April 08, 2014–A Church with Power

April 7, 2014 By

Day 29: Acts 19:1-22

Darren & Lydia Mar. 2014In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. (v. 20)

I love this one line.  It says so much.  If you read the preceding passages of Scripture you will read how handkerchiefs that touched Paul were sent to the sick and the demon-possessed and they were healed and set free.

And then there is the story of the seven sons of Sceva the high priest that were casting out demons in the name of Jesus invoking Paul as his servant.  They get beaten up and storm out of the place where they were doing this naked.  This invoked such fear of God over the people that they started to come to Christ casting their demonic sorcery scrolls into the fires.

It was a supernatural church, the early church, and it grew because it was a church that had power.  When people begin to hear such stories of power being released they are drawn.  People don’t want some watered down religion.  They want to know that the God that they serve is more powerful than any other God.

Just last night I had a vision.  In it I am sitting on a city bus listening to this son of the devil proselytizing some sitting near him.  I strolled up beside him and said to those he was speaking to, “Does anyone need healing in their bodies here?”  One of them said, “Yes.”  I said to the false priest, “Pray for him in the name of your God for healing.”  This guy began to conjure up and put himself into a trance, but nothing happened.  The man did not get healed.

I then said, “Can I pray for you?”

He said, “Yes.”

I prayed a simple prayer and the man got healed.  His face said it all.  You could see the joy in his face to be relieved of a pain that had been there so long.

The false preacher lost his authority to speak in that moment because of the demonstration of the Spirit.  He got off the bus at the next stop and was seen no more.  I then noticed a new ministry beginning in the spot where that healing took place.  People started to come to me to receive prayer and prophetic words.

The Kingdom will advance when we believe in the power of the word of God.  When there is a demonstration of the Spirit and when people are touched by that power, then ministry will become more effective.  Ministries will be born in the place where God’s power is demonstrated.

When we press in for such a demonstration, the effect of it can last for generations.  My own family became what we are today because in the 1960’s my grandmother was healed of cancer.  The sound of that healing touched many people in her region and certainly touched her entire family.  When a demonstration of the power takes place, it is hard to deny the power of God.

I pray that you too will encounter the power of God and that you will walk in that power to see many lives touched in your life and communities.

Filed Under: Pastor Darren Canning

April 07, 2014–The Ministry of Correction

April 7, 2014 By

Day 28: Acts 18:1-28

The Sams in IsraelYou really have to give Aquila and Priscilla a lot if credit for what they did with Apollos.

Credit for their courage. Credit for their caring. Credit for their correction.

First, for their courage.  Let’s remember the context of this incident. Apollos is the guest preacher in Ephesus. He is a teacher and a good one at that–an eloquent man mighty in the Scriptures…he spoke and taught accurately the things of The Lord…he began to speak boldly in the synagogue.” (vs. 25-26)

It takes courage to correct the guest minister at your church, doesn’t it? Aquila and Priscilla realized that Apollos knew only the baptism of John. In other words, he was teaching that baptism was only for repentance. He was not familiar with baptism in the name of Jesus. He certainly had not experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Clearly, he needed to know the complete truth.  You see, there was nothing wrong with the rest of his teaching, as we see in v. 28:”He vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.” However, there was a gap in his theology that Aquila and Priscilla promptly filled with their correction.

This is why I applaud them for having the courage to correct Apollos.

Secondly, for their caring, which is evident in the way they corrected him. “They took him aside and explained to him the way off God more accurately.” (V. 26)

They took him aside.  They did not correct him in public.  They did not embarrass him in front of the congregation. They did it in a private setting.

Here is a cardinal rule that we would do well to follow: Praise in public, correct in private. Sadly, in many instances, the exact opposite happens. Praise, if it is offered at all, is often done behind the scenes. (“We don’t want it to get to your head, you know!”) Correction often happens in front of everybody.  The one who is corrected is often humiliated. Those observing want to crawl under the rug.  And no one is edified.

Aquila and Priscilla cared enough to correct in private, as Jesus taught us in Matthew 18:15.  They deserve our applause.

Thirdly, they are to be commended for choosing to correct.  They could have shied away from confrontation and possible conflict by saying nothing. But too much was at stake. On two fronts.

On the one hand, the Ephesian Church needed to know the whole truth, which went beyond the baptism of repentance. On the other hand, Apollos, who had so many other gifts that could be used by God in evangelizing the Jews, needed to proclaim the complete gospel, which included baptism in the name of Jesus and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Aquila and Priscilla took the risk of offending him or hurting his feelings. They did not go the route of avoiding potential conflict. They cared enough to confront and convict.  They deserve our applause.

Having commended Aquila and Priscilla for their ministry of correction, we also need to applaud Apollos for receiving the correction in humility.  Because of his willingness to be corrected, “when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him.” (V. 27). Another door of ministry opened up for Apollos as a result.

Dear friend, there are times when you will find yourself in the position of Apollos, needing to be corrected.  Will you be humble enough to receive correction?

On other occasions, you will be called to offer the ministry of correction.  Will you, like, Aquila and Priscilla, correct with courage and with caring?

I hope and pray that you will.

 

 

Filed Under: Pastor Jeeva Sam