As I attended the Leaders Advance at Bethel I was struck by their realm of thinking, which was to see cities transformed and see the Kingdom of God spread. Through Bethel Church they are actually having influence in the city, including taking over management of the city convention center and even prophesying to the mayor. In the Denver Metro Area, a city of 3+ million, it seems like a Goliath to a medium church of 400+ people. Yet God's strategy is very different than an earthly or worldly approach. In one of my favorite passages, Isaiah 61:1-4, God outlines His strategy to bring the Messiah to demonstrate the Gospel by restoring and transforming broken people. This includes bringing healing to those who are shattered in heart, those who are bound up like they are in a prison, those are captive and need freedom, and finally those who are in mourning. In an amazing revelation verse 4 says that God is going to use these very people who have been transformed by the anointing that was on Jesus to build up ancient ruins and even repair ruined cities. Now if I made up a plan to transform a city, it seems wise to get the most knowledgeable and skilled people to bring solutions to the deep problems that so many urban centers face in our day. Yet God accepts the deeply broken people and in transforming them lays a foundation to see a city transformed. I am not saying we don't need wise leaders, civil servants, and business people. Somehow those who have experience the humility of great need seem more positioned to bring wise solutions to the deepest places of corporate need.
From His Word, God has never been interested in following human wisdom for His ways even saying that His ways are higher than ours. There is a grass roots movement that comes from those who have been in the trenches of human suffering and need, turned to God to find real solutions that actually transform lives. Our world is sick of religion that has a form of godliness but devoid of power, the earth is groaning for real solutions that come from transformed people (sons of God). The foundation of God's Kingdom is our unconditional acceptance "in Christ", without being built on Christ we will continually jockeying, perform, and strive to find our identity and value. It is the Kingdom of God alone that values every person because they are made in the image of God and the ransom of Jesus was given to redeem them.
Religion is built on the foundation of self-effort and what you have to do to please God. If we cannot accept broken people, it may be that our foundation is built on self-effort. I have heard those who have built their foundation on self-effort judge those who are homeless, unemployed, or trapped in addiction. Still others seem to have pity on these poor souls but instead of bringing transforming solutions seem to enable them to stay trapped in their brokenness, poverty, or addictions. This looks like unconditional acceptance, yet real unconditional acceptance seeks to restore people to the image of God that they were created in. Pity must be replaced with compassion that moves us to bring the power of God and wisdom to transform people into the image of God that they were designed in. There is such power in tapping into people's God-given design and prophetically calling them into fulfilling what has been weaved into them by their Maker. It was spoken to Bill Johnson that God is looking to raise up a blueprint city that is transformed by the Kingdom of God, that then can be a domino that will bring other cities into this same place. Another city besides Redding, California is seeing transformation, the city Aurora, Illinois seems an unlikely candidate since it was a crime ridden suburb of Chicagoland. As a Vineyard Pastor, Robby Dawkins, shared how the power of God was coming the city through healing, deliverance, and transformed lives are having an impact on a city-wide basis. To go from one of the highest crime rates to not having any murders in 2012 when the top gang members promised the "bloodiest year" on record.
Accepted in the Beloved,
Bret
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