Who will lead the revolution?
Moses was about to depart. Having liberated 3 millions Israelites from the hands of pharaoh, and successfully navigating them to the precipice of the promised land. He would leave a tremendous legacy that none could erase. Yet his time was up. God clearly revealed to Moses that he could not fulfil the mandate of leading his people to the promised land alone. Elswhere in the Pentateuch, Moses was at his wits end and required aid. God provided leadership through the 70 elders. The message was the same here in Numbers 27:18. God recommended Joshua, as one able to carry on Moses mantle, both in power and authority.
Every movement needs leadership. Over a millenium later, in Acts 6, the Holy Spirit revolution was fiercely raging. Thousands had come to know Christ, Jerusalem had been infiltrated with the gospel, miracles and signs were common, and Christ was glorified. Yet the apostles had a problem. You know what it was? Leadership. Like Moses the required aid and support, for fulfilling God’s mandate was too cumbersome. In fact, it never has been meant for any one human. God desire has always been to fulfill his vision via capable leadership.
As a fellow leader, I know I look for certain leadership qualities in potential leaders. Whether it be communicative, relational or navigational abilities there are natural traits that often reveal leadership potential. Yet this was not what was paramount in God’s school of leaders. For God the prerequisite for leadership was primarily the Spirit. In Acts 6 the apostles looked for men who had the Spirit. In Numbers 27, Moses was required to find a man who possessed a similar spirit. And as Moses delegated leadership to his 70 aides, it was the anointing of the spirit on these men that authenticated their leadership.
Who will lead the revolution today? I believe, men and women who possess God’s spirit. These are revolutionaries who not only desire intimacy with God’s spirit, but who also exhibit fruits of the spirit, while desiring deeper levels of spiritual gifts. These leaders are keenly aware that their natural and gifts though necessary are not essential. They realize that the harvest is too plentiful, and the magnitude of work is humanly impossible. That ultimately the key to breakthrough is their reliance on the Holy Spirit as they invoke spiritual leadership in leading God’s people.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Great Grace
"and great grace was upon them all..."Acts 4:33
In this *revolution what we need more than anything else is grace. Acts 4 depicts a movement in which God, the Holy Spirit was in the middle. This movement, as all do, had key figure heads, surrounded by a mass of people dedicated to the cause. Yet the Holy Spirit was the main player, as he divinely orchestrated events, empowered humans, and strategically led them to great breakthroughs. As the disciples fought against systemic religion, they were emboldened by the Holy Spirit. As they won the favour of the masses and reached thousands for Christ, they also depended on the Holy Spirit. In dire
circumstances, such as Paul in jail (Acts 16) the Holy Spirit was their only solace, and he came through.
Grace is the gift the Holy Spirit of God bestowed on his people in each of these aforementioned situations. Without God’s grace there would have been no dependence on the Holy Spirit. Grace is described as unmerited favour, mercy totally undeserved. With grace two people stand at opposite ends of the spectrum in responsibility. One is the benefactor and the other the recipient. The benefactor’s bears the sole burden of bestowing aid, while the recipient’s whole hearted response is to obtain it.
Have you ever felt on top of the world? That you finally made it to the top echelon? Do you relegate your success to your gifting rather than God’s grace? Can I share something with you? You are still fully dependent on God’s grace. See his mercy is what allows you to breathe, function, be self aware, imaginative, creative, and the list goes on. Acts 17, tells us that in him we, live and have our being. Thus both the agnostic and the believer are here by God’s grace. The difference is your intimacy with the truth.
In Acts 4:33, scripture states that a special quality of grace was upon the disciples. This grace was of a great nature. Did you know that you can receive grace in measures? At a recent service, God’s grace was powerfully felt. As always, God moved through his word, and his grace bestowed faith to induce heart transformation. Yet in this service, he gave great grace. We saw people being impacted by the Holy Spirit in tangible ways. Some were worshipping passionately, others weeping and repenting. Further, some had fallen under the power of the spirit, while still others were delivered from chains of bondage.
Which level of grace you need depends on you. As you hunger for God, and cry out for his grace. In your heartfelt desire for deliverance from your sinful state his grace will abound. As we desperately crave *revolution in our lives, in our families, community and city, it will not happen without great grace. My prayer is that you will be an addict of God’s grace. That you will be so weak in your own pursuits and that you desire a much deeper measure of God’s intimacy. May great grace be yours in all you endeavour to do for him.
*revolution is a revival that is rooted in biblical discipleship and heart change, ultimately leading to a transformation of community and culture. Visit revolutiontoronto.com for more info.
In this *revolution what we need more than anything else is grace. Acts 4 depicts a movement in which God, the Holy Spirit was in the middle. This movement, as all do, had key figure heads, surrounded by a mass of people dedicated to the cause. Yet the Holy Spirit was the main player, as he divinely orchestrated events, empowered humans, and strategically led them to great breakthroughs. As the disciples fought against systemic religion, they were emboldened by the Holy Spirit. As they won the favour of the masses and reached thousands for Christ, they also depended on the Holy Spirit. In dire
circumstances, such as Paul in jail (Acts 16) the Holy Spirit was their only solace, and he came through.
Grace is the gift the Holy Spirit of God bestowed on his people in each of these aforementioned situations. Without God’s grace there would have been no dependence on the Holy Spirit. Grace is described as unmerited favour, mercy totally undeserved. With grace two people stand at opposite ends of the spectrum in responsibility. One is the benefactor and the other the recipient. The benefactor’s bears the sole burden of bestowing aid, while the recipient’s whole hearted response is to obtain it.
Have you ever felt on top of the world? That you finally made it to the top echelon? Do you relegate your success to your gifting rather than God’s grace? Can I share something with you? You are still fully dependent on God’s grace. See his mercy is what allows you to breathe, function, be self aware, imaginative, creative, and the list goes on. Acts 17, tells us that in him we, live and have our being. Thus both the agnostic and the believer are here by God’s grace. The difference is your intimacy with the truth.
In Acts 4:33, scripture states that a special quality of grace was upon the disciples. This grace was of a great nature. Did you know that you can receive grace in measures? At a recent service, God’s grace was powerfully felt. As always, God moved through his word, and his grace bestowed faith to induce heart transformation. Yet in this service, he gave great grace. We saw people being impacted by the Holy Spirit in tangible ways. Some were worshipping passionately, others weeping and repenting. Further, some had fallen under the power of the spirit, while still others were delivered from chains of bondage.
Which level of grace you need depends on you. As you hunger for God, and cry out for his grace. In your heartfelt desire for deliverance from your sinful state his grace will abound. As we desperately crave *revolution in our lives, in our families, community and city, it will not happen without great grace. My prayer is that you will be an addict of God’s grace. That you will be so weak in your own pursuits and that you desire a much deeper measure of God’s intimacy. May great grace be yours in all you endeavour to do for him.
*revolution is a revival that is rooted in biblical discipleship and heart change, ultimately leading to a transformation of community and culture. Visit revolutiontoronto.com for more info.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The Holiness of God
Numbers 3 details the instructions for dismantling and transportation of the tabernacle in the Israelite camp. God had instructed the Israelites that he would lead them through the desert to the promised land. Many times they would travel for days and weeks, and other times they would remain camped. The tabernacle being a central part of the Israelite cult thus had to be mobile. God arranged for a team comprised of the holy tribe of the Levites and the priests to oversee this process.
The dismantling of the tabernacle covered varied tasks that had to be completed in a certain order. The priests would carefully dismantle the framework, while bundling up sacred matter such as the altars, the curtains, the utensils etc in cloth. The Levites would not be involved in this process. Numbers 4:20 explicitly states that they must not look into the holy things even for a moment, else they will die. Years earlier, God had judged two of the priests, Nadab and Abihu. They had burnt fire in an authorized manner to God. The penalty of their carelessness and contempt was immediate and fatal, as fire from the Lord consumed them.
Thus the Levites were very wary of obeying God’s every instructions. Clearly only the priests were sanctioned as holy enough to intimately handle the tabernacle artefacts . While the Levites were also considered holy, they were could only experience a second-tier intimacy in comparison with the priests, in matters pertaining with the sacred things of God. Their role was thus limited to lifting and transporting the packaged holy items.
The New Testament also envisages God’s holiness as something to be revered. Annanias and Sapphira “burnt strange fire” unto God. By choosing to lie to the Holy Spirit, they were sticking their noses to God. We can do things our own way, your rules don’t apply, we could care less, were the words there actions echoed. Elswhere in the New Testament, Hebrews 12 indicates that God is a consuming fire. The author informs us that since New Testament covenant is more efficacious, than New Testament holiness should call for a much higher standard of living. We are enjoined to fear God even greater who now speaks not from an earthly mountain such as Sinai at the giving of the law, instead he speaks in New Testament tradition – from the heavens.
Why would a holy God kill his own people, especially in a moment of worship, contrived as it might be? The answer to that question may never belong to us. However, dare I ask, why does power when used wrongly harm? Electricity transmitted via your body is sure to hurt, if not kill. Monetary power used for self gain often taints and corrupts, causing one to indulge in self destructive materialism. Power hungry politicians find themselves trapped into making decisions that lead to the undoing of the people they once idealistically promised to protect. Pornography snuffs the spiritual life of every young man who is held in its iron clad grip. Was any of this power evil in its own self? No. Electricity aids life, money fosters development, government is needed and beauty properly contextualized is pure. Could it be God’s power could be seen as such? An impartial force that metes out judgement appropriately to its handlers. While we might not be able to predict the extent the damage of the aforementioned influences, we know there would be damaged when inappropriately used. The sovereignty of God reserves the right to be unpredictable in enforcing the judgement side of His power via the Holy Spirit. Some die, others are convicted in their consciences, while yet others may have doors closed to them.
Let’s learn from the Levitical protocol of approaching God. With meekness, humility, obedience and heartfelt sincerity, we should engage in our walk with God and his people. Sure we will miss it. But surely he looks on the heart, thus he can decipher between intentional short changes, or cover ups, as was the case in Acts 5.
The dismantling of the tabernacle covered varied tasks that had to be completed in a certain order. The priests would carefully dismantle the framework, while bundling up sacred matter such as the altars, the curtains, the utensils etc in cloth. The Levites would not be involved in this process. Numbers 4:20 explicitly states that they must not look into the holy things even for a moment, else they will die. Years earlier, God had judged two of the priests, Nadab and Abihu. They had burnt fire in an authorized manner to God. The penalty of their carelessness and contempt was immediate and fatal, as fire from the Lord consumed them.
Thus the Levites were very wary of obeying God’s every instructions. Clearly only the priests were sanctioned as holy enough to intimately handle the tabernacle artefacts . While the Levites were also considered holy, they were could only experience a second-tier intimacy in comparison with the priests, in matters pertaining with the sacred things of God. Their role was thus limited to lifting and transporting the packaged holy items.
The New Testament also envisages God’s holiness as something to be revered. Annanias and Sapphira “burnt strange fire” unto God. By choosing to lie to the Holy Spirit, they were sticking their noses to God. We can do things our own way, your rules don’t apply, we could care less, were the words there actions echoed. Elswhere in the New Testament, Hebrews 12 indicates that God is a consuming fire. The author informs us that since New Testament covenant is more efficacious, than New Testament holiness should call for a much higher standard of living. We are enjoined to fear God even greater who now speaks not from an earthly mountain such as Sinai at the giving of the law, instead he speaks in New Testament tradition – from the heavens.
Why would a holy God kill his own people, especially in a moment of worship, contrived as it might be? The answer to that question may never belong to us. However, dare I ask, why does power when used wrongly harm? Electricity transmitted via your body is sure to hurt, if not kill. Monetary power used for self gain often taints and corrupts, causing one to indulge in self destructive materialism. Power hungry politicians find themselves trapped into making decisions that lead to the undoing of the people they once idealistically promised to protect. Pornography snuffs the spiritual life of every young man who is held in its iron clad grip. Was any of this power evil in its own self? No. Electricity aids life, money fosters development, government is needed and beauty properly contextualized is pure. Could it be God’s power could be seen as such? An impartial force that metes out judgement appropriately to its handlers. While we might not be able to predict the extent the damage of the aforementioned influences, we know there would be damaged when inappropriately used. The sovereignty of God reserves the right to be unpredictable in enforcing the judgement side of His power via the Holy Spirit. Some die, others are convicted in their consciences, while yet others may have doors closed to them.
Let’s learn from the Levitical protocol of approaching God. With meekness, humility, obedience and heartfelt sincerity, we should engage in our walk with God and his people. Sure we will miss it. But surely he looks on the heart, thus he can decipher between intentional short changes, or cover ups, as was the case in Acts 5.
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