God and Satan both want the same thing. They both want to kill you, only for different reasons.
Satan wants to kill your effectiveness for the Kingdom of God. He does this by enticing each new believer to remain aloof from body life. He really doesn't care about what happens after we die; he just doesn't want us, while alive, to disturb his kingdoms in this world by being part of a cell group that reveals Christ's Presence, Power and Purpose.
God wants to kill everything in you that He cannot use for His Kingdom purposes. One thing is certain, he must kill you to the idea that you can exist in the Kingdom apart from body life. Entering the kingdom requires us to die to self, for in this new realm we "look not to our own interests, but also to the interest of others."
The Kingdom of God is all about community. Believers who never find themselves bonded (“baptized”) by the Spirit to fellow body members are not living a normal spiritual life. Becoming a part of a community that exists as the body of Christ is the launching of His reign in you.
The folly of evangelistic appeals is the emphasis on the "ladder" that takes us from "downstairs" to "Upstairs," from the life of darkness to the life of the Kingdom. We talk about passing from death to life but never explain that this new life begins after we die to the old one.
We focus on the new birth without expanding what the new eyes must see: the Kingdom! Too many have been "born again" without any explanation about what the new life, joined to fellow body parts, involves. Thus we have thousands of pews every Sunday filled with disconnected body parts! It is ghastly!
I resent the parachurch teaching about every Christian having a “Quiet Time.” The idea that I have a “personal” time with God every day is a horrible obstruction to Kingdom body life. Instead, we need to approach the Throne as a body member, meaning that we bring our community of body parts into each communion with Christ. We are sensitive to His relationship not only with us but with us along with the other members of the body we are joined to by the Holy Spirit.
Any reflections on this? Add them to my blog.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
An amazing man!
Dr. Victor Chudhrie studied medicine at Christian Medical College in Vellore. He married Bindu Sukhnandan and went to England for higher studies in surgery. He returned to serve in Padhar Mission Hospital in a tribal village in District Betul in Madhya Pradesh, India.
In 1993 he committed himself to bringing about a Saturation Church Planting Movement throughout India, especially in north India. Since then God has blessed this ministry and thousands of house churches have been planted.
He has graciously permitted me to release three of his writings to those who are seeking to learn how to minister to this generation. I am not going to expose his precious materials at this time to "just anybody." If you would like to receive a treasure chest of spiritual materials free of charge, you must write me and request his first three documents: Teaching Cards, The Prayer Warrior, and Greet the Ekkleseyia.
He writes, "Whether we know it or not and whether we like it or not, a fierce battle is raging for the souls of men. This decisive battle will be won with wet eyes, bended knees and broken hearts. It also means using your God given gifts and taking authority to usher in the Government of God."
My email address to request them is: ralph (at) touchusa (dot)org.
In 1993 he committed himself to bringing about a Saturation Church Planting Movement throughout India, especially in north India. Since then God has blessed this ministry and thousands of house churches have been planted.
He has graciously permitted me to release three of his writings to those who are seeking to learn how to minister to this generation. I am not going to expose his precious materials at this time to "just anybody." If you would like to receive a treasure chest of spiritual materials free of charge, you must write me and request his first three documents: Teaching Cards, The Prayer Warrior, and Greet the Ekkleseyia.
He writes, "Whether we know it or not and whether we like it or not, a fierce battle is raging for the souls of men. This decisive battle will be won with wet eyes, bended knees and broken hearts. It also means using your God given gifts and taking authority to usher in the Government of God."
My email address to request them is: ralph (at) touchusa (dot)org.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Powerful Words!
L.T. Jeyachandran is executive director of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Singapore. He writes:
In a society that is increasingly fragmented and individualized, it is easy to develop a theology of the Church as a collection of perfect individuals. But a right understanding of the relationships within the Trinity would militate against such an interpretation. We do well to remember the powerfully acted parable of Jesus as he washed the disciples' feet. The feet of all the disciples were dirty, but as they would submit themselves to cleansing by one another, they would emerge as a perfect community (John 13:14). We may fundamentally have no difficulty having ourselves cleansed by Christ, but to submit to ablutions by another is virtually unthinkable. The disciples (and we as well) would have been very happy to wash the feet of Jesus, but his injunction was that they should wash one another's feet. It was a strange but effective way of communicating the importance of relating to one another by forgiving, cleansing, and accepting one another in perfect mutuality. In other words, two imperfect individuals can synergistically portray a perfect relationship--the very antidote so desperately needed to correct our individualistic privatized spirituality!
It is an issue within Scripture that cannot be overemphasized. The hallmark of the Church of Jesus Christ is a relational testimony which serves as a pointer to the reality of the Eternal Triune God. May we, under God, consciously discern every trap that the devil sets for us to rupture relationships, and trust the Holy Spirit of love to breathe his healing and remake our fractured bonds.
In a society that is increasingly fragmented and individualized, it is easy to develop a theology of the Church as a collection of perfect individuals. But a right understanding of the relationships within the Trinity would militate against such an interpretation. We do well to remember the powerfully acted parable of Jesus as he washed the disciples' feet. The feet of all the disciples were dirty, but as they would submit themselves to cleansing by one another, they would emerge as a perfect community (John 13:14). We may fundamentally have no difficulty having ourselves cleansed by Christ, but to submit to ablutions by another is virtually unthinkable. The disciples (and we as well) would have been very happy to wash the feet of Jesus, but his injunction was that they should wash one another's feet. It was a strange but effective way of communicating the importance of relating to one another by forgiving, cleansing, and accepting one another in perfect mutuality. In other words, two imperfect individuals can synergistically portray a perfect relationship--the very antidote so desperately needed to correct our individualistic privatized spirituality!
It is an issue within Scripture that cannot be overemphasized. The hallmark of the Church of Jesus Christ is a relational testimony which serves as a pointer to the reality of the Eternal Triune God. May we, under God, consciously discern every trap that the devil sets for us to rupture relationships, and trust the Holy Spirit of love to breathe his healing and remake our fractured bonds.
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