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One can see in the book of Acts how the Holy Spirit leads

Sometimes the Spirit says GO

• Phillip’s trek down the southern road that led him to the Ethiopian official.
Sometimes the Spirit says NO

• Paul as he is trying to go into Asia. Two times he was stopped by the Spirit but then redirected to Macedonia.

Sometimes the Spirit says STAY

• Paul as he has the vision and stays in Corinth teaching and growing the church there.

I am convinced as I study the book of Acts that it is so vitally important for me to be connected to God and able to move at the Spirit’s direction and leading. I think this is true for individuals but I also think it is true for the church. I think that as we take part in the Great Commission that it is not to be done outside the context of a spiritual community. As we search scriptures and listen to God in prayer I believe this will be confirmed in the counsel of our believers in our church.

Speak Out!

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.
Acts 18:9-11

Impressions, Visions, Stirrings, Leadings
All of these words are used as we describe how the Holy Spirit speaks to us.
I am often reminded of Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God and I am forever grateful for his teaching.

He talks about how we can determine God’s will. Do you remember those?
Through scripture
Through prayer
Through experiences/circumstances
and through the counsel of friends.

I know myself that I sometimes go for the quick fix and seek counsel of others or my circumstances to determine the direction of the Lord. But I believe that as we consistently seek the Lord though prayer and the scriptures that we will understand his will for us. I believe this applies to all areas of our life.

In this case its seems that Paul needed a word from the Lord about his preaching and teaching there in Corinth. He needed reassurance. He needed a shot of boldness. This vision that Paul had here evidently led him to stay for some time to teach in this new church.

The role of the Holy Spirit in mission strategy

Still thinking about the role of the Holy Spirit in our mission endeavors.

I was going over some notes from our Church as Missionary workbook that Caleb Crider and I use. It is a compilation of mission writings and notes that we continually put together. We teach it when someone asks for it. Some times we may teach it even if not asked. Smile. One thing that I came across that got my attention this morning is this question.

How do we determine missions strategy?

Traditionally, missions strategy has gone something like this:

• Where are the greatest concentrations of “unreached people groups?”
• The next largest town with no evangelical witness.
• Areas of concentrated lostness.
• Areas with highest level of need.
• Influential people and/or places.

Personally, I know these are well meaning conclusions. I think the issue that I struggle with is how much can we really know about these things? How much do we rely on our statistics to guide our strategy? I think we can work real hard on getting this information as accurate as possible, however in the end these are questions that only our Lord knows the answers.

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in our mission strategy?

What if the Lord directs us to go somewhere that on paper does not look as strategic as where we have researched and determined as the new hotspot or the place of greatest need.

It has been my experience that my pragmatism gets in the way of listening to God and responding to Him. I want to go where I can be most effective. I want to go where there is GREAT need. I get motivated by “needs” but the problem I have found is that there is always a place that has a greater need. What happens when God’s plan is different?

I like what Caleb says here: “If we allow Him to guide our missions efforts, weʼll find that He is actively orchestrating His work around the world”.

Read again what happened to Paul in Acts 16:6 - 10

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

When God says "No"

What do you do when the Holy Spirit says “no”?

Does a “no” put you in a tailspin?

What happens when the plans you made do not turn out that way due to the fact the Lord closes a door?

What happens when the Lord puts the brakes on our strategy plan?


Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Acts 16:6-10



I do not like “no” for an answer.
Do you think Paul liked the “no” ?
It seems that he got his first “No” and the Holy Spirit stopped him.
Then he tried another area and the same response – No!
Once again, stopped!

What do you do?

In Paul’s case they went yet another direction and then he had the vision of the man from Macedonia. It evidently made an impact. He knew it was the Lord directing him. Then he did as so many of the men of faith did in the Bible – He obeyed… immediately.
They left for Macedonia.

How do you handle the redirections?

The role of the Church in Missions

I am still thinking of some questions regarding Acts 13 and being “sent”. So this is a question blog. I am fortunate and grateful in that I come from a strong mission sending church.

When I think about my own “sent ness” I sometimes wonder what role the church played in it?
It seems the Church and the Holy Spirit both played vital roles in the "sending".

Before I was SENT

Did they confirm my calling or did an organization? or both?

How did this confirmation take place?

Was it filling out forms, references, affirming my calling through my actions in the context of the local church?

Did they confirm my giftedness? If so, how?

Did they lay hands on me, pray for me and send me out as their missionaries?

Once on the FIELD

How do we continue to communicate? Is it one way communication or do both the missionary and the sending church initiate conversation?

Do I send them regular prayer updates?

Am I able to speak into their mission efforts back “home”?

How can I serve my sending church?

Do they hold me and my family accountable spiritually?

Do they give us pastoral care even while on the field? If so what does this look like?

How do they relate to us strategically?

Who takes the lead in the mission strategy?

The church?
A mission organization?
A missionary team that is sent out?
All three?

What happens when the missionary’s calling and the church’s strategy no longer match? What gives?

Obviously I believe that the Great Commission belongs to the local church. I believe as Acts 13 speaks of that the local church is central to our missionary efforts. How can the local church fully participate overseas?

I would love to read your comments or perhaps you have even better questions.
As I put together my next series on "missional partnerships" I will attempt to answer some of these questions.

Led .. Acts 13

Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon (called “the black man”[a]), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas[b]), and Saul. 2 One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” 3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.

I continue to be fixated on Acts 13. I am also thinking of other places in the New Testament where it talks about giftedness. Romans 12, 1 Cor.12, Ephesians 4 just to name a few.

What is the purpose of spiritual gifts?

We see in scripture it is to build up the body of Christ. It is not to showcase our own talents and abilities.

A body is organic.
It is growing.
It is alive.
It is reproducing.
It is maturing.

All of these descriptions of the body can play a part in the church’s mission(al) activity. In Acts 13 we see some believers with identifiable gifts. There were prophets and teachers. So having gifts and those gifts being affirmed was an important part of the church and still is today.

I believe as the church matures and reproduces it should be able to identify, affirm, equip and send out those in the body for ministry in their community and in to the world.

I like this pattern in Acts 13. I think it shows how spiritual gifts come into play in missions and how the Holy Spirit calls people. It also shows how the church affirms that calling and sends people out. It all works together.

Led.. The Antioch Church

2 One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” 3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way. 4 So Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit. Acts 13: 2-4

I have often thought of God’s call on a person’s life. I think I have been guilty of thinking of “calling” or “being sent” as an individual’s response to God’s call on their life. When I read Acts 13 I see the church doing what was normal to them: worshiping the Lord and fasting. The Holy Spirit spoke to them and gave them an assignment.

You (the church) should dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the work in which I have called them do. This “leading” was to the church. It was in community. It seems that the church doing what was normal to them received instructions on how to be responsible to the Great Commission. They were to send out two of their very gifted men.

The church continued to pray and to fast on this matter and then they laid hands on them and sent them out.

I wonder what conversations did they have as a church during that time?

What conversations did they have with Barnabas and Saul while they were going through this process?

Did they have a church planter assessment done? (I had to write that since that was my job some years back.)

We do know is this was the first missionary journey of Paul. They were sent out by the Holy Spirit. They were confirmed by the body of believers known as the church. The two (Holy Spirit and Church ) should not be separated in our missionary ventures.

Led ... The Story of Phillip

Perhaps one of the most concrete examples of being "led" comes from the Story of Phillip and the Ethiopian official.

26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south[b] down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”

30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. Acts 8:26-31


I love this story. I pray that my life will be as finely tuned as that.
Here we have a preacher who instead of being led to the city was led to go on a road away from town. I get this picture of a man walking (Phillip) and a man riding (The Ethiopian Official). So the Spirit tells Phillip “go walk beside the chariot”. Phillip must have been in shape enough to do it. I think my tendency would have been to go over and ask for a ride but the bible tells us that Phillip ran over there.

The story concludes with the Ethiopian coming to faith in Christ. I think the obedience that Phillip had in following the leadership of the Holy Spirit was crucial. The Spirit provided the opportunity for the gospel to be explained to this man in a way in which he could understand and ultimately accept.


There are two important points to this passage (I am sure there are more).

1. Being sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading
2. Being obedient to the Holy Spirit once he leads

Phillip did both and we can learn from this.

• How does this affect us as we live our lives missionally everyday?
• How does this apply to a church in how it lives out the Great Commission?
• How can this apply to mission organizations or church planting teams who sometimes have long-term strategy plans?

More soon.