A few years ago I read a book titled “The Happiest People on Earth,” a testimony of Demos Shakarian and the story of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship. At that time the book was out of print, but thankfully a second edition is now in print. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it – it will encourage you to trust God more for the move of the Spirit in the Church and in the marketplace.
Our network is “Full Gospel”, which means that we unapologetically embrace the gifts and move of the Spirit. As pastors many of us are contending for the move of God – for the river to flow in our churches. I’m right there with you, but one thing I learned on the mission field is that light is more conspicuous in the darkness and the Holy Spirit is eager to show His power in the highways, byways, boardrooms, lunchrooms and classrooms of our communities. Paul said it this way, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” (Romans 5:20b)
How intentional are you in equipping your members to move in the 1 Corinthians 12 gifts in your church and in the workplace? A friend of mine Dr. Jospeh Umidi has used testimony to create a culture of expectation in churches, classrooms and organizations. He simply asks people, “who has a story of the supernatural move of God in you life this week?” Over time, asking this question and celebrating the testimonies creates an atmosphere of expectation.
In a client meeting several weeks ago, the engineering team for a technology product told us that they had hit a roadblock that threatened the viability of the project. At the end of the call, I heard the Holy Spirit give me an exact search phrase to enter into Google. I searched with that phrase and the first result was an article with the solution to the engineering problem! I shared it with the engineers, and they said, “wow that’s it, that’s our solution.” I’m not an engineer and the science and code was over my head, but God is the ultimate engineer.
Pastor, you can develop a culture of expectation of the supernatural move of God in the everyday lives of your members. Ask them, how did God show up at work this week?
