A Room With A View

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A number of years ago, actually in 1985, a best picture award was given to a film called “A Room with a View.”  it was first a book, penned in 1908 by E M Forster about the culture in Edwardian England, it was a film about a young lady who went to stay in Florence, Italy.   Her stay was in a room with no view; the room was in fact a shadow of her own life.   The film dealt with freedom from institutional religion, growing up, true love, freedom on many levels; it was a romantic optimistic book.    The main character Lucy, during her stay in Italy saw her views of the world change dramatically, as her eyes were opened to a world beyond the “protected life in a Windy Corner”.    OK after saying all that, I admit I never saw the film nor had any desire to see it, as a 20 something young man living in Wales this was not the sort of movie we watched at the time.    This film/book is not the point of this blog either.

How ever I do want to use the thoughts presented and for those of you who know me you will have heard me say time and time again, YOUR VIEW OF GOD DETERMINES HOW WELL YOU LIVE.   It is my strong belief that our freedom, empowerment of life, even my view of myself, is all wrapped up there.   I would even go as far as to say that the way the bible is written is much more about introducing us to a view of God and bringing our world view in line with himself.      The way I see God and the function of his abode is the way that my life gets transformed.    In other words the room of my, life is give a view, a view of God, which radically transforms me.

I am convinced that the Scriptures continually continues to enlarge our view of God, who God is and how God works towards creation, while we are so often a people who reduce God down to our view.   We so often speak of God and present the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a way that we need, for us.   God becomes consumed by a consumer society, always there like a spare tire only used when we have a need, God is presented to be consumed feed me, touch me, it’s all about us, we present God that way, even on occasions presenting God  as a harsh judge, a heavy-handed parent,  yet God wants us to find our view and experience of heaven being aligned with his view and nature.

John tells us in John 1:18 (NASB) that “…he cane to explain the Father” and when the disciples said to Jesus, show us the Father Jesus replied by saying “…who ever has seen me has seen the Father…” I have explained God correctly.    We are still trying to deal with Jesus’ view of gender, his view of leadership, his view of life and what is important in his ‘explanational’ life style.

God, Son and Holy Spirit are ceaselessly lifting us out of room with no view and bringing us to a view of him, which will bring liberty at every level.    My encouragement is to visit your view of God, declare your view and see your liberty increase.    The following list, or glimpses of God i present, are to stimulate you to re think and reconsider the view you have, my hope is  it will  enlarge your view.

While I see that Gods nature, essence, is in two things light and love is necessary that form these two essences we discover the characteristic that God has been determined to be known by and through

I present a number of characteristics which by far are never conclusive but are simply a part of our journey, I write because I have a strong belief that our freedom and liberty is all tied up here with our view of God, it is not in the miracle, or the sign and wonder we live life through, although they are all wonderful, but it is in my view of God that  a revelatory  change takes place and we are freed so lets be free!

MERCY

J.I. Packer once wrote, ‘Knowing God is a relationship calculated to thrill a man’s heart.’ Certainly it has thrilled the hearts of many through the years.  Gathered here are in following article under “A Room with a View” are some observations my prayer is that your room will have in it that which will bring you out into the wide open places of Gods invitation    I trust you will come upon fresh views on the nature of God, pause to worship him & express your love for Him, the more we know of Him, the more we will love Him.

The self-portrait of His mercy, which God painted for Moses when He declared Himself on Mount Sinai, imprinted itself deeply on the consciousness of God’s people and inspired the faith of future generations of Israelite believers. We find in the following words describing God’s mercy recalled often throughout the Old Testament and at crucial times in people’s lives they are anchored and motivated by these truths in a way that deeply affects their responses to difficulty, failure, and success.

When God’s people are in trouble, needy, or under attack, what do they call to mind? “But you, O LORD, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Ps. 86:15). 

When they are moved to celebrate, what do they sing about? “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love” (Ps. 145:8). 

When God has granted them success, as in the amazing exploit of rebuilding in Nehemiah, they are kept humble by an overwhelming sense of God’s mercy. They had been stubborn and rebellious, stiff-necked and disobedient; “But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them, or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God” (Neh. 9:31). 

It is impossible to read Ezra’s great prayer in Nehemiah 9 without seeing how deeply the conviction of God’s mercy had touched and influenced his thinking. His response to success was rooted in the truths about God’s mercy. ” . . . But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them” (Neh. 9:17). 

There is nothing that can keep us humble like this sense of God’s mercy. It is the great antidote to pride, for pride and a deep awareness of God’s mercy simply cannot coexist.

SO where is God’s mercy for you seen and felt, what action and in what direction of your life can you stop and shout our it is his mercy in evidence at work in my life.    My view of life is coloured and contoured by this great mercy of God towards me.    The exploits we do, the achievement we experience O the great mercy of God.   The challenges we encounter the sadness that comes our way O the great Mercy of God.   Stop for a moment and watch the mercy of God at work.

To come  Glorious, Father, Transcendent, Just, Loving, Redeemer, Mysterious, Good, Holy, Beautiful, Servant, Unchanging

21st C Apostolic – Part 2

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Let continue with our journey into an understanding on the Apostolic, it is needed to be said that this is my journey to date which is not complete as yet, as we join with other ministers with different understanding we will find a fuller meaning in for today rooted in the scriptures.   These relationships will also adjust thinking and practice I am sure as well as add to understanding.   Now for my continuing thoughts to date.

Apostles are part of eternity’s plan; they were commissioned before they were born, chosen by God.  Apostle ship is not a learned skill it is an eternal choice, selected, appointed “… Before the foundation of the world…” when asked, Paul said of himself, he had been chosen from his mother’s womb (Galatians 1:15). To be an apostle is an issue of choice in eternity, to be sent forth by the Father with a mandate to preach the kingdom of God and lay the foundation of Jesus Christ into people’s lives. The apostolic burden is to establish a people and a community of believers, who are  willing to be led by the Holy Spirit and demonstrate a life under the order of God (Acts 2:41-47).

Apostles work alongside elders, having a responsibility and appointed by the Holy Spirit to love and care for the people of God, carrying a charge before God for the body. Paul talked about his “… light afflictions…” (2 Cor 4:17) Considering his catalogue of beatings, whippings, left for dead and his sea experiences, I wonder what our understanding of light afflictions are (1 Cor 11) he then goes further to clearly establish what was his non-negotiable charge and weighty matters 1 Cor 11:28 ”…Besides everything else, all the light afflictions mentioned, he also faced the daily pressure of his concern for all the churches…” Paul carried a burden for the church, this is necessary for all apostles, unless you have a God-given “charge” the responsibility is too great.   It is so much of a charge long with the matter of building a family it is not a light thing that the care or work towards a church responsibility for the churches can be given away easily, the churches do not become commodities to trade with or without much thought.    The church of God is not like a football team that transfers their players at payment, the call and the church are not the “transferable”.

Today’s church, family is being passed around from so-called apostle to apostle, being tossed around as a commodity, surely the passage above indicates that some apostolic gifts carry a “fathering grace” and cannot trade on the church. I have heard the sentence “I don’t care for the churches under…” this surely does not display the fathering apostolic grace. How abusive it would be if a parent treated his children in that way, not caring for them.  It would be questioned whether they were truly parents. Paul clearly looked at the church in Corinth as his children.

Those with the charge towards the people of God seek to continue the cause of God, and his Christ, seeking to be in the same heart and mind, and bring that oneness to the people of God, the church. The apostle carries the heart of God and their commission will be in line with Gods heart.   The commission, an apostolic task, is outworked along side a people group.   Paul is an example to us again as he outlines to King Agrippa in the book of Acts 26 in the years following his encounter with the Christ, Paul’s commission is seen in that he was not “disobedient to the heavenly call” this was his vision, his agenda, he worked with heavens work, he underlined that he was called to bring “light in darkness” and to a specific people called the Gentiles. Whereas James and Peter were called to a different group of people, Jewry.

Apostles must work and I would even go as far as to say they cannot work in isolation, they are not autocrats they are to enable all the ministries of Christ to flow together, they are catalyst ministries. They do not sit on the top of the pyramid structure, they are not CEO’s of an organisation structure and they seek to work within relationship.   It is evident from the Scriptures, as we look at the various named examples that each apostle functioned through different mantles, gifts. For example Paul saw himself as a preacher, a prophet; James and Barnabas were clearly teachers and pastors etc.    The apostle will function through another gift and will recognise and realise the need, and sometimes the inability to function, without other ministry compliments alongside them.  They seek friendship, and counsel and are accountable to others personally they know that they must give themselves to each other as influencers in the community of God.

It is the aim of the Ascension ministries to bring the restoration of Christ to his body, so that his body might be Apostolic, Prophetic – interpretive of God’s action; Teaching – the mountain of the Lord shall be the highest mountain and all of the mountains shall come and say teach us your ways; Pastoral – caring for God’s creation and people; Evangel – proclaiming the good news. These gifts are Christ himself and therefore we must not only have the individual gifts in our world but these characteristics must be seen in the body, the corporate Christ, so that the mountain of the Lord shall be the highest mountain and all other mountains shall come and say teach us your ways;

It is necessary the apostolic gift be seen in terms of characteristics, to avoid qualifying as it’s about Gods choice.   These characteristics are to be transferable in order that a people group – the ecclesia of God, that ultimate we must see the restoration of an apostolic people as well as having apostles as catalysts to bring a corporate maturity to pass.   That the people of God mature to be an apostolic, prophetic, pastoring, teaching and evangel people while being a fathering and mothering community in our world

Listed below is a catalogue of characteristics I see are necessary of the apostolic ministry, characteristics which ultimately will be transferred into a people. When the maturing Church embodies these characteristics what an amazing group of people we will have.

To close, consider this, Paul as an apostle saw the necessity of the apostolic so sharply that he defended his apostolic commission in the churches to which he worked as a father. One either concedes that Paul was a very insecure man or is considering something else in his defense of the call.    If one takes a wider view on Paul’s writings, his instructions, encouragements, retorts and appeals, one would conclude that he was not insecure at all.    I would suggest to you that Paul clearly had maturity, growing up in Christ in mind, and in Paul’s defense I suggest that the view of the apostolic he had was more to do with the maturity of the coming generations. So he defended the apostolic with the full knowledge that if the apostolic gifting was removed today tomorrow’s generation would not achieve the full maturity of Christ spoken of.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE APOSTLE AND MINISTRY

1.      A true apostle will have had a personal encounter with the resurrected Christ. (Acts 22:8)

2.      They have been personally commissioned/charge to an apostolic task. (Acts 26:16-18)

3.         They fulfil their apostleship through some other gifting, e.g. prophet, teacher, pastor. (Acts 13:1)

4.       They will be an equipper of the saints, releasing and empowering. (Eph.4:11-12) – Apostolic task is the empowerment for others

5.         They have a foundational grasp and a steward of the mysteries of God, of which they have a divine revelation.

6.         An apostle will recognise and be recognised in their order of apostleship, i.e. they may lead, or they will certainly be a part of an apostolic       “body of ministries”  and they will prove to be the catalyst for the other ministries. They may be an apostle built into another apostle’s sphere as Barnabas was with Paul, and therefore although have a valid apostolic ministry did not necessarily have the same task of Paul in which he would have been required to be the catalyst for many others.

7.       They will be a wise master builder (architect) of the house of God. An astute user of the plumb line of the mystery of Christ to what is being built with everything being measured against the end purpose for the house. (1 Cor. 3:10)

8.         Their authority is given by Christ. (2 Cor .10:8)

9.         They will demonstrate grace and wisdom in their relationships with people so that a sphere of apostolic ministry and influence emerges in the lives of the people. Their positive relationship with the people of God will provide the people with a deep sense of security. This will produce a committed, productive people who happily help in the task called to. It is inside this sphere of committed people actively pursuing God’s desire for His house that they have the authority of rule, not to be engaged in an authoritarian manner but following the example of Christ who came to serve rather than be served. (Matt. 20:25-28)

10.      They pursue a vision in which is:  Clear, and can be  seen in their commission – they are committed to its completion, they are obedient to the will of God in its commands, they patiently persevere despite any and all setbacks to be obedient to the heavenly vision.

An apostolic commission is fulfilled in phases – it is a process. With the completion of each phase (Acts 14:26) the apostle will be sensitive to God to be ‘sent’ into the new phase. When all phases of an apostolic commission are complete they will be able to say with Paul an apostle, ‘I have finished my course’. They then can then with joy be received by the Lord for his reward. (2 Tim.4:7)

11       An apostolic ministry by nature of what they are to bring about are filled with persevering faith; regardless of enticements, setbacks, or opposition from mankind or demons. Their faith enables them to persevere. This faith will extend itself to lay hold of all that is necessary of the supply of God’s grace to fulfill their ministry, and lay hold of the people and money resource required for the task. Faith will demonstrate the supernatural power of God so that God is seen to be working with confirming signs and wonders following.

12       The apostle will be the living example of all they want the people to become, and do. Therefore, personal Christ-Likeness will be evident to all so that they are secure in following their example. They may unashamedly stand before the people and say, ‘you yourselves know how you ought to follow us’ (2 Thes.3:7-9).  The apostle is humble, prayerful, long-suffering gentle with the weak, firm with those that require it, full of integrity and honesty in all business matters and dealings with people,  all should  speak well of them, so that when testing an apostle,  by their fruit they shall be known, as indeed for all Christians.

13       Apostolic Continuity – Paul had a deep sense of Abrahamic continuity and that being part of an apostolic call to walk in the continuity of a line of faith.       Paul had a theology developed from the eternal realm, drawing on Dream, Prophecy, and Visions.

14       Supernatural involvement, heavenly assistance to bring about a system of life to enable economy, love and care in creation

21st Century Apostolic

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As we advance in the 21st Century and following some of the gains in understanding over the last decades on the Apostolic ministry and its function there are certainly joys of advance along with concerns in our day.   In our travels we find places where no one would receive the apostolic or are reluctant to call any one apostolic, may be a little thinking of ‘it all ended with the 12’.   Alongside this we find a huge growth of the apostolic that seems like every time some one sneezes an apostle is appointed and the apostolic positioned to he higher than others taking control, taking a hierarchical title for position.    Both have the same effect and produce the wrong function and aims and the calling discredited.   Yet for the church the apostolic, just as the other Ascensions Gifts (Ephesians 4:11) are required for the body of Christ to come to maturity, which must be our greatest burden to see the maturity of God creation, ‘Christ filling all in all’, humanity and creation restored to the Fathers first thought and ultimate intention.   It is in the light of these extremes my journey of writing is to discover what is necessary today so I offer these thoughts as we attempt to practice them.   This is the first part of my thought I trust you will enjoy a look forward to the second part.

The apostle is one part of the complement of gifts given by the ascended Christ to our world. These ministries (Ephesians 4:11) are the gifts of the ascended Christ himself. For he “… Gave of himself…” Gifts to mankind, so that Christ will be fully produced in his ecclesia, church.

Without the full complement of gifts (Ascension gifts) maturity and the fulfillment of God’s call will elude his cosmos, creation.

Apostles are those that have the grace and the ability to break through barriers cross boundaries and have a primary concern with the maturing of God’s people.   Apostle Paul said of himself that he laboured “… until Christ is formed in you…” he would only seek to find Christ amongst them. These are clues to the new Testament Church, and the apostles, which are outlined within the pages of the book and begin to paint a picture for us of the church and apostles.

Apostles are an active agent to bring the whole rule and order of the father to Earth; they are advance agents of the kingdom of God.   Adam was planted in the garden of God to extend the order of the father into all creation so too apostles are planted in the garden of God’s creation to extend his rule. They establish the kingdom, proclaim the kingdom and advance the kingdom

The apostolic grace brings with it and imparts an atmosphere of,  “I can do in this”, it leaves an empowerment, it stimulates within the people of God an ability to cross over, and breakthrough.  Wherever there are boundaries they cross, wherever there are walls they leap over they change environments, there is within every apostle an inherent desire to remove restrictions.

They carry the grace, wisdom and skill in the building of Gods abode, his ecclesia the church. For the apostolic is a “… Wise master builder who has laid a foundation …” (1 Cor. 3:10) They are able to bring God’s ultimate goal and heart to the people of God, in the place of their appointing, and in the times they find themselves in. They are not consultants or advisers, but builders of the house of God

Apostles were clearly necessary in the early days of the church, as recorded in the New Testament, to bring heaven to earth and seek to remove the separation of the secular and the spiritual. They are as necessary today, as then, to bring the church to maturity and release creation from its futility, (Romans 8) as they work in harness with the Holy Spirit to bring about the freedom of the sons of God.

Ephesians 2:20 outlines that the apostles along with the profits they are part of the continuity of God in the establishment of the people of God and the maturing of creation, this foundation of apostles and prophets-which is Christ.   The apostles then have the same effect as Christ, that the Christ is ongoing “radical”, if you follow the etymology of the word radical meaning, foundation, forming a base. Christ was radical as he dealt with our foundation and the foundation of creation, the apostle and prophet equally are radical, in terms of the church the dealing as they deal with foundational matters.

Apostles will be amongst us until the body of Christ reaches its maturity, corporate maturity and the unity of the faith (Ephesians 4:12,13). They will diligently labour until we live in the light of the work of Jesus in the cross, until we are one; the apostle declares aloud that we are one.

Paul an apostle says that apostles occupy a principal place amongst the equipping/Ascension ministries, that is they are to “first apostles” (Ephesians 4:7-11; 1 Cor. 12:28) however earlier in the book of Corinthians he outlines apostles are “…last…” (1 Cor. 4:9), So what did Paul mean? Although Paul lived in a world and was formed by Greek thought, he spoke and wrote from a different vantage point; clearly he had a Trinitarian view of God, and understood the relationship within the Divine family to be one of ‘perichoresis’. That is the constant moving relationship amongst the Father, Son and Spirit, a moving, spinning dance, with each party pouring out themselves to the next, being more interested in the other than themselves, bringing pleasure to one another and filling and enabling each others aims. Each one speaking of the other, each one lifting the other, it is not with a hierarchical thinking and mindset that Paul speaks more about functional necessity, as  in every foundation, that the apostle is first functionality. Yet “lastly” he speaks is to indicate the nature of all apostles as the extension of Christ as the servant of the people of God. Apostolic therefore in position is functionally first but positional last, being the servant of all as Christ.

We see that with true apostolic ministries there is not found any sense of superiority they however known their own going continuity and necessity. Apostles should take on the attitude of the chief apostle, Christ himself who became a servant of all “he came to serve not to be served”. Apostles do not take to themselves position or demand honour, but serve pouring themselves out for God’s purpose.

Apostles have an interest and burden for the design of the house of God, and creation, and bring their craft as wise master builders to bear on the building of the house. Paul used the term wise master builder, but fully understood that there were many other apostolic gifting’s and characteristics involved. As you read the scriptures you realize there are a number of other Apostles also named in the New Testament, who did not belong to the 12, we have James, Barnabas and Paul himself even Andronicus and Junias were held in high regard amongst apostles (Romans 12).  In some church traditions even Mary Magdalene sent to the apostles by Jesus himself is recognized as one sent that the gathered saint did not receive her words, so we are told.

It could be said that the Father is apostolic in nature that he sent himself, sending himself in creation and then sending the Son to explain Him (John 1:18) and from there sending the holy spirit, finally sending the people of God to be the apostolic nature of God. There will come a time when the church becomes apostolic in characteristic and realizes its “sent-ness” into creation.

Into Infinity & beyond – A journey beyond

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OK own up how many of us went and saw or watched the film ‘Toy Story’, more than that how many of us went on and watched the full series?    Since the release of the latest even been approached by a number who said they were moved to tears while watching in that release as lives were put at risk!    The film introduced a character called ‘Buzz Light Year’ a spaceman figure who coined a phrase as he burst into super stardom on the silver screen “into infinity and beyond” this has become his calling card.

Having mentioned the coined phrase of ‘Into Infinity and beyond’ now that’s a challenge how many of us ever realised that our faith would be a journey of such magnitude.    When it was all about getting my sins sorted then to find that it was an adventure that would draw us beyond anywhere that we imagined.

The challenge of it, the necessity of believing, having a faith, trusting fully the Father, realising that this 70 to 120 year life span was just the beginning of a journeying to a beyond.   Yet our Christian faith is based on a Kingdom of God that has arrived and yet is still arriving, that we have tasted of an age to come and we are to bring that age to bear to our world whatever world you live within.   We are people who too can introduce each other with these words of into infinity and beyond!

A journey to another world

When we consider that it’s not only an age that is still breaking in upon us but also daily we deal with journeys to other worlds.  The worlds of new experiences, of the mind and new understandings new worlds journey’s, worlds that we have to break through or cross into to become part of.   There may be attitude crossovers (a world beyond) we need to deal with, may be life actions, habits that are necessary to adjust which will mean crossing over to another world.   Consider this the joy of health, the amazing recreation of limbs we read about in the scriptures, as Jesus declared “reach out”, as he touched eyes and coffins these are journeys to another world not just healings and miracles.   The different world of the lame and blind that once survived for a living now having to go and find industry as the reason for begging has gone, “another world”.  From being carried daily to a spot at the ‘gate beautiful’ to now caring your own bed, providing a living source for yourself, “another world”.

Walking our faith is more often about letting this other world of new experiences, new relationships, new vocabulary and ways of doing life to break in upon us allowing the implications of this world affect our immediate life, realising that I have to negotiate the implications to my immediate surrounding and actions.   For some being at home with your self is another world.  Being loved, being touched is a yet another world for.    Others are challenged in just trusting or letting go is another world for them, letting go of their own world and embracing another prepared for them is a real cross over.

While some struggle with the challenge to become part of another world often refusing to change and will not cross over there are a growing number we see brought into our living rooms nightly through the 24 hour news channels’ who long for another world where poverty holds no control where is produces a lowly dependence, it’s another world they ask for along with the abused, the let down, the political prisoner, the revolutionary we see in many nations today fighting to survive.

We have to deal with our prejudices and preconceived ideas to get into this other world, a necessity of developing a turning towards God way of life, repentance is not a one-off event but a constant attitude, not just turning away from sin but more positively and accurate turning towards God, constantly turning towards Him therefore constantly turning away from some things.   Let me pose a question is not perusing the Father a turning towards him in a constantly consistent attitude, another world?

Here is a journey to anther world in biblical narrative

Acts 10:17-20 – The journey to another world.

Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate;

18  and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.

19  And while Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

20  “But arise, go downstairs, and accompany them without misgivings; for I have sent them Myself.”

New worlds are closer than what you think.    They are in the next room, or building, on the next plane trip, in the next meeting of people, in the next thought, or at the next event.

Jesus through personal involvement brought through people together into a new world, a world of a new creation.   In all these new worlds up hold our differences without a willingness to occupy new worlds we will never be the divers people of God.    We should cultivate our distinctions, celebration our divers nature to do so we have to look beyond ourselves away from where we are safe and move into new worlds.    We will find the reality when we cross to unfamiliar, totally new worlds and discover real truth is truth everywhere all the time; it can function in any culture and in any world even if we do not occupy it.

  • The book of Acts tells us how the word of God connects from culture to culture.

God is not trying to get into the world He is already out there.

Acts 10:1-

Now there was a certain man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort,

2  a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people, and prayed to God continually.

Firstly let me say that this great new world requires a generous person to travel to it, generosity is not just giving money, that’s just one of generosities manifestations, being able to accept different forms, different ways and thinking is generosity as well.   Generous with those who cannot give you anything is the thing that matters, that may be a challenge for many who are utilitarian, giving when nothing can come in return.      Here Peter had to give not seeing anything that the people of Caesarea could give back to him, he was one of the people of God, the Jewish root and what can a Gentile add, look out a new world is rushing at you Peter!

None of Peter’s way to date ways was enough to make it in God in this new world that now he was thrust into by the Holy Spirit, pluralism says as long as you are sincere its enough, I say its necessary to embrace and cross not just sincere.    We must not fall into that trap as believers, we are new world people.

Before Peter could deal with Cornelius he had to deal with himself.

You cannot move out until God deals with yourself.   Another world is drawing you calling for you knocking at your door for you and I to embrace.

“No so Lord” said Peter, how can these words be coupled together?

This story is not about food although you cannot connect if you cannot eat together, break bread, make covenant and pass the salt.

God was dealing with a barrier that was lesser than the salvation of the world, lesser that his plan that Christ might fill all in all, was not only dealing with it but also removing it.    What Peter got on the rooftop was not enough, your vision, prophecy; insight is not enough, he needed the journey from Jerusalem to Joppa, this journey became the producer of the greatest changed in him.   In the journey he had to deal with the unknown, his own prejudice’s and challenges as he did he becomes more and more part of the ne world

When you meet people who God wants to do something with they don’t meet you on your terms.    When God wants you to do something it tests the temperature of where you are.

  • All you believe becomes reality when you’re on the journey and making it happen.

To change it requires personal involvement, we must bring eternal values to a real level.

It took years to get the gospel to Joppa yet within a few hours the gossip got back to Jerusalem.   The word got back to Jerusalem prior to Peter getting back.    Breaking into another world means we will have to deal with much of the response created by history.    When the gospel breaks out of a culture something dramatic will happen.

Beyond boundary people

Joshua 3, this passage paints with words the experience of a people who went beyond, the Hebrew who lives beyond migrating over a river and city to a new land, a promise, crossing over every boundary that is not the Fathers.   The narrative is there that we might realise that we are not to be held up with any boundary, boundary crossing is the way of our faith that we can truly be FREE!

Many boundaries to negotiate, to take a view over then run on towards greeting the challenge, boundaries of our intellect that we must go beyond for example.   The way we have presented the gospel it is now time to go beyond the religious boundary, to find a new way to communicate the gospel of the Kingdom, realising that the ways of yesterday are irrelevant to societies needs.   Please do not hear that the message of Christ is irrelevant, far from it, it’s just the way we have communicated to date served an old day, a new world awaits us.    We are finding that in a divers people groups along with a divers church many ways of explaining our faith along with bring Christ to an individual is not king but the Holy Spirit is the way of ministry.   In this new world where we are to be led by the Holy Spirit therefore becoming ‘sons of God’ (Romans 8), to be true heirs while maturing.    We must not take away the supernatural or no boundary or new world will be crossed into.

History has men and women who have gone beyond their point of experience to bring about the new day.    They went beyond!     YOU ARE TO BE ONE OF THESE BEYOND PEOPLE; IT’S YOUR ETERNITY.