There’s A Whole Lot Of Shaking Going On (Continued…. Again!)

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

When a bar tender prepares a mixed drink, often he puts the proper ingredients into a glass, then places a “shaker” over it and shakes the ingredients together!  Without the shaking, the drink will not be as good, individual tastes will be too strong or too weak. A whole lot of shaking can make a good drink.  On the other hand, if you get sedimentary water from the stream that is cloudy, you can let it sit, and the sedimentary sinks, producing what looks like clear water.  Unfortunately a whole lot of shaking of that jar produces what was originally in the jar, a muddy, unclear mess.

A whole lot of shaking can produce two results, a good blend or a messy one!  The church is often afraid of allowing a whole lot of shaking because it “naturally” expects the results to be a messy one.  Shaking can bring cloudiness to a situation.  Only through filtration can the water again be pure.  So what is the filtration device for the Church to use? I propose that the filtration device is the Cross through the Holy Spirit. 

As I have said in earlier blogs, the only way to experience the “supernatural,” the vertical relationship with the Godhead is allow it to penetrate, to dissect the “natural”, those horizontal relationships we have.  That vertical dissection to the horizontal produces the Cross.  Only when we take “messy shake-ups” in our lives to the Cross can we bring clarity to situations by allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.  Because of the cross and resurrection, Jesus’ mission to life as a human, the Son of God, the Living Word in the flesh, he could now go back to the heavenlies to sit at the right hand of God the Father to intercede for the saints.  His job is now one of intercession on behalf of those whose faith believes in him.  Only upon his return could the Holy Spirit be released to “bring all men unto Him”!

Only through the filtration of allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through our lives can we filter out the muddy mess to produce clear “living water.”  Jesus said, “If a man thirsts, let him drink from the living well”, drink life through the “living water,” Jesus Christ.  Only through “shaking, then filtrating can we get the pure water we seek.

On the other hand, a whole lot of shaking can bring a blend of different tastes, liquors, drinks, fruits, etc. into a totally invigorating concoction of a drink.  Those tastes which tasted good individually taste even better when blended together.  There strengths together become the strength of the drink only after a whole lot of shaking and stirring.  In order for the five fold, the evangelistic, pastoral, teaching, prophetic, and apostolic passions can come together is if the Holy Spirit does “a whole lot of shaking” to bring them together, and I think the Church is beginning to experience that “shaking”.  At least that is my prayer of faith.

For this to become an actuality, there needs to be a shaking, exposing the impurities that lie in the pure “living water” of Jesus Christ in his Body, the Church.  After the working of the Holy Spirit to bring purification, then more shaking can produce the blending of five different points of views, five different passions into one, producing maturity in the Body of Christ and unity. 

That purification process for the believers in Christ will come in a brokenness, a willingness to “lay down their lives for their brethren”, and a hunger for God in a degree never felt before by the Church. It will be the Church again facing the Cross, the cross roads of the “natural” and the “supernatural”, allowing Jesus to be King and Lord, and allowing the Holy Spirit to do what He has been sent to do!

Often in my previous blogs I have asked, “Can you/we/I trust the Holy Spirit?”  If we can’t trust the Holy Spirit, the out come will only be muddied waters when the shaking begins.  If we can, then we will drink from “living water” and eventually enjoy a “blend” like never before experienced, a refreshing, a renewal, a rebirth.

Have you gotten it by now; there is a whole lot of shaking going on!

There’s A Whole Lot Of Shaking Going On (Continued….)

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

It has been a whole week since I last wrote a blog, and sometimes I need just to be quiet.  I love to be in a worship experience and just “listen”.  That occurred last night when Kent Henry came to our church.  I have been in and out of Ken Henry events over the last three decades, and have learned to respect him for his ability to listen to the Holy Spirit and change with times.  I have watched him physically grow from a dark haired “cool dude” appealing to youth to a grey hair of wisdom.  Kent is still Kent; still digging deep for Jesus.

Now you have to understand, Kent Henry concerts are not quiet, band jamming, bass driving, drummer letting loose, background singers singing with all their might, and Kent doing his thing.  In the past I would have been engulfed by it all and just join into the activity, but last night the Holy Spirit drew me in, being aware of my surroundings, but just focusing on Jesus and “listening” to the still small voice as the decibel level increased in the sanctuary.

When Kent read from the book of Lamentations, Jeremiah cried out the doom that Israel was about to face, a woeful song, as Kent actually began to sing the scripture as a Jewish cantor. That is when the Lord again beckoned me again about this “shaking”, reinforcing that in American “institutions” are and will continue to be shaken.  We have seen the financial institutions shaken over the last four years, almost bringing America to its knees.  People learn to “trust” in the stock market, forgetting that it rises and falls, and many financial plans collapsed with the shaking.  Now educational “institutions” are being shaken, not only at the public school level, but also at the higher educational levels.  The family as an “institution” has been attacked and badly battered over the last two decades as what use to be abnormal and dysfunctional is trying to be recognized as the new normal and status quo.

Then the zinger: I heard, “Why would the Church be exempt, particularly when it has become an “institution” too?” Ouch!

I have struggled for years over the questions of how do we allow the Church as an “organism” to become an “institution”, or what is the process needed to free the “institution” to go back into an “organism”.  “Organisms” have life: “institutions” have structure.  How do we put life into our structures?  How do we structure life in our churches so that they don’t become institutionalized (program driven, staff driven, numbers driven, budget driven)?  When we get stuck in a path, sometimes it takes “a whole lot of shaking” to release us from the rut in which we have entrenched ourselves.

Sometimes the very structures that we built that gave form to a movement become the very barriers that prohibit the continual movement of the Holy Spirit.  I have done an in depth study on the “blue print” of Herod’s Temple, the temple at the time of Christ, which vividly displays the “barriers” that structure has produced, prohibiting one from entering the Holy of Holies, the very Presence of God.  Barriers dividing Jew from Gentile, male from female, priest from laity, serving priests from passive priests, and everyone from the High Priest who only once a year had the privilege to enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement.  By the time Jesus arrived, “structure” was in placed; Jesus always challenged the “structures” of his time.  He did a whole lot of shaking, eventually causing an earthquake at his crucifixion, and the freeing of himself from the structures of a sealed tomb at his resurrection.  Jesus knows how to challenge an institution to produce life, an organism. He sent the Holy Spirit to orchestrate the transformation of institutions back to organisms.

So what does the Church have to do? It’s first inclination is to “RE-structure” itself, with “new” programs, “new” staff, “new” personnel.  That is where the Church is missing the mark.  The Holy Spirit is not about “RE-structuring” but “renewing”.  Dumping the old is part of the gospel message, for in Christ Jesus “all things are new”.   Renewal, rebirth, being “born again” is the heart of the evangelistic message, a message that Church better be prepared to hear or it will hear the song of Jeremiah to this generation, the song of lamentations. The evangelistic message is for the “lost”, and as a Church sometimes we must admit that we have “lost” our way, always in need of a Savior, always open to renewal, change, regeneration, rebirth.

Retooling: A Visible Model To Examine

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

In my last blog, I proposed a challenge to embrace a different form of church structure that would promote “accountability” and “service”, embracing both control and the moving of the Holy Spirit.  If it is a pluralistic model, not of offices, but of believers “serving” through a God given passion or point of view, how can it work if pluralistic leadership has not been embraced by most of the Church over the last twenty centuries?  Again the key to any pluralistic leadership is I John 3:15, the principle of “laying down your life for your brethren.”   That is what Jesus did for us, and a model of what we should be doing for one another.

I also proposed that no one of the five fold points of view or passions of service is ever “the head” of this pluralistic team, not even the apostle.  Only the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, can be the head. I proposed that any of the five fold passions can be aroused by the Holy Spirit’s call to meet a specific situation at a specific time with the other four passions beside them to bring unity, stability, and accountability.  As a different situation arises, a different passion can arise to effectively address that situation, again with the other four passions support, encouragement, and covering.  Leadership can be a rotational things as the Holy Spirit rises among individuals and the group.  (Thus in my diagram, the star is in a circle, and the circle can be rotated at any time by the leading of the Holy Spirit.)

In my diagram, each point of the star is created by the “relationship” of each of the five fold to the other four.  Each relationship is reciprocal: as one serves, one becomes accountable to the other, and vice versus.  The “laying down of one’s life” produces the heart of service and the acceptance of accountability to passions and points of view that are so drastically different from one’s own.  The power of the star is its diversity, the many faceted ways it can look at and approach situations. The unity of the five is its strength due to the power of the cross (See earlier blogs: where the “supernatural” (John 3:16) dissects our “natural” world (I John 3:16) forming the Cross.)  with the “laying down one’s life” becoming the central principle of unity.

Under this structure, the Church would remain Biblically “sound” under the guidance of the passions of the teacher, prophet, and apostle, preventing heresies and restoring the “apostle’s teaching” back into the Church restoring its unity.  Under this structure, the Church would become Biblically “alive” as the teacher bases everything the group does on the Bible, the Logos, the written word, translating it into to Rhema, or living Word, the shepherd instructs the believers in Jesus how to daily walk out these Biblical principles, the prophet living out the written Word, the Logos Word, the living Word, through the Rhema Word, the evangelist exposing this Rhema Word, grounded in the Logos Word, to an unbelieving generation through power and truth (as they did in the book of Acts), and an apostle “seeing over” how the Holy Spirit is orchestrating unity and ministry through this group through “service” and “accountability” by releasing and with holding those passions and points of view when needed. 

Wow, the 21^st Century Church would become “Acts”-ive again like the 1^st Century Church did.  A community of breaking bread together, meeting one another’s need, a Church without want, a Church with power, would again be established.  “Relationships” between brethren would again be the key of what “Church” is!   But at what price? The price of the Cross: the “laying down of one’s life”.

Retooling: Accountability, A Radically Different Approach

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

The Church has always struggled over control asking to whom is it to be accountable? Of course, the answer is always to the head, Jesus Christ, but in practical terms, to whom is it accountable?  As it institutionalizes, a hierarchy always develops which assumes the responsibility of bringing accountability to the structure. Laws, By-Laws, Tenants, and theological position papers establishing “laws” to govern morality and doctrine within the structure are created to prevent heresies.  More control diminishes the fluidity of the Holy Spirit moving within it.  Control versus the Spirit has become an age-old tension within the Church for centuries.  The question I am posing is, “Can there be a structure that would bring accountability yet allow the movement of the Spirit?”

I believe there is a structure which the 21^st Century Church should at least look at, observe, discuss, and possibly embrace, but the structure is a radical change from the traditional structure set forth by the Church fathers over the centuries as they embraced the Western Roman Catholic approach of hierarchy. So what is this structure?

First, I believe that God is restoring the five fold back into His Church.  He wants his believers to be evangelists, those that birth the kingdom of God in individuals and the Church, to be shepherds to nurture, care, and develop his sheep to be mature in Christ, to be teachers of the Word, making the written Word a living Word, to be prophets, people who listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and then wish to be obedient towards that voice, and to be apostles to see over the Holy Spirit’s movement by developing, encouraging, then releasing the other four giftings or passions of service to bring maturity to the individual believer and unity in the body of Christ.

Second, I believe the restoring of such radically different points of view of ministry can bring division, as history has proven, unless those who practice each of the five different passions is willing to “lay down their lives” for the other four through service.  Through serving one another, accountability will be established. It is natural to listen to and follow someone who is willing to sacrificially serve you.  As you serve one another, a bond of accountability is created.

Third, the presence of four different points of view at the table (evangelistic, shepherding, teaching, prophetic, and apostolic) will bring stability and prevent heresies as each point of view becomes a check and balance through service and accountability, again with the emphasis of sacrificially laying down one’s life for one another. 

I know this sounds idealistic because today those different points of view have produced divisions, denominations, church splits, schisms, etc. in the Church, but that is because those in the Church are not willing to “lay down their lives” for one another.  We preach that we need to lay everything on the altar and allow the Holy Spirit to consume it; the giving it back restored or renewed is an option but not a given, yet we are unwilling to “lay down our lives” for those Christians who are not in our “camp” of theology.  We will never see true revival in the Church until the Church is prepared to “repent” of what has divided it.  “Repentance” means the turning away of what was wrong, so if the Church is to turn away from the very structure that has divided it for centuries, what should the 21^st Century Church turn toward?  I propose the five fold structure of “service” (through one’s gifting or passion) and “accountability” (laying down of one’s life sacrificially).

Fourth, this then becomes a “pluralistic” leadership where no one gifting, passion, or point of view is the head, the chief administrator, the C.E.O., the pastor, bishop or the pope.  The apostle is not even the “head” for he is only one of the five passions of service; Jesus is the head over all five passions. When the five get together the gifting or passion that is most needed rises at that moment, at that time, to face that situation with the other four supporting that gifting or passion through their service.  The next situation could be totally different with a different passion of the five fold rising.  Only the moving of the Holy Spirit would dictate which passion of service may rise and be supported by the others in unity.

I know this model is drastically different from today’s church boards, professional hierarchical structures, but if the Church is to be “without spot and wrinkle” as a “preparation” for the Lord’s return, then maybe the 21^st Century Church should embrace a system that is to “prepare” the “saints” for the work of the “service” to develop believers into the maturity of the “full measure of Christ” brining unity to the Body of Christ, the Church, in preparation for Jesus Second Coming, a prophesied event that will happen!  Come on 21^st Century Church, let’s start the “preparation” period and begin to move toward “service” and “accountability” through a fluid model of leadership under the direction of the Holy Spirit!  That is my challenge.

Retooling: Skimming the Cream: What Kind Of Milk Do You Have?

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

Back before convenience stores, in the era of milkmen actually delivering milk to your door, there was a time when you could buy “whole” milk.  What a concoction?  You would find a section of cream floating on the top, and you would shake your bottle to mix it with the rest of its contents before drinking.  Another option is to skim your cream and make ice cream from it and drink the rest of its contents. Today we have eliminated the “cream” where only a fraction of our milk contains the fat or cream, thus 2%, 1%, or skim milk, which health advocates claim is healthier for you.

If you would allow me, let’s use the milk analogy to today’s church. If we would “skim” the cream, the pastor and the paid staff from your church, what would be left in your church’s life, activity, and ministry?  Does the rest of those in your church do 2%, 1% or even an anemic less percent of the work and ministry, and is the church considered “healthy” if it does?

I believe the five fold is the opportunity to serve according to one’s passion, desire, or point of view for the saints, those remaining after the “cream” has been skimmed: those saints who want to win their lost and dying generation; those saints who care for the sick, those afflicted, facing dramatic life situations, the hurting, for the purpose of caring, nurturing, and developing them in to mature Christ-like people; those who have faithfully studied the word academically for years, but now yearn to release that knowledge of the Word into a living, vibrant Word through their daily life;  those who have a passion to “know God”, hear from God, be obedient to God; and those who see the big picture of all these passions, wanting to serve them and release them, but being frustrated because of not being allowed because they were not looked upon as being part of the “cream”.

If we then shake the bottle, the church, causing each of these passions to serve each another and be accountable to each another by laying their lives down for one another, we will have what was originally intended at its creation, whole milk, a whole church, a rich church, a healthy church.

The life of the Church is in its people, not is structure or professional staff, for if those are skimmed from the picture, what is left?  Look at the underground Church in persecuted lands where pastors are targeted for prison, persecution, or even death.  With their elimination came even a stronger “believer base”, the contents of their milk of ministry, service, and Christian life was even more enriched.

My call is for the people of God, the believers in Jesus Christ to arise, allow the Holy Spirit to do some “shaking” of our structures, forcing believers to be what they were intended to be in Jesus.  That shaking will cause an infusion of God’s people, not the separation.  When the church becomes stagnant, like pure milk, the particles will separate and a hierarchy of cream will try to arise to take “control”, causing a separation rather than allowing God to continually “shake” our bottle, our structure, so that the body will continue to be infused, joined, united together. Do the saints in your church feel they are part of whole milk, the whole local body of Christ, or only a fraction of it?  What percent of your church participates in the ministry, the decision making, and the serving ministries if the paid staff would be eliminated?

A healthy church is a church that allows a whole lot of shaking to continually happen by the Holy Spirit! Does your cream rise, or is it continually shaken to be part of the “whole” milk? Are there two parts in your mik bottle, your church, the professional staff and the others, producing a clergy/laity division?  Leadership in the 21^st Century Church comes from the shaking by the Holy Spirit, causing infusion of all believers through “serving” one another, dying for one another, and remaining with those of different passions, desires, and points of view in this interweaving concoction.  Leadership is not allowing stagnation, forcing the doers and non-doers and the haves and have-nots to separate, allowing the doers and haves to rise and the non-doers and have-nots to sink causing separation.  All believers in Jesus Christ “have” his Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and all believers are to be “doers” of the Word, so let the shaking begin and continue.

Retooling: How Do We Invest In Ourselves?

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

How are we, the church, to invest in ourselves to be more effective, more Christ-like, more mature in the faith, and more productive?

Before many a church offering I have heard the cry to give as “an investment into the kingdom of God”.  I never have taken the time to ask, “What really am I investing in?  What is this kingdom of God?”  Most of what I give goes to the local church, so is the local church the kingdom of God, or is there more?  Is my ‘investment’ paying good dividends?  What am I getting for my ‘investment’ dollar?” the secular investor would ask. The religious sector asks, “What fruit is being produced?”

Maybe we, the Church, need to study all the “kingdom of God” parables again!  No, maybe we should allow the Holy Spirit to teach us the ‘kingdom of God” principles that are hidden in the parables, then “act” on those principles.  The “Good Samaritan” actually invested in the kingdom of God! How?  Through “service”, physically and financially, yet he never gave “through a church”!  Jesus invested in the Woman at the Well, another Samaritan, and it did not cost him financially anything.  The results, a revival in her town!  Jesus “invested” in the twelve, teaching them how to serve, which they did and changed the world.  We, the Church, must examine what we are “investing in” and the results of that “investment”.

Ephesians 4 states that we need to “invest” in the saints; we are to equip, prepare, nurture, and care for them for the purpose of “service”, for the purpose of their “maturity in Christ”, and for the purpose of bringing unity to the Body of Christ.  That is quite an investment producing phenomenal dividends!  How can this be done?  Only through the “kingdom principle” of laying things down and dying can we see resurrection and life.  I John 3:16 states that we are to “lay down our lives for our brethren.”  Laying down, dying to self, for the sake of the Brethren that we are ‘investing” in, is the only way the Church will see a resurrection, a revival.  This is central to the “kingdom of God” principles.  This is the key to what we invest, how we invest, and the dividends we expect to see from our investment.

But this seems impossible with a church known for divisions, for fighting one another in the name of “defending the faith, the truth, and the Bible,” for stoning the brethren not in their camp, still being one of the most segregated institutions in our society.  If not in our camp, we would rather tear each other down than build each other up, strip one another of their dignity instead of praising and encouraging one another, raising the other brother above themselves instead of raising oneself above their brethren.  But with Jesus “all things are possible”, especially if the Holy Spirit is orchestrating it!  We, the Church, have to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us how to “equip”, to “prepare”, to “build up, encourage”, to “nurture” each other toward Christ-likeness individually and corporately.  Only through the leading of the Holy Spirit and the laying down of our lives can we even begin to see how Ephesians 4 can work in practicality.

Again I ask, “Can we trust the Holy Spirit” to lead us?”  But I also ask, “Can I trust my fellow brethren in the faith?”  To the latter, only if I am willing to lay down my life for my brethren, and my brother is willing to lay down his life for me.  To the former, only if I am willing to trust the “Spirit of Jesus Christ” to “teach me all things” pertaining to the kingdom of God.  That takes a lot of “trusting” and a lot of “dieing”!

What is the 21st Century Church Truly Investing In?

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

As a public school teacher, I am told that the tax payers’ dollars are going toward investing in the children of our school district, for they are the future.  As a church-attender, I am also told that the children are our investment, and the youth are the future of the church.  In the 21^st Century, the corner community church of local residents is rare.  People drive by each other on Sundays attending churches every which way but their own neighborhood.  The youth, our so-called future, go off to college then move away from the area to job markets that can support their degrees.  Others slowly drift away while seeking their identities when in the twenties.  It always amazes me how many famous secular musicians were birthed and nurtured in the church, only to out grow the musical limitations placed on them, and leave for greener secular pastures.  We birthed them, trained them, then lose them.

So I ask, “What is the 21^st Century Church Truly Investing In?”  What is its future? It’s direction? Its goals?

Instead of tax dollars, where are “offering dollars” going, for where that money is spent tells what is truly important to that church.  Where are your “offering dollars” going?  What percentage of your church budget goes to staff, staffing needs, and materials for the staff to use?  What percentage for building and grounds?  How much of the budget that is given by those in the congregation directly goes back to the congregation to develop them in their spiritual growth?  How much to missions locally? Nationally? Internationally?

Ephesians 4 says we are to equip, prepare, nurture, and develop the “saints”, those in the church, not just the “staff” for the “work of the service.”  Our investment should be “the people” who are in the church, make up the church, who are the Church!  Any revival begins with “investing” in the “saints”, those common believers who are the Church!  But how many churches look upon their mission as developing their own “people” to do the “work” of the Church through service?  Not every person can minister “full time” as a professional, but every person can “serve” “all the time”, at work, at home, while playing, visiting, fellowshipping, even if it is their spouse, etc.

What do we get for our investment?  I remember having to “buy” the paper back book I used in our local small group Bible study. The church didn’t buy them for us as “an investment”.  Then again, the results of our book study were discussions on the topics outlined in the book and fellowship afterwards.  If the book was on “service”, we discussed it, but did we change and go out and serve?  If the book was about “evangelism”, we again discussed it, but never did we go out into our community evangelizing.  A new book, a new topic with more discussion every 9 weeks, but with the same results, no change in our lives or the way we “did church” because of our studies.  So what does it mean to “equip the saints for the work of the service?”  How are we, the church, to invest in ourselves to be more effective, more Christ-like, more mature in the faith, and more productive?

Let’s take a deeper look at that question.

Retooling: What’s In Your Toolbox?

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

What’s in your toolbox?  Usually old tools, tools of stability, screw drivers, pliers, a hammer, a vice grip, a level, etc.  Recently specialty tools have invaded my box, special screw drivers with special tips, bent tools to reach in hard to get places, and multiuse tools.  Tools that were used on m 1971 Chevy Nova are useless on a new 2011 car.  If you buy an “ensemble yourself” piece of furniture, unique screws, bolts, and tools are included.  Why, as a church, do we still use “medieval tools” or even “last century tools” when facing the 21^st Century when we do church?  Why is the Church known as one of society’s institutions that does not embrace change quickly or effectively?  Only a few decades ago did the Roman Catholic Church allow mass to be done in a native tongue rather than in Latin, yet maintains the same structure for centuries?  “This is the way we have always done it,” is often the mantra for those who do not embrace change within the church.  Often the church boasts of rich “traditions” rather than effective ministry.  

So what should the Church’s toolbox contain if it is to be retooled?

Evangelist:  Instead of the old tool of mass evangelism as “Crusades” in sports arenas or special events held in church buildings, the retooled version may look like mass evangelism through social networking and the internet, but the power of personal evangelism through one on one communication and care is still the most effective.  In an age of impersonal electronic communication, actual one on one, face to face friendship and care is still the most powerful. Also the evangelistic tool must be a “creative” tool, being adaptable to new situations and change rather than already defined strategies to be copied.

Pastoral:  The term “pastor” will be retooled from being defined as a “professional Christian” to a passion or gifting to care for the development and nurture of believers toward being more Christ-like. Everyday believers can exhibit their “pastoral” gifting of service to help develop the new converts birthed by the evangelist.  It will be common believers reaching out to new and developing believers in an effort to grow together in to the maturity of Christ.

Teacher:  As an educator by profession, I have been taught and experienced that lectures are the most ineffective way to teach, particularly in an era where unlimited information is a click away on one’s computer. In an intellectual, data driven, test oriented, educational degree based society today, culturally and theologically the Western world needs to move away from teaching by lecture (sermons) “about” subjects to “experiencing” subjects by living, or actual application, of the principles to be learned.  Jesus never founded an intellectual theological institution to educate his followers, but he walked and talked with them personally for three years, teaching them kingdom principles for their practical lives. The sermon may become a relic of a tool replaced by field trips outside the established church building into the world the Church has been commissioned to serve.

Prophet:  Instead of thinking as a prophet as an isolated old testament figure hiding in the wilderness or causing waves that would want a king to banish him, or even an isolated new testament figure giving prophetic words, the new retooled prophet would look like a believer in Jesus Christ who has learned to listen to the small voice of the Holy Spirit, knows the heartbeat of the Father, and is willing to be obedient to what he has seen and heard.  Also the retooled prophet is not “isolated” from the body of Christ, but an integral part of the body of Christ by aiding through prophetic evangelism, aiding the pastoral effort through worship, prophetic teaching, and being the spiritual eyes and ears for the body as a whole.

Apostle:  Some teachers in Christian circles teach that the apostolic died when the last first century apostle physically died. I am sorry, but the Holy Spirit has resurrected the apostolic with power.  The apostolic will not be a “mantle of office” occupied by Senior Pastors or self proclaimed Church leaders, but a passion, a gifting, a point of view that would “see over” what the Holy Spirit is doing in the body of Christ, and encouraging and releasing the other four passions of giftings to prepare, equip, and develop Christians to be more Christ-like while bringing unity to the body of Christ, something the Church has not experienced in centuries.

So the tools in the Church’s toolbox may need restructuring for today’s specialized world, diverse cultures, and differences in a society that is beginning to think world wide instead of local.  Local corner churches with their spiral steeples are being replaced by practical multi-use buildings, or no buildings at all in a Facebook, MySpace, web sited, internet world.  Apple II E computers are dinosaurs, lap tops are being challenged by I-phones, and software changes yearly in a technological savvy world, yet the Church drags its feet to retool itself to meet this changing world.  We need to reevaluate as a Church what is in our toolboxes and how effective those tools are, then being open to add new, specialized tools to meet the needs of the 21^st Century generation.

Retooling: Bringing Back The Unexpected

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

When in a “spirit-led” Church service, one always expects the unexpected.  Who would have thought those meeting in an upper room would speak in tongues of fire that night, who would then witness at the Temple speaking in tongues that foreigners understood?  Who would have thought that Ananias and Sapphira would be struck dead because of “playing with the Holy Spirit” rather than being “obedient to the Holy Spirit”?  Who would have thought Peter, in prison, would walk out his cell, past the guards, and knock at the door of a prayer meeting, shocking not only the guards confronted with missing prisoners but also believers who just witness their prayers being answered?  The unexpected always happens with the arrival of the Holy Spirit.  Soon you begin to “anticipate” it as being the “new normal” because the Holy Spirit’s Presence always produces “life”.

Order and freedom in the Spirit always oppose one another, producing friction in the Church.  Order brings predictability; freedom in the Spirit brings the unexpected.  Order brings control; freedom brings spontaneity.   Order brings a feeling of safety through familiarity, tradition; freedom in the Spirit to brings safety but in very different unfamiliar ways.  Order asks, “Can we trust the Holy Spirit?”  Freedom in the Spirit proclaims, “We can not help but trust the Holy Spirit?” 

Where is the 21^st Century Church placing its “trust”? Of course they would say, “in Jesus”, the logical, correct answer, but what does that logically mean?  Jesus, currently, is not on earth in human form, but resurrected and seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for His saints, but the “Spirit of Jesus Christ”, his Holy Spirit, is on earth, seated within each believer to be activated, brought alive through each believer’s faith journey.  The “trust” of the 21^st Century Church has to be in the Holy Spirit if it wishes to produce spiritual life.

As an advocate of the five fold, I feel it is the Church’s duty to birth that Spirit through an evangelist, develop that Spirit in each believer in Jesus Christ, make sure that Spirit is grounded in the written Logos Word, the Bible, so it can be activated as the Rhema or Living Word in each believer, and that Spirit nurtured, developed, and equipped to be released on the world and into the Church.  The Spirit of Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit, is the key to unlocking the power of the 21^st Century Church.  The Word is the foundation; the releasing of Spirit is the key.   Jesus prophesied that would be a day when true worshipers would worship in Spirit and in Truth: grounded on the Word, released in the Spirit. The two that seemed to be in discord will be the very cord of unity.

Today’s churches thrive on reproducing “programs” that were other church’s successes rather than relying on the Holy Spirit to reveal what is best for that congregation.  Revelation always out-performs replication.  The church runs to conventions and conferences to see what the latest “trends” are that have worked for other congregations, returning with the effort of reproducing and instituting them in their local congregation.

The 21^st Century Church needs to allow the “Creator” of the heavens and the earth to “create”, not “replicate”.  The United States use to be known for its “creativity”,  “ingenuity”, and “entrepreneur” spirit.  Japan and Korea would come and reproduce items the U.S. had created cheaper. Items “Made In Japan” or “Made In Korea” where known as cheap replicas.  These products never match the “creator’s products in quality, just surpassing them in quantity.  The Church has fallen into the same trap.  Mega-churches have produced quantity, large amount of believers, often through reproduction of “programs” tried by other churches, at the expense of the quality of its individual believers.  Because of its size and staff, the creative spirit of its common believers, the pew sitters, is diminished.  Even though they will not admit it, quantity of believers over rides the quality of each believer.

How do we develop “quality” in a believer? By allowing the Holy Spirit to teach the believer, nurture that believer, develop that believer, then be released in that believer usually through unconventional means, because that is usually how the Holy Spirit works.  Much of the meaningful “spiritual life” that has had a direct impact on my nurturing and developing as a believer in a spiritual journey has come through those unconventional means lead by the Holy Spirit, not through the organized, controlled instruction under the banner of the institutional Church. 

The Holy Spirit led Jesus to the wilderness to teach him the “power of the Word” and how to use it against Satan.  He did not lead Jesus to a Rabbinical seminary, or the local Mega-synagogue to be “taught” intellectually how to use, analyze, critique, and theologize the Word through an exegesis. Jesus “experienced” the power of the Word while being the Living Word.  We, as 21^st Century believers, need to “experience” the “power” of the Word while being the “living” Word today.  We need to “expect” the “unexpected”.

Retooling: Bringing Back Anticipation, Excitement, and Life

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

I recall going to a Prayer and Praise meeting in the mid 1970’s in somebody’s home where you actually “anticipated” that the Holy Spirit would show up.  You never knew in what form or how he would manifest himself, what gifts would be released, if healings would become present. All you “knew” was that everyone who attended “anticipated” the Holy Spirit’s Presence to be in their midst, producing great “excitement”. 

We were amazed that there was a spontaneous Prayer and Praise gathering somewhere in the county where I lived every morning, afternoon, and evening of every day of the week.  Most often they were in people’s personal homes.  There was no set agenda to their gatherings.  Only one thing could be assured: Not only would believers in Jesus gather; but the Holy Spirit would show up in their midst. 

I attended on several Friday nights at the home of a man who had polio. He would sleep in an iron lung in his bedroom, yet come out and lead singing at the Prayer and Praise session in his home.  I lead a group for six weeks around a campfire prior to a local evangelistic crusade. There I witnessed testimonies, sharing of scriptures that had personally touched people, a women read a poem she had written bringing finality of her grieving process, and the gifts of the spirit being released on the last night.  You found yourself “excited” about wanting to come back each week because you “anticipated” that the Holy Spirit would show up bringing “excitement” while producing “life”.  Amazingly none of these spontaneous groups were directly under the banner of the institutional Church of its time.  They were all created out of the need for spontaneity, out of the need to find an outlet to express oneself spiritually, out of a hunger to know God, have an intimate vibrant relationship with Him, and actually see Him work in lives of common people, out of the need to find “life” within a church structure.  Unfortunately, most of these groups dissipated when the local churches felt they needed to “oversee” and eventually control the activities that these groups advocated.  With the control, which opposed the freedom that had created the anticipation, excitement, and life within the group became stagnation bringing eventual death.

One exception came at the Lower Octorara Presbyterian Church in Parkesburg, Pennsylvania where the Rev. Jim Brown, set aside his traditional liturgical church service format, practices, and traditions for an open Prayer and Praise format on Saturday nights for over a twenty year period where people from all over the state, country, and world packed out his facility in a worship atmosphere lead by “unplanned” special music and personal testimonies from those who attended.  I attended several of these sessions the last year that they were held and marveled at how the church building was always filled to capacity, the singing vibrant, and the testimonies original and powerful.  Before the service ever began, you could feel the excitement and the anticipation of what the Holy Spirit would do that night.

The 21^st Century Church needs to retool, rethink, re-evaluate establish mindsets of how it does worship.  Many churches have professional worship teams and choirs that sound awesome, but have lost the spontaneity that small group worship sessions once harbored. Well orchestrated programs have replaced the “anticipation” of the “unexpected” that the Holy Spirit brings.    Professionally delivered sermons by Senior Pastors and staff have replaced the spontaneous sharing of personally testimonies of common believers that want to share what God is doing personally in their lives.  With everything so well planned by the leadership of the church, there is nothing to “anticipate”.  Everything is predictable. The excitement is gone because nothing is required of the common believer in a well scripted service except his “financial” contribution.  Although the music and sermon were excellent, the parishioners, the common believers, leave the service with little if any spiritual life or renewal because nothing was expected of them.  Leadership did not anticipate their involvement since they produced the worship and teaching atmosphere, and the service fulfilled the needs of “release” musically for the musicians on the platform and intellectually for the preacher, but did not necessarily fulfill the needs of the congregation because they were not afforded the opportunity to be “released” in their gifting or passions.

The 21^st Century Church has to examine what “releasing” means: releasing the “believer” to be what he has been developed and equipped to be in Jesus. Allowing this releasing to be done in a safe, loving, and developing atmosphere where mistakes can be made and lessons can be learn while one grows spiritually in “their faith walk and journey”. 

Although my local church believes it has made changes, when my children, now adults living away from home, return to visit, they claim “nothing has changed.”  It is the same predictable “order” of worship as when they were a child. The faces of the clergy who gives the sermon and the worship team who plays the instruments have changed, but the agenda is the same. The only thing different is the “style” of music played, reflecting the current worship leader’s bent of leadership, or the delivery by the current pastor in his sermon.  It is “assumed” that the Holy Spirit is already there, not anticipating His Presence.  There is little excitement in a “planned, orchestrated” worship service because there is no participation of the congregation except to sing “word-fed” choruses on overhead projectors or hymnals in traditional settings, give an offering, and sit quietly, acting attentive during the delivery of a well prepared professionally delivered sermon. Little arises from the soul or from the heart of the common believer because very little is “required” from him.

The 21^st Century Church must “retool” how it does “worship” by allowing, an actually advocating the releasing of the gifting, talents, compassion, and passions of the believers in their midst, allowing them to spontaneously give back song, testimony, inspiration, and scriptures that have touched their lives.  It needs to find a way to allow church services to be “believer” or “body of believers” driven, not clergy and staff driven.

Wine and Wineskins

“Something Just Doesn’t Feel Right”

What do you do when something just doesn’t feel right?  Especially when you tend to do “all the right things”, but you don't see the fruit. When I was twenty-one, right out of college, I headed the youth ministry at my home church, emphasizing evangelism. I did all the right things, said and taught the right things, and did the right programs, but something was missing. Something just didn’t feel right.  I thought I was doing all the right things. Not seeing fruit I desired, I started a spiritual journey that led me to face Jesus not just as my Savior, but also as my Lord.  There I was faced with the reality of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, which I accepted, and it changed my life, taking me in a totally different direction that has produced fruit.

Here I am today, a Christian for almost 50 years, and I again sense in my spirit that something just doesn’t feel right.  I love the church, been raised in the church; the church has been the center of my social life and spiritual life.  I’ve raised my family in the church.  I have invested my time, efforts, focus, and money in the church, and the church has done the same for me, yet here I am fifty years after my spiritual birth in Jesus questioning the structure of the American church, the institutionalizing of the American church, the direction of the American church, even how the American church does church (whatever that means?).

Today I heard a 55 yr. old man share how he was challenged by the statement, “If money was not to play in it, what would you want to be doing with your life?” His answer was, “Not what I am doing now,” so he was willing to retire to begin his spiritual journey. It has led him to Metro Ministries in New York for four months as an “intern” helping with an inner-city busing children’s ministry.  He comes back home to our church which is about to “release” their children’s ministry staff personnel due to budget restrains even though she has been on staff longer than anyone else at the church. Somehow, I sensed that even with his “internship”, this guy seemed not to “fit” into our local church and their structure, staff, or direction.  We have had several youth go to Bible colleges, or short and long term mission’s projects, etc., yet come back home, only to feel a “misfit” into the current puzzle of our local church. Don’t get me wrong’ I am not criticizing the local church, but questioning why people serious about God who move out in faith don’t “fit in” when they return to their local congregations which they have learned to love.  Why do they feel alienated and often rejected?

I experienced the same thing forty years ago, going to Jesus Rallies in the 70’s & 80’s and early Creation Festivals, attending Conferences after Conferences for three decades, spending six weeks during the summer at a Christian Community seeking God’s direction, and going to Parksburg Presbyterian Church for Saturday evenings for spirit lead Prayer and Praise sessions, only to feel alienated when returning to my home church where I wanted so desperately to “give back”.  Something just never seemed right, never the right fit.  Even today I have “earned” a Master’s Degree in Biblical studies at the advice of a pastor so that “doors would be open form me,” yet no door has been opened for over a decade since I have not gone into “full time ministry” as a profession, but opted to remain as a public school teacher for almost forty years. Have I missed the mark?

The Church has desperately duirng the last couple decades tried to contain the “revival spirit” within its own structures, but history proves that isn’t the way it works.  “New wine will break through old wineskins; new wine needs new wineskins.”  But what does the new wineskin look like in 2010 for the next decade? When I sense that something just doesn’t feel right, that is probably my sense that God is up to something different and new.  Am I willing to stop what I am doing (which isn’t producing much fruit anyhow) and begin to stop, look, and listen to the Holy Spirit for guidance as to what is the next step personally for me and corporately for the Church?

I question my studies on the five-fold ministry as passions and points of view rather than offices because they make sense to me, but do not “fit” into today’s church structures. Apparently today’s church structures aren’t the wineskins that will be open to take in this new wine, and if they did, they would see their current structures (cast or vats) erupt and break, spilling out this new wine. So my prayer today is “Lord, show me the necessary wineskins to pour this new wine into so that it will produce fruit for your Glory and your kingdom.”