We Must Live and Speak by Faith

Scripture: Acts 13:11

“Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

Insights: I must confess of all the steps we have learned about this week, this third step is the hardest for me personally.  There have been many times in which I have depended on the Holy Spirit for power.  There have also been many times in which I have stood my ground against those who have expressly opposed the gospel.  This third step, however, I have been less confident in my faith journey up to this point.  I sense the Holy Spirit is growing me in this area, but I still find myself falling and stumbling.  I continue to have to return back to the Lord and ask, with a repentant heart, for His forgiveness and then I press forward with greater anticipation of His goodness and grace.  This third step I am referring to is living and speaking by faith.  Look back at our verse today.  Paul, again in the power of the Holy Spirit, states to this magician, “Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.”  When was the last time you spoke blindness on a person?  Do you understand what I am getting at this point?  Many times God pricks our heart and calls on us to speak by faith.  Whenever God calls us to speak by faith, it implies He calls us to live by that very same faith.  When His Spirit prompts us to speak a word of faith, if you are like me, you then have this follow-up thought, “but what if what I am about to say doesn’t happen, how will God [and what I really mean is how will I] look when this doesn’t happen.”  As a result, many times, I just don’t speak a word of faith at all.  Beloved, Satan knows we battle against this thought.  Because he knows this fact, he does to us what he did to Eve in the garden.  He tries to convince us we cannot trust God and he whispers lies into our ears trying to prevent us from speaking and living by faith what God has told us to say and do.  Let us rise above Satan’s attacks and believe the Father and obey Him.

Questions:

1. Are you living and speaking words of faith?

2. Are you living by earthly sight and fearful of God not working in the midst of your situation?

Prayer: Father, all too often I live in fear.  Forgive me when I allow my fear to supersede my faith.  Grow me in Your grace and may I be a person of faith and power in You.  Amen.

We Need to Stand our Ground Against the Opposition

Scripture: Acts 13:10

and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

Insights: The second practical step we learn about this week is that we need to stand our ground against the opposition.  Paul is not willing to let the magician speak his mind and intimidate them.  Paul is filled with the Spirit of God as we learned yesterday and now he speaks with boldness and confidence.  Examine the words Paul used in his address to the magician.  He says this man is full of deceit and a fraud.  Paul calls him the son of the devil in contrast to his name of bar-Jesus, which means son of the savior.  He calls him the enemy of righteousness.  Paul declares this man twists the truth.  These statements are bold.  All too often we as Christ-followers take the opposition too lightly.  We give justifications for them.  We speak tender words of compassion.  Beloved, when we are talking about the five percent, which is truly hostile to the things of God, we need to stand our ground.  We must, because we are filled and dependent on the power of God, speak truth into the situation.  Paul was not willing to let this magician and his lies prevent him from sharing the gospel to the proconsul.  It is my prayer when we see government or others attempting to stop the spread of the gospel that we live with the same kind of power as Paul.  Let the church in the United States rise and stand in opposition to those who are trying to demand we stop proclaiming the truth of the Scriptures.  May we be bold and valiant for the One to whom we serve.  May our life of faith and power, in Christ, be evident to all and may many of them come to the saving knowledge of Jesus because of our obedience.  Jesus gave us a parable that helps illustrate this point.  It is the parable of the house being built on the sand or the rock.  When we are unwilling to stand on the rock, then we are wishy-washing and easily tossed back and forth.  When, however, we are built on the rock, we are able to stand by faith and rest in Him and trust in Him.  When those moments of opposition arise, let us stand on Jesus, the true rock of our faith.

Questions:

1. Is your house built on the sand?

2. Are you living on the solid Rock which is Christ Jesus?

Prayer: Father, grant me courage to take a stand and remain steadfast in the midst of opposition and hostility.  Let me not be destroyed by the battering waves of the enemy.  Amen.

We Must Depend on the Holy Spirit for Power

Scripture: Acts 13:9

But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him,

Insights: Yesterday we learned, and not surprisingly, there are always those who oppose the gospel.  If we know this fact is the truth, then how do we address it?  Today, and the remainder of this week, I am going to give you some practical steps to help you better address those who are in opposition to the gospel.  Just for clarification, those in opposition are really small in number, only about five percent.  These individuals are the ones out there trying to convert people away from Christ and the truth of who He is.  The first step to dealing with those in opposition is to depend on the Holy Spirit for power.  Notice in today’s verse it states, Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit.  In other words, Paul was not gazing at the magician in his own power and strength.  The Holy Spirit gave Paul in this moment a special touch of grace and allowed him to see inside of the man to the core of his intentions.  This gaze is a deep and penetrating look of intensity at the magician.  Paul is not relying on his skills and experience at this point.  The power of God is residing in him in the person of the Holy Spirit.  Paul is living on complete dependence on God’s Spirit to give him insight and direction.  Beloved, I think all too often we depend on our own skill set.  We have walked this Christian life for so long and have heard so many arguments that we often rely on our background.  This type of plan is dangerous and will lead to futility and frustration.  We must be men and women who are completely and totally dependent on the power of God to give us strength, guidance, wisdom and direction in our lives.  This dependence is never more true than when we face those who are intensely opposed to the gospel.

Questions:

1. Are you depending on the Holy Spirit for power?

2. Are you human driven plans sufficient for your kingdom initiatives?

Prayer: Father, forgive me for the times in which I devise and plan for my own strengths to be the power in my proclamation.  May I grow more and more dependent on Your Spirit for power and grace.  Amen.

There Are ALWAYS Those Opposed to the Gospel

Scripture: Acts 13:6-8

When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.  But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

Insights: One of the realities I have often written about on my Thoughts by Scott blog is the opposition we face in our Christian walk.  In today’s verses we read about Elymas, also known as Bar-Jesus, which means the son of the savior.  This man opposed Saul (also known as Paul) and Barnabas.  I share this information because all to often when opposition actually does raise its wicked head up in our lives, we many times are surprised it happened.  We respond with an attitude of, “Well I never saw that coming.”  Beloved, we ought to never be surprised by the working of our advisory, Satan.  He absolutely hates those of us who are called to be followers of Jesus.  He desires nothing more than to trip us up and get us off of course.  There is hope, however.  Thom Rainer in his book titled The Unchurched Next Door writes about the fact that only five percent of lost people are truly hostile to a gospel conversation.  This means ninety-five percent of the people are at least willing to have a spiritual conversation with you.  What do you do, however, we you face this five percent of the population?  The remainder of this week we will learn four practical ways to deal with those who try and oppose the gospel and get us tripped up in our pursuit of Jesus.  Let me encourage you to come back every day this week and read these four simple steps to deal with people of opposition.

Questions:

1. Are you presently being opposed for sharing the gospel?

2. Does this opposition surprise you in any way?

Prayer: Father, this world finds itself in a cosmic battle with the end already written.  Help me to be a man who recognizes the battle for what it is and to acknowledge oppositions will occur in opposition to the kingdom’s advancement.  Amen.

Have a Mentor to Speak Truth into Your Life

Yesterday I brought up the subject of leadership styles and I mentioned two types.  The first type was the public opinion poll leader who was tossed back and forth based on the audience with which they were currently addressing.  The second type of leader was the conviction based leader who new their stance and was unwavering in their resolve to run the course they had set before them.  I had indicated my preference for the second type of leader.

I summarize this information because I think one of the best tools a convictional leader has in their tool box is mentoring or coaching.  In other words, the best leaders have individuals in their lives who mentor or coach them to be better and more effective.  The field in which the leader is working is irrelevant.  Every professional golfer has a golf coach even though the professional plays better golf than the coach.  The coach is able to see things the professional can’t and gives advise to make the professional better.  Actors have acting coaches.  CEO’s have business coaches and on and on the list can go.  There are now even professional life coaches in the market place who are available for hire no matter what area of life is your specific niche.

My point in bring all up these mentors or coaches is because it is my fundamental belief we all need them.  Some of these are professional with whom you pay a fee.  Others are personal friends with whom you know are experts in a specific area and they are willing to mentor you in order for you to be a better leader in your context.  I cannot express the value these mentors or coaches will have on your life.  What I can say is their impact will be significantly more valuable to you than if you tried to do the work on your own.

The reason they so often add value is because we all wear blinders in life.  We often do not see the entire picture and a coach is able to see or even sense things based on your conversations with them that will help guide and stir your course away from the rocks which will destroy your progress.  To put it bluntly, life coaching makes you more productive because they see what you can’t.  According to a Manchester Consulting Group study of Fortune 100 executives, the Economic Times reports “coaching resulted in a return on investment (ROI) of almost six times the program cost as well as a 77% improvement in relationships, 67% improvement in teamwork, 61% improvement in job satisfaction and 48% improvement in quality.” Additionally, a study of Fortune 500 telecommunications companies by MatrixGlobal found executive coaching resulted in a 529% ROI. The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development concludes “coaching is not just perceived as a nice-to-have intervention.”

If you do not have a mentor or coach, let me encourage you to get one.  You will truly have increased productivity and well being in your life.

Be a Convictional Based Leader

I have recently been thinking about the subject of public opinion.  We, as a nation, are currently in the heat of the race for our next presidential election.  As I have listened to these candidates who are trying to win their parties vote I have thought about the different types of leaders that exist.  I am not going to name names and classify the different candidates, but rather I am just going to list the two types of leaders I more often observe.

The first type is the opinion poll leaders.  This type of leader makes their stance dependent upon the winds of public opinion.  They are constantly looking at polls and trying to please everyone.  This type of leader is not just in the political arena.  There are pastors who try to please all of their congregational members.  There are business owners who try to please all of their employees and customers.  These people pleasers change their stance on a subject depending on the audience with which they are speaking.  I find these types of leaders to be exhausting.  I personally get tired just watching them run back and forth trying to please everyone.

The second type of leader is the conviction based leader.  This leader knows what they believe and why they believe it.  They recognize the fact they will never please everyone, but they know the resolve with which they have set based on their convictions.  I may personally not agree with this leaders convictions, but what I admire about this type of person is they are not tossed back and forth in the wind.  They set their course and they run straight.  I know when this person speaks to one group of people that this leaders message is going to be the same as when he/she speaks to another group of people.  This type of leader has consistency.

I have obviously tipped my hat as to my leadership bias.  I personally prefer the second type of leader.  I recommend you surround your life with conviction based leaders.  This type of leader will add value to you and to your organization (no matter what type of organization with which you are a part).  They will help hold you accountable to the organizations vision because they have bought into the vision on a convictional level.

Let me clarify a point some of you may be thinking about a conviction based leader.  Just because a leader is convictional in nature does not mean this person wakes up in the morning thinking to themselves, “Well, let’s see, who can I frustrate today because of my core convictions which are unwavering.”  These leaders are not unsympathetic to those in an opposite camp.  What these leaders do, however, is try through negotiation to convince those holding a differing position as to why their conviction is the best from their point of view.  If they are successful, then they have won a person over to their belief.  If they are unsuccessful, they move on and do not let this disagreement derail them from their end objective.

In closing, let me say, whether you are a type one leader or a type two leader, leadership is not for the weak and faint of heart.  If God has called you to lead, however, lead well.

Ministry is Invoked by the Church

Scripture: Acts 13:3

Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Insights: The last truth from this weeks sermon is ministry is invoked by the church.  Notice in today’s verse that after the leaders had finished fasting and praying they had Barnabas and Saul set apart through the laying on of hands.  They were commissioned by the church of Antioch to go on their first missionary journey.  At the end of the day, ministry is not just about the Holy Spirit’s inspiration or the leadership’s initiation.  At some point the church has to join the work.  FBCBG held a Vision Workshop in which the Strategic Planning Team presented out in a four hour session the results of the work they had done the previous two years.  One of the statements presented that night was, “There are two aspects required for revitalization to occur: A pastor [in our context of today’s blog, leader] with the attitude and commitment to take the church through the ReBirthing Stage and a church that has members who are also desiring for ReBirth to occur.  In order for ReBirth and Growth to transpire, both the pastor [leader] and the church membership must be in agreement on ReBirth and Growth.”  I write this quote to help illustrate the totality of the church body.  1 Corinthians 12 gives us a really good picture about the church being the body of Christ.  The Holy Spirit inspires the ministry, the leaders initiate the ministry, but everyone in the church invokes the ministry.  It takes us all doing our job to make ministry come to pass.  We at FBCBG have an opportunity to Carry Christ to our Community (C3) this coming weekend.  We are going to go out on Saturday and place door hanger questionnaires.  On Sunday we are going to return and clean up yards, pick up the questionnaires and leave a new door hanger telling them we love them.  In order for this C3 event to be successful it requires all of the church to be involved.  If just the leaders are present, then it will not be successful.  Let me encourage you to trust the Holy Spirit has truly inspired the leadership to initiate ministry.  With this foundation of trust, then let me encourage you to join the work and bring the Lord glory.

Questions:

1. What ministry is your church rallying around and asking for your engagement?

2. Are you willing to jump in and join the church in this work?

Prayer: Father, it is my prayer the entire church will be motivated by the inspiration of Your Spirit and the initiation of the church leaders to join in the ministry assignment You give.  May our work bring You glory.  Amen.