"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven...Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." (Mat 16:19, 18:18-20)
- The Kingdom is a country with its own rules and government and values. To be a Kingdom citizen we must understand that our first loyalties are to that Kingdom. If we want to see the Kingdom of God come, we must see the kingdom of me/we go. Self, our nationalities, and our denominational/organizational loyalties are in effect competing kingdoms
- the exhortation to return to our "first love" (Song of Solomon chapter 2, Rev. 2:1-7) we must love HIM first and foremost, not "the work" or elevate Kingdom above relationship with the King
- urgency is key, yet we must wait for the Spirit and not run around in endless fruitless efforts to bring in the Kingdom on our own terms and understanding
- the importance of NT groupings of numbers and symbols 3, 12, 72, 120 as relates to structuring, strategy and impact
- Seek FIRST HIS KINGDOM by simplifying everything, including our lifestyles... surrendering our agendas and goals to those of the King, discriminating between what is Kingdom and what is non-Kingdom
- Jerusalem. From Jerusalem something will take place very soon that is so big, and is something that initiates in Antioch. Antioch is the last stretch of the "silk road" which ends in Jerusalem. How the "Back to Jerusalem" movement ties in with Antioch, the silk road, and the fulfilling of the Great Commission in our lifetime.
- repentance from our man made ways of doing Kingdom business and a return to seeking the Spirit's guidance and direction before moving a finger, even if the "wait" is longer than we like
- commission people into missions as fathers-sons, not as mission agencies
- God is doing something new. Yesterday's manna is no good for today. Beware of taking a frame out of God's movie and blowing it up thinking THIS IS WHAT GOD IS DOING at the expense of missing the frames which follow in God's ever moving and quickly advancing film of the ages
- Tarsus: death first for effective ministry. Paul spent eleven years of obscurity in Tarsus before the Spirit was able to use him.
Interestingly, the most tense moments of the gathering centered around a day trip to Tarsus, the place where Paul "died" to self. About half the group wanted to skip the trip and stay together in prayer
Ala Acts 1 where the 120 were instructed to "wait for the Spirit" which came in Acts 2. The rest of us (including me) were looking forward to the trip to Tarsus. In the end it was decided that those making the trip were just as led of the Lord as those wanting to stay and remain in prayer, and that both groups had something to contribute to the whole of what God was trying to show us. For me personally the Tarsus trip was a highlight of our time which I hope to share in greater detail at a later date.
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven...Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." (Mat 16:19, 18:18-20)
4 comments:
Greetings Guy, from Lee Williams in Arequipa (CosasNuevas), Just wanted to keep on digging through what you have written about your time in Antioch. Concerning apostles and prophets you wrote: "intentionality in resurrecting true Kingdom building through restoring the Biblical role of apostles and prophets...praying to God to reveal to us with whom to have these A/P relationships..."The impossible is possible when apostles and prophets are properly functioning."
I have been in Peru for 8 years and have ministered alongside a number of gifted apostles and prophets, and I receive from their giftings, but my question is how do these gifts operate together on the local level and on a consistent basis? If one is apostolically called should he/she seek out a prophet to partner up with, and should a pastorally gifted person do the same, etc? I guess my question is are we to simply wait till these gifts are operating in a local/regional way or should we pro-actively move ourselves to a Christian community where these gifts (and others) are being attracted for the purposes of kingdom building? I know many people who long to see the kingdom come, to enjoy and share and reproduce true Christ-centered community, but it seems we're kind of scattered in different places presently. I kind of have a sense that the Lord is getting ready to move many of His gifts to form Antioch-bases built upon the apostolic/prophetic foundation from which local/regional ministry is to go out. I know that's a lot, but look forward to hearing any of your thoughts.
MCNCV,
Thanks again for your comments, and sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I have been out of town all week. Your question of "how do these gifts operate together on the local level and on a consistent basis" is one that we are currently struggling with ourselves. I remember someone at the Antioch gathering saying that the shepherd/teacher types are the best to gather/find and knit into an apostolic team the remaining functions (apostles, prophets, evangelists.) I believe we are going to see much more unified working together of the APEST roles in the coming days, at least more than we currently see functioning. I know my antenna are set to catch any leadings in this direction the Lord might have for us locally.
BTW, I met this past week in Quito an IMB M who also lives in Arequipa and is trying to do some of the same kinds of things there locally. It might be interesting for you two to exchange some thoughts on some of these things.
Hello Guy,
And yes...if you would like I could send you some contact info that you could pass on to your IMB friend in Arequipa...our cell phone is 959-175601. The area code here is 054.
Blessings,
--Lee
Lee,
I sent your contact info to Michael, who is currently Stateside, but hopes to be returning to Arequipa. Hopefully the two of you can connect someday.
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