How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner

In this episode I  talk to Budi and Listiana Hartono from Jakarta, Indonesia.  They led the church in Jakarta, Indonesia and now they oversea the growth of the 40+ churches in Indonesia outside of Jakarta.  Converted in the early nineties, they have witnessed the church grow from a handful of disciples to over 7,000 disciples all over the country.  Listen as they share about:

·        How they reach out in the country with the largest Muslim population

·        How Listiana fought through cancer and is now five-years cancer free

·        How they planted their first church at the age of 25

·        Their joy at seeing their daughters Karla and Andrea become Christians

·        The spiritual zeal and growth of the younger generation in Indonesia

·        How they are planting four new churches in Indonesia this year

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner

In this episode, I continue my series on becoming a multiplying disciple.  I talk about resisting the natural tendency to run from getting help when we need it the most.  I talk about why we do this and how we can seek help instead of run from it.

 

Transcript

I remember listening to a lesson at the 1995 world missions seminar in Johannesburg, South Africa.  The speaker was sharing about good news around the world.  One church was lifted up for baptizing hundreds of people and becoming a church of thousands.  Over the next few years I heard conflicting reports from that same church.  Then I heard the church’s leader had been removed.  It seems the actual membership was hundreds of people short of what had been reported.  When I heard that I thought, what happened?  How could that happen?  How could people not know how many people were in the church?  I’m sure there were a number of reasons for that leadership failure, but I would guess that primary among them would be that the leader or leadership team didn’t seek help early enough and may have run from getting the help it needed before the problem became so severe.

“Where are you?”

This failure to seek help goes back to the garden. 

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.  8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”  Genesis 3:6-9

When offered that first temptation, centuries of misery could have been avoided by asking for help and advice from God before chomping into the apple.  Once the sin was committed, shame, pride and fear kept them from turning to the one being who could help them.  God had to ask, “Where are you?” 

This is why we struggle to get the help we need from God and others so that we can grow and get back on our feet after a set back.  Shame, pride, embarrassment, laziness and the distorted thinking that comes from these problems forces us into isolation.  We delude ourselves into thinking that if we run from the problem, from God and from other people, the problem will disappear.  It rarely does.  In the case of that first sin, it quickly compounded and affects us today, thousands of years later.

During finals week of my first semester at UC Berkeley if faced five finals in two days.  On the second day I arrived at my statistics final after little sleep.  The previous day I had rear-ended a car on the way to campus, showed up to the wrong building for my first test, ran out of gas on the way home from campus and spent two hours waiting for the tow truck.  It seems God had designed this two-day gauntlet to humble me and prepare me to become a Christian.  The first half of the statistics final was closed book.  I had difficulty answering the questions.  My only solace was that the second half of the test was open books and open notes.  When the professor said “start!” for the second half, I dug through my backpack for my book and notes.  They weren’t there.  I had forgotten them in my dorm room.  I struggled through that 45 minutes as I watched those around me find the answers they needed in their notes and books.  At the end of the test I went up to the professor and told him I had forgotten my notes.  In his heavily accented, Eastern European English, he said, “Why didn’t you ask me for help?  I would have given you my notes and my book!”  After he said that, I felt even worse.  On top of my massive failure was the knowledge that I could have avoided it by simply asking for help rather than sitting quietly in my shame, embarrassment and self-hatred.

Unfortunately, too many of us repeat my mistake in a multitude of situations.  We kick ourselves later for not asking for assistance when it could have made all the difference.  Growing disciples grow because they push past the fear, shame and embarrassment to ask for help.  Here are some simple things you can do to accelerate your spiritual growth.

First, laugh at failures.  View them as simply part of the process of growing.  Everyone faces little and big setbacks.  Satan wants you to continue thinking that you shouldn’t be making mistakes and that “you should know better by now.”  That kind of thinking will keep you isolated and cut off from life-giving help.

Don’t place others on a pedestal.  In addition to thinking we shouldn’t be making mistakes is the equally mistaken assumption that others don’t struggle with weaknesses like we do.  Have you every talked to an older person in the fellowship, and felt like you couldn’t talk to them about struggles you might be facing like lust, anger or coarse language.  It’s hard to conceive of that kindly older person ever having an impure thought.  And yet, they were young once and faced the exact same trials you are going through.

Go to seminars and conferences.  Whatever you want to grow in, there is a conference that will help you get there.  It might be a live conference or an online webinar, but there is a way to learn from others.  One growth expert I read recommends that we spend 3% of our income on personal development and seminars.  Too often I see people staying home, stuck in their rut because they don’t want to spend the money on their growth.  What a waste!  You don’t know what you’re missing.  I started a podcast in 2020 and recorded over 250 podcasts.  Earlier this year, I felt like I needed to take my skills to a new level.  I saw my listenership decline and I didn’t know why?  I went to a podcasting conference in Los Angeles.  What I learned there blew me away.  The first thing I learned was that everyone else had seen their listening downloads decline by as much as 60% and it had nothing to do with the podcaster’s performance.  The decline was due to an algorithm adjustment Apple had made on their podcast platform.  I was so happy and relieved to know that I wasn’t just tanking because of doing a bad job.  Prior to going to the conference I had thoughts of shutting down the podcast.  On top of that, the classes that were taught gave me at least five great ideas for taking my podcast to the next level.  I never would have known those things by sitting at home feeling sorry for myself.

Face down your weak areas.  I’ve worked out in a gym since college.  Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of my inspirations.  However, I’m still not much stronger than I was 20 or thirty years ago.  Then I asked for help from a physical trainer.  I shared my faith with him and then asked him to train me.  I’ve seen tons of progress in the past 5 months.  Why?  He is making me do things in the gym that either I didn’t know to do or that I didn’t want to do.  He helps me break mental and physical barriers.  Prior to hiring him, I would follow the same comfortable routine I had followed for decades.  He shattered that cozy pattern.  If you want to grow in any area, take a look at your weak areas and get help on them.  Any area that you have experienced a plateau or lack of progress is an area that could benefit from outside help.

Read books.  I’ve said it before and will repeat it till I die.  Learn from others how they overcame the challenges you are facing right now.  Whatever you are facing has most likely been written about, talked about or discussed in detail.  I love the story of how Elon Musk started his rocket company, SpaceX.  With no prior knowledge or rocket science, Musk started reading books on the subject and asked questions of the rocket scientists he hired to start his company.  It only took him two years to become an expert in the field and get his company off the ground. 

There is nothing you can’t grow in, become or achieve.  All you need is the willingness to ask for help, suppress Satan’s attempts to shame you into silence, and read, watch or listen to those willing to help you get where you want to be, a multiplying disciple. 

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner

 In this episode I share from a series on Matthew that I’m going through on Sundays.  Please enjoy this exposition of Matthew 10.  

Transcript is below.  Feel free to use as needed.

 

Matthew 10: 26-42

Matthew Series

Sunday, June 9th, 2024

Introduction

This section of Jesus’s instructions to his disciples goes beyond practical training into deeper waters.  He starts talking about what drives us, what we will face once we start actively following Jesus.  He talks about two motives that can control or inspire us, fear and love.

These forces are incredibly powerful and if left unchecked, fear will keep us living small, meaningless lives.  The only power greater than fear is love.  As the Apostle John says in 1 John 4:17-19, “17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  19 We love because he first loved us.”

There is no fear in love.  Jesus talks about fear and then he talks about a greater motivation, love.  When our love grows, fear shrivels.

1.    Fear

26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

Fear is the key word of this section. 

When we share Jesus, invite people to listen to his word and face opposition we are going to experience fear.  There is no getting around the mission in order to avoid fear.  Jesus says that everything Jesus whispers, everything you hear in a Bible study or sermon, needs to be shouted from the rooftops.  Jewish homes had flat roofs and were used for sleeping, prayer and were great platforms for preaching to a crowd.

We can’t escape fear, but we can choose who to be afraid of.  We can live our lives afraid of what people think about us or say to us or we can live our lives in fear of God.  Fear of man is based on self-interest and self-preservation, it’s just plain cowardice.  Fear of God, however, is something that’s praised throughout the Bible.

I have a message from God in my heart     concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:[b There is no fear of God     before their eyes.  Psalm 36:1

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.  Proverbs 1:7

8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”  Job 1:8

When we don’t fear God, the Bible calls us a fool.  When Jesus says that folly comes from within the hearts of man, in Mark 7:22, he is referring to the sin of not taking God into account.  This person thinks he doesn’t need God, have to deal with God or factor God into his plans.

God is highlighting Job as an ideal follower or believer, characterized by the fear of God and avoidance of evil.  He values these characteristics today.

Why should we fear God and not people?  People can destroy our bodies, but God has the capacity to destroy our bodies and our soul in hell.  We don’t know what will happen in hell, but each one of us has the opportunity for eternal life with God.  God has power to bring us into his eternal kingdom or destroy our souls.  This brings up an interesting thought, does God destroy non-believing souls once they die or let them live on separated from him?  Does God annihilate the soul or let it go on in regret that they lived their lives rebelling against God.  In any case, you don’t want to fall into the hands of a God who controls your life now and after death. 

What does fearing people look like?  Some of us puff up and say, “I don’t care what people think or do!”  Really?  So did Peter at the last supper.  He said, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” (Matthew 26:33)  Fear of man shows up every day.  It’s when we walk through a checkout line and don’t offer an invitation to church because we don’t want to look funny to the people in line behind us.  It’s when someone brings up a spiritual subject and we remain quiet.  It’s when we decide to stay home when there is an opportunity to go sharing in the community.  It’s how busy we suddenly get when there is a Bible study and we just can’t seem to make the time to join.  It’s revealed when years pass without us sharing, meeting, teaching or bringing people nearer to God.  We say, “I don’t care what people think!”  Then why do all the people around you remain unchanged and unconverted?

Why else should we not fear people?  Jesus offers a reassuring reason, the same God who has the power to destroy in hell also takes time and attention to care for the smallest sparrow.  They were the cheapest birds sold for food in Jesus’ time.  This is an argument from the lesser to the greater.  “You are worth more than many sparrows.”  In contrast to certain people who claim that the life of an animal is equal to that of a human,  Jesus says you are worth far more.  If he cares for the sparrow, how much more will he take care of you.

He even knows how many hairs are on your head.  The average person has between 90,000 to 150,000 hairs on their head.  God knows your exact number.  Jesus knows what you are going through.  Your life and death have his attention.  You are extremely important to God.  You don’t need to fear that God isn’t with you or is forgetting you in times of trial.

What’s worse than being ridiculed, gossiped about or excluded by the people around you?  Being disowned by Jesus on the last day.  Here is where our day-to-day behavior connects to our eternal destiny.  When you are unashamed and proud of Jesus, that’s how he will treat you.  When you deny, disown, hide, are embarrassed of Jesus, that’s exactly how you will be treated when you appear before Jesus when you die. 

How are you doing at work, at school, with your mom’s group, your club, your old friends?  How you honor or dishonor Jesus in that setting is a mirror of how you will be treated when Jesus presents you to his father.  You choose who you’re going to stand with.  The people around you in this life or Jesus when he presents you to his father. 

As a baby Christian, I would have quiet times in the Doe undergraduate library at UC Berkeley and read passages like this from Isaiah 51:7-8,

“Hear me, you who know what is right,     you people who have taken my instruction to heart: Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals     or be terrified by their insults. 8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment;     the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever,     my salvation through all generations.”

Passages like these would give me the perspective to understand how much greater God is than any person I’d meet on campus.  People are as shortlived and temporary as clothing that a moth can eat holes in.  Scriptures like this taught me to fear God, not the people I’d reach out to.

This choice takes up the rest of the chapter.

2.   Love

34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,     a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36     a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Jesus clears up a misconception we often have about God and his gospel.  We often think that the gospel will unite, bring peace and harmony between people.  We think Jesus’ purpose was to bring peace.  Jesus contradicts that and says he didn’t come to bring peace but a sword.  A sword is a symbol for conflict and violence. 

His message is peace for those who accept it.  Peace with God and peace with others who follow God wholeheartedly.  However, Jesus’ teaching brings division between those who accept it and those who don’t.  He doesn’t compromise.  His teaching will turn people against each other.  Family members will hate each other, stop talking to each other, kill each other over the gospel.  Middle eastern families are extremely close.  Your identity is bound up in your family.  I was talking to a young man, Fadi Alhinn, on my podcast and he talked about how his family in Jordan is incredibly close and how growing up it forms the basis for your identity along with your religion.

Jesus says your love for him must be greater than even your closest family members.  In Luke 14:26 he says the same thing using a semitic or Jewish saying,  “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”

If you don’t love Jesus more than your family, you’re not worthy of him.  We might say, “you don’t have what it takes” to be a disciple of Jesus.  How does that show up today?  When we won’t follow Jesus because our parents or siblings disapprove.  When they try to get us to calm down and we listen to them.  When those we love try to substitute a dead, sterile, fruitless form of religion in place of true discipleship.  When they beg us to return to our old lives, having a form of godliness but denying its power.  Many can’t or won’t make that sacrifice.  They look for a middle ground.  Empty religion, compromise with sin, outward observance covering hidden sin.  Jesus will never accept second place in your affections.  He knows your heart and he knows if you love him first. 

He then goes on to mention the cross for the first time.  It’s hard to recreate the fear and gut level reaction the disciples must have had when he drops that bomb into this conversation.  This was the epitome of embarrassment, humiliation, social disgrace, suffering and pain wrapped up into one image.  They had no idea at this point that Jesus would literally carry a cross for their sin and ours.  It points to the fact that Jesus won’t compromise.  If you want to be a disciple, you are signing away your rights to a comfortable, quiet life where everyone thinks you are a nice person. 

We are all left with some tough decisions.  Which life are we going to live for?  This one or eternal life.  Who are we going to stand in solidarity with?  The crowd, coworkers, family or Jesus himself?  Jesus offers public disgrace and the possibility of a savage death, he also holds out eternal life with him.  To borrow from a soccer coach, Bill Shankly, Discipleship is “not a matter of life and death, it is much more serious than that.”   

3.   Reward

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

Jesus closes this section by revealing how closely he identifies with his disciples.  When people treat us well, they are actually treating Jesus well.  They will be rewarded.  They will be honored. 

 

Conclusion:

Remember Jesus said in chapter 7:14, “14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  Here is why that road is so narrow and hard to find and choose.  If you are struggling with your decision to follow Jesus, it shows you understand the level of sacrifice he calls for every disciple.

 

Next Steps

·       Repent of fear and people-pleasing, share your faith this week, stop living as a secret disciple.

·       Grow your love for Jesus, choose Jesus and his kingdom over friends, family and your own life.

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner

In this episode I continue my series on how to become a multiplying disciple.  I talk about the need to experiment with new things and to view your life as an experiment.

Transcript

“We won’t be meeting for live church services for the time being,” I told my church members in March of 2020.  Little did I know it would be well over a year before we started hesitantly meeting back together after Covid.  I thought to myself, how can I help people during this time when I can’t preach to them in a live setting.  I stumbled onto the idea of a podcast.  The only problem was I had no idea how to start one and had little confidence in the area of electronics or computer hardware.  In any case I decided to get started and step by step figured out how to start one.  I read a book on starting a podcast, I listened to books on it, I came up with my target audience and the reason why I was doing it.  There were many times I thought I couldn’t do it, I’m too old, I’m no good at technical stuff and no one would listen.  I chose to ignore those voices in my mind.  Within a month I had cobbled together seven episodes to launch the show with.  Through experimentation, I was a podcaster.

The reason we often don’t see the spiritual progress we are looking for is that we are naturally attached to the person we are right now.  Our habits, our thinking, our belief system, our inclinations have a form of inertia to them.  Once set in a certain way, it takes a lot of effort to get them moving in a different direction.  Jesus points this out in Luke 5:37-39, “And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”  We get used to certain foods, certain drinks and it keeps us from trying something new that God wants us to try.  This is one of the reasons Jesus ran into so much opposition from the Pharisees and Saducees and even from his allies such as the disciples of his cousin John the Baptist.  Jesus was bringing something new and most people preferred the old and refused to experiment with change.

 

It is incredibly helpful to maintain a flexible and adaptable mindset when trying to grow as a disciple.  One of the best ways to do that is to view life as a series of experiments.  I love Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote,  “Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice? Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.”

When you experiment with anything, you are accepting up front that some of your experiments are going to fail.  Most may fail.  However, if you keep experimenting enough with new habits, techniques and skills, you will stumble onto breakthroughs in your life.  You will find things that multiply your growth, influence and fruitfulness.

Viewing life in this way gives you permission to fail without fear and the shame associated with failure.  No one doing cancer research quits or gets discouraged when one attempt at a cure doesn’t pan out.  In the same way, in order for you to grow and make a difference in this life, you will have to pick up and try many new habits and skills that may or may not take you where you want to go. 

In 2004, I decided to plant a new church in my hometown of Ashland, Oregon.  I didn’t have any outside funding.  I didn’t have a team to support me.  I didn’t have an existing church to pay me.  I didn’t have a career I was stepping into.  I had to start a new career in real estate to pay my bills and support my family.  I chose to view this church planting as an experiment.  I remember thinking to myself and telling Pam, my wife, “This may not work.”  We may only be there a short time and then we’ll have to go somewhere else.  I deliberately didn’t ask anyone to go with me, because of the high risk of failure.  I didn’t want to responsibility of taking care of other people when I didn’t have the resources to support myself.  If I had waited to plant the church with full funding, a large team and a clear plan, the church wouldn’t be there today.  People that I love wouldn’t be Christians today.  It was a risky experiment that paid off. 

If you are reading this book, you probably have big dreams for your future.  You want your life to count and you want to do big things for God.  You may want to:

·       Go overseas on mission

·       Learn a foreign language

·       Start a new church

·       Work as a pastor or minister

·       Start a new business

·       Learn a new instrument

·       Find a great life partner

Whatever you are dreaming of, go ahead and take that first step.  View it as an experiment.  Expect and anticipate setbacks and failures.  Just keep going until you find the right path out of the many start down. 

Here are some ideas to develop an experimental mindset:

·       Read a book on an area you are considering growing in.

·       Write down three things you could do immediately to go in the direction of your dreams.

·       Give yourself 90 days to experiment with your venture.  Allow yourself to bail out if after 90 days, you don’t want to keep going.

·       Talk to someone who has done or is doing what you want to do.  Ask them how to start.

·       Give yourself full permission to fail, flop and fall flat on your face.

·       Reduce the risk by not including anyone else in what you are trying to do.  Limit your exposure.

·       Think about and fix in your mind others who have tried and succeeded in what you want.

·       Pretend that you are good at what you are trying to do.  Experiment with seeing yourself as more skilled than you currently are.

When I launched the Rob Skinner Podcast, I had no idea what would happen.  I only hoped that I could inspire people to make this life count, live a no-regrets life and multiply disciples, leaders and churches.  I started podcasting into a great big dark empty void.  I wondered at times if anyone was listening.  I started receiving letters from people thanking me for the podcast and sharing how it had helped them.  Two years after the podcast started, Pam and I went to a large Christian conference in Orlando, Florida.  I got approached so many times by listeners thanking me for the podcast and for helping them grow and make this life count.  I’m so glad I chose to experiment with something new.

·       Practical Application

o  What is one thing you’ve wanted to do, achieve or grow in that you’ve hesitated to start.

o  Give yourself permission to fail and to experiment with your desire.

o  Write down three things you can do this week to start your experiment.

 

 

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  Click Here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner

In this episode I  talk to Fadi Alhinn, a disciple born in Jordan and now living in San Diego.  He talks about:

·        What it’s like growing up Christian in the Middle East

·        How he moved 20 times before the age of 20

·        Strengths and weaknesses of both US and Middle Eastern churches

·        How he lost his Dad at the age of 17

·        What it was like moving to the states and starting over

 

More about Fadi:

Fadi Alhinn, was born, raised and saved in the Jordan. His parents Maher and Samar lead Middle Eastern churches for many years, his uncle was reached out to and baptized at San Diego State University in the 80's and planted a church in Jordan. Fadi was baptized in 2011 and after a tragic car accident his father passed in 2013 during a leadership conference in Lebanon. In 2015 Fadi moved to the US on a student visa, met his wife Miranda in the campus ministry and together they serve in the full-time ministry. Currently Fadi and Miranda are the congregational youth and family ministers in San Diego.

How to reach Fadi:  909.344.0409 or [email protected]

 

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner

Would you like to be “prosperous and successful?”  God gives clear direction to his people on how to enjoy that very thing.  He tells Joshua the secret to prosperity in Joshua 1:8, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”  In this episode I’ll be talking about how to:

·        Kindle or rekindle your passion for God’s Word

·        How to meditate on scripture

·        Ways to see old scriptures in new ways and…

·        How to develop “greatest hits” collection of your favorite scriptures

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  Click Here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner

 

Transcript

How to Become a Multiplying Disciple:  Meditate on God's Word

8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 

Joshua 1:8

Joshua was handed the unenviable job of following in Moses’ footsteps.  The same Moses who faced down Pharaoh, who raised his staff to part the Red Sea, who kept his nation fed for forty years in a desert and who brought down the tablets of the Law from Mt. Sinai.  Imagine the pressure Joshua must have felt in trying to follow in the footsteps of this man for all generations.  Not only that, but Moses had left Joshua with the massive challenge of crossing the Jordan, taking on the fortress of Jericho and conquering all of the promised land.  God assures Joshua in this chapter that he is with him and that he will give him the land and he hands him the key to success and prosperity, meditate on God’s word, the book of the law.  It’s interesting what God doesn’t give him.  He doesn’t give him a pep talk talking about how great Joshua is or how much God believes in him.  He doesn’t give him a buddy like he gave Aaron to Moses.  He doesn’t give him advice on his time management or speaking skills.  Instead he tells Joshua to devote himself to reading and meditating on the words of God.  That one habit will bring success and prosperity to his leadership.  Joshua must have taken this to heart because unlike most other Old Testament figures, Joshua lives a nearly perfect life.  He parts the Jordan, levels Jericho, divides and conquers the promised land, allots all of the tribal territories and successfully leads his new nation until his death.  The only failure he faces is when he forgets to pray when the Gibeonites scam him into making a treaty with them.  He is truly a worthy predecessor to his descendant who shares his same name, Jesus.

Are you looking for success and prosperity in your life?  The formula for success hasn’t changed in three thousand years.  Keep God’s word on your lips, meditate on it and do everything written in it.  Your devotion and application of God’s word will establish the level of fruitfulness, effectiveness and impact of your life. 

Many turn toward God in times of difficulty, become followers and then attempt the long period of marching daily toward Zion.  Some fall by the wayside or settle for an unsatisfying and unfruitful existence with little “success and prosperity” to speak of.  They don’t become multiplying disciples, they often settle for spiritual barrenness, emotional distance from God and a sin-compromised existence.

That doesn’t have to be your life.  Determine today that you will follow in the footsteps of Joshua.  Here’s how you can do that.

Get excited about the Bible

I walked into the Christian bookstore in Berkeley, California a few days after my baptism.  I scanned the Bibles for sale and settled on a Zondervan Study Bible.  It had commentary notes below each page.  It was massive with a bonded leather cover.  I put the small paperback Bible my neighbor had given me into my backpack and used my new Bible for Bible study in my dorm room.  I remember opening the box, pulling it out and tearing open the mylar covering around the Bible.  I flipped through the pages and smelled the brand new book smell.  I loved how the gold gilding around the pages stuck together initially and how the pages were shining white without a flaw on any page.  I sensed something awesome and new was happening in my life with the opening of this new Bible.  I wore that Bible out. 

If someone handed you a goose that laid a one-ounce golden egg every morning, how would you care for and tend to that animal?  Would you be excited?  Would you take good care of it?  Absolutely!  How much more for a book that will bring you success and prosperity all the days of your life. 

Get excited about the Bible.  Look at it with new eyes.  Whether you have it on your phone or have a paper Bible, treasure it.  Here are some things you can do to refresh your excitement about God’s word.

Go out and buy a brand new Bible.  Sometimes it helps to buy a new Bible.  There are so many variations on the Bible that can stimulate your approach to God’s word.  Try a study Bible or chronological Bible.  A Bible that offers space in the margins for notes can help.  Figure out what works for you to bring a new passion to God’s word.

Buy a new translation every year.  Reading the same translation year after year can bring a comfortable feeling of familiarity to your Bible study.  It can also turn your active mind off and set you into mental cruise control as you read through page after page without remembering what you just read.  A new translation can often force your mind out of a mental rut and cause you to start consciously thinking about what you are actually reading.  New translations are coming out every year.  Try a new one to stimulate your excitement.

Read through the Bible every year.  This is one of the best practices that keeps your interest in God’s word burning hot.  Download a PDF file that will guide you through the Bible in one year.  This will keep you from the “flip and find” method of random scripture study.  It will broaden your love and knowledge of God’s word and the background to Jesus’ arrival.  One of the easiest ways to do this is to look up how many pages there are in your Bible, divide it by the number of days in the year, 365 and that will tell you how many pages to read each day.  Keep a post it note or bookmark handy to keep track of your location.  The only downside of this method is that it can be difficult slogging through the entire Old Testament before reaching the New Testament in the last quarter of the year.  One way to fix that is to alternate readings every day or for every two pages of the Old Testament, read one of the New.  This year I’m following the 52 Week Bible Reading Plan by Michael Coley.  Every day I read a passage from a different genre of the Bible such as letters, law, history, Psalms, poetry, prophecy and gospels.  You can find the link below. [1]

Carve out time every day

God told Joshua, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night.”  Joshua was commanded forcefully to make the Bible a daily habit of his life.  One of the best and most important ways to do this is to read your Bible first thing in the morning.  Do it before you check your phone or schedule.  Try doing it before you get out of bed.  Satan’s plan is to drown you in trivial details and get you to forget your devotion to God’s word.  You have to KEEP it on your lips.  Read or listen to at least a chapter a day of God’s word.  Those who experience growth in their spiritual lives prioritize the consumption of God’s word.  I force myself to get into God’s word as soon as I sit down to my desk after getting a cup of coffee in the morning. 

Keep it on your lips

I think God is telling Joshua to use the Bible in his daily conversation and normal activities of life.  Memorization of important passages is powerful in times of trouble, temptation and transition.  I keep a stack of 3x5 cards that are lined and whenever I run into a passage that physically impacts me, I write it out on the card.  I have a stack of cards that I started thirty years ago.  When I travel, I will bring them with me and pull them out.  It’s like having a “greatest hits” album with you at all times.  I know that each scripture I look at will be one of my favorites and deeply impacting. 

I’ve also use the Navigator’s memorization system to memorize scriptures.  They print and sell powerful scriptures from the Bible and can really help in keeping God’s word on your lips. 

The impact of this practice reveals itself in two ways.  When you are facing challenges, you can call up scriptures from within that can help you with whatever you are facing.  You don’t need to flip through the Bible to find them.  Secondly, when you are talking to others, you can drop in scriptures into your conversation that can counsel and encourage others.  The power of your conversation intensifies based on the power and wisdom of God’s word.

Meditate of God’s Word Day and Night

Meditating on God’s word is simply ruminating or thinking deeply about God’s word.  Meditation is integral to eastern religions and yet not limited to them.  God was calling his people to use meditation to deepen their walk with him three thousand years ago.  How can we do this?  Take time to think about what you just read.  Read long enough that your mind gets in sync with what you are reading about.  Sometimes it takes 10 minutes or longer before your mind settles down and starts really connecting with a passage.  That’s why as a younger Christian I recommend reading for volume as opposed to isolating single passages for deeper study.  If you are less than a year old as a Christian, your first assignment should be to first read through the entire New Testament and then read through the Old Testament.  A broad view of God’s word and his dealings with men will allow you to think more deeply and give you the context to drill down and understand better any singular passage.  Keeping notes or a journal of what you are reading can help you meditate on the meaning.  I like to read and then meditate on what I just read.  I kneel on my prayer bench and think about what God was trying to communicate to me that morning. 

Don’t turn from it to the right or left

Reading, knowing, meditating and memorizing God’s word is important but incomplete.  God’s intention is that we are so influenced by his commands that it affects our daily behavior.  This is what made Joshua one of the greatest generals and leaders of all time.  And that is what we will cover in the next chapter.

[1] https://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf

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Listen today as I talk to David Hedrick.  David is forming a team to plant a new church in Rome, Italy in the spring of 2025.  In this episode he talks about:

·        What inspired him to plant a church in Rome

·        What challenges he sees for those on the team

·        How he’s forming the team

·        What it’s like to plant a church at the age of 64

·        What challenges he’s faced over his life as a Christian

·        What a person needs to know if they want to join the team.

You can reach David Hedrick at:  [email protected] or 615-828-1236

For more information about the mission team go to romeexpedition.com

Please support the Rob Skinner Podcast with a gift today.  Please click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner

In this episode I interview a couple in their fifties from southern India.  They had their own business in Bangalore, India and were about to celebrate their son’s wedding when they felt God’s call to go on the mission field to Ballari, a city of 700,000 people six hours north of Bangalore.  They moved in 2019 right before COVID.  They started leading a small church of 30 disciples and then entered the pandemic lockdown.  Listen as they share about how:

·        The church has grown from 30 to 135 disciples.

·        They have sent three young people off to a school for missions.

·        Thirty of their churches members went on a short term missionary trip to the neighboring city of Vijaynagar, reached out and now there is a church there with 18 disciples.

·        They studied with one couple who became disciples and went back to their home town and converted ten of their family members.

·        They are in the process of planting another new church in the city of Davanagere.

·        What motivates them to live a radical Christian life at this stage of their lives.

 This episode is translated from Tamil to English. 

Amul and Rita live in Ballari, Karnataka, India and can be reached at [email protected]

Jeba Premkumar kindly provided Tamil/English interpretation for today's podcast.

Christy and Lucy, ministers from Bangalore are also on the call and can be reached at [email protected]

In this episode, I talk to Ryan Painter, who leads a church in Cleveland, Ohio.  Listen as he shares:

·        How he became a disciple at Ohio State

·        His struggles with anxiety and panic attacks and how he manages this while leading a church and preaching

·        How he has seen God bless the church this year with 9 baptisms in four months in a church of 85 disciples. 

·        What he did and would recommend to get a church that has stalled to grow and baptize again.

·        Why he feels like having fun is essential to making this life counts.

You can reach Ryan at [email protected]

Join me as I talk to Dr. Sean St. Jean, author of his new book, "Spiritual Trauma."  I recently met Sean and read his book and we talk about his background, his book and why he wrote it.

More about Dr. Sean St. Jean:

Dr. Sean St. Jean is a full-time professor at King University in Tennessee, teaching therapy at a graduate level. He is also a therapist in private practice, and has worked with hundreds of disciples and ministry staff around the world who are struggling spiritual trauma, workplace stress, and ministry burnout. His new book, Spiritual Trauma: A Guide to Healing Your Heart From Church Hurts was just released this fall and can be found at seanstjean.com. Sean, his wife Erin, and their 3 children currently live in British Columbia, Canada, and are active members of the Vancouver Church of Christ.

Dr. Sean St. Jean can be reached at [email protected]