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SpiritWalk

 Doing Ministry the Way Jesus Does Ministry - part 1

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L418 has an apostolic calling to be a catalyst for the restoration of the Luke 4:18 ministries to the church. The call will often be counter-cultural in regards to both the present church culture and the secular culture.

Why are we focused on Luke 4:18? The reason is simple; we want to become like Jesus; in our character and in the way we do ministry.  I have not heard much of this teaching among the church growth crowd. We are concerned about the lack of depth among Christians and the "sameness" that we see across the church members and our society at large.

It seems that few are interested in becoming like Jesus; in character and in action/ministry. We seem to want to define an easier path in both areas. It is not easy to become like Jesus. The path to the exchanged life which transforms our character is a long journey. The path to learning to minister the way that Jesus ministers also takes time and practice to learn. But I have become convinced that this is the only way that we will see real revival in our land and without it, church growth may be just a numbers game.

Jesus proclaimed his "mission statement" in Luke 4:18-19 and then proceeded to do that ministry. He was doing this mission in the way He lived in the first century, He was doing this mission in the way He died on Calvary, and I contend that He is still doing this mission today. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8).

In addition to doing it, he taught his inner circle to do ministry in the same way with the same results (Luke 9). Then he taught 70 more to do ministry the same way with the same results (Luke 10). When he gave his followers instructions on how to minister into the future, he told us to do the same thing: Go everywhere to people of all ethnic backgrounds (nations - ethnos) and teach them to observe everything I have commanded you (Math 28:18-20), which includes preaching the gospel and the signs that follow such disciples: heal the sick, cast out demons, speak with new tongues (Mark 16:16-18).

This is pretty much the same mission that Jesus declared for himself in Luke 4:18. This is why the commission is truly great, because we are being sent out to do what Jesus did and is still doing. If you want to be a disciple, you should do what your master has told you to do.

Many have said to me, “how can I do what Jesus did? How can I do miracles?” For many of us in ministry, this was, or perhaps still is, the tough question. There have been theological debates about this in the church, not just in our day, but throughout the history of the church. It may seem that this is too hard, and perhaps, we are afraid that we will fail and look ridiculous when we pray for people to be healed. That we will be laughed at when we command demons to come out of people in Jesus name. That we will be considered foolish when we attempt to heal the brokenhearted.

Be of good cheer! Jesus taught his disciples how to walk out this mission in the first century and he is still teaching disciples how to do it today!

Stay Tuned - I will share more on this topic in the coming weeks.