Oct
28
2008
Vision and Risk are two concepts that I believe are essential to understand if you want to be an entrepreneur in the kingdom of God. Catching God’s vision, in biblical terms, is the ability to focus on God’s plan for the world, grow in His heart, grow in His mind, and anticipate His power working through us to accomplish His plan.
What is His plan? What is His end goal for the world? We can look at the end of the Bible in Rev. 7:9 where it says, “And there was a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a mighty shout, “Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!” This is how it all ends. This is where history is heading. He will build His kingdom and He will receive all of the Glory. And for some strange reason He wants us to join Him in making it happen. I can’t explain that part.
But I do know that when God calls us to His vision, He will invite us to become part of something bigger than ourselves, so much so that if He does not supernaturally intervene, we will not make it. This is “risk”, when God many times asks us to join Him in meeting a need that is greater than the resources or to say yes to an opportunity that is greater than our ability.
It reminds me of the story in John 6 where Jesus feeds five thousand people using a poor boys lunch with five barley loaves and two fishes. When asked for his lunch, the little boy could have said “No”, or “why don’t you get your own lunch” or “my lunch wouldn’t make a dent in hunger of this crowd.” But instead he “risked” his lunch willingly, eager to see what would happen. The little boy didn’t have much, but He had the materials of a miracle. You and I don’t have much but we have the materials of a miracle.
God, I give you my lunch. Do with it what you will.
3 comments | posted in Faith
Oct
23
2008
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. Rev 6:9-11
By now most of you have heard about Gayle Williams’ martyrdom in Kabul this week. Gayle, 34 years old, worked with SERVE International and had lived in Afghanistan for 2 ½ years. While she was walking to work on Monday morning two men drove up on a motorcycle, got off, shot her, and then sped away. The Taliban has claimed responsibility and said they killed her for spreading Christianity. Gayle is one of those souls under the altar in Rev 6.
In David Garrison’s book, Church Planting Movements, he reports that the suffering of missionaries is one of the 10 common characteristics prior to the start of Church Planting Movements. We don’t know how God will use Gayle’s death, but we are confident in His faithfulness and His goodness that her martyrdom will be to do great things to lift His name up in Afghanistan. While we don’t know how God will use this tragic death, we have seen over and over in history how a missionary’s death opened doors to the gospel that were sealed shut prior to that. A look at the history of the church in Indonesia is filled with several martyrs that resulted in whole tribes turning to Christ. We can pray for a similar dramatic change in Kabul as a result of Gayle’s death.
While we know Gayle is present with the Lord and free from the problems and distractions of this world, it is far more difficult on those left behind.
Lord we know that you are at work in Afghanistan. Please bring peace to those left behind so that they may continue your work.
2 comments | posted in Using Bad for Good
