From the time a believer is born again, they are invited to participate in the supernatural side of God. On a daily basis, Jesus demonstrated the supernatural to His disciples. He turned water into wine, multiplied food, walked on water, healed the sick, and produced many miracles. He did this so regularly that John went as far to say that if everything Jesus did had been written down the world would not be able to contain the number of books required to document every miracle. Jesus demonstrated this supernatural lifestyle to his disciples not so they could just be witnesses but that they would be participants. On occasion, Jesus would send them out alone to demonstrate the supernatural side of the Kingdom of God by healing the sick and casting out demons. Jesus instructed his disciples to then teach others the very same things they had been taught which would have included the supernatural works that they had been producing.

Jesus did not limit these experiences to His disciples only, nor did He restrict them to a particular generation within the church. Often He would make inclusionary statements such as: "…he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do.” Certainly, we see the fulfillment of this verse in the early church. The books of Acts is filled with miracles, angelic visitation, healing, deliverance, signs, and wonders, but it is also well documented that these events continued beyond the generation of the church in the book of Acts. St. Augustine, as well as many others before him, wrote of the sick being healed, blind eyes opening, and the demon possessed being set free. There is a reason that the book of Acts is the only book of the New Testament that does not include a formal ending because the acts that it contains were never meant to end.

The world has a natural hunger for the supernatural. Just look at the most popular movies and television programs. Not only does the world have a hunger for it but there is also great need that often requires supernatural intervention. The church was designed to satisfy that hunger, and meet the need. When Philip traveled to Samaria he demonstrated the supernatural by producing miracles and casting out demons. The Bible records in Acts chapter 8 that the people listened intently to what he had to say because of the miracles. And as a result, the entire city was filled with “great joy”.  Prior to this, their spiritual hunger was fed by witchcraft and sorcery. The world will satisfy its own need for the supernatural even if that means settling for a cheap imitation.

These supernatural experiences can be available to every believer. Jesus listed some of the signs that would follow believers in Mark 16:17-18, He said: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” I believe there is a reason why Jesus lists speaking in other tongues in His short list of the signs.

I know that tongues has been a debated issue in many Christian circles and has some baggage attached. Maybe you are reading this and thinking about that very thing. But what if we saw tongues for what it really is? Would you be willing to hear this topic from a differing perspective? Let me share my experience with this gift and all the benefits it has for the believer. Would you take that journey with me?

The Apostle Paul was certainly no stranger to the supernatural. In his letter to the church at Corinth he stated that his desire was that they all would have the gift of tongues (1 Cor 14:5). And later in the chapter, he goes on to say: “I thank my God, I speak in tongues more than ye all.” (1 Corinthians 14:18 KJV).

What is also obvious is the emphasis that Paul is placing on praying in the Spirit. In verse 4 Paul states that when we pray in tongues our spirit is being “edified”. The Greek word here means “to build a house”. That is to say that praying in tongues causes your spirit to expand.  Jude writes “But ye, beloved, building up yourself on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” (Jude 1:20). We are spiritual beings living in a human tent. When we pray in tongues the emphasis is placed on the spirit person within us, causing us to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit living in us, and the spirit realm around us. Praying in tongues is itself a spiritual act which positions us to respond to the situations around us in the Spirit, and thus do what the Holy Spirit would do through us.

I believe that a consistent prayer life that is centered around praying in tongues is vital to walking in the supernatural. Paul said that when we pray in tongues our spirit prays directly to God’s spirit, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God” (1 Cor. 14:2,14, NKJV), and when the Holy Spirit intercedes through us according to Romans 8:27 we are then praying the will of God. Therefore we are praying the perfect will of God right back to God Himself.  Praying in tongues then releases the will of God into us so that we will release His will into the earth.  Walking in the supernatural is simply exchanging the realities of Heaven with the realities that exist in the earth. Being sick with cancer is a reality. However, it is also a reality that cancer does not exist in Heaven. When Jesus healed the sick or performed a miracle He was revealing the will of God for that situation.

In order to see the supernatural invade the natural, it is necessary that our minds be renewed. That we don’t think naturally, or even see things through the natural eye, but we think according to the will of God, and see things through God’s perspective. Jesus demonstrated the will of God when: “He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed of the devil” (Acts 10:38). Before Jesus was able to produce good works, and heal the sick He was first filled with the Holy Spirit and power. While the bible never states that Jesus spoke in tongues it does indicate that believers would as they are baptized with the Holy Spirit and power just as Jesus was. This baptism of the Spirit enables us to undergo the process of having our minds renewed so that we can see another possibility other than the natural circumstances surrounding us and do just as Jesus did by implanting the “perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2) into impossible situations. I have found that praying in tongues accelerates the process of the renewed mind by allowing us to participate with the Holy Spirit in a prayer language which is itself supernatural and is designed to condition us to think towards the possibilities that exist in the realm of the supernatural.

You and I are seated with Christ Jesus in heavenly places right now, according to Ephesians 2. I’m not waiting to get to heaven I’m already there! And because I exist there I can see, and hear from that place. Tongues are the bridge that connects the language of my spirit to the language of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26) with the hope that I will speak on earth what is being spoken in heaven. Our tongue is the most powerful part of our entire being, when I align my speech with His will the result is supernatural! 

It's been a pretty rough start to the year for my family. About a month ago we found out that one of my nephews had whooping cough, which is bad enough in itself. What made it worse, however, was the fact that we'd all just had a big extended family holiday together. Six families, with lots of kids, toddlers and babies.

Whooping cough is highly contagious and can be very dangerous for young children, so we went into panic mode. Over the next few weeks someone from each family came down with it, and despite our best efforts at containment, the disease spread beyond our families before we knew what was going on. We've cancelled social engagements, taken antibiotics, called off our church, taken time off work until we're certain we're not contagious, made calls to everyone we saw who we might have passed it on to, and spent most of our time confined to our house.

The worst part is how it affects the kids though. When they have a bad enough coughing fit they can't breathe. One of the dads told me his little girl was coughing for a good two minutes without being able to take any air in. He said, "There was a point there where I thought 'This is it. She's gone.'" It's a terrifying experience.

And that's been our year so far. Worrying about our kids, worrying about friends' and families' kids, waiting and hoping that no one else comes down with it. And in the midst of all this my 10-year-old daughter asked me, "Does God have a reason for whooping cough?"

Big question.

Does God have a reason for sickness? What would you have said? Moments like these shape the world for our kids. When a child asks a question like this you can't fudge over it, ignore it or offload it to someone else. So you stop,

pause,

take a breath.

Then you need to have an honest answer for them. If you don't have it all figured out it's ok to say that. Just be honest.

When I was younger I thought that God did have a reason for everything. Diseases, tsunamis, earthquakes, famines, everything. I believed that God was controlling it all, so therefore sickness must also be part of his plan. "God's got a reason for this," people would say. "Just trust him and you'll see. Maybe this suffering is a test, or a challenge to make you stronger or more humble." Then if ever it felt like a situation was too terrible, we would tell ourselves, "Well obviously I just can't see the big picture." This is a fairly common worldview among religions.

Now that I've experienced a bit more of life, I'm no longer comfortable with that idea. What kind of god causes suffering? What kind of god would give whooping cough to a newborn, or cause a miscarriage, or make millions of third-world people suffer blindness? What kind of good reason could there be to destroy a city with a hurricane? Maybe a god like that is all-powerful, but is he GOOD?

Thankfully, the Bible provides another way to look at this. If you follow the biblical story through you can see that God doesn't control everything, even in the Bible. People are the most obvious example. God isn't making us dance with marionette strings. Adam and Eve ate the fruit, Abraham lied about his wife, Moses killed an Egyptian, King David knocked up Bathsheba and knocked off her husband, Solomon chose way too many wives, Peter denied Jesus even existed and so on. All the way through, humans are free to make choices - a myriad of choices, even bad ones. God gave us creativity, wisdom and passion, and we can use it how we like - for better or worse. This shows a fair amount of respect on God's part.

The natural world is another example. This blue planet of ours is bursting with life and beauty, but it's not entirely safe. Many parts of it seem tailor-made for human life, but there are some challenges for us to face if we want to thrive here. The sun gives life, but it can also cause cancer if we don't respect it. River systems provide water and food, but it can be dangerous living on a river. Bacteria can be beneficial, but it can also be lethal. All of these are morally neutral, and with our intelligence we can use them for good or evil. This is the world God gave us - a stunning, perplexing and wondrous world of energy and colour - and as a whole our Earth is brilliantly set up for human life.

All of that my daughter has heard before in our conversations over the years, so my answer was much simpler. Does God have a reason for whooping cough? No, diseases are just part of this world. But we can work hard and learn how to understand them, contain them, and someday we will cure them. Maybe my daughter will find that cure.

Our Earth is both dangerous and beautiful, and with respect, creativity, wisdom and some divine support we can make it better still. That's a challenge for us all.​

​Ben is a fully-trained minister, but he's chosen to be the groundsman at a local primary school because it's a great way to bring hope to his local community. He believes everyone can make the world a better place, whoever or wherever you are. Ben also leads a simple alternative-style church in his home in Brisbane, Australia. Online, Ben produces the Facebook page "For Want of a Better World" and works to facilitate safe places for vibrant conversation on faith and life.

Brian's whole understanding of faith and Christianity changed when he started to encounter what it means to live life with God instead of for God. One thing that Brian is passionate about is walking with people as they explore their faith in Christ and learning how to honestly seek God in the midst of our doubts and fears. Brian is the Pastor of Grand Valley Community Church in Brandon Manitoba. He is married to Nikki and they have one daughter named Olivia. When Brian isn't working on a sermon at a Starbucks or at home with his family, you can usually find him fly fishing or building model air planes. To read more of Brian's articles, click here.

It is easier said than done, trust me, I know. But part of our calling as leaders is not to simply call people to do, or worse, do it all ourselves. Instead, we need to inspire, equip and empower people. This means we need to do the foundational work of sharing the authority and responsibility of the vision and mission, not just delegating tasks.

Let me explain: when we can find the right people that get the vision and culture we are building, we can equip and empower them to be released to further that goal as a team. Remember, whether you like it or not, you are not the expert in every regard. Your role is to lead a team, mentor them and release them, not to know or do everything. Find the experts in a particular field or gift, recruit them, give them the tools needed, and release them with both tasks and responsibility, (of course this involves letting go of some authority and control so they can accomplish the goal). This of course requires trust and one would hope the people you are building up are trustworthy.

Maybe you think you don't have the time to invest in people like this. As we saw in the article ‘There Are Only So Many Seconds In The Day’, you don't have the time not to. Maybe one of the reasons why you are burnt out is you are trying to do it all on your own. Maybe you are too scared to share responsibility, or maybe you have a hard time raising the bar for people.

What if you are in a role that primarily leads volunteers? How do you ask people to step it up when they are volunteers? Let me let you in on a little secret: people are dying to be asked to serve in their passions. The key word there is ‘passions’. As leaders, we need to connect people to their passions (what gets the blood flowing and heart beating). In the world of leading volunteers, some people quit because you ask too much of them, while others quit because you don't challenge them enough. The trick is figuring out which is which, (and the simplest way is to just ask).

I just had one of these conversations with someone recently. They had been serving as a volunteer on one of our teams, but had been struggling to find their fit. This person was not sure where they were serving was working and was struggling with telling me. In these situations, many times we can go to the faulty idea that there are only two possibilities. That either we need to push them to stick it through as we are worried about losing a team member, or we allow them to walk away completely because we don’t want to ask too much of them. What usually happens is the same result: disengagement. In the first option, they will usually serve for a while, but due to a mismatch of expectations and their passion/gifting they will eventually quit. Or with the second, because we release them, we may assume they will simply fit somewhere else. But both of these options are missing the greater task at hand, working through what could be.

See, there is a third option: Asking good questions. Take the scenario above, instead of seeing the situation as binary I started to ask some deeper questions. By doing so, we were able to explore what was it about the current role they had that wasn’t working. Was it the team they were a part of? Was it the area or specific role they played? Was there a different department that would be a better fit? What were the underlying influences at hand? After a very short conversation, we realized that it was simply that her giftings and passions were better suited with a different kind of role and, ironically, the role we ended up moving her into had a greater workload and responsibility. But because it better matched her wiring, she was excited about the opportunity and excelled at it. Not only that but it also filled an area that one of our staff was struggling with and wished they had someone to help them. Because I asked some questions and had a conversation looking underneath the surface, we were not only able to find somewhere where this person could thrive in serving, but found someone we could trust in taking on a crucial role and in the end enabled that department go to the next level.

This is what it means to recruit, empower and release. We first need to recruit by ‘giving the ask’ and finding the people who are willing and able. Second, is to empower these people by both matching their passion with what is expected of them and also equipping them with the tools to accomplish the role expected of them and be successful in it. And lastly, release them to do what they are gifted to do and what you ultimately hope they can do. Of course, this last step is the biggest step of trust and means letting go.

Maybe you are not the personality to do that, and that’s alright. But find someone who has that personality and has the know-how, the character, and has gained the right to lead and empower/release that person. See a pattern here? It is the art of inviting people to join the mission and give them enough stake in the game that makes it worthwhile. When you match people with their passions people will thrive because they are wired to do it. Don’t feel guilty about this. Be willing to share the glory and reigns. Remember, you don't need to be the expert in it all, you simply need to bring the best team together and bring the best out of them to accomplish the mission and vision.

Maybe think about it like this: Give away anything that you don’t need to be doing to others who are passionate about those things, so you can focus on what you are wired to do and what no one else can do. Or as Andy Stanley puts it: “Only do what only you can do”. You would be amazed at how many people are willing to step up when asked.

I have found that the big ask, in front of a large group, rarely works: people need the human touch. I know this fact all too well. I recruited 60+ volunteers in 4 months, simply by asking one person at a time. I got turned down a lot, but I also discovered a lot of people who were excited and gifted and have seen new teams form because of it and in many cases those nos turned into yeses when we found what they were passionate about. Remember, people are, in a lot of cases, simply waiting for the ask, or simply needed their questions or concerns answered, directed and given next steps. What do you have to lose? If they say no, you lose nothing. They weren’t volunteering before anyways. But what if they say yes? That could change everything. ​

Drake currently serves as the Editor-In-Chief of boldcupofcoffee.com and the Executive Pastor at gateway.ac as well as an avid speaker, writer and leadership coach/consultant. Drake is passionate about seeing people thrive and come alive. To BELONG, wrestle with what they BELIEVE and BECOME people FULL OF LOVE, FUELLED BY FAITH, and ADDICTED TO HOPE. Drake is also a life learner and loves being challenged to think deeper and grow further. One of his favorite things to do is spend a good amount of time in a good café or coffee shop with a good book or engaging conversation. To be able to share in someone else's journey and experience is always a pleasure and honor. You can also connect with him at your personal page at drakedelongfarmer.com. To read more articles by Drake, simply click here.

​
I work in Taiwan (and I must mention with pride that most of Silence was filmed here), and I live as a person of faith in a cross-cultural context. In fact, I conduct religious activities on a regular basis that are inviting people to experience a faith that is very different from the one they have grown up with. I don’t wear robes, or even a cross, and the Bible I carry around is in an app on my phone, but I have been called a missionary.

The history and perception of Christianity and missionaries in Taiwan is mostly positive, and tends to be associated with the building of schools and hospitals and the humanitarian work of those such as Canadian Presbyterian missionary George Leslie Mackay. This is very different from this story of Japan, but it easily could have been the same. After all, Taiwan was ruled by Japan for several decades. The persecution depicted in the movie was not unique to Japan either. There were periodic massacres of Christians that occurred in China throughout history, often in response to what was happening in the political sphere. (If you’re a history nerd who is interested in reading more, check out this biography of the Empress Dowager, a leader in China who was uncharacteristically friendly toward foreign presence at the time. Although the persecution portrayed in the movie Silence is brutal, I can see how it reveals the seriousness of the perceived threat Christianity posed to the authorities in Japan.

In Silence it is suggested that there is a larger imperialistic effort behind the seemingly benevolent European missions and it is stated over and over again that Christianity just isn’t suitable for Japan. Unfortunately, the former is absolutely true. Missions, particularly to Africa and Asia, was very closely tied with wanting to introduce western culture, and control both land and strategic trade routes, often in the guise of “opening a country to the gospel.”

Depending on where your sympathies lie, this could be anything from playing on the altruism of priests and missionaries to achieve more capitalistic ends, or outright power grabs by both the church and state. While missionaries did a lot of good, building schools and hospitals, taking care of orphans and so on, those good works did come in exchange for rejecting some aspects of one’s culture in order to reap the benefits. It was also often the case that people would “convert” in order to receive resources from the church.

In the end, some characters seemed to choose the greater good over the dogma they’d learned, and the movie implies that this may have led to a deepening of their faith even as they were labeled apostates. They were allowed to live as examples of the government’s power over even God, but the final scene seems to show that nothing can stamp out true faith.

One of the characters in the movie questions whether Japanese converts to Christianity even fully understand what it means, and suggests that they are following (and dying for) the foreigner rather than God himself. Two noteworthy challenges for missionaries today are avoiding the cult of personality and finding ways to share the freedom that Christ brings in a way that is culturally sensitive. We hope to invite others into an authentic faith that they continue to develop and take ownership of apart from the teachings of individuals or even the church. As for the question of whether Christianity is compatible or even “translatable” to other cultures, I do agree that it can be difficult to explain the gospel outside of one’s own context and background.

A neighbor asked me the other day while we were waiting for the garbage truck what Easter celebrates. I explained that Jesus died on a cross – he nodded at this familiar image. Then I told him that when Jesus’ friends went to “sweep his tomb” (a common cultural practice here) it was empty. My neighbor was pretty incredulous that this meant Jesus had returned from the dead – something many westerners take for granted as they’ve grown up celebrating Easter. My apologetics (there is a lot of evidence that it wasn’t a scam, especially since Jesus’ disciples went from hiding in fear to boldly proclaiming the risen Christ) had very little impact on someone who is completely unfamiliar with the Gospel story and the book of Acts. A more robust explanation would have taken much more time than we had before the garbage truck arrived. But hopefully he will keep thinking and maybe next time he’ll have more questions.

Today in Taiwan, Christianity is still seen as very much a western religion, which is a bit incongruous since it originated in the Middle East. Christianity may be practiced alongside (or in addition to) traditional eastern religions, especially Catholicism, whose use of icons doesn’t appear terribly different from traditional temple practices to many worshipers. I’ve personally seen homes where there are statues of Mary and Buddha together on the same mantle.

No one wants to be told that their ways of worshiping are wrong. But perhaps we can call or challenge them to something higher: to examine the desire for the divine behind religious practices and demonstrate how it is has changed our own lives. That’s why I think the gospel is best preached through relationships. If you invite someone to church, but then stop talking to them when they decline, they won’t be very curious about your community. But if you start to accept people where they are at, they will find themselves drawn to the God you commune with.
​
The values Jesus taught and modeled are at the very core both counter-cultural and transformative. However, we need to be careful to avoid presenting something that is simply our own view or culture glossed over with a Christian sheen. In many ways, being a Christian in Japan will look different from being a Christian in Canada. And yet my life is guided by the belief that knowing Jesus will ultimately bring peace, healing, and salvation to anyone who asks. Even though it may look different for each person, I’m invested in exploring how it can be lived out through my Taiwanese brothers and sisters. The better I can understand the language, culture and unique challenges facing believers here, the more ways I find to contribute to their lives and faith.

​Charlotte is on the Editorial team at boldcupofcoffee.com and currently works with a non-profit organization in Taiwan where she teaches, leads English Bible studies, writes educational materials, trains teachers, poses for pictures, and a bunch of other stuff too. She is originally from Canada, spending significant amounts of time in all three westernmost provinces and the idea of home has become quite fluid. She has learned that life overseas is not as exotic as people may think, but life with God is a daily adventure.

The first time we see Israel as a nation in the Bible, they're not much of a nation. They had no land of their own, no kings or rulers to look after them and no freedom. They were just slaves for Pharaoh's workforce.

It was backbreaking work and Pharaoh was a relentless taskmaster. Make more bricks! There was no time off, no weekend, just every day the same, with an impossible quota to reach, baking bricks under the scorching Egyptian sun. Make more bricks! When Moses came along to plead for their freedom, Pharaoh told the slave drivers to whip them harder. Like they would with cattle. Make more bricks! And the poor slaves were so broken that they asked Moses not to talk to Pharaoh again.

But God has a soft spot for the little people, and he rescued those Israelites. Like a shepherd defending his flock from wild animals and leading them to water, God freed them and brought them out of Egypt. That was the birth of Israel as a nation, a story they retold over and over again through their history. The Jews still remember it every year at Passover. The Exodus became part of their national identity.

But when they first walked out of Egypt they had no identity at all. What kind of nation would they be? What would define their culture? How would they see the world? All they knew was Egypt, slavery, the soul-destroying work of making bricks. They had no order or purpose or vision. They were still beaten, broken and powerless. Like a psychologically-abused partner, some of them even thought, "Maybe we should go back to Egypt. At least it's what we know."

So God rescued them again, this time from themselves. He gave them a purpose and identity, and a whole bunch of guidelines for living. One of the most important was Sabbath. "Work well for your family, community and nation," God said, "But set aside one day every week for NOT working. You are not slaves anymore. I set you free. No more endlessly making bricks. You are people, not animals. Actually on that note, give your animals a day off too. They're not slaves either."

What about you? Are you a slave or a person? Do you have a healthy rhythm of work and rest? Or does your life seem a little like you're always just making more bricks? The modern world is so relentless that it's easy to fall into unsustainable patterns. There's always another demand. Always another notification. Sometimes we even crack the whip ourselves. "If I work more I can earn more, buy more, build more..."

Work is good, but constant work is dehumanizing. Regular rest puts work in its proper place and breathes life back in to us.

Do you feel tired all the time? Do you feel guilty when you rest? Maybe you need to listen again for the shepherd’s voice. Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” God didn't intend for us to be slaves. He's the one leading us to freedom.

So step out and leave Egypt behind. Remember, you're a person. You're free. And you're meant to live while you're alive.

​This post originally appeared on Ben's Tumblr​

​Ben is a fully-trained minister, but he's chosen to be the groundsman at a local primary school because it's a great way to bring hope to his local community. He believes everyone can make the world a better place, whoever or wherever you are. Ben also leads a simple alternative-style church in his home in Brisbane, Australia. Online, Ben produces the Facebook page "For Want of a Better World" and works to facilitate safe places for vibrant conversation on faith and life.