when that minister leaves, they’re heading right out the door with them. Some people think they’re talented in areas where they really aren’t, and are ready to go to blows when it’s suggested they pursue a different avenue of ministry. Some people just simply decide that, if the church doesn’t operate the way they think it should, they’re going to burn the whole thing down. Sadly, for a lot of people, that’s what they see the Church as, and as much as I hate to admit it, that stuff does happen. 

It’s almost like a virus that can spread quickly throughout the church and into the daily lives of the people. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. If there’s one thing we can do to combat it, it’s encouragement. God didn’t call us to beat people into holy submission. He didn’t tell us to insult people and break them down in order to convince them of His greatness. God takes a different approach. 

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
1 Peter 4:7–10

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Ephesians 4:29


If we should be known for anything, it should be for the way we treat each other with love and respect. Instead of speaking vitriol at each other, we should be lifting each other up. How much more do you want to be around people when simply being in their presence brings encouragement and joy? Are you more excited about volunteering when you know for a fact you are appreciated, or do you just want to fill an empty space and be held in contempt when you make the slightest error? Most Christians will serve because of their love for God and His Church. Most don’t need encouragement, but no one is upset when they receive it. 

A simple “thank you” or “you’re doing a great job” can mean the world to someone, and when someone is coming to church for the first time, they’re watching everything. It’s up to us what they see. Do they see people serving with joy and being lifted up for their hard work, or do they see stressed-out people who would rather be doing anything other than serving in their church? Encouragement doesn’t just help those who are serving, but it makes others who aren’t want to. If we are to be disciples of Christ, this is something we must do within the Church. 

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34–35

There are few things that express love to others like encouragement does. It communicates appreciation. It lifts up those who are giving of themselves. It makes others want to be a part of what you are doing. If gossip, infighting, and beating people down verbally are a virus, then encouragement is the medicine.

If you have small children, then you have experienced the most ridiculous of arguments and fights. Children have the incredible ability to argue about absolutely nothing, as if it is the most important thing in their lives. My kids are no different. The number of fights they have gotten into over the seven years that they have been siblings is staggering. The crazy thing is that they’re each other’s best friend. They love playing together. They spend much of their days just laughing and carrying on…until someone touches someone else’s Lego, or someone takes a blanket from someone, or someone is singing a song that the other doesn’t want to listen to. All of it is silliness, but it matters to a 7 or 8-year-old. Usually, I allow my kids to try and figure it out, unless it starts to get ugly. If one kid strikes another, or they begin acting really nasty towards each other, I’ll step in. As I try to litigate the issue, each child will state their case, and we attempt to find a proper outcome. When things get ugly, one of them will decide to lie about the other. This usually ends up poorly for the guilty party. Most times, they realize it was a misunderstanding, and everyone moves on. Unfortunately, it does end badly on occasion. 

If you think about it, that’s not far from how we deal with each other in the Church sometimes. We bicker. We fight. We get bent out of shape by silly things. In the real world, relationships are messy. Most of the time, we love each other, and we always want to see the best in each other. Unfortunately, though, we also have times of conflict, and that can lead to us sinning against one another. While it’s not something we want in our lives, it is something that we’ll all have to deal with at some point. Thankfully, the Bible isn’t just about dealing with perfect relationships. It also lets us know the best way to deal with this very thing. 

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
Matthew 18:15–17

In most situations, the first sentence of that passage is all you’ll need to do. A personal conversation about what has happened will, almost always, take care of the issue. Many times, we don’t even realize we are sinning against someone, and having that brought to light will allow for true repentance and forgiveness. In my own life, I’ve been on both sides of this. I’ve been sinned against, and I’ve sinned against another. In almost every instance, a personal one-on-one conversation ended it. Genuine repentance and forgiveness were at the core of our conversations, and grace was given. The real key here is to do that quickly. The longer something sits, the more the mind can go to darker places, and the one who sinned against us may be oblivious to the whole thing. Quick resolution is always the best course of action.

But what happens when that person has no remorse or simply doesn’t care? Then it’s time to get others involved. Having the witness of others may help that person understand the nature of why you are coming to them. I’ve rarely had to go this far in any situation, but I have been a mediator for others. When issues escalate beyond a personal conversation and others need to get involved, things have become quite serious. This is where things can get emotional, and we start to take all this personally to the point where the friendship itself is being hurt. The hope is that cooler heads will prevail and grace can be given. Having mediators there can help with that.

But what happens when there is still no remorse or repentance? The issue should be taken to the church, typically the elders and ministers of the church. The hope is that truth can be spoken into the situation by the church’s leaders, and some semblance of resolution can be found. Most times, the relationship between the two parties is almost unreconcilable in this situation, but finding a settlement of some kind still leaves room for healing. If even this meeting doesn’t solve things, it is now time to wash your hands of this person. 

Shortly after Jesus said all these things, one of his disciples, Peter, asked a very important question. 


Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Mt 18:21–22

This is the most important part of living in community with others. You have to be able to forgive. Peter’s question is probably one that we’d all ask. How often do I need to forgive someone? We’ve all been there. We’ve had that one person who feels almost like a drag on your life, and they are constantly having to ask for forgiveness. It’s frustrating for sure, but we have a responsibility to give grace. It’s not up for debate. Imagine if God were to look at us and say, “I think you’ve hit your forgiveness quota. You are now a lost cause, and I’m done.” That’s not how God works. If He did, there would be no hope for most of us. We have to understand that we are to do things the way God does. That includes giving grace to others.

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Matthew 6:14–15

"And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Mark 11:25

There seems to be a direct correlation between forgiving others and receiving forgiveness from God. And it makes sense when you take a step back and think about it. On one end, why would God ever give us something we would refuse to others? If we are to act like Christ, then showing grace and forgiveness would have to be at the center of who we are. On the other end, it becomes increasingly hard to have the fruit of the Spirit without forgiveness. This will lead us in a direction that is opposite to where God wants us to go. Instead of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, we have anger, bitterness, frustration, rage, gossip, vengeance, and evil thoughts. The worst part of it all is that we will justify these thoughts and actions because we have been wronged by someone else. Forgiveness releases us from those chains. It allows us to do something that we desperately need in these situations…letting go. 

When we hold on tightly to our unforgiveness, we hold loosely to what God wants for us, and that is freedom. It is God’s true desire for us to be free of the things that hold us down. When we are free of the things of the flesh, we are more capable of living in community with our brothers and sisters. We have nothing to hold on to other than our love for Christ and each other. That is serious freedom. Conflict will always exist, but as Christ-followers and disciples, we can’t let ourselves be held captive by our lack of grace. God longs for His children to be free, and forgiveness is a key to unlocking those shackles. 

I’ve mentioned on here many times that I grew up in a minister’s home. My dad was a preacher, and we rarely had time in our lives when there weren’t other people around. We were a social family. We always had people over for dinner, and we spent a lot of evenings in the homes of people from the church. When the church doors were open, we were there. I truly grew up in community, and I am definitely not complaining about it. I learned at an early age that life is better when you have a tribe of people around you. Everything is easier. When hardships hit, you have people who come around you for support. When success and victories happen, you have people to celebrate with. When you need listening ears, they are readily available.

I’m of the belief that this is how God intended for our lives to be. He never wanted us to try to take on the world by ourselves. He never desired for us to deal with loneliness. His hope for us has always been “community”. When He created Adam, He realized that it wasn’t good for him to be alone, and He created Eve. Even from the beginning, God wasn’t alone. Reading in Genesis 1, we see where God uses the word “us” as he was creating man.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
Genesis 1:26

Even God Himself valued community. He created us to be with Him. Our ultimate goal as Christians is to be together with God and all our brothers and sisters in Christ for eternity. To try to live this life alone is practically madness, because it’s NOT what we were created for. We were meant to live, love, and learn together… not as a hermit in some cave in a remote area where no one will find us. When the Church was started, it didn’t grow because of personal Bible study and time spent in solitude. It was the exact opposite. It was people living in authentic community.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42–47

There is so much to glean from this passage. First off, we see what they were devoted to: the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, eating meals together, and prayer. None of these were done alone. They would gather to listen to these teachings from men who lived and traveled with Jesus. They spent intentional time together and joined in meals. They prayed with and for each other. When they saw the needs of others, they would sell their possessions in order to meet those needs. They attended Temple worship together. What was the result? The Church grew!

When we take a step back and think about it, it really makes sense. People are longing for belonging. When we isolate and hide from others, the outcome is rarely good. According to the CDC, social isolation and loneliness can increase a person’s risk for heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression and anxiety, suicide and self-harm, dementia, and potentially, an early death. Currently, about 52% of Americans feel lonely, and 47% say their relationships lack meaning. What’s startling is that over 80% of young people under 18 feel lonely. The false community that the internet provides is also a contributing factor to the overwhelming sense of loneliness that many feel. According to the AMA Journal of Ethics, studies have shown that greater internet use was associated with a decline in participants’ communication with family members, a decrease in their social circle, and an increase in depression and loneliness. This is not what we were created for.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25

We are supposed to lift each other up, encourage each other, and make sure that we meet together.  These things cannot be done in isolation. Simply messaging or “DMing” each other is not community as God designed it. He created us to live around and with each other. Physical presence is so important in the life of a disciple.

Jesus’ disciples didn’t look at Him from afar or hear of His amazing miracles from others. They were right there with Him. They walked with Him. They sat at His feet as He taught. They experienced, first-hand, His awesome power, compassion, and love for His Father. Just simply hearing about it wouldn’t have been the same. Physical presence was necessary. Jesus modeled this for us. This is the place where community and discipleship collide.

Throughout the early Church, we read about how they lifted each other up. We see the love that they had for one another. They shared, prayed, learned, and sacrificed of themselves together. Because of this, the Church of Jesus Christ became the fastest-growing faith in the world. The hope, only found in Christ, was made evident by the way Christians loved each other. Do you want to know one of the best ways to grow in your faith? Live life with other believers.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:5–7

To truly walk in the light of Jesus Christ and live as the kind of disciple that He longs for us to be, we MUST walk together.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9–12

This week, make the effort to make the time to be with others. If you are struggling, the worst thing you can do is isolate. Instead of running FROM others, run TO them. Disciples of Christ need each other. It’s been His plan from the beginning, and the Church is always at its best when the Church lives in community. When the Church is at its best, we all benefit, and we make Heaven just a little more crowded.

Two weeks ago, the news was released that the former lead singer of the Newsboys and former member of DC Talk, Michael Tait, had been leading a double life that included heavy drug and alcohol use, homosexual relationships, and sexual assault on at least 3 men. Last week, Michael Tait posted on his Instagram page a formal apology. He admitted to everything and made no excuses. He called it sin, not a mistake or a bad choice. He took ownership, and he admitted that most may never forgive him, and he’s earned that. He admitted that, when he left the Newboys in January, he checked himself into rehab. He knew he had a problem and was taking it head-on. While many see this as an “I gotcha” moment (he’s only admitting to it because he got caught), others see this as a genuine confession of sin. Regardless, this news rocked the Christian music industry, and a lot of people are putting their two cents in. On one end, you see people whose faith has been shaken, and on the other end, people are furious with rage and refuse to forgive him. Both sides of this are wrong. Let me explain.

First, let’s talk about the people who have had their faith shaken by this. We need to understand that God did not do this. God did not approve of this. God lays no claim on sin. Michael Tait is human. He is fallible. He fell to temptation. God didn’t. We live in a society that celebrates celebrity. We get caught up in the hype train of what our favorite actors, athletes, or musicians do in their personal lives. The paparazzi make a killing off of this. When someone becomes famous, they lose the ability to lead a normal life. Going to the grocery store becomes a circus. Everyone wants a photo or an autograph. People are always staring at them. As a result, many of us find ourselves living vicariously through these “larger than life” individuals. In the Christian world, we do the same with pastors, writers, and, you guessed it, musicians. We raise them to the level of “God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and insert name here.” This is a dangerous thing to do, and the Bible speaks out very clearly about it.

It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
- Psalms 118:8–9

Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.
- Jeremiah 17:5–7

We see, very plainly, that God never intended for us to put our trust in man. Jeremiah goes so far as to say that trusting in man is like trying to survive in the desert. Spiritually, we’ll dehydrate. The living waters that God offers us instead become like sand. We begin to thirst for something that simply doesn’t satisfy, and when our human “deity” falls, so does our faith. This is a very dangerous place to exist in. We are meant to worship a perfect God. Man isn’t perfect. Man is flawed. A human being will fail, but God never will. 

It’s perfectly fine to be enamored with someone’s talent, but they aren’t on the level of Jesus Christ. Putting all your faith in humanity is like building a skyscraper out of toothpicks. Any strong wind that comes by will blow the structure down. It may hold during some harsh conditions, but it can’t hold forever. We need something more sturdy than that.

      Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.
- Psalms 125:1–2

I’ll take a mountain over toothpicks any day. We need to remember where our faith and our trust really need to reside and make no exceptions. Only God is worthy of our faith and trust. When we live like that, the fall of a celebrity can’t shake us or cause us to walk away from our faith.

On the other end of this conversation are the people who are angered to the point of unforgiveness. This is a very treacherous way to live. Forgiveness is at the heart of Christianity. Jesus dying on the cross was a sacrifice to forgive all sins. ALL SINS. That’s not a typo. That’s not an overexaggeration. We needed a sacrifice that could erase our sins, and that sacrifice was Christ. Regardless of how awful a sin is, it is forgivable. What Michael Tait did is no different. So what does the Bible say about forgiveness in these situations?

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
- James 5:16

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy
- Proverbs 28:13

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
- Galatians 6:1–2

There are two main things we need to connect with here. The first is that when we sin, we are to confess those sins. The second is that we, as Christians, are to forgive those who have sinned when they confess. Both of these things can be horribly difficult to do. Confessing our sins means letting others see our failures. It means admitting we are flawed. Confessing our sins is a verbal admission to messing up. No one likes to do this. Let me repeat, no one likes to do this. Fewer will do it before they are caught. 

Think back on your life. How many times did you confess a sin to someone BEFORE they knew about it? This is a lesson I’m trying to teach my seven-year-old son. He will do something, then try to cover it up, then say it didn’t happen, before finally confessing to what he did. My lesson to him is that it’s always better to “fess up” than to hide something you’ve done that you know is wrong. This is what God wants from all of us. However, there’s no clause in his forgiveness that says, “After you’ve been caught, now your forgiveness is null and void.” Our responsibility is to forgive and restore. Whether someone gets ahead of their sin to admit it or they finally ask for forgiveness after they’ve been caught, we must forgive. We are given no other option.

Does this mean someone shouldn’t be punished for their sin? That’s an emphatic “No.” We must pay the price for wrongdoings. Michael Tait is going to have to deal with the consequences of his actions. He may end up in some major lawsuits or even jail time. He’s earned that by his actions. However, his actions haven’t negated our responsibility to forgive him now that he’s confessed. This is a “rubber meets the road” kind of moment. We speak of grace and love and forgiveness, but can we genuinely live it out? This isn’t just about a Christian singer. This is about anyone in your life who sins against you, then confesses and asks for forgiveness. 

When we hold on to unforgiveness, typically, we pay the highest price. We become bitter, angry, and that sin that we are holding onto gets too much real estate in our heads and hearts. We are in a debt/debtor relationship that has to be reconciled. Until we release the debt, we will continue to be tormented by our unforgiveness. This doesn’t mean that now we trust them with our lives. It doesn’t mean that person is our best friend in the world, and we’ll be spending as much time as we can with them. It simply means they don’t owe us anything anymore. The debt is paid, and we can move on. The process of restoration can now begin.

If the God of the universe can forgive us for putting His Son on the cross, then we should be able to forgive each other. It’s really that simple. Now, we simply have the task of actually living like this. Let’s learn to forgive our brothers and sisters in Christ when they confess their sins. Let’s work toward restoration and grace. If it was good enough for the cross, it should be good enough for us.

When I was a Sr. in Bible College, I took an internship with a church in Chesterton, Indiana. I was the youth and worship intern and had an incredible summer. One of my favorite memories of that summer was our trip with the High Schoolers to Mammoth Caves National Park. We canoed, camped out, and did all the typical touristy things. But the thing that I enjoyed the most was the cave tour. 

We walked down into a tunnel that led us underground to a magical wonderland of stalagmites and stalactites. Colored lights lit up the stone walls around us, and we walked through massive halls that were carved away by millions of gallons of water. And while I loved the tour, the part that really stuck with me was when we got to one of those halls, and the guide had all the lights turned off. In an instant, we were in complete darkness. You couldn’t see your hand just inches from your face. There was an eerie feeling of discomfort that seemed to fill the area, and several gasped as the light left the room. It was after a few short moments that a single lighter was lit, and suddenly we could see everyone’s faces. How could such a small light source allow us to see so much?

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:4–5

We live in a very dark time, but much of the darkness that has been going on has been hidden from most of us, protected by fear-mongering or NDA’s (Non-Disclosure Agreements). People with money and power have been able to use and abuse people without any worry of getting caught or turned in. 

That all started changing in 2017 with the #MeToo movement when Miramax co-founder and Hollywood superproducer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual misconduct, claiming that he had abused his power in order to use women in the movie industry and on Broadway. Some of these allegations date as far back as the 1970s. What he thought he could cover up was now out in the open, and several women began to come out with similar allegations against other men in movies, sports, and other forms of entertainment. Suddenly, there was an opening of the eyes of the average person. Could it be possible that these people we idolized were dehumanizing and abusing others?

As you’re reading this, another trial with monumental consequences is happening involving the rapper/producer/record mogul known as P. Diddy. Over the course of the last 20-plus years, P. Diddy has held parties across the U.S. where celebrities from all corners of the spectrum (including one very well-known minister) would partake in fulfilling every disgusting, carnal desire that they had. Men, women, and even children were used as playthings while P. Diddy would film all of it in order to maintain power over the “guests” at his parties. It wasn’t until 2023 when his ex-girlfriend filed a suit against him that cracks started to show in his armor. In March of 2024, Homeland Security raided all of P Diddy’s estates as he was to be convicted of human trafficking. 

So what can we learn from this? Why are we even talking about it? Jesus makes no bones about it.

Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.
Luke 12:2–3

We read here that, no matter how hard we try, the things that we have done when no one is around aren’t really secret. No matter how much work we do to cover up our evil deeds, they aren’t hidden from God. Regardless of our efforts, God knows everything we do, and He can choose to make those things known. While many of us would see this as terrifying, instead, this should be even more of an encouragement to be of strong character and integrity. It’s not only important for people to see your public image as one of high character, but who you are when no one is looking is just as important. Proverbs speaks of integrity often. 


Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.
Proverbs 10:9

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.
Proverbs 11:3

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
Proverbs 19:1

The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him!
Proverbs 20:7

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.
Proverbs 28:6

So many times, we get caught up in the embarrassment of our sin that we don’t look for accountability, but that is the very thing we need. Trying to deal with sin alone rarely bears fruit. Instead, we find ourselves dealing with resentment, depression, or just simply giving up and giving in to our sin. That’s why we are told in the book of James…

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
James 5:16

Those last three words need to be imprinted on our brains. They need to be a constant reminder for us. The prayer of a righteous person works!!! They aren’t empty words spoken to the sky. They are conversations with the Most High God, and He holds them in great regard. When we bring our sins to one another in confession, and we deal with them immediately, praying earnestly to God for forgiveness, it’s in those moments that we experience God’s power to redeem us from our shortcomings. And there is true freedom when there is nothing to hide.

When we do things in the shadows, we need to keep hiding them in those shadows, because of our fear of what happens when we bring those things to life. We are constantly sowing seeds, and those seeds will bear fruit.

In Jamaica, there is a popular dish called Ackee and Salt Fish. It’s the national dish of the country. Ackee is a fruit found all over Jamaica. While it is a favorite fruit of many, it is also one of the most dangerous fruits you can eat. Until the fruit is ripe, Ackee contains hypoglycin A, a toxin that can cause seriously low blood sugar and can make you extremely ill. If it isn’t prepared correctly, you can really hurt someone who eats it. 

What kind of fruit are you producing? Is it produced from seeds that are sown in dark places where the fruit that grows up is toxic, or is it the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? You can’t plant an apple tree and expect oranges to come up out of the ground. You can’t plant seeds of secret sin and expect the kind of fruit that blesses God. 

I challenge you today to find someone you can trust and who can trust you. Be accountable to one another. Confess to each other. Give each other the right to ask the hard questions. Don’t leave anything hidden. It is God’s desire for us to confess our sins and be freed from the agony of hiding. No one wants to live in the dark, so let’s stop hiding and bask in the light.

I’ve mentioned many times in the past that I am a HUGE Star Wars fan. I’ve watched all the movies, TV shows, and even all the animated series. My favorite of all the movies is without a doubt The Empire Strikes Back. At a time when all movies ended with the good guys winning, this is the first movie I can remember where the bad guys came out on top, and a lot of that is due to one choice made by a friend turned betrayer.

The rebels had to escape the Empire’s attack on the frozen planet of Hoth. In the chaos of what was going on, Han Solo, along with Chewbacca, grabbed Princess Leia, C-3PO, and R2-D2, boarded the Millennium Falcon, and tried to evade the enemy’s fleet. Once they were finally able to get clear of danger, Han reached out to an old friend to find refuge from everything that was going on. That friend was a former smuggler, now baron administrator of Cloud City, Lando Calrissian.

As they arrive, Calrissian welcomes Han Solo and his friends with open arms after playing a prank on him. They are given the royal treatment, told that their ship will get needed repairs, and are invited to a huge feast to welcome them to this beautiful city that Lando now leads. However, as the door opens to the room where the feast will be held, none other than the evil dark lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, is sitting at the head of the table. It is here that we find out that Lando has betrayed his friend, who is being sold off to a bounty hunter and used as bait to lure in his friend, Luke Skywalker.

Betrayal is a common theme in books, movies, and TV shows. Nothing brings the ire of people more than someone turning on a friend. For many of us, we may never feel this kind of pain, but for those of us who have, it can sting worse than any pain. The loss of trust and feeling like you have to pull a knife out of your back can lead to the inability to really confide in a friend again. Many people have become closed off over the years due to the betrayal of someone close to them. Jesus understood friendship, and He understood betrayal.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
John 13:1–5

When we read this, we see two things that really stand out about Jesus. First, he loves his friends to the end. His love for them wasn’t temporary or conditional. He loved completely and without end. It’s obvious that Jesus’ love for his friends is deep and powerful. It motivated Him to do something that you just didn’t do in the first century. He washed their feet. The second thing we notice here is that Jesus was a humble friend. He was willing to lower Himself to the level of a servant, in spite of the fact that He was the rabbi of these young men. Technically, they were there to serve Him, but He took on the role of a servant to show them what the love of a friend truly is. After washing their feet, Jesus taught them more. It was after this where we see Jesus face the reality of what is to come.

After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
John 13:21–27

Jesus wasn’t just a spiritual being. He was human. He felt human emotion, dealt with human pain, and he had to endure human betrayal. This passage starts off with Jesus feeling troubled. He loved Judas. Judas was his friend. Unfortunately, He knew that Judas was about to turn on Him. Imagine the kind of pain you would feel if you knew the true thoughts of everyone around you. What would it feel like to know when people doubted you? How much would it hurt to know that someone you call “friend” would be willing to sell your life out for mere silver? This is the reality that Jesus lived in. He had been given knowledge from the Father that no one before Him had ever been given. He knew the outcome of the story before it had been told. In short order, everyone else would too.

While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.
Matthew 26:47–50

Not only had Judas betrayed Jesus, but he also used something that is meant as a sign of affection as a means to turn on his friend. This was the ultimate slap in the face. He greeted Jesus as his rabbi, and in the same moment turned Him over to the authorities, knowing that this would mean the death of Him. A mere 30 pieces of silver was the cost for blindsiding a close friend and teacher. As we know, this set in motion a series of events that would eventually lead toward the worst and most beautiful event in the history of mankind.

It’s a shame that Jesus had to feel the sting of betrayal in order for God’s Will to be done. Jesus loved His friends. He gave everything for them. It’s sad that he wasn’t treated the same way. Unfortunately, he knew, like many of us know today, that friendship is hard.

While in College, I became a comic book fan. It all started with the X-Men and a series called “The Age of Apocalypse.” Then it moved to Batman comics, the Green Lantern, and eventually, I started reading “The Incredible Hulk.” The backstory of the Hulk is an interesting one for those who don’t understand it. Bruce Banner was a renowned scientist who specialized in gamma radiation studies. His work was so well-accepted that the government took notice and had him begin working on a project. Unfortunately, during his testing, things went sideways. Banner himself was locked into a radiation chamber where his body was infused with so much gamma radiation that it turned him into a giant monster that was unmatched in strength. 

After several hours, Banner would change back to his normal self, but his life would never be the same. Any time he became angry, he would change back into the Hulk and go on a rampage, destroying property and decimating anything around him. One of my favorite scenes of the Hulk was in the original “Avengers” movie. Loki, the god of Mischief, was standing before the Hulk and said, “Enough! You are all beneath me. I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by a…” as he was then picked up by the leg and rag-dolled back and forth against the floor of Stark Tower. The Hulk then walked off, only to say, “Puny god.”

When Stan Lee created the character, he wanted a combination of Frankenstein’s Monster and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He was showing how “out of control” we get when our anger blinds us from what’s going on around us. The Hulk is a perfect reminder of why controlling our anger is so important. We can’t allow our anger to make us see red whenever it pops up. Is all anger bad, though? Is it possible that anger can be justified, and our actions stemming from that anger can be righteous? What can lead us to this kind of anger?

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Luke 19:41–44

As Jesus enters Jerusalem after His Triumphant Entry back to the city, He begins to weep. He knows what the future holds for the city and its people. There was a day coming when Israel would no longer exist. The Jewish people would be scattered, and they would have no homeland. This made Jesus’ triumphant return one of mixed emotions. On one side, He would be coming to fulfill what His Father had sent Him to do. On the other, He would have to face the harsh reality that Jerusalem was on borrowed time. Jesus’ prayer life was unlike anyone else’s. He poured Himself into prayer, and it wasn’t out of the ordinary for Him to weep.

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
Hebrews 5:7

Jesus wasn’t emotionless. He wasn’t a robot. He cared deeply for His people. He loved His friends. He held great reverence and respect for His Father. He wanted nothing more than for His Father’s will to be done on earth and in His people. That’s why he was taken aback when he arrived in the temple to see that people were using this holy place of worship as a means for income. Instead of looking like a refuge for prayer, it looked like a flea market. How did he respond?

And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
Mark 11:15–17

Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, He had already done this. (John 2:13-16) How much more frustrating would it be to have done this once and come back only to see God’s people making the same poor choice twice? That is the situation He was put in upon arriving in Jerusalem. To make it worse, both instances happened during the celebration of the Passover. They had taken something that was meant for remembrance and turned it into a money-making scheme. Jesus wasn’t just going to sit back and be ok with this. He cared too much to allow it.

How many times do we see things being done by good people that are blatantly wrong and do nothing? How often do we just shrug our shoulders and pretend like nothing is wrong? It doesn’t seem like that’s how Jesus handled things. He couldn’t just let people continue acting in ways that are unacceptable for God’s people. There needed to be correction.

Herein lies the difference between a Hulk-like rage and a Christ-like anger. The Hulk would lose his mind, and everything in his wake would pay. Jesus would be heartbroken and correct the situation. Jesus wasn’t known for dancing around people’s emotions. If He knew that one of God’s people wasn’t acting like one of God’s people, they would be told to correct that action. Unfortunately, it is not that uncommon of a circumstance for the people of God to act in an inappropriate manner.

God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.
Psalm 7:11

When someone does something against me, I can typically deal with it. But, if you do something against someone I love…that’s another story. Jesus’ main frustration wasn’t personal to Him. It was personal because it was against His Father. Christ would not allow for people to defile His Father’s house. He had to stand up to this indignation in the place designed to Honor God. 

Soon, however, that anger would turn to something else as He was in for a long week. He would, in very short order, have to endure emotional and physical duress like no one ever had or ever would again. First, He had to clear the house.

I just returned home from a backpacking trip in Arkansas at Midnight last night, and truthfully, I’m exhausted. However, I also feel extremely blessed. I was asked to go on this particular trip with a backpacking course from Oklahoma Baptist University. This was an elective class that taught all of the basics of backpacking and culminated in a 4-day backpacking trip. The first night, we camped out at the local campground and planned our next three days of hiking. We would be hiking about 15 or 16 miles with about 3100 feet of elevation gain. Everyone was excited, and we were ready to go. 

The next day, we drove to our trailhead, took pictures, and then jumped on the trail. Everyone was in great spirits, and we felt like we could conquer the world. Then the first 1000-foot climb started. Needless to say, no one felt defeated or upset, but the hiking definitely got more serious. As the rest of the weekend continued on, we got in a lot of steps…about 63,000, according to my watch. By the time we came off the trail, our knees and backs were sore, and we were thankful to call it a weekend. I’ll admit. When I was taking those last few steps off of the trail and our leader for the trip, Marcus, was videoing each of us, I felt like a conquering hero. I wanted to see people cheering us on as we stepped off the trail. For all of those students, this was their first-ever backpacking trip. Celebration was needed. 

There were no crowds to cheer us on, however, and we didn’t have any fanfare. We simply high-fived each other and walked to the SUV to drive home. Hundreds of people hike that trail all the time. It’s not some amazing accomplishment that’s never been done. In the grand scheme of things, it was special or unique. While it was quite the accomplishment for our group, no one else was blown away by our achievement. We were just another group of backpackers that hiked a trail.

As we head into Easter this week, we read of a huge celebration that would happen in Jerusalem. A King was making His way to His people.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah 9:9

Here, we’re reading a prophecy of Zechariah proclaiming the arrival of the King. He was coming with salvation and riding a donkey. Most first-century Jews knew this scripture. This was something that many of them were hoping for. Rome had taken over Israel, and the people wanted their true king to come and overthrow the government. They believed that this was what their Messiah was coming to accomplish. Little did they know, it wasn’t exactly going to go that way, but that didn’t stop them from celebrating the arrival of Christ.

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
Matthew 21:1–3

Jesus was preparing to fulfill the prophecy of His return to Jerusalem as King of the Jews. He knew the risk involved in this, but He also knew the importance of His arrival. The people of Israel needed to see their Savior arrive as Zechariah had foretold. 

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21:6–9

Celebration had broken out in Jerusalem. The people were rejoicing because their Savior had arrived. He came just as was foretold, and the crowds couldn’t hold back their excitement. The end of their oppression was at hand. The Roman government was about to receive a smackdown at the hands of God’s Son and the rightful King. It’s not surprising that they felt this way. Zechariah 9:10 tells of what will happen after His return.

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Zechariah 9:10

He will bring peace. He shall rule the earth. How could anyone not be excited about that? For years, the Romans have oppressed and ruled over the people of Israel. They were treated like second-hand citizens in their own land. The idea that a king was coming that would bring peace and rule was exciting. How would he do it? Obviously, he would overthrow the government and lay claim to the throne. Tiberius would no longer be able to govern the Jews. Their liberation was at hand.

Over the next week, that excitement would turn to frustration and anger. The coming King didn’t bring an army. He didn’t have a battle plan that would inspire the masses. He was there to save them, but they didn’t understand what He was saving them from. His plan was perfect, but it wasn’t popular, and it didn’t take long for the chants of “Hossana in the highest” to change into something with much more vitriol. This was foretold in Psalms.

All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
Psalm 22:7–8

What started as celebration was less than a week away from disaster. Cheers would turn to mocking. “Hosanna” would turn to “crucify.” It’s amazing what can happen in only six days.

My son has become a huge Star Wars fan. We’ve watched the movies together. We’ve watched the TV shows, and we’ve watched the different cartoons. Currently, we’re watching a show called “The Bad Batch.” It’s the story of a rag-tag group of clones that are considered defective in the midst of a complete political overturn in the galaxy. The Jedi have become the enemies of the empire, and these soldiers have been tasked with taking them down. Due to their defect, the Bad Batch doesn’t follow through with this task and becomes fugitives of the empire. However, one of them isn’t as gung-ho about becoming a fugitive as the rest of them. His name is Crosshair.

Crosshair wants to be a good soldier. He believes that good soldiers complete their mission, and he doesn’t understand why the rest of their team won’t follow through. This issue eventually leads to him turning on his own team to side with the empire. Now a leader in the military, he is tasked with hunting down the enemies of the government, including his now former team. While his commitment to the mission of the empire may seem noble, it goes against everything he once stood for.

On the flip side, the Bad Batch has a new mission. They now protect the innocent and defend the honor of those who see the evil in the empire. They are so committed to this mission that they are willing to put their lives on the line to complete it. Their marching orders aren’t to give power to the oppressors but to give freedom to the oppressed.  Upon seeing the evil of this new government, they had a change of heart and wanted to follow a better way. We see two different perspectives, but both sides are committed to their missions.

As disciples, we are FOLLOWING Jesus and BEING CHANGED by Jesus. There’s a third part to this, though. When we find ourselves stepping into the footprints of Jesus, we can’t help but be changed into someone more like Jesus. As we become more like Jesus, the next natural step is to take on His MISSION.

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 4:19

As we’ve been saying all week, this is the foundation of what a disciple is. Jesus starts with FOLLOW ME. He follows that up with I WILL MAKE YOU. (Change) Then He tells them they will be FISHERS OF MEN. So what exactly is a fisher of men? What does this have to do with the mission of Jesus? Jesus was actually preparing them for something He would tell them after His resurrection.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
Matthew 28:19–20

Jesus’ mission is a simple one: Make Disciples. If following Jesus is a head-level change, and being changed by Jesus is a heart-level change, then being committed to Jesus’ mission is a hands-level change. Our minds have to flip the switch and commit to following someone greater. Our hearts are transformed, and we are then changed by Christ. This puts us to action. Now, we have to step it up and get on task. Our mission is very concise and specific. Make disciples by baptizing them and teaching them. I know you’re thinking, though, “John, I’m not qualified to do that.” Neither were a bunch of fishermen, tax collectors, and other average guys, but Christ empowered every one of them.

These men had spent three years with the Son of God. They learned at His feet and, despite their lower position in society, were transformed into men who would start a movement that would change the world. Their marching orders came just before Christ ascended into Heaven.

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:7–8

This calling is predicated on the arrival of the Holy Spirit. In other words, this mission is impossible without God’s intercession and involvement. We are not thrown onto an island and expected to just figure it out. The Holy Spirit steps in to guide and empower us to do our mission. This is exactly how the Church was started.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:1–4

The disciples didn’t know what to do after Christ left. They were literally waiting for the Holy Spirit’s arrival, and when the Spirit arrived, the dominoes all began to fall. At Pentecost, Jews from all nations would come to worship in Jerusalem, and people heard about Jesus in their own languages. In a matter of days, thousands came to a saving relationship with Christ and headed back to their home countries to share what they had learned about the Son of God. The mission had finally started. Today, we share in that same mission, and God wants workers.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Luke 10:2

A mission is worthless without someone to carry it out. Let’s trust in the Holy Spirit as He works in us to accomplish the Great Commission. We are those workers. We are Christ’s disciples. A disciple is someone who is FOLLOWING Jesus, is BEING CHANGED by Jesus, and is COMMITTED TO THE MISSION of Jesus. Let’s complete the mission.

When I was 12 years old, my family was on a road trip to Virginia. This always meant we were crammed into our van and trying our best to get along for about 6 or 7 hours. We’d play games like find the most states’ license plates, eye spy, and mad libs. We also had a tradition where we would sing songs that were on the radio together. On this particular trip, we were singing, and my brother was giving me dirty looks. The more we sang, the more the disdain showed. Finally, after a few songs had passed, he spoke up and said, “John is singing wrong.” What he heard was me singing an octave below what he was singing. We were singing the same notes, but mine were just lower than his. A week earlier, I was singing in the same register as he was, because my voice hadn’t changed. Fast forward a week, and I sounded like a squeaky teenager who sings in a much lower register. As if I wasn’t awkward enough, my brother just made it even worse. 

Puberty is brutal on kids. New hormones are kicking in, and it’s causing changes that children don’t know how to handle. Suddenly, our bodies are maturing faster than our minds. We become confused. Our emotions are all out of whack. We are becoming young adults whether we like it or not, and we don’t know how to adjust. It’s a change we all go through, and it’s not a voluntary one. It’s one we have to come to grips with and adjust our lives to. It’s hard.

Change can be hard. Whether it’s growing up, moving to a new town, or starting a new job, change is inevitable but can be a difficult adjustment. It isn’t always, but it always can be. When we decide to FOLLOW Christ, we also make the decision to CHANGE. As we talked about yesterday, following Christ comes with a cost. It means following so closely that we begin to experience what Christ experienced, and we are willing to serve Him unto death. In order to follow that closely, change is really the only option. We can’t continue to walk in the way that we were. We have to do something different. So how do we allow Christ to change us?

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1–2

In order for there to be real change, we have to be willing to give up control. We have to be willing to give God everything. This is NOT easy for most people. Before Christ, we decide what we want to do when we want to do it however we want it done. No one else gets a say. When we decide to follow Christ, we develop a love for our Savior. This love causes a heart-level change. If following Christ is a head change or something we decide to do, then being changed by Christ is a heart change that happens due to where our hearts are directed. It’s only when we allow that change to happen that we can truly be transformed. But what does that change look like?

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:13

When we spend most of our time with Jesus in His Word, we suddenly find that it changes us. Peter and John were fishermen. They weren’t considered smart enough to continue their education with a rabbi, so they became common laborers. People’s minds were blown by the wisdom, power, and knowledge that came from years of learning at the feet of Jesus. Following closely after Christ directly affected their lives in a way that made them into men they could have never been on their own. As disciples, the reason we follow so closely is so that Christ can change us through the Holy Spirit from the inside out. 

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5

Jesus is our spiritual life-giver. He longs to be so connected with us, that we are like branches on a vine. Without the vine, we whither and fade away. Without Christ, it’s the same thing. We spiritually die. Yet, when we are connected with Christ, we flourish. We are nourished by Him through His Holy Spirit and the Word. The more nutrients that a branch takes in, the more fruit it produces. For us, the more we feed on the Word of God, the more fruit we produce.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:22–24

This passage shows the direct result of a heart given over and changed by Christ. We are no longer satisfied by the pursuit of our flesh. Our demeanor is different. Our treatment of others changes. Our hearts are transformed. This is why we call it a heart-level change. It’s almost as if we’re the Grinch, whose heart grew three sizes when he finally experienced love. When we experience the true love that only Christ can show us, everything gets put on the table, and change is the byproduct. 

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14–19

A disciple as someone who is FOLLOWING Jesus, is BEING CHANGED by Jesus, and is COMMITTED TO THE MISSION of Jesus. Following Christ means stepping in each of His footsteps. Being changed happens when following that closely gives us no other option than to surrender ourselves completely to Him so that He can change us. It’s my prayer that you wave the white flag and allow Christ to take over. Change can be hard. Change can be scary. Change can make you into someone who can be a force for the kingdom of God.

There are few things more liberating in a teenager’s life than getting your driver’s license. The freedom to go to school without needing a bus or getting a ride from someone, or going to a friend’s house without having to wait for your parents to drive you there are just two examples of what excited me about getting my license so many years ago. I remember being able to go to away football games in High School. A bunch of us would meet up and drive caravan-style to the game. This train of four or five cars would make our way to the next town to cheer on our Clear Fork Colts. Traveling this way can have its issues, though.

Just a year before I got my license, a bunch of my friends and I decided we’d go to Round Lake Christian Camp for Family Camp. Basically, anyone and everyone could go to Round Lake with a camper or tent and camp for the weekend free of charge. This was perfect for me and my friends. My friend Shawn followed my dad as we drove out to the camp. While this seems fairly harmless, it was a frustrating drive for my father. He told Shawn before we left that he would need to keep up. If he doesn’t follow closely, we could lose him, or another car (or cars) could get between us. Dad didn’t want Shawn to get lost as we were driving out there.
 
All I can say is that Shawn didn’t follow all that closely, and my dad had to pull over a few times to make sure Shawn could find us. I remember him saying over and over as we were heading to the camp, “John, if you’re going to follow someone, you follow closely. There are too many things along the way that get between you and whoever you are following.” Dad didn’t realize it at that moment, but he was giving me advice that would transcend following someone in a car.

If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
John 12:26

Yesterday, we defined a disciple as someone who is FOLLOWING Jesus, is BEING CHANGED by Jesus, and is COMMITTED TO THE MISSION of Jesus. Today, we’re going to talk about that first part…FOLLOWING. What does it mean to follow Jesus? How can we be where He is? A disciple is only a disciple if they are following the one that they are a disciple of. You can’t take over the lead as a disciple. At that point, you have put yourself ahead of the one you are following. This means that, in order for us to be disciples, we have to place ourselves behind the one we follow. That means Jesus is in the lead position.

The best way to characterize this is by saying that discipleship involves a head-level change. A disciple knows who Christ is and makes a decision to follow Him. This is where the ball is put in our hands. The first play is ours. We have to make a conscious decision to follow AFTER Christ. “After” is a keyword here. Christ goes before us, and we follow “AFTER” in His steps. But what does that look like? How can we follow after Him? Jesus gives very clear instruction on this in the book of Luke.

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
Luke 9:23–24

Today’s 21st-century Christian reads that a lot differently than a 1st-century Jew would. A Christian today views the cross as this beautiful illustration of God’s love and grace. It’s a symbol of our salvation and represents God’s power over sin and death. A 1st-century Jew sees a symbol of death, a device used to punish those who were not Roman. For Jesus to tell someone to take up their cross and follow Him means different things when looked at in different contexts.
 
That being said, we need to have a 1st-century view of this passage. Too often, we hear the concept that salvation is “a free gift.” While that is partially true, there is also a great cost to be a disciple of Christ. Our salvation carries a great cost. We are called to follow Christ’s example and be willing to put our own lives on the line. I know that’s a heavy concept, but this isn’t some minor thing. We’re talking about eternity. Literally, EVERYTHING is at stake. This is why Jesus says, “whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” The apostle Paul understood this.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
Philippians 3:7–8

Paul understood that knowing Christ was of more value than anything else he gained while living on this earth. When it comes to following Christ, perspective is everything. What do you value most? If we value what people think of us, it may be hard to follow Christ. If the things of this earth carry great value for you, it may be hard to follow Christ. If not rocking the boat is an inherent value of yours, following Christ may be hard. Paul saw knowing Christ and following Him as the most valuable thing he could possess. This made Paul’s perspective in line with what Christ has called us to. When you jump down to verse 10, you see just how far Paul would be able to take it.

…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:10–11

Paul uses the phrase “by any means possible.” Are we willing to follow Christ “by any means possible?” If following Christ means taking up our cross as He did, can we follow through? If we’re going to follow Christ, we need to follow closely. There are too many things along the way that can get between you and Christ. To be a disciple, we need to be close to Jesus, and we need to do the things Jesus does. A disciple is someone who is following Christ.

I’ve mentioned on here before that I feel like my generation, Generation X, is the most fortunate generation of all-time when it comes to musical diversity. Many of us grew up with parents who were from the rock and roll generation of the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. We heard everything from Elvis to Led Zeppelin. Many of our parents were also fans of Mowtown. The Temptations, the Four Tops, and Diana Ross and the Supremes were the soundtrack of many road trips. Then, when the 80’s rolled in, we got Michael Jackson at the height of pop music, hair metal like Motley Crue and Def Lepard. We also can’t forget rap music finally arriving. The 90’s brought in grunge, gangster rap, and modern punk music. Needless to say, we got a taste of it all, and we all had that one band that we attached ourselves to. It was the band that we bought all of their tapes and wore them out.

For me, that band was U2. They didn’t really fit into any kind of genre. They had rock songs, pop songs, and blues songs, and their unique style really didn’t sound like anyone else. Still, I can sit down and listen to U2 all day and find my happy place. One of my favorite parts of this band was their songs weren’t just about sex, drugs, and rock and roll. There always seemed to be something deeper. There were themes of struggle, political unrest, and even songs that spoke of Christ. They aren’t a Christian band, but Christ has definitely made some kind of impact in their lives. All things said I was quite the fanboy for years. My high school friend Tyler and I used to say, “Bono is God.” (Bono is the lead singer) Today, I cringe thinking about that statement, but that was how big of a deal that band was for me. I lived and died on their next release. Over the years, I’ve even gotten the chance to cover some of their songs for different events. I guess you could say I was a disciple of U2.

Disciple is a very interesting word. It’s one we use a lot in Christianity, but it’s not one that solely belongs to us. There are disciples of many diverse things. There are other religions, educational styles, celebrities…you name it. The Webster’s Dictionary definition of a disciple is “one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another.” In other words, you find yourself in agreement with something or someone, and you make the decision to spread whatever it is you agree with. This is something we see all the time. Especially in politics today, we see people so bought into their ideologies that they break ties with people who don’t agree with them. Fights start, and arguments happen. A disciple is usually very passionate about what it is that they believe. Sometimes, that doesn’t manifest itself very well, and relationships and reputations are fractured.
 
Is this the kind of discipleship we’re talking about? Are we supposed to spew hate at everyone around us who doesn’t agree with our ideology? Is it vital for us to force everyone to do what we want, or else? Matthew 4:19 gives us the framework for what a disciple is.

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 4:19

What a simple verse! So, what exactly is a “fisher of men,” and how is this the framework for what a disciple is?

Let’s break this verse down to its core elements. Jesus starts off by saying, “Follow me.” In order to be a disciple, you need to follow something. It is impossible to call yourself a disciple if you aren’t. “Following” is the first major step in discipleship. Without it, we can just stop this whole conversation. Essentially, disciples are followers. They are led by someone or something other than themselves. Swifties aren’t Swifties if they’ve never listened to a single Taylor Swift song. Disciples of Christ aren’t disciples if they aren’t actively engaged with Christ and His Word. That means the first part of our definition of a disciple is “someone who is following Jesus.”
 
The next thing Jesus says in Matthew 4:19 is “I will make you.” In order to truly be a disciple of Christ, we have to give up control. This is typically the hardest part for most of us. We like to have control of every aspect of our lives. Jesus, however, says He wants to make us into something. In today’s world, it’s very common for us to see something changing us as a negative. We are told to find our own truth, and we shouldn’t let anything change who we are. This doesn’t really fly when it comes to following Christ because He wants to make us into something better. We aren’t supposed to stay the same because staying the same isn’t in our best interest.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Romans 8:29

God’s desire for us is to be more like His Son. Jesus was and is the perfect person. He lived on this planet with no sin. He was tempted just like us, and He never allowed sin to be an option. He is our ultimate role model, and He set the bar for what we should strive to be. Change means that Christ is working in our lives, and we are allowing ourselves to let Him take the lead. That’s why the second part of our definition of a disciple is someone who is “being changed by Jesus.”

The third part of our definition comes from the final part of that sentence in Matthew 4:19. Jesus says He will make us “fishers of men.” I know…this is kind of a weird concept if you’re new to the Christian faith. When Christ rose from the dead, He stayed on the earth with His disciples for 40 more days. When He finally left to be with His Father, He left one final mission for the disciples.
 
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
Matthew 28:19–20

Being fishers of men is bringing people into a relationship with Christ and making them disciples. We do this through baptism and teaching. This is our call today. We are to go into all the world and make disciples. We weren’t called to weekly Sunday attendance, even though going to Church is important. We weren’t called to listen to K-Love, even though immersing yourself in music that glorifies Christ is a great thing to do. We are called to something more eternal. We are called to make disciples. That’s why the third part of our definition of a disciple is someone who “is committed to the mission of Jesus.”
 
Simply put, a disciple is someone who is FOLLOWING Jesus, is BEING CHANGED by Jesus, and is COMMITTED TO THE MISSION of Jesus. When we really step into the role of a disciple, we step into something amazing. We see lives changed. We see eternities changed. When we have a Church full of disciples, we can see the world changed. Simply being a “Christian” who attends church every week isn’t what we were called to. We have been called to something much better. We’ve been called to be disciples.

Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s was a lot of fun! I got to see first-hand the shifting of music from the glam-rock and heavy metal of the 80’s into the grunge music of the 90’s. I got see the invention of the world wide web. I actually remember when Chicken McNuggets were first invented. Batman made his cinematic debut, and the home computer started to become the norm. Of all the trends that I experienced in the 80’s and 90’s, there was one trend that, for me, surpassed them all. It was a simple commercial with a simple song that said, “Like Mike. If I could be like Mike.”

That Mike was Michael Jordan. In a very short span, Jordan went from Rookie of the Year to the best player in the NBA to the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time.)  He moved across a basketball court with a grace never seen before. His tenacity led to three straight championships twice! He was the greatest show in town, and every young man who walked onto a basketball court wanted to be him. His greatness was the stuff of legend, and a simple two-sentence phrase encapsulated what everyone was already thinking. “I want to be like Mike.” I remember playing basketball behind our house, trying to pull off acrobatic Michael Jordan shots, thinking I must’ve looked like an All-Star NBA player. More likely than that, I probably looked like a spastic kid who lost control of his motor functions.

I think we’re all like that. We see greatness, and we want to emulate the one who embodies that greatness. If you wanted to be great in basketball, you copied Jordan. If you wanted to be a great baseball player, you tried to swing like Mark McGuire. If you wanted to make amazing, netherworldly catches with a football, you pretended to be Jerry Rice. As kids, that’s just what we did.
 
As adults, we do the same. However, we don’t necessarily look at athletes. Instead, we look at successful businessmen, powerful world leaders, and other people of influence who carry qualities that we want to live out. Want to be more financially responsible? Emulate Dave Ramsey. Want to be more successful in business, study Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Do you want to be a better Christian leader? Be like Craig Groeschel. No matter who we are, we are usually trying to do things like somebody else.

There’s a really interesting story where the opposite of this happened, and it did NOT go well.
 
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.”
Matthew 18:23–27

The ultimate form of mercy is undeserved mercy. Here, a king is owed money from his servants. Instead of collecting what is owed him, he had mercy on his servant and forgave his debt. You would think that this servant would be elated and follow in his master’s footsteps and be just as forgiving to those who may owe him. As we continue to read, we find out that is NOT the case.

“But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.”
Matthew 18:28–30

After having his debt forgiven, this servant took it upon himself to exact his wrath on another servant. How could anyone act this way after being treated in a completely different way? It’s obvious that this servant was too arrogant to learn from his king, and this other servant was now the brunt of his anger. Not only did he not forgive the debt, he had him imprisoned. What would the king think of this?

“When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Matthew 18:31–35

The king was terribly displeased with what the servant had done. He was so angered by his lack of compassion and mercy that he had him delivered to the jailers. Jesus ends this passage by stating that we all need to forgive just as we have been forgiven. Think about that for a second. God is willing to forgive us of every sin we’ve ever committed. He’s so willing that He gave Jesus to die on a cross for our sake. His mercy was greater than our sin, and He makes it available to us. We, in turn, need to remember to extend that mercy to those around us…even when we don’t want to.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:31–32

If I want to be like Mike, I need to practice my basketball skills. If I want to be like Dave Ramsey, I need to get a better grip on my finances. If I want to be like Christ, I need to be better at forgiveness and mercy. There’s really only one person who we need to emulate. “Like Christ….If I could be like Christ.” That’s got a nice ring to it.

I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m a huge pro wrestling fan. Now, before you go and say, “You know it’s fake, right?” Yes. I know it’s a scripted athletic performance. The athletes are basically actors who are willing to beat their bodies down to entertain an audience. I, for one, really enjoy it….even when it can get a little corny. One of my favorite matches of all time is the “I Quit” match. The premise is that the two combatants enter the ring, and the match isn’t over until one of the wrestlers says, “I Quit” into a microphone. Pretty simple, right? The match can get brutal, and it’s a test of who has the will to continue in the midst of insurmountable odds.

There have been so many of these matches throughout the years, but the one that has always stuck in my head was from Starcade 1985. It was Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum TA in a “steel cage I quit” match. These two had been fighting each other for some time over the NWA United States championship, and it all would culminate in the ring at the NWA’s biggest event of the year. These two fought and never let up on each other for almost half an hour. At one point, a wooden chair was thrown into the cage and was shattered to pieces until Magnum TA took a piece of the chair and shoved it into the eye of Blanchard, leading him to say, “I quit!” It was gruesome and violent, and an 11-year-old John Kelley thought it was the greatest thing he’d ever seen. Blanchard had nothing left to give and didn’t want to go on.

Life can feel like an “I Quit” match sometimes. Loss, illness, financial difficulties, and hardships of many kinds can hit at any time, and they can feel like mountains that are impossible to climb. Many, if not all of us, have experienced frustration to the point of just wanting to throw our hands up in the air. So many times, we start to go down the road of, “God! Why are you making my life so hard!” Our first mechanism as humans is always to find someone to put blame on. We get angry, frustrated, and exhausted. All of this can lead us to feel like we just need to give up and quit. Hope is lost, and we can’t go on. Thankfully, we serve a merciful Savior who doesn’t leave us in our misery. He meets us where we are with compassion and grace.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14–16

Christianity is the only religion where our God came to earth as a human being, not an avatar or representation of Himself, but actually as a separate person. He experienced what we experienced. He felt the temptations we felt. He dealt with the loss of loved ones. He suffered great pain, and he felt what it was like to be betrayed. When you think about it, Jesus probably dealt with more pain in His life than any of us ever will. This is central to who we are as believers. Jesus knows what it means to be human, and He knows how to overcome.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
 
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Romans 5:1–11

Verse 3 says that we “rejoice in our sufferings.” Wait, what? How does that work? Suffering is misery. Why would we ever rejoice in that? This is where Paul continues… “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” Paul is telling us that suffering essentially leads to hope. Why does this work, because “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.“ For most of us, we feel like we can’t get there, but we have the example of Christ to show us how that works. A couple of days ago, we read this scripture.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:3–5

That’s great John, but how do we rejoice when life gets hard? Let’s read the next few verses.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:6–9

Life isn’t a battle against time, but we can be distracted by that. It is so easy to see what’s going on in the world around us and only feel despair. We see all the hurt, sickness, and war, and we begin to wonder where we can find hope. For thousands of years, man has tried and failed to avoid death. It comes for all of us. No one wins that game. However, life in this world is temporary. Instead of looking at the temporary, physical things of this world, we need to focus on the eternal.
 
 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
John 14:1–4

God’s greatest example of mercy was Jesus. He suffered worse than we suffer. He hurt worse than we hurt. And in the midst of all of it, He never lost trust in God. He became the embodiment of hope for us. In God’s mercy, he redefined “suffering” into “hope.” Let us never lose sight of that amazing gift. Let’s never utter those words, “I quit.”

Being a parent to young kids is one of the most rewarding things that anyone can ever experience. Watching my kids grow from infants to toddlers and now to elementary school kids has been more fun than I’ve ever had in my life. Seeing their imaginations at work, observing how they use their creativity, and the amount of knowledge they acquire in such a short amount of time blows my mind. My kids are only eleven months apart, so they are each other’s best friend, but they can also become mortal enemies.

While I love most everything about my kids, They have one phrase that drives me insane. “That’s not fair.” If one of them gets to go on a field trip at school but the other doesn’t… “That’s not fair!” If one of them gets to go to their friends house and the other doesn’t…”That’s not fair!” If one of them gets five more minutes of time on the playstation…”That’s not fair!” “That’s not fair” has to be the most annoying phrase in the world to me. As a parent, we’ve all had the same response to this. “Life’s not fair.” Truthfully, though, fair has never been a promise from God. He doesn’t keep score of who does the most good stuff. He doesn’t compare us to each other based on merit. His love has to be the most unfair thing in the world. Regardless of “works of righteousness,” God loves equally.

His mercy is the same. The murderer, the thief, and the deviant are all afforded the same mercy as the one who grows up in the Church doing their best to live for Christ. As long as we are willing to repent and turn our lives over to Christ, we all have the same guarantee. No amount of money can buy it. No amount of good deeds can earn it. No amount of prayers can give you more of a guarantee than anyone else when it comes to God’s mercy. The harsh reality for all of us is that if we have sinned - regardless of that sin, we need the mercy of God. We need for Him to have mercy on us as sinners who have separated us from Him.
 
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9–14

While man always seems to focus on appearances, God sees what is inside. I’m sure that pharisee would say that God holding this tax collector in higher regard is the most unfair thing in the world. The Pharisee had given his whole life in servitude to God and His commands. He had lived a pious life that many can’t, but this tax collector has favor in the eyes of God?!?!? This makes no sense, and it is by no means fair.
 
Jonah is the perfect example of what happens when we can’t celebrate God showing his mercy on those we deem unfit. Last week, we talked about how he ran from God. He literally got in a boat in order to escape God’s call on him to speak to the Assyrian people living in Ninevah. He was to go and let them know that God’s wrath was about to come upon them and to brace for their inevitable destruction. When he was released from the belly of the fish, he followed through with his mission.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
Jonah 3:1–4

Though he was hesitant, at first, to go into Ninevah and share such awful news, he did what God had asked. What happened next was not what Jonah expected.

And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.  The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
Jonah 3:5–9

The people got the message. They realized where they had fallen short, and even the king made a decree for everyone to repent of the sin they had committed. Was it too late for them? Was God going to wash His hands of these sinful people?

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
Jonah 3:10

Could there have been better news? Jonah had convinced the people to change from their wicked ways and turn to God! He had to be elated that God would forgive them and let them live. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah 4:1–3

Do you relate with Jonah here? Does it anger you when God shows mercy on those that we don’t deem “worthy?” There’s a toxicity that we can have when we don’t let our personal bias move to the side and, instead, celebrate our King’s right to show mercy to everyone. God is an unfair God, and His love, compassion, and mercy are all unfair. That may be one of the greatest attributes He has. All hail the unfair King.

January of 2009 will always be burned into my brain as one of the worst months of my life. I was one year into a church plan with a good friend of mine, and I’d never been so poor in my life. It was hard to make ends meet, and I was just hoping we could get over the hump and not have to worry every few weeks about the church’s checking account. In retrospect, God took great care of me during that time, but I feel like I was in a constant state of stress.

It was also in that month that my father asked for all of us, as a family, to go in for his one-year check-up at the doctor’s office. This was supposed to be our celebration of him now being one year clear of cancer. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what the doctor told us. Instead, we were told that his cancer had come back and was more aggressive and all over his body. Dad was given less that a year to live.

I remember the weight of that moment. I was the oldest, and I was going to need to step up, but I didn’t feel ready. I was busy with the church, but also traveling as a worship leader to make ends meet. There wasn’t a whole lot of free time in my life at this point, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do to help my mother as she watched her husband deteriorate over the next several months. I remember being angry about everything. I was an emotional wreck. All I could feel was weight: the weight of my family, the weight of my church, and the weight of five other people depending on me to get shows planned and contracts that needed to be fulfilled. It felt like someone had planted a Mack truck on my chest.

When you were a kid, did you ever play the game “Mercy?” It’s the one where you’d interlock hands with another person, then try to bend their hands backwards until they would say, “mercy!” I felt like I was playing this game with life, and it was kicking my butt. Honestly, I really just wanted a reprieve. I needed a moment to take a deep breath and just calm down.

It was during this time that I started spending every Friday with my father. Each one was a countdown to there being no more Fridays to spend with him. I had a choice each week. I could mourn that my dad was leaving me, or I could celebrate that I had one more day. There was a peace I felt on each of those Fridays with my father, and all I can account that to was mercy from God. God’s mercy can take on many forms; forgiveness, the extension of grace, and, in my case, compassion. It was in those final months of my father’s life that I genuinely felt God’s presence and comfort when I was a ball of stress. This kind of mercy is shown in the book of Lamentations.

The book of Lamentations was written after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. There was very little hope for the people of Israel. They’re capital city and their temple were no more. Hope was fleeting. They felt the weight of their forefathers and mourned their loss. We read in Lamentations chapter 3…

He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
Lamentations 3:16–20

You can feel the pain of the writer as he deals with all of the destruction around him. He’s struggling to find peace in the midst of all of this loss. Where is God in all of this? Why isn’t He making things better? It would be really easy to just turn your back on God and be filled with bitterness and hate. The writer takes a step back, however, and his tone changes.

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:21–24

In the middle of innumerable loss, we see that God’s mercies are new EVERY day. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment. Our current situation can seem overwhelming and we can let distress lead us down a dark path. However, each day becomes a new opportunity; to be thankful, to serve, to live. God sees our situations, and He reaches into our struggles with compassion and gives hope. As believers in Christ, we know that our current suffering is only for a short time.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:20–25

It can be really easy to wallow in our own self-pity, but God has called us to so much more, and He offers so much more! As Christians, we aren’t running a sprint. We’re running a marathon. It’s the long game, and the best part is that we KNOW we win! This doesn’t mean that life won’t hurt at times. It doesn’t mean we won’t feel the weight of loss, responsibility, or hurt. What it does mean is that God shows us mercy through His compassion for us in giving us the hope that we life for. His ultimate mercy for us is Christ. It would’ve been really easy for God to have just wiped His hands of this mess that we’ve made of ourselves, but that isn’t who He is.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:3–5

When we take a step back and look at our current situation, and realize that this only for a short time, there’s only one response…thanks. Thank you God for Jesus. Thank you God for hope. Thank you God for your mercy.

Today, as I’m writing this, I’m preparing to teach our Jr. and Sr. High youth group about calling. What is it that God is specifically leading you to do for the Kingdom? This brought me back to the summer after my senior year of High School. My father was a minister and had moved all of our family to KY from Northern Ohio during the school year…with one caveat. I stayed behind to finish out my senior year. A few hours after graduation was over, all my stuff got packed up, and we headed to KY. I wasn’t excited about this. I wanted to spend my last summer before college with my friends. I had no desire to move to another state and spend the summer bored and not knowing anyone. On top of all of this, I had not saved any money for college. My mom and dad told me they’d match any money I saved for college. Instead of saving, I spent it on parties, alcohol, and other dumb stuff.

Halfway through the summer, I realized that there was no way I could make it to school that fall, so I decided I would save up and begin college in January. This would help me keep from getting too many loans while also having a little spending money. However, as the summer went on, I realized that I didn’t want to stay home. I had a deep desire to get out on my own. The only problem was that I couldn’t afford it. That led me to do something I hadn’t done in a long, long time. I prayed. I hadn’t really prayed in years, but I felt like this was my last ditch effort to get out on my own.

My prayer went something like this. “Hey, God. It’s me, John. I know we haven’t talked in a while, but I really need to get to college. If you can get me $5000, I’ll even go to KCC and be a youth minister.” KCC was Kentucky Christian College, now University. Both of my parents had attended there, and I figured that God might hook me up if I said that. I never told my parents about that prayer or anyone else, for that matter. I figured nothing was going to happen, so I just went about life like I had before.
 
A week or two later, I got a phone call from my Aunt Virginia. She asked me about my plans for college, and I told her what my current plan was. She asked me if she could help out with the expenses. I figured she would be able to help with the costs of books. An extra $500 would be incredible. She then said, “Would $5000 help?” I was floored. I knew in that moment that God was calling me into ministry.

I often say that God rarely whispers to me. He tends to yell at me, and I got the message. I enrolled that fall at KCC, and the rest is history. I’ve now been in ministry for 29 years this fall. There have been ups and downs, but I’ve never felt as though I made a bad choice. The choice was made for me.
 
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11–13

God’s calling on our lives is almost always very specific, but so many of us miss out on it for any number of reasons. We aren’t listening. The call doesn’t fit what we think it should be. We’re afraid of what will happen if we follow this call. Sometimes, we just try to ignore God. This is what we see happening in the story of Jonah.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah 1:1–3

Jonah was called to go and let Ninevah know that God was going to punish them. Ninevah was the capital of Assyria. It was the cultural, scientific, and political center of the Assyrian Empire, which just happened to be the mortal enemies of Israel. Jonah wanted nothing to do with this call, and decided to run. As we all know, running from God is worthless. God is omnipresent. Simply put, He’s everywhere all the time. There is no hiding, and Jonah was being disobedient in hiding from Him. God wouldn’t take this lightly.

But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
Jonah 1:4–6

God does not deal lightly with disobedience, and Jonah wasn’t going to get away with it. The mariners that were with him on the boat were terrified about what was happening, and they knew it was all due to Jonah. They only had one option.

So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah1:15–17

We’ve been talking all week about the justice of God. In this situation, Jonah thought he could get away with ignoring God and running away. We know this didn’t work. Suddenly, Jonah is now in the belly of the fish and rethinking things. If you know this story, then you know that it ends with Jonah following through on his calling to talk to the Ninevites. Unfortunately, Jonah had to live in the belly of that fish first.
 
When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.
Proverbs 21:15

One thing many of us miss in this account is that without the fish, Jonah probably would have drowned in those waters. While being in the belly of that fish was an awful experience, it kept Jonah safe from death. For us, justice can seem awful, but it may be the very thing that protects us from something worse. When we learn to embrace God’s justice, knowing that His calling for us is our best option, we can trust in what God desires for us. We shouldn’t fear justice. We should thank God for it and long for His call on our lives.