The Cup by Francis Frangipane

The Cup

Part Three: Leadership is a Call to Die

In Matthew 20:17-19, Jesus sought to prepare His disciples for the hardships that awaited them. He warned that a time was coming when He would be mocked, scourged and crucified for the sake of redemption. In the midst of this utterly sober warning, incredibly, the mother of James and John requested of Jesus fulfillment of her family's ambitions! She said, "Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left" (v. 21). She's thinking advancement, position and place; Jesus is thinking scourging, mocking and death. She's looking for the crown; Christ spoke of the cross. Jesus' answer speaks not only to silence her ambitions, He speaks to ours as well: "You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" (v. 22). Amazingly, they said to Him, "We are able." In truth, they hadn't any idea of the price that was to be paid. It was only pride, ignorance and ambition talking. Yet, listen to how Jesus answered them: "My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father" (v.23). Hear this you who desire true spiritual fulfillment. Jesus was telling them, I cannot fulfill your ambitions. I can only show you how to die. Yet, even in their immaturity, Jesus knew they would overcome. He assures them, "My cup you shall drink." They would outgrow human ambition and become great examples for us. And we too shall drink His cup. Jesus describes the elements of that cup as He continued, again slaying the dragon of ambition, "Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give Himself as a ransom for many" (vv. 27-28). If we will advance with Christ, consider the words He uses to describe the doorway into power: "slave . . . serve . . . ransom." Notice, He didn’t point out the rewards, which are many; He showed them the way to true resurrection power. Give yourself as "a ransom" for the sake of your family, your church or city. Position yourself in prayer, fasting and faith for others. Stand in the gap so others might live. This is the cup that leads to spiritual fulfillment. But let me assure you, this is not a gloomy path; this is the path to the life of heaven. For when Christ lives in us, He comes with an overwhelming, sustaining joy. The Scripture says, looking at the joy set before Him, Christ endured the cross (Heb. 12:2). The cross delivers us from the prison of self-absorption; it releases us into the true reality of God, in whose "presence is fullness of joy" and in whose right hand are "pleasures forever" (Ps. 16:11). One may argue, "You don't understand Francis, I've been hurt." Yes, we all face heartache and disappointment, and the pains we experience can be deep. Yet, in seeking justice for ourselves, we must guard against the voice of self-pity. Indeed, self- pity keeps all our wounds alive. Instead of carrying the cross, we carry the offense. We must rebuke self-pity and command it to leave. We are followers of Christ! Therefore, forgive the offense and let it go. This is not a deep truth; it is the basic path of Christ! Paul wrote of the source of miracles and virtue in his life. He said, "That the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted . . . but not crushed . . . always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus might be manifested in our body" (2 Cor. 4:7-10). What is this "dying of Jesus"? It is dying in the manner Jesus died: when offenses come, when we are struck with injustice, when people fail or even betray us, we position ourselves in redemption; we pray the mercy prayer, "Father, forgive them." The only way ambition can be fulfilled is if we are ambitious for Christ to be revealed through us. Paul continued, "For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you" (2 Cor. 4:11-12). Beloved, death has a work that it accomplishes in us. Is this not exactly what we desire above all things: "the life of Jesus . . . manifested in our mortal flesh"? Paul says, "So death works in us." In the hands of our eternal Designer, death is not our enemy; it actually becomes an ally in the transformational process of our souls. It performs a work in us we cannot otherwise fulfill. For the death of our old self leads to the manifest life of Jesus. Here abides true spiritual fulfillment, not in our striving to create a place for ourselves, but in laying down self to create a place for Jesus. Leadership is a call to die. Spiritual maturity is to drink deeply of the cup of Christ.
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Article by Ruth Compion on Lent

Lent is a season in the church calendar that a few of us kept last year. We all found it a very blessed and humbling experience especially as it culminated in the Easter Conference at the church where we celebrated the death and resurrection of Jesus.


By tradition in the early church, Lent was a time spent by persons, wanting to be baptised, preparing for that baptism. The church encouraged the whole congregation to go through this season with the new converts as a way of showing support and encouragement.To many of us who come from a Catholic or Church of England background, Lent is a time of fasting of favourite foods and covering of the church pictures with purple. The traditional churches look upon Lent as a time of fasting, prayer, almsgiving and simplicity. Although there are no biblical references to Lent, in my research I could find no evidence that it was based on any pagan rituals. However some of the traditional days celebrated around Lent can be linked to such e.g. Mardi Gras Carnival and Shrove Tuesday.


The Internet is full of websites explaining Lent and if any of you are interested it is a good place to start.A few of us will be celebrating Lent again this year. It is wonderful to share this season within a group, as it is exciting to see what God has to say to each person and it is helpful to encourage each other when the times get rough, and they can, because Lent is for 40days and keeping to some sort of fast for that long is not always easy.


I would like to encourage you that if you are interested to take part in this season, that you form a small group or do it with your cell.


I am sure many of you remember the course we did at the end of 2008, "The Life you've always wanted" and how it spoke about building times or seasons into our lives of celebration, simplicity and solitude. It is in this vein that I bring to you Lent.


It is an opportunity to set aside time to pray abit more, to read the Bible abit more, and to seek God---it is like going on a vacation with the Lord for a time but with the joy of sharing with others as well.I think that the fasting bit terrifies some of us especially for such a long time, so here are a few suggestions:

• Fast one meal a day

• Fast meat

• Fast coffee/wine/coke/cigarettes

• Fast sugar/sweets/puddings

• Fast one day a week

• Fast entertainment

• Fast anger, unreasonable expectations of others, hopelessness, despair.



The idea with the fasting is:

• Money you would spend on that which you are not eating, you give to some charity

• That you do not fast only FROM something but also towards something. E.g. if you fast meat, you then seek the "meat of the Word".

• That you also fast from habits and character traits that you struggle with. E.g. if you fast from anger, try to choose one person who often presses your buttons and go out of your way to show special grace to that person.

• If you fast a meal, that you spend that time praying or reading.I would like to stress that the purpose of Lent is not to see if you can keep your fast but for you to move a step closer to the Lord and to enjoy experiencing this progress. Fasting is only a tool towards this purpose, so please do not get into any guilt trip if you slip up.Lent starts on Wednesday 25th February and ends on Saturday 11th April. Traditionally the Sundays that fall in Lent are mini-Easters and you are allowed to break your fast that day and celebrate.


Obviously the Easter celebration is an important part of this season and so there may possibly be a showing of the "Passion of the Christ" on the evening of Good Friday for those who would be interested.If you are interested to take part in Lent and cannot find a group to join, or would like to make suggestions, you are welcome to contact me or one of the leaders.


Many blessingsRuth Compion Read more!