Store House Tithing: A Lost Art In Christendom Today

Preparing A Church For Rough Times

In the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, Chapter 41 portrays the powerful narrative of how Joseph goes from imprisonment to be second only to Pharaoh in power. He interprets Pharaoh’s dream of 7 years of abundance and 7 years of famine. Pharaoh places him in charge of “store housing” 1/5 of Egypt’s grain during the years of plenty to be distributed during the years of famine. By the time the famine subsides, the Egyptians have sold their souls for grain, and Pharaoh owns all of Egypt and begins building a great empire built on tyrannical control.

By the time we get to the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, Chapter 3 God asks, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask me ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.”  Israel is being challenged to use the very principle that God had Joseph use in Egypt. I call it store house economics: creating a store house in times of wealth to be drained during times of need.

Watchman Nee was a Bible teacher and leader of the church in China before the Communist take over. I enjoy his teachings in the context that he is preparing a Church for persecution.  What Nee teaches would be monumental in the Church’s survival under extremely harsh persecution.

Many Christian church leaders want you to read his “Normal Christian Life” book because it is about submission to authority which they want their people to dutifully do, but very few recommend his book “The Normal Christian Church Life” which is about apostles, elders, the basis of union and division, and store house tithing, topics that are not propagated by most American churches, particularly financially. 

I do not personally know of a Christian church that practices store house economics here in America. During times of plenty we have built monumental cathedrals called mega-churches, increase professional staffing, invested in theatrical lighting, sound, and technological advances to create a highly professional worship service.  During times of plenty we have created marvelous monuments of awe, but when the size of the congregation dwindles, the economic hard times arrive, budget cuts are the buzz word, and our edifices are mere replicas of former years, the cry of need arises, but there is no funding for the now drastic programs needed for survival. We failed to heed the call of store house economics. During the time of prosperity we have heard the mantra over and over again of “give, give, give” financially from your blessings, and as downward economic times hit that of “give sacrificially”, yet there is no store house from which to draw in time of need. The fat of America’s churches has been squandered, and during the recent economic downturn their colors have shown. Churches have faced budget cuts, downsizing of staff and personnel, aging buildings, yet try to maintain pre-lean year budgets.

We have invested in our buildings and properties, in taking care of our professional leaders financially, and in developing our staffs, but have we invested in our people, those who attend our churches?  Have we effectively taught them discipleship to stand on their own faith, read the Word on their own, listen to the still voice of the Holy Spirit on their own and corporately, then act obediently to what they have seen and heard? Have we equipped the “saints” for the work of service (Eph. 4) or have we financed a professional staff to do that work for us?  If the professional staff is eliminated due to economic strains, can the common committed brethren stand on their own?  If the church doors would be closed, where would they go to congregate, to pray, to get teaching, to corporately hear from God and worship?

A church that invests in its people will survive any economic downturn, persecution, famine, or time of difficulty. God says, “test me” in Malachi to see if store house economics works! He promises only blessings if the Church practices it!  If economic recovery returns to America, will the church's wasteful spending and grandiose projects come back, or will it have learned to make “store houses” for the next economic down turn, the next time for need!

During down times, we naturally look to the Lord to provide our needs; we got to naturally look to the Lord in good times to provide from our excesses and store it for times of need. For America and most of the Westernized world, that is a totally radical mindset, but a mindset we MUST embrace if we are to be good stewards of God’s kingdom.

Who/What Is Your Church Investing In?

Should Church Budgets Reflect Christian Development Or Staff Needs?

This past Sunday, the church that I attend had a “Family Talk” instead of the sermon which basically was a dissertation from the pastor with a few supportive comments from the three elders that now comprise the church’s board.  There was no input from the family sitting in the pews, no feedback, no questions, just a one way dialogue. The presentation showed the direction leadership would like to the congregation to take in the next year by outlining the budget items that would reflect their direction, and a plea for those in the pew to finance those endeavors through generous financial contributions this year.  90% of the budget was nontouchable, already designated areas of commitment, whose details were not disclosed at the meeting. New initiatives comprised 10% of the budget.  Only 2% of the budget was designated for “Equipping” or training the saints, the pew sitters, toward Christian and leadership development.  More money was designated for developing relationships with New Frontiers networking, for developing Life Groups by training leadership through an 18 month course commitment on counseling to have them certified, for establishing “programs” to draw people to the church, and for deferral of payroll cuts than were designated for “equipping” or developing the saints, the common believer, the pew sitter!

I don’t think their budget is much different than most of today’s Christian Church budgets for buildings and grounds, mortgage payments, payroll commitments, staff professional development and needs, and maintenance supplies comprise a greater load of the budget with other commitments like missions, administrative pledges to overseeing organizations, and benevolence funds.  Very seldom is there a major commitment financially for “laity development”.

I thought a major mission of the church was to “develop disciples”, to develop the saints? Fully funding Pastor(s) and staff to Christian Leadership Growth Conferences is the norm, but financially funding the development of the saints toward Christian discipleship has been neglected by the local church.

So what are we developing the saints to become?  Future professional clergy? Future staff? Future Leaders (of what?)? If we developed them to be evangelists would we allow them to give “evangelistic messages” ie. sermons or personal testimonies during Sunday Worship Services, or develop their own outreach programs? If we developed them to be pastors/shepherds, would we allow them to mentor other Christians without being under the micromanaging microscope of the pastor and staff?  If we developed them to be teachers of the Word, the Bible, would we allow them to actually preach from the pulpit? What would they be allowed to teach? How do we overcome this fear that their teaching would be heretical, off base, unprofessional? If we developed them to be prophets, what outlet would we give them to prophecy, to flow in the Spirit in freedom? Of course, we would never allow them to develop apostolic skills, for the professional pastoral staff and senior pastor feels that is their exclusive role, not laity’s! A nonskilled, nontrained, nonprofessional seeing over the work of an entire church would be unthinkable!

Most Christian church’s produce “enablers”, for the professional staff does everything for them: prays for them, preaches to them, teaches them, does visitations for them, extend hospitality through the church’s coffee bar to them, provides “programs” for them so they can meet socially, tells them in a service when to sit, when to stand, when to sing, when to pray, when to greet one another, and when to give financially while announcing all the church events because they believe their flock is to ignorant to read or understand the printed bulletin they gave them to read.  We don’t develop disciples of Christ, nor leaders if all we do is enable them; and then we get frustrated when they don’t do anything or respond to a preordained programs.

We, Christians churches, must begin to “invest” in the people who are “financially investing” in their “professional staff” to do all things for them!  Pew sitters, the saints, must begin to do more than just “pay the bills”!  But how?

Professional Development is designed to develop the professional in what he does in his profession!  Getting a college degree, a proper certification, an academic title directly influences one salary and leadership position. That is for the professional staff, but what do those in the congregation have to do to earn positions of favorability, positions of freedom to serve, positions to minister in freedom?

I know of no church staff that tries to equip the saints to do what they do, thus putting themselves out of a job! Instead of focusing in “equipping” or “preparing” the saints for service, the professional staff gets caught up in doing it themselves, for they are better trained, better equipped, and more highly educated to do the task than their counterparts in the pew.  What message is the church sending when they want their parishioners to financially support their budget to pay their salaries, their expenses, their benefits, their professional development, yet the budget holds little to financially support the laity’s own personal development in their faith, their journey, their spiritual growth?

Check your church budget. What does it reveal? What or who are you investing in? Are the saints lost in your budget? Oh, I forgot, they aren’t lost; they just have to finance is sacrificially through their tithes and offerings, usually under the premise of feeling guilty through funding drives and pleas every Sunday before the offering.

Where you put your money exposes your heart, your treasures, your priorities, and your goals and dreams. Church budgets reveal the heart and treasure of the church.  Unfortunately, we should be shocked at what they reveal, and begin to rethink how we should readjust our priorities in them.

My Reaction To Pete Earley's Book "Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness"

 I wrote a letter on January 21, 2013 to Deborah "Sunny" Mentelson, a Clinical Social worker of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore Maryland, thanking her for sharing a copy of her book Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness with me.  I highly recomment the book.  Here is the letter:

        Thank you for sharing with me your copy of Crazy: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness.  Although I have heard so many personal true, real life horror stories from those taking the Family to Family class that I teach through NAMI, it is always difficult emotionally to hear yet another one. Pete Earley’s book is right on! Journalistically accurate.

        Two things strongly spoke to me through the book: “In the end, Mullen himself stripped away the mystery of why Passageway works. The answer proved to be rather basic. He created a community where the mentally ill ARE NOT ALONE, a community that genuinely cares about how the weakest among us are treated.”  (page 358)

        I have made attempts to make the religious communities aware of mental illness, because they are usually community based, community minded, should understand the principles of “grace” and “mercy”, both of which are needed to make a community reaching out to the mentally ill work. I have written over 31 blogs on the topic of Mental Health & the Church’s view on my blog site, fiverevealed.com. Check the “categories” menu on the right side of the page under “mental illness”.

        I will echo Earley’s cry that we need to “created a community where the mentally ill ARE NOT ALONE, a community that genuinely cares about how the weakest among us are treated.”  That is a powerful message.

        I just listened to Obama’s Presidential Inauguration speech and the voice of the mentally ill has been lost on Capital Hill again in spite of the Sandy Hook massacres. Gun control is the political hot button. Bottom line: a disease killed a mother, her ill son, and numerous children and teachers. The disease caused the tragic results. We in the mental health world know the ill one would have found another weapon to fulfill his delusion if untreated. If we do not want another massacre to happen, then we must deal with the issue of Mental Health in America! It is imperative for our safety and the safety of all involved.

        The other strong impact on me was the last line of the book: “I had my son back.”  I gasped when I read it and cried.  The cruel reality of mental illness is the “detachment” it brings to its victims: the one ill, the loved ones who support him/her, and those around them who they affect.  My manuscript that I gave you, Stripped, supports that reality in my life.  All of us who have loved ones who fight mental illness dream of having our loved one “back” again.  Recently facing my father’s death, having to give his eulogy at his memorial service, the hardest emotional thing for me was attending the memorial service with out my wife by my side or emotionally being able to give me comfort in the time of need.  I was by her side in the ECT Recovery Room the moment he passed away, yet she was not able to be by my side physically or emotionally the day we honored and celebrated his life. Grieving the living who are mentally ill is harder then grieving the dead, for at least with the dead there is finality; with mental illness there is no end, only continual loss of the one living facing mental illness.

        Again, thanks for sharing the book and your care and concern with and for me. We in the mental health world face it daily and need to continually support one another through our journeys, no matter clinically, professionally, or personally.

                                                Sincerely

                                                Anthony Bachman

A Christian Response To The Mentally Ill

A Reaction To The Newtown Shootings

Another mass shooting in the U.S., another news spectacle, and another tie with mental illness.  True, the tragedy of twenty young innocent children and six adults is horrific, and the news media is placing the magnitude of the pain of the parents, family, and community under the microscope as if it is incomprehensible, but can you imagine the pain, the guilt, the embarrassment, the shame, etc. that the brother of the shooter is feeling who lost his mother, and estranged, mentally anguished troubled brother while being blamed at first for the shooting because of stolen identity. Those of us who have loved ones who face severe mental illness cringed because it just could have been our loved one who made the news.  We are use to blame, to manipulation, to fear, to ridicule, to misunderstanding, to embarrassment, to the pain and stigma that mental illness can bring when engulfing our loved one. The secular world is questioning gun control as a possible solution, but missing the underlining cause for the shooting: mental illness. What should the Christian response be to all of this blackness, darkness, abyssfull behavior?

Mercy: God’s Presence in the Temple’s Holy of Holies was above the “mercy” seat protected by two cherubim. What is mercy? Police officers at a Crisis Intervention Training course sponsored by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill recently could identify. If someone has a gun against your temples in your head, you are at their “mercy”; you have no control over if they will pull the trigger or not. It is out of your hands, and you are at the total will and actions of the one whose finger is on the trigger. Then you beg for “mercy”. For one facing severe mental illness, the mental disorder they are facing is the finger on the trigger; they are at the “mercy” of the disease, but God never pulls the trigger; He extends “mercy” often through forgiveness, unmerited favor and kindness in spite of who we are, what we are like, or what we have done.  Our actions, attitudes, and sin qualify us for the trigger to be pulled, but God opts to not pull it, drop the gun, and extend a hand of help and hope instead. In the midst of darkness, He is light; in the midst of hopelessness, He is hope; in the midst of confusion, He brings clarity; in the midst of insanity, He can bring sanity.

Grace:  In the midst of all the pain, confusion, and maelstrom of emotions, God extends unmerited favor, kindness, and love. When we deserve the worst, He extends His best.  In place of judgment and condemnation, He extends unmerited favor. In place of engulfing guilt, He extends forgiveness and peace. In place of bondage, He gives freedom. Those fighting mental illness probably know more about grace than we who don’t have to face it.  Depression brings darkness, hopelessness, anxiety, fears, and uncertainty, yet God’s “grace” offers light, hope, stability, and peace in the midst off all this.  Often many negative deeds and actions by one fighting mental illness is actually a cry for help and “grace” to be extended their way.

Connectivity:  Mental illness brings disconnectivity. There is a feeling of detachment from one’s feelings, social relationships, family, friends, and life in general.  Those standing in the peripheral circles around one’s life now look distant, as they withdraw, not sure how to respond, creating even more disconnectedness. Soon the one fighting mental illness feels “detached” from everyone; he/she becomes a loner.  This is when they find themselves in a dangerous position.  The Christian Gospel is all about “connectivity”: 1) man disconnected from their God can be reconnected through forgiveness from the Father, God, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, their sacrificial lamb; 2) man disconnected from each other can be reconnected through reconciliation, forgiveness by each other, bringing restored relationships; 3) man disconnected with his mind, his emotions, himself can be restored through God’s healing touch restoring “the mind of Christ” in one’s mind and a “heart for God” with one’s emotions.  The Body of Christ, the Church, is all about connecting with one another, reaching out to one another, and restoration of relationships.  It is exactly what those battling mental illness need.  Instead of isolation and loneliness, the Church must offer them fellowship and acceptance.

Often when one battling dark depression picks suicide as a viable option they do not want their attempt to succeed; they want someone to intervene because it is actually a cry for help?  Judgment, criticism, and isolation are just what the person doesn’t need, but usually gets from us who do not understand their conflict, the darkness that they are experiencing, nor the emotional pain that torments their very existence. We Christians, the Church, need at those moments to not ostracize them, criticize them, nor ban them to isolation and loneliness. It is then that we need to “connect” with them, for that is the gospel. That is the hope they are looking for.

Many are asking, “What can we do to prevent another disaster like the one this weekend?” Hopefully we will extend “grace”, show “mercy”, and help them to connect with their God, their family, and people who will extend “grace” and “mercy”.  

A Look At Past Revivals And Present Realities

What Mess? Let’s Have Some Soup!

I attend a local church who fifteen years ago emphasized equipping the saints, teaching each individual Christian to read the Word of God and dig for its truths themselves, to listen to the Holy Spirit themselves, to learn to be obedient to what the Word and the Spirit was telling them individually and corporately.  From a passive onlooker’s point of view, it looked rather messy.  Different people with different passions with different understandings with different points of view all extending their faith in different directions with different giftings, etc., etc. It looked like there was no single purpose for direction. I have been through the Charismatic Movement which released individual believers in Jesus Christ to be priests of the Holy Spirit which exploded in diverse ways, looking extremely messy. Freedom released often looks messy! Revivals, being free in the Spirit, for some reason, always turn out messy!

Since then, the church has been struggling with “how to clean up the mess” as they focus on the mess, but they can not lose sight of the creation that the Lord is brewing.  When I make beef vegetable soup, it is quite the process: preparing a stock of rich beef broth with a touch of chicken broth for diversity and taste, cutting beef into small chewable size chunks, dicing carrots, celery, zucchini, and string beans, mincing onions, slicing tomatoes, trimming broccoli and cauliflower into edible size morsels, adding pinches of salt, oregano, and pepper, thinly slicing mushrooms, dumping in a complimentary size portion of peas and corn, and adding the right amount of olive oil, then letting it cook while simmering, allowing all the juices, all the ingredients, all the special flavors to infiltrate each other into a marvelous concoction that only my soup spoon can handle when finished. As I step back to inhale its intoxicating rich aroma while it simmers, I am shocked at the condition of the kitchen: a TOTAL MESS!  Although I now spend up as much time cleaning up the mess as in preparation of the soup, I CAN NOT loose sight of that cooking masterpiece on my stove, still simmering, still blending, still in the process of being a culinary masterpiece.  Good soup takes time!  Unfortunately, the church often looks and works at cleaning up the messes and looses sight of the pot, still cooking, still simmering, still in the process of making a masterpiece: delicious soup!

Do you stop the pot of soup from cooking? Do you turn off the dial that brings the heat that causes the chemical creations of all those diverse vegetables and broth to blend together? No.  The soup is not ready yet! Only when there is a think layer of “oil” floating on the top created from the blending of the entire creation do you know that the soup is thick, the soup is blended, the soup is ready to eat! Get out your soup spoon, but not before it is done or you will miss the richness of properly blended soup!  We need to “wait upon the Lord” until the “oil” of his Holy Spirit is upon the finished product before we, as humans, mess with it again!  If we want the richness of what the Lord is doing, we must be patient, allow His process to work towards its completion!

It is alright to clean up the mess around the creation that we made for its preparation, but it is not wise to mess with or abort the project when it is simmering, stewing, going through the laborious process towards completion. God is still at work! He is the creator; let’s not mess with his creation, only clean up our messes! 

I see this generation who has seen the mess created by past movements of God fearful to let go and release again that same spirit that might bring more mess, especially right after a clean up. I understand; I hear you, but don’t forget: the pot is still simmering, stewing, blending, ….. The preparation work is done; the clean up is done; now is the time for waiting for that “oil” to rise from the project to signal its time of maturity.  If you are patient, you will benefit from all the preparation, the mess it created, the clean up, and the long cooking time. Remember: WITH PATIENCE YOU GET TO EAT THE FINISHED PRODUCT! REJOICE! Get your soup spoon ready!

I would be devastated if my wife came into the kitchen when it had its mess and tried to shut it down and throw my creation away. She would remind me, point out, and emphasize the mess, MY MESS, that I made! She would demand CONTROL back of HER kitchen because of MY mess! She may get angry, may raise her voice, or may give me the “evil eye” that only mothers and wives can give at precisely the right moment to get their poignant point of their displeasure across! She may even continue to NAG me about MY mess even while I am cleaning it up! And if really angry, if really feeling intolerant, if really feeling offended, she may take the lid off the pot, complain about the “film” of “oil” that is floating on top, and throw all its contents away!  After all the mess is cleaned up, after all the emotions are deescalated, after emotional damage has occurred to all involved, there will again be an immaculate clean kitchen, but NO SOUP!

That is how most churches have handled the mess of change caused by the Holy Spirit which we call revival. They choose to throw the Godly workings of that revival out because of the mess that was created. The Church still wants the benefits of revival, but without the mess.  The benefits of revival is the soup, but after throwing the soup away, you can not get it back!

Church, let’s be patient. Many in the past have “prepared” that which is brewing, stewing, bubbling in our midst today. We need to recognize that there was mess in the preparation, and it is OK to clean up after making our messes, but please, please, please, don’t throw out the pot of soup, God’s product, or it will be forever lost! Instead rejoice together by getting out your soup spoons in preparation of the “feast” the “banquet” that the Lord has prepared for us to enjoy TOGETHER!  

America & The Church: Facing The Challenge Of Community

The Need For The 5 Fold – Part II

The Issue: How To Develop Community (Continued)

Today’s churches look for programs and models that have been proven “successful” by other churches and pattern their program after it. The five fold doesn’t recreate; it creates. “In Jesus Christ all things are new,” as the scripture says.  The Holy Spirit can direct one local church to do one thing, yet has another church do something completely different.  The Holy knows the hearts of men, so it knows what we are or are not willing to do, our faith levels, our commitment, our foundations of faith. 

If your church wants to reach out to the urban neighborhood, you might pattern other ministries: begin with a door to door evangelistic thrust handing out tracts about your new ministry, offer a soup kitchen, create a community food and clothing bank, develop a Rescue Mission or drug free half way house, etc, but do these proven and highly effective ministries fit with your congregations gifts?  Will your church be over taxed eventually causing burn out if they tackle on all of this? Do you have the resources needed?

On the other hand, if examined from a five fold perspective, the five gather to “seek” the voice and direction of the Lord in what to do to revitalize this neighborhood.  During time of prayer and worship, the evangelist cries out in intercession for the lost, the shepherd sees the overwhelming need in the community and begins to prayer for provisions and direction, the teacher searches the scripture for a relevant scriptural foundation to base this endeavor, the prophet seeks the presence of the Lord, desires to hear from Him,  and seeks a living gospel, and the apostle intercedes with the other four for the cause of the whole project.  The Lord may first direct the team to do nothing but pray and intercede for a time, or canvas the neighborhood to feel its life or pulse, or walk the streets just to talk to people and begin basic relationships, etc.  Out of those faith walks may come hints of direction.  The Holy Spirit may reveal the needs, desires, atmosphere, and character of the community, giving the five a “sense” of the proper direction. Soon the needs, dreams, desires, wants, wishes, and challenges of the community become clear, and the Holy Spirit gives the five a plan to implement. Now they have to be obedient and “just do it”, not doubt.

Often the believer with an evangelistic bent leads off the endeavor, birthing the project.  As it begins, the shepherd kicks in and begins maintaining an effective infrastructure.  Both of their efforts come in line with Biblical examples taught by the teacher and are given life through the prophet while the apostle is amazed at what the Holy Spirit is doing, releasing the other four in the freedom to minister according to their desires and passions effectively.

Instead of a soup kitchen, the Holy Spirit may make the members of this church open their homes to strangers, released prisoners, drunks and drug addicts helping them to kick their addictions, feeding them around their own kitchen tables while building relationships, making them feel part of a family, being accepted just where they are.

Service is always central to the five fold, for Ephesians 4 says we are to “equip the saints for the work of service.” The more the church community serves the neighborhood, the more the neighborhood looks at your church not as a religious institution but as a group that builds relationships and serves.  When the religious barrier drops, the effectiveness of service through relationships thrives.

Each neighborhood has its own flavor, its own uniqueness, its own personality and character from the diversity of people living there, the culture they have creative, and even the architecture and history, so the plan to conquer it for Christ has to be personal, unique, and diverse to be effective and can not be a copy of another church’s work.  This is the power of the creative work of the Holy Spirit, and what better avenue to funnel that creativity than through the five fold giftings, passions, and point of views to bring unity in one’s community and neighborhood through diversity?

America & The Church: Facing The Challenge Of Community

 The Need For The 5 Fold – Part II

The Issue: How To Develop Community

The Black population in America cherishes community, and speaks of it boldly when talking of their corporate experience.  Their sense of community was developed through centuries of slavery and suffering, for only through their own personal bonding together did they have a corporate sense of purpose and understanding.  The Leave It To Beaver communities of the 1950’s featured neighborhoods that did social activities together, worshiped together at local corner churches, while serving and helping one another, but by the Archie Bunker All In The Family and Ray Ramano Everyone Loves Raymond eras, America experienced dysfunctional families and communities.  Families no longer sat on their porches visiting, sharing in community picnics and fairs, sitting together around band shells to be entertained but passed one another in their cars traveling to different destinations for social, religious, and business purposes. Today “personal visitations” is becoming obsolete, as Social Networking through Smart Phones enables communications and becoming “bf”, best friends, through Facebook, texting, emailing, Skyping and FaceTiming, etc. while even sitting in the same room, muting oral communications as fingers fly across their phone’s keyboards. Technology redefines community, so how should the Church adjust to redefining community.  First Century times featured breaking bread together, eating together, fellowshipping or hanging out together. Distant correspondence came through letter writing even most of the population were illiterate. With the invention of the printing press, that changed, as people could entertain themselves by reading a good book and local libraries became part of the community. By the twenty-first century with the Internet and World Wide Web one does not have to even leave their personal dwelling or living space to communicate with the world, anyone, anywhere as long as there is Internet connection.  The sense of community has gone through small towns and neighborhoods to a world wide view.

One of the challenges America and the Church faces in the 21^st Century is how to define “community”, the bonding of relationships.  Several churches sensing demographic change in the late 20^th Century changed their church names away from denominational traditions to “community” churches, hoping to maintain an old paradigm of past years, but now with a new generation, new mindsets, new technology, and a new way of looking at the world, the Church has to have a paradigm shift if it is to be effective in birthing, establishing, influencing, and impacting 21^st Century community.  “Church” is a community of believers, and the church has to determine how to define “church” in a changing demographic world influenced by technology, redefining what “church”, “doing church” and “meeting at church” as well as what “a church service” means.  How does it do that?

At the local level, I believe doctrine of Priesthood of Believers must be again unveiled, teaching the role of every believer in their faith walk individually and corporately, called the “church”.  Are we willing to respect past history and traditions, but be willing to lay them on the altar and allow the Holy Spirit to do a new thing for this new generation?  Are we willing to provide “new wineskins”, new forms, new mindsets, and new visions and points of view for new ideas, directions, and ministries of service to be birthed, generated, and maintained by the Holy Spirit?

If there was ever a time the five fold was needed, it is today to “discern” where the Holy Spirit is leading for this generation!  By having an evangelistic, shepherding/pastoral, teaching, prophetic, and apostolic spirits come together to lay down their lives for one another, serve one another, and support one another, the Church can corporately listen to the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit for guidance and direction.  If they seek the “voice” of God in unity, they will also hear him in unity. God does speak when we are willing to listen.  The challenge comes in what to do when he speaks, for the Holy Spirit demands “obedience” to what has been “revealed” by the Heart of the Father through the voice of the Holy Spirit.  For the Church in the 1st Century and the 21^st Century, “obedience” defines “righteousness”!

When the Holy Spirit gives direction to a local church or congregation, then the evangelistic spirit among them must be “released” to birth this new sense of community; those believers who exemplify the shepherding/pastoral spirit must be “released” to minister to one another to develop and sustain that community; those with a teaching spirit need to be “released” to exhort the written, the Logos Word, the Bible, to ground them in Biblical principles defining community; those who flow in the prophetic spirit must be “released” to make this grounded Logos Word a Rhema, living word to bring “life” to this community; and those believers given the gift of the apostolic spirit, the God ordained ability to see the big picture must be “released” to “see over” what the Holy Spirit is doing amongst the group and allow them to “release” the other four passions to do “the work of service” to birth, develop, maintain, grow, and reproduce this aspect of community which the Holy Spirit defined. That is how the five fold works.

The way the Church defines and does “community”, does “church”, by the end of the 21^st Century hopefully will look drastically different than it did in the 10^th, 15^th, 20^th, and even beginning of the 21^st Centuries. Jesus has empowered his Bride, the Church, to move toward change, to birth, develop, and maintain a Church without spot or wrinkle to prepare the Bride for the return of its Groom, the return of Jesus.

America & The Church: Facing The Challenge Of The Elderly

The Need For The 5 Fold – Part I

The Issue: The Elderly

One of the last things Jesus did on earth while on the Cross in pain was to take care of his mother upon his death.  He instructs his beloved disciple John to take Mary as his mother.  He “releases” John to not only “take care of the widows” but to “take care of his mother, a widow”.  We never hear much about Joseph, his father in the gospels except at Jesus’ birth and searching for his 12 year-old son who was at the Temple doing “his Father’s business”. The narration of Joseph is then silenced, I assume probably through death, for Mary is alone at the Cross, given to John to be cared for.  In Paul’s apostolic letters, the Church is always exhorted to take care of the elderly.

The Church always has asked, and still does: “How are we to take care of the elderly, the widows?” Are they to build “Assisted Living Homes” and “Nursing Homes” that are popular today, or teach their followers to have their parents move in with them as their responsibility?

With the large number of Baby-Boomers in America, a growing “older” population is begin to wonder, to worry, to fear its future. Who will take care of them? Their parents lived in the Post-World War II prosperity, establishing retirement funds and government programs to take care of them when aging.  The Baby-Boomers are trying to follow their father’s footsteps, but with the prosperity era closing as everything is becoming “world-wide” instead of nationally centered, prosperity is being shifted globally affecting the wealth of America. The younger generation, now in their 20’s & 30’s, do not have employer financed Retirement Programs, but are offered personal IRA, Individual Retirement Funds, that they personally finance in spite of lower wages and a dwindling middle class.  As the wealthier get wealthier, and the poor remain poor, the middle class is finding a large chunk of itself now falling under the poverty level. What future for “old age” do they have when barely maintaining a current cost of living?

How is the American Church to address this dilemma? This blog’s purpose is not to specifically answer that question because it does not have specific solutions. What it does have to offer is a tool that can effectively come up with an answer: the five fold.

As a church locally or nationally, it needs to pull together its resources of evangelists, shepherds, teachers, prophets, and apostles to address the question and come up with the solutions. Reading Acts 15 may help, for the early Church found itself engulfed in a church political question about the Jew/Gentile relationship and how it would effect the Church and its future. They faced the tough questions, challenged the hypocritical attitudes of its time, make the question personal to Peter, Paul, & the others present, called on the Holy Spirit for a solution, and came to one in unity.  They then released the evangelist to “birth” or announce their decision among the entire church, released the shepherd particularly among the Gentile Church with guidelines on how to maintain, grow, and develop this new organism, the Church, released the teachers to teach their congregations how to “live out” this word of unity they now had, released the prophets to make this written edict, this written word a “living word” by actually sending out people from their midst, whom I believed were prophets, to help the Church now make this decision a “living decision”, and released the apostles to not have to “do” the work, but only “see over” what the Holy Spirit just decided and “release” all the others to use their gifting, passion, and point of view toward the unifying good for the entire Body of Christ, the Church.  That is how it works!

To answer the question “how to take care of the elderly, the widows”, the Church at large, particularly the church locally who needs to implement the answer among themselves, needs to bring together their diversity of passions and points of view, their evangelists, shepherds, teachers, prophets, and apostles to ask the Lord through His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ for “revelation”, to reveal the answer to all present that will bring “unity” in vision, direction, and purpose upon a solution to the problem, then release each of them to use their gifting to make this written agreement a living agreement. In old times a man was only worth the value of his “word”; his “word” was his bond”, but the “word” was of no use unless nor valued unless it was “lived out”!

The uniqueness of “trusting the Holy Spirit” is that he may tell one group specifics on how to “take care of their elderly” differently than he may another individual group because of different societal norms and values and traditions of that group.  One way may be effective in one area that would not be effective in another.  One area may be strong in family values, thus calling upon individual families to be the strength of their joint ministry, while in another location where the family has disintegrated, the church at large might have to become the family to teach individual families how to function Biblically, how fathers are to father properly modeled by their heavenly Father, mothers to mother with godly nurturing, siblings to encourage one another, not challenge, fight, nor kill one another, etc. See the Holy Spirit knows and will reveal “the heart” of the local church and what is needed for “heart restoration” in solving the problem.

Once the answer or solution has been “revealed”, for “revelation of Jesus Christ” is at the heart of the workings of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, then the church needs to “release” the evangelistic spirit in its midst to “birth” or “rebirth” that solution in their midst, “releasing” the shepherding spirit to grow and develop that solution based on Godly principles taught by the teacher through the Word of God, the Bible, whose relevancy will be “revealed” through “releasing” the prophet to make it a “living” “active” solution, to be “seen over” by proper apostolic oversight, those who see the big picture of the entire solution process, but who are willing not to do the work, nor control what is being done, but continuing to “release” the other diverse giftings, passions, and points of view toward the unifying solution to the problem.

That is how the five fold is to work to solve problems.  Church, lets face our challenges, especially taking care of the elderly, the widows, the senior saints who have labored for decades for the cause of the gospel as they enter the fall season of their lives, by trusting the Holy Spirit for solutions, Biblically based, by actively living out the solutions to resolve the issue until the challenges dissipate.  This is the first century Church model as outlined in the book of Acts; this is the twenty-first century Church model we, the Church, needs to implement and exercise in our time, today.

America & The Church: Programs & Institutions Verses Relationships

The Power For The 5 Fold In Ministry

When faced with challenges, the Church instinctively turns to programs and building institutions to solve their problems.  Not that it has all been bad, but usually not lasting.  As discussed in previous blogs the YMCA originally was a program turned institution to be an evangelistic outreach in Great Britain in the 1800’s.  Reaching out through recreation in a gymnasium, the gospel was shared.  Today it is just called the “Y”. We have lost the “C” for Christian in Young Men’s Christian Organization, and the salt has again lost its savor. Many hospitals were first founded as “clinics” reaching out to the poor and today have become medical institutions and Wellness Conglomerates whose bottom line is a financial profit, and again the religious influence has given way to the secular.

In order for the Church to be effective in problem solving the challenges that now face society it must turn to relationships for the answer rather than institutions or programs.  Evangelism has become a church program rather than a relationship building activity. The church will finance large massive Evangelistic Crusades to win just one for Christ, yet the largest majority of Christians were introduced to Jesus through a personal friend with whom they had build a relationship.  If the church is people, then the power of their ministry must come through relationships between people.

For example: To answer the question “how to take care of the elderly, the widows”, the Church needs to go beyond its current mindsets of programs and establishing institutions.  Jesus never started a Widows Fund, nor built an Assisted Living Center, nor a Holy Spirit Nursing Home, to take care of the elderly. He built relationships and established ministry through those relationships. The disciple John is called “the beloved”, and it is he that Jesus established a relationship worthy of the honor of trusting John to take care of his mother after his death. Most people take care of family members because of relationships.  If relationships weren’t built when the family grew up together, then one will look for programs and institutions to help them with their problems and situations.

Building relationships is a disc in the backbone of Christianity. If an activity isn’t built on or around a relationship, it is bound to become a religious activity, eventually losing its potency and meaning, and you find yourself eventually only going through the motions while losing the real substance and purpose for it in the first place. Jesus never established a program nor an institution during his short three year term of ministry; he build relationships. His relationship with only a small select group of 12 set the foundation for His Church.  Those 12 established relationships with others as the movement grew.  The breaking bread together and continual fellowshipping among the saints built the foundation of the church when there were no buildings, no priests, no clergy, nor formal religious training.  You learned the Christian walk by walking it out with someone else, just as Jesus did with the 12.

I believe in the power of the five fold because it has to be established on relationships: relationships with 4 others who are totally different in passion, voice, and point of view; relationships built on the principle of “laying down your life” for them through service; relationships that help you and them mature individually into the image of Jesus Christ and corporately bringing unity amongst the five of you.  The five fold is not a program.  The five fold is not an institution based upon offices.  The five fold is based on what you do through relationships, that which drives you toward service, your passion.  Outside relationships, the five fold is doomed to become a program or institution of offices, just like so many other services of ministry that the Church has lost.

In the next several blogs, let’s look at the Church strictly in the terms of relationships and see how powerful the Church can be if it meets challenges through relationships with others to determine solutions.  Then we can perceive the power of a five fold ministry and its effectiveness if it is built on relationships, service, and laying down one’s life for his/her brethren/sisters.

America & The Church: Why We Need The 5 Fold More Now Than Ever?

Only Unity In Vision Through Diversity Can The Church Meet Today’s Challenges!

With all the negative adds during an election year, all the faults and weakness of America is exposed to the world.  The United States has its challenges, many that are huge in nature and scope, but the candidates all promise change if elected, stability if they become Commander in Chief, learning from the past, and prophetically looking to hope for the future, while promising oversight to the ideals of the Constitution.  Sounds like the Five Fold to me: birth (evangelist), maintenance & growth (shepherd), learning from the past and teaching of our founding principles (teacher), hope for the future (prophet), and oversight for the good of America (apostle).  Even secular government understands the power of the five fold in creating a well-balanced effective form of government to serve its people!  Why doesn’t the Church recognize that same power and practice it?

Four years ago, Obama ran on the motto of “change”; this year Romney ran on the motto of “real change”.  Change is the promise to kick off both campaigns. Evangelists thrive on change, on birth, and on rebirth!  “You must be born again”; you must be willing to change. The politician knows you can’t move forward unless there is change. The demographics of the country change, and so must the way the country is to be govern.  The Church also knows it cannot move forward unless there is also change.  Societal demographics change, yet for centuries that Roman Catholic Church maintained only Latin for their Masses, the format for Protestant services are still basically the same since the Protestant Reformation under Martin Luther.  The evangelists majors in birth and rebirth. Who better to move the Church forward than the evangelist if we want revival.  Every Revival Movement in Church history is birthed in the evangelistic spirit.  The Church needs to equip, develop, and release those Christian brothers and sisters whose passion is for birth, rebirth, the evangelistic spirit.

Who is going to take care of the elderly, the severely ill, the poor, the homeless, the rejected and dejected members of our society?  Because we have Social Security, Medicare, and Public Welfare in place, we “expect” those services and rely on the government to “maintain” them and “take care” of those in need!  If you want to lose an election attack those institutions where people have become dependent on their services for basic survival. Government understands the importance of taking care of its people; the Church needs to also understand that principle.  Those in most churches “depend” on the “pastor” and his staff to take care of those in need in their congregation, so they can avoid direct contact with those in need amongst their brethren.  Every church, without exception, needs the pastoral/shepherding element if it wishes to keep and maintain its sheep. The evangelist may birth, but if what was birthed is not maintained and experience growth, death will occur! The church needs to equip, develop, and release those Christian brothers and sisters whose passion is to help their fellow brethren and those in need to grow in Jesus Christ through practical daily applications.

Knowing ones history, ones strengths, and ones principles that is the backbone of its existence and applying those truths to move forward is the strength of a teacher.  Educations is always at the core of national political election, because education is always the investment in one’s future, its strengthening of its presence, and the power of unleashing future potential.  The Roman Catholics understand this principle establishing a parochial school system in American to instill Roman Catholic ideals in its youth.  The Church as a whole must embrace this truth, realizing that through education the Church will maintain, develop, and strengthen itself for the present as well as the future.  The teaching gift of the five fold is so desperately needed to implant, develop, grow, and strengthen, equip, and release those brothers and sisters in the Lord in their calling, their destiny, maturing them toward the image of Jesus Christ while developing Church unity.

Hope is essential for a country to continue to develop, and government has learned that role; ask F.D.R. & Churchill in the leadership roles they played in their countries during World War II. In times of darkness, the prophetic voice is needed not only for correction, but to resound the “Word” of “Hope”.  The Constitution of the United States is a written document outlining the ideals of America, but if the people do not make the Constitution a “living document” which is applied in everyday life, it is useless and legalistic.  The same is with the Church, for if it takes the Law, the Bible, the Logos Word, the written Word, and is not willing to make it a Rhema Word, a living Word, then their religion is legalistic and worthless.  The Church needs the prophetic life to continue to make relevant one’s faith.

No country is strong unless its leadership is strong and has the capability of “see over” what is happening to its people in good times and in bad, then release those forces, those people, those services, those government programs needed to keep their nation strong and solvent.  The same is with the Church, but unlike the C.E.O. mentality of leadership that the American business model has projected: a leader who is in control, is dictatorial, who believes the buck stops with him and his ego.  The Church needs leadership that is humble, based on service and selflessness, who is willing to release others rather than doing it himself, who is willing to see what the Holy Spirit is doing in the Church’s midst and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit to be subservient to that voice in obedience, recognizing the Holy Spirit’s control, not their own.

Again, government recognizes the power of the five fold: birth, maintenance & growth, education, hopeful application, and proper oversight. Ephesians 4 outlines the same principles for the Church to follow in “equipping”, or preparing, its members, the priesthood of believers in Jesus Christ, through service to develop individual maturity into the image of Jesus Christ, and corporate maturity through unity to usher in the return of Jesus, the groom, for His Bride, the Church.  Church, let’s not only recognize the need for the five fold, but begin to utilize the truth Ephesians 4 has to offer.

Is Romney “The Savior” Of American Politics; Can He Do What Obama Couldn’t?

A Reaction To NBC’s Front Line Program

After watching Front Line on NBC last night, which did an exposé on the background of both political candidates for this years Presidential election, I found several things interesting, yet disturbing. Here are some of my observations of the program:

-  Romney loves to come in and “save” tough situations.  In his secular career, Romney would come in to “save” a company or companies from going bankrupt by downsizing, firing old CEO’s who thought their was the only right way while the public demonized them for their large salaries and benefits, eliminating jobs, cutting employee benefits and pension programs. His stream lining “saved” the company, and the bottom line, the company became profitable again, usually benefiting Romney who made millions.

-  Romney only learned about the sufferings of ordinary people when he became a bishop in the Mormon Church for four years, dealing with everyday problems of people who were struggling with their marriage, relationships, and their faith. This was an eye opener to him.

-  Upon the recommendation of the Mormon Church, Mitt Romney, looking like a knight in white armor, came to Salt Lake City to “save” the Winter Olympics from scandal and deceit, which he did successfully. Morality is a pillar in the Mormon Church, and he restored it to the Winter Olympics that year. This thrust him on the national political stage.

-  While Governor of Massachusetts, Romney changed his stance from Pro-Life to Pro-Choice, which was a politically correct move for a politician in a liberal state, but has not been able to be pinned down on his personal views toward abortion. Just today, with only weeks left in the election, he switched again claiming he is a Pro-Life Candidate.

-  As a Republican Governor of Massachusetts with a large House of Representatives that were Democrats, he was willing to forge an “Affordable Health Care Bill” into law with the aid of the Lion of Liberalism, Ted Kennedy, to whom he lost his election for the Senate. This alliance with Liberals led Massachusetts to be the only State to have Health Care for ALL its citizens, which made sense to Romney, and thrust him onto the national Presidential scene. He “saved” Massachusetts’ citizens from lack of health care.

-  Obama actually used Romney’s Advisors who forged the Massachusetts bill to help forge a National Affordable Health Care Act, patterned after Romney’s monumental political efforts, yet to be politically correct among his Republican Right Tea Party peers, he has promised to rescind ObamaCare on his first day of office as President.  The very “ideals” he birthed in Massachusetts he is willing to “abort” in order to become President.

After watching that program, I now have a myriad of questions:

-  Obama “saved” the United States from falling into what could have been the greatest World Wide Depression in history when he came into office, stealing Romney’s thunder of being America’s economic “savior”, but Romney claims he has a plan to “save” us from any more economic suffering. What is that plan?

-  Romney’s Plan in the past was to downsize, cut jobs, economize production for a profit, eliminate employee benefits, in order to “save” the business while making a profit; What will he do for his fat cat Wall Street brethren, big time Bankers, monstrous health care providers, corporate American peers of wealth to “save” America business to make political profits for himself? He wants America’s middle class “to invest” their future in those very institutions. Haven’t we learned what they did to American only 4 years ago with their greed?

-  Right Wing Conservative Radio Talk Radio, who will not recognize a Liberal or any Democrat as maybe being politically correct, is tooting Romney as a conservative, yet history has proven that he as worked with their worse enemy, Liberal Lion Ted Kennedy, to pass what he needed in Massachusetts. What would keep him from doing it again if elected President so something would finally get done in Washington?  Working with Democrats and Liberals for social reform would be ironic to their conservative cause. 

-  The program showed Obama as coming into office to work across party lines “to bring Red States and Blue States into the United States of America” through joint across the aisle politics, but found out the sullen truth of the “divisive” stand chosen by the Republicans rather than the “diverse” stand the country needed. Obama chose “divisiveness” with a straight up and down party vote in Congress and the Senate to get his Affordable Health Care Bill passed.  Will Romney be forced to do the same by his political party and Tea Party wing to “force” their agenda forward, or will the Republican Party fall asunder if Romney chooses “diversity” over “division”? Can Congress again approach cooperation through compromise?  Will the Tea Party Wing continue to oppose it? How will Romney appease the Tea Party if elected President, particularly with the strong voice from his Vice Presidential candidate?

So the future is still uncertain, but the outcome of this Presidential Election will make it interesting!

Have Evangelical Christians Lost Their Political Voice? Have They Been Muted?

Have Evangelicals Been Flushed Out Of the National Election? 

It is almost hard for me to believe that four decades ago America was in turmoil: the Kennedy’s & Martin Luther King were assassinated, the Viet Nam War was dividing our country, the Civil Rights, Peace, and ecology movements flourished; American cities witness rioting, looting, burning; the drug and sexual revolution came to the forefront; the Hippie movement, Woodstock, and free love were the norm; gays came our of the closet and marched, women burned their bras and demanded equal right; aids became the new medical epidemic, and abortion became the political hot bed for debate for decades. It seemed the fabric of America was being totally frayed. In the midst of all the political turmoil, the Church became alive: the Jesus Movement, Billy Graham Crusades packing out sports arenas around the world, the influx of televangelists, Jim Bakker, Oral Roberts & Pat Robertson, and the Charismatic Movement.  Yet the Church became divided between fighting for social justice through the civil rights campaign, the emphasis of the Democratic Party, and establishing the Religious Right through the rise of the Moral Majority in the Republican Party.

The spirit of this era and the political and religious conflicts of that time were captured in the second verse of a song, This Little Child, written and sung by Scott Wesley Brown:

Many years have come and gone, yet this world remains the same.

Empires have be built and fallen, only time has made a change.

Nation against nation, brother against brother,

Men so filled with hatred, killing one another,

And over half the world is starving, while our banner of decency is torn,

Debating over disarmament, killing children before they’re born.

And fools who march to win the right to justify their sin,

Oh, ev’ry nation that has fallen, has fallen from within.

Yet in the midst of this darkness, there is a hope, a light, that burns.

This little child, the King of kings, someday will return.

Today we are still fighting wars, fighting world poverty, debating disarmament even though we still have the capacity to destroy the whole world through a nuclear war.  The gay community is not only coming out of the closet marching, but now have found favor and acceptance at the Democratic Convention that it has never experienced before. America’s moral fibers are still being tested.

It is amazing, politically, what the promises and the winds of prosperity will do to a people. Germany followed the radical leader Hitler for the promise of prosperity, and he delivered while the Lutheran church fell silent.  Clinton’s Lewinsky scandal brought a vote of impeachment that fell one vote short because Clinton convinced America that they needed him because he had promised and delivered prosperity in spite of the church’s cry of immorality. Today, the rise of acceptance of gay rights has equaled the decline of an anti-abortion overturning of Roe vs. Wade. Social issues have been lost in the debate over the economy and the promises of prosperity while the church politically has been quieted and politically flushed out.

As America’s Presidential Election approaches, will the Church passively sit by? The Religious Right that has backed the Conservative branch of the Republican Party has been silenced, lost its luster to the Tea Party, and has been diverted to fight big government rather than defend their stand on social mores.  Social injustice has again raised its head in the Democratic Party political arena, but without the influence of the Christian church’s influence. All the “morally right” standards advocated by the Religious Right can fall under the squeaky clean banner of a Mormon leader diminishing the political influence of the Evangelical Christian church. All the causes to fight against current social injustices look like the right thing to do, but the word “God” just so happen to disappear from the Democratic platform. In all of this, where is the American Christian Church’s voice in the current political process? Has it been diminished even muted?

The political Religious Right and their conservative cohorts have cultured a disrespect toward the office of President when they don’t get their way nor have their leader in office, and have literally demonized the man currently holding that office who still acknowledges the Christian faith and is not directly opposing it as a political enemy. Their strategy has backfired.  Their inbred hatred of Obama has forced them to back a candidate who is considered a member of a religious sect, the Mormon church, who evangelicals look upon as a heretical cult.  They have bred an environment where his moral standard and codes are politically correct. If they can’t fight his religious theology, they have no grounds for disapproval of his candidacy. They sit silent!

Where does the Evangelical Christian church stand in this current political climate? Not very influential! I wonder why? Hmmmm.  What will the Evangelical Christian church do in the months leading up to the election?  Will it be an influence or will it remain a non-entity? Or maybe, just maybe, like forty years ago, the climate of the country is ready for the Church to experience a revival, not politically, but spiritually?

An American Church Trend: Religion Is No Longer Politically “Cool”

What Is The Church’s Current Influence On The American Political Scene?

In my blogs I never have addressed the topic of Church and politics until today, for I see a trend occurring that is setting the ground work for revival.  Church + politics = religion.  It has played out in Jewish history, and it is being played out today in Christian congregations through out America in local, regional, and denominational church politics, and it is now being playing out on the national political stage during this Presidential Election year. Even the secular world is trying to divide and separate the two, for they question their impact when together!

“Hi, I am Jimmy Carter, and I am running for President,” boasted an unknown governor from Georgia in the 1970’s that caught the eye of America.  He came under fire but to the forefront of the American political scene when he admitted he was “born again”, and all of a sudden being “Born Again” became cool.  Billy Graham’s career was established on the phrase, “You must be born again,” and his political influence reached several White Houses and Presidents.  Politics and religion have always been debatable topics, and the two only intersect when they can win votes.  “Who will run America if John F. Kennedy becomes President, the Pope?” was a political question of his Roman Catholic heritage in the ‘70’s.  “Should a divorcee be allowed to run for the Presidency” was an issue Reagan faced in the ‘80’s. “Should American overlook immorality in the White House?” fueled the debate during the Clinton Presidency.

Being raised in an evangelical Christian environment all my life, I heard pastor after pastor, decade after decade, give sermons debating if Christians should be involved in politics and the power of prayer for our political leaders. I remember the rise of Jerry Farewell and the Moral Majority in an effort to get Evangelical Christians to run for office and the attempt by Pat Robertson to run for the Presidency.  By the time we entered the twenty-first century, I thought God was a registered Republican.

Presidential elections usually expose changing trends in American Society, and after this summer’s political conventions I have noticed one alarming trend: Religious Preferences Are No Longer Politically “Cool” in the current political arena.  I was taught that Christians should run for political offices to change the culture in Washington.  Although I cannot tell what churches they attended, if they did at all, I assumed Reagan and the Bushes were Christian Church attenders, and looked with distain at Clinton for his immoral sexual conduct that caused him to fall one vote short of being impeached!  Only the greed of the average American during the time of a rising economy saved his neck as he convinced America that they needed him to maintain prosperity. Even he knew it was politically correct to go to a well-known ordained Christian minister for marriage counseling.

This summer we have two “good”, “moral”, “family-centered” men who come across as “really nice guys” running for President: the current President who is not looked upon as a church attender and disdained by much of the evangelical community as being too liberal with a Muslim background and his opponent, a Mormon.  At the Republican Convention a well known radio spokesman, ex-governor, and previous Presidential Candidate who was supposedly speaking the for Evangelical Branch of the Republican Party said, “I don’t care what church a candidate goes to; I care about what candidate goes to the White House.”  Evangelical Christians teach that Mormonism, the Church of Latter Day Saints, is a Christian Cult and oppose their teachings as heretical, yet in the world of American politics, those influential Evangelical Christian voices are being silenced, tamed, or compromise in order to win a general election.  The Democrats jumped at their Convention after removing any reference of “God” or that “Jerusalem is the recognize Capital of Israel” from their party’s platform, only to reinstate it to be politically correct and not offend potential voters. 

I know one name that you are not hearing from either Presidential candidate nor his party during this election: the name of JESUS!  You will hear the cry for social justice, women’s right, civil rights, and taking care of the poor from the Democrats, which are all good humanitarian causes, but you will not hear the name of JESUS associated with them.  The Republicans do not want a religious theological debate of “Is the Mormon Jesus the same as the Evangelical Jesus” dividing their party.  They have already experienced the dividing power of the Religious Right in their party. They at least acknowledge the fact that religion divides, not unites, something the Christian Church is still in denial about.

How did the American Church get from trying to be political influential in the White House to change America to now having a muffled if not mute voice in the upcoming Presidential Election?  Evangelicals have been groomed to believe, just as the Republicans do, the top-down theory.  If you influence the top, it will trickle down to the masses, so if the President gets “saved” those under him will follow his lead and we will have a righteous country.  Revival does not operate that way but just the opposite. Revival always begins at the grass roots level, with the masses, and eventually influences social change and political institutions above them. 

This current political climate is cleansing America of the false teaching the American Church has propagated these past several decades during my life that we need to save American by getting the President “saved”! That revival will begin if we clean up Washington. As the Church withdraws or is being flushed out in the current political arena, the citizens of America will again discover that they will need a “savior” who will not be “political”.  That political myth was alive and well in Jesus’ time as the Jews looked for a political savior and missed their true Messiah or Savior, JESUS, when he did come in their midst, and they are still looking for him today.  Will we, the Church, continue to be like our Jewish forefathers in looking for a political Messiah and continuing to do so, or will we recognize JESUS as the Messiah, our Savior?  When we do, revival will come!

The institutional church is losing its political influence in America, but the Church of Jesus Christ, (not of Ladder Day Saints), will arise in a spirit of revival to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ above all names until “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Revival is spiritual reality, never political imagery! There is a true spirit of revival, and it can be found in none other than Jesus Christ, our Savior, and Messiah.

The Process Of God’s “Frozen” to “Chosen” to “On Fire”

How Do We Nurture Ourselves For Revival?

Question:  How do you get “God’s Chosen” to thaw out of their complacency as “God’s Frozen” to become “On Fire For God”?

Does your local church begin to plan campaigns, or programs, or emphasize the theme of “Revival” for their monthly sermon cycle, or show video clips of previous famous revivals throughout the world to stimulate the topic?  What does it take to make those glued to their pew or seat unglued, free to flow in the spirit of revival?  How do you get people who have been conditioned to be followers to their worship leader and pastor to become leaders leading the charge?  How does the church energize their laity when the leadership is primarily professional lacking laity leadership?  If “church” has become a “safe place” for laity, why should they take the risk to go outside the bounds of “formal church structure” to embrace true revival because there are risks involved?

It’s taken me quite a while to realize that we have a sovereign God who can do anything He wants to do, when He wants to do it, the way He wants to do it, not what I want him to do, when I want it, nor what I think is the correct way.  Revival is all about the sovereignty of God. It only occurs when He is in control doing it His way.  Who would have thought that his plan for salvation would be through a virgin birth, the sacrifice of His only son, Jesus, and a literal body resurrection?  Who would have thought that revival to this newly formed Church of believers in Jesus would come with tongues of fire while in an upper room to men women and children?  Who would have thought this “Jewish Jesus Sect” would open up to gentiles and become one of the world’s largest religions with the Jewish race only being a trace today’s make up?  “God’s ways are higher than man’s”, so the scriptures record, yet we, man, still like to be in control while we sing with Frank Sinatra, “And I did it my way….”

In our prayers to God, we love to dictate what we think we need, but we are usually petitioning what we want: bless me lord; I need this Lord; thank you for your provisions, and by the way I need this, etc.  Very seldom do we seek “God’s will” on the matter because it may not produce the desired outcome we are looking for. Even rarer is the cultivating of a prayer life of only “listening” for and to the small voice of the Holy Spirit, then learning how to be obedient to that voice.  So it is with our prayers for revival.  The Lord knows what it takes to produce revival to this generation, but are we ready and willing to take what it needs.

The Railroad Crossing Signs boast three words on them: stop, look, and listen.  Are we willing to “stop” what we have been doing over and over and over again, settle ourselves into just “listening” to what the Holy Spirit of Jesus is saying at this time for this place in history, then being “obedient” to what we have seen and heard in the Spirit?  If so, then we will see true revival.

We cannot fabricate revival no matter how hard we try, and let me tell you, we have been trying!  Revival is spontaneous and unpredictable because the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ must be in control.  His “Lordship” leads true revival.  We have to acknowledge that Jesus Is Lord in order for true revival to occur.  All we can do is: 1) prepare our hearts – Preparation has always been the key to a coming revival; ask John the Baptist; 2) tone in our spiritual ears to hear – Jesus said, “He that has ears to hear, hear.” Learning to “be still and know that I am God” long enough to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit takes cultivation; 3) and practice obedience – “To obey is better than sacrifice” is scriptural, more than just lyrics to a Keith Green song!

I truly believe the Church is on the doorstep of a great world revival like it has never experienced before, but this is a time for “preparation”, a time “to be still and listen”, and a time to learn “obedience”.  These are hard principles to learn in a busy, active lifestyle like most believers in Jesus Christ experience, but they are mandatory if we are to see revival!

So I guess the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ is applying some “heat” to us, believers in Jesus Christ, to thaw us out and set us afire!  “Amen (so be it), bring the heat,” is my prayer. Now is the time to stop writing (or reading this), relax, and just sit back and listen.  Holy Spirit speak….. When He does speak, and He will speak, then listen and be obedient!

How Is Your Church Bent?

Leadership Defined By Releasing Diversity

Often a local congregation’s “bent” or “uniqueness” that distinguishes it from the other local congregations, lies in the gifting of its leadership.  If its leadership is evangelistic, the local church is evangelistic.  If the leader ship is pastoral, nurturing, shepherding in emphasis, the local church is known as a caring church. If the leader is a theologian, the church is known for a pastor that “preaches the Word of God.”  If it nurtures the spiritual development of its congregants to hear the Holy Spirit for themselves, then it is known to be prophetic.  If it is has “strong, dominant” leadership, it may be known as apostolic. But can we find a church that emphasizes and develops all of these? Currently, I can’t, but I believe it is God’s will to have all these passions, voices, and points of view in a diverse local congregation, and that it would be healthy in the birth, development, training, and releasing of Christians as they mature through different levels of their Christian spiritual growth.

We know that the key to spiritual Christian growth lies in its leadership, but in the current church models, we lay everything at the feet of our professional pastor to be all things to all people, who are so diverse in their talents, so diverse in their learning styles, and being “children,” spiritually are often spoiled rotten! Often, the result is burn out! So, we usually define leadership with going with your strength, thus each individual church gains its identity as a evangelical church, a nurturing church, a strong teaching church, or a prophetic church through the strength of its pastor.  I propose that true five fold apostolic leadership is not about going with the strength of the leader, but he releasing the strengths of those around him, particularly those of different gifting, voices, passions, and points of view.  It is the administration, encouragement, equipping, and releasing of these people to reach their destiny, their passions for the common good of the entire church that is the key to true leadership of a five fold apostle.

So this defines a new paradigm shift in the way the church should look at leadership. Leadership in the five fold model is defined “by laying down your life for your brethren.”  It is not about you at all; it is about the other brethren.  It is selfless love, unconditional love.  The only way to bring unity in the body amongst all its diversity is to learn how to “lay down your life for your brethren,” particularly those who are different from yourself.  Often we think that leadership is making replicas of ourselves, but that is not the case with the five fold.  We do not reproduce ourselves, we release others to be themselves.

To achieve this leadership will have to learn the depths of “grace” and “mercy.”  Often leadership finds itself in judgmental positions, but James 2:13 proclaims “mercy triumphs over judgment,” so leadership will have to learn how to extend mercy to whom they are leading and that will be by laying down their lives for them rather than being “over” them.  When you are “laying down” you are never above anyone!  Only then will one understand what “the mercy seat” is all about when in the presence of the Lord.  You will also have to learn the true meaning of “grace”, unmerited favor, for you will have to extend grace, that unmerited favor, to your fellow brethren whom you are laying down your life’s for. 

The Need For Church Hopping

The Need For the Five Fold

If you took a poll of your current congregation, of those who are considered “new” who have come to your church over the past year, the past 12 months, you might discover why they are there.  Most “new” people today are not newly born Christians but Christians who are hopping from church to church. What has drawn them to your local congregation?  You need to also ask what has drawn those away from your local congregation over the year?  The results of why may surprise you.

I know of evangelical minded congregations that are mainly evangelistic in nature: offering an altar call at every service and often seeing people responding to that call.  If everyone who got “saved” remained in that church, it would instantly become a mega-church and remain that way because of its constant growth pattern.  Unfortunately, many who are spiritually born in that kind of church climate and atmosphere eventually leave because they think they have mature or grow beyond what that congregation offers.  Often they are hungry for growth.  As a toddler becomes school age, he wants to leave mom and go to school to be “a big boy or girl”.  Spiritually, that happens too in Christian growth.

That growth may cause one to seek further nurturing, in depth Bible study with teaching, a desire to listen to the small voice of the Holy Spirit and be obedient to it, a chance to be socially active in one’s community through food kitchens and clothing banks, to become advocates for those who have experienced social injustice, and so on…. The current congregation supplied what was needed for a time or season, but one’s spiritual growth spurt has urged one to move on in another direction, during another season, to experience

another step of faith in one’s faith journey.

Often these transition times are painful, for church is all about relationships.  I am a proponent of equipping the saints, but the hard part is releasing them to move on in their gifting, their calling, their destiny. It is hard to release a sheep to join another herd, and because of that when the sheep is pleating to be released we often send them out into the wilderness alone, bewildered, frustrated, and seemingly lost instead of helping them toward another flock, or congregation, where they can be fed and properly released when mature in the faith.

Unfortunately, rather than investing in equipping the saints and developing their Christian character, numbers have often been the barometer to measure a church’s success.  Last decade it was how many church members are on one’s roll that provided the data needed for supposed success.  Today, mega-churches are envied for their numbers as large auditoriums measure the success of a church.  The church needs to look beyond numbers, and look toward Christian development.

How do you judge success in Christian development? If your congregation is over 50 years old, over two generation of believers, how many members, average church people, have been developed and released as evangelists, shepherds, teachers, prophets, or apostles?  What is a mature Christian to be doing in order to be considered a “success” in the Christian world? Is he out winning the lost, nurturing the newborns, teaching those younger believers in the ways of the Kingdom and truths in the Bible, proclaiming the written word, the Bible as the Rhema word, the living word, listening to the small voice of the Holy Spirit for himself and being obedient to it, or seeing over the Christian development of his fellow believers, equipping, encouraging, and releasing them in their destiny, or is he still “coming” to church every Sunday to do “church” by sitting passively in the pew to listen to yet another sermon, shake hands with the saints, and tithe to financially support the local congregation’s institutional efforts. I am sorry, but the latter is what is filling up most churches on Sunday.

People naturally grow physically, mentally, psychologically, and if “born again,” spiritually.  That individual spiritual growth, if not fed by the local congregation, will produce restlessness in an individual to move on to another congregation that can fulfill that need to grow causing a person to leave their current congregation.  This restlessness may be destructive to relationships, and the church is all about relationships.  Most church hoppers have been “hurt” by some Christian somewhere.  Christian churches are often hospitals for the wounded: those not knowing Jesus who have been hurt by the world and need a spiritual healing and a spiritual life; and those who know Jesus and have been hurt by fellow Christians in their Christian walk.  I am not blaming local churches for this phenomenon, because children make mistakes when growing. They challenge authority. But Christian churches do not allow you to make mistakes, nor challenge authority.  Most churches really do not have “parenting skills” needed to nurture their “children” properly, so that they can release them as mature Christians when it is time to “leave home” and “be on their own”!  Most churches groom dependence, not independents.

Only when we, the church, get to the point that we take Christian growth seriously will we embrace the five fold, for in it there is a model for birth, for nurture and care, for grounding theologically, for development spiritually as a person, a believer in Jesus Christ, a building of trust in the Holy Spirit, and a protection through proper oversight and development.  I believe if we had true five fold churches, church hopping would become history, looked upon as a weird phenomenon that once happened in churches.  Why would you want to hop to another local body if your spiritual development was birthed, continued, and completed in your current local body? That is my vision of the five fold.

The Five Fold Is Already In Your Church; I Sincerely Hope So!

Ways The Church Might Change: Point 10

[In a previous blog I have outlined 10 possible changes the Church may face in the future. This is point 10 in the series: God has been reestablishing the evangelist, pastor, teacher, prophet, and apostle back into the Church. They are in the Church now!  This generation has to be open to allowing the Holy Spirit to bring them together through submission and releasing one another to operate in their passions, callings, and voices to bring unity to the body of Christ and being effective.]

As you have seen throughout this series, I believe revival in the Church will come through relationships vertically with the Godhead and horizontally among believers while demanding total trust in the Spirit of Jesus Christ to lead the way.   If you have read my series on metamorphosis, you would also know that I believe that the Church is in a time of transformation, a cocoon stage, where the current slow cumbersome caterpillar structure of the Church is being transformed into a complete different structure, a hard shelled resilient structure of a butterfly that will allow it to fly.  The Church is in a period of change, but as members of the Church, the Priesthood of Believers, the Bride of Christ, are we willing to embrace these changes?

One of the changes that is occurring is the reestablishment of the five fold of Ephesians 4 back into the church as passions, gifts, points of view, and voices in individual believers to make them more Christ-like and bring unity within the Church that has not existed for the last 20 centuries.

Every local Christian church needs an evangelistic passion to win the lost and proclaim the message, “You must be born again” of “the water and the spirit”.  With revival is always a powerful movement of new believers in Jesus Christ.  The evangelistic spirit is the spirit of birthing, and every local church needs that spirit in order to grow in number.

Every local Christian church needs a pastoral, shepherding spirit that nurtures, cares, develops, equips, trains, and releases their believers towards ministry, “works of service”.  The evangelist births, but the pastoral/shepherd nurtures these newborns through their spiritual childhood and adolescence to prepare, equip, and train them in Christ-like character development to release them to be able to stand and advance the kingdom of God as mature believers. The pastoral/shepherding spirit is the spirit of development, and every local church needs that spirit in order to grow in character in Christ-likeness.

Every local Christian church needs the teaching spirit. The Word of God, the Bible, is the foundation of all that happens in the Church. Every Christian, without exception, needs someone to help them understand the Word of God for themselves through the tutorage of the Holy Spirit.  Every Christian needs to memorize scripture, exercise the knowledge of knowing or recalling scripture, and bases everything they do upon the Word of God. The teaching spirit sets the foundation for the Church, so every local church needs that spirit in order to stand firm.

Every local Christian church needs the prophetic spirit, the capability to hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit for themselves, as well as being able to take the Logos Word, the written Word, the Bible, and make it the Rhema Word, the living Word.  The 1^st Century Church took the Logos Word, what today is known as the Old Testament, and made it the Rehma Word, the living word, as they lived out their new faith and recorded it, thus the New Testament.  The prophetic spirit activates life into the Church, so every local church needs the prophetic spirit to move forward in living out their faith.

Every local Christian church needs the apostolic spirit, the ability to “see” what the Holy Spirit is doing and saying and be obedient to it, the ability to identify giftings in other believers and equip and train them in their Christian development, and the ability to release other believers in their gifting, their calling, their destiny in Jesus Christ.  Instead of administrators in a business sense, the Church needs developers and investors in other Christian believers, people with spiritual parenting skills. The apostolic spirit brings unity, direction, harmony, and stability to the Church, so every local church needs the apostolic spirit for direction and over sight.

Now for the shocking conclusion: I believe all these spirits are already in people in your local congregation. The five fold is already present, seeking to be manifested right among yourself.  All we must do is embrace the Holy Spirit to birth, develop, and release these passions, visions, and points of view among us, the believers in Jesus Christ, the Priesthood of Believers.  They need to be “activated” among the laity in order to be effective. Clergy/laity labels must cease, so all believers in Jesus Christ can be empowered, developed, equipped, and released into their destiny in the kingdom of God.  The key to the next revival is that it will touch “all” believers in Jesus Christ, not just the professionals, nor the old establish believers, nor the chosen few.  It will be a massive world wide movement to remove the “spot and wrinkles” of the Bride, the Church, in preparation for the Groom, Jesus’ return.  It will impact Church structure like no movement in history has, not even the Great Reformation.  I prophesy that the way my great-grandchildren do Church as adults will look nothing like the pew sitting, hymn singing, pulpit preaching church services of my great-grandparents.  Church, if we want REVIVAL, we must be prepared for change, and be open to what the Holy Spirit desires to lift the name of Jesus and establish the Kingdom of God over the entire earth! Revival, come!

Can The Church Trust The Holy Spirit Enough To Have Revival?

10 Ways The Church Might Change: Point 9

[In a previous blog I have outlined 10 possible changes the Church may face in the future. This is point 9 in the series: Empowerment by the Holy Spirit will trump positions and offices.  The Holy Spirit fell on ALL, men, women, & children in the Upper Room on Pentecost in fulfillment of the book of Joel.  On that day the royal priesthood of believers was established and the Church, the body of Jesus Christ, was birthed. With revival comes empowerment by the Holy Spirit producing radical change in individual lives and corporate structures.  The only way the Church will see revival is through empowerment by the Holy Spirit.  The Sanhedrin, the Jewish governing body, knew these Galileans, these disciples, were different. They were not educated but were empowered from on high.]

With true revival comes empowerment.  It has been quite a long time since I have attended a spontaneous gathering of believers who have no agenda but to be obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading, where the Holy Spirit orchestrated the gathering and the direction of their fellowship, worship, and ministry. Gatherings that were highly unpredictable, but created a sense of excitement, a sense of urgency to what the Holy Spirit would say and do through His people.  Even as various spiritual gifts arose during the meeting, there would always be a clear meaning, a crisp direction, a definite theme or message that was pertinent for the group at that time in their spiritual lives. 

No man could orchestrate a gathering like that, but many have tried to recreate it. I recall at Jesus 74, an outdoor Jesus Festival on a farm in Mercer, Pennsylvania, one evening as the keynote speaker was giving the evening message, a thunderstorm was approaching from a distance producing a natural light show. Several campers retrieved their Coleman gas lanterns, fired them up, and laid them in the shape of the Cross on the hillside by the main arena.  It was spontaneous, beautiful, effective, and added to the theme of the evening. The following year the powers that be at Jesus 75 tried to recreate that same atmosphere as they planned and orchestrated candles to be handed out. When properly cued, people were to light them as a plane flew overhead to film the event. At first they handed candles to people who would make up the shape of the Cross, so the Cross would be lit. Then someone changed their mind and wanted the area round the cross area to be lit outlining the dark figure of the Cross.  Soon people were throwing candles in all directions producing confusion, chaos, and igniting tempers.  Finally, upon cue, candles were lit, the plane flew overhead, but the event was never as effective as its predecessor a year earlier because it was man-orchestrated trying to recreate what was Holy Spirit-orchestrated a year earlier.

True revival demands TRUST, TRUST in the Holy Spirit. Most churches are skeptical at what the Holy Spirit will do, because often the Holy Spirit goes outside the bounds of what the church has labeled as normal or acceptable behavior. Revivals are often messy. To prevent that, the church wants to keep “order”; “order” means “control”.  If the Church wants revival, guess who has to be in “control”? The Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ!  Jesus is the head of the Church, so the Church has to learn to lose control and give the control back to the head.  “But what happens if…” is the cry I most often hear.  Bottom Line: You need to ask these questions: Who is in control? Can you TRUST the Holy Spirit?

It has been well over a decade since I have attended a meeting that was spontaneously led by the Holy Spirit that was totally unpredictable about what was going to happen but created an excitement of expectancy.  It has almost been that long since I have attended an unplanned, unrehearsed, unorchestrated meeting where the agenda was open and the gifts of the spirit would flow freely among the priesthood of believers, and out of the manifestation of those varied gifts would come a theme, a message.

Now I am not saying that the Holy Spirit is not in today’s congregational church services, for where two or more are gathered, there Jesus is, but I am saying that we now have such preplanned, highly orchestrated, professional sounding and orated presentations called worship services that there is very little time or space allowed for spontaneity by the Holy Spirit through the diversity of the Christians present.  It goes too smoothly, very professionally, and is highly predictable.  Churches with multiple weekend services feature genetically the same format for all services, even down to the exact sermon preached and music sang. Everything is so predictable; there is no room for spontaneity buy the laity.

True revival is lead by believers in Jesus Christ who are willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and are obedient to what they are told, no matter how ridiculous it may sound.  It does not have to be led by high church offices or a professional staff, only by anyone willing to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is incharge and is looking for willing, obedient vessels through which to speak and minister.

What the spirit of revival is looking for is willing vessels who will allow themselves to be empowered by Jesus Christ to perform whatever the Holy Spirit asks them to do.  It can be men, women, and even children. All it takes is a willingness and an openness to be “empowered from on high”, just like Jesus’ disciples were during and following their Pentecost experience.  Holy Spirit come; Holy Spirit empower your believers!

Obedience Versus Sacrifice: Does The Church Understand Either!

 10   Ways The Church Might Change: Point 8

[In a previous blog I have outlined 10 possible changes the Church may face in the future. This is point 8 in the series: “To obey is better than sacrifice” the Bible says.  We need to learn and exercise “sacrifice” in our Christian lives and learn to exercise “obedience” to what the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, the Bible, is saying to us as believers.  America’s churches today live in abundance, losing the essence of the principle of sacrifice. America’s churches need to learn “obedience”, not only to the written Word of God, the Logos, the Bible, but to the living Word of God, the Rhema, through the Holy Spirit.”]

I love to watch the History Channel on my cable TV.  My parents are in their latter 80’s, and their generation is dying off.  I feel they are the last generation of Americans that really know what “sacrifice” is all about.  They lived through the Great Depression of the 1930’s, where sacrifice was the norm.  That prepared them to sacrifice even more to support the troops during World War II when fighting the demagogue dictators of the world to preserve ideals like democracy and freedom.  My dad sacrificed for me, doing anything he could to see I became the first college graduate in my family.  He wanted me to live better than his generation, which came to be at the expense of losing the principle of sacrifice to my generation and those under me.  America, today, is on top of the economic world, proudly, but with pride comes the fall. Americans are not willing to sacrifice what they have for future generations; they want it now, the plastic credit card age of obtaining immediately at paying for it later.  Our children will pay for our greed as America finds itself in debt and at the mercy of its creditors.  We have lost the principle of sacrifice to power, wealth, and greed, to which America needs to repent if it wishes to keep it status as a world power and influence.

I Samuel 15:22 asks: “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?”  He answers his own question at the end of the verse: “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.”  If we as Americans have trouble understanding “sacrifice”, how much more difficult is it to understand “obedience”?  Obedience to what, you ask? Answer” “as in obeying the voice of the Lord”! 

If the 21^st Century Church, the Body of Christ, the Priesthood of Believers expects to see REVIVAL, it has to relearn how to listen to “the voice of the Lord” for themselves.  Every believer in Jesus Christ can be like little Samuel, who, as a young man, had to recognize that he could hear the voice of the Lord personally for himself.  Levi, the High Priest, could not hear that voice even though he was in leadership at that time.  He had to rely on Samuel.  I remember when I personally learned that lesson, and like little Samuel, I was shocked at that possibility.  Over the years I have tried to nurture, to fine tune, to hone in on that skill.  I would rather sit, worship, and “listen” than stand, praise, and petition during my prayer times now, individually and corporately as a priest and as a priesthood.  Listening to the voice of the Lord is a special gift only believers in Jesus Christ can have because that still small voice comes through the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ that resides in its temple, our physical bodies. The scripture says, “Do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit?”  Because of this, we, believers in Jesus Christ, can hear “the voice of the Lord” individually and corporately.

I was thrilled when discovering and practicing this gift, but it came at a price!  That price is OBEDIENCE!  We can hear the voice of the Lord, but if we are not “obedient” to that voice, we become as the Children of Israel who saw salvation at the hands of 500 years of slavery to the Egyptians vanish because of one man’s, Mose’s obedience to what he heard the voice of the Lord tell him. After their salvation experience they became known as the Children of Disobedience while in the Sinai Dessert trying to walk out their salvation experience, never to reach the Promise Land. Individually, and corporately they failed!  They were not willing to be “obedient” to what they “heard” from God.

How does the Church, the Bride of Christ, the Priesthood of Believers fair today on the “obedience” meter?  It is hard to say.  First, they have to be “listening to the voice of the Lord” before they can be tested for “obedience”.  As a child, when my parent spoke, that voice demanded blinded obedience.  If not, punishment was administered to bring “correction” with the ultimate result being “obedience to that voice” in the future. As I got older, when a parental voice spoke, I jumped and reacted in “obedience”. The same is with our spiritual lives.  Having the privilege of hearing the parental voice of our heavenly Father through the voice of Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ demands obedience.  Disobedience brings “conviction” because of God’s “grace” rather than harsh disciple for the purpose of “correction” is the rule of thumb for a loving God. I know personally, for I have experienced being disobedient to something the voice of the Lord told me to do, and the heaviness of conviction of my disobedience is something I never want to experience again.  Even though judged and condemned by my conscience disobedience, the grace of God has reconciled me, forgiven me, and restored me to the place of still being able to hear the voice of God, but now wanting to be obedient to that voice.

If I personally want revival in my life, and corporately want to see revival in the Church, then I have to be willing to learn how to “hear the voice of the Lord”, and more importantly be obedient to what I have heard. God is not impressed with sacrifices, for he sacrificed His Son, Jesus, on the cross so we no longer have to do sacrifices; all he wants is our obedience! If we want revival, we need to nurture our spiritual ear to hear and our willingness to be obedient no matter the cost!

Laying Down The Principle Of Selfless Blame

10 Ways The Church Might Change: Point 7

[In a previous blog I have outlined 10 possible changes the Church may face in the future. This is point 7 in the series: “Laying Down One’s Life”, vertically in our relationship to God and horizontally in our relationship with each other, is central to the gospel. On the Cross, Jesus “laid down his life” for us!  On the Cross, we must “lay down our life” for God and for each other.  Without understanding this principle, we cannot function in plurality, nor as a priesthood, nor as an unified body.”]

I explained in a previous blog, point #2, about the importance of the vertical plane between God and man and the horizontal plan between man and his fellow man that dissect each other making up the context of the Cross.  Also in my last blog I addressed the issue of the body of Christ, the Priesthood of Believers, the Church, as a pluralistic body of diversity, yet a single entity as one. The question that needs to be asked is, “How can such a diverse body be united and remain united?  The answer lies in putting the two blogs together.

In order for the Church to be united it has to embrace the doctrine of Priesthood of Believers, that in spite of its extreme diversity, common, everyday believers are the backbone of the Church, and it is they who have to step forward and perform the duties that are necessary for the Priesthood of Jesus Christ to succeed as one united distinct unit.  The Church’s diversity in the past is the very thing that has torn it asunder when what makes them different is the very thing they stood up for bringing division. Then what can keep the Church united; what will be the glue?  As I have suggested earlier, the answer likes in I John 3:16 where we, as believers in Jesus Christ, are to “lay down our lives for the brethren”.

My first reaction is that “attitude” can never be attained, for there is no historical proof.  Historically, the opposite, division, has always resulted, so why would I believe in the impossible.  I know scripturally it says, “all things are possible in Christ Jesus who strengthens me,” but this dimension goes beyond the vertical relationships between God and man through Christ Jesus, it goes between man and man.  As man, Adam, a creation of God, are we willing to consciously make the decision ourselves to be “selfless”? Can we willing lay down our life for the common good of the unit, the Body of Christ?

Jesus, as a man, as flesh and blood, as the Son of God, came to earth to be obedient for the cause of laying down his own life, willingly, for the brethren.  He proved that such a deed can be done only through “Christ Jesus who strengthens me”, but just as Jesus experienced on the Cross, it could be extremely painful.    Being Christ-like means one has to be utterly “selfless”; it is not about me, but about the kingdom of God.

So what does it mean to be selfless, to lay down your life?

Jesus, when on the Cross, never played the “blame game”? The Church has debated over the centuries, “who is to blame for Jesus’ crucifixion?”  Some blame the Romans and Pilot washing his hands clean of a case for political gains of an innocent man being accused by a ruthless mob.  Some have blamed the Jews, the Sanhedrin, or Jewish governing body, for Jesus’ crucifixion.  The great reformer, Martin Luther held this anti-semantic view during his life which became the seeds for the Spanish Inquisition and the Holocaust later in history. Some blame it on the sins of you and me, a favorite theme of modern day Evangelical evangelists.  Jesus did not blame the Romans, nor his fellow Jew, nor you or me, for while on the Cross his attitude came out in His own words, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  His crucifixion was preordained by God, the Father, himself; even prophesied by prophets of old. It was going to happen because it was part of God’s eternal plan. There IS NO BLAME!  Even blameless, selflessness is being willing to take the blame even though it is unjustified; that is what Jesus did! As the Sacrificial Lamb, he took the blame even though he was innocent, willingly, selflessly, for the good of mankind!

“Laying down your life for your brethren” must begin with laying down and crucifying one’s “blame game”.  It doesn’t matter who is right or wrong. What matter’s is God’s will, God’s eternal plan, and if that plan is to lay down the blame, carrying the unjustified burden and accusations even thought you may be right, even at the expense of one’s reputation and life, then do so! That is being “Christ-like”! It was never God’s plan for the Priesthood of Believers to be blaming and condemning one another for their faults, sins, and short comings; It was God’s plan to extend GRACE to cover his/her faults, sins, and short comings.  The Church preaches grace; now it is being called to LIVE GRACE TOWARD ONE ANOTHER!  Impossible, you may first shout, but again “all things are possible in Christ Jesus who strengthens you!”

Church, brethren, the Body and Bride of Christ, the Priesthood of Believers, let’s begin to “lay down our lives to/for one another”, “selflessly”, “without blame” while extending “grace”; for then we will see the miracle of the fulfillment of the unity of the Body of Christ for which Jesus prayed in John 16.  No prayer goes unanswered, and neither will this one, particularly if Jesus himself prayed it and fulfilled the answer to that prayer!  At the cross, being willing to “lay down one’s life”, blamelessly, selflessly is where REVIVAL begins. Church, let’s let the REVIVAL begin there with ME!