Luke 2: 19-20 "Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!"
Luke 2: 51-52 "So He went back to Nazareth with them, and lived obediently with them. His mother held these things dearly, deep within herself. And Jesus matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people."
The shepherds shouted.
Mary was quiet.
The difference? The shepherd's revelation, and the realization of that revelation, had been completed. Mary's revelation was complete, but her realization was still in process.
So it is when God Calls and reveals.
During the incubation period between revelation and realization, we are called to quiet contemplation, to patient trust.
It's not about you. God didn't give you a calling to make you more significant, successful, or prevalent. He called you to glorify Himself, not you.
This is the patience of the pure.
The quiet confidence of the wise.
Secrets are powerful.
Mary and Joseph together held the most powerful secret calling the world had ever known.
Mary never stood on her calling.
She kept it hidden and deep, and made it a place of quiet communion with the One who had Called.
Let's not cheapen or sell our calling to buy attention or status among mankind.
A calling from God is first privately patient, then publicly obvious.
Missions at Christmas
Luke 1:18 Zachariah said to the angel, "Do you expect me to believe this? I'm an old man, and my wife is an old woman."
Luke 1:34 Mary said to the angel, 'But how? I've never slept with a man.'"
Zachariah knew how God worked. That was his job. Zachariah's training in the priesthood should have taught him to fear God. But when God revealed his plans to Zachariah at his point of greatest personal need and pain, he mocked God.
Mary simply questioned how... no disbelief - the Word was a foregone conclusion. Her question was a matter of practical mechanics: "How?" And her heart response was The Magnificat.
Maybe Z. was having a bad day, but his beligerance was effectively silenced.
My stance when God reveals His plans for me matters.
Perhaps Z. was older, and thus more cynical than a young, naive Mary.
In the end - same angel - practically the same message... an impossible but divinely ordained conception. One recipient received it well - one didn't. But in both cases, God's Word was revealed.
When God calls us, our stance and response matter.
Mary stayed on track by keeping something deep in her heart: the warm ember of belief that nothing is impossible with God. She hadn't a clue how - but she knew that.
Zachariah's doubt evaporated the day his son was born, and Z. was required to fulfill the angel's prophecy himself - to write on a tablet that his son's name was John. I wonder if throughout the pregnancy, Z. was on pins and needles, nervous of screwing the whole thing up. Just "waiting for the other shoe to drop." Wondering if the baby would make it to full term? If Elizabeth would, in her old age, survive the labor and delivery? He doubted the initial message... did he doubt all the way through the pregnancy? That doubt, at the critical point of God's revelation of His calling for Z., cost Z. dearly.
Discipleship with Christ is maintaining that flame of belief, so that when my Calling is revealed, my heart question is not "I wonder if...", but rather "I wonder how..."
Luke 1:34 Mary said to the angel, 'But how? I've never slept with a man.'"
Zachariah knew how God worked. That was his job. Zachariah's training in the priesthood should have taught him to fear God. But when God revealed his plans to Zachariah at his point of greatest personal need and pain, he mocked God.
Mary simply questioned how... no disbelief - the Word was a foregone conclusion. Her question was a matter of practical mechanics: "How?" And her heart response was The Magnificat.
Maybe Z. was having a bad day, but his beligerance was effectively silenced.
My stance when God reveals His plans for me matters.
Perhaps Z. was older, and thus more cynical than a young, naive Mary.
In the end - same angel - practically the same message... an impossible but divinely ordained conception. One recipient received it well - one didn't. But in both cases, God's Word was revealed.
When God calls us, our stance and response matter.
Mary stayed on track by keeping something deep in her heart: the warm ember of belief that nothing is impossible with God. She hadn't a clue how - but she knew that.
Zachariah's doubt evaporated the day his son was born, and Z. was required to fulfill the angel's prophecy himself - to write on a tablet that his son's name was John. I wonder if throughout the pregnancy, Z. was on pins and needles, nervous of screwing the whole thing up. Just "waiting for the other shoe to drop." Wondering if the baby would make it to full term? If Elizabeth would, in her old age, survive the labor and delivery? He doubted the initial message... did he doubt all the way through the pregnancy? That doubt, at the critical point of God's revelation of His calling for Z., cost Z. dearly.
Discipleship with Christ is maintaining that flame of belief, so that when my Calling is revealed, my heart question is not "I wonder if...", but rather "I wonder how..."
Mission vs. Calling vs. Ministry
Jesus defined the
- Mission is why we’re here
- Mission is Jesus’ purpose for His Church on earth
- Mission is the reason salvation and rapture aren’t simultaneous
- Mission is Corporate, not individual
- Our
- Our
- Our
Calling: Romans 11:29, Eph 4:1-16
Your calling is as unique as your fingerprint. Christ gave you unique gifts, talents, and affinities to fulfill His mission. But Calling requires death to our own “best self”, as Christ redeems our personalities, and His Life grows and bears fruit to fulfill His Mission.
- Calling is who you are
- Calling is an expression of The Mission
- Calling is God’s work in the world, thru your unique gifts, talents, and abilities
- Calling is the context in which you fulfill Christ’s mission
Ministry: Acts 26:13-18, Luke 4:16-21, John 14:11-12
Ministry is not forever – it has a beginning and an end. It carries The Mission into a particular context, thru your unique Calling. When Ministry is esteemed over Mission or Calling, we either avoid it, or perpetuate it way past it’s natural expiration.
- Ministry is something you do
- Ministry is an open door to be who you are in a particular context
- Ministry is one expression of your unique calling
- Ministry is typically just for a time
- Ministry is your relationship with God, on public display
Healthy Values
Ephesians 3:14-21
“For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name. I ask God from the wealth of His glory to give you power through His Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make His home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love. Yes, may you come to know His love – although it can never be fully known – and so completely filled with the nature of God. To Him who by means of His power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of: to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen.”
Christ's love has set us free from performance based Christianity. The following are values that a healthy Christian walks out in their life because of the love and freedom that Jesus has given.
1. Reaching out and increasing relationships with God and others
2. Resolving to live with no secrets: open, honest, real, and accountable.
3. Remaining committed to God, family, Church, people, goals, self.
4. Reflecting areas of denial, apathy, minimization, misinformation in their life
5. Recognizing fears and feelings
6. Resolving problems
“For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name. I ask God from the wealth of His glory to give you power through His Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make His home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love. Yes, may you come to know His love – although it can never be fully known – and so completely filled with the nature of God. To Him who by means of His power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of: to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen.”
Christ's love has set us free from performance based Christianity. The following are values that a healthy Christian walks out in their life because of the love and freedom that Jesus has given.
1. Reaching out and increasing relationships with God and others
2. Resolving to live with no secrets: open, honest, real, and accountable.
3. Remaining committed to God, family, Church, people, goals, self.
4. Reflecting areas of denial, apathy, minimization, misinformation in their life
5. Recognizing fears and feelings
6. Resolving problems
The Counterfeit "Calling"
We've all heard them.
We all fear them.
We fear them so much that the fear of a counterfeit calling may cause us to doubt a genuine Call from God.
A counterfeit calling seems to be inspired, smacks of the divine, and is simply - well, too good to be true.
Well, it is.
How do we distinguish between a true Calling from God on our lives vs. a counterfeit calling?
First, live your life in co-submission within a community of Godly people who know your strengths and weaknesses. Lone rangers don't have "missions", they have street fights.
Second, know the Scriptures, and test every "word" from God with the character and instruction we learn from His written Word.
Third, sell out wholeheartedly to personal discipleship, including the ultimate Ideal - to carry the cross that He has given you all the way to your own Golgotha.
There are common, distinguishing marks that help us recognize a Calling from God vs. a counterfeit calling.
A true Calling is teachable.
A counterfeit calling is closed to the counsel of Godly leaders.
A true Calling seeks fellowship.
A counterfeit calling thinks no-one would understand.
A true Calling is bittersweet - it is death, without the sting.
A counterfeit calling is self-aggrandizing.
A true Calling points to Christ.
A counterfeit calling points to me and the fulfillment of my "gifts".
A true Calling is selfless.
A counterfeit calling is about gain.
A true Calling is private and patient.
A counterfeit calling is driven and public.
A true Calling is birthed in the hush of Communion.
A counterfeit calling is formed from my own desires.
A true Calling is unveiled over time, and takes shape in the context of deep personal discipleship, requiring more work and more sacrifice than I could ever imagine.
A counterfeit calling is an epiphany, followed by an obsession.
Jesus' true Calling led Him to His cross.
Mine will, too.
Bob Mumford says we must embrace our own cross - the cross that Christ has called us to bear - so passionately, that we fall in love with the calling because of our love for the One who has called us, until we not only accept the high personal cost, but out of honor and love for the One we imitate, we kiss our own cross until we have a mouth full of splinters.
We all fear them.
We fear them so much that the fear of a counterfeit calling may cause us to doubt a genuine Call from God.
A counterfeit calling seems to be inspired, smacks of the divine, and is simply - well, too good to be true.
Well, it is.
How do we distinguish between a true Calling from God on our lives vs. a counterfeit calling?
First, live your life in co-submission within a community of Godly people who know your strengths and weaknesses. Lone rangers don't have "missions", they have street fights.
Second, know the Scriptures, and test every "word" from God with the character and instruction we learn from His written Word.
Third, sell out wholeheartedly to personal discipleship, including the ultimate Ideal - to carry the cross that He has given you all the way to your own Golgotha.
There are common, distinguishing marks that help us recognize a Calling from God vs. a counterfeit calling.
A true Calling is teachable.
A counterfeit calling is closed to the counsel of Godly leaders.
A true Calling seeks fellowship.
A counterfeit calling thinks no-one would understand.
A true Calling is bittersweet - it is death, without the sting.
A counterfeit calling is self-aggrandizing.
A true Calling points to Christ.
A counterfeit calling points to me and the fulfillment of my "gifts".
A true Calling is selfless.
A counterfeit calling is about gain.
A true Calling is private and patient.
A counterfeit calling is driven and public.
A true Calling is birthed in the hush of Communion.
A counterfeit calling is formed from my own desires.
A true Calling is unveiled over time, and takes shape in the context of deep personal discipleship, requiring more work and more sacrifice than I could ever imagine.
A counterfeit calling is an epiphany, followed by an obsession.
Jesus' true Calling led Him to His cross.
Mine will, too.
Bob Mumford says we must embrace our own cross - the cross that Christ has called us to bear - so passionately, that we fall in love with the calling because of our love for the One who has called us, until we not only accept the high personal cost, but out of honor and love for the One we imitate, we kiss our own cross until we have a mouth full of splinters.
Permission-Based Ministry
The Ministry of the Masses is based solely on the authority that Jesus has granted to each believer, demonstrated in the Scriptures and the Call of God on their life.
In releasing our "everybody's" for ministry - the Ministry of the Masses of our Church into our community - we acknowledge and leverage the priesthood of every believer.
HOW do we do this? We derive our authority and calling to minister from Jesus Christ. But how do we derive permission from the people to whom we will minister? Who will give us the authority to speak into the deepest, tenderest part of their life - ministering the love and grace of Jesus Christ to redeem them?
In the institutional church, this authority is derived from the power of position - a licensed, ordained, and likely paid position within the church.
In the organic church, this authority is derived from a relational process that I'm inclined to call "Permission-Based Ministry".
The Permission-Based Ministry process goes like this:
1. PROXIMITY
We meet people where they are - in the context of their daily life.
2. AFFINITY
The Holy Spirit arranges divine encounters, and knits our hearts together based on similar struggles, compassion, and empathy for each other.
3. RELATIONSHIP
We choose to move outside our comfort zones and pay the price to begin to walk alongside non-believers, to accept them as they are, and to develop friendships with them.
4. NEED/INVITATION
As we build trust, we begin to share not only humor and food and fun - but struggles and need and pain. Our honesty and openness, and the Holy Spirit's drawing power, may result in an invitation from that person to speak into their struggle.
5. GIVING/INCARNATION
The depth of our own personal discipleship (not our "head knowledge" or pat answers) is able to meet the depth of pain and struggle in someone else. Since it's not about us, but about Jesus, we are able to relate to their need and lead them to the Answer in their own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Thus, we incarnate Christ himself to those we are near.
6. FELLOWSHIP/CO-LABORING
We invite others into our fellowship, giving them the gift of a community that relates to them not as superiors who have it all together, but as friends with similar struggles who are looking to Jesus as their Hope, seeking Him together (e.g., church), and encouraging each other with His Words and Life.
This process is repeated over and over, and goes beyond relational evangelism - because our product is not simply conversions, but disciples who are passionate about Christ and His Cause in the world.
And in this way, we release all of our "Everybody's" to minister outside the walls of the church, building relationships outside the boundaries of the church, for the purpose of bringing people to Jesus Christ as the Healer of their souls.
We derive our authority to minister from Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church. But we derive our permission to speak into people's lives by invitation only, based on relationships of trust that we build over time by meeting unbelievers where they are, in THEIR context, and by incarnating Christ to them there in humility and honesty.
This is our Mission.
In releasing our "everybody's" for ministry - the Ministry of the Masses of our Church into our community - we acknowledge and leverage the priesthood of every believer.
HOW do we do this? We derive our authority and calling to minister from Jesus Christ. But how do we derive permission from the people to whom we will minister? Who will give us the authority to speak into the deepest, tenderest part of their life - ministering the love and grace of Jesus Christ to redeem them?
In the institutional church, this authority is derived from the power of position - a licensed, ordained, and likely paid position within the church.
In the organic church, this authority is derived from a relational process that I'm inclined to call "Permission-Based Ministry".
The Permission-Based Ministry process goes like this:
1. PROXIMITY
We meet people where they are - in the context of their daily life.
2. AFFINITY
The Holy Spirit arranges divine encounters, and knits our hearts together based on similar struggles, compassion, and empathy for each other.
3. RELATIONSHIP
We choose to move outside our comfort zones and pay the price to begin to walk alongside non-believers, to accept them as they are, and to develop friendships with them.
4. NEED/INVITATION
As we build trust, we begin to share not only humor and food and fun - but struggles and need and pain. Our honesty and openness, and the Holy Spirit's drawing power, may result in an invitation from that person to speak into their struggle.
5. GIVING/INCARNATION
The depth of our own personal discipleship (not our "head knowledge" or pat answers) is able to meet the depth of pain and struggle in someone else. Since it's not about us, but about Jesus, we are able to relate to their need and lead them to the Answer in their own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Thus, we incarnate Christ himself to those we are near.
6. FELLOWSHIP/CO-LABORING
We invite others into our fellowship, giving them the gift of a community that relates to them not as superiors who have it all together, but as friends with similar struggles who are looking to Jesus as their Hope, seeking Him together (e.g., church), and encouraging each other with His Words and Life.
This process is repeated over and over, and goes beyond relational evangelism - because our product is not simply conversions, but disciples who are passionate about Christ and His Cause in the world.
And in this way, we release all of our "Everybody's" to minister outside the walls of the church, building relationships outside the boundaries of the church, for the purpose of bringing people to Jesus Christ as the Healer of their souls.
We derive our authority to minister from Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church. But we derive our permission to speak into people's lives by invitation only, based on relationships of trust that we build over time by meeting unbelievers where they are, in THEIR context, and by incarnating Christ to them there in humility and honesty.
This is our Mission.
Organic Church (Church 2.42)
Whatever your ministry is built on
your ministry is maintained on
You harvest what you plant
Back to Basics
Read Acts 2:42
What did the Church look like in the beginning?
What were the core values?
What was important?
Who was the church?
What does that mean for us today at East Hill Foursquare Church?
Church 2.42 is based upon Acts 2:42
They devoted themselves
to the apostles' teaching
and to the fellowship,
to the breaking of bread
and to prayer.
Our Core Values in Church 2.42
Apostles' Teaching---------------------------------God’s Word - Good News
Fellowship-------------------------------------------Relationship - Friendship
Breaking of Bread----------------------------------Eating together - Food
Prayer------------------------------------------------Communication with God
The Church loved God
The Church loved each other
The Church took that love into their communities
"And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:47b
Look at the core values:
God’s Word - The Good News
"It is a sin to bore a kid with the Gospel" (Good News)
Jim Rayburn, Young Life Founder
"You must earn the right to be heard"
Jim Rayburn
"Preach the word;
be prepared in season and out of season,
correct, admonish, and encourage
with great patience and instruction."
2 Timothy 4:2
"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,
as you sing songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. "
Colossians 3:16
"It is written: man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Matthew 4:4
"The grass withers and the flowers fall because
The breath of God blows on them
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall
But the WORD of God stands forever."
Isaiah 40:7-7
Relationship -Friendship
Two greatest commandments-- Love God-Love People
Friendship is vertical and horizontal
"We will win the world when we realize that fellowship, not evangelism, must be our primary emphasis. When we demonstrate the Big Miracle of Love, it won't be necessary for us to go out they will come in."
Jess Moody
1 Corinthians Chapter13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self‑seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Eating Together - Food
"Christmas, Easter, New Years Day, Thanksgiving, Weddings,
Fourth of July, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Birthdays, etc...
What do all the festivities have in common? FOOD!
Holidays and food have a close relationship-food's important!"
Dan Russell
"I do not want to send them away hungry"
Jesus feeds four thousand
"Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"
Jesus feeds the five thousand
"Take and eat"
Jesus at the Last Supper
"Do this (Communion) in remembrance of me"
Jesus
When He was at the table with them
He took bread gave thanks, broke it,
and began to give it to them.
Then there eyes were opened and He disappeared from them@
Jesus on the road to Emmaus
"Do you have anything here to eat?"
Jesus appeared to the disciples
"Come and have breakfast”
Jesus appears after the resurrection
"Eating is deeply spiritual"
Dan Russell
Communicating with God - Prayer
"The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God."
Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies
"We read in the Gospels concerning Jesus that as he was praying, the fashion of his countenance was altered. Worship evidently did something for Jesus."
Albert W. Palmer
"Worship can only be boring if you are boring. Worship is active. You are the actor and God is your audience.
When worship is done you should ask, AHow did I do Lord?@
Dan Russell
O come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our maker
Psalm 95:6
Give unto the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Psalm 29:2
I asked an elderly woman once, AIf I go to church and the preacher says nothing worth hearing, is it any use for me to go?" "Of course not," she replied curtly. But a young man overhearing our conversation intruded, "I don't see why a man, when he goes to church to worship God, would let a preacher butt in on his worship!"
-Senior Teacher
Leadership Requirements to lead in Church 2.42
Love God-Love People
Daily Devotion with Jesus
Listen to the Holy Spirit
Be Real, Open, and Vulnerable
your ministry is maintained on
You harvest what you plant
Back to Basics
Read Acts 2:42
What did the Church look like in the beginning?
What were the core values?
What was important?
Who was the church?
What does that mean for us today at East Hill Foursquare Church?
Church 2.42 is based upon Acts 2:42
They devoted themselves
to the apostles' teaching
and to the fellowship,
to the breaking of bread
and to prayer.
Our Core Values in Church 2.42
Apostles' Teaching---------------------------------God’s Word - Good News
Fellowship-------------------------------------------Relationship - Friendship
Breaking of Bread----------------------------------Eating together - Food
Prayer------------------------------------------------Communication with God
The Church loved God
The Church loved each other
The Church took that love into their communities
"And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:47b
Look at the core values:
God’s Word - The Good News
"It is a sin to bore a kid with the Gospel" (Good News)
Jim Rayburn, Young Life Founder
"You must earn the right to be heard"
Jim Rayburn
"Preach the word;
be prepared in season and out of season,
correct, admonish, and encourage
with great patience and instruction."
2 Timothy 4:2
"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,
as you sing songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. "
Colossians 3:16
"It is written: man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Matthew 4:4
"The grass withers and the flowers fall because
The breath of God blows on them
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall
But the WORD of God stands forever."
Isaiah 40:7-7
Relationship -Friendship
Two greatest commandments-- Love God-Love People
Friendship is vertical and horizontal
"We will win the world when we realize that fellowship, not evangelism, must be our primary emphasis. When we demonstrate the Big Miracle of Love, it won't be necessary for us to go out they will come in."
Jess Moody
1 Corinthians Chapter13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self‑seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Eating Together - Food
"Christmas, Easter, New Years Day, Thanksgiving, Weddings,
Fourth of July, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Birthdays, etc...
What do all the festivities have in common? FOOD!
Holidays and food have a close relationship-food's important!"
Dan Russell
"I do not want to send them away hungry"
Jesus feeds four thousand
"Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"
Jesus feeds the five thousand
"Take and eat"
Jesus at the Last Supper
"Do this (Communion) in remembrance of me"
Jesus
When He was at the table with them
He took bread gave thanks, broke it,
and began to give it to them.
Then there eyes were opened and He disappeared from them@
Jesus on the road to Emmaus
"Do you have anything here to eat?"
Jesus appeared to the disciples
"Come and have breakfast”
Jesus appears after the resurrection
"Eating is deeply spiritual"
Dan Russell
Communicating with God - Prayer
"The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God."
Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies
"We read in the Gospels concerning Jesus that as he was praying, the fashion of his countenance was altered. Worship evidently did something for Jesus."
Albert W. Palmer
"Worship can only be boring if you are boring. Worship is active. You are the actor and God is your audience.
When worship is done you should ask, AHow did I do Lord?@
Dan Russell
O come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our maker
Psalm 95:6
Give unto the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Psalm 29:2
I asked an elderly woman once, AIf I go to church and the preacher says nothing worth hearing, is it any use for me to go?" "Of course not," she replied curtly. But a young man overhearing our conversation intruded, "I don't see why a man, when he goes to church to worship God, would let a preacher butt in on his worship!"
-Senior Teacher
Leadership Requirements to lead in Church 2.42
Love God-Love People
Daily Devotion with Jesus
Listen to the Holy Spirit
Be Real, Open, and Vulnerable
Pray
Prayer is critical to the Mission
Below are some thoughts on how you might pray today.
1. Praying with thanksgiving
Psalm 100:4‑5
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Prayer of thanksgiving takes the focus off of us and places it on God an His goodness. When we do this it is amazing how God begins to lift us up.
2. Praying with Confession
Psalm 139:23‑24 (David)
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Is there anything offensive in my life? Search me! Make me whole and clean. I give these things over to you.
3. Praying with listening
Psalm 37:7A
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him
Take a moment to be still before the Lord
4. Praying with requests
I John 5:14
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
God loves us to ask for his help! It shows that we believe that He is the answer.
5. Praying with declaration
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Hold on to the promises God has given you. Do not let go!
Solomon understood this prayer
2 Chronicles 6:14‑20
He said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth‑‑ you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it‑‑ as it is today. "Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, 'You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.' And now, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true. "But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.
6. Praying in the Spirit
Ephesians 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
When we do not know what to pray or how to pray...Let the inner most part of your heart cry to the inner depth of God. "As deep cries to deep" you will find strength, courage and power to walk through your day. Pray in the Spirit today.
Below are some thoughts on how you might pray today.
1. Praying with thanksgiving
Psalm 100:4‑5
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Prayer of thanksgiving takes the focus off of us and places it on God an His goodness. When we do this it is amazing how God begins to lift us up.
2. Praying with Confession
Psalm 139:23‑24 (David)
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Is there anything offensive in my life? Search me! Make me whole and clean. I give these things over to you.
3. Praying with listening
Psalm 37:7A
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him
Take a moment to be still before the Lord
4. Praying with requests
I John 5:14
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
God loves us to ask for his help! It shows that we believe that He is the answer.
5. Praying with declaration
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Hold on to the promises God has given you. Do not let go!
Solomon understood this prayer
2 Chronicles 6:14‑20
He said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth‑‑ you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it‑‑ as it is today. "Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, 'You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.' And now, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true. "But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.
6. Praying in the Spirit
Ephesians 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
When we do not know what to pray or how to pray...Let the inner most part of your heart cry to the inner depth of God. "As deep cries to deep" you will find strength, courage and power to walk through your day. Pray in the Spirit today.
Mission: Back to Basics
I coached for a number of years at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. And for more than a decade now I have been a part of the U.S.A. National Wrestling Coaching Staff. At the Olympic level, we spend most of our time going over the basics of the sport. It is the fundamentals that win matches.
The importance of this point was "pounded" (literally) into me early on in my career. My first major overseas tournament at the Olympic level drilled this point home. A wrestler does not reach his peak until about the age of thirty. I was a young college wrestler with a promising future. I was invited to wrestle in the prestigious Padoubny Tournament even though I was just twenty years old, a sophomore in college.
This tournament is touted as the toughest Greco Roman wrestling tournament in the world. Many see this tournament as more intense than the Olympics itself. They call this tournament the Unofficial Championships of the world. It is an unofficial world tournament because the Olympics and World Championships each country can only bring one wrestler from each weight class.
The Russians are the best in Greco Roman wrestling. Often times a number 6th ranked Russian wrestler could win the Olympics if his other five team mates were not there. So unlike the Olympics and World Championships, the Padoubny tournament had everybody. Most of the athletes there are in their prime.
The Padoubny tournament, the whole world was invited to compete, and there was no limit to the amount of athletes a country could bring. This tournament is held in Russia each year. The Russians and Eastern block countries bring more than full teams. Every Russian wrestler with any kind of credential is there ready to compete.
The weight classes are loaded. In fact, there had only been one American to ever win the Padoubny tournament in the history of this event. I was just a sophomore in college competing with the very best. I had no other international experience at this level. My very first match I drew the Olympic Champion. He was from the Soviet Union. He came from Mongolian descent. I was sure he was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan himself. With my lack of experience, you can only begin to imagine the thoughts going through my head.
My preparation for this match showed my youth. All I thought about was throwing this great champion. “Maybe I will get lucky,” I thought. In Greco Roman Wrestling the higher and harder you throw someone the more points you get. I dreamed, “Maybe I will throw him and catch him on his back and pin him.” You see I did not go out to wrestle him. I was looking for the easy way out. I was hoping for a whole lot of luck and not counting on skill and toughness. This was a huge mistake. I not only lost, but I was utterly destroyed. I found my feet flying over my head as I crashed onto the mat with my opponent landing on top of me. As I got back up on my feet, I would try to lock up with him again thinking maybe I will throw him this time. I would find myself once again being catapulted through the air. Luck does not win matches, especially when you are wrestling the Olympic Champion.
The truth is, I know I could have competed with him, but on that particular day, I looked for the easy way. Since that day, I have wrestled many World Class athletes and I have found myself with my hand being raised more times than not. Those wins came from not being afraid to enter into the heat of the battle. I stayed focused. I knew my objective and I worked hard. I did not look for the easy way out. I was not looking for a lucky throw. I would work to score as each point presented itself. It took patience and discipline. In 1995, I became the second wrestler in U.S. history to win this tournament.
The key to winning a wrestling match is one point at a time. It is staying focused. It is having a game plan. If an opening to throw your opponent occurs you take advantage of that. Your job is to stay tough and keep focused following the game plan you have practiced thousands of hours in your preparation for this moment.
There is an attractive lure; We want to see big numbers coming to our church. We begin to look for all kinds of ways to draw a crowd. Big events, big programs, and big promotion do not make an effective ministry. The truth is God wants a crowd in Heaven. And we will see a crowd in Heaven as we commit to touching one life at a time. Ministry is not a crowd-focused endeavor. So when you find yourself in a crowd, look for the one that you can touch with the Hand of Jesus.
If we look to the event, program or promotion to build a strong ministry, you will fall down as I did wrestling the Russian. Events, programs and promotion have their place in ministry, just as there is a time to throw in a wrestling match. But if you are looking for the big throw to win you will miss the battle. Large attendance does not automatically equate to an effective ministry. I am not saying to forget the numbers. All healthy living things grow. If your ministry is healthy it will produce new life. It will grow. Hopefully, it will be a glimpse of the crowds we will see in Heaven. However, those numbers must be connected to a face with a name. You must have a strategy to care for these individuals. Healthy, long lasting ministries grow one person at a time.
Who are the people that the Lord has placed in your life?
Love them. Care for them. Eat with them. Pray with them. Share life with them and watch the Lord multiply your ministry. This is our mission.
The importance of this point was "pounded" (literally) into me early on in my career. My first major overseas tournament at the Olympic level drilled this point home. A wrestler does not reach his peak until about the age of thirty. I was a young college wrestler with a promising future. I was invited to wrestle in the prestigious Padoubny Tournament even though I was just twenty years old, a sophomore in college.
This tournament is touted as the toughest Greco Roman wrestling tournament in the world. Many see this tournament as more intense than the Olympics itself. They call this tournament the Unofficial Championships of the world. It is an unofficial world tournament because the Olympics and World Championships each country can only bring one wrestler from each weight class.
The Russians are the best in Greco Roman wrestling. Often times a number 6th ranked Russian wrestler could win the Olympics if his other five team mates were not there. So unlike the Olympics and World Championships, the Padoubny tournament had everybody. Most of the athletes there are in their prime.
The Padoubny tournament, the whole world was invited to compete, and there was no limit to the amount of athletes a country could bring. This tournament is held in Russia each year. The Russians and Eastern block countries bring more than full teams. Every Russian wrestler with any kind of credential is there ready to compete.
The weight classes are loaded. In fact, there had only been one American to ever win the Padoubny tournament in the history of this event. I was just a sophomore in college competing with the very best. I had no other international experience at this level. My very first match I drew the Olympic Champion. He was from the Soviet Union. He came from Mongolian descent. I was sure he was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan himself. With my lack of experience, you can only begin to imagine the thoughts going through my head.
My preparation for this match showed my youth. All I thought about was throwing this great champion. “Maybe I will get lucky,” I thought. In Greco Roman Wrestling the higher and harder you throw someone the more points you get. I dreamed, “Maybe I will throw him and catch him on his back and pin him.” You see I did not go out to wrestle him. I was looking for the easy way out. I was hoping for a whole lot of luck and not counting on skill and toughness. This was a huge mistake. I not only lost, but I was utterly destroyed. I found my feet flying over my head as I crashed onto the mat with my opponent landing on top of me. As I got back up on my feet, I would try to lock up with him again thinking maybe I will throw him this time. I would find myself once again being catapulted through the air. Luck does not win matches, especially when you are wrestling the Olympic Champion.
The truth is, I know I could have competed with him, but on that particular day, I looked for the easy way. Since that day, I have wrestled many World Class athletes and I have found myself with my hand being raised more times than not. Those wins came from not being afraid to enter into the heat of the battle. I stayed focused. I knew my objective and I worked hard. I did not look for the easy way out. I was not looking for a lucky throw. I would work to score as each point presented itself. It took patience and discipline. In 1995, I became the second wrestler in U.S. history to win this tournament.
The key to winning a wrestling match is one point at a time. It is staying focused. It is having a game plan. If an opening to throw your opponent occurs you take advantage of that. Your job is to stay tough and keep focused following the game plan you have practiced thousands of hours in your preparation for this moment.
There is an attractive lure; We want to see big numbers coming to our church. We begin to look for all kinds of ways to draw a crowd. Big events, big programs, and big promotion do not make an effective ministry. The truth is God wants a crowd in Heaven. And we will see a crowd in Heaven as we commit to touching one life at a time. Ministry is not a crowd-focused endeavor. So when you find yourself in a crowd, look for the one that you can touch with the Hand of Jesus.
If we look to the event, program or promotion to build a strong ministry, you will fall down as I did wrestling the Russian. Events, programs and promotion have their place in ministry, just as there is a time to throw in a wrestling match. But if you are looking for the big throw to win you will miss the battle. Large attendance does not automatically equate to an effective ministry. I am not saying to forget the numbers. All healthy living things grow. If your ministry is healthy it will produce new life. It will grow. Hopefully, it will be a glimpse of the crowds we will see in Heaven. However, those numbers must be connected to a face with a name. You must have a strategy to care for these individuals. Healthy, long lasting ministries grow one person at a time.
Who are the people that the Lord has placed in your life?
Love them. Care for them. Eat with them. Pray with them. Share life with them and watch the Lord multiply your ministry. This is our mission.
Psalm 107 "God's Promise for the Mission"
Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
He is good
He loves you forever
He will redeem you from the hand of your foe
He will gather you
He will deliver you from distress
He will lead you by a straight path
He will settle you
He will satisfy your thirst
He will fill your hunger
He has good things
He will bring you out of darkness
He will deliver you from the deepest gloom
He will break the chains
He will break down gates of bronze
He will cut through bars of iron
He will send you his word
He will heal you
He will rescue you from the grave
He will show you his works
He will still the storm
He will hush the waves
He will guide you to a safe haven
He will turn the desert into pools of water
He will turn parched ground into living springs
He will bring you a fruitful harvest
He will increase your numbers
He will lift you out of your needy affliction
He will increase your family
He will bless you
His love is unfailing
His deeds are wonderful
Ps 107:43
Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
He is good
He loves you forever
He will redeem you from the hand of your foe
He will gather you
He will deliver you from distress
He will lead you by a straight path
He will settle you
He will satisfy your thirst
He will fill your hunger
He has good things
He will bring you out of darkness
He will deliver you from the deepest gloom
He will break the chains
He will break down gates of bronze
He will cut through bars of iron
He will send you his word
He will heal you
He will rescue you from the grave
He will show you his works
He will still the storm
He will hush the waves
He will guide you to a safe haven
He will turn the desert into pools of water
He will turn parched ground into living springs
He will bring you a fruitful harvest
He will increase your numbers
He will lift you out of your needy affliction
He will increase your family
He will bless you
His love is unfailing
His deeds are wonderful
Ps 107:43
Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD.
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to Mission
I set out to understand missions - to dive in and get a grip on the purpose and function of missions.
A divine discontent constrained and drove me.
I felt that something was not right with the American/Western missionary machine.
I found that our acts of compassion were gigantic, commendable, and well known if not well funded. We were painting more churches than we were planting. We were feeding more mouths than souls. We were hugging more orphans than we were adopting sons into the Kingdom of God. Our practical service was amazing, but real spiritual fruit, measured in terms of new disciples and new congregations and the growth of the Church, was on that same scale spotty and paltry.
I became critical.
We had delegated the husbandry of our spiritual "farms" primarily to a Gentry Class - a Few Paid Professionals whom we called our Full Time Missionaries. Meanwhile, our own congregants, churches full of disciples, were ill equipped and weakly motivated to obey their own personal Calling to the Great Commission.
Then, a funny thing happened on the way to my understanding of missions. (I am still not there.)
I began to hang out with missional disciples - with long term missionaries and stateside ministers who had borne real fruit at home and in the field... fruit that remained and multiplied and grew and bore yet even more fruit.
I committed to learn, became willing to challenge all prior assumptions.
I became less critical.
I learned to drop the trailing 's' from "missions", and call it Mission.
To replace, "What is missions?" with "What is the Mission of Christ and His Church?"
If Mission is about the expansion of the Church (it is), then I could not study the Mission of the Church without learning more about the Church itself.
So I began to study the Church.
And I found I could not study the Church without learning more about the One who passionately loves the Church.
I began to see the DNA of Christ's Body - this DNA is a Redemptive Dynamic - as the gathering force of the Church and the sending force of it's Mission. This gathering/sending dynamic is the Power over which the Gates of Hell cannot prevail.
A funny thing happened on my quest to understand missions.
I began to fall in love again.
My own ember of discipleship - my daily, face-to-face relationship with Christ, deep in my own heart - was reignited.
I followed my Calling all the way back to the One Who Calls, followed missions all the way back to The Mission. And in return, my love and appreciation deepened for Jesus, His work in my heart, His loving Mission to the world, and His Church as the actual presence of His Life on earth.
This life of love and grace must be shared, and we are the vehicle Christ has chosen. We are the Church He loves. That Call to expand - to cross the line between churched and unchurched in order to share this Life and make new disciples - is our Mission.
I could die for that.
A divine discontent constrained and drove me.
I felt that something was not right with the American/Western missionary machine.
I found that our acts of compassion were gigantic, commendable, and well known if not well funded. We were painting more churches than we were planting. We were feeding more mouths than souls. We were hugging more orphans than we were adopting sons into the Kingdom of God. Our practical service was amazing, but real spiritual fruit, measured in terms of new disciples and new congregations and the growth of the Church, was on that same scale spotty and paltry.
I became critical.
We had delegated the husbandry of our spiritual "farms" primarily to a Gentry Class - a Few Paid Professionals whom we called our Full Time Missionaries. Meanwhile, our own congregants, churches full of disciples, were ill equipped and weakly motivated to obey their own personal Calling to the Great Commission.
Then, a funny thing happened on the way to my understanding of missions. (I am still not there.)
I began to hang out with missional disciples - with long term missionaries and stateside ministers who had borne real fruit at home and in the field... fruit that remained and multiplied and grew and bore yet even more fruit.
I committed to learn, became willing to challenge all prior assumptions.
I became less critical.
I learned to drop the trailing 's' from "missions", and call it Mission.
To replace, "What is missions?" with "What is the Mission of Christ and His Church?"
If Mission is about the expansion of the Church (it is), then I could not study the Mission of the Church without learning more about the Church itself.
So I began to study the Church.
And I found I could not study the Church without learning more about the One who passionately loves the Church.
I began to see the DNA of Christ's Body - this DNA is a Redemptive Dynamic - as the gathering force of the Church and the sending force of it's Mission. This gathering/sending dynamic is the Power over which the Gates of Hell cannot prevail.
A funny thing happened on my quest to understand missions.
I began to fall in love again.
My own ember of discipleship - my daily, face-to-face relationship with Christ, deep in my own heart - was reignited.
I followed my Calling all the way back to the One Who Calls, followed missions all the way back to The Mission. And in return, my love and appreciation deepened for Jesus, His work in my heart, His loving Mission to the world, and His Church as the actual presence of His Life on earth.
This life of love and grace must be shared, and we are the vehicle Christ has chosen. We are the Church He loves. That Call to expand - to cross the line between churched and unchurched in order to share this Life and make new disciples - is our Mission.
I could die for that.
Bitter or Better
Dealing with Bitter Thoughts
We have struggled with bitter thoughts at one time or another. Bitter thoughts are a cancer. They slowly eat away at you. One girl I was counseling wrote this poem and she gave me permission to share it. She was faced with the reality of sin in her life. This poem is a great picture of the bitter thoughts I too have battled.
Orphaned
What do You want from me?
I'm kind of busy here being free.
You say You miss me.
Well then why did You leave?
I needed You and You weren't there.
I thought You always said that You cared.
I lived for You ever since I was young.
Well, I've decided that part of my life is done.
I tried to find You for four years.
Did You ever see any of my tears?
I needed You. I thought You knew.
I'm having a hard time believing Your promises are true.
You let me down when it counted the most.
Where were the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost?
It wasn't right for You to turn my world upside down
And then when I went to look, You were nowhere to be found.
I used to go to church and sing the songs,
But I haven't heard from You in so long.
Do I have to be bad to get noticed?
If so, then religion is hopeless.
You're supposed to be there for mankind.
Then why are You so hard to find?
"I never took the time to stop and realize
That death takes many forms, even while alive..."
We all find ourselves in this place eventually. “Lord, where are you?! Where did you go?!” We are frustrated and discouraged. We feel worn out, beaten and abandoned. The cost of sin is high. “That death takes many forms, even while alive…” This is the plan of the enemy: to kill, steal and destroy. There are people dying all over the world: secretly dying on the inside. They have lost the fight battling in their own mind. Bitter thoughts and toxic tears throttle their thoughts and life.
The question is Bitter or Better?
When the world crashes down around you, you have a choice. Do you want to choose to be bitter or better? I have found a lot of people when presented with the option actually choose bitter. They say, “Well, you just don’t understand. I do not have it as good as you have it.”
It is not about me. Again I ask...Do you want to get bitter or better? The truth is...we will all have difficult times in our lives. No one can escape that. What we can control is the way we deal with these painful moments.
Bitter thoughts are easy to swallow, but they are toxic to the soul. How do we move from bitter thoughts to better thoughts? I often meet with people for counseling. I spend the first session listening to the horrible things that have happened to them. These people will recall things from their childhood. These things are as fresh in their mind today as they were when the incident happened. They have been caught in the trap of bitterness. They have never found their way clear.
I coached for a number of years at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. At the Olympic Training Center the best athletes in the world surrounded you. I loved to sit and talk and hear their stories. Almost every one of them could tell you how they overcame incredible odds to become the best in their sport. I coached the United States National Wrestling Team. One of the athletes I coached was named Brian. He was consistently in the top six in the nation at the heavy weight category.
Brian was given up for adoption at the age of two. His parents thought that he was mentally retarded. They came to the conclusion that raising a child with this disability would too difficult for them. One year later, doctors found out that he was deaf. Brian wasn’t retarded at all. The doctors did some corrective surgery and Brian could hear just fine. At four, a family adopted him. They adopted him because when they heard his story they felt sorry for him. Over the next seven years he was told on a regular basis that they were now sorry they ever adopted him. They told him that they did not love him. He was verbally and physically abused. One day, eleven year old Brian, was called in to the principal’s office. The principal informed him that he would not be going home to his adoptive family ever again. His dad had called the police that morning and told them if Brian came home he was going to kill Brian. His dad continued by saying then he would kill his wife, and then he would take his own life.
Brian was placed into foster care where he lived in 28 different foster homes, four adoptive to be homes and 2 group homes in five years. He bounced from home to home, school to school and was not given much of a chance to succeed. If any one could have bitter thoughts it was Brian. He could have swum in toxic tears and everyone would have understood. It wasn’t Brian’s fault. He was a victim from a very young age.
Brian graduated from high school and he was the state high school wrestling champion. He went on to graduate from Junior College as the National Junior College Champion. He went from there on scholarship to a University where he graduated in a degree in social work. He has heart to help kids that are going through what he went through.
I had worked with Brian for a couple years before I even heard about his story. He did not fill his days wading in toxic tears. I was shocked when he told me about his past. Brian said two things that are have really stuck with me. He said, “Dan, I had a terrible past that is true, but I would not change a thing about it. My past made me who I am today and I like me!” Then he said, “Yes it’s true I horrible things happen to me, but why would I dwell on the past when I have a great future!”
Brian had managed to move from the allure of bitter thoughts to the healing that comes from better thoughts. Where is your focus? What are the things you think about? What are the memories you have from the past? Do you dwell on the good things or the negative things? How do you feel about yourself? And most important, DO YOU want to find healing?
Before we can move on to healing we have to know from whom the healing comes. People do not usually come into counseling until they are at the end of their rope. Everything is falling down and apart. They walk into my office and they are ready to explode. At the end of the first session I conclude by asking them, tell me about where you are with God? I hear time and time again, “I believe there is a God.” Believing that there is a God and knowing God are two entirely different things. God’s desire is to intimately know you. God wants you to know where the healing you are receiving is coming from.
My prayer for people is that they might receive healing that is complete. Problems will come and go. We can begin to solve the issue that they may be struggling with and never deal with the eternal problem. Without dealing with the eternity that God has placed their heart they will never truly find the freedom they desire. They will bounce from one problem to another. This will get fixed and then something else will get broke. There is a desire in all of us that can only be met through placing our hope and trust in Jesus. I want to see people recognize who they are in relation to the Creator who died with a broken heart for their love. I want them to know the One that heals completely.
Have you put your hope and trust in Jesus?
When we receive Christ, we become His Bride, His Beloved. As His Bride, we can then draw close to Him. Jesus will never divorce Himself from us. His love is eternal. During one of our services one of our worship team members showed me some words that He felt the Lord wanted us to hear. This is God calling out to us to draw near to Him he titled it, “My Beloved.”
My Beloved
Come close to me, Beloved
Recline against my chest
Rest in your salvation
My joy has made you clean
Don’t worry about the next day
It will worry on it’s own
Every mystery, every unknown path
Will be revealed to you, my Beloved
Just wait and see, the best is yet to come
Just wait and see, my goodness will be added unto you
My strength is your strength
My hope is your hope
My joy is your joy
My faith is your faith
My peace is your peace
My love is your love
What the Father has given me, I give to you
My Spirit is your Spirit
Come close to me, Beloved
Come close to me.
God is calling out to us. We read His words in Psalm 38:4. God says, “Taste and see that I am good!” Jesus died on the cross shedding His blood, so that we could once again taste and see that God is good. Only Jesus satisfies.
Bitter thoughts often clog our ears to hear God calling out to us. Breaking the cycle of bitter thoughts takes time and training. I have found two things that worked well for me. When the enemy tries to get me thinking wrong thoughts, I stop and say to myself, “God has healed me of this! I am healed.” If the thoughts keep persisting I say an alphabet prayer. I start with the letter A. I think of all the things that begin with the letter A that describe God. I pray, “Lord you are Awesome, Amazing, Absolute, Able…” Then I move on to the letter B…“Lord you are…Beautiful, Blessed …” I continue through the alphabet. As I begin to lift up the name of the Lord, I begin to be lifted up. In stead of letting bitter thoughts enter my mind, I focus on the Lord and His goodness. I turn a time of depression into worship. This does not come naturally. I have to discipline myself to do this. Most times I do not feel like worship. I feel angry. I feel mad. I feel depressed. I feel hurt. This is a disciplined exercise. Lord I feel horrible, but I am not going to fix my eyes on my hurt. I am going to fix my eyes on you. No matter how I feel, “You are worthy of my worship.” By the time I am done, I begin to feel better. And my ears are open to receive what God wants to speak to me.
God is good from A to Z.
We have struggled with bitter thoughts at one time or another. Bitter thoughts are a cancer. They slowly eat away at you. One girl I was counseling wrote this poem and she gave me permission to share it. She was faced with the reality of sin in her life. This poem is a great picture of the bitter thoughts I too have battled.
Orphaned
What do You want from me?
I'm kind of busy here being free.
You say You miss me.
Well then why did You leave?
I needed You and You weren't there.
I thought You always said that You cared.
I lived for You ever since I was young.
Well, I've decided that part of my life is done.
I tried to find You for four years.
Did You ever see any of my tears?
I needed You. I thought You knew.
I'm having a hard time believing Your promises are true.
You let me down when it counted the most.
Where were the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost?
It wasn't right for You to turn my world upside down
And then when I went to look, You were nowhere to be found.
I used to go to church and sing the songs,
But I haven't heard from You in so long.
Do I have to be bad to get noticed?
If so, then religion is hopeless.
You're supposed to be there for mankind.
Then why are You so hard to find?
"I never took the time to stop and realize
That death takes many forms, even while alive..."
We all find ourselves in this place eventually. “Lord, where are you?! Where did you go?!” We are frustrated and discouraged. We feel worn out, beaten and abandoned. The cost of sin is high. “That death takes many forms, even while alive…” This is the plan of the enemy: to kill, steal and destroy. There are people dying all over the world: secretly dying on the inside. They have lost the fight battling in their own mind. Bitter thoughts and toxic tears throttle their thoughts and life.
The question is Bitter or Better?
When the world crashes down around you, you have a choice. Do you want to choose to be bitter or better? I have found a lot of people when presented with the option actually choose bitter. They say, “Well, you just don’t understand. I do not have it as good as you have it.”
It is not about me. Again I ask...Do you want to get bitter or better? The truth is...we will all have difficult times in our lives. No one can escape that. What we can control is the way we deal with these painful moments.
Bitter thoughts are easy to swallow, but they are toxic to the soul. How do we move from bitter thoughts to better thoughts? I often meet with people for counseling. I spend the first session listening to the horrible things that have happened to them. These people will recall things from their childhood. These things are as fresh in their mind today as they were when the incident happened. They have been caught in the trap of bitterness. They have never found their way clear.
I coached for a number of years at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. At the Olympic Training Center the best athletes in the world surrounded you. I loved to sit and talk and hear their stories. Almost every one of them could tell you how they overcame incredible odds to become the best in their sport. I coached the United States National Wrestling Team. One of the athletes I coached was named Brian. He was consistently in the top six in the nation at the heavy weight category.
Brian was given up for adoption at the age of two. His parents thought that he was mentally retarded. They came to the conclusion that raising a child with this disability would too difficult for them. One year later, doctors found out that he was deaf. Brian wasn’t retarded at all. The doctors did some corrective surgery and Brian could hear just fine. At four, a family adopted him. They adopted him because when they heard his story they felt sorry for him. Over the next seven years he was told on a regular basis that they were now sorry they ever adopted him. They told him that they did not love him. He was verbally and physically abused. One day, eleven year old Brian, was called in to the principal’s office. The principal informed him that he would not be going home to his adoptive family ever again. His dad had called the police that morning and told them if Brian came home he was going to kill Brian. His dad continued by saying then he would kill his wife, and then he would take his own life.
Brian was placed into foster care where he lived in 28 different foster homes, four adoptive to be homes and 2 group homes in five years. He bounced from home to home, school to school and was not given much of a chance to succeed. If any one could have bitter thoughts it was Brian. He could have swum in toxic tears and everyone would have understood. It wasn’t Brian’s fault. He was a victim from a very young age.
Brian graduated from high school and he was the state high school wrestling champion. He went on to graduate from Junior College as the National Junior College Champion. He went from there on scholarship to a University where he graduated in a degree in social work. He has heart to help kids that are going through what he went through.
I had worked with Brian for a couple years before I even heard about his story. He did not fill his days wading in toxic tears. I was shocked when he told me about his past. Brian said two things that are have really stuck with me. He said, “Dan, I had a terrible past that is true, but I would not change a thing about it. My past made me who I am today and I like me!” Then he said, “Yes it’s true I horrible things happen to me, but why would I dwell on the past when I have a great future!”
Brian had managed to move from the allure of bitter thoughts to the healing that comes from better thoughts. Where is your focus? What are the things you think about? What are the memories you have from the past? Do you dwell on the good things or the negative things? How do you feel about yourself? And most important, DO YOU want to find healing?
Before we can move on to healing we have to know from whom the healing comes. People do not usually come into counseling until they are at the end of their rope. Everything is falling down and apart. They walk into my office and they are ready to explode. At the end of the first session I conclude by asking them, tell me about where you are with God? I hear time and time again, “I believe there is a God.” Believing that there is a God and knowing God are two entirely different things. God’s desire is to intimately know you. God wants you to know where the healing you are receiving is coming from.
My prayer for people is that they might receive healing that is complete. Problems will come and go. We can begin to solve the issue that they may be struggling with and never deal with the eternal problem. Without dealing with the eternity that God has placed their heart they will never truly find the freedom they desire. They will bounce from one problem to another. This will get fixed and then something else will get broke. There is a desire in all of us that can only be met through placing our hope and trust in Jesus. I want to see people recognize who they are in relation to the Creator who died with a broken heart for their love. I want them to know the One that heals completely.
Have you put your hope and trust in Jesus?
When we receive Christ, we become His Bride, His Beloved. As His Bride, we can then draw close to Him. Jesus will never divorce Himself from us. His love is eternal. During one of our services one of our worship team members showed me some words that He felt the Lord wanted us to hear. This is God calling out to us to draw near to Him he titled it, “My Beloved.”
My Beloved
Come close to me, Beloved
Recline against my chest
Rest in your salvation
My joy has made you clean
Don’t worry about the next day
It will worry on it’s own
Every mystery, every unknown path
Will be revealed to you, my Beloved
Just wait and see, the best is yet to come
Just wait and see, my goodness will be added unto you
My strength is your strength
My hope is your hope
My joy is your joy
My faith is your faith
My peace is your peace
My love is your love
What the Father has given me, I give to you
My Spirit is your Spirit
Come close to me, Beloved
Come close to me.
God is calling out to us. We read His words in Psalm 38:4. God says, “Taste and see that I am good!” Jesus died on the cross shedding His blood, so that we could once again taste and see that God is good. Only Jesus satisfies.
Bitter thoughts often clog our ears to hear God calling out to us. Breaking the cycle of bitter thoughts takes time and training. I have found two things that worked well for me. When the enemy tries to get me thinking wrong thoughts, I stop and say to myself, “God has healed me of this! I am healed.” If the thoughts keep persisting I say an alphabet prayer. I start with the letter A. I think of all the things that begin with the letter A that describe God. I pray, “Lord you are Awesome, Amazing, Absolute, Able…” Then I move on to the letter B…“Lord you are…Beautiful, Blessed …” I continue through the alphabet. As I begin to lift up the name of the Lord, I begin to be lifted up. In stead of letting bitter thoughts enter my mind, I focus on the Lord and His goodness. I turn a time of depression into worship. This does not come naturally. I have to discipline myself to do this. Most times I do not feel like worship. I feel angry. I feel mad. I feel depressed. I feel hurt. This is a disciplined exercise. Lord I feel horrible, but I am not going to fix my eyes on my hurt. I am going to fix my eyes on you. No matter how I feel, “You are worthy of my worship.” By the time I am done, I begin to feel better. And my ears are open to receive what God wants to speak to me.
God is good from A to Z.
Cave Dwellers
1 Samuel 22:1-2.
“David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And every one who was in distress, and every one who was in debt, and every one, who was discontented, gathered to him; and he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.”
These 400 cave dwellers became the mightiest men in Israel’s history. While at first they joined David in the cave wounded, hurt, abandoned and rejected, they left with a whole new perspective. David and his mighty men found training and discipline inside. The process was difficult, and often lonely. But God raised them up to unite the whole nation of Israel, and to become a world power in military and trade. Only God can take a place that is cold, dark and damp and turn it into a sanctuary, a cave of healing. Only God can take a wounded soul and make it beautiful.
Several years ago, God told me He was going to restore my innocence. He also said that I was going to grow in my relationship and intimacy with Him. But in order for that to happen, I needed to step inside the cave. This is the training for those that want to step into the cave of healing. It is for those that have experienced hurt. It is for those that have been abandoned, rejected and abused. God has an awesome plan for you. He wants to heal you. I believe that He is good and faithful and will do what He says.
Dynamic Tension in the “Faith Factor”
It is important before we jump in to remember WHO does the healing. God heals. It is HIS heart. It is HIS plan. You simply need to believe and receive His Word. But you may be saying to yourself, “I want to believe, but I am struggling here! I have tried so many times before and I have continued to fail. God, where are you?” In my personal experience, I have found that the harder I try to overcome, the harder I seem to fall. This has caused me to feel more ashamed and discouraged. When I try, I fail. It makes me want to throw my hands up and scream, “I give up!” The truth is, it’s okay to be in that place. It’s a good starting point. For me, it’s the realization that I need to place my faith in something or someone greater than myself. That someone is GOD. God is calling you into the darkness of your cave with a solution. He confidently declares, “I AM the way, the truth, and the life. You can trust me. There is no other way to be healed. Come to me. Place your faith in me.”
I call this the “Faith Factor”. As you walk through this process, keep bringing yourself back to a place of faith. Say this to yourself right now…
“On my own, I have never been able to overcome.
God is the Overcomer! I am not!
But with Him, I will overcome!”
I asked a group of leaders an important question, “Where does God place His faith?” Someone immediately answered, “In us?” That belief can have a devastating effect on us. It can also devastate God. I alone would have driven Him to a faithless state. But God places His faith in the same place He wants us to place ours; in Himself. He alone is trustworthy. Everyone and everything else will let you down.
God places His faith in Himself. He demonstrated that faith, by becoming one of us. He became flesh through His Son, Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus could do nothing apart from God. Jesus placed His life completely in God’s Hands, even unto the point of death. Therefore, God’s faith was solely upon Himself. It is mind boggling to understand, but critical to grasp a hold of.
The Old Testament shows us what happens when people try to impress God with their own ability. Their attempts were always a complete failure. The same is true for us today. We will always fall short. But the New Testament gives us the complete picture of God’s plan. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus. It is through faith in His Son that His plan can be fulfilled in our lives. It is only through Jesus that we are healed.
Say this to yourself OUT LOUD!
My faith is placed where God places His faith.
You see, on my own I can’t do what is right!
On my own I can’t fix what is wrong!
On my own I can’t find what is missing!
I need to depend on God and God alone!
I place my faith in His Hands.
God places His faith in His own Hands.
What He has spoken – comes about.
It is His job, I allow Him to do what He says He will do.
I don’t work harder or try harder. I depend on Him!
When I am struggling – I depend on Him.
When I have messed up - I depend on Him.
My faith doesn’t measure up, but His faith in me moves mountains.
Amen, Amen and Amen!
“David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And every one who was in distress, and every one who was in debt, and every one, who was discontented, gathered to him; and he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.”
These 400 cave dwellers became the mightiest men in Israel’s history. While at first they joined David in the cave wounded, hurt, abandoned and rejected, they left with a whole new perspective. David and his mighty men found training and discipline inside. The process was difficult, and often lonely. But God raised them up to unite the whole nation of Israel, and to become a world power in military and trade. Only God can take a place that is cold, dark and damp and turn it into a sanctuary, a cave of healing. Only God can take a wounded soul and make it beautiful.
Several years ago, God told me He was going to restore my innocence. He also said that I was going to grow in my relationship and intimacy with Him. But in order for that to happen, I needed to step inside the cave. This is the training for those that want to step into the cave of healing. It is for those that have experienced hurt. It is for those that have been abandoned, rejected and abused. God has an awesome plan for you. He wants to heal you. I believe that He is good and faithful and will do what He says.
Dynamic Tension in the “Faith Factor”
It is important before we jump in to remember WHO does the healing. God heals. It is HIS heart. It is HIS plan. You simply need to believe and receive His Word. But you may be saying to yourself, “I want to believe, but I am struggling here! I have tried so many times before and I have continued to fail. God, where are you?” In my personal experience, I have found that the harder I try to overcome, the harder I seem to fall. This has caused me to feel more ashamed and discouraged. When I try, I fail. It makes me want to throw my hands up and scream, “I give up!” The truth is, it’s okay to be in that place. It’s a good starting point. For me, it’s the realization that I need to place my faith in something or someone greater than myself. That someone is GOD. God is calling you into the darkness of your cave with a solution. He confidently declares, “I AM the way, the truth, and the life. You can trust me. There is no other way to be healed. Come to me. Place your faith in me.”
I call this the “Faith Factor”. As you walk through this process, keep bringing yourself back to a place of faith. Say this to yourself right now…
“On my own, I have never been able to overcome.
God is the Overcomer! I am not!
But with Him, I will overcome!”
I asked a group of leaders an important question, “Where does God place His faith?” Someone immediately answered, “In us?” That belief can have a devastating effect on us. It can also devastate God. I alone would have driven Him to a faithless state. But God places His faith in the same place He wants us to place ours; in Himself. He alone is trustworthy. Everyone and everything else will let you down.
God places His faith in Himself. He demonstrated that faith, by becoming one of us. He became flesh through His Son, Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus could do nothing apart from God. Jesus placed His life completely in God’s Hands, even unto the point of death. Therefore, God’s faith was solely upon Himself. It is mind boggling to understand, but critical to grasp a hold of.
The Old Testament shows us what happens when people try to impress God with their own ability. Their attempts were always a complete failure. The same is true for us today. We will always fall short. But the New Testament gives us the complete picture of God’s plan. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus. It is through faith in His Son that His plan can be fulfilled in our lives. It is only through Jesus that we are healed.
Say this to yourself OUT LOUD!
My faith is placed where God places His faith.
You see, on my own I can’t do what is right!
On my own I can’t fix what is wrong!
On my own I can’t find what is missing!
I need to depend on God and God alone!
I place my faith in His Hands.
God places His faith in His own Hands.
What He has spoken – comes about.
It is His job, I allow Him to do what He says He will do.
I don’t work harder or try harder. I depend on Him!
When I am struggling – I depend on Him.
When I have messed up - I depend on Him.
My faith doesn’t measure up, but His faith in me moves mountains.
Amen, Amen and Amen!
Why Me?
Why Me?
“The Kingdom of God is forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold of it!”
The last thing that Jesus Christ said when He left this earth was this:
“Therefore GO and MAKE disciples of all nations, BAPTIZING them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and TEACHING them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
-Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
What is the Mission?
To Prepare the Way of the Lord!
To go into all nations
To train up Passionate-Hearted Disciples.
Passionate-Hearted Disciples are those who will give their lives to see the Kingdom of God forcefully advance. This mission is not for the faint of heart. It will cost you everything. But remember, as you go into the world making disciples, baptizing them and teaching them, Christ’s promises He will always be with you.
There are three important questions you need to ask yourself. The answers to these three questions will help you on your journey to accomplishing your mission. When you can answer these three questions yourself, you will grow as a Pasionate-Hearted Disciple. Then you will catch the vision for the mission; raising up other Passionate-Hearted Disciples.
1. QUESTION OF EXISTENCE: WHY AM I ALIVE?
“Why was I born? Was it only to have trouble and sorrow, to end my life in disgrace?”
-Jeremiah 20:18 (TEV)
“The Lord has made everything for His own purpose.”
-Proverbs 16:4a (GW)
“Long before He laid down earth's foundations, He had us in mind, and settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love.” -Ephesians 1:4 (Msg)
“I WAS CREATED TO BE LOVED BY GOD!”
2. QUESTION OF SIGNIFICANCE: DOES MY LIFE MATTER?
“My work all seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and for no purpose at all.”
-Isaiah 49:4a (NLT)
“I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.”
-Isaiah 44:2 (CEV)
“You... scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. The very day was recorded in your book!”
-Psalm 139:16 (LB)
"His plans endure forever; his purposes last eternally."
-Psalm 33:11 (GN)
“MY LIFE MATTERS TO GOD!”
“When this tent we live in—our body here on earth—is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live in, a home He himself has made, which will last forever.” -2 Corinthians 5:1 (TEV)
“Leave your impoverished confusion and live! Walk up the street to a life with meaning."
-Proverbs 9:6 (Msg)
God sent His only Son Jesus to lay down His life for you.
God clearly communicated your value through the sacrifice of Jesus His Son.
3. QUESTION OF INTENTION: WHAT IS MY PURPOSE?
“Why did you create us? For nothing?”
-Psalm 89:47 (NCV)
"Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding."
-Proverbs 9:10b (LB)
“I FIND MY PURPOSE IN GOD!”
“For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.”
-Colossians 1:16 (Msg)
“It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for...part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.”
-Ephesians 1:11 (Msg)
“It makes no difference who you are or where you're from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open.”
-Acts 10:35 (Msg)
"You (God) created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created."
-Revelation 4:11b (NLT)
“Love the Lord your God... This is the first and greatest commandment.”
-Matt. 22:37-38 (NIV)
You were created to bring honor to God!
Application
1. When did you first know God loved you? Explain:
2. What were the circumstances in your life before you knew His love?
3. Write down your experience of receiving God’s love:
4. What difference has His love made in your life?
5. What does Jesus Christ’s life and sacrifice mean to you? Explain:
6. What do you think God would say about your significance?
7. What is your purpose?
The Kingdom of God is forcefully advancing in you .... lay hold of it!
“The Kingdom of God is forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold of it!”
The last thing that Jesus Christ said when He left this earth was this:
“Therefore GO and MAKE disciples of all nations, BAPTIZING them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and TEACHING them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
-Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
What is the Mission?
To Prepare the Way of the Lord!
To go into all nations
To train up Passionate-Hearted Disciples.
Passionate-Hearted Disciples are those who will give their lives to see the Kingdom of God forcefully advance. This mission is not for the faint of heart. It will cost you everything. But remember, as you go into the world making disciples, baptizing them and teaching them, Christ’s promises He will always be with you.
There are three important questions you need to ask yourself. The answers to these three questions will help you on your journey to accomplishing your mission. When you can answer these three questions yourself, you will grow as a Pasionate-Hearted Disciple. Then you will catch the vision for the mission; raising up other Passionate-Hearted Disciples.
1. QUESTION OF EXISTENCE: WHY AM I ALIVE?
“Why was I born? Was it only to have trouble and sorrow, to end my life in disgrace?”
-Jeremiah 20:18 (TEV)
“The Lord has made everything for His own purpose.”
-Proverbs 16:4a (GW)
“Long before He laid down earth's foundations, He had us in mind, and settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love.” -Ephesians 1:4 (Msg)
“I WAS CREATED TO BE LOVED BY GOD!”
2. QUESTION OF SIGNIFICANCE: DOES MY LIFE MATTER?
“My work all seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and for no purpose at all.”
-Isaiah 49:4a (NLT)
“I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.”
-Isaiah 44:2 (CEV)
“You... scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. The very day was recorded in your book!”
-Psalm 139:16 (LB)
"His plans endure forever; his purposes last eternally."
-Psalm 33:11 (GN)
“MY LIFE MATTERS TO GOD!”
“When this tent we live in—our body here on earth—is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live in, a home He himself has made, which will last forever.” -2 Corinthians 5:1 (TEV)
“Leave your impoverished confusion and live! Walk up the street to a life with meaning."
-Proverbs 9:6 (Msg)
God sent His only Son Jesus to lay down His life for you.
God clearly communicated your value through the sacrifice of Jesus His Son.
3. QUESTION OF INTENTION: WHAT IS MY PURPOSE?
“Why did you create us? For nothing?”
-Psalm 89:47 (NCV)
"Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding."
-Proverbs 9:10b (LB)
“I FIND MY PURPOSE IN GOD!”
“For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.”
-Colossians 1:16 (Msg)
“It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for...part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.”
-Ephesians 1:11 (Msg)
“It makes no difference who you are or where you're from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open.”
-Acts 10:35 (Msg)
"You (God) created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created."
-Revelation 4:11b (NLT)
“Love the Lord your God... This is the first and greatest commandment.”
-Matt. 22:37-38 (NIV)
You were created to bring honor to God!
Application
1. When did you first know God loved you? Explain:
2. What were the circumstances in your life before you knew His love?
3. Write down your experience of receiving God’s love:
4. What difference has His love made in your life?
5. What does Jesus Christ’s life and sacrifice mean to you? Explain:
6. What do you think God would say about your significance?
7. What is your purpose?
The Kingdom of God is forcefully advancing in you .... lay hold of it!
The Leadership Road Less Traveled
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
All leaders are faced with daily decisions - choices whose sum total determine the direction and effectiveness of our lives and ministries.
It seems most important ministry decisions have to do with control.
How, when, and where should we inject our power and influence?
Where do we give slack by granting trust, and where do we reign in and exercise our authority?
Who owns this ministry, this church, this mission?
You? Or Christ?
Frost's lighthearted but profound observations sound the depths of our personal styles of leadership.
As leaders within the Church, we are repeatedly forced to choose between building and strengthening and protecting a hierarchical institution, or building and strengthening and protecting a relational organism.
The hidden cost: with each choice, you are not only choosing your venue, you are choosing the long term fruit of your ministry.
Choose wisely.
The Heart of the Matter
Jesus has called us.
That is primary.
It is His Call that grants us the authority to minister in His Name, the Right to go.
There is no greater name under Heaven by which we are called.
The Call creates need and desperation.
The Call requires more of me than I have, and therefore it is not a Call to Do more, but a Call to Be more.
That Be-ing is realized only in a vibrant relationship with the Caller Himself.
That is why He came, why He died, and why He calls... to draw all men to Himself.
With the Call comes an offer of Himself, and we never move beyond that dependence.
At the center of the mission dynamic sits a white hot coal of personal discipleship in the heart of a believer who is deeply in love with Christ and what He has done in his life.
Fan that flame.
That is primary.
It is His Call that grants us the authority to minister in His Name, the Right to go.
There is no greater name under Heaven by which we are called.
The Call creates need and desperation.
The Call requires more of me than I have, and therefore it is not a Call to Do more, but a Call to Be more.
That Be-ing is realized only in a vibrant relationship with the Caller Himself.
That is why He came, why He died, and why He calls... to draw all men to Himself.
With the Call comes an offer of Himself, and we never move beyond that dependence.
At the center of the mission dynamic sits a white hot coal of personal discipleship in the heart of a believer who is deeply in love with Christ and what He has done in his life.
Fan that flame.
Missions Reorg
We have chosen to focus on relationships, rather than programs...
On development, rather than aid...
On calling, rather than herding...
On long term strategy, rather than short term projects...
So how do we begin to flesh out this vision?
When we read the Book of Acts, we see patterns and models for missions that are deeply and firmly rooted in a spirit-led community of missional disciples.
Our present structures reflect the influence of corporate hierarchy, more than this biblical pattern emphasizing community, and still we hope for - maybe even want or expect - fruit similar to that produced by the Acts model.
Here's where we've been, working with a hierarchical structure:
It's fascinating to do a word search in the Book of Acts for every reference to "send", "sent", "went", "gathered", and so on.
Here is one concept we find in Acts:
The Incubator is a spiritual greenhouse that dovetails perfectly with the church's discipleship efforts and worship focus. It's purpose is to create a community environment with optimal growing conditions for missional disciples. The disciples gathered regularly for encouragement, food (yeah!), to learn from each other, and to pray with each other.
The Training area focuses not on classroom lectures, but on sharing experiences and reflective learning. By meeting in small groups to draw out of each other what we have learned from our cross-cultural and ministry experiences, we naturally begin to relate to each another as Paul's, Barnabas', and Timothy's.
The Sending arena allows us to mitigate legal and financial risks to the church institution when the church itself authorizes and endorses missions travel. It is a dynamic mix of administrative details and personal coaching, and provides rich experiences which feed back into the Training and Incubating arenas.
This is not a static model - it is a dynamic, constantly revolving model in which members move freely from one circle to the next and around and around. This movement from Incubator to Training to Sending and back creates velocity and momentum within the organization, strengthening the group as a whole.
This model is also more inviting to leadership development than the traditional hierarchy. Experienced leaders who just show up in this community can be recognized for their prior experiences related to missions without having to climb a corporate-style ladder in order to gain influence. New leaders find their ideas gaining traction based on whether they fit with vision and actually work in the field.
There are two keys to success with this model:
1. Retain deep overlap among the three areas - any separation risks divergent efforts and loss of focus on the purpose and mission of the church.
2. Retain a deeply committed, experienced group of missions leaders at the core of this community, a team that is capable of keeping the missional flame white hot in each of these three areas.
On development, rather than aid...
On calling, rather than herding...
On long term strategy, rather than short term projects...
So how do we begin to flesh out this vision?
When we read the Book of Acts, we see patterns and models for missions that are deeply and firmly rooted in a spirit-led community of missional disciples.
Our present structures reflect the influence of corporate hierarchy, more than this biblical pattern emphasizing community, and still we hope for - maybe even want or expect - fruit similar to that produced by the Acts model.
Here's where we've been, working with a hierarchical structure:
It's fascinating to do a word search in the Book of Acts for every reference to "send", "sent", "went", "gathered", and so on.
Here is one concept we find in Acts:
The Incubator is a spiritual greenhouse that dovetails perfectly with the church's discipleship efforts and worship focus. It's purpose is to create a community environment with optimal growing conditions for missional disciples. The disciples gathered regularly for encouragement, food (yeah!), to learn from each other, and to pray with each other.
The Training area focuses not on classroom lectures, but on sharing experiences and reflective learning. By meeting in small groups to draw out of each other what we have learned from our cross-cultural and ministry experiences, we naturally begin to relate to each another as Paul's, Barnabas', and Timothy's.
The Sending arena allows us to mitigate legal and financial risks to the church institution when the church itself authorizes and endorses missions travel. It is a dynamic mix of administrative details and personal coaching, and provides rich experiences which feed back into the Training and Incubating arenas.
This is not a static model - it is a dynamic, constantly revolving model in which members move freely from one circle to the next and around and around. This movement from Incubator to Training to Sending and back creates velocity and momentum within the organization, strengthening the group as a whole.
This model is also more inviting to leadership development than the traditional hierarchy. Experienced leaders who just show up in this community can be recognized for their prior experiences related to missions without having to climb a corporate-style ladder in order to gain influence. New leaders find their ideas gaining traction based on whether they fit with vision and actually work in the field.
There are two keys to success with this model:
1. Retain deep overlap among the three areas - any separation risks divergent efforts and loss of focus on the purpose and mission of the church.
2. Retain a deeply committed, experienced group of missions leaders at the core of this community, a team that is capable of keeping the missional flame white hot in each of these three areas.
The Wikichurch - Part One
Missions is concerned with expanding the Church to every tribe, tongue, and nation.
It's long been my conviction that this can only be accomplished by "non-professional" (read: unpaid) ministers, since there just aren't enough "professional" ministers to get the job done (do the math).
Most of us have heard of Wikipedia.org - the volunteer-driven, online encyclopedia whose content is entirely owned and developed by the general public.
It's an incredible concept, and it's success flies right in the face of our "don't trust the unwashed masses - leave ministry to the professionals" attitudes about church leadership.
(By the way - "Wiki" has absolutely no relationship to wicca - the occult practice - so relax, we are God-fearing, Jesus-loving evangelicals here... not witches.)
I'm reading a book called Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, which has been widely praised as an accurate assessment of the cross-organizational public collaborations that are transforming high tech marketplaces around the world. This is more than just globalization or democratization - it's about giving the unwashed, unproven masses a serious chance to contribute. (Gasp!)
Here's an excerpt from the book's Introduction:
"Throughout history corporations have organized themselves according to strict hierarchical lines of authority. Everyone was a subordinate to someone else... There was always someone or some company in charge, controlling things, at the "top" of the food chain. While hierarchies are not vanishing, profound changes in the nature of technology, demographics, and the global economy are giving rise to powerful new models of production based on community, collaboration, and self-organization rather than on hierarchy and control."
Fascinating. Now, without getting too personal - does that sound like your local church?
Next, check this out:
"As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."
Check out the pronouns: "each one", "one another", "anyone".
This instruction comes from Peter - who was First of All the Unwashed Ministers. Think about it... Who were the disciples? They were the religious refugees, the Border People on the outskirts of a Pharisaical order. Yet Jesus made Peter the rock on which His Church was founded. And He did it in three years.
Ministry skills can be taught and learned - and I believe it is the job of local church leaders to train and release the willing, without regard to their social, economic, or educational background.
Let me be clear: I am NOT advocating a democratic theology, nor a democratic church leadership; John 1 and Ephesians 4 leave no gaps. And I am not pointing fingers - WE are the Church, and we Westerners bear the stains of materialistic consumerism that keep us in our chairs.
But what I am ABSOLUTELY advocating is the abolition of the glass ceiling that keeps proven, mature believers within our church from sharing in the ministry of the Church, whether on the streets in the mission field, or in the pulpit at home.
The Western Church has focused for decades on gathering and nurturing the "unwashed masses". Our next challenge is to release these "unwashed masses" for whom Jesus died as redeemed ministers. It takes more time and true leadership skills to train and release ten "non-professional" ministry leaders, than to control and rein-in a thousand "nice people" as spectators.
I believe the administrative task before the Western Church remains one of refining our organizational structures to look less like Corporate America, and more like the forms and functions found in Scripture. Like Michelangelo said, when he was asked about his magnificent carving of David the Shepherd King, "The image is already in the marble, all I do is cut away everything that is not the image." We must love the Image of the Church within the cold stone our fathers have left us.
Over 100 years ago Dwight Moody said, "The world has yet to see what God can do in, and with, and through a man or woman who is totally dedicated to Him."
And if Jesus doesn't care whether they're on staff, or dress like us, or talk like us, then neither should we.
The Picture I Promised I'd Never Show
It was a stereotypical African missions scene...
Riding in a white SUV through a dusty impoverished village in sub-Saharan Africa...
Two white Americans, a black Xhosa, and a Coloured.
As soon as the SUV stopped, little kids came running towards from every direction, yelling, "Photo! Photo!"
So what did the white American pastor say? "Hey, let's get a picture!"
I caught the look on the face of the national pastor who was hosting us, whose truck we'd been riding in, and whose church plant leadership team we were about to meet.
Typical American missionaries.
Typical abuse.
Typical misuse.
Typical stereotypical [sic] approach to missions.
Find poverty, drama, need... Take pictures with the poor children... then go home and use them to raise money - for OUR projects, for OUR programs.
Go home and back to work... eat your food... sleep in your nice bed - never mind that you just embarrassed the heck out of an entire village, a new church plant in that village, and the very pastor who is hosting you.
So I promised our friend, the national pastor, that I would not use that photo.
We had no relationship with these kids.
No ministry took place with them.
We didn't know their names, their parents, their language, their needs - it was a total hit and run.
To use that photo would have been hypocrisy at it's finest.
I'm breaking my promise...
Here's the photo... with the proper caption:
Exploitation is not just for colonialists anymore.
American short term missions teams have perfected the art, to the detriment of the Name of Christ.
Not cool, dude.
Riding in a white SUV through a dusty impoverished village in sub-Saharan Africa...
Two white Americans, a black Xhosa, and a Coloured.
As soon as the SUV stopped, little kids came running towards from every direction, yelling, "Photo! Photo!"
So what did the white American pastor say? "Hey, let's get a picture!"
I caught the look on the face of the national pastor who was hosting us, whose truck we'd been riding in, and whose church plant leadership team we were about to meet.
Typical American missionaries.
Typical abuse.
Typical misuse.
Typical stereotypical [sic] approach to missions.
Find poverty, drama, need... Take pictures with the poor children... then go home and use them to raise money - for OUR projects, for OUR programs.
Go home and back to work... eat your food... sleep in your nice bed - never mind that you just embarrassed the heck out of an entire village, a new church plant in that village, and the very pastor who is hosting you.
So I promised our friend, the national pastor, that I would not use that photo.
We had no relationship with these kids.
No ministry took place with them.
We didn't know their names, their parents, their language, their needs - it was a total hit and run.
To use that photo would have been hypocrisy at it's finest.
I'm breaking my promise...
Here's the photo... with the proper caption:
Exploitation is not just for colonialists anymore.
American short term missions teams have perfected the art, to the detriment of the Name of Christ.
Not cool, dude.
Which is more important... Local or Global?
A few weeks ago, someone wrote in response to one of our missions newsletters: "I feel frustrated because it seems the entire focus of this mission newsletter is on missions to other places. Yet, we have such a HUGE need right here in our back yard."
Most Western/American missions activities are focused on crossing cultural boundaries in order to EXPAND the global Church. This is indeed part of Christ's mission to the world ("Go into all the world and preach the gospel…").
But we also believe that every local church exists to be a positive TRANSFORMATIONAL force within it's own community. It is difficult for an "outsider" (a short term missions team) to address the deepest core problems in a community. We don't have the history or depth of understanding to treat both the cause and the effect, so we focus more on relief than development - on giving people fish instead of teaching them to fish.
In this tension we begin to see the beauty of God's design for the local church, and His Mission to the world. On one hand, He sends us to carry the Gospel across borders and cultural boundaries ("Go into all the world and preach the gospel…"), and on the other hand He calls His Church to address the unique needs and developmental problems within their own communities ("the essence of true religion is to minister to widows and orphans").
Christ has one Mission to the world - and we are coming to understand that modern, Western Christianity needs to embrace the fullness of that Mission. The bottom line is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, everywhere.
We believe that a single person who has deeply and passionately connected to what Christ wants them to do is much more fruitful in the long term than funneling people into our projects and our programs. We in the local church must be committed to investing in people through discipleship, and releasing them to do the ministry that God has called them to do.
Church 2.42
Church 2.42
The birth of the Church begins in the Book of Acts chapter 2 verses 42-47
"They (the Early Church) devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Verese 42 outlines four areas that the early church was devoted to that culminated with a mighty move of God of those being saved. I call these four areas the Core Values of Church 2.42.
A passionate hearted disciple holds these four values:
1. Fellowship (Hanging together)
2. Breaking of Bread (Eating together)
3. Apostles Teaching (Learning together in God's Word)
4. Prayer (Praying together)This can remembered with acronym
H.E.L.P.Hang...Eat...Learn...PrayThe early church committed to H.E.L.P.And the Lord added to their number daily those who were saved!
The birth of the Church begins in the Book of Acts chapter 2 verses 42-47
"They (the Early Church) devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Verese 42 outlines four areas that the early church was devoted to that culminated with a mighty move of God of those being saved. I call these four areas the Core Values of Church 2.42.
A passionate hearted disciple holds these four values:
1. Fellowship (Hanging together)
2. Breaking of Bread (Eating together)
3. Apostles Teaching (Learning together in God's Word)
4. Prayer (Praying together)This can remembered with acronym
H.E.L.P.Hang...Eat...Learn...PrayThe early church committed to H.E.L.P.And the Lord added to their number daily those who were saved!
Israel...Why Go?
Dan Russell said...
Mission leadership: Why is Israel significant to reaching a lost World? My wife and I will be leaving for Israel on Thursday July 19, 2007. While in Israel we will be meeting with several thousand Foursquare leaders.
The State Department has issued a warning about traveling to Israel this week."The U.S. State Department is warning Americans traveling to Israel to use extreme caution..." "The U.S. government has received information indicating that American interests could be the focus of terrorist attacks." In addition, the warning states that "large crowds and public gatherings should be avoided..."
The question has been brought up, "Why would you go?" "Why Israel at this time?" "Why meet in a public gathering with several thousand of you?" Paul wrote to a growing Gentile church (Romans 11)"Again I ask: Did they (the Jews) stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious, but if their transgression means riches for the Gentiles, HOW MUCH GREATER RICHES WILL THEIR FULLNESS BRING?
Paul later adds..."For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their accepance be BUT LIFE FROM THE DEAD?"
In 1716, Thomas Boston preached a sermon called "Encouragent to Pray for the Conversion of the Jews." He said in this message "Are you longing for a revival to the churches, now lying like dry bones, would you fain have the Spirit of Life enter in to them? Then pray for the Jews. For if the casting away be the reconciliation of the world; what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Jonathan Edwards saw that the coming of Israel to faith "will be BEFORE the glory of the Gentile part of the church shall be fully accomplished, because it is said that their coming in shall be life from the dead to the Gentiles."
Charles Spurgeon said, "Matchless benefits to the world are bound up with the restoration of Israel; their gathering shall be as life from the dead."
As a Church, we are standing with Israel. We are standing on the promises of God for the Jewish people. We are contending for the resurrection of the Jewish believing community as promised by God. Israel was chosen for God's blessing.
Israel is to be light to the rest of the world. Isaiah 42:6"I the Lord have called you into righteousness. I will take ahold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be covenant for the people and A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES."
We live in a great time. Jesus reminds us that we will be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)Jesus said He would return when the Gospel of the Kingdom has reached every people group of the world. (Matthew 24:14)The light being shown to all the world is deeply connected to Israel and their return to the Lord. Again...The fullness of the Church and the return of our Lord is intertwined with Israel.
And the great news: Jewish people are opening up to the Gospel in ways we have not seen since the beginning of the Church. We are seeing nations in the world that were once dark and far from God rapidly receiving God's grace through Jesus. And the Gentile church, with an anti-semitic past, is now joining with our Jewish brothers and sisters.
We live in a great time in the history of the Church. Yes, we see a terrorized world. There is no nation confronted with terrorism more than Israel. Nations like Iran spout a venom of removing Israel from the face of the earth. These attacks are nothing more that a distraction from a mighty move of God taking place.
The Church is called to stand and contend for Israel in this time. Don Finto in "God's Promise and the Future of Israel" asks three pertinent questions.
1. How are we to respond to God's work in the context of a terrorized world?
2. How can Jewish people receive our love and blessing when many of our forefathers in the Church have been the very cause of their suffering?
3. How can we genuinely bless the Jewish people who disagree with our faith in Jesus, while we joyously fellowship with those who have embraced it?
This gathering in Israel, in this time of terrorist radicals, is a small but important statement of our Church blessing Israel. It is a declaration of God's Mighty Hand moving in our time. My wife and I are expectant and we are anticipating the Lord to show up in significant ways while our Church meets in Jerusalem.
This day and age is no surprise to God. Jesus points to a world of terrorism without boundaries. His description looks alot like the world we now live in. Luke 21:25-28.There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from "TERROR", apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. WHEN THESE THINGS TAKE PLACE, STAND UP AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION IS DRAWING NEAR.
This is not a time to cower at terrorist actions. It is not a time for us to faint or to live in fear of the world's plan. It is not a time to be distracted. My wife and I, with our church, will stand up and lift up the name of the Lord when the world would want us to hide. This is the time to declare CHRIST'S REDEMPTION DRAWING NEAR.
We will bless what God has blessed and contend for the fulfillment of His promises to the people of Israel. YES...Greater riches come to the Church through the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel. YES...the world will know that Jesus is Lord and His promises are true.
As you think of us in Israel, stand up and lift up the name of the Lord. Pray for the fullness of God's promises to Israel and for the world to receive Jesus the soon coming King.
Two personal stories connected to Israel and the intensity I feel for standing up for this nation in this day.
First, I was in Poland coaching our USA Wrestling Team a few years ago. While I was there I arranged a day to go to see Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The Israeli National Team Heard that we were going and they asked me if they could join us. I witnessed first hand the deep pain that was endured during this recent dark period of our history. I heard personal stories from the Israeli team and their feelings from visiting this place of unbelievable horrors. The impact of that day is forever etched into my memory.
Secondly, I was coaching a a World University Team with the World Championships being held in Cairo Egypt. That year an Israeli Wrestler won the World Title. As is the custom, He got to stand on top of the award stand and have his flag raised while his National Anthem played. Every World Champion is honored in this way at every World Championship. This was the first time I saw the world's view of Israel at close range. Every other World Champion had an entire gymnasium stand in silence as their flag was raised and Anthem played. When the Israeli World Chyampion took to the podium the gymnasium was filled with loud jeers and obnoxious whistling. Items were being thrown down on to the gym floor in protest. (I was standing on the main floor with things being hurled in my direction.) An Egyptian band played as loud as they could to cover up the playing of Israeli National Anthem. With the World participating in the Championships, only three countries stood to honor the Israeli World Champion as his flag was raised; Israel, USA and Germany. The rest of the world was either booing or doing nothing at all. One section of the gymnasium was filled with Egyptian military in full dress with weapons and all. Standing in the middle of that gym floor in front of this angry mob was a dangerous act.
It is important to stand up for injustice. It is important to let Israel know that they are not alone. It is important that they know that God has given up on them. It is time to stand up and contend for God's promises to be fulfilled.Why Israel when things are so tense with terrorists running rampant? When would there a better time to communicate the Heart of God? Standing up in Israel in this day communicates deeply to a people the world would rather see eliminated. I am proud that our Church plans to stand up for Israel in the midst of these difficult times. I am excited to stand and to witness this action.
It is a prophetic moment with eternal consequences.
Mission leadership: Why is Israel significant to reaching a lost World? My wife and I will be leaving for Israel on Thursday July 19, 2007. While in Israel we will be meeting with several thousand Foursquare leaders.
The State Department has issued a warning about traveling to Israel this week."The U.S. State Department is warning Americans traveling to Israel to use extreme caution..." "The U.S. government has received information indicating that American interests could be the focus of terrorist attacks." In addition, the warning states that "large crowds and public gatherings should be avoided..."
The question has been brought up, "Why would you go?" "Why Israel at this time?" "Why meet in a public gathering with several thousand of you?" Paul wrote to a growing Gentile church (Romans 11)"Again I ask: Did they (the Jews) stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious, but if their transgression means riches for the Gentiles, HOW MUCH GREATER RICHES WILL THEIR FULLNESS BRING?
Paul later adds..."For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their accepance be BUT LIFE FROM THE DEAD?"
In 1716, Thomas Boston preached a sermon called "Encouragent to Pray for the Conversion of the Jews." He said in this message "Are you longing for a revival to the churches, now lying like dry bones, would you fain have the Spirit of Life enter in to them? Then pray for the Jews. For if the casting away be the reconciliation of the world; what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Jonathan Edwards saw that the coming of Israel to faith "will be BEFORE the glory of the Gentile part of the church shall be fully accomplished, because it is said that their coming in shall be life from the dead to the Gentiles."
Charles Spurgeon said, "Matchless benefits to the world are bound up with the restoration of Israel; their gathering shall be as life from the dead."
As a Church, we are standing with Israel. We are standing on the promises of God for the Jewish people. We are contending for the resurrection of the Jewish believing community as promised by God. Israel was chosen for God's blessing.
Israel is to be light to the rest of the world. Isaiah 42:6"I the Lord have called you into righteousness. I will take ahold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be covenant for the people and A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES."
We live in a great time. Jesus reminds us that we will be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)Jesus said He would return when the Gospel of the Kingdom has reached every people group of the world. (Matthew 24:14)The light being shown to all the world is deeply connected to Israel and their return to the Lord. Again...The fullness of the Church and the return of our Lord is intertwined with Israel.
And the great news: Jewish people are opening up to the Gospel in ways we have not seen since the beginning of the Church. We are seeing nations in the world that were once dark and far from God rapidly receiving God's grace through Jesus. And the Gentile church, with an anti-semitic past, is now joining with our Jewish brothers and sisters.
We live in a great time in the history of the Church. Yes, we see a terrorized world. There is no nation confronted with terrorism more than Israel. Nations like Iran spout a venom of removing Israel from the face of the earth. These attacks are nothing more that a distraction from a mighty move of God taking place.
The Church is called to stand and contend for Israel in this time. Don Finto in "God's Promise and the Future of Israel" asks three pertinent questions.
1. How are we to respond to God's work in the context of a terrorized world?
2. How can Jewish people receive our love and blessing when many of our forefathers in the Church have been the very cause of their suffering?
3. How can we genuinely bless the Jewish people who disagree with our faith in Jesus, while we joyously fellowship with those who have embraced it?
This gathering in Israel, in this time of terrorist radicals, is a small but important statement of our Church blessing Israel. It is a declaration of God's Mighty Hand moving in our time. My wife and I are expectant and we are anticipating the Lord to show up in significant ways while our Church meets in Jerusalem.
This day and age is no surprise to God. Jesus points to a world of terrorism without boundaries. His description looks alot like the world we now live in. Luke 21:25-28.There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from "TERROR", apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. WHEN THESE THINGS TAKE PLACE, STAND UP AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION IS DRAWING NEAR.
This is not a time to cower at terrorist actions. It is not a time for us to faint or to live in fear of the world's plan. It is not a time to be distracted. My wife and I, with our church, will stand up and lift up the name of the Lord when the world would want us to hide. This is the time to declare CHRIST'S REDEMPTION DRAWING NEAR.
We will bless what God has blessed and contend for the fulfillment of His promises to the people of Israel. YES...Greater riches come to the Church through the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel. YES...the world will know that Jesus is Lord and His promises are true.
As you think of us in Israel, stand up and lift up the name of the Lord. Pray for the fullness of God's promises to Israel and for the world to receive Jesus the soon coming King.
Two personal stories connected to Israel and the intensity I feel for standing up for this nation in this day.
First, I was in Poland coaching our USA Wrestling Team a few years ago. While I was there I arranged a day to go to see Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The Israeli National Team Heard that we were going and they asked me if they could join us. I witnessed first hand the deep pain that was endured during this recent dark period of our history. I heard personal stories from the Israeli team and their feelings from visiting this place of unbelievable horrors. The impact of that day is forever etched into my memory.
Secondly, I was coaching a a World University Team with the World Championships being held in Cairo Egypt. That year an Israeli Wrestler won the World Title. As is the custom, He got to stand on top of the award stand and have his flag raised while his National Anthem played. Every World Champion is honored in this way at every World Championship. This was the first time I saw the world's view of Israel at close range. Every other World Champion had an entire gymnasium stand in silence as their flag was raised and Anthem played. When the Israeli World Chyampion took to the podium the gymnasium was filled with loud jeers and obnoxious whistling. Items were being thrown down on to the gym floor in protest. (I was standing on the main floor with things being hurled in my direction.) An Egyptian band played as loud as they could to cover up the playing of Israeli National Anthem. With the World participating in the Championships, only three countries stood to honor the Israeli World Champion as his flag was raised; Israel, USA and Germany. The rest of the world was either booing or doing nothing at all. One section of the gymnasium was filled with Egyptian military in full dress with weapons and all. Standing in the middle of that gym floor in front of this angry mob was a dangerous act.
It is important to stand up for injustice. It is important to let Israel know that they are not alone. It is important that they know that God has given up on them. It is time to stand up and contend for God's promises to be fulfilled.Why Israel when things are so tense with terrorists running rampant? When would there a better time to communicate the Heart of God? Standing up in Israel in this day communicates deeply to a people the world would rather see eliminated. I am proud that our Church plans to stand up for Israel in the midst of these difficult times. I am excited to stand and to witness this action.
It is a prophetic moment with eternal consequences.
Welcome! Let's get it started...
Welcome to the Missions Leadership blog, aka...
"The messiest place in cyberspace
for a discussion of Missions and the Church"
for a discussion of Missions and the Church"
or
"Shedding light on the Mission of the Church
(more light than heat, please)"
or
"What is missions?"
(more light than heat, please)"
or
"What is missions?"
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