Steve Addison's Blog, page 17
March 2, 2023
Mind the Gap Between Acts and Our Experience
Every time you board a train on the London Underground, you’ll hear the announcement to “Mind the Gap!” It took a while before I realized it was referring to the gap between the platform and the train.
When we read the book of Acts, we soon discover there’s a gap between our experience and the movement of God described within its pages. We’re standing on a stationary platform and the only way to board that train, is to step across the gap.
That’s why Luke wrote Acts. He’s the only Gospel writer to tell the one story of Jesus in two parts. What Jesus began to do and teach in the Gospels; he continues to do as his Word goes out in the power of the Spirit.
When Jesus rose from the dead, he confronted a band of dismayed and disillusioned disciples. How did he restore them and form them into a missionary movement? Luke tells us the risen Lord taught from Genesis to Malachi and explained how the Messiah must suffer and rise again and how repentance for the forgiveness of sins must be proclaimed to every people group and in every place. Finally, he promised them the power of the Spirit. This is the essence of the movement of God in Acts—obedient to the living Word, dependent on the Holy Spirit, and faithful to the core missionary task of making disciples and multiplying churches from where we are to the ends of the earth.
We see this fleshed out on the day of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Spirit reaches its climax in the proclamation of the Word to the nations and the formation of the church in Jerusalem, and the birth of a missionary movement.
God’s Word is on the march. The story of Acts is the story of the progress of the Word throughout the world. Wherever the Word goes in the power of the Spirit, the fruit is always disciples in community to the glory of God.
Acts is not just a book about the early church. Acts is a book about God and how he brings salvation. Acts has one story to tell and its main character is the living God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Father’s plan is centered on his Son, whose obedience to death brought us forgiveness of sins and a restored relationship with God. Now risen and enthroned, the Lord Jesus rules through the Spirit, who empowers the disciples to proclaim this salvation to all. As the Word spreads, the Spirit forms those who repent and believe into the new people of God who are witnesses to the ends of the earth. Angels appear, prophets speak, prison doors open, houses shake, thousands believe, persecutors fall to the ground, the Scriptures are fulfilled—God directs the mission.
Acts calls us back to the beginning—to a movement born in obscurity, without wealth or influence, captivated by God’s grace, devoted to prayer and the spread of God’s Word, bold in persecution, generous in love, experiencing God’s powerful presence, on the move from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.
Acts ends abruptly with Paul under house arrest awaiting trial. Why? Luke is saying the movement of God doesn’t begin and end with Paul or the early church. The movement of God continues until there are disciples and churches to the glory of God, in every place, and among every people group.
Luke is not just saying, “This is how it was,” he’s saying, “This is how it should be.”
It’s time to bridge the gap between the movement of God and our experience. The train is leaving the platform and we need to get on board.
UPDATE: My next book, Acts and the Movement of God: From Jerusalem to the Ends of the Earth should be out sometime in May 2023.
In preparation, you may find this resource helpful for working through Acts in a group or individually: 4-Fields Discovery in Acts
February 26, 2023
WWJD with the Church of England?
Enrique Simonet 1892.jpg
After sixty years of the sexual revolution, the bishops of the Church of England have finally succumbed to the spirit of the age. They have shown themselves to be unfaithful to the teaching Scripture affirmed through 2,000 years of church history and by the vast majority of world anglicans today.
What would Jesus do with the Church of England? How would he confront a corrupt religious institution?
Jesus placed his life and ministry under the authority of God’s Word. He came to fulfill the Scriptures, not overturn them. In his teaching on marriage and sexual morality he intensified the demands of law, expecting his disciples to be faithful in marriage (the lifelong union between a man and a woman) and chaste in singleness.
He warned that temptation will come, but God will judge those who cause his “little ones” who believe in him to stumble.
Jesus stood against the religious authorities of his day who controlled the temple and the priesthood. They were wealthy, politically aligned with the dominant power and keen to protect their privileged status.
How did Jesus deal with them? For most of his ministry he ignored them. When Jesus was presented at the temple there was no High Priest to welcome the Messiah. Jesus was received by two elderly prophets, Simeon and then the widow Anna who had spent her life before God, praying in the temple. They welcomed him.
Jesus didn’t return to the temple for his baptism, he went out into the wilderness. There he identified with repentant sinners seeking God’s mercy in the face of the coming judgment on unfaithful Israel.
Through his baptism and wilderness testing Jesus was shown to be true Israel—obedient to the Father’s Word, dependent on the Holy Spirit and faithful to the core missionary task to be a light to the nations.
His first disciples were not recruited from among the learned scribes and the priesthood, but among ordinary people who obeyed his call to follow and learn to fish for others.
Jesus doesn’t try and capture the institution. His life and ministry fulfills Israel’s destiny and calls disciples whom he forms into true Israel. God has abandoned the institution, and judgment will fall, but his mission continues.
That’s what Jesus did, it’s what he still does today.
From 2008: What should the Anglicans do?
February 22, 2023
294-Southern California Update
A conversation with JT Timblin with the latest news on movements of disciples and churches in Southern California.
Connect with JT: neighborsandnations.org
Follow the story: 285-LA Update
February 21, 2023
Discerning a Movement of God
Everyone’s talking about the revival at Asbury seminary.
Revivals are marked by intense of prayer, confession and repentance from sin, worship and adoration of God revealed in Jesus. Sometimes the power of the Spirit is displayed through miracles and physical manifestations of his presence—people may cry, shake, rejoice, and fall to the ground.
Revivals are a work of God’s grace. And of course, there are excesses and charlatans who manipulate revivals for personal gain. Faith and discernment are required; both cynicism and naïveté are unhelpful. We should not despise revival but test the spirits.
How do we discern a movement of God?
Begin in Acts. It’s the gold standard for understanding how God works in the world.
At Pentecost we find 120 men and women united in prayer, waiting in faith for the coming of the Spirit. Jesus has restored his disciples, teaching them from the Old Testament why the Messiah had to suffer and die and be raised on the third day. He’s laying a foundation for the core missionary task—this gospel for repentance and the forgiveness of sins is going to the ends of the earth. But first they must wait for the power of the Spirit who will turn this motley bunch of disciples into a missionary movement.
Luke shows us what revival looks like—obedience to God’s Word, dependence on the Holy Spirit and faithfulness to the core missionary task. As Acts unfolds we learn that the mission is making disciples and planting churches from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth—every place, every people group—to the glory of God.
Forty days in the Word with the risen Lord was followed by ten days of intense prayer.
They pray, not to summon the Spirit, they pray because Jesus has promised them the Holy Spirit and given them a job to do.
When the Spirit comes, the house shakes, the wind blows, tongues of fire rest on each disciple and they erupt with the praises of God in the languages of a lost world. It’s a reminder that the Spirit is given to bring glory to Jesus among every people group and in every place.
The Spirit falls and the old and young, rich and poor, men and women—every disciple—proclaim the greatness of God revealed in Jesus.
At the heart of this movement is the dynamic Word of God, fulfilling his ancient promises and proclaiming the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This Word is on its way from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth in the power of the Spirit. And wherever the Word and the Spirit go, the fruit is disciples and churches to the glory of God.
What does that look like? In Acts 2 the disciples connect with people far from God and proclaim the gospel calling them to repent, believe and be baptized. Promising them forgiveness of sins and new life in the Spirit, so they too can be witnesses.
The new disciples are formed into gatherings across Jerusalem and beyond in which they learn to follow Christ. The day of Pentecost ends with Luke showing us what that looks like — prayer and worship, generosity and love, obeying the apostles’ teaching, meeting from house to house, celebrating the Lord’s Supper. Every day the Word went out and God added disciples to the churches.
This is just the beginning. Jerusalem will birth a missionary movement that multiplies disciples, churches and leaders, as the Word continues its journey from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.
That’s what revival looks like.
February 9, 2023
293-A Movement of God in Rajasthan (2)
Glenn and Rhonda Stewart tell the second part of the story of a movement of God in Rajasthan, India.
Explore the resources mentioned in the interview: southasiansands.wixsite.com/ekrasta
February 7, 2023
This House Will Fall
Certain Bishops and Archbishops of the Church of England have placed their wisdom and experience above the Word of God. What has gone unchallenged for thousands of years, what is upheld by the vast majority of global Anglicans and followers of Christ, has been rejected by a privileged few.
This was an exercise in “listening”. These bishops have listened to the whims of a godless culture and the lies of the Enemy. The storms will come and this house, built on sand, will fall.
Wolfhart Pannenberg has said it better than I can:
Here lies the boundary of a Christian church that knows itself to be bound by the authority of Scripture. Those who urge the church to change the norm of its teaching on this matter must know that they are promoting schism. If a church were to let itself be pushed to the point where it ceased to treat homosexual activity as a departure from the biblical norm, and recognized homosexual unions as a personal partnership of love equivalent to marriage, such a church would stand no longer on biblical ground but against the unequivocal witness of Scripture. A church that took this step would cease to be the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
February 5, 2023
Surprised by the God of Acts
I’m putting the final touches on a book about the book of Acts. It’s been my main focus of the last couple of years, but also the outcome of thirty years of investigation into movements.
Looking back, Acts has left me surprised.
I was surprised by how clear and concrete God’s mission is in Acts. Luke covers the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two. The Spirit falls, the Word goes out and the fruit is disciples and the first church to the glory of God. The church in Jerusalem becomes the first of a movement of disciples and churches on their way to the ends of the earth. It’s as simple as that.
Another surprise was that the Acts of the Apostles was not a book primarily about the apostles, or the early church—Acts is a book about God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is the main character. Acts is the story of how God works in history to pursue his mission. He works as his people proclaim his Word in the power of the Spirit. Acts is the story of the spread, growth and multiplication of God’s living Word resulting in the multiplication of disciples and churches in ever-widening circles.
A third surprise is the trouble the messengers encounter. They are beaten, chased out of town, imprisoned, put on trial, stoned, beheaded, and shipwrecked. Every major breakthrough is preceded and followed by trouble. Yet God is working out his purposes and the Word keeps on advancing, despite the weaknesses of the messengers and the opposition they face.
Another surprise is the lack of central coordination of the mission. Often the apostles are catching up to what God is doing through the people he has chosen. At Pentecost, the Spirit fell on every disciple so they would declare the wonders of God to the world. The apostles have their part to play, but not at the expense of ordinary disciples who spread the Word wherever they go.
Luke wrote Acts because he was convinced the story about Jesus was not over. The risen Lord continues to lead the way through his disciples as they proclaim the Word in the power of the Spirit from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, resulting in disciples and churches to the glory of God among every people and in every place.
To not be surprised by Acts is to assume we’ve got this thing sorted. We’re in charge and we know what to do and how to do it. The God of Acts is a God of surprises.
February 2, 2023
292-A Movement of God in Rajasthan (1)
Some people think a movement is a sovereign work of God. Others think it takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice. Glenn and Rhonda Stewart know both are true.
Explore the resources mentioned in the interview: southasiansands.wixsite.com/ekrasta
January 31, 2023
Around the (non-Western) world, this happens every day
Village boys
This report came in late last year. I’ve just read it for the second time and the impact was even greater than the first. It’s from a Communist nation in Asia.
My friend writes:
Two weeks ago brother Noy was brutally beaten to death by hired killers on a remote section of road. Noy was a rural rice farmer who demonstrated wisdom, had a great rapport with others and was an exemplary father to his children. He led his local house church and started other village churches. He was faithful to the Lord even unto death leaving behind a widow and eight children. His effectiveness in disciple making was the reason local civic leaders had him killed.
This is the eighth martyr we have known in thirty years. Brother Noy was a third generation disciple of someone I trained.
Two family members have given their lives to Christ because of Noy’s death and there has been nightly worship every day since his death despite village leaders forbidding all Christian activity. The local church is caring for the family.
Nevertheless there is much pain and a raging spiritual battle. Village leaders continue their scrutiny and verbal harassment. Other believers in the village are afraid their families might be next.
This sort of thing is going on all around the (non-Western) world with little attention from the world’s press. The Lord sees. He knows.
Go deeper: 268-Somewhere in SE Asia
January 30, 2023
4-Fields Discovery in Acts: The Worksheet
Download the worksheet
Here’s the 4-Fields Discovery worksheet and instructions to go along with my next book, Acts and the Movement of God.
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
