Parents, Make Christianity Big—EPIC
I don’t have a teenager, but here is the greatest advice in shepherding them to love and follow Jesus for life. Don’t worry the advice didn’t originate with me, but when I read it a few years ago my jaw dropped to the ground. I actually saw there was hope that a rebellious teen son or daughter could be rescued. There was a strategy that could help my young daughters stay on the right path through High School. And this famous advice was not even in a parenting book, actually the author was talking about a totally different subject.
The advice happened to come from my favorite author, Donald Miller, in his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.
In the book, he told of his friend sharing how that the friend’s teenage daughter was headed down the wrong road. She was starting to date the wrong kind of boy. She was getting in trouble. She was being a pain at home. She was on the wrong path. The father lamented about his daughter who had gotten involved in a Gothic lifestyle and was dating a guy who was bad news. As a frustrated dad, his technique for dealing with the situation was to yell at her and make her go to church. When he came to Don for advice, Don told him, “I think what your daughter is doing is choosing a better story.”
The father thought about the story his daughter was living and the role she was playing inside that story. He realized he hadn’t provided a better role for his daughter. He hadn’t mapped out a story for his family. And so, his daughter had chosen another story, a story in which she was wanted, even if she was only being used. In the absence of a family story, she’d chosen a story in which there was risk and adventure, rebellion and independence.
Donald continued, “We’re all designed to live inside a story. Your daughter was designed to play a role in a story. In the story she has chosen, there is risk, adventure, and pleasure. She is wanted and she is desired. In your story, she’s yelled at, she feels guilty, and she feels unwanted. She’s just choosing a story that is better than the one you’re providing. Plus, in the midst of placing her in an awful story, you make her go to church. So, you’re associating a bad, boring story with God, who has a great story. Don’t do that anymore. You have to tell a better story.”
The dad became inspired and within a week he had made contact with a small village in Mexico that needed an orphanage. The orphanage was going to cost about $20,000, so he proposed to the family that they raise the money. He painted the picture for them: “Here’s the deal, you guys. I found this village in Mexico that needs an orphanage. Awful things may happen to these kids if they don’t have a place to go, so I think we need to build this orphanage as a family. It’s going to cost over $20,000, and I know we don’t have any money, but we need to do it within two years.”
He brought out a whiteboard and asked his family—who all thought he had lost his mind—for ideas. His daughter piped up and said, “I have a MySpace page and lots of friends; maybe we can use that.” His son added, “We’re going to have to go to Mexico because if we’re going to do this, we need to see the village. And we’ll need passports.”
The father changed the game. He gave his daughter a better story. He gave his family a better story. He also made Christianity bigger than just going to church. The family got caught up in the real story with risk and adventure. Within three weeks, the girl had broken up with her boyfriend. She wasn’t asked to do it, she did it on her own. She found a better story, one in which she gets to play the heroine. She gets to sacrifice and give of herself to accomplish something that’s great, and she’s wanted and needed in this story. Her father made Christianity big.
I completely believe this approach works. If you can make Christianity big and real for your children and your teenagers then they will buy in. Maybe not as quick as the daughter in the story, but they will.
When ISIS began to roll through the Middle East, they successfully were able to recruit young girls from western nations to come and be wives of the soldiers. It’s crazy that some American girls even did it. They did it because they were given a big story. Someone is going to give your kids a big story—the world will for sure. Why not make Christianity big to them? Why not make it EPIC?
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Parents, Teaching Your Child Bible Isn’t Hard
You care and want to teach your child the Bible. You want them to know the truth, but coming through is not so easy. And it can be intimidating, but teaching your child Bible isn’t hard as we make it.
In college and seminary, while training for ministry, I initially thought I might be called to family ministry. I took every family, marriage, and children’s ministry class I could. I’m reminded of this anytime my wife and I get in a disagreement. I hear, “Jake, is that what you learned in ALL those marriage classes?”
Along with learning great marriage practices, I don’t always put into practice, I also made lofty plans of all I would do to raise my children up in the Lord. We were going to have family devotionals in the morning and family worship services at night—every night. My children were going to be lil John Pipers. They were going to be able recount the Westminster Catechism, have all the Bible memorized, and be able to explain the Trinity.
Eventually, I had my first born. And it was time to start on the endeavor I had planned several years earlier. It was also time for me to hit—reality. It was not so easy. Not easy to fit in all that Bible teaching to my daughter. And life was busy. Also, newborns aren’t too interested in reading through Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology. I had spurts where I tried, but I was not consistent—my wife was consistent though. Each night she made sure one of us read our sweet Andrea three books, one of which always being the Bible. She would stack two books and a children’s Bible by the rocker. Then she would tell Andrea that not all these books were the same. She would say, “Although the two ‘random’ picture books, might tell a story that could be true, they were mostly just stories that had been made up. But the Bible was a special book. Everything it said was true. God guided people to write it.”
Every night. Three books, maybe a fourth. Always that children’s Bible. Always a comment about the specialness of the Bible. Always reassurance of the Bible pertaining truth. Always a reminder the Bible came from God.
I wish I knew exactly how many times we have been through that one hundred story children’s Bible. It’s close to twenty times. In future posts, I want to share the benefits I have found through this system with children receiving a foundation of the Old Testament. A foundation of the Bible stories themselves. And especially hearing them in chronological order.
Although, I have not even scratched the surface in accomplishing my lofty goals, I made for my future family while in seminary, the Scriptural foundation my daughter has is beyond my wildest dreams. It’s not hard. One brief page a night. One story a night. Consecutively. Chronological. Consistent. Powerful.
If you have young kids start this today. Seriously, 5-10 minutes a night. Make it part of the “night routine”. It’s easy. It’s far easier than we parents make it—just do it.
If you have older kids, then it is more difficult, but once you bridge a way to start, again one passage a night. Then watch God work because–parents, teaching your children the Bible is not as hard as we make it.
If you want more encouragement and help from Stand Firm Kids and Stand Firm Family then sign up to receive the Stand Firm Family Brief bi-monthly email with updates of upcoming projects like the children’s picture book, Jesus and His White Horse, and the parent book, After Grad.
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Parents, Get Caught
But, I want to tell you an act your kids need to catch you doing—your Quiet Time. You getting caught doing your Quiet Time (devotional time, Bible Study, prayer time—whatever you want to call it) and continuing to get caught is the BEST thing you can do for your kids, regardless of their age. Even if your children are grown they need to know you have an active prayer life. I have the times I “caught” my Mom or Dad, praying and/or reading the Bible, burned in my brain. Seeing them do that on their own time beyond just church expressed to me their faith was real. Therefore, it was likely God was real.
Scripture does tell us to go into our “prayer closet” to pray. Our time alone with the Lord is just that, time alone with the Lord. We aren’t to do it for show, but even Jesus got caught getting alone with the Father. If a devotional time is habitual for us, then others are going to pick up on it at some point.
In my time as a youth pastor, one of the testimonies that impacted me the most were two sisters who shared how every morning they woke up and went to the fridge, passing their mother at the table reading her Bible. As they grew older they followed in those footsteps. Reading the Bible each morning wasn’t an awkward thing, but just was part of life for their family. My wife and I decided when we had kids we hoped to create that same dynamic.
Four years ago, my wife and I committed that our Quiet Times would be become the most important things in our lives. The most important item on my pastoral to-do list was to spend time with God. At the time, my wife was a stay-at-home mom, and she decided if the only thing she got done that day was to have her quiet time, it was okay for that mattered most. She also decided that if she had to do it with our kids climbing on her head and running circles around her, she would. And she did!
Our kids now know the first thing we do in the morning is our quiet time. I’m going to be in my home office with headphones on my head, armed with my prayer journal, Bible, and a devotional book. My wife is going to be in the living room or on the deck with her prayer journal, Bible, and devotional book. Most mornings they don’t get up in time to catch us, but there are those when they do. My oldest may pull up a chair next to me and borrow one of my ear buds as I write out my morning prayer. My youngest may crawl in the lap of my wife as she reads Streams in the Desert. They also hear us “report” on what we learn or “hear” in our quiet times. They know our filled prayer journals are sacred, holding guidance God has given our family.
They have caught us over and over again. I’m so glad we were doing it because we got caught. They know we have an active prayer life. They see it just as part of life.
So, much so, my oldest asked for a “prayer journal” for Christmas and has started her own morning quiet time.
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We’ll Know More Monday – Part 2
“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.” (Mark 11:24-25, NASB)
The first gift came in the initial report – while I still faced surgery, the benign biopsy elevated my hope. Second, the shortened wait relieved the part of me still vulnerable to stress and worry. Third, I am in complete awe that a “chance” encounter with my brother on a weekend led to a personal call two days prior to my follow-up appointment. The details of that chance encounter – incredible as they are – reduce to this: I received a personal call – not from my primary physician, but a specialist – on a Saturday from my brother’s phone. How does that happen except by the love of God through a caring doctor?
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We’ll Know More Monday – Part 1
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Be Careful Studying the Bible, You Could Be Deceived
Ok, ok, I admit I’m about to contradict myself and I say that to head-off the negative comments, the subject elicits enough of its own. In my last post, I argued that the reason end-time prophecy has been made complicated is because almost everyone comes to the biblical text with an end-time view before they have actually read the end-time prophecies themselves. Therefore, rather than our end-time view coming from Scripture, we read a view into Scripture. These ideas we bring to the Sacred Text are called presuppositions. And I spent close to a thousand words (which was way more than you wanted to read) in that post urging you to put yourself in theological neutral when you come to the Bible, throwing off all your preconceived views and read the Bible and let it shape your view.
But now in the first post of my follow-up series, The Endtime Views Series, I’m going to argue that there is a presupposition we all MUST take to the text. I realize the contradiction—throw off presuppositions last week and a presupposition is necessary this week.
But this presupposition that you must have guards against other presuppositions that are dangerous.
And what is this must have presupposition?
The presupposition of deception.
When we come to read, interpret, and understand the Bible we MUST know that the Bible warns that we haven an enemy whose number one tool is deception and that we are susceptive to that deception (1 Peter 5:8, John 10:10, John 8:44, Eph. 6:11-12, 2 Cor. 2:11). Not only are we warned that our enemy deceives, but we are warned that we will gravitate to teachings that allows us to carry out our own evil desires (2 Tim. 4:3-4). We’re also warned that our hearts can be fickle (Jer. 17:9), and that we struggle to give ourselves trustworthy self-assessments (James 1:23). And on top of all that every New Testament book, but Philemon warns of false teachers (1 Tim 4:1-4).
So, let’s think through this.
The last book in the New Testament was finished no more than sixty years after Jesus ascended into Heaven. The majority of the Epistles which tell the recipients that they have already been bewitched or led astray were only thirty years removed from Jesus’ return to the Father. Those first Christians only thirty to forty years away from the start of this Movement were warned they had been and could be deceived, they would gravitate to false teaching, and there would be false teachers.
Therefore, now nearly two-thousand years later, we’re in a mess. Satan and demonic
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vermin have had six-hundred times the amount of time they had to bewitch the believers of Galatia and Thyatira. We’ve had two-thousand years to bend and mold Scripture to fit our own desires. And in two-thousand years the false teaching profession has masterfully grown. We’re drowning in deception and each day new schemes are created. And if I make it sound bleak—it’s because it is. And it’s with the weight of this bleakness in which we should come to the Text. We should know that we’re a boat on the sea that can be easily tossed by the waves and pulled by the undertows. We need to know that EVERY pastor, scholar, teacher, professor, commentary writer, author, and advice-giving friend is also susceptible of being deceived.
When we see our enemy is scheming, doctrinal booby traps have been set, and we need Holy Spirit-provided armor then we are set to more accurately read and interpret the Bible. It is in the sweating that we may understand the Bible wrong that we can begin to accurately divide the Word. It is at this point that we have developed the presupposition of deception and we know to be careful studying the Bible—you could be deceived.
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Bonus: Helpful Hints to Utilize the Presupposition of Deception
So…now what? For one, don’t be too afraid to read and study the Bible, but we must respect that we are at war in finding the truth. But we can know the truth. We have been given the Holy Spirit to illuminate and guide us. We’ve also been given solid hermeneutical practices. I want to share a few things that I utilize to try to work through the deception.
- Read the Bible – Yes, it’s that simple, read what the Bible says. Meditate on what it says. Go beyond just isolated verses and read the context and the whole council. Don’t just take someone’s word for it, read it for yourself and again read in context.
- Seek God Holistically and Balanced – I know this sounds crazy but believe it or not many try to read and study the Bible without seeking any other spiritual growth or by the same token they do spiritual practices without reading the Word. In Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul tells us to fight Satan’s attacks by putting on the full armor of God. He doesn’t just tell us to read the Bible or just share the Gospel. We’re to equally cover our life in all aspects of following Christ.
- Walk in the Spirit – This goes with the previous point, but make sure you have a regular time with God. A quiet time, devotional, or whatever you wanna call it. Regularly seek Him.
- Interpret Scripture with Scripture – This is a hermeneutical principle and there are other like principles I could list, but I don’t share this as a principle but as a reminder that you have to not just read the parts of the Bible you want to read. If we’re to interpret Scripture with Scripture then we have to read the whole council of God’s Word. For example, it was not until I immersed myself in the Old Testament that end-time prophecy came alive. And the whole council of Scripture also points us to understanding the reasoning and purpose of certain aspects like Samuel Whitefield has written about in his new book, It Must Be Finished.
- Keep Assessing Yourself – No matter how spiritual we may think we are, we still will always gravitate to teachings that allow us to live out our desires or take the path of least resistance. We must constantly be peering into our own hearts and asking if our interpretation is self-serving or the truth. And self-serving can also extend to preserving our status in our own churches and denominations.
- Go Back to the Beginning and the Restarts – Yes, we need to read and work through Scripture ourselves, but we will have to turn for help. We must “check” our work with trusted sources. There are tons of sources to turn to—commentaries, books, sermons, and preachers both past and present. I always check my work with the beginning of Christianity by returning to the Church Fathers especially the earliest ones. Does this mean they are right on everything—NO! But I believe they have the greatest opportunity to have a less tarnished interpretation. Next, I go to the various restarts, reforms, and revivals in Christian history to see what was sought to be corrected. Of course, the largest volume of these would be the Reformers. Again, they weren’t right on everything. But not just the reformers, there have been many times throughout history when there has been an attempt to hit reset on a doctrine or practice. A recent example is over the last ten to fifteen years, as Joel Richardson has brought to the forefront the understanding that the final empire of Daniel 2 could be the Islamic Caliphate rather than the Roman Empire. Richardson’s view is new, but it calls us back to reexamine the text. When a practice or doctrine is reviewed by returning us to the Bible that is a restart we should consider.
Also join our newsletter. Twice a month get a load of tools to help you prepare for challenges now and in the future. Register here.
Jake McCandless is an award-winning author and the executive director for Stand Firm Ministries and Prophecy Simplified . A long-time pastor who is now co-pastor of the innovatve “above-ground underground,” online church, Endtime.Church., Jake has a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Studies from Central Baptist College, and an Advanced Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His latest book Spiritual Prepper released through WND Books, He also is a regular contributor to WND News with voices such as Joseph Farrah, Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Ben Carson, Chuck Norris, Joel Richardson, Carl Gallups. He also writes for the The Baptist Press along with other publications. He is also a regular guest on national radio and streaming web shows, along with hosting his daily radio program Prophecy Simplified Radio and weekly podcast Hold On. Jake is married to Amanda and they have two daughters Andrea and Addison. You can follow all Jake’s work at www.jakemccandless.com. Read more...
Declaration Series IV: Bible Prophecy Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated, Read It
I advertise I want to be the boring prophecy guy. I know I need some marketing tips—you know anyone? And I learned really quick, prophecy-intrigued audiences don’t want the boring prophecy guy, they want the great-code-breaker or the wild conspiracist. But I have kept the tagline because there is not an end-time code to break (even if there are thirty books in Amazon’s prophecy Top 100 with that in the title). Now there are some mysteries, but not as many as we make it out to be. I’m convinced Bible prophecy doesn’t have to be as complicated as we make it.
I want to be the boring prophecy guy because the Bible is clear on many aspects of the end-times, and those things are what we should focus on and they’re enough to understand what we need to understand. Bible prophecy is not complicated rather we are the ones who have muddied the prophecy interpretation waters, God’s Word has not failed. Bible scholars before us have created systems or views of prophecy interpretation and we now adopt one of those views before we read. We then read with those presuppositions which often creates great complications. That is why we’re so confused.
It wasn’t until I placed my heart and mind in theological-neutral and actually read the words of the prophets and Revelation that the chaos vanished, and truth rose to the surface. It was a painstaking journey through the Old Testament that brought the end of the age to focus. And this journey was after college and seminary. So, I acknowledge, such study is work, but, frankly, I found I hadn’t read and truly worked through the texts myself. And this arrival at actually just reading the texts and trying to push my presupposition aside was only a few years ago. I want to share my journey of end-time understanding to draw attention to the fact that we are setting our minds on an end-time view before even reading Scripture.
Long before I even read the “main” end-time verses, my mind was set on how they should be interpreted. Long before I read about the end-times, I had read and watched the Left Behind series. I had watched A Thief in the Night. I listened to DC Talk. The only sense of the end-time scenario I had was a pending, quick as lightning, neatly-folded-clothes rapture.
I went into Bible College with this view while the only verse in Revelation I had really read was Revelation 3:15-16 (which again was prompted by DC Talk). In the summer, after my freshman year, before I had any teaching on the end of the age, I picked up a book on Revelation from my local Christian book store. I actually knew nothing of the author nor his view, but as a passionate youth pastor, I spent the summer teaching through that book. A book , that I now know, only contained proof texts.
Finally, in my sophomore year I had Eschatology and was taught premillennial dispensationalism was the one and only way in which The Book of Revelation could be interpreted. Therefore, I chose my stance I was a Clarence-Larkin-chart-memorizing Dispensational Premillennialist, hard and firm, that the rapture would be before the tribulation. I read nothing from opposing views, rather swore them off as evil.
Fast forward to seminary, my first semester Systematic Theology class further persuaded me to be a staunch dispensationalist. But as I progressed in my studies and began to take on the air of a scholar—I came to believe that premillies were hoaky and uneducated, and for one to truly be a scholar than he or she must be an amillennialist. Reluctant, to take the amillennial title, I just quit teaching and talking about end-times stuff—rather I became just focused on the Gospel. I took on a more-worthy cause because (I hope you read this with the sarcastic tone I’m typing in) the end-times is only peripheral to the Gospel, Missions, and Church planting.
Then came fourth-year summer term course on The Book of Revelation. That professor was a real scholar (again that tone), he taught that The Book of Revelation was just a spiritual metaphor to the completion of suffering. I now had my ammo to take on the banner of an amillie. And to sound even cooler, I was an amillennialist who viewed The Book of Revelation through an eclectic interpretation. Some literal. Most spiritual and metaphorical. It depended on which commentator sounded the best.
Let’s fast forward a few more years, I was pastoring and had realized (following my Hebrew grades) I was not a scholar. And my tree-stand readings had been from David Jeremiah, so again I came over to the premill camp, but I wasn’t sure about dispensationalism. As you can see I’ve had quite the end-time view journey, but this latest chapter of the journey has brought me to a point of stability.
If you agree with Jake that Bible prophecy should lead to action. Then get his latest book, Spiritual Prepper.
Three years ago, I taught an Old Testament Survey course at a lay seminary. And it was through that painstaking study through the Old Testament focused on the covenants, that I finally dug in and read Scripture. Now I had read the Bible cover to cover, but never dug in and really focused on books like the Minor Prophets. That grind through the Bible with presuppositions thrown to the side woke me up. It woke me up to the importance of end-times prophecy and how that it was not as complicated as we make it.
A month ago, I celebrated my twentieth year in ministry. And I now realize I spent the first seventeen years treating end-time views like a pizza buffet. I would look at the options—premillennialism, postmillennialism, or amillennialism and then pick the one that sounded best. Pretribulation, mid-tribulation, pre-wrath, or post-tribulation—again which ever looked best. Futurism, preterism, or symbolism—again whatever flavor I felt like picking.
We can’t do this! End-time views or theological views of any kind aren’t slices of pizza on a buffet. Rather, they need to be birthed from the text. Scripture itself is to lend us the view we should take. And a straight forward reading of the Bible makes the selecting of views quite easy.
So, how have you come to your end-time view? Was it selected off a buffet or birthed from the text? Was it concluded from reading the Bible or through recommendation of a friend? Have you put in the hard work and actually read the Bible?
The issue is too important to just pick a view especially if you are teaching and leading others.
Also join our newsletter. Twice a month get a load of tools to help you prepare for challenges now and in the future. Register here.
Jake McCandless is an award-winning author and the executive director for Stand Firm Ministries and Prophecy Simplified . A long-time pastor who is now co-pastor of the innovatve “above-ground underground,” online church, Endtime.Church., Jake has a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Studies from Central Baptist College, and an Advanced Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His latest book Spiritual Prepper released through WND Books, He also is a regular contributor to WND News with voices such as Joseph Farrah, Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Ben Carson, Chuck Norris, Joel Richardson, Carl Gallups. He also writes for the The Baptist Press along with other publications. He is also a regular guest on national radio and streaming web shows, along with hosting his daily radio program Prophecy Simplified Radio and weekly podcast Hold On. Jake is married to Amanda and they have two daughters Andrea and Addison. You can follow all Jake’s work at www.jakemccandless.com. Read more...
Whatever You Do, Don’t Let Go
“Whatever you do, don’t let go,” my cousin, Judy, turned and called back to me. “Grab two fists full of mane, grip hard, and hold on.”
“But I can’t swim,” I shrieked, wide eyes staring at her back.
“Don’t worry, I can. If anything happens, I’ll dive in and save you,” she said. Splashing drowned out her voice when, as she nudged her horse, the two plunged into the pond to escape the summer heat. The pair swam to the deep end with little more than heads above water.
Fearless teenagers – as least that described Judy. Me? Umm, not so much.
I hesitated in doubt as fear washed over me, even though I trusted Judy and knew she swam well. In that moment, I faced a choice – dive all in, or turn away. Should I accept her invitation while uncertain of the water, or be left behind and miss the moment?
Sometimes being faithful to the Lord can feel this way. We’re riding along comfortably in our Christian walk, and suddenly we’re facing a situation when fear and doubt wash over us.
Remember Peter? I love Peter. He climbed out of the boat and walked toward Jesus in the middle of raging winds and waves. Seeing someone walking on the water in the middle of the sea, the disciples cried out in fear assuming Jesus was a ghost. What did Jesus say? He said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:27, NIV).
I love that, don’t you? Don’t be afraid.
Peter then calls to Jesus, “Lord, if it’s you…tell me to come to you on the water.” (Matt 14:28) When Jesus told Peter to come, Peter just bailed right out of the boat.
Considering his impulsive nature, I imagine Peter climbing overboard without thought or hesitation. Though his faith weakened in his doubt, he chose to leave the boat and seek Jesus. Peter didn’t miss the moment, he seized it. When his fear of the wind and waves threatened to drown him, he doubted and began to sink. Then what did he do? He called out for Jesus. Jesus reached out and grabbed Peter to keep him from drowning. (Matthew 14:23-33).
Is there any doubt Peter held firm to the saving grasp of Jesus? Wouldn’t you?
Do you?
Do you believe what you know about the Lord? Do you trust Him? Do you truly believe He will dive in and lift you out of the murky water when you slip, fall or even sink?
Will you tighten your grip and hold on or will you turn and walk away? When God extends an invitation, will you dive all in, or will you miss the moment? Will you allow logic, circumstances, or uncertainty hold you back? Or will you dive in head first, hold tight, and swim with all our might?
Don’t say it.
Don’t say, “Yeah, but…” I already hear you.
“Yeah, but you don’t know my circumstances.”
True. But I know God. I know He will never leave you nor forsake you. Nothing surprises God because He already knows. Remember the story of Job? God knew all Job would endure in advance. In fact, God allowed it and even limited Satan’s attacks on this “perfect and upright man.” (Job 1:1-12, NIV)
That day on my favorite horse, I decided to follow my cousin’s lead. Taking a deep breath, I put on a brave face, grabbed two fists full of mane, and gigged my horse in the sides. I gripped my calves tight around the girth as he swam the deep murky waters. Sweat from the saddle we removed only minutes before made gripping around the middle a challenge. I even slipped significantly as my horse lunged up the embankment.
But I made it.
More than that, the experience left me refreshed, revived, and renewed. I prepared for a repeat. No fear. I fully expected to dive back into that pond without a second thought before my uncle stopped us from repeating the pleasure.
Don’t be afraid to dive all in when God calls or extends the invitation to join Him. The experience may leave you refreshed, revived and renewed in your relationship with our Lord.
Please hear my heart. When waters are deep, waves are high, and the raging storms of life threaten to overtake you, find comfort knowing God is aware of your trials long before you face them. Call out to him. Trust him. Remain in Him. Allow Him to carry you safely to the other side. Weather the storm. Tread the water. Allow yourself to be carried into a deeper relationship with the Lord.
Whatever you do…
Don’t. Let. Go.
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Declaration Series III: It’s Not Wrong to Warn about the Future, the Bible Does
If I’m crazy or irrelevant for preaching about future challenges to the faith, then so is Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Ezra, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew, John Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Jude, and even Jesus. They all warned of future challenges and called the people of God to ready themselves to persevere. I would venture to say that those men are good company and good examples to pattern one’s sermon material.
I have to admit, evangelists and itinerant preachers have it much easier in preaching. Pastors, can I get an AMEN? While pastoring, I had to have a different sermon each week and often more than one. At times three different sermons, and at that traditional pace of three sermons a week—that’s over one-hundred and fifty messages a year.
Now that I’m doing the itinerant thing, the most I have to have is five different sermons when I preach a revival. But often I’m preaching the same message over and over again. Now I say this all tongue and check, it’s true pastors have a difficult task of continually to preach new messages, but I don’t think we should ever view it as having “to have” a sermon. Each time we preach should be a message or teaching that the Holy Spirit has led us to share with our congregation.
But it’s a good thing that I only have to have a message or two, because there is one thing I am overwhelmingly burdened to share—believers need to prepare to stand firm for challenges to their faith now and especially those in the future.
Yes, challenges in the future.
Future challenges that are both normative that we could face any day, as well as, those that are prophetic and will one day befall us. But often the response I hear towards preaching on being spiritually prepared for future challenges, is “That’s not the type of thing we talk about our church.” Or “We focus on messages that are relevant to everyone’s life and prophecy doesn’t really fit that.” And “We make sure we have practical messages that the congregation can apply to their life.”
Listen, I’m glad churches have strategies and know the demographics of their congregation. I also know all too well that preaching on prophecy and end-times stuff has been greatly abused–the stigmatism is understandable. I’m also glad messages are intended to be relevant and practical, but as I wrote about in my previous post American Christians aren’t prepared to remain faithful.
Relevancy is not set by the culture or what we are doing tomorrow, rather the reality presented in Scripture shows what is relevant. And leaders of God’s people in history and the Biblical writers have felt that future challenges are relevant and important to their people. So, what has led us to change that precedent?
Moses warned of the challenges the Israelites would face in the land.
The prophets warned of the looming consequences if Israel did not return.
Jesus warned the disciples they would be hated and persecuted.
Paul called the believers in Ephesus to put on the armor of God for the pending attacks of the devil.
Peter called the believers scattered in the diaspora to be alert because challenges were prowling in the shadows.
John relayed the words of Jesus given on the Isle of Patmos, that the believers in the seven churches of Asia needed to be overcomers and hold on until the end.
It’s relevant for eternity and it’s relevant for our souls to hear messages about what lies ahead, even if that keeps us from hearing a relevant message of how to deal with our anger at work that next week.
Even before I became overwhelmed with the message to stand firm, I learned the
Find out what Jake believes we need to be prepared to face, and more encouragement to hold on.
hard way that pastors need to not only equip church members for today, but also prepare them for the future. In my time as a youth pastor, I focused on challenging students to live for Christ that week in their high school and how to date in a God-glorifying manner. Helpful stuff, but they were only in high school for four years, while they’re going to be adulting for the rest of their lives. I should have been preparing them to follow Christ for the long haul.
Believer please look past what you practically need right now and utilize the Word to prepare yourself for future trials. Pastor, small group leader, or Bible Study teacher, yes, your people need practical application, but that application also needs to extend to future challenges. It’s not wrong to warn about the future, the Bible does.
Also join our newsletter. Twice a month get a load of tools to help you prepare for challenges now and in the future. Register here.
Jake McCandless is an award-winning author and the executive director for Stand Firm Ministries and Prophecy Simplified . A long-time pastor who is now co-pastor of the innovatve “above-ground underground,” online church, Endtime.Church., Jake has a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Studies from Central Baptist College, and an Advanced Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His latest book Spiritual Prepper released through WND Books, He also is a regular contributor to WND News with voices such as Joseph Farrah, Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Ben Carson, Chuck Norris, Joel Richardson, Carl Gallups. He also writes for the The Baptist Press along with other publications. He is also a regular guest on national radio and streaming web shows, along with hosting his daily radio program Prophecy Simplified Radio and weekly podcast Hold On. Jake is married to Amanda and they have two daughters Andrea and Addison. You can follow all Jake’s work at www.jakemccandless.com.
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Declaration of War II: Churches Are Not Prepared, I Want to Help
I know it’s a strong picture and title for a pastor to use. Especially, when he’s not talking about physically picking up arms, but rather fighting a war of ideals. I believe the strong language of this blog series and the force of the war imagery is necessary because this battle carries weighty resonating consequences. As I wrote, in the first article of this declaration of war series, many American Christians have left the church and the faith. The number one reason being the result a difficult trial arising in their lives. When this happens, we’ll rarely step up and hold on, more often than not we’re going to split.
Statistics and experience show we’re not anywhere close to standing firm now in this present time in history, so how will we ever stand if there’s even greater tribulation—and there will be. And by greater tribulation, I’m not even talking about the coming time when the Antichrist and his ghoulish army march through the world chopping heads off those who don’t bow to his image or take his mark. But that too will happen as foretold in Scripture—and we’re not showing much promise that we’ll stand in that scenario.
Rather, I’m talking about national trials that could occur at anytime such as an economic downturn like the Great Depression, heck, just another 2008-like recession. I’m talking about the continual growth in access to immorality that web designers are busy preparing for us right now. I’m talking about restrictions on religious liberty as seen across the world. It doesn’t appear we’re ready for the coming challenges to our faith. Again, we probably weren’t ready for what we faced this morning or last night. We’re not ready for the loss of a loved one, a loss of a job, going broke, a friend stabbing us in the back, a disagreement at church, the seductive glance in the office, and the list goes on. We’ve been lulled asleep with the ideas that Christianity brings financial prosperity and its just all about making a positive difference.
We’re not prepared.
Believers across this nation are not prepared.
I have this strange life where I get to pastor a church and attend a church. I’ve got this dual membership thing going (if that really is a thing). I love the church I attend. It’s a magnificent church. Truth is proclaimed, people are baptized every week, we’re making a huge impact in our city, and a huge impact around the globe. Seriously, its one of the greatest churches in the nation. My pastor even preaches on end-time stuff and about the reality of the world around us. He has his finger on the pulse of the times and the culture.
Even being such a strong church, I sat in the morning worship service a few weeks back and peered around at the three thousand gathered. They were hearing the Word proclaimed, but as I looked a phrase came across my heart Those words were, “They are sheep headed to slaughter.” Although many around me are faithfully attending church, hearing the Word taught accurately and boldly, and going through one of the best discipleship programs in the nation—they’re still not prepared. They’re not ready to have their faith survive coming challenges. Heck, I don’t even know if I’m prepared—and I wrote a book about being prepared for such challenges.
In my book, Spiritual Prepper, I begin with a story of a father facing ISIS soldiers who were asking if he really was a Christian, a follower of the Nazarene. This father knew that if he said yes, then not only would he probably be killed, but his family—his wife and children–could be harmed even killed. And in that opening chapter, I boldly stated the Biblical truth that even if his daughters were sold to be child-sex slaves and his sons were beheaded, the Father would make the right choice by not denying Christ and holding on to his faith. Yes, I said that. And yes, it’s the absolute truth given in Scripture. Our confidence should be in God not in our own clever ways.
So, I wrote that and just the other day, I was stingingly reminded of what I had written. I was throwing myself a pity-party over not being able to provide certain things for my kiddos because at sixteen I made this crazy commitment to vocational ministry. And then I even veered off the less-than-lucrative path of pastoring to launch my own non-profit. This made even worse in that I might just be the world’s worst fundraiser. (Here’s a DONATE BUTTON by-the-way).
Yeah, so, I was whinning before the Lord, and then came that cut-you-to-the-bone chastisement from Him. “Jake, you wrote and encouraged people to remain faithful even to the point of their own child being beheaded, and now here you are wavering in your faith because your kids may never go to Disney Land.” Ouch. Hashtag ‘Murica by-the-way.
I really doubt I’m prepared. It’s highly likely you are not prepared. It’s more than likely your church is not prepared.
And I know the objections. First, I do know there are those of believers who would rise and remain faithful when things hit the fan, but I believe they could be even better prepared—I know I could be. Second, I imagine you’re thinking that every week we’re preparing our people or getting prepared by the preaching of the Word and from Bible studies, but with statistics what they are of people leaving the church and faith, we have to admit that might not be doing the trick–we’re not prepared for the wimpy challenges Monday mornings pose.
I admit as a pastor I failed in preparing my congregation, even now I’m wrestling with what to do and how to better ready my people, but I do know this–we have to be intentional. We have to talk about it. We have to have the hard discussions.
Pastor, do it! Sunday School teacher share it! And I’d also love to come and share it as well.
Also join our newsletter. Twice a month get a load of tools to help you hold on and fight this war, too. Register here.
Jake McCandless is an award-winning author and the executive director for Stand Firm Ministries and Prophecy Simplified . A long-time pastor who is now co-pastor of the innovatve “above-ground underground,” online church, Endtime.Church., Jake has a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Studies from Central Baptist College, and an Advanced Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His latest book Spiritual Prepper released through WND Books, He also is a regular contributor to WND News with voices such as Joseph Farrah, Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Ben Carson, Chuck Norris, Joel Richardson, Carl Gallups. He also writes for the The Baptist Press along with other publications. He is also a regular guest on national radio and streaming web shows, along with hosting his daily radio program Prophecy Simplified Radio and weekly podcast Hold On. Jake is married to Amanda and they have two daughters Andrea and Addison. You can follow all Jake’s work at www.jakemccandless.com. Read more...