Commended to the Word: Equipping leaders for ministry impact … around the world

Today's Devotion

Spiritual Calisthenics

“ …Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,’ declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 9:23-24

Earthly prestige and prominence are usually based on brawn, brains or bucks. The more of these one has, the greater respect or awe people tend to give to one. Consequently, the natural person will evaluate themselves according to how much power, smarts or money they have. They miss the point that such accoutrements have very little to say about who and what a person really is.

Now, most believers have learned not to rely on or look to such carnal elements as strength, intelligence or resources to evaluate true spirituality. We know scriptures about not relying on our own understanding, not trusting in the arm of flesh and not being conceited with our money.

However, in 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul is taking this truth one step further. His point is that we should not boast in our spiritual strength, wisdom or riches. Our focus should not be on what we have or what we can accomplish–by natural or spiritual means.

Rather, truly spiritual people keep their attention on the very things God most likes to do; they keep reminding themselves that it is His kingdom with His priorities. The primary role we play is simply to go along with what He likes. God’s exercise regimen includes three basic routines: lovingkindnesses; judgments to preserve people from their oppressors; and rightings, to fix all the messes.

The way to stay in shape spiritually isn’t to accumulate more knowledge, more experience or more power. Staying spiritually fit is more a matter of exercising the way God does, and getting into His heart for the world.

Paul says the same thing another way: truly spiritual people excel at serving others, and the “more excellent way” to be tooled for such service is simply to love others the way God does.

• › View more inspirations

Daniel's Travel Blog

Peru: 2010, Day 11

Not surprisingly, considering the age of my younger roommates and my many-more-years than they of practice, I was the first one awake in the morning. My late night trepidation grew to a stark realization as I walked past the guy’s prone figures and observed the number of flies resting on the bed sheets covering them. In the semi-darkness, I counted eight on Ryan, and I guessed as many had taken up residence on Niki. Where my friends had gone when I got up, I didn’t want to know.

Fabio warned everyone not to drink the water, and my experience is that if local people are told to stay clear from the water-as-drink, I should not even let a drop into my mouth—as a splash in the shower sometimes gains access past our lips. That wasn’t going to be difficult, at least not this morning because we had only cold water (as was true for the rest of the camp). I didn’t relish a cold shower this early, so I opted for something less extensive with the sink. While shaving, I noticed several red dots on my face. And then my arms. And legs. And feet.

Fleas, and other delegates at the bug convention, must have been carried away with the novelty of room-service because they gorged themselves. At least the welts were small and didn’t itch.

After a very pleasant time with the Lord and my Bible, sitting in the tropical air, it was time for breakfast (a fried egg and two rolls with butter and jam—yum). Ryan and I weren’t sure which of us would speak first, but Fabio made the decision for us when he introduced a surprised Ryan to everyone. He did a great job, keeping the teaching active and applicable for everyone. This is only his second ttrip out of the USA, and his previous missions experience didn’t involve teaching.

Ryan’s message? Don’t miss the chance to work with others and go for it when you encounter the divine moments to do something. Already, without any collaboration with Fabio and without pre-planning on our parts, a theme for the conference was emerging.

Little steps. Little seeds. That’s what rolled around in my heart, so when it was my turn to do the following two sessions, I focused on those phrases. We took a fresh look at the story of Naaman the leper, contrasting the bigness and mightiness of Naaman with the smallness and weakness of the servants. If we are willing to do a big thing for the Lord, we ought to be even more willing to do little things at His behest. Mustard seeds, being least in the Kingdom and being ourselves rounded out the morning.

Everyone lounged about in the afternoon—many heading to the pool or the beach, and some of us electing to hang close to the shade and the grass. I managed a good nap and several excellent conversations. The guys did a fabulous job of spreading themselves out into our Peruvian friends. Niki had the definite advantage over me and Ryan because he speaks Spanish, but we managed to find various people who knew enough English to translate our words.

UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS

My sense of things had been growing all week, and the day confirmed the thoughts of my heart—but not in a way any of us expected. Both Fabio and Mariella have seemed more exhausted than normal, and despite my vigorous attempts to modify the week’s schedule to give them more rest and more family time, they’ve insisted, “It’s okay.” Additionally, the leaders they have worked so hard to raise up this past year all seem “ready” to shoulder more responsibility.

The scripture, “faithful in little; master of more” kept coming to my heart, and I coupled it with Fabio’s words about planting seeds and each person supplying their part. I also learned some details about the structure of Foursquare Peru that make it quite different from the polity in most other Foursquare works, and putting more pressure on the central church in Lima (including Fabio’s leadership).

I asked permission from Fabio to meet with all the pastors and the national board—without him present. He willingly gave me permission and arranged for the meeting. I stressed to them all that I had no official position, nor was I making any statements except as a friend of Foursquare Peru. My extensive travels and my close connection with many national Foursquare churches gave me a context that they might want to consider. The particular observations I made, as well as my suggestions for changes in their national church are not mine to share publicly. But they involved fairly massive restructuring.

Everyone thanked me for loving them enough to say things. They appreciated my candor and my attitude. Both Niki and Ryan appreciated being there to hear my thoughts and to see the Peruvian pastors’ reactions.

Late in the afternoon, Niki asked me if I had heard about the “incident” at the pool. “No,” I replied. Niki then relayed what happened. Fabio was swimming under the water, as he likes to do, holding his breath long enough to go two pool lengths before coming up for air. But this time, he rose up out of the water before completing two lengths, and his eyes were rolled back. People quickly got him out of the water, and though he seemed fully recovered, he could not remember what happened. He also had a horrific migraine headache.

Pedro, one of the doctors who attends the church, and I conferred a bit, and I certainly agreed with his strong recommendation that Fabio see a specialist as soon as possible. It is impossible to tell what is due to what—from stress to more serious complications. Pedro told me that he had urged Fabio to seek medical attention before, but “you know how pastors can be.” Yes I did. Stubborn. So, without any official sanction, but with lots of love in my heart for Fabio and the Foursquare church of Peru, I made an executive decision.

If I needed any additional confirmation, I got it immediately after worship when some of the pastors called Fabio up to pray for him. The rest of us prayed while they laid hands on him. After a few minutes, I saw Fabio slump forward a bit even though he was standing. I got up to bring a chair for him to sit, and by the time I arrived, he was mostly limp. We got him in the chair. Dr. Pedro and I looked at each other while praying in the Spirit, and I could tell by the way he was holding Fabio’s wrist, he was checking his pulse.

Not knowing people’s experience or theology, I wanted to wait long enough to discern if Fabio’s condition was what some people call being “slain in the Spirit,” or if it was another physical episode—or if it had sinister spiritual roots. In their zeal to pray, people were crowding too closely, so I moved them back to give Fabio some air and allow Mariella to hold his head.

I knelt down and called his name a couple times until he opened his eyes. “Fabio, are you still with us?” I inquired.

“Pray. Pray in tongues,” he pleaded. So we did.

Another few minutes went by, and Fabio began to say, “No” repeatedly.

There is no manual for this sort of occurrence. We have to move in discernment and wisdom, but no one I know feels very wise or discerning when the two realms of reality cross into one another so starkly. Was the “no” voiced by a demon protesting the torture it felt from our Spirit-directed prayers, or was the “no” a cry from Fabio’s spirit protesting the machinations of an evil spirit?

“Fabio. Fabio,” I exclaimed quietly, “What are you saying?” (Hint: If he knew what he was saying, it wasn’t another’s voice speaking through him.)

“It’s a very strong demon, and I’m trying to resist it.”

I raised my voice in the authority of Jesus Christ, and proclaimed a “line in the sand, cutting off that spirit, refusing its entry. “In Jesus’ Name, we say, ‘No to you and your work!’”

Within 15 seconds, we all felt a sudden release—a sudden calm engulfing the tempest of just moments before. Fabio opened his eyes and simply said, “Thank you.”

The retelling of any such spiritual encounter will always suffer in accuracy, not because of silly attempts to exaggerate, but simply because we lack the spiritual sensors to detect everything going on and we lack the language to describe what happened (even if we could sense it all). However, our fears to label things as spiritual, and our reluctance to tell such stories has bred, among many spiritual leaders (and their followers) one-dimensional descriptions, lopsided and distorted by natural-only explanations. We do not battle merely physical foes.

I took the evening to explain what had happened and to draw everyone’s attention to a passage God had laid on my heart earlier in the afternoon. It’s found in 2 Corinthians 12:14-15—

Here for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you; for children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls…

It is the perfect picture of a spiritual leader, a great portrait of Fabio and Mariella. The time was now for other leaders to step up and carry the load. Leadership is a choice to accept responsibility to seek what is best for others, and to pour our life out for them. In this regard, anyone can be a leader. Everyone can be a leader, and that’s what Foursquare Peru needs right now.

After the teaching I announced that in consultation with Fabio’s church leaders, we were “forcing” him to take two weeks off work to rest, be with his family and go to the doctor. Everyone thought it was a brilliant idea…

• › Continue reading Daniel's current travel journal
• › Read entries from any of his previous trips

25th Anniversary Celebration

The Coastlands

In December 1984, Daniel and Pamela Brown pioneered The Coastlands. Twenty-five years later, they share their hearts and stories about the early days and their philosophy of ministry at this anniversary celebration.

• › Watch or listen to the entire Celebration


• › To view the final 10 teachings Daniel taught as Senior Pastor at The Coastlands, click here and select "Final Frames"

Featured Highlight

Out from Under the Law

Commandments and promises are very different types of statements and we as believers sometimes get confused about the differences between the two. In "Out from Under the Law," Daniel shares scriptural understanding on how we are to relate to the Law.

• › See the full video and download the sermon outline