Archive for the ‘Kingdom Teaching’ Category

Radical New Leadership Model

Posted: September 4, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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Empowered Elders

Leadership in the Church should be different from leadership in the world. In the world leadership takes the form of a pyramid. There is a hierarchy of power with one person at the top. In contrast, leadership in the New Testament is always defined in the plural. No one is ever designated as the single leader of a local church.

However, for most of history, the church has moved towards the hierarchical model with the episcopal form of government. Even the modern independent churches have senior pastors above their elders and other pastoral staff. They are now moving even further towards hierarchy by creating a new breed of apostles, who will take a place in the pyramid above the senior pastors.

I believe that the New Testament calls us to a radically different model of leadership; a model which has never really been tried, except in the early church. This model is joint leadership by a team of leaders who are equal in status, but who bring different gifts to the leadership process. There should be no hierarchy or pyramid. The co-ordinating and directing role is assigned to the Holy Spirit.

The power of a team is greater than the sum of the abilities of its individual members. A team of leaders who are empowered and lead by the Spirit has the potential to be more effective than the pyramid model which is used in the world. As the church moves into a time of intense battle for the future of the world, an extremely effective model of leadership will be needed for the people of God. The church will never be victorious, while it relies on a leadership model borrowed from the world.

There are four important principles that are essential for this new leadership model to work. These are:

Plurality of Leadership
Fourfold Ministries
Discipleship
Replication of Ministries
All of these principles are important.

i) Plurality of leadership.

The principle of plurality of leadership is basic to the New Testament. Each church should be led by a team of elders (Acts 14:23). The minimum number would be three or four. A Church will be led by a group of elders working together.

The elders would all agree to submit to each other. None of the elders will make an important decision without the concurrence of the others. They will each give the others permission to speak into their lives to provide correction. All important decisions for the church will require a consensus among the elders. This principle of plurality of eldership provides covering and protection for the church. There will not be one elder who stands above the others. Having one leader at the top is both dangerous and unbiblical.

An example of this structure is found in the Church of Antioch, one of the most successful Churches in the New Testament. Luke tells us that in Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen and Saul (Acts 13:1). That is, there were five elders who led the Church together. There is no suggestion that one of these elders was the overall leader.

According to Acts 14:22,23, Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in every place where there was a group of disciples. This was all that was needed to make a group of disciples into a Church. Nothing more was needed. They never appointed a single pastor to take charge.

The circles in the diagram below represent the elders of a church. The lines represent their commitment to each other and the relationships between them. The strength of these links between the elders is the source of the strength of the church.

I have drawn a church with five elders. However, the number is not as important as the strength of the relationships between them. Even though they have different ministries, they must have strong relationships with each other. Maintaining these relationships will be almost impossible if there are more than about five leaders. (They will also be maintaining relationships with six or seven people whom they are discipling.) One person cannot relate in this way to more than about twelve people. Therefore if the number of elders increases to more than about five or six, the relationships between them will weaken and the covering will be broken and the strength will be lost. The chinks in the relationships will allow evil to get in.

Plurality of leadership has not been taken seriously by the church. It has long been normal in the church to have one person, usually a pastor, as leader. Even churches with elders will have a senior elder or pastor. The common cry in the church is “We need a pastor” or “We need a leader”. However, this desire for one man to lead is a consequence of the fall. Sinful people have a tendency towards slavery and domination (1 Samuel 8:6-9), but those who have been redeemed should have the same mindset.

The New Testament never states that a church should have “a pastor”. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in each church. They never left one man to run a Church or singled out one elder to be a senior elder or pastor. They “committed them to the Lord in whom they put their trust” (Acts 14:23). In Antioch there were “prophets and teachers”, not one pastor.

When Jesus ascended, he left his disciples with no one person to be the leader. He had carefully discipled them, and taught them to expect the Holy Spirit, but he deliberately avoided appointing a person to take charge. An attempt by two of the disciples to obtain a position of precedence was strongly challenged by Jesus (Mark 10:35-45). The disciples did very well without a single leader. (see Dangers of Leadership by One Person)

Plurality of leadership has not worked well in the world, as sin gets in the way. Sometimes, one of the leaders will try to dominate and take control. In other situations the leadership is divided and is paralysed by mistrust or bickering. Most people believe that because group leadership does not work in the world, it will not work in the church. They find it safer and easier to have one person in charge. However, the church should be different from the world, especially in its leadership. We need to understand the implications of Jesus command to “Love one another as I have loved you.” This command is particularly important for church leaders. It is the key to understanding how plurality of leadership can work.

Christian leaders should be free of the sinful emotions, attitudes and behaviour that divide and corrupt leaders in the world. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 outlines a set of attitudes that will enable several Christians to lead together. These attitudes are not easy, but they are very important. If they cannot be emulated between the elders, we cannot expect the church members to love one another. The commitment of the elders to loving each other is the key to how the body of Christ “grows and builds itself up in love” (Eph 4:16). Love at the top produces love throughout the body.

The best example of this leadership style is the Trinity. The Father said about the Son, “Listen to him”. However, Jesus said he could only do what he saw the Father doing. He also said it was better for him to go away, so that the Spirit could come; but the Spirit, when he came, gave glory to Jesus. Each of the members of the Trinity have absolute freedom and authority to exercise their perfect ministry. Yet each one honours and submits to the others. No one is in control. They demonstrate perfectly how three persons bound together by love can work together in perfect unity.

ii) Fourfold ministries

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul speaks of the role of elders. He lists four different functions that elders may have. An elder can be an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, or a pastor and teacher. These are not different offices, but represent different tasks that an elder may do. Each elder will fulfil one of these functions, according to the gifts that Christ has given him. Not everyone is an apostle or a prophet, but each one exercises the ministry to which God has called him. Whatever his gifts, the elder uses them to strengthen the people of God and to build up the whole Church. And while apostles, prophets, and evangelists are important, primary leadership in the Church will be exercised by elders who are pastors and teachers.

All of the ministries listed in Eph 4:11 will be represented in the church eldership. This gives balance to the church. Without this balance the church will not grow to maturity and unity.

At least one of the elders will be a prophet (R). He provides vision for the church and keeps it on the right track. He will ensure that there is an emphasis on holiness. At least one of the elders will be an evangelist (V). This will ensure that the church continues to grow. The rest of the elders will be pastor/teachers (P). They will ensure that new Christians are discipled and grow spiritually, leaving there old lives behind. There should be one of each of these three ministries in every church. There will be more pastor/teachers than evangelists and prophets. A balanced leadership will ensure that the church has the correct balance between evangelism, nurture and discipleship.

In the New Testament, teaching was done within a teacher/disciple or shepherding relationship, not by giving lectures. So pastor and teacher are not different ministries, but different ways of looking at the same ministry. Paul says that elders who teach are worthy of double honour (1 Tim 5:17). The elders to whom Paul is referring are pastor/teachers. The other elders are prophets and evangelists.

Moving into an ascension ministry is not a “great” or “heavy “thing. An Evangelist is a Christian who loves to reach the lost. A prophet is just a person who has a passion for truth and righteousness. A pastor is a Christian who loves to see people restored and nurtured. The church has made these ministries so “big” that only few can enter them. This has robbed the church. Most believers should be able to enter into one of these ministries.

The Role of the ascension ministries is fully described in a new book from Kingwatch Books. It also explains how they work together as elders.

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The elders would meet together on a regular basis to develop strong relationships with each other. It was at such a meeting of the “body of elders” that Timothy received the laying on of hands (I Timothy 4:14). At these meetings the elders would pray for each other, and for their Church. They would guide, encourage and teach each other. As a body they would exercise oversight over the whole Church.

Any decisions affecting the whole Church would be decided by all the elders, when they met together. If a church is based on relationships, rather than programmes, there will not be many decisions to be made. The only really big decision will be when to send out a new apostolic team.

When Jesus ascended to the right hand of God, he poured out the Holy Spirit. He also gave gifts to the church for building it up to maturity (Eph 4:8). The gifts he gave were apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor/teachers (Eph 4:11). Jesus obviously considered that all four of these gifts were necessary for the church to build itself up in love. Yet, we seem to think we can manage with only one, the pastor/teacher.

The modern church has been almost universally dominated by pastors. Prophets and evangelists have been sidelined to para-church organisations or itinerant ministries. Many evangelists, and some prophets, take appointments as pastors so that they can get into ministry. The ministry of the apostle has virtually disappeared. All churches want a pastor/teacher as leader. We have become so used to this, that most Christians cannot even imagine anything different. I do not know of any local church which has tried to set up a leadership structure that includes all four of these ministries.

Jesus was only able to lead his group of disciples on his own, because he functioned perfectly in each of these ministries. He is a pastor, a prophet, an evangelist and an apostle. However, a human leader can only function in one of these ministries. A church must have all these ministries to function effectively. Without an evangelist, a church will not grow, as it should. The church will need to adopt church growth techniques from elsewhere. Without a prophet, a church will be weak in vision and at risk of sinfulness. The pastor will often have to go and look at what has been successful in other churches to obtain a vision. I suspect that the reason that we have so many immature and weak churches is that we have not accepted the gifts of leadership that Jesus gave us.

All of the ascension ministries are needed for a local church to grow to maturity. Many of the spiritual gifts required will be manifested in other church members, but the ascension gifts must be manifested in the leadership of a church. One person cannot exercise all these ministries. This leaves no alternative but plurality of leadership.

We need to start taking the ascension gifts seriously. A local church should be led by a team of elders. At least one will be a prophet. At least one will be an evangelist. The others will be pastors/teachers. Each will bring different gifts and skills, but no one will take preference. No one person will be leader, instead different people will lead, depending on the situation and who has the gifts that the situation requires. This model of leadership will be extremely demanding. It will require incredible trust, loyalty, honesty, humility and love. Some will say it is too hard, but it is what Jesus expects of his leaders. It is what makes us different from the world.

iii) Discipleship

Every person who becomes a Christian will be discipled so that they grow to maturity. Discipleship means learning to be a Christian by following the example of another Christian. The disciple will be taught the truths of the Christian faith in the form of on-the-job training. The person discipling will provide correction if the disciple goes wrong. The person discipling will work in a very close partnership with the Holy Spirit. They will bathe the disciple in continuous prayer.

Submission to the eldership will be a condition of entry to the church. This is symbolised by their being inside the lines between the elders. I am not talking here about the heavy-handed submission that has damaged some churches and destroyed some Christians in some cults. Submission should not be a “heavy” thing. It is just a willingness by believers to allow more mature Christians to speak into their lives, by being teachable and willing to accept correction. Eldership is not about control, it is for protection and development.

Submission must always be voluntary. While Christians are in submission, they are protected from evil. Disciples should be free to leave at any time, if they do not accept the authority of the elders. The elder’s goal is to see them grow to maturity, not to build an empire.

Each church member will be submitted to one of the elders in particular and to all in general. Each elder will be accountable for some of the church members, but all elders will be able to speak into the life of any member. This will not be a very formal process. When a new member joins, one of the elders will say to another, “You look after this one” or “I’ll take this one”. Quite often, some of the discipling will be done by other mature members of the body. The elder responsible will just watch from a distance.

A new Christian will be taught the basics of the Christian life. They will have lots of questions. Some may need deliverance or healing. They will be taught to read the scriptures and to pray. The most important thing they will learn will be to hear God speak. This will allow the Spirit to work in their life. He will do most of the work.

The basic things should be covered within the first few weeks of their being a Christian. From then on it will be a matter of watching from close by. The elders may still need to answer an occasional question. The disciple may need an odd warning, “Have you prayed about that” or “What is God saying about that”. Prayer covering will be the most important part of discipleship.

Towards the end of the first year, the elder should start guiding the disciple into a ministry. They will help them to identify their gifts and calling and put them in contact with those who can teach them. For example, a potential pastor may start to assist with discipling even newer Christians.

Most of the discipling will be done by the pastor/teachers. The evangelist will be more occupied with preaching the gospel, than developing new Christians (unless they have an urge to evangelise). Prophets tend to have very high expectations of their disciples, with the result that they can easily be crushed. They will be more focused on developing holiness and vision in the whole church as a group. However, prophets will have a role in discipling potential prophets and evangelists will assist with discipling potential evangelists. Every member will need the ministry of the prophet from time to time. The evangelist will encourage all members to witness to Jesus. Sometimes new believers will be discipled by one of the other members of the church, with the more difficult aspects being handled by the elders.

Jesus managed to disciple eleven men successfully. Therefore it is unlikely that one elder would be able to disciple more than ten (c.f. Deut 1:15). This means the elders will be very focused. They will get very fast growth in their people. The danger when elders are spread too thin is that people do not grow. (One leader with 120 disciples will have no impact.)

iv) Replication of Ministries

Elders will replicate their ministries in their disciples (i.e. produce clones of themselves). This is an extremely important principle. Every person who has developed in a ministry, should be training up several people in that same ministry. In this way the ministries of the church will multiply. Multiplication of ministry is as important as multiplication of membership.

Potential evangelists will tend to be drawn to the evangelist. Potential prophets will be drawn to the prophet. Potential pastors will be drawn to the pastors. They will learn all that they can from them. That is why each elder is shown as having people with a similar ministry close to them in the diagram. Each elder will be developing some people who have potential to develop into a similar ministry. They will train someone to replace themselves if they are called to leave. Jesus said that everyone who is fully trained is like his master (Luke 6:40).

The true test of the quality of a church is what has happened to a person who became a Christian in the church three years earlier. Are they functioning in a ministry (Jesus disciples were)? If they are not, then the church is not functioning correctly. Is there a development path for the new Christian? Can they expect to be functioning in a ministry within three years? In a quality church this will be normal. (People who come to Christianity with severe problems, may take longer to grow to maturity, but they should be on the same path).

Key Points

The following points about this leadership model should be noted.

The strongest Christians are on the outside. The elders are on the edge providing protection for the church. Their protection comes through submission to each other.
The elders are held together by a strong bond of love and commitment. Unless they are submitted to each other, it will be dangerous for others to be submitted to them.

There is a clear distinction between being inside and outside the church. The lines represent the boundaries of the church. Their purpose is coverage and protection, not control. There will be no one sitting on the fence.
In the modern world it is no longer possible for the church to hold people in the church by fear or authority. If people are not happy, they will leave. The only way to hold people is to draw them in by love.
The love of Christ will be modelled in the relationship between the elders. This love will be replicated amongst the rest of the Christians.

Each Christian has strong relationships with other Christians. The relationships between the members are where the strength of the church resides. A key role of the elders is to build these relationships.

The newest Christians will be in the centre. They will be drawn to the centre by the love that will be evident in the church. The centre is the safest place to be, as they will be surrounded and protected from the world by many Christians. They will be surrounded and held in the centre by love that is real.

Everyone will be looking to the elders, so they will also be looking outward. For example the potential evangelists will be going out to share the gospel.

I am suggesting a radical change in the leadership model that is common in the conventional church. (If it does not seem radical then you have misunderstood what I am saying.)

This model provides excellent spiritual protection to everyone in the church.
One size does fit all

This leadership model should be applied at every level in the church. It is suitable for a small church or a large church. One person leadership is always dangerous and to be avoided.

A small house group, cell or house church should have four or five leaders who submit to each other. There will not be a full-blown pastor, prophet and evangelist. However, there should be one with prophetic tendencies, another with evangelistic leanings and one or two with pastoral gifts. Otherwise, the group will be unbalanced.

Large churches should also be led by a team of elders, which includes at least one prophet, one evangelist and several pastors As the church gets larger, someone with gifts of leadership (Rom 12:8) or a person with gifts of administration (1 Cor 11:28) may also be needed on the eldership team. I am not enthusiastic about large churches. However the principle of plurality of leadership is more important than the size of the church. The New Testament is clear about the former, but is silent about the latter.

At the other end of the scale, the leadership of the church in the city, should be a group, who are submitted to each other. Some will be pastors, but there should be at least one prophet and one evangelist. Some may be the key apostles in the city.

If the leaders of the church in a city are all pastors, they will be unbalanced.

One person cannot be Jesus.

It takes three people to represent God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One person cannot contain the fulness of the Spirit. It takes two or three to contain him. Therfore, only “shared leadership” can represent the fullness of God.

The best example of this leadership style is the Trinity. The Father said about the Son, “Listen to him”. However, Jesus said he could only do what he saw the Father doing. He also said it was better for him to go away, so that the Spirit could come, but when the Spirit came, he gave glory to Jesus.

Each member of the Trinity has absolute freedom and authority to exercise their perfect ministry. Yet each one honours and submits to the others. No one is in control. The Trinity demonstrates perfectly how three persons bound together by love can work together shared leadership. To manifest the full glory of the Trinity, the church must have shared leadership.

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Move over cause there’s a New Gospel message coming to your Church soon!!

Posted: September 2, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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As I listen more and more in regard to what is being passed off to the Body of Christ today as Gospel truth, I hear and sense a great depth of immaturity. This immaturity leads its listeners in the prison of shallow precepts according to men’s opinionated understanding of Gods Holy Word.

Now for the record I am not talking about immaturity based on physical age, I am referencing the maturity in Christ.

A couple of months ago, Holy Ghost really hit me when I read this quote, “When we balance the energy of youth with the experience of age, we will be most effective.” It happened while I was reading a devotional reading through Proverbs, and specifically this verse.

The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair. (Proverbs 20:29)

Yet in much of the Church today a fast growing trend we find that we have a younger generations who believes in part that the older generation had its chance and now its time to move aside as “they” have received a “new” revelation from God. I speak of this not as one on the outside looking in rather as one who once was trapped in the same way of thinking. I praise God the Father for bringing correcting into my life in this regard via Holy Ghost speaking to me both in the Word and through Godly men.

The problem with this trend of thinking is that it is deeply rooted in the standards of the world and not the Word of God. We can see how the cultural thinking of the world has swiftly been swept into the Body and passed of as being from God. But I can assure you of this, any revelation that is not directly rooted in the Word of God is error and not of the Lord. For His revelations testify of His authority and can be found in His Word. The world says we must replace the old with the new as what is being revealed today is on the cutting edge. Again I can assure you that if these new revelations do not line up with the Bible and found to be firmly rooted in the Word, they shall and do lack the power of God to render the listeners as spiritually, Kingdom of God liberated people.

The Church does not need a new revelation or a new Gospel message, the Church needs to go back to the firm foundation of the Gospel message Jesus & His disciples taught. We need a Holy Ghost cleansing of all this cultural gibberish and we need His Holy Ghost wind and fire to blow these philosophies of the world out the door.

I’ve heard it said that every great move of God as well as the next great move of God started and will start with the youth.

Really?

Can you show me this in the world of God? What is the Fathers opinion in regard to this thought process? Because I am not seeking mans thoughts on this subject, I am talking about this subject of revival, reformations and spiritual awakenings of which He has laid out in His Word for all of us to read.

Is it not a truth that when we have meetings built upon and based on the opinions of men, vacant of the Word and totally void of sound Biblical wisdom and we dare to call it a Christian meeting, we are in danger of seeing souls lost and Hell’s advancement in the lives of the listeners? We must, in all cases allow the gift of discernment to be fully functioning, for the enemy is slick at allowing a few scriptures in yet they are twisted to the opinions of man.

How mans opinions have destroyed many lives, even nations. We must realize that our opinions need to be twisted and shredded till they conform to the opinion of God the Father. We must put on the Mind of Christ in all matters.

We must understand that God will never purpose a matter that goes against His wisdom found in His Word. Nor will He set aside what He has already said on matter and back track and turn in a different direction.

Over the past few generations we have witnessed this worldly mind set change the landscape of our society and nation as a whole. Out of selfish ideas and lack of respect for our seniors, we have tucked them away along with the wise insight they have in the name of progress only to see a nation loose its identity as on Nation under God founded on Biblical (Kingdom) precepts. In the market place we have suffered greatly, in the schools we have suffered greatly and most of all in the Church we have suffered the greatest loss, for rarely will we find true fathers & mothers in the faith activated and serving in the Church.

I’ve listened to many people state that they believe the revival to ring in the next great age of planet earth will involve the coming together of the passionate young people of the next generation and the brave, receptive, wise older people who will embrace what the Spirit is doing, yet be found setting on the sidelines. Now I will agree that when we see the passion of the young combined with the wisdom of the old to produce a wineskin that will receive and contain the new wine of God’s great end time outpouring is some. I believe that we can see clearly see in the scriptures with a solid Biblical foundation

Now there are cynical critics who, not taking in to consideration the power of Gods transforming Word and Spirit, actually believe and confess that people who have passed a certain age often become hardened in the religious form of a revival of the past. They will tell you that the older people become attached to what happened in the past instead of embracing what God is doing now. That the young have not yet experienced what they saw years ago and are not impressed by their ancient revivals (Guess we need to erase Rev 12:11 out of the Bible).

Such talk has birthed a movement of young people, who like the “ Occupy wall street movement group” are seeking present expressions of God that are real to them and they desire to do it according to their way taking not into the consideration of the things that led up to the Lord’s outpouring. They are passionate for God in their own unique and liberating way and seek present expressions of God that are meaningful to them, thus adopting many cultural trends of the world today and they will rebel against anything from the older days claiming them as being “outdated”.

We must understand, God is seeking older believers who will let the Holy Spirit move in their lives apart from the religious boundaries they have created. They have wisdom that comes from age but they may have allowed their passion for God and His life to wane. The older ones must not forsake the wisdom that God has produced in their lives but they must allow Him to rekindle their passion for His presence.

At the same time the Holy Spirit is seeking young people who are passionate for God and also able to receive the wisdom offered by their older brothers and sisters. God wants spiritual mothers and fathers to come along side of the young spiritual children of the next generation. Young people must respect those who have gone before them and open up to what they have to offer, and the older saints must respect and open to the spiritual passion of the young.

Scripture bears this out. God used the older saints to announce the coming of the Messiah. Simeon was there by the Spirit when the parents of Jesus brought Him to the temple. He announced that this baby was indeed the Christ (Luke 2:25f.). He was an old man declaring revelation from God to young people of the next generation. Likewise, Anna, an elderly woman, bore witness of the Christ (Luke 2:36f.). In essence, Simeon and Anna were passing on to the next generation the revelatory wisdom of the older generation.

Unfortunately, in today’s programmed Churchianity we tend to divide the church by age. The younger ones are sent to their own place to worship in their unbridled passion and the older ones go off somewhere else to worship in their way. How much better it would be for the generations to mingle and share what they have and submit to one another.

Paul tells us to “Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another” (Rom. 12:10, KJV). I don’t believe that Paul would have made a differentiation between the young and the old. Neither should we. Regardless of our age we should honorably prefer one another. The young and the old should both honor those of a different age.

I know that many church leaders disagree with this; they see it with the belief that since the young people are the main thrust of the coming revival that they should be favored in all aspects of activity and the older ones should submit all that they prefer to the younger ones. I have been in worship times where the music was set to the decibel level and style of the youth to the extent that older people were hiding behind the pews covering their ears.

Our leaders must be must be aware as to exactly how tragic it is when:

A. The church ignores the needs of the young and functions completely according to the desires of the older believers.

B.. The church ignores the needs of the older ones for the sake of the young.

We can clearly read in the Word of how Paul admonished the churches when they are gathered to “Let all things be done for building up” (1 Cor. 14:26). In the gathering of the saints of all ages each person should be seeking to build up all of those who are there. “All things” in the gathering are to be for that purpose.

It comes down to seeing Spirit birthed and Spirit drawn unity in the Body and only in this way can the old benefit from the passion of the young and the young benefit from the wisdom of the old.

This is very important; if we continue to divide up according to age and ignore one another we will hinder the move of the Holy Spirit. In so doing we cater to the world’s way of emphasizing the youth while disparaging the old.

But I can tell you this truth; there is absolutely no need for a New Gospel Model. If we are of the opinion that the gospel message of Jesus and the disciples that is found in the Word is outdated then we need to fall on our knees in repentance and ask God to forgive us for devaluing His Word and ask Holy Spirit to transform our minds till we are of the opinion of God according to His Word.

Now, if all age groups can not worship, fellowship and minister together in the unity of the Lord, what does that say to the world? That our God can not even bring peace among His own, why should we surrender and serve such a God.

The disciples in the Book of Acts would rightly have a just case to tell us “Shame on you for conforming to the world in this manner!

Even though this saddens me, I know it grieves the Spirit even more to look out across the American Church landscape and see how many Churches do turn the Church over to the trends of the youth, and do such for the sake of the large crowds that can be attracted and the income that can be generated. Our goal must be to love the Lord and His people. If we say we love the Lord but despise and segregate a segment of His church for selfish motives, something is wrong. Our commission is to build up the body of Christ, not a segment of it.

Now again, we must realize that we have the cynical critics out there who will make claims that this is impossible in today’s American culture. We are youth oriented, they will say, and that’s just the way it is. Yet the response of the Lord to this would be;,

My church is not to be fashioned according to the principles of the world. My holy bride is being shaped by My Holy Spirit, who has been sent forth to gather My people together under the banner of Love. Stop conforming yourselves to the way of America but be transformed by the power of My word, which cannot be compromised. Come together in Love and you will see fleshly distinctions dissipate and disappear. My kingdom is not of this world and those who would dwell in it must submit to its King and His ways. The god of this world has infused you with his divisive ways and you have bowed down to his disruptive tactics. It is time to come again to Me and submit to My ways

We must understand that the scriptures testify to the fact that the church is not a fleshly organization! It is a spiritual organism that is not governed by the rules of the flesh. When we try to let the church function by fleshly principles we make it into a man-made program instead of the body of Christ. No wonder we are failing to change the world but are being changed by the world. We have decided to operate by its rules instead of responding to the divine presence of our God.

I am going to step out and be bold here when I loudly make this claim to you now that I believe the Lord clearly points out in His Word that the end time church will not be a human organization governed by men and their ideas. It will be a divine expression of Christ Himself upon the earth. It will function by the Spirit and will roll over the fleshly façade of the enemy like a steam roller over a wicker basket.

We can either join the Spirit of God, as He continues to transform the Lords Bride into what the Father has desired it to be and it will encompass young and old, male and female, rich and poor, and every race of man. For, He did not die so that we could go our way and do our thing. He died to purchase us with His own blood and possess us for His will. We are not our own. We belong to Him.

Or we can stand in His way and be rolled over by His Holy will, left sitting with the world on the side lines.

But we must take a stand now and reject any doctrine that tries to come in and replace the doctrine of Jesus Christ. We must reject any other Gospel message save that of the Lord’s. We must make a stand upon the foundation of Gods Holy Word and not be moved by the trends of this world, nor by the emotions and dictates of any age group. God has given us His Word at a Great cost and we must never be moved from its foundation, Period.

We must not allow the wisdom of the worldly mind set and trends govern our meetings, our preaching nor ministry. We must be a people who are of, and who are operating in the culture of Gods Kingdom, as outlined in His Word and we must treat any opposing doctrine as a treasonous act and expel it at all cost, even if it means people leaving the Church and the Tithe basket shrink – For Our God is our support, from whom all blessings flow.

We can no longer allow the such insurrectionists movements that have
been secretly and seductively weaving its worldly teachings and formulas into the Body. They are of the devil and though masked as messages of light, they are spawn spirits of hell with a goal of removing the foundational principles of which our Lord and His apostles laid, as written in the Word.

We have seen such deception come in many ways, such as the past 20 years in regard to the trend of weaving in social justice programs and passing them off as part of the Gospel message of Jesus, yet with spiritual eyes open one can clearly discern them as having been motivated and fueled by liberal demands, again even though appear to be Biblical, with inject scriptural references and all. Such doctrines actually run contrary to the doctrines of the Kingdom of God and are not Biblically sound. Such teachings and trends must be exposed for what they are for they are nothing but poison, dressed as holy, yet not of the Lord.

This is why we must walk in spiritual unity with a mutual respect for the wisdom and discernment of both young and old.

Let us get back to holding Gods Word higher than the wisdom of this world, higher than the voice of reason. Let us return to holding Gods Word as sacred, Holy and true with a reverent fear of every Word found and let us turn the pulpits back to the same fear as well, for our God is not just any god, He is the Lord God.

No Mr. Satan, we will not move out of the way for any other gospel message – we are fully content and completely satisfied with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ as written in the Holy Word of God.

It’s Time to take it to the Extreme Level of Discipleship

Posted: August 29, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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Just about 3 years ago, after spending several months in the Book of Act’s and having read David Platt’s; Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream , Holy Ghost brought me to a place of Holy conviction because my life was not in line with what the Bible describes as a true disciples of Jesus Christ. During this time of repentance and seeking the truth according to the scriptures and not those of men, I made this declaration to my Savior, Lord, King and Master Jesus Christ: “I spent the first 45 years of my life trying to startle the fence between the world and the Kingdom. I want to spend the rest of my life trying to be radical.” When we study the Bible and the great movements of God we find that All history shapers are radical, and I believe it’s time for believers everywhere to take on this attribute.

There have been times during this period that I have lost friendships, been called an outsider, been scorned by the very leaders I had looked up to. It has cost my family fellowshipping with those we had attended Church with for years. There has been a cost and I believe there will continue to be a cost. But I can not remain silent where I see error. I can not stand by and watch good hearted people be drawn to a powerless gospel that will lead them to Hell, when we have been giving the authority to walk in the power of Holy Ghost and release the True Gospel of Jesus Christ, just as He and His disciples taught and lived it.

I adhere to the teachings of Christ, having read and continue in the reading od the thoughts and religion recipes of man. I can not but weigh all things against the Word of God. That which does not line up with His Word, I throw out and sound the alarm that others do not fall into its evil religious trap.

In the Word I read the following commands of the Lord that can not be watered down nor ignored by those who desire to be His true disciples;

The Lord called us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. That’s radical.

Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. That’s radical.

Our Lord God said we are to preach the gospel to every person on earth and turn all nations into His followers. That’s radical.
So the question at hand is “What does it really mean to be radical servant of God today according to the doctrines of Jesus Christ? “A true radical is one who defies the whims of his times and calls people back to root realities and root causes.

To be honest, the Church is not impacting the world in the manner Jesus calls us to. We have built empires unto men, schools that are tainted with worldly philosophies. Today more than ever before the greatest need in the body of Christ is for radical followers of Jesus Christ who are anchored in:

• truth, not emotional, worldly and philosophical based thoughts of man
• grace, not legalistic religion
• faith, not skepticism
• discipline, not indolence
• history, not fads
• hope, not despair.

So we truly see that yes, the greatest need in the Church today is the need for radical disciples of Jesus Christ who are anchored in Christ and the assurance of His global glory. “We who have fled to Him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to His promise with confidence. This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls” (Heb. 6:18-19, NLT).

I am tired of the religion being taught in our Churches today, tired of the seeker friendly message, the feel good messages and the focus on what we can get out of following God rather than what God can produce through us as we line up obediently to what His Word calls us to be. I want to be a truly radical follower of Jesus: rooted in Him, extremely in love with Him, extremely devoted to Him and His cause. The acrostic below spells out for me the components of a radical life fully given over to Jesus:

Revelation. True radicals live by revelation drawn from intimacy with Jesus.

Anointing. True radicals are anointed by the Holy Spirit.

Discipline. True radicals retain that anointing by practicing historic Christian disciplines.

Integrity. True radicals are those whose public persona is matched by private purity.

Courage. True radicals follow the truth, speak the truth and call people to the truth.

Anchored. True radicals are anchored in history and hope; in the Word and the Spirit.

Love. True radicals are driven by the love of God at work in them by the Holy Spirit.

One theologian observed that the great revolutions in the history of Christianity do not occur by discovering something new. Great revolutions happen, he stated, when someone takes radically something that has always been there. Martin Luther took the simple gospel message of justification by faith radically. John Wesley took the simple message of biblical holiness radically. William Seymour took a present-tense encounter with the Holy Spirit radically. There are countless, known names as well as the nameless servants of the Lord who have over the past 2000 plus years as well as in our day, in our day take the Masters teaching in regard ministering “to the least of these” radically.

Brothers & sisters I believe with all my heart that this is the day for us to take Christ’s Great Commission radically. I believe it is the hour for us to go forth with radical faith, radical commitment and radical love and usher in His second coming by making disciples of all nations. We can’t start a revolution by being worldly and full of man made religious doctrines.

Let’s get radical!

Jesus does not want Luke warm followers – He desires Radicals

Posted: August 26, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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Jesus does not want Luke warm followers – He desires Radicals – in fact He clearly state states that if we are not radical about following Him He shall spit us out of His mouth. (Rev 3:16)

As the return of the Lord draws closer and closer, I believe we the Church are in a very crucial season and the enemy know that is is bringing great confusion into the Body. I see this especially as we look at calling of man verses the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ in regard to “Grow or Discipleship” As we look at what the word disciple means we need to realize the enemy is out to destroy, twist, distort and pervert the teachings of Christ and today we are challenged with some real misconceptions of discipleship and what radical discipleship looks like.

So today let us ask the question what does disciple in the Bible really mean?

The word disciple comes from a Greek word which means, someone who not only learns but becomes attached to one’s teacher and becomes his follower in doctrine and conduct of life. In other words a disciple is someone who walks in the footsteps of his master or emulates his lifestyle.

Let us ask this question of ourselves today – Does my life emulate the life of Jesus?

There are a number of initiatives over the years that have been fruitful and not so fruitful. If we do not allow Holy Ghost to direct us, and together spend time in prayer and the Word we can end up leaning more on mans leadership than that of the Father.

We have seen this in our generation such as the of discipleship teachings that came out of the “Shepherding movement” which brought forth a perversion of discipleship teachings. In all honesty it birthed a season of “perverse and unbiblical obedience” to leaders. Many still struggle with these teachings today. Only the allowance of Holy Ghost to have the freedom to bring forth the Fire of Gods purity into our hearts and meetings can be a safe Spiritual wall against the influence of such dark deceptive doctrines, though they appear to be gentle as sheep these doctrines are wolves who seek to scatter and destroy the Lords sheep.

We must seek the Father guidance and come to the realization that there is more to this Christian life than what many are living. We must realize that the call of Christ on ever person who proclaims Him as Lord is a radical call.

If we open the Word of God and read it under the “Super-Vision” of Holy Ghost, we will indeed see that true Biblical discipleship if anything is radical. This is chiefly because it was taught and practiced by a leader who was more radical than his contemporaries. What he said and did practically blew the myths of leadership, and traditional views of serving God. Christ’s discipleship model is so radical because of its call, the cost and the rewards.

And to quelch the negative narrative that many will try to inject here by claiming that I am speaking about “work-based” salvation, let it be known that I believe that salvation is a free gift from God; you don’t have to do anything to earn it but everything else after getting saved is costly. If you ask the early disciples, the church reformers or any great men and women of God what price you must pay in following Christ, they would unashamedly without any hesitation would echo the very words of Christ who said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever looses his life for me will find it.” Let these words deeply sink into our hearts.

We must not be fooled by the watered down gospel being taught in many Churches today. My friends the Gospel truth is, following Christ comes with a huge price tag attached to it. It calls for a life style of self denial, giving up of our rights, and willingness to go through suffering, pain, heartache and possibly death. What comforts or pleasures are you willing to deny yourself in order to know Christ? It is about time that we stop fighting; grumbling and quarreling among ourselves over who will make the next meat balls and spaghetti meal and as a Church take a deeper look at radical discipleship.

Sadly many “leaders” in the Church are playing a game with the Lord’s sheep today, they are like political leaders vying for the most sheep that they may be seen as a great leader whose Church is the largest one in the city, thus their anointing must be seen as superior to all the other shepherds in the territory. They love titles and you will see them amass them like badges of honor “doctors, bishops, rev, apostles etc – some will even be Rev, Pastor Dr, author, apostle so and so, as though by displaying their titles brings honor – Oh they will get the honor here for sure and then stand before the Father and answer why they sought to steal the honor and praise of His people meant for His Son.

Yet while we sit around deliberating on the merits and challenges of radical discipleship there are literally thousands of our brothers and sisters who are paying the price with their lives because of their obedience to the call of their master. I was moved and deeply challenged by the stand that young Iranian Pastor Yousuf took, though he was offered freedom from execution simply if he confessed that, Mohammed is the great prophet of God but he simply refused to deny his master and prepared to die. What an example of a radical disciple of Christ.

Are your ears open today – Do you not hear the alarm sounding across the land? Do you not here the Master Jesus Christ calling you for a radical discipleship. Are you willing to pick up your cross and follow Jesus? May the Lord help all of us with courage to radically follow Him, even if it means loosing our lives? My prayer is that all of us will hear the words of Jesus at the end of our life’s journey that are recorded in Rev 2:7, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Amen

So you think your radical

Posted: August 21, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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As radical disciples of Christ Jesus we give radically, sacrifice radical, and we are dedicated to radical obedience to God & His Word not because we believe that by such works we shall enter heaven. Rather it if because of the outward expression of the inward experience of all that the Father has poured into their lives via Holy Ghost. I serve Christ not because I am ordered to, I serve because His love propels me to do so with a rejoicing & joyful overflow.

I do not have the right to judge others in regard to the depth of their service to the Lord – but the Word is the weight and measure of all things and when I see those who claim to be sold out to Christ having no compassion for the lost, the helpless, the homeless, the widow and the orphans I often wonder if they have read the same Bible that I have read.

Jesus’s life, death and resurrection call all who call upon His Name and believer that He is the Son the of the living God to a higher standard than that of the world. It calls us to be separated from the fleshly indices, the lure to walk in darkness and the carnality of what this world has to offer.

I have to question how much damage the false, watered down gospel of our day has done to the Body. How many have been fooled into believing they are truly the Lords disciples while they still serve the prince of darkness.

I hear the true stories of the saints in other parts of the world who give their very lives for the gospel. They accept death rather than denouncing Jesus as their Lord. They are beating, tortured, and even watch their family members be put to death because of their devotion to be disciples of Jesus Christ. They are radically in love with Jesus and they have abandoned their lives to a radical service to God the Father.

And then I see the picture of the westernized Church. I have witnessed many who claim to love Jesus, yet their to busy to be His hands and feet. There are to busy with the things of this world to take the time to give a cup of water to one who is thirsty. They need to make sure all their needs are meet first and if that person is lucky they just might give them a few bread crumbs at best.

We see a whole generation going to Hell yet we have no time to mentor, no time to help, no time to serve which in reality makes a loud proclamation that we really have no time to LOVE.

It causes a heaviness in my heart when I ponder how many have said a little prayer that causes them to feel they shall spend eternity in heaven only to get there and here the words “Depart from me for I know you not”?

In the same way how many have been fooled in to a gospel filled with legalism and a salvation that is based upon works and earning our way into heaven shall hear the same words?

If each believer could just tap into the Love of God, if they just cry out to Holy Ghost to baptize them in His mercy and Grace they shall be renewed and for once have a true “First Love” experience with the creator of heaven and earth.

Again, a radical disciples serves out of gratitude, honor and joy for all that the Father has given them in the same way that we would give the world to that special someone when we first experience a love for them.

A truly radical Christian is sold out to the ways of the Kingdom. Their hearts are set to the heights of heaven and they look forward with an eagerness that out weights anything this world has to offer, too spending eternity with Jesus Christ, Their Savior, Lord, King, and Master.

Where is your heart today friend?

Is it more connected to the things of this world or to Jesus?

We must radically love Jesus above everything else, if indeed we are to be known as His true disciples. It is a call to a radical sold out, Christ Jesus or nothing else lifestyle.

We serve a radical Master who is seeking radical servants to whom He can commission to fulfill His desire and will on this earth – yet He is so radical that He calls them not slaves, but friends.

Here is a radical statement – If you cant find the time to love those around you, especially the ones who no one else wants to love – Stop calling yourself a Christian – For Jesus has commanded that all His disciples live a life of radical LOVE

Having been with the Master

Posted: August 20, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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“…..They realized that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

There is a sense of truth that we are know by those whom we associate with as well we are known by the Church we attend. But Kingdom reality is that all who call on the Name of Jesus Christ should radiate to the world that they have been with Jesus.

How do people see you?

Let us all strive to be known as having been with Jesus – this can only be accomplished by spending time with Him in His Word and in prayer!!!!!!!

For when you have soaked in His presence all legalism is destroyed, sin no longer has power over you and you can live is total liberation regardless of what this world may throw at you.

” Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.” Jonathan Edwards

Today I shall live for no other reason or desire save that of Christ Jesus my Savior, my Lord, my King and my Master!!!!!

The burden of the seed planter

Posted: August 6, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. (Isaiah 6:8-13)

I have found that operating in the prophetic and having the gift of evangelism can at times be trying. Especially when you here a directive from the Lord, you feel the intensity of the Fathers passion and you share it to those whom the Lord desires to hear it and there is absolutely no response. I can imagine how the Lord felt when but Peter stepped out of the boat and the others remained in it. There are times when I can look out and see a huge web covering people and when I asked the Holy Ghost about it He said it was a “web of complacency” that was being feed by doubt and self absorption.

For the Father has awesome plans and gifts for all of His Children yet the majority as in over 90% of those who have called upon His Name receive them. Not because He has not desired them to have them rather that they are so busy with their own lives and their own agenda’s they have never asked Him what His desire was.

Many disciples today are like soldiers in the battle field with out ammunition for their weapons because they never took the time to enter the storehouse to get armored up. Like a child with a new B.B. gun they are more interested in playing with it rather than taking the time to fill it, read the directions and use it as it was purposed to be used.

Every week I see countless people who claim the name of Christ walking with down cast spirits, always defeated and never experiencing true joy. I have begun to understand how the Lord felt as He stood looking over Jerusalem weeping. And to really to the full revelation of “Many are called, but few are chosen”. Again it is not because the Lord only desires a few to experience His Kingdom in its fullness for He would all of His Children – it is because few take the time to ask, seek and knock.

O, they might say a quick prayer, they might look for a few minutes and they may tap the doors of Heaven once or twice but they lack the patience and the desire to keep asking, til the Father answers, to keep seeking that He may show them and to keep knocking that the awesome things He has for them may be revealed.

No, the majority of Christians today are birthed into a generation who has become accustomed to instant gratification and desire a “Fast-Food” type religion. They can not begin to grip the understanding of “Wait upon the Lord” or to those who endure,m they shall be counted as those who are the over-comers.

The Churches are filled with illusionist, who paint a picture of Christianity that has no call for sacrifice, no room for the word obedience and no place for faithful labor – they paint a false picture of the Kingdom as being filled with all our dreams being meet by a big sugar daddy in the sky.

The sad thing is that in our day everyone wants a place of position being worshiped by others – mere man pleasers, they believe they are owed the reward’s and demand a fire filled revival all to the glory of their name but none are willing to pay the cost. The saddest part of this is that in the end they shall be like the many who did not enter into the promised land, for they desired not to wait upon the Lord.

As it was then, so is today in that the Father is seeking a Joshua mentality, those who will walk in faith regardless of what they see in the natural, for they have surrendered their eyes, ears and dreams unto the Lord and are walking with supernatural vision seeing what shall be, for indeed they know that God the Father has the best in-store for those who desire nothing but His Will.

In the end of my questioning the Lord as to why so few want to take part in the Harvest, He simply said to remain being faithful in planting the seed, Holy Ghost will go forth and water it and in the end each ones is left with their own Will choose. Even if but one seed takes root, is watered and nourished till it grows and produces fruit it have been been worth it.

I thought, Wow if the Father is not worried about numbers why are so many leaders in the Church today concerned with numbers. Holy Ghost responded quickly with “They have their agenda, the Father has His desire”.

None the less I will continue to sow His Word, I will continue to labor in the Harvest and I will continue to weep for those who hear but do not respond. I and many others are not laboring in vain but merely keep on walking in obedience to His call knowing that is but His commissioned call to do so.

The Lord is indeed calling forth a radical generation – men and women who shall deny themselves, the things of this world and follow after Him. even if it leads them to death and all to the Glory of His Name. Their names shall be of no mentioned popularity among the popular crowds, yet their testimonies shall ignite the Fires that shall burn across the Greatest Harvest known to mankind – The Great & final Harvest.

Nature itself is crying out for the Lord’s return – Heaven is thundering in anticipation of the Champion of champions breaking forth from the Throne room to come and claim that which His rightfully His, His Bride!!!!

Are you radical enough to say no to the status quo of Christianity that is being practiced throughout the land today? Purposeless, powerless, passionless, and spiritless religion that has imprisoned the masses but for the glory of men and the prince of darkness?

Jesus never gave the disciples a choice of following Him or someone else in order to be His disciple. He straight forwardly said “Follow Me” and they followed.

Today He is asking the same question, the same way “Follow Me”. Are you willing to forsake everything and follow the Master?

If you said yes get ready to experience the Kingdom like never before – Ask Holy Ghost to take you through the Word of God and Show you the Fathers desire for you, the way to live, think and believe that you to may be numbered amongst the chosen one. Ask Him to birth in you a passion for prayer and a passion for worship that you may be led by the heart beat of the Father.

The reward is eternal – an eternity of being in the presence of the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Master, Jesus Christ.

Yes my friends, today is the day that you can step in the ranks of the Army of God, led by the Champions of champions,, Jesus, the Only begotten Son of the Living God. Take that step brother & sister – that you can mark this day on your calendar as the the day that you become a radical disciple of Jesus Christ – asking, seeking and knocking that you may find your self positioned to be all that the Father intended you to be.

Its time to stop reading about feats of the disciples in the Bible and start living our own – its time to become as radical as the disciples in the Book of Acts – to begin walking in the power & authority that Christ has been giving for us – its time to release the Glory of the Lord til it covers the earth!!!!!

Written by Russ Welch

A word of caution for those seeking the Perfect Church!

Posted: July 22, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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By Russ Welch

One of the most troubling things for me today is to see those who are seeking the perfect Church. For they often fall prey to false doctrines in regard to the Bride of Christ and become ensnared with a -rebellious and strife-full spirit. Trust me when I speak of this for I have personally been down that road to the extent that I felt all traditional Churches were of devil and the only true Church was that of the house Church, Yet in the journey down that rabbit trail I found that either they were mini models of the big Church or a group of people who had become separatist, had an elitist mentality (they were right everyone else was wrong) did not evangelize, sat around complaining about the “traditional Church”,and or they simply refuse to fellowship with anyone especially those who attend a Church in a building. (I am not implying all House Churches are of this nature – I did attend some that were filled with love)

I thank and praise the Father for the eye opening wisdom which Holy Ghost poured into my life, the discipline of the Father through rebuke & correction via both His Word and His servants as well as His mercy making room to repent for my calling what is of the Lord (no matter how imperfect) unholy.

Truth be told, neither the traditional nor house Church will be found to be the perfect Church. Each has its error as each in some way or another is still in the hands of humans.

A never ending search
If we are truthful, we will admit that we live in a day that finds many in search of the “perfect” church. Many are simply seeking a place to have their hearts warmed and ears tickled. As well there are those who diligently seek that one denomination or church body that is in total harmony. Where everything runs as it should. Where everyone is so holy the halos are almost visible. A place where every point of doctrine is identical with what we personally believe. Where every part of the worship service is exactly the way we like it. A group where each and everything within that church is exactly what we think it should be. When something doesn’t go exactly as we think it should. When we find a few minor points of doctrine that we disagree with what we believe. When we don’t find the perfection we seek. We move on to another church, thinking it might be “the” one.” Yet what is the end of our search? We never find what we’re looking for. Because the “perfect” church doesn’t exist and it never will – at least, not until the Lord returns.

I constantly run across people who are seeking a Church in which they have to submit to no one, that the only voice and only teacher they need is Holy Ghost, they reject all authority. And so many, like I myself was misled, proclaim they have read the Word, which has brought them to current revelation. In all reality we find a vast amount of what they are speaking is just contrary to the teaching of Christ and His apostles. Take the position of “One only needs the Holy Spirit as a teacher” – can we ignore the scriptures? For in them we find one of the gifts given to the Church by the Father is that of “Teacher”. As well it is clearly stated in scripture that we are all called to submit one unto the other.

If one were to truly listen to Holy Ghost, He would show them that there are solid Biblical fellowships out there, both that meet in (Oh no) “BUILDINGS” hold onto your stones, as well as those who meet in homes. I thank the Lord for His guidance in opening my eyes to this truth and bringing me to the place where I see such fellowships, and have been connected to such fellowships that are truly thriving in the love of God, operating in the liberty of the Spirit without fear of one taking over the other, for they trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit and are able to trust Him as they submit one to another, even though they too are not perfect yet they seek to honor the Prefect One.

We have many groups and individuals who fell prey to the whispers of Hell because of being hurt unjustly in the Church or having a heart of bitterness and resentment rooted in pride that caused them to become isolated. This does not mean that they are bad people, they are still of the Bride and must be loved, ministered to that the Lord may heal their hearts and restore them to the fellowship with other believers.

We also have a rebellious group, who fell for false doctrine and have become wolves of the faith, seeking but to gather like-minded individuals to their groups and cause dissension in the fellowships causing great harm especially to young believers and they come under the guise of desiring total unity when in reality they seek to destroy any and all unity. Though they speak of having “no leaders”, they are inwardly hungry to lead and as such seek but to steal other believers from Churches and fellowships to attain they status of “True leadership”. They will prey on the wounded and broken hearts and the young immature believers.

Two very dangerous and often stumbling positions in a wounded believer and a young Christians life is that of:

A. Pride
Such as thinking they know it all and need not have anyone correct them in regard to the Word. (This list could be a blog in itself – so I will keep it short here)

B. Erroneous doctrines & false teachers
That of running into those who totally lack spiritual wisdom and spiritual maturity in regard to the Lord’s Bride, – especially in regard too who the Bride is made of and where He calls His Bride to to meet.

Now either and or both of these dangerous positions can lead a believer to the point of spiritual depravity in that they become disconnected, become open to the enemies ability to bring in false doctrines, confusion, disappointments and ultimately empty their vessels of Spiritual fuel, till they fall to the place that they simply burnout and turn away from not only from the Bride, but from the Lord all together.

We must put away false and divisive doctrines!
We must put away separatist doctrines that bring division and stop looking for the perfect “Church” and start loving, praying for, and sharing the gifts God has placed in our lives with those for whom He has connected us – in other words get off our high horses called pride and spiritual arrogance and seats of judgment and enter in to the fields of labor, for the harvest is ripe!!!

We need to be very cautious that every book we read we do not take for the gospel or that every person who calls themselves a disciple of Jesus is truly that, for we have the warnings of those vicious wolves spoken of by our Lord and His apostles. This is why the Father sent Holy Ghost, that He would lead us into all spiritual truth and yes He does speak through other believers as well as the Word so don’t waste your time waiting for the cloud to cover you and a thundering voice to call out to you, or a bush to burst into flames as you walk by, calling out your name, or for that Angel to appear with a flaming sword and a scroll from Heaven. (Although the Lord could do such, if He so chooses after all He is God)

We must be as the “Bereans.”
We read in Acts 17:11, of how the Bereans were commended because they listened to everything that Paul said, and then went home and checked the Scriptures (our Old Testament) to see whether what Paul said was true. Learn to do the same thing. Make sure you have your Bible with you, and read along with what the Pastor or teacher is reading, even if you’re using a different translation. Take some notes, and then go home and check the scriptures to see what God says about what the preacher said.

Is the Church perfect? By no means, though Praise God we shall be when the Master returns – Does the Lord still send His servant to sound the horns of repentance – Does He assign messengers to bring correction? Yes He Does – The key is in the scriptures for when we look to the prophets in the Bible -There was a quality of authority like that which Jeremiah and Isaiah had and many such prophets like them, in that they prophesied to God’s people from the lowly position of humbled repentance.

To sum it all up, if you’re looking for a home church, whether it be a House Church or a traditional Church in a “building” pray and ask the Lord to direct you to the congregation where HE wants you to be, where you can serve Him best, and where you can be fed. And then begin to visit churches. Don’t get hung up on a denomination. Remember, the “church” that Jesus spoke about is the Body of Christ – made up of every born again believer in the world. The congregations where we attend are just that – congregations. And it doesn’t matter what is written over the front door. Instead, what matters is what is written on the hearts of the members and what is being taught from the pulpit and in the Sunday school classes.

We are living our lives as the very image of Christ Jesus to the world – let us do such and starting showing His character in all we do, putting down the stones hatred and lifting up hands of prayer, one for another and establishing His Kingdom here on earth!!

However if My people who are called by MY Name……

Posted: July 12, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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By Russ Welch

“Bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with hand-cut stones. Fig trees have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.” (Isaiah 9:10)

Like that of ancient Israel, God has been sending signs to America. And although many are trying to erase America’s true history in regard to the foundation upon which it was built or even the fact that before America was, it was dedicated by Christians as the New Zion even as Israel was dedicated to be a Nation unto the Lord.

Today we see people believing both in the Church and out of the Church that the cure to America’s woes are based upon an economic turn around yet that is a mere symptom of the real crisis at hand, for it goes far deeper to the very soul of this Nation and it’s continue progression away from God.

We can liken Sept 11, 2001 to ancient Israel when the hedge was breached instead of realizing that it was a Spiritual sign they looked at it as a sign that they needed to strengthen their nation defense. Now for a few brief moments America turned to God yet in its pride it sad we can become stronger, we can build a better defense system so that this will not happen again. The Churches for a brief moment were filled with people bowing low and crying out to the Lord. Now today we have people bowing low and worshipping mammon once again and seeking a human to solve their problems.

Look at the commentary of John D Watt’s on Isaiah 9:10:
“There is no way for the people to ignore the obvious disaster. Yet they choose not to recognize the deeper meaning…they do not respond to God. They only respond (inadequately) to the threating situation.”

And the Church remains silent on the matter. For much of the Church is sold out to the worlds systems (I said most not all) and has entered into the political arena spouting off who they believe will be better for the nation. Totally blind that the only hope for this nation lays in the hands of one man, and that man is Jesus Christ.

They have not even looked at the depth of sin in their own ranks; they have ignored the signs of God because they know Him not. Many will say God had nothing to do with 9 11 or that that was the Old Testament God, not the New Testament God of grace. Sorry but the Word is clear – the Lord God is the same yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever.

Did God cause 9 11? No He did not He merely lifted His hand of protection over this nation. Ironically the very descendants of those who attacked ancient Israel are they who attacked America on 9 11 – the Assyrians. And although the Assyrian language is dead – the remnants of its language is closely tied to that of Arabic.

The hope of America is dwindling day by day. At some point the Lord will lift His hands of protection all together, unless as He states in His Word “However, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, search for me, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear [their prayer] from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their country.” (2 Chron 7:14)

Now God is not only the God of Mercy, He is as well the God of justice and He can’t not allow America to continue on her path and still bless her. Even as He judged Israel as we read in the book of Judges for her open rejection of Him and their vile display of sin, so must He justly deal with America:

And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed. (Judges 2:14-15)

We are blind if we do not see America being sold right from out under our feet – look at the debt we owe to China, what will happen when they decide call in their notes. Look at our ports and see who the companies that run them are from – China.

Our government is selling our rights and our religious freedoms and we remain silent – yet our silence should not be broken by merely changing the people in Washington – our silence must be broken by a crying out to God and possible a changing of the leadership in His house who like the politicians of this world are steeped in political games.

Thus the problem of America is bigger than what a mere political campaign can solve – it is a Spiritual sickness that not even an outward reformation will solve – it must be an inward transformation of His people turning back to Him and Him alone.

For if His people in America do not turn back to Him in humble repentance– we can be assured that even as He prophesied over ancient Israel, so Has He prophesied unto America:

O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. (Isaiah 10:5-6)

We must make a radical cry to Heaven – we must radically change our lives from that of serving the world with our actions and merely attempting to appease God with our lip service – we must radically serve Him and His Kingdom as true disciples armed with His Word, hardened with calloused knees having spent hours in prayer. With purified hearts and clean hands

One Hope, One God – Awake, awake oh sleeper for Your Husband stands at the door!!!

Living as Those Made Alive in Christ

Posted: July 1, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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Since you were brought back to life with Christ, focus on the things that are above—where Christ holds the highest position. Keep your mind on things above, not on worldly things. You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you, too, will appear with him in glory.

Therefore, put to death whatever is worldly in you: your sexual sin, perversion, passion, lust, and greed (which is the same thing as worshiping wealth). It is because of these sins that God’s anger comes on those who refuse to obey him.[a] You used to live that kind of sinful life. Also get rid of your anger, hot tempers, hatred, cursing, obscene language, and all similar sins. Don’t lie to each other. You’ve gotten rid of the person you used to be and the life you used to live, and you’ve become a new person. This new person is continually renewed in knowledge to be like its Creator. Where this happens, there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, uncivilized person, slave, or free person. Instead, Christ is everything and in everything.

As holy people whom God has chosen and loved, be sympathetic, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Put up with each other, and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Above all, be loving. This ties everything together perfectly. Also, let Christ’s peace control you. God has called you into this peace by bringing you into one body. Be thankful. Let Christ’s word with all its wisdom and richness live in you. Use psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to teach and instruct yourselves about God’s kindness.[b] Sing to God in your hearts. Everything you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:1-18)

The Father has made His desire in regard to the life He desires His Children to live in Paul has written here – It could be made no clearer and it is a a Heaven sent recipe to living a Holy Life in Christ inspired through Holy Ghost. To be radical disciples we need the radical transformation of our hearts and minds that we may live such a radically selfless & Kingdom purposed life unto our King.

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