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    The Treasure in the Field: The Treasure in the Field
    The Treasure in the Field: The Treasure in the Field
    The Treasure in the Field: The Treasure in the Field
    Ebook174 pages2 hours

    The Treasure in the Field: The Treasure in the Field

    By John McElroy

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    About this ebook

    "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." - Matthew 13:44

    The good news of the Kingdom was Jesus' primary message. The gate into it is narrow and few find it. Unfortunately, the treasure still lies hidden, undiscovered

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Southern Cross Association Churches Ltd
    Release dateJun 25, 2021
    ISBN9780645162721
    The Treasure in the Field: The Treasure in the Field
    Author

    John McElroy

    John McElroy lives in Perth, Western Australia with his wife Alaine. He is Senior Pastor at Southern Cross Centre and Director of the Southern Cross Association of Churches, an apostolic network comprised of over 200 ministries spanning the Southern Hemisphere. He is past National Convenor of the Australian Coalition of Apostolic Leaders and holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary.

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      Book preview

      The Treasure in the Field - John McElroy

      Introduction

      The Great Reset

      The Church, as we know it, is about to change. The Body of Christ is being shaken and compelled to re-examine its priorities and practices. No Christian denomination, movement, or group will be exempt from this spiritual tsunami. God, in His mercy, is returning His Church to the priorities and practices of Jesus and the apostles.

      2020 will be remembered as the year when the shaking began. As the first pandemic in a century brought the world to its knees, it was apparent that previous realities were poised for a major reset. How we interpret this reset depends on our closeness to God. For the world’s ‘elites’ and ‘progressives’, this reset points to a humanistic agenda of globalization and establishing a new world order. Citizens of God’s Kingdom see it differently. God is turning up the heat to break the religious spirit and return His Church to New Testament foundations.

      Governments were caught off guard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Within weeks, entire nations went into lockdown to contain the pandemic. With gatherings prohibited and social distancing enforced, citizens in every nation faced unprecedented challenges. Churches were not exempt. Sunday services were suspended or severely restricted and many had to close their doors.

      Freedom Under Threat

      In addition to freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and religion would come under threat. In 2020, the Government of the Australian State of Victoria announced it would introduce ‘conversion suppression’ legislation. This bill made it a criminal offense for any person, including pastors, counsellors or medical practitioners, to influence anyone experiencing sexual disorientation or gender dysphoria.

      While the rationale behind this law was to curb what are perceived as cruel or forced therapies on those with same sex attraction or gender dysphoria, the legislation goes further. It decrees severe punishment for interfering with the normalization of homosexual or transgender preferences. Conservative Australian Christians are about to face, for the first time, criminal charges and severe penalties for obeying what they believe the Bible teaches regarding sexuality and gender.

      Early in 2021, the Victorian legislation was passed by a bipartisan majority in the State Parliament. Having the Victorian stamp of approval, state governments across Australia are poised to introduce similar legislation. Christians holding Biblical views on marriage, sexuality, and gender, must not ignore the threat to their religious freedom and freedom of speech.

      Discovering God’s Kingdom

      The time has come to ask: How have we come to this point? Why are nations founded on Judeo-Christian principles now legislating for lifestyles that are contrary to Biblical teaching? The answer points to the current state of the Church. For decades, rather than engage the world, churches often focused on how to escape it. By failing to engage society and establish the Kingdom of God on the earth, atheistic and humanistic ideologies now fill the gap. When Christian voices are silent, the world descends into moral confusion, lawlessness, and division.

      Jesus gave His disciples a mandate to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. The Church was not meant to be sidelined or intimidated into silence. In Acts 4, Peter and John were commanded by the Jewish Sanhedrin to stop speaking about Jesus. Their response was a bold rebuttal of their critics, We must obey God rather than men. They feared nothing and refused to stop speaking about Jesus.

      The title of this book, The Treasure in the Field, comes from Jesus’ Parable in Matthew 13:44, The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

      The treasure of God’s Kingdom is still hidden to many in the Church. In search of God’s treasure, I have surveyed many fields and knocked on many doors. I read books, listened to speakers, and served in the houses of several masters in search for authentic Christianity. I knew Jesus’ message was the Gospel of the Kingdom but discovered that few Christian leaders appreciate its significance.

      Reset is Reformation

      Churches fail to be the salt and light when their leaders fail to see the world through a Kingdom of God lens. Without a Kingdom perspective, God’s people revert to lesser priorities. God is shaking the Church to get our attention and re-focus our priorities. Churches need more than another revival, they need reformation. Reformation comes when God’s people return to scriptural truths that are forgotten. 

      Reformation does not happen overnight, it comes through a process of recognition, realignment, and revolution. Change begins with the recognition of a problem. The Church in its current form is losing the battle against the kingdom of darkness. Recognition brings realignment.  Realignment comes when we employ the priorities and practices of Jesus and the apostles that are relevant today. Revolution comes when the Kingdom of God begins to permeate the foundations of society.

      Structure of the Book

      This book is divided into three parts:

      Part I: The Birth of a Vision.

      I will recount how God birthed a vision in me for the future of His Church. My journey with God spans over four decades. I will highlight experiences in ministry, in denominations, movements, and networks. This provides a context for my conclusions about the current state of the Church.

      Part II: The Journey

      On my ministry journey, the Lord continued to shape my perspectives through a series of diverse experiences. Gradually, I came to see that God was configuring me to pioneer a new wineskin for the Church. The lessons I learned in this phase would someday guide in establishing a church on New Testament foundations.

      Part III: The Prototype.

      Finally, we examine the components of a Kingdom configured Church. Jesus’ priority was the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. The apostles’ priorities are seen in the life of three New Testament churches and Paul’s missionary journeys. Our goal must be to develop prototypes and working models of a new church wineskin. We examine the blueprint of a work in progress, Southern Cross Centre.

      Jesus called His Church to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. This means we must work with God to establish His Kingdom on earth. The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News!

      Shape Description automatically generated with low confidence

      The time has come.

      The Kingdom of God is near.

      Repent and believe the good news!

      MARK 1:15

      Part One: Birth of a Vision

      Chapter One   -  The Journey Begins

      Chapter Two   -  Moving to Australia

      Chapter Three -  The Lighthouse and the Tree

      Chapter One: The Journey Begins

      Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

      HEBREWS 11:6

      Like many people in the Bible, my journey with God began when He revealed Himself in a vision. After this, new and challenging opportunities began to open up to me. As I faced my fears and said yes to new challenges, I began to grow. There is always an element of risk in faith. Whether we get things right or wrong, nothing God initiates goes to waste. In every situation God imparts important lessons that will assist us in the future.

      Shape Description automatically generated with low confidence

      To reach the port of heaven we must sail, sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it—but we must sail, not drift or lie at anchor.

      OLIVER WENDEL HOLMES

      Trains and Sunsets

      My journey with God began in a railway town in the Midwestern state of Iowa. Some of my fondest memories trace back to train journeys I took with my father. Dad grew up on a farm during the Great Depression. The main line of the Burlington Northern Railway passed along the farm’s northern boundary. My father often talked about the day in 1934 when he and his dad watched the first dawn to dusk passenger train pass on its journey from Chicago to Denver.

      Passenger trains were still a popular mode of travel in America in the 1960s. When I was ten years old, Dad took me on my first train trip to Chicago. Although the journey was only six hours, it seemed longer because of the many stops on the way. I felt so grown up looking out the window of the gleaming stainless-steel carriage that took us toward the ‘windy city’.

      I inherited my dad’s love of trains. One of my most memorable Christmases was when Santa brought me a model train set. The set was only a miniature version of what I heard day and night when growing up. I was fascinated by the blaring whistles, whirring diesel engines, and crash of boxcars as they connected to long freight trains.

      Dad and I would often take long walks at sunset to the train station. The California Zephyr stopped every evening at our local station on its westward journey to San Francisco. After ten minutes at the platform, the conductor yelled, All aboard! His words brought the train to life! A sharp foghorn whistle blew, the engines whirred, and bells began to clang. Slowly the magnificent Zephyr gathered speed. Soon, all that remained was a red dot on the horizon atop the gleaming rails.

      Spirit of Adventure

      Something was birthed in me as I watched those trains. I think it was a spirit of adventure. I longed to be on the Zephyr, speeding west toward destinations that were over the horizon. Little did I realize was that someday travel would be a large part of my life.

      Progressing from childhood into my teens, I was only twelve when my mother bought me my first guitar, a cheap $10 model with steel strings that cut deep into my fingers. Music would open some amazing doors later in my life.

      I enjoyed my early school years. In junior high, I became involved in our church’s youth group. Our pastors were great with young people. They talked a lot about the need for personal faith in Christ. I came to see the Christian life as very attractive. Being part of the youth group, my first experiences of ministry were through music and public speaking. Even though I did not know much about God, I always felt close to Him and believed He had a purpose for my life.

      By the time I graduated from high school, I was elected as vice-president of the student council, became an Eagle Scout, sang and acted in many drama productions, and was appointed as a youth representative to the Iowa Crime Commission. Each experience helped me grow in confidence and how to relate to people.

      Following high school, I was not sure which university

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