Encounter: Journal for Pentecostal Ministry - Assemblies of God ...

Encounter: Journal for Pentecostal Ministry: Summer 2009, Vol. 6
Fulfilling the Apostolic Mandate in Apostolic Power:
Apostolic Praxis: Driven by the Spirit
or by the Wind and the Waves?
Part III of a Three-Lecture Series Presented by
DeLonn L. Rance, Ph.D.
Assemblies of God Theological Seminary:
Director of Intercultural Doctoral Studies
Global Missions Department Chairperson
Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies
2008-2009 J. Philip Hogan Professor of World Missions
That day when evening came, he said to
his disciples, “Let us go over to the
other side.” Leaving the crowd behind,
they took him along, just as he was, in
the boat. There were also other boats
with him. A furious squall came up, and
the waves broke over the boat, so that it
was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the
stern, sleeping on a cushion. The
disciples woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
He got up, rebuked the wind and said
to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the
wind died down and it was completely
calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are
you so afraid? Do you still have no
faith?” They were terrified and asked
each other, “Who is this? Even the wind
and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:35-
41, NIV)
I love this text because it seems to
accurately reflect my life. Like the disciples,
I am trying to get to the other side, trying to
be obedient to the Master’s instructions, but
so often in the middle of obedience, in the
center of His will, storms come up. I work
as hard as I can, use every gift, every
experience, and every tool at my disposable
to get the job done, but it doesn’t seem like I
am going to make it. Even though Jesus is
Third Hogan Chair Address, January 20, 2009
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with me in the boat, He is on a break, sound
asleep. (He must have been exhausted from
ministry and able to rest so well because He
was totally trusting in the Father.)
The disciples had made many trips across
that lake. Most times, they crossed the lake
through hard work. They knew how to do
it—several were experienced fisherman—
but this time their illusion of control was
broken by the wind and the waves. They
were confronted by the reality that the only
way to get to the other side and experience
peace was through faith and trust in Jesus.
While the truth of this text can be applied to
personal salvation and the need to have
Jesus as the Master of one’s life to be able to
get to “the other side,” (i.e. an eternity with
Him), I believe it is also a word to the
Church regarding the missiological task.
Jesus calls the Church to an apostolic
praxis—to be about the business of carrying
the good news of the gospel to those who
have never had the chance to hear it. I see
Him in the boat calling out to the Church,
“Come on, Church. Let’s go to those who