A Word for Australia concerning Indonesia - The Sumatran Tiger

Whilst in prayer, I felt the Holy Spirit say "The Sumatran Tiger is stirring. For there is movement in his tail and though he appears to sleep and though he appears soft and sultry, he is a vicious beast who is ready to pounce on it's prey in a whim. For the tiger has his senses attuned to all around it and is constantly waiting for opportunity. For it is wild and powerful says the Spirit and your actions are stirring and awakening its senses. For though I have called you to give leadership and guidance you have abused your role and aroused those to action all about you. For I have called you to righteously lead those around you but you have been enticed into sin. Repent and turn from your ways and I will forgive your sins and return to you the righteous role I intended for you."

I believe this word is for Australia, possibly the western nations concerning Indonesia! I feel we must pray for Australia's role in the region which I believe has been led astray. We must pray and confess 2Chron 7:14 over our land and believe for a returning to righteous government. We need to pray for those who government, in particular Tony Abbott and the Liberal leadership but also for those in opposition that they will bring balance to the decisions made by government.

So in Jesus name, I lift up Tony Abbott and the liberal leadership and in particular those in foreign affairs. I ask that you Lord Jesus give them wisdom and understanding beyond their years and experience and place within them a heart that desires to please God and to bring blessing to this nation. I ask the same for Bill Shorten and the labour opposition that they will according to democratic rule know when to appose those Bills that grieve our God and that bring shame to our nation. Thankyou Lord Jesus that you protect them all from being led astray and cause their hearts to be attuned to you. In Jesus Name!

Hebrews 13:17 Obeying those in Authority

Yesterday in our School of the Spirit, conversation, under the heading of ascension gifts, quickly centred around the need for titles in the church. In recent years, it has become popular to give almost anyone the title of Pastor. I even encountered a pastor to the pasture, and when I asked this lovely man what his role was in the church he informed me he was the maintenance man and kept the lawns and gardens neat and tidy.

Though the above example is extreme, the fact still remains that having Ps. in front of our names has become extremely popular. Yet, when we examine Ephesians 4:11 we soon realise that God has given gifts to all the body of Christ and therefore the questions arises for the need of titles within the church at all.

As discussed in our school yesterday, I argued that these things are often not a question of should or shouldn't but what is cultural and acceptable by the congregation. In Australia where I was born and born again at age 17, it was not only normal but seen as a sign of respect and honour to address those who are shepherds and pastors by their titles. Yet, when I eventually moved and worked in Sweden, which is predominantly socialistic, I found that no one used titles but merely referred to their pastors by their first names.

So whilst there is no scriptural basis for using titles within the body of Christ there certainly is evidence that we should obey and honour those that God has put in places of authority whether it be within the church or society. Hebrews 13:17 tells us "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you". Indeed Acts 20:28 indicates there is a responsibility for those in leadership to do what they do, "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood."

1Thess 5:12 says "Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you". So certainly an acknowledgement of a person's role or position within the church is needed, but this also should be done in a soberly way and understanding that all of us contribute to being the body of Christ which in turn gives us the  motivation to give respect and honour to all the body of Christ.

What do we do then, Paul tells us that "all things are acceptable but not all things are beneficial" meaning if it is acceptable culturally within your congregation to use title then we should hesitate to do so. However, we must also be aware to not exalt or place people on pedestals that they can fall from.

School of the Spirit Term Two

It is with pleasure we announce that our School of the Spirit will re-commence for a second term this year. After listening to what we feel was the Spirit's leading, it was decided to continue with the same group of students from this term into an advanced school.

The main goal with this advanced group will be to see not only the Gifts of the Spirit in use more but to also spend time exploring the prophetic and seeing the prophetic voice released within the group.

I sense this second term is going to see a launching of many of our present students into a greater dimension of God's presence and power in their lives.

Please pray with us that we will continue to see the Holy Spirit lead and guide this group and the Kingdom of our God being released over our region.

God Bless

Ephesians 4:11 Ascension Gifts

Ascension Gifts

Introduction

When we think ascension gifts, we automatically turn our minds to Ephesians 4:11 where it says “when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men”. And even though most people would not attribute these gifts to the Holy Spirit but to Christ, it is fair to say that without the Holy Spirit active and working throughout the body of Christ there would be no spiritual or ascension gifts. It is therefore only reasonable that we take a look at these gifts and how they operate within the Body of Christ.

What does Scripture Say?

Ephesians 4:11 says "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it, but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."—

The first point to observe in scripture, besides the fact that this book was written by Paul to the church in Ephesus, which from beginning was a very polygamist society and therefore involved in the worship of almost anything, is that Paul says every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. This would indicate that everyone has been given a measure or portion of Christ’s gift. Bearing in mind that the word for ministry used here is the same word for service! So each person within the body of Christ has been gifted to serve, solidifying Christ command to love and serve one another as He himself loved us.

In addition, it would appear that each person has a portion or measure of Christ’s gift. Meaning simply that though Christ would have demonstrated all of these gifts throughout His ministry, we may or may not necessarily do so in our service to the body of Christ. It would however appear that within a group or congregation all the necessary gifts to ensure the body functions as it was meant to will be present.

Secondly, He gave some… from this it would indicate the gifts listed are not necessarily comprehensive, meaning this is merely an example of some of those gifts. The gifts listed in Romans 12:3-8 would also seem to support this as it includes other gifts not listed in this passage.

 

Thirdly, whilst some would try to argue that there is some sort of emphasis placed on ranking of the gifts from Apostles through to teachers, there is no support or evidence of this in scripture. If in fact we are to use Paul’s other writings to do with gifts as a reference, then it would be obvious that God sees all men as equals and therefore certain gifts neither hold higher value than others. See Gal 3:28; Rom 10:12; Col 3:9-11

Finally, for the perfecting of the saints indicates to us that each of these gifts had one and the same goal in mind, to see the body of Christ perfected or is it appears in some translations equipped for ministry. The translation of this word to the English language is harder than we would like, it appears the word is emphasizing the ongoing perfecting or equipping of the saints. So the work is not completed with one group of people or even generation but as the body continues to grow so too does the ongoing equipping of the saints for ministry.

The Work of the Spirit in these gifts

It is impossible not to refer to the work of these gifts by the Holy Spirit, especially considering this is a school of the Spirit. And we must therefore look at the context of Ephesians 4:11 to completely understand Paul’s meaning with the verses. Ephesians 4:1-6 says “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

So just as Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 and in Romans 12 speaks about the unity we have in the Spirit with the Father, so too does he here. Emphasizing the need for each of us to be in unity with one another and to bear with one another, speaking of grace and the Lord’s own attitude towards each of us. Paul even goes on to urge us to be bound with peace, peace towards each other.

It is however, the Holy Spirit who allows us to do so and also brings each of these gifts into function as He intended for His church.

Daily Motions - Isa 40:31

As I awoke today, I saw an email from a new friend, Phillip Baker from Texas, who writes daily motions or short sayings for the day. Whilst the note spoke of Kingdom Principals, it was his headline of "Daily Motions" that got me thinking. Specifically as I was walking to the toilet to consider a daily motion, please forgive the pun, whilst there I started to meditate again on the word Wait.

This word wait has now been on my mind for some time, in fact well over two years ago I felt the Holy Spirit drawing me away to wait on Him. As I have quoted previously from Isa 40:31 I will not re-iterate the meaning of this word more than to  say it means to entwine or entangle once self and to pursue the Holy Spirit who brings the strength and the power we need to be all that Christ intends us to be.

Getting back to my daily motion, when we find ourselves in the predicament that we all find either daily as it is with most or not so often as it can unfortunately be, we are forced into a situation that simply requires us to WAIT for the bodily functions to run their cause. It doesn't matter if we don't have the time nor the patience or even the desire to do so, we simply have no choice but to wait for everything to run its cause. Its only when all has finished that we can move on with the rest of our day.

I see similarities with how the Holy Spirit would draw us away each day to wait for Him. Whilst the business of our day or work duties may continually be calling for us we must learn to allow our time in waiting on the Holy Spirit to run its cause. A friend of mine began to discuss the practise of soaking. Soaking according to various authors is simply taking time to relax in God's presence and hear the voice of His Spirit reveal new things to us. I made the comment that soaking sounds a lot like meditating on the word as the Lord commanded to Joshua in chapter three. Once again whether it be soaking or meditating on the word of God speaks to us about being drawn away from the business of life to wait on the Holy Spirit and to allow time for the Holy Spirit to reveal new and wonderful principals of the Kingdom of God to us.

Be blessed as you wait on Him

Speaking in Tongues 1Cor 14:1-33

Speaking in Tongues 1Cor 14:1-33

Introduction

As we know from Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers and those present in the upper room, the bible describes tongues of “fire that came and rested upon” those in the meeting, the next thing we know is “they all began to speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them”. From this scripture we can see that tongues are often the result of the Holy Spirit’s presence.

Yet scripture, and in particular 1Cor14 gives us context to which “the gift of speaking in tongues” in public places should be used, indicating that if it is not for the building up of the body or as a sign to unbelievers one should remain silent or prophecy.

There is in fact not a lot of  teaching in God’s word about the subject making interpretation a little difficult.

Speaking in Tongues as Evidence

The first observation we can make about tongues is that it is a sign or evidence that God’s Spirit is present. We see this both in Acts 2:4 and even when we look at examples in the Old Testament with Saul when he was anointed King, scriptures says that he “began to prophecy”. However, the sign of speaking in tongues appears to be a new sign for New Testament believers.

What is evident, is when God’s Spirit is present throughout scripture it brings change and transformation which was evident of those present in the upper room. Not only did they begin to speak in tongues but they also showed other signs indicating change in them, this is most evident in Peter who only a few days earlier had denied Christ was now boldly speaking the word of God.  We can therefore say that tongues are evidence that God’s Spirit is doing something in us. We often in theological terms say it is initial evidence but not the only evidence. See also Mark 16:17

Speaking in Tongues as a Gift of the Spirit

In 1Cor 12 Paul describes one of the gifts of the Spirit as “speaking in unknown tongues” and if we interpret this correctly from the Greek it is apparent that this is a particular gift that the Spirit gives when required to bring about a specific function.

It is this that we see flowed out from the upper room into the streets of Jerusalem in Acts 2:5-10 when it was said that “each heard his native language”. Many revivals around the world have also testified to this, none more obvious than the Azusa Street and Pentecostal revivals in the early 1900’s when people were known to suddenly be able to speak languages they have never learnt and from countries they had never travelled.

As a result of Acts 2 outpouring and from what we have heard from Pentecostal Revivals, speaking unknown languages was a sign for unbelievers that God was at work or present in the believers which is evident in what Paul says in 1Cor14. We can therefore conclude that the Holy Spirit enables us to speak these languages for unbelievers to believe.

 Speaking in Tongues to build yourself up

Speaking in tongues according to Paul has special value to believers as 1Cor14:4 would indicate. Speaking in tongues is for the edification of the believer. The word “edify” means literally to “build” according to Strong’s dictionary of biblical words. Paul is therefore saying that speaking in tongues on a personal level enables the individual to build themselves up, speaking I believe both of the Spirit and Psyche.

Romans 12:6 would also indicate that each of us is gifted with different gifts from the Spirit. This would speak of over and above that the Spirit would enable any one person at a particular time. Yet, scripture goes on to say that we should use or manifest this gift indicating its importance to ourselves. When I was younger we had a saying that went like this “use it or lose it” indicating that we should exercise our gifts regularly. See also Jude 1:20;

Speaking in Tongues for the Benefit of other or in Public

Whilst all of the above can be said for the individual, it is also important to look at scripture relating to speaking in tongues for the edification of others or the body of Christ. It is here that 1Cor 14:1-33 begins to shine.

Paul is clear in his speech that tongues in public have no real benefit unless it is accompanied by an interpretation. See 1Cor14:27-29. In fact these scriptures seem to indicate that this was a real problem in the Corinthian church, otherwise Paul would not have dedicate a whole chapter to the subject.

This does not mean speaking in tongues are forbidden otherwise they could not be interpreted, but the balance is that they are for the building up of others when said in public. Again, Paul does not say they are forbidden but looks at the motive behind them. As a person who speaks in tongues, even in public, I am looking for an interpretation, but there are times when I speak in tongues to myself and don’t expect an interpretation. Scripture does not indicate this is forbidden but looks at the end result and benefit to those who hear.

Love is the Defining Motive

Let me conclude by simply quoting 1Cor13:1. Love is the motive to all that we do…