We need the word of the prophet


2 Chronicles 25 (NLT)

14 When King Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought with him idols taken from the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down in front of them, and offered sacrifices to them!15 This made the LORD very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask, "Why do you turn to gods who could not even save their own people from you?"
16 But the king interrupted him and said, "Since when have I made you the king's counselor? Be quiet now before I have you killed!"
So the prophet stopped with this warning: "I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have refused to accept my counsel."

The Lord is always faithful to give us guidance. He is always going to make sure that our steps are ordered according to his will. However, we must remain pliable and sensitive to his voice and adjustment. Gifted builders in the Kingdom of God need to be very careful that they, in an effort for building expediency, don't isolate themselves from the full word and counsel of God. If we are successful we attract a team of builders who are "just like us". There is much good in that but it can also be very narrow, limiting and may rob you of a more diversified perspective. Prophets are seers who see things builders may not want to see or hear. In the Kingdom scheme of things we need to ensure that we don't outgrow our need for the prophet. He's not always the most fun to be around and his words may not always stroke our ego but they are sent to us for a reason.

In this portion of Scripture the Word of the Lord through the prophet was rejected and he "stopped". I know there are a lot of "self proclaimed" prophets around these days. However, there are also among us true prophets of the Lord. They may not look or sound like prophets but their gift causes them to bring those protective and directional words from heaven. We must be careful that our success does not isolate and insulate us from the Word that we may so desperately need. What should be our response to the Word of the Lord? It should always be as the words of Mary proclaimed, "whatsoever He says unto you, do it!"

Missional or Attractional

There is a great debate going on in the church world today over the right pattern of ministry. The issue at hand is whether the motivation of ministry should be missional or attractional. If it is not a verbal debate it is certainly a functional one. One side has grown weary of the attractional approach seeing it as an outdated method which primarily focuses on signs and advertisements to get new people to church. A part of the attractional crowd uses revival and renewal to attract people and seem to echo the cry, "we set ourselves on fire and they come to watch us burn." It is often centered around experience.

The missional group sees the church as a group on a mission and seeks to activate it's workers around fulfilling the mission of reaching a community for Christ. It is often centered around methods. The attractional group says "come" while the missional group says, "go"! Which is right? Both in my opinion. When Jesus met the woman at the well he was definitely on a mission. Before going there the Scripture says Jesus said, " I need to go through Samaria." There was an internal motivation followed by a purposeful plan to reach someone. This is very missional. Then, after the lady is confronted by Jesus she goes back to her home town and tells the inhabitants of the city, "come and see a man who told me all that I ever did". This is attractional. The result, the town came out to see and hear the man Jesus. Many believed because of two kinds of ministry, the missional and the attractional. Jesus said, "go" and she said "come".

The bottom line is fruit. I see missional churches today doing great things for God and bringing many to the Lord. I also see attractional churches reaching many and making disciples. Let's not condemn methods, let's celebrate the fruit.

Feelings in the Church

In my last blog I talked about feelings and the error of allowing feelings to be our guide in life. Now let's take a look at feelings in the church. What we feel is something that causes us to help people through our empathy and sympathy. What we feel at times can be a warning to avoid danger. Feelings is a mental and emotional reaction to an experience. Yet, as we discussed last week feelings are much too subjective to serve us well as our primary guide through life. Feelings are limited to ability to sense and comprehend. In reality feelings are two dimensional, defined by what we feel(body) and think(mind). Faith on the other hand certainly includes those two dimensions but adds the third dimension of the supernatural, the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God makes his habitation or home in the "believer". From that moment on this new believer, this three dimensional being begins to experience something that was lost by Adam in the garden. Most feelings/emotions are basically a much weakened version of a God-connected spirit.

The new believer is in contact with God through His Spirit but this relationship is kept pure and true by the Scripture. There is an inseparable relationship between God's Word and His Spirit. As long as we continue in His Word and are filled with His Spirit we are functional as heaven intended. The moment we move away from either of the two we are on a path toward deception.

In the Church there has been this tendency to move away from operating in these two necessary relationships, the Word and Spirit. The result is that the Church, a supernatural entity begins to be run by "feelings". Someone said, "all Word with no Spirit you dry up, all Spirit with no Word you blow up but the Spirit and the Word causes us to grow up."

Let's examine our condition today and the condition of our church leadership. Think back leaders, did your last leadership meeting seem to be led more by the Holy Spirit or feelings and opinions? The good news is that getting back on track can be done quickly!

Feelings

Our "feelings" can be one of our greatest enemies. Our feelings are constantly changing and way too uncertain to allow them to set our guideline for living. Having been a pastoral counselor for almost 4 decades I must tell you that I have heard a lot about how people feel. People choose their profession, buy cars, live in certain places and even pick a life long mate by their feelings. The word "feelings" is defined as, "emotion or sympathetic perception". Be honest and ask yourself the question, "do I really want to go through life with emotion or perception as my guide?" I don't think so. Yet, many find it hard to simply accept God's ways, directives or commands as truth.

I was talking to a man recently who had little, if any Biblical foundation. Yet, he was a very caring and intelligent person. He confided that simply taking the leap of faith and accepting the Bible as The Truth was too difficult for him. After all, he was an educated man who needed to understand. Then he asked that question. You know the one, how can Christianity be the only way to heaven? To him, it just didn't make sense, it just didn't feel right! I said, "I know exactly how you feel. I have had the same feelings and thoughts." Yet, there has to be that which is right and true, not truth as a moving target. Life and certainly eternity is much too valuable to simply roll the dice, block out your mind and decide that you will live by what you feel. I'm reminded of the old country song that says, "how can it be wrong when it FEELS so right?"

I can tell that many not in the Church look at the Christian world and assume that Christians are naive people who find comfort by sticking together in what they believe. They see believers as weak people who sit around convincing each other about their faith. Certainly there is a truth that living your life around people of like faith is a reinforcing commodity. Yet, non believers do the same. They run from Christians, flocking together to reinforce their own belief systems.

People of feelings live lives that are uncertain, always shifting and usually dominated by fear. People of faith, real faith are stable, certain and fearless. Why? Because their stability is not founded on the shifting sands of emotion or in religion, creeds, rules or regulations. It is founded on a personal relationship with God Himself. They talk to Him and experience an internal communication that reinforces their faith. Then, from that foundation, when they read the Bible they find it a living book. Even non believing seekers has found the Scripture unlike any other book. Derek Prince was a King's Scholar, attending Eton College in England when he began to read the Bible as a Philosopher to disprove it. He said later that as he read it he became captivated by it and came to a living faith.

Faith in the beginning is often a leap of faith that is in conflict with feelings. However, this leap of faith becomes a solid highway to a life of security, comfort, fearlessness about the future and the answer to loneliness. It is in fact a decision!
When I made the decision to accept God's way and Jesus in particular, I did so with a lot of feelings and questions. It was amazing how fast those things dissipated and how quickly the question marks turned into exclamation marks!

Leadership Training

Attention to Detail:

1. Train yourself to "see" details.

2. Train yourself to take ownership wherever you are assigned. Team mentality is responsibility that goes beyond your assigned role.

3. Train yourself to "think" beyond the norm. (outside the box) Ask: "Is there another way around this obstacle? Familiarity can be a blinder to new and fresh solutions and ideas".

4. Train yourself to "see" multiple options on every project in case things don't develop as you thought.

5. Train yourself to think through meetings and projects. Most people don't do it. This will give you a leg up when a decision must be made in mid-stream. Even if you are not the primary leader, think of alternate plans to a project in case the presented plan comes to a halt or leadership is removed.

6. Take group on facility inspection looking for details. What needs improvement? This trains your team to learn to see detail. People who have always worked in a subordinate role have been silently trained not to see things that need attention outside their scope.

THE MYSTERY OF THE AGES UNFOLDING HERE AT THE END

I have been teaching some in recent days on spiritual warfare. Below is an article my good friend Gary Johnson from Rapid City, South Dakota wrote on the subject.

THE MYSTERY OF THE AGES UNFOLDING HERE AT THE END

My goal is to whet your appetite and provoke you to dig much of this out on your own—I do believe I’m onto something which could revolutionize everything you’re about! How it thrilled Jesus when His seventy disciples discovered prematurely that demons were subject to them. At that very moment the enemy of our souls was engaged and Jesus revealed to us that we had the upper hand—everything He did we can do! Luke 10:17-19: “And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.’ ” NKJV

Ever since then Satan has done everything possible to obscure that fact. If he can’t keep the lid on, he’ll be exposed for the “paper tiger” he is. Make no mistake, he’s a formidable foe but he can only operate by “cunning craftiness,” deceit, trickery, lying, seduction, fear tactics, etc. It’s sort of like when I was a kid: I worked on a farm for a dollar a day (you heard me right—ha!) and saved up my money to buy this used bike that had “knee action”—sort of like modern shock absorbers. The only thing the owner withheld from me was that it didn’t work anymore. I was racing downhill on gravel at top speed; the front wheel hit a pot hole and didn’t come back up and I was hurled headlong downhill—without a helmet I might add.

However, while we shouldn’t be naïve and oblivious to Satan’s tactics we ought not to give him undue credit either. He was dethroned, and defanged, at the cross! Two observations I’ve made concerning him over the years: he hates exposure but loves attention. If you don’t give him a handle he’s powerless. Look at this declaration from Jesus in John 14:30: “I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me…” Jesus is the “Lion from the tribe of Judah”; Satan appears “like a lion”—but is a toothless one at that! I don’t see anywhere in Scripture where he has been given any control over the elements, your material goods, etc. Some people give him far too much credit and attention--“Satan is in my sound equipment, he ruined my engine, etc.”; no, the fact you didn’t change oil for 30,000 miles ruined your engine. He can however motivate, or influence, someone else to mess with your goods; that’s why we must use our spiritual weapons such as deliverance (the children’s bread), binding and loosing, and pulling down strongholds to deal with him.

Okay here’s the biggie; it’s so simple I fear many of us might miss it. If you’ll wrap your head around this you’ll never be the same! I might add this did get my pastor friend who shared this revelation with me “disenfranchised” (nice way to say fired) from his church. For the most part, he went to his grave with this powerful revelation but Satan can’t silence it forever. 1 John 4:1-6 states: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [the tense is “continually coming in flesh”] is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” NASU

We’re coming in for a landing, so hang on! Historical Jesus alone won’t even cut it. If it could, then every church which celebrates Christmas and Easter would be red hot for God. Yet, why are so many of them apostate and succumbing to so many abominable practices? It hasn’t yet sunk in that Christ, who promised that we would do even greater things, is now presently in our flesh desiring to carry on the works that He did--John 14:12. Col. 1:26-27 states, “…that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you [continually coming in flesh], the hope of glory”. Look at Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

Let’s all “go for the gold”, we’ve got the oxygen bottle and we win; Christ desires for all of us to be two-time winners—to reign with Him while on planet earth and also throughout all eternity!

Gary Johnson

Running from Shadows

I am spending time in South Florida with my two granddaughters. Since Juliet is the new one most of my time is spent entertaining, and I do mean entertaining Lucia the 3 year old. Of course I am the one who does most of the "burping" duties for Juliet. I seem to have the touch in that department!

This morning Lucia got up at her normal 6:30 time! The first thing she wanted to do was go into the room with her baby sister. Teresa (AKA: "Gigia") and I went into full distraction mode trying to keep her from waking the baby. Lucia was showing me her new baby doll that does all the things a real baby does...really! When we opened the box to this new doll, out ran this little tiny mouse! Well, we thought it was a mouse or roach or something but then we realized it was a toy. We aren't sure how it got in the box but when this ugly little orange thing started running all over the floor it was pretty scary and especially for Lucia. (Me too!) I forgot about this little creepy thing this morning and then Lucia screams from the living room. I run in to find that Lucia had thrown her baby doll, her most prized possession, in the floor and taken refuge on the couch. I caught the little invader and examined him. I called Lucia over and explained it was really a machine that vibrated and was covered with plastic. One she saw and understood the reality of the situation she lost her fear of this unknown, uninvited guest and began playing with it.

I'm sure you know where I'm going with this and forgive the long story to get here! We have all had things we were afraid of and it often restricted our lives. You may be in just such a place now. Fear may have caused you to abandon the things that matter most to you and has left you hiding and running from shadows or something that cannot really hurt you. You see, the devil is a liar. Jesus called him the father of lies! He operates with lies, fear, oppression and always in darkness. It is time for you to face your fears. Jesus has promised to deliver you from all fear. As a matter of fact the Scripture says, "perfect love casts out all fear". Even at this moment see the reality that Jesus is with you in the middle of your fear. He is greater than any enemy! Get up off the couch now and face your fear. You will find not only will Jesus walk you through it but you will also find out that much of what you have feared is only a shadow.

Meet Juliet Crabb!

Juliet was born Monday, June 6. She is our second granddaughter. Her big sister is Lucia and she is one excited 3 year old. Teresa and I are in Hollywood, Florida helping with all the transitions in the Crabb family. They have been transferred to Washington, D.C.. That means that they had to sell their house, ship all their "stuff" and move into a temporary home until Juliet could arrive and get settled before they make the move north. As of yesterday afternoon, we are all at their house with the new baby.

Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Blessings!

L. A.

Resistance to Restoration

John 5:6 (KJV)
6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

I am still amazed by several things in this story. I am amazed that Jesus asked if he really wanted to be healed. I am amazed that the man didn't really give an answer to the question. I am amazed that Jesus healed him anyway. I think we see here that there are times when God heals people who don't do things correctly or who don't take the proper faith posture and yet they are healed. Generally though, there are patterns in play. In my last blog I wrote about the connection of suffering, compassion and the provision. When there is a needy one, a desire by that one to rise out of their suffering, compassion by another who has Jesus living in them, there will be restoration in one form or another. The Bible is filled with such stories.

As a young Christian I found a suffering man one day. He was emaciated and apparantly in much pain. I was moved with compasion. I had to do something to stop his pain. However, within me was more than a desire to stop his present pain. I wanted to help him start a new life. As I talked to him I learned that it had been several days since he had eaten. I put him in my car and took him home. Teresa prepared food for him. I talked to him as he tried to eat but he couldn't eat very much. I took him to a place that sheltered those in need. I checked on him the next day only to learn he had left the shelter as soon as I did. Then, a couple of days later he was found dead sleeping next to a railroad track. He was frozen in the bitter winter cold. It was so hard to understand. I was willing to help and I believed things could be different for him. The problem? He didn't believe it.

It is a difficult thing for compassion to understand or believe that a person's deepest infirmity isn't their obvious need. There are those whose greatest problem is that they actually choose a life of self destruction. It is a choice! Can you change them? Is there hope? There is always hope but no, you nor I can change them. Something has to happen on the inside of them. In fact there has to be a miracle before the miracle. There has to be a healing deep within them before the true restoration can begin. Seeing their need and exposing them to your compassion is a powerful force. Begin to pray for them and stay in touch so that you can help when their moment comes. However, there are many, many out there who are ready and ripe now for restoration. Find them and release your compassion upon them. Restoration will follow. By the way, they may not be the obvious ones to you and also may be closer than you think.

Helping the Hurting

Matthew 14:14 (NKJV)
14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

There is something powerful that happens when true need is connected to provision by way of compassion. This verse says that there were four steps to effectively alleviating pain and suffering.

First he "went out". You can't help in a need until you first see the need. Many organizations had their origin in being in a situation that caused them to see a need. Once the need was seen, things began to happen and resources were discovered and brought to the need. The need would have never been seen until someone went out. Jesus said to "go out" and compel them to come in. It is an easy thing for the church who began by "going out" to change to extending a call to the world to "come in". You can't see and feel the same things when they come to you as when you go to them.

Secondly, as Jesus went out, he "saw". You can hear about things and situations and circumstances and you might be appalled. However, when you "see" it for yourself, deeper abilities to bring healing are called upon from within you. That power source that Jesus gives within you is released by "seeing" a need.

Next Jesus was "moved with compassion". When there is a loss of this being "moved with compassion", there is a loss of an ability to heal the sick or meet the need. There is a vast difference between empathy and compassion. Empathy is defined as, "the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another." You can have this intellectual experience and walk on by. You are sorry for the plight of the one suffering but that is about the depth of your experience. Compassion on the other hand is a completely different experience. Compassion is defined as, " a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering." Notice the last part, "accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering". That is what Jesus experienced!

The result of the first three things was, "and healed their sick". There is a direct connection between a release of supernatural power to heal and compassion. Empathy may bring a moment of mercy but compassion can bring a lifetime of service. Empathy is a picture of the Levite seeing the suffering man dying in the road. Compassion is the good Samaritan who puts his life on hold until he does all he can to bring help to the one suffering.

May the Lord grant us a fresh baptism in the waters of compassion.

The American's Creed
by William Tyler Page

I believe in the United States of America as a Government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed, - a democracy in a republic, a sovereign nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable, established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my Country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its Flag; and to defend it against all enemies.

Nepotism

Is there a place for nepotism in the church? Nepotism is defined as, "favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those with power or influence."
The foundation of the word originates from the former papal practice of granting special favors to nephews or other relatives.

Nepotism is one of the concerns I hear from congregants around the country today. It has become a common practice for fathers to turn over churches to natural sons as the father grows older. As we examine the Scripture, it seems we see more negative outcomes from this practice than positive. However, we shouldn't dismiss it as wrong automatically. We need to understand that all succession to natural sons does not have to be "nepotism". By that I mean, setting a son in as the new leader may not be done because of a "special favor of the father to the son". He may be the one the Lord has chosen.

What should be the criteria to do so? We need to make sure that:

1. The son truly has a call to this ministry from the Lord.

2. He is qualified for this position. The test would be to make sure we would put anyone else in the position if they had the same qualifications. Too often sons are placed in positions because it is the easy thing to do. It gives them a job! (Never the right thing.)

3. We make sure that proper training and equipping occurs.

4. We take our time in getting them ready for the role. We don't wait too late and then try to rush them into position so we can "get out of the heat".

5. Genuine mentoring occurs. The old rule is still a good one: "You watch me do it, I watch you do it, you do it."

6. Make sure you don't show favoritism in the process. If anything, we need to make the process more difficult for sons. They need to be seen earning it! They need to be seen working hard to the point that by the time the transition happens, the people believe in it.

7. Make sure a diverse leadership team, other than family members, also believes it is the Lord's will.

8. Once it happens, Fathers, get out of the way! You need to be connected to give counsel "when asked", but the son needs to be able to bring the slow gradual change that is needed to lead the church into effective ministry for a new generation.

If the son, the heir apparent doesn't meet the criteria, face the reality of the situation for the sake of all concerned. Don't force it. God has another plan for the church as well as the son. However, if the criteria is met and "it seems good to us and the Holy Ghost", so be it. We should embrace the son without a prejudice against him.

Deeper Waters It seems that once again many are straining to gain some prophetic insight to natural circumstances. When some calamity strikes I get nervous waiting upon the prophets to speak, usually in hindsight. Some who have spoken in vague terms now try to relate present situations to past words given. Even in the prophetic world hindsight is still 20/20. What about clear and accurate words helping the church prepare for the future? In the Old Testament as well as the New Testament the prophetic word was very precise and in the Old Testament if a prophet's word didn't come to pass he was put to death. Not that I want to see that happen in our day but I would love to see more accountability among the prophets. At the very least when prophets miss it they should be called to account and the church should stop hearing their voice. What is the problem regarding the prophetic in this hour? It could be that God is not saying a lot about these things although if you read the online prophetic sites you would think He is speaking non stop. I suspect there is another problem. Most of the prophets in history have paid a great price for their ministry. Many have lived lives of solitude before God. Most have dedicated themselves to holiness and a passionate pursuit of God and his voice. When they did speak from that posture it was deep, pure and refreshing water. Even if a person is gifted by God with the prophetic gift, worldly living and undisciplined thought hinders and even pollutes the ability to hear. They may have the prophetic "bucket" to lower into the well of the Spirit but they only draw from shallow waters. On the other hand, when a prophet spends time with the Lord without the noise of world, his "bucket" goes deeper and brings forth better, more life giving water. The greater the surface water, the greater the possibility of pollution. The deeper the source of the water, the greater the purity and the greater the power to produce life. Let's join in prayer that the Lord would take the prophets of our day past a desire for "profit" into the true ministry of the prophet. Past the silliness of the mystical, shallow and artificial anointing into the deep waters of true revelation. Let's agree for true prophetic ministries that will move far beyond the weak words of, "I love you, my children" into preparation for the end time army that we are called to be.

The Greatest Need Around 1990 I was listening to the great and at times controversial teaching of Costa Deir. His teaching wasn't controversial because it was out of sync with Scripture, it was controversial because it challenged the daily practice of the life of the Church. Then, he said something that caused everyone there to pause and contemplate. His statement: "the greatest need in the world is not evangelism. The greatest need in the world is leadership development"! He went on to say, "if you reach one soul for the Lord, that is a wonderful thing but if your reach and train a leader, you have reached potentially thousands". That short statement changed me and my focus for ministry. I find senior leaders today who still labor primarily trying to reach individuals rather than training others. Of course we must all minister to individuals as the Lord opens the door. That is why Paul told Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist". However, leaders and especially team leaders must, MUST train leaders. I was once a part of a church that taught the book of Revelation non stop year after year. It was a passion of that church. In the same way, every church or ministry should be training leaders in an ongoing way. I have also found that the Senior Leader/Pastor must spearhead this effort. This is one area you can't delegate, at least in the beginning. When the Senior Leader leads the leadership training efforts they are saying, "this is important to our efforts". In honesty many leaders don't feel qualified to train leaders. In my early years of ministry there wasn't a lot of help out there. I finally realized that if I didn't train leaders it wouldn't get done. I have always held leadership classes as a foundational part of church planting. Then I moved to a "school of ministry" within the local church. Your disciples in these classes may never be elders, pastors or missionaries, but they will be enriched and more valuable in function in the local church or organization. How do you do it? What materials should you use? It's very possible that the best training materials for your group is not online but inside. Yes, you have the vision for your group and you can custom fit the training program from your own life experience. Just ask yourself the question, "if I were just stating out in ministry, what would I like to be taught?" Think about the big picture and start listing the areas of need in leadership. Get the topics and then work on each topic. Before long you will have your own syllabus from which to train. Now you can go to other resources to enrich your plan but seek to be an "innovator, not an imitator". As for the best advice on training leaders; just get at it. And as with anything, put it on your calendar or you will never do it! Remember, the greatest need around you is leadership development.

Revolutionary Ministry Pattern

Below is a letter I wrote to a pastor and his leadership team. This particular pastor serves in the ministry gift of an apostle as listed in Ephesians 4:11. However, he also serves as the Senior Pastor of his local church. I hope you will give this blog some thought and I encourage you, as a leader, to take it to your leadership team for discussion and consideration. While it relates particularly to one who functions in this dual role of apostle/pastor, much can be learned from the Biblical concepts outlined here.

"Dear _______________,

I greatly enjoyed our time yesterday afternoon.

After our meeting I thought it best to try to condense what I was saying to you and write it so that you might give it some thought and prayer and share it with your elders/ leadership team for discussion.

I believe it is now time for you to work to delegate more of the daily pastoral care. As one who understands what it takes to be the Senior Pastor of a growing local church while operating in the Apostolic ministry, I know the cost and rewards of such labor. While delegation of more of these ministries will release you more, the primary thing accomplished is an activation of the Body there. I believe the following things are goals all churches should seek to achieve:

1. Activation of the people into ministry
2. Decentralization of the “home office”. Tradition has trained people that the church staff does the work of the ministry while the Scripture tells us that the 5 fold ministry is called to equip the people of the church to do the work of the ministry. That means there has to be a “weaning” of the congregation off a heavy dependency upon the role of the Senior Pastor.
3. Training and releasing of leadership to help in the daily care of the flock. There should be tiers of leaders or a chain of command, so to speak.

I would suggest that the structure of the church be evaluated by your elders/leadership team for future direction and vision fulfillment. I would seek to have each elder overseeing a different aspect of ministry of the church. For example, Acts 1:8 tells us that there is a pattern to ministry. That ministry release of the church is an outward moving expansion. Jesus said the ministry of the church would be to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Uttermost parts of the earth. I see that Jerusalem is the ministry of the local church including, pastoral care, small groups, etc. Judea might be such things as outreach into the city and region. Samaria is to me the apostolic ministry within our sphere and the uttermost parts is obviously world missions. All these areas should be broken down and overseen by a different elder or staff pastor. Your job as Apostle would be to oversee the big picture and pastor all those who are overseeing areas of ministry. Then, you would be released to operate in your apostolic ministry (Samaria)without the local church being hindered. As a matter of fact, moving to this kind of pattern strengthens the local church as it grows and functions as the Lord intends. (Ephesians 4:12 (GW)
12 Their purpose is to prepare God's people, to serve, and to build up the body of Christ.)

When Moses’ father in law Jethro, confronted him about his ministry style, it was a rebuke. He told him that his counseling all day was wearing him out as well as the people. The solution was to choose 70 who would do the daily ministry to the people while Moses would be left to deal with the heavier issues of the people as well as other ministry needs. This requires training of those who are qualified to fill these areas of ministry to the people, those with the heart of a pastor. There are many pastors in a congregation sitting among the people. They just need training, releasing and overseeing. You will still be available to meet with those who really need your ministry but you will deal with the more serious situations of their lives. As you train your leaders and the congregation to move in this direction you will release an army rather than keeping an eternal nursery.

As a Kingdom move, this will also give you more time to “think, plan and pray” as I told you yesterday. It is very possible to live your life and ministry as a fireman who rushes to fire after fire. While someone needs to respond to fires, if the fires aren’t shared by leadership, the fires will keep you busy and hinder you from vision implementation and creativity. Creativity is critical to any organization. The senior leader must be free to think and plan. I believe you will rise to a new level of leadership and fruitfulness as the ministry is shared not to mention a new level of maturity for the church.

I know that you know these things that I am writing but they are revolutionary in most churches today. To achieve the reality of Ephesians 4 will require a new educating of your people and your leaders as well as a new disciplining of yourself. It does work, as I have pressed through what I am telling you myself and experienced the joy of seeing the church function in a healthy way and enjoyed the new creativity of the Spirit.

With much love and appreciation!

L. A.

Hypocrisy: The Religious Corpse Among Us When a Nation that has been predominantly Christian begins to proclaim faith and service but practices sin and self gratification, it is in danger of losing the preserving divine power that has sustained it. Our society today, from the State House to the Church House is filled with practical hypocrisy. Our high court speaks loftily of the rights of a mother while remaining silent on the rights of the unborn. Our States initiate and administrate gambling in an effort to help the poor get an education while most of the profits comes from the pockets of the poorest among us. Then those same states put up large billboards telling us to gamble responsibly! Giganic tobacco companies tell us that they have now discovered that tobacco is bad for us! Yet, they flood the markets of third world countries tageting a new youthful market. As beleivers it would do us well to do a word study of the word "hypocrite" in the New Testament. You will find that Jesus spoke often on this topic. As you do you will find that his comments were never favorable. As a matter of fact you begin to see a common thread in his discourses about hypocrisy. The one thing that stands out to me is that hypocrisy produces its own reward. Over and over Jesus says, "you have received your reward". This concerns me greatly because if we produce our own reward, we are removing the supernatural intervention from among us. We often think of God punishing us but the worst of punishment would be a withdrawal of his activity among us and leave us to our own devices. Nothing could be more frightening. What can we do? Deal with hypocrisy in our own hearts and lives. Make no provision for it and renounce it when it appears. Luke 12:1-3 (NKJV) 1 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

When we lose the fear of God Leviticus 10:1 (NKJV) 1 Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. Nadab and Abihu made a number of mistakes leading to their death. Here is what Matthew Henrys says: "Next to Moses and Aaron, none were more likely to be honourable in Israel than Nadab and Abihu. There is reason to think that they were puffed up with pride, and that they were heated with wine. While the people were prostrate before the Lord, adoring his presence and glory, they rushed into the tabernacle to burn incense, though not at the appointed time; both together, instead of one alone, and with fire not taken from the altar. If it had been done through ignorance, they would had been allowed to bring a sin-offering. But the soul that doeth presumptuously, and in contempt of God's majesty and justice, that soul shall be cut off. The wages of sin is death. They died in the very act of their sin. The sin and punishment of these priests showed the imperfection of that priesthood from the very beginning, and that it could not shelter any from the fire of God's wrath, otherwise than as it was typical of Christ's priesthood." Presumption is a most dangerous sin. It usually comes as a result of familiarity. Jesus could do no mighty works in his own home town because of it. The wicked sons of Eli had their lives end in destruction because of such a familiarity with the things of God that they sinned in the house of God. Familiarity does breed contempt. It is our responsibility to walk in the fear of God. While we are "no longer servants but friends" of God, that doesn't mean He is our Buddy. A part of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was partly caused by familiarity. They lied to Peter and the "Holy Ghost" and died. People seem to forget that this incident occurred on this side of the Cross. This happened in the time of grace. This kind of sin of presumption could lead someone to prophesy out of their soul rather than by the Spirit of God. It could cause a leader to try to "make something happen" in a service. I heard one man say, "I would rather have a little wild fire than no fire at all"! Wild fire is a false anointing and says that God is doing something when He is not. That kind of presumption and familiarity will always bring death in one form or another. I was in a service once when the man leading the meeting called me down and pushed me down in front of the people, twice! I was taken off guard and being embarrassed, didn't know what to do. As I drove home that night the Lord spoke to me and said, "don't ever do that again. You just endorsed before the people a ministry that I have not endorsed." May God grant us the fear of God.

Correction

I wrote the following blog back on March 18 and have been asked to give some clarity to several comments. I am first of all happy that folks are reading the blog and secondly, I am happy that there is loving accountability in place. I have written my changes and or explanations in red in the text below. Order and Anarchy In civil society there is a rule of law, those guiding the interpretation of the law and those who enforce that law. It is very clear and concise. Those who break the law are stopped, judged according to the law and penalized for being lawbreakers. In the Christian world it gets much more complicated.(It shouldn't be more complicated but it sometimes is because we don't have the same level of natural authority to bring about enforcement. However, we do have the responsibility to deal with issues in a Biblical manner, trusting the Lord to bring about a resolution.) Even in Jesus' day there was not a little confusion over his so called crimes because civil authorities said that he had done nothing against their law. It was the religious world that prosecuted him and put him to death. Today, there are many things that are governed in our Christian circles, not by the world, because the world says no violation of the law has occurred, but by the Church. There is then, a rule of law within the Church(the Scripture), those who interpret that law but should we have those who enforce the law?(Probably the word "enforce" makes this unclear. Certainly, an offender should be challenged and dealt with Biblically. It is the responsibility of the elders to take such action.) Again, another struggle with which we often deal. We are told by the Apostle Paul in Scripture that we should choose elders in every church. Those elders are the governing fathers in each local assembly. These fathers, like the fathers in a home must set the parameters for the house or else rather than order, chaos will result. These elders have to begin with the Scripture and look at every situation within the light of this Truth. If a person is found in violation of God's order of things, the offender will hopefully hear the restorative, correcting words of his elders. But what if he won't? What if he chooses to go his own way and take others with him? What is the church to do then? (My point here and below is that if he chooses to go and take others then there is little we can do to stop him or them. However, I did not mean that we say or do nothing. On the contrary, he should be confronted and it should be clear that the elders are not in agreement with his decision and direction. That is why I say below:"The one rejecting the counsel of the plurality of elders is setting himself up as right and all others are wrong.") Unfortunately, I have had to deal with this dilemma many times and at great price. It is a dangerous time. The one rejecting the counsel of the plurality of elders is setting himself up as right and all others are wrong. Then he usually recruits others to his point of view, his perspective of his unjust treatment and points them toward his vision for a better world or church. I have come to the place where I no longer am willing to try to "stop them". (Of course the local church has the responsibility according to the Bible to follow the guidelines written there. )(Here again I was not clear. My comments mean that we are limited in what we can do and should do and beyond that a person will reap what they have sown") All I can do is to speak truth to them as best I know it at the moment. Then, if they choose a different way, I move on to another task. I have done my part. But, what about the offender? How will he be corrected so that others may see his error and people see that there is a penalty for breaking the law? He is now placed under a different order of things. He now falls under the powerful truth of "sowing and reaping". What about the poor people who follow him? Of course there are innocent people who may follow such a person and they are the true victims of lawlessness. (Clearly a statement needs to be made from the elders regarding the breech in covenant that has occurred so that people will know clearly the situation and hopefully will not follow him.) However, often the spirit of the offender bears witness with the spirit of lawlessness in his potential followers, thus an unholy alliance is formed.(I strongly believe this and have seen it many times.) In the beginning it usually looks like the group is getting away with it because no one is calling them to account. However, history proves that in time, the very laws that have been broken, the standard protocols of integrity, covenant and accountability that have been discarded serve as the judge, jury and the one passing sentence. Do I find pleasure in this fact? I am heartbroken every time it occurs. However, I no longer feel that I must be the defender of the order of the Lord.(By this I meant that after the elders have taken proper Biblical action, I feel no need to be a "policeman" for the Lord. I will do my part in speaking truth and leave it to the Lord without living in bitterness and unrest over the issue.) The Lord God Himself has already set that process in place. Don't allow yourself to take on false responsibility for that which the Lord will handle in His time. I hope this clears up any confusion. I welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you might have. Please email me at:lajoiner7@gmail.com

The Things We Have Learned

Today I am going to reprint a blog I wrote back in 2008 when I stepped aside from serving as Senior Pastor of New Covenant Church of Valdosta, Georgia. We had founded the church in 1980 and this is a list of principles that we learned on that journey. I hope something of value will come to you as you read this again.

“The Things We Have Learned”(excerpts)

I. We have learned: A new paradigm - There has been a lot said these last few years about new paradigms. A “paradigm” is defined as, “an example serving as a model; pattern.” We experienced the Lord molding us into a new paradigm, a new model over 28 years ago. Our new paradigm would primarily be one of ending the concept of simply “having church” and seeking to begin to “be the church”. We wanted “practical Christianity”. If it didn’t “work” in a practical way, it wasn’t any good.
We have always sought to be courageous in embracing new ideas. We want to be “innovators and not imitators”. We have always disliked and sought to avoid “fads”.



II. We have learned the necessity of The Centrality of the Scripture - The Lord led us to make sure we held the Scripture high as our guide and as our plumb line. Experience is a wonderful part of our walk with the Lord, but the Bible must be our final authority.



III. We have leaned the necessity of the Spirit Filled Life – From day one our cry has been the words of the Prophet Zechariah when he said, “'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts.



IV. We have learned that the ministry of Jesus in one of a “hospital to the hurting”. - We have sought to heal men and women one at a time, lead them to a place of wholeness to the point where they could become a part of the hospital healing team to help and heal others.
People are precious to Jesus and they must be precious to us. People must never be a commodity to help arrogant, self serving men fulfill their ministry vision.



V. We have learned to Embrace Diversity. - God sends special gifts to us with which we assist him in building His Church. All kinds of people and all kinds of talents. The challenge comes in walking out community with diversity in practical ways. The key is flexibility!



VI. We have learned to keep the wineskin flexible. – The wineskin is structure. It speaks of government and methodology. Government has always been very important to NCC, yet, we have always sought to hear fresh words from the Lord and have been willing to change or even admit mistakes and start over in areas when needed.



VI. We have learned to move slowly and especially in recognizing new leadership.
We have learned to try to raise up slowly members of our own family that have paid the price to go through our own “feeder system”. Then, we train and practice “slow release”. Our slower pace has proven to be frustrating for some but for the church as a whole, it has been a very healthy thing.



VII. We have learned the principle of Body Life and Ministry
Real relationship formation among our people is critical. Nowhere is that seen and practiced more fully than in our Home Churches(small groups). This is where people can be trained, ministered to and healed, and all within the atmosphere of family.



VIII. We have learned the importance of Body Ownership - People must feel it’s their church, their ministry. We have tried to make this happen by the “decentralization of the home office”. We have operated as “traffic directors” seeking to turn ministry back to our people rather than having people send the ministry to the church office. Ex. “The Priesthood of the Believer”.



IX. We have learned the concept of the Open Church with loving government. - All families need fathers. Our government seeks to give loving, fatherly oversight. Our leadership wants you to be able to live and minister in an atmosphere of freedom and liberty but still operating within the safety of oversight.



X. We have learned the healthy aspect of “Staying Clear” – Nothing will rob you of present day joy and sabotage your future more than a lack of forgiveness. We seek to practice forgiveness, reconciliation and restoration.



XI. We have learned to be liberal givers.

Order and Anarchy

In civil society there is a rule of law, those guiding the interpretation of the law and those who enforce that law. It is very clear and concise. Those who break the law are stopped, judged according to the law and penalized for being lawbreakers.

In the Christian world it gets much more complicated. Even in Jesus' day there was not a little confusion over his so called crimes because civil authorities said that he had done nothing against their law. It was the religious world that prosecuted him and put him to death. Today, there are many things that are governed in our Christian circles, not by the world, because the world says no violation of the law has occurred, but by the Church. There is then, a rule of law within the Church(the Scripture), those who interpret that law but should we have those who enforce the law? Again, another struggle with which we often deal.

We are told by the Apostle Paul in Scripture that we should choose elders in every church. Those elders are the governing fathers in each local assembly. These fathers, like the fathers in a home must set the parameters for the house or else rather than order, chaos will result. These elders have to begin with the Scripture and look at every situation within the light of this Truth. If a person is found in violation of God's order of things, the offender will hopefully hear the restorative, correcting words of his elders. But what if he won't? What if he chooses to go his own way and take others with him? What is the church to do then? Unfortunately, I have had to deal with this dilemma many times and at great price. It is a dangerous time. The one rejecting the counsel of the plurality of elders is setting himself up as right and all others are wrong. Then he usually recruits others to his point of view, his perspective of his unjust treatment and points them toward his vision for a better world or church.

I have come to the place where I no longer am willing to try to "stop them". (Of course the local church has the responsibility according to the Bible to follow the guidelines written there. ) All I can do is to speak truth to them as best I know it at the moment. Then, if they choose a different way, I move on to another task. I have done my part. But, what about the offender? How will he be corrected so that others may see his error and people see that there is a penalty for breaking the law? He is now placed under a different order of things. He now falls under the powerful truth of "sowing and reaping". What about the poor people who follow him? Of course there are innocent people who may follow such a person and they are the true victims of lawlessness. However, often the spirit of the offender bears witness with the spirit of lawlessness in his potential followers, thus an unholy alliance is formed. In the beginning it usually looks like the group is getting away with it because no one is calling them to account. However, history proves that in time, the very laws that have been broken, the standard protocols of integrity, covenant and accountability that have been discarded serve as the judge, jury and the one passing sentence. Do I find pleasure in this fact? I am heartbroken every time it occurs. However, I no longer feel that I must be the defender of the order of the Lord. The Lord God Himself has already set that process in place. Don't allow yourself to take on false responsibility for that which the Lord will handle in His time.