“Dear Mr. DeZurik,
I wanted to apologize to you. I opened an (account with a social networking site) without my parents’ permission and lied about my age. Then I asked you to be my friend. I was wrong to do this. I will be closing the account and not opening one again until I am old enough.
Sincerely,
(Child’s Name)”
I recently received the above note from a young man who is learning a hard lesson — how to be a man of integrity. He’s learning how to be godly even though it is difficult.
It was such a blessing for me to receive the note and apology from this young man in person. Most likely it was uncomfortable for him because he did not know what my reaction would be. Of course, I forgave him and encouraged him to become the man of God he is called to be.
I’m encouraged by having friends like his parents who, like my wife and I, are trying to raise godly children. It is not easy to admit when you’re wrong or to teach your child to take the difficult road (the “narrow path”), but God has called us to this kind of living. In the long run, taking the narrow road will reap rewards in your life, your child’s life, and society as a whole.
As children of the most high King, we must not only teach God’s ways, but also live His ways in order for people to understand the life that He offers.
We must live for our King and not for our own selfish, evil desires. The carnal must die, and God must increase in our lives.
For further study, read Matthew 7:13 – 23, 1 Peter 1:13–15 and Colossians 1:24–29.
Dear Friends,
I would like to share with you straight from my heart what I believe God has been revealing to the board of Worldview Warriors and me. Worldview Warriors has been doing ministry officially since 2006. We have reached countless students and equipped adult leaders to sink into these students, in person, in 22 states in just the last two years of ministry. We have also reached every state in the United States building up fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ through our internet presence. (We have reached 71 other countries around the world as well.)
This year we are entering into that crucial 5th year of ministry. As you may or may not know, many ministries and businesses fail before the 5th year or in the 5th year of operation. We know this is a big year for us. So let me share with you what the Lord has shown the board and me personally regarding the direction and focus of our ministry over the next year of 2011:
#1 – Slow down
I believe God has shown me that He wants to use our family as a testimony to those we come in contact with. We have already seen amazing fruit and encouragement to others through this. I need to make the order of my relationships / priorities as follows:
- God
- My wife, Jaya
- My six children
- My relationships with others
- The ministry of Worldview Warriors
#2 – Get focused and do a few things with excellence
I believe God is calling me to stop booking and promoting the ministry of Worldview Warriors and focus on being still and meditating on God’s will. This will help me to focus on making our audio ministry even stronger than it already is. The board, staff and volunteers will be focusing in on promotions, syndication and booking. This focus includes:
- Our weekly 2-hour radio show called Do Not Keep Silent
- Our podcast, also called Do Not Keep Silent
- Our Worldview Warriors Fastcast / A 60 second nugget of truth for radio stations to play.
I am also called to focus in on writing. This includes:
- Weekly Blog posts
- The new book God is calling me to write
#3 – Continue speaking, but use our other speakers more often
The board, staff, and volunteers will be focusing in on promotions and booking. We also have an outside person booking for the ministry as well. This includes:
- Jason DeZurik speaking more this summer and less on tours and focusing on implementing God’s direction.
- Implementing our other speakers more into the mix this year.
#4 – We are to build up our support base this year
This includes:
- Prayer Warriors
- Monthly Financial Donors
- Volunteers in the office and elsewhere.
- Educating people on how to give toward the ministry.
The ministry has already begun implementing the above changes to reflect what we believe is God’s direction. We have a full-time office person now. Her name is Marie Wise and she has been just amazing. We are honored to have her involved with what we are called to do here at Worldview Warriors. She is a major asset and will help greatly in implementing this pursuit of excellence in not only serving Christ but for us to pursue our mission of “Equipping Students to Impact This Generation for Jesus Christ.”
- I would ask you to please prayerfully consider God’s direction in giving Worldview Warriors an end of the year 2010 financial gift and/or becoming a monthly financial donor of the ministry if you currently are not a monthly donor.
- I would also ask that you please prayerfully consider telling people you know about the ministry of Worldview Warriors as we move forward into our 5th year of operation. We absolutely need more volunteers, prayer warriors, and monthly financial donors for this vision to move forward.
- Please pray for God to bring in the right people as we are looking to expand our board this year from 4 members to 6 members.
Some of you may be wondering to yourself, “Is this radio show really reaching people?” We can answer that question with an unequivocal, “Yes.” Just on Facebook alone in the last month we have seen our activity jump from an average of 250 people per day to over 1,000 people a day. That’s per day! On Sunday night when the show is live we generally see over 4,000 people that are active on our Facebook profile. Just last week there were over 9,500 people. Thanks for checking in and listening. We have also seen activity on discussion boards we put up and we are getting almost instant results from what we are doing for the Kingdom. People are not just listening, but they are learning and doing. We hope this includes you. We hope not only others are putting their faith into action but you are putting your faith in Jesus Christ into action!
I hope you can see the vision of where we are heading in 2011. God has blessed us in the past and we are leaning on Him to supply our needs with this aggressive vision. Maybe He wants to use you, or someone you know, as a vehicle to help supply our needs this upcoming year. If you have any questions please contact our office at 419-310-6249 and we will try to answer any questions you have to the best of our ability.
Thank you and God Bless,
Jason DeZurik
President and CEO
Philippians 1:21
P.S. A good friend of mine says, “When God supplies a vision He supplies the provision.” We are excited to see how God works in and through you and us to equip students to impact this generation for Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord!
I’ve often heard the question asked, usually to a pastor: “Which version of the Bible is the best?” One pastor I know always said this as his answer: “The one you will read.”
There are lots of ways to interpret the Bible – just ask anyone who’s seen more than one English translation. Given the selection of tens if not hundreds of different English Bibles, obviously there are many interpretations. So which one is right?
In reality, we don’t have the exact, authentic Scriptures that were first written down. People make mistakes, even people who are copying the Scriptures. We think that the Greek and Hebrew texts we have today are pretty close, but we have no way of knowing for sure, since we have no original autographs of Scripture. Scholars have determined that as far as they can tell, the Greek and Hebrew texts we have are pretty close to being original, and we need to take it on faith that they are what God wants us to use.
It can be quite difficult to accurately interpret a particular passage in the Bible, since there are so many unknowns for us today about the original audience and intention of the text. But, we can put forth a very good effort at accurate interpretation if we are willing to do some legwork in learning how to interpret the Bible. I will try and teach you what not to do and what to do.
The way we should never interpret Scripture is by doing what’s called eisegesis. Eisegesis is a fancy word for saying that we put our own meaning into Scripture (‘eise’ meaning ‘into’). We all read Scripture with some sort of bias, just because we are human beings. We all have a particular worldview through which we see the world, including the Bible. The difficult part is not to let our own individual worldview affect our interpretation of Scripture. Any time we apply our own culture to the Biblical text, we are doing eisegesis. Any time we read Scripture and make it mean what we want it to mean, we are doing eisegesis. Any time we pull a phrase or verse out of its context in the Bible, we are doing eisegesis. All of these things lead to inaccurate interpretation.
Instead of eisegesis, we should be doing exegesis. Exegesis is getting the meaning out of Scripture (‘exe’ meaning ‘out of’). When we do proper exegesis, our own individual worldview and thoughts do not affect the meaning of what is written in the text. This is much more difficult than it sounds, because we interpret everything in our world through that lens of our worldview.
To help us out with exegesis, there is a process called hermeneutics. Hermeneutics teaches us how to interpret the Bible in context. There are 4 key questions to ask when practicing hermeneutics:
1. What did the text mean to the Biblical audience?
2. What are the differences between the Biblical audience and us?
3. What is the theological principle in the text?
4. How should Christians today apply the theological principle to our lives?
Step 1 in the hermeneutical process is to determine what the text meant to the Biblical audience. This can be difficult because we may not know much about the people the text was originally written for or what its purpose was. But, here is where context can be very helpful. Look at the passages before and after the text you are studying. Look at the whole chapter of that passage. Look at the entire book of the Bible, and even the Bible as a whole. See where this passage fits into all of these contexts. If we look at the author of that particular Biblical book it may give us a clue as to why that passage is there.
We can also do research with sources outside the Bible to aide us in this step. Biblical dictionaries and commentaries are a great source of this information. Study Bibles also usually provide some insight. But, keep in mind that all of these resources are someone else’s interpretation – and they may or may not have interpreted the passage accurately.
Next in step 2 we need to determine the differences between the Biblical audience and us. Some things to consider are whether the audience was before or after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Consider whether the audience was Jews or Gentiles (non-Jews). Consider the place where they lived and the culture they lived in.
It can also be useful in this step to determine the similarities we share with the Biblical audience. For example, all people in all times and places are sinful and in need of a Savior. Consider cultural similarities that may exist.
When we have determined all of these things to the best of our ability, we can move on to discovering the theological principle in the text. The theological principle is a timeless truth that applied to the Biblical audience and still applies to us today. It is not something that applies to both their culture then and our culture now. The theological principle is the main idea in the passage. Be careful that you are not using your own worldview or what you want the passage to mean. Instead, we must look at the text itself to determine this principle. If you cannot read the original Hebrew or Greek, compare various English translations to get a better feel for what the passage is meant to say.
Finally, once we have the theological principle, we must determine how to apply it to our lives today. Learning how it applied to the Biblical audience may help us with this, depending on how similar or different we are to them. Again here it is important to look at the text as objectively as possible. Do not read into the text what you want it to mean or how you would like to apply it (eisegesis), but rather glean the meaning and application out of the text (exegesis). So many people want to jump right to this step while skipping the other three, which definitely leads to eisegesis.
This process of hermeneutics can help us to exegete the meaning of the text as accurately as possible. It takes some effort to accomplish, but the result of having a correct translation of a Biblical passage is priceless.
For more study on this topic, please listen to these links from Do Not Keep Silent:
Hour 1 & Hour 2
While on solitude at an amazing place in Amish country in Ohio a Jehovah’s Witness stopped by.
To be bluntly honest, at first I was really annoyed and told God, “Are you kidding me? Here I am trying to spend some time with you and this annoying Jehovah’s Witness shows up at the door.”
Just as I was about to finish the conversation with the Jehovah’s Witness, the conviction came. I heard in my spirit, “She is made in my image and I love her.” OUCH! I felt so small and selfish at that moment and invited her in to take a look at the place. She only came in to the door way but she was in the house.
After some pleasantries about the place I just came out and asked her, “So what do you think about Jesus?” She went on to say how He was the Son of God and was with Jehovah at the beginning of time, among a few others. I asked what her name was and she said, “Amy.”
I asked her, “Amy, is He God?”
She said, “You mean Jehovah?”
I asked, Are Jesus and Jehovah the same being?
She replied, “Well, no. They are separate.”
I took her through John 1:1-3, John 14:6 and 7. I also showed her how Jesus received worship from Thomas after His resurrection where Thomas exclaims, “My Lord and my God.”
She wasn’t buying it but I must admit I could see her wheels spinning a bit and I began to get a little prideful. Then I heard in my spirit again, “This is not a game. I created her in my image. I love her. Show her My Glory.” At that moment I realized that I was moving toward trying to take the glory from God and confessed it to God quickly.
She said, “This is too much of an argument I need to go.”
I said, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to argue. Besides, I’m just asking questions.” She stayed.
I then took her to Revelation21:6 in her Jehovah’s Witness bible (It is called The New World Translation).
It says something about Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. So I asked her, “Who is that?
She said, “Jehovah God.”
Then I took her to Revelation 22:13. It says something to the effect, I am Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and The End.
I had her read it and then asked, “Who is that?”
She said, “Well, that’s Jehovah.”
I then took her to Revelation 1:8 in her bible and asked her who is saying “I am Alpha and Omega?”
She said, “That’s Jehovah.”
I then took her to Revelation 1:17b – 18 and asked, “Who is this speaking of?”
She read it and said, “Well, that’s speaking of Jehovah too.”
In this text it speaks of the First and Last having died and that now He is alive.
I asked her, “When did Jehovah die?” She looked again and said, “Well, we read that differently. It is Jehovah but it is clearly Jesus too.
(Silence, Silence, Silence)
“Well, we just disagree.” she said.
I encouraged her to keep studying and let truth take her where it may.
She said, “Well, I better get going.” I asked her, “Can we pray together before you leave?”
She paused and then said, “No, it’s clear that we pray to different gods so I better not.”
I encouraged her to keep seeking truth and to study. I sensed that she had some major qualities as a leader and encouraged her to use those talents while still searching for truth. We then said goodbye and she left.
Looking back on this conversation I should have done the following differently: When she said, “No” to praying together I should have said something like this, “Well, how about we pray to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob then? Let’s pray to the Creator of the universe and ask Him to reveal His truth to each of us so our relationship with Him grows.”
But I didn’t. Maybe next time.
I hope this has encouraged you to learn and stand up for your faith in the real Jesus Christ. I also hope this has helped you see that we are in a spiritual battle that is not against people who believe misinformation and wrong teachings. We are against the Father of Lies: Satan.
Ephesians 6:12 - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Please listen to the two podcasts we will be releasing this week on the subject of witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses and equip yourself for the real struggle.
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
Freedom:
It’s a God-given right for all humans to have freedom. Depending on how you view the issue, freedom could be curse or a blessing.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were given a free will. They had total freedom to do whatever they wanted. They even had freedom to go against God and His good and right ways. God understands true love. If He had created them to have no choice but to do His will, He would have been nothing but a God of tyranny. However, in His infinite wisdom, He allowed them to choose whether they would love Him or not. They chose to defy Him. As a result, the human race today suffers the consequence of physical, mental, and spiritual death, a product of their sin and ours.
God wants us to love Him freely and on our own accord. We have the choice of following Him or not. I once heard a pastor say, “God is a gentleman. He will not force Himself on you. He will wait patiently for you to turn to Him.” There is such truth in that statement.
I believe we are living in a crucial time in the United States. In my opinion, many people want to return to a slave-like state, much like the Israelites wanted to return to slavery in Egypt after escaping it for the Promised Land. Many of them were hungry and uncomfortable. They believed that living in Egypt as a slave with a full belly and some shelter was better than living in the desert, not knowing where they were going to stay for the night, let alone what they were going to eat the next day. But they were free. Some wanted to trade in that freedom for the security of being under very cruel slave masters who not only would tell them what to do for the day, but would punish them if they did not obey or did a poor job.
In a nut shell, they trusted and respected humans more than God. More than the God of the Universe that created everything. More than the God who could and would supply their needs every day if they only trusted Him. Even if they didn’t trust Him, He still supplied their needs.
The same principle is true for you: Even if you don’t trust or obey God, He still supplies your needs. Consider these examples of His provision:
- You have air to breathe.
- You are able to read this right now.
- Have you eaten in the last three days?
- Have you eaten today?
- How about the clothes you are wearing?
These are just a few needs that He provides, not to mention all the wants with which He also blesses you.
Some of you might be wondering what I meant earlier when I said that we are moving to a slave-like state. (I would say some of you are already there and may not even know it.) Here are just a few examples of how we place ourselves into a form of slavery:
- Living outside of your means and going into debt because you want to have something to please your flesh.
- Being forced by the federal government to pay for programs and things with which we disagree. (I’m not simply talking about the current administration either. We were slowly numbed into this state of slavery under the guise of its being good.)
- Not taking responsibility for our own actions and putting our integrity into question. Some of us have blasted our integrity so badly that even non-Christians don’t believe our testimony anymore. For some of us, our witness is giving God a bad name, and it needs to stop.
There is hope though! Start living for Christ today. You have the freedom to make today a new day! That is how much God loves you. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are a new creation in Christ, and it is time to start living a new life. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, we read, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
As Christ followers, we need to embrace this text and not only believe it to be true, but actually put our faith into action. If you are stuck in bondage and have chains of debt, insecurity, or doubt wrapped around you, seek the Holy Spirit. He will direct you, but you must be willing to obey His guidance. I also encourage you to find a brother or sister in Christ with whom you can share your praises and struggles. Find someone that you both trust and respect in the Lord.
Remember: God is God. We are not. People will usually let you down, but God is always faithful. Lean on Him and His wisdom. Choose today to love and follow Him.
Have you thanked the Lord lately for His many blessings? Maybe it’s time for you to repent, stop being selfish, and give thanks for His provision and your freedom in Christ.
For further study, read the account of the Israelites and their doubt of God’s provision in Exodus 16:1 – 17:7.
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.
