These 4 walls… …structured in such a way to illuminate an inviting presence to all on-lookers that happen by them. Whether they are an old one room steeple, cathedral, or a new modern take on it all, these four walls gather all believers each Sunday to bring the God above all the glory! But as I have grown to see more of what we call the church, now-a-days these 4 walls have ever so faintly morphed into their true form. It has been like a mirage, a pseudo that is warm and inviting, hugs & all, but as you step nearer within the 4 walls they become cage like. If you attempt to step outside them, they nearly retract you back, as if the Lord’s work can only be done within them. Well, I am here to say these 4 walls are coming down! The fate of this world depends on it! It will start first, within our own heart’s overly defended fortress and secondly, with the metaphorical walls that the church of our age has built up over the years.
Over the past week God has been expanding my comfort zone, breaking down the barricades around my heart, and filling me with more of His Spirit! It’s exciting, challenging, and risky at first but once you step into what God has for you, you wonder why you haven’t done it long before! You see, we are led by a fearless leader, a host who has set the tone for our entire month as men. Bradley lays his heart to bare and is real to everyone he meets. Right of the bat you see he isn’t here to masquerade as some world changer, or phenomenal evangelist, he is here to simply be real with the kids he ministries to and share in life with them; through thick & thin, plenty & famine, right alongside them. His words that stuck out to me most were as follows,
“Don’t give me a church, give me a street.”
His heart-filled passion is for others to share in the life giving good news that is Christ, but he doesn’t do it from a pulpit. He hits the streets and meets people where they are at in their walk in life. Whether they are at the park selling dope, stooping at the curb having a beer and a hit of ganja at 9am, or if they are playing soccer in the fields, He seeks them out. And not with the motive of dragging them out of their current state, but shining a ray of hope that is Christ into the darkness in which they sit, giving them an opportunity to stand up in faith and step into the new life that God has gifted them. This is real talk.
I believe such a fisher of men existed back in the ancient days, one who sought out others, people consider lowly, the forgotten. Jesus was that man, and He meet others where they were at, he didn’t go professing about the 4 walls up the street. He spoke life into them right then and there. He didn’t boastfully walk the streets with the “right clean clothes” ecstatically pointing at His own life as the right way, whilst with the same finger condemning the sin in others as he trots on by being careful as to not get to close to them. I believe that was the Sadducee and the unfortunate example that the church, our 4 walls, has begun to follow. And this is not to all be attributed to the leadership within these 4 walls, but the responsibility falls on its unwilling complacent people, the body. Us.
Yes, we are called to be the body of Christ, to be of Word & Spirit… WORD & SPIRIT! But we tend to forget that last one, don’t we? Even the word Spirit stirs up in us a bit of unhealthy fear. This fear is put in place by the enemy to hold us back from what God has for us, to keep us from getting out of the 4 walls, and allowing God to speak through us out in the streets. To understand the Spirit of God and burn away that fear we must till the fields of our hearts (remove the pitfalls, Mark 4:1-20), empty ourselves (Ekennosen) of whatever it is we cling on to, and have the willingness in our hearts to risk it and speak the Spirits conviction on our hearts in the present moment. For nothing more resembles eternal life than the present time (Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis). We cannot sow seed in the farmhouse. We cannot be open to God’s Holy Spirit if we are shut in by our how walls. Whatever they maybe, ask God to expose them and be willing to tear them down. It is really quite simple; it is all laid out for us in scripture, right under our noses.
Jesus set the ultimate example and we are to follow (1 John 2:6), He gives us life and to the fullest (John 10:10), and He gives us His Spirit (John 20:22, Acts 1:8). All we have to do is step up and receive it, receive it by living it out, by living a life worthy of our calling (Eph. 4:1). All we need to do is die to ourselves, take up our cross, the portion that God has set aside for us each day, literally our daily bread, and follow (Luke 9:23, Luke 11:3). As we dare do this, we begin to tune into that station of the Holy Spirit and more & more operate from that station as the signal strengthens. I know I have begun to feel this as I have walked these streets here in Ocean View; asking God more and more to come alive in me, to better pour out His love and reconciliation for each person I meet on the street.
I write this now to you, in the Spirit. As God has challenged me this month thus far, so I propose this same challenge to you. As iron sharpens iron, began to ask yourself how can I empty more of myself so that I can take in more of what the Lord has for me? Beg for the Spirit’s anointing in your life, and risk stepping into the strong conviction that will follow! These exciting times, join me on this journey! J
Ministry Happenings this past week:
– Building relationships by throughout Ocean view and sharing the gospel to anyone we meet on the streets. Mornings well spent sow seeds for the Kingdom (outside the 4 walls).
– Afternoons are spent playing sports with a big group of kids and ending with Bible studies.
– Over the weekend we took 17 kids outside of cape town for a kids camp, spoke to them on trust & fear, and what a relationship with Jesus looks like. 3 kids decide to be baptized and I was blessed to be apart of the conversations leading up to it, and doubly blessed to be able to baptize them as well! God is Lekker!
*Officially Halfway through the World Race! I praise God for the immense support you have given me! I am eternally grateful! God is changing lives all over the globe! Be encouraged that His Kingdom is being brought to the earth! Here is a 6 month selfie 🙂
