What is the Macedonian Call?
ACTS 16:9
“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
The call for help
A Macedonian call is a call for help. It is something I believe is needed when we are beginning our mission. Without the Macedonian call, there is no need for someone in ministry to come and help. A call for help is saying come and help us, we cannot do this on our own.
Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia issuing the call for help. “Come over and help us." To me this says two things, the first being a call for help. It is a call saying, “I cannot do this on my own, I need your help”. The second is an acceptance to go and help the person who is issuing the call.
I’ve had several calls for help during my ministry, the first being when I was called into the ministry, even before I knew anything about the ministry. Our first ministry experience was as a volunteer. I had no idea what a “Macedonian Call” was, but when a call for help was issued, I answered. Someone asked for help and I accepted the call. It is that simple.
Since then, there have been several other calls for help which Kay and I were always willing to answer. Every ministry job I’ve ever had was a call for help, "I need you to come and help me do this." "The job is too big and I can’t do it by myself." "I’ve been praying for someone to come and help me and you were the one who answered the call."
In most cases I didn’t have the tools to do the job. Satan comes to discourage us by saying, “Who do you think you are? You can’t do this job, it is too big for you to handle.”
I’ve always said, “God has no one qualified working for Him yet”. I’ve learned over our years in the ministry, God is the one who does the qualifying. All we have to do is say yes to the job and then He is the one who qualifies us.
The Macedonian call is the beginning of a relationship between the person who needs help and the person who answers the call for help. In the ministry there are several calls for help. I believe it is answer to prayer, “God help me, I’m acknowledging I can’t do this alone”.
In Paul’s case it came in the form of a vision but it is always in the form of “come and help me.” In ministry the call is issued all around us, all we have to do is respond to this call. The Lord will help us to do the rest.
When the Macedonian call is issued, God is looking for someone to help Him do a job. Our hands should fly up and say, “Look no further, I’m your man or I’m your woman to do this job”.
Leaders are the Keys to the Kingdom
Matthew 16:19
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven."
I woke up one morning with this thought, "Leaders are the Keys to unlocking the Kingdom of Heaven." Leaders have been given certain keys to unlock their spheres of influence. But you must put the key in the lock and open the doors of heaven for others to come in.
If we look at the scriptures ahead of Matthew 16:19 you will see who Jesus was talking to. It was Peter, who was Jesus' main disciple. He was the oldest, but not the smartest, but Peter had something the rest of the disciples didn't, the revelation that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God and he wasn't afraid to say it.
In Matthew 16:17 Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My Father who is in heaven and I
say to you that you are Peter and on this rock (THE REVELATION) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."
Leaders, and their revelation, are the keys to any ministry. Leaders need to reproduce leaders. Every seed produces after its own kind.
I have a key ring. It has my car key, my house key, my business key, my blessing box key and a few I don't even know what they are, but they all open a door to something. If you ever lose your key ring, you can't open any doors, you can't start the car, you can't go to work, you can't get in the house or your work and you can't open your blessing box (a.k.a post office box).
Most leaders are not charismatic, they are down to earth people, who can roll up their sleeves and get the job done. Actually, they are common, down to earth people who said yes to something God wanted done. They are not qualified to do it, but they are willing to step out in faith and see what Jesus wants to do.
A dear friend has a great saying I've used many times: 'We are just ordinary people, doing extra ordinary things for God, supernatural things which we are not qualified to do.' Do you realize God does not have anybody qualified working for Him. It is He who qualifies us. When He calls us to do something, our hands should shoot up in the air and say, "Look no further, I'm your man or woman to do the job through You."
What was I looking for when I went to Kenya? I was looking for people who were not qualified but willing to be used by God. I've already seen many of them in the spirit.
When we went to Russia, in the early 90's, not qualified, just went. The students who showed up, not qualified but willing to be used. In 2007 a bishop told me that out of the Bible school in Jelgava, Latvia in 1991-92, over 25,000 churches have been planted by unqualified people who wanted to be used by God. These my friends are the keys to unlock the doors to heaven.
I see the same hunger in the eyes of students in Kenya. They want to change a nation for God. They have their hands raised and are saying, "Look no further. I'm your man."
When leadership becomes the keys to heaven something interesting happens. First of all, as Christians we all have the ability to lead. It is when a Christian steps forward and takes hold of the reins and says, "I don't know what I'm doing but I will take a step of faith and trust You", is when the power of God is released.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths."
Once again my simple understanding is what happens in the first 30 seconds when we are presented with an opportunity to serve God. The first 30 seconds is the Spirit of God directing your path. The next two hours is where we don't lean on our own understanding but we acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths. The biggest thing in trusting God, is trusting His Word. You are not what people say about you or what you think about yourself. You are what the Word of God says you are, a leader. Our only responsibility is to Him and His Word. When the Word says you can, you can. You become the force behind the power God gave you in Acts 1:8, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
With the power comes the confidence to believe what the Word says about you. Here in Matthew 16:19 it says the Keys of the Kingdom have been given to you - this makes you a leader. Now what are you going to open and close with these keys?
At the end of the verse is the answer and the discernment to know what to do when. John 10:10 says, "The thief does not come except to steal, kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." This scripture becomes the plumb line of your discernment. It tells you what to do when. If it is being stolen, killed or destroying the Christian way of life, we can take control of it by binding and loosing. (Matt. 18:18)
When a Christian looks at something, most just wonder why it happens, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" When I look at a bad situation I already know why it happens. It is either a result of bad choices someone has made or a result of Satan's work in their lives to stop what God wants to happen. If it is a result of bad choices only they can fix the issue with God's help. But if it is from Satan we can take control of it by binding him up, tying his hands so he cannot continue his work in our lives or the lives around us.
When I find myself looking at a situation and saying, "This ought not be so" it is a result of Satan's work and I have the authority to take control of this situation by binding the works of the devil and releasing the power of God and taking control.
Examples would be in healing - we look at cancer in someone, and the simple question is, is it from God? A lot of people blame God for what the devil has done. This will get you nowhere, because God has already taken care of sin and sickness on the cross and He has given you the tools to deal with it. It is called the authority of the believer. You have the authority from God, you can use this authority. Why do we blame God?
If you are a leader you look at sickness, you know it's not from God, God didn't allow it, it is a total work of the enemy according to scripture. You take control of it by binding the works of the devil and then loose healing into the body. You then stand back and watch God's power work in someone's life. This may save their lives and yours as well.
The tool of binding and loosing has worked so well for me. In my own strength nothing happens, but when I realized I had the Keys to the Kingdom of God, the power began to be released when I prayed for people. THE WORD WORKS ALL THE TIME!!