A Better Witness

martyr: from the Greek, martys,

One who brings a testimony

We've all seen courtroom dramas on TV. The witness is placed on the stand, sworn to tell the truth, and then testifies to what he has seen, or heard, or done. The Greek word for that is martys, 'one who bring testimony.' In church history, being a witness often meant exposing oneself to danger or persecution. So martys gradually took on the additional meaning of one who suffers violence or even death for the sake of his testimony, or faith. 

The western church must have a better witness: a bigger testimony than our evangelism campaigns; more compelling than our tithes and offerings; louder than our conferences; more sincere than our worship services; more erudite than our scholarship and books; and better delivered than our sermons. The American church has yet to witness effectively with her life. She has yet to bleed with the world-wide, suffering church. She has yet to witness as Jesus did. Her resistance to the world has been of a more comfortable sort, tempered by her secret enjoyment of it. We like being saved, while retaining our place at the world's table (such tasty and satisfying morsels).

Jesus suffered the loss of everything: reputation, comfort, status, glory, life. He has said that those who are His disciples can expect the same. Honestly, I'd prefer the glory without the crucible first, but passing through the dark night is the only path into the glorious day we've been promised. I'm pretty sure there isn't an air-conditioned, American coach that detours around it. There is one Church, not one for us and another for those poor unfortunates in other parts of the world, who are obviously less blessed of God. I've known the joy of God's presence; the joy of abundance, of peace and quiet; the joy of fellowship. But I have to say that I do not know the joy of unbelievers seeing Christ so evident in my life that they must either fall at His feet in worship or declare themselves the open enemy of God.

We've testified with our mouths that Jesus is better and the world mostly yawns. But when Christian lives completely align with that testimony, the world takes a second look. Going to church is unremarkable. Going to prison is noticed. The testimony of the persecuted church is the most powerful witness of all. God is glorified and His kingdom advanced. Souls are saved. In a world languishing in the dark, people clinging to Jesus as everything is shaken are radiant lights. People have big questions. Men and women who've experienced Jesus as their only hope and treasure, have the answer.

For decades we've prayed for revival. We've begged for a return of the book of Acts. We've asked for the Great Harvest, as well we should. What if true revival only comes in the midst of persecution? What if a massive outpouring of the Spirit is accompanied by disdain and loss and sorrow? What if the Great Harvest is given as everything else is taken away? What if liberty in the Spirit is accompanied by loss of civil liberties? What if the 'more of God' we've begged for comes with less of everything else we hold dear? What if I were asked to give, not out of my abundance but out of poverty? Something to think about. Something to pray about. We long for a season of sharing all things in common and breaking bread in one another's homes...the book of Acts come again. The book of Acts also had foreign occupation, limited civil rights, persecution and risk of arrest and death.

Loving Jesus from the safety of our comfortable American lives will never speak as loudly or as compellingly as loving Jesus from the place of danger, persecution and lack. The world has rejected a sanitized, powerless Jesus, but is dying to hear about a Jesus worth dying for...the real Jesus. I believe we are headed into a season in which we will have our chance. Whether we will embrace or reject it remains to be seen. I am asking that He move among us once more, revealing the amazing, glorious, powerful, all-sufficient Jesus. Worth living for. Worth dying for. Worth giving everything in order to have. I am asking and asking and asking again, until the words of the song are not just words, but reality. Give me Jesus, Give me Jesus, You can have all this world, But give me Jesus. I openly confess that I am not there, but I am begging God to make me ready, to make me willing--even to make me willing to be willing to go with Him wherever He takes me. Where else could I go?

"After this a lot of his disciples left. They no longer wanted

to be associated with him. Then Jesus gave the Twelve

their chance: “Do you also want to leave?”

Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have

the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed

ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.”

John 6:67-69 The Message

Counting the Omer

When my kids were little they loved to count down the days to Christmas. At the start of Advent I would make a paper chain and let them break off one link per day, so they had a tangible reminder of the approaching holiday. Each day, the chain grew shorter; each day their excitement grew. That sense of anticipation is at the heart of the current season of "Counting the Omer.” Counting the omer begins the evening of the second day of Passover and continues for seven weeks, ending with the feast of Shavuot (7 weeks) also known as Pentecost (Greek for fiftieth). Most of us know Pentecost as a Christian holy day, and it is, but it was a Jewish holy day for thousands of years before it was a special day for Christians. If you think about it, that means the Jewish people were actually the first Pentecostals!

Sefirat HaOmer (the counting of sheaves) is the bridge between the two, spring, First-Fruits celebrations: the early barley harvest and the latter wheat harvest. These harvest celebrations made sense in an agricultural setting, but can they be relevant to a modern industrialized society? Well, when God is the party planner, of course! Shavuot is for expressing gratitude to God for His provision, but also beautifully demonstrates His desire to be in relationship with us.

At the feast of Passover, we remember God’s great deliverance of His people from bondage in Egypt; seven weeks later God made covenant with them. The feast of Shavuot celebrates the initiation of that relationship and the giving of Torah—God’s instruction on how to live in covenant relationship with Him. Now spool forward about fifteen hundred years; God delivered us through the death and resurrection of the Passover lamb, Jesus. Seven weeks later God sent the Holy Spirit, a living Torah written on the hearts of His followers. So the period between Passover and Pentecost is for reflecting on our freedom from bondage and anticipating deeper intimacy with the Lord.

Israel was in the midst of counting the omer when Jesus instructed His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received power. Because He was an observant Jew, Jesus knew that in a few weeks, Jerusalem would fill with Jewish pilgrims from many countries to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. Because He also knew God's plan, He had the disciples wait in the one place they would have a ready-made audience for their very first evangelistic meeting. On a day celebrating the first fruits of the spring wheat harvest, God harvested souls in the city of Jerusalem. God's plan is perfect!

Two loaves of wheat bread were the traditional offering presented at the Temple in Jesus’ day. Some Messianic rabbis teach that these two loaves now represent the people of God—Jew and Gentile brought together in Messiah—the one new man of Ephesians 2:15. The book of Ruth, which takes place during a spring harvest, is often read at Shavuot. The story of the Gentile widow, who left her own people and religion to serve her mother-in-law Naomi in Israel, is a great example for us. Ruth's devotion to her adopted people and their God placed her smack dab in the middle of the lineage of Jesus. We too have been grafted in, nourished by the Jewish root which God planted and has continued to preserve. We too have an important role in the salvation story. The Jews began as God's missionary people, displaying the greatness of their God. Now the nations are returning the favor, growing into fullness in order to draw Israel to her Messiah. 
 

This year as we count down to Pentecost, there are millions of believers all over the world fasting and praying for Israel. I am excited to see the fruit of what God is doing in this season, for Israel and for the nations too! This is day 40 of the Counting of the Omer. Shavuot begins at sundown on May 24th. Maranatha!

Photo by Evi Radauscher on Unsplash

Not a Scoffer

Since the days of Jesus, every generation has included believers who became convinced that He was returning any minute.  Books were written, timelines constructed, movements birthed. At various times in seasons past,  people left their jobs, postponed marriage, sold their goods and moved to remote locations to wait for the promised imminent return, which obviously never came. Over the past 2,000 years the lesson seemed to be that any rational person should hesitate to sound the alarm of the soon return of Jesus. Far safer to stay well away from such talk. No one wants to embarrass the Kingdom, or look like a kook, right? 

Yet a generation is coming which will be the last one--the Bible says so. At some point there will be a people on the Earth for whom the warnings were given, those who will need to heed  the call to urgency in order to stand, even to survive. That generation will see all the prophecies come to pass. That generation will be a people refined through the events of tribulation, a generation whose eyes are locked on their beautiful, glorious King. They will learn that the One who saved them is also more than able to keep them, empower them, and bring them safely into His returning Kingdom. That generation will see with their physical eyes the coming of the Lord. Wow!

So we seem to be faced with an impossible choice, either look like a total nut, or relegate the biblically-orthodox doctrine of the Second Coming to a time far, far away and therefore irrelevant to me and mine. The world goes on as it always has, oblivious to the return of Jesus, but it should not be so for us.  We live in tension...bills must be paid, homes must be kept, children must be raised, yet Jesus told us to keep our eyes on the horizon, lest we miss the day of our visitation.  We are warned to stay close to Him, be alert, to heed the biblical warnings and keep them fresh, so as not to fall in with scoffers. II Peter 3 says that there will be those who say, "people have been saying for thousands of years that He's coming... where is He then?"  So the real choice is between thinking His return is so distant as to be irrelevant, or eagerly longing and living for His coming. 

I believe we are in an extraordinary season, one that should not be wasted, yet the pull is strong to live my life as usual...like nothing out of the ordinary is on the horizon. So I'm asking myself, does my life reflect my belief that He is returning soon, or have I unknowingly slid into the camp of the scoffers? Is it possible that scoffers do not know they are scoffers? I think perhaps so. Giving mental assent to the message while living as if "I needn't worry too much because those events will likely happen far, far in the future" is deceiving myself about where I am actually camping.  And so I repent, asking for a heart more awake, more tender, more given to God. I ask for more willingness to give myself for His purposes, and live more fully for Him. 

I cannot think of a better message to resound in every generation through the ages than "Jesus is coming soon."  Any message that causes the people of God to think seriously about eternity, focus more intently on Jesus, give themselves more deeply in love and commitment to God is a good message. Wasting my life on Jesus and His kingdom is not a waste. If I feel the urgency of the hour and give my heart more completely to Jesus, live my life more in love with Him, give myself more completely to His message, then I have missed nothing of eternal value. And if He delays coming until another generation, and I look foolish for giving a 'false alarm," then I guess I am a fool for Christ, but how better could I spend my life than on Jesus, who gave me everything?

He is coming back and He is coming soon to gather in His family and make the whole world His kingdom. This is true, even if I sound like a kook for saying so.  

"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming." 

Matthew 25:42

To the Jew First

"we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews."

Jesus (John 4:22)

"...the gospel is the power of God for salvation
to every one who believes,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
Paul (Romans 1:16)

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Think on this for a minute or two. We worship the God of Israel, study (and follow) a Jewish Bible written by Jewish men and kept intact by Jewish people. We were saved by and serve a Jewish savior, and are citizens of a kingdom which, when it is fully implemented, will be ruled by a Jewish man, whose throne will be in Jerusalem (Rev 22:2). We owe a debt of gratitude to the Jewish people. Our faith is rooted in the ancient olive tree God designed before time began. He graciously called and adopted us into the family He made. We are now in a season in which God is giving us an opportunity to partner with Him in calling the rest of the family home again.

If you peek at Isaiah62fast.com, an international solemn assembly and fast has been called, beginning May 7 and concluding on Pentecost Sunday, May 28. More than 5,000,000 people have already committed to fasting in some form (water, juice, 'no meats no sweets', one meal per day, and some who cannot fast food are fasting media). Thousands of prayer locations in over 115 nations are set to meet daily.* All over the world, believers are committing to pray for at least one hour per day for twenty-one days that Israel would recognize and receive her Messiah, and come into her calling in God's kingdom. This is directly tied to the Great Commission and the greater riches for the whole world, as promised in Romans 11:11-12. Information about the fast may be found at Isaiah62fast.com. 

If your first thought is, "Israel is not my thing," or "didn't Jesus make the Jewish people obsolete?" then you are not alone. There is a lot of clutter in the western church regarding this topic. Thinking runs the spectrum from benign disinterest to active hostility. But loving Jesus shouldn't make us hate the people He came from, or the faith He practiced. At the very least Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations, which would definitely include the Jewish people.

The goal of any fast is to seek the Lord, a set apart time to turn our hearts more fully toward Him. This is a season to do just that, to ask Him to reveal what's on His heart. If you love Jesus and long for His return, ask Him to show you more regarding His role for Israel. I promise you, there is a role and its fulfillment will be more glorious and joyful for the entire planet than we could ever imagine. Yes and amen! Maranatha Lord Jesus!

 Romans 11:11-12

Does this mean that God has rejected his Jewish people forever?
 Of course not! His purpose was to make salvation available
to the Gentiles (that's us!) and then the Jews would be jealous
and begin to want God's salvation for themselves.
Now if the whole world became rich
as a result of God's offer of salvation,
when the Jews stumbled over it and turned it down,
think how much greater a blessing the world will share in

later on when the Jews, too, come to Christ."

Living Bible version

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*Countries where prayer meetings are scheduled: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Angola, Australia, Austria, Bali, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Dubai (UAE), England, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Holland, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Isle of Wight, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Norway, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Republic of Niger, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Samoa, Scotland, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Wales, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe. At last count, there are more than 1,000 prayer spots registered in the United States alone. Come on, y'all!