Raising people from the dead, part two
As I watch the progress bar on my laptop to process the video of the interview with the woman who was raised from the dead, I realize it may be days before I can get anything of a manageable size posted to the web for you to view. So, I thought I'd share some more thoughts on this since I've had two weeks now to think about it.
The "unction" to which I referred in my first blog post on this topic begs some explanation. I used this word in particular because it was used to explain something important I learned from the pastor who prayed for dead people and saw them come back to life.
I went to Pastor Opa's village near Monkey Bay in Malawi. When we came into town, he asked us to leave via another way because the main entrance to the town cuts right through the large graveyard, which seems to grow leaps and bounds each year due to AIDS related illnesses and dehydration and malnutrition. Evidently, a young girl died and the all-day funeral services were being performed and we needed to avoid the area out of respect for the family.
It was after this request that I asked Pastor Opa why he didn't pray for the girl to see her raised from the dead.
He said, "I had no unction from the Holy Spirit to do so. We only ask for a miracle when we're urged by God to do so."
How incredibly obvious and obedient. Do what the Father leads you to do, not do it because it's been done in the past or that everyone who dies should be raised from the dead, even if its done when the person is young or we think they were taken from us prematurely.
So, no unction, no prayer for the dead to come back to life. Simple enough.
Thoughts? Comments? Opinions?
The "unction" to which I referred in my first blog post on this topic begs some explanation. I used this word in particular because it was used to explain something important I learned from the pastor who prayed for dead people and saw them come back to life.
I went to Pastor Opa's village near Monkey Bay in Malawi. When we came into town, he asked us to leave via another way because the main entrance to the town cuts right through the large graveyard, which seems to grow leaps and bounds each year due to AIDS related illnesses and dehydration and malnutrition. Evidently, a young girl died and the all-day funeral services were being performed and we needed to avoid the area out of respect for the family.
It was after this request that I asked Pastor Opa why he didn't pray for the girl to see her raised from the dead.
He said, "I had no unction from the Holy Spirit to do so. We only ask for a miracle when we're urged by God to do so."
How incredibly obvious and obedient. Do what the Father leads you to do, not do it because it's been done in the past or that everyone who dies should be raised from the dead, even if its done when the person is young or we think they were taken from us prematurely.
So, no unction, no prayer for the dead to come back to life. Simple enough.
Thoughts? Comments? Opinions?
Raising people from the dead
I just visited Malawi and interviewed a woman who was raised from the dead. Amazing.
So tell me, would your faith be great enough to pray for someone to come back to life if you felt an unction from the Holy Spirit to do so?
So tell me, would your faith be great enough to pray for someone to come back to life if you felt an unction from the Holy Spirit to do so?
Are small groups really "the church?"
A well-known author on small group ministry—one you've probably read and heard at small group conferences—once told me he could not get past my father's statement that "the cell group IS the church, not a subset of it." (A statement made in Where Do We Go From Here?)
As we talked further, his major objection to the statement was that by taking it at face value, folks might get the opinion that the cell group or holistic small group was an independent, autonomous house church launched by a traditional church with a brick and mortar facility.
Even after explaining to him that my dad's comment was surrounding the fact that the presence of Christ in the midst of a small group of people creates a working definition for the NT church, he still couldn't move beyond his traditional paradigm to see what my dad was saying.
This is an important distinction. If one sees their small groups as one ministry among many, or sees them as supportive of another part of the church, they will live up to that expectation and never be transformational for the members or the community around the homes where the small groups meet.
Healthy small groups understand they have two functions, a mission and a ministry. Rick Warren said this in the 40 days of purpose video toward the end of the series. He went on to say that the ministry is to one another and serving in some capacity on weekends for the corporate gathering. The mission was to reach out as a group to those who did not yet know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
I find what Warren said to be spot-on... when a small group is actively pursuing a ministry and their mission, they're the church.
Conversely, I do not see many small groups in America doing this, even the groups at Rick's church (ok, there's probably a hundred or more groups at Saddleback that could be pointed out as doing both M's wonderfully, but among thousands of groups, it's a very small percentage). Knowing what to do and doing it are two very different things. I believe the success of a group doing both M's has a lot to do with how the groups are viewed by the senior pastor and the church leadership and most importantly, how they are launched and populated.
Populate groups through your Sunday services primarily and you'll always struggle to get them to do anything for God.
Neil Cole hit the nail on the head with this quote: "What you call them with is what you call them to."
Selah.
As we talked further, his major objection to the statement was that by taking it at face value, folks might get the opinion that the cell group or holistic small group was an independent, autonomous house church launched by a traditional church with a brick and mortar facility.
Even after explaining to him that my dad's comment was surrounding the fact that the presence of Christ in the midst of a small group of people creates a working definition for the NT church, he still couldn't move beyond his traditional paradigm to see what my dad was saying.
This is an important distinction. If one sees their small groups as one ministry among many, or sees them as supportive of another part of the church, they will live up to that expectation and never be transformational for the members or the community around the homes where the small groups meet.
Healthy small groups understand they have two functions, a mission and a ministry. Rick Warren said this in the 40 days of purpose video toward the end of the series. He went on to say that the ministry is to one another and serving in some capacity on weekends for the corporate gathering. The mission was to reach out as a group to those who did not yet know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
I find what Warren said to be spot-on... when a small group is actively pursuing a ministry and their mission, they're the church.
Conversely, I do not see many small groups in America doing this, even the groups at Rick's church (ok, there's probably a hundred or more groups at Saddleback that could be pointed out as doing both M's wonderfully, but among thousands of groups, it's a very small percentage). Knowing what to do and doing it are two very different things. I believe the success of a group doing both M's has a lot to do with how the groups are viewed by the senior pastor and the church leadership and most importantly, how they are launched and populated.
Populate groups through your Sunday services primarily and you'll always struggle to get them to do anything for God.
Neil Cole hit the nail on the head with this quote: "What you call them with is what you call them to."
Selah.
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