“Retooling”: The Way We Think Of An Evangelist

The 21^st Century Retooling of the Church – Part V

In the past we have thought of an evangelist as a profession, someone academically trained at a Bible College or Seminary who now does “evangelism” for a living.  This immediately puts pressure on the person and the church to “provide” financially for their needs.  That is why there is always an offering at evangelistic meetings.  A nonchristian often looks at this as a pay for performance tactic, and the media has always questioned the validity of money with ministry.

The Church needs to rethink, or retool its thinking, on what is an evangelist.  An evangelist has a spiritual calling, a spiritual gift, a passion to win the lost, a drive to help the lost find their way into the kingdom of God, a point of view skewed by this drive and passion to see the overwhelming need to save that which is lost.  The evangelist sees the fires of hell, the insane distance between fallen man and his God, the anguish of not personally knowing God, and the dread of knowing that anguish and torment is eternal unless the “good news of Jesus Christ”, the gospel, is preached to all in that state, to save them from their eternal damnation and separation from God into a personal relationship, fulfillment, and intimate union with God whom they had been separated from through the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

We have to “retool” our mindset that an evangelist has to be a professional. No, he is any believer in Jesus Christ who is driven by this passion to save the lost by birthing them into the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ.  That is the way an evangelist thinks. That is his point of view.  He sees only the lost and their birth. After their birth he is driven to win more to Christ, not necessarily nurture them in their new walk and life in Christ, that is why he needs the other four passions and points of view of the five fold around him.  A true evangelist is driven by this point of view no matter if he is pain or not.  Let’s take finances out of the equation right now to understand the true nature of an evangelist.  Money is not the issue, passion, drive, point of view, and calling is!

We all have an evangelistic spirit within us, and need to share the gospel with the lost.  One-on-one evangelism is still the most effective means of winning the lost.  We must also recognize that in the Body of Christ there are believers who are “driven” by a “passion” because of the way they see the world through their spiritual eyes, their point of view.  Often believers with this passion receive opposition from the very church that should be supporting them, developing them, nurturing their calling, and “equipping them for the work of the service”.  What is your local church doing to “equip” those who recognize this drive and passion within themselves?  Better yet, what are you doing as a supporting member in the Body of Christ to help “equip” those who recognize their drive and passion?  That is the retooling we need to look at and perform.

“Retooling”: A New Way To Support An Evangelist

The 21^st Century Retooling of the Church – Part IV

In the past an evangelist has usually been a parachurch ministry, not part of a local ministry.  He/she would come in, hold meetings, then leave.  The only “support” given to the evangelist was usually financial through offerings.  Often the evangelist could be someone whom no one knew personally, only as an acquaintance, since the only time they would be part of the local congregation was during their meetings.  Being on the road so much, it was hard for an evangelist to establish personal lasting relationships.  Some denominations have looked upon the evangelist as a stepping stone for young preacher to get experience and name recognition before earning their own pulpit and church.  The young evangelist may be a good preacher, but how does he learn “body ministry” if on the road so much? 

It is time to “retool” how we think about an evangelist as a person and his passion, vision, and point of view.  I never think it is God’s will that an evangelist should be a traveling loner.  Personally, he needs a close Brother/Sister in the Lord who has a shepherding heart to nurture and guide his personal daily walk, not a Board Of Directors who looks over the “business” of being an evangelist.  He, like the rest of us, needs personal care that only someone with a shepherding heart can give.  A shepherd knows his sheep, and the sheep know their shepherd, so a shepherd would known when it was appropriate for the evangelist to release his passion at home or on the road and when to be home with his family.  An evangelist can save thousands of souls, yet easily loose his own family, his own treasure, if his priorities are not in order. A Shepherd helps him prioritize his life and his calendar.

An evangelist needs a teacher.  The Word of God, the Bible, is central to the heart of the message of an evangelist.  “Redemption”, “rebirth”, “repentance”, “conversion, turning from one’s sin”, “sanctification”, etc. are all Biblical themes at the heart of an evangelist’s message.  If an evangelist isn’t grounded in the Word, his message will be watered down and ineffective.  A teacher can help supply Biblical principles to aide the evangelist.  Also every person needs a partner in Bible study, and this duo would be dynamic.

An evangelist wants to see “rebirth” and “new life”.  He not only wants to plant the Logos word into those who are listening to his message, but also wants to “birth” a Rhema word, an active word, into their lives.  Evangelists want to see changed lives, lives now living for Jesus.  Who better to help guide him in his endeavors than a prophet?  With the evangelist always being on the front lines, the front runner, a prophet needs to bring him back into the Presence of God to personally be refueled.  A spiritually arid evangelist will not produce fruit unless he too drinks the living water and feeds on the living bread found in personal and corporate worship that a prophet can supply.  Also the prophetic voice is a powerful voice when giving an evangelistic message.

Currently, evangelists have Boards to govern or oversee their work.  Often boards become “yes” men to encourage and propel the evangelist, not iron sharpening iron.  Usually Board Meetings become “business” meetings, not ministering meetings toward the evangelist own personal needs.  The evangelist needs an personal overseer to “see over” not only his ministry, but his own personal life.  Someone who sees the Big Picture, who will release him in his passion of evangelism, yet will release the other five fold ministries to minister to the evangelist.  He knows when an evangelist as a person needs pastoral care, thus preventing the disasterous fall of many previous spiritual giants; when an evangelist needs a teacher preventing inherent false teaching or doctrines; when an evangelist needs a “black and white” seeing prophet to call forth righteousness and draw the evangelist back to the source of his spiritual strength. 

We need to retool our thinking that an evangelist is not alone, but part of a team, that what he “births” can be nurtured by others, that he too needs body ministry for his own spiritual health, that he is part of a family, a group who cares about his own personal life and direction.  Drawing in an evangelist into a team, a family, a body of Christ in order to be released is a “retooling”, a new mindset, we need to consider for his health and welfare.   

Not An Evangelistic Team, But A Team Supporting An Evangelist

The 21st Century Retooling of the Church - Part III

The late 19^th century and throughout the 20^th Century “Evangelistic Teams” were formed to lead major evangelistic crusades throughout the United States and the world.  As crusades grew larger and larger, so did the supporting cast with the evangelist to the point they brought their own cooks, head of ushers, publicist, etc.  Soon there was a party of 50 or more on the team, and the cost to afford them would drain the local churches who were supporting the crusade.  Only until the Billy Graham Assoc. came along were guidelines created to bring accountability to Evangelistic Teams.

After the crusade had concluded, the evangelist and his team left town, new believers were to go to local churches, and with the lost of the hype created by the crusade, things returned to normal.  Five years later the cycle had to be repeated as another crusade might have to be planned.

In the future the 21^st century evangelist could also be part of a team, but not an evangelistic team.  He could be part of a supportive five-fold ministry team. It could be a local team, not an itinerant team that comes and leaves.  The local team would remain in the locality it is targeting.  This team will support and release the evangelist to “birth” this endeavor. If an evangelist works with a pastor/shepherd, there will be an attempt to shepherd the new lambs of faith that earlier crusades had evaded.  If a teacher was part of the team, the new lambs could grow while studying the Word of God, the Bible.  Also the validity of the Word of God would be central to this evangelistic endeavor. A prophet would aid an evangelist with discernment, seeking the will of the Father in how to reach the lost effectively, for every evangelistic endeavor is unique to its situation and culture. Prophetic evangelism worked with the woman at the well and brought revival to her town too! Finally, an apostle, whose needed “over sight”, “seeing over” what the Holy Spirit was doing while releasing the evangelist, the shepherd, the teacher, and the prophet to do what they are best gifted to do would bring the team together in unity. 

This would be a totally unique approach to evangelism.  No longer would the evangelist be one person trying to reach the masses, but a team of spiritually gifted believers, with different points of view and passions that would be accountable to one another, yet releasing one another to use their giftings for the unity of their purpose, to bring the lost to Jesus Christ, then bringing them to maturity in Christ, and bring unity to the Body of Christ.

Just think of the potential of winning the lost, birthing them into the Kingdom of God, then nursing them to maturity in Christ, teaching them the principles of the kingdom of God as Jesus did through the Logos, the written Word of God, the Bible, and prophetically speaking into their lives the Rhema Word of God, the living Word, while under the guidance and leadership of an over seer, seeing over their needs, their passions, and their visions.

This just may be one of the ways to “retool” the Church for effective evangelism, for equipping the saints for the work of the service, and for ushering the return of the Lord for his Bride without spot or wrinkle.

Calling All Evangelists – That Means Me?

The 21st Century Retooling of the Church - Part II

If evangelism means “rebirthing” and “renewing”, it means “retooling”.  How is the way we look at evangelism to be retooled?  Well, I believe evangelism will shift from one body, one person, speaking to the masses, to a mass of believers uniting as one body to speak to 1) a lost and dying world, and 2) a divided and disarrayed Church, both unprepared for Jesus’ return.  An emphasis will move from small local church bodies of believers to being part of the universal Body of Christ.  Even though we have an identity as in individual believer, and an association in the coming together as a small group body, the Church is about to be part of a major “graft into the vine” if it is to be “effective” in the 21^st Century.

Technology always has help ushered in an evangelistic era.  After a century of not embracing change, the Church found itself in the midst of what has been deemed “The Dark Ages”.  The evangelistic spirit was almost diminished, and the challenging the Church hierarchy, institutional structure, and theological dogma was labeled heresy with burning at the stake as its source of enforced terror.  Guttenberg’s printing press, a new technology, ushered in the “Age of Enlightenment” and “The Reformation” eras, allowing the Priesthood of Believers to read the Word, the Bible, while being taught by the Holy Spirit that resided within themselves, a definite “retooling” of the way the Bible was to be taught and received.  With the new technology of the World Wide Web, the Internet, why would there not be a “reemphasis”, a “retooling” of the way the Church is to think of itself, the world, and global evangelism and unity of its Body?  The Church is again faced with a “retooling” period of its history as it embraces the possibilities of this new technology and the effect it has on itself and the way it sees the world, and I am sure that the “evangelists” of this new mindset will face the “burning at the stake” of its generation by the established Church who is unwilling to retool and remain unproductive and spiritually bankrupt, another Dark Ages. 

I do not want to live in another Dark Age Period, but in an Age of Enlightenment as illuminated by the written Logos Word of God, the Bible, into a Rhema Living Word of God in each and every believer in Jesus Christ who is willing to be “equipped for the work of the service”.

So we need new mindsets, a “retooling” of the way we think of Church and do Church in the 21^st Century if we are to impact this World Wide mindset before us.  Instead of denominations, we will be forced to go back to the Church by locality.   In Paul’s day, when the world wide view was limited, he looked at the Church of Philippi, the Church of Corinth, the Church of Thessalonica, etc. as his sphere of Church influence.  The 21^st Century World Wide Web Church may have to be looked upon as “continent” localities: not just The Church of North America, but also The Church of Asia, the Church of Australia, the Church of South America, the Church of Africa, the Church of the Orient,  The European Church, etc.  Denominational lines will have to fall as they have in today’s Church of China, as the Priesthood of Believers have been forced to unite in order to survive. 

How is the 21^st Church going to invade spiritually the global challenges of Islam, of Hinduism, of Buddhism, of the various forms of the 21^st century paganism, etc.?  History has taught us not through military means like the Crusades, but through “evangelistic crusades”, as Billy Graham and other evangelists have called them in the past century, only “retooled”.  The only way the Spirit of Jesus Christ can penetrate these areas is through a “retooling” of the way the Church perceives an evangelist and evangelism in the 21^st Century.

The “retooling” will require a new “point of view” of how the Church sees itself and the world.  The Great Commission is still in effect, even in a greater measure, as a “retooled” World Wide view is envisioned.  “Without vision, the people perish.”  With this “retooled” vision will come a “retooled” passion that can only be “birthed” out of an evangelistic Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit.

A “Rebirth”, not a “Recovery” – Calling All Evangelists

The 21st Century Retooling of the Church - Part I

In previous blogs I asked “Who will be the next Billy Graham?  What will be the next evangelistic movement in history? “  To those questions I reply, “You are the next Billy Graham! The next evangelistic movement may be the retooling of the 21^st Century Church”.

In the make up of the five fold ministry model of accountability, responsibility, and service, who better to ignite a renewal, a revival, than the one who majors in birthing and rebirthing, the evangelist.  Evangelism demands change, for “the old has gone; the new has come!” (2Cor. 5:17) Conversion to Jesus Christ takes the total “turning away from the old” and “embracing the newness in Jesus Christ”, yet the Church, as an institutional structure, is known for “holding on to tradition, the old ways, that old-time religion,” not wanting to release the old rather than embrace the “newness in Jesus Christ” that has brought rebirth, renewal, and reformation in its history. 

Martin Luther, John & Charles Wesley, Alexander Mack, Johann Guttenberg, William Tyndale, and many others challenged the ingrained institution of the Catholic Church in their day, some paying with their lives, others with their reputations, but ushering the Great Reformation, changing Church history.  We have seen Whitefield’s influence on Wesley, taking the Church out of the building and into the forest and fields in England and log cabin itinerant preachers taking the gospel to the American frontier where there weren’t any church buildings.  We studied great mass Evangelistic endeavors in huge tents, arenas, and stadiums, again outside built Church structures.  I witnessed the Jesus Movement of the ‘70’s meeting in farmer’s fields for the weekend that ushered in the Charismatic Movement, again outside organized Church structures.  Then why will the Church not recognize that to experience “rebirth”, “renewal”, or “revival” it must think outside its existing Church structures physically, theologically, and practically?

But every believer in Jesus has experienced a personal “rebirth” and “renewal” reviving their lives.  If you are a Christian, and the evangelistic “experience” is so central and vital to your spiritual life, you qualify as a believer in Jesus Christ, to “release” that “evangelistic experience” within you to help “retool” the 21^st Century Church (See my blogs on the Priesthood of Melchizedek).  We are the ones who are called to be “equipped for the work of the service” (Eph. 4).  We will not be individual Billy Grahams, but part of a priesthood of believers, a body, who will “evangelize” the world for Jesus in the 21^st Century.  We are part of a priesthood of believers, a body, who the Lord Jesus is preparing for His return.  His return depends on our preparation as a Body, thus a retooling is needed as part of that preparation if we as a Church are to be “without spot or wrinkle”.

You and I are the “evangelists” of the 21^st Century.  Let’s examine what that means in the next blog.

Evangelism in the 21st Century

What’s Happening?

I just put together a powerpoint presentation of all the blogs on fiverevealed.com on the topic of evangelism.  Review and reflection always causes one to think, to analyze, to question, to want to know more.

Open air meetings by Whitehead in the 1700’s, the Camp Meeting movement in the 1800’s, the out door Jesus festivals and huge evangelistic crusades in sports arenas in the 1900’s, but a decade has already passed, and what is happening with evangelism in the 21^st Century. 

The Billy Grahams, Oral Roberts, and Pat Robertson’s are aging or deceased, but who is rising to fill the gap? Instead of tents and arenas, the Church has build big edifices, mega-church structures with great theatrical capabilities to “draw in” the lost rather than “reaching out” beyond their walls.

The internet with social networking has brought on a new mentality of social interaction.  Relationships are not just local community but world wide, but not based on the face to face meeting each other’s needs level.  In the book of Acts, 5000 were saved in one day, but then the Church began building a network of communal collection to give to the poor, meet the needs of the widows, taking care of the sick, the imprisoned, etc.  How is the Church to build a network built for the internet, social network, facebook generation?

Every generation of youth questions the validity of Church structure and relevance, with this generation doing the same, for their world has expanded beyond the local church at every corner to local, state, national, and even international websites, blogs, tweets, and facebook messages.  Paul wrote letters that took days to get to their destinations.  What would he think of email today? Would he have “blogged” for all the Churches to read? 

Often, my frustration with the Church was to get them off of their pew, out the door, go into their local community and walk the walk, sharing with everyone about Jesus.  Today, the challenge remains to get one away from their computer to have direct, face to face, meaningful relationships in daily lives with one’s neighbor.  Christians have always had “talking the talk” down, but Jesus wants us to “walk the walk”.  In a “social networking” context of a lot of talk, how is the Church to respond to the walk?  That is the challenge of the 21^st Century evangelistic fervor of the Church today!

The “C” Out Of YMCA

How Does The Church Maintain Its Influence?

The Village People immortalized San Francisco’s gay community’s hangout out in their infamous “Y.M.C.A.” song.  Today, the song is sung even in ball parks as people of all ages imitate the letters Y.M.C.A. as they sing along.

I still can see LaVinna Wilson, a friend of mine who lived in Dayton, Ohio, back in the 1975, sitting in her living room lecturing to me about “How We Lost The ‘C’ in Y.M.C.A.”  Originally the Y.M.C.A., Young Men’s Christian Association, was founded as an evangelistic tool to reach the lost in England.  That was the nature of its birth.  It was not birthed as a sports complex, or a swimming pool haven, or a glorified gym for physical workout at the central focus point of its existence, but as an evangelistic tool to reach the lost.  As the YMCA’s web page tells it: “Twenty-two-year-old George Williams, a farmer-turned-department store worker, was troubled by what he saw (in London). He joined 11 friends to organize the first Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), a refuge of Bible study and prayer for young men seeking escape from the hazards of life on the streets.”1

As a child I even took swimming lessons at the “Y”, in the nude, for bathing suits were not allowed during instruction! I must admit with LaVinna that I do not remember it as a Christian Institution, but rather a social and educational one. I do not recall our local “Y” featuring Bible Studies. Again we have an evangelistic ministry birthed by the church, to only later be institutionalized while dropping the Church’s influence in its organization.

I was saddened last week when I heard a news clip on TV that the Y.M.C.A. had officially changed its brand to just “the Y”, proving the validity to LaVinna’s dissertation to me 35 ago.

Truly, what has happened to the “C” in “the Y”?  How does or can the Church maintain its influence in successful social ministries and not loose it when those ministries become institutionalized? Good question; some more food for thought!

¹  [http://www.ymca.net/history/founding.html]

What Next? 21st Century Revival? When? Where? How

What Is The Next Move of God For This Generation, the 21^st Century

Landisville Camp Meeting Ground, Lancaster, PAIn the early 1970’s I went to a Mennonite Camp Meeting Ground and attended the Mennonite’s First Conference On The Holy Spirit.  It was an old place, with old buildings, and a huge covered amphitheater for mass meetings.  I remember the front stage filled with Mennonite youth singing a copula who then went into free worship singing “in the spirit”, a heavenly sound that I will never forget. 

I Googled “camp meetings” to see if there are any within a 50 mile range of my house. I found an article that said Pennsylvania was once the largest area featuring over 175 Camp Meetings during the summer, but today there is only 15 Camp Meeting Grounds in existence in PA, and only 5 that are operational.  After the initial shock, I realized that Camp Meetings were God’s Holy Spirit movement 200 years ago, yet two centuries later, some are still holding onto its history and tradition.  The “Great Awakening” happened in the 1700’s, “Camp Meetings” in the 1800’s, large “City Wide Crusades,” “Jesus Rallies”, and “Azusa St. and the Pentecostal Movement in the 1900’s.  We are in the first decade of the 21^st Century, and I ask, “What evangelistic movement of revival is going to be identified with this century?”  How is the Holy Spirit going to move outside the establish church buildings in this century? Is he going to do this century something more shocking that Azusa St. in the last century?

The good signs of God’s mass evangelistic movements is the soul winning; the down side is usually new schisms, new groups, new denominations being birthed rather than the movement bringing unity in the Body of Christ.  Also, with new technology comes new movements: Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press and his mass printing of the Bible ushered in the Age of Enlightenment.  Radio ushered in the movement for World Wide Evangelism, and television took Billy Graham out of large tents and placed on a World Wide stage by televising his mass evangelistic meetings. 

Now with the World Wide Web, what is next?  IChat, Skype, etc. might bring video conferencing with worship to an universal level: two or more different locations worshiping at the same time, conferencing at the same time, and being led by the same Holy Spirit which is “universal”, yet “intimate”.  Can a prophetic word given in Ireland, speak to the brethren in New Zealand, and confirmed by the brethren in the U.K. and U.S.A. at the same moment through the internet?

Is it possible that the five fold could come forth locally, nationally, and universally as the different gifting of each of the five ministers and receives from the others, but the result of this movement being “unity and maturity” into the Body of Christ, preparing the Church to be “without spot or wrinkle” for the return of the Lord?

In Jesus Christ, “all things are possible”, so Lord, my prayer is that what ever You have for the Holy Spirit to do for this century, for me as a believer, for this generation, and for the Church as a whole: Bring It On! Church, be prepared for another movement of God, orchestrated by the Holy Spirit, lifting up the name of Jesus, glorifying the Father in heaven. 

Vision Series: Part I – The Evangelist “Sees the Lost”

The Vision of an Evangelist:

“Without Vision The People Perish”

One of the major premises of my study of the five fold ministry in the Church is that the five fold is not necessarily offices, but passions, or points of view.  What passion drives a person in his love in and for the Church?  Through what glasses does the believer see things? What is his vision?

The evangelist “sees the lost”, and his/her heart is broken by what he/she sees.  They are driven to share “the Good News”, the Gospel, with those who have never heard it.  Their passion is to bring the lost into the Kingdom of God.  They see the “needs” of the poor, the effect of poverty, the hopelessness in mankind, and they are driven to bring a message of hope, of salvation, to meet the spiritual need of the lost: Jesus.

"General" William Booth, founder of the Salvation ArmyA person driven by the evangelistic spirit is a creative person who will “birth” innovative ways to share the message of spiritual birth, “you must be born again.”  Wesley and Whitefield broke from the tradition of sinners coming into the house of God to hear the salvation message by taking it to the miners at their work place.  The whole tent-meeting movement was birthed. “General” William Booth packaged it as an Army which became effective in reaching the poor in England, birthing the Salvation Army.  Dwight L. Moody and Billy Sunday developed it into large evangelistic city-wide tent meetings.  Billy Graham used technology to birth an electronic evangelistic message via television to millions.  I am waiting to see who and how the “gospel” will be impacted by today’s “social networking” where the world is but a click away, and the message of “the new birth” will go to the world wide masses.  Evangelists major in “birthing”, and I am sure God will raise up an evangelist to use the technology that is present today.

Amazingly, the most effective form of evangelism doesn’t come from the use of current technology, but by one-one-one contact with believers and nonbelievers on a personal, relational level.  The church is willing to spend large sums of money on large scale city-wide, or television campaigns, but the greatest majority of new believers comes from another common believer sharing his/her faith, his/her walk, his/her journey in Jesus Christ.

Still, the evangelistic spirit breaks the heart of the evangelist in order for him/her to move on, move forward, continuing to explore and birth new ways of telling the message, sharing the message, living the evangelistic message, the gospel, the good news to the next lost, dying individual who needs Jesus who crosses their path.  Being an evangelist is a never-ending battle, a sacrificial lifestyle “driven” by the passion to save the lost.

The Evangelist “sees the lost and the dying” and is driven to share the answer: the new birth of Jesus Christ in each person’s life assuring them of a relationship with the God-head that was broken by sin, but reestablished because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Sacrificial Lamb, giving life and hope to those who chose it in this lost and dying generation. That is how the evangelist sees it; that is what drives the evangelist.

Power of Personal Testimony

When God’s People Get To Give

It was refreshing hearing over the car radio testimonies being given how people (a stay home mom, a business man, and 18 year old real estate agent) came to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Their stories were short, sweet, less than 5 minutes apiece, but profoundly powerful!  Common, everyday people told how God touched their lives changing them.  It was not a well polished sermon on salvation, nor the worship team singing about amazing grace, but actual people from in the midst of their congregation who had a story to tell and were aloud by leadership to share it.  This is what I call “worship” when you allow God’s people the chance to give back to the Lord what he has already given them.  The results of this kind of worship is always powerful, productive, and reassuring to the body of Christ.  The evangelistic spirit was released.

If this is true, then why do most churches opt for well scripted, well presented, excellently produced “worship” services over allowing their people to “worship” by giving back to the Lord?  I do not know if they gave an invitation after the testimonies, but I could not help but think that what those people shared had an effect on a visitor who was in their midst who does not know what salvation is in Jesus Christ, and that there would be fruit if leadership had allowed a response.

Holy Harley Hog?

Biker’s BBQ?

Several members of CityView Community Church, 1650 Roosevelt Avenue in York, PA have decided to create an evangelistic endeavor they are calling York’s Biker BBQ on the second Saturday of each month (May 8^th, June 12, July 10, August 14, & September 11^th) where they will have music vendors, BBQ Chicken and Pulled Pork from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.  The Buffet is $12. Check out http://www.cityviewyork.com/york-biker-bbq/ for details.

Since the Harley Davidson Plant is located in York, about two miles from the church, one could come visit the plant, tour the Harley Davidson Museum, and catch lunch at the event.  It’s the perfect day if you ride bike, and CityView Community Church parking lot is on top of a hill, overlooking the valley containing York City.  York is centrally located South of Harrisburg, west of Lancaster, east of Gettysburg, and North of Baltimore. I83 North or South, and Rt. 30 East or West will get you to York! CityView is located three traffic lights west of the I83/Rt.30 crossing. Turn Right at the Denny’s restaurant and you can see the Church on top of the hill. Bear Left at the “Y” and take the first right (CityView entrance) up the hill to the event.

Bikers are also benevolent, and these events will also raise money to support the Casa Angelina Orphanage in Teleche, Guatamalo. Several of the bikers heading this event have volunteered to build this orphanage over the years.  (See www.whatmattersmm.org about the orphanage and their ministry.)  This orphanage has been quite effective at saving children off the street, bringing them safety, and changing their lives.  Proceeds from the Buffet go directly to the orphanage.

Those sponsoring the event look at it as a chance to share the fellowship, love, and service of Jesus Christ to the Biker nation as well as raise money to save orphans in Guatamalo.

If you are in the area of York, Pennsylvania the second Saturday between May and September, stop by, meet some neat people, and pig out with the hogs while supporting orphans

Five Fold Rooted In Tradition

“Swimming Egyptians Bring Closure”

As a child I remember singing “I have decided to follow Jesus… No turning back, No turning back.”  I also loved to listen to Keith Green’s So You Want To Go Back To Egypt on his early album.  Growing up as a Church kid, the idea of no turning back really didn’t have the impact on me as it did with those who had dabbled in the world before coming to Christ.

As I was reading my Bible this morning, the Passover story, it hit me how wise God’s wisdom really is.  Moses had been doing nothing but listen to Pharaoh’s harsh words due to a hard heart and constant complaining by the Israelites for the circumstances they now faced.  Israelites majored in whining, and they found their backs to the seas with the Egyptians charging their way with the purpose genocide. Then Moses raises his hands and the sea parts, winds blow, dry land appears, and the huge throng of Israelites crossed safely.  After their safety was secured, Moses drops his hands, the walls of water collapse, and all the Egyptians flunk their swimming tests. The results: dead Egyptian bodies floating a shore all along the coast as a testimony to God’s greatness.

Then it hit me: The collapsing walls of water were not only to swamp the Egyptians to their death, but they were to close off any way or path “back to Egypt”.  Physically, the break was complete.  Israel could not physically go back, so they had only one way to go: forward in spite it being only desert to the naked eye.  That is so how it is in our spiritual life.

What would be immortalized in the Jewish tradition was not their desire to return to Egypt as had been their attitude before crossing through the watery wall, but the glorious deeds of the Lord who prevented death’s sting by passing over their door and His delivery from the Egyptians.

As the book of Corinthians boast, “all things are new in Christ Jesus.” The Christian walk is not “rewalking” the past; it’s a total break from it.  It is always a forward walk in faith.

For Moses and his Israelite brothers and sisters, God had been his Salvation, the evangelistic spirit. Now they would witness God as their pastor, shepherd, provider, leading them by faith, feeding them miraculous manna daily in a way they had not previously experienced. They would be given the Law on Mount Sinai, as God through Moses would teach them God’s principles, commandments, and statutes. Israel would experience one of their own, Moses, have am intimate prophetic experience to the point Moses would glow with the glory of the Lord radiating from him. Finally they would experience God’s faithfulness as He would lead an entire nation to the land He had promised. 

God showed His salvation, His maintenance and provision, His instruction of His Word, His commandments, His statutes, His intimacy with mankind, and His oversight of the big picture, doing what he had promised to the patriarchs hundreds of years later.  If God provided this to the Israelites, why would He not do it to His people today? The five-fold is rooted in the history of His people, and needs to be released in the present to His people today.

Peter And The Five Fold

 

Experiencing/Example Of All Five

Evangelist: Peter before Pentecost denies Jesus in the temple fulfilling personal prophecy Jesus proclaimed over him. This new transformed Peter now returns to the temple and boldly preached the evangelistic message. Acts 4 records his evangelistic dissertation. Result, 3000 join the ranks of believers.

Shepherd/pastor: In the twenty-first chapter of John this same Peter who denied Jesus three times faces a resurrected Jesus who asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Upon Peter’s confirmation of his love, Jesus replies then, “Feed my sheep.”  Shepherding became so overwhelming that one of the first delegation of responsibilities from the Apostles to other believers is recorded in Acts 6.  The Apostles elect seven men “filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom” to become the Church’s first official shepherds/pastors.

Teacher: Stick your foot in your mouth Peter, now after Pentecost, speaks with authority in the temple teaching about Jesus’ mission to earth and the implications of that event as recorded in Acts 2.  Untrained academically, without any higher educational degree, a fisherman by trade, Peter amazes the leaders in the temple because he teaches with authority.  The results: The Apostles Teaching.  The same principles taught by Peter in Acts 2 in front of the Sanhedrin are the same principles taught by Stephen in Acts 7 before his being stoned to death.

Prophet:  Peter just wanted to be a good Apostle and pray, but while praying he has a prophetic experience as recorded in Acts 10. He has a spiritual vision of sheets, pigs, unclean creatures dropping out of heaven and realizes the message of the vision, what was once unclean is now clean. This vision tested his obedience to go to the house of Cornelius, a non-Jew to proclaim the message of Jesus. The results: Breaking down the barrier between Jew and Gentile allowing all to be saved, come into the kingdom of God, and setting up the Church’s first battle recorded in Acts 15 at a council in Jerusalem, where in UNITY the Church settles the issue for all centuries.

Apostle:  Peter goes from being a brash, bumbling, big mouth, bull headed, believer in Jesus, to a man who is granted the vision of seeing the birth of the Church as a whole and its implications.  He is to proclaim the gospel, to nurture the new Church, to desire a more intimate relationship with the resurrected Jesus, and is granted the vision to see the Big Picture.  He becomes the point man of the Church in Jerusalem with the other eleven as in unity they lead this new Church in physical and spiritual growth, through joys and persecution, needs to fulfillment, pressing on in vision. The book of Acts records the “acts of the apostles”.  After Pentecost Peter and the other eleven were forced to put their faith into “Acts”-tion.

The Five Fold Point Of View

It Is Just The Way You See It!  

I truly believe that the five fold is basically passion and point of view.  When you are passionate, that passion drives you.  I was passionate to get a room in my house built from scratch to finished project. Because of that the dry walling and sanding, the tedious cutting in for painting, etc. were not so bad.  I was driven to get it done the best of my ability.

The beauty of the five fold is “vision” and “Point of View”. The way one perceives his world and his place in it is his passion and point of view. It is no different for the five fold. Let’s briefly look at these “points of view”:

The evangelist is driven by the desire to see birth and rebirth, taking the lost (those not knowing Jesus) to becoming found (finding Jesus as their Savior). General Booth of the Salvation Army is an excellent example. Winning the lost became all consuming to him, thus he founded an army to proclaim salvation to the lost. Unfortunately, when the lost is found, a new birth or rebirth proclaimed, nurturing their growth is not the evangelist’s top priority, for he/she is ready to move on and win yet more for Jesus.

The pastor/shepherd is driven to care for the sheep. Shepherds nurture, feed, and care for their sheep, which becomes a tedious task, for they teach a believer how to make their new found faith into a lifestyle. A pastor’s vision is to hear the words of Matthew 25:35-36: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you invited me in, needing clothes and you clothed me, sick and you looked after me, in prison and you came to visit me.”

A teacher’s passion is to validate the Word of God, the written Word, the Logos Word, into the lives of every believer.  They want to validate the believer’s walk with the Word.  The teacher wants to validate this new found faith and lifestyle through the Logos Word, making it a Rhema, or living Word. John 1 says the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The teacher wants that word, now in Spirit, that dwells in each believer to teach that believer the truth and fulfillment of the Logos Word through faith.  Study the scriptures is powerful, but dangerous, for if it is done without the Holy Spirit, believers can become Pharisees, those who knew the Word in Jesus’ time, but opposed the truth and spirit of his teachings.

     If a prophet had his/her way, they would spend all day in worship, in reading their Bible, in intercession and prayer, in intimacy with God the Father, His Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  Adam and Eve lost their intimacy with God when they sinned, but Jesus’ death and resurrection restored the intimacy lost through sin. Sin has been conquered, death defeated.  A prophet is trying to make up for lost time. Their drive, their passion, their point of view is to be intimate with Jesus. Nothing else matters to them.

An apostle has experienced the pain of seeing the lost and the passion to win them to Christ, has experienced the over whelming passion to feed the sheep physically and spiritually to have them walk the walk in their lifestyle, has experienced the power of teaching with authority the Word of God, has experienced that intimacy with his/her God through Jesus, but unfortunately can not to all of them himself unless he wants to get burned out, which happens to many a man of God who takes on more than he can handle. An apostle’s point of view, his vision, his sight is seeing the Big Picture, the Church as a whole.  Since he cannot do it all himself, he is commissioned to encourage others who have the other four passions and “prepares God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4)  His job is to “see over” the Big Picture, not “oversee” it, for that is the Holy Spirit’s job, and to prepare God’s people for the works of service.

     The five fold is five distinctly different points of view that can divide the Church if not led by the Holy Spirit, or be the very tool to unify it.

Spirit of Evangelism: New Horizons

 

What Is On The Horizon?Who Is Beside You?

I have look at evangelism from several different angles over the last dozen and a half blogs.  It has been a fascinating and enlightening experience to study the history of evangelism from outdoor meetings that Wesley vehemently rejected at first only to embrace and perfect later to the refinement of mass evangelistic crusades reaching thousands in large sports complexes. In spite of all our efforts to reach large groups with a single swoop, one-on-one evangelism still proves to be the most effective method because it requires us to be a part of it.  One of the greatest thrills in a Christian’s life is leading someone else into the kingdom.  Seeing the physical birth of one’s child is an unbelievable experience, so is witnessing someone’s spiritual birth.  The Birthing Process is a beautiful experience, physically and spiritually.

Yet in the midst of this beauty the Church has also witnessed controversies: large evangelistic crusade teams ripping off financially local towns, churches, and municipalities; huge “reaping” of the lost only to lose them back to the world again because of lack of follow up after the evangelistic endeavor; the evangelist being a parachurch ministry, leaving town after the evangelistic endeavor instead of being part of the ongoing ministry of the local congregation; because of the lack of follow up the need to have yet another evangelistic endeavor again and again to fill in for those who dropped out of the church or returned to the world. 

Personally, I have been involved in all kinds of evangelistic endeavors as I have shared in my blogs, but looking back, their failures glare with their successes.  With televangelists flooding America’s airwaves, Christian radio easily found on America’s radio dials, Christian blogs, tweets, web sites, chat rooms, and streams on the Internet, then why is America progressing away from being a Christian nation? 

     An evangelist needs a pastor/shepherd to “feed my sheep” or nurture them in growth.  An evangelist needs a teacher to teach these newly born sheep in the tenants of faith according to the Holy Spirit’s teaching of all truth through the Bible.  An evangelist needs a prophet to hear the revelation of truth, teaching one how to live the Rhema Word, the living word, beside the Logos Word, or written word.  An evangelist needs someone with apostolic insight, or point of view, to “see over” the whole process of nurturing a believer from birth towards being in the likeness of Jesus. 

If an evangelist is missing one of these components, one of these passions, one of these points of views from encircling him in love and mercy in the Church, he will never see the fullness of the harvest he has dreamt of. 

Stick with me in future blogs, as we examine those who support and are grateful for the evangelist and how they work together to “equip the saints” now that they are birthed.

Spirit of Evangelism: Creative Evangelism

 Satan Counterfeits; Only God Can Create

Palm reading, or palmistry, is an ancient practice used throughout the world, but how about Psalm reading, or Psalministry?  This is definitely creative evangelism.

I once heard a speaker, Ken, (sorry I do not recall his last name) who goes to Salem, Massachusetts in October with a contingent of Bible students.  Ken is not intimidated by the occult as so many Christians are, but challenges them.  His evangelistic team sets up a tent and a stage to do drama and to give personal prophetic words to people.  He has been so successful that even local witches have come into their tent to see what it is all about.  One witch even sent a customer to them because she felt they could do more for her than she could.

Last year he tried something different, where he would look at someone’s palm, but recite scripture from the book of Psalms instead. The Psalm with prophetic insight has led several people to the Lord, thus Psalms Reading instead of Palm Reading.

The accuracy of their prophetic words, the love they have shown everyone, and the grace they have displayed have earned them respect among the Salem community while they were there.  Often evangelistic endeavors bring animosity from the locals, but that is not the case here.

Often we give the occult too much credit, when in reality satan is not a creator.  He cannot create anything.  Only God can create, thus satan is a counterfeiter while God is the creator.  If we allow the Holy Spirit to “creatively” bring out the “creation” the “Creator” has “created” in us, evangelism could be drastically different than it is today. I would like to challenge you to listen to the Creator to see what he would want you to do creatively to bring others into his saving grace.

Spirit of Evangelism: Lost In The Shuffle

 

Take Time To Smell The Roses, Or Is That Fish?

It ceases to amaze me that Jesus’ disciples saw him feed thousands, yet miss the miracle of it all.  It happened a second time before Jesus stopped them and made them refocus.  I can imagine the twelve got caught up in the “How To” of the actual feeding of the thousands.  They had to go through groups of 50 and 100, continually breaking bread and fish, which seemed a never-ending chore. Then they had clean up duty collecting basketfuls of leftovers and wondering what to do with it all.

I am sure they were dumbfounded when later Jesus rebukes them for their unbelief.  He fed thousands, yet they freaked out when seeing him walk on water.  They had witnessed water into wine, healings of leprosy, deliverance from demons, and even the raising of the dead, yet they were so busying in the “doing” of all of this, that they missed out the significance of the moment.

How often do we get caught up “doing church” that we miss “being the Church”?  or administrating and doing the programs that we miss what God did during them?  When I was Lay Witness Missions Coordinator, I got so busy overseeing the weekend as the focal point of leadership, I would often ask my wife when leaving the church where we had just ministered, “What happened this weekend?”  I had to learn to stop, during the weekend, and smell the roses.  I had to stop from breaking the loaves and fish to realize the significance of what the Holy Spirit was doing at that moment.

When there is a new work, a new church being birthed, a new ministry, there is excitement.  Often when we get caught up in the excitement we miss the significance of the moment. An effective evangelist has to learn to not get caught up in the “how-tos” of the moment, but learn how to cherish the moment, smell the roses, the fresh loaves, the fish.  Unlike the disciples, let’s not miss Jesus when caught up in the midst of the “doing” of the work.  If we miss Jesus, the doing means nothing.

Spirit of Evangelism: Rebirthing?

 Do I And The Church Need To Be "Born Again"?

     When Jesus came to earth he never established an institution, a structure, a program, a model, he majored in people.  He touched the sick, not only taught the multitudes but fed them, mourned over the death of an only child raising that child from the dead for the glory of its mother, even exhorted John to take care of his mother while hanging on the cross.  One of the keys to Jesus ministry was “the human element”.

• ·      What happens when we lose “the human element”? Is an institution born, a structure birthed and set in order, a program put in place to be practiced? 
• ·      What happens when “streaming the Sunday Services over the internet” becomes more important than visiting the shut-ins?  How many shut-ins do you know? When was the last time you visited one?
• ·      What happens when watching the National Geographic Channel’s excellent programs on Maximum Security Prisons, Locked Up Abroad, and doing Hard Time takes the place of actually visiting the prisoners in prison.  How many people in prison do you know? Have you ever visited your local prison?  When a prisoner is released, where are they to go, back to the streets, back to the environment that has poisoned them? And in our pious attitudes we wonder why they “don’t make it” and eventually become a “repeater”!
• ·      What happens to orphans? Jesus said, “Let the little ones come unto me.”  Orphanages, do they even exist today? Instead we have “programs” and “human services”?  Have you ever participated in a Big Brother or Big Sister Program?  Is the lost child to be taken care of by our government through “Children’s Services” or by the Church?
• ·      How about the widow?  Is she the Church’s responsibility? According to the Bible, YES!  The Welfare System, A.A.R.P. or Medicare was not God’s best effort to help the widow; it was our way of creating a system to detach us from our responsibilities.

The first century Church fed one another, took care of their orphans and widows, addressed the issues of the oppressed, the prisoners, the down trodden, clothed the naked, healed the sick.  They did not count on Caesar, although still instructed to pay taxes to him to support “his system”, but counted on Jesus Christ and His kingdom to meet their needs.  Jesus always focused on “the human element”.

So I ask, “Does the Church, itself, need a rebirth?”  Do we, the Church, especially I, a believer in Jesus Christ, need to rebirth, rekindle, redirect, refocus on the human element of “loving my neighbor”, even “loving my enemy”? Do I need to birth if I have never done it before, or rebirth, if I have but lost the passion, a desire to visit the sick, the imprisoned, the orphan, the elderly, and the widow?  Do I need to birth or rebirth my lifestyle to include them?  Or do I just “go to church” enjoy the benefits of the structure, institution, and services?  Has “church” become “convenient”?  Has the church you attend become program-matic, institutionalized, so structured that you attending it allows you to not really get involved in the daily life and activities of the others who attend?  Has it, better yet, have you lost “the human element”?  If so, then maybe you need to have that be “birthed” or “born again” in you!  Yes the Church itself, and me, as a believer needs to be “born again”, experience a rebirth?

Spirit of Evangelism: Birthing

Nicodemus Complex

 
Nicodemus was a religious scholar and leader of his time, a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish body. He had a keen interest in this Jesus and his teaching. Jesus looked at him and proclaimed, “You must be born again.”

Nicodemus knew that physically that was impossible. One cannot go back into their mother’s womb and be reborn. He was entirely perplexed by what Jesus asked him to do.

Often I have heard this passage taught explaining the spiritual birth. One is born physically, but needs to be born spiritual, thus Christians teach about rebirth. How often has Billy Graham preached, “You must be born again”?

One of the mindsets towards evangelism we might examine is that of “birthing”. Evangelists know how to birth. Birthing is what drives them, their passion. They are like midwives wanting to birth. After the birth the nursery staff can begin the new one’s development, for there are more births out there.

If birthing is so important to the evangelist, I would like you to brainstorm ideas at how an evangelism might use the birthing process in the Church other than just “leading people to the Lord”. If those in the church listen to what the Holy Spirit want to do among them, who better to birth that vision, that passion, than the evangelist. After the evangelists “ignites” the vision, others in the church will move forward to implement it.

As we look at the five fold ministry in future blogs, we will discover that “birthing” is the key, the passion, the point of view of the Evangelist that will free him to be what he was created to be, yet serve the others in the body bringing unity.

Spirit of Evangelism: Hearing

 

Listening Before Speaking

Years ago our church taught Ministering Spiritual Gifts through Bishop Bill Hammon’s Christian International. It was a course that taught one how to progress from quiet individual prayer to listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit to the point of giving personal prophetic words to people. It could be intimidating to one who likes a “quiet witness”. One of the first lessons is just to pray orally with another person, and for some, that is pushing them beyond their comfort zones.

 I remember taking the lesson on “Journaling” where you ask the Lord a question, sit in silence and listen to the Spirit’s prodding, then writing what you think you have heard. Often one may get the first word or two, and in faith start only to feel the flow after taking the step of faith.  I wrote, “Is this journaling real? I need to know.” I sat quiet, then began to write. I could not believe what I got. I wrote:

“Anthony, I know you like to talk, for I have been listening to you. I want you to know that I like to talk too. Are you willing to listen to Me?”

Ouch! Right on the mark; how true! Since that day I have tried to cultivate my “hearing ear” to listening to the Spirit. I would rather listened during a worship service that speak or sing.

Can you imagine how powerful and effective we would be if we just “listened” for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit to tell us what to do and then be obedient to what we have heard? That is what Jesus did, often going alone in solitude just to listen. After listening, he could walk on water during storms, feed five thousand with a few fish and loaves.

If we want to be effective evangelists, maybe we should learn to “listen” first, before speaking, then we would not have to do “evangelistic programs” or models. Wow, take the time right now and listen. Stop reading this blog, listen, and act on what you hear the Spirit telling you.