WHO DEFINES WHAT WE ARE TO BELIEVE? – THE WIKIPEDIA PHENOMENON!

Caterpillar to Butterfly: Systematic Definitions– TO – Relational Definitions

From Caterpillar to Cocoon to Butterfly – Part XVII

In this series we have been asking the question, “What happens with metamorphosis during the cocoon stage?”  How, structurally, do you get a butterfly from what once was a caterpillar? In my Aug. 20, 2011’s blog, I listed several forms of transformation that I see occurring inside the cocoon of change for the church.   Today we will look at the principle: Definitions that have been created by scholars (caterpillar) TO the Wikipedia phenomenon (butterfly).

Caterpillar: The institution has defined one’s belief systems over the centuries.  Councils, church leaders, scholars, historians, patriarchs, and others have labored over their tenants of faith, attempting to place on paper what they believed.  The Jewish faith wrote the Talmud to interpret the Torah, their central text of faith.  Christianity has filled libraries with commentaries and theological dissertations to interpret the Bible, their central text of faith.  The Bible, a collection mainly of letters, poems, proverbs, and historical works, became books, chapters, and numbered verses for the purpose of organized scholarly study.  Many versions of the Bible have been translated from Latin, Greek, and Hebrew to be used in present day culture.  The westernized influence of producing learned scholars has fueled the need for Bible colleges and seminaries throughout Church history.  Denominations script official “church papers” to define their beliefs and stands on many social, cultural, and religious matters.  During sermons you will hear the pastor quote great church theologians.  Definitions of what you believed defined the difference between different religious groups or sects.  You knew if you were a Calvinist or Armenian, a pre-, post-, or mid-tribulationist, a pacifist, a predestinationalist, a fundamentalist, or an evangelical, or Pentecostal, or main line denomininational, etc. by how you “defined” your statement of faith.

Butterfly:  With the linear, horizontal, relational internet crowd of today, peer communication and linear acceptance is the norm.  This has affected the world of “definition”, no longer controlled by unabridged printed dictionaries and volumes of encyclopedias.  The “Wikipedia” phenomenon has hit where definitions are presented, not just by scholars, but by anyone.  Footnotes at the bottom of pages give the text some validity, but a slanted scholarly approach is not set in stone as “the” definition, as others with personal experience and personal knowledge on the topic can also add to the definition.  As an educator in language in the public school system, I warn my students of the accuracy and authenticity of Wikipedia, but students go their first because of electronic convenience.  I tell them that Wikipedia is a “starting point” for internet research to other websites, passages, links, blogs, etc. to dig deep into the true meaning of the definition.  Today, this linear crowd of peers not only relies on Wikipedia for their definitions, but helps define them.

The Differences: “Definitions” use to be compiled in printed dictionaries, abridged if shortened, unabridged if a large volume.  Definition of words were compiled by “scholars” of language, linguistic, etymology, etc. The “highly educated” P.H.D.’s did the defining for us.  We only had to look up their definitions in dictionaries, something everyone owned.  Today “scholars” are still fighting for literary and historical accuracy by citing sources, but definitions through Wikipedia, an –ebook compilation of definitions from various sources, also allows average individuals to be part of the defining process in helping to define words, events, famous people, etc. from a personal, or cultural level. Today, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, has over 3,724,00 different articles or definitions in its unabridged source. The question becomes “who is the authority” in the process of defining?

Implications Today: I feel the Wikipedia phenomenon has a huge impact on the way people will look at Bible interpretation in the 21^st Century.  For centuries the masses of believers have counted on the interpretation of scriptures from their pastors, priests, rectors, parsons, etc. as the official “word of God” as delivered from their pulpits or from scholarly interpretations from the great theologians of their day.  Interpretation of belief was always dictated to the laity from the clergy.   Today, believers in Jesus Christ, can read for themselves the Bible, while relying on the Holy Spirit for interpretation of how those scriptural truths need to be applied and activated in their daily lives rather than just being a academic exercise.  Sharing beliefs, relationally, horizontally, through written form, verbally, or electronically, now holds weight.  My interpretation is looked upon as being as valid as yours as we communicate them back and forth to one another.  We can share our experiences that have come out of our scriptural studies and how it has affected us culturally, personally, and corporately.  Collectively we, together, have begun to “redefine” our definition. 

Conclusion:  I believe we, as a church, are in a process of change where what we believe and how we are to live it out will not be dictated systematically from those in leadership above to be followed without question or opposition.  The “priesthood of believers”, those who believe collectively in Jesus Christ, will begin to “redefine” much of what has been historically instructed to us hierarchally, flushing out dogma in a quest to simplify the gospel and go back to the roots of simplicity of the apostle’s teaching. Instead of every wind of doctrine being blown around us by every different theologian, pastor/teacher, or religious group claiming their point of view to be “THE” truth, there will be an united, corporate effort for simplistic truth, shedding religious interpretation of the past. This will be a radical transformation, a radical reformation in the way we will build our corporate belief systems. I personally believe that the points of view of the five fold (evangelist, pastor, teacher, prophet, apostle) will be a powerful in the way we teach, apply, and oversee our beliefs, as well as preserve scriptural “truth”.  Redefining will keep the truths of its historical past, but will add a flavor of the “culture” to which it is impacting.  Paul “redefined” many beliefs as he traveled throughout different cultures in his known world during his time period. The same is about to happen today, but on a grandeur scale.

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INFORMATION?

Information Comes From Clergy TO Information Is A Click Away From Any Search Engine

From Caterpillar to Cocoon to Butterfly – Part XVI

In this series we have been asking the question, “What happens with metamorphosis during the cocoon stage?”  How, structurally, do you get a butterfly from what once was a caterpillar? In my Aug. 20, 2011’s blog, I listed several forms of transformation that I see occurring inside the cocoon of change for the church.   Today we will look at the principle: Information comes from clergy or staff (caterpillar) TO Information is a click away thanks to search engines. (butterfly).

Caterpillar: “The Dark Ages” were aptly named because of keeping people “in the dark”.  Only the wealthy or clergy were literate and educated, the masses were not.  This allowed the hierarchal structure of the Roman Catholic Church to dictate its doctrines and dogma to the masses.  The masses were instructed to “trust” their clergy to give them correct interpretation of the Bible.  You didn’t question a priest.  With the invention of the printing press, literacy grew throughout Europe birthing the Age of Enlightenment. At first these newly printed Bibles were banned and their printers even martyred, but as the masses learned how to read, the Bible became their main source of text. They soon discovered the church dogma that presided over their lives had little Biblical basis, thus the birth of the Reformation, where people read the scriptures themselves, and “protested” by breaking away from the mother church, being tagged as “Protest-ants”.  Martin Luther became one of the first to lead the charge, discovering salvation by grace not works, and advocating the “priesthood of believers”, yet when it came time to establish church government, he copied the same hierarchal, pyramidal structure of clergy (instead of priests) and laity (non-trained or uneducated).  This structured has been followed from Luther’s day into the present with little if any modification.

Butterfly:  I believe that the “priesthood of believers” that Luther advocated will be the structure of the future church on a linear, horizontal plain of relational peers.  Luther’s seed will sprout to this generation.  The emphasis will not be on relying on the clergy and their staff as professionals to “teach” them the word through westernized theological preaching nor being pew sitters nurturing apathy, but will rely on the Holy Spirit to teach each believer as they individually study the word, walking out what they have read in faith in their daily lives, and becoming very active in practicing and sharing their faith in their present culture.  The emphasis of church structure will change as it goal changes. What will now be important is the “equipping of the ‘saints’”, not the clergy and the “staff” for the purpose of “service”.  That reciprocal service of give and take will create accountability through deepened, established horizontal relationships.

The Differences: The differences are obvious:  Under the old system, the trickle down effect was emphasized.  Leadership heard from God and relayed it down to the people through sermons.  Professional leadership’s interpretation of the scriptures always superseded those of the saints in the pews, for they were the “learned”, the “educated”, the studiers of Latin and Greek.  The “sermon” by the educated clergy became the keystone to most church services.  Even Bible studies were highly scripted and guided studies written by clergy, often lead by clergy, and approved by the denomination or sect with which one belonged.  Under the new system, personal inquiry is encouraged; seek the scriptures yourself, ask the Holy Spirit to “teach you all things” about the passage, and access all the Biblical commentaries, etc. available through one click of the mouse through search engines on the internet.

Implications Today:  Today, one can get the Bible in printed form and through the internet on their lap top, IPad, and even Smart Phone in printed and oral form.  Today we are facing the linear age, where communications occurs on a horizontal plain of peers.  Biblical discussions can occur in internet chat rooms, through Facebook entries, through tweets on Twitter with attached links to websites about the discussed passages, and through blogs.  All this electronic communication by passes the screening of today’s clergy.  They use to be able to control the printed material, but today they can’t touch nor control the vastness of the internet. When in the past, when there were carefully planned and taught curriculums supporting one’s religious group or sect, today the average person is faced with an ocean of information at their fingertips through the internet.  The church needs to teach its people how to discern “truth” through “false” or “heretical” teaching.  This will be part of “equipping the saints”. The Bible will still be the standard, but how to sift through all this interpretation will be the challenge.

Conclusion:  As the masses obtain the power to read for themselves, study for themselves, discern for themselves rather than counting on “church professionals” interpreting everything for them in their “expertise”, I believe there will be a sifting out of religious “dogma” imposed by centuries of church indoctrinations, and the “apostle’s teaching”, the simplicity of the gospel, the good news, will again be restored to the church as it had been birthed in the first century.  Systems produce massive amounts of interpretive literature.  The Jewish religion went from the Torah to add the Talmud, interpretations of the Torah.  The Christian Church went from the cannon of scriptures to multitudes of commentaries filling library shelves of their interpretations.  With the age of the internet, that massive amount of information and  everyone’s interpretations are out there.  It will be the job of the “priesthood of believers” to sift through all of it, and restore the apostle’s teachings of simplicity.  The gospel is simple; we, the church have made it complex.  We now need to reverse that pattern.

CONTROL VS. RELEASE - WHAT HAPPENS IN A COCOON?

Caterpillar to Butterfly: Control– TO – Equipping and Releasing

From Caterpillar to Cocoon to Butterfly – Part XII

In this series we have been asking the question, “What happens with metamorphosis during the cocoon stage?”  How, structurally, do you get a butterfly from what once was a caterpillar? In my Aug. 20, 2011’s blog, I listed several forms of transformation that I see occurring inside the cocoon of change for the church.   Today we will look at the principle: Controls people (caterpillar) TO Equipping and releasing people (butterfly).

Caterpillar: Up to now, historically the Church has not done a very good job “equipping the saints for the work of service” (Eph. 4).  With the clergy/laity differential, most of the work is done by the professional clergy and staff asking only their parishioners to “follow their lead.” With a professional staff, much training is done, but that is not necessarily true for the saints.  A church is always excited when a young man decides to go into the “professional” ministry, as his equipping or training begins towards the goal of becoming a professional.  Often churches have attempted to “train” their people, only to not release them once trained.  Mindsets are that the clergy does the work because that is what they are paid to do as professionals has hampered the church.  With a pyramidal church structure, the issue of “control” over a congregation can become more of an influence that training, developing, and releasing them.

Butterfly:  With the five fold, when discovering one’s passion and point of view, the church can equip them to do what drives them, their passion, no matter if it is evangelistic, pastoral, teaching, prophetic, or apostolic.   Equipping comes through serving and being served by each member of the five fold who are also laity and learning to “lay down one’s life for their brethren.”  The apostle has probably experienced the other four passions in his life, but the purpose for his gift is to see the big picture, to network, develop, nurture, support, and edify the other four giftings, then, most importantly, release them to do what they are gifted to do.  Releasing means “hands off”, no control, but remain in a supportive role. Apostle Paul is an excellent example of a man who did all four passions when birthing churches on his missionary journeys, only to physically leave them, release them, and only correspond with them through letters.  Because his techniques were all “relational”” when birthing and developing a new church, he could relationally “release” them with confidence of their giftings in Jesus Christ to carry on and expand the work.

The Differences: Old School church prepares and develops one to be a “professional” in what they call “full time ministry”.  Higher education through westernized teaching philosophies is the route provided to produce a well educated professional rather than a hands on, trained and developed laity. New School church’s mission is to “equip the saints”, not the staff, for the “works of service.”  The goal is to birth, nurture, and develop the skills which goes along with one’s passions.  All this development is of no use unless it is “released”, freed to move ahead in one’s passion.  Even with that freedom will come accountability through relationships to the other four passions and points of view in the five fold ministry.

Implications Today:  Personally, I have been trained with a group of men to become “lay speakers” in a denomination, but few of us in the class ever got the opportunity to fill any pulpits when pastors were away on vacations.  They controlled their pulpits rather than releasing them. I also have been trained to operate prophetically with fifty other people, to be able to be part of a prophetic presbytery, seeking the Holy Spirit, discerning His will for someone’s life, and in faith giving them a prophetic word.  Today, none of us are in prophetic presbyteries anymore.  Training a laity and actually releasing him/her to give one freedom to minister in their gifting and passions has been a rarity in my fifty years as a church attendee.  That needs to change drastically if the church is to take Ephesians 4 and the Great Commission seriously. 

Conclusion:  Instead of “enabling” Christians, the laity, to just “follow” everything the clergy proposes, then criticizing them for being lethargic in living out their faith, the church needs to be better at “equipping the saints” and take that more seriously.  The investment should not be in creating a professional staff, but in equipping and developing the already existing saints, those who make up the local body of Christ.  If we would equip (birth, nurture, teach, spiritually edify, and see over) the saints currently in our churches for service, then release them, we would see a revolutionary change, called revival or reformation, in the church today. You know, a butterfly can never be "free" to "fly" until it is "released" from its cocoon.  Oh, I dream to see the day of that release!

“OVER-SEEING” VERSUS “SEEING-OVER” - WHAT HAPPENS IN A COCOON?

Caterpillar to Butterfly: Pyramidal Leadership “over sees” Church Activities– TO – Relational Leadership “Sees Over” What The Holy Spirit Is Already Doing

From Caterpillar to Cocoon to Butterfly – Part XI

In this series we have been asking the question, “What happens with metamorphosis during the cocoon stage?”  How, structurally, do you get a butterfly from what once was a caterpillar? In my Aug. 20, 2011’s blog, I listed several forms of transformation that I see occurring inside the cocoon of change for the church.   Today we will look at the principle: Pyramidal leadership “over sees” church activities (caterpillar) TO Relational leadership “sees over” what the Holy Spirit is already doing. (butterfly).

Caterpillar: We discussed the influence of “power” in a structural governmental system in a previous blog.  With “power” comes the issue of “control”.  In a pyramidal structure, power always comes from above.  It is important for those in power to “oversee” what is happening below them.  Their position is kind of “all knowing” or “all informed”.  The Papal and Cardinal influence in the Roman Catholic Church is an example of this kind of power structure.  Papal Bull is the official communication from above in that structure.  Protestants often have “official papers” passed at their “annual conferences” to issue their decrees to be implemented by their clergy to their parishioners.  In large churches, senior pastors “oversee” how their institutional structure operates.

Butterfly:   I believe the relational linear five fold model will allow everyone to function on an equal plain of influence. The apostle is only one of the five and does not “head” nor “lead” them.  His passion is to “see over” what the Holy Spirit is doing and “release” those passions that would be most effective toward ministry at hand at that moment.  He doesn’t do it, nor control it, only “seeing over” it.  The apostle’s passion is his vision or point of view of seeing “the big picture”, the body of Christ as a whole, thus giving him the “sight”, the “vision” of what the Holy Spirit is doing relationally in the midst of His people with His people to His people.

The Differences: Currently, under the hierarchal, pyramidal, institutional structure, power and control are dictated from top down.  This has also developed the clergy laity split over the years.  On the other hand, the linear relational structure evens the plain, encourages giving and taking from peers, and has apostles who “sees over” what the Holy Sprit is doing among them, encouraging them by “releasing” them in the passions to do what they do best.

Implications Today:  Personally, I have been under the leadership of a pastor who wanted to know everything that happened in the small groups “under” his leadership which became a control issue.  Later he wondered why no one would stay at his church.  I have another Christian friend who fell under a strong control pastor.  He said that when you see him, he was like a majestic steam roller, gleaming in the sun light, and as long as you ran beside him you were fine, but don’t fall in front of him. He fell! The CEO business model most American churches follow functions on a trickle down power/influence pool from the top down which fosters “control” with oversight where you report to those above you. Unfortunately, I have seen church denominational higher up officials threaten their congregations with taking away their church property and entitlement if they did not follow dictations handed down from the denominational leadership, another sad example that control can create.

Conclusion:  It all depends on the “point of view” and what one does with it.  If one “oversees” those under them from a superior position with power, control, and influence, the creativity and freedom for the Holy Spirit to operate becomes stifled because the “system” will not give up its control.  With a linear relational point of view using a five fold model, the plain is equal, each giving and taking, and the apostle “sees over” what the Holy Spirit is activation while releasing the others in their passions. It all depends how you see it!   Can you trust the Holy Spirit and relinquish control and be content to just “see” what He is doing, or will you want to hold onto the control you have which will quench the Spirit. The choice is yours.

CHURCH GOVERNMENT BY POLITICS OR RELATIONSHIPS - WHAT HAPPENS IN A COCOON?

 Caterpillar to Butterfly: Government Run By Boards, Committees, and Hierarchal Leadership– TO – Government Run On Relationships Of Give And Take In A Five Fold Format

From Caterpillar to Cocoon to Butterfly – Part X

In this series we have been asking the question, “What happens with metamorphosis during the cocoon stage?”  How, structurally, do you get a butterfly from what once was a caterpillar? In my Aug. 20, 2011’s blog, I listed several forms of transformation that I see occurring inside the cocoon of change for the church.   Today we will look at the principle: Government is run by boards, committees, and hierarchal leadership (caterpillar) TO  Government is run on relationships of give and take in a five fold format (butterfly).

Caterpillar: In the past church “government” has bred “church politics”, often power struggles.  Schisms and splits have occurred over the choice of the color of carpet, organ or no organ, youth involvement, salaries, housing, order of worship, etc., etc. Some local churches are governed through congregational meetings and voting, some by boards of deacons, elders, some by church councils, some by pastor/parish committees, and some dictated by strong pastors.  Often pastors have had to yield what they have felt as strong callings, convictions, directions, and discernment to governing boards who oppose what they are doing.  Many a discouraged pastor and/or parishioner have left the church when being caught in this political vice.

Butterfly:  Government will be built on relationships that will breed respect, honor, and accountability.  IJohn 3:16 of “Laying down your life for your brethren” will be the foundation of “serving” one another, giving and taking from each other because of linear relationships as peers, as being just Christians.  An example would be the five fold where the five very different passions and points of view would be united through the leading of the Holy Spirit as each of the five gives to the other four of their talent, ability, and passion, and willing receive from the others who are so different from them.  One’s strength will support the others weakness, and each will “release” the other to follow their passion. 

The Differences: Old and current governmental church structures nurtured and wheel power and support a pyramidal hierarchy structure, while the new governmental church structure would foster respect, honor, and accountability through linear relationships of service, through laying down ones life in sacrifice, not in position of authority.  

Implications Today: This process will be one of the most difficult things for the church to transition because it will be attached by the very “power” it opposes.  Unless led by the Holy Spirit and taken to the Cross of vertical and horizontal relationships the Church will not wither the storm.  The disciples were rebuked when arguing over who would be on Jesus’ left and right in the kingdom when they felt standing by his side would be a noble political cause, but they fled and would be replaced by two thieves to be on Jesus’ left and right when hanging on the cross on that infamous day. Those three on their crosses faced the same fate on a horizontal plain of suffering and death.  None of the disciples hung there nor were there. They would have to rethink their whole kingdom of God theology before changing the world.   

Conclusion: We, the church today, have to rethink our theology on church government, for church isn’t about politics, nor church government about power.  The Bible states that “the government shall be upon his shoulders,” referring to Jesus’ shoulders.  That government is built on service and sacrifice, for Jesus “came not to be serve, but to serve” and “to lay down his life for his brethren,” showing us how the kingdom of God is to be governed.   Church government the way we think of it today is about to undergo a transition that will take it from a power struggle to one of service and accountability.  Oh, if we could only see how this is to all work out inside the cocoon of change.

POSITIONING IN THE CHURCH - WHAT HAPPENS IN A COCOON?

Positions Determined By Office– TO – Positions Determined By What We Do

From Caterpillar to Cocoon to Butterfly – Part VIII

In this series we have been asking the question, “What happens with metamorphosis during the cocoon stage?”  How, structurally, do you get a butterfly from what once was a caterpillar? In my Aug. 20, 2011’s blog, I listed several forms of transformation that I see occurring inside the cocoon of change.   Today we will look at the principle: Positions are determined by offices (caterpillar) TO Positions are determined through service, what you do, not who you are (butterfly).

Caterpillar: Pyramidal, hierarchal institutional structures major in positions and titles. You position’s title is suppose to identify what you are to be doing or in charge of.  It supposedly defines your sphere of influence.  The higher up the chain, the greater potential for some one having someone below you “do” what needs to be done because of your directives due to your power by title or position.  Those at the top don’t really do much physically to get things done, but has those under their “leadership” do it making them look good and effective.  In corporate America you work hard to ascend the pyramid at the expense of those below you.  The American church is no different, professionally. In some camps you become an evangelist working so that some day you will get “your own church”. Other camps have the progression from Youth Pastor, to Associate Pastor, To Senior Pastor.  Often one starts in smaller churches working their way to churches with larger church attendance.  Then some work their way from pastors, to superintendants to bishops, etc.  With each step are financial benefits. You know who is “in charge” by their title.  Often laity is exempt from their hierarchal structure because they aren’t professionals.  The height of their titles would be elders or church board members. Those with titles are identified as “leaders”; no title, you are considered a “follower”. Ie. worship leader (title), worshiper in the pew (no title, only a follower).

Butterfly:  On a linear horizontal plain there is no one “over you” as everyone is perceived as equals or peers.  Here the “Priesthood of Believers” is practiced, where all are priests, peers.  The only hierarchy position is that of High Priest, who is Jesus Christ.  Being a “priesthood”, corporate ministry is central, so the church will experience a new definition of what ministry by the believers in Jesus Christ is individually and corporately.  “What you do” defines who you are.  If you do lead people to Jesus Christ, you do evangelism, so you are an evangelist.  If you take care of people, nurture them, help develop them, you are shepherding them: action not title.  You share from what you have learned by studying the Logos Word, the Bible, and practiced those truths in your life, the Rhema Word, the living word, then you are “teaching” people. What you do, determines the adjectives describing your actions.

The Differences: Institutional structured produce titles and positions to identify what one is suppose to be doing and giving them authority to have it accomplished, even if at someone else’s expense.  It establishes a “power” structure or grid of “authority”.  Relationally actions produce adjectives to describe that action, not nouns to identify the office.  An “evangelist” by title is hired, through offerings, to come in and “evangelize” anyone who comes to their meetings. They are “in charge”.  An “evangelist” relationally tells others about Jesus Christ, the Gospel, the good news verbally and through the “actions” of their personal lives.  They can’t help themselves; they just “do it”.  It is their passion, the way they see things, their point of view. Anyone, and everyone, who does evangelism, ie. telling “their stories”, their “faith journeys in Jesus” can be identified as evangelists because of what they are doing.

Implications Today:  Whenever the Holy Spirit moves, what he “does”, the institutional church will institutionalize by making that action, that movement, a position.  Let’s look to the 20^th Century Church as an example.  In the 50’s through 80’s, the Church institutionalized evangelism to the extent that they could fill stadiums and draw large TV audiences as shown through Billy Graham Crusades, the C.B.N. and T.B.N. Christian TV networks, and televangelists like Jim Bakker & Jimmy Swiegart.  In the ‘70’s, with the release of the Charismatic Movement, the need for the pastoral was needed, thus the institutionalizing of it that produced the Shepherding Movement. The 70’s featured tremendous “teaching”, as the gift of teaching was released, & the Church institutionalized it through the Word Movement, producing more teaching tapes than my cassette recorder could run.  The prophetic spirit was released in new powerful ways in the ‘80’s, and the institutional church promoted their pastors to prophets. The culmination came with the apostolic being released in the ‘90’s, where people were now getting to see the big picture of the Church, but the church institutionalized it by entitling their “super pastors” of large mega-churches as apostles wanting smaller churches to follow their lead.  By the end of the century, the institutional pyramidal, hierarchal church had “structured” professionally within their ranks every movement of God during that century as an office, so today they think of the five fold as offices.

Conclusion: To become a butterfly, the church needs to change the way they think of structure. Relationally, evangelism, teaching, pastoral nurturing and caring, prophetically insight, and apostolic vision are all ACTIONS when released among the “priesthood of believers” by the priests, the believers in Jesus Christ to other believers by laying down their lives for each other in service.  When God moves, the cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night, the Church needs to know how to “move”, ACTION, and respond to the moving of the Holy Spirit, not try to “fit it” into their current structure by institutionalizing it through entitlement, titles, and positions in order to be “in control”.  Positions and titles are for control. The Church needs to let the Holy Spirit be in control.  They need to settle the question, “Can you trust the Holy Spirit?” 

FROM CATERPILLAR TO COCOON TO BUTTERFLY – PART II

 New Form, New Image, New Body – Meet The Butterfly, The Church

In my last blog we looked at the miraculous transformation from a lumbering caterpillar to a dormant cocoon to an independent free spirited butterfly.  I used that analogy with the Church as I feel it about to break loose from its cocoon stage to freedom to fly.

Visually, the most transforming feature of a caterpillar to a butterfly is its body.  There is a complete structural difference.  The caterpillar is a fat, multi-legged, crawling bug that turns into this slim, winged insect suitable to fly.  What happened when it was in its cocoon?   This change is radical, yet it appears to occur during a dormant period of its life, when in the cocoon.

I believe the caterpillar/butterfly analogy can also be applied to the Church.  The structure of the Church has been rather cumbersome throughout its history.  When I have heard sermons about the structure of the church, it has been on apostles, elders, deacons, etc., one built on hierarchal positions.  The Roman Catholic Church has even taken it to bishops, cardinals, and the Pope.  As the institutional church has grown, so has the financial obligation to maintain it as cathedrals were built and a huge professional clergy system to finance.  The institutional church has never been known for change, and what change has come has only come through church politics, thus the lumbering caterpillar.

There have been times of transformation in the church called revivals.  During these times the church appears to be dormant, during times of spiritual lulls, where there appears to be some shaking going on inside the safe confines of church structure, unnoticed by those outside the church at first.  During these times “new ways” and “new mindsets” of old biblical principals are “revived” as the church wrestles to become like the eggs that hatched its birth in the first century.  Because of the structure of what appears to be safety and stability, these “revival” movements are eventually swallowed up by the structure in keeping its old form. The fruit of that revival movement has been division as new sects in Christianity are birthed and thrive.  There is no butterfly in structure, just the continuation of the caterpillar.

I contend that there is a new revival happening in the cocoon of Christianity that is about to take on a new form and become a butterfly.   No one outside the cocoon can see it, but the cocoon knows that something inside is happening: a reforming of structure for that of a butterfly at its designated time.  This body inside the cocoon is going to go through structural change, drastic structural change, and cannot be freed or released from the cocoon until the transformation is complete.

I believe that this change is going to be from the transformation of the current structural, pyramidal, institutional form of hierarchy of positions and offices to a horizontal position of relationships held together and directed by the Holy Spirit with the emphasis on service.  How is the structure of the butterfly to look like?  We, as a church, don’t know right now because we are entering the cocoon stage of transformation.  I believe as we release the five passions and points of view as outlined in Ephesians 4, we will see its fruits manifested in individuals being more mature in the likeness of Jesus Christ as well as the church corporately bringing unity, not division.  How that is to all work out, the Holy Spirit is beginning to lay the ground work for, the teaching, the preparation, the equipping before the releasing.

We, the Church, are about to go through a “body” form change built on relationships. The Church knows the power of the vertical of the Cross, the mending of relationship between a holy God and sinful man through redemption of Jesus, the sacrificial lamb, on the Cross.  What the Holy Spirit is about to teach us, the Church, is the horizontal relationship of the Cross, the mending of relationships between brothers and sisters in Christ, bringing this embarrassingly fragmented “body” lumbering along in many “parts” into a sleek “transformed” body prepared for flight in the Spirit through relationships.  What comes out of this transformational cocoon period will be a completely different image and identity of what the Church is. 

How will the butterfly look? Don’t know!  Transformation can be messy, retooling usually causes job loses, but it will improve efficiency. Expect even the way we “do” Church to look different as well as the way we think about ourselves individually as Christians as well as the Church, corporately as a whole, a body that is a "living organism", not a "structural organization". 

I always wondered what went on inside a cocoon. I think, Church, we are about to find out! If we plan to fly, we must go through the cocoon stage. Good bye caterpillar; hello butterfly!

“YEAST” INFECTIONS ARE NO FUN, SO MY WIFE TELLS ME!

How To Rid The Church Of “Yeast Infections”!

In my previous blog I talked about how the church has no time for “yeast” during revivals, when God is on the move.  “Yeast”, properly “kneaded” takes time to rise before being baked by the heat which produces a loaf of bread with a “protective crust”.  The fleeting movement of Passover did not allow time for the “kneaded” process. The Israelites “needed” to get moving because it was time for freedom, time to display God’s power, time to move through the Red Sea on a quest to the Promise Land.  Even in the dessert there was no time to “knead” bread, thus no “need” for “yeast”, for God was still on the move leading His people by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  In the dessert he produced “yeast”-less bread called manna, collected daily or it would rot.  Manna has not use to “stay around”, for God was on the move.

Today, I am embarking on a topic my Christian sisters can blog about better than I can, for I, personally, thank heavens, have never experienced: “yeast infections.”  Being married, I have seen the pain, discomfort, and irritability caused by them through my wife, but just seeing the “fruit of discomfort” caused by them, I, in the imbecilic lack of knowledge on the subject, can only write about the second hand results.  I can safely draw the inclusion that “yeast infections” are not nice, not wanted, and should be banned!

Spiritually, the Bride of Christ, body of Christ, the Church, is experiencing “yeast infections,” and it ain’t pretty!  “Yeast infections” never are!  Jesus warned about the “yeast”, the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees of his and our day.  It still scares me that Jesus forgave sinners, the unclean, the down and out of his society, for forbidden ones, yet he severely criticizes the religious leaders of his day: “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees.” Although we Christians will never admit it, there are Pharisees and Sadducees in our midst.  We definitely will not admit it, but defend it, if we are actually ones ourselves! It is painful when one makes that discovery, I know from personal experience, for I am a “recovering Pharisee” in my own right.  “Yeast” naturally rises over time, and being a Christian for 50 years has given it plenty of time to rise in my Christian walk, but when there is revival, there is no time for it to rise.  If I want to see revival, I must clean the “yeast” out of my own life?  How about you? Where do you stand on the “Pharisee” meter if you have been a Christian for any length of time?

“Yeast” is the “teaching” of traditional, structural “truth” over time.  That definition, I am sure, could be highly debated by the Pharisees of our time, but this “yeast’s” fruit has been division in the body of Christ, not unity. I personally believe it is time to 1) recognize the five fold as being the “norm” in a God moving revival and 2) the Church needs to reinstate the apostolic and revive the “apostolic teaching” recorded in the book of Acts.

Why do we need the five fold? To prevent and cure “yeast infections” in the Bride of Christ, the Church.  The fruit of the five fold, as outlined in Ephesians 4:14-16 is “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself in love, as each part does its work.”  Through “serving” one another, laying down one life for one another through submission and accountability and following the Holy Spirit, “sectarian teaching” through the teaching gifting in the five fold should be checked by the other four passions and points of view. As the teacher continues to study the Logos Word, the Bible, unity, balance, and truth will prevail through the Rhema revelations through the prophet, the birthing of those revelations through the evangelist, the daily working out of those revelations in practical life experiences through the pastor/shepherd, with correct oversight, the seeing over what the Holy Spirit is doing and teaching while releasing the other giftings to fulfill the big picture by the apostle, all prepares the ground work for the “apostolic teaching” as found in the book of Acts.

The restoration of the “apostolic” passion and point of view into the body of Christ, the priesthood of believers, will usher in the restoration of “apostolic teaching”, a teaching that will bring unity not division, simplicity not complexity, power and life not stagnation, and clarity instead of cloudiness. The tossing “back and forth by the waves”, and the blowing “here and there by every wind of teaching” will be diminished if not eliminated by the apostolic speaking “the truth in love” causing individual Christians and the Church as a whole “in all things” to “grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ.”  Results: “Every supporting ligament” of the body of Christ “grows and builds itself in love, as each part does its work.”  Unity not sectarianism; One Body of Christ not multiple sects, denominations, groups, mega-churches, etc. all under different banners; and one Head speaking for there will be only one “mouth” to this Head, speaking the same message of truth throughout the “whole” body of Christ.

The gospel is simple, yet we, the Church, have made it complicated over the centuries. The gospel is unifying, yet we, the Church, have brought only division among ourselves. The gospel is truth, yet we, the Church, prorogate the lie that only our sect has the “true” insight into “all things”, not the rest of the body of Christ.  The way to fight the “yeast infection” in the Church today is to embrace the five different passions and points of view as found in Ephesians 4:11, allow the Holy Spirit to design them according to God’s plan for the purpose of unity in the body of Christ and the “growing up”, the maturity, of individual believers as well as the corporate Church into the fullness and image of Jesus Christ through the true restoration of the apostolic and the apostolic teaching to the Church.  The cure to “yeast” infection is Jesus Christ and responding to the constant “moving” of the Holy Spirit. 

New Winds; New Revival: Revivals Always Bring Misunderstandings!

To Understand One Another, The Generation Gap Linguistically Will Have To Be Bridged At The Cross

Revival usual occurs at the grass roots of the church out in the open, not behind their closed doors.  When it occurs, it produces tension between the “established” church and its mindsets with the “new movements” and what appears to be new mindsets.  The key for true, effective, powerful revival is to bring the two sides together.  In the 1700’s, Wesley misunderstood Whitehead’s attempts to go “out” to the coal mines to preach to the miners as they left work, criticizing him for not having them come “in” to the church to hear the gospel.  When the misunderstanding was cleared by Wesley not being able to deny the fruits of Whitehead’s endeavors, he embraced the new movement and took the lead in creating the outdoor Camp Meeting movement that revolutionized evangelism in America and help spearhead America’s Great Revival. If the misunderstandings are not cleared up, then the rival brings schism, division, and conflict in the body of Christ.

I recall the enthusiasm many of us in our twenties had when returning from an outdoor Jesus Rally in the mid-1970’s after hearing some inspirational teaching from a speaker who tried to encourage his youthful audience to grow in Jesus toward eventual church leadership.  He quoted the passage from Timothy that “it is good to aspire to become an elder.”  When our local pastor heard of it, he was shocked, offended, and threatened, thinking we were going to try to usurp his power and authority as pastor.  That was his pyramid, hierarchal mindset at the time. That was never our intention since we were only thinking horizontally, relationally, but that “misunderstanding” effected how we were allowed to “minister” at the local level.  

I can see the possibility of this same misunderstanding occurring during this next revival because of the generational gap at how each looks at leadership and accountability in the Church.  The “established” church thinks hierarchal like a business model while the “new thinking” group looks linear, horizontally relational.  Today’s many independent and megachurches have developed high control, low accountability models. The church leadership has tight control of those “under” them with not much of an umbrella, if any, accountability above them, especially if they follow a “strong pastor” format.  This is why my generation has seen so many “spiritual giants” fall from ministry.  This “turns off” many in the new movement who think linear, building relationships with other Christians, not caring about dogma, doctrine, and labels as much as “fellowshipping” with their peers, the living saints, under the banner of Jesus.  The rigid horizontal, pyramid church structure always collides with the vertical, relational, reform structure.  Only if both camps allows the other to intersect it (the horizontal and vertical), then you have THE CROSS.  Only at and through the CROSS of Jesus Christ can love, understanding, acceptance, and unity be found. 

As I have wrestled over the five fold ministry of Ephesians 4 over the last two decades, I always wondered how there could be unity from five completely different passions and points of view which historically always brought division. In my 20^th century church mentality I could not ever see or imagine how that could happen.  The vertical, pyramidal, 20^th century church structure would not permit it since they made each of the five fold ministries “offices”.  Senior Pastors now obtained the title of “apostle” or “prophet”.   How else would the church see it since the pyramid, hierarchal church structure was embedded in the church?  With this new wave of thinking horizontally, stressing relationship, I can see some daylight that there is a possibility for unity in the five fold if they are looked upon as points of view or passions for every believer in the priesthood of believers in Jesus Christ.  If relationships are built so strong in Jesus between members of the body of Christ that they are willing to embrace I John 3:16 of “laying down their life for the brethren”, then the groundwork would be laid. 

In the pyramidal, hierarchal structure that I have lived through, I can truthfully say that I do not know any brother or sister in the Lord who would actually lay down their physical or spiritual life for me, nor I for them.  I would “feel obligated” to do it for my “superiors”, my pastor and staff, but never for each other.  In the linear, vertical structured based on I John 3:16, it would become natural in building a deeper relationship with those in the body of Christ.  Through reciprocal “serving” of one another, trust would be built, and accountability would be established which the vertical, pyramid structure of leadership would not understand nor embrace, thus the conflict, misunderstanding, and division that revival normally produces.

It is my prayer and desire in these blogs to help bridge the gap between the old, 20^th century vertical structure with the new, 21^st century horizontal structure by having them “intersect” making a CROSS.  At that point of intersecting, at that point of allowing the supernatural vertical relationship with God the Father through His Son, Jesus, with the nurturing of the precious Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, can the miracle of unity be found.  Both different points of view, different mindsets, different understanding can realize and understand that they are saying the same thing in Jesus, only linguistically different, for the kingdom of God principles are the same for both groups or camps.  That is why I think this upcoming revival which we are only feeling the birthing pangs, the beginning contractions, here in America, will be the birth of the Church maturing individually and corporately in Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of Ephesians 4.

Who Is To Teach The Apostolic Teaching!

Probably A Person With An Apostolic Point Of View

So who is called to “teach” this apostolic teaching today?  Self proclaimed apostles who use to be bishops, or prophets who now claimed a “higher calling”, or senior pastors of huge megachurches or networks of independent churches? I am leery of titles in the hierarchal structure in today’s church.  I cringed when on web site there was Apostle Dr. So-in-so and his wife Prophetess Dr. So-in-so.  At the top of their hierarchal local church structure they both boasted higher educational degrees and titles to validate their superiority among their peers. They appeared to be super Christians.

The five fold is for every believer to believe in the supernatural invading and dissecting their natural world.  It is not for super Christians seeking labels and positions.  Even the disciples fought among themselves at who would sit on Jesus left and right in the kingdom, totally missing the whole kingdom of god principles Jesus was teaching them.  When the Holy Spirit came, and they allowed the Holy Spirit to be their teacher, they began to understand and live these principals as apostles, becoming the foundation of the Church.  This foundational teaching is called the “apostles’ teaching.”

An apostle sees “the big picture”, loves to put things in order, and loves to “release” people and their giftings to further the kingdom of god.  His teaching must reflect the big picture, a message that is universal to “the whole body” not just for sects within the body like is in Christianity today.  His teaching must reflect the divine order set forth by Jesus in all its simplicity, his mission in life recorded in the Old and New Testaments, his death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and ruling at the right hand of the Father. His teachings must also reflect a goal of “equipping the saints for works of service” but then “releasing them in their gifting” to further the kingdom. 

I personally do not believe an apostle has to be a paid clergy. An “apostle” is not a profession with a hierarchal job description. It is not a person with the most “seniority” in a local or regional body of believers.  It is a person, a common believer in Jesus Christ, who has the point of view of seeing the whole Church, the body of Christ, and a passion to release people already in that body to further the kingdom of god and set things in order for the return of Jesus Christ to a bride that is without spot or wrinkle.  The five fold are “spot” and “wrinkle” removers under the watchful eye of the apostle who “sees over” what the Holy Spirit is doing and follows that leading. 

So who is called to “teach” this apostolic teaching today? Like the gospel, the answer is simple: the apostle!  An apostle sees the universality of the Church, the power and influence of the Church working out its salvation corporately, being the Bride, preparing itself for its Groom, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, while “seeing over” what the Holy Spirit is doing individually in the passions of the evangelist, pastor/shepherd, teacher, and prophet to bring corporate unity through the Holy Spirit and the Cross of Jesus Christ.

If there is ever a day the Church needs apostles, it is today, for only through them and their teaching  will we no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ. Eph. 4:14-15

Why I Need The Five Fold In My Life! A Self Confession

 I’m Tired of Getting Ripped Off By Failure When Being Alone

Personal History:  Over the last four decades I have been involved in “church” at almost every level. Some would credit me as being a “good Christian” because I went to Vocation Bible School and sung in the choir as a child, have attended and worked at church camps through my youth, as an adult taught Sunday School, aided in birthing an inner-city urban church, lead two different home churches, participated in leadership in a church plant, headed a youth ministry at my home church and regionally where I lived, lead the youth component of a major city-wide evangelistic Crusade, coordinated Lay Witness Missions in dozens of churches in the Mid-Atlantic region, took lay speaker courses and filled pulpits, earned a Master’s Degree in Biblical Studies, been in church leadership positions as an elder, taught Bible courses, participated in prophetic presbyteries, became faculty advisor for a public school Christian club, and even have my own blog site writing hundreds of blogs on the five fold which you are currently reading.

But, to tell you the truth, unfortunately, the inner-city urban church no longer exists, neither do any of the home church where I participated, nor does the church plant where I once was an elder.  I resigned from my home church office as Youth leader and struggled as a regional Youth Coordinator.  Lay Witness Missions are now scarce if not history.  My pastor said I should earn a Master’s Degree so “doors would open”; since earning that degree, no doors have opened.  I no longer get invitations to fill pulpits. Our local church no longer has prophetic presbytery teams, thus the almost disuse of that gifting. I write on a blog on a topic from a point of view that is unique to most of the Church, not its current acceptable standard.  Some people would credit me as a “good Christian”, but the data, the evidence, appears to show the contrary, a failure.

I have pondered my failures for hours, days, years, ruminating over them, analyzing them, trying to figure out what happened even though I was pure at heart, I thought spirit led, but the accuser, satan, always gets the upper hand by putting me down, condemning me as a “failing Christian.”  The reason I have failed is because in almost every one of those positions I found myself doing whatever I was doing alone.  Don’t get me wrong; Jesus was with me through them as well as other Christian brothers and sisters, but when involved with an evangelist in church planting, or church birthing, or in an evangelistic Crusade, I flowed evangelistically, but I did not have the support of a pastor/sherpherd, teacher, prophet, or apostle around me for protection, guidance, and accountability.  I had tastes of pastor/shepherding in small home groups, but again I did not have the other four giftings around me to share their points of view, insights, and accountabilty.  I have taught Bible School, Bible Classes, Sunday School, and even developed my own Christian course, but did not have the other four around me to make the “head”, “academic” knowledge into practical “living out” daily the kingdom of god knowledge to those I taught.  I have dabbled in the prophetic, but saw the independent spirit of the prophet if not submitting to the other four five-fold passions and points of view.  I even got a taste of the apostolic as a coordinator for Lay Witness Missions by “releasing” those on my team to share their evangelistic testimonies, care for those they stayed with for the weekend, share the truth of the gospel through mini-teaching, and working prophetically by listening to the small voice of the Holy Spirit all weekend, but did not have the opportunity to continue those giftings once our team left.

I have tasted each of the five fold passions, points of view, and giftings in my faith journey, but realize the importance of them in the context of a “body ministry”.  I need an evangelist around me to bring life and rebirth. I need a shepherd to care for me and the rest of the flock. I need a teacher to make the writing Word of God a living Word of God.  I need a prophet to challenge me towards intimacy with God.  I need an apostle to “see over” what the Holy Spirit is doing in my life, then “releasing” me to be free in my passion while setting up an accountability factor through relationships around me. 

I confess: I’ve blown it, often. I have failed even when my intentions were pure.  I have become self defeated because of the constant bombardment of the accuser, satan, constantly exposing my failures. In spite of all of this, I still have a yearning, a belief, a faith that all this can work, and will work if only the different points of view in Christianity would have one point of view, Jesus, if all the different passions in Christianity had one passion, a passion to “serve”, a passion to be intimate with the Father through Jesus and His precious Holy Spirit, a passion to “lay down one’s life for his brethren.”  The golden rule is to love god and your neighbor. Hey, Church! Let’s not only love God, but lets also love our Christian brothers and sisters, our family, by laying down our lives for one another!  That is the power of the five fold! You in the Church who have different passions and points of view than mine; I NEED YOU!

Another Mystery Of The Gospel: The Fingerprints Of God

 Different Prints But The Same On The Hand Of God

Throughout my life I have been asked, “Have you felt the hand of God on you, son?” by Church fathers?  Physically, not really; spiritually, definitively! Well, if his hand has been on me, and we take those fingerprints to a lab to test them, what would we find?  We might find each finger to be uniquely different, yet dramatically the same.

One finger may have the print of a passion, gifting, or point of view that sees the world as being lost, hurting, needing a Savior, and has the passion to proclaim the message of salvation, redemption, reconciliation, grace, mercy forgiveness, etc. to everyone and anyone who does not know Jesus.  It would also be a print of birth and rebirth, a desire to start a new by turning from old ways only to embrace new ones. We call that the evangelistic spirit, but upon closer examination of that fingerprint, all we would see is the fingerprint of Jesus.

The next finger may have the print of a passion, gifting, or point of view that sees a hurting world but is driven to give comfort and care to those hurting.  It may also see other believers as needing to be nurtured in their every day walk and faith journey towards maturing into the fullness of Jesus Christ.  We call that the pastoral shepherding spirit, but upon closer examination of that fingerprint, all we would see is the fingerprint of Jesus.

Another finger would have the print of a passion, gifting, or point of view that sees the world only through the Logos Word, the written Word of God, the Bible, desiring to imprint and embed the written scripture in the heart and spirit of every believer and nonbeliever.  His desire is for every believer to worship in “spirit and in truth.”  Grounded in the “truth” of the written word, the Logos Word, he would want to release the “spirit” of that Word into a living, active, experiential Rhema Word. We call that the pastoral teaching spirit, but upon closer examination of that fingerprint, all we would see is the fingerprint of Jesus.

Another finger would have the print of a passion, gifting, or point of view that sees the world needing to commune with God.  Built upon the evangelist having man bridge the gulf of his relationship with God through salvation while being nurtured through pastoral shepherding and grounded on the Word of God through the teacher, this fingerprint would want each believer to be in the right relationship as a believer with the God whose fingerprints are on their life.  We call that the prophetic spirit, but upon closer examination of that fingerprint, all we would see is the fingerprint of Jesus.

Another finger would have the print of a passion, gifting, or point of view that sees the Church as a whole.  It’s individual print would be complicated because it would have the pattern of an evangelist, pastoral shepherd, a teacher, and a prophet, yet a distinct print of its own, for it could see all the distinctive prints in its own, yet the beauty all the prints united together for the maturity of individual believers in the image of Jesus and corporately for the Body of Christ.  We call that the pastoral apostolic spirit, but upon closer examination of that fingerprint, all we would see is the fingerprint of Jesus.

So which finger is the pointer finger, the finger pointing the way?  It could be any of the five: the evangelistic finger pointing the lost to be found, the pastoral shepherd finger pointing nurture and care to the hurting and development and growth to believers, the teaching finger pointing our chapter and verse scripturally in the Bible instructing one how to live it out daily, or even the prophetic finger pointing always pointing to Jesus in everything the believer does, or even the apostolic finger which is like a thumb, resting on top of the other four fingers but whose job is to make the hand “grasp” or hold on to something only through the use of all five fingers.

Which is the ring finger?  Traditionally the wedding ring is placed on the fourth finger, but again it could be placed on any one of the five fingers because each one individually works in conjunction with the other four by being served by and serving the other four.  This brings accountability and unity to the entire hand.  Each of them is instrumental in making and preparing corporately the “Bride of Christ”, The Church.  Each has a function that brings “oneness” that only marriage can to diversely different people.

If we are made in the likeness of God, as I have been taught in Church all my life, then in child like faith I can assume he has five fingers on his hand.  Those five fingers could have the pattern and print of an evangelist, pastoral shepherd, teacher, prophet, or apostle on them, yet upon closer examination they are all the same for their print is the print of Jesus.

Fingerprints: Unique but United: Another Mystery Of The Gospel!

 A Different Way To Look At A Handshake?

While watching an YouTube video of an old Keith Green concert, I liked Keith’s comment, “What is neat about finger prints is far away they all look alike; you get up close they are all different.”

That is what I like about the five fold in believers of Jesus:  From a distance, each believer looks the same, but when you get up close and personal you find out that they have different passions, different points of view, a creative uniqueness only the Creator himself could have created in them.  Individually there is a difference, a uniqueness, but if broken, if hungry, if willing to listen to the Holy Spirit then be obedient to his revelation, if willing to die to self, and if willing to lay down his life for his brethren through service, there can be a drawing together of the saints in unity to appear to be the same.  All one sees is Jesus!  Wow, to look at a distant, then to look under a microscope all one sees is Jesus: that is the goal of Ephesians 4 for both the individual believer in Jesus Christ as well corporately as the Body of Jesus Christ, the Church!

The Holy Spirit is allowing itself in this age to be fingerprinted.  Every believer has the Holy Spirit with in themselves for the Bible says, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” But each believers fingerprint, although they have the same Holy Spirit, is an unique print by the Creator, Jesus.  Each believer houses “the fullness of Christ”, yet displays only parts of Him at a time: different points of view, different passions, differing gifting, different fruit, different manifestations, etc.  If each different finger print allows itself to serve other fingerprints that look different than their own, reach out to them, and accept them reaching out to yourself through a handshake, you can have unity in the spirit.  Throughout history, a hand shake signified the man’s word:  his word was his bond, sealed through a handshake.  Spiritually, the same it is true for the Word, the Logos Word and the Rhema living Word is still a man of God’s bond, sealed together in a corporate sense through the unity of the Body of Christ.  The Church’s fingerprint is the unity of all the individual fingerprints, all being the fingerprint of Jesus Christ.

New technology also allows identification by putting one's eye up to a scanner which reads the individual pattern that makes up the back of one's eye.  Isn't it amazing that the print of what we see also defines us. Do we see the light of Jesus or just darkness.  Is that light implanted on the back of our spiritual eyes defining who we are in Jesus.  How we "see" Jesus (spiritual sight) and how we feel spiritually (touch) gives us our identity in Him.  As an English teacher I learned point of view is how we see or perceive something.  As believers we see Jesus differently, yet we see him the same.  Our diversity lies in our point of view, our sameness lies in the unity in Christ where he appears the same. We see Jesus differently, our different points of view, yet we see Him the same way, as a Church.  

Diversity is the Church’s strength for every believer’s prints either in their point of view, perception, or feeling in Jesus Christ is unique, yet corporately are the same!  Another mystery of the gospel!  Lets allow that diversity, reaching out for a handshake through service, one to another, and sealing that handshake as the bond of our word, the Word of God, bringing unity to the Body of Christ. 

Yes, the finger print of Ephesians 4 is upon us, embedded in each of us who are believers in Jesus Christ, and also the Church as a whole. If they fingerprint your life, would those fingerprints reveal Jesus?

The Spirit of Creativity in the 21st Century Church

Final Review of Kent Hunter’s “The Future Is Now: How God Is Moving In The 21^st Century Church Book

I have thoroughly enjoyed Kent R. Hunter’s of Church Doctor Ministries ebook entitled “The Future Is Now: How God Is Moving In The 21^st Century Church.”  I have sent it to several of my friends who have repsected his insights which have created many good discussions over a cup of coffee or an ice tea. Again, thanks Kent for sharing those insights to the public.

One truth I have again realized is that the Holy Spirit is a creative spirit.  It is not God’s will to box in nor control the Holy Spirit because He will do His will His way to bring glory to Jesus Christ.  Hunter’s comments about “low control – high accountability” as being one of the keys to this generation of believers is so illustrated through the Holy Spirit.  When we do not try to control Him, He works in phenomenally creative ways while being totally accountable to the Father, God, and His Son, Jesus Christ. So one of the keys, bottom line, to revival or accepting the next movement of God, is again, “Can you trust the Holy Spirit?”  If the answer is in the affirmative, then let go and let him work creatively in you and in the Church.  If the answer is in the negative, then you need not read these blogs anymore.

Why is this principle of trusting the Holy Spirit so important?  Well, I am proposing a model of low control – high accountability through the five fold ministry where you allow the evangelist, pastoral shepherd, teacher, prophet, and apostle to be who they are, allow their passions and points of view to flow freely in “service”.  While pouring out their gifting to the churched and nonchurched alike, they need to be accountable to the other four points of view that differ from theirs by being willing to “lay down their life” for the brethren:  serving their brethren while allowing themselves to be served by the brethren who differ in giftings from themselves.  This builds relationships that brings true accountability.

Now the way most of us in the Church think, what model, what paradigm am I proposing?  I have shared through various blogs the five fold star of accountability in a circle that can rotate bringing to light any and each of the five fold gifts when needed to lead a five fold team effort.  But how is this to exactly work?  That is the job of the Holy Spirit. 

If the Holy Spirit is free to lead, then the beauty of creativity will flow. For example, when in a problem solving situation, the five fold group or team of believers can join together in corporate prayer and worship with the single purpose to lift up Jesus and “listen” to His still small voice for direction and guidance.  When this occurs, the Lord will speak; the key is “obedience” to what has been “revealed”, again accountability to the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ.  The revelation will come to the entire group, but the pastoral shepherd’s passion and gifting may be what is needed to arise and come to the forefront to solve the problem, or the prophets, apostles, teachers, or evangelist.  When one arises and comes to the front, the other four always are covering his back in support.  The results: maturing the saints into the image of Jesus Christ which brings unity in the body of Christ.

What comes out of it is creative solutions that are effective and impacting.  This will be done differently!  This is difficult for the Church who likes traditions, stability, and predictability, not newness, constant change, and having no idea what the Holy Spirit is going to do next!  But in a climate of newness, constant change, and unpredictability there is freshness, excitement, and an “anticipation” of what the Holy Spirit will do next.  This is the culture created in true revival in a true movement of God.

True revival features newness: the evangelistic spirit of birthing and rebirth, the creative arts again surfacing in the Church, new songs, new forms of worship, new ways to creatively express the gospel, new ways to get the message of Jesus to the world, new ways to evangelize and develop believers into the fullness and image of Jesus Christ, and new ways to bring the Church together as the Body of Christ.   Let the “newness” begin; let the Holy Spirit flow creatively!

Why The Five Fold As The Next Movement or Revival to the 21st Century Church?

A Review Of History From Dr. Bill Hamon

As the Church faces a new century and new movements of God, how will it respond?  Dr. Bill Hamon claims, “When this occurs [a new movement], some of the pastors and denominational leaders will take a neutral attitude, ‘Hold steady; do nothing; wait and see.’  Others will accept the new truths and ministries and incorporate them into their own teachings, ministry, and ways of worship, but some will reject and condemn the movement.

Those who do not like the movement and want nothing to do with it will find examples of ministers or members who have been confused or hurt by their involvement in the movement to prove that it is not of God.  They will also focus on little phrases or particular teachings of the leaders of the movement and make them sound unscriptural, out of order or cultic.  Those who oppose and persecute the movement will declare publicly that it is not of God and forbid their members to participate. The leaders of past movements, independent groups, and denominations will finally issue an official document declaring that this movement is not condoned by them and is therefore not of God.  Those who were leaders of God’s established order until the new movement came along are the ones who fight what is new the hardest.¹”

 So why do I, the author of this blog, propose the five fold as the next movement of God.  Hamon takes a historical view at this proposal.  Hamon has charted the change produced by the Restoration Movement since its inception in the 1500s with the Reformation.1

                  Year Restoration Movement               Major Truth Restored

                  1500 Protestant Movement                      Salvation by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8,9)

                  1600 Puritan Movement                           Water Baptism, separation of Church and State

                  1700 Holiness Movement                          Sanctification, Church set apart from the world

                  1800 Faith Healing Movement                   Divine healing for the physical body

                  1900 Pentecostal Movement                      Holy Spirit baptism and speaking in tongues

                  1950 Latter Rain Movement                       Prophetic presbytery, praise and worship

                  1960 Charismatic Movement                      Renewal of all restored truth

                  1970 Faith Movement                                 Faith confessions, prosperity

                  1980 Prophetic Movement                           Prophets and gifts of the Holy Spirit

With this Hamon also teaches that in each of the last five decades of the twentieth century, one of the five fold ministries (Eph. 4:11) has been reemphasized or restored, and certain Biblical truths and ways of worship have been reactivated in the Church by the Holy Spirit.²

                  Decade Five Fold Ministry                  Movement/Revival

                  1950’s Evangelist                                 Deliverance Evangelism

                  1960’s Pastor                                       Charismatic Renewal

                  1970’s Teacher                                     Faith Teaching Movement

                  1980’s Prophet                                     Prophetic Movement

                  1990’s Apostle                                     Apostolic Movement

I, the author of this blog, have personally experienced the effects of all five of these movements during my life time.  Because of the institutional mentality of the church, I have seen the church make “offices” out of the five fold, usually held by positions of leadership, usually the senior pastor, bishop, staff, etc., not the grass roots laity.  When there is a movement of God, it affects the grassroots of every believer, the priesthood of believers, not just the institutional hierarchy. This, I believe, is the biggest change to Hamon’s chart.  God’s Spirit through this next move of God will continue to be upon all flesh. (Acts 2)

I believe the Holy Spirit is shaking out, developing, teaching the five fold as passions and points of view that, when equipped, developed, and released, can bring maturity in individual believers while bringing unity among the five if they are willing to “lay down their lives for their brethren.” (I John 3:16).

The five fold will bring accountability to the Church unlike it has experienced since the first century because its foundation is on “service”, different passions “serving” each other and receiving the “services” from each other.  This accountability is based on “relationship” not on hierarchy of position of power or influence.

I agree with Kent R. Hunter and Dr. Bill Hamon that the wind of change, the wind of the Holy Spirit, is blowing, and we are seeing just the beginnings of the next great move of God upon the 21^st Century Church.

 ¹ Dr. Bill Hamon, Prophets and the Prophetic Movement:  God’s Prophetic Move Today  (Shippensburg, Pa: Destiny Image, 1990), 107.

 ² Ibid., 44-45.

Five Fold In The Business World

Why Does The Financial World Embrace The Five Fold Before The Church Does?

 I have listened to my son as he has learned about the business world in America and sometimes marvel that they use principles that should be anchored in the Church, but the church does not embrace or practice.  Churches are known to be “cheap” in the business world, wanting hand outs, cut rates, volunteers in stead of paid staff even though they run their institution as a business.  There is a business side to the American church: budgets, staffing requirements, property management, pensions, office expenses, etc.  The budget dictates often what a church can and cannot do.  Yes, God does speak through finances!  Like the business world, it too has created a hierarchy: senior pastor, associate pastors, office staff, and at the bottom, of course, janitorial staff, all who are paid hierarchically by position.  Who ever heard of a janitor getting paid as much as the senior pastor even though both do their work equally as “unto the Lord”?

If the bottom line of American business is to make money, then what is the bottom line for most American churches?  The more money they make, the “more they can do for the kingdom,” we are told.  In Jesus time, the growth of the kingdom of God did not hinge on the Church’s wealth.  When the Church obtained wealth, it was plunged into the Dark Ages of corruption and heresy.  So really, what is the bottom line for the business branch of most churches?

It amazes me that a successful business has a C.E.O. to run it, a visionary in the company to constantly produce new products or new ways to market their product, a C.P.A. who knows and follows financial laws in minute detail and will not waiver, a Business Manager to maintain the infrastructure of the corporation, and salesmen who enthusiastically proclaims and endorses the product to be sold.  It appears to be a five fold model.  Often, the American church has modeled their institutional structure after this capitalistic model: a Senior Pastor to oversee it, a business manager plotting where the church can go next financially, a biblically based teacher (unfortunately often the Senior Pastor through sermons or teaching classes, as if he already doesn’t have enough to do), a pastor (again the Senior Pastor unless he has Associate Pastors on his staff), and an evangelist (again often the Senior Pastor on Sunday mornings).  In the business world power is determined by who “controls” what.  The bottom line is control.  Unfortunately the institutional church has fallen into the same category.

So what makes the five fold as I propagate it among all believers in Jesus Christ as their passionate point of view different from the business world or the institutional church?  The answer: Through their bottom line.  The capitalist’s bottom line is to make a financial profit.  Often for the institutional church’s bottom line is growing in numbers and in their budget.  But to the five fold it is “equipping the saints for the work of service.”  What is each of these groups “investing” in and to gain what?  Business invests in people to acquire wealth; institutional churches invest in people to grow in number and finances; the five fold invests in people to “mature” them into the image of Jesus Christ and to bring “unity” in the body of Christ.

Allowing the evangelistic, pastoral, teaching, prophetic, and apostolic spirits to flow and move effectively has nothing to do with money; it has to do with “releasing” the saints, the everyday believers in Jesus, and trusting in the Holy Spirit to orchestrate that leading.  Unlike the C.E.O. who controls every facet of the business, the apostle only “sees over” what the Holy Spirit is doing because the Holy Spirit is in control.  Unlike the Business Manager “controlling” finances, the pastor/shepherd doesn’t control those he is over, but serves them, nurtures them, cares for them, is willing to die for them.  Unlike the C.P.A. who is controlled by financial laws, the five fold teacher is freed from being under the Law through grace in order to live life fulfilling the Law.  The envisionary businessman looking ahead in the business world to “reveal” future profits falls short to the five fold prophet whose passion it is to “reveal” Jesus Christ to the lost and to the Church.  The salesman whose goal is to sell the product, falls short of the five fold evangelist who not only proclaims and endorses what he knows, but also births the new things through the Holy Spirit. 

Accountability!  The business world is accountable to its bottom line, how much money it makes.  The institutional church is accountable it its church boards, elder boards, ministerial management boards, congregations, etc.  The five fold is accountable to each other through service, giving to each other, receiving from each other, and laying down their lives for each other.

The business world has embraced the five fold in ways that will profit their bottom line in order to be a successful business model making money to the envy of the rest of the business world with the goal of making the top ten Fortune 500 List.  Why has the Church been so reluctant to also embrace a five fold model that will profit the lost, those who need nurturing and developing, those who need grounded, those who need proper relationships, and those who need over sight?  The bottom line: the lost will be found, the hurting nurtured and cared for, those blown ever which way grounded, those with little or no self image or self worth valued in their relationship to Jesus and His Church, and those who are incomplete, become complete in the maturity, the fullness of Jesus Christ!  Why would the Church not embrace the five fold if these were Church’s results, the Church’s bottom line?

Are we investing in the kingdom of God, or are we investing in an institution?

Equipping Series – Part VI: Accountability In The Church

 “Ephesians 4” Call To Equip The Saints For The Work Of Service Through Accountability:

I believe the five fold passions and points of view are in every believer in Jesus Christ since the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ indwells them.  So how do we allow the artesian well of the Holy Spirit to surface effectively in all believers to bring maturity and unity to the Body of Christ?  That is the calling of the five fold ministry of the Church.

If you allow each of the five fold to arise as a separate entity, you have set yourself up for church splits, theological battles, divisions, and spiritual anarchy in the Church which has been the pattern historically for centuries.  How can five passions that are so different and can be so divisive if practiced alone, be so powerful and unifying to the Body of Christ, His Church?  The answer is in one word: accountability. 

Each of the five must be accountable to the other four through service, through humility, with a spirit of receiving not rejecting, with a spirit of encouragement not criticism, with open accepting arms, not closed ones in opposition. In short, practicing I John 3:16-18, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in the truth.”  I am tired of the Church talking about unity, claiming to be one Church under Jesus Christ, but never practicing it.  The Church needs to take "actions" in the "truth" of the gospel and start brining maturity to its believers and unity to the Body.

In other words, we can’t “pick up” anything until we “lay it down”.  Let’s lay down our lives, lay down our previous mindsets, lay down traditions, lay down previous theologies that have divided the Body of Christ, lay down our defensive critical spirits towards other camps, groups, etc. under the banner of Christianity.  Let’s lay them on the altar of as an act of worship.  Allow Jesus to do with them as He wills: either burn up and destroy them, or like Daniel’s personal experience in the lion’s den, protect them and allow them to arise with life, or make them totally new and give them back to us.  Allow the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ then to teach, implement, and develop in the Church what Jesus’ will is for that which you have been willing to lay down.   Jesus had to lay down his life in order to become resurrected.  The Cross always precedes resurrection.  Let’s lay down horizontally everything in our spiritual and physical lives and allow the supernatural power of God, vertically, to intersect, invade that which we laid down, horizontally, and we have “The Cross”.  Only through The Cross whose vertical intersection (John 3:16) of our horizontal relationships with our own brethren (I John 3:16) can bring the humbleness, the brokenness, that which is needed to make five different passionate points of view to “see in unity” in the “Revelation of Jesus Christ”, the Church, as a whole!

Each of the five fold must serve the other four in humility, to minister to their points of weakness, so they can be effective in their callings, their missions, their passions.  Each of the five fold must allow the other four to serve them in humility, to minister to their points of weakness, so they can be strong and effective in their mission, calling, and passion in the Kingdom of God.  Accountability comes through giving and taking through service!  Each must give through service to the other four and receive through service from the other four in order for the five fold to be effective.

The Church has not seen this kind of accountability since its birth centuries ago, for this form of accountability is not through hierarchal leadership but broken servanthood from and to one another, nor is it through power or position but through equality.  You not only use your passion to serve others but are freed to develop, grow, and use your passion by being served by other brothers/sisters in the Lord.  No one passion or point of view is “the leader” or “the head” under this form of accountability, but is shared jointly and rises to leadership only when called upon by the Holy Spirit.  When the spirit of evangelism is needed, the evangelist will arise with the backing of a pastor/shepherd, teacher, prophet, and apostle and will be free to minister in their evangelistic calling.  When the spirit of shepherding, of teaching, of prophecy, and the apostolic spirit is needed, they can arise with the backing and support of the other four.  Their backs are always covered while being free to do what they do best, their passion to serve Jesus Christ in his gifting to them!  What a refreshing, healthy, harmonious way to minister.

Although we do not see it in our current system of leadership and hierarchy in our church structures, the five fold can become a reality when everyone is willing to lay down their lives for each other.  That happened in the book of Acts where they freely gave, freely received, freely ministered, and felt freedom and support when the Holy Spirit released them into ministry. Trusting the lead of the Holy Spirit individually and corporately is the key to the effectiveness of this accountability system and the power behind its success.

My prayer is that we, the Church, embrace what already exists in our churches, the evangelistic, pastoral, teaching, prophetic, and apostolic spirits which already exist in its individual believers in Jesus, begin to lay them down on the altar, relinquish control to the Holy Spirit, allowing our Supernatural God to vertically dissect our horizontal world of relationships, The Cross, to produce a powerful resurrected Church. Let's quit talking about it; let's just do it! 

A Challenge To Churches Outside the U.S. To Respond

How Is The Five Fold Being Released Among You?

Before a spiritual revival hits an area, there must first be a spiritual hunger.  Unfortunately, even though the economic mood is tense, unemployment as a challenge, health care for everyone a national debate, I do not feel that the American Church is hungry enough for revival.  Revival brings change, and most of the churches in the U.S. feel they are doing fine, still feel they are spiritual leaders globally, feel elitist to most of the churches in third world countries and the rest of the world.  There is not that desperation nor brokenness that comes with a need for God.  The U.S. Church lacks to desperation for God that fuels revival.

The U.S. still feels it leads in spiritual teachers, worship music and musicians, finances, technology, and mega-church structures and organizations, but it lacks the grass roots hunger that ignites revival: brokenness, hunger and thirst.  Something like embracing the reality of the five fold passions, vision, and points of view that already exist in their edifices is foreign to the U.S. church because it would demand change in structure and the way it does “church”.

I follow on my Facebook page Alan Hirsch because of his experience with the five fold when he lived down under in New Zealand before coming to the U.S.  I try to glean from his experiences and wisdom.  There are places in this world where the Church is allowing the five fold gifting, passion, points of view, and passions to arise and be birthed, nurtured, and released within the Body of Christ.  Unfortunately, the American church has not been that receptive to the change that such an acknowledgement would bring if the five fold was embraced and the Holy Spirit released to initiate, orchestrate, develop, and be released in American churches.

I am calling to the Church outside the United States.  If you are seeing the release of the five fold in your church, could you please comment back as an encouragement to we believers in Jesus here in America. Place an entry on Fiverevealed.com Facebook page, so that I and other believers in Jesus can dialogue with you. 

I truly believe that the five fold already exists in our churches; we just need to recognize that fact.  Then we need to ask the Holy Spirit how to make Ephesians 4 applicable to our churches today.  How are we to equip the saints for the work of the service, win the lost in the 21^st Century, nurture and care for those in the Church, teach with an apostolic anointing of unity, prophetically move forward and listen to he voice of the Holy Spirit and the heartbeat of the Father, and be able to see over all that the Spirit of Jesus Christ is doing in his Bride, his Body, the Church?

I also believe that the Church outside the U.S. borders will probably be more open to this movement in God than the American Church.  Much of the spiritual leadership will arise through experiencing the five fold in this new dimension, then releasing those who have practiced it, experienced it, to share with the rest of the global Christian community.

Church outside the borders of the U.S., I ask you to respond!

Believers In Jesus Christ: Accept My Apology For Being Narrow Minded Not Global?

New Mindsets For Me and the Church

One of the purpose of these now over 300 blogs over the last two years has been to challenge mind sets that we have established in the current church setting.  Before this website, my vision for the Church was focused around my local congregation or the Church of this area.  Posting on the website has made me think beyond York, Pennsylvania to the entire United States, but now I have had to “upgrade” my mindset to think internationally.  I have noticed that many of the hits to this site have come between 1 and 5 in the morning E.S.T.  which means Europe has shown an interest.  So to those members of the body of Christ outside the U.S., I apologize for limiting my view, but hope to develop a larger, world wide view of the Church as I address the use of the five fold to the entire Church, the Body of Christ.

This does not mean we need a “Global Council of Churches” to dialogue and recognize each other. Facebook allows normal everyday believers to dialogue and recognize each other with only one bond of unity: Jesus.  We, believers in Jesus Christ, can talk about Jesus to each other.  It is all about establishing relationships, not religious structures, so we do not need to create a Facebook, Text, Tweet, or Blog for Jesus as an established, official structure, webpage, or web site, but allow the Holy Spirit to flow freely among its believers to communicate, network, and bond together.  It is amazing that technology has been created to do this!

Just two decades ago, radio and television were still the only method to get the gospel out to the entire world.  Today any individual who has an Iphone with GPS capability can communicate with anyone throughout the world.  The way the Church thinks of evangelism to the world is “upgrading” from Church Evangelism.1 to the new and improved Church Evangelism.5.5! We must be open to new methods of evangelism as the world opens up to every believer. The most effective evangelism has always been one-to-one communication, and today’s technology allows that, so we need to rethink our mindset.

As far as pastoral/shepherding, I know I need to rethink how I communicate with brothers and sisters in the Lord globally.  How to encourage, communicate, and bond in fellowship with believers in Europe, Asia, the Far East, down under in Australia, and even with my brothers in the Lord in China!  The world is only a click away on my computer or Iphone!  Facebook has allowed a networking that needs to be developed effectively by the Church to communicate with its many members the world over. So I invite any believer in Jesus Christ to be “my friend”, my “brother/sister in the Lord” on my Fiverevealed Facebook Page.

Prophetically, living out the gospel is of extreme importance.  Getting or receiving a “word from the Lord” to or from another brother or sister in the Lord from anywhere in the world is powerful.  Knowing what the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, is doing throughout the world must be shared, and we are in an era of being in the realm of that possibility. If I get a prophetic word about something outside the U.S., I will take the step of faith and post it!  That new mindset will even stretch me and my faith.

The Apostles teaching brought unity in a very small area of the world at its birth in the first century.  The only way to bring unity is again establish the simplistic gospel of truth that unites the Church, not propagate the doctrines and dogmas that have divided it.  World Wide teachers of the Word need to concentrate on the truths of simplicity of the gospel to bring unity! The apostolic needs to arise.  The seeing over the entire body of Christ, the Church is drastically needed to prevent more schisms and divisions.  Revivals in the 21st century must bring unity, not division if the Bride of Christ is to come together to usher in the age of the Lord’s returned as prophesied in the Bible.  A 21^st Century apostle needs to discern the prophetic and they need to encourage, help coordinate, facilitate, and network this huge global body of believers to be as effective as it can be in changing the world globally for Jesus Christ, flow within the global church, sense the urge of evangelism to key areas of the world that have not heard the gospel, feel the need for nurture and care to the global body of Christ in their development. They need to bring unity through apostolic teaching, 

Forgive me for my narrow sightedness; Lord open my eyes, my mind, and my spirit to what you are doing globally and to the Church as a whole.

Purpose Of The Five Fold: To Grow Up!

Infant or Adult?  Isn’t It time To GROW UP?

Purpose of the five fold according to Ephesians 4:12-16  ….. “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. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.  Instead speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."

Infants or adults in Christ: I Corinthians 1:10-13 ….. “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some of Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided?”

Infants or adults in Christ: I Corinthians 1:1-9 ….. “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly – mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.  Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there are jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?  Are you not acting like mere men?  For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere men? What after all, is Apollos? What is Paul?  Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field. God’s building.”

Church, we need “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.”   We need “in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ.”  How long are we going to be “infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming?  Instead speaking the truth in love”? “Is Christ divided?” How long will we be a divided church, “For since there are jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?  Are you not acting like mere men?”

Why does the Church need the five fold? To GROW UP!  To train, equip, prepare the saints so that “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.”  To bring unity instead of being tossed by “every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming?”

Paul address the Christians at Corinth as “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly – mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.  Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there are jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?  Are you not acting like mere men?”  Would he say the same to our churches today?  Unfortunately, I would think he would.  The mentality of Christian churches today only brings divisions not unity, church splits instead of growth, doctrinal and theological debate rather than unity of the message of good news, the gospel.  What applied in Paul’s day, still applies to the Church today.  Isn’t it time to “GROW UP”?

Let’s allow believers to grow up through acknowledging the five fold among us, encouraging one another, nurturing one enough, being accountable to one another, serving one another, laying down our lives for each other, equipping and preparing one another, and releasing one another for works of service.   That is a totally different mentality and attitude than the church currently embraces.

The scriptures above speak for themselves.  How do we as individual Christians and corporately as the body of Christ respond to them?  How long must the Holy Spirit treat us as infants before we are willing to eat meat.  Must we be enabled like the Children of Disobedience in the wilderness after leaving Egypt where they only had manna to eat.  We can feast at the Lord’s table because of Jesus.  So much more is available to us if we only grow up!

Isn’t it time to “GROW UP”?