If you read my previous blog about Mort, my teacher, mentor, and football coach, you know that he taught me the importance of standing my ground even in the face of adversity. He also taught me the importance of being a man of my word with individuals and in a group. Mort also taught me the importance of a great work ethic and the fact that great people are built in the face of adversity.
Yet there were still many more lessons that I learned throughout my high school football career. As you may or may not recall from the earlier blog, during my sophomore year of high school, our football team’s season finished 3 – 6. I was on the scout team appropriately named “The Hamburger Squad.” Every week, we would get pummeled by the starters on defense and offense. Being a part of that taught me the importance of “sticking to it” even when times are tough. I also realized that helping others improve often makes you improve as well.
My junior year was more of the same: we finished 3 – 6 again. It was a tough year with little reward. Despite our continual efforts, the losses just piled up. During my senior year of football, we continued to work hard but figured it would be another typical year.
Then . . . much to our surprise, we actually won the first game of the year! We never won the first game of the year. It had always been a heart-breaking loss. During the next game, our team began to meld together as we all realized, “I need to trust my teammates to get their job done.” Our team captains along with some juniors stepped up to lead, and we won our second game of the season.
Our next test was against the 10th ranked team in the state, the Mora Mustangs on their home field. They were dominant! They had won state titles two years in a row and were looking just as tough as ever. I will honestly say that before the game even started, I didn’t think we could win. But the juniors who led the previous game seemed to not understand who we were facing. They were either brave or simply naïve, for they were fearless.
These same juniors had started a new tradition that year. As our team would leave the locker room in two single file lines, one person would shout almost at the top of his lungs, “Nothin’ But!” Then the whole team would shout back in unison, “Torture!” It still gives me goose bumps remembering it! The team chanted this walking ALL the way to the football field:
Nothin’ But!
Torture!
NOTHIN’ BUT!
TORTURE!
(On a side note: The word “torture” back then had a lighter meaning than it does today.)
Anyway, since I was on special teams, I was always out on the field before the rest of the team. Therefore, I always got to witness the team walking out on the field. It was an awesome, intimidating sight. Our team chanted this to the 10th ranked team in the state — on their home turf! Did I mention that they had to walk right through the fans of this team? There was no way around them. Cups, candy wrappers, profanity, and other insults were being hurled at our team as they calmly (at least outwardly) walked to the field chanting, “Nothin But . . . Torture!”
It was an awesome sight, a memory I will never forget. It was quite a rush for a 17 year-old young man.
We ended up winning the game 21 – 13 and began to believe in ourselves. We realized that with even more hard work we could accomplish something great. The fans also began to believe it. That year we defeated a team that was ranked #3 in the state and finished the year 9 – 2. Our only two losses were to the state champions twice.
I learned many lessons over my high school years of football that have stayed with me throughout my life. Throughout my senior year in particular, I learned the importance of teamwork and of having a great leader. Every game we played that year had a different hero. I also learned that just because you are older, you may not necessarily be wiser and may not get the glory and credit. Sometimes you need to let others lead. The juniors on our team during my senior year stepped up to lead and did a phenomenal job.
You might be wondering what this has to do with faith in Jesus Christ.
Do you have decisions to make? Or are you going through hard times right now? Then focus on Christ and stick with it. Pray and seek His guidance. Listen to His Holy Spirit and do His will. It may be hard right now, and you may never have peace and comfort in this lifetime. But you need to be okay with that. Do you really believe the Bible or not? If you do, then remember your reward is in Heaven. So live like you believe that!
“Don’t covet your neighbor or friend’s life and stuff. That is a sin! Instead, do the will of your Father who is in Heaven.”
For Further Reading:
Psalm 1
I Corinthians 13
Haggai 1 (focusing on verses 5–7)
If you call yourself a Christian, do you actually do what the Word of God says? Sure you read it, pray, and go to Sunday morning services, but do you actually live out the Word of God? Do you only try to be a good person and just get by doing only the easy things it teaches? Are you seeing or living out Acts 2:38-47?
Are you living out God’s dream or the American dream? Maybe living out your dream has nothing to with God’s dream for you. I ask this question because once my family and I started seeking out God’s will with all of out heart, mind, soul, and strength and quit worrying about what people thought of us, the real adventure began.
I think there are people out there that know what God wants them to do, but they are afraid to follow Him because of what their friends and family might say or think. Also, some people are not willing to give up their comfortable lifestyle.
My family and I don’t really buy a lot of new things anymore, but we do share with a lot of people and they share with us. A great example of this was the other morning we ran out of milk. I was just about to go buy some when a friend showed up at the door with 3 gallons. It was like 8:00 in the morning! We’ve also been given clothes that others have outgrown or no longer need. Some of these clothes are nicer than what we would have bought new for ourselves. We give clothes to others as well. It is really incredible to see God bless His children through His people.
Another way God blesses us is through our health care plan. We belong to a co-op called Samaritan Ministries. It is a group of Christians that help pay for each other’s health care costs. We pray for each other and share the load financially. We send our monthly check to someone in need in the co-op. For example, my oldest son needed to go to the emergency room for care at our local hospital. We let the need be made known to the co-op and we received checks from our Christian brothers and sisters to help pay for the emergency visit.
I want to encourage my Christian brothers and sisters to rethink how we do life here on earth. If we really believe this earth is not our home, we need to have a kingdom perspective and build up treasures in heaven rather than treasures here on earth. I encourage you again to read the book of Acts 1-4 and start living what you are reading. If we put our faith in God and not man, our example will be seen by all.
Fear God and not men. This essentially means respect our Father God. He deserves it.
For further reading check out Joshua 24:15 and Romans 3:21-31.
(Note: Before reading the following blog please know this story is about trusting and obeying God. It is not about health insurance being bad. But we do hope it gets you to rethink some things through in your life.)
Over two years ago when my family and I begin our journey in starting Worldview Warriors, we needed to head down a very difficult yet rewarding path on which we had many difficult decisions to make. These decisions would affect our whole family. One of the most difficult decisions at the time was what to do about health care.
You see, we had been trained, probably a lot like you are, that we needed and deserved health insurance and needed to have it since we have a family of 8 people. At the time we definitely didn’t have the money to pay for something called COBRA, which we could have gotten for a time to have some, “peace of mind” but it was far too expensive for our income. So, we went without health insurance for about a month.
One thing you don’t know yet by reading this blog is that my wife was pregnant with our 6th child at the time and she was due in October of that year. We definitely needed health insurance (or so we thought.) We even went through the hoops and paperwork to get the government health insurance that is available, but we knew deep down this was a mistake. We knew God was not calling us to use this government service. It was a difficult time for us because we had unknowingly been trained to think inside of this man-made system and to not have health insurance at the time seemed like utter foolishness. If you will, we had been trained to trust in human ideas and not in God and His ways of wisdom. God was calling us to obey Him and trust Him. So, we cancelled the government insurance and relied in God. This was about 6 – 8 weeks before our daughter was born.
About one month before she was about to grace us with her presence, someone contacted us and told us these words, “My husband and I have been praying and if we don’t pay for this pregnancy, God told us we would be sinning.” My wife and I were shocked, dumb-founded, and amazed! We hadn’t told anyone of our need and yet this woman of God was telling us that God had told her that they needed to pay completely for this pregnancy. This included all doctor visits before the birth, the birth itself, and any check ups with the mid-wife right after the birth.
God spoke to this couple about our situation. They heard Him and obeyed. Even though it was hard not to have health insurance, God blessed us immensely for our trust in Him. He is our provider.
Are you willing to completely trust in God? Are you willing to trust the God who gives you life? Take time this week to read about Abraham’s faith in Romans 4 and challenge yourself to live as he did. I encourage you to start following his example and see what adventure God has in store for you.
Next week I will continue this story and our journey of trusting God and His people completely. My family and I are continuing to learn not to trust in human ways of thought, but in God’s and God’s alone. Remember, human ways are not God’s ways. Man’s wisdom is utter foolishness to God.
Further Reading
1 Corinthians 2:14 - The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 1:17-19 - For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
Matthew 7:13 - 23
Acts 2:14 – 4:37 (Read just one chapter a day over and over. I encourage you to live life as the early church did.)
Years ago, I sensed that the Lord was leading me to read biographies of great people in history. For instance, two people who came to mind were Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
I bought a few biographies that piqued my interest but never read them, for, as life goes, I became busy with other things that crowded out my reading. However, within the last six months, much has changed — thanks to God using an incredible man from Lima, Ohio, who is discipling me. He challenged me about four months ago to form a board of directors. I told him, “Worldview Warriors already has a board of directors in place.” He responded, “I mean a board of directors for life.”
He explained that when I am faced with decisions throughout life, I will often need to sit down and have a “meeting” with my board of directors. He said, “You may even want to sit down, place all the books you’ve read from these people in front of you, and consider what each person would do in this situation. Learn from their wisdom and mistakes.”
He insisted that one of the books must, of course, be the Bible. He also encouraged me to read the biographies of Billy Graham, Mother Theresa, and Ghandi. He said that the biography of General Patton should also be on the list. “He will teach you how to not give up your position,” he said.
Thus, I obtained a biography of General Patton and General Rommel (who was in the German army during World War II). I have learned so much from both of these men already, and I am only one fifth of the way through the book!
I am telling you this for two reasons. First, leaders are learners, and we all need to grow, no matter where we are in life. Even my discipler, who is in his 60s, told me, “I’ve never thought of reading about General Rommel. You’ve taught me something today.”
Secondly, although I didn’t read these biographies years ago, as God was urging me, God didn’t forget what He wanted me to do. I had forgotten, but He didn’t allow my distraction to divert His purpose. God is faithful!
Here’s my challenge to you: find a biography on a great person in history. Do you have a hero or someone you’d like to learn more about? Buy a biography on that person and read a little each night. I think you will be surprised at how much you will learn from the past. If you can’t make up your mind or don’t know where to start, I suggest that you try a biography of Theodore Roosevelt, General Thomas Patton, or Mother Theresa. Then pray every day that God would help you to daily implement what you are learning.
Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it.” You can learn throughout your life. Let God train you.
Looking back on my life I can now see that in 2006 of November God had me standing on the edge of a cliff in the spiritual realm telling me to jump. Over two years before this, God was preparing my family and I to start a new ministry geared toward helping students, adults, and families become true followers of Jesus Christ. God had been training my family and I to help people not only get into the Kingdom of God through the narrow gate in Matthew 7, but to also live a holy life pleasing to God in all they do. We realized that the way to life eternal was to not only go through the narrow gate but to live the narrow path that Jesus teaches about. If you haven’t noticed by now this scripture text in Matthew 7 has really impacted my life.
So, two years ago on June 4th, my family and I jumped off the cliff and began an adventure with God. We had no idea where this path would lead us but I knew we had heard God’s voice and needed to obey. It was one of the toughest decisions I have ever made in my life. We would be leaving the comfort of a weekly support team, health insurance and a steady paycheck. We would be trading that for a life of uncertainty, much lower pay and we would have to rethink how to live in a society where we wouldn’t be the norm.
To put it bluntly God basically said, “Do you trust me?” To which we said, “Yes.” And He responded with, “Then leave what you are comfortable with and follow me down the narrow path. Are you willing to take up your cross?” We have had to rethink our whole approach to many things in this life.
The ministry of Worldview Warriors is even more than we thought it would be. God is using this ministry more throughout the world than I personally imagined up to this point. Worldview Warriors is now helping families in the Philippines get out of forced prostitution and slavery in our ministry partnerships with Threads of Hope and His Work Undercover (Read more in this newsletter). Our internet presence is being felt not only in North America, but also in Europe, Australia, Asia, and even Africa. God is moving through this ministry!
Faces in the ministry have come and gone, but God continues to bring qualified passionate people to the ministry for us to continue to raise the bar for Christ’s Kingdom. Our Fastcasts (the 30 second audio devotionals) continue to be played on WXML radio in Ohio and we are currently recording more Fastcasts as you are receiving this newsletter.
On a more personal note, my family and I have been majorly stretched, refined, and pruned by God. He continues this process even today. This road has been difficult and at times, seemingly unbearable. My family and the team we have put together at Worldview Warriors continues to focus in on the Holy Spirit. We are learning more and more how to listen to Him and be guided by Him.
If you support this ministry in any way it is such a huge blessing. Whether you pray, use our materials, give financially, or trust us enough to bring us in for an event, know we could not do this ministry without people like you. We praise God for you everyday. We need to become the church that is talked about in scripture with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.
So, how are you and your family doing following the narrow path? Please do not only go through the narrow gate but start living the narrow path as well. Matthew 7:13-23.
Through my travels around the country, I am blessed to meet so many wonderful, caring people who are not afraid to serve God. I also meet many people who call themselves Christians, yet I can’t help but wonder, “Are they really?”
I write this not to judge but to get us to think about and examine ourselves. Let me explain. I believe Jesus when He said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
In my travels, I have been exposed to a variety of churches with an even greater variety of styles. This is amazing to see how different we are yet worship the same Lord and Savior. I visited one church that host an annual gambling tournament! Yes, they are actually gambling in this church-sponsored event. I’ve spoken with a youth pastors who’ve struggled with their church holding events they don’t agree with but don’t know what they should do about the situation. Things like “outreach events”, which are actually alcoholic parties where people get drunk. These “outreaches” are even sponsored by the senior pastors.
Yet beyond these outrageous realities, here’s the kicker for me: Many pastors divorce or do not have their lives in order in other ways, yet the church does nothing about it. The congregants leave the pastor in his role of leadership (and call it grace), even though I Timothy 3 clearly states the life for which overseers and deacons should be striving. I will paraphrase it for you: Be the husband of but one wife, who manages his own family well and whose children obey Him with proper respect. This man must be self-controlled, not a drunk or lover of money. (See it all in 1 Timothy 3:1-13.) My point here is that Jesus said in Matthew 7 that the gate that leads to life is narrow. He also said that the path is narrow. Readers, this is a call to holiness.
How are you doing? Heck, how am I doing? Are you falling into the ways of the world, or are you taking the narrow path that leads to life? This is difficult to do, I understand. I often strive and fail in this area. However, the key is this: are you tapping into the Holy Spirit or yourself for strength? Are you tapping into knowledge or into your relationship with the King of the universe? The solution is not in us. It is in Christ. Pray and ask God today to lead and direct your path. Then listen for His voice and obey His direction. See what happens when you follow Christ with a reckless abandon. The adventure awaits!
“I love the way y’all say things without hesitating. You aren’t afraid to speak the truth, even if it hurts or is embarrassing. I think that a lot or people today don’t want to stand up for this kind of thing.”
This quote came from one of the students to whom we ministered during the “Be Prepared” tour. He also said that many people today appear to worship God in church and during religious activities, but then go home and engage in immoral activities on their own time. This student even wondered if these people are actually Christians. It was obviously very upsetting to him.
It makes me think of Matthew 7:13-14, when Jesus says, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.”
Yes, the gate to life is narrow, but I think we tend to forget that the road to life is also narrow. We cannot simply pray a prayer and then leave it at that. We must repent and turn from our wicked ways. This is where it gets tough.
Years ago, I had a very good friend whom I still love very dearly as a brother. He said he was a Christian and lived life with his friends and family. One day, however, I caught him in a lie, followed by more lies. I confronted him about his dishonesty. He admitted that he had lied not only once, but also numerous times before that. I forgave him, and we moved on. Later I caught him in more lies, so I asked another brother in Christ to accompany me when I confronted this man. He again admitted his guilt. I told him that I forgave him and that we would just move on from that point. All was forgiven; however, I told him, “Always tell me the truth from this point on, even if it is very difficult to do so.” We continued our friendship as if the lying had never taken place. This peace lasted about one month, until I sensed that he was lying again. I confronted him about it again, but this time he grew defensive and stated that I was just paranoid. He began to ignore me and failed to return my phone calls or e-mails. This totally confused me because I thought that we had moved on from these lies.
Obviously, he was continuing his path of lies. However, he no longer seemed remorseful about his actions anymore. Thus, I had to deal with a very difficult situation and make some hard decisions.
I share this story with you because at that time I was also questioning whether my friend was even a Christian. I asked myself and God, “How can he be a Christian when he is definitely not walking the narrow path as Jesus Christ has told us to do?” I was consumed with this situation and bewildered over how it could be happening.
After much prayer, meditation, and counsel from wise brothers in Christ, I was freed by God from this situation. Praise God that He allowed me to think this through and see clearly. I forgave my friend and tried to make things right with him (as Jesus taught), even though I was wronged. However, because my friend did not like what I believe are the God-given standards by which we are to live, we don’t talk much anymore, which is a difficult, but probably, a good thing. Praise God that my family and I are now free to do what God has called us to do. I don’t need to worry anymore whether this person is telling the truth or is lying again. My family and I now focus on Christ.
Everyone, God is the judge — not us. It is up to Him as to who is following the narrow path and entering through the narrow gate. So the burden is on Him, not you or me. Later Jesus says in verses 21–23 of Matthew 7, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
So, I guess the question for all of us is this: Are you truly following Christ in everything you do and not being a hypocrite?!
For further reading, check out an old book by Andrew Murray called Absolute Surrender, and read Matthew 7:15–29.
