When World War I broke out, the war ministry in London dispatched a coded message to one of its outposts located in one of the most inaccessible areas of Africa. The message read, “War declared. Arrest all enemy aliens in your district.”

The war ministry received this message in reply: “Have arrested ten Germans, six Belgians, four Frenchmen, two Italians as well as several Austrians and Americans. Please advise immediately as to whom we are at war with.”

If you’re not sure who you are at war with, you tend to expect an attack from anyone. We Christians need to understand that we are not at war with other Christians, but with Satan. Our enemy is spiritual in nature and we must stop warring with our own side. It exhausts all our spiritual energy and leaves no strength to stand up to Satan when he tempts us.

Make peace with your brothers (and sisters) because you may need them defending you one day.

Paul wrote, “I am glad to boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ may work through me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Does this make sense to you? It has confused many. We want to be freed from our weaknesses, not boast about them! But Paul gives us three reasons we may not have considered:

1. Our weakness prevents arrogance. Sometimes our weakness makes clear God’s involvement of our success. Gideon chose 32,000 men to fight the Mideonites. But God reduced his numbers to 300, making the odds 450:1. Gideon knew that only God could deliver them.

2. Our weakness produces fellowship. Strength produces independence (“I don’t need anyone else”), but our weakness forces us to depend upon each other. Vance Havner said, “Christians, like snowflakes, are frail, but when they stick together they can stop traffic.”

3. Our weakness creates compassion and ministry to others. Your greatest message and your most effective ministry will usually come out of your most difficult experiences. The things you’re most embarrassed about, most ashamed of, most reluctant to share, are the very tools God can use most powerfully to help others.

Suzanne Bloch was an immigrant from Germany who often played chamber music with Albert Einstein and other prominent scientists. She said that Einstein, though an accomplished violinist, irritated his fellow musicians by not coming in on the beat. “You see, explained Bloch, “he couldn’t count.”

Einstein could project revolutionary theories about the cosmos, but he had difficulty with rhythmic counting. Despite his limitation, he remained an enthusiastic musician.

Each of us has abilities, but we also have our limitations. Some might be tempted to use our limitations as an excuse for not doing the things God has enabled us to do. Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:3: “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.” But he went anyway.

Anita and I have just begun a ten-week teaching series with a small group on the book Building a Discipling Culture by Mike Breen. The principles of discipleship we will be talking about in this group promise to revolutionize our church. But its something that we must role-model and slowly permeate throughout our church for their to be a cultural change.

Our church still has the old culture of expecting all ministry to come from the top-down instead of at the grass roots. People still come to church, claim their seat, and watch the ministers do ministry. People still don’t see that ministry is the responsibility of each of us. It will take a while for us to change the culture of our church, but that’s the direction we’re going.

Look for the coming opportunity when you may be invited to go through this same book with a small group. These are the last days and God is gearing up for a huge end-time harvest and His church must be ready. Watch for the gradual change over the next two to three years.

This is my final blog on that 1974 missions trip to Mexico. We traveled down and back in a nice Silver Eagle bus retired from the Greyhound bus line and repainted. It was a comfortable ride with restroom included. The plan was to arrive back at Calvary Temple just as the service was beginning on Sunday night.

Of course, we had to have a little buffer time in case of emergencies, so we got back into Ft. Wayne about an hour early. Because loved ones were awaiting us at the church, we didn’t dare go there, so we spent that hour driving around the city. We became very impatient. Some of us had families and children waiting for us, and we were all tired of sitting in that bus for a week. We wanted off! Tempers grew a little raw.

But finally the time arrived and we were greeted by family and friends just as we walked into the full church together. It was a glorious moment. But waiting was agony.

Have you ever gotten impatient waiting upon the Lord’s return? It will be glorious, but we have to wait. When was the last time God taught you a lesson in patience?

I’ve been writing about some of my memories of a 1974 mission trip I went on to Sonora, Mexico. The primary purpose of this trip was to dedicate a church the people of Calvary Temple paid for. It was my first trip outside the United States, and was an eye-opener.

This was a dirt-poor (literally) community in the desert of Sonora state. The people literally lived in cardboard boxes with salvaged tin roofs. They had no source of income. The only previous church in town was a Catholic Church which was no more than a broom-closet sized shack with a clay crucifix, and few small pictures of some Saints, and a bouquet or two of flowers. Not one seat and no priest. In contrast, This new adobe church sat in the middle of town, with a nice metal roof. It was about 20′ x 30′, had no doors or windows (as yet). But it stood out like a mansion compared to the Catholic Church. They decorated by streaming toilet paper from the rafters. One light bulb hung by the wire from the rafters over the pulpit.

When the meeting began, the ladies all sat on one side of the aisle, and the men on the other. There a couple of speakers set up outside to broadcast the sound in all directions. As the meeting progressed, the church was packed with people, until crowds stood outside around the building trying to get a glimpse inside the open windows. It was a great experience to see these people so excited about something new in their community.

When the last time you were excited about something new happening in town? Got any ideas about how you can help stir up some excitement?