“If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty…if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.”  1 Cor 15:17,19

The most popular painting in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is Washington Crossing the Delaware. It depicts the iconic nighttime crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas morning, 1776, in a surprise attack that marked the turning point of the Revolutionary War. Its sheer size (12.4 ft by 21.2 ft), symbols, detail, and historical significance has mesmerized people for 155 years. Contemplating it, one may even find himself oaring a boat on that frigid, foggy dawn awestruck by the courage and tenacity of General George, rekindling ardent patriotic flames. We could use a lot more of this as we celebrate America’s birth 250 years ago.

By contrast, France’s most popular painting, the Mona Lisa, is tiny. Measuring a mere 30 x 21 in., though inspirational for its finesse and genius, it fails to evoke lofty thoughts or compel us to bold action like death-defying George and our forebears who risked their lives for our freedom.

Frames matter. Imagine if Emanuel Leutze had been commissioned to paint his epic work in a Mona Lisa sized frame! It never would have made it out of Leutze’s studio. 

Having spent most of my adult life unmoored from the West, I now realize non-Westerners’“frame”, that is, their worldview, is quite different from ours. Frankly, it’s bigger, thus affording space for more details, or enlarging qualities that stand out and cry out for a response. Let me explain. 

During the Age of Enlightenment, spiritual viewpoints were downgraded, dismissed, and then mocked to make room for purely materialistic explanations. “Reason” filled the need for “faith”. Metaphorically speaking, “God is dead and we have killed him”, Nietzsche famously lamented. All our institutions were summarily secularized. Academia was forever tainted, including our seminaries which nurtured skepticism rather than faith, enshrining higher criticism rather than reverent study of God’s Word. Anything supernatural was stigmatized. Miracles, superseded by science, became the sole properties of the superstitious and ignorant. 

The arrogance of my religion professors in college was thicker than my mom’s venison stew, but had none of the flavor. Unfortunately, this “most pitied” horde are far from irrelevant. Their Screwtape ideas have eroded Grand Canyon-like chasms in the foundations of Western thought. Among the many fallouts, we have made our Psychologists to be our Priests, and Counselors our Levites. 

Take an 18 hour flight to Asia or Africa, or a 10 hour flight to South America and you will know what I mean. Remarkably, they still believe in demons! And regularly see them cast out and people who have lived under their oppression completely set free. I get testimonies of healings and power encounters weekly from my fellow preachers in the Third World. Virtually every Chinese and Korean believer I have ever met instinctively and thoroughly honors the Word of God as authoritative and infallible. They really believe it. No wonder they see results!

The author of Hebrews wrote of two mountains which, generally speaking, represent two “frames”. One, Mt Sinai, could not be touched. People kept their distance and the voice that spoke from it was garbled to the masses. It was dark, smoky, terrifying. Then there was Zion, the city of a God who’s alive and surrounded by innumerable angelic, supernatural beings. One’s origins was earthly, temporal; the other is heavenly and eternal. Sinai is a summit for naturalism and leads to certain death. But those of us who ascend Mount Zion encounter a God who is not bound by the foolish philosophies of man. The higher we climb, the more natural the supernatural becomes. 

It is not my intent to throw you a philosophical bone. My hope is to help us recognize the straitjacket we have been forced to wear in our culture, then stand up and cast it off in the name of Jesus. We cannot stand shoulder to shoulder with the crowd whose faith is useless, whose bent is skeptical, and expect to see God move in power in and through our lives. We cannot sit in the seat of scoffers and hope to prophesy the way last days sons and daughters are supposed to. 

It’s worth asking: what is the size of the canvas I am painting my journey of faith upon. Is my frame Mona Lisa sized, or am I crying out for a George-like frame that is able to witness God move powerfully in and through my life—that the fruit belief in a Risen Savior is meant to produce, and the greater works He promised we would do (Jn 14:12), would be performed in living color for the glory of His awesome and matchless Name. 

It may seem foolhardy. We may be greatly outnumbered. It may be bitter cold. Unthinkable sacrifices may be required. But if Washington could cross the Delaware, strike down the Red Coats, and turn the tide of the war that lead to our freedom, God will most certainly be with you and I as we take on the enemies of fear and unbelief. 

“They were offended and complained to the landowner, saying,‘You’re treating us unfairly! They’ve only worked for one hour while we’ve labored and sweated all day under the scorching sun. You’ve made them equal to us!’”  Matt 20:11-12 TPT

You don’t have to hang out around a playground very long before some kid somewhere can be heard screaming the age old protest: “that’s not fair!” One does not have to be taught to be offended or convinced we live in an unjust world. It comes naturally. It’s universal. It’s life.

As we get older, we’re supposed to learn to manage the fallout from what we perceive to be “unfair” situations. Hopefully, we don’t scream anymore. Hopefully we don’t see the whole world revolving around ME, but are able to put ourselves in the shoes of others, judging not only on the basis of how we feel, but with objectivity, sobriety, perspective. Otherwise, work spaces and social gatherings alike can just become more refined adult playgrounds where tantrums haven’t gone away, but sucked up, suppressed, and incubated. 

Jesus uses the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard to expose this “wicked way” (Ps 139:24) in us. Truth is, the Devil bombards us with the lie that God is unjust. Once we swallow this bait, it is like a hook in our spiritual jaws that we need to fight with basslike ferocity to dislodge. The parable was directed especially at the disciples, meant to correct misconceptions about God’s nature, and root out attitudes that impede true fellowship with one’s brothers. 

Notice how the workers “were offended and complained to the landowner”, who of course represents God the Father in the parable. For what, pray tell? They had agreed to work for one denarius (v.2), and that is exactly what they got. What was stuck in their craw is since he had given one denarius to those who had worked a lot less, the owner is judged as being unfair. Was he? This needs to be unpacked. 

Firstly, all of us have had times when we felt this way towards God. We get offended. We complain. And yet, like the parable says, it is never because God was unfaithful to what He had promised. CSB says in v. 16 “Are you jealous because I’m generous?” Just to be clear, from this perspective, God can’t win. When he chooses to bless to the workers he hired later, while at the same time giving the amount agreed upon to the early ones, He is mischaracterized and maligned. 

These first laborers felt cheated, and got upset. They were disgruntled, and in their frustration attacked the landowner: how could you make these last men to be equal with us? In their minds, they are obviously superior. They deserved a bigger cut. Not only had they worked longer, they embellish, painting themselves as miserable slaves who had labored and sweated all day under the scorching sun. They convince themselves the landowner is not just unfair, he is cruel too! They also manifest disdain for the latecomers. Equal with us? Humbug! We’re the A team!

(If they had been one of the 11th hour guys, given their strong sense of justice, surely they would have only accepted—at most—a half denarii!)

Truth is, we all need to guard our hearts against attitudes that creep in to steal our peace with God, as well as create tensions with each other. I’ve seen many disciples burdened by offense and crippled by complaints. When God answers a brother’s prayer and appears indifferent to our own cries for help, do we harbor jealousy? When someone else is promoted to some position ahead of us, or praised for something we feel we did just as well, do we revert back to our swingset days, stamp our indignant feet and silently shout “that’s not fair”?

I used to live in a massive city where migrant workers gathered early each morning, often with the tools of their crafts in hand, waiting for someone to hire them for the day. With no chance to vet them, a “landowner” would randomly select a crew for a project and off they went. Though hit or miss, to work was a blessing. It paid debts. It put food on the table. It brought them one step closer to getting married one day. Medicine could be purchased for a sickly parent. 

In Jesus’ time, one denarius for a day’s labor was fair. The ones who were hired early ought to have been grateful for the work, and the reward. Backbreaking labor was the rule, not the exception. Perhaps the next day they would not be chosen? Or, maybe they would be among those who got hired by this same landowner at the eleventh hour yet paid for a full day’s work? How would they view their boss then? Unfair, or magnanimous? Stingy, or generous? Many things in life are like this, fully dependent upon the eyes of the beholder. 

Come on, Church. The days are short. Jesus is coming soon! The Bride is supposed to be making herself ready. Our playground days are over. To accuse God of not being fair is unbecoming of the glory to which we have been called. As the author of Hebrews exhorts us:

“We are confident of better things concerning you…For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love…” (6:9-10)

“Tell me! Present the evidence! Let them consult with one another!..I have no peer, there is no God but me, a God who vindicates and delivers; there is none but me.”  Is 45:21

In my last blog, I quoted 1 Sam 2:2 where Hannah presents case after case of how the God of Israel is so vastly different from all the other gods of the nations. Here, Isaiah speaks as a mouthpiece of Jehovah where God Himself challenges anyone to present evidence for any other object that may be worthy of worship and reverence. He chides them, give me your best arguments, come on, show me! And of course they cannot. He rightly says He has no peer. There is no one like our God.

The language here is like that of a court proceeding. Several times in these chapters in Isaiah God refers to us as My witnesses. My mind jumps to the multiple times throughout my years of service to the King of kings that I have shared the good news with peoples who have never heard of Jesus before only to have them become astounded, even overjoyed by the gospel. The moment they hear there is One in the heavens Who truly loves them, One who vindicates and delivers, Who knows them by name, Who does not make demands upon us but freely and richly gives and keeps on giving, their response has been as it was for the Philippian jailer: “What must I do to be saved!” (Acts 16:30). Within hours his entire household was baptized. They saw it; this God is awesome! Who wouldn’t desire a God like that?!

For those of us who have been raised in cultures steeped in Judeo-Christian values, we do not have the benefit of contrast. The wonders of our God are often buried in the tomb of familiarity. We don’t realize many people in the world live in fear of demons, fear of death, battling curses, forced to bear back-braking burdens in an effort to appease their gods. We are ill-informed about the doctrines that breed jihad, or justify the wholesale suppression of castes of people who don’t have the right pedigree, or ideology. 

We may not have really considered how very different Jesus is from other spiritual leaders. The Buddha abandoned his own wife and newborn son to seek enlightenment. While Jesus had twelve disciples, Mohammed had around a dozen wives, including Aisha whom he married when she was six, consummating his union with her when she was nine. Or how about comparing Mohammed not with Jesus, but Mother Teresa. If Mohammed had subjugated Calcutta when Teresa was there, he may well have ordered her killed as an infidel. But if Mohammed had been gravely injured in the battle, she would have spent countless, selfless hours binding his wounds and weeping for his recovery. 

Beloved, our God has no rival. Of this fact we are called to be witnesses. We who have been the beneficiaries of His mercy, His grace, His healing, peace, redemption and joy, are given the privilege of sharing these glad tidings to who are bound yet long to be free, who are blind, ignorant of the joy that awaits them the moment their eyes are opened, or whose dreams have long died, replaced by recurring nightmares. 

As we celebrate the birth of our nation 250 years ago, we would be wise to listen to contrasting voices too. Multiplied thousands of foreigners have posted billions of views on social media praising America as awesome in so many ways which we have taken for granted. We fail to realize no generation in history has ever lived as comfortably as ours. And despite the attempts of media and their naysaying minions to denigrate our nation and pervert reality, we are blessed to live in the greatest country to have ever existed throughout time. The castles kings lived in not long ago sit empty. An average suburban home is an upgrade! Don’t get me started on the irony (tragedy?!) of someone pulling up to a MacDonald’s drive through to order a Big Mac meal while typing his grievance about “affordability” on their iPhone 17 as he waits. 

It’s little wonder people from every nation flooded across our Southern border when there was no enforcement whatsoever during the Biden years. If China opened hers (which she would NEVER do!) we’d hardly notice. Because I have been blessed to visit so many nations, and in traveling to go beyond the show-cased tourist and whitewashed parts, I can say from experience that we are a uniquely and extraordinarily blessed land. Not perfect, mind you, but when presented with the evidence, America also has no peer. 

As sons and daughters of the God of Jacob, and as citizens of America during this “Super Centennial”, let us be boundlessly grateful. Consider any and all alternatives. If we are honest, we’ll all just have to agree: we are wonderfully and abundantly blessed. 

“There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no Rock like our God.” 1 Sam 2:2

He was a murderer. If he hadn’t told us the cruel details of his heinous and despicable act, I wouldn’t have believed it. He looked like he could have been anyone’s favorite uncle. But here this Lisu elder stood confessing to the premeditated killing of the first Christian from his village when he was a young man. Here he stood, restored, and now respected in this entire mountainous region of the Golden Triangle—free as a bird and radiant by the Holy Spirit. 

There is no one like our God. In Ps 103 David said we must never forget all of His benefits. The first thing he lists is: “Who forgives all your iniquities”. Even murder. Remarkably, this community of Lisu believers had mercy on him too. No banishment. No hatred. No revenge. 

Raised in Western culture steeped in Judeo-Christian values, we may not comprehend how revolutionary this is around the world. Our God is not like any other god: not even close. No other religion offers people full pardon for sin, a completely new beginning, a clean slate, and removal of every taint of guilt and shame. 

The prophet Micah prophesies of a day when “the Lord’s house” will be established upon a mountain’s summit, above and superior to all others (Mic 4:1-3). He envisions a time when all that is false and inferior will be exposed as candles pretending to shine like the Sun. What he sees next is exhilarating: multitudes from many nations are flowing to it, with eager pilgrims declaring to each other: come on, let’s go!

Micah proceeds to tell us three powerful reasons why our God will be called the Desire of the Nations (Hag 2:7). In other words: he announces that people around the world are going to discover why Jehovah so thoroughly surpasses all other rivals in three distinct ways.

First, because of a superior law. “For out of Zion the law shall go forth/ and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem”. Even now many are coming to faith in Christ because they are discovering God’s laws (Word) are right and true. The Devil has created much chaos and confusion in this generation. If our Supreme Court Justice cannot define a woman, where does that leave the rest of us? People have grown weary of your truth and my truth, stirring an intensifying hunger for the truth. In rudderless and foggy cultures, multitudes are seeking clear guidance about what is right and wrong. Thank God for His law! It’s like a broken GPS suddenly back on line giving step by step directions of how to get home.  

Second, because of justice. Think of all the people living under repressive or corrupt-to-the-core regimes where upstanding citizens populate prisons or others where violent criminals walk free. Think of the 42,000 Iranians recently slaughtered, or of women who are forced to marry perverted, aged men, or cover their bodies from head to toe. Think of all the victims of trafficking. That the Just One is coming to execute perfect justice (“He shall judge…” Mic 4:3) is music to the ears of multiplied millions. 

Finally, because of peace. Micah continues by saying “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks”. For all those who have lived through war, constant conflict, as refugees, suffering the loss of lands, loved ones or limbs, hearing, or sight, this message trumps all others. To all those for whom true and lasting peace is but a distant dream, who are despondent and crushed by the teeth of war, meeting the Prince of Peace is joy unspeakable. 

When we make the gospel only about personal salvation, we may inadvertently squelch the message about what God is doing in the earth. Where His Kingdom comes, where His house is exalted over cultures and all other inferior worldviews, the contrast is absolutely striking. What Jesus came to establish in the nations will catalyze worldwide revival, even as peoples  from every tribe and tongue realize how awesome His law is, how righteous His judgments, how pervasive and enduring His peace. 

No wonder David blessed the Lord with everything that was within him (Ps 103:1). There simply is no one like our God. 

“Taste and see that the Lord is good” Psalm 34:8

My companion, a venerable Buddhist monk, had entered the sanctuary wrapped in flowing saffron robes year after year from his youth as the holy men and sages had done since ancient times. Devotees bowed to him in obeisance. The waft of incense invigorated his senses. He’d prostrated himself in reverence to the exquisitely crafted, solid-gold statue of his god. He’d wait. He’d wonder. Would even one finger of its thousand hands…touch him?

The first time he attended a Christian service he was standing next to me. There were no candles. No incense. Our raiment? Jeans and polo shirts. Days before the expo hall had been filled with vendors selling the latest tech gadgets. Our fellow “devotees” met us with fist bumps and high fives, not bald, bowed heads. As we raised our voices in adoration and praise, I glanced over at my guest and saw streams of tears flowing down his cheeks. He returned my gaze with the broadest smile imaginable, speaking words I will never forget: there is nothing like this in Buddhism!

My new favorite name for God is found in the little known book of Haggai. He prophesies in v. 2:7 of a Day when God will shake the earth, stating further that people will then flock to Him who is called the Desire of All Nations. This coincides with a revelation that God is going to fill His temple with glory, much as He had done that day my monk friend first encountered the Living God.

Think about it: what people are really seeking after, the cry of their hearts, their most basic, visceral longing, is our God. He alone satisfies. He alone brings hope. All other “princes of peace” are placebos, counterfeits. I don’t know anyone who would turn down a spa followed by a full body massage. What if you could offer them a spa for the spirit, and a massage for the soul? Who wouldn’t want that, right?!

Solomon captures this essence in his allegorical work, the Song of Songs. In 5:16 it says: “He is absolutely desirable. This is my love, and this is my friend”. The description the Shulamite woman gives of her beloved is in fact so compelling that all her companions abandon their own pursuits. They immediately beg her to tell them which direction he has turned aside to, declaring “Let us seek him with you” (6:1).

When John says in Revelation 12:11 that we overcome the enemy of our souls by the word of our testimony, I am confident he did not mean recounting that day we raised our hand at a Billy Graham Crusade 40 years ago. It was the Shulamite’s love story that wooed others to Him. It was David’s own experience which inspired him to invite people everywhere, at all times, to taste and see that God is so indescribably good. It is Peter crying “It is the Lord!” as he catapulted out of his fishing boat and into the sea upon realizing his Beloved, Jesus, was the one calling to him from the shore (Jn 21:7).

The Shulamite’s testimony magnifies the irresistible qualities of the One she has completely fallen for. He is stunningly beautiful, majestic, sweet, a “chief among ten thousand”. She goes on verse after enchanted verse, announcing in 2:5 “I am lovesick”! She is so consumed with thoughts for him that she can’t sleep, so she rises, running to and fro through the city squares and streets to pursue him. No wonder all the daughters of Jerusalem wished they could have Him for their very own.

Apologists convince people God is true. Theologians postulate that He is righteous and able to save. Pastors preach Him as a Guide, or Comforter. A missionary’s message paints Jesus as relevant, better than what they or their forefathers have worshiped. But a Lover’s testimony…well, there is simply no rival. The call is to worship Him not just in truth, but in spirit too; we’re to love God not just with our minds, but with our hearts, our souls, and all of our strength.

Haggai’s buddy Zechariah had a vision of a time when “many peoples and strong nations will come and seek the Lord” (Zec 8:22). He prophesies that men from every language will be grasping ahold of the sleeve of believers and cry out: “We’ve heard that God is with you. We want to go with you!” (Zec 8:23, TPT) Brothers and sisters, this is what the nations want. More than answers, they want a Soulmate. Aside from being rescued, they want to be loved.

By the end of the week my monk friend had left his saffron robe behind. He had tasted and seen, and knew for himself that this God, Jesus, was indeed everything that he had ever yearned for. Though it may cost him prestige, security, or power, he had found the One who for a thousand fairy tale “reincarnated lives” had eluded him. As I lifted him out of the waters of baptism in the sea that day, with childlike glee he skipped over to random people who had gathered to watch the spectacle. I do not know his exact words, but the testimony written upon his joyful countenance was shouting: Taste and see! My God is so, so good. He is absolutely desirable! He is my Love, and He is my Friend.

“Beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.” 2 Pet 3:17

Piglet had a hole in his stocking. Having seven kids, I can’t remember how many times I read this Pooh tale of how these two BFFs had gone on a pebble hunt only to discover that they had employed a faulty collection tool for their project. It turned out to be a “fortuitous circumstance”, to quote Bert of Mary Poppins lore. Though they had lost their way, they followed the “pebble trail” of their treasures that had slipped out of the sock which, to their surprise, led them straight back home. Whew. Crisis averted. 

Time will tell whether or not we will be able to avert the crisis that is brewing in our streets. Since the tinderbox of George Floyd’s death, America has reeled with wave after wave of chaotic, destructive, and increasingly violent “demonstrations”. Attended by “activists”, purported to be protestors, what if there is really something much more sinister going on? Placards in the hands of well-meaning citizens are not normally spontaneously combustible, leaving charred city blocks in their wake. 

It turns out removing their literal and metaphysical masks may also be stripping these “protests”, that are really riots in disguise, of their innocence. Embedded among the crowds are agitators, provocateurs, and vigilantes. They lie in wait for the next media-driven excuse to flare their anger—and in anticipation of another fat check to reward their indignation. 

Bear with me if this post is longer than usual, and seems to wade into unchartered clerical waters. At least for today, allow me to put on the hairy mantle and leather belt of a voice crying out to an urban wilderness. I hope it doesn’t cost me my head. But after months of meditation on this subject, there is a “fire shut up in my bones” (Jer 20:9), a “woe is me” (1 Cor 9:16),  and a “roar” (Am 3:8) that I can’t suppress any longer. Sorry if I take a slight detour out of the Hundred Acres Woods and attempt to expose some bogeymen, then anchor it back in the Word of God.

One of these is a Devil Wears Prada figure named Neville Roy Singham. Fox News Digital has been doing an exposé on this sordid US billionaire who is a major underwriter of our riots and rioters, even as he is shielded from prosecution under the wings of the Chinese Communist Party from his perch in Shanghai. He is accused of channeling $278 million into a network of far-left organizations, pro-China propaganda, and anti-ICE protests in the United States, often masquerading as “non-profit”, aka “noble”, initiatives. Reports from the recent “No Kings” protests claim $3B have been channeled into this grievance-industry-made-flesh movement by Singham, George Soros, and groups such as the Arabella Advisors, as well as Reid Hoffman of Linkedin. 

I’ll leave it to the journalists to chronicle the schemes and tactics of these nefarious actors. What has struck me for several months is how “dark money” has been a part of Satan’s playbook for thousands of years. When 2 Peter and Jude forewarn of End Times scenarios, they both point to Balaam, a prophet who was paid to pronounce a curse over the nation of Israel. Referred to as “the way of Balaam” in 2 Pet 2:15, Jude is even more specific, stating: “for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam” (v. 11). 

I have addressed this issue in previous posts (“Wolf Season”, Feb 2025) as it pertains to church leaders and believers who have succumbed to Balaam’s hamartia. Greed is a sin with teeth. It bit Elisha’s servant Gehazi. It’s venomous fangs struck Judas who had walked in intimate fellowship with Jesus for three years. If it could happen to him, then none of us are immune.

We also must not be ignorant of Satan’s missiles that are launched at the righteous, whose coordinates are locked on cultures that promote the values and laws of the Kingdom. They seek to sow chaos and hatred, then reap destruction. While we may be attuned to the the phrase “wars and rumors of wars”, Luke adds “commotions”—also translated “tumults”, “uprisings”, and “insurrections”—to the list of items on the menu of Last Days Tavern. These mobs and rabble-rousers, far from being a part of the democratic process, often appear as tools of crafty and pernicious rulers who employ thuggery, intimidation, and bullying tactics to amass power. 

Sometimes crowds are whipped into a frenzy by blatant lies, as was the case of a “great disturbance” stirred up by Demetrius in Acts 19. Sometimes “worthless and reckless men” were hired to commit violence to pave the way for ruling by fear and not consensus as in Judges 9:3-6 and 11:1-4. 

And then there are the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. We know Judas was paid, but how about the false witnesses who blathered scandalous falsehoods before the Sanhedrin. Most likely they pocketed a handsome reward for their tall tales too. Mt 27:20 says “the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they would ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus”. It was these riffraff, not the exuberant majority who worshiped Him as He came into Jerusalem triumphantly hours earlier, who joined the chorus of “Crucify Him!”, likely egged-on by a strategically placed “activists”. 

On the one hand, we are exhorted in 2 Peter to beware lest we be caught up in the this vile spirit that will be at work with increasing intensity as the Day of Christ’s return draws near. On the other, we should also be vigilant to identify and call out the forces of wickedness that are aligning to suppress truth and righteousness. Rather than manifesting peace and order, they reflect the nature of their own “king”, whom Paul judiciously calls “the lawless one” (1 The 2:8). That description sounds eerily familiar to what we are witnessing in our day.

Pooh and Piglet wisely followed the pebbles back to where they had come from. If we follow the money trail, we too will be made the wiser, averting catastrophe, circumventing the way of Balaam, and by the grace of Almighty God, arrive safely home.

“Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Zech 3:2

When the prophet Zechariah appears on the scene in 520 BC, one thing is vividly clear: God is on the move. Eighteen years prior, a ragtag remnant of Jews had returned to Jerusalem after seventy years of exile in Babylon. Motivated at first to return to the glory days of David and Solomon, as the years passed their zeal flagged. The walls of the city were rubble, the temple, a ruins. The fact that they were paneling their own houses at the same time was cause for a stinging rebuke from his companion prophet, Haggai (1:4). Talk about priorities out of line.

Suddenly, God opens Zechariah’s eyes. He has vision after vision of a flurry of activity in the heavenly realms. He sees horses being sent to the four corners of the earth. He sees four pernicious horns that have been used to scatter and persecute God’s people. As they fade into the background, he sees four craftsmen, or carpenters, who arise and cast out the horns. He also catches a glimpse of the future when “many nations will be joined to the Lord” (2:11). Chapter 2 ends with the words “He is aroused from His holy habitation” (v. 13). God was stirred up. When that happens, it’s time to look up, and watch out!

Several of his visions are images of building and builders. He sees a “surveyor’s line…stretched out” (1:16), as well as angels coming and going, one with a tape measure in his hand. He sees a plumb line being dropped. He sees a capstone being placed upon what we discover is the temple, declaring: “[He] laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it” (4:9). 

In order to do construction, qualified builders must stand up and be counted. Chapter 3 introduces such a man: a “craftsman” Zechariah sees standing in the courtroom of the Almighty named Joshua. Satan himself is standing at his side to “oppose him”, only to receive a stern back off or else from the Lord of hosts. God boasts Joshua is “a brand plucked from the fire”. The Father proceeds to remove his filthy garments and garb him in splendrous robes, placing a turban representing authority upon his head. Reading between the lines, it’s as though God was about to proudly announce: that’s my boy!

Although the curtain to heaven has not fully opened to me in the same way, I am confident of this: God is on the move, again. He is about to do something new and glorious in our day. Heaven’s horses are baying. His eyes are scanning to and fro throughout the earth. Zechariah’s prophecies were about an actual, decimated temple, rebuilt for the nation God calls “the apple of His eye” (2:8). But they also pointed to a Day when a temple not made with hands would cause “many peoples and strong nations [to] come to seek the Lord…and to pray before” Him (8:22).

Before He does, God is again looking for fiery brands with Joshua-type fortitude and resolve. They are charred and have a smoky smell, logs who have been in the fire yet rescued by the very Hand of God, preserved and empowered for a purpose, against whom Satan’s attacks are futile. Beloved, mark my word: before God builds, He always looks for and finds builders. He could do it Himself, but He loves to include us. Rather than just deal with the evil horns, He counters them by raising up craftsmen. It is in this way He is glorified.

John Wesley was one of history’s greatest preachers. But when he was five, tragedy struck. His family house caught fire. Seconds before the roof collapsed he jumped into the hands of a human ladder his neighbors had formed, narrowly escaping certain death. He never forgot what God had done. In fact, he often spoke of how God saved him from destruction that day—identifying with Joshua, and recognizing he too had been saved for a divine purpose. Today, if you go to visit his grave, the epitaph he composed for his own tomb reads: “A Brand Plucked Out of the Burning”. 

Oh to be worthy of such an inscription on my headstone one day! Beloved, God is doing a work in our day. The “temple” will be completed, and all nations will flow to it. What remains to be seen is who will be among His fiery brands. 

“Jesus also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.” Lk 13:6

Missionaries uniquely understand what 1 Peter 2:11 meant when he wrote about “aliens and exiles”. Sometimes we just feel out of place, or out of sync with what’s happening around us—which can be in our adopted country or even when we come back to the land of our birth. Sometimes we feel downright extraterrestrial, or what it must have been like when Rip Van Winkle woke up. 

I experienced this in Singapore. They spoke English, so naturally I was supposed to understand what they were saying. Until I didn’t. For instance, they loved to use acronyms—sometimes rattling two or three off in a sentence. They all knew what those three or four letters stood for. I was clueless. 

One I heard quite often was KPI. I seemed to be the only person in the room who had no idea what they were talking about. One day I got up the courage to ask someone, and found out KPI stands for “Key Performance Indicator”. I learned KPIs answer the questions: Are we accomplishing what we set out to do? or, If we continue forward on this trajectory, will we reach our desired destination as planned?

Missions worldwide went through an upheaval during and after the COVID years. We all got some form of PTSD (two more acronyms). We got waylaid, sidetracked, and benched. But it is time to shake it off, take stock, reorient, and forge ahead. This is true for anyone going through major transitions. We must maintain a curious and probing posture. What is the Holy Spirit saying to us here and now? How do we shift, apply new methods, adjust our goals to new realities? How do I take these five, or ten talents I’ve been given, and invest them in a way that pleases the Master? One day he will for sure come knocking. 

Like Jesus did when He visited the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3; they all receive a thorough and honest report card. He keeps repeating one phrase throughout, “I know your works”. He might as well have said, “You can’t fool me” or as The Passion Translation says, “I know all that you’ve done for me…but…” 

Likewise, in the brief parable in Luke 13:6-9 Jesus comes expecting results. He is “seeking fruit”. It seems God too has KPIs. Every year He comes to check how his fig tree is doing. We also discover he is patient, coming back the next year, and then the next. Still, we must never confuse patience with passivity. He for sure will come back and check again. We also see that He is gracious, magnanimous even. Though the owner says “cut it down”, He intercedes for the tree, then bends down to gently dig around the trunk and roots, literally getting his hands dirty with just the right amount of loving manure. When he comes the next year, it’s fruit, or it’s fire. Grace may be a free gift, but that is not the same as a blank check. It is an injection of undeserved resources meant to empower, resulting in fruitfulness. 

“Be fruitful and multiply” was not just the first command ever spoken to mankind, it was a revelation of God’s very heart. So let us consider how to stir one another up to good works, even as Paul exhorted his coworker Archippus with a KPI at the end of his letter to the Colossians: “take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it” (4:17).

“And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,  and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior… For the Mighty One has done great things for me;  And holy is His name.”  Luke 1:46-47

Mary was a worshiper. As she pours out her heart and soul, expressing her passionate love and adoration for God in Luke 1:46-55, I am moved to lift my hands and proclaim His greatness too. This was no rote prayer, a “bless me, God” petition, a “repeat after me”. Mary’s cry touches heaven; and two thousand years later, her song is still inspiring people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Wow.

I’m struck by the depth and maturity of this young virgin from an obscure village in ancient Israel. We’re led to believe that people, and especially girls, in those days were ignorant, uneducated. In our “progressive” era, with all the “advancements”, “rights”, and access to knowledge, you might expect more from the women of our day. And yet it’s hard to imagine a fifteen year old in 2025 who walks in such intimacy with God as Mary did. 

I get it. Many of us live in reaction to the excessive exaltation, if not outright worship, of Mary that the Catholic Church has espoused. I think we need a course correction. She rightly prophesied “all generations will call me blessed” (v. 48). It is wrong to worship Mary. What we need to do is worship like Mary, to be a people who know how to press into God, that our souls may truly magnify the Lord. This is not an age or gender issue. It is a matter of choice. It’s a reminder that we are all invited into this kind of relationship with our Master.

A closer look at Mary’s prayer offers some keys. Clearly, she knows Him. She praises Him as mighty, merciful, holy, and faithful through generations. She knows He opposes the proud, yet draws near to those who fear Him. She prophesies by the power of the Holy Spirit. She references Israel’s history. And she knows the Word. In these ten verses, she quotes from: Genesis, 1 Samuel, Psalms (several times), Habakkuk, and Isaiah! 

Add to this another painful fact; she was likely an orphan by this time. A young teenager who faced ridicule and public humiliation, the likely shattering of hopes and dreams, and yet there is no mention of a mother or father who could affirm and comfort her in her hour of crisis. What Joseph would do was an unknown. He could have easily just walked away leaving her awash with shame.

In her hour of intense loneliness, Mary makes two very wise choices. She could have complained, and thrown a pity party. Yet, she chose to praise God. She could have turned to peers for solace. Instead, she packed her bags and headed to the mountains in search of an elderly, godly couple whom she had admired growing up at family festivals. Mary sought out spiritual parents, and was richly rewarded. As she entered the home of Uncle Zach and Aunt Elizabeth, they spoke the Word of the Lord over her and nurtured her for three months. She returned home emboldened, ready to face her accusers. 

I am reminded of two other instances when men of Israel faced a similar choice. One chose wisely, one poorly. When the city of Sodom was being destroyed by fire and brimstone, Lot fled for his life. Although he would have been warmly welcomed by Abraham who had raised and provided for him, he ran to a cave. Rather than get a warm meal, he had rocks for pillows. Instead of good advice, he got good and drunk. Years later David too was fleeing for his life, from the wrath of crazed King Saul. 1 Sam 19:8 says David “went to Samuel and Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him”. Smart. Like Mary.

During the Christmas season, as we joyfully reflect upon the birth of our Savior, our King, and our God, it’s good to be reminded as well that the teenage girl whom God chose to carry and raise Him was quite a star too. 

“I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own…You know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.” Phil 2:20-22

Through the centuries missionaries have rightly esteemed the Apostle Paul as a torchbearer. His strategies and methods have been exhaustively studied, and the wise among us have diligently sought to apply the principles he had instituted with such shocking success. 

The one thing that is most challenging to emulate is not the “why”, the “how”, or the “what”of Paul’s approach; it is the “who”. For when we consider the rapid expansion of the gospel throughout the Roman Empire in an age when travel was slow and dangerous, there is simply no way he could have managed the work as it grew on his own. Paul needed qualified, fully committed workers. Workers who were skillful and of the highest integrity. People whom Paul could trust implicitly, who knew his heart, and who would act in complex and threatening situations with fortitude and tenacity—ultimately as he himself would act. 

Herein we discover that the raising up of spiritual sons was not simply a feature of Paul’s method, but its core. In the above verse, Paul literally coins a term to describe his relationship with Timothy. The Greek word for “like-minded” (Gr. Isopsychos) means one who is equal or unified in soul or mind. Paul calls him a “true son” (1 Tim 1:2) manifestly because he resembles him, sharing his DNA. His trust in Timothy is such that he knows without a doubt that he will represent Paul fully in whatever place or capacity he is assigned to work. 

In the subsequent verses, Paul similarly commends Epaphroditus. He refers to him as his “brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier” who longed for the Philippians (v. 25-26), just as Paul had. Paul further says that they would be overjoyed at the sight of Epaphroditus, especially considering that he had come close to death, willingly risking his life in order to serve them (2:30). 

And then there is Titus. In 2 Corinthians, Paul actually says although an effectual door opened for the gospel while he was in Troas, “I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find Titus my brother” (2:12-13). So he left. Soon after, Titus helped Paul pioneer the work in Corinth. Then, after the gospel expanded to other cities, he sent Titus back there, testifying God had placed “the same concern for you into the heart of Titus” that he himself had, further adding of him: “Did we not conduct ourselves in the same spirit? Did we not behave in the same way?” (8:16;12:18 NET)

Titus’ ministry had proven so beloved and effective in Corinth that when the two of them launched a flourishing work expanding to multiple cities in Crete some years later, Paul had complete liberty to press on to other fields, confident that Titus would “set right what was left undone and…appoint elders” in every city where they had labored (Tit 1:5). Now that is real trust! 

As I look back over five decades of missionary service, I have discovered the most important thing that I have done is to equip not just disciples or even good leaders, but sons, or soulmates. You cannot plan for this and yet it must be one’s highest priority. It is not achieved by checking off boxes or graduating from some course of study, but by laying one’s life down. Sons are birthed by travail, not delivered by a stork, or Amazon, or even Fuller.

The impact of Paul’s approach has reverberated for two millennium. I can’t say I was clear-eyed about this when I started my assignment. But part of the richness of this principle is that it cannot be scripted; it has to be organic. Those who were spiritual mothers and fathers to me had modeled this way of ministry for me. I caught it, though it was never specifically something I was taught.  

As I had been freely given to, I freely gave. As this unique set of genes were passed down to me, I passed them to my own “offspring”. Subconsciously I had adopted a ministry posture that had a family resemblance. It turns out it is also the posture of Paul, the wise master builder himself (1 Cor 3:10). And what’s more, I now have the joy of watching my own “sons” carrying on the legacy. My hope and prayer is that it helps to hasten the Day or Jesus’ return for His bride.