The Reality of Seeking Jesus !

"The Reality of Seeking Jesus!"
by Undrai & Bridget Fizer www.fizer.org

Seeking Jesus, for any reason other than being Transformed by Him, will leave you disappointed, miserable, sorrowful, and frustrated. Jesus transforms. He doesn't "conform" to the miseries that we may have allowed to define us. He "knows" where we are, and He loves us "where we are." But He does not impart power to us in order to "leave us where we are." He is a Spirit of Transformation and Movement.

Many people came to Jesus in order for their lives to experience change "on their terms, on their conditions, and their reasonings." They provided the plans, but they needed Him to provide the "means!" Jesus does not "supply our need" to remain in our own self-devised plan. He frustrates us "when He defines the relationship by His Own Intent!"

Jesus reveals His perfect love towards us, not by the blessings and favor that He grants to us, but by the passion He seeks to Transform us into His very Nature. He loves us by way of Transforming us, and not by lavishing us with "gifts" that obligate us to "reward Him" by way of a false seeking of Him.

It's impossible to walk with Jesus "and not become what He is." Just ask the disciples that left Him "after He required them to eat His flesh and drink His blood!" (John 6) .You cannot walk with the Master "and not become a master." You cannot walk with Significant faith "and desire for life to remain common!" It cannot be done, not with Jesus anyway.

When you walk with God, you become more than a better Christian. You awaken the sonship reality within you. Every "christian" cannot create. Every "christian" isn't fearless, doubtless, or masterful. But sons become what their Father is. You can only mature into the Stature of the One who created you. You cannot walk with God and become a "great anything" if your Father "isn't that thing already!" You can't become "what He never became!" You can only become mature "in the dimension that Jesus lives in already!" We can only mature into that thing "that Jesus presently functions from." If we have become "what He is not," then our maturity is based on the irrelevant "instead of the Divine!"

Many desire to seek Jesus in order to remain in their present state. They simply desire the ability to "manage" their present reality. But Jesus isn't into providing power to manage misery and unreconciled dimensions of life. He gives power to "the branches" in order for them to become the fullness of the Tree!

The rich young ruler would not take advantage of the Transforming power of Jesus. Therefore, he became more of the misery "that prompted him to find Jesus in the first place!" When you deny yourself the Transforming Power of Jesus, you become a son of the misery instead of "sons of the Master!" You possess a sonship relationship right now, with either Mastery, Misery, or Misfortune.

You are a son of something, and your search will define what that something is...

FOTO PELAYANAN DI PANTI WERDA KARITAS 17 OKTOBER 2008 BERSAMA PA HALELUYA

PUJI TUHAN NOVIE SELAKU KETUA PA HALELUYA BERSAMA DENGAN ROMBONGAN IBU (ORANGTUA MURID TKK-SMPK BAPTIS BANDUNG) MELAYANI DI PANTI WERDA KARITAS. SELAKU SUAMI DAN PEMBINA/PENASEHAT ROHANI ISTRIKU, NOVIE, SAYA BANGGA MELIHAT PERUBAHAN DAN SKILL LEADERSHIP YANG KINI IA MILIKI.TERIMAKASIH BANYAK JUGA ATAS SEMUA SUMBANGAN YANG TELAH DISALURKAN. TUHAN YESUS MEMBERKATI.

ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO

All Systems Are Go
by Robert & Joyce Ricciardelli www.vision2advance.com

There are many discussions these days surrounding organizational forms and expressions of faith. We have traditional expressions, house expressions, emerging expressions, and other organic expressions of faith, all having biblical references as to why they have it right. Could it be that Father just gets excited when we give Him something to work with?
 
Joyce and I have been truly blessed to have friends and family from many systems and faith communities. We have learned that God’s church (His people), is made up of individuals that are absolutely precious to Him, and though all of us are products of man-designed systems, He is an awesome God willing to relate with us right where we are.
 
Dr. Frankenstein & the World’s Systems is a book written by our friend Bob Mumford that we often give out as tracts to believers. This small book is excellent in describing how systems, though well intentioned, can become bondage. There are many systems that we all have to navigate through. As Bob describes, the major systems include religion, social caste system, natural family, political, and financial.
 
There are many systems created to provide guidance, safety, and opportunity, but when control and mandates begin to minimize the ambassadorship of the kings and priests within them, we must examine who is actually being Lord over them. We were all born with a purpose and when destinies are not realized and fulfilled, many are left discouraged and disillusioned.
 
The Reality
The reality is that we often become “of” these systems. When we become “of” something, the “of” takes the place of Jesus and His Kingdom. These become unsafe environments and they incarcerate rather than free. Nevertheless, the clear trumpet call for all of us is to a King and a Kingdom.
 
Matthew 6:33 - But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
 
When we become of His Kingdom, freedom reigns and many things become clear for our journey. Systems cannot contain the Kingdom and the systems should not restrain ambassadors of His Kingdom outside of what He has divinely ordered. When kings and priests operate in a Kingdom dimension, atmospheres begin to change, and transformation can take place.
 
What Does This Mean?
We have been blessed to be of His Kingdom for many years and have experienced wonderful relationships that have given us a safe place to vent, to be transparent, and to take flight within the things of God. We have had the ability to move with freedom in and out of systems because our identity is in Him and not the system.
 
The Bible says that He has set us free to be free. Free to be led by Him and as we do, we carry His presence into those systems and His transformation power begins to transform lives, even if it does not transform the system itself. Systems may never be changed or redeemed, but the people within them are being changed by the power of His Spirit. The power of love illuminating out from a Kingdom individual can change minds, hearts, and actions of anyone who will receive it.
 
Kingdom Ambassadors are led by their King in power. They are ruled and directed by Him into their faith communities, and the relationships He has ordained for their safety, their growth, and ultimately, their journey. Those that are free can set others free - not to leave their systems necessarily, but free to influence every jurisdiction and realm the Lord leads them into. Anarchy and rebellion can never be the drive for freedom. It must be birthed by Him, and it must be His agape love that is the foundation and motivation.
 
Now What?
Joyce had a dream of a row of prison cells and Jesus opening the locked doors setting captives free from their prison cells, but instead of following Him down the narrow way, they walked across the path into another cell, shutting the door locking themselves into another cell. Different cell, same bondage…hmmm.
 
Bob Mumford recently quoted, “Luther set me free, and then became my jail warden”.
 
Many people get a bit of revelation, or see errors in their system or faith community and choose to leave without the Lord even directing them to do so. And when they leave, where do they go? They often go right into another system that will eventually just be another prison, if their paradigms do not get transformed. The Lord may have them remain for relationships, influence, death to self, or any reason He desires.
 
What Must We Do?
Hear His voice! God may have you do an inside job. He may reveal to you the errors of a system and even the injustice, but cause you to remain to pray and bring His influence to others. Through His love and prayers, you may be the one who He uses to set others free. Regardless of the results, He desires obedience more than sacrifices or our own ideas. He also may move you on, but He will show you how and He will do it in a way that honors Him, and honors others. Seek Him, hear Him, and He will show you the way.
 
John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
 
All Systems Are Go
If God has called you there, then for you it is a system He desires you to be in. We have watched God use whatever we will give Him. Give God something to work with and watch what He will do, watch what only He can do. He is a God that can make beauty out of mush, and Joyce and I are examples of the wonders of His grace and transforming power. If there is a system that absolutely is abusing you, He may call you out. He may even call you out of something that is very comfortable, but do it in His will, His way, His timing. Be obedient.
 
He has set you free to be free. Not to be free to do your thing, but to be free to do His thing, be His own, and take dominion (stewardship), over the things He has given you. Expect favor and witness the divine shift in people, places, and circumstances as He lives and moves through you, and you live, move, and have your being in Him.
 
Thrive in Every Environment
When you are where He desires you can expect His glory to manifest. We have seen God’s Kingdom people thrive in many different church systems. It is not about the system, but it is about whom we are of, who we are following, who we believe in, and our obedience to the One True King.
All systems are go if Father has you there. It is the people that God treasures and not the form or structures we have built around Him. He is the form, He is the structure, and His Word is our foundation for all of life. When you want to pick up a stone to throw at the system, be careful not to hit one of His precious children inside. Put down the rocks, get into the depth of His love, be consumed by Him, and bring Him glory. All systems are go when Jesus places you there, and you are being led by the King and His Kingdom life.

CONCERN FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST

Concern For the Body of Christ
by David Ravenhill www.DavidRavenhill.net

 
I’m convinced if Jude were alive today his blood would be boiling, and his mind reeling in disbelief at what is being passed off as the gospel. This beloved brother appealed to the church of his day to “contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.” The ‘faith of our father’s is being assaulted, by both the seeker sensitive crowd on one side and the extreme prophetic on the other. One group fails to preach the whole gospel while the other side teaches the gospel “plus”.
 
One popular evangelist is exhorting his followers to believe in ‘the angel ‘ as though the angel was more important than the one who is to have preeminence in all things –Christ Himself. Another so called prophet claims to have regular trips into the throne room and yet to watch his almost cavalier attitude when referring to it, one would have to question his claims. In one encounter he says he could smell vanilla and that was proof positive that he was in the ‘throne room’. This is a far cry from John’s experience who when he saw HIM fell at His feet as if dead.
 
So much of what I’m hearing and seeing turns my stomach. I too long for the true manifest presence of God but I’m not about to join the circus under the leadership of some clown who pretends to be smoking a cigarette while claiming to be ‘high’ on Jesus.
 
I refuse to believe that the church is so spiritually bankrupt that we have to resort to such flippant and worldly tactics in order to attract a crowd. Speaking of crowds. I’m seeing worship leaders getting the people into such a frenzy that many appear to be in some type of hypnotic state, oblivious to what is happening around them. To the ‘enlightened’ this is the ultimate spiritual high. Or is it?
 
If there is one common denominator in all of this, it is the lack of any real spiritual fathers.
Speaking of which, let me quote from a couple. The following is taken from none other than Smith Wigglesworth.
 
“Liberty is beautiful when we never use it to satisfy ourselves, but use it in the Lord. What I mean is this: it would be wrong for me to take opportunity just because the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. But it would be perfectly justifiable if I clearly allow the Spirit of the Lord to have His liberty with me. However we are not to behave inappropriately in our liberty, for the flesh is more extravagant than the Spirit.
 
The Spirit’s extravagances are always for edification, strengthening character, and bringing us all more into conformity with the life of Christ…I believe that we have to come into the liberty of the Spirit that is so pure, it will never bring a frown of distraction over another person’s mind…I have seen people under the mighty power of the Holy Spirit who have waved their hands wildly and moved on the floor and have gone on in such a state that no one could say the body was not under the power. However there was more natural power than spiritual power there, and the natural condition of the person, along with the spiritual condition, caused the manifestation…
 
If there are any here who have those manifestations, I want to help you. I don’t want to hurt you. It is good that you should have the Spirit upon you; people need to be filled with the Spirit. But you never have a right to say you couldn’t help doing this, that, or the other manifestation…When the Spirit is there, the flesh must find some way out, and so through past experience, we allow all these things at the beginning…And so there are various manifestations, including kicking and waving, that take place at the incoming of the Holy Spirit, when the flesh and Spirit are in conflict. One must decrease and die and the other increase and multiply…
 
Consequently, when you come to understand this, you are in the place of sound judgment and know that now the Holy Spirit has come to take you on with God.”…What would you think if, at this point, I had to stop because of a great kicking sensation, and I had to lie down on the floor for three hours before I could go on with what the Spirit of the Lord was saying because my body and spirit were in disagreement?…All the people in the audience are waiting to see Smith Wigglesworth kick through a half hour before he goes on. I wonder if you think that was the will of God?
 
I don’t believe it is the will of God, and I never believe you have license to do it. I will never believe that God would baptize you with the Holy Spirit and then make you like a machine so that you couldn’t begin at any time and stop at any time.” ( Smith Wigglesworth On The Holy Spirit. Page 85-87)
 
For those with ears to hear, these are the sayings of a true apostolic father. One who is not afraid to go contrary to the status quo, but rather willing to bring about much needed correction. These days if anyone questions things like manifestations they are told,” God offends the mind to reveal the heart.” Which by interpretation means don’t question things or in other words swallow everything you’re told. Little wonder Jesus warned us that the Last Days would be rife with spiritual deception of every kind. As Christians we are to have the mind of Christ. Why then would God offend the mind? Not only that, but we are told in God’s Word, “He that is spiritual judges all things.” If you use your brain these days you’re deemed unspiritual.
 
Let’s listen to another ‘father’ share his heart with us. A.W. Tozer:
 
“Why did Peter, then, add a practical dimension of caution that the child of God should “gird up the loins of his mind,” and be sober minded in the daily expression of his Christian worship and witness?
 
It is my interpretation that the Apostle was cautioning the believers that their human emotions were not to be allowed to get out of control. I think he was pleading for the kind of spirituality that comes with the filling of the Holy Spirit and is marked by our walking in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and certainly is not degraded by dethronement of the sentinel we call reason!
The spirit of the prophet is always subject to the prophet. When the Spirit of God moves in a man’s heart he will make that man generous but He will never make a fool out of him. He will make the man happy but he will never make him silly…The Holy Spirit will make him warm hearted and responsive but He will never cause him to do things of which he will be ashamed later.
 
Peter was not promoting or predicting a cold and lifeless and formal spirituality in the Christian church when he advised believers to gird up the loins of their minds and be sober.
He was saying to the early Christians as he hopes to say to us now: “Brethren, if ever there was an hour when we needed to be serious about our Christian faith, this is the hour! We need to be sober men – and spiritual men!” ( The Tozer Pulpit. Vol 5. )
 
What saddens me the most about these ‘young zealots’ is that they are being congratulated by so called fathers in the faith, but not corrected. This then empowers them to continue, believing they have ‘apostolic’ approval for their actions. Listen to the wisdom of Solomon. “It is good for a man the he should bear the yoke in his youth.” Some of these young zealots are in desperate need of a ‘yoke’. They confuse their zeal for the anointing, such as kicking a person in the stomach and then declaring him healed. (He wasn’t) As my father loved to say, “The one thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history.” Therefore we are doomed to carry on repeating the errors of the past. May God help us.
 
God grant us some spiritual fathers who will be wise enough to discern, loving enough to correct, strong enough to stand their ground, broken and humble enough to pray for help, forgiving enough to restore, mature and Godly enough to lead.

SEKOLAH ALKITAB “ONLINE” GRATIS

SEKOLAH ALKITAB “ONLINE” GRATIS

EAGLES NEST ONLINE BIBLE SCHOOL

Puji Tuhan, setelah bergumul beberapa lama dan mengalami kegagalan beberapa kali untuk membuat Sekolah Alkitab berbahasa Indonesia secara online dan gratis. Pada akhirnya Tuhan membuka jalan bagi kami hingga dapat kembali membuka “EAGLES NEST ONLINE BIBLE SCHOOL” (Sekolah Alkitab Online Sarang Rajawali).
Beberapa kendala yang sempat kami hadapi adalah kurangnya tenaga penerjemah bahan Sekolah Alkitab yang rata-rata berbahasa asing, seperti Bahasa Inggris atau Belanda. Kendala lainnya adalah ketidakmampuan siswa atau murid untuk membayar uang sekolah padahal kami harus membayar “copyright” sekolah Alkitab mereka. Sedang kami sendiri merupakan keluarga pelayan Tuhan yang hidup dengan iman dan tengah merintis pelayanan baru. Puji Tuhan akhirnya Ia buka jalan dan kami mendapat rekanan atau jejaring yang memberikan bahan-bahan Sekolah Alkitab secara cuma-cuma hingga kami dapat membagikan kebenaran-kebenaran ini secara gratis pula. Bila sekolah Alkitab ini gratis bukan berarti ini adalah Sekolah Alkitab murahan. Kami mengupayakan Sekolah Alkitab Online ini gratis agar semua orang dapat diperlengkapi untuk menjadi murid Kristus dan Penuai di akhir zaman. Pembelajaran yang anda terima setara dengan pendidikan Sekolah Alkitab dalam sebuah asrama atau kampus selama 2 tahun dengan biaya operasional sekolah minimal mencapai puluhan juta rupiah. Bila anda mengikutinya dengan setia dan menyelesaikan tugas-tugas yang diberikan pada masa akhir studi ini anda akan mendapat Diploma in Mission.
Apa yang menjadi kerinduan hati kami? Kami percaya Tuhan Yesus mati di atas kayu salib dan bangkit dari kematian untuk menghasilkan murid (disciples) sesuai dengan Matius 28: 18-20 dan bukan sekedar mencari anggota (members) yang suam-suam. Kami berharap anda mengambil kesempatan ini dengan sebaik-baiknya, hidup di dunia ini sangat singkat. Sebentar lagi kita kembali pada Sang Pencipta, saat engkau ada dihadapanNya apa yang hendak kau bawa? (Matius 25:31-46).

PENDAHULUAN

Mengapa kita perlu mengikuti Eagles Nest Online Bible School ? Sebab Tuhan
memanggil kita semua untuk menjadi murid Kristus. Seorang murid saat ia bersekolah, ia akan mendapatkan pelajaran baru dan penerapan pengetahuan tersebut bagi kehidupannya.
“Eagles Nest Online Bible School”, merupakan salah satu pola pemuridan dan pendalaman Alkitab, yang akan membantu para murid Kristus untuk bukan saja mendapatkan pengetahuan akan kebenaran namun juga membantu kita semua untuk menerapkannya dalam kehidupan sehari-hari.
Tujuan dari “Eagles Nest Online Bible School”, adalah menghasilkan murid-murid Kristus yang melaksanakan Amanat Agung dan memperlebar Kerajaan Tuhan di muka bumi.

LAPORAN TERAKHIR KRISTUS PADA BAPA

Dalam Injil Yohanes pasal 17, kita dapat melihat bahwa Tuhan Yesus memberikan laporan terakhirNya pada Bapa. Ia tidak melaporkan berapa banyak mujizat yang telah terjadi, berapa banyak kesembuhan, berapa banyak yang menjadi percaya, berapa banyak orang mati bangkit, berapa banyak orang kerasukan dilepaskan namun Ia berdoa dan berbicara pada Bapa mengenai para muridNya yang menyertai Dia selama 3,5 tahun. Saudaraku, tidak cukup kita hanya sekedar beragama Kristen bahkan meskipun sudah terlibat pelayanan sekalipun. Bila kita belum menjadi murid Kristus dan memuridkan orang lain maka kita hanya sekedar melakukan aktivitas agamawi tanpa tahu tujuan
dirimu sebagai pengikut Kristus.
Kita dipanggil untuk mengenal dan mempermuliakan Dia. Saya sangat senang dengan motto pelayanan Youth With A Mission (sebuah lembaga missi terbesar di dunia) , “To know Him and to make Him known” (Untuk mengenal Dia dan membuat Dia dikenal).
Anda dan saya dipanggil untuk menjadi murid Kristus. Hari lepas hari seharusnya kita makin mengenal Dia dan membagikan pengenalan kita akan Dia itu pada orang lain.

KITA SEMUA DIPANGGIL DAN DIPILIH TUHAN

Di dalam Injil Yohanes 15:16, Tuhan Yesus berfirman,”Bukan kamu yang memilih Aku, tetapi Akulah yang memilih kamu. Dan aku telah menetapkan kamu supaya kamu pergi dan menghasilkan buah dan buahmu itu tetap, supaya apa yang kamu minta kepada Bapa dalam namaKU, diberikanNya kepadamu.”
Ingat bukan kita yang memilih Dia sebagai Tuhan dan Juruselamat kita. Tetapi Dialah yang memilih dan menetapkan kita.
Tiga pekerjaan yang Ia berikan pada kita yaitu, pergi, berbuah dan hasilkan buah yang tetap:

PERGI; pergi kemana? Pergi kemana biasanya saudara pergi sehari-hari, ke pasar, tempat bekerja, tempat kuliah, bermain, dll. Kita semua adalah utusan misi Tuhan. Kita adalah terang dan garam dunia dimanapun kita berada. (Mat 28:18-20, Mrk 16:15-20, Kis 1:8)

BERBUAH; Bila nama Yesus ditinggikan dalam hidup kita maka akan ada suatu magnet yang akan menarik orang bermasalah dan berdosa datang pada kita (Yoh 12:32). Saat anda mulai menerapkan kebenaran Firman Tuhan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, maka akan terjadi perubahan yang dasyat dalam hidup anda. Dan perubahan itu akan menjadi suatu daya tarik, ada buah roh yang timbul dalam hidup anda (Gal 5:22-23)

MENGHASILKAN BUAH YANG TETAP; Setelah kita mengalami Kristus dalam
kehidupan sehari-hari maka kita perlu berdoa dan meminta pada Tuhan jiwa-jiwa baru untuk kita muridkan. Pemuridan merupakan tempat dimana kita belajar untuk menjadi serupa dengan Kristus. Bagi anda yang pada hari ini memutuskan untuk bertumbuh bersama kami sebagai murid Kristus, kami ucapkan “welcome to join the family”. Kami ada untuk bertumbuh bersama-sama dengan anda di dalam Tuhan.

Salam dan kasih,
Dave & Novie Broos

JANGAN RAGU LAGI UNTUK BERGABUNG DENGAN KAMI, SEGERA AKSES

http://enonlinebibleschool.blogspot.com .

Links yang berguna bagi para murid:

The Eagles Nest Ministries = http://3a9l35-n35t.blogspot.com
Renungan Kehidupan = http://renungandave.blogspot.com
Ekklesia (Gereja) = http://gerejaperjanjianbaru.blogspot.com
Global Prayer Network = http://globalprayernetwork.blogspot.com
Shadow of The Cross Indonesia = http://shaddowcross.blogspot.com
Guardian Angels = http://9u4rd14n-4n93ls.blogspot.com
Zoe Ministries Malaysia = http://zoeministries.blogspot.com
Spiritual Growth = http://davebroos.blogspot.com
Market Place Ministry = http://dave-broos.blogspot.com
In My Darkness Hours = http://inmydarnesshours.blogspot.com
LK10 = www.LK10.com
Outreach Fellowship International = www.robertfitts.com
Shadow of the Cross International = www.shaddowcross.com
Jonathan Pattiasina = www.jonathanpattiasina.com

LAPORAN PELAYANAN BULAN OKTOBER 2008

LAPORAN PELAYANAN BULAN OKTOBER 2008

PUJI TUHAN, TANGGAL 6 OKTOBER 2008 LALU, NOVIE TELAH SELESAI MEMBERIKAN KESAKSIAN UNTUK PROGRAM CBN-SOLUSI. PUJI TUHAN UNTUK ROY AND TEAM YANG TELAH BEKERJASAMA DALAM PEMBUATAN KESAKSIAN INI.
KESAKSIAN SAYA, TELAH DIPUTAR DI TV LOKAL JAKARTA, “O CHANNEL”. SEDANG DI SCTV MENURUT ROY AKAN TAYANG PADA MINGGU KE EMPAT BULAN OKTOBER INI.
DARI KESAKSIAN YANG SAYA BERIKAN, PUJI TUHAN, KABARNYA BANYAK YANG MENGALAMI JAMAHAN TUHAN DAN MERESPON UNTUK DIDOAKAN DAN MEMINTA KONSELING DARI PIHAK CBN (SOLUSI). SEGALA PUJI SYUKUR KAMI KEMBALIKAN PADA TUHAN YESUS KRISTUS.
PADA TANGGAL 17 OKTOBER INI, NOVIE DAN PARA IBU DARI PA HALELUYA JUGA AKAN MENGADAKAN BAKTI SOSIAL KE PANTI WERDA KARITAS. PUJI TUHAN, SUDAH ADA YANG MENYUMBANG BERAS, BEBERAPA KARTON MIE DAN MAKANAN RINGAN BERIKUT PULA SEJUMLAH UANG NAGI KEPERLUAN OPERASIONAL PELAYANAN DISANA.
KAMI SENDIRI MERASA TERBEBAN UNTUK MENOLONG PANTI WERDA INI SEBAB MEREKA KEKURANGAN VOLUNTEER DAN JUGA DONATUR TETAP. MOHON DUKUNGAN DOA ATAS HAL ITU.
Bekerjasama dengan DCI Foundation pada akhirnya kami dapat kembali mengadakan Sekolah Alkitab gratis secara online & berbahasa Indonesia pula yang kami beri nama Eagles Nest Online Bible School. Kami berharap melalui kerjasama ini lebih banyak orang Kristen menjadi murid Kristus dan bukan sekedar menjadi anggota gereja yang pasif atau hanya jago kandang alias pelayanan di dalam gedung gereja tanpa menjadi terang dan garam dalam hidup kesehariannya. Harapan kami melalui blog baru ini, para pemimpin Kriten juga mendapatkan bahan pemuridan yang baik bagi gerejanya. Sekolah Alkitab Online ini dapat diakses di http://enonlinebibleschool.blogspot.com
Puji Tuhan, kami juga sudah membuat beberapa blog baru, blog yang fokus pada Market Place Ministry http://dave-broos.blogspot.com , focus pada “menghadapi masa sukar” http://inmydarnesshours.blogspot.com , focus pada persahabatan http://friendshipamongnations.blogspot.com , dan focus pada tim sepakbola Belanda http://myoranjeteam.blogspot.com . Dua blog terakhir merupakan upaya untuk melakukan friendship evangelism.
Untuk mendukung pendanaan pelayanan saya sedang belajar untuk menjadi internet marketer, baru coba-coba, dukung doa ya. Bila ada rekan-rekan yang memiliki usaha yang dapat kami garap di Bandung tanpa mengganggu pelayanan alias dapat dikerjakan secara freelance dengan senang hati kami ingin tahu informasinya.
Juga tidak lupa mengucapkan selamat untuk Christo and Susan yang baru saja dikaruniai seorang putra bernama Giovano Jonathan Lorence denganberat 3,3 kg dan panjang 52 cm. Haleluya…anak-anak kecil di GO Surabaya bertambah lagi nih. Juga untuk setiap saudara dan saudariku di GO Surabaya yang tidak bosan-bosannya banyak mendukung kami. Doakan agar GO Bandung dapat berkembang juga ya!? Kami masih menunggu “kairos”(waktu) Tuhan untuk bergerak meski terbatas oleh banyak hal, terutama secara financial kami belum stabil. Hingga terkadang pelayanan di jalanan mandek. Kiranya Tuhan memberi kami hikmat agar orang-orang yang kami layani mendapatkan follow up dengan baik. Usaha penjualan pakaian yang seyogyanya untuk mendukung hidup sehari-hari dan operasional pelayanan pun macet, saat para pembeli (yang membeli secara kredit) mulai tersendat-sendat dalam pembayaran. Kami tengah belajar untuk terjun di market place meskipun itu tidak mudah bagi kami yang sudah belasan tahun hidup sebagai “imam professional” di gereja. Meski kami harus melalui berbagai kesulitan ini, kami melihat ini semua sebagai sebuah pembelajaran untuk dapat lebih mengerti apa yang dihadapi jemaat Tuhan di dunia kerja yang mungkin selama ini saya tidak mengerti atau rasakan.
Dukung doa juga saat ini saya tengah membuat sebuah buku berjudul “Saat Tuhan Sulit Dimengerti” dengan beberapa draft untuk penulisan buku jangka panjang (kesaksian hidup kami suami istri, mengapa kami masuk dalam pergerakan penanaman gereja PB,dll). Puji Tuhan juga, oleh kasih karunia Tuhan, tulisan-tulisan untuk renungan yang ada kini juga mulai dimuat pada Tabloid Imagodei, Renungan Pria dan Renungan Hana (Bandung) selain di Renungan Wanita (Surabaya).
Juga terimakasih untuk Pak Tony Tedjo sebagai director School of Writing, untuk setiap kesempatan yang diberikan mengikuti pelatihan anda, meski saya terkendala biaya. Tuhan yang memberkati dan membalas kebaikan anda.
Terimakasih untuk setiap teman-teman yang terus mendorong saya untuk berkarya melalui tulisan. Saya sangat appreciate atas apa yang kalian sampaikan. Tuhan juga memberkati apapun yang kalian kerjakan untuk menjadi dampak bagi tubuh Kristus.
Dukung doa juga untuk tempat tinggal, sebab kontrakan rumah kami bayar secara cicil dan belum lunas. Kiranya Tuhan membuka jalan bagi kami. Harapan kami tahun depan sudah dapat mencicil sebuah rumah tinggal agar tidak menjadi “kaum nomaden”, namun segala sesuatu kami serahkan kembali pada Tuhan sebab Ia yang EmpuNya rencana indah atas hidup kami. Kami hanya mengalir di bawah pimpinan Roh KudusNya. Dalam suka duka kukan tetap tersenyum sebab Yesus sertaku…begitulah lagu masa lalu yang kami amini setiap hari.
Bagi anda yang tergerak atau digerakkan Tuhan untuk mendukung pekerjaan yang tengah kami kerjakan, dapat anda transfer ke BCA II Bandung no rek BCA 0081824788 atas nama Dave Broos.
Layanan doa dan konseling dapat kirimkan email ke davebroos@yahoo.co.uk atau SMS 081330135643.

ARE YOU HEADED TO NINIVEH OR TARSHISH?

Lee Grady, merupakan salah satu penulis yang kusukai. Apa yang ia ungkapkan seolah berasal dari isi hati Tuhan sendiri. Ia dapat menjabarkan kebenaran dari sudut pandang yang lain alias tidak pada umumnya. Tulisannya di bawah ini telah menjadi kekuatan bagi kami untuk tetap mentaati panggilanNya. Melayani mereka yang terhilang dalam dunia subkultur. Thanks Lee for your faithfulness as a writer. God bless you.


Are You Headed to Nineveh … or Tarshish?
by Lee Grady (Charisma Editor) www.themordecaiproject.com

Jonah fled from God’s presence because he didn’t want to be a prophet to a lost world. Which way are you sailing?
In the 8th century B.C. Jonah participated in one of the most unusual prayer meetings in history. It happened at the bottom of the sea from inside a giant fish. With damp seaweed wrapped around his head and his skin bleached by digestive juices, the renegade prophet sat on the slimy stomach membrane and gasped for breath amidst the foul odor of eels, crabs and barnacles.
In total darkness Jonah prayed from the salty depths: “Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness, but I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord” (Jon. 2:8-9, NASB).
Sometimes we must sink to the lowest point before we turn to God. That’s what Jonah did. From what could have been a watery grave he got a second chance to obey.
“Are you running from God’s call on your life? Have you hired a luxury ship to take you to a comfort zone where you don’t have to think about the needs of your Nineveh?”
The fish swam hundreds of miles eastward, back toward the Phoenician shore, and vomited the repentant prophet onto dry land. Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city” (3:2).
It had not been an easy process, but Jonah now understood his priorities.
When he finally arrived in Nineveh he heralded his message and caused a citywide commotion. Within hours everyone was talking about the Jewish prophet who spoke of divine judgment. All the inhabitants of the Assyrian capital, including the king, put on sackcloth and called on the name of the God of Israel because of Jonah’s dire warning.
God touched an entire city with His amazing forgiveness because one reluctant man finally fulfilled his divine assignment.
All of us can relate to this story. We are called to minister to the faithless Ninevehs of our generation—our workplaces, campuses, neighborhoods, cities and beyond. Each of us is called to be a missionary with a specific assignment. But often we run in the opposite direction because of fear of failure, insecurity about our weaknesses, disappointment about a past ministry experience or just plain selfishness.
Jonah hired a boat to take him to Tarshish, which was about as far as you could go from Nineveh in those days. (Bible scholars say it was in Spain, possibly a mining outpost near Gibraltar.) But he never reached his Mediterranean hideaway. God found him asleep in the hold of the ship and sent a storm to rouse him. Within a few hours he was thrown overboard and ended up as fish food.
Can you find yourself in Jonah’s story? Are you running from God’s call on your life? Have you tried to drown out the cries of lost people? Have you hired a luxury ship to take you to a comfort zone where you don’t have to think about the needs of your Nineveh?
Many American Christians today are in Jonah’s boat. We don’t like to hear sermons about evangelism. We’re not interested in the crucified life. We’ve shunned sacrifice. Instead of making the Great Commission our priority, we’ve fallen asleep with our iPods playing perky messages about success and prosperity.
But I hear the sound of wind and waves. God has sent a storm to rouse a distracted, disobedient church out of its slumber. We must take the same steps Jonah did:
1. Wake up. Jonah’s disobedience put the sailors on his ship in peril. Did you realize that when we shirk our responsibility to share the gospel of Christ, others perish? We must get out of our beds of spiritual lethargy and stop ignoring the cries of the unbelieving.
The charismatic church today has ignored the call to evangelism. In many churches we are more interested in getting personal prophecies, having heavenly visitations, interpreting our dreams or seeing gold dust than we are in winning souls. We’ve lost our first love. We’ve become ingrown and self-absorbed. But an alarm has sounded!
2. Look up. Sometimes God allows difficult circumstances to bring His church to repentance. Could this be one reason our economy is squeezing us to a breaking point? Has God sent a storm to blow away the materialism that has made us fat and proud?
Jonah was stripped to the bare essentials by the time he landed in the fish’s belly. He went through a scary digestive process, yet a loving God watched over him. Many of us may face some darkness and discomfort before we emerge empowered for a coming season of revival.
3. Embrace your call. When Jonah repented, he declared: “Salvation is from the Lord” (2:9). How desperately the American church today must embrace again the message of salvation. We must stop running. God wants to use all of us to reach people for Christ. The Lord has given all of us the message of reconciliation, and we must reclaim it anew.
The Christian life is not about you and your needs—it is a call to deny yourself and share the forgiveness of Jesus with everyone around you. If you are a fugitive from the call of God, please turn yourself in today.

TRANSFORMATIONAL MINISTRY OR CONFORMITY

Transformational Ministry or Conformity
by Don Lamb donnetlamb@embarqmail.com

There will always be ongoing differences concerning ministry models and how we go about seeing people revived and kept on track with God. It is a proven fact, that these different models and ministry philosophies can rub each other the wrong way. What I’m about to share is simply my ministry philosophy based on experience and, therefore, it is limited and not perfect. Furthermore, as I address the issue of always looking for the silver-bullet solution in this day of hungering for transformation and breakthrough, I am not offering my views as the silver-bullet only as fuel to provoke others to find the real answers we need. I also realize that those who disagree with my approach can still be powerfully used of God and blessed by His increase without my approval.

Working through different ministry models and expectations is critical to the harmony on any leadership team, especially since many times leadership teams are made up of many individuals that have been on unique and dissimilar journeys.

By the grace of God, in the last ten years, there has begun to emerge leaders who simply are hungry to partner with God in supernatural and practical ways to allow God to bring forth a people who are fully yielded to His purposes and filled with the Spirit to influence their world transformationally. How we get there and how we deal with our individual expectations along the way can be quite challenging. One thing is for sure, we all want vibrant, victorious Jesus-lovers who know their God and know how to work in unison with other believers for the purposes of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Needless to say, we have learned that having a clear vision is not the only factor in producing harmonious leadership and healthy Body life. There is also required an integration of our different expectations and ministry models into one blended work of grace.

One of the things I struggle with, in our present day, is how we try to get results in people’s lives spiritually. Sometimes we can get an end result without true transformation. The end result doesn’t always authenticate the means. I see that leadership in our day is pretty quick to identify the problem, and find a solution, but they are not always good at finding out what the deeper underlying issue is.

For example, how do we see permanent change and sustained victory come to people who are in constant systemic weakness and distraction? Is the sermon content lacking? Is the Sunday morning or Wednesday night format right? Will small groups and accountability help overcome the dragging of spiritual feet for many of our faithful attendees? Some of these issues can contribute to this struggle, but, are these the real answer?

Obviously, because these questions are being asked, there is a lack of motivation and intimacy with God among many of our people. They have a knowledge of the Lord and His Kingdom but they are denying its power and are not being transformed by the renewing of their mind. Life has a grip on them more powerfully than the Word and Spirit of God.

However, inadvertently, through pressure we can unconsciously try to answer this lack of fruit-bearing by trying to conform our people to a higher standard and for a season they may even respond to this pressure. We can get the right result. But are they doing something simply because we are preaching on it? Or are they doing it because they are so in love with God that they listen to him as the ultimate “Authority” and become transformed by full surrender to His Word and Spirit? Are they engaged in the ministries of our church because they see them integrally part of the Kingdom of God or are they just filling a need because leadership makes a desperate plea?

I understand that there is still ignorance within the Body of Christ on certain foundational truths and how the Kingdom of God is expressed through serving in a local congregation. These truths need to be regularly retaught. But this is a smaller percentage of the believers who attend our fellowships than those who already know the foundations and aren’t following through with stepping out and obeying the Kingdom principles they already know, or who are obeying them inconsistently.

The sad reality is that all of our fellowships are mired in some level of immaturity and routine. Even the most visionary and transformationally minded churches have more of a conformity going on inside the Church than transformation. Depending on the size of the body determines how greatly the weight falls on those who are truly committed.

Consequently, leadership teams are tempted to try and address these issues i.e.: lack of tithing, lack of prayer, lack of devotions, lack of commitment and support for the ministries of the local church; lack of personal victory over sin and offenses, by constantly tweaking and introducing practical strategies or focused preaching and format changes (We don’t have many people from such and such age group because we don’t have a program for them, so let’s make this program so we can get them in) and so on.

I’m not saying leadership shouldn’t continue trying to give focus and strategies to overcome these deficiencies and sins in the Church. But there can be a subtle trap of ever changing the system, the sermons, the format, and the venues without coming to the foundational lack in the whole ministry and church, and that is the absence of transformational anointings and mantles on the leadership themselves and the presence of God among us as a whole. We need to look within and see what is yet constricting the full release of the Spirit though leadership.

It is easier to fault the tangible things we do. The sermons are not feeding us. The sanctuary isn’t the best. The lighting and sound system need upgraded. The time we meet is too long or too short. We are too organized. We are too unorganized. As a result, we stay in a continual cycle of finding this or that as the reason why our fellowships don’t break through, when all along is it much deeper and much simpler.

As long as there is a lack of the saturating presence of God in leadership and their level of community together as a team, they will struggle to see the release of the Spirit of breakthrough and obedience in the people. Obviously, there are no excuse for lukewarm living in anyone who comes to our fellowships. We need to hold them to the standard of the Word of God. But part of receiving the glory of God among us is that the leadership team themselves need personal times when they are baptized in their own “upper room” and come away filled with the Spirit declaring the wonders of God to the people.

This will go a long way in helping us harmonize our different ministry callings and teach us to carry our own gifts and anointings with greater wisdom and humility. We need swept up in a flood of inner and outer transformation as leaders and this will set our people up for success in their journey of transformation.

We need to prevail as leadership teams for anointings that will penetrate our own hearts at deeper levels as well as bring our people into transformed lifestyles founded on passionate first-love obedience and not on guilty consciences.

We need to stand together for each other and give grace even as our own journeys for these mantles falters at times through discouragement, busyness, and sin. We cannot give up ourselves until we become those who will “Make level paths for (their) feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” Hebrews 12:13 (NIV)