What is it Going to Take?

The world is in upheaval. 
Nothing is what it used to be. 
How is the church handling the current situation? 
Are we cowering down and waiting for things to go back to normal?
or 
Are we looking for opportunities to share Christ with a hurting, confused, angry, lonely depressed people, people without focus, without purpose and without hope? 

Now is the time to re-evaluate everything we hold dear. 
If we are born of an incorruptible seed, then its time for that seed to germinate and produce in us what its purpose is. 
 
The question we should be asking is: 
What is it going to take to reach your people group? 
My community, my town or city, my ethnic group, my nation. 

NOT: What can I can do? 
NOT: What have others done before us? 
NOT: What is possible? 
No, the answers to all these questions limit our best possible outcomes to the extent of my current faith. 
Jesus did not call us to go and live within the realms of our possibilities but our impossibilities. 
He did not not ask us what we thought we could do, but commanded us, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel."

He did not form a committee, or take a vote. 
He came with a purpose, to establish the kingdom of God on earth and redeem mankind.
He commanded his followers to make disciples. 
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28.18-20  

I believe it's time to 

RETHINK CHURCH. 

It's time to get onto doing what Jesus commanded, instead of playing religious games and kidding ourselves that we are doing God's will.  

Jesus said, 

"Go ye, Disciple nations"
We have largely, stayed home and got fat.

Our thinking, for the most part, has been limited to growing a congregation in a building. 

People want answers, people want hope, they want reality, they actually want what God offers them, the chance to live in the life of their original design, as God intended, but how will they find it? Most unbelievers would never step inside a church, so how will they hear the message of His love. How will they get to experience His love, and become a part of His family through becoming a new creation.  

I was recently challenged greatly by the message of Chris Galanos from Experience Life Church in Lubbock Texas in his book "From Megachurch to Multiplication."  After growing a conventional church to mega church status in under 8 years he started to question the way they were doing church, how valid were their goals and why was he not thinking like some of the missionaries their church supported and others, that were thinking in terms of how to reach an entire ethnic group, a state or even an entire nation. 

While his church was lauded as one of the USA's fastest growing churches, and thinking in terms of thousands (they had already seen over 10,000 commitments to Christ) the people he was gleaning from were thinking in the millions. 

Whatever you believe God has called you for, I believe it is time to rethink. 
Rethink vision, rethink purpose, rethink goals, rethink strategies. 

If we always do what we have always done, we will always get what we have always got. 

If what the church has done in its efforts to reach the world over the last approx 1700 years has achieved its goal of winning the world and making disciples OF all nations - not just in all nations, (since the Roman Empire institutionalised the church) then we can go back to doing what we did before, but if it appears that the previous methods and strategies did not do as Jesus commanded then maybe its time to rethink. 

E-Life church's journey towards movement, may not be for everybody, it will certainly challenge the status quo if you act on it, but at least it seems to be one church's attempt to answer the question "What is it going to take to reach your people group?" 

 

ORDER From Megachurch to Multiplication
on Amazon here  https://amzn.to/31pLknC

Rev Dr Howard Sands 

With over 40 years of ministry experience in over 26 countries on every continent, from village home meetings in developing countries to crowds up to 50,000, from stadiums to street meetings, he is equally comfortable, from pastoring local churches, special guest at church meetings, keynote speaker at conferences, youth conferences, pastors and leaders training, Bible college lectures, outreaches, outdoor crusades, tent crusades and business leaders equipping. 

Howard brings a refreshing dynamic to understanding who you are in Christ and will help to lift your congregation or conference from where they are in their experience to where God says they are in His word. He is strongly word based, Spirit led and tangible healings and renewed relationships with the Lord are often experienced at his meetings.

See ministry and business overview here https://about.me/HowardSands

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Kingdom Building Through Unity.

Kingdom Building Through Unity. 

John 17.20-23 Jesus Talked about unity, Churches talk about unity.
BUT...
The world sees the church and thinks - factions, fractured, confusion.

Have we got unity because we talk about it.?
Have we got unity because we believe in it?

The only way we can develop unity is to DO something about it.
I'm NOT talking about ECUNEMICALISM.
(everybody getting together and trying to agree)
They tried that with language ESPERANTO, it didn’t work.

There is something deeper, stronger, more binding than mere agreement, it is brotherhood. It's OK for you to worship different to me, practise your faith different to me, have a different view of end times to me, in fact most things are not mandatory that we do in our religion, but, there's the problem, religion - it divides, but Christ brings together. When I see you as my brother in Christ instead of my competitor or misinformed or a backslider or apostate, only then can we walk together in unity.

When we see and act together as brothers in Christ, only then do we have a chance at unity like Jesus prayed for.
"That they may be one as we are one."
What do you think ???
How well do you know your brother minister down the road?

How will you develop unity with other believers outside your church?
Let's develop a maturity for unity!!!

Jesus taught deep profound truths - Hidden mysteries of the kingdom that cannot be discovered with human intellect.
So human reasoning is not going to bring us unity.
There needs to be a spiritual connection.

Jesus refers to the church amongst other things as:-
A Field
A Building
A Body
These all signify one not many.
How many churches does Jesus have?

Jesus said "I will build my church..."
he did NOT say:-
I will start churchES across the world, or
He and a few others would build the church or
Apostles, churchplanters or whatever would build their church.

Lets be clear:-
It is His church, not ours (pastor, its not your church);
He will build it, your job is to preach the gospel & make disciples;
There is only one church, you are either in it or you're not (some might be surprised),
Jesus is coming back for HIS church, it will be one without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

So the question we should be asking ourselves is:-
Is what I am doing in line with what Jesus commanded me?
(Am I doing the job to prepare such a church?).
Food for thought!!! 

UNITY IS ACHIEVABLE if the desire and willingness is there.
Let me make it clear, I'm talking about Unity NOT Uniformity.

There is One God, One Lord Jesus Christ.
He is among the different churches but doing different things in each. There is beauty in diversity.
There are many local churches mentioned in the New Testament, they are all different.

As pastors and leaders we can easily get so concerned about our little flock (even if there are thousands in your church it is still little), that we forget the bigger picture that Jesus is looking at; millions around the world.

When we are self focussed we think about :-
• Protecting what WE have accumulated,
• What OUR ministry is doing,
• What outreaches OUR church is doing,
• How important WE look in the eyes of OUR people.

Friends, we don’t have any people.
Its HIS church not our church.

When we are Kingdom focused we:-
• Look at what Jesus is doing elsewhere & rejoice in it.
• Rejoice with other ministries & share with them; we are here for you, not us.
• Release people to have a ministry themselves separate from our local church because we don’t control them.
• If we have to control their every move we are of all people insecure and don’t know that Christ has made us free from law and placed us under grace.

When we are big enough to release people, God will grow us.
While we have to control people, we stay a small person.
Selah 

How to build unity

Know your local pastors.

• Get together to pray for each other and share ministry concerns.
• Pray for common issues in your area, city, nation.  
• Co-operate on some special events together.  

When a church can’t miss a service because:-

We won’t get the offering which we need for wages, building costs, loans, programs etc

We’ve missed the point of church.

We have organised unity OUT of the church by OUR commitments and OUR projects.

Is it possible that all this time we have not been preaching the same gospel as Jesus?

Matt 13.10-17  it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven

There are mysteries that the dull of hearing will not get.

Backbone of the religious church has been studying about the God of the Bible (Theology) –

an intellectual exercise in futility that cannot either personally know God or His kingdom.

Backbone of the relational church is intimately relating to God & hearing Him by His Spirit.

The purpose of meeting together in groups is not to learn about Him, -  but to know Him, experience intimate relationship.

The Church in this Kingdom age is returning to the reality of hearing and following the voice of God.

John 10.27  Hearing from God involves the Holy Spirit.

Jesus waited until the Holy Spirit came on Him before demonstrating the miracles of the kingdom, before bringing heaven to earth.

He taught us to pray like this:- "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven...."

What will you DO to ensure that it is? 

BFTF Unity conferences southern Africa late 2018

Australian ministers/leaders interested in joining the BFTF team register here https://www.facebook.com/commerce/products/1293265677401646/

African leaders, find out more, stay connected, network for unity, join over 3000 leaders concerned for the gospel in Africa, join Africa Network BFTF here http://bftfafricanetwork.ning.com/ 

Rev Dr Howard Sands is the International Director of Beautiful Feet Task Force, is available as a speaker for churches, outreaches, business & missions.

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Unbelieving Believers

I read a challenging piece recently by Dr Bernard Etta when speaking of the 7000 prophets who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19.18); he said. "I have no respect for such prophets who lived in a nation taken over by Idolatry and evil but chose to remain silent. Not bowing to Baal is good, but not enough to transform a society or nation. True prophets confront the idolatry in the land and speak again sin in both high and low places with a vision of taking back the nation for God. You don't need 7000 prophets to change a nation, just one true prophet is enough."

A little similar to today's church I believe, 'and the love of many will wax cold.' 

They say they are believers but when it comes to issues of sin and righteousness and judgement they are cold and silent. 

It has been said "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing," (often attributed to Edmund Burke but disputed) how true it is.  Burke also said, "Nothing is so fatal to religion as indifference."  

If 7000 prophets who had not bowed the knee to Baal had spoken up, how different might the situation have been. If millions of 'so called' Christians learn to live with evil in the world and around them in their community instead of denouncing it and setting aright the ills of society, what will be the outcome of the Jezebels?

 

Today we have professing believers filling church pews with no moral fortitude, Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe" Mark 16.17 our churches seem to be full of those with only the "DO NOT DISTURB" sign around their necks, dare we say that many of our churches are filled with unbelieving believers? 

To believe in Christ is to follow Him and be His disciple; "I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." John 14.12

Are we doing the works? 

Are the signs following? 

Are we expecting the signs to follow? 

or have we just become humanitarian tolerants? 

The words of Christ command obedience, if obedience to His way is not there, are we in fact His disciple at all? 

Society will always have its malevolent, those intent on their own perverted gain at the expense of good morals and judgement, its wicked, evil and sinister plotters to bring down anything that is upright, moral, good or godly for it is an affront to them, for they desire to remove any semblance of righteousness or God from their lives, for then (in their minds only) their is no account to give to God.

It is encumbent upon us to heed the warning given by God to Ezekiel, “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.” Ezekiel 18.26/27

Society in many nations (not restricted to western nations) is crumbling for lack of absolute values, where everything is questioned and many outcomes are questionable, it behoves those that have the truth that delivers (and has delivered for thousands of years for those that follow it,)  peace, stability, prosperity and godliness to share it with those of the community hellbent on destroying righteousness in society and themselves along with it to a torturous hell for those who reject God.  

Don't let your religion crumble around you for lack of attention to it.

Dr Howard Sands is the International Director of Beautiful Feet Task Force, is available as a speaker for churches, outreaches, business & missions.

For more details or to book Howard for your college, church or event see how to frame an invitation here.

If you would like to assist BFTF in its mission to equipping African and Asian ministers with the word of God to empower their own generation you can donate to BFTF here.

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The Return of Christ in 2021

That headline got your attention didn't it? 

Will Christ return in the year 2021? 

I don't know, but this makes us ask 2 very important questions to the church. 

1/ Will you be found in faith and ready if He does? 

2/ Will the church do what is required between now and then to bring that about? 

Continue reading to discover what is necessary and how possible it is for Christ to return in 2021.

"They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God." 

~Jesus Luke 13.29

Right from the times of the patriarchs is was apparent that God desired to bring all mankind of every race, tribe and nation into relationship with himself, this mandate of sharing the good news was ultimately passed on to the Hebrew people who held onto the truth of their revelation of God and mostly did not bring the gentiles into relationship with God and therefore the mandate of bringing the nations into the Kingdom of God was given to the church birthed through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the sending of the Holy Spirit.
As we look around the world today we see that although the gospel has gone forth to some degree into most (but not all) nations, the majority of the church is still sitting in their pews, content to be pious or happy clappy but staying there. "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." ~Jesus Matt 24.14
Christ will delay his return and the judgement and the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth until the church has completed its assignment - and then will the end come.


The exciting thing about the day in which we live is that with today's travel and technology capabilities,the size of the church and finances of God's people, it is possible to translate the scriptures into every language on earth, deliver the good news to every ethnic group and establish the kingdom of God in them within the next five years. If only we would get of our comfortable backsides in our comfortable churches where we play religion and have services for our own pleasure and enjoyment and get out there delivering the good news of the gospel to those who have not heard, and persuading those who have avoided the message to listen and compelling those that have rejected it to come in; then the kingdom would be preached to the whole world, and Christs prophecy would be fulfilled, the end would come, judgement day and Christs return and His Kingdom would be established on earth and this prayer answered "thy Kingdom come."

The indictment on the church is that at least since the 1980's we have had everything in place to do this within 5 years. Although there are some that are passionately working for this end, we must conclude that the church generally has failed in its mission in this generation to preach the gospel of the kingdom in the whole world as a testimony to all nations. It falls on a new generation to take up the mandate, build on the strength of the past without taking on the complacencies of the forefathers who allowed apathy, comfort, smugness and sense of security to lull them into inaction.

Will the leaders keep on tickling the ears of their congregations with more personal development or get fired up with the Holy Spirit, prepare Gods people for acts of service and send them forth empowered to complete a mission and fulfil a mandate "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." Mark 16.15 

Dr Howard Sands is the International Director of Beautiful Feet Task Force, is available as a speaker for churches, outreaches, business & missions.

For more details or to book Howard for your college, church or event see how to frame an invitation here.

If you would like to assist BFTF in its mission to equipping African and Asian ministers with the word of God to empower their own generation you can donate to BFTF here.

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