Monthly Archives: November 2024

The Fellowship of His Sufferings

by Michael


And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me. He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt 10:38-39, KJ2000)

Have you ever wondered what it means to take up our own cross if we are to follow Jesus? Wasn’t Him suffering and dying on the cross enough? What does it mean to “find” our lives? How about losing our carnal lives that we might find our spiritual lives as we follow Jesus? This is what our personal lives of the way of the cross is all about.

One Sunday in a church meeting after suffering much rejection at the hands of the world and its Christians, I heard the Lord say to me “Why do you keep seeking the Living among the dead?” How often I have hoped to find “the right church” where the people are living out what we read in the Book of Acts and where the voice of the Holy Spirit in them is more important to obey than the intellectual admonition of the man behind the pulpit. I read that we are all a kingdom of priests and the Spirit gives each of us as members of Christ’s body something that must be shared for the whole body to manifest the fullness of Christ. We are called to be a loving family with Jesus as our brother with us all manifesting His love for one another. This shows the world who Jesus really is.

My search has taught me the meaning of what Jesus meant when He said that to be one of His disciples, we must take up our own crosses and follow Him. So what happened to Jesus as He lived out His life obeying the voice of His Father in the leading of the Holy Spirit within Him? He told the disciples what would happen to Him for obeying His Father.


Then He charged his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. (Matt 16:20-21, KJ2000)

So as I pondered what it means to follow Jesus, I remembered what was said in the context of these words. Jesus asked them, “Who do men say that I am?” The disciples gave Him a variety of answers. Then He said,” Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” and Jesus commended him. But it was after He told them that He was about to go up to Jerusalem and suffer and die that Peter was correcting Him saying, “Be it far from you Lord!” To this Jesus said, “I rebuke you Satan, for you desire the things of men and not the things of God.” There is an old saying, “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die” and the disciples were of this mindset. They still had not received the Spirit of God which empowered them to be His witnesses of HIS kingdom.

Early in my walk with the Lord I came across the following verse where Paul prayed,

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (Phil 3:10, KJ2000)

In my enthusiasm for Christ I also prayed this as my own prayer. Little did I know what God was leading me into when He inspired that prayer. We all want to know the resurrection power of God, but what is “The fellowship of His sufferings?” Have you ever wondered why you never fit in this world and its people or even in your own earthly family? I had a totally dysfunctional family when I was growing up. My father was an alcoholic and my parents fought all the time. So, after I came to Christ and was filled with His Spirit in 1970, I found others who also who were one with Him. For the first time I knew the love of God among others who had come to Christ in that same wonderful revival that became known as “the Jesus Movement.” Many of them also came from broken families. We were not all perfect, but the love of God that was being poured out made us one. I couldn’t stay away from these precious saints. We were experiencing the family of God.

As time went on, the enemy came in and Paul’s warning to the elders of the church at Ephesus came to pass in our lives as well,

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. (Acts 20:29-31, KJ2000)

The group that I was part of fell under the spell of one speaking smooth perverse things as he drew away disciples after himself. Of coarse what he taught was well seasoned with lots of scriptures. Why does God let this happen? Why do we end up experiencing so much rejection among our fellow Christians while we just want to fit in and be part of a spiritual family? Could we be experiencing “the fellowship of HIS sufferings?”

At the close of His earthly ministry we read about Christ’s “triumphant” entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey where the people cried out, “Hosanna to the son of David,” acknowledging that He was the Messiah. Oh, the fanfare and adulation! The disciples were thinking, “At last He is being given recognition and credit where credit is due and coming to Jerusalem to be its new King.” Some were also thinking, “I wonder what will be my position in His new earthly government? Will I be setting on His throne at His right hand?”

But Jesus blew the whole thing because He went straight to the temple and started turning over the money changers’ tables, turning the sacrificial doves and animals loose and making a mess out of the market place that had the blessing of the religious establishment. He told them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but you have made it a den of thieves (Mark 11:17, KJ2000). Jesus was calling a spade a spade. The power brokers in the that temple system were not going to allow that!

And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people were astonished at his doctrine. (Mark 11:18, KJ2000)

Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man does many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. (John 11:47-48, KJ2000)

Therefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believes on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore who believe he is precious: but unto them who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner, And, A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them who stumble at the word, being disobedient: to which also they were appointed. (1Pet 2:6-8, KJ2000)


So, what does it mean to fellowship with Jesus in His sufferings? The more we are conformed into the image of Christ and value the things of the Spirit and seek out the people that He does, the more the enemy will attack us and the majority of these attacks will come from the religious establishment just as it was with Him! Remember, one of the accusations against Jesus was that He mingled among sinners and publicans.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:27-32, ESV2011)


This is where we will enter into the fellowship of His sufferings. The more we value the things He does and seek out those who are lost, the more we will be despised by the so-called righteous ones.


Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. (John 15:20-21, KJ2000)

The more I pondered the rejection we have suffered at that hands of religious people, the more the prophesies about Jesus became clear to me in a personal way. David prophesied,


Because for your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children. For the zeal of your house has eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached you are fallen upon me. (Ps 69:7-9, KJ2000)

Taking up my cross and following Jesus has taken on a much deeper meaning as my wife and I have had to bear the burden of the lies about us and the rejection we have found among the religious establishment. Remember, Satan was a liar and murder from the very beginning and like Jesus told Peter, “You do not know what spirit you are of” this can sometimes apply to those who persecute us without cause.


And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled… Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, and said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. (Matt 26:57-61, KJ2000)

The temple was their power base and to speak against the temple or the High Priest was considered a death sentence. Yet, Jesus knew that that whole religious system was under the judgment of God and was about to end. As the disciples marveled at the temple buildings in Jerusalem, Jesus said, “See these buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another until it is all torn down.” By 70 AD the Roman armies came in and destroyed their temple and killed all the priests. Most of my experiences in today’s church system have taught me the meaning of taking up my cross and following Jesus.
I now see the wisdom of Jesus where I read,

But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. (John 2:24-25, ESV2011)

I am reminded of Jesus’ words of warning to the disciples and us.

If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they would not have sin: but now they have no cover for their sin. He that hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no other man did, they would not have sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this comes to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law,
They hated me without a cause. (John 15:18-25, KJ2000)


So, my dear fellow saints when you are rejected and falsely accused it is all part of taking up the cross He has for us that humbles us, dealing with the natural man within us and offending the proud. Have faith and remember Christ’s words.

But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another: for verily I say unto you, You shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man comes. The disciple is not above his teacher, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak in light: and what you hear in the ear, that preach upon the housetops. (Matt 10:23-27, KJ2000)

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, (Matt 10:16-17, ESV2011)

And finally what Peter wrote:

But if you suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are you: and, Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good behavior in Christ. (1Pet 3:14-16, KJ2000)

Are Christians Called as Pioneers or Settlers?

by Michael

(Photo by Randy Faith on Unsplash)

Consider these verses of scripture.

We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. (Heb 13:10-14, ESV2011)

One time after failing to fit in and get along with Christians in many different churches, I cried out in frustration, “God! I don’t fit! I just don’t fit!” To my surprise He replied, “YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO FIT!” Abraham was a pilgrim and sojourner in a strange land where he even had to buy a plot of land to bury his wife Sarah when she died. If we are to find our place in HIS kingdom, we will not find a place in any other kingdom until we finally find our rest with Him. Yes, let us go to him outside the camp!

I recently found an amazing parody that explains my experiences in Christ. It was in chapter three of an insightful book by Brennan Manning, Lion and Lamb, the Relentless Tenderness of Jesus (Fleming H. Revell Company, Old Tappan, NJ, 1986)

There are two visions of life, two kinds of people. The first group sees life as a possession to be carefully guarded. They are called settlers. The second group see life as a wild, fantastic, explosive gift. They are called pioneers.

These two types give rise to two kinds of theology: Settler Theology and Pioneer Theology. According to Wes Seeliger in his book, Western Theology, the first kind, Settler Theology, is an attempt to answer all the questions, define and housebreak some sort of Supreme Being, establish the status quo on golden tablets in cinemascope. Pioneer Theology is an attempt to talk about what it means to receive the strange gift of life. The Wild West is the setting for both theologies.

In Settler Theology, the church is the courthouse. It is the center of town life. The old stone structure dominates the town square. Its windows are small and this makes things dark inside. Within the courthouse walls, records are kept, taxes collected, trials held for bad guys. The courthouse is the settler’s symbol of law, order, stability, and—most importantly—security. The mayor’s office is on the top floor. His eagle eye ferrets out the smallest details of town life.

In Pioneer Theology, the church is the covered wagon. It’s a house on wheels, always on the move. The covered wagon is where the pioneers eat, sleep, fight, love and die. It bears the marks of life and movement—it creaks, is scarred with arrows, bandaged with baling wire. The covered wagon is always where the action is. It moves toward the future and doesn’t bother to glorify its own ruts. The old wagon isn’t comfortable, but the pioneers don’t mind. They are more into adventure than comfort.

In Settler Theology, God is the mayor. He is a sight to behold. Dressed like a dude from back East, he lounges in an over-stuffed chair in his courthouse office. He keeps the blinds drawn. No one sees him or knows him directly, but since there is order in town, who can deny that he is there? The mayor is predictable and always on schedule. The settlers fear the mayor, but look to him to clear the payroll and keep things going. Peace and quiet are the mayor’s main concerns. That’s why he sends the sheriff to check on the pioneers who ride into town.

In Pioneer Theology, God is the trail boss. He is rough and rugged, full of life. He chews tobacco, drinks straight whiskey. The trail boss lives, eats, sleeps, fights with his people. Their well-being is his concern. Without him the wagon wouldn’t move; living as a free man would be impossible. The trail boss often gets down in the mud with the pioneers to help push the wagon, which often gets stuck. He prods the pioneers when they get soft and want to turn back. His fist is an expression of his concern.

In Settler Theology, Jesus is the sheriff. He’s the guy who is sent by the mayor to enforce the rules. He wears a white hat, drinks milk, outdraws the bad guys. The sheriff decides who is thrown into jail. There is a saying in town that goes: those who believe the mayor sent the sheriff, and follow the rules, they won’t stay in Boot Hill when it comes their time.

In Pioneer Theology, Jesus is the scout. He rides out ahead to find out which way the pioneers should go. He lives all the dangers of the trail. The scout suffers every hardship, is attacked by the Indians. Through his words and actions he reveals the true intentions of the trail boss. By looking at the scout, those on the trail learn what it means to be a pioneer.

In Settler Theology, the Holy Spirit is the saloon girl. Her job is to comfort the settlers. They come to her when they feel lonely, or when life gets dull or dangerous. She tickles them under the chin and makes everything okay again. The saloon girl squeals to the sheriff when someone starts disturbing the peace.

In Pioneer Theology, the Holy Spirit is the buffalo hunter. He rides along with the covered wagon and furnishes fresh meat for the pioneers. Without it they would die. The buffalo hunter is a strange character—sort of a wild man. The pioneers can never tell what he will do next.

He scares the hell out of the settlers. He has a big black gun that goes off like a cannon. He rides into town on Sunday to shake up the settlers. You see, every Sunday morning, the settlers have a little ice cream party in the courthouse. With his gun in hand the buffalo hunter sneaks up to one of the courthouse windows. He fires a tremendous blast that rattles the whole courthouse. Men jump out of their skin, women scream, dogs bark. Chuckling to himself, the buffalo hunter rides back to the wagon train shooting up the town as he goes.

In Settler Theology, the Christian is the settler. He fears the open, unknown frontier. His concern is to stay on good terms with the mayor and keep out of the sheriff’s way. “Safety first” is his motto. To him the courthouse is a symbol of security, peace, order, and happiness. He keeps his money in the bank. The banker is his best friend. The settler never misses an ice cream party.

In Pioneer Theology, the Christian is the pioneer. He is a man of daring, hungry for a new life. He rides hard, knows how to use a gun when necessary. The pioneer feels sorry for the settlers and tries to tell them of the joy and fulfillment of life on the trail. He dies with his boots on.

In Settler Theology, the clergyman is the banker. Within his vault are locked the values of the town. He is a highly respected man. He has a gun, but keeps it hidden in his desk. He feels that he and the sheriff have a lot in common. After all, they both protect the bank.

In Pioneer Theology, the clergyman is the cook. He doesn’t furnish the meat. He just dishes up what the buffalo hunter provides. This is how he supports the movement of the wagon. He never confuses his job with that of the trail boss, scout, or the buffalo hunter. He sees himself as just another pioneer who has learned how to cook. The cook’s job is to help the pioneers pioneer.

In Settler Theology, faith is trusting in the safety of the town: obeying the laws, keeping your nose clean, believing the mayor is in the courthouse.

In Pioneer Theology, faith is the spirit of adventure: the readiness to move out, to risk everything on the trail. Faith is obedience to the restless voice of the trail boss.

In Settler Theology, sin is breaking one of the town’s ordinances.

In Pioneer Theology, sin is wanting to turn back.

In Settler Theology, salvation is living close to home and hanging around the courthouse.

In Pioneer Theology, salvation is being more afraid of sterile town life than death on the trail. Salvation is joy at the thought of another day to push on into the unknown. It is trusting the trail boss and following his scout while living on the meat furnished by the buffalo hunter.

The pioneers and the settlers portray in cowboy movie language the people of the law and the people of the Spirit. In the time of the historical Jesus, the guardians of the ecclesiastical setup, the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees had ensconced themselves in the courthouse and enslaved themselves to the law. This not only enhanced their prestige in society, it also gave them a sense of security. People fear the responsibility of being free. It is often easier to let other people make decisions or to rely on the letter of the law. Some people want to be slaves.

After enslaving themselves to the letter of the law, such people go on to deny freedom to others. Jesus described them this way: “They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s solders, but they themselves are no willing to lift a finger to move them” (Matt. 23:4).

Jesus wanted to liberate His people from the law – from all laws. Under His word we become free people, people of the Spirit and the fellowship of free people grows up, as in the New Testament, beyond all kinds of theological disagreement.

It is in Galatians 5:1 that Paul writes, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves to be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. If we are not experiencing what Paul calls in Romans 8:21, “the glorious freedom of the children of God,” then we must acknowledged that his World has not taken sovereign possession of us, that we are not fully under the way of the Spirit. (end of excerpt)


Abraham was a pioneer and those who walk by faith as He did, following the Spirit of God, are also pioneers for he is the father of our faith. This is what it means to be the sons and daughters of God.


By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. (Heb 11:8-10, ESV2011)