“Less IS More.”
“So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter
answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” John 6:67,68
NAS)
Dear family of friends,
My good wife is right. But
it has taken me awhile to admit it.
It used to be whenever she’d
say, “Less is more,” it was irritating. How can something less be something
more? Are you kidding me?
But now I am a changed man. Yes, I believe less is more,
as in what the Lord intends to do with His people.
In my previous Ahava
Love Letter, #98, I wrote on “How Shall We Then Give”, in regards to those
we support with our financial gifts. The encouragement I gave in advising readers
was to give your support to those whom you personally know; more so than giving
to big ministries, with big budgets, whom you have little knowledge of where
your money actually goes. This being because it is about relationships, not
just giving money.
If we see Yeshua (Jesus) as our model for ministry, as we
should, we know that He gathered twelve together, with whom He spent the
majority of His three years teaching. There were certainly the big crowds on
occasion, but that wasn’t His main effort. It was the small settings, the
intimate moments, the relationships with the ones who would be faithful to go
forward. This is a critical lesson for us. Indeed, less is more.
We all know that Sunday church attendance is way down,
especially in America, the UK, and Europe. There are many reasons for this, but
I am not so certain we have to be discouraged about it. Perhaps it was the “wrong
model” and God the Father is showing us that. Allowing the large church
buildings to fill less and less might just be pushing the committed Christians
into closer relationships with those who are in it for the long haul. We are to
form those connections that the Lord is really after.
Just as it happened to Yeshua Himself towards the end of
His earthly ministry, the crowds dropped off considerably. We hate to see it
happen, but He has always seemed to prefer using small numbers to accomplish His
purposes, rather than large crowds. You really can’t have much fellowship with hundreds
of people attending a two hour service, and then each go off in every other direction
afterwards. But you can build solid relationships when you are in the trenches
with your brother and sister, spending real time with them.
I envision that the
days of "large" ministries, with large budgets, are going to be over
soon. Especially in America, where too much emphasis has been placed on the
"one man, large ministry" model. This will end.
One very real sense I
have had from the Lord is that He is taking us down to smaller numbers, in smaller
settings, to build teams of solid believers properly jointed together. Just as
He did Himself in His ministry. Just as Paul and the other apostles did with
their small teams in the first century. And they changed the world.
The Lord’s concentration
and life flow will take place through the close knit, one to one relationships
He is establishing. These relationships will be where ministry for each other
occurs. The end result will be to touch the nations with effective spiritual
activity, flowing out from us.
As for my wife and I,
we are seeking to get rightly jointed with the local body we attend, and be part
of a team that will touch the nations. We must be committed to His purposes and
desires to have His Bride joined properly together. I hope you are doing the
same.
Ahava to my family of
friends,
Steve Martin
Founder, Love For His
People
Love For His People,
Inc. is a charitable,
not-for-profit USA organization. Fed. ID#27-1633858.
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Todah rabah! (Hebrew
– Thank you very much.)
I hope you read my first
two books The Promise (CreateSpace/Amazon 2013) and Ahava Love Letters (Xulon
Press, 2013). Both available through Amazon.com Xulon Press.com, plus other
website book stores.
You can also order
both books, The Promise (on Amazon.com for $7.19 plus $3.95 S/H) and Ahava Love
Letters Xulon Press for$14.90, plus $3.80) or you can get both from our office
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Email: loveforhispeople@gmail.com
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Ahava Love Letter #99
“Less IS More” Steve Martin
Date: In the year of
our Lord 2014 (01.12.14) Sunday at 7:00 pm in Charlotte, NC).
