Servant Ministries, Inc.
Issue No. 110 Ira & Judy Milligan Jul
1, 2007
If you are presently involved or interested in becoming
involved in small group meetings, please read and respond
to the following article (written by Tony Kemp from Quincy,
Illinois). As many of you know, I consider Tony as both my
pastor and as one of my fellow laborers in the Gospel. Tony
and I have discussed the concept that he introduces in this
article and we feel that it will be an important asset to
the Body of Christ.
If you are a member of a small group, but not in
leadership, please bring this article to the attention of
your group leaders and have them contact me. They can
write, call or email me. My contact information is on the
back of this newsletter.
We will also discuss this project at the upcoming
Conference in Joshua, Texas. Don’t miss this
opportunity to become an active participant of what God is
doing in this momentous hour of change. See you in Joshua!
The Prophet’s
Perspective
Rediscovering the New
Testament Church
(by Tony Kemp)
Recently, I was listening to a message by Ira entitled
Rediscovering the New Testament Church which caused me to
pause and reflect on the present order of ministry. He had
been teaching on the five steps the church needs to work
through in order to change and return to the original
pattern. Those five steps involve discontentment, the
initiation of a new form of leadership structure, group
acceptance, mobilization and implementation of the new
wineskin, and the establishment of a new order of apostolic
and prophetic ministry.
This new governmental process will move the people
of God from being a source to the ministry to being a
resource of the ministry. Instead of believers being
spectators, they become participators in expanding the
kingdom of God. At this point, the disciple stops being a
Christian consumer and becomes an actual producer of
God’s plan on the earth. When leaders cease
controlling and start releasing people into their callings,
gifting and ministries, then church growth occurs not by
the transferring of memberships but by genuine conversion.
The activities of the church move beyond programs to
actual fellowship where believers no longer focus on
religion but on relationships and their faith shifts from
being in the church to being in Christ. What makes this
teaching so important and timely? Apostolic teaching
returns the church to genuine connection and community. It
creates the space for the development of intimacy among
believers. Intimacy requires honesty, commitment and
vulnerability, and vulnerability requires safety. There can
be no real ministry apart from connection and community
because relationships of trust cause us to invite people
into our lives. What you do not receive by direct
revelation from God you receive through relationship. Your
breakthrough comes through your brothers and sisters in
Christ!
So the governmental function of apostles is the
forming and facilitating of relationships that promote
unity, equip the saints, and assist the joining together of
home churches and leaders so that joints can channel the
supply of Jesus to every part of the body.
All of the above statements lead me to ask the
following questions:
1. Should we develop a directory of those who lead house
churches? (People need to know each other.)
2.
Should we develop a plan so that leaders and ministers can
be encouraged, helped and assisted in their
ministry?
3. Should we develop a system of
communication so if one group needs a certain kind of
ministry, another group can send a person to meet that
need?
4. Should we develop a forum to discuss what is
working, not working, what can be done differently or
better?
5. Should we develop leadership-training
meetings so more house churches can be started and
maintained?
6. Should we develop some way of
evangelizing so more home churches can be started and
established? I know some men who love to evangelize and
could help build up the home churches.
7. Please
respond and let Ira and I know your thoughts. Thanks,
Yours in Christ,
Tony Kemp
“Helping Hands”
Recently, we received a card thanking us for our support of
a special foreign mission project. My immediate thought
was, “You are thanking the wrong person. I only
passed the offering on to you. The real givers are those
who support this ministry!” So, on behalf of all the
missionaries that we support both monthly and those we
support on special projects, Thank You!
One more
thing; I know two more missionaries presently laboring in
foreign fields who are in need and worthy of our support.
If anyone reading this would like to give to missions, I
will faithfully pass it on.
Prayer Partners’
Update
As I mentioned above, our primary desire at this time is
additional finances for missions. We recently exhausted
what little we had printing two books into Spanish for use
on the mission field. Please help us pray for an increase.
Thanks, friends!
Just Thinking
Our friends Rex and Shirley
Bryant were here in Louisiana and as Rex was ministering he
said the antidote for “self pity” was
“thankfulness”. He said, “You can’t
wallow in self pity and be thankful at the same
time!” How true! In fact, I think thankfulness is a
powerful antidote for a lot of other poisons, too.
It’s also one of the keys to getting one’s
prayers answered. Paul constantly put prayer and
thankfulness in the same context. He exhorted us to,
“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with
thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2) and his instructions on how
to conduct ourselves in the house of God include
instructions on the four aspects of prayer, one of which is
thankfulness (see 1 Tim. 3:15): “I exhort therefore,
that, first of all, supplications, prayers, inter-cessions,
and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and
for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Tim.
2:1 2).
In fact, the Bible has a lot to say about being
thankful: Scriptures like, “In every thing give
thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you” (1 Thes.. 5:18), and “By him
therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God
continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks
to his name” (Heb. 13:15) immediately come to mind.
We Americans have more to be thankful for than any
other people on the face of the earth. So, instead of
mumbling and complaining the next time you catch yourself
feeling sorry for yourself, stop and begin thanking God for
the abundant blessings and provisions that you already
have. He deserves it!
