BY JESSE & JOY JOHNSON

In 2006, when we moved to Burundi, the civil war that ravaged Burundi for more than 10 years was winding down. Our local elders were eager to see the country’s education system restored as soon as possible with the Lord’s people leading the way. When the elders learned that Joy was a teacher, they approached us with the idea of reopening the Christian school that had operated on the Emmanuel Church property from 1985 to 1994, when the fighting grew so close it could not stay open. The local elders reasoned that reopening the school, this time as a secondary school, would be a sign of hope.

Taken from  CMML Missions Magazine

As we look into the unknown that 2020 brings here are 5 prayers that have been on my heart for the last several months. These are prayers that each assembly could take before the Lord to see His power work in us for His glory!

1. Teach us to pray

This is the prayer that has convicted me the most. Do our prayer meetings reach the level of prayer that we find in the Word? Are we as churches crying out to God for Him to change our hearts and lives?

So often our prayer lists consist of mostly physical and material needs. Very little is given to the expression of the heart for God to work. So few are seeing much fruit in evangelism or spiritual growth. Do we come to God to get for ourselves or to advance His work in our hearts?

2. Help our unbelief

Maybe our prayer meetings are ineffective because we have lost our belief that God can still do amazing things. We read stories of God working in other generations or parts of the world but, if we are honest, we don’t believe He is going to work the same in our hearts.

I’d love to see the assemblies rise above this doubt in 2020. I’d love to see them not only pray that God will work in a mighty way but expect it to happen! So much talk about a revival (which is good) but it will do nothing if we don’t think God will show up for us.

3. Grant us to speak your Word with all boldness

Fear is a reality for many of us when it comes to personal witnessing. If you are reading this and you have not shared the gospel with anyone in the past year, 5 years, decade, then this prayer is for you.

We are not all evangelists. We are all witnesses. The assemblies in many places have lost the desire and boldness to win the lost. It saddens me that so few people are being saved in our assemblies.

The only way this will turn around is if we commit to intentional witnessing. It begins with this prayer for boldness but it doesn’t stop there. We must be willing to put ourselves in places where we can be a witness. Look for opportunities to share the love of Christ. Let’s commit to that in 2020.

4. Grant us to live in harmony with one another

Oh how we need this prayer. We are so good at fighting with one another. Divisions, strife, envy, and selfishness are commonplace. Here is the full text of this prayer.

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Romans 15:1-7 (ESV)

Speaks for itself, doesn’t it? There’s no place for selfishness. We don’t have to agree on every point of doctrine and practice but we do have to live in such a way that we glorify God together.

5. Give us the immeasurable greatness of Your power

We need a big dose of Holy Spirit power. We live and serve often in the flesh and most of the time we don’t even realize it. We can do nothing without the work of the Holy Spirit.

He has been called the Forgotten God because so little emphasis is placed on His work. If we are going to see great things done for God in 2020 we need to get back to the absolute surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Looking forward to 2020

I have seen the stirrings of an exciting work of God among many in the assemblies. I have seen men and women get serious about winning souls, breaking down the walls of division, putting aside legalistic ways.

Things are turning around and I believe 2020 will see us take a big step toward healthy, vibrant assemblies. I’m looking forward to what God is doing in my assembly, in my home, and in my heart.

May these 5 prayers (and many others) be on our hearts as we head into the new year.

Photo by Pedro Lima on Unsplash
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect any other author or an official position of the assemblyHUB team.

Crawford Paul

Crawford is an elder at Rolling Meadows Bible Chapel in Ontario and has a passion for the assemblies. He and his wife Beth serve in various ways within the assembly to build up and encourage the believers. He is president of Legacy Ministries Canada, an organization focused on helping individual Christians, local churches and Christian organizations with financial, legal and governance matters. Check it out at legacycanada.org

Taken from AssemblyHub.com

In general terms, risk is a formula that presents the likelihood and the magnitude or impact of a loss event occurring. Likelihood is a 0-99 percentage. It can’t be exactly 100% because it is then a certainty not a risk. 

In the broadest sense, we are given the great commission, the commandment from the Lord to preach the gospel. We can calculate a 100% likelihood – a certainty, that everyone will die. It’s the universal human truth. It’s also a certainty that the God of the universe who is a just judge will rightly judge sin; and we’ve all sinned. He wouldn’t be God if He turned a blind eye to sin.

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment”.

Hebrews 9:27

Additionally, the magnitude of that penalty, according to the righteous judgment of God, is eternal separation from light, life and hope. If one was to put this into a formal risk statement, it might read something like this: It is a certainty that souls will die and be eternally punished as a result of their own choice to reject the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is the risk of not evangelizing?

So, what about us? Those who have repented of sin, and have been reborn, baptized and are walking with the Lord in sweet fellowship? What is the risk if we do not obey His command? Here is also the certainty that the Lord will judge our works at the judgment seat of Christ. Our works, not souls, will be judged as either praiseworthy or fuel for the fire.

Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.

1 Corinthians 3:12-13

From our view, the primary loss is the consumption of our fleshly deeds. There is a secondary loss that the Lord Himself experiences (and we indirectly through Him): the loss of the souls who reject the gospel. 

(God) desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:4

The magnitude is incalculable. The matchless Christ shed His blood for souls, how then could we put a price on a single soul? There is a certainty that the heart of God will ache for souls that reject His offer of grace. It is a certainty, and the loss measurement is beyond human calculation.

What is the risk of not discipling?

Again, this is a clear commandment from the Lord of glory. 

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…

Matthew 28:19

At the highest level the risk is the same as the risk of not evangelizing. There is another risk in view however. The risk of the body not being built up because of a lack of discipleship. We should note that discipling is more than just ministry, more than just teaching from the platform on the Lord’s day or a midweek bible study. If you didn’t know that, you should ask someone to disciple you.

There is also the risk that our body life suffering from the lack of discipleship will affect the body in other ways. From the outsider’s perspective: not seeing healthy loving relationships. Or the inside not seeing growth in the body. 

It is a certainty that man’s failure to disciple will impact the integrity of the body of Christ resulting in incalculable loss. 

As I consider this risk the secondary risks become more apparent.

What is the risk of not exercising gifts?

For those of us who are born again and have in some measure been discipled, do we know what our gift is? Have we asked? Have we tried to find out? 

The almighty God gave gifts for the building of the body, for the work of the ministry for the edification of the saints. 

…for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Ephesians 4:12

The risk is apparent in the output, the body life. Imagine one gifted with teaching, or evangelism, or hospitality not given an opportunity within the body to exercise their gifts? What about one with the gift of encouragement, helps, mercy or faith?

On a personal level we can exercise gifts but they are primarily for the body. When a gift isn’t exercised within the body, it’s strength wanes. Like our own human bodies, other body parts try to adjust and pick up the slack, often with limited effect. 

There is an 80% chance that a person with a particular gift that isn’t being exercised will become frustrated. I say 80% because they may not know they have that gift for a myriad of reasons. The magnitude could vary depending on the size of the local body. If there are two or more with the same gift, they too might become frustrated by doing more. If this one person is the only one with that gift in the local body, then their frustration could lead to a split.

What is the risk of not living holy lives?

We know the Lord will cleanse and sanctify His bride. We know He will prepare us for glory without spot or wrinkle. 

That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

Ephesians 5:26-27

It is a certainty that the world and angelic host, both holy and unholy see our behavior (1 Peter). It is a certainty that the all-knowing God knows not only our actions but our thoughts as well. You would have to distinguish specifics before you could make a risk statement but think about this in your context.

This is all very corporate-America sounding, it’s true. Still, I found this to be a useful exercise to consider the worst case of disobeying the Lord of Glory for my own walk. I trust if you are challenged by this, you’ll take it to the Lord for His direction.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect any other author or an official position of the assemblyHUB team.

Andrew Brown

Drew Brown has been saved by God’s marvelous grace since about age 10 and strives to serve the Lord using his gifts for the building of the body of Christ. He has worked in IT for over 15 years and is currently the Information Security Officer for one of the four Commonwealths in the nation.

Taken from AssemblyHub.com

Taken from  CMML Missions Magazine

What is special (to me) is that this couple comes from a side of evangelical Christianity that would be highly frowned upon by many in the assemblies. Yet here they were just shining the light of Christ in their lives.

Using words as darts against others

There are a number of words that get used regularly that mean different things to people. Some of those words are traditional, conservative, progressive, liberal, open, closed and legalistic.

Most people, when they use these words, use them to label themselves or others with specific criteria. For example, if an assembly has a “dress code” where believers dress up for the meetings, they might be called conservative. If an assembly has a “praise team” they might be labeled liberal.

Defining terms

It would be good for us to work together to define terms so we are all of the same understanding. Here is a stab at my own definition of these terms.

TRADITIONAL: A view and adherence to a pattern or set of practices that hold to what has been done in the past. It focuses more on staying the same and keeping that pattern with little or no change desired.

CONSERVATIVE: A view of the orthodox beliefs of the church; doctrines that have been carried down through the generations and are not negotiable or changeable. These doctrines would be shared by most evangelical conservative churches.

PROGRESSIVE: A view that allows change to the pattern or set of practices and is not tied to any historical practice. It focuses on the flexibility in the implementation of the Word of God within the church.

LIBERAL: A view of the Bible and Christianity that does not hold to the orthodox teachings; their core doctrines would be considered incorrect or even heretical by conservative scholars. There would be very few assemblies (if any) that would fall into this category.

OPEN and CLOSED usually indicate whether or not an assembly would accept a visitor to the Lord’s Supper without a letter of commendation or from a group that doesn’t meet the exact practices of the receiving assembly.

LEGALISTIC: A view held within a local church that puts a high priority on man-made practices, often considering them of equal importance to doctrine.

Using the terms correctly

I believe it would more helpful to the assembly movement if we were to use these terms accurately. Hopefully we never need to use the word legalistic at all, but sadly it does fit in some cases.

Conservative and Liberal are opposing views and like I mentioned, none of the assemblies I know would be considered liberal according to the above definitions.

Traditional and Progressive are often put against each other; however, there is a wide range of assemblies that would have both traditional and progressive elements.

Neither of these views in and of themselves is right or wrong as they are non-biblical practices. Each local church needs to determine what the best practices are for their fellowship.

These are some items that I would put into the traditional or progressive categories:

• style of clothing
• use of hymns, songs, and instruments
• format and time of meetings
• number of teachers used (visiting or local speakers)
• paid staff or all volunteers
• sitting in a square or rows, chairs or pews
• many other similar practices

Why does this matter?

The trouble with labels is that they are often used as a way to look down on or attack others. At the very least they are used as a way to separate. Another issue is the problem of incorrect labeling.

I am not against all labels and I use them. For example, I would consider myself a progressive (and open) conservative. What that means to me is that I have a conservative view of the Bible, but I do not put a priority on non-biblical traditions.

Learning to widen our acceptance

Probably the most important goal of assemblyHUB is to help us all see others like God does. As I think about my new friends from “the other side” of the evangelical divide, I further resolve that using labels to divide is not what the Lord intends.

Do I hold the same convictions on practice and doctrine? No. But that in no way should keep me from having a vibrant fellowship with them. If I was to attend their church, I would not agree with everything I observed. But I choose to thank God for them and to enjoy the commonality we share in Christ.

Conclusion

As we think about others in the wider body of Christ, one of my prayers for the assemblies is that we put aside terms that are meant to harm and separate us and focus on building up the body of Christ and serving Him.

Let’s love brothers and sisters in Christ without the need to criticize them. Let’s respect the convictions of others and pray for the work of the gospel in all local churches.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect any other author or an official position of the assemblyHUB team.

Crawford Paul

Crawford is an elder at Rolling Meadows Bible Chapel in Ontario and has a passion for the assemblies. He and his wife Beth serve in various ways within the assembly to build up and encourage the believers. He is president of Legacy Ministries Canada, an organization focused on helping individual Christians, local churches and Christian organizations with financial, legal and governance matters. Check it out at legacycanada.org

Taken from AssemblyHub.com

BY DOROTHY WOODSIDE

Chitokoloki Mission Hospital is well known in Zambia, southern Angola, and southwestern Congo for its medical work. I first came to Chitokoloki in 1991 to offer furlough relief to two full-time nurse-missionaries who worked here at that time. Afterward, I felt the Lord was leading me to stay on, so in 1992, I was commended to serve as a full-time missionary, specifically to help with the medical work.

Taken from  CMML Missions Magazine

I have a burden for you since you are facing many challenges. The society in the West is becoming more tense and confusing by the day.

My heart goes out to those in high school and college who are trying to make a stand for Christ. I believe you will face opposition unlike anything I had to face.

Here are some thoughts I want to share with you as I think about your lives.

God is not your enemy

The world and its system will tell you that God doesn’t want you to enjoy life. That he’s a big stick in the mud. A killjoy. That he wants to take away your fun.

Don’t listen. It’s just not true. God wants the very best life for you. He wants to fill you with satisfaction that you can never find in anything or anyone but him.

Satan wants to destroy your life. He will dangle in front you glitter and gold and promise you that what he offers is the best thing you can have. He’s a liar. He’s a murderer. Don’t listen!

Life is hard

No one gets a free pass. No one gets immunity. Life is full of failures, abuse and hurts. Sometimes life is so messed up that we don’t know how we can go on.

When those times happen we have a choice. We can blame God and get mad at him. We can try to solve our problems on our own. That never works, it makes it worse.

Or we can give control over to God and let him heal our lives. It won’t be easy but his way is always best. Trust me I know.

I resisted God for over 5 years. I ran from him trying to do things my way. I can’t begin to tell you how much of a disaster that was. Once I let go and gave God full authority in my life he started making the necessary changes in my life. I pray you will do the same.

You are not the future of the church

You are the present. You matter now. If you are in a church that doesn’t give you a place to learn, grow, fail, mature and serve then find another church.

Don’t let anyone despise your youth. You have a voice in the church. You are so important and needed. Don’t let anyone tell you you are not.

Jesus wants you to be a follower, a disciple. He wants you to give him your all and that means being a part of a vibrant family of Christians who will accept you for who you are.

God cares more about your heart than anything else

I wish I was taught this when I was young. It’s not about rules and commandments. It’s not about trying hard to please him. It’s not about looking good on the outside.

God is so interested in you. He gets excited when you talk to him. He is thrilled when you read his Word and discover how great he is. He wants to do supernatural things through your life. He wants to wow you.

He can only do that when you give your will and heart and mind. That’s what he cares about. When I was young I was so discouraged all the time because I tried so hard to live up to a perfect standard. I failed over and over. I hadn’t learned that I will never live up to it. The power can only come from him.

Don’t be afraid of your sin

Let me say this straight to you. You are going to mess up big time. Maybe you are reading this and you already have. You have done something and you can’t even believe you were capable. You feel ashamed.

Here’s the crazy thing. God isn’t bothered by it. Does he hate sin? Sure. But he sent his Son to take care of that. Jesus took the beating for that sin you have or will commit. The beautiful mystery of repentance is that God is always waiting to forgive.

He doesn’t have a hard time saying, “I forgive you”. Please, please don’t let sin ruin your life. There is enough grace to deal with it. I have seen many young people live in shame for many years because of sin. It doesn’t matter how big or small. Jesus will forgive and he will forgive completely.

People are full of sin

I think it’s safe to say that not too many things would shock me any more. I used to think that lots of older people were close to perfect and holy. I was totally mistaken.

I’m not saying all adults are really bad people. No, I know many, many who are great. But I have learned not to expect too much from those who are older. They will let you down. Only Jesus is worth our unquestioning trust.

At times in my life I have been hurt and disappointed by older Christians. I thought they were better. I thought they were more mature. Don’t get trapped into following after anyone other than Jesus.

Let it out

I lived for many many years with questions, doubts, shame and hurt. I thought I was alone. I felt trapped. I didn’t think anyone would listen and show love to me. I was wrong.

Whatever you are facing in life please reach out to someone. Send an email to us as assemblyHUB (info @ assemblyHUB .com), talk to a counselor or pastor or elder or any mature believer.

Don’t go it alone. You will be surprised to find out that most people, at least the honest ones, will have similar or worse struggles than you. They can help.

Wrapping it up

I feel like there are many more things I would want you to know. I want you to have the very best in life. I know now, after many years, that Jesus really is awesome. I know that he really does give hope and meaning to life.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect any other author or an official position of the assemblyHUB team.

Crawford Paul

Crawford is an elder at Rolling Meadows Bible Chapel in Ontario and has a passion for the assemblies. He and his wife Beth serve in various ways within the assembly to build up and encourage the believers. He is president of Legacy Ministries Canada, an organization focused on helping individual Christians, local churches and Christian organizations with financial, legal and governance matters. Check it out at legacycanada.org

Taken from AssemblyHub.com

BY BECKY KEW

The Lord sent me to Sandy Bay First Nation about 13 years ago. My heart was burdened for the people with regard to the many suicides that were happening among the youth. Where I serve, the people are primarily Ojibway, and the community has a population of more than 6,000, with the majority of the individuals on welfare assistance. Often misunderstood and overlooked, indigenous peoples are precious to Christ, and He desires that they know His love and salvation.

Taken from  CMML Missions Magazine

BY JESSE MATTIX

South America’s jungle lands are deep in the middle of the continent and stretch into the neck of Panama. The jungle is almost forgotten, but a careful reading of colonial history and archaeology reveals places where the Inca people took refuge as they retreated from the Spanish on the western side of the continent, later known as Peru. To the Spanish who took the Pacific side, the jungle was a place of abandonment and exile; fear of wild animals and disease kept them at a distance. The Portuguese, who colonized the eastern side of the continent, were quicker to face the challenge of the jungle. They made the rivers of the Amazon their highways
and developed farming communities along the river banks. In 1854, Peru and Brazil came to an agreement for the free navigation of the Amazon River, creating a massive continental highway. More recently, the Peruvian government has begun to pay attention to this asset by establishing a paved roadway into the headwaters of the Amazon with deeper water ports for commercial traffic.

Taken from CMML Missions Magazine

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

The KJV uses the word “brethren” instead of brothers. And while David was not specifically referring to those of us (tongue in cheek) referred to as “the brethren”, he would certainly apply it to us if he could have seen the future.

The unity of the Spirit is an undisputed truth. Unfortunately, it is something Paul had to exhort the Ephesians (and us) to endeavor to keep. Living out the reality of unity in the body of Christ requires hard work.

It is crucial to decide what beliefs and practices are essential to unity, and we must be so very careful about what we allow to divide us.

There are three categories that each of our differences can be sorted into. As we evaluate those differences according to categories, we can determine whether or not they are issues that should or shouldn’t divide us.

Salvation issues

There are certain doctrines, such as the deity of Christ and salvation by grace alone through faith alone, that are key to our salvation. (the “ones” in Ephesians 4 are a good measure of salvation truths.) If these foundational doctrines are not believed or practiced, this person is not a genuine Christian. As such, we do not have fellowship with them, on either an individual or denominational basis.

Simply put, we are not jointly part of the body of Christ.

Thus there is a division.

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

2 Corinthians 6:14-15 (ESV)

This division does not mean we have no interaction with the unsaved. We work with unbelievers, and live with them, and certainly love them. But our interaction is from a gospel standpoint, with the goal of persuading them to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

This is a different interaction than with believers.

Doctrinal divides

In the universal body of Christ, there are many members, with many different beliefs and practices along the spectrum.

These are brothers and sisters in Christ, who may practice infant baptism, or have a different eschatological viewpoint. They may or may not have pastors. The women may or may not cover their heads.

But, they are genuine believers. They hold the same salvation doctrines.

As such, we may not feel the freedom to be in regular weekly fellowship with them. But we should be praying for them and their ministries. And we should be working together in any way that furthers the gospel.

And frankly, our hair shouldn’t curl over the idea of occasionally visiting their Sunday meetings. Go, visit, be blessed, and be a blessing.

After all, we will all be in heaven together, jointly worshiping before the throne of God. The brethren won’t have their own exclusive wing in the mansions, separate from the Baptists or E-frees or charismatics.

Non-essential nonsense

Ironically enough, this is the category that gets us in trouble. We aren’t fighting over key doctrines, we are fighting (and dividing the body) over paint colors and hymn books, hem length and neckties, Bible versions and meeting times.

Oh, I’m sure that makes God so happy. (insert sarcastic tones)

Actually, we know it is the reverse.

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him…one who sows discord among brothers.

Proverbs 6:16-19 (ESV)

Why do we persist in insisting on our preferences? (And I’m just as guilty as the next person.) If there is not a chapter and verse, there’s grace. Oh, so much grace.

We must endeavor, put some serious elbow grease, into keeping the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Graciously defer to someone else’s view and preference. Humbly hold our opinions loosely for the sake of unity and love.

Why is this critical? The world is watching how we are loving each other. They are not impressed when we can’t get our act together. They don’t “know us by our love” when we can’t get along over something as petty as ______ (you fill in your blank).

We should not EVER be dividing over these non-essentials.

And should they?

Unity is not a walk in the park. It is hard to achieve. We are all sinners saved by grace. We bring our own baggage of quirks and faults and sins into the local assembly.

But, if our focus is on the glory of God, and our methodology is deference powered by agape love, we will be able to discern what is essential and what isn’t.

There are things that should divide us. There are things that shouldn’t divide us.

May God grant us wisdom to know and live the difference!
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect any other author or an official position of the assemblyHUB team.

Bernadette Veenstra

Bernadette was saved at a young age and has been involved in assembly work for the past 20 years. She and her husband have 4 children and they have been home schooling for the past 12 years. She is an avid blogger and you can find her over at barefoothippiegirl.com.

Taken from AssemblyHub.com