Roots by the River

  In the history of the world there have been successive empires, including the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, Roman, Frankish, Mongolian, Muslim, Byzantine, Ottoman, Napoleonic and Nazi regimes. These had a few characteristics in common with each other: 1. Absolute authority 2. Required loyalty to the sovereign 3. Required absolute obedience The leaders of these empires were not noted for humility, kindness, or love. Submission was largely out of a fear of the consequences. They used the weapons of this world. Although these men had great authority, their empires lasted an average of only 250 years (Napoleon’s and Hitler’s lasted much less). Jesus said, “ All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me” (Mt. 28:18). That is a lot of authority. He required obedience, but not out of fear . His leadership was one of love, humility, sacrifice, and spiritual power. Many of his followers have lived their lives and deaths in obedience to and imitation of Ch...

  As you read the Bible, I trust you will see that the great purpose of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the salvation of men and of all creation along with them. In this message, I have included a few passages of Scripture that will draw your attention to this truth. “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time” (1 Tim. 2:3–6). God is described as being our Savior and wanting all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. Jesus Christ is described as the one mediator who gave Himself as a ransom for all men. “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in orde...

  God planned for normal fatigue when He put the lights out on earth every night. He also set one day aside out of every seven for additional rest. Battle fatigue is extreme: long marches, little sleep, no Sabbath rest, fear, dying and dead comrades and enemies, separation from family, no showers, inadequate food, and maybe being defeated in battle or wounded. You might get relief in a rear echelon, or you might not. This is a fatigue beyond being tired and exhausted. Eight hours of sleep and a weekend of rest cannot cure this. We are in a spiritual war here and now. This war brings battle fatigue just like other wars do. Some of the symptoms are the same. Missionaries come home burnt out, irritable, or with nervous breakdowns or marriage and family problems. There is a major difference between the soldier in physical war and the soldier in the spiritual war. The first has battle fatigue because he has obeyed his commanding officer. The second has battle fatigue because he ha...

The status of our spiritual army today looks bad, with many casualties and most of the rest not caring. “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:1–2). There are at least two reasons for not caring for our casualties. First is the cost. If we commit ourselves to caring for a physical invalid, then we are attached. Our time is committed: we cannot forsake the ill person. We also anticipate that if we lovingly begin to care for a spiritual casualty, then we will be forever attached to him. If there is more than one invalid, all of our time will disappear. We are not willing for that to happen. This thinking assumes that people will stay invalids when they are cared for. But if they are cared for in the right way, then they will not. Loving, gentle care restores them, and does so quite rapidly. They ...

  War has casualties. Taking care of them brings them back into the fight. It also increases the morale of the entire fighting unit because everyone knows they might be the next casualty. There are three kinds of casualties in physical war: • Casualties from training (For example, during World War II, more planes and pilots were lost in training than in combat.) • Casualties from drunkenness, drugs, and venereal disease • Casualties from enemy action There is no basic training or advanced training in the spiritual war. The soldier is in combat as soon as he is saved. In the spiritual war, drunkenness, drugs, venereal disease, and other kinds of immorality which do not result in complete physical disability still cause spiritual disability and prevent effective evangelism. These casualties are to be disciplined by the church so they will repent and come back into action. “But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is ...

  Cairo is dirty. It is a city of twenty-two million people, many of them unemployed, and there is much poverty. Garbage is collected by fifty thousand people who recycle it and live on it. Many of these are little children. Germany, on the other hand, is scrupulously clean. While I was there, I saw a truck with a mechanical brush scrubbing the white posts along the highway; then I saw a man scrubbing a stop sign. In both of these countries, the spiritual darkness is oppressive. It forced me to modify my view that physical cleanliness was the result of being spiritually clean. I still think there is a relationship, but not one of direct cause-and-effect. There seem to be two extremes concerning methods of evangelism: 1)   Too much identification with the attitudes of the local church. 2)   Too little identification with the culture of the local people. Japan and Egypt are examples of the first. The church in those countries has a survival mentality rather than an ...