3rd Nov 2010

Acts 20:7-12 – Eutychus Raised from the Dead at Troas

• “Miss it; Miss out”
• My first thought reading this story was; anyone who falls asleep during one of my sermons and I’m going to make sure they stay dead!
• However on reflection, I guess I need to examine the story a little more J
• It is Saturday night. The Jews have been enjoying the Sabbath and when it finishes [when the first three starts are seen in the sky] the gentiles would often join them for teaching and fellowship.
• Eutychus may have therefore joined the Jews after their Sabbath rest but not his.
• He may have been working hard at a manual job all day.
• Remember there are no FYI’s in the word of God and the mention of many lamps being lit is there for a reason, it helps us understand the situation…
• Many lamps indicates four things:
• Lots of heat.
• Lots of smoke
• Lots of stuffiness
• Little oxygen
• It is very likely that Eutychus was sitting on the window sill in order to get a little fresh air. He was probably very tired but doing everything he could to stay awake.
• It didn’t work.
• He fell to His death and Paul was used by God to bring him back to life.
• Miss it and miss out.
• I’ve often heard the phrase ‘Do it Scared’ – a piece of advice I agree with. Yesterday my whole family went for our immigration shots. For Lynn and Levi jabs are a breeze, but for Joel and I they are traumatic. Joel was terrified and I was not much help to him. Yet after initially telling us he would not go through with it; he volunteered to go first.
• What shows most courage? Not being afraid or being afraid but doing it?
• What shows most commitment? Not being tired or being tired and committing to see something through anyway?
• Sabbath is partly in place so that we will not get too worn out but sometimes things still get on top of us.
• God honored Eutychus’ commitment. He was tired but he was obviously desperate to hear God’s word and therefore he got to be raised from the dead. What an experience. In his commitment to see something out, he got to experience something very special indeed.
• God honors our commitment. He sees it and when we are totally exhausted either physically, emotionally, spiritually or mentality… He will revive us.
• Today I will pray for a commitment to see things through and if I do, who knows what I will get to see.

2nd Nov 2010

Mark 1:21-28 - "How Much authority?"

§ Jesus drives out demons in Capernaum

§ Jesus had S’mikhah in four areas– a certain type of authority that was distinctive.

1.    To bring new interpretations

§  There were 480 synagogues in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day - pg 1783 Archeological Bible

2.    To make legal judgments – halakhic decisions

3.    To give orders to demons

§  Jesus probably said ‘be quiet’ because the occult belief was that to say a person’s name and title fully and correctly gave you power over them.

§  p1572 of archeological Bible gives distinct beliefs of Jews on Demons compared to the rest of the world plus how Jesus brought ion a new understanding compared to the O.T.

4.    To forgive sins

§ Question: Jesus gives authority to his Disciples – to us? So which parts of His authority does He give?

o   All or just some of His authority?

1st Nov 2010

Acts 20:1-7 – Through Macedonia and Greece

• “How the promise works”
• Ok so a devotional blog only very very loosely tied to the passage, not often I do that but here’s what came to me.
• It’s my birthday today.
• And so I’ve been reflecting on a wonderful life so far and when I read the word ‘Greece’ it immediately sent me back quite a few years to a great week in my life but I tried to focus back to the passage and away from my memories.
• When I read ‘sail’ I got took straight back again and this time I stayed in my memories. But for good reason.
• Jesus made me a promise.
• Seek first the Kingdom of God and everything you need will be given to you – Matthew 6:33
• I’ve tried my best.
• I’ve found out that He was only speaking in half-truths.
• I have not just been given my needs but many of my desires as well.
• Paul is sailing around Greece.
• I can totally picture it!
• Why?
• Because it was one of my dreams and a few years ago I got a call from a minister who had been given a 60ft schooner. It was given to him to use as a training/retreat centre and he had it sailed and registered in Athens. He then decided that rather than advertise it in magazines, he would instead invite 20 ‘well connected’ people to try it out. I was one of them.
• He paid for my flight, food and one weeks sailing around Greece!
• I loved it! Lynn and I were on a very low income but here I was feeling like a millionaire.
• As I think of how the promise has been fulfilled what comes to me is this:
• God does not often give us the money to buy stuff but He gives us the stuff people need money to buy.
• I’m about to write a new chapter in my next book ‘The Cloud and the Line’, it is the chapter on Seek First – His Promise. I will be listing all the ways this has happened.
• It’s a promise for all of us. God may not make me rich but He will give me the security rich people hope to buy. He may not give me the fast car but he’ll give me the thrills that people buy fast cars for. He may not give me the ability to buy things that impress others but he’ll give me great friends that are genuine.
• etc.
• That’s how the promise works.
• Praying today that I seek first the Kingdom of God for another… 21 years J

20th Oct 2010

Acts 19:23-41 – The Riot in Ephesus

• “God has spies and they are real legends”
• I’m probably watching too many episodes of ‘Spooks’ or ‘MI5’ as it is called in the USA.
• It’s a TV show where secret service members of the British government go undercover in order to defeat plots against the Queen and her government.
• To do this they create “legends’ a kind of back story to the fictional character they pretend to be. These ‘legends’ are complex and well-thought out. Even fictional relatives of the ‘legends’ are placed n houses in case any of the people that the spies are undercover with, want to check them out.
• God has spies; these guys are real people planted by God for special times.
• We never know where they are or when God will suddenly produce them in order to support our work for Him.
• So in this particular case; Paul is preaching and a riot is stirred up by Demetrius.
• The silversmith is losing money because he uses religion to make his living. He designs shines for Artemis a hugely popular ‘goddess’ of the Ephesians.
• In fact she was so popular that it is said more people worshipped her in their private devotions than any other idol.
• Demetrius uses religion to stir up a huge, out of control riot.
• Paul’s companions are grabbed and forced into the theatre. The croewd is getting wilder and Alexander is forced to take the brunt of it.
• Then just when you though it could not get worse; they realize he is a Jew.
• Antisemitism then rears its ugly head.
• It is looking very very bad.
• But.
• Cast your mind back to chapter 18 and a promise God gave Paul in a dream:
• "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city."
• God has spies. In every city. Not just Corinth but in Ephesus as well.
• At the height of the riot some unknown clerk single-handedly defuses the terrible situation.
• Out of no-where this virtual no-body gets up and through a perfectly reason argument destroys the enemies plot.
• God has spies hidden for you as well. Believe it!
• And take God’s advise for yourself: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.
• Oh and do not do a Demetrius either; don’t put business before the Kingdom.
• Praying for the spies God has placed ahead of me that they and I will courageously do what we need to do.

28th Oct 2010

Acts 19:1-23 – Paul in Ephesus

• “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know – pt2”
• The Jews believed in demons and that they could be exorcised.
• You may be surprised to know that many of the Jews in the first and second century also believed in the power of Jesus’ name.
• “.. the serpent only bit him that a serpent might not bite him in the future” Shabbat 14d
• This quote from the Jerusalem Talmud gives a fascinating insight into the minds of non-messianic Jews. It is taken from a story [quoted in various Jewish documents] of a Rabbi warning another Jew not to allow someone to heal them in the name of ‘Yeshua ben-Pandira’ – Jesus from Nazareth. Before the person gets a chance to be healed by a Jewish follower of Jesus, a serpent bits him and he dies. The Rabbi says that this natural serpent bit him so that a metaphorical serpent could not. The symbolic serpent standing for heresy.
• In other words he is saying that God sent a serpent so he would not get mixed up with the Jews who followed Jesus.
• The point being this: the Rabbi obviously believed there was power in Jesus name!
• The seven sons were right – there is power in Jesus name but they did not know Jesus’ power in their own lives. They did not know Jesus.
• It seems that sometimes demons can also be exorcised by magical means not just by Godly ones.
• It has been suggested that there is a pecking order where some demons are more powerful than others and incantations invoking stronger demons can be used to overthrow weaker ones.
• In this passage the seven sons of Sceva use a very typical method of invoking supernatural power by piling on top of one another names of spiritual authorities.
• They of course fail.
• It is not what you know by who you know.
• In our spiritual battles there are all sorts of methods we can use to advance the kingdom of God. They may not always be ‘magical’, they might be;
• political
• manipulative
• good business sense
• etc
• But ultimately we and those around us will get hurt, just as in the story of the seven sons of Sceva who knew what to do but not who they needed to know.. Jesus.
• Yes we can get things done for God but if we fight a spiritual battle without being genuine and knowing Jesus we will ultimately fail… ourselves.
• Recently I heard of a great preacher who used and advised others to use positive thinking to build the kingdom. All I know is this; now his church is bankrupt, there is a power struggle in his family and one of his children is airing the family’s dirty laundry in the media.
• Was a large church built? yes.
• Were Christian books written? yes.
• Was the Gospel preached? yes.
• But at what cost? One that ultimately undermines what was built.
• To fight a spiritual battle with good business sense, positive thinking or politics is like taking a knife to a gun fight. You might cause some damage to your enemy but not as much as they will cause to you.
• Praying today for the common sense to rely on spiritual sense.

27th Oct 2010

Acts 19:1-23 – Paul in Ephesus

• “It’s not what you know; its who you know – pt1”
• So much happens in this passage that t will take me a couple of days to think it through and see any connections in the stories.
• It seems to me that all the stories are about a common understanding that most of the world has; it’s not what you know but who you know. You can sometimes be much better at something than someone else but get far less opportunities because you don't know, or are not in with the right people.
• The first section deals with the slow growing opposition to Paul. When it finally breaks out Paul is able to go round the corner and carry on because of who he knows…Tyrannus.
• The work continues because he understands not just the Jews but knows how the Greeks think as well. He moves to a lecture hall. We don’t know if this was a Jewish Yeshiva [school – see a great clip of a yeshiva in the film ‘Yentil’] or a Greek hall. From other documents we learn that Paul used the lecture hall between 11am and 4pm each day – when it was very hot and not being used.
• But what happens next really intrigues me.
• God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
• I can think of a truck full of doctrinal reasons why that could not have happened!
• But I am wrong.
• Kind of.
• My doctrine may be correct but it’s limited.
• What I know may be correct but it is trumped by who I know.
• Perhaps one of the most important breakthroughs to God being able to use us comes when we suddenly realize we cannot use God.
• We use what we know of God to use God.
• We control what God can do, by limiting Him to how we ‘know’ He does things.
• But the fascinating thing about the Lord is how He meets people where they are. He meets them in their level of understanding. Just as he does here through Paul’s sweaty chintz.
• Can God speak to Catholics via weeping statues or bagels with Jesus’ picture embedded in it?
• Of course not!
• But yes He can.
• The whole handkerchief thing seems like ridiculous superstition to me and of course this kind of thing was later abused terribly in the Middle ages… but God works however He wants to work.
• The most important thing to Him it seems, is connecting with people where they are and then drawing them into a better understanding.
• He puts people above procedures.
• There may be much better ways for us to know God’s direction and yet He will allow His will to be revealed through ‘fleeces’. Gideon acted in fear not faith with the whole fleece thing and yet God deemed it ok to meet Gideon where He was, hoping one day He would mature.
• It’s an important lesson for all leaders… who we know is more important that what we know.
• Praying today for a better understanding of Him and His pride less compassion.

26th Oct 2010

Acts 18:18-28 – Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos

• “Haircuts and the Holy Spirit”
• Paul has a haircut – not just any haircut but one that signifies a vow.
• Which is odd because Jesus dismissed oaths. This must have been different.
• The Christian commentators say this was probably a Jewish Nazirite vow but interestingly the Messianic Christians [Jews who follow Jesus] say it probably was not. A Nazirite vow could not be taken in a gentile region. The Mishna later recalls some of the key ingredients to a Nazirite vow and Paul could not have fulfilled them where he was and possibly in the time he was there.
• Anyway – the key here seems to be that even in a Gentile area, Paul held onto some deep convictions.
• I think sometimes that is what it takes.
• I don’t believe we can change the world by being culturally relevant.
• Sometimes we have to be irrelevant and different.
• But how can we do that? How can our convictions be taken into a new culture and be so deep within us that they help us influence that culture instead of it influencing us?
• What’s the key?
• Well, later we hear about Apollos.
• A man that knew all the right stuff but had not yet experienced the power of God.
• There are many Apollos’ out there. Some of you may be even reading this blog.
• He knew the facts.
• He did not know the power.
• He had intellect.
• He did not have experience.
• Without that experience he could speak with fervor and accuracy but the disciples knew that something was seriously missing… an experience.
• To his credit, Apollos did not allow his great learning to become a barrier. He was humble and not proud. As we see tomorrow, what happened next would have been what happened wherever the fullness of the gospel was explained and accepted.
• Apollos it is inferred accepted the whole baptism of Jesus and his power.
• He was now ready to be sent into another culture and not just explain with fervor and accuracy but be filled with the Holy Spirit. And it would be that experience that would enable him to be influential enough to get a shout out from the writer of acts and a mention in history.
• What about you?
• Are you like either Paul or Apollos?
• I believe it is this experience of God’s Holy Spirit and power that allows us to change the world rater than it change us.
• Experiencing God can take humility – even to the point of a ridiculous haircut.
• For some of God’s people, there has not been the openness to get baptized, either in water or Spirit... is this why we try so hard and yet do not make the difference we hope for?
• Praying for humility that leads to an ongoing experience that changes the world.

25th Oct 2010

Acts 18:1-17 – In Corinth.

• “Stop Trying; Start Training”
• Abraham Lincoln: Today I will prepare for tomorrow my opportunity may come!
• Too many of us are trying too hard and training too weakly.
• Our opportunities come and try as hard as we might we fail due to our lack of training.
• Paul has been training for such moments as this. He needs three things it seems from this passage to be successful in setting up a strategic stronghold for the advance of the Kingdom in the region:
• The ability to help himself.
• The help of God
• The help of Godly people.
• Paul had been trained to help himself; he was a tent-maker by trade. The Jews believed in providing their children with one manual skill no matter how rich [or poor] they were. Paul is able to draw upon his training to help himself make a living.
• He had be trained by the Spirit to hear God and take direction and so a dream was all it took to keep him on track. For some Christians; they can hear the Holy Spirit clearly and it still not be enough because they have not been through the process; they have not habitually submitted to the spirit’s leading and so in crucial times, when God speaks clearly; they try but fail to obey.
• Paul had been trained to convince and through this as well as God’s providence, God had placed many supporters in the city for him.
• Stop trying and start training.
• There is training for God.
• There is training for evil!
• Gossip is a training syllabus for Rebellion.
• A lack of study is a training course for poor choices.
• Flirting is a training scheme for adultery!
• What are you trying for, when instead you should be training for?
• Praying I will stick to the training program God has put me on.
• Praying today for Churches to train our people rather than just teach them.
• Today I will train for tomorrow my opportunity will come!

'tape'

'Tape' - an chapter from 'The Line and the Dot'


Third comes defense.

To equip us for this third stage of pioneering, we have to understand there is

something to defend…but what is it?

Third comes defense.

To equip us for this third stage of pioneering, we have to understand there is

something to defend…but what is it?

Some things can be compromised in order to grow. The key you will need is not

simply a defense against compromise, but instead an understanding of what

things you can make concessions on and what things you must not give up.

The thing you need to protect is the thing that made you unique!

All pioneers need to ask, “What was it that made us different in the first place?”

Once you have defined that, then make it distinctive, give it value, and then

defend it.

How do you defend the one thing that made you unique? It all comes down to

how you measure success.

Measuring success is like creating a tape measure, looping it at the end and

forming a leash. I know one church, for instance, whose stated vision is about

getting people out of the church into the community, but their only measurement

of success is the mathematics of counting the numbers who attend on a

Sunday morning. No matter how much the senior minister tries to push outward

and bring the church with him, this measuring leash jerks him back and forces

him to spend most of his time ensuring the Sunday morning program is attractive

enough to draw greater numbers.

What measurement has become your leash?

m4
I was very much in love with Sharon Church, the church in which I grew up, and I
had incredible respect for our pastor, Harry Letson. It was he who, through selfsacrifice
and a Kingdom mindset, gave me freedom to build a ministry which
went far beyond his church’s four walls. Nonetheless, there was a problem: we
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120
were quickly out-growing the building. Pais was running its finances under the
church’s accounts and charitable status, but our conferences could no longer fit
within the church’s facilities. We needed another building.
Another distinctive about Pais is our economic model. We have never, and
ideally will never, own a building of our own. Pais is built on partnership. We
provide churches that have established infrastructure and facilities with enthusiastic
individuals who possess great leadership skills. Because of my background,
I have never learned how to raise a lot of money, but I have learned how to
make a little money go a very long way. Here, however, we had a major problem.
Virtually every penny of Pais went into people and fuel. Because of our relationship
with Sharon Church, we had not needed to raise money for bricks and
mortar, but now it seemed we did. Then one day Harry brought to my attention
Evangel Church. He had been helping this group of loyal Christians every week
by bringing teaching and some pastoral support, but they were still struggling.
Their building had been bought when the church was flourishing and growing
with two to three hundred people, but was now far larger than the current
nineteen members needed. It had some basic structural issues including the
proverbial leaking church roof, and they were in the process of selling it to a
local restaurant chain.
We asked the church leadership how much they were selling the building for. If
my memory serves me right, it was around £180,000.67 And then they turned to
me and made a suggestion. Perhaps, they said, we could sell it to you for our
remaining mortgage payments. This, they informed me, was only £46,000.68
Some would say this was coincidence and some might say it was God, but
£46,000 was exactly to the penny how much money we did not have.
We had nothing. Nada.
The first time I shared the vision, a businessman stepped forward and offered to
give me the entire amount. For several reasons however, this did not feel like the
right thing to do. Pais owning a building would mean pouring money that could
be used for better things into a black hole called ‘real estate’.
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And then came a new twist. Since the church leaders also felt that selling the
building to Pais might not be the best way forward, we settled on a third option.
Pais would lead the church, and we would get the use of the building entirely
free.
The church was called Evangel, meaning good news, but it could only be good
news if people knew its meaning. As we began to re-purpose the church, it
started to grow in size. It was an opportunity to try out new ideas, and with this
regeneration came a new name. To us, it was far more important for the name
to resonate with those outside the building than to be understood inside. Our
vision was to impact the community.
We renamed the church ‘thefaithworks’.
Some of the people involved in thefaithworks were from the Pais Project. Well
over a thousand young people have given their lives for at least a year to serve
with Pais. At least 50% of those who originally signed on for one year, committed
longer term. Some have even stayed on Pais for a decade. There are, of
course, those shining stars that I’ll always remember and thank God for their
friendship.
Rachel Eden joined Pais when she was 18 years old. She was bright and bubbly,
and as she grew on Pais, it became evident that God had given her two
skills rarely seen together. Rachel was a drama queen, but in the best sense of
the word. She was creative, artsy, and communicated incredibly well through
performing arts. Alongside these attributes, Rachel was also very structured,
organized, and had a keen strategic mind.
Rachel developed through the ranks from team member to team leader, eventually
becoming a director. For several years she ran Street Level, our specialist
schools teams that were also mini theatre companies. Eventually Rachel moved
to our church in Failsworth and helped pioneer two projects, as she joined Lynn
and me in reaching the community. One was Create where, rather than a midweek
youth rally of our usual attendees, we put our emphasis on reaching local
young people, giving them opportunities to present the gospel through drama.
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Most of these young people weren’t Christians, but we began to disciple them
through the performing arts.
We coached these students to teach others. So, through Create, Pais developed
a philosophy that took the form of M4 academy. M4 stood for four ways to
make missionaries of the students with whom Pais apprentices connected. The
academy became the training ground where they learned to see the Kingdom of
God and affect their community positively.
As M4 developed, many academies were launched globally, each one based
around the specific skills, gifting, and vision of the apprentices who led them.
Through presentational tracks like performing arts, media skills, and public
speaking, young people learned how to share the truth of Jesus. Other tracks
taught sport skills and created discussion using those skills as spiritual illustrations.
My favorite tracks were the service ones. One group of young people
went to a local apartment, spoke to the management and posted flyers offering
prayer. Residents would write their requests down or visit the team on
Wednesday nights and get prayed for.
An Arabian proverb says, “To teach is to learn twice.”69
As students actively engaged in educating both themselves and others, a profound
change occurred.
For some, their education turned into an experience. What they were told was
true, they now knew to be true.
For others, their experience turned into an education. What they now knew to
be true, they asked to be explained.
Young people who did not initially believe in Christ were invited to be involved
in His work in their communities.
Whenever I speak at conferences, seminaries, or Bible colleges, I often pose the
question, “When did the disciples first become Christians?” I typically receive six
answers ranging from “When they first followed Him” to “The day of Pentecost”.
The answer of course is…
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…We don’t really know.
I then ask the question, “When did Jesus first start to disciple the disciples?”
I receive the unanimous answer, “When they first followed Him.”
Simple logic and rational thinking therefore teach us that Jesus discipled many
of His followers before they became Christians.70
Why then are so many of our church programs traditionally set up to do the
exact opposite?
The academy was just one quarter of M4. The motto of Pais, Missionaries making
Missionaries, is represented just as clearly in the other three parts. M4
Mentoring sees our apprentices regularly meet with individual young people
for the specific purpose of equipping them to be missionaries in their schools
and communities. Within M4 Conferences, students and apprentices receive
joint training in everything from setting up a Christian club to serving teachers
as Christ would. The last pillar of M4 is Missions. What happens on mission too
frequently stays on mission, so Pais does not do mission trips; we do tours. We
take young people on tour who are already serving or who want to serve. They
get a chance to go into another community and simply do there what they were
already doing in their own backyard.
Simply put, what does Pais do?
It sends teams of apprentices into churches. They go into the local schools as
missionaries and into the youth group to make missionaries. Full stop.
But it is not as simple as it sounds.
You may think that going into schools as missionaries creates the problems.
Rather, going into youth groups to make missionaries has provided 90% of the
issues that have tested me as a pioneer.