Welcome to the Audio Teaching Page for the series How Shall We Then Live. If you are looking for the How Shall We Then Live Videos click HERE.
THE HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE AUDIO SERIES
My Story (Introduction to the series): My experience in 1972 when I stepped out of being a mere church-goer, and began to walk with God in the power of the Holy Spirit. I had to have some help with this. A lady who was already walking with God explained how to do it, and helped me with my doubts and questions. As soon as I wanted to move beyond just being a church-goer, I needed help. Once I learned how to do it, I was able to help others, too. This series of teachings, “How Shall We then Live,” is designed to help others make the transition into actually connecting and walking with God, regardless of whether they are church members.
For Enquirers When I was searching to step over into a walk with God, I needed someone to help me negotiate the step. This step was a big one! God provided just the person for me. I believe God can provide someone like that for you, and I encourage you to look for that person, and take in my teaching with that person. Do it together.
For Christian Believers I tell several stories of Christians who reached out to lost people, or to people who are experiencing spiritual awakening) and established a long-term relationship with them, as Jesus did with His disciples. Keep an eye out for people you can invest in to teach them how to follow Jesus. It’s the Great Commission, straight from Jesus!
For Pastors I tell stories from my 35 years as a pastor, in which I devoted a significant part in the rewarding work of making disciples, “teaching people to obey what Christ commanded.” I also tell the story of the Hebrides Revival, when, according to one of the leaders of it, the presence of God lifted when the Church stopped discipling the new believers. Next comes the story of Korean Pastor Paul Cho Yonggi, who learned, almost by accident, how to train women to open their homes to make disciples. Finally, I tell the story of John Newton, who, because nobody discipled him after he met the Lord, he became a slave trader during his first years as a Christian—until John Wesley told him this wasn’t appropriate for a follower of Jesus. How important it is to have disciple-making as a ministry of the Church.
THE BASICS
1 Why Walk with God? For me, the four most important rewards for a life of walking with God are these: 1) Walking with God positions us to learn our true destiny, for which He created us in the first place. 2) It enables us to form stable relationships with people, because we learn to depend on God, not people, to be “the anchor to our soul.” 3) We can weather the storms of life without being destroyed by them. 4) We can see through the deceptions that fool other people, even when those deceptions lead crowds of people to their destruction. By walking with God, it is possible to heed Jesus’ warning, “See to it that no one deceives you.”
2 The Quest People by nature are on a quest for abundant life. America and the West have achieved a great abundance in our life-style. Yet despite these obvious advances, there is a level of brokenness and disillusionment that is confirmed by statistics. Incarcerations, addictions, suicides, broken homes, even health statistics are not what we would have hoped in the twenty-first century. Jesus came that we might have life more abundant. He sees more clearly than we do what it takes to achieve our quest. The way to get there, according to Christian teaching, is to learn the pattern of “faith working through love.”
3 Surrender to God If our quest cannot be achieved except by “faith working through love,” genuine love requires an act of surrender. We have to stop being in control; we have to surrender our lives to God. Let go and let God. Then we can gain a peace unavailable anywhere else. Some find surrender easier to accomplish than others. Some do it quickly, others slowly. But it is necessary that we make a start.
4 Ask for the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit is the way Jesus becomes King in our lives. He is “by my Spirit” kind of King, not a “power and might” kind of King. It is actually to our advantage that Jesus went away (at His ascension, after His death), because then He was able to send the Holy Spirit to take what belongs to us and give that to each succeeding generation until He returns. I share my own experiences with asking for the Holy Spirit.
5 Nurturing the Anointing “The Christ” is Jesus’ title, not His last name. The title means “The Anointed One—“ anointed to be King. Even before He died, He was already training His disciples how to receive and minister to people as “anointed ones”—Christians, and the believers came to be called. The anointing described in John 14-16 is aimed to produce in us the same intimate love between the Father and the Son that Jesus Himself experienced (John 17). Stepping into this relationship with Father God can be especially healing for people whose earthly dads failed to love them—or even abused them.
6 Making Room for the Anointing We are invited to “draw near to God, then He will draw near to us.” Jesus teaches us to spend personal time alone with God. This teaching gives suggestions for how to build into your life a daily personal quiet time. You can reserve a space in your home exclusively for God, and I encourage a specific time in your day for this as well.
7 Letting God Speak Daily The nuts and bolts of a quiet time. Bible. Prayer Journal. Alertness. Asking God to speak. Then I describe in detail the most ancient, time-tested approach to actually hearing from God. This is a four-step process of opening your heart to Him and His word, abiding in Christ, and letting His word abide in you.
8 More Ways to Buy Oil Jesus warns us to “buy oil”—especially as we see that the time of His return is drawing near. The purpose seems to be so that we can resist deceptions that will overcome the world at that time. I add several more ways to enrich our daily quiet time with God—secrets of the secret place. The role of devotional guides. Websites where you can get more resources. The Dunamis Project, a series of conferences that will help you to open up to the Holy Spirit. Kirk Bennett’s way of “deepening prophetic revelation through meditation.” Finally, the role of music to enrich your quiet time.
9 Praying with Others When we come together with other people, the dynamics of prayer changes dramatically. That is why it’s best to follow the pattern that Jesus gave us for together prayer. Start with worship. Then focus on the Kingdom of God—God’s will, before asking for anything for ourselves. We also clear our hearts of any residue of unforgiveness. Then we cycle back into focusing on the will and Kingdom of God. I finish by recommending prayer partnerships.
10 Praying in the Spirit In experimental Christianity, you find something in the Bible, then you ask God to teach you how to walk in the reality of it—to walk by faith. Early on, I was confronted with the gift of tongues described in the Bible. I give a little history of this gift, and explain why I don’t teach that “tongues is the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer,” as some believe. Why then does God give this gift? The most basic reasons: to edify us, and to help us pray when we don’t know how we ought to pray for a specific situation. I finish by describing the ABC’s of faith, and how to apply these steps to the gift of tongues.
Welcome to the Audio Teaching Page for the series How Shall We Then Live. If you are looking for the How Shall We Then Live Videos click HERE.
