"The Difference Between Fear and Faith"

What’s the difference between fear and faith?  It all depends.  Let me share with you what I mean by looking at John’s first encounter with Jesus in Revelation 1.

The first encounter John has with the risen Lord Jesus begins, “And when I (John) saw Him (Jesus) I fell at His feet as dead.  And He laid His hand upon me, saying unto me, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last.  I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.’” (Revelation 1: 17-18.)

I don’t think we can fault John for falling down at the vision of the Resurrected Lord Jesus… who wouldn’t fall and become afraid? But Jesus’ words to John are very revealing about dealing with our fear.   Jesus reminds John of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.  Jesus is the one who lived, died and now is living the resurrected life.  He has all power and authority.  It's like Jesus is saying, "Don't be afraid, John.  Remember Who I am and what I have done for you."  So how does focusing on who Jesus is and what He has done for us help overcome fear and anxiety?

Fear is rooted in thinking that contradicts the truth of who Jesus is and what He has said.  Someone has said, “Fear is: false evidence appearing real.”  The doctor’s report is bad, the job prospects look bleak or we are let down by someone close to us.  This doesn’t mean we don’t feel bad things or react to them when they happen.  But in our pain, shock or disappointment, we can’t shift our faith from the truth of Jesus to what the circumstances are trying to say to us.

Do circumstances speak to us?  Oh yes they do.  Circumstances say things to us like: “you are really on your own now, there’s no way you can deal with this, things like this always happen to you”…that’s when fear sets in and the lie takes hold.  When I believe that God has abandoned me, or God doesn’t care about me or that God may care for someone else but not me…I am trusting in a lie and I am allowing the lie to take dominion over my life.  I am trusting these lies even though Jesus is the one who has “the keys of hell and of death.”

Some would say it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere and have faith.  But that just shows we don’t understand faith.  Faith is based on something and someone.  I've heard people say, "I have faith".  When I ask them what their faith is based on I hear crickets most of the time.  They may get frustrated and say, "Well, I just have faith". So I say, "So you are trusting in the fact that you have faith?"  That's like taking the anchor of a ship in the middle of a storm and throwing the anchor on the deck of the ship.  Then we yell at the storm, "I have an anchor and I'm trusting that having an anchor will be good enough." But an anchor is only good when it is attached to something solid.

Faith is trusting in the promise of something or someone.  Our faith is only as good as the promise that our faith is based on...and a promise is only as good as trustworthiness of the person making the promise.  We can believe something sincerely but if that sincere belief is based on a lie or the word of someone untrustworthy...that kind of faith is worthless and can get us into real trouble.

Suppose I am a young boy who has an older brother who is always trying to trick me.  We watch a superman movie together on Netflix and I, wide-eyed and naive, say, “Boy, I’d sure like to fly like that.” That's when my no good older brother smiles with that cat-who-ate-the-canary grin and says, “Well, little bro, you can, you can.  The secret is in the cape.  Just pin a beach towel around your neck, jump out a window and you can fly.”  Like I said, I'm young and still gullible so I believe his word to be true.  I firmly believe that wearing a cape can give me the power to fly…that’s no problem until I act on my faith in the word of my older brother. 

Because, even though I may be very sincere in the belief that wearing the beach towel cape would give me the power to fly.  And if, for some reason, I still believe my ornery older brother can be trusted…I’m pretty sure that my sincere faith would fail me.  Especially if I decided to act on my faith by jumping out a window 20 stories above the pavement.  No matter my sincerity, as I go “splat”, my dying words might be, “I believe I can fly.”   You could put on my tombstone, “He was sincere.”  At any rate, the best I could hope for is that I’d end up on a YouTube epic fail video.

If we have faith in a lie or the word of someone untrustworthy...the reality of the world we live in ultimately brings us the pain that always comes when we rely on a lie that contradicts God's truth.  Because God's truth is given to us for life and out of His unconditional love for us.  God's truth and promises give us something and Someone solid to hold on to through the storms of life.

I have found when I am afraid or feeling anxious, the antidote is refocusing my mind and trust.  Life has ways of throwing things at us unexpectedly.  My wife, Donna and I have saying between us.  We repeat it to remind us whenever something happens that shakes us or causes us to be afraid or anxious.  The saying is: “Nothing has changed.”

Not that what has happened really didn’t happen.  But we are reminding each other that even if these things have happened…these events have not changed who Jesus is and what He has promised us.  It’s like Psalm 23 where it says, “Even though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, You are with me…”  Whatever is happening around us doesn’t change the truth that He is with us.  (Besides, the only reason we are seeing the shadows of death is because He is leading us through the valley.   And who is He…the most loving, powerful One who can handle anything or anyone in the whole valley!)

Living by trusting Him takes us to a whole different level of living that is real.  There are times when I have lived in a fantasy world and then acted surprised when that world fell apart. I thought that by living in union with Jesus I would be protected from the bad stuff.  So I tried to lose my identity in Jesus.  Jesus does not invite us into union with Him but into communion.  He invites us to be partners with Him in communion as we journey through life. 

We have not lost our identity nor have we disappeared as real live persons living in a real world.  And the real world is full of good things but it is also fallen, twisted and full of hurt.  Our communion with Him doesn’t totally make us immune to bad things happening to us.  But it does mean the bad things cannot separate us from Him and His purpose for us.  And the bad things that happen do not determine my destiny He has given me in His work in this world.  Tough times may come but He does not change and He has not abandoned us.

Just some thoughts about fear and faith.  What do you think?

Prayer For the Holidays

Kelly just finished Elijah House 201.  At the graduation, she read this and I asked her for a copy and permision to post it.  Hope it encourages someone.

Sanctuary

I have been having difficulty sleeping for awhile now. I am not sure if it is the pain that seems to be getting worse and worse in my body or if it is the constant battle going on in my mind. My thoughts break against the shore of my heart and mind, over and over again. All that I should have done yesterday, all that I didn’t do good enough today or all that I need to do tomorrow. The waves always coming, flooding my mind, and there is no rest. As I lay there this night, trying and trying to shut it all off, I finally cried out, “Sanctuary, Lord, Sanctuary!” I needed to take refuge in my Strong Tower, I needed peace and He is the only place in which there is any. As soon as the words left my lips, every wave was calmed, all the noise and chaos around my heart and mind was silenced. I entered into His peace, and there I slept through the night. I felt like one who was running tirelessly from the world, someone who was being chased down and hunted, who entered into that safe place and cried out “Sanctuary”. The pursuers had to leave, no longer able to find me, and I could finally rest in His arms. Oh the peace I found in that secret place, a peace that I will carry with me forever. I hope today, no matter what you may be running from, whether it is a person or your very own thoughts, expectations or fears, that you will cry out, “Sanctuary!”, because as soon as you do, you will know the peace that only He can give to your soul.

Kelly Ann Purdy
November 21, 2013

"The Prepper Manual for Jesus Followers"

Have you seen the TV "prepper" reality shows?  Maybe someone you know is a "prepper"...or you may even be a "prepper".  If you don't know what I'm talking about here's a definition from the Urban Dictionary.  (By the way, only check the urban dictionary when you need a definition of a new pop culture word...and reader beware...language is not like your grandmother's Funk and Wagnells.)

From the Urban Dictionary:

1.  Prepper:   Someone who focuses on preparedness, generally for various worst-case scenarios like peak oil or armageddon.  Sometimes used to avoid the more loaded term survivalist.

Basically preppers make sure they have the basics necessary to make it through whatever collapse of civilization might take place.  They prepare for life without all the protections and resources normally taken for granted every day…things like easy accessibility to power, food and police protection.  These folks imagine what it would be like if (or when) all the safety structures and provisions of civilization are suddenly removed.  Then they focus and prepare for how they and their families make it through these awful times?

While watching one of these prepper shows, it struck me the letters to the seven churches of Revelation 2-3 are a kind of “prepper manual” for the early church.  (I know my mind works weird but that’s the blessing of ADHD.)  In the beginning of Revelation, the apostle John is given a revelation of Jesus Christ.  Included in this revelation, Jesus gives seven letters to help seven churches, then living in present day Turkey, to help them get through the coming persecutions which had already started and would only increase in intensity.

Each letter has a pattern to it. A simple way to look at them is first Jesus gives the church a commendation for something good they have been doing.  Then He gives them a complaint about something they are doing.  Then He gives them a correction with a promised blessing it they actually do what He tells them.  In short, in these letters He tells them how to prepare for the bad scenario coming and how to do so successfully.  There you have it-- “The Preppers Manual for Jesus Followers”.

These Jesus Followers faced hard times with their resources and protection removed for a season.  They face economic and social attacks and some will even lose their lives.  They face the beast of the Roman Empire and false prophets of religion.  Adding insult to injury is the realization they hadn’t done anything wrong.  In fact, they were doing something right. They were following Jesus and not committing kingdom treason by compromising their identity as Jesus Followers.  Jesus wants them prepared.  He wants them to know He has not abandoned them during these pressure times.  He wants them to know that everything is still working according to His plans and under control…His control.

Now the all-important question:  “So what?”  What do these old letters mean to us?  There is plenty of gloom and doom talk going around today.  Anyone paying half attention to world events and national debates see real threats ahead.  So what should we do as Jesus Followers?

A major message of Revelation is that following Jesus means we are called to be overcomers during any time of struggle or even outright persecution.  I believe Jesus’ instructions to the seven churches gives us a basic “prepper manual” in living as vital communities of believers in the worst of circumstances… and not just surviving but taking kingdom initiatives.  We can actually participate in His victory over the forces of evil even while evil is doing all it can do.

The danger we face is not what goes on in the world.  The real danger for us as Jesus Followers is never really what is happening out there. The real danger is what is happening between our own ears.  The real danger facing us is when we allow ourselves to become distracted from who Christ is and what He has already done for us.  He has made a way for us to overcome everything and anything that comes against us. Focusing the viability of our hope or confidence on what happens around us is a recipe for defeat and depression.

What is hope?  My definition of biblical hope is:  “the absolute confidence that Jesus is Who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.”   As long as our hope is rooted in Jesus, what He has done and is doing, then our hope cannot be shaken.  What Jesus did by dying on the cross has finished what had to be finished for His life ultimately to overcome death in all its forms.  His resurrection and ascension enabled Him to give us as followers a share in His victory.  And His return is only to wrap up what He has started because of His victory.  Jesus is not in any danger and neither are we...even if we lose our own physical life by being faithfully identified with Him.  The hope of Jesus Followers must not be rooted in anything else.  Anything else can either be taken away from us by other people or undone by events. Our hope is rooted the person of Jesus Christ and that hope lives in us because He is in us.  He makes us overcomers before anything ever happens.  But if we shift the basis of our hope on to what we do, or on to what anyone else does or on circumstances– it’s over before it even gets started.

When darkness grows darker around Jesus Followers, that is not the time to wimp out and wish for a lifeboat from above.  That’s the time to suit up spiritually with the armor He has given us (see Ephesians 6:10-20, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5) and embrace these days as the greatest opportunity for people to come into the kingdom and for justice to roll down like a river.  It’s the time for us to be who He called us to be and draw on everything He already has given us.  Times of darkness are times to be fruitful and effective as His kingdom people.

I plan in the next few blogs to take each of the seven letters and see what we might hear from Jesus.  We will discover how to be Jesus followers who are not just going through religious motions nor only being reactionaries to what’s going on around us.  I believe there is actually empowering joy that comes from not living like victims. Looking forward to exploring the “Preppers Manual for Jesus Followers” with you. 

Share this blog with your friends...and please share your responses and insights too.

John P. Holsey, a fellow prepper

Which comes first? Loving Jesus, loving each other or loving the lost?

Recently I received an email response to a training post sent out entitled "The Mission of Small Groups" by Alan Danielson.  (Let me know if you would like to receive future training posts via email as part of your “Matthew Connection”.)

This response was from Jared.  I know Jared personally.  I officiated his wedding recently and he is the brother to my son-in-law who married my step-daughter.  (This is a round-about way of saying we’re related.)  What interesting to me about his response is that unlike me, Jared grew up only participating in house churches.  Meeting in homes with everyone bringing their gift to the group is “the norm” for him.  As someone who grew up in traditional churches, I am still having to “unlearn” some church stuff to “learn” some New Testament church “stuff”.

Not so for Jared.  His description of small group or house church life feels so organic and so much like something out of the book of Acts. The training post raises the question of the priority of worship, discipleship and outreach.  Below is his response.

“I understand the tendency of believers (and people in general) to get comfortable somewhere and go no further.  As believers we always have to be exercised to deny ourselves and follow the Lamb wherever He goes.  We have to encourage one another and pray for one another so that we have the strength to go on.  If we are one with the Lord, I believe there will be outreach, and the right kind of outreach - the kind that bears lasting fruit.

Also, the small group meetings are a great place to bring friends/family/classmates/coworkers who might be interested in the gospel, or maybe they are believers and need encouragement.  

It's a place where they can be brought into the warmth and care of Jesus and see His humanity, as well as begin to hear the truth (assuming there is someone in the group meeting who has some constitution and can speak it).  I think that in a warm environment like that it is easier to receive the truth revealed in the word of God.

In our small groups, it is a bit different every week depending on the mix of people.  Sometimes it's all familiar faces and we use the time to catch up, or for coordination, or maybe one of us is a bit out of it and just needs someone to minister Christ to him or her (actually we all need that).  Other times a college student may bring friends who are curious, and it is an opportunity to express the riches of the Christ we know to them.  Sometimes they receive the Lord, some are even baptized there in the bathtub.  Hopefully they will bring more students and the Lord will gain a crop of young ones!  Then we can all function to help them grow in Christ and go on to bear more fruit.  When they get older and marry and have a home of their own, maybe they will host a home meeting and continue to help more to know the Lord.  I think this is a very organic use of small groups of believers.

I tend to disagree with the statement that the Church is for the world.  The Church is really for Christ. The small groups are a place where believers can learn to cherish each other in the humanity of Jesus, nourish each other by His words of grace, and thereby function as members in the Body of Christ.  The Body of Christ being built up, perfected and matured into one new and full grown man is God's goal (Ephesians 4:7-16).  If we have that fellowship, enjoyment, and building in our small group fellowship, we will also have a burden to include new ones and reach out.  But if we do not love the Lord Jesus with our first and best love, we may just go to a meeting as routine and be completely useless in the Lord's hands.  I know, because I have been there.  God forgive me.  We need to pray to the Lord, and love Him with our first love, and open to Him, and then we need to pray to the Lord and help others to do the same.  God can do so much with that.  At least that's what I believe.  I admit I am just a small child in Him."

Wow.  Do you see it?  He can’t even conceive of talking about separating his love for Jesus, love for each other and love for those who don’t know Jesus.  It’s only when we have been immersed in a form of church that exchanges the dynamic of Spirit-filled body life for religious programing that the problem of an ingrown church life even comes up.  When the Holy Spirit is allowed to give birth, develop and lead us as the people of God, the healthy balance between our focus on our first love and our focus on His first love is just part of our DNA...we just are the church as He designed us.

What do you think?  

Pastor John Paul

So What's This Blog All About?

So what is this blog all about?  "The Matthew Connection" is for Jesus followers (or those considering following Jesus).  You will find posts about developing a relationship with Jesus and what it's like to seek His way of life.  It's about transformation, taking a journey with all the bumps, setbacks and overcoming victories that go along with any journey with Jesus that has integrity .  And you'll find that following Jesus automatically means finding others to join you on the journey.  Your journey is unique but you’re certainly not expected to make the journey alone. 

Who is "Matthew" anyway?  His resume includes writing the first book in the New Testament oddly enough called “The Gospel according to Matthew”.  But don’t let that fool you into thinking he was someone you would expect to be religious.  Matthew was a person considered unsuitable by the religious establishment.  The political powers of the occupying army both used him and suspected him at the same time.  Surprisingly Jesus invited this unlikely person to be a follower who did something very intriguing right away.  The first thing Matthew did was throw a party for his friends so Jesus could meet them.

For our purposes a “Matthew” is someone who is following Jesus, learning more about what all that means and is interested in connecting and connecting with others making similar journeys.

So let me be the first “Matthew” to invite you to check out this blog and get to know Jesus with others who are interested in growing more like Jesus and seeing His kingdom come.

John P. Holsey