S S E R P X E
MOMENTUM Issue 6 - October 2014 | For Private Circulation Only
A GATEWAY MINISTRIES PUBLICATION
Issue 6 of the Momentum focuses on the “Supernatural”
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SUPERNATURAL IS NATURALLY BY DAVID SELVAN if the Church has to move in the supernatural, then every believer has to crave for and experience the supernatural in daily personal living. Recently, to overcome the acute water crisis due to two consecutive failed monsoon seasons, we attempted to dig a well in the church compound. The professionals we engaged for the task comprised a team of two men and a woman. They dug for ten feet and then erected a crude structure with three wooden poles and a pulley to excavate the soil and slush. Having served on board Naval ships, in dockyards and on offshore platforms, I was sceptical of the s a f e t y a n d e f fi c a c y o f their contraption. I expected tested ropes, safety harness, helmets, etc. to work on such a hazardous job. To my amazement I watched the two men go down into the 40 feet deep pit with just a rope and support of the walls of the pit. It seemed incredulous to me, an experienced absailer with a fair knowledge of how to do things the
right way. When queried, they casually explained that this was how they had been digging wells upto 100 feet depth for the past several years. Though a chill ran down my spine, they seemed unperturbed by the dangers involved, despite lack of any safety gear. What was normal to them was abnormal to me. What was common to them was unusual to me. What was daily practice for them seemed a herculean feat for me. What was natural for them seemed supernatural to me. What is supernatural? The dictionary meaning is • (of a manifestation or event) attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature
• being above or beyond what is natural; inexplicable by natural law or phenomena; abnormal. If we stick to the above definition, anything that science cannot prove or man cannot comprehend can be called supernatural. Even the existence of ghosts, UFOs, extraordinary feats of humans can fall under supernatural. But in this article we will look at supernatural in the context of us, the church of Jesus Christ, being the agents of our great King and His kingdom. The foundation: A healing miracle is considered supernatural for man but not for God. For God supernatural is natural. Hence there is no difference between the natural and the Supernatural in God’s vocabulary. Foundation of Christianity is supernatural. A person
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SUPERNATURAL IS NATURAL if the Church has to move in the supernatural, then every believer has to crave for and experience the supernatural in daily personal living. cannot be a Christian without believing in supernatural. The very birth of Jesus is an inexplicable miracle. Healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, giving sight to those born blind, opening the ears of the deaf, making cripples walk, multiplying the loaves of bread to feed the thousands and many other miracles performed by Jesus were supernatural to the eyes of man but they were normal for Jesus. Further, the resurrection of Jesus cannot be explained by the human mind. The six days creation events were supernatural. All things were created by His word. All things came into existence at his command. They surpass all the elements of today’s scientific explanation. Supernatural is natural for God. Why Supernatural? When God created the world it was beautiful. There was peace, harmony and order. God had placed Adam and Eve in a perfect environment. Their relationship with each other and with their maker was perfect. There was no rejection, no jealousy, no hatred, and no murder. There was no sickness, no sadness, no poverty and they had perfect health. Adam had the privilege and the ability of naming the animals and birds and all the living creatures. Meeting God and fellowship with Him every evening was part of the daily routine. There was nothing supernatural about it. Seeing God at work was not an unusual scene nor considered a supernatural encounter. The quality of Adam’s life as well as the environment they lived in, were perfect and that was the order of the day. When Adam disobeyed God, sin entered the world with its consequences. Man was alienated from God, from his fellow being and from the environment. Rejection, sickness, death, pain, sorrow, hatred and murder invaded that perfect world. Man could not meet and fellowship with God as in the beginning. The
normal underwent a paradigm shift. Since then, in this distorted world the inexplicable events are seen as transcendental. An encounter with God is no longer normal, but a supernatural event.
Jesus demonstrated what normal life would be by performing miracles.
However the coming of Jesus has changed the whole order. Jesus restored what was lost. He made it possible for us to experience the original intended quality of life. Jesus demonstrated what normal life would be by performing miracles. He healed the sick. He gave sight to the blind. He walked on the water. He calmed the storm. He freed people from demonic oppression. He raised the dead. We call them supernatural because we cannot explain these with our knowledge of science and personal experience.
and terrified. (v.10-11)...For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand (1 Samuel 16.4-16) Once the army of Israel faced a challenging situation when a Philistine warrior named Goliath defied and mocked them. This Philistine challenged Saul and his army twice a day for forty days. His giant frame, his bold claims and challenges melted the hearts of Israel’s army. Saul was an anointed king, a seasoned warrior with a large army but had no strategy and courage to take on the taunting giant. The Israelite army felt subdued and that subdued life appeared normal for them. They couldn’t think supernatural. When we live a prolonged defeated and subdued life, faith for the supernatural tends to evaporate.
But for Jesus they were normal. Jesus gave us a glimpse of how things should be; He demonstrated God’s original design for life in the world. When we have Jesus as the head of the church which is His body, the supernatural should be natural. When Jesus commissioned his disciples, he sent them into the world to proclaim the good news of the kingdom and to But David a shepherd boy who had no battle exposure and experience, saw give the world a taste of heaven. the situation differently. How could • Supernatural gives us hope that a David take on the giant? For David, broken hopeless world can be supernatural was natural. He had restored to its original design tasted God’s presence and his power • Supernatural strengthens our faith to in his personal life struggles and crisis. believe that we can give the world a But David said to Saul, "Your servant glimpse of eternity. has been keeping his father's sheep. • Supernatural makes it possible for us When a lion or a bear came and to say there is a living God to this carried off a sheep from the flock, I sceptic world went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it Expecting and attempting the turned on me, I seized it by its hair, supernatural struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; ...Then the Philistine said, “This day I this uncircumcised Philistine will be defy the armies of Israel! Give me a like one of them, because he has man and let us fight each other.” On defied the armies of the living God. hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul The LORD who delivered me from and all the Israelites were dismayed
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The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you." (1 Samuel 16.34-37) When he faced a national crisis (at this point Goliath’s challenge and later many such challenges) it was normal for him to trust God and expect His supernatural intervention. David knew God would defeat Goliath and so he took up the challenge and defeated
Goliath without the normal weapons of There are many corporate giants that war. challenge God’s kingdom but the church which has experienced the If the Church has to move in the supernatural presence of God daily, will supernatural, then every believer has to do mighty exploits. crave for and experience the supernatural in daily personal living. His intent was that now, through the This would mean.. church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers • Supernatural guidance from God and authorities in the heavenly • Supernatural provisions of God realms (Ephesians 3:10) • Supernatural interventions of God • Supernatural conversions, healings, May supernatural become normal way deliverances and personal victories. of life for us and for our churches as we extend His Kingdom in this world.
Ordinarily Extraordinary by Anand Mahadevan 'We love Christ because He loved us first. And the love of Christ compels us to love and care for each other.' That was our pastor’s exhortation to our small bunch of followers of Jesus. He encouraged us to reach out to our church community with simple acts of love. All we had to do was pray, connect with and in some small way care for a few others over the next few days. Simple! Well, I wasn't so sure when I looked at one of the names assigned to me. Let me just call her Riya. She is a lovely girl who used to come to our gatherings a long time ago. It had been months since I met her. I thought it would be awkward to get in touch with her randomly out of the blue. I didn't really pray about it. Just a fleeting thought. The following evening, I went to Marine Drive with my family. Though close to midnight, the place was unusually
crowded. As we walked by, we spied a familiar face. Riya! Stunned, I rushed to meet her. We hugged, exchanged pleasantries, chatted and parted. That meeting made a world of difference. All of a sudden, the awkwardness had been broken. I could pick up from where we had left off and connect with her again. I believe that it was not a random encounter. Meeting her that night wouldn’t probably have ever crossed my mind. Never! Spying her in the midst of a multitude? No! Had I specifically prayed about it? No! Yet, God made that possible. It was purely the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. He knew that Riya needed to be reached out to. He knew that she needed to be affirmed that Jesus loves her. When we love God by taking small steps to help others, He delights to work through us in order to bless others. Extraordinarily!
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