Why Faith (An excerpt from "Faith and Exploits" by George Mwamlowe)

Mat 9:2 "And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee."

Mat 9:22 "But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour."

Mat 9:29 "Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you."

In one chapter Matthew records 3 different scenarios where the faith resident in the hearts of the subjects moves the hand of divinity in their favor. To relegate your future to chance or destiny is to abdicate your right to experience the supernatural.

Faith is to the recreated man what the mind is to the unregenerate man. It sets the boundaries of possibility and determines the scales of reward and achievements. The man who invests wisely in his mind will surely see the fruit of his investments, in as much as the man who invests in his faith will see the fruits of faith. It would be unwise for us to then speak of the necessity of faith without detailing the mechanics of how to receive it. Rom 10:17 details how faith comes to the heart of man. 

 

 Rom 10:17  "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

 

The process seems simple enough. But it is therein that we find the true pitfall which leads men to a faithless lifestyle. What we sometimes lack is commitment to the Word that leads to a perception of God's unique characteristics so that the faith of men may rest in God alone. Paul understood that teaching the Word brings faith and therein lieth the power to see demonstrations of the Spirit AND Power. 

 

 1Co 2:4-5  "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

 

This is where the Teacher or Preacher carries a lot of responsibility. Because the realities you continually present to people are what they will eventually manifest in their life. So therefore faith can grow or dwindle under the demands and harshness of life depending on what you feed your heart. A man should never allow himself to be misled by the teachings of suffering and weakness as present day optimum realities for a child who has access to power and victory (1 Cor 4:20, 1 Cor 15:57). When we encounter weakness in any form, we can boldly declare that we are strong because His strength is made (not might be made) perfect in our weakness. One of the most insightful statements I have heard which many anti-faith proponents fail to acknowledge is one that states that:

 

 "Faith begins where the will of God is known"- Rev K. E. Hagin

 

The above statement makes a powerful assertion, i.e. the will of God can be known and through this a man can then walk in faith. No amount of gimmicking (if that is a word) can bring faith, but anything done in response to the knowledge of God's will is inevitably bound to succeed. The simple reason is that God watches over His Word (Expressed Will) to perform it (Jer 1:12). When we speak of faith, we are not necessarily speaking of men moving God to do anything He hasn't expressly provided for in His will. It therefore follows that faith is the tool used of men to manifest the will of God.

It also follows that where ignorance or mis-information is rife, faith is lacking and the Will of God cannot be successfully manifest. e.g Daniel became enlightened enough to place a demand on the times for a national deliverance (Dan 9) according to what was already written of his nation. It is by his faith filled prayers that angelic visitation was dispatched on his behalf. Reading through Heb 11 we cannot ignore the illustrations of faith inspired victories and wonders wrought by "mere" men. It was not their religious lifestyle or their corporate Judaic faith that brought on their exploits. It was their personal, encounters with God and His will that led them to do wonders to the glory of God.

 

Rom_4:20  "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving GLORY to God;"

 

 1Co_10:31  "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

In closing I would like to point out that whatever faith must do, it must give glory to God. That is an important characteristic of true Bible faith. It is not for personal aggrandizement or for popularity's sake. It is not for spiritual fun fare but to the intent that glory arises to He who performs all things. Had the 3 groups of people in Matt 9 not known about Jesus, they would not have gone to Jesus. Had they not gone to him in faith they would not have received their miracles. Had they not received their miracles we would not have seen God's power on display. And had God not displayed His power to heal, we would not have acknowledged that facet of God's abilities and given Him the glory DUE His name.

Continue living a life of faith.

Yours in His Royal Service,

George Mwamlowe

 

Pangs in the body

1Co 12:11-14 "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many." (KJV)

1Co 12:24-27  "but we don't have to be modest about other parts. God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable. He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others. If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over. If one part of our body is honored, the whole body will be happy. Together you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is part of his body." (CEV)

If in reading the above scriptures, your mind was thinking about your particular church being a part of the body, then this article is for you. In the rise of radical denominational-ism, we find the propagation of such ideologies as "the anointing on a particular church", which is to say that this particular denomination manifests a certain "grace" which is unique from other denominations. This grace will be emphasized, taught and the attendees indoctrinated in it.The buttress of such beliefs will more often than not lie in the fact that those graces on a particular man, must needs be transmitted to those under him.

For some, it's the "prophetic Anointing, the leadership anointing, the wealth anointing, the music anointing" etc. In the most extreme forms, the congregants become super zealous and proud about "their" denomination's anointing and they tell it to all and sundry. The preachers and Elders push it by telling their congregants that "we are not like 'them', we have our own part in the body of Christ". Which then fuels the superiority complex in the congregants who now believe so strongly that they are unique from other believers and hence they can't interact on par with others.

 

In going through the account of the messages to the different churches in Revelations 2, I can't help seeing the obvious lack of such ideas in God's mindset. What we do see being true, is that churches/denominations can have the same attitudinal or ethical issues. This makes sense given that it is through human socialization that most ills are and likewise good is propagated. So the likelihood of being a lazy denomination is high should such behavior be accommodated by a majority of people. Such is true for zeal, excellence and all other behavioral traits. They can be taught. 

Not so true when it comes to personal giftings and graces for operation in the body of Christ. Many people have ceased to be effective because they believed that their mission was to attain to what the "denominational grace was/is". A large part of the problem is the leaders and overseers who do not want "strange fire"(an allegory based on the OT account of Lev 10:1) in their churches. The general gist of the warning is usually that if you learn things or get things imparted to you from another denomination, you cannot use them or manifest them in another denomination lest you grieve the grace that is supposed to work in that particular church. The worst I have heard in my short time as a Christian (a little over a decade) is someone saying "I heard the tongues that so an so was speaking in and they are not from our church". I won't go into the utter folly of that statement, but it is a strong indictment upon the dangers of that doctrine of "denominational/house" anointing.

Joel 2:28  And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: (KJV)

The Holy Spirit administers His graces to his people, not denominations. Members in a denomination may have graces imparted to them as a matter of ministerial necessity, but not as a blanket norm (Rom 1:11). In fact, in 1 Cor 12:25, we find that the prime reason why we should understand our differing graces is so that there will be no schism in the body i.e. to say, we would be united by our ability to help each other where we are in need. In summary I have penned(typed out) 5 points to summarize this article (all points based on scriptures given herein except otherwise noted):

1. We were all INDIVIDUALLY baptized into one body. Not the denomination. That denomination has members who are uniquely gifted in the body of Christ. That is what scripture says, and that is how it is

2. No denomination has a franchise on a particular gracing of the Spirit because it's 'Papa" is graced that way. What said "Papa" has is a gift to the body, not the denomination.

3. Because "Papa" has it, does not mean that thou shalt have it or indeed that thou must have it. Find your part in the body and your part in the denomination is found. It is the Holy Spirit who distributes severally as He wills.

4. When you pray for other members in the body of Christ, you are not necessarily praying for other denominations, it is that man in the pew with you who is a unique member in this body.

5. The day you start exalting yourself because of the grace (unmerited gifting) of God in your life, that is the day when you set yourself up for a fall.(James 4:6) 

In closing, your denomination is not correct on everything, and such goes for the other denominations around you. In the same vein, that other denomination is not wrong on everything, so in dealing with them, afford them the respect they deserve as members in the body, who just happen to be meeting somewhere else under a different name.

Yours in His Royal Service

George Mwamlowe

The Great "Works" Conundrum (Continued...)

Rom 6:1 "To what conclusion, then, shall we come? Are we to persist in sinning in order that the grace extended to us may be the greater?" (WNT)

Mat 5:14 "*You* are the light of the world; a town cannot be hid if built on a hill-top". (WNT)

Isa 60:2-3 "For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." KJV

 I will start this blog by re-iterating my first sentiments in it's precursor. You are not more righteous because of what you do after salvation for Christ is our righteousness and there is no adding to His perfect righteousness.(Philippians 3:9) You are not, in the same vein, less righteous because of what you do. That is the great mystery of salvation. So the question is, if what I do doesn't add or deduct from the state of my righteousness, what then is the reason to worry about how I live? Good question. 

The scriptures in Romans 6 prologue with an epilogue of galactic significance.  You see I love the way the Apostle Paul stated his cases, for that they were. He was a homiletics genius and so it should be if one is being inspired of the Spirit of God. He knew the implications of the fantastic revelations made in Romans 5(it begs personal reading) After having expounded on the victorious ways in which Christ's cause had indeed been triumphant, and having laid bare the boundless extents of God's grace in the process...he knew that there needed to be a cautionary word to the Church. For indeed, once death reigned but now grace reigned, once men were hopelessly at the mercy of the penalty due to them, but now they were set free and "justified" (declared not guilty) in heaven's Constitutional Court.

With such blissful realities it is possible to see yourself at the extreme end forgetting that indeed, your freedom came at a price to someone else. It is possible to be like the 9 lepers who didn't show up with appreciation after being delivered of a debilitating disorder. So with this in mind, the Apostle Paul concludes this good news with a very important question to the saved. "Shall we continue in sin? The answer seems immediately obvious but however the living out of it has been proven generation after generation to not be so easy. For indeed men revel in their freedom to the extent of going back to the ways of their old sinful nature. Hinging their boldness on nothing but the fact that they have been justified.

 Rom 6:6-7  "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin."

 The nature of our salvation is such that what Christ went through is reckoned to our account so that the glory of his victory becomes our reality. His residence in us by the Holy Spirit is the seal of that reality for indeed, divinity could not reside in iniquity. So we have been made free from sin indeed. The only catch however is that you can only exercise authority and faith to the measure of what you know (Hosea 4:6, Rom 10:17). So in verse 12 of Romans 6 he admonishes the believers as those who have the victory over sin and he says "let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies", to say..you are no longer hapless victims of sin, servants of that cruel master, but you have been born into an overcoming life (1 John 5:4) that allows you to live above sin.

This is where all the excuses, and the "leave me be-s" and the "I can't do it-s", and the "o wretched me-s" fall away. For how can you be born of God and be overcome? How can you be free from sin, and yet slave to sin? So then in Matt 5:14 we see the kind of life God ordained for us. It is a shining life, bright with God's glory, spreading His life to all! It is a life like salt, seasoning the world, preserving the lives of men, the truths of the gospel, the heritage of others and impacting them for good. To walk around as if nothing changed is to dim the lights, it's to refuse others the right to see Christ in you. It is to abscond from your ambassadorial duties to represent the kingdom in reconciling lost men (2 Cor 5:20)

In closing I will refer to Isaiah 60, talking about the glory of God on the new creation, and the call to shine. If all that was done was to set the human heart (the candle of the Lord) alight, and not allow it room to glow and penetrate the darkness then you have not done justice to the potential in you. When deep darkness covers the world, bad news on every side, immorality, lasciviousness, debauchery and all forms of corruption are on the increase, it is needful for us to arise. Arise in truth, arise with the standard of the kingdom against the coming of the enemy. Arise with the boldness of light in pushing back worldly manifestations. When the Christian burns bright in his walk, the world comes to watch and give glory to God (Matt 5).

Our works don't get us access, they bear witness to what we have accessed. And as the Word of God says in 2 Cor 4:7, we have treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excellence of the power (the outworkings of God through us) may be of God and not of us. We were not made by the good we did, but we were made to do good. We were made to do so much good that the world comes running to the light of our lives. Do good for the kingdom's sake.


Yours in His Royal Service,


George Mwamlowe

In search of the #Truth

Joh 8:32  "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

2Co_3:18  "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

The subject of truth has been an amazing exploration for me. I find that it is one of those subjects which strikes a deep chord within all of us. Many a time we hear questions like "How do I know who is telling the truth", and cries like "I just want to be told the truth". So sincere and heartfelt is man's desire (well the majority of us) for truth, that we will invest countless hours listening to others, reading, researching, scrolling through social media and the like, just to find ourselves closer to it.

We will quickly realize in a short study through the New Testament, that it would seem that the truth is 

1) A definite article

2) A personality

The subject is not "a truth", because that would suggest that it is one among many which pertain to a single thing. Whereas it in actual fact is definite. I will explain. It is not a truth that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. (Eph 2:8) A lot goes undone when we think it is one of the truths about how a man is saved. It is then that our faith becomes fluid and almost frivolous, for then anyone can lay claim to salvation through any other means. I trust that that illustrates my point above. So the truth is definite, that means that it is clearly defined and operates as intended.

One of the most powerful descriptions of the Bible that I have ever heard to date goes as follows;

"Everything in the Bible is truthfully stated, however not everything is a statement of truth"-Jesse Duplantis

I believe that is why Paul in writing to Timothy said "rightly dividing the Word of Truth" 2 Tim 2:15. There are things that are truthfully stated indeed, and occurrences that many have made templates for living, however they are in themselves not statements of truth. That is to say they are not the reality of life as God intended it for man. So we are best served by correlating whatever we have with other instances in the Bible.

And then we have the truth being expressed and identified as a personality. 

Joh 14:6  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

So now above the truth being definite, it (He) is now alive and tangible with character and traits that we can interact with. Although I am in awe of the power of the definiteness in truth, I am more in love with the person of truth. I have grown to realize that one of the challenges we face in search of truth, is that we get it in part. In the scripture above in Corinthians, Paul makes it clear that we are changed from glory to glory, as we behold. How I wish we could behold all at once the entirety of the picture and be transformed without further effort, but alas it is a journey. And in encountering the truth it is possible to hold the definiteness of it in arrogance, and neglect the personality in it.

1 Cor 13:2 tells us plainly that what we know is nothing save for the part of it that is driven by love. That is the personality of truth. The truth has a character that forgives (Matt18), the truth is patient (Matt19:14)...and so much more. In Christ we find the beauty, the power and the infallibility of truth for he not only said it well, He demonstrated it and he never failed.

For all the truth seekers out there...when you find Jesus, you have found the person of truth. All else will begin to fall into place after that.

Yours in His Service,


George Mwamlowe

The Great "Works" Conundrum

Mat_5:16  "Let YOUR light so shine before men, that THEY may see your good WORKS, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (KJV)

1Pe_2:12  "Having your conversation HONEST among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by YOUR good WORKS, which they shall BEHOLD, glorify God in the day of visitation"(KJV)

Eph 2:8-9  "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." 

The gospel is the promise of salvation for all by grace through faith, not of works. I find it the most interesting thing to observe how men seem to be fixated on that one part of the story to the neglect of the life after that great miraculous experience we call salvation. After all, how many salvation experiences does one go through in this earthbound lifetime?

Let's get some things out of the way first...You are not more righteous because of what you do after salvation for Christ is our righteousness and there is no adding to His perfect righteousness.(Philippians 3:9) You are not, in the same vein, less righteous because of what you do. That is the great mystery of salvation. So the question is, if what I do doesn't add or deduct from the state of my righteousness, what then is the reason to worry about how I live? Good question. 

1Co_15:34  "Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame." 

We cannot forget that in the great scheme of things there are two kingdoms which are vying for territory and influence in the lives of people. The kingdom of darkness, and the kingdom of light. This is a very critical basic understanding for anyone to understand the concept of works after salvation. When we are numbed to this truth (which is one of the great aims of the enemy), we tend to live out our days as believers in blissful drift and lethargy. In this article, I will define works as the lifestyle, speech, thought and associations of a believer. 

In 1 Cor 15:34, Paul admonishes the believers to awake to righteousness! This is a hearty admonition to a group of people whom the Apostle believed to be asleep in their righteousness. And the state that he awakes them from, is apparently a state of sinning (missing the mark). It is indeed possible to experience genuine salvation and still fall asleep, marked by a lacklustre Christian walk. 

I have found that the hostility towards Christians adhering to a certain code of ethics and morality is rising, and this from within the Church. For men have followed after their lusts to the neglecting of the bare fact that the life of the righteous does have standards. Not rules to righteousness, but works that attest to this righteousness. Christ put it well in Matt 5:16 (above quoted). It is not in any kingdom interest to tell people that they can live in any way they want, as long as they are saved. Neither is it prudent to abuse the grace of God as the banner under which all manner of folly should reside. 

Rom 6:1-2  "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"

The most obvious reason why we should strive to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the life we profess to reside within us is that it is an evangelical tool in itself. There is nothing more powerful than the life of God in action. The gospel should be lived as much as it should be preached. To stand and say "it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives", means that people who look at you can also concur. Jesus goes to the extent of saying that the heathen (they) will glorify God(worship) because of your good works.

With that in mind, it would be good to look at how we carry ourselves, how we talk to others, what entertains us etc. For many they can purchase, promote, propagate material that is clearly sensual, carnal, anti-God, and they see nothing wrong. However, this is the reason why the heathen feels no conviction in observing the life of the Christian. There is little, if anything, to aspire to. For many the difference in appetites pre-salvation and post-salvation is the addition of gospel music to the playlist shared with all the other music that is derogatory to the tenets of the Christian faith. I use music only as an example for this issue cuts across the vast spectrum of Christian activities. For some, the jury is still hung on whether they actually got saved on that day when they said the "prayer".

The worst I have heard, I think, is some brashly claiming, that "it doesn't matter how bad you are living, as long as you have settled your destiny". That is the height of carnality. To render powerless the life of God and to hold it selfishly to yourself. Throughout the Pauline Epistles, Paul(the Apostle of Grace as he is fondly known), is found appealing to the moral fibre of his listeners, their conduct as Christians mattered to him. It seems to me, that for Paul, the Church was by design meant to live as light and demonstrate a higher standard of morality than the world. And this isn't strange for indeed this is the body that men nicknamed "little Christs" or Christians. In Galatians he spells out the kind of fruit that develops on the branches that are the recreated human spirit, love joy, peace, meekness, longsuffering etc. This fruit develops only because we have allowed the life in the Vine to flow through us.

      Col 1:10  "That ye might walk WORTHY of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every                                       good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;"

I find it rather beyond imagination to see Christ bumping and grinding to Beyonce's latest in the name of artistic appreciation, nor marvelling at the awesomeness of Kanye West's lyrical prowess. Even more disturbing a picture is that of the King of Righteousness sitting comfortably as men spew all manner curses and obscenities. Alarmingly, we are in the days where Christians attend secular concerts in order to get "inspiration" for their "gospel" albums. It, unfortunately, doesn't look like the Christ I see in scripture. But that is me. Bear with me in my "old-fashioned" Christianity.

Php 4:8  "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." 

Finally brethren, let us aspire to a life that is ambassadorial, a life that speaks of and identifies with the kingdom that we so violently claim to be part of. I would have gone into how even the very Bishopric has so callously trodden down the expectations of this Way, in spite of the very clear call to blamelessness that Paul made, however, we are after all supposed to be gracious. Until the next blog, keep growing into the measure of the stature of Christ.

Yours in His Royal Service

George Mwamlowe

APOSTLES - STILL NECESSARY OR OBSOLETE

Eph 4:11-14  "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; "

I will preface this message by citing incidences referring to Apostles in the New Testament

2 Cor 12:12 -signs and wonders and mighty deeds attest to a genuine Apostolic call

Gal 1:19 James the Lords brother was an Apostle, however, he was not part of the original 12

Phil 2:25 Epaphroditus was an apostle to the Philippian church

Rev2:2 It seems that there was a trend of people fraudulently claiming they were called to be Apostles, however, the Ephesian church could test and disprove such. By inference, it means they could prove those who were called indeed.

Acts 14:14 Barnabas was also separated as an Apostle by the Elders of the church.

1 Thess 2:6 Silvanus and Timothy are addressed as Apostles even though the previous stringent criteria of having seen the Lord is not evidenced to have been fulfilled.

Rom 16:7 Andronicus and Lucia are counted as being of note among the Apostles even though their credentials of having walked with the Lord or having gone through any special requirements are not stated (Not that such a system for sanctification was not there for we see in Acts 6 a strict spiritual and moral test for Deacons)

The apostles were by nature “Sent Ones” or “Messengers”. The Office of the Apostle was revered; however, it was not exclusive to the original 12 nor the later revised 12. From studying the scriptures, we realize that even early on, more people gained the title of Apostle. We can set this as a precedent for the coming Bible times in the New Church age whose practice was to heed the voice of God in “sending people out”. We need to be careful when we do our hermeneutics of the context of a verse and not make it the one thing that makes this office exclusive without considering the dynamics of the bigger Church experience in those days eg. Eph 2:20 There are instances which refer to the original 11 Apostles, which became 12 again, but the instances which refer to them should not be read as an exclusion of the other Apostles from the Office and neither is it relegation to mere “messengers” also. The same with Prophets, we do not have any indication from scripture that that Office will cease after the initial Church Age. In fact, Paul goes to great lengths to encourage people not to forbid prophecy. Acts 13 doesn’t even elaborate on who the Prophets were and what their role was in the Church at that time, but it was no secret that they were there and that they held that Office, again, because each office has accompanying signs. I find it interesting though that it seems that the “5 fold” ministry gifts did not isolate themselves, but were found working together for the good of the body. So there was no denomination which was just Prophetic, or Apostolic, or Evangelistic, or Pastoral.

-Eph 4 makes it clear that Jesus set some in “the Church”. That is a definite article representing the institution which was and still is in existence. For men to then endeavour to reason through without scriptural precedent as to the abolition of any of the set offices in scripture is very dangerous. It is not entirely true that an Apostle must carry a unique authoritative message. It is true, however, that an Apostle is foundational in his disposition, and hence will propagate foundational issues with attendant confirmatory signs (Acts 4:33). As an example, we find that there were many Apostles in scripture who don’t have a book in the NT authored by them. They all carried a message that was revealed already either by Christ Himself on earth or through the post-ascension manifestations. Paul is unique in that for him he was chiefly called to Gentiles, but this same inclusive revelation was given to Peter through a vision (Acts 10). 

We can also see that the Gospel has always been a “new authoritative message” requiring men to propagate it. However, the way in which the individual moved it i.e. the signs of his ministration indicated where in the “five-fold” he was graced to stand. The Apostles are always mentioned first and I am convinced by scripture, that this unique ministry carries signs from every other major office (2 Tim 4:5). Timothy as an Apostle had to also watch that he also fulfilled the Evangelistic call on his life in order to make “full proof” of his ministry. I once blogged about a challenge within the body, which Paul also addressed in 1 Cor 12, where different members do not see value in what the other members are called to do. 

This can be observed when you see ministries where the Senior Pastors or Bishop or President has a teaching gift, and he doesn’t see why there should be a prophetic gift in the Church or worse he makes it his duty to discredit anything that is not plain teaching. We also see it where the leader(s) have a strong Evangelistic office, in such cases they cannot see why people should be taught anything else other than Jesus and His saving grace. And they are quick to cite 1 Cor 2 where Paul determined to know nothing save Christ and Him crucified. Forgetting that the same Paul did know more than that. He knew about family, about prosperity, he knew about church leadership, about beneficial behaviour, dealing with stress, handling complex societal divides etc and he taught all these in a godly way consistent with the gospel and its provisions. So then we see conflict arise, Pastors want everyone to be soft spoken and understanding, teachers want everyone to be a master of didactics and homiletics, Prophets want everyone to see the way they do, Apostles want to be everything including your local politician because of their governmental unction. 

“The Church”, because it is perpetually in multiple stages of growth, cannot afford to do away with any of these giftings. This because in our midst churches still need to be planted and new territories conquered (APOSTLES), governments and Christians still need prophetic voices to declare the way of the Lord and bring correction in times of error and to guide the body into the unfolding purpose of God(PROPHETS), cities need to be evangelized, to hear the heart of God for a dying and lost generation (EVANGELIST), the won need to be embraced, initiated, grounded and loved (PASTORS) and finally the grounded and founded need to grow into maturity and leave the milk and handle meat of the kingdom (Heb6) so that they don’t wander around in the wilderness of doctrinal darkness (Col 3:16) and they grow into the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ and walk in the fullness of their God-given inheritance in Christ.

Yours in His Royal Service

George Mwamlowe

JESUS IN THE LEAD....

Mat_26:39  And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. (KJV)

Mat 17:16-17  I have brought him to your disciples, and they have not been able to cure him." "O unbelieving and perverse generation!" replied Jesus; "how long shall I be with you? how long shall I endure you? Bring him to me." (WNT)

The call to lead a godly people is inevitably intertwined with a responsibility to always be a step ahead in intimacy with God. One cannot "discipline" or instill a discipline which he himself does not have. This is not to say that leaders should be perfect, however, it is to say that leadership sets the pace and leads the course. Jesus never said I am the weakest/most confused/least spiritually aware/most unworthy/most carnal among you..no, in fact he could teach and fashion characters for his own was worth emulating. His command of spiritual things was then later taught to His disciples, whom we also see displaying amazing feats in the book of ACTS.

If we look at the Jesus model, it is replete with examples of a man who was, in reality, spiritually astute. A man who desired to impart his know-how and see his followers practice it themselves. He did not have a blanket approach to his followers, however He understood that at the end he would need as many of them as possible. He was a man who understood that He had a limited amount of time and a formidable amount of work to accomplish. Thus his priority was to teach, impart and depart, leaving behind a competent set of people to carry on (John 14:12) We see Jesus using a segmented form of leadership, which ultimately started with Him as the Chief in charge of training. I would imagine that in His interaction with them He knew their weaknesses and in seeing their destiny paths He could train each of them adequately to become the champions of the faith that they were meant to be. He prayed with them (at different levels, with differing levels of access to the mission).

He also demonstrated the way in which they should treat people eg. He fed and cared for those that followed them and listened to His teachings (Mark 6) He demonstrated the way they should deal with demonic attacks (Matt 17:17) He demonstrated the way they should pray (Matt 6) and many other areas of their lives. He was loving and yet strong in rebuke of error. He was welcoming and yet unequivocal. His mandate was clear...people were lost and He was there to save them!(Luke 19:10)

In a world where there is a crisis of leadership in the Christian circles, we need, now more than ever, to have "Jesus model" leaders. It is the kind of leadership that will drive the market out of the Church and pray in the will of God! It is disheartening to see people lower their expectations from leaders in the present day. We seem to be slowly but surely accepting the statements that define our leaders as "only human" and "just like us". Frankly, this is exactly what the enemy wants. A poor leadership will consistently disappoint its follower-ship, thereby driving their expectation down, which perpetuates an even poorer leadership and the result is a Church in crisis. 

We trust in the grace of God, and in the restoring power of God, however we expect the transforming power of God to change our leaders for the better. After all, James says those who teach will have a harsher judgement. For they ought to teach not out of what they know, but what they live (James 3:1). And Paul gives a template for Bishops and Deacons which can be very tricky to preach for many of today's "Bishops".(Scripture quoted in full at the end..)

We then who are sheep, look to the Word and the true master of our souls Jesus to keep raising godly leaders in the house. Those that can truly stand "blameless" and perpetuate a standard that will convict the world and shine the light of Jesus into men's hearts. Every kingdom stands on the quality of it's leaders, and every leader stands on the quality of the knowledge he received. If we lose the templates of the "Jesus model", we have lost the greatest leadership lessons ever taught. We cannot let it happen on our watch. This is my prayer, and it should be the prayer of every one who desires to be discipled in the ways of the kingdom. A RESTORATION OF MEN WHO DEMONSTRATE AND TEACH THE KINGDOM IN ALL ITS GLORY.

1Ti 3:1-13  "This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;  (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.  Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus."

Yours in His Royal Service

George Mwamlowe