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Feb 11, 2011
The future
Numbers of folks are asking me what now, when and how concerning the future for Gloria and I.
In today’s Think Time, I want to lay out a few thoughts, and words that the Holy Spirit has been sharing with me.
Firstly: Much of my life is now past. What happens next may well be my last opportunity to do something for God while still on this planet, so I intend to make the most of it.
Secondly: My philosophy for life is God first - period. For many years I was taught that my family should come first, with God and the Church second. Well, that’s not for me. I put second, third, fourth what God puts in those places, but God comes first. He has graciously put me with a wonderful wife and children, and I am most grateful for that, but God stands alone in first place.
Thirdly: I want to build the body of Christ, not a denomination. Denominations are permanently out of favour for me. They limit God because they are forced by decree to follow certain protocols which are inevitably man made and divisive.
Fourthly: My creed, statement of faith, mission statement, or whatever you want to call this sorts of article, is the Bible. Every page is important to me. Every page has something from which I can learn.
Fifthly: So far as I am concerned, the Holy Spirit is my senior Pastor, and I intend to consult him on every matter, be it program, business decision, counselling need, friends, future, teaching, whatever. I want to, and plan to, listen to anyone who wants to share stuff with me, but at the end of the day it will be the Holy Spirit who will have the final say in my life.
Sixthly: My family has a strong common denominator in the area of music. I want to develop this as much as they will let me, for the glory of God.
Seventhly: I want no one but God to ever get the glory for what he is pleased to favour me with. No matter how successful, rich or famous I may ever become, I want no praise or glory. That honour is reserved for God alone.
The Holy Spirit has warned me:
"Never forget that the Church is made up of ones."
I must remember that every person is significant and important. I believe with all my heart that God lodged with me, back in 1981, his desire to see at least 6,000 people saved in the district I am privileged to live in. It was in that dramatic encounter I had with God, that he commissioned me to serve him in a full-time capacity, and I will do so for as long as he wants.
It is going to be difficult, with such large numbers ahead, to make sure I obey this instruction from the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit has said to me:
Always teach simple things.
This is not a bad instruction for me because I don’t consider myself a particularly talented scholar of the Bible anyway!
Christianity should be simple. The basic principles of God are such that a little child can grasp them. It is the devil who makes things complicated, who seeks to discourage and defeat. So if anyone comes to a program where I am teaching, with the expectation of some deep theological sermon, they will be disappointed. People of that degree of maturity don’t need me.
The Holy Spirit has asked me:
“Do you want a cemetery church or a kindergarten church?”
I have told him I want a kindergarten church.
A cemetery church may be neat and tidy, beautifully dressed and immaculately groomed. But there is no life there. The worship may be perfect, the band superb, behaviour above question, but without life it is dead.
A kindergarten church may have lots of spiritual children fighting and scrapping from time to time, it may be noisy and messy. But there is life there.
I do not want to be in a congregation of the dead. My God is alive. He wants to fix problems, and help overcome failings. He wants to teach how to be victorious through thick or thin. He wants children who are teachable. He wants life!
The Holy Spirit has warned me:
...not to think like everyone else does.
To me this means that he doesn’t necessarily want to operate the same way ‘next time’. Even a casual reading of the Bible will reveal that God simply doesn’t often work how we expect him too. His ways are different from ours.
This means therefore that I will be a risky person to associate with. My God is exciting and dangerous! I love living on the edge and will never hesitate to change whatever he wants changed - programs, timetables, venues, personnel, goals… Everything belongs to him and he is in charge of the lot.
The Holy Spirit has promised me:
...he will never leave me nor forsake me, assuredly not!
He said this, and that’s good enough for me.
AMEN!
I’m excited about the future.
Have you noticed?
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