Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Truly stepping out to follow


In July this summer, very powerful experience for me has been watching the movie The Last Reformation: The beginning (available on youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zka4DUYeJ5g), which is about wonderful transformations in street evangelism with signs and wonders following. I highly recommend watching this movie, and there are training opportunities organized by this movement in some locations as well. It started with Torben Sondergaard’s heart’s cry to be fruitful and to truly reach people for Jesus. While doing my readings in the Old Testament, I found some powerful confirmation to what I saw in the movie. In Exodus 4, God sent Moses to Israelites to set them free from slavery in Egypt. It is possible to draw some parallels between how Moses was sent and how the disciples of Jesus were sent out in Mark 16. Moses was given the sign of shepherd's staff turning to snake and then back to staff; disciples were given power over demonic forces. Moses was given sign of skin disease and it disappearing; disciples were given authority to heal. Moses was given a sign of water turning into blood; disciples were baptizing in water and overcoming by the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12,11). That is the true flowing Christ and stepping out of the boat; I slso love the boat scene in movie The Shack (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1OHyINxuRQ). The aspect of speaking and testifying is important regarding both Moses and disciples; something Moses felt hesitant about and was given Aaron as a help. Help of disciples is the Holy Spirit; Jesus assures He will give them what to say (Luke 12,11). In response, this prayer arises in my heart: “Lord, help us to respond to your call and to be true followers willing to step out! Enable us to walk in your authority, open our mouths, and let signs and wonders follow!” Some claim that signs and wonders are not for today, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13,8). Interestingly, the verse of the month in my German Christian calendar was about Jesus making us a fisher of men (Matthew 4,19).
I believe in many cases, we need more than just the Word; we need to touch people to the depth of their need with the power of God, and not just when reaching out, but also the people who are already in the church – so many need physical and inner healing. We don’t want to just have the shape and form of godliness, but God’s power in our midst. I personally connect best to people who hunger for seeing more of God, want to go deeper, and are not satisfied with just regular activities and seeing God in some small ways in their lives. I recently made a new friend who has health issues and it amazed me that though she has been part of fellowships, she has not been joined in prayer for healing. We need to go deeper than just superficial talks and lunches, notice the needs people are having and step out in faith to reach out to them. We prayed with this sister and continue to proclaim her healing. Sometimes stepping out can be starting to proclaim instead of just praying to God, because it is possible to pray from position of unbelief, but by proclaiming we learn to align with the position of faith, hope, and expectation.
However, we also need God's guidance in stepping out. At times we may respond from fight or plight reactions, which are quite human - we either passively bear and avoid something too long, trying to run away, or  - confront and fight with some problem aggressively in our own strength. These responses may be destructive and unhelpful to actually change situation for better. In Exodus 2, Moses demonstrated both of these. He killed Egyptian who was beating Hebrew slave, and then ran away from Egypt. This did not achieve much to change the yoke the nation was bearing. The change came when Israelites cried out to God, He heard and sent Moses to deliver them. We need to pray and be in the presence of God, cry out and receive God’s guidance rather than act upon impulses of our human nature. At the right time, God’s way of delivering Israelites was effective, eliminating the whole system of oppression and letting them to take out the riches of Egypt as recompense. The quote that recently also spoke to me, sent to a WeChat list (author unknown) states as follows: “Witnessing is not something we do for God; it is something we do in response to what God is doing. Real witnessing doesn’t involve selling Christ as though He were a product; it involves learning to recognize the Spirit of God working in someone’s life and joining Him in this activity. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day."(John 6, 44)”


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