The Fear Factor
Fear is a good thing. It alerts us to potential harm, activates our defense responses and, if harnessed properly, motivates us to timely, appropriate self-preservation behavior. It keeps us Alive. It is true not only in the physical realm but also the Spiritual.
Alternatively, Fear can be a bad thing. It can blind us to reality, cloud our analytic processing and, if not harnessed properly, send us into paralysis, inaction and further vulnerability. In short, it can lock us into a Death Spiral.
The “Fear Factor” is an opportunity, and also a dilemma. The choice between the two remains within our grasp. Grasp onto “living Life” too freely or casually, and we end up foolishly encountering death prematurely. Grasp onto “preserving Life” too earnestly or analytically, and we miss the opportunity to Live Life to its fullest. This predicament presents itself throughout our daily activities and responsibilities: at work, leisure, pleasure, exercise, diet, education, decision-making, communication, social interaction, spirituality, Christian-living, ministry and our eternal destiny. Yes, it impacts our final destination—Forever!
When Fear is harnessed properly, it is first and foremost focused on our Creator. After all, if we don’t Fear God, how can any other Fear even be relevant in the final analysis? Only with the Wisdom of God can we effectively thread the varied needles of Fear in the tiny eye we call “Life” God Himself has declared, “The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7
When Fear of God is maligned or ignored, it doesn’t go away. It cannot. It exists and must settle somewhere. That Fear simply mutates into a Fearful Life. It becomes what the Bible calls “fear of man.” “The Fear of Man brings a Snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be Safe.” Proverbs 29:25
The Church and The Pandemic
A snare. A trap. Stifling life, placing it on a sure course of inactivity, paralysis and death. It’s happening to Ministers and Ministries all over the world. While pastors and people pontificate over how, when and whether to “reopen” their churches on Sunday, we miss the Spiritual Reality hidden in plain sight: Christianity is in a Death Spiral, like an airplane that has lost “lift”—plummeting precipitously with precious little opportunity to dodge disaster. To continue our circular conversations about churches reopening is to miss the main point: We are not doing Christianity. The works, fruit, and eternal purpose of the Christian Life amount to much more than Sunday service. The Enemy knows , but we act as if we don’t.
Having promoted a Pandemic of Fear in the masses, the Enemy has redirected our focus from Fear of God to fear of man. It was cunning, stealthy and quite ingenious. But now that Christian ministry is in the crosshairs of cultural irrelevance, what should the Church be doing? Struggling to reopen Sunday services? That would be like replacing professional Nascar racing with virtual video “races” online. Sounds absurd? That’s exactly what largely is happening. And with it, they begin the certain Death of actual “in-person” Nascar racing. How about replacing Christian ministry with images and voices on a digital screen every Sunday?
Christian Life and Christian Ministry go far beyond Sunday’s holy huddle. As people bark and banter about restrictions on Sunday services, they blindly miss the open eradication of Christian works: counseling, visiting orphans and widows, feeding the hungry, door to door evangelism, open air evangelistic crusades, nursing home/hospital/hospice visitations, prison ministry, chaplaincy, grieving and honorably burying the dead, discipling anyone, leading by example, helps ministry, teaching (let alone making) new Disciples, marriage, baptism, communion, missionary endeavors, mission trips, reaching the unreached, reaching the digitally unconnected—42% of the world have no access to the internet!
The list goes on and on. These are not optional side dishes in a buffet of Christian Ministry. These are commands and imperatives from the mouth of God. Christianity cannot be reduced to Sunday service, much less a digital imitation of it. Touchless, virtual ministry has become the golden calf. An idol that keeps the money flowing, the congregation seeing and hearing…and subtly anesthetizes us from obediently Doing!
We tend to think that “Fear of God” can coexist with “fear of man”. It cannot! They are mutually exclusive. And so, we are called to press forward into the vast imperatives of Christian Life with one Fear: Fear of God. It is high time we get back to the Christian Life before the possibility of participating passes us by. God does not need us to accomplish His work. Rather, He grants us the divine invitation to co-labor with Him. This will cost us dearly. It will divide communities, churches, ministries, homes, friends, marriages and loved ones. Make no mistake about it. The “days” are upon us.
“… and he who does not take his cross and follow after Me, is not worth of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake, will find it.” Mt. 10:34
THE DISCIPLE SUPPORT MINISTRIES BIBLESCHOOLS AND THE PANDEMIC
The DSM Bible Schools are up and running. Indeed, because of corona virus restrictions, due to complying with “social distancing” mandates, we are now teaching more days per week than ever before. This has led to an INCREASED ENROLLMENT! In fact, we cannot even process new students because of the overwhelming response from current and prior enrolled Pastors and Ministry Leaders. Life is being proclaimed from the hilltop!
But more important is what our Pastors and Ministry Leaders are Doing. They are marrying the unmarried. They are baptizing believers. They are partaking in communion services. They are evangelizing door to door. They are visiting the widows, the sick, the elderly, the shut-ins, the disabled and dying. They are counseling face-to-face. Most, if not all, of this is illegal. Some of our Pastors have been tracked, apprehended and imprisoned. I cannot provide specifics without furthering endangering them and others. But suffice it to say, their Fear of God has enraged kings and kingdoms of this world. The Christian Faith is being tested worldwide… and the Faithful and Faithless are quickly being sorted and sifted.
Our most pressing need is for your Prayers. Fervent prayers. Faith filled prayers. For our Pastors and Ministry Leaders—to courageously Do the Will of God; for the Bible School Ministry—to boldly continue Discipleship through the Ministry of the Word of God; for Fear of God—to suffocate any and all Fear of Man in us.
The time for Christ-like Courageous Ministering is Today—lest we dare to presume we even have tomorrow!
FROM R.K.’S CORNER
Almost two decades ago, Disciple Support Ministries (DSM) was founded by Paul and Marcia Cowley with a call to minister in the heart of Africa. Since their move to East Africa in 2002, the Lord has blessed them with three children (Isaac, Joshua, and Alegria).
Today the ministry has grown to operate two Bible Schools directly inside the two largest slums of Nairobi, Kenya. One in Kibera slum, the single largest slum in Africa, with over 1,000,000 residents. The other in the Mathare Valley slum, with over 500,000 residents. The Schools are strategically located on opposite sides of the city, in the two largest and most easily accessible slum.
Steve and I have known Paul and Marcia from the time they were newlyweds living in South Florida, a couple of years before they heard God’s call and moved to Africa. We have had the joy of serving them on their extraordinary journey. In this issue, Paul gives his perspective on the Church at large and the Lord’s commission to His people, especially during hard times, seen through the eyes of his slum Pastors of the Least, for whom overcoming insurmountable hardships through faith and trust in God’s caring love and provision, are daily occurrences. We have much to learn from them! We highly recommend DSM worthy of your support.
Please mark your gift 8344 Kenya Workers.
A Personal Note from R.K. to my Fellow Americans—The Upcoming Presidential Election
From its inception, The Bridge’s primary purpose has been to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the nations via primarily indigenous peoples—a mission we continually endeavor to faithfully follow. Sometimes, however, events take place in one country which have far reaching consequences throughout the rest of the world. The Covid-19 pandemic is one, and I dare to state that the United States Presidential election is another. Our fellow believers we serve in the nations all are fervently praying for this country, expressing their concern that the United States is at a crossroad, whereby her people may lose their freedom, liberty, and egalitarianism, which up till now have been the bulwark against other nations’ tyrants who oppress their people. Most of our partners live in countries where their freedom is limited. There is only one reason that America has been called a “Shining City upon a Hill” – The American Constitution! The words “WE THE PEOPLE” is the fundamental bedrock which makes it different than any other governing document in the world, guaranteeing its individual citizens Equality of Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness as given by our Creator! That means, no ruler can demand total loyalty and obedience of his subjects!
Don’t get lost in the two candidates’ rhetoric, or promises fueled by the election campaigns of the two parties; don’t get lost in the idiosyncrasies of the two individual candidates – and PLEASE tune out the noise from the media! Rather, study the ideology and philosophy shaping the views of the two individual parties, policies and the individual Presidential candidates. Then, vote for the candidate whose past record and future platform most closely confirm, honor and shape his policies in accordance with the American Constitution!