Financing A Kingdom Revolution
For those who missed it, Andrew Jones of TallSkinnyKiwi fame wrote about the unseen financiers who supported the Protestant Reformation. Jones writes about different important “Kingdom Investors” who at various points gave significant amounts of money and resources to aid the spread of the Reformation. Reading the post, I was struck again by the need for a financial revolution that undergirds every genuine move of God.
Wolfgang Simson will be the first person to tell you that much of what you’ve heard about money in church is wrong. We often teach about money in a way that causes us to put all of our hopes in non-Kingdom financial principles. However one thing that remains true is that all Empires (including the Kingdom of God, which is the empire we belong to) have a financial system in place to fund their activities. Not all money given to a church is used well, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t use our finances to further this Kingdom revolution.
The truth is that all of us have a part to play in financing the advancement of the Kingdom. I remember reading Brother Yun’s book Living Waters where he described offerings that the Chinese house churches would take for members being sent off as missionaries. Some of the members of the house churches were so broken because they didn’t have money to contribute that as they wept, they would place themselves in the offering sack as pledge to devote their whole selves to the cause global evangelism.
This is the kind of giving that moves forward the Kingdom: Financial giving that flows from a life fully given over to Jesus. That’s what makes the testimony of the early church so powerful. They were continually giving everything extra they had to the cause of Jesus and His Kingdom. This enabled the poor to be taken care of and the Gospel to continue to spread through the apostles and others. Today the Kingdom of God continues to spread, but it does so with little access to the funds that could so enable to spread quickly and without the financial sacrifice that is characteristic of an apostolic movement.
So how do we finance a Kingdom revolution? It begins with giving our very selves to God and letting our finances reflect that level of sacrifice. In our next post we’ll look at where those finances need to flow to. But today, let me ask you this question: What do you think holds us back from joining God in financing the advancement of the Kingdom?
Photo Credit: International Money Pile in Cash and Coins by epSos.de
An Update, Some Changes, And More
Things finally seem like they’re returning back to normal a little bit after my trip to Africa. I’m finally finishing those all-important follow-ups that need to take place after every trip. I’ll post my summary of the trip in this space some time soon, after I get the hard copies mailed out to those who prayed and financed our trip. Thanks for your patience as I’ve processed this trip and adjusted to being back here in the States.
After I get some of the Africa posts up, my hope is to continue to develop material here that will serve the church as it continues to progress into an apostolic family preparing for the end of the age. The Lord spoke to me about several aspects key to this process while I was in Africa and I hope to share some of those insights when time permits.
One of the new things that you’ll begin to see here is the integration of this blog with Google+. I’ve been impressed with the way Google built Google+ for sharing and privacy simultaneously and my hope is that I can use it to add a layer of interactivity to the blog. Some of the content that I’ve been writing that really isn’t about Jesus, the Kingdom, the apostolic church, etc will find it’s way to my public wall on Google+. If you want to see what else I’m writing about, you can simply by clicking here.
But what I’m most excited about is Google+’s “Hangouts,” which are really large group video chats. My goal is to eventually have a time once a month in a “Hangout” where those of us who are following the Lord in the ways described here can join a “Hangout” and have face to face conversations. Google+ has some significant advantages over Twitter and Facebook and I think it might be worth your time to check it out. If you need an invite to Google+, email me at PursuingGlory@gmail.com and I will send you an invite. (By the way, if you add me to one of your circles in Google+, make sure you let me know you’re from the blog, so that I can add you to the right circle.)
Well, that’s enough updates for now. We’ll take a stab at these changes, see how they work, and make some more from there.
The WayBack Machine: July
Some things just get better with age. “The Wayback Machine” posts occur at the end of every month and reference the best posts of that month in years past. My hope is to provide a good jumping on point for readers whTho have never been to Pursuing Glory.
2010
This is my first attempt at poetry here at the blog. I wrote this both as an introduction to who Jesus is for people who don’t know Him. I was also trying to find ways to explore the artistic side of my writing. I hope you enjoy it. ***If you’ve never encountered Jesus or don’t have a relationship with Him, this should be the post you read.***
My Daughter: The Newest Fiery Believer I Know
Earlier in the year Ariel accepted Christ and was baptized. There was an immediate turn in her heart and attitudes. It was fun to watch and these are my thoughts from shortly after the event.
False Prophets, Acts Chapter 2, and Our House Church
I wrote this post in December of 2009, but only got around to posting it July of last year. In my mind this post captures the best of where we were as an organic spiritual family in 2009 and 2010. If you’re wondering what sometimes happens when our house church gathers, this is the post for you.
Much of the church in the Western world is devoid of supernatural power. I wrote this post as I was reading through Visions Beyond the Veil by R.A. Baker. The book has some important insights into our anti-supernatural leanings as a Western Church and I shared some quotes as well as my own thoughts.
2009
This was my first post after coming back from my trip to Ethiopia. If you want a good picture into the heart of a guy who just returned from Africa, this is the post to read. It will be interesting to see what the Lord continues to do with us in Ethiopia in the next year.
2008
I wrote this post about an encounter I had with one of my 50,000 coaches, Dick Speight. Dick helped me see that I was off in my walk with the Lord because I was lacking time in the secret place. I wrote this post as I wrestled with the fact that I should know better than to let communion with the Lord slide.
This post was born out of a trip I took to meet with others who practice meeting as organic churches in Iowa. It centers around the idea that we are quick to believe others have imposed religion on us, but frequently something far more subtle is at work. If you’ve ever struggled with a “religious spirit” you’ll want to read this post.
2007
This blog is me wrestling with whether this blog will be a personal blog (which it started out as) or whether it will be a resource blog about house churches, apostolic Christianity, and revival. I think I’ve settled on it being both, mostly because I’m both and I think about these things a lot. But this gives you a good snapshot into some of my early thoughts on the subject.
“Tell a Little Story…Do a Little Miracle…”
This post represents some of our early thoughts about evangelism that we had as a house church. I still believe these are things we’re called both to see and do, and that stories and miracles have a much bigger part in the spread of the Gospel than most of the Western Church understands.
2006
On Being Me and Where I See Me in Movies
This was my very first post on my blog. I started this blog as a journey into self expression and finding God in the midst of the things I love. I write about some bloggers that were stunningly honest about their lives in their blogs and some movies where I saw myself in some of the characters. Social media has given me a few more outlets to do the every day life sort of posts, but I hope to never loose the honesty and simplicity this post captures.
One of the movies that I saw back then was Akeelah and the Bee. I’ll spare you the synopsis, but a turning point in the movie talked about how Akeelah has 50,000 coaches. I was struck by the fact that many of us neglect the 50,000 coaches God has given us in our lives. This is a phrase I keep coming back to over and over again.
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