Over and over again, we are told in the gospels ‘Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Be good to those who hate you. Pray for those who persecute or mistreat you to show you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven, for He makes His sun rise on the good and the wicked, and sends rain to fall on the righteous and sinner. If you only love those who love you, what reward can you have? Even the wicked do that’ (Matthew 5:44 to 46). Might I say that this message is the same today even as it was during the time of the Roman Imperium which controlled and dictated to the lives of millions of people when this message was first written.
As a Christian and therefore follower of Christ, it is easy to be put off by what we hear in media. In a world which seems to be growing in hate and discord, as we have recently seen by the actions of a few in the form of ISIS, it's easy to become hard and even hateful towards those who would try to take peace from us. Yet the message of Christ and throughout the New Testament continues to sing aloud as it did thousands of years before. Love those that hate you!
As we draw near to the return of Christ, Jesus himself warns us in Matthew 24:9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
It is during these times, such as we see today, that every Christian believer must hold to the truth and Christ's calling to "go into all the world" with a message of love and grace especially to those that hate us. It is through their hatred towards us and our response to continue in love that the world will see Christ in us and ultimately more come to the knowledge of God's love towards them.
It is not enough for us to say we love them, we must always display this love in action. As we begin a new day, let's pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us to someone somewhere that we can display Christ's love for them. Remembering one of the most recognised scriptures of all time John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Thursday, 30 October 2014
Friday, 17 October 2014
2021
Whilst in prayer and study of Ezekiel two weeks ago, I felt the Holy Spirit speak to me about things to come in the future. In particular it was regarding the year 2021 and a time of great testing and trial for the Christian Church.
As I was reading the book of Ezekiel and how the Lord had previously warned Israel of their sin and as they had not obeyed him would come under pending judgement, the Lord spoke to me by His Spirit that the Church too would come under great tribulation and persecution beginning the year 2021.
This is naturally not to say the church in many nations is not already under tribulation, as we can see in many third world nations. And indeed it is these Christians that I believe will be best prepared for such events.
Why you might ask this year? We see in the natural what is happening in Iraq and Syria in 2014 not only with Christians but all who withstand the new Islamic rule of Isal. As a result we see in the natural the affliction of not just a few but literally thousands of people. Whilst this in itself sounds terrible, I believe the spiritual attack against the church in coming years beginning 2021 will be far greater.
How this will start I am unsure, nor do I by any means proclaim to be a prophet or would I dare to call this a prophecy, but merely a warning for the Church to be aware of pending tribulation and to prepare itself.
The question that remains is how does the church prepare for something like this? The only answer I can give at this time is to continue to develop a sincere and close relationship with our heavenly father be it through our Lord and the work he has achieved on the cross for us and an obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Zechariah 4:6 tells us "It is not by might, nor by power but by my Holy Spirit says the Lord.." The Holy Spirit remains today as the leading influencer of the body of Christ and it is only through our sensitivity to his promptings and soft voice that we can truly walk as sons of God as Romans indicates.
I have just returned from a brunch date with some pastors we know nearby, conversation quickly began to centre around Isal and what is happening in Iraq. As we speak they tell me the Lord spoke to them back in 2011 that they had 10 years in which they were to prepare the church for a time of trials and tribulation. Interesting to note that 10 years from 2011 is 2021. This confirmed to me that 2021 will be an important time for the church especially in the Western World.
In closing let me re-iterate, that I am not a prophet nor proclaim this to be a prophecy but sense this is what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me. I am therefore open to correction and interpretation by other men and women of God who may have greater spiritual insight to these issues and welcome such replies.
God Bless
As I was reading the book of Ezekiel and how the Lord had previously warned Israel of their sin and as they had not obeyed him would come under pending judgement, the Lord spoke to me by His Spirit that the Church too would come under great tribulation and persecution beginning the year 2021.
This is naturally not to say the church in many nations is not already under tribulation, as we can see in many third world nations. And indeed it is these Christians that I believe will be best prepared for such events.
Why you might ask this year? We see in the natural what is happening in Iraq and Syria in 2014 not only with Christians but all who withstand the new Islamic rule of Isal. As a result we see in the natural the affliction of not just a few but literally thousands of people. Whilst this in itself sounds terrible, I believe the spiritual attack against the church in coming years beginning 2021 will be far greater.
How this will start I am unsure, nor do I by any means proclaim to be a prophet or would I dare to call this a prophecy, but merely a warning for the Church to be aware of pending tribulation and to prepare itself.
The question that remains is how does the church prepare for something like this? The only answer I can give at this time is to continue to develop a sincere and close relationship with our heavenly father be it through our Lord and the work he has achieved on the cross for us and an obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Zechariah 4:6 tells us "It is not by might, nor by power but by my Holy Spirit says the Lord.." The Holy Spirit remains today as the leading influencer of the body of Christ and it is only through our sensitivity to his promptings and soft voice that we can truly walk as sons of God as Romans indicates.
I have just returned from a brunch date with some pastors we know nearby, conversation quickly began to centre around Isal and what is happening in Iraq. As we speak they tell me the Lord spoke to them back in 2011 that they had 10 years in which they were to prepare the church for a time of trials and tribulation. Interesting to note that 10 years from 2011 is 2021. This confirmed to me that 2021 will be an important time for the church especially in the Western World.
In closing let me re-iterate, that I am not a prophet nor proclaim this to be a prophecy but sense this is what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me. I am therefore open to correction and interpretation by other men and women of God who may have greater spiritual insight to these issues and welcome such replies.
God Bless
Wednesday, 15 October 2014
The Dilemma of Leadership
It's been sometime since my last blog and therefore a lot has been going through my mind. I hope then that this blog is not too confusing...
As a pastor of many years now and therefore a leader, I have for a long time battled with what I call the dilemma of leadership. A strange title I know, but let me explain. As pastors the book of Ephesians instructs us to "train the saints for ministry...". I can honestly say this has been my heart and desire and would almost proudly confess to doing this for the period of my ministry. I have become aware though, self preservation often gets in the way of being true to this calling.
As pastors and leaders within the body of Christ, our very existence relies on the body of Christ (the church) needing and wanting us. Indeed you could argue that some of the salaries that pastors receive almost mandates this as we often need to validate these enormous sums. Not that I have ever been the recipient of such wages in my time, but I do know of some pastors, who will remain nameless, who are on CEO or corporate type remuneration packages. And this is not for me to judge whether or not this is right or wrong, but the question still remains, when we are on so high wages is there then a need to validate these wages. I would argue YES there is!
This then creates a dilemma. If pastors feel the need to validate their wages and therefore their very existence within the body of Christ, are we the body who employ them creating monsters of our own demise? Why is this you might ask? Well, if the body of Christ in general are the very ones who are called to be doing the ministry, in effect pastors and leaders should be doing themselves out of a job.
In a world of big budgets and high pressure roles it is easy to forget why we are here. Peter calls the church to be a "Royal Priesthood..." and indeed when we examine God's original plan for mankind it is obvious he wanted all to be ministers and not just a chosen few. It is easy though as pastors and leaders to budget for our various departments and objectives when we know we have the body contributing to the income based on a tithe or 10% giving. Yet this was never God's intention to lower the body of Christ to a place where our only contribution was through our giving at the offering time. Indeed His plan was that we would be doing the very things that Jesus did when He walked the earth.
I believe we have gotten things confused or even back the front, the real role is for the believers of Christ to be in every way fulfilling the great commission of Christ and the role of pastors and leadership to help and support the body in this mission. In the same way, our programs have taken pre-eminence over people, yet it was the programs that were created to help and reach out to the people. Perhaps it is time to put things right and give the body of Christ the mantel and platform it should really have and ask the leadership to serve as we were once called.
As a pastor of many years now and therefore a leader, I have for a long time battled with what I call the dilemma of leadership. A strange title I know, but let me explain. As pastors the book of Ephesians instructs us to "train the saints for ministry...". I can honestly say this has been my heart and desire and would almost proudly confess to doing this for the period of my ministry. I have become aware though, self preservation often gets in the way of being true to this calling.
As pastors and leaders within the body of Christ, our very existence relies on the body of Christ (the church) needing and wanting us. Indeed you could argue that some of the salaries that pastors receive almost mandates this as we often need to validate these enormous sums. Not that I have ever been the recipient of such wages in my time, but I do know of some pastors, who will remain nameless, who are on CEO or corporate type remuneration packages. And this is not for me to judge whether or not this is right or wrong, but the question still remains, when we are on so high wages is there then a need to validate these wages. I would argue YES there is!
This then creates a dilemma. If pastors feel the need to validate their wages and therefore their very existence within the body of Christ, are we the body who employ them creating monsters of our own demise? Why is this you might ask? Well, if the body of Christ in general are the very ones who are called to be doing the ministry, in effect pastors and leaders should be doing themselves out of a job.
In a world of big budgets and high pressure roles it is easy to forget why we are here. Peter calls the church to be a "Royal Priesthood..." and indeed when we examine God's original plan for mankind it is obvious he wanted all to be ministers and not just a chosen few. It is easy though as pastors and leaders to budget for our various departments and objectives when we know we have the body contributing to the income based on a tithe or 10% giving. Yet this was never God's intention to lower the body of Christ to a place where our only contribution was through our giving at the offering time. Indeed His plan was that we would be doing the very things that Jesus did when He walked the earth.
I believe we have gotten things confused or even back the front, the real role is for the believers of Christ to be in every way fulfilling the great commission of Christ and the role of pastors and leadership to help and support the body in this mission. In the same way, our programs have taken pre-eminence over people, yet it was the programs that were created to help and reach out to the people. Perhaps it is time to put things right and give the body of Christ the mantel and platform it should really have and ask the leadership to serve as we were once called.
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