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Revelation — God unveiled Himself to us how?
Each session will have a topic and we encourage everyone to scour the Scriptures to inform the group about the topic. The goal is actually becoming good, life-long learners, rather than having every bit of minutia nailed down. There are also many who have studied and written down their understanding on these theological topics. We recommend learning from those who have gone before as well. You might want to pick up one or two of these resources to aid your learning. (see below)
Since we are going to be learning together…and from those who have gone on before, we thought we would post some of the books we recommend for you to consult in your learning…
Hey…here’s a spot we can post and comment and more about our Truth Quest learning community. Just carving out some space.
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Earlier this year I heard a message by another pastor entitled “Not by Might, Nor by Power” from Zechariah 4:1-14.
This phrase which bounces around in Christian circles- “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord” has held great power through the ages. That was the first point- It is about the Holy Spirit. He must be at the center of things. We can’t do anything without Him. Our dependence must be on His guidance, not our own. This was a great reminder….
Pastor Terry’s third point looked intently into verse 10. In the story of the passage, it is a prophecy from the Lord about the completion of the Temple project by Zerubbabel. Listen in:
Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me. Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand. (Zech 4:9-10 NLT)
Embedded in this passage is that amazing statement–Do not despise these small beginnings. Actually in the original it is a rhetorical question:
Who despises the day of small things?
or consider this contemporary translation which gets the spirit of this question:
“For who dares make light of small beginnings?” (from the NET Bible)
The idea behind a rhetorical question is that everyone knows the answer. If I ask this: Isn’t it true that the Buckeyes are the best college football team in the country? Everyone knows (even the polls) the answer to that. Now don’t get side-tracked by my illustration.
The answer that everyone knows to God’s question: Who dares make light of small beginnings? NOBODY. Small is the way things get started. From building the Temple to growing an apple tree, it always starts small.
I was moved by this truth. Beyond that, I really began to embrace that this is the common sense design of our God for the way things work in our world.
In our culture of XL, mega and super-size, the small things get the shaft. They are overlooked. Maybe even despised by some. God’s rhetorical question helps us set out to do the small things. To encourage our co-worker, smile at people on the street, pick up the laundry, make a meal for a neighbor, share more about Jesus in a conversation, etc… All small things, but don’t despise those small things, they pave the way to bigger things.
Small churches ought not be despised either–from without or from within. Rather than bemoan what you don’t have, look at all the benefits you do. You can know each other, reach out to many, serve each other and meet in all kinds of places and times. Don’t despise the small things…. That’s the way God made things to get started.
For who dares make light of small beginnings?
Originally from thequest’s weekly email update August 2006 found here: https://www.thequestcolumbus.com/emailarchive/email08.17.06.html
Posted at CMAResources.org on April 17th, 2008
There is a preoccupation in the western world with the pursuit of success generally measured by increased numbers, increased revenue, the development and implementation of strategic plans and the accomplishment of one’s goals. I am increasingly concerned that Christian leaders are seeking the answer to success through books written from a secular humansitic mindset, which may have some measure of wisdom to be sure, but there seems to be little comparison of the advice given in these books with the advice given in the Bible.
I have dozens of books on my shelves regarding management, leadership principles, sound business practices and changing organizational structures. I am a Christian leader who has bought these books and enjoyed, for the most part, reading them. Unfortunately, in our quick-fix, super-sized western culture, Christian leaders are buying these books in record numbers and are often making potentially fatal decisions within the church and ministry organizations as they follow this or that latest fad in leadership and management practice with little or no evaluation of that advice against God’s Word. Although some of the advice offered in these books may be good advice, a good dose of Godly wisdom and discernment would go along way in avoiding painful mistakes. The Christian’s measure of success is not based on humanistic assumptions, i.e. strategic accomplishment, production, increased revenue, and other “bottom-line” concerns of the corporate world.
God’s “bottom-line” is not man’s “bottom-line.” We often forget what we know, that God’s ways are not man’s ways. Jesus stated in the Beatitudes, at the beginning of His Sermon on the Mount, that “the gentle will inherit the earth.” Does that sound like man’s ways? If we’re honest, that statement sounds a little bit odd and peculiar. We don’t have to be a Jewish person looking for a Kingdom to think these are outlandish sounding words. They were outlandish sounding words then and they are outlandish sounding works now. Even to believers who ought to know better, Jesus words go against everything we have ever been taught, observed and experienced in our world.
Conventional thinking would say that the meek get ground INTO the earth. The one-time baseball manager, Leo Derosher, once said, “Nice guys finish last.” The concept of meek people gaining anything is such a problem for us.
I use this as only one example of how God’s wisdom is often such an alien concept in our society and in human experience. Books being written from a humanistic standpoint are guiding much of the Church in the western world today, being written by successful money-making businessmen who do not run their businesses by being gentle and humble. High-powered corporations are not operated on the concept of gentleness. Human governments don’t run by meekness. Our world says that if you want something, you’ve got to be tough. You need to be assertive and aggressive and go after it. You make decisions irrespective of who gets hurt; but, you do it for the sake of the mission (bottom-line).
The philosophy of our world is the survival of the fittest, the most shrewd and the powerful. If the world could rewrite this beatitude, it would read, “Blessed are the proud, the aggressive, the intelligent, and the dominating for they shall inherit the earth.” But Jesus says that when it comes to His Kingdom, His followers are governed by a different principle.
One needs only a cursory glance at what God considers to be success to see the perils of human reasoning and measurements. Success in God’s eyes is measured by how much we love God and and how much we love our fellow man. This is observable (measurable) through our relationships with God and other people during the best and worst of circumstances. The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-11) really sum it up. Success is measured by these standards:
There is no place in Scripture where I have found success measured by numerical or financial growth, by strategic development and implementation or by climbing the ladder of influence, power and control. These are man’s measurements that have the appearance of wisdom, to be sure, but they deny the measurements of God. In our zeal for ministry success, let’s be sure to measure the advice we are reading and hearing against the words of the ultimate determinator of success, the Lord God Almighty, found in the Word of God. Take what nugget of advice we might find in another book, evaluate it’s consequences in light of the Word of God and prayerfully implement it only after asking God to give us the wisdom to do so. Success is not doing, it is being.
“Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my followers, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But it you give up your life for me, you will find true life…For I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with his angels and will judge all people according to their deeds.'” Matthew 16:24-27 NLT.
“But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then.” Matthew 19:30 NLT
“Jesus relied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. this is the first and greatest comandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.'” Matthew 22:37-40 NLT