Monthly Archives: February 2009

-The ‘Clergified’ Church

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I found this quote today in the MinistryToday magazine. It is right on target with what I posted yesterday:

“We have to recognize that we’ve created the system that we loathe. I don’t think the reason 15 percent serve is because 85 percent are lazy. We’ve created a system that glorifies the clergy and marginalized the laity. We got the outcome we created programs for. We’ve become ‘clergified.’

There’s a three-tiered structure: laypeople, clergy and missionaries. … All religions tend to create a class of people who are above others so 1) they can revel in that and 2) the rest of us can say it’s their job.

Christianity was started without any of those structures, and ended up like so many false religions do when they create a ministry caste structure. When we see real movements of God take off, they happen when people are free.”

–Lifeway Research director Ed Stetzer [rev.org, 2/09]  

-A Word for the Church: “Everyone Gets to Play”

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In the last post- “God Will Supply” -Dr. Bill Hamon gives his testimony about how God did supply what they needed. At the beginning he gives a short word for the church in 2009:

“As we continue to press through in 2009, I encourage you to listen to what the Lord is saying to you individually and to the body corporately. This is a year to “Arise and Shine to Align for Reformation.” God began a reforming process in the church in 2008, and He continues to mold and shape us into the vessel that He needs us to be to see His kingdom manifest in the earth.”

I really do believe that the Lord is beginning to remold and reform the American Church. At least the part that is faithful and trying to response to his Holy Spirit. This is a word that keeps coming back to me since the first of the year.

One of the issues that I believe that He wants to deal with is the huge gulf that exists in the American Church between Pastors/Preachers and so-called Laity or regular members. So many Christians have become just spectators in a Sunday morning show put on by professional musicians and professional ministers. This is particularly true in the huge mega churches in America and around the World.

The first Reformation brought the cookie jar down from the top shelf and made the Bible available to all members in their own language, not just the educated clergy.

One of the major issues of this current move I believe is to emphasize the “Priesthood of all Believers”–we are called to become the ‘Kingdom of Priests’ that was foretold in the scriptures–a Kingdom that manifests his presence on the earth:

“He has anointed me all of us-the entire Body of Christ-to preach the Gospel of Jesus and to heal the broken hearts, and to cause the blind to see, to cause the captives to be free, to proclaim the coming of the Lord.”

It is time for the whole church to be taught and trained to go into the world making disciples where we work, healing folks in the malls, providing for the poor, teaching in our homes, and praying for sick and sharing our testimonies in our neighborhoods.

As my old Pastor John Wimber used to say: “Everyone gets to play!”

-God Will Supply!

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Here’s a wonderful faith generating story from Bill Hamon and his wife Evelyn (Link NLA) telling of some tough times during the early years of their ministry in 1958 when all they had were 8 pennies and they prayed for the 8 pennies to somehow be turned into $8 so that they could go down the road to their next ministry assignment:

“In the early years, my wife, Evelyn—”Mom”—and I traveled in ministry with our son, Tim. When he was a year and a half old, we were in Muskogee, Oklahoma, doing meetings in a small country church. The congregation didn’t have a pastor, and every night after I would minister they would place a basket on the altar and say, “We know you’re all poor and you don’t have anything, but if you could find something to give to the minister, that would be a blessing.”

After about two weeks of ministering there, paying for our own food, gas and other needs, we were averaging about 50 cents per night in the offering. Even in 1958, 50 cents was not very much money.  …”

Side comment: Now some of you younger folks may not realize how much the worth of a US dollar has changed over the years. I can remember going to lots of Saturday matinee movies at the picture show in the mid 50’s as a kid with my 50 cents allowance which not only got me in the door but also a small coke and a popcorn–and I got to see 2 movies, a couple of cartoons, plus a newsreel to help you get seated! So much for the good ol’ days.

-A Revival in Dubai?

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(-Picture of Dubai by Qba from Poland via Flickr)

In most Middle Eastern Muslim dominated countries, Christians are persecuted and seldom allowed to build new churches or even remodel the ancient ones they do have. However, in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, the government has given land and favor to Christians to build churches (Over 30).

Consequently, Dubai is home to the largest Evangelical church in all the Middle East- King’s Revival Church International which has some 7,000 members, 24 pastors, and conducts 14 services for a week, 3 in English and the rest in a variety of different languages. Most of the members are expatriates that came to the country for work and a better life.

Pastor Dr. V. Dilkumar says that their outreaches are mostly to foreigners since it is still illegal even in Dubai to proselytize Muslims and those who do convert away from Islam face harsh penalties.

Signs and Wonders

According to Pastor Dilkumar amazing miracles and healings take place at the church every week:

“That’s one of the main reasons the church has grown very much, in fact practically in every main service of ours we get people healed instantly.”

The church even publishes a monthly magazine documenting their healings, including cancers being cured, the lame walking, and the blind seeing.

Pastor Dilkumar said that it all began as part of the calling that God placed upon his heart many years ago:

“He has anointed me to preach the Gospel of Jesus and to heal the broken hearts, and to cause the blind to see, to cause the captives to be free, to proclaim the coming of the Lord.”

The church also sponsors extensive charity work and supports more than a 170 pastors serving throughout the Middle East and Asia. Praise God!           

-John Wimber: “When do we get to do the stuff?"

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I ran across one of my favorite John Wimber quotes reading this article about his daughter-in-law Christy. I personally heard John tell this story on a number of occasions when I attended Vineyard CF Anaheim while Wimber was the head pastor:

“A professional musician who played the Las Vegas circuit for 5 years, John later signed with the Righteous Brothers. When John was gripped by God in 1963, he was a “beer-guzzling, drug abusing pop musician, who was converted at the age of 29 while chain-smoking his way through a Quaker-led Bible Study.”

He soon became a voracious Bible reader and after weeks of reading about life changing miracles in the Bible and attending boring church services, John asked a lay leader:”

“When do we get to do the stuff?  You know, the stuff here in the Bible; the stuff Jesus did, like healing the sick, raising the dead, healing the blind – stuff like that?”

He was told that they didn’t do that anymore – only what they did in their weekly services. John replied, “You mean I gave up drugs for that?”

Response: “Doin’ the stuff” became the marching orders at the beginning of the Vineyard movement.

Another famous Wimber quote: “Everyone gets to play”–which meant that all the members participated in “doin’ the stuff” not just the pastors and preachers. Those two quotes became part of the guiding foundation of the Vineyard Movement in the early years.

-End-Times: Two Sides of the Coin

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(-Jerusalem via Wikipedia)

There are two articles that I read which address an ‘end-times’ scenario from entirely different perspectives.

The first is an article I found today on WorldNetDaily: “Zero hour approaches” by Hal Lindsey.

Hal does what he is best at identifying how events in the Middle East are quickly progressing towards an end-time scenario. Iran is on the brink of having nuclear weapons and Hal cites the beginning of an Ezekiel end-time coalition with Russia and Iran in the lead against Israel.

Oh by the way, Hal didn’t mention this, but did anyone notice that Iran just this week put its first satellite up in space using its newest rocket? No I didn’t think so! This story should be as big as ‘sputnik’ was in the 50’s, but the news media is downplaying it and the possible implications for weapons delivery.

The Ezekiel 38-39 battle scenario now is beginning to fall in to place and coming at a time when we have a new administration that might blink when it comes to a possible confrontation with a nuclear power like Russia. Hal always does a great job at scaring the heck out of me!

The second article was published a couple of weeks ago but I just got around to reading it yesterday. It is the second part of a prophetic message for 2009 that I posted on in January: “The Last Days Anointing” (Link NLA) by Loren Sandford.

The message that Loren Sandford brings is the flip side of the coin. While the world is literally going to hell, it is time for the church to rise up and finish the task–the gospel is to go into every nation with signs and wonders demonstrating the Kingdom of God.

While Lindsey and Sandford present two different perspectives, I find inspiration in both of them. After over 35 years of studying eschatology, all of the scriptures, and reading 100’s of books having to do with the ‘end-times’, I am of the opinion that no one has it completely nailed down.

I can find holes in every traditional approach–amil, postmil, premil: pretrib, midtrib, postrib, I like premil/prewrath probably the most. The point is, if it is published somewhere in some book than I am convinced that it is probably wrong in some way.

There are surprises ahead for the church in the last days, one of the reasons that God is raising up prophets again is to give vision to the church in these chaotic times. I know, what passes for prophecy and prophets today is imperfect and not always edifying. But just wait, a new generation of prophetic ministry is on the horizon.

I believe that the Second Coming will be similar to the first in that every single learned scholarly ‘Messianic’ expectation of the first century was proved to be wrong. The church is entering a new era when we will need to rely more closely on the Lord and it will no longer be good enough to continue doing things the way we have done them in the past.