Sorry it has taken me so long to get #2 out there. Part of the reason is that this has yet to become a habit. I so appreciated the many comments from #1, but because this is an all new tool to me, I also still have to figure out how to use it.

So my second post is more of a sharing than it is a newsletter. Still, hope you enjoy it : )

Take it or Leave it

“Blessed is he who is not offended because of me…” MT 11:6

Jesus told us unequivocally that offenses would come (MT 18:7). Experience tells us the same. Unless you are a monk who lives in a cave completely separated from people, you are going to have plenty of opportunities to be offended.

So the question then becomes not whether we will encounter offense, but when. So it is best be ready. Since it has been marvelously stated that the quality of one’s life is a result of the choices one makes, let me suggest a couple with regards to offense.

First, just because an offense is given, it does not mean that it has to be received. The Greek word for offense comes from the word meaning to bait a trap. So, simply put, if we take the bait offered to us by an offense, we better watch out cause our leg is going to suddenly be locked in irons and we are not going anywhere. So, friends, do not take the bait. Leave it. Don’t touch it or even stare at it in wonder. There is grace, so just walk.

OK, although this is a clear choice, it is still not easy; and usually such traps catch us unawares. Although the choice to drop the issue opens the trap and let’s us go free, it’s still not easy, and it stings. And sometimes traps leave scars.

In answer to this, Jesus teaches us a principle about offense in these words he spoke to John the Baptist while he was in prison. You see, in answer to John’s question about whether or not Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus assured him of the facts, that He performed all the works that could only be done by the Son of God. But he didn’t stop there. Jesus did not want John to receive an offense because Jesus, though God, did not seem to care that he was in prison. Hadn’t He inaugurated His ministry stating that He would “set the prisoners free”?. To this Jesus deftly adds the words quoted above, “blessed is he who is not offended.” It seems clear Jesus wanted John the Baptist (and us) to be offense-free. It was bad enough that he was in one prison without being in a prison within a prison.

Bill Johnson shares great insight on this verse when he gives us a second clear choice that we can make when an offense is given: choose to dwell on the positive and not on the negative. Don’t fixate on the fact that you are in prison. Dwell on the fact that the blind are seeing and the dead are being raised. Dwell on what God is doing, not what He is not doing. Get your mind off of those things that offend and back on God. In this way you can actually be free no matter where you, even in a real prison.

On a personal level, though there are times when someone intends to offend you (that is another study, based on Matt 18:7), most of the time people do not mean to hurt you. So what should you do? Recall all the good things that the offending person has done. Dwell on those things and not on the unintended blunders borne out of weakness, or ignorance, or just a bad day! In this way, you are releasing the one who has offended you, and imparting grace to him or her. Not only that, Jesus says you will be blessed. Well amen to that!

If we look around we will probably see the rubble and debris around us that symbolize offenses. As I see it, you again have a choice. You may decide to go around and collect them, then build them into a wall. Some people even take it to the next level; they collect other’s offenses too. If you really work hard at it, you might even have a fortress when you are done! Too bad they don’t know that by the time they are done, they are the only ones living there.

Or of course you can throw the debris in the rubble heap over the cliff. This is the choice to not only forgive (release) another, but to forget. That’s two goats: one to forgive, the other to send away into the wilderness (Lev 16:7-10). You’d be surprised at how good it becomes to walk or run or play in these kinds of fields. No rubble! No tripping and stubbing toes! Some people even take it to the next level; they start clearing the rubble of the people around them. This is when it really gets fun. Why, you can even raise a banner over this area, such as was prophesied by Isaiah nearly 3000 years ago:

Go through, go through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people;
Build up, build up the highway!
Take out the stones,
Lift up a banner for the peoples! 62:10

You know what the banner says? “Offense-free Zone”. Let’s raise it for all to see.

Nathan arrived early Christmas morning. In the weeks before Christmas we were never sure if he was going to be able to make it. With Anna and Liz coming all the way from America, it just didn’t seem right that he wouldn’t be able to make it.

God is always on time.

We went to Hong Kong, Joyce and I along with the four oldest kids, to take care of a number of things related to our status before they all had to go back to schools and work. The last evening, from 10PM til 4:30AM we laughed and cried, we reminisced and we dreamed. His Presence was so real as we closed our time in prayer only hours before we would scatter to the four winds.

I turned my face Chinaward. Visiting our campus workers and their on-fire college student converts in GZ. Visiting our pioneering House Church partners over Sour Fish Head Soup to press in to God’s heart and to each other’s to chart our course for reaching another village, another people group. Visiting church leaders to plan for more advanced training, of stockpiling the tools and weapons they need, of mobilizing more workers, of raising up the next generation. Visiting team members in the border areas, reaching refugees, coordinating efforts to reach a city, a region, with revival in the air.

This blog should have been SPREAD OUT over many individual messages. But alas it is my first try. Take it as a China buffet, not a set meal.

I chose perfect timing because I could point to situation after situation in these few weeks where the timing could not have been better. I know, it should not surprise us that His timing would be perfect. And yet I always seems to come that way: surprising, fresh, unique. If we expected the things He does, we would not live in a constant state of awe. And yet it is His nature to stay perpetually novel–that our hearts may be primed to thanksgiving, and drawn to worship.

My last day in China I received an urgent document from overseas to take care of a pressing need, received back my passport with updated one year visa which was supposed to have come days earlier, and had a divine appointment which could change the course of one aspect of our work for years and years to come.

Did I just say that God is always on time?

Oh yes, I leave for our annual retreat tomorrow, beginning with our leadership meetings. Earlier this week I was asked to review a book written by our friend Bob Sorge. Its subject is exactly what we are covering during our conference, and has served to perfectly supplement and fill out my thoughts about what to share.

God has perfect timing.

Please be in prayer with us that not only HIS timing will be perfect, but ours will be as well. Pray we would be in tune with His heart, and in step with His Spirit. Amen.