Why SASHET is not enough (1)

Why SASHET is not enough (1)
February 11, 2015

In this video, I share about a humiliating experience I had over 50 years ago when I was in 9th grade.  I remember it like it was yesterday!  That experience illustrates why “checking in” with SASHET was initially difficult for me.  See if you identify with my story and share your comments with the rest of us.  Click on the picture below to go to our blog and watch the video.

Whole Church Whole Gospel Whole World

banyak sekali orang yang salah menafsirkan apa itu gereja dewasa ini sesuai pengertian dan tradisinya semata. Video ini menggambarkan apa itu gereja yang sebenranya dan apa tujuannya di muka bumi ini bagi perluasan kerajaan TUHAN. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_4u8TRorUw&feature=player_embedded#at=19

Sheperding on your knees

“Pastor, your note arrived at a time when we were really hurting."

Shepherding on Your Knees by Jim Carpenter

Shepherding on Your Knees

By Jim Carpenter I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers . . . ~ Ephesians 1:16
READING: Ephesians 1:14-23
“Pastor, your note arrived at a time when we were really hurting. I miscarried that week – nobody even knew we were pregnant – and it was such a comfort to know that you were praying for us.”
That’s what a young wife in my church said to me after my week of praying for her family. I had no idea she and her husband were going through a crisis, but God did. And my commitment to pray regularly for the families in my congregation was a source of encouragement and strength when they needed it.
As a church grows, how do you continue to “shepherd” them? You will need to share the pastoral care with others – home group leaders, pastoral staff, or elders.
But the senior pastor can continue to help shepherd his people – on his knees. I learned this from the Apostle Paul, who loved to pray for the Christians that were part of his church planting network. Often he included a summary of his prayers in the letters he wrote to those churches. (See Philippians 1:9 – 11;Colossians 1:9 – 12; II Thessalonians 1:11, 12).
Each week I send personal notes to four church families, letting them know I’ll be praying for them in the following week. I invite them to contact me with any requests they might have. My secretary makes sure I pray for all our people twice a year, and adds new families as they become regular attenders.
God has given me the privilege of systematically interceding for the people of my congregation. Knowing that I’m praying is a constant assurance that I love them and that their Heavenly Father loves them even more.
Father, Thank you for blessing me with the precious families in my church. Show me how to pray for them. Amen.

FROM THE FRONT LINES

Hello Friends The link below if for the Asian Harvest April Newsletter from Paul & Joy Hattaway and the article "From the Front Lines" is very worthwhile in understanding cross cultural mission. We would encourage you to take the few moments required and give it a read! The piece covers a large area and includes a quote from Rolland Allan, "Foreigners can never successfully direct the propagations of any faith throughout a whole country. If the faith does not become naturalized and expand among the people by its own vital power, it exercises an alarming and hateful influence and men fear and shun it a something alien." http://asiaharvest.org/pages/newsletters/114-April2012-TheAsianWorkersFund.pdf We also want to let you know that "The Luke 10 Manual" is now available as a free PDF download from out website, www.harvest-now.org , in English, German, Dutch, French, Russian, Spanish, Kyrgyz and Bulgarian. The English version is available in hard copy from lulu by clicking on the picture of the book and the Dutch version is available in hard copy from amazon.de . Please help us get the word out that these various versions are available. Would you consider helping us print the Burmese and the Urdu versions which are now being translated? Every blessing Steve www.harvest-now.org

Progressive Recovery

"Rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." PHILIPPIANS 3:3 Self - meaning the innate tendency in man to put himself and his desires above God and others - is the real source of all wickedness. That explains why merely dealing with the devil is not enough to rid the world of evil. If the devil were to disappear tomorrow the problem of Self would remain. It is a condition that exists deep within every man, woman, boy, and girl. Although the Self-life is a formidable obstacle to the Christ-life, it is by no means too difficult for God to overcome. Christ must increase, and Self must decrease. God is working to reestablish and recover that Heavenly Order in all things, beginning with individuals, then with a company of men and women, and ultimately extending to the entire creation, so that "God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28). The Bible is the story of the progressive recovery and increase of Christ in the midst of a world gone astray. Source: "The Irresistible Kingdom" by Chip Brogden http://theschoolofchrist.org/books/the-irresistible-kingdom.html

TEMPLES MADE BY MEN

"God does not live in temples made by man." ACTS 17:24 ESV

We are not zealous for the establishment of any earthly nation, but for a heavenly nation of kings and priests (Revelation 5:10). We are not praying for the building of a physical temple, but a spiritual temple, a house of living stones, of which Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone, Builder and Architect. We are not looking for the appearance of an earthly Messiah, but a Heavenly Messiah, Who is building His Ekklesia upon the earth; we are not of the earth. This is not our home, for we are from above. Though in the world, we are not of it. We will not eat its meat or drink its wine, and we will not bow down to its idols. Though we live in the shadow of Babylon, we are not afraid of its fiery furnace or its den of lions, for our God is able to deliver us.

The heavens do rule. We affirm it boldly and confidently, regardless of appearances to the contrary. The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory belongs to God (Matthew 6:13) - not man, not the devil, not the nations of this world.

THE EKKLESIA UNDERGROUND

"In due season we shall reap..."
GALATIANS 6:9

The good news is that even if the Ekklesia has been underground, it is still growing and developing. When the season is right it will burst forth and once again those who have eyes to see will indeed discern the blade, the head, and the full grain in the head. In fact the blades have already broken ground in several places and we are even beginning to see some grain taking shape. If you have traced the recovery of the Heavenly Order so far then you know there have been many obstacles and hindrances to God's Will over the last six thousand years or so of the history of mankind.

So far God has defeated everything that rose up to challenge His Purpose in Christ. Not only has He defeated it, but He has actually used evil to bring about good and further increase His Son. The Scriptures provide us with every expectation and assurance that God will continue to do the same with our generation. He is very much an active part of world affairs, whether they be secular or sacred.

No Argument Necessary

"While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him." LUKE 24:15,16 ESV

You see that Christ is revealed or hidden from men as He so desires. So many professed disciples of the Lord Jesus fail to recognize Him.

Even His closest disciples are prone to doubt and unbelief. After the resurrection, Thomas declared, "I will not believe unless I see the scars and put my hand into the wound in His side." When Jesus therefore appeared to them He did not argue or try to convince Thomas. He simply said, "Look! See My hands and My feet!" When Thomas saw the Lord, he spontaneously cried out, "My Lord, and my God!" This is revelation. Revelation does not require any arguing or convincing, as if it all depends on how well we can make a defense of the Gospel. I see no argument in the Lord Jesus, I only see Him. Seeing Him, I am convinced, and no argument is necessary.

THE STAINED GLASS BARRIER

PRESENT TRENDS BACK TO SIMPLE CHURCH



From the sanctuaries to the streets . . . doing the works of Jesus wherever we find a need.



As we read through the life of Jesus in the New Testament it is difficult to find him organizing a religious gathering or an evangelistic meeting, or any kind of meeting. It seems that all of his large meetings, such as the feeding of the five thousand or the multitudes that gathered on the shores of the Sea of Galilee all took place more or less spontaneously as crowds would gather to hear what he was saying and to be healed of their diseases.



Jesus sometimes spoke in the synagogues on the Sabbath. Once he sent out the seventy, two by two, into the towns and cities where he himself would come later. He arranged for the final meal with his disciples, but aside from that, most of his earthly ministry took place as he walked among the people, taught them, and met their needs as he moved about in the ordinary events of daily life.



Jesus’ strategy was to go where the people were; to see the needs and minister to those needs. We find him healing a man at the Pool of Siloam as he walked by and saw his need. We see him feeding the hungry, ministering, teaching in the Temple, teaching on the streets, at the beach, in a synagogue or on a mountainside.



Once as he sat near a well waiting for the disciples to return with food for lunch he spoke the word of life to a woman of Samaria who had come to draw water. This resulted in making a trip to her town where so many people were listening and receiving his word that he stayed in that town two whole days preaching the Kingdom of God.



Nicodemus came to him at night seeking to know who he was and Jesus shared with him the message of salvation. It was to Nicodemus that Jesus spoke the most life changing sentence ever uttered, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)



As he walked along a crowded road one day he saw Zaccheus, a man small of stature, who had climbed a tree to get a better look at Jesus as he passed by. Jesus invited him to come down from the tree and as they ate a meal together Jesus led him out of his darkness into the light of life. Zaccheus became a different man right on the spot!



He healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever when he arrived at their house for a meal. She immediately arose from her bed of affliction and began to serve them.



Jesus' primary ministry was spontaneous responses to the needs of people as he walked through each day. In every place where he found people in need, he met that need in the power of the Holy Spirit.



At the age of seventeen, when I first started going to church, it was a tremendous challenge to learn "church talk." The King James Bible was the only Bible people used in those days in West Texas. Everybody prayed using King James language. It was unthinkable to address God in our prayers as "you." To be respectful we had to use "thee" and "thou." Then there was "wouldst" and "couldst" and "whence" and "hither" and "whither" and "thither." I finally got used to it but it took me a while.



Then I had another problem, I was finding it difficult to talk to people about spiritual things when I was not in a church setting; to talk about Jesus to people at work or to my friends who did not know Jesus was a huge leap of faith for me!



Then, the day came when I knew God was calling me to preach! The thought that I was to stand up on a stage behind a pulpit and speak formally to a lot of people through a microphone was the scariest thing I could imagine! At age seventeen, the first time I had to do that, I became physically ill as I sat on the platform awaiting my time to talk. I almost vomited on stage right there in front of the congregation, but somehow I got through the ordeal. It was only a three - minute talk on "Youth Night" at our church, but it was a major challenge for me!



From the time I was a very small boy, I was always very shy and quiet around people. The fear of man was on me something awful for as long as I can remember! But I went off to Bible College and finally learned how to bring formal teachings from the pulpit and how to lead in prayer in a public meeting. But in spite of the curious language we always used as we preached and prayed in church, somehow I learned how to witness to unsaved people one on one.



But something was still missing. It was not the spontaneous, unplanned kinds of things that Jesus did in his ministry. All our evangelistic and teaching ministries had to be planned well in advance so that we could be well prepared and most of our evangelistic efforts were inside the four walls of a church building. I was still not trained to always be ready to minister healing to the sick or do the other things Jesus did such as, speak a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, a word of prophecy or rebuke the devil as I went about my daily routine. That was all in another realm of ministry that I learned to move in later on, but at the time, I trembled to even think about it.


Recently God has given me a way to move toward the Jesus kind of spontaneous ministry. It is by praying daily with another believer the Divine Appointment Prayer: "Father, give us a divine appointment today with someone who is hungry for God, or sick, or in need, and give us the grace to minister the love of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit." God is answering that prayer for us and I am encouraging people everywhere to find a partner and pray that prayer together daily in person or by phone. It is exciting what God will do in answer to that simple prayer of agreement! "If any two of you on earth shall agree as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by my Father in heaven." - Jesus





Robert Fitts
76-6309 Haku Pl
Kona, HI 96740
robertjoni@gmail.com
www.robertfitts.com


A Declaration of Unity
I belong to everything that belongs to Jesus and everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to me! It's not us and them. It's just us! There's only one Body of Christ, and the problems of the church, the whole church, are our problems, for we are the church and we can do more united than we can do divided! So let's unify, simplify, and multiply!

Divine Appointment Prayer
Father, give me a divine appointment today with someone who is hungry for God, or sick, or in need, and give me grace to minister the love of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Winning the War on Terror by Prayer
Father, give every terrorist an encounter with Jesus such as Paul had on the road to Damascus.

Living to Give
Father, make me a generous giver today! Show me where to give and what to give, and let all my giving bring glory to the name of Jesus.

Grace, YES! Law, NO!
Law demands, demands, demands
But gives me neither feet nor hands
Grace and Truth are better things
They bid me fly and give me wings

Do you miss church?

Some thoughts from Karla


Dear Friends,


For those of you who are "outside the camp"...

How many times do you catch yourself missing the things that "church" offers?

Especially this time of year, with the holidays approaching, it can be a lonely time for some who used to go to church.

Do you miss the singing, praise and worship, Women's ministry, Men's ministry, potluck dinners, preaching, tithing/giving, children's ministries, even listening to people giving "prophetic words" (just to name a few).

Ask yourself a question...

Are the "things" that I miss really ministering to the LORD or to ME?

Really look deep into yourself and ask this question.

"Church" for the most part gives you the mindset of Martha. Busy little Martha, trying to minister to others, much serving, and even fulfilling her own need to be needed; maybe even fulfilling a desire to be in charge (because she thought Mary should be doing more to help her).

How many of you can remember working your butt off in churches thinking, "Why isn't everyone else working as hard as me?"

But we see Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus, ministering to Him.

A lot of people write in and ask us what it means or looks like to minister to the Lord. I always picture Mary sitting quietly at Jesus' feet. She has no other person on her mind or any concerns other than sitting at His feet and listening, talking, sharing, and loving the Lord Jesus while He is right there in front of her.

Did she do this 24/7? No, of course not. Jesus went on with what His Father had Him to do, and Mary went on to do her daily things that needed to be done. But remember that she did take time out to sit at His feet and Jesus said this is what is needed.

So when you start to miss the things you once enjoyed so much in "church", remember where the Lord has brought you. Do not be like the children of Israel who always complained and wanted to go back to Egypt, thinking you had it better in "church".

There is a reason and a purpose for bringing you out. Let the Lord guide you in this new walk. Let Him teach you His ways - which are far better then your ways or the church's ways. And remember that the main lesson is: He will increase and I will decrease. This process is not an easy one but you have to go through it!


In Him,

Karla Brogden
http://www.TheSchoolOfChrist.Org

Chinese House Churches Raided, Two Foreign Pastors Missing

Chinese House Churches Raided, Two Foreign Pastors Missing

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

SICHUAN/HENAN, CHINA (ANS) -- ChinaAid (www.ChinaAid.org) has told the ASSIST News Service that on Sunday, September 26, 2010, Youqing Church in Qu County, Da Prefecture, Sichuan province, China, was raided by the local police.

"Objects were smashed, books were confiscated and people were taken to the local police station," said a ChinaAid spokesperson. "Their family members were requested to pay money to bail out the detainees.

"On September 29th at 5 p.m. local time, four of the church members attempted to negotiate with Sichuan police in hopes of having their confiscated belongings returned to them in accordance with law. Instead, they were arrested on the spot."

ChinaAid is also reporting that a raid was conducted on Wednesday,September 22, 2010, at around 4 p.m on the Mid-Autumn Festival Day where a house church meeting in Wancheng District, Nanyang City, Henan province ,was invaded and all who were present, except for one elderly woman, were arrested.

"Two foreign pastors present at the meeting, one from the United States and one from Russia, were detained and so was their translator," said the spokesperson. "During the arrests, one member of the church, Ma Hanzhong, was beaten. The whereabouts of the two foreign instructors are unknown. The officials of Henan province have threatened to sentence the detained believers to re-education through labor."

In both of these critical cases, ChinaAid calls for worldwide attention and advocacy on behalf of those in need.

"We encourage Christians to stand with the persecuted and continue to pray for them," added the ChinaAid spokesperson.

Good For Us

Good For Us
by Chip Brogden
“…Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles…” (Luke 9:33ff).
The Greek word for “church” is “ekklesia”, which means “called out ones” and came to mean the assembly (or local expression) of those who had been called out and set apart. This assembling together is not something we do on our own. It is the work of the Lord. We are not the Church because we gather ourselves together into a meeting or a group. Anyone can organize themselves into a meeting for whatever purpose they wish. But we are being assembled by the Lord Himself into a spiritual temple, a House of Living Stones. Jesus is building His Church, and Jesus is assembling His people. Our meetings are external and visible, but this assembly of Living Stones is internal, invisible, spiritual and eternal. I pray that God will deliver us from “meetings” and show us His Son. Then we will see that we have already been assembled together into the Church that He is building upon the revelation of Himself.
We cannot build the Church, for Jesus is building it. Similarly, we cannot assemble ourselves together; the Lord has to do that as well. I am not saying we cannot have a meeting, but I am saying that a meeting is not what makes us the Church. There are many such meetings we can host or attend, but that does not make us the Church. People frequently ask me if I know where they can go to find fellowship. After examining them at length I determine that what they are really looking for is a meeting. Well, meetings are everywhere. You do not need me for that. I am afraid that I cannot recommend “meetings”, I can only recommend brothers and sisters who love the Lord.
Now the Lord wants to assemble us together into a spiritual Temple, but if we look around it is clear that we are divided over several issues. We could go down the list and name them all. We could take time to talk about denominations, organizations, doctrines, beliefs, customs, and the like. We could draw up a list of one hundred or one thousand divisions, but the heart of the matter is this: have we seen the Lord? If we have seen the Lord then we do not need to see anything else: this revelation of Him is sufficient. And, if we have not seen the Lord, it is a waste of time to try and discuss anything else along the lines of doctrine or teaching.
So the question is: have you seen the Lord? I do not mean in a dream or a vision, but I mean have you seen the Lord because the Father has revealed Him in you? It is possible to pray a prayer, but not see the Lord. It is possible to perform good works, but not see the Lord. It is possible (and quite common) to attend church meetings all your life, but not see the Lord. Two men who claimed to know Jesus walked with Him on the road to Emmaus, but they did not know Who He was until their eyes were opened. Many people are in the same situation. We cannot see Him until the eyes of our heart are opened, and when we are thus illuminated from within, we will see Him, we will know Him.
If you have read the Scriptures you know that many who say, “Lord, Lord” and do mighty things in the name of the Lord are, in fact, not known by Him at all, and will have no part in the Kingdom of God. This ought to bring us to our knees. This ought to cause us to search our hearts. Do we really know the Lord? Have we really seen Him? Has God revealed His Son to us?
When we look at the history of God’s dealings with man we see a pattern emerging, and this pattern is illustrated for us in the Mountain of Transfiguration, an event recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Here is the pattern. First, the Lord sovereignly reveals His glory to us. Then, we try to grasp the Lord with fleshly hands. Finally, the Lord moves on, and we must either move with Him or stay where we are. Let us look at each point more particularly.
HE WAS TRANSFIGURED BEFORE THEM
We are saying that the revelation of Christ is sufficient; that is, if we have seen the Lord Jesus, then nothing else matters, and in time, everything else will take care of itself. But if we do not have the revelation of Christ, if we only have our idea of Who He is, or if our knowledge of Him comes to us from somewhere or someone other than the Father Himself, then it does not matter how much we may read the Bible, attend meetings, or hear people preach. We will be “ever learning, but never coming to the full-knowledge of Truth”. This explains how it is possible for someone to perform many works in the Name of Jesus, and yet the Lord Himself says, “I never knew you.”
The Lord reveals Himself to us in a variety of ways, and every testimony is different. Peter received the revelation of Christ while fishing. But Thomas received the revelation of Christ only after the Lord appeared to Him and showed him His wounds. Paul received the revelation of Christ on the road to Damascus, as he was on his way to kill Christians. One man says Christ was revealed to him as he stood watching a tree in the dead of winter. Christ was revealed to me as I sat in my backyard, arguing with the Lord over the Bible.
What do these experiences have in common? They are spontaneous unveilings of Jesus Christ. Without warning the Lord simply reveals Himself, and whereas we were blind before, today we see. It is like walking out of one room and into another room, closing the door behind us. We are the man born blind in John 9. It is not that he can improve himself, or gradually come to the place where he can see something. He is BORN blind, and he can see nothing but darkness until the Lord, the Light of the world, makes him see. So many blind people hope to improve their seeing through sermons, meetings, and more teachings. But one moment of seeing is worth ten thousand years of learning. It is better to sit at the feet of an ignorant man who has seen the Lord than it is to be instructed by the most educated Bible teacher who is blind to the things of God.
Frequently when I speak along these lines I am asked, “What do I have to do to get this revelation of Christ?” And the answer is there is nothing TO do, and nothing you CAN do. But we are confident in saying that it is the nature of the Father to reveal Himself. The Father longs to reveal the Son to us. The only condition is that we likewise long to see Him, to know Him, as He is. The revelation of Christ is like a single ray of sunlight, without warning, breaking through the thick clouds of this world and knocking you to the ground - inwardly speaking. It may or it may not be an outward thing, and it may or may not be something dramatic. But when we have seen Him, something “clicks” on the inside. We know we have been changed.
It can be likened to the Mountain of Transfiguration. The Lord Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him high onto the mountain to pray. Presumably they were in the habit of doing this, as the Scriptures record several instances of the Lord at prayer. But on this occasion, His appearance was changed, and His glory was revealed to them. It was a sovereign act, an unveiling. There was no warning, no special preparation. Peter, James and John had nothing to do with it. In fact, they were sleeping when it happened. I hope that will reassure those of us who think there is something we have to do in order to get the revelation of Christ. No, it is all of grace. In fact, until we rest from our works and our words, we are unlikely to see the Lord.
Now we have primarily discussed the revealing of Christ to us personally, but there is also a corporate revelation as well. What we receive of the Lord personally ought to be received on behalf of the Body, and not merely for our own personal benefit. Even so, there is an unveiling of the Lord that occasionally occurs when we are gathered together in the Name of the Lord. After all, He says that “where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there I am in the midst of them.” This is the simplest expression of the Church - the called-out assembly. Not two or three thousand, not two or three hundred, not two or three dozen - just two or three, and the Lord is there. We are so concerned for numbers. The real issue is not how many are gathered, but is the Lord with the ones so gathered? I would rather be with two people and have the Lord with us than to be in a crowd of religious people with whom the Lord is not present.
It is in this corporate revelation of Christ that we find a danger, and Peter expresses it nicely when the first words out of his mouth are…
“IT IS GOOD FOR US”
Here is a point that needs to be made. When the Father is pleased to reveal His Son to us, it is for His glory, not ours. So often we seek spiritual things because we desire a name, or power, or glory for ourselves. This is not permitted in the Kingdom where Christ is All in All. What we see of the Lord is for His glory, and not our own.
But just observe how quickly the Self comes into the picture. “Master, it is good for us to be here!” Good for us. Good for us. Good for us. We hear this sentiment all the time. “Isn’t it good to be in the house of God today?” “I really enjoyed the message.” “I loved the music.” “What a lovely service.” “I’m so happy I found this little group.” Or, “I didn’t get anything out of that message.” “The music was awful.” “They don’t have anything for my kids.” I, I, I. Me, me, me. Good for us, or not good for us. The music, the preaching, the service, everything is for us, for our needs.
This is why we continually stress that the reason we do not attend or sponsor meetings with any regularity is simply because the Lord’s Need is often not met in these meetings. Self permeates so much of what we do (or do not do), even in spiritual matters where Self is supposed to be denied. Peter is a man full of himself. So his reaction to the glory of the Lord is, “It is good for us! Let us build for You…” This is how many works, denominations and ministries are begun. The Lord sovereignly reveals something of His glory to a handful of people, and they begin to build something - a church, a movement, a denomination - in order to contain that glory. Or, the Lord visits His people in a particular meeting or setting. It is good for us: so we decide to meet again the next week in hopes that we can experience more of the same. And so on. We believe if only we can find the right combination of music, or teaching, or worship, or people, then it will be “good for us” every time we meet. Soon, however, the Life is gone and the glory is departed, but the meetings continue!
“I will build My Church,” Jesus says. That is Life. “Let us build for You,” Peter says. That is Death. To see if a thing is living or dead we need only trace its source. Not only is “let us build” wrong, but “let us build FOR YOU” is equally wrong. Each is motivated by the same thing: “It is good for us.”
What Peter did not realize, and what we, too, fail to perceive, is that the glory is in Christ, and not in a method, a meeting, or a movement: and it is for Him, and not for us. How quickly “It is good for us…” turns into “Let us build for You…” How subtle our flesh is! How often in the name of “fellowship” have we have built something “for” the Lord Jesus that really serves our own agenda?
“LISTEN TO HIM”
Scripture records that Peter did not know what he was saying, even while he was offering to build something for Jesus. Jesus gave him no reply. Instead, a cloud enveloped them, and a voice spoke: “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him!”
The Father is continually pointing us to the Son as All in All. He is working all things together towards the fulfillment of His Purpose, which is for Christ to have the preeminence in all things. So it is at this point that the Lord Jesus begins to descend into the valley, and the disciples must decide if they will stay on the mountain or follow Him down. The mountain is full of light, power, and glory. But the valley is full of darkness and demons. “It is good for US to be HERE, Lord! Let us build something for You!”
How many tabernacles on the mountaintop have been made in the Name of Jesus - when Jesus has long ago descended into the valley? How many people and places claim the presence and glory of God, when the glory has long ago departed? I can think of several instances in which the Lord genuinely moved in a group, church, or meeting long ago, and now that group, church, or meeting has built an entire movement around the experience. What began in the Spirit is now perpetuated by the flesh, and “it is good for us”. It is a shame that some people cannot realize that there is no presence, or glory, or power, or anything apart from the Lord Jesus. We can claim to have the presence, the glory, and the power, but if we do not have the Lord Himself, then these things are only spiritual counterfeits.
Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fish, and the crowd thought, “It is good for us to be here!” But Jesus left during the night and crossed the lake. The people woke up the next morning to find Him gone, and crossed the lake in a desperate attempt to locate Him. But when they found Jesus, He said, in essence, “You are only following Me because I filled your stomachs with food.” It is important to make this distinction, because I am afraid that if something is deemed “good for us” then we will begin to follow IT and miss the Lord. John records this episode in order to signify that the real miracle is not that the Lord gave them bread to eat, but that the Lord gives Himself to us as Living Bread. Which would you rather have, a full stomach, or eternal life? The presence of God, or God Himself? The glory of God, or God Himself? Do we want salvation, or a Savior? Do we want a healing, or a Great Physician? Do we want what the Lord can give us, or Who the Lord is?
Christians seek many spiritual things: anointing, power, gifts, blessing, fruit, wisdom, prosperity. I pray the Lord will make us thoroughly and completely dissatisfied with THINGS, even the things He gives us, and make us hungry and thirsty for Himself. May we judge things not by whether they are “good for us”, but whether they are good for the Lord, whether His Will is done in them, whether His Need is met by them, whether His Purpose is fulfilled in them, whether His Son is seen through them. He is the Only One, the Beloved Son of God. May the Lord be transfigured before us! Amen.

Shifting from Religion to the Kingdom of God

Shifting from Religion to the Kingdom of God
By Timothy Johns www.rocktribe.org


Facilitating a Paradigm Shift from Religion to the Kingdom of God

Helping God's people transition from the Christian religion to a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ - advancing His kingdom 24/7 as a lifestyle in every area of life.

Helping people change the way they view and experience reality is no easy task. Some call it a "paradigm shift". Thousands of stories describe just how difficult it is to get a large segment of the population to see and do things differently. One story concerns the Swiss watch industry. Not long ago, the Swiss led the world in making the finest watches. These watches were powered by springs, which drove moving gears. Watches were built like this for hundreds of years, and no one expected or desired a change. Thousands of companies and millions of workers had a vested interest in the traditional watch paradigm. Any change was a perceived threat to the old paradigm watchmakers which, in turn, supported its work force. Along came a creative Swiss engineer who designed a completely different kind of watch. It was digital, powered by a small battery with no moving parts. He took his new paradigm watch to the largest Swiss watch companies, and every one of them scoffed at his idea. Finally he decided to attend an international trade show and make his patent available to all bidders. Texas Instruments and Seiko paid relatively small sums for the idea and the rest is history. Because the Swiss refused to see and apply the new paradigm, they lost approximately 80 percent of their market share. Once dominant, they became almost irrelevant.

How about those Wright brothers and their flying machine? Most people thought that no object that heavy could ever fly. The so-called scientific experts were convinced that even if they could make an airplane fly, it would serve no practical purpose. The new paradigm of transporting millions of people by jet-powered airplanes over great distances was inconceivable to 99.999% of the population less than a hundred years ago. And think of wireless phones and internet, two more staggering examples of a paradigm shift in communication.

An even more dramatic paradigm shift is occurring worldwide, one that will cause global transformation. It is the change from the Christian religion into the reality of Christ and His kingdom. Christianity as a religion is declining everywhere, including in the United States. However the Kingdom of God is an ever-expanding reality that will ultimately be the ONLY reality on earth. (see Psalm 2 and Revelation 19-22)

One version of Christianity is a religion invented by people. It is much different from the Kingdom of God, led by Christ the King. Religion is an attempt to reach God and improve our lives now and for eternity by obtaining some state of heaven through human ideas, efforts, and strategies. Religions are designed so that we can remain in power while attempting to get God and others to do what we want, in the way we want it. Religion is a clever enterprise to stay in control, so we can function as our own god. At the same time we try to manipulate the One True God into serving us by using religious language, rituals and sacrifices. But the Kingdom of God is initiated by God, for God's own glory, and involves His will, done His way, by His Spirit, all the time, and in every area of life. He is a living King, who rules another dominion or realm of reality. He has every intention of fully bringing His rule and realm onto Planet Earth through His sons and daughters by His Holy Spirit.

Christianity as a religion is nearly dead in Europe, where only 1-3% of the population identifies themselves as Christian. However the Christian religion is being replaced by another more aggressive religion called Islam. What does Europe, America, and the rest of the world need? Do we need more religion, even if it's the Christian religion? Absolutely not! The earth needs the Lordship of Christ, His powerful, compassionate kingly rule over all of life... a paradigm shift from religion into the Kingdom of God. We need the Reclaiming Of Christ's Kingdom all over the world. That is why we named our international spiritual family, "The R.O.C.K.". It reminds us of the centrality and supremacy of Christ, and our only mandate - to advance Christ's kingdom in every area of life.

Here are a few of the changes that will occur in order to produce this kingdom "paradigm shift":

1. From a secular humanistic people-centered worldview, to a God-centered biblical Kingdom worldview.

2. From emphasizing the clergy or priest as the primary minister, to the priesthood of all believers.

3. From religious activities in a church building, to practicing faith everywhere.

4. From practicing religion in church services, meetings, programs and events, to constantly exchanging the life of Christ to everyone, all the time, anywhere.

5. From restricting our spiritual lives, to a certain day and time to "being and doing" church all the time.

6. From a religious institution, to a spiritual family that connects deeply with one another.

7. From unifying around doctrine and church policy, to unity around the Person of Christ, core values, kingdom vision, and covenant relationships.

8. From a transactional leadership model, to a transformational leadership model.

9. From an institutional model - organizing based on political power, position and pay, to organic relational servant leadership - everyone submits to Christ in one another.

10. From compartmentalizing faith so that it affects only certain areas of life, to integrating Christ's will and ways into every dimension of life - body, soul, spirit, finances, sexuality, relationships, time, work, play, etc.

11. From emphasizing church work as the main way to serve God, to advancing Christ's kingdom everywhere, all the time, in all arenas of life. This includes marriage, family, community, friendships, work, media, arts, education, social services, and civil government.

Janet and I have committed our lives to training and modeling this paradigm shift from Christianity as a religion, to Christ and the Kingdom. It has been a long and hard journey for us personally. We have had our own religious baggage to deal with, let alone helping others to change. However we are enjoying sweet victories. A viable Kingdom family has been forming in the inner city of Kansas City, which has impacted the neighborhood, even helping to reduce crime. We practice being and doing the church as a lifestyle. From small ways (like raising chickens and planting gardens together), to more dramatic ways (like planting small covenant families - house churches), we are trying to be part of this global Kingdom revolution. Our international family is growing in size and depth as we help others move out of religion, and into Christ and His kingdom.

MENGEMBANGKAN KOMUNITAS PERLU KEJUJURAN

MENGEMBANGKAN KOMUNITAS PERLU KEJUJURAN

APAKAH ITU KEJUJURAN?

Definisi; jujur, sifat orang yang berterusterang, tidak menyembunyikan sesuatu atau mengenakan topeng, tulus dan tidak memiliki “agenda pribadi” serta menjauhi kejahatan. (Ayb 1:1, Ams 16:17, 21:8)

MENGAPA KITA PERLU JUJUR?

Mazmur 50:23 = kejujuran merupakan “ciri” dari seorang anak Tuhan (Ams 14:2, 20:1). Mazmur 50 berbicara mengenai kemuakan Tuhan terhadap kemunafikan = Mat 7:24-27.
Tuhan menghendaki kita bersikap jujur dihadapanNya saat berdoa (Ams 3:32, 15:8, Mzm 25:21). Sikap yang sudah seharusnya dimiliki anak Tuhan sebagai imam (pendeta) Perjanjian Baru (Mal 2:5-6, 1 Ptr 2:9)

MENGAPA KITA CENDERUNG TIDAK JUJUR/SUKA AKAN DUSTA?

Akibat dosa manusia lebih suka berdusta daripada jujur. (Pkh 7:29, Kej 3, Yer 8:6)

DAMPAK KEJUJURAN BAGI PRIBADI MAUPUN KOMUNITAS

Orang jujur penuh sukacita (Mzm 32:11; 33:1)
Orang jujur memiliki masa depan (Mzm 37:37, 64:11, 140:14, Ams 2:21, 14:11); memiliki masa depan, bermegah, diam dihadapan Allah, mendiami tanah, kemahnya akan mekar.
Orang jujur berdampak bagi kota (Ams 11:11)

TELADAN ALKITAB

Daud, Mzm 119:127-128, melakukan kesalahan fatal sebanyak 2 kali namun dengan jujur mengakui dosa, mengalami pemulihan kembali dan dikasihi oleh Tuhan (a man after God’s heart)
Tuhan Yesus dikenal oleh “musuh”Nya sebagai orang jujur (Mat 22:16)
Titus, nasehat Paulus terhadap anak rohaninya ini (Titus 2:7)