Tag: faith

JOHN WYCLIFFE: MORNING STAR OF THE REFORMATION (1330-1384)

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You probably have heard of John Wycliffe. You could easily argue that Peter Waldo should have that title “morning star of the reformation” one hundred years earlier, but John Wycliffe had more impact than Waldo. Waldo believed much the same as Wycliffe. Born in England, Wycliffe abhorred the corruption in the Roman Catholic church. He taught that Christ, not the pope, is the head of the church. He taught that the Scriptures, not the Catholic church papal decrees and tradition, are the sole authority for faith and practice. He taught that the Catholic church should excommunicate immoral clergymen and give away the church’s excessive wealth and property. He taught against the selling of indulgences and he rejected transubstantiation. He began voicing his teaching at Oxford University where he had taught for many years. He began writing pamphlets in English that a farmer or shopkeeper could read. The common people only had the Latin Vulgate, so Wycliffe translated or was responsible for translating the Bible into Middle English (a version now called the “Wycliffe Bible”) so the common man could read it and decide what it meant instead of relying on the priests. “Wycliffe’s followers were called Lollards because the name, derived from the Dutch word “lollaert” meaning “mumbler,” was used pejoratively by critics to describe their practice of reading scripture and making long prayers.” (AI) His preachers went throughout England carrying copies of his English translation. They were called “Poor Preachers” b/c they dressed in simple clothes and lived with the common people, unlike the Roman priests who lived apart from the people and dressed in clerical garb. He was finally expelled from Oxford and was persecuted by the Catholic church, but the church was afraid to kill him, fearing it. would cause an uprising. He never left the Catholic church; he even died of a fatal stroke while at Mass. But 17 years after his death, anyone preaching Wycliffe’s ideas was punished by death by the Catholic church. In 1415, thirty years after his death, a Catholic council ordered that his books be burned and that his remains be dug up and burned. His ashes were thrown into the River Swift.

We take it for granted that we have so many translations of the Bible into English so we can read it for ourselves and decide what we think it means. It is hard to imagine a time like in the 14th century when there were no Bibles in English. Since the 16th century, there have been around 250 translations into English alone (900 if you count revisions and partials)! The Catholic church actually did its own Douay-Rheims English version of the Bible in 1609, maybe partly as a result of the work of Wycliffe 200 years earlier. That version is older than the famous King James Version of 1611. Both versions used the Latin Vulgate as the main source. Wycliffe’s translation used the Latin Vulgate also.

The original Old Testament books were written in Hebrew mainly and the New Testament in Greek. We don’t have any of the original books of the Bible. Can we trust the English translations that we have? Yes we can. We have over 5,700 complete or partial manuscripts made or translations into other languages from which to come up with an accurate translation that we can trust. The New Testament sources go back to within 100 years of the original New Testament books in many papyri. When we compare the thousands of copies of the New Testament, they are 95 to 99% the same. The errors are typically small copyist errors. The Old Testament books were copied with extreme care for accuracy. The Dead Sea Scrolls (1948) show that the Old Testament was copied accurately over the centuries. For example, the complete copy of Isaiah called the “Great Isaiah Scroll” found in the DSS is 95% the same as the earliest Hebrew copy of Isaiah that we had, which was in 930 AD, over 1,000 years later than the Great Isaiah Scroll which was carbon dated as 125 BC. That shows that the book of Isaiah had been accurately copied for that 1,000 years and gives us confidence that the original book of Isaiah done in 800 BC was copied accurately over the centuries. There are at least portions of all the OT books except Esther in the DSS. So, yes you can trust a good English translation of the Bible. Be careful about paraphrases. There is a lot of debate about which English translation of the Bible is the most accurate. Jesus and the apostles quoted from the Septuagint, which is the translation of the Hebrew OT from Hebrew into Greek, done between the 3rd and 1st century BC. That shows that you can trust a good translation of the original languages even if you know it is not 100% accurate.

I hope this helps us appreciate our Bible translations. More importantly, I hope it encourages us to read and study those translations since we have been blessed with the Bible in our own English language.

PETER WALDO

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Have you ever heard of Peter Waldo? He is the founder of the Waldensians. Born around 1140 AD in Lyons, France, he was a wealthy merchant who became disgusted with the corruption in the Roman Catholic church. He became convinced that the Scriptures, not the Pope or Catholic tradition, are the sole authority for Christians. The Catholics used the Latin Vulgate, which few could understand, and claimed that ordinary Christians would be corrupted if they read the Bible for themselves. He paid to have the Bible translated into the current French language. After reading what Jesus told the rich ruler to do, “to sell what he had and give to the poor”, he sold what he had and lived as a beggar preacher. His followers sold or gave away what they had: they came to be called the “Poor of Lyons”. He believed that the Bible should be preached, even by lay preachers, which was also condemned by the Catholic church. Waldo’s followers, the Waldensians, were persecuted by the Catholic church. The infamous Roman Catholic Inquisition was a special church court established in the 1200’s to inquire about and judge matters of “heresy”. The inquisition lead to fierce persecution of the Waldensians. They lost their property and many were burned at the stake. The Waldensians were numerous in Italy, France, and Switzerland, and then spread throughout Europe.

Here is a list of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church that Waldo and the Waldensians rejected?

  • They rejected all claims to authority besides Scripture.
  • They rejected all mediators between God and man, except the man Christ Jesus (though Mary was venerated for quite a while).
  • They rejected the doctrine that only a priest could hear confession, and argued that all believers were qualified.
  • They rejected purgatory, and thus rejected indulgences and prayers for the dead.
  • They believed the only Scripture-sanctioned sacraments were baptism and communion.
  • They rejected the Church’s emphasis on fast and feast days and eating restrictions.
  • They rejected the priestly and monastic caste system.
  • They rejected the veneration of relics, pilgrimages, and the use of holy water.
  • They rejected the pope’s claim to authority over earthly rulers.
  • They eventually rejected the apostolic succession of the pope.

You can see why Peter Waldo was considered one of the forerunners of the Protestan Reformation movement of the 1600’s. That list of objection to Catholic doctrine was the same as that of the Protestant Reformation movement. Any Waldensians in the 1600’s eventually joined the Protestant Reformation.

So what do we learn from the story of Peter Waldo? We see how corrupt the Catholic church was. The church tortured and burned heretics. They wouldn’t let common people read the Bible in their language. It is hard for us to imagine that religious environment. We have had freedom of religion so long that we take it for granted. What if you lived back in the 12th century under the tyrannical power of the Catholci church? Would you have the courage to stand up to the church even if it cost you your life?

So, what do you believe? At our Christian school the board came up with a “statement of faith” that the school believed in and practices. It is basic Christian doctrines, similar to those of Peter Waldo. Such a statement of basic beliefs became even more needed as issues like homosexual marriages and gender identity arose in the current culture. In a way, the anti-Christian culture of today is something that we Christians have to stand up to just as Waldo stood up to the Catholic church.. If you proclaim basic fundamentalist Christian teaching on marriage, homosexuality, and. gender you will be mocked. If you stand up for the Bible as the sole authority for doctrines, you will be mocked. Maybe not tortured or burned at the stake, but you will be persecuted and mocked. I hope the example of Peter Waldo will inspired you to have the courage to stand up to today’s anti-Christian culture.

Wouldn’t it be great to talk to Peter Waldo? Maybe one day we can.

JOHN G. PATTON: MISSIONARY TO CANNIBALS

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Do you have any idea where the New Hebrides islands are? They are in the South Pacific.

The New Hebrides, now known as Vanuatu, consists of roughly 80 islands in the South Pacific. These islands are situated northeast of New Caledonia and southeast of the Solomons. While there are 80-odd islands in total, not all of them are inhabited. Notice the islands of Tanna and Aniwa. They are at the heart of the post today concerning John G. Paton. Born in Scotland in 1824, John married Mary in April, 1858 and 14 days later sailed to the South Pacific and landed on the island of Tanna in November, 1858. They joined a missionary who had been working there for several years. Three months after their arrival, a son, Peter Robert Robson, was born on 12 February 1859. But just 19 days later, Mary died from tropical fever soon to be followed to the grave by the newly born Peter at 36 days of age. The natives on Tanna were cannibals. In 1839 two missionaries had been martyred and eaten by the cannibals in the South Pacific. “After Mary died, John spent nights sleeping on their grave to protect them from the local cannibals. The gravesite is still accessible to this day with a plaque marking the spot, erected in 1996.” (Wikipedia)

John continued alone for 4 years trying to convert the cannibals in spite of the danger he faced from the cannibals. 14 times he was attacked with a fever. He barely escaped the cannibals on many occasions. Later he returned to Scotland to raise money for the work in the New Hebrides and to encourage missionaries to go there. In 1865 he married again to Maggie and they went to another island in the New Hebrides, Aniwa, in 1866. The natives of Aniwa were cannibals also but they were more receptive than those in Tanna. “John learned the language and reduced it to writing. Maggie taught a class of about fifty women and girls who became experts at sewing, singing and plaiting hats, and reading. They trained the teachers, translated and printed and expounded the Scriptures, ministered to the sick and dying, dispensed medicines every day, taught them the use of tools, held worship services every Lord’s Day, built orphanages and took care of many orphans, and sent native teachers to all the villages to preach the gospel. Enduring many years of deprivation, danger from natives and disease, they continued with their work and after 15 years of patient ministry, the entire island of Aniwa professed Christianity. In 1899 Paton saw his Aniwa New Testament printed and the establishment of missionaries on twenty-five of the thirty islands of the New Hebrides.” (Wikipedia) Maggie died in 1905 and John died at the age of 82 in 1907. John spent almost 50 years mission work in Tanna and Aniwa. He was courageous and willing to put his life on the line to propagate the gospel of Jesus.

“In Christianity, an unreached people group refers to an ethnic group without an indigenous, self-propagating Christian church movement. It is estimated that of the 8.08 billion people alive in the world today, 3.42 billion of them live in unreached people groups with little or no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  For every $100,000 a Christian earns, only $107 on average will go to world missions. And roughly 1% of that money will support the 3.1 billion people who live in unreached people groups.” (AI)

I encourage you to pray over this map of unreached people groups worldwide. Churches spend about 75-80 % of the money they collect in contributions on buildings and staff. Churches collect about 75 billion per in contributions but only a small % of that money goes into mission work and a very, very small % of that money goes toward reaching the unreached people groups with the gospel. Fellow Christians, what are we doing? Where do you think Jesus would want all that money spent? Children dying all over the world b/c of unclean water. Families and children in refugee camps trying to escape local warring groups. Famine and flood relief needed. The Bible needs to be translated into all the languages of the world. “As of November 2024 the whole Bible has been translated into 756 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,726 languages, and smaller portions of the Bible have been translated into 1,274 other languages. Thus, at least some portions of the Bible have been translated into 3,756 languages.” (AI) So the translations are there, we just need to print and distribute them to the world.

I hope you at least tithe (give a tenth). I hope you give that tithe to the many organizations that print Bibles, support missionaries, drill wells, provide food for the oppressed and needy worldwide.

MARY MOFFAT

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This post honors missionary wives. Mary Moffat was the consummate (perfect or complete in every way) missionary wife of British missionary Robert Moffat. Robert was a gardener but his passion for mission work led him to Africa at the age of 21. Mary’s parents forbade her marriage to Robert, but finally consented and she joined in both in marriage and in his mission work in South Africa in 1816. They would spend 50 years as partners in Kuruman, South Africa trying to bring the Bechuana to Christ. She had come from a well to do family but adjusted to living in a hut with mud walls and floors, hauling water in every day. Living conditions were tough on Mary and Robert. Their “honeymoon” was spent on a 700 mile trip to Kuruman with all their belongings in an ox cart pulled by six spans of oxen that took 7 weeks (she described it as one long picnic). “For the Moffats there were long years of fruitlessness, of reducing an unwritten language, and of translating the Bible into that difficult tongue.  Other duties took time from the all-important task of evangelism:  planting, building, carrying, creating, butchering, salting, storing, sewing, cobbling, carpentering, blacksmithing, preaching, teaching, exhorting, pacifying, supporting, cleaning, feeding, doctoring, praying, writing, etc.” (from GFA missions) They constantly dealt with natives stealing their possessions. Robert made trips into the interior leaving Mary very fearful due to threats from warring chiefs. It was 7 long years before they made their first Christian convert. ” Robert was an independent individual given to moods, both visionary and of depression.  Mary was steady, disciplined, patient, and organized. She had a faith in the future that never wavered.  She was always ready to comfort and support Robert. They eventually served for over 52 years with only one furlough during that period of time.

Mary was Robert’s “beloved partner,” a true helpmeet.  Their goal was to see the Bechuana come to Christ, a church planted, and the Word of God available in the language of the people.  Their love for the national was one, and their arms and home were open to the nationals.  Mary was wife, mother, and true missionary.  She was a great encourager to Robert in the tedious task of learning the language and translating the Bible, which took many years of plodding word by word, verse by verse.  Robert was self-taught in Greek. They were truly one flesh, one mind, and with one purpose—all to the glory of God.  Africa became their home. 

There were times when Robert was very discouraged and depressed; but Mary, at his side as a true companion and a true partner in the work, saw him through these difficult times (Ephesians 5:31-33).  She was a woman of great faith.” (from GFA)

Their oldest daughter married David Livingstone but died of a fever during his trips through Africa. Some of their other children became missionaries. “She and Robert were credited with creating a family of “Moffats” who carried forward the mission work.” (from Wikipedia)

“By degrees, better conditions came. Once Mary Moffat wrote to friends at home for a communion service, because, as she said, she believed that native Christians would yet sit together at the Lord’s table in that land. That time came, and she wrote: “You can hardly conceive how I feel when I sit in the house of God surrounded with the natives. Though my situation may be despicable and mean in the eyes of the world, I feel that an honor has been conferred upon me which the kings of the earth could never have done for me. I am happy, remarkably happy, though my present habitation is a single room with a mud floor and a mud wall. Not only did a native Christian community grow up about them in Kuruman, but through the influence of the native Christians here and the teaching of Moffat on his missionary tours, groups of native Christians may now be found through all that region.” (Jessie Brown Pounds from wholesomewords.org)

Do you see why I called Mary Moffat the “consummate missionary wife”? No doubt her daily life was filled with things like gardening, cooking, cleaning, etc. but she did all that with one purpose in mind: to partner with her husband to spread the gospel to the Bechuana in Kuruman. I encourage you to think about all the duties and chores that you do every single day. You ladies cook, clean, take care of the kids, run errands, shop, maybe work outside the home, wash clothes, etc. You men go to work every day, deal with the stress of providing for the family, fight the traffic coming and going to work, fix things around the house, deal with issues with the kids, watch sports, plan for future financial and health well being for your family, etc. But, men or women, do you do everything with one purpose in mind: to honor God, to save your own children first and then to share the gospel with as many people as you come in contact with? Do you just go through life doing the stuff you have to do or do you do follow Colossians 3:17 “Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”? Notice “whatever you do in word or deed”. That would include all the daily chores and duties that you do.

I am also blessed with a consummate missionary wife. We have partnered in mission work overseas, church work here in the U.S., and over 35 years of Christian education (which I considered to be mission work here in the U.S.). She has been, like Mary, steady, a great mother to our 3 children, a great role model to our 10 grandchildren, never complaining about whatever living conditions we had, always making the best of bad situations, encouraging to me when I get discouraged. When I felt like the Lord was calling us to a mission field overseas or locally in Christian education, she never questioned that calling but joined in. Like Robert, I often was off on my mission trips or duties in Christian education, leaving her to deal with the real issues of raising a family and she did so with great success. We are proud of the faith of our 3 children and the loving Christian homes they have established, and their faith was largely due to their mother’s prayers and faith passed on to them. She would pray every night with them, “God help ___, ___, and ___ grow up to be Christians and marry Christians” (long before they knew what either concept meant), and they did both!

Thanks to all consummate Christian wife partners in life. I can think of several more that I know well. How about you? Do you do all your daily duties and chores to honor God? I thought this was great from AI. “Making secular pursuits holy for God involves seeing all aspects of life, including work and everyday tasks, as opportunities to serve God and glorify him. This means approaching secular activities with diligence, honesty, and a sense of dedication, recognizing that even seemingly mundane tasks can be done for the glory of God.” Try that today as you go through the day. Make every thing you do holy. Think: “how can I make this mundane task become something holy to honor God?”

LOTTIE MOON

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In my posts I try to gather info and pass it on to you. You can go to different sites and read the original sources that I gather from, but i hope my summaries make it simpler for you. Today, it’s Lottie Moon, missionary to China. Born in 1840, she went to China in 1873 at the age of 32 and spent 39 years there teaching women and girls and sharing the gospel in China. She was one of the first women to earn a master’s degree in the south. She never married (though engaged at one time) but instead dedicated her whole life to serving God. She spoke Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, and was fluent in reading Hebrew. Instead of pursuing a career in the U.S. she chose to devote her life to sharing the gospel in China. She adopted Chinese dress and customs and identified with the Chinese people. “She took a special interest in Chinese women, establishing schools for girls and working to free them from customs such as foot binding.” (AI) Lottie had several nicknames in China—foreign devil, foreign lady teacher, heavenly book visitor, and the cookie maker. (Lottie baked cookies to win the hearts of the children and families who were frightened of her.)” (AI) She was often persecuted by Chinese who hated foreigners. “Throughout her missionary career, Moon faced plague, famine, revolution, and war. The First Sino-Japanese War (1894), the Boxer Rebellion (1900) and the Chinese Nationalist uprising (which overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911) all profoundly affected mission work. Famine and disease took their toll as well.” (from Wikipedia)

She is famous for her letters to southern Baptist Christians begging them to come do mission work in China among the 472 million Chinese living at that time, or send missionaries, or support sending missionaries. She was a realist. She once wrote home to the Foreign Mission Board, “Please say to the [new] missionaries: they are coming to a life of hardship, responsibility and constant self-denial.” “Disease, turmoil and lack of co-workers threatened to undo Lottie’s work. But she gave herself completely to God, helping lay the foundation of what would become the modern Chinese church, one of the fastest-growing Christian movements in the world. Lottie Moon died at 72 — ill and in declining health after decades ministering to her beloved Chinese. But her legacy lives on. And today, when gifts aren’t growing as quickly as the number of workers God is calling to the field, her call for sacrificial giving rings with more urgency than ever.” (from the International Missions Board of the southern Baptist Church) There are now 1.4 billion Chinese. In 1918 the Women’s Missionary Union started the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international Missions. Lottie died in 1912. “In her final hours, she sang “Jesus Loves Me” with the missionary nurse who accompanied her. Lottie made one final gesture, pushing her fists together in the form of the Chinese greeting.” (AI) Due to declining health and sharing her food with starving Chinese, she weighed 50 pounds when she died. She was a feminist, promoting gender equality. She would have fit in quite well with the modern feminist movement!

I enjoyed learning more about Lottie Moon. I continue to be amazed at foreign missionaries like Lottie who suffered much to do life long mission work in foreign countries. My usual rant: the church in the U.S. should be sending and supporting missionaries to the unreached peoples groups around the world instead of spending 80% of the contributions on staff and buildings. Pray for all the missionaries abroad. In the messages to the 7 churches (Revelation 2,3), a warning is given several times to the churches to get back to their first love, to strengthen the things that remain, to repent of sin and worldliness, to oppose false teaching (like the lGBQT movement that has captured many churches), and to awake from lukewarm complacency. Those warnings would apply to many churches in the U.S.

THE MURDERS OF JOHN AND BETTY STAM

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John Stam was born in 1907 and Betty Stam was born in 1906. Betty was raised in China by a missionary father. Both attended Moody Bible institute then were married in China in 1933 and began their mission work with China Inland Missions in China in November, 1934 during the Chinese Civil War. One month later they, along with their 3 month old daughter Helen were arrested by Communists for ransom, although the ransom note demanding $20,000 was never delivered. “The Communists knew that John was a Christian missionary and they despised him and his family because of it. They passionately believed in the Marxist teaching, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the masses.” (from Eugene in BacktoJerusalem.com) They were marched 12 miles, during which in an overnight stay Betty hid baby Helen in a sleeping bag and left her. Later John were beheaded. A Christian shopkeeper was also executed for trying to get the soldiers to not kill the Stams. John Stam wrote a note to the mission authorities of how he and his wife had been captured, then wrote, “Philippians 1:20: ‘May Christ be glorified whether by life or death.'” The note was found after they died. Baby Helen was found by a Chinese pastor in an abandoned house along with $10 (which he and his wife used to buy milk for the baby) and rescued. She was taken to her maternal grandparents who were also missionaries in China, and then was raised by her aunt and uncle in the U.S.

What were you doing when you were 27 or 28 years old? My wife and I would have been about that age when we were finishing up our 2 years mission work in Colombia, South America. It was about that time that some kidnapping of Americans began. Our first child, Nicole, was about 2 years old (she was born whle we were in Trinidad) at that time although I don’t remember being concerned about the kidnappings. But I can’t imagine how the Stams felt during their ordeal. Married a little over a year and with a 3 month old baby, they are kidnapped and face execution. Is God not protecting those sent out to preach the gospel of His Son Jesus? Can you imagine Helen leaving her 3 month old baby girl hidden in a sleeping bag, saying good bye to her not knowing the fate of the child but fairly certain that the child would be killed if she stayed with the Stams. Can you imagine the feelings of the maternal grandparents when baby Helen was brought to them, knowing what happened to their daughter and son in law, knowing that the child would never know her parents? Can you imagine the horror that the kidnapping and murder of the Stams was felt back in the Moody Bible Institute among the former teachers and mentors of the Stams?

“Betty had written this in a journal entry before leaving for China, “I want something really worthwhile to live for. Like most young people, I want to invest this one life of mine as wisely as possible, in the place that yields richest profits to the world and to me … I want it to be God’s choice for me and not my own. There must be no self-interest at all, or I do not believe God can reveal His will clearly … I know very well that I can never realize the richest, most satisfying, life Christ meant for me, if I am not giving my own life unselfishly for others. I want Him to lead, and His Spirit to fill me. And then, only then, will I feel that my life is justifying its existence and realizing the maturity in Him that Christ meant for all men, in all parts of the world.” (From Melissaspoelstraministries )

The sacrifice of the Stams inspired many to go into foreign missions, citing a new generation of young missionaries. 700 young people from Moody Bible Institute and 200 from Wheaton Bible college pledge to follow the Stams example. The murder of the Stams will either inspire you to go all in for Jesus or cause you to have doubts about the existence of God. How can God stand back and allow those murders to happen? In the same way He stood back and allowed evil men to crucify and kill HIs Son on the cross. It is that simple. God knew that He was going to raise Jesus 3 days later, which is why we celebrate Easter Sunday today, April 20, 2025. He knew that He was going to bring John and Betty Stam to glory after their martyrdom. It had to be tough on them and yet joyful as they looked down from heaven and saw their precious baby being taken care of after their death. I believe that faithful saints go straight to heaven and can actually see what is going on down on earth and even feel sorrow or joy. I know there are passages about “no tears in heaven” but those passages usually refer to spiritual joy of Christians on earth.

Hopefully this story will inspire us to pray for and support missionaries who are sharing the gospel all over the world, especially among the unreached peoples groups which make up about 1/3 of the world’s population.

Russell Deibler (1905-1943) and Darlene Deibler Rose (1917-2004)

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When we were doing mission work in Trinidad and Colombia, S.A., a song resonated with me: Follow Me. The third stanza goes like this:

O, Jesus if I die upon
A foreign field someday,
‘Twould be no more than love demands,
No less could I repay,
“No greater love hath mortal man
Than for a friend to die”
These are the words He gently spoke to me,
“If just a cup of water
I place within your hand
Then just a cup of water
Is all that I demand.”
But if by death to living
They can Thy glory see,
I’ll take my cross and follow close to Thee.

Here is the full song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyJIU0yHzrg

Not that I wanted to do on a foreign field during our 5 years of mission work, but it was a noble thought just in case! Allow me to tell you about Russell and Darlene Diebler. They were married in 1937; Darlene was 12 years younger than Russell. They began their mission work together in Indonesia in 1938. Russell was doing mission work in the interior to unreached people groups. Darlene went to meet him. Darlene, the first woman to enter this remote area, got a glimpse of the Baliem Valley of New Guinea. She could see the people in the valley waving at her. They were as excited to meet her as she was to meet them. Darlene began to run down the mountainside to them shouting at the top of her lungs, “I’m home! I’m home!”

“In the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Darlene and her missionary friends were captured by the Japanese military. The men were the first to be taken and sent to a prison camp. Russell’s parting words to Darlene were, “Remember one thing, dear: God said that He would never leave us nor forsake us.” Darlene had no idea that that would be the last time she would speak to her husband or that she would have to endure horrific things during the next four years before the war ended and she’d be free again. Eventually the women and children were also taken to a different prison camp. Life in the POW camps was dreadful. There was often a meager food supply, and what was given was not enough to sustain the heavy labor the prisoners were expected to carry out. Prisoners were brutally beaten for small infractions, and diseases like dysentery and malaria claimed the lives of many. During Darlene’s imprisonment she tried her best to be a good soldier for the cause of Christ and strived to be an encouragement to the other women and children. She established a practice of reading a portion of God’s Word and praying as a group each night in the barracks where she lived. This helped to keep her barrack a calm center in the eye of the military storm that raged around them.” (Shari House) Russell died in his prison camp in 1943. He could indeed sing that song, “Follow Me” (if I die upon a foreign field some day…) She was tortured and forced to sign a false confession to being a spy and was set to be executed, but a kind officer saved her. She was released from prison camp in 1945 when the Japanese surrendered, emaciated and weighing 80 pounds.

“Bitterness washed over her as large and daunting as the sea that surrounded her. In that moment she told the Lord she would never return to this place that had caused her so much pain. As she reached the flyboat and started to board it, she heard the sweet voices of the natives who had come to know the Lord and who had also shared in the indescribable suffering. They stood on the shoreline waving at her singing the song “God be with you, till we meet again . . .” Eventually Darlene would say of that moment, “Their song released the waters of bitterness that had flooded my soul, and the hurt began to drain from me as my tears flowed in a steady stream. The healing had begun. I knew then that someday, God only knew when, I would come back to these my people and my island home.” (Shari House)

“She met Jerry Rose and the two fell in love and were married on April 4, 1948. In early 1949, Darlene and Jerry returned to the Wissel Lakes, the same area where she and her first husband had started their ministry. For the next 29 years Darlene and Jerry, along with their two sons, served together teaching, preaching, building landing strips, delivering babies, facing headhunters, and leading people to Christ.” (Shari House) They left New Guinea in 1978 and work the next 15 years in Australia with the Aboriginies where they led hundreds to the Lord. They returned to the U.S. in 1993 and she died in 2004 at the age of 86.

I can’t imagine what Russell and Darlene suffered in the prison camps. Paul said 2 Timothy 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” Russell arrived in eternal glory about 60 years before Darlene arrived, but they are both enjoying eternal bless. Isn’t that what we are living for? Job said, ““Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.” (Job 14:1, NASB) I’ve never suffered for Christ; have you? How would I handle being in a Japanese prison camp? I am thankful I have never suffered like that b/c I don’t know how I would handle it.

Let us pray for Christians all over the world who are suffering persecution. Voice of the Martyrs tell story after story of such suffering. You can subscribe to receive their free magazine. Are you praying for persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ?

JONATHAN GOFORTH (1859-1936): CHINA

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Jonathan Goforth was the first Canadian Presbyterian missionary to China, serving there for nearly forty-seven years (over half of his 77 years of life). A couple of stories tell you about the conviction of this man to “go forth” with the gospel to China. He told his wife to be Rosalind that he could not give her an engagement ring b/c he needed every penney to distribute Testaments and tracts. After a year in China, their house burned with all their possessions. He told his distraught wife “My dear, do not grieve so. After all, they’re just things.” Their first two children died in China which caused them great sorrow, but their hearts ached even more over the Chinese masses who lived without the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ. They later built a bungalow with a pump to draw water from a well and a chimney to send smoke up out of the house. As many as 2,000 in a day would pass. through the bungalow to see these novelties and Jonathan would preach Christ to them as they passed through. He had a passion for developing converts to Pauline New Testament Christians who met in indigenous house churches. He would put a red dot on a map for each house church established. By May of 1900 there were over 50 of these red dots.

Then came the infamous Boxer Rebellion. Have you ever heard of the Boxer Rebellion? AI: “The Boxer Rebellion was a Chinese nationalist uprising in 1899-1900 against foreign powers’ encroachment on China’s sovereignty and increasing influence. The rebellion was led by a secret society known as the Boxers (nicknamed that b/c of their expertise in martial arts), who targeted foreigners, Christian missionaries, and Chinese converts to Christianity (burning churches and foreign residences). The rebellion was sparked by a combination of factors, including economic hardship, resentment towards foreign powers, and the spread of Christianity. Perhaps a total of up to 100,000 or more people died in the conflict, although estimates on casualties have varied widely. The great majority of those killed were civilians, including thousands of Chinese Christians and approximately 200 to 250 foreign nationals (mostly Christian missionaries).”

One of those missionaries that was caught up in the Boxer Rebellion was Jonathan Goforth, his wife, and 4 children. They managed to make a long, hazardous, intense heat, 4 week journey to Shanghai and then safely to Canada, constantly threatened by cries of “kill the foreign devils”. A mob almost killed Jonathan with stones. The Boxer Rebellion lasted about 2 years and then the Goforths went back to China for 36 more years of mission work during which all their possessions were destroyed 4 times and where 4 of their children were buried. Spurred on by Charles Finney’s revivals in Wales, Jonathan began revivals all over China and Manchuria. On a single day, he baptized 960 soldiers. Many thriving churches were established. He suffered much hardship and pain, but always his soul was aglow with “the fulness of the Christ-life through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling”. He died as he slept on October 8, 1936.

I continue to be amazed as I read these stories of great Christian missionaries of the 1800’s, often called the “Great Century of Missions”. Their determination and sacrifice to spread the gospel in spite of suffering and obstacles is just amazing. They lived with one purpose in life, i.e. to convert people to Christ. My 5 years in mission work in Trinidad, West Indies and Colombia, South America are like a vacation compared to the tough foreign fields those missionaries worked in.

But that is not to minimize your efforts to reach people for Christ right here in the U.S., right here where you live and work. Not everyone is called to be a foreign missionary. You can share Christ with co-workers, relatives, friends, people you do business with, people you meet all day long. You might be called to take care of an aging parent or an orphan or a widow, but your example of love might inspire someone to become a Christian. You might be blessed with money which allows you to support missionaries or organizations that drill wells for clean water, print Bibles in the major languages for distribution all over the world, or provide food and medicine for the oppressed poor caught up in the many wars or famines in 3rd world countries.

I pray that God will bless you with the zeal and determination to focus on what really matters in life, which is the saving of souls for Jesus Christ, in whatever role and place God has put you in. Be courageous and not afraid to boldly share Jesus with everyone you are around. I think we are hesitant to do that b/c we don’t want to look like overzealous Christians or we fear getting a negative response from someone. “Just do it” and leave the fruit bearing or rejection to God. At least try to bring God and Jesus into every conversation all day.

God bless you.

HENRY KNOTT (1774-1844)

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How would you like a vacation to one of the many islands in the South Pacific? Bora Bora, Fiji, Cook Islands, Tahiti, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and thousands of other islands, unspoiled beaches. Henry Knott did not take a paradise vacation to Tahiti. He was an English bricklayer who set sail for Tahiti in 1796 to bring Christianity to the island. A beautiful island but the island was full of war, brutal killing of enemies, idol worship, human sacrifices even of children, drunkenness. 30 years earlier British explorer Captain Cook visited Tahiti. He said, “There is an abyss of dissolute sensuality into which these people have sunk, wholly unknown to every other nation and which no imagination could possibly conceive.” The population had declined by 90% since Cooke’s visit due probably to diseases brought in to the island by crews of foreign vessels. Henry Knott said there was not in Tahiti a girl of twelve years who had escaped moral and physical contamination. The people were threatened with complete extinction. 2/3 of all babies were killed at birth. Euthanasia was practiced. Those whose infirmities made them a burden were buried alive. The king Pomare, who had sacrificed 2,000 humans to his idols, rejected Knott’s message from John 3:16. Knott translated John 3:16 into the language of Tahiti. The missionaries in Tahiti was persecuted and threatened, often having their goods stolen by natives (there was a god who was worshipped by stealing). Many of them left the island in fear for their lives, leaving Knott there all alone. Knott kept preaching the love of God from John 3:16.

Finally in 1813 King Pomare II, son of King Pomare, turned from idolatry. Hundreds began to turn from idols. Idols were cut into firewood, even the idol of the main god Oro. Thousands later came to hear Knott’s sermons in a big church building built by Pomare II. Laws were enacted to stop heathen practices. On Sunday, May 16, 1819 King Pomare II in the presence of 5,000 people was baptized. After 22 years of hardship and disappointments, this was the first baptism in Tahiti. During the ensuing decade hundreds were converted to Christianity. A building formerly used for human sacrifices was turned into a church building. During his 50 years of mission work, Knott only returned to England twice. He finished translating the Bible into the Tahitian language around 1838. He presented the Tahitian Bible to Queen Victoria and, at her request, he read John 3:16 in Tahitian.

AI: “Christianity remains the dominant religion in Tahiti, with a majority (84%) of the population identifying as Christian, particularly Protestant. The Maohi Protestant Church, deeply rooted in Tahitian culture, is the largest and most influential Protestant denomination. While Christianity is prevalent, traditional Tahitian beliefs and practices continue to exist, often blended with Christian traditions”. There is a large Mormon presence in Tahiti. Don’t you know that Henry Knott is looking down from heaven with great joy as he sees the continuing legacy of his work???????

Knott said, “The only sure and efficacious remedy for the ignorance, the depravities, the sorrows and sins of mankind, is to be found in the gospel of John 3:16.”

As I read about Henry Knott, I think of two things. One, why is the church not more focused on mission work in the world, especially among the unreached peoples groups. It is estimated that of the 8.08 billion people alive in the world today, 3.42 billion of them live in unreached people groups with little or no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Why do churches keep pouring millions of dollars into buildings for our comfort and staffs “preaching to the choir” instead of printing Bibles into the major languages and sending missionaries out? Henry Knott was a bricklayer! But he spread Christianity to an unreached people group in Tahiti that eventually led to an island being 84% Christian. Maybe you are not a missionary to go to foreign fields, but you can still support financially and prayerfully the organizations and missionaries who do that.

But my second thought is John 3:16. Henry Knott wasn’t caught up in eschatology or church doctrine although he was probably of the Calvinistic Reformed theology. Apparently the love of God was the primary motivation for him to love others and sacrifice so much to share God’s love with the Tahitians. There is a song, “I love you with the love of the Lord”. When you feel how much God loves you, it just makes you want to love other people and share God’s love with them. There are so many people who just don’t feel that love. Many feel worthless and unloved, maybe due to a lack of love shown them by parents. Many seek love in the wrong places in the pursuit of materialism and hedonism. They might not even feel the need for God’s love.

I personally tend to major in doctrinal and exegetical Biblical studies, as you can see from my blog articles. But how much does John 3:16 really mean to me? Do I feel God’s love? Do I get up every morning and say “God love me”? Do I thank God often every day for sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross for me? Do I try to share God’s love with everyone I am around every day? Do I see people who are struggling with life and share God’s love with them? Do I tell people that God loves them? Do I share John 3:16 with those who aren’t Christians? Do I use my resources to try to spread the love of God and the message of John 3:16 to the world, especially to those unreached people’s groups?

What does John 3:16 really mean to you?

NEHEMIAH: LESSONS ON LEADERSHIP

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Leadership lessons from Nehemiah” Great godly leaders exhibit these qualities: Links to an external site.

1) Prayerful, depending on God for success, for wisdom to handle conflict, to get strength from God, to confess sin, etc. Great leaders pray, depending on God, in everything they do. 

Here are the times when Nehemiah prayed: 

Nehemiah 1:4-11 When he heard that there were no walls in Jerusalem

4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:

“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you.7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”

I was cupbearer to the king. 

Nehemiah 2:4 Before he asked the king if he could go to Jerusalem

4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven

Nehemiah 4:4-5 When the work was ridiculed by the enemies

4 Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.

Nehemiah 5:19 When he dealt with charging interest to fellow Jews

19 Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.

Nehemiah 6:9 When threatened by the Samaritan enemies

9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”

But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”

Nehemiah 6:14 When betrayed by fellow Jews and false prophets

14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophet Noadiah and how she and the rest of the prophets have been trying to intimidate me.

Nehemiah 9:5-38 When confessing the sins of the nation

5 And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.[aLinks to an external site.]”

“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

7 “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.

9 “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.[bLinks to an external site.] 10 You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12 By dayyou led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.

13 “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.

16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.

19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.

22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon[cLinks to an external site.] king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. 23 You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. 24 Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subduedbefore them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.

26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. 27 So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.

28 “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight.Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.

29 “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 “Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.

36 “But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.

38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”

Nehemiah 13:14 When tithes were not payed to support the Levites

14 Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.

Nehemiah 13:22 When the people were violating the Sabbath

22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.

Nehemiah 13:29 When rebuking some for marrying foreign wives

29 Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.

2) Develop a God-inspired vision.Links to an external site.

Ch 1 Nehemiah had a cushy job as cupbearer to the king of Persia, but he had a vision of doing something great for God. Jerusalem and the temple had been rebuilt but there were no walls and the city was defenseless. Nehemiah had a vision of going to Jerusalem to rebuild those walls. Great leaders have great visions of what God can use them to accomplish.

3) Plan diligently, trust faithfullyLinks to an external site.

Ch 2 He gets to Jerusalem and the first thing he does is to secretly at night inspect the walls to come up with a plan before he talked to the people. Great leaders trust God but they use their wisdom to come up with a good plan to accomplish their mission.

4) Lead with courage and dependence on GodLinks to an external site.

Ch 2 He must be very nervous when the king asks him why his is sad. The king’s cupbearer is supposed to always be cheerful around the king. He can’t be showing his own personal sadness before the king. So Nehemiah prays and then shows great courage in telling the king about the walls and how he wants to take a leave of absence and go rebuild them. That took courage. The king could have become angry and had him removed as cupbearer. 

Ch4 He showed great courage when the Samaritan enemies threatened the builders on the walls. He stood up to them and prayed to God for courage. The people were getting discouraged and afraid. The enemies planned to make several attacks on the builders at different places, but Nehemiah found out about their plan. He got the people back to work, carrying a defensive weapon in one hand and a bulding tool in the other. 

4:

9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.

10 And so [amLinks to an external site.]in Judah it was said:

“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,
Yet there is much rubble;
And we ourselves are unable
To rebuild the wall.”

11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” 13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

15 Now when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 And from that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them kept hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens carried with one hand doing the work, and the other keeping hold of a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword strapped to his waist as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me. 19 And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Each man with his servant shall spend the night within Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me—none of us [arLinks to an external site.]removed our clothes; each took his weapon even to the water.” 

Great leaders must have great courage and trust in God when their followers become discouraged and afraid. Nehemiah did.

5) Build and empower teamsLinks to an external site.

Ch 2 He inspired the men to join with him in his vision. 2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” 18 And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let’s arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.

Ch 3 He appointed different men to each rebuild a small part of the wall or a gate in the wall. He delegated the work. He did not try to do it all by himself. He built teams of workers to accomplish the task. 

6) Address conflicts with wisdom and compassionLinks to an external site.

Ch 5 He had compassion on some whom he heard had been charged interest on loans and were having difficulty paying the interest. Jews were not supposed to charge interest on fellow Jews but many were doing that. Nehemiah addressed this conflic which could have divided the workers among themselves and hindered the work on the walls. Often groups can be doing a good work for the Lord but start fighting among themselves and the work gets stopped. Great leaders know how to wisely handle such internal conflicts. 

7) Maintain integrity and transparencyLinks to an external site.

Ch 5 He said that for 12 years he had payed to feed 150 of the leaders to eat at his table.  There was a “governor’s allowance” that he could have used to pay for this, but he did not. Neither did he buy any land for himself. He showed great integrity. He sacrificed a lot to lead the project. Great leaders are not in ti for the money. They usually end up spending their own money to do the Lord’s work. 5:

14 Furthermore, since the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s food allowance. 15 But the previous governors who were before me [azLinks to an external site.]laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of my fear of God. 16 I also [baLinks to an external site.]applied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover, there were at my table 150 Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six choice sheep; also birds were prepared for me, and every ten days all sorts of wine were provided in abundance. Yet for all this I did not request the governor’s food allowance, because the forced labor was heavy on this people. 19 Remember me, my God, for good, in return for all that I have done for this people.

8) Stay focused despite distractionsLinks to an external site.

Ch 4 The enemies ridiculed the work on the walls. 4:1 Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry, and he mocked the Jews. 2 And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and the [aeLinks to an external site.]wealthy people of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore the temple for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of rubble, even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox were to jump on it, it would break their stone wall down!” Nehemiah did not let this ridicule slow him down. 

So they continued the work till the wall was built up to half its height. 4:6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 So all of them conspired together to come to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.” 

These distractions did not stop Nehemiah. He stayed focused on the work. Nothing could stop him from fulfilling his vision.

Ch 6 As the work on the walls was nearing completion with no gaps in the walls but no doors in the gates (the finishing touch), the enemies were desperate and sent letters to him 5 times offering to meet with him, supposedly to have “peace talks” with him, but really they were planning on killing him. They came up with false rumors that Nehemiah was trying to get himself made king and rebel against the Persians, which wasn’t true. Nehemiah stood up to them despite all the distractions to the work. 

Ch 6 One of his fellow Jews to try to scare him into going into the temple for safety which would have been a sin since he was not a priest. He refused to enter the temple and trusted God for his safety. He then discovered that his fellow Jew had been hired by the enemies to get Nehemiah to enter the temple and sin. They could have then used that to discredit him as a leader and get the work on the walls stopped. 

Ch 6 Because of his leadership, the walls were completed in 52 days despite all the distractions (6:15). The enemies lost their confidence. But some of his fellow Jews were loyal to Tobiah, a leader of the Samaritan enemies b/c they had intermarried with some of the Samaritans. They had been corresponding in letters with Tobiah the whole time, betraying Nehemiah. They tried to praise Tobiah when with Nehemiah. Tobiah sent more letters to frighten Nehemiah, threatening to cause him to lose his leadership position since many of his fellow Jews were loyal to Tobiah. None of this stopped Nehemiah. 

9) Celebrate milestones and give glory to GodLinks to an external site.

Ch 7:1 Now when the wall was rebuilt and I had installed the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites were appointed. He is getting the people ready for a great celebration over the finishing of the walls.

Ch 8 Nehemiah gathers the people and has Ezra read from the book of the Law (the Pentateuch, the fist 5 books of the OT). They made a podium for him to stand on. The people stood as he read from early morning to noon! 8:6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” with the raising of their hands; then they kneeled down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” Other leaders explained what Ezra was reading in more detail. The people were crying as they heard the reading and realized how much they had sinned in not keeping the Law like they should. BTW this was the reason for Ezra making the 2nd return from Babylon, i.e. to get the people keeping the Law better. Nehemiah told them to quit weeping but instead to go get ready to celebrate a joyful feast, the Feat of Tabernacles. Ezra read to them that it was the time of the year to celebrate that feast. So they gathered branches and palms to make little booths to live in for 7 days, reading from the Law the whole time and celebrating with food and great rejoicing. The people had not celebrated this feast as they should since the days of Joshua! On the 8th day they came together for a solemn, reverent assembly. 

Nehemiah inspired the people to enjoy doing God’s work, to obey God fully, and to give God the glory for success. Great leaders know how to bring people together to enjoy doing God’s work. 

10) Commit to ongoing spiritual renewalLinks to an external site.

Great leaders are not just about getting the people to start a building program to build a new church building or an addition. They are more concerned about spiritual reforms needed among the people. It is easier to get people excited about building a building than it is to confessing and repenting of our many sins.

Ch 9 Nehemiah persuaded the people to confess their sins. 9:1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. 2 The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the wrongdoings of their fathers. 3 While they stood in their place, they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.”

Then comes a long summary of the history of the Jews up to that point in time. It mentions all that God had done for Israel (the plagues, the conquest of Canaan, etc.) but how that over and over the people disobeyed God. Ch 9 is a prayer of confession of the sins of Israel in their whole history up to that point in time. But it repeatedly said that God had compassion on them and asks God to have compassion on them again as they commit to have a revival and keep God’s laws.. 

9:16 “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 They refused to listen,
And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them;
So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in mercy;
And You did not abandon them.

9:Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or abandon them,
For You are a gracious and compassionate God.

Nehemiah and Ezra inspired them to make an agreement, a covenant, in writing to obey God and the Law (9:38). The leaders all signed it. 1) To obey all the Law. 2) To divorce foreign wives they had married and not give their children in marriage to foreginers.. 3) To not buy and sell on the Sabbath. 4) To pay a yearly temple tax to support the sacrifices and work in the temple. 5) To give the firstfruits of everything they grew to the Lord to support the priests and Levites. 6) To move 1 of every 10 Jews in the land to live in the city of Jerusalem as 9/10 of the people lived in other cities. The leaders already lived in Jerusalem. 

Ch 12 This led to another celebration and “dedication” of the completed walls. 12:27 Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they could celebrate the dedication with joy, with songs of thanksgiving and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps, and lyres.” There were 2 choirs of singers on top of the walls. 

Ch 13 Nehemiah made a trip back to Susa. No doubt he told the king about the rebuilding of the wall and how God had blessed the work. But when he returned to Jerusalem, he found several issues and addressed them. 1) Some of the Jews who were related by marriages to Tobiah, the Samaritan enemy had made a room in a chamber of the temple for Tobiah to stay in. Apparently Tobiah had fallen out of favor with his fellow Samaritans. Nehemiah kicked him out of the room. 2) He also remanded the people for not paying tithes to the Levites. 3) He rebuked them for buying and selling on the Sabbath and ordered that the gates to the city be shurt at sundown on Friday and not opened until the Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday. 4) He severely rebuked some for marrying foreign women and made them swear to stop doing that. 13:25 So I quarreled with them and cursed them, and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take any of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.”