Urgency

I believe in these days the Church is experiencing a new move of God. There have been several instances in the past where we can look back and see God moving within the Church, moving those willing to listen to Him, moving them closer to the Path set before them. The Protestant Reformation, the Charismatic revivals and many more. These were times when certain people within the establishment Church saw a different Path and were called to move out into a new calling. 

I believe today this is happening once again, and that it may be a setting apart from the Church which will suffer the great falling away foretold in Revelation. This isn't necessarily a narrowing of the path, but a recognition of the narrowness of the Path originally set before the Church. Willing to shrug off the paganism, humanism and worldly culture which is ever increasingly part of the Church culture, particularly in the West, and not shrinking from standing up for the Truth of the Word when false doctrines come into the Church seeking the approval of man instead of God. These are the Remnant, the Bride, the true Church. 

I believe part of this recognition of the narrowness of the Path originally set before the Church will cause much controversy and will be part of the great falling away. Many within the sleeping church today will refuse the Word for the world...Will refuse Christ for the culture...Will refuse to shrug off paganism and blending with other faiths and doctrines, refusing to be closer to the One True God. These are the sleeping church, the lost within our walls, the very definition of Matthew 7:23 "...I never knew you".

I believe this isn't about legalism and judgment, but rather about accountability to one another and about desiring to be more like Jesus, more than we desire to be liked by man. The Church is being challenged to stop balking at admonishment from others within the Church, calling them judgmental and legalistic. But instead to disallow themselves to be offended by God or man, only desiring to be more like Jesus and to know Him more intimately. 

I believe the Church is being called back into alignment with the first century model of Five-Fold Ministry, with Churches not being planted and run by Pastors alone, or by Pastors with Elder teams and boards. But Churches being planted by modern-day Apostles, gifted, anointed and called into ministries of teaching, preaching and the prophetic. Apostles not in name alone, but in deed, who are sound in doctrine, founded in the Word and familiar with Christ. Apostles who seek out those called to Office of Prophet, Pastor, Teacher and Evangelist...Those who can seek out, help disciple and send out more of the same.

I believe the Church is also being called back into alignment with the Davidic model of 24/7 day and night prayer and worship. Far too long have our sanctuaries been locked-up tight all night and most of the week. It's time that anyone be able to come into the Sanctuary any time and pray or worship. If certain restaurants and other enterprises can find a way to make it happen, why can't we? Which is more important, being able to get a burger in the middle of the night or being able to encounter the living God?! Isn't He Worthy?

I believe that this emerging 5-Fold, 24/7 Church is being called to a season of prayer and fasting. Intercession for our nations, our leaders, the Church, the lost and dying...How long have we been asleep and silent? I believe as we move forward into this new move of God, back into the ancient patterns set before us at the foundation of the Church, that we will find exponentially more clarity regarding our faith. Denominations will cease, differences of theology will cease, misunderstandings of God will cease and we will become One in Him, of one faith, in UNITY of understanding and purpose. 

I believe as that happens we will begin to see the emergent Bride. We will once again see REAL miracles, on a grand scale. We will see the fulfillment of those words; "greater things than these". We will see disciples and Apostles who operate just as Jesus did. And finally, once we have clothed ourselves with Righteousness, we will see Jesus.

Watchman's Wall

What is a Watchman and why do we need them?

The Word speaks of "Watchmen", who God Himself set up for Israel. These were men set upon the walls, symbolically closer to God, and symbolically as well as literally with a higher viewpoint. They could see much further than those living at ground level within the walls and could recognize trouble long before it arrived. Friend or foe, your presence was known, your intentions discerned, hundreds, maybe even thousands of yards, possibly miles, before you ever knocked at the gate. This was the Watchman's job, to warn the city of impending violence, so they may be prepared and defend themselves. The Word puts it this way...

Ezekiel 33:1-9 (ESV)
"The word of the Lord came to me: 2  “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.

7  “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul."

This is a spiritual representation of many who God has placed within the Church today. They are people who have been called to dedicate their lives to clearly hearing the Word of the Lord and who have an overwhelming commitment to His principles. Gifted with strong spiritual discernment and unafraid of the opinions of man, they are always on alert for attacks of the enemy which would seek to ensnare the Church. They are the faithful ones sounding the alarm when false doctrine (such as universalism or homosexual marriage) try to enter the Church. They are the ones who take a strong stand when wrong theology finds the doors of apathy or political correctness as inroads to those with weaker faiths within their walls. Not frequently in actual leadership, these are your outsiders, usually your loners, and they are often your Apostles, Prophets and Teachers. Underestimated, disregarded and outcast, these are those within the Body whom your Pastors and Elders should be most closely listening to.

The Watchman sees his job as non-negotiable, as it is not only a matter of life and death, but a matter of eternal life vs. the "second death". They see their charter as over and above all other charters, as theirs is directly from God Himself, not from any man, and may be called upon to keep all others on course. Their ministry is not to any one individual or even any one group of individuals, their mandate is to hear the Voice of the Lord concerning the entire Body. Their commitment is firm, their foundation is solid, their resolve is to the death. They will not back down from blowing the trumpet, sounding the alarm, when they sense an attack, because of Ezekiel 33. They know their job is to protect the Body by informing them of evil. They know that if they do not sound the alarm, any harm that evil causes is on them.

However, that's about where the Watchman's job ends. The Word is clear that although it is the Watchman's job to sound the alarm, it is up to the Body to respond. If they choose not to respond, his responsibility has still been fulfilled and his hands are clean. That isn't license for apathy, or for offense, it is simply the way God has chosen in His wisdom, righteousness and justice to divide the responsibility.

Now, there are false Watchmen. People who are simply judgmental and seek to cause disruption in the Church. They sound their own alarm for their own personal gain or to discredit those who oppose them. Discernment is required in knowing the difference, but their motives can be revealed if you look carefully. They use a broad condemnation of individuals or ministries, not conviction on particular issues. They use an axe or a shotgun, not a scalpel, and care nothing for collateral damage. Once you've seen real conviction come by way of a legitimate Watchman's call regarding a specific Biblical issue, the manipulative condemnation that spews from false Watchmen is easy to spot. One earnestly seeks to rectify a specific situation, bringing repentance and restoration, the other seeks only to kill, steal and destroy giftings, callings and ministries. One ultimately seeks to build up, while the other seeks only to tear down.

Whenever anyone comes to you or your leadership with an issue, always test it against the Word. If someone comes to you with an issue, be willing to hear it and honestly pray about it. Be willing to be wrong on an issue and be humble enough to be willing to be corrected. Even from a layperson. God works in mysterious ways and can work through anyone. If He's been trying to show you something and you can't hear Him, He will try to reach you through someone else. As always, test everything, but be honest with yourself and with God. If you don't hear clearly from Him, remember, your salvation is far more important than your pride. Listen to those who can. Do not ever feel an "us vs. them" spirit, which is division and is from the enemy. If you pray about a situation and the Holy Spirit brings conviction, be willing to repent and seek restoration regarding the situation.

If someone brings an issue to you, you're willing to pray about it, willing to be corrected, and still feel no conviction regarding it, I would consider asking another trusted advisor before setting it aside. If you test it against the Word and with trusted advisor(s) and still don't recognize it as an issue, it is possible that it is not an issue, isn't a Word for you, or isn't a Word for now. There are many people operating at different levels of Prophetic gifting and with differing levels of sensitivity to the Spirit and sometimes people just miss it. The Watchman should not be offended if you choose not to heed his call and you should not carry any ill-will against the Watchman for sounding the alarm. It is also always possible your determination is wrong and another Watchman will come to you in time.

For the Watchman, do not grow weary in always doing good. Do not fear the opinions of man. Do not succumb to the temptation to abandon your given post. Do not easily be moved from one Body to another, even if they repeatedly refuse to listen to you. Read the life of Jeremiah and know that your success or failure is NOT based on whether those in your charge listen to you. Your success or failure is based solely on your obedience to your call. It is possible that blatant sin will come into the Body you're in and your warnings will be ignored. Only when you feel the leading of the Spirit that to stay would be to remain under sinful covering and that it is His time for you to go should you go.

As always, be greatly blessed in all you do!

~Michael

Unity

Lately there has been something which increasingly grieves my heart, and I believe also grieves the Spirit of God. This is the growing lack of unity within the church.

Ephesians 4:13 says quite a mouthful on this subject;

                "...until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ...".

"Unity of faith" and "the knowledge of the Son of God" say a great deal to me about what we are to believe. There are many different denominations, each with their own particular beliefs regarding one facet of Christ or another. But this verse (along with many more just like it) make it plain to me that the Bride will not be made up of denominations. She will not differ in opinions or beliefs regarding Christ. As this verse says, there will be one singular "faith" and one singular "knowledge of the Son of God". In the Bride, we will all believe the same things regarding what Jesus has done and what He will do, and we will all know the same things about Him. This level of unity leaves no room for divisions like denominations.

You see, the Truth is a man and His Name is Jesus. There cannot be multiple truths. Even if one denomination has it all correct (and I don't know that this is the case), the rest of us have at least something wrong. Some believe you must baptize children or they will go to hell if they die, others believe in grace until the age of accountability. Does the former have a wrong understanding of God, or does the latter not recognize the Law? Some believe you must punish yourself for your sins and pay penance for everything in life, others believe Jesus paid all on the cross and all else is dead works. Is the former stuck in legalism or does the latter oversimplify things? For instance, if Charismatic non-denominational (Evangelical) folks have it 100% right, imagine how far off the mark traditional Catholics are. If Baptists have it all right, how wrong are those same Evangelicals?

Am I being judgmental? Is this all semantics? Shouldn't we all just get along and accept that other believers have differing beliefs? "But, none of this is critical to salvation", I can hear you say.  ...Or is it?
Matthew 7:23 says this;

                "I never knew you; depart from me"

So I ask you this. At what point do all of our differences of opinion, wrong theologies and misunderstandings of Christ become an issue of "not knowing Him"? And that's the point, isn't it? God created us so we could get to know Him. When we messed all that up and put a barrier between us and God, Jesus came and died for us to let us get to know Him once again. This passage in Matthew makes it plainly clear as well that if we do not "know Him" we will not be welcomed into heaven.

So what are we to do? There is such an unimaginably diverse group of people calling themselves Christians these days with an even more diverse set of beliefs...How can we possibly even begin to know the Truth and begin to set aside man's religion and traditions in favor of worshipping in Spirit and in Truth? Well, it's the most simple thing - and the most difficult thing - we could ever do. We need to collectively decide that we are Christ-followers, adherent to the Word above all else, before we are anything else. Before we are men or women, before we are Americans or Mexicans, before we are white or black or red or brown, before we are Catholics or Protestants...Before anything else, we are children of God, and we seek only His Truth.

Then we pray, and we listen, carefully. Only then can God begin to clear away the dross of man's misunderstandings and allow His Spirit to begin to teach us all things. Only then can we quit destructive bickering over doctrines and theologies and begin constructive discussion regarding Biblical Truth. Most importantly, only then will we begin to know Christ more fully, more intimately, as we were created to do, and take those first steps towards being made in His Image; the Bride, unified and purified.

Blessings!

~Michael

Water and Dust

Recently I saw a picture of a man. He was teaching and coming out of his mouth was a torrent of mud. Immediately the words "water and dust" came to my mind, and I knew in the Spirit what this meant. The man was teaching from the Word, which was represented by the water, as in Ephesians 5:26. But he was also teaching out of his flesh, which was represented by the dust, as in Psalms 103:14. When the two mixed, it made this terrible mud spewing from his mouth.

Even the world knows that a confused word can "muddy the waters" and that "crystal clear" clarity of word and intent are preferable for teaching. Anything else is "clear as mud". So obviously this teacher was issuing forth a confused word, a confused message, with the potential to confuse his audience on any topic covered. When this is applied to teaching of the Word, we have a grave issue here.

Believers without solid foundation either in the Word or in relationship with God can easily be swept away by the torrent of the teachings of man. They have no spiritual maturity or discernment to lead them to the Truth, which is what we need to hold onto when this flood comes. Knowing our Father's voice (John 10:27), having the Word hidden in our heart (Psalms 119:11), this is where discernment comes from and is our defense against wrong teaching and bad doctrine or theology.

So part of this picture was in discernment of what I was seeing in the natural, a warning against bad teaching. But the flipside of that same coin is guarding against being guilty of doing the same. The Word tells us that not many should become teachers and that those who teach will be judged with greater strictness (James 3:1). So when we do feel like we have a word for someone, or feel like God is giving us a word for a group of people, we should test that word against the only thing that lasts forever, God's Word (Isaiah 40:8). We should make sure that what He wants to say is all we allow to come out of our mouths, not embellishing or straying from His message.

I Timothy 1:3-7 directs us further;

^"3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, ⁴ nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. ⁵ The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ⁶ Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions." (ESV)

How many of us have run across teachers like that? Constantly teaching from the prophetic books and speculating on all manner of weirdness having nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? They have vain discussions specifically designed to lift up their own fame and following and glory, doing nothing to increase the fame of Jesus or to bring Glory to His Name. I love the Word's use of the phrase "promote speculation rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith". You can't do both. It also clarifies that they are "without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions". Don't miss for a moment that those to whom the letter was written were instructed to "charge" these people not to teach this way. Not all conflict in the church is of man, some of it is God trying to correct man's behavior, and more often than not, that comes through another man.

So what does this mean then? Out of fear of judgment should we refuse to open our mouths when we feel the Spirit urging us to speak? No, this sin would be like the sin of teaching out of the flesh. Instead we should be open to the Spirit that He may be allowed to speak through us, but continually guard our heart and build on the foundation that God is building in us so that we will not be deceived, and in turn deceive others.

And we can see from I Timothy above that when we see someone teaching in this wrong way, we should charge them to teach only what God is saying in the Spirit, and not out of their flesh. This may not sound like the comfortable church setting you have become familiar with, but it is what we are commanded to do. Besides, are we to be friends of man or of God?

Be greatly blessed!!

~Michael

Come again?

You've undoubtedly heard the phrase; "Life is not a spectator sport". Essentially, this means that - whether we (want to) realize it or not - we are involved in this life and should act like it. We shouldn't be sitting around, doing nothing, just waiting to die. Self-help books will tell you to "decide what you would be doing right now, if you could do anything in the world...Then go do it, or at least do something that can make that happen". To live each day, each moment, as if it is your last. In the Latin, it's "Carpe diem", or "seize the day". I was recently in a Discipleship training where Bill Allison reminded us that for disciples of Christ, this means we need to quit sitting on our hands and actually follow the greatest commandments...

Matthew 22:37-40 "Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

And...

Matthew 28:18-20 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

If we can just do these three things; love God with all we have and are, love our neighbors and make disciples, we will be fulfilling our purpose on this earth. But for some people in the church, it's more about deciphering codes and searching out hidden mysteries, all in an attempt to determine when Christ will return to this earth. Now, there is a reason God has chosen to hide Himself in mystery, and just like a close friend or spouse desires to be sought-out and discovered, God desires us to immerse ourselves in studying Him. But when it comes to the second coming, the Word is pretty clear...

Matt 24:36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

We do not know, we will not know, anyone who claims to know or to ever have known is a false prophet. People like Harold Camping, with all their hand-wringing over when Jesus will return, are completely, utterly and totally missing the point. They're like the people at your work, or in church who spend the entire time staring at the clock, not doing what they're supposed to be doing. In the business world they're called "clock watchers" and they likely cost businesses billions of dollars a year in lost productivity. It's no different in the rest of life, or in the church...If you're focusing on the clock, so to speak, you're missing the point entirely. We are here for a reason with a job to do and we can't do it with our eyes on the clock. Jesus will return when the Father tells Him it's time. It's to us to be ready, not to try and guess when that will be.