I haven't forgotten the blog or the "Together on a Mission" seminar notes and summaries - but I am currently spending a delightful week with one of my dearest friends in the charming village of Kington St Michael - and combining it with my community nursing job in Bristol! I was walking back into the village this morning and contemplating the wonders of creation. I do agree fervently with Dave Stroud's message to Mobilise - that cities are high on God's agenda. But there's nothing like a real country village to make one appreciate what God has made! I've never lived in a village before - always being a city boy - and the pace of life is quite wonderful!
Being here has meant that I can read lots and also by default gather some quotes for the "Pentecostal/Charismatic Post-it Notes" blog as my fellow writers seem to have deserted me ;)
Here's one I liked;
"We honour the Spirit by releasing Him" - Dr R T Kendall.
Here's one I didn't;
"Here then is my own definition of worship - it is the response to and/or preparation for the preached Word" - Dr R T Kendall.
And here's one that I'm seriously thinking through and not quite sure about;
"Submission to authority is not based on the personal character of the man in authority nor is it based on how justly or unjustly the authority is applied. Our submission is to God who gives the authority" - Don Basham.
Normal blogging to resume on Wednesday! I'm off to walk my friend's dog in the wonderful countryside and enjoy the rare sun!
10 comments:
Deserted U ? But U seem to be doing a great job by Urself ! LOL !
;oD
Hee hee - yes but they are my comments that I found - I want comments from you two! ;)
I don't agree with that Basham comment at all. It's authoritarian, unbiblical and plain wrong. Leadership (Eph 4) is given as a gift of the ascended Christ - leaders are gifts! They are not dictators and they are also given for a specific purpose - not to rule, but to help bring the body of Christ to maturity. Doesn't Paul say "Don't lord it over?".
Christian leaders who fall into the 2 Timothy category of forbidding marriage, etc are guilty of the doctrine of demons that Rob Rufus warned us about at Brighton. Leaders never have the preogative to put emphasis on what the child of God is DOING. If they are encouraging works by faith, then that should come from a grace-motivated, freedom in the Spirit. NOT law.
Dr S A J Burgess
I retract all statements against my fellow Pentecostal Post-it authors!! I have been wrong and I confess it!! ;)
I agree with Dr B - I put that quote in because I think it was controversial and note-worthy. But there is tremendous danger in this. As long as a Christian leader is walking in the Spirit of God, seeking His filling on a daily basis and communicating with God and to the people then there is a great deal of safety in hearing his authority and submitting to it. However once that leader steps OUT of the anointing of God and into his own strength and so-called wisdom then suddenly democracy or dictatorship comes in to rule. And when a leader is asking the people of God to obey him without the express authority of Scripture, then surely that cannot and must not be right.
I don't disagree with Don Basham lightly. He was Ern Baxter's friend and I respect him highly for that. I think we have to be truthful to Scripture though and I agree with Dr B's comments above. Leadership is a gift from the ascended Christ. How would authoritarian leadership that damages and hurts the people of God fit in with Luke 11 - "If you ask ... will you be given a scorpion?". What kind of God would allow His people who genuinely ask and pray for a leader to follow, who would then give them a man of legalism?
Could your dislike of the quote be a reflection of your past rebellious history by any chance?
Ouch, Mr Anonymous has struck again !
Well it says in the Bible that rebellion is a form of witch-craft, and Dan's read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows twice since its release, so one would assume you're right about Dan !!
However, those who TRULY know him, will know that however he acted in the past was never done with a rebellious streak. To really know Dan is to know that he always consults scripture in whatever he does, and never does anything without praying for the Spirit to lead him. If that's rebellion, then shouldn't more of us be like that?
Harry Potter?!?! Disgraceful! That's the most shocking revelation to date I think ... how very dare you!! ;)
I think the one thing I've found lacking in all of Anonymous's comments (and I've just been through and read and found em all) is a lack of love ... therefore his comments are indeed like a clashing clanging cymbal.
In his pursuit of "truth" or more appropriately "orthodoxy" he has sadly become exactly what the world expects.
How apt that Dan should post Ern's following comment on Pentecostal Post-it's.
"We too as Christians dedicated to the truth must see that we don't fall into the same trap; by becoming unlovingly dogmatic, unChrist-like and severe. It is so easy when we are convinced we are right to become self-righteous in pressing our claim".
"Truth divorced from love is no longer truth for once the love factor goes out of truth, that truth becomes a distortion and a caricature".
Ref: http://pentecostalpostitnotes.blogspot.com/search/label/Ern%20Baxter
Dr S A J B
I have noted with concern the increasing venom in which this angry anonymous man is writing. Surely the Bible speaks often about being careful to charge and judge brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. So Nathan Smith denies that he is this man, but it is clear that whoever this man is - he knows of Dan's history - and he needs to curtail his language and his judgement. For one day too - he will stand at the Judgement Seat of Christ and have to account for his poison typing.
sj aren't you just as annoynmous to readers of this blog as someone leaving an "annoynmous" comment?
Post a Comment