Evendays

Greg’s got a post up at the Yancey blog: Prayer, does it make a difference. Please check it out. 

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The trip to Ternopil wasn’t planned. The servants there asked me to come and help them deal with a “power-play” made by one of the lay-preachers. He wanted to become “head” pastor and, with a group of 8 others, accusations and moves were made to take over the church.

To support the faction’s claims, they appealed to “dreams and revelations”. God had revealed certain information to this small group and this knowledge was presented to the church to the harm of the other party.

While thinking through their strategy, I ran across the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12.6: I refrain from [boasting of visions] so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me.

Paul would not bolster his authority by playing the vision card. In fact, he did not want people to think too highly of him at all. Rather, his authority rested on his actions and his words. On life and Gospel.

While visions cannot be verified and dreams cannot be experienced by third parties, actions and words can be clearly seen, and heard, by all. They become the calling card of veritable Christian servants.