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As I take a few minutes away from the busyness of life, I reflect upon someone who had a major influence on my life. Let me share the story with you.

As a young teenager, I discovered a passion that would impact the rest of my life — thanks to the encouragement and persistence of Renee King, my middle and high school music teacher. In seventh grade, there were too many boys who sang tenor in our choir. So some of us were asked if we might want to do something else for that period. Some of my friends at the time said, “Sure, we’ll do something else” and quickly signed up to leave the class. I was a little hesitant but wanted to be with my friends, so I said I would go too. Mrs. King said, “Jason, are you sure you want to do this? You are a good singer. How about staying with us?” I said, “No, That’s okay, I’ll go with my friends.” She persisted though, “Just stay with us through this quarter and see how it goes.” So I relented and decided to try it out.

At the time, I didn’t realize how that one decision would change my life. She must have seen some potential in me as a singer because once I went down that road of music, I have been consumed with it ever since. At the age of 16, I became the lead singer in a band with my best friend and two guys I hardly knew. We did pretty well too.

After graduation I headed out to Seattle to try to become a rockstar. Literally. I did that for almost 6 years.

Once back in Minnesota, I still worked with bands and even started a small little festival called “Jammin’ for Jesus.” We just trusted God. He brought the right people into our paths, and the events came together.

Music has been a huge part of my life and now because of Renee King’s loving persistence so many years ago, I am now trying to encourage and affirm others in their gifting. She saw potential in me and was an amazing encourager in my life. Without her loving guidance and care, I definitely would not be where I am today. I can even say this, “The ministry of Worldview Warriors, more than likely, would not exist without the encouragement and affirmation from Mrs. Renee King.”

So Renee (I can call her that now), thank you! Thank you for taking a chance on a young whipper-snapper and encouraging him to do something he was afraid to do. Without your encouragement, I don’t know if I ever would have known how much I really love music. What a great gift from God.

Here’s my challenge: Is there someone you need to thank? That person may not even know that something seemingly insignificant to him/her had an impact on your life. If there is someone like that in your life, write that person a note today. It is a blessing to receive such a letter, for one can revisit it again and again to be encouraged. God Bless.

For Further Reading: 1 John 4:7-21

It has taken me a quite a while to grasp this concept but I think I have finally taken hold of it. I hope I can easily share it with you at this early hour of 4 a.m. on May 22, 2010.

The God who created us and put us on this planet loves us so much that He desires us to love Him freely. However, in order for this to happen, He must be willing to allow us to go against Him and His ways. For instance, He has given us rules and guidelines by which we are to live in this world, and ten of them are found in Exodus 20. They are called the 10 Commandments. One of these tells us to worship no other gods but Him. So if we worship only this God who created the whole universe out of nothing, He will be pleased and we would not be sinning in that. But will God allow us to choose to worship another god or ourselves in place of the one true God? Yes. He loves us so much that He will allow us to turn our backs on Him. Does He want it to happen? Of course not. But He is willing to allow it to happen. Will God allow us to choose to have sex with someone other than our husband or wife? The answer is yes. Will God allow us to choose to disobey and dishonor our parents? Again the answer is yes. He loves us so much that He allows His creation to go against Him. He does not force us to love Him or to do His will. He also doesn’t force us to obey.

This is where His people come in. Christ’s followers are called to speak the truth in love. I believe this means that we must tell – sometimes warn – people what the truth is. If these people choose to follow Him, that is between them and God. Should they choose to not follow God and His ways, that again is between them and God. Even if they do not believe in Him, it is their free will to choose. Are you willing to love as much as God does or at least strive to do that? We are called to love. In other words, we need to tell people the truth and leave it up to them to believe or not. If they choose not to believe, the Lord will deal with them, be it ever so severely.

This also goes for our own Christian brothers and sisters. You can tell people the truth about helping the poor and poverty stricken, but once you force people to help them, you have stepped over the line. A great example of this is the account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. They sold a piece of property and said they gave all of the money from the sale to the church. A quick check on the context of this passage shows us that believers who were a part of The Way began to sell their possessions and goods for the betterment of the whole body of Christ (the Church). You will notice that they were not forced to do this and were not required to give everything to the group, for Peter says in Acts 5:3-4, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

Here’s a little more background: Ananias and his wife Sapphira owned a field and sold it. They told the church that they gave them all of the money from the sale when they had actually kept part of the sale for themselves. So their sin wasn’t that they kept part of the money. In fact, Peter never mentions that! What does he mention? That they lied to the Holy Spirit.

I think it is also easy to deduce that part of their sin was their desire to receive praise and glory that they did not deserve. If they had given all of their money, I think they would have received a blessing. If they had given only part of the money and had been honest and actually told the truth, I think they still would have been fine. The point is that God is the judge, not humans. Their consequence for lying was instant death. This helps us to see that the choices we make have consequences – good and bad. We can either choose to live God’s way or not. And our choices affect more than just us; they affect others as well, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. But forcing people to follow God’s ways is not freedom at all.

Let me try to further illustrate this point. I currently have a daughter who is two years old. My wife and I love her very much. She has her own will to do what she likes and will do what she pleases. As her father, though, I would be doing a terrible job raising her if I did not correct her actions now that are sinful. For instance, if I didn’t expect and require first time obedience from her now, what would I be teaching her even at this young age? I would be teaching her that she does not need to obey the first time I tell her to do something. If I tell her to stop running somewhere, and after the third or fourth time she finally obeys, why would this be a big deal? If she does not receive a consequence at this young age for disobeying the first time, she may run out into the street and get injured because she was taught that she needed to only obey after the third or fourth time. And if she isn’t corrected at this young age, many of us know the teen years would be quite a challenge.

This is why being a parent is such a huge responsibility. We are to train our children not only to accept Jesus as Savior, but also teach them to follow Jesus Christ and hear and obey the Holy Spirit.

I want to challenge you to not just be saved in the name of Jesus Christ, but also to be hearers and doers of the Word of God. We need to obey God’s leading. You need to obey God’s leading. Hear the Holy Spirit and obey. If you’ve messed up, our heavenly Father is there to welcome you back into His loving arms.

For further study on this subject, read Luke 15:11-32 and James 2:1-26.

I have heard people discuss how the United States of America has become like ancient Rome: an empire that has not only become unstoppable, but is also using all the resources of the world for itself. People say we take advantage of weaker countries in regard to their natural resources. At one time, I even believed this to be true. I have come to see that this is not the case anymore, but rather we are really like another country during an even earlier time in history.

My discipleship group began discussing this very subject. My good friend Dan Schilling, who is now on staff with the new financial ministry with Howard Dayton called Compass, quickly refuted my comparing ancient Rome with our society today in the United States. His statement was something like the following:

“Jason, do you really think we are like ancient Rome? With all of the debt we as individuals are in, our federal debt with the government, and all of the foreclosures and bankruptcies that are happening right now, do you still believe we are like ancient Rome? We aren’t living like ancient Rome. We are living in modern day Egypt, for we are in slavery. We still think that we are the land of the free and the home of the brave, but we are in bondage and don’t even know it.”

WHOA!!

That seriously got me thinking. I started praying about this, asking for God’s wisdom and knowledge on this subject. And you know what?

I think my friend Dan might be closer to the truth than maybe even he realizes. Oh sure, you may have a brand new vehicle, four wheeler, and a house that is probably bigger than you need, but what do you seriously own - with no payment? Do you have anything of great value that isn’t leased or doesn’t have a note attached to it? Are you getting yourself in more and more debt because of what you want, and you cannot control yourself? Are you able to save any money at all? Or are you mortgaged to the hilt with no end in sight?

I hope this is hitting home for some of you out there because I want to encourage you to start asking the Holy Spirit for help in self control and patience. Ask for this fruit of the Spirit.

Maybe it is time to pay the piper and get busy trying to pay off these debts. You may need to tighten your belt for a while and not eat the best food, or get rid of satellite or cable TV for a time. Maybe for some of you, it is actually time to get rid of your huge lease or car payment. Maybe it’s time to buy a car that is cheaper so you can pay it off more quickly. After you get rid of the more expensive ride, you could actually buy an older car with cash. It is possible. As another idea, since car insurance is expensive, you could carry only liability and not collision for a time. You will probably save a lot of money right there, and you would might start to be a better driver because you don’t want to get into an accident at all. It has worked for me.

The road to freedom is not an easy road. You may have to do without for a while, but I’m here to tell you that freedom is so much better than slavery to a creditor. It’s so nice when you can lay your head down at night with no worries. If we just read the Word of God in context and obey it, this world would be such a better place.

I pray that you will listen to and obey God however He guides you. God bless you.

For further reading: Proverbs 31:10-31, Philippians 4:4-9

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

- 2 Peter 3:3-7

Before I begin this blog, I’d like to add this little tidbit of information. Many Christians and non-Christians alike seem to deliberately forget that at the beginning of time everything was perfect. This means that there was no death or disease. It also means that things were very different from today’s world that we live in. If sin caused us to begin to die, then what other things were very different from the creation we live in today?

Like many of you, I spend some of my day online. I often don’t know where I’m heading; I’m just surfing.

Not long ago, I landed on a page for atheists. For a time I just sat back and watched the comments roll in. The people stated that there is no god and anyone who believes in a god is basically an intellectual midget and totally illogical. After a time, one of my Christian friends showed up without knowing I was watching. I was pleased to see that he was doing quite well discussing with them cordially. He seemed logical to me and, I believe, had some convincing responses for the atheists’ questions and comments.

After a while it was obvious that most of these people were not open to a differing opinion. Many of them just wanted to argue. Some even admitted so.

I must admit that I couldn’t take it and started engaging in the conversations on the threads. I actually thought things were going well, as one of the people on the site and I started to at least find some common ground on a different topic. We were actually having a good conversation about the current political spectrum, and then the personal attacks started from a new person to the site. I then realized that this was unfortunately going nowhere and any common ground this other person and I had started to have was now gone.

From this experience, I learned that even if we can have the most convincing information and are very well versed in what we believe, until that person is willing to hear and the Holy Spirit reveals the truth to them, they will not hear. All we need to do as Christ followers is to be faithful. Speak the truth in love, help humankind, and let God do the rest. Go and serve Christ in all you do.

Three years ago was quite an amazing time for my family and me. I was leaving a position as a youth minister where I had been quite successful and had learned many things under some great men. It was a job which I had come to rely upon for a paycheck, to build friendships, and to have health insurance, among other benefits. It was a very secure position, and at least on a human level, moving on seemed like a huge mistake. With a wife, five children, and number six on the way, this did not seem like the most opportune time to start a new career path. I’m sure that it looked irresponsible, foolish, and impossible to many people. God made it very clear about eight months earlier that it was time to move on and start a new ministry, for the place where I was serving was taking a different direction than in the past. I was a bit hesitant about this leap of faith that my family and I were about to make. Part of it was my own uncertainty about the future and whether or not I was hearing from God correctly. It was also difficult to leave the security I had in this wonderful position. So we had to deal with the insecurities that came along with completely stepping out in faith and trusting God and His people. If you haven’t sensed it yet, it was tough. One thing that was very difficult was leaving behind our health insurance for our soon-to-be family of eight! It cost over $14,000 a year. With my wife being five months pregnant, we were seriously concerned about how we would pay for this pregnancy, let alone deal with the expenses of a new baby. We could not afford a much cheaper health insurance plan, let alone this very expensive health insurance we had at the time. I tried to work something out with the church to help us out with the insurance costs, but it never materialized. It was a very hard time for my family and me. We were on our own with this issue. We were also on our own with God. We had to put our complete faith and trust in Him that He would supply our need and take care of us. Looking back on that time, we recognize that it was for our own good, but it can be hard to see the daylight when you are in the middle of a very long tunnel. Now don’t get me wrong: many, many people pray and help support our efforts for the Kingdom, but it’s eventually up to God to supply our needs. He has been faithful in supplying our needs and we have learned to go without. We have learned more and more the difference between needs and wants. God has supplied in many ways, from supplying someone to pay completely for the pregnancy of our sixth child (God told them to do this; we did not tell them or any one about this need.), to shoes for our children. God has supplied and continues to supply our needs in and through His people and in miraculous ways. One of these needs is how we take care of our health care. If you live in the United States, I believe it is high time to start thinking differently and actually practice what we see in the Bible. The biblical example in the book of Acts is clear. Act 2:42–47 says we need to share with one another and help each other out. If we start living the biblical mind set, get ready for this, we may not even need health insurance. NO JOKE!! How about cutting out the middle man and working directly with your doctor? This actually works and is in practice today by many people throughout the United States. We are currently in our third year of being in a health co-op called Samaritans Ministries International. We have had to deal with a broken collar bone, an asthma attack, and even a major miscarriage, just to name a few medical needs. In this co-op we all share in the cost of each other’s health care. My family and I have begun to eat better because we want to help others and not be a burden to the whole group. Plus, you just feel better, physically, mentally, and spiritually. We send our monthly check to other people in the co-op that need help for that month. We write a personal check directly to them! You will notice the government and insurance companies are not involved in this process at all. It is God’s people being God’s people, sharing and caring for one another. We pray for one another and rejoice together when new children are born. We do all of this with no health insurance or government interference, and we deal directly with our doctors. You see, I once believed that the church in Acts was promoting a way to socialism, but I couldn’t have been further from the truth. The government was not involved in their method of caring for each other. I have a question for Christians who want the federal government involved in our health care: Why should we involve the government? The New Testament church took responsibility in the book of Acts for themselves and shared among themselves freely without being forced. They freely gave and shared their gifts, whether finances, food, or talents, and they freely received from everyone. I think we all could agree that something needs to change. Instead of trying to fix a broken system, we should think completely outside of the box and start acting like the church of Christ that we are called to be. Let’s show the world how Christians really should live. Then maybe the world will start to care about receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. One last idea for you to consider: I don’t care what you call yourself - liberal, conservative, libertarian, progressive, or whatever. If you call yourself a Christian, we need to take care of each other. How about if you’re a lawyer, you share your knowledge and gifts with those in the church? Or farmers share what they reap with the body of believers. Auto mechanics could share their talents and fix vehicles for the body. Evangelists could speak encouragement and challenging messages to the church. Engineers could use their talents and gifts for furthering the Kingdom in buildings and site work. The possibilities are endless! If everyone pitched in and did their fair share, maybe the world would finally take notice. Please consider this as you read for yourself the early Christians’ example in Acts 2:42–47.

Our new intern recently asked me a very interesting question: “How do you explain to imperfect people (who believe there is nothing wrong with them) living in an imperfect world about Someone who is perfect?” Our intern also stated that many people in the church (lay leaders as well as those in the congregation) do not seem to understand that they are imperfect and need more than simply a religion. They need Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit working within them.

This thought intrigued me, so I began mulling over what our intern had said. I asked God to reveal to me how we as Christ followers can reveal to our neighbors – both inside and outside the church – that we are imperfect people living in an imperfect world. I also asked God to help me show others that the solution for this state is found in Jesus Christ.

As I continue to wrestle with this issue of recognizing and turning from our sinful state, I discovered an illustration of this challenge that we face.

As I pondered the issue, I watched the movie trailer for “Daybreakers,” starring Ethan Hawke. This may sound weird, but I had always been drawn to this movie trailer; now I think I know why. I have only seen the preview, and I am not a huge fan of vampire movies. However, the storyline that I understood from the preview is that being a vampire is normal, but being a human means that you are an outcast. Vampires hunt humans and harvest them for their blood. The vampires put a human into a machine as a “battery” and suck the human's blood over a long period of time. Thus, humans live their lives in this battery-like state and then die.

However, it is clear from the trailer that Ethan Hawke's character runs into some humans that have found a cure to transform vampires into humans again. Ethan’s character asks them, “Who are you?” The human character played by William Defoe says, “We’re the folks with the crossbows.”

The humans want to help the vampires become human again. Ethan’s character (who is a vampire) wants to tell the vampire world about this cure, but his boss and some in the vampire community care nothing for a cure. Ethan’s character says, “I found a cure; I can change you back.” His boss responds, “What’s to cure?” Some vampires want the cure but many think nothing is wrong with them. All they have known is their vampire state. In other words, they may believe, “This is how I was born,” or, “This is just how I am.”

After thinking about their perception of their life, I realized how relevant it was to my conversation with our intern. I believe it is a picture of the spiritual battle that we fight.

The humans with the cure stated, “We are the folks with the crossbows.” As Christians, we carry the spiritual “crossbows.” We have the Cure for the deception that ails the human race. The Cure's name is Jesus Christ, who lived, died on the cross, and rose again. He IS the answer (read John 14:6-7). As Christ-followers, we need to point people to the cross and to life in Christ. We need to share the truth with others – that we are sinful people in need of transformation through Jesus Christ. Many people will not understand or will reject the truth. A few will listen and accept the Cure. Once that happens, the healing and deprogramming process begins – discipleship.

Read Hebrews 3:7–19, paying close attention to verses 12–14.

Follow Christ in everything you are and do. It is time for all Christ-followers to hear and obey God’s leading.