Called to be Change Agents of God
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God has called His church to be a change agent in this world. As a believer, you have received the mandate to be that change agent.
The teaching presented in this book has been created to assist you as the believer to come to a place where you can root the principles of being this change agent in your daily walk. You are greatly encouraged to use the book with the 15 meditations together to ensure that these principals are internalized in you and that you become the demonstration of these principles in your daily walk.
Herman Bouwer
Herman Bouwer is the Senior Pastor of 777th Precinct Ministries in SA. He is serious in launching and training sons to go into the nations and plant households. The ministry is apostolic and organic in nature. He submits to the leadership and oversight of Gerda Strydom (Matheteuo Global Ministries) of ABC Ministries. Herman has authored several books with a strong emphasis on the Apostolic Reformation and is serious in presenting a balanced and accurate presentation of what the Bible teaches concerning the topics that he presents in his books. Herman oversees a network of pastors, leaders and ministries across the globe that walks in a covenantal relationship with him and his wife Renette.
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Called to be Change Agents of God - Herman Bouwer
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND DEDICATION
MY DEEPEST THANKS AND appreciation to the Lord who is a faithful Father who has been guiding me as His son on this journey to discover the dimension of becoming a true change agent in Christ.
The book is the result of years of my journey with the Lord in shifting from doing church to the place of becoming a true influencer in the environment in which we live, becoming Christ to our environment.
I am deeply grateful to the sent ones that God has used either in person or through their material and productions in my journey into this deeper dimension of my journey with the Lord Jesus.
These sent ones are Dr SY Govender, Ps Gerda Strydom my spiritual Father and also Dr Kelly Varner who have been taken from us at a much too young age. I am grateful to each of them for the impact and effect not only of their teachings but also of their demonstrated lifestyles of being change agents through their manner of life. I offer my deepest gratitude to them and recognize and appreciate the grace that they carry.
Other individuals and sources are mentioned at the back of the book and are listed in the bibliography and sources.
I want to thank my wife Renette and Martie Visser for their support in the editing and loving support and encouragement in the compiling of this book.
I want to dedicate this book to all apostolic fathers in the faith who have been part of this journey and challenging me and shaping me in our journey together. Thank you for partnering with me to forcefully advance the Kingdom of God globally.
CHAPTER 1
CALLED TO BE A CHANGE AGENT
THE CHURCH AS THE CHANGE AGENT OF GOD
AS SONS OF GOD, WE have a responsibility to carry out the mission of God in this World. We need to have a clear understanding of the Mission of God. We need to understand His main agenda.
We therefore have to investigate the Missio Dei of God.
John 20:21 KJV
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
John 17:18 KJV
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
As a son in the earth, we have to be busy with the MISSIO DEI OF GOD. In order to do this we have to have an understanding of the agenda and the mission of God.
During the past half a century or so there has been a subtle but nevertheless decisive shift toward understanding mission as God’s mission.
Mission was understood as being derived from the very nature of God. Our mission has no life of its own: only in the hands of the sending God can it truly be called a mission because the sent initiative comes from God alone!
THE CHURCH MUST IMPACT THE CITY
MISSION IS SEEN AS a movement from God to the world; the church is viewed as an instrument and change agent for that mission. There is a church because there is a mission and mandate, not vice versa. To participate in this mission and mandate is to participate in the movement of God’s love toward people, since God is a fountain of sending love.
God’s mission is calling and sending us, the church of Jesus Christ, to be a missionary church in our own societies, in the cultures and environments in which we find ourselves."
The mission of God flows directly through you and me and every other believer as well as every community of faith that adheres to Jesus as Lord. To obstruct or ignore this mandate is to block God’s purposes in and through God’s people.
The end result of this mandate is the glorification of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The mandate we have received is God’s mandate and it is a quest that goes beyond the local believer or church. It embraces everything that God is doing in the world through people and nations in order to establish His Kingdom here on the earth – both within the church and beyond the church.
It is a mandate and calling that all Christian believers are called to actively participate in and have an immense privilege to do so. God’s work is not limited to the endeavours of the church, but the church does have a special role. The Church is sent by God to continue in His mission.
I am sure that nothing gives such strength to everything we have to do or bear as the simple witness of your own conscience, that your desire is in everything to glorify God.
Unless the quest for justice among the nations is guided by our passion for the glory of God, and is rooted in what God has done for the world in Jesus Christ, it quickly becomes just another form of domination. God’s gracious, reconciling love in Jesus Christ towards us as human beings is the ground and pattern for our response to injustice and conflict.
This demands the righting of historic wrongs seriously, but the ultimate aim is the transformation of all sinful men and women through their reconciliation to one another and to their Creator the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalms 86:12-13 KJV
(12) I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
(13) For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Isaiah 60:21 KJV
Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
Romans 11:36 KJV
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
1 Corinthians 6:20 KJV
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 10:31 KJV
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Revelation 4:11 KJV
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
As we meditate and study on the above statements it becomes very clear that we as the church have a responsibility to impact our environment with this mandate.
This is the responsibility of every son in the House. Your House must be a house of REST. In order for the Father of the House to enter into the REST the demand is upon the sons to do the work of the Ministry. There is a demand for the exact representation of the Father.
God places a son in a Household with the purpose that such a son must be transformed to a place of the exact representation of Christ in the earth. We have a mandate to "SHOW" the Father to the world. The demand is for us to grow up in all things....
Ephesians 4:15-16 KJV
(15) But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
(16) From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
In order for every believer and son in the House to embrace this mandate God is placing several specific demands are placed upon us as sons that needs our response:
RECEIVE THE WORD & MANDATE
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV
(15) Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Jeremiah 15:16 KJV
(16) Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
I want to take a moment today to challenge you with regards to where you stand in your relationship with Jesus as the King. What is your understanding of the Word? Do you accept the Word of God as the demonstration of the Kingdom of God in your day to day walk with God?
1.1 RECEIVE
Take delivery of, be given, get, obtain, collect
● to take or accept something given
● to learn of something such as news or information
● to come to have something, e.g. through effort
● to hear and acknowledge something formally
● to allow a person entry
We receive the Word by internalizing the Word and shift to the place where we demonstrate the Word. It is not just about hearing the Word but it is to fully embrace, internalize and demonstrate that Word in your life.
HUMBLE YOURSELF
Isaiah 66:1-2 KJV
(1) Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
(2) For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
One who obeys His Word HAS HUMBLED HIMSELF - A Christocentric focus is a Word focus.
When you submit yourself to the Word of God you are humbling yourself and again this implies not just hearing but doing the Word.
You choose to surrender yourself to that Mandate that God has spoken over your life in obedience and to no longer follow your own heart and mind and ideas.
EARNESTLY PURSUE
1 Chronicles 28:8 KJV
(8) Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the Lord, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever.
We need to take great care in the execution of the mandate that the Lord has given to us both as individuals and as a Household of Faith.
Psalms 119:45 KJV
(45) And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
If we do this we can walk and live in liberty and joy.
MANIFEST THE WORD
John 14:19-24 KJV
(19) Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
(20) At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
(21) He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
(22) Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
(23) Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
(24) He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
Manifesting the word is obeying the Word. This is proof of your love. The demand for us is to become that demonstration of the Word.
ABIDE IN THE WORD
John 15:5-8 KJV
(5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
(6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
(7) If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
(8) Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
To abide in the Word is to come to that place where we dwell in the fullness of the expression of the Word and also as such the Mandate that the Lord has placed upon us.
It’s interesting to note John 15 in its greater context.
● Chapter 14 – God gives His Holy Spirit TO US.
● Chapter 16 – God works by His Holy Spirit THROUGH US.
● Chapter 15 – To keep the supply of the Spirit flowing we must ABIDE.
As we turn to John 15 let us note first of all
5.1. THE MEANING OF ABIDING
In John 15:1-17 it is mentioned NINE times.
● Verse 4 – 3x
John 15:4 KJV
(4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
● Verse 5 – 1x
John 15:5 KJV
(5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
● Verse 6 – 1x
John 15:6 KJV
(6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
● Verse 7 – 2x
John 15:7 KJV
(7) If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
● Verse 10 – 2x
John 15:10 KJV
(10) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
What does abiding mean?
G3306 MENO Thayer’s Greek Dictionary ABIDE
to remain as one, not to become another or different
The meaning must be understood in the light of the metaphor that is used.
John 15:1 and John 15:5 complete the picture.
Christ = the true VINE.
The Father = the husbandman.
We are = the branches.
John 15:1, 5 KJV
(1) I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
(5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Bearing in mind the picture of a vine and its branches we can conclude that to abide further means.
● To be in contact
● To be in close contact
● To be sustained (as is a branch)
● It implies being grafted in.
This is what we must do!
Obviously, to abide in Christ means more than being converted!
It’s much deeper!
THE DEMAND IS TO STAY OR REMAIN AS ONE WITH THE LORD
HOW THE LORD HAS BEEN SPEAKING TO ME ABOUT
ABIDING – KEEPING CLOSE CONTACT – HAVING DEEP FELLOWSHIP
THERE ARE WAYS OF ABIDING:
● Take time
● Discipline
● Consume the Word
● Meditate
● Desire this fellowship
● Pray for this fellowship
● Pray in the Spirit
● Worship, praise, wait on God.
IF WE WANT TO, WE CAN!! AMEN!
I have covered these principles in depth in the series of Focus on Christ as well as the series of Loving God. By now these principles should be a no brainer for those of you connected to this Household.
(2) The meaning of ABIDE must be understood in the light of the context, for example
Verse 7
John 15:7 KJV
(7) If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Verse 7 implies that to abide involves getting into God’s Word. If ye abide in me my words abide in you
.
Verse 10
We must be people of the WORD – the sap of the Holy Spirit flows to us FROM THE VINE (JESUS) THROUGH THE WORD we need the Word
John 15:10 KJV
(10) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Verse 10 implies that we abide as we obey." If ye keep my commandant, ye shall abide." Knowledge of the word is important but not enough! We must KNOW AND OBEY God’s Word.
Obedience is so essential! Lack of obedience breaks our fellowship! Two almost identical questions are – Are you ABIDING? Are you OBEYING? We must be hearers AND doers!!!
John 15:9 KJV
(9) As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Verse 9 implies that abiding is closely associated with constantly growing!
A branch that abides constantly grows (automatically) ...so with a Believer." CONTINUE YE IN MY LOVE!"
How are you doing in your abiding?
5:2 THE IMPORTANCE OF ABIDING
Why is it important? – Several reasons could be listed which we will note later.
But, two major REASONS emerge from the text which underlines the IMPORTANCE.
It is important BECAUSE:
● WE ARE COMMANDED TO ABIDE
John 15:4 KJV
(4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Verse 4 – is in the imperative mood! begin to abide
. (INCEPTIVE AORIST)
If you are not, begin NOW!
● WITHOUT ABIDING WE CAN ACCOMPLISH NOTHING.
John 15:5 KJV
(5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Verse 5b – that which we do when we are not abiding is wasted:
We need to heed His command so as to be used by Him.
I HAVE BEEN ASKING MYSELF THE QUESTION WHETHER THIS IS NOT THE MAIN REASON WHY WE FAIL TO SEE THE IMPACT IN OUR ENVIRONMENT AND COMMUNITY THAT WE SO LONG FOR.
5.3 THE REWARD (RESULT) OF ABIDING
John 15:2 KJV
(2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
● Fruit
v.2 + fruit
. ++v.2 More fruit
. +++v.5"much fruit".
John 15:5 KJV
(5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
● Starting to abide + fruit
● Purging
– v.2 = more fruit
. (Present tense).
● "Purging? – cf.v.3. Possibly of the word
John 15:3 KJV
(3) Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
● Prayers Answered
Not only will our prayers be answered.
John 15:7 KJV
(7) If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
BUT YE SHALL ASK WHAT YE WILL.
● The Father glorified
The Father is glorified in true discipleship
John 15:8 KJV
(8) Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
● Joy
John 15:11 KJV
(11) These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
● Friendship with God
John 15:14 KJV
(14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
5.4 THE WARNING TO THOSE WHO FALL TO ABIDE
You will be removed.
If you're a Christian, God has called you to be a change agent in the world, fulfilling His purposes wherever you go. Your story