What Does “Equipping The Saints” Mean? – Part II

 It’s Not Your Job To Be The Teacher

I have been a public school teacher for 40 years!  For forty years teaching has been my job.  That is how I financially supported my family.  It became my identity, defining who I am.  I would introduce myself as, “I am Anthony Bachman; I teach 8^th grade at Spring Grove Middle School.” Being acknowledged as “Teacher of the Year” by my school district during the last year of my career was a fulfilling honor, signifying my professional growth as a struggling “new teacher”, maturing into a master teacher, gleaning from other educators that I admired, being willing to change with the times, the climate, the new swing in educational philosophy over a four decade experience.  All that changed in June of 2011 when I retired”.  Then I discovered that I was still a teacher, in spite of my new employment status, for it was what drives me; it’s my passion.

I was fortunate having Clarence Barnhart who received the honor of being one of the Top 10 Qualifiers for Teacher Of The Year for the state of Pennsylvania as my educational mentor.  He was dynamic, creative, highly organized, motivated, loved kids, love coaching by introducing track to athletes and developing them for High School, great at intramurals, willing to try new ideas while incorporating multi-disciplines into his teaching style.  Rather than lecturing and showing filmstrips and films about the Revolutionary War, he taught students how to research history for themselves, how to dig for answers, how to discover history nationally, state wide, and even locally.  His students not only “knew” their history but “experienced” it!  That is what teaching is all about: not only knowing your subject matter, but experiencing it, living it, consuming it, making it part of your being!

As I began my retirement, I spent time reading my Bible.  I soon realized that Jesus’ model of teaching differed from my Westernized thought and experience.  Jesus never took a “course” or “earned a degree”, but confounded the spiritual intellects of his day at the Temple when he was only 12 years old!  He “earned the respect” of being called “rabbi”, teacher, for what he taught and how he taught with “power”.  Now a successful rabbi, he never founded a College or University on “new Jewish thought”, but chose 12 of the most unlikely candidates in which to invest his “teaching” career. He walked with them, discussed one on one with them, lived with them, ate with them, taught them through life experiences, even taking them to Jerusalem and to face the cross and his resurrection.  Their education continued on the Road to Emmaus, as they were explained “all things” and the fulfillment of the gospel by Jesus.  With his ascension, their education came through the Holy Spirit who taught them that in Christ there is no difference between male nor female, Jew or gentile, master or slave, nor rich or poor.  How I taught for forty years as a public school teacher was so foreign to the way Jesus taught in his three-year career as a rabbi, or teacher.  I taught academics; Jesus taught experience.  I taught intellectual theory; Jesus taught practical everyday life style.  I taught through my intellect; Jesus taught through His Spirit!

Just as I became a “professional” educator and thought my way was the correct way; it is easy to become a “professional” Christian, a member of the clergy, who can feel his way is the correct way.  We have been “trained” to think and act “professionally”, intellectually.  It’s our job!  It is the way we identify ourselves.  It becomes who we are, and if the Holy Spirit shows us that our mind set is foreign to the actual ways of teaching the gospel, we become defensive and personally assaulted. At least I did as a professional educator.  All my higher educated role models, professors, lectured “what they knew through their P.H.D. degrees” to us students; all our higher elevated role models, senior pastors, Bishops, etc., preach, religiously lecture, to us “what they know through their theological doctorate degrees”. Their methods of teaching are the same, yet “lecturing” has been proven one of the most ineffective ways of teaching! Having students “experience” their material is far more effective.

In “equipping the saints for the work of service,” we often feel we, the teachers in the Church, have to teach the materials that we are most comfortable with in our own faith journeys.  Here is the hard lesson that I have had to learn: I AM NOT the teacher; Jesus, His Holy Spirit, IS the teacher. Jesus, upon his ascension to heaven to sit at the right hand of God, promised to send the Holy Spirit “who will teach you all things”. He is the teacher. Jesus continually taught through example while being a human on earth. His teaching HAS NOT ceased, for His Holy Spirit has been sent to CONTINUE the job.  We need to get out of the way and allow the Holy Spirit to teach!

If someone opens the Bible on their own, the Holy Spirit can teach them its truth; it is called “revelation”. He, the Holy Spirit, is the “revealer of truth”!  Some of the best teaching comes through private daily devotions when it is only the individual believer with the Holy Spirit reading the Word, the Bible, together privately.  The Holy Spirit “recalls” those passages in the believers every day life, making the Logos Word, the written Word, the Rhema Word, the living word.  Not only does the Holy Spirit help the believer in Jesus to “hear” the Word in their private time together, but calls them to be “doers” of the Word, experiencing it!

Bottom Line: If we are to be teachers helping to “equip the saints for the work of service”, we need to teach them how to hear the Holy Spirit on their own, how to be obedient to what has been “revealed”, seen & heard, and learn to walk out their faith on their own, relying only on the Holy Spirit.  Then we have “equipped” them properly.  It has nothing to do with the intellect; it has everything to do with “obedience” to the Holy Spirit, so let’s allow the HOLY SPIRIT to be the TEACHER! It’s just NOT our job! It’s HIS!

What Does “Equipping The Saints” Mean? – Part I

Our Spiritual Library’s Story

I’ve been thinking about what does it mean to “equip the saints for the work of service”?  In most Westernize churches that means intellectual training: reading books, taking courses, and holding intellectual discussions.  If I am in a men’s ministry group, I will probably have to read a book called “10 Ways To Be A Better Christian Man” or “How To Be A Better Christian Husband”. If in a small home group atmosphere, I may be asked to read a book that every small group is reading to keep the message consistent throughout the body or read articles that complement the Pastor’s sermons.  If in a youth group, “How To Win Your School For Christ” may be the reading of choice. If in a women’s group, “Thousands Of Ways To Submit To Your Husband” could be another satirical title. If being a new attender, you might be asked to read, “What We Believe” book, or if you are a developing church leader, you might be asked to read “25 Steps Towards Righteous Leadership”!  If you attend a mid-week service, you might read “Missions, A Call To The World” to keep you informed of the church’s missionary endeavors.  If you are an “active” member, you could be reading multiple books at one time!  Then when meeting as a small group, you discuss whatever book you have read: “meet & discuss” sessions.  Application of what you have read will probably be done on your own, but at least you got to discuss the matter.

Being a Christian of over 50 years, I now have accumulated a large library of books (most of which I have now discarded), have taken a multitude of courses, have sat through thousands of teachings and sermons, have taken online/workbook individualized courses, have attended a multitude of conferences, to specifically train me for what?  When I get to heaven, will I have to read “10 Steps To Get Into Heaven” so Peter and I can discuss it before allowing me to enter?

The Bible says that we are not only to be hearers of the Word, but doers! Unfortunately, very seldom has reading a Christian themed book lead me to become a doer of its material.  I have become “aware” of its topics, “informed” of its topics, and maybe even “intellectually stimulated” by its themes, but usually not motivated to actually “do it”!  Why does almost everything in Western Christendom have to be intellectualized?  The Jewish culture, which is where God decided to immerse Himself, operates out of the heart, the emotion. King David is known as a man with God’s heart, not God’s head.  His son, Solomon, is known as the intellect, constantly trying to intellectualize his faith unlike his father. Knowing God with your heart means experiencing God!  Experience goes beyond just intellectualizing it, for if you feel it, you “do it” in order to “know it”!

Maybe to start out asking how we are “to equip the saints for the work of service”, we should ask how we can help people “experience” God for themselves, and stand beside them, behind them, next to them in “their” walk of faith, in “their” unique faith journey.  What can we do to “support” them in their walk, their growth, their journey?  Finally, can we “release” them to “do it” on their own, without our guidance, in other words, “grow up spiritually”, become mature in the faith?  How can we teach them to depend on the faithfulness of the Father, depend on Jesus, depend on the Holy Spirit rather than depending on an older mature Christian or a professional staff member?  Can we “release” them so we can move on as well as they move on in our faith walks?

Being an English teacher who emphasized reading good meaningful literature, it is ironic that I am saying that we need to at some time place aside the books written by other authors, and begin to write about our “Acts” of faith, our spiritual walk, what we are “doing” for the kingdom of God. This is not to put us under legalism of a “works” kick, but to free us to walks the journeys we are equipped to walk. 

In order to understand how “to equip the saints for works of service”, I propose that we need to first understand that this journey will NOT just be just an intellectual journey, but a journey of the heart, a journey of our emotions, a journey of experiencing our faith, a faith journey in Jesus, lead by the Holy Spirit.  We will continue to walk in this journey in the next series of blogs!

Church Pigeon Hole Politics

Putting The Cart Before The Horse

Most American churches are programmatic, that is, as an institution they design programs often run by volunteers but administrated by the professional staff.  Programs make positions, and positions must be filled by people, thus titles and job descriptions are developed.  As laity, we are often told by our clergy that we should be willing to serve, to do anything for the kingdom, thus under that premise, many volunteer to fill vacant positions as nursery attenders, Sunday school teachers, youth advisors, children’s church workers, back ground singers or choir members, ushers, and other menial positions, and get stuck there for life or until they are burned out or bored. Many times people who are placed in positions don’t have the knowledge to do that position well, or don’t have the passion or drive to push themselves in that position. When there is no life in the program, we begin questioning why?

I believe that the five fold is for the laity because it is just identifying the passions that drive them, and the mentality or point of view from which they think and operate. A person whose passion is to win the lost doesn’t need motivation, they are driven by the Holy Spirit to do just it. They can’t help themselves. They think continually about winning the lost. They just need equipped by their local church, then released.  If a person is passionate about shepherding, caring for others, we need not find a “position” for them; just equip them and release them! The same with someone driven by the prophetic, or a teacher, or apostolic oversight of seeing the big picture.

The church needs to identify the passions, drives, and points of view by the people who are already active in their congregation, give them what they need to succeed, whatever that would be, alias the equipping, then release them to do their thing!  They will do it with gusto, determination, striving for success, wanting only the best, and be happy and fulfilled doing it.  The church should not place a pastoral/shepherding saint in children’s ministry just because no one else will do it, but allow them to develop a small group ministry to disciple people as they are driven to do so. If some one sees the big picture, apostolic in vision, drive, and point of view, making them an usher to see over people financially given during the offering just because the position needs filled, does not enhance their chances for ministry, and stifles their drive to use their passion effectively for the kingdom of God.

The church needs to reprioritize its efforts. People should go ahead of programs! Developing their talents and equipping them for ministry should come ahead of developing programs and asking them to fill positions.  Releasing them to go with their passion and fulfill their desire to minister effectively in their own giftings and talents should trump having to teach them, design them, and train them to successfully fill a position that drives a program.

In the world of professional public education, you have teachers who are “driven” with “passion” to teach children when they graduate with their teaching degrees. They are driven to evaluate what is best for their students and adjust their multiple teaching styles to meet that student’s need. They are in the classroom because they love teaching, are driven to do it, and are fulfilled by seeing their student’s succeed. Yet in spite of teachers earning four year degrees in higher education and multiple graduate courses and  graduate degrees, today’s public school administrators think they have to bring “programs” in for “professional development” to tell their teachers how to teach, as if they aren’t qualified to do so in spite all the education they have received.  This is thwarting and devastating many teacher’s drive, their passion to creatively and professionally teach, feeling muted, downgraded, and frustrated by always being told the administrator’s ways are always better than their own inclass proven ways. Administrators decades ago use to do anything they could to “equip” their teachers to teach, fighting for materials for their teachers and their classrooms, provided the best schedules and class sizes to be effective, not telling their teachers how to teach.

Today’s churches find themselves in a parallel position. Instead of allowing the people in their congregation to go with their passions, use their already established talents, free them to be who they are in Christ to do the works of service and “be the church”, they establish positions and tell their people ‘how to do church”! “Leadership Conferences” for pastors and staff teach “professional development” on professionally how to “do church” rather than teaching them how to equip their saints to be who they are in Christ, equip their saints with resources to succeed in their passions and endeavors, equip their saints to be successful, nor how to release their saints without micromanaging them. 

If we want the church, the people of God, to be the church, the people of God, then we got to allow the church, the people to God, to be the people of God by releasing them to be so!

We got to learn how to let the Holy Spirit be the motivator, the passion within the saint, to be the trainer and developer of the saint, to be the equipper giving the saint whatever he/she needs to succeed.  The professional staff has to quit trying to be the Holy Spirit for the saints! That never works!

We have to develop a new mindset: Instead of investing in church programs, instead of investing in more staff or “professional development” for the staff, let’s start investing in the saints, the Church, the people of God!  Let’s start equipping them for success, and releasing them to be what God has created them to be! Let’s put the horse again in front of the cart! 

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.

Following & Equipping Through Obedience

Qualifications For The Five Fold – Part I

Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen, and He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.  Matthew 4:18-22

As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And He got up and followed Him. And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples, for there were many of them, and they were following Him. Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, and said to his disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick, I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Mark 2:14-17

He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the names of twelve apostles of the Lamb. Rev. 21: 10, 14

While on earth, Jesus was choosing men to become foundation stones for his New Jerusalem, choosing men to be evangelists, shepherds, teachers, prophets, and apostles. What kind of men did he choose? What were their credentials? What did Jesus do to “equip” these saints for the work of service that would impact centuries to come?

It is interesting to note that he did not pick one scribe, the theologians of his day, nor one Pharisee, the highly religious person of his day, nor started a school for rabbis, the spiritual teachers of his day.  In fact scribes and Pharisees are the only people he verbally criticizes with a venomous zeal.  In stead he chose every day, common, religiously untrained people: fishermen, tax collectors, and others by trade who were willing to lay down their occupations and careers to “Follow Me!”

Jesus was willing to live with them, walk with them, spent time talking, discussing, teaching, modeling, directing, just doing what he expected they would eventually do.  He invested Himself in them; in turn, they dropped what they did, followed Him, and invested themselves in Jesus! 

Jesus was looking for was obedience: He spoke; they followed! He did not ask for resumes, conducted no interviews, nor demanded any formal academic or religious training. He spoke; they followed! Religious people were busy taking their sacrifices to the Temple, but Jesus said, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” He spoke; they followed!

To be an effective follower of Christ, a believer in Christ, a disciple of Christ, an evangelist propagating Christ, a shepherd leading a flock for Christ, a teacher expounding the Word of God about Christ, a prophet proclaiming the life of Christ, or an apostle overseeing the Body of Christ, you have to be obedient!  When Jesus speaks; you must follow what He says in obedience! It is that simple.

Were these disciples very obedient? Scripture records they squabbled amongst them selves over power, who would sit on Jesus’ left or right when he rules His kingdom; He taught them in parables, then He had to reteach it to them in simple terms for they did not understand; He often rebuked them, “Oh ye of little faith;” Peter becomes known for “opening his mouth and inserting his foot”, yet Jesus chooses him to become “a rock” in this movement; and they all run, flee, and hide in fear when Jesus is crucified and become skeptical when first told of his resurrection.  In spite of all this, they still qualify because Jesus chose them, and they followed. Jesus continues to extend Grace and Mercy, and they continue to receive and take it.

Ephesians 4 encourages the Church to “equip the saints for the work of service.” These initial followers were not yet equipped for service in spite of their training, in spite of walking by Jesus side, in spite have a personal relationship with Jesus, their Messiah. Peter denies Jesus three times, yet before his ascension Jesus affords Peter the opportunity reaffirm his love for Him three times, then commands, “Follow Me!! 

Acts 1:4 records: “He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised.” If they were obedient, he was about to “equip” them. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” Jesus’ followers, his disciples had been trained, had walked a spiritual journey with Jesus, but now they were going to be “equipped”; they were going to be “empowered” and that “empowerment” would require “obedience”. When Jesus’ Spirit, the Holy Spirit, speaks; you must follow what He says in obedience! It is that simple.

As I have said often in past blogs - bottom line: Can you trust the Holy Spirit? Will you be obedient to what He reveals and says? Empowerment comes through obedience.  He has equipped you with His Holy Spirit; now go in obedience!

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 Prepared Is The Church?

 10 Ways The Church Might Change:

Point 5 – Part 2

[In previous blogs I have outlined 10 possible changes the Church may face in the future. This is point 5 in the series: Church offices will be replaced by leadership built on relationships, not position.  Because of what one does, will one be respected or rejected. This will not be based on works, but on grace, mercy, and obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Leadership will be established by those who are willing to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and be obedient to that voice.]

I believe that revival in the 21^st Century Church will demand leadership built on relationship among the local brethren. That was also the pattern of the 1^st Century Church.  Paul, listening to the direction of the Holy Spirit, was lead to a city to evangelize or proclaim the gospel or “Good News” of redemption of Jesus Christ to a dying and degenerate world.  With new converts, Paul then led them through teaching and personal modeling in this new Christian lifestyle of “holiness”, “righteousness”, and walking in faith, grace, mercy, and acceptance that was foreign to their old ways of life and surrounding culture.  As they grew in this faith journey with Jesus led by the Holy Spirit, Paul then trained and equipped them for leadership, so when he left their area, they could stand on their own and grow in faith and in numbers.  He never controlled them, only equipped, trained, and encouraged them in their growing faith, in their studying of the Word of God which where Old Testament Scriptures, and relying on the Holy Spirit to interpret those in light of this new Christian culture for Jews and gentiles.

Can you image how grateful the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Galatians were to their inbreed leadership who were trained and equipped by Paul and other visiting apostles like Barnabas, Apollos, and Timothy for leading them into the knowledge of the salvation of their souls through the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross and the power of his resurrection, for developing, training, and equipping them to walk a life worthy of Christ Jesus, and release them into the gifting of the Holy Spirit for their personal growth and the edification of the entire body of believers? 

I know that my wife and I have been spiritual parents to three sets of youth throughout our lives.  They still call us Mamma B & Poppa B, but it gives us great pleasure to see their spiritual growth now that they are adults.  They have deep respect for us, and that respect is reciprocal as they continue to grow in Christ.  As spiritual parents, it is hard to describe the satisfaction of seeing the fruit of your investment. I can understand Paul’s letters to those he has trained and equipped as he sees them grow in their leadership skills.

When there is a revival, there is immediate growth, and often the need for leadership is great.  The proper training and equipping of the saints prior to a revival is a necessity, for once revival starts, there is no time for training because so much happens so quickly.  When the cause of evangelism begins to produce new babes in the Lord, those with leadership skills in properly nurturing and care, pastoral skills, are needed to develop and walk out this faith journey with these new converts.  As they grow, they needed grounded in the Word, thus the need for leaders with teaching skills. They need direction, guidance, and to learn to know the voice of the Holy Spirit and how to be obedient on their own, thus the need for a prophet.  Finally, there is a need for someone to pull it all together, to bring together the efforts of the evangelist, pastor, teacher, and prophet for the purpose of spiritual growth and unity in the body of Christ, thus the apostle. 

In a day where many are leaving the professional ministry due to burnout, the Church needs to reevaluate how it trains leaders and for what purpose if they truly want to see and be a part of revival.  The laity, the saints, need to be drawn out of their passive modes that we have enabled with, and train them for the works of service.  Then the Church will be ready for revival.

I truly believe that the Church as a whole has not yet seen revival because it is not ready for it. “Prepare ye the way” is a strong Biblical theme throughout the Bible.  The way is “prepared” before the major event occurs.  John, the Baptist, was the forerunner of the Messiah, “preparing the way”. The Church, the Bride of Christ, is to be without “spot and wrinkle” in preparation for the Groom’s, Jesus’, return.  I believe the Church is in a season of “preparation”, so that will require change.  Change in the way we train leadership; change in the way we worship together; change in our leadership structure; change in how we do “body” ministry; and change in our attitudes toward Christian brethren who do not practice their faith exactly the same way we do.

What is the Church going to do during this transitional time of preparation?  Are they going to continue their current attitude of doing nothing while clinging to past traditions, or are they going to embrace change no matter how radical it may look.

When, not it, world-wide revival hits, the Church needs to have prepared evangelists, pastors, teachers, prophets, and apostles by equipping them and releasing them to serve.  It is a monumental task, but world-wide revival is a monumental event. It is the event that will unify the church while removing its “spots and wrinkles” in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the ultimate world-wide revival.

The Christian Dilemma: Relationships Versus Religion

 10 Ways The Church Might Change:

Point 5 – Part I

[In previous blogs I have outlined 10 possible changes the Church may face in the future. This is point 5 in the series: Church offices will be replaced by leadership built on relationships, not position.  Because of what one does, will one be respected or rejected. This will not be based on works, but on grace, mercy, and obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Leadership will be established by those who are willing to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and be obedient to that voice.]

“The Word of the Lord”, the voice, is greater than the messenger.  “The Word of the Lord” can be written, as in the Bible, or spoken, as in a sermon, a testimony, or a prophetic utterance.  The message is always more important than the messenger. Ask John the Baptist who is “least in the kingdom of God” according to scripture, yet he was the messenger of a profound message ushering in the Messiah, the Priestly King, the Son of God.  The same is with relationship in relation to leadership in the kingdom of God. The relationship is more important than any office or position.

Even though Jesus built relationships with each of his twelve disciples, they had trouble at first understanding this principle, for they wanted to know who would be positioned on Jesus’ left and right when establishing rank in the kingdom of God.  Positioning of rank is secondary in comparison to the relationship one has with the person.  Your relationship to Jesus Christ is always more important than any position you hold in his kingdom or in church, yet we have twisted that principle when it comes to church leadership.  In our current church structure position and influence based on profession and offices trump relationships. Church “boards” are often composed of people with job positions and titles: ie. elders, deacons, pastors, pastoral staff, etc.  Often “boards” do not function out of relationships as brethren in Christ, but out of politics by position.  Church politics supersede the washing of one another’s feet when it comes to church business meetings. Like the Jewish Sanhedrin of old, they often become instruments of passing judgment rather than extending grace. I know; I have attended and been part of them on both the passing and the receiving of judgment!

I believe the 21^st Century Church will be confronted by the Holy Spirit on how it conducts it’s “business”. American churches often follow American business models when conducting church budget operating out of projected budgets rather than having “storehouses” (Malachi 3:10). Almost every local church seems to always be begging for money to meet its budget rather than operating fiscally from a “storehouse” mentality. Joseph’s recorded wisdom of storing 7 years of plenty for seven years of famine not only saved the Egyptian empire but made it great and powerful. A large part of many church budgets go toward financing staff and building maintenance. Benevolence and missions has remained only a small percentage of most church budgets.  Often we have treated benevolence and missions as a tithing, only 10% of the budget for things outside our institutional needs.  The way a church conducts its business tell a lot about its ministry.

Twice I have been part of a small home church where almost all of our tithing went to benevolences and missions since we had no staff nor building.  We bought “underwear” as Christmas gifts for the needy families in our group.  Because we had “relationships” with them on an everyday basis, we knew their needs, not only spiritually but physically.  “Relationships” were central to all we did or accomplished since we had not become an “organization” or an “institution” with “institutional needs”. 

I grew up at New Fairview Church of the Brethren where the “free ministry” of seven uncompensated “elders” with lifetime commitments lead their congregation. Their commitment not based on monetary pay has allowed their congregation to give large portions of their finances to benevolent needs and missions, and I have never heard of their leadership ever being in need. The only difference between their leadership and those professional “pastors” in their denomination is pay and benefits.  Another difference is in respect.  New Fairview people respect their leaders because they have committed their lives and ministry to them physically and spiritually for life.  There is consistency in leadership because it is home grown, built on relationships, with a lifetime commitment.  They do not have a “professional” change in leadership every five to ten years. Their change comes upon the death of older elders, and a “calling” of new leadership from amongst their ranks.

In the next blog we will continue to look at this theme in light of the 21^st Century Church

Personally, I Am Not Against Clergy; I Just Want To Challenge The Laity

But To Challenge The Laity, They Must Be Freed Of Dependency On The Clergy

Recently a personal friend of mine, a member of the professional clergy, ask me how long I would be clergy bashing.  It have had to step back and examine what I have been writing and their purpose.  I do not want to sound that I am against the clergy as persons, but I do challenge the authenticity of their existence Biblically from a “professional office” position. To me “pastor” is not a professional paid position of leadership, but one of the points of view or passions of the five fold mentioned in Ephesians 4 that is available for all believers in Jesus Christ.  I believe every believer in Jesus Christ can be an evangelist, or a pastor, or a teacher, or a prophet, or a prophet, or even a combination of those experiences. I am also a believer in plurality of leadership through these multiple giftings where believers are called to “lay down their lives for their brethren” (IJohn 3:16) in order for leadership to work effectively.  There is no hierarchal distinction of leadership where everyone is laying prostrate before each other in service!

Over the years some of my best friends have gone into the professional ministry; my best man in my wedding is a respected professional minister in the Lutheran Church circles.  Often you hear the term “called into the ministry” which I fully believe in.  What one faces as a professional Christian needs a response to a “calling” in order to survive.

Personally, I was part of a “calling” when in my early twenties I was invited to respond to an invitation to become a member of the “free ministry” at New Fairview Church of the Brethren where their leaders are chosen for life and receive no monetary compensation for their efforts.  This, historically, has been their practice since their inception, and generations later they have had home grown leadership.  When asked to respond to a “calling”, I prayed and fasted for a week and got a red light to the calling. I was honored by the recognition that a local body of believers was willing to stand behind me in leadership that would be for life, but God had other directions for my spiritual walk.

I believe in home grown leadership verses professional westernized theological training. Paul, an apostle, would come into a city, birth a church, develop the Christian character of those attending, and raise up local leadership, then leave to start a new work somewhere else.  He did not bring in the “Antioch boys” to replace him.  He did bring in outside sources like Barnabas, the encourager, to help “equip” and “train” the locals for when he would depart.  He even came back to visit them to check on their progress.  His letters are often written to those he trained, and often he mentions them by name. 

Jesus was the son of a carpenter whose trade I am sure he learned and Paul a tent maker.  Several of His disciples went back to their professions as fishermen after His death and resurrection. No where in the New Testament can I find where there was developed a differential between a professional and nonprofessional believers. “Equipping the saints” was the apostolic goal of the first century.  Rapid expansion could only come through the “equipping of the saints”, particularly preparing them for the upcoming persecution and martyrdom that they would face.

Burn out rate is high among today’s pastors, the professional clergy, because the laity expects them to be all things to all people which physically, psychologically, and emotionally they can’t. Because it is “part of their job”, most parishioners expect their pastor to be a teacher, a people person, a counselor, a prayer warrior, a church politician, an organizer, a motivator, a Biblical scholar, a person who they can call 24/7, an administrator, and so much more.  They expect their pastor to pray for them, read and interpret the Word for them, provide necessary fellowship by being their personal friend, and, unfortunately, most clergy try to comply which enables their parishioners to continue to be pew sitters, uninvolved, untrained, Biblically illiterate, lacksidaisical in their prayer life, and childish in their spiritual development.

Church leadership needs to train the saints; then release them “to do it”!  Jesus had to teach Peter to walk on water because he had to learn how to focus on Jesus and not the storm, believe in faith, and do the impossible.  It was equipping Peter for what lay ahead in his life, in his calling to be a “rock” in this new Church.  Jesus trained, equipped, developed, and released his disciples to do even “greater things” than He. Ought we not follow Jesus’ example.

So in conclusion, I want to encourage Church leadership to train others in their local congregations to replace them, to multiply. The difference between being a child and maturity is the difference between dependency and independence.  When children mature, they eventually leave home, earn their own living, marry, and have a family and career; in other words, become independent.  When Christian believers mature, do we release them to replace us or send them out like to serve others like the Great Commission challenges us to do?  Can I believe that there may be a local church or congregation that has no professional clergy, or pastor, leading them because they once had one, but he trained and lead everyone in this congregation to stand on their own with their God given talents and gifting.  He trained and “equipped” US to do the work of service, so he resigned his position and became just one of us, another family member, and we do everything he has taught us!  Is that dream to vast for me to believe?

Lesson From The Chinese “Church”

What Must The Church Do To "Prepare The Saints"?

I just finished reading God Is Red, a book about the Church in China. The author, claiming not to be a Christian but a Chinese Dissident, curiously interviews Christians because he believes they are on the fringe of Chinese society.  He is intrigued with the history of the Chinese Church: A missionary influx in the 1800’s that was thwarted by the Boxer Rebellion only to have a second wave of missionary activity in the first half of the twentieth century only to be thwarted by the Communist Chinese and their Culture Revolution.  Since the Communist take over in 1949, Christianity has basically been banned unless through their sanctioned governmental Church. In spite of all the intense persucutions, amazingly the free-cell home church movement is growing with leaps and bounds.

Throughout history secular governments have tried to align themselves with religious movements.  The Barons of Germany lined up behind Luther to oppose the Italian Catholic Church during the Great Reformation.  Henry VIII of England founded his own church, the Anglican Church or the Church of England, which still boasts the monarchy as its head.  Even in China the Chinese Catholic Church’s allegiance is to the masses and Communist party rather than to a “foreign” Pope in Italy. 

I have read several of Watchman Nee’s books for his teachings are unique to the Westernized religious world. He is actually preparing the Church in China for what is to come: persecution.  How do you prepare the Church for the time when its clergy system will be devastated by persecution and imprisonment?  How will the Church survive if its supposed leaders are diminished and almost eliminated to the point of extinction? In spite of not being able to send “foreign” missionaries into China and with the elimination of their clergy, the Church of China has not only survived, but grown not only in numbers but in spiritual power.  What prepared them for this?

Watchman Nee and other’s taught to “prepare the saints for the work of service”, even if that service was to be under a harsh atheistic Communist regime.  In spite of harsh penalties, the Church, God’s people, learned how to pray, how to exercise their faith, the importance of “gathering together” for corporate worship, and for “memorizing” the Bible for the day all Bible’s would be confiscated.  Because the saints had been prepared for the upcoming days of persecution, they survived.

I wonder if the Church in America would be ready for such persecution?  Would they survive? Most American Christians are enabled by their clergy who pray for them, read the scriptures to them, preach or interpret the Bible for them, and visit the sick for them, break communion for them, etc.  We expect our well paid professional leaders and staff to do it all for us.  We want to be entertained, have excellent music available, have scripture and song lyrics projected instead of memorizing them, have our children Biblically entertained and our youth enthusiastically energized.  We are instructed to have a private prayer life and a private daily Bible reading, but are banned from sharing it openly corporately, led and fed by peers.  I have seen the numbers of Christians who read through the Bible in a year or less diminish over the years, and memorization of scriptures is even scarcer.

So, I have asked often before in these blogs, but will ask again: What will it take to “prepare the saints for the work of service” here in America?  How do we birth, develop and release common ordinary believers in Jesus Christ to be evangelists to extend the gospel, to be pastoral to take care of the widows, the orphans, all of us in need, to be teachers of the Word not intellectually through Westernized theology, but through practical living and working out our salvation and walk through living the Word, to be prophetic to listen to the voice of God and be obedient to what they have seen and heard, and to be apostolic, being about to see the big picture of the church rather than the denominational sectarianism that divides the church in theology, scope, power, and unity? It is a monumental challenge, but a question to be taken seriously!

With power, influence, and wealth comes arrogance.  Are we so arrogant to think that we will always have “religious freedom”? Study history?  Are we so self-pious to think that we will never fall into apostasy, or even spiritual complacency at times? Study history?  When the American economy flounders and its stance as a world power wanes, what shape will the American Church be in?  We can’t ignore these questions.

We, the Church, need to face the question of how to “prepare the saints for the work of service” in the twenty-first century and beyond.  What must “we” do “now” in preparation for the uncertain future that lay ahead.  How do we prepare the average American Christian believer to increase his faith, learn how to hear God for himself, know how to pray effectively, learn how to lay hands on the sick and see healings, how to give benevolently, in fact sacrificially to others, etc. The challenge is there…; let’s meet it head on today! 

An Olympic Lesson: Who Wins The Awards?

Coach or Athlete; Clergy or Laity

At the Olympics, when the flags are raised, who is standing on the podium getting the medals? The athletes; not their coaches!  The athletes have to perform under enormous pressure. What they do provides the final results.  The preparation for what they do is the job of the coach.  An athlete is only as good as his coach. Gabby Douglas, the London All-Around Gold Medalist, moved across country for two years just to be trained by a certain coach to prepare her to become not only an Olympian, but a Champion.

My daughter had the honor of becoming a Division I gymnastics and earning a full ride to North Carolina State University where she became their All-around participant for four years.  Looking back, what got her there was not only her ability and determination, but the coaching she received.  Without that, she would not have been prepared for what she had to accomplish.

In the church world, the pastors are like the coaches.  The laity or parishioner’s personal Christian growth often is influenced by the leadership of the church they attend: good teaching, personal encouragement, prayer support, Christian character development, etc.  Poor leadership hampers their development.  As we have seen in my last blog, a church is as healthy as its investment in those it is developing.

Who is on the platform for all to see when attending a church service?  Who does the church put on display to convey its story or celebrate its victories: it’s coaches or its participants? Its coaches, its pastors!  Most Christians do not know how to evangelize, how to tell their personal story of their personal relationship with Jesus Christ, often because their church has not even give them the opportunity to tell it to their own family of God.  There are healings in churches, but usually the person who is healed is not afforded the opportunity to verbally share their story with their entire church family.  When there are victories in people’s lives through their faith in Jesus, they are not afforded the opportunity to share it.  I have been a Christian for over 50 years and a church attendee for even longer, but out of the thousands of church services I have attended, very few have had laity, the parishioners, the average Christian church attendee share their own personal stories, or to teach alias preach, or lead prayer.  Formal church services have allowed laity to read prepared liturgy but not share original thoughts, writings, or stories.

Don’t get me wrong, their pastor has been very instrumental in their Christian birth, development and growth, but we have show cased the pastor, the coach during public “celebrations” of the local church family’s services rather than the average believer. If the coaches, the pastors, are truly preparing, equipping, their sheep, the common everyday believers for the work of service, then they need to release them to do what they have been prepared to do.  Allow “church services” to be generated around what the Lord is doing among his people whom leadership prepared. Let them tell their stories, share their healings, and pray for others. 

As Christians, our gold medal is Jesus Christ. Everyone who receives Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord receives the gold medal of a personal relationship with Him for eternity.   There are no second or third places.  If we are to place anything on the awards podium it should not be the coach nor athlete, the pastor nor parishioner, but our gold medal, Jesus Christ for all to see.  Instead of a national anthem being played, worship by the people of God should be our anthem.  Church let’s show case our relationships with Jesus Christ during our open worship sessions for all the world to see! 

An Olympic Lesson: Investment Brings Results

Who Is The Kingdom Of God Investing In?

As I watch the current London Olympics unfolding, I see that the countries who are willing to finance their sports and invest in their athletes are on top of the leader board. In spite of what the Olympics would like to present as their image of world competition for all countries, those with great political power look at the Olympics as a way to show case their dominance and power, even in athletics.  “Winning the gold” is the only viable goal for them. Losing a swim meet by .01 of a second to earn a second is “losing”!  One of the images of this Olympics that will stick in my mind was an interview with a girl who lost by .01 and thought she failed her coach, her family, and her country.

A commercial for an upcoming television program for this fall had Shawn Johnson, an ex-gymnastic Olympian in a small group session where she is accused of being a “loser” because she has more silver medals than gold. She reminds them she is a “winner” because she won a gold medal. The group accuses her of being in denial! That is the American attitude going into the Olympics: world domination.

When Germany was a major power, their Olympic teams were powerful. In my lifetime the USA/Russian Cold War Battle was often fought on the medal leader board of the Olympics since there were no physical combat battlefields due to the fear of a nuclear war.  Eastern Block Germany tried to show its dominance over free Western Germany to the point that their women were growing mustaches and then rejected by drug testing in an effort to get the needed advantage to win gold. Today China, Russian, and the USA are still on top of the leader board politically and athletically.

The climax of the Opening Ceremonies for the London Olympics was the March of Nations, 204 strong!  Most of those nations have never won an Olympic Medal in their history nor are expected to win one, yet they still participate with pride!  They have no “Dream Teams” of “Fabulous Five” as the USA, but just being there competing is a dream come true for them.

There is a direct correlation between investment and results at these games.  Those countries willing to financially invest in their athlete’s training get results on the Medal Count.  I have to stop and ask the question: What investment is the Church placing in advancing the Kingdom of God and what have been the results? Who is the church investing in?  How much of your church budget goes into “Laity Development”, or Christian Development? What is the out come of that investment?  Ephesians 4 challenges the church to “equip the saints for the work of service”.  How much of your church budget goes toward “saint equipping”?  Most budgets are heavily weighted by staff salaries and benefits, building maintenance, administrative costs, benevolences, and missions, but only a small percentage goes toward “developing” or “equipping” the local “saints”, the pew sitters, the laity for the work of service, the life stream of the local church.

A current trend in America is to send their senior pastors and pastoral staff to “leadership” conferences.  It has become “professional development” opportunities like any other profession.  “Camp Meetings”, which were a ground swell of grass root believer participation, are almost ancient history now.  Unless one plans to get formal education at a Bible College or earn some college degree in religion in order to make the “ministry” their vocational profession, it is hard to find educational opportunities for just the laity to be used at the local level.

Equipping the saints to replace the professional clergy locally is not looked upon as a viable option today, but equipping the saints to become the professional clergy is acceptable.  What are we “equipping” the “saints” to actually do, I ask?  How are they fairing in the Olympic events of life?  Is the church “setting the standard”, raising the bar, shooting for “the gold medal”, or is the church allowing sports, nationalism, local culture, traditionalism, etc. to trump their efforts and effectiveness.  To the “world” is the Church beginning to look like a Third World Nation of insignificant power and resources compared to Islam, Hindu, Buddahism, atheism, and other Eastern Religions?  I see Islam’s current “investment” in their believers in the Middle East and the increase of its influence on the world stage, but what about the Church’s investment in their believers and its influence.  The Church’s Christian influence in the United States and Europe over the last half century is diminishing.  The other major religions of the world have been penetrating and influencing what has been considered Christian nations.

The Church will only regains its power, its influence, its energy for evangelism, pastoral care, having a teachable spirit, prophetic insight, and apostolic vision as it is willing to “equip”, “train”, and “develop” its believers, the saints.

The Olympics is about the nations of the world coming together in political peace to perform combative athletics to “win” gold, silver, or bronze.  The key to success, measured in preparation, investment, training, and support, produces the dividends wanted.  The Church needs to prepare, invest in, train, and support its laity, the saints if it wishes to “advance the kingdom of God” forward in peace, power, and influence to change the world.

Hearing When There Is No Sound

Dietrich BonhofferApostle PaulMother Teresa

Speaking In The Silent Times

When Moses was in the wilderness for 40 years before he returned to Egypt, what did he hear?  When Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, what did he hear?  When Paul was in the wilderness being detoxed of all his religious training, what did he hear?  When Deitrick Bonhoeffer was in Nazi concentration camps, what did he hear?  When Daniel was in the Lion’s Den, other than a roar from a lion once in a while, what did he hear?  When Joseph was in prison for a trumped up charge by Potiphar’s wife, what did he hear?  When Mother Teresa sat with the sick and lowly in Calcutta India, what did she hear?  When the disciples gathered, frightened, who were receiving reports that their Messiah who had just been crucified on a Roman cross, what did they hear? When John was exiled on the Island of Patmos, what did he hear in those early days?  Before the days of Samuel, what did Eli the High Priest hear in order to lead his people?

How comes, some of the most powerful spiritual moments of learning and understanding God come when man can’t hear a thing.  What is it about the stillness, the quietness, the solitude of silence. Simon & Garfunkel questioned the essence of secluded solitude in their hit song “Sounds of Silence”: “Hello darkness, my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again.  Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping, and the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains… within the sound of silence.”

In those dark moments of despair, of hopelessness, of questionable doubts testing one’s faith, when crying out to the Lord only produces serene silence, “a vision that was planted in my brain, still remains.”  It is during those times that the seeing and understanding the vision of faith becomes more important than the hearing.  In those moments of silence, often God tends to “reveal” Himself to us is ways other than oral.

Hebrews 11:1 states: “Now faith is the assurance (or substance) of things hoped for (or expected), the conviction (or evidence) of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained (or obtained) approval.” (New American Standard Bible).  Ironically faith does not come from our physical sense of seeing nor hearing, only through our spiritual sense of believing for those things one cannot physically see or hear!  When the tangible caused by sight and sound are taken away, what do you have left?  “Faith”, the intangible!

I often wondered how Helen Keller functioned without sight or sound in her life during her early childhood of wonder, exploration, and trying to figure out life.  In the Miracle Worker, Ann Sullivan breaks through Helen’s world of darkness and quietness at a water well, pumping water over Ann while spelling w.a.t.e.r through sign language with her hand.  Something clicked in Helen’s head, and the rest is history as Helen Keller went on to earn a college degree while changing the world.  Jesus breaks through the spiritual darkness and quietness of a Samaritan woman’s life also at a watering well when explaining that spiritually he was the drink, the water of life that she needed to have in order for her spiritual life to be opened to the truths of the kingdom of God. Something too clicked in her spirit, and the rest is history as she brings revival not only to herself, but to her town, family, neighbors, and Samaritan race.

It was difficult, in fact excruciating painful, for Moses to wonder as a solitary shepherd for 40 years after being the favored of Pharaoh, for Paul to have his whole theology thrown out the window after being knocked off his horse for zealously opposing this Jesus who accepted him so gracefully, for Jesus to set aside his earthly agenda for his Father’s heavenly purpose to learn obedience to His heavenly Father, for Deitrick Bonhoeffer to question his faith and purpose when in the midst of the Hell Hole of a Nazi Concentration Camp, for Daniel to lay aside his fear of hungry lions when in the midst of faith, for Joseph to suffer in prison when judged unfairly, for Mother Teresa sitting in the midst of poverty and sickness knowing Jesus is their Provider and Healer but physically not seeing it, for the disciples when their visions and dreams seem to be smashed as their leader faces the cruel death of crucifixion, for John who walked with Jesus, led his believers in this new movement of God, now to be isolated from everyone and everything, for Levi to be the spiritual leader of Israel, yet unable to hear the voice of God for himself.

It is excruciating painful when we, as believer’s in Jesus Christ, go through such times of isolation, times of seclusion, times of trials, times of silence, yet it is in those very moments of darkness, despair, hopelessness, and brokenness that something spiritually clicks, and we obtain a new understanding, a new truth, a new hope, a new purpose, a new vision a new drink of living water through faith.  A vision of faith is often solidified during those moments of solitude. As painful as it sounds, we, as believers in Jesus, must learn to embrace those solitary moments of silence when God seems so distant, not present, not listening, not being evident, for in those moments faith, the evidence of things not seen nor heard, become the vision that anchors our faith in Jesus Christ.

Shepherding And Social Networking: Can The Church Capitalize On This New Technology?

How Do You Prepare God’s People For Works of Service? Part VIII

If shepherding is nurturing, caring, and developing, and social networking and new technology is influencing our current society, the church just needs to look reexamine how it shepherds. I read this week that Google is thinking of invading the television business with major capital investments because the 18 to 34 year olds are beginning to watch their entertainment on their smart phones, or IPad devices rather than having to sit in their family rooms in front of their televisions sets.  This “mobile” society is about to see another paradigm shift away from traditional family time, traditions, and cultures and the way we are use to do things.

My age group attends High School and College Class reunions because we have “lost contact” with almost everyone after graduation except for a select few.  That is not true with the younger age group, for they stay in contact through social media formats and tools.  By becoming “friends” they communicate through Facebook and join “circles” to keep in touch with different groups in their social strata. Every time they are on Facebook, they expose what they are saying and doing. You can almost “monitor” what is happening in their life just by following them on Facebook, or Twitter, or other forms of social media. They expose their backgrounds, share current pictures, and post daily comments.  Even the Foursquare software program allows you to “check in” and gain rewards when you notify where you are currently located. All this information and data about people is available, and they are not even in your physical presence.

Mentoring is most effective when done 24/7, but who can be with the one they are mentoring in their Christian growth when you are not in their presence.  Today that can become a reality.  If you are discipling or mentoring a younger believer in the Lord, you can monitor their social patterns, where they hang out, where they shop, who they communicate with, their interests, hobbies, etc. Availability is crucial in a successful mentoring program, and today’s technologies make that possible with smart phones, that not only let you talk to one another, but also see one another. One being mentored can easily and immediately contact their mentor orally, visually, or through written communications like texting or tweeting. If one needs help, prayer, or advice, contact and help can be immediate.  Interactivity is a key to successful social network connectivity.

So shepherding can now be 24/7 and connectivity almost instant.  Part of the Smartphone culture is the need to react to the ding, ping, or sound effect that comes from our phone. It is almost like an immediate response, and instant reaction. Connectivity and availability is crucial.

The danger lies what one does with all this data and information about a person.  In the 1970’s the Shepherding Movement from the Fort Lauderdale Five was birthed out of the need to help younger Christians mature under the direction of older more mature Christians. We have learned through them that unfortunately, it is so easy for the mentor to fall into a “control” mode, guiding every decision of the young Christian rather than teaching them how to make decisions on their own. So far, social networking is not about “control” but “contact” and “communication”, the transfer of information from one to another. That “loose” relationship can actually be a healthy one, for you have to allow everyone to “work out their own salvation”, to “walk their own spiritual walk”, and learn to “hear the Holy Spirit for themselves”, because eventually they will have to walk and stand on their own and hopefully mentor others in future journeys.

The church needs to embrace the power of social networking because it has permeated our American culture. The question is what to do with it, how to effectively use it as a tool for communicating the gospel, and communicating with others in guiding them in their spiritual walk. Many churches are making websites basically to “advertise” their worship service and available services, but they must learn how to make their sites interactive.  If Facebook is only a tool to post information about their church and there is no interactive communication happening on that page, then the church has missed the mark of what social networking is all about.

So pastoral/shepherding skills may manifest themselves in new forms as we enter this social media culture of the twenty-first century. The challenge for the church is how to be open to change, technology, and new mindsets of thought and communication.  

Reinstituting Hospitality Back Into The Church In New Forms

Shepherding Builds Community

How Do You Prepare God’s People For Works of Service? Part VII

In the early 1900’s homes had “parlors”, “sitting rooms”, and “living rooms” for the purpose of informal and formal “visits” from friends and family.  Sunday afternoons were times of traveling to friends for “visits” or be asked over for a meal.  Hospitality was extended to all.  Churches were part of a local community, and since the horse and buggy era was coming to a close, most activities happened locally, usually around church functions.  By the end of the century with the automobile, people were passing each other on the way to church, no longer attending the closest community church, but traveling to the church that now best met their family’s needs in a changing social and religious climate.

Today homes have “entertainment centers” as center pieces in “family/recreation rooms”.  Most families hibernate in them: Pop controls the flat large screen High Definition Television with his complex remote control; the children play video games on their X-box or WIII system; Mom and/or the children text their friends on their smart phones.  No one needs to have “friends over” to visit anymore because they can text, Facebook, Skype, or Face Time them on their Smart Phones. “In person” presence is no longer required, just audio and video and the availability of internet connections. The gift of hospitality is becoming a diminishing and soon to be lost art of developing community.

I believe the shepherding aspect of the five fold may be glue in keeping “church community”.  Although social networking keeps people in contact, there is still nothing like a personal touch, a caring hug, the tone of voice that brings comfort and peace, and a look in one’s eye of assurance and respect. Shepherding is all about relationship and the caring, nurturing, and developing of others to transform them into the likeness of Jesus Christ as well as bringing unity to the body of Christ. 

Hospitality is still the key, because hospitality is all about openness and transparency. When we open our lives and homes and become transparent, people see us for whom we really are.  My question is, “When you open up and become transparent, do others see Jesus in you?”  That development of Jesus in you is what shepherding is all about: not just planting the seed, but nourishing it, maintaining it, cultivating it, and releasing it when ripe for harvest.  Do you feel “at home” in your own skin? Do you feel comfort and at peace? If so, be transparent, and open yourself up to others, so they can “experience” Jesus in you and through you. That is the art of discipleship, of mentoring, of spiritual parenting, of shepherding.

If the Church is to remain the center of hospitality, then the believers in Jesus Christ have to be willing to be exposed, be vulnerable, and take risks if they plan on helping to care for, develop, and mature their brothers and sisters in the Lord. I John 3:16 is crucial in this effort, for we, as brothers and sisters in the faith, have to learn what it means to “lay down your life for your brethren.” Only then will the true art of “shepherding” will occur through the five fold in the body of Christ, the Church.

The Simplicity of Shepherding; Just Caring For Others

How Do You Prepare God’s People For Works of Service? Part VI

Bottom Line: Pastoring/Shepherd is as simple as caring.  Everyone wants to be cared for, loved, and accepted. Shepherding is all about caring for the sheep, their nurture and development. A good shepherd lives with his sheep and knows each individually. Shepherding is all about relationship, a relationship between a shepherd and his sheep.  Jesus is our chief shepherd, and he has a personal relationship with each of his sheep.  In the five fold sense, we too can be shepherds if we invest individually in the lives of brothers and sisters in Christ who we get to intimately know, nurture, develop, and build up a bond around caring.

You don’t have to be a professional Christian to be a shepherd because it is not about position but about relationship. “Investment in others” is the key ingredient to shepherding.  You continue to pour yourself into others to help them develop into becoming a more Christ-like Christian. It is imperative that Christian elders, those older in the faith, give out, invest, and pour into younger Christians for their spiritual development.

Spiritual development does not necessarily mean formal academic religious education. It just means helping someone along to “mature” and “grow” into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Just practical things are important like: how to get through tough times, how to handle grief, loss, and setbacks, how to develop and independent prayer lifestyle, how to develop a disciplined life of Bible reading allowing the Holy Spirit to be one’s teacher, how to hear the voice of God for oneself and be obedient to that voice, how to receive from the Lord and others as well as how to be a giver, how to build proper, healthy, relationships with others that builds trust, honesty, and integrity, how to love unconditionally, what it means to “live by faith”, how to trust the Holy Spirit, etc.  All these can apply to practical daily applications, and we need older, practical, experienced Christians who have wrestled within themselves and gone through these issues in their personal lives to help other younger Christians walk through their journeys.

As I have discussed in an earlier blog, there is power in walking out one’s faith in pairs like the 70 disciples Jesus sent out or the Road to Emmaus experience. Jesus invested in only twelve intimately for the purpose of their spiritual development that would be the foundation for this new group, the Church. As the Church grew, elders, older Christians, and the Apostles invested in others in developing them toward the maturity of Jesus Christ individually to bring unity to the body corporately.

Finally, what is the cost? We cannot determine the cost in dollars and cents but in time.  Shepherding takes time, commitment, and availability. To shepherd you have to keep your time flexible, for your commitment is to the sheep, and when they need you, you need to be available.  Commitment to your sheep will demand unconditional love at inconvenient times over unconventional circumstances. Godly parenting takes time, commitment, and availability. Children demand their parent’s time, their loyalty or commitment, and their availability at all times. The proper development, nurture, and care of your children all hinges around the time your willing to give, the commitment of unconditional love at inconvenient times in unconventional circumstances that you are willing to give, and the availability of your time to them.  Christian parenting, Christian shepherding is no different.  It is the responsibility of the family structure to reproduce itself from generation to generation through developing, nurturing, and caring for the next generation. 

In most churches today, we believers do not take or offer our time to shepherd others because we are too busy. We won’t commit ourselves to developing caring relationships that build community because we will not commit our priorities in developing the kingdom of God because we are too busy with secular life.  We aren’t available because we feel that we are already over booked!  As parents we have to some times quit taking our kids to soccer practice to keep them active, to the library to keep them reading, to their friends to develop a social life, to youth group to keep them in the church, to grandmas to build family relationships, to school center activities and after school activities, so our children don’t “miss out”, but rather stay home, cuddle up on the couch with them, read a book to them, discuss their day, let them tell their stories of their day from their point of view, hug them, accept them, listen to them, and just unconditionally accept them for where they are at in the developmental stage of their life in their present conditions. That is shepherding: spending time investing in them.

A wise financial planner teaches his clients how to “invest their money” wisely to earn good dividends; a wise Christian teaches younger Christians how to “invest their time” wisely in others developing, nurturing, and caring for others while building lasting, intimate, meaningful relationships bonding together the Body of Christ into a community.  That is shepherding.

Evangelism: Savoring Tips & Guidelines

How Do You Prepare God’s People For Works of Service? Part V

Even though every believer should do evangelism, most of us do not know how to do it or feel very awkward when trying to evangelize.  Here are some tips:

- Natural Story Telling: Evangelism should be a natural response of just telling the story of our own spiritual journey.  Often just telling how you met the Lord, what has comprised your spiritual journey, how your journey has become a lifestyle are all ways of evangelizing.  I remember once when some friends were evangelizing, I just shared about how making Jesus Lord of my life and the power of the Holy Spirit had an impact on my spiritual walk. This left a dramatic impact on those I shared it with, and they not only made Jesus their Savior but also Lord and were willing to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Evangelism can be as simple as telling your personal story.

- Personal Evangelism: Evangelism is most effective when one on one. Even though we Christians spend millions on television and radio programs, one on one evangelism is still the most efficient and impactful method. There is nothing that beats personal contact, eye contact, and personal discussion and care.

- Building Relationships: Often building relationships of trust, respect, and care open doors for people to want to hear our stories, our message. Relationships are key to communications in the kingdom of God, and establishing them with unbelievers is of essence if we are to win them for Jesus.

- Outside The Walls: Evangelism should occur outside the walls of our church buildings. We need to quit relying on the Pastor and his staff to “give” an evangelism message through their sermons.  Evangelistic sermons have their place and effectiveness, but should not be a substitute for our individual sharing with people in the work place, those we recreate with, our neighbors and friends. 

- Vulnerability: Care is the best thing we can give an unbeliever. Everybody needs to feel cared for. If you build a relationship with a person who thinks you genuinely care for them, they will listen to you and believe that what you said is valid.  Evangelism is all about care: Jesus cared so much for us as sinners that he was willing to lay down his life on the Cross for us.  A key component to evangelism is your willingness to lay down your life for others, just not Christians, but non-Christians too. Only when you are willing to lay down your life and expose your life, will others become vulnerable and open up and expose their lives to you. 

- Stay Simple: Try to refrain from talking “Christian-eze”. Keep your message simple and sincere. Don’t talk down to them as if you are a saint, and they are an ain’t; talk face to face, eye to eye, peer to peer.

-Win With Love: We often think of Bull Horn Evangelists with a Hell-Fire & Brimstone Condemnation message, emphasizing a need for a savior.  What kind of God do we want to portray? What kind of God do we want to offer? True, there will be a judgment day, but we are living in an age of Grace, so we should extend grace, mercy, forgiveness, unconditional love, and a willingness to go the second mile in spit of who they are or how they act towards us. “Loving them into the kingdom” is far more effective, especially for their later spiritual growth, than scaring “the hell out of them”!

- Just Be Who You Are In Jesus; Be Genuine, Not A Hypocritical Phony:  Two men hung on either side of Jesus. The three were peers as “condemned criminals”, but the one criminal recognized that Jesus was innocent; he had done no wrong, yet he was suffering the same fate as the two who had “earned” their death sentence.  Jesus’ righteousness stood on its own, recognized by one of the criminals, rejected by the other. The one who acknowledged it was assured by Jesus to be with him in heaven, the other not. Don’t try to be some spiritual giant, someone who you are not; just be yourself in Jesus. Allow the Holy Spirit to use you and speak through you, and let the unbelievers whom you are a witness to draw their own conclusions. Hopefully it will be the same as the criminal who is with Jesus in heaven today.

Hopefully these are some tips that can be useful in your journey toward evangelism, the telling of what Jesus is and has done in your life.  Evangelism, like faith, is simple. Just be genuine, be yourself, be caring, and keep it simple.

Evangelism: Mid Wife, Coach, Husband, Mentor, Model

How Do You Prepare God’s People For Works of Service? Part IV

How do “equip” or “prepare” someone for evangelism? Good question. In the past the churches that I have attended have had many “evangelistic sermons” by visiting evangelists, or the local pastor preached on the topic of evangelism, or a Bible Study group studied evangelism through some book written on the topic.  No one ever went with me out of the streets or took me along when they evangelized until I broke from the church where I grew up to aide a minister who was starting an inner-city church in our area. He was an evangelist at heart, for that was his passion. Often I went with him on his evangelistic excursions and watch him work.  That was the best training that I ever received on evangelism; when someone actually walked it out with me.

Evangelism is all about birthing. Women understand the process better than men for they have experienced labor pains, birthing pains, the joys associated with the actual birth, the instant motive to mother at birth, etc. When I was born, my father was not allowed to be present. When we had our children, I was allowed to not only go into the birthing room, but was allowed into the Operating Room during a Caesarian procedure.  Today entire families can be in a birthing room as the mother sits in a bathing pool while all witness the birth.  Experiencing a birth is a wonderful memory etched in one’s life forever. It is a joyous moment, a fulfilling moment, an exciting moment, a moment filled with hope and promise filled with dreams for the future.

A father learns that a pregnancy is a nine-month ordeal, not just an instantaneous event. The mother goes through different stages throughout the pregnancy: throwing up, sickness, urges, cravings, cramps, discomforts of a child on her bladder, kickings, movement, and eventually contractions. At birth, all those discomforts and miseries vanish into ecstasy and joy, but pre-birth is a process.  Often when evangelizing one-on-one we forget that there may be trials, discomforts, and even pain in the process of leading one toward the saving grace of Jesus.  It may take days, weeks, months, even years of constantly serving, sharing, extending grace to an unbeliever to prepare his/her heart and spirit to receive the grace he/she so drastically needs.  The most effective evangelistic strategy is “walking with” the unbeliever through this stage of his spiritual journey in unconditional love and grace so that they can see their need. Later we will see how after birth, one needs to also have someone “walking with” them through nurture, care, development, and spiritual growth. The Church is all about “body ministry”, not being alone, but having someone “walking it out with you.” 

I once attended a mass evangelistic rally with Dr. Tony Campolo as the speaker/evangelist. Since it rained, the event was held indoors, and the crowd was predominately people who already had accepted Jesus as their savior. Dr. Campolo asked how many people there had accepted the Lord through television or radio. A sparse few raised their hands.  How many through mass evangelism? A handful of hands were raised. How many through one-on-one, someone speaking to you personally? Hundred raised their hands.

So how do we equip or prepare someone to be an evangelist? We walk it out with them. Go in pairs, mentoring, modeling by doing, being involved with people’s live, releasing people when they are ready to branch out on their own and take someone with them, multiplication.  The greatest investment we can give to someone is “our time”, not our money. Spending time with them, developing an atmosphere of trust, care, grace, and unconditional love are the tools for effective evangelism. There may be trials, temptations, failures and even falls, disappointments, and pains along the way, and they will probably fight you all the way, resisting the invitation you give them, but that is part of the “pregnancy” phase.  In faith, one has to “believe” that the unbeliever will become saved, will receive the saving grace from Jesus that will have eternal consequences, will walk beside them and believe for their “miracle of salvation”, and will bathe them in prayer.

There is no greater exhilarating experience than the moment one becomes “born again” nor when someone else accepts the invitation of a “born again” experience with Jesus Christ. It is like a mother at birth: the miseries and pains are forgotten; the joy of (eternal) life is rejoiced.  Most mother’s experience multiple births in their lives, and an evangelist is the same. A believer pushed by the evangelistic spirit immediately seeks another pregnancy to produce another spiritual birth.  They are driven by the passion for birth and rebirth. Evangelists are truly spiritual midwives. 

So how do we equip believers to be effective evangelists? Walk it out with them! Model by “doing”, then allowing them do “do” it before releasing them to be on their own, hopefully for them to take someone else under their wing to model and multiply the process.  It is not about academic education of understanding the topic of evangelizing, but about actually “doing it with others”. That takes time; that is the price of investment into the kingdom of God.

No, Not More “How To Do Books”!

 How Do You Prepare God’s People For Works of Service? Part III

- Question: How do you  “prepare God’s people for works of service”?

If you check out a Christian book store, you will find whole sections on “How To” books.  “Books for Dummies” have become popular in an effort to teach the “dumbest” how “to do” the simplest task.  Churches love to organize Bible Studies and Small Groups around reading these How-To books. You can probably find books entitled “12 Steps To A Successful Prayer Life”, “7 Ways to More Effective Evangelism”, etc. If the pastor detects a weakness in his congregation’s spiritual and moral life, it will call for more sermons about the topic, more discussions through organized Bible Studies and Small Discussion Groups. 

Nikki shoes has a slogan I think is effective: “Just Do It!”  Their commercials show athletes who are talented. Rather than talking about their sport, they are to “just do it!”  Enjoyment is in the “doing”, the competing, the experiencing the event. As a Church we should understand that it is not what you say that is important, but what you do.  It is in the “doing” that is effective, for the “doing” brings results.

Part of “preparing the saints for service” is “doing” it in front of them as an example, then releasing them to “do it”.  Leading by example was the most effective teaching approach for Jesus  He lead by example, often creating what I call “God Moments” of experience in his disciple’s life by being there with his disciples “doing it”.  Jesus taught his disciples to “walk the walk” rather than just “talk the walk”.  There was no “walk” that Jesus made his disciples do that he himself did not walk.  He wanted them to bear one another’s crosses, only after he bore his own because he led by example.  He tried to teach them about what was ahead for himself and them, the Cross, which proved ineffective because they did not understand until He lead by example dying on the cross and then they too had to experience for themselves in their lives. The had to “just do it”, experience it in order to be effective.  Showing by example “leads the way”, but “releasing them” will force them to “just do it”!  Paul soon learned not to think of the consequences, “just do it”!

I will take experience over theology any day.  It is important to “know” what you believe, but it is eve more import to “do” what you believe. As an experienced public school teacher of 40 years, I will take a field trip over book work in a sterile classroom any day.

So how do we apply this to the five fold?  Evangelism means “being there” (available) for the birth and knowing what to do and “doing it” when birthing a newborn into the kingdom of God.  Pastoral care means “being there for someone in need” and actually “meeting their need”.  Teaching means literally “walking beside someone” in everyday field trips through life while “doing” the kingdom of God principles that you are teaching.  Prophetic means “hearing from God” for yourself and teaching others how to hear from God for themselves and be obedient to what they have heard. Apostolic means seeing over someone’s personal spiritual development because you are physically there for them throughout their journey, then releasing them to “just do it”, to begin to fly as eagles (Isaiah 40).

How do you “prepare the saints for service”? You “just do it”, not just talk about it.