An intelligent Church

"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six." [ Rev.13:18]

Rev 13 tells us that this system of the world (referred to as 'the beast' – see Rev 13:11-18) has the ability to rule over masses of people (small & great, rich & poor, free & slave – Rev 13:16), but we are also told that the wise will understand the number or code of the beast. The 'number/code of the beast' is primarily not just the barcode of the products we buy from retail food chains every day. The code of the beast refers to ' a system of thought' (the code is placed on people's foreheads [i.e. mindsets] or right hand [i.e. fruit of their labour]) – '…so that no one could buy or sell' (Rev 13:17): this implies that the beast is fighting for the economic system – for it is in the economic system that the buying and selling occurs. All that the beast does is to set 'terms of references' that define the nature of economics. It is therefore no coincidence that we are dealing with economic injustices and the brutality of humans as they deal economically.

The word 'wisdom' used in Rev 13:18 is the word 'sophia' – it means: skill in the affairs of life. The word 'understand' used in Rev 13:18 is the word 'nous', it refers to: the intellect, mode of thinking, intelligent understanding etc. And so as far as God is concerned, the only effective mobilisation against the systems of the world that the Bible refers to as the 'beast' – is in gaining wisdom and understanding.

Implying that in this time, you can not therefore be building an emotional church but an intelligent church. You cannot be building emotional believers but intelligent believers. God has already declared that He wants to make His wisdom known through the church (Eph 3:10, Luke 21:15). The key spiritual feature of the last days church is 'wisdom'. Solomon understood this – and when he was offered to ask anything from God, he asked for wisdom.

The word 'understand' that Jesus uses in Matt 24:15 is a Greek word 'noieo' which means: to exercise the mind, to comprehend, to consider, to think. This means that the Lord expects that we interact more intellectually with the things happening around us – i.e. we are not just to respond with spiritual emotionalism. However, this intellectual exercise is not to be simply rooted in our natural IQ (or natural intelligence) but in the very wisdom of God. If we are serious about providing superior wisdom to the world, then the first thing we must do is to renounce our own intelligence as we adopt God's wisdom. Why must we do this? Because our own wisdom or intelligence is the product of the very system that we are interacting with, and so the children of the system can never revolt successfully against it.

jdmatariki

Vanuatu people are "lazy..."

"...the people of this country 'are lazy and are happy to be spoon-fed by Australia and New Zealand.'" [Vanuatu Daily Post, 21 August 2007]

These are the words of Root Crop Adviser with Department of Agriculture, Dr Vicent Lebott. According to Dr Lebott, ni-Vanuatus are happy as they are and do not like to work hard.

This is a very strong statement, perhaps, but it makes us think again. Not that I totally believe that this statement is true, but that it is good food for thought. Consider these questions: Why is it that the ni-Vanuatu finds it harder to get a loan from any of the commercial bank than a foreign investor? Why was the Vanuatu development Bank closed? Why do many ni-Vanuatu sell their land, and use the money to buy a four-wheel, air-conditioned, double-cabin Toyota? Why is it that the so-called 'un-employed' ni-Vanuatu thinks s/he can make more money by picking fruits in New Zealand? Why does Vanuatu have to dedicate an year to 'custom economy'? Why are there so many so-called SPRs in the two towns of Vila and Luganville when there is so much 'dark bush'?

Is Dr Lebott wrong to call the ni-Van lazy, or is he just stating a fact that the ni-Van just doesn't want to hear? And if Dr Lebott is right, what could be a reasonable response from a responsible ni-Vanuatu man or woman?

Or is 'lazy' the wrong word? The Oxford dictionary defines lazy as: unwilling to work or be active; doing as little as possible; showing a lack of effort or care; moving slowly. Other synonyms include: idle, sluggish, slothful. These all sound like someone with a high dose of their own green gold - kava. About laziness, the bible says in 2 Thes.3:10, that 'if any one is not willing to work , neither let him eat.' That's something a ni-Vanuatu father would NOT do to a lazy son. Proverbs 19:15, says "Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger." Eccl. 10:18 says, "By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through."

But the hardest of them all to swallow is, "But if any provideth not for his own, and specially his own household, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever." [1 Tim.5:8]. And we call Vanuatu a 'Christian' country? And then call the Chinese hardworking businessman an 'unbeliever? According to the Christians' manual in 1 Tim.5:8, shouldn't this be the other way around?

jack

Salvation at what age?

Barna Research, the largest religious polling agency in the U.S. found that the overwhelming percentage of those who are saved have experienced salvation before reaching their 14th birthday. The table below shows the findings:

Age range	% who experience salvation within that age range
5 to 13 years	32%
14 to 18 years	4%
over 19 years	6%

Even though this research was done in the US, maybe the same result would be true for any other people group. This finding shows that a vast majority of those who are saved experience the conversion during childhood - before the age of 14. A person who is unsaved at the age of 14 only has 10% chance of being 'saved' later in life.

This finding poses the following question: Should evangelism be concentrated on children?
This data challenges the widely-held belief that the teenage years (13-19 years) are the prime years for evangelistic activity. And also, most church efforts today to evangelise the unsaved is directed at adults is not effective because this is an age group which is relatively resistant to the message. The answer then is that more evangelical programs should be directed at children and the youth.

This finding should inspire the Church to shift the majority of its efforts and resources to: giving more quality training to youth leaders and workers of youth organisations; allocating a greater % of the church budget to the youth programs. Then release the children and the youth to evangelize their own generation, while we give them our greatest support!

Jesus said of children, "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for to such belongeth the kingdom of heaven", and Solomon the wisest man who ever lived said of children, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

[Source: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_savy.htm]

Whatever the fear, look it in the eye!

'...I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you...our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he [is] God in heaven above, and in earth beneath'. [Joshua 2:9,11]

In Deut. 1:38; 3:28; 31:6-8; 23; Joshua 1:6-7,9,18. At least 6 times, almost like a mantra, Joshua keeps being told “be strong and courageous”. In Deut. 31:6 the whole company is told the same thing. Clearly this was going to be a major requirement in the conquest of the land, Deut 7:17-19.

This is a reflection of the nature of the season that surrounded a people that were entering into God’s promise. If we take the land as representing all the purpose of the Lord for the church, then clearly this same quality (i.e strong and courageous) will be required of us at this time. The implication is that, like Israel, we have to overcome “nations greater and mightier” than ourselves. If we revert to natural sight and thinking then we will be overcome by fear.

In Joshua chapter 2 we are given an inside look into the mind of the enemy. The nations that Israel had to conquer were large and strong, so that God had to keep saying to Joshua ”be strong and courageous”. Jericho itself was an enormously fortified city. Yet the real truth (Rahab reality), that would never have been apparent from outside, was that the nations were terrified of Israel.

This is a picture of the demonic realm as it contemplates the arising and advance of an invading militant church in these last days. In the past many believers have lived in fear of attacks of the enemy; we now know that he is terrified of us.

See Matt. 8:28-32 'And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?' and note the authority of Christ and the response of the demons.

'And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.' [Matt 11:12] A violent Kingdom requires violent men and women. The enemy is afraid of you.

Is everyone hearing the same thing?

"What we begin to realise...is that God is saying the same thing to this emerging generation everywhere, in their own languages, He is speaking the same message, about the call to prayer, there is a reformation in the church taking place, a new generation looking for a new expression of Church.

Younger people saying to the older generation we love you, we value you, we need your wisdom, But we don't want your structure, your programs that is killing us. We want relationship over titles, we want to see Jesus in you."

This revelation came out of the "Global Transformation Prayer Summit" that was held in Malaysia in September 2006. For the first time, four global networks that seek godly transformation of the church and society join forces: the International Prayer Council (IPC), the Global Day of Prayer (GDOP), the International Transformation Network (ITN) and the International Fellowship of Transformation Partners (IFTP). A fifth stream, not officially represented, is a group of emerging leaders exploring a possible Connect World liaison.

There is a new generation that is looking for a new expression of the church. We're tired of programs that is killing us. We're tired of hearing you tell us how God touched you - we want God to touch us. We're tired of hearing you telling us your experience of Jesus of yester-years. We want to experience Jesus for ourselves TODAY!

Agents of Innovation & Possitive Social Change!

"The world's young population, now numbering more than 1 billion, are a major human resource for development, and can be key agents of innovation and possitive social change. Yet the scale of youth poverty robs the world of such potential...." [Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, message on international youth day 12th August 2006].

That's a tough line. As long as our youth remain unemployed, so called SPR's, our nation, islands, communities and families get robed of an otherwise blessing.

Our youth must be made aware of the immense potential they have. They must be encouraged, listened to, provided an educational opportunity, and encouraged some more. Adults are good at discouraging young people. They call them stupid, good-for-nothing, hed-blong-nawita (octobus head), etc. More like self-fulfilling prophecies, our young people turn out to be so - pushed out of the school system, get strong-headed and rebellious, careless about their bodies and start on the road to subtance abuse, etc. Then we stand back and ask "why?".

Kofi Annan added "Our challenge is clear: we must pay more attention to education, in particular to the transition from education to employment". That takes everybody's effort: parents, educators, youth workers, community leaders and the church. I gues Annan is saying, if we want to solve the national problem we must solve the youth problem. It's high time we start reprioritising our agendas and redirecting our efforts: Youth!

Annan continued, "..the ability of youth to find full and productive employment must be a central objective of national development strategies..". In other words, all our efforts - CRP, Master plan, Priority action plans, etc, must go to enabling youth to find full and productive employment. An activity that does not have this as an end must be cut out. Amen and amen.

Does God do Classified Ads..?

"Thy people offer themselves willingly In the day of thy power, in holy array: Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth." [Psalms 110:3]

We've all quoted that sometimes or another, and even another one that goes something like so, 'God's calling are irrevokable'. But let's think about this: If God wanted a job done, does He advertise it? And what is His mode of advertisement.

And maybe for our case, what is our mode of response? It's the 'willing' part that still bugs me. God gives every INDIVIDUAL a gift called 'choice'. And that's a GREAT gift. But it's also a RISKY gift, as God knew right well how each man and woman was going to use it.

But an even greater bug is when ANOTHER individual does the choice on behalf of another - for the right reasons perhaps.

The BIG question: When it comes down to the things of God, and for our point in discussion, DO WE REALLY HAVE A CHOICE? And when we stand before God someday, how is anyone going to account for the calls refused?

I quote from Bob Gass, "[God's] Calls are not classified ads; you don't volunteer, you respond!" [The Word for Today, 17th June 2006]. Now, that's some strong light on this subject. "Lord here I am, SEND ME"

jack