Untainted Pentecost

I think I am becoming a Grinch! I love Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday and I keep these days as sacred holy-days on my annual calendar. I love Christmas because the idea that God would choose such lowly means to proclaim His greatness and to disarm human ideas of power satisfies some deep, quiet, reflective part of my own life. But how the commercial world has taken these celebrations and formed them into offerings to the god named "Money" tears at the fabric of these spiritual days and it is increasingly difficult to keep them as holy-days.

This is why I love the observance and celebration of Pentecost. The commercial world has found no way to exploit its inner meaning - that God has poured His person, mind, power, passion and revelation into the lives of His born-again, Jesus-following people. This is a genuine case of the "haves" versus the "have-nots" all determined by God.

I have attached a specific image to assist me in appropriating Pentecost for myself this year. Yes, I know that it looks like Salvador Dali has finally flipped and tried to paint a surreal pizza, but that is not so. It is a painting by Alexander Sadoyan, and I like it because you have to examine it very closely to try and grasp its expression of Pentecost. Tongues of fire, undefined people shapes, and moving scenes of colour make the subject matter not immediately apparent.

At the fire of the burning bush, God engaged Moses in the work of making a people of God. The journey through the desert, and all the trials of Joshua etc... ended with the Promised Land fitted with a temple and a fully formed God-society of people. With the tongues of fire at Pentecost, God engaged the New Covenant community in the making of a people. And they were sent out to proclaim the Gospel and manifest this Spirit in the world. We, the Church, are still part of this "making of a people" by participating in the Gospel and manifesting the Spirit of God in the Church and the world.


So get yourself among your Church community, and participate again in the wonderful day of Pentecost, asking God to again fill you with His Spirit and be a part of the "making of the people of Christ", through the Gospel and manifesting the Spirit in your life.

Where two or more are gathered

An elderly saint in our church approached me recently, saying she would like to conduct a weekly prayer meeting in her home. Although our church already has 5 opportunities for corporate praying not including Sunday worship, it was instantly decided that this would be a great endeavour. As a Christian fellowship we have a specific calling to prayer and take it both seriously and joyfully.

I announced to our people that this new prayer initiative would be beginning soon, and asked everyone to consider if they are able to participate. As of me writing this post today one person has indicated that they feel called to put their life and energy into this gathering.

So here is the situation. Two Christian women will meet together once a week and pray together for all those matters that the Holy Spirit lays on their heart, or to intercede as per requests made by individuals. Sounds small-time and low-key, doesn't it. Two people in a lounge room talking to the air in the hope that a God who is ever-distant will hear and take time away from important matters to respond?

This is so far from the truth. You see, there is no such thing as "small church". Where two people pray together, Jesus promises to be there with them also interceding, and this makes this gathering one of the most powerful entities in the universe; something way above human energy, wise counsel, political momentum or the will and mindset of an entire democracy; something intangibly spiritual that can affect people's lives and the turn of history.

Can you see this? Do you experience the power of God when faithful disciples of Christ pray? Catch the vision, join the chain, and unleash the power of God in and around you.

The Upturn

In the ebb and flow of Church life over many years, many of us have observed the changes in our church community. There have been times of amazing growth as new people repent and believe in Jesus, the baptismal font is used regularly and we see the ministry of the church expanding. There are also times of great stagnation where although a church is bustling along it appears to be the same old faces. And then there are times of decline where we find it difficult to see God's "church triumphant".

In our church, we are coming off the back end of years of decline. A church community that used to be part of the heart-beat of the broader local community is now struggling to find a strong voice or position, and is struggling to establish platforms for the Gospel to be communicated.

However, in recent days we have seen a number of visitors, and a few of them from deliberate ministry in our local community. There is this niggling understanding that as we have prayed and acted AFTER God's leading, that the Lord Jesus is rebuilding His church and we are a part of it.

So if anyone out there is discouraged and cannot see what lays ahead. Pray, listen and hold on. It can often seem as though God has His fingers in His ears or His face turned away, but this is how we FEEL, not an indicator of the truth. Even if you do let go, understand that God does not let go of those who are His own, called according to His purpose.

A relevant Gospel

In 2006, the Churches of Christ Conference for Victoria and Tasmania asked all participating churches to send in their vision and mission statements so that a logo or document could be designed to express the themes common to all. At the recent AGM, the logo to the left was unveiled.

It is called the Theme Tree and if you look closely you will see a lot of words used in Christian faith and practice combined in an image of a tree representing connection, depth and growth in a Christ-centred community.

Having not been to a Churches of Christ AGM before, I found it very interesting to sit back and listen for the common language used across the denomination: revealed were words such as story, conversation, narrative, dialogue. All these words express a desire to relate the central truths of the Christian faith to this day and age in a way understandable to them, and respectful of their culture, mindset and formed views of life. Also dominant were the themes of unity, and developing local churches that strive for New Testament form.

In many of the conversations held on the ministers day , many people spoke of, or implied, that they are striving to make the Gospel relative to the 21st century in Australia. Although I understand this line of thinking, I am wary of it. Let me explain!

I do want to make the Gospel available and understandable to my generation in language they also use, using images they already see, using methods that do not alienate. But I don't believe that the Gospel is relative to anything. The Gospel is a perfect, absolute entity given and crafted by God and we have no right to alter it to make it relative to a culture or season. The aim is to make it RELEVANT, not RELATIVE.

The Gospel was committed to the 12 by Christ, and they committed it to the next generation of ministers and so on... We have the unenviable task of preaching an unchanging Gospel to a western world where everything is considered relative to the preferences of the individual. Yet in the mystery of ministry with God - it still works. Because the Gospel and the Holy Spirit together can break through any barrier with the eternal good news of Jesus Christ, this everlasting message can penetrate a relative culture. But don't be drawn in to making the gospel relative to their circumstances. Rather, draw them to the eternal truth that the Gospel relates to all peoples of all times.

Go on, get out there and give it a go.