There are the ‘little children’ or new believers who are rejoicing in the knowledge of forgiveness and the fatherhood of God.

John next addresses the ‘young men’ who are growing in Christ and making spiritual advances against the kingdom of darkness.

Finally, there are the ‘fathers’ whom the Apostle simply says ‘has known him who is from the beginning’. John uses this term twice and in fact, it is the only way he describes the patriarchs (and matriarchs) of the faith.

There is surely an element of mystery here.

John could have simply said spiritual fathers know ‘God’.

The Apostle of Love uses the same element of mystery and awe in the Apocalypse when he writes about the One who ‘sat on the throne’.

Simply put, spiritual fathers have a deep understanding of the mysteries of God’s character and actions.

Remember Paul said God’s judgments are unsearchable and his ways past finding out. But spiritual fathers are hot on the trail!

When you boil it all down, mature believers keep on trusting God even when things are hard or make little earthly sense.

And from that brave vantage point comes a deeper knowledge of the Almighty.

The One who can be hard to track is reliable to trust.

If life is like a long distance race, the race tends to get harder the longer you stay in it.

But the longer you run the stronger you are to face the difficulties and keep trusting God.

As an evangelist once said, ‘You need to believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts’.

Spiritual fathers understand this- regardless of their earthly age.

They give the eternal God the benefit of their doubts and He always vindicates such choices.

If you have any reservations about such an assertion- read Hebrews 11.

By Robert Apps

No amount of weights, running, exercise or sports will make up for a person who has an appetite like the whale that swallowed Jonah.

So when my health campaign began, I was encouraged to start eating things like:-

-wholegrain breads;
-fresh fruit and vegetables;
-nuts;
-porridge.

At first I really resented these lifestyle changes.

For me a good day of eating consisted of waking up, skipping breakfast, having a blueberry muffin mid morning; hamburger and chips (or Chinese meal)  for lunch; biscuits or chips for afternoon tea; and two plates of whatever my wife cooked for dinner- plus dessert.

All this eating was interspersed with loads of coffee, diet soft-drink, and maybe a few more snacks.

So trying to move to a more healthy diet really took time with progress made grudgingly and in small steps.

At first it felt like I was doing nutritional penance for my former life.

Healthy eating was a punishment!

I was almost ready to go on a pilgrimage to some obscure village in India that harvests lentils to pay for those previous gastronomic indiscretions.

But something happened about 9 months into the process- my desires and appetites changed.

Not overnight, but from consistently practicing new habits, somehow or another the desires just changed.

My desires fell in line with my actions.

Now, my favourite meal of the day is breakfast of all things.

A strong coffee with a few thick slices of multi-grain toast with Vegemite, peanut butter or jam!

After a mid-morning snack of peanuts and almonds, then comes the wholegrain roll with tuna or ham plus fresh fruit or salad. Bring it on!

After an afternoon treat of more fruit or some homemade oatmeal muffins, dinner time comes but only one plate this time thanks dear!

There are some valuable nutritional messages here but let’s move to the world of the unseen.

We often talk about change coming from the inside first.

Yes, lasting change must come from the heart, and only from the heart.

But that is not necessarily how change begins!

Many Christians use the ‘heart change’ as an excuse not to make obvious and needed changes (even simple steps of obedience) simply because they do not yet want to.

A Christian husband need not wait till he feels sacrificial love for his wife till he starts showing love.

He chooses to obey God at this point, and God in grace, will ultimately give those loving desires as the man obeys.

The same can be said of many other arenas of life.

The right feelings and desires often follow our actions.

While we need to guard against acting mechanically or insincerely, tell the Lord about your struggles in motives and He will honour you for that and give you the right desires and motives in His time.

Whatever pain there is in obedience sooner or later gives way to real, lasting, and eternal pleasure.

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John 2

By Robert Apps

With Federal Labor holding on to power by the slimmest of margins, it has been forced to focus on governing rather than carrying out the usual post-election executions.

And make no mistake, Rudd was on the top of the list.

But to use a beautiful  Old Testament expression, ‘and it came to pass‘ that Labor are still in government and Rudd was given his coveted foreign affairs post.

I have read some reports of Rudd attempting to slowly rehabilitate his relationship with his colleagues, even asking some where he went wrong while PM.

But for now Rudd is our chief diplomat, and there is no doubt he is busy in his new digs over at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or ‘DFAT’ as they call it in Canberra.

While the circumstances are markedly different, even beyond comparison, it is hard to imagine leaders like Hawke, Keating or Howard would be even interested in such a re-casting of roles.

To put it bluntly, taking a demotion is always hard to swallow.

But to be demoted to the Foreign Ministry is one of the more softer plunges to make.

It is like being kicked out of the Lodge but being driven directly to the best penthouse over at the Hilton.

In his new job, Rudd keeps very much in the public eye- all over the world.

His diplomatic credentials are unquestioned, except for perhaps his judgment.

Nonetheless Rudd has the energy, enthusiasm and contacts to give the portfolio his best shot.

The world of international diplomacy must be a strange beast to ride.

While the travel to luxurious settings, conferences, and all round hob-nobbing must be at times intoxicating, there is a certain shallowness to this exalted post.

It is one thing to walk into a foreign parliament or rented out castle and sign an international treaty, agreement, memorandum of understanding, pact or protocol, but countries only abide by their obligations if there is the domestic will to do so.

And provided of course it doesn’t cost the government an election- just ask Rudd about his position on climate change.

But having said that, all countries need to engage each other on the international stage, at least in the hope of preventing wars, recessions or catastrophic misunderstandings.

The point I make is that Rudd seems to have ended up where he probably always belonged.

He gets to occupy much of the public spot-light doing something where he can draw from his vast experience and talents, but without the responsibilities of the top job to micro-manage.

I think there is also a wider point at play here.

Over time most of us end up where we actually fit- for good or ill.

A noted preacher once said ‘You don’t get what you deserve, you get what you are‘.

Most us need to just bloom where the Lord plants us rather than try and make something happen that was probably never meant to be.

I am not saying don’t take a risk for the Lord or dare big things for Him, but there needs to be some wisdom and discernment thrown into the equation.

Our natural abilities, character strengths, and Spirit-endowed gifts are meant to be indicators and markers for our future direction and ministry.

So the point I want to finish with is this: If you were meant to be the Foreign Minister, don’t ever stoop to be the PM.

By Robert Apps

Be sure the blessings will be exquisite while the challenges will be excruciating.

I have half a dozen special projects and goals on the radar that presently seem rather daunting. So much so I wouldn’t mind taking all of next year off.

But with a few mouths to feed and my current responsibilities I better stick around.

I came across a wonderful quote last week by former US President Theodore Roosevelt that really encouraged me.

I hope it will do the same for you:-

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

I was pretending to be  a ‘runner’ but I doubt anyone who saw me move that day believed it either.

I had lost 5 kilos by that time but still had about 35kgs to go.

So I was out trying to get some more off.

I knew losing weight would be hard but there was one thing I hadn’t factored in.

It was the overwhelming sense of stupidity and sheer folly I felt trying to change that really hit me for six. (A cricketing analogy for our Trans-Atlantic readers).

The pain barrier was one thing, but the idiot factor to overcome was far worse.

Up to this time any changes of lifestyle, diets etc, only lasted a few days until I returned to the drive-thru of you know where.

So I had a solid track record of failure and cowardice to fall back on.

But let’s return to my crisis on Idiot Boulevard.

Not only did the folly of things overwhelm me but the thought that my old lifestyle would have to be abandoned was another bitter pill that needed to be swallowed then and there.

It was like the scene of a multiple fatality.

I had to move not only from physical inertia to mobility, but also from deep fried and choc coated to grilled and fresh.

Both went hand in hand.

This sounds pathetic I know but if I wasn’t so angry I probably would have cried.

What also kept the tears back was that my situation was mostly self-inflicted so hey I was not exactly a victim.

So why did I (and do I) keep going?

A good question.

I remember thinking that whatever pain and stupidity I felt was not as bad as things remaining the same.

If trying to lose weight killed me at least I could depart the earth knowing I had tried to do something about it.

God was incredibly gracious to surround me with accountability partners and friends to encourage and give good counsel.

I probably drove half of them crazy but that’s life.

You can’t do it alone. You need others.

Whenever I walk through a food court or am having a meal inside one, I watch people struggling with weight issues.

I see myself sitting there next to them not so long ago.

All the old tendencies and desires lie just under the surface- they can be awaked once again.

Much but little has changed. I try and heed these lessons.

Take each day as it comes and make the right choices meal by meal, snack by snack.

And make sure you get moving.

By Robert Apps

Postscript: Katie gave birth to our second son Joey Matthew last Saturday evening. The pictures in this post are 18 months apart, the first one being with our eldest son Michael when he arrived. I now have at least two powerful reasons to keep fit and healthy.

Of course there have been many such preachers who have followed but I am limiting my posts to preachers I have seen and heard.

Dr John Vaughn was long-time pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Greenville SC.

He remains President of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship and is on numerous boards and organisations.

Dr Vaughn now travels in evangelism and itinerant conference and Bible teaching ministry.

Vaughn’s ministry has been defined, and no doubt exponentially deepened and expanded, through the great afflictions of faith faced by his family.

If there were no God, what happened to the Vaughn family would be seen as an unmitigated tragedy.

In 1979 Dr Vaughn’s wife Brenda and their baby daughter Becky were severely burned in a house fire. A few years ago the Vaughn’s buried their adult son Daniel after he was hit tragically by two vehicles while crossing a major road.

The Vaughn’s trusted God through the trials (the effects of which continue to this very day).

They have been used by the Lord to bless, strengthen and encourage the hearts of believers around the world through their book More Precious Than Gold and also through Dr Vaughn’s preaching ministry.

I had the joy of hearing Dr Vaughn share their family’s story in Sydney in about 2003 and in our own church in Cairns a couple of months ago.

The message was a unique blending of personal testimony, Bible exposition and evangelistic appeal. The text was 1 Peter 1:3-6. I can’t read that passage anymore without thinking of the Vaughn family and the way Vaughn explained the text and shared his story.

That meeting left my wife and I, along with many others, with a deeper understanding of God’s purposes in suffering and trouble.

Thankfully Dr Vaughn preached a number of times that weekend and followed up with messages on the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) and Psalm 42.

The message on the Beatitudes was an unforgettable exposition as Vaughn explained the text as an organic whole rather than simply treating each beatitude as presenting isolated truths. Essentially, the beatitudes tell the story of entering and living in the kingdom of God.

Vaughn’s treatment of Psalm 42 was also unique in presentation. He wove Luther’s hymn ‘A Mighty Fortress is Our God’ into his exposition of the passage.

I sat there on the first or second row that night for over an hour while Vaughn preached on that psalm. It was like sitting under Niagara Falls with your mouth wide open.

The problem was my cavity was not big enough.

As a preacher Vaughn has been blessed with a magnetic, even lyrical voice. If I could organise a Bible conference with 5 keynote preachers, he would rate an automatic invite.

Vaughn preaches with doctrinal precision yet practical profundity.

His theology has not only been studied and understood, but lived out and proved in the crucible of his own life. That brings an undeniable pathos to what Vaughn preaches.

It seems to me the depth of Vaughn’s preaching is only exceeded by the depth of his personal suffering.

I want to commend our readership not only to this man’s ministry but challenge you to expose yourself to other gifted fundamental preachers.

There are more than you think.

It is easy to become enamored with new evangelical or other ‘borderline’ preachers, who preach well, but whose ministerial direction elicits an ‘uncertain sound’.

So make the most of the faithful preachers God has blessed his church with.

There was a preacher whose name was Vaughn, and whose saviour was Christ.

I am glad Vaughn trusted his God through his trials, and now exalts the Saviour through his preaching.

Post a comment if you have heard Dr Vaughn preach.

By Robert Apps

Almost 15 years ago I was privileged to hear a descendant of that great preacher.

It was in about June 1996 that Dr Bob Jones Jr visited Australia and special meetings in Sydney were held.

‘Dr Bob’, as he was known in fundamental circles, was then in his mid 80′s, and, as things came to pass, he went to be with the Lord in November 1997.

In ‘those days’ I was but 21 years old, knew very little about the art of preaching (still don’t), but enough to know that under no circumstances should I miss hearing Dr Bob preach.

I made sure I arrived 30 minutes before the meetings and got a seat on the front row each night. The entire experience had to be savoured.

Before I describe Dr Bob’s preaching, let me mention a little of his background.

Dr Bob was an extremely talented Shakespearean actor and had turned down some big acting opportunities in his early 20′s.

Thank God he didn’t take those diversions, as tempting as they must have been.

When you are in involved in drama, particularly with the works of Shakespeare, you have to remember thousands of lines without fluffing (or at least letting the audience know you messed up).

Dr Bob had a God-given gift of recall, a powerful stage presence, and a forceful but melodious voice.

I only got to hear Dr Bob preach 3 times. I doubt any of those sermons went for more than 35 minutes each. I believe he quoted most if not all of his Scripture readings from memory (some were quite long) and he didn’t use notes.

For any preaching groupies out there Dr Bob preached on the Disobedient Prophet (1 Kings 13); The Trumpet Blasts of Scripture (2 Chronicles 5); and Jesus encounter with Andrew and Peter (John 1).

Dr Bob possessed an unusual power of description, whether that was of physical scenery, narrative, or even personal character.

At his best (in my opinion) on special occasions, Dr Bob preached majestically like few others, and always magnified Christ.

Though eloquent in speech, Dr Bob used an economy of words to great effect.

I don’t mind hearing long sermons- provided the preacher has something to say.

Otherwise, at the 40 minute mark I am ready for the final hymn.

I learned more in those 3 meetings with Dr Bob about preaching than I could have in a year of homiletics or speech classes.

Great preaching must be heard and seen. It cannot simply be read or listened to.

Of interest to some, Dr Bob’s autobiographical reminiscences ‘Cornbread and Caviar’ recounts many of the preaching greats he heard growing up.

Names like Billy Sunday, HC Morrison and Harry Ironside are but a few Dr Bob writes about (including their idiosyncrasies) with his characteristic wit and firsthand insights.

Dr Bob’s own father (you’ll never guess his name) was also a forceful evangelist and university founder.

God in his goodness allowed me to hear a modern day Son of Apollos.

Of course I have heard others too. Some I may mention on another day.

Dr Bob’s sermons can still be found on sermonaudio.

I would be interested to hear your comments if you heard Dr Bob preach.

By Robert Apps

He is first mentioned in Acts 18:-

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. vv24-25

Apollos is the only preacher in all the Bible to be called ‘mighty in the scriptures’.

At the very least, Apollos had an intimate knowledge of the OT with an ability to teach Scriptural truth in all of its depth and nuance.

At best, Apollos could recite the OT text verbatim, since to be ‘mighty’ in any religious text often meant to have memorised its contents.

It is interesting that of all places Apollos hailed from was the Ancient city of Alexandria, a city in Egypt near the mouth of the Nile. The city was founded by Alexander the Great in about 300BC and boasted a large Jewish population.

Alexandria not only had many Jews, it was also a city of many books. It was home to the ancient world’s largest library.

Let me tell you some more about this notable city and library:-

1. Carved into the library wall was this famous inscription: The place of the cure of the soul.

2. It was the first known library to gather a serious collection of books beyond its country’s borders, and was in fact charged by its royal family to collect all of the world’s knowledge.

3. Library staff  would collect foreign texts for library use and storage, and make copies to send back to their owners.

4. Alexandria soon became the leading producer of papyrus and books (scrolls) in the world.

5. The Library was also home to a host of visiting international scholars, funded by the Ptolemaic dynasty. The kings paid for their travel expenses, lodgings and financial support so they and their families could live in Alexandria while their studies took place.

6. As a research institution, the library filled its stacks with new works in mathematics, astronomy, physics, natural sciences and other subjects.

7. Alexandria was the city where the Greek translation of the OT (the Septuagint) by as many as seventy Jewish scholars took place a couple of hundred of years before Christ. Incidentally, this was the translation Jesus read from during his earthly ministry and portions of the Septuagint are quoted by the NT writers.

Alexandria was the ancient equivalent of Harvard or Oxford. Or Yale or Cambridge, depending on where your preferences lie.

There is little question that Apollos must have found his home town an intellectually stimulating and fulfilling place to be. It was all used by the Lord to prepare this dynamic scholar for his vast ministry to the early church.

God used Apollos’ intellectual genius and fervent heart for truth. God has a track record for using these kinds of people.

Remember it was Moses, greatly educated in the wisdom of Egypt, and Paul, the learned pharisee, that were the two most significant human writers of the Scriptures.

Between them both we get the first five books of the OT and almost all the NT epistles.

God doesn’t hate or despise scholars, He uses them.

Not all of them, but some of them.

God wants all of us to love Him with our minds as much as we are to love him with our soul, heart, body and strength.

This is where true Biblical scholarship takes shape and blossoms.

To Be Continued…….

By Robert Apps

In that time I have dropped off many a visitor to the Cairns Marina for a day out ‘on the reef’.

It was only a couple of months ago that I not only dropped off a mission team for such an excursion, but parked the car and joined them myself for a day I will never forget.

It took an hour by boat to get to a spot on what is known as the ‘outer reef,’ and to be honest, I was a bit of a sceptic.

That was because for about half the trip out there the tour company was trying to sell us ‘extras’ like wet suit hire, prescription goggles, scuba classes and dives, tours by helicopter, even a massage!

Surely a day out in nature would spare me from such crass commercialism?

Obviously not.

All I wanted to do was put on my ‘all included’ flippers and goggles and see some coral and colourful fish.

So after putting on said goggles and flippers I jumped in and as soon as I had my head down in the water, hey presto, the Reef, in all its glory, came into full view!

It was unimaginably beautiful.

Before my eyes was another world teeming with sea life and coral- splashed in a kaleidoscope of colour.

The Reef was as good as all the nature shows and books portray, only better!

I thought I would have to swim out a fair way to see anything but there was such an immediacy to the experience, it would have knocked me over if I wasn’t already floating.

Let me give you some interesting stats about our Great Barrier Reef:-

1. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World (InFocus is Number 8);
2. It stretches over 3,000kms, basically parallel to the Queensland coast. The Reef is between 15kms and 150kms offshore and as much as 65kms wide in parts;
3.The Reef boasts some 400 different kinds of coral, coral sponges, rays and dolphins;
4. There are over 1,500 species of tropical fish and more than 200 types of birds;
5. Some of the sea turtles and giant clams are over 120 years old.

I even saw a few Maori Wrasse (one of them is known as Wally) from a couple of feet away. A picture of one is to the immediate left.  They appeared to be amazingly placid and gentle creatures notwithstanding the sheer size of their heads.

It was nice to share the day with believers who appreciated the true significance of it all.

This was not just a day to get wet, it was one of worship too.

It was discouraging to think that the other couple of hundred people with us were blindly unaware of the Creator’s masterpiece they were seeing first hand. Such is the hardness of unregenerate man. But at least a few of us could, through no wisdom of our own.

I would love to get out to the reef more often, perhaps annually since we live ‘so close’.

The ocean like the rest of creation plainly speaks of a greater, even infinite Creator who loves to use colour, and all shapes and sizes, to portray his character and power on the canvass of the heavens and the earth.

The fact that such beauty still exists in a world so marred by sin and its consequences speaks volumes about our merciful and gracious God that still seeks the redemption of rebels.

O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions— This great and wide sea, In which are innumerable teeming things, Living things both small and great. Psalms 104:24-25

Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters, They see the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep. Psalms 107:23-24

Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. Psalms 135:6

By Robert Apps

It revolved around the bike riding Ken Thompson, former NSW Deputy Fire Chief.

Thompson’s marriage collapsed when his wife Melinda chose to separate in January 2008 amid claims that he had molested their 3 year old son Andrew.

When allegations like this are made it is usually impossible for parents to agree on the care of the children, so Thompson took his case to the Family Court.

The Family Court appointed a psychologist to interview both parents and consider the allegations. The psychologist did not believe any abuse had taken place and further, NSW police did not press charges.  Thompson had court orders that allowed him to see Andrew, and which prevented his wife from leaving the country with the child.

In late April  2008, about 10 days after the psychological report was released to both parties, Melinda fled Australia with Andrew by plane to Singapore. The pair then flew to Germany and basically disappeared.

This post makes no comment on Thompson or his wife as a spouse or parent prior to the breakup. Rather, my focus is on the steps Thompson took to find his son after being left in an almost impossible situation.

Many countries are signatory to what is known as the Hague Convention. It is an international treaty that deals with the return of children abducted from one country to another (where both countries are signatories to the treaty).

The problem is that parents (and governments) often lack the resources to make such lofty conventions work in practice. Thompson felt let down by Australian authorities and decided to launch his own campaign to find and return his son.

Thompson took these measures to find Andrew:-

-did television and radio interviews;
-set up a website called FindAndrew.com;
-spent his life savings lobbying;
-had his son’s face plastered on billboards, bus stops and milk cartons across Europe;
-resigned his job as deputy fire chief and cycled over 6500kms across Europe in search for his son (and lost some kilos in the process).

A few weeks ago he received a tip off by email that his son was alive and well- in Amsterdam. Andrew was now 6 years old. Thompson contacted the Australian Embassy and local police.

Melinda was taken into custody while Andrew was placed in government care as the extradition process (and Andrew’s return) took place.

The Hague Convention was finally displaying some teeth.

An interesting postscript is that about a week ago Thompson was allowed a supervised visit by Dutch Authorities. Thompson made these comments to the media about his reunion with Andrew:-

“He was nervous too, but he looked at me and gave a little smile straight away. After all this time I didn’t know how he would react and what his mother has told him about me. So it could have been pretty bad. But it was fantastic.

“He walked towards me and got close, then veered off and got some toys and asked me to play with him. We sat there playing a board game puzzle, and he slowly opened up a little as we played.

“I let him take control, and he really took the lead in how we spoke and what we spoke about. He’s obviously trying to process everything and where I fit in and get used to me again, but we’re on the way and it’s going to be great”

At the end of the day it was good to see a dad take some drastic, ‘high risk’ action to locate his son.

In an age when so many dad’s have such little patriarchal drive, let alone parental ambition, Thompson fought to find his son.

You can sit at home for the rest of your life with the Hague Convention on your side, but it has no value unless you literally get on your bike, find your son, then jump up and down in front of authorities and demand they enforce the thing!

Yet this is exactly what Thompson did.

Thompson’s actions have basically brought him back into his son’s life. It may be years before any normality can be restored to the relationship, but he was willing to take the first steps.

This dad, methodically, painstakingly, took the steps necessary to achieve the mammoth aim of finding his son somewhere in Europe. Thompson dreamed big but needed a plan in place to pull it off.

It is easy to dream big but to plan little.

Instead of thinking ‘what is the next right step’ we tend to look at the impossibility of the challenges ahead, get overwhelmed, and then basically do nothing.

Thompson planned for the difficulties, relied on others when necessary, but was willing to take one right step after another to get the job done.

What seemed enormous and impossible, actually became very doable. In fact, once Thompson narrowed what continent Andrew was on, some kind of lead or breakthrough became probable the longer he searched.

Let’s all heed Thompson’s Law of Doing the Impossible: Have a daring goal and then break up the goal into 100 steps. Start and complete Step 1, then move to Step 2, and keep going till all steps are completed.

You may discover after completing Step 25 there are really only 50 steps to do, or, there might be 150. That doesn’t matter, the important thing is you put one foot in front of the other and get moving!

Then make sure you look at what has been achieved by God’s grace and don’t forget to give Him glory.

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?

Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Luke 14:28-31