Saturday, August 13, 2016

The Wardrobe of the Saints

As I have written previously in my articles, Garments of Godliness and Godly Attire and Adornment, there is virtually a Christian "dress code". The Scripture defines what is appropriate and not appropriate for a disciple of Christ to wear on his or her body. That cannot be denied, even though some people attempt to do so on the faulty premise that God is only interested in the things of the heart, not our bodies.

In this post, I would like to discuss the inward garments we are instructed in Scripture to wear at all times. We'll call this the wardrobe of the saints.

A Garment of Praise
We begin with a rather long but beautiful passage in Isaiah, which says:

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor." (Is 61:1-3, NIV)

The Lord Jesus read from this very same passage when He announced the beginning of His public ministry (Lk 4:18). He said the Spirit of the Lord was on Him, because the Lord has anointed Him to do all these wonderful things mentioned in this passage. One of those things was to provide for those who grieve in Zion -- to bestow on them a garment of praise. Therefore, we know from Scripture that one garment we must be wearing is this garment of praise, which the Lord bestows upon us by His Holy Spirit.

Praise is an action that we should continually practice, as part of our practice of the presence of the Lord. We should not take a vacation from praise, or only praise the Lord on a certain day of the week, in a certain building, or at one particular time of day. The psalmist David said, "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." (Ps 34:1). We should praise Him in the good times and praise Him in the bad times. May we never cease to praise Him. For He is worthy. Let's put on the garment of praise.

Clothe Yourselves with Compassion, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness, Patience, and Love
The next passage we will look at is from the apostle Paul's letter to the Colossians. He wrote:

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Col 3:12-14, NIV).

We are supposed to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And over all these virtues put on love as an outer garment.

Clothe Yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ
Paul also wrote to the Romans saying, "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh." (Rom 13:14, NIV).

In the context of this passage, in the previous verse, Paul was speaking about our behavior, when he wrote: "Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy." (Rom 13:13, NIV). So this tells us that to clothe yourself with Christ or to "put on Christ" will involve a behavioral change. He also wrote to the Galatians saying, "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Gal 3:27). Christ not only lives on the inside in our hearts, but we must also wear Him outwardly, so that He shows on the outside and others can see Him.

Put on the Armor of Light
In this same passage and context, Paul said, "The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." (Rom 13:12, NIV). He contrasted putting on the armor of light with the deeds of darkness, so again it is a behavioral matter. On the one hand, we must put aside the deeds of darkness, while on the other hand put on the armor of light.

Paul described each piece of armor in detail in his epistle to the Ephesians. He wrote:

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Eph 6:11-17, NASB)

In this passage he says to "put on the full armor of God" (v. 11) and then again to "take up the full armor of God" (v. 13). He emphasizes the need to put it on and to ensure we are not missing any piece of armor. These are necessary to protect us from the schemes of the devil in this spiritual warfare we are in daily.

The important thing is that we put them on, and that they are to the soldier of Christ as armor is to a soldier of any worldly army. No soldier in his right mind would go into battle without his armor on, and neither should we. It's a daily battle, so we need to put these on daily, at least once every 24 hours. 

You may be wondering how to put on the full armor of God, as Scripture instructs us to do. Here is how to do it. Pray like this: "Father, would you please put your complete armor on me now, I ask and thank you for it, in the name of Jesus."

This is what Dr. Rebecca Brown, MD was shown by her guardian angel, as she wrote in her book called, He Came to Set the Captives Free: A Guide to Recognizing and Fighting the Attacks of Satan, Witches, and the Occult. I highly recommend reading this book, which is available from Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and other major retail outlets, as well as used book retailers online.

The adversary of our souls is always prowling around looking for someone to devour. As Peter says, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1Pe 5:8). Let's be sober and alert. Please see this very important, related article, The Armor of God.

Clothe Yourselves With Humility
Just as Paul did, the apostle Peter also admonished us to clothe ourselves with humility. He wrote: "You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." (1Pe 5:5-7).

The reasons he gives for clothing ourselves with humility are fully sufficient for us. Since God opposes the proud, then if we fail to clothe ourselves with humility, we may behave proudly and find that God is opposing us. However, if we walk humbly before God, He will give us grace. If we humble ourselves beneath His mighty hand, He will lift us up in due time. Since pride is a weakness of young men especially, Peter addressed this admonition to them, but it applies likewise to all of us.

Clothe Yourself with Good Works
Paul wrote to Timothy, "Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness." (1Ti 2:9-10). As I have written in my article, Garments of Godliness, this passage teaches how women should outwardly adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, so as to glorify God. It forbids certain types of adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, and expensive clothes, all of which apply to men as well. But it also teaches how women should adorn themselves spiritually by means of good deeds appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

Bind Kindness and Faithfulness Around Your Neck
The proverb says, "Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart." (Pro 3:3). We are supposed to bind kindness (mercy) and truth around our necks, which is in contrast to the way the wicked wear pride as their necklace (Ps 73:6).

Put on the New Self
The apostle Paul taught that the old self or former way of life must be put off, which means it must be completely discarded, since it is being corrupted like an old rag by its deceitful desires. He taught that we should throw it off and in place of it we should "put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." (Eph 4:24, NIV). This, too, is part of the saints' wardrobe. For more on this topic, please see Walking in Truth, Righteousness, and Holiness.

White Garments So That You May Clothe Yourself
In the book of Revelation, in the apostle John's letter to the angel of the Church in Laodicea, he wrote in part the following message from the Lord: "I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see." (Rev 3:18). This indicates that there are actually spiritual, white garments that we are supposed to wear and that we must buy them from the Lord Jesus Christ. May we all seek to buy from Him those white garments, so that we may clothe ourselves. In the case of the Church in Laodicea, the Lord said they were naked without these garments (Rev 3:17), and they needed them to cover the shame of their nakedness.

Be Dressed in Wedding Garments
In His parable of the wedding feast, Jesus said:

"Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'”  (Mat 22:10-13)

The man who came to the wedding feast without wedding clothes was thrown into the outer darkness, which is hell. This is a stark reminder that not all who call Jesus “Lord, Lord” or are within the church will be qualified to participate in the wedding feast in the kingdom of heaven. To be fit for heaven, we must be wearing our white garments. As Matthew Henry once wrote: “Those, and those only, who put on the Lord Jesus, that have a Christian temper of mind, and are adorned with Christian graces, who live by faith in Christ, and to whom he is all in all, have the wedding garment.”

Be Dressed in Readiness
The Lord also taught us to "Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit." (Luk 12:35). Other versions say, "Stay dressed for action" (ESV) and "Be dressed ready for service" (NIV). The original language literally says, "Let your waist be girded about," which is rendered in many translations with the expression, "Let your loins be girded about," (see KJV, MKJV, ASV, Darby, and YLT translations).

In Bible times, the men wore long garments, and when they were preparing for action, such as labor or a journey, they girded it up or tucked it up around their waist (loins). This would enable them to move freely without restriction (see Lk 12:37). Therefore, in using the expression, "let your loins be girded about," the Lord was teaching us to remain dressed for action. He was obviously speaking of a spiritual state of being dressed in readiness, rather than one that requires being in your literal day clothes, even though it may often times involve being physically dressed in certain instances.

Peter used essentially this same expression in the original language, when he wrote, "Therefore girding up the loins of your mind..." (1Pe 1:13a, MKJV; cf., KJV, ASV, Darby, and YLT). Other versions use a more dynamic equivalent translation, such as "Prepare your minds for action." (1Pe 1:13a, NASB). This helps clarify what the Lord meant in Lk 12:35. The point is to stay alert in your thoughts, so that you are always ready for action.

Putting it All Together
According to God's Word, there are some garments of righteousness that all disciples of Christ are supposed to wear at all times. It is our responsibility to do so. The expressions "clothe yourself," "adorn yourself," "put on," "take up," "gird up your loins," "buy from me," "be dressed," and "bind around your neck" are all actions that we must personally take. They are not automatically done for us and are not a one-time occurrence.

These garments include praise, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, faithfulness, patience, and love. We must put in the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. We must put on the armor of light, which is the armor of God that includes truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, the hope of salvation, love (once again), and the Word of God. We must stay dressed for action with our minds alert. We must buy from the Lord white garments, so that we may clothe ourselves. We must be dressed in wedding clothes. We must adorn ourselves with good deeds. Last but not least, we must clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We are not properly dressed unless we are clothed with these.

Attribution notice: Some Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. The "Robes of White" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Home page. I recommend reading Garments of Godliness, Keeping Your Body Pure and Holy, Godly Attire and Adornment, Carrying Your Cross or Cross Dressing?, Righteous Deeds and White Robes, Tattoos and Body Piercing, The Beauty of Brokenness, Holy Fire Baptism, Fruit in Every Season, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, The Fiery Sufferings of the Believer, Is Tolerance a Virtue?, Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit: What's the Difference?, The Ways of Life, and The Way, Will, and Word of God. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Saturday, August 6, 2016

The Nature of Persecution

Dear God-seekers,

In my previous post, I wrote about The Persecution of the Saints, which seems to be on the rise in these last days. Today I would like to encourage you further, by showing you the nature of persecution. In other words, I want to show you how the enemy persecutes the saints.

You see, some may think that in order for someone to claim that the suffering they are experiencing is persecution, they must be under attack as a direct result of ministry activity, such as preaching or evangelizing. However, I will give you some examples from the Bible and modern times that illustrate how persecution does not necessarily have to fit that pattern in order to be considered "religious" persecution.

Daniel
Consider the way they persecuted Daniel. They knew they could not get him for anything he was actually doing wrong, so far as righteousness was concerned.

Then these men said, "We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God." (Dan 6:5)

He was thrown into the lions den for breaking the law of evil men, not the law of God.

"Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God. Then they approached and spoke before the king about the king's injunction, 'Did you not sign an injunction that any man who makes a petition to any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, is to be cast into the lions' den?' The king replied, 'The statement is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.' Then they answered and spoke before the king, "Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the injunction which you signed, but keeps making his petition three times a day." (Dan 6:11-13)

They found a legal loophole to get him thrown into the lion's den, which would have been certain death for him, if God had not rescued him from the mouths of the lions. Daniel was not actively proselytizing among the Babylonians, and that was not the reason he was thrown into the lion's den. He was living a righteous life, which they hated. He was in a high position of power, of which his enemies were probably jealous.

Joseph
Likewise, when Joseph's brothers threw him into the “pit” and sold him into Egypt as a slave, it was not for anything he had actually done wrong. Nor was it for preaching the gospel or conducting evangelism. It was for being the "dreamer", who was favored by their father favored above them all, and who dreamed of being ruler over them.

"They said to one another, 'Here comes this dreamer! Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, "A wild beast devoured him." Then let us see what will become of his dreams!'" (Gen 37:19-20).

Their motive was jealously. “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt." (Ac 7:9a, NIV).  They knew that Jacob loved Joseph more than any of them, and had given Joseph a robe of many colors, but they did not receive one. So they did not persecute Joseph for actively preaching righteousness or prophesying, but out of jealousy and hatred toward him.

Later when he was in charge of Potiphar's house, he was thrown into jail, based on false accusations by a wicked woman.

"It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, Lie with me.' But he refused and said to his master's wife, 'Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?' As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her." (Gen 39:7-10)

Joseph refused to do this great evil and sin against God.

"She caught him by his garment, saying, 'Lie with me!' And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside...So she left his garment beside her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with these words, 'The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.' Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, 'This is what your slave did to me,' his anger burned. So Joseph's master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail." (Gen 39:12,16-20)

Potiphar's wife was jealous of him and wanted to see his downfall. She hated him for not fulfilling the lusts of her flesh. He was not actively proselytizing among the Egyptians. Instead he was simply living a righteous life, refusing to sleep with his master's wife, who was attracted to his handsome form and appearance (Gen 39:6).
                               
David
David was persecuted by Saul, but not for religious reasons. It was jealousy and spite, because he did not want David to take over the kingdom.

"It happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments. The women sang as they played, and said, 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.' Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, 'They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?' Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on." (1Sa 18:6-9)

He was also persecuted by his son Absalom, but not for religious reasons (2 Sam 15-19). It was a case of tyranny and usurping the throne. These things were no less persecutions just because they were not direct consequences of preaching the Word of God.

Paul
Paul faced many persecutions, but I would like to talk about three of them in particular. One of them was in Pisidian Antioch. The ministry of Paul and Barnabas was so successful in that city and drew such crowds that the Jews became jealous. "But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming." (Act 13:45). So according to Scripture, the underlying reason behind the persecution was jealousy.

The second persecution I want to mention happened in Philippi, when Paul and Silas were on their way to the place of prayer. They were not actively preaching or conducting any meetings, just headed off to prayer. They encountered a slave girl who had an evil spirit by which she predicted the future, and who continued to annoy them for many days by following them and shouting (Act 16:16-17). Paul eventually cast the demon out of her (Act 16:18). When the owners saw that their hope of making money from this girl was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas, and dragged them before the authorities (Ac 16:19). The charges they made against these men of God were completely false.

"And when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, 'These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.'" (Act 16:20-21)

Because of the self-interests of the slave owners, Paul and Silas were falsely accused of "throwing our city into confusion," "being Jews," and "proclaiming customs unlawful for Romans." Because of this, they were beaten with rods and thrown into prison. Aside from the fact that Paul and Silas were of the Jewish race, there was no truth to these allegations, but this is the nature of persecution that I want to show you.

The third persecution of Paul that I would like to mention is when Paul was attacked in the temple in Jerusalem. He had simply followed the advice of James and gone through a seven day period of ceremonial purification with four other Jewish men.

"When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, 'Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.' For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple." (Act 21:27-29)

The accusations they made were false once again. They said he was preaching to all men everywhere against the Law and the temple, which was false. And they said he had defiled the temple, because they had previously seen a Gentile with him in the city, and they incorrectly assumed he was with Paul in the temple. Because of that, they dragged him out of the temple and were seeking to kill him (Act 21:31). When the Roman guard came and arrested Paul, some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another (Acts 21:34). So again we see the nature of persecution, how it is often based on false accusations and not for actual ministry activities.

The Lord Jesus Christ
When Jesus was arrested, He was not doing any ministry activity. He had simply been praying in a private place at night with His disciples. Do you know why they arrested Him?

"Pilate knew that they had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous." (Mat 27:18, GW)

It was because of jealousy that they brought Jesus to Pilate for execution. When He was on trial, people were bringing up everything they could think of to try to accuse Him.  But there was nothing there. They found no ground for putting Him to death.

"Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death. They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward." (Mat 26:59-60a).

"And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed." (Act 13:28)

"In his humiliation he was deprived of justice." (Ac 8:33a, NIV).

This again demonstrates the nature of persecution. As the Lord said, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Finally I would like us to consider a modern preacher who was persecuted. According to Wikipedia, "Dietrich Bonhoeffer (4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confessing Church...Apart from his theological writings, Bonhoeffer was known for his staunch resistance to the Nazi dictatorship, including vocal opposition to Hitler's euthanasia program and genocidal persecution of the Jews. He was arrested in April 1943 by the Gestapo and imprisoned at Tegel prison for one and a half years. Later he was transferred to a Nazi concentration camp. After being associated with the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was quickly tried, along with other accused plotters, including former members of the Abwehr (the German Military Intelligence Office), and then executed by hanging on 9 April 1945 as the Nazi regime was collapsing."

He opposed the Nazi's efforts to control the German Protestant churches. He initially avoided military service in the war for reasons of conscience, because He understood the teachings of Jesus to mean that He had called us to love our enemies and be at peace with them. But finally joined the Intelligence for the German military, working as a double agent against Hitler. He staunchly resisted Nazism. As an intelligence agent, he participated in efforts to help some German Jews escape to neutral Switzerland.

Why was he arrested? It was because Hitler's regime was determined to eliminate all opposition and establish total control over society. This was clearly motivated by self-interest. What was the specific crime that Bonhoeffer committed? It was his involvement in helping Jews escape the country. That is what led to his arrest, once the Gestapo uncovered his involvement in this activity. He was not imprisoned and executed for for his ministry of preaching and teaching. Nevertheless, it was still persecution in the sight of God.

Putting it All Together
Based on the examples I have just cited in God's Word and in modern Church history, the persecution of the saints is not always carried out in direct response to some ministry activity. Sometimes true persecution comes in the form of actions taken against the saints for other things they have done that would not be considered ministry activities. Often times the motive is jealousy, ill will, hatred, or self-interest. It is still considered true persecution, but the enemy and his agents often use false accusations against the saints or find some legal violation or infringement of some law that has been committed, in order to attack God's righteous people. Please beware of this tactic and be on your guard against it. Let us be sober and vigilant.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" (1Pe 5:8, KJV)

"Be on your guard against men..." (Mt 10:17a, NIV).

"The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen." (2 Tim 4:18, NIV).

Image credit:  "The Christian Martyr's Last Prayer" by Jean-Léon Gérôme - Walters Art Museum, image taken from Wikimedia Commons.  William T. Walters commissioned this painting in 1863, but the artist did not deliver it until 20 years later. In a letter to Walters, Gérôme identified the setting as ancient Rome's racecourse, the Circus Maximus. He noted such details as the goal posts and the chariot tracks in the dirt. The artist also commented on the religious fortitude of the victims who were about to suffer martyrdom either by being devoured by the wild beasts or by being smeared with pitch and set ablaze. In the painting, you can see one martyr standing and praying in the midst of other kneeling saints huddled in prayer, and others are hung on crosses about to be burned alive.

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Other Scriptures may be taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®.
  
Author's note:  If you enjoyed this post, I also recommend The Persecution of the Saints, Persecuted or Popular?, Faithful Until Death: The Glory of Martyrdom for Christ, The Cost of Discipleship, Confrontational Evangelism, The Rise of Antichrists, The Top Ten Things Jesus Taught, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Popularity of the Gospel, Ask for the Ancient Paths, The Knowledge of the Holy, Separation from the World, Ultimate Accountability, Avoid Becoming a Corrupted Christian, and The Judgment Seat of Christ. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."
___________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org