Australia
Followers of Jesus are Witnesses- Nartarsha Wisewould
I think it is incredibly sad that we need to train followers of Jesus in how to do evangelism, but it is heart breaking when we need to convince followers of Jesus that we all should be witnesses.
On the day of Pentecost nobody came out and gave notes on ‘seven effective tools for evangelism’ or ‘how to engage with those who don’t know Christ’. There was no seminar or book. The disciples had spent time following Jesus and getting to know Him intimately, then when the Holy Spirit came everybody in the upper room was filled with the Holy Spirit and boldness. The overflow of that was that they went out into the street and witnessed as to what they had seen and knew of Jesus and the result was that many people were saved and become followers of Jesus.
Acts 2 (NIV) 1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Then Peter shares the gospel with the crowd that gathers around them….
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
I’m not saying that books and seminars and notes are not helpful or that they are unnecessary. I have been to many evangelism seminars and courses, as well as running them, and I have read many books on evangelism, but none of that replaces intimacy with Jesus and reliance on the Holy Spirit.
If every Christian were to pursue intimacy with Jesus and get full of the Holy Spirit, then the overflow would be that the gospel would be spread.
Sometimes we need to stop reading about it and just do it. I’ve met some Christians who have been to the latest and greatest evangelism course, read some impressive books, but when I ask them about the last person they led to Christ, or the last God conversation they had there is an awkward pause.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
That’s us! We are the witnesses Jesus is speaking about. What would be the point of a mute witness? How will anyone else know what happened if the only person that saw it can’t tell anyone?
A couple of months ago I witnessed a hit and run accident, so I stopped and I waited for the police to arrive so I could give a statement. All I had to do was tell the officer what I had seen. We live in a society where not everyone would stop and wait to give a statement. A lot of people would keep driving, cause it isn’t really our business, or our problem and we have other things to do.
As followers of Jesus we must stop and engage and tell what we have seen, because it matters. If we don’t, then who will?
Revival Intensive - This Saturday - New Hope Church in Brisbane QLD Aust.
Hi there everyone. Just a brief note to inform you all of a Revival Intensive being held this weekend at New Hope Church in Brisbane hosted by Ben and Jodie Hughes of Pour It Out Ministries. Ben, together with fellow revivalists Catherine Mullins and Roy Fields will joining together to contend for revival in our city and nation in a powerful atmosphere of passionate worship, intercession and teaching. When the church gathers to enthrone God on our praise and worship, it is impossible for nothing to happen!
Registration is only $25 and more details can be found here http://www.pouritout.org
The morning session commences at 10am.
The Saturday night session starts at 7pm and is free.
Christ's Church Shaken?
Sometimes I write out of desire, other times out of necessity. This is one of those times, a time where I have to write, rather than I want to.
Yesterday (22 February 2011), Christchurch, New Zealand experienced another earthquake, following the one in September. This time the destruction was worse, though the quake was smaller on the Richter scale. At the time of this writing 65 or more are dead. The icon of Christchurch––the cathedral––was devastated. Buildings have collapsed and most of all people are shaken. In the past month or so, Australia has been shocked by floods, fires and a cyclone. Revolution and riots are breaking out in the Middle East. Even America has had massive snow storms. For me, watching this stuff play out on TV and in my own neighborhood has been extremely distressing. It's one thing when it's in someone else’s territory, it's a whole other thing when it's at your doorstep.
What is happening? The writer of Hebrews gives us insight. Now Hebrews is all about God's New Covenant and the dispensation of grace that we are living in. No other book explains grace and mercy more, except maybe Romans. And yet Hebrews tells us:
"See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 'Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' This phrase, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of things that are shaken––that is, things that have been made––in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:25-29, ESV).
The book of Hebrews makes it clear what God is doing: he is shaking both the heavens and earth. I don't like it as much as the next man, but that is what God has purposed. And this shaking will only get more intense as the Day of Christ's coming approaches. Jesus said, "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again" (Matt 24:21, NIV). Why? Because God is removing what is man-made and temporal to replace it with the eternal.
So what is eternal? God's kingdom and the stuff of his kingdom is eternal. The Father's rule and work is eternal, his love and Word is eternal, his power and grace will never pass away. The whole world will be shaken but God's kingdom––the real world––cannot and will not be overcome. It's time that we focus on the eternal rather the the temporal stuff like buildings, material goods, money, fame and the WOW factor. Yes, we should properly manage the things God has given us during our pilgrimage on earth, but we should not set our hearts on these things and allow them to consume our time. Every act of obedience to Jesus Christ will reap eternal rewards, so let's focus our energy on listening to him.
Peter said, "For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Pet. 4:17, ESV). Judgment begins with us, Christ's church. For too long we have focused on the outward and not the inward, the temporal rather than the eternal. We have built with wood and stone, but not with the power and riches of the eternal kingdom. Our running of the church has been like a business rather than a reflection of the Kingdom’s humility. I graduated from a reputable business school (so I appreciate management skills), but I count it as rubbish compared to knowing Jesus. The church may have skills, but skills do not save, and are often a hinderance, rather than a blessing.
If we are motivated to worship because of the beauty and prestige of a building, we will scatter when that building falls. If we are motivated to worship because of reputation, we will run when accusations are thrown. Instead, God and God alone must be our motivating factor. Emotions can be shaken, but let's not allow our God-given relationships to crumble. Just because a cathedral or another place of worship is devastated does not mean that God's people should scatter. We are to meet together all the more as the Day approaches (Heb. 10:25). We will meet in the fields and in houses; we will meet in public places and in private businesses; we will meet in boats and on mountain-tops. We will not allow the shaking to destroy our fellowship in Jesus. That is the nature of the true church.
Let us be like David who said, "I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken" (Psa. 16:8, ESV). Trusting in God helps us overcome all the uncertainty of the world. Our Lord cannot be shaken and if we are in him we are secure.
5 weeks to go! - Serena H
It is now only just over 5 weeks to go until I leave for Asia, although a few others in the group will be starting a couple weeks earlier in another Asian country, scouting out the area for the Lord's strategies on starting a new base there. This will be specifically to go with God's heart on ministering to and setting free those many girls and boys who are selling themselves for sex every day. "In this country as well as in other countries, six year old girls are sold by their parents for $10.00 to the brothels where they are forced to have sex with many men every night." This is so sad and so not what God has in mind for each of these young lives. He has called, created and purposed them for so much more. See Christian and Christy's blog at http://jungworldmissions.blogspot.com for more information about this trip which I am not going on, but is taking place just before I leave and Jesse and Tanya will be on this trip. I will most likely be meeting up with them in this country and flying straight on to where we are headed next. Christian and Christy's blog also includes a link to a 10 minute teaser for the film "Call and Response" about human trafficking.
As I continue to transition from living in Africa to living in Australia in the western world, and also prepare to leave again soon for this next trip, please continue to pray! Your prayers are needed and so appreciated!
Pray for:
More of Jesus. We want more and we need more. That we would keep our eyes fixed on the author and perfecter of our faith and also keep our hearts soft and open to continuously receiving His love... We are going because of Him. We are going to be his hands and feet and to see Jesus in the eyes of every man, woman and child that we have the privilege to meet. We can only do this if we first stop every day for Jesus before we stop for the one... Pray that we would dive deep into His heart every day, and lay down and die every day, that He may fill us to overflowing with His love and joy! We love him and he loves us. He loves each of us so incredibly. He loves YOU so inexhaustibly.
Visas - favour as well as everything to go smoothly with getting documents in time etc. Most of our visas we will be getting as we go, from country to country.
Finance - for plane tickets, visas, other means of travel, support along the way and to be able to bless the existing ministries and people who we will be serving with as the Lord leads
Unity - genuine love and unity among the team who are going. We are a small group, who will be meeting up with others in various countries. That our hearts would be bound together in the Lord and we really would be like family- loving, supporting and encouraging each other all along the way
Direction - that we would hear completely clearly from the Lord, every step of the way. Pull down any assignments of confusion or uncertainty that have been set against us. Pray for specific keys and divine strategies from the Lord, and boldness to step out in prompt obedience to whatever He leads us to.
Health/family - please continue to lift us up in prayer for divine health and protection for each of us and our families as we travel. Grace for the journey. Nothing we eat shall harm us and nothing we touch can hurt us. Also in some areas there would be varying amounts of demon worship and witchcraft going on. Greater is He who is in us than he who is the world, no weapon formed against us will prosper. We are called to go into some of the darkest places of this world to bring the light of Jesus Christ. The light shines into the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it. The light also exposes and uncovers what is going on in the darkness. We know that we will see many people set free and whole family lines changed forever as we venture in and love on the least of these and those held in spiritual bondage.
Please also continue to pray for preparations for the South/Central America trip!
Some of us will be heading to the US by early august to get things together, however planning has been going on since October 2010 and will continue and only increase as we get closer to leaving. There is much to organise, such as vehicles for the trip, mapping out our trip and making contact with those already in the countries, and various other logistics. This is a trip expected to last around a year or longer.
Thank you so much again for your prayers! Because of you many of the worlds unreached people groups will soon be able to be called reached! Even in the place where I did mission school - Pemba, Mozambique the missiologists used to call the local tribal groups almost impossible to reach, yet they are now experiencing revival. Today, so many of these people in Asia and the Americas have never even heard the name Jesus, and many are dying every single day without having heard of the only one who can give them eternal life and joy and love every day of their lives here on earth. You may not be able to go yourself but know that your prayers are powerful and are changing lives all over the world :)
If you would like to be put on my mailing list for receiving news/prayer points specifically about these trips or any further trips, please email me at serena xh@gmail.com - take away the space in between serena and xh
If you would like to give anything financially towards these ministry trips, click on this link here: http://adventureswjc.blogspot.com/p/give-to-adventure.html
The Sky is not Falling ... - Julie Blase
…… It is declaring His Glory!
I’ll be honest, I don’t remember the full story of the falling sky, but almost every week, I hear some dooms-day reporter, retelling the devils plans and the possibility of big trouble on the way and it makes me think of the chicken in this story.
Seeing the giants in the land and just how easily they could rip us limb from limb does not make us prophetic. Your natural eyes give you information and even your spirit man can inform you of activity in the spirit realm that is at odds with the purposes and promises of God.
This should not surprise any of us. Jesus already told us that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.
“BUT I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO ITS FULLEST MEASURE”.
When you can hear these words of Jesus, and they resonate deep within you as a personal and a national promise, then you are beginning to understand how much God loves you.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and whoever believes in Him will NOT DIE but have everlasting LIFE!
This is what we, the prophetic generation must ‘see’. How is God going to perform this great work on the planet? Through us! And it begins with seeing and saying what God is seeing and saying.
Get this clear, God has no problems. He has answers and we have them in our mouth. In the beginning was the Word and everything was made by Him and Nothing was made without Him. Say the Word, Pray the Word, Believe the Word and Do the Word.
Jesus said, The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me to preach the Good News to the Poor. Here is a good place to start. Become a preacher / prophet of Good News, to the poor, the undeserving, the sinner and the tax collector and the Church. Begin to see God’s great love for them, which He shed abroad in YOUR heart for them. His plan is to use the Church to display His manifold wisdom to the principalities and powers. This is Grace in all its beauty!
I am not discounting the burden that God gives us as people who stand in the gap. There is a time for everything. But, Jesus said, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. God’s wrath has been poured out on the body of His Son and He is forever more inviting us into His inheritance.
The earth groans and satans power is still at work on the planet therefore the Church must arise to shine, announcing that the time of the Lord’s favour has come. Let us be the ones who declare the goodness of God and prepare the way for Him to come.
One way we prepare the way is to go up on a high mountain and shout it out that God has made a way for everyone to have eternal life and to know the righteousness, joy and peace He offers.
The way of the upright is like the new dawn, it grows brighter and brighter until the whole earth is under the dominion of the King of Kings.
As the Holy Spirit shows you ‘things to come’, see God’s desire shining through it, to call people to himself.
SO Let me tell you here, what I ‘see; whoever we are, we only see in part. This is my part, born out of the presence of God.
I see this nation, even now, being positioned for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit like it has never been seen before. I see the Church being turned up-side-down by the grace of God, because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross. Every leader that is truly called of God will be included even if they have been hard at hearing up until this point, because God does not revoke His gifts and His mercy is everlasting.
However, some prophetic servants will emerge and give leadership because they have been guarding their heart and being an ambassador of unity and love. Satan has not been able to use them to prophesy his intentions but they have been set apart as heralds of God’s love.
People who have faithfully been praying, ‘Your Kingdom Come’ and ‘Your Will be Done’, will be rewarded like the prophet in the temple who saw Jesus as a baby and recognized Him as Messiah.
I see the demonic, new age spirituality backfiring on the devil and the Harry Potter generation becoming warriors in the army of God, who understand that their wrestle is not against flesh and blood but against the darkness itself. They will ‘get it’ and carry forward the promises of God.
This is The Great South Land of the Holy Spirit and the time is getting near for this Word to mature and the ripples are already being felt in prayer rooms and closets even now. I see stadiums filled with Warriors. Worship Warriors, who are not distracted by the goings on of the lesser beings, but who are captivated by the Presence of God and crying out to Him for justice on the earth and announcing it as they see it forming in the heavens, calling things as if they already are. How lovely are the feet of Him who bring Good News. The age of the prophets who have visions and dreams, previews of the manifest goodness of God, is now. I see Australia as a hungry nation, a sending nation, a Revival Nation. The restoration of the First Nation People to places of prominence and influence is a sign of the restoration of all things as God has promised.
This gospel of grace and hope, will be preached openly and zealously and in increasing frequency in the future. Those who judge will become irrelevant as those who can ‘see’ are given a voice. To all who want to participate in this move of God, repentance is required. Whether you are a sinner or a saint, change, in the attitude of your mind, is necessary. New wine cannot be poured into old wineskins. Something has shifted, it is time to shout. There is a cloud, it may only be the size of a man’s hand and it may still be on the horizon, but now is the time to do what you must to get ready for rain.
Please be encouraged and become a carrier of Good News, sowing the Word into the future and unlocking the destiny of our nation.
Merry Christmas. Do not despise the day of small beginnings, this all started with a tiny baby in an obscure manger and will end with every eye ‘seeing’ and every ear ‘hearing’. Be Blessed,
Humbly yours,
Julie
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