Fourth Quarter Lesson #7: "Suffering is (gulp) Spiritual"

The Fourth Quarter of 2008 was a defining period for me. To address it, I created a list of Ten Lessons Learned During the Fourth Quarter (accessible through this link).

Today, I'm addressing Lesson #7: "The suffering of Jesus and the suffering of his followers has strong parallels."

I put off writing this post for several weeks, in that it has simply been spiritually and emotionally challenging to write it. The parallel of the suffering of Jesus and the suffering of his followers is a topic that's not often taught, and when it hits home in a very personal way, there's a LOT to sort through.

In the Bible, Peter explains this parallel when he said, "It is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps." (1 Peter 2:19, 21 NIV)

Note the phrase, "to this you were called". This life will be peppered with "unjust suffering" as a part of our CALLING! Honestly, I have no recollection of a Bible College instructor sharing about this "calling". The truth is that we are called to suffer, like Jesus suffered. To take this truth a step further, we are called to UNJUST suffering (much like what Jesus faced).

As I researched the original text of this passage, I discovered it states, if I'm going to walk in the true calling of God, certain things will occur in my life. I will at times find myself in a bad plight and it will be unjust, undeserved, and not of my own making. BUT, it's okay, because Jesus suffered as well, and he did it for ME! Since HE blazed the trail of unjust suffering for me, I MUST FOLLOW. It's my calling to do so.

Isn't that exciting?

No. Not at all. In fact, it really stinks!

So, how am I supposed to respond when I am suffering? Well, naturally, I look to the example of Jesus! Easy. Right?

No, again.

It's much easier said than done.

So, if suffering is spiritual, what's the specific spiritual value of it?

After searching the scriptures over and over to discover the answer to this, I came to the simple conclusion that the spiritual value of suffering is the result of obedience.

Isn't that exciting?

Not at first glance.

Really, it's best to look at what Hebrews 5:8 states: "Even though he was God's own son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient. 'He learned obedience from what He suffered.'"

The Bible makes it clear that obedience was the lesson Jesus needed to learn that resulted from walking through his trials. Hmmmmmm, I guess this means that I need to learn obedience, also.

In its original language, this term "obedience" also speaks of submission. So... It appears I need to learn more about submission. Actually, what this also makes me do is examine the antonyms of these terms and see how disobedience and rebellion might be working in my life. As I do so, I can begin to see the spiritual beauty in suffering.

I suffer.

I learn.

I change.

I refuse to let any form of suffering defeat me.

Regarding Jesus, there was no power of hell nor scheme of man that could defeat him. Jesus was not defeated, but strengthened. I am not defeated, but I am stronger. Actually, I'm much stronger.

Suffering HAS NOT defeated me and it WILL NOT defeat me. The devil's scheme didn't work with Jesus and it won't work on me, either.


One of the most beautiful lessons on obedience I've learned through this suffering is to keep my mouth shut when the critics howl. Recently, I put the verse below to memory, and it's served me well:
"Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you." (Proverbs 9:7-8 NIV)
- hmmmm.... no wonder I've had my fair share of "haters".


Last year, after a particularly arduous period of suffering, I adopted a biblical prayer of vindication. This prayer is very holy, because through these words, I turned the entire situation over to the Lord and now I hold no resentment: A Psalm of David


So, from now on, I will "see the cross as a suffering romance. It is a bloody Calvary beauty.
We see the unseen.
We subdue by submitting.
We win by losing.
We are made grand by making ourselves little.
We come in first by becoming last.
We are honored by being humble.
We fill up with God by emptying out ourselves.
We become wise by being fools.
We possess all things by having nothing.
We wax strong by being weak.
We find life by losing ourselves in others.
We live by dying."
quoted from: So Beautiful by Leonard Sweet



As silver in a crucible and gold in a pan, so our lives are assayed by God. Proverbs 17:3 (The Message)

Fourth Quarter Lesson #6: "New Faith Levels"

During the Fourth Quarter of last year, I took a sabbatical from ministry work. It was a deeply refreshing and revealing time for me personally, relationally and spiritually. Reflecting on that experience, I created a list of Ten Lessons Learned During the Fourth Quarter of last year (accessible through this link).

I've been taking the time to expound on each of these "ten lessons", and in this post, I'm discussing statement #6: "FAITH must be engaged at completely new levels for personal growth."

As long as I'm on this earth, I must be in growth mode if I'm going to be of any value to God's Kingdom. So, continual growth is critical! But, to grow, God gives me new FAITH challenges to experience and to walk through.

I've preached and taught about faith on innumerable occasions, so I can't even begin to exhaust the topic in this post. What I'm attempting to discuss, though, is how FAITH has played a leading role in my recent journey.

Last Sunday, I was preaching about Moses at the shore of the Red Sea, driven there by his faith in the voice of God. Moses had no clue HOW God was going to rescue him out of the corner he and children of Israel were wedged into. All Moses knew was that he had a word and a promise from the Lord, so he took action on that word, even though it made absolutely no logical sense.

In that God-ordained jam, Moses became the object verbal assaults, the faith of the people collapsed, and I can only imagine how jittery he may have felt at that moment.

What I love about Moses, is that in the midst of that jam, he spoke some incredible words of wisdom and faith. Still not knowing HOW God would fix the situation, here's what happened:

Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:13-14)

In my attempt to visualize this moment, I searched the internet for an image of Moses standing beside the UNparted Red Sea, proclaiming some "crazy" words of faith in front of the massive jeering crowd.

Unfortunately, I don't believe an artists rendering of that moment in history actually exists. I assume that it wouldn't be very marketable because we tend to focus upon, applaud, and study the spectacular, rather than examining the crisis predicating the miracle.

If I were an artist, I would create such a painting. For it is at THAT moment, that Moses stood the tallest in his faith. THAT is the Moses I can relate to.

In many ways, this is what my journey has resembled over the past several months. God spoke a clear word to me, I proclaimed that word and took action upon it, and I'm standing at the shore of my "Red Sea", waiting for more instruction and revelation.

On this journey, I've been reminded that faith is action, faith is following the word, faith is doing the "crazy" things that God commands, regardless of how it may be perceived. Faith is continuing to proclaim victory, even though I have no idea how things will turn out. Faith is not fearing Pharaoh, and faith is focusing on one person: Jesus!

By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:27)

Today, I'm walking in a completely new dimension of faith like I've never experienced. It involves refusing to do what my flesh and wandering mind tells me to do, but to stand firm and to keep declaring God's word over my life and my family.

God wants me to grow, so he forces me operate in a completely new dimension of FAITH. I'm growing ... and that's a GOOD thing!

Fourth Quarter Lesson #5: "Church People"

Last fall, following my resignation from the church I had pastored for nine years, I took three months (the fourth quarter of 2008) of sabbatical from my ministry work. Now I can see that this sabbatical time was VERY important for me in a variety of ways. Reflecting upon this period of sabbatical, I created a list of "Ten Things I Learned from the Fourth Quarter of last year, which I encourage you to read (via this link). Subsequently, I chose to expound upon each of these "lessons" in separate postings, and today, I'm talking about "Lesson #5!"

Now, I'll warn you up front that this post MUST be read in it's entirety from beginning to end. It would be foolish and misleading to take anything from this post out of its context, so guard your heart by understanding that this post is one fluid thought.

I say this because since I initially posted my list of "Ten Lessons", I've had the most feedback regarding Lesson #5. The emails and personal comments have elicited strong emotion on both sides of the statement, but there is a powerful and positive message between these two extremes.

Lesson #5 states: "Church people" often behave worse than people in the world.

The key words are "CHURCH PEOPLE". I did not say, "CHRISTIANS" (legitimate disciples of Jesus Christ). I'm defining "Church people" as individuals who simply go to church, participate in church activities, lead in the church, etc. Anyone who regularly attends church is a "church person", but not all "church people" are "Christians".

I was raised in a pastor's home, so I didn't enter ministry work with false assumptions nor stars in my eyes. So, I began to learn the fundamentals of "Lesson #5" when I was about twelve years old.

One afternoon, a seemingly "spiritual" woman from the church stopped by the house to deliver a message to my mother. The message was not one of blessing, but was a chewing out and a cursing. In fact, she said things that I was aghast to hear coming from the mouth of a church person! It was at that point when I began to understand that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks, that church people can be really ugly, and that trying to win over an "offended brother" is next to impossible.

I recall vividly that I wanted to kick the lady in her shin and watch her moan in pain. That probably wouldn't have been the best solution, but, hey, I was twelve years old. So, I watched my mother cry and my father get angry. I was so puzzled, because I knew how much my parents and our family continually sacrificed to follow the call of God to pastor. It just didn't seem right that a church person could be so hateful.

Needless to say, I've seen this same scenario played out over and over through the years. Fortunately, the way I observed my dad handle those "church people" situations has been a pattern I've attempted to follow. To lash back out at the offended church person really shows that we feel we are victims, and playing the role of a victim always ends in defeat. In fact, the pattern Jesus established for us was to basically let their angry words bounce off, and entrust ourselves to the God who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23).

The only problem is that responding this way is not very easy AT ALL!

Angry critics will always be around, thinking they are doing God a favor by attacking every action of their pastor that they don't agree with. A good example is seen in Matthew 11:18-19. It's part of the price one pays to be in leadership, and only those who actually serve in such positions can really comprehend the full scope of what I'm discussing.

A pastor, by his very nature, loves the people in his church. This love must always be given, though, understanding that that love might not be reciprocated. In fact, some "church people" will send arrows in return.

So, here's what I've come to embrace: Rejoice, be happy, get excited, be glad - you're getting a reward for every arrow you take!! Matthew 5:11-12 tells me that THIS is the way I must live to walk in joy and contentment.

Jesus basically said, "if they did this to me, they'll do it to you." ("No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." John 15:20) So, it's part of the calling. It's a reality of the road we are called to walk.

Sure, it's tempting to judge and hurl insults in return, but the scriptures are clear that we can't do so. 1 Corinthians 4:5 rings continuously in my ears, for it says, "Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God." So, church people do often behave worse than people in the world, but it's God's job to settle the score.

At the same time, when a "church person" is behaving with a lifestyle of immorality, covetousness, intoxication, financial manipulation, etc, we're commanded to not even sit to eat with such a person (I Corinthians 5:9-11 - this is good, you really should read it). On the other hand, we're SUPPOSED to hang out with these types of people who do not confess the name of Jesus.

So, my goal is for Tim Woody to not be a "church person", but to be a "Christian" ... a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ. :)

I continually make the choice to brighten other people's days and challenge them to look to Jesus, walk in joy, exhibit peace, live in contentment, and to pursue faith. Jesus came to give us the opportunity to live life to its fullest (John 10:10), and I choose LIFE over resentment, grumpiness, faultfinding and ultimately, death! THAT'S Christianity.

A Walk in the Park

Yesterday, I finally purchased my annual pass to Texas State Parks! Yes, now I'm a proud, card-carrying member of a unique group of people who can come and go at leisure in the many state parks throughout the state. It's been ten years since I've had one of these! :)

I got my pass, not just for family purposes (which will be used quite often), but also for personal reasons. One thing that I love to do is to get away from everything, and go to a quiet place and take a hike. With Cedar Hill State Park so close, it will most certainly become one of my "quiet places". They even have wi-fi in the park!

After I purchased my pass, I drove through the park, looking at how it had developed, deteriorated, or changed in the past ten years, and I was pleasantly surprised. Then, I hit some of the hiking trails, and did about 7-8 miles of walking, enjoying God's creation. The temperatures were in the mid-70's, and the sky was bright and sunny.

For some reason, my brain tends to get jolted into a "God-hunger" mode when hike. I tune out all the clutter, I tune in to God, talk with him, ponder his majesty, and it seems like I can hear his voice crystal clear. Almost every time I take "a walk in the park", I come away feeling SO refreshed and invigorated.

Being a man of many offices, I can say now, that I have yet another. It's called my "Cedar Hill State Park Office". When my twitter and facebook status changes to that, you know that I'll be tuning out and tuning in while I'm taking a walk in the park. :)