| I'VE SEEN
THE LIGHTENING
In 1993 God impressed upon the members of Antioch Baptist Church to
extend an invitation to one of God's messengers. In that
self-same time God spoke to that messenger and confirmed His sending
of him to Antioch. the thing that stands out in my mind is the
centrality of God; it is god's program we are on, it is God's agenda
we are following. We live in such a
If your vision is for a year, plant wheat. If your vision
id for ten years, plant trees. If your vision is for a lifetime,
plant people.
Chinese Proverb
humanistic (man centered) society, to say that God is
central is a foreign concept. Now, I know I said society, but my
real aim is the church. How does the church hear the voice of
God? By what means is the will of God revealed to the
church? These are questions that are at the heart of the
churches purpose. In our Christian tradition we believe that
Christ is the founder and establisher of the church (called out
assembly). If the church of God would get it right then we could
be better examples to the larger society.
|
Over the Christmas holiday I had
opportunity to visit home. While there the conversations that we
were engaged in centered around the church. There was a thread
that ran through each conversation we had. At the heart of everything
was the stat of the church. It would be good if we were talking
about simply the ministries that go on. Our state of the
church centered around where the church is going. Better stated
the issue would be, What is the vision of the church? What is of
great interest to me is that no one in the church is talking about
vision. No one is talking about what God is saying. The
reason why is that we have lost the ability to know what God is
saying.
"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the
vision from heaven
Acts 26:19 NIV
The church is talking about everything except vision. We are
talking about buildings and property. We are talking about status and
station. these things are not unimportant but they are not the
central things we are to be about. At this given time I have
decided to stick with the vision. Kingdom Building is the vision
which translates into The Church of Three Ships;
|
Worship, Friendship, and
fellowship. More than stick with the vision I want to pursue
the vision. My firm belief is that if we can get back to the
vision we can do great things. Getting back to the vision is go
get back to God. I was sent here to set forth the vision.
The only job I have is to set before you as the people f God the vision
of God.
New things are happening in many of your lives. The reason
why is that God is working out his vision in you. As the
messenger of God, I encourage you to embrace the vision of Kingdom
Building. Let worship, friendship, and fellowship stream forth
out of your lives like a mighty fountain. We are God's planting,
His vineyard. God wants us to produce much fruit for Him.
Here is how you produce fruit.
First, state the problem. Second, present the solution.
Third, give the reason something must be done. Lastly, give the
reason something must be done now.
Andy Stanley
|
