They bowed down and worshiped Him.  And opening their treasures, they presented gifts to Him. (Matt. 2:11).

When wise scholars from the east perceived that the King of the Jews had been born, their first instinct was to worship Him with their best.  Ever since that glorious first Advent, wise men and women have found their way to Jesus and they continue to worship Him with all their hearts, laying their best before Him.  

The Apostle Paul said the offering he wanted to bring Jesus was to lay redeemed nations at His feet.  He wrote, “I am a special messenger to you Gentiles.  I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit” (Ro. 15:16, NLT).  Paul wanted to bring the highest tribute possible to Christ – entire nations made righteous by His sacrifice.

As I think of the lavish gifts of the wise men, and Paul’s missionary gift of entire nations to Christ, I also remember the prophetic words of hymn-writer, Isaac Watts.  Foreseeing  the coming global reign of Jesus Christ, he wrote:

Behold the islands with their kings,
And Europe her best tribute brings;
From north to south the princes meet,
To pay their homage at His feet.

There Persia, glorious to behold,
There India shines in eastern gold;
And barb’rous nations at His word
Submit and bow and own their Lord.

’Twas the night of the big Christmas play at the church.

All the boys and girls had rehearsed their lines over and over.  Now each child knew his part by heart.  The dress rehearsal had gone without a hitch.  Each memorized line was recited flawlessly.

  The actual performance, however, did not go quite as planned. 

For Joey, who played Joseph in the church Christmas play, the night of his big debut had finally arrived.  Realizing his parents and grandparents were in the audience, eight-year-old “Joseph” was in rare form on stage.  He pounded frantically on the innkeeper’s door.  When the boy-innkeeper peered from behind the cracked door, Joseph kept laying it on thick.  “Please, sir,” he pleaded, “my wife is about to have a baby!  Don’t you have any room for us in the inn?”

Jimmy, the second-grade innkeeper, knew his lines perfectly.  Countless times he had practiced his stern speech of refusal:  “I’m sorry.  There is no room in the inn.”  But the night of the play Jimmy himself was overcome by the desperate tone in “Joseph’s” cry for help.  He just had to do the right thing.  So, Jimmy the Innkeeper blurted out, “I know what they want me to say but – come on in anyway!”

There’s no room in today’s secular “inn” for Jesus either.  Our culture has schooled us repeatedly to bar Him from any entrance into our lives.  It’s society’s autocratic way of ordering us to fall into line:  “Learn your lines: ‘There is no room for Him.’”  Just note the frantic, bizarre attempts to morph “Merry Christmas” into “Happy Holidays.”  Today, as then, there’s no place for Him.  They’re scared spitless of His name, much less His presence.

We’ve been well coached in our day to deny Him any access.  Secularists have pronounced the verdict:  “No room for Jesus.”  But still He stands at the door and knocks.  But be forewarned: When Jesus comes in He will turn the status quo upside down.  So this Christmas defy the culture umpires who try to define for you what’s “in” and what (or who) is “out.”  Just let Him in . . .

      into your home . . .
            into your activities . . .
                  into your conversations . . .
                         into your family gatherings . . .
                                and most of all . . . into your heart.

No matter how much it might mess up everyone’s little play, along with Jimmy let’s do the right thing.  Jesus, I know what they want me to say — but come on in anyway! 

“God gave Christ the highest place and honored His name above all others. So at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down, those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And to the glory of God the Father everyone will openly agree, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord!’” (Philippians 2:9-11, CEV).

Last week we honored our country’s soldiers in the annual remembrance of Veterans Day.  This particular Veterans Day was made more somber and poignant against the backdrop of the horrific murders and attempted murders a few days earlier at Fort Hood.  I want to give special honor both to our veterans and to those presently serving our country in all branches of the military. 

The events at Fort Hood remind us of how dangerous their job is – and what a debt of gratitude we owe them.  And the evil actions of that turncoat terrorist should remind us of something else – your theology will affect your actions. 

I also want to honor another group of soldiers – soldiers of the Cross.  Some years back, several denominations yanked every song referring to war, conflict, and conquering out of their hymnbooks.  “Too militaristic,” they said.  The result has been an emaciated church with its head in the sand and the white flag of surrender waving from its steeple.

Here are a few lines from great hymns no longer welcome in our culture or in many of our churches.  The wording may be antiquated but the glory, truth, and strength of their message are not.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the Cross;
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss:
From vict’ry unto vict’ry His army shall He lead,
’Til every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.

Are there no foes for me to face?  Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace, to help me on to God?
No! I must fight if I would win; increase my courage, Lord!
I’ll bear the cross, endure the pain, supported by Thy Word.

In recent weeks one of our workers in India was severely beaten by religious radicals.  One of our ministry teams was so acutely threatened they required police protection.  Pastors have been beaten on the way home from our conferences.  Our key man in Congo was martyred.  Don’t tell me we’re not at war.

The reality of our spiritual fight against Satan, sin, and a world system that defies Jesus Christ is laced throughout the New Testament.  Paul told Timothy to “endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:3).  Three times in his letters to Timothy, Paul counsels Timothy about fighting the good fight (see1 Tim 1:18; 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7).

This is a real war.  There are obvious battles.  There are real casualties.  And there are verifiable victories.  In this good fight, we need to remember:

Our fight is not against people.  People are not the enemy – they are victims of the enemy and he has taken them hostage.  Our battles are not against flesh and blood (see Eph. 6:12).  Our enemy is the devil, his demonic hoards, and his diabolical schemes to dethrone Jesus Christ from His rightful rule.  In dramatic contrast from Jihadists, our weapons are not swords or guns. Ours are not worldly weapons – but they have divine power to destroy strongholds (see 2 Cor. 10:4).  Our greatest weapon is the love of God.  You can counter bombs with bombs.  You can counter angry rhetoric with more angry rhetoric.  But unconditional love – how do you counter that?

We are called to courage and conquest.  Paul urged the Philippian church to stand firm, “not frightened in anything by your opponents.  This is a clear sign to them of their destruction” (Phil. 1:27-28, ESV).  At this crucial juncture of church history we cannot – we must not – be cowered into silence.  Truth has power!  The Gospel has power!  The name of Jesus has power! 

What else could explain the phobic attempts to silence even the mention of Jesus from public discourse?  Tragically, it seems that many opponents of the church intrinsically perceive the power of the name of Jesus far more than Christians.  We must unleash the power-packed projectiles of truth, the Gospel and the Name above all names into our deluded culture.

We are to fight until the end.  Facing impending martyrdom, Paul said he had “fought the good fight” (2 Tim. 4:7).  And as we fight this good fight, we must remember our vantage point.  We do not fight for victory as much as we fight from victory.  Christ’s triumph on the Cross ensures His victory – and ours.  This fight is fixed!  Jesus shall reign.

At age eighty-two and almost blind, William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, gave these last public words before ten thousand people assembled at Royal Albert Hall in London:

“While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now, I’ll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, I’ll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl on the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll fight – I’ll fight to the very end.”

When I first began preaching as a teenager, an old veteran preacher grabbed my shoulders, looked me in the eyes, and said, “May God put the fight in you.”

The battle is fierce.  More soldiers are needed.  This is a volunteer army.  May God put the fight in you. 

In the mid 1980s when our younger son, Joel, was in public school in the second grade, one day around Thanksgiving he brought home a paper he copied from what the teacher wrote on the board.  Here is what that second grade teacher wrote to be copied by her impressionable class:  

“The Pilgrims held the first Thanksgiving to thank the Indians for all their help.” 

Did you catch that?  Here’s an elementary school teacher instructing seven-year-olds about the meaning of this special day – and she says it’s to commemorate English Separatists thanking Native Americans for their help! 

Now, I don’t know how intentional this little act of revisionism was.  Maybe this teacher felt intimidated to tell those kids the truth.  But historical revisionism is never right and it must never be condoned, whether it’s from an Iranian president who says the Holocaust is fiction or a sweet young schoolteacher who reduces Thanksgiving to Indian Appreciation Day.  Facts are facts.  Truth is truth.  And intentional untruths are lies.
 
Let’s get it straight – and tell it straight.  Thanksgiving isn’t first about turkeys or football or even Pilgrims or Native Americans.  It’s a day to pause as a nation and thank Almighty God for His mercy and goodness to us.  Here’s a brief look at the origins of this uniquely American holiday. 

God brought Squanto, a Native American who understood the Pilgrims’ language, to help them survive the harsh conditions of the New World.  Of particular importance, Squanto taught the newcomers how to plant the winter staple crop of corn.  The Pilgrims shared the Gospel with their new friend.  Before his death in 1621, Squanto asked them to pray for him that he would be with God in heaven.  

In gratitude to God for saving the threatened harvest that year, Pilgrims invited other Native Americans to share in a feast of thanksgiving to Almighty God.  The record is clear that on that first observance of Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and Native Americans together gave thanks to God for the long, gentle rain that broke a severe drought and saved the harvest – and their lives.

Shortly after our nation’s independence had been won, Congress approved the Bill of Rights in 1789, attaching a “recommended day of public thanksgiving and prayer.”  President George Washington responded with the first presidential proclamation in the United States, declaring November 26, 1789, as the first national day of prayer and thanksgiving. 

In his proclamation, Washington declared, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor . . . I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be . . . And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions . . .”

Seventy-five years later as the bitter years of the Civil War came to a close, President Abraham Lincoln established the last Thursday in November as a day to acknowledge “the gracious gifts of the Most High God.”  Every succeeding president did the same until 1941 when Congress officially made Thanksgiving a national holiday.

What I have shared with you is an indisputable part of our national record and history.  Let me encourage you to share this with your children and grandchildren this Thanksgiving.

Six times in the Bible these same words of admonition are given.  It’s as if the divine Author of Scripture wanted to be sure we wouldn’t forget: “O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever.”

In this season of Thanksgiving I want to give thanks for the life of Mrs. Gertrude Nathan.

She was the lady who was teaching in Vacation Bible School on June 12, 1953 when I first opened my heart in faith to Jesus Christ at a church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I will forever be grateful for that day and for her.

A few years back I visited the very church building where, a half century earlier, I first opened my heart to Christ. In the afternoon when nobody else was there, I walked back down to the front of the auditorium. I knelt down at the spot where I first met the Lord. I just began to worship Him and thank Him again for so great salvation. Then, at that sacred place for me, I made a fresh commitment that I would spend the rest of my life getting what happened to me there to other people.
If it’s not an actual place, I pray there is a place in your heart you will go back to today, where you will let a fresh sense of gratitude wash over you that someone got the Gospel to you. Paul taught in the first chapter of Romans that the first step away from God and toward degeneracy is ingratitude. “When they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, neither were they thankful” (Rom. 1:21).

I’m inviting you to do two things that will brighten this Thanksgiving season for you. First, go back and glorify God. If you can, make a literal trip back to the place where you committed your life to Christ. Thank God for saving you, and rededicate your life to Him and His purposes.

Second, go back and thank God’s vessel. Who did God use to get the Gospel to you? If they’re still living, do all you can to find them and thank them for sharing life’s greatest treasure with you. And while you’re at it, send a few emails and make a few calls of appreciation to faithful Sunday school teachers, parents, siblings, and friends.

There’s a phrase we don’t hear much anymore: personal evangelism. The reason we don’t hear about personal evangelism very often is that there aren’t enough personal evangelists. The great Southern Baptist missionary, Lottie Moon, wrote, “There could be no greater joy than that of winning souls.” This is an exceedingly gratifying experience that, regrettably, most believers have never known.
We’re entering the time of year when we’re most apt to be with relatives and friends we seldom see. Let God use you throughout the holidays to point people to Jesus. Just urge them to behold God’s sacrificial Lamb. “As many as look will live” (Num. 21:8-9; Jn. 3:14-15).

Thank you, Lord, for Gertrude Nathan – and for a host of faithful Sunday school teachers, VBS teachers, and parents who point others to Jesus.

October is Clergy Appreciation Month. As we prepare our hearts for the Thanksgiving season, it’s right to thank God for pastors who have positively impacted our walk with the Lord. And it’s important that we thank our pastors, as well.
There are three pastors in my life I especially want to honor this year.

First, I thank God for my pastor-dad, Warren Shibley. There was never any question where our family would be Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. How I cherish those verse-by-verse expositions Dad would give, especially of Paul’s Letters. I learned to love the Bible from hearing him. I learned prevailing prayer from praying with him. Most of all, I learned to live for Jesus from watching him.

When I was growing up, there was far less fixation with titles. To his church flock, he was simply “Brother Shibley.” But his kindness, generosity, and world vision also earned him the title from many, “the man with a missionary heart.” As one well-known pastor told me, “Your father was the most selfless man I have ever known.” Although my father died when I was fifteen, the foundation of faith and fidelity he laid in my formative years is beyond price.

My pastor during my college years was the campus pastor at John Brown University, Dr. Carl (Kelly) Bihl. Prior to coming to JBU in the late 1960s, he had served as President of Youth for Christ International. Since I had been active in YFC throughout high school, I had admired him long before I met him. I seldom heard Kelly make any mention either of Jesus or unsaved people without tears filling his eyes. Kelly modeled for me a deeper love for Jesus and a deeper love for the lost than I had previously known.

Finally, I thank God for my pastor of the last nineteen years, Randy Bailey. When Global Advance was still a dream, Randy and his wife, Nancy, would dream with Naomi and me, pray with us, counsel us, laugh with us, and cry with us – sometimes throughout the night until morning. When I was half a world away in Byelorussia, Randy and Nancy rushed to Naomi’s side to pray with her and comfort her when her father died. Pastor Randy is a man in pursuit of God, His ways, and His favor. What better criteria could there be for a pastor?

The Bible says we are to give special honor to our spiritual overseers, since they literally “watch for your souls, as those who must give an account” (Heb. 13:17). So, here’s a salute of gratitude and recognition to the tens of thousands of pastors who haven’t compromised. We’re grateful for those servants of Christ who are faithful to their spouses, faithful to their call, and faithful to their Lord. Thank you for being Christ-honoring examples to the flock. “When the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away” (1 Pet. 5:4 NIV).

Reflections on God’s Intervention at ORU by David Shibley

In the last several years I have witnessed at least two astounding miracles where Christian ministries have experienced a literal rebirth.

The first is a doctrinal miracle. The Worldwide Church of God, founded by Herbert W. Armstrong in 1934, reexamined its doctrines and practices after Armstrong’s death in 1986. This led to a complete theological reformation to Christian orthodoxy in the 1990s. Now, no longer viewed as a cult, the denomination has changed its name to Grace Communion International and is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.

In my view, this is nothing short of a miracle. Almost always throughout history, the drift of denominations over time is away from biblical orthodoxy. But the Worldwide Church of God was captured by grace and took a radical turn out of darkness and into the light.

There’s a second, even more recent miracle where a ministry has experienced a genuine resurrection. This is the financial miracle experienced recently by Oral Roberts University. Two years ago, ORU was drowning in a quagmire of a $55 million debt. Millions were owed in current bills. Added to this crisis were high-profile accusations and lawsuits filed by former faculty, the resignation of the second President, and a general malaise that had gripped many students, faculty, and staff.

But all that has changed – and changed dramatically. The generosity of a missions-hearted family from Oklahoma City erased almost all of the University’s debt. Alumni giving is now at an all-time high. Student morale has soared. Millions of dollars have been poured into campus renovations. And a new, capable, and godly President, Dr. Mark Rutland, is pointing ORU toward a bright future and its greatest impact ever.

ORU has played an important role in the history of my family. I have been privileged to know Oral Roberts, his wife, the late Evelyn Roberts, and their family since I was a teenager. Both of my sisters received their undergraduate degrees from ORU. One sister met her husband there. Although my undergraduate degree is from another outstanding Christian university, I was humbled to receive an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from ORU in 1988.

Growing up in Tulsa I watched with joyful amazement as an evangelist’s colossal faith was translated into the construction of innovative, futuristic buildings. Now, forty years later, it’s thrilling to sense the same excitement that permeated the campus in those early years returning to ORU.

In 1967, as a teenage preacher, I attended the dedication of ORU. My young heart pounded with vision as I witnessed the two greatest evangelists of that era, Billy Graham and Oral Roberts, standing together at the zenith of their strength. I will always remember how Billy Graham, in his dedicatory address, called the new institution to be forever faithful to its commitment to world evangelization.

Fast forward 42 years. Last month I stood in ORU’s Christ Chapel. As today’s ORU students exit, they read again the directive God gave Oral Roberts at the University’s founding: “Raise up your students to hear My voice, to go where My light is seen dim, My voice is heard small, and My healing power is not known, even to the uttermost bounds of the earth.” That is Great Commission language and a clear, missional vision.

The next day I attended Mark Rutland’s inauguration as the third President of ORU. I sensed the historic importance of the moment as the 91-year-old founder, Oral Roberts, laid his hands on the new President and pronounced blessing over Dr. Rutland and the University Dr. Roberts’ faith had birthed.

Oral Roberts was a towering figure of the twentieth century. We have much to learn from his life and legacy. In a few years we will begin to understand just how much we owe him. I am convinced that his fiercely-focused faith, in the University’s darkest hours, simply would not permit ORU to die. Like the patriarchs of old, he was human and therefore (like all of us) imperfect. But also like the patriarchs of antiquity, he shaped history by his faith and his clear vision of an all-sufficient, conquering Christ.

At the investiture of Dr. Rutland, the ORU Combined Choirs and Orchestra performed the majestic “Hallelujah” from Beethoven’s Christ on the Mount of Olives. The powerful strains of triumph filled the air:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah unto God’s almighty Son!
Let your heart rejoice today. God still performs miracles. Hallelujah unto God’s almighty Son!

We’ve heard a lot in the last several years about core values. Consultants urge individuals, businesses, churches, and ministries to determine their “core values.” These consultants suggest (rightly) that identifying core values helps us establish priorities, and core values focus for us what is genuinely important.

A person’s core values are those things he is willing to suffer for. These values are closely tied to our core passions. By this I mean passion as is referenced in our Lord’s passion – His sufferings for us. We are passionate about those things closest to our heart. We rejoice in these deep-seated devotions, but these core values are also what we will suffer for, and, if need be, die for.

The meaning of some words morphs over time. Before we can fully understand Peter’s core values (and make them our own) we need to see how our perception of an often-used word has changed over the years. That word is precious. In today’s usage, “precious” has been feminized and is almost a synonym for “cute” or “sweet.” But when Peter refers to something as precious, he means it is rare, of surpassing value, and something (or someone) to be honored as beyond price.

When Peter refers to something as precious, he is giving us his list of non-negotiables, those things he places in highest regard – his core values.

First, Peter valued his faith. Peter said a tested, authentic faith in Christ is “more precious than gold” (1 Pet.1:7). In his second letter he references other believers as those who possess “like precious faith” (2 Pet 1:1). Peter was passionate about his faith in Christ. He cherished it as more precious than gold. He was willing to lay down his life for that precious faith and, in fact, he did die as a martyr. Is your faith in Christ a core value? Is it priceless?

Second, Peter valued the blood of Christ. He reminded his readers that they were purchased by “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:19). The Gospel message of redemption solely through the shed blood of Christ is under acerbic attack today in our pluralistic culture. Do you “cherish the old rugged cross?” Will you suffer for the message of the cross? As another hymn says, “Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know – nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

Third, Peter valued the Person of Jesus Christ. The rarer the jewel, the greater the value. Christ is the One and only redeemer. He is “chosen by God and precious” (1 Pet. 2:4). Jesus is the “precious cornerstone” (1 Pet. 2:6). In grand understatement Peter writes, “To you who believe, He is precious” (1 Pet. 2:7). He is peerless, matchless, priceless.

Fourth, Peter valued God’s promises. He called them “exceedingly great and precious promises” (2 Pet. 1:4). These awesome, trustworthy promises are our “tickets to participation in the life of God” (The Message). They also empower us to escape the corruption of this evil age. Talk about priceless!

A major credit card company advertises by listing some valuable things that can be bought using their card. But then the commercial reminds us that, beyond the cost of what can be bought, some realities are simply priceless.

What is most precious to you? After God had deluged Abram with astounding wealth and assets he pulled him aside. In essence, God reminded Abram, “These are gifts from My hand – but they have a shelf life. They’re valuable, but they’re not priceless. Abram, I am your reward.” (See Gen. 15:1.)

Let’s embrace Peter’s core values – what he valued most deeply: our precious faith, Christ’s precious blood, His precious Person, God’s precious promises. Not only are these precious, they’re priceless.

Years ago an unknown poet wrote a heart-wrenching lament over wasted years, lost opportunities, and his accountability for the use of time at the Judgment Seat of Christ:

“When I stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ,
And He shows His plan for me,
The plan of my life as it might have been,
Had He had His way, and I see
How I blocked Him here, and checked Him there,
And I would not yield my will,
Will there be grief in my Savior’s eyes,
Grief, though He loves me still?
Would He have me rich and I stand there poor,
Stripped of all but His grace,
While memory runs like a hunted thing
Down the paths I cannot retrace?”

But, take heart. That doesn’t have to be the end of the story.
God gave the prophet Joel a sneak preview of a coming epoch of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring. He promised that a global outpouring of His Spirit would signal a new era of restoration. Lives would be restored. Nations would be restored. Spiritual gifts would be restored.

And, perhaps most amazing of all, time itself would be restored. “I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten” (Joel 2:25). The “locusts” of failure, hurt, sin, and bitterness may have eaten away at your very life, consuming your most precious commodity: time. But now, through the tender mercies of our God, He will restore even the years to you that you grieve over as wasted.

You cannot recover lost years – but God can. He can compact your life with effectiveness, allowing you to accomplish in months what used to take years, and enabling you to accomplish in days what might otherwise have taken a lifetime. “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Lu 1:37). This miracle of recovered time can be yours today as you crown Jesus Lord of the years that are left to you.

That same unknown poet ends his lament with a faith-filled prayer:
“Lord, of the years that are left to me,
I give them to Your hand;
Take me and break me and mold me
To the pattern You have planned.”

(Based on the book Living as if Heaven Matters by David Shibley. Published by Charisma House.)

Nine years ago I made this declaration: “I spent the first 50 years of my life trying to be balanced. I want to spend the rest of my life trying to be radical.” All history shapers are radicals.

We equate radical with extreme, but that is only part of the definition. To be radical means to go to the origin or the root. Thus, a true radical is rooted. He is the antithesis of the sad person Jesus describes who had “no root in himself” (Matt. 13:21). A radical is a “good soil” believer who hears the word, mixes it with faith, and the seed of the word literally takes root, grows, and produces much fruit.

Jesus calls us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That’s radical.

He commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. That’s radical.

He said we are to preach the gospel to every person on earth and turn all nations into His followers. That’s radical.

Paul was shipwrecked, flogged, spat on, and his motives were impugned (by “good Christian people”). He lived under constant threat of assassination and was beaten three times within an inch of his life – all for the sake of the gospel. That’s radical.

What does it mean to be radical for Jesus today?

In the 1960s, many hippies claimed to be radicals, but their radicalism was wasted because they cut loose from historic moorings and consequently lost their moral authority. A true radical is one who defies the whims of his times and calls people back to root realities and root causes.

The screaming need today is anchored radicals:
• Radicals who are anchored in truth, not conjecture
• Radicals who are anchored in grace, not legalism
• Radicals who are anchored in faith, not skepticism
• Radicals who are anchored in discipline, not indolence
• Radicals who are anchored in history, not fads
• Radicals who are anchored in hope, not despair

Most of all, we need radicals who are anchored in Christ and the assurance of His global glory. “We who have fled to Him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to His promise with confidence. This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls” (Hebrews 6:18 – 19 NLT).

I want to be a truly radical follower of Jesus: rooted in Him, extremely in love with Him, extremely devoted to Him and His cause. The acrostic below spells out for me the components of a radical life fully given over to Jesus:

Revelation. True radicals live by revelation drawn from intimacy with Jesus.
Anointing. True radicals are anointed by the Holy Spirit.
Discipline. True radicals retain that anointing by practicing historic Christian disciplines.
Integrity. True radicals are those whose public persona is matched by private purity.
Courage. True radicals follow truth, speak the truth, and call people to the truth.
Anchored. True radicals are anchored in history and hope; in the Word and the Spirit.
Love. True radicals are driven by the love of God at work in them by the Holy Spirit.

Richard Niebuhr observed that the great revolutions in the history of Christianity do not occur by discovering something new. Great revolutions happen, said Niebuhr, when someone takes radically something that has always been there. Martin Luther took the simple gospel message of justification by faith radically. John Wesley took the simple message of biblical holiness radically. William Seymour took a present-tense encounter with the Holy Spirit radically. Mother Teresa took ministering “to the least of these” radically.

May we, in our day, take Christ’s Great Commission radically. I long to see and be a part of that radical revolution.