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When God Wants to Move


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#1 Revdavid

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Posted 16 November 2010 - 12:39 PM

Why is it that whenever God wants His Church to grow and move and mature; people drag there feet an say no? Why do the people of God who really believe allow others to exert negative influence and give in or give up? I'm just wondering. Anybody got some thoughts?
In Christ our Healer,
Pastor David

#2 Brian Rushfeldt

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Posted 17 November 2010 - 07:26 AM

Pastor,

I have three ideas on this:

1)as soon as God wants us to move the enemy of Jesus and church influence will kick into high gear in an attempt to stop it.
2)when we believers step out non-believers will push back - that is human nature - and often it is more comfortable not to face and confront the push back. we tend to think we are loving if we don't confront the push back.
3)I have noticed that Christians here often do not know how to defend or sometimes even promote the gospel and therein the principles for humanity so they remain silent.

I speak with and to Pastors a lot in my ministry and always encourage them to equip the saints to have reasoned defence( be able to debate opposing views)of what they believe and why the Christian human view is so key to righteousness and health in our society.

If we want comfort in our culture it can be found by being silent. se Tozer Nov 17 having a form ...but no power.

#3 Revdavid

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Posted 17 November 2010 - 08:18 AM

Thank you Brian This is sound advice!
In Christ our Healer,
Pastor David

#4 Denes House

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Posted 17 November 2010 - 11:22 AM

Why is it that whenever God wants His Church to grow and move and mature; people drag there feet an say no? Why do the people of God who really believe allow others to exert negative influence and give in or give up? I'm just wondering. Anybody got some thoughts?


On the positive side, it's certainly an opportunity for you and I to develop Godly fruit in our lives - like patience, love, and perseverance. No? :)

I had an experience early in my time as a pastor, where I had a great idea for reforming our Sunday School program. I was very excited about it - no one was coming to Sunday School, and my idea would almost certainly have solved that problem, as well as built much-needed community and a thirst for discipleship. But when I presented the idea to my congregation, they roundly rejected it. I had a choice at that time, of how to respond. I chose to believe that God works through His people, and to hear their "no" as God's voice, even though I thought my idea was awesome. This wound up doing two things: first, it conveyed to the congregation that I was not going to bully them to get my way. This was something they needed to hear and to know, and my acceptance of their verdict spoke volumes. Second, it gave me an opportunity to develop my own patience, and encouraged me to build the foundation for eventually implementing that idea, if and when the congregation heard God saying that we should go ahead with it. It's now three years later, and the idea still has not been implemented, but I am confident that one day it will be tried, and will be upbuilding to the Body. In the mean time, our relationship of love and mutual respect is intact.

Blessings to you as the Lord builds patience into your life! :)

On another note, my wife was born in Delmar, and my brother and his family live there! Small world!
For those who are wondering, my name is spelled "Denes House," but it's pronounced "Throatwobbler Mangrove..."

Visit my weblog, online art gallery, and church's website!

#5 Travis Richey

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Posted 19 November 2010 - 07:25 PM

I am currently studying a commentary on the Gospel of John that I think addresses this question. This study presents the first few chapters of John as an overview of Jesus impact upon the "established religions" and their reactions to His Ministry. Jesus came to present something different, even though it was something long promised. We see in the reactions of Nicodemus and the Pharisees how the Jews responded to the Gospel message...with questioning and by hiding behind "The Law" and all that they had added to it. We also see in the woman at the well how "religion" is quickly used to deflect hard questions concerning her past. As soon as Jesus probes into her life, she places the conflict of religious ideas at the forefront of the conversation, and attempts to get Jesus away from His line of questioning. Jesus quickly pushes aside her attempt and lets her and us know that it is not place or tradition, but Spirit and Truth that matter.

I say all that to say this: Do we think that we are any different today? Our churches have their routines and traditions, their doctrines and theologies, and if Jesus comes in and says to "move", what do you think our reaction will be? We'll be typical people afraid of change, and we'll attempt to use what we know to hide behind and deflect the hard questions. I have no doubt that if Jesus were to physically walk into most church services today, He would not find a very welcome audience to His Message, and in many cases would probably be making a whip out of cords to drive out the money changers.

The Israelites in the wilderness had the pillar of cloud and fire to tell them when to move and when to stay. I pray that we have such a pillar today, and I know that we do, in the Holy Spirit. So I pray that we would recognize the callof the Spirit, and hear the Voice of God when He tells us to move.