Speaking in New York City - Jan. 2-3-4

 

2026 Christian Education Conference 

"Jesus - Our Living Hope"

FBS

NOW READING...

I'm now reading A Disruptive God: Encounter Psalm 23 and Discover God's Purpose For You, by Mac Pier.

Endorsements

“As a pastor and church planter in Lyon, France, I know how heavy-laden evangelical leaders in Southern Europe can be. In Mac Pier’s commentary on Psalm 23, you will find a spiritual oasis.”—Jean Paul Rempp, Pastor, LaBonne Nouvelle Church, Lyon

“A mentor of mine said to me years ago, ‘Ian, do not seek to go wider in ministry, go deeper and then God Himself will take you wider.’ Reading A Disruptive God has explained to me how it is that Mac has such an amazing global vision; he has gone deeper with God.”—Ian Shelton, Director, Movement Day Australia, Toowoomba

“God has gifted my longtime friend and leader with a Spirit-filled voice that speaks to the core of my soul and addresses my innermost fears, struggles, and challenges. I highly recommend Mac’s devotional questions to be prayerfully reflected on by all saints listening to God’s voice. A must read.”—Corrie DeBoer, Faculty, Asian Theological Seminary, Manila

“A Disruptive God has taken a fresh look at the precious six verses of Psalm 23. I heartily recommend this excellent volume to fellow pilgrims to encounter a God who guides us into paths of righteousness.”—John Snelgrove, English pastor, Kong Fok Church, Hong Kong

“Mac Pier has beautifully illuminated for us this most precious of psalms, by using it to reflect on his own life and ministry. When a poem written thousands of years ago still resonates with contemporary culture today, it must contain the deepest of truths for humanity.”—Roger Sutton, Director, Movement Day UK, Manchester

“If disruption is causing an interruption, then this book sees Mac Pier articulate both the personal interruption God brings to meaningless living as well as the inevitable impact as we become His interrupting agents in a world gone wrong.” —Jurie Kriel, Director, Movement Day Africa

“Mac Pier, a thirty-five-year urban missionary, uses a hermeneutical approach to Psalm 23 to share his life story as well as to challenge leaders to take inventory of their own faith journeys. This book is a must read for believers as they seek to collaborate with God in living out their life purpose.”—Dyan Anderson, Board member, Movement DFW, Dallas

“In A Disruptive God, Mac Pier takes us on a fascinating devotional journey filled with fresh, rich insight into the ‘familiar becoming unfamiliar’ Psalm 23, as the spiritual biography of David. I found myself experiencing deep refreshment and renewal as Mac weaves his own life journey with much vulnerability through his reflections of the psalm.”—Jeyakaran Emmanuel, Senior pastor, Powerhouse Church; Coaching catalyst, City to City India, Chennai

The Importance of Remembering in Maintaining Hope

 

                     (Our upstairs office)

 

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, 
for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:23

In this difficult time of moral mentorlessness, political chaos, and the "soma" of show business, what is needed is hope.

Hope: the mood of expectation that comes from a promise that something good is going to happen.

When I hope, I expect. "Expectation" is the mood that characterizes hope. Hope is expectation, based on a promise that has been given. 

It seems that every day Linda and I meet someone who has lost hope. Loss of hope produces stagnancy and passivity. And depression. The loss of hope threatens life.

How important is hope? Lewis Smedes writes:

“There is nothing more important in this whole world than keeping hope alive in the human spirit. I am convinced that hope is so close to the core of all that makes us human that when we lose hope we lose something of our very selves. And in the process we lose all reason for striving for the better life we were meant to live, the better world that was meant to be. Let me put it as baldly as I can: there is nothing, repeat nothing, more critical for any one of us, young or old or anywhere in between, than the vitality of our hope.”  (Smedes, Keeping Hope Alive: For a Tomorrow We Cannot Control, p. 6)

Real hope leads to activity, because it is attached to a promise that fuels the sense of expectation. The hope-filled, expectant person prepares for the promised, coming event.

A husband and wife are said to be "expecting" when she is pregnant with their inborn child. The reality of this hope is seen in their active preparation for the promised one to arrive. They create a space in their home for the newborn to dwell. They buy clothes and toys. They think and dream and pray. Hope, grounded in a promise of something good, is joy-filled.

Hope is different than "wishing." "Wishing" is not attached to a promise, and hence is devoid of the sense of expectation. The wishing person is inactive. The person who wishes to win the gazillion-dollar lottery does not quit their job and sell their house. When no promise is given, passivity reigns.

How can I overcome hopelessness and begin to hope again? I remember.

"Remembering " plays a role in "hoping." My spiritual journal, which is a record of God's activity in my life, helps me to remember. My journal includes God's promises to me, and promises realized. I have many stories where things looked hopeless, and then life returned. When I re-read and re-meditate on my journals, I am filled with hope. I remember the deeds of the Lord in my life. I come to know God, in whom I have placed my trust, and makes good on his promises. I am then in a good spiritual place. It affects how I look at the unseen future. I see that "he who promised is faithful."

I am intentional about remembering. This includes carrying lists of God's blessings to me, and looking at them often. I have found that a hoping person...

...remembers the deeds of God in their life; 

...remembers God-promises given, and God-promises fulfilled; 

...makes God their trust today, and each day; 

...dwells on the promises of God in Scripture;

...listens for God's voice, and his promises;

...is expectant; 

...is active, since real hope always leads to present vitality.

I encourage a hopeless person to list, and thereby remember, the deeds of the Lord in their life. Write down ways God has been faithful to them. I have seen this result in a refocusing and re-membering of the person, as the members of their heart are put together again.

Another antidote for hopelessness is connectedness to the Jesus-community. Hopelessness isolates people; unattended-to isolation breeds hopelessness. Be intentional about being part of a small group. Be intentional about gathering with others on Sunday mornings. Many times I have come on a Sunday morning, holding on to some fear in my heart, only to find it lifted and removed as we meet with the Lord together.

'Twas the Day After Christmas

(Bozeman, Montana)

Today is December 26.  

The days after Christmas are

 important for all who follow Jesus. 

How we spend our time, talents, and resources today signifies who, and what, we believe in.

Linda and I live in the overflow of the birth of Christ. Christ is the gift that keeps on taking, and giving. 

Today, Christ is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, reconciling us to our Creator.

Today, our sorrow is traded for His joy.

Today, our imprisonment is acquitted on all counts, and His freedom is bestowed.

Today, Christ takes and gives. Today is a day of taking and giving.

The Incarnation is the pivot upon which our lives turn. 

Because of Christmas, we will never be the same. 

As splendid as Christmas Day was, today is better. The long winter waiting has ended. The long-expected Messiah has come. 

Today, He is wonderful.

Today, He is counselor.

Today, he is Mighty God.

Today, He is everlasting Father.

Today, He is Prince of Peace.

Decades ago, Linda and I met Him. And everything in our lives changed. Christmas, the day of endless taking and giving, began, in us. Christmas, with all its transcendent realities, was born. 

Christ-mass. 

The worship of Christ. 

It's December 26. The real celebration goes on in the hearts of all who have been found by Him.

Christmas Day - Jesus Comes to Save Us from Our Distress

 

THE GREAT INVASION

#25

Christmas Day

Jesus Comes to Save Us from Our Distress

In the first "Creed" movie there is a scene where the old boxer Rocky Balboa is training Apollo Creed's son Adonis in the gym. They are looking into a mirror. Rocky points to the young boxer and says, "See this guy here? That's the toughest opponent you're ever going to have to face. I believe that's true in the ring, and I believe that's true in life."

It's not a stretch to say that many of my toughest battles have happened in my own mind. Francis Frangipane called the human mind one of the “three battlegrounds.”[i] The apostle Paul knew about this. He instructed us to "take every thought captive," because if we don't, our thoughts will capture us.

Neil Anderson writes of this inner battle in The Bondage Breaker. Steve Backlund shows us how to do battle against false thinking with his “Declarations.”[ii]

A few years ago KoЯn's guitarist Brian Welch wrote his autobiography, called Save Me From Myself. That was the best book I read that year, echoing a prayer I've brought before God for over five decades. 

When I was in seminary. I was introduced to psychologist Albert Ellis's Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. The goal of REBT is to change irrational beliefs to more rational ones. Ellis's work was about the power of words and thoughts to affect feelings and behaviors. The transformative power of language was at the heart of my doctoral dissertation on metaphor theory.

Today, we have Cognitive Behavior Therapy. CBT helps people become aware of when they make negative interpretations, and of behavioral patterns which reinforce distorted thinking.  Cognitive therapy helps people to develop alternative ways of thinking and behaving, which aims to reduce their psychological distress.

Jesus has come to save us from psychological distress. From catastrophic thinking. Thomas Merton writes:

God, "save me from myself. Save me from my own, private, poisonous urge to change everything, to act without reason, to move for movement’s sake, to unsettle everything You have ordained. Let me rest in Your will and be silent. Then the light of Your joy will warm my life. Its fire will burn in my heart and shine for your glory. This is what I live for."[iii]  

This is core to "working out my salvation with fear and trembling."[iv] I don’t know about you, but need to be rescued and redeemed and freed from my own self every day. 

We just celebrated Christmas Day. The Son of God came in human form to save us from our sins, which include self-inflicted psychological distress. That's why the angel told Joseph to name the baby “God saves.” That is, “Jesus.”

 

---

[i] Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds

 

[ii] See, e.g., Steve Backlund, Declare It.

 

[iii] Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours

 

[iv] Philippians 2:12

 

Violent Night (an alternative Christmas story)

This is from my book The Great Invasion.

In Revelation 12:1-7 we have an unfamiliar nativity story. Eugene Peterson writes: “This is not the nativity story we grew up with, but it is the nativity story all the same.”  

This is why C.S. Lewis referred to the birth of Christ as an act of war. Christmas, said Lewis, is about "The Great Invasion." In chapter 7 of Mere Christianity, writes:  

"One of the things that surprised me when I first read the New Testament seriously was that it talked so much about a Dark Power in the universe--a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death and disease, and sin... 

Christianity agrees that this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel.

Enemy-occupied territory--that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage."

Christmas Eve was the night before the Great Invasion. The creatures were stirring, even the mouse. We see this upheaval in the non-holiday telling of Christmas found in Revelation 12:1-7. It reads: 

A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. 

    And there was war in heaven.

What’s happening here is this.  

1. The woman is not Mary, but the messianic community, the ideal Israel.

2. Out of the messianic community is born a child, a Messiah. 

3. The seven-headed red dragon is Satan (Rev. 12:9; 20:2). 

4. Satan is looking to devour this child; AKA Jesus the Christ.

Mary has already been prophetically warned about such things. In Luke 2 we read that...

... the old man "Simeon took him [baby Jesus] in his arms and praised God, saying:

"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."

The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: 

"This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

Violent night  

Holy night  

All's not calm.  

All's not bright

Christmas Eve - that violent night when the Light of the World descended into darkness.

(Pp. 77-79)

One Day Jesus Was Praying

(One of my praying places.)

 

(From my book  31 Letters to the Church on Praying.)

Dear Church, 

 I am reading, slowly, through the Gospel of Luke. This morning I began in Luke 11:1:

  One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.  

I can't get past this verse. It's enough for me.

 The verse does not say:

 One day Jesus thought about praying.

 It doesn't read:

 One day Jesus desired to pray, but didn't have time for it.

 It's not:

One day Jesus read a book about praying.

 Nor does it say…

 One day Jesus said, "I believe in the power of prayer."

 It does say:

 One day Jesus was praying.  

One day Jesus was actually doing it.  

One day Jesus was engaged in praying.   

One day Jesus, my Lord,  my exemplar,  my mentor, 

was spending considerable time talking with God.   

One of his followers saw him doing this. This follower was so impressed that he wanted to do what Jesus was doing. Which was: communicating with the Maker of Heaven and Earth.

 When Jesus finished dialoguing with God, the follower who desired to do the same said to Jesus, "Mentor, teach us to do what you just did."

Please know this - the Holy Spirit is our present Teacher on prayer. I bless you with a deep, powerful praying life that, more and more, emulates that  of our Lord Jesus!

5 Guidelines for Civil Discourse

Flicker, in my back yard

I'm re-posting this to keep it in play. We who are followers of Jesus need to be reminded of these things, right? I know I do.

This is about how someone who claims to follow Jesus should conduct themselves, in any medium, in all human interaction.

Guidelines for Civil Discourse

#1 - Love People

If you are a follower of Jesus, this is for us. 

Though the world fails in civility, we must engage in civil discourse.

Our foundation for civil discourse is love. We are to love others, in our behaviors. With the love of God, exemplified in Jesus. We must love like Jesus loves.

This includes those who disagree with us. It encompasses our enemies. They are among our "neighbors."

Love is the sign, the mark, that we are what we declare we are; viz., Christians. If we don't love, we have nothing. (See 1 Corinthians 13) If we don't love, we don't have our identity, at least in the eyes of others. People don't care how much we know until they know how much we care.

Jesus affirms the call to love in John 13:34-35:

“A new command I give you: 

Love one another. 

As I have loved you, 

so you must love one another. 

By this everyone will know 

that you are my disciples, 

if you love one another.”

People will know that you and I are with Jesus as we love one another. If we fail to do this, we will be far from Jesus. Others will think of Jesus through the lens of our rudeness and incivility.

When Christians hate one another on social media, they fail to display what is supposed to be their distinguishing mark; viz., love. When we get disgusted, show irritation, demean, mock, slander, ridicule, or bully, we dishonor people made in God's image. And bring shame upon our Lord.

Francis Schaeffer, in his classic The Mark of the Christian, writes:

"We are to love our fellowmen, to love all men, in fact, as neighbors. 

All men bear the image of God. They have value, not because they are redeemed, but because they are God’s creation in God’s image. Modern man, who has rejected this, has no clue as to who he is, and because of this he can find no real value for himself or for other men. Hence, he downgrades the value of other men and produces the horrible thing we face today—a sick culture in which men treat men as inhuman, as machines. As Christians, however, we know the value of men. 

All men are our neighbors, and we are to love them as ourselves. We are to do this on the basis of creation, even if they are not redeemed, for all men have value because they are made in the image of God. Therefore they are to be loved even at great cost." (Schaeffer, pp. 15-16)

It is clear, is it not, that in all our discourse with people we are to love them. This is the higher ground, where Jesus was suspended on a cross.

#2 - Never Mock People

Followers of Jesus are never to mock or ridicule other people.

Never. Ever. 

Mockery and ridicule are opponents of agape love. They reside in the camp of conditional love. ("If you agreed with my position, then I would not show my disgust towards you.")

Every person is made in the imago dei, the image of God. To mock and ridicule a person, no matter who they are or what they believe or disbelieve, is to mock that person's Maker. If you mock someone's children, you also mock them. This is how it is in tribal communities.

Slow-cook in the book of Proverbs and apply.

How long will you who are simple 

love your simple ways? 

How long will mockers delight in mockery 

and fools hate knowledge?

Proverbs 1:22

He mocks proud mockers 

but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

Proverbs 3:34

If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; 

if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

Proverbs 9:12

The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, 

but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.

Proverbs 14:6

Penalties are prepared for mockers, 

and beatings for the backs of fools.

Proverbs 19:29

The proud and arrogant person

—“Mocker” is his name— 

behaves with insolent fury.

Proverbs 21:24

Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; 

quarrels and insults are ended.

Proverbs 22:10

Mockers stir up a city, 

but the wise turn away anger.

Proverbs 29:8

How shall we live the command to love our neighbor? By mocking them?

How shall we give witness to the sign that we belong to Jesus? By mocking one another?

How shall we be blessed as peacemakers? By ridiculing those who disagree with us?

Is mockery among the fruit of the Spirit?

Shall we build up the body of Christ using the spiritual gift of ridicule?

Is not any fellowship with the company of mockers called wickedness? (Psalm 1:1)

To mock and ridicule others that do not think like you is non-redemptive, only causing existing divisions to separate further. 

(In logic, mockery and ridicule are types of informal fallacies, called ad hominem abusives. To verbally abuse someone not only adds nothing to an argument, it diminishes the argument.)

#3 - The Other Is Not Your Enemy

The apostle Paul writes:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, 

but against the rulers, 

against the authorities, 

against the powers of this dark world 

and against the spiritual forces of evil 

in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12

So, if it has flesh and blood, it is not our real enemy.

Our real enemies are "the powers of this dark world" and the "spiritual forces of evil." These are the spiritual forces Jesus came to defeat.

Jesus did not come to defeat people. He came to rescue them. In the rescue, the powers of darkness are defeated.

If you are a follower of Jesus you must not demonize others. Even if they anger you. To do that is to wrestle with the wrong adversaries. 

Discuss? Yes. Agree, or disagree? Of course. Wrestle with? That would be like leaving your true opponent on the wrestling mat and climbing into the bleachers and trying to pin the captive onlookers.

If we view and treat one another as enemies, we are engaged in vain warfare.

If an army starts to shoot its own, waging war within itself, this is not only a pseudo-battle, it's going to lead to defeat by the real enemy. If the actual enemy can get us to self-destroy,  it has won.

You and I are not enemies, because we are flesh and blood. If something has flesh and blood it cannot be our enemy.

Sadly, Christians can be tempted, deceived, and even used by the dark powers. (see Eph. 2:2; 4:14) As Ben Witherington writes: “It is all too easy to mistake the human vessel of evil for evil itself.” Pray that we never make that mistake, for if we do the days of hating and hurting and hiding from one another have arrived.

Our struggle is essentially a spiritual one. 

Wage war on that level.

Wage peace with one another.

#4 - Never Insult a Brother or Sister

When Linda and I were campus pastors at Michigan State University, we were teaching Matthew 5:21-24 to our students. In the midst of the discussion, one of our students, Naomi, who was from Malawi, said: "If we followed the words of Jesus here very few of us would be worshiping today. We would all get up and leave, go to the brothers and sisters we were demeaning, and ask for forgiveness."

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, 

and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 

²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry 

with a brother or sister 

will be subject to judgment. 

Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 

‘Raca,’ 

is answerable to the court. 

And anyone who says, ‘

You fool!’ 

will be in danger of the fire of hell.

²³ “Therefore, 

if you are offering your gift at the altar 

and there remember 

that your brother or sister 

has something against you,

²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. 

First go 

and be reconciled to them; 

then come and offer your gift.

"Raca" is an Aramaic term of abuse. It means "idiot." (See R.T. France,The Gospel According to Matthew, p. 120)

Anyone who calls a brother or sister in Christ an idiot is answerable to the Sanhedrin. (Greek synedrion.) France writes: "Jesus here threatens ultimate divine judgment on anger, even as expressed in everyday insults." (Ib.) 

If I call someone an idiot am I really relegated to the garbage heap where Israel's rubbish was burned? No. Jesus is using exaggeration, as he often does, to make a point. (This is called Semitic hyperbole.) But the point is important. This is "an injunction to submit our thoughts about other people, as well as the words they give rise to, to God's penetrating scrutiny... We cannot worship God with grudges unsettled."

Anger is no excuse for insulting people. It is non-redemptive and alienating.

If you are a Jesus-follower, and you ridicule a brother or sister, your worship is inauthentic, and unacceptable to God.

#5 - Fear Speaking Badly of Others Made in God's Image

Have you ever met a Christian who never spoke badly of another person? I have met a few.

Apparently, Bill Johnson is one of those. Thank you, C.H., for posting this.

"In a recent meeting, someone said to Bill Johnson, "I notice that you never talk about people. You never talk badly about people. And I'm just wondering what's going on in your heart? How did you discipline yourself to NEVER speak negatively of other people, even people who are sometimes a pain?"

Bill, with tears running down his cheeks, said, "I fear Jesus in them. That I would speak badly about someone made in the image of God, that is so valued by God that Jesus died for them. And that I would portray them as something less valuable than that. I fear how God would deal with a person who would betray the people made in his image."

AND...

Let your conversation be always full of grace, 

seasoned with salt, 

so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Colossians 4:6

***

My books are...

Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God

Leading the Presence-Driven Church

Encounters with the Holy Spirit (co-edited with Janice Trigg)

Deconstructing Progressive Christianity

31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship

The Great Invasion: Thirty-One Days of Christmas

31 Letters to the Church on Praying