Bringing our shame to Jesus

"I feel like everyone was staring at the back of my head at worship service."  This man felt shaming guilt from a sequence of really poor choices around his family that led to a divorce.  

In our local church family, a couple transparently shared a very painful family experience in a Sunday School class I was leading.  It seemed healing and good as I led the class, really good.  We prayed and several acted empathetic and caring.  Somehow, critical and painful things were said later by someone.  What appeared to be a safe refuge in our class was not for them, at all. They stopped coming to our class for a long time.  Thankfully, they remain in our church family and have opened up again, over time.
 

                   Pride sets the whole thing on fire

As all of this ugly embarrassment and shame gets stirred up, self-righteous pride sets the whole thing on fire.  Some actively protect their shame from exposure and are defensive about talking about it so nobody or setting will ever be a safe shelter from the storm. If a person suffered abuse in the past, they may be looking for new ways to be shamed.

Most people don't talk about their scars and shame.  Some are the very real walking wounded.  You and I may be hiding our shame we have lived with for a long time. 

Everyone is not experiencing oppressive shame but more are than we know about or we are able to see.  Some spend prolonged seasons covering up. How would you describe your family experience?  Have you experienced the pangs of this pain?  Many are not intending to shame others.  Those who are shamed often shame others closest to them.  


                        AFLAC missions tables
Last week at our home Faith Baptist Church, I participated as a full-time missionary with Prisoners for Christ Outreach Ministries in a mini-missions emphasis around "A Faith Church Lunch After Church," AFLAC.  

Tables were set up all around the sanctuary with many missionaries represented.  I met  many children and shared with some parents and couples.  We are getting to know new families in our church body who joined us just in the last two years.

             Recovering at the MRJC
At the Maleng Regional Justice Center, Reggie shared about a really stable pastor and wife who are his spiritual parents.  He struggles as a substance abuser so that  when he is using he doesn't want to be near his church family.

"Staying away when I am about to use or am already drunk is how I was thinking I needed to show respect for them. On this latest time, I drove to the church and wouldn't come in. I was a mess. The pastor came out to the car to help me.  He laid hands on me and prayed.  At first, angry cursing blurted out of me.  Then, I remember falling back in my seat and felt the Lord's presence."


When he needs the love and protection of the people who care for him the most, it isn't respect that keeps him away but guilt and shame. His shame boils up all around pride. He is embarrassed because so many people in the church family and Rescue Mission community have faithfully cared for him.  


He acknowledged he needs to be with his church and faith community when he stumbles and is feeling shame.  His brain is programmed to isolate him from those he needs the most.  The adversary, the very enemy of his soul, accuses him. 

                        Shelters or leaking shacks

leaking roof over shack

It only takes one or two voices to turn shelters from the storms of shame to just another leaking shack we cannot trust.  Our families and churches are only as safe as you and I are and what we are willing to risk.  

Jesus met a shamed woman in John 4.  He was traveling with His disciples through the hated Samaria and stopped because He was weary.  It was about noon.  

The ESV Study Bible note informs us, "Sixth hour refers to noon, when it would have been hot and time to rest, and travelers would be thirsty. Normally, women would come to draw water in the morning or evening when it was cooler (Gen. 24:11; cf. 29:7–8); the immoral woman comes at a time when no one else would be at the well."

This woman was an adulteress and openly shamed in her community.  As John unfolds the account, we are told Jesus knew her heart and everything about her.  

At a recent Celebrate Recovery session, a guest counselor suggested a path to healing shame could be found in entering into this story with Jesus and the woman at the well in John 4.  She directed us to insert our own names whenever the woman acted and spoke.  Substitute your pain and shame when the woman and Jesus exchange about her immorality. Take it as far as you can.  There might not be a total fit.  She called this an "inventory of shame."

Here is the account in the English Standard Version:

Jacob's well at

So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.  A woman from Samaria came to draw water. 

Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 

Samaritan woman and Jesus

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 

The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 



Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

Jesus offers living water

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
    
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 

The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” 

Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
~John 4:5-26


                                  Run to Jesus
The first step is to run to Jesus. Really, running to Jesus is all the steps.  In this case, we focus on the woman and ourselves. There is most often way more going on in and around shame than we have been willing to speak or think about.  Jesus brings the real truth about our families and you and me to light.  He also invites us to drink His living water.  He says He Himself is the Living Water.  He is promising the indwelling Holy Spirit and overflowing deliverance and healing from all sin and shame.

The second step in running to Jesus is to recognize what God says about Himself and how He loves us. Like the woman who spoke with Jesus in Sychar, might we perceive Jesus is speaking directly to you and me?  He is dealing with our very specific issues of really painful wounds inflicted upon us as well as our own pride and cover-up.  He forever frees us from being victims and offers His Living Water.  We come to realize what Jesus says is true about our shame.The deep love of God is the cure for shame. Jesus Christ delivers us from a lifetime shame.  

The third step is to give yourself time and attention.  Give yourself time for quality rest and retreat. This is not running away or another avenue for hiding.  Run to Jesus! Read the Scriptures and listen to Him.  Get His help.  Submit to the voice of the Holy Spirit. 

The church body is made up of a community in various stages of God's continuing healing.  Some are more wounded than others. Some have not discovered the Messiah's healing for them.  They may have been wandering around the church building for a long time and it seemed like just another leaking shack in their lives.  

The Lord Himself also plants safe people and places in our churches who are gifted with His mercy.  Meet with a merciful person or small group, these people may be a refuge or shelter from the storms of shame. Some pastors are very good counselors and can refer you to a gifted counselor inside or around the church to walk us to the practical help we need.   


The fourth step is to memorize and meditate on Scripture.  Read the Psalms as it teaches us to pray over many situations and emotional stages.  A list of verses to start with are Matthew 11:28-30, John 3:3-6, Romans 8:1 and 10, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:4-6 and 10, Colossians 2:9-10, 1 John 4:17.


The fifth step is to read on addictive behaviors and shame.  If these things are stirring and you like to read, You might consider reading:
"Spiritual depression," by Martyn Lloyd Jones  I read this and keep referring to it
"Instruments in the Redeemer's hands," by Paul David Tripp same as above
"Healing the shame that binds you," by John Bradshaw
"Safe people," by Henry Cloud and John Townsend
"Emotionally healthy spirituality," by Peter Scazzero
"Subtle power of spiritual abuse," by David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderon
"Toxic faith," by Stephen Arterburn
"Recovering from churches that abuse," by Robert Enroth

Comfort overcomes shame

Shame is caused by the awareness or exposure of guilt, or a hurt reputation or embarrassment, whether or not this feeling is due to sin. 

Feeling shame and shaming others leads to complex webs of sin. God's mercy overcomes sin through His Holy Spirit's incredible conquering work and as His people care for each other.

Shame is caused by being wronged, abused, or mistreated.  Personal rights are violated.  The clearest example could be when a child is verbally, physically or sexually abused by an adult. The shame received by such abuse can be far-reaching.

                   Bringing comfort and mercy to the MRJC

As I am serving with men as a chaplain at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, virtually all the men I meet with for listening, counseling, and prayer are surrounded by screaming shame.

MRJC in Kent

I continue to share with Jerry who hasn't spoken with his family since he began his stay at the MRJC.  He continues to send mail home to his kids but hasn't heard anything from them.  When he calls home, nobody answers.  He carries a load of shame.  


Sal was just sentenced to 18 years for his crimes.  He goes through seasons of shame and prays for his victims.  He is walking through what prison life will be and how He might experience God's mercy.

Chuck shared last week he doesn't want to take away from the time I have with others in his unit but asked me to spend time with him.  We took turns picking out Psalms to read with each other. He needs comfort and mercy for the shame he experiences from his crime.

                                         Shelter from the storm at FSM 

Our high school Faith Student Ministries Sunday morning Gathering is working through the Beatitudes in Matthew.  Here is how it all starts...

   Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  ~Matthew 5:3-4

             

FSM shelter at Lake Meridian Pa

We are focusing on our church FSM as a "shelter from the storm" where we love and care for each other in deepening relationships.  In the first step, from verse 3, we are utterly humble and helpless within our own resources to cope with our dysfunctions. 

At every level in our local church bodies, from youngest to our seniors, we are learning to care for one another in safe ways. We know the church is not always safe.

In the second step we are addressing this Sunday from verse 4, we mourn our own sin and the sin of those around us.  Jesus instructs us to engage in godly funeral grief over ugly and wicked sin.  In real life contrast, we are brought up to make ourselves "get over it" and "be happy,"  becoming a cover-up of the ravages of sin in real time.   

Jesus says His kingdom people receive His comfort and then comfort and exercise mercy with one another in relationships together. 

We don't just start doing this naturally and we don't do it well, ourselves.  We need God desperately and He promises to empower us through it.  

Comforting each other involves letting God have His way in disciplining us as His children, part of the care and nurture of the healing shelter from the storm we call the local church family.

  

                   Safe sharing at Celebrate Recovery

I began attended a local Celebrate Recovery group once again recently, not now because I have some family member who is crawling wounded through cycles of addiction, but because I am needing to be nurtured through my own sense of abusive dysfunction within my family of origin and my own experiences on my journey.  At a recent meeting, we were privileged to hear a teaching on shame by a local family and marriage counselor.

                                  Shame humiliates

It is hurtful and hurting when you and I were: 

• teased at school 
• humiliated in teams or groups
• belittled by family members or bosses, or...
• told you were a "bad boy," or asked "where are your brains?"
• never good enough 
• feeling we don't measure up
• exposed to porn
• engaged in substance abuse addiction cycles
• falsely accused and unjustly punished for cheating or stealing
• abused by a work supervisor marring your reputation and employment future
• embarrassed when you were improperly corrected in public 

These things are exhausting and runs me through gauntlets of hurtful memories.  

A friend also involved in the same things and I are using the Celebrate Recovery Step series to dig into these things.  We found an inventory worksheet very helpful.  Scripture applied and obeyed are powerful tools God uses to bring about His mercy and comfort.

          Scripture to exercise His mercy and comfort

Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!  Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven.  ~Lamentations 3:40-41

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  ~John 16:13

 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.    ~Romans 12:1-2 ESV) 

The counselor at Celebrate Recovery focused on toxic, poisonous cycles of shame. The shamed person feels a need to preserve their image and protect against embarrassing exposure.  Under these pressures, the shamed step in line or feel pressured toward expectations of compliance. One way of massaging these feelings is to develop co-dependent relationships not to really care for others but to regain a sense of value to gain adoration and praise. 

Celebrate Recovery and other faith-based step programs focus on the root causes of sinful, self-seeking, and compulsive behaviors.  Addictive behaviors seek temporary methods to cover up pain and the fears of being exposed. Active participation in the meetings and the various steps are healthy ways to begin receiving help in genuinely safe places.

 

Supernatural prayer

                            A near crash over the North Atlantic

Edith and Francis Schaeffer

                                                      by Francis Schaeffer

                                             from “The universe and two chairs”

Once I was flying at night over the North Atlantic. It was in 1947, and I was coming back from my first visit to Europe. Our plane, one of those old DC4′s with two engines on each wing, was within two or three minutes of the middle of the Atlantic.

Suddenly two engines on one wing stopped. I had already flown a lot, and so I could feel the engines going wrong. I remember thinking, if I’m going to go down into the ocean, I’d better get my coat.

                           "...we're in trouble"

your life jacket

When I did, I said to the hostess, “There’s something wrong with the engines.” She was a bit snappy and said, “You people always think there’s something wrong with the engines.” So I shrugged my shoulders, but I took my coat.

I had no sooner sat down, than the lights came on and a very agitated co-pilot came out. “We’re in trouble,” he said. “Hurry and put on your life jackets.” So down we went, and we fell and fell, until in the middle of the night with no moon we could actually see the water breaking under us in the darkness.

 And as we were coming down, I prayed.

Interestingly enough, a radio message had gone out, an SOS that was picked up and broadcast immediately all over the United States in a flash news announcement: “There is a plane falling in the middle of the Atlantic.”

DC-4 in 1947

My wife heard about this and at once she gathered our three little girls together and they knelt down and began to pray.

They were praying in St Louis, Missouri, and I was praying on the plane...

" ...and we were going down and down."

Then, while we could see the waves breaking beneath us and everybody was ready for the crash, suddenly the two motors started, and we went on into Gander.

          When we got down I found the pilot and asked what happened. “Well,” he said, “it’s a strange thing,   something we can’t explain. Only rarely do two motors stop on one wing, but you can make an absolute rule that when they do, they don’t start again. We don’t understand it.”
    
 "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  ~Hebrews 4:16 

So I turned to him and I said, “I can explain it.”

He looked at me: “How?”

And I said, “My Father in heaven started it because I was praying.”

That man had the strangest look on his face and he turned away.

                                                   Big-picture application

What one must realize is that seeing the world as a Christian does not mean just saying, “I am a Christian. I believe in the supernatural world,” and then stopping. It is possible to be saved through faith in Christ and then spend much of our lives in the materialist’s chair.

         We can say we believe in a supernatural world, and yet live as though there were no supernatural in the universe at all. It is not enough merely to say, “I believe in a supernatural world.”

Christianity is not just a mental assent that certain doctrines are true. This is only the beginning. This would be rather like a starving man sitting in front of great heaps of food and saying, “I believe the food exists; I believe it is real,” and yet never eating it.

It is not enough merely to say, “I am a Christian,” and then in practice to live as if present contact with the supernatural were something far off and strange.

Many Christians I know seem to act as though they come in contact with the supernatural just twice—once when they are justified and become a Christian and once when they die. The rest of the time they act as though they were sitting in the materialist’s chair.

PFC overview

I have served as a full-time chaplain with PFC at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent since 2006.  My ongoing ministry involves participation in:

• ·         1-to-1 and small group gospel presentations, discipleship, prayer, and letter writing with an average of 20 male inmates, staff, and officers, weekly
• ·         president of the Chaplaincy Advisory Group, monthly
• ·         preaching and prayer support for worship services and concerts with the Unchained band, His Harmony, and other musical groups, as opportunities arise

• ·         team leader for monthly worship services at the Olympic Corrections Center in Forks and for concert tours of prisons in eastern Washington and Oregon, twice a year  
  

This coming November, I am preparing for my second PFC international short-term missions trip, this time to Napal and India with PFC President Greg Von Tobel  and fellow Faith Church member, Matt Mazdzer.

Matt is an answer to prayer as I asked the Lord to allow me to involve members of our church actively in the PFC Kingdom of God missions outreach. 

Matt Mazdzer

Matt.came to our PFC University where I teach classes and is presently on a short-term missions trip with Nate Bean in Malawi in southeast Africa.  He also has participated on our OCC-Forks concert team. I am praying he and will increase his involvement in other areas and others from our support team will begin serving.

In front of the MRJC in Kent

Katharine and I have been members and have served in numerous ministries at Faith Church since November of 1992.  With so many folks coming, we need to introduce ourselves and my ministry to newer individuals and families around our church body. Our family is richly blessed through so many loving members and ministries at Faith. 

Financial and prayer support comes through our Faith Church missions budget. I am amazed before the Lord for those within our church body, from past ministries and seminary, and others now attending other churches in our community who provide sacrificial financial support.

Winding roads to His incredible grace

Kent...Olympia...Hoquiam...and OCC outside Forks

Gary Rice and I trekked to Olympic Corrections Center in Forks along with Bird House, a Christian band from the Tri-cities, for our monthly Prisoners for Christ Outreach Ministries concert on May 19.

Gary and I plan to go again on June 16.

Gary is a fairly new PFC volunteer.  We have met several times and I invited him on this trip to Forks. He shared an unvarnished, real account of his life path and how the Lord drew him to His  incredible grace for the rapt attention of the 26 men who attended.  The Lord continues to walk with Gary down a winding road, indeed. What a journey!

Brian received Christ during our service!

Along the way, we ventured into Quinalt, just a short hop off 101, to enjoy their museum. After Bird House led in worship and Gary shared, I preached from 1 Corinthians 6:7-10:

 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.  ESV

Serving at the Maleng Regional Justice Center
My jail chaplain service with male inmates at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent through PFC faithfully continues. Just this past week, I had 20 one-to-one visits.  Here are a couple of highlights with Jean and Omar.

Growing strength for Jean
Jean continues to make strides to strengthen his faith in our interactions.  He also meets very productively with fellow PFC Chaplain Dick Rothlisberger.  When he first joined with me in with a small group study several weeks ago, Jean quietly admitted he was searching but was having a hard time taking a step to believe.

He kept meeting with Dick and me and attended a Thursday night study with Dick where he took a big step and prayed "the sinners prayer" to receive Christ.  He was moving ahead with quantum leap steps. John continued to meet with us individually and I walked him through the Romans Road and select verses on salvation coming through Christ alone.  

He came back after finishing the study on his own just glowing saying "I got it, now.  I really believe."  I had him write his own letter to the Lord thanking him for forgiving his sins and saving his soul. I really want him to engage and own the work the Lord continues to do in his life. 

I often share these words with men from Charles Spurgeon because these things keep me focused on what is really most important:

Charles Spurgeon

"I have to go through this story almost every day of the year, and sometimes half a dozen times in a day. I have no medicine to prescribe except "Christ, Christ, Christ; Jesus Christ and him crucified. Look away from yourselves, and trust in him." I go over and over and over with this, and never get one jot further. Because I find that this medicine cures all soul sicknesses, while human quackery cures none. Christ alone is the one remedy for sin-sick souls. Receive him; believe on his name. We keep hammering at this." 

Relating to Abraham for Omar

Near the end of last week,  Omar approached me for a meeting asking for a book on prayer.  He shared he is married to a Baptist who witnesses to him.  He grew up in a Muslim family but is not actively practicing.  His wife clearly speaks to him about faith in Jesus.  I shared a Bible study worksheet on "steps to salvation," and emphasized salvation is through Christ alone and not by works. That got his attention. We read Romans 4:1-5 together:

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
    Our time was about to conclude when we began to discuss several of his honest questions.

• Is the God of the Quran and the Bible the same? 
• If Abraham lived 3,000 years before Jesus, how could Jesus be God? 

I took him to John 1:1 right before he racked back for the afternoon.  He has a Gideon Pocket New Testament.  I am praying for Omar and his journey of faith.  I won't push or force him and hope to share with him again early next week.


   

Hearing the Son of Man

"I don't know what to believe!  Who is right?  There are so many views and everybody has verses to support what they are presenting."  So, in a tense fit of frustration, one inmate stormed out of a meeting with another inmate and myself, this week

Earlier, Will, Dustin, and I finished oral story-telling questions around the Mark 9 account of the transfiguration with personal applications for me, as well.  Dustin processes through making right life decisions. Tom struggles with emotional and spiritual stability.  Phil works through passages about end-time prophesies.

Foundations for right decisions

Dustin and I connected at the Kent Public Library and was at the MRJC some time ago.  He in a great place spiritually that lays a foundation for some significant life decisions.  He wants to do what is really right.  The Mark 9 text focused our hearts on the work of Jesus.

In the oral Bible story-telling method, OBSM, we walk through an ordered sequence of questions as we dig deeper and deeper into the text. Here is the format I always find remarkably useful as I share 1-to-1 and in small groups:

1.     Observations

               Discovery--What is ….there for?  5 W’s and H

·         Context:  setting, circumstances, challenges

·         Characters:  individuals in the narrative

·         Conversations:  dialog and meaning to characters and plot

·         Choices: actions taken, other things they could have done

·         Consequences: results of actions taken 

2.     Applications

·         What character did you identify with?

·         What did the story mean to you? 

·         How did God speak to you?

·         How did the story change your understanding of Scripture?

·         How does it change your beliefs, attitudes, and actions?

3.     Summary

·         What timeless truths and personal stakes, are revealed to you?

·         What does this story teach you about God, yourself, and others?

·         How does it change our lives?

The text, again, is Mark 9:1-13

    "And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
    And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
    And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
     

Ministries of the Transfigured Christ
I was struck by the names and activities of Jesus and what each underscores about His ongoing ministry in my own life, first, and then for those I am sharing with.

He brought Peter, James, and John with Him as He is with us.
He transfigured with Elijah and Moses before them.
He is Rabbi, the recognized Authority and loving Teacher.
He is the Beloved Son whom we are to hear with our hearts and minds.
He is twice referred to as the Son of Man.
He prophesied He would rise from the dead. He is the One who will suffer many things and be treated with contempt.

Admidst differing views
Later, I spoke with Tom, who is struggling with many spiritual voices around him. He listens to several religious volunteers from multiple ministries who are telling him conflicting messages about Jesus.  Some do not present Jesus as God.  Some do.  They teach in all kinds of directions, flayed his arms and raising his voice. He shared they all seem to have Biblical support for their views.  Since many have conflicting views, he was distressed over who and what to believe.  

My place is to read the Scriptures, encourage him, and direct him to pray and come to his own conclusions, for now.  I suggested he carefully read the Gospel of John and that I am available to answer his questions and listen. 

 Later when I returned to his unit, Tom made a special effort to pull me aside to repeat the 27 books of the New Testament and was not as stressed as earlier.

Prophesy lifts up Jesus as the Son of Man
Finally, Phil reads and studies about end-time prophesies. So, building on the message about Jesus as the Son of Man, we walked through a study from Daniel 7:13-14, Psalm 2:7-9, Matthew 24:30 and 26:64, Acts 1:9-11, and Revelation 1:7.  He is the Anointed One, the Chosen Christ, Messiah.   

A glorified and transfigured Jesus is referred to as the Son of Man also just a little later in Revelation 1...

Son of Man in Revelation 1

    "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
    When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades."  ~Revelation 1:12-18 ESV

 

  

Story-telling with Will

Daily Bible readings

Several months ago, I shared about Will, a 17 year-old inmate at the MRJC, who continues to hunger for the Word of God and displays a changed life.

He was very active in gang communities and as a result was in and out of his area high school, mostly out.  As a juvenile, under 18, in the adult detention facility, he is facing heavy charges.  

Some time ago, I introduced Will to the Robert Murray McCheyne daily Bible reading plan. This plan works through the Old Testament once and the Psalms and New Testament twice throughout the year. 

What a privilege to witness what the Lord is doing in his life.  I can see the change in his eyes and spirit.  It's not about guilt or innocence relating to his case. He doesn't ask me to pray that he would get out of trouble or get less prison time.  He is peaceful and listens carefully. If he gets the chance, he will be a great student.

He took a timeout recently in his McCheyne plan and started studying the Gospel of Mark.  We read through the Mark transfiguration account this morning during a one-on-one visit using the story-telling method I learned through Tom Horton, my Rural Church Youth Ministry long-time friend originally from Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church.

The story-telling oral teaching method involves first reading the passage outloud and then recounting the story by memory while the partner follows along.  Then, we read the passage aloud, again.  We'll ask a series of questions about the text when we meet again, tomorrow.

Here is the text:  
"And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.

The transfiguration of Jesus

And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 

And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 

And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 

And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 

And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”   ~Mark 9:1-13 ESV

He isn't even 18 and yet I am amazed by his growth and depth.

Susannah Spurgeon's work with Charles

The remedy of self-sacrificing service--the ministry of Susannah Spurgeon 

By Susan Verstraete 

Spurgeon as young preacher

"Charles Spurgeon was only nineteen years old when he was called to be the pastor of the New Park Street Chapel, the church Susannah Thompson attended occasionally with friends. She was singularly unimpressed when she first heard him preach. 

"The eloquence and powerful sermons of the “boy preacher” were the talk of London, but all Susannah could see was a country bumpkin with a bad haircut, a ridiculous blue polka dot handkerchief and a black silk cravat that was much too large to be in style.

"As Susannah listened to Spurgeon’s preaching in the following weeks, she gradually turned her attention away from the dress of the messenger and toward the message he delivered. 

"She came to church more often as the Holy Spirit used Spurgeon’s preaching to expose her shallowness and indifference to the things of God. She sought counsel from Charles and others, and after struggling for a few months, came to a full assurance of faith in Jesus Christ. Charles and Susannah’s new friendship deepened to something more over the next year, and when he proposed marriage, she joyfully accepted.

Susannah

"It was an odd courtship. Charles had little free time to devote to Susannah. One of their regular dates consisted of Susannah quietly minding her own business while Charles edited his weekly sermon for publication. Susannah once accompanied Charles to a speaking engagement in a crowded venue. As they walked in, Charles was preoccupied with the message he was about to deliver. He turned into a side door, completely forgetting about Susannah, who found herself abandoned in the crushing crowd to find her own way to a seat. Miffed, she left the building and took a cab home to her parents’ house."

"Mrs. Thompson was not as sympathetic to the perceived slight as her daughter expected her to be. Wisely, she urged Susannah never to try to make herself an idol in her fiancée’s heart. Charles was God’s servant first and foremost, and she warned Susannah that she must never hinder his ministry. 

"Susannah wrote, “I never forgot the teaching of that day; I had learned my hard lesson by heart, for I do not recollect ever again seeking to assert my right to his time and attention when any service for God demanded them.”¹

^{Charles Spurgeon's ongoing influence in my life}

^{Charles Spurgeon is one of my very best library friends as I read his sermons and books regularly and enjoy editing his sermons to distribute to inmates at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent where I serve as a chaplain through Prisoners for Christ Outreach Ministries.  The men have been very appreciative and many ask for more and more.}

^{His sermon on his conversion at 15 years-old in 1850 is based on, “Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:22}

^{Here is a YouTube link to an hour and nine minute story of Charles and Susannah Spurgeon:  Documentary and account of CHS}

^{I read and carefully studied his "The Soul winner," first in 1979 and have gladly reread and gained deeper applications from it several times since then.  I have been challenged by "Lectures to my students" and his devotional "Morning and evening,"in the late 1970's, during my seminary and early season of pastoral ministry, and even now.  I regularly post quotes from Spurgeon on Facebook.}

Susannah's partnership in ministry

Blogger Susan Verstraete continued, "So instead of vying to be the focus of Charles’ attention, she became a true partner in his ministry. After they married, Spurgeon would call his “wifey” to come and help him on Saturday afternoons. Together they read commentaries and discussed the Scripture for the next day’s sermon. 

"Susannah was Charles’ sounding board and emotional support. When he was discouraged, she read to him from Baxter’s Reformed Pastor or from the poetry of George Herbert. Susannah counseled women and girls in the church and carefully taught her twin boys. She managed their household wisely, uncomplainingly endured separations as Charles traveled, and welcomed him home when he returned. Her days were full and their little family was happy.

"But then Susannah became chronically ill. For long seasons, she was unable to accompany her husband to church and was often confined to bed. Discouraged and confused, Susannah cried out to God. Later, she would write, ” . . . the moment we come into any trial or difficulty, our first thought should be, not how soon can we escape from it, or how we may lessen the pain we shall suffer from it, but how can we best glorify God in it . . .”²

"But how could Susannah glorify God or minister with her husband while confined to a sick room?

"In the summer of 1875, Charles completed the first volume of his book, Lectures to My Students. He gave a proof copy to Susannah and asked her opinion of it. After reading it, she said, “I wish I could place it in the hands of every minister in England.” Charles quipped, “Then why not do so; how much will you give?”³

Youthful Charles and Susannah

"Susannah took the challenge seriously. She had, on a whim, been saving crown pieces as she happened to get them. When she counted them out, there were exactly enough coins to buy 100 copies of the new book. Charles announced in his magazine that 100 copies of Lectures to my Students would be mailed to poor pastors at no charge. Orders flooded in for the books from English ministers, many of whom were so strapped for money that they hadn’t bought a new book in years. Susannah mailed out the books and received dozens of grateful letters in thanks. 

"Some pastors wept when the precious volumes arrived. 

"Spurgeon announced the results in the next issue of his magazine and asked his readers to help continue the work. Donations poured in. Though they never again asked for funds, enough money continued to trickle in over the years to distribute hundreds of thousands of theological books.

"Susannah often worked from her sick bed, keeping track of the finances and corresponding with pastors. A room in their home was dedicated to storing and shipping books. As long as Susannah was well enough, volunteers would come in once every two weeks to help pack books for shipping.

"Charles later wrote about the effect the labor involved in the book fund had on his wife. “Our gracious Lord has ministered to His suffering child in the most effectual manner when He graciously led her to minister to the necessities of His servants. . . . Let every believer accept this as the inference of experience: that for most human maladies, the best relief and antidote will be found in the self-sacrificing work for the Lord Jesus.”^4"

____________________________

¹ Harrald, Joseph and Spurgeon, Susannah, The Autobiography of Charles Spurgeon, Vol. 1, Banner of Truth, 1962, pg. 289
²Spurgeon, Susannah, Morning Devotions included in the book Free Grace and Dying Love, Banner of Truth, 2006, pg. 83
³Ray, Charles, The Life of Susannah Spurgeon, included in the book Free Grace and Dying Love, Banner of Truth, 2006, pg. 196-197
⁴ Harrald, Joseph and Spurgeon, Susannah, The Autobiography of Charles Spurgeon, Vol. 2, Banner of Truth, 1962, pg. 462

Copyright © 2008 Susan Verstraete    www.CCWtoday.org

Extraordinary praying like Luther

Charles Spurgeon

Charles H. Spurgeon related this incident about answered prayer in one of his sermons.

"Oh! to have heard Luther pray!  Luther, you know, when Melancthon was dying, went to his death-bed, and said, “Melancthon, you shall not die!”

“Oh,” said Melancthon, “I must die! It is a world of toil and trouble.”

“Melancthon,” said he, “I have need of thee, and God’s cause has need of thee, and as my name is Luther, thou shalt not die!” The physician said he would. Well, down went Luther on his knees, and began to tug at death. Old death struggled mightily for Melancthon, and he had got him well nigh on his shoulders."

Philipp Melancthon

Philipp Melanchthon (1497 – 1560), born Philipp Schwartzerdt, was a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation.  Wikapedia notes he was the intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems. He stands next to Luther and John Calvin as a reformer, theologian, and molder of Protestantism. As much as Luther, he is the primary founder of Lutheranism.

Martin Luther

“Drop him,” said Luther, “drop him, I want him.”

“Ho,” said death, “he is my prey, I will take him!”

“Down with him,” said Luther, “down with him, death, or I will wrestle with thee!”

"And he seemed to take hold of the grim monster, and hurl him to the ground, and he came off victorious, like Orpheus with his wife, up from the very shades of death.  He delivered Melancthon from death by prayer!

“Oh,” you say, Spurgeon concluded, 'that is an extraordinary case.' No, beloved, not one-half so extraordinary as you dream. I have men and women here who have done the same in other cases; that have asked a thing of God, and have had it; that have been to the throne, and showed a promise, and said they would not come away without its fulfillment, and have come back from God’s throne conquerors of the Almighty; for prayer moves the arm that moves the world."

Extraordinary needs of prayer

At the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent where I serve as a chaplain, there are two inmates I'd like to share about in Ty and Lou.  Ty has been at the MRJC since 2009 while Lou just came in several months ago

Ty has been at the MRJC a long time and has gone through a cycle of rotating public defender attorneys to get to his upcoming trial in March after multiple continuances.  ty and I actively pray about his real understanding of growing in his relationship with Jesus.  He participates in the Union Gospel Mission life skills weekly program and with me in mentoring sometimes twice weekly.

Lou came into the MRJC over the past month. We meet together about twice weekly and I just try to be a quiet listener.  He has a solid faith and church ministry background with a complex history that led to his incarceration. He shared with me coming to a point of fresh surrender, this past week.

He could face up to 10 years of prison time so we are praying together about resentments and yielding difficult relationships to the Lord.