Written by Scott Fiddler
The Word
27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Acts 11:27–30
Reflection
When I hear people say that the spiritual gifts have passed away with the early church, and then I read passages like the one above, I am always a bit perplexed. The argument one usually hears is that once the Biblical canon was established, we no longer needed prophecy, speaking in tongues, miracles, and the other so-called power gifts. They were for the early church, not for us.
Agabus’s prophecy was probably given around A.D. 44. We know from the Jewish historian Josephus that a severe famine struck Judea around A.D. 45–47, particularly affecting Jerusalem. The support from Antioch no doubt helped the church in Judea survive a difficult time.
So, I don’t see how having had a red-letter edition of an NIV Study Bible would have protected the church in Jerusalem from the effects of the famine better than Agabus’s prophecy. I believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. I try to read the Bible every day. But having the Bible doesn’t eliminate the church’s need for prophecy.
Our church was relaunched, renamed, and rebranded in a movie theater. It was a long shot. Because of the headwinds we faced at the time, even the Every Nation experts gave us little chance of making it. But our church took root, and when Chris and Kacee got here, it began to grow.
As it grew, we naturally began looking for a larger, more permanent space to lease. That is the normal arc of churches that start in movie theaters. The thought of buying a building was not even on our radar. We didn’t have enough money. So, we looked for a few years for a good place to lease and never found anything that would work.
Then one day during a meeting of City Life’s outside board of directors, one of the board members had a prophetic word during a prayer session. The word was that instead of renting a place, the Lord was saying we would go directly from the movie theater to buying a building.
Now, you have to understand what that sounded like at the time. It was kind of like going from playing high school basketball directly to the NBA. As LeBron proved, it is theoretically possible, but he is the exception, not the rule. Like the church in Antioch, though, we heard the prophecy and we acted on it.
So, we looked for places to buy. We looked downtown. We looked midtown. We looked all around town. And as we looked, our people continued to show up every Sunday in the theater to set up and break down. It was wearing them out, and as leaders, it was wearing us out watching it wearing them out.
But then one day we found our building. It wasn’t even for sale; the owner wanted to lease it. But when we inquired, he offered to sell it to us and finance our purchase. The rest is, as they say, history. We purchased the building and began to grow into it. We then purchased the building next door, and now we are in the process of planting a church in Sugar Land.
Application
The church still needs to hear from the Lord, and the Lord still speaks to the church through prophecy. The church still needs power, and the Lord still provides it through miracles, healing, and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The question for us is: Do we believe it, and will we act on that belief?
Prayer
Lord, give me ears to hear what You say and the courage to act on it. Amen.
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