Twelve Years Ahead

 

 

"In a little more than ten years St. Paul established the Church in four provinces of the Roman Empire (Galatia, Madedonia, Achaia and Asia). Before AD 47 there were no churches in these provinces; in AD 57 St. Paul could speak as if his work there was done" (Roland Allen – Missionary Methods).

This past Sunday I posed a question: "What would you like to see done in our area for Jesus Christ over the next 12 years?" Perhaps my fellow bloggers can water that seed question. The blank billboard is for you to fill in the space with dreams and desires for gospel visibility.

I am not asking for prophetic utterances, unless of course God gives you one. I would like for you to prayerfully consider the question. Our region is increasing in spiritual darkness - how can the church address this issue.? So, in light of what God allowed Paul to experience - what should be our hope for the gospel in our region?

The King's Prayer

Hopefully there has been some positive progress in understanding how Jesus rearranged the categories of His world.  Everything began to change as the kingdoms of men fell  and the kingdom of God increased. This reversal came as the gospel was received and lived by faith.  We should read the Bible to see how truth was experienced by the people who were interacting with Jesus and the Apostles. The Bible isn't just information but transformational. The stories are really stories of either gospel transformation  or enslavement to self and sin. 

 

I believe one major factor in the effectiveness of Jesus and the Apostles is the interaction of the Spirit in their lives. We need to think more deeply into the relationship we have with the Spirit of power so that our lives would be characterized as Spirit filled. 

This coming Sunday we will look at the prayer of Jesus in John 17. I would encourage you to view this as a Spirit-filled prayer. In fact the only way a person could pray this prayer was if they were filled with the Spirit.

Our church doesn't just need prayer - we need Spirit filled prayer!

 

 

Racing through Life

Is there a way prayer can slow us down? Can prayer cause us to stop and think, discern or change our perspectives? It seems we spend a whole lot of time in prayer hoping God will do the many things we ask Him to do instead of asking Him to do one thing - change us and we all know change rarely happens in a fast paced world.

I haven't moved very far from Hebrews 5:7-8: "While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God's Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do."(The Message)

With that Scripture in mind I hope to generate some discussion on the final question I posed this past Sunday:

  *  With the glaring evidence of the powerlessness in the church, why do we still avoid matters like prayer, fasting and repentance?

So what would be your answer? Maybe you have been in a church that hasn't neglected those things and you would share your experience of what that was like.

One thing is for sure - prayer can be a discouragement for all of us. My only cure for my discouragement is to go again to the gospel of grace and remember that Jesus died for my failures. Rest in His great love and great grace.