By Pen or Pulpit – Fulfill the Ministry Given You in the Lord

The key turned over in the lock, the cell door groaned as it opened, and the old floorboards creaked under his feet. To John all these sounds were happy sounds. For, like the sound of the earthquake that shook the prison in which Paul and Silas were kept so long ago, these were the sounds of freedom. 

John was free of the Bedford Jail. Free of its bars and benches. Free to breathe the fresh air. Free to see his family.

“I don’t think I need to remind you of the rules, Bunyan, just be back in the morning.”

The jailer’s voice was gruff, but John thought he saw the man smile as he turned back towards the building.

Standing alone, the prisoner took in a deep breath of the cool, clean air. 

What a fine Sunday morning it was! The birds were singing in the trees, a little stream trickled by and his mind was filled with the sermon he would soon preach.

The Preaching Prisoner

John Bunyan was a tinker by trade. A lay preacher by calling. A prisoner by decision of the court.

In the England of the mid-1600s, it was illegal for anyone except ordained ministers to preach. John Bunyan, however, believed that permission to share the gospel was something given by God, not by the government.

 John had a calling to preach. He believed it was a God-given commission and a God-given right. So, he preached despite the law which said he couldn’t, and was arrested because of it.

After three months in prison, John appeared at trial. He knew he could be banished, even executed, for his “crimes” but he would not relent. He boldly told the magistrate and the onlooking court, "If I was out of prison today, I would preach the gospel again tomorrow by the help of God."

He was true to his word. In the following months, he used every pass to see his family as an opportunity to preach to the secret gatherings of believers.

The Things He Held Dear

He tapped gently on the door of a little cottage decorated with wildflowers. He heard excited voices and the patter of little feet inside. In a moment, the door swung open. 

“Daddy!”

“Daddy!”

Sarah grabbed his hand and pulled him in. John tugged at his pant leg, trying to show him a missing tooth. One-year-old Thomas, in his high chair, enthusiastically pounded the table with his spoon.

John closed the door behind himself, then knelt and pulled his children near to him. He hugged them for a long time, listening to their chatter and thanking God that he was free to hear it.

When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he rose and kissed his wife.

“It’s good to see you!” He said to the young, dark- haired woman. 

Still holding her hand, he made his way across the room to where his eldest daughter, Mary, sat with knitting on her lap. He greeted her with a kiss as well.

“It is good to see you all!”   

Elizabeth smiled. “The others are already gathered in the Elrett’s barn, John.”

John Bunyan looked over his family once more. Mary’s golden hair and Sarah’s brown were braided, Elizabeth’s was neatly tied up and all of them, including the little boys, were dressed in their Sunday best.

 He nodded. “Give me a moment to clean up and we’ll be off.”

“Shall I send the girls ahead, or should we all go together?”

“We’ll go together. I don’t see how a family going out for a walk could in any way be suspect.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Don’t you know, everything we do is suspect!”

Resilience

John Bunyan wasn’t a man to be silenced. He preached the gospel though he was told not to, though it would cost him the little freedom he had left and everything he held dear.

Eventually, the authorities caught on to the fact that John was preaching while on pass from prison and this small liberty too was taken away.

But John Bunyan could not be stopped. Prevented from preaching in the usual way, he traded his pulpit for a pen and turned to the written word.

For the next twelve years, John wrote in the small cell of the Bedford Jail. There he wrote the gospel message into books which have gone on to be read by thousands! Books, like The Pilgrim’s Progress and Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, have stayed in publication for more than three hundred years!

In Application

 I once heard a quote that went something like this: “In every country in the world men are free to preach the gospel, it is only the consequences that differ.”

 Try as I might, I can’t find the original quote, nor the name of the author, but the truth behind these words has stuck with me since I first heard it. We all have the ability to obey God, the question is, are we willing to obey at any cost? Despite any obstacle?

In the face of difficulty and daunting odds, John Bunyan held fast to the conviction of his soul. He met increasing difficulty with perseverance and creativity, using whatever means were available to press on in the work God had given him to do.

John Bunyan obeyed God, refusing to view any obstacle as big enough to stand in his way. Are you willing to do the same? 

"And say to Archippus, "See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord." " (Colossians iv.17, ESV)

In Christ

Quiana

If you want to learn more about John Bunyan, his family and his writing, I can help!

Visit These Related Posts:

-        John Bunyan’s Second Wife

 Finding the Middle Ground Series

-        Part 1: John Bunyan and the Slough Despond

-        Part 2: John Bunyan and the House of Mr.Legality

-        Part 3: John Bunyan and the Wicket Gate

Greater is He - The Secret to Living and Dying Well

The people who lived in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, under the shadows of towering trees and the power of dark spirits, dreaded death. They had good reason to; people screamed as they died. They thrashed and moaned, tormented by spirits that they had spent their whole lives trying to appease.

That was death as the people of Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea knew it.

But now, they were hearing stories. Rumours that not all men died this way. There had come to some of the neighbouring tribes, men who served a different spirit, a white spirit. These men were said to die in peace, even with smiles on their faces.

It was this news which caused somewhat of a crisis at the mission stations. It seemed like a week didn’t go by without word of a new tribe who wanted to hear how to die well. Occasionally, natives even came in person, risking their lives to cross enemy territory that they might ask for a missionary.

The mission board couldn’t keep up, there simply weren’t enough missionaries to send!

There weren’t enough foreign missionaries.

The gospel was new to the tribes of Papua New Guinea but not so new that there weren’t converts. One tribe had even begun to train up pastors from among their own people. It was to this tribe that the missionary board turned. Asking for men who were willing to take the gospel they had received and share it with others.

They would be missionaries. Bringing the gospel to a different tribe; who, though living only a few miles away, spoke an entirely different language from their own.

One of these tribal missionaries was a man named Guatono. He was known as “the happiest man” for, in the midst of a land filled with spiritual oppression, Guatono always wore a smile. 

Though sent without missionary training or classes in advanced theology, Guatono had an advantage over foreign missionaries. He could not understand the language any better than they but he understood the tribal culture.

Because he knew how to serve the people it didn’t take long for him to win all their hearts. All, except for one - the witch doctor.

The witch doctor, saw Guatono as a threat. A threat to his livelihood, his influence, his very way of life. A threat that he could not ignore. 

So, in broad daylight, before a whole village of witnesses, Sheerun kicked down Guatono’s fence and took one of his chickens.

Chicken theft, trifle though it may sound, was a serious offence in this poor, tribal community. The people were horrified that the witch doctor would treat Guatono in such a manner. He had openly insulted the missionary they had waited so long for and everyone feared Guatono would leave.

The chief called the people together.

As drums pounded in steady rhythm, the villagers hurried to an open place near the river. Women left their cooking; men their afternoon naps; dripping wet children came up from swimming in the river. When all were present, the drums and the people alike fell silent.

The chief was the first to speak. He began by explaining the reason for the tribunal, though everyone already knew it. Then he apologised to Guatono and stated his hope that the missionary, who had served them so well, would not leave on account of one man’s offence. 

Finally, he turned to the people and called for them to suggest what payment the witch doctor should be required to make.

For a long time, all was silent. No sound could be heard except the call of a distant parrot and that of the village pigs rummaging through the leaves on the forest floor. Everyone was fond of Guatono, but no one wished to be the one who suggested the witch doctor’s punishment. They were afraid to incur his anger or that of the demons he worshipped.

Finally, the chief saw that it would be up to him. “I say that Sheerun must give two chickens to Guatono to pay for the one he stole!”

The villagers began to nod. Soon they were clapping their hands and shouting. “Two chickens for Guatono! Two chickens for Guatono!”

The chief silenced them by raising his stick. “Guatono, will you accept two chickens as payment?”

The offer was a generous one - double what had been taken. The chief felt sure that Guatono would gladly accept, but the missionary shook his head.

“I don’t want his chickens.”

The chief’s eyebrows rose. The people began to whisper. He doesn’t want chickens? What does he want, if not chickens?

Guatono was staring at the witch doctor, who stood across the circle, dressed in his full ritual garb. “I want the man.” He said.

What did he mean? What was Guatono saying? The people’s whispers turned into a full debate. Some suggested that he didn’t know what he was saying. He was, after all, still learning the language. Perhaps he had chosen the wrong words.

But Guatono wasn't confused. He hadn’t taken his eyes off the witch doctor and now he repeated his request. “I want the man.”

“You want the man?” The chief asked. “O favoured Guatono, we do not know what you mean by this.”

“I want him to bring out his bag of witchcraft. Let him bring it and set it here in the light.”

A gasp rose from the crowd. The people’s eyes grew wide.

Bags of witchcraft were not brought into the light! They were kept in the dark, tucked away in a corner of the witch doctor’s house. Hidden from the eyes of all but him.

No one was allowed to look at the magical contents that had the power to conjure, heal, and kill. But Guatono seemed unmoved by the people’s fear.

Gradually, the people began to nod. Their curiosity overcoming their trepidation.

“Yes! Have him bring out his magic bag!” One man shouted.

Seeing the crowd’s expressions changing, the witch doctor began to scream. He cursed, cried, and threatened that he would summon the demons to kill them all.

The chief looked at a group of young men. “Take Sheerun to his house and make him bring his bag of magic.”  

The young men looked from the chief to the witchdoctor then back to the chief, as if trying to decide who they feared more. Finally, they seized the dancing Sheerun and carried him up towards the village. Those who remained in the clearing could hear his shrieks and wailings the whole way.

After a few minutes, the party returned with a dark, pig-skin pouch that was sown shut. Guatono took it and tore it open. He dumped the contents on the ground.

Bits of bark and rotten berries fell onto the hard-packed dirt. The remains of a bat’s wing, what looked like a rat’s tail and a pig’s ear among them. Guatono knelt by the strange assortment of decaying items. And one by one he picked them up.

He put the bark in his mouth a broke it in two with his teeth.

When he had handled every one of the items, he rose. "I have touched all that you fear and notice that nothing has happened to me. Now I ask that he would hold my book.”

From a pouch slung over his shoulder, Guatono pulled his copy of the new testament. He held it out towards the witch doctor.

“I wont touch it! It is a demon’s book!” The witch doctor screamed.

He pulled away, but the young men who were still gathered around him pushed his hands against the Bible’s cover.

The witch doctor winced and closed his eyes. The people stepped back. The chief watched with growing interest.

Then…nothing.

The witch doctor didn’t fall down dead. He didn’t break out in leprous spots, or go up in smoke and flames. It seemed as though nothing happened.

At least, nothing that they noticed that day.

Early the next morning, the witch doctor went to Guatono’s house, with tools in his hand, and fixed the fence he had broken. From the day he touched Guatono’s book on, he was a changed man. He looked for every opportunity to serve the missionary, he was the first one in the village to understand the gospel and be saved and he spent the rest of his life helping Guatono in his ministry.

Guatono got the man!

He brought the powers of darkness into the light and showed them to be powerless against his God. He gained the man. He won the people.

May this story serve to remind you today that your God is greater than your enemy, greater than any bag of tricks, greater than sickness and disease, greater than all the powers that be.

In Christ

Quiana

Not Forsaken - What to Remember When God Feels Absent

She was a POW in a Japanese prison, suspected of being an American spy.

Darlene Deibler had travelled to New Guinea as a newlywed to do missions work. But shortly after their arrival the Japanese invaded the country and separated the young couple. 

Now, in her tiny prison cell, Darlene keenly felt her need for the comforting presence of Jesus.

“Lord, don’t ever leave me or forsake me. Your wonderful presence has made this cell a place of beauty, a sacred place like a chapel lighted by Your presence.”

As if in cruel response to her prayer, the Lord seemed to suddenly leave her.

Quite suddenly and unexpectedly, I felt enveloped in a spiritual vacuum. “Lord, where have You gone? What have I said or done to grieve You? Why have You withdrawn Your presence from me? O Father – ” In a panic I jumped to my feet, my heart frantically searching for a hidden sin, for a careless thought, for any reason why my Lord should have withdrawn His presence from me. My prayers, my expressions of worship, seemed to go no higher than the ceiling; there seemed to be no sounding board. I prayed for forgiveness, for the Holy Spirit to search my heart. To none of my petitions was there any apparent response.

When Prayers Hit the Ceiling

Have you ever cried out to the Lord in a difficult situation only to feel like your prayers hit the ceiling?

Have you ever felt like God doesn’t even see or care about your situation? 

Just when Darlene felt her need the most, God seemed to have abandoned her. But as I read Darlene Deibler’s story in her autobiography, Evidence Not Seen, I was struck by how she responded to this sudden lack of communion with her Lord. 

Most of us take these opportunities to grow bitter towards God. Most of us stop praying. 

But Darlene had a completely different response. 

Darlene’s Response

After her initial panic, she “sank to the floor and quietly and purposefully began to search the Scriptures hidden in [her] heart.” 

Rather than growing desperate, angry, bitter, or giving up, she went to God’s word for answers. 

As Darlene searched her memory for scripture that might shed light on her situation, she recalled five promises that strengthened her heart and restored her confidence in the Lord’s very near presence.

Let’s take a look at them.  

1. If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. (Psalm lxvi.18)

The Amplified version brings clarity to this verse; “If I regard sin and baseness in my heart [that is, if I know it is there and do nothing about it], the Lord will not hear [me].” 

Sin separates us from God.  Even as Christians, we experience a measure of separation from God when we engage in deliberate, willful sin because God is holy and cannot dwell in the midst of sin. 

The entire purpose of the gospel is to enable us to have a relationship with Jesus by dealing with our sin, removing it from us, and clothing us in Christ’s righteousness. 

But if we allow sin to remain in our life unconfessed and un-repented, it will hinder our relationship with Christ. We cannot be close to sin and close to Jesus. 

If you find yourself in a place where it seems like God isn’t listening, allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart and see if there is any unconfessed sin that might be standing between you and Jesus. 

2. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John i.9)

If the Holy Spirit brings unconfessed sin to your mind, tell Jesus about it and ask for forgiveness! He will forgive you and cleanse you of all sin, no matter how big or small. 

But if you are worried about past sins that you have already repented of, cling to this promise. All sin that has been confessed has also been removed from us. We no longer bear the guilt of that sin. It no longer stands in the way between us and God. 

“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” (Isaiah xliii.25)

Once we repent of sin, it is removed and is no longer a reason for our prayers hitting the ceiling. 

3. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. (1 John iii.21)

When you feel like God’s not answering you, allow Him to search your heart and try you as Darlene did. But don’t try to stir up guilt and sin that has already been dealt with.

If God brings something to your mind, be quick to confess that and repent. 

If you are sincere in allowing God to search you and no unconfessed sin comes to mind, that’s okay. When our heart, or our conscience, before God doesn’t condemn us we can have confidence toward God. In other words, we can have complete assurance that sin is not the root of this seeming separation and we can have boldness to come before Him in prayer and worship.  

4. God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers xxiii.19)

This is our confidence. The Person and character of Jesus. He cannot lie. His words are 100% true.

These promises were spoken by our God who cannot lie. We can put our confidence in them.  

5. He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews xiii.5)

If God cannot lie, then this promise is not a lie. 

He will never leave us. 

Even though it might feel as though He has left you, even though it might feel like He’s not listening, those feelings aren’t true. God’s word is true.

Sin may put distance between us and God. But once sin has been left at the foot of the cross we can have confidence that though God may feel far away, He is always with us. 

I Do Not Need to Feel 

After being assured by the word of God that sin was not the root of her spiritual vacuum, Darlene strengthened herself in faith. 

“Lord, I believe all that the Bible says. I do walk by faith and not by sight. I do not need to feel You near, because Your Word says You will never leave me nor forsake me. Lord, I confirm my faith; I believe.’”The words of Hebrews 11:1 welled up, unbeckoned, to fill my mind: ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ The evidence of things not seen. Evidence not seen – that was what I put my trust in – not in feelings or moments of ecstasy, but in the unchanging Person of Jesus Christ."

Faith Rests on the Person of Jesus 

After Darlene’s declaration of faith, she felt her Lord once more speaking to her heart, assuring her of His presence. 

So what was the point of this? Was it simply a cruel joke? 

Darlene believed it was a spiritual attack from the enemy, keeping her from feeling the presence of the Lord. 

What we know for sure is that God used this experience to test, prove, and strengthen Darlene’s faith. She testified that this was one of the most important lessons she learned while in prison.

"I was assured that my faith rested not on feelings, not on moments of ecstasy, but on the Person of my matchless, changeless Savior, in Whom is no shadow caused by turning. In a measure I felt I understood what Job meant when he declared, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (13:15). Job knew that he could trust God because Job knew the character of the One in Whom he had put his trust. It was faith stripped of feelings, faith without trappings. More than ever before, I knew that I could ever and always put my trust, my faith, in my glorious Lord. I encouraged myself in the Lord and His Word." 

Next time you feel like your prayers don’t make it past the ceiling or that God doesn’t see or care about your situation, start by searching the scriptures for truth. 

Remind yourself of these five verses and if the Lord exposes sin, be quick to repent. 

Once you have repented, choose to believe and rest upon the unchanging nature of Jesus Christ. He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you. 

Let’s believe the One who cannot lie and loved us enough to reconcile our relationship with Himself.  

In Christ

Katie

*Quotes taken from Darlene Deibler Rose’s autobiography, Evidence Not Seen.


Those of you who have been reading along for a while will recognise Katie, from other guest posts, but for those who don't here's a bit about her:

Katie Stone is a girl who has a passion to declare the sufficiency of Jesus Christ with words. Through an online magazine, she first glimpsed the depth of joy and fulfilment that is found when we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. Simple truth, communicated through writing, changed her life. And ever since, Katie has had a desire to write and share this same powerful gospel with others. You can read more of her writing and support her at girlofjoy.org

Other Articles by Katie on Written Lives include:

- The Surest Thing
- Relinquishing Life