Momentum (Christ – centred, Spirit – empowered, Mission – focused)
A few weeks ago, I was speaking at Kamloops Alliance Church in British Columbia, which is where a pivotal moment in my father’s life occurred. He felt a call into pastoral ministry, but had not yet acted on that call. One snowy night, visibility was almost nil as he was driving a snowplough; as a result, my dad drove over a steep cliff and rolled the snowplough, end over end, down the embankment. He was rushed to the hospital with several bumps and bruises, but the most serious injury was a lateral fracture of his jawbone.
After careful examination, the doctors concluded that even though the jaw would heal, it could leave my father with a serious speech impediment. My dad was devastated; he knew he was called to preach, but that dream appeared to be no longer possible.
My father was desperate and needed help. He had heard of a pastor at Kamloops Alliance Church who was known in the community as a man of faith; his name was William Rose. My father made an appointment to see him, and with tears in his eyes, shared his need for God’s divine intervention. Rev. Rose listened intently and then reached out and touched my father with tender care. He prayed a bold, faith-filled prayer for a supernatural, healing work of Jesus in my father’s life.
God healed my father that day; he went on to become a pastor and plant two churches in British Columbia. Praise God for William Rose, a follower of Jesus who was known as a man of faith!
Reading through the Book of Acts, I am fascinated at how often people are identified by what they were “known” for. In Acts 6, when the disciples were looking for leaders to care for the particular needs of the Hellenistic Jewish widows, they began to search for men “known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3, italics mine). One of the men they chose was Stephen, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5).
Following the journey of Stephen, who became the first martyr of the Church, it is clear that his spiritual reputation was evident to the faith community. He is described as “a man full of God’s grace and power…” (Acts 6:8). One of the most profound moments occurred when the Sanhedrin looked at Stephen and “…saw that his face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15). Stephen was an ordinary man who was completely invaded by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, and it was evident that he was known for it!
What are you known for? Is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit so pervasive in your life that you are known for it by the people around you? Wouldn’t it be amazing if people knocked on your door if they were looking for men and women of faith?
What if your church was known not for its location, but for a profound witness of God’s presence, so real that the neighbours went there if they had a need, sorrow, or desperate ache in their soul?
Years later, the sons of the men who were connected by need and faith were brought together by God’s sovereign plan. Bob Rose, William’s son, became a powerful mentor in my life, and every once in a while we would talk about the life-changing encounter that our fathers shared. It was a precious gift to us both. Bob was known as a man full of the Spirit and wisdom. What are you known for?
Dr. Simpson, “The Alliance has its place and calling to lead the people of God farther on into all the heights and depths of the life of Christ and farther out into all the aggressive work which the children of God have so long neglected.”
Dr. Simpson, “Faith must ever rest on the Divine Word; and the most important element in the “prayer of faith” is a full and firm persuasion that the healing of disease by simple faith in God is, beyond question, a part of the Gospel and a doctrine of the Scriptures”
Please find the original version in C&MA website