Reflections from South Africa

It has been a very busy trip here in South Africa. I have barely had a spare moment but have loved every moment.

It is Saturday afternoon. This morning was spent with 40+ Josh Gen elders and wives. They lead a church of 10 campuses here in Capetown. Their passion for Jesus is contagious. Their love for the bride is infectious. Their heart for the lost is tangible. I am so looking forward to ministering at 2 of their campuses tomorrow.

Having been in 3 cities here in RSA on this trip, I have found myself reflecting on a number of issues:

1. The dispersal of an apostolic household that could have multiplied and celebrated and not fragmented, has left a residue of pastors and churches who are somewhat disorientated and vulnerable. Of course it need not have happened that way. However there is a way forward to recover some of the lost ground.

2. Losing the big picture has led to most churches focusing in on their own health and growth as well as seeking to transform their city for and with the gospel. This has been one of God's great acts of mercy. Whilst the call to the nations has sadly diminished, the attention to the city conversation has been very empowering and essential.

3. The apo fathers in the nation are too quiet. Being nervous to be seen to be drawing pastors to themselves, they have stepped too far back in an effort to appear to honor. The victims of their reluctance have been the pastors themselves. I have appealed to several of them to accept and take ownership of their clear emerging apostolic role and lead. The pastors and churches are looking for a clear voice and clarion call.

4. The conversations have often drifted towards what third generation apostolic movements looks like. Whilst I will blog my thoughts on this later, RSA does need these men to disengage from the stranglehold of the past - good and bad bits. This is a chapter turning moment. A new day. A day of God's clear promotion and leadership repositioning. It is the ongoing beginning, of the emergence of today's apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. These men and women will have new job descriptions, new role and responsibilities. There will be some new collaborations, alliances, partnerships as well as the wondrous long standing relationships of our past.

5. These emerging apos must fire up their steam engines. Churches, pastors, believers are looking to hitch their wagons onto a train that is fired up with destiny, a big story and a hill worth dying on. Each apo man will journey uniquely as differently as Paul was to Peter, as Peter was to John, as John was to James, as James was to Timothy. There simply is not a one size fits all.

6. Once again, the intriguing seed from the South African soil will be felt around the world. The splashes from these waters will burst their banks and wet the wastelands of the foreign shores. I am delighted.

The Kind of Believer we want to produce IV.

This weekend, Alan asked me to continue the "Love Re-imagined" study through the book of 1 Corinthians. With specific emphasis on 1 Corinthians 12, I chose the title of "The Anatomy of Love" as the text is all about the 'body'. However I wanted to come in from a fresh angle. This chapter has 31 verses of which only 5 deal with the gifts. The other 26 deal with the more than the 'charismata'.

Here is a portion of my notes from Sunday. It fits into the "Kind of believer..." series as every Jesus follower does need to be part of a 'local body',

• Where they are part of this 'local church' unit,
• Where they belong,
• Where they are needed,
• Where the weak are vital,
• The least honorable are pivotal,
• The most unpresentable are essential,
• Where division is prevented with all passion.

Also, Paul is so intentional in his use of metaphors, as he wants the Corinthian church to rediscover Christ's origin design of "true Church" and not grow comfortable with anything less than this picture.... here are my notes:

Neil Cole: “church 3.0” writes: Chapter 1 – ‘what about the world we live in – from the village church to a global village’[1]

“My mentor Thom Wolf often points that the 21^st Century is quickly becoming the sister century to the first century:

• A single and dominant superpower,
• A single, global trade language,
• Technological advances create a global community,
• Relativistic philosophy,
• Pagan and occult activity,
• Sexual promiscuity, perversion and chemical addictions,

But was not the church born for such a time as this? Aslan is on the move!

There are many key texts that shape this moment in church history… but I want to take us to 2:

“ I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” Matt 16:18.

• I - Jesus is the centerpiece of this whole conversation. From the fall and the garden, the whole earth has been groaning in anticipation of his redemptive arrival
• Will build – he is the architect and builder of this building – like the flood – to face the force of the tsunami when the wells from beneath and the heavens from above collide… the new ark,
• My – He is both savior and Lord, redeemer and king, apostle and prophet.
• Church – It is imperative that we know what he had in mind! There has been so much confusion as to who, what and why the church exists:
• The Websters Dictionary reflects the modern mind when it translates the word ‘church’: 1: a building; esp for Christian public worship; 2. The whole body of Christians; 3. DENOMINATION; 4. CONGREGATION; 5: public divine worship.
• Megachurch- ‘Large gathering of folks’ - church is seen as the largeness of gatherings, the number of programs;
• Emergent church – ‘Loose gathering of folks’ – any and every gathering of 2 or more believers is a church but is it biblically?
• Traditional church – ‘Long established gathering of folks’
• NT – Greek – ekklesia – ‘calling out; assembly or gathering’;
• English word church comes from the Gk word kyriakon – ‘the Lord’s’.

The second text that plays a pivotal role to our conversation is:

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father… I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of Truth… the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name” John 14:9 – 27.

How did Jesus do these ‘things’? From Luke’s gospel:

· The Holy Spirit descended on him, 3:22

· Jesus full of the Holy Spirit, 4:1

· Led by the Holy Spirit into the desert… where he was tempted, 4:1

· Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, 4:14

But what did he do? He began his work of redemption…

• Teaching,
• Preaching,
• Healing, [that is why these three are under such attack!]
• Delivering the oppressed,
• Liberating the women,
• Discipling the followers,
• Loving, Caring, Feeding, Correcting,
• Empowering through a big redemptive story,
• Resisting religion… until they killed him for it – penal substitutionary atonement!
• Incarnational – living Christianity at “street light level” [S. Timmis]
• Missional – Missionaries on mission,
• Atonement – Redemption agents,
• Community – Never alone, always together,
• Resurrection – Spirit empowered lives

So, what did his early church look like?

• A Jesus centered, gospel preaching gathering,
• A regenerated community with deep affection for God, each other and a dying world,
• They gathered together around mission [Jerusalem to the uttermost],
• Led by biblically qualified leaders,
• Sat together consistently around the teaching of the scriptures / sacred texts,
• Participated in the spiritual disciplines [prayer, worship, fasting, meditation.]
• Engaged in the sacraments [ baptism, communion]
• Reflected Holiness [personal and togetherness / set apart, distinct and God like purity]
• Dwell in a culture of Generosity [toward themselves as well as the outside world]
• An activated priesthood [not a class of believer but where everyone is vital, essential and active]
• A supernatural collaboration with the Holy Spirit- where God encounters are the norm.

Every Jesus follower should have the opportunity to be involved in a community like this.

---

[1] Neil Cole; church 3.0; pg 16 – 22.

The Kind of Believer we want to produce III.

OK it is time to acknowledge - I did expect a much stronger reaction to the words I used in this conversation. When we chatted around the convo at Exploration yesterday, a group of young leaders voiced their preference with "Jesus follower" rather than "believer". That was good - the former is a stronger picture of obedience in their journey, rather than simply an academic / philosophical exchange of ideas. But I did think there would be a more fervent appeal for another word to "produce" which speaks of the industrial age of factories and impersonal cookie-cutting one-size-fits all. Possibly a family and more relational word would be more powerful - from 'disciple' to 'raise up'.

1 John is a most wonderful book, written by the apostle 'of love' as he is sometimes called. It is a very strong, yet tender photo album of what Jesus loving and obeying believers look like. There is no suggestion of cramming all of humanity into a single vat of conformity, yet he unapologetically directs the reader to understand the essential cornerstones to becoming a temple of God, where his presence can reside unhindered and his work completed without interruption. Here is an easy, simple outline of "The kind of Jesus followers we desire to disciple":

• Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ; Father - a Trinitarian grasp...
• We have fellowship with one another; Fellowship - a vital, life source no matter what,
• The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin... will forgive us our sins; Forgiveness, the beginning of a truly gospel centered journey,
• Anyone who obeys his word; Foundation - obedience is the cornerstone of this journey,
• You have overcome the evil one; Foe - knowing what the devil's strategy is against you and then defeating him daily,
• Do not love the world; Fight - our three part defense against the things that tempt us,
• You have an anointing; Flame - each Jesus lover has been endowed with an anointing to live an extraordinary life of miracles - find it, fuel it,
• We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers; Family - belonging to a band of brothers reaches true reality when we are prepared to live and die for each other,
• Anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need; Financials - the Lordship of Christ is often best reflected in our checkbook for it reveals who reigns in our lives,
• Test the spirits... spirit of falsehood; False - as with bankers, these Jesus followers are to test and measure the real from the counterfeit,
• Dear friends; Friends - real, simple, authentic, transparent, honest, for life,
• Confidence in the day of judgement; Future - fervent passion with Jesus till the end for it will be a great celebration when he comes, and we are ready,
• Victory that has overcome the world, even our faith; Faith - is what brings the Father pleasure, means we truly trust him,
• The Spirit is the truth; Freedom - a Jesus lover who is engaging the freedom there is in Christ,
• Confidence in approaching God, if we ask anything according to his will: Favor - we live under friendly skies, the Father delights in loving, blessing and answering our prayers,

These are some very cool God ingredients from the apostle of love. What else do you see in the text?

The Kind of Believer we want to produce II.

This is such a key conversation, yet one so infrequently had. When an army gets in a raw recruit, the boot camp is intentionally designed to take the civilian and "beat" them into combat readiness. When a recruit arrives at the Police Academy, they are fashioned and formed into men and women, who can withstand the harassment of the public when arresting a suspect, to being able to be warm yet unswerving when they issue a driving fine and so on.

The bible is not silent on the kind of believer / Jesus lover / Jesus Follower we need to disciple. As we engage ever deeper into the last of the last days, we need to be ever more intentional in our believer instruction. There are many ways to approach this matter. These few blogs simply want to empower you to have the conversation to reach your own conclusions.

What kind of world are you preparing your believers to face?

What kind of challenges will they need to show courage?

What kind of enemy engagements will they encounter?

What are the essential weapons they will need in their arsenal?

What scripture / theology will be vital for their journey?

How will they handle the relational pressures that will seek to isolate them?

How will they need to deal with fear and the threat of the "love of many will grow cold"?

How can they keep their call tom leadership even though leadership will be increasingly disrespected and dishonored?

How will they handle persecution when it comes — overtly or subtly?

These are a few key questions that need to be asked and an intentional response designed.

The Kind of Believer we want to produce I.

WHAT KIND OF BELIEVERS…?

“If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” 1 Tim 3:15.

Sometimes it is valuable to look back at the prophetic writings of yester-year to compare their dreams and warnings with the realities of the church today. By joining the dots, we can then do some exponential projection to see what the church of today and tomorrow will face. This then empowers the leaders to ready their warrior people for these weighty days.

Francis A. Schaeffer was that kind of man. To his generation, his call to “true truth” resounded throughout the nations as the hungry pilgrim, embraced his propositions to face the revolutionary 60’s and 70’s. In 1970, he wrote a book called “The Church at the end of the 20^th Century”. Reading it now, one is fascinated by the accuracy of his concerns and the speed with which we are racing to the post-Christian world. Here are a few quotes from the book:

“Does the church have a future in our generation?... I believe the church is in real danger. It is in for a rough day. We are facing present pressures and future manipulation which will be so overwhelming in the days to come that they will make the battles of the last forty years look like child’s play”[1]

“I wish to summarize the 3 basic alternatives to the Christian response… The first is hedonism-namely, that every individual does exactly what he wants to do… The second possibility, if you do not want an absolute, is the dictatorship of 51 percent, with no controls and nothing with which to challenge the majority… The third possibility is an elite or a dictatorship-that is, some form of authoritarianism wherein a minority, the elite or one man tells society what to do…”[2]

“I set forth three things that are necessary if the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be a revolutionary force in the midst of the twentieth-century upheaval and revolution: 1. The church must distinguish between being a cobelligerent and an ally; 2. It must be careful to stand clearly for truth, both in doctrine and in practice even when it is costly; and 3. It must be more than a preaching point and an activity generator; it must show a sense of community.”[3]

This is a quote from an article by the BBC America called:

Searching for the American Dream:

Instead, for Secular Spiritualists, life was about being genuine, about achieving a legacy larger than one's self, about leaving this earth a better place for family, community, and planet.

For the record, I found two other groups: The Deferred Dreamers (about 18%) who felt the dream of material acquisition could still be alive, but just not for themselves or their children.

And then there were the Dreamful Dead (15%), who felt the American Dream was simply dead. This last group included minorities, the poor and too many single mothers.[4]

---

[1] Francis Schaeffer: The Church at the end of the 20^th Century; pg 5,

[2] Ibid, pg 35 – 36,

[3] Ibid, pg 45.

[4] John Zogby: “What is Today’s American Dream?” BBC America 29 March 2011.

Churchill's Success - Lessons for Pastors.

I do enjoy Paul Johnson's writings. As a historian, he has a unique ability to weave together all matters of society, including spiritual realities, in his description of his historical recordings. His short account of Churchill is very readable. The raw humanity of the man, matched with the moment of history made for one extraordinary leader.

In his chapter entitled: "Supreme Power and Frustration", Johnson suggests the factors that favored Churchill's nation-changing leadership include:

1. "First, as a civilian leader, Churchill benefitted from a change of national opinion toward the relative trustworthiness of politicians and service leaders...
2. "Second, the concentration of power in Churchill's person, with the backing of all parties... He always behaved with absolute propriety...
3. "Third, Churchill was personally fortunate in that he took over at a desperate time... 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.'"
4. "Fourth, Churchill himself began to set a personal example of furious and productive activity at Ten Downing Street...
5. "The fifth factor was Churchill's oratory... 'Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival...'We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and on oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender... 'I try to be a philosopher, but cheerfulness keeps breaking in.'"
6. "Sixth, however, came his sense of the importance of airpower and his speed in grasping the opportunities it offered..."
7. Seventh, though Britain was not in the position to attack Hitler on the Continent, Churchill ensured that powerful blows were struck against his [allies]...' When his foreign secretary asked him:"What shall I tell Turkey?" Churchill replied: "Warn her Christmas is coming".'"
8. " Eighth, Wavell was encouraged to 'Go for Musso', as Churchill put it and eventually did..."
9. "Ninth, Churchill was always on the lookout for allies, large and small. 'These are not dark days: these are great days- the greatest days our country has ever lived. And we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.'"
10. "...tenth point, Churchill had an uncanny gift for getting priorities right... 'He is not a gambler but never shrinks from taking a calculated rick as if the situation so demands. His whole heart and soul are in the battle and he is an apostle of the offensive.'"

For the pastor, these are extremely valuable lessons. Allow me to comment briefly:

1. Ensuring a culture for leadership trustworthiness is essential in times of peace for they are equity in times of war.
2. In times of war, the leader MUST be given space and room to lead and not be bogged down by bureaucratic mindedness.
3. The pastor must allow God to continuously reinvent them and their leadership style. "This is me, take it or leave it", is a sign of immaturity and insecurity. God wants to continuously refashion us for the situation.
4. The leader must set the tone for a culture of hard work that can be imitated and modelled.
5. The visionary needs to increasingly develop their verbal skills to clearly communicate the call to forward movement. We don't just need an anointing. We also need words to communicate our ideas.
6. To us, airpower is the power of prayer! Or as Tim Chaddick [Reality LA] said to me "we prayed our faces off".
7. Using the discerning of spirits, we can identify the work of the enemy and discern what our best form of assault must be.
8. Celebrate little victories! These will breathe life and courage into us for the big battles.
9. "It is not good that man is alone". We are created to partner and collaborate with others. The ability to empower each and every person as vital players, in the journey, is a true gift.
10. Is one of the lead pastor / visionary pastor's greatest skills needed, the ability to identify priorities and make the big decisions based on these?

Thoughts on Hell... from Mark Driscoll

6 Questions on Hell

by Mark Driscoll

Mark Driscoll offers answers to the most common questions about eternal punishment.

Every once in a while, someone of note questions or denies the classic Christian belief of a literal hell with eternal, conscious suffering. Then a debate rages and becomes personal between representatives of various perspectives on the issue.

Meanwhile, the average person’s questions about hell can remain unanswered. So rather than attacking any individual, I thought it might be helpful to address the issues by answering some of the most common questions about hell. Ministry leaders, including myself, are often asked these questions, and I asked these questions myself as a non-Christian and then as a new Christian in college. Rather than selling you, I will seek to simply be honest and say what the Bible says and allow you to make up your mind for yourself. I will be pulling from a few sections of a book I wrote with a friend who is the former president of the Evangelical Theological Society.

1. What happens when we die?

God created humans as thinking, feeling, moral persons made up of spirit and body tightly joined together. Death is not normal or natural, but an enemy, the consequence of sin. Death is the tearing apart of these two intertwined parts, the end of relationship with loved ones, and the cessation of life on this earth. The body goes to the grave, and the spirit goes into an afterlife to face judgment. The Bible is clear that there will one day be a bodily resurrection for everyone to either eternal life with God or eternal condemnation apart from him in hell.

Christianity differs from all religions in that Christians believe our eternal status depends on our relationship with Jesus. We really believe that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” It may not be politically correct, but our lives are shaped by the reality that “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

"Jesus talks about hell more than does anyone else in all of Scripture."

Upon death, a believer’s spirit immediately goes to heaven to be with Jesus. Jesus gives us a picture in Luke 16:19–31 of existence after death. Lazarus, the godly beggar, goes to be with Abraham, while the self-indulgent rich man is in a place of torment.

Jesus, who has come back from death and is thus the expert on what awaits us on the other side, was emphatically clear that a day of judgment is coming when everyone will rise from their graves and stand before him for eternal sentencing to either worship in his kingdom or suffer in his hell. At the final judgment, all—even you—will stand before Jesus. Jesus’ followers whose names are written in the Book of Life will be with him forever. The Bible could not be clearer: “if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

2. What judgment awaits non-Christians at the end of this life?

A day is coming when God will judge the living and the dead through the Son. When the Son of Man comes to sit on his throne, all will stand before him for judgment. From the beginning of creation to the end, the Bible makes it clear that the basis of God’s judgment is our deeds.

Jesus made this very clear, saying in John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Jesus’ death propitiated God’s wrath against sin. Those who refuse this gift have the double penalty of wrath for their sins and for rejecting God’s Son. Jesus himself taught this in John 3:18, saying, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Unlike Jesus’ words to the sheep, to the goats on his left he will say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

However, this does not mean that the relatively nice sinner suffers equally with Satan or his most committed human servants. There are degrees of punishment in hell like there are degrees of reward in heaven. Both in life and in hell some sins receive more severe punishment, because that is just.

3. What does Scripture teach about hell?

Jesus talks about hell more than does anyone else in all of Scripture. Jesus’ words come in the context of the rest of Scripture, which says that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Furthermore, he “is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Despite God’s love for and patience with sinners, it is a horrid mistake to dismiss the Bible’s clear teachings on hell. Richard Niebuhr characterized the ongoing attempt of liberal Christians to deny hell as “a God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.” Jesus said more about hell than about any other topic. Amazingly, 13 percent of his sayings are about hell and judgment; more than half of his parables relate to the eternal judgment of sinners.

"Christianity differs from all religions in that Christians believe our eternal status depends on our relationship with Jesus."

The Bible does not give us a detailed exposition of hell, but there are many descriptions of the fate of its inhabitants in that place of eternal punishment. They include:

1. fire

2. darkness

3. punishment

4. exclusion from God’s presence

5. restlessness

6. second death

7. weeping and gnashing of teeth

Satan will not reign there. Hell is a place of punishment that God prepared for the Devil and his angels. It is where the beast and the false prophet and those who worship them will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night.

At the end of the age, the Devil will be “thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Hell will be ruled by Jesus, and human and demon alike, including Satan, will be tormented there continually.

"People who reject Jesus in this life will not rejoice in him after this life."

Hell is real and terrible. It is eternal. There is no possibility of amnesty or reprieve. Daniel says that some of the dead will be resurrected “to shame and everlasting contempt.” Jesus says, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels...And these will go away into eternal punishment.” Paul tells us:

God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.

Perhaps the clearest and most gripping depiction of hell in all of Scripture is the frequent mention of hell as “Gehenna.” The name refers to an area outside of the city of Jerusalem where idolatry and horrendous sin, including child sacrifice, were practiced. Gehenna was a place so despised and cursed by God’s people that they turned it into the city dump where feces, refuse, and the dead bodies of criminals were stacked. Jesus spoke of Gehenna as the hellish final home of the wicked. Since Gehenna is described as a fiery abyss, clearly it is also the lake of fire to which all the godless will ultimately be eternally sentenced, together with Satan, demons, and unrepentant sinners. So when the Bible speaks of hell as a place where the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die, the original hearers would easily have remembered Gehenna, where this reality was ever present outside of their city.