DMM Heart and Four Fields-Abide

Abide-Becoming the Kind of Vessel whom God is pleased to use is strongly linked to one’s Holy Spirit dependence growth process in all areas of life. To cultivate a heart to choose to loosen one’s hold on perceived personal rights is one important aspect of walking aligned with the heart of the Father.

 

Loosening Our Hold on Personal Rights^[1]

 

Portions of the introduction to this DBS are taken from themes from the book Have We No Right by Mabel Williamson. Various other related comments given in the intro are taken from a talk by Ron Ralston, which are reworked here.

Intro-Dan’s stabbing, Anna’s death, riots on the island, life threats to children

As Americans, we come from a culture that says "you deserve this", or even "they shouldn't treat you that way". Our very own Declaration of Independence of the United States of America emphatically declares that we have these certain inalienable rights; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

 

Discussions are probably occurring somewhere in the world today regarding the certain rights of children that promotes self-governing. America is replete with examples of the pendulum swing towards personal rights over and above community responsibilities. And what about our rights as followers of Christ?

 

We come from a society where we are told we get returns on our investment. So now that I've invested my life in Christ, what's the return? What returns do I get on investing my life in Him? In perhaps more pertinent vernacular, “What are my rights since I gave my all to Him?

 

DBS-In the following two passages, in what ways are “rights” discussed?

▪       2 Timothy 3:1-4

▪       Philippians 2:1-11

I.  DBS-Areas of Perceived Personal Rights 

Read each perceived right, then read verse(s) 1x, how does each verse describes God’s heart?

1. The Right to live for myself? (Romans 11:33-36)
2.  The Right to relationships? (Matthew 19:29, Luke 9:57-62)
3. The Right to personal comfort and material possessions? (Luke 14:25-43, Matthew 6:19-21)
4. The Right to physical health and safety? (John 16:33, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
5. The Right to think my way is the best? (Philippians 2:1-11)
6. The Right for use of my own time? (Psalm 90:12, Galatians 2:20)
7. The Right to being appreciated and recognized by others? (I Peter 2:20, Matthew 10:22)
8.  The Right to fairness? (Romans 12:19-20)
9. The Right to life? (Job 1:20-22)
10. The Right to a good reputation? (Matthew 5:11, Matthew 10:16-45)
11. The Right to withhold forgiveness? To hate another? (Matthew 5:43-47, I John 2:9-11)
12. The Right to belonging? (Romans 12:2, Galatians 1:10, Hebrews 11:13-16)
13. The Right to “take offense”? (I Corinthians 13:5, Acts 24:16, Colossians 3:13, Proverbs 17:9)
14. The Right to express sexuality freely? (I Corinthians 6:18-20, I John 1:5-10)
15. The Right to be led by “whatever feels good”? (Galatians 5:16-17, I Peter 4:2, Ephesians 2)
16.  The Right to place self first? (Philippians 2:1-5, I Thessalonians 5:11, I John 3:11-18)
17. The Right to grumble/complain? (Philippians 2:14, I Thessalonians 5:18)
18. The Right to hold a grudge? Holding against and/or withholding from? (Colossians 3:13)
19. The Right to understand God’s plan before we obey? (Hebrews 11:1-8)
20. The Right to rebel against authority? (I Peter 2:13-15)

 

Listening Prayer 

Describe which of the above list of “perceived personal rights” stands out the most for you personally?

 

In what ways is Jesus asking you to obey?

 

Option #2 DBS -God’s Heartbeat on the Area of Rights

Privileges, not rights, is what God has given us in Christ. We need to aggressively identify areas we subtly claim as our deserved own and surrender them over to God.  The reality is that what we deserve from a Holy God is Hell, yet God has graciously offered to us saving faith in Christ alone.  Our role then is to guard our hearts in these areas, through the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit.  If we are walking in deception in these areas the fruit borne will be an ungrateful, bitter heart.  God has called you into His great purposes, adopted you as His own, and paid the greatest ransom ever to purchase your life back from the pit.  He highly values you and loves you unconditionally.  May you continue to walk in His ways while drinking deeply of His overflowing abundance in all ways in your life.

 

Small Group Time....

▪       Read each passage 1x out loud. What does this passage tell us about God? About rights?

▪       Ephesian 1:13-14

▪       John 12:24-25

▪       Romans 14:7, 8         

▪       Philippians 1:21     

▪       Colossians 1:10    

▪       Revelation 5:9        

▪       I Corinthians 6:19

▪       Galatians 2:20

▪       Matthew 10:28

▪       Matthew 16:24-25

▪       Luke 9:23

 

1. Discuss the areas from the list above where you feel most vulnerable.
2. Spend time after you share asking the Lord in listening prayer: 

Rights that I consider as my own-

▪        

▪        

▪ 

       

3. What is the Lord asking in loving obedience? 

 

Option #3 DBS-Yielding of Our Rights Brings God's Blessing

“God oftentimes invites us to the place we have no desire to be led in order to reveal how much He is truly enough for every aspect of our lives. He may have planned to withdraw the most precious entrustments in our lives taken from us. Again, this is because of His great love and mercy and His sovereign ways in our lives.  God wants us to be utterly dependent upon Him. He's after our hearts. "Will you trust me?, He asks. Why do you suppose God seemingly is the God of the last minute? Can you think of a time where there was no way out except that God provide? 

Genesis 12

Genesis 22 

Exodus 2

Read each passage 1x

Rewrite in own words

What does this tell us about God?

What does this tell us about people?

What does this tell us about Yieldedness?

 

What area is the Holy Spirit asking you for specific obedience for needed transformation?

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] For further study, read Mabel Williamson Have We No Right, Brokenness: The Heart God Revive by Nancy DeMoss, Ron Ralston Personal Rights (talk given in 1983, selected concepts taken from)

 

DMM: Personal Transformation: Radical Surrenderedness

Radical Surrenderedness

Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Erin sat before me in tears. She was part of a Luke 10 (POP Hunters) team we recently facilitated as well as a potential recruit for another Strategy Team of CPM focus.

Erin shared that the love of Christ she had experienced on this trip was part of her healing process. Her former cross-cultural Missions experience had left her disillusioned. She had desired to be part of the expression of the beautiful Bride of Christ declared among the ethne. What she experienced instead was the bludgeoning of the underbelly of the Bride of Christ, something which any of our hearts are capable of in the flesh.

Where there is hurt, wound, or misunderstanding in ministry relationships there will be opportunity to indulge the flesh. Galatians 5 is a great manual for how to be team and how not to be team all wrapped into one power packed passage.

Ways We Can Serve One Another in Love;

1)      Choose humility. The reality is that you and I are just as capable of injurious behavior apart from the guarding of our hearts.

2)      Choose surrenderedness of personal rights. The Cross of Christ and personal rights are non-coexistants.

3)      Choose to be consumed by God’s perfect love, no matter the conflict or situation. That which we allow our hearts and minds to be consumed by, will consume us.

4)      Choose to speak words of life, words of affirmation. To demonstrate the love of Christ and to speak in such a way as that which compels others to Christlikeness rather than repels is an opportunity for serving one another.

5)       Choose: to suspend judgment, gain understanding.

6)       Choose to forgive, though reconciliation may not be available. This is a process.

7)      Choose to handle others’ hearts in tender ways, just as the Father is longsuffering toward each of us.

Our lives are a blip on the screen in light of eternity. There is a time to speak honesty bathed in humility in a mutual desire to be pressed and shaken into God’s choice instruments. There is also the opportunity to daily embrace the reality that we live not unto ourselves but in debt to His incredible mercy, forgiveness, and boundless love, which transforms us for His glory. Indeed, it is for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, let us embrace His perfect love. And by the empowerment and filling of the Holy Spirit let us demonstrate His beauty one to another. The ethne are awaiting the demonstration of this one and only incomparable love of Christ.

RA

Extraordinary Prayer

Also, check out the Global Prayer Digest (prayer focus for UPGs magazine of U.S. Center for World Missions) feature on UUPGs/UPGs in CPM ladened intercession and narratives. Begin on page 46 for the focus http://www.globalprayerdigest.org/uploads/pdf/2013-05-06-english.pdf 

DMM: Dealing with Opposition to CPM

 

 

Dealing with Opposition to CPM-George Patterson

http://justobeyjesus.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/dealing-with-opposition-to-church-planting-movements/ 

Patterson: “I think this is a greater problem than most missionaries and especially most mission agency leaders realize.  It is universal and not limited to one mission agency.

I have mentored dozens of missionaries through the years who have started and sustained Church Planting Movements and in every case they have been painfully attacked by their own colleagues or other missionaries and agencies in the area.  I guess the critics feel that they have to justify their lack of fruit by criticizing that missionary or his churches.  It’s extremely easy to find fault with another man’s ministry.

I know anyone who followed me around could find all kinds of faults with things I did.  Their criticism would have been totally valid. However, the only thing is they are doing it with the wrong motive.  Not to help me as much as to justify their lack of fruit in seeing churches multiply.

And so I think this is a human reaction.  The opponents say, ”I go to the field.  I’m working hard.”  ”I’m making huge sacrifices.”   “I’m doing everything right, as far as I can see, and yet I’m not seeing churches multiply.”  Here’s another guy that comes in and his churches are multiplying.”  So the opponents first reaction is, “He’s gotta be doing something wrong.” “Those churches will be weak.”

The big criticism that I hear, I’ve heard many times,  “You are starting churches that are a mile wide and an inch deep”.  “Oh you’re baptizing way too soon. I could start a big church too if I just baptized anyone.”

I think that it is a universal problem and it hurts.  Many missionaries have washed out because of it.  Many have resigned mission agencies because of this problem.  Not because of the agency. I don’t know a single case where it was the agency itself that caused the problem.  It was coworkers within that agency who were short sighted.

Instead of thanking God and praising God for what is happening, instead of going to the missionary who was seeing results, instead of being humble about it, and saying, “Okay, what are you doing? Help me.”  The knee jerk reflex often is to find something wrong.

Because this is so universal and so prevalent and causes so much pain and damage I think our seminaries that train missionaries.  All mission training programs, mission executives, ought to take a long hard look at it.  Face it and admit that it’s going on and then prepare the mission candidates.

Prepare both the more conservative, older traditional missionaries who do most of the criticizing and the newer ones who want to break with some of the traditions and just follow more New Testament simple patterns.  That’s where the rub comes.  They throw rocks at each other.  Prepare them both and teach that this is just plain sin.  You teach them to love both, prepare them both and help one another.”

Moves of God

There are significant differences and similarities between Revivals and Church Planting Movements.  Claude King and Henry Blackaby correctly defined Revival as renewing God’s people to do God’s work.  CPMs are Spiritual Awakenings. The common denominator between Revivals and Church Planting Movements are that both are “Moves of God.”   Pioneers in Revivals and CPMs should not be surprised that having opposition to a Move of God is par for the course.  When we recognize this fact it helps us not to take the oppositions’ criticisms so personally.

In 2000-2001, I was trained and coached by Dr. George Patterson at Western Seminary to jump-start CPMs among those who had little to no access to the gospel.   He warned me of the opposition to the CPM vision but I had no idea what I was in for.  Patterson once told me how he dealt with opposition to the CPM he started in Honduras.  “I had to find my sanity in the pages of Church History.”

I found the sermon about Nehemiah from Second Great Awakening Evangelist, Charles Finney extremely encouraging.  Lectures of Religion: Hinderances to Revival 1835

http://www.gospeltruth.net/1835Lect_on_Rev_of_Rel/35revlec15.htm

THIS servant of God had come down from Babylon to rebuild the temple and re-establish the worship of God at Jerusalem, the city of his fathers’ sepulchres. (Tombs). When it was discovered by Sanballat and certain individuals, his allies, who had long enjoyed the desolations of Zion, that now the temple, and the holy city were about to be rebuilt, they raised a great opposition. Sanballat and the other leaders tried in several ways to divert Nehemiah and his friends, and prevent them from going forward in their work.  Finally, Sanballat sent a message to Nehemiah, requesting him to meet in the plain of Ono, to discuss the whole matter amicably.  They had found that they could not frighten Nehemiah, and now they wanted to come and draw him off from the vigorous prosecution of his work. But he replied, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I come down to you?”

It has always been the case, whenever any of the servants of God do any thing in his cause, and there appears to be a probability that they will succeed, that Satan by his agents regularly attempts to divert their minds and nullify their labors. So it has been during the last ten years, in which there have been such remarkable revivals through the length and breadth of the land. These revivals have been very great and powerful, and extensive. It has been estimated that not less than TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND persons have been converted to God in that time.

But whenever those who are actively engaged in promoting a revival get excited at the unreasonableness and pertinacity of the opposition, and feel as if they could not have it so, and they lose their patience, and feel as if they must answer their cavils and refute the slanders, then they get down into the plains of Ono, and the work must cease.  And the devil has been busy in his devices to divert and distract the people of God, and turn off their energies from pushing forward the great work of salvation.

History of Opponents to Moves of God and their Heretical descendants

•  Sanballat’s grandson Sanballat II built the Temple on Mt. Gerazim, the center of the Samaritan cult.

•  The Waldensians and the underground house church movements of the pre-Reformation moves of God had Pope Innocent III.  Innocent later launched the Fourth and last Crusade.  This misdirected Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople and poisoned relations between the Eastern and Western Church.

•  Martin Luther and the Reformation had John Tetzel and the Pope’s Counter Reformation.  Tetzel pushed indulgences to build the St. Peter’s Basilica at Rome.

•  Charles Chauncy, the opponent of Jonathan Edwards and the New Lights of the First Great Awakening later founded the Unitarian-Universalist Church.

•  Colonial Governor Tryon of North Carolina and vigorous promoter of the State run Anglican church violently opposed the New Light descendants of Shubel Stearns.  Stearns was the minister used to ignite the Sandy Creek Church Planting Movement/Revival in North Carolina and the resulting 2,000  daughter, granddaughter and great grand-daughter Baptist Churches that became the majority of the Southern Baptist Convention.   30 years later during the Revolutionary War General Tryon was recorded as having the most cases of rape and murder of Americans under his command than any other British officer.

Practical Suggestions to deal with Critics

•  Like Nehemiah “Don’t get down in the plains of Ono” and let the opposition distract your focus from training new believers and training the leaders to reach new Unreached Peoples.

•  “Don’t shoot your Judas.  God may use him to take you to your destiny.”

•  Let those who actually have seen CPMs verify and evaluate what God is doing and humbly submit to their suggestions.

•  Help Mission Agencies determine what their attitude, reactions and procedures will be before CPMs start.

•  It doesn’t matter how much verification you get many missionaries will never believe that CPMs are real.  This still would be the case even if someone were to rise from the dead and verify what God was doing.

•  Get several other experienced CPM trainers to encourage you and your teams.

•  Embrace the cross and the ridicule and keep your eyes on Jesus.

•  Take a few months to raise your own support base rather than having all of your support coming from one source.  This keeps you free to follow the Holy Spirit.

•  Relocate to a different area, either temporarily or permanently only visiting on occasion as Christ commanded. “If you are persecuted in one town, flee to another.”   Matthew 10.

•  Recognize that Opposition is Par for the Course in relation to Church Planting Movements.  Keep your sanity by reading what others did when faced with opposition in Scripture and Church History.

•  Don’t get a Martyr’s Complex, thinking you are the only one who has been attacked.  God told Elisha, “I have 7,000 who have not bowed their knees to Baal or whose mouths have kissed him.” I Kings 19:18.

•  “Bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you.”  Luke 6:28

•  Your opponents are acting as mere puppets in the hands of Satan.  Recognize that your fight is with him and battle in prayer.