Mighty Men of God
January 11, 2004
"[Eleazar] was with David when
they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then
the men of Israel retreated, but Eleazar stood his ground and struck
down the Philistines until his hand grew tired and froze to the sword.
The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned
to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead...Such were the exploits of the
...mighty men."
2 Samuel 23:9-10, 17
On Friday, January 2, I flew back into
Portland from Hanoi, Vietnam. I could not wait to return home to be
with Elena and all of you in the Portland Church. That Friday evening
was the beginning of our 2004 Congregational Workshop entitled
"Mighty Men of God." To kick-off the Workshop that evening,
all the Bible Talk Leaders gathered at our house. With the visiting
brother and sisters from Eugene as well as all the new Bible Talk
Leaders, 40 packed-in disciples brought in the New Year with
boisterous, songs of praise to our God. Then we studied 1 Samuel 14
about Jonathan and his armor-bearer. The theme of the speech was
"Nothing Can Hinder God." The verse actually reads,
"Nothing can hinder God from saving, whether by many or a
few." From the lesson, we all came to a conviction that God is
not limited by numbers, but he still needs "the few" or at
least one mighty man of faith to step up or God can not do any
miracles. (Mark 6:5-6)
Then we saw from the Scriptures the
loyalty that Jonthan and his armor-bearer had to God and then to each
other. That night all of us committed to have relationships where we
are the "Jonathans" for our Bible Talk fellow-workers. We
also committed to God to seek out someone to be our Jonathan, a person
who could call us higher for Christ. As we closed out the evening in
song, all the Bible Talk Leaders felt a renewed trust in God through
the unity in Christ we sensed with one another. This "faith
expressing itself in love" (Galatians 5:6) would leaven the
entire congregation on Saturday.
Steve and Lisa Johnson arrived form New York during the fellowship
Friday night. Saturday morning came very early as Steve, Lisa, Elena
and I talked and prayed until two in the morning! At the Men's
Workshop on Saturday morning, Steve delivered the keynote address on
"David and His Mighty Men." From the Scriptures, Steve
taught that what made these men unique was that no matter what others
did or did not do "they stood their ground" for God. As he
spoke I felt so moved by Steve because he has exemplified those very
words all his life. Steve "stood his ground" in the face of
strong opposition against his move to Boston to be discipled in the
early days. He stood his ground for God to lead the church planting to
New York, a city of 18 million, with just 18 disciples. He stood his
ground as the New York Church reached thousands in attendance and
funded the initial evangelization of the African nations. And most
inspirationally to me, Steve has stood his ground for God during these
hard days of trials, shattered dreams, betrayal and suffering the
consequences of his own character weaknesses and sins. Yet he is still
an evangelist, "his hand is frozen to his sword," the Bible.
Like David, Steve has been humbled, but is still standing and
inspiring men to follow God. I heard from Elena and the sisters that
Lisa likewise delivered an awe-inspiring lesson Saturday afternoon at
the Women's Workshop.
Sunday morning of the Workshop the sermon was entitled, "For Such
A Time As This." We learned that God's ultimate purpose for
everyone is to know God and be saved (Acts 17:25-26). Secondly, God
desires His Kingdom to fill the whole earth. (Daniel 2:35; Acts 1:8)
This is God's collective purpose for His church. Finally we discovered
that God has an individual purpose for each of our lives. Soberingly,
a person can be saved and yet fall short of all that God had destined
for ones life. (Genesis 19) During the sermon, postcards were handed
out to everyone in the audience. Pictured was the Rose Garden, the
home of the Trailblazers, Portland's professional basketball team. One
of our congregational dreams is to meet there for a worship service
someday! On the back of the postcard, there was space to record three
personal Kingdom dreams. Truly, if we have no dream to die for, we
have nothing to live for.
Since we are praying fervently about our congregational and personal
dreams and goals, I believe with of my heart that 2004 will be a year
that our God will do immeasurable more that all we ask or
[dream]." (Ephesians 3:20) Let us all determine to become mighty
men and women of God.
Kip McKean
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