MEN ALIVE: Jim Cunningham & Paul Estabrooks' Podcast
Programs to help men become transformed to the image (character) of Jesus Christ.
MEN ALIVE: Jim Cunningham & Paul Estabrooks' Podcast
MEN ALIVE 223 - Upholding a Vibrant Faith in Difficult Times
Discover the courage it takes to stand by your convictions in times of adversity. Join me, Paul Estabrooks, and my esteemed colleague Dr. Jim Cunningham, as we navigate the trials of faith through the lens of Scripture, challenging you to consider the true weight of your words when professing Jesus Christ as Lord. We delve into the gripping account of Peter — his promise of loyalty, his denial, and what this means for us as believers today. With a nod to the wisdom of Dr. Charles Malik, we unpack the spiritual warfare that unfolds when we move from merely recognizing Jesus as a historical figure to embracing Him as our Savior.
Welcome to Men Alive, a biblical journey to help us conform to the image of Jesus Christ. I'm your host, paul Estabrooks, our teacher. As my longtime friend, dr Jim Penningham, consultant in adult education, director of Go Teach Global and author of the book Men Alive.
Speaker 2:Years ago, my wife Rita and I were dinner guests with the memorable Dr Charles Malick. Dr Malick was the Lebanese appointment in 1948 to the newly formed United Nations and became the first secretary general of the United Nations. I remember him saying using the name of Jesus is easy. There are millions of people on earth named Jesus. In places like Mexico and the Philippines and other countries, people are rarely offended.
Speaker 2:If you talk about Jesus, you can say Jesus was a good man, jesus was a respected teacher, a kind person. But if you start talking about Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth, you can see the devil dancing in their eyes. Satan hates Jesus Christ. He can see Jesus in the eyes of every true believer. It set me thinking, pablo. It's easy for me to talk to this microphone and confess to you and the listeners that I believe Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and rules as my eternal Lord and Savior. Yet if I am silent when the conversation provides an opportunity to confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus, does my silence border on a denial of my beliefs? Before we go further, pablo read the story for us in Matthew 26, 31 to 35, where Jesus is having his last meal with his disciples and what he said to them.
Speaker 1:Tonight, all of you will desert me, for the scripture says God will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered, but after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there. Peter declared even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you. Jesus replied. I tell you the truth, peter. This very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me. No, peter insisted even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you. And all the other disciples vowed the same.
Speaker 2:Notice Peter's confident assertion even if I have to die with you, lord, I will never deny you. Wow, that's the kind of guy we want on our team right, loyal, strong, willing to die to protect you. Grrr, a man's man, a defender of the faith. The story continues. So he, jesus, went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. Then he came to the disciples and said go ahead and sleep, have your rest. But look, the time has come. The Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Up, let's be going. Look, my betrayer is here.
Speaker 2:And even as Jesus said this, judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people. The traitor Judas had given them a prearranged signal. You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss. So Judas came straight to Jesus. Greetings Rabbi. He exclaimed and gave him a kiss. Jesus said my friend, go ahead, do what you have come for. The High Priest's mob came with clubs and swords to arrest Jesus. But good ol' Peter kept his promise. When they grabbed Jesus and arrested him, Peter pulled out his sword and struck the High Priest's slave, slashing off his right ear.
Speaker 1:Jim, you and I have tried to imagine how it was possible for Peter to cut off a man's right ear yet not kill the man.
Speaker 2:The Bible does not tell us how it happened. Perhaps the High Priest's servant named Melchius turned his head and ducked and Peter just clipped off his ear. Either way, peter was aiming to protect Jesus, just like he promised. Put away your sword, jesus had told him. Those who use the sword will die by the sword. Don't you realize that I could ask my Father in heaven for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now? Then Jesus said to the crowd Am I some dangerous revolutionary that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn't you arrest me in the temple? I was there teaching every day, but this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures. At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled, and that verse means Peter also fled.
Speaker 1:Verse 57 says Then the people who had arrested Jesus led him to the home of Caiaphas, the High Priest, where the teachers of religious law and the elders had gathered. Meanwhile, peter followed him at a distance and came to the High Priest's courtyard. He went in and sat with the guards and waited to see how it would all end. Inside, the leading priests and the entire High Council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus so they could put him to death. But even though they found many who agreed to give false witness, they could not use anyone's testimony. Finally, two men came forward who declared. This man said I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.
Speaker 1:Then the High Priest stood up and said to Jesus Well, aren't you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself? But Jesus remained silent. Then the High Priest said to him I demand, in the name of the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus replied you have said it, and in the future you will see the Son of man seated in the place of power at God's right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the High Priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said Blasphemy. Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard this blasphemy. What is your verdict? Guilty, they shouted. He deserves to die. Then they began to spit in Jesus' face and beat him with their fists and some slapped him. Jeering prophesy to us, you, messiah, who hit you that time. Before we continue, let me remind you, our listeners, that men alive is produced by Go Teach Global. You can get more information at our website at goteachglobalcom. Okay, jim, back to our story.
Speaker 2:Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, a servant, girl came over and said to Peter you were one of those with Jesus the Galilean. But Peter denided in front of everyone. I don't know what you're talking about. He said Later, out by the gate, another servant girl noticed him and said to those standing around this man was with Jesus of Nazareth. Again, peter denied it, this time with an oath. I don't even know the man he said. A little later, some of the other bystanders came over to Peter and said you must be one of them.
Speaker 2:We can tell by your Galilean accent. Peter swore a curse on me. If I'm lying, I don't know the man. And immediately the rooster crowed. Suddenly, jesus' words flashed through Peter's mind before the rooster crowed. You will deny three times that you ever knew me. And he went away, weeping bitterly. He was the one who traveled with Jesus for three years, peter, one of the three disciples who saw Moses and Elijah on Mount Tabor. Peter was the one who literally had enough faith to walk out on water to get to Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. This same Peter denied three times he even knew Jesus.
Speaker 2:Pablo, I remember the first morning I moved to Jerusalem in 1979. We were staying at the Distinguished YMCA Hotel across the street from the King David Hotel. I got up very early that quiet morning to go for a jog. As I rounded a corner and came up towards the walls of the old city, I was in amazement. Here I was in Jerusalem, god's holy city, the city of the great king, and at that exact moment I heard a rooster crow Somewhere in the neighborhood. A rooster let out a cockadoodle-doo. I stopped my jogging and listened and prayed Lord, keep me from denying you like Peter did.
Speaker 1:Jim, we began this program earlier with a question Do we, as followers of Christ, sometimes deny knowing Jesus? The most common answer is sometimes, but perhaps the question is better asked how can we keep from denying our faith in Jesus Christ?
Speaker 2:In Acts, chapter 5, the apostles Peter and John were arrested, put in prison and commanded to never again speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But they answered. We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard. Then the disciples prayed this prayer O Lord, hear their threats and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.
Speaker 1:I like verse 31,. After this prayer, the meeting place shook and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
Speaker 2:Boldness and wisdom are the needed motivators In many countries. When I arrive at the airport, I take a taxi In the car.
Speaker 2:I ask the driver if he speaks English what are the main religious faiths in your country, he tells me and then I ask him are you? And I name one of them and he either says yes or no. I am and he names his religion. On a long taxi ride, the driver and I often engage in an interesting, friendly dialogue about our respective belief systems. The communities are everywhere. Regrettably, such a conversation does not happen often with taxi drivers and neighbors in my home country. If I ask what religious faith do you follow, they may say none, meaning N-O-N-E, none of the religions. Or sometimes they may say none meaning none of your business.
Speaker 1:We need to pray for wisdom, Jim, for how to respond to the questions people do ask. Scripture says to be always ready to give an account for the hope that lies within you. People must hear us convey a hope before they will ask us a question about where we get our hope.
Speaker 2:One of the most frightening phrases in the Bible is found in Matthew 10 and again in Luke 12. Jesus says Dear friends, don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body. They cannot do any more to you after that, but I'll tell you who to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he's the one to fear. What is the price of five sparrows, two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them, and the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid. You are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. I tell you the truth Anyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the Son of man, will also acknowledge in the presence of God's angels. But anyone who denies me here on earth will be denied before God's angels. That's a sentence I would never want to hear.
Speaker 1:That's a challenging thought, jim. Many Christians in many countries have been placed in a similar situation. One story that comes to mind is the picture of 21 men with their hands tied behind their backs kneeling on a beach in Libya. 20 of them were Egyptian Christians. One was an African from Ghana visiting his Christian friend. Behind each Christian stood a terrorist with a sharp knife. Deny your faith in Jesus Christ and repeat these words of submission to our prophet or you die. The 20 Egyptian men repeated the Lord's Prayer and the martyr's Prayer, their last words on earth. The 21st man who was given a chance to repeat the Shahada and go free was heard to say before he died I choose to follow Jesus Christ and die with my friends. That was a powerful testimony.
Speaker 2:Like Dr Malik said at the beginning of this program, it takes courage and boldness not to acknowledge you believe in Jesus, but that you believe in Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate Son of God. Risen from the dead. Pray as we speak the truth. In love. We will be bold, wise and filled with grace until we meet Jesus in heaven. I trust you're going to be there, men.
Speaker 1:There you have it, men. Be bold in telling the good news of Jesus Christ to others until we see Him and each other face to face. Until next time, I'm Paul Esteputz, On behalf of Dr Jim Cunningham, encouraging you to become men alive, transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
