Building Community of Love & Trust in Prayer. Part 2

This week Adventists around the world continued in the 10-days of prayer, gathering at homes and praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Wednesday night as the church comes together for prayer we focus on one aspect every week.  Earl Biggs led reflections on the first feature of the fruit of Holy Spirit – joy (Galatians 5:22-23).  The fruit of the Spirit is Love, which is: joy, peace …and more.  Joy is listed first.

Usually when people are encouraged to pray in public, requests are more numerous than praises.  We are more aware of our needs than are willing to express our gladness.  Yet, for the redeemed, for those who are saved – the joy of salvation is overflowing.  When you read Habakkuk 3:17-18 it is one’s salvation and not material things that is the source of Joy.  Isaiah 12 – the shortest chapter in this prophetic book – is all about the Joy of Salvation, which is in God who saves. 

So, pause and ask yourself “Am I rejoicing in Salvation I have received from God?  Am I glad and happy being set free, redeemed, liberated, healed, by Christ, the Lord of my Salvation?”  I invite you to think on this, because true religious experience is full of joy!  Real Christianity is all about salvation, freedom, blessings abounding in God, who is the author and doer of our salvation.

Psalmist David in his prayer of repentance says it best (Psalm 51)  ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.  ¹¹ Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.   ¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.  ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.

Notice what brings the joy of salvation – being restored to righteousness, entering God’s presence, receiving Holy Spirit.  Only then we are ready and fit to evangelize, to share this joy with others, to witness so others may be converted, changed, turned to freedom too!  This liberating Joy of the Lord gives us strength (Nehemiah 8:10)  It is Paul’s personal experience of salvation that gave him joy even in prison, and moved him to write to all believers “Rejoice in the Lord always!” (Philippians 4:4) – not in your possessions, achievements, human relationships, but in the Lord who gives salvation.

Jesus says “I came that your joy may be full” (John 15:11) and he invites us to ask for the Holy Spirit, for our joy may be always full (John 16:24).  Cherish the Joy of Salvation!  May your countenance express gladness that you found Jesus, happiness of relationship with God of the Universe.  And remember that God answers even before you call (Isaiah 65:24), but you must call in prayer to have the answer manifested!

Building Community of Love & Trust in Prayer

January 7 – 17 believers around the world are investing 10 days in prayer.  In the North American division, of which we are a part, thousands of churches are meeting to pray.  The West church plant had been coming together at different homes.  We are using the same curriculum to pray weekly for 3 months for the unity of the church, and in my blogs I would share a few suggestions for you to participate in this intercessory prayer.

Read the final discourse of Jesus to his disciples before the cross – John 15 – it is a passionate appeal to abide, to dwell in Christ, followed by Christ’s instructions on how – by the Holy Spirit!   Ask yourself this question: “are my actions, attitude, disposition are result of the Holy Spirit dwelling in me?”  Praise God if your fruits are not your own, but of Christ who dwells in you, and the Holy Spirit producing!  And pray that Christ would continually abide, and teach you how to surrender yourself to Him (John 15:4)

As we prayed together in church past Wednesday, we read the promise of Joel 2:28-29 about Holy Spirit being poured out on all generations.  Imagine our community experience what early believers encountered on the Day of Pentecost – teens receiving the Holy Spirit, having visions from God, elderly having dreams and edifying, encouraging others – all united by the Same Spirit – the Holy Spirit!  Not our agenda, not our interests, no self exalted – but all in sync with Christ by the Holy Spirit!  Pray that our families, our youth, our leaders, our senior citizens will be under the Influence of the Holy Spirit, being transformed and renewed (Romans 12:2).  Imagine how cohesive our work would be when we are all in unity!

These 10 days of prayer take on special significance this year because of the upcoming General Conference session.  In July about 2005 delegates and their families from all countries of the world will come to San Antonio, Texas with one expectation – for the Holy Spirit to move through them in guiding the church and setting directions for the next 5 years.  Pray that all involved representing the world wide church will be surrendered to Christ, that not individual interests and agenda but God’s will would be put forth (Galatians 2:20).  Under the Holy Spirit rule there are no divisions (1^st Corinthians 1:10).  God’s wisdom is available for those who ask in prayer (James 1:5)

We are to trust that God leads the church by His Holy Spirit.  The love of God casts out fear and need of control, permitting one to trust that God is in control, and is influencing minds and hearts of all his servants.

As you pray this week claim John 14:23 that God would make His home with you.

Wishing success for our Church in 2015

I collect meaningful devotionals through the years.  One particular devotional book I re-read so often, the 2009 daily devotional “Lest we forget” by George Knight, telling stories from Adventist Heritage.  From December 22 through 29 he lists reasons why small fraction of the MIllerite Advent movement succeeded and became the Seventh-day Adventist church, while other major fractions either disappeared or declined.

As we move forward into 2015 and beyond I ask you to consider these:

1)    amidst natural, economic, political, health, social and other disasters they offered hope, a pre-Millennial Advent (Return) of Christ, telling people that it will not be human genius that will fix this world, but Christ’s Coming.  Even today there is still confusion about secret rapture and other man-made theories of how it will all be in the end, we continue preaching the hope that Jesus is coming soon, and He is in charge of time.

2)    Their teaching was rational, it “made sense,” it was not built on emotionalism, or irrational fanatical extremism.  Early believers searched and studied the Bible for the truth, and presented doctrines that answered relevant questions.  Faith is connected to understanding.

3)    As kite flies against the wind, so there is dynamic in religious movements going against the flow.  Different doctrines gave the group sense of vitality, identity and meaning.  The truth they discovered in the Bible empowered them to go against conventional beliefs.  We should not downplay our differences, but gain strength from our uniqueness!

4)    The got organized!  Historians who analyze demise of other Adventist movements point out to a single major difference – other movements refused to organize, they remained congregational without ecclesiastical authority above the local church, and had no unity for mission, whereas our pioneers sought organizational unity to consolidate resources for mission.

5)    Their understanding of prophecies gave them urgency for mission.  In view of impending world’s crisis to come, they accepted responsibility for preparing people to meet it.  Our pioneers saw themselves as Watchmen on the walls of the moral world, calling to repentance.

6)    We started to be not just another denomination by a movement of prophecy, a movement of destiny, a movement called out in history by God’s providence to fulfill the Prophecy - the Three-Angels Message movement!

7)    The prophetic understanding of Revelation 10 moved our pioneers into mission to All the world.  We do not see ourselves as a homegrown and backyard homogeneous  group, but a world-wide church with responsibility to all nations, peoples, tribes, languages!  Mission first!

8)    Our pioneers were willing to sacrifice everything for mission.  They had received the Holy Spirit power to be witnesses, even at the cost of martyrdom, for God’s Kingdom sake. 

As I reflect on these points - our identity markers – my wish is for our church to continue in the spirit of our pioneers, in the Holy Spirit, not for our success sake, but to continue being the Kingdom Building movement.

Redeeming Christmas!

Over the past 10 years f my ministry here in London I addressed this subject through my blogs here.

December 2005 I invited all to read the Adventist Home chapter 77, entitled “Christmas”!   This year I appealed to you to consider the Adventist Home your family life manual as we addressed various subjects regarding family matters. It would be good for you to read it again J (especially page 482 where she writes “God would be well pleased if on Christmas each church would have a Christmas tree on which shall be hung offerings, great and small, for these houses of worship.”) 

As new people join our fellowship new questions arise.  Recently a person said to me “Ellen White wrote this when she was very young, in her early writings,” implying that with age and maturity she had changed her opinion, thus demoting her statement to unimportant.  My response was “Really?! and who appointed you a judge over inspiration?”  In fact this statement was and published in the Review and Herald, December 11, 1879 in response to early Adventists questions “Letters of inquiry have come to us asking, Shall we have a Christmas tree? will it not be like the world? We answer, You can make it like the world if you have a disposition to do so, or you can make it as unlike the world as possible. There is no particular sin in selecting a fragrant evergreen, and placing it in our churches; but the sin lies in the motive which prompts to action, and the use which is made of the gifts placed upon the tree.”  Consider the date – 1879, she was 52 years of age, that’s 21 years after her vision of the Great Controversy to which she dedicated the rest of her life writing, that’s 16 years after organizing the Seventh-day Adventist church.  This statement is no “early writings”!

A historical fact intrigued me this week. In 1800 Queen Charlotte had the first Christmas tree in Britain.   A German wife of George III, she brought the idea from her home in Germany where it was already a tradition.  December 24 on church calendars was a day of Adam and Eve.  Drama depicting biblical themes was a common tool to instruct people who were not able to read.  Churches often produced plays.  Plays celebrating Nativity of Christ were linked with the story of Creation, and an evergreen tree was the symbol of the Tree of Life and of Christ. 

What caught my attention, was the fact that the Christmas Tree tradition was very recent in England, and in the new world, in America.  It was just two-generations old, but being widely used in celebration of Christ who gives hope of everlasting life, our church pioneers did not ignore it, did not paranoidly feared it as “pagan,” but approached it with redemptive perspective – use it for the good, use it as an object lesson to teach grace, to bless others.

This Christmas season bring good into your neighborhood, bring happiness into lives of your children and families, be a source of blessing, joy, and use every opportunity to redeem the time for Jesus.