5/20/16

Overcoming Persecution With The Warrior Spirit





But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. Jeremiah 15:11


The words of the prophet Jeremiah remind me of the people of Nepal. I am now in the mountains of Nepal, a country steeped in spirituality and proud in cultural traditions. Nepal is a cross-section of aboriginal Nepali culture, Tibetan Buddhist influence from the north and Indian Hindu influence from the south. Traditionally a Hindu monarchy that persecuted Christians, it has been a multi-party republic since 2008. While open evangelization is illegal, enforcement is very limited. The Church, about 2-3% of the population, is transitioning from persecuted infancy to maturing adulthood. Two of our key on-the-ground Nepali ministers are teachers of teachers, i.e. they are enlarging the understanding and skills of ministry by teaching adults how to teach the Gospel to children. Another on-the-ground ministry leader is Kali, a 70+ year old apostolic pastor. He is a warrior for the Gospel in the land. He was a lone believer in his home village in Gorkha district decades ago. He learned to fight on behalf of the Kingdom of God at an early age and has prevailed. He has been directly influential in birthing over 400 churches during a time of persecution. He is now ‘father’ to many young pastors and ministry leaders throughout the country. His ministry is in rural areas where few western missionary organizations know of him and his work. But I guarantee the Lord of Hosts knows of his work!!

With this as our backdrop, Deborah and I are ministering to about 35 pastors from across the nation gathered in Pokhara. We are conducting a follow-up to our two week pastor/leader school completed by these same pastors in 2014. These pastor/leaders have been hand-picked as a ‘remnant’ that has the noble heart of priests and kings to advance the gospel in this day and hour. After Pokhara I will move to the Gorkha District with Kali where a young prophet from our local church and I will encourage and teach groups of pastors/leaders in three different villages over about eight days. While I am in Gorkha, Deborah will be in Bardiya, the flat lands of western Nepal, teaching for several days to leaders in that District. She and our Asian Director of the Crossfire International Alliance will build up the leaders in that area. This is new territory for us. 

The Gospel of the Kingdom is never stagnant, but always moving and advancing in some way…either overtly through evangelism or covertly through hearts and minds being transformed into maturity of character and leadership.

As I write this I am reminded of the aboriginal peoples of Gorkha who were known far and wide as fierce warriors. They were called the Gurkhas. The men were recruited by the British and Indian armies because they were a warrior class; their DNA and culture endowing them with a warrior mindset. Special Units of Gurkhas are embedded in the Indian, British and Nepali armies today. It is said of them that they greeted hardship with laughter. The former Indian Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw once stated that "If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or is a Gurkha." Persecution has not prevailed in Nepal. The Church in Nepal is taking new territory with this perspective. The Lord as a mighty warrior is with them and in them.  Advancing the Kingdom of God requires such an attitude in this day and hour. That is heart of the leaders to whom we have the honor of ministering.

Want some more inspiration on overcoming?  Check out this post from Harvey.

5/9/16

Stop Kicking...


We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Acts 26:14
I’ve grown accustomed to living life and ministering in a certain way. The Holy Spirit has helped me come into a fuller dimension of expressing His purposes and call in my life.   But in my humanity, I like routine, comfort, and not having to change.  I get comfortable with whatever level I am currently at. The longer we live life the less we like to change, even when change is initiated by the Lord. Why resist change? Because it takes energy, willful purpose, and intentional movement in the mind and heart. There is no cruise control in change. Therefore, we often resist what God desires to do in us in the next season.

Saul was resistant. In his encounter on the Damascus Road the Lord said to him, ‘Why do you persecute me? It is hard to kick against the goads’. One translation says ‘kicking against the pricks’. The Lord had been using a spiritual ‘goad’ on Saul for some time. A goad is a pointed stick used to prod animals such as oxen to respond. It’s often called an ‘oxgoad’ in scripture. Saul’s encounter was the culmination of a long process of goading and prodding by the Spirit to see the reality of Jesus as Messiah. He desired that Saul enter a new season of understanding; to become Paul. But Saul was a zealous, passionate student and disciple of the Law of Moses. The law had been in force for hundreds of years. It was the revelation of Yahweh awaiting fulfillment in a Messiah. Paul believed he was defending the Father even as he was persecuting the Son. Paul kicked against the Spirit of God who was prodding him toward a new level of revelation and knowledge about the Messiah. The old way was only for a season. The new way would bring forth the gospel to the world.

As the Holy Spirit takes us to new heights, depths and maturity, we get accustomed to that height, depth and level of maturity. It’s like a default setting on a computer, always booting up to the same setting. That setting may have been good for a season. It was a good setting. It was a good way. But the Lord is calling for an upgrade within! Today is a different season. Recall Jesus’ words to the teachers of the Law, ‘but can you not discern the signs of the times. (Matt. 16:3)

Paul’s resistance came to a climax on the Damascus Road. He needed a very personal, catalytic encounter to stop kicking against the goads. He got it!  He changed from an opponent to a proponent, from resisting the Messiah to insisting He was the Messiah. Check your life today. Is there a place within you that is kicking against the goads of the Spirit? Stop the kicking. Accept the pricking.