Amazing Testimony

Here is a testimony to God's grace and love from Joe in Texas.

It is worth your time to read it.

Thanks to Evan for directing me to it.

To God be the glory

Hi. I'm Barnabas.

But at other times I'm Paul. I think I spend most of my days as Timothy though.

Dr Howard Hendricks, Professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, is credited with saying "Every person should seek to have three individuals in their life: a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy." I am usually hopelessly out of touch, so even though he said this in 1993, I've just came across it recently.

We are in the process of trying to get small groups started in earnest at our church right now. There seems to be a real need and desire for a couples/marriage ministry so, following on the attendance of several church members at Family Life's Weekend to Remember, we have decided to use the HomeBuilders Couple series to get started. To help get us going, we asked someone with lots of experience leading HomeBuilders groups to come in and speak to our "core" team.

In his talk, the speaker introduced the concept of having a Paul to follow, a Timothy to mentor, and a Barnabas to partner with. Now it seems to me that the role of Paul is pretty clear and popularly known: the older guy who has been there, done that, and now dispenses wisdom and guidance to you. And while some what lesser known in most cases, the Timothy role is pretty easily identifiable for many: the younger person who has a mentor or guide and is seeking spiritual growth.


The Barnabas role was the one that kind of took me by surprise. I recalled the name fro Acts But I had never really given much thought to who he was or if he was important. My first impression was related to facts: Barnabas traveled with Paul in Acts while Paul went from place to place and did a lot of great stuff. But once he was brought up in this new light of importance, I began to get who Barnabas really was: Paul's ally, his friend, his partner, his buddy, Sundance to Paul's Butch Cassidy (minus the violence and bank robbery). I can imagine times where Paul looked across the breakfast table at Barnabas and said, "Well, what do you think? You wanna do it?" and Barnabas replies "Oh yeah, I'm in!"

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:2-3, NIV)

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. (Acts 13:42-43, NIV)

Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. (Acts 13:46, NIV)

So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. (Acts 14:3, NIV)

Now, recognizing the importance if Barnabas, I see where I have played that role for others several times before. But my struggle is to find the Barnabas in my life right now. I can be fiercely independent and stubborn when it comes to getting something done. Most of my life I have considered asking for help to be a big sign of weakness. This has hurt some of my relationships and probably stopped others all together. I've come to understand that my relationships with people are often a good barometer of my relationship with God (from my side). And asking for help is a major struggle.

So I'm looking for the Barnabas in my journey right now. For my work on the small group ministry, for my daily walk with God, and for many other things I have or will have going on.

Is there someone playing the Barnabas role for you right now? What are they doing to be Barnabas for you? How has it helped you?

Are you comfortable?

Change.

Does that word evoke a response from you? Do you like the response? Or did you cringe?

I have found that there are few things that get a response from people like discussing or proposing change. I think this is because it is in our human nature to try to get comfortable. A friend of mine so liked getting comfortable, and avoiding change, that he adopted a mantra for his way of life: "Get in a rut early."

While this may be human nature, I don't think it is the nature of God at all. And that may be one of the biggest things humanity holds against Him.

I've heard it said time and time again that God finds us where we are. That is, He doesn't require us to change and get our lives straightened out and to get all our junk cleaned up BEFORE He loves us and accepts us. No, He takes us as we are. Praise God for that!

The trouble comes in when we start to understand that He doesn't want to leave us where He found us. Se what Paul says:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor 5:16 - 17 NIV)

Perry Noble is the pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC. He has a good blog and recently posted "15 signs that you (or your church) lacks vision." Just looking at the first 4 items in Perry's list speak to the importance of change:

#15 - No one is ever challenged to radically rearrange their lives to be a part of what God is doing.

#14 - God hasn’t asked you to give something up.

#13 - Everyone in your church is perfect. (If you are truly reaching lost people then you will discover that ministry is messy.)

#12 - Nothing in regards to how you lead has changed in the past year.

You can easily take this list and move away from the church and apply it to our lives in general. What has changed in your life as a result of inviting God in? Have you given up anything or added something to your life?

I know that for me personally, this is a key part of my daily struggle. In my almost 38 years, I have found my self in rut after rut. Almost all of my own making. In my career developing software, I have often chased the goal of getting it 'just right' so that I don't have to change anything any more. In raising my kids I often get agitated because they won't do what I told them, how I told them.

For all my high ideals, I just want to get to a point of comfort where I don't have to expend much energy, physically or mentally, to enjoy my life. There are plenty of things in the world that make that hard to do. And the Lord also upsets these plans.

The Gospels are not passive in what they tell us. They are a call to action. Just like the disciples, we are called to "drop our nets" and follow. We are called to change things in our lives. Not in order to get comfortable in the world. Not in order to be accepted by a group of people. Not in order to "go along to get along."

We are called to change things in our lives because God is changing all of creation. Paul tells us about the beginning of this change:

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Cor 5:18 - 19 NIV)

And John tells us where it is ultimately headed in Revelations:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away (Revelations 21:1 NIV)

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" (Revelations 21:5 NIV)

So now what do you think of change? I'm still scared of it at times and I still find it hard to accept or affect sometimes. And I'm praying for strength and wisdom to follow through with the changes that God is asking of me.

If you feel so inclined, please pray too.

Catching Up...

Wow. I hadn't realized how long it had been since I last posted. Don't read anything into that regarding the post about the incredible experience at the Third Day concert. It was awesome and moving.

A lot of things have changed in the last 3 weeks.

I voluntarily changed jobs at the end of February. That might not sound like much. There are people changing jobs right now.

I know I'm not unique. I'm special, of course (just ask my Mom), but I'm not unique. The organization I was with was a company that I was apart of building from the ground up. I wasn't an owner, but I was the first paid employee of the company. There were 5 of us eight years ago. We didn't have a product yet and we didn't have paying customers. We had an idea, experience, brains, and sheer force of will.

I won't say that I was the driving force behind the companies success over the course of the past 8 years, but I was in there busting my tail and doing what it took. I was in the thick of things and really making a name for myself. The company had about 5 customers in the first 6 months and will have over 200,000 customers at the end of this year. This organization went from 5 associates to over 400, and is still growing.

I got to be pretty proud of myself based on the success of the company, the accolades it drew, the success path it was on, and knowing that I was there on the ground floor. What a great guy I was!

Then, my position began to slip. I was less influential. I wasn't involved in as many "important" things anymore. I felt like the old football hero who is too old to play anymore and everyone always smiles wistfully remembering bygone days. After some time spent obsessing about this, I came across something that Charles Swindoll wrote in his character study of Moses in Great Days with the Great Lives:

What are those resistant layers in our hearts, and how does He break through to that hidden part? First, He finds pride. And He uses the sandpaper of obscurity to remove it ever so gradually.

Then He finds us gripped by fear---dread of our past, anxiety over our present, and terror over what may lie ahead---and He uses the passing of time to remove that fear. We learn that things aren't out of hand at all; they're in His hand.

He next encounters the barrier of resentment---the tyranny of bitterness. He breaks down that layer with solitude. In the silence of His presence, we gain a fresh perspective, gradually release our cherished rights, and let go of the expectations that held us hostage.

Finally, He gets down to the basic habits of living, he penetrates our inner person, and there He brings discomfort and hardship to buff away that last layer of resistance. Why? So that He might renovate us at the very core of our being.

It was then that I realized that, even though the situation wasn't in my control, it was definitely in control. It was in God's control all along. I recognized that feeling of the "sandpaper of obscurity" and welcomed the "passing of time."

I'm working at a new place, still in Charleston thankfully. It has great potential. Not potential to be the next huge business success like Google, etc. But potential to help me see what God has planned for me and to get past the barriers within me and let Him loose in all parts of my life.

I once believed that I was defined by my job, my position, my company, and my success. I'm learning more and more that:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1 Cor 15:10, NIV)

So I pray for the will of God to be revealed to me. I pray for his strength and wisdom to show me the right paths. And I pray that, in all I do, that God is glorified.

Things are looking up...

Love Song

By now you might have guessed that I'm a Third Day fan. On Thursday night, they opened their 2008 tour with a concert here at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center. I don't know how many people it holds, but it was full. (Update: here's what the band had to say about the Charleston show.)

Revive, a band from Australia that really deserves some US airplay, Decemberadio, and Sanctus Real all performed before the boys from Third Day came out and played. And it was a great show from all four bands. Aside from being a great rock concert, it was an amazing night of praise and worship for our Lord.

As an encore, Mac Powell and Mark Lee (of Third Day) came out, sat down on a couple of stools, and performed "Love Song" acoustic. If you have never heard this song, you should immediately go to where ever you get your music and find it.

As Mac sang the first two verses, I felt the Holy Spirit moving throughout the theater. The first verse goes like this:

I've heard it said that a man would climb a mountain
Just to be with the one he loves
How many times has he broken that promise
It has never been done.
I've never climbed the highest mountain
But I walked the hill of calvary

Just to be with you, I'd do anything
There's no price I would not pay
Just to be with you, I'd give anything
I would give my life away.

And when Mac hit the bridge, it was like Jesus was talking directly to my heart and telling me the most beautiful story about His love for me:

I know that you don't understand
the fullness of My love
How I died upon the cross for your sins
And I know that you don't realize
how much that I gave you
But I promise, I would do it all again.

Just to be with you, I've done everything
There's no price I did not pay
Just to be with you, I gave everything
Yes, I gave my life away.

It's been a while since I have been that close and that personal with Jesus. I hadn't realized how much until Thursday night.

I know that Mac and the fellas would say that they are simply the vessels for God to work with and wouldn't take any credit. And I want to thank them for allowing themselves to be used by the Lord like that. They have been given very special talents and are a blessing to us all.

God Bless you, Third Day. We'll keep you and the other bands in our prayers as you travel and perform across the country.