Apparently a nine-year-old boy had inherited this 100-year-old villa from his aunt, who had not been able to care for it or herself for the ten years prior to her death. After she died, the house sat vacant for another five years. It had been broken into several times and ransacked by vandals. When the mother of the boy (owner) showed us the house, it looked like Frankenstein’s lair! Everything was covered with soot. The curtains, floor and furniture all were blanketed in black soot. The place was a mess!

Additionally, the boiler and all the radiators had burst in the cold. So in its current state the house had no heat and no water. Further details of the repairs the house needed to make it livable are too many to list here! My sweet wife cried after seeing the house and I was overwhelmed with the notion of renovating it.

No other house was available, so we struck an agreement with the owner that we would do the work if they would provide the funds for materials. So for the next five-and-a-half weeks I worked 14-hour days to make the house livable. Our co-workers and friends helped tremendously as well.

But as I began to work on the house, I resented spending all this “ministry time” on home renovations. I kept arguing with myself that I had come to Austria to win people to Christ, not work on this mega home-improvement project! I was really hard on myself during this time and felt guilty and defeated that I—a missionary—wasn’t doing missionary work. I also wrestled through these issues with God. He kept telling me to cool it and trust him that he had everything under control. After all, he cares far more for the lost than I do!

After a few weeks working on the house I began to notice something that I had been too self-focused on to recognize before. Our new neighbors were intensely curious about what we were doing to the house. I also discovered that they were extremely grateful that someone was fixing up this neighborhood eye-sore. The neighborhood grapevine quickly communicated that we were an American family—which spurred a lot of questions. But they were impressed with the intensity of this crazy American’s work ethic.

These sympathetic vibes that we were getting from our neighbors increased as we continued working on the house. People began greeting us and we had some friendly conversations with them. In the process, I got to know our local baker who sustained me daily with his delicious creations.

As a result of their curiosity and friendliness, Linda and I decided to invite all our neighbors to an open house once we finished the remodeling. Someone from every home we invited showed up to see what we had done to the house. This kind of response within six weeks is unheard of in Austria! Normally those kinds of relationships take months and years to develop. And yet God in his wisdom used the renovation of an old villa to break down relational barriers and catapult us into relationships with our neighbors.

This whole experience was a huge lesson for me in trusting God and his infinite creativity in getting the gospel of Christ to others. Because of the renovation of that house and the relationships that ensued, we had many great opportunities to share Christ with our neighbors. And God planted a church in that village that still thrives over twenty years later!

©2009 Rob Fischer

A number of years ago, I was standing along the railing on the upper level at a shopping mall. I looked across and saw a young man also just waiting there. The Holy Spirit impressed on me to go introduce this guy to Christ. I was scared, but I obeyed and this guy literally told me he had been waiting for someone to tell him about Christ! He gave his life to Jesus then and there!

Second, the Holy Spirit prompts us what to say. In my opinion, memorized clichés and evangelistic jargon are poor options when it comes to introducing someone to Jesus. We are inviting people into a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is very relational. The more personal and relational we can be, the more real and relevant our speech will be to the person we’re talking with. This means we need to listen to the individual and to the Holy Spirit well. The words a person uses may very well represent the way in which the Holy Spirit is convicting them.

If someone says to us, “I’ve been watching your life and the way you interact with your spouse and I want what you have.” Or, “My life seems to be crashing in on top of me!” Or, “I’ve tried everything else and nothing seems to work.” We need to listen to what people are saying and use their words. Tell them how they can “have what you have;” or how Christ can restore and renew their life that has “crashed in on them;” or how Christ is dependable and “will work” in their life. Tell them how Christ has changed your life.

Finally, the Holy Spirit gives us grace to speak to others boldly, but in a winsome way that truly represents what God is like. Peter writes about this in 1 Peter 3:15-16 NLT, “Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way.”

In both the manner and message that we speak to others about Christ, they should be able to hear and see Christ’s character in us. May others say of us, “I want to be like you!” “I want what you’ve got!” To which we can humbly say, “What you see in me that is attractive and what you want is Jesus Christ.”

©2009 Rob Fischer

The pinnacle of the this evangelism training experience was to go out into a neighborhood in pairs, knock on doors and share a gospel tract with whomever came to the door. My younger brother and I were paired up and dropped off in a neighborhood on a beautiful fall Minnesota Saturday.

We looked at each other and were scared to death! In fact, our fear drove us to pray. Now that may sound very spiritual except for the detail that we prayed that no one would be home! Even as we reluctantly approached a house, we would ring the doorbell just once or knock very softly. If no one responded immediately, we moved away quickly and took our time getting to the next house.

This experience confused me about what it means to be a witness for Jesus Christ. I won’t say that there aren’t times when a more aggressive approach to evangelism is necessary and effective. But in terms of our daily walk with the Lord we want to focus on being his witnesses rather than doing witnessing.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses.” And from the Scriptures we see that our whole lifestyle should represent Christ well, so that others see Jesus in us. I love what Peter urges in 1 Peter 2:12, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

Being a witness for Christ also means that we open our mouths for him. When I was in the Army I was still in training when I was assigned to a company of soldiers in New England. The company sergeant was the most foul-mouthed, lewd individual I had yet encountered in the military—even more so than my basic training drill sergeants! Day after day all of us were subjected to his abuse and coarse language.

On one of my days off, I was sitting outside the barracks reading a book about the end times when my company sergeant came up to me. He asked me what I was reading, so I began to explain to him what the book was about. I sensed a clear leading from the Holy Spirit to challenge him to get right with God and step into relationship with him. And to my utter amazement, I looked over at this profane young man and saw tears streaming down his face! He surrendered his life to Christ that day and I had the privilege of discipling him over the next few weeks.

©2009 Rob Fischer

My personal understanding from Scripture is that the Lord does not provide for us a complete list of spiritual gifts. The lists given in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4 contain both similar and unique spiritual gifts. None of these lists neatly overlap. This leads me to the conclusion that these lists provide examples of spiritual gifts, but are not intended to give us a complete inventory of them.

This factor becomes very important when trying to pinpoint the spiritual gifts God has endowed us with. For if the biblical inventory of spiritual gifts is not exhaustive, then we may have spiritual gifts that are not represented in the lists. The Scripture itself suggests this idea in Exodus 31. In that passage, Israel is about to construct the tabernacle under the guidance of Moses.

In Exodus 31:1-5 we read, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.’”

The passage in Exodus clearly indicates that the Holy Spirit gave Bezalel special “skills, abilities and knowledge in all kinds of crafts.” Such skills are not listed among the spiritual gifts in the New Testament, but that’s what they were. From this it appears that the gift itself does not determine whether it is a spiritual gift or not. Instead, two other factors come together to signify a spiritual gift. First, the Holy Spirit gives the gift; and second, the household of God benefits from the gifts given to its individual members. These two characteristics jive with the New Testament description of spiritual gifts as well.

What this means for us very simply is that the Holy Spirit has bestowed some amazing gifts on individuals in the church family in order to serve and build up that church family. In our church I think of people who are skilled artists, mechanics, designers, chefs, small group leaders, carpenters, financiers, leaders, servers, greeters, teachers, musicians, writers, and so on.

In the past we’ve gone to great lengths to try to distinguish between talents and spiritual gifts. But if an ability, skill or knowledge is endowed by the Holy Spirit and serves the church family, is that not a spiritual gifting? What would be the value of even trying to distinguish between the two? I’m afraid we’ve attempted to create an exact science of something that is highly relational and therefore highly variable. (See 1 Corinthians 12:4-6.)

Here are some simple questions and suggestions for helping us implement our spiritual gifts:

• What special talents, skills, abilities or knowledge has God given you?
• What were you doing when you and others have observed God using you most effectively?
• What do others say that you’re good at?
• What do you really enjoy doing that serves the church family?
• If you’re not sure where to serve, simply pick an area or step into an opportunity and try it for a few months.
• From time to time all of us may feel unqualified and unsuccessful when employing our spiritual gifts.
• Remember, spiritual gifts must also be developed. You may have an aptitude for a skill, but lack the practice.
• Simply ask God to use you and make yourself available to him and your church family!
• Always exercise your spiritual gift with God’s strength, in his character and with others in mind.

©2009 Rob Fischer

Then we go to the New Testament where we find Jesus also working creatively. Sometimes he healed people just by speaking a word; other times he touched them; once he made mud and daubed it on the eyes of a blind man and told him to wash; he turned the water contained in six large ceremonial jars into fine wine at a wedding; he asked Peter to go catch a fish in which he would find a coin of an exact denomination in order to pay taxes! The Lord is incredibly creative in his dealings with mankind.

God is also very creative in the way he gifts us spiritually. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 explains, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.” Basically, what this passage says is that even if two of us have the same spiritual gift, the way in which we serve others with that gift will vary greatly, and the way God works through us as we serve will bring a wide variety of results.

When I was in college, I was married with two children and worked a full-time job. We were as poor as church mice. So when our close friends, John and Becky were celebrating their 15th anniversary there was no way we could take them out to dinner. Linda and I put our heads together and came up with an alternative idea. We transformed our humble living room into Frederic’s Fine Restaurant and invited John and Becky for dinner. We set up everything as elegantly as we could—candles, music, linen and hand-printed menus for this special evening. Linda and I enjoyed serving our friends and providing a memorable romantic evening for their enjoyment.

Many of us sell ourselves and God short in his desire to use us significantly in the lives of others. In the examples above, God most often took something that was available and used it uniquely. What has God given you in terms of talents, resources and spiritual gifts that you could use uniquely and creatively to serve others and bring God glory? Let him surprise and delight you in the creative ways he wants to use you and what he has given you!

©2009 Rob Fischer

As a 12-year-old I received a dollar per week for my allowance, so I couldn’t simply divert what was already coming in to my giving. I prayed that God would give me opportunities to earn enough to meet my pledge of $4.00 per week for the next year. I still remember how excited I was that morning in church when I turned in my pledge card. I knew I was embarking on an adventure with God and I could hardly wait to see how he would work in my life!

That afternoon I began going around to our neighbors asking them if I could mow their lawns and do other yard work or odd jobs. God went before me and I found several neighbors who were willing to employ me weekly around their homes. When fall came I raked leaves and in the winter I shoveled driveways and sidewalks.

Sometimes I would begin a week not knowing how God would provide that week, but he always did! In fact, God provided $4.00 per week faithfully all 52 weeks of that year. I cannot describe the joy I experienced to be able to give “beyond what I was able” by trusting God to give through me.

Watching God provide like this also catapulted my faith and trust in him. I began to see what a BIG God we have and that nothing is too hard for him. Growing in my faith and trust in him back then was like exercising a muscle. I saw my faith muscle begin to grow and looked for new ways to exercise it.

In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 Paul describes how the followers of Christ in Macedonia “gave beyond what they were able” because they had trusted God to provide through them. They also gave in the context of extreme trouble and even poverty. The secret to their ability to give like this was their trust in God to provide through them (2 Corinthians 9:10). Giving like this produces in us extreme joy, glorifies God and generates thanksgiving by those who receive the benefits of our giving!

Paul urges us to “excel in this gracious act of giving” (2 Corinthians 8:7 NLT). Let me invite you to step into a great adventure with God–especially during these times of financial uncertainty. Get to know how BIG our God is and trust him for things beyond our ability.

©2009 Rob Fischer

“Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything your land produces.” (Proverbs 3:9 NLT) To honor God is to show our regard, esteem, value, respect, and prizing of him. When we give to the Lord, we demonstrate to him, to others, and to ourselves that he is supreme in our lives.  When we give, we attest that he is our most valued treasure. Giving shows that our hearts are set on him and not on our money or belongings. Giving honors God as supreme. Giving to him is an act of worship.

But there is both a non-giving and a giving that dishonors God. Not giving simply fails to honor God. Not giving demonstrates that our wealth and possessions and not God are truly what we treasure most. Not giving to God withholds honor from him and hoards that honor for us. By not giving, we elevate our wealth and possessions above him.  So, not giving dishonors God.

“The world is not impressed when Christians get rich and say thanks to God.  They are impressed when God is so satisfying that we give our riches away for Christ’s sake and call it gain.” – John Piper

As we said, there is also a giving that dishonors God. Giving that dishonors God is a giving out of duty or obligation. According to 2 Corinthians 9:7 NLT, we are not to “give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully.”

Consider a man who takes his wife out for their anniversary. During the evening it becomes clear to her that this date is not a result of his love and desire to honor her, but because of some rigid sense of duty he has toward her. Once she discovers the motives behind his actions, she would probably feel more hurt and betrayal than if he had not taken her out at all. Regardless of the cost of the evening, she would feel dishonored by her husband. Why should we think our relationship with God is any different?

“God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.” (2 Corinthians 9:7 MSG)

Giving to God must be a voluntary choice to honor (worship) him. Therefore, if we give merely out of duty, then God is not honored because our motives are faulty. Our motives betray that we are indeed self-centered and preoccupied with meeting our so-called obligation, instead of being centered on him and desiring his honor. Also, since our duty-based giving does not honor God, then whatever cost we spent meeting our obligation is irrelevant in terms of its worth as a gift. As one old sage put it, “If your parakeet is dead, buying it a more expensive cage will not help.”

Once we realize that genuine giving honors and pleases God, our natural tendency is to ask, “How much should I give?” Unfortunately, this question quickly degenerates into legalistic, duty-based thinking. We’ve already seen that our motives for giving matter as much to God as the act of giving itself.

Remember the two rich men in Luke 18 and 19? The rich ruler in Luke 18:18-23 was looking for another commandment that he could keep to fulfill an obligation to God. When Jesus told him to sell all he had and give the proceeds to the poor, Jesus’ request was not primarily about giving, but about whom or what this man served and loved. So, when Jesus asked him to choose between God and his money, he chose what he truly loved and lived for – his money. The price was too high and he went away very sad.

In contrast to the rich ruler, we find Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10. Here is another rich man, but when he meets Jesus, there is no contest this time between God and money.  Zacchaeus chooses God! He honors Jesus (God) before all by voluntarily giving half his wealth to the poor and making four-fold restitution to those he had cheated! Jesus gets excited about Zacchaeus’ response because it clearly demonstrated a changed life in submission to God. Zacchaeus honored God in his giving and in the amount he gave.

So, again, back to the question, “How much should I give?” Our response: give an amount that is God-honoring. Give an amount or percentage that you know brings honor to God and demonstrates that he and not money is supreme and treasured in your life! As Paul told the Corinthians, “If you are really eager to give, it isn’t important how much you are able to give. God wants you to give what you have, not what you don’t have.”  (2 Corinthians 8:12 NLT)

Jesus called his disciples over and said, “The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford–she gave her all.” (Mark 12:43-44 MSG)

© Rob Fischer 2005

As I mentioned in The Quest, when I first began meeting with a spiritual partner neither of us had any idea what that would look like or how to proceed. Here’s what we did and what I’ve found to work well over the past seven years. And remember, men meet with men, women with women.

Begin by being very clear about why you’re partnering together. Verbalize with each other that you are establishing this relationship in order to “sharpen” each other (Proverbs 27:17) and “spur” each other in becoming more Christlike (Hebrews 10:24).

With the above in mind, agree to always be open and honest with each other. Be transparent with each other and trust each other in confidence that what you share will not go any further. Leave no area of your life untouched or hidden from each other. This is vital to your spiritual growth and is at the core of why we need spiritual partners.

In your initial meetings, just get to know each other. Share your life stories and practice good listening skills. Find out how your spiritual partner came to Christ; what his/her childhood was like; their career; relationships, etc. From the start always pray for each other. If your spiritual partner shares an immediate need, stop and pray for him/her on the spot.

As you continue to meet, be sure to spend time together in real life. Give each other permission to speak into one another’s lives and to ask tough questions. By tough questions, I mean questions like:

• If you could pinpoint anything in your life right now that is stealing your joy in Christ what would it be?
• What is God doing in your life right now?
• What has God been revealing to you about him from his Word?
• What habit, thought pattern or sin in your life is “eating your lunch?”
• How’s your relationship with your spouse?
• What can I pray with you about?

When you ask questions like that, be prepared to be shocked sometimes with what your spiritual partner will share—but don’t act shocked! Stand by him/her and pray with them. Always pray for each other!

Keep up with each other on what is going on in your various relationships and aspects of life. Always, pray with and for each other. Expect God to work in powerful ways in your lives and celebrate it when he does. And speaking of celebration, remember to celebrate what God is doing in each other’s lives as you trust him to change you.

©2009 Rob Fischer

Another reason for this awkward feeling is that spiritual partners both know that they are stepping into a relationship in which mutual vulnerability and trust must reign. But left to themselves, relationships often require many years to reach that level of familiarity. Beginning a relationship with that understanding feels different—even scary!

Perhaps another reason that spiritual partnerships seem awkward at first is that we don’t rightly know how to proceed. So a spiritual partnership may feel contrived or staged in the beginning. In fact, I can almost guarantee that your initial meetings with your spiritual partner will feel awkward! So when you sense those feelings, just remember I told you it would be like that and press on. Soon you’ll forget you ever had such feelings.

Getting through that awkward stage and growing your relationship requires hard and deliberate work. As I mentioned in The Quest, we need to spend time together in real life. This means that we allow our spiritual partnerships to overlap into all other areas of our lives. This relieves much of that initial awkwardness.

We also must accept one another. Let me explain what this does and does not mean. Accepting one another does mean that we accept our differences in personality, ethnicity, taste, etc. We accept each other as Christ accepts us. We also recognize that neither of us is perfect. We’re both a work in progress. We have been transformed by Christ and he continues to transform us.

But accepting each other does not mean that we are satisfied to see each other continue in patterns of sin or poor choices. In fact, we care for each other so much that we cannot let each other off the hook over sin. Instead, we confront sin, we stand together, we battle sin, and we pray for each other.

“Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:1-2 NLT)

©2009 Rob Fischer

I mentioned in The Quest that I had recognized my need for spiritual partnership long before I knew what it meant to partner spiritually with someone. Like most of us, I had enjoyed friendships with other followers of Christ. In some of those relationships we even enjoyed a high level of transparency and vulnerability. But spiritual partners take that one step further.

You see, being vulnerable with someone does not necessarily prompt life change. We may even commiserate with each other that we have the same sinful habit, but don’t do anything about it. A true spiritual partner will challenge us to change. As spiritual partners we don’t allow each other to get away with sin, but we challenge each other to flee from it and trust Christ to transform us. We walk through the hard stuff of life together and celebrate each other’s victories.

When looking for a spiritual partner, ask God to lead you to someone who will propel you into deeper relationship with him. Proverbs 22:24 warns us, “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered.” Instead, pursue the kind of relationship revealed in Proverbs 27:17 NLT, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”

Another key element of spiritual partnership is that it is gender-specific. Men need to meet with men and women with women. This is true both for the sake of decency and because of the way we’re wired. Over the years both men and women have told me they think it’s easier for the other gender to partner spiritually. From their input I’ve concluded that spiritual partnership is challenging whether we are male or female and requires the investment of time and hard work.

Generally I’d recommend that you meet with your spiritual partner weekly. Find a time that mutually suits both of you and meet regularly. I’ve met with a spiritual partner in my or his office, hiking, walking the neighborhood, at a coffee shop, or at each other’s homes. Some of my most meaningful times with a spiritual partner have I’ve experienced on a hike. Do what works best for you.

It’s also important to spend time together in real or everyday life. Let your spiritual partner observe you in a variety of circumstances. Life change should be an outcome of your relationship, but it’s not the goal. Resist the temptation to see him/her as a project for you to work on or a tool to deal with your issues. Your relationship with your spiritual partner is reason enough to meet.

©2009 Rob Fischer