A resource for the restless

On Starting Something New, by Beth Booram

Uncertain. Analytical. Restless.

That’s not exactly how I imagined I would feel when a dream signaled its presence. 

The box I put dreams into was labeled: big picture thinking, dramatic visions for life, and clouds with silver linings. Spurred on by the wind in their sails, dreams always gave quick answers for a ten-year plan and the resources (real or imagined) to match. Dreams lived at a pace that was unstoppable and had sticky note stacks to prove that their ideas wouldn’t be topped. 

If that’s what dreams were, there were none in my box. Although I had interests, desires, skills, gifts, hobbies, frustrations, responsibilities, convictions, and burdens, those didn’t seem like ingredients for any specific dream recipe.  

Dreams, in my mind, were imposters, brushed off with a smirk and without a second thought. 

What a joke. 

Dreams were subject to quick dismissal, like a puppy wandering into my backyard. 

You’re cute, but you belong to someone else. 

Dreams also risked failure, and that didn’t sound necessary - or dreamy. 

I think I’ll pass.

I had it all wrong, and I almost missed out.

“I have a growing sense that many people live with creative, Spirit-inspired ideas stirring inside them, but have little to no clue (and sometimes courage) how to pay attention to and nurture those dreams.”

-Beth A. Booram, Starting Something New

It’s always difficult to summarize a book in which I’ve highlighted paragraph after paragraph, so I’ll confine my takeaways to the words of the title:

Starting: Beginnings are usually small. Small things are fragile and easily ignored or crushed, but if they’re nourished little by little, they may grow into an oak tree.

Something: It’s hard to explain. A dream begins more like a longing than a defined goal. 

New: One step brings you to the next, which leads to the next, and that’s how God takes you where you’ve never been before. “Way leads to way”.

If you’re restlessly trying to discern God’s prompting in your heart, try Starting Something New.

Two books for your road trip, roadblock, or rough road ahead

On The Red Sea Rules & The Jordan River Rules, by Robert J. Morgan

I was living in a high rise apartment in a Brazilian city of 1.5 million people when I took the plunge into The Red Sea Rules; I was settled in suburbia surrounded by corn fields in the state of Indiana when I dove into The Jordan River Rules.  A decade of time and a continent of space separated the two occasions, and, from the outside, the surroundings couldn’t have been more distinct from one another. But, on the inside, I was asking the same questions:

Did we take a wrong turn? Will we make it through?

Brazil was definitively foreign, presenting monumental hurdles I’d never faced before, but Indiana felt unexpectedly foreign, challenging lessons I thought I’d already passed.  Although I knew God had called us, that was my only anchor in the uncertainty of following Him in each place. 

Robert J. Morgan’s books are short and simply written, perhaps intentionally approachable for the one who feels overwhelmed by life’s twists and turns. Morgan follows the storyline and draws out principles from Israel’s most historic moment crossing the Red Sea and then from their lesser-known journey through the Jordan River. 

Both books highlight ten “rules” about walking by faith, and #6 in each list was clarifying for me. One translates faith into small movements forward, and the other points to the expectation that each step forward carries with it:

Red Sea Rule #6: When unsure, just take the next logical step by faith.

Jordan River Rule # 6: Prepare today for tomorrow’s wonders.

Physical moves happen to play a major role in my particular walk of faith, but tests of faith are never really about the apparent obstacle; they’re about the faith beneath the surface. Whether your faith is being challenged by a catastrophic impasse (Red Sea), or you’re surprised by the challenge of a secondary barrier in a new phase of life (Jordan River), Morgan’s "rules" can bridge the gap by building your faith.  

The Conclusion, 1 John 5:11-21

You know the feeling when you’re not really sure how to bring everything you’ve been saying to the finish line so you can stop talking? You’ve made all the points you were hoping to make, and you find yourself in a mental scramble to reach the conclusion. For me, that attempt often sounds like mumbled phrases, disconnected from the main points, and it comes out as, “So… yeah… that’s what I’m thinking”. 

1 John ends exactly opposite of that. Instead of slowly trailing off into the sunset, it’s more like approaching a mountain summit, only to realize that as the end comes into sight, it demands greater focus. The final stretch includes the toughest hurdles. Confidence in answered prayers, sin leading to death, and avoiding idolatry are major themes, jutting out like jagged rocks at the peak of this conclusion. Let’s navigate them briefly.

Since God hears our individual prayers, we have confidence that if we’ve asked for something He has promised, like eternal life through His Son, He will give it to us (2:25; 3:23; 4:9; 5:11,12). Assurance that He answered this foundational prayer allows for certainty that God will answer other requests; doubts about God giving eternal life will break down confidence that He’ll respond to any additional prayers.  

Have I experienced uncertainty in prayer because I doubt whether God responded to my request for eternal life?

We’ve already learned in 1 John that we can pray confidently if we’re living obediently (3:21,22), and now we learn that we can pray confidently if we’re asking submissively, deferring to God’s will being done (5:14,15). There is mystery in prayer, but if our lives and requests align with God’s will, we will have what we’ve asked for if it is God’s will. Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane is the primary example I cling to when I long for something in prayer.  Although Jesus aligned perfectly with God’s will, His request to be spared suffering the Father’s judgment against sin, was not God’s will (Matthew 26:39). Even Jesus had a desire which God didn’t grant, but that does not mean it was wrong to have that desire or that it was wrong to ask for it. He ultimately asked for the Father’s will above His own desire, and in this way, His prayer was answered. 

Have I been too afraid to pray because I’ll doubt God if my desire is not His will?

Have I been too afraid to put my desire in a secondary position to God’s will, because I imagine that my will would turn out better than His will?  

As an extension of living life in fellowship with God, we live in relationship to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Members in God’s family share a proximity like members of a body, called to be lovingly concerned for each other’s well-being and prayerfully aware of the other’s struggles. Physical sickness and spiritual wandering are both cases where believers in the church body are to come alongside in prayer (James 5:13-20). Before we get caught up in defining “sin leading to death”, we ask ourselves a bigger-picture question: 

Do I have close enough relationships that others can recognize and pray about sin in my life? 

Sin can cause two kinds of death: physical and/or spiritual. Spiritual death is a result of denying who Jesus is, and it’s evident in a lifestyle of disobedience and a perpetual lack of love (1 John 2:3, 3:14, 5:11,12,18). True believers in Christ cannot commit sin that indicates or leads to spiritual death, as taught in 1 John and elsewhere (John 10:28; Ephesians 1:13,14, 4:30; 2 Corinthians 1:22).

Physical death exists in the world because of sin’s presence in it (Romans 5:12). Scripture does include occasional cases where believers were disciplined by God for the severity of their sin through sickness or premature physical death (note the reasons for discipline in Acts 5:1-10 & 1 Corinthians 11:28-32). Not all physical suffering is because of a specific sin, but, as difficult as it may be for us to understand, sometimes this is how God corrects His child. 

Sin in our lives as believers disrupts fellowship with God and limits the power of Jesus’ life flowing through us, like pressure on a garden hose slows the supply of life for the plants. When we pray for our brother or sister whose life is hindered because of “sin not leading to death”, our desire is that their repentance would allow them to fully experience the life God offers. The kind of life God promises is abundant life in Christ (1 John 1:3,4,7,9; John 10:10), so we pray for and expect God to give what He promises.

Do I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ to experience abundant life in Him?

My prayer for you as we conclude 1 John, is that since Jesus is the true God and eternal life, you would run from whatever threatens to become a substitute god or a substitute life. As you do, may you fully experience your eternal life, filled with God’s light and His love in real life.

So… yeah… that’s what I’m thinking.

The Proof is in the Testimonies, 1 John 5:6-12

In 8th grade, I wrote a Christmas play for elementary students. In the script, a group of kids traveled back in time to the scene of Jesus’ birth (true, not the most original plot!). I gave it the title, “Eye-Witness Christmas”. Complete with classic bathrobe costumes and refrigerator-box-turned-time-machine, the play climaxed with the actors’ strengthened faith because of what they saw and heard beside the manger. I wouldn’t have been able to articulate it back then, but perhaps part of the reason I was drawn to the idea of eye-witness testimonies, was to emphasize to my heart that my wavering faith could steady itself on Jesus being true rather than on my testimony being radical.

Eye-witnesses attest to what they experience, and although individuals see from various angles and viewpoints, cohesion between them points to truth. John himself was an eye-witness to Jesus’ life, and he opened this book with “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it…” 1 John 1:2. He and the other apostles could be sure about who Jesus was, because God left them with clear evidence. He longs to strengthen our faith by their witness.

 Jesus’ identity is confirmed by three striking testimonies: the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Having spent most of the book analyzing our personal lives for evidence of eternal life, 1 John 5:6-12 turns our attention to the One who is the foundation of eternal life. The Spirit, the water, and the blood agree about who Jesus is, like first-hand witnesses. 

The testimony of the Spirit. Across time, the Spirit of God has been invariably testifying about the identity of the Messiah. He prompted prophecy after prophecy about the Messiah’s arrival, describing in scripture what He would be like, what He would accomplish, and how He would suffer. Jesus came and fulfilled His time on earth, and then He returned to His Father. In His physical absence, the Spirit was sent to dwell in His followers to comfort and convict, teach and transform, growing them into Christlikeness. When we confess Christ as personal Savior, it’s evidence of this same Spirit testifying within us to the truth of Jesus. The consistent witness of the Spirit is the reason John says we must “test the spirits” to see whether they’re in alignment with what the Spirit has been saying all along about Christ. 

The testimony of the water. All four Gospels include the baptism of Jesus at the launch of His public ministry. There, the sights and sounds by the water’s edge fulfilled predictions from the prophet Isaiah that the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon the Messiah, the beloved One of God, anointed to bring good news to the people. On-lookers at His baptism could remember these prophecies and realize that Jesus was God’s long-awaited Chosen One. The Bible knowledge Commentary explains that a false belief in the first century claimed “that the divine Christ descended on the man Jesus at His baptism and left Him before His crucifixion.” In other words, Jesus was a mere human, only partially and temporarily inhabited by God, and He could not pay for sinners’ salvation, since He was just a man when He died. This kind of denial that Jesus is God in the flesh is anti-Christ, one of the repeated warnings in this book and the reason we stand on the additional witness of His blood.

The testimony of the blood.  This isn’t the first time we’ve read about blood in 1 John. Back in 1:7, we read that “the blood of Jesus Christ, [God’s] Son, cleanses us from all sin.” And in 2:2, we’re told that “[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins.” 

To understand the purpose of Jesus’ bloodshed, we look back to the Old Testament. Animal sacrifices offered on behalf of God’s people depicted and anticipated The Lamb of God who would once and for all be the atoning sacrifice for sin. This Lamb would bear God’s just wrath against sin, removing its penalty and defeating its power for all who would put their trust in His life as their substitutionary payment. What the lambs’ blood could not do in the past, Jesus did, cleansing His followers from the inside out. 

Although our salvation testimonies are each unique works of God, our faith isn’t built on subjective experiences. Faith rests on the historical reality of Jesus, testified to by the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Together, they uphold and unify our individual testimonies as the common ground we share by faith in Christ. As intriguing as time travel may be, the evidence is strong enough without it.

“And this is the testimony, that God us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” 1 John 5:11

Before & After, 1 John 5:6-12

I love seeing a house transformed from lifeless to energized, and I always smile at a homeowner’s shock that it was even possible. 

But I’ve never gasped in delight about the electric being rewired (Before, it was a mangled fire hazard, but now just look how orderly and straight it is!). I haven’t shaken my head in wonder because the water heater was replaced (Before, only the early risers got hot showers, but now even the teenagers do!). I haven’t sat down to take in the details about the HVAC being installed (Before, we would shiver in winter and sweat in summer!). As major as these changes are, they just don’t have the visual appeal I’m expecting.

Salvation testimonies are before and after stories, and we love to hear about drastic visible changes in a life. And we should! But the primary changes in salvation are unseen realities that tend to be forgotten behind the drywall of visible change. Children who grow up learning about Jesus and who trust Him at early ages must be reassured that before and after is first spiritual, or we’ve done a disservice to our kids in the church service. 

Platforming only the type of testimonies that have visible before and after changes, raises doubts in children and teens about whether their salvation experience is as valid as someone who has a lifestyle transformation story; they feel pressured to concoct a before about themselves; they’re convinced that - at best - their testimony is just plain boring, and - at worst - invalid. As parents or grandparents, youth workers or pastors, we can play a role by celebrating the spiritual before and after testimony just as wildly as we applaud a visible before and after.

Before, I was lost, but now I’m found.  Luke 15:24

Before, I was dead, but now I’m alive.   Ephesians 2:4,5

Before, I was far from God, but now I’m near.  Ephesians 2:13

Before, I was in debt, but now I’m forgiven.  Colossians 2:13-15

Before, I was enslaved, but now I’m freed.  Hebrews 2:14,15

Any changes Christ makes in our lives are reasons for joy and evidence of His presence, but our individual stories are not the foundation upon which the truth of Jesus ultimately rests. In chapter 5:6-12, John takes us from analyzing our lives and turns our attention outside of ourselves to the identity of the One who is the foundation of our eternal life.

Jesus is not the Messiah because He changed my life and fulfilled me; 

Jesus is the Messiah because He gave His life and fulfilled prophecy.

Jesus isn’t the Chosen One because I picked Him over Muhammed or Buddah; 

He’s Chosen because the Father declared it and the Spirit affirmed it. 

Jesus isn’t the payment for sin because I feel forgiven and free; 

Jesus is the payment for sin because the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.

These three striking testimonies - the Spirit, the water, and the blood - define Jesus, upholding and uniting our various individual testimonies as the common ground we share by faith in Him. 

Have you celebrated your own spiritual before & after? Have you ever encouraged a teen who confessed Christ as a child by celebrating their spiritual before & after?