|
|
|
Excerpts from The Presence, Power and Heart of God Introduction
The Presence, Power and Heart of God – Partnering in His Ministry is about equipping people to minister effectively, especially as they work together in teams. Yet, it is about more than that. It touches upon the ministry of all believers and their God-given desire to take part in the greatest privilege imaginable: to walk close to their God and to see Him impact the lives of others. It touches on the journey every believer is destined and called to walk. It even touches on the magnificent journey of the Church itself, which may be on the verge of a reformation in the way and place we think ministry happens. The ministry I am about to describe is not the concept of “being in the ministry” as most people think of it. Rather, I am talking about the type of activity that Jesus did as He ministered to individuals, doing what He saw the Father doing. He said this ministry is for us, too, (John 14:12) and promised that when two or three of us ask Him for anything He will do it, for He Himself will be among us (Matt. 18:19-20). It is experiencing God at work—and His presence, power and heart coming into situations where people desperately need Him. A portion of this book is about healing, but healing is only one of the things this ministry is about. This ministry extends the arms of the church to bring the healing, encouragement, nurturing, words, empowerment and individual attention that Jesus wants to give to every member of His flock. I believe this ministry is also poised to play a significant role in the front-line work of expanding God’s kingdom—in homes and at the marketplace—not only within the four walls of the church. God is giving His people a deep desire to come close to Him and become equipped and used in effective ministry. This desire is being felt by people from all across the Body of Christ. Many feel a sense of urgency to answer this call. I believe several factors are behind this sense of urgency. First, social maladies like abuse, neglect and drug dependence are at epidemic proportions today and there is an overwhelming need for healing everywhere. Second, many are feeling that a great harvest is at our doorstep. When people start coming to faith in Jesus in large numbers and turning to the churches, they will need to be healed, prayed for, encouraged and equipped. We must be ready. Third, I believe God is bringing about what some have called The Second Reformation: God placing ministry into the hands of the people, radically transforming church members from spectators to participants. This book is written for all who are hearing these calls. In this book I share both a vision of reformation and my personal experiences in equipping ministry teams in the basics of healing, moving with the Holy Spirit and hearing His voice. While ministry teams are certainly not all that a second reformation is about, I believe they are a representative part of it. I could have written the book from the perspective of equipping individuals to minister—that certainly fits in with the vision of the Second Reformation. But I think it is far more important to discuss how we can work together as teams, supporting one another, being used together by the Holy Spirit and flowing with each other in both unity and diversity. Although one can put a thousand to flight, two can put ten thousand to flight. This is truly at the heart of the Second Reformation. Such a reformation may change the expression of the church as we know it. All agree that the church is about people, not buildings. However, many have become so accustomed to thinking that the activity of the church is within the church building that any other view seems foreign. In the Bible, however, almost all of the supernatural acts of God were not done within the four walls of a church or temple, but in the every-day world. When the ministry of God comes into the hands of the people who already live and work in that world, we will once again see the ministry of Jesus out in the highways and byways—the same place He sent His disciples two by two—where again He will send His empowered teams. Just as there are many types of Spiritual gifts, so, too, the team members and even the teams themselves will be different. Some will specialize in healing, some in servanthood, some in music. Some will be specifically called for special assignments. All will be empowered and bring the Kingdom of God to a world in desperate need of it. Although I discuss specific issues and give many valuable helps related to equipping, my experience has been that the success of both ministry teams and individual team members depends far more on foundational heart attitudes than on knowing a lot of particulars or on having a prescribed level of giftedness. Therefore, a significant part of this book is about seeking and receiving the heart attitudes essential to effective ministry. This book also lays foundations in topics I have discovered to be vital to ministry: Who is the Holy Spirit? What are the deeper aspects of faith, grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how are they used in ministering to others? How can we learn to listen to God? What is our ministerial relationship with God all about? To some who are new to the idea that God speaks directly to and through people today, some of the tenets of this book may present a challenge. If that is you, I suggest some books that lay a solid Scriptural and practical foundation. Their references are given in the bibliography. For a foundation in the prophetic gifts, I would highly recommend Jack Deere’s book Surprised by the Voice of God. It is thorough, scholarly, and fascinating reading. For a foundation in the Holy Spirit and how the presence of God can be experienced, I would recommend John White’s book When the Spirit Comes with Power. It is rich in scholarship by someone who understands both the Word and people. Please read these books with a heart that is open to new ideas and willing to search the Scriptures to see for yourself. Although you may have been exposed in the past to counterfeits and/or poor examples of healing and prophecy, the false and inadequate do not negate the true. I encourage you to check out for yourself the possibility that the Holy Spirit is still releasing His healing and prophetic gifts and that they can be, and even are, bringing the love of God in real, sensitive and powerful ways today. As always, go back to Jesus. What did He do? My hope is that you will enjoy this book. Whether you glean a little or a lot from its pages, may you end up closer to the magnificent call on every believer’s life to minister with the heart, style and power of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Contents
Forward Introduction
2 The Holy Spirit 3 An Approach to the Ministry of Healing 4 Values Underlying Our Approach to Team Ministry 5 Faith 6 Shifting Our Paradigms: I’ll See It When I Believe It 7 Authority 8 The Prophetic Ministry: Hearing from God 9 The Power of the Law; the Power of Grace 10 The Gifts of the Holy Spirit 11 The Second Reformation
Appendices A Ministry Times: What We Value B Sample Guidelines for Ministry Teams C Goose Sense
Bibliography About the Author
Selected Quotes
About the Holy Spirit: While this book will introduce many tools for ministry, what is of primary importance is not a tool at all. It is the Holy Spirit. In truth, we are a tool to be used by Him. All ministry is His and He gives us the privilege of partnering with Him in it. Hopefully, as we see Him work, our delight will not be in our own ministry, but in Him, and all that He does will continually amaze us. It is only fitting to begin a book such as this with a discussion of the Holy Spirit: who He is, what happens when He comes, and what it is like when we partner with Him.
About Healing: God’s desire to heal is evident throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament God often healed. One of His names was Yahweh Rapha, the God who heals (Exodus 15:26). In the New Testament, Jesus constantly demonstrated God’s desire to heal. Jesus not only healed people, but He also taught His disciples how to heal and then sent them out with the command to heal (Matt. 10:1,8, Luke 9:2,10:9). Jesus healed people for several reasons. Foremost, it was His compassionate heart to do so. “. . . [He] saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them and he healed their sick” (Matt. 14:14). Healing also demonstrated His reality and power to save. “‘But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ He said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’” (Luke 5:24). It was also a sign that God’s Kingdom, in all its goodness, freedom and life, had come. It went hand in hand with Jesus’ proclamation, “The Kingdom of God is here” (Mark 1:15). Can we say that any of these reasons for healing has changed, excusing us from praying for healing today?
About Character: The Lord can give us power in a day, and that is important—I don’t intend to diminish its necessity—but it takes years to shape our character. Our character is precious to Him. In team prayer, or any kind of ministry, the Lord seems to spend more time on developing our character than anything else. When you operate in power, you reveal the power of an Almighty God, but your character helps reveal the heart of the Father, the compassion of Jesus, the closeness of the Spirit. This can do more than heal—it can change the course of someone’s life.
About Faith: It says in the book of John that we will do even greater works than Jesus and that whatever we ask, he will do (John 14:12-14). How do you deal with verses like this and Mark 11:22-24? Unless you’ve been moving mountains lately or walking on water, it is a challenge to explain what these texts are saying. Some people try to fit these Scriptures into their experience (or lack of it) and theologize their meaning away—or, at least, dilute it. But that’s not being honest with these texts. The only thing to do is leave them as a challenge: the challenge of faith. These promises are out there, and as much as I wish I could attain every verse in the Bible, I will not lower the bar just so I can pretend to reach them. I will leave the bar where Jesus put it and go after it. I don’t know how I’m going to get there, but I want to grow and learn and do more and more. To me, this is the only honest way to look at such verses. In the very pursuit of trying to attain to this height, we start learning more about faith—what it is, what it isn’t, and how to move in it.
About Paradigms and World Views: A few years ago the teens in our church befriended a young man named Danny. Danny spent most of his time on the streets. A severe head injury as an infant had affected him mentally. One of his endearing qualities was the way he would quote cliches—usually a little mixed up. For instance, “I’ll believe it when I see it,” would always come out as “I’ll see it when I believe it.” We loved that because we realized that with the things of God, Danny’s words were much closer to the truth. It seems that some people, even Christians, do not believe that God works supernaturally today like He did in the Book of Acts. Their experience seems to confirm their belief—they do not see supernatural acts. Others believe that He does do supernatural things today and do see them happening. How do you explain this disparity? I think two factors are at play. First, faith is a requirement for receiving from God, so even though some may believe God for salvation and receive it, they may not believe Him for supernatural acts and therefore do not experience them. Second, a lack of belief in something can actually affect what we see and hear. (See John 12:29) Supernatural activity can be going on in front of us but, unless we are attuned to it, we can dismiss it before it registers in our minds.
About Authority and the Kingdom of God: Today He is sending us and as we go, we, too, will see the Kingdom with its life and freedom burst on the scene, crushing the effects of the enemy’s reign of destruction. We don’t know where or how it may burst out next, but it is its nature to do so. We, with Jesus at our side, are now point-men and women in the heavenly invasion, precipitators of God’s Kingdom, as we bring His authority and very presence into a land that is ripe to be conquered. The part we play is often profoundly simple: a word of the Lord, an extension of our hand, or a deed of kindness, but it can precipitate an awesome work of the Lord as His Kingdom gloriously comes. Even small things, done with great love, can change the world. To encourage us to do these things, we need to know who we are and what we are about. We have the authority to ask and, therefore, experience, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
About the Prophetic Ministry and Hearing from God: You may have noticed in previous chapters how often I spoke about hearing from God. Listening is part of our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Our approach to healing is based upon discerning what the Father is doing. Imparting hope may involve speaking a prophetic word. Authority is often the result of hearing what God is saying and verbalizing it. Now I would like to focus on hearing God’s voice as a subject by itself and present some helps for hearing His voice more clearly.
About Law and Grace: As ministry team members mature, they usually grow in hearing from the Lord, flowing with the Spirit’s power and every other aspect of the ministry. But one area that is often a sticking point in their forward progress is the effective use of law and grace. On the surface, law and grace are simple to understand. However, our upbringing, education and life experiences can cast a shadow over the way we view and use them, ultimately affecting the way we minister to others. That is why I am devoting a chapter to this subject. It is a fitting topic to follow the discussion of prophetic ministry because it will lead to many applications for ministering prophetically. Both law and grace have their own power and it is imperative to understand how each works and to not use one when the other is called for. Martin Luther had a deep understanding of this. His grasp of it was so great that scholars agree that his writings on law and grace were cutting edge both in his day and today. To pursue the Second Reformation, we must learn from the first one.
About the Gifts of the Holy Spirit: God is creative. He does not give His people just one type of gift, but a spectrum of them. His church is not a black and white snapshot; it is a living portrait filled with variety and color on every level. To add even more diversity to this picture, each specific gift operates in a variety of ways. In Scripture, some of the prophets were vision-oriented (Ezekiel), some were word-oriented (Jeremiah), some were given the task to anoint future leaders (Samuel), and some were called to a specific mission (Moses). The same gift may operate quite differently in different people. Not only that, but when the gifts are combined—which God often does within individuals—there are many fascinating marriages and blends, adding even more diversity to the already colorful spectrum. For instance, the ministries of prophecy and intercession are by themselves interesting and powerful. But a whole new thing happens when they are merged and God gives you revelation of what to pray— things that could not be known through the natural realm. There are many powerful combinations of all of the gifts—evangelism and servanthood, prophecy and counseling, worship and evangelism. Combinations bring a new and powerful dynamic to both.
About the Second Reformation: John Stott spoke of such a reformation in The Message of Ephesians. He said, “If the sixteenth century recovered the ‘priesthood of all believers’ (every Christian enjoying through Christ a direct access to God), perhaps the twentieth century will recover the ‘ministry of all believers’ (every Christian receiving from Christ a privileged ministry to men).” He also said, “For clearly the way the whole body grows is for all its members to use their God-given gifts. These gifts are so beneficial both to those who exercise their ministry faithfully and to those who receive it that the church becomes steadily more healthy and mature” (p.168). Pastors, we must realize that we are not the only ones who should experience the thrill of being used. We must fulfill the dreams of others. Every believer has a destiny to be “built into a spiritual house to be a royal priesthood, . . . a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that [they] may declare the praises of Him who called [them] out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:5,9). The privilege of partnering with God, feeling His heart beat within ours and taking His words and His works to a world which desperately needs them, is a privilege God has purposed to share with everyone in His Church. It is for this purpose that we are like arrows in His hands. As we are shot from His bow, sailing through the air to our target, we have to admit that there’s no adventure quite like the one we are on.
|