How much do we know about working in the ministry? In review of the few aspects of the ministry of Christ, we have a small sample of works that we are able to reference. In these writings we see the establishment of the ministry as He travels from place to place, bringing his students with Him and using the world as a classroom. We also so Christ sowing the seeds of the church that was to continue once He returned to His Father. If we leave the discussion only to the works of Christ, then we would have a church that would be heavy on evangelism and light just about everywhere else.
Truth is, the foundation of the church was already laid before Christ shows up on the scene. The books of Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and later those of some of the Major and Minor prophets provide insight into the structure and organization of a stationary church. This is a very interesting point take into consideration, that in order to facilitate ourselves, we have gone to many of the ways of the old church and in some cases forgot about the other dimensions of ministry.
Jesus, among other things, was the Great Example. He provided for us insight not into things that we never saw, but just things that we didn't do as well. Truly we can say that there was evangelism in the old testament, and that there were miracles and prophecies alike. But the apperance of Jesus showed us that we had become too isolated on some of the aspects of God's desires for us to praise Him, and had forsaken many others. To counter that, Jesus starts from scratch and sets the standard for us to be able to follow.
We have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, or we will fall!
So to as the church, we must be able to preach and teach as well as evangelize at the same time, or we will fall. It is not OK just sit inside the walls of the church and expect the sinner to "seek us out". That's like saying that the wheat harvest will come knock on the farmers door in the morning and say, "We are here to be collected." NO! We have a work to do and some have realize that we must present the WHOLE ministry to the world in order that we win the WHOLE world.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Why are we fasting...
Fasting is to be done with a purposeful heart. If there is a point to your praise and point to your worship, then there HAS to be a point to your suffering as well
For forgiveness…
Daniel 9:13-19
The children of Israel had once again gotten themselves in trouble and now is was incumbent upon the man of God to beseech the Lord on their behalf and as God forgiveness.
As we fast today, we are reminded that we are first and foremost not worthy to go before the Lord and ask him for anything, that we must ask God for the forgiveness of our sins AND for the sins of those of use around us. Daniel could have stopped his prayers with just himself, but he knew that is was not just about himself.
For understanding…
Daniel 10:1-9
Daniel was shown something that he did not understand, and he has not yet been given the revelation of what it meant. So in order to gain that understanding, he went into fasting and prayer because HE KNEW that fasting would give more power to his spirit and allow him access to God in a way that he did not ordinarily have.
There is a revelation coming through your fasting about your life and it is not too late. You can still get on this train of understanding because we have not reached the time where the train has reach its destination. If you haven’t been fasting, you can start today to receive a little but of understanding.
For Power…
Luke 15:11-19
Shifting gears, we come to this story because I wanted us to look at a fast that GOD set into motion, not necessarily one that the person themselves put into place. The Prodigal Son, thought he had power, love, and a sound mind away from the power source.
He didn’t think he needed to work hard along side his brother in order to receive want “belonged” to him. So he decided in himself that he would take his money and leave.
But…. The world drained him of his power and now away from his real power source, HIS Father, he had no way of replenishing his supply. He no way of rejuvenating himself, so God put him on a forced fast.
See when you run out of money to buy food, God will put you on a forced fast, and now that he was sitting in front of a slop pin, the bible tells us in verse 17 of Luke 15 that he came to his senses.
You r fasting will bring you to your senses. You will be able to smell what you couldn’t smell before, you will be able to hear what you aint never heard before, and it is in that moment that you will realize what the real source of your energy comes from. Where your real power comes from and mine comes for God.
For forgiveness…
Daniel 9:13-19
The children of Israel had once again gotten themselves in trouble and now is was incumbent upon the man of God to beseech the Lord on their behalf and as God forgiveness.
As we fast today, we are reminded that we are first and foremost not worthy to go before the Lord and ask him for anything, that we must ask God for the forgiveness of our sins AND for the sins of those of use around us. Daniel could have stopped his prayers with just himself, but he knew that is was not just about himself.
For understanding…
Daniel 10:1-9
Daniel was shown something that he did not understand, and he has not yet been given the revelation of what it meant. So in order to gain that understanding, he went into fasting and prayer because HE KNEW that fasting would give more power to his spirit and allow him access to God in a way that he did not ordinarily have.
There is a revelation coming through your fasting about your life and it is not too late. You can still get on this train of understanding because we have not reached the time where the train has reach its destination. If you haven’t been fasting, you can start today to receive a little but of understanding.
For Power…
Luke 15:11-19
Shifting gears, we come to this story because I wanted us to look at a fast that GOD set into motion, not necessarily one that the person themselves put into place. The Prodigal Son, thought he had power, love, and a sound mind away from the power source.
He didn’t think he needed to work hard along side his brother in order to receive want “belonged” to him. So he decided in himself that he would take his money and leave.
But…. The world drained him of his power and now away from his real power source, HIS Father, he had no way of replenishing his supply. He no way of rejuvenating himself, so God put him on a forced fast.
See when you run out of money to buy food, God will put you on a forced fast, and now that he was sitting in front of a slop pin, the bible tells us in verse 17 of Luke 15 that he came to his senses.
You r fasting will bring you to your senses. You will be able to smell what you couldn’t smell before, you will be able to hear what you aint never heard before, and it is in that moment that you will realize what the real source of your energy comes from. Where your real power comes from and mine comes for God.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Evangelism vs Soul Winning
What is evangelism? What is soul winning?
Do you know the difference, or is there one? There are schools of though that actually say that these are one in the same. But I would actually say that this is very far from the truth.
Evangelism is the preaching or activity of spreading the Gospel while soul wining is a subset of the evangelistic experience. At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus selected his disciples and in that process brought them into acceptance that He was indeed the Christ. He one their soul first, then he began to evangelize to them. A process that took some three years and even then it did not fully win over all of them (think Judas).
Soul winning is the sharing of the message of Jesus Christ for the purpose of saving one's soul. "Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins? Do you believe that he hung, bled, died, and rose again on the 3rd day?" These non-trivial questions are the hallmark of the soul-winning experience and lay the ground work that the Holy Ghost to enter into the heart of the sinner so that they may be saved. Is this evangelism?
I think there are correlations that between these two but when compared side by side, where soul winning stops, evangelism is just getting started. In his best selling book, "The Master Plan of Evangelism", Robert Coleman points out some eight crucial processes of evangelism that Jesus employed to not only save the men he called, but to prepare them to be disciples and later apostles and preachers. Jesus poured into these men a part of himself each and every day of the course of years and when he was gone, they had a really good idea of what to do because they could answer the axiom, "What Would Jesus Do?" They were with him long enough to know the answer to that question.
My concern in this day in age is that we don't confuse the work of an evangelist with that of a soul winner or vice-versa. Evangelism takes time but done correctly can leave the lasting effect that I think we are really looking for in the people that we are ministering to.
Do you know the difference, or is there one? There are schools of though that actually say that these are one in the same. But I would actually say that this is very far from the truth.
Evangelism is the preaching or activity of spreading the Gospel while soul wining is a subset of the evangelistic experience. At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus selected his disciples and in that process brought them into acceptance that He was indeed the Christ. He one their soul first, then he began to evangelize to them. A process that took some three years and even then it did not fully win over all of them (think Judas).
Soul winning is the sharing of the message of Jesus Christ for the purpose of saving one's soul. "Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins? Do you believe that he hung, bled, died, and rose again on the 3rd day?" These non-trivial questions are the hallmark of the soul-winning experience and lay the ground work that the Holy Ghost to enter into the heart of the sinner so that they may be saved. Is this evangelism?
I think there are correlations that between these two but when compared side by side, where soul winning stops, evangelism is just getting started. In his best selling book, "The Master Plan of Evangelism", Robert Coleman points out some eight crucial processes of evangelism that Jesus employed to not only save the men he called, but to prepare them to be disciples and later apostles and preachers. Jesus poured into these men a part of himself each and every day of the course of years and when he was gone, they had a really good idea of what to do because they could answer the axiom, "What Would Jesus Do?" They were with him long enough to know the answer to that question.
My concern in this day in age is that we don't confuse the work of an evangelist with that of a soul winner or vice-versa. Evangelism takes time but done correctly can leave the lasting effect that I think we are really looking for in the people that we are ministering to.
Monday, April 18, 2011
We have arrived.....
Greetings and salutations in the name of the Jesus!
Welcome to the electronic home of Pastor James Alberts II (blogging). In the coming days and weeks, I will be uploading and writing about various subjects and topics of our day in age. In many cases these will be about and because of my religious perspective on the world in which we live and operate. HOWEVER, i will promise you that from time to time there shall be times when the posts will be abstract, even detached, from the world of religion as you may have come to know it. I aim to shock, just as much I as aim to educate any an all that read and partake of my ramblings. I hope that we can take this journey together and grow with to a Higher Understanding of all things around us....
Welcome to the electronic home of Pastor James Alberts II (blogging). In the coming days and weeks, I will be uploading and writing about various subjects and topics of our day in age. In many cases these will be about and because of my religious perspective on the world in which we live and operate. HOWEVER, i will promise you that from time to time there shall be times when the posts will be abstract, even detached, from the world of religion as you may have come to know it. I aim to shock, just as much I as aim to educate any an all that read and partake of my ramblings. I hope that we can take this journey together and grow with to a Higher Understanding of all things around us....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)