I have been mulling over the responses that people had towards Jesus' message and the disciple's preaching. Not everyone loved them! Not everyone believed! Many of my paradigms are being shaken over this 52 day period and this is one of them: that I have to present the "gospel" in such a way that it is relevant, attractive and doesn't get anyone "offside".
If I am honest, my subconscious view has been that I must not offend anyone and if someone does not like what I am saying or doing then I must be doing it wrong. But this was not the experience of Jesus, Paul and others throughout Luke and Acts. Why should I expect my experience to be any different??
Some of the Jews were persuaded but others were jealous and started a riot. (v4-5)
Many of the Jews in Berea believed but when the Jews in Thessalonica learned about this they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. (v12-13)
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some sneered but other said we want to hear more (v32)
If people are offended by sin in our lives then we need to be willing to repent and walk in humility and love. But if people are offended by the message of Jesus' kingdom then we need to be bold and ask the Holy Spirit to give us strength.
"If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me." John 15: 19-21
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An eight week journey of seeking God as we read.think.pray.live our way through the gospel of John
An Invitation
Please join us during this lead up to Christmas 2009 by doing the four things listed below. Anyone can join at any time throughout this 8 week period although obviously it would be best if you can begin with us on the first of November 2009.
Requirements:
1. Commit to seeking God EVERY DAY in Nov & Dec '09 in a way that is more radical than anything you have ever done before.
2. Read.think.pray.live your way through the Gospel of John in seven weeks (3 chapters each week) and then 1 John, 2 John, 3 John in the final week.
3. Listen to the Holy Spirit and obey whatever he says to do!!
4. Contribute your insights and experiences to this blog.
May we all continue to seek the Kingdom of God before anything else!
Requirements:
1. Commit to seeking God EVERY DAY in Nov & Dec '09 in a way that is more radical than anything you have ever done before.
2. Read.think.pray.live your way through the Gospel of John in seven weeks (3 chapters each week) and then 1 John, 2 John, 3 John in the final week.
3. Listen to the Holy Spirit and obey whatever he says to do!!
4. Contribute your insights and experiences to this blog.
May we all continue to seek the Kingdom of God before anything else!
9 comments:
So right Andrew.
As I read this chapter - I felt it was HARD grind for Paul & Co. Week after week - using scripture and reason to persuade... and I thought "Why didn't God throw in the odd miracle to ease the path?" it would have shut up some detractors...
But God has purposes in everything. Building perseverance in the preachers, providing opportunity for a decision for or against Jesus for the listeners...
In Australia, I do not believe the majority of people are not hungry and thirsty for the righteousness that comes from God. Some may want justice - but the justice that is rooted in mans own ideas of rightness. Humanist values.
The reality is that many will not accept Jesus - that is none of our business! We just need to faithfully do our part - which is to present them with the opportunity of meeting Him. That must be done in love. But if it offends - the sin is in the offended party.
We need to forgive them and move on...
One other thing, I know I need to be spending more time in prayer for the people I will meet each day - that God is already working in them to open their eyes, ears, hearts. That he will prompt me with the right words. I think I do not pray about this enough... and land up 'in my own strength' too often!
What has struck me is the 'get down to it' method of operation!
Here are some of my thoughts that I am struggling to string together:
+ The apostles did not spend months or years on end, ministering to one person to bring them to Jesus. They went in, told the message, and moved on ....didn't they?
+ Less than three years ago, if anyone had come to me and spoke The Good News, I would have politely said thanks but no thanks and not given it a second thought.
+ What brought me to GOD was the love and acceptance I received from the person who led me to Jesus(Anne). I saw Jesus in her and am grateful every day that she was open to The Holy Spirit working through her.
+ Nonetheless, the process took about 6 months.
+ I wonder what the success rate is of the 'street bible-bashers'?
+ How SHOULD we be doing it?
I certainly wouldn't have sat around long enough to listen to 'stories'. Too many others things to be doing!
+ Back in the bible days there WAS nothing else to DO or be tempted by. New people with exciting stories AND extending love WAS the excitement of a lifetime.
Bring on the comments please!
Here are some of my thoughts in response to your comments Gemma. I hope you don't mind this LONG comment.
"The apostles did not spend months or years on end, ministering to one person to bring them to Jesus. They went in, told the message, and moved on ....didn't they?"
I think this is an excellent question Gemma and one that I have been pondering of late. I agree that the Apostles tended to bring the message and then move on but the amount of time they stayed varied. Example in the chapter for today it said: "Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God." The nature of an apostle was also to move around, establish new churches and strengthen old ones. There would have been many people in these churches who didn't move around but were missionaries in their own communities.
"Less than three years ago, if anyone had come to me and spoke The Good News, I would have politely said thanks but no thanks and not given it a second thought."
The disciples not only "spoke the word" but this word was confirmed in signs, wonders and healings. Who knows what God may have done in your life three years ago in this context?!?
"What brought me to GOD was the love and acceptance I received from the person who led me to Jesus(Anne). I saw Jesus in her and am grateful every day that she was open to The Holy Spirit working through her."
God's love and unconditional acceptance fleshed out through me and you is critical!
"Nonetheless, the process took about 6 months."
Sometimes the process could take 6 months, 6 years, 6 days...or maybe 6 hours or 6 minutes. I think there have been many people who experienced the love of God through Jesus in a very short space of time. If this love is displayed in a miraculous healing maybe the time frame is shortened?
"I wonder what the success rate is of the 'street bible-bashers'?"
Some of the people I have been reading about lately who proclaim the message of the kingdom of God in streets, shops, work places etc are seeing much more "success" (and persecution!) than I have ever seen with my "softly, softly" approach. The article I emailed recently entitled "The Uprising" provides a few examples of this.
"How SHOULD we be doing it?"
What a great question! My thinking at the moment is that in all things we should be led by the Spirit - there is no formulae as such. But I do believe we should be seeking and practicing more of what we see in Luke and Acts: boldness, healings, willingness to be rejected, radical love, supernatural insights and miracles, and the desire to proclaim the good news of God's kingdom to all we meet, not just those we are building a relationship with over many years.
"I certainly wouldn't have sat around long enough to listen to 'stories'. Too many others things to be doing!"
What if God caught your attention first through a healing or miracle??
"Back in the bible days there WAS nothing else to DO or be tempted by. New people with exciting stories AND extending love WAS the excitement of a lifetime."
I'm not sure there was nothing else to do in Bible days...
Good questions Gemma. I think this is a really important issue and look forward to other people's comments.
Hey there,
My name is Ryan Lawson, I am a "Street Bible-Basher" here in the states and write about our experiences here: http://kingdompoweronthestreet.blogspot.com
Anyway, I have been communicating with Andrew for the last few weeks and he asked me to read this post and comment if I could...
In the past, we were SO concerned with the response, that we never actually obeyed the Biblical command to Go and preach! What I have learned in the last several years of doing it is this:
There is NOTHING more relevant and captivating as a demonstration of the Spirit's power! Whether it's a word of knowledge,, prophecy, healing, miracle or sign and wonder, a DEMONSTRATION of the Spirit's power commands attention!
We teach our people here to not expect the lost to listen to a word they say without a demonstration. I mean, why should they listen to us? Because we are nice??? The Lord said over and over in the gospels to not believe Him based only on what He said, but on what He did, the miracles!
It's the same today! When we seek to advance the kingdom of God, we have to come with a demonstration. We start with a conversation or statement, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matthew 10:7-8) and then we bring a demonstration! Most people will give you a few seconds, so you have to be instant in "showing" them the Gospel.
Literally hundreds of people here have been touched, healed, affected and saved through this very simple approach here in the last few years.
It's not enough to TELL them, we must SHOW them what were are talking about (this Kingdom of God) through a demonstration of the Spirit's power.
Blessings,
Ryan
Hi Ryan, Thank you for taking the time out to comment on this blog :)
I read through your blog with interest - you guys are doing some awesome work out there - by the Grace of God!
I commend your faith, trust and boldness!
A couple of questions, if I may,... I am guessing that there are times that a person is prayed over but not healed ....
+ How is that 'explained' to the person?
+ What 'sense' do you make of that yourself?
I'd be interested in your comments on my post today too - as I struggle to grasp what we need to do to help bring about more miracle healings here in Perth.
Have an awesome, spirit-filled day!
Gemma,
Concerning those that don't get healed:
If we pray for someone and don't see an instant miracle, by no stretch of the imagination does that mean they have not received their healing. In fact, some of the most profound miracles that we have seen have happened 1,3or 7 days after the prayer! That's why we have such a desire to preach to people where they live. Meaning we can come back and find out what happened, as opposed to meeting strangers out and about (which we pray for too) whom you have no way of following up with...
So, with that in mind, should we pray and nothing happens, the majority of the time, the people we are praying for are encouraged just the same! Get this: sick people like to talk about their maladies and just appreciate the kindness of offering prayer.
Bill Johnson in Redding, CA. (www.ibethel.org) says this: "The worst that can happen when you pray for someone who is sick is... nothing! And that's already happening!"
As for us, if we receive resistance to seeing a particular miracle (i.e. - nothing happens), we PRESS IN, for more authority over the particular disease/affliction in our private and corporate prayer.
For example, in the last several years we have had remarkable success with diseases, cancer, liver problems, injuries, etc. But it's been hit or miss with the blind and deaf. So we've pressed in and refused to give up, making it a point to pray for every blind and deaf person that we run across.
Wouldn't you know it, in just the last few months we have seen several blind eyes and deaf ears open!
There's never a wrong time to do the right thing (preach the Gospel with power) and our encouragement to all believers, in spite of the immediate results is, "Just Do It!"
If you want to see healing in Perth, PRAY FOR THE SICK. If you want to see salvation, PREACH THE GOSPEL. It's really very simple. So simple in fact that we miss it every time!
Go for it!
Blessings,
Ryan
Gemma, good questions...it's good to see people really digging down and thinking about these things.
I'm happy that Ryan came over and offered his thoughts. I've been extremely encouraged by him and credit much of me getting up and "going" to advice he gave me about a year ago.
So, on to my perspective:
********
+ The apostles did not spend months or years on end, ministering to one person to bring them to Jesus. They went in, told the message, and moved on ....didn't they?
********
I think there are different levels of discipleship. I wouldn't put any kind of pattern to it. Sometimes Jesus spent longer with some than with others. He poured his entire life out to his disciples for 3 years, while simply preaching to others...but the gospel was still the gospel either way.
We have to preach the gospel and then be able to recognize those that are ready to be discipled by you. Sometimes your job is just to tell them the news and another person is supposed to disciple them. But nothing changes from our end, we just preach the kingdom, when others want to be discipled, they'll be discipled.
********
+ Less than three years ago, if anyone had come to me and spoke The Good News, I would have politely said thanks but no thanks and not given it a second thought.
********
But then there are others that bite at it within moments, everyone is different and in a different season. Our job is to simply preach the message we don't know where an individual is in there journey. With God's help we'll get insight into exactly where they are and can help them along to the next step. But other than that, there is no way to tell. But, I can tell you that each time I was witnessed to prior to being born again made an impact on me, I realize it more now than I did then.
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+ What brought me to GOD was the love and acceptance I received from the person who led me to Jesus(Anne). I saw Jesus in her and am grateful every day that she was open to The Holy Spirit working through her.
********
We need to be able to do it all. Preach the message and live it. I was brought into Christ the same way. There is no one method that works, we have to do it all.
********
+ Nonetheless, the process took about 6 months.
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Andrew was right, the amount of time is irrelevant. We don't know how long it will take, our job is to simply preach the message.
********
+ I wonder what the success rate is of the 'street bible-bashers'?
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http://www.howtobecomeamissionary.com/preaching-in-bricktown-pictures/
I'm a "street bible-basher". Unfortunately street preaching has a pretty bad rap, which I completely understand. Most of them are just out to condemn and grind your soul into the pavement...they just want a soapbox to tell people what they've done wrong.
I, on the other hand, preach the Kingdom of God, His freedom, forgiveness and love...just very loudly and boldly. I tell them the good news and offer demonstration.
********
+ How SHOULD we be doing it?
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Jesus pretty much told us what to do..Go, preach the Kingdom of God is at hand, heal the sick, cast out devils, cleanse the lepers and raise the dead.
Just do it the best you know how. There is no 1 way to do it. I do it on street corners in front of gas stations, on the corner of busy downtown, one on one, boldly, quietly, aggressively, humbly, etc.
God told me a while back...we should be able to preach the gospel in a shout and in a whisper.
There is no one way, no one method. Just give it a try with what works for you, then step out of your comfort zone...then do it again, rinse and repeat.
Preaching open air has tremendously affected me and my relationship with the Lord. I've learned things I would've never learned and the gospels read differently than when I used to just sit on my couch and complain about everybody else :-).
When I take people out with me for the first time I try to give them the most freedom possible...they can do whatever they feel comfortable with and I'll offer advice, suggestions, as well as things to stretch they're comfortability.
It seems to work well. God works with each individual's giftings and personality...that's how He expresses Himself to the world. Just reflect Him.
Ryan told me something a while back
that has made a huge impact on me since...he said "Anything worth doing is worth doing your worst". Just give it a try. Make mistakes, have fun and let God teach you.
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I certainly wouldn't have sat around long enough to listen to 'stories'. Too many others things to be doing!
********
Some people will, some people won't. Some people will rejoice that you raised someone from the dead and glorify God, some people will try to plot your murder because of it.
God will work it out.
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+ Back in the bible days there WAS nothing else to DO or be tempted by. New people with exciting stories AND extending love WAS the excitement of a lifetime.
********
It still is :-), the world has just been tricked (and so have we). This is symbolized by the thorny ground..."The cares of other things" choke out the word of God. We've been tricked in putting God on the back burner.
Bottom line, the gospel is still the gospel, period! Whether people listen, agree, accept or decline...it's still the truth of the Kingdom. We can't base our success or failures based on numbers, it's purely based on the obedience of God.
By our standards Noah failed, there was only 8 people saved because of his preaching and that was over a hundred years or so. Jesus wasn't even the most prolific leader by our standards...he only had 120 or so waiting in the upper room.
We have to simply obey God and rest in that obedience and love.
That's it...but we can only rest in it when we know it, and know HIM, not just the manual or instructions.
Paul
Thank you Paul :) So good to have the opportunity to 'converse' with someone who is out there, doing it!
Hats off to you,Ryan and others with the faith and courage to STREET PREACH.
You wrote:
...Sometimes your job is just to tell them the news and another person is supposed to disciple them....
Hmmmm, good point, it's about trusting The Lord, rather than beleive I have to see that persons entire spiritual journey through from start to finish! (aka Man's reference!)
I've been reading with interest, your articles on the website.
What comes through loud and clear, once again is the SIMPLICITY of what we are to do.
Particular excerpts that 'spoke to me':
+ The only thing man’s references does is please other men.
+ All the lost will require is a genuine representation and demonstration of the gospel.
+ You’re not there for the masses, you’re there to find the few that are ready to enter in.
+ If you don’t appear foolish to the world to some extent I wonder if you’re really preaching the gospel.
Anyone reading this, I urge you to put these quotes in context by reading http://www.howtobecomeamissionary.com/how-to-become-a-preacher
Blessings!
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