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Category: Jonah (Page 1 of 2)

Open to Our Witness

October 7, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Jonah is asleep at the bottom of the ship when the Lord sends a violent storm. The ship is taking on water, the Bible says the boat is beginning to break up. The sailors all believe they’re going to die. They’re each praying to their own gods. These are not Israelite sailors–these are pagans. Idol worshipers. Foreigners. From different countries with different customs and cultures and languages. And they’re scared to death.

They go downstairs and wake up Jonah. We drew straws! We cast lots! We rolled the dice! We shook up the Magic 8-Ball! And it all points to you, Jonah! What’s the deal? Who are you? 

And Jonah, in the middle of the storm, in the middle of the turmoil and chaos, in the middle of the anxiety and fear, in the middle of a foreign mission field on board a pagan ship, says,

“I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” ~Jonah 1:9

The Scripture says this terrified the sailors even more. What, are you crazy? You’re running away from the God who created the sea, ON THE SEA?!? Who does that?? We’re all dead!!

Here’s what I see in the first chapter of Jonah. The runaway prophet confessed God as Lord, and that’s all it took to save these pagan sailors.

Jonah confesses the Lord out loud to these frightened men. They reluctantly act on Jonah’s instructions, they throw him overboard. And they call on the name of the Lord. They beg the Lord for forgiveness. And when the storm immediately goes away and the sea immediately grows calm, they greatly fear the Lord. They revere the Lord. They’re in awe of the Lord. They’re moved. And they worship the Lord. They offer sacrifices to God and they make vows, they make commitments to God right there on the spot. Jonah confessed the Lord to these pagan sailors. And the sailors saw God. They experienced God’s salvation. And their lives were forever changed.

Hear me on this. The world is not closed to our witness. Even if it’s a weak witness. The world is open.

I imagine when Jonah first payed his fare and boarded that ship, he never dreamed of talking to those sailors about God. They would never listen. Those are some rough dudes. I can’t relate to these guys. Those kinds of people aren’t interested in God. And Jonah goes downstairs to take a nap. But the truth in the next parts of the story tell us that the world is open to our confession. Even when it’s weak.

Our world is in crisis. The world we live in right now is desperate, it’s hopeless. People in Midland are searching for truth. People all around you are dying for something to believe in, something stable and secure to hold on to. People all over the world are rolling the dice, casting lots, drawing straws, shaking the Magic 8-Ball, looking, looking, looking, for answers. Looking for help. And they’re mostly wide open to the truth if we’ll just confess it in front of them.

The sailors were not looking for this witness. They weren’t looking for Jonah’s confession of faith, they weren’t looking for the Creator of Heaven and Earth, they didn’t know what they were looking for. But through Jonah’s witness, as weak as it maybe was, they encountered our God and experienced his salvation from the storm. They acknowledged their helplessness. They realized the futility of rowing against the storm by themselves. And they believed in the Word of God and they acted on it. And they worshiped him.

Open your mouth and confess God as Lord in front of non-believers. The people around you are open.

Peace,
Allan

Answering the Call

October 5, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Missions Month at GCR has become just about my favorite time of the year because we get to hang out with some of the very best people I know. Brad and Melissa Hooley, our Nexus church-planting partners from the Mountain View Christian Church in Kalispell, Montana, spent the weekend with us and we had an absolute blast getting caught up on everything the Lord is doing up there. We grilled fajitas for ten Saturday night and ate and laughed and prayed together around our dining room table. Brad and Melissa led our communion time Sunday and then we celebrated GCR CrocktoberFest with a Crockpot potluck feast after church. While the little kids played loudly, Jason Kumalo told us all the great salvation things God is doing in and through our Namwianga Missions partners in Zambia. Brad and Melissa joined us in the DP room Sunday afternoon to watch the Texans yellow flag themselves into a loss to the Cowboys. Then we hoofed it back to church for a pizza party with the GCR group that visited Kalispell three summers ago when Mountain View Christian first launched. We capped the night with a rousing game of “99” back at Stanglin Manor in which I was the first one eliminated and Brad ran the table to win. Mostly graciously.

I’m not even sure it’s possible. But if it is, I almost had too much sopapilla cheesecake.

God bless the Hooleys–all six of them!–and our brothers and sisters at Mountain View Christian.

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To help us better understand our God’s will to save the whole world and our role in his salvation plans, we are spending four Sundays in Jonah–one chapter of the story per Sunday. One of the takeaways from yesterday’s lesson is that God’s call is very clear. Always. He tells Jonah to go and preach to Nineveh. Very direct and to the point. There’s no misinterpreting or misunderstanding God’s call on Jonah. It’s really very simple. Go and preach to Nineveh.

Nineveh is the capital city of the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians are Israel’s national enemies.

Jonah doesn’t misunderstand God’s call. God’s call is crystal clear. Jonah just disagrees with God’s way of dealing with the bad situation in Nineveh. I can almost hear Jonah:

Nineveh? Seriously? Those people are terrible! You don’t preach to people like that; you wipe ’em out! You destroy them! Those people are despicable! They have no regard for human rights! They treat women horribly! They’re always starting wars! They kill people at the drop of a hat! They don’t believe in our God! They don’t share our values! They’re all crazy! Come on, God, you’ve seen the news! Those people are insane! They’ve always been that way and they will be that way forever! They’re trying to take over the world and force their philosophy on everybody! They’d love to see us all dead! Have you read the things they write? Have you seen their videos? The best thing that could happen to them is you blowing them to Kingdom come! We should turn that whole part of the world into a giant sand trap!

I’ve been reading Jonah’s forwarded emails.

God wants all the people of Nineveh saved. He wants them to repent and come into a saving relationship with him. And God wants to use Jonah to make it happen. But Jonah doesn’t want to participate in the salvation of this particular people. So Jonah runs. I think he knows he can’t run away from God, but maybe he can get lost in another culture, another place, where he can ignore God. Jonah can maybe immerse himself in other things. He can become overly occupied with his possessions, his job, his hobbies, sports, a house, maybe a wife and kids.

The country we live in would tell us we have “enemies” in Iran. You may know that Iran is one of the two or three places in the world right now where Christianity is growing the fastest. Our government would tell us we have “enemies” in Russia and China. And our God loves them and he wants them to be saved. We know that. But sometimes our language and our prayers and our forwarded emails and posts don’t reflect that.

How quickly we forget that while we were God’s enemies, Christ died for us.

We have “enemies” right here in Midland. You have “enemies” in your town, too. Enemies of our property values. Enemies of our employment figures and tax rates. Enemies of our political positions and comfort zones. And our God’s unmistakable call is to take to them the Good News of salvation in Christ Jesus.

It’s clear.

We believe our Lord meant it when he said love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. We believe in the Great Commission. We understand Christ calls us to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and all over the whole world, to the very ends of the earth. We believe witnessing like that, showing God’s love and mercy to our enemies, imitates our Lord.

Our Savior crosses all the barriers that separate people–social, cultural, racial, political, geographical, economic–he smashes through all that to save violent outcasts, those possessed by demons, warring Zealots, traitorous tax collectors, Roman centurions, and thieves on crosses. He broke through all those barriers to save you. And me.

And our God unmistakably calls us to reach out to others the same way.

Peace,
Allan

Should We Not Be Concerned?

April 8, 2026 / / 2 Comments

“Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” ~Jonah 4:11

The last line in the short story of Jonah reveals very clearly our God’s heart and his will. The closing question is extended by God to his nationalistic prophet who has expressed in both word and deed that he cares much more about his own comfort and security than he does for the welfare of the people he calls “enemies.” God’s question challenges the way Jonah thinks and acts. And it should shape our attitudes and transform our hearts to be more in line with those of our Lord.

American Christians have always tended to confuse our religion and faith with our country and our patriotism–this is nothing new. Country singer Neal McCoy sang the national anthem at the Texas Rangers home opener Friday, but he started by asking the baseball fans in attendance to recite the Pledge of Allegiance first. And he ended the pledge–“…with liberty and justice for all!“–by saying “Amen!” Like it’s a prayer. Like it’s sacred or holy.

Again, this is not new. Neither is invoking God and faith and religion to justify a government’s acts of terrible violence and war. Constantine did it early in the fourth century and every emperor, king, prime minister, and president before and since has done the same thing. Generals and kings and presidents have always ginned up support for their wars by telling us that God is on our side.

But the conflation of patriotism and faith in the U,S. has accelerated to such a degree over the past 15 years that many Christians today are uncritically supporting a president who uses increasingly profane language to make over-the-top threats of violence and annihilation against an entire civilization in the name of our Savior. The president and his newly designated “Secretary of War” continue to insist daily and sometimes hourly that killing our country’s enemies is God’s holy will. Donald Trump ends a social media post from the White House threatening to rain “all hell” down on Iran with “Glory be to God!” Pete Hegseth asks our God in public prayer to “help every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation.” He prays in the name of Jesus for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy” and for enemies of America to be delivered to “the eternal damnation prepared for them.” Then on Easter Sunday, again Monday, and into the afternoon yesterday, in an obscene act of bullying and bluster, in a torrent of vile words and images, the president threatened to completely destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges, to take out their water treatment plants, to bomb Iran “back into the stone ages,” and to end their entire civilization.

“Should I not be concerned?”

Iran has more than ninety-three-million people. Should I not be concerned about that great nation? Iran has almost two-million Christians and, for more than ten years, the world’s fastest-growing Church. Should I not be concerned?

“As surely as I live,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” ~Ezekiel 33:11

The American Empire and the Kingdom of God are not the same thing. The will of the U.S. president and the will of our God are not the same. To endorse the attitude, the words, and the actions coming out of the White House as God’s will toward Iran is to deny our Christ and his Gospel. After all, our Lord died for us (you and me) while we (you and me) were his enemies. Doesn’t supporting this administration’s assertions that indiscriminate violence against the people of Iran is God’s will deny just about everything Scripture teaches us about the nature and will of our Father? Doesn’t refusing to speak out loud against it make one complicit? Just listening to the president speak like this has an effect on us. It shapes us. It forms us.

Christians do not celebrate the death of human beings made in the image of our God and loved by our Father. No matter how ruthless and evil some of those leaders in Iran are, we love our enemies. We pray for our enemies and their families. We do good things for our enemies. We show concern. Should we not be concerned?

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” ~Luke 6:27-28
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” ~Matthew 5;44-45

It is good for followers of Jesus to grieve with and weep for the people of Iran who have been abused, terrorized, tortured, and killed by their government. It is proper to mourn the loss of soldiers and civilians who are trapped in the middle of this terrible conflict. It’s okay to acknowledge God’s sovereign use of nations and armies to enact his justice. It is right to join the faithful lament of the prophets and the groaning of the martyred souls under the altar and cry out to our God, “How long?!? How much longer are you going to allow this to continue?!? When will you finally put all things to right?!?”

This is a time for prayer. Reflection. Meditation. Thanksgiving. Mixed feelings. It is not a time to hate. It is not a time to insult or gloat. It is not a time to defend a world leader bent on killing so many people and destroying so many lives in the name of our God who, even Jonah confesses, is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love.”

For Christians, this is a time to be concerned.

Peace (not as the world gives it),
Allan

 

Overturned

October 20, 2014 / / 0 Comments

“Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!” ~Jonah 3:4

You’ve gotta have a sense of humor to read Jonah. There’s so much hyperbole and exaggeration, sarcasm and irony, embedded in almost every paragraph, I think you’ll miss the main points of the tale if you don’t break out into a huge smile and maybe even a giggle or two as you read it. It’s funny that Jonah’s message is that God is going to “overturn” Nineveh. Because that’s exactly what God does. He turns Nineveh completely upside down.

The people proclaim a fast before the king does. Declarations like that usually begin at the top and work their way down. But this one starts in the streets and then reaches the palace.

The king leaves his throne and takes off his royal robes. The throne is empty, it’s wide open now for the Lord to reign in Nineveh. The king is sitting in dust with the least of the common people. This is definitely an overturned king! And his proclamation demands that everyone call urgently on the God of Israel. These mighty Assyrians are now just like the sailors in the first part of the story — crying out to YHWH for their very lives.

In just two short verses, Nineveh has been overturned — not destroyed, but turned upside down in every way possible. It’s a supernatural event. Nobody saw this coming. It goes far beyond what anybody could perceive as normal. Come on, even the goats and cows are fasting and wearing sackcloth!

God does this in order to save the city. He turns it upside down in order to save it. And he’ll do the same for you. Or for your family. Or for your church. Or your town.

Our God will go to whatever lengths are necessary, he’ll do whatever it takes, he will not give up on saving his people. Even when we resist, he keeps on pursuing. Even when we rebel, he keeps on forgiving. Even when we run away, he keeps chasing. He used a violent storm and the weak witness of a runaway prophet to save the pagan sailors. He created and commanded the giant fish to rescue his rebellious servant. And he put five Hebrew words into the hearts of a wicked people and turned an entire nation upside down.

And he’s tracking you, too. He’s chasing you. You know it. You feel it.

What’s God doing right now to get your attention? How’s he working in your life to draw you to him? Is he sending the storms? Is he putting people in your path? Is he piercing your heart with an unforgettable phrase or a particularly haunting verse of Scripture? Is it just a feeling, maybe, that you can’t shake? Is it a person who cares deeply for you and hurts with God’s own compassion for you? How is God getting to you? You may as well start thinking about it, because he’s not going to stop.

Peace,

Allan

 

God Will Not Be Stopped

October 17, 2014 / / 0 Comments

“I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.” ~Ezekiel 34:16

Our God will go to whatever lengths are necessary, he’ll do whatever it takes, he will not ever give up on saving his people. Even when we resist, he keeps pursuing. Even when we rebel, he keeps forgiving. Even when we run away, he keeps chasing.

“Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?” ~Luke 15:4, 8

Our merciful Father used the power of a violent storm and the weak witness of a runaway prophet to save the pagan sailors in Jonah 1. He created and commanded the great fish to rescue his rebellious servant in Jonah 2. And in Jonah 3, our faithful God put five Hebrew words into the hearts of a wicked people and turned an entire nation upside down for him.

“‘I take no pleasure in the death of anyone,’ declares the Sovereign Lord. ‘Repent and live!'” ~Ezekiel 18:32

Our God is on a mission to save the world and he wants us to participate. Either way — whether we join him in that mission or not — our God will not be stopped. He’ll find the young professional in that tiny house in Bogota, Columbia; and he’ll send a group from Amarillo, Texas all the way down there to do it. He’ll save the impoverished orphan girls in Kenya; and he’ll use a bunch of ladies in a sewing room at Central to make it happen. God will save ten thousand people in India; and he’ll use a broken preacher on a TV show to do it. God will rescue the dying and lost in Brazil and Guatemala & Ukraine; and he’ll use your garage sale earnings and your Starbucks money to accomplish it. Our God is on the trail to save and he will not be stopped.

He’s tracking you, too. He’s chasing you. You feel it. You know it. He’s on to you and he won’t let go. Our God is that relentless hound of heaven that C. S. Lewis writes about.

May we adopt that same mindset. May we see the world as our Father sees the world. And may we allow nothing — absolutely nothing! — to get in our way of seeking and saving the lost.

Peace,

Allan

Praise from the Belly

October 9, 2014 / / 0 Comments

The most interesting thing about Jonah 2 is that the prophet gives thanks to God for his deliverance while he is still inside the fish! He praises God for his rescue even before he is on dry land!

“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me!” ~Jonah 2:2

Jonah doesn’t even mention the small matter of his residency in the fish. Instead he demonstrates a complete trust in the mercy and compassion of God. He is grateful to be in the Lord’s keeping, even if it’s in the belly of a whale.

“You brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God!” ~Jonah 2:6

Jonah gives thanks in spite of the uncertainty of still being in the sea. He gives praise knowing he did not deserve to be rescued. He’s grateful for safety in a most unlikely place. He’s thankful even in great discomfort. Jonah recognizes God’s salvation in spite of his unresolved questions and issues.

“Salvation comes from the Lord!” ~Jonah 2:9

I think we’re all living inside the belly of the fish. We have been rescued from drowning; we’ve been delivered from the bottom of the sea. But we’re still unsure as to how exactly we’re going to be ultimately saved. Jonah praises God, knowing full well that there are only two possibilities for escaping the fish alive — both of them extremely gross! His situation is not even close to being resolved. He knows he’s going to be OK because he’s in God’s gracious hands. He just doesn’t know yet how much it’s going to hurt.

It’s a belly of great expectation. And we’re all there. I’m going to come out of this OK; I’m just not sure how or when. Even in the darkness and stink of my present circumstance, I rejoice and praise the Lord that he has saved me and he will continue to deliver me all the way through to the end.

Peace,

Allan

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