Roots by the River

Is there an upper limit to obedience in the Christian life? Is there a “danger above and beyond the call of duty”? Can we volunteer beyond the highest command of God? What is the greatest command? Jesus said: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mk. 12:30). Now look at it again and see if by volunteering we can go beyond it. The superlatives are all there. God requires all of each of our faculties to love him. In Christian churches today it is normal to hear challenges to greater heights than ever before, but less of the commands. Because the commandments of God are way beyond us—ideals that are not very realistic for the present—we make a graded scale and challenge Christians to follow the graded scale one step at a time. This is because we do not believe God provides the power and love and wisdom to obey His superlative commands as they are given. And since H...

  There is a wonderful example in the New Testament of the enemy’s challenge and the proper response: Acts 4:17–31. The apostles’ response was first according to God’s directive. “But Peter and John answered them: You yourselves judge which is right in God’s sight, to obey you or to obey God. For we cannot stop speaking of what we ourselves have seen and heard” (vv. 19–20). They were then threatened again. The apostles’ response to this second threatening was to present this challenge from the enemy to the Lord: “‘And now, Lord, take notice of the threats they have made, and allow us, your servants, to speak your message with all boldness…’ When they finished praying, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God’s message with boldness” (vv. 29, 31). The apostles did not respond to the challenge in the flesh; they obeyed God and gained His power to be obedient. Obedience is a willing or an unwilling carrying ou...

  “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” —the Lord Jesus Christ, John 14:15 "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam. 15:22). King Saul has just won a battle of annihilation, and now, because of disobedience, Samuel pronounces: “The Lord hath rejected thee from being king” (15:26). Those are hard lines with which to meet a triumphant, victorious king. It was a hollow victory and an empty triumph. Saul had tried to improve upon the commandment of God. We do the same today, only in more subtle ways. There are certain words that command respect. They speak of something held in high regard. Few people hold a negative view of these words. One of them is volunteer! The sound of the word may cause shivers to run through a person. It is used where ideals are at stake, where danger and death are the reward, where sacrifice is necessary. It has the sound of someone above the crowd—the exception—someone of a free will doing something with the consequences clearly in mind. The wo...

“And preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of Heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 10:7). At least in recent Christian history, preaching is something that takes place at a certain place, at a certain hour, not too often, and not too long. It also requires much preparation by the preacher. This, however, does not seem to be what Jesus meant when He spoke of preaching. He said it again in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19: “ As you go , make disciples of all nations.” Preaching and making disciples should be a normal part of our daily life, not a special part. Nor should it be a normal part for special people. Here is a biblical example: “And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria except the Apostles… Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:1, 4). Everyone except the apostles was preaching as they went. If “all” means “all,” this meant thousands of peo...

  When Jesus sent the apostles as told in Matthew 28:19-20, it was much different from the way we send people on any kind of errand or mission. We send because we cannot or do not wish to go. The sender separates himself from the one sent. The one sent goes alone. This is with mutual agreement, for if the sender said that he would accompany the sent one, the sent one would reply with an accusative question, “Why do you send me if you are coming along? Go do it yourself.” That is not Jesus’ way. He sent, and then He said, “Lo, I am with you always to the close of the age.” Jesus “sent,” and then He “came along.” Isn’t that wonderful? But that is not the first instance of “sending and coming along.” Jesus said, “And He who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone” (John 6:29). The father sent the Lord Jesus, and then He came along. “He who sent me is with me.” He sent us, and now He goes along with us. How great it is to realize that no matter where we are or what our mission...

Two life-changing readings took place in my life in the fall of 1955. The first was my second reading of The Dynamic of Service . The book is a series of lectures on personal evangelism given by A. Paget Wilkes to fellow missionaries from several missions at Karuizawa, Japan, in 1920. It is the best book I have read on the subject. It is currently available on the CCM website , on Amazon , and on Audible . I encourage you to read it. The second was reading and studying Acts 8, 9 and 10. This was brought to my attention by a missionary in Japan. The following is a piece of the teaching: In chapter 8, take the time to see how God led Philip to the Ethiopian and the Ethiopian to Philip. In chapter 9, God led Saul of Tarsus to Ananias and Ananias to Saul. Chapter 10 tells us how God led Cornelius to Peter and Peter to Cornelius. In each of these stories the unbeliever was saved. God knew that each of them was ripe for the harvest. God led them to the harvester and the harvester t...

  This book is a collection of articles written by my wife Bessie for The Hammer  magazine. It was published in print in 2020 and has just been released on Audible. Here is a chapter from the book: Set Our Hearts at Rest “This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” (1 John 3:19–20) What is it that helps us set our hearts at rest in His presence? The preceding verse (verse 18) establishes the context: “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” The immediate context is that if we see a brother in need and we have no pity, the question is, “How can the love of God be in us?” Years ago, just after Mother’s Day, a friend (the wife of a pastor) told me that her young daughter had defied her and gone to a public park. She was wondering how to handle this when the child returned. My friend ha...

  The most effective way to pursue the beaten enemy in physical war is to hit him from his unprotected flanks. If a direct pursuit is carried out, the victors run into the deadly sting of the rear guard and into many roadblocks and blown bridges, and so the retreating enemy gets away. To avoid these, the victors should travel a parallel path, outrun, and intercept the retreating enemy. To continue direct pursuit after the battle is won is to lose the retreating enemy. In order to effect an interception in the pursuit, mobility is needed. If immediate pursuit is undertaken, as many more captives as were taken in the battle can be secured. Prior to the Megiddo battle in September 1918, Allenby promised his cavalry thirty thousand prisoners of war. His staff thought he was presumptuous. In reality he ended with fifty thousand prisoners, having reduced the Turkish Seventh and Eighth armies to a few columns. Let us consider the “how” of spiritual pursuit. First, we must be convinced...

  “The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). This is one of the great verses of God’s character expressed toward us. Host of us know that He is with us, that He saves us, and that He loves us. But there are two additional expressions which cause me to wonder: “He will take great delight in you.” That ought to help any Christian with a “poor self-image.” God delights in me greatly! “He will rejoice over you with singing.” Most of us love to sing praises to Him with joy. Here it tells us that He also sings with joy over us. There is grandeur, wonder, and awe portrayed in Revelation 5:11-14 where a hundred million plus angels and every creature everywhere sing “to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.” That is wonderful, but it is far more wonderful that God will sing with joy over me. This post coordinates with tomorro...

  "Only pursuit of the beaten enemy gives the fruits of victory." —Carl von Clausewitz, Principles of War "Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ." —Acts 5:42 In his biography of Field Marshall Viscount Allenby of Megiddo and Felixstowe, General Sir Archibald Wavell gives a very clear picture of the problems of pursuit: “To the uninitiated, pursuit seems the easiest possible form of war. To chase a flying, presumably demoralized enemy must be a simple matter, promising much gain at the expense of some exertion and hardship, but little danger. Yet the successful or sustained pursuits of history have been few, the escapes from a lost battle many. The reasons are partly material, but mainly moral. A force retreating falls back on its depots and reinforcements; unless it is overrun, it is growing stronger all the time, and there are many expedients besides fighting...

  “'Let all who are simple come in here!' she says to those who lack judgment” (Proverbs 9:4, 16). This quotation is taken from two different persons, Wisdom and Folly. They say it from the same place, “the highest point in the city” (9: 3, 14), and they say it to the same people, “those who lack judgment.” Then a difference takes place. Wisdom offers food, wine, and life openly and honestly, but asks for repentance (9:5-6). Folly offers a lie: "Stolen water is sweet, food eaten in secret is delicious!" (9:17), but does not ask for repentance. Wisdom gives life. Folly gives death. Folly offers present benefits which are called sweet and delicious , “but little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol” (9:18). This post coordinates with tomorrow's reading in the To the Word! Bible Reading Challenge . If you are not in a daily reading plan, please join us at TotheWord.com . We would love to have you reading with us.

  If I purchase what I covet, I am no longer coveting my neighbor’s stuff. It is mine. "As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. 'Good teacher,' he asked, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?' 'Why do you call me good?' Jesus answered. 'No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother."' 'Teacher,' he declared, 'all these I have kept since I was a boy.' Jesus looked at him and loved him. 'One thing you lack,' he said. 'Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God !' The di...

" You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:17). Coveting often precedes purchasing, borrowing, stealing, and cheating. The success of free enterprise and capitalism is largely based upon it. God is not opposed to free enterprise or capitalism, but He is opposed to coveting. This commandment to not covet is very close to the First and Second Commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments" (Exod...

Because Christians have a tendency to concentrate at non-decisive points, it may be difficult to get more than a few away from places of mislocated concentration to points where decisive battles are being fought. These few may not be enough for effective concentration, but their proper deployment is a step in the right direction, a step toward economy of force. Not to send them to the decisive points would violate several principles of war; economy of force uses what is available to do the job. When there are many decisive points and the Christians are congregated away from the front, we ought to plead with God for economy of force: “And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none” (Ezek. 22:30). Concentration in a noncombatant area is legitimate for training, to receive power or to prepare to attack, but if concentration remains after training has been accomplished or if we di...

  "The more the concentration can be compressed into one act and one moment, the more perfect are its results." —Carl von Clausewitz, On War "And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran, and cried, and fled." —Judges 7:20–21 Economy of force is efficiency in fighting, effectiveness in warfare. If our objective is the annihilation of the enemy army, we will take the offensive at the decisive point. In order to do this effectively, the combined application of all the principles of war is necessary. This statement by General Erfurth mentions of most of these principles: “To concentrate overwhelmingly superior members at the decisive points is impossible without strategic surprise. The assembly of the shock-group must be d...

  I would like to talk about two “Christian” expressions which are not Christian. The first is “I’ve been struggling.” This expression would be a fine one if it were used biblically: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12). We are in a struggle. That is a fact. However, when people use the phrase today, what they mean is, “I am losing the struggle, and there is no way to win it.” They have fallen into sin, and they are trying to make a “spiritual” excuse for their defeat. The second expression is similar: “It was a real learning experience.” That also sounds spiritual, but it really means, “The whole thing was a spiritual loss.” We come out of both situations discouraged because both the “struggle” and the “learning experience” were sins that needed to be confessed. We give them spiritual na...

  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness" (Matthew 23:25-28). "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell a...

"I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified" (John 17:14-19). Not “of” the world but “in” it. “Sent” and “sanctified.” Although we are not of the world, we can handle being in it because we have already been sanctified, set apart. Because we are not of the world, the world hates us. Jesus prayed that the Father would protect us from the evil one, and we are to also pray that He would “deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13). We have a problem. We do not want to be hated by the world. How do we prevent it? Easy: compromise. *Excerpted from  Being Christian . To purchase, ...

  The most effective way to pursue the beaten enemy in physical war is to hit him from his unprotected flanks. If a direct pursuit is carried out, the victors run into the deadly sting of the rear guard and into many roadblocks and blown bridges, and so the retreating enemy gets away. To avoid these, the victors should travel a parallel path, outrun, and intercept the retreating enemy. To continue direct pursuit after the battle is won is to lose the retreating enemy. In order to effect an interception in the pursuit, mobility is needed. If immediate pursuit is undertaken, as many more captives as were taken in the battle can be secured. Prior to the Megiddo battle in September 1918, Allenby promised his cavalry thirty thousand prisoners of war. His staff thought he was presumptuous. In reality he ended with fifty thousand prisoners, having reduced the Turkish Seventh and Eighth armies to a few columns. Let us consider how to do spiritual pursuit. First, we must be convinced th...

  It is mandatory in the war with Satan that we have daily communication with our source of supply. We must receive from the Lord via the Word enough for all of the day’s needs, and we must store up provisions of the Word of God in our hearts and heads for any future time when we have a prolonged engagement with Satan. Daily time with the Lord is far more than our line of communication for the battle. Fellowship with him is really our objective. We were created and redeemed to walk with God. In fact, this is the reason why we are engaged in war, so that others may be brought into fellowship with him. “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you [proclaim also to you], that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn. 1:3). Our lines of communication can be overextended as well as cut. In Korea it seemed more important to implement the principle of pursuit than to keep in touch with supplies; th...