Picture someone walking into their favorite local bookstore and going to their favorite section.  Perhaps he went into the fiction section of the store and picked up one of the Harry Potter books.  This person picks up the last book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, turns to p. 458, and reads the following:

“‘Well, Draco?’ said Lucius Malfoy.”   This is the first time this person has even glanced at the words within this book, ever.  Nevertheless, immediately after he finished reading these words he looks down the aisle at another person standing a few feet away examining some other fictional book and says, “I know what this line means.” [...]

In this article Ben Montoya encourages Christians begin to develop understanding of contending for the faith once delivered to the saints.  Ben explains an apologetic method that he has found particularly useful for engaging skeptics with the truth of the gospel. [...]

In this article Ben Montoya discusses an important issue for young college students to understand:  Your college ministry on your local campus is NOT the local church. [...]

In his first article with TVN, Ben Montoya begins a series on revealing who Rob Bell is, what he believes, and what he writes about concerning his views on Jesus, the Trinity, and Scripture in his popular book “Velvet Elvis.” [...]

So many of us this week attended a church service. For some it was in a large building full of thousands of people with a full band to lead in giving praise to King Jesus. Or for some it was a small group of people meeting in a home to study the word of God. The latter is what the majority of the church looks like globally, from week to week. But as the body of Christ, the church, we can meet anywhere for fellowship and teaching from God’s Word. These two functions of the church are vital for church health, but they are not exhaustive pertaining to health. When meeting with the church most of us have been in the listening position more than the teaching position. But have you been there too long? Today, I’m going to challenge you with Scripture to move beyond just listening, but to teaching or doing!

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“Our walls are crumbling and our people are in shame.” This is the answer that Nehemiah received when he asked a fellow Jew about the state of their people. You see, Nehemiah was working in a foreign land in the court of a foreign king. Without the aid of the internet, he could only hear of his homeland through second and third hand sources. When he heard that answer, he was devastated, as I am sure you could imagine.

Fast forwarding in the story, we see the king allowing and assisting Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and fix the gates. Along the way, Nehemiah shows himself to be a very adept and natural leader, securing the king’s grant of safe passage through the kingdom with all the materials necessary to complete the job, also given from the king. Once he arrived in Jerusalem, Nehemiah got to work. More specifically, he got the people to work.

Nehemiah scouted out the state of the city walls and he appointed all of the different people to different areas, and by the end of the day, the city walls were half their original height, much to the chagrin of the enemies of Judah. When they threatened to attack the city to stop the rebuilding, Nehemiah recorded his response in Chapter 4:

• 13. So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open spaces, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and 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 homes.

Now, I say to Christians living in America “Our walls are crumbling and our people are in shame.”

It is time for those with the authority of King Jesus to rebuild the walls in order to protect our land. I want to give three areas of Christian culture in America where I believe the walls are crumbling. Then I exhort all believers and, more specifically, pastors to defend the low places in our spiritual walls and bring honor and glory back to the Kingdom of God. The three areas are:

1. The Family. As the foundational institution of society, the slow eradication of the family is the first area where Christians need to buildup the spiritual walls of the Kingdom. Pastors should focus upon training men to be authentic husbands and fathers. They should love their wives as Christ loved us, his people. Christian men should raise their children in the way of the Word, teaching them honor and respect. If men were really being Christ-like husbands, I promise you that divorce would have no place in the church.
2. Doctrinal Integrity. In America today, it is cool to be spiritual. But Christians are not called to be spiritual. We are called to make disciples, baptizing in the name of the trinitarian God of the Bible, and teach these disciples to obey all the commandments God has given us. We are not supposed to follow our heart, seek a global truth, or define God in any way other than His revelation of Himself in the Bible. If we do not preach our doctrine, Christianity will become one more small voice lost in the crowd of modern spiritual seekers.
3. Missional Abandonment. By this I mean that pastors should encourage their people to adopt the zeal, determination, and reckless abandonment that is evidenced by foreign missionaries. What if God’s people began to reorient their lives around the Gospel instead of their career? What would happen if Christians moved places and set up their lives based upon the needs of the Kingdom, the spread of the Gospel, or the call of the Holy Spirit instead of following the call of their profession? That would not only change the face of Christianity in America, that would change America.

Therefore, I implore pastors and concerned Christians to concern themselves with the weakest areas of the spiritual walls of our time, just as Nehemiah stepped up and addressed the needs of his time.

In my previous post about world missions, we discussed a vision for how we can accomplish the Great Commission. Now, we will discover whom God wants to use to finish the task.

Recently in Turkey I was able to visit Ephesus, one of the major cities the Apostle Paul took the gospel to. It all began by searching for a taxi to take us from the port city to this wonderful ancient city. My sister arranged a taxi driver and we were on our way to Ephesus. Excitement filled the car! The driver began to tell us all about the area. He was eager to explain every detail about this historic place. One phrase he kept using that caught my attention was the way he referred to Ephesus. He would say “In my town”….

It amazed me that I was sitting in a taxi with a man who would refer to one of Paul’s mission hubs as, “my town.” After a day filled with new sights and sounds reflection was inevitable. First, my thoughts focused on how Paul came to Ephesus in obedience to the Great Commission. Secondly, I pondered upon who were those disciples. Who were the men and women who owned the vision for Ephesus?

Just as the driver referred to Ephesus as, “my town,” Paul was looking for men and women who would utter similar words regarding the spread of the gospel. Phrases like, “In my town I want all people to know about the power of Jesus.” Or, “In my town I want all people to hear about the risen Christ.” These are just a few of the phrases the people might have said (although we know it was not English but Greek). When Paul went to this place there were not any seminary trained people available, but only ordinary men and woman. Remember, these were the types of people Jesus used to turn the world upside down. Acts 13:4 says “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary me, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Jesus took fishermen and made them the leaders of his movement.

This was a movement that would cover the entire Roman Empire in a decade. If we look into the Old Testament it should not surprise us that God chose to use men such as this. What kind of work did Abraham do? What about Moses? Or David? All of these great men of God were Shepherds. They were all entrusted to watch sheep. But it is men like this that God chose to lead his people. It is simple men and women that take the kingdom to the world.

In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians he congratulated them with these words, “The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia– your faith in God has become known everywhere” (1 Thess. 1:8). One friend of mine has said that the gospel is not meant to be controlled, but it is meant to be unleashed. The nature of the gospel is found in it being spread. For it to advance and not shrink back. The Thessalonian church lived this out and the results were not only, “my town,” but, “the next town.”

How many of you today have a vision for your town or city? Are you making disciples in such a way that ordinary people can do extraordinary things? Is your church or small group conveying this vision weekly so it will be in the forefront of your mind and written on your heart? Or, are you trying to control the gospel and not unleashing it?

One of the Apostle Paul’s greatest resources was his vision. He wanted to see his disciples do more than even he could do.

What is needed for a good after-party?  If you ask your average college student they would probably say a big keg and a lot of people ready to get loose.  But the after-party I’m speaking about here is not your typical festivity. Louie Giglio, in a message he recently gave to college students, described heaven as just that – an after-party. In his message, he mentioned every type of people group worshipping before the throne of Jesus, the King of Kings.

 I am currently working in India, and as one could say, I’m working together with brothers and sisters for the biggest after-party ever.  I train others to go and reach their people so that particular people groups will be a part of the heavenly party.  So I ask the question what is needed for the after-party?

 I believe the answer is found in a quote written down in the front of my bible.

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