What Glenn Writes

In my last article on my blog, I wrote about a time I heard the audible voice of God. In truth, this is a bold statement for anyone to make and one many may doubt, but my experience, memory, and testimony are mine to share. Whether you believe me is your choice. For the basis of the article, sharing my experience was not to brag, but more to illustrate how this event was caused by my shame and unbelief – not exactly bragging material.

On that particular day, I did not know the voice of God in my heart. I firmly believe God can speak far more clearly and more powerfully to our internal hearts than to our external ears. This is where He can make the most powerful impact in our lives, as this is where He speaks to the true self – the inner man or woman. Our heads don’t have to interpret, try to make sense of it all, or get in the way of the truth.

To my shame and unbelief, I did not know His voice in my heart, so He had to resort to an extreme method to get my attention. I can name several other occasions when He had to go to some radical lengths to get through my sheer stubbornness or skepticism. These incidents in my life have all been the result of ignoring His voice when He speaks to my heart.

I am not alone. Unfortunately, there are many believers who do not know God’s voice. Some may go for months, years, or longer without ever receiving that softly spoken, intimate word from the Lord. As a believer, God spoke to them at one time, calling to their heart and speaking His Words of love and acceptance. Yet, in our fallen nature, we find it all too easy to silence His voice in our hearts, and in some cases, far more comfortable. Listening to His voice often requires action, change, or a new direction in our lives.

Ehhh… no thanks, God.  This downhill direction is just fine. 

I know where non-believers have been turned off by so much foolishness among believers who take every word popping into their minds as divine nature. Such people boast, “God told me”, “the Lord spoke to me”, “Jesus said”, and yet the “word” they hear is only their corrupt nature taking voice and speaking permission to their sin or judgment of others. When comparing what Jesus told them to do with what Jesus wrote in Scripture, we find a huge discrepancy; another reason for a non-believer to reject Jesus, another inoculation against the Christian belief.
 
If you want to know and hear God’s voice in the days ahead, be ready to have Him speak of cleansing before He speaks of direction. Some believers want God to tell them how to keep everything they have accumulated, how to provide for their family, how to keep their business or career afloat, how to salvage their relationships, or how to find healing in their lives. The truth is, before God gives us a word of direction in any of these matters, He’ll speak to us about His commandments.

“These things I command you, that you love one another” (John 15:17).

God will first speak to you about your actions at home with your spouse and children, your parents, your family and friends… He will speak to you about your quick temper, your grudges, and your unforgiving spirit. He’ll point out every hidden, secret thing in your life, which is uncomfortable, uneasy, and makes us want to run or shut off His voice. How many times have we turned off the news because we simply did not want to hear the bad reports?

What we often miss when He speaks to us is there is more.  There is something more than just that which makes us uncomfortable or uneasy. There is also hope.

He’ll tell you, “I want to be your adviser, your counselor, your guide, your protector, your provider. I want to walk with you through every trial and hardship. And I want to favor you, bless you, and keep you by my Spirit. But first, you have to get honest with me about what is hidden in your heart. Right now you’re holding on to grudges and unforgiveness, but you must give them up! We simply can’t walk together unless we agree on these matters of your heart!”

No, I’m not telling you God told me this or Jesus just spoke these words to me. I am paraphrasing His Scripture. This is what Jesus has written to each of us, what Jesus speaks to each of us through His word. To allow Him to speak to our hearts, we have to get rid of the junk blocking His words. I am paraphrasing Scripture, but I am also speaking from experience. The only way I found I could truly listen to God’s gentle, soft spoken words to my inner man was to get rid of the junk getting in the way or consuming so much of my thoughts I couldn’t concentrate. 

How do you do that?

Pray. “Lord, show me that which is in the way and give me strength to get rid of it. Show me how. I ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.”

Are you tough enough?

Are you tough enough to listen? Are you tough enough to take the time to listen to God? Are you tough enough to believe?

Glenn Sasscer

www.glennsasscer.com
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Few hear the audible voice of God. Those of us who have, we know it may be due to our own shame and unbelief, yet at the same time so appreciate the boost in our faith this experience has given us.

For me, I was a stubborn young man with an ego far exceeding my confidence and abilities. I was determined to change an overhead light on a power pole in our driveway. My aluminum ladder was about four feet too short. My redneck roots reasoned my old pick-up truck would easily make up the difference if I parked the truck next to the pole and propped the ladder in the back of the truck. While I can remember the truck, ladder, and set-up in my head, I wish I had a picture to give you the real redneck flavor of the moment.

I climbed the ladder with the replacement light in my coat pocket and enough sheer willpower to overcome my fear of heights (or so I thought). If there had been no wind gust or shaking of the ladder, I would have changed the light in a matter of moments and there would be nothing to share. However, with the ladder extended to the farthest rung (which by the way was one rung beyond the safe extension limit, but everyone knows those limits are merely suggestions) and me at about the point just beyond halfway, a gust of wind came out of absolutely nowhere.

The moments following were one of three times in my entire life I experienced real terror and fear, the kind erupting suddenly in your heart and seizing your body in a paralyzing hold, squeezing the very breath from your lungs. My coat acted like a sail, catching the wind and pulling me away from the ladder. My hands, locked to the ladder in a death grip, refused to let go and kept me in place, resulting in a tug-a-war with the wind and a billowing effect with me on the ladder. The wind gust pounded me, buffeting my coat, and causing the sadistic ladder to shake back and forth. I am convinced the ladder would have fallen if it had been against the side of a building, but fortunately, the top rungs were straddling the pole just below the light and kept the ladder in place in spite of my violent waltz with the jet stream whirling around me. Somewhere in the middle of the devastating panic, I heard a small little girl crying uncontrollably and only later realized the sobbing voice was my own.

The wind blew, the ladder bounced, I cried, and God spoke to me in an audible voice, saying, “Calm down, my son. I have you.”

Instantly, the wind stopped and the ladder was still. A wave of peace washed over me, enveloping me. I stood there on the ladder for a moment longer before finishing my climb to change the light. The peace and calm remained with me until I jumped off the back of my pick-up truck and my feet were on the ground.

Some may explain away this experience as a hallucination, trick of the mind, primal survival instincts, or some other psychobabble to deny God spoke to a scared man standing on an aluminum ladder. For me, I was a feeble believer at the time, hardly enough of a Christian to qualify for the name, and my lack of Scriptural knowledge would not have lent enough information to conjure up the voice. Mind tricks cannot stop the wind. The peace following His words was the first time in my life to experience the utter and complete calm I have come to know to be from God.

His peace. His calm. Taste it once, know it forever. 

I know some people envy or yearn for a similar experience, but you should know this was to my shame. God spoke to me because of my unbelief. I let terror and fear control me on the ladder, to the point where I was probably close to falling. Instead of praying in the moment, I gave myself over in unbelief to the panic and worry. Instead of calling on Jesus, I cried like a little girl. To my shame, God intervened and probably saved me from falling.

I believe God wants us to know that no matter how difficult things may get for us, He will sustain all who trust in him. He speaks to us, sometimes audibly, but mostly He speaks in a more powerful way to our inner being.
 
This is confirmed by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 30:21:

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

We understand Jewish history, both secular and religious, confirms Isaiah delivered this word to Israel in the very worst of times. The nation was in absolute ruin, devastated, and shaking to the core. Isaiah told Israel’s leaders, “Turn to the Lord now! He wants to give you a word of direction, to speak to you, saying, ‘Go this way, go that way, here’s the way…’” History also confirms the leaders would not listen. They decided they would turn to Egypt to deliver them, thinking they could rely on the Egyptians’ chariots, horses, and supplies.
 
Yet, God did not get angry. Instead, He waited patiently for them to realize His plan is better than their plan, He can bring peace and calm in the midst of their windstorm.  In that same passage of Isaiah, verse 18 tells us:

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him! O people… you will weep no more. How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, He will answer you.

I read the words, “How gracious He will be when you cry for help” and I am reminded of a pathetic little man, shaking on a ladder and crying out. While I did not cry out to God, He answered me and embraced me in a peace and calm beyond description. How much more will He do when we actually cry out to Him directly?
 
What matters, what is vitally important, is that we get to know the voice of God. He is still speaking. He made it clear, “My sheep know my voice.” There are many voices in the world today – many loud, demanding voices.  Why should God compete with loud demanding voices when He can speak so much more powerfully directly to your heart? 

Are you tough enough to listen? Are you tough enough to take the time to listen to God? Are you tough enough to believe?

Glenn Sasscer

www.glennsasscer.com
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At the end of last week’s article found here, I finished with the well-known Scripture verse in Matthew 28:18-20.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”

I often look at the instruction Jesus gives us in this passage in the same way I look at the instructions we give our children when we leave them with a sitter. You know the instructions that go something like, “Listen and obey, be respectful, help clean things up, and go to bed on time.” These sort of instructions are given for our children to follow until the time we return. This is a good comparison because really, when you think about it, the instruction given by Jesus is for us to follow until the time He returns.

I also think this passage is overused as an excuse for guerrilla warfare in evangelism.  I may be stepping on some big time toes with this statement, appear to be judgmental, and some may call for me to be taken out behind the woodshed for a severe flogging, but roll with me a little and let me explain.

I made the next point at the end of my last article:

To fully appreciate the instruction given here, we need to recognize the word disciple for what it means: student. This instruction is not saying go and make Christians of all the nations, go and conquer all the nations, or go and subdue all the nations with your Scriptural wisdom. This instruction is saying go and make students, inclusive to all the nations everywhere (so no one is excluded). This is an important distinction to recognize because you cannot teach an unwilling student and you cannot make a student out of someone unwilling to be one – just ask any school teacher.

Some may argue this statement is wrong, and the passage does in fact instruct us to go and make Christians of all the nations. Let’s not get caught up in semantics on the meaning or interpretation. My point here is I do not believe anyone can “make” a Christian. Faith is not something to be forced upon someone else. You can force a person to look like a Christian, walk in a Christian way, speak in a Christian way, and for all purposes, appear to be a Christian, but if their heart is not given over to Christ, are they truly a believer?

Guerrilla warfare in evangelism may produce a few true believers, however at what price? How many other people were simply “inoculated” against believing because of the tactics of a forced religion or belief system? How many were turned away by hypocrisy, do as I say and not as I do? Now, I am not bagging on zealous or aggressive evangelists sharing the gospel. If they believe God has called them to guerilla tactics in delivering the message, then I am not going to stand in their way or criticize them personally, however I am questioning their methods. Where in Scripture does Jesus teach us a guerrilla warfare approach in evangelism?

When I consider the passage above, I have to apply what I know in corporate training for training adults, what I have learned in homeschooling my children, and what I know from working with the children, youth, and young adult ministries. This experience tells me we must first get the person to want to be a student or we might as well just quit.  We cannot force knowledge on anyone and we cannot pressure someone into learning (in reality, you can pressure someone into learning through coercion and manipulation, however the knowledge learned is quickly flushed when the pressure is released, so the retention is lost).

When we watch Jesus through the gospels in Scripture, his teaching method was never forced or overbearing. When he taught or spoke publicly, there were thousands of people gathering around Him. Would this happen in guerilla styled evangelism or teachings? Would this happen if He was a doom and gloom teacher? Of course the answer is simple here: No. Thousands gathered around Him because when He spoke, He spoke the truth with compassion, understanding, and through interaction with those around Him. This is illustrated throughout the gospels.

With His close disciples, or students, He related His teachings to stories to help them remember and apply the teaching. His focus was on training retention and equipping the disciples. By following their questions, we find the disciple’s attitude was one of eager learning, hungry for the knowledge, and a driving passion to understand the teachings. There was a learning revival going on in each of the disciples – these were eager students to the core. Why? Because they wanted to ask questions and learn more.

When I consider the “making” of a Christian making disciples and how it should be done, it does not begin with forcing a teaching down someone’s throat.  Instead, it begins with getting to know them. How can I relate something Scriptural if I know nothing of the person to whom I am sharing the information? Some of my best training sessions in business are with people I have known for years because I can better relate the training material to what I know about the person.

When do I approach them about God? This is the real clincher for me, because I don’t have to approach them – they approach me. God is not a switch I turn on or off when I want to share something with others, but instead I have a relationship with Him, I talk about Him, I write about Him, and as you are reading, I blog articles about Him. When I talk about Him, I am having a conversation with others about what God is doing in my life and around me; I am emailing about a new revelation, or blogging about a new understanding. This is the open door for people to email me, call me, stop me in the course of my day and ask me questions, or in some way bring up the subject.

People around me want to ask questions and learn more. Hmmmm… what is the definition of an eager student? Have I made a Christian or have I made a disciple?

Glenn Sasscer

www.glennsasscer.com
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A few readers asked some questions on a recent article, found here , comparing Soap to Jesus Christ and how we express our faith. The article concluded with the following statements:

My point is, there are many different ways to clean the dishes, but there is only one Soap. Let’s not get caught up in how the dishes are getting cleaned, but instead get caught up in the Soap cleaning the dishes. 

This summarizes the article in showing there are many ways to express our faith and relationship with Jesus Christ. We should not get caught up in the many ways of worship and expressions of faith, but instead get caught up in the “Who” of God, finding out more about Jesus, and what He means to each of us.

The questions were centered on how Christians treat people who may not believe in Jesus or who have different faiths. One reader asked, “What if we use different soap? Won’t our dishes get just as clean?”  I believe these are excellent questions and ones we should examine more closely. Too often, Christians will respond to these type of questions with an attack or avoidance, neither which is convincing or serving any purpose other than to shine a negative light on this thing we call Christian faith.

First, let’s realize when we are asked questions about our faith, we are not the first ones to be asked questions regarding our faith in the One whom we call Jesus, for He is the same God Joshua worshipped in the Old Testament. We find other gods being worshipped in the Old Testament, and Joshua basically says, “Hey, whatever you are going to do, decide where you are going to place your faith.”

Joshua 24:14-15

“…throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Second, let’s realize we are told to be prepared to answer questions about our faith, but not to attack or avoid those questions. This is an important element for believers to grasp. Let’s take a look at 1 Peter 3:15-16.

“…always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience…”

When you read these verses, focus in on the words “…gentleness and respect…”, as I think these two criteria in giving answers are overlooked by some Christians. Instead, there is an attack, sometimes a personal verbal assault of words, pointing of the fingers, raised voices, and shattered relationships. Other times, there is avoidance, because these questions are making us uncomfortable; faith is a taboo subject at work, at the bar, or at the club; or you just don’t want to hassle with talking about why you believe because you don’t fully know yourself.

I am guilty of both these forms of response. I was wrong. For some silly reason, I had taken the arrogant stance of having to know everything about Scripture in order to prove my faith or relationship with God. You see the problem right away, don’t you? As soon as someone asked me a question outside my understanding or knowledge, out comes the gloves and we go a few rounds, or I suddenly get distracted and fall into the safety net of avoidance. In these cases, I did an extremely poor job of expressing my faith, sharing my testimony, and I left their questions unanswered. I finally realized I am not responsible for having all the answers; I am only responsible for what I know.  It is ok to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll be glad to find out and get back to you.”

Why would anyone want to know anything more about Jesus Christ when His followers are so arrogant, nasty, or rude? And, this is where I apologize: I am sorry. Now let me be clear here: I am apologizing for being arrogant, nasty, or rude – I am not apologizing for my faith.

So, what if others use different soap? Won’t it get their dishes just as clean? The real question being, what if others have a different god? Won’t their gods get them into heaven or whatever they may call life beyond death?

Using this same analogy, if I have a totally fantastic dish soap which is absolutely amazing in cutting through the grease and grime, cleaning away the junk, and just leaving the dishes sparkling clean, would I share the name of this soap with others if the subject comes up?  And dang, you know this fantastic soap is also free? Not only is this soap free, but I don’t even have to go out and get it – it comes to me. If the subject comes up, I can see myself sharing my experience with this amazing soap. I can also see myself telling family and friends, because this soap is just changing the way I do dishes and life is different.

What happens if I tell someone about this soap and they decide to stick with their old, bargain brand or name brand soap, something different than what I am using? This is a good time for me to yell at them, right? Tell them how crazy they are for not using the same soap I use? Or, maybe I should quit talking to them altogether?  After all, they are simply not listening to what I am saying, right?

In this analogy, both responses are absurd, and the same holds true when we are talking about our faith and salvation. Yes, I realize there is more at stake, and I realize clean dishes do not fully equate to an eternity in Hell or Heaven. I also realize yelling or the silent treatment will be equally unconvincing.

So what is the appropriate response? Be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect. Again, with a focus on the last few words, the manner in which we give our answer is just as important as the answer we give, for this is how our faith is applied to our lives. With gentleness and respect, we give our answer in the course of the conversation we are having without pulling out the soapbox to turn it into a podium-thumping lecture (there are places for this style of teaching, not as an answer in a discussion). In addition to gentleness and respect, we should learn to quit answering the question once the question has been answered – that is, learn when to shut up.

What if someone is determined to use a different soap even after we “joyfully” express all the attributes and awesomeness of our soap? So what? You provided your reason for your faith, so let it go. Look at Joshua’s response to this same dilemma in the verses above: “…if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua is laying it all out, giving his testimony, and letting the people make their own decision… Wow! What a concept! And yes, it is Scriptural to allow someone else to make their own faith decision, even if it disagrees with your faith or what Scripture states. Wouldn’t you appreciate the same freedom and courtesy? If God gave them the freedom of choice, why would you take it away from them?

This is where some Christians may argue Matthew 28:18-20.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”

To fully appreciate the instruction given here, we need to recognize the word disciple for what it means: student. This instruction is not saying go and make Christians of all the nations, go and conquer all the nations, or go and subdue all the nations with your Scriptural wisdom. This instruction is saying go and make students, inclusive to all the nations everywhere (so no one is excluded). This is an important distinction to recognize because you cannot teach an unwilling student and you cannot make a student out of someone unwilling to be one – just ask any school teacher.

We will examine this more in the next article. For now, let me just ask you if you are tough enough to be a Christian and allow others to have the same freedom of choice as you?

Glenn Sasscer

www.glennsasscer.com
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