Copyright © 2012 by William Valmyr
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14)
In the Gospels, Christ is presented in His earthly ministry, but in the Book of Acts He is present in His heavenly ministry, building His Church, as He promised (Mt. 16:18), through the power of the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts we find the greatest teaching of Jesus on the gaze of the soul toward the living God. The emphasis is on practical ministry that is empowered by a vibrant relationship with Christ and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. I will take the liberty to use the words of A. W. Tozer (1993), author of The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine to illustrate this model of ministry:
“We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. “No man can come to me,” said our Lord, “except the Father which hath sent me draw him,” and it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for the act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: “Thy right hand upholdeth me.” (Psalms 63:8) (Tozer, p. 11-12).”
The Bible summons us to emulate the most viable models of ministry namely the ministries of Christ and that of the early Apostles. It is my opinion that their ministries were authentic, genuine and Spirit-led because they based their ministries on Scripture (theology) and its practical application through service to God and man. It is my prayer that the local church will experience revival in 2012 and that such a spiritual renewal will touch every facet of society.
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