Last weekend, I had the opportunity to
attend the East Region Siafu Men's Retreat. World Impact puts on these
retreats for men in each of our three regions every fall. Siafu is a
national association of chapters anchored in local urban churches and
ministries dedicated to the advancement of the Kingdom in the city. The
theme of this retreat was Unshakeable Kingdom Unwavering Warrior.
Dr. Don Davis gave dynamic messages on how we can be Warriors for the
Lord and what God is doing to adopt a People to Himself.
While
the teachings and worship were impactful and important, maybe one of
the greatest purposes of the Men's Retreat was the connections created
among the urban pastors, leaders and men in their ministries. The very
name "Siafu" comes from an ant in Tanzania. A single ant is vulnerable
and alone. But together, Siafu ants are an extremely powerful force –
they travel in packs of millions and overcome anything in their way.
So
it is in city. Many urban pastors and leaders can feel isolated and
alone, but our hope is that through the network of Siafu chapters and
these retreats we can create a deep sense of community and belonging.
This impacts the city as a whole and, ultimately, the Kingdom of God.
One
Pastor I got to know at the retreat was Desmond Wedderburn from Brooklyn. He recently joined World Impact as an Associate and has an
already established powerful ministry called Calvary Crosses. Every Friday during the summer,
his team does outreaches in the city focused on preaching and prayer for salvation and discipleship. He has a
growing and dynamic church, but for the past ten years he has felt
alone. This weekend retreat was his first exposure to other pastors and
leaders – and many of the resources that World Impact and TUMI have to
offer. Desmond said that this weekend allowed him to connect to a larger
network of urban churches. It is incredibly beneficial to not feel
alone.
Pastor Desmond is
one of thousands of leaders and pastors that we want to train, empower,
and equip as we seek a great harvest of urban churches in the years to come.
This blog was written from the lectionary texts two weeks ago.
What is your single passion? . If you thought about all that
you are passionate about regarding life in ministry, what would it
be? For David it was that he would find a dwelling place for the ark
of the Lord. We see in Psalm
132 that David didn’t want to give any sleep to his eyes until this
reality happened. The idea of the very glory and presence of God dwelling among
his people burned in him.
In our first lectionary text in 2
Samuel 7.1-14, we see that what was in David’s heart was to build a
dwelling place for the Lord. Up to this point the Lord's presence had been in
the tabernacle. Grateful for his own house, David wanted to construct a
permanent place for the Lord. Ultimately this temple would be
built by David’s son Solomon. In granting David's desire, the Lord
made an eternal covenant with him: “I will raise up your offspring
after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.” As
we know, this was fulfilled in Jesus when he came, our King in the
line of David, and was fully the dwelling of God.
In Ephesians
2.19-22, Paul shares that we are now “members of the household of God”, and
“being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” The very
Spirit and glory of God is now dwelling in us, in the people of God. As David
was consumed by the longing for the very presence of God to dwell in a
house, we now have the this same presence living inside of us. Does this
reality overwhelm us and drive us to further seek the Lord? It’s
easy for prayer and worship of the Lord to be relegated to one of many
spiritual activities that we do. But as we come to understand the heart
of God, to understand what it means to have his very essence in us, I pray that
it would move and grip us to even deeper prayer and seeking him; that it
would move us to even greater hunger for God; that we would ask for the
absolute fullness of him to dwell in us; that we wouldn’t be satisfied without
it. God wants to fully dwell in us so that his kingdom will be
established in us and that kingdom life will flow through our communities
and many will experience it. Let’s pray and cry out as a community
that the full dwelling of God would be established in our lives and in our
churches. Let’s pray for a powerful move of his Spirit, and that his
tangible presence will come down and rest in our cities that are so desperate
for a touch from God.
