A Weekly World Wide Word of Encouragement to those in the Ministry
PRAISE GOD IT’S MONDAY!
A WEEKLY ‘WWW (world-wide word) OF ENCOURAGEMENT’
TO THOSE IN MINISTRY
A FREE service, currently connecting with Christian leaders from 3,000 denominations and ministries, in 70 countries.
Issue No: 314 Published: 29 Oct 2007
TRANSFORMATION OF THE CHURCH: 1. RESTORATION OF HOLY SPIRIT POWER AND DIRECTION Continued (Part 5)
The major problem in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit working in our churches is one of participation. For we see the role of 'attracting' the Holy Spirit as being the responsibility of leadership. Sadly, in many cases, leadership encourages this wrong idea, effectively trying to restore the Old Testament principle of a priest (pastor) being an intermediary between God and the people.This is highly unscriptural! For Jesus came to bring a new way, a new priesthood, the 'priesthood of believers'. Every believer is now to have a direct, personal relationship with God through the sacrifice of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit within each one of us.
We should all be able to participate in our services, not just one or two leaders.
Of course, this becomes more difficult, in a practical sense, the larger the church. Put simply, the larger the church, the more spectators there must inevitably be.
This is not God's way! God is seeking a people who are individually sold out to Him with a personal relationship and experience of the Holy Spirit. Under the New Covenant we are all to be 'ministers', not just a privileged few.
However, too often I have seen that when a church member gets closer to God, hearing from Him something different to what the leadership is promoting, the person is ostracised and ridiculed.
In these end, end times of 'hot and cold', there are greater numbers of 'hot' people around, many of whom are leaving the traditional church system as their truly Holy Spirit led ideas are being ignored.
So what is the answer to this problem? Unfortunately the potential solutions are unpalatable to most pastors and leaders.
There are at least two ways of improving the situation
1. Encouraging more people to participate in services.
2. Reducing church sizes to enable greater participation by all.
Both of these ideas fly against conventional wisdom of church leadership. Leaders generally want to restrict 'audience participation' to keep things in good order and under control.
As well, leaders invariably want their church to grow in size, for many reasons. Yet statistics continually show that the most effective churches in evangelising are new church plants. These hugely outperform well established and large churches in bringing converts to the Lord and also enable more people to participate spiritually.
If we are to develop as a body spiritually, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we need to seek new ways of involving all believers in the spiritual operation of the church. This is a huge and difficult challenge that will require new, lateral thinking from the traditional ways of 'doing church'. May we be led by the Holy Spirit in doing this.
We need a revolution in church thinking, where the priorities of God to develop a deeper relationship with all His people and to take His message to all the world are put ahead of traditional thinking and ambition of leadership.
To be continued next week.
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FROM THE WORD
"If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come–one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar." (Hebrews 7:11-13)"as you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him–you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.†Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.†They stumble because they disobey the message–which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. As you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him– you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.†Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,†and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.†They stumble because they disobey the message–which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:4-9)
"But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt[fn1] in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. (John 16:7-11)
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DAVID'S DOODLINGS
1205. To be a minister we don't have to be trained in Jesus, but simply reflect the Jesus in us.1206. If we were all prepared to minister, fulfilling the Great Commission would be a breeze!
1207. Many ministers make light work!
1208. To the Christian, ministry is a requirement, not a calling.
1209. Professional ministry is a great excuse to leave God's work to someone else!
1210. Ministry is service, not position.
1211. Priests instruct, ministers serve.
1212. The 'priesthood of believers' is the latent power of the church. When released, it transforms the world.
1213. The ministry of example is the most powerful ministry of all.
1214. The true hallmark of ministry is not professionalism, but service.
Please feel free to quote these quotes. Acknowledgement of David Tait as the author would be appreciated. There are now over 1300 David sayings for you to view at ...
'SEEKERS'MEGAMART by africa arise opened Friday!
Finally, last Friday, 'SEEKERS MEGAMART' by africa arise opened!It looked great! Many favorable comments have been received.
Would show a photo or 2 but my camera transfer cable has been misplaced in the final tidy up! Tidy ups are great - but___!
The first day's sales were great - the second day less than we expected.
It is very nice that my 18 hour days can now reduce to 12 hour ones! Almost seems like a holiday!
Pictures next week. Please pray for the word to spread quickly about our existence.
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CRANWELL'S CARTOON
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden towork it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the
man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but
you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
for when you eat of it you will surely die.â€
18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a helper suitable for him.â€
19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts
of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to
the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man
called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man
gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all
the beasts of the field. (Genesis 2:15-20)
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TUESDAY TEACHINGS
A REVELATION OF... GOD'S CALL TO HIS CHURCH continues...With a look at the important subjects of giving and worship, and come up with some surprising conclusions.
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LAUGHING AT OURSELVES
***Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused****** "Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others." ***
653. GOVERNMENT HELP
A minister was asked by a politician, "Name something the government can do to help the church."
The minister replied, "Quit making one dollar bills."
652. TRUTH OF YOUTH
A little girl went up to her mother one day while holding her stomach saying, "Mommy, my stomach hurts."
Her mother replied, "That's because it's empty, you have to put something into it!" She then prepared a bowl of soup.
Later that day when the pastor and his wife were over for dinner. The pastor began to feel bad. Holding his head he said, "I have such a terrible headache!"
The little girl looked up at him, giving him the sweetest smile that any little child could give. Then she said, "That's because it's empty, you have to put something into it!"
FREE DOWNLOAD: You can now download the book 'Laughing At Ourselves' in PDF format at LAUGHING AT OURSELVES
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FACTS FOR FUN
LAST WEEKS QUESTION: What infamous Countess was a mass murderer?ANSWER: Countess Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary, known as the ‘Blood
Countess’, is reputed to have killed hundreds of young girls as a sadistic
pastime. Elizabeth was able to kill the girls, mostly peasants from the
surrounding countryside with impunity for many years, because of her
noble station. Legends say she believed that by bathing in her victim's
blood, she would stay young forever. There is, however, no real evidence
that she did this. Eventually, her crimes reached such a magnitude that
her "cousin" Count Thurzo, ordered by the King and Church officials to
act, saw to it that Elizabeth was walled into her castle to live out her final
days in isolation. Her accomplices, mostly servants, were executed.
Some scholars speculate that Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, based his
legendary vampire in part on Elizabeth (as well as another sadistic killer -
Vlad the Impaler). (An actual ‘bloodbath’!)
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Is it true that the yo-yo was based on a weapon?
Answer Next Week.
SOME FUN FACTS621. PLANTS LIKE SALT
Surprisingly, about 85% of all plant life lives in the world’s oceans. (Plankton Pudding please!)
622. BUT OF COURSE, TEXAS IS THE BIGGEST!
So influential in fact, that it is the only state allowed to fly its state flag at the same height as the Stars and Stripes. (You can’t top Texas!)
623. HOME OF TULIPS
The city of Vernon in Washington State, USA, grows more tulips than the whole of Holland! (It just has to be bigger in America!)
A WORD PUZZLE FOR YOU
Make another word from this word using all the letters.
ZEISS
Answer at the end of A David Musing
FREE DOWNLOAD: You can download the full version of our Trivia Book at TRULY TRIFFLING TRIVIA
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BIBLE QUESTION - JUDGES (You be the judge!)
3) Who was the fat king that Ehud killed?A - Ekron
B - Eglon
C - Elah
D - Eker
Source: www.biblequizzes.com
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IF ONLY I'D THOUGHT OF IT!
"""OTHER'S SAYINGS TO ENLIGHTEN, AMUSE, OR BEMUSE"""!!!!!!! The most enjoyable way to follow a vegetable diet is to let the cow eat it, and then eat the cow.
!!!!!! The trouble with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate it.
!!!!! The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket.
!!!! If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
!!! It's no use having a good memory unless you have something good to remember.
!! When putting it into memory, remember where you put it.
! Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.
100'S MORE TO BE FOUND AT...
MORE BIBLE RIDDLES
Thought we had done all possible Bible riddles in our last, very popular series. However, I have now found some more for you to enjoy, courtesy of Frank Schaefer of javacasa.comQ. How do we know Abraham was smart?
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A. He knew a Lot.
Lots more riddles found at...
EXTENSIVE EXPLANATIONS
1. MAKING DOUGHYears ago there was a baker's assistant whose sole job was to pour the dough mixture for making sausage rolls (apparently the royal family loved sausage). Because people were identified by their professions, he was just called Richard the Pourer.
One day Richard ran out of some key ingredients, namely a secret spice he used in the batter. He called his apprentice and sent him to the store to buy more spices. When the apprentice arrived at the store, he found that he had forgotten the name of the ingredient. Hoping that the storekeeper might be able to figure it out, he described it to him,
"it's for Richard the Pourer for batter for wurst."
2. THE WINTER DRILL
During the cold months, we keep our little ceramic elves that we use in the garden during the summer, stored overhead in the garage. At Halloween time, when I went out in the garage, I imagined I could hear them up there, mocking me. It sounded like they were marching and doing military-type exercises.....
Ever since then, I've been scared of gnome attic drills.
by David Reihmer
3. AWOL
A sailor was caught AWOL as he tried to sneak on board his ship at about 3 am.
The chief petty officer spied him and ordered the sailor to stop. Upon hearing the sailor's lame explanation for his tardiness, the officer ordered the sailor, "Take this broom and sweep every link on this anchor chain by morning or it's the brig for you!"
The sailor began to pick up the broom and commence performing his charge. As he began to sweep, a tern landed on the broom handle. The sailor yelled at the bird to leave, but it didn't. The lad picked the tern off the broom handle, giving the bird a toss. The bird left, only to return and light once again on the broom handle. The sailor went through the same routine all over again, with the same result. He couldn't get any cleaning done because he can only sweep at the chain once or twice before the blasted bird returns.
When morning came, so did the chief petty officer, to check up on his wayward sailor.
"What in the heck have you been doing all night? This chain is no cleaner than when you started! What have you to say for yourself, sailor?" barked the chief.
"Honest, chief," came the reply, "I tossed a tern all night and couldn't sweep a link!"
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BIBLE TRIVIA
ROSES.......are not native to Bible lands, so it most unlikely that what we know as roses grew there. Other flowers were likely meant. Roses are referred to several times in the Apocrypha and once in Song of Solomon.
Adapted from: '1001 Surprising Things You Should Know About The Bible' MacGregor & Prys
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7. CRIME IN NEW ZEALAND CAUSED BY THE SOLO MOTHERS BENEFIT
Crime escalated in the seventies, and while many factors have contributed to this increase, the research clearly shows that the key factor was the decline in marriage and the rise in illegitimacy: “a lack of married parents, rather than race or poverty, is the principal factor in the increase in crime†(Rising Illegitimacy: America’s Social Catastrophe, by Patrick F Fagan, Heritage Foundation 1994).For well over a decade, policy makers have known that paying women to have children outside of marriage - substituting welfare for husbands - will lead to an increase in crime. Yet rather than change the system, most MPs and political parties have continued to support the status quo.
The reason is, of course, that they are afraid of a backlash if they suggest that the Domestic Purposes Benefit should be changed. Even though its use has been dramatically altered over the years – it was introduced to support women to move out of violent relationships but is now largely being used to fund girls and women who have never been married to raise children - the DPB has always been the sacred cow of welfare.
State sponsored illegitimacy is the root cause of crime and the public should start demanding reform. Given politicians are unwilling to change the failed system they have created, it is up to the public to force the issue.
Sensible Sentencing is a voluntary organisation that is committed to making New Zealand a safer country. They are doing this by building community support for their cause (see their webpage at http://www.safe-nz.org.nz/). Their founder, Garth McVicar is the NZCPD Guest Commentator this week. In his opinion piece he laments an appalling lack of leadership by the Prime Minister: “There have been seven murders in the first two weeks of 2007. Have you seen our Prime Minister on TV condemning this lawlessness, encouraging the police, rallying the community, guiding us…giving us hope for a better future?†(Click the sidebar link to read the article>>>).
It is long past time that the Prime Minister and government acknowledged that New Zealand’s thirty-year social experiment of trying to replace fathers with a welfare cheque has not only failed, but has created disastrous unintended consequences.
Source: Newman Weekly 22 January 2007
More facts about marriage and families are found here...
DAVID'S DOWNLOAD
WALKING WITH JESUS POSTERQuoting 1 John 2:1-6, six of the most thought provoking and important verses in scripture for walking with Jesus today. A4 size.
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WAXING LYRICAL
BASILIt comes to us all, once to die,
Our best to ignore it, we do try.
Don’t know how, nor when, nor where,
Until death, in the face, does us stare.
For most, the sands of time predictably flow,
Plenty of life, our ultimate destiny to know,
Three score years and ten, normally more,
The last few perhaps, may be a chore.
For some though, death comes as a shock,
A life snuffed out at the tick of a clock,
In the fiery inferno of a collapsing tower,
Or a car, ramming another at full power.
But our Basil was chosen for a different task,
A walk through sickness and pain was his ask.
God knew what an inspiration he would be,
And he surely was, both to you and to me.
Basil I have known for a good number of years,
A wise man, a prophet, somewhat given to tears,
A man well respected, both at church and at home,
Salt of the earth, with not too much hair to comb.
But it was only during this current year,
That Basil’s character became so clear,
Oh, what had I missed out on, in days now past,
In a busy life, where spending time, comes last.
Unless the house has been built on a firm foundation,
Trials and troubles easily lead to spiritual ruination.
But through his pain, the light of his Saviour did shine,
What I saw in his life, I would like to see in mine.
Of course, he did naturally ask the question,
“Why me Lord?†I did hear him mention.
Then his wry sense of humour would shine through,
As into perspective, his whole life came into view.
Basil has been an inspiration to us all,
Through his trials, he has walked tall,
The quiet man - thought he had little to offer,
In his ultimate test, came through to conquer.
Basil my mate, us you still inspire,
In that certain faith, we so desire.
I will miss you my friend, so Basil tears I now shed,
As I seek to follow the path, in which you have led.
David Tait: 4 October, 2001
More of David's poems at...
A DAVID MUSING
After having an adrenaline rush for a couple of weeks to keep one going while working ridiculous hours, it is when you stop and relax a little, you suddenly feel tired!Seems all back to front, but that is the way it is!
Last Monday, we celebrated with a Public Holiday, 'Labour Day', for New Zealand was the first country to introduce a 40 hour working week. Although we still celebrate this, the reality is that hours have increased so much over the years again, that we are now have the third longest working hours in the OECD, behind Japan and South Korea! But at least we still get the holiday once a year!
Can't be all bad!
So, back to work!
Until next week...
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD.
His servant and yours
David Tait
Today's 'Word Puzzle' Answer: SIZES
TODAY'S 'BIBLE QUESTION': Correct answer: Eglon (Judges 3:17)
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ABOUT US
WALKING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES is a non-profit, non-denominational, Bible based ministry located in Hastings, New Zealand. A ministry dedicated to developing discipleship, fostering unity amongst God’s people to achieve the Great Commission, and in doing so, preparing for Christ’s return. It is securely based upon the foundational principles of the Apostles Creed while recognising the wide and rich diversity of beliefs amongst Christians in other areas. In accordance with the Lord’s direction, materials produced by the ministry are available, free of charge, to genuine enquirers upon request. The ministry is solely funded by donations, as the Lord provides. A list of materials available (plus some fun!) is obtainable and freely downloadable from our websitewwj.org.nz or by contacting us as follows.
Walking With Jesus Ministries
290 Flaxmere Avenue
Flaxmere
Hastings
New Zealand
Phone: (06) 8799 911 International (+64) 6 8799 911
Email: enquiries@wwj.org.nz
Web: wwj.org.nz
Our role is to bless and encourage those in ministry while promoting co-operation and unity of direction amongst the body of Christ, as emphasised 3 times by Jesus in His longest prayer, immediately prior to His arrest and crucifixion. "… so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:12, 21, 23-4) Our website is currently being developed to encourage your participation one with another, to share resources, and to enable you to promote events and items of interest to the body as a whole – and have a smile while doing it!
For comments upon and contributions to this service, please contact
david@wwj.org.nz