Reformation: 3 Areas of Transition

God is going to change the forms and expressions of Church within one generation to the degree that it will not be recognizable any more. - Mike Bickle

Charisma magazine has been a regular part of my life since I first received the Pentecostal experience. I remember going to my friend's house in high school and while others were playing video games I'd be reading his parents Charisma magazine. You could say I was desperate. Hunger for the things of God was my motivation. I wanted to soak up as much as I could because I believed I would be a world changer like the people I was reading about in this magazine. It's amazing how much has changed in the decade since then. I'm still hungry, still in the Word and prayer, still in the books, but my enthusiasm for Charisma is no longer there. Christian celebrity scandals, end times doom and gloom, the latest spiritual warfare trends, and the day to day news of Israel on repetition every month have had me considering canceling my subscription. However this last month I saw some signs of hope. Randy Clark's article on revival and the current move of the Holy Spirit encouraged me. When asked where he believes the current revival is going he said that it is going to MEET HIM. This is an acronym for Missions, Ecumenism, Eschatology, Theology, Holiness, Intercession, and Mercy ministry. Randy's message spoke to my heart because many of these same things the Lord has been sharing with me specifically in the areas of ecumenism, eschatology and theology.

The prayer and missions movement that God is currently raising up in the earth is something amazing. David's tabernacle truly is being restored in the earth as God's house is becoming a place of prayer for all nations. As a Church we are entering "the times of reformation" to prepare the way for the return of the Lord (Hebrews 9:10, Acts 3:21). God is raising up reformers who are rooting out, tearing down, and destroying improper foundations so that the Lord's house can be built on an accurate foundation. If the forms and expressions of the Church are going to change in a generation then it's going to require a people who are willing to be misunderstood.

Ecumenism: Jesus prayed in John 17:21 that we would all be one so that the world would believe that you sent me. "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35)." It's time we start living like the salvation of the world will come as a result of our unity. Christians today want to break fellowship over so many petty things; bible translations, disagreement on a non-essential, someone not being friendly in Church, etc. Something is wrong with this picture! We are told to be diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Eph 4:13).

"If any conviction/belief/opinion is enough to divide you from a brother/sister in Christ, then that thing has become lord and not Christ." - Glenn Packiam

In this season of tabernacles the Lord is calling the Church out of her distinctive camps to join together as one body. Denominationalism and division was never God's intention for His Church. Anything that causes us to attach our loyalty to a sect whether it be Calvinism, Lutheran, A/G, Jesus Only, etc rather than to that of the Kingdom needs to be destroyed. Being non-denominational, Apostolic, part of a local network, etc can be just as divisive if our identity is rooted in "what we are not" rather than in Christ and His Church.

The teaching of the "one new man" in Christ composed of Jew and Gentile (Eph 2:14) must be proclaimed in the Church again. Christ has broken down the wall that separated Gentiles from citizenship in and access to the covenant promises made to Israel (Eph 2:12). Dispensational teaching seeks to rebuild this wall that Christ has torn down by teaching that God's redemptive plan is different for Israel and the Church. The Church has always been in the mind of God and was never His "plan b". In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek as we are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:28).

We need one another. Slave, Free, Black, White, Yellow, Brown, Male, Female, Young, Old, Poor, Rich, Israeli, Greek, Palestinian, Nigerian, American.... There is no division in Christ. The priesthood has been given to all believers. This doesn't mean that we can make it on our own, just me and Jesus. The priesthood of all believers means that we are all priests, not for ourselves, but for one another. Love one another.

Theology: Theology is important because what we believe determines how we live. If we believe that God is good and that he loves us we are going to live differently than someone who thinks God is out to get them. The message of the finished work, fathers and sons, and going on to maturity are some of the things that I believe God is highlighting in our day.

For many in the Pentecostal movement education has been frowned upon. This has to change. Education is a good thing. Paul admonished Timothy to study to show himself approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15). Let God build a foundation in your life through systematically studying His word. Immerse yourself in the word and prayer like the early apostles (Acts 6:4) and I guarantee you Jesus will unveil himself in His word.

The people of God perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Much of the Church today has gone backwards into captivity because of a lack of knowledge (Isaiah 5:13). Someone needs to stand up today and tell the Church that she is already complete through her union with Christ (Col 2:10). The Church needs to be told that her warfare has been accomplished and that her sins are pardoned (Isaiah 40:2). The war between God and man is finished in Christ! No more need to jump up and down, shouting, begging, pleading to take anything back from our enemy. Jesus already did that 2,000 years ago at Calvary. The work has been finished!

"So I do not apologize for admitting to being on a pilgrimage in theology, as if it were in itself some kind of weakness of intelligence or character. Feeling our way toward the truth is the nature of theological work even with the help of Scripture, tradition and community... A pilgrimage, therefore, far from being unusual or slightly dishonorable, is what we would expect theologians who are properly aware of their limitations to experience." - Clark Pinnock

Simply said my lens has changed. Fifteen years ago I was reading books by Dwight Pentecost, CH Mackintosh, Kevin Conner, and others like them. As I've said before to say that I saw things a certain way would have been a huge understatement. To suggest that I see things entirely correct now would be a huge leap in the opposite direction as well. We as a Church are on a "pilgrimage in theology." I love this quote by Clark Pinnock because he was a theologian who was known to be worshipping in almost any setting (from a very traditional setting to "blissing out" at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship). Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage (Psalm 84:5).

Eschatology: Weak, limp, divided, doom, gloom, total darkness covering the earth. Sounds like the setting of the latest end times fiction book. Unfortunately many in the Church today are teaching the message that the Church will not fulfill her mandate in the earth. Fear and despair rather than hope and victory are being spread through the Church by those who have ran with this message.

As a result of unity (ecumenism) and knowledge (theology) a shift is coming to the area of eschatology. The kingdom of God is ever-increasing and ever-expanding. The tiny mustard seed of the kingdom is slowly growing to become a great tree in the earth. The tiny stone cut out of the mountain without hands will subdue all other kingdoms and grow to fill the whole earth.

"Eschatology is not so much the sequence of the ‘end time' events, but rather concerns itself with rulership. The real issue is: Who has the right to rule?" - Frans du Plessis

It is imperative that we understand that He has come whose right it is and that every kingdom has been given to Him (Ezekiel 21:27). We are called to enforce Jesus' victory, to occupy until He comes. Nowhere in the New Testament are the saints told to fear the devil. Rather it is the devils who tremble (James 2:19). Fear and despair have no place in your future but rather hope and victory. "Your future is as bright as the promises of God!" - Jeff Rose

Is God really going to change the forms and expressions of the Church in a generation? Yes, I believe he will. Only I don't believe the Church is going to be unrecognizable. The Church is going look just like our Lord Jesus Christ. Kingdom Blessings!

Thoughts on Eschatology Part 1 - The Lens of the Kingdom

The Christian life can be seen as that of a journey. We're constantly on the move going from glory to glory and from faith to faith while maintaining a posture of rest. Proverbs 4:18 declares, "The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day." As a Church God is moving us progressively forward in order that Christ may be fully formed in us (Gal 4:19).

While the point of this post isn't my journey let me share a little of it with you. Like many Christians in the bay area I grew up in a Christian home that was birthed out of the Jesus people movement. It wasn't until I was in High School that I decided to get serious about my faith. God put a hunger in my spirit for Him. I was all in. The Church I was in at the time was great. I was being fed daily and had made a great group of friends that encouraged me in the things of the Lord. After some time I felt that something was lacking. It wasn't until I had made some friends at the local Pentecostal church that I found out what it was. To the disappointment of many I ended up at the Pentecostal church. My life was immersed in this Church. After High School I attended Bible College there and ended up teaching in their Bible College in Kinshasa, DRC. During the time I was a part of this Church I had traveled around the world, seen miracles, signs, and wonders, and knew that God had called me to His service. After some time I felt the Lord leading me away from this Church. I praise God for all I learned there and wouldn't have traded it for anything but I to say I walked away with a certain lens in my approach to Scripture would have been a huge understatement. The past ten years have been huge for me in that I've learned so much but more importantly I've unlearned a lot.

My point in sharing my story is that we all have a lens or worldview through which we view the Scripture whether it comes from our culture, our family, our denominations, etc. Our lens isn't always a bad thing but it can blind us to what the Lord has for us. The Lord is calling us upwards and onwards and its going to require us laying aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us. This is going to require us to at times see things in a whole new light. To my brothers who have kept the Passover in salvation and to those who have been filled with the Spirit in Pentecost the Lord is calling us on to Tabernacles where we are filled with all the fullness of God.

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

What we believe determines how we live. Therefore it is imperative that we search the Scriptures and listen to the voice of the Spirit to lead us on this journey. The purpose of these posts is to challenge teachings that have crept in the Church that weaken and divide the body of Christ. I have no desire to go outside the bounds of orthodoxy but I have every desire to dismantle anything not built on a proper foundation.

It was Karl Barth who said, "take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible." I agree with Barth however I think many of us have interpreted our Bible from our newspaper. When you read the paper or watch TV it looks as though the Gospel will not prevail. But when we open our Bibles it is very clear that it will. When did we let the newspaper or current events become our authority for doctrine? It's time we rethink some of what we've been taught.

In the Bible God has promised the Church that the gates of hell will not prevail against her, that all the ends of the earth will turn to the Lord and that all the families of the earth will worship Him. It's my prayer that victory and hope will replace doom and gloom in your eschatology.

If your theology brings you back to the place where you go back to outward temples made with hands, and the ashes of red heifers, and the blood of bulls and goats - somewhere you missed the point. - Lynn Hiles

We can no longer interpret the New Testament through an Old Testament lens. The Old Testament must be interpreted through the New Testament. Because of this we've taken passages like Isaiah 2 and pushed them so far into the future instead of making them a present reality today. When we believe a message of doom and gloom we are resigned to say "that is just how the world is" as opposed to taking a stand and changing the way things are. War, poverty, aids, etc are things that we as a Church must challenge not sit back and let happen. It's time we stop letting culture influence us and for us to start influencing the culture.

We pray "your kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven." The Kingdom of God comes it does not go. An escape from the created order, rather than the redemption of it is an unbiblical view of the Kingdom. This message is that the Kingdom has arrived on earth, not that we can leave earth an go to Heaven. Jesus came to save the world, not save us from the world.

Life is a dress rehearsal for Heaven" is much closer to Gnosticism than biblical Christianity. Life on earth is what Jesus came to restore. - Derek Vreeland

When we view salvation as an escape from the physical world as opposed to saving us within it we've let Gnosticism creep into our theology. While Jesus' Kingdom is not of this world it is very much for and in this world. Our message is not dying and going to heaven but rather one of new creation.

Christ's Kingdom has come. Daniel's stone was cut out without hands, struck the image and is becoming a great mountain that will fill the whole earth (Dan 2:35). The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14). Let this be your present hope.