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Introducing The BLESS Prayer

We must find ways to get outside the church, away from the campus, and interface with both neighbors and work associates. When we have jurisdictional authority, we should consider it a gift from God to be in such a leadership position. We cannot, in such a case, divorce our faith life, from our work life. We are missionaries cleverly disguised as doctors or lawyers, politicians or social workers, salespersons or bankers, teachers or television-radio-media professionals. This is God’s way of sowing a missionary force into every sector of the culture. Sadly, one that is unengaged, leaving too much to the institutional church and to professional pastors. Where we do not have jurisdictional authority (position), we have the power of influence (relational authority). And when we lack both, we have spiritual authority. We must be salt and light. Silence is no longer appropriate. We have both the power, privilege and the responsibility to bless others. It is not an option. In the 1990’s a neighborhood evangelism model was introduced into the USA. I served as one of the trainers. In one area, we discovered a church of several hundred that grew out of a neighborhood Bible study. In another example, one couple used Christmas as an opportunity to host neighbors for light refreshments and sharing, neighbors who lived next to one another but barely knew each other. The festive informal gathering featured a closing moment in which each neighbor introduced themselves to one another and shared stories of their most meaningful Christmas. Without the host prompting, inevitably, one or more of those stories involved the Christ of Christmas. Introducing the BLESS Prayer In some places, such seasonal gatherings have become a highlight of the year and the occasion of neighbors connecting one with another more frequently. Some neighbors have taken such gatherings to another level with summer block parties designed to get everyone out of their backyards and into the same street to meet one another. Bless Every Home Now, the Bless Every Home app allows you to see your neighborhood and adopt neighbors for personal prayer. The app sends you the name and location, with reference to your home, of five neighbors daily. You simply click the link, noting that you have prayed for them, met them, or shared Christ with them. It is simple to use and churches can sign up as well to see the neighborhood prayer activity of their congregation with the goal of adopting every home in the city. SALTY Groups Another tactic has been to take Christ to work. Most of us know, or have a suspicion, that other fellow workers are Christians, often concealing their faith in the marketplace. As we go public with our faith, we gently nudge other Christians to work together to become salt and light in the workplace. Not to aggressively and annoyingly buttonhole people with a witnessing technique that is offensive. But to be discreet witnesses, and to support one another in inviting the presence of Christ into the workspace. These believers would agree to meet, say, at lunch, for thirty minutes, weekly. They would share their concerns and pray together inviting God to come to the place where they spend forty or more hours weekly. They may not own the company or be in a position of management, so they may not have jurisdictional authority. And they may feel that they have little relational influence on the management. But there is another source of authority. Heaven has commissioned us to be kings and priests. When we have neither jurisdictional authority nor relational influence, what we do have is spiritual authority. This is no small thing. It is not merely metaphorical language. We can humbly exercise spiritual authority by inviting God’s kingdom into the workplace, praying for His will to be done, and for His name to be hallowed – and for a blessing on the company and all who work there. This is a ‘salty’ group. A group of believers who together, are motivating one another to be salt and light at their workplace. They are praying, Supplicating. They are realizing that they are Anointed, even at work, to represent God. They are His Light in what may be a dark place. They are extensions of His Love. Their Talk is wholesome and when appropriate, they are Telling others about the goodness of God. They are prayerfully yielding their lives to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. SALTY! Operation Andrew The Billy Graham Association used what was called Operation Andrew. Remember, Andrew brought Peter, his brother to Christ. Andrew became an apostle and impacted nations. But Peter was considered the leader among the apostles. Peter is mentioned 191 times in the New Testament. He gives us two epistles, and Mark’s gospel is considered Peter’s gospel. Operation Andrew encourages believers to list their family and friends, work associates and neighbors, and begin to pray for them. Separate the list into the most open, somewhat open, and closed. Concentrate on those most open. Pray for them daily. Find two other Christians who will use the Operation Andrew model and agree to meet for prayer weekly. Pray for the grace and courage to share the gospel. Pray for those most open on all three of your combined lists. The Billy Graham organization says that the overwhelming success of Billy Graham’s ministry was believers bringing friends. Eighty percent of the crusade conversions involved relational evangelism. Operation Andrew, believers praying for, sharing with, and bringing their friends to the crusade was the key to success. The BLESS Prayer One of the best acronyms for prayer is the ‘bless’ prayer, which I learned in my work with neighborhood evangelism. Father, today, we BLESS ___(Name)__________. • We pray that ___________’s BODY would be blessed, healed, rested, able to fully function without pain. We ask for your touch on them physically, for special grace and strength. • We pray for _______________’s LABOR, their ability to work on the job and at home. That you would grant them strength to be fully functional. Give them mobility. Protect them from accidents. Give them a fulfilling job, one with benefits and compensation worthy of their effort. Bless them in their LABOR, and bless the place where they labor, and the people for whom they work, and with whom they work. • We pray for __________________’s EMOTIONAL well-being. For their peace. For greater levels of joy – for a fulfilled life. For healthy friends and caring relationships that leave them feeling warm and grateful. Protect them from the bruising and battering that life brings us too often. Let them know your love and grace. • We pray for _____________________’s SOCIAL circle. For their family. For their children and grandchildren. For family-like friends. That they will not be alone. We pray for healthy relationships. For warmth and love. For them to live in a place where they feel secure and loved. • We pray for _________________’s SOUL. For them to know you and the power of your resurrection. For them to have a personal relationship with you that transforms them. For their lives to be directed by you, guided by you – and that any design of the enemy or malevolent evil interference would be broken. Let them experience a truly transforming, redirecting experience with Christ. We bless them, praying that they would know your goodness. Amen. This is the BLESS prayer. It is hardly objectionable. If someone asked you, “Are you praying for me?” You can say without hesitation, “Yes!” And if they probe, “So, just what are you praying?” You can reply, “I am praying for God to BLESS you! – your body, your labor, for your inner life and emotional well being, for your family and social circle – and for you to know how much God loves you!” Who can object to such a prayer? The bottom line for us is this – we can no longer be silent. In Psalm 39, the consequences of silence are seen. “I was mute with silence. I held my peace even from [saying] good” (Psa. 39:2). David was intimidated in the presence of the wicked (39:1). So, he muzzled himself. As a result, he lost his joy and was overwhelmed with sorry. His heart burned within him, like a convicting fire – he knew his silence was a sin (Psa. 39:2). Finally, overcome by inner conviction, he broke his silence, “Then, I spoke with my tongue” (Psa. 39:3). He searched for the reason of his intimidation and concluded that life was too short to live in disobedience to God and with a fear of man (39:5). “Every man, at his best state,” David concluded, “is but vapor.” He “walks about like a shadow” (39:5c-6a). “What am I waiting for?” – he asked himself. “All hope is in God” (39:7). In the end, he discovered a sobering reality. “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry.” Then note words, “Do not be silent…” His silence had provoked the silence of God (Psa. 39:12). We dare not be silent.

May 15, 2026

Evangelism As Blessing

There is power in our speech, “Life and death,” we are told, “is in the power of the tongue.” To speak a blessing is to speak life and love – and that is our role as believers, as believer-priests. We stand in the critical, strategic middle, between God and lost humanity, and we get to throw out a lifeline of hope. Why do we remain silent? We are called to pray, to give the ‘gift of prayer’ to others. Instead, we use prayer selfishly, for our narrow slice of pain. Why is it so difficult to say, “God bless you!” Or to offer a prayer for someone in need or in distress – right on the spot. We are called to reach this nation and the world. That is no longer optional for true Christians. We must become a kingdom of priests, speaking God’s blessing, conveying the sense of His goodness, invoking His name over others. When we do, He then promised to use that occasion to fulfill our words and bless those who we blessed. What a privilege. We get to be the voice of God’s love and grace to others. Why are we silent? Blessing is an expression of God’s love; and of His fundamental goodness; and that awakens a sense of His presence. The goodness of God leads to repentance, redirection, life-change. At the intersection of love and truth, the power of God works to save, to regenerate, to bring change. Have you ever noticed how people react when you say, “God bless you,” or “Have a blessed day!” There are a few grinches who return a sour look, but most people smile. Some say, “Thank you!” and express gratitude. Some say in response, “God bless you too.” And occasionally, it is as if you have given someone the gift of hope. You see, “God bless you” is a kind of prayer you say over someone else. You are invoking God’s name over them, praying that they would know His goodness and love. The Bible says, “It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance” (Romans 2:4). I am convinced that a simple and sincere, “God bless you!” opens the windows of heaven. It quickens in men and women who hear and respond positively to the blessing, a sense of God’s love and watchful care. People are starved for the love of God. And we are to be a kingdom of priests who stand on the bridge between heaven and earth, giving God visibility and audibility (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9). That’s where God wants you – in the middle, representing Him, speaking the blessing He desires for those who do not yet know Him to hear. We prefer the comfortable end, and not the middle. We prefer to be blessed with no obligation to pass on the blessing. God not only wants to bless us, but He also wants to bless others through us, from this middle position. I know, you probably don’t feel worthy enough to bless someone else. But it isn’t your blessing. You are the actor on the stage of life reading the lines given by God. As a priest, in the middle, you get to pass on a blessing greater than your own, “May God bless you today.” This can be expanded. “May He be with you today … watch over you … guide and direct you … May you experience His love and grace, His presence.” There is also another level. That is when you move from a casual passing “God bless you” to a more intentional and deliberate blessing. You never want to force yourself on others. Or embarrass them. If God is loving, a good and blessing kind of God, He cares about the atmosphere in which the blessing is conveyed and the openness of the intended recipient. The Holy Spirit will help you know when to say, “May I pray a prayer of blessing over you?” Often you will see tears. You’ll see relief on faces, a visible change. You may on occasion have a gushing of tears from the individual who has been under a terrible weight. The prayer should be simple. The Holy Spirit will give you the words. Here is an example: “Father, our Father (Not ‘my,’ but ‘our,’ you are inviting them into the family), I pray for your grace. (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Corinthians 12:9. Hebrews 4:16; Romans 6:14) For [name] to know and experience your love (Ephesians 3:19; John 3:16; Romans 8:35-39). You care (Psalm 23; 1 Peter 5:7; Isaiah 46:4; Proverbs 3:24) about _________________, and that is why this encounter took place. It was no accident. You guide our steps (Psalm 37:23-24; 119:105; Proverbs 3:5-6; 16:9; Jeremiah 29:11), and you want to carry our load (Psalm 55:22; 68:19; Matthew 11:28-30; Isaiah 41:10). May ___________________ now experience your goodness, your power – the power that saves, heals and delivers – that sets us free (Romans 1:16; 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Corinthians 12:9). You want __________________ to know you and call you, father (Isaiah 63:16; Matthew 6:9; Galatians 4:6; I John 3:1; Romans 8:15). I invoke the name of Jesus over ___________________ (Romans 10:13; Acts 2:38; Luke 10:17; Psalm 118:26; Philippians 2:9-10). And I pray for _________________ to experience your presence and the purpose you have for his/her life" (Psalm 23; Isaiah 41:10; Joshua 1:9; James 4:8; Hebrews 13:5). And then the blessing is pronounced: “The Lord bless you, and keep you, and smile upon you. Amen" ( Numbers 6:24:26; Psalm 20:4). The full Aaronic blessing follows. You may want to memorize it: “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord cause His face to shine on you and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His face to you and give you peace.” Here is the promise of God. When the priests “invoke” the sacred name of the Lord over the people, God blesses them. There is a blessing connected to uttering the sacred name of the Lord, and we argue from the New Testament perspective, from uttering the sacred and powerful name of Jesus. In the New Testament economy, the role of believers has been elevated to the status of a kingdom of priests. We are authorized to utter this blessing with the confidence that while we speak it, God is working quietly in the lives of those that we bless. “So, they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and then I will bless them.” The above is only a template. But there are several things that are not random. Take time to read the scriptures behind the prayer. *GOD – FATHER. First, God is Father, even to the prodigal. This is a call to come home (Luke 15:11-32). *The GROUND of GRACE. Second the ground here is that of grace. The goal is for the individual to know, to experience God’s love (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Hebrews 4:16; Romans 6:14). *The GUIDANCE of GOD. There is an affirmation of God’s care for the individual and His sovereignty – this prayer encounter was no accident. God is guiding the individual, though unaware, with the goal of making their burden light. (Psalm 23; 1 Peter 5:7; Isaiah 46:4; Proverbs 3:24; Psalm 37:23-24; 119:105; Proverbs 3:5-6; 16:9; Jeremiah 29:11). *The GOODNESS of God - Enabling GRACE. There is then a return to the theme of grace, enabling grace as the power that saves. *GOD’S PRESENCE. And finally, there is a prayer for knowing God’s presence, followed by a more formal blessing prayer (Romans 1:16; 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Corinthians 12:9). Here is the thesis. Blessing wakes up in individuals a sense of God’s watchful presence. The clearest indication of God’s presence is His love. Awakened to God’s unconditional love, we are constrained. Captivated. The atmosphere of unconditional love allows for the conviction of truth – true truth. Truth that transforms. “The goodness of God,” we are told, “leads to repentance” (Romans 2:4) At the intersection of love and truth, we experience the liberating power of the Holy Spirit. There can be no true love without truth (Ephesians 4:15; 1 Corinthians 13:6; 1 John 3:18), otherwise love is only a wrapping for a lie. It is not authentic. Likewise, there is no truth without love since the greatest truth is that God loves us. He loves us enough to always tell us the truth about ourselves, both what we are and what we can be, by grace. Thus love, and truth that trues, taps God’s saving, liberating power. We bless, as an expression of God’s love. In doing so, we awaken a sense of God’s goodness and His presence. Awareness of His presence quickens love – and truth applied in love, The goodness of God leads to repentance, At the intersection of love and truth, The Holy Spirit works to convict, and convince men of righteousness, and to bring change – conversion, salvation. Too often we pray selfishly – about ourselves and our problems, and not about those who have never known the love of God, the 3.5 billion who have yet to hear the gospel. We seem preoccupied with our narrow slice of pain. God’s arms are big enough to embrace us and those on the other side of the globe. Both His children and those who have not yet experienced His redemptive grace. The question is – are we willing to make room in our hearts and devote times in prayer for those who have never heard of Jesus, the Christ. Intercessory prayer cannot be used only in prayer requests for each other as believers. It is the missional aspect of prayer. It calls for us to stand ‘in the middle,’ between God and a lost world and pray for the light to break into the darkness. We are to be a kingdom of priests, invoking the name of Jesus over our friends and the world. Speaking God’s love as blessing. Using life-giving language. Proverbs 15:4 tells us, “The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” That’s quite an assertion. We are back in Genesis at the ‘tree of life.’ Another translation calls this a ‘wholesome’ tongue. The Hebrew word is marpe. Amazingly, it means to heal, to cure, to impart health, to realize a remedy. This is the life-giving, wholesome speech of the believer to another. It is intended to aid one in regaining their composure in the midst of a crisis. The words of a friend bring tranquility into chaos. This is the power of presence. Language is curative. It is a medicine for the troubled soul. The word can mean to bring ‘deliverance.’ Perhaps this is why Psalm 107:20 (NASB) declares, “He sent His word and healed them, And saved them from their destruction.” In Colossians 4:6, Paul urges, “Let your speech always be gracious” – full of life-giving grace. Paul then pictures the one disconnected from God suddenly open and asking questions. They are at the tree of life. Our prayer for an open door – an open heart, along with our exemplary walk and talk, our soothing tongue. has led them to a place of longing for life, for God.

May 22, 2026

A God That Blesses

Did you ever notice the first encounter of God with a human? (Gen. 1:28). Theologians call this ‘the law of the first mention.’ First mentions seem to set a trajectory for the rest of the Bible – that’s why Genesis is so important to us. Let’s take a closer look. In most of our encounters with God, we do the talking, asking God for things. In this first encounter, Adam, the first human, said nothing. Eve was present as well. But God did all the talking. Perhaps we have misunderstood prayer. What if the goal of prayer was not for God to hear us, but for us to hear God? What did God say to Adam? That’s very important! God blessed them, Adam and Eve together. The word bless in Hebrew is barak meaning knee. That seems to connect prayer and humility to the blessing of God. Prayer is an attitude as much as it is language and it is demonstrated by our humble and reverent posture before God. In humble prayer, we put ourselves in a position that invites God’s blessing. Sadly, too often, we place ourselves in charge of the encounter, giving God a list of ‘to-do’ items. Directing God as if we knew best. We take the dominant position and attempt to place God in the role of our servant. That view of prayer is upside down. The word bless in variant forms litters the pages of the Bible. The Bible is a veritable book of blessing, of God’s relentless desire to build a bridge to humanity. He wants to connect with fallen humans. Though our sin and rebellion are an affront to His holiness, He still searches for the man, the woman, the family, for a people He can bless and through whom He can bless others. Underneath the sin in our lives is the image of God. He longs to bless us, to peel away the layers of sin and their damage and restore the reflection of grace, love and life. Permit a brief journey into the weeds. The word bless or a derivative shows up 378 times in the NKJV of the Old Testament. It appears 98 times in the psalms since the psalms are a collection for worship and an inspirational source for life itself. It appears 70 times in Genesis, the book of beginnings, which sets the trajectory for the rest of the Bible. And some might be surprised that it shows up 48 times in the book of Deuteronomy, the book of law. Blessing and right-living are then bound together. As in Genesis, God speaks a blessing, and then He established a boundary which if ignored, diminished the blessing. The great commandment, as Jesus called it, was the blessing of love. It was at the head of all other laws. James called love the ‘royal law’ (James 2:8). Paul asserted that “the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself ’” (Gal. 5:14), and that “love fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8). The ultimate discipline in one’s life is the ability to love and bless your enemies. The specific term bless appears approximately 127 times in the Bible. The word blessed occurs about 302 times. In the NKJV, bless and blessed are found 495 times. Blessest is used 3 times in the KJV, “[H]e whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed” (Numbers 22:6). The old Elizabethan King James language is simplified, for example, in the NIV, “For I know that whoever you bless is blessed.” The blessing of God triumphs over all other words spoken to us, against us or over us. You and I are blessed because of God’s disposition toward us and His declaration over us. I am sure you want God’s blessing. And that seems to be connected to both humility and prayer. Altogether, there are more than 600 blessings in the Old Testament alone. The Bible is, indeed, the book of blessing. God longs to bless you and bless others through you. The blessing of God is a reflection of His character, His goodness. It is His goodness that Adam and Eve missed. Consistently, in Genesis 1, God sows His goodness into creation. “And God saw that it was good… God saw everything that He had made, and indeed, it was very good” (Gen. 1: 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). Here is Creation brimming with the goodness of a good God. More fundamental than faith in the ability of God or in His willingness is faith in the character of God. The absence of confidence in God’s goodness is deadly. In a well-worn passage from Hebrews, the author declares that “without faith it is impossible to please God!” (Hebrews 11:6). “He that comes to God,” that is essentially prayer, whether to make a request, to intercede, to offer thanks, or to worship. We are standing before His presence. When we come to God, we “must believe.” But what must we believe? First, “that God is,” that is, that He exists. We are not talking to the walls when we pray. This is explicit in the text. There is also an implicit idea. We must not only believe in His existence, but in His ability. Otherwise, why would we pray? Why would we come to God? There is more. Beyond faith in the existence and ability of God there is another element. “We must believe” that God “is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Let’s note two things. First, the presentation of God as a ‘rewarder’ indicates His nature, His character. He is an open-handed God. He is benevolent. He is good. This goodness is seen by those who do not merely seek answers. They seek the God who answers. They seek ‘Him’. This is a focus beyond the existence or ability of God to which we appeal. It is a desire for His presence. Such people receive more than answers – they receive rewards. Answers and rewards are two different things. Answers are our prescriptions for our troubles; rewards are those things that come from God. Rewards were not even on our radar screens. Someone has counted, noting 650 prayer requests in the Bible, and 450 times God answered. God hears and responds to us when we pray. But, the most powerful outcome is not an answer, not something what we get from seeking the hand of God that we have prescribed for ourselves. The most powerful outcome is a reward. That’s what we get from seeking the face of God. Faith in the character of God is fundamental to a balanced, healthy Christian life. From His character, out of His goodness – He blesses. In Genesis, the Hebrew word, barak, is the picture of Adam and Eve on their knees before God, receiving His blessing, and what a blessing! It is the closest thing in Scripture to their wedding ceremony. It was empowering, “Be fruitful … fill up the earth … manage it.” The globe! He put them in a garden, but He had the globe in mind. Managing the garden they would have proved themselves worthy of managing the globe. The blessing was also lifegiving – God breathed on man, animating him with His own life. It was generational, not only for Adam and Eve, but also for their sons and daughters. Being fruitful was within their power, but multiplication was God’s blessing on their children and the generations that would follow. Caring for the whole earth would have required an army of humans. This was the blessing of God on the family, to serve as agents of God’s kingdom. It was the language of empowerment, not victimhood. In Genesis 2, God set boundaries to preserve the blessing. When the couple violated the boundary and ate the forbidden fruit, they immediately felt the consequences of their sin. It changed the nature of their relationship with God and with one another. They had failed to trust God’s goodness – His character. Yet God, because He is good, acted redemptively. He called them. He came looking for them. This is the nature of our God. He acted to keep, in a measure, the blessing in place. When humanity irreverently tramples on God’s boundaries, they forfeit the fullness of God’s blessing. They are left with common grace, God’s goodness to all humanity. To tap the special grace that unlocks redemptive power, there must be movement toward God. That act of obedience and surrender enables the grace empowered redirection of our lives. In the absence of repentance and reconciliation with God, sin and rebellion multiplied in Adam’s children, demanding a correction by God’s punitive action. Their authority, their responsibility had been the globe, in which they were to be the agents of blessing. But they failed in their mission. As a consequence, they lost both the garden and their influence over the globe. Thus, instead a global blessing flowing through godly, obedient and righteous priestly representatives of God, a global flood would be triggered by the wholesale human rejection of God. This is the macro end of the micro deviation that began in the garden. It is the end of little sins, amplified, incrementally intensified from one generation to another, until the transgressions are no longer tolerable. The loss of the garden by Adam and Eve may seem a small thing to us in the overall scope of things. However, it is the root of the global disaster that followed in Noah’s day. The flood was small incremental deviations written large. But God, in His grace, spared Noah and kept the blessing alive. “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord… Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:8-9). In the same context, the Bible mentions Noah’s ‘generations.’ The grace he found was an inheritance for his children. The grace that spared him, spared them. He was to be the new channel of global blessing, the role for which Adam had been created and commissioned. Sadly, Noah failed, as Adam had failed. This failure to receive and hold God’s blessing inside His boundaries, and to be an instrument of blessing reached another epic point in the building of the ziggurat at Babel. This tower was an astrological worship center, thoroughly pagan in nature. Humanity had rejected God and His blessing again. Babel means confusion. That’s what turning away from the goodness and blessing of God brings – confusion. This repeated pattern of resistance to God, of excluding God, is characteristic of living in a fallen world. Humans are no longer the noble creatures they were created to be. Yet, instead of another act of global judgement, God broke the power of evil by the first miracle of tongues. At Babel, men could no longer communicate with one another and consequently, their mission was halted, and the power of their unity was broken. Today, language is still a barrier, but not a formidable one. Now, evil is again uniting around a defiant global purpose that excludes God as did Babel. It is again one driven by pagan values. In Revelation, Babel reappears (Revelation 17:5-18; 16:19; 18:2). Without God at the center, we discover the future Babylon to be home to the demonic. In that way it resembles Babel, the astrological and pagan worship center of the post-flood world. We should note, there are only two cities – Babel, where God is a visitor (Genesis 11:5), not an honored resident; and Jerusalem, the fortress of peace (Psalm 122:6-8; Zechariah 8:7-8). Jerusalem is where the temple was built as a symbol of the presence of God. God then is at the center of Jerusalem, honored and worshipped. There, God’s presence invites His peace. That is the essence of the name salem. It is a derivative of the word shalom. The opposite of shalom is separation, corruption, division, and brokenness, a lack of integrity or wholeness. It is the absence of peace with God or others. Sin always leaves rubble – the rubble of the flood, or that of the abandoned tower at Babel resulting from the scattering of humans. There was also the rubble of Jerusalem during the time of Judah’s exile, and again, with Rome’s destruction of the city and its temple in 70 AD. Our lives, likewise, are left in rubble when we violate God’s boundaries – marriages collapse, parenting becomes confusing, finances decline, joy becomes elusive, peace evaporates. Everything seems broken. We long for love, to again belong. We are sometimes like the first exiles who returned to Jerusalem from captivity, lacking both the will and resources, they became accustomed to living in the rubble (Neh. 4:10; Isa. 58:12; Isa. 61:1-6). Even the temple, the place of God’s presence, the place they believed to be invincible, was destroyed (Jer. 7:4; 1 Kings 9:8-9; Lam. 2:2-22; Psa. 79:1) Of course, God no longer desires to dwell in man-made temples made with human hands. He longs, as He did with the first human, to be so close to us that he breathes on us and lives inside our hearts (Acts 17:24; 7:48-50; 2 Chronicles 2:6; Isaiah 40:21-22). We were created to give Him visibility. We were made in His image, designed to reflect Him to all Creation. After the resurrection, Jesus breathed on the disciples and told them to receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). He would again live inside of the human heart. We are then the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). This was His plan, to “conform us to the image of His dear Son” (Rom. 8:29). To make us like Christ, who is “the visible likeness of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15), the first-born Son. To restore in us the image of God (Gen. 1:27) that had been marred by sin. When Jesus left the earth, he blessed the disciples that followed him to the Mount of Olives – almost 500 (Luke 24:50). It was his last and enduring act – to pronounce a blessing. As we have noted, the appearance of man in the Creation story begins with the blessing of God pronounced on Adam and Eve, the first human couple. Blessing is then the Father’s first word, and blessing, as we have seen, is the Son’s last word. Thus, creation and redemption, the beginning of all things with God the Father, and the end of the life of Jesus, the Christ, on the earth, are framed with blessing. It is God’s first and last word. That means that the whole of revelation is framed with blessing. The blessing extended by Jesus was the renewal of the first blessing on Adam and Eve (Gen. 1:28), one that they could have passed on to their children’s children and to all of Creation had they not sinned. This blessing was renewed by the last Adam, Jesus, the Christ (1 Cor. 15:45), who passed the test of sin through his exemplary life, his sacrificial crucifixion and his triumphant resurrection. He blessed a new creation, identifying a new race of men, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession… [who] proclaim the excellencies of him [God, in Christ] who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9, ESV). This is a revolution. It is not the new birth as a religious moment that nudges one to be nicer to earn a ticket to heaven. This is a new identity for those who are born from above. They would be a nation among the nations, a priesthood for all humanity, a distinct group, chosen by God. They needed not only to hear the blessing, but to experience it. Jesus sent them to the Upper Room where the Holy Spirit descended like fire and wind. He had promised to “pray the Father to send the Spirit.” As they were filled with the Spirit and empowered to be witnesses of Christ’s life, and his resurrection, they also knew that the coming of the Spirit was the confirmation that he had been received into heaven. There, he was accepted, inaugurated as the high priest of heaven’s tabernacle and enthroned with his Father (Acts 2:29-36). Millions, indeed, billions of believer-priests would serve from heaven, a veritable kingdom of priests, an extension of his priestly ministry. Though on the earth, their home was heaven, their heart with the Lord. Filled with the Spirit, they were now the visible agents of the invisible, resurrected Christ. His body on earth (Eph. 4). His family (Eph. 3:14-16; 2:19-22), a status of belonging. His temple (Eph. 2:21-22), hosting his presence. His bride (Eph. 5), in a covenant of love. His warrior people (Eph. 6), standing in the face of darkness, contending with the powers of evil. All of these are metaphors of the church, its different faces, from the book of Ephesians. Have you received the blessing Jesus meant for you? Have you drawn so close to Him that you have heard his whisper and felt His nearness? Psalm 145:18 says, “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Do you have a boldness that rises from an inner confidence that Jesus is alive, and sharing the throne in heaven with the Father? Do you believe that you are a part of glorious revolution for good in the earth, ‘a royal priest,’ a part of a new and ‘holy nation?’ You are blessed beyond your capacity to understand the enormity of what God has done for you and what He desires you to be and do! Ezekiel pictured the rebuilt temple as the source of a mighty river. He saw water coming from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (the temple faced east). The water flowed on the south side of the altar (Ez. 47:1). On the outside of the temple, “the water was trickling from the south side” (v. 2). This trickle intensified. Like the single river flowing into the garden of Eden, flowing out, it was four rivers. In the garden, it had multiplied to replenish, not merely the garden, but the earth (Gen. 2:10-14). So here, the temple is the new garden. On its east side, a thousand cubits [A cubit is roughly 18 inches; a royal cubit, 25 inches. Using the common cubit as a measure, a thousand cubits is then 1500 feet or (three feet per yard) 500 yards. That’s the length of five American football fields.] from the temple, the water was no longer a tickle. It was ankle deep (v. 3). A thousand cubits further, and the water was knee-deep. Another thousand (now three-thousand cubits from the temple), and the water was waist deep and still intensifying (v. 4). Yet, another thousand cubits (now four thousand cubits: 6000 feet, 2000 yards; the length of 20 American football fields or 1.1 miles), and “it was a river that I [Ezekiel] could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross (v. 5). On the banks were “a great number of trees on each side of the river” (v. 7). Entering the Dead Sea, the salty water became fresh. The Dead Sea came alive. It was resurrected (v. 8), restored to life. Ezekiel prophesied, “Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows… large numbers of fish… so where the river flows everything will live” (v. 9). He predicted, “Fishermen will stand along the shore… spreading nets. The fish will be… like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea… Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing” (v. 10-12). We are back in Eden, back in Psalm 1. This is an unstoppable river. But does it flow from a rebuilt temple constructed with human hands, and earthly materials? Or is it the river that Jesus predicted would flow from each of us? In John 7:38, Jesus declared, “He that believes in Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Not a river – but rivers. Like Eden, there was a stream that flowed in, and multiple streams that flowed out. What a vision! “From within him [the believer] shall flow rivers of living water.” The Amplified says, “He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, ‘From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.’”

May 29, 2026

The Relentless Love of God

After God scattered humans at Babel, he refused to give up on mankind. Given the disaster at Babel, He changed the way he would bless. He moved from the global – blessing all of humanity, as in Adam and Noah – and chose to use one family among all the families of the earth. He chose to use Abram as a bridge. Through him the earth’s families would be blessed (Gensis 12:1-3). Sadly, Abram’s family also failed to be the instrument of God’s blessing. They sealed up the blessing for themselves (Mt. 23:13). The ten northern tribes were scattered by Assyria. The two southern tribes were exiled to Babylon. When they returned, the prophets, like Isaiah, were hopeful. Isaiah predicted that the Spirit of the Lord would be poured out on all of them, and they would become a nation of priests, serving other nations (Isaiah 61:1-6). That had been God’s plan. But that transformation did not happen. Judah violated God’s boundaries by their pride and idolatry (Jeremiah 5:1-3; 17:1-10; Lamentations 11:5, 8, 18). In the opening verses of the New Testament, John the Baptist appeared and called the nation to repentance. He declared that “the ax would soon be laid to the root” (Matthew 3:10). Why? There was no fruit from the nation of Judah, he warned. No mission had been launched to the nations. No welcome was offered to Gentiles at the temple. The Court of the Gentiles had been commandeered for monetary exchange and the profitable sell of sacrificial animals at inflated prices. God was not pleased. John’s father, Zacharias, was an Aaronic priest who burned incense in the temple (Luke 1:8-12). John could have followed in his father’s footsteps, and he would have also been a temple priest. Instead, he broke from the institutional priesthood of Aaron, clothed himself in camel hair, went to the wilderness and survived on a diet of locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6). He preached a message of repentance to the nation, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 3:2). He called for the sons of Abraham to be baptized. Everyone, Jew and Gentile, needed to be cleansed. He picked up the theme of Isaiah – the offer of God to be a kingdom of priests was still on the table, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.” People streamed out to the desolate dessert to hear him “from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan” (Matthew 3:5). They confessed their sins and were baptized in the muddy Jordan river (Matthew 3:6). The Pharisees and lawyers also made the trip out into the wilderness, but only to skeptically observe – they did not venture into the baptismal waters (Luke 7:29-30). Jesus himself, rose from the baptismal waters, the Spirit descending on Him. He set an example of humility and consecration for us. The Spirit descended on him and the father spoke, and, following a time of prayer and further consecration, he launched a new priesthood of which John had been the forerunner. Jesus could not follow in the Aaronic order of priestly ministry. Instead, he picked up the fallen mantle of the priesthood of Melchizedek, a king and a priest, establishing a royal priesthood. Melchizedek had been king of Salem – the city of peace (Gen. 14:18; Heb. 7:1). And that was the goal of Jesus – peace and reconciliation. It was what the angels sang about at his birth, “Peace on earth, goodwill to men” (Lk. 2:14). That is a radical shift. Jesus, not of the tribe of Aaron, but rather of the tribe of Judah, did not qualify to be a temple priest. With his ministry, he launched a new priestly order. Aaron’s priesthood was that of class and kind, strict and institutional, and bound to the temple. The priesthood of Melchizedek was not institutional, but organic. It was free of the temple and the institutional rituals. This was God’s original invitation at Sinai. He wanted the whole nation to be “a kingdom of priests.” But they refused – so God instituted the Levitical priesthood (Exodus 19:6; 20:18-20; 29:1, 4-9; Leviticus 8). After the Babylonian captivity, God again extended the opportunity to the entire nation, to be “ministers of God” (Isaiah 61:6), a kingdom of priests. Everyone would be anointed to proclaim good news, to heal the broken-hearted and set the captives free (Isaiah 61:1-4). Judah again balked. They rejected the offer. Jesus, in calling his disciples, was again activating the priesthood of all believers. He called some directly. They connected him to yet others. Andrew, for example, brought his brother Peter. In Acts 2, these followers, both men and women were anointed as priests, not by men, but by God. The Holy Spirit came in the name of Jesus to complete through us the work of Jesus. Through our new priesthood, the people of God as a newly formed nation, a new creation, a new race of men are called to complete the mission given by Jesus. Israel at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19:6, 9, 16-19; 20:18-19), had backed away from the mountain. [The New Living Translation reads, “When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear” (Ex. 20:18). The ESV says, “they stood far off.” But the KJV version adds, “they removed, and stood afar off.” They backed away from the mountain, from an intense encounter with God. The Amplified echoes the KJV, “they trembled [and moved backward] and stood at a [safe] distance.” The Contemporary English Version reads simply, “They stood a long way off.” They put distance between themselves and God. Young’s literal said they ‘saw’ and ‘moved’ far away. They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us…” (v. 19). This is one of the saddest moments in scripture.] In contrast, these disciples fellowshipped with the fire and received the Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness resulting in a harvest of 3000 people from at least 15 nations. This was not only the first harvest. The converts at Pentecost represented the first international missionaries of the church. They came to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost, but they returned home with the news and evidence that Jesus was alive. They had witnessed a new Sinai where the fire fell, and God wrote His law on human hearts. The disciples we know, from history, divided up the world, and took the gospel to Asia Minor, Northern Africa, India, Russian and parts of Europe. All, but John, died as martyrs, witnesses, believing that as Christ rose from the dead, death would have no hold on them. For 300 years, the movement lasted. Every believer saw themselves as a priest. They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). In 100 A.D., 70 years after the resurrection, 30 years after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple – there were only 20-25,000 believers. All the apostles were dead, as were Paul, Timothy, Titus, John Mark and Luke, Silas and Barnabas, and James and Jude, brothers of Jesus. [The New Apostolic Epoch – God’s Determination to Have a Missional Praying People, by P. Douglas Small. Available from Project Pray Publications (www. projectpraypublications.org).] Yet, in 50 years, the number of Christians would virtually double to 40,000. By 180 A.D. the number first passed 100,000. Christians were in all the provinces of the Empire, in 23 of the 31 largest cities. By 197 AD every nation had a movement of Christianity, despite the blood of martyrs that still flowed. By 250, the number of Christians passed a million. In 310 A.D. after another episode of severe persecution, there were 20 million globally, 10 million in the Empire (out of an empire population of 60 million, a ratio of 1:6, 14% of the Empire’s population). Unbelievable! All this was after 10 imperial persecutions, each of which destroyed bishops, key leaders and pastors, their best minds, and their most stalwart examples. In a sea of paganism, with an illegal faith and worship that took place in secret, they grew – until the empire capitulated! Foreign armies were no match for Rome’s power, but this group of roaring lambs toppled the Empire. With no buildings or budget, few resources, virtually no favor from political powers, and with only a handful of untrained followers – the world was changed. Can it happen again? If so, how? These ordinary Christians fellowshipped with fire. In the daily flow of their lives, they carried the gospel wherever they lived and worked. And they were made to the world around them, salt and light. In cities without churches, two or three believers connected, creating an ecclesia [Ecclesia was a political term. Jesus could have used the term synagogue or temple, but instead he reached for this secular and political term. Under Roman law, as few as two or three Roman citizens could demand that Roman law be observed to the letter, that their rights be acknowledged. As an ecclesia, as small as two in number, they had the power to enforce the will of the Empire. Jesus utilized this term to describe his church – they were agents, if only two-or-three in number, who enforced the will of the Kingdom, who prayed, “Thy kingdom come.” Matthew 18:19-20 underscores the authority of the ecclesia, “Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there” (Message Bible).] – a miniature church. As these cells grew, they became a fellowship for personal encouragement and mission. They evolved, as new converts were added into ‘houses of prayer for the nations.’ Then into more formally organized churches, and they changed cities. Note the order: prayer – mission – church. Praying people: missional people; praying churches: missional churches. Today, we begin with churches, with buildings, with songs and a sermon, by attracting a crowd and then motivating them to engage in mission and pray for the effort to be successful. The New Testament order and that of the apostolic church places mission first, subordinated only to prayer. And prayer and mission gave birth to the church. The church does not do mission; mission does church. Our future is in our past, recovering the DNA of prayer and blessing at the intersection of mission. As division and darkness grow, we need unified, humble, praying people, deeply dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot reduce Christianity to a personal relationship with God through Christ. That is, we cannot privatize it. It is not merely being loved by God but becoming a loving, blessing Christian. The darkness is gathering. By its words and deeds, our nation is inviting and empowering evil. A generation has been mentored on Harry Potter and can’t distinguish between Wicca and Christianity. Allah and Yahweh are seen as equivalents. Discernment between right and wrong is so displaced that egregious immorality has become common and acceptable in the land. Biblical morals are seen as oppressive and regarded as hate speech. Only the Holy Spirit can awaken and revive such a culture. The Holy Spirit wants a partner. God desires to empower us as his visible instruments. Are you ready for the ride? Think of it, the church grew from 25,000 disciples around 100 A.D., to 20 million by 320 A.D. Then with Constantine, it all changed. The movement reverted from the priesthood of all believers to a designated and separated priesthood, an emerging professional clergy, a tiered arrangement. Buildings were donated to the cause, and soon, the structures themselves, not the people, were seen as the church. It was sacred space, not the people who were the carriers of His presence. Evangelism stalled. Over the centuries, the church grew corrupt. The monastic movement kept faith alive. Then came the Reformation. One of Luther’s hallmarks was the priesthood of all believers – but the Reformation did not bring complete reform. So here we are again. God is again calling us to a kingdom of priests – all of us. We are to stand between God and a lost world. We are to join Jesus in his intercession – He is interceding now! He wants no one to perish but all men to come to repentance and find grace (1 Peter 2:9). He wants to bless others through you. Will you let him do that? In a culture that has fundamentally turned from God, one where only 15 percent of the population is in church on any given Sunday, a professional clergy alone cannot be expected to induce and sustain national spiritual renewal. Will you obey God and step into your priestly role?

June 5, 2026

Navigating the Rapids of Life

Israel, the northern ten tribes are gone – scattered. And Judah, the southern tribe was exiled. The city of Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed. For 50 years, the city was virtually abandoned, until, in 535 A.D., when the first wave of exiles returned. By 516 A.D., they had a small temple, but it was in no way comparable to Solomon’s temple. Our story begins 90 years later, around 457-458A.D. Ezra, a priest, while reading and praying over the sacred scrolls in his possession, was moved to return to Jerusalem. The underlying question is this, “How could Babylon become comfortable to so many of the exiles?” And then we must ask, “Have we become comfortable in ‘Babylon,’ also living in a state of compromise?” And what is the solution? Ezra believed it was meditation in the Word of God. It was prayer over an open Bible. It was in refusing the ‘counsel of the world,’ as a substitute for God’s law. We too must make the break from Babylon. And navigate, from Psalm 1, through the laments of life, and pray to end up on our feet in praise – Psalm 150. When there is international strife without, full-blown rejection of God by nations, and there is disorder in our family circle – the devotional trajectory that we set is critical to walking in God’s blessing and not perishing. Without a life of prayer over an open Bible, we are empty, like chaff, driven about by the wind. We lack roots. We are fruitless. We wither in a spiritual summer. There is another way – it is the way of prayerful dependence on God. In 722 B.C., the Assyrians invaded Israel, the Northern Kingdom and took them captive. They never returned to the land. They are called the ten lost tribes. A century later, in 605 B.C., Babylon took the first captives from the Southern Kingdom, Judah. In 586 B.C., Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and the southern tribe was taken into captivity. In 535 B.C., a remnant returned to Judah, but many remained in Babylon. It had become home to them. In 558-557 B.C., almost a century after the first remnant returned, another group returned from Babylon to Jerusalem led by Ezra. Ezra is most likely the scribe-priest who collected the psalms and put them in order. He was among the exiles who were living in Babylon. For almost another hundred years (457-458 B.C.), they and their descendants were comfortable there. Then, Ezra, who was in the priestly line and had a copy of the sacred scrolls, was disturbed by something he read (Ezra 7:10). It changed his life. He altered his behavior, and he began to teach what God was revealing to him. The result was that many exiles could no longer be content to stay in Babylon. They wanted to go home, to a home they had never known – to Jerusalem. Ezra 8 tells the story of their journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. The succeeding chapters in Ezra reveal their impact on the city and the revival that followed with the open reading of God’s word in the public square, the repentance and the reordering of personal and family lives and the rebuilding of the walls of the city. This is how revival comes. One man, Ezra, in prayer, over the scrolls, the word of God, had his heart stirred until the change in him was evident in his behavior. As he shared what he had encountered over the open scrolls, a spontaneous movement was generated. Suddenly, a remnant previously comfortable in Babylon wanted to go home – to Jerusalem. Arriving there, their devotion, their generous offerings and sacrifices caused a stir at the temple (Ezra 8:31-36). That was followed by the confession of the elders. They were convicted by the example of this remnant, confessing that they lived compromised lives. Their sons had married the daughters of the pagans around them, and likewise, the daughters had married the sons of pagans and “the holy seed was mixed.” There was no longer a distinction between the godly and the ungodly (Ezra 9:1-2). Ezra pulled out his hair. He sat shocked by the confession. He prayed all day, until he sensed that God would grant “a little grace” (Ezra 9:3-8). Subsequently, there would be the open reading of God in the square, and the reordering of personal and family life (Ezra 10:1f). They would ‘tremble’ at the word of God. Eventually, Nehemiah would lead the rebuilding of the walls and the restoration of the city. Watch the progress. One man, Ezra, on his knees, over the open book – the scrolls, praying. God changing his life. Ezra 7:8-10. Others, seeing the change, deciding they cannot stay in Babylon any longer! Ezra 8. A stirring at the temple! Ezra 8:31-36. The confession of the elders – the acknowledgement of compromise. Ezra 9:1-2. One man again, desperate before God, asking for grace and for change in the whole community. Ezra 9:3f. The community gathered – weeping, repenting, evidencing conviction. Ezra 9:4f; 10:1f. A stirring in the city – changes in personal and family life. Ezra 10:2-6. The elders and the city-wide proclamation and call for confession. Ezra 10:7f, 18-19. One man, Nehemiah, with authority that Ezra, as a priest, did not have, and the restoration of the city and the rebuilding of its walls. Nehemiah 6:15. We must also determine to make the break from Babylon, from the world, and return to the Lord. He wants us to come home – to Him. That will demand sacrifice. It will demand changes in our personal lives, and family values and practices. It will not be an act, but a process. But such changes will bring God’s blessing. As noted earlier, Ezra most likely collected the psalms and put them in order. He also wrote Psalm 1. In it he gives us a wonderful picture of how the lost blessing is restored. He begins the psalm with a blessing and ends it with the word perish. This is choice we have – to live a blessed life, or to experience a languishing life, where true joy and peace are far too rare. One in which we perish spiritually. Psalm 1 as a torah psalm, calls for us to engage with the law of God – that is a call to discipline, to pay attention to the boundaries. Remember, in violating the boundaries, we lose the blessing. Looking at the end of the book, we discover that the last five psalms are those of total praise. This is how we are to end up! Blessed and blessing God, and so full of His presence that we can bless others. Hallelujah! Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him for His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet... Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Hallelujah! (Psalm 150). This is living in the overflow. It is the end of the blessed life. The first psalm challenges us to choose the right way - the way of blessing. Then, in Psalm 150, the last psalm, there is glorious victory and praise. However, in between, there are dozens of psalms that are called “psalms of lament.” They make up forty percent of all the psalms. These psalms are characterized by “Why God?” questions. They are tearful. They are at times frantic and despairing. They are not fluff. They are bare-knuckle desperate pleas that in the end recognize there is nowhere else to go besides God. So, despite the pain and the confusion, the writer turns to God with a kind of desperate trust. There is a pattern to these psalms. Some are psalms of order. Others of disorder. Still others of a new order. This is life. We move from a well ordered life, to times and places of disorder. We may feel abandoned by God. Then he leads us into a new place where our lives are reordered. Psalm 1 sets the trajectory for the entire book of psalms. It helps us see how we are to navigate through the laments of life and end on our feet in praise (Psalm 150). In Psalm 2, the nations are raging. In Psalm 3, we find Absalom, David’s son, in rebellion against him and his kingdom. He is trying to take his father’s position. So, with nations raging against God (Psalm 2) and family life exploding (Psalm 3) – how do you keep your balance and retain the blessing and keep from perishing? Ezra tells us, we must refuse to walk according to the counsel of the ungodly. Instead, we look for answers in the word of God. If we don’t, we will end up ‘standing’ in the way of sinners. Our progress stopped altogether. At a crossroads, without the counsel of God, we will take the wrong path! Soon, we are at a full stop, and we are sitting in the ‘seat of the scornful.’ Bitter, not blessed. Disillusioned, our faith is gone. We didn’t keep going by faith. We got the wrong advice and took the wrong path. Then, confused and disillusioned and angry, our progress was halted. We sat down – and quit. How many Christians do you know who have gotten unbiblical advice and taken the wrong road to end up bitter and confused? Has it ever happened to you? What is the remedy? You meditate on the law of Lord. You reject bad counsel and “delight in the law of the Lord; and think about it day and night” (Psalm 1:2). This is not duty, but delight. Not spinach, but God’s word as dessert. It is not a have to, but a want to. You are transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1-2). Notice Psalm 1, “And he will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” We are suddenly back in Eden, in paradise, where we find rivers and fruit trees. Psalm 1 is the way home. The way to a life of victory. “His leaf shall not wither,” this is an evergreen tree. No foliage is lost in the fall. It is green even in the winter. And it bears fruit. The only Middle Eastern tree that fits this description is the olive tree from which the sacred anointing oil is produced. The tree in Psalm 1 is planted, with roots, by a stream. It is a tree that defies the seasons and is green all year round. A tree that produces fruit – that prospers. This is a rich picture of the blessing of God. “The ungodly are not so.” They take the wrong path. They have no roots and become “like the chaff which the wind drives away.” They are carried about, this way and that, lacking any grounding. They “will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” In the end, those who take the wrong path, who listen to ungodly counsel, who get angry and bitter, will perish. “But the Lord knows the way of the righteous.” He is walking with you. He never leaves you – not even in seasons of disorder. He wants you to end up in Psalm 150. On your feet, praising Him.

June 12, 2026

The Nature of Jesus To Bless

Early in Matthew, we find Jesus giving what scholars call the ‘Sermon on the Mount.’ It is found in Matthew 5 – 7, in three chapters. In chapter 5, Jesus is offering blessings. Remember God, the Father, in Genesis also came blessing. Now His Son, Jesus comes, doing the same thing. This is a renewal of the blessing offered to Adam and Eve and all humanity. The offer of the blessing of God, the invitation to walk with Him, to experience the bliss of the garden was back on the table. It is the desire of God to bless. That is evident throughout the scripture. And it is the nature of Jesus to bless. And this should be our nature as followers of Christ, our practice, to bless others with the blessing of God’s grace and love that we have received. God loves – that is, His love flows outward. It is His nature – He cannot do otherwise. Paul said, “[W]e have been justified through faith, we have peace with God.” And we “have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” He enables us to “glory in our sufferings” because of the hope that is in us. And “because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:1-5). The word ‘poured out’ is ekcheo. One meaning is to gush out, to spill without restraint, to dump the whole bucket. This is not love that is given greedily but freely, abundantly. It is love that is bestowed on us so it can. As in Genesis, there were behavioral boundaries attached to the blessing (Gen. 2:17). So here, in Matthew, with every blessing, there is an attitude or action that enables or potentially cripples the blessing. Jesus is telling his followers how to qualify for these eight blessings. Altogether, there are nine blessings, with the eighth blessing repeated for emphasis. The 7th blessing, seven representing completeness, wholeness, even perfection, is the ministry of peacemaking. Every blessing prior to this is a prerequisite for the ministry of reconciliation. And what follows, persecution, doubled as blessing eight and nine, is the reaction of the world. That explosive and toxic reaction doesn’t change the nature of the blessing. What does the blessed life look like? Here it is. The blessed inherit the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 5:3). And while on the earth, they are comforted (Mt. 5: 4). They will also inherit the earth (Mt. 5:5). They will be spiritually full, satisfied, fulfilled, not hungry on the inside, unsettled, spiritually thirsty and empty (Mt. 5:6). They will obtain mercy (Mt. 5:7), and their purity of heart will enable them to see God (Mt. 5:8). Their role, their calling, is to be “peacemakers” (Mt. 5:9). And because they stand in the contested middle and advocate for peace and reconciliation, they are “called the children of God.” The calling will not be without resistance from the world. Despite their efforts at peace, they will experience persecution (Mt. 5:10). But knowing this world is not their home, they will have the assurance that “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” God promises to bless “when men revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” In such hostile moments, he calls for us to, “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad,” knowing that we have earned a great reward in heaven. And when we are being persecuted, we stand in the same class as the prophets which were before us (Mt. 5:11-12). That’s not bad company. We are blessed to bless others. But the blessing requires something of us. There are attitudes and actions that enable the blessing or inhibit it. For example, we must realize that we are paupers without God (Mt. 5:3). We have to develop the capacity to lament, to weep with others. This is empathy. It stands with people who are hurting and shows them love. It joins Jesus as he weeps over our city as he wept over Jerusalem (Mt. 5:4). We must learn to be meek, to control our strength, to be a “velvet covered brick.” Tough on the inside, but tender and gentle on the outside (Mt. 5:5). We can never lose our hunger and thirst for righteousness, for God’s justice in the earth (Mt. 5:6). And while we pine for justice and righteousness and abhor evil, we can’t lose our capacity to be merciful. We must learn to live in the tension between truth and love. We can neither let love muzzle truth nor let truth eclipse love (Mt. 5:7). In a dirty world, we must keep our own heart pure (Mt. 5:8). Only then can we fulfil our mission of being peacemakers and being known as the children of God (Mt. 5:9). It may mean persecution, just for standing up for right. But there is a blessing even in that (Mt. 5:10-12). We are to be salt and light, a city set on a hill. A candle in dark places – not hidden but glowing. Our good works glorify God (Mt. 5:13-16). We live by the law of love – that is a standard higher than the law. Christ did not come to destroy the law, he declared, but to fulfill it. How? By introducing a higher law – the law of love. Not “one jot or one tittle” – not a dot of an ‘i’ or the cross of a ‘t’ will pass from the law. A cavalier attitude toward spiritual discipline and godly standards, we are warned, could be ominous. “Whoever breaks one of the least commandments, and teaches others to do so, shall be the least in the kingdom… whoever does and teaches them, shall be called great…” Greatness in God’s eyes is living in grace above the grip of sin. Jesus was not finished. He declared, “[E]xcept your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Love then, is the higher standard. How can that be? What we have in Matthew 5 is a reinterpretation of the law, raised to an even higher standard, lived out in human lives only by the supernatural enablement of God’s grace. Here is the new standard, not law but love. Watch how Jesus reinterprets the law and elevates the standard. • Love refuses to take the life of another (Mt. 5:21). • It is not easily angered and embroiled in a toxic relationship (Mt. 5:22). • It repents quickly and keeps its heart right with God (5:23-24). • It attempts to reconcile quickly when a relationship is broken, even if the costs to repair the relationship are high (Mt. 5:26). • It does not commit adultery, love is faithful (Mt. 5:28). • It monitors self-behavior, guarding what it allows the eye to see and what it allows the hand to do. • It is not only self-aware, but ruthless with its own aberrant behavior – plucking out the eye, cutting off the hand, metaphors for extreme control over desires and deeds contrary to holiness (Mt. 5:29-30). • It fights for the family, even if unfaithfulness occurs (Mt. 5:31-32). • Love keeps its word, it honors any covenants made, any oaths taken. • It also avoids the trap of oaths, by being so honest that one’s word is his bond, a “Yes,” is believed, as is a “No!” (Mt. 5:33-37). • Such a person does not lie or bear false witness. He does not live by the law of revenge (Mt. 5:38) – an “eye for an eye.” • He does not react to violence, returning it, acting himself in the image of the aggressor. • He resists the temptation to behave like the sinner. He turns the other cheek instead (Mt. 5:39). • This is love in action – it is the restraining power of love, and that is greater than the law. It surrenders its coat and cloak to avoid a court battle (Mt. 5:40). • When legally compelled to go a mile, carrying some burden, as Roman soldiers could do, love goes two miles (Mt. 5:41). • It is always generous (Mt. 5:42). • Love is kind to both neighbors and enemies. • When relationships break down and become lethal, love chooses to return a blessing for a curse, good deeds for the active haters, and prayer for the spiteful and the persecutors. This behavior solidifies our identity as “the children of your Father which is in heaven.” He treats the unjust and the just with grace. He could withhold light and rain from the unrighteous, instead, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” So, we treat good men and bad men with grace and love. Because, as Jesus warns, “if ye love them that love you, what reward do you have? Even the publicans do that” (Mt. 5:43-47). This is a revolutionary view of the law – overlaid with the demands, the constraint of love. Love, it turns out, is the higher standard. In loving, all the law is fulfilled, not discarded. In the end, the goal is for us to be more like the Father. “Be ye therefore perfect (whole, healthy, holy), even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Mt. 5:48). This is a picture of the image of God, in which we were created, now restored. We look like God! We act like God. Wow! In Matthew 7, we have a train wreck. We have the profile of a stuck Christian life and a series of good and bad outcomes. We are warned about being quick to judge others when we are blind to our own shortcomings. We are too often like the brother with a log, literally, a stick of lumber in his eye, trying to improve the vision of one who has only a speck or a piece of dust in his eye (Mt. 7:3). In such a scenario, the whole world is blind. But the Christian with a beam in his eye seems unaware of his blindness. He focused on the vision problem of others. Unaware of his own distorted vision and perspective of others, he can be of no real help. Second, we also find a lack of discernment as pearls are offered to pigs (Mt. 7:6). We must learn how to read people, their openness, or their settled commitment to the unholy. The decidedly unholy are oblivious to the beauty of pearls – the gospel. Third, we discover a frustrated prayer life (Mt. 7:7-11). The bottom line seems to be a lack of understanding of the nature of God Himself, of His goodness. Prayer is possible, not due to our goodness, but due to God’s goodness. And out of prayer, our behavior is to be changed, so that “we do unto others as we would have them do to us” Such behavior is the ‘sum total of the demands of the law and the words of the prophets’ (Mt. 7:12). Yes, prayer is about asking, and knocking and receiving, but it is more – it must also be transformational. Fourth, there are only two ways on which people travel – a broad way and a narrow way. Few even find the narrow way (Mt. 7:13-14). Fifth, there will be false prophets among the true (7:15-16), but the righteous will discern their lack of fruit and their nature – thorn trees don’t bear grapes (Mt. 7:16). These prophets lack grace in their lives. Their lack of fruit will be evidence of their inner condition. Jesus is picturing the church as an orchard with trees that bear good fruit and trees that bear bad fruit (Mt. 7:16-20). Sixth, there are those who will know kingdom language, Christainese, but they will not be true disciples. They will say, “Lord, lord,” but they will not do God’s will. This is baffling, because they will prophesy, cast out devils and do miracles. But Christ will say to them, “I never knew you.” The meaning is this – ‘You and I were never really close, never intimate. You worked for me but never tried to get to know me.’ He continues, “You work iniquity.” That is, ‘You are lawless, a maverick, who never submitted, who never came under my hand. You did my work in your own way, for your glory.’ And then the judgement, “Depart from me.” Underneath, their life was undisciplined. They were lawless, failing to observe any boundaries. In the end, even their miraculous works could not save them. There is one more differentiating metaphor. There are two houses, one with a foundation and one without a foundation. They both look alike. It is what is hidden that differentiates them. So, we should have a hidden life of prayer and dependence on God, established on Christ the rock. With no prayer life, no spiritual discipline, no consistent devotional practices, no private worship and reading of the word, we are a house built on sand. Someday, a storm will come and take such people out. These are shocking comparisons. The bottom line in Matthew 7 is this: It is not what we say, but what we do that matters, and doing involves ‘doing the will of God.’ In Matthew 7, one’s walk and talk are contradictory. We have a picture of hypocrisy. In Matthew 5, we have the standard, the template that moves us from carnality to godliness. The Sermon on the Mount is the challenge to move from a life characterized by the chaos of Matthew 7 to the blessed life of Matthew 5, where we are growing to be like the Father. The key is found in the disciplines of Matthew 6. There, we are given three disciplines that can change our life – prayer (Mt. 6:5-14), fasting (Mt. 6:16-18) and giving (Mt. 6:2-4). Prayer draws us near to God. This is the discipline of seeking God. Fasting disciplines the flesh and helps us surrender to Him. Giving is how we serve God, how His grace flows through us – and that is not only about money. It is the way we bless others as well, giving them a kind word, showing love, offering prayer for them. It is also the call to travel light. Fulfilment is not in the toys and gadgets of this world. If you have something you can’t give away, you don’t own it. It owns you. In the section on prayer, we are given the model that Jesus taught us, the “Lord’s Prayer.” Around this model for daily prayer, we are given three disciplines. In a sense, they encompass the whole Christian life – 1) drawing near to God, through prayer, and solitude, and seeking God; 2) surrendering to Him through fasting, subordinating the most basic appetites to our desire to know Him and do His will; 3) and then giving, serving Him. This is how we give away His love, His grace, the blessing of God. The key in Matthew 6 is “Seek first the kingdom of God,” the reign, and rule of God, in our hearts, “And His righteousness” (Mt. 6:33). The goal, however, is not a better prayer life, or breaking some fasting record, or giving everything we own away. The goal is to know God, and to become increasingly like the Father as revealed in Christ, to be an instrument of his grace and love. The disciplines are the track that gets us to the place of knowing him (prayer), obeying him (fasting), and serving Him (giving). The disciplines help seek, surrender and serve as instruments of His kingdom work. And there is more. Something glorious happens to us. • Our bank account in heaven grows. Treasures accumulate there (Mt. 6:19-20). • Our whole body is characterized by light. The power of inner darkness is broken (Mt. 6:22-23). • We are able to deal with the two-master problem, of the inner back-and-forth (Mt.6:24). • We worry less about worldly and earthly needs – what we will eat and what we will wear (Mt. 6:25-31). • We stop striving and begin to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Mt. 6:32-33). • We focus on the present – this day. We live in the moment, not borrowing anxiety from tomorrow or carrying it over from the past (Mt. 6:34).

June 19, 2026

Living a Life of Blessing

The old prophet Simeon blessed the Christ child in the temple saying, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel” (Lk. 2:34). He was right. When Jesus came, he was not only dedicated as a child by his parents in the temple, but he was also blessed by prophetic hands. He would live in the blessing. This was no chance encounter, it was divinely orchestrated. The Bible says Simeon “was righteous and devout” and he looked “forward to the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:35). The scriptures declare, “The Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:25-26). He did not casually amble into the temple, “He came by the Spirit into the temple.” There, he encountered Joseph and Mary who “brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law” – the dedication and consecration of their first-born child. Simeon took Jesus, the infant, in his own arms, “and blessed God,” and then he said, “Now, Lord, You are letting Your bond-servant depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all the peoples: a light for revelation for the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32). Joseph and Mary “were amazed at the things which were being said about him” (Luke 2:33). Simeon then “blessed them and said to His mother Mary, ‘Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and as a sign to be opposed – and a sword will pierce your own soul…’” (Luke 2:34-35). Indeed. Also, in the temple that day was “a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years,” actually, she was 84. She had been married for seven years, but her husband died, and she had continued to live as a widow. She gave herself to ministry and “did not leave the temple grounds, serving night and day with fasting and prayers” (Luke 2:36-37). As Simeon was blessing Jesus, the Christ child, and his parents, “at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God and continued to speak about him [Jesus] to all those who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” These two encounters were no coincidence. They demonstrated God’s divine orchestration of the life of Christ. That confirmed that he was blessed to be a blessing. Through him, the full impact of God’s goodness would be seen. Here is the good news. He also orders our steps (Psalm 37:23; 119:133). From the time you were conceived, God has had his hand on your life, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psa. 139:13-14). The psalmist added, “I know that full well.” But do you? Do you know that God’s hand is upon you? What are the odds that Simeon would be in the temple at the time Jesus was being consecrated and that Anna would intersect with them simultaneously? God orders our steps (Psa. 37:23; Proverbs 16:9). You will have similar moments that you know cannot be a coincidence, when God thrust someone in your path that needs a word of blessing. Returning to Nazareth, Joseph and Mary watched as “the Child continued to grow and to become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him” (Luke 2:40). The blessing of God was on his life. Blessed, Jesus’ ministry was one of blessing. He blessed adults and children, Jews and Gentiles, soldiers and tax collectors. He healed the blind and the lame, set captives free by deliverance. And when he left the earth, the last thing he did was to lift his hands in a priestly manner and pronounce a blessing! In fact, he was taken up into heaven, blessing! Perhaps, he is still blessing, from heaven. His ministry is framed with this desire of God to bless humanity. Even in the Revelation, the blessing continues. As the anti-Christ rises, the false prophet speaks lies, and the dragon rages – we find seven blessings from the early chapters of the Revelation to the latter chapters. God’s blessings never stop. • In Revelation 1:3, there is a blessing for simply reading the book of Revelation, hearing its words and keeping its contents in our hearts knowing the time of the end is near. • In Revelation 14:13, a voice from heaven pronounces a blessing on those “die in the Lord from now on!” From a certain point on the eschatological continuum. They will “rest from their labors.” • In Revelation 16:15, there is a blessing for the one “who stays awake” and retrains his holiness at the time of the coming of the Lord. . • In Revelation 19:9, there is a blessing for those “who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” • In Revelation 20:6, there is a blessing for the “one who has a part in the first resurrection.” The “second death has no power” over them, and “they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” Quite a blessing. • In Revelation 22:7, there is a blessing for “the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book,” the Revelation. No other book offers such a blessing. • In Revelation 22:14, we have the final blessing for “those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life, and may enter the city by the gates.” We are back in Eden at the tree of life. No longer a garden, Eden has become a city. The blessing of God settles on godly people during the earth’s greatest time of judgment and woe. His blessing overrides the dark shadow cast by Satan’s final hour on the stage of time. Nothing can stop God’s blessing. J. Gerald Janzen declared that “the divinely intended governing principle is the power of blessing.”16 That’s quite an assertion. As we have noted earlier, Janzen says, Genesis 1 and 2 shows the world and humans in it, as living in “a place of blessing and fruitfulness.” The garden is “a picture of the total blessedness of creation.” The redemptive process, he asserts, “is the counteract the workings of evil in the world and to restore the world to it divinely intended blessedness.”17 In Abraham, God picks up the theme of blessing, which was articulated to Adam, and offered again through Noah. Abraham took the offer seriously. The redemption of humanity gets a fresh start with God’s covenant with Abraham. It is “a journey in blessing from a single person to all the families of the earth.”18 From a man with a barren wife, to son and grandson, and great grandfather to a dozen sons of Jacob, the blessing spread. The goal was the creation of a community, a family, “called to serve the well-being of all human communities, by becoming the kind of community they would all like to become” (cf. Dt. 4:5-8). Blessing is well-being or to use the Biblical word – shalom (peace). That’s more than the absence of conflict. That’s a sense of wholeness, health, and yes, of holiness. It is a place of inner congruence made possible because one has, by grace, make peace with very nature of God. Today, Jews greet one another with the word shalom. “Seek peace and pursue it” (Ps. 34:14) is urged on them by scripture. From the chaos that streams from the sin in the garden, from which man was expelled, redemption is a journey to recover paradise, to restore peace. Christians too, should be people who bless – who greet one another, and others with the invitation to know the peace of God, to be reconciled to God. Israel’s Biblical capital, Jerusalem, has embedded in its name – peace. It is the fortress (Jebus) of peace (Salem: shalom). We call people, the Bible declares, to the Jerusalem above (Gal. 4:6) where they can find freedom and know the peace of God. Jesus is now the ‘prince of peace’ (Isa. 9:6) in the heavenly Jerusalem. At his birth, the angels declared, “Peace on earth, good will to men” (Lk. 2:14). This was his purpose in coming – peace. To bring heaven to earth. He called his followers, that’s you and me, to be peacemakers (Mt. 5:9). Among his last words to his disciples were these, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (Jn. 14:27). The biblical vision is for a reconciled world in which, “Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other” (Ps. 85:10). He spoke with grace. He spoke blessings over the lives of people. Have you ever spoken a blessing over someone? Blessing others is more than saying a set of words, but that is a part of what God is calling us to do. This may be a bit over-the-top for you, but God wants you to prophecy. According to Paul, that means that you speak words of comfort, or edification to build up and encourage another person. And words of exhortation are spoken to urge another person onward, to incite action, or to appeal to them. And this is done by you as you yield to the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 14:2). It is His message to a friend; you deliver the mail. God wants to talk to people. He wants to bless them. He needs someone to be His voice. God also calls us to live lives of blessing. Blessing is a matter of being, and doing, not merely a set of sounds. That means that the blessing God must reorder our lives in order for us to more authentically pass on the blessing of God. Isaiah 50:4 expresses God’s desire. “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He awakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.” Indeed. This is why morning prayer is not an option but a necessity. It prepares you for your day. God knows the steps you will take, the people you will meet, the needs they will have, and His desire is to load you up, to be and speak His blessing of others.

June 26, 2026

The Way of Blessing

Henri Nouwen noted, “The blessed cannot help but bless others.” He continued, “It is remarkable how easy it is to bless others when you are in touch with your own blessedness.” God offers a supernatural blessing to and through those who bless others. We do not do this on our own or out of our goodness. We are blessed. And if we have received the blessing, it changes us. And it changes others through us. Christianity: A New Way Of Life: The Way Of Blessing We are being called into a new way of life – it is the way of blessing. This is not the life lived by the average American Christian. Living the way of blessing demands a new rhythm of life that makes space for God and sacred time with Him – a Sabbath. We need to live in the peace of God, in the rest of God, and from that peace, we work as peacemakers. We can’t work in a frenzied state as the world works, but in measured way that creates space for God in the daily grind of life. Did you ever notice, Jesus never seemed to be in a hurry. IDEA ONE: Christianity is a completely different way to live. We do not merely clean up our lives morally change our language and few bad habits, but still continue to live essentially the same as the unredeemed around us. Christianity is transformational. We become new creatures, distinctly different than the world, living lives of inner peace, measured and disciplined lives in a new rhythm that makes space for God. We are not only to live in the rest and peace of God, but also in the love of God. It is in knowing, with certainty, that God loves us, that peace and rest are enabled in our lives. Being nurtured by God’s love and His compassion for us, we nurture others. It is the only way – we need divine love, given and received to pass along to others. Hearing the word of God, and knowing God as the Word, His word burns in our heart. As we receive God’s word, we cannot help but share the good news. If we don’t share, we haven’t heard. As we speak God’s word, it changes both us and others. Psalm 107:20 declares, “He [God] sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.” This is the power of God’s speech, echoed by us. IDEA TWO: Christianity experiences and expresses God’s love for others, hearing, knowing and speaking God’s healing, lifegiving Word. Silence is not acceptable. The Word Made Flesh Let’s take a moment and consider the Word that became flesh. Here is the divine Word made audible and visible. It is the divine Word clearly seen by the actions and attitudes, the disposition of Jesus toward others. That same Word is to be alive in us and in the words that we speak, the behaviors we manifest. It’s shocking-God, the Word, became flesh. God, in Christ, was among us- living, eating, breathing, speaking, laughing. We must pray that again, that God’s word will be among men, revealed in us and through us. God was manifest in human flesh, and that is a model for us, “Christ, in us, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). God was not silent in Christ; how can we be silent? He revealed the Father with both his life and his lips. IDEA THREE: Christianity is divinity pressed into human flesh. It is God manifest through the man Jesus – and through us. We are the second, and lesser, incarnation, by the indwelling Holy Spirit. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5). What a passage. The Word was life and light – and it overcomes the darkness. John was a witness to Christ, as we are to be. John 1:7, declared, “He [John] came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe.” John declared that Jesus, the Christ, was “the true Light… who gives light to everyone” (John 1:9). IDEA FOUR: We too are witnesses for Christ, bearers of the light in which there is life, offering a testimony that men might believe. “He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God” (John 1:10-13). Receiving The Word There is one key word worth considering before we move on – the term ‘receive.’ The light shone in the darkness, but some did not receive it. Jesus came to His own, but they did not receive him. “[A]s many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). We must not only believe but also receive. And here is the problem, “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). IDEA FIVE: Those to whom we witness must not only hear the words of the gospel, they must also receive them, deeply grasping them. That is true faith, true belief. It is a work of the Holy Spirit. Let’s pause for a moment. The language of Paul is clear, “the natural man,” because of his nature, is prevented from receiving the things of God. He cannot grasp them. The parable of Jesus is helpful here. He suggests four difficulties in receiving the gospel seed. There is the heart that is hard and stony. Another with inner weeds that are too thick and thorny to allow the gospel seed to survive. We also find birds, the demonic powers that surveil the unredeemed, that prevent the seed from even reaching the heart. Finally, there is condition of the inner ground of the heart that is good and ready to receive the seed of the gospel, bringing forth a hundred-fold, some sixty-fold and other ground, thirty-fold. Is the soil of your heart good, yielding rich returns? Or poor and not ready to receive the seed or replicate it? (Mt. 13:1-23) Only the Holy Spirit illuminating the ‘word’ of God can soften a hard heart and free a cluttered mind for the gospel. IDEA SIX: It is the state of the resistant heart that prevents true salvation. The unbeliever can’t receive the seed of the word because of the condition in which he lives – the birds (demonic influence and surveillance), a hard heart, a weedy and thorny heart, or poor soil. A supernatural work is necessary in his heart. One can give mental assent without receiving unto salvation, unto transformation – the word of God. The Greek word for receive is dechomai. It means, not only to receive, but to welcome, and to fully accept. It is the idea of embracing the word, the gospel, and by extension, Christ himself. It is a verb, an action word. It means to take something, exclaiming, “It’s mine!” The truth has been owned; it has been received in a welcoming (receptive) way. One of the primary New Testament uses of this term receive, (dechomai) is people welcoming God into their lives resulting in their salvation (1 Thess. 2:13). Their mind is renewed and their life is transformed (Rom. 12:2). They adopt God’s way of thinking and seeing the world (Eph 6:17). This is not a cool and guarded reception of the gospel and Christ, but a ‘warm welcome, a ready reception. IDEA SEVEN: The reception of the seed of the gospel is not passive. It must be received, accepted, owned. God must be welcomed for a life to be transformed. Cool, get-out-of-trouble salvations are far too self-interested to last. Hot, Christ-focused salvations, get us out of trouble, and launch a life-time journey of gratitude to God, driven by grace, decorated with the reality of knowing God and being profoundly changed. Receiving In Order To Know A worldly and fleshly orientation sees Biblical ideas as foolishness, as irrational, as silly if not stupid. You may meet this viewpoint in friends and acquaintances as you engage them in a good news encounter. Don’t be offended. Such people cannot believe, because they won’t receive. Bluntly, here is the inverse, they don’t receive because they don’t want to believe (1 Cor. 2:14). They may understand the gospel rationally, propositionally, but to believe that the gospel is true would be to concede that it had a claim on one’s life. To receive Christ, one must adopt, by grace, the ways of Christ. Not accepting that truth, they cannot know Christ – He is truth. He is more than intellectual truth – he is truth that trues, that changes, that straightens. Therefore, they cannot know the salvation offered. To receive Christ would abruptly change the course of their life, and to believe it would end self-indulgence. Believe, receive and know – note the order. Biblical principles or ideas are foreign to those the Bible calls fools (It is better that you and I do not use that term!). Such people think they can reverse the process – they want to know, before they believe and receive. They doubt the intrinsic value of the Christian life. They see it as inferior to a self-directed, world-aware, sensate life. It is too narrow and restrictive. Their approach is purely left-brained and analytical. The deeper things of God are not understood by mental acuity, they are ‘spiritually discerned.’ The worldly Christian, so-called, wants to weigh their options. They are not focused on Christ and the cross, but purely on the benefits of being a Christian. They want self to live and not die. Only the Holy Spirit can open such a heart. Pray and give them time. Keep the bridge of love in place. Respect them but graciously challenge their views. IDEA EIGHT: The person gripped by the world and under the control of the flesh wants to stay in charge. They want to know how a change of course would benefit them. The desire for control is a pride issue. The unwillingness to surrender is an issue of trust. They resist faith and depend on their own logic and analysis. They are attempt to believe with their head, not their heart. The word know in 1 Corinthians 2:14 is ginóskó. The verb carries the meaning (Strongs) of giving permission to an idea or entertaining a notion. In knowing, the will surrenders. It bends to understand and believe. It then recognizes truth. It perceives, creating an ‘aha’ moment. Discernment and insight follow. The natural man cannot allow the gospel to be true – it would be too disruptive, too disordering of his preferred lifestyle. Paul, writing to the Romans argued, “[W]hat may be known about God is plain… God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.” IDEA NINE: The flesh-dominated individual does not want to know. If Jesus were God, the Messiah, and the Bible true, his preferred self-indulgent lifestyle would be finished. Though God’s existence is obvious, this person chooses spiritual blindness. Evangelizing him is a work only the Holy Spirit can do with a great deal of patience from us.

July 3, 2026

The Way:
The Wise Tongue

Creation witnesses to the existence of God. It reveals His power. It gives us clues to His nature. This witness of Creation “is clearly seen” leaving men “without excuse.” But men, due to the orientation of their heart, “knew God,” but withheld worship and gratitude. The result is the closing out the obvious truth about God’s existence. It is useless and pointless thinking, leading to a dark heart, one where the lights have gone out. Paul describes these people as “darkened in their foolish hearts.” Still, “they claim to be wise.” Proud and self-assured, they “became fools…God gave them over [he released them] in the desires of their hearts to impurity” (Rom. 1:19-24). The commitment to impurity and ungodliness intensified their blindness to the obvious truth. They will not acknowledge that they are thinking and living as fools, supposing themselves to be wise. They are deluded. Blind. This is stark language. IDEA TEN: When a person closes their heart to obvious truth, their heart-lights go out. Inner guidance is diminished. They live in and love the darkness. They don’t hear God. They have muzzled their conscience. They are self-deluded, elevating themselves as wiser than others. Committed to impurity, practiced privately or publicly, they are fools. Only the Holy Spirit can help us reach them. We must pray. When God ‘gives a person over,’ it is not the end of His love. Like the Prodigal’s father, He knows that only when the son (or daughter) reaches the end of their rope and ‘comes to themselves, to their senses’ (Luke 15:17), will they have a window of godly reason, and hear the call of God’s grace to come home. The Biblical language implies that such people are ‘under a spell,’ not themselves, no longer clearheaded. “The god of this world has blinded their minds” (2 Cor. 4:4). Every salvation is therefore an act of spiritual warfare. You, with the partnership of the Holy Spirit and the Word, “save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). IDEA ELEVEN: The salvation of those who are spiritually blind is possible. It is an act of spiritual warfare in partnership with the Holy Spirit. It rises out of prayer, emphasizing the irreplaceable role of intercession and its connection to the Holy Spirit’s action in the life of the unbeliever. Gospel engagement with such people cannot be accomplished merely by the presentation of propositional truth. Some of our friends are clearly ‘under a spell,’ unknowingly. They have closed their eyes to the obvious truth and their heart-lights have gone out. That is why a rational appeal to them is inadequate. God has let them run through the barricades toward destruction – what else could He do? What can we do? Pray that God will break the spell and the Holy Spirit will remove their blinders. That they will wake up to God, and come home. The word know (ginóskó) in 1 Cor. 2:14, also carries the meaning of ‘feeling.’ As in Romans, the unbeliever is past ‘feeling’ without being aware of it. He cannot resolve the incongruence between Biblical ideas and the worldview he prefers. A world created by God is unacceptable. It demands deference to God, an acknowledgement he is unwilling to grant. This is not merely a conscious and rational problem. It is not more information that he needs. He needs ‘supernatural perception’ orchestrated only by the Holy Spirit. Our role is continuing prayer, until God illuminates his mind and opens the door of his heart. He must ‘come to himself.’ The spell has to be broken. All we can do is pray and wait and watch like the prodigal’s father, ready to welcome the lost child with open arms, leading with love. IDEA TWELVE: There are some of our friends who are hostile to the gospel, ‘past feeling,’ under a spell. They are running the red lights. Reason cannot reach them. Their salvation is a matter of prayer and patience. In the end, love will be more compelling and humbling to them than truth – they already know the truth. Paul says to the Thessalonians, “You received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which [now, because you did so] also effectively works in you who believe” (1 Thess. 2:13: Italics for emphasis). Salvation does not occur with superficial, merely cognitive belief. It demands a radical embrace, the welcoming and receiving of the gospel. Only then does truth effectively do its work. IDEA THIRTEEN: The word of God, the truth, must not only be heard, but it must also be welcomed, received, radically embraced. This is deep belief that allows the word of God, the truth to do an effective work of transformation. The superficial acknowledgement of gospel facts does not bring change; it is only mental assent, without a full welcome and embrace of Christ or his truth. Receiving it as the word of God, as divine truth, places us in the subordinate and surrendered posture. We no longer have the good news, it has us. “Unrighteous deception” characterizes “those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thess. 2:10). Again, it is not a matter of merely believing, but also of receiving. Here, deception is driven by unrighteousness. This is self-deception. It is the unwillingness to change, to embrace holiness and righteousness, and that assures continuing deception. One can claim salvation, without surrendering, without crucifying the flesh. They are cultural Christians. Superficially committed to Christ while continuing to practice sin. Such people have eyes, but they can’t see. They have ears, but they can’t hear. Their heart is hard and closed to the gospel. Only the work of the Holy Spirit can break the grip of such deception. IDEA FOURTEEN: One can hold the gospel and pretend salvation without full surrender. Full surrender, the radical reception of the gospel, forces out unrighteousness. And unrighteousness is deadly in its capacity to deceive. The gospel is sobering. It breaks the power of deception, showing us our true inner self. A true Christian, beholding themselves in the mirror of God’s word, cannot be self-deceived. A SPIRITUAL ENCOUNTER Again, this cannot be overemphasized as we emerge from an age of rationalism that has so impacted both evangelism and our understanding of Biblical salvation. It is more than a rational presentation – it is a spiritual encounter. In any evangelism encounter, there is more than the witnessing believer and the unchurched unbeliever present in the moment. God is there, by the Holy Spirit – and if He is absent, there can be no salvation. And His presence cannot be assumed; it must be recognized. Angels are watching. The invitation to know Christ is a holy and critical point in time. In the salvation moment, Paul says the gospel is ‘spiritually discerned.’ The Greek for discerned is anakrinó. It means to examine or to investigate. It means a long and hard look at the demands of the gospel, and cost of following Christ. It can mean to question and to judge. God is not afraid of honest questions. The term is from ana and krino. Krino means to scrutinize, interrogate, to discern and to make a determination. Ana means up and down. It implies our completing the process of deciding by separating the facts and reaching a conclusion. We properly distinguish by vigorously judging “up and down, and down to up.” We ‘closely’ examine through “careful study, evaluation and judgment.” This is not a quick and superficial act. It is studied, weighed and carefully considered. It is a life-altering decision. Wow. IDEA FIFTEEN: The Holy Spirit orchestrates our salvation – our conviction of sin, our being convinced of God’s righteousness, our being justified and freed from judgement (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit effects our regeneration (new birth) and sanctification. He fills us with himself. The Holy Spirit helps us move beyond mere rational objectively to ‘spiritual discernment,’ where we distinguish sin and righteousness, seeing the world in a different manner. We see things with different eyes, illuminated by the Spirit. As we pray and offer a witness, the Holy Spirit quietly works in a closed heart, offering a radically different way of seeing self and the world. Questions and misgivings are common. The Holy Spirit presses the case for Christ in a manner that is impossible for us to do. He unlocks the closed heart in response to earnest faith. The individual then not only hears the gospel but ‘receives’ it, and ‘knows’ for certain that God is being revealed to them (1 Cor. 2:14). He helps the person spiritually discern. IDEA SIXTEEN: With some lost friends, we can only pray and offer the witness of our lives, our godly presence around them, giving the Holy Spirit the opportunity to work in their closed hearts. At times, their misgivings surface, and questions are voiced. We look for times when their hearts are open, even if only slightly, to hear the gospel, praying that they receive it and ‘know’ the certainty of God’s love and truth. That they will taste the liberating power of the gospel. THE MOUTH OF THE GODLY There are dominant voices the unbeliever hears. Human voices, and at times, that of the Holy Spirit. There are the deceptive whisperings of the serpent. His voice is predictably deceptive – urging us to be self-interested, to doubt God, to disbelieve the stated consequences of sin. It suggests that we act boldly and independently in the face of God. That we rebel against Him and violate His standards, arrogantly breaking His laws. That we dare Him to act and challenge Him as impotent or treat Him as non-existent. At times, even as believers, we echo these whispers – doubting, disbelieving the toxic nature of sin, dismissing its consequences, dancing over the line of righteousness, testing God. Satan’s tactics are predictable as are sin’s consequences, but the problem with deception is that it is deceptive. We take the first step, and suddenly we are pulled into the undertow. The role of the Holy Spirit is predictable as well – he comforts but also convicts. He is, to us, as is the Father, as is Christ, both love and truth with power. We are the ones with unpredictable voices, at times echoing the deceptive whispers of hell, and at other times, speaking the language of faith and hope. The problem is that what we say affects others. Even our self-talk can be toxic, and it can leak into verbal speech before others. For this reason, we must guard our speech, not only for our own health, but for the sake of those we might influence – either as bold and steadfast believers or as those who wobble in their faith and run both hot and cold. James 3:10 warns us about ‘blessing and cursing coming from the same mouth.’ God hears “every careless word that people speak.” (Mt. 12:36). He reads our thoughts. Proverbs 10:31 declares, “The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice” (Prov. 12:14 NLT). Wisdom is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit. So ‘the mouth of the godly’ is an instrument of the Holy Spirit ‘giving wise advice.’ May that be me and you! IDEA SEVENTEEN: Unbelievers need a clear and consistent witness from us, one that speaks both love and truth. Our wobbling, our lukewarm state, could be keeping our uncommitted friends from believing, our lives being not much different than theirs. Blessings and curses should not proceed from us. We should be predictable, disciplined in our speech. We should reflect in our lives and with our lips the predictability of the Holy Spirit and not the deception of the serpent. The difficulty in evangelism is not always the hardness of the sinner, but the bad behavior of the saint. Proverbs 15:4 presents a similar thought, “Wise words bring many benefits” (Prov. 15:2 ESV). We might say, ‘words inspired by the Spirit and graciously spoken by us are loaded with godly benefits.’ Wow. The word for benefits is yatab, which can mean to make one well. It can mean to mend or make better, to make one sound or beautiful again. And to make one successful and happy. Language then is either deadly or lifegiving, worthless or wise. IDEA EIGHTEEN: Here is the power of words. Words as wisdom, words that heal and edify or the inverse, words that wound. We are to speak words that are wise, “loaded with godly benefits.” That may feel to us inauthentic. Why? Because of the dissenting voice within, the echo, the whispers of the serpent. They need to be dismissed, so that with conviction, we can become the voice of the Spirit. And by grace, we can become the example unbelieving friends need to see. THE LANGUAGE OF LIFE “A gentle tongue is a tree of life” (Prov. 15:4 ESV). We are back now in the garden of Eden. Other translations call this a “soothing tongue” (NIV). The KJV calls this “a wholesome tongue.” The Legacy Bible is simpler, “a tongue that brings healing is a tree of life.” The Amplified expands the idea, “a soothing tongue [speaking words that build up and encourage] is a tree of life.” The Christian Standard Bible calls this “the tongue that heals.” A few translations read “a healed tongue” emphasizing the transformation of the one who speaks. IDEA NINTEEN: We are to speak the language of life. Soothing words. Bringing healing – the language of mediation, of reconciliation. Proverbs 15:1 reminds us, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Gentle is rak, meaning tender, soft, delicate, even weak or we might say vulnerable. There is the opposite of attempting to meet power with power, or aggressive speech with equally aggressive speech. On the contrary, our speech is to be measured, guarded and refined, thoughtful and gracious. It uses wisdom, coming against anger in the opposite spirit. Coming against hate with love; unforgiveness and revenge, with grace. What is needed is the “tongue of the wise [that] commends knowledge,” not “the mouth of the fool [that] spouts folly” (Prov. 15:2). God is watching our response to others, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, observing the evil and the good” (Prov. 15:3). James 1:26 (NLT) asserts, “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.” IDEA TWENTY: We are to speak in a manner that is gentle and intended to diffuse hostility. The tone of our speech is to be soft. The choice of words are thoughtful and at times decidedly delicate, diplomatic, tactful, refined. These are words, that like a surgeon’s scalpel – even if they momentarily hurt, are in the end, meant to heal. THE BIBLICAL STANDARD OF SPEECH Paul, writing to the Ephesians (4:29) urged, “Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.” In Colossians 4:6 he advised, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Jesus gives us a solemn warning, “I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words, you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mt. 12:36-37). Pretty sobering. IDEA TWENTY-ONE: Our speech is to be pure, helpful and healthy, godly and edifying, always gracious. That is a tall order. But remember, we will give an account for every careless word we have uttered. Nothing is more telling about our true Christianity and spiritual discipline than our speech. James 1:19, the brother of Jesus and bishop of the Jerusalem Church wrote, “My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” Proverbs 10:19, “Wen words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” And note Proverbs 12:18, “Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” We are reminded again of the power of speech in Proverbs 18:21, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” In Proverbs 21:23 we read, “He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.” Ecclesiastes 10:12-14 says, “The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him. The beginning of his talk is folly, and the end of his speech is evil madness. Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming, and who can tell him what will come after him?” IDEA TWENTY-TWO: Our words are to be carefully chosen, monitored, guarded in terms of their potential impact. We have little respect for the idea of the discipline of silence. The scriptures speak of a Christianity that has a guarded mouth, the does not speak incessantly. A faith practice that has learned to restrain the tongue. It speaks less than its unredeemed neighbor and when it speaks, it is a tongue of life, and of wisdom. Could modern Christianity learn such discipline? There are so many passages that shout to us about our speech, “The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice” (Psalm 37:30). The psalmist declares what we all should say, “My mouth will impart wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding” (Psalm 49:3). If you guard your mouth and monitor your speech, you will protect your life, “but the one who opens his lips [mouth] invites his own ruin” (Proverbs 13:3). IDEA TWENTY-THREE: We protect our life and our credibility by the discipline of silence. When we speak, we impart wisdom with our words, guarding our language, and choosing the right moment to speak. We can get hung by our own words. We are ruined by undisciplined, unguarded speech. This is a life and death matter. DEALING WITH THE FOOL Because of this, we are advised to “stay away from a foolish man.” We will, the Bible says, “gain no knowledge from his speech” (Prov. 14:7). Avoid him. In contrast, “The heart of the wise man instructs his mouth and adds persuasiveness to his lips” (Prov. 16:23). IDEA TWENTY-FOUR: We are to be discerning of those who are closed to the gospel and those who are open. We can, by grace, be persuasive in our presentation of the gospel, out of wise heart. However, some people cannot be persuaded in their present state. We are instructed to avoid them. We can only pray for them. The Bible highlights the destructive power of speech, particularly foolish speech. In scripture, a fool is not someone who lacks intelligence. He does not need more information. Immorality, not the lack of knowledge, is the marker for foolishness in Scripture. The fool is immoral and deficient spiritually. Why? He has rejected God’s wisdom (Psalm 14:1). As a result, his speech is careless, reckless and lacking in sensitivity or understanding. It leads to chaos and damage to others. IDEA TWENTY-FIVE: We can discern the spiritually foolish by their speech. The problem in their resistance to the gospel is not their lack of knowledge, but their commitment to sin patterns. Pray. Only the Holy Spirit can break through such bondage. In ancient Israel, speech was a primary reflection of character and an indicator of the depth and sincerity of one’s relationship with God. The fool’s mouth is at times like a fountain, a gushing of words, suggesting a lack of control and personal discipline. It is a fountain that cannot be stopped (James 3:5-6). Such people never seem to be able to be quiet. James reminds us that our tongue is also like a rudder on a ship. Compared to the vessel, it is small, but it turns the massive ship. So, our tongue, our speech, turns us. It turns the direction of groups, even nations. This small part of the body can cause great destruction. We are warned against careless and reckless words. IDEA TWENTY-SIX: In a free-speech culture, the right to speak is overrated, and the value of restraint and silence is ignored. The nature of the secular culture around us also affects the church. Our mouths too are like fountains. Words steer our lives; they control our destiny. They are revelations of our heart’s orientation. What we think, we say, and we say, we do. We talk ourselves into things – both godly and ungodly. We follow the crowd and conform to its norms. Our character is revealed in our speech. And speech drives action. With it, we are revealed as foolish or wise. And there is more: • “The tongue of the wise uses knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools pours out foolishness” Prov. 15:2. • “A prudent man conceals knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.” Proverbs 12:23. • “Every prudent man deals with knowledge: but a fool lays open his folly” Proverbs 13:16. • “Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, does hear?” Psalm 59:7. THE POWER OF SPEECH “A man has joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!” (Proverbs 15:23, 28). This passage is telling. In Psalm 59:7, the tongue is like a sword – it destroys lives, it cleaves. Words start wars. James says, the tongue starts fires (James 3:6). Speech is powerful. Lifegiving or deadly. IDEA TWENTY-SEVEN: Your speech is a monitor of your emotions – sadness and joy, anger and forgiveness, revenge or grace, a stingy or giving spirit. All are indicated by one’s speech. At times, our inner emotions, not reason, drive the tongue making it a sword, severing friendships, creating divisions, starting a fire, or even a war. The alternative? A life-giving, conciliatory word spoken by a disciplined person at the right time. In Biblical literature, wisdom is often associated with the Holy Spirit, and also with the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10) – worshipful reverence for God. The wise person speaks in a manner that promotes understanding and truth, reflecting biblical principles. These are words that have the power to edify and not tear down (Proverbs 18:21). IDEA TWENTY-EIGHT: A wise person lends his tongue to the Holy Spirit, this is great idea of Acts 2, speaking by the Spirit. Such speech reverences God and godliness. It promotes understanding and truth, it is meant to be positive and conciliatory. It declares the gospel and the risen, enthroned Christ. It calls for reverence for God, for a decision to believe and receive Christ. The Hebrew culture was an oral tradition. The spoken word was important to them. It was their primary means of transmitting truth and preserving their treasury of knowledge. Ultimately, the wise tongue is a type of Christ – the Word made flesh (John 1:14), perfect wisdom and truth. And the Spirit’s residence in us, is to replicate Christ. IDEA TWENTY-NINE: The wise tongue, under the control of the Spirit, gives expression to Jesus, the Christ. It is ‘the word,’ by the Spirit, again manifesting in flesh. Christ in us. Let’s return for a moment to Proverbs 12:18. We noted this passage earlier in talking about the Biblical standard for speech. The NIV reads, “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” The NLT, “Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.” Notice the variations in translations. Here is the ESV, “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” The Good News Translation is helpful, “Thoughtless words can wound as deeply as any sword, but wisely spoken words can heal.” IDEA THIRTY: We are reminded again of the power of words, a fact we ignore. And by implication, of the need to discipline the tongue to avoid reckless words that are deadly. To speak wisely, with words that heal. In Proverbs 12:18, we have one who speaks rashly and thoughtlessly, and one who speaks wisely. We have one that speaks words that wound and the other that speaks words that heal. Both times, these are words that are spoken. One is like a warrior’s sword, meant to draw blood and inflict an injury. The other is like a medic’s scalpel, surgically caring for an illness or treating a wound along with the application of medicine and the offer of comfort meant to assure and encourage the wounded that they will be healed. The last phrase, “the wise brings healing,” is more consistent in various translations than any other portion of the passage. IDEA THIRTY-ONE: If you are consistently speaking words that heal, that bind up wounds and offer comfort, you are among the wise. These are not merely thoughts about another person, they are spoken over and to the person. This is the prophetic – words of comfort, exhortation and edification (1 Cor. 14:2). The assertion in Provers 12:18 is remarkable – words that heal. The Hebrew for heal is marpe. It means healing a person by effecting a cure to restore health, to find and apply a remedy. This is the role of the believer. It is the idea of the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to proclaim good news…to bind up the broken-hearted” (Isa. 61:1). The end is soundness, wholeness. tranquility. The pain that has crippled and confused the wounded is replaced by calm and composure. Dignity is restored. In Isaiah 61, the poor, the wounded, the captive, the bound – are all conditions where dignity and freedom have been stripped. Yet, by the Spirit’s proclamation, through anointed men and women, these people pass into favor with God, receiving comfort. To them is “bestowed…a crown of beauty” (Isa. 61:3), along with “the oil of joy…and a garment of praise.” They are the people through whom God “displays His splendor” (Isa. 61:3). Not only are they healed, but they also become agents of healing. They “restore ruins” (Isa. 61:4). They are healing communities. They are named “priests of the Lord,” elevated to the noble and sacred role of representing God (Isa. 61:6). A new disposition of poise is enabled by grace. IDEA THIRTY-TWO: Words heal. The power of comfort by the voice of a loving friend in the healing process has never been fully understood. It can’t be overvalued. And the same is true for emotional wounds. Words find remedies for conditions that medicine cannot cure. They effect inner peace, tranquility, assurance – love. They renew one’s sense of dignity. • “The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,” Proverbs 15:2, NIV. • “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit,” Proverbs 18:21, NIV. • “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones,” Proverbs 16:24, NASB. • “Like apples of gold in settings of silver, is a word spoken in right circumstances,” Proverbs 25:11, NASB.

July 10, 2026

The Way:
Speaking The Language of Life

We have immersed ourselves in the power of words. No one understood the power of words more than “the Word who became flesh,” Jesus. He was the instrument of Creation, of separating darkness from light, of imparting life to the earth and to Adam and Eve, the first humans. He, the Word, commanded life with his voice. In Genesis, there is the power, not only of God’s speech but of His surveillance, His omniscience, His involvement in earth’s design. In the New Testament, notice the creative power that is revealed in Jesus. He exhibits a healing touch, dominance over the darkness that invades human souls, power over the wind and waves, the ability to multiply loaves and fishes, and to summon Lazarus from the dead. He “speaks the word only” and healing occurs (Mt. 8:8). In his presence leprosy disappears. His teaching is simple, insightful, yet radical. In the Old Testament, we meet God’s surveillance, in the New Testament, we meet a ‘seeing’ Jesus. In Matthew 9, “Jesus saw.” He saw the faith of a paralyzed man and of his friends who brought him, “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven’” (Mt. 9:2b). In the midst of a crowd, a bleeding woman touched his tallit and was healed. “Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,’ He said, ‘your faith has healed you’” (Mt. 9:22). Jesus saw more than crowds of people who came to hear Him preach. Mt. 9:36 says, “When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them.” He sensed that “they were distressed and dejected,” and like “sheep without a shepherd.” At the beginning of his ministry, still in the baptismal waters, Jesus “saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him” (Mt. 3:16). In Mark (11:23 NKJV), we find this stunning claim of Jesus regarding the power of words. “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” This is mountain-moving speech. There is a historic allusion that might help us here. Herod, the king, fearful of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra’s relationship and of an attack from the south had ordered an astonishing feat. His southern outpost was Masada, about 102 kilometers south (66 miles). If Egyptian forces were visually spotted from Masada’s height, he was not certain that a messenger could escape in time to warn him. He also had a palace in the coastal town of Caesarea, 75 miles away (120 kilometers), to the northwest. Here was his ingenious solution. Less than ten miles south of Jerusalem and three miles southeast of Bethlehem, Herod found a location for a visual relay between Jerusalem and Masada. The problem? He had to move a mountain and place it atop another mountain to create the height necessary for a visual relay. And he did. It is called the Herodium, a massive and palace-like fortress. Herod is buried there. It is logical that Jesus had this feat in mind. He was saying, ‘You think Herod, the king is powerful, in commanding a mountain to be moved? You don’t yet know who you are! You doubt. But you too are kings and priests, and to advance the kingdom of God, the Father will do mighty things through you – through the power of anointed declarations. You will move mountains.’ True salvation touches every part of our lives – not just our souls. It isn’t just a ticket to heaven. It means that God is now present with us, in us, and working though us – to save others, to heal, to offer wisdom and comfort, grace and forgiveness. We are carriers of His presence – a lively temple (1 Cor. 6:19; 1 Peter 2:5). Collectively, we are a sacred people with whom God dwells. We imitate Jesus – by the enabling Holy Spirit, Christ in us, being Himself through us (Eph. 3:17; Col. 1:27; Gal. 2:20). We are the forerunners of the blessing of God.26 Let’s review. Time with God, in which we are centered in His love, and where we experience His peace, prepares us to be carriers of His presence, God working in us and through us – saving others, healing, offering wisdom, comfort and effecting their reconciliation with God, the end of which is peace. This is our calling. Psalm 103:8, 13, declares, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious… abounding in love. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear [reverence, deeply respect] him.” We get to express, to articulate, to demonstrate, that grace, that compassion, and that love, the very nature of God. If we are silent, the voice of God is silent – not heard through us. Not heard by our friends, but those around us. Our mission is to be a witness to Christ’s resurrection and to the reality of God’s love, His desire to bless. The Holy Spirit does this through us – he blesses others and shows them the love and goodness of God. We are witnesses, the Bible says, and so also is the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32). We can’t do his part, and he won’t do our part. Isaiah 61 notes that when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon us, his purpose is to “anoint us” for this work. The presence of the Spirit helps us express God’s grace to others, the good news – the gospel. To break our silence. We are not alone. The Holy Spirit is our partner in this endeavor. He not only helps us with the language we need, but he empowers us, “to heal the brokenhearted.” The idea in Hebrew is that God helps us relate like a medic who binds up a broken limb to protect it from further injury and to allow it to heal. God helps us relate to broken people in a way that does not cause them more pain, and yet it deals with their brokenness in a healing and healthy way. First, the ministry of peace and reconciliation is good news – that’s basic (Isa. 61:1f). It is the language of love. Then it touches the wounded, the broken-hearted. That requires more sensitivity to the Spirit and the person needing help. Then ministry intensifies. We “proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” This is the ministry of liberty, of freedom from bondages and addictions. It is a special ministry of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 61:1). One that God enables us to do. We are called to “comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn… to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness… that He [the Lord] might be glorified” (Isa. 61:2-3). We are back again in Eden. This is evangelism – it is more than a presentation. It is a relationship that helps people begin a new life – to find comfort in God, consolation for their losses, beauty out of ashes, joy. It breaks depression and heaviness and puts joy in hearts. It helps them find way back home. There is more. As anointed agents of peace and reconciliation, we “rebuild the old ruins… raise up the former desolations… [impact whole] ruined cities, the desolations of many generations” (Isa. 61:4). Cities that have been ruined because of family disintegration over multiple generations. “You shall be named,” Isaiah declares, “the priests of the Lord, they shall call you the servants of our God” (Isa. 61:6). We stand, as priests, in the middle, between God and the broken, between God and cities and families in ruin – and God brings healing through us. Can you imagine such a thing? Are we up to this task? Impacting cities? Reversing the generational disintegration of families? God has a robust vision for us, much larger that we have embraced. Christianity is not a philosophy, nor a religion in the broad sense of that term. It is not a set of theological propositions, a rational matrix to express simply one more worldview. It is more than a mere cluster of ethical principles. And yet, it involves ethics, and it is theologically propositional, manifesting as a distinct world view, and an unparalleled philosophy of life. It is more than traditions, and yet, it respects ancient paths and processes. It is a new way of life. It is the language of theology lived out in manifest ways, beliefs and behaviors. Or to be more distinct, behaviors that manifest beliefs. Believing without behaving our beliefs makes our lives contradictory. Yet to adopt the behaviors, to conform to so-called Christian norms, without being transformed is empty, lifeless. It is not outside-in conformity; it is inside-out transformation. The inside work of God, if authentic, will make its way outside. It will manifest itself in our attitudes and actions. The earliest Christians were not called Christians. Others used that name derisively. Christians were those “who belonged to the Way” (Acts 9:2). The way was “the Way of God” and Christ (Acts 18:26). They followed the pattern of the life of Jesus (Heb. 2:10; 12:2) who was “the way – the truth and the life” (John 14:6). This was more than theology, more than a set of ethical, behavioral norms. It was a way of life, a way of relating to others, a way of blessing, a way of being filled and led by the Spirit, a way of ministry, a way of seeing God and the world He created. They lived, dependent on the Holy Spirit, out of a life of prayer. You cannot find a godly autonomous man or woman in the Bible. The modern view of the free, independent, self-directed, self-sufficient human, confident and daring – is not found, not among the godly. Too many Christians fit this profile. They are prayerless and driven by their own egos, earthly goals and desires, too often with God, not at the center of the lives, but only at the margin. Those are the markers of pride, the root of all sin. This was the toxic offer of the serpent in Genesis 3 – independence, freedom. The Bible, in contrast, puts its spotlight on humans who were dependent on God, who reflected His image, and emulated His character. Sin attempts to forge a life apart from dependence on the Holy Spirit by a life of prayer – and it is, therefore, against true life, divine life. It embraces a slice of spiritual life, becoming a caricature. Soon, it lacks true freedom and no longer experiences God’s love and His shalom. Sin opposes dependence on God. It opposes moral restrictions. It contradicts God’s word. It doubts God’s character as being trustworthy. It warps our perception of God, ourselves, the world, of right and wrong. It prevents us from knowing the blessed life and living in such a way that we are empowered to bless others.

July 17, 2026

The Mission:
To Bless

When Jesus sent his disciples on mission, it was to bless – to preach the gospel – the good news. They were to give voice to the goodness, the love of God. They were to heal the sick (both broken hearts and more) and exorcise the demonic (that’s deliverance ministry again), as we saw in Isaiah 61, all possible because of the Holy Spirit’s partnership with us. They were to enter a house and say, “Peace to this house” (Lk. 10:5). The end of all ministry is peace, but its basis, its foundation, its beginning point, its launching pad, is also peace. Roy Godwin says that when we bless others, the action “provokes an other-directed heart within us and cannot help but ignite our curiosity about mission and the work of the Holy Spirit. It takes you deep into the idea of the kingdom of God that Jesus constantly spoke of.” The Hebrews knew a God who was consistently gracious and merciful. The gods of their neighbors were inconsistent, warlike, immoral and vengeful, unforgiving. Grace was unknown. They feared these gods, but they did not love them, nor did they sense love from the various deities. The Hebrews had a relational God, who had entered a covenant with them, who wanted to reveal Himself to them and be known by them. They celebrated His steadfast love and mercy. They enjoyed His creation and gave thanks for the bounty that demonstrated His blessings in their lives. Every day, Jews prayed an eighteen-verse prayer of gratitude. In the New Testament, we see this tradition of thanksgiving continue with prayers of thanksgiving woven into the Biblical texts. Paul commands a rhythm of gratitude, “Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs of the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all I the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:15-17). You must not miss how this passage is frontloaded with the idea of peace, “Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts” – shalom, wholeness, wellness, and yes, holiness. The end of the blessing, the state of having been blessed, is to know the peace of God, to settle into the rest of God – this is the true purpose of Sabbath. This is the effect of worship, of being in His presence. To this, “to peace… you were called.” And then notice as well, the theme of gratitude, of thanksgiving. This is an acknowledgement of the goodness of God. That is what Adam missed in the garden in the absence of gratitude. Blind to God’s goodness, his heart was unsettled, and he sinned. All around us are people, Christians among them, who lack gratitude, whose lives are unsettled, without peace, and rather than acting, they react to life. Missing the optimal mark – that’s the definition of sin. It is settling for something less than the will of God for our lives. The opposite is expressed by Paul. “The message of Christ,” is not to be displaced, or disregarded, as the words of God were to Adam. Rather, “the message of Christ [is to] dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another.” Here is another key. We are not to be alone, but in community. We are to host Christ and his word, and admonish one another, holding one another accountable. Helping one another be sharp, and at our best. As we love God and experience His love, imitating Him, reflecting His image, worship and serving, we bless our communities. Being a blessing is foundational to the act of blessing, and that is a character issue. That is transformational. Here is the secret. Conveying the blessing is the outflow, which is missional. Transformation, being, and mission, speaking and acting, flow together. Yet, if you wait until you feel transformed enough to be an instrument of blessing to others, you will probably never move off your shelf. But if you allow God to put you in some middle, between Him and someone else who is hurting in some way, you will experience transformation and mission at the same time. God will change you, not only for the mission, but in the midst of being on mission. The church, and Christians, often have such a such a negative view of the world, that thinking about blessing others who are not yet Christians, or our city or nation, is unsettling to them. The world is our enemy, we seem to think, and so are hardnosed sinners. We’re against the world and worldly things. We condemn sin and sinners. It’s them and us. There is a thick line between us and no thought of drawing a welcoming circle. Exclusion, not inclusion is our style. We are willing to preach to them, or better, at them, keeping a safe distance from them. We accept their act of repentance, offer them baptism and then cautiously receive them into fellowship. Sometimes we limit any ministry activity or rise to an office to one or two years. By words, actions and attitudes, we judge and curse the world around us, all the while keeping our rapture bags packed. We have already checked out. To bless that world, we propose, is unthinkable. There is, of course, a ‘world’ we cannot bless. It is the ungodly system characterized by sin and energized by Satan. But if we mean Creation, though fallen, that is another matter. Creation is ‘groaning for redemption’ (Rom. 8:22-23). Both we and the earth will be redeemed and made new (Rev. 21:1). Still, we balk at speaking a blessing over the ‘world’ that Christ and his father love so deeply (John 3:16). If blessing the ‘world’ is a stumbling block, then to bless sinners is beyond the pale. And yet, “Christ died for us while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8) and “God commends His love to us, while we are yet sinners.” If God is so gracious, how can we continue to be so resistance to manifesting unconditional love? I find Christians who are convinced that we must not bless others who are not yet Christians. This is withheld love. It is not only inappropriate, but unbiblical. They believe sinners deserve judgement, condemnation, not blessing. But this makes God’s love conditional, “Shape up, and be loved; straighten your life out, and we will bless you.” On the contrary, Jesus calls us to “bless those who curse us,” and Paul echoes that command (Lk. 6:28; Rom. 12:14). A blessing is not the approval of a lifestyle, but an indication of God’s love, and an offer of grace and amnesty. It is the attempt to awaken in another the goodness of God. And that leads to repentance (Rom. 2:4). For the past half-century or longer, evangelism was truth centered. We led the evangelism encounter with the truth claims of scripture – God is holy; you are a sinner; you must repent and saved; be regenerated and sanctified; get baptized and join the church; and become like us! That is a harsh way of expressing it; perhaps a caricature of reality, but in some places, this was reality. One memorized a few dozen scriptures, and a script, and presented the facts of the gospel to a ‘sinner,’ and pushed for a decision. It was all truth-based. “Do you believe this? Let’s pray. You’re saved. Get baptized and join a church!” Done. Another scalp, another notch on the gospel gun. So that you will not misunderstand, let’s drive stake deeper, “The truth [and only the truth] can set you free!” (John 8:32). That Biblical idea is unchangeable; it is a non-negotiable point. The gospel is not only left-brained, factual, logical affirmation, it is also love, and power. With which do we lead? The truth-first, truth-based evangelism model worked well in a culture bound to rationalism. And one that was still deferent and respectful to Christianity. Both conditions have changed. We are now in a post-modern, arguably anti-Christian, non-Biblical culture where truth claims are countered with the contention, “That’s your truth, not mine!” No amount of Biblical reason can move such a me-centered, relativistic thinker. A great number of the Gen Z, Gen Alpha generation have been raised in unstable, broken homes. They crave love, and doubt truth-claims from authority figures or institutions, including the church. The world in which they have lived is fragmented, full of wars, unstable and unpredictable – and that is both the world outside, and the one at home. At the time of their birth, almost 40 percent of their fathers had already vanished. Their growing up years have been characterized by single-parenting, shared parenting, blended families, grand-parent care, foster care, and general instability. Truth? Integrity? Covenant? To them, these are all empty words. Their generation medicates themselves to survive. They develop relationships cautiously, preferring the insulation of on-line friending and defriending. Even in a group, they are likely to be surfing on their devices. Love, friendship, at least at the level they crave, is “somewhere out-there.” They are hungry for authentic love, yet cautious and wary. Only a relational approach to evangelism, an investment of time, can build a bridge of love and trust adequate to carry across it, the heavy building blocks of truth. And only a taste of the power of God, can quicken the deadness on the inside. With them, we must learn not only to lead with love, but to give love a lot of time before we attempt a truth encounter. Love opens the heart to trust and truth, and at the intersection of love and truth, we discover the power of God that delivers and saves. We must learn to bless them into openness to God’s love and presence. When Judah had been exiled to Babylon due to their sin, the prophet Jeremiah admonished them, “to seek the prosperity of the place where they now lived” – Babylon? How can you pray for the prosperity of Babylon? How do you pray for someone living in Babylon to be blessed? Seek their prosperity? We tend to do the opposite; we seek their discomfort. But God cared about the exiles who were stuck in Babylon. And because He cared about them, Babylon would be blessed because the people of God, though they had sinned, were present in that wicked nation. This is the surprising grace of God, out of His goodness. The person you are trying to reach may be living in Babylon. They may be in a living arrangement that you view as sinful. But drawing a line, making demands on them, is not likely to attract them – not in the current cultural climate. Blessing them is a declaration of love and grace. We do not bless their pathology, but their potential out of a fresh relationship with God. Blessing is an expression of the goodness of God. And God wants them to know His love even in their compromised situation. As we have noted before, “The goodness of God leads to repentance” (Rom. 2:4). We “overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). What can we do with this disenfranchised generation? According to one study, only 16 percent of them are in church, not weekly, but monthly. Do we write them off? Curse them in their sin? No! Using the wisdom of Luke 15, some, like the lamb that strayed, can be reached. They will not find their way back home by themselves. We, as shepherds, must go after them as an expression of God’s love and ours. We, as grandparents, must invest time with them. Second, some are lost in the house. The Move Study indicated that as many as 10 percent of people who are in church regularly, have never made a serious commitment to Jesus as Lord. We must sweep the house, look for them, engage them, declare their worth before God, as if they were a rare and irreplaceable coin, a treasure to us – and they are. How many of our teens are “lost in the house?” They were pulled away by the undercurrent of the culture, the influence of peers, and they are imperceptibly drifting away from God and the church – and the family. They are “lost in the house” of a blended family, a single-parent home, a joint-custody ping-pong arrangement, a grandparent picking up the shattered pieces of family dissolution. Suddenly, there is an eruption and indications of rebellion. The episodes take us by surprise, but the clues have been under our noses. We simply took our kids for granted. They were “lost in the house” – so close, so far away. Third, if they are completely rebellious and independent, as was the prodigal son, all we can do is wait for them, pray for them, look for them, and welcome them when they return. In no way do we want them to be molested, arrested, jailed, attacked, or harmed. We don’t want them to be destitute, sleeping on the street, eating throwaway food, ending up being friendless and in some pig pen, like the prodigal son. We must pray that God would take care of them, while convicting them of sin and convincing them of the love of God. Jeremiah believed that the prayers of the righteous for those still in Babylon, would result in “their prosperity” and that of the “place where they now lived.” For some of us, that approach is unthinkable. We have a “shape up and be loved” gospel approach. Conform to the truth, and then we will love you. This is conditional, not unconditional love. We seem to have no idea of the way God regards humans and of His desire to bless them and others through them, even if they are now living in Babylon. Roy Godwin says that there are three simple building blocks to blessing. First, “I bless you…” As noted earlier, God desires to give us a well-instructed tongue to sustain the weary. And to that, He awakens us morning by morning, quickening our ear to listen to His instructions for the day (Isa. 50:4). There is no power in our words, but there is in us a “well-instructed tongue” that God desires to use to “sustain the weary” with something He may have whispered to us in our early morning time with Him. As God’s agents, in the middle, between Him and the hurting, our words have the weight of divine authority – they are not empty, nor are they magic. But they have life, and express God’s love, and occasionally, when they are uttered, they bring tears. At times you can watch the entire countenance of the one being blessed changed. It is as if a load has been lifted – and often, it has. Second, “I bless you … That He…” That God, the Father. That His Son, Jesus, the Christ, the Lord [the One who heals, comforts, directs, or a dozen other things], that he would … [and God will lead you in terms of what to say].” Ultimately, the power is not in our words, but in his name. It is in invoking his name, calling it out, inviting his presence. We bless as an invitation for God to break in and confirm the blessing, confirm His word with signs following, with evidence of His love and grace. God told Aaron to speak the blessing and to “put My name on the people” and then He promised, “I will come behind you and bless the people.” Aaron said the words of the blessing, but the work of the blessing itself was from God. And it was associated with His name, in His name, and by the authority of His name. Thus, out of the New Testament covenant, we appeal to the authority of the name of Jesus and to its power, and on that basis, we bless people “in the name of Jesus.” Third, “I bless you...That He May...” do this or that. Open this door or close that one. This is the invitation for God to act as a matter of blessing. So, the blessing is not merely words, but an invitation for divine action. In Psalm 20, we see a variety of ways that God might bless. “I bless you, that He…” we might pray. Then borrowing from Psalm 20, “May...answer you when you are in distress. May the Name of the God of Jacob protect you. May He send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support...May He remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy over your victory and lift our banners in the Name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests” (Ps. 20:1-5). What a powerful prayer of blessing.

July 24, 2026

Being the Good News

After “knowing the Lord two years, the average Christian has no significant relationships with non-Christians.” In recent years, we have paid closer attention to the difference between proclaiming the gospel and incarnating the gospel. Articulating, words, are easier than integrating the gospel into our life. In plain language, we talk better than we walk. “Christians,” the late Joe Aldrich argued, “are to be good news before they share the good news.” To state it differently, the lyrics, the words of the gospel, need music – and that’s the music of our transformed lives. We are the evidence. Doing evangelism without evidence of its effect in our transformed life is a dead end. The music, Aldrich says, “is the beauty of the indwelling Christ as lived out in the everyday relationships of life. The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ has solved the problem of man’s sin and offers him the potential of an exchanged life...” That’s a life lived out of grace, not striving; out of faith, not human effort alone; it is the life of Christ, lived in us, from the inside out, not mere conformity to religious standards. The old evangelism was all about saying the right words, quoting the right scriptures, winning the argument, getting the person to say the right words – of repentance and confession. It often sounded like a memorized sales pitch. The new evangelism does not disregard scripture or Biblical truth, but in a post-truth culture, where my truth is not your truth, and everything is relative, a new beginning place has to be established in evangelistic encounters – and that begins with us, not with the individual needing Christ. We need to incarnate his beauty. Paul says, as believers, we carry a fragrance about us (2 Cor. 2:14-17). He also says, we are open letters to be read – our lives telling the story of transformation (2 Cor. 3:2). Finally, he says, we are to be the carriers of God’s glory by a radiance that we cannot always see ourselves. One greater than the shining face of Moses when he descended the mountain with the law (Ex. 34:29-35; 2 Cor. 3:7). In summary, the fragrance of Christ, a life that can be read by others pointing them to Christ, and the glow of God’s glory, evidence that we have been with him – are the ways we incarnate Christ. This is the ‘music’ of our lives, the joy, the peace, the love, the grace, which causes others to ask us about the source of such hope. This evangelism is letting Christ be himself in us. The best argument for Christianity is Christians – true Christians. “Christ in us, the hope of glory!” (Col. 1:27). When we are joyless and ungrateful, self-righteous and proud, narrow and judgmental, we deny the work of grace in our lives. God’s desire for us is that we are holy, but not stuffy and segregated, not untouchable. No, the idea of holiness is wholeness, wellness, completeness in Christ. It is the place of rest and peace. First, God declares us holy that He might make us holy or whole. He does that by constraining us with His love. Love acts like an anesthesia as God trues us with truth. He changes us in ways we cannot change ourselves – and He does this in our prayerful surrender to Him. He declares us holy – and then a process of sanctification begins. He makes us increasingly holy, by our pursuit of Him, our consecration, until in the final stage of sanctification when we exhibit wholeness, wellness, and maturity. This is His purpose, a people who walk in the beauty of holiness. In evangelism, we use words, sometimes inadequately, to explain the change in our life. We never claim perfection, but we demonstrate a growing hunger for God and His transforming grace. All of this happens without being completely disengaged from the world. We have practiced extraction evangelism – we help people find Christ, get them in church, and disconnect them from their friends. This is a failed missionary model. It is the church as a compound, as a retreat from the world. Rather, the church is to be the visible embassy of the invisible kingdom of God, training and sending ambassadors, representatives, to every sector of the community, with a blessing, with joy, with the music of our lives. Christ did not come to the earth and live in hibernation. In the incarnation, Christ radically identified with the world – its pain and its people. Paul claimed to “become all things to all men so that by all possible means [he] might save some” (I Cor. 9:22). To win his Jewish brothers, he restricted his liberties and lived like a conservative Jew. He went to Gentiles (non-Jews) as well. He became a slave to all to win as many as possible (I Cor. 9:19). Some see this as hypocritical, as chameleon Christianity. But it is not Paul’s core values that changed, nor the centrality or supremacy of Christ, but rather, Paul gives us a picture of cultural adaptation. This is often what the church is not willing to change – its culture. Notice again, Paul “became all things to all men.” The central ideas at the heart of the gospel, the message, the information, does not change, but Paul’s face changes, he adapts his identity. In one place, Paul is a Roman citizen, in another, a Jew. There is, he knows, liberty beyond the cultural constraints of the law. But he again claims his old Pharisee identity. As Bonhoeffer would say, “Christ bids us to come and die!” To self. To customs. To preferences. To comfort, at times. To stature. To titles. To entitlement. What a shock it must have been to the angels, to heaven, even to hell, to see God become flesh, to see the Word hidden and veiled in human flesh. Christ became a man to win us back to the Father. He didn’t change – he was still God, the Word, though made flesh. It was not the information, the Word, that changed, but the identity, the face, the form, the culture. The incarnation respected humanity, even in its fallen form. It stretched, it reached, it chose to live among men – disguised. This is organic evangelism, not institutional. It is personal, not positional. At times, it postures as the underling, invisible, serving, flexible, not stiff and condescending. The old evangelism cornered a potential mark, witnessed – with the individual passive, listening, and then it pressed for a quick decision. The new generation has reacted strongly to such a tactical approach, and those who jumped through the evangelism hoops of such encounters have often fallen away. That evangelism approach, if it ever worked, will not work in this culture. It is a form of assault. It lacks respect for the dignity of the other person. It does not trust the Holy Spirit who witnesses with us, and better than us. We are reminded that changing our methods does not mean changing our message though to some it may feel that way. The gospel is, as we have noted before, both love and truth. That’s the message – unconditional love and unbending truth. In the past, we have, as a method, led with truth. It might have seemed to some that such love was then conditioned on their positive response to truth. But God’s love is unconditional. In leading with love, we build a relational bridge on which we can carry the heavy cargo of truth. In leading with demonstrated love, we avoid combative exchanges that frontload the relationship with tension and create barriers to truth. Without an atmosphere of love, truth is misunderstood. The great truth is the love of God. The method has changed by leading with love, but the message has not changed. To evangelize effectively today, we must not only offer good words, but be, ourselves, the evidence of good works – the work of God in us. Years ago, an African attending a USA evangelism conference was amazed, appalled, at the evangelism strategy being articulated. Some asked, “How do you do evangelism in Africa?” Her response was shocking, but simple. “We simply have a Christian family move into the village, and when the people see their lives, how they live, their joy and peace, everyone in the village wants to become a Christian.”

July 31, 2026

Integrity

August 7, 2026

Augustine noted that the preacher’s life, known to his people, and their perception of the depth of his practiced devotion, strongly influenced their reception of what he preached. If the preacher preached what his congregation knew he did not live, they didn’t take his preaching seriously. But if they saw in him deep devotion and dependence on God, humility and grace, patience and kindness – they were convicted to deepen their own spiritual roots. Saint Patrick held high expectations for his mission teams as they entered each settlement. The high level of extrinsic ethos, evident to the villagers, served to enhance the reception to the message. That is, the people received what Saint Patrick’s people lived, what they incarnated, not merely what they proclaimed. Theologian Helmut Thielicke claimed that credibility was the key operative factor in the preacher’s arsenal. “We live, he maintained, in an age of ‘paid propagandists’ for causes ranging from consumer products to political candidates. In that context, hearers want to know whether this politician will deliver on her promises if elected. They want to know whether that sports star really uses the underarm deodorant he advertises, and whether it transformed his social life, or whether he is just a paid propagandist for the brand.” The same is true for preachers and Christians and the church. We face an enormous credibility gap by not incarnating the truths we proclaim. The culture is asking, “Are pastors and preachers just paid propagandist for Christianity and the church? Or do they believe what they say? And more so, if they believe it, do they behave it?” Sadly, the answer is, ‘No!’ – too often they don’t behave it. They own the faith superficially, not profoundly. Ghandi once asserted that if Christians had lived the Christian faith, everyone in India would have been converted. George Barna, in one survey, noted that on more than 100 measurements, there was little to distinguish the self-professed Christian from the non-Christian. This is saltless salt and dim, dark lights. As one poet charged, “I could believe in Christ, were it not for the church!” Among the youth population, their problem is not Christ, it is Christians; it is the church. We are not the glorious church of which Paul spoke. As a result, the unchurched around us have come to doubt the gospel narrative. They already have cultural reasons to doubt – the exalted narrative of science and the values war, as well as the screams of the flesh for radical liberty. We give them one more – and that may be the most compelling of all their reasons for not believing. We can argue the truth, but until they see truth in our lives, they will remain unconvinced. George Hunter clicks off a series of notes about the skeptical world around us and their cautiousness about the church, their reticence to embrace faith. First, he says, on the minds of the world is the question of integrity. Do Christians really believe in Christianity, in what it teaches? Do they even know what they supposedly believe. In many cases, they do not! Only 9 percent of Christians are now ‘Bible Christians’ who take scripture seriously, not merely at the point of believing but also by practicing those beliefs. We are too much like the unchurched – and if so, what advantage is Christianity, church attendance, or prayer and scripture engagement. That is Hunter’s second point. Some in the culture don’t doubt our mental and intellectual commitment to faith, theology and ethics, they simple do not believe that we live according to that faith. That is a credibility issue. Hunter’s third point is even more invasive. There are those who know Christians who both believe their faith and behave its principles. Still, these doubters wonder if it really makes any real difference. Is heaven real? Does God really act in a time-space world for those who follow Him? Is there really a deeper peace, and greater joy, and fuller love in following Christ? What difference does it really make? This is a consequential concern, an issue of theological praxis. What is the practical, measurable difference in the lives of those who practice Christianity? Fourth, and even more broadly, some surmise, that if Christianity makes a personal, positive difference, can it really make a difference in the world? This is crisis of doubt regarding missiology and the social-cultural impact of the church and its mission. For example, these outsiders wonder, “Where is the church on issues of justice, reconciliation and peace, on the environment, as champions for the oppressed?” Is the mission of the church only for the fulfillment of its members? Is it narrow and self-interested? Is it merely for comfort and its devotional value? Or is the church willing to speak to the cultural chaos? Most churches, and for that matter, most Christians are silent on the salient issues that are deemed controversial – even those that are clearly moral matters. Such a church is neither salt nor light. There is no doubt that we are contending with a much more skeptical audience than in previous decades. The church no longer has a free pass – it is now being tested by the younger generation, re authenticity, integrity, credibility, praxis and cultural sensitivity. They see the cultural chaos, the world as a powder-keg, the social-cultural fault-lines, the nuclear arsenals. They are confused on the issues of gender, and political models, the environment and family life, sexual liberty and abortion. Who, they ask, is responsible for being a voice of clarity? Of bringing order to chaos? What do you think? Is this not the message of the kingdom of God? – righteousness (justice), peace (inner peace, but also, geopolitical peace) and joy (evidence of fulfilment)? To say it differently, does God only change individuals, or does He change cultures, cities, even nations? We have a narrow and personal perception of evangelism. The scriptures look to the day when “nations will be joined to the Lord” (Zech. 2:11; Hag. 2:17; Psa. 2:8). The book of Acts includes some one-hundred place names. It is the story of God impacting cities through the ministry of the apostles. We see Paul interfacing with community leaders, kings and those with authority. Evangelism has sometimes been overhanded, “Sit down, I am going to tell you about Jesus – don’t interrupt. Remember, I am holy, you are a sinner. I am doing you a favor. So, listen – no questions.” Rabbi Irving Greenberg reminds us that “in the context of a covenant” faith is an open dialogue. It involves both obedience and questions. “Unquestioning obedience is not morally desirable; it is not asked of us and should not be given. Biblically, only an idol cannot stand up to questioning. Only idols refuse to be questioned. God invites questioning.” Note the interaction of Jesus with his disciples – they were always questioning him and conferring one with another in a doubtful, disagreeable manner behind his back. Balance is essential. Greenberg cautions, “God invites questioning.” However, the questioning disciple who is not really seeking to actively live out the Christian life is also inauthentic. Covenantal faith is not merely a matter of believing or assenting to a proposition. It is an attitude of the heart. It is faithful as it struggles to believe and understand. A Hebrew term for faith, emunah (from which we get “amen”), connotes faithfulness, trust – that’s relational. It suggests the ability to remain steadfast amid unsettling circumstances. This is the integrity of life. Theology it is said is “faith seeking understanding.”35 “Those who know God walk faithfully (I Kings 2:4; Isa. 38:3).”36 Abraham is the poster child of faith. Abraham Hershel notes, his life was not a “leap of thought,” but “leap of action.” He behaved his beliefs.