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Do you ever get tired of the spin? Do you ever feel like everywhere you go and everywhere you look somebody is trying to sell you something? They are trying to spin something one way. You are never getting the full story. Whether it’s media or politics, to them trying to sell you Thompson’s Individual Stringettes, to a brand new vacuum cleaner for $19.99 and you’ll never have to get carpet again in your life! It even starts to get down to the language that we use. John Ortberg has noted how our language has changed a little bit over the last several years. For instance, when a company fires people now they no longer say, “You’re fired.” That would sound way too harsh. They no longer “down size” because that seems negative. Companies are now calling it “right sizing.” We are “right sizing” the whole thing. Guys are no longer “bald,” they are “follicly challenged” or “comb free” as one guy said. It’s no longer “road kill” – it’s “maladaptive compressed life forms,” or in some states in America that will remain unnamed, “road kill” is dinner. It’s no longer “used cars”– now it’s “pre-owned certified vehicles.” Somebody pre-owned it for you. They broke it in for you. It’s not really used. It affects our language. We see it on film and television as well. Reality TV – the big craze. Yet reality TV isn’t really reality TV. It’s still shot, edited, and spliced up to make a point and to get the basic themes of a story across. You can do an amazing amount with editing. We live in a culture where everything is edited, airbrushed, and cleaned up. You can do a lot with it. Do you ever just get tired of the spin? Don’t clean it up. Don’t edit it. Just lay it out there and let me work with it from there. That’s exactly what James does in the Bible. He’s a no bull, no nonsense kind of guy. He starts his book talking about trials and temptations. of that.” It’s not pure joy at the trial, but it’s pure joy in the midst of the trial because you are rejoicing in who God is. That is a lot easier to say than to do. It can be a real challenge to do in our lives. What kind of trials is James talking about here? What is he really talking about? Whatever trials you face, all across the spectrum, in the midst of it choose to rejoice because God will bring a great thing out of that trial and difficulty. James is calling us to rejoice even in difficult times because God will do something great in the midst of it. Paul says it this way in Romans 5:3, “Not only so but we also rejoice in our sufferings. Because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope; and hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us.” There is this progression that Paul lays out here. First of all he says we rejoice in our sufferings. That word for sufferings is an intense word. It means real pain. Real difficult pain may come into our lives. We persevere through it. Suffering produces perseverance. If it wasn’t hard you wouldn’t have to persevere to get through it. Perseverance produces character. Character is really only proven in the midst of difficult times. That’s where character is molded. You could even make the argument that unproven character isn’t character yet at all. Proven character is what character ultimately is. Then there’s hope that comes out of that character that is formed into our lives. Through this hope we realize that we are never disappointed. God’s love on the other side of it will pull us through. We don’t rejoice at the trial. We rejoice in the trial because through this hardship and difficulty God is doing a work in our lives to form us and mature us so we become the kind of people that He desires for us to be. Over forty million Waldo books have been sold in twenty-eight countries all over the world. Don’t you wish the Waldo idea were yours? Here is Waldo so you know what he looks like. He has the goofy glasses and the striped shirt. Do you ever feel like when you are going through a trial or a difficulty in life that you are playing “Where’s Waldo?” with God? Do you ever find yourself in that moment when things are going right and you are wrestling with difficult times and you say, “God, where are You?” You don’t see Him. You pray and you wonder if your prayers are going above the ceiling. You come into church and you leave and still feel empty. You read your Bible but it doesn’t seem to be connecting. Do you ever feel like you are playing “Where’s Waldo?” with God? Where are You in the midst of my struggle? the Bible declares that God is on every page of our lives. He’s there even when we can’t see Him. When we can’t feel Him or not sure that He’s there, He is. Sometimes when it doesn’t make sense, James says, we can ask for wisdom. Look at how he puts it in James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom who gives generously to all with out finding fault. It will be given to him.” If you lack wisdom, ask and God will provide. It says He will give wisdom without finding fault. God is loving and faithful. He WILL show you the way.

What if Jesus walked into your church office, applying for a staff position. Would He be welcomed? Would He be laughed out of the office? Would he be politely dismissed in favor of a flashier, more opportunistic pastor? David Murrow creates a tongue-in-cheek scenario about Christ’s mission and today’s church methodology. Very telling…. [CHURCH OFFICE SETTING. TWO MEN SEATED ACROSS A DESK FROM ONE ANOTHER.] INTERVIEWER: Your name, sir? JESUS: Jesus. INTERVIEWER: Your full name? JESUS: Jesus of Nazareth. INTERVIEWER: Jesus F. Nazareth. All right Mr. Nazareth. Tell me, why do you want to work at First Church? JESUS: I’m here to proclaim the good news to the poor, freedom for the captive and sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. INTERVIEWER: Well, that’s a rather ambitious agenda. But at First Church we like employees who think big! So how to you plan to accomplish these lofty goals? JESUS: I’ll recruit a dozen men and lead them through a series of challenges over the course of three years. I’ll show them how to minister to others. I’ll test them at every turn, to see whether they have true faith. INTERVIEWER: That’s it? JESUS: Yes. INTERVIEWER: And then what? JESUS: They’ll change the world. INTERVIEWER: I’m sorry Mr. Nazareth, but I’m having a hard time seeing where that kind of ministry fits into our church’s strategic plan. JESUS: Strategic plan? INTERVIEWER: First Church adopted a strategic plan 2 years ago. We’re targeting young families with children as a key growth demographic. Parents and kids are under such pressures today and we want to help them be healthier. JESUS: An admirable goal. How do you hope to achieve it? INTERVIEWER: We’re rapidly expanding our offerings for children. We’ve hired 2 new youth staff and recently broken ground on a new youth building. JESUS: Why are you doing this? INTERVIEWER: Mr. Nazareth, don’t be naïve. If we don’t offer quality children’s and youth programs, women will choose another church. As you know, women are the religious decision makers in the home. And if we lose women we also lose our volunteer base. JESUS: What about your men? Are they being actively discipled? INTERVIEWER: We have a men’s ministry. They meet for a monthly pancake breakfast in the church basement. JESUS: That’s not what I asked. INTERVIEWER: Mr. Nazareth, I believe I’m conducting the interview here. Now let’s say we hired you to challenge 12 men for a few years. What about all the other men? Won’t they feel left out? JESUS: Some will. INTERVIEWER: You see, that just won’t fly around here. Our goal is to reach as many people as possible. Our slogan is, “There’s a place for you at First Church.” We don’t exclude anyone – and we don’t put any limits on God. JESUS: If you never single a man out and call him to greatness, he will never become great. INTERVIEWER: Excuse me? JESUS: I tell you the truth: every man secretly dreams of being called into an elite group and molded into something extraordinary. That’s what I intend to do with a limited number of men. INTERVIEWER: Elite group? You make it sound like the Navy Seals. What if your challenges are so tough that men drop out of your group? Won’t these men feel alienated from our church? They might go around and spread lies about us, accuse us of being a cult, that sort of thing. JESUS: Many are called but few are chosen. One cannot be faithful to God’s call without incurring criticism. Yet I tell you the truth: if you call and train a handful of faithful men you can change the world. In a generation, you will have the healthy families you seek. INTERVIEWER: Mr. Nazareth, we are totally down with your good news to the poor message, but I can’t see how you get from A to B. How does working with one small group of men result in the outcomes you’ve described? How can we lavish limited church resources on such a tiny number of members, who quite frankly, being men, just don’t offer the R.O.I.? JESUS: As these men change, the church will change, and your city will change. And at the risk of appealing to your flesh, your church will double in size over the next five years if you do the things I’ve told you. INTERVIEWER: Well, Mr. Nazareth, I need to be at a planning meeting for the upcoming youth retreat in a few minutes. It’s been very nice to meet you and we’ll be in touch. [REACHES OUT TO SHAKE HANDS] Ooooh, that’s a wicked scar. How did you get that? – See more at: Churches for Men. Used by permission.

Studies reveal that about 50 percent of those who marry today will end up divorced. And of the other 50 percent who stay together, only half of those are satisfied with their relationship. No wonder the average marriage lasts only seven years. So let me ask you: How satisfied are you right now with your relationship? — from 7 Things He’ll Never Tell You, but You Need to Know Dr. Kevin Leman I like being a man. It takes a woman an hour or two to get her nails done at the salon. But I can do my nails at a red light in 10 seconds or less with my front teeth. I even make it a game to see how many times I can hit my speedometer with my fingernails. (If you’re saying, “Eww, gross,” you’re definitely a woman. If you were a man, you’d be saying, “All right, score! I’ve got a whole pile on my dashboard.”) I could wear the same pair of Bermuda shorts day in, day out. It would never dawn on me to change them, unless I saw another pair waiting for me on my bedroom chair . . . or unless my wife, Sande, handed a new pair to me, told me to put them on, and whisked the old pair off to the washer. I think I’m dressed up and ready for anything when my shirt has only one spot on it, and I’m in my standard T-shirt, shorts, tennis shoes, and baseball cap. It’s how I dress 95 percent of the time. The other day, as I was taking my wife a cup of coffee in bed, as I do every morning, my daughter Krissy showed up with my two grandkids, Conner and Adeline. I was so excited to see them that I sloshed a few drops of coffee on the kitchen floor. So what did I do? I took my sneaker and rubbed the drops around on the floor a bit, so they would dry faster. “Daaad,” Krissy said, rolling her eyes. “That is so male.” And that’s exactly what I am. A male. I don’t like to share my food with anybody. But I get first right of refusal on anything on Sande’s plate. I am as color-blind as anyone can get. I never ask for directions. I get antsy when you launch into a really long story. I can’t help thinking, What’s the point? Sometimes I act like a four-year-old who has to have everything now… including all of your attention. Other times I am my wife’s hero. When I say things, I mean them. I like to say what needs to be said plainly. But when I’m quiet, I’m hoping you get the drift that I’m not crazy about what you’re saying, but I don’t want to hurt your feelings. I’m a tough guy . . . but I’m tender underneath, especially where my family is concerned. (Just ask Krissy sometime how many times I cried when I found out she was engaged, when she tried on her wedding dress for the first time, when she walked down the aisle, when she told me she was pregnant with grandbabies one and two, and when I saw her holding those babies for the first time.) Truth is, I’m no big puzzle. And neither is any man. The path to our heart is well-marked, but it’s also narrow, for there are few that we trust with it. And somehow, someway, we’ve come to trust you. But let’s face it. When you date someone, you always put your best foot forward. Then you hook him, or he hooks you, and you decide you’re both “keepers.” You want to be in this relationship for a lifetime. You can’t wait to never have to say good night and drive off to separate locations ever again. You envision romantic evenings together, wrapped in each other’s arms, in front of the fireplace of your very own home. Once the wedding is over, you concentrate on living life together. Settling into your careers, deciding who will do what around the house, who will keep track of the car’s oil changes, pay the bills, etc. Somewhere in the midst of all this finagling is when you, a woman and a natural problem solver, get your first notion: I don’t remember that bugging me before. Did he always do that? How can I stop him from doing that? All of a sudden, there is a chasm between your expectations and the reality of living with your man. Does he expect me to be his maid? you wonder when you find the heap of dirty laundry under his side of the bed. What’s more important to him — hanging out with the guys or spending time with me? And if he likes “guy time,” why does he act all hurt when I go out with a girlfriend? I thought we talked about our budget. I’ve been sticking to it. And then he went and bought that plasma TV. We can’t afford that. What was he thinking? If he’s an engineer, how come he never gets around to fixing our leaky faucet? The list can grow. You’re the Energizer Bunny of communication. He’s the rabbit on his side with a dead battery. If you’re not aware of the true needs of a man — what he dreams about, thinks about, and what motivates all he does — disillusionment can set in. Misunderstanding can grow to anger and bitterness. You can begin thinking, This sure isn’t what I signed up for. Most people in relationships live with an expectancy that they can change the other person. That if they just work hard enough, long enough, and if they nag enough, the other person will eventually change. But that’s a little like trying to rub the spots off a leopard. Sure, you can try to make that critter all one color by scraping his skin with a Brillo pad, but you won’t wipe off those spots. You’ll just irritate the leopard. Makeovers work great with clothes, hair, and houses, but they don’t work well with leopards or the men in your life. A woman who sets out with a Brillo-pad personality won’t get very far before she irritates the man in her life enough to shut him down. No one likes being told what to do . . . especially a man. If you want to catch a mouse, you have to put cheese — a mouse’s favorite — in the trap. You can try pineapple, but all you’ll be left with is an empty trap. In the same way, you need to understand the male species before you try to change him. Otherwise you may have good intentions, but you’ll be going about it the wrong way. No matter how much society tries to make the two sexes androgynous, men and women clearly are different. Are they equal? Absolutely! But they are not the same. When women talk about the man of their dreams, they use words such as rugged, protective, handsome, and strong. Yet the media is trying hard to turn the image of a man into a feminine, wimpy man-child. Someone who will be your girlfriend, who will go shopping with you, always see eye-to-eye, and give you the verbal and emotional strokes you long for. But a happy marriage is one in which both partners understand, accept, and celebrate their differences. They enjoy relating to each other and seeing the world through each other’s unique eyes. They cut each other some slack during pressured or tough times. (Before you get annoyed with your husband, just think of how annoying you are during that “special time” of the month. It’ll put a lot of petty grievances into perspective.) Your guy isn’t like you. He shouldn’t be like you. If he was, why would you have found him interesting? Those differences can drive you crazy — or they can drive you together. Understand a guy’s basic needs, and all of a sudden you’re talking his language. The paycheck at the end is huge. Think about how many close friends you, as a woman, have. Now, how many do you think your guy has? If you answered 0 or 1, you’re right on the money. Your guy needs just one intimate friend — you. He wants to please you. So don’t underestimate yourself. You rate much higher in his life and thoughts than you could ever dream. He’d take a bullet for you. He really would. Visit www.drkevinleman.com for his invaluable resources.

Internet Pornography: A Ministry Leader’s Handbook —This free e-book, written by pastors and counselors, helps ministers who struggle with pornography understand the importance of confession and accountability. It addresses why pastors are particularly vulnerable to pornographic temptations and what should be done to bring this truth into the light. 10 Stories of Pastors in the Struggle — Read, watch, and listen to the stories of pastors who have struggled deeply with porn and sex addiction and how God set them free. PornToPurity.com — Jeff and Marsha Fisher were church planters until Jeff’s porn addiction came to light. After he was removed from church leadership and found help in overcoming his sin, he started PornToPurity.com, a website for anyone trapped in sexual temptations. Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle , by Michael John Cusick — Michael was sexually abused and exposed to pornography as a child. Later in life, serving as both a youth pastor and a counselor at a Christian university, his sexual struggles only became more acute with porn and prostitutes. This book talks about what he learned in the midst of recovery Ashamed No More: A Pastor’s Journey Through Sex Addiction, by T.C. Ryan — Pastor Ryan had a lifelong struggle with sexual addiction and secrecy. This book shares his story of learning to let the gospel of Christ transform him into a man who can be open, honest, and unashamed before God and his Christian family. Breaking the Silence: A Pastor Goes Public About His Battle with Pornography , by Bernie Anderson — Bernie Anderson battled behind closed doors with pornography for years. In this book, Anderson tells his personal story of struggle and how God changed his life, giving practical tips to protect yourself and your family. My Struggle, Your Struggle, by David Erik Jones — Pastor Jones struggled with porn as a pastor. This book is his personal story of porn addiction that lasted 20 years and how he found freedom while serving in the ministry. Beyond Ordinary: When a Good Marriage Just Isn’t Good Enough, by Justin and Trisha Davis — Justin didn’t just struggle with porn. As a pastor, he also began an affair with another church staff member. This book shares Justin and Trisha’s story and how their marriage recovered. The Pornography Trap , by Dr. Mark Laaser and Ralph Earl, Jr. — This book addresses what should be done when ministry leaders (pastors, deacons, choir directors, Sunday school teachers, etc.) struggle with Internet pornography. The authors share the core issues related to sexual sin and how to develop a biblical view of healthy sexuality. Restoring the Soul of a Church, edited by Dr. Mark Laaser — This book from the The Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute describes the devastation that can happen to a church congregation when a pastor sexually sins and is removed from the church. It gives insight about the neglected secondary victims of abuse: the congregation, the wider community, other clergy, the wider church, the offender’s family, and the pastor who takes over. Stone Gate Resources — Dr. Harry Schaumburg has been counseling Christian men and women about sexual and relational brokenness for years—with a special emphasis on caring for pastors and ministry leaders caught in sexual sin. His intensive counseling is known around the world as one of the best for sexual addiction. ThrivingPastor.org — This is a ministry of Focus on the Family for pastors, including a pastoral care line for ministers who need to speak with a trained counselor. 8 Resources for Ministry Leaders Who Want to Equip Their Church Porn-Free Church: Raising up gospel communities to destroy secret sins — This free e-book is for church leaders who want to create a safe community where taboo sins can be confessed and people can find healing. False Love and True Betrayal — This video series by Summit Church is designed for small groups or recovery groups focused on the pain caused by sexual sin. False Love walks men and women who struggle with sexual sin through a step-by-step process of repentance and restoration. True Betrayal walks spouses of sexual strugglers through the same process as they overcome the pain of sexual betrayal. Pornography Statistics: Annual Report — This conglomeration of more than 250 stats, quotes, and facts about pornography can help any pastor preparing to teach others about this subject. A Bird’s Eye View of Lust and Pornography — This free sermon series can give pastors a place to start for talking with their congregations about pornography in a way that is biblically sound and practically helpful. Fight Porn in Your Church: What works and why it matters — This free white paper from Covenant Eyes looks at how real churches are addressing the issue of pornography and gives practical ideas for programs churches can implement today. Confessing Sin: How Matt Chandler preaches a culture of grace — Matt Chandler of Village Church understand that church leader set the pace when it comes to being open about sin. In this sermon clip , Chandler talks about not being afraid to be honest about sin and being vigilant to fight it. The Quick Reference Guide to Sexuality & Relationship Counseling, by Dr. Mark Laaser and Dr. Tim Clinton — This book gives pastors, counselors, and everyday believers the information they need to help congregants, clients, and friends with their most intimate sexual and relational issues. Join1MillionMen.org — This movement, spearheaded by Pastor Jay Dennis, is equipping church leaders nationwide to bring the issue of pornography into the light where church members can find help and healing. Reprinted from Covenant Eyes. Luke Gilkerson. Used by permission.

Co-authored with Lisa Loden. The Story of Naaman is one of the most beloved and memorable stories in all of the Hebrew Bible. Believers easily identify with Naaman – commander of Syrian army who had a major problem in his life. He suffered from a terrible skin disease. The miracle of his healing after following the simple instructions of Elisha reminds New Testament believers of their new birth. After all, they have experienced it by simply trusting God and calling on Jesus for salvation. They are also able to identify with Naaman as a fellow sufferer. To be human is in some way to be a sufferer and no one is immune from problems, suffering and difficulties. Those who trust God and have known suffering and misery also know what it means for God to break through to their hearts and bless them with his covenantal blessing of healing that is always spiritual and sometimes physical. However, we would argue that such an interpretation of this chapter, while inspiring, completely misses its main point. What do we mean? Please, allow us to explain. The biblical writers used many literary techniques. For the purposes of this chapter, we must briefly introduce the current term for the technique that was used by the biblical authors. That term is inclusio. The term is self explanatory. It has to with defining the borders of the text. For a text to be designated as inclusio it must begin and end with the same verse, be exact or at least contain the same idea. There are thousands of such examples in the Bible. One of the main reasons why inclusio was used by the original writers was so that the reader and hearer would know where the literary unit begins and ends. This helps readers and hearers not to take a story out of its context. But, what does all of this have to do with a proper reading of the story of Naaman’s healing? The story of Naaman, from the standpoint of the original author, begins in 2 Kings 5:1-2 when a Syrian (Aramean) para-military group kidnaps a young Israeli woman on one of their incursions into the ancient Israelite territory. The young woman loses everything and becomes a slave who is owned by Naaman’s wife. The inclusio ends with the stunning statement, however, that the Syrian para-military groups will no longer make incursions into Israel (2 Kings 6:23). This means that the original author wanted us to see the whole story from the teenager’s kidnapping to the reconciliation of the hostile nations. It is one literary unit. The healing of Naaman is only the first part of the larger story. This gives us a clue that Naaman is not the main hero of the story. Instead, it is the young Israelite woman whose forgiving action in the beginning of the story results in the avalanche of events leading to national reconciliation by the end of the story. While Naaman’s healing is an important part the whole story, it must be read with an eye for the bigger picture and as such, for the bigger theological and practical considerations that we as authors are dealing with in this book. Without further introduction, let us start at the beginning and walk to the end of the story. We will see how this ancient story can speak to us today and influence our actions in our world as it speaks to us with prophetic power. The first verse of the chapter alerts us to that fact that something very unusual will be told in what follows. We read: “The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the LORD had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.” Stop and read that verse again. Does everything make sense? You should notice if you read it carefully that there is something in the text that is meant to immediately alert you to something very important. We read, “The LORD (covenantal God of Israel) had given Aram (Israel’s national enemy) great victories” through Naaman. From the start, we are given a clear pointer to God’s total control and his wise administration of his world shown by the way God perfectly governs it. There are times, however, when His governance makes absolutely no sense to His most intelligent creation. As Naaman, whose name in Hebrew means “pleasant”, is introduced in the text he is portrayed as a great and honourable man in his country. Yet Naaman suffered from a skin disease called leprosy. The next verse introduces the young Israelite woman who was kidnapped from her home in Israel and sold into slavery in Syria: “At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid.” In the providence of the Most High God, she became ,a servant of Naaman’s wife and exercised true forgiveness towards the Aramean nation. She expressed that forgiveness by a heart-felt concern for the well-being of Naaman, the master of the home. There are interesting parallels here with the story of Joseph who was also sold into slavery and whose increasingly righteous life in Egypt led to salvation from starvation for his own father’s family. What should be noted here is that the Bible often uses literary devices such as repetition for emphasis, or on the contrary chooses not to mention a person’s name to underscore the insignificance of that person. Yet it is this young helpless female slave in a country that was not her own that begins the story with a twist that later becomes a powerful avalanche with unstoppable power to make peace. It all began like this: One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.” Next, Naaman’s reaction underscores his level of suffering from leprosy: “So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said.” Just imagine the situation in which the second most powerful man in the country tells the King that a slave girl from Israel had given wise advice. The situation could have taken place only if Naaman was so hopelessly miserable from his skin disease that he could no longer tolerate the status quo. He was willing to go any length and try any alternative to be free of his affliction. What we need to keep in mind is that at that time Israel was not a strong military power as it is today. Syria felt confident in her ability to defeat Israel in military conflict. So the King of Syria told Naaman: “Go and visit the prophet … I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the King of Israel.” The letter simply read: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.” The King of Israel understood the letter to mean that the Syrian King had decided to provoke another military conflict with Israel by using his commander’s request to go to Israel for medical treatment. Naturally, he reacted as soon as he read the letter: “This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.” Now… it may seem that the King of Israel displayed doctrinal soundness. Perhaps today most believers in the world would have agreed with him. However, when Elisha the prophet heard about the letter, his reaction was different. He rightfully perceived lack of faith and vision on the part of Israel’s king. In the mind of Elisha, the King was missing a wonderful opportunity to preach the gospel to Syria. He sent a message to Israel’s King: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.” It is likely that some of you are thinking: Elisha lived before the incarnation of God’s Son, before the horrible events of the cross that resulted miraculously in the salvation of the world. What Gospel could Elisha possibly preach to Naaman? Don’t you have chronology of the biblical events confused? Not really, please, allow us to explain. The Gospel (good news) is not just a New Testament term. This New Testament term can only be properly understood in the context of its previous uses, especially in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. For example, in Isaiah 40:8-10 we read: “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops…Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.” The meaning of this term (Gospel/Good News) is rooted in the declaration of the presence, power and therefore the worldwide fame of Israel’s God. This is even clearer in Isaiah 52:7-9. There we read: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns! The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for before their very eyes they see the Lord returning to Jerusalem. Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyful song, for the Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has demonstrated his holy power before the eyes of all the nations. All the ends of the earth will see the victory of our God.” This means that when we understand the Gospel of Jesus we must understand it in the same context that the New Testament writers themselves would have understood it. We must always be careful not to import or read in our much later understanding into the much older texts. For New Testament authors, Jesus’ rising from the dead on the third day was nothing less than a declaration of the presence, power and fame of Israel’s God. Now this Good News was destined to be proclaimed not passively as before, but actively to the entire world! So in a very real sense the Gospel of the Lord Jesus is the Good News that Israel’s God is alive and well. He continues to reign over all the earth, not just the Land of Israel, from His Heavenly throne. In the end of all things, He will come to judge the living and the dead. This is precisely why Elisha said to Israel’s King who was not overcome with the vision of proclamation of the presence, power and fame of Israel’s God: “Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.” In the beginning of the story, Naaman is depicted as a powerful and proud man, but as the rest of the story unfolds, it traces God’s humbling of human pride and showing his own power instead. Here once again it is the nameless, the small, the insignificant people that are used by God, while those with power, money and authority are unable to live wisely. They don’t see the things that are obvious to the poor in spirit and flesh. Here’s how Naaman prepared for the meeting with Elisha: “So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing… Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house He came to do honest business with the God of Israel and he reasoned as worshiper of Syria’s god would: Generous gifts of the worshiper (Naaman) buy blessings of forgiveness, cleansing and prosperity, including physical healing. He took an amount of silver, gold and extremely expensive clothing that a priest of Israel’s God would find to be fair price or even a generous reward for services rendered. In this way Naaman approached the God of Israel as a moral man who, proud of his morality, approaches God today. He knows his need for God, but wants to save his pride once this need is met by divinity. He wants to pay the price or give a very generous gift. However, he is not looking to enter into a life-long relationship of dependency and servitude to that divinity whose temporary help he is now seeking. In the Bible, horses and chariots are usually symbols of power and authority. This is how Naaman comes to Elisha – a posture that will sharply change to one of walking and a desire to humbly serve instead of flaunting his powerful position. When he comes to Elisha he cannot yet acknowledge with the psalmist that “Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7) Elisha no doubt heard the noise of chariots from afar. He would have had time to think how he would greet the distinguished guest. When Naaman arrived, Elisha “sent a messenger out to him with this message: ‘Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.’” Naturally, this angered Naaman. You see, there were two major problems. One was the humiliation of the important Syrian General by an “Israeli shaman.” Naaman needed to swallow his pride and overlook the insult of not being personally greeted by Elisha. The major problem had to do with a change of worldview that needed to take place in Naaman’s thinking. That change was actually far more problematic than it seems to us today or than it seemed to the servants who accompanied Naaman on this trip to Samaria. In ancient times, people believed that there were many gods in the world and some were more powerful than others. The belief that each country/state had at least one god of their own who was faithful to them as long as the people of the country did their part of the bargain in worshiping that particularly deity was almost universal. So, Israel had YHWH as their god, while Syria by all accounts worshiped another deity known in the Middle East as Rommon-Haddad . People living in an agricultural society understood that the two most important things for the prosperity of their country were the quality of the ground and an amount of the water sufficient to ensure that the land actually produced abundant harvest. In the ancient mind, there was an unbreakable connection between the particular god, the particular land, and particular people. We will call this the “holy triangle.” People carried out service to the god of their land, and in return, he, sometimes she, blessed them through the most important channels of blessings he had – rivers. In this way, rivers were not simply ancient conduits through which water came to people, but indeed, in the mind of the ancients, they were nothing less than special channels of covenantal blessings from the particular god to the particular people to make the particular land given to this people prosper. Have you ever wondered why throughout most of their history the Egyptians did not engage in colonization? The reason is that the Egyptians understood and believed in this holy triangle of God, People and Land. They believed that the Land of Egypt was the Holy Land and that Egyptian gods were blessing this wonderful land through the powerful channel of heavenly blessing called the Nile River. They believed strongly in eternal life, but they believed that that eternal life was intricately connected with the Land of Egypt. Egyptians did not colonize because they could not get Egyptian soldiers to be stationed outside of Egypt for any significant period. No Egyptian wanted to die outside of the Holy Land (Egypt) where he would be forever lost to the life of eternity and blessing. Can you imagine how ridiculous it must have seemed to the Pharaoh that the God of the slaves had called them leave Egypt and go to the Promised Land? Letting-my-people-go required a paradigm shift in the mind of the Egyptian leadership. The change was only achieved by the miracles of monumental proportions that we read in the Exodus story. Our story, however, is about Naaman. Contrary to our normal understanding of Naaman’s reaction, he understood that he was being asked to do something enormously difficult. Indeed, he was asked to do nothing less than to betray the faith of his fathers. He was being asked to be willing to acknowledge that there was a possibility that Israel’s God could do something the Syrian god was unable to do. Just as Abraham was asked to kill his only son, through whom Abraham’s God promised make a great nation and bless all the nations of the world); Naaman was asked to do something senseless and to his patriotic mind amounted to national, and religious treason. Naaman’s rage now seems far more understandable: “‘I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!’ he said. ‘I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the LORD his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?’ So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.” He was willing to receive something from the magical power of Israel’s holy men, but at the same time he was totally unwilling to abandon his great faith in Rommon-Haddad. He no doubt thought that it was this deity who gave him victories and not the covenantal God of Israel. This is the reason he brought bribes. He wanted to enter into a temporary arrangement with the religion of Israel. He wanted to get the product, get the bill, pay it, and move on in life. The problem was that Israel’s God is not a pagan deity. Naaman was unprepared for this reality. Israel’s God does not cut deals and he does not play games, but He absolutely loves to show mercy to people regardless of their ethnic or even religious identity. Naaman learned this once he finally listened to the advice of the nameless, theologically unsophisticated slaves who came with him on this trip to Elisha. “But his servants tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed!” Once Naaman experienced the overwhelming power, presence, and mercy of Israel’s God his whole attitude changed. The storyteller makes sure that we notice this. He purposely uses the kind of vocabulary that shows Naaman’s whole-hearted transformation: “Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, ‘Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.’” Three things must be noted in this text. First, the posture of Naaman has changed dramatically. Naaman, instead of riding his chariot, walked and stood before the prophet Elisha. Second, Naaman has changed most important part of his worldview. He now acknowledged the true identity of the God who had been blessing him all his life and watching his back in battle. He now openly declared that the covenantal God of Israel is the only God there is in the entire world! This is a radical statement for a man of his time, living in a polytheistic society. Third, Naaman’s attitude of trading value for value became an attitude of radical service to the One whom he now understood to be his true benefactor. He humbly said to Elisha: “So please accept a gift from your servant.” Elisha’s response testifies that the same God who inspired Paul and his writings regarding the undeserved nature of God’s ultimate blessings of salvation also inspired the author of the 2 Kings. Long before the times of the reformation, when many believers rediscovered the Biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone, Elisha tells Naaman that he will not accept his gifts. Even when Naaman urged him, Elisha did not do so. Why? Elisha was a true Israelite who saw every situation in life as an opportunity for spreading the fame of Israel’s God and the discipling of anyone who wanted to learn. He knew that nothing would cement Naaman’s new theological direction more than emphasizing that what he received from Israel’s God was indeed free of charge. You may recall that in the parable of the Prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32),one of the two children demanded his inheritance long before the father’s passing. This son then leaves his home country and wastes his life and his inheritance while he is far away from his home. We have come to call this parable the parable of the prodigal son. In reality, this is a parable about two prodigal sons, not just one. One left the house, the other did not. In the end, perhaps, ironically, the son who wandered off showed that he knew his father better than the son who never physically left the house. It is the second son, who is the prodigal son par excellence. The first son did not know the father at all. Later in the story, Elisha’s infamous servant Gehazi acted like the second prodigal son in the parable in Luke. He followed Naaman and lied to him saying that Elisha was now asking Naaman for money to provide hospitality to two prophets who have supposedly just come from the territory of another tribe: “but my master has sent me to tell you that two young prophets from the hill country of Ephraim have just arrived. He would like 75 pounds of silver and two sets of clothing to give to them.” “By all means, take twice as much* silver,” Naaman insisted.” The storyteller explains that Elisha took this so seriously that when Gehazi returned, he cursed him with the same curse that plagued Naaman. The curse was enlarged to include Gehazi’s decedents. This reflects an important biblical principle: the more knowledge you have, the more responsible you are: “But Elisha asked him, ‘Don’t you realize that I was there in spirit when Naaman stepped down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to receive money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and cattle, and male and female servants? Because you have done this, you and your descendants will suffer from Naaman’s leprosy forever.’ When Gehazi left the room, he was covered with leprosy; his skin was white as snow.” Gehazi became leprous even though he was in close proximity to God and his word. His actions clearly proved that he really did not belong to the covenant-keeping part of Israel. Paul will much later explain to us that not all Israel is Israel (Rom.9:6). Gehazi certainly fit this category of people who endured the God of Israel’s curse by their actions that hinder the spread of YHWH’s fame among the nations. See the chapter on Covenants later in this book). It is important to see that Israel’s God was not only merciful but also just and that covenant responsibility is indeed something of a very real danger zone. We now return to the story of Naaman. Once he was cleansed and after he declared his unwavering allegiance to Israel’s God as the only deity governing the entire known world. After Elisha refused to accept Naaman’s gifts, we read something that seems strange or at least seems to argue that Naaman had not been truly converted: “Then Naaman said, ‘All right, but please allow me to load two of my mules with earth from this place, and I will take it back home with me. From now on I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the LORD. However, may the LORD pardon me in this one thing: When my master the king goes into the temple of the god Rimmon to worship there and leans on my arm, may the LORD pardon me when I bow, too.’”Go in peace,’ Elisha said. So Naaman started home again.” When compared with the conversion of Ruth, Naaman stands in stark contrast. In a very real way, he prefigures the New Covenant engrafting of the Gentiles into the Tree of Israel’s faith (Rom.11). Ruth’s conversion ends with the words “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” (Ruth 1:16) If we can borrow Ruth’s phraseology, it may be possible to summarize Naaman’s thinking as following: Your God will be my God, but my people (Syrians) will still be my people.[1] If you are primarily reading the New Testament collection, this story seems to fit right in, but for the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament this story is nothing less than revolutionary. Elisha announced that in response to Naaman’s plan to go back to his pagan people and remain in the same position in service to the King of Aram, the God of Israel would place upon this new convert the greatest blessing possible. When we see that Elisha blessed Naaman with the greatest blessing – Peace (Numbers 6:24-26), we are assured that Naaman was not doing something unfaithful here. Remember that Naaman’s name means faithful in Hebrew. If you are puzzled, you are where you should be. The English version of the Bible does not call our attention to how Naaman changed the formal name of his Syrian god Rommon-Haddad to a Hebrew word that means Pomegranate (Rimmon). In other words, it is likely, that Naaman was not saying to Elisha: “Please, bless me while I compromise my new found faith and bow to my old pagan culture.” Instead, Naaman was saying something entirely different: “Please allow me to load two of my mules with earth from this place, and I will take it back home with me. From now on I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the LORD.” This recalls the discussion about the holy triangle of God, People and Land and how it functioned in the mind of the ancients. An additional lesson in Jewish history will help us to understand that story better. When in dispersion from their homeland, Jewish people were known not to engage in agricultural work. Jews would work in trade, education, medicine, but the overwhelming majority would not work in the fields or farms. Jackie Mason once said: “A Jew can buy a farm, sell a farm, but not work on the farm!” Throughout history, this fact was interpreted in a mostly anti-Semitic way: Jews don’t like to work hard, they make Gentiles do the hard work. However, if this is the case, why in the modern state of Israel are there so many Jewish farmers? Jews work the ground without any qualms. The issue is not about work, whether hard or easy. The real answer has to do with whose land the Jews were allowed to work. Many Jewish sages operated from the same ancient worldview paradigm as Naaman’s, the Egyptians and all of the peoples of the Ancient Near East. The Jews were discouraged from working any ground except for the land that was given to them by their God. Working foreign land was spiritually “dangerous”, since the process would no doubt foster a metaphysical connection with a religious identity that was not their own. Now, after the significant influence of religious logic had passed, Jewish people, without knowing the original reasons, simply continued in the traditional ways of choosing professions that stayed away from agriculture. Obviously there were always exceptions to the rule and there is always a danger of a Jewish farmer reading this book somewhere on the planet Earth. Since you may be wondering why Naaman would need the earth from Israel, then you are on the right track. The same holy triangle of the rabbis was also believed by Naaman. He believed that the God of Israel had given Israel a special land in which the People of Israel would be blessed upon the condition of covenant-keeping life. Therefore, what Naaman asked for was completely consistent with his worldview. He asked for as much dirt as his mules could carry. It’s likely that he regretted not bringing more mules instead of all the silver and gold. He now wished he could take more of Israel’s earth to Aram. Now he was committed to spread Yahweh’s fame and to establish the metaphysical connection between the God of Israel and his own beloved country. In the New Covenant, Gentiles are not called to become cultural Jews, though some may choose to do so anyway. Gentiles are fully loved and treasured by Israel’s God. Paul writes that this mystery, in which Gentiles would be equal co-heirs without formal conversion to Judaism, was wholly unknown to the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. He states: “When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles, assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles.As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets. And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.” The prophets anticipated Gentiles coming to the God of Israel and worshiping Him. However, their equal standing in the Kingdom of God was revealed only through Paul’s and other writings in the New Covenant collection. This upgraded and expanded relationship between the God of Israel and all the nations of the world was not at all clear from a reading of the Hebrew Bible. There was no problem in bringing Gentiles to faith in Israel’s Messiah within the context of the “traditional” Judaism of the times. The difficulty was that Paul did not believe that Gentiles needed to actually become Jews as would have been required by the former covenants. This message was the reason that Paul was persecuted. In Galatians 5:11 he stated the reason for his troubles: “Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised – as some say I do – why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended.” But let us get back to Naaman’s story. Earlier, we stated that one of the literary techniques used by ancient authors used was the technique known as inclusio. This device helps us to know when the biblical story begins and ends. In the case of the story of Naaman, the story begins in 2 Kings 5:1-2 continues all through 2 Kings 6:23. What we read later only confirms that the fears of Israel’s king regarding the intentions of the King of Aram were well founded. Remember the king’s reaction when he received a letter with the request for Naaman’s healing? We read that: “When the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he would confer with his officers and say, ‘We will mobilize our forces at such and such a place.’ But immediately Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel, ‘Do not go near that place, for the Arameans are planning to mobilize their troops there.’ Therefore, the king of Israel would send word to the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he would be on the alert there.” Someone was warning the king of Israel about every move of the king of Aram. Obviously, after a while, the king of Aram began suspecting someone on his senior military team was a spy and given Naaman’s sudden spiritual change after his trip to Israel, the possible candidate for that role was Naaman. “The king of Aram became very upset over this. He called his officers together and demanded, ‘Which of you is the traitor? Who has been informing the King of Israel of my plans?’ ‘It’s not us, my lord the King,’ one of the officers replied. ‘Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the King of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!’” The king of Aram then gave orders to have Elisha killed. Once the report was given to the king of Aram that the prophet was in Dothan that was north of Samaria the king took no chance that his plans would be foiled. Instead of sending a few assassins, he sent what appeared to be the larger portion of his army. He realized that Israel had been victorious only because of Elisha’s ability to guide Israel’s military strategists in their evasive movements. We read, “One night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city.” When Elisha’s servant got up one morning (we don’t know if it was Gehazi or a differ man now at the service of Elisha) and stepped outside of the house he was dumfounded. There were troops, horses and chariots everywhere surrounding their town. When the servant called out to Elisha in fear, Elisha prayed to YHWH. His prayer was not for victory or for salvation. His prayer was for the servant to be able to see what his master saw. Heavenly troops were encamped in far greater number and strength all around the area of Dothan where the men were situated. What followed quickly accelerated the story’s development towards the end: “As the Aramean army advanced toward him, Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, please make them blind.’ So the Lord struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked. Then Elisha went out and told them, ‘You have come the wrong way! This isn’t the right city! Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are looking for.’ And he led them to the city of Samaria. As soon as they had entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, now open their eyes and let them see.’ So the Lord opened their eyes, and they discovered that they were in the middle of Samaria.” The more important and less dramatic part of the story does deal with the mechanics of how exactly the Arameans were trapped and moved from Dothan to neighbouring Samaria. The king of Israel could not believe his sudden reversal of situation. He shouted to Elisha: “‘My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?’ ‘Of course not!’ Elisha replied. ‘Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and send them home again to their master.’ So the king made a great feast for them and then sent them home to their master.” If you think about this, it is a rather stunning military strategy: Honour the conquered enemies and send them home fed and refreshed without fearing that you will be perceived as weak, thus inviting future military confrontations. This kind of strategy is stunningly similar to what Jesus would say centuries later in the famous talk he gave when, like Moses, he climbed a mountain to say something really important in Mathew 5:3-7: “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Both Jesus and Hillel are reported to have said that we are to treat people as we ourselves wish to be treated. In today’s Palestinian-Israeli conflict both sides of the argument say the same about their opponents: “The other side understands only the language of strength. Palestinians say that only when they engage in military pressure or terrorism do they get any results. The Israeli side generally argues the same way concerning military rule or occupation. In other words, we have a problem of logic here. If both sides are right, and the other side understands only the language of strength, then why does speaking the same language not make any difference? We are not saying that this story alone if followed will resolve the current Middle Eastern crisis. Current authors are not that naive. However, ignoring its message all together is immoral. In the end, ignoring it will continue to produce same results of war, bloodshed, occupation, terrorism, starvation, fear, humiliation, and a peace-process that ends with the next armed conflict. The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament has much wisdom to offer Jews and Arabs on both sides of the conflict. Indeed, it would be both foolish and immoral to not draw on the rich resource of Biblical wisdom of peace making. As the king of Israel followed the instructions of Elisha, God’s blessing of peace came to him and his people for many successive years. The prophet’s role was always to call Israel to covenant keeping. This meant that almost everything said by the prophet came from the Israelite Torah (Five Books of Moses). In other words, when Elisha asked the king a rhetorical question: “Do we kill the prisoners of war?” He was calling him to the just ideals of Israel’s Law. Elisha was saying that God of Israel already provided the standards of justice. They are all spelled out in the Torah. As a result, we see the story that began with the kidnapping of young Israeli woman by Syrian paramilitary groups, continued with her subsequent forgiveness of the offending party, and ends with a stunning statement: “After that, the Aramean raiders stayed away from the land of Israel.” [1] The council of Jerusalem described in Acts 15 was made up of overwhelmingly if not exclusively Jewish followers in Jesus and dealt with a very important issue for that time. The issue was: What to do with the Gentiles? No one had expected such an enormous success of the Jewish Gospel among Gentiles. The questions were raised: Should we require Gentile Christians to observe kashrut as we do, circumcise male boys as we do, and keep other signs of Jewish identity as we do? After a long and spirited (these were Jewish people after all!) discussion the consensus finally emerged. Peter told them that he even saw Gentiles show signs (Acts 10) that they were indeed filled the same Spirit as the Jewish followers of Jesus were (Acts 2). The council’s decision was to write a pastoral letter that would express that, as in other branches of ancient Judaism, Gentiles who follow Jewish law were free from all the Israel land-related requirements of Torah, so were those Gentiles who follow the Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. What they were required to observe was obedience to the Ten Commandments and refraining from some eating meat not drained of its blood).

I know a few will regard the following remarks as coming from “the deep end.” Others will take what I’m presenting and exaggerate it beyond its legitimate boundaries. But I want to focus on one reason why some leaders have serious moral failures. I want to offer an insight into how all of us, as Christians, can protect ourselves from a similar failure. The idea that a leader whom we’ve known and loved should suddenly be exposed in a devastating scandal seems incomprehensible. Certainly these who have taught others could teach themselves. Is there not resident within them saving knowledge that would protect them from worldly passions? What is it then that can worm into an individual’s thought-life, burrow into his heart, and then grow so compelling that a leader is willing to risk everything he’s loved and attained for a mere fulfillment of the flesh? Is it just sin? Or is there something deeper — a lack of spiritual discernment — that left the heart of that leader vulnerable to demonic manipulation? Their heart was unguarded to the exploitation of hell. An Unparalleled Warfare? Please note that I am not blaming the devil for every sin we commit. The fact is, selfishness and self-indulgence, which produce sin, are basic instincts of our fallen nature. At the same time, let us also discern the unique warfare of our times. Our world has been flooded with hyper-sexuality and excess. The “red-light district” has moved from the city and entered our homes via the Internet, movies and television. We deceive ourselves if we think we can accommodate an immoral imagination and it not contaminate how we act out our lives. You see, an unguarded mind that willfully harbors darkness will have spiritual predators cultivating and probing our moral weaknesses. Indeed, through modern technology, an alternate reality — a fantasy world created by our mind’s imagination — can be created and accessed by the demonic realm. We don’t just watch movies; we are absorbed by them. We actually have sports “fantasy leagues” and computer games and apps that guarantee their programs will be addicting. There is much within the fallen human nature that can be exploited and plundered for evil. When we do not guard our hearts and avoid what is sinful, this fantasy realm unfolds into darkness, leaving our thought-processes open and unprotected against demons that build strongholds in the human soul. Listen well: what entertains us actually enters us. If you are entertained by pornography or sexual fantasy, perverse or corrupting thoughts, you are opening your soul to hell. You must confront this battle honestly, repent of sin, and set a guard over your heart. If you don’t, your battle will advance from temptation to serious, hidden sexual bondage, which in turn will advance to secret attempts to openly fulfill your heightened passions. People of Destiny, Take Heed? Jesus reveals that a major source of this sexual manipulation is the demonic influence John calls the Jezebel spirit (Rev. 2:20). The rampant immorality we see manifested in Western culture underscores the increasing influence of this satanic temptation. Indeed, compare our world today with cultural standards of just fifty years ago and it’s easy to see that Western civilization is under siege. Too many Christians have their defenses down, and many otherwise good people have slipped into bondage. Yet Jezebel’s (Satan’s) arsenal includes more than lust; there is also witchcraft, which attacks and works to disarm the conscience. Remember Jehu’s words? “What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?” (2 Kings 9:22). Just like the days of 2 Kings, we are fighting the harlotries” and “witchcrafts” of Jezebel. Those who have been defeated by this spirit often feel they were drugged by their own passions. They did things that were flagrantly sinful, almost daring God (or the devil) to expose them. I am talking about the war against church leaders. How many more must fall before we realize the need for repentance and discernment? The Subtle Attack? Satan’s controlling spirits, like Queen Jezebel, are “man whisperers.” The approach typically is not bold but enticing — seducing and stimulating the degrading thoughts of human flesh. Its quiet power overwhelms and then disarms the human conscience. In your desire to walk upright before the Lord, what you may actually be fighting is Jezebel — in particular, her many “witchcrafts.” One may argue, “My battle is just sin, not warfare.” Perhaps that is true for you, but for others it is a spiritual attack on an unguarded heart. Its power may be aimed at Christians in general, but its specific target is church leaders and those called to places of authority in God’s kingdom. There are times when I think the world has greater discernment than the church. Consider these select words from the old Frank Sinatra song, “Witchcraft”: Those fingers in my hair ?That sly come-hither stare? That strips my conscience bare ?It’s witchcraft? And I’ve got no defense for it? The heat is too intense for it? What good would common sense for it do?? ’cause it’s witchcraft, wicked witchcraft? And although I know it’s strictly taboo? When you arouse the need in me? My heart says “Yes, indeed” in me?” Proceed with what you’re leading me to” ?—C. Leigh, C. Coleman The song did, in fact, reveal characteristics about the effect of witchcraft. The composers wrote, “[It] strips my conscience bare.” It continues, “I’ve got no defense for it/The heat is too intense for it/What good would common sense for it do?” And then, “When you arouse the need in me/My heart says, ‘Yes, indeed’ in me/’Proceed with what you’re leading me to.’ “ Of course, we do have a defense for it in Christ, but that defense begins with guarding our hearts from the opportunities and deceptions of these “Jezebel” spiritual attacks. Set a Guard? I don’t want to make too much of the possibility of witchcraft, for becoming overly focused on this type of warfare can itself become a swamp of darkness. Let’s keep things in perspective. However, this article is from a book on discernment, and we need to be aware of the spiritual realm around us. Whether witchcraft is what you are fighting or just natural weaknesses of the flesh, you need to close the door to the hyper-sexuality of our world. Indeed, the world has “no defense for it.” However, for those in the kingdom of God, “the weapons of our warfare are … divinely powerful” (2 Cor. 10:4). Our weapons and defenses are mighty, but we must use them. Scripture commands: “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (Prov. 4:23). The NIV says it this way: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” A guard is one armed and trained to recognize an enemy and turn away that enemy’s attack. We are in war and must stay militant in attitude throughout our lives. We cannot be casual with sin or temptation. When you use the Internet, use a filtering software program as a guard. Be accountable. Don’t feed your sexual appetites, for these kinds of addictions only go from bad to worse (Rom. 1:24–28). If you are currently in bondage to sin, as powerful as the sin seems, the enemy will also work to isolate your battle from others. The efforts we spend hiding sin are the very tools Satan uses to entrap us in it; so, talk to someone (Eph. 5:11–13). If you have a history of sin, then begin a process of cleansing, of washing your “robes … in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14). Confess your sins one by one to God and one another. Now would be a good time to build yourself up spiritually. Take the next step in your spiritual journey. Get back in the Word, for the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Use the authority of God’s Word to defend your heart against spiritual attacks. The most important thing you can do is to return wholeheartedly to God. The Lord promises, “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name” (Ps. 91:14). Beloved, it is time to set a guard over your heart. Lord God, this day I humble myself before Your throne. You see my heart and the battle I have faced. I ask that You restore me; make me wiser. Let not my enemy triumph over me. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and grant me the grace to walk with a pure heart, a guarded heart, before You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

At the Global:Church Forum, Michael Ramsden of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries discussed how the global Church is changing. In Luke 14:12-33, Luke relates Jesus’ parable: “He said also to the man who had invited him, ‘When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers[b] or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.’ When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant[c] to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you,[d] none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” What happens at the end of the world? There will be judgment. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. And western cultures say, “Oh, and there is going to be a banquet!” But what type of banquet? A wedding banquet. And whose wedding is it? Partly ours. What does it mean to be betrothed? Think of the anticipation. Yet I find it interesting that we often struggle to live as though we are the bride of Christ. Most people in affluent cultures, find themselves having to constantly increase the pace and volume of consumption in order to maintain the same level of enjoyment. This cycle is called the Hedonic treadmill. Research shows that consumers consistently make self-defeating choices. Now in Jesus’ parable about the wedding banquet, the servant is not inviting people to the banquet when he goes out. The invitations have already been sent out and accepted. When the servant goes out, he is merely ringing the dinner bell. But everyone made excuses. The first 2 excuses are commercial in nature, and we understand how people get caught up in money. This is what happens with the affluent. But the third excuse causes a lot of Westerner’s problems. The third excuse is a man saying, “I have a women at home, and I would much rather be doing something with her than you. The is not an affluent excuse but a sexual one. The modern era has become too focused on viewing men and women as sexual objects. We live in e that tells women that they are empowered if they act as sexual objects. How is that progress? In the Western world, sexual desire was driven by a sense of spiritual connection. In India, sex has been long thought of as a mystical connection. But today sex is increasingly viewed as a product to consume. Pornography is rampant. And we increasingly think of ourselves as animals. Slavery reduces people to objects rather than people. Pornography treats people as objects. Sin dehumanizes us. It makes us less human than we actually are. When we treat people as objects, we lose our way. Is it even possible that today’s Christians treat God as an object that is to be consumed? One U.S. government analyst said, “Hypocrisy is the new unforgivable global sin.” When you marry objectifying people and unhealthy consumption with our integrity, what do you have? In Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet, people had an invitation that they ultimately rejected, so the servant went out and evangelized. The servant sought out who would come. The servant compelled people. He must be compelling. If you do not pick up your cross and forsake all you have, you cannot be Christ’s disciple. That statement cannot be compelling unless God’s servants live it. The trouble is we are trying to teach morals of discipleship that do not demand everything. Even some churches treat people as objects that give them money. Don’t ignore the people in the trenches that are laying down their lives. We have arm chair quarterbacks that are ignoring the pleas of help from those in the trenches as well as their feedback on how to do things better. I’ve known people that would not fund a ministry initiative because they are afraid people will be martyred. But I wouldn’t fund ministry by people who weren’t willing to lay down their lives. Salt that has lost its saltiness is worthless. If the impurities in salt reach a certain level, it will be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Poor areas of the world are modeling out an incredible spiritual richness. So since we are in the West, it is not just enough to learn from the theology of the Church of the South and the East. What we need to do is learn from those who are persecuted and willing to die yet keep growing in their passion for Christ. If as a Church we are willing to pay the cost that the majority of the Church is paying, you will be scared at times, but you will also be more effective. Affluent cultures are born by sacrifice. When we are poor, we mistake scarcity for spiritual discipline. But when affluence comes and scarcity becomes scarce then peoples lives are destroyed if they lack discipline. The trouble is that in the West, we have been affluent for a very long time. The types of disciplines that we need have been gone for a very long time. God has a habit of humbling people who trust in themselves. The goal of life isn’t to live as long as possible but to live a life that is obedient to Him. That is the only life worth living. I think the models of discipleship we have in the West (1) move too slowly, (2) expect to little, (3) promise too much, and (4) expect quick maturity. www.churchrelevance.com . Used by permission.

Months after Rick’s father died, Rick’s wife Cathy began to worry about her husband. “Rick has never cried or talked about his father’s death,” she says. “Now he spends all of his free time working on an old ’58 Chevy he and his dad had bought right before he died. I’m worried that he’s not handling his dad’s death in a healthy way.” Generally, men and women don’t respond to grief in the same ways. “It’s a normal life event that throws us into instability,” say Tom Golden, LCSW, internationally known grief counselor and author of Swallowed by a Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing. Here’s why men grieve about death, divorce, and other losses the way they do. Masculine Versus Feminine Responses to Grief What Cathy perceives as an unhealthy response is, in fact, a healthy one. Rick’s behavior is typical of the masculine side: he is expressing his grief privately, and by restoring the Chevy, he is honoring his father’s memory. Cathy, however, grieves from the feminine side: by crying and talking with family and friends. “It’s not a matter of men and women grieving differently,” explains Golden. “Everyone has a masculine and feminine side. Generally, men tend to use more of the masculine side and women the feminine.” While women typically express and share their grief and look to the past, most men won’t verbalize their pain and often deny they are sad. They are also more likely to take action, such as setting up a trust fund or creating a memorial. “The important thing is that the activity connects you with the pain,” says Golden. “If it does, then it’s a healing process.” Men are taught to hide their tears, and to replace their sadness with anger. During therapy, Golden says at first men get very angry, then the tears come. With women, the situation is reversed: first come the tears, then the anger. “Women have been shamed out of their anger,” explains Golden, “so they use the strength of tears; men use their strength of anger to move into their tears.” Sometimes the anger is unhealthy. One man tore the sink out of his estranged wife’s kitchen, says Frank Williams, PhD, director of the Family Counseling Agency in Tucson, Arizona. Another man, whose wife died of cancer, ransacked the church because he was angry at God. Men who experience deep grief are more likely to successfully commit suicide, while women tend to attempt it but fail. Studies show that more men act out by abusing drugs or alcohol. The biggest problem with therapy, says Golden, is that it is “shaped to be effective with women.” Talking and expressing emotions are difficult for most men because it is not in their nature to seek help. “Only when men reach crisis do they come for help,” says Dr. Williams. “If you really want to help men talk,” says Golden, “get them involved in an activity.” One hospice invites all the recent widowers to an all-day fishing trip. This activity allows the men to process their grief while they fish together. This approach works with boys as well. Boys won’t open up one on one, but they will talk while playing basketball. When men do seek counseling, Dr. Williams asks them to tell their story: “Tell me what the last day with your wife was like.” While a woman will almost always cry, men generally do not, at least initially. “Men tell stories about their feelings instead of expressing them; women are more likely to express them [directly],” he says. Once men do start to talk, they are more willing to express anger than are women. “Many times they’re also expressing a greater degree of guilt—they should have been able to do something about the situation,” says Williams. The idea that they should have been able to control the circumstances is typical of men, while women usually believe they can’t, so they are more open to help. Ritual and Symbolism A ritual is a routine activity that helps people move from one state of mind to another. It is often a critical part of a man’s healing process. For Rick, it was restoring the old Chevy. “The ritual activity is intended to connect you with your pain and grief and allows you to move out of ordinary awareness and into the experience of grief, in a safe way, for a period of time,” explains Golden. Sometimes men express their grief symbolically. When pro golfer Payne Stewart died in a plane crash several days before the Tournament of Champions, many of his peers wore knickers (Payne’s trademark) during the event. “That was their way of showing they were feeling something they couldn’t express inside,” says Dr. Williams. Other symbolic actions can include dedicating a game during a sporting event, or building a memorial. Mixed Signals Men often get mixed signals when it comes to expressing grief. The message they receive growing up is to take loss “like a man.” When they reach adulthood, though, the messages become contradictory. Golden sees grieving families in which the wife and children are crying, but the husband is not. The family is worried because dad isn’t crying. Yet if he does, they get upset. Although a wife may be relieved that her partner is able to grieve, she may fear that his tears somehow lessen him as the stalwart of strength she holds him to be. Thus, men are criticized when they don’t grieve, and their masculinity is questioned when they do. Physical Differences Biological differences also offer some insight into why men grieve the way they do. Compared with women, men have less prolactin, a hormone excreted by the pituitary gland, which is associated with emotional tears. Boys and girls have equal amounts until about age 12, then the level in boys plummets as testosterone levels rise. Despite the talk about men “getting in touch” with their feelings, “We are still in the throes of six million years of evolution and hormones,” says Golden. “It’s amazing that we’re changing as fast as we are. What’s changed is that men are expected to be more sensitive, yet strong and masculine.” Once both men and women understand that a mixture of their masculine and feminine sides are at work in the grieving process, perhaps they will be more willing to allow the people in their lives to grieve in their own ways Larry Barber, director of Grief Works, shares his expertise along with Deborah Mitchell. Deborah Mitchell is a freelance writer specializing in health and earth-friendly issues. She has had more than a dozen books published and also writes for several professional and consumer publications. www.grief-works.org . Used by permission.

If you don’t ask for the help that you need, chances are you won’t get that help, support or encouragement you long for. That applies in all times in life, but it is especially true when you’re grieving the death of a loved one. Often mourners suffer in silence wondering when someone will help them. And often they resent those around them who they expected could tell what they needed without having to be asked or told. People aren’t mind readers. If you’re a mourner in need of help, ask for it. Asking increases your chances of receiving help and your faster healing in your grief. The specific reasons that mourners do not communicate what they are experiencing or what they need from comforters around them can vary from mourner to mourner. Generally speaking though mourners do not communicate their needs effectively for these six primary reasons: Mourners are afraid of looking weak or inferior. In a culture that emphasizes independence, success and being able to pull yourself up by your own boot straps, mourners don’t want to be seen as needy, inadequate and incompetent. When I meet initially with mourners in counseling sessions or support groups, I congratulate them for being brave and healthy enough to realize when they need to ask for help.It takes a lot of courage to share with others that you are struggling in your grief. It also takes a wise mourner concerned about his or her health and well-being to know when to ask for support and comfort. Mourners who need help, deny their pain struggle, and never seek help are the unhealthy ones in grief. Mourners fear possible judgment or confrontation from others. We mourners want others to think highly of us. Mourners often remain silent in grief to give the appearance that all is going well and that they are just fine. The price that mourners pay is that they not only grieve in silence. They will also suffer needlessly in silence.Have you ever had your comforters brag on how well you are doing? If they could only see what is going on inside of us, they would know that we mourners are in need of help. If we fail to let them know or see the real us with real needs, we can make our grief journey more difficult.Other silent mourners fear that their asking for help may irritate or upset people around them. The secret for getting the help you need is to share grief thoughts, experiences and needs with safe, compassionate people and in safe places. Spend more time with safe people and less time with the unsympathetic people who have no clue or could care less what mourners are going through. Mourners don’t want to be a burden to others. Our lives have up’s and down’s. At times in our lives, we are called upon to help, support and encourage others. Then it is our time to give. In the dark times of our lives, we need to call upon others to help support and encourage us. Then it is our turn to receive. In grief, we mourners have the opportunity and privilege to ask for and receive help from others with humility.Jesus gave an important principle for those who would follow His example of giving to others. In Acts 20:35 He is quoted as saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” When we as mourners fail to ask for help or to accept help graciously, we rob our potential comforters of the blessing of giving help to us Mourners want to protect others who might be mourning also. Close family members and friends who share a loss can be reluctant to mourn in front of others. They fear their grief will make others sad or hurt. In many cases, the other mourners are just as reluctant to mourn openly for the same reason. The result is that no one mourns in a healthy way because everyone is avoiding the obvious. Everyone is hurting and needs to process his or her grief.In families and friend support systems where mourning is done openly and in healthy ways, every mourner takes turn in receiving and giving support. Everyone asks for and receives the help they need to heal. Mourners don’t feel comfortable sharing what they consider to be personal business. We mourners come from different family and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, we have different styles of mourning and comfort zones in sharing personal grief emotions and experiences.With my clients in counseling and grief support groups, I always tell them that I want them to share what they need to share and what they feel comfortable in sharing. I also emphasize that trying to go through grief alone can make their lives more complicated.When mourners no longer feel the pressure to “spill their guts” against their wills, they feel free to share what they are personally compelled to share. They also feel comfortable in asking for the help they realize they desperately need to lighten their grief burdens. Mourners don’t know what they need. Early in grief when emotions are overwhelming, it is hard for us mourners to know what we need. Therefore, it is hard for us to know what to request from our comforters.If we seek out supportive, sympathetic people and express our emotions to them without fear or restraint, they can know when and how to be there for us in our times of need. Written by Larry M. Barber, LPC-S, CT, author of the grief survival guide “Love Never Dies: Embracing Grief with Hope and Promise” http://grief-works.org/book.php . http://griefminister.com.

“It is not God who hinders the healing of our land. Rather it is our apathy, our own unbelief, that keeps us from grasping the potential offered in the Gospel of Christ! Do not marvel when I say entire cities can be saved. The Scripture tells us that nations will come to our light and kings to the brightness of our rising!” (Isaiah 60:1-3) All We Lack is Christlikeness! “He then began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent” (Matt. 11:20). Jesus has a word to say, not only to us as individuals, but to entire cities as well. In anger He rebuked Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum (Matt. 11:21); with tears, He cried out to Jerusalem (Luke 13:34). If He expected cities to repent in the first century, He expects cities today to repent as well. It was in this very context of reproving cities, however, that Jesus made a statement which unveiled the scope of God’s redemptive power. Listen to His rebuke, but also to its hidden promise. He said, “For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Matt. 11:21). Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities known for their debauchery and sin. Yet, Jesus said that His life, revealed in power, can bring even the vilest of cities, places which ought to be destroyed, to “sackcloth and ashes.” The strategy, therefore, to win our cities is for the church to reveal Christ’s life in power. Yes, the revelation of Christ in us as individuals, and the power of Christ displayed corporately through us, can turn our worst cities back toward God! Today, many cities are ripe for revival. What hinders the turning of the people’s hearts? Part of the answer lies with the church, with our sins of self-righteousness, indifference and unbelief. The Lord said if His people would humble themselves and pray, seek His face and turn from evil, He would then heal their land (see 2 Chron. 7:14). The future does not belong to the world; it belongs to the transformed church. Indeed, let us never forget: God “desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4). With this in mind, Paul taught that entreaties and prayers should be made on behalf of all men, “for kings and all who are in authority” (1 Tim. 2:1-4). The sacrifice of Christ provides for the salvation of all men. Heaven waits only for the church to act. One may say, “But, that was then. Our cities are worse. They are beyond redemption.” Not so. Jesus continued His rebuke of cities, saying, “If the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day” (Matt. 11:23). Amazingly, when Christ is manifested in power, Jesus said even Sodom could find repentance! I have heard many ministers compare Los Angeles or New York to Sodom. Good. These cities have seen hell, now let the church show them heaven. They need to see Jesus revealed in His church. The promise of Christ is that even Sodom could repent in the atmosphere and revelation of Christ’s power. If there is hope for Sodom, there is hope for your city as well! The Obstruction to Revival: Complacency When we picture cities, we tend to see skylines and factories, streets and schools. Jesus, however, sees people. He beholds husbands arguing with wives while their children tremble in fear. He sees drugs being sold on playgrounds and teenagers having abortions. He suffers at the bedside of the infirm. The heart of Christ grieves with the loneliness of the elderly and identifies with the struggles of the handicapped. Yes, the eyes of the Lord probe the spirit and humanity of the city. From His eternal perspective, He also beholds the most terrible event known to man. He sees the overwhelming horror, the utter despair an unsaved person experiences as he realizes he is, indeed, dead and going to hell. And, in the midst of it all, He sees the church—His church, purchased at the cost of His own precious blood—sitting comfortably and amused, remote control in hand, watching television. Jesus does not have a problem with the hot or cold dimensions of life. It is the lukewarm that He will spew from His mouth (Rev. 3:15-16). What stopped the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum—communities that already had the blessing of Christ’s healing—from embracing ongoing renewal? They assumed Christ’s love was given only to enrich them. All they saw were the rewards of Christ without understanding His requirements. The church today is frighteningly similar in attitude to these ancient cities. The majority of the first century saints gave their lives to Christ with the full knowledge they would face persecution, suffering and, possibly, death for their faith. Such was the character and vision of the church in the first century. The main emphasis of much of our Christianity, however, is to help believers become “normal.” So much of our contemporary teaching keeps alive the very nature Jesus calls us to crucify! We need to reevaluate our preaching. Are we preaching the cross and the call to follow Jesus? What are we training our people to become? Please hear me, the Father’s goal is not merely to bless us, but to transform us into the image of His Son! He desires to use us to turn our cities back to Him. But God has made no provision for the healing of our land apart from us becoming Christlike! Once we realize this vital truth, we shall return to the source of New Testament Christianity, and our cities will have hope for redemption. When the church demonstrates the love and power of Christ, repentance and revival can occur even in a place like Sodom. Lord, forgive us for our unbelief and apathy. You have promised that even Sodom would come to You at the revelation of Your character and power. Transform us, Lord Jesus, for the sake of your glory and the renewal of our cities.

Teams are important because of synergy. Churches get people to give them money to create volunteer positions for them to fill. If you don’t know why something is working when it is working, you won’t know how to fix it when it breaks. But leaders are generally bad at evaluating things that work. Leaders tend to be good at evaluating problems. This is why church leaders tend to blame things that break on people rather than systems. You might not need a new youth pastor; you might need a new system. When you see something working well, ask, “Why is this working so well?” The reason things work well at churches is because of high performance teams. Regardless of the size of your ministry, you want and need high performance teams. You need action-oriented people who have extraordinary clarity around what are we doing, why are we doing it, and why are we doing it here? Irreducible Minimums for High Performance Teams #1 :: Select performance-oriented people and position them for maximum people. Recruit doers and not thinkers. If you have to choose between a doer and a thinker, choose a doer. It is much easier to educate a doer than it is to activate a thinker. Jim Collins says, “If you have the right people on the bus, the problem of how to motivate people largely goes away.” Great vision without great people is irrelevant. Put people where they can create their greatest contribution. Albert Einstein says, “Everyone is a genius, but But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” You’ve got to figure out a way within your organization to get the best people in the right roles. It usually takes bypassing the politics of who deserves the role by tenure. Everyone on the team needs to feel the interdependency of the team. Speak to your staff and volunteers so that they understand the interdependency. The senior pastor depends on the children’s ministry volunteers in order to do what he does. Every role is essential to the whole ministry. Interdependency won’t be felt unless key leaders makes people feel valued and that their roles are important. #2 :: Clarify the what and why. Performance oriented people like to win. You must clarify the win for every staff and volunteer position. When you clarify the win, it becomes the magnetic north for the energy and get-it-done doers of the organization. When you don’t define the win, each individual will define it for themselves. Teams dissolve when the problems are all solved. Conversations about change don’t begin around conversations about the problems. Conversations about change begin around conversations about a common goal. You have to organize to the what. Once you clarify the win/what, you must create an organization where all of the resources are allocated to that win. Don’t force your staff and volunteers to have to work around what your organization was structured for. Nothing frustrates high energy people more than having to do work arounds. The lion’s share of your time and money must go to getting critical mass. #3 :: Orchestrate and evaluate everything. Orchestrate means this is how we don it here until further notified. Great teams never depend on individual thinking and creativity. Great teams know exactly what the play is when it is called. Linebackers don’t get creative except when in trouble. Orchestration is the elimination of discretion. High performance teams stick with the playbook. Orchestration brings consistency and predictability to all of your processes. Orchestration will make your organization seem more personal. Evaluate everything. Create a feedback loop. As a leader you must stay close to critical events, or you will default to numbers, which get exaggerated. Figure out how to get close to key events in your church. Has your organizational growth pushes you so far back that all you see is numbers? Numbers are never accurate. See it for yourself as often as possible, and create meetings in between to learn more than numbers. What you are doing is so important. Notes created by Kent Shaffer from Catalyst Conference 2012. Used by permission of Kent Shaffer, www.churchrelevance.com.

Do you or your child experience ADD or ADHD symptoms? What are the most common? A sense of underachievement, of not meeting one’s goals (regardless of how much one has accomplished) that often creates anxiety and sense of failure for the individual. Difficulty getting organized, particularly with situations that involve multi-tasking. Chronic procrastination or trouble getting started with even small projects or tasks. Many projects going simultaneously; trouble with follow-through on any of them individually. Tendency to say what comes to mind without necessarily considering the timing or appropriateness of the remark. An ongoing search for high stimulation. A tendency to be easily bored with a short attention span. Easy distractibility, trouble focusing attention, tendency to tune out or drift away in the middle of a page or a conversation, often coupled with an ability to focus at times. Often creative, intuitive and highly intelligent. Individuals can exhibit innovation. Trouble going through established channels, following proper procedure. Impatient; low tolerance for frustration or failure. Impulsive, either verbally or in action, as in impulsive spending of money, changing plans, enacting new schemes or career plans, and the like. Tendency to worry needlessly, endlessly; tendency to scan the horizon looking for something to worry about alternating with inattention to or disregard for actual dangers. Sense of impending doom, insecurity, alternating with high risk-taking. Depression, especially when disengaged from a project. Restlessness. Tendency toward addictive behavior. Chronic problems with self-esteem. Inaccurate self-observation. Family history of ADD, manic-depressive illness, depression, substance abuse, or other disorders of impulse control or mood. Causes of ADD and ADHD ADHD is believed to be inherited. ADHD is two to three times as likely to be diagnosed in boys as girls. The actual cause of ADD is unknown, but it is probably associated with subtle differences in brain structure, its neural pathways, its chemistry, its blood supply, or its electrical system. Regardless of the cause, ADD or ADHD can be disruptive in the life of the individual. Child and adolescents particularly report not only difficulty dealing with daily activities, but sensing a deep frustration that only serves to exacerbate the already tough symptoms. Many people report personal duress, confusion and discouragement over their behaviors. They often recognize the problematic nature of their behaviors, their inability to control their behaviors and the impact of their behaviors of their environment. Many carry a sense of guilt over their inability to control these behaviors, feeling that they are somehow inadequate, stupid or retarded. Often self-esteem becomes an issue. What You Can Do ADD and ADHD can be managed. Seek a qualified therapist who can assist you or your child in building effective coping skills. Develop structure within the home and school environment to assist the child in better managing behaviors. Explore issues such as adequate sleep, nutrition, structured study and recreation as well as regular exercise. If the symptoms are significant, consider the possibility of medications to assist the person/child in further managing their behaviors. Dr. Julie Barrier says: “For the Christian, quiet meditation, prayer and Scripture memory can assist in slowing down the racing brain. Focusing on God’s will for one’s life and channeling the purpose and passion God created within oneself will harness creative energy. The discipline of fasting can also help. Remember, there is hope!” Recommended Reading: Dr. Edward M. Hallowell and Dr. John J. Ratey, Driven to Distraction ( New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995) This information is presented for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for informed medical advice or training. Consult a professional.