Categories
Hearing God Holy Spirit Learning

Follow Holy Spirit and Improvise?

https://achristianpilgrim.wordpress.com/2014/04/26/following-the-leading-of-the-holy-spirit-acts-413-21/

How do you start a small business successfully, minister successfully when the unexpected happens, adapt to changes in the classroom or with a family member – and deal with other situations no one can figure out in advance?

(I know small businesses are told to use linear business plans like large businesses, and this works out well only in certain instances. That’s another story.)

You improvise. Or follow Holy Spirit. Or best of all, do both!

How do you give a prophecy? Often, by opening your mouth and starting. Follow Holy Spirit.

How do you follow Holy Spirit?

  • One or two steps at a time. Discover, then walk more. Like moving in the dark with a candle.
  • In a non-linear way. You cannot figure it out in advance.
  • God loves to give us wonderful surprises!
  • God seems to make it up for you as you go along.

How do you Improvise? Here’s a start:

  • Agree. Don’t say, “No”. Don’t block what is going on.
  • Do something new, add to the action.
  • Don’t ask open ended questions.
  • Focus on the hear and now.
  • Establish where you are.
  • Be specific and add details.
  • Do something different – change!
  • Make it up as you go along, following in flow with your partner.

Make it up as you go alone. Pay attention and add something specific and clear. Focus on the here and now, being where you are. Be specific. Add something different!

You cannot work for linear plans to do improvisation. They just won’t work. Respond to what is in front of you, one step at a time. You cannot figure it out in advance.

Notice the similarity?

When following Holy Spirit, learn about and then forget the “rules” of improvisation. See how it goes, what you can learn, how you can do even better next time.

Keep learning. Keep growing. Keep listening and paying attention. Act on what you are learning, seeing and hearing.

I believe this is what Jesus did:

6who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men

https://biblehub.com/nas/philippians/2.htm

You will be successful when you follow Holy Spirit and are willing to improvise.

Categories
Discipleship, Getting Help

Attention & Faith

9 This man heard Paul speaking. [a]Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2014%3A9&version=NKJV
Pay attention to what they are ready for. Help them be ready and loved. Then minister. (Ye Are the Light of the World – Altus Fine Art.)

Pay attention and see what they have faith for. Help them have such faith as is needed. Say and do, with Holy Spirit, what is needed so they can be still paying attention and they have faith. Good faith.

When you pay very close attention with Holy Spirit (best is to ask for more of Holy Spirit, first) – you can tell what they are having or are able to have faith for. Look closely. Pay attention to what is going on in their attention and mind.

Then do what they require to have them affirm and act on their faith. You lead them with Holy Spirit or call on them to respond and act on their faith. To affirm it. Often, to do what they could not do before.

You may have to create a context, first. Share the Good News of the Kingdom, even if in abbreviated form, such as, “God’s loving Presence and rule is here, now. We are in the midst of this. Let this into your life (and mention the area where they need ministry). Say more, when needed to help them awaken faith.

Then you can minister more officially.

Categories
Conversation with God Discipleship Hearing God Holy Spirit Joy Learning Ministry Miracles

Rest and Dream

Rest and dream. Be inspired. Like Jesus.

Artwork by Greg Olson

Pause. Just rest and watch the sky.

Categories
Conversation with God Getting Help Prayer Tribulation

An Outrageous Command

2Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials.‡ 3Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace].‡

4And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4, The Amplified Study Bible, eBook. Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

This command just isn’t natural. It isn’t natural to rejoice whenever you fall into various trials. It isn’t even natural to be able to do this. Only by faith and with the help of Holy Spirit, can you do this.

Rest in Jesus. Faith is easy.

Ask for such faith and receive it. Ask for wisdom, receive it, and act on the wisdom you receive.

Read on in James 1 if you need help with receiving such wisdom; the directions are clear. Follow the directions our Lord has given us.

What I write here is sharp and to the point. There is no softening of what I call for you to do. Your life is much better when you are doing this. You are not being pampered: go do this.

Your life will change!

Categories
Discipleship Getting Help Leadership Learning Ministry Prayer

Discipling like Jesus

Jesus had a pattern for making disciples. We can see some of it in Scriptures, and we can make educated guesses to fill in some details. How he taught was common to Hebrew teachers, rabbi’s, in those days.

I’ve spoken with seasoned disciple makers and missionaries who’ve done this, and they helped me get an even better practical picture.

First, as with everything, get guidance. Then pray. Pray with clear prayer targets – such as successful disciple making of disciples who make yet more disciples.

The basic pattern is simple: show, tell, and do. Probably even explain, show, discuss. Repeat until they are ready to do.

When you care, being a disciple is easy. (Good Friday by Anita Brown.)

The pattern is not classroom instruction, reading about or learning about things. It’s being shown, discussion before and after. It’s learning to do what you do. With an explanation. It is not learning about things. Theory isn’t nearly enough.

It might have worked something along these lines:

  • First, discuss what you will do, what they will see, especially so they know what to look for, what is significant.
  • Demonstrate in front of them, so they can see.
  • Third, discuss how it went. How it was as you’d hoped and expected, things that were different. Issues and complications, if any; and especially how it went well.
  • Let them ask questions as part of this discussion. Answer.
  • Maybe show them several times. Is often a good idea, especially with something new.
  • Send them out to go do as you did.
  • Have them report back to you. Let them ask questions. Make comments so they learn even more. (If they rejoice that even demons do as they command, give them the perspective that yes, this is good, and that it is even more important that their names are written in heaven – for instance.)
  • Send them out again.
  • Repeat this cycle until all are satisfied that good learning has taken place.

Disciple making is demonstration with explanation. Then they demonstrate, and ask questions, and you give additional perspective as is useful.

Disciple making is not a classroom activity. It is not talking about things. It’s being shown and then doing as shown. With explanations as is useful.

Additional notes:

  • Train disciples in how to make disciples. They will demonstrate. Disciples multiply by themselves, making disciples.
  • Disciples normally go out and minister in pairs. Ministry is normally in pairs. Always minister in pairs when you can. The more senior is making a disciple of the less experienced person. The less senior person assists and helps the more senior. This gives them something useful to do and provides practical help.
  • When ministering, when one talks, the other prays for the one ministering. Results are much better this way.
  • Grab someone out of a crowd who is watching, if you have no one else. Let them assist you and pray for you while you minister. Help them learn and discuss what happened. Not just ministering, always teaching.
  • A prayer support group is even more helpful. Set one up. If nothing else, find local people who are sympathetic and ask for their prayer support.
  • Prayer support is primarily for the minister, so they are more inspired and do well. They will do better. The people praying will pay more attention as they are invested, and they will learn more. Prayer is not primarily for the person being ministered to, as tempting as this may be. It could be helpful, but not nearly as helpful as praying for the person ministering.

Go, and make disciples. Make mistakes. Admit them and discuss them, so everyone can learn from them: we learn a lot through mistakes. Share the learning, and do not hold back such a wonderful opportunity. And of course celebrate what goes well!

This is the pattern that Jesus used. Go, and do the same.

And, there is a next step….

Categories
Key Article Leadership Purpose

A Surprising Purpose of Leadership

A purpose of leadership is not to do all the ministry. It is to equip the saints (that’s all of us) for the work of ministry!

 11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherdsc and teachers,d 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,e to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

https://biblehub.com/esv/ephesians/4.htm

I wonder what our churches and the Christian community would be like if we followed this scriptural teaching?

Serve. Love. Show. Equip: equip for ministry! (reparteegallery.com/foot-washing)

I believe:

  • More effective and powerful ministry will be accomplished. And become normal.
  • More people would be reached for Jesus Christ – and fast.
  • Local churches would become centers of personal and numerical growth.
  • Churches would begin to grow more at New Testament speeds.
  • Joy and love will increase.
  • Jesus may return sooner than otherwise.
Categories
Church Planting Key Article

Church Planting Made Simple and Inexpensive

Compassion, loving ministry is central to growing ecclesias. (THE RAISING OF THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS, Painting by Jeremy Winborg.)

Jesus gave us our start to how to plant churches. He made it inexpensive and easy.

He modeled with the twelve and the seventy that the key is focusing on serving people. Paul planted one ecclesia after another, and nurtured them.

Today a majority of people think a church is a physical building. New Testament churches were never, ever about buildings. Always about growing people. There was a pattern to this growth that is generally unknown today.

New Testament churches never built or were burdened with a building. It is a wonder to me that there is so much focus on buildings in modern times. Jesus focused time, attention, and resources on people. Ministering, disciple making, and then onto community growing.

Doing it his way leads to rapid evangelization and speedy multiplication of new Christians, the discipling and maturing of those new Christians, and then other local churches being planted. This is how the church grew so quickly in New Testament times.

Here is some of how he modeled for us and taught us how to plant local churches. There are other ways that he taught, this is the most basic and needs to be learned and practiced first. Learning the elements of this approach makes the other ways much easier to learn and do. We can explore other pathways Jesus gave us at a later time.

-1. Preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God. This really is good news and changes everything.

-2. Heal the sick. Free the demonized, do exorcisms. Cleanse lepers and raise the dead. You will attract many more to minister to when you do! You will likely have so many people to minister to that it can become challenging. So do what Jesus taught and use his methods rather than traditions humans invented that do not work as well and that cost too much.

-3. Make disciples. A few people will be interested in learning to do more, and to do as Jesus teaches. When you start making disciples your life and ministry will transform, and you will learn and grow much more rapidly, too.

-4. Plant ecclesias. Groups of disciples who worship together in someone’s house. They love and pray for each other. They pray for the surrounding people. They heal the sick, free the bound, and minister to them.

-5. After praying massively for the people they meet in places of business and through networks of people who know each other, share the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Heal the sick. Free the bound. Make disciples of all kinds of people. Gather disciples together to meet and have them love each other, pray for each other, minister to one another. Eat and worship together. Pray for others, minister to others, and continue the cycle of prayer, love, ministry and disciple making. Then gather disciples together and form yet another ecclesia. This is an ecclesia, a proper church.

-6. They begin the cycle again by massively praying for people they contact and who they will minister to. Share the Good News. Heal the sick and free the bound. Make disciples. Plant ecclesias.

-7. Continue through this cycle again and again; and rejoice!

There are other pathways that Jesus taught to plant local churches. We can explore those ways later. This is a grand start and can keep you ministering joyously for a lifetime.

Rejoice! Our Lord is good!

(Where a similar word like “prayer” or “rejoice” has over one link, these links are to different articles.)

Categories
Key Article Ministry

Ministering as Jesus Taught

Share the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

In that context, in that situation and with the atmosphere created, heal the sick and free prisoners (do exorcisms).

So simple, but done by too few people these days.

Yet this is the normal pattern of Ministry that Jesus teaches us to start with.

Compassion is key; Jesus modeled compassion for us frequently. Go review how often he did this in the bible, you can use a search engine like Google to do this, which is effective and free.

You have been given power and authority. Use these in ministry. Speak to sickness and tell it what to do, laying hands on someone when you can – to help them connect your faith with the Anointing. To be whole and healed. Speak to unclean spirits and tell them what to do: leave, and not return.

Those who are willing to learn and act on what they are learning – to do what they are learning about – can become disciples, people who learn and act on and do what they have been learning about.

These disciples can gather, love one another, pray for each other, eat and worship together. Pray for the surrounding community. Minister to nearby people. Healing the sick, freeing the bound. Gathered disciples who meet together become new centers of ministry and love. Who purposely change the culture around them so that the Kingdom of God expands, more people become Christians. Who love and minister to yet others, continuing the cycle of Jesus loving others and ministering to others through you and the people who learn through you and do the same.

Categories
Holy Spirit Worship

Holy Spirit Leading – Insight from a Worship Leader

Jasper Wa Musungu Were (Gasper were) is on Facebook and is a Worship Leader in Kenya.

I asked him about his insights about worship. He said something significant, and I’m looking forward to when he says more.

Worship has different levels, he told me. When I asked about this, he said that sometimes Holy Spirit takes over the worship, at which time it goes to a higher level.

This makes sense. It’s important. In just a few words, he’s telling us something important. You can take an activity to a new and higher, better level when Holy Spirit inspires and leads – and when we are following Holy Spirit well.

This is especially valuable when we let Holy Spirit guide and lead our worship.

In Galations 5:16-23, Scripture encourages us to walk in line with, meaning to follow, Holy Spirit. When we follow Holy Spirit – letting Holy Spirit lead us – we experience Fruit of the Spirit.

So worship goes to an additional level when we invite Holy Spirit to take over and lead.

Fruit of the Spirit, including love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control is ours when we follow Holy Spirit in life.

Jesus gave us Holy Spirit as a Guide and Comforter. Holy Spirit reminds us of what Jesus taught, and points us towards and teaches us more about Jesus. Inspires us and brings us revelation.

What else can you accomplish in your life when you invite Holy Spirit? When you follow Holy Spirit? When you let Holy Spirit take over and lead?

Categories
Ministry Miracles Prayer Presence of God Worship

Worship & Prayer

aaron-burden-lPCu8HnGU2E-unsplash

So…prayer is conversation, two-way conversation, with God.

What is worship?

I remember someone telling me that worship is giving highest worth. Highest Worth-ship. So putting the Kingdom of God first is very close to, related to, or maybe sometimes even the same as worship.

This seems to be correct, as I easily found this:

“The most commonly cited definition of the word “worship” is based on the etymology of the English word: “Worship” is derived from the Old English word “woerthship.” So, when we worship God, we are proclaiming (or giving him back) his worth.”

https://thinkingworship.com/2011/04/25/worship-theology-101-whats-in-a-word/

“So, when we worship God, we are proclaiming (or giving him back) his worth.” Wow.

And the experience of worship helps us experience our relationship with God more intimately and closely.

Worship is actually very simple. Powerful. Good for us. Has wonderful side effects, including:

Prayer – two way conversation with God is easier and more powerful.

As we gaze upon Him, it gradually transforms us into becoming more like him.

Healing and other ministry is easier in such a context.

Miracles come more easily in such an atmosphere.

Fellowship and brotherly love increases, easily.

The Presence of God is much more powerfully experienced.

Baptism in Holy Spirit easily changes people forever.

We experience heaven and being in the Presence of God with ease.

The Aaronic blessing becomes real to us!

23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

24 The Lord bless you, and keep you;

25 The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;

26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’

27 So they shall [a]invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+6%3A23-27&version=NASB

Having God’s face shine upon you and his countenance on you is, I have been told often, a way in Hebrew to talk about the Presence of God.

Experiencing God face to face – so intimately and personally, is this not the essence of being in heaven? Being in the Presence of God so intimately and personally, with such closeness? What can be better?