Can You Find Your faith?

I was twenty-one years old, fresh out of Bible College, and still
learning about God’s ways. Today, I feel like my ignorance is still
vast, but I’ve made enough mistakes after more than three decades in
the ministry to know some of what are not God’s ways!

My friend, Neil, was face down on the carpet a few feet away. Our
“cottage prayer meeting” was developing intensity as the night wore on.
I heard him pray loudly, “God, I claim all the gold in Las Vegas for
your kingdom!”

Being emboldened by his brash words, I thought to myself, “I need a new
car.”

Lana and I had been crisscrossing the Southeastern U.S. in our 1967
Plymouth Valiant, preaching in churches and teaching in home prayer
meetings. I loved that little reliable car with its slant six engine
that sounded like a sewing-machine. But it wasn’t big enough for our
present traveling ministry plus it had a lot of miles on it.

So I got up enough courage to pray like Neil was praying. Faith is
contagious!

“Lord,” I said, “I need a new car!”

“What kind?” I heard.

I thought quickly and said, “A Mercury.”

“What color?” the Lord responded

“Green; dark green; with air conditioning and a big trunk!” I answered.

Neil at that time was a Spirit-filled Methodist who worked for NASA as
an engineer. I was a member of Carpenter’s Home Church which was then
known as First Assembly of God. We grew on God’s Word together, enjoyed
the terrific insights brought by pastor Karl Strader, listened to
hundreds of teaching tapes by charismatic Bible teachers, and became
firm prayer partners and still support one another in that role to this
day. Neil is now Chief Operating Officer for a powerful corporation
that develops television and radio broadcast outlets and TV studios. He
serves God in his vocation. He has prospered in his career and has been
a major contributor to key ministries that have taken God’s Word into
many nations.

Lana and I kept up with our itinerant preaching ministry, accepting
invitations as often as they came, often barely receiving enough income
form offerings to keep gas in the car or to have regular meals. It was
adventurous and tough, but we didn’t know what else to do.

I knew my calling was to preach and I knew that gifts of the Holy
Spirit or accompanying signs and wonders were frequently manifested in
my meetings. For instance, when I would go around a room and pray for
people, folks would later remark, “You seemed to know how to precisely
pray for each person’s need.”

I didn’t know about words of knowledge or prophetic utterance. It
still amazes me! Also, sometimes the gift of faith would “flash” upon
me. I remember one young woman who had a withered leg. As I knelt in
front of her and took her foot in my hand and offered my faith to the
Lord for her healing, I felt God’s “electricity” flow powerfully and
tangibly through me into her and watched in awe as her short limb
lengthened and grew more stout, all within one or two minutes. My, how
much God loves hurting people! How much He wants us to risk a little
bit of faith!

Back then, with my very limited understanding of the Five-fold
Ascension gifts (Ephesians 4:11), all I knew was that if you weren’t a
pastor, you must be an evangelist. I didn’t think I was supposed to
settle down and pastor so I kept refusing invitations to “take a
church.”

That is, until later that summer. The President of Southeastern Bible
College stopped me one Sunday morning as I came out of church in
Lakeland. It was his only Sunday to be in town and my only Sunday there
as well. I had begun a three-day fast earlier that weekend, feeling
that God was “changing gears on me,” but I had no more clarity than
that vague feeling. So I started seeking God earnestly for new
direction.

Rev. Homer stopped me and said to me, “There’s a church in Louisiana
where I want you to go preach. They’ve had some trouble and they need a
new pastor. I’ve given them your name. I know you’ve turned down
churches already, but don’t make up your mind until after you‘ve been
there.”

Strangely, when I checked inside with my spirit as he was speaking with
me, nothing said “No” as it had in former situations. So I agreed to
go.

Six months later, I’m sitting behind my desk in my study in the church
where I was now senior pastor, looking past the curtain through the
window at my car in the parking lot. There’s something tickling the
back of my mind… what is it?

My thoughts go back to the prayer meeting in Vero Beach, Florida, where
the owner of a car lot who held Bible studies and prayer meetings in
his home, had asked me to speak just a few months ago. I had told him I
needed a bigger car but I had no money, just a trade-in.

“Come on down,” Jim said. “I’ve got one car on my lot that I can make a
deal with, and I know the banker.”

Lana and I spent the evening with Jim and his wife after he showed us
the black Buick sitting outside his home that he wanted to sell me. I
taught in his prayer group, prayed for some folks, and then we all went
to bed.

The next morning Jim said to me over coffee, “Preacher, I can’t sell
you that car. Last night I had a dream and the Lord showed me something
wrong with it. I’m going to take it to my mechanic and check it out.”

I rode with Jim in the Buick to the shop. They ran a pressure check on
the cylinders and sure enough, the very problem Jim had been warned
about was uncovered. “I’m not going to let you have this car.
Somebody’s driven it hot. Let’s go back to my lot. I’ve got another car
I can let you have.”

We drove back, looked at another used car, signed some papers, and went
together to the bank. I drove it home and packed it up with all our
possessions and soon we were headed off to Louisiana to pastor the
church we had accepted.

What was there about that car? It was wonderful. I had loaded a
three-drawer triple dresser into the trunk. It had delightfully cool
air conditioning. It was green, it was big, it was cool, and, it was a
Mercury.

Then I remembered. It was exactly what I had asked for while lying face
down in the carpet in a prayer meeting more than six months ago. I had
forgotten but God had not.

Faith in God is really faith in His faithfulness, as John Wimber used
to say. Are you using your faith? Can you find it, dust it off, and put
it to work? You may be trusting God for big things while you are
presently serving Him in little things. But faith starts with little
things. The little answers to prayer are still a testimony that God is
trustworthy and His Word is true.

Jesus is so gracious as to reach down low, to loan us His proven faith,
to stand in our stead with His favor, to give us the tools of grace we
need to overcome.

“…through Him (we) are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead,
so that your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:21 NAS).

By the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, our prayers strike home and our
faith is vindicated. Why? Because the Father wants to honor His Son
Jesus, and because He loves each of us more than we can ever fully
know. Nothing escapes our Father’s notice. He is on time and He doesn’t
forget what He has promised. Faith is one of the tools in our equipment
bag that is indispensable. Don’t let the devil or doubters steal your
faith. It has potential for hurting the devil and helping people!

---------------------------------

© Can You Find Your Faith? by Ronald Wood, President of Touched by
Grace Inc. You may write Ron & Lana Wood at P.O. Box 12749, Wilmington,
NC 28405. Visit our website for more articles- www.touchedbygrace.org.
Permission to copy and share provided byline and content are unchanged.
We are touched by grace to touch the world!

Interview with an Apostle

In the infamous reporter's scoop some church leaders have called the
“Acts 28 Incident" a correspondent from CNN, recently purchased by the
giant Strang Media Group, flashed back in time using the Crichton
Time-Travel technique in order to grab an exclusive interview with the
great Apostle Paul.

The somewhat tricky and risky quantum physics technology worked well—
in this instance— because there were reliable historical records that
precisely placed Paul’s location both in space and time while he was
still being held as a prisoner in Rome.

The interview took place under the watchful eye of a friendly but wary
Roman guard at Paul's house where he was under arrest awaiting his
appearance before Caesar. Paul met with the reporter in the inner
courtyard, a large open atrium in the middle of his spacious rented
house.

Several men from local house churches had already gathered that day
with Paul, having finished afternoon prayers and having brought fresh
food for Paul’s meals, which the jailers did not usually provide. These
brave believers gathered around in a subdued circle and listened
intently as Paul sat down to be interviewed by the SMG (Strang Media
Group) reporter.

The reporter, in keeping with local customs and as part of his
time-travelling protocol, kept his compact microphones and recorders
hidden and his identity concealed beneath simple garments.

SMG Tell me Paul, How are they treating you here under house arrest?

Paul It’s not so bad. At least here, I’m not chained in the dark
like when Silas and I were jailed in Phillipi, down in the Macedonian
province. That was certainly bad but it didn’t last long. God sent His
angel and freed us. And there, if you remember, the jailer and his
family were all saved, and here, some of Caesar’s officials are already
being saved. So it will work out for the best.

SMG Do you regret appealing to Caesar?

Paul Not at all. Well, maybe for a little while, but I had already
been held for a long time after the riot in Jerusalem and it seemed
there was no other way to get out of jail. But when I was on the ship
being taken to Rome before it wrecked in the storm, the Lord sent His
angel and confirmed that I would stand before Caesar. That’s when I
knew all this was meant to happen.

SMG Some people have questioned whether or not you really are an
apostle. They say you are a trouble maker and that if God were with
you, you wouldn’t upset so many people. What do you say to that?

Paul shrugged his shoulders and turned his sun-bronzed face up into the
sky and thought for a long moment before he answered. When he shifted
his weight and turned, his ragged robe parted slightly. Underneath his
tunic on his chest old jagged scars were suddenly visible where lashes
and whips had torn his flesh and ripped his skin. He began to speak
slowly, softly.

Paul You know, I don’t want trouble, but trouble seems to want me.
It’s everywhere. Even when I was caught up in this legal stuff that got
me hauled off to Rome, I was trying to make peace with my kinsmen. It’s
almost like I’m a marked man; like trouble seeks me out. One thing I do
know, it keeps me broken and humble. I’ve prayed for God to spare me
but He told me His grace is sufficient. For some reason, the more I
suffer, the more the Holy Spirit’s power seems available to me when I
preach the gospel. So, if that’s the price, then I’ll keep on paying
it.

The reporter cast his head down, almost afraid to meet Paul’s steely
gaze. He cleared his throat adjusted his clean, comfortable robe, and
continued.

SMG Tell me, Paul, is it glamorous, the life of an apostle? Don’t
you get adoring throngs who follow you everywhere?

Paul You must have me confused with the actors you see in the city,
those who are called hypocrites, who parade on stage in their costumes!
No, I don’t get crowds tossing me flowers– I get mobs throwing stones!

SMG But you’ve had many well-to-do citizens and many noble women
who’ve opened their homes up to you, subsidized many of your ministry
trips, and there have been many churches which have been partners with
you. Haven’t you lived comfortably off their support?

Paul I could have, but I didn’t. I wasn’t called to settle down, I
was called to plant new churches. I’m like a soldier going off to war.
I know how to be poor and I know how to be rich. I’ve learned that when
I’ve got more than I need, it means God has given me a surplus so I can
give it away. Besides that, I’ve always had a team travelling with me.
Rarely if ever have I been alone… hey… we were like a mobile church!
And they all had to be cared for, often with their families. And they
all agreed with me, that we ought to give alms to the poor–that’s what
Jesus always did, you know.

SMG Your techniques have been admired by some and laughed at by
others. You don’t use fancy sermons or build special meeting houses.
Yet you claim to have planted churches in dozens of cities across the
Mediterranean. To what method do you attribute your success?

Paul I don’t have a method, I have an anointing! Without God’s
power, I’m dead in the water! Yet even then, I haven’t always
succeeded. You know my letters are circulated to the churches that I
began. Tell me, have you seen my letter to the church at Athens?

SMG No, I haven’t.

Paul That’s because there isn’t any! I failed at Athens.

The startled reporter looked in shock at the famous apostle.

SMG Tell me why?

Paul Because: I didn’t have proper prayer support. I was alone! All
my education, all my indignation, all my preaching did me no good. I
didn’t have enough power by myself to win the battle in the air and so
I failed to establish a colony for Christ’s kingdom in Athens. It’s
still full of idols… I won’t go back there alone… It’s a waste of time.
But the tide turned for me after that.

SMG So what happened after that?

As though seeing scenes being replayed in his memory, Paul’s eyes
brimmed with tears and his voice softly trembled as he answered.

Paul I left Athens in disgrace and went on to Corinth, feeling
defeated. I sought God for answers. I started making tents with a young
couple I met, Priscilla and Aquilla, you know them, the house church
leaders? Later, Silas and Timothy, my dear friends and faithful
co-workers, joined me. Now, with these troopers, we had enough of a
team! I was able to get into prayer and the Word, and by uniting
together in prayer, and with their support enabling me to stand, we had
a breakthrough like you’ve never seen! The power of God began to flow
until we knew God would win! I stayed there and taught God’s Word for
six more months after the breakthrough, until we had new leaders
established. Then I went to Ephesus. In that city, another sinful
stronghold of idols, I put what I had learned into practice and we
succeeded big time! (Paul reached over to a scroll lying rolled up on
his writing desk.) I’ve got a letter I’m writing to the Ephesians
right now. Do you want to see it?

SMG Not right now, thank you. I’m sure I’ll get to read it later…
I’ve got to be leaving soon. But tell me this before I go: How does it
feel to be a prisoner of Rome?

The gray-bearded apostle tilted his head back, his nostrils flared, and
his eyes opened wide. He glared at the reporter and then suddenly
leaned forward with ferocious intensity.

Paul I’m no prisoner of Rome! Rome isn’t strong enough to hold me
just like the grave wasn’t strong enough to hold Jesus. I’m a prisoner
of Jesus, not Rome!

With that final remark ringing in his ears, the reporter stood and
started to the door, expressing his thanks to Paul for sparing him some
of his precious time for the interview.

(Publisher’s notes: The final edited remarks and concealed video and
audio recordings may be downloaded on MP7 format for thumbnail playback
on the Strang Media Group archives index.)

--------end of broadcast-------fade to black------credits--------

Interview with an Apostle © 2004 by Ronald Wood,
ron@touchedbygrace.org, Touched by Grace, P.O. Box 12749, Wilmington,
NC 28405 USA. Permission is granted to share this article provided no
content is changed and the byline is kept intact. Visit
www.touchedbygrace.org.

(All rights reserved. This article will be part of a forthcoming book
on the apostolic ministry.)

Author’s note-
No offense intended to Steve Strang, whom I went to Bible College with
and whom I respect, nor to his wonderful publishing empire. Playfully I
say, I wish he did own CNN! -Ron Wood

Modern Missions and Emerging Apostles

Dear Friends,

My mind has been returning to the theme of the on-going restoration
that’s affecting the fabric and foundation of the church. For example,
the Church’s worship has forever changed. Large portions of the church
now use modern praise lyrics or scripture verses along with overhead
projectors and praise teams. While I still enjoy singing traditional
hymns of worship, I greatly enjoy the new songs that have us singing
God’s Word into the heavens! This change has been for the better. It
takes an important part of church life, our corporate worship, and
gives it a valid and understandable cultural expression today.

In addition, the kind and the caliber of leaders that the Lord has been
raising up in this generation have changed dramatically. More and more,
modern preachers or church planters are no longer seeing themselves as
hirelings paid by deacons to keep the church members happy, but as men
and women “sent from God” to accomplish His purpose. As these new breed
of workers are being sent forth into the ministry by their fathers in
the faith, they are also discovering not only a new level of confidence
(from being effectively fathered and biblically mentored), but also the
increased authority of their credentials in Christ to effectively do
God’s work, an authority recognized by angels and demons both.

The restoration of a particular class of ministers—apostles and
prophets—has caused a particularly strong reaction in some segments of
the church world and will intensify until it produces a peculiarly
powerful result. Why? Because these two office-ministries (they are not
just charismatic gifts) are the result of what Jesus started to do
after His resurrection (described as an ongoing fact in Ephesians 4:11)
and what He is still doing in His present role as Head of the Church.

Along with the rediscovery of God’s original pattern for the Church,
there are two additional facets of the restoration which I believe must
be identified: 1) God’s purpose, and 2) God’s ways. Why is this
important? If we don’t line up with God’s overall purpose, we will
waste our energy and gifts building something God won’t occupy. If we
go about God’s work without doing it God’s way (this includes both the
methods and the motivations of the workers), we’ll build something that
God will inspect, find it deficient, and tear down. God’s way includes
the wisdom of having safeguards in place against doctrinal errors or
the abuse of authority that might occur in new wineskins.

Still, we probably won’t get it perfectly done right this side of the
return of our Lord Jesus. But let’s be pioneers… let’s try!

I can think of nothing more terrible than to spend one’s life working
toward achieving something only to discover it was not approved from
God’s viewpoint. When we do manage to get it right, not only will it
line up precisely with the doctrine and patterns found in the Bible,
but it will also be practical. In other word, it will be effective. I
love what Derek Prince used to say: “If it’s not practical, it’s not of
God.”

So much of what we learn in Bible School or Seminary may be true truth,
but it may not be practical truth. In other words, it won’t work in the
sense of producing good fruit in the real world. Yet traditions are
hard to replace. One definition I’ve heard for insanity is to keep
doing the same thing but expect a different outcome the next time. So,
with tongue in cheek, I could say that to the degree we are blinded by
our traditions and yet sincerely hoping for a wonderful new result, we
have all been acting a little crazy!

Along the line of these thoughts, I want to “think out loud” with you
about some issues. I welcome your input and criticism. As I recently
told a distant relative who is preparing himself for ministry (he is
rooted in historical evangelical traditions, whereas my roots go back
into Pentecostal expressions), “Truth, when examined grows stronger;
whereas error when it is exposed to the light of God’s word, gets
weaker.”

Much of church growth and modern missionary activity is still locked
into the paradigm of what used to work in the past. But the world has
changed rapidly, as has God’s resources for doing His work today. I
want to look at our efforts to fulfill the Great Commission from a new
angle using a phrase I learned from Senior Pastor Alan Jackson of World
Outreach Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. His church impacts
thousands of people for Christ. The phrase is, “Does it transform?”

Our western “build it and they will come” model of Christian church
life, exported mostly from America and promoted by TV, has already
permeated the world’s mission fields. It has colored the way young
preachers evaluate their ability to do God’s will. It is dependent upon
owning land or using large auditoriums, a PA system, talented
musicians, preachers on salary, and drawing big crowds. Is this good or
bad? Is it the only way to do kingdom work?

While what we’ve done previously as Baptists and Methodists and
Pentecostals has worked to some degree in our industrialized nations,
is it the only model or even the best model to use in poorer countries
today? Is there a cheaper, more effective, or more enduring method?

I believe our previous methods are both good and bad. Why do I say
this? Let me give you my perspective. I graduated from Southeastern
College in 1971 with a major in Missions with double major in Bible. As
a student of missions for thirty years, as one who started his vocation
in God as a missionary-evangelist who then became a pastor in Assembly
of God, Baptist, Covenant and non-denominational churches, I have some
background on the issue.

Besides our experience as pastors, missionaries, members of apostolic
teams, and lifelong students of the Bible, my wife and I have the
peculiar privilege of being set apart by the Lord for this unusual
task: “Help equip emerging apostles in the developing church.” Before
the Lord spoke this word, I had already heard the Spirit say that part
of my personal mission statement wherever I would go was to testify to
the restoration of contemporary apostles and prophets. This is the
observation window through which I am looking when I discuss these
missionary issues. It may not be entirely objective, but I believe it
to be accurate, and it is my honest viewpoint.

Our western model of doing evangelism has helped establish a beachhead
for the gospel in many places. Yes, it has given gifted preachers a
platform to demonstrate God’s power and love and truth and proclaim the
Gospel to the masses. But sadly, it often has stopped right there, far
short of making disciples and establishing self-supporting,
self-propagating, self-governing churches. What about the foundations
of the faith for these new believers? Are they equipped to tear down
the spiritual strongholds that may be strangling their nation? Has good
order and biblical government been established so they can have
communal peace and the blessing of God’s manifest presence? Have they
been given the tools of the Spirit and the knowledge of God’s Word so
they can succeed despite adversity?

Often the harvest has been left to lie in the fields like wheat fallen
over, never gathered into barns. As a result, this reduced model of
ministry has made the gospel a cultural backwater, isolated, walled in,
and sometimes irrelevant in many ethnic situations. The seed of the
kingdom didn’t get a chance to germinate.

Upon evaluating the missionary methods of Paul the apostle, you can see
an apparent pattern in the Book of Acts of preaching, making disciples,
setting in elders, and then departing for the next mission field. He
didn’t practice “hit and run” evangelism.” He didn’t leave his kids to
raise themselves. And he didn’t make them dependent on foreign aid or
headquarters in a distant place. He stayed on location just long enough
(and no longer) to bring order into their new radical life in Jesus so
that the kingdom of God had a thriving community of faith, usually in
the form of a house church or network of churches, which then became a
living model of the message he had preached. He did this without using
a PA system or investing in property. Instead, he invested in new
leaders.

I believe the Spirit of God is saying that the highest mandate upon
anyone claiming to be among Eph. 4:11 Ascension-Gift ministries is to
help equip the next generation of workers so we can fulfill the
ministry of Jesus to the church and to the world. To do this requires a
new way of thinking, not just a new way of doing.

The question is: How do we picture success? The follow-up questions are
these: Has our definition of success been deficient? Have short-sighted
goals inadvertently short-circuited greater achievements? Has the good
become the enemy of the best?

---------------------------------------------

© 2004 “Modern Missions and Emerging Apostles” by Ron Wood.
(Portions of this article will appear as a chapter in a forthcoming
book. I recommend for further study my brochure, “The Apostolic
Foundation”.)

To read more on this topic, please visit our website at
www.touchedbygrace.org and download related articles or teaching
outlines. If you include a contribution of any amount, we will send you
a free copy of the brochure “The Apostolic Reformation” upon your
request. Write to us at: Touched by Grace, P. O. Box 12749,
Wilmington, NC 28405 USA.

Ron Wood is the president and founder of Touched by Grace Inc., an
apostolic missionary organization. He is a graduate of Southeastern
Bible College, a member of The International Coalition of Apostles
(ICA), a writer, and has been married for 35 years to his partner in
ministry, Lana (Stone) Wood. They have two grown children, Scott, and
Wendy, and two grandchildren, Trinity and Braydon. Ron and Lana Wood
base their ministry on the east coast of the USA and attend The Rock of
Wilmington. You may reach them at the address listed above. Your
comments to us are welcome as are your prayers for God’s word to
prevail among the nations.