In my previous post, I looked at how Nehemiah’s critics approached their opposition of him. Two men especially – Sanballat and Tobiah – did not want to see the wall built or the Jewish people helped in any way, so they make desperate attempts to oppose Nehemiah and his work. We, too, can expect this kind of criticism and opposition, especially when we are doing Kingdom work that honors the name of our Lord. While we saw the kinds of criticism we can expect based upon Nehemiah’s experience, an important question remains: how should I handle criticism when it comes? Before we answer this question, I want to back up…
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Attacking Kingdom Work: 3 Steps Of Opposition
Criticism and opposition are to Kingdom work what death and taxes are to life: a certainty. If you’re producing fruit for God’s kingdom, you can be sure that the enemy will not be happy, and he will use others to attack you. These attacks can be a destabilizing force, throwing off your focus and keeping you from being as fruitful as you wish to be. This is especially the case when you do not anticipate it and prepare for it. Thankfully, scripture gives us some great examples to learn from, and for this particular challenge, Nehemiah is among the best. Nehemiah was the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes of the Persian…
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Foreign Languages & Foreign Ideas
I have learned two foreign languages in my life. The first was French which I studied all the way through both high school and college. I even spent a semester abroad in Belgium, where I worshiped with a French speaking church. The second I learned as an adult, when my family moved to Japan. Although I learned some Japanese as a child, it only involved simple phrases and counting to ten. As an adult, I went through the arduous process of achieving some degree of fluency, enough to work as a missionary in the country. I could give a lot of advice about learning a foreign language. Of course, you…
