As a Christmas gift my parents bought me the book Kingdom Triangle, by J.P. Moreland. It is the book that Moreland is calling his manifesto, and for good reason too. In it he is urgently trying to awaken the Church to a three-fold vision: The recovery of Knowledge, the Renovation of the Soul, and the Restoration of the Kingdom’s Miraculous Power.
The following is a quote from the book:
A major factor in the current revival in the Third World—by some estimates, up to 70 percent of it—is intimately connected to signs and wonders as expressions of the love of the Christian Father-God, the lordship of his Son, and the power of his Spirit and His Kingdom. A manifestation of the supernatural power of God through healings, demonic deliverances, and the prophetic are central to what is going on today. Jenkins goes so far as to say that for Third World Christians and the explosive growth of the church in their communities, the heart of the matter is “the critical idea that God intervenes daily in everyday life,” an intervention that is an expression of the power of God’s Kingdom.
I have often wondered when the Western Church is going to catch on to this overwhelming reality. And I believe that books like Kingdom Triangle are evidence that the catch is coming soon, or has already begun.
You can visit the book's website at www.kingdomtriangle.com
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Sickness
At about 8:30 P.M. last night (12/26/07) I started getting sick-real sick. It all began with a common cold and cough but quickly escalated to a hellish fever with intense pain all over my body. I tossed and turned all night, only to wake up to the urgency of having to vomit. I then went back to bed only to feel miserable for the rest of the morning. My amazing wife was ever so attentive to all my needs, and gave me all kinds of medicine in an attempt to break my fever. But, nothing really seemed to work. And all that kept running through my mind was how this would be a really good moment for God to exercise His love and heal me.
When I say that my body hurt what I mean was that it felt as if I had been hit by a truck—plus, I had a head ache. At 12:30 P.M. (12/27/07) I had made up my mind that I would not tolerate it any more. The Scriptures teach that if you ask you will receive and that we can have confidence in God and thus come boldly before His throne. I am “sick” and tired of just compromising with illness. Why should I accept sickness? I can hardly see God scolding me during the judgment saying “Shame on you William, for you took my power to heal you too literally. You shouldn’t have believed in Me to do so much.” Hebrews teaches that “he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” So, in a contrary spirit to the logic of this world I got out of bed and began to read the word of God aloud, to pray, and sing praises to my King. It is 6:14 P.M. at the moment and thus far I have not received my complete healing, but I am walking toward it. I know that God will restore my body entirely.
When I say that my body hurt what I mean was that it felt as if I had been hit by a truck—plus, I had a head ache. At 12:30 P.M. (12/27/07) I had made up my mind that I would not tolerate it any more. The Scriptures teach that if you ask you will receive and that we can have confidence in God and thus come boldly before His throne. I am “sick” and tired of just compromising with illness. Why should I accept sickness? I can hardly see God scolding me during the judgment saying “Shame on you William, for you took my power to heal you too literally. You shouldn’t have believed in Me to do so much.” Hebrews teaches that “he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” So, in a contrary spirit to the logic of this world I got out of bed and began to read the word of God aloud, to pray, and sing praises to my King. It is 6:14 P.M. at the moment and thus far I have not received my complete healing, but I am walking toward it. I know that God will restore my body entirely.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Two Ages of History
Paul loudly declares in his letter to the Galatians that Christ gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil age. The ministry of Jesus Christ is one of deliverance whereby He saves sinners, heals the broken hearted, sets at liberty the captives, gives sight to the blind, and delivers the oppressed. Christ came to deliver us from the “god of this age” and redeem us to the one true and living God. This is His business and should be the ministry in which all those who call themselves by His name are in active participation. To us has been entrusted the ministry of reconciliation, the gospel of hope, and the authority of heaven and earth. Let us awaken.
There is a division of two different ages spoken of in Scripture: The first could be said to be “this present evil age” where the god of this age has blinded the hearts and minds of men. And the second is “the age to come” where Jesus Christ returns to establish his kingdom fully and wholly on this earth. Notice how Paul speaks of the first age in Galatians 1:3-4 “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” I dare say, that the days in which we live are evil and the deliverance of man kind can only be found in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The will of the Father is that man might be delivered through the life of His Son. But if Christ came to deliver us from an age of wickedness then He must be delivering us into a holy, pure, and awesome age.
The deliverance from “this present evil age” unto “the age to come” of which the scriptures speak have an interesting dynamic. Though the present evil age has not yet passed away, and though the age which is to come has not fully come, we might choose to say that the two ages are running parallel to each other. Through Jesus Christ we are delivered from the dominion of the old age and brought to life into the dominion of a new age.
I agree with the Word of God that this present age is evil, and I rejoice with the Word that Christ came to deliver us from it. I rejoice that the deliverance is not in an age which is far away but is in Jesus Christ. Can you feel the power of this verse (Galatians 1:4)? Can you see that what Christ is all about is establishing His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven? In Him all things in heaven and earth are being gathered together as one-in Christ (Ephesians 1:10). This is powerful. If we have been delivered from the power of Satan and unto the power of Christ then why do we walk as a people who are powerless? And I am not speaking of political power but of a supernatural kind. One might object and say that I have gone to far about having power. And my response is that I cannot even begin to wonder how a person who believes that Jesus lives on the inside of them would not also feel power-filled. Jesus did not send Holy Spirit to live in our hearts to take a vacation but that we might walk just as He walked-in love and in power. Beloved, it is high time to redeem the age. “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:15-16
There is a division of two different ages spoken of in Scripture: The first could be said to be “this present evil age” where the god of this age has blinded the hearts and minds of men. And the second is “the age to come” where Jesus Christ returns to establish his kingdom fully and wholly on this earth. Notice how Paul speaks of the first age in Galatians 1:3-4 “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” I dare say, that the days in which we live are evil and the deliverance of man kind can only be found in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The will of the Father is that man might be delivered through the life of His Son. But if Christ came to deliver us from an age of wickedness then He must be delivering us into a holy, pure, and awesome age.
The deliverance from “this present evil age” unto “the age to come” of which the scriptures speak have an interesting dynamic. Though the present evil age has not yet passed away, and though the age which is to come has not fully come, we might choose to say that the two ages are running parallel to each other. Through Jesus Christ we are delivered from the dominion of the old age and brought to life into the dominion of a new age.
I agree with the Word of God that this present age is evil, and I rejoice with the Word that Christ came to deliver us from it. I rejoice that the deliverance is not in an age which is far away but is in Jesus Christ. Can you feel the power of this verse (Galatians 1:4)? Can you see that what Christ is all about is establishing His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven? In Him all things in heaven and earth are being gathered together as one-in Christ (Ephesians 1:10). This is powerful. If we have been delivered from the power of Satan and unto the power of Christ then why do we walk as a people who are powerless? And I am not speaking of political power but of a supernatural kind. One might object and say that I have gone to far about having power. And my response is that I cannot even begin to wonder how a person who believes that Jesus lives on the inside of them would not also feel power-filled. Jesus did not send Holy Spirit to live in our hearts to take a vacation but that we might walk just as He walked-in love and in power. Beloved, it is high time to redeem the age. “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:15-16
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