Welcome to Seeking Him, a 12-week interactive newsletter based on Nancy Leigh DeMoss' powerful new book "Seeking Him". Whether you're on week one or beyond, we pray this study will be the start of your own revival! To purchase this book, go to www.crossings.com

LESSON 1: "REVIVAL - WHO NEEDS IT"

The revival we will be talking about in this study is for God's people-those who by faith in Jesus Christ have received salvation and belong to Him. Since the days of Adam and Eve, God's people have often chosen to resist His will and rebel. Because of His great love, God keeps calling them back to intimate fellowship with Him. God's grace-the desire and power He gives us to return to Him-always accompanies His call to revival.

Meditate & Memorize:

"Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you." (Hosea 10:12, NKJV)

Returning to Our First Love

The need for believers to return wholeheartedly to God-to be revived-is also addressed in the New Testament. The book of Revelation records the apostle John's vision. In this vision, Jesus speaks to seven churches. The church at Ephesus had once been a vibrant group of believers, deeply in love with Jesus. They had maintained their doctrinal purity and their separation from evil practices. They had worked hard and persevered, and they had a zeal for service. Yet something was wrong. After commending their strengths, Jesus addressed a matter of grave concern to Him:

"Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstead from its place--unless you repent." (Revelations 2:4-5, NKJV)

God wants us to love Him first and foremost. When we find ourselves trusting in people instead of the Lord, our heart's focus has shifted from Him (Jeremiah 17:5). Love for people-friends, family members, or even ourselves-can compete with our love for Him (Matthew 10:37). Other substitutes for a God-centered love relationship may include money, pleasure, friends, work, ritual in worship, the teachings of respected leaders, or Bible knowledge without a relationship with Christ.

Revival does not begin when a struggling, wayward person decides to return to the Lord but rather when a loving heavenly Father, wanting His people to enjoy the safety and security of His love, calls him or her back to Himself. God is the initiator; the call to revival is a plea of love from the heart of God. It is true, however, that there are things we can do to prepare for revival in our lives:

What can you do?

Be active in the Word of God (Psalm 119:97. 140)

Learn humility (Isaiah 57:15)

Look at your priorities (Matthew 6:33)

Pray that Jesus Christ will become the first love in each heart.

LESSON TWO: 'HUMILITY- COMING TO GOD ON HIS TERMS

Humility is a virtue more often praised than sought. Who wants to think little of himself? The world admires the self-confident, the ambitious, yes, even the proud! Yet biblical humility-recognizing oneself as a sinner before the holy God-is a prerequisite for starting down the path to revival.

Meditate & Memorize:

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 14:11, NKJV)

Humility is Necessary

Humility has never been popular in the eyes of the world. If you want to get ahead, self-confidence and self-promotion are the fail-proof prescriptions for success. However, in the kingdom of God, and especially in the process of revival, humility and brokenness are essential.

Humbling ourselves is the first step we take toward God. But how do we do this? Isaiah provides some instruction from his personal experience:

"In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of his glory'

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." (Isaiah 6:1-7)

Isaiah's vision of God in the temple provides an illustration of the process of revival. Like Isaiah, when we are brought to a new awareness of God's holiness, we recognize the depth of our own sinfulness. With a broken, contrite heart, we confess and forsake our sin. God responds to our humility with forgiveness; He restores us and makes us usable instruments to fulfill His purposes in our world.

What can you do?

Agree with God about each evidence of pride He has shown you.

Ask His forgiveness for your pride.

Ask Him to continue to reveal anything that indicated pride in your life.

Ask Him to show you practical steps you could take to humble yourself.

Lesson Three: Honesty - Silence Is Not Always Golden

Seeking God for personal revival requires a level of honesty that, at first, may seem quite threatening. Covering up our faults and failures is an involuntary reflex. At first glance, it often seems like the best option. We want others to think the best of us. However, humility-one of the first prerequisites for revival-requires the willingness to be honest with God and others about our true spiritual condition.

Meditate & Memorize:

"Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." (Proverbs 28:13, NKJV)

Walking in the Light

Having observed firsthand the life and ministry of Jesus, the apostle John marveled at the self-revealing nature of God. He wrote in his first epistle:

"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:5-9)

John had known the joy of deep fellowship with God through Christ, and he wanted his readers to experience it, too. He reminds us that "God is light," and that when we cover up or refuse to acknowledge sin in our lives, we deceive ourselves and we cannot enjoy full fellowship with God or with each other. In fact, the person who habitually covers his sin has no basis for assurance that he is a child of God at all! Therefore, the willingness to be honest and confess our sin is an evidence of genuine salvation and is vital to experiencing God's forgiveness and restored fellowship when we sin as believers.

God wants to experience intimate fellowship with His children. That is possible only if we are honest with Him about the true condition of our heart as He knows it to be. No matter what you may have done, you can experience God's great love and amazing grace.

What can you do?

Find honesty with God: "Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts" (Psalm 51:6)

Find honesty with yourself: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22)

Find honesty with others: "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of another" (Ephesians 4:25)

Thank God for His grace and power to cleanse and revive honest hearts.

LESSON FOUR:- REPENTANCE- THE BIG TURN-AROUND

We've learned that humility and honesty provide the fertile ground in which seeds of grace and revival can grow and bear fruit. The next step, then, is responding to God's conviction in genuine repentance. The concept of repentance is largely foreign to modern minds. Just what is repentance? What is its role in the life of a child of God? How do we know if we have truly repented? This study will explore these questions.

Meditate & Memorize:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10, NKJV)

A Change of Mind

Before sin becomes an act, it is first a thought. We call that being tempted. If we do not call out to God for help and deliverance in these moments of temptation, or if we allow ourselves to indulge the thought of sin in our minds, we will likely commit the sin eventually.

Once we sin, God gives us a means to escape from sin's lure and grip, through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. We call this conviction-that internal "call" to turn around and change direction when we have sinned.

Just as sin begins in our minds (as a temptation), so repentance begins in our minds as the Holy Spirit brings conviction. The mind is a crucial part of our spiritual anatomy, as the following verses show:

"[Jesus] said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" (Matthew 22:37)

Once the Spirit convicts us of sin, how do we know if we have truly repented? John the Baptist warned people to: 'Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.' (Matthew 3:8) Repentance cannot be considered genuine unless there is outward evidence--a change of behavior. It's not just a matter of feeling bad about our sin. If repentance is real, it will show itself. The outward manifestations of repentance may be instantaneous or may be seen over time. The length of time for real change may depend on the nature of the sin and how long one has been involved in it, or other variables. But sooner or later, there will be a change in behavior.

What can you do?

"But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Matthew 9:13)

Accept the power of God to restore and renew: "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit." (Psalm 51:12)

Admit your weakness: "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." (Psalm 34:18)

Pray to be restored to worship to serve God again!

Lesson Five: "Grace: God's Provision For Every Need "

At this stage in our study, it could be easy to feel overwhelmed with a sense of conviction, failure, and guilt; some may even be tempted to give up on seeking God for revival. The good news is that God does not ask us to meet His requirements on our own-in fact, He knows we can't live humble, holy, obedient lives without Him. God makes available to every one of His children an incredible resource to make it possible for us to live a godly life. That amazing, extravagant provision is called. . .grace.

Meditate & Memorize:

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16, NKJV)

Saving Grace

If a young man is killed through some random act of violence, and his father tracks down the guilty person and kills him, we would call that vengeance. If, however, the father calls the police and the murderer is arrested tried, convicted, and executed, we'd call that justice. If, at the trial, the father pleads for the guilty man's life to be spared and the judge and jury consent, we'd call that mercy.

Now imagine this: in addition to pleading for the guilty one to be spared, the father actually appeals to the judge to release the offender into his custody and care. Miraculously gaining approval, the father takes the young man into his heart and home, adopts him, and raises him and loves him as his own son... that would be grace!

By His grace God did for us what we could not do for ourselves: He gave us life for death and pardon for condemnation. At the cross, God satisfied His own vengeance, met His own demands of justice, extended mercy, and then added the surprise of His grace. Having punished sin, God forgave sinners; then He went on to adopt all who would believe, making them fellow heirs with His only Son. Such is the extravagant love and grace of God.

God's grace is never given as a reward for anything we could possibly do to merit it. As we explore further the riches of God's grace, not only in salvation but also in our sanctification, we must remember that God's grace is always a gift given to the undeserving. That's what makes it so amazing.

What can you do?

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

"After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." (1 Peter 5:10)

God's grace rushes to the scene of our weakness and need. Take a few moments to identify some specific ways that you need God's grace at this season of your life.

Humble yourself before the Lord and tell Him about each of those areas where you need His help. Call out to Him to meet your needs. Then thank Him that His grace is sufficient for you in each of those areas.

Lesson 6:"Holiness- A Heart Like His"

Holiness can be defined on two levels. Positional holiness is what God imparts to us when we become His children. Since God is holy and we are sinners, we are reconciled to God by the blood of Christ shed on the cross. That's our spiritual position in Christ. We have been separated from sin and set apart to God. Personal holiness is the outworking and fruit of positional holiness, evidenced in the way we think and live. Because we belong to God and His Holy Spirit indwells us, we are commanded and divinely equipped to live according to His will every day, in every way. In this lesson, we will focus primarily on our practical, personal holiness.

Meditate & Memorize:

"Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14)

Getting Ready for the Wedding

It's a perfect summer day. Friends and family have gathered to share in the joyful occasion. Today you, the groom, will marry the woman of your dreams! The pipe organ sounds the wedding march. The congregation stands and turns to face the beautiful bride. Then. . .a collective gasp. The bride clumsily staggers in with curlers in her hair and dressed in sweatpants. She looks in horror at the scene before her, and suddenly the meaning of it all sinks in. "I'm sooo sorry," she wails. "I forgot what today was!"

Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? However, among many Christians today we observe an even greater absurdity. In Scripture, the church is referred to as Christ's "bride". Sadly, many Christians today live as if they've forgotten about the wedding. In one sense, revival could be defined as "the Bride getting ready for the Wedding"! It is the church preparing to meet her Bridegroom by becoming holy. If this is the intent of our Savior for His bride, should it not also be the life-long focus and motivation of every child of God?

Though we don't know when Christ will return, the Scripture tells us how to live now in preparation for our heavenly inheritance:

"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as be who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:13-16)

What can you do?

"Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1)

"Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and... put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:22-24)

"Awake to righteousness and sin not" (1 Corinthians 15:34)

Pray for a restoration of personal and corporate purity for Christ's bride.

Lesson 7: Obedience - The Acid Test

God loves his children. He knows that we cannot fully experience and enjoy His love unless we are obedient to Him. Obeying God is not meant to be a sterile, cold requirement; rather, it is a willing, glad-hearted response to One who loves us extravagantly and has our best interests at heart. God does not stand by at a distance demanding our obedience. Rather, He blesses us by allowing us to be a part of accomplishing His purposes. He calls us to surrender, invites us to follow, empowers us to serve, and then blesses our obedience.

Meditate & Memorize:

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15)

The Foundation of the Christian Life

When you were a child, you may have sung a little chorus called "The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock." That song is taken from a parable in the gospel of Matthew, where Jesus explained the importance of building our lives on a firm foundation:

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock." (Matthew 7:24-27)

The lesson is quite simple. The wise person is obedient to the Word of the Lord. He chooses to build his life on hearing and doing the will of God. When trials and temptations assault him (as they will), he does not fall. He is secure because his foundation is solid.

Obedience is literally foundational to the Christian life. No obedience, no foundation. Unless we are living in obedience to what God says, we have nothing upon which to build our lives, nothing upon which to rest for assurance, and nothing to rely on when we are tested. Jesus said this is the way to be wise! Trust Him, follow Him, obey Him, and you will be building on a Rock.

The only reliable means of measuring our love for God is to examine whether we obey Him. We may dress the part, act the part, talk the part of being a Christian, but one of these things proves that we genuinely love God. Obedience is the only way.

What can you do?

"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams" (Samuel 15:22)

Ask God to show you any matters where you are not walking in complete obedience. Ask Him to bring you to a place of willingness and surrender.

Read the story of Saul in 1 Samuel. How was his disobedience punished?

Determine to begin obeying God immediately-in the "little" and the big things.

Lesson 8 - Dealing With Offenses Towards Others

The commitment to have a clear conscience is an important key to personal and corporate revival. When our conscience is clear, we have nothing to be ashamed of. In this lesson we will explore what it means to have a clear conscience toward others and discover some practical steps to obtaining and maintaining a clear conscience.

Meditate & Memorize:

"Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24:16)

What Does it Mean to Have a Clear Conscience?

Having a clear conscience means there is no obstruction in our fellowship with God or anyone else. It means we are careful to avoid sinning against God or others with our words, actions, or attitudes. It also means that when we do sin, we quickly repent, admit our failure to all offended parties, ask their forgiveness, and make whatever restitution is necessary. It means we can look everyone we know in the eye without shame and know that we are right with them, insofar as it depends on us.

The Old Testament prophet Samuel had been a faithful spiritual counselor for many years. In 1 Samuel 12 we find that the entire nation has gathered to listen to Samuel. He is now an old man and his reputation is well known among all the people. He asks the people an astonishing question and receives an equally remarkable response.

"And Samuel said to all Israel, 'Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.

Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.'

They said, "You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand." (1 Samuel 12:1-4)

Any child of God who is serious about seeking the Lord and experiencing personal revival must be committed to maintain a clear conscience toward others. This is the context in which genuine repentance, humility, and holiness are demonstrated.

What can you do?

"Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar... First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23-24)

Ask God to search your heart and to remind you of each person you have wronged or with whom you have an unresolved conflict.

"Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." (Matthew 25:40)

Don't stop till your conscience is clear.

Lesson 10: Sexual Purity - The Joy of Moral Freedom

God created us as sexual beings, and our sexual drive is a good and powerful part of us. But when those desires surpass our desire for God, or when we seek to fulfill them apart from God's prescribed means and timing, they can be our downfall. The Bible's perspective on sexual purity has gotten a bad rap as repressive, outdated, legalistic, and no fun. Nothing could be further form the truth. Staying sexually pure, or committing to moral purity, can be a big step toward personal revival, deep joy, and true freedom.

Meditate & Memorize:

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality" (1Thessalonians 4:3)

Called to Sexual Purity

Battling lust is not a twenty-first century phenomenon. God's people have always had to deal with sexual temptation. The apostle Paul confronted this matter head-on when he wrote the church in Thessalonica about their Christian conduct:

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness." (1 Thessalonians 4:3-6)

Regardless of how spiritual we may claim (or pretend) to be, the truth is that we are no more spiritual than our sexual conduct and thought life. In this passage Paul gives three specific exhortations regarding our sexual behavior.

(A) Have absolutely nothing to do with any form of immorality. Instead, we should determine to be morally blameless in all our thoughts, activities and relationships.

(B) Be a student of your own person. Know what entices you to immorality and avoid it. Know what encourages you to be pure and activate it.

(C) Be sure you do not take advantage of or wrong another sexually. Rather, seek to live a life that edifies and encourages others to be morally pure.

What can you do?

"Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (Romans 13:14)

"For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life, To keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering tongue of a seductress." (Proverbs 6:23-24)

"Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23)

Thank the Lord for His promise to provide a way of escape from every temptation.

Lesson 11: The Spirit-filled Life - God's Power in You

Christian maturity cannot be attained by trying harder or doing more. God has not dangled the prospect of an abundant life before us then set us loose in a maze to try to find our way through. The Holy Spirit acts as our guide and our companion-the One sent from heaven to lead us home. He enables us to obey God, empowers us to become like Jesus, and fills us with supernatural power for work and for witness. We should, therefore, learn how to listen to Him, how to follow Him, how to rely on His power, and how to walk in His fullness.

Meditate & Memorize:

"Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16)

Help from Heaven

The disciples were dejected. Jesus had just told them that He would be leaving them soon-departing not just to another place but to the other side of eternity. They could not imagine the prospect of facing the future without their best Friend and spiritual leader. They needed comfort and reassurance. And that is exactly what Jesus gave them on their last evening together before He went to the cross, when He introduced them to the Holy Spirit.

"Because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you." (John 16:6-7)

For more than thirty years, Christ had been the physical manifestation of God on earth. He was Immanuel-God with us. All along it had been the plan of God that after the Son gave His life sacrificially for our atonement and was raised from the dead, He would return to the Father's right hand. However, it was never in God's plan to leave His children alone. He always intended to be present with them.

That same evening, Jesus said to His disciples, "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Sprit of Truth." (John 14:16) I will never leave you nor forsake you was not sentimentalism, it was God's promise-a promise He keeps to this day through the presence of the Holy Spirit, our constant Helper. The indwelling Holy Spirit enables us to live a life of spiritual freedom, fullness and fruitfulness.

What can you do?

"To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace" (Romans 8:6)

"And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:18-19)

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Ephesians 6:11)

Thank the Father for sending the Holy Spirit, and ask Him to glorify Christ—in and through you.

Lesson 12: The Personal Devotion Life: Seeking Him

The Christian's devotional life is foundational to his or her spiritual maturity and capacity to know God and to make Him known to others. A personal devotional life involves more than just "having devotions." It is a call to devotion-an opportunity to cultivate an intimate love relationship with God. It is vital to a lifetime of "seeking Him" and experiencing the joy of personal revival.

Meditate & Memorize:

"One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple" (Psalm 27:4)

Seeking Him for Continuous Revival

"You who seek God, let your hearts revive" (Psalm 69:32). Have you been "seeking Him" through the course of this study? If so, God has promised to revive your heart! You may already be experiencing many of the blessings and joys of personal revival. At this point you may be wondering, Where do I go from here? Remember this: Whatever it takes to get revival is what it takes to keep it. The basic truths that God has been using to set you free during these past weeks-humility, repentance, honestly, holiness, obedience, clear conscience, forgiveness, walking in the Spirit-are the same truths that will enable you to experience continuous revival.

That's why it's important for you to keep going back to these same foundational principles-again and again and again-and to engraft them into your mind, heart, and life. Periodically review the key points in each lesson to make sure you are still walking in the truth that sets us free.

What can you do?

Praise God for what He has taught you about His heart and ways, and for what He has done in your hearts and lives over these weeks.

Pray for each other. Pray regarding any struggles you may be aware of that others are experiencing in their walk with God (use discretion). Pray that in the days ahead each person will continue to seek the Lord and to experience the joy and freedom of personal revival.

Pray for a great moving of God's Spirit in genuine revival-in your homes, your churches, in our nation, and throughout the world.

The sleek businessman bolted across the street against the traffic signal. He barely made it, accidentally shoving my friend, Delsinore, and me as we stood at the curb. He looked at me and said, "I'm sorry -- excuse me." He said nothing to Delsinore, probably because she's a bag lady.

After a minute, I tapped the man on the shoulder, smiled, and said, "You bumped her too. Please apologize to her."

Eyebrows went up around me as the man mumbled an apology. I was thrilled to have requested a small token of courtesy for Dels, but I also winced at the snickers of those around me and imagined their thoughts: What's this white Lady Bountiful doing with a black woman pushing a shopping cart?

Knowing Delsinore is reinforcing what I already know. Every society has its hierarchy of worthiness and people like Delsinore are among the lowest on the ladder. Seeing how people treat her reminds me of how all of us tend to withhold respect, concern, and even justice from those lower on the ladder than ourselves. When we do this, we render these people voiceless.

The silence of voiceless people grows out of their power-down positions in society: residents of lower class neighborhood; the poorly paid; the handicapped; the aging; the less intelligent; unskilled laborers; even children, when they're routinely talked down to. Many of them understand they're not people of influence so they keep quiet. When they do speak up, we don't take them seriously because they don't have the status, money, age, or know-how to command our respect. God regards them differently.

God, the Guardian of the Needy

Many of those who are voiceless match the biblical categories of the needy: the widow, the fatherless, and the alien (or "sojourner" or "stranger"). God didn't speak of giving them "equality" and "fair treatment," but instead, he recognized the human tendency to treat them unequally and unfairly and declared himself their guardian: "I will do something! The poor are mistreated and helpless people moan. I'll rescue all who suffer," Psalm 12:5.

God even mounted attacks against those who cheated the needy, at times cursing them. He commissioned his people, Israel, to become modern-day public defenders, so to speak, defending the causes of the needy, maintaining their rights, and pleading their cases (Proverbs 23:10-11; Deuteronomy 27:19; Psalm 82:3; Isaiah 1:17).

Some of us respond by sponsoring children overseas and donating clothes to downtown street missions. Participating in these worthwhile efforts satisfies our uneasiness until we walk past a homeless family living in their car, or we get frustrated trying to buy gum from someone who can't speak our language, or we watch the house or car next door become shabby when a father walks out on a family.

We battle within ourselves: sure we need more homeless shelters, but not on my street; let people immigrate, only don't let their limited English slow me down as I run errands; it's a shame couples break up, but it makes the neighborhood look bad when weeds take over their yard.

Suddenly the faces of the voiceless look more familiar. We find that giving away money and old clothing is much easier than becoming a guardian, rescuer, and defender of people who may cramp our style.

So we experiment. We may make phone calls to find shelters for families and direct that family in the car to a shelter. We may expect to have to work to understand the broken English of the woman selling us gum. We may offer to mow the lawn for the family whose father just left.

On the street corner that day with Dels, I was experimenting with what it means to plead the case of the needy. (Statistics show that most homeless women are widowed or divorced and their parents are deceased). Could a polite voice in a run-of-the-mill situation help people consider ideas that are unusual to them but well-established in Scripture?

Respect and Solidarity

My relationship with Delsinore is teaching me that kind of respect. When I first met her, I offered to take her to a shelter, but she told me she liked the streets better. I gave her bags of oranges whenever I saw her but then I found out she gave them away because her teeth were too loose to eat them.

In many conversations with God, I offered these frustrations to him: I want to be effective; I want her to appreciate my help; I question how deserving she is. I'm finally understanding that my "charity" isn't about her, but about my need to feel like "a good Christian." One day sitting on the bench at a bus stop together, I asked her, "What is the most helpful thing I could do for you?"

"Sit here and talk to me," she said. "Nobody talks to me. People look right through me."

Her words were like a whack on the head. Of course! Christ sat and dined and talked, as well as operated his own divine medical clinic and food pantry (feeding 5,000 at a time). He respected people and asked them questions. To look into people's eyes and ask them what they need instead of foisting our own blessings on them places the voiceless in the power-up position for once. They talk and we listen.

Christ also stayed out of that pious power-up position by identifying closely with voiceless people. He told those who helped the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, and the imprisoned: "Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me," Matthew 25:40, and, "When you welcome even a child because of me, you welcome me," Mark 9:37. He knew solidarity with the voiceless so that their hunger became his hunger and their imprisonment became his imprisonment.

Solidarity with the voiceless doesn't come easily because our world is often different from theirs. But as we listen to them and pray for them, their concerns become our concerns.

My newspaper reading habits changed after I stopped at a fruit stand one day and talked to migrant farm workers for a while. After that, I looked for articles about farm workers without health insurance becoming ill from pesticides. In tears and prayers, I read about a Latino farm worker who was tied, beaten, and left to die. A bag had been put on his head, on which was written: "Go home, Mexican!"

It made me look deeply at the fair skin on my own wrists and wonder what my life would be like if I had been born elsewhere. There, but for the grace of God, go I?

Those I Render Voiceless

When I walk down the street with Dels, I see the hollowness on faces who look through us. Yet I see that same hollow look on the faces of people I render voiceless daily in my life.

One of my current struggles is with a feisty neighbor kid I'll call Cindy. I struggle to treat her with respect and fairness because I find her frequent telephone calls to my daughter irritating. In my objective moments I've asked her to limit her calls to one a day. Still, this 10-year-old drill sergeant demands to know at exactly what moment my daughter will return until I want to scream, "Never!" A few times, I have.

I render Cindy voiceless when I momentarily condone my rude behavior because I'm an adult and she's a kid. So I ask myself, Because Cindy as a child is in a power-down position, does that make it right for me to talk down to her? No. So once again I offer the water of courtesy because I can imagine Christ doing the same.

Giving a voice to the voiceless isn't always a tidy, neat little command easily obeyed. More often, it's messy and open-ended. We may cry over injustice one day and gloss over it the next.

It seems to work better if we remember we have a humble task. God doesn't ask us to eliminate poverty or bring equality to the planet. He asks us to show respect and concern to each person he's put in our path, going the extra mile with those our society overlooks. It's a struggle, but in the best moments we see Christ's face on the faces of voiceless people and we offer him respect and concern. In moments when we don't, we express our regret to a Father who never renders us voiceless and we find comfort there.

Jan Johnson is the author of Living a Purpose-Full Life and the upcoming book, Growing Compassionate Kids (Upper Room Books, 2001).

Starting today, we will share each day, one attribute of a 'man' for you to ponder and find answers to.

ATTRIBUTE:'Man"- created in God's image, i.e. God-like.

QUESTION:What does it mean to be like God? What do you think God intended when He made man in His image? Send us your thoughts and answers using our form below. Find out our answers Monday.

'MAN' has dominion over all of creation.

QUESTION: What does this mean? 

Send us your answers and check back for our answer.

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One of the most well-known mentors in many Christian circles is Dr. Howard Hendricks. Thousands of men and women worldwide consider this professor at Dallas Theological Seminary to be a guiding influence in their life. Protégés of his include the late Tom Landry, Joseph Stowell (president of Moody Bible Institute), and Chuck Swindoll (pastor, radio pastor, and current president of Dallas Theological Seminary).

During the National Conference on Mentoring held at Denver Seminary in April 2000, ForMinistry.com editor Michael Klassen met with Hendricks to discuss the subject of mentoring.

MK: How many people would you say you have mentored in your life?

HH: It's very difficult to say because I have been exposed to so many people due to the type of ministry I'm involved in. I've never actually tallied the number and in mentoring I've impacted people at different levels and different degrees. Some people will say "You were my mentor. You were the most important person in my life." Or as Chuck Swindoll puts it, "You believed in me when I didn't believe in myself."

There are other people I have mentored whom I have never met. They tell me, "I've read something that you wrote," or "I heard a tape," or "I attended your seminar, and it changed the whole course of my life." So it's difficult to quantify by numbers.

MK: A misconception many people have concerns the informal nature of mentoring. One of the myths of mentoring is that it is very formalized.

HH: Absolutely. Mentoring often takes place in an informal setting. My wife, Jeanne, and I spend a lot of time with students in our home. Or they know I have to walk every day, so they'll come out and walk with me. I used to have a pool, so people would come out and swim. It's not, "Ok, I shall now mentor somebody." They're around you, they watch your behavior, they hear what you say, they ask you questions. So it's the totality of your life that really impacts a person.

MK: What would you recommend to people who want to be mentors but may not consider themselves "people persons"?

HH: A person has to ask, "What do I already have that I can give to another person?" The answer may well be, "I'm not strong in interpersonal communications, but I am strong in organizing my life. I am strong in terms of what I do in my business or profession."

Let's say I'm a doctor and you're a young doctor -- you're not looking for some great personality, you're looking for somebody who really knows the skills that you are trying to develop. So communicate on the basis of what you have to give.

What surprises most people is that you communicate in more ways than merely through what you say. It's your passion about what you do, your selflessness, your focus, and your care about the other person. Otherwise, you're right. You've eliminated a big segment of the average public if it were limited only to people with strong interpersonal skills.

MK: How does a mentoring relationship begin? Does the mentor instigate it or the protégé? 

HH: In my case, I'm in a distinctive role. I teach in a seminary. So a guy or gal comes into my class and I'll think, "Boy, this person's got something to contribute. I need to spend more time with him or her." Or the person may show up at my office and ask, "Would you mentor me?" 

But often it grows out of my exposure to a person. For instance, I'm mentoring a young man whom I have spent a little over a semester with. We met in an informal situation, sitting at the same table for a meal. Immediately when we met there was a resonance -- like we'd known each other all of our lives. We just bonded. So I invited him to have lunch with me one day and then he asked me if I would write a letter of recommendation for a summer ministry opportunity. One thing led to another. 

But probably if you asked him, "Is Dr. Hendricks mentoring you?" he would say, "What? I just spend a lot of time with him." 

We have a lot of fun together. We both played baseball (he still does, I used to!), and we have a lot in common. Now I have opportunities to get involved in his life. For instance, recently he said to me, "One thing I know we're going to have to go in to: I'm disciplined in athletics and in my studies, but I'm not disciplined in my personal life. I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning, and I have a hard time showing up for class on time." So this is one of the areas that we'll probably look at further. 

MK: In a mentoring meeting, who sets the agenda -- you or the protégé? 

HH: It works both ways, which is what makes it so valuable. If a person brings up an issue I think needs to be addressed more in depth, I'll say, "You know, that's a crucial issue. Why don't we spend our next meeting talking about it. You do some thinking about this issue, and here's a book you can read in the meantime. Evaluate your own life on the basis of what we're going to discuss." Then when we meet again, in a week or so, and we zero in on that. 

Other times I will perceive in a protégé an area of weakness or strength that needs to be developed -- often in an area they are totally unaware of. I'll say, "Look, do you have any idea what you have going for you?" That's where you begin to build people up. You start by building on their strengths. But that doesn't mean you're not going to shore up the weaknesses. If the person talks too much, I'll tell them, "You're going to have to learn to listen." 

MK: How should mentors develop a new relationship in the beginning? 

HH: You spend time with them, and ask them a lot of questions like, "Michael, tell me about yourself. Tell me about your family. Tell me about school." Just get the person talking so you can have a database because if you want to mentor your protégé, you have to know these things. And sometimes you share with them. That's what builds your relationship base. And out of your relationship, your protégé will feel the safety to say, "I'm not sure I'm experiencing the Christian life the way it was designed." 

MK: Do you have limits as far as how deep you go in a person's life? 

HH: Yes. The limits are set ultimately by the protégé, so if he or she doesn't want to go any deeper, I don't probe. In one sense, however, it is set by me. When I am asked a question that I'm not competent to answer, I recommend them to people they ought to see who can get them an answer. 

MK: Many people seem to have difficulty trusting others enough to establish deep, intimate relationships. How can we overcome this? 

HH: This is the reason why you have to spend time together and develop a relationship -- so you can build their trust and earn the right to mentor them. Often your protégé will test you by saying, "You know, I've got to share something with you. You're not going to tell other people about this are you?" 

After giving your assurance that your conversation is confidential, they'll ask around to see what you are saying about them. Now if you go out and blabber it to other people, and your protégé hears about it, then they're going to back off. Too many people give up too soon in building a relationship with a mentor or with a protégé. You need to spend enough time together for the chemistry to develop. 

MK: How did your mentoring relationship Chuck Swindoll develop? 

HH: It began when he was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary, where I teach. During class, Chuck always sat right under my nose in the first row and took copious notes. I've never seen anyone who could write as fast as he could. And he would always ask very perceptive questions. After class was over, he'd be up at the front continuing the discussion and then follow me all the way back to my office. 

Once I asked Chuck, "Why don't you and Cynthia come over to my house for supper?" So they came over and we began spending time together. Because I was the chaplain of the Dallas Cowboys at the time, we went to Cowboys games, too. I simply did what I would do with a friend. And that's what mentoring is: it's building a friendship. 

I remember one event that significantly added to our mentoring relationship. The Swindolls had experienced a couple of crises: Chuck had messed up his car and then Cynthia lost her baby in pregnancy. Chuck walked around the campus for awhile looking for somebody who cared and ended up at the door to the office of another professor. He knocked and the man opened up the door and answered, "Yeah?!! What do you want? I'm busy!" 

"I'm sorry," Chuck apologized. He closed the door, walked down the hallway and saw a light under my door. When he came into my office he unloaded the truck. Part of mentoring is being with the protégé during crisis events. 

MK: You mentored Chuck and now he's your boss. Describe how that feels. 

HH: It feels wonderful. That's the potential of mentoring: God can use you to build into the life of another person. Don't limit your protégés by your own limitations -- they're capable of going way beyond you. I have students going way beyond what I'll ever hope to accomplish. That, to me, is one of the selling features of mentoring. 

I think of my Sunday School teacher who mentored me. He was the one who led me to Christ. Nobody knows the guy, so when I talk about Walt Reiman, people ask, "Who's Walt Reiman?" 

To me, that's the convincing feature for laypeople who realize that because they took this kid in when his parents put him out, encouraged him when he was down, and coached him when he was playing ball, they made a difference in the person's life. And the guy grows up to be the leading surgeon, doctor, lawyer, what have you. And you ask, "I produced this?" 

O. S. Hawkins, who pastors the 25,000-member First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, provides a valuable resource for both the laity and clergy.

While the book often dwells on the all-too-familiar landscape of moral failures in public and private life, Hawkins does uncover the "minor moral lapses" that shake and destroy the foundations of our faith and influence. For instance, the author traces the fault lines of Samson that produced major disasters 20 years later. He reveals the seismic forces at work in the lives of Adam and Eve, Joseph, Gehazi (Elisha's servant), King David, and Peter.

Homiletics professors and pastors in need of sermon material will also appreciate the alliteration that provides ready-made sermon outlines. David's moral failure reminds us to:

1. Recognize the Cause of Sin, 
2. Realize the Curse of Sin, and 

3. Review the Consequences of Sin.

Peter's slide down the "slippery slope" to denying his Savior is a seven-step (and seven-point) progression: Pride, Prayerlessness, Presumption, Paranoia, Peer pressure, Paralysis, and Perjury.

But the book is more than a source of Saturday night sermon preparation. Each chapter concludes with sort of a seismograph for self-evaluation designed to detect "the secret faults that may lay below the surface of our lives."

If there is one fault (no pun intended), the book does tend to sermonize a great deal, but it is a needful warning, particularly to those of us in public ministry.

Title: Moral Earthquakes and Secret Faults
Author: O.S. Hawkins
Publisher: Broadman & Holman Publishers
Pages: 196

If you are looking for a study to help a group of men open up, try Man to Man: Beyond Football and the Weather. Both the topics and the group dynamics are designed to stimulate sharing and openness.

After the initial orientation session, there are six sessions on issues that men tend to have difficulty talking about: “Our Feelings,” “Our Fears,” “Our Success or Failure,” “Our Dark Side,” “Our Need for Others,” and “Our Doubts.” Each of the seven sessions begin with a nonthreatening ice-breaker to help men start talking, followed by a brief introduction to the topic for study.

Sessions 2 through 7 contain two Bible studies each -- the first from a story in the Gospels and the second from a New Testament epistle. Virtually all the questions are multiple-choice. With this format anyone can participate by choosing one of the options.

Each session concludes with the opportunity and directions for participants to share prayer requests and then pray for one another. The study then points the participants to a relevant action step the men can do on their own during the following week.

Man to Man: Beyond Football and the Weather is very user friendly. Everything a group needs is contained in the participant book, including the Scripture passages. There is no separate leader's guide; instructions to leaders are included in each session and are designed to be simple and clear enough for members of the group to take turns leading the sessions.

Groups can use the study for either seven or 13 meetings -- depending on whether they use both Bible studies for each topic or just one of the Bible studies. (Groups that choose the 13-week option won't get a new ice-breaker for six of their meetings.)

Man to Man: Beyond Football and the Weather is particularly helpful for new groups of men to get connected with each other or for men who don't have much knowledge of the Bible. Established groups who want more serious Bible study might be disappointed: They won't find commentary notes on the Scripture and they may find the multiple-choice questions limit the depth of study.

Groups that use this book will find that it delivers on its subtitle: The conversation will go beyond football and the weather, and men will experience the power of Christian community in the process.

Man to Man: Beyond Football and the Weather is part of a cooperative resource project of Lutheran Men in Mission, Serendipity House, and Augsburg Fortress, and is available from Augsburg Fortress.