Bob MacDonald Ministries

I will be adding apostolic articles that address topics pertinent to the life of the church and leaders. These topics often apply to each person's own life journey. Read and be encouraged by them.

 - Bob MacDonald

Free Flow- by Bob MacDonald

The television showed images of water raging throughout areas of Taiwan as a typhoon passed over the area recently.  This typhoon released vast amounts of water, so much that the normal water passageways could not handle the volume.  The images on television also showed destruction and devastation as a result of this amount of water being released without any controls or boundaries.

This spring, flooding was a problem throughout areas in the prairies.  As the snow melted and as the rain came down, the water began to exceed the normal water boundaries and began to flow all over the place.  Flooding was the result with much property and other damage.  Water runs best through banks and boundaries.  It is good to have a flow of water but it’s also good to have them kept within boundaries.

In this I see a parallel in the spiritual realm.  We desire a move of God with powerful experiences.  We are happy for this flow of God and we are caught up in all that is happening around us.  These are wonderful and exciting times! I have enjoyed these kinds of times and desire to see them even more. But just like large amounts of water without any guidance creates flooding and causes havoc, so also do spiritual experiences that do not have the guidance of the Scriptures and sound doctrine.

We have recently seen a number of movements where people flocked to see what they thought was a valid move of God.  I believe there were some components where God was moving within these events.  However my concern was that just like water that is running out of control, there were elements in that spiritual movement that caused some strange and abnormal understandings of Scriptures – perhaps even some heresies - that arose from using the experience to understand Scripture.  Yes it was free-flowing and it was viewed as being responsive to the Holy Spirit.  But the boundaries of the full counsel of Scripture and the boundaries of the understanding of sound doctrine over the course of the centuries was tossed aside. As a result there were many unusual and even bizarre behaviors that came forward.

Perhaps even more troubling is the number of “new” teachings that have arisen out this movement and have now found roots among segments of Christians who are “looking for more”. They have built followings based around these unusual understandings of Scripture that really come out of their experience rather than the sound interpretation of the Word of God.

I am glad that the Scripture clearly tells us that God does not change! In Jesus Christ we have the full revelation of God and all that He desires to do among us. When we see Jesus Christ and His ministry and we see the ministry of the early church, we see the pattern set out for the way that God will do things.  These are what we need to return to!

When our own experiences are allowed to determine doctrines and teachings and then whole systems of ways to minister to people are established from that, we need to backup and review the Scriptures to determine what God has spoken and indicated as His plan. 

Perhaps more than ever people need a greater understanding of the person of God, understanding His greatness and the largeness and awesomeness of God.  When we understand this great God, we have context or boundaries within which we can experience God and His supernatural manifestations.  We gain this understanding from the word of God but also from those who have pulled together the various Scriptures into understandable expressions of doctrine and theology.  It is interesting that the early church gave themselves to the “understanding of the apostles doctrine” (Acts 2:42). It is time again to give ourselves to the apostles doctrine.

Christianity must be about an experience with God!  However this Christianity must run down the clear expressions given in the Scriptures and within sound doctrine.  I believe that when we regain some of this greater understanding of God, we will experience more of the free flow of His spirit because we will be relaxed and know that we are running within the channels of God and therefore we can go with the flow and be free within it.

Foolish and Offensive - by Bob MacDonald

As I continue to go out to witness, I find that most people are quite open to a listening to the presentation of the Gospel if I do it in a conversational manner.  I’ve been going out on the streets and in the malls just to begin a conversation in the natural with strangers. I hope to move that conversation to a spiritual conversation and follow the pattern of presenting the Gospel as taught by Ray Comfort in the Way of the Master course.  I have been so blessed by God’s awesome divine appointments.  I have left these conversation times excited and overwhelmed at how the Gospel is the light onto salvation.  The strangers that I meet are open to talking about spiritual matters because I’m addressing their conscience with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit is working with them.

Occasionally I come across some individuals who consider what I am saying about heaven and hell as foolishness.  This is not surprising since the Bible says that the Gospel is foolishness to the Gentile (1 Cor 1:23). I understand Gentiles to mean those who are currently unsaved and have no knowledge of things about God.  Part of the reason they consider what I’m saying is foolishness because they consider that their life is normal.  When I talk about how they have broken God’s moral law as outlined in the 10 Commandments, a few of them think that these moral laws are outdated and don’t apply today.  They look around at others in their circle of contacts and see that others are living the way they do.  Occasionally they also look at church people and find they are living contrary to the moral laws of God. The ones I am witnessing to have so squashed their conscience over time that they no longer have any sense of wrong doing.  Therefore what I’m saying is foolishness to them.  Most then go on to begin to justify why they act the way they do. I do not argue with them but often end the conversation knowing that the Holy Spirit will continue to work with them.

Occasionally I also encounter those who come up with some really foolish understandings of spiritual things. Recently I was talking to an individual who thought heaven and hell are right here now in earth.  I asked him what he meant.  He said that we live in hell because we have bad life experiences and then we when we die we move over to heaven but we are still here on earth.  I asked him why he thought this and he went on to explain this is why houses are haunted – the spirits of people still hanging around. To him they are now in heaven here on earth. This is foolishness!

I am convinced that the only way the Gospel will move from foolishness to making sense is by the work of the Holy Spirit.  His work is to remove the spiritual blinders that are on people’s eyes (2 Cor. 4:4) so they can see the Gospel. The Holy Spirit convicts them that they are indeed sinners, having broken the moral law of God. The Holy Spirit convinces them that they are helpless to help themselves and that Jesus Christ is the only solution (John 16:8).

Other people that I encounter consider what I’m saying about Jesus Christ as offensive.  Most often these are church attending religious people or those with a churched background.  They find what I’m saying as offensive because they think they are in good standing with God because of their religious practices and their good works.  As we talk about God’s 10 Commandments, the Holy Spirit begins to convict their conscience. At that moment there is a confrontation between light and dark. Their conscience is convicted of the sin that they have committed and are committing but their mind is working hard to justify them and say that they are okay.  This internal conflict causes them to be offended.

Others are offended because they have believed the lie that tolerance means that all ideas (in this case other religions) have an equal footing. They think that all beliefs are equal. God seems quite “intolerant” to say that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. “How could God be so exclusive?”, they ask. Even some Christians no longer believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation. This is the mind being offended at the truth of God rather than acknowledging the need to come to Christ in repentance as the Only Way to the Father and heaven.

With any of us, when the Holy Spirit shows who we really are, we could say that He is offending us.  I’m surprised at the number of Christians who are offended at the Word of God.  I’m surprised at the number of Christians who are offended at God!  They’re mad at God because he didn’t answer a prayer or didn’t do what they thought He should have done.  The reality still remains that we are to serve God and He is not there to serve us!

Did I offend you by saying that?

Did it seem foolish to you?

I trust not!!

Let’s  humble our mind to the wisdom of God and the ways of God and then He will apply His grace that we may live with His life.

The Challenge of Challenging People- by Bob MacDonald

Yes the evidence is in my lawn!  The yellow blooms are all over the lawn and it is time to deal with them yet once again. With the spring weather comes the challenge of weeds.

In church and ministry life there are times we need to deal with challenging people. These are ones who need to move on in areas of their emotional and spiritual maturity.  If not dealt with, some of their “bad seeds” will find root in other people. It is our task and privilege to point people to the Word of God to show them the need to change their attitude and actions.

1.         Grumblers and Complainers.  Yes you’re smiling because you have them as well in your group. These ones always have something negative to say about life, the church, the pain they feel, their debt and lots of other topics.  I came to a point where I would no longer ask how they were because I knew I would hear a litany of all that was bad and no good.  We try to extend mercy to these ones. We give them lots of grace in the hope that their life will change.  We pray for them.  We love them.  Yet the change does not seem to come.

God had a group of these type of people in the children of Israel.  We see in the Old Testament how they grumbled and complained about the leadership, the food, their environment - almost everything. We also see in the Scripture that this grumbling and complaining was an offense to God. 

We need to start pointing out that God is offended and the body of Christ is offended by the complaining and the grumbling.  We as leaders need to clearly say to them, “It is time to stop. You are offending God, offending this body and offending me as your leader by this complaining.”

Call their attention to the Word of God. Show them that their attitude and actions do not please God.  Then let’s call them to grow and mature into people who give thanks and praise to God, even in the midst of difficult circumstances.

2.         Sowers of Dissension. These are those that go around whispering and telling other people how they think the leadership is not living up to their standard. These are the ones that secretly call into question the leaders ability to hear God and flow in the Spirit. These are also the ones who always have the latest Christian trend to talk about and books and tapes to pass out.

What is interesting about sowers of dissension is that though they are quick to criticize, they are very slow to serve.  Jesus said that those who want to be great in the kingdom of God should be the quickest ones in stepping up to serve. Their wrong heart attitude brings discord and dissension among brothers and sisters in Christ.  Confusion and disheartenment results in the group.

The Lord is quite clear how he feels about those who sow dissension. Proverbs 6:16-18 says, “ There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: . . .(six listed) and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.”

God finds detestable those who stir up dissension among brothers. People need  to see what God’s perspective is on what they are doing.  We need to call them to grow emotionally and spiritually so that they stop this practice that is offensive to God.

3.         Gifted but Unbroken People.  They have a spiritual gifting, they may even know that they have the gifting but they have not dealt with the matter of laying down their life before the Lord in brokenness.  They often view themselves as “special gifts from God”.  They fail to realize that God said through Apostle Paul, “when I am weak and then I am strong”.  Paul went through a very dramatic time of brokenness. I have wondered if increased brokenness is required when the gifting is greater. Some people need to go through this extreme crushing of self to let the sweetness of the gift come forth. It seems to be God’s way.  The tragedy comes when we place these gifted but unbroken people into places of leadership.  They end up causing much grief for us as leaders and end up sending tremors through the body of Christ.

After we have pointed these challenging people to what God has to say about the condition they are in, there comes a time to call them to account.  Yes we give them time and grace to grow into what God has said.  If no progress has been made, then we must follow what God has said in how to deal with these people.  Titus 3:10 “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.”

God is a loving and gracious God! God also takes his Word very seriously. He expects us to live according to it. God gives these challenging people time and grace to change.  So must we.  We must do what God has said and call them to change or to leave.

Keep on being bold in your leadership!

"Preach the Word!- by Bob MacDonald

I know it sounds like an old cliché that we’ve heard lots of times but the truth of the matter is, people need to hear the preaching of the Word of God! How else will they know truth?  How else will they know how to conduct their lives? How else will they be able to discern the strange doctrines floating around?  How else will they be able to judge when people say they have spiritual experiences?

I was reading in Amos 8:11-12, “I (God) will send a famine through the land- not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.  Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.”

Those who do not consume the Word of God, are famished – hungry - so like starved people they will rush to take in anything that appears like food.  This will include accepting strange doctrines,  even doctrines that are contrary to the teachings of the Bible.  Like starved people they will rush -  mob – after someone or something that is offering them some type of a spiritual experience.  They do not weigh or judge the spiritual experiences. They just seem to accept it when someone says it is of God, without checking what God has to say about it.

As leaders we need to be feeding on the word of God for ourselves! We need to be grounded in the word!  We need to rightly divide the word of truth!  We need to preach “in season and out of season – reprove, rebuke and exhort”. God has given this is as our mandate, our calling and our privilege.

It saddens me to see people who follow great ministers and accept whatever they say,  even if it is contrary to Scripture. Those who are in famine have lost their sense of taste of what is good food and is merely something to fill themselves with. They may eat a lot of stuff yet starve from malnutrition.

Some Christians are so hungry for a spiritual experience that they seem to be ignoring some of the very plain teachings of the Bible.  We cannot conclude that every spiritual experience must be of God just because it’s offered under the name of God.  There are strange doctrines floating around out there that have been contrived from a verse or a portion of a verse. Some of these teachings even go so far as to contradict clear teachings in other portions of Scripture.  Yet there seems to be a mindless following and even excitement about some spiritual experiences.  Is this healthy?

Does God have anything to say about the present state of things? In Matthew 24 He says that in the end times there will be attempts to deceive the very elect. These attempts at deception will be by leaders who talk about their phenomenal spiritual experiences. It will be by having manifestations that appear to be of God while the doctrine of the leader is in error. The danger lies in the hunger coupled with a lack of understanding of God’s written word. This makes is easy for a person to be led astray.

It is our calling as ministers of the Word of God to be faithfully declaring the full truth and counsel of God as found in the Bible. Our teaching must include conviction of sin.  It may seems wise to say very little that would offend or cause someone to re-examine their life.  It seems easier to be gather people when we offer life enhancement through Jesus Christ. However I see that Jesus came to offer us far more than life enhancement!  I see Jesus came to offer us life transformation - for us to be different,  changed, brand-new from the inside out! Jesus has called us and commissioned us to be ministers to Him and of His Word.

2 Timothy 4:2  - “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage- with great patience and careful instruction.”

Previous Articles:

"The Necessity of the Valley" 

Last summer my wife and I went on a vacation to the Rocky Mountains. We had a wonderful time in God’s magnificent creation. As we drove, we faced the usual ups and downs of mountain travel and would see a splendid mountain peak ahead that looked to be only a short trip away. We were excited to soon be on the heights and to see an even larger view of the surrounding mountains. Very shortly we found ourselves driving down a mountain side and into a valley. The valley caused us to look up to see the height and splendor of the mountain ahead. The valley almost seemed to be necessary to make the mountain heights more awesome and necessary before we could travel upward. (Read More)

Master's Order's and Pilot's Advice

A couple of weeks ago I had finished watching the evening news and decided to surf through the television channels. I came across a program that was talking about some of the large container and cargo ships that go through the waters around British Columbia. As I watched the program on how they navigate I realized an important spiritual leadership lesson was being illustrated through this documentary. (Read More)

"A Divine Appointment" - by Bob MacDonald

As is my habit I went out on a Thursday morning to do some witnessing, using the Way of the Master outline as my plan. Every time I go out, I pray for the Lord to give me divine appointments. On this particular Thursday I also prayed, "Lord give me a divine appointment". The Lord was faithful to give me several. From one particular divine appointment, two applications will flow that have changed my life and I believe will help you. (Read More)

 "Waves of God" - by Bob MacDonald

When I first started my Bible school training,  I attended a college in California.  My first semester was during the winter months here in Canada so I was glad to get away from the cold and the snow.

About three quarters of the way through the semester a friend said, “Bob, lets go body surfing.” Being a Canadian, I said sure  - not quite knowing what body surfing was. (Read More)