A Portrait of Peter: Training

 From that point on [Luke 5:10] Peter was a full-time disciple, or learner.  In this triaining program, there were no classrooms, no formal requirements, and no written assignments with footnotes and bibliographies.  Peter and the rest of the disciples used a better method.  According to the ancient mode of education, discipleship meant personal attachment to the master. (A Portrait of Peter, Panning, p.7)

Look carefully at this description of Peter's education.  Discipleship is much more than just mentorship.  Peter didn't meet with Jesus once-a-month to check his thinking around his gameplan and results, or to get some counseling to improve his marriage.  Discipleship meant (and should still mean) walking in the footsteps of the master.  Peter spent every day with Jesus.  

Peter was privileged to be at Jesus' side everyday.  He would have seen how he interacted with people.  He had a front-row seat to how, and how often, Jesus prayed.  He witnessed many of his miracles.  He heard all his parables, and probably had Jesus explain them during the down times.  Peter didn't learn from Jesus through his lectures, books, essays, or podcasts.  Peter learned from Jesus by living life side-by-side with him every day.

Peter went from fisherman to apostle by living a life of ministry for three years walking daily with his teacher.  This definitely was not conveyor-belt schooling.  Peter recieved a leadership education.  He could never have learned everything he needed to learn by sitting for hours in a classroom listening to a theoretical lecture on ministry.  Peter was living his lessons every day.  When Jesus taught a lesson it was relevant to the day's events and immediately applicable.  The closest thing we have to discipleship today are apprenticeships, but an apprentice doesn't live his life with his master.  Today's apprentices clock in to work for 8 or 9 hours and then go home.  Peter lived his life with Jesus.

There is coming, and very soon now, a time in which Peter will be very influential in establishing the fledgling Christian church.  Peter and the other apostles were to realize that order and discipline, not anarchy, must rule in the church under the guidance of a leader, Peter, whom Jesus had trained and prepared for that work. (A Portarit of Peter, Panning, p.13)

Peter's three of years of discipleship were preparing him for Jesus' departure from the earth physically.  Peter would be the one all the other apostles and disciples would look to for leadership after Jesus ascended into heaven.  Jesus knew what was needed.  He knew who he had assigned this responsibility.  He was intentional about training and preparing Peter for his calling: 

        Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men."

        So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed him.

        Luke 5:10-11

It's interesting to me that through true discipleship Peter was trained for his call, which was significant, in three years of serving alongside his master.  

Today it takes more than eight years to train men for the ministry.  Likely, because instead of serving while they're learning, they are isolated from the world they will be serving.  Spending everyday in a classroom instead of the mission field.

My dream is that one day the church will make a move back to discipleship and leave behind schooling.  The world can have its conveyor-belt schooling.  The church needs discipleship.

God bless.

Jason Fredrick

God Has Not Abandoned You

Psalm 138:6 

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever-
do not abandon the works of your hands.

Do you ever feel like you've been abandoned by the Lord?  Does it seem like God has left you to fend for yourself?

If you ever feel that way, take encouragement from this Psalm of David.  

Not only does God have a purpose for you, but he will fulfill that purpose for you.  You are not alone.  God has not abandoned you.  It may feel like it.  Your life may be crumbling down around you.  Your health may be failing.  But God has not forgotten you.

Jesus has promised, "And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)

When life gets tough and everything is going against you, it can be difficult to remember this promise of Jesus.  It's so easy to get caught up in your struggles and hardships, and that's right where Satan wants you.  He wants you to take your focus off Jesus and focus all your attention on yourself.  And its so easy to do.  As sinful people, we are all naturally bent on focusing on ourselves.

This is when it's so important for you to run back to Jesus in his Word.  The harder your life is right now the more you need to be in God's Word everyday.  You will not find answers or relief in complaining about your situation.  You will only find anwers and relief in the comfort and encouragement found in Scripture.  That is where Jesus is found.

As the Psalm above says, "God's love endures forever."  Never forget it.  Never doubt it.  Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you.

God bless

Jason Fredrick

Let Your Praise Come from Others

 Proverbs 27:2

Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;

someone else, and not your own lips.

This is a challenge for most of us.  We would much rather make sure everyone knows all the great things we have done instead of waiting for someone else to tell the world.  I think, so often, our biggest fear in this matter is that no one will.  We fear that no one will talk about how awesome we are and tell others about us.  This fear drives us to boasting and praising ourselves.

How much do you enjoy being around people who are constantly singing their own praises?  How much fun is it to spend time with a self-promoter?  How often do you fall into the trap of being one of these two characters?

Being around proud and arrogant people is miserable.  People get sick of them very quickly.  If this is you, I have news for you:  The reason no one is talking about your awesomeness is because you aren't.  No one cares about how great you think you are.

Letting someone else edify you and tell others about the great things you have done is difficult.  It requires humility.  Most of the time, the things other people think are awesome about you and tell others about is stuff you don't think is that big of a deal.  It's just a natural part of who you are, but some people see it as what makes you amazing.

This brings up another point about boasting.  Often the stuff we boast about isn't really that great.  People hear it and think, "Really?  You think that's awesome?  Everybody does that, they just do it better."

What we say, and how we say it tells people alot about us.  If you want people to think highly of you it's time to stop making that the focus of your interactions with others.  Be humble.  Talk about them.  Ask them questions about themselves and be impressed with what they tell you.  Stop trying so hard to be impressive to others.  Stop praising yourself and let others praise you-if there is anything worthy of praise.

God bless.

Jason Fredrick

Take Jesus at his Word

John 4:46-53

Once more he [Jesus] visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.  And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.  When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."

The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

Jesus replied, "You may go.  Your son will live."

The man took Jesus at his word and departed.  While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living.  When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him at the seventh hour."

Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live."  So he and all his household believed. 

Do you ever have trouble with taking Jesus at his word?  Jesus has made a number of promises to us in his Word, the Bible.  He has promised to provide for our every need.  He has promised to take care of us.  He has promised to be with us always and never abandon us.  Do you find it difficult to remember and trust these promises when you're experiencing great challenges and difficulties in your life?

What if you stopped worrying about every little thing in life and trusted Jesus to take care of it?  

What if you stopped giving into your fears and starting trusting Jesus to carry you through that situation that is scaring you?

While it can be difficult to let go of fear and worry, you can.  You can lay it all before Jesus and trust that he will take care of it.  When you turn to Jesus and stop worrying about possible outcomes to situations, you find that things rarely work out as badly as you had been imagining.  Jesus is able to work in and through other people to resolve problems in simple ways that you have overlooked. 

When you let go of fear and trust Jesus you find that those things you have been fearing aren't that big of a deal.  Whether it's stepping outisde your comfort zone to take on a new responsibility at work or having a difficult conversation with your spouse; Jesus is able to give you the ability to handle it.  And often you will find that fear creates scary monsters out of situations that you are capable of handling.  You can do an excellent job making that presentation at work.  Your spouse loves you and wants to have that conversation with you because they want to strengthen your marriage.  

Do not be afraid that others will react negatively toward you when you step out of your comfort zone.  Even if you mess it up on your first try most people are gracious enough to appreciate that you did try.  Too many people won't even take that first step. 

Fear and worry are birthed out of a lack of faith.  Fear and worry hold us back from so much in life.  The only way to truly kill fear and worry is to take Jesus at his word:

Matthew 6:31-34

So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?"  or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?"  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kindgdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.

You can lay your fears and worries at the feet of Jesus with confidence, trusting his love for you, because he has displayed his love for you by laying down his life for you.  He is the atoning sacrifice that paid the price for all your sins.  Because he has redeemed you with his blood, you can trust his love for you.  You can trust his greatest promise: all your sins are forgiven and you have eternal life through faith in him.  Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you.  In Jesus, you have nothing to fear.

God bless.

Jason Fredrick

True Wisdom Leads to Humility and Peace

 2 Timothy 2:22-26

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.  And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.  Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

"Don't have anythng to do with foolish and stupid arguments."  How would your life change if you could take this advice to heart?  How many of your problems and quarrels with other people come from this trap?  If we're honest, don't most conversations on politics turn into this: foolish and stupid arguments?

Sadly, no matter what community you belong to, this will always be a challenge because if there's a community there are people there.  This is a problem that can only be caused by people, you and them.  Others aren't the only source of this problem.  Often times you are.  Just like them, you are a selfish arrogant sinner.  This is why Paul gives Timothy, and us, the advice to avoid foolish and stupid arguments.

Paul is encouraging us to guard ourselves from being drawn into this nonsense.  The guidance he gives us to help guard against this is to remember: you are the Lord's servant, be kind to everyone, and approach the situation as a teaching opportunity.  Essentially, he is telling us to keep our emotions in check and love the other person enough to want to lead them back to Jesus.  We want to instruct them in the truth so as to help them turn away from their sinful attitudes and behaviors.

When these situations come up with other people it is helpful to remember that the quarreling person has been caught in a trap of the devil.  In that moment, he has taken them captive to do his will.  What they need is for us to be compassionate and patient with them.  We need to care enough to lovingly instruct them in the truth to help them escape the trap they have been caught in.  We can not do this if we allow ourselves to get caught up in a quarrel.  Satan loves division, especially in Christ's church.

This teaching of the Apostle Paul is a key way to squash conflicts before they get started:

 Love obstinate people enough to instruct them in the truth with the hope of leading them to repentance.  

The goal is to lead them to Jesus, and remind them they are forgiven for his sake, so they can grow in faith and wisdom.

James 3:13-18

Who is wise and understanding among you?  Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom.  But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.  Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.  For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

God bless

Jason Fredrick