The Progress of Christianity

If you look back into the history of Christianity, all you would notice is a lot of misunderstanding.

For one, Jesus isn’t ,wasn’t, and never will be the founder of Christianity.

The Religion of Christianity, in fact has nothing to do with neither the crucification, resurrection of Christ nor the fire that fell on those in the Upper room.

It all began with a dream of an emperor who had turned a blind eye to persecutions within his empire and needled unnecessarily launches war against his unfaithful aide.

The night before Emperor Constantine I dreamt of winning battles upon the strength of the insignia of the Cross. Promptly, he added the new insignia to his coat o farms and gave his subjects a choice-Either follow me and I follow Christianity or die.
He was a very persuasive man, ably aided by his sword and thus a majority of today’s populations were born to parents of Christian origin.

So there you have it- contrary to our textbooks, Emperor Constantine I, not Jesus, is the founder of Christianity.

Jesus never professed a religion. He talked about a way of life. He came here willingly on His Father’s orders to tell us of His Father’s likes and dislikes.

Constantine laid the foundation rules for his newfound religion and those that he subjugated added some more of their earlier traditions and beliefs and eventually we landed up with a set of beliefs that had nothing to do with what occurred in the Upper Room.

In the 16th century began the Protestant Reformation began when a Catholic monk rediscovered a Catholic doctrine in a Catholic book. The monk, of course, was Luther; the doctrine was justification by faith; and the book was the Bible. Some felt that the Reformation was progressing too slowly. And it was among these reformers that the Anabaptist movement formed its roots.
What characterized their faith more than anything else, clearly distinguishing Anabaptists from other religions, was the conviction that baptism was for adults and not for children.

Mid 17th century, the Anabaptists lost some of their rigidity (today’s Amish or Mennonites are common examples of what Anabaptists are) and thus became the Baptists. The one thing both movements had in common was baptism by immersion.

The Pentecostal movement had its origins in believers who intensely desired more of God in the late 19th century. People were getting interested in world evangelization and realized that they needed the original power of the Holy Spirit to do this. They sought God and prayed. Many Methodists and Salvation Army people were among those who were most hungry for God, and embraced the move of the Holy Spirit.

People had been thinking that God no longer spoke except through the Bible, and that speaking in tongues had ceased, but the early Pentecostal pioneers challenged that. Contrary to the then Baptist beliefs on the cessation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Pentecostals believed in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues.

On April 9, 1906, at a prayer meeting in a modest home, a few men and women spoke in tongues. They had been meeting to pray for "an outpouring" of the Holy Spirit. The tongues speech convinced them that they had "broken through."

Thus was the Azusa Street Revival. It shook the foundations of the church and changed the lives of six hundred million people forever! The faithful announced that this was a reenactment of the New Testament Day of Pentecost: "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability" (Acts 2:4). God was restoring New Testament experiences of the Holy Spirit -- or, as devotees of the movement put it, restoring the apostolic faith.

At the heart of this movement was William J. Seymour, a one-eyed black pastor from Louisiana, son of a slave, who preached the message of “Apolostic Faith.”
At Azusa Street, one could see and hear the "utterance gifts" listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. People interpreted tongues and prophesied -- phenomena with which few Christians had any direct experience. The sick came for healing. Global Pentecostalism has multiple origins, and the Azusa Street revival was one of several impulses that birthed a distinctly Pentecostal form of Christianity.

As the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements plateaud, up arose evangelists such as Billy Graham and Oral Roberts with Praise and worship and Healing revival, tele evangelism.

In the 1960s, came the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and in the 1990s, as church members in growth churches attribute their success to the movement of the Holy Spirit, strong church leadership, evangelical outreach came the New Generation Churches.

In the midst of all this change, the one thing that has withstood the test of time has been the persecution and ridicules each new revival faced at the hands of the earlier.

As each wave goes by, James 5:7,8 are quoted for the Latter Day rains. Christianity today is experiencing the Fourth Wave. If you are ready to UN-learn and be governed by the Holy Spirit, you can make progress.

Discernment can be developed

We live in a fast-paced world that demands instant results. For many people, waiting has become a lost art. God’s way of maturing us in our faith is quite different. The character qualities that He values take time to develop.

Discernment is a trait that does not come instantaneously. Rather, it is cultivated by saturating the heart and mind with Scripture. The transcendent Lord of the universe wants to share His thinking with us through His Word. What could be more important or valuable in life than having the capacity to know the mind of God?

Our lives are filled with situations that require discernment. Sometimes we can be so busy trying to find the will of God and direction for our next step that we fail to hear His voice. He is calling us to come to Him and spend some quiet, unhurried time absorbing the truth of His Word. After listening to the Lord, we can begin applying what we have learned. Only as we put His Word into practice in our lives will we have our “senses trained to discern good and evil” (v. 14).

The Scriptures open our eyes to see all of our experiences from God’s perspective so that we can make wise choices.

Our challenge for today and every day is to make it a priority to spend time with the Lord in His Word. We may have to reorganize our schedule or wake up earlier. But it’s worth the effort—discernment and wisdom await us if we put into practice the truths we absorb each day.

Falling prey…..

In Revelations 12:10 we see, satan stands before God “accusing our brethren day and night” so that they too like him will not have access to redemptive grace and mercy.

We have to take care that he doesn’t use us as his agents on earth. To the degree of access he has to us, he will use us as his agents to sow discord among brothers. Ever since there were two brothers on earth, he has used this, his most effective and deadly tactic.

This especially true when it comes to judging our brothers and sisters in Christ. In Philippians 2, Paul writes, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." We are implored to esteem others as better than ourselves, not as worse!

Have you stopped to wonder why we are so quick to believe the worst about someone? Why Else? Because it makes us feel better about ourselves. That goes against what God wants for us- unity.

Unity does not just increase our spiritual authority. It multiplies it!

We are so much stronger when we are together; the enemy knows this. That's why he likes to plant the seeds of doubt and dissension and watch us flounder as we try to see just how many fingers we can point at everyone but ourselves. All because we let one negative thought creep in. Have I completely learned my lesson? No. And I probably never will... after all, I'm not perfect.

But God has been teaching me four things over and over these past few days:
1. It doesn't matter in the light of eternity,
2. He's got it all under control anyway,
3. It's not my job to fix everyone's problems, and
4. Let it go!

Letters to my sister

My youngest sister is highly accomplished- she’s barely 21 and she’s got a hotshot job in Google and climbing the corporate ladder with aplomb! In all that she sets out to do, be it singing, drama, writing, whining (ok, she does that one only to her elder sis’)- you name it, there’s none like her!

Rebecca’s determined that before she has to settle down in life she’s been there, done that. That way she has no regrets in the staid (or so she thinks) married life that’s to follow. Miria and I are extremely proud of her- I don’t remember being this focused or level headed when I was her age. (Any reader who wants to comment on me at that particular age, please refrain! :D, yea yea, I know it’s hard!)She knows all the pressures and troubles she could face and she stays steer clear of them.

But then, it’s hardly a surprise...I remember the seven year old Rebecca whose solution to everything was prayer. The best part of it was hers used to work better and quicker! It was like she had a direct hotline with God! And oh her voice-all the Sunday school songs that I’m trying hard to remember, I seem to recollect in her voice alone!

Yes, indeedy, God’s been faithful. He’s blesses her abundantly for one so young. She’s studying (and passing her tests with the highest marks!), working (and ranked among the highest performers), acclaimed drama artiste (you haven’t sent me the paper clipping yet, Becky!) and one of the Most requested singers in the Goggle TWIF!! And oh, did I mention she got her license recently??

I can’t wait to see what God has in plan for her. He’s given her the opportunities to be molded into someone who can be really powerful for Him. Our lives were created by God to glorify His name. Others may look at us and see the abundance of blessings that come from Him. He knows His purposes for us and how he wants us to live them out. Our very life belongs to Him. Rebecca, my desire for you is to walk in wisdom and make the most of your time and life (Read Colossians 4:5 and Ephesians 5:15). We maybe living one day at a time, but for each of them we are accountable for eternity!

God Bless you, my Love!Remember you are an arrow for Christ!

Obedience 2

Just googled the same song... turns out there's a verse I didn't know....

We want to live pure, we want to live clean.
We want to do our best.
Sweetly submitting to authority, leaving to God the rest.
Walking in the light, keep our attitudes right, On the narrow way.
For if you believe the Word you receive, You always will obey!

Hmm...... there's a bit of swallowing words I need to be doing here.. lets see if I can learn it well enough to teach the kids soon.....

This verse actually does drive home the fact that this isnt just a kids song. Its an eye opener for adults too...Obedience to the faith is the only way for salvation. You must obey God’s way, by putting their faith in Christ, in order to be saved. Secondly, it is an act of obedience on our part to act in faith and carry His word to all nations (The Great Commission). Thirdly, it is certain that true faith is going to produce obedience to the faith in our lives.

Obedience!

Eureka!
There was this song I had learnt long time back in Sunday School... there's was just one line I had missed out in memory.. had been praying over it... and I GOT IT!...HERE IT IS.....

The OBEDIENCE Song
Obedience is the very best way, to show that you believe.
Doing exactly what the Lord commands, doing it happily.
Action is the key - do it immediately, joy you will receive. (this was the line I 'd missed!)
Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe.
O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E
Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe.


:D...Guess I know what I 'll be doing next weekend!! I often make sure at least one or two of the next generation know the songs I learnt.. It's a quest I've been on for a while...gather all the kids I can get... and teach them the same.