Its Pentecost Sunday. Praying for preachers and churches everywhere, but especially in Venezuela. As churches in the US hear about the historical event of Pentecost and its impact on the birth and work of the church, the church in Venezuela is living it. The clear manifestations of the Spirit are evident daily. The Lord is adding daily new believers in most of the churches with whom we are working. My latest testimony comes from last Monday night when a very unfortunate situation related to simply buying cement resulted in a huge neighborhood protest, near riot, over concrete (the organizer has been waiting over 2 years for government promised concrete), the presence of the protestors and National Guard on campus. The uproar just outside the classroom in which I was teaching disrupted the class. Eventually, it was decided I needed to leave the campus. Our Venezuelan team felt I was at risk. However the very tense crowd and the armed Guard were directly between me and our car. So 4 of our team members led me through the very middle of the space (no-mans land seems appropriate) between the protestors and the Guard. They did not even look at me. Their eyes were blinded to my size (much bigger than anyone else present) and my very pale complexion (read: reeeeal white). A minor thing to some, perhaps, but your were not there. This was an Acts proportion miracle. One of the young students in class that night had experienced the healing of an infirm leg. It actually grew over two inches. I knew this pastors child when she was a child and she did have to wear a shoe built up over 2 inches and walked with an obvious limp. Now she walks perfectly normally. She gives Jesus the praise. She is just one example of the miracles we see there on a regular basis. This is obviously clearly an identifiable and verifiable signs and wonders present in Acts. Another obvious evidence of the Spirit is the worship. In Acts, things happened when the church gathered to worship. Things happen in Venezuelan worship which can only be attributed to the work if the Holy Spirit. The opposition of evil to the work of the church is real and tangible. Some even imprisoned for their faith. However, the church rallies and God acts in the midst of the difficulty in the most amazing ways. Like Acts, the church in Venezuela is a praying church, a humble and repentant church, a minority church, and a triumphant church. They are being scattered to other places in the world to share what God is doing through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a poor church, like Peter and John were poor on the entrance to the temple, Silver and Gold have I none, but such as I have I give to you. In the Name of Jesus, rise up and walk. These are just a few of the comparisons between the church in Acts and the church in Venezuela. Many of you are praying for the church in Venezuela especially after the arrest of Sam. Thank you. The church there is praying for the church here. They do not comprehend how their bothers and sisters in the US can be so consumed with the current denominational debate. They do not understand how a church can ignore or contradict clear Biblical teaching. They dont understand why it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to start a church here and they do it with nothing but a Spirit-filled trained leader, some under 20 years old. They dont understand the concepts of guaranteed appointments, ordination requirements which impede the work of the church instead of advancing it, arbitrary rather than mission-driven itineracy. They do not understand spending 3 or 4 days in holy conferencing in which no one is prostrate before The Lord, no one is repenting, no one is overwhelmed with the love and grace of Jesus, no one is filled with the Holy Spirit, no one is healed and no one is saved from their sins. They dont understand how we could spend so much time and not be overwhelmed by the power and presence of the Spirit glorifying Jesus. They do not understand how debating clear scriptural mandates is holy. They ask, What is holy about that? While they have almost none of the things the church in the US cant live without and generally takes for granted, they do have what our gold cannot buy. And it is far more valuable than our filthy rags. So on this Pentecost Sunday, as you pray for a poor church in Venezuela, they are praying for an even poorer church here. May the Spirit fall on the church there and here today. I leave this long treatise with the words of St. Peter to a church which is living this reality: (1Pe 3:13-17) Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 10:23:19 +0000
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