The church at Antioch comes to mind as I think about "sending" forth men and women equipped with the power of God's truth and principles and the Spirit. We are seeing this happen in unusual ways and places. As America falls apart spiritually, economically and politically with the rest of the world, I see a quiet, but powerful work of God moving to prepare Christ's Bride for the last push of the gospel into the unreached corners of this tired world. Then the end will come and Christ will gather His Bride from the four corners into His glorious presence to feast on His beautiful face, to hear His blessed voice, and eat at His table of eternal delights. I can hardly wait!! But, the timing is His, not ours. Jesus said, “And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” (Luke 12:42–43). This is not time to get distracted with lesser things. Lord, help me and my brothers and sisters stay on the path you have marked out for us that we might be to the praise of your glory! Amen!
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We are very excited with what appears to be new doors God is opening in the vast country of India. This short report is the first in a couple that cover Tim’s trip to India, Thailand and Vietnam. He arrived in Delhi and had a day of prayer and fasting before meeting with three brothers who were introduced to us through a Christian printer. “I spent a couple hours in the evening presenting GPHC overview which went well. J…seemed to catch the vision and got very excited about teaching this to hundreds of leaders and churches in India. He is definitely a key leader with opportunities to train other key leaders who are representing over 20,000 churches. J…wants GPHC translated and printed into the Hindi and Oriya language as soon as possible and will start all of his leaders on the lessons immediately. He has assured me that they will complete the lessons and wants the teaching just like we did in Vietnam.”
These are just a few reasons to pray earnestly for the Holy Spirit to ignite a spiritual revival in these places. We are very conscious that we cannot create this. It must be the work of God. “At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—” (Colossians 4:3). We have permission to share the following in response to our “TRANS-PACIFIC CONNECTION” posted May 11th.
“Thanks for sharing. That is amazing and great news! God moves in ways that go beyond our understanding or expectations. This is especially interesting to me since I was led to the Lord by a black American man, who had been discipled for a few years by Korean missionaries to the USA, who had been influenced by missionaries from the US who went to Korea. It was an amazing circle; to see Jesus send his Spirit and Word from the US to Korea and back to the US so that I could be saved. A very roundabout way, but that is the way God saw it best for me and others to receive Christ. So I am excited to hear what God is doing here and in Vietnam, and other places, and how he is cross-pollinating and bringing revival even here in the US. Praise be to Jesus our king, who is working everything out according to his purpose and plan. May you be strengthened as you continue ministering and pointing people to God's Word and the Holy Spirit.” As you pray for this ministry, remember that our aim is that we help the indigenous believers reach the unreached with God’s glorious gospel. We want stories like this one to be multiplied many times over until every nation brings praise to our Savior and Lord. Since I mentioned Watchman Nee yesterday, I thought you would enjoy a very important distinction he makes between the “outer man” and the “inner man”. Paul says that “though our outer self (man) is wasting away, our inner self (man) is being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16). I doubt anyone would disagree that our physical bodies deteriorate with age and we often “groan” (Romans 8:23) because our condition weakens over time. But how is the “inner self (man) being renewed day by day”? Paul answers that question in several ways. Paul prayed “before the Father that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,” (Ephesians 3:16). The “Spirit helps us in our weakness…Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” Romans 8:26.
Nee says, “God has placed Himself, His Spirit, His life, and His power in us, that is, in our inner man. In order for a man to work for God, his inner man must be released.” We must realize how much of our inner man is being trapped and controlled by the outer man. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to “strengthen us with power through his Spirit in your inner being” so that we can be released to do God’s work and see His results, not ours. Nee, Watchman, The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit, Living Stream Ministry, 1997, page 8. I was reading more of A. W. Tozer’s book today, The Pursuit of Man. He makes a comment about the Holy Spirit which parallels Watchman Nee’s response to a question about the American church. He said he “was amazed at how much we can do without the Holy Spirit”. Tozer said that “our blunder (or shall we frankly say our sin) has been to neglect the doctrine of the Spirit to a point where we virtually deny Him His place in the Godhead. Our formal creed is sound; the breakdown is in our working creed. A doctrine has practical value only as far as it is prominent in our thoughts and makes a difference in our lives” (page 60).
How real is the Holy Spirit to you and do you know that He is at work in you? If He is merely something talked about at church, something is seriously wrong. Without His presence and work in us on a daily basis, we will pretend our Christianity and never experience divine power. Throughout our ministry, over and over, the Holy Spirit keeps drawing us back to the words of John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). How opposite this is to the words of “Day Star, son of Dawn” who said in his heart, “I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God. I will set my throne on high…I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:12-14). This is the danger!
One of the most effective attitudes in Paul’s ministry was humility. He said that “though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach…the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). Again in Philippians 2:5-8, Paul pleads with us to “have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ…emptied himself by taking the form of a servant…he humbled himself.” This is a requirement for effective God-glorifying preaching, mission work and ministry! Any other attitude will subtly draw us away from God's purpose. Do we really have this mind, this attitude of heart? I must confess that I must hide my face in shame at how little it is demonstrated in me. BUT, the Holy Spirit is here to deepen conviction, repentance, and forgiveness, so that we might be renewed by Him in our minds and hearts. Will you go this road with me? “The rapid and wide expansion of the Church in the early centuries was due in the first place mainly to the spontaneous activity of individuals. As I pointed out in my first chapter, a natural instinct to share with others a new-found joy, strengthened and enlightened by the Divine Grace of Christ, the Savior, inevitably tends to impel men to propagate the Gospel. The early Church recognized this natural instinct and this divine Grace, and gave free scope to it. Very many of the Christians in those local Churches had no doubt become Christians, led by the spontaneous zeal of someone who was a Christian before them. No one, then, was surprised at the spontaneous efforts of individual Christians to convert others to their Faith. They probably thought it quite natural. Thus as men moved about there were constantly springing up new groups of Christians in different places.”
Allen, Roland, “The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and the Causes which Hinder It, page 87. As this mountainous country has experienced another earthquake (7.4) after the 7.8 on April 25th, God is giving us a momentous opportunity to pray for these people. Here are some statistics that should help us be in prayer for them:
Here are just a few items to stimulate your prayers:
It is the humble and genuine prayers of God’s people that moves His hand to act so He will be known and worshiped among the nations. “…we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,” (Romans 1:5). You may have gathered from some of our posts and newsletters that God has been doing a special work through God’s Plan for His Church training in Vietnam. We have never experienced such a powerful movement of the Spirit as with these pastors and church leaders. Not only have they completed the lessons and projects, but they are implementing in their ministries the biblical principles they learned. They are seeing unprecedented conversions, church plantings and the expansion of God’s plan for His church in their country.
But that is not all! News of what God is doing there has reached the Christian Vietnamese community in Southern California. We were contacted by a pastor in Corona indicating their desire that pastors from Vietnam come with us to do the training with their church leaders. How amazing after years of trying to inspire interest in our own country (USA), it takes the work of God in a foreign country to ignite the spark of interest here! What cause for praise! It wasn’t Jerusalem, but Thessalonica that became the springboard for the gospel to move further into Macedonia and Achaia. Paul says, they “became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere” (1 Thessalonians 1:7-8). These dear brethren in Vietnam are truly a present-day Thessalonica! Rejoice with us! We invite you to visit the “Training Resource” page of this website and look at the manual used to train these believers. If you are interested in experiencing the same dynamic work of the Spirit in your life and church, please contact us at: newfoundationsinternational@gmail.com. Today is Mother’s Day in many countries around the world. As I sat with the Lord this morning thinking about my mother and my wife, the mother of four wonderful children who are walking with the Lord, my mind began to write a special note to the mothers I know. I want to share this with you and hope it will encourage your heart.
You are building cathedrals! No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work some of them would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. There is a legendary story told of a rich man who came to visit a cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. The rich man was puzzled and asked the man carving, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird onto a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will see it!" The workman replied, "Because God sees." God is whispering to your heart today; "I see you, I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on a garment, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for Me to notice and I take pleasure in the love you poured into each act. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. Keep the right perspective on all you do and realize that your work which reflects the character of Christ is building His character in your children. You are not building a monument to yourself, but "a dwelling place for God by the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22). Remember, as you continue to build, be motivated by the praise God will receive. Each labor of love done in His name will increase the harmony and beauty of worship God will get through your devotion and through their lives. Children will grow and mature and become adults. Keep building the little pieces of the cathedral. Your influence will extend to more generations, some you may see and some you will never see. But one day we will stand together in a heavenly cathedral that will be finished, perfect and filled with harmonious notes of praise that will delight the heart of God. Thank you for being a faithful mother to your children and grandchildren. May your heart be filled with joy and satisfaction as you reflect on God's faithfulness to you through all the years. Keep building with love, patience, and faithfulness so God will receive greater and fuller praise. |
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