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The Modern-Day Movement of God: Guest Editorial by Mike Patterson

The Modern-day Movement of God

Let’s look at the progression of the first century movement of God:

“So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them.”  Acts 2:41 

“…praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.”  Acts 2:47 

“But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000.”  Acts 4:4 

“Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers–crowds of both men and women.”  Acts 5:14 

“In those days, as the number of the disciples was multiplying…” Acts 6:1 

“So the preaching about God flourished, the number of the disciples in Jerusalem multiplied rapidly, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.” Acts 6:7 

“So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace, being built up and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, and it increased in numbers.” Acts 9:31 

“After they had evangelized that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch…” Acts 14:21 

“So the churches were strengthened in the faith and were increased in number daily.” Acts 16:5 

“When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, ‘These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too’…” Acts 17:6 

“But I ask, “Did they not hear?” Yes, they did: Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world.” Romans 10:18  

It is amazing to sit back and see the movement of the first century church take place starting from a small church of 120 and ending in proclamation “to the ends of the inhabited world.” The motivating vision for the first century church was given by Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1: and it is this vision of proclamation that moved the first century church movement. The word ‘movement’ implies moving. If you are not moving, you cease to be a movement. Movement implies numerical growth and geographic expansion. If a fellowship of churches stops growing numerically and geographically, it stops being a movement of God. Sadly, many of us were saddened to see our former fellowship which many of us found our salvation in, cease to be a movement and become simply a fellowship of churches with no unified effort or plan to see the world one in our generation. This is not to say there aren’t hot spots in the ICOC that are growing or that there aren’t saved disciples outside of God’s movement, yet the issue is not salvation rather proclamation in our generation. There was a coordinated effort by the leadership in complete unity to evangelize the world during the time of the New Testament church. God has once again rose up men and women with the dream of restoring the first century church movement in our modern time. In less than two years since it began, the Sold-Out Discipling Movement has grown to 32 churches with 15 in the United States and 17 internationally! Even more exciting was to celebrate God’s hand at work this last weekend at the 2008 World Missions Jubilee and to see the send off of two new churches to Washington DC and New York City! To give perspective, the Boston Movement (ICOC) which was initiated in 1979 had 3 churches (Boston, Chicago, London) by 1982 three years into our former movement. God is certainly taking us beyond what we could have imagined! I have been to every Jubilee out of Portland since they started back in 2004 and it is amazing to see how God is truly building a church to all the nations!  Continue reading The Modern-Day Movement of God: Guest Editorial by Mike Patterson…

Convicted: Phil McCallen

In my recent quiet times I have been studying about some of the great leaders of the bible, Moses, Joshua, David, Paul, Peter and of course the greatest of all time Jesus. The one thing that struck me was the power that these people spoke with. It seems that they have an immovable conviction about what they are saying and doing. When men speak this way it is impossible not to be inspired or encouraged, or in some cases scared.

 It got me to thinking “what convictions of Jesus should I immediatly imitate in my life and inspire those around me to imitate?”. So here we go a list of 3 convictions every disciple should have and hold.

 1. Conviction about Quiet Times. Continue reading Convicted: Phil McCallen…

We are the Heroes of tommorrow!

“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.  Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.Joshua 1:6-9

This quite simply has to be one of the greatest passages of scripture in all of the bible. Joshua son of Nun was the aide of Moses, his assistant leader. After Moses’ death, the LORD put Joshua in charge of all the people of Israel and give him the task of taking the promised land. In the first 5 verses of chapter 1 of the book of Joshua we see God tell him that He will give the people the land, every place where they would set their feet. He also told Joshua that no one would be able to stand up against him all the days of his life. Ooo Baby! Continue reading We are the Heroes of tommorrow!…

Motivated to Succeed! By Phil McCallen

With the right motivation behind our efforts in school, work or more importantly, the mission, the job will get done. Whenever evangelism does not occur, lack of motivation (or in some cases, improper motivation) is always at the root of the problem! We are people with great desire to succeed in all areas in our lives but the one that is above all else is the advancement of Gods Kingdom in our campuses, cities and countries. If we can become motivated to succeed in this one area then all the others will fall into place.

What Is “motivation”?

As defined by Denis Waitley in his book, “The Joy Of Working”…

Motivation is an inner drive, an idea captured in the imagination.”

Motivation can be harnessed to an intense drive toward a goal.” Continue reading Motivated to Succeed! By Phil McCallen…

Just a Girl - A testimony by Mildred V Levine

“I’m just a girl in the world. That’s all that you’ll let me be…

Oh I’m just a girl living in captivity.

Your rule of thumb make me worrisome

Oh, I’m just a girl, what’s my destiny?

What I’ve succumbed to is making me numb…

Oh, I’ve had it up to here.”

Just a Girl , No Doubt

More often than not, I have been able to identify with the feelings of hopelessness expressed in these lyrics. Growing up in America, I learned all about the struggle of women to be seen as equal to men. Throughout history women were considered the property of their fathers and husbands; they were believed to be less competent and weaker than their brothers; and they were treated as second class citizens of many communities and social groups.

In the world’s eyes, because we are physically weaker than men, we are often treated like we are unworthy of respect. In the world’s eyes, because of the emotions we go through, we are deemed less trustworthy in positions of influence. In the world’s eyes, we are not much more than feeble-minded objects to be used, abused and exploited. In my study of women’s history, I found out that too many women have experienced the hopeless numbness that I felt before I found my true destiny: a real relationship with God. Continue reading Just a Girl - A testimony by Mildred V Levine…

Dangerous Dreamers : Guest Editorial by Andrew Smellie

“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dreams with open eyes to make it possible. This I did.”
- T.E. Lawrence
When I first began studying the Bible, a brother in our church showed me a Scripture that I remember to this day. In Proverbs 16:9, the Bible reads, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”

This passage cut me to the core, as the obvious truth that I was not in control of my life came into focus. By nature, I am very goal-oriented, driven and motivated. But that same ambition was not being used to further God’s purposes. Instead it was used to glorify myself. I grew up in a strong religious family, and was taught from a young age to respect God by going to church and reading the Bible. However, the goal of “holding to the Scriptures” (John 8:31-32) in addition to my beliefs was not significantly enforced in my life. I could boast that I knew more than my Sunday school teachers, yet by the time I hit college, much of the morals that were instilled in me from a young age vanished. The knowledge of the Word that I had learned had not been planted deeply to my heart, and was easily snatched up by Satan due to a lack of deep spiritual roots (Mark 4:16-17). Continue reading Dangerous Dreamers : Guest Editorial by Andrew Smellie…

Blessings Of Persecution : Phil McCallen

Matthew 5: 11-12
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

John 15:20a
Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.

Jesus’ words to his disciples have always made me feel a little uncomfortable, sure I want to follow Jesus and yes I want to lead my friends and family to Heaven but this talk about persecution, which is found alot in the New Testament, scares me. As a young disciple I would often ponder what this passage meant for me and how I would be when it happened. I read the Gospels to see how Jesus’ was actually persecuted and found that it was done in many various ways. His family thought that he had gone insane, the leaders of his community accused him of being the son of Satan, they constantly accused him before the authourities raising trouble for him and expelled him from their meeting places. Ultimately we know that they handed him over to be beaten, tortured and killed. This was a lot to take in. Continue reading Blessings Of Persecution : Phil McCallen…

Measuring Commitment by Chris v Staden

“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chron 16:9

God has never looked for a perfect disciple, because there are no perfect disciples. We are all imperfect beings, often weak and in need of strengthening. Some think that being fully committed is to be strong and almost perfect but if we look at the Bible it says that the Lord strengthens those who’s hearts are fully committed to him. Why would they need strengthening? If someones heart is fully committed isn’t that enough. The Lord only looks at the heart right? Wrong. I have heard so many people say: ‘Well, God knows my heart’ or ‘I know I love God with all my heart’. Inasmuch as God knows our hearts he also knows our deeds. Our deeds only shows God what is in our hearts.
As Jesus spoke to the churches in Revelations and warning them, 5 times he says: ‘I know your deeds’ (Rev2:2, 2:19, 3:1, 3:8, 3:15) As we know with the church in Ephesus they lost their first love and Jesus commanded them to remember the height from which they have fallen and repent and DO the things they did at first. The church in Sardis had a reputation of being alive but according to Jesus they were dead. He commanded them to also remember what they have received and heard and obey it, as their deeds was obviously not showing obedience. Then we also have the lukewarm church of Laodicea. Jesus ‘measured’ their ’spiritual temperature’ by their deeds and not their hearts. What struck me was what Jesus said in Rev 2:23 “Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”
Although the Lord searches the heart and the mind he will repay each of us according to our deeds. It is very clear that the Lord looks also at our deeds and not only at our hearts. Continue reading Measuring Commitment by Chris v Staden…

Workers for the Harvest! By Chris Van Staden

“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matt 9:35-38

As Jesus went through the towns and villages, he wanted to help people. Although he was teaching and preaching the good news to the people and healing every disease and sickness he still saw a big problem: the people were harassed and helpless. Another translation says that they were confused and helpless. The people’s needs were not met. This must have been more spiritual needs than physical needs, as the scripture says Jesus healed every disease and sickness. He compares this to sheep without a shepherd. The funny thing about a sheep is that it ‘lack’ a sense of direction, because no matter where you leave them, they will not be able to return. Sheep are also dumb in the sense that even as they are led to the slaughter, they won’t even object! That was the problem what Jesus saw, the people had no spiritual direction and he knew so many of them are following blindly and actually led to the slaughter.

This is why Jesus had so much compassion on them, and knowing that there are only a few workers with him that can help he says that they should pray for more workers to be send by God. With more workers in the harvest field (in the crowds), people will have direction and can be helped. There was a lot of work to be done and the Lord of the harvest needed workers.
Continue reading Workers for the Harvest! By Chris Van Staden…

Remembering and Dreaming by Chris Van Staden

“Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God . But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.” Acts19:8-10
 
Campus ministry can be such an effective hub for the Kingdom of God that with a few committed disciples on a campus the word of the Lord can spread to whole cities and provinces within a few years as in the day of Paul. People from different backgrounds, age, talents and nationality comes together for a few years to gain knowledge and then goes out to different parts of the city, province or even the world.

Continue reading Remembering and Dreaming by Chris Van Staden…