Be Careful What You Sing For!

Like other Salvationists from all over the world passionately engaged with the #Boundless2015 Congress, both in person and online, I too was inspired to hear the collective cry in our worship for God to "Send the fire today" and the corporate desire expressed through song that "We need another Pentecost" in The Salvation Army!  

But do we really want it?  Are we prepared for what it might look like?  Can this fresh outpouring of the Spirit be fully released within our existing structures?  Will we ride the wave or will we erect breakwaters to protect the harbour?

When we sing "Look down and see this waiting host" - how expectant are we?

When we sing "We need another Pentecost" - how well did we respond to the first one?

When we sing "And make us fit to live or die" - what price are we willing to pay?

When we sing "To burn up every trace of sin" - do we have a truly repentant heart?

When we sing "The revolution now begin" - will we try to risk-manage it?

When we sing "The fire will meet our every need" - how does that influence our fundraising efforts?

When we sing "For strength to always do what's right" - is that in spite of unpopularity?

When we sing "For power to walk the world in white" - will holiness precede tolerance?

When we sing "To make our weak hearts strong and brave" - are we prepared to be persecuted?

When we sing "To live a dying world to save" - do we still believe the world is in need of salvation?

When we sing "Oh see us on Your altar lay" - does that include what we have always done?

It is easy to sing such stirring words in the security and affirmation of a united gathering, but living such words is quite another story when immersed in the trenches of mission, navigating layers of bureaucracy or soliciting community and government support!  

While it is true that The Salvation Army ministers in challenging and complex times, it is equally true that "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness" (2 Peter 1:3).  

Therefore, when we sing "Send the Fire" let us dare to allow Holy Spirit to consume the dross and reignite a Christ centred, Spirit empowered, faith driven, and prophetically guided movement that repositions God's salvation message as central to our mission!

Are You Leaving Footprints Or Buttprints?

While listening to A Minute with John Maxwell this morning, I was reminded that leaders are 'action oriented people' leaving their footprints in the sands of time as they purposefully make things happen.  In contrast their are a lot of people who are sitting idle waiting for life to happen, leaving buttprints instead of footprints!  Maxwell asserted, "They're not going anywhere, they're not doing anything, they're not traveling, they're not helping, they're not people of action, they're just sitting on their butts waiting for life to happen to them."

Leaders have a 'bias towards action.'  They are people who create movement and build momentum in a team, forging indelible footprints that leave a lasting legacy for those who follow in their footsteps.  A leader's footprints are firm and easy to follow, they are determined and lead to a destination, and they are always pointing forward.

I would rather follow the footprints of someone making something happen than sit in the buttprint of someone waiting for something to happen!  Are you leaving footprints or buttprints in the sands of time?

I'm Dreaming Of A Holy Spirit Revival!

Every time I sing the Brooke Fraser song Hosanna I am captured by the words, "I see a near revival, stirring as we pray and seek, we're on our knees, we're on our knees."  And when I hear the song Revival by Robin Mark my heart beats a little harder in sync with the rhythm as I sing the words, "I feel it in my spirit, feel it in my bones, you're gonna send revival, bring 'em all back home."

We are currently in a season of ministry where God is stirring a 'Holy Discontent' deep within our spirits and repositioning our church for a mighty movement of His Spirit!  In such a season a spiritual battle is raging personally and corporately as resistance to the work of the Spirit is being confronted and blockages are being revealed to make way for a Holy Spirit revival.  

We are being called back to submission to the authority of God's Word.  

 

We are being challenged to engage in passionate corporate prayer.

 

We are being confronted by the presence and power of Holy Spirit.

The other night I had a dream about a Holy Spirit revival that was so vivid: I dreamt that I was attending a large gathering at the Melbourne Town Hall where there was a loud commotion going on in the main auditorium.  Those gathered in the foyer were clearly concerned by what was going on inside and there were people trying to block the doors and prevent others from entering.  As I tried to get a look at what was happening I too was physically blocked from going inside.  I pushed my through the obstruction and forced my way past the person blocking the doorway into the commotion inside.  What I found was a hall full of people slain in the Spirit with many manifesting various other signs of the Spirit.  There was a loud noise and it became clear that there was a mighty movement of Holy Spirit going on!  As I progressed down the aisle I was overwhelmed by the presence of God and what was happening around me.  When I exited the rear of the building I was left pondering the meaning of what was happening both inside the auditorium and in the foyer by those who tried to prevent me and others from seeing this movement of the Spirit.

Normally when I dream, the details are sketchy and I rarely remember the dream beyond waking up.  There is conservative part of me that is even a little reluctant to read too much into dreams, but the Scripture clearly says, "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams"  (Acts 2:17).  Now, let me be clear - I am not an old man!  However, I did dream a dream that has left a strong imprint in my mind and on my spirit!  As I have reflected upon and prayed about this dream over the past 24 hours I believe it reveals our current spiritual reality locally and beyond.  In a season where God is wanting to unleash Holy Spirit revival, I feel this dream confronts me (us) with some powerful questions:

• Who or what is obstructing me from seeing and experiencing Holy Spirit power in my own life?
• Who or what is obstructing us from seeing and experiencing Holy Spirit power in our church/es?
• Are we standing on the shores watching the wave of the Spirit pass us by or are we in the water riding that wave?
• Who are those around us acting as gate keepers trying to contain the movement of the Spirit?
• How hard are we pushing through that which is blocking this movement of the Spirit?
• Do we really want to see Holy Spirit revival in our lives and our church/es?

 

My dream and desire is to experience the fullness of the presence and power of the Spirit and for a Holy Spirit revival to be unleashed in our church and across the entire movement of the Christian church!!

GO

"The great missionary movement we have today did not exist 300 years ago:  it all started with a young thirty year old Baptist minister by the name of William Carey reading an article in England's first missionary magazine reporting on Moravian missions around the world.  After reading the article, Carey marched into a meeting of senior Baptist ministers and in front of his fellow ministers threw down onto the table copies of the magazine and said, "See what the Moravians have done!  Can we not follow their example, and in obedience to our heavenly Master go out into the world and preach the Gospel to the heathen?"  Carey proposed that at a future meeting of Baptist pastors they should consider taking concrete steps to reach out to the world's unreached.  A senior pastor curtly told him:  "Sit down, young man!" and added, "If God wants to save the heathen, he will do it without your help or mine!"  (Tony Keys, First Love Discipleship Series, Philippians - 'For to me, to live is Christ')

The beginning of the modern mission movement emerged out of a self-centered gospel and realigned to a Christ-centered gospel that embraced the spirit of Paul and the command of Christ to go into the world and preach the gospel to all nations.  Missionaries like William Carey became discontent with what the church had become and captured a vision of how the world should be.  Not deterred by bad theology, wrong thinking or insular tradition; but challenged by the efforts of the Moravians, compelled by the mandate of Christ and filled with the power of the Spirit, Carey inspired a movement of missionaries and societies with a renewed passion to take the gospel to the whole world!

While I am a little uncomfortable with some of the language and perception of this movement, viewing the unreached as 'heathen', I am captured by their courage and sacrifice to GO and advance the gospel to the far ends of the earth.  Our missiology may have changed and cross-cultural sensibilities developed, but I pray that our passion for the lost will intensify and inspire a new kingdom-oriented movement of Christ followers to complete what was begun - the Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I [Jesus] have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19)

An Unstoppable Force

I'm sitting here watching the movie "Unstoppable," starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine about an unmanned runaway freight train that is under full power.  It is an intense and action packed movie showing the desperate attempt by authorities to regain control of the train and avert a potential disaster.

I can't help to wonder about the potential for the local church to be an unstoppable force if it too was moving under full power.

Despite all the programs and activities that are coupled together to form the church, it seems that the church is largely running far from full power.  In fact, I think it is fair to say that some churches are just coasting along and others are at a complete stand still.

For churches to be a movement under full power, they must be churches full of the Holy Spirit!  Churches full of the Spirit will be an unstoppable force that can never be derailed by the enemy nor controlled by the religious.  Holy Spirit driven churches will be a movement with such power that strongholds will be broken and lives will be radically transformed. 

This is where the analogy with the movie ends, as churches moving under the full power of the Spirit will not cause a disaster but prevent a disaster of people who are not yet saved spending eternity outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ!