Retooling: Can Budget Battles Affect The Church?

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

The evening news tonight shifted from unrest and protests against dictators in the Middle East to unrest and protests in Wisconsin and Washington over up coming budget battles that could cripple Federal and State governments.  With all these budget cuts, particularly of public services, how will the 21^st Century church respond?

Will a shift occur away from the expectancy that the government will take care of us to looking to the Church for support?  The public is rebelling about having to pay for services while still expecting them.  I know in Central Pennsylvania the mindset exists that service oriented professions should “sacrifice” for the public good, thus salaries for public service jobs have always been quite a bit lower than the national average.  The public still wants the services, but wants the providers to “sacrifice” rather than paying for it.

I would not be surprised if the public begins to look to the Church to “sacrifice” their services to meet their needs and wants. Will the Church be asked to respond through more food banks, rescue missions, counseling services, community service projects, programs, etc.?  Will people in a confused, restless society look to the Church for tranquility, peace, and safety as it has in past history? 

This whole “Retooling” series began with the layoffs of Harley Davidson, the retooling of that company, turning it from the brink of financial ruin to a profitable business.  Now with budget cuts, even church staffs are being laid off and cut backed, yet parishioners are still expecting the same services.  How is the church to react to this challenge that affects its internal structure and the world about it?  If there was ever a time for the evangelical spirit to arise, the pastoral spirit to reach out, the practical teaching spirit to be released, and the prophetic spirit to move, with the oversight from the apostolic spirit, it is now!  But to have these spirits, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ to arise, reach out, be released, move, and provide over sight, then the church will need retooling on how it thinks, the mindsets it harbors, and the way it does business, oops, I mean the way it does church.  If there has ever been a time for the church to re-examine the five fold and its possibilities and potentials, it is now, in the 21^st Century.

Retooling: Service Based; Not Service Driven

Five Fold Must Be Relational – Part XXX

I have shared the five fold as a point of view or passion, that which drives a person, but the bottom line is that the five fold is all about relationships, relationships between people with different passions for the unity of the body and the maturity of the saints.  The five fold is to “prepare the saints for the work of the service.”  Service is central to the five fold, but the dark side could be if a principle that is “service based” becomes “service driven” rather than relational.

Luke 10:38-42 records the “service driven” Martha actually complaining to Jesus about her sister, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?”  He replies, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

What was the better is the basic principle of how the five fold must work: Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening, building a relationship.  Mary was so “busy serving” she did not take the time to listen to the voice of Jesus.  In John 11:21 little miss organizer, who likes to have her ducks in order, confronts Jesus over her brother’s, Lazarus’, death, “Lord, if you would have been here, he would not have died.”  She had even prepared for Lazarus’ recovery if Jesus had come. What she had forgotten is that God majors in “preparation”, and she could have listened to Him in the flesh if she would have taken the time.  God sent the prophets to prepare for Jesus’ coming.  He sent John the Baptist to “prepare” the way. Like Mary, I would not have sent a “hippie” who eats locust and honey but a “learned” rabbi who had studied the Word, but God knows better.

In John both girls go and meet Jesus, but their encounter is different. Martha confirms her belief of the resurrection and her confession of Jesus as the Messiah; Mary weeps, moving Jesus to Lazarus’ tomb producing his actual resurrection.

The five fold, as outlined in Ephesians 4, is all about “preparing the saints for the work of the service”, the Martha syndrome, yet anchored in the relational, the Mary syndrome, as it is to bring unity in the body and develop the saints into maturity of being Christ-like.

If the 21^st Century Church is to be retooled, it has to be anchored in the relational: 1) their “personal” relationship with Jesus Christ and Father God (John 3:16); and 2) their relationship with each other, their brothers in the Lord, their neighbors, and others (I John 3:16).  Only through those relationships, the Mary syndrome, will the fruit of service, the Martha syndrome, be evident.

Retooling: Raising The Bar Of Expectations

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

In public education I have been told that students will perform better if you raise the bar of expectation.  You only get what you expect.  I have seen expectations erode over the years as a public school teacher in the name of good grades, honor rolls, and parental approval.  It is a common belief that if you lower the expectations, you reduce the chance of failure, yet many still fail. Why?  Because we do not expect much from them, thus motivation dwindles, replaced by student “entitlement”.  Students expect passing grade without the effort, motivation, nor work that is needed to successfully achieve. They feel “passing” is a “right”, not a “privilege” or something “to be earned”.  As we have watered down expectations, we, in the United States, have seen student performance erode to new, lower levels, falling drastically behind other countries who still value education, motivation, and aren’t afraid to keep higher expectations.

I have seen this influence the church too!  My question to the leadership of the 21^st Century Church is, “What do you expect from those who make up the Body of Christ?  As long as there is staff to cover the church’s needs, then not much is expected except for the finances to cover the paid staff’s salaries and benefits.  That is where most churches are today. 

What should we, the Church, expect from each other as members of the Body of Christ?  Should we raise the bar of expectations, or just allow people to filter in and out of our churches according to their needs, wants, and whims?  How can those believers who expect the church to “serve” them be changed into ones we can expect to serve others?  That is raising the bar.  How do we get people to raise the bar of service if they expect to be served and have no idea how to serve others? 

This is where the five fold is a necessity for the 21^st Century Church, because the purpose of the five fold according to Ephesians 4 is to “prepare 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.”(NIV)  To raise the bar, the Church needs to “prepare” God’s people for “works of service”.  We need to birth, care, nurture, and develop believers into “servers”.  It is a process!  We need to do this until “we all reach unity in the faith”, and today with all the divisions in the body of Christ that would have to be a miracle, a “God Moment”!  It seems not to be short term, nor close to fulfillment. The knowledge that needs to be taught, trained, and developed in a believer is not “academic”, but “in the knowledge of the Son of God.”  It is “knowing”, “experiencing” God in our everyday lives. All this caring, training, and developing for the purpose of becoming “mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  You cannot raise the bar any higher than that!

It take the Church, the entire body of Christ, to do this development of spiritual character of service in each and every believer, that is why you need the five different points of view and passions, working together, to create this unity, this knowledge, and this maturity.  No Sr. Pastor, nor paid staff, can attain the bar that has been raised this high.  It takes the entire body, you, me, and all our other brothers and sisters in the Lord together in the effort. The challenge of the 21^st Century Church is to transform the reputation of “pew sitters” to “active participants” of service.  How do you do this?  You do it through birthing, caring, nurturing, and developing each and ever believer toward the goal of knowing their God and maturing into the full measure of Jesus Christ. This is what the five fold is all about!

I think if the Church began working toward this raised bar, they would see those believers who love Jesus respond in service.  If the leadership allows their sheep to be released to serve, there would be an evangelistic explosion and development in the Church. 

But the cry could be that no man can attain that status.  Wrong!  There was one man who did, Jesus. God sent Jesus, His Son, to the earth to prove that man can do it when if the “fullness of Jesus Christ”.  He then released the Holy Spirit to the earth to teach man the process of how to attain this knowledge and maturity.  Until the Church releases and allows the Holy Spirit to do what he is suppose to do through those he has been training to do “the works of service”, the bar will remain low, and the response and fruit minimal.

Retooling: Pastoral Gift “Sent Out”, Not An Invitation to “Come In”

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

Pastoring, or shepherding, should not just be done in a church building setting.  The Great Commission is a call to “Go Out” into the world.  Those hurting in the world need someone to care for them, to nurture them, to help develop them; someone just to love them.  We, the Church, need to provide that “sent out” pastoral touch to the world.

The elderly couple next store still strives for their independence, but during poor weather and visibility with the fear of driving in the dark; they need pastoral care, so go to the pharmacy, grocery store, etc. for them.  The single guy across the street is often home alone most week day nights, probably lonely; take some snacks and go spend sometime with him or invite him over to your house.  The couple that has toddlers spends 24/7 with the kids, give them two prepaid movie tickets and babysit their kids so they can have a night out. The stay at home mother spends all days with children; she craves for “adult conversation”.  Women, make her part of your day by walking with her and the kids, having tea or coffee sporadically with her, calling her on the phone.  These are just a few practical examples of “pasturing”, “shepherding”, taking care of others.

In a five fold setting a pastor/shepherd and an evangelist are indispensable for each other. If a believer cares for unbelievers, those they care for are more likely to receive the evangelistic gospel message with less resistance.  Pastoring cultivates or prepares the ground, plants the seeds of faith, service, and care, so the evangelist can reap the harvest easier.  Also those that the evangelist births, needs a spiritual pastor to nurture them.  The purpose of the five fold is to “equip” the saints for the “work” of the “service”.  

Pastoring/shepherding is “work” for the purpose of “serving”.  The more you serve; the more productive you become.  My question is how do we “equip” a person with a pastoral passion to be “sent out”? Today the church would say with proper Bible training, probably several years of formal Bible School or Seminary.  No, my question wasn’t how do you make or develop a person to become a professional pastor, but how do you “equip” a person with a pastoral passion to be “sent out”? 

You “equip” him with those things he needs to “care” for others, those things needed to “love your neighbor as yourself”.  If it isn’t good enough for you; it isn’t good enough for your neighbor.”  Why do we give our left over clothes to those in need that aren’t good enough for ourselves any more, rather than giving our best. We need to give as “unto the Lord”. Are we to give only “what’s left over” to Him, or do we give our best? One year, when reaching out to two families we fellowship with who were in need, we gave every person in our group new, fresh, whitey-tidies, alias underwear and under clothes.  It was one of the neatest Christmas parties that I have been a part of!

“Equipping the saints” also means giving other believers, my brother and sister in the Lord, my gifting to aid their effort. That is why a pastor needs an evangelist, a teacher, a prophet, and an apostle around him/her to help “equip” him in a joint “body” ministry, where the church is not an individual but a body, a group of believers pulling for the same common good, the kingdom of God.  The pastorally gifted believer CAN NOT nurture, disciple, develop, or care for the sheep ALONE! He needs the teacher to teach “how to walk this walk of faith practically, not how to talk it without walking it. The teacher needs to be part of this pastoral endeavor. The prophet needs to get their head out of heaven all the time, and recite “thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”.  Helping the pastor nurture these infants in the Lord in how to listen to the voice of God and be obedient is aiding in the pastoral role.  The apostle “covers” these infants, coordinating endeavors to make sure the toddlers in Jesus are fed physically and spiritually, nurtured and developed properly physically and spiritually in their growth into the likeness of Jesus.

Pastoring/Shepherding CAN NOT BE DONE ALONE, it needs a five fold ministry team or effort to effectively care for, nurture, and help grow a sinner into a saint, and a saint into the image of Jesus!  God bless a person with a passion to pastor/shepherd.

Retooling: Taking the Pastoral Gift Out Side The Church Walls

The 21st Century Retooling of the Church – Part XIII

Pastoring or shepherding is the point of view or passion to care for, nurture, disciple, and develop someone toward maturity.  It is the true form of parenting.  As a new born, humans are totally helpless. The only things we can do is breath, sleep, poop, and pass gas.  Often a newborn has to be taught how to eat, what to suck in order to be nurtured.  A newborn has to be diapered, bathed, rolled over, burped, etc.  As it is growing it has to be taught how to walk, talk, eat with a spoon, communicate, dress itself, and be potty trained.  Later it has to be taught how to read, draw, write, and develop one’s thinking process.

In the Christian world one is taught, “You must be born again,” alias the salvation message.  If you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, your are considered a new born, for “behold the old has passed away, the new has begun.” As human beings, spiritually we need to be “taught” how to walk, talk, and believe in faith. We need to learn the Word, be taught how to listen to the Holy Spirit’s still small voice, how to be disciplined, obedient to the Word, the Bible, and how to live out that Rhema Word in our daily lives.

I contend that we can also pastor out side our church walls.  We can help care for, nurture, and develop one to be a successful, loving, positive, caring person, and hopefully then lead them into the Presence of God by having them accept Jesus as their Savior.

In my forty years as a public school teacher, I have tried to pastor the faculty, my peers.  I turned what I called the Den of Iniquity, the Faculty Room, which was a haven of complaining about students, staff, and administration, a gossip center, into an area of encouragement, support, and laughter, but it has taken years.  I headed the purchasing candy, crackers, snacks, soda, coffee, etc. as a service to them. Profits afforded us to send flowers when a peer was hospitalized or severely ill, purchase personalized coffee mugs with a picture of the staff or building with their personal name on the back in an attempt to bring unity.  Profits were also used to finance events to bring our staff together in purely a social environment, building friendships.  Transforming this environment changed the entire educational climate of our building positively.  It took a lot of work, time, and sacrifice, but the dividends have produced positive fruit.

We all can be positive role models sharing a pastoral spirit to those around you.  I have taken new teachers under my wing to praise, to listen to, and to encourage instead of criticizing and gossiping about them, spent time with discouraged teacher helping them through their dark days, sent encouraging emails to a stressed faculty in an effort to make them laugh, popped my head into as many of my peer’s room in a day as possible just to give a positive greeting to get them out of their protective, secluded world of just their room.

Pastoring, or shepherding, should not just be done in a church building setting.  The Great Commission is a call to “Go Out” into the world.  Those hurting in the world need someone to care for them, to nurture them, to help develop them; someone just to love them.  We, the Church, need to provide that “sent out” pastoral touch to the world.

Retooling: Evangelism is “Just Doing It”!

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

I truly believe that the reason Jesus came to earth was to “reveal the heart of the Father”.  In a previous blog (Mon. Dec. 12, 2010) I shared how the word “agape” as in “agape love” is God’s love.   Agape love as translated in old Hebrew means “revealing the heart of the Father”.  Jesus’ mission on earth was “to reveal the heart of His Father”. He said, “If you have scene me, you have seen the Father,” and  “I and the Father am one.”

Jesus spent hours in seclusion praying, seeking the will of the Father,” and the Father was always faithful and revealed His Will to His Son.  The key to seeking the will of the Father is being obedient to that will when it is revealed to you.  Once you know His will, then “Just Do It”!  Just Act!  Those in the first century sought the Will of the Father wanting to reveal the Father to their generation, and God was faithful and revealed Himself to them.  All they had to do is “Just Do It”, “Act”, thus the book of Acts was birthed.

Evangelist also want to reveal the “heart of the Father.” To do that they will go to no length to reveal Spirit of Jesus Christ to the lost and dying world, which is the heart of the Father.  Evangelists are in the “revealing” spirit.  They “Just Do It”!  You can’t stop a believer who has a passion to reveal the heart of the Father; they can’t help themselves. They “Just Do It”!  New believers in Jesus Christ just want to tell others, the evangelistic spirit, to anyone one and everyone about their “new” experience of being “born again”. They “Just Do It”!

The five fold ministry is all about release, not holding back, “Just Doing It” out of obedience so that “the heart of the Father” is being revealed.  Does the Church want revival?  Then let the evangelism “Just Do It”.  Revival always starts with evangelism.  We need to let the evangelist “reveal his heart”, the heart of evangelism, the Father’s heart to the lost.  We need to release the shepherd to “reveal his heart”, the heart of compassion, care, and nurturing to the new babes in Christ.  We need to release the teacher to “reveal the heart of the Father” through his written word, the Logos Word, the Bible so that scriptural truths will be revealed.  We need to release the prophet to “reveal the heart of the Father” through the living word, the Rhema word, ro reveal how to live out our faith in our daily life.  And we need to release again the apostle to “reveal the heart of the Father” through the Church, through the giftings, callings, passions, and points of view that make up the body of Christ to bring unity.

You, me, and fellow believers in Jesus Christ must individually and corporately seek the will of the Father God, asking Him through His Son Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ “to reveal His heart” to us today.  God is always faithful.  He is in the reveal business, for the last book of the Bible is even called the book of Revelation, a book to reveal Jesus Christ to us.  The Father “will” reveal His heart to you, me, us as a body; now you, me, us…, we must be obedient to what “heart revelation” he exposes.

He reveals; we respond….. how? We need to “Just Do It”!

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.

Wouldn’t We Love To Be Accountable To Those Who Serve Us?

Service/Accountability Series: Part 6 – Accountability Through Service

Instead of having the feeling that we are accountable to an individual or group who is “above” us, would we not feel more comfortable being accountable to someone who is in relationship with us as our “peers” but whom we respect?

With most bosses there is a distance, almost a self imposed alienation, because of the pyramidal hierarchy of leadership we have come to know in western civilization.  Even the westernized church has fallen for this type of leadership.  Some seminaries teach not to get close to your parishioners because you will be moved every five to eight years.  The Gospel is all about an intimate relationship made with God through Jesus Christ and what he did on the Cross.  The “family of God” is all about relationships with each other, yet the higher up in leadership one climbs in church hierarchy the more distant one becomes from God’s people.

The five fold pluralistic model I presented in my last blog breaks down these barriers of distance.  One becomes intimate friends with other people who have different points of view and passions than oneself, but are willing to use their gifts to serve you.  It is dynamic to have someone motivated about the “new birth” and the birthing process around you, someone to nurture and disciple your daily walk, someone to teach you the Logos Word, and someone to translate it into the Rhema or living Word, and even someone to guide and coordinate everyone’s gifting toward serving you!  Would not your natural response be to submit to their service?

How does this submission look like?  Basically, the giving back of your gift to impact their life causes a bonding, or a relationship, through Jesus Christ.  If you are accountable to four different points of view and passions than your own, there is a better chance of someone seeing you drifting off the mark and gracefully brining correction before there is a crisis.  Your service to them also opens their eyes to your point of view or passion bringing unity in uderstanding.

I have been taught that sin is “missing the mark”.  There are times that I have sinned, missed the mark, because I did not have a true spiritual shepherd walking me through daily tasks in my life to guide and demonstrate how to walk in faith and love.  I have missed the mark when making the Logos Word the final word through my legalistic interpretation, only to have someone theologically correct me or someone point to the Rhema or living out of the Word.  I have missed the mark because I did not have someone give me proper over sight, helping me work with the different passions, points of view, and mindsets to bring unity instead of division.  I have sinned……

There are four steps to accountability: 1) Stop, 2) Look, 3) Listen, 4) Be Obedient To What You Have Seen and Heard!  The Cross demands accountability:  Vertically – Stop, look to the Father, listen for His heartbeat, listen to His still small voice, then be obedient to the revelation that you have seen and heard.  That is how Jesus functioned as a human while on earth.  Horizontally – Stop, look to others in the Church, the Body of Christ with different points of views and passions, listen from their perspective of point of view though different from yours, then be obedient to what you have seen and have been told.

The result: Accountability at a new and greater level than the Church has experienced in centuries. A balanced, protective, growing discipleship that will continue to develop a believer into being more Christ-like, more maturing into the image of Jesus Christ.  That is the accountability that the Church needs today.

Accountability In The Church: A Five Prong Circular Model

Service/Accountability Series: Part 5 – Accountability Is A Multidirectional Street

Years ago I journaled asking the Lord what this Five Fold Ministry is all about, and he gave me a simple diagram for a simple mind (which fits me).  He showed me how each of the fivefold is to serve the other four, and in return, they serve you, thus a reciprocal back and forth of service through love.  There can be no greater love than “laying down your life for your brethren” (I John 3:16) to those who are “laying down their life for you”.  This selfless, sacrifice of giving and receiving brings an accountability the Church has not seen since its inception.

If you extend the fingers of that diagram from each of the fivefold to the other members, a five pointed star in a circle is created.  You now have an accountability structure between five different mind sets, passions, and points of view which together gives you a picture of unity.

Leadership with this model would be dynamic, for it would replace church counsels, pastor-parish committees, board of elders, strong pastor models, etc. because none of the five is “in charge”.  The Holy Spirit is in charge, and the gifting that is needed at the moment can arise, thus the wheel can rotate when needed.

For example: Hypothetically, let’s say a church with the five fold is seeking how to reach the homeless in their fair city.  Instead of using the “Homeless Evangelistic Model”, or the “Effective Intercity Church Model”, or some other model used by another congregation or famous speaker or preacher, the group actually seeks the Lord to speak to them in a time of fellowship, prayer, and worship.  The prophet speaks a prophetic word, confirmed scripturally through the teacher, affirmed by the pastor, and birthed by the evangelist with the oversight and approval of the apostle. An answer and strategy is reached in unity, and each of the five uses their gifting, strength, and passion in making the answer become reality and a success.  We just took the politics out of church politics, replacing it with sacrificial service resulting in unity.

The evangelist comes to the forefront in an effort to birth the project; then the wheel turns. The pastor comes forth with a plan to shepherd the new flock, to meet their daily needs and teach them how to walk in this new found faith, birthed by the evangelist. The wheel turns again as the teacher shares scriptures from the Word, the Bible, to build up the saints and five direction while the prophet speaks Rhema life into those words. The wheel turns again, and the apostle, who has done nothing but “seen over” this process gives his “oversight” and approval of the whole picture working together in unity and direction.

All this works only if there is trust and faith in one another.  Do we as a Church have the faith to trust the Holy Spirit to give us answers and/or direction?  Do we have the faith and trust in our fellow believers whom we have bonded with to release control of the situation and allow each of the five fold to use their gifting and passion?  Can I trust a brother or sister in the Lord who is different from me: one with an evangelistic heart and spirit to birth, one with a passion for shepherding to pastor, one with teaching talent to decipher the Logos Word, one with a prophetic heart and spirit to bring life to the Word, to the project, and to the group, and one who will over see, or see over what is happening without controlling it, only serving the others who are implementing, doing the work of the ministry? The purpose of the five fold in Ephesians 4 is “to equip the saints for the work of the service”. Doesn’t this look like “equipping” and releasing one another for the common good of the Church?

Can a model like this work in Christianity today? Only with faith and trust. Faith is the essence of things not seen but believed. Can we believe the Holy Spirit for answers and direction? Can what is not seen but revealed by the Holy Spirit be seen through the working out of that revelation through five different mindsets, points of view, and passions working in unity? Trust is letting go, not hoarding, not controlling, but freeing one to follow and serve.  Most of all, none of this will work unless we as Christians begin to “lay down our lives for the brethren.” 

Wow, faith, trust, love… write out of the book of II Corinthians. The first century Church at Corinth struggled with it, and the twenty-first century Church in my local town is still faced with it, unless we continue to ignore it!  Do we have the faith?  Can we trust?  Can we love?  That is the challenge of this blog!

Leadership Accountability

Service/Accountability Series: Part 4 – No “Blame Game”

Where is there accountability in the Church?  How often have I head from the pulpit about “those others who call themselves Christians, but … ‘They’ are false teacher who don’t believe the scriptures and do things differently than ‘us’ who are Bible believing.” No wonder there is division in the Church.  Each faction, sect, denomination, or group that claims to be Christian feels they have the truth and follow it, and the rest of the Body of Christ is in error, so they blame all of the Church’s ills on “them”, the "others".

I once heard a teaching that changed my life and mindset about leadership and the Church. The teacher explained that even though Jesus loved the Church, that is not why he died on the Cross.  He died on the Cross out of “obedience to the Father.”  When on the Cross he took 100% responsibility for your sin, my sin, the sins of the world, and he did not blame the Romans, the Jews, the Pharisees, his accusers, or you or me. Instead he proclaimed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Here is the key to leadership and accountability as exemplified by Jesus on the Cross:  A true leader takes 100% responsibility for that which he/she is responsible, and blames no one!

If a platoon leader and his battle group accidently kills civilians during combat, the President of the United States, the Commander-in-Chief, addresses the nation and takes responsibility for their actions and apologizes to the nation and those offended and does not spread the blame even though he was not directly involved in the incident. That is leadership!

If each leader in the Church would stand up and take 100% responsibility for the Church that he so preciously believes in and supposedly loves, and doesn’t blame every other faction of the body different from him, he would earn my respect.

If a husband takes 100% responsibility for his family and doesn’t blame the wife or the kids, he earns my respect.  Most marital arguments and divorces are nothing but “the Blame Game”, the key to winning custody and postnuptial battles in court.  If the man took 100% responsibility for his family while giving out 0% blame, he would earn his wife’s and children’s respect.  According to the Bible, men are to “love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”  Women are to “respect” their husbands.  I contend that if men practiced this kind of love, their wives would not only willingly submit to them, but run to their arms because they would see Jesus in their husband’s life.

If an employer takes 100% responsibility for his business and doesn’t blame his employees for the company’s faults and ills, every employee would work their tail off for him and the success of the company with pride.

The Cross is all about accountability: vertically – being accountable to God by taking 100% responsibility for one’s actions and sphere of influence (John 3:16); horizontally – being accountable to fellow believers by not “blaming” them, but “laying down one’s life for their brethren” (I John 3:16).

This is the key to Church leadership and relationships within the Body of Christ.

Yo-Yo Effect – Back and Forth?

Service/Accountability Series: Part 3 – Give and Take Accountability

What is accountability in the church?  Is it to a board of elders or deacons, or to a pastor the pastor-perish committee, or to an executive council, or district of denominational board.  Most parishioners are accountable to their church’s leadership.  Most pastors are accountable to some kind of board or council, often limiting their efforts or thwarting them.  Most of these models bring conflict and division.  Church politics can be as ferocious as secular politics.  Many a believer is stung and hurt by the process and leave for another church body if they do not leave the church all together. It has been said that Christians are known to shoot their wounded!

The secular world has painted Christian leadership as the crying Jimmy Sweigarts wailing, “I have sinned”, or the fall of Jim Baker and the PTL Empire with its airconditioned doghouse, or the righteous evangelical spokesman Ted Haggard who fell to his own fleshly desires.  To whom were these men accountable? Sweigart and Baker are both back on TV influencing tens of thousands who watch them.  Haggard has made his way onto Oprah, Larry King, and other TV shows to tell his story.  Lack of accountability helped to bring their fall, and now what “new” form of accountability has been put in place if any?  How often has the downfall of a predominate pastor, teacher, or church leader brought the downfall to their empire or congregation?  How is the church to prevent this?  Can this be prevented?  What changes toward accountability has there been in the last couple decades to address this problem?

I feel the best form of accountability between brethren is the giving and taking of one’s faith, gifting, passion, desire, and point of view to another brother and receiving the same from him.  I asked a “giving” pastor of a substantially large church, “Other than your board or staff, who do you allow to give to you, who do you receive from?” And he stood silent.  If you give to those in your congregation, and you allow them to give back to you, you will build relationships, the golden nugget of Christianity.  The giving and taking is what produces “family”.  We talk about being the “family of God”, yet we keep our distant from other believers prohibiting the process.  Some seminaries even teach their future pastors not to get close to those in their congregations, as if that is not the function of a pastor.

Let’s just look at the evangelist and see how he can benefit by serving a pastor/shepherd, teacher, prophet, and apostle and receive back from them.  This give and take produces relationship, bonding, and trust.  Giving releases service; taking receives accountability from four different point of view and passions that want to serve you for your good and Christian growth.

What does an evangelist have to offer as service: 1) they are in the “birthing process” wanting to win all “the lost” to the Lord; 2) they are forerunners, for they are on the front line of birthing; 3) they also know of rebirth, for “you must be ‘born again’;” 4) They are always in the forefront of revival and restoration. A sign of revival is the lost coming to the Lord; 5) and they can “birth” new programs and new movements. This passion can strengthen and has a direct influence on the other four in the five fold.

What can an evangelist receive from the other four:  1) the encouragement of someone walking out their faith walk on a practical way from a shepherd; 2) the confidence that their theology that they are sharing in their evangelistic message is grounded in the Word of God, the Bible through a teacher; 3) the confidence of learning to hear from God in a very personal, intimate way from a prophet who can also use this gift through personal prophecy to win others to the Lord (Woman at the Well example); 4) and oversight and encouragement by an apostle who sees the big picture and encourages the evangelist to lead the “new” sheep, the “babes” to the pastor/shepherd, have them taught by the teacher, and developing an intimate spiritual growth in them through a prophet.

Although the other four may see from a different point of view, each part of view brings accountability to the evangelist that he never sees. He won’t get blind sided as many who have fallen. He also gets to serve them, and they get to serve him.  Relationships are birthed, trust is built, and a paradigm of accountability is being formed through service from one to the other and receiving of that service.  There is safety in trusting the other passions and points of view and giving to them.

A Parable of Passion and Need

Service/Accountability Series: Part 2 – Differences Can Strengthen?

A Parable:  There was a Christian brother, Ralph, who loved to serve his brethren, always taking time to invite another Christian over for a meal, slipping anonymously money to a brother in need, helping to baby-sit for a young Christian couple so they could preserve their marriage, etc.  Although his motives were pure, with time and continual giving, Ralph found himself experiencing “burn out”. Wanting to give, he found nothing left inside of him.  Recognizing his hurt and his needs, he became depressed.

One person he couldn’t understand, in fact felt repulsed by, was another Christian brother, Tim, who was rather young in the Lord, but was always evangelizing. All Ralph could see was dropped gospel tracks that now littered the street from the point where this young man had handed them to people the whole way to the end of the block.  Tim seemed not to care about what people thought of him nor the trail of litter as he would confront people openly about where they stood with their relationship to God or where they would go upon death. In fact Ralph thought Tim could be quite obnoxious.  Didn’t he know what image he portrayed of the Christian life?

In his ingrained drive to give as part of his Christian walk, Ralph decided to invite Tim to dine with him, which he accepted. While talking over the meal, the young evangelist poured out his passion for the lost; how every moment another person could die and be lost from the wonderful eternal relationship one could have with God through Jesus Christ.  When asked, what he does with young converts, he stood flabbergast. He did not know how to answer. Ralph opened up to tell this young evangelist how he loves new converts too, for his passion is to serve them and help them “walk out this new found faith in Jesus”.  “They are new babes in Jesus,” he chimed, “and I want to walk by their sides just as Jesus did with his disciples.”

“Wow,” the young evangelist gasped. “You are awesome. I wish I could do that, but I am driven to save the lost, so I do not have time to disciple them. You know what? I need you, the Body of Christ, the Church needs you, or all those babes I birthed will leave the Church and could even die. As an evangelist I do not want to see anyone perish, especially these babes in Christ.”

All of a sudden Ralph realized that he was receiving hope, encouragement, and worth from this young evangelist.  Most new Christians are enthusiastic, and an evangelistic spirit brings newness, hope, and new birth.  Ralph reached out his hand to his fellow evangelistic brother and said, “Tim, we need each other. What can I do to help you and those who you are help birthing.  What do you need personally?”

Two kindred spirits, though vastly different, were grafted that day: the newness of the new-birth that an evangelist can give and the caring that a pastoral shepherd can give. They discovered they could give from their strengths to shore up the other’s weaknesses.  This bonding of giving to one another and receiving from the other strengthened and vitalized both believers.

Who’s the Greatest?

Service/Accountability Series: Part 1 – An Overview

The disciples got into a power argument and requested Jesus to settle it. They ask if they could sit on Jesus’ right and left side in the kingdom which would demonstrate their position of power and influence in this new kingdom. This request created quite a fury, and rightfully so, because Jesus instructs his disciples that the one who “serves” will be the greatest of all in this new kingdom.  Jesus also told them that He came not to be served but to serve, and that he exemplified during his whole earthly life, even though he allowed people to serve him, like the woman anointing his feet with oil and drying it with her hair.

The Church boast that it is built on service, but is that so?  Often it has been told me to me, “If you want to be a church leader, you first have to learn or know how to serve like doing janitorial chores (implying that it will prove your servicehood). I am not sure where they got that philosophy, for I know very few Sr. Pastors who do janitorial chores if they have a large staff and building to maintain. Oh, and the janitor, who is part of the staff, gets paid only a fraction of what the Sr. Pastor makes for his “service”.  I question, “Who is doing the most service for the church?  Do the monetary rewards signal the answer to that question?”  The Church also propagates “sacrifice” so it can promote volunteerism, or “free service”.  That has also warped the minds of many church-goers. This “sacrifice” mentality has been so ingrained in Central Pennsylvania, that any service oriented job (pastor, teacher, nurse, caseworker, etc.) is expected to get lower wages than what industry prescribes because they are “service-oriented”, thus they should expect to “sacrifice” for the sake of society.

How does service work. I, as a church-goer, had the mindset that service meant to always give, give, give!  Unfortunately, I was never taught how to receive. If anyone wanted to give to me, I got religiously proud, thanked them for the thought, but I really didn’t need what they were offering me. I rejected their gift. I thwarted their attempt to serve me. I have had to repent of this attitude over the years.  Receiving from someone serving me is often as rewarding as when I serve them.  Serving one another produces a bond of friendship, a relationship with one another, and the gospel is all about relationships.

So how does this principle of “serving” affect the five fold?  It is the keystone to the success of the five fold.  It is built on the principle of serving other believers who have different mind sets, points of view, and passions than my own. I John 3:16 principle of “laying down your life for your brethren” is the key to service.  The reciprocal to all this is to allow those with different points of view and passions than my own to serve me, and I learn to accept with open arms their service of love.  This reciprocal two-prong principle of giving and receiving through service brings accountability between brothers in the kingdom of God, something that is drastically missing in the Church.

In the next several blogs we will look specifically at how to serve other believers with different giftings, points of view, mind-sets, and passions, and how to receive their service. We will hopefully discover the power of I John 3:16 at work and a new paradigm of accountability to the Body of Christ by dynamically challenging to the way the current Church thinks about leadership and accountability.

I invite you to continue with me on this journey over the next several blogs.

Who Do You “Hang Out” With?

It Is All About Relationships

Rather than getting hung up on the Five Fold as offices or even ministries, let’s look at it strictly in the terms of relationship and the need for that relationship.

It has taken me quite a time to learn that I need the Body of Christ, the Church, and the Body of Christ needs me.  I need Jesus, and Jesus needs me for my body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit and this is where His Spirit has chosen to dwell.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about relationship, with Him and with His Body!

If I am to grow in the Body of Christ, I need to make wise choices as to who I “hang out” with, who will influence me, who will be with me day in and day out, who will be my close friend.  These are the personalities and characteristics that I need as a Christian around me:

I need a person who is a new babe in the Lord.  Their enthusiasm and newfound faith are contagious.  They bring life and inspiration into one’s life.  Their faith can be obnoxious at times and their doctrine a little off, but they are like little kids that just discovered Christmas and want to open up all the gifts given to them. They will invite you to play with them and their gifts!

I need a person who wants to grow in the Lord, build character, and continue the change that was started in them during their new birth in Jesus.  Doing Bible study together is enriching; their desire to want to now “walk out this walk” that the Bible outlines.  Walking this daily walk with them strengthens you and keeps your direction true.

I need a person who loves to study the Bible, read the Bible, then use those Biblical applications in walking out their own lives.  I need a person who takes “the Word, and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,” a person who makes Jesus alive through the Word.

I strive to be with a person who makes God real in their life, who desires an intimate relationship with Him, who not only knows of Him, but strives to really know Him. “Where two or more are together, there I AM.”  I need others who want to be in God’s Presence through corporate worship.

I need to hang around someone who “sees the big picture”, the body of Christ as a whole, who can give a healthy perspective of the Church.  A person like that builds up my faith and belief of the power of the Church in our age.

Hang out with those five type people, and one is apt to grow in the Lord, maybe even mature in the Lord. Relationships with those five are vital for a well balanced Christian walk. I encourage you to start looking for those kinds of Christian friends to “hang out” with!  The experience in heaven will be “hanging out” with the saints for eternity; let’s start the trend while on earth!

Vision Series: Part VI – “I Can See Clearly Now!”

“Without Vision The People Perish”

Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. (Mark 8:22-25)

I can remember singing in the ‘70’s, “I Can See Clearly Now The Rain Is Gone.”  I would replace “trees” for rain when reading the above scripture. Clarity of vision is so important.  As believers in Jesus Christ we need the touch of Jesus to bring us clarity in every situation.

Can you imagine a believer who cries out, “Lord, give me the heart of an evangelist.” The Lord touches him, and he begins to see people, non-churched people all around him, but his heart isn’t there yet. He confesses, “Lord, I only see people as people; touch my eyes.” His prayer is answered when he sees not just people, but people who are lost, who need Jesus, who need to hear the gospel.  He is a changed man with a changed vision.  His reluctance now becomes his passion, for his vision is now cleared.

Can you imagine a believer who sits in the pew every Sunday, smiling shaking hands, giving informal greetings but feeling cold, alone, and almost displaced and prays, “Lord, touch my eyes to see who these people really are around me.” At first he looks and sees “church people”, people who look as if they got it all together, but then the Lord touches his eyes a second time!  He is shocked seeing people who do not have it all together, but are hurting people, sick people, confused people, lonely people, a needy people. Jesus then touches the heart, and with the proper vision this believer begins to minister to those needs out of compassion which becomes his passion.

Or how about the frustrated teacher who “knows” his material, but it seems no one is interested in what he is teaching or understands the “material”.  Then the Lord touches his eyes. He begins to see those whom he teaches beyond the view of just his material, but he sees them only as “students”.  Only after a second touch, his vision clears; he realized who he teaches is more important that what he teaches.  He begins to look into the heart, the spirit, and the daily lives of what he use to think as his “students” but discovers they have become his personal friend, and pour scriptural truth through practical applications into their lives.  Teaching through walking out his lessons with them in their daily lives becomes his passion.

Or the believer who has learned the truth of intimate worship, that experience of being in the presence of God, through the shed blood of Jesus, led by the Holy Spirit.  During one of those intimate experiences God not only touches their spirit, but also their spiritual eyes.  They discover that God is in the midst of His people, but they are just other “believers” joining in this worship ritual. Only after a retouch by Jesus do they discover the mystery of unity of Spirit as those around worship together with this believer in Spirit and in Truth, taking corporate worship to a totally new level.  The prophetic passion has now burns in these believers’ lives.

Finally, the person who has walked the evangelistic route being ridiculed by the lost, had his pastoral heart crushed by hurt relationships, felt no one listened when he spoke and taught the Word, and has experienced an estranged, almost distant feeling when worshiping, even wondering if God was there.  He knows that what he is now seeing and feeling is not the will of God, so he stops and cries out for a touch from the Savior’s hand for clarity of vision.  When first touched, he sees the hand of God in his past experiences, but he wants a fresh touch for the now, for the future, and Jesus lays his hands back on his eyes.  Now he sees others who are doing the work he use to, but his heart is changed.  For the first time his eyes are open to see “The Big Picture”, the entire Body of Christ. Now he wants to reach out to other believers to encourage them, strengthen then, guide them, and lead them by walking by their sides, not being in front of them. The servant’s heart kicks in to selflessly giving and thinking of others in their spiritual developments. The passion of an apostle is born.

I know I have tried to do what I thought was serving the Lord, serving the Church, for most of my life, thinking I was doing the Lord’s Will until I asked Jesus to touch my eyes again, for all I saw was “non-church people” in my daily life at work and “church people” in the social circles of my life.  Wow! The second touch was dramatic: I discovered the lost; I discovered those already in the Body of Christ who were serving. A passion has now arisen in me to encourage, develop, support, lead through relationships, guide through the leading of the Holy Spirit those believers, those “brothers” and “sisters” who are in my family, the Family of God, the Body of Christ. Jesus, through His Holy Spirit, has truly opened my eyes.

Stop right now.  Ask the Lord to touch your eyes, give you vision.  He will do so.  If the vision at first isn’t entirely clear, ask for that second touch, but I warn you, that second touch will be life changing for a passion will be released in you to further the kingdom of God, in not only recognizing but also developing the body of Jesus Christ, His Church. “Lord, touch our spiritual eyes. Give us clarity of vision; give us Your vision. Amen”

What/Who Are The Church’s Ears?

“He That Has Ears To Hear; Let Them Hear”

Did you ever feel that no one is listening to you.  You have good ideas to share, concerns to be addressed, developed your own opinion, but you don’t think anyone is listening or wants to listen.  You feel isolation, rejection, and loneliness.

Often I hear loud and clear what church leadership believes, thinks, or dictates. We hear it from the pulpit, in private conversations, or in the bulletin or newsletter, but how does church leadership hear from their congregation. Do they need to?  If the church is all about relationships, then it must not only speak, but also listen.

If the five fold is present in a congregation, multiple eyes and ears should be present if the five fold is a passion and point of view.  The evangelist listens to the voice of the “street” to know how to be more effective in meeting the needs and addressing the lost.  Not only does the sheep know their shepherd’s voice, but he knows theirs.  The information a teacher expounds is not of importance if he just lectures or preaches, but a good teacher listens to his student(s), a process that helps him to measure his teaching effectiveness.  A prophet majors in listening to the voice of God, craving its intimacy, but also needs to listen to the voice of the believers and see if it parallel’s God’s.  Listening is critical to the apostle, for not only does he “over-see” the flock, but also “listens” to the many voices in the midst of the congregation.  His gifting is to react to what he hears, leading the congregation towards the heart and voice of God in very practical ways.

As a person who loves to talk, I have had to learn the power of listening, even the power of silence.  Being an extravert, it is so easy to express my thought, my opinion, my knowledge on a subject, but I am continually learning that “silence is truly golden” and listening a very powerful tool.

As a church we need not only to teach the believers under our care how to “hear” to voice of God, but also teach out leadership how to listen to the voices of the believers around them in their attempt to lead. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” It is a key to powerful leadership.

Do Not Pass Go; Do Not Collect $200

I Got It; Then Why Not Move Ahead

Have you ever been in a place where you just had a revelation or learned a spiritual principle that was truth and new to your life. You now “got it”, and being a talker, a communicator, one who can’t keep a good thing quiet for I feel I have to tell everyone, you hear the Lord in His still small voice say, “Hold it; be patient; wait!”

“What for what?” I ask.

On Easter weekend “it was finished”. Believers in Jesus Christ got to see God’s sacrificial lamb die for their sins on the cross, the veil in the temple torn from top on down, and to top that an empty tomb, a resurrection with angels and even “resurrected Jesus sightings”!  Then they experience the ascension into heaven! Wow! What a story! I need to tell the world, but…..

“Tarry in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes….”  What wait? We shouldn’t do the great commission just yet? Why?  Simple: It would be us doing it, not the Spirit of Jesus Christ!  How hard is it when we learn something, and the Spirit of the living God says wait, and we question why?  It is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit that is to glorify the Son who in turns glorifies His Father in heaven!  It is His job to propagate the Truth, not ours; we may be only the vessel.

My passion burns to reveal truths that I have learned from the Spirit about evangelists, shepherds, prophets, teachers, and apostles, wanting to shout it from the house tops, move forward NOW, but up until now only being allowed to write in private and blog through this medium, this blog, in public.

The Spirit says wait….. wait until the Spirit is ready to launch what He has revealed to you. 

O.K. Lord, I know that Pentecost is 50 days after Easter, but can’t you bring it on now?

The Spirit says “wait”.

Like in the game Monopoly, “Do not pass GO, DO NOT collect $200”…. until I tell you! Wait for the Holy Spirit!  Isn’t that what the five fold is all about? About the moving of God’s Holy Spirit through different passions and points of view to bring unity in the body of Christ and maturity in being like Him? Then wait until the Holy Spirit releases…..

Sammy’s Story: A Story of Success!

Sammy’s Story Part II

(Read Part I first)

Sammy was lonely, in the depths of despair, bottoming out, lost, but then he met a man who told him that in spite of how he felt, God loved him. The man began to explain how he personally had once be as lost as he, but was introduced to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Sammy, desperate, listened. When asked if he wanted that saving grace, the man lead him through scripture called the Romans Road before leading through the sinner’s prayer. Sammy’s burden miraculously lifted, giving him an experience he had never known. He now felt peace.

This man then introduced him to Ralph, a close Christian friend, who invited him into his home as he began to walk Sammy through his new life as a Christian. Sammy was told that in Christ Jesus all things are new, thus Ralph helped his new friend understand about all this newness in practical everyday terms.

Bob came to Ralph’s place on Tuesday nights to teach a Bible study, noticing Sammy’s curiosity and thirst as he asked question after question. After the gathering, Bob came up to Sammy and asked if he could come over in two days and continue to study with him. Sammy was ecstatic.  For the first time, hearing the Bible seemed to make sense, and Sammy wanted to make this knowledge a reality in his life since all he had was simple naive faith.

Then he met Ruth who came to the next Bible study.  She had a passion to worship like Sammy had never experienced before, and soon Sammy was seeking how to draw nearer to God and learning to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  This Spirit walk, like everything else, was new to Sammy, but Ruth helped him along.

Over the first year, Sammy had grown spiritually at a torrid pace as Ralph nurtured his walk, Bob taught him the Word of God, and Ruth challenged his intimacy with God. Amazingly in just a few years, Sammy found himself nurturing other new Christian as he had learned through Ralph. He loved doing it, for helping new believers in their infant walk of faith in their daily life had become his passion.

Sammy’s Story: A Parable of Soil!

Sammy’s Story Part III

(Read Part I & II first)

Luke 8:4-15

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable:

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and chocked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.

When he said this, he called out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that “through seeing, they may not see; through hearing, they may not understand.”

This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who received the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are chocked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures, and they do not mature.  But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Thought:  Is this process uncontrollable, beyond our reach as a Church, and should we just accept that we will loose a lot of grain, and only a few become productive and multiply by the hundreds? Or is it just possible that the Church is the soil, and we, the church, are responsible for removing the rocks so the good soil is exposed and weeding out the thorns before they are huge, prickly, and blossoming with seed to pollute even more ground, so the good soil nurtures the seed,

I would like to contend that the evangelist can spread the seed, but we need the shepherd to clear the rocks and help root the new believer.  We need the prophet to separate the wheat from the tares, weeding out those thorns of temptations by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures, by having the new believer focus on his intimate relationship with God, the Father, and the furthering of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.  We need the apostle as an overseer to help others prepare the soil no matter what condition it may be in so newly sown seed, new believers, may grow productive and multiply. We need the five fold to equip the saints for the work of preparation for the (harvest).  This may be a new way to look at the five fold, but the outcome is soil preparation for a good harvest.  Jesus said, “the harvest is ready, but the workers are few”, and encourages us to go “harvest what we have not sown.”  The Church needs the five fold to sow the seed, prepare the ground, water the new born plants, and harvest.

Can I Not Look For A Church Like This?

Dare I Dream?

Everybody has their opinion, vision, or dream of what they think the Church should be, and often go on a journey to find it; most times unsuccessfully.  In America we “shop” for a church that meets our needs, our wants, that makes us comfortable.  What programs do they offer? A good youth group, share group, children’s ministry, nursery, musical style that appeals to me, etc.? In America Christian jump from church to church, no longer going to the closest location and giving to their community through their local church.  Many churches’ roles are coated with move-ins, not people just born into the kingdom.  So I began to think, what am I looking for?

An evangelistic church appeals to me, because the Great Commission has called us to “go to all the world”, but not “all the world come into our building”. A local evangelical church advertised this Sunday “free car washes” for visitors in attempt to bring people into their sanctuary. A church the infiltrates the world with the Good News, the Gospel, is a must, and new believer’s enthusiasm is contagious to a congregation.

A shepherding church is mandatory, for if it is to grow, then the new believers, the new Christians, must be developed and be nurtured in Christ-likeness.  Small group life sharing everyday walks of faith help nurture this environment

Of course, the church must be grounded in the Word of God, the Bible, but I also want a prophetic church that takes the Logos Word and converts it into the Rhema Word, or living Word.  Learning to walk in the Spirit and being taught by the Spirit is mandatory.

All this evangelistic, nurturing, teaching, and prophetic work and life of the church is being done by the believers in Christ, and the older they get, the shift toward nurturing and equipping those newer in the faith becomes evident.  It is believers reaching out and developing believers. All this needs to be coordinated by someone(s) who can see the big picture of the congregation, the church, and who encourages, develops, and equips those believers to grow in Christ, never in a controlling spirit, but a serving one.

Have I found this local church? Of course not! Do I think I can find this church? I am pessimistic when looking at church structure, organization, and leadership styles that currently exist in most church paradigms.  I do know that God’s Spirit is no longer to be boxed in, and for those who think out of the box, revival is the answer, for there is where God works at the grass roots. 

I have been in evangelical churches, nurturing churches, strong teaching churches, prophetic churches, and even apostolic churches, but each has been a separate entity instead of coming together, uniting their strength for the common good of equipping the saints. Often staff has been nurtured and developed, not their people. That dream of unity of the gifts for the development of the saints is still burning within me, and I still have to believer that is the wave of the future for the church. I hope, some day, to be a part of that paradigm. Act 2 proclaims that “old men will dream dreams.”  I guess I am one of them!