Making Our Days Count

Psalm 90:12 says, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." There is a benefit to understanding that our days are numbered. Knowing that we have a finite number of days in this world can motivate us to make the time we have left really count for eternity. This morning I came across a website at www.tombclock.com that will project your date of death based on answers you give about your present lifestyle choices. It is an interesting subject.

The date the site projects for my death is September 14, 2034. It tells me, at this moment, that I have 842,961,411 seconds left to live. Of course, we all know that nobody can be so precise in predicting when we will die, but I think a powerful point is made, nonetheless. There is a definite day and hour when you will leave this earth-life and the opportunities of this world will be gone.

On His last night, Jesus prayed to His Father, "I glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work which you have given me to do" (John 17:4). You know how many times you've either heard or read how I've stressed that the grace walk is grounded in being, not doing. But that doesn't mean there is no doing. When we understand that we live in union with Deity, we want to do things that honor Him in this life! As my friend, Craig Synder, says, "I don't have to do anything, but I get to do a lot of things!"

I gave up making New Year's Resolutions years ago, but there are some things I want to do a better job of during 2008. Here are a few:

1. I want to love people more:

I've really been convicted (a good biblical word that means "convinced by the Holy Spirit") about my desire to show love to others to a greater extent. I want to show love to my family more, to my friends, even to strangers. I even want to find people who aren't "all that lovable" on the surface and show love to them. Jesus was often criticized for loving the wrong people. That has never happened to me. I wonder why.

2. I want to relax more.

I love the work of the ministry, but I find that I still (as in my legalistic days) tend to get caught up in doing the work of the ministry to the exclusion of down-time. Sometimes I feel like I'm not showing the respect to my family or friends that they deserve because I'm too busy.

To be honest, during 2007, I sometimes found myself groaning inwardly when I looked at my upcoming schedule and that, as they say, "ain't right." I questioned my friend, Bill Gillham about this once a few years ago and he answered in his fatherly and folksy way, "Brother, you've got too much goin'!" Several years later, here I am again. Ugh. Okay, I repent again. This year - "I will say, no." I will say, "no." I will say, "no."


3. I want to let go.

God help me, I'm such a control freak at times. I remember taking an "early childhood memories test" during ministry training one time and it revealed that during my formative years, my belief system became: (1.) The world is scary and (2) people are unreliable, so (3) I need to control my environment to make sure everything works out the way it should.

All my life, I've seen my propensity toward that fatal error. I remember a few years ago when I was praying one morning, I heard the Lord say, "You are not suited for being in control. I, on the other hand, am perfectly suited for it. You cause yourself needless turmoil when you get our two roles confused." Pretty good, huh? I wish I'd listened. Oh well, by God's grace, this year . . .

Those are a few of the things I'm praying the Lord will empower me to do during 2008. They aren't resolutions because my resolve has always proven to be pathetic, but they are prayers.

I want my days to count, however many I may have left. Have you thought about this coming year and what you want to see God's grace accomplish in you, then through you? I think the start of a new year is a natural and good time to think about it.

Do You See A Sermon In This Story?

Melanie tells me I tend to see a sermon in everything. I certainly see one in the story I read about an incident at the site of The Nativity that took place last week. What do you see here?


Priests Scuffle With Brooms, Stones, At Traditional Site of Jesus' Birth

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) - Robed Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests went at each other with brooms and stones inside the Church of the Nativity on Thursday as long-standing rivalries erupted in violence during holiday cleaning.

The basilica, built over the grotto in Bethlehem where Christians believe Jesus was born, is administered jointly by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities. Any perceived encroachment on one group's turf can set off vicious feuds.

On Thursday, dozens of priests and cleaners came to the fortress-like church to scrub and sweep the floors, walls and rafters ahead of the Armenian and Orthodox Christmas, celebrated in the first week of January. Thousands of tourists visited the church this week for Christmas celebrations.

But the cleanup turned ugly after some of the Orthodox faithful stepped inside the Armenian church's section, touching off a scuffle between about 50 Greek Orthodox and 30 Armenians.

Palestinian police, armed with batons and shields, quickly formed a human cordon to separate the two sides so the cleaning could continue, then ordered an Associated Press photographer out of the church.

Four people, some with blood running from their faces, were slightly wounded.

Blast From The Past

I came across this video tonight and was taken back emotionally to the days when Melanie and I married in the early seventies. We listened to Doug Oldham all the time in those days and were so encouraged by his music. He has always seemed to sing from a place deep in his heart and has always touched me deeply. This video is twenty five years old, but it still stirs my heart as I'm reminded of the amazing love my Father has for me. The older I get, the more I long for the kind of music I grew up hearing in church.

This was sung in a Billy Graham Crusade in the early eighties:

Go Down Death

I've found myself feeling especially nostalgic during this holiday season, missing my family who have gone on to heaven - particularly my Mom and Dad. Somebody sent me this video and it so encouraged me. If you have loved ones already in heaven, I think this will encourage you too.

I Heard The Bells

The Carpenters were my favorite group when I was a teen-ager. Here's one of my favorite Christmas songs, sung by Karen Carpenter.

The story behind this song is powerful. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was filled with sorrow at the tragic death of his wife in a fire in 1861. The Civil War broke out that same year, and it seemed this was an additional punishment. Two years later, Longfellow was again saddened to hear the his own son had been seriously wounded as a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac.

Sitting down to his desk, one Christmas Day, he heard the church bells ringing, and ringing. It was in this setting he wrote:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep,
God is not dead, nor doth he sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.

Whatever your Christmas season may hold - joy or sorrow - know this: God is on His throne. Christ has come and one day all will be made eternally right!

Mr Shi Is Still Being Held In Terrible Conditions

A USAToday article about Shi Weihan can be viewed online at the following link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-12-13-china-bible_N.htm

We have learned that Mr. Shi continues to be held without charges. Chinese law requires that he be charged or released within 7 days of his arrrest. The 7-day period prescribed in Chinese law has now been exceeded by 9 nine days.

News articles have appeared in several places on the web. Other articles from major news media are apparently in the works.

The U.S. and other Embassies in Beijing have expressed concern about the case. We hope they will advocate with the Chinese government for the case to be handled in accordance with relevant laws and international conventions to which China is a signatory. We hope that this case will be an opportunity to turn world attention on China's need to bring an end to religious persecution, especially as we approach the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Shi Weihan is being held at:

Beijing City Haidian District Qinghe Detention Center
北京市海淀区清河看守所
Qinghe Detention Center of the Haidian Sub-Bureau
Address: 北京市海淀区清河龙岗路25号
85, Longgang Road, Qinghe Town, Haidian District.

After his family employed a lawyer to assist them in defending Mr Shi, the family was finally informed of his detention although there is no still indication of what the charges against him will be. The notice, which is legally required within 24 hours of a detention was not provided until the 12th day of his detention.

The reason for the delay was apparently to hide harsh conditions to which he has been subjected during interrogation.

The family learned that Shi was being kept in a cell with no heat. He was not issued any clothing by the prison. When the family went to inquire about this, they were told that they were the ones neglecting his need for clothing since they hadn't delivered any for him. In fact, the police hadn't revealed his whereabouts, nor given any idea that the family would be allowed to provide clothing for him.

Shi is also being subjected to sleep deprivation, a common means used by the PSB to break people down and get them to reveal information about others or to extract confessions from prisoners under duress.

The police are apparently still refusing to provide the family any assurance that Shi is being given the diabetic and blood pressure medicine he requires. Requests that he be allowed house arrest with the posting of bail, a request that can be honored for those with medical conditions, have so far been refused. The family has been told that his case is too serious to allow this.

The official who has authority to grant house arrest conditions to Mr. Shi Weihan is:

Captain Li Xueming
Branch Bureau Chief
Beijing Public Security Bureau
Haidian District Substation

The family continues to be denied requests to see Shi, although Chinese law requires that family members be given access to see those being held in detention, except in cases where an investigation is ongoing. Even then the maximum period during which access to prisoners can be denied is 7 days.

Now entering the 16th day of his detention, Shi has not been allowed to see his family or a lawyer. The family's lawyer will make another attempt to see him and ascertain his condition on Monday (Sunday evening US time).

Letters that Shi's family wrote to him and delivered to the police have not been answered nor returned, including letters from his small daughters.

The two girls (Lily, 11 and Grace, 7) are reportedly inconsolable over their worry about their father's well being. Shi's wife, Zhang Jing asks Christians all over the world to pray especially for them. The girls are both frightened for their safety and ashamed that their father is in prison. Grace is said to cringe and hide whenever she sees any police. Lily, normally extremely outgoing, will not look anyone in the eye.

The family asks that cards, letters and small gifts be sent to the girls to console them and remind them that their father is very well respected by friends from many nations who have met him through his travel agency.

Mrs Zhang keeps reminding the daughters that their father is in prison for having done good things that the Chinese governement continues to label as illegal. She worries over the long term affects this ordeal will have on the young girls' emotional and psychological health.

Any small gifts or cards you would like to have carried to them should be forwarded by December 29th to:

Ray Sharpe
1757 Fairmont Dr.
Corona, CA 92882

Arrangements will be made to have them delivered to the family in China.

USAToday article about Shi:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-12-13-china-bible_N.htm

Story of the arrest of Bei Ling a Chinese Poet and Editor.
He spent two weeks in the same prison where Shi Weihan is currently being held.
He reports conditions to which, we now have confirmed, Shi is also being subjected.
http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/article?revision_id=1894&item_id=1893

Help For Somebody In China

December 6, 2007

7-Year Old American Girl Forced into Hiding in China
Beijing Police Refuse Justice and Medicine to Her Diabetic Father

In the shadow of gleaming new towers built for the Olympic Games, just outside of Beijing’s city center, one case highlights the religious persecution and corruption of justice that can still happen to ordinary Chinese citizens.

Just months before China is put on the world stage hosting the Olympics, Grace (EnMei) Shi, a 7-year old American girl, has been forced into hiding with her Chinese mother and 11-year old sister. They fear for their own safety and for that of EnMei's father--Weihan Shi--a 37-year old businessman who was informally detained by the police and is being held in an unknown location.

Contrary to Chinese law, officers at the Haidian District Substation of the Beijing Public Security Bureau not only refused to tell the family where Shi is being held, they also would not tell them what he is being charged with, essentially denying him any possibility of legal defense.

He has become a victim of “enforced disappearance” placing him outside of the protection of law--a violation of “The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance“--a U.N. convention of which China is a signatory.

Mr. Shi, a life-long resident of Beijing, and a travel agent active in promoting foreign travel in China during the Olympics, was arrested in his Christian literature bookstore in a high-class business tower near the Olympics Village, along with some of his employees, his younger brother and his wife--Mrs. Jing Zhang--who have since been released after questioning. After 20 police raided their home at 5 AM on November 28th, the Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) detained Shi’s wife, more than once, to question her in connection with Christian literature confiscated from Shi's home, office and bookstore.

Mr. Shi is now in the eighth day of his detention by the Beijing PSB. The family is concerned that he may be quite ill. As a diabetic, going without his medicine for several days, Shi may already be facing the danger of diabetic shock. The Haidian officers have also refused to allow the family to take Mr. Shi's diabetic medicine to him. There has been no proof or assurance to the family regarding his medical condition. Deprivation and torture tactics are often used by the PSB in their notorious detention centers to force those being held to reveal information about others.

The little American citizen--“Grace”--born during the family’s visit to the U.S. in 2000, and her older sister--“Lily”--are reportedly terrified for their mother and father’s safety after witnessing the raid on their home. The mother and two girls have gone into hiding, fearing the possibility that threatened reprisals against Shi’s wife and two children would be used as an interrogation tactic against him before legal representation can be arranged.

Staffers at the U.S. Embassy have been provided information about the case and are reportedly concerned for the welfare of the young American girl.


For more information, please contact:

Ray Sharpe
President
Bethel Energy Group, Inc, (a client of Weihan Shi’s Beijing travel service)
(618) 780-2742

U.S. Embassy Beijing
Political Section
Mr. Gregory C. May
Tel: (86-10) 6532-3831 x. 6742
Fax: (86-10) 6532-6423
MayGC@state.gov

Beijing Public Security Bureau
Haidian District Substation
Director Zhang Weigang (86-10) 8251-9110, (86-10) 8251-9350

China Foreign Affairs Office
Foreign Spokespersons Office
(86-10) 6559-2311 or cellphone (86) 1391-086-9861

U.S. State Department
Office of Religious Freedoms
Assistant to Mr. John Hanford, Ambassador at Large
Joanella Morales
(202) 647-4359
(202) 647-3209 (fax)
moralesjx@state.gov


Please pray for this situation, but don't stop there. Make phone calls. We must act together to elicit a response in China.

All of Christ and None Of Me? Not True.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me because My yoke is easy and My burden is light - Jesus.



I was talking with a friend recently about a prayer he had been taught years ago. The prayer expressed the desire for Christ to so "fill us" that is "all of Him and none of me." Hear me out on what I'm about to suggest, but I don't think that kind of prayer reflects God's purpose for our grace walk.

This well-intended sentiment is sometimes expressed like this: "Lord, I want them to see only you and not me." or "Lord, I want to completely get out of the way and You do it."

I understand the motivation behind that kind of prayer and it certainly is a proper motivation. It expresses a desire that Christ alone receive the glory for what's done, that He be the One who animates whatever the activity we do might be. There's nothing wrong with that desire. It's a good desire, a commendable one.

But the fact is that words mean something. What we say and how we think about things have subtle (if not major) impact on our perception of reality. As we grow in our grace walk, we sometimes need to put a magnifying glass on our words and thoughts and see if they line up with God's Word and with the truth we want to communicate. While we don't want to nit-pick each others words, there is an appropriate place for thinking about the things we say to make sure that we really mean what we are saying. In the case of the statements I've mentioned, I don't think they clearly express what the grace walk is all about.

You and Jesus Christ are in union together. It will never be all Him because He lives His life through you. Christ wants to take your personality, your knowledge, your skills, your uniqueness and animate it with His life. So it isn't just Him. It is Him through you, or to be more specific, it is Him as you. I know this approach can make some people feel uncomfortable. I assume you have enough knowledge of my views to realize that I'm not saying we are Jesus Christ. I am saying, though, that Jesus Christ has taken possession of you, lock, stock and barrel and that everything that makes you uniquely you is to be animated by Him.

I heard an old African-American country preacher once say, "One day there was a crippled man sitting by the gate outside the temple. Then along came Jesus all dressed up as Peter and John." That guy got the point I'm making! Do you get it? Jesus lives in such union with us that when we act in faith, it is Him acting. When He acts through us, it is still us acting. We are one.

Paul said that we are co-laborers together with Christ. We are co-laborers - meaning we both labor. We labor together - meaning it isn't just Christ who labors while we are "out of the way." We aren't out of the way. We are right there - in union with Him. We labor with Christ - so that it isn't Him acting apart from us nor us acting apart from Him. We are acting together, in sync.

So the sentiment that suggests it is all Him and none of us doesn't really describe God's plan for our grace walk. His desire is that it be all of Him and all of us. We each possess one hundred percent of each other. That's why it is called "union." When Christ lives His life through you as you do certain things in this life, is it you or Him? The answer is yes!

That's My King

This is an excerpt from a message by S.M. Lockridge, a well known African-American pastor I loved to hear when I was a young pastor myself. I first heard him preach this message in the 1970s and to this day it still stirs me to hear his great description of our King.

The Best Christmas We Could Ever Have

Would you like to do something that could make this Christmas be the best one you have ever had? What if you could cause another family to have the best month they have ever experienced in their lives? Would that make your own the greatest? That's what I plan to do this Christmas and I am inviting you to join me in doing the same.

As you know, I'm working to put together a plan to help the destitute people in Swaziland in an ongoing way during 2008. What I'd like to do immediately is to help families in the village of Mafutseni have a wonderful Christmas season.

Three hundred dollars can feed a family of four for a month, buy clothes for the children and provide medicine for the family. I've shared with you about the HIV/AIDS pandemic there, but there are many more diseases ruining life for these dear folks too, including cholera, malaria, hepatitis A,B and C,typhoid fever,parasitic diseases,Dengue fever and countless others. The sad thing is that many are suffering who could easily have help if funds were available.

Melanie and I are going to personally give 300 dollars to help a family in the village of Mafutseni,the place we visited. There are about 1000 familes there. Wouldn't it be great if we could help the whole villlage?

Will you pray about joining us in making another family have an incredibly great month? If you can't give that much, could your Sunday School class do it? Could your extended family give it? Ask the Holy Spirit to provide the money for you to share and then open your mind to creative ways to come up with it.

Every cent you give for this will go to them. Not a penny will be kept for administrative costs or anything like that. I just want to see us impact these folks with the love of Christ. Will you help? Giving another family the best month they've ever lived certainly would make this the best Christmas season you've ever experienced. Don't you agree?

You can call our office at 800-472-2311 to use your credit card or send your check to Grace Walk Ministries,P.O. Box 3669,Riverview, FL 33568. Will you also help spread the word on this? Imagine knowing you've made such an impact on another family's life in this way. This really is the love of Christ in action.

Get This Book

Now and then you find a book that pulls you into its story in such a way that you can hardly put it down. That's how I found this book to be. I began reading it two nights ago and couldn't make myself stop reading until late. Then last night I picked it back up and read until I had finished it. The word that came into my mind as I finished reading was "Wow." This is a powerful book that I highly recommend.


The storyline is about Mackenzie Allen Phillips and his struggle to reconcile the idea of a loving God with the fact that his daughter was kidnapped and brutally murdered. One day Mack finds a note from "Papa" in his mailbox, inviting him to return to the abandoned shack deep in the woods where his daughter was killed.

Against his better judgement, he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks right into his darkest nightmare. What he doesn't expect to find there is God,who is nothing like the religious god Mack had always imagined. Papa and the other two Persons of the Trinity spend the weekend with Mack, laughing, eating, talking, crying and mostly healing Mack's devastated emotions and restoring faith to his troubled soul.

Young does an exceptional job in The Shack showing the intimacy of the relationship shared between the Trinity and in demonstrating how He wants to share that same intimacy with us. I found myself laughing, crying, looking inward to my own doubts and fears, and finally looking upward to the God who is "especially fond of me."

I encourage you to go to amazon.com right now and buy this book. I checked out the author's web site this morning (www.theshackbook.com)and learned that Young has himself been severely hurt in life and apparently still is recovering from great trials he has faced, a fact which helps me understand how he can communicate God's faithfulness and love in the face of calamity with such pathos.

The Shack is a grace filled book that will encourage you to trust your "Papa" no matter what may be going on in your life.

Too Much of Jesus

My friend Roger sent the email to me concerning our friends Kevin and Lauren's son, Seth. I think this says it all.


Our friends, Kevin and Lauren have a four year old son, Seth, that is fascinated with “playing Church”. His bedroom is all set up as a sanctuary: a set of old speakers up front, a music stand as a podium, even some lamps as flood lights. He comes home from church and does it all again.

He’s the preacher! Last week he informed his parents that he needed a table for his church. “I need a table for Jesus’ dinner”. His parents didn’t react quickly enough, so Seth pulled an end table from the living room down the hall to his bedroom.

Finding his mother he told her he wanted to have supper for Jesus. She then understood that he wanted to celebrate Communion. He said he needed a plate of food; she brought some loaf bread broken into pieces. Then he needed a glass of blood…. She brought a glass of apple juice. At last he wanted his ten year old sister, Abby and both his parents to come to his church for supper with Jesus.

Seth ate a piece of bread dipped in the juice, then each of his parents took their turn. When Abby went to the plate she took two pieces of bread. With that Preacher Seth slapped Abby across the face exclaiming, “you’re eating too much of Jesus!”

There is a lesson in all of this, our Savior’s gift of forgiveness and life is more than enough for every person that has ever lived or ever will live… and yes, He welcomes those who want more of Him.

The Loopy Life

My grandsons spent the night with us last night so that Hannah, our granddaughter, could have her home to herself for a spend-the-night-party with a group of her girlfriends from school. Today is her tenth birthday.

I would have never dreamed grandchildren could be so much fun. To be able to enjoy all these privileges without the responsibilities of child rearing . . . life doesn't get better than this. Example: This morning, as Jonathan and Jeremy were eating their donuts for breakfast, Jonathan (7 years old) commented, "I want a snack after we finish breakfast." So after breakfast, he was given Pringles potato chips. Hey, ya only live once.

Last night as he and I were sitting in my recliner together, Jonathan was acting silly and I was laughing at him. Suddenly he turned and said to me, "I'm a loopy boy! Granddaddy, you should act loopy sometimes. Working all the time isn't fun, but it's fun to to loopy!"

I think he's right. In fact, that's what Melanie and I were doing as Batman and Catwoman in the picture above. This was taken a few weeks ago when we were with our grandchilden for . . .ugh... let's call it our "Family Fall Festival" for the sake of those who would be troubled to think I might have dressed up in a costume on the wrong day of the year. It was one loopy night, that's for sure. I hope to have many more of them with my grandchildren as the years pass. In fact, I hope to have many more as a general rule. Jonathan is right ... acting loopy sometimes is fun. I think that, in the long run, it can even make my work be more productive. Do you think Jesus ever "acted loopy" with His disciples? I like to think that He did.

Looking In The Right Place

Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, Who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug. (Isaiah 51:1)

What a great verse, tucked away here in the book of Isaiah, about how we can find righteousness! This sounds like something the Apostle Paul might have said. If we want to be righteous, we need to look in the right place. The place to look is to the Rock of Ages, the One in whom we find our very life.

The pursuit of righteousness is a God-given desire, but for those of us who know Christ the search is over. For a Christian to keep looking for righteousness through what he does is a waste of time and completely unneccesary. An illustration may make my point:

Some time ago as I was about to leave our home, I picked up my keys and my money clip from the table beside my chair in the living room. My sunglasses weren't there. I went to my desk in my home office and they weren't there either. "Have you seen my sunglasses?" I yelled to Melanie, who was in the other room. "No, I haven't seen them," she answered.

I always keep my sunglasses beside my chair on that table. So I went back into the living room and looked again. Nope, they weren't there. So back to my desk I went to more carefully look. (This is a ridiculous habit I have, looking in the same places more than once when I've lost something.) The glasses still weren't there.

"Are you sure you didn't move them when you were cleaning?" I yelled to Melanie again. "I haven't touched them," she answered. "Maybe I left them beside the bed on the nightstand," I thought. But they weren't there either.

Now I was beginning to get frustrated. I knew that my sunglasses didn't just disappear and I knew that Melanie had cleaned the living room earlier in the day. It doesn't take a genius (just a husband) to put two and two together. "Melanie," I called, "you must have moved them. They aren't where I left them." "I haven't touched your glasses," Melanie said from the other room in a way that let me know I was pushing the envelope. "Why in the world would she move them and then not remember?" I silently thought to myself.

Then the thought occurred to me that I would check in the bathroom. I knew I had never felt a need to wear my sunglasses in there before, but I'd check just to be sure. I went into the bathroom and looked all around the bathtub and toilet. Just as I suspected - no sunglasses. I turned to glance around the sink and . . . then, um, I, ugh, caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. There they were - pushed back on my head. I had been wearing them the whole time. The thing I had been looking so diligently for, I already had. I thought the prudent thing would be to simply tell Melanie I found them in the bathroom if she asked. She really didn't need more information than that. Thankfully, she didn't ask.

My search for my sunglasses isn't unlike the search many people conduct in an attempt to become more righteous. We try to find it in the church. Then we look in our daily Bible reading to see if it can be found there. Then we try to find it in our prayer life. All the while, the righteousness we are trying to find is already ours. We need only to look to "the Head," to Jesus Himself. What we are looking for, we already have because Christ, the Head of the church is our very Life.

The good news of grace is that you can stop searching for righteousness. Just look to your Source. Christ is your righteousness. You can relax.

The Year of Living Biblically

I came across this book as I was browsing in a bookstore at the airport while waiting to board my flight to Japan. It looked like it would be amusing, mindless brain-candy and it lived up to my expectations.

Author A.J. Jacobs is the editor of Esquire and has written other books that have made the New York Times Best Seller List. Though not a Christian, he took on the challenge to answer the question, what would happen if a modern-day American followed every single rule in the Bible as literally as possible? For a year that is what he attempted to do - seek out the rules of the Bible and live by them.

Jacobs didn't just lock in on the big ones, but many that are obscure to most people. Things like don’t wear clothes of mixed fibers, grow your beard, stone adulterers. He even bound the ten commandments on his forehead at one point in the book.

His journey in "biblical living" took him across the spectrum of the religious world, from the wailing wall in Jerusalem to a snake handling church service in a backwoods country church.

For the most part, I found the book to be amusing. On the positive side, it shows the ridiculous nature of legalistic living, made obvious when it is carried to its utmost extreme. On the negative side, I thought the book was irreverent toward the Bible itself at times.

There are many books a person can read that will help them more than this one. In fact, I'm not sure there's much help here, but the book will cause the reader to chuckle throughout the read and certainly shows the folly of approaching the Bible as a rule book instead of the love letter it is intended to be.

Kenji Oyama's Testimony

Sunday night

Kenji has been my translator here in Okinawa as well as much of the time in Tokyo. We have spoken together in thirty one speaking sessions in the past week. We are both physically tired, but are encouraged by the response of those who have attended the meetings where I have spoken.

This is his story:


Here's a two minute clip of us speaking in this morning's church service:

Final Day of GW Conference on Okinawa

Saturday night

The Grace Walk Conference ended this afternoon and I was very pleased with the response of those who attended. This was the first time that most of them had heard the grace walk message. There were many questions as people worked through all the yeah-but-what-about questions that everybody has when they first hear this message after spending years trapped in the legalism of their respective religious traditions. They asked the same questions people have asked me around the world. As I shared answers from the Bible, it was so encouraging to see the light turn on in their eyes as they began to understand who they are in Christ. I spoke tonight in church on the subject of The Love of God.

It's amazing how the devil fights against Christians knowing that we are righteous. This is the gospel. Paul said in Romans 1:16-17, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ . . . for in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed. The true and complete gospel must include the message of the righteousness of God that becomes ours at salvation. Otherwise, it is only half a gospel - enough to get somebody into heaven, but not enough for them to enjoy the abundant life Jesus promised.

Thanks again for your prayers. Tomorrow I will preach at another local church here in Naha, Okinawa's capital. The video below is a segment from one of the sessions today.

Report From Okinawa

Friday Night

I've taught all day and evening at the conference here in Okinawa. The participants were extremely receptive to the message. One pastor, who is the president of his denomination, gave a testimony tonight and said he is "a grace walk salesman" because he promotes the book and the message everywhere he speaks. He said he had given a copy of the book to many pastors in his denomination.

My friend and translator, Kenji Oyama, gave a powerful testimony in the service tonight about how God's grace has transformed his life and minsitry. Kenji's Dad is a very famous pastor here in Japan, known by Christians all over the country. Kenji described how the Lord brought him to brokenness after he tried so hard to live up to the standard he felt had been set by his Dad. It was a moving testimony. I hope to video his story while I'm here and post it on this blog later.

The following video is the conference participants singing one of my favorite hymns and then a young woman singing another hymn I listen to at home every single morning. She has recorded her own CD. You'll understand why as you hear her.



These are photos I took today:

A Free Day On Okinawa

Thursday night

Today was a free day, the only one I will have during my time in Japan. It was an unexpected pleasure. Kenji & Mariko (my translator/host and his wife) and I toured the island today with three of the pastors here. They went to great lengths to ensure that we had a good time and we certainly did.

We went to the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, the largest in the world. (They say that it will soon lose that title when a larger one being built in the middle east opens.) The aquarium is part of the Ocean Expo Memorial Park located in Motobu, Okinawa. The main tank holds 1,981,290 gallons of water. It is incredible. Words can't describe it. I've posted the video below to give an idea of the size of the aquarium and the gargantum sized fish, stingrays, etc. that are in it. Look at the size of what's in the aquarium compared to the people standing in front of it. (I apologize if it seems I'm showing you my "vacation pictures" but I've always said this blog includes personal things:)




I took these pictures today too:

The day off was great. Tomorrow (Friday) starts the conference weekend. I will speak approximately 15 hours between Friday and Sunday. Thanks for remembering me in prayer.

From Okinawa

Thursday night

I arrived on Okinawa with my translator and his wife, Kenji and Mariko Oyama, late yesterday. Today we were with several pastors who showed us the area. I'll try to post some photos and video about today in another blog.

The video below is a 78 year old pastor I met in Tokyo. This is a short clip that gives a little of his story. This is the man I mentioned in an earlier blog who said that when he understood the grace walk, people told him he looked younger. He is leading a group through a study of Grace Walk right now.

From Tokyo To Okinawa

Wednesday morning

Yesterday was a good day sharing the message of the grace walk with the conference participants. I met several people whose lives have been transformed by the revelation of the grace walk.

One young lady told me that she had trusted Christ two years ago. After about six months, she found herself in a legalistic church. She said, "I began to stop enjoying the Christian life and wondered why. Then somebody gave me your book and I read it and understood the reason. I was becoming legalistic about my Christian life." She went on to say that the Holy Spirit revealed to her that the grace walk is the authentic Christian life. Now she is studying to prepare for ministry and wants to spend the rest of her life sharing the grace walk message with the people in Japan.

I also talked to a 78 year old pastor who beamed as he shared the story of how his life had been transformed. I shot a short video of him and will post it on this blog when I have the time. He said, "People tell me I even look younger since I read that book!" I told him that if that's the case, I think I'll go back and read it myself! You'll enjoy his testimony. I hope to get it up online ASAP. There are a few "technical difficulties" I'm having with it that need to be worked out first.

I leave Tokyo in an hour and will go to Okinawa where I'll speak for the rest of my time in Japan. I'm looking forward to being there. Okinawa is the premier vacation destination here, a Japanese version of Hawaii. I was pleased to learn that I have tomorrow free and that my hosts will give me a tour of the island, so that should be fun.

Then on Friday I will speak all day and evening, the same schedule on Saturday and then preach in a local church on Sunday.

I'm not sure if I'll have Internet access there or not. If I do, I'll post additional updates about my time here. Pray for my time of ministry in Okinawa.

Video of Ministry at Tokyo Bible Church

Ministry In Tokyo, Japan

Monday morning:

After a fourteen hour nonstop flight, I arrived in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon. It is eleven hours later here than on the east coast in the States. By the time I got to bed I had been up for twenty six hours. I slept for ten hours, the longest I have slept in many years, and woke up completely refreshed. In Japanese tradition, I slept on a futon on the bamboo floor but slept like a baby.

Yesterday morning (Sunday) I spoke at Tokyo Bible Church, a large church in the heart of Tokyo. Seiji Oyama is the pastor of the church. I first met he, his wife Cathy and brother, Kenji six years ago when I spoke here. Gary Smalley introduced them to my books and ministry. Seiji (Japanese) and Cathy (American) lived in California for many years where he ran an export business before returning here to assume the pastorate at the church where his Dad served as pastor for fifty four years.

Last night I spoke at a cross-cultural ministry meeting in another location. I enjoyed it more than I’ve enjoyed anything in a long time. There were people there from many different countries, some believers and others seekers. A small group from Myanmar gave testimonies and sang. Have you seen people whose face seemed to radiate the love of the Father? That was them. We sang “Amazing Grace” and “Jesus Loves Me” as well as traditional songs from their country and in their language, with the words projected phonetically on an overhead screen so that we all could sing. Having seen the violence going on in Myanmar on the news lately, it was moving to see this group.

One lady from the Ukraine sang. She is a professional singer with the voice of an opera singer. Her voice is absolutely angelic. She has sung for the emperor of Japan and even sang a thirty minute private concert for the Pope. I was totally mesmerized by her voice.

After the meeting, Kenji Oyama (who is my translator for much of the week) and I were asked to join our hosts for my favorite food – sushi. (I had a good lunch yesterday too – lotus root, an eggplant/spinach dish, a tofu patty, some sort of tofu soup, bean sprouts, and a cucumber/ginger salad type dish. I loved it, but my stomach can’t figure out what’s going on here.)

I eat sushi at home ever week, but I did eat one last night I’d never had before - sea urchin. Melanie gives me a hard time about eating raw fish (she hates fish), but I tell her that Jesus ate fish and that when she learns to let Him live through her she’ll eat it too. She insists that while he might have eaten fish, she feels quite sure that he didn’t eat it raw. She reminds me that when the disciples came ashore, he served them cooked fish. I hate it when my wife tries to show off her Bible knowledge to me in an attempt to disprove my wisdom. :)

Today begins the teaching marathon. I speak from ten this morning until nine thirty tonight. I know I’ll enjoy it, but it is tiring. I find it harder to speak with a translator in Asian languages than anyplace else in the world. The reason is that the translation often doesn’t seem to fit. I might say something that takes me three seconds and it will take ten seconds to translate it. Then I can say something else that takes ten seconds and they’ll translate it in three. It’s weird.

Please pray for my time here as I come to mind. I love the Japanese people, the country, culture and church. I pray that grace will continue to spread across this country where there are so few Christians.

The Death of A Saint

His name in English was Wiseman. I met him while we were in the village of Mafutseni in Swaziand. I learned that Wiseman was in the final stages of AIDS. I prayed for him. He lifted his trembling hands and twig-sized arms to the Lord as I prayed. I prayed for his wife too, who is HIV positive. Wiseman and his wife have two children.

I told Wiseman that his face would be the one I remembered as I told people here in the states about the horrible pandemic of HIV/AIDS in Swaziland. Over 40% of the people are infected, including many of the orphans we met.

Wisemen died this past weekend. He leaves behind a wife and two children. When he was diagnosed with AIDS, his family deserted him. His wife is now alone and has nothing. His church is struggling. They need financial help to bury him. I told them yesterday that we will help.

Helping to bury a man who died from AIDS. How does that thought settle in your mind? For many years, I would have felt conflicted about such a thing. "How did he get AIDS?" I would have asked. Then I went to Swaziland and saw the conditions there. I met Wiseman. I don't know how he got AIDS. The truth is that the thought did cross my mind, but it only took a split second for me to realize that it didn't matter. I didn't ask. I didn't care. My heart broke when I saw him and his wife, whose demeanor was one of a broken but faith-filled woman. I met his children. I saw Wiseman's love for Christ and I know Christ's love for him. That was all that mattered. I felt the love of Christ being called forth from me by their circumstances.
.....................

A man and his wife were driving to church one Sunday evening when they came around a curve in the road and saw a car ahead them, overturned in a deep ditch. The car was completely upside down. As the couple slowed down and looked closer at the overturned car, they could see that somebody was in the front seat.

The man slammed on brakes and he and his wife jumped out of the car and rushed over to the wrecked vehicle where the injured driver was slumped over, obviously unconscious. Looking through the window, they saw that the man inside was bleeding. Immediately they began to try to open the door of the car, but it wouldn't budge.

Grabbing a large stone in the ditch, the husband smashed the windshield so that he could reach through it and pull the injured driver of the car out. When the window broke and he pulled the windshield away from the car, something immediately became very obvious. There was an overwhelming smell of whiskey coming from the car.

The odor was overpowering. As the couple looked closer, they saw an empty Jack Daniels Whiskey bottle lying beside the bleeding and unconcious man inside.

"He is drunk!" the husband said. "Yes, he is," answered the wife. "That must be why he wrecked the car." "What should we do?" the wife asked her husband. "Leave him alone," he answered. "If he hadn't been driving drunk, this wouldn't have happened."

So they left and went on to church. What do you think about that? Did the drunken driver bring it on himself? Without a doubt. Did the couple make the right choice in leaving him without helping?

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I was recently speaking to somebody about how over 40% of the people in Swaziland are infected with HIV or AIDS. "How do they get it?" he asked. I explained that many people there have the disease for the same reasons people here have it. (Though there are many children who have HIV/AIDS who did nothing but be born.) I understand the question. I suppose we would all ask it, but here's another question:

Will we love people who are hurt and dying only if their problem came through no fault of their own? I will admit that the story I have told about the drunk driver isn't real. I made it up to make a point. What if a couple on their way to church did what I described? I think most of us would be horrified at such a response.

The story of Wiseman isn't a made-up story. It's real. Is the situation any different? Will we help only those who we deem to be innocent or will we love people even if their problem is the result of their own bad choices? Again, I don't know how Wiseman got AIDS. I do know his wife has HIV. His children may be infected. I was told that over 60% of the orphans we met there are HIV positive.

I want to help hungry children in Swaziland. I also want to help provide medication to suppress the AIDS virus in those with HIV. And I want to provide help for the 90% who will die from AIDS with no opportunity to find some measure of comfort because they can't go into a hospital.

I have lived my whole life in the part of the body of Christ that takes pride in being Christians who "believe the Bible" and "live by the Bible." I can't help but wonder why I've heard so little in the church world I grew up in concerning helping the poor and needy. The Bible is filled with teaching about this matter. Jesus Himself said that when we help these, we have done it unto Him.

"I think we ought to be more interested in getting them saved," I heard a person once say. But how can we do that if they die first? The life expectancy in Swaziland is 32 years old. And how can we talk about their eternal souls while watching their physical bodies wasting away from hunger and disease?

I plan to share the gospel with people in Swaziland, but I want to share it in word and in deed. How can I talk about God's love there without showing them that love?
You'll read more about this in next month's newsletter, but I thought it is important not to wait to make you aware of this need. For now, if you want to help, send a financial gift to Grace Walk Ministries. Indicate that you want it to go to Swaziland. You can call the office and use your credit card to help expedite their receiving the gift, if you'd like to do it that way. I make no apologies for asking you to help. Every cent you send will be sent there to help Wiseman's family and others who are suffering there.

By the beginning of the year, the ongoing plan to help in Swaziland will be in place. I'll give you more details soon. For now, let's help with this immediate need. Giving money to help one who died from AIDS. Some might call it strange. I believe God would call it "GRACE."

Ministry in Springfield, Missouri

I am headed home this morning after teaching a Grace Walk Conference at First Evangelical Free Church in Springfield, Missouri. The group attending the conference was responsive to the message. Several attending came from other states, including Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Kansas.

Although I've been teaching this conference for over ten years, I never get tired of it. It is always encouraging and invigorating to see the response to the grace of God. The adjectives people use to describe the grace walk are typically, "rest" and "freedom." One 76 year old man said to me yesterday, "This is the best thing I have experienced in my whole Christian life." I agree with him. The gospel of grace really is amazing.

Melanie and I are off to Georgia tomorrow, where she will visit with our children and grandchildren while I'm in Japan. I assume I will have Internet access in Tokyo and Okinawa and will give updates on this blog while I'm there.

Dead Cats

While a little boy was in school one day, his cat got killed. His mother was very concerned about how he would take the news. When he got home, she explained what happened. The little boy turned away and began to cry. "Don't worry," the mother said reassuringly. "He's in heaven with God now." The little boy whirled on his mother and with desperation and anger in his voice yelled, "What's God gonna' do with a dead cat?"

That's how we all feel sometimes, don't we? Melanie and I have faced a situation in our own lives lately that has come to a very different ending than we had hoped and anticipated. (One day I may write about it, but we're still too close to it to do that now.) The truth is that I know God has the situation in His hands, but from my perspective the outcome seems final and the whole thing appears to be a dead issue. Though I know it's in His hands, my emotions have at times screamed, "What's God gonna do with a dead cat?!" In other words, "Why did it have to end this way?"

I'm sure Mary and Martha felt like that when they buried Lazarus. Martha spoke for all us at times when our crisis doesn't seem to end with a miracle, but with a misery that screams "The End" at us. Martha said, "Lord, if you had been here ..." That's the feeling we all have at times. It seems like Jesus stays out of town when we need Him to step in and do something.

There is an answer to the question, "What's God gonna do with a dead cat?" He may resurrect it. Dead things don't deter God. He can put life right back into something that is "as dead as a door nail." Hope isn't gone just because a situation appears to be ended.

Or God may not resurrect it, but may instead redeem it. In other words, He will use the disappointments and devastaions of our lives to accomplish a greater purpose. We don't know what's good and what's bad for us. Only He does. What we do know is that our Father loves us. He isn't sadistic, but gently and tenderly loves us at all times. Never do we need to believe that more than when life makes no sense.

When circumstances spiral downward and God doesn't step in to change them, He can use the outcome in a positive way. We don't have to see how He plans to use it for that fact to be true. Faith means that we trust Him even when our senses tell us all hope is gone.

Our faith is in our God, period. Faith isn't believing that we will get what we want. It is knowing that we get what God wants and being willing to accept that and rest in it even if our emotions and thoughts argue.

So, what's God gonna do with a dead cat? Whatever He wants. His role is to be in charge. Ours is to trust.

The Misery of Legalism

The following video is fairly graphic, so if you're squeamish, you might want to pass on watching it.


This scene is from the movie, Misery, starring Kathy Bates and James Cann. Cann's character, Paul Sheldon has just completed his latest novel in the same Colorado lodge where he finishes all his books. As he is driving back to town along a desolate mountain road, a blizzard strikes, and his car hits a slippery patch and crashes down an embankment, turning over several times before resting upside down.

Luckily, Annie Wilkes, who lives on a nearby farm, witnesses the crash and pries Sheldon from the wreckage with a crowbar. A former nurse, she takes him home and splints his two shattered legs and broken arm. Throughout the rest of the movie, Sheldon is bed-ridden and crippled, which increases his peril and the film’s tension.

Annie Wilkes, she informs him, is his number one fan. She has read all his books, which center on a beautiful Southern belle named Misery Chastain. Wilkes feels blessed by God, because He sent her to rescue Sheldon so he can write more Misery books. He soon learns that all is not well as it appears to be at first. In this scene, Annie smashes his ankles with a large sledge hammer just after telling him that she loves him. (That's what this clip depicts.)

Some may think that I'm overstating my case, but I think this story is a good picture of what legalism does to people. Like Annie Wilkes "ministry" to Paul Sheldon, legalistic ministry typically exists in a culture of pseudo-love. Everything is done for the good of the one who is victimized. On the surface, it appears that they are being cared for when, in reality, they are being controlled.

If they should try to stray too far from conformity to "the rules of the house," they will be hobbled, all in the name of love. Many a Christian has suffered the religious abuse of legalistic ministry. As a result, they can't enjoy a grace walk anymore but have been crippled in the name of love.

I was talking to a lady recently who had been led to believe that she is rebellious because she dared to question those in her church who imagined that they had authority over her. Beware of religious control. We each have the Holy Spirit in us and He will cause us to sense when something isn't exactly right when we find ourselves in Annie Wilkes house. Don't be fooled by the syrupy smile and gentle voice. If you find yourself with Reverend Annie, run. Run now.

Grace Walk International Leaders Meeting

I just returned from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where our international leaders from Grace Walk met together. Our group came from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Argentina. We had a great time. I spoke to our GW team about "Radical Ministry" during the days together and it was a rewarding time as God strengthened the bond of friendship and further unified us in our ministry purpose.

Our meetings were on Friday and Saturday. Then, on Sunday, we went to church together where I spoke from Isaiah 61:1. It was a great time that we all enjoyed. I am so very thankful for the wonderful team the Lord has put together to share the grace walk message through this ministry. Each one is an exceptional person with a passion to spread the gospel of grace.

Rightly Dividing The Word

Not long ago, I was speaking in a church about how we need to understand that not everything Jesus said was directed to us. A man came to me after the meeting and was highly insulted that I should say such a thing. "I think you are wrong to teach that we should disregard the words of Jesus," he said.

"I never said we should disregard what Jesus said," I answered.

"Yes you did," he responded. You said that we didn't need to take seriously what he said about us not being forgiven by God unless we forgive others. Unlike you, I believe everything Jesus said is important."

"I believe what He said is important too," I answered. "In fact, I think His words are important enough that we need to respect them by putting them in the proper context. Surely you don't believe that you are to take every word Jesus said and apply it to your own life?" I asked.

"Of course, I do," he answered, "His words are truth and life!"

"Well," I said, leaning forward as if to look closely at him, "Jesus said that if we ever lust, we should pluck our eyes out and I can't help but notice you have two eyeballs in your skull. Can you explain why that's the case?"

"Oh, oh, oh!" the man responded, obviously angry.

"I don't know what that means," I said.

"You are twisting what Jesus said!" He answered.

"No, I'm not," I answered. "I am telling you that we had better know who Jesus was talking to, why He said what He did and what He meant when He said it," I answered.

Needless to say, I didn't convince the man. I suppose he still thinks I don't believe the words of Jesus, but I do.

That man failed to understand something very important in interpreting the Bible. We have to rightly divide the Word. When we read the Bible, we need to ask, "Who was speaking here? To whom was he speaking? When was he saying this -before or after the cross? What point was he making with the people to whom he spoke?"

These are important questions. If we fail to answer them as we read the Bible, we get ourselves into a world of confusion. Much of what Jesus said was directed to the self righteous. For instance, in Luke 18:28-33, when the rich young ruler asked Him how he might obtain eternal life, Jesus told him to keep the Law. The man responded by saying that he had already done that, so Jesus told him to sell all that he had and give it to the poor.

Would any Christian seriously think that because Jesus told one man that, the way to salvation is to keep the Law or to sell what we have and give the money to the poor? No, we know that He wasn't talking to us there. He was talking to a man who thought he was good enough to deserve salvation based on his own morality. Jesus was making the point that "you only think you have what it takes to save yourself" by lifting up the Law so that the man would come to see his sinfulness. In other words, Jesus was using the Law to do what the Law does -- "make sin exceedingly sinful."

That's how it is with many passages we read. Remember that Jesus ministered under the old covenant and, consequently, He used the Law to do what it was given to do - cause sin to increase. (See Romans 5:20) Why would he do that? For the very reason Paul gave in Galatians 3:23-24 -- so that the Law would cause men to see their sinfulness and their need for a Saviour.

If we don't rightly divide the word by understanding that the New Covenant (Testament) didn't begin with the birth of Jesus, but with His crucifixion, we will be confused about some of the things He said. The New Covenant became valid only when the One who made it died. (See Hebrews 9:16-17)

I love the words of Jesus. I love His words enough to refuse to be flippant about them, but instead to study them in order to know their context and true meaning. I encourage you to approach the Scripture knowing that the dividing line between the Old and New Covenant is the work of Christ at the cross. Knowing that can help us avoid much confusion in our understanding.

Ministry In Canada

I am in London, Ontario where I am speaking at the Grace Life Community Church. Pastor Sam Youngren is committed to seeing his congregation grow in the knowledge of who they are in Christ and what it means to walk in grace. It is encouraging to be with a pastor and church who are so enthusiastic about being a grace filled church.

I spoke yesterday morning, last night and will speak tonight. My theme is "The Gospel of Grace," taken from Acts 20:24. Yesterday I spoke about "Life In Grace" and last night my topic was "Liberty In Grace." Tonight the message will be about "Love in Grace."

I will spend part of the day today with Mike Zenker, our National Director for Grace Walk Canada. He and a small group of friends drove over for the service last night and will be there tonight too. Everytime I think of how the Lord brought Mike to work with Grace Walk, I am thankful. He really is a gifted man and I believe our Father is going to use him in great ways to spread the message of the grace walk.

I fly back to Atlanta tomorrow, then Melanie and I will drive back to Florida on Wednesday. We will be home a week before leaving for our Leadership Conference in Mexico the next week.

Thanks for your prayers while I'm here.

In The McVey Family

When I first began this blog, I wrote that I would also post personal things sometimes so that those who know our family can keep up with some of the things going on in our personal lives.

Our oldest daugher, Amy, recently received certification as a personal trainer. She has been into running for quite some time now, having run a half marathon last year. She is going to run a full marathon (26 miles) in January.

Melanie has also become interested in running. Yesterday morning she and Amy ran a 5K run together. It was the first for Melanie and she did a great job. Her goal is to run a 10k and she is training hard for it every day.

These photos are Melanie and Amy coming down the home stretch, celebrating the finish and my three beautiful girls and me.

Home From Argentina

While we were in Buenos Aries, we prayed for Jose Colacilli, our National Coordinator for Grace Walk Argentina. Jose is a humble man with a passion for sharing the gospel of grace with his country. Pray for him as he seeks to spread the message across Argentina!
This is Walter Sanchez, who also works with our ministry in Argentina. Right now, he is leading three Grace Walk Groups and is teaching each of them who they are in Christ.
Gerardo Vazques (Grace Walk Latin American Director) and I preached in three different churches during the weekend. It is such an encouragement to me to see how Gerardo has grown in these past seven years. God is using him to spread the message of the grace walk all over Latin America.






It was a real joy for me to be there with these guys. Gerardo and Craig Snyder (Grace Walk Director of Missions) have been to Argentina numerous times and have done a wonderful job laying the foundation there. It was a pleasure for me to see the fruit of their ministry. I am so pleased to be working together with these men.

Update From Argentina

I'm writing this blog from an Internet Cafe. The time here in Buenos Aires has been very enjoyable. Last night I preached at a church in the area on the topic of "Freedom From A Guity Conscience." I spoke about total forgivness and the congregation was very receptive to the message.

I met one man at the church who said he hears me on the radio from a station he is picking up all the way from Florida. I was amazed that a station from the states would reach this far, but was encouraged by his affirming remarks about how the message has already impacted him through my radio programs.

This morning I spoke at the church of Jose Colacilli, our National Coordinator for Grace Walk Argentina. I spoke from Hebrews about "Being Free From Sin Consciousness." I was pleased to preach in Jose's church. I also prayed publically for him and for Walter Sanchez and affirmed their ministry to the congregation.

Thanks for your prayers while I've been here. It is always a pleasure for me to minister with my dear friend and disciple in the grace walk, Gerardo Vazquez. I am encouraged by what the Lord is doing through him every time we are together.

I hope to post some photos from Argentina on this blog after I'm back home. Thanks again for praying. The message of the grace walk is taking root in Argentina!

Ministry in Argentina

I am writing this blog from Buenos Aries, Argentina, where Gerardo Vasquez (Grace Walk Latin America Director) and I are speaking this weekend. Yesterday we met with Jose Colacilli, who leads Grace Walk Argentina and with Walter Sanchez, the newest member of the Grace Walk team in this country. Both of these men are passionate about impacting their country with the grace walk. They are fine men and I am so proud to work with them.

Last night, Gerardo and I preached at the Reencounter Baptist Church. Gerardo spoke first on the subject of our identity in Christ. He is one of the most gifted teachers of God´s grace in the world. It was in the year 2000 when I met him and began to disciple him in the message. We have walked together through the valleys and the mountaintops in his life during these years. I have seen him grow so much in his own life and have seen God give him an international ministry that has surpassed anything he ever imagined. I´m not at all surprised.

Gerardo´s wife, Gloria, is a godly woman who is completely excited about reaching the world with the gospel of grace. They have two children and live in Guadalajara, where our Grace Walk Mexico office is located.

After he spoke last night, I preached on the topic "Ministers of a New Covenant." The people were receptive to the message and it was a joy to share with them.

Buenos Aries is a beautiful city with more of a Eurpoean flair than a Latin American one. The architectural style here reminds me of the buildings in my favorite city, London, England. As you can see from the map, Argentina is getting down closer to the equator, so it is winter here right now. I am really enjoying the cold weather. We are going to walk around town this morning, then meet again with our Grace Walk workers this afternoon and speak tonight in another church.

Remember us in prayer while we are here. I will get back to the states on Monday and be in Alanta for the rest of the week before heading to Canada next weekend.

The Cost of Freedom

It is amazing how relentlessly Christians often want to fight for the right to live under legalism. I recently wrote a blog about how readily many Christians become angry when they're told the best news they could ever hope to hear - namely, that we don't have to live by religious rules anymore. Rules we never could keep anyway.

Pastors, be advised: There is a price to pay for teaching people that they are free. Some have lived inside, what my friend Paul Anderson-Walsh calls, "St. Shawshanks" for so long that the thought of freedom outrages them.

I've been reading Grace In Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life by Paul Zahl. Here are his on-target thoughts on the matter:

Whenever I say "the law has no future: or observe the impotence of the law to create the virtues it requires, including for Christians, objections start to fly. These objections claim that such a negative gloss on law as I am suggesting is antinomian. "Antinomianism" is the formal word for any teaching that is critical of law or undermines or overturns the law. Antinomianism is regarded as the opposite of of law and order, which would turn a religion such as Christianity into an excuse for "license," which usually means sexual libertinism and promiscuity, not to mention drug use, thievery, casual violence 'a la Mad Max, "Girls Gone Wild," and a total breakdown of law and order. It is safe to say that whenever grace is preached in relation to the law, preachers of grace are -- wrongly -- labeled "antinomian." Ironically, being accused of antinomianism is a sort of badge of honor for those who preach the doctrine of grace, because this reaction means that the doctrine of grace is hitting home. The accusation means that grace is making law-bound people uncomfortable.

To suggest that the Law is faulty, as I recently did in another blog raises the ire of some, despite the fact that Hebrews 8:7 plainly says it is faulty. It is important to understand that "grace teachers" aren't saying the law is faulty in content. God's Law is perfect in content. The fault of the Law lies in its capability. Its assessment of our shortcomings are right on the mark, but its ability to lift a finger to help us is at zero.

For that reason, the Law is yesterday's news. Grace publishes the good news that the whole rules-keeping, impress-God-by-what-you-do game has ended. The Referee got tired of the whole thing and abruptly called off the whole game. Now it's time for the post game party, where the winners (and we all are) celebrate.

Freedom -- turn that word over in your mind again and again. Ironically, our freedom cost Somebody a great price. I refuse to insult Him by downplaying the efficacy of His payment. The value of our freedom is directly commensurate to the price He paid. So "stand firm in freedom" and don't let any sniveling, wrinkle-browed, pointy-fingered, Reverend Ebenezer steal what you've been given.

You're free. Free to live in abandon to Him. Free to run barefoot through the fields of grace. Free to be yourself without self-consciousness about how you look to others. Do it. Just do it.

Things I Never Said

Someone came to me recently after I had spoken about our freedom in Christ and said, "I don't agree with you that it isn't important to read the Bible and pray." "I never said that reading the Bible and praying isn't important," I responded. "I said that when we turn those things into laws, we rob ourselves of the blessings we can know from the Bible and prayer."

It always amazes me to see the capacity people possess to misunderstand the teaching of grace. It really shouldn't come as a surpise though. Everybody who has every taught the pure, undilluted grace of God has been misunderstood.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), "Let us do evil that good may come"? Paul never said that we should do evil so that good can come from it, but he apparently taught grace in such a strong way that some people thought that's what he was saying.

Others thought he taught that sin didn't matter and that since grace covers it all anyway, it was okay to go ahead and sin. He answered that one in Romans 6:1 when he said, "What shall we say then? Shall we keep on sinning since grace abounds? Perish the thought! How shall we who died to sin keep doing that very thing???"

The great Bible expositor, Martyn Lloyd Jones wrote:

The true preaching of the gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of this charge being brought against it. There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that it really amounts to this, that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace. If my preaching and presentation of the gospel of salvation does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel.

Whew! I'm glad to read that a man of his stature said that! It encourages me to stay the course, knowing that I'm not alone in the misunderstandings I've experienced through these past 17 years I have been teaching this amazing and radical grace of God.

It seems that the most common misunderstandings that have been "slanderously reported" against me are that I am teaching:

1. It doesn't matter how we behave.
I've never said such a thing because I don't believe that statement to be true. It does matter how we behave, but our behavior must flow from the indwelling Christ. Anything else is just "dead works" regardless of whether we are preaching sermons or getting drunk. It's not the activity that defines its value; it's the source of that activity that makes all the difference.

2. The Old Testmanent Law is bad and grace is good. Antinomianism is a word often used by those who studied somewhere just beyond the point of Sunday School and think they've nailed those who teach grace. It means to be "against the Law" and I'm not. I've never said the Law is bad. I have said that the Old Covenant of the Law is now obsolete, but I'm not the first one to say that. Hebrews 8:13 says, "When [God] said, 'A new covenant,' He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear" (emphasis added)..

The Law is out and grace is in! That's what God's Word says! Furthermore, the Apostle Paul said, "you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ". Was he lying? Of course not. The Law isn't bad, it's just faulty.

That's right - it is faulty. I have no doubt that if a person trapped in legalism reads this, he will be breaking out in a rash about now. But, wait. Do we believe the Bible or not??? If so, please read this verse and tell me what it means:

Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says, 'Behold, days are coming,' says the Lord, 'when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.'

The whole book of Hebrews is about how the new covenant is better than the Law.

3. The grace walk is a passive lifestyle. When people have accused me of teaching this I find it laughable, considering the schedule I keep. The grace walk isn't a lazy lifestyle. It is an active one, but our activity is animated by Him and not by hyper-active, religious flesh. What the legalist calls motion is often nothing more than religious commotion. I have done more under grace than I ever did living as a legalist, but it's not me, but Christ who lives in me who has done it. I could never have made happen the things He has done through me. No, the grace walk isn't passive, but it can appear that way to those who are afflicted with the chronic-Christian-convulsion syndrome they believe they need in order to prove their "commitment to God."

4. Because of grace, we need to be "soft on sin." I've never said anything of the sort. Sin is why Jesus died. I've never said we should be soft on sin, but I have said that we should be soft on people who have sinned. By that, I mean that we should be long on compassion and short on criticism. I have never said that it is never appropriate to confront sin in the lives of other people. I have said that if we do confront their sin, it should be with tears of love that overwhelm them. I have said that, except for rare occassions, we should have earned the right to speak into their lives. I have said that we should realize that they have done nothing we aren't capable of doing too, apart from the protecting grace of God in our own lives.

Do you know what the worst sin is? Somebody elses. Of course, I'm using sarcasm here to make a point and the point it this: "Let him that thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall." Be careful what you say and how you act toward those who have sinned. It might come back to bite you one day.

Our default setting needs to be to love people who have sinned. That doesn't mean we love sin, just that we are being Christ to those who have.

Those are a few things I never said. Are there others you have been falsely accused of saying as you have shared the message of the grace walk? Don't be discouraged. The accusations prove that we are on-track and are declaring God's grace in its glory.

Watering Down The Gospel

Perhaps the worst aspect of legalistic preaching is the way it waters down the gospel of Jesus Christ. The word gospel means "good news" and nothing could be further from being good news than the message that we have some part in either entering into salvation or living the life once we have become a Christian. We can only live the Life in the same way we entered, by trusting Christ.

Paul wrote to the Galatian Christians to address the matter of how we are to live the Christian life. Some people think Galatians was written to defend the truth of salvation by grace and not by works. That isn't why the book was written. The Galatians were already Christians. How could they be confused about what that meant? Their confusion was about how to live the Christian life now that they were believers.

A group of Judaizers had come into the church telling these saints that, while they were indeed saved and on their way to heaven, they had to do their part in the meantime. Their part, said these legalists, began by being circumcised.

Paul wrote the church and called them idiots (see Galatisns 3:1) for falling for such foolishness. He asked them, "Have you had some sort of spell cast on you? You became a Christian without doing a single thing, but now you think that what you do is an important part of growing in your life in Christ? Did you become a Christian by anything you did or didn't do? No? Then what makes you think that now you are a Christian, what you do has anything at all to do with receiving God's blessings?? Does God work in and among you because of what you do or because you simply trust Him?" (You can read this challenge from Paul in Galatians 3:3-5.)

The gospel is the fantastic news that you and I have been made righteous because of what Christ has done. We don't have to do anything - just believe it! Paul wrote in Romans 1:16-17 that the gospel is the power of God to salvation and that in it the righteousness of God is revealed. For anybody to preach that there is something we must do before or after we become a Christian in order to be righteous is to water down the pure gospel of Jesus Christ and to insult His finished work at the cross. The righteousness of God is a gift, not a goal we have in life. (See Romans 5:17)

To think that we can become more righteous by doing all "the right things" is to "nullify the grace of God," according to the Apostle Paul in Galatians 2:21. In fact he says that a person makes Christ Himself of no effect by thinking that what we do has anything to do with the gospel at all. (See Galatians 5:4)

The next time you hear a preacher saying that there is something you need to do to become more righteous, I hope an alarm goes off in your heart. Not everybody who says they believe the Bible is preaching it. Legalism is very subtle at times. Remember that a diluted gospel is a polluted gospel, which is no gospel (good news) at all. Don't fall for a watered down gospel being preached by those who claim to believe the Bible.

The gospel is the good news that you are 100% righteous because of what He has done, not because of anything you need to do. You don't have to do anything. You will find that you want to do some things, but that is a different story altogether.