Hi all,
I find the Lord continually redirecting my attention to the simplicity of walking with Him; maybe you find He is doing that too.
It’s more than just getting older. I sense for those who have an ear to hear, He is asking His body to return to the simplicity of faith, of our first love. I believe this is in part to prepare us for a rough future (in the West). Once a person becomes focused on simply trusting the Lord, then whatever comes cannot truly hurt that person.
Young people scale mountains, travel to the far reaches of the earth to see new sights and experience all the world has to offer. They have the drive to climb the corporate ladder, and maybe train their body relentlessly to ‘stay in shape’. But one day, after they scaled that mountain, traveled where they wanted to go, gone as high as they’re going to go at work, and watched their body fight back against trying to stay young, a new season emerges. They learn their body is changing, and goals that used to mean so much to them aren’t any longer in their field of view.
They enter a season of balance (or seek it), just living, just going about the life they’ve established, walking with the Lord. For some, they wonder if the Lord has more for them, if they missed Him by their new-found slow down of middle age. Micah’s words from 6:8 start to make sense and brings comfort and peace: “He has shown you O man, the good, and what YHWH seeks from you; Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”
There are spiritual parallels to this.
We are told to ‘desire the ‘logical’ (Gk: logoikos) Word of God so we may grow as newborn babies.’ (I Peter 2:2) Do you remember that first insatiable hunger to learn all you could about the Bible, scripture, the Word? If you’re reading this and that’s you – great! Follow that hunger, learn all you can, sort the true and balanced teaching from the off-balance. That is part of growing up. Remember the toddler that loved broccoli but now can leave it on the plate? A child drinks milk, then eats various foods that have been processed into liquid, and then once teeth are in, they learn to eat even more foods. They leave milk and liquid foods behind to discover solid food.
Spiritual growth is like that. We are told not to be tossed to and fro like a child in the wind and waves by every new teaching and so called revelation that comes along, like little children who are so easily distracted. (Ephesians 4: 14) When you’ve explored all the peripheral teachings, have a list of churches you’ve visited as long as your arm, a new season emerges: You settle in and settle down to just walk with the Lord, walking with the Father, looking for people on the same spiritual page.
But I’ve known many spiritual babies who have known the Lord for decades, but haven’t grown beyond baby stage. A spiritual baby according to Paul, can be seen by the speed at which they enter into strife and divisions and are tossed back and forth by off-balance teachings and beliefs. I I Corinthians 3: 1-3 Paul told them they were such spiritual babies they couldn’t even handle the milk he fed them. Their strife, envy and divisions marked their spiritual babyhood.
It seems the Lord watches us explore each of the new teachings and ‘revelations’ that we come across so that He may know our heart. He lets us work through strife and divisions, for all these things reveal either babyhood or growing in a developing keen spiritual perception that ignores that which doesn’t bring us closer to Him.
He hopes we will realize He is the Truth and that we will drop that which is unimportant, will stop being tossed back and forth as a little child, and grow into maturity. He waits for that day, when our focus returns to the simplicity we once had when we first came to Him. We regain our first love having dropped all the other suitors (teachings and ‘revelations, strifes and divisions). Times are coming to western Christianity that will cause those who have been enjoying babyhood a bit too long considering the length of time they’ve known Him, to decide.
As I pray for 2027 and asked about preparing for changes we might encounter, and my mind wonders about all the possibilities, I keep being brought back to simplicity. There is peace in my spirit. My mind wonders how it will all play out, but I bring my mind back to the peace in my spirit. He has always provided, He does now, He will in the future. God’s economy is not bound by man’s economy. He is the King of kings, so His government is more powerful than man’s government.
Just walk with Him. James wrote in 3: 14-18 the wisdom of this earth is confusion, born of strife and is ‘sensual’, meaning sense focused (on what we feel, emotions). It is the Greek word psuchikos, meaning ‘of the soul’. He then says the wisdom of God is from above, and is peace, peaceful, reasonable, and produces the fruit of righteousness.
When we transition to laying aside those things which complicate our life and faith, we receive peace. That’s really what it gets down to; peace. But we have to settle the mind and emotions to allow the peace in our spirit to ‘float’ up to our thoughts. We have to rest, to cease from our own worries. Once we recognize that peace, it is our choice to receive it, or not. Colossians 3: 15 says: “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you are invited, in one body, and be thankful.”
The Greek word ‘rule’ here is ‘brabueo’ and means to ‘to be an umpire’, to ‘arbitrate’.
Paul says to let the peace of God be the umpire in our hearts. Think of that – you have a peace in your spirit, then you watch something online that makes you afraid. You know fear and confusion are from Satan, so in your mind you wonder what is going to happen, what should you do. Then you shift attention and sense the peace in your spirit. Do you let the Spirit of God make the call? Do you let His peace be the final word in the matter? Is peace in your spirit the final decision? It is a must to learn this skill if you want to grow in Christ. A must.
Paul restates it to the Romans in 12: 1-3: “..undergo a metamorphosis (renew) in your mind and then you’ll be able to prove in your life the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.” There is no other way. Your spirit has been recreated by the Spirit of God so you and you alone must allow Him to umpire in your heart – to make the call between peace or confusion and fear.
We want a smooth life and that means surrounding ourselves with people of peace, peace in the same season of life no matter their physical age. Seek peace, close the doors to teachings and people who bring confusion…it’s that simple. Boundaries. Being more selective who you let into your life.
KWOWI: You can see above that a year after our small business training seminar there are over 45 businesses started (about 80 attended the training, so 50% success is amazing). The KWOWI kids continue to do well, their families helped, with dreams seeming just a bit more attainable. Thank you for your support.
Kwowi.org
Fiji house churches: House church is a living, breathing thing because we are temples of the Holy Spirit, so there is always change. When someone dies, transitioning to heaven, it leaves a hole in the heart of that body that can’t be filled this side of heaven. In the past year, and this year in particular, we have lost several friends, members of, and leaders in our network. One of those was Nancy in Fiji, who died August 14. You know how when you get to heaven you want to meet people in person that you didn’t meet on earth? Nancy is one of those for me (John). She faithfully led the house church(es) in Fiji many years, discipling the saints with her love. I know they miss her and I do too, though we only ‘talked’ electronically. One day there will be that meeting and reunion. Here is a link to our Network Update page where you can see some good pictures from last year.
What would we do if we didn’t have Jesus? What would we do without the assurance of heaven? We are so thankful for the relationships we have, and long for the day to meet in person. Years ago a group of us from the Tulsa house church had a big going away dinner for someone moving to another city. Barb had a vision as we all sat around a big table talking, eating, just enjoying each other’s presence. She suddenly saw each of us in white robes of righteousness, what we looked like in the Spirit, and she knew that our time in heaven together would be just like that, and ‘this doesn’t end’ – that level of fellowship, community, and family won’t end. Ah…we look for that day.
UK Conference: See above for information and registration. Our international conferences are always rich in the Lord in so many ways. It is a family reunion as well as a chance to meet people who you instantly feel like you’ve known for years. With that come meals together, rich and flowing worship, teachings and time to get those questions answered. We like to keep the numbers small, 100 or less, so we can have that quality time as family in Christ.
I understand the closest airport is East Midlands in Manchester, about 34 miles away (55km), and there are trains into town, so getting there should be pretty easy. Yarnfield Park is a beautiful facility (yarnfieldpark.com) in a very pretty part of England – consider joining us.
News from Brian:
Hey everyone! I wanted to take a moment to remind you that my dad and I are doing a biweekly podcast! Right now, we’re in the middle of discussing my dad’s tour of Heaven, so be sure to tune in and follow along with us at https://www.youtube.com/@
Also, the audiobook of Resilient Faith is now available on most major audiobook platforms. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, give it a listen!
Thanks so much for following along and supporting what we’re doing!
John, Barb, Chris. We are well. When we miss a Friday time with Chris, it is usually due to ministry travel and commitments. I always ask him if it is okay for me to go tell people about Jesus, and he always says, “It’s okay, Dad, you go.” For him, it means a week away from Mom and Dad, but knowing Dad is telling people about Jesus. His simple faith, though clad with physical and mental challenges, continually brings us back to the child-like simplicity of walking with the Father and Lord; Chris is about 4 years old mentally, but age 46.
Thank you for your prayers and support!
John & Barb, Brian and Amy
