|
"Religious News Media Gaining in Popularity - Believers Appreciate News from a Christian
World View"
June
7, 2005
According to an article in the Dallas Morning News
on Saturday, media that reports news from a Bible-friendly perspective are rapidly
growing in popularity. "In the world of Christian news, you'll find a biblical perspective
on the day's events and a notable lack of skin and celebrity gossip," says the article,
written by Colleen McCain Nelson.
Though some journalism experts question the consistency of quality in religious
media, many Christians say they're sick of "bad news" and welcome hearing about
current events from a Believing point of view.
by Colleen McCain Nelson / Aimee Herd reporting
: Jun 7, 2005 : Dallas Morning News
Read full story . . .
http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/
articles/display_art.html?ID=822
|
June 7, 2005
"The
Great Commission"
by John Arnott
Catch the Fire Ministries
Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship
http://www.tacf.org
 I
find myself coming back to the main and plain emphasis of the New Testament and
the foundational message of Jesus Christ: His Great Commandment followed by His
Great Commission. The Great Commandment is to love, and the Great Commission is
to share that love.
When Jesus said, "Love the Lord
with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself
. . . " Christ was then and is now calling us to reconnect with the primary
values of the kingdom of God. His kingdom is a kingdom of love, ruled by the King
of love. And He wants all citizens of that kingdom to be like Him: not hateful,
angry, fearful and seeking revenge, but loving, joyful and peaceful. This is where
we need healing for the brokenness in our lives by the supernatural power of the
Holy Spirit working both sovereignly and through the nurture and love of the body
of Christ, the Church.
For years now, Carol and I have been
sharing this message because it is an important part of every Christian's foundation.
I am still amazed at the profound transformations that occur when people will ask
for help, open up their hearts, and let the healing love of God trickle into the
deep core pain in their souls. This is one way that we see James 5:16 in operation
today. "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray
for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much." (NKJV)
I believe that we all need the ministry
of loving and experienced pastors and counselors with whom we can confess our faults
and become transparent and vulnerable. We all must be humble enough to be willing
to share the deep, shameful secrets and pain in the heart, bring them into the light
of God's healing love, and break out of the cycle of fear, shame, and control that
Satan uses to imprison so many of God's people.
I am also amazed at how many would
rather keep their painful secrets hidden than receive help and get free. I beg you,
please don't do that. Find a safe place with experienced counselors and let the
love of God minister to you through them.
God wants to help you with your pain.
Sometimes it will come through a sovereign encounter with God. Other times it will
happen through the ministry of brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. And we
need both. I have yet to see someone get up following a divine encounter with the
Holy Spirit and be perfect.
Sanctification is a lifetime process
that involves both instantaneous miracles as well as gradual transformation. It
takes a while, even for willing hearts, to become like Jesus.
THE GREAT COMMISSION
Nevertheless, while we live in our
current state of imperfection, God is calling us to share the good news of Christ
Jesus with a confused, hurting world. This is The Great Commission.
"And Jesus
came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and
on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the
end of the age . . . '" Matthew 28:18-20, NKJV
Jesus is sending us out to share and
tell the world about His kingdom of love, and we need loving hearts to tell it.
He never intended for us to go and tell this wonderful news without first experiencing
it ourselves. And He wants us to continue to humbly receive it and give it out throughout
the rest of our lives.
He wants to demonstrate the truths
of His kingdom with love and power. Jesus offered as positive proof that the kingdom
of heaven had come to earth by the fact that it had come into the needs of hurting,
desperate people. Heaven was at hand, and so the blind would see, the deaf would
hear, and the lame would walk.
When Jesus commissioned the twelve
the first time, He instructed them, "Preach the good news; heal the sick; cleanse
the lepers; raise the dead; cast out demons . . . " He wanted them to both declare
and demonstrate the kingdom of heaven to needy people. He wanted people to receive
an undeniable, supernatural touch.
It is God's amazing love demonstrated
by a release of His power that draws people to Jesus, whether it is the most primitive
tribesman or the Wall Street business executive. They become open to receiving the
One who loved them so much that He gave -- He literally traded -- His only Son,
Jesus Christ, to pay their debt of sin and reconcile us unto Himself. When we believe
this, He takes us lovingly into His heart, and true life begins.
The Church today needs to recognize
something. People in the West are tired of hearing the claims of the Gospel without
seeing a convincing demonstration of God's power and love in their own families.
It needs to be personal because then it is undeniable.
The world is waiting for Christians
of character and integrity to share the Gospel with power. I believe God wants every
believer to demonstrate Jesus Christ to the world with power evangelism combined
with prophetic evangelism. If we all do it, we will win the world for Jesus.
Consider John 14:12,
"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the
works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because
I go to My Father." (NKJV)
This is the Great Commission. Every
believer is to go and not merely tell the stories of long ago and far away events,
not merely share the truths and principles taught in the Word of God, but demonstrate
them, show forth the miracles of the kingdom, just as Jesus did. He did it by prophetic
revelation and by supernatural power, and so must we.
THE GREAT COMMISSION IN OPERATION
Recently, a pastor from London, England,
named Sam Larbie spoke at our church. Sam was born in Ghana, West Africa. He was
a colonel in the army and went to the U.K. for more training. While Sam was in the
U.K., a coup toppled the government in his country, and he had to stay in England.
Already a committed Christian, Sam trained for the ministry and became a pastor
in the Elim Fellowship of churches. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit touched Sam,
and he began to hunger to be able to demonstrate the power of the kingdom of God.
During one of our healing conferences, Sam saw that Jesus was calling him to do
greater works to demonstrate God's power.
Roger Sapp, one of our speakers, gave
a simple prayer model that spoke to Sam. It went like this. "This healing belongs
to me because of what Jesus has done on the cross; I receive my healing now as a
free gift."
After Sam left the conference, he
began to pray this prayer with everyone he encountered, people on airplanes, in
shops, or in restaurants. Many were healed instantly, and he promptly led them to
Christ. Sam was obeying the Great Commission.
Typically, Sam would open in conversation
and very quickly ask his leading question, all the while engaging them with his
irresistible, loving smile. "Do you have pain in your body?"
"Yes."
"Then repeat this prayer after me:
'This healing belongs to me because of what Jesus has done (on the cross). I receive
my healing now as a free gift.'"
Then Sam would say, "Now check your
body. Is the pain gone?"
"Yes."
"Amazing, isn't it? Since Jesus has
been on the outside, do you want Him on the inside?"
At this point, he would lead that
person in a simple prayer to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. If you think that
this sounds too easy, then I challenge you to try it.
Recently, Steve Long, our Senior Associate
Pastor at TACF, and I went to Albany, Oregon, for meetings. It was right after we
had Sam in our church, and Steve had been challenged by the simplicity and effectiveness
of this Great Commission power prayer. As Steve stopped to chat with a lady at the
airline security, he decided to ask, "Do you have pain in your body?"
"Why, yes," she replied, "how did
you know?"
"I recently took a prophetic course,
and now I'm practicing to be a prophet," offered Steve. "May I pray for your pain?"
"Yes," she replied.
"Repeat this prayer after me: 'This
healing belongs to me . . . '"
"Wow! That's amazing!" The woman exclaimed.
"My back feels great! How did you do that?"
"Well, that was Jesus on the outside
of you, healing your body, would you like Him on the inside? . . . "
On that one weekend trip, Steve prayed
for and saw healings happen to the airline security person, the housekeeper in the
hotel, her husband whom she brought out to the meetings, and a server he encountered
during lunch. All but one of them accepted Christ as Savior and invited Jesus into
their heart.
Now this is evangelism: We gently
confront people with the power of God to love and bless their lives. It is so much
easier to accept Christ as Savior when He has just saved your body from severe pain.
They reason, "If He can save my body from pain, that helps me believe that he can
save my soul from sin and death as well."
What about you? Are you ready to try
it? Let God's love heal you and fill you. Let God's power come upon you. Be refilled
and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Realize that Jesus is calling you to be like Him
in both character and giftedness. Take it by faith, and then experience the reality
for yourself. Be filled with all the fullness of God. Drink it in, soak in it, get
prayer, and carry His Presence. And now go and give it away.
"But how can I?" you say.
Pray this now: "Oh God, help me. Give
me boldness and anointing."
The hardest part for most of us is
to get over our timidity and just do it. "Do you have pain in your body?" This is
the prophetic demonstration.
"Repeat this prayer after me. 'This
healing belongs to me because of what Jesus has done. I receive my healing now.'"
All the while, let God's power flow from you into them. That's the power part.
Now you ask them to check their body
and, while they are still shocked and amazed, tell them, "That was Jesus on the
outside, would you like Him on the inside?"
Then lead them to Jesus. This is love
in action. This is the kingdom of God coming to earth, and into the hearts and lives
of people.
by John Arnott
Catch the Fire Ministries
Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship
http://www.tacf.org
 John
Arnott and his wife, Carol, are the senior pastors of the Toronto Airport Christian
Fellowship, Toronto, Canada, the epicenter of "the Toronto blessing." Since January
1994, hundreds of thousands of people have visited the church's nightly meetings
where they experience powerful manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The revival has
since spread around the world.
|
"
. . . biblical soundness and a shepherdly care amid the mix of both the familiar
and unfamiliar evidences of God's working at Toronto Airport Christian
Fellowship." - Jack Hayford, The Church On The Way
About
the Author: Che Ahn is Senior Pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena,
California, a multiethnic congregation hosting renewal meetings since 1995 as
well as four international conferences each year. Che is also founder and
president of Harvest International Ministries, a worldwide network of more than
140 churches and ministries and general editor of the book Hosting the Holy
Spirit. Pastor Che and his wife, Sue, have four children and reside in
Pasadena.
Note
by Steve Shultz: I got to speak at and participate in this conference
just before I had to leave town for the next conference. I could say many
things, but I'll let my own pastor and friend of the Albany Vineyard (which
hosted the conference) say it for me. He is given to UNDERSTATEMENT and so when
I see how excited He is, I know just how much the Spirit accomplished. We've
even included a testimonial from one of the participants.
Dear
Steve,
Subscribe to the Elijah
List Here
