MINISTERS MATTER

SIGNS & WONDERS LEAD TO WONDERS & SIGNS

God worked miracles in many places in diverse ways to show us there are no formulas or patterns for us to figure Him out.

Let us let God be God and we will see more signs and wonders as we exercise faith in Him and let Him fulfill His promises.

Less of us and more of Him is what glorifies God's kingdom.

Let's begin with a look in the Book of Joshua.

The sun stood still at Joshua's command. Joshua 10:12-14

Water flowed from a rock when Moses struck it. Exodus 17:5, 7 (Psalms 78:15-16, 20)

The Red Sea parted so that God's people could cross. Exodus 14:22; Hebrews 11:29

An iron ax floated on water. 2 Kings 6:5-6

The waters were turned to blood. Exodus 7:17

The dead were raised to life. Hebrews 11:35; the son of the widow of Zarephath. I Kings 17:17-23; the Shunammite's son. 2 Kings 4:32-37; 8:1, 5; the young man laid in Elisha's sepulcher. 2 Kings 13:21

Aaron 's rod blossomed. Numbers 17:1-9

The three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace remained unharmed. Daniel 3:23-27

The widow's cruse of oil and barrel of meal was continually replenished during a time of famine. I Kings 17:9-16; 2 Kings 4:2-7

Baalam's ass spoke. Numbers 22:23-30

Jonah, swallowed by a whale, was vomited up alive after three days in its belly. Jonah 1:17; 2:10

Moses' rod became a serpent; his hand became temporarily leprous when he put his hand in his bosom.
Exodus 4:3-4, 30; 7:10,12

The Jordan parted when Elijah "smote the waters" with his mantle. 2 Kings 2:8

The sun went backwards (so to speak). 2 Kings 20:9-11

Manna fell from the sky to feed God's people. Exodus 16:4-31 (Psalms 78:24, 25)

Gideon's fleece became wet and dry according to his request concerning the word of the Lord to him.
Judges 6:36-40

Elijah pronounced a drought upon the land, "and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain ... "I Kings 17:1, 14; 18:41-45; James 5:17-18

What goes through our biblical minds when we see these outstanding miracles?

For me, it is the words of Gideon in Judges 6:11-13 when he was, because of fear, threshing wheat in a winepress that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. He was hiding his crop from the Midianites who were attacking Israel at harvest time. He expresses an honest response and God rewards him with signs & wonders.

SIGNS & WONDERS. THEY ARE BIBLICAL!

Yesterday I shared my frustration with bible believers being anything but believers in the bible. It seems like our theologies, our denominations, our seminary professors etc., all take precedent over the Word of God.

It seems to me that the Written Word reveals the Living Word who is always the great I AM, the ever present One to help us do what we can't do for ourselves.

The Second Covenant is a better covenant for all of us. Let us look at the Book of Acts for an insight into the workings of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the early church.

Here are some examples from the Book of Acts.

The early church experienced many miracles as well.
 Acts 2:43;4:16; 5:12; 14:3


Those imprisoned for the gospel's sake escaped unharmed.
 Acts 5:17-25:12:1-17:16:25-40

Those upon whom just the shadow of Peter fell were made whole.
 Acts 5:15

"And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that 
from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, 
and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out 
of them."
 
Acts 19:11-12

The dead were raised to life. Peter raised Dorcas (Tabitha).
 Acts 9:36-40; Paul raised Eutychus.
 Acts 20:9-12

Those bitten by poisonous snakes remained unharmed.
 Acts 28:3-6

Over the next few posts I'd like to review some of the outstanding miracles in the First Covenant.

SIGNS & WONDERS. ARE THEY FOR TODAY?

I have been a Christian now since 1977 and have had the honour of connecting with almost every facet of the Body of Christ in over 50 nations. It is both a wonderful experience and also a frustrating one.

Some 'bible believers' are believers to a point yet dismiss the power gifts as being needed for today. In their theology, those gifts stopped with the apostles. Others go beyond the scriptures and become extra-biblical. I am convinced both positions do a disservice to the intended purpose of the Word of God.

My question in this is always the same. Have people's needs changed from the first century to today? Do we still need the power of God? I am convinced that education and good living will not change some situations needing God's power.

In John 14:12 Jesus is saying that the works He did, we would do also and greater works. What are the greater works?

Where are the authentic spiritual gifts being used today with credibility and verified testimonies.

Let's take a look at some of the biblical references to signs & wonders and ask ourselves if the God we serve is the same, yesterday, today and forever?

A miracle is defined as the occurrence of any event apparently contradictory to and unexplainable
 by the laws of science, and usually attributed to God.

Jesus Himself performed many mighty signs and wonders among the people.
 John 20:30; 21:25
; Acts 4:30

He changed water into wine in John 2:1-11 and some segments of the church have been trying to change it back to water ever since.

When He had no boat He simply walked on water.
 Matthew 14:22-33 (Mark 6:42-52; John 6:16-21)

He took money from the mouth of The Fish Bank.
 Matthew 17:24-27

He fed the multitudes with a few loaves and fishes.
 Matthew 16:8-10. The five thousand in Matthew 14:15-21 (Mark 6:35-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:5-14) and the four thousand in Matthew 15:32-39 (Mark 8:1-9).

He cursed a fig tree, and it shriveled up.
 Matthew 21:17-22 (Mark 11:12-14, 20-24). He told the storm to cease, and it became silent.
 Mark 6:45-52.

At His word the dead were raised to life. The widow's son.
 Luke 7:11-16 and Jairus' daughter in            Matthew 9:18-19, 23-26 (Mark 5:22-24, 35-43; Luke 8:41-42, 49-56); Lazarus.
 John 11:146; 12:9.

At His command his disciples brought in a draught of fish where there had been none.
 John 21:5-12

These amazing gifts operated in the normal day to day activities of people's lives. I love the God of scripture who is concerned with the things that concern us.

More Lord, more!

WHAT ARE YOU CALLED TO DO PASTOR?

Depending on the size of the congregation you lead, if you serve outside of your gifting, it can lead to burnout.

None of us are called, gifted or qualified to do everything, all the time. It is amazing to me to see so many leaders trying to function in all five of the gifts listed in Ephesians 4 or to avoid them all together. In the end, it is a disservice to the One who called us and to those we serve.

If you are not good at something, someone else is. Why not seek the Lord for what is needed at the moment and watch Him put your team together? In smaller churches, it takes time to locate, train and place people in ministries where they are fruitful. Be patient and enjoy training others to flourish in serving.

If I am a pastor with strong skills of caring for the sheep, then I need others alongside to help with order, direction, harvesting and teaching. In larger churches, that may seem easier but it is just the same as in smaller congregations. People still need to be located, trained and placed according to their gifting in and outside the walls of the church building.

In the Old Testament, it was easy to see the one-man ministry at work. Our tendency is to try and make that the model for today. The results are usually painful for everyone involved.

In the New Testament, the storyline is about teamwork. The blessing of working together affords us the joys of seeing God at work in others and incarnate in the midst of the congregation.The local church is about honouring Him in our midst.

A place for everyone and everyone in their place is a healthy local church!

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!

Mission O is a monthly gathering of ministry leaders from the National Capital Region. We build friendships over breakfast and share our spiritual life together. Our meetings conclude with personal prayer and ministry to each other. barry@missiono.ca

WHAT IS AN APOSTLE?

The apostle Paul explains what equippers are in Ephesians 4:11. They are gifts, given to the church by Jesus, reflecting His ministry as apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. They equip the saints to do the work of ministry.

Apostle is mentioned first in scripture. It was what the followers of Jesus were called even before the official church was birthed out of Acts 2. Why? Because apostolic gifting is simply about divine order.

Churches today need order. Most have no apostolic foundation so they wander in the wilderness of little purpose, no transformational power and constant division.

Too often we are slow to validate an apostle because we focus on the need for them to have miracles in their ministry and miss the obvious - order. In reality, all believers should be activating their faith for signs and wonders. The needs of people today have not changed and we all need the power of God to be working in and through us as the Body of Christ in our communities. We are ministers according to our text in Ephesians 4!

The lack of vision, poor government and disorder in local churches shows an ignorance of apostolic ministry amongst us today. We seem reluctant to give importance to the equipping gifts given by Jesus for our benefit. 

Could the sad state of affairs in the church, in most communities, be the result of our pride and willful disobedience to acknowledge and receive the gifts of the Spirit promised to us by Jesus to do the job He has called us to do?

Think of the obedience of the 1st century church that went from 120 in prayer one morning to 3000 by the end of the day. And, it just kept on growing day after day with great growth, signs and wonders. We don't see that kind of harvesting much today do we? 

Once divine order is in place then the rest of the equipping gifts follow along to build the church. The prophet gives clear direction; the evangelist a heart for the harvest; the pastor to care for the sheep and the teacher to establish us in the truth.

Let's do church His way!

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!

Mission O is a monthly gathering of ministry leaders from the National Capital Region. We build friendships over breakfast and share our spiritual life together. Our meetings conclude with personal prayer and ministry to each other. barry@missiono.ca