The bible identifies unclean spirits many times by name, based on their methods of operation, such as a lying spirit, a familiar spirit, a spirit of divination, spirit of jealousy, spirit of anti-Christ etc. Yesterday, I met with a pastor in my office that shared with me the hurt he had recently experienced due to a handful of people that had left his church each one with a different excuse. When I arrived home after my meeting, I pick up a book by Kimberly Daniels to my surprise she begins to describe a spirit that will often times infiltrate churches without any opposition. it receives no opposition simply because most leaders do not recognize it is as a spirit in their midst. She identifies this spirit as the spirit of betrayal.
Granted people leave churches all the time for different reasons, however, when a spirit of betrayal has gained a foot hold in a church and goes undetected it begins to cause an unsettling and a disconnect in the church and often times it affects a portion of the congregation all at once.
Leaving the principle leader bewildered and at a loss as to, "Why the Exodus?". This spirit is an expert at mixing words and causing misunderstandings and ultimately dis-jointing the body. The spirit of betrayal was evident in the life of Miriam, Moses' sister, it was evident in the sons of Korah, and it was evident in Judas. It is the kind of spirit that kisses you on the cheek one moment, yet has already laid out the plan to betray you.
My advise to my "colleagues in the ministry" is to identify this spirit when is rears it ugly head (and trust me it will) and fervently pray it out of your midst. The bible says, "When the thief is found out..." which means, If he is not found out he will continue to harm the fellowship and threaten the vision.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Is it a Calling or is it just a Job?
People say they are involved in ministry yet when things get difficult, uncomfortable, burdensome and lonely they no longer want to have anything to do with the ministry. The problem is, it was never a ministry to begin with. It was only a Job. It's easy to walk away from a Job when conditions are not suitable, a job doesn't even have to have significance or meaning connected to it, just compensation -
But a ministry is different, it is connected to a calling. conditions are seldom suitable, but thats okay, I'm full-filling a call. There may not be much pay, but purpose is priceless. The people your called to minister to may seldom appreciate it, this is also okay, you see, it's my calling. When we stand before the Lord on Judgment day and he is rewarding those who did well, it is not a Job resume that will qualify you. But the heart, attitude and obedience with which you responded to His call. - Daniel Cruz
But a ministry is different, it is connected to a calling. conditions are seldom suitable, but thats okay, I'm full-filling a call. There may not be much pay, but purpose is priceless. The people your called to minister to may seldom appreciate it, this is also okay, you see, it's my calling. When we stand before the Lord on Judgment day and he is rewarding those who did well, it is not a Job resume that will qualify you. But the heart, attitude and obedience with which you responded to His call. - Daniel Cruz
What do Pastors Ponder?
In our Churches there is a horrible misnomer - We constantly challenge "Christians" to become disciples. When Biblically there is no such thing as a Christian who is NOT a Disciple. The problem is we call everyone who makes a decision at an altar, a christian. I am not minimizing this important step, but a decision for Christ is not the end of evangelism, it is merely the first step in the process of being evangelized. What is evangelism? It is the process of converting a life from a sinner by lifestyle into a disciple by lifestyle.
Truth be told many of our churches are filled with people that are in the process of becoming converted, most of our churches are not necessarily filled with converts. Which means most of the people that attend our services are still in the process of being evangelized. This is the time when they get to count the cost. The crowds followed Jesus and heard him preach, they heard every sermon. Jesus never made an altar call after his sermons, why?, because he knew His sermons were an opportunity for the people to count the cost. With every sermon and with every testimony, our members in essence are being evangelized, they are counting the cost whether to become a disciple or not.
You see, the problem is most of the people in our churches believe in their mind they are already Christians, they act like the world but they believe their christians, they are still living the way they have always lived, but they believe they're Christians, why? Because WE told them they were. Yet they had never really counted the cost. Why has the American church produced so many "backsliders"? Because we called Christians people who were never christians to begin with, they were merely in the process of being evangelized yet decided the cost was too high. "Narrow is the gate that leads to salvation and few are they that find it." Can a person be truly converted from one day to the next? Certainly, but most "Christians" we know are still being evangelized. We could say, some of the biggest harvest fields are within our own congregations.
IS DISCIPLESHIP A PROGRAM?
When we consider the challenge of discipleship and the mandate to make disciples of the nations, it is hard to conceive of packaging all of this into a program. In fact, isn’t discipleship another way of describing the ongoing life of a follower of Jesus? Therefore the making of those disciples should be almost synonymous with life in the community of believers.
Of course there can and should be classes or programs that are designed to focus more intensely on aspects of the Christian’s life with Christ, and these may incorporate the valuable tool of mentoring typically associated with discipling ministries. My question is whether we should define that as “discipleship,” as though the rest of the worship and work of the church is something else.
For example, isn’t the opportunity to thoughtfully and prayerfully plan a worship service with a worship team a remarkable opportunity for a disciple to grow in understanding of who God is? Or shouldn’t we think of the effort involved in being part of an Adopt-a-Block ministry or a Food Pantry or a short-term missions team as great occasions for making disciples. In fact, I have heard of several instances when those kinds of opportunities were the time of conversion of those participating.
There is a vitally important discussion going on of what it means for our churches to be missional in outlook (as opposed to including outreach and missions as one part of our ministry) and the matter of incorporating discipleship in all we do it is a key component of that discussion. To be missional in outlook doesn’t necessarily mean everything we do is specifically designed to reach out, but it does mean we are “doing church” with a constant awareness of our mission (actually Jesus’ mission) to be advancing the cause of his Kingdom.
Truth be told many of our churches are filled with people that are in the process of becoming converted, most of our churches are not necessarily filled with converts. Which means most of the people that attend our services are still in the process of being evangelized. This is the time when they get to count the cost. The crowds followed Jesus and heard him preach, they heard every sermon. Jesus never made an altar call after his sermons, why?, because he knew His sermons were an opportunity for the people to count the cost. With every sermon and with every testimony, our members in essence are being evangelized, they are counting the cost whether to become a disciple or not.
You see, the problem is most of the people in our churches believe in their mind they are already Christians, they act like the world but they believe their christians, they are still living the way they have always lived, but they believe they're Christians, why? Because WE told them they were. Yet they had never really counted the cost. Why has the American church produced so many "backsliders"? Because we called Christians people who were never christians to begin with, they were merely in the process of being evangelized yet decided the cost was too high. "Narrow is the gate that leads to salvation and few are they that find it." Can a person be truly converted from one day to the next? Certainly, but most "Christians" we know are still being evangelized. We could say, some of the biggest harvest fields are within our own congregations.
IS DISCIPLESHIP A PROGRAM?
When we consider the challenge of discipleship and the mandate to make disciples of the nations, it is hard to conceive of packaging all of this into a program. In fact, isn’t discipleship another way of describing the ongoing life of a follower of Jesus? Therefore the making of those disciples should be almost synonymous with life in the community of believers.
Of course there can and should be classes or programs that are designed to focus more intensely on aspects of the Christian’s life with Christ, and these may incorporate the valuable tool of mentoring typically associated with discipling ministries. My question is whether we should define that as “discipleship,” as though the rest of the worship and work of the church is something else.
For example, isn’t the opportunity to thoughtfully and prayerfully plan a worship service with a worship team a remarkable opportunity for a disciple to grow in understanding of who God is? Or shouldn’t we think of the effort involved in being part of an Adopt-a-Block ministry or a Food Pantry or a short-term missions team as great occasions for making disciples. In fact, I have heard of several instances when those kinds of opportunities were the time of conversion of those participating.
There is a vitally important discussion going on of what it means for our churches to be missional in outlook (as opposed to including outreach and missions as one part of our ministry) and the matter of incorporating discipleship in all we do it is a key component of that discussion. To be missional in outlook doesn’t necessarily mean everything we do is specifically designed to reach out, but it does mean we are “doing church” with a constant awareness of our mission (actually Jesus’ mission) to be advancing the cause of his Kingdom.
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