Category: Reflections

 It’s been a season
of thanksgiving in many churches around me. My Church had a great time
recounting God’s mercies in 2009 during our annual Thanks Giving worship
service yesterday. It’s impossible to keep an accurate catalog of God’s
goodness from day to day, but we are encouraged to remember Him and give Him
His due.

“Thank God no matter what happens, this is the
way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live” 1Thess 5:18 (The
Message)

So as we danced to and fro the church altar with our
various offerings, I remembered this video clip below that someone sent to me a while back and
reflected again on David’s famous dance before the Lord. It was a great show of
extravagant worship with raw passion, flowing from a grateful heart.

In many churches around here, offerings are collected at
the altar and worshippers go dancing. Sometimes those that don’t have cash to
give, just dance to God in a special way, as an offering to Him.

I was told this brother presents this altar dance regularly. (May it delight the Lord forever).

 I pray that such dance steps would be a
manifestation of authentic fellowship with God flowing from the private to the
public place. May this manner of celebration abound in our homes and worship
gatherings, such that thanksgiving dances will cease to be special events but a
way of living.

 I’m tired of useless religious pantomime and
hypocrisy. What about you?

Paul the apostle understood what it meant to be pushed to the limits of his life
many times. His letters showed he knew a lot about struggles, hardships,
and trials. But he was most knowledgeable about what was supreme in the seasons
of his painful experiences – glorifying Jesus through his weakness.

We
do not like to feel helpless or out of control of our own lives. But we can
learn from Paul and from our life experiences that the prelude to great
strength is great weakness. An important lesson of the Christian life is that
our weakest moments, when we feel most desperate are the very times when God is
freest to do greater work by empowering and strengthening us. In those
difficulties when we whisper, “God, I cannot go on…”, “I cannot take this…” we
are granted the best equipping and the greatest enabling grace to wait, to endure and
to suffer unto fruitfulness.

Did
I just say suffer? Oh no! This is one of the most hated English words today, especially
within the Christian community. Suffering of any kind must be evil; as far as
many are concerned. For many, suffering and prosperity are mutually exclusive. So, there’s a deliberate attempt by some to expunge the word
from their lingo and redefine its ideology. Nonetheless, God allows it in different forms and shades to press us to
reach beyond ourselves so we could totally embrace His extravagant love and His
abundant life.

As
I see suffering in the world around me today, I conclude that human nature abhors
it. We all cry out for strength, courage, and adequacy to meet life’s challenges.
 The content of our prayers reveal how
much we dread inexplicable situations. So, many of us avoid fiery trials and valley experiences at all costs. 

The fear of confronting our weakness(es) weighs heavy on our conscience. We
tell our self, “I am able to handle this…”(even when we know we can’t). We
think and work on our own terms; believing our own strength is sufficient. We
may not verbalize this, but our actions and reactions often reveal our resolve.
Unfortunately, sometimes we settle for what we know, what we can understand, what makes
sense and what is convenient. What a pity!?

Some
of us may never experience or embrace God’s supernatural empowerment unless we hit
the bottom. The bottom waits for those who carefully hide their weakness from those that could help them. Sooner or later, it will seep out. But why wait till then, when we could surrender to His
dealings now? The Lord’s sufficiency is at the place of weakness and
brokenness. No matter what is going on in our lives, there’s always a power[full]
provision available to the believer who leans hard on God.

If
indeed He can do exceeding, abundantly, above and all we can ask or imagine, why
should we settle for a peace (or things) that come with understanding, when He promises
a peace that passes all understanding? Isn’t this that atmosphere of tranquil
that can be set in the human soul in moments of peril; making danger, pain and death seem trivial? Only God by His Spirit gifts this to the believer that dares
to seek it.

It’s
been a trying season for me and many friends I know. But God’s word remains a source of hope.

Apostle Paul urges us to”…have joy in our
troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting; And waiting gives experience; and experience,
hope: And hope does not put to shame;
because our hearts are full of the love of God through the Holy Spirit which is
given to us. ” (Romans 5:3-5)

What
is accountability in missions? The basic definition might be: reporting about
missionary activity. But the issue is not that simple. Accountability with the Father and in the earthly world is not a
one-way street. Implicit in the concept is the idea that who a person and the  group
reports to has some degree of authority to evaluate and make decisions based
on the information provided.

Such
was implied in Paul’s two reports to the elders in Jerusalem. In both cases, approval
of the apostle’s missionary work was predicated on the elders’ hearing a full
account of what God had done through the missionary team.

Therefore,
accountability in missions might be more accurately defined as the process of
providing comprehensive information about missionary activity to those who have
authority to evaluate and direct the ministry towards achieving its goals.

By
what criteria is accountability judged? Here the issues grow more complicated. Is accountability measured simply by the amount of detail provided
as missionaries review their activities for a given period of time? If so, the
missionary who writes more often or the longest newsletters is the most accountable. Isn’t
there more to missionary accountability than the frequency of emails and
newsletters from the field?  Yes there is, we are called to the mission field to serve the Lord,  just as Jesus did, one person at a time. 

Concern
for good stewardship is certainly legitimate and cannot be overemphasized. But those who insist on evaluating
accountability by output standards will sooner or later encounter difficulties.

Who
is qualified to determine what constitutes an acceptable level of results? Is
it the missionary, the donor, the agency, the church, or a consensus of all?  How is the Lord included with His great plan for all of us working together in the field?  Will
expectations be individualized because of the unique and the changing circumstances in the field? 

Would
it not be better to use predetermined individual ministry goals as the benchmark
for assessing accountability?  For example, a young believer
decides that he wants to be more regular in daily devotions and asks an older
Christian to hold him accountable for such. Or a minister asks a friend or
group of friends to hold him accountable for maintaining moral purity?  These are opportunities for personal success in developing a personal relationship with the Lord.

Yes, missionary accountability differs from a basic business model.  Because the donors,  agencies and church(es)
believe that since they have a vested interest in the mission goals they feel compelled to utilize a results-based
accountability.  This goal-based accountability demands identifying who is qualified
and authorized to set the criteria and measure the success.  Yet there is no commonly agreed standard for all of us to work with.

Sometime ago, teachings, debates and even dramas on eschatology were hot in the church. “Remain Rapturable!” Was a popular way believers abmonished and provoked one another unto holiness and also a way of saying farewell. Pre-Tribulationists and Post-Tribulationist sounded off endlessly on who was right or wrong and why. We still hold strongly to our views on the when and how of the Rapture; but the topic is not as appealing these days and I wonder why.

This video clip below draws my attention to two components of the gospel. Quality and Quantity. The Scriptures speak in the Book of The Revelation of “…a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne.” (Rev 7:9) Let no one be fooled, God is very much interested in numbers, in a multitude. He still wills that ALL MEN be save (1Timothy 2:4). A people among all the peoples of the earth is His desire and He’ll not be stopped until He gets them. That’s why the Church is still on earth.

The Rapturability of any believer will be first and foremost based on immediate appraisal and not previous ratings; it’s still the pressing duty of every believer to engage the quantity side of the gospel while maintaining a quality of life that guarantees access into that reserved chamber for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:5-9). Jesus is purifying for Himself a peculiar people, He will present to Himself a glorious Church, one without spot or wrinkle. (Titus 2:14, Ephesians 5:27) He insists on quality.

I must score the pastor in this video clip very high. He successfully led most of his flock to heaven. He had his eye on quality and I think on quantity too. By the way, what do you think could be the story of those guys left behind?

So Jesus says, “And this Good News about the Kingdom will be preached through all the world for a witness to all people; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)

What will bring about the end is known- the global knowledge of the saving grace of God through His Son Jesus Christ. At this time, God would have gotten for Himself worshippers from all people groups on earth. However, what remains unknown is who did what and why? We serve a God that insists on being famous, loved and followed, albeit, freely. Shouldn’t  this be the primary concern of the believer in Jesus Christ? Should we not intentionally channel our energies and resources toward actualizing the return of Jesus? What are we doing now to ensure His quick return?

“Since all these things (the world and all in it) will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people should you be? Your lives should be holy and dedicated to God, as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon—the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat.” (2Pet 3:11-12 emphasis are mine)

The emphasis in this scripture awakens me to the frigthening reality that Christ’s return depends on our actions and reactions relating directly and indirectly to world evangelization today. This is serious!! I’m awed that God Almighty has predicated such an incredible event on what mere men like us do with the message of the Kingdom in this age. Are we really alive to this on a daily basis?