Shepherding Renewal Chapter 1 by Aldersgate Renewal Ministries

SHEPHERDING

R ENEWA L

FRANK H. BILLMAN Aldersgate Renewal Ministries

SHEPHERDING

RENEWAL what to do when the event is over

Frank H. Billman

This is a resource of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries an affiliate of the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church through Upper Room Ministries

Published by Aldersgate Renewal Ministries, 2011. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible. New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction

1. Continuing and Spreading Renewal

2. Dealing with Controversy

3. Manifestations of the Spirit

Shaking and Trembling

Resting in the Spirit

Drunkenness

Healings

Deliverance

Laughter

Speaking in Tongues

Other Spiritual Gifts

Manifestations From Methodist History

Contemporary Methodist Manifestations

4. Future Renewal in the Church

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

The Purpose of This Resource

erhaps you have had one of the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries [ARM] local church renewal events at your church. Perhaps you and/or some people from your church have attended the national Aldersgate conference, the Methodist School for Supernatural Ministry, or some other ARM event. The event is over. What now? How do you evaluate what happened during the event and what may be happening now in your church? What steps should be taken next? If issues have arisen, how are you going to deal with them?

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This resource is designed to help clergy, congregational shepherds, address these kinds of questions after the event is over. What is renewal or revival? Renewal and revival are not biblical terms and they have been variously defined: there is no universally agreed upon definition. Some people may define these words in one way and then say that others are not experiencing true renewal or revival unless all the factors in their definition are present. For the purpose of this booklet renewal and revival will be loosely defined as a time when the Holy Spirit moves in a significant way, touching and changing many lives in a congregation. Air is present everywhere. It sustains life on earth. Yet air can move in a certain location and we call it wind. Air as wind can move powerfully in a certain location and we call it a storm, or tornado or hurricane. The Holy Spirit is present everywhere and sustains life on earth. As United Methodists we believe in the prevenient grace of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Holy Spirit working on all people everywhere trying to lead them to Jesus Christ. The word for Spirit and wind are the same word in the Old Testament. Jesus compared the Spirit to the wind in his discussion with Nicodemus in John 3. We see in the Bible that the Holy Spirit, like the wind, can move, even powerfully, in a certain place. In the Old Testament the presence of God descended upon Mt. Sinai. The presence of God descended upon the Tent of Meeting. When the Tabernacle and Temple were dedicated the presence of God came in a concentrated and powerful way, so much so that the priests were no longer able to stand up. The Sprit

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came upon prophets and gave them messages to deliver. On the day of Pentecost we read of the Holy Spiritâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coming with the sound of a mighty rushing wind and with physical manifestations in the 120 disciples. The Bible says that tongues of fire rested on each of them. The Greek word means that the Holy Spirit sat on them! In Acts 10:44 and 11:15 we read of the Holy Spiritâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s falling on people or, in 10:45, being poured out upon people. These kinds of experiences occur when the omnipresent Holy Spirit moves in a concentrated and powerful way in a specific location. There is renewal and revival, lives are changed, people know that they have had a special, intimate encounter with God. As the wind of the Holy Spirit blows through your church, whether as a gentle breeze or as a powerful storm, lives are touched and changed and people encounter God in a new way. Renewal and revival take place. This resource is being provided as a tool to better enable you to continue shepherding your flock that has experienced renewal.

1 CONTINUING AND SPREADING RENEWAL

ou have had a special spiritual growth event at your church provided through Aldersgate Renewal Ministries (ARM). Or, you and/or some people from your church attended the national Aldersgate conference, the Methodist School for Supernatural Ministry, or some other ARM event. The Spirit of God did great things in your midst. Maybe some exciting ministry took place. Perhaps you sensed Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence as never before. People in the church were touched and blessed and, perhaps, changed forever.

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The visiting team is now gone. You have left the Aldersgate conference or Methodist School for Supernatural Ministry, or other ARM event. What do you do now? How do you nurture the seeds of renewal that were planted in your church? PRAYER Prayer was probably an important part of your preparation for the event. You probably prayed a lot for people to be willing to hold the event, for all the planning to come together, for people to be touched at the event. Perhaps your people engaged in personal prayer and a prayer vigil for the event. There were times of prayer during the event asking God to come and move and touch peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop praying now! Pray that God will continue to move and to speak. Pray that God will guide and direct the church after the event in the way he wants the church to go. Pray that God will continue to break through hard hearts and to guide and direct new joy and enthusiasm. Thank God for what he has done and begin to listen for the next steps he wants you and your church to take. Encourage the development of small GROUPS Sunday morning worship is an important time of worshiping together, seeing others in the body, receiving instruction from the Word, and experiencing the sacraments. The Sunday morning large group gathering, however, is not conducive to sharing personally with each other, asking questions or praying specifically for one another. These activities are designed for small groups. Small

Continuing and Spreading Renewal

groups may meet at your church or in homes. Most should NOT be pastor-led. [ARM can provide you with a small group leader training session on DVD by Bishop Richard Wills. Participants may have a new hunger for the scriptures. They may have many questions. These needs are best addressed in small groups. Preach on topics that build on what was talked about and experienced at the event Perhaps people in the church experienced some new expressions of worship. Perhaps some new ideas were shared. Maybe spiritual gifts were demonstrated that the church had not experienced before. Maybe some in the church are now having new spiritual experiences. Give your people biblical messages that will guide them into more of God’s truth and a deeper understanding of God’s heart on these matters. Schedule additional spiritual growth events to take the congregation further Special Events are times of celebration and joy! They are also part of God’s plan for spiritual growth. God’s people are to come apart from their world and their work from time to time to appear before Him. God designed times for the people of God to gather in His presence for spiritual renewal and growth. “Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, the Feast of weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles.” [Dt. 16:16]

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God knows that there are special dynamics involved with special events, or celebrations when His people pull away from day to day activities and pressures with an expectation and anticipation of experiencing God in new ways. When a church sets aside special times to experience the Lord in new ways, amazing things happen. arm is a ministry of special events That is what we do—we provide opportunities for people to appear before God in an atmosphere of special celebration where their lives may be transformed.

We provide opportunities for people to come apart to:

• National Aldersgate Conferences • Clergy Conferences • Worship Conferences • Minister and Spouse Retreats • Regional Renewal Fellowship Events • The Methodist School for Supernatural Ministry You may find out more about these opportunities on the ARM website: www.AldersgateRenewal.org. We also provide six different team-led, local church renewal events for special seasons in the life of the church: • Lay Witness Mission www.LayWitnessMission.com • Venture in Discipleship www.VentureInDiscipleship.com • Lord Teach Us To Pray www.LordTeachUsToPraySeminar.com

Continuing and Spreading Renewal

•

Life in the Spirit Seminar www.LifeInTheSpiritSeminar.com • Worship In Spirit and Truth www.WorshipInSpiritAndTruthSeminar.com • Pathways to a Praying Church www.PathwaysToAPrayingChurch.com Keep the momentum of renewal alive within your church by scheduling a special event time (at least annually) in the church calendar for spiritual growth and renewal. Take people to conferences outside your church If people never go outside their own church, their experiences will be limited to what they have seen and heard there. Take them to other places to experience different styles of worship, to hear different speakers, and to fellowship with other believers. Don’t just send them - go with them. Your church should budget funds for sending people to conferences as an investment in the future growth of your church. Aldersgate Renewal Ministries provides a great opportunity for this kind of growth and experience, in a United Methodist setting, at our annual national Aldersgate conference held in varying locations around the country. If you hosted an ARM event at your church, you as the pastor should have received a free family registration to the next Aldersgate conference, and someone in your church should have received one in the drawing. Contact ARM if these gifts were not provided. You may find out more about this conference at www.AldersgateRenewal.org. In addition to the Aldersgate conference, there are other

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conferences offered across the country each year. You may read about these in Christian magazines and on the Internet. If you need some suggestions, contact the ARM office. Provide resources, books, CD’s, and DVD’s on subjects that will build on the weekend You may have some resources in your own library or the church library that you can recommend to people in your church. If you ordered an ARM “Book Table in a Box” or had some other book table during your event you provided some materials on site. Encourage people who purchased any of those tools and grew as a result to write an article about the resource in the church newsletter encouraging others to use the information. Some of these resources may be useful in small group Bible studies. ARM can also provide CD’s and DVD’s from speakers at previous Aldersgate conferences that may be beneficial. Each session of the Methodist School for Supernatural Ministry is being put on DVD’s and can be an excellent tool for small group Bible studies in your local church. Establish a long term plan for continued renewal Keep things going and growing rather than just looking back and celebrating the wonderful things that happened in the past. See that this event is viewed as a new beginning, another step along a journey, rather than a destination. The church has not now “arrived” it has just made a new start in a new direction. The church must move on.

Continuing and Spreading Renewal

Jesus doesn’t tell his followers to stand there and watch him; he doesn’t tell them to cheer him on and root for him; he tells them to follow him. You can’t follow someone standing still, can you? You must be moving to follow someone. A college class was graduating on a hot and humid day. As the graduates walked across the platform and received their diplomas from the president, he smiled, shook their hands, and said loudly Congratulations. Then, in a much lower voice, one that was firm and could only be heard by the graduates, he would say, Keep moving! He was merely trying to keep the line moving across the stage, but his words are good advice for a lifetime: Keep moving. After every achievement—growing up, graduation, marriage, job promotion, even retirement—the best advice is: Congratulations! Keep moving. Don’t stop. Don’t stagnate. There is more to life than you have found thus far. Jesus said, Come follow me. Following Jesus is made up of many individual steps. Many important steps. You may meet Jesus and give your life to him. Keep moving. You may have been touched deeply at the special spiritual renewal event at your church. Keep moving. You may be filled with the Holy Spirit. Keep moving. You will find daily acts of cross bearing that he calls you to do. Keep moving. You may experience a great healing. Keep moving. You will perform daily acts of obedience. Keep moving. There are many important steps that you will take. But there is always another step to take, so you must keep moving. In a very real sense, the most important step that you can take is not one that you have already taken in the past, it is your next step. The next step that God is calling you to take. The health of your relationship with God hinges on your response to Jesus’ call

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for you to take that next step. Where you are with God is not as important as the direction in which you are going. Are you going toward Christ, following him, moving in his direction? Or are you standing still, just looking at him, fearing taking that next step? Are you circling around him, holding him at arm’s length afraid of allowing him to come closer? Are you going away from God, rejecting his call on your life? In which direction are you moving? That’s an important question. What is the next step that you need to take? What is the next step that your people need to take? Begin to plan for those steps and work toward your new goals now. In John 16:12 Jesus tells his disciples I have much MORE to say to you, MORE than you can now bear. And he says that he would send the Holy Spirit to bring the disciples into the MORE that he had for them. Jesus has even MORE in store for your life and for the life of your church. There is MORE of God than you know about or have experienced at this time. Emphasize to your people that, as good as things were at the event, there is still more. You all need to be seeking the MORE that God is offering you. Continue your own journey into deeper intimacy with God I have heard it said that you cannot lead your people to a place that you have not been. In other words, you need to arrive at a spiritual place yourself before you can lead your people there. I believe that there is some truth in that, but it is not completely true. Abraham led his family to a place that he had never been because he stayed in touch with God and followed God’s leading.

Continuing and Spreading Renewal

Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness to the promised land where he had never been. Our word wilderness conjures up the image of being lost in a wild and dangerous land. The Hebrew word for wilderness means a place of hearing. It was a place with few distractions so people could concentrate on hearing from God. The Israelites were not lost. God addressed every danger that they faced along the way. Moses made it very clear that he wanted to stay in intimate communication with God while they were there [Ex. 33:14-15]. He wanted to hear God and to listen for Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s direction. He wanted to continue to journey with God to wherever God would lead them. You need to do the same things. Perhaps you may sense yourself entering a wilderness that does seem wild and dangerous. Recognize the importance of making it a place of hearing, where you stay in close touch with God, seeking to come even closer, even more intimate with Him. Then you can invite your sheep to continue with you on your mutual journeys to deeper relationships with Jesus and more effectiveness as his disciples. You should seek support and accountability with other pastors and church leaders who are also hungering for revival and renewal. Pray for yourself and for your people to be filled with the Holy Spirit As we read the pages of the New Testament and especially the book of Acts, we see people who are not just having great MOMENTS when they are touched by the Holy Spirit, we see people who are living life in the Holy Spirit. They are not just having great spiritual highs, they are experiencing new lifestyles, a

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way of living their lives under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The New Testament makes it clear that Life in the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit, and living under the power and guidance of the Spirit was the NORM of the New Testament. A Spirit-born, Spirit-baptized, living-in-the-Spirit Christian was the minimum expectation for all Christians. Paul commands us in Ephesians 5:18 to be filled with the Spirit. In fact, in the original language, it is more accurately, Keep on being filled with the Spirit. A constant state of being filled with the Spirit is the norm of the New Testament. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:16 Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. He tells us in Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Since the Spirit filled Christian is the norm, the minimum expectation of the New Testament, and since Paul commands us to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit, that means that you are expected to be a Spirit filled parent for your children, and a Spirit filled spouse for your spouse, and a Spirit filled pastor for your church. And if you are not Spirit filled those other people are getting ripped off! They are getting less than God wants for them. Since the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit as being a person rather than a force Scripture warns us in Matthew 12:32 not to speak against the Holy Spirit, and in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 not to quench the Holy Spirit, and in Acts 7:51 not to resist the Holy Spirit. So whether we live in the Spirit and find the Spirit flowing in and through our lives or whether we block the Spiritâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work in and through our lives is up to us. Our spiritual life begins by the Spirit in the New Birth. In Jesusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; conversation with Nicodemus, in John 3:1-8, Jesus tells him no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of

Continuing and Spreading Renewal

water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit. When we come before God and confess our sins, trusting Christ as our Savior, the Spirit comes to dwell within us. He becomes RESIDENT. In John 20:22 the resurrected Jesus appeared to his disciples in a locked room on Easter evening. The Scripture says he breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit.” I think it is safe to say that if Jesus said “Receive the Holy Spirit” they did INDEED receive the Holy Spirit. He was RESIDENT within them from that point on. That same resurrected Jesus, at the ascension just 40 days later, told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high, the Promise of the Father, the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Evidently, for Jesus, being born again and having the Holy Spirit resident within was not enough. We read in Acts 2 that on the Day of Pentecost the disciples received the promise of the Father and were filled with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit demonstrates a believer’s obedience to Jesus’ example [Mt. 3:13-17; Mk. 1:9-11; Lk. 3:21-22] and his commandment [Lk. 24:49; Acts 1:4-8]. In Acts 8:14-17 we read that the Apostles heard that some had come to faith in Samaria under Philip’s ministry and that they had been baptized with water. They sent Peter and John to these new believers with the expressed purpose of praying that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 19:2 Paul specifically asked some believers if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. Jesus, the Apostles and Paul all looked at the filling of the Holy Spirit as an important part of our spiritual growth in addition to our being born again.

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This experience is called different by names--baptism IN the Holy Spirit, Baptism WITH the Holy Spirit, filling with the Holy Spirit, the second blessing, entire sanctification--what you call it is not as important as whether or not you have experienced it. At the new birth the Holy Spirit becomes RESIDENT in the believer as he brings spiritual life where there previously was spiritual deadness. However, when one is filled with the Spirit the Holy Spirit becomes PRESIDENT in the believer as he is allowed to lead and direct the life of the believer with power and authority. At the New Birth you get the Holy Spirit. In Spirit Baptism, the Holy Spirit gets you. The Spirit became a resident within you with the express purpose of becoming president. Jesus’ death on the cross is the basis for your forgiveness and new birth. Jesus’ ascension and glorification are the basis on which the Holy Spirit is given to you. You were saved by depending on the death of Christ. You receive the power of the Spirit by depending on the ascension of Christ. And ever since Christ was glorified and the Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost, every believer may be filled with the Spirit. In the new birth, God imparts DIVINE LIFE. Jesus said in John 3:5 unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. In Spirit Baptism, God imparts DIVINE POWER TO BECOME AN EMPOWERED FUNCTIONING CHRISTIAN. Jesus said in Acts 1:8 “You shall receive POWER when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” And in Luke 24:49 he said “Behold I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you;

Continuing and Spreading Renewal

but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Being filled with the Spirit is not a sign of holiness or perfection. It is not an arrival, but the beginning of a new relationship with God enabling one to grow in holiness (John Wesley’s “going on to perfection”). It is not spiritual maturity— maturity comes through a process of growth and dedication. It is not something which makes one better than others. Hopefully being filled with the Spirit makes us better than WE were before. How do you get filled with the Holy Spirit? The same way you get anything from God, by faith-filled prayer. Jesus said that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him for the Spirit [Lk. 11:13]. Peter said that the gift of the Spirit is available to everyone [Acts 2:39]. You need to be thirsty for all that God wants to give you. Then simply ask Jesus to fill you with his Spirit. As a believer you have the Holy Spirit within you. He does not have to come down from heaven upon you; Jesus said that the Spirit will bubble up from within you like a river of living water [Jn. 7:38-39]. In some cases in the book of Acts someone laid hands on a person and prayed that they would be filled with the Spirit [Acts 8:14-18]. You may want to do that. In other cases the Spirit came on them without any laying on of hands [Acts 10:44-46]. We must not put God in a “box” assuming that this infilling can only happen in one way. You may need to overcome obstacles in yourself or in the one you are praying for to be filled with the Spirit. Some of those obstacles may be: • Unbelief • Sin

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• Un-forgiveness • Distorted image of God • Intellectualism • Fear of other people’s opinions • Vows and/or Judgments • Spirit of control/fear • Demonic bondage Once you have overcome any obstacles and have asked to be filled with the Spirit you trust that you have received based on God’s promises. You have prayed something that you know is God’s will for you so you know that such a prayer will be answered [1 Jn. 5:14-15]. Give God thanks for what he has done and will be doing in your life from now on. Once filled, stay filled! Paul commands us to be filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18, but in the original language it is more accurately translated Keep on being filled with the Spirit. He is speaking of a continuous process. One’s initial experience of being filled with the Spirit is meant to begin a Spirit filled life, walking in the Spirit every day. The banks of a river stay filled as long as there are no obstructions blocking the flow from its source. Again, Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as being a river of living water within you. You will stay filled as long as you keep your channels clear with your Source. Ask him to increase the flow. Ask him for more. There is always more. You need never run dry. You can’t renew your church because the renewal of a church depends on the willingness of the people of the church to be renewed. You have no control over their response to God. But YOU can walk in renewal every day. Draw an imaginary circle on the floor and step into it. Ask God to pour out His Spirit on the

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one in the circle and use the one in the circle this day. You can move in the anointing and power of the Spirit wherever you go (note that the vast majority of the miracles in the New Testament were not done in a church or synagogue). You can invite others to join you in this. And you can invite God to move where His presence is not. You may find that a portion of the congregation did not participate in the event other than on Sunday morning. What will you do to touch them? Certainly you will want to invite the whole congregation to participate in any small groups or other follow-up programs that are set up after the event. Encourage people who DID participate in the event to specifically invite those who did not. You can have people who were touched by the event give testimonies during worship or in the church newsletter so others will see that people they know were deeply touched by God during this event. Some churches schedule another different spiritual growth event within 6 months or a year to involve more people. Now that more people in the church have experienced an event there are more â&#x20AC;&#x153;promotersâ&#x20AC;? available the second time around.

We hope youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve enjoyed this preview of

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