Conversation #1—Jack Graham & Mark Driscoll | James MacDonald moderating

Choosing where to plant your flag in ministry is a huge decision for young pastors. Listen in as Jack Graham responds to a question about maintaining fluidity and movement within the SBC, and discussion turns toward the differing characteristics of denominations and networks.

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You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. —2 Timothy 3:10-11

I wrote one word as I was reading Paul’s itinerary of personal examples: encouragement. I can persevere because Paul did. Both the passage above and 2 Corinthians 11:16-33 offer stunning overviews of what Paul survived as he delivered the Gospel message around the Mediterranean. In Acts (for example 16:16-24) we read individual events in slow and gruesome motion. But how many people who know something about Paul’s career and various trials would be thinking to themselves, “That is nothing! I have been through way worse things than that!?”

Okay, well because I can’t imagine anyone being able to think that, I am pretty sure we could all agree that Paul sets a good example of perseverance. No matter how difficult my week has been or how many painful relationships or circumstances or uncertainties about the future I am going through, I have not had to go through anything worse than what Paul went through. The same God who helped him and strengthened him and turbo-ed his victory is available to me. Because they persevered, I can persevere. That’s good news. No matter what I’m going through—it doesn’t matter how hard it’s been, God will help me. 

But let’s admit the fact that knowing God will help doesn’t stop us from wishing we could avoid the hardship altogether! So why didn’t God prevent Paul from being stoned? Why didn’t He keep some of those attacks from happening? I don’t know why. But Paul’s testimony was that the Lord rescued him out of it all. Now that’s good news. 

Those who have been at Harvest for a while know that Kathy and I prayed when we were in seminary, “God, we will go anywhere You want us to go, but we want to stay there. We want to go and be in one church.” And if God would allow us, we want to serve God with the same people and grow old together. Sometimes it will be easy; sometimes it will be hard.  Sometimes we’ll get along; sometimes we’ll have to work things out. Either way, we want to persevere. And we know we can only do that in the company of other believers under the guidance of God’s Word and His Spirit. —James MacDonald

Journal

What other Christians have served as your best examples of perseverance under fire?

What have you learned from them?

Prayer

Father, You have filled Your Word with encouraging examples of people who were able to persevere through hardships because they depended on You. Thank You for also bringing people into my life who serve the same purpose. Help me to persevere myself, that others may take encouragement as I point to You as my reason for endurance. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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When people are looking for a church home, they want insider information—to learn what’s behind the service they’ve just attended and the core values the church is built upon. At Harvest Bible Chapel, those values are known as the Four Pillars, and they are founded on Christ Himself.

We’re the kind of church where we want everyone to know that God’s grace can reach them and God’s grace can change them. Here is a new video that we’ve put together to welcome our guests, and to help communicate what our church is all about.

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“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

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Conversation #3—Wayne Cordeiro and James MacDonald | Mark Driscoll moderating

Pastor Wayne Cordeiro was very transparent about his season of exhaustion. I asked Wayne, founder of New Hope Church in Honolulu and author of Leading on Empty, “How can you get burned out in Hawaii?” The thing is, it doesn’t matter where you are or what size your church is. Everyone is susceptible to burnout. Which is why this conversation resonated with many.

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Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!  For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,  when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. —Psalm 95:6-9

How we deal with our sin defines us. David had a pretty good thing going on with God until he chose to sin. He then learned that no amount of spiritual victory can erase the effects of the sin that he chose until he came to a place of repentance. 

For a whole year, David, the mighty king of Israel, refused to repent and covered his sin. Finally, David admitted, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13). He made no excuses and offered no explanations. He flat out took total responsibility.

All change begins with a change of mind. In fact, the Greek word metanoai literally means “to change your mind.” Repentance says in effect, “If I could go back, I would do it differently; I would not make that choice again. The future will show that I truly repent of the past.

Repentance is the way to deal with the next thing that God would change in you. It’s the way to be honest about where you are spiritually—about not being satisfied with status quo. Instead of caving in and saying, “Well, I’m better than most . . .” the follower of Christ presses hard after God, seeking to experience the fullness of joy found in that honest relationship with God.

Is your marriage cold?  Have things been left undone or unsaid? Has your focus been elsewhere? Has the selflessness and loving exchange that should exist in your relationship disappeared? You’ve focused on the other person’s failure, but now focus on your own. First and foremost, this issue is between you and God. You promised God some things. Let His transforming work in you prompt the turning point in your partner’s heart. Deal with your part first.

Maybe you struggle with a personal addiction—a private sin of some kind. God will forgive you if you sincerely repent. You could go forward without this besetting sin. You can be changed. It could start today.

I challenge you, follower of Christ, make a bold decision to turn from sin and repent. Every day of rebellion is another plank kicked out of the bridge back to God. That’s why Psalm 95:7 says, “Today, if you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts.” 

Ordinary repentance—that’s the road that David walked back to God. The route is the same for every true follower of Christ. —James MacDonald

Journal

Is there an area in my life that I know is sinful, but I refuse to do anything about?

What does this say about my relationship with God?

Prayer

Father in heaven, I have sinned against You. I may say that my sin is someone else’s fault, but deep down, I know the fault belongs with me. Forgive me for this, Lord. Show me clearly what I need to change, and then empower me by Your Spirit to allow You to make that change in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Nothing matters more than the Gospel. It’s the most precious message on the face of the earth because embracing it by faith brings the greatest blessing and because neglecting it brings the greatest consequence. None of us want the gospel diluted or distorted, but in our desire to protect it, we can’t fail to let it loose.

This second Elephant Room conversation brought together Pastor Crawford Loritts and Pastor Steven Furtick, men with different preaching styles who express similar passion for seeing the lost find Christ. This exchange raises the bar on urgency and ought to spur us on to greater faithfulness in gospel ministry.

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Getting things out of size leads to a lot of problems.

Watch the teaching series, Big God, Small Me: How to Rightsize Everything.

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Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law!  I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.  I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame!  I will run in the way of Your commandments when you enlarge my heart. — Psalm 119:29-32

Aren’t you glad that God’s Word doesn’t picture the lives of Bible saints like some glossy retouched photos? God portrays people just as they were. They faced the same type of problems and responded in similar ways as we do.

Now, it’s easy to tell you how ordinary David was when he was just a shepherd growing up on the family farm. Although he was a great man of faith, the fact is he was just an ordinary guy.  He spiraled fast when he stepped away from the extraordinary—found in his relationship with God. 

If you find yourself thinking, “Man, if David—the man who loved God so much—could walk away from God’s path, then anyone can.” Ding. That’s the right answer. Anyone can. Apart from God’s extraordinary resources, we all become so ordinary, so fast.

Prosperous times produce passive wills. This is where David got off track. “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel” (2 Samuel 11:1). The text doesn’t tell us why David stayed in Jerusalem. Few of us can handle the temptation of inactivity. In our passivity, we wander around and start thinking, “Do I like my life? Do I like my wife? Do I like my house?  Would I be happier in a different house or with a different wife or in another life?” 

So these are ordinary temptations. What’s the remedy? Be proactive in your walk with God. Seek after God with all your heart. None of us can afford to be casual or indifferent about our walk with the Lord.

The crises of life reveal what’s been happening for a long time. While it may appear that David drove over a cliff in about six minutes, he didn’t. He made a lot of bad choices over a long period of time. He allowed his heart to become casual, passive, and indifferent, and as a result, he became vulnerable to a moral fall. 

Protect your life today, do the right thing even if you don’t feel like it. Seek after God with all your heart and you will find Him. —James MacDonald

Journal

Is there any area of my life where I am getting off track? Is there anyone I can ask to hold me accountable?

When I have the time, am I asking myself how happy I am? What might be a better way to use my thoughts?

Prayer

Father, it’s so obvious that I am quite an ordinary sinner when I look at my life. It’s comforting and convicting to know that a “man after God’s heart” can fall so far. Help me to see areas of my life where I am prone to fall. Forgive me when I do, and help me get back in line with Your will for my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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While it’s exciting to hear what people have to say about the Bible, I don’t think there’s any better way to appropriately understand what we’re holding, than to look at what God’s Word has to say about itself.

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple“(Psalm 19:7).

God’s Word transforms us. It transforms me. It transforms you. The law of the Lord is perfect, literally meaning all-sided, many-faceted, all-encompassing, comprehensive. The law of the Lord is so perfect that it revives or converts the soul—the part of you that will live forever.

Law is the word Torah: law for life, the rule for living. God’s Word is the norm—it is the standard by which every other truth is measured or assessed. People come and people go, but the law of the LORD remains.

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