Giving Keys to Thieves

After church one day a few years ago, a solid Christian woman began to be overcome with feelings of extreme sadness. A few of us, my wife included, went with her into a room to intercede for her away from the crowds.

As we prayed, a demonic presence appeared to manifest. She started to growl, drool and claw at the floor like a wild animal. Honestly, I was kind of freaked out. Though we eventually saw her receive deliverance from the evil spirit, within a few weeks it happened again. When I got a call about her experiencing her third bout with the demon, I sensed God telling me to ask her if she had been harboring bitterness and resentment toward a certain family member.

Unfortunately, this is not the only time I have ministered to brothers and sisters in Christ where prolonged bitterness and an unwillingness to forgive allowed evil spirits to have their oppressive way. Sometimes these Christians heard audible, evil, and berating voices, and one believer even heard voices telling him to do harmful, malevolent things to others.

In Ephesians 4:26-27, Paul makes sense of this situation. He writes, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” The word translated “opportunity” in this verse (topon) has a lexical range that includes “place,” “region,” “seat,” and “opportunity.” Jesus says in John 14:2 that He is going to God the Father to prepare a topon, a dwelling place, for His disciples.

So basically, remaining bitter with someone and refusing to forgive him or her is like handing a thief the key to our house. Specifically, Paul tells us this thief is the devil, and the house for which the key is made is our body. To be sure, handing over the key to our house is not the same as signing over the deed to that person. Just because someone has a key to our house does not mean he or she owns it. We still own the house.

If you have been born again, God hasbought you with a price and your body has become the temple of the Holy Spirit. The devil cannot own or possess something that is owned or possessed by God. However, if you have given away the key to your house to him, he has the ability to cause much damage to your life. Again, as Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Knowing this, why would you willingly give the key to your house to the thief?

Though what you just read may be outside of your tradition, the early Christians affirmed that unrepentant Christians can be oppressed and demonized by evil spirits.

Holy Scripture teaches us that there are certain invisible enemies that fight against us. And it commands us to arm ourselves against them. … We receive certain initial elements and (as it were) seeds of sins from those things that we use agreeably to nature. However, when we have indulged them beyond what is proper and have not resisted the first movements to intemperance, then the hostile powers size the occasion of this first transgression. They incite and press us hard in every way. They seek to extend our sins over a wider field. – Origen 225CE, ANF Volume 4, p.   [CD-ROM]

Thankfully, all of the individuals experienced full and lasting deliverance once they repented of the sins of bitterness and unforgiveness. They experienced the Spirit of God cast the evil spirits out from their bodies through the power, authority, name and blood of Jesus Christ. These Christians felt incredible spiritual and physical relief as a result of the repentance and deliverance that had taken place. One of them was finally able to start having a full night’s sleep after roughly two decades of restlessness.

What about you? Has a root of bitterness been allowed to run deep in your life for too long? Is there someone you need to forgive?

Today is the day for reconciliation. Today is the day for freedom. Today is the day to reclaim the keys of your house.

The Unlikely Apostle Pt. 5: “The Chief of Sinners”

Perhaps the greatest pleasure of my life is getting to talk with people about Jesus. Though these conversations are built into my regular routine on Sundays and Wednesdays, it’s the gospel conversations that happen outside of those times that often feel the most impactful.

I’ll never forget an interaction I had with a soldier one day about Jesus, Paul and the power of the gospel to transform lives.

There I was at my table, when he came up beside me and sat down. Knowing that I’m in ministry, he began to ask a few questions about God and various spiritual matters. I felt led to investigate what might be prompting him to seek me out, so I asked him to tell me a bit of his story.

This man was a highly intelligent officer who had fought bravely in the Middle East for several years. During the line of duty and throughout several intense battles, he had killed many, many people, sometimes in extremely violent ways. He was so overwhelmed by the things he had done, said and thought that if anyone was irredeemable, he was sure it was him.

I said that it would be foolish for me to try to empathize with him, but I knew of someone who could. So I paraphrased the Apostle Paul’s testimony from 1 Timothy 1:12-16.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. – 1 Timothy 1:12-16

I reminded the man that Paul said his testimony in 1 Timothy is a trustworthy statement that deserves full acceptance. These are words we can bet our lives on. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and Paul is the worst who ever lived.

Not you. Not me. Paul.

Not only did Jesus save the worst sinner who ever lived, He transformed him through the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit into one of the most influential people in history. And we should humbly accept this fact that we cannot change, because Jesus specifically chose Paul as an example for us of the love and power of the gospel.

If Jesus wanted Paul to be a part of the kingdom of God, He certainly wants you and the people you hate. If Jesus could save Paul, He can certainly save you and the people you hate. If Jesus could transform Paul into a mighty, church-planting Apostle who wrote half the books of the New Testament, He can certainly transform you and the people you hate.

Jesus can take violent, blaspheming persecutors of the Church and turn them into compassionate, godly pastors who love their enemies and seek to see even their oppressors become disciples of Christ. Jesus can take hardened, cold hearts and melt them with His touch.

It was powerful seeing the Holy Spirit working in my friend’s heart that day as he began to believe Paul’s testimony. May you too believe and be changed by the words of that unlikely Apostle. And may you bring that message of hope and transformation with you wherever you go.

“This is a faithful saying, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief.” … Paul … after being a persecutor of the Church of God and a bitter opponent of believers, who went so far even as to deliver over the disciples of Jesus to death, so great a change afterwards passed over him that he preached the Gospel of Jesus from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum … to places where the Gospel of God in Christ had not been proclaimed at all. – Origen 225CE, Volume 4, p. 730 [CD-ROM]

Simply Jesus Pt. 25: “...Before Governors & Kings for My Name’s Sake”

An article began making the rounds on Facebook last week concerning horrific events being carried out upon Christians living in North Korea. Some watch lists rank the country as the most dangerous place in the world to be a disciple of Christ. Its dictator, Kim Jong-Un, has imprisoned, tortured, and brutally executed thousands of unashamed followers of Jesus over the last several years.

Can you imagine being crucified, then while suffocating to death, lowered over a bonfire to be roasted? Can you imagine being bound to the ground, unable to move, while a steamroller slowly crushes your entire body inch by inch? Not only are these atrocious persecutions happening to Christians, but they are being enslaved, herded off bridges to their deaths, and even raped and molested.

Why is this being done? According to the downloadable investigative report mentioned in the article:

“Among other basic human rights denied to the people of North Korea, freedom of religion or belief is largely non-existent. Denial of this right has occurred since the 1950s, and the current leader, Kim Jong-Un, continues to violate citizens’ religious freedom. Religious beliefs are seen as a threat to the loyalty demanded by the Supreme Leader, so anyone holding these beliefs is severely persecuted. Christians suffer significantly because of the anti-revolutionary and imperialist labels attached to them by the country’s leadership.”

Basically, Christians in North Korea are viewed as enemies of the State because they are a threat to the worship of the Emperor and State. Every time someone wakes up to the reality of the gospel, the stability of the State is viewed as being weakened. The more people become Christians, the more people realize that the State and its leaders are false gods.

These are intense times we are living in, and Jesus told us these days would come.

“They will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all because of My name. Yet not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.” – Luke 21:12-19

We know Kim Jong-Un's reasons for persecuting Christians, but look at what Jesus has to say about the events. He says that they are actually serving as an opportunity for Christians to share their testimonies in places and ways they couldn’t otherwise. Kim Jong-Un thinks that oppressing and exterminating Christians is accentuating his own greatness, but in reality, Jesus knows it only serves to extend His kingdom and glorify His name.

One of the most faith-strengthening effects of becoming so familiar with the early Christian writings over the last several years has been seeing the veracity of Jesus’ words be proven over and over by the Church in the first few centuries. Just like the snowball of a few deaths in North Korea gradually turned into an avalanche of fearless disciples, the early Christians gladly and nonviolently stood before governors and kings, with their deaths inspiring multitudes to believe in the new life offered by the True King. 

How powerful the word has become in a very few years, even though conspiracies were formed against those who acknowledged Christianity. On its account, some of them were put to death and others of them lost their property. Despite the small number of its teachers, it was preached everywhere throughout the world so that Greeks and Barbarians, wise and foolish, gave themselves up to the worship that is through Jesus. We have no difficulty in saying that the result is beyond any human power. … “You shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake.” – Origen 225CE, Volume 4 p. 624 [CD-ROM]

What is happening in North Korea is both utterly tragic and ultimately triumphant. It is both horrific and a cause to shout, “Hallelujah!” We need to mourn and pray for our brothers and sisters who are going through such terrible suffering. But we also need to hold them in high honor, and praise the Lord in the highest that hundreds of thousands are coming to repentance as a result, and the Name of Jesus is being exalted above the false gods of the State. 

We can learn a lot from the faithfulness demonstrated by disciples in North Korea. 

Simply Jesus Pt. 5: “Do You Want to Be Well?”

One of my favorite Gospel stories is found in John 5. Jesus was walking through Jerusalem and came by the pool of Bethesda. Many blind and crippled people would stay near the pool because they believed an angel would occasionally stir the waters and the first person in would be instantly healed of whatever ailed them.

Though multitudes were gathered there for a touch from God, Jesus centered in on a man who had basically been an invalid for 38 years. The Bible also says that Jesus knew he had been that way for a long time. Looking at the man, Jesus asked him what many would consider an awkward question. “Do you want to get well (Vs 6)?”

Why would Jesus ask that question to a man who obviously needs a miracle?

Perhaps at the man’s core, he was afraid of the responsibility that would come with being healed. Perhaps he enjoyed the attention and sympathy he received due to his illness. Perhaps he was still bitter over the traumatic circumstances that caused his condition, and felt that persisting in the pain of his past was more pleasurable than walking in uncertainty of liberty.

Whatever the case, the man gave a remarkable reply. Instead of simply saying, “Yes, of course I want to be healed,” he began to blame everyone around him for his troubles.

When simple questions regularly receive run-around replies, a victim mindset is usually framing one’s reality.

Viktor Frankl was a Holocaust survivor and author of the popular book Man’s Search for Meaning. In it, he describes how the Nazis took the Jewish people’s clothes, pictures, belongings, and separated them from their families. However, he also wrote, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”

How we frame each situation we encounter (the attitude/worldview we choose in any given situation) is a critical aspect of living as a faithful servant of King Jesus.

For instance, Hebrews 2 says one of the greatest fears every human possesses is the fear of death. Politicians and media constantly play on that fear to manipulate us into believing that the right type of governing body of this world will save us from various forms of death. They masterfully use the fear of death to convert worshippers of God into worshippers of the State. 

You can see the evidence in the way the American Church vacillates between two extremes. On one hand we spew absolute filth about either the Left or Right while making general threats to anyone who might physically or emotionally hurt us or a loved one. And on the other hand, we’ve watered down the Gospel so radically for the sake of “unity” that the most popular social media posts by Christians are pictures of our pets, and the most common rebuke heard inside the walls of the Church is, “Don’t judge me!”

We’re so afraid of both physical and emotional death. But I wonder, how would our lives change if we framed our circumstances in light of the resurrection? How would our reactions to persecutions, insults and trouble change if we framed them in light of the simple words of Christ in the Beatitudes?

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. – Matthew 5:11-12

How do you think the early Christians, who were not held in high regard throughout the Roman Empire, framed those words of Jesus? Let’s see:

Blessed are they who suffer the same things as the prophets, according to what was said by the Savior, “For in the same manner did their fathers treat the prophets.” Now if any one who attends carefully to these things be hated and attacked because of his living with rigorous seriousness and his rebuke of sinners, as a man who is persecuted and criticized for the sake of righteousness, he will …  rejoice and be exceeding glad, being assured that because of these things, he has great reward in heaven from Him who likened him to the prophets on the ground of his having suffered the same things. – Origen 225CE, Volume 9, p. 664-665 [CD-ROM]

The early Christians didn’t brush off the Beatitudes simply because they lived in perilous times. They framed suffering for Christ as an opportunity, not an obstacle. They viewed the command to love our enemies not as hyperbole, but rather as an effective means of spreading the Gospel. As Tertullian famously wrote, “The blood of martyrs is seed.”

I think it’s important to note that John wrote that the man in our story had been lame for 38 years. In chapter 9, John writes about a man that was blind from birth. What that tells us is that the man from John 5 must have gone through a traumatic situation 38 years ago that radically changed his life.

Being the parent of two adopted children from Child Protective Services, I have seen first hand how a trauma suffered years ago can still shape one’s worldview.

No one is exempt from trauma. We all suffer loss. We all will experience radical disappointments, heartaches and wounds that leave deep scars. It is imperative, then, that we are honest with ourselves and others about how those traumas affect the way we see the world. And more importantly, how those traumas affect the way we frame the simple words of Christ.

In John 5, despite the man’s reluctance to affirm his need, Jesus told him to get up, pick up his mat and walk! And he did! The power of the kingdom of God turned a trauma into a testimony.

Jesus can do a great reversal in your life too. Perhaps it will begin with your perspective. First, the question is: Do you want to get well?