Evangelism, Super Apostles and Mixed-Up Priorities

Lee Grady writes in Charisma Magazine:
"...We need true apostles and prophets because they keep the church moving forward in our global assignment and provide heavenly direction and strategy. Yet apostles and prophets have been controversial, not only because some people reject them on theological grounds but because some self-proclaimed apostles and hyper-mystical prophets have abused and misused their gifts and authority. Today some of these people have slipped over the edge of orthodoxy—and have taken segments of the church off the cliff with them.

Some have promoted the concept that apostles are spiritual supermen who wield rigid, hierarchical control over churches and leaders, resulting in authoritarianism and abuse. Others have perverted the apostolic model to create a financial "downline" that brings loads of money to a few at the top of the food chain—ignoring the fact that the Bible says apostles should be models of humility who serve from the bottom. And some prophets have traded in their originally pure message to promote bizarre doctrines and cryptic predictions that often prove to be hokum.Is it possible that while we were celebrating the super apostles and building fan clubs for the prophets we were ignoring the primacy of our evangelistic calling?

I know one gift is not more valuable than another. But when I read about the five-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11, I can't help but notice the placement of the evangelist. Paul wrote: "And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers" (NASB, emphasis added). The evangelist is not more important, and God's kingdom is not a hierarchy. But evangelism is in the center because it is the very heart of God's mission.

In this turbulent season when our movement is being shaken, refined and redefined, we must return to the simplicity of our mission to reach the lost all around us. God wants to visit us with fresh evangelistic fire that will burn up our selfishness, refocus our priorities, rid us of quirky doctrinal distractions and ignite our hearts with a holy love for people who don't know Jesus."

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.

Read more>>

No same-sex marriage when people had a say

From Mats Tunehag´s blog (Foto: Marcio Jose Sanchez):
"None of states in the USA that have legalized same-sex “marriage” have done so by the vote of the people. Neither Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, nor Vermont have redefined marriage by asking the people.
On the other hand, all of the 30 states that have asked their voters to define marriage in their state constitutions, have defined marriage as between only one man and one woman. This happened when the voters – not the judges or legislators – made the decision. "

Very early in the morning

The Salvation Army General´s Easter Message 2009:
The early morning is a strange time. It can be filled with positive expectation or deep apprehension. How are you, early in the morning?

The 15th chapter of Mark's Gospel opens with the words, 'Very early in the morning' (New International Version), and then goes on to tell us what took place in those history-splitting pre-dawn moments. The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, had been arrested in the night by Jerusalem Temple Guards who had known where to find him because his close friend and follower, Judas, had betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. His yet more trusted friend, Peter, had openly denied even knowing him. The High Priest in Jerusalem questioned Jesus in public and judicial condemnation soon followed.

'Very early in the morning' Jesus, your Saviour and mine, was handed over to the Roman occupying forces, for final judgment. The Governor, Pilate, interrogated Jesus but could extract no replies. Jesus was like an innocent, defenceless lamb led to the slaughter. By this stage he did not even open his mouth to speak. Urged on by the early morning crowd, Pilate delivered Jesus to the executioners. To curry favour with the subjugated but volatile citizens, the Governor then released from prison a known killer, their compatriot, Barabbas.

All of this 'early morning' action was but a precursor to Golgotha, the place where Jesus would die. They mocked and abused him first. They thrust a crown made of long thorny spikes onto his sacred forehead. They offered him sarcastic homage. Then came history's most tragic, poignant walk – all the way, outside the city walls, to Golgotha on Calvary Hill. There, with two common thieves, Jesus was put to death by crucifixion, a cruel and exceptional punishment by today's standards. They hammered nails into his hands and feet, then raised him up on the cross to hang in slow suffocation as his body slumped downward. At the very end, six hours later, he muttered words to his Father in Heaven asking forgiveness for his persecutors.

'Very early in the morning' is a good time to ponder these events. Jesus himself was accustomed to rising early in the morning to seek out the presence and the face of God the Father.

Pre-dawn, for some, is a time for dubious deeds. It was like that for the arresting guards and their masters. It was as though their plotting needed to be done in secret and completed in a hurry. The goodness of Jesus was to them a threat, not a blessing.

How do you see it all? In the stillness and objectivity that come 'very early in the morning', how does it all look to you? Do the events of that night and the next day, as recorded in the Scriptures, arouse your emotions? Do you feel the ugliness and injustice of it? Do you feel the tragedy and pity of it? Yet at the same time there is another dimension to our responses, a subtle sense of gratitude that it happened, a growing sensation deep within, witnessing to our personal realisation that Jesus knew exactly what he was doing. He faced it all with determination – for our sakes! It was all out of holy love for the fallen human race!

'Very early in the morning' we begin to see also the growing light of a new dawn. It is the glow of the Resurrection morning and the empty tomb. Calvary was a beginning not an ending!It is good to come to Calvary early in the morning.

It is always good to come to the Lord early in the day, each and every day. Now, our Risen and Ascended Lord awaits our approach, and a smile of loving approval comes early to his face. I pray that his smile and his forgiveness may rest upon each one of us this Good Friday and this Easter Day.

Shaw Clifton, General of The Salvation Army

One billion souls to save

From Times Online:
Christianity in China is booming. With 100 million believers, far more than the 74 million-member communist party, Jesus is a force to be reckoned with in the People’s Republic. We talk to the new faithful who love China – but love God more.

A murmur of “Amen” echoes softly down a corridor in a luxury Beijing hotel. Dozens of young Chinese are gathered in a beige-carpeted conference room to listen to the word of God. After helping themselves to hot water or tea at the back of the room, they find a seat and chatter with friends. They tuck Louis Vuitton and Prada handbags under their seats, switch their mobile phones to silent and turn to listen to a young woman who takes the microphone to ask for silence and recite a prayer.

A casually dressed, grey-haired Chinese man takes to the podium. “Let us begin with a look at the Gospel of Saint John.” There is a rustling of pages as converts and curious open their Bibles. Almost everyone in the room is scarcely a day over 30. Most look as if they are in their early twenties. They are fashionably dressed – girls with high-heeled boots, men sporting trendy knitted hats. This is Friday night Bible class in Beijing. And it is a weekend venue of choice for growing numbers of well-off middle-class city sophisticates.

The fact that this class is technically illegal, run by pastors lacking approval from the state-sanctioned Protestant church, is not the attraction. These are not young people seeking a frisson of excitement from some underground activity. They are at the forefront of a movement sweeping China – the search for spiritual satisfaction now that Marx is démodé.

No attempt is made to conceal what is, in effect, an underground religious gathering. A sign in Chinese outside the conference room reads: “Hill of Golgotha Church meeting”. A board outside the hotel lift directs visitors to Hall 5. There is not a nod towards secrecy or even discretion. There is no sense of anxiety, let alone fear, that officials could burst in to break up this illegal assembly even though police do still frequently raid house churches run by underground Protestant pastors.

Read more in Times Online>>

Reconciliation at the foot of the Cross

Sven Ljungholm writes at the FSAOF web-site:
In our individual preparation for Easter, and as we take this time to journey through Lent, I want to take you to Moscow, in the spring of 1992. It is Easter Sunday morning and we conducted our service in a rented thousand seat auditorium; our “hall” for the last several months. It was the first Easter service conducted in a Moscow, Russia Salvation Army hall in 70 years, the last one having been celebrated by my grandfather, Adjutant Otto Ljungholm.

Near the front of the hall, in the shadow of a twelve-foot cross sat a girl of twelve or thirteen. By this time she had been coming to the corps regularly along with others from a nearby orphanage. As I brought the Easter message I was gripped by what seemed like secretive, searching glances of this young girl. Her eyes darted from the cross, to me and then to a poorly dressed woman seated some distance away.

As the invitation was given to ‘come to Christ and be reconciled with your loving Heavenly Father’ the young girl stepped forward, with scores of others into the aisle and moved slowly towards the crudely constructed cross. At the same moment, the shabbily dressed woman also stood up and with determined strides approached the many already standing and kneeling at the foot of the cross. Both the woman and child moved through the crowd and, paused for a moment, just inches apart, and somewhat awkwardly, faced each other and exchanged words.

As others continued to respond to God’s invitation these two strangers, continued their private dialogue, becoming more and more animated. Then it happened! As a thousand people watched, the woman wrapped her arms around the young girl and then lifted her up, there, right in front of the cross!! In that moment, the two were reconciled under the cross of Christ…

I later learned that the woman was a loving mother who had been unable to provide proper care for her three-year old child and had been forced to give her up to the care of others. Now, some ten years later, they stood under the cross of Christ at a Salvation Army hall in Moscow, holding each other and vowing never to separate again.

After the service, the teenage girl said to me, with tears streaming down her face: ‘A stranger hugged me, but it was my Mother.’ This is the central message of the cross. A loving parent, God, calls to us, His estranged children to come. At the cross of Christ our relationship with God is restored.

(Published with permission by Sven Ljungholm)
Read the whole story at FSAOF web-site>>

Thank You so much!

Thank You!
Thank You so much for all greetings we received on the one-year anniversary of our web-site. Many greetings came in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and in English. Here are a few examples:

Swedish
Jag vill gärna vara med och gratulera 1-åringen. TACK för en mycket bra hemsida, som jag förresten har som startsida och som innehåller så mycket matnyttigt. /Christian Paulsson

Jag tycker att det är en jättebra sida. Blir så välsignad att läsa den, och det är det första jag gör när jag slår på min dator. Hoppas den fortsätter i många år framöver. /Åke Möllesjö

Norwegian
Takk for kjempeflott nettsted. Dere gjør en kjempejobb. Her er det mye godt stoff og nå også på norsk. Herlig! Latvisk neste? /Marianne Spor

Gratulerer med 1 års dagen for nettsiden deres. Godt jobbet. Med ønske om fortsatt fremgang. /Elisabeth Lukassen Christiansen

English
Congratulations on this important milestone ! Your blog is an example of one's utmost for His highest; aesthetic and attractive layout, articles of broad interest, well written, and an example of committed Christian service in sharing the Word in a practical and necessary format !Many blessings ! A SA salute from the UK /Sven Ljungholm

We hope and pray that we one day will reach the level many of you think we have already reached!

Sweden Becomes 7th Country to Allow Same-Sex Marriage

From The Christian Post:
"Sweden has adopted a law that legalizes same-sex marriage, making it the seventh country in the world to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed in either a religious or civil ceremony.
After hours of debate, the Swedish parliament voted 261 to 22, with 66 abstaining or absent, on Wednesday to approve a gender-neutral law on marriage.

Christian Democrats opposed the legislation.

The new legislation repeals a 1987 law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman."