Saturday, August 8, 2009

Lead in Establishing Kingdom Values

I read this today from David Jeremiah and am moved to imitate this man's perseverance:

"England's William Wilberforce was born in 1759. At age twenty-five, he rededicated his life to Christ. His spiritual awakening might have threatened his future political career as he had just been elected to a seat in the British Parliament. He sought the advice of a pastor named John Newton, the former slave trader, asking whether he should leave politics and enter the ministry. Newton answered: Stay where you are. God needs Christians in politics. Newton suggested they might even be able to put an end to British slave trade.

In 1787 Wilberforce introduced a bill in Parliament to that end, but strong opposition resulted in the bill being defeated. Not until 1807 was Wilberforce able to get legislation through the Parliament that banned England's participation in the slave trade. Buoyed by the victory, Wilberforce pushed for legislation freeing all slaves and abolishing slavery in England once and for all—legislation that was passed in August 1833, a month after Wilberforce died.

Every Christian is not called to lead a church, but every Christian is called to lead the Church in establishing kingdom values in the world." (Dr. David Jeremiah)

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