On following Jesus and endless alternatives, being crazy for the gospel & signs and wonders.

Dear friends,

Hope this finds you well.

Before we get into this issue, I wanted to let you know that this week I will be preaching at a large youth camp in southern Spain.

I consider preaching the Gospel to the next generation a great privilege and responsibility. Would you pray with me for salvations, signs and wonders and a movement of youth mobilized for the great commission in Spain and beyond?

Here are this week's bullets:

On following Jesus and endless alternatives:

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” - Matthew 4:18-22

It is hard for us to grasp the significance of this scene, because we live in a very different culture than first-century Galilee.

We see that as these fishermen leave their work to follow Jesus, they also leave their father.

And that's because, most likely, theirs was a family occupation, perhaps for generations, maybe even centuries.

These fishermen did not choose this profession but in a sense were living the life and work that was chosen for them.

Jesus understands this deeply and is asking them to give up the life they’ve always known, the future they expected and even their sense of loyalty to their family.

When Jesus calls, everything else becomes secondary and there is always a cost.

The sea of Gallilee represented their job, their security, their sense of identity, and their family relationships—everything was either left behind or redefined in an instant to follow Him.

And they immediately leave the sea to follow Him, which, in rabbinic speech, meant becoming His students, joining His school, and living with Him.

Today, Jesus is still calling disciples. But He is walking beside another sea. It's not the sea of the life that you were given by family and culture; it's a sea of endless alternative lives that we could possibly choose for ourselves.

Psychologists speak of the paradox of choice, a phenomenon that explores the abundance of choices and possibilities we face—from the energy drinks we consume to our college degrees and professions. There are so many choices that we end up not choosing at all.

It's in this world that His call resounds.

What does it mean to follow Jesus in a world like ours where you can travel anywhere you want, get the most exotic food delivered to your doorstep, and "reinvent" yourself while subscribing to unending numbing entertainment?

What does discipleship look like in a culture that does not manifestly discourage us to follow Jesus, but in turn distracts us with the latest and shiniest, while offering us myriads of comfortable futures?

I believe one of the answers to be developping an eternal perspective.

An eternal perspective starts with realizing the finitude of life in this age. It's not just that life in this age is short but that it is finite and we can't have it all. The endless sea of alternative lives is a smokescreen. Every choice is a renunciation.

“Only one life, and it will soon pass.” The decisions we make actually matter, as they either propel us forward into Jesus’ future for us or lead us into the paralyzing “freedom” of pursuing the ways and desires of the world.

Moses in Psalm 90 prays:
“So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

To follow Jesus in this world means we need to become wise, mastering the art of decision-making and time maximization in light of the reality that we only have one shot.

An eternal perspective goes beyond recognizing the brevity of life. It's not just that life is short and finite but that there is a Day coming where our lives will be evaluated. It's not just carpe diem (seize the day), but Maranatha (Our Lord comes).

The night of injustice, violence, sin, and death will soon end, and the dawn of Resurrection and New Creation will emerge. And it's against that Day that we measure our present days. All roads ultimately lead to the judgement seat of Christ.

Jackie Pullinger, the British missionary to Hong Kong, expressed it starkly: “Eternal life is forever. We’re going to feel stupid for eternity if we wasted this one.”

In light of this, we live with a single focus on Jesus, who embodied an eternal perspective.

His face was set like flint towards the city of the great King where a cross awaited. The cross he endured with the joy set before Him.

Leave the sea.
Burn the ships.
Live with Jesus.

On being crazy for the gospel:

“Test yourself to see if you are crazy for the gospel. When you are threatened with death for the gospel, you find out for whom you really live. When faced with the risk of job loss, you know for whom you really work. When you may lose fortune and position for the sake of the gospel, you find out whether you are crazy for money or crazy for the gospel.”

— Wang Yi, Faithful disobedience (This quote is especially challenging when you know it's from a book chronicling the Chinese house church movement).

On signs and wonders:

“Cannot the same wonders be done now as of old? Do not the eyes of the Lord still run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those who put their trust in Him? Oh, that God would give me more practical faith in Him! Where is now the Lord God of Elijah? He is waiting for Elijah to call on Him.”

— James Gilmour (of Mongolia), Scottish missionary in China and Mongolia.

PS: as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve been selected to go to the Lausanne movement world congress in Seoul, South Korea, September 18-30.

I will be going as a specialized volunteer to pastorally care for the congress volunteers.

This is an amazing opportunity to participate in a historical gathering of 5,000 evangelical leaders who will gather to accelerate collaborative action toward fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission.

If you would like to partner with me and give towards this opportunity, let me know by replying to this. I still need to cover my travel expenses.

Thank you for considering to partner with me for this amazing opportunity.

As always, I would love to know which content resonated with you and what you would like to see more of. You can let me know by replying to this email.

Much love and until next week,

Timo