At church last night we watched the DVD from Foundations for Farming in which Brian Oldreive speaks about the vision to rebuild Zimbabwe using Isaiah 58 as a guideline. It’s a big and practical vision which is already making a difference in that desperate country. Brian was recently in Australia and it was good to chat to him about his vision.

But I digress … What really sparked my attention in his presentation (which was a just teensy bit slow and wandering) was the five point plan for nation-building which he identified in Isaiah 58. I see a great relevance also for building up the church.
Here are the five points:
1. Let God be first. (Do not be rebellious. Is 58:1-3a)
2. Do not be selfish. (Is 58:3a-6)
3. Serve the poor. (Is 58:6-11)
4. Prepare for the harvest. (Is 58:11)
5. Let the people build on the old-age foundations (of God) (Is 58:12)

Fairly obvious, you say. You’re right, it is always pretty obvious actually.
But think about it .. How often do we head for the fourth point (evangelism) without doing the first three things.
1. We have to start with God, we must seek His face, we must not be rebellious (seek our own way).
2. We must do away with selfishness. Brian said that selfishness is the cause of every sin – thinking about that sweeping statement, I guess it’s true. We do seem to be driven by a self before others syndrome. Thinking about others before ourselves and having a generous spirit in foregiveness as well as ‘things’ will be a radical change for many Christians.
3. Jesus’ concern was always first for the poor. We build churches for the middle class and hope that we’ll get some rich people too. We don’t know how to minister to the poor except by giving handouts. How about being a friend?
4. With these points in place we can begin to grow the crop. We will have a mission and a purpose which concurs with that of God. We are ready be be a well watered garden.
5. Let the people build on the age-old foundations. Teach Godly principles from the Word of God.

Right, now let’s see if this app works ….

Whoever does not guard it whole and inviolable will doubtless perish eternally.

Now this is the catholic faith: We worship one God in trinity and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons for dividing the divine being.

For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Spirit is still another.

But the deity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory, co-eternal in majesty.

What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Hol Spirit.

Uncreated is the Father; uncreated in the Son; uncreated is the Spirit.

The Father is infinite; the Son is infinite; the Holy Spirit is infinite.

Eternal is the Father; eternal is the Son; eternal is the Spirit: And yet there are not three eternal beings, but one who is eternal; as there are not three uncreated and unlimited beings, but one who is uncreated and unlimited.

Almighty is the Father; almighty is the Son; almighty is the Spirit: And yet there are not three almighty beings, but one who is almighty.

Thus the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God: And yet there are not three gods but one God.

Thus the Father is Lord; the Son is Lord; the Holy Spirit is Lord: And yet there are not three lords, but one Lord.

As Christian truth compels us to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so catholic religion forbids us to say that there are three goods or lords.

The Father was neither made or created nor begotten; the Son was neither made nor created, but was alone begotten of the Father; the Spirit was neither made nor created, but is proceeding from the Father and the Son.

Thus there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, no three spirits.

And in this Trinity, no one is before or after, greater or less than the other; but all three persons are in themselves, co-eternal and co-equal; and so we must worship the Trinity in unity and the one God in three persons.

Whoever wants to be saved should think thus about the Trinity.

It is necessary for eternal salvation that one also faithfully believe that our Lord Jesus Christ became flesh.

For this is the true faith that we believe and confess: Tha our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is both God and man.

He is God, begotten before all worlds from the being of the Father, and he is man, born in the world from the being of his mother – existing fully as God, and fully as man with a rational soul and a human body; equal to the Father in divinity, subordinate to the Father in humanity.

Although he is God and man, he is not divided, but is one Christ.

He is united because God has taken humanity into himself; he does not transform deity into humanity.

He is completely one in the unity of his person, without confusing his natures.

For as the rational soul and body are one person, so the one Christ is God and man.

He suffered death for our salvation. He descended into hell and rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

At his coming all people shall rise bodily to give account of their own deeds

Those who have done good will enter eternal life, those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.

This is the catholic faith.

One cannot be saved without believing this firmly and faithfully.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, withy glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

Amen

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and a life everlasting.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problems recognizing me – my banner will be clear!

Anonymous African Pastor – Nailed to his wall.

So this guy comes up to me and says:
“what’s the vision? What’s the big idea?”
I open my mouth and words come out like this:
The vision?

The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.
You see bones? I see an army.
And they are FREE from materialism.

They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.
They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.
They wouldn’t even notice.
They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won.

They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations.
They need no passport.
People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision ?

The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes.
It makes children laugh and adults angry.
It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars.
It scorns the good and strains for the best.
It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.
This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day its soldiers choose to loose,
that they might one day win
the great ‘Well done’ of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don’t need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: “COME ON!”

And this is the sound of the underground
The whisper of history in the making
Foundations shaking
Revolutionaries dreaming once again
Mystery is scheming in whispers
Conspiracy is breathing…
This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.
Young people who beat their bodies into submission.
Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.
The tattoo on their back boasts “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain”.

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes.
Winners. Martyrs.
Who can stop them ?
Can hormones hold them back?
Can failure succeed?
Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays

like a dying man
with groans beyond talking,
with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and
with great barrow loads of laughter!
Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive

Inside.

On the outside? They hardly care.
They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.
Would they surrender their image or their popularity?
They would lay down their very lives – swap seats with the man on death row – guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,
they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)
Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.
Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.

Don’t you hear them coming?

Herald the weirdo’s! Summon the losers and the freaks.
Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes.
They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension.
Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be.
It will come to pass;
it will come easily;
it will come soon.

How do I know?

Because this is the longing of creation itself,
the groaning of the Spirit,
the very dream of God.

My tomorrow is his today.
My distant hope is his 3D.
And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great ‘Amen!’ from countless angels, from hero’s of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.

What is your worldview? Does it have anything to do with your faith, your destiny, your plans? And if you had a Biblical worldview, what would it look like?

I jotted down some thoughts … (It took just ten minutes so don’t expect a brilliant theological treatise. Perhaps I’ll take a bit longer over it sometime. Your comments on any amendments would be appreciated – this is still a work in progress.)

1. All that is came from the pre-existent God who is sovereign, holy and omnipotent.

2. Man has a special place in God’s creation, being made in His image (likeness) and has been given stewardship as God’s representative in the created realm. (Man includes every single human being of whatever race, tribe, language, nationality, gender or creed) 

3. Man sinned – he desired to be like God (knowing good and evil and thus able to make choices that do not necessarily please God). NOTE – God’s heart breaks when we sin ie when we make choices which He does not want us to make.

4. Man’s sin has its origin in the temptation which came from, and still comes from Satan.

5. Satan is the ‘ancient serpent’ – a spiritual being (an angel according to Job) who was hurled to earth (with his angels) to lead the world astray (away from God).

6. Man’s journey throughout his existence has been, and is,  accompanied by the Presence and guidance of God in which He constantly seeks to bring this special creature back into relationship with Him.

7. God, who is Love, has a passion to redeem man from his consuming desire to sin – see definition above (ie making choices which God does not want us to make).

8. This passion became a reality in the incarnation of Jesus (YHWH is my salvation) and the great love of God was shown in the laying down of His life for His friends (He wants everyone to be His friend).

9. The incarnation itself is a sign of God’s great love – God, who is infinite, omnipresent and omnipotent, became flesh, containing Himself not only in Man’s image but also within time and space. 

10. The laying down of this ‘taken-up’ life was a ‘sacrifice’ in the sense that God was prepared to give up everything for the sake of the redeeming of Man. (When we say ‘by His blood’ we are referring to the fact that in God’s total self-giving He has redeemed us utterly and completely – for He who is Alpha and Omega has stopped at nothing for the redemption of the body, mind and spirit of Man.)

11. But death could not hold, or limit, the Mighty One. He is risen! The victory is absolutely complete – all that was lost is restored, all that was dis-eased is made well, all that was wronged is made right, all that was separated is brought back.

12. Satan is defeated.

13. Jesus ascended to heaven and He has empowered His church by the Holy Spirit to be His body on the earth  to declare the good news of His victory and to prepare His special creation for His return.

14. The good news is that it is not God’s desire that any should be lost but that everyone should be saved.

15. Everytime we show God’s love we are declaring the good news. Everytime that we do not show love – in either attitude or action, we sin. See definition above (we are making choices which God does not want us to make).

16. If I am to live as God wants me to live in this world which He created, I need to know Him. I need to know His mind and His heart. I need to know what pleases Him and what displeases Him. And when my life is lived like that then I find the real joy of life and the peace which passes understanding.

17. When I choose to do this – He fills me with His Spirit to help me live the life which is God’s gift to me. 

18. And why do I have this life? Because God wants me to be His friend! (This is not a flippant comment. Somewhere in being God’s friend is a very profound sense of being!)

I’m convinced that murder is not good while not being angry with my brother is good.

I’m convinced that it is a good thing to be faithful to my wife and that looking at a woman lustfully is not a good thing.

I’m convinced that keeping an oath is good and that holding to my word is even better.

I’m convinced that revenge gains nothing.

I’m convinced that being generous is a really good way to live. 

I’m convinced that it is better to love my enemy than to hate him.

I’m convinced that prayer changes my heart.

I’m convinced that forgiveness will bring peace into my heart.

I’m convinced that I can trust God to provide for me without me worrying about it.

I’m convinced that judging others does nothing for me.

I’m convinced that doing for others what I would have them do for me is the best way to live.

(From The sermon on the mount: Matthew 5,6,7. Inspired by Rob Bell in his book “Velvet Elvis”)