Equipped and Empowered

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21)

Christ shed the blood of the eternal covenant. By this successful redemption, he obtained the blessing of his own resurrection from the dead. That is even clearer in Greek than it is in English, and here it’s clear enough: “God . . . brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus . . . by the blood of the eternal covenant.” This Jesus — raised by the blood of the covenant — is now our living Lord and Shepherd.
And because of all that, God does two things:

he equips us with everything good that we may do his will, and
he works in us that which is pleasing in his sight.

The “eternal covenant,” secured by the blood of Christ, is the new covenant. And the new covenant promise is this: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). Therefore, the blood of this covenant not only secures God’s equipping us to do his will, but also secures God working in us to make that equipping successful.
The will of God is not just written on stone or paper as a means of grace. It is worked in us. And the effect is: We feel and think and act in ways more pleasing to God.

We are still commanded to use the equipment he gives: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” But more importantly we are told why: “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13).
If we are able to please God — if we do his good pleasure — it is because the blood-bought grace of God has moved from mere equipping to omnipotent transforming.

– John Piper

Daily Thoughts: Wisdom from John Newton

How unspeakably wonderful is it to know that all our concerns are held in the hands that bled for us!

Our sea may sometimes be stormy, but we have an infallible Pilot, and thus we shall infallibly gain our port.

Our work is great, our time is short, and the consequences of our labors are infinite.

My grand point in preaching is to break the hard heart and to heal the broken heart.

I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ, and the brightest evidences that He is indeed our Master.

A deep sense of indwelling sin is essential to humble living.

Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines—as well as upon works!

I am still in the land of the dying; I shall be in the land of the living soon. (his last words)

This is faith– a renouncing of everything we call our own and relying wholly upon the blood, righteousness, and intercession of Jesus.

We can easily manage if we will only take for each day the burden appointed to it. But the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday’s burden over again today, and then add the burden of tomorrow before we are required to bear it.

God sometimes does His work with gentle drizzle, not storms.

If we seem to get no good by attempting to draw near to Him, we may be sure we will get none by keeping away from Him.

Whoever is truly humbled will not be easily angry, nor harsh or critical of others. He will be compassionate and tender to the infirmities of his fellow-sinners, knowing that if there is a difference, it is grace alone which has made it! He knows that he has the seeds of every evil in his own heart. And under all trials and afflictions, he will look to the hand of the Lord, and lay his mouth in the dust, acknowledging that he suffers much less than his iniquities have deserved.

Once you love Christ, you will study to please Him.

It is a great thing to die; and, when flesh and a heart fail, to have God as the strength of our hearts, and our portion forever. I know whom I have believed, and he is able to keep that which I have committed against that great day. Hence forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me that day.

Afflictions quicken us to prayer. It is a pity it should be so; but experience testifies, that a long course of ease and prosperity, without painful changes, has an unhappy tendency to make us cold and formal in our secret worship. But troubles rouse our spirits, and constrain us to call upon the Lord in good earnest when we feel a need of that help which we only can have from his almighty arm. Afflictions are useful, and in a degree necessary, to keep alive in us a conviction of the vanity and unsatisfying nature of the present world, and all its enjoyments; to remind us that this world is not our rest, and to call our thoughts upwards where our true treasure is, and where our heart ought to be. When things go on much to our , our ease and comfort, our hearts are too prone to say, “It is good to be here!”

You have liberty to cast all your cares upon him who cares for you. By one hour’s intimate access to the throne of grace, where the Lord causes his glory to pass before the soul that seeks him, you may acquire more true spiritual knowledge and comfort than by a day or a week’s converse with the best of men, or the most studious reading of many books.

– John Newton

How to View Calamity

“The waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me. . . . This God — his way is perfect.” (2 Samuel 22:5, 31)

After the loss of his ten children owing to a natural disaster (Job 1:19), Job said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). At the end of the book, the inspired writer confirms Job’s understanding of what happened. He says Job’s brothers and sisters “comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11).

This has several crucial implications for us — lessons for us here at the dawn of a new year — as we think about calamities in the world and in our lives — like the massive disaster that occurred December 26, 2004, in the Indian Ocean — one of the deadliest natural disasters on record with 1.7 million people made homeless, half a million injured, and over 230,000 killed.
Lesson #1. Satan is not ultimate; God is.

Satan had a hand in Job’s misery, but not the decisive hand. God gave Satan permission to afflict Job (Job 1:12; 2:6). But Job and the writer of this book treat God as the decisive cause. When Satan afflicts Job with sores, Job says to his wife, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10), and the writer calls these satanic sores “the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). So, Satan is real. Satan brings misery. But Satan is not ultimate or decisive. He is on a leash. He goes no farther than God decisively permits.

Lesson #2. Even if Satan caused that tsunami in the Indian Ocean the day after Christmas, 2004, he is not the decisive cause of over 200,000 deaths; God is.

God claims power over tsunamis in Job 38:8 and 11 when he asks Job rhetorically, “Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb . . . and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” Psalm 89:8–9 says, “O Lord . . . you rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” And Jesus himself has the same control today as he once did over the deadly threats of waves: “He . . . rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm” (Luke 8:24). In other words, even if Satan caused the earthquake, God could have stopped the waves. But he didn’t.

Lesson #3. Destructive calamities in this world mingle judgment and mercy.

God’s purposes are not simple. Job was a godly man and his miseries were not God’s punishment (Job 1:1, 8). Their design was purifying, not punishment (Job 42:6). James 5:11 says, “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

But we do not know the spiritual condition of Job’s children who died. Job was certainly concerned about them (Job 1:5). God may have taken their life in judgment. We don’t know.

If that is true, then the same calamity proved in the end to be mercy for Job and judgment on his children. This double purpose is true of all calamities. They mingle judgment and mercy. They are both punishment and purification. Suffering, and even death, can be both judgment and mercy at the same time.

The clearest illustration of this is the death of Jesus. It was both judgment and mercy. It was judgment on Jesus because he bore our sins (not his own), and it was mercy toward us who trust him to bear our punishment (Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24) and be our righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Another example is the curse and miseries that have come on this earth because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Those who never believe in Christ experience it as judgment, but believers experience it as merciful, though painful — a preparation for glory. “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope” (Romans 8:20). This is God’s subjection. This is why there are tsunamis. But this subjection to futility is “in hope.”

Lesson #4. The heart that Christ gives to his people feels compassion for those who suffer, no matter what their faith is.
When the Bible says, “Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15), it does not add, “unless God caused the weeping.” Job’s comforters would have done better to weep with Job than talk so much. That does not change when we discover that Job’s suffering was ultimately from God. No, it is right to weep with those who suffer. Pain is pain, no matter who causes it. We are all sinners. Empathy flows not from the causes of pain, but from the company of pain. And we are all in it together.

Lesson #5. Finally, Christ calls us to show mercy to those who suffer, even if they do not deserve it.
That is the meaning of mercy — undeserved help. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27). This is how Christ treated us (Romans 5:10), dying for us when we were his enemies. By that power, and with that example, we do the same.

– John Piper

Two Reasons for Jesus Coming

Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.(1 John 3:7–8)

When 1 John 3:8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil,” what are “the works of the devil” that he has in mind? The answer is clear from the context.

First, 1 John 3:5 is a clear parallel: “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins.” The phrase he appeared to occurs in verse 5 and verse 8. So most likely the “works of the devil” that Jesus came to destroy are sins. The first part of verse 8 makes this virtually certain: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.”
The issue in this context is sinning, not sickness or broken cars or messed up schedules. Jesus came into the world to enable us to stop sinning.

We see this even more clearly if we put this truth alongside the truth of 1 John 2:1: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” This is one of the great purposes of Christmas — one of the great purposes of the incarnation (1 John 3:8).
But there is another purpose which John adds in 1 John 2:1–2, “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
But now look what this means: It means that Jesus appeared in the world for two reasons. He came that we might not go on sinning — that is, he came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8); and he came so that there would be a propitiation for our sins, if we do sin. He came to be a substitutionary sacrifice that takes away the wrath of God for our sins.

The upshot of this second purpose is not to defeat the first purpose. Forgiveness is not for the purpose of permitting sin. The aim of the death of Christ for our sins is not that we relax our battle against sin. The upshot of these two purposes of Christmas, rather, is that the payment once made for all our sins is the freedom and power that enables us to fight sin not as legalists, earning our salvation, and not as fearful of losing our salvation, but as victors who throw ourselves into the battle against sin with confidence and joy, even if it costs us our lives.

– John Piper

God’s Indescribable Gift

If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:10–11)

How do we practically receive reconciliation and exult in God? We do it through Jesus Christ. Which means, at least, that we make the portrait of Jesus in the Bible — that is, the work and the words of Jesus portrayed in the New Testament — we make that portrait the essential content of our exultation over God. Exulting in God without the content of Christ does not honor Christ. And where Christ is not honored, God is not honored.

In 2 Corinthians 4:4–6, Paul describes conversion in two ways. In verse 4, he says it is seeing “the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” And in verse 6, he says it is seeing “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” In either case you see the point. We have Christ, the image of God, and we have God in the face of Christ.

To exult in God, we exult in what we see and know of God in the portrait of Jesus Christ. And this comes to its fullest experience when the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, as Romans 5:5 says. And that sweet, Spirit-given experience of the love of God is mediated to us as we ponder the historical reality of verse 6, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

So here’s the Christmas point. Not only did God purchase our reconciliation through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:10), and not only did God enable us to receive that reconciliation through the Lord Jesus Christ, but even now we exult in God himself, by the Spirit, through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:11).

Jesus purchased our reconciliation. Jesus enabled us to receive reconciliation and open the gift. And Jesus himself shines forth as himself the indescribable gift — God in the flesh — and stirs up all our exultation in God.
Look to Jesus this Christmas. Receive the reconciliation that he purchased. Exult in him. Experience him as your pleasure. Know him as your treasure.

– John Piper

The Glory of the Incarnation

Christ became what we are, that He might make us what He is. – Athanasius

The Son of God became the Son of Man, in order that the sons of men might become the sons of God. – John Blanchard

When Jesus came to earth, it was not His Godhood He laid aside, but His glory. – John Blanchard

Christ voluntarily took upon Himself everything that is inseparable from human nature. – John Calvin

Christ took the form of a servant while He retained the form of God; it is exactly that which makes our salvation possible and achieves it. – William Hendricksen

It was to save sinners that Christ came into the world; He did not come to help them save themselves or somehow enable them to save themselves. He came to save them.
– William Hendricksen

The mystery of the humanity of Christ, that He sunk Himself into our flesh, is beyond all human understanding. – Martin Luther

The divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie there, stare, wiggle, and make noises, needing to be fed, changed, and learning to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. – J. I. Packer

He that made man was made a man. – C. H. Spurgeon

Christ took our flesh upon Himself, that He might take our sins upon Himself. – Thomas Watson

The Birth of the Ancient of Days

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37)
This is a great Christmas text even though it comes from the very end of Jesus’s life on earth, not the beginning.
Notice: Jesus says not only that he was born, but that he “came into the world.” The uniqueness of his birth is that he did not originate at his birth. He existed before he was born in a manger. The personhood, the character, the personality of Jesus of Nazareth existed before the man Jesus of Nazareth was born.
The theological word to describe this mystery is not creation, but incarnation. The person, not the body, but the essential personhood of Jesus existed before he was born as man. His birth was not a coming into being of a new person, but a coming into the world of an infinitely old person.
Micah 5:2 puts it like this, 700 years before Jesus was born:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
The mystery of the birth of Jesus is not merely that he was born of a virgin. That miracle was intended by God to witness to an even greater one; namely, that the child born at Christmas was a person who existed “from of old, from ancient days.”
And, therefore, his birth was purposeful. Before he was born he thought about being born. Together with his Father there was a plan. And part of that great plan he spoke in the last hours of his life on earth: “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).
He was the eternal Truth. He spoke only the truth. He acted out the greatest truth of love. And he is gathering into his eternal family all those who are born of the truth. This was the plan from ancient days.
– John Piper

The Greatest Salvation Imaginable

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah . . . ”(Jeremiah 31:31)

God is just and holy and separated from sinners like us. This is our main problem at Christmas — and every other season. How shall we get right with a just and holy God?

Nevertheless, God is merciful and has promised in Jeremiah 31 (five hundred years before Christ) that someday he would do something new. He would replace shadows with the Reality of the Messiah. And he would powerfully move into our lives and write his will on our hearts so that we are not constrained from outside, but are willing from inside, to love him and trust him and follow him.
That would be the greatest salvation imaginable — if God should offer us the greatest Reality in the universe to enjoy and then move in us to know that Reality in such a way that we could enjoy it with the greatest freedom and the greatest pleasure possible. That would be a Christmas gift worth singing about.

That is, in fact, what he promised in the new covenant. But there was a huge obstacle. Our sin. Our separation from God because of our unrighteousness.

How shall a holy and just God treat us sinners with so much kindness as to give us the greatest Reality in the universe (his Son) to enjoy with the greatest possible joy?

The answer is that God put our sins on his Son, and judged them there, so that he could put them out of his mind, and deal with us mercifully and remain just and holy at the same time. Hebrews 9:28 says Christ was “offered once to bear the sins of many.”
Christ bore our sins in his own body when he died (1 Peter 2:24). He took our judgment (Romans 8:3). He canceled our guilt (Romans 8:1). And that means our sins are gone (Acts 10:43). They do not remain in God’s mind as a basis for condemnation. In that sense, he “forgets” them (Jeremiah 31:34). They are consumed in the death of Christ.

Which means that God is now free, in his justice, to lavish us with the all the unspeakably great new covenant promises. He gives us Christ, the greatest Reality in the universe, for our enjoyment. And he writes his own will — his own heart — on our hearts so that we can love Christ and trust Christ and follow Christ from the inside out, with freedom and joy.

— John Piper

Leveraging Suffering for Eternity

She wasn’t a typical American.

At a time when other Americans were throwing rocks in first grader Afshin Ziafat’s childhood home and kicking him off the soccer team, there was an American lady who loved him.

What Afshin didn’t realize at the time was that her acts of love would one day connect him to the Source of love.

•••••••••••••••••••••

When he was 2, Afshin and his family moved from Houston to his parents’ home country of Iran.

Four years later, the Islamic Revolution hit the country and the Ziafats returned to Houston.

“I was in the middle of first grade,” Afshin said. “I didn’t speak English and God in His incredible providence gave me a tutor who taught me English by reading me books.”

But that’s not all she did for him.

“In the second grade, she said, ‘Afshin, I’ve been reading you all these books but now I’m going to give you the most important book you’ll ever get in your life,’ and she handed me a small New Testament. She said, ‘You’re not going to understand this book today, but promise me you’ll hold onto it and read it later in your life.’”

And a seed was planted.

•••••••••••••••••••••

A doctor and prominent Muslim in the Houston community, Afshin’s father taught his children the five pillars of the Islamic faith and that Jesus was merely a prophet. Despite that, as a senior in high school, Afshin became curious about the person of Christ.

“God, in His amazing plan, had this guy on a basketball court say to me after I said ‘Jesus’ in vain, ‘Hey, that Jesus is my God.’”

Afshin thought the guy was crazy, but one thought led to another until he went looking for the Bible his tutor had given him. Years after she gave him the book that had the power to change his life, Afshin found it at the bottom of his closet.

With the covers pulled over his head, he began reading the Bible every night by flashlight, afraid of what would happen if his family discovered him.

But then Afshin discovered something worth immeasurably more than his security.

“I got to the book of Romans and read about a righteousness that comes apart from the law but comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe,” he said. “That day was a turning point for me and a couple of weeks after that I was invited to an evangelistic event where I gave my life to follow Christ.”

•••••••••••••••••••••

What happens when suffering looks like persecution within your own family?

Not fully understanding the commitment or call of Christ to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him, Afshin drove home from the evangelistic event wondering what he would tell his family, especially his father. Instead of telling them anything, he hid his faith from his family, intercepted mail from the church he snuck out to attend, and continued to hide his Bible.

Eventually, however, his father found out and presented him with an ultimatum: Christ or him.

By God’s strength, Afshin chose Christ.

“You’re no longer my son,” was the response he received.

In what he now sees as a definitive moment in his life, Afshin went upstairs and cried, “God, how could You do this to me?”

The Lord, full of compassion, led him to Matthew 10 where he read,

So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father…

“I’m reading that going, ‘That just happened to me,’” Afshin recalled.

…and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. –Matthew 10:32-38

“That’s when I really understood what it means to be a follower, not just to believe the right things, but to be willing to lose your dad, your family to follow Christ.”

•••••••••••••••••••••

As detailed in Scripture, our lives intersect with other lives and weave together in affliction, suffering, and comfort, ultimately displaying the faithfulness of God for the glory of God.

Afshin’s story is no different. Though persecution came and his family disowned him, Afshin learned to embrace the God who is sovereign over suffering and with us in the midst of it.

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. -1 Peter 4:19

“Normal human experience would be to shake your fist at God because suffering is coming,” Afshin said. “But if you’re suffering, I believe you have an opportunity to say to the world, ‘He’s faithful. Even in my suffering, He’s faithful and He’s got a purpose for this.’ I think that’s a huge opportunity.”

This, along with Jesus’ high priestly prayer, directly counters the comfort-driven lives of the Western world.

“In John 17, Jesus prays for His disciples and He says that the world hates them and they don’t belong to the world,” Afshin said. “We would probably say, okay, if the world hates me and I don’t belong to the world then Jesus is going to say, ‘God, keep them separate from the world, protect them from the world and they’ll become monks in the mountains somewhere away from the world.’ But that’s not what He said.”

As You have sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. … I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word… –John 17:18, 20

“Leveraging our life for eternity means I understand that the days I have here are limited and God has not left me here to pursue comfort and the American dream,” Afshin said. “He’s left us here for mission.”

•••••••••••••••••••••

With an earnest desire for believers to be moved by that mission, Afshin leads his life, family, and church to glorify God by making disciples who make disciples through the Gospel, in community, and on mission.

“I wish the church in America would wake up to our calling to love and serve the least of these and to spread the Gospel to a spiritually dark world and not be fixated on our protection and our comfort and our safety,” he said. “You’re not here for you. You’re here to be on mission. That’s why God has left you here.”

That mission does not cease during trials but, through the lens of the Gospel, we see the opportunity to magnify God actually expands during suffering.

“Why would you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus? Why would you hate your father and mother and your wife and children to follow Jesus? Why would you forsake all you have in order to be His disciple? There’s no way you would do that unless you understand what you’re getting in the Gospel.”

After completing high school, Afshin graduated from The University of Texas in 1996 with a Bachelors of Arts in History then Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2000 with a Masters of Divinity with Biblical Languages. He and his wife Meredith now live in Frisco, Texas, with their two daughters, Elyse and Ansley, where he serves as lead pastor of Providence Church. Afshin also works with Elam Ministries to train Iranian men and women called into ministry to go back into Iran to preach, teach, and plant underground churches.

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Leveraging Suffering for Eternity

She wasn’t a typical American.

At a time when other Americans were throwing rocks in first grader Afshin Ziafat’s childhood home and kicking him off the soccer team, there was an American lady who loved him.

What Afshin didn’t realize at the time was that her acts of love would one day connect him to the Source of love.

•••••••••••••••••••••

When he was 2, Afshin and his family moved from Houston to his parents’ home country of Iran.

Four years later, the Islamic Revolution hit the country and the Ziafats returned to Houston.

“I was in the middle of first grade,” Afshin said. “I didn’t speak English and God in His incredible providence gave me a tutor who taught me English by reading me books.”

But that’s not all she did for him.

“In the second grade, she said, ‘Afshin, I’ve been reading you all these books but now I’m going to give you the most important book you’ll ever get in your life,’ and she handed me a small New Testament. She said, ‘You’re not going to understand this book today, but promise me you’ll hold onto it and read it later in your life.’”

And a seed was planted.

•••••••••••••••••••••

A doctor and prominent Muslim in the Houston community, Afshin’s father taught his children the five pillars of the Islamic faith and that Jesus was merely a prophet. Despite that, as a senior in high school, Afshin became curious about the person of Christ.

“God, in His amazing plan, had this guy on a basketball court say to me after I said ‘Jesus’ in vain, ‘Hey, that Jesus is my God.’”

Afshin thought the guy was crazy, but one thought led to another until he went looking for the Bible his tutor had given him. Years after she gave him the book that had the power to change his life, Afshin found it at the bottom of his closet.

With the covers pulled over his head, he began reading the Bible every night by flashlight, afraid of what would happen if his family discovered him.

But then Afshin discovered something worth immeasurably more than his security.

“I got to the book of Romans and read about a righteousness that comes apart from the law but comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe,” he said. “That day was a turning point for me and a couple of weeks after that I was invited to an evangelistic event where I gave my life to follow Christ.”

•••••••••••••••••••••

What happens when suffering looks like persecution within your own family?

Not fully understanding the commitment or call of Christ to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him, Afshin drove home from the evangelistic event wondering what he would tell his family, especially his father. Instead of telling them anything, he hid his faith from his family, intercepted mail from the church he snuck out to attend, and continued to hide his Bible.

Eventually, however, his father found out and presented him with an ultimatum: Christ or him.

By God’s strength, Afshin chose Christ.

“You’re no longer my son,” was the response he received.

In what he now sees as a definitive moment in his life, Afshin went upstairs and cried, “God, how could You do this to me?”

The Lord, full of compassion, led him to Matthew 10 where he read,

So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father…

“I’m reading that going, ‘That just happened to me,’” Afshin recalled.

…and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. –Matthew 10:32-38

“That’s when I really understood what it means to be a follower, not just to believe the right things, but to be willing to lose your dad, your family to follow Christ.”

•••••••••••••••••••••

As detailed in Scripture, our lives intersect with other lives and weave together in affliction, suffering, and comfort, ultimately displaying the faithfulness of God for the glory of God.

Afshin’s story is no different. Though persecution came and his family disowned him, Afshin learned to embrace the God who is sovereign over suffering and with us in the midst of it.

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. -1 Peter 4:19

“Normal human experience would be to shake your fist at God because suffering is coming,” Afshin said. “But if you’re suffering, I believe you have an opportunity to say to the world, ‘He’s faithful. Even in my suffering, He’s faithful and He’s got a purpose for this.’ I think that’s a huge opportunity.”

This, along with Jesus’ high priestly prayer, directly counters the comfort-driven lives of the Western world.

“In John 17, Jesus prays for His disciples and He says that the world hates them and they don’t belong to the world,” Afshin said. “We would probably say, okay, if the world hates me and I don’t belong to the world then Jesus is going to say, ‘God, keep them separate from the world, protect them from the world and they’ll become monks in the mountains somewhere away from the world.’ But that’s not what He said.”

As You have sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. … I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word… –John 17:18, 20

“Leveraging our life for eternity means I understand that the days I have here are limited and God has not left me here to pursue comfort and the American dream,” Afshin said. “He’s left us here for mission.”

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With an earnest desire for believers to be moved by that mission, Afshin leads his life, family, and church to glorify God by making disciples who make disciples through the Gospel, in community, and on mission.

“I wish the church in America would wake up to our calling to love and serve the least of these and to spread the Gospel to a spiritually dark world and not be fixated on our protection and our comfort and our safety,” he said. “You’re not here for you. You’re here to be on mission. That’s why God has left you here.”

That mission does not cease during trials but, through the lens of the Gospel, we see the opportunity to magnify God actually expands during suffering.

“Why would you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus? Why would you hate your father and mother and your wife and children to follow Jesus? Why would you forsake all you have in order to be His disciple? There’s no way you would do that unless you understand what you’re getting in the Gospel.”

After completing high school, Afshin graduated from The University of Texas in 1996 with a Bachelors of Arts in History then Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2000 with a Masters of Divinity with Biblical Languages. He and his wife Meredith now live in Frisco, Texas, with their two daughters, Elyse and Ansley, where he serves as lead pastor of Providence Church. Afshin also works with Elam Ministries to train Iranian men and women called into ministry to go back into Iran to preach, teach, and plant underground churches.

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