As a child I loved baseball. It was my life! My team growing up in San Diego (pre-Padres Major League days) was the Yankees. They were the team we watched every Saturday on television. My favorite player was Mickey Mantle, and my dream was to be like The Mick, becoming a switch hitter (which I did for a while, until I learned that I could hit a curveball better righthanded), and eventually hitting the winning home run in the World Series…for the Yankees of course! Well, baseball was pretty good to me, providing a University scholarship, but I have yet to even see a World Series game live (and really, “World Series” is just the National League vs the American League!).

Anyway, from my early days, I was a dreamer of great things (at least I thought they were great), which I think to a small extent comes from our Father in heaven. His dream envisioned the ending from the beginning, as all great dreams do. From the foundation of the world, God determined to provide a way of salvation, the forgiveness of sins, an eternal destiny and home with him, for all mankind to enjoy, and he included all of us in his plan. Of course, mainly he included the Trinity in the planning, which culminated in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Thus, in pursuing this discussion, it is germane to begin with the ending, which was not the end but a new beginning; the finished work of Christ. All that was accomplished by Christ on the cross, his death, burial, resurrection, ascension and enthronement is essential, and relates to our pursuit of maturity in Christ.

When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.  John 19:30

Before discussing what was and was not finished by Christ on the cross, a bit of definition regarding words related to “pursue” will be helpful. My overall premise is that we have things to pursue, but we are to do so from a place of rest, we run from and to, not to and froe, pursuing the ideas and principles of the Kingdom of God.

The word “pursue” (dioko) is defined as to run swiftly in order to catch; to press forward.

A derivative of that is to earnestly desire (such as the best gifts), as seen in 1 Corinthians 14:1. Another is to desire—to burn with zeal; to desire earnestly; to be zealous in pursuit of. Also, we can use the words “to know,” such as the Father or Son in terms of intimacy; to seek, such as in the Kingdom; to desire to eat (fellowship); also to strive or compete (2 Timothy 2:5, 24).

Finally, there are synonyms: quest, search, follow, stalk, go after, chase, trace, strive, reach for, strive after, press, tug, drive, endeavor, struggle, labor, press. I do like this quote, that I wish I could find the reference to:

Faith is the pursuit of all  God has promised us.

And the just—that is all of us who are in Christ—are to live by our faith. So, we know there are certainly things we are to pursue in the Lord after our wonderful salvation. What we should and shouldn’t be running after is to follow, and of course, whatever we are to run after, it must be with patience, for the race set before us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus (see Hebrews 12:13).

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Dear Friend of Vision

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” (1 JN 2:12-14)

Frankly, I have been teaching from this passage for a long time. It is the theme verse for my book, Journey to Wholeness. I have taught principles from this passage on 6 continents, and perhaps 50 nations or more. I never get tired of it.

You see, having been an ambitious young man and always in a hurry, I desired to prove the naysayers wrong.   It was not much about the journey, but the destination. I always wanted to get there, wherever there was, and get there first, fastest, and best. Well, haste makes waste is still true in life, and trying to skip steps, whether in a 12-step program or our general spiritual journey, can be disastrous at best.

Children

From my humble perspective, John is simply stating to the believers of his day that we are all in some stage of growth or development.  Wherever we are at, God wants us to grow, change, and fulfill our purpose. For children, (and we all start as children, see John 1) they have some tasks to learn.   I summarize these tasks as Intimacy…to know they are forgiven and are truly wanted and loved; this is key. Many believers have a hard time believing they are truly and completely forgiven and loved by God.  John reminded them that they need to remind students and congregants of this wonderful reality known as Grace.

Young Men

Young men are old enough to fight the battles of the world, flesh and the devil, and can overcome through the word of God. I call this the Overcoming Iniquity stage. Unfortunately, many get stuck in this stage, forever going around the mountain of besetting sin, unable to appropriate the word of God for themselves or others. Fighting in the Kingdom of God cannot be avoided. The worst enemy we ever encounter is the person we see in the mirror…but again, God gives grace and provides mentors to help us. The overcoming leads to our true identity…sons of God.  The final stage discussed by John, the very wise apostle was….

Fathers

Fathers know…they know the stages, they know the struggle, they know the responsibility.  They know the suffering…they know.  They have the ability to help others to know Him, this is the place of integrity. Our journey is taking us there; but like all, we are not fully there.  Under stress, we can regress to earlier times and ways; but we are moving forward on the journey and Christ is with us.  Frankly, that is what we need to know.

Intimacy—- Identity—–Integrity

Dr Stan

 

 

Dear Friend of Vision

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The word for “word of God” is logos (vs Rhema or Graphe), which can be interpreted as thought, intention or purpose, even meaning. According to some lexicons, the best view of the word is “expressing the thoughts of the Father through the Spirit”. It is the thoughts of the Father, spoken to us by Holy Spirit as we encounter the Lord and his word;  that is able to discern our hearts, and judge our thoughts. This is not for the purpose of condemnation, but loving correction and encouragement in the journey of life. His word is life and light, as we walk in the light (see 1 John 1:7) we are ultimately conformed to the image of Christ, through our fellowship with him and each other.

Why is this important? Well, in the context of the letter to the Hebrews, a church already scattered and under persecution, the most important thing to pursue was what has already been obtained for them through the cross…peace…rest…shalom. Anxious hearts, troubled minds by the cares of the world, thoughts that are focused on making it through the day need to be refocused by a living word, the logos of God, Jesus himself revealed through the word to get us back on track.

Part of our responsibility as leaders is to be a purveyor of light, one who brings a word in season, usually a rhema word, but one taken from the Logos word, which will help our brothers, sisters, parishioners, and students move forward in their God given calling, unhindered by thoughts that need to be taken captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Co.10). So, lets pray for each other, to be open to the sharp word of the Lord that is able to help us, strengthen us, guide us, heal us, deliver us…a living word, not dead letter.

Dr Stan

 

Dear Friend of Vision

“Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers. (Phm. 23-24)

In life, you never choose your family…you get what you get. However, we believe that we choose our friends, but that isn’t always true.  When you have a friend, especially ones willing to go through tough times with you, well, they are worth cherishing and commending.

In this list, with the exception of Demas (who left under dubious conditions), Paul seems to have two categories of friends…fellow workers and one remarkable fellow, Epaphras, a fellow prisoner.

Without doubt, Luke the physician, Mark, originally the infamous deserter John Mark, cause of the fight and eventual breakup between Barnabas and Paul, Aristarchus, who had to be reminded to mind his ministry, were all dear friends of Paul.  They were co-laborers, suffering with him…but Epaphras was more than a friend.  He jumped down into the Roman (no bathroom, sleep on the floor) prison with his father in the faith, Paul; now that is commitment…or insanity!

Well, it is easy to have friends when things are well; there is money in the bank, wife or husband is happy, etc. But when prison or other problems come, that is when the real friends are seen.  They show up, sometimes disappointed,but still there…and some are even willing to go to prison with us.  I hope neither you or I get the opportunity to test that one out.

Dr. Stan

Dear Friend of Vision

“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,” (Tit 1:5)

In the First Century church, the appointment of elders (older ones able to lead) was a function of apostles, or sent ones. In Antioch, and probably other cities, elders were the ones to lay hands on apostles and prophets, confirming their calling and releasing them into their arena of service.

There does not seem to be any sense of competition, nor any qualms or concerns about who is on top or bottom, as they all seemed to recognize each other (apostle or elder or evangelist or pastor or prophet or deacon) according to their function, not title, and were simply grateful to the Lord for having called them and gifted them to serve. Well, how naïve! Didn’t they know that someday in the distant future we will come to a vote on the Pope of Pentecost (frankly, I look great with a tall hat on!). Well, of course, not naïve at all, but in keeping with the Spirit of God and his leading in the church.

Truly, apostles argued about doctrine, passionately, and cared a great deal about issues related to holy living. But titles, offices, and who is boss was less a concern as they focused on Jesus as King and Lord.

Appointing elders, affirming apostles and other five-fold ministers was not political, but relational. As a person, male or female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile, demonstrated the gifting of their ministry, it was simply affirmed with rejoicing, as it should be in all churches everywhere. My prayer is that we return to the simple recognition of the gifts that God has in the church, and learn to affirm, love, support and work together for the King and His Kingdom.

Dr Stan