6 May 2026
Lead on, O King Eternal! The day of march has come!
Henceforth in fields of conquest Thy tents shall be our home.
Through days of preparation Thy grace hath made us strong;
And, now, O King Eternal, we lift our battle song!1
Dear Friend,
Trip Preparation
Less than five weeks to go…2My “day of march” is fast approaching for the teaching trip to Iowa in early June. The to-do list is expanding, and the heat of urgency is ratcheting up one degree per day as the five-week time ticks down.
Yes, there is preparation for the actual teaching. (That’s been going on for a few months already.) To the ongoing prayer for this, regular days of fasting have been added. (Heart preparation is the most important factor.) A large “folder” of notes has to be streamlined, trimmed, and distilled into five focused teaching sessions.
But then there’s updating software, the testing and upgrading of equipment, like replacing the anemic, end-of-life battery in my eight-year-old laptop, upgrading the computer-equipment backup battery to TSA standards (in case I fly). Cables, projector, camera equipment, recorders and assorted gizmos require testing. The biggest challenge for me might be a wardrobe refresh. (There’s a coat-and-tie standard incumbent upon all speakers. I’ve got enough “fancy clothes” for one Sunday morning, but not for a whole week of meetings in a non-air-conditioned open-air tabernacle in humid Iowa. Time to spiff up a bit!)
The prep-list grows, but so does the anticipation…and the questions! With gas prices so high, do I fly or drive? Whom do I visit on the outbound and inbound trips? And if I drive our “new” car, will our “car in hospice” hold together for Denise while I’m gone? If not, should I rent a car to take, or rent one for Denise while I’m gone? If I fly, how much of “mi aula en una mochila” (“my classroom in a backpack”) stuff do I leave behind?
Far from complaining, I’m reveling in the multiplicity of things for which I need to seek the will of the Lord. It’s all part of what makes serving Him an adventure. Trying to find and stay in the bullseye of God’s will is never boring!
What Prepares and Produces Real Faith?
Over the past few months (excepting last), we’ve been looking at faith—human “ye of little” faith, and God’s faith (which differs from generic “faith in God”). In our last faith installment I wrote, “We’ll look at how such faith comes to us in the will of God.”
What does it mean to “have God’s faith?” We actually know the answer to this, but perhaps we don’t understand it, largely due to an ambiguity in most English translations. You already know the principle stated in the main verse regarding this (probably by heart):
- So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
- Romans 10:17 nkjv
Most casual Christian Bible readers might come away from this verse thinking, “Right, so faith comes from reading, from ‘hearing’ the ‘word of God,’ the Bible.” Such thinking would be widely accepted as “orthodox.” Unfortunately, it’s not what Paul means.
Don’t misunderstand me. I’m all about disciplined, annual (at least!), cover-to-cover Bible-reading. I’ve lovingly, hungrily exceeded that standard and happily set what I hope serves as an example for the nearly 58 years that I’ve been a born-again Christian. Such faithful reading lays a solid foundation for faith, no doubt. As the hymn rightly reminds us:
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.3
But in our Romans 10:17 passage, Paul is not talking about the Bible being the source from which divinely energized faith proceeds. “Word” in our Romans 10 passage isn’t the expected Greek word logos. Instead, the Greek here (and in some other eye-opening NT passages) is rhēma (pronounced RAY-mah). Now I’m not a “name it and claim it” guy (and if you’ve never encountered that phrase, then “blessèd art thou”!) Such a misunderstanding of rhēma malinterprets the Scriptures. In other words, I don’t snatch a Bible verse, declare it aloud because it’s “the word of God,” then place my faith in the mistaken notion that the Lord has to perform what I just spoke because “it’s in the Bible.” Such a notion is popular, but paupering in its influence, and nearly powerless to accomplish much in the spiritual realm.
The best definition of rhēma that I’ve encountered was given by Percy Gutteridge many years ago:
Also available as an ebooklet- …a rhema must always come fresh from the mouth of God. Rhema is not “a written word spoken”; that would make the rhema of a secondary origin. A rhema is always primary; it’s always God saying it now. And when God says it, even though He’s said it once before, it’s as new, and fresh, and dynamic as if God had only said it once. For this glorious word rhema is direct speech, and when it refers to God, it means God is speaking directly, now, firsthand; it is never secondhand.
- (From Pastor Gutteridge’s article
Logos & Rhema)
Rhēmas are part of the life of being led by the Holy Spirit. When God gives us a rhēma, whether by a direct word ministered to our spirit, or by quickening a scripture to our hearts, we know that God is addressing a specific need or request now, and faith is energized. It’s not just an overall, foundational faith in God, as important as that is; it’s a faith born in the moment, from God speaking directly to us by the Holy Spirit.
We’ll look next month, Lord willing, at how Jesus experienced the rhēma of God in His temptation, and how rhēma plays out in the faith required during spiritual warfare. (Hint: It’s another of those well-known verses where the primary meaning of “word” has been forgotten.)
Publishing Preparation
Denise and I have learned to appreciate just how much “only Jesus sees it” time and effort go into writing, editing, and publishing books. (I don’t just mean our books; personal experience makes us appreciate what other authors go through.) Here’s our progress report on writing “time and effort” for the month:
Studies in the Book of Joshua:
Cover idea for Studies in the Book of Joshua: In this painting, Joshua commands the sun…4I probably have preparation “on the brain” this month in part because I’ve spent a long time working with Denise to move chapter 2, “Preparation for Victory,” from draft #1 to draft #3 status.
As we prepare to send this newsletter, Denise is close to finishing up her first red-pen attack on chapter 3, “The Idolatry of God’s People,” which moves this message closer to draft #2. (We’ve found that a minimum of seven drafts are usually required until we’re close to being satisfied with a publishing project.)
Boyhood Memories and Lessons:
The paperback has been available for years. Now we’re getting the free version online!Online posting of the chapters from Isaiah Reid’s “Boyhood” is proceeding apace. Chapter 2, “The Strength of the Hills Is His Also” went public three weeks ago. From here, we’ll depart from chapter order just a bit, giving a topical nod to holidays and seasons. For May, in honor of Mother’s Day here in the U.S., we present Mother’s Legacy, Reid’s endearing snapshot of matriarchal memories. Then we’ll move on to The Old Log Church (chapter 4) for some insights into the character of Reid’s dad, just in time for Father’s Day.
How about the summer? We’ll stay close to The Old Log Church theme by sharing chapter 3, Sabbath Day in Walnut Ridge in July. And then, for August, if you can imagine what it would be like to have a Sunday church service outdoors in the woods on a glorious summer day, you’ll enjoy chapter 13, A Forest Meeting. After that, Lord willing, we’ll “back fill” the remainder of the 14 chapters, more or less in order.
Hearing God:
We’re praying for a cover idea for this book, too.All six classes on Hearing God have now been taught, and the initial transcripts have been generated for them. For a few months, this Hearing God project will take a back seat, while we focus on producing the full Joshua book through the summer. (I say that solemnly, but knowing full well that I will “cheat” and work on Hearing every chance I get, in hopes that this subject, too, might achieve liftoff as a complete book before year’s end.)
By the way, we’re still looking for preview readers to help us vet and improve these chapters as they become available. If you’re interested in helping, please drop me a line.
Preparatory Prayer
Let’s keep the June teaching trip to the Iowa Holiness Association camp meeting our focus as we pray together this month. That line from our “opening hymn” expresses my heart’s desire:
The Iowa Holiness Association Tabernaclein all its modest glory
Thy grace hath made us strong…
Diligent preparation is both good stewardship, worshipful service, and just plain common sense. I will try to do my best as the Lord enables me. But what’s especially needed is God’s strengthening, enabling, heart-preparing grace—for travel, for finances, for teaching in the power of the Holy Spirit, for counseling and one-on-one personal ministry at the camp meeting, and for being used by God leading others into the fullness of the Spirit.
Thanks for joining with us in prayer during these “days of preparation”!
Much love in Jesus,
Jim
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- Here is the link to the lyrics of Lead On, O King Eternal! ↩
- Suitcase photo by M.Emin BİLİR on Unsplash. ↩
- Here is the link to the lyrics of the hymn How Firm a Foundation. ↩
- The painting Joshua Stops the Sun in Its Course (Carlo Maratta, 1625–1713) is courtesy of Wikipedia.org. ↩
