Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost Sunday, regarded by Christians as the birthday of the Christian Church. A study of the book of Acts reveals the church went to work; using their Pentecostal gifts and began building the Lord’s church. They didn’t start by planning a church building but they started by going into the work places, the market places and the streets and telling people about the resurrected Christ.
Everywhere they went, they spread the word of God and the teachings of Christ; meeting people where they were and ministering to them the gospel of Christ. Just as Christ had done, if there was sickness or infirmities, they healed them; while telling them that it was by the name of Jesus that these miracles of healing and faith were accomplished. People, by the thousands, began to believe on the name of Jesus. Lives were dramatically changed and people were added to the church daily as they were saved.
The young church had only one mission and that was to carry the life changing gospel to the people. It worked wonderfully well as thousands were miraculously saved and their lives transformed from the servitude to sin to the saving and cleansing from sin by faith in Jesus Christ. They became powerful witnesses for Christ themselves. They became extensions of Christ himself as they carried on his ministry. Instead of Christ alone ministering to those close by, they became a great army of countless thousands; carrying Christ to the whole world.
What has happened to the church in the last two thousand years? Granted, there are still faithful Christians who are carrying on the work of spreading the gospel. However, they have been upstaged by the church, in general, that has turned worldly, materialistic and apostate. The worldly church has lost its vision and commission and seemingly has become more interested in growth in numbers rather than growth in the things of the Spirit.
The true church has remained true to the great commission and has held on to her Pentecostal roots and is still at work today just as if yesterday were Pentecost. She still believes in her high calling of God to, “Come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you.” (2Corinthians 6:17) She has kept herself separate from the things and ways of the world but she knows the world is her field of harvest in which she must work.
The true church is not a denomination. It is not even a building. It is a people who have been transformed by Jesus Christ and have had their Pentecostal outpouring and are faithfully and tirelessly working to fulfill the great commission of, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16: 15)
“Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37–38, KJV)
I feel a renewed sense of burden to spread the word of God.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Pentecost in 3-D
To many people, Pentecost is a one dimensional event. They focus on only one aspect of the miraculous outpouring. Some see it only as a one purpose event; as God giving the gift of tongues. Some see it as a one time event; an event for a very special occasion, the birthing of the church. Still others see Pentecost as a one place event; confined to Jerusalem.
I see Pentecost as a multi-dimensional event; as God’s power to remove every obstacle in the road to victory for his people. It is God giving his power to his people to empower them in every way necessary for them to succeed at what he has called them to do.
It is true, without the gift of speaking in tongues; the gospel message would never have been communicated to the thousands of people who were gathered in Jerusalem for the celebration of Pentecost. The gift of tongues was not the only gift that was given that day however. Without the outpouring of gifts that day, Peter could never have healed the lame man at the gate to the temple. Peter would not have had the boldness to proclaim to the religious leaders that it was really through the name of Jesus Christ, whom they had crucified, that the man was healed. Multitudes were healed by the shadow of Peter passing over them. See Acts 7:15–16. They were thrown into prison and the angel of the Lord freed them. See Acts 5:18–19.
Throughout the Book of Acts, we read of numerous miraculous events that were worked through the Apostles. Therein is the real key to understanding the full meaning of Pentecost. The day of Pentecost shows us a real demonstration of God working through his people, the church. The individual acts of the Apostles are demonstrations of God working through individuals. The results are the same. The scope of the results may differ but when God works through the individual or the church; the results will be nothing but miraculous.
Pentecost then, is God at work through his people. Peter never performed a miracle in his life. However, God used Peter in a mighty way, working miracles through him. Is God still able to use his people to work his miracles of divine healing, of breaking down communication barriers between languages and of setting people free from sin and the possession of demons? You bet he is.
What is the key to this? There must be a key that explains such a miraculous outpouring. There is, and it is not hidden. It is there in plain view to all who will look for it. Acts 2:1 reveals it to us. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” They were all with one accord. Their being in one accord had brought them all together in one place. They all had one mind and one purpose. None wanted to be somewhere else and doing his own thing. One hundred twenty people shared a common desire and that was to receive the promised baptism of the Holy Ghost. See Acts 1:8.
At least six times throughout the Book of Acts, the people are described as being in one accord. Each time there is unity of purpose and in each instance God works in them to accomplish what he desires. This is the real church in action. Be it working, witnessing or worshipping, it is the real church in action when God is in the midst of his people and pouring his Spirit upon them.
The mighty power of God cannot be contained in a building regardless of its size. It will overflow the building and the hearts of men and women; spilling out into the streets, work places and the market places touching the lives of people everywhere. It will even spill over into other towns, states and countries. Look what God did with the one hundred twenty people on the day of Pentecost. That day was truly the Feast of the First Fruits.
Try, if you will, to get the big picture of Pentecost. Come to understand its full meaning. Let it empower your life so that you may do those things in the Lord that you can’t do on your own.
I see Pentecost as a multi-dimensional event; as God’s power to remove every obstacle in the road to victory for his people. It is God giving his power to his people to empower them in every way necessary for them to succeed at what he has called them to do.
It is true, without the gift of speaking in tongues; the gospel message would never have been communicated to the thousands of people who were gathered in Jerusalem for the celebration of Pentecost. The gift of tongues was not the only gift that was given that day however. Without the outpouring of gifts that day, Peter could never have healed the lame man at the gate to the temple. Peter would not have had the boldness to proclaim to the religious leaders that it was really through the name of Jesus Christ, whom they had crucified, that the man was healed. Multitudes were healed by the shadow of Peter passing over them. See Acts 7:15–16. They were thrown into prison and the angel of the Lord freed them. See Acts 5:18–19.
Throughout the Book of Acts, we read of numerous miraculous events that were worked through the Apostles. Therein is the real key to understanding the full meaning of Pentecost. The day of Pentecost shows us a real demonstration of God working through his people, the church. The individual acts of the Apostles are demonstrations of God working through individuals. The results are the same. The scope of the results may differ but when God works through the individual or the church; the results will be nothing but miraculous.
Pentecost then, is God at work through his people. Peter never performed a miracle in his life. However, God used Peter in a mighty way, working miracles through him. Is God still able to use his people to work his miracles of divine healing, of breaking down communication barriers between languages and of setting people free from sin and the possession of demons? You bet he is.
What is the key to this? There must be a key that explains such a miraculous outpouring. There is, and it is not hidden. It is there in plain view to all who will look for it. Acts 2:1 reveals it to us. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” They were all with one accord. Their being in one accord had brought them all together in one place. They all had one mind and one purpose. None wanted to be somewhere else and doing his own thing. One hundred twenty people shared a common desire and that was to receive the promised baptism of the Holy Ghost. See Acts 1:8.
At least six times throughout the Book of Acts, the people are described as being in one accord. Each time there is unity of purpose and in each instance God works in them to accomplish what he desires. This is the real church in action. Be it working, witnessing or worshipping, it is the real church in action when God is in the midst of his people and pouring his Spirit upon them.
The mighty power of God cannot be contained in a building regardless of its size. It will overflow the building and the hearts of men and women; spilling out into the streets, work places and the market places touching the lives of people everywhere. It will even spill over into other towns, states and countries. Look what God did with the one hundred twenty people on the day of Pentecost. That day was truly the Feast of the First Fruits.
Try, if you will, to get the big picture of Pentecost. Come to understand its full meaning. Let it empower your life so that you may do those things in the Lord that you can’t do on your own.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Christian Where is Your Cross
Christian, Where is Your Cross?
And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)
Last night I was surfing through the TV channels and I happen across the TBN channel. There was a man carrying a large wooden cross. It immediately caught my attention so I listened to him. He was telling about all the opportunities it had given him to witness about Jesus to people who stopped him to ask him about the cross he was carrying. He gave a long list of his experiences while carrying his cross; telling about how many he had won to the Lord.
I’m not sure that is exactly what Jesus had in mind when he spoke those words to his disciples, in the verse above. It does however illustrate perfectly what Jesus meant by them. It made me stop and ask myself some questions which I think every Christian should ask themselves.
Is the cross I am carrying evident to people I meet?
Does the cross I carry cause people to be curious enough to ask me about it? Does my cross give me chances to witness to them about Christ?
Can the world see that I am carrying a burden for the lost?
If someone asks, can I explain the meaning of the cross to them?
Christians should be asking themselves these and many other similar questions. If we are carrying our cross, as we should be, we should be able to answer the questions above in the affirmative.
Jesus said to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him. That is three things all Christians are to do. If we don’t deny our self, are we following him? If we are not carrying our cross, are we following him? If we are following him as we say we are, where is our cross?
The apostle, Paul, had some harsh words for some false Christians in Titus 1:16, “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”
God forbid, that this ever be true of us who say we are following Christ.
Christian, Where is Your Cross?
And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)
Last night I was surfing through the TV channels and I happen across the TBN channel. There was a man carrying a large wooden cross. It immediately caught my attention so I listened to him. He was telling about all the opportunities it had given him to witness about Jesus to people who stopped him to ask him about the cross he was carrying. He gave a long list of his experiences while carrying his cross; telling about how many he had won to the Lord.
I’m not sure that is exactly what Jesus had in mind when he spoke those words to his disciples, in the verse above. It does however illustrate perfectly what Jesus meant by them. It made me stop and ask myself some questions which I think every Christian should ask themselves.
Is the cross I am carrying evident to people I meet?
Does the cross I carry cause people to be curious enough to ask me about it? Does my cross give me chances to witness to them about Christ?
Can the world see that I am carrying a burden for the lost?
If someone asks, can I explain the meaning of the cross to them?
Christians should be asking themselves these and many other similar questions. If we are carrying our cross, as we should be, we should be able to answer the questions above in the affirmative.
Jesus said to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him. That is three things all Christians are to do. If we don’t deny our self, are we following him? If we are not carrying our cross, are we following him? If we are following him as we say we are, where is our cross?
The apostle, Paul, had some harsh words for some false Christians in Titus 1:16, “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”
God forbid, that this ever be true of us who say we are following Christ.
Christian, Where is Your Cross?
Thursday, May 6, 2010
How Firm a Foundation
May 6, 2010
At first appearance the title to that great hymn seems to be a question but it is clearly an exclamation. The first sentence of that great hymn says, “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word! Notice the punctuation, the exclamation point, at the end of the sentence. His word is a solid foundation for our faith. Therefore, we exclaim with jubilant joy, “Our faith, our trust and our hope is in the Lord, Jesus Christ.”
After the events of May 1 and 2, that song has a new meaning for me. The area where I live in middle Tennessee, just outside of Nashville, was hard hit by heavy rains all day Saturday and Sunday. As much as sixteen inches of rain have been reported in some areas. Nashville recorded a record rainfall amount of over thirteen and a half inches in the two day period. The result has been widespread flooding. The damage has been very widespread with thousands of homes under water. Many homes near us have been completely destroyed; their foundations literally washed out from under them. Electric and phone service is still out for hundreds of thousands. Many streets, highways and freeways remain blocked and traffic is snarled everywhere, stranding thousands of motorists. Shelters have been set up everywhere to help those who are stranded.
Human suffering is great as this area is populated by about two million people. Many people have lost everything they had. Many thousands of homes have either been totally destroyed or severely damaged and will take months to make them livable again. The cost to repair damage to buildings, houses, streets, highways and bridges will run into the billions of dollars.
In times like these, everyone needs a firm foundation of faith for their souls; something that gives them peace in the midst of the storm. Only Jesus can give that kind of peace. He is our foundation on which our faith holds firm. We, who have committed our lives to him, have learned to draw peace from his comforting word. We are not being reckless or blind to what is going on around us but we have learned that he can be trusted to keep his word. After over forty years of trusting him, he still proves to be trustworthy. He has kept us safe while many storms have passed by.
The above song is inspired by Isaiah 41:10 and 43:2 which says, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” He didn’t promise we would not pass trough the flood or through the fire. He did promise us he would be with us and that is what gives us a deep settled peace in our soul.
He is there when we trust him. We will not suffer alone and he has promised he will bring us through it. He will bless us with his presence in our deepest distress. Our fiery trials are designed to refine our gold and remove the dross from our lives. The refining process deepens our resolve; our anchor holds firm and we trust him more. He gives us peace in the midst of the storm.
We have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the rock which can not move; grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love.
Priscilla J. Owens
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Some Days Are Diamonds
I awoke this morning in the middle of a thunderstorm and a hard down pouring rain. The weather forecast had predicted this so it was no surprise. The whole day is supposed to be like this; dark, cloudy, thunder, lightning, lots of rain, a flash flood watch and even a tornado watch. I thought, this would be a good day to just go back to sleep and sleep through it. However, I can’t do that. Once I’m awake, I can’t go back to sleep that easily. I’ve always been driven by the philosophy that too much sleeping is a waste of precious time.
John Denver recorded a hit song entitled, Some Days are Diamonds. The catch line said, “Some days are diamonds and some days are stones.” At first appearance, this day was definitely a stone. But God, who made the stones, also made some diamonds.
Then a scripture verse came to my mind. “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalms 118:24) Isn’t it great that God has made all our days. He could have cut off my days yesterday and I would never have seen this day. So, I have to see this day as another gift from the Lord. Just as surely as he has given us another day, he has also given us many reasons to rejoice and be glad in it. He has left it up to us to choose whether we will rejoice or let the bad weather or some other circumstance rob us of our joy.
How many of us have learned that rejoicing and being glad in the Lord is not conditional on the weather? Too many people let the weather or some other situation in which they find themselves, rob them of their rejoicing. Regardless of our situation, we can find many reasons to rejoice and be glad in the Lord.
When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, “It is well; it is well with my soul.
It is well––with my soul,––It is well, it is well with my soul.
Horatio G. Spafford
When Horatio G. Spafford penned the words to this beautiful hymn, he had just experienced the loss of all four of his daughters in a tragic shipwreck. Few people ever suffer a loss of such magnitude. My wife and I have lost one son and that was devastating to us and I can’t imagine the loss of all four of our children. I can say however, on this otherwise dreary day, “It is well with my soul.”
John Denver recorded a hit song entitled, Some Days are Diamonds. The catch line said, “Some days are diamonds and some days are stones.” At first appearance, this day was definitely a stone. But God, who made the stones, also made some diamonds.
Then a scripture verse came to my mind. “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalms 118:24) Isn’t it great that God has made all our days. He could have cut off my days yesterday and I would never have seen this day. So, I have to see this day as another gift from the Lord. Just as surely as he has given us another day, he has also given us many reasons to rejoice and be glad in it. He has left it up to us to choose whether we will rejoice or let the bad weather or some other circumstance rob us of our joy.
How many of us have learned that rejoicing and being glad in the Lord is not conditional on the weather? Too many people let the weather or some other situation in which they find themselves, rob them of their rejoicing. Regardless of our situation, we can find many reasons to rejoice and be glad in the Lord.
When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, “It is well; it is well with my soul.
It is well––with my soul,––It is well, it is well with my soul.
Horatio G. Spafford
When Horatio G. Spafford penned the words to this beautiful hymn, he had just experienced the loss of all four of his daughters in a tragic shipwreck. Few people ever suffer a loss of such magnitude. My wife and I have lost one son and that was devastating to us and I can’t imagine the loss of all four of our children. I can say however, on this otherwise dreary day, “It is well with my soul.”
If you can say that, you too have something to rejoice and be glad about. Remember, it is God who made this day. It may first appear as a stone but God can turn it into a diamond.
God Bless You
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