Steve Addison's Blog, page 21

The Holy Spirit and the Movement of God

My next book will be on the movement of God in Acts. Here are a few (unedited) thoughts on the role of the Holy Spirit in the movement of God.

In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Acts 2:17

Before Pentecost Jesus was the sole bearer of the Holy Spirit. Following his death and resurrection, Jesus’ disciples experience his presence through the Holy Spirit.

The giving of the Spirit is the giving of God himself to every believer. Through Christ, God established a new covenant with his people. It is through the Holy Spirit that the Messiah now reigns. Jesus’ mission continues, but the work is carried out by his disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit.

“Luke doesn’t explain the Spirit, he shows him at work.” We learn who the Spirit is by what he does. There is a pattern—whether the Spirit is given to John in his mother’s womb, or to Jesus at his baptism, or to the disciples at Pentecost, or to Saul in Damascus—the gift of the Spirit always results in witness and mission.

The Spirit comes upon every disciple for a clear purpose—to bear witness to Jesus beginning in Jerusalem and continuing to the ends of the earth.

The Spirit is no respecter of persons. At Pentecost the young and old, rich and poor, men and women, are all indwelt by the Holy Spirit and have the power to bear witness to Jesus. There is no clergy-laity distinction—they all have the authority and responsibility to make disciples.

The Spirit works through the gospel to bring people to saving faith and form them into communities of disciples. The evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence is the disciples transformed lives and powerful witness.

The Spirit has to do with the proclamation of the Word. The Spirit of prophecy comes upon all of God’s people and they declare his wonders to the world. The Spirit fills Peter so he can speak to the people of Jerusalem. The Spirit enables Stephen to speak with irresistible force. To speak boldly in the name of Jesus is the clearest sign of the Spirit’s work.

The Spirit serves the expansion of the Word. It’s the Word, not the Spirit, that Luke says grows, and the outcome is communities of disciples. On the day of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Spirit reached its climax in the proclamation of the Word to the nations and the formation of the church in Jerusalem.

The Holy Spirit establishes, unites, purifies, protects and increases the people of God. “The Spirit is about the mission, but the mission is to save, recreate, and reconcile a new people.”

Schnabel writes, “The Holy Spirit creates a community of people with diverse backgrounds, united in faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord—a community that includes Jews, Samaritans, Ethiopians, Romans, Syrians, Greeks, Galatians, Lycaonians, Macedonians, Achaians, and Asians who come to faith in Jesus.” This is the heart of God’s mission.

The Spirit breathes life into this movement of God, directing, intervening, propelling, and correcting. There are apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and elders all gifted by the Spirit. They don’t direct the movement, the Spirit does, and he uses whom he wills.

As the movement expands, the Spirit forms new disciples into churches and strengthens the life of the churches, enabling them to live in the fear of the Lord, encouraged and increasing in numbers. When Ananias and Sapphira deceive the community, it is an offence against the Holy Spirit who protects the purity of God’s people. When the barrier between Jewish and Gentile disciples must be removed, it is the Spirit who guides the Jerusalem Council. The Spirit appoints leaders within the churches and appoints leaders who multiply churches in new fields. On a later journey the Spirit blocked Paul and his missionary band from pushing further into Asia Minor and then opened the door into Europe.

When the mission to the nations languished, the Spirit used persecution to get Philip to Samaria. When the Samaritans believed, the Spirit confirmed their place among the people of God. The Spirit brought Peter to the house of Cornelius and as Peter preached the Spirit fell upon Gentiles demonstrating acceptance by God through faith in Christ alone. The Spirit was given to the Samaritans and the Gentiles, just as it was on the Jews at Pentecost. The Samaritans and Gentiles too will now bear witness to Jesus throughout the world.

After his last mission, Paul was bound by the Holy Spirit to go to Rome where he will bear witness to the emperor. The book of Acts ends with Paul in chains, in Rome awaiting trial. The missionary is bound but the Word still goes out in the power of the Spirit. The mission will continue despite what happens to Paul. The story cannot end, the Holy Spirit continues to work as a new generation of disciples accept the challenge of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Without the work of the Spirit, there would be no proclamation, no conversions, no churches, no power to release Satan’s captives, and no missionary movement.

Acts is not the story of a by-gone era. The risen Lord continues his mission. He is powerfully present with his people through the Holy Spirit as they take the Word from Jerusalem to the world; making disciples and planting churches.

275-Church to movement in Canada

Jeff Bennett is a local pastor in Canada learning about the transition from church to movement.

Movements and Money

They left everything and followed him.

My next book will be on the movement of God in Acts. Here are a few (unedited) thoughts on movements and money.

I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. Acts 20:33-34

Jesus led the way

When Jesus left Nazareth to be baptized by John in the Jordan he walked away from his trade and income as a carpenter, leaving his mother in the care of his brothers and sisters.

Jesus called some of his disciples away from their usual occupations to follow him while he trained them to make disciples. Jesus urged them to trust the Father to provide. The first disciples left their fishing nets, boats and hired workers and trusted God to provide. Peter at least was trusting God to provide for his wife, mother-in-law and children. James and John left the family business in the hands of their father Zebedee. Matthew left his tax booth.

At times God’s provided miraculously. Jesus also relied on the financial support of a group of wealthy women who occasionally travelled on mission with a wider group of disciples. Jesus modelled dependency on the hospitality of those who, like Zacchaeus, welcomed him and his message. When Jesus sent the Twelve and the Seventy (two) on mission he expected God to provide food and lodging through households who likewise welcomed them.

The spread of God’s Word is at the heart of the movement of God; worry, riches and pleasures choke the Word and prevent it from producing a crop. Jesus taught it is hard for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. The rich young man went away sad, his wealth was the one thing that prevented him from following Jesus.

Jesus taught his disciples to give generosity to the poor. He shared a common purse with the twelve from which they met the costs of their mission and gave to the poor. Jesus wanted his disciples to give generously, trusting that their Father in heaven knew their needs and would provide.

The Gospels give just one reason for Judas’ betrayal. He wanted the money. Money played a role in Satan’s attacks on the emerging movement through Judas, Ananias and Sapphira, and Simon the sorcerer. The love of money and the comfort and security it brings is a threat to discipleship and the health and expansion of a movement.

The story in Acts

In Acts life in the community of faith is characterized by generosity so that the needs of the poor are met. People did not regard their wealth as their own.

The leaders of the movement were from Galilee. After being on the road with Jesus for three years, they probably relocated their families to Jerusalem. Somehow they had to support themselves in what must have been an expensive city. Luke doesn’t give us the details of how they did that, although he does report Peter’s reply to the lame beggar at the temple, “Silver and gold I have none.”

Most likely they relied on the generosity of the community for the support of their families and to cover the costs of their mission in Jerusalem and beyond.

When the Greek-speaking widows were overlooked in the daily distribution of food, the apostles responded by appointing seven men of character and spiritual maturity to sort it out while the twelve prioritized prayer and the ministry of the Word, ensuring the health and the expansion of the movement.

Paul proclaimed the gospel free of charge and did not want to be a burden on new disciples. He was willing to humble himself and go down the social ladder to support himself and his coworkers. Priscilla and Aquila, like Paul, could support themselves when they served in Corinth, Ephesus and Rome.

Paul accepted gifts from other churches only after he left them and only if the gift came without strings attached. In his letters, Paul defended the right of missionaries to be supported by the churches. While in Corinth, Paul worked as a tentmaker in the shop of Aquila and Priscilla. When Timothy and Silas arrived with a gift from the Macedonian churches Paul put aside his trade and devoted himself full-time to the mission.

Paul was in Roman custody for over four years during which he could not earn a living. Typically prisoners were not fed by their captors and had to rely on the generosity of others. Fortunately during his longest imprisonments in Caesarea and Rome, there were local believers who could help. As a prisoner in Rome, Paul was responsible to pay for his accommodation. Rome was an expensive city and Paul’s apartment was large enough for him, his guard and coworkers, and the many guests who visited. It’s unlikely Paul would have been allowed or able to work while a soldier chained to his wrist.

Jesus did not leave his disciples any instructions regarding financial provision and management. He gave them his Word, the Spirit and the task. He promised that as they went to the ends of the earth, he would be with them. There was no map, strategic plan or timetable. Just a promise that the power of God’s Spirit was enough to get their witness to every people and every place.

Who paid for Luke and Aristarcus’ voyage to Rome with Paul? Who paid their living expenses when they arrived in Rome? Luke doesn’t say. He’s not focused on organizational and funding issues, which is not to say they are not important. Jesus expected his disciples to work it out as they went, but there are some lessons we learn from Luke’s account.

According to Jesus, a true disciple trusts God by placing obedience to his Word above the desire for money and security. Just as a disciple who falls into the love of money will become unfruitful, so will a disciple making movement become unfruitful. Money does not fuel movements, commitment does.

The vast majority of the work in any movement is done by volunteers, not paid professionals. Nobody paid Philip to go down to Samaria and preach to thousands. Nobody paid unnamed disciples who fled Jerusalem with the gospel and opened the door to reaching Gentiles in Antioch. For every Paul, there are hundreds, even thousands who volunteer their time and resources for the cause.

In Luke’s Gospel and Acts God provided a variety of funding sources for the advance of the movement. There were missionaries who supported themselves and others through their trade. There were volunteers who served at their own expense. There were ordinary believers, wealthy individuals and churches that gave money. There were hosts who opened their homes to travelling teams; homes that became meeting places for new churches.

The challenge of funding a movement isn’t only about raising money, it also involves keeping costs low in the first place. The movement didn’t require a temple, a priesthood or any of the trappings of ancient religions. Most of the workers were volunteers, most of the churches met in homes.

The other strategy is to push the responsibility for funding to the field. There is no supply chain stretching back to Jerusalem from Samaria or the Phoenician coast or back to Antioch from Macedonia and Achaia. The churches that were planted soon had local leaders and were responsible for their own funding. It wasn’t long before these churches released resources and workers to advance in unreached fields. In this way the movement remained flexible and nimble, able to multiply. To organize and fund the movement centrally would have choked its growth.

The oxygen of a movement is the commitment of its people—to give, to go, to serve without pay, to open their homes, to work with their hands, to trust that the power of God goes with them as they take the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

274-A Conversation with David Broodryk

I talk to David Broodryk in Durban South Africa about his local work, reaching cities, and what he’s learning about developing movement leaders.

A move of God in Zambia

This text just came in from David Broodryk:

A correctional facility in Zambia has transformed!  Prisoners are sent as ambassadors into the surrounding communities to share how Christ has changed them. Five months after starting a disciple making movement in the prison, all incidents of fighting, murder and immorality have completely ceased.  Prisoners are found reading scripture, worshipping and praying instead. 

The team visited this week and distributed another 115 Audio and 220 printed Bibles.   Please pray for this team as they try to respond to many invitations from other prisons who want to see the same things happen there. Pray also for the prisoners as they leave - or are transferred to other facilities - that they will be carriers of the gospel wherever they go . . .

273-Movements in Sudan

Emanuel Prinz talks to Steve about the emergence of movements of disciples and churches in Sudan.

The failure of Jesus

  

Jesus was a failure by these standards and so was Paul. Before the cross he condemned Jerusalem for rejecting her King. His prophecy of Jerusalem’s destruction was fulfilled in AD 70. The temple, the city and its walls were transformed into a pile of rubble. Its people dead or enslaved.

The only cities in the New Testament transformed by the gospel were transformed into riots and division.

Paul stood before Nero in chains with nothing but the gospel. Rome was not transformed

The book of Acts is the story of the spread of God’s Word from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Everywhere the evidence of God’s transforming power are multiplying disciples and churches to the glory of God.

The heavens and the earth with be transformed one day—on the other side of God’s judgment. Until then we have a job to do.

The message of Easter?

It appears the message of Easter has been hijacked.

A history of the Cross

The Crucifixion by Rubens

Listen to two skeptical historians on my favourite podcast discuss the history and significance of the Cross.

One of them is Tom Holland author of Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World.

 

272-Shepherding a movement

JT Timblin and Ben Long talk about developing shepherds/elders/overseers in a movement of disciples and churches.

If you would like to get in touch with JT and Ben you can email them.