March 2019
Quarterly Newsletter – March 2019
Welcome
It is with great joy that we, the SRT Board welcome you to one of our new ventures, a newsletter that is intended to provide you with news, inspiration, event updates and a featured article. We may also add some humour to keep things from getting too intense.
These newsletters, and many other such tips, advice and insights are going to be on our newly designed website under the Toolbox heading. Don’t go looking for it yet – it also is something to look forward to in the future.
It is our intention to publish this newsletter (electronically only) at least every quarter. Although it is aimed at all our wonderful supporters, you are free to distribute it to anyone you think may enjoy it.
The format and design of this Newsletter will be greatly improved upon, over time. But for this issue at least, you are stuck with my desk top publishing skills which are very low level.
Current Quote
“The thinking that got us here isn’t the thinking that’s going to get us where we need to be.” attributed to Albert Einstein.
Upcoming Event
Easter 2019
As most of you are aware we are holding a special event over Easter this year, with the main aim of investigating how we can best support those of you who have had a long-term association with SRT. There will also be worship and you will be fed, both physically and spiritually.
As a result of many developments in our life over the last 12 months, the aims and objectives of SRT will now be the primary focus for Linda and I from this point on in our lives. In this regard we will be working closely with the SRT Board which comprises of Linda and myself, David and Natalie Holmyard and Carl Billington.
A strong focus will be the development of our overseas ministry, particularly in the Asian and Indian Ocean countries. Along with this we will be seeking to strengthen our pastoral oversight, training and responsibilities for our key supporters and those God has connected us with.
The Easter gathering will focus on sharing, discussion, what SRT currently is doing and planning both for now and in the future, and how we can support you all better. We will also share some messages that will hopefully inspire you.
The meeting is not public – it is by invitation only so if you need any further details, contact Linda.
Board’s Travel For Next Quarter Re SRT Ministr
Bruce will attend the U.S. Transforum later this month in Santa Rosa, California. This will include speaking engagements and attending the GoStrategic Board Meeting.
Bruce also has other travel pending that has not yet been finalised.
David Holmyard will be in Singapore a number of times during this period in regard to his work. This will enable him to meet with key personal in regard to our ongoing ministry in Singapore and beyond. We will make some exciting announcements about this over Easter.
Feature Article – The Abrahamic Covenant
God only ever relates to humanity on the basis of covenant. At all times He is operating out of the covenants He has made with us in everything He does.
Over the years we have emphasised that understanding this principle is fundamental to all that we do. As a result, we will be bringing to you a series of articles on God’s covenantal agreements with us in this Newsletter, beginning with His covenant with Abraham.
The covenant God made with Abraham is the gateway to the Kingdom of God and the essence of it brings the Biblical foundation or blueprint for Biblical life and family.
Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so, you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”.
Here we discover that God chose to use the family unit as His basic building block for the health and well-being of society and also for the outworking of His covenant to all mankind. The call starts with an individual (Abraham), goes to a family and then through families to nations.
In Gen 18:19 we read that God instructs Abraham that he must lead his family into obedience in order for the covenant He made with him to come to pass.
This brings about the following key point.
Key Point: Proper family covenant and obedience transfers God’s blessing (or sins curse) to the larger units of society – i.e. church, community, and nation.
In light of this we see that most problems in society are the result of unresolved family problems. If the family unit is destroyed or departs from what God intended it to be, God’s primary method for dealing with the ills of society is removed. This is why Satan is after the family with such vehemence. It is also why God will not allow the State to solve societies problems. He has empowered families to do that and will not concede this role to any other institution or Government.
Gen 12-18 establishes several foundational truths both internal and external which the Kingdom of God is established upon. For this reason these truths must also become foundational to anything we build.
The external are:-
- Generational inheritance
- Value of the land (both physically and globally – the whole planet)
- Call to the nations (worldview)
I will leave the discussion of the external issues for a later time. In this article I want us to focus on the internal.
Speaking of Abraham God clarifies what the internal are. Gen 18:19 says “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”
The following points become clear.
1. Destiny
God chose Abraham and gave him a sense of calling and destiny by revealing His plan for his life. God reveals Himself to Abraham (Gen 15:7) then commissions him, giving him a sense of destiny and calling.
This is typical of how God calls people, including you and I. The stronger sense of destiny we have the more unshakeable we will be. It will get us through even the darkest times. Paul’s great passage in 2 Cor 11 is an excellent example of this. He was continually called on by the sense of destiny and calling he had received from God. This is also evident in Jesus life. He knew where He had come from, He knew the resources God had made available to Him and He knew where He was going (John 13:3).
- Discipline – Abraham was required to command his children. He had to bring discipline into their lives and teach them to walk in righteousness and justice.
- Dominion – Abraham was never going to achieve God’s calling on his life in his own lifetime. He had to take dominion through the coming generations. The calling God gave him transcended his own life. This is typical for all of us. God works generationally and expects us to work our calling out through successive generations (Psalm 33:11).
It is important to note that God played His part in this generational process by repeating the covenant to Isaac once (Gen 26) and Jacob twice (Gen 28 and 35). We see here of course, that each generation must have its own revelation of God and receive its own calling and commission. We are all called to build these three points of the covenant into our own lives and the lives of our family, community and any groups we are involved in.
God is the one who establishes covenant. It is a sovereign dispensing of grace on God’s part. The covenants are always His and He establishes them in His way.
Key Point: We need to align ourselves with our covenant making God and ensure we are doing them generational. In the next article we will further explore this further but for now we will consider a few key points that are made early in the covenant with Abraham.
God bless you,
Bruce Billington.